Why Satan has an easier job than God.

*Satan can win someone’s heart and soul even if they don’t believe he exists, God can’t.
*God has certain standards that must be met to please Him, Satan doesn’t.
*God has several steps that must be taken by the individual. Satan only needs one step to be 
ignored, skipped, or refused. For example: 
         *We must believe God is and that He rewards those that seek Him. - Hebrews 11:6
         *We must believe the Bible is God’s word. - Romans 10:17, Ephesians 6:17
         *We must believe Jesus is God’s Son and that He is God. - Acts 16:30-31 
         *We must believe Jesus rose from the grave. - John 20:9 
         *We must repent of our sins. - Luke 13:3,5
         *We must confess Jesus. - Acts 4:12 
         *We must obey the gospel / be born again. - John 3:7, Acts 9:6
         *We must be faithful(This opens a whole new list.) til death. - Acts 14:22 
         *We must worship in Spirit and Truth(This is another list). - John 4:24 
         *The gospel must be shared with others. - Mark 13:10 
If there is a break in any one of these Satan wins.
*God requires man to have no other gods, Satan doesn’t care how many as long as it is not God only.
*God requires sacrifice and self-control, Satan doesn’t.

CALVINISM - THE DOCTRINES AND TEACHINGS OF JOHN CALVIN OR HIS FOLLOWERS, EMPHASIZING PREDESTINATION, THE IRRESISTABILITY OF GRACE, AND THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF APOSTASY
 I could go for hours on this one, in fact, I preached for 5 weeks on it. If you would like to have more extensive information on it than what I give here, and many of you might, go to the website www.bible.ca\ It may be a bit slow, be patient. I don’t advocate everything they have there, but what they have on Calvinism is very good.

First, Calvinism teaches that we are born sinful. If so then either Jesus was born sinful, or he was not tempted in all ways like we are, or he was not fully human.

Second, it teaches that God picked certain individuals to be saved and certain ones to be lost. In his picking there is nothing that anyone can do to be moved from one list to the other, in fact even if someone who had been chosen to go to heaven began worshiping the devil God would never change his mind. Why did Jesus preach about Hell and tell people to believe and repent if He knew all along that they couldn’t. Why did Jesus tell the Laodiceans that he was going to spew them out if they couldn’t be lost. Why was Paul concerned about his lifestyle, (1 Cor 9:27) “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” If indeed he could not be lost.

Third, it teaches that Christ did not die for everyone, but for a pre-approved few, the elect. Now we realize of course that Christ’s blood does not cover everyone’s sin. There are millions and billions that die without Christ. But the question is are they outside the umbrella of his redeeming blood because he did not die to save them, or because they would not accept his redemption?

This brings us to the final quandary, is God a liar? When God said that he is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” was he lying, unable to come up with a plan whereby all could be saved, or is He desiring that very thing, but unwilling because of His nature to force his human creation to do what they do not want to do. There are many similar problems that Calvinism brings to the table. Why did God create Adam and Eve and then allow them to sin if this sin resulted in every child from then on being born in sin? What about aborted babies? Are they going to Hell? How can God condemn sin if we don’t have any choice in the matter and still be just. Why should we preach the gospel to others if only God knows who is on His list of people to be saved, and will force them to obey Him with His irresistible grace? If I can’t fall from grace what is the point of living righteously? Paul’s opponents had a point why not sin that grace may abound? Paul knew better, he knew there was a point where one could leave the shadow of grace. We know that we can never work our way into heaven, but don’t fall for the deception that we can’t work our way out of heaven.

The Calvinist says our way of thinking takes away our security as a believer. I say it is just the opposite. I know that nothing out there can affect my relationship with God, and I know that if I properly respond to God’s grace and through faith strive to obey his commands, then even though I am unable to do so perfectly, like Abraham I will be credited with righteousness. Following the logic of his own teaching, the Calvinist may live an entire life teaching his doctrine and converting others to it, he may even do a better job of living a holy and pure life than I do, but if God decided before the foundation of the world to put his name on the Hell list he has no hope. John said that he wrote so that we could know we have salvation. Now since John didn’t write a list of the names of people going to heaven, we must infer that there is another way to know. How? (Rom 8:16) “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:” The Spirit bears witness through the word, and our spirit bears witness through our actions and words and thoughts. If the two are in agreement then we are the children of God, if they disagree, be assured that it isn’t God’s spirit that is wrong.

BAPTISM - A CEREMONIAL IMMERSION IN WATER, OR APPLICATION OF WATER, AS A RITE OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
There you have it, A dictionary definition. Obviously the Bible and we are wrong, baptism doesn’t have to be an immersion, but just any application of water will do. I guess this has to fall into the “don’t believe everything you read” category. The dictionary explains quite accurately how the word is used in religious circles today, but not the true meaning of the word. If just any application of water would do, why does the Bible always have examples of people going down into the water? I mean let’s face it water is not nearly as abundant in that part of the world as it is down here in Alabama where I live. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to just put a dab on the forehead, or maybe sprinkle a few drops or pour just a cup? It would have been much more logical by human standards, but not by God’s. Paul explains it admirably when he says “we are BURIED with Christ by baptism” and “we are PLANTED” Romans 6:4-5 (Emphasis mine). When was the last time you saw something buried or planted without being fully covered over with dirt or whatever substance was being used? I can honestly say I can’t remember ever experiencing that.

There are two other problems associated with baptism. One extreme says that it is not a necessary part of our salvation, and many brethren are falling for this one. The other extreme puts baptism forth as a cure all and focuses on this one step of God’s plan to the exclusion of other equally important aspects of salvation. We can realize without even turning to scripture that there is more to baptism than just being submerged in water. People do that when they go swimming or deep sea diving. Have these people been baptized? We can also understand that God does not command anything that isn’t necessary. Most obviously, we see that baptism alone is not enough. What does the Word of God say about it?

(Col 2:12) “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.” The effectiveness of baptism is in the operation of God and our faith in that operating ability.

(1 Pet 3:20-21) “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. {21} The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:” Baptism does save us contrary to what many teach. There is nothing special about the water or the process, other than the fact that baptism by immersion in water is what God expects and demands as a prerequisite to being his child. Jesus said concerning marriage, “What God hath joined let no man put asunder”. God has joined salvation, forgiveness, and adoption with baptism. Why does man try so hard to separate them?

Many scriptures point to other parts of God’s plan for salvation. Many of those scriptures that emphasize the essentiality of baptism also point to the fact that it can’t stand alone. “He believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” Mark 16:16; “repent and be baptized every one of you”. Some live as though they think baptism washed away past, present and future sins at the point of baptism, and so they make no attempt to even change their life. Baptism is a burial of the old, sinful man who has been put to death. The sad thing is that many never killed him. They just knocked him out for a little while, and they didn’t bury him deep enough to keep him buried. Don’t let the sinful man resurrect himself in your life.

ADVENTURISM - IRRESPONSIBLE POLICIES
Everyone should enjoy life and have some fun, especially Christians. Jesus came that we might have life “more abundantly”. It is a gift from God and we should make the most of it. Adventurism, however, goes well beyond enjoying life and into risking life. We all like new things from time to time; clothes, cars, computers. New things can be good, but they can also be bad. 

In the church there seem to be two extremes: 1) the group that will never do anything different than it has been done before (Mat 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.), and 2) the group that wants to do or try every new thing that comes along (Eph. 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;). Some change is inevitable, some is an improvement, some is inconsequential, and some is inexcusable, and as Christians we must be discerning of the spirit of the change in question. Allow me to illustrate each of the four.

1) Inevitable- Children grow up you can’t do anything to stop it (without harming them) and none of us would want to. As a result, we have to change the way we treat them and teach them. Young people have to at some point become aware of their sin and then of their need for forgiveness. Our young men have to learn how to become part of the worship as new Christians, and eventually to be the leaders of the church.

2) Improvement - Our congregation changed the time of the Lord’s Supper from before to after the sermon. This may seem insignificant or even meaningless, but was in fact beneficial. We had had some arriving late and missing the Lord’s Supper at the beginning thus needing to be served at the end. It was also sometimes difficult for me personally because of my nervousness about my upcoming sermon. By moving the time to the end of the service we were able to help both situations.

3) Inconsequential - Do we have 1 song, a prayer, and then 2 songs, or should we have 2 songs, the prayer, and then 1 song? This change would not affect any thing of any significance whatsoever.

4) Inexcusable - Examples of this kind of change abound in society, and are creeping into the church as well. One of the most blatant is the changing of women’s roles in the church. This is accomplished by rebelliously ignoring or attempting to explain away Paul’s clear teaching on the matter. 1 Tim 2:12 “And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.” Could Paul have been any clearer on the issue of women preaching, teaching, leading prayer, or leading singing in the public assembly?

Adventurists throughout the brotherhood are crying, “Try it its new, exciting, different”. We need to be cautious. Remember that when Eve ate the forbidden fruit it too was exciting, different, and new. The consequences may be greater than you can possibly imagine. We shouldn’t resist change just because it is different, but rather weigh carefully the factors involved. Scripture must be our first line of defense, but even in areas that are not necessarily sinful we need to say as Paul did, “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not” (1 Cor 10:23).

Sometimes a change that may be in and of itself inconsequential may become profitable and thus expedient in helping us to get out of a spiritual rut. We may know several songs, but it is good from time to time to learn a new one in order to break the routine. I recently had the habit on Wed. Night of singing the same song for the invitation. It was a good song and I didn’t even realize how much I had been using it until one of our members said, ”Could we please sing a different song tonight ?”. The same could be said of the ‘canned’ prayers that many lead.

Let us make every effort to change for the better each day, and never for the worse.

Time for a short quiz for all of you English scholars out there. Since most of us have been speaking and writing in English all of our lives, this should be really quite simple. I’ll put some sentences and you just pick the one that sounds right to you. Ready or not here we go. 

On this first one imagine you called me on the phone and asked, “Is this James Pasley?”. Which of the following would be the right way for me to answer? (1) That’s me., (2) This is he., or (3) This is him. 

Okay, let’s just do one more and then we’ll check our answers and see what we’ve learned. This time suppose I ask you, “Didn’t I see you and the president together yesterday?”. Which answer would be right grammatically? (1) It wasn’t me., (2) It wasn’t he and I together., (3) It wasn’t us., or (4) Maybe it was me, but not him.

Sometimes it is hard to know what sounds right and even more often, at least with grammar, what sounds right is not correct. If you guessed number two on both questions you got the right answer, but those two don’t really sound right to us, do they? Most of us would have chosen any of the other choices before choosing number two. My wife is a certified elementary teacher and a writer and she missed them, so don’t feel too bad. Because of the rampant practice of misusing these pronouns in everyday speech even strict grammarians have begun to accept this usage.

What is the point of all this, you may be asking? The point really is quite simple. If something sounds right to us or we think it is right that doesn’t make it right. Even if the majority of people believe something is right that doesn’t make it right. Now in the area of grammar or even man-made laws like the speed limit if enough people make enough of a fuss those rules and laws can be and have been changed. There are some laws, however, that are beyond our ability to change. Gravity is one example of this kind of law. We can accept it, deny it, or ignore it, we could even all vote to abolish it. Regardless of what we say or do the law of gravity is unchanged, and stepping off of a cliff will still result in a nasty fall. That is the way all of God’s laws are. 

God told Naaman to dip seven times in the Jordan River to cure his leprosy, but Naaman didn’t think that sounded right, so, he headed toward home, rejecting the law God had given for his recovery. He even suggested some alternative rivers that he thought would be better. One thing that he couldn’t change was the fact that he still had leprosy. He continued to have leprosy until he submitted to the will of God. In the same way today we have people denying God’s laws, ignoring them, and suggesting alternatives. Unfortunately, as long as we do so we are lawbreakers and guilty of sin against God.

God established marriage, defined it as one man and one woman, and set it as the only acceptable outlet for sexual expression. Our society has tried to change any and everything to what sounds good to them or what they think should be right. What we have to get through our thick heads is that no matter what laws we pass in our country, no matter what is acceptable to society as a whole, and no matter what churches and their leaders compromise on; God’s laws regarding sexuality and marriage will still remain the same. His laws, not ours, will judge us on the day of judgment.

The congressional delegates of the state of Massachusetts may say that two men can marry, but that does not make them married(Matthew 19:4-5). Our society may accept that two adults who love each other are not wrong to become sexually involved even though they are unmarried, but God still calls it sin(1 Corinthians 6:19-7:3). 

Marriage and sexuality are just the tip of the iceberg. Space doesn’t allow us to deal with all of the moral and religious standards that God has put in place, but we will all stand before Him to give an account of the things we have done(2 Corinthians 5:9-11). Until we understand that God’s laws are immutable (unchangeable) and eternal, we will continue to be in danger of receiving his wrath. How do we think that we can receive God’s promises and blessings while we disregard his warnings, disrespect his ordinances and, in essence, spit in His face like rebellious teenagers. We’d better wake up and realize who is in authority; and who is not!

When Jesus was about to be arrested the gospels record that He went to the Mount of Olives and prayed. Many may recall that He asked His Father to “let this cup pass” 3 times. It must have been important for Him to mention it 3 times. But, did you know that there was something else that He prayed for that night that He mentioned not 3, but 4 times? Something so important to Him that even with His impending death only hours away He prayed about this thing more than the crucifixion itself. Was He asking God to be sure to raise him up again? No. Was He praying for some other need that He had? No. He was praying for His followers. In fact, He was praying for everyone who has ever been a believer. He prayed that all the believers might be one, and He prayed it at least 4 times (John 17:11-23). How sad Christ must be as He looks down on the hundreds of divisions among the people who claim to follow Him.

This is certainly nothing new, it has been going on since the first century (1 Corinthians 1:10-13), but that is no excuse for us to allow it to continue in our lives. He was not pleased with division then and He is not pleased with it now. In one county there are at least 20 different kinds of churches with 20 different doctrines about how to become a Christian, how to worship God, and/or how to get to Heaven. There are over 40 churches listed in the phone book and oddly enough some with the same teachings have divided for various other reasons. This county is certainly not unusual in this regard. Churches split almost daily for one reason or another, and new denominations spring up nearly as often. I have a book almost 2 inches thick full of information on different denominations in the United States. 

Is this what Jesus was praying for when he prayed that “they all might be one”? I can’t believe it is. Many people say “one church is as good as another”, or “choose the church of your choice”, or “we are all serving the same God”, or “we are all Christians just taking different paths to get to the same place”, or something similar. That sounds nice and most people like to hear that. The question we have to ask ourselves is, “Is that true?”. Can we choose any way we want to get to Heaven or does God specify? Can someone become a Christian 20 different ways? Who gets to decide what is acceptable worship and what is not? In other words, what standard of authority, if any, are we following.

Interestingly enough, the answer is in Jesus’ own prayer in John 17. He asks God to sanctify(literally, ‘make holy’) His followers by God’s truth (John 17:17). Then He gave the source of God’s truth, “thy word is truth” (John 17:17). So, Jesus asks God to make His followers holy by using his true word. If we believe that the Bible is God’s word then when we have disagreements we can look to the Bible to give us the answers that are right with God and that will make us holy.

Jesus promised to build only one church in Matthew 16:18. He prayed for unity no less than 4 times the night he was betrayed(John 17). He said we must not only call Him, Lord, but also do the will of His Father to enter the kingdom (Matthew 7:21). Ephesians 4:4 tells us there is only one body, and Colossians 1:18 teaches that the body is the church and Christ is the head of that body. Any other arrangement causes deformity. Christ is not one head with multiple bodies, nor can the church have any head other than Christ. One more thing along this line, in Matthew 7:14 Jesus makes it clear that there is only one gate that leads to life and one way to that one gate. He also said we must find it. We can’t make our own path to get to heaven because no man has ever been there. We must follow the path that Jesus laid out for us.

Just remember God is not the source of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). Here is something for you to ponder as you go through the week. If Jesus only built one church, as he promised, and there are over twenty in your area; assuming one of them is the church Christ built, who is responsible for building all the others? We should all want to be a part of the church Christ built of which He is the head and savior. Study God’s Word and see if you can find the church that you are a member of mentioned and described there.

What an odd question to ask. Acts chapter 8 is one of the richest chapters in the entire Bible. It contains so much teaching on so many topics that I could probably write an article a week for a year just on this chapter. But for now let’s just look at this question asked by the Ethiopian eunuch. Acts 8:36 reads, "And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?" The answer Philip gives is in the next verse, but let’s look at a few other things before we get to that.

First, let’s consider the kind of response this question might get today. Some preachers would simply say, “There is no point in being baptized.” Others would say, “You don’t want to be baptized in water, but in the Holy Ghost. Still others would say, “You can, but you have to wait for baptizing Sunday.” There might even be some who would say, “If you want to get baptized you need to go to another church, we don’t allow your kind in our church.” Then, there would be some who would say, “We will have to wait for the church to vote on you.” You can probably imagine some other responses this question would get from our mixed up religious world today. None of these answers were the ones Philip gave. We’ll get to it in a minute.

Second, let’s look back to see what caused the eunuch to ask such an interesting question. How did he know what baptism was? How did he know water was necessary? Wasn’t the water bottle he had for drinking on a long journey enough? Why would he make mention of another water source? If we look back a few verses and use some reasoning, we can answer these questions. 

In Acts 8:32-35 we read, "The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: {33} In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. {34} And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? {35} Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus." Notice that Philip preached ‘Jesus’. We don’t know how long he preached, but it was long enough to tell the eunuch all about who Jesus was, how He had lived, what He had taught, how and why He had died, how He rose again, what instructions He left for His disciples, and how He had returned to Heaven. That could take a good while. But, why did the eunuch respond to all of this teaching about Jesus by asking about being baptized? There is only one logical explanation that fits with the text. Somewhere in Philip’s sermon about Jesus baptism had been taught, and with enough emphasis that the eunuch felt compelled to have this done to him. He also understood that the baptism he needed was not the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but baptism in water. Holy Spirit baptism was special and Philip may well have taught the eunuch about it, certainly he would have taught about the Spirit beginning with the virgin conception and birth; but which one did the eunuch understand was for him? Water baptism.

As for the amount of water and the necessity of water, that also must have been included given the response the eunuch has and the action in verses 37-38. The Greek word for baptize (baptizo) literally means “to make fully wet, to cover in a liquid, or to dip” according to Strong’s Greek Dictionary in the back of the Strong’s Concordance. Given this understanding of the word it no longer seems surprising that the eunuch knew he needed water and a large amount of it. Oh, if only translators had accurately translated how much less confusion there could be today.

Now let’s look at Philip’s answer. The question implies that the eunuch is not sure if he meets all of the qualifications. ‘Hinder’ indicates there may be something holding him back. Is there something else he must do first: some fee to pay, some committee to go before, or some religious experience? No, Philip simply says, “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest" (verse 37). He already knew what he had to believe from the preaching he had just heard. The eunuch did, so, they got out and went down into the water and Philip baptized him (verse 38). They did it right then and there with no delay. The eunuch went home rejoicing (verse 39). And why shouldn’t he? He had found the truth and obeyed what he had been taught: he was saved. Sounds just like what Jesus said in Mark 16:16,  "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." The eunuch believed and was baptized, and I hope to meet him in Heaven.

Jesus asked the people about John the Baptizer 3 times in Luke 7:24-26. He asked them what they had gone out into the wilderness to see. Then He made some silly guesses. Did you go to see a reed shaken with the wind? Of course that was not it. Was it a man dressed in fancy clothes? No, you wouldn’t go to the desert to see that. Well, was it a prophet? Ah, yes that was it the people thought of John as a prophet, but what would Jesus say about him? Jesus not only acknowledged that John was a prophet, he said John was much more than just a prophet. In fact, He said John was the greatest prophet that had ever lived. According to verse 27 Jesus believed John was “the prophet,” the one that was supposed to come and announce the messiah, the second Elijah (Matthew 17:10-13). Yes, Jesus thought John was a pretty important person. 

Remember that there is no record of John ever performing a single miracle. Miracles are not what makes someone great. So, what made John such a special prophet? His message. The other prophets had prophesied about that great time off in the future when God would establish his kingdom (Genesis 49:10; Daniel 2:44, Zechariah 9:9, Joel 2:28-32,  etc.). John was the one who got to preach, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”(Matthew 3:1-3). He got to tell people that the glorious time promised for centuries was finally coming. Even though the kingdom was close and many that heard John’s teaching would enter that kingdom when it was established on the day of Pentecost some 3-4 years in the future(Mark 9:1; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8; 2:4), John himself would not get the opportunity to be a part of the kingdom that he preached about. John was executed by Herod(Matthew 14:1-12) before Jesus built his church, the kingdom of God on earth (Matthew 16:18-19). This explains the statement that Jesus closes with. Regardless of how great John was, Jesus says that the least important person who was IN the kingdom would be greater than John. 

Imagine that! Every true Christian (not every one who claims Christianity) who has ever lived is greater than John the Baptist. Christians have access to things that John and the prophets never dreamed of. Ephesians 1:3 tells us that all spiritual blessings are in Christ. Paul explains in (Ephesians 1:9; 3:3-12; 6:19-20 and Colossians 1:26-27; 4:2-4 ) that the mystery that was hidden from the foundation of the world has now been revealed through the apostles and inspired Christian writers of the New Testament. Christians have access to the blood of Christ and to Christ Himself as our High Priest. The list could go on and on. Suffice it to say we live under a better covenant with better promises and a better mediator (Hebrews 8:6). If you are not in God’s kingdom you better get there before it is too late.

Now, let’s switch gears and ask a similar question for all of you “church goers” out there. Think about the last time you went to church. What did you go in there to see? Did you go to see who else would be there? I hope not. Did you go to see who would have the best clothes? For shame. Worse yet, did you go because your favorite team won a game and you want to rub it in? Did you go to be entertained by a choir and a preacher’s anecdotes and jokes? Some do. Maybe you only went because you didn’t have “anything better” to do. Did you go to see what you would get out of it? That seems increasingly to be the primary reason people go to church. 

If you are going to a church where the focus is on the “audience” or if you want the focus to be on you, then you need to make a change. Jesus built the church so that the focus would be on HIM not us. What do you go to see? I hope and pray that each of you will begin thinking of worship as something for God and not something for you. When we change our focus in this way we should realize that many of the things that are being done in many churches are done not because God wants them done, but because of human arrogance and selfishness. When we go to worship God he is the audience, not those sitting in the pews.

If everyone was doing what God wants in religion, then there wouldn’t be dozens of churches in every city. Division comes from men doing what they want instead of what God commands in scripture.

Notice what Jesus says in Matthew 21:28-32 "But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. {29} He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. {30} And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. {31} Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. {32} For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him."

Jesus is once again focusing on one of his most preached topics in this passage. He wants the religious leaders of his time, and ours as well, to know that actions speak louder than words. The religious world of our time had better wake up to this fact or there will be tons of disappointed people on judgment day. We can’t give God lip service and expect him to be happy. Jesus seems to teach this message in every way he possibly can. In Matthew 7:21 He says,  "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." But no matter how often or how many different ways he gave this message there were many then and now who proudly proclaim to be Christians, children of God, and followers of Christ and go about living like the devil. 

It is sad to know there will always be hypocrites, but it is sadder still to see churches and church leaders who condone, approve, or even actively encourage this sinful lifestyle. We all have sinned, but we should be ashamed of those things and work diligently to get that sin out of our lives. Just pretending to be holy on Sunday will never impress Jesus or His Father.

Jesus in asking, “what think ye?”, let’s us know that He wants us to think about what we do and what will please God. We live in a world that emphasizes emotions or feelings to such an extent that how someone feels has become far more important to most people than what they think. Just ask ten religious people if they are right with God, and most if not all will respond with, “I feel. . .” or something similar. But what think ye? It is a wonderful feeling to feel safe and saved, but God won’t be determining who gets into heaven on the basis of feelings. Feelings just are not always right and we know it. It would not be good, for example, for me to decide whether to slow down and stop at an intersection based on whether I felt safe. I might feel safe going right through a red light just before being smashed by an 18-wheeler. No, we can’t live life based on our feelings alone.

Christianity is a religion based on what we can know and reason from God’s word. It is a religion of the mind first and the heart second. We must learn to do what we know is right regardless of how we feel, and then learn to feel good about doing what is good.

That brings us to the two sons in Jesus’ parable. The father gave them both the same command. The first did not feel like obeying, and consequently told the father he wouldn’t. This son’s feelings about the task may or may not have changed, but his attitude (state of mind) did change. He did what he knew was right. The other son knew what was right and told the father what he wanted to hear. He apparently didn’t feel like doing it either, however, and followed those feelings. The people Jesus was talking to thought the first son was the one who did right, but there are many today who would probably argue that if the sons didn’t feel good about doing it then it was okay for them to not do the work. They would probably say that it was okay for the second son to lie to his father so the father’s feelings wouldn’t be hurt. That is certainly what people do.

So, what do you think? Which son did right? The one who followed his feelings? Or, The one who followed his reasoning? What about you? Are there things that you are doing because it feels good or right even though the Bible teaches that it is wrong?