Articles

Consider and Build [podcast]

Paula White Exposed [video]

THAT’s My King! Pastor Lockridge [video]

Powerful Prayers from Children-This Will Shake You [video]

The Fear of the LORD is to Hate Evil: Pride, and Arrogancy #shorts [video]

WHY did God tell His people to “consider your ways”? and what does that mean to us today as His people?

Consider Your Ways (below)

Resting to Build (below)

“Whew thank you for that rebuke I needed that ! What a magnificent powerful biblical gospel message.” Cassandra

IS GOD (His work and people) important to you? Is the LORD Jesus Christ first place in your life? Is furthering His Gospel a priority to you? Have you scheduled Him into your financial distribution? OR, is the LORD, who bought you with His blood, a second class citizen to you? Well, think about it – we never thought twice to budget for the cable company, the electrical company, the gym, the beauty salon, the mortgage/rent, eating out, the tanning salon, or entertainment, etc. Now what about God?

Biblical stewardship MUST be preached. Stewardship is simply the use of resources. According to Christ, our personal stewardship is the measure of our love, or lack of love, for Him (Matthew 6:19-24). It is the measure of the daily cross that is truly being applied in our daily life, or being refused. Jesus made it a life and death/Heaven and hell issue didn’t He? Here’s one example – Matthew 25:40-46.

Is the LORD calling you today to “consider your ways”?

If our stewardship of the LORD’s resources is not what God’s unchanging Word states it should be, it would be wise to examine ourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5). Our spending is a direct reflection of where our hearts really are and reveals just exactly WHO we are serving – self or the Savior. See Matthew 6:19-24, 1 John 3:16-19, James 2:14-17, Proverbs 23:4.

In the days of the prophet Haggai, the covenant people of God were enjoying their creature comforts, were self-absorbed, and not realizing judgment was about to come upon them. In their fleeting wealth, they forgot God (Psalms 9:17). Now watch this:

“Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is NOT come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built. ³Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, ⁴Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses (lavish comfort), and this house lie waste? (souls left untended to)⁵Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. ⁶Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes (curse – law of diminishing returns). ⁷Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. ⁸(it’s time to truly repent) Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord. ⁹Ye looked for much, and, lo it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it (scattered wealth). Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. ¹⁰Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. ¹¹And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.” Haggai 1:2-11

The people had made their own places and comfort in this temporal abode (earth) as that which was most important to them. They made these temporal dwelling places their highest priority, which had thereby negated the LORD’s work. Like so many today, they were engulfed in an out of control consumerism lifestyle.

Many have poured their all into their own “ceiled houses” and left the house of God undone (Haggai 1:4). The house of God is the people and work of God, not a physical building or church organization!

Sound familiar?

In Haggai’s day, those who claimed to be the LORD’s children were living for self-serving lusts and had fallen away. They were lukewarm (Luke 3:15-16). Many today are in the same exact place. Their lives are nothing but a self-serving festival of lust and yet, they are empty, guilty, sin-ridden, and hell bound – even though they were born again in the past. Unless they repent, their eternal suffering will be worse than if they had never been saved (2 Peter 2:20-21).

“Build the House” – (v8) The building of the house of the LORD refers to obeying the Great Commission Christ gave us (Matthew 28:18-20). Through our obedience to Him, the fruit Jesus creates is the blessed fruit of matured, edified and equipped saints, and lost souls saved. But today, most who claim to be Christ’s are fully given over to self-indulgence. They have compartmentalized their “Christianity” with a 2 hour attendance of a so-called “church service”, even though Jesus never told anyone to join a church or go to church. No, Jesus said “Follow me … daily.” (Luke 9:23-24) These flesh-flattering counterfeits are specifically fulfilling what the Bible foretold of this last generation (2 Timothy 3:1-8). They have a mere “form(ula) of godliness” and are on the wide road that leads to eternal damnation (Matthew 7:13-14; 2 Timothy 3:5). These Christ-denying, lukewarm apostates, who are “enemies of the cross of Christ” live for the next thrill, the bigger car or house (Philippians 3:18-21; Revelation 3:15-16). Christ promised that they shall be spued from His mouth (rejected from entering His eternal abode). Waste, waste, waste. Waste for which We Shall Give Account.

Jesus promised “I will build my church” and He’s doing it today through those few laborers He instructed us to pray that the Father would send forth (Matthew 16:18; 9:35-38). Are you participating?

Gold or God?

Who’s first – self or the Savior?

The Laodicean Connection

The Bible says that “There is no new thing under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) If it weren’t for this Bible truth, such a connection between modern and ancient times and people would seem eerie. Watch this. Sinful men who claimed to be right with God were living in separation from the LORD in Haggai’s day, just as they were doing in Laodicea and are doing today.

“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; ¹⁵I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. ¹⁶So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. ¹⁷Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: ¹⁸I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. ¹⁹As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. ²⁰Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. ²¹To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. ²²He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” Revelation 3:14-22

Though once saved, they had become “lukewarm” and were in danger of the very lake of fire. It was their ease. They allowed themselves to be inundated with material wealth which they obviously were not sharing as God intended. Was this not the root sin of Sodom? (Ezekiel 16:49-51)

What Were the Sins of Sodom?

Check this out. The sin of sodomy / homosexuality is not even listed here. Sodom was destroyed and so shall be all other souls who repeat these sins and don’t repent before it’s too late:

“Behold, this was the iniquity (sin) of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.” Ezekiel 16:49

1) pride

2) fulness of bread (materialism, hoarding)

3) abundance of idleness

4) neglecting the poor and reveling in their own wealth with no regard for the needy

The LORD is knocking on the doors of the hearts of all whom He saved in the past, but who have since ceased to abide intimately with Him (John 15). The fruit of their lives clearly testifies to their apostate condition.

Ready to Repent?

the top of your list. Find a good ministry that is fulfilling a New Testament mandate and HELP THEM (Matthew 28:18-20). Give, give, give – Jesus says “It is MORE BLESSED to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35) Now listen to this and get your house in order – don’t run away from this – face it or you will never be blessed by Him to overcome.

Those not consumed with Christ as “first love,” will without exception be consumed with “the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things.” (Mark 4:19; Revelation 2:4-5)

When we lay down our lives (saving faith) our money is God’s and not our own. Someone has wisely stated that “If your money’s not saved it’s because you’re not saved.” When we truly repent, we will be about our “Father’s business” and not our own (Luke 2:49). We will fund HIS work and cease wasting the money He puts in our hands on wasteful trinket’s that have no eternal value.

“Let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.” Daniel 4:27

Do we not see in this verse above that we don’t have Christ’s peace due to the sins of self-idolatry and squandering/miss-stewarding the treasures He has put in our hands and for which we shall give full account?

“Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:¹⁰So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. ¹¹My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction: ¹²For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.” Proverbs 3:9-12

Let the LORD rebuke and chasten you in order to bring about the right things in your life, which will include prudent stewardship and a passing grade in His coming judgment (Matthew 25:14-29; Romans 14:10, etc.). The “chastening of the LORD” and His “correction” are connected here with giving our “first fruits” to His work and those of His who are in need. Is that not what the earliest believers did and thereby set the example for us to do? (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-37)

Are you taking care of your own business and not “the Father’s business”? (Luke 2:49) If so, unlike Christ, you are all about yourself, your own self-serving business and not “the Father’s business.” The LORD created and saved you to be about His business first and foremost. How do we think that’s going to work out for you if you don’t repent and begin putting the LORD first in your life and finances? Diminishing returns.

The LORD is calling you to repent and to be restored to Him before it’s too late. When you truly repent and lay down your life at Christ’s holy feet, all that is in your possession will then be His and you will be rich in giving generously, laying up for yourself a foundation against coming judgment. Study Luke 12, 16, and 1 Timothy 6 prayerfully.

“Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;¹⁸That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; ¹⁹Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” 1 Timothy 6:17-19

God is able and He will establish our lives soundly if we obey His simple instructions!

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Will You Hear "Well Done" or "Depart from Me"? [podcast]

“I’d rather hear the pastor preach on my sins, than to hear Jesus say ‘Depart from Me, I never knew you.'” unknown Are you Building Your Life on Sinking Sand, or Sound, Solid Foundation? Are you getting honest and digging deep, removing the mud of your life so that your life is built directly upon Christ the Rock? “digged deep” “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: 48 He is […]

Escaping Sodom

“Remember Lot’s wife.” Luke 17:32 When God instructs us to “remember” something, He is underscoring a truth. He is warning us of danger and how to escape it. What did Jesus want us to “remember” about “Lot’s wife”? What was the sin of Lot’s wife? Why was she judged? What is it about “Lot’s wife” that the LORD wants us to beware of? Why would Jesus warn us of an event that was thousands of years old, an account of the rebellion, the disobedience of a woman who while being delivered, looked back? WHAT’S at stake? Make no mistake: This […]

The Cardinal Characteristic of Knowing God [podcast]

The word “love” appears 311 times in God’s Word. It’s one thing to know the Bible. It’s another thing to know the God of the Bible. “Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.” Deuteronomy 13:4 This is why He created you – to know Him. “And this is life eternal (the whole purpose for it), that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17:3 The disciple has nothing more important […]

Abiding

Walking in Godly Integrity Means Paying Restitution Where Needed [podcast]

“And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.” Acts 24:16

Truth: The LORD is watching everything you think and do and will bring you into judgment for it all – all (Proverbs 15:3; 20:11; 23:7; Mark 12:41-44; Romans 14:10, etc.). What’s your judgment going to look like?

“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; 2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:1-2

Jesus taught that only the “honest” will be with Him (Luke 8:15). The dishonest, “ALL … liars” will perish irrevocably in the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8). Those who’ve brought harm to others and have the opportunity to restore what they took (financially, emotionally, etc.) prove who they are by what they do or do not do. Those who take personal responsibility for the harm they brought on another, will be blessed. Those who don’t will be shut out, “cut off” from God (Romans 11:20-22).

“Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: 4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,” 2 Corinthians 6:3-4

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” Proverbs 28:13

Godly Integrity owns up to its personal responsibility to make amends where we have caused hurt. Restitution. A man of godly integrity never runs from his personal responsibility to repair and restore where he has brought harm – with his words, attitudes, or actions. This is exactly what happens when a man truly repents and gives his life to Christ. Zacchaeus is a great example to us of this. Like Zacchaeus, when we truly repent, there will always be good fruit, amends for our wrongdoing. Watch this closely. Watch what this man does after getting right with God:

Luke 19

1 And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.

2 And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.

3 And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.

4 And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.

5 (the call and command) And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.

6 (obedience) And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.

7 And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. (that’s exactly why Jesus came!)

8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. (true repentance always brings for the fruit of restitution Matthew 3:7-10)

9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.

10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

As we see in this case with Zacchaeus when he repented, turning to Jesus the Savior, true repentance always brings for the fruit of restitution. See Matthew 3:7-10.

Zacchaeus is a great example. When, if that true repentance happens in his heart, if the sinner, the transgressor allows it, there will be a practical restitution to those he’s harmed by his sin. Soon as he repented he wanted to pay restitution to those he’d harmed.

“Verse 8 is one of the strongest in the Bible on restitution. Salvation does not relieve a person from righting the wrongs of the past. Debts contracted during one’s unconverted days are not canceled by the new birth. And if money was stolen before salvation, then a true sense of the grace of God requires that this money be repaid after a person has become a child of God.” William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary

There’s no such thing as a person who is right with God and not making restitution for those he’s hurt.

INTEGRITY: If you owe someone $1,000 and can’t pay it all at once, show integrity and send them $ every month or week till you’ve paid them off. If you don’t, you show yourself to be a man who is without integrity (Proverbs 20:7). Soon as you begin paying back, you demonstrate the earnest of your integrity.

Jesus teaches us that we are wasting our time attempting to relate to or pray to the Father in His name if we have issues that need to be clear up with another.

God will not answer the prayer of any person who does not honor and obey His Word and if a person has an outstanding offense He wants them to clear up these matters (Proverbs 28:9, 13).

“Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” Matthew 5:23-24

God is not going to bless our lives unless we are willing to sincerely admit our sins, repent and confess them, and make amends (restitution) with anyone we’ve harmed. In the divine economy, there’s no such thing as being right with God when you’ve done another person wrong, haven’t repented, and haven’t made amends for what you’ve done. Such a person will be outside of the will and blessings of God until he makes things right with God and man.

The LORD requires that His people “examine” and “judge” themselves.

“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? 2 Corinthians 13:5

Examine and honest judge yourself and amend your ways or God will judge you.

“For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.” 1 Corinthians 11:31-32

More Bible Verses on Restitution

Read Exodus 22:1-31

“If a thief be found breaking up (stealing in a burglary, home invasion), and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him. 3 If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.” Exodus 22:2-3

“Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty; 7 Then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed.” Numbers 5:6-7

“And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. 6 Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” Genesis 9:5-6

Integrity

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Godly Integrity [podcast]

INTEGRITY in·teg·ri·ty inˈteɡrədē/Submit noun 1. the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness. “he is known to be a man of integrity” synonyms: honesty, probity, rectitude, honor, good character, principle(s), ethics, morals, righteousness, morality, virtue, decency, fairness, scrupulousness, sincerity, truthfulness, trustworthiness “I never doubted his integrity” the state of being whole and undivided. “upholding territorial integrity and national sovereignty” synonyms: unity, unification, coherence, cohesion, togetherness, solidarity “the integrity of the federation” Being circumspect, having a heart and life of godly integrity, should be the prayer and goal of every person who names the name of […]

Parenting and the Eternal Destiny of Your Child [podcast]

No such thing as a Christian who is a parent and isn’t teaching their child(ren) God’s Word. So you programmed and indoctrinated your own child to “go get an education” from a commie university, with nothing but antichrist’s as “professors”, who merely read and teach marxist textbooks full of every evil known to mankind. And yet you still wonder why they turned from Christ? – if you even taught them the Bible in the first place. Time for you to get saved. God holds you personally accountable for allowing and inviting evil upon the minds and hearts of the […]

Godly Men, Husbands

Men of God are to cherish their wives, to lay down their lives for them as Christ did for the Church (Ephesians 5:25-27). Jesus laid down His life out of His love for us and so should be the case with men, husbands for their beloved wives (John 3:16). Beginning our day with prayer is an absolutely irreplaceable mainstay in the life of every disciple of Jesus. Show me a man without a private time of seeking God daily, and I will show you a backslidden man, living in sin, one who does not fear the LORD or walk in […]

Abiding

TIMES OF REFRESHING FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD! [video]

TIMES OF REFRESHING FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD!

Who’s Ready for Some “RAIN” from Heaven? God desires to refresh His people, to rain His bless-ed mercy, forgiveness, and benefits down on them …. and our part is fresh repentance….

“Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.” Hosea 10:12

What are the stated conditions to receive the “rain” of the LORD from Heaven?

“Sow to yourselves in RIGHTEOUSNESS”
“reap in MERCY”
“break up your fallow ground”
“for it is time to SEEK the LORD”

“till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;” Acts 3:19

“Times of refreshing” will come exclusively to those who turn to the LORD with a whole heart.

A great prayer right this moment is …. Heavenly Father, please grant me to have a pure heart, a poor in spirit heart, and an heart after Thee. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Repentance is dying so that Christ lives and reigns in your life – not you (Matthew 3:7-10; Romans 6).

Adam Clarke on Hosea 10:12:

“Sow to yourselves in righteousness – Let the seed you sow be of the best kind, and in just measure.

Reap in mercy – By the blessing of God on this ploughing, sowing, and harrowing, you may expect a good crop in harvest.

Break up your fallow ground – Do not be satisfied with a slight furrow; let the land that was fallowed (slightly ploughed) be broken up again with a deep furrow.

For it is time to seek the Lord – This should be immediately done: the season is passing; and if you do not get the seed in the ground, the early rain will be past, and your fields will be unfruitful.

Rain righteousness upon you – God will give you the early rain in due time, and in proper measure. Here are the metaphors, and the application cannot be difficult.. Here are ploughing, fallowing, sowing, harrowing, watering, reaping, threshing, and feeding on the produce of well-directed labor. All may be applied to the human heart, and the work of God upon it. Correction, contrition, conversion, receiving the grace of Christ, bringing forth fruit, etc.”

“For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. 25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” Ezekiel 36:24-27

Most preaching today does not begin at the foundation, does not get to the root cause. This is due to the absence of the original Gospel doctrine of the cross – the divine mandate to be crucified with Christ, which is nowhere to be found coming from the mouths of the “accursed” preachers of “another gospel.” (Galatians 1:6-9)

WHAT do we have without a heart after God? Religion (Acts 13:22).

Most of the social media messages tell us, continually remind us that God loves us but nearly none of them inform us that the God who loves us, sent His Son to die on a cross for us, and requires and commands us to be “crucified with Christ.” (Galatians 2:20; Romans 8:29; Colossians 3:3) Beware of the half-truth false gospel of today! We must walk in the original Gospel – all of it – if we are to escape and not be “Led away with the error of the wicked.” (2 Peter 3:17)

Prescription for those heavy in heart: Read God’s Word. Read it repeatedly, perpetually, daily. NOTHING REPLACES BIBLE READING AND NEVER WILL.

Times of Fasting and prayer gets YOU out of the way so Jesus can reign supreme! Isaiah 58

You are not serious about overcoming sin if you’re not yet setting apart regular times of fasting and prayer. The fact that you don’t want to fast is the clear proof that you need to fast. Currently, your flesh is in control! Once you are broken, you will delight in, you will look forward to those times of regular fasting! Read Isaiah 58. | The Amazing Benefits of Fasting and Prayer

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Fresh Start with God

You can Have a … Jesus is the Great Shepherd of His Sheep (Heb. 13:20; Lk. 15) A FRESH START WITH GOD (First, if you are not certain that you are genuinely born again, please go here first) Let’s get something straight…. the disciple, the mere man writing this message is more in need of JESUS than anyone who ever lived! No one needs Jesus more than I do and yet, we must do things HIS way, not our own (Ephesians 3:8). “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs […]

The Truth about Fellowship and Going to "Church" [podcast]

The Simplicity of Fellowship that Exalts and Glorifies Christ “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. ” Acts 2:42 MANY today peddle the importance of fellowship because they hear it from their pastors on a regular basis. Yet, much more important than man to man fellowship is God to man, and man to God fellowship. This is little spoken of. And, what passes and is pawned off as “fellowship” today doesn’t fit the biblical description, the prescription for fellowship (Acts 2:42-47; Colossians 3:16, etc.). It’s not even a faint […]

"In Due Season We Shall Reap, If We Faint Not" [podcast]

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9 Paul’s Sufferings and Warning to Us “For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. 11 Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and […]

Articles

Should God’s People be Allowed to Give? [podcast]

Letting people know the opportunity to give doesn’t seem to be the same as asking or begging for money…. Jesus told us all to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” and so cutting off this opportunity doesn’t seem wise or helpful to the eternal treasure of those saints right?

Christ commanded His people to lay up treasure in Heaven and in doing so your treasure and your heart will be in Heaven, not on earth (Matthew 6:19-24). Giving also prevents our hearts from loving and serving the mammon of this world which would prevent us from being in glory.

Jesus Himself, His ministry with His holy apostles, allowed people to give, to lay up treasure in Heaven (Matthew 6:19-21). Otherwise Judas would not have been the treasurer, he would have had no bag to store the offerings. Also, in the temple when Jesus sat and watched how men were giving, did that not further sanction and facilitate also the giving of the saints to His work? See Mark 12:41-44.

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. ” Matthew 6:19-24

Allowing people to give to God’s work is opening the floodgates for God’s Word to be furthered in the earth, in the hearts of men and to allow the laying up of treasure in Heaven as our LORD instructed.

“But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. 7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: 9 (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. 10 Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)” 2 Corinthians 9:6-11

So if God loves the person who gives cheerfully, where better are they to do their giving but to the work of the One who stated these words? Then the LORD gives consequent blessings to those who give as He states in the above passage.

And so though we don’t beg for money, we must never disallow the giving of Christ’s saints. If we do, we hinder the blessing of God on their lives and perhaps in laying up eternal treasure which Jesus commanded (Matthew 6:19-21).

It seems some become disillusioned when they realize they’ve been deceived by wolves in sheep’s clothing. Then they don’t give at all and yet the Word instructs us to give and to specifically give to the ministries that feed us the pure Word (Galatians 6:6; 1 Timothy 5:17-18).

Notice here that Paul speaks against coveting and yet then speaks of the blessedness of giving and that those who give are the ones who are blessed.

Acts 20:33–35 “I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel. 34 Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. 35 I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

When we choose to give, it is for God’s glory and our own good.

Did the apostle Paul and the early church take up collections? Answer: Yes. See 1 Corinthians 16:1-2. To refuse to allow God’s people to give is a sin and out of the order of God established from Genesis to Revelation. In Exodus 35, God’s people gave so much that the LORD had to tell them to stop. Would to God we had that problem these days. It’s quite the opposite in this late hour unless you look at the masses of gullible dupes who empty their pockets on the end time wolves who are making merchandise of them (2 Peter 2:1-3).

–— Nearly half of Jesus’ parabolic teachings deal with stewardship. Remember, in the temple Jesus never told the Jews to remove the treasury (coffers where people have the privilege to give). No, in fact, He sat right next to it in order to watch how people were giving and neglecting to give (Mark 12:41-44).

“Now concerning the collection FOR THE SAINTS, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. 2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.” 1 Corinthians 16:1-2

THE EARLIEST followers of Christ are our example and they gave to the body of Christ, not the lost! Divine priority! See Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35; 1 Corinthians 16:1-3; Galatians 6:10, etc. “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. … Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.” (Matthew 25:40, 45)

The earliest Christians gave to the needy Christians, not the world.

“But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. 26 For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem.” Romans 16:25-26

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