Good morning. We were
talking about the Holy Spirit last time – whom He poured out upon us richly
through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace we might be
made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Remember that John the
Baptist said that the One following him (Jesus), was the one who is going to
baptize in the Holy Spirit. We were justified by grace not by our works. Why –
that we might be made heirs. Paul wanted Titus to speak confidently so that
those who have believed God may be careful to engage in good deeds. These
things are good and profitable for men. God did not pour out his Holy Spirit
upon us for us to just sit around singing worship songs. We are to get out and
do good deeds. We don't attract men to Christ by what we do in church; we
attract them by what we do in the world. I'm not aware of this happening at
church, but with one that big I would not be surprised that it goes on in
secret - reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that
such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned. There is a fine
line between speaking out about something that is wrong going on in a church
and speaking out through selfish motives. Because the latter is so threatening
to the life of the church, we are trained to disregard and condemn those
statements as attacks against the church. At a previous church I heard that a
particular person was leaving because she believed that something was going on
in the church that was inexcusable. Of course I immediately dismissed it
because that is what you're supposed to do, and I had not seen anything wrong
happening. I later discovered that she was right. It was an economical thing.
Father thank You that You poured out Your grace richly upon the reader. He/she
is an heir according to the hope of eternal life.
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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