Bringing in the harvest…
Posts tagged God
He and us
Jun 13th
Written by Reinhard Bonnke
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.
When he found one of great value, he went away
and sold everything he had and bought it.
Matthew 13:45-46
Here is a question. It sounds like a Bible riddle, two riddles in one in fact. What is the greatest thing God ever did … and could he do something greater?
Think of what God has done. He made heaven and earth. He opened his hands and flung the cosmos into existence. He “sustains all things by his powerful word” (Hebrews 1:3). He made everything. Can God make more than everything?
God gave until it hurt
Well, we ourselves make and create things. But that is not all we do. Making something is not the limit of our capabilities. We can do more than make. We can give and we can love. So can God. And he did! “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (John 3:16). That was something infinitely greater than making the stars.
We ourselves can give but we can do even more than that: we can sacrifice. We can give till it hurts, until we actually feel the loss. Can God do that? How can God give till it hurts? How can he make a sacrifice? The Bible tells us that giving does not impoverish him. BUT … but … he did indeed give till it hurt and was impoverished. He gave so sacrificially that it became the greatest sign of love in the world. God the Father gave up his only Son. That definitely hurt.
God could not replace his Son. He could replace anything else but not his only Son. He could make another star, yes, another earth, another universe, and it would cost him nothing; he would lose nothing. But nothing could replace his Son. That Son was everything to God.
The Cure For Religious Confusion
Jun 13th
by David Legge | Copyright © 2008 | All Rights Reserved | www.preachtheword.com
We’re going to turn in our Bibles again to that second portion of Scripture that was read by Chris from Acts chapter 4, and I want to take as my text – though it’s very much in the context of both chapters that were read, 3 and 4 of Acts – but I want to take verse 12 of chapter 4 as my text this evening. I want to preach under the title ‘The Cure For Religious Confusion’, for in verse 12 Peter says: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved”.
Let there be no confusion. Enshrined within chapter 4 and verse 12 of Acts is the exclusive claim of Christianity: there is no other Saviour, no other way to God other than Christ…
Let us pray: Father, we thank You that we come to the One who has the name above all other names, the True and Living God. We come through the Lord Jesus Christ, though despised and rejected of men, humbled for a season, the One who has been given a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. That’s why we preach His name tonight, our Father, that men and women and boys and girls should have another opportunity to bow the knee and confess Him as their Saviour and their Lord. So, Lord, we will preach none other than Christ, and Him crucified and risen again, and able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him, seeing He lives. So, Lord, may we know the presence and the power of the Living Redeemer tonight by His Spirit. May any who are confused in mind and heart over this matter of the Gospel, we pray that You will clear it all up tonight, and make their mind clear and their heart open to receive the word of God, and to repent of their sin, and embrace the Gospel as it is presented in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You for everything that we’ve enjoyed already; but Lord, bless Your word we pray, help the preacher, help those in the meeting, and particularly those without Christ – Lord, save them this evening, and bring those who are cold in their faith back to Yourself. To the glory of the Lord Jesus we pray, Amen.
