The church of Jesus Christ is presented in scripture as being a candlestick of the Lord. Each individual church is a candlestick that should be unified to shine forth to light this dark world to the glory of God. We ought not put our candlestick in a secret place or under a bushel, but shine forth our light to a dark world in our local communities that men might see our good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven.

Lic. Morgan Sims goes through the book of Titus giving practical admonitions from these scriptures. We have eternal security of salvation because God that cannot lie promised eternal life before the world began. Therefore, we must be vigilant to hold steadfastly to sound doctrine, rejecting false teachers, and to maintain good works to honor the Lord.

Does the word of God command the sinner to pray a prayer to go to heaven? Actually, No. The Sinner’s Prayer to gain eternal life that is so common in Christianity today is not found in the word of God. However, we consider the True Sinner’s Prayer in the scriptures – “God be merciful to me a sinner!” We are not saved to heaven by praying a prayer, but when we confess our sin and have faith in God’s mercy, we experience salvation, peace, and assurance in our soul for the sin-sick child of God!

We consider the Lord’s church as the vineyard of God. Jesus is the True Vine, God the Father is our Husbandman, and we are the Lord’s branches. God expects fruit from his branches, fruit from his vineyard. When we are not bringing forth fruit to the glory of God as we ought, God might see fit to remove us, just as he did the natural nation of Israel. Let us bring forth good and honorable fruit in the vineyard of our Lord.

During the oppression of King Saul’s reign, there were some who were distressed, in debt, and discontented who sought out a captain, who sought out the rightful king, David. For those who are distressed, indebted, and discontented in this world, this points us towards the Captain of our salvation, Jesus Christ, that we should flee unto during our tribulation in our lives.

We see that the temple of God was ordained by the Lord to be a place of worship and sacrifice to glorify God. The Lord set up his Old Testament temple to be the place of worship and glory, but Israel forsook God and worshipped false gods. Now, God intends to be worshipped in the temple of our bodies and spiritual Jews, consecrated for his worship and glory. We need to use the temple of our bodies for the honor and glory of God.

The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is presented in scripture as the house of God. Jesus Christ is the chief corner stone and foundation of his house. The members of God’s church are now lively stones that are chosen to build up a spiritual house. We ought to strive to be vessels meet for the master’s use in the house of God.

Visiting Minister Elder Sammy Odom considers various contrasting types in the scriptures. While we normally consider types to be similar to something, we now consider types that are contrasting opposites, such as the 3 accounts of sureties in the Bible and how they contrast with Jesus Christ as our eternal surety for sin.

This world is filled with trouble and tribulation on every side for the child of God. It is very easy to get discouraged in the middle of all that trouble. Instead, we need to turn our eyes to our eternal rest in Jesus Christ. There is rest for the weary, but our ultimate eternal rest will be finally be ushered in by Jesus Christ at His second coming. Lord Jesus come quickly!

God is in sovereign control of the kingdoms of men and he gives authority over those kingdoms to whomever he sees fit. We see the amazing providence and sovereignty of God to move the heart of kings and to elevate unlikely characters to positions of power, particularly Mordecai, Daniel, and Joseph. We do not need to be discouraged with the political environment today because God is still in control, the Most High still ruleth in the kingdom of men.