I'll Be Honest

"From that time Jesus began to preach and say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" Matthew 4:17 Part 1 of "Teachings of Jesus"

Futility of mind is when a man is forever and always trying to figure out how to be happy, while he is an enemy of God. Futility is the way of the world; they are full of thoughts that are empty, vain, and useless. Yet as Christians we are to put away futility of mind as Paul says in Ephesians 4:17, "you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds."

Tim responds to someone who asks, "I wanted to know if you ever get depressed when you think about the fact that you have no historical or scientific evidence to back up what you believe?"

In Ephesians 4, Paul calls us to learn of Jesus Christ and to be taught how to speak through beholding Him. He spoke perfectly as fit the occasion and sometimes that was to be silent. Christ spoke from His mouth the very Word of God and in the same way our mouths should be filled with Scripture.

In this Ask Pastor Tim, Tim responds to the following question:

So many people around the world say that Jesus is Lord and are probably not saved. I just don't understand 1 Corinthians 12:3 which says, "Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says 'Jesus is accursed!' and no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except in the Holy Spirit." Please explain why many are not saved yet they say Jesus is Lord. I'm just confused.

Life transformation will always accompany the forgiveness of our sins. Always. When God declares the sinner righteous, legally they're forgiven; it always accompanies a real practical transformation of life. Don't believe your heaven bound, if you're still the same old person chasing sin in the same old way, because Christ's salvation is way better than that.

Once the writer John gets us to where we have assurance, he then doesn't have us sit there with our assurance but sends us to the battlefield. We who have assurance are to go to war for Christ in the spiritual realm. The more certain you are that all is well with your soul, the more willing and certain you will be to dash out on the battlefield.

Faithfulness and loyalty to Christ is a vitally important virtue in the Christian life that must not be treated lightly. In our lost world unfaithfulness is the norm. Yet on Judgment Day all men will long to bear the label of “faithful”. In Matthew 25 Jesus shows a picture of Judgment Day and of the Master saying to some of His servants, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” Faithfulness is a true virtue. Does your life speak of one whom who is faithful and devoted to the Lord?

In 1 John 5:1 it teaches us that the believer believes because they've first been born of God. This shows us that the new birth is responsible for faith; not faith being responsible for the new birth. True Christianity is always the activity of God and our faith is a reaction to God's initial call. Why does this matter so much? It is because we want a church that is God's work and not something manufactured by man.

The Holy Spirit leads us, convicts us of sin, affects our thought life, causes us to live for Christ's glory, and much more. These things and others give proof and evidence of the Holy Spirit abiding in us. It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we bear fruit and are becoming more like Christ. In this sermon Tim gives twelve proofs that the Bible gives us of the evidence of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life.