Good
morning. All right so we have laid the correct foundation for the church –
Jesus Christ; now what? Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold,
silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident;
but the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire
itself will test the quality of each man’s work. The one building upon the
foundation chooses which materials they’re going to use to build with. Even
though the foundation is solid, if the builder uses flimsy materials, the house
will not stand during a storm (I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house
down). It may be “cheaper“ to use wood, hay, or straw; but they won’t last.
Paul just said it would be tested with fire: if any man’s work which he has
built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up,
he will suffer a loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. My
Bible says that that last statement is perhaps a Greek proverbial phrase,
meaning by a narrow escape. Notice that it does not say that the builder will
lose his/her salvation by using the lesser materials. However, he/she will not
receive a reward for building upon the foundation. We can also relate this to
our lives. It may be quicker, cheaper, and easier to build upon our own
foundation with lesser materials; but the precious ones will last through the
fire that comes upon us in our lives
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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