Good morning. As we
finished last time Paul talked about the gospel – for which I was appointed a
preacher and an apostle and a teacher. For this reason I also suffer these
things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am
convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.
People tried to make Paul ashamed of standing for the gospel and preaching it.
They beat and mistreated him terribly. And yet he was not ashamed. Some people
try to make us ashamed of standing for the Gospel. If they can make us feel
ashamed, we won't be saying things that they know is right – which they have
been wrong about. And why was Paul not ashamed? He didn't just know about Jesus
– read about Him in a book. He knew Him personally. All Christians have Jesus
living inside of them, but Paul actually spoke with Him face-to-face in a
vision. When we know Jesus, we can be confident that He will take care of
everything that we have entrusted to Him. It is safe in His hands. Retain the
standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love
which are in Christ Jesus. The world's standard is a lot lower than God's
standard. We must speak the truth in love. We cannot water down the Gospel to
either make ourselves acceptable or to make God's word acceptable. Father thank
You that the reader knows whom he/she has believed and is convinced that You
are able to guard that which he/she has entrusted to You until that day.
Unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God
Good morning. While Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. Jesus was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men. Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. It doesn’t say, but I assume it is still during this time of the Passover. This man came to Jesus by night. Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do the signs that You do unless God is with him. It just said that the people believed in His name because of the signs He was doing; yet it does not say what those signs were. Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. That is why unbelievers cannot tell what is of the kingdom of God and what is not – they’re not born again. Nicodemus doesn’t have a clue. How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he? Unless one is born of water and the Spirit ...
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