Myth, 26

~ Good Preaching Equals A Growing Church ~

False  ~  “Preach the word!  Be ready in season and out of season.  Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Timothy 4:2-4).  In other words great preaching does not always result in numerical growth. 

Kernel of Truth  ~  Good Biblical teaching will usually produce meaningful spiritual growth in some.  We must remember that as Christ’s ambassadors and servants on earth we are never guaranteed results—that responsibility is with God.  We are held to account for faithfulness to our calling. 

Reality  ~  If you are a good Biblical preacher the heavy odds are that some will turn away.  Even Jesus saw crowds leave Him and His teaching. 

Personal Comment  ~  I believe that a problem with many local Christian churches today is a focus on numbers.  Some go far as to attempt to draw people by an almost nightclub atmosphere with loud contemporary music, repetitive singing, colored lights, and other attempts to be like the world system in order to gain (or keep) numbers. 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

Fear God, 151

~ Not Fearing God Reveals Defiance and Rebellion ~

God does not want His children living in fear.  “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:2-3).  However, God does want His children to have a proper respect and reverence for Him.  We are told in many places in Scripture to “fear God.”  

This Week’s Passage  ~  “Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah, saying, ‘Hear this now, O foolish people, without understanding, who have eyes and see not, and who have ears and hear not: Do you not fear Me?’ says the Lord.  ‘Will you not tremble at My presence, who have placed the sand as the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it?  And though its waves toss to and fro, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.  But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart; they have revolted and departed.  They do not say in their heart, “Let us now fear the Lord our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season.  He reserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.”  Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins have withheld good from you’” (Jeremiah 5:20-25).

Fearing God Results in Salvation  ~  “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).  “A wise person fears and departs from evil, but a fool rages and is self-confident” (Proverbs 14:16).  This does not mean the Christian is to live a fearful life—but a life which reverences God and seeks to do His will. 

Fearing God Results in Fearlessness  ~  “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1).  The answer is: only God.  With the gift of salvation comes responsibility.

Fearing God Results in Witnessing  ~  “Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul” (Psalm 66:16). 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

No Difference

~ Salvation Is On The Same Basis for Jews and Gentiles ~

In Sin And Need  ~  “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:21-26).

In Salvation And Acceptance  ~  “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.  For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved’” (Romans 10:10-13). 

In Standing And Liberty  ~  “Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter.  And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: ‘Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.  So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.  Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?  But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they’” (Acts 15:6-11). 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .