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“Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, “There are still four months and then comes the harvest”? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: “One sows and another reaps.”’” (John 4.34-37) Today’s message will address the topic…

The…  ( Click for more )

I’ve heard lot’s about religion. I’ve heard about organized religion, unorganized religion, disorganized religion. I’ve heard some people talk who are dead set against some religions. I’ve heard a few people say that any religion is bad. I just thought it might be good to clear the air a bit about religion, what the Bible says about it, and some sage advice about religion.

Many years ago when I was a relatively young man, I was speaking to an older family member of one of my friends. He and I had engaged in religious discussions before but this particular…  ( Click for more )

Jesus said to His disciples, “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” Today’s message will address the topic…

The Fields Are Already White for Harvest

The metaphors that Jesus used were striking! Grain was a staple and the nuances of how to grow it were known in every corner of Israel. It was easy for the seasoned farmer to merely look over his crop and estimate accurately the length of time that would…  ( Click for more )

The fourth Gospel (John), the fourth chapter, the fourth in this series of 4X4’s, and Four Months; what else could be more fitting? “Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, “There are still four months and then comes the harvest”? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is…  ( Click for more )

“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24.30-31; emphasis mine, jb). The coming of Son of Man in this text is His coming in His Kingdom; today’s message will address this fact.

The Kingdom of Jesus Christ

Chapters and verses can be a…  ( Click for more )

“And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24.31; emphasis mine, jb). Our focus today will be on the word elect and how it is used in the quoted text, in other passages, and also to consider some implications for us today.

The Elect of Jesus

I really don’t know its origin, but a wise Bible student explained the meaning of election like this: “The elect of God become the elect by a simple process; God votes yes for everyone,…  ( Click for more )

I recall as a youth seeing older men in our worship assemblies get down on their knees when there was public prayer being led. I guess that dates me, especially since it has been years and years since I witnessed this. I admit I don't know the motives of the men who made such a display, but in retrospect, I think I like what they did. Today's message will deal with similar wisdom I saw recently.

Something that I saw, in fact, something that I experienced recently reminded me of those days when men knelt in prayer. Much like most groups of worshipers, the church where I assemble…  ( Click for more )

“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24.30-31). Although the word authority dies not appear in the quoted passage, it is obvious that the Son of Man is a figure of great authority and power. Our focus today will be to explore that authority and its…  ( Click for more )

“And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24.31; emphasis mine, jb). Mark reported this same saying as follows, “And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.” (Mark 13.27; emphasis mine, jb). Our focus will be to note: 1) The Son of Man, 2) The Authority of Jesus, 3) His Elect, and 4) His Kingdom.

The Son of Man

The phrase,…  ( Click for more )

“And they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'It is because we have taken no bread.' But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, 'O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?’” (Matthew 16.7-8; emphasis mine, jb). Sometimes little faith describes the amount of trust one has; at other times it describes the lack of understanding one has. In today’s text and the final installment of this 4X4, Jesus uses the expression “little faith” in reference to little understanding.

O You of Little Faith

The…  ( Click for more )

“Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said to them, 'Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees' And they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'It is because we have taken no bread.' But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, 'O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets…  ( Click for more )

No man living has an absolutely empty head! In spite of this fact, many of us act as though we wish to dispute this reality. Our speech sometimes argues mightily against it! The Proverbs writer stated the obvious when he wrote, “Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.” (Proverbs 17.28).

Why is it that there are times when we feel we just have to say something? You know those times; you have experienced them! At a moment when silence would have been golden, we insist on filling the void with fool's gold!…  ( Click for more )

“Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them. So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, 'I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.'” (Matthew…  ( Click for more )

“Then His disciples said to Him, 'Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude' Jesus said to them, 'How many loaves do you have?' And they said, 'Seven, and a few little fish.' So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and…  ( Click for more )

Jesus, speaking to the paralytic, said, “'I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.' Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, 'We never saw anything like this!'”(Mark 2.11-12). Today we look at the fourth and final lesson from this biblical 4X4, Never Like This.

Never Like This

Luke closes his account of this same event with this commentary: “And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, 'We have seen strange…  ( Click for more )

“When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven you.’ And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ‘Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, ‘Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven you,” or to say, “Arise, take up your bed and walk”?…  ( Click for more )

Wisdom doesn't always finish the same way. By that, I mean is comes in human flesh packaged in a huge variety of ways. It comes as the aged as well as the young; it comes in males and females; it comes in the highly educated as well as those who have accomplished little in the arena of formal academia; it comes in the professional as well as the laborer. Wisdom comes in a variety of packages.

Having lived in the South most of my life, I have encountered wisdom from time to time, but I have encountered foolishness far more frequently. However, something tells me this is not a geographic…  ( Click for more )

“When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven you.' And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, 'Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?' (Mark 2.5-8). Today we look at the 2nd lesson from this biblical 4X4, False Reasoning.

False Reasoning

The ability to reason is one prominent God-given…  ( Click for more )

“And again He [Jesus] entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are…  ( Click for more )

“And again He [Jesus] entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are…  ( Click for more )

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4.16-18; emphasis mine, jb).

“We do not look at the things that are seen. [We do look] at the things which are not seen.”…  ( Click for more )

Mercy is not a new virtue with God; neither is it a blessing of the New Testament to the exclusion of the Old Testament. Fifteen hundred years before the first book of the New Testament was written, God’s plan included provisions for mercy. Notice how prominent mercy was even under Moses Law.

“You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub…  ( Click for more )

I live in the southeastern United States of America. As many regions do, we Southerners have certain characteristics that are attributed to us; some are legitimate while others are founded on biases or stereotypes. A few years ago a friend and I were driving around the countryside where we encountered a gentleman who reminds me of these facts. Today's message discusses that encounter.

In the neatly trimmed yard there were a number of trees that had obviously been planted and cared for regularly. However, there was something that stood out about the trees even more than their beauty;…  ( Click for more )

“Blood is thicker than water!” In most areas of the world, this saying or its equivalent simply means that family ties are stronger than all other ties. However, to the informed and faithful believer, there is a tie that is stronger than that of blood kinship. Mercy plays a significant role in these bonds even as we shall see in today's message, a subtopic of Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment.

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His…  ( Click for more )