God does not approve of you

 by David Long

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 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" (Matt. 7:21-27).

There are a lot of people who think they have God's approve for what they are doing. But come Judgement Day they will find out otherwise. 

Pick your companions wisely

 by David Long

"And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves" (Judges 3:6-7). That was in direct violation of God's word (Ex. 34:12-16). 1 Cor. 15:33 is still true and always will be. We can think that we are above it but we will only be falling for the lies of the devil. 

God doesn't settle for second place

 by David Long

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33). God doesn't settle for second place. If we are not putting the kingdom of God and His righteousness first in our lives then we aren't putting them in our lives at all. "And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Lk. 9:57-62).

Jesus ran them off

 by David Long

Did you know that Jesus ran people off? At one point Jesus fed 5000 people (John 6:10). That same group of people came seeking Jesus (John 6:22-25). Jesus told them that the only reason they were following Him was because of the food He provided for them (John 6:26). Then Jesus taught them some hard truths (John 6:27-65). How did they respond? "From that time many of his disciples when back, and walked no more with Him" (John 6:66). Jesus ran them off. Why? Because the reason why people followed Him mattered to Him and it still does today!!

The promise of eternal life

 by David Long

In Jesus Christ eternal life is given (1 John 5:11; John 10:28) but it is given in promise (1 John 2:25; Titus 1:2). Will God be true to His promise? Absolutely but it's based on our obedience to Jesus (Heb. 5:8-9). If we will be faithful unto death then we will receive that life (Rev. 2:10). Refuse to keep God's commandments and you will know God's breach of promise (Num. 14:34). 

build it according to the pattern

 by David Long

"Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount" (Heb. 8:5). See also Exodus 25:9, 40. 

God gave Moses a pattern to build the tabernacle and Moses was to build it according to the pattern. The same is true of the church that Jesus built (Matt. 16:18-19). If you are a member of a church that is not built according to the New Testament pattern then you need to get out. Can't worship God according to the doctrines and commandments of men and worship according to God's pattern (Matt. 15:9). 

You can't have it both ways

 by David Long

"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon" (Matt. 6:24).

"He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad" (Matt. 12:30).

Jesus is God

 by David Long

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men" (John 1:1-4). "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).

Reap what you sow

 by David Long

"And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men. And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites. But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. And Adoni-bezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died" (Judges 1:4-7). What the king had done to others was now being done to him. We reap what we so (Gal. 6:7-8). This is a farming principle with spiritual application. 

Jesus is king and priest

 by David Long

Knowing the types and antitypes of the Bible helps combat error. There are people who believe and teach that Jesus will one day be king on earth and reign for a thousand years. But if you know the types and antitypes of the Bible then you know that can't be true. Melchisedec was a type of Christ (Psa. 110:4; Heb. 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:1-21). Melchisedec was king and priest at the same time. Christ is king and priest at the same time (Zech. 6:12-13). If Christ were to be on earth He could not be a priest (Heb. 8:4). But He is king and priest right now! 

Can't stop the process

 by David Long

Read Eccl. 12:1-7. The Bible gives a description of aging. If a person lives long enough Eccl. 12:1-7 will happen to them. We can do some things to slow down the process and we can do some things to speed up the process but we can't stop the process. Some of the most sobering words in the Bible are Gen. 3:19. As each day passes we get a little closer to it. Sooner or later it happens to us all. 

God's covenant has two parts

 by David Long

"And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you" (Judges 2:1-3).

God's covenant has two parts: God's part and man's part. God makes the rules for the covenant and man's part is obedience. When man breaks God's covenant he suffers the consequences. 

Salvation has two parts: God's part and man's part. Man's part is to obey Jesus to obtain eternal salvation (Heb. 5:8-9). 

A generation that knew not God

 by David Long

"And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth" (Judges 2:10-13).

How is it that there arose another generation after the faithful generation that didn't know God? How could that happen? 

(1) They reject what they had been taught (Dt. 4:9). 

(2) They follow the bad examples around them (Judges 1:19-35; 1 Cor. 15:33).

(3) They chose to forsake God and serve idols (Joshua 24:15). 

The whole world lies in wickedness

 by David Long

"And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness" (1 John 5:19). Not a good commentary on the first century world but things hasn't changed much between here and there. The phrase "lieth in wickedness" can mean "lies under the sway of the wicked one" or "in the power of the wicked one" or "under the control of the devil." How true that is. The masses never have followed God for very long. Only a few will be saved (Matt. 7:13-14). 

Rebellion

by David Long

Rebellion is a sin. How serious is rebellion? Listen to what Samuel told Saul in 1 Sam. 15:22-23, "And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king."

Most people today are in rebellion against God's word, the Bible. What will the rebellious hear come Judgment Day? Read Matthew 7:22-23