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RE: How can anyone vote for Trump, when even his staff won’t support him.
Would you please stop engaging in the usual dishonesty you persist in uttering.Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio who's parents were Italian immigrants.
Jorge Bergoglio was head of the Jesuit order in the 1970s when the church backed the military government that overthrew the lawful Argentina's government during the "dirty war" of murders and abductions carried out by the junta that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983 when thousands of people were disappeared. It is estimated that between 22,000 and 30,000 people were killed or disappeared, many of whom were impossible to formally document.
The Argentine Catholic church itself made a public apology for its failure to take a stand against the generals.
In February, a court noted during the sentencing of three former military men to life imprisonment for the killings of two priests that the church hierarchy had "closed its eyes" to the killing of progressive priests.
As head of the Jesuit order from 1973 to 1979, Jorge Bergoglio was a member of the hierarachy during the period when the wider Catholic church backed the military government. Bergoglio twice refused to testify in court about his role as head of the Jesuit order. When he eventually appeared in front of a judge in 2010, he was accused by lawyers of being evasive.
The main charge against Bergoglio involves the kidnapping of two Jesuit priests, Orland Yorio and Francisco Jalics, who were taken by Navy officers in May 1976 and held under inhumane conditions for the missionary work they conducted in the country's slums, a politically risky activity at the time.
RE: Speed dating
I've been turned down by striking up a conversation with women in a grocery store.In my experience, they aren't there for meeting men.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. He also had received the one talent came forward saying, Master, I knew you to be a hard man Begin where you did not so and gathering where you scattered no seed. So I was afraid and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have. What is yours. But his master answered him, you wicked and slothful servant, you knew that I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed.Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers and that might come in. I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him as the ten talents for to everyone who has will more be given and he will have an abundance.
But from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away and cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. That's God's word. Now, here's the main thing we want to understand for the sake of our conversation here tonight, what visible Mark differentiates the servants who entered into their masters, joy from the servant who doesn't enter or said another way, what marks a person today who will enter the kingdom verse is the person who will not.
And so let's see if we can understand the parts of this parable together, which takes place in a 1st century Jewish context, much like the marriage parable that we looked at last week did so. We have the master in this parable. He owns everything, including the very lives of his servants, this master. He goes away after delegating some of his possessions to his servants so that they can work to bring him a return on what was entrusted to them.
And when he comes back, he's going to settle his accounts with the servants to see what they've done with what they were given. The master has every right to bring them into his joy or to destroy them. This is consistent with a first century relationship between a master and his servants. Then we take a look at the servants in this parable.
When you hear the word servant, I don't want you to think on the face.
Tattered clothes, gaunt. I don't want you to picture like a scene from Oliver Twist. The servants are like, please, sir, I'm going to have some more.
Don't think that. Think. Valued employee who was entrusted with his master's possessions.
There were servants in those days who actually live better lives than some of their free counterparts.
Now, everything the servant has in their possession, everything belongs to their master, their spouse, if they have one, their kids if they have them, their clothes, their food, their own bodies, their dwelling, their hope, their future, their life, their everything is the masters.
The servants know what the expectation is of them. They are expected to work for the benefit of their master. Again, this is on par with what took place back then in the 1st century. The parent, this parable also talks about something called a talent, a talent is a confusing coincidence that our English word talent is used to translate the Greek word that's used here in our text. See, the talent is not a skill or a gift.
When you think about the word talent, the master didn't give special abilities.
When he gave up these talents, he didn't say, OK, I'm going to give you the ability to juggle. That's your talent and you're going to be able to do magic tricks and you can rub your tummy and pat your head at the same time. He didn't give out talents like that. This talent is a waste of money, depending on what was being weighed with silver or gold or other precious metals, the value of these talents would be in the thousands of dollars, very, very valuable possession.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
They hit me, and so I'm that's why I was late. That's why I was late. And if I was saying that to you and looking. Like, I'm looking now, what would you say to yourself? There's no way there's no way that that happens, there's no way that you, as frail as you are, would come into contact with something, with that kind of force and ferocity and power.And that would impact your life. And you would remain unchanged with not a scratch or a dent, it doesn't make any sense. Now, I want you to imagine your life and I want you to imagine the power that spoke words and the entire cosmos came into existence. I want you to imagine the power that was displayed with the ten plagues being levied on Egypt as judgment for what they were doing to God's people. I want you to imagine the power that when Jesus walked this earth opened, blind eyes loosened, paralyzed legs, cast out leprosy and demons.
I want you to imagine the power that would raise Jesus brutalized, tortured body and glorify him on the other side of death. That the jaws of death had Jesus. But there was a power that went in that opened up the grave and Jesus came out. And I want you to imagine a power that second to no other power in all of the ends of the universe, and that power comes into a person's life the moment they become a Christian.
And you're going to tell me that that happens. And nothing will change. And nothing will change. No way. No way I'd argue with you that it's impossible to become a Christian and to begin to live the same exact kind of life that you were living prior to your new profession of faith.
Impossible. Now, is this power that comes in, is it going to produce a perfect Christian life in you? Of course not. Of course not. It's not going to be perfection. We will not become perfect, but we will become different and we will be able and it will be able to be seen by others.
Others are going to be able to see the effect of Christ in my life and in your life. So way those four things always believe the right doctrine, they are the internal witness of the Holy Spirit, they have the external witness of the church validating your profession of faith. And do you live a changed life, not a perfect life, but a progressively changed life that's more and more looking like Jesus all the time. What is it specifically? That others will be able to see in a life that's changed because of Jesus, what should we be looking for?
This brings us finally, finally to our text for tonight's longest intro maybe I've ever done, Matthew. Twenty five Verse is, 14 to 30.
And it's here where we're going to see what marks the person's life, who will enter the kingdom versus who will not. So let me just read our text for us, Matthew, 25 versus 14 to 30. This is Jesus speaking. And he says for it, which is the kingdom of heaven, will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property to one. He gave five talents to another, two to another, one to each, according to his ability.
Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents, more so also he who had the two talents made two talents more, but he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now, after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them, and he, who had received the five talents, came forward bringing five talents, more same master you delivered to me five talents.
Here I've made five talents more, his master said to him. Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I'll set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. And he also, who had the two talents, came forward saying Master, you delivered to me two talents. Here I've made two talents more. His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
And know what we don't baptize anyone we don't believe is saved. We only baptize people we believe are saved. And then from that point on, for the rest of their life, inside the context of the local church, we together as brothers and sisters in Christ, teach one another how to obey Jesus.
We teach one another how to obey Jesus. That's what Jesus has commanded us in the great commission. The local church then affirms the salvation of believers in the local church by participating in the communion meal, together we bat, we get baptized one time and one time only, but we take communion as often as we're able to, as often as we're able to gather together. And that is exclusively for those who belong to the family of God.
If you have visitors coming in or people who are checking out Jesus, they're warm to Jesus.
They're asking they want to learn more, but they're not yet Christians. They don't participate in the meal that marks those who are saved. The local church, also no one's favorite stuff, but really important, administers church discipline to those who profess Jesus. But maybe begin to refuse to obey him. I didn't put this on your note, but you look at Matthew, Chapter 18, verses 15 to 20, and Jesus tells us how to love each other in the context of the local church.
Because if someone says, I love Jesus, Jesus is in me, I'm going to obey Jesus, you'd expect them to grow in their love and obedience and devotion to Jesus.
The local church says of its members, this one's a Christian, as far as we can tell, and that's a powerful mark on a person's life.
I'd be concerned if a person claimed to be a Christian and there was no local church also affirming that there are Christian. At the same time, I don't need anyone else to tell me my relationship with God.
I'm good with God. And like there's no one else actually think you're a Christian.
It doesn't matter what does matter. That's the point of the church. One of the reasons the church exists now. Does the church get it wrong? Sometimes, yes. Sometimes we get it wrong.
And that's why we want all the marks of saving faith in our life, not just one of them.
Which brings us to our number for next fill in on your line. Do you have the evidence? Of a changed life. Do you have the evidence of a changed life? Once you become a Christian, does your life begin to look any different than it used to be before you became a Christian? That's the test.
And I'm going to give you one of my favorite all time illustrations is not one that I came up with as when I've stolen from a from a preacher, but it's my favorite anyway. So there's all the copyright stuff out of the way, not mine. I'm going to give it to you. Now, I want you to rewind in your mind a few moments, about 20 minutes in the past to the beginning of this church service where Pastor Jeff finishes leading us in worship.
He gives the announcements. And I want you to imagine that I'm not here. I'm no, I'm not in the building. I'm supposed to be preaching and I'm not here. I'm late. And he's doing a great job of stalling and giving some great dad jokes and keeping everyone kind of calm. And then I come through the door ten minutes late and I come in just looking like there's nothing wrong with me. But I come in and I apologize profusely.
But then I begin to give you a reason for why I was so late. And here's the reason that I give you. I was walking across the street on the way to on the way to church, on the way to preach and then out of nowhere pummeling down the road, going 100 miles an hour was a semi truck.
And I was crossing the street the moment that it was coming and it hit me.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
That was last week's emphasis. But this week, I want to look at the flip side of it. This week's emphasis on rate doctrine is this is that you can't have anything less than rate doctrine.You need more than rate doctrine, but you can't have anything less than right doctrine.
Saving faith goes beyond it does go beyond simply believing the right thing, but it's never less than believing the right thing.
And here's an example. Someone who professes to be a Christian, they'll tell everyone at work, they'll tell their family whatever they say. I'm a Christian, I'm a Christian.
Yet that person doesn't believe that Jesus is God. Or that Jesus is the only way to eternal life or that Jesus didn't really die and he didn't really rise from the dead, this person, if they believe those things, is more than likely not a Christian. Christian in the word is this main root word, which is Christ, Ian, where Christ is Christ, we follow Christ and Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Muslims all confess a belief in Jesus Christ.
They all do. But they're not saved. Why not? Well, because they don't believe in the actual Jesus, the one who has revealed to us in the Bible, they believe in a different Jesus, one that cannot save.
And so if you don't believe the truth about Jesus, then you can't be a Christian. But if you believe the truth about Jesus, what the Bible says about him, then that's the first way that will encourage you, that you actually know him.
You believe the right things about him. That's Mark. Number one. Mark. Number two. And it's going to be the next fill in on your outline. Do you have the internal witness of the Holy Spirit? Do you have the internal witness of the Holy Spirit? When you believe the gospel for the very first time, when you repented of your sins and you trusted in the finished work of Christ on the cross, his life, his death and his resurrection, when you believed that the moment that you did the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of you, and guess what?
He's a person and he ministers to you. He speaks to you.
He's alive. He's not an impersonal force. He's not like lightning. He's a person dwelling on the inside of you. And he confirms that you belong to him. He says, you're my beloved child. He makes sure that you know that you are his. It's what the apostle Paul says in Romans eight, verse 16 on your outline, as well as says the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
And that's so sweet. That's so sweet. When you can know the sound of God's voice and he speaks to you and that's all you need to hear to give you the assurance that you need.
Now, don't underestimate the power of this, of God speaking to you. God confirms to you that belong to him. A small number two number three is this do you have the external witness of the local church, the external witness of the local church? Belonging to a local church is so important for so many reasons, if you know anything about me, you know that I'm passionate about the local church and there's lots of reasons to be. But one reason one reason is that the local church affirms the salvation of those who are members in it, the local churches where you have your salvation affirmed by other people who are also filled with the Holy Spirit.
Here's how the process works. The church goes out and preaches the gospel to unbelievers. Many people don't believe, but guess what? Some people believe.
And when those people believe, they profess to believe the church, the local church baptizes those new Christians solely upon their profession, their right profession of who Jesus is and who they are in light of them
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
And if there's ways that you and I can tell who's been born again, who can we if we can tell who has the spirit of Christ in them and we can tell who doesn't, we're not helping anybody by telling someone they're on a fast track to heaven if you don't actually think they are. Sit down with this person and you say, here are some reasons why I don't think you're safe, and you'd lay out those reasons for them gently, patiently, lovingly, with the hope that they would repent and turn and trust in Jesus.But the third reason we need to know here's the fourth reason we need to know is for the unbeliever in the mission field.
The scripture is going to be on your outline. It's my favorite all time. Like really. Like I have a life verse is Matthew.
Twenty eighteen to twenty post resurrection glorify Jesus comes to his disciples and he says, guys, all the authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.
Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to observe or obey everything I've commanded you. And lo and behold, I'm going to be with you always until the end of the age. These are our marching orders as a church.
But here's a really important question. If Jesus tells us to go and make disciples and we do that by going to people who don't have Christ and we preach the gospel to them, how do we know who to share the gospel with if we can't tell who's saved and who's not?
You go to a new town, you go to a new country, you go to a place. And the whole purpose is you're trying to lead people who don't know Jesus into a saving relationship with Jesus. How do you just take a stab at it? In the dark? You may find yourself telling the gospel to the same person over and over again. And they were saved twelve weeks ago.
If you don't know what to actually look for when they are saved, we need to be able to know.
We need to be able to discern this in order to honor Jesus and the commands and the commission that is given to us.
And so it's for all these reasons I've just given you that we have to be able to tell guys we have to be able to tell who has the Holy Spirit in them and who doesn't.
And so the next logical question is this, what are some of those marks? What can we look for in a person's life to see if Christ is in there? What can we look at the outside of their life to see if the invisible Jesus is on the inside of their heart?
I'm going to give you four marks, four marks of a life that has Jesus in it and a way to use all of all four of these for the supreme confidence, not just one or two or three.
Use all four to know with all assurance that you or people that you know are indeed in Christ. Mark. Number one, do you have the right doctrine? Do you have the right doctrine? Last week's emphasis on doctrine with a little bit different from the emphasis I'm going to make this week, because last week I said that you actually need more than just the right belief in order to be a Christian. If you're here with us.
Last week, we said that we need to go beyond simply believing that Jesus, Jesus exists or that he is God. We have to go beyond simply believing that he died and rose again. We have to go beyond simply believing that he's coming back again one day soon. Why do we have to go beyond all those things? Because the devil believes all those things, he believes them better than we do and trust me, the devil is not going to be in the kingdom with us forever.
So you can actually believe the right doctrine about Jesus and yet not be saved.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
Some people will say that, but others will answer, yes, it is possible to tell who has Christ in them and not. I'm one of those people, just so you know, these people will say that we are able to judge whether a person has Christ in them or not.And it's very important that we're able to tell.
We have to be able to tell who does and who doesn't have him. I want to give you a few reasons why it's so important, why we need to be able to tell who's going into the kingdom and who's not reason. No one is going to be the first fill in on your outline for the person in the mirror. For the person in the mirror. We need to know, like practically for our own sake and sanity and livability, if that's the word of this life, we need to be able to know if we're destined for a heaven or not.
We need to know in order to have any kind of peace of mind, any kind of assurance of the salvation that Jesus has purchased for us. I don't know about you, but like I have a hard time imagining, not knowing moment by moment if I'm going to be in eternal life or not. Like, maybe if I'm having a good day, like I'm a Christian and I'm on my way to go through the pearly gates, but if I'm having a really crummy day, maybe I'm not.
And that can have I can change oscillate from week to week, sometimes day to day, sometimes hour to hour, sometimes moment by moment.
And we just be living with our heads, spinning with no peace, no assurance, no stability for our life. And so for this reason, no one for the person in the mirror, for you and me, we need to know we need to be able to tell who's a Christian and who's not, for our own sakes.
Second reason we need to be able to tell the difference between those who are entering and those who aren't into the kingdom for the genuine believer who wrestles with their faith.
Now, we're not now we're not talking about ourselves now, but how we love our brothers and sisters in their journey of faith.
Many people wrestle with this in their life. They wrestle with being able to know if they're saved or not. This Christians wrestle with this. This may describe some of you here tonight. And we need a way to recognize who's a Christian so that we can encourage these brothers and sisters when we see that they're battling in this area. I need to know what this person is a Christian so I can honestly affirm their salvation. I can come alongside them and say, hey, brother, sister, here are some concrete reasons I can give to you that I believe that you're saved and then lay those out for them and to encourage them in their faith.
That's the second reason, here's the third reason we need to know the difference is the next Fill IN on your outline. This is for the professing Christian. Who may not be saved? This is for the professing Christian who may not be saved, we were introduced to this group of people last week when we looked at the ten bridesmaids, they all professed to be going to the wedding, but only five went in and five didn't.
And today we know that some people profess to be followers of Jesus, but there's nothing in their life that actually indicates that they're born again.
And it would be unloving of me or of you to tell someone they're saved if you don't actually think they are.
It would be like a physician, a surgeon holding up the X-ray of the patient who doesn't know if they're sick or not, but the physician can tell that there's cancer, I can see it plainly it's treatable. But if it's not treated, you're going to die. And if that doctor has that information. Comes to the patient and says to themselves, you know what, this patient looks like they're having a really good day. They don't need any bad news.
So I'm going to tell them they're OK. I want to tell you know what that is. That's wicked. That's malpractice to tell someone they're OK when you know that they're not.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
Marks of a Kingdom Citizen (Part 1)....Date:9/19/20Series: Matthew...Passage: Matthew 25:14-30.........Speaker: BJ Chursinoff
In light of the reality of eternity, how should we spend our lives? Jesus shares a compelling parable that helps us understand the most profitable way to live...
Last week, if you were here with us, we likened the entirety of Matthew Chapter 25 to a masterpiece that Jesus has painted for us, but he doesn't use any of the normal painting supplies that you can find at any arts and crafts store.
Jesus paints this picture of Matthew, 25, on the fabrics of our hearts and our minds, and he uses words, uses parables and similarly to paint this picture for us.
And like Bob Ross does or did, Jesus paints this picture in layers all throughout Matthew 25 really three successive layers with each added layer providing a little more detail to the overall picture. What's this picture that Jesus paints for us in Matthew 20?
It's a picture of King Jesus physically and literally coming back to this earth.
And when he does, it's going to set up his kingdom.
And it's in this picture that he details the reality that only some people are going to enter his kingdom when he comes, and some people will be excluded at this point. There's something really important that I want you to keep in mind tonight and throughout the rest of our study in Matthew, Chapter 25, the scene that Jesus is painting for us takes place sometime in the future in the time leading right up to and including his second coming.
And we believe the Bible teaches that the church has already been raptured when the scene that we are looking at tonight unfolds. And so if you're a Christian today, you won't be in the scene that we're looking at. You will already be with Jesus. You will be coming back with him when he returns.
But the heart of this message, though, is applicable to the church that is alive today and is applicable to those who will be alive when Jesus comes back.
So I want you to tuck that information away and keep it in mind as we go.
Last week, again, Jesus painted the first layer of our painting for us In verses one to 13, the parable where the bridesmaids were waiting for the groom to come back so that they could go into the wedding celebration with him. But only five of the 10 bridesmaids went in, and the other five did not. And what did the wives bridesmaids have? The foolish did not.
Do you remember the oil as the only distinguishing mark between the five that went in? The five that didn't they had oil. And what's the oil? When you boil everything down, what's the only thing a person must have if they're going to the kingdom of heaven? So people are raising their hands. You can say it out loud. It's the Holy Spirit. It's the Holy Spirit, which you receive when you repent of your sins and you trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of those sins.
When you do that, you get the presence of God in you.
This is the invisible presence of God living on the inside of every single child of God. And when you have Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit in you. And that's all you need to enter the kingdom. That was last week. This week, tonight. Jesus adds layer two onto his painting, Jesus gives us some more detail to the picture that he's painting for us. And here's the main question I want to ask and hopefully answer for us here tonight.
What does this kind of life look like, the life that has the invisible presence of Jesus in it? What does this kind of life look like? Is it even possible to tell who has Jesus and who doesn't? Some people will answer no. Some people will say it's not possible, these people will say that it's not possible for any human being to know what's in another human being's heart.
And so they say don't judge anyone because you can't actually accurately judge them.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
You can't afford it. But don't worry, I made it free. Me, I'm going to give you me. Cost him everything is free for us, and it's a gift we received by faith. Now. There's no price to pay for receiving Jesus made that abundantly clear, but there is a cost to following him. There is a cost and the cost I'm about to tell you, in no way purchases Jesus for you, but it is a cost you have to count if you're going to follow him.What's the cost?
You have to give up your life. You have to give up your life. I'm going to close with this illustration, someone comes to you with a crate of diamonds, big milk crates full of diamonds and wants to give it to you for free.
Lucky day. But in your hands, you're holding a crate of your own. You already have a crate, no diamonds in yours, just full to the brim. Bird droppings. That's your crate. You can't take the free trade of diamonds while your hands are full, so you need to lower your crate of bird droppings so that you can receive the better crate.
And when you do, when you do, because you're going to do it, you don't walk around telling people how you swindled this guy, how you purchased all these diamonds with your bird crap. You're not going to tell them that no one's going to believe you. You can't buy diamonds with bird poop. You can't. And this is the point. This is the application for us, you have to relinquish your life, you have to give it up.
If you're to receive Jesus, he offers to give you himself, but you're holding your life in your hands, and you can't have both of the lives.
You can't have your old life, your old, sustained life, your own hopeless life, and have the life that Jesus wants to give you. At the same time, you can't have both. So, you lay your life down, your hopes, your dreams, your control over your own life, your time, energy, money, plans, everything.
You lay it down and then you take Jesus and. You're not purchasing his gift of eternal life with your life, that would be like thinking you could buy diamonds with bird poop. No, but you have to give up your life in order to have his those are his terms.
And you cannot have the oil any other way. And so, in closing, this concludes the first layer of the masterpiece that Jesus paints for us. And Matthew twenty-five over the next two weeks, we're going to see him add a couple more layers, one by one to the picture with each layer adding more detail on top of the last. I pray you're able to come back and join us for those times, but would you bow your head and pray with me now?
Father, thank you for just your incredible, limitless goodness to us.
Thank you for your perfect word that tells us the end from the beginning tells us there was a kingdom prepared before the foundation of the world and it's going to be populated by people, countless from all tribes, nations, tongues, and languages will be around the throne worshipping and singing holy, holy, holy, forever and ever and ever.
And there's going to be a shred of boredom. It's only going to be pleasure and ecstasy forever, ever more as we're in the presence of our king Lord. And we long we're hardwired to want this from you and you give it to us.
You put the deposit in our lives now of the Holy Spirit as a seal guaranteeing that day. And in it we have hope and we longed for that day. But Lord, we do. We long for it. So thank you that it's coming. Keep us till that time and until then, Lord, for those of us who know you already let us not be satisfied with coming to the feast for ourselves. Let us be driven with compassion to want to bring other people to the feast with us.
You have a large spread, lots of seats. More than enough. Anyone can come use your church Lord, until the day that you call us home. Use us to preach the Gospel so that people might come into the kingdom for your ultimate glory, Lord, and our deepest joy and satisfaction. We pray all of these things in your name. Amen.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
And as he hung there, he took all of our wickedness, all of our sin, all of our transgressions, everything that would have kept us out of the kingdom. He took it upon himself and the father crushed him in our place.He was buried and he rose, conquering sin, Satan and death once and for all. Put it there's no there's no price tag on that millions, trillions quadrillions I can't make up and must illions. It doesn't matter how many you have, you can't pay for that. Literally priceless. And that's the price that Jesus paid in order to make himself available. Does he think he wants see in the kingdom to go to all that length to make a way for you in French?
He wants me in. He wants me in. Jesus paid a price. But we have to pay a price, too. We have to pay a price to get Jesus. Listen to Verse 8 nine again. But the wise answered same since there will not be enough for us oil and for you.
Go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.
If you want Jesus, you need to pay to get Jesus. Now stop.
Before you pick up your proverbial stones to throw them at me for potential blasphemy, because I should, I should arouse you if you ever hear someone says you have to pay to get Jesus, that's those those phony televangelist preachers trying to get your money to get you give you Jesus is false, is false.
But listen, there's a price and you've got to pay. But listen to Isaiah. Chapter fifty five, one to seven. Come, everyone who thirsts come to the waters and he who has no money come by and eat, come by wine and milk without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that, which is not bread in your labor for that which is not does not satisfy. Listen diligently to me and eat what's good and delight yourselves in rich food, including your ear, and come to me, hear that your soul may live. And I will make with you an everlasting covenant. My steadfast sure love for David. Behold, I made him a witness to the people's a leader and commander for the peoples.
Behold, you shall call a nation that you that do not know and a nation that did not know. You shall run to you because of the Lord, your God and the Holy one of Israel, for he has glorified you. Verse six. Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion on him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon in this incredible text there's an invitation to come to purchase.
But hey, don't worry. If you pull out your pockets and it's mothballs, don't worry. You have no money, no more if you're dead broke, nor if you're bankrupt in debt. Doesn't matter. I made this price just right for you. Cost me everything. Jesus says you've got to pay for it. Let me just rub up the sticker price free, free, come and take it. Come and take the satisfaction that your souls are craving for the satisfaction that you're trying to satisfy by all the things in the world.
And it never works. Relationships, money, status, job, promotion, family. Maybe if I get more of this, a little bit of this, maybe if this changes and you keep trying to pour in everything, that's not the oil of the Holy Spirit and like drinking saltwater, it leaves you more thirsty than you ever were before.
It's insatiable, this world, and it will never satisfy.
And Jesus, in the end, we spend all of our lives and all of our money and all of our energy pursuing that morally, spiritually, emotionally bankrupt to get things that don't feel. And Jesus says, I got the only thing that's going to fill you.
RE: Useless trivia
This song may be in trouble then, it range from slow to fast in one song:Scooter - Can't Stop The Hardcore (Official Video HD)
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
Way number two, you will be raptured one day and then you will stand before the judge of all the Earth. Or option three, you will be alive when Jesus comes back, are seen, and then you will stand before the judge of all the Earth. Any way you slice it, you're going to stand before him and do you know what you need in order to be ready for any of those three scenarios? You need to have what we've been discussing here tonight, you need Jesus, period.So no matter who you are or what period of time you're living in, you and the people you love need Christ. And it's in this sense that Jesus is a one size fits all kind of readiness that every single one of us needs. Third take away is the next fill in on your outline, faith in Jesus is non-transferable. Faith in Jesus is nontransferable, the foolish bridesmaids didn't have the oil, they came to the bridesmaids, they had the all they tried to get some they tried to leach some off of them.
And were they able to know? They couldn't. Because the reason I can't I can't give you some. I can't give you some. And what this is, because the oil is actually having a saving relationship with Jesus, what this is telling us, I believe, is that we can only have faith for ourselves. We can only believe for ourselves as much as I would want to, as much as I I wish I could and I would do it.
We can't believe in a saving way for another person. I can't throw my faith onto their life and have that be good for them. When Jesus comes back or he calls them to himself. Every single person has to make a decision before they die, before they see the judge of all the Earth to receive Christ or not. I wish we could believe for people, if we could do that, all my friends, all my family, all my enemies, everyone in the world, we go into heaven, if I could do it.
And so would be the same for you, I am sure, but we can't and this is why we preach and why we implore people to believe on Jesus, because we want them in the kingdom with us. We want them in, and they aren't getting in without him. And this is why the church needs to hear a message like this is for us to encourage us and to teach us the word and to look forward to is coming.
But it's not supposed to terminate on us.
We're not supposed to leave this room tonight saying, well, I'm good because I got the oil is supposed to stir me up with compassion for my friends, my families and my neighbors and everyone that I know who doesn't have Jesus. I need to see them as the foolish bridesmaid I need to see. I got we've got to find a way to get you some oil. I can't give it to you, but let me take you to the one who can and we go to leverage our entire life to that end, because like I said earlier, when he comes back and the kingdom's established, nothing else matters.
Your friends or family and their marriages are falling apart. Cry with them, give them counsel, but pray that they come to know Christ. You know, your friends had to have a child that has graduated high school with honors, celebrate with them.
But if they don't know Jesus, what's that going to amount to when Jesus comes back?
The highest highs and the lowest lows in this life mean nothing unless you have Christ. Because you're going to blink and your time on this earth is done and then eternity awaits. So faith in Jesus is nontransferable, final take away your final fill in the oil in this parable is very expensive. The oil in this parable is very expensive. How expensive is it? What kind of price was paid for us to be able to have access to this oil? That is Christ.
That is the spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit in US. Well, Jesus had to give his life.
Like his whole entire life, 33 years, he resisted temptation to the point of shedding his blood, perfect righteousness in a totally wicked and unrighteous world, he lived his life and then he died on a cross, shed his blood.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
What's what's missing? There's no bride like the star of a normal weddings is not here. How many times are you going to have a wedding without a bride? The bride is noticeably absent from this parable. And some Bible teacher suggests, though we don't need to or shouldn't make too much out of this omission and that we shouldn't read too much into every part of every parable that's given to us. Well, they're wrong, as Jeff says, and I quote and I to say, I'm not one of those Bible teachers, I'm not one because how do you have a marriage celebration without a bride?Can you imagine going to a wedding today and there's no bride? Do you think people would see no bride and continue on the day without skipping a beat? Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. But like, there's still a buffet, right? There's still a buffet. You know, the bride's not here. I don't think that was going to happen. Everything got shut down.
If she doesn't come to the altar, if there's cold feet. The bride in the New Testament is the church is the church and the church is the whole group of people who have repented of their sins and believed on Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. Jesus has paid for us with his life. Consider that a bride price the purchase us. He's washed us and made us spiritually white as snow. Think white wedding garments.
And now we wait for our bridegroom to come and get us the apostle Paul makes this connection very plainly in Ephesians Chapter five verses thirty one to thirty two when he compares marriage of a bride and the groom to the church with Jesus together. Listen to what he says. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.
This mystery is profound and I'm saying that it refers to Christ and the Church Jesus as the bridegroom. The church is the bride, and he's coming for us. So then I got to ask, why would the bride be absent from this parable of Jesus when everything to do is with a marriage feast?
Where's the bride? I believe that's because at this time in history, when Jesus comes back to the Earth, he's already taken his bride away. The church is already gone when the picture we are looking at unfolds on the earth in real time. The bride is missing from this parable because the church has been raptured. And that means that this parable is directed towards those who will be alive on Earth at the time of the second coming of Jesus Christ. The scene of this painting that Jesus paints for us is of the scene that takes place when Jesus physically, physically comes back to the Earth at the end of Daniel's seventieth week, the end of the world as we know it.
And because of this, because of this, the church is raptured tribulation saints and those who think they are there, everyone's waiting for Jesus to come back because of this. Some someone might be tempted to say, I'm not going to be around then when he actually physically comes back.
So then this message doesn't really apply to me. But it does apply to you and it applies to every single one of us and to every single person alive today, here's why. there are only three possible ways, as far as I can count, three possible ways that you or I or anyone else will ever transition from this life into eternity, only three ways away. Number one, the most common by far. You will physically die one day and then you're going to stand before the judge of all the earth.
Way number two, you will be raptured one day and then you will stand before the judge of all the Earth. Or option three, you will be alive when Jesus comes back, are seen, and then you will stand before the judge of all the Earth. Any way you slice it, you're going to stand before him and do you know what you need in order to be ready for any of those three scenarios? You need to have what we've been discussing here tonight, you need Jesus, period.
RE: Speed dating
Curiosity is killing me, did you go?The sky is falling... The sky is falling...
My question is: "Having viewed an eclipse, did you think Fido's life significantly changed?"
UK & USA ELECTIONS THIS YEAR. UKRAINE?
David Cameron, or Lord Cameron, will be meeting with Trump to try and persuade him to support Ukraine financially etc. Cameron is an unelected member of the UK government and was sacked as prime minister in the past. Why should Trump listen to Cameron? Many people here wouldn't listen to anything he has to say.
RE: Embroiled...
I wasn’t talking about insider trading, I was discussing the fact Trump has a controlling interest in the company.
RE: Speed dating
You should give it a try
RE: How can anyone vote for Trump, when even his staff won’t support him.
I'm in agreement with you Merlot not arguing with you .
RE: How can anyone vote for Trump, when even his staff won’t support him.
If you know it's rhetoric then why fall for it?... and if it's not rhetoric?
How many times has he challenged the election as being fraud?
How many requests for delays in all his recent court dates?
Google 'following Hitler's playbook' and see the similarity.
Is that rhetoric?
I heard a nice description from a newscaster "He keeps throwing spaghetti on the wall hoping something will stick"
Defiantly Ignoring gag orders on defamation. One cost him millions.
Back to the blog topic:
How can anyone vote for Trump, when even his staff won’t support him.
What do his followers not know or refuse to listen to his actions?
RE: How can anyone vote for Trump, when even his staff won’t support him.
I pointed out that he's unlikely to be able to change the Constitution and gave reasons why in case people were getting worried about the impending doom that was being spread. If that helped to put some peoples minds at ease then I'm happy. The ones who want to rant like hysterical turkeys will continue to do so because of 'free speech' which they abuse.If you know it's rhetoric then why fall for it?
If it makes you feel better to hear my opinion of Trump then I will say that he is not someone I would want as a neighbour never mind a President but I won't join the Trump Haters Club.
The sky is falling... The sky is falling...
I looked at this link again:The dancers caught my eyes... What's wrong in the photo??
RE: How can anyone vote for Trump, when even his staff won’t support him.
Block's political ambitions have nothing to do with this discussion. He was employed by Trump so why is the truth you posted believable yet an expert in his field is not.Seems pretty believable to me.
RE: How can anyone vote for Trump, when even his staff won’t support him.
Therein lies the problem Merlot . Trump talking about what he will do and what he actually can do.
I've never known an ex President spout so much garbage as he has done since losing .
Repetitive rhetoric springs to mind.
RE: Speed dating
Don't put yourself down
To this day I still scratch my head wondering why people need technology to find ways to meet the opposite sex Did you know you can be asked out whilst grocery shopping?
I will never trust technology for meeting up with a man ever
I end up chatting with men when power walking On the bus On the train Grocery shopping The gym
At the club At the tavern Have been asked out at all the places I have mentioned even power walking the streets for exercise Couple of years ago I made a a final decision to stay single I'm happy as is but if I was into dating I wouldn't turn to technology I would stick to the real world & for the life of me I don't know why others don't stick to the real world
RE: The sky is falling... The sky is falling...
Fly to Australia 2028 & witness our eclipseRE: How can anyone vote for Trump, when even his staff won’t support him.
Can you tell me how he will actually accomplish these things."They believe he will destroy the constitution."
And
"Trump will force dictatorship onto a once land of the free."
RE: How can anyone vote for Trump, when even his staff won’t support him.
You'd need a lot of stamina alright lol. He puts a lot of effort into his posts but his conclusions are absurd.
RE: The sky is falling... The sky is falling...
I live in Dallas...right in the path. But having seen several of them over the years, I wasn't much interested in this one. Laid down on the sofa and after a few minutes realized the room was totally dark... like 10pm dark. As it began to lighten some, I stepped out on the south facing front door and there was this strange image on the concrete. It was shadows of the clouds...now that freaked me out!! I have no explanation... so if you do... go ahead.
How can anyone vote for Trump, when even his staff won’t support him.
No one realised what Hitler was doing until it was too late to stop him.History often repeats itself, especially when many refuse to take notice of historical facts.