The Conversion of Saul - Ben Bailey
Toward the end of Paul’s life, he exclaimed “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief (1 Tim. 1:15). There is little doubt that Paul had his former life as a persecutor of Christians in mind when he said these words. Yet, the change from Saul The Persecutor to Paul The Preacher is one of the great conversions of the New Testament. What steps did Saul take to convert to Christianity? Let’s notice Saul’s conversion from Scripture.
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The Marvelous Mercy of God - Ben Bailey
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). One of the great themes of the Bible is God’s loving mercy toward sinful man. As the Apostle Peter noted, if it were not for God’s mercy we would have no hope in this life. Notice some of the great statements about God’s mercy found in the Bible.
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Preach the Word! - Ben Bailey
The messianic prophet Zechariah illustrated the urgency of preaching God’s Word when he said, “Run, speak to this young man…” (Zechariah 3:2). Just as in the Old Testament days, an interesting parallel is found in the urging of Phillip to teach the Ethiopian Eunuch. The Scripture records that Phillip “ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’” (Acts 8:30). Both of these verses illustrate the urgent need for men and women to hear the powerful Word of God. Since God chose the foolishness of preaching to save the lost (1 Corinthians 1:21), this places a dire need upon God’s people to preach and teach only God’s Word (2 Timothy 4:2; Acts 8:3-4). What then does it mean to really teach God’s Word?
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Inward Spiritual Struggles—Good or Bad?
Do you ever feel like you need to do more for the cause of Christ? Does the feeling that you just aren’t everything you need to ever trouble you? Maybe these feelings are something you struggle with every day. I have a friend who constantly struggles with this problem. He would often get discouraged by the feeling of imperfection and deeply distressed over the fact that he just didn’t feel like he was doing enough in the kingdom.
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"Does it Really Matter?" - Ben Bailey
The question, “Does it really matter?” is becoming the motto for our modern society. We used to have moral beliefs, but “Does it really matter anymore?” At one-time people had a strong conviction about ungodliness and sin but, “Does it really matter that much?” In the past, we had faith in the Bible and its teaching but, “Does the Bible really matter anymore?” To God, IT REALLY DOES MATTER A LOT! Notice several areas in which it does matter.
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How to Overcome a Sinful Past - Ben Bailey
A person must also be ashamed of their sinful past. Too often, people who have lived a life of sin go around bragging about the “sins” they used to commit. Sin should be something that causes us great shame, not gives us an avenue to boast (Rom. 6:21). How sad it is when we reach a point that we can no longer blush over sin (Jer. 8:12).
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The Steadfast Love of the Lord - Ben Bailey
The Book of Lamentations has often been referred to as Israel’s funeral sermon or eulogy. In this Book, Jeremiah laments the ultimate destruction and death of Israel as they go into captivity for their sins. Yet, during this sad and depressing time, we find some incredibly beautiful verses about God’s love.
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The Blood of Christ - Ben Bailey
The Holy Spirit says, “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins” (Heb. 9:22). The Old Testament Levitical system was a very bloody system (Lev. 1-5). For every sin of every kind there was a blood sacrifice to be offered (Lev. 4:1-12). Yet the Scripture records that the blood of all those bulls and goats could never really take away sin (Heb. 10:3-4). How thankful we should be that Jesus was willing to shed His blood once for all for sin so that the sin problem would have a permanent solution (Heb. 10:12). Notice just how important the blood of Christ is to our salvation.
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A Haunting Question - Ben Bailey
When the Son of man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). This question Jesus asked arose from a discussion of persistence in prayer. This question of the Lord is designed to provoke an evaluation of our faith. The Apostle Paul said, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves” (2 Cor. 13:5). How can we make sure the Lord finds faith when he comes?
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Into the Depths of the Sea - Ben Bailey
Being a child of God has many blessings that come with that privilege but one of the richest is the forgiveness we receive through Christ. Sometimes I wonder if we really understand the remission and removal of sin that occurs in the mind of God. The Prophet Micah gives us a very graphic picture of how God removes sin from our lives. Micah says, ““He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19). To understand the complete removal of sins that occurs when one obeys the Gospel it would be profitable to explore Micah’s words a little more in depth.
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Peace that Passes All Understanding - Ben Bailey
Peace is one of the most treasured commodities for any society. For many, many years’ people have prayed, died and lived for peace. Jesus often spoke of the idea of peace. Yet, it was a little different than how we think of peace today. Today, we think of peace as military safety. Or, we think of it as financial security. Sometimes, we even feel like we have peace when the home security alarm is working well and the stock market is soaring.
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You Can Know You Are Saved if...
We live in a world that is full of doubt and worry. What will the stock market do tomorrow? Will the gas prices rise again? How will our country stay safe in these times of terror? Many of these questions are really unknown to us. Yet, when it comes to a person’s eternal salvation, he can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is saved.
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The Steadfast Love of the Lord
The Book of Lamentations has often been referred to as Israel’s funeral sermon or eulogy. In this Book, Jeremiah laments the ultimate destruction and death of Israel as they go into captivity for their sins. Yet, during this sad and depressing time, we find some very beautiful verses about God’s love.
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