Baptist City Blog

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The Two Sides of Truth

Jeremiah 38:4

"Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt."

Being optimistic is certainly a good quality to have, but optimism without reality will hurt. In the verse above, the princes were upset with Jeremiah because his sermons were not optimistic about the outlook of the city of Jerusalem. He prophesied that the king of Babylon would take the city, and that every inhabitant of the city would be killed or taken as captives to Babylon. The princes thought that his sermons should be uplifting so as to strengthen the hands of the people and not hurt them. The problem was that if Jeremiah had preached an optimistic sermon, then truth would not have been proclaimed for there is a negative side of truth as well. When optimism forsakes truth, then optimism is more hurtful than reality.

In these current days, you can see similarities between the people of Jeremiah's day and the people of our day. It seems as if people are looking for feel good sermons more than they seek sermons of truth. In fact, when you have a preacher who proclaims both sides of truth, then you will find that many people think he is being negative. Certainly I am for helping people, and certainly I am for being optimistic, but truth also has a negative side that must be proclaimed. Truth must be proclaimed, and if the reality of truth seems to be negative, then we should change our lifestyle to match the message of truth.

Be careful about always looking for a preacher who only preaches the optimistic side of truth. When looking for a preacher, you should want a preacher who preaches both sides of truth, even if the side of truth is not optimistic. When you hear a true man of God preach, there will be times when his message is going to seem very negative, but preachers have to be negative in order to preach both sides of truth. For instance, preaching on the judgment of God is not very optimistic, but the judgment of God is truth. If a person commits sin, they will face God's judgment. If a nation continues in sin, it will face God's judgment. Though this may not be optimistic, this is truth and this is reality. If a preacher avoids preaching the negative side of truth, then his optimism will become hurtful because it does not warn people of the wages of sin.

When a preacher's negative sermon seems to be directed at your life, then don't get upset like the princes did at Jeremiah. Instead of getting upset at the preacher, you need to change that area of your life so you can enjoy the optimistic side of truth. You can get upset and go look for another preacher who makes you feel good, but that won't change the truth about your condition. If a person has cancer and doesn't like what a doctor tells them, then they can look for another doctor who tells them their fine, but that doesn't take the cancer away. Likewise, you can avoid the negative side of truth to listen to optimism, but that still won't change your condition and the impending judgment which is to come.

Remember, there are two sides to truth. There is an optimistic side of truth which talks of God's blessings when we do right, but there is also a negative side to truth that tells of sin's wage when we do wrong. Don't avoid the negative side of truth, but remember that both sides of truth are important for a healthy Christian life.

Music from the services of First Baptist Church of Hammond on 8/14/11 is now up at www.baptist-city.com.  That is not the most exciting news that we have for you today. Beginning with this music upload, all future audio files will be in beautiful streaming MP3 format, this includes sermons! When you click on a file, it will begin playing on your computer immediately in whatever default program you use to play MP3 files. These include but are not limited to iTunes and Windows media player.

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Ruling Your Captor

Jeremiah 29:28

"For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them."

Reality can often be very sobering. The false prophets of Jeremiah's day did not like the reality of his preaching. Jeremiah prophesied that the captivity of Israel was going to last for a long time. In the verse above, you see that Jeremiah advised the people to build houses and plant gardens because of the length of their captivity. Jeremiah knew that most of the Israelites who lived in Babylon would never leave their captivity, so he helped them to rule their captivity instead of being a captive of their captivity.

There are many who read this devotional who have become a captive of some circumstance in their life. There are some who are captive to bad health. Maybe your health has turned for the worse, and as far as you know you will be a captive to your health for the remainder of your life. Some are a captive to divorce or a bad relationship. Others are captive to poor finances. Some have a unique captivity that only they will have to bear the rest of their lives. The key to your captivity is to not be a captive to it, but to rule it. If you will follow Jeremiah's advice to Israel then you can rule your captor.

First, accept your captivity. Notice that Jeremiah said, "...build ye houses,..." This was Jeremiah's way of telling them to accept that they were going to be captives for a long time. When you become a captive to a situation in your life you must not live in denial, for living in denial will keep you from becoming productive during your captivity. You will never rule your captor until you accept your captivity.

Second, don't complain. Jeremiah told the people to dwell in the houses that they built. In other words, he was telling them that they could either enjoy the homes that the built, or they could complain about their situation. Christian, you can complain about your captivity, but that will not help your situation. You still have life, and you should decide to live your life even though you are in captivity.

Third, stay busy serving God. Jeremiah told the people to plant gardens. In other words, make your time of captivity a fruitful time. I have found that God has used many of the things that have made me a captive to be the most fruitful elements of my life. If you are a captive to your captivity, then you are missing out on the greatest opportunity to become fruitful. Use your situation to help others who are captive to the same captivity. Joseph was fruitful when he was a slave and in prison, and you can be as well. Don't allow your captivity to take away the time of fruitfulness that you can enjoy.

Last, count your blessings. Jeremiah told the people to eat the fruit of their gardens. In other words, though you are a captive, you will still have blessings that you can enjoy. If you allow your captivity to be your captor, then you will miss out on these blessings. However, if you decide to rule your captor, then you will find that God will bless you in your captivity and that you will have many opportunities to count the blessings of these fruits.

You may not be able to change your captivity, but you can still be productive and joyful in it. You can either be a captive of your captivity, or you can be a ruler over your captor. With God's help you can become a ruler over your captor and make your captivity the most productive and fruitful portion of your life.

The title sermon and three more terrific sermons for the week of 7/31/10 are now up at www.baptist-city.com.

Midnight Cry is the song of the week now at www.baptist-city.com

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A Glimpse of Hope

Jeremiah 2:9

"Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead."

One of the greatest attributes about God is that He is a longsuffering God. You can see this attribute in the verse above when it says, "Wherefore I will yet plead with you,..." God mentioned in the previous verses the sins of His people and how He tried to bring them back to Him. However, though God tried to get them to come back, they continued in their sin. Yet, though God's people continued in their sin, He was not willing to give up on them. In fact, He said that He would continue to plead with them to come back to Him.

This example that God gives should motivate you to never give up on those whom you are trying to reach. As long as their is a glimpse of hope for someone's return, you should continue to plead with God for them to come back. I am confident this is what the father of the prodigal son did when the son was gone. Though this son ruined his life in sin, the father waited for his son's return. As long as their was a glimpse of hope for his son's return, he kept pleading and waiting for him to come home.

Parents, when your children go wayward or rebel in the home, don't stop pleading for their return. Many parents have stopped pleading only to release the pressure of guilt from their child. No, you should not preach to your child every time you see them, but you should continue to plead with them to come back and serve God.

When your spouse has gone wayward, never give up hope for their return. You may need to spend many nights in prayer for their return, but keep on pleading with them and God for their return. There are many stories of people who prayed for years for their spouse to get right with God or get saved and finally one day saw the fruits of their pleadings.

When a Christian has backslidden from God, don't give up on that person. What you don't understand is that many times they still want to know that you care about them. I wonder how many people we have let slip through our grasp because we gave up and stopped pleading for their return. It may be someone in your Sunday school class, or someone who used to sit in your section of the church auditorium, or someone with whom you used to spend time, but you must not give up hope and stop pleading for them.

There is someone right now for whom you have stopped pleading. For whatever reason you gave up on that person. Let me encourage you that as long as their is a glimpse of hope, don't stop pleading for them. As long as they are still alive, and as long as God's Holy Spirit still works in the hearts of mankind, then there is hope for that one whom you are thinking about right now. Keep pleading for them for their return or salvation. Whether or not they return, at least they will understand that you still love them. Besides that, if you keep pleading I believe one day you will see them return. Whatever you do, don't stop pleading!

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Recipe for Holy-Spirit Filling

Isaiah 61:1

"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;"

Who better to look to on how to be anointed with the Holy Spirit than Jesus Christ? The verse above is a prophecy of the ministry of Jesus. You can see in this verse that it was prophesied that Jesus would be anointed with the Holy Spirit of God. However, He was not anointed so that He could have a possession, but He was anointed because He performed some actions. God's Holy Spirit does not come on people so they can proclaim they have a possession, but rather the Holy Spirit anoints people so that they can fulfill the works that God commands them to do. As you look at this verse, you see a recipe for Holy-Spirit filling.

Preaching God's Word is the first ingredient needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is not just for preachers, but this is for everyone. Every person can preach the Word of God to the lost world. When a person goes soul winning, they are preaching the Gospel of Christ. Furthermore, this is also why you need to strive to be a Sunday school teacher in your church, because when you teach a lesson you are preaching God's Word.

The second ingredient needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit is restoring the fallen. Notice this verse says, "...he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted..." This statement has a twofold meaning. One of the meanings is to restore those who have been hurt by sin. Sin always leaves people broken. God's Holy Spirit is there to help you to restore those who have been broken by sin. This is why you should help those who have fallen instead of trying to destroy them through gossip. Attempting to restore the fallen grabs the attention of the Holy Spirit and will cause Him to anoint you with His power so that you can help the fallen to come back to God.

The third ingredient is to help the hurting. The second meaning of the statement, "...he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted..." is to help those who have been hurt through life's heartaches. Whether it is sickness, death, relationship hurts, loneliness or any type of hurt, God's Holy Spirit anoints you to help heal the hurt that people carry. You may not know how to help the hurting, but if you will attempt to help them, then God's Holy Spirit will help you to mend those broken hearts.

The fourth ingredient is to help people overcome sin. The verse above says, "...to proclaim liberty to the captives,..." Sin will captivate and control people. The only hope that many have to overcome their sin is for you to be anointed with the Holy Spirit. When you serve people and try to help them overcome their sin, then you will find the Holy Spirit will anoint you to help them overcome sin's bondage.

The fifth ingredient is to win people to Jesus Christ. God says, "...and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;..." Soul winning will always get the attention of the Holy Spirit. The reason it grabs His attention is because God sent His Holy Spirit to bring the lost to Christ. When you bring the Gospel through soul winning to those who are lost, then the Holy Spirit anoints you to say the right things that will help that person to get saved.

Each of these ingredients are important in the recipe to be anointed with the Holy Spirit. You can't pick and choose which one you want to do, but rather you must be involved in all of these if you want the Holy Spirit's anointing upon you. Yes, you must be emptied of yourself, but serving God in all of these areas is what will bring you the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

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Understanding the Thoughts of God

Isaiah 55:8

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD."

Have you ever wished that you could understand or even know the thoughts of God? There have been many times in my life when I wished I could know the exact thoughts of God on an issue that seemed to be unclear. In the verse above, God makes it clear that He does not think like we do. Likewise, He makes it clear that He doesn't do things like we do them. We must realize that God's thoughts are not tainted by sin like ours. Therefore, we cannot think like God, for His thoughts are pure and His ways are always right.

God is not a changing God. Hebrews 13:8 says about Jesus, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." God says again in Malachi 3:6, "For I am the LORD, I change not;..." Because God does not change, if we ever learn the thoughts of God on one subject or decision, then we can understand His thoughts in this area all the time, for He never changes. Likewise, if we learn God's way in one area we will always know His ways whenever we face that area again because He never changes. Therefore, we must spend time with God if we want to understand His thoughts and ways.

The first way to spend time with God is through studying the Scriptures. Psalm 92:5 says, "O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep." You will notice in this verse that God's thoughts are like a treasure that must be mined. We mine out the thoughts of God through studying the Scriptures. That is why God says in 2 Timothy 2:15, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." Through studying the Word of God He will show you His thoughts. Therefore, daily spend time in His Word so you can learn His thoughts.

The second way to spend time with God is through prayer. I have learned that as you talk to God through prayer that He talks back to you. When God begins to talk to you through your prayer life, you will learn His thoughts. Furthermore, you will learn the thoughts and ways of God by how He answers your prayers. As long as we don't push God to give us our way, then every time He answers a prayer teaches us what His thoughts are on a certain way or His thoughts about that area.

The third way to spend time with God is through serving Him. You will learn a lot about God through serving Him. When you work with people, you learn about them. You see their way of thinking when you watch them work. Likewise, when you serve God you will learn His ways. When you learn the ways or methods of God, then you will learn His thoughts. Thus, by learning God's ways and thoughts you understand His thought process.

God is a predictable God. He never changes in how He does things. Therefore, if you will spend time with God through studying the Scriptures, in prayer, and by serving Him, then you will then begin to understand His thoughts.

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We Have Spirit, How About You?

Isaiah 42:5

"Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:"

When you go to a high school ball game, you will often hear the cheer, "We've got spirit, yes we do. We've got spirit, how about you?" Normally, one side will start this cheer, and then the opposing team answers with the same. This cheer helps to keep the spirit in the gym where the teams are playing so that they can help cheer their team on to victory.

According to Webster dictionary, the word "spirit" means, "morale, energy, determination, vigor, or excitement of mind." This properly describes what God was saying in the verse above. The Scriptures say, "...he giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:" God wants His people to have spirit. He wants His people to have good morale. He wants His people to have energy and vigor. He wants His people to have excitement. We know this because God is the One Who gives spirit.

Let me remind you that we are on the winning side. There is no reason for a Christian to walk about having a defeated spirit. Every Christian should have a spirit of excitement. Every Christian should have good morale about the Christian life. Every Christian should put vigor into what they do. The reason is because we are on the winning side. The world certainly has spirit about what they do. What a shame that the world has more spirit about their sinful lifestyles than the Christian who is going to Heaven.

In order to have spirit, you must first decide to have it. Spirit is mainly attitude. You decide whether or not you are going to have spirit. There are many who will say that this is just not their personality. If that is you, then you need to change your personality. Christians should not allow their personality to be one of a defeated spirit. They should exemplify to the world a spirit of excitement and vigor about the Christian life. No lost person would want to be part of something that has a defeated spirit. They want to be part of something that has an energetic spirit of victory and excitement. If you are going to have spirit, then you must choose to have it.

Second, the Holy Spirit is the One Who gives the Christian spirit. Because the Holy Spirit gives the Christian spirit, then the Christian needs to do things that stir the Holy Spirit. When you get the Holy Spirit involved in your life, you will find that you will have a good spirit. If you wonder what would stirs the Holy Spirit, it is the works of God that stir Him. God gave us His Spirit so that we can do His works. God proved this when Jesus said in John 14:12, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." John 14:16 shows us that when Jesus went to the Father, it was only then that He could send the Comforter Who is the Holy Spirit. Once the Holy Spirit has come, then we have the opportunity to stir Him so He can stir our spirit. In other words, when you preach, teach, soul win, help others, pick people up for church and love others, this stirs the Holy Spirit which in return will give your spirit that excitement and energy that each Christian needs.

I ask you, do you have spirit? Do people look at your Christian life and say that you are energetic about serving the LORD? It is a choice to have spirit. If it is not your personality, then change your personality so the world can see in you the vigor and excitement that God gives when we serve Him. The greatest testimony the world can see in the life of a Christian life is when their is spirit in everything we do.