Opening Prayer - Heavenly Father we thank You for the opportunity to learn about Your Word. We pray that you will help us to understand these verses in Matthew so we can fulfill our purpose in life. May everyone who tunes in this evening receive a blessing and learn from your Word and be able to apply what we have learned in our daily lives. We're eternally thankful for this ministry, and we pray that we can share these websites with others and many people can begin to have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Worship music - Please click the links and sing along if you know the words (You can also click skip ad to go straight to the songs) -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlR9TRs-cbM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iF4XSpmsZU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N59-k473zhY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNeQ7Tj40aU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gogDg34Z8V0&list=PLp-FxGoPHms3Sv_33hVzU-p1-yZ4I82eL
For Wednesday evening services, the Lord has lead me to do a Bible study for practical Bible verses in Matthew. Please come back to these Bible lessons in order to review them and learn them. Whenever we have learned the meaning of Bible verses and think about them throughout each day, we will be in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3). Not only that, but when we are in a situation in our daily lives and are tempted to sin, we can think back to what we have learned from the Bible and say to ourselves, "The Bible says to not do what I am tempted to say, think, do, and/or desire right now, so I am going to refuse to give in to this temptation." This is what Romans 12:2 means, and it says, "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." This is also the pattern that Jesus used when the devil tempted Him to sin in Matthew 4:1-11.
Chapter 10
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
(The book that is refered to in this message is www.areyousureyouaresaved.com)
Matthew 11:2-6
2Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, 3And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? 4Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: 5The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
Many people doubt that Jesus is the only Way to heaven, but it is hard to deny that due to the recorded miracles He performed. Amazing miracles still happen today; I have witnessed them right before my eyes! But there is more undenyable evidence that proves Jesus is the only Way to heaven - The following is a section from Dr. Roy B. Zuck's pamphlet "Is the Bible True?" "No book other than the Bible has ever given precise predictions of future events (prophecies) hundreds of years in advance, predictions that were fulfilled exactly. Far from vague generalities or general guesses like those of fortunetellers, the prophecies in Scripture contain explicit details which no human could possibly devise on his own. Imagine trying to come up with the name, ancestry, birthplace, and kind of death for a person who would be born in AD 2800. That would be humanly impossible! Only God could make such predictions and see them cared our perfectly. But that is exactly what we have in the Bible. Jesus’ identity name, birthplace, triumphal entry, betrayal, suffering, death, and burial-all were foretold in the Old Testament seven hundred years before He was born.If only 48 prophecies about a person were fulfilled, the odds would be 1 in 10157 . That’s a one followed by 157 zeros! And Jesus fulfilled more than 300 prophecies!"
Will you decide not to become a Christian, even after all of this evidence, or will you be blessed by not turning away from Jesus (Matthew 11:6)?
(If you have not prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/howtogotoheaven)
Matthew 11:7-15
7And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? 8But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. 9But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.
10For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
John the Baptist's purpose and mission was to prepare people's hearts (For more information on this topic, see chapters 16 and 8 of this book.) to receive Jesus as their Savior by getting them to repent. In Matthew 3:2 he said, “And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He then said in Matthew 3:7-8, “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:” When John the Baptist said, “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:” - he meant that if someone repented (or changed, with God’s help, and began to think and live the way God wants them to think and live), they will know it because they will begin to bear good fruit (becoming more holy (They set their old plans of each day aside and spend more of their time, other than work or school, etc., doing what God wants them to do.) in the way they live (Romans 6:22); sharing their material possessions with other people (Romans 15:28); having Jesus' character traits (Galatians 5:22–23), praising the Lord (Hebrews 13:15), answered prayer (1 John 5:14–15), and doing good works (Colossians 1:10)).
It is also a sin when someone spends more of their time, other than work or school, etc., “thinking” what they want to think about instead of “thinking” the way explained in chapter 39 of this book (Romans 8:5-8 "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh (They spend their time each day “thinking” what they want to think about.); but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit (They spend their time each day “thinking” the way explained in chapter 39 of this book.). For to be carnally minded is death (go to hell); but to be spiritually minded is life and peace (go to heaven). Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.")”
If someone is carnally minded and never changes with God’s help (repents) and becomes spiritually minded, they will not go to heaven. If someone isn’t consciously or unconsciously “willing” to repent (change the way they live and think, with God’s help, and begin to bear good fruit “from that moment on and for the rest of their life”), they aren’t ready to be saved. The Pharisees and Sadducees that were present at John’s baptism were not willing to live and think that way “from that moment on”. They continued their sinful actions and thoughts, and they didn’t get saved. Although good fruit is the result of someone who has had a change in the way they live (for example, someone beginning to doing good works (Colossians 1:10)), it is also the result of someone who has had a change in the way they think (holy living – Romans 6:22). When someone lives a holy life, they set aside what they used to want to do and think about each day, and they spend their time doing and thinking about what God wants them to do and think about each day (such as think about what they read in the Bible (Psalm 119:15), think about things such as a miracle they witnessed or heard of, someone who got saved, some act of kindness they saw or heard of, something amazing an athlete did because God gifted them with that ability, or imagine what will be going on in heaven when they get there, etc. (Philippians 4:8); and pray how Jesus taught in Matthew 6:9-13). Although the Pharisees and Sadducees could have thought those type of ways, they undoubtedly had hatred and jealously in their minds towards John the Baptist. The Pharisees and Sadducees also did things like good works, but the reason they did them was to make themselves look good and not to glorify God (Matthew 5:20). Since those things were true, the Pharisees and Sadducees needed to repent (be willing to quit thinking that way from that moment on and for the rest of their lives).
(If you have prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, but you haven't been living these ways, please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/makingsure)
(If you have not prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, you must be willing to repent "from this moment on and for the rest of your life" before you pray or make a decision to become a Christian (This concept is explained in these websites - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/theanswer and http://chriswaug5.wix.com/nocontridiction). If you are willing to live this way for the rest of your life, please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/howtogotoheaven)
(If you have prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, but you are not sure that you are really a Christian (Hebrews 11:6, Matthew 21:18-22, 1 John 5:14, and Hebrews 11:1), you need to be sure - please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/howtogotoheaven)