The reaction to his plea is one of the saddest statements in Scripture: “But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.” Lot was able to get his daughters to leave with him, but his sons-in-law stayed to be lost in the complete devastation of the rain of fire and brimstone.

The judgment of God is never a joking matter. God loves us so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die a horrible death on a cross to pay for our sins so that we could turn to Him and receive eternal life. God hates sin and will bring devastating judgment upon sinners who refuse to repent and receive the gift of salvation in His Son Jesus.

Please turn from sin to Jesus today. Do you think we are joking?

You know there is another way. God is angry with sin every day, and yet he doesn’t immediately strike down every sinner. He continues to send the sunshine and the rain, to preserve our planet, and offer salvation to every sinner who will accept Jesus as their Savior. In short, he doesn’t give us the hell we do deserve, but extends grace, giving us what we don’t deserve. What a gracious God sits enthroned in heaven.

He also shows us a remarkably different way to live. Instead of giving the worst to people, we can hope the best for them. It is such a glorious thing to be reconciled to God through our Lord Jesus Christ that we should desire that for everyone. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ Be With You!

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. I Thessalonians 5:28

God told Noah that the birds, animals, and creeping things of the earth would all come to him to keep alive.  Getting the animals on to the ark was the easy part, God did all the work.

The harder part was getting the food together.  God told Noah that he was to gather the food to himself for himself and the animals.  That would be a considerable in-gathering, in other words, a lot of work.

This is perfectly consistent with God’s continuing reminder of our fallen condition.  Even as Noah and company were being saved through the flood, they were being reminded of the curse because of man’s sin.

God told Adam: “Cursed [is] the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat [of] it All the days of your life. Genesis 3:17b. Gathering food for the multitude would be quite a reminder of the reason for all that toil and sweat.

Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Genesis 6:8.  The toil of gathering was a painful reminder that Noah was a sinner as deserving of death as any other.   The salvation came by God’s grace as Noah believed and obeyed God.  As we encounter the pain of life, let’s be reminded that we are fallen creatures deserving of God’s wrath.  It will make the blessings graciously bestowed by the Lord all the more precious.

You can hardly imagine what it was like for the shepherds who were watching their flocks in the vicinity of Bethlehem many years ago.  To them it was just another night.  The routine must have been fully ingrained.  Watch the flock, eat, and sleep.  Arise to a new day, watch the flock, eat, and sleep.  Repeat, repeat, repeat.

As they were beginning another night with their flock, the routine was shattered.  You have to believe that they were never able to take their lives so much for granted again!

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  Luke 2:9

The glory of this heavenly messenger struck them down.  If the messenger can cause such awe, it is beyond comprehension what it will be like to be in the presence of the Lord Himself!  The amazing thing is that this angel came to reveal to them that God was even now preparing the way for us to come into His presence.

 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:10-11

What an announcement!  Everything provided that fallen man needs; a Savior who is the long awaited Messiah (Hebrew) or Christ (Greek), and who is the Lord Himself.  What a blessed night.  Isn’t it amazing that this glorious announcement wasn’t made in the palaces of kings, but was made to simple shepherds who were simply working to survive.  God always loves to exalt the simple to confound the wise.

To confirm the word of this angel, God provided two signs.  First, when they got into Bethlehem they would find this amazing baby lying in a manger, not exactly the place where you would expect to find any baby, let alone the King of the Universe.  Secondly, even as they were trying to digest what was happening and being told to them, the testimony of this lone angel was confirmed by the testimonies of a multitude of heavenly beings.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:13-14

Praise be to God for His good will to men, making peace through the blood of the cross of His Son.  O glorious night when Jesus stepped into history to begin this redemption. A night in which the angels sang: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.  May all His people sing His praises as well!

The bad news is that most people are dead in their trespasses and sins, walking in a spirit of disobedience as they follow the flow of a world and dark powers that are in rebellion against God. They are also fulfilling the lusts of their flesh and minds and are by nature “children of wrath.” (Ephesians 2:1-3)

That was the bad news. Most people react so strongly to someone telling them what God says is true about their lost condition that they refuse to hear anything past that. This is truly unfortunate since grasping the good news is contingent upon accepting the hopelessness of one’s situation, so that God’s good news is seen as the truly great and remarkable prize that it is.

The good news is that in spite of the helpless and hopeless state that mankind finds himself in, God loves each and every person so much that He sent His only begotten Son to die for us. What you can never do by your own effort, God freely offers to do for you, if you will believe in Jesus, who He is, and what He has done.

Jesus paid the price for your sin that you can never pay. Will you believe in Jesus and receive the gift of forgiveness as you receive Him as Son of God and Savior?

An Evangelical Christian simply put, is one who is sharing the good news of God’s salvation. The fact that many people do not want to hear the bad news of their lost state causes them to react strongly against efforts to get to the good news. This is so sad since that good news that they refuse to listen to is the only news that will really matter in eternity.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20

With multitudes following Him early in His ministry, Jesus sat down to teach them. He taught not as the scribes, but as one having authority. He stated that He had not come to destroy the Law, but fulfill it. Till heaven and earth pass away, the Law shall remain, He taught. Anyone who breaks one of the least of the commandments shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.

Following these eye-opening statements comes an even more remarkable one. To even be in the kingdom of heaven to be called least, He stated that one’s righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.

This was most remarkable because as far as keeping the Law was concerned, the scribes and the Pharisees had dedicated their lives to studying, memorizing, and living the most minute details of the Law to the best of human ability to do so.

Jesus stated in no uncertain terms that one’s righteousness must exceed the scribes and Pharisees in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Implicit in this statement is the fact that the scribes and Pharisees were not going to enter the kingdom.

If those who had dedicated their lives to keeping the Law could not do it well enough to enter the kingdom, what chance did ordinary men and women who were busy working and raising families? The obvious conclusion: NO CHANCE!

This was exactly the truth that Jesus was trying to get us to see. By works of the Law shall no flesh be saved!

The obvious question? How can anyone be saved? Here again was the truth that Jesus wanted them to ask, and seek, and knock to find. We need a Savior! God was in Jesus the Messiah providing Him. The truth, the answer to their every hope and question was standing before them. To the one who believed in Him, though he died, yet he is alive.

The same truth faces us today. The Law still stands. How can we who have not even tried to keep it hope to be saved by it? We cannot. How then can we enter into the kingdom of heaven? There is only one name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. That is the name of Jesus.

The woman replied that she cut off the end because her mother had always done so. Becoming curious herself, she asked her mother why she cut the end of her hams off before cooking.

The mother replied that she did so because her mother had always done so. They went to the grandmother and asked her why she cut the end of her hams off before cooking them. What was the secret of culinary excellence wrapped up in this ritual? The grandmother replied that she had a short baking pan and that she cut the end of the ham off because that was the only way it would fit in the pan.

The tradition of cutting off the end of the ham by the daughter and granddaughter added nothing to the wonderful flavor of their meals. Rather it was just a waste of another delicious sandwich or two.

Jesus gave the apostle John the instruction to send letters to seven churches in the first century. These churches which are churches that belong to Jesus because He bought them with His own blood were both commended for the things they were doing right, and criticized for the things they were doing wrong.

The first church that had a letter sent to it was the church at Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7). This church with a rich history was commended by Jesus for the many things that they were doing right and well. They worked hard. They were still laboring patiently after 40 years of expecting Jesus to return at any minute. They could not bear evil people. They knew this was Jesus church and should be holy because He is holy. They tested all that taught there and revealed any that were false teachers. Finally, they were commended again for their perseverance. They were still doing all these good things faithfully just as they always had.

Jesus just had one criticism. He told them, “you have left your first love.” They were still doing good things. They had just lost sight of the reason they were to be doing them. They had forgotten what it was like when they first saw that Jesus was the only begotten Son of God, the Creator of the universe, and yet He loved them so much that He offered His body as a sacrifice for their sin. He became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

What otherworldly love He showered on them. Was it any wonder that they joyfully gave themselves into His service out of love for Him? Can you imagine any other response possible if you really behold the unbelievable love that God has bestowed on us?

Their service continued until the present. The reason and motivation for the service had not. Jesus said that this was unacceptable! Unless they remembered that first reason of love, repented, and started doing it for the right reason again, He warned them that they would cease to exist as a church.

Jesus is more interested in our love than any other thing. If we love Him the right actions will follow naturally. Is your love for Jesus such that you are joyfully serving Him, or are you just going through the motions because that is what you and others have always done?