What are we told to obey, to be in heaven with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ one Day? Hear the Word of God; we must listen carefully to what God’s word says.
Matthew 7:24-27; “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”
Romans 10:14
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? We must ask ourselves here in the Ramsey church of Christ, what should we be doing ? There are many living who have not heard the gospel and who have never considered where life is leading them. We must be busy in talking to them which will give them the opportunity to respond. We must preach the word as commanded in 1 Timothy 4:11 These things command and teach and again in 2 Timothy 4:1-2 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. Revelation 2:7; He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” We are to remain faithful here in Ramsey if we want to be heaven bound and receive our reward.
Believe; John 20:29;
Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.
We weren’t present when the Lord reappeared before His disciples and all those who witnessed the event that took place on that day, but we firmly believed that Jesus is alive and is active in our lives watching us and knowing everything about us.
Acts 16:30-34;
And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household. Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.
We need to have a plan ready for when someone wants to be baptised into Christ and be ready whether or not it’s a day or in the night, to carry out the responsibility in making sure they are ready to be immersed in the waters of baptism and to be added to the church here in Ramsey.
Hear the word of God
Romans 10:14;
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
We need to study God’s word daily and get to know everything it teaches us, so that we can be confident within ourselves to guide them into how they can be saved and to grow in knowledge and understanding. In other words we need to put on the full armour of God Ephesians 6:11-20
Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints– and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Hebrews 11:6;
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. One again, we must get into the habit of studying the scriptures, just like the Bereans did in the Book of Acts.
Repent–Turn away from sin, change one’s behaviour. Luke 13:2,3;
And Jesus answered and said unto them, “Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things?
I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
Sadly, even Christians will perish, simply because they failed to repent. If there’s sin in our lives, we need to rid ourselves of anything that will condemn us on the Day of Judgement.. We must change our attitudes if we are doing something sinful.
LUKE 15:4-7;
“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
We must go in search of the lost ones and help them to change for the better. The heavens will rejoice when we find those here in Ramsey who want to be saved, who repent and ask to be baptised.
Acts 8:22;
Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.
Just be aware that God knows our every thought, even before we think it. I know that in my life my thoughts have not been what they should have been and I have had to face up to them in order to correct these things that have entered my heart. It’s an ongoing daily process.
Be baptized;
Matthew 28:19,20;
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
I learnt a lesson last week without realising I had learnt that to be a student, I need to be a teacher teaching the teacher that has taught me, so that I can become an excellent teacher, that way I will be able to do my job more effectively.
Mark 16:15,16;
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
Notice the word “Go”… it means that we must go into our local community and not just to sit and wait expecting them to come to us. We must go and find those who are lost… and I hope and pray that we can do our job more effectively by reaching out to them this spring by talking one to one and giving them an invitation to respond.
Acts 10:47,48; Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.
Acts 22:16;
And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’
Ephesians 4:3-6; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
It’s important that we be of the same mind and be united on the work we need to do and be at peace with each other, in order for us to succeed in the work of the Lord.
Titus 3:5,6;
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
I’m sure that each of us have done many good things to bring God the glory and praise, however it’s His mercy that has been shown to us knowing that we are not able to redeem ourselves no matter how many good things we might have done.
Be faithful,
Matthew 25:21;
“His Lord said unto him, Well done thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”
If we remain faithful and do the things He asks of us, then He will add more things that will bring with it a greater reward and much more joy.
1 Timothy 1:12-14; And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
We can all say that we have done many awful things in our lives through ignorance and unbelief, but we have now obtained mercy, now it’s our opportunity to show Our Saviour our appreciation for all He has done for us.
3 John 4-8;
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers, who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well, because they went forth for His name’s sake, taking nothing from the Gentiles. And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’
Revelation 2:10;
Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
We all will suffer many things in our lives but hopefully we will not be put in prison for our faith, unlike in some places in the world where many brethren suffer being placed under arrest for standing up for the truth. Let’s make sure we do our job here in the Ramsey church of Christ.
Lesson was presented by: Bro Robert H Brown
