Welcome to this week's edition of the Weekend Sermon. I am very happy that you have taken the time to read the blog this week. I hope that everyone has had a very nice week.
I have something important to thank the Lord for. I was worried that I might lose my house, but the Lord has provided, and I will be able to stay in my home. Thanks be to God. I still have some important decisions to make, so please continue to remember me in your prayers. Thank you.
In prayer this week, please pray for those who are recovering from storm damage around the world. In my area, some are still recovering from the floods and tornadoes. I know that the people in Mozambique still need our prayers as they recover from the storms. We also need to pray for those in California who experienced problems due to the earthquake.
Let us remember to pray for those in Congo and Uganda who are dealing with the Ebola outbreak. Pray that this will end soon. Please pray for those who are working to help people in these areas.
I would ask that we all pray for those who are homeless this week. Homelessness is a big problem in my country. Pray that people will get the help that they need.
Remember to pray for peace this week. Libya, Syria and Yemen really need our prayers for peace this week.
For our prayer focus countries, let us pray for those in the nations of Japan and Algeria. Pray that many will hear about the love that Jesus has for all.
Over the course of the last few weeks, we have been in a series of messages on false teachings that were addressed in the New Testament. We have seen that Jesus, Paul, Peter and John all had to deal with false teachings.
In today's message, we are going to change the focus just a little bit. Often, it's possible to distinguish truth from error. In doing this, the most important thing is to know the truth. If you know the truth, you will not be led astray by those teachings and beliefs that are contrary to the teachings of Jesus recorded in the Bible.
The Bible is clear that it is important that we believe the right doctrines. In the book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul uses strong language against those who would try to teach a Gospel contrary to the Gospel that he preached. Paul says in Galatians 1:8-9, "But even if we or an angel from heaven preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God's curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God's curse."
That's a very strong statement. Paul wanted to make sure that people were hearing the truth about the Gospel.
Now, here is the question. What is the Gospel? How can we recognize the true Gospel so that if someone preaches another Gospel, we will recognize that?
For the answer to this, let us look at the words of the Apostle Paul again. In I Corinthians 15: 3-4 Paul states, "For what I received I passed on to you of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures."
From this passage and the others that we have studies in this series, we can define the true Gospel like this. Jesus is God come in the flesh. He was born of the Virgin Mary. He lived a holy and sinless life as our perfect example. Jesus died on the cross. On the cross, Jesus bore our sins in His body. He was the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world. Jesus died and was buried. On the third day, Jesus rose bodily from the grave. By His resurrection, Jesus conquered death, hell and grave. Jesus ascended into Heaven. One day, Jesus will come in power and great glory to restore all things to the way that they were before sin entered into the world. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. To be born again, a person needs to accept what Jesus has done for him on the cross. He needs to repent of his sins and trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord. One must believe that Jesus has risen from the dead.
This is the basic teaching about Jesus. This is the orthodox teaching of the Christian church. There are some who will teach what is contrary to this. Jesus, Paul, Peter, John and Jude have all warned against following those who teach another way, another Jesus and another Gospel. If we understand and recognize the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, we will never fall into error.
Maybe you have never heard or understood what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. I hope that you will examine what Jesus did and what He said. I hope and pray that you will give your life to Jesus today. He will make all the difference for you.
Next week, we will conclude our series about false teachings. I will post the sermon on Saturday. On Monday, I will post the verses for the week. I plan to post a book review on Wednesday. May God bless you all. Amen.
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