SO WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
– a 5-minute response –
Believe:
The jailer…asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved––you and your household.” …Then immediately he and all his family were baptized. …He was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God––he and his whole family.
Acts 16:29-34
Acknowledge:
If you confess [acknowledge] with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess [acknowledge] and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trust in him will never be put to shame."
Romans 10:9-11
(NIV & Strong's Greek Dictionary)
Repent:
Repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his [Christ's] name to all the nations.
Luke 24:47
They must turn to God in repentance [for their sins] and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
Acts 20:21
Love:
“'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (and with all your strength).' And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law...hang[s] on these two commandments."
Matthew 22:37-40 / (Mark12:30)
The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
Galatians 5:6
Read the Bible:
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk [the Bible], so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.
I Peter 2:2
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
Colossians 3:16
Pray:
This…is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven ...”
Matthew 6:9
Prayer is talking to your Father who loves you!
Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for the saints [God's children].
Ephesians 6:18
Don't worry • Be content • Be thankful:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
I Thessalonians 5:17-18
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
Hebrew 13:5
God's continual, loving presence with us is the foundation for all our attitudes!
Don't be afraid or timid • Be bold and full of faith:
works prepared for you to do
don't be afraid to testify about and suffer for Christ
Obey:
[Jesus said:] "If you love me, you will obey what I command."
John 14:15
Our motivation is:
love for God and others –
not trying with all our might to follow the letter of the Law.
The power comes from:
our cooperation with the Holy Spirit who is living and working in us.
We...call people...to the obedience that comes from faith.
Romans 1:5
This obedience is based on our faith in Christ, not on trying hard on our own to follow a list of rules.
Righteousness from God...is by faith from first to last, just as it is written [in the Old Testament]: "The righteous will live by faith."
Romans 1:17
We started out by faith in Christ – and we became a child of God.
Then, by faith in Christ we are to live each day in obedience to him.
And, by faith in Christ we will live for all eternity.
But "the obedience that comes from faith" isn't automatic:
God works,
And we work.
You...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
Philippians 2:12-13
So learn to avoid the 2 extremes:
• Of trying to do it all in your own power;
• Of expecting God to do it all for you.
So, we please God by relying on his Holy Spirit...
...because we are not Sin's slaves any longer:
We know that our Old Self [that we were born with] was crucified with him [Christ], so…that we should no longer be slaves to sin–because everyone who has died has been freed from sin.
Romans 6:6-7
A very powerful truth:
1. Our Old Self was Sin's slave.
So, before we believed in Christ, we couldn't help but commit sins.
2. But our Old Self was crucified on the cross with Christ.
Illustration:
Obviously, when a slave dies, he is no longer under his master's control.
He's dead!
3. So now we are free to serve another master – God.
(Visual Illustration: Old Self crucified with Christ)
Before we believed in Jesus Christ...
• Our Old Self made it impossible for us to please or obey God.
• Sin, as a force or slave master within us, made it impossible.
• Our Flesh, with its evil desires, made it impossible.
But our Old Self was crucified with Christ, and now we have Christ's Spirit living in us.
So now we have the ability and power to please God!
[Now] the righteous requirements of the Law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the Flesh but according to...[God's] Spirit.
Romans 8:4
"Righteous requirements" are God's lofty standards. Now we can meet them!
They are different from slavishly trying to follow a long list of commands that are part of "the Law's written code."
So…we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the [Law's] written code.
Romans 7:6
An Important Key: Our Minds.
[Don't have your] minds set on what the Flesh desires; but...have...[your] minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of the Flesh is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.
Romans 8:5-6
Where we focus our minds is crucial:
To please God each day we must focus on...
• Things of the Spirit.
• Not, things of the Flesh.
Our minds guide our words and actions.
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is––his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2
Put Off & Put On:
With regard to your former way of life, ...put off your Old Self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires.
Ephesians 4:22
Put on the New Self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:24
Go to church with God’s children:
Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another.
Hebrews 10:24-25
In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ...Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Romans 12:5 / I Corinthians 12:27
There are different kinds of gifts (spiritually abilities)... There are different kinds of service... There are different kinds of working. ...All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. ...Now to each one the manifestation [expression] of the Spirit is given for the common good.
I Corinthians 12:4-6, 11, 7
The Holy Spirit wants to bless you through God's other children.
But he can't, if you don't go to church!
The Holy Spirit wants to bless God's other children through you.
But he can't, if you don't go to church!
Greet Priscilla and Aquila. ...Greet also the church that meets at their house.
Romans 16:3, 5
... his [Christ's] body, which is the church ...
Colossians 1:24
Christ's church or body is not a building.
Christ church is made up of God's children – those who believe in Jesus Christ.
So it can meet anywhere.
Together we:
• Worship God.
• Learn about God through the Bible.
• Encourage one another in our relationship with Christ.
• Pray to God together – and pray for each other.
• Tell about Jesus to people who don't know him.
• Do God's work and serve each other.
How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!
Psalm 147:1
Be baptized:
Be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ.
Acts 2:38
Tell others about Jesus:
I am not ashamed of the gospel [of salvation], because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.
Romans 1:16
As Jesus was sitting…the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "...what will be the sign of your coming [back again] and of the end...? Jesus answered: "...This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."
Matthew 24:3-4, 14
Don't give up during hard times:
Consider it pure joy...when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 1:2-4
We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. ...For...God...predestined [us] to be conformed to the likeness of his Son. ...If God is for us, who can be against us? ...Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convince that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:28-29, 31, 35, 37-39
In the midst of trials:
• Rejoice – God loves you. Nothing can keep you from his love!
• See it through to the end:
God's intention from the very beginning is to make you like Jesus!
Don't give up part way and miss out on the spiritual benefit.
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Hebrews 12:11
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, ...who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, ...so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 12:2-3
You have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves..." ...God is treating you as sons.
Hebrews 12:5-7
Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. "Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
Hebrews 12:12-13
In the midst of trials:
God is working in you to make you grow spiritually.
It is also your responsibility to make the effort to grow spiritually.
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
James 1:12
It will be worth it!
Be prepared to face persecution for Jesus’ sake:
[Jesus said:] “Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of me. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven, ...for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Luke 6:22-23 & Matthew 5:12
[Jesus said about the end times:] "You will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. ...But he who stands firm to the end will be saved."
Matthew 24:9, 13
[Jesus said:] "Do not be afraid of those [people] who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One [God] who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ...Even the very hairs of your head are numbered [by your heavenly Father]. So don't be afraid."
Matthew 10:28, 30-31
Now if we are children [of God], then we are heirs––heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Romans 8:17-18
Focus on the key:
With Christ!
• Now.
• Through all eternity.
[Jesus said:] "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
John 16:33
Rejoice!
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Philippians 4:4
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
Psalm 146:1-2
OUR UNAVOIDABLE DECISION.
We are given only 2 options!
Whoever believes in [Jesus] the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.
John 3:36
What is God's heart toward you?
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise [to judge everyone], as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
II Peter 3:9
"As surely as I live," declares the Sovereign Lord, "I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live [eternally]. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die [eternally]?"
Ezekiel 33:11
But ...
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the [physical] death of his saints [those who believe in Jesus].
Psalms 116:15
God looks forward to being with his children forever!
Jesus says: First, consider the cost of following me.
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man [Jesus] will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
Mark 8:34-38
So God’s invitation to you on the last page of the Bible is: Come!
The Spirit…say[s], “Come!” …Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life [Option #2].
Revelation 22:17
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