The Parable of the Talents

Matthew 24:14:30

14 For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.  15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on his journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, And made another five talents.  17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.  18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money.  19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them 20 "So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord you delivered to me five talents; look I have gained five more talents, besides them.  21 His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord. He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.'  23 His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of the lord.  24 "Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground.  Look there you have what is yours 26 "But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.  27 So you ought to have deposited my money with bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.  28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.

29 " For everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.  30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. The will be weeping and gnashing of teeth

          A talent was a measure of weight not a specific coin. Therefore a talent of gold would be worth much more than a talent of silver.  The word in verse 18 translates as "money" so these were talents of silver worth a considerable. Each servant was given a certain amount of talents, the first five, the second two, and the third one all according to their abilities. The lord who in this parable represents Jesus then went on a long journey. The first man who received 5 talents traded with them to get 10 talents.  The second man did the same and went from 2 talents to 4.  The third man dug a hole in the earth and buried his talent in the ground. 

          When there Lord returned to settle accounts with them. The first man had increased his talents fro five to ten and when the master heard this He told the man "well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter in to the joy of your lord.  The second man who had increased hi talents from two to four received the same treatment from the lord.  It should be noted here that these two men were rewarded for their faithfulness not how many talents they had made.

          When the third man who had received the one talent in verse 24 he said "Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed" he then tells his master he buried his talent and gave it to him. He had just maligned his master as a cruel and ruthless man "reaping and gathering that which was not his to do so?  This lazy servant is not a man of genuine faith as he does not even recognize his master as the Lord Jesus Christ. He labeled by his lord as a wicked and lazy who knew master did reaping and gathering in other fields, his own words  condemn him as lazy and slothful because if he believed his master to be it was all the more reason for him not to be lazy. So his talent was taken away and given to the first man. In verse 29 Jesus say, "For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. Those who receive divine grace inherit many blessings in addition to eternal life and God's favor.  But those who bury God's goodness in the ground will ultimately lose everything they have. In verse 30 the third man is cast into " the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth" Jesus often use this description for hell.

 Commentary:

          This parable says that all who are faithful will be fruitful to some degree. God has bestowed gifts to each Christian to use to be fruitful.   Whether it is the gift of teaching a Sunday school class or preaching to the masses he has bestowed out His many gifts to all of us.  In this parable third man had no gift because he was a hypocrite which makes him fruitless and cast into "the outer darkness.  Whatever gift God has given you don't bury but use it and you will be fruitful in the Lord.

End Times 2

End Times 2

2Timothy 3:10  ¹⁰ But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, love, perseverance,,,

This is a picture of our times. More and more sin is in the world.

The unrest in the Middle East, Syria, Libya and Egypt. As Iran is making threats against Israel with nuclear weapons. Antisemitism is growing.

To fill up your car with gas at these prices, it causes everything to slow down production, even food which increases prices.

Tornadoes and earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis are happening at an increase rate these days. 

We are in the last days! The Lord seems to finally be angry with all this sin. 

1Timothy 4:1-5 wasn't the only one describing our end time. Let's look:

4 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, ² speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, ³ forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. ⁴ For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; ⁵ for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

Now if you need more proof, let look in Jude 3:23:¹ Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James,

To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:

² Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

³ Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. ⁴ For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵ But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶ And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; ⁷ as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

⁸ Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. ⁹ Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” ¹⁰ But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

¹² These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about^[c] by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;¹³ raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

¹⁴ Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, ¹⁵ to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.¹⁶ These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. ¹⁷ But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: ¹⁸ how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. ¹⁹ These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.

²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.²² And on some have compassion, making a distinction; ²³ but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh. 

We are definitely in the days of end times. All prophesies have been fulfilled except the building of the new temple. Knowing this, make sure you get right with God and ask forgiveness for your sins to assure your name to be written in the book of life!

Blessings~Daniel

Teachings of Christ

           Christ Witnesses to Nicodemus

John 3:1-21

          There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him."

          3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

          4 Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born again when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?

           5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and

The Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  7 Do not marvel that I said to you'

'You must be born again' 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the spirit."

          9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"  

          10 Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  11 Most assuredly, I say to you, we speak what we know and testify what we have seen, and do not receive our witness.  12 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven that is the Son of Man who is in heaven.  14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the through him the world might be saved.  18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness instead rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deed should be exposed.  21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.

          That Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews meant he was on the Jewish council or Sanhedrin.  The fact that he came at night to visit Jesus as verse 2 states tells us he probably did not want his peers. He ends up coming to believe in Jesus and actually risks his own life and reputation to give Jesus a decent burial (John 19:38-42).  In verse 3 Jesus tell Nicodemus you must be born again to enter heaven. The Greek word for again can mean "from above" or "anew."  Jesus is talking about the new birth or regeneration which is the act by which God imparts spiritual life to one who trusts in Jesus as the Holy Spirit enters them.

         

          In verse five Jesus talks of being born of water and the Spirit. Jesus was using Old Testament imagery with water referring to the work of God above.  In verse six where He mentions "flesh is flesh" is that flesh cannot be made spirit.  A person must experience spiritual regeneration. In verse eight Jesus uses the wind to illustrate the Holy Spirit.  As the wind blows where it wills so the Holy Spirit works sovereignly.  And no one knows the origin or destination of the wind but everyone knows its there.  The same is true of the Holy Spirit. 

          In verses ten, eleven, and twelve Jesus rebukes Nicodemus and all of the Pharisees for not knowing about spiritual regeneration or the new birth, Jesus tells Nicodemus  in verse twelve that if He told him of earthly things such as the new birth, the wind or His miracles, how could Jesus tell him of heavenly thing like His resurrection, His ascension to heaven, or the coming of the Holy Spirit.  Although Nicodemus probably believed Jesus' miracles while most Pharisee did not.

          In verse fourteen He tells Nicodemus that the Son of Man must be lifted up much like Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. (Numbers21:9)  In verse fifteen He tells Nicodemus whoever trusts in Him will receive eternal life. Verse sixteen shows God's love is not restricted to one nation or to a special elite but to the whole world. Jesus explains in verse seventeen that He came that so that the world might be saved through Him.  But in verse eighteen He separates those that believe in Him are not condemned, but those who do not believe are "condemned already"

          Jesus explains in verse twenty those who practice evil hate the light.  These people are reprobate who would rather live their lives without God. They do not do their deeds in the light "lest they be exposed."  "But he who does the truth" He explains in verse twenty-one is a true believer with genuine faith in Christ.

The True Christian

In my last blog, I told you about those who thought they were saved, but only if they change and have genuine Christian faith. Now let us look at the  true Christians. 

First we must proclaim Christianity and live by example doing that. The conduct of Christians is proclaimed throughout the world with truly genuine Christian testifying. 

Mathew 19:16-21: 

¹⁶ Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”

¹⁷ So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

¹⁸ He said to Him, “Which ones?”

Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ¹⁹ ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”

²⁰ The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?”

²¹ Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

We must defend our faith as anyone to contest the word of God. We must be ready, so you should be reading the Bible and find the scriptures in Jude 3: ³ Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

You want to demonstrate yourself as a Christian as separate from the world Luke 8:15 ¹⁵ But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.

You must share your faith with friends and family. Think about it - you are a Christian about to go to heaven and you cannot share this information with friends and family? You may suffer for Christ, when times get rough like a the death of a family member or friend. When this happens, go to your  church and join in fellowship and prayer, Philippians 1:27:

²⁷ Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. 

Do not hinder the gospel of Jesus Christ, never when you see someone talking about the salvation of someone should you interrupt and remember that there are 66 chapters in the Bible, do not ever speak outside of them.

Do not be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You must, when opportunity presents itself, share without fear. Romans 1:6...⁶ among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; 

Don't believe the preacher is the only one to preach the Gospel. You have friends and family to preach the Gospel to, so do not believe you must get them into the church - preach to them wherever they are Romans 1:16: ¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek..

The Carnal Christian

In churches all over the world, there are carnal Christians that really believe their salvation  are certain and sure .  Well, I am going to show you in scripture, that carnal Christians are people on their way to hell.


Matthew 16:19-21
¹⁶ Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹ And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

²⁰ Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

²¹ From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.

 Matthew 16:23-27

²³ But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. ²⁵ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.²⁶ For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.

 Now it is time to look at intellectual people who believe that the study of the Bible, and applying individual knowledge of thinking, salvation. If they are an intellectual thinker, the Bible in Romans 1:21 and Romans 2:7 will show you that if the knowledge doesn't come from God, the Holy Spirit, is not in them, they too are bound for hell.  

Active Ministry: There are people active in the ministry, only to look as important people of the ministry. 
Religious involvement: There are people who involve themselves in the ministry that will be very religious in works instead of faith. These people do not have the Holy Spirit in them. So, they are destined for hell.                           Matthew 25:1-10   

25 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. ³ Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, ⁴ but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ⁵ But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

⁶ “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ ⁷ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.


Conviction of Sin: These people we are talking about are just carnal Christians, not having the Holy Spirit in them, sometimes are convicted.
Acts 7:1-24

7 Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

² And he said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, ³ and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ ⁴ Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. ⁵ And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. ⁶ But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years. ⁷ ‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’ ⁸ Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.
⁹ “And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him ¹⁰ and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. ¹¹ Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. ¹² But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. ¹³ And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people. ¹⁵ So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers. ¹⁶ And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.
¹⁷ “But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt ¹⁸ till another king arose who did not know Joseph. ¹⁹ This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live. ²⁰ At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months. ²¹ But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. ²² And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.
²³ “Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. ²⁴ And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian.


Assurance: Some of these people do works to make them look like a Christian. They give money, and they may be on the board of Deacons. Yet, because "grace by faith" Ephesians 2:8 They believe that they are going to heaven by believing he has assurance that God would never throw people in hell. 
Ephesians 2:8 

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 

Time of decision: When the time comes, they believe they already made a decision. But they had never followed Christ, although they think they are all getting into heaven through assurance only. But these people are going to hell.


As you see, many carnal Christians are on their way to hell. So it is up to us to witness to them so they may be led through the Holy Spirit.


Daniel

   

Sound Doctrine

        Titus was left on the isle of Crete to appoint qualified elders so as to create a functioning church on the island. After going over the resumes Paul directed Titus to direct the elders in their tasks. The most important being "holding fast the faithful word as he had been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine ,both to exhort and convict those who contradict in verse 9.

        Again in verse 13 he states "to rebuke  them sharply that they may be sound in the faith"  In Titus 2:1 Paul tells Titus again states "But as for you speak the things that are proper for sound doctrine.

        Three times Paul warns Titus to remain sound in the faith.  He does this because Titus will have to combat the evil on Crete like the ones in verse 16 "They profess to know God but in works deny Him being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every work

        As Paul exhorted Titus to be of sound doctrine, exhorts us to be of sound doctrine. Recently a Pastor of one of the largest churches in America told Chris Wallace in an interview with Fox News that Mormonism is a part of Christian Church.  Millions watched this interview and probably now believe Mormonism is part of the Christian Church. It's not, what Mormonism is one of the largest cults in America and is not part of the Christian Church.

        Just like the Jehovah Witnesses come to your home and begin to talk to you about Jesus is a cult as well once you dig a little deeper.  As a matter of fact the largest Christian TBN is a network that does not believe in the Trinity as the Christian Church believes in the properly and Biblically,

        With all of the unsound doctrine on television and the internet it is up to us as elders of this church to protect its members from unsound doctrine coming at them at them trying to steal their very faith.  The Apostle Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy verses 1 through 5 exhorts Timothy "I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His Kingdom.  Preach the word!  Be ready in season and out of season.  Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they will have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of the evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

        We must spread the gospel, make disciples, but we must always do so with sound doctrine.  And what is sound doctrine?  It is the 66 books of this Bible.  In short it is the Doctrines of the Salvation Army which are:

        We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and that they only constitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice.

        We believe that there is only one God, who is infinitely perfect, the Creator, the Preserver, and Governor of all things, and who is the only the only proper object of religious worship.

Roman's Description of a Christian Life.

What is living life as a Christian?

The Apostle Paul in Roman's helps is to understand the Christian life.

First we present ourselves to God (Romans 12:1).

12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 

becoming a living, holy sacrifice to God (Romans 12:2).

² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

We can discover then display the will of God in our life.

We will be given certain spiritual gifts according to the grace of God (Romans 6:8).

 ⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

 We will learn to use these to promote the body of Christ. (Romans 12:6).

⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;

We will become better in following civil law (Romans 13:1),

¹ Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

which gives honor to God.

We learn to love rather than hate others (Romans 13:8). This fulfills God's law (Romans 13) in that we are also learning his laws.

Rather than discourse, we pursue peace. This honors God and serves to edify all. (Romans 19)

We become like-minded to our brothers and sisters (Romans 15) which glorifies God with other Christians. (Romans15:6)

This is one way to describe the life of a Christian as they grow in Christ.

But always remember (1Corinthians 13:1) and put ourselves to the test so that we live productive, Christian lives.

God Bless You,

Daniel

Finish the Race

Romans 8:38; 

³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers...

           Nothing can separate us from Jesus Christ, our Lord. Sometimes we worry about our salvation. This scripture proves that we should not worry about our salvation.

           Only we can separate from the Lord. That is a choice I hope that no Christian make. We must stay focused on Jesus Christ with praying and reading His scriptures, as all scriptures are God breathed. 2Timothy 3:16; ¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness...

           Remember 1Peter 3:22; 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him. Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father at the mercy seat advocating for us.

           And also we must all remember that subject and rule has been given to our Lord Jesus. 1Corinthians 15:24; ²⁴ Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.

           So when we reach our end, we can say as Paul stated in the end, 2Timothy 4:7; ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

          Pray and be patient as James did in James 5:8;

8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. And you will have rewards not on this earth but in heaven, our home, as Peter called us pilgrims on earth waiting patiently to return home to our Father in heaven. 

          But always remember to examine ourselves like we are instructed to in 1Corinthians 13:5; 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 

God Bless you, 

Daniel

Refuting Unconditional Election and the Theory of Predestination

Unconditional election is the doctrine that states God chose those He was to bring to the knowledge of Himself, not based upon any merit shown by the object of His grace and not allowing who would accept the offer- the offer of God's grace. They base this upon His will-some for glory and some for damnation in Romans 9:15, 21: 

¹⁵ For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”  ²¹ Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

Notice in that verse, this could be viewed as hypothetical question. This theory would have us believe that He did this act before the creation of the earth from Ephesians 1:4-8:

⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ⁵ having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

⁷ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace ⁸ which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence.

 I agree their is election but not unconditional election. Neither of the scriptures above prove unconditional election. I agree with election in that we have a free will decision. Scriptures John 3:16:

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

as well as Romans 10:9:

⁹ that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

and Galatians 2:16:

¹⁶ knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

and also Philippians 3:9:

⁹ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;

This stance of unconditional election means that infants and children will go to hell without choice because we were born in iniquity. 

Psalms 51:5:

⁵ 

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.

Psalms 58:3:  

3 The wicked are estranged from the womb;
They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.

Proverbs 22:15:

15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
The rod of correction will drive it far from him.

Thank god for Romans 5:13:

¹³ (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

God elected all people be saved but some choose evil rather than God. The following scriptures prove this:

John 3:16, 17:

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

1Timothy 2:3,4:

³ For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

2Peter 3:9:

⁹ The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

John 12:32:

³² And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.

Because of these scriptures, this author believes that each person chooses in an election to believe and serve Jesus Christ or to serve evil. 

But remember...Romans 10:13: ¹³ For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Daniel

Islam: The largest cult on Earth

A message to the 1.1 billion Muslims

For God so loved the world that He gave His only son that whoever believes in Him will have everlasting life John 3:16.

Islam produces hate and believes that their false God, Allah, told them to take the world and make us all converts by sword if they had to.

This same Son, Jesus also gave us the great commission: Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19, 20.

Islam so hates Christianity that Christians are being hung, shot and beheaded in Muslim nations and yet their only crime is being a Christian. In America, Muslims enjoy freedom of religion, right next to Christians and any other faith.

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9.10.

Our God died to save us, the false deity sends you out on suicide missions to kill. 

All scripture is God-breathed and is to be for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. Timothy 3:16

Your scriptures are the sayings of Muhammad - who had long past died.

Christianity spreads throughout the world with the love of Jesus. Our God odes not ask to kill. He could do that himself it it was required. The false God, Allah asks his followers to kill.

And the most important- Our Jesus' tomb is empty because He raised from the dead on the third day. Yours still is underground where he was buried.

This blog was not written for the hate of Islam, it was written for the Muslims who read it and are convicted to find God. For the Bible says clearly: "Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved." So, if one person from the largest cult is saved by this blog, it was well worth it.

Daniel

The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard

The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard

Matthew 18:1-16

          "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And he went out about the third and hour saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and said to them 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went. 5 Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour and did likewise.  6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, ' Why have you been standing here idle all day?' 7 They said to him 'Because no one hired us.'  He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.'  8 "So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first' 9 And when those came about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. 10 But when the first came, they supposed they would receive more; and they likewise received a denarius. 11 And when they had received it, they complained against the landlord, 12 saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.' 13 But he answered one of them and said, 'Friend I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?  14 Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to.

this last man the same as to you.  15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?  Or is your eye evil because I am good? 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.  For many are called but few are chosen

.

EXPLANATION

          It was typical in those days for workers to stand in the marketplace during harvest time hoping to find work.  The landlord gathered the laborers from the marketplace in the morning and agreed to pay them a denarius for the day which was a fair wage.  In the third hour the landlord of the vineyard was again in the marketplace and found men standing idle.  He hired them as well and agreed to pay them whatever was right.  These men must have been eager to work as they did not know what their wage would be.  At the eleventh hour which would be five o'clock the landlord found more men who must have been desperate for working as they had waited all day. He hired them as well telling them whatever was right in wages they would receive.

          At the end of the day the landlord told his steward to pay the men their wages and to start with the last first.  But the steward paid each man the same amount.  The landlord was being generous to all the men not trying to slight those who had worked all day and had agreed to work for a denarius.  This angered the first group who had borne the labor all day and they complained to the landlord who told them he was doing them no wrong. They had been paid the denarius they had agreed upon. He told them "I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.  Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own.

things" and he sent them away

          The Landlord is God and we Christians are his laborers as verse 16 sums up the whole parable. "So the last will be first, and the first last." You see, no matter how long you labor joyfully for the lord you will receive the same blessings of heaven as the thief on the cross.  That is the grace of God.

APPLICATION

          One might say if we all end up with the same blessing of heaven why do anything else after salvation. Well if you have a genuine faith in Jesus Christ your faith will want you to joyfully labor for the Lord. You will acquire a great love in serving the Lord, so that there is nothing in your life that could bring you greater pleasure.