Chambersburg Bible Church

Text: Matthew 7:24-27Matthew 7:24-27
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: ²⁵ And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. ²⁶ And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: ²⁷ And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.  


Topic: The Wise Man and the Foolish Man

On Sunday, March 1st, Evangelist Mark Kittrell preached a powerful message on “The Wise Man and the Foolish Man.” Matthew 7:24-27Matthew 7:24-27
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: ²⁵ And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. ²⁶ And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: ²⁷ And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.  
describes two men, a wise man and a foolish man. These men represent two types of people in life. As in Matthew 7, these types of people make two different choices which result in two different outcomes. Interestingly, there is only one fundamental difference between these two types of people. The difference is that the wise man chooses to act when he hears God’s truth, and the foolish man chooses to ignore God’s truth. Which type of person are you?

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Text: Matthew 5:13-16Matthew 5:13-16
13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. ¹⁴ Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵ Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. a bushel: the word in the original signifieth a measure containing about a pint less than a peck ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.  

Topic: Admonishing the believer to fulfill his patriotic duty

On this Independence Day 2010, we should examine our patriotic duty as understood from the scripture, while also considering our freedom in Christ from sin and death.

Abraham Lincoln once said, “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” We as American Christians have a patriotic duty as citizens in the greatest nation on earth to stand up for and defend the freedoms God has blessed us with.

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• Our patriotic duty to government (Romans 13:1-5Romans 13:1-5
  13 ¹ Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. ordained: or, ordered ² Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. ³ For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: ⁴ For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. ⁵ Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.  
  )
  • Obedience to our government and laws
  • Prayer for our government
    • President
    • Economy
    • Law Enforcement
• Remain educated and informed on current issues
• Our patriotic duty to our Creator (Acts 17:22-27Acts 17:22-27
  22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. Mars' hill: or, the court of the Areopagites ²³ For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. devotions: or, gods that ye worship ²⁴ God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; ²⁵ Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; ²⁶ And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; ²⁷ That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:  
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  • Understanding that God is “knowable”
    • Paul was not indifferent to those who were in spiritual darkness (v 17)
    • Paul sought to make known the “Unknown God”
• Established governments are used to promote the knowledge of God (v 27)
  • God establishes all governments (Romans 13:1Romans 13:1
    13 ¹ Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. ordained: or, ordered  
    )
  • God has a purpose for each government and nation
• Our God offers freedom from sin and death through Salvation

Challenge

• We celebrate America’s 234^th year of proclaimed independence – God has ordained and allowed the USA to exist for these many years that men and women may have opportunity to find and know God
• Have you found the Lord? He is near and awaiting your faith and dependence in Him!
• Thank God for the independence of our great Nation, do your patriotic duty for our Nation and in our service for the Lord!

Do you love God?  Do you really love God? I am amazed at the number of people who say they love God yet seem to have little or no understanding as to what love for God is.  It is easy to say “I love God,” but love for God is difficult to measure.  Love cannot be measured with a ruler or a yardstick.  You cannot pour love into a measuring cup to find out how much you actually have.  Love in not a commodity that you can carry in a paper sack.  Love for God is an allusive concept!

Does that mean that those who say they love God simply must be taken at their word?  Is it possible to determine if a person’s love for God is genuine?  Is there an objective standard by which love is gauged?  Is it possible to be involved in religious activities and not love God?

Many people deceive themselves when they equate religious activity with love for God.  Jesus predicted that there would be those who were outwardly connected to God through religious activity, but who did not truly love Him (Matthew 25:31-40Matthew 25:31-40
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: ³² And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: ³³ And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: ³⁵ For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: ³⁶ Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. ³⁷ Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? ³⁸ When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? ³⁹ Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? ⁴⁰ 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.  
).  Fortunately, Jesus addressed the issue of loving God with His disciples in John 14:15John 14:15
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.  
.  Jesus declared that active obedience to His commandments was proof that a person loved Him.  Based upon Jesus’ statement it is possible to evaluate a person’s proclaimed affection for God by examining their willingness to order their lives after His words.  Habitual obedience to the commandments of Christ is the acid test of one’s love.

The obvious question then is this: “Which commandments must we obey?” If obedience is the standard, which commands require obedience?  The short answer is all of them!  God has not issued any superfluous commandments.  Everything that God speaks is important and He expects complete obedience.  Since obedience indicates love and since God demands complete obedience, where do we begin?  It is impossible to examine all that God commands in this short article, but I want to look at one.

In Acts17:30, God commands all men to repent.  No matter whom you are or where you live, God universally commands everyone to repent.  The idea behind the word “repent” is to change your mind.  God expects man to think differently, but think differently about what?  God commands us to repent of our sin!  Sin is breaking God’s law (I John 3:4John 3:4
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?  
).  If you have ever broken any of God’s laws (this includes The Ten Commandments), you have sinned.  In God’s eyes you are a law-breaker (James 2:10James 2:10
10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.  
).  You are a sinner (Romans 3:23Romans 3:23
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;  
) and your sin has separated you from God (Isaiah 59:2Isaiah 59:2
2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. have hid: or, have made him hide  
)!  Not only that, but your sin has earned you death (both physical death and spiritual death) (Romans 6:23Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  
).  To further complicate the matter, sin makes you God’s enemy (Romans 5:10Romans 5:10
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.  
).

In light of these basic truths, you can see why God commands you to repent (Acts 17:30Acts 17:30
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:  
).  Sin is the very thing that hinders you from loving Him.  Sin separates us from God and man is powerless to close the distance (Romans 5:6Romans 5:6
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. in due time: or, according to the time  
).  God sent His Son, Jesus, to bridge the gap that sin created.  Jesus bridged the gap by paying the penalty for our sin when He died on the cross.  By repenting of your sin and asking Jesus to forgive and save you, you obey the commandment of God.  It is impossible for a person to say they love God if they are unwilling to obey God’s foundational commandment.  Do you love God?  Do you really love Him?  If you really love Him you will keep His commandments!