The Gospel Of Repentance

Israel just conquered Jericho in a military campaign when they crossed the Jordan River. They were instructed by Joshua not to take in any of the accursed things from Jericho for it was appointed for destruction (Joshua 6:18). One of the soldiers named Achan decided to disobey the Lord's command and steal a little spoil for himself which provoked the Lord to anger against Israel (Joshua 7:2). The result of this blatant disobedience is that Israel was defeated by men in a town by the name of Ai. Even worse, about thirty-six men were killed in battle as the troops fled from their much smaller foes.  Joshua and all the leaders tore their clothes (in distress) and fell on their face before the Lord. Joshua inquired of the Lord as to why this happened to them. Joshua is afraid that all of their enemies will hear how they were defeated and wipe them out. Joshua asks the Lord, "What will you do for your great name (Joshua 7:9)?" The Lord told Joshua to get up! Israel has s

I n the gospel of Luke Jesus teaches three parables. Parables is one of the main teaching methods of Jesus. The word parable comes from the Greek word parabol ē . It means to place things side by side for the purpose of comparison. So, when Jesus spoke in parables he was creating stories using natural things like seeds, people, talents, kings, etc to convey a spiritual truth about the kingdom of God. His most personal parable is the one of what is commonly called The Parable of the Prodigal Son. There are three main characters in the parable. The writer will identify who the characters represent. Before I do that, I need to present the entire chapter of  Luke 15.               The Lost Sheep   Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him.  2  Both the Pharisees and the scribes  began  to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” 3  So He told them this parable, saying,  4  “What man among you, if h

Joshua sends out two spies in the second chapter of the book of Joshua to travel to Jericho. They encounter a prostitute named Rahab. Word gets out to the king of Jericho that Israelites are in the land so he sends men to capture them; Rahab hide the men on her roof. When the pursuers inquire if the men had come to her. she lies and tells them they were here, but they left. Pursue them out of the city gate so that you can find them (Joshua 2:1-7). Rahab goes to tell the Israelite spies that she knows that the Lord has given them the land and all of Jericho is in great fear because of them (Joshua 2:9). She goes on to declare that we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heav

D euteronomy 32 is called the Song Of Moses. This chapter discusses for Israel who God is; Creator and sustainer of the universe. He is the one that provided all their needs and fought all their battles. Because He (The Lord) loved them, He gave them the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey to possess it. Moses describes God's faithfulness against Israel's unfaithfulness. This song recounting Israel's past, present and future according to the time it was written by Moses around 1400 B.C. right before he died. Let's take a look at some passages to see what we can glean from them. The past and present - Moses begins by commanding the whole earth to listen to his words for they are like rain that waters the earth. Dew upon the grass, and fresh rain drops on the grass (vs 1-2). Moses is commanding all to acknowledge the Lord and give Him praise because all His ways are righteous and true. There is never injustice with God (vs 3-4)! Despite God

One of the criminals crucified with Christ to me is one of the most admirable people I have never met. Why? Because of his character. I want to take a few moments to carefully analyze his words. 1. He rebuked the other criminal for his insolence of the Lord and admitted that they were guilty and justly condemned for their crimes When the other criminal demanded that Jesus save him because he wanted a get-out-of-jail-free-card, the contrite rightly rebuked telling him, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Rarely do we hear people taking responsibility for their sins. This shows tremendous character on the part of this justly condemned. I used the word sins on purpose because our society looks at it as an antiquated word that it would love to totally dismiss from our vocabulary forever. The problem that

Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, "Do you suppose these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will likewise perish."                                                                                                                                                                            - Luke 13:1-6 J esus was making the point that just because some die tragically and others do not, does not mean the deceased are worse than those who remain alive. The point Jesus is driving home is repentance. I brought this matter up because of the Coro

In 1 Peter 3:18-20 we read these words, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison , who were formerly disobedient, when once the Divine long suffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared in which a few, that is eight souls were saved through water” (NKJV). The phrase He went and preached to the spirits in prison , is a subject of debate. Some, perhaps many that are aware of this account in the church believe this means Jesus between His death and resurrection went to an area in the underworld called paradise and preached the gospel to Old Testament saints like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Daniel, Isaiah, etc. Jesus had to reveal to them that He was the Messiah they must believe in order to receive salvation so they could be taken to heaven when he led captivity captive (Ep