What More Are You Doing Than Others?

Mt 5:43-47

What a sobering question.  Jesus asked, "What more are you doing than others" while He was teaching a lesson on the high standard of loving our enemies.  He used the practical workings of the Law of Moses when He said, "eye for an eye..." Mt 5:38 In contrast to that He said, "love your enemies..." Mt 5:44  Wow, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.  That makes the question He asked even more sobering!  Remember, Jesus exemplified this teaching when He was on the cross. Lk 23:34  We must follow Jesus and imitate Him.  What should we do more than others, love our enemies and pray for those who persecute you.  This is essential to show our resemblance of our Father who gives to the righteous and unrighteous. Mt 5:45

Some say and think this is impossible for a human to accomplish.  It may be extremely hard, but not impossible.  Jesus makes it possible.  He does so by not just saying it, but by living it.  Paul says a similar thing when he writes the Romans and is instructing them to behave like Christians. Rom 12:17-21

In verse 46, Jesus said that even tax collectors love the ones who love them.  These tax collectors were commonly known for theft.  If a thief can love those who love them what praise is found in this kind of love?  NONE!  Listen to me now, a Christian should have a love that distinguishes them from sinners! Lk 6:32,33  Jesus asked, "What more are you doing than others?"  The answer He is looking for is,  "Loving others like the example you gave, my Lord."  Instead, we are trying to love others, like sinners.  A Christians love should distinguish them from sinners.   I once read about a father teaching his son about being a gentleman and said, "My son, speak kindly to everyone, even those who do not speak kindly to you.  You must remember to show courtesy to others not because they are gentlemen, but because you are one."   Jesus wants us to love, do good for, and lend to our enemies while expecting nothing in return. Lk 6:35  We must love our enemies not because of who they are, but because of who we are, Christians.

This question Jesus asked teaches that Christianity is of little value if it doesn't make us better than those in the world.  At their baptism, a Christian is raised up to walk in the newness of life (Rom 6:3,4) not the oldness of life.  At their baptism, a Christian has buried their old self and put on a new self. Col 3:7-10  This newness of life and new self is harder than memorizing book, chapter, and verse of God's Word.  It is hard to do!  The Pharisees were Law abiding men.  They tithed down to the mustard seed.  All of this wasn't sufficient.  Jesus said, our righteousness must surpass that of the Pharisees. Mt 5:20  If we memorize the entire Bible and give all we got at tithe and offering time but fail to love our enemies we are no different than the world.  

Jesus asked, "what more are you doing than others?"  Jesus is our standard not other people or denominations.  It's a shame that Jehovah's Witnesses circulate literature filled with error, we should circulate more to preach the truth.  If a Mormon can give ten percent to support error, we should give more to support the truth.  If a denomination can meet to worship in error for three hours, we should meet to worship for four hours in truth.  I know, now I have gotten personal.  Jesus asked, "What more are you doing than others?"  

Don't be caught up in the trap of being average!  Most people are satisfied when they have accomplished what is considered average.  Jesus didn't call us to be average!  The average was "eye for an eye" but Jesus demands more.  He demands love and not to resist an person who is evil. Mt 5:39  The average was "thou shall not kill"  but Jesus demands more.   He demands us to love our brothers. 1Jn 3:15; 4:20  The average says that "one faith is as good as another" but Jesus says worship can be in vain. Mt 15:9  One more, the average is "drink but don't get drunk" but God's Word says abstain forms of evil. 1Th 5:22  These examples vividly show that Jesus demands that we excel beyond average.  We were not called to be average.  We were called to be Christians!  We are called to follow Jesus' example even in suffering. 1Pe 2:21  Jesus leads us to the Father.  Jesus leads us home. Jn 14:6  

Jesus asked, "What more are you doing than others?"  May we never measure what we are doing to anyone other than Jesus.  Today, are we willing to love and pray for our enemies?  Are we willing to answer the call to go beyond average?  Are we ready to be a Christian?  Are we ready to follow Jesus?

WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?

We must hear the Word of God:  Rom 10:17; Acts 4:4

We must believe or have faith:   Heb 11:6; Acts 16:31

We must repent of our sins:  Lk 13:3; Acts 17:30

We must confess Christ before others:  Mt 10:32; Acts 8:37

We must be immersed into Christ (baptized) Mk 16:16; Acts 2:38

We must be faithful:   Rev 2:10; Acts 14:22   

What do you think of the Christ?

Mt 22:41-46

This is the most important questions ever asked.  No man can ever be saved if he fails this test.  To recognize and hail Christ as God come in the flesh is the beginning of the salvation process that leads to eternal life.  Christ is the "cornerstone." Eph 2:20  Honestly, without that perception, man will remain guilt ridden, roam as a lost sheep without a shepherd, and condemned forever.  What a person thinks of Christ determines the destiny of their soul. Jn 8:24  Every person must think something about the Christ.  No one can be indifferent, or sitting on the fence.  Mt 12:30  A person who denies Christ is often stimulated by the mention of His name.  The mention of Buddha or Muhammad doesn't upset them, but the very sound of Christ gets them up in arms and brings forth fierce opposition, why?  It is my opinion, that people have no fear of Muhammad or Buddha.  Now Christ, on the other hand, is a different story because the thought that Christ just may be all that He said He is can be very alarming and disturbing.  They can not let the thought of Christ alone because the thought of Christ can not let them alone!   So, what do you think of the Christ, whose son is He?

The Pharisees said He was "the son of David."  Jesus was the son of David according to the flesh. Rom 1:3  His mother was human, which made Him the son of man. With a portion of His nature as human as His mother, Christ "became flesh and dwelt among us." Jn 1:14  His dual nature of human and divine made Him qualified to be the only redeemer and mediator of mankind. 1Ti 2:5,6  Christ was tempted, He felt hunger and thirst, He suffered agony, and he felt the need for prayer like any other person on this earth.

 The only problem with the Pharisees response is that is only half true!  Remember this, "A half truth is a whole lie."  Christ formed an argument (Mt 22:43-46) from Ps 110:1 saying since He existed before David, He is more than the son of David. Christ has always existed! Jn 1:1-3  Christ is the only begotten Son of God, born of a virgin, begotten of the Holy Spirit. Lk 1:26-35; Jn 1:14  He is called Immanuel Mt 1:23 

Jesus' teachings testified to His divinity.  Mt 7:29  His authoritative teachings distinguished Him from other men.  He spoke of the future so positively that you would have thought it had already happened!  Have you ever realized that Jesus said He would return in the day and night? Lk 17:31,34 Today, we understand the possibility of that because we know the earth is round.  It is day on one part of the earth and night on another.  How can you account for this teaching hundreds of years before mankind ever even dreamed of the earth being round?  Because Christ was divine and more than the son of man!

His works testified to His divinity.  His miracles were evidence to support His claim of divinity. Jn 3:2  He had power over nature.  He walked on water.  He had authority over diseases.  People who had long term diseases that couldn't be cured by doctors were healed just by touching Christ's garments.  Even death submitted to Jesus.  A man, Lazarus, was dead for four days and Jesus raised him from the grave!  Why do we read of these miracles in the Bible?  So Jesus can be lifted up as one cool cat and a powerful cat at that!  NO!  These are recorded so we can have believe in Jesus today (Jn 20:30,31) and understand He is more than the son of David, He is deity!    Because that belief is the start of a salvation process that leads to eternal life.  The question that arises is this, are the Biblical accounts trustworthy?  Yes, because I said so and that's good enough.  Just playin'! don't ever take a man's word on Scripture.  Let the Bible commentate on its self!  

These signs and miracles we read about are not hearsay.  The writers had seen, heard, and touched Christ. 1Jn 1:1  The writers definitely believed what they wrote and testified to as they died for what they taught.  Not many people will die for what they know to be false!  The letters they wrote passed the "acid test."  The acid test is basically a time proven thing.  I heard Ed Wharton use this illustration one time.  "If I wrote a book today about a man named Ed Wharton that did all these miracles, signs, and wonders in Lubbock, TX people would read it and call me a phony.  They would say I live in Lubbock, TX and I have never seen hide nor hair of this fella.  This book is garbage and it is not true.  They would be correct in that assumption.  This never happened to the letters that are in our Bible because they were written and circulated in a time that everyone knew Jesus did these things."  That is the acid test.  

History testifies to His divinity.  Today is A.D. 2012.  That means in the year of our Lord two thousand and twelve.  Our calendar is based on the advent of Christ!   That calender is recognized by the most powerful nations in the world today.  That is a true testimony of Christ's divinity.  Beware my friends there are attempts to change our calendar.  Satan will never stop attacking.  

Think about the vast amounts of people that gathered yesterday, the Lord's Day, or Sunday, or the first day of the week to worship.  What great event happened to make this day special?  The resurrection of Christ!  For this reason it is called the Lord's Day. Rev 1:10  Did these two things happen accidentally?   NO!  They are powerful testimonies that Jesus is more than the son of man.  He is the Son of God!

Today, tell someone about the Son of God and the love He had for mankind.  That agape love that sent Him to the cross so that we can have eternal life with our Father in heaven.  He has provided a way for us to be saved, but will we choose, or partake of, the path he lays out in His teachings?  Will you partake of what Jesus provided?

WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?

We must hear the Word of God:  Rom 10:17; Acts 4:4

We must believe or have faith:   Heb 11:6; Acts 16:31

We must repent of our sins:  Lk 13:3; Acts 17:30

We must confess Christ before others:  Mt 10:32; Acts 8:37

We must be immersed into Christ (baptized) Mk 16:16; Acts 2:38

We must be faithful:   Rev 2:10; Acts 14:22    

     

  

A Case For The Resurrection Pt 1

Saul's Conversion

We will pick up the story at Acts 26:1-29.  Luke is recording Paul's defense while he is before Agrippa.  He is about to provide some historical and verifiable evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Paul is about to witness to Agrippa.  Remember, there is a difference between confessing and witnessing.  See a previous blog on this subject for reference.  He begins his apologetic account with his manner of his life from his youth.  He then tells them he lived as a Pharisee.  Finally, he says he stands before Agrippa on trial for "the hope of the promise made by God."  He even says this hope is what the "twelve tribes hope to obtain."  This hope is the resurrection!  Far too many people today think our inheritance is heaven, but that is not true.  Our inheritance is the resurrection which is reserved for us in heaven. 1Pe 1:3,4   We know Paul is referring to the resurrection, not because of our knowledge of it being our hope, but because he challenges Agrippa with the credibility of God raising the dead in vs 8!  You see, the force of Paul's argument for the resurrection lies in the manner of Paul's life before he had become a Christian.  His sincere and furious zeal against Christianity was so severe that a man's attempt to convert him would be near impossible.

Consider what Paul says in Gal 1:11-14.  Paul first says the gospel he had been preaching came not from a man, but from the Lord Jesus himself.  How did he receive this from Jesus if Jesus was crucified and buried while Saul was not a follower?  He didn't learn the gospel he preached from a man, so the apostles didn't teach him.  The only conclusion we can come to is either Jesus resurrected from the grave or Paul is a liar.  Now, Paul died for preaching Christ.  Do you know a man that will die for teaching a lie?  I don't!  After claiming having a personal revelation from Jesus, after he was dead and buried, Paul lays out a short three part argument of Jesus' resurrection from his past manner of life.  

First, he says how he used to "persecute the church of God beyond measure" in Gal 1:13.  It is obvious that the Galatians were familiar with this persecution as he doesn't go into detail.  Thank the Lord, we have enough information from Dr. Luke to piece together a good understanding of Paul's past life.  Dr. Luke introduces Saul of Tarsus as one of those who consented to the death of Stephen. Acts 7:58  It is said that Saul entered the homes of Christians and dragged them to prison. Acts 8:1-3  His hatred of Christianity went as far as Saul obtaining letters from Jewish authorities empowering him to arrest and imprison Christians in Damascus. Acts 9:1,2  He was known as the one who persecuted those "who called on this name" after his conversion and he was preaching in the name of Jesus! Acts 9:21  In Acts 26:9-12 Paul says he locked up "many of the saints in prison", he "voted for their death", he would "force them to blaspheme", and he even pursued them "to foreign cities."   Reading all this of Paul's past manner of life you would have to label him as a fanatic.  A fanatic has extreme enthusiasm or zeal in religion.  A fanatic thinks they are absolutely and positively doing the right thing. Acts 26:9  Remember, Paul said he persecuted the church "beyond measure."  How do you deal with a fanatic like Saul?  YOU CAN'T!  This is the point Paul is making.  There is no way a man could have converted a fanatic like Saul.  Christians never could have done it,  Jews wouldn't want to do it.  Who could have possibly converted this fanatic Saul of Tarsus?  Paul affirmed it was the resurrected Jesus Christ.  If Jesus appeared to Saul, Jesus must have risen from the dead.

Paul is just getting started.  Secondly, Paul says he was advanced in the Jews' religion in Gal 1:14. Paul was advanced as a scholar under Gamaliel. Acts 22:3  I read somewhere that it was thought that Saul was going to be the greatest Rabbi of that time.  He was also advanced socially among the Jews.  Remember he was a part of the great group called the Pharisees. Phi 3:5  He was advanced in his power.  Look at the power that he exemplified as he persecuted the church beyond measure.  He had a power that was feared by those in opposition of him!  Acts 9:13,14  You could say Paul was somewhat of  Jewish celebrity.  He would definitely be considered a success.  He was so prominent that Festus said Paul's "great learning has made him mad."  Acts 26:24  Saul's prominence was outstanding!  What would make a person who is advanced as a scholar, a member of a revered group, advanced in power, and looked upon as a great success want to give all that up and become a Christian?  Only Jesus could have provided the dynamics to convert a man like that.  But how, he was crucified and put into a sealed tomb?  The only way Jesus could have converted Saul is if Jesus had risen from the dead. 

Finally, Paul was "extremely zealous of his ancestral traditions" in Gal 1:14.  His ancestors were the Pharisees. There traditions were of the Law of Moses.  The Pharisees were famous for their conflicts with Jesus1Ti 1:13  Sincerity, like prejudice, is often misunderstood.  Sincerity is not a sign of truth.  A person can be sincere in their beliefs even if they believe a lie.  Saul was prejudiced from ignorance and sincerely WRONG about his beliefs!  Remember, he truly thought he had to do harm to Christians in Acts 26:9.  He was sincerely prejudiced.  Saul was wrong and ignorant.  

How do you convert a sincerely prejudiced, extremely prominent, and zealous fanatic?  HOW DO YOU DO IT?  It sounds impossible when it is communicated that way doesn't it?  If human beings can't do it, that only leaves God.  The impossible has happened.  Saul was converted and became the apostle Paul.  This is a matter of history, not fantasy.  A Pharisee named Saul did exist.  That man became the apostle Paul, and he did exist.  This is historically true my friends.  The question is who converted Saul?  If it was Jesus, then he had to have been resurrected from the dead.  This is what Paul is affirming to Agrippa.  

It is obvious that Saul of Tarsus met the resurrected Jesus on that road to Damascus, Saul was instructed to go to the house of Judas on Straight Street, and it was there the gospel of salvation was revealed to him.  He no doubt had a belief, that was now true, in Jesus.  He no doubt had repented of his sins.  We already said he confessed and witnessed Jesus before others.  Now it was time for his sins to be washed away and he could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  What did Ananias say to Saul?  Acts 22:16  "...get up and be baptized and wash away your sins..."  

Today, I encourage you to follow Jesus Christ who resurrected from the dead.  Only Jesus can convert a person.  It is his words that will do the work and by those very words we will be judged!  Jn 12:48  Will you share the wondrous story of the risen Savior we have in Jesus Christ?  Will share with the lost how Jesus Christ converted a sincerely prejudiced, extremely prominent, and zealous fanatic in Saul of Tarsus and how he, Jesus, is wanting to convert them as well?

Remember, Jesus told us to do three things.  Deny our self, take up our cross, and follow him. Lk 9:23.  You can't do the last until you have done the first two! 

WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?

We must hear the Word of God:  Rom 10:17; Acts 4:4

We must believe or have faith:   Heb 11:6; Acts 16:31

We must repent of our sins:  Lk 13:3; Acts 17:30

We must confess Christ before others:  Mt 10:32; Acts 8:37

We must be immersed into Christ (baptized) Mk 16:16; Acts 2:38

We must be faithful:   Rev 2:10; Acts 14:22        

Prayer From The Heart

Neh 1:1-11

I can remember one time I preached a message on prayer.  In that message, I mentioned a "prayer from the heart."   Afterwards, a fellow asked me to give an example of a prayer from the heart in scripture.  I gave a few, but I feel Nehemiah's prayer is one of the best I've read, aside from Jesus prayers.  Nehemiah's prayer was answered and it truly was from the heart.

His prayer started from concern for others in verses 1,2.  He had a genuine concern for God's people. Does your prayer life begin with concern for other people or for yourself?  My family and I study and pray together daily and I know how easy prayer can turn into habit as opposed to addressing concerns.  Often times our family prayers turn repetitive.  We ask for our daily bread, not to be led into temptation, protection from the evil one, a hedge around our family like God gave Job, and to be His hands and feet.  I often ask my boys after they pray, "Is that what is truly on your heart?"  God is concerned for people.  Therefore, His people should be concerned for people.  Our prayer life should first and foremost be initiated by concern.

In verse four we see Nehemiah's compassion for God's people.  Our prayer life should be filled with compassion.  He not only wept, but he wept for days, not only days but months!  Notice the months in the following verses, 1:1; 2:1.  That is a period of about four months.  He probably was is in supplication to the Lord waiting for a his answer.  Lord, forgive me for not having that compassion.  I can only imagine most men, like myself, would have given up and said, "Hey, I've been praying for this for a week now!  I give up.  Apparently God doesn't want me to do it!"   I have a compassion for God's people, but I'm not sure if it would lead me to weep for days or months.  We must persistently offer compassionate prayers from our deepest concerns.  That is praying from the heart.  Providing the motives are correct, that is the prayer that is answered.  Now, we better be ready to get the answers "no" and "not at this time", but we will get an answer.  This type of compassion existed in Ezra as well. Ezra 9:3  

Nehemiah's prayer was filled with confession as well.  In verses 5-11 he confesses the sins of the people to God.  He doesn't blame God for their tragedy, rather, he says I am a sinner, we are sinners.  He humbly understands that God's Word says "if you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples..."  Often times we fail to see that in our lives as Christians.  We often take God's grace for granted.  There is no doubt we are saved by God's grace, but that grace isn't a free ticket to immoral and unfaithful living.  I fear we have not learned from the examples laid out in the Old Testament.  Notice Nehemiah seeks supplication from the Lord before he seeks supplies.  He doesn't ask for supplies until he is granted permission to go.   Neh 2:1-9  I truly believe I would have prayed for the permission and then added, "Lord, I will also need this, this, and that." as if God doesn't know what I need.  Nehemiah knows if God is faithful to scatter His people based upon their unfaithfulness He is faithful to gather His people if they return to Him.   That applies today as well.  Mankind had fallen and was far from God with no way to get close to Him.  There was no way to Him.  So He sent us His only begotten Son. Jn 3:16  His son, Jesus, came with a specific job to do. Lk 19:10  He completed this job by giving up his own life as a sacrifice for our sins on the cross.  That is where he finished his work. Jn 19:16-30   Then Jesus told us there is no way to the Father but through him. Jn 14:6 Before God's Son ascended to heaven he passed his job onto us in Mt 28:18-20  God is still gathering those that will return Him today.  Do we, as his people, have the prayer life that is initiated with concern for God's people?  Do we have the same compassion for God's people as the great leaders of the Old Testament?  Are we humble enough to confess our sins knowing God is faithful to His Word and He will forgive us? 1Jn 1:9  Do you pray with concern, compassion, and confession?

Today, will we begin, if we don't already have, a prayer life that is initiated by concern for God's people, that exemplifies our compassion, and confess our sins to God?  That is a prayer from the heart.  Will we learn to pray from this great Old Testament leader?  We will face adversity along the way of completing our task of fulfilling the Great Commission.  Nehemiah faced seven attempts to stop him from completing the task of building the wall.  A faithful trust in the Lord got him through them all.  Let us pray from the heart to the Lord and trust him with it as well!

WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?

We must hear the Word of God:  Rom 10:17; Acts 4:4

We must believe or have faith:   Heb 11:6; Acts 16:31

We must repent of our sins:  Lk 13:3; Acts 17:30

We must confess Christ before others:  Mt 10:32; Acts 8:37

We must be immersed into Christ (baptized) Mk 16:16; Acts 2:38

We must be faithful:     

The Promised Savior

Hab 3:12-14

As we close this series I want to reflect on what we have learned.  We have seen that Jesus has prophetically fulfilled all 3 positions of authority pertaining to the Messiah.  He fulfills the prophecies of the coming prophet, priest, and king. 

     Today we will learn from Habakkuk chapter three in our final message in this series.  Chapter 3 is a prayer in the form of a psalm to be sung by Levites in the Temple services.  This is much more than the outpouring of a believing soul; it is the declaration of a prophet.  Let’s see what Habakkuk declares.

Habakkuk foresaw a terrible day for the heathen nations.  That word nations refers to any group of people, this is not the word that claims the people to be the Lord’s possession.  There is a lot said in verses 12,13.

God's promised savior is the leader.  In the battle against evil the Lord’s promised savior will head up this campaign!  Num 24:17-19  This battle was for one main purpose.  It was for "the salvation of your people."  You see God has a plan and it includes the salvation of his people!  God does not want a single person to not receive this salvation!  THE SALVATION OR THE DELIVERANCE OF GOD’S PEOPLE COULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED WITHOUT GOD’S INTERFERING!!   He interfered and provided salvation with his promised savior.  The salvation God has for his people will be provided with or through his promised savior!

The coming savior will lay Satan's kingdom bare.   In figurative language, v13 depicts the great victory which God enabled his people, through the promised savior, to win over evil!  The promised savior "struck" the head of the house of evil.  The word struck literally means to cleave, crush, destroy.  It carries the connotation of annihilation! Ps 68:21 It's plain to see that we are talking about a total annihilation of the evil one.  The head, or the leader of the house of evil, is destroyed by the promised savior.  The words "to lay him open" in verse 13 means to be bare; leave destitute.  The word "thigh" literally means base; bottom; or foundation.  So this verse actually says the promised savior, in battle, will leave the evil one destitute from his foundation to his neck.  Now the word neck carries the connotation of binding.  Therefore, not only will the promised savior leave the evil one bare and destitute, he will bind the evil one as well.  

We even are told how the promised savior will complete this task.  He will do it with the evil ones "own spears."  Satan had tried Jesus’ entire life to catch him somehow, some way! He tried to have Jesus killed as a baby, pushed off a cliff, & tried to drown him in a storm while he was sleeping.  Oh, how excited Satan must have been to see Jesus before Pilate, and the Jews yelling, “Crucify him!”  Satan didn't know he was just piercing himself!   The evil one, Satan, was pierced by his own spear at Calvary!  We must always remember that Jesus was not conquered at Calvary.  Rather he laid down his own life and became the conqueror.  Jesus said several times this was what he came to do, to die! Mk 9:31  I can see Satan dancing around the cross, as Jesus breathed his last, yelling, “I got him, I got him, I finally got him!”  Not realizing he just pierced himself with his own spear.  It goes back to Gen 3:15 Satan only bruised Jesus’ heel, but Satan took a death blow!   Satan hasn’t given up yet!  He still shoots arrows at God’s people, but we must use protection God provides.  Eph 6:16

WOW, what a great prophecy about the promised savior.  Did such events happen?  Did God really send a savior for all mankind?  Were these prophecies fulfilled?  YES!

The Fulfillment of Prophecy

Was Jesus the leader in the fight against evil.       1Jn 3:8

Did Jesus provide salvation?                                      Heb 5:7-9

Did Jesus lay bare Satan’s Kingdom?                        Heb 2:14

Did Jesus actually die on the cross?                         Jn 19:30

It’s easy to see God had a plan to give us a prophet to speak his Word.  He gave us a high priest to go into the Holy of Holies and offer a sacrifice.  He gave us a king to establish a peaceful and eternal kingdom for his people.  He also gave us this savior to battle our enemy and adversary Satan and destroy his works of eternally separating us from God.  God gave us the Messiah, or the Christ.  I always say, "Christ was Jesus' title, not his last name!"  Jesus and Jesus alone can accomplish all these things.  The question is he your prophet, priest, king, and savior?

Today, will you do all you can to bring a person to the feet of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.  You can nothing better for a person than that.  We can not save people, but we can lead them to the one that can.  That is our job, my beloved.  Jesus cane to seek and save that which was lost.  Lk 19:10  As his brothers and sisters, we are to carry on that task.  GO, PREACH, BAPTIZE, PREACH  Mt 28:19,20   Show someone you love them by telling them how much God loves them.  He loved us enough to send us a prophet, priest, king, and savior in the form of Jesus Christ who willingly laid down his life so we can have eternity with God.

     We Must Hear   Rom 10:17; Acts 4:4

We Must Believe or Have Faith-  Heb 11:6; Acts 16:31

We Must Repent-  Lk 13:3; Acts 17:30

We Must Confess Christ Before Others-  Mt 10:32; Acts 8:37

We Must Be Immersed Into Christ (Baptized)-  1Pe 3:21; Mk 16:16; Acts 2:38  

     We Must Remain Faithful-  Rev 2:10; Acts 14:22