Baptist City Blog

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The Core of Most Trouble

1 Corinthians 10:7

"Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play."

It seems like nearly every week you hear about another sports figure being arrested or getting himself in trouble with females.  In recent years, many of the admired sports figures have lost their clean image because of revelations about improprieties with women or run-ins with the law.  Society constantly tries to figure out why these public figures get themselves into so much trouble, but they continue to avoid the answer to the problem.  Society wants to run to psychiatry to find out the problem when the Scriptures have the answer.  The answer is found in the verse above.  

The children of Isreal did wrong when they stopped working and started playing.  Notice the verse says, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." Accroding to the previous verse, you will notice that this lifestyle led Israel to doing "evil things." Because they stopped working, they had time on their hands to do evil.  Their playing around got them into serious trouble.  

One of the main reasons that sports figures get themselves into so much trouble is because they are playing when they should be working.  The core of most trouble is playing when you should be working.  Rarely do you find a person getting into trouble when they are working. Most people get into trouble when they have too much time on their hands and are playing.  

When I was a teenage young man, I kept myself out of trouble by working.  I often tell young people that I wasn't any better than they are, I was just busier than they are.  I started working everyday at age 13 to keep my summers filled and to stay out of trouble.  My parents did not have to force me to work, because it was my desire to work and stay out of trouble.  My parents had chores for me around the house, I knew that work would keep me out of trouble.  

Parents, the best way to keep your children from getting into trouble is to teach them the value of working.  By allowing your children to sit and play video games and watch TV all day, you are teaching them to play and not work.  Don't get me wrong, I believe there should be time to play, but work should always come first.  Give your children chores around the house and make them work before they can play.  

Likewise, as an adult you should be a worker and not a player.  If all you do is play, then you will find yourself getting into trouble more often than not.  Stay busy working and you will keep yourself from doing wrong.  The best repellant to sin is work.  Sin doesn't like work; sin likes to play.  So if you will stay busy working, then you will find it is much easier to stay away from sin.  

The core of most trouble is playing and not working.  If you are having trouble overcoming sin, then look at your schedule and see how much of it is filled with work.  If you will tire yourself through work, then you won't have the energy to do wrong.  We all have a sin nature inside of us, so the best way to keep that nature from controlling us is to work.

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Building on Another Man's Foundation

1 Corinthians 3:10

"According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon."

Life is a series of building upon that which others have already built.  What I have right now is a result of what someone has built for me.  My job now is to build upon what has been given to me so that the next generation will also have a foundation upon which to build.  

In the verse above, the Apostle Paul acknowledged that someone will build upon the foundation that he laid in his lifetime.  Though Paul built a great ministry, it was only the foundation for the following generation to build upon.  Whether or not the next generation liked the foundation, it was their responsibility to continue to build upon the same principles set forth in that foundation for the next generation.  

When I think of this, several thoughts come to mind.  First, life is not all about you.  You have no right to think that your life is about what you get out of it.  Let me remind you that everything you have, someone before you had to build the foundation for it.  For example, there are many patriots in the past who built the foundation for a free America. The responsibility of each generation is to build upon the foundation using the exact same principles that made their foundation strong.  Likewise, we fundamental Baptists should build upon the principles that previous generations gave to us.  Don't change those principles, but keep building upon those principles by passing them on to the next generation.  

Second, by living for the present and not for the next generation, we ultimately destroy the foundations that were previously laid.  One of the greatest mistakes this present generation is making is that they are destroying the foundations for the next generation. Sadly, the next generation will have to repair what the present generation is destroying if they want to enjoy the privileges that we have today.  

Third, we should be thankful and give respect to those who have built the foundation upon which we stand.  I watch many leaders today who destroy the leaders of past generations by downplaying their accomplishments.  There are pastors who have a national platform that are destroying the name and reputations of previous builders.  In fact, if they could replace the names of previous patriots with their own name, they would do it in a heartbeat.  We must be careful not to forget what the previous generations have done for us and give them their due respect.  

Christian, let's be careful about destroying the foundations that have been built for us.  Instead, build upon those foundations by using the exact same principles that previous generations used to build the foundations for us.  The least you could do as you build upon another man's foundation is to continue to build by teaching the next generation the fundamental principles that built the current foundation upon which you stand.  Be sure to build upon the foundation of your family, heritage and the fundamental Baptist beliefs that the next generation can build upon. Don't be guilty of destroying the sure foundations of principles that have already been tested.

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Square Pegs Do Fit in Round Holes

Romans 12:2

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

Transformation is always a hard process.  The reason it is so hard is because you are changing the form or shape of something into another form or shape.  You often hear that you can't make a square block fit into a round hole.  That is true, but with a transformation it can fit into the round hole.  You often see children playing with shaped blocks that must be put into a hole of the same shape.  It is always interesting to watch a child try to force a shaped block into a different shaped hole.  It doesn't work!  As much force as you try to apply to a square block, you are not going to make it go into a round hole.  The only way a square block is going to go into a round hole is if it is conformed into a round block to fit into the hole.  

In the verse above, God commands us to "be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed..." You will notice that conformation leads to transformation. If you conform to the world, then you will be transformed into the world's likeness.  If you conform into the image of Christ, then you will be transformed into His image.  It all comes down to what you allow yourself to be conformed to. When you got saved, you were like the square block that needed to be put into a round hole.  At first living the Christian life was awkward, but the more you conformed to the lifestyle of Christ, and became like Christ, this resulted in making the life of Christ easier to live.  

How do you allow yourself to be transformed into God's image?  It is simple, don't fight the conformation process.  Just like the block needs someone to chisel off the edges to make it round, you need to have the world's lifestyle "chiseled" off. That is where preaching comes in; every sermon you hear is God's chisel chiseling off the world's rough edges.  Reading the Scriptures on a daily basis is chiseling off the world's form.  When you go soul winning, you are letting God's chisel conform you into His image.  When you spend time in prayer, you are being conformed into God's image.  Simply put, the only way you will conform into the image of Christ is by doing what God commands you to do.  While you do what God commands you to do, you are renewing your mind which will transform you into His image.  

Christian, don't ever stop the transformation process.  Keep conforming yourself to Christ.  Every time you hear a sermon, let it conform you into Christ's image.  Every time you read the Scriptures, let Them conform you into Christ's image.  Always remember that conformation is what leads to transformation.

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More Than Conquerors

Romans 8:37

"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us."

Being saved guarantees that you are on the winning side.  We sing the song, "I'm on the winning side" because no matter what Satan throws at us, the Christian will always come through victorious.  In the verse above, God shows us how secure our salvation is, thus guaranteeing our victory.  He says that tribulation, calamity, persecution, famine, financial loss, danger, war, death or powerful dominions cannot separate us from His love.  God wants you to grasp that there is nothing this world can throw at you that will cause you to lose your salvation.  Because of this, "...we are more than conquerors through him..." 

Because we are conquerors, then that means we are the victors or the champions.  One thing I have learned about champions is that they live differently.  When you got saved, you became a member of the champions team, and there is nothing that can ever take that away from you.  With this in mind, it should change the way you live because you are a champion.  

First, you should have a victorious spirit.  Christian, you are on the winning side, and winners have a winning attitude.  Too many Christians walk through life with a loser's disposition when they should walk through life with a winner's attitude.  Winners don't let petty things get them down.  Winners don't let criticism bother them.  Winners are upbeat and have a good attitude.  Therefore, you should live your life with a winning attitude, and not a defeated attitude.  

Second, you should live a victorious life.  What I mean by this is that you should be confident that the Christian life is the best life.  There is no other life that you could live that can deliver victory and success.  You should be confident that the Christian life is the only way to live if you want to win.  When you look at champions in the sports world, you will see that they don't change their philosophy and way of doing things, because they are the champion.  Instead, you find that losing teams will copy the way that the champions do things.  Likewise, if Christians would live like champions, then we could persuade others to follow our lifestyle.  Stop living like a loser and trying to find a new way to do things. Instead, live like a winner and follow the proven winning methods of God's Word to live your Christian life.  

Last, you should be cognizant of the fact that the Devil has a target on your back. When you are the winner, everyone is out to take you down.  Likewise, because you are on the winning team, all the Devil's forces are out to take you down.  At any moment the Devil can destroy you if you don't watch how you live.  One decision can ruin your life, therefore you must be so careful how you live realizing that one sin can take the winning attitude away from you.  

Yes, if you're saved, you are a conqueror.  Live like you're a champion and beware of those who would love to take you down.  No, you can never loose your salvation, but you can still allow your flesh to defeat you. You should start every day reminding yourself to live like a champion because you are one!

"A Sinner Saved by Grace" is the song of the week now at www.baptist-city.com.

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

Good People in Bad Company

Acts 13:50

"But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts."

You would think that when Paul and Barnabas tried to bring the glorious Gospel of Christ to the Jews, that the good people of the area would have been excited.  Yet, in the verse above, we learn that the "devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city," were the ones who caused Paul and Barnabas problems.  You would expect problems from the atheists, but not from these people.  You would expect problems from wicked people, but not from these people.  These people were supposedly the best of society.  The word "devout" means devoted.  In other words, there were devoted people who turned on Paul and Barnabas.  These were people who were the honorable in the surrounding communities that turned on these men.  These people were city leaders who were known as good leaders, yet they still turned on these men.  This seems unthinkable.

So what was it that caused "devout and honourable" women and city leaders to turn on Paul and Barnabas?  The first three words of the verse above shows us the answer, "But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city..." What caused these good people to turn on God's men was that they kept bad company.  These good people got around bad company and found themselves doing bad things.

It always happens that when good people spend time around bad company that the good people end up doing bad things.  You cannot spend time with bad company and not expect it to influence or affect your actions.  Though many times you may have good intentions to influence the bad company for right, you will instead find yourself influenced by them.  Like I have always said, you can't spend time around manure without getting it and it's smell on you.  If you don't want to allow bad company to influence you, then don't spend time with them.

Christian, you are not going to be the exception to the rule.  You can't run with disgruntled church members, those who are still in the church and others who have left, without them affecting your spirit.  You can't run with worldly people and their worldliness not rub off on you.  You can't run with liberal Christians by reading their books and watching television programs without their liberal theology rubbing off on you.  You can't spend time with Hollywood and not expect their filthy lifestyle to rub off on you.  Good people spending time in bad company always produces bad results.

The best way for you to keep yourself from being influenced by bad company is to not spend time with them.  Yes, witness to them, pray for them, be kind and courteous to them, and try to get them to come to church, but you cannot run with them or else they will influence you.  If you want to continue to be a good person, then you need to spend time with good people.  

Take some time to look at your associations and those with whom you spend time, and make sure they are good people.  If they're not, then back off and start spending time with good people.  Just like good people in bad company results in bad actions, likewise good people in good company results in good actions.  Be careful with what company you run and be sure that it is the type of company that does things that you should do.

Music from the services of April 10, 2011 is now up at www.baptist-city.com.