Every day pray that everyone you know will either become a Christian or influence others to become a Christian, and please share this online book with others - www.areyousureyouaresaved.com
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=t1i70rBZKZI
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5IM7MZBqa8
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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 13
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
Matthew 13:24-30
24Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
This parable has been a major reality in my life. Whenever I have preached a sermon, in which I have tried to explain repentance, discipleship, and Jesus' Lordship (sowed good in his field - Matthew 13:24), certain people (followers of Satan/my enemies) have tried to ruin my attempts and promote to others that I have added to the gospel (But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. - Matthew 13:25). So whenever the people who have been tricked by these followers of Satan hear anything about repentance, discipleship, and Jesus' Lordship, they ignore it. These people have been tricked into believing that someone can believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, and can live anyway they want and still go to heaven; according to these people, santification doesn't exist. These followers of Satan try very hard to get people to ignore Bible verses that help professing Christians know if they have really recieved salvation. (These are the tares the followers of Satan have sown.) Chapters 5-7 of this book - www.areyousureyouaresaved.com explain these topics in more detail. Also, see the False Teachings Wednesday evening messages for more ways these people try to trick others (sow tares).
So yes, there are people who sow tares, which look very similar to wheat, today as well. Since tares have a similar appearence to wheat, they can be described as half-truths. In commenting on the previous paragraph, someone can believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and become a Christian without ever thinking about repentance, discipleship, and Jesus' Lordship. The reason is because they really didn’t need to consider those things because their hearts were already greatly prepared to give Jesus their best (The Parable of the Sower – Matthew 13:1-23) before they trusted Jesus to save them, and many of them probably didn’t realize it.
Although, the great tragedy today is that millions of people believe they are a Christian because they prayed a prayer or made a decision to believe that Jesus died on the cross for their sins, and they can kick back, relax, and wait for heaven, because they are saved by grace. These people do not understand grace. Titus 2:11-13 says, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” The tragedy is that these people were not willing to repent “from that moment on”. They believed what they needed to believe in order to become a Christian, but they didn’t get saved because the soil of their hearts weren’t prepared when they prayed or made a decision to become a Christian (The Parable of the Sower – Matthew 13:1-23). Although, their hearts would have been prepared if they had truly repented “before” they believed (explained in chapters 16 and 8 of this book - www.areyousureyouaresaved.com).
If you have prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, but you have fallen for these tricks (1 Thessalonians 5:21), please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/makingsure
If you have not prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, 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 you are really a Christian (Hebrews 11:6, Matthew 21:18-22, 1 John 5:14, and Hebrews 11:1), please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/howtogotoheaven