WHY BELIEVERS LACK FAITH

 

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Perhaps the most needed area in church ministries today is Bible training. Paul instructed young Pastor Timothy to preach the Word, not preach about the Word. The lack of biblical knowledge among today's believers is astonishing. And, at the same time, it appears, at least to this pastor, that there is a great "want-to" to learn the Word by parishioners. Why do I say that?

Wednesday nights, when I had a solid hour to teach the Word, the attendance was good but could have been better. Still, I believe people do want to learn the Bible and that’s why the faithful came.

The responsibility is clearly on church leadership to provide the training, the responsibility on receiving it is on the congregation.

Why is such training important? Because according to Hebrews 11:6; we cannot please God without faith. Where does faith come from? Romans 10:17; "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." The more of scripture a person truly knows, the more faith is generated in his or her heart. So much of today's church world is geared to music and worship.

Certainly those are positive virtues, but we also must have solid expository preaching and strong, strong teaching of the Word.

I suspect if pastors would spring a surprise test on biblical knowledge in a Sunday morning service, they just might be shocked to see how few of their congregants could truly pass it. Such a showing might be a clear reason why some of those dear people have a problem with their faith.

Make yourself available to the teaching God is providing and your faith will build.

 Pastor Coutts

WHAT ARE THE RESULTS OF SEEING THE KING?

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Isaiah 6:1-8;

1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. 6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

 

We are told here in the 6th Chapter of Isaiah that he saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up! How we as Christians need to recognize the authority, the majesty and the power of the God we serve! We do not serve a god we have created with our hands but we serve the God that created us with His hands! We are to serve the Creator and Sustainer of the universe! The Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. It is unfortunate that many today, even Christians, do not see God as Isaiah did. Isaiah 6:1:

Many do not see Him on the throne. It is unfortunate that many see themselves on the throne! To many their plans and their goals are all that matter. However our view of God should be the correct view of God. A view that gets us and our plans off the throne and puts Him where He rightfully deserves to be and already is!

Many do not see Him high and lifted up. To many God is on some list that they have made. God is a great guy who should be thought about, prayed to and served if we can scrounge up the time. Listen folks God doesn’t need to be on our list, ‘God needs to be the list’! What right do we have to call the shots in our lives, He has bought us with a price, the precious blood of His Son has redeemed us!

What will happen if we see the Lord as Isaiah did? Isaiah 6:5-8;

We will see our sin! The closer we get to God, not only does the bigger God become, but the bigger our sins become! Sin will become exceedingly sinful!

When we see the Lord on the throne, high and lifted up we will realize that sin is not a trivial matter, but a matter so revolting that it cost our precious Savior His life and blood to pay for it! Isaiah cried out ‘woe is me’!

We will see the sin of others around us! Notice however, Isaiah dealt with his own sin first! We can’t help folks get specks out of their eyes until we first get the beam out of our own. When we see God the way we should we will not only be broken over our own sins but also the sins of others!

We will be cleansed. When Isaiah confessed his sins God did something about them. God will do something about yours as well if you will confess your sins to Him (I John 1:9).

We will surrender. When we get a correct view of God surrender will not be a chore but an honor! We will be standing in line saying, “Lord here I am, just let me know where to report!" "I’m ready for duty, what can I do to bring honor and glory to your name?"

Let us see the King today! How do we do that you may ask? Just pick up the Word of God and begin to read! Cry out as the Psalmist did and say, "Show me if there be any wicked way within me" and when He shows you confess it to Him and be cleansed and then obey the Word of God! Your view of God will affect your view of your sin, your view of other saints & sinners, your view of service

Let’s see the King today!    Pastor Coutts

YET A LITTLE WHILE!

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     We Have All Asked, "When Lord"?

 

     How many times did the hearts of the Israelites get excited as they found a new leader who they felt may be the coming Messiah. When it was found out that person was not Him, excitement disappeared and disappointment set in. But in spite of the long wait and many speculations, the Messiah finally did come, and as human nature is, He was rejected.

     For thousands of years what was an elusive promise became a reality only to be rejected. Today, we too look for many to be Him and we look for many to be the Antichrist as well.

     How many false Antichrist’s have we had? Napoleon? Mussolini? Stalin? Adolf Hitler? Henry Kissinger to name a few, but that does not mean that the Man of Sin will not finally come.

     The prophecy teachers told us that Israel would become a nation again and in 1948 on May 14^th, it happened. David Ben Gurion told the whole world “The name of our Jewish state will be Israel.”  At that point many Bible Scholars minds raced.. Now, They said, “The Second Coming Is Surely Near.” But, true to form, every thing returned to normal. The fanfare died and people went about their business.

     Then came the six day war in 1967. That’s when the prophecy students got on the bandwagon. “If Israel reunifies the city of Jerusalem, the rapture will take place”  they said.  Days later, Israel crossed the barbed wire fence and raised the Israeli flag over the Temple Mount for the first time in 2000 years. But, The rapture did not happen! And things returned to normal once again.

     The next event was Yassar Arafat shaking hands with Yitzhak Rabin on the lawn of the White House confirming the Oslo Accords. Do you suppose this was a confirmation of the covenant, have the final seven years of Tribulation begun?  NO! Not yet!

     Now, they are putting computer chips under the skin. There is even what is called a ‘sub dermal chip’ which is voluntarily (for now) placed under the skin and you can use it to down load cash into the chip and buy stuff at a store by swiping your hand across the store card reader just like a debit card.

     The Temple Institute in Israel has recreated all the furniture and the utensils needed for the resumption of temple worship. The ashes of the Red Heifer have been refined and are ready. The Sanhedrin has been reestablished after 1600 years. Back in February 2005 the Temple Institute held discussions about the proposed location of the prophesied Third Temple. Jews the world over were being asked to send in a portion of their earnings to help pay for the rebuilding of the Temple.

     2013 is here and still, no rapture! Why hasn’t He come back yet? It’s simple! “It’s just not quite time yet!

     But know this for sure: The One who promised to come the first time kept His Word. The same Messiah promised to come a second time and again, He will keep His word.

     “For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Hebrews 10:37;