Judas and Simon Peter<\/p>\n
What was the difference between the sin of Judas and the sin of Simon<\/p>\n
Peter? What they did to our Lord seemed similar yet Simon was forgiven<\/p>\n
and converted, while Judas hanged himself and was damned. Every believer<\/p>\n
has worried at some point that they could turn out to be a Judas. Here<\/p>\n
is the difference.<\/p>\n
Judas betrayed the Lord while Peter denied Him. There is a difference.<\/p>\n
Judas sold the Lord. Judas turned Him over to others for money. Judas<\/p>\n
did not care what happened to the Lord but was only interested in his<\/p>\n
own gain. He betrayed the Lord.<\/p>\n
Many have done just as Judas did. They have taken the world, a job,<\/p>\n
home, family, and any number of things in exchange for Christ. In<\/p>\n
forsaking the Lord they are telling the world, \u201cI don\u2019t care about Jesus<\/p>\n
Christ, you can have Him. Just give me the money \u2026 give me my family . .<\/p>\n
. give me the world . .. you can have Jesus.\u201d No less than Judas, they<\/p>\n
have betrayed Him and will end up like him.<\/p>\n
Peter denied the Lord. In a moment of cowardice, in order to save his<\/p>\n
own skin, he denied that he knew the Lord. His denial was bad enough and<\/p>\n
brought him bitter sorrow and great shame, but because of his previous<\/p>\n
pride, the Lord had to show him his weakness, inability and<\/p>\n
self-righteousness.<\/p>\n
Now every believer has denied the Lord many times. There have been times<\/p>\n
when we have kept silence to avoid a confrontation over the truth. We<\/p>\n
have sinned and acted foolishly, talking and acting like an unbeliever<\/p>\n
and not a disciple of Christ. But later, like Simon, we were very<\/p>\n
sorrowful and bitter, then upon hearing the gospel again, we cast<\/p>\n
ourselves upon His mercy. All have denied Him, but no true believer<\/p>\n
would sell out the Lord. No lover of the Lord Jesus Christ would take<\/p>\n
any amount of money in exchange for their soul, for eternal life, for<\/p>\n
Christ and His people.<\/p>\n
Is it so with you? Would you take anything for Christ?<\/p>\n
Paul Mahan.<\/p>\n
Betraying Christ with a kiss<\/p>\n
Judas betrayed his Master with a KISS! He came to the Lord with evil in<\/p>\n
his heart, the price of a compromise in his hand, religious devils at<\/p>\n
his side, and said, \u201cHail Master\u201d, as he planted a KISS on the Lord\u2019s<\/p>\n
cheek!<\/p>\n
This is how most apostates and compromisers operate: they betray the Son<\/p>\n
of God and the Gospel of grace WITH A KISS. They talk of love, humility,<\/p>\n
morality, and sugar and spice while they sell out to the religious world<\/p>\n
and betray the Sovereign Son of God. Men watch their pretended affection<\/p>\n
and hear their words, \u201cHail Master\u201d, spoken so softly, smoothly, humbly,<\/p>\n
and sweetly, and they say, \u201cCan such devout people be ENEMIES of the Lord?\u201d<\/p>\n
Do not be deceived; sometimes the most devout looking, religious people<\/p>\n
can be the most hypocritical in the world. Do not be deceived by their<\/p>\n
kisses. LISTEN TO THEIR GOSPEL! Peter, bearing the sword, had more grace<\/p>\n
than Judas, who came with a kiss.<\/p>\n
Henry Mahan.<\/p>\n
One Of You Shall Betray Me \u2013 Master is it I?<\/p>\n
When the Lord told His disciples, \u201cOne of you shall betray me,\u201d they all<\/p>\n
replied, \u201cLord, is it I?\u201d We should have such distrust of ourselves that<\/p>\n
we would have the same reply. But one of His disciples answered<\/p>\n
differently, \u201cMaster (Rabbi) is it I?\u201d This is the same disciple who<\/p>\n
betrayed Christ with a kiss saying, \u201cHail, Master.\u201d Not one time do we<\/p>\n
read where Judas Iscariot ever called Christ \u201cLord.\u201d Master is a term of<\/p>\n
respect for a teacher. But the fact that Judas never called Him Lord<\/p>\n
reveals what he was in His wicked heart. To the believer, Christ is<\/p>\n
Lord. We recognize His Lordship over all things, and we recognize and<\/p>\n
love His Lordship over us. Barnard used to say, \u201cDon\u2019t tell me who your<\/p>\n
savior is, tell me who your Lord is. Then I will know who your savior is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Todd Nibert.<\/p>\n
Tell What Great Things God Has Done For Us<\/p>\n
Acts 18:24-28<\/p>\n
Drew Dietz<\/p>\n
Reading these verses closely you will notice the following words as<\/p>\n
written under inspiration of God\u2026\u201dwho (Apollos) when he was come (unto<\/p>\n
the church at Achaia), helped them much which believed through grace\u201d<\/p>\n
(vs.27). My thought is simply this: if you want to help much those of<\/p>\n
the church, if you want to really bless the sheep of the living God;<\/p>\n
then simply, consistently and boldly\u2026\u201dpublicly shewing by the scriptures<\/p>\n
that Jesus was Christ\u201d (vs.28). Said another way\u2026determine not to preach<\/p>\n
anything other than \u2018Christ and Him crucified\u2019. By the faithful<\/p>\n
discharge of his calling, this man was of great help and encouragement<\/p>\n
to his brethren. Who among us does not need much comfort and assistance<\/p>\n
in a cold and dying world? Who among us do not need daily reminding of<\/p>\n
the lovely and wonderful atoning work of our glorious Redeemer! I do,<\/p>\n
and I must hear of Him who loved me and died for me! I can think of no<\/p>\n
other direct and straight forward way to console the bride of Christ<\/p>\n
than to tell her about the ONE who did everything necessary and<\/p>\n
everything essential to guarantee her eternal happiness. Lord, may we be<\/p>\n
found faithful to our calling . . .to tell them what great things God<\/p>\n
has done for us.<\/p>\n
A Preacher Called John<\/p>\n
There are many things that one could write concerning this remarkable<\/p>\n
man of God. He was the last prophet of the Old Testament and the first<\/p>\n
of the New Testament. He was the forerunner of the Lamb of God and a<\/p>\n
fearless prophet who would not soften the word of God; even for a king.<\/p>\n
What stands out to me in Gods testimony of John is his office as a preacher.<\/p>\n
It is as a preacher he was sent as the forerunner of Christ. All true<\/p>\n
preachers, of the gospel, are forerunners of Christ. They all make plain<\/p>\n
the way, make straight the path, and tell sinners of the Lamb who has<\/p>\n
come to take away the sin of the world. They all speak clearly of the<\/p>\n
Christ of the Old Testament and why he must become a man and die in our<\/p>\n
stead.<\/p>\n
There are some in our day, as there were in his, who doubt the necessity<\/p>\n
of gospel preaching. But know this before God would manifest the<\/p>\n
glorious person of his Son he would send a preacher to prepare the way.<\/p>\n
And so it shall be till the end of the gospel age. We will hear Gods<\/p>\n
ambassador of Christ and our hearts will be prepared to see his glory or<\/p>\n
we will write them off as something unessential and continue on in the<\/p>\n
darkness of traditional religion. When God sends his forerunner it is a<\/p>\n
pretty good indication that he is about to manifest the glory of his<\/p>\n
Son. May God prepare our hearts to hear them in just that way. — Darvin<\/p>\n
Pruitt<\/p>\n
The Pillar and Ground of the Truth<\/p>\n
The church of the living God as she is seen in her local assemblies is<\/p>\n
the pillar and ground of the truth. Though these assemblies are few and<\/p>\n
far between they alone have the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
They stand wherever God has gathered them as a light in a world filled<\/p>\n
with darkness and ignorance. We are not here to reform the world, take<\/p>\n
up its issues, or influence its politics. We are here to preach the<\/p>\n
gospel of God\u2019s sovereign grace in Christ to as many as will give us a<\/p>\n
hearing. There are four things concerning the church of which I am being<\/p>\n
made more aware of every day.<\/p>\n
The gospel is the only thing left in this world that can do sinners any<\/p>\n
good at all. To change or reform the habits and practices of men by laws<\/p>\n
and punishments only leaves men in self righteousness and false hope.<\/p>\n
The gospel of Christ regenerates, creates anew, and is sufficient in the<\/p>\n
power of Gods\u2019 Holy Spirit to do what all else is doomed to fail.<\/p>\n
In order for man to benefit of this gospel it must be received. It must<\/p>\n
be published in such a way that he can be confronted with it. What a<\/p>\n
blessed thing it is for God to make his gospel accessible to a man! What<\/p>\n
a glorious work it is that God was manifest in the flesh, justified in<\/p>\n
the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in<\/p>\n
the world, and received up into glory. (I Timothy 3: 16) It is a divine<\/p>\n
work of grace that enables a person to receive and embrace the Lord<\/p>\n
Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
It is plainly declared in the word of God that faith cometh by hearing.<\/p>\n
Any hope of salvation, regeneration, conversion, or faith apart from<\/p>\n
hearing is an empty and baseless hope. \u201cHow shall they believe in him of<\/p>\n
whom they have not heard?\u201d (Romans 10: 14) Paul presses this issue to<\/p>\n
the conscience of the church at Galatia, \u201cThis only would I learn of<\/p>\n
you, received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing<\/p>\n
of faith? (Galatians 3:2)<\/p>\n
Hearing comes by way of preaching. (I Corinthians 1: 21) Nothing<\/p>\n
demonstrates the sovereignty of God in the salvation of a sinner more<\/p>\n
than this, \u201cHow shall ye hear without a preacher and how shall they<\/p>\n
preach except they be sent?\u201d<\/p>\n
God give us the grace and determination of heart to be faithful to this<\/p>\n
stewardship he has trusted to us. Amen<\/p>\n
Darvin Pruitt.<\/p>\n
Contending for the truth<\/p>\n
Contending for the truth against the errors of modern religion is the<\/p>\n
duty of God’s servants. I hope our spirit is one of genuine love to all<\/p>\n
the chosen of God; but today’s rule of charity which requires us to keep<\/p>\n
silent on certain points in order to avoid controversy, I utterly<\/p>\n
despise. It is treason to the Lord Jesus to be silent on any point where<\/p>\n
He has spoken and the honor of His gospel is concerned. It is easy on<\/p>\n
the flesh to deal in generalities, to denounce hyper-this or hyper-that,<\/p>\n
and to claim to be a friend to all; but it is required of the loyal<\/p>\n
servant of King Jesus to maintain His crown-rights and to stand up for<\/p>\n
His gospel of glory and grace.<\/p>\n
Tom Harding.<\/p>\n
Worthless Knowledge of the TRUTH<\/p>\n
When Knowledge of the truth does not lead us to worship the Lord in love<\/p>\n
with a sense of awe, it is evidence that our knowledge of the truth has<\/p>\n
not gone beyond our brains \u2013 it has not penetrated our hearts.<\/p>\n
Divine truth was not given to make us intelligent, but to make us wise<\/p>\n
unto true salvation manifested in a heart-felt worship of the God who<\/p>\n
made us and redeemed us by his Son. It is true there is no getting to<\/p>\n
the heart without going through the brain; for the heart cannot receive<\/p>\n
what the brain does not know. But we must strive so that the truth does<\/p>\n
not get stuck in our brains and go no further.<\/p>\n
Truth in the brain puffs up with pride; truth in the heart bends the<\/p>\n
knee to Christ.<\/p>\n
Joe Terrell.<\/p>\n
In Spirit and Truth<\/p>\n
“God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him, Must worship Him in Spirit<\/p>\n
and in Truth, (John 4:24).<\/p>\n
Here are two principles of worship without which all worship of God is<\/p>\n
vain. God must be worshipped in spirit – a heart worship – as opposed to<\/p>\n
mere forms and ceremonies, going through the motions with body and lip<\/p>\n
service, etc. If the heart does not pray it, the prayer is not accepted.<\/p>\n
IF the heart does not sing it, the song is not accepted. If the heart<\/p>\n
does not believe it, it is vain to profess it. Those who worship God,<\/p>\n
must worship in spirit (Romans 10:10).<\/p>\n
Those who worship God in spirit must also worship Him in truth. God has<\/p>\n
revealed Himself in His Word of truth as who HE is; how HE saves; by<\/p>\n
whom HE saves; the way in which any one must approach unto Him to<\/p>\n
worship. All worship that is contrary to truth is vain worship. All who<\/p>\n
worship God must worship Him in truth. Someone has said, “How<\/p>\n
astonishing is the fact, that man dares to introduce his miserable<\/p>\n
inventions to deform the scriptural simplicity of divine; as if God who<\/p>\n
makes all things perfect, had, in this most important institution,<\/p>\n
forgotten to direct the use of altars – magnificent vestment – pomp and<\/p>\n
ceremonies. When will man, with child-like simplicity, follow gospel rules?”<\/p>\n
Bruce Crabtree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Judas and Simon Peter What was the difference between the sin of Judas and the sin of Simon Peter? What they did to our Lord seemed similar yet Simon was forgiven and converted, while Judas hanged himself and was damned. Every believer has worried at some point that they could turn out to be a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bulletin-editions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4212"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4214,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4212\/revisions\/4214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}