This is the ultimate test of whether or not someone's words are God-inspired (Deuteronomy 18:22).

We cannot be led by just our own feelings concerning the gifts of the Spirit.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul gives us direction governing the use of spiritual gifts that must supersede any urge or leading that we feel.

The first test to apply to any gift of the Spirit is to ask, "Does it glorify Jesus?" That's the point Paul is making. The Holy Spirit will never lead anyone to defame Jesus in any way. 

Jesus made it very clear that the Holy Spirit would only glorify Him. Any utterance or act that denies Jesus is not from the Holy Spirit.

In Paul's day, there was a transition being made from Judaism to Christianity. Some Jews were teaching that keeping the Old Testament law could produce salvation. They violently opposed Paul's teaching, that faith alone in Jesus could produce salvation. Paul considered any utterance like this as calling Jesus accursed and it definitely would not be from the Holy Spirit.

Pagan religions of Paul's day believed in many gods. Anyone who tried to make Jesus just another god or "a" way to God instead of "the" way to God would be calling Him accursed. 

The Holy Spirit would never inspire anyone to do this. Those who are truly moved by the Holy Spirit in their utterances will always glorify Jesus.

Some people have speculated that Judas betrayed Jesus in an effort to force Jesus into a confrontation with the Roman government. Then He would have to use His supernatural power in self-defense and overthrow the Romans, thereby giving independence back to the nation of Israel.

This idea is based mainly on the response of Judas when he saw that Jesus was condemned. Judas "repented himself" (Matthew 27:3), implying that the condemnation of Jesus was never his intent. However, scripture does not endow Judas with noble (even if misdirected) virtues. He was simply a thief.

This verse makes it very clear that Satan entered into Judas and was responsible for putting the betrayal of Jesus into Judas' heart. We can be sure that Satan's only purpose in motivating Judas to betray Jesus was to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).

The fact that Satan possessed Judas does not relieve Judas of the responsibility for his actions. The devil goes about seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). He cannot devour just anyone. We have to give place to him. By being a thief, Judas gave Satan access to himself. He may have never intended to betray Jesus and therefore "repented himself" when he saw that Jesus was condemned. Once he began to willfully submit to the sin of thievery, it was hard to stop.

Sin cannot be controlled. We cannot just sin "a little." Sin, like a cancer, always grows until it brings forth death. Submitting ourselves to God and resisting the devil is our only guarantee against being devoured by the devil (James 4:7). 

When we choose to sin, we are not submitting to God or resisting the devil.

Failure to obey the law brought on the curse. 

Praise God that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by bearing the curse for us. Now, through Christ, we will never receive any curse from God even though we still disobey the law in some way. Justice was satisfied when Jesus died for the law that we broke, paying the prescribed penalty and bearing the curse for us.

There is no condemnation awaiting us from the law; for we died in Him.

A Christian who still walks in condemnation is being condemned by the devil or himself. It's not God who condemns us (Romans 8:34). 

When the government condemns a building it is declared unfit for use and must be destroyed. When Satan condemns us, he makes us feel unfit for use and ready to be destroyed. 

Since the Christian is no longer under the law, he should no longer be condemned or feel unfit for use. We have been accepted by the Father through Jesus.

God convicts of sin but He doesn't condemn (Romans 8:34). Conviction is solely for our profit with no malice, while condemnation includes punishment. Satan is the one who condemns the Christian, but the Holy Spirit has given us the power to escape that condemnation.

When a kind act was done to someone in need, Jesus said it was done unto Him. The Lord deeply feels our hurts. When someone is neglected, Jesus says He is also being neglected. We have a high priest who is touched by the feelings of our infirmities (Hebrews 4:15). When we hurt, He hurts. When we are blessed, He is blessed. The God  is involved with every detail of our lives.

How can we esteem others better than ourselves when really we think we are better than others? Some people are better athletes than others. Some are better businessmen than others. Some are better speakers than others, and so forth.

We need to recognize that our accomplishments don't make us better than others. There is a difference between what we do and who we are. Better performance does not make a better person. A person's character can be severely wanting even though his performance is good.

To esteem someone better than ourselves simply means to value them more than we value ourselves. To some that may seem impossible, but it isn't.

That is exactly what Jesus did. If Jesus, who was God in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16), could humble Himself and value our good above His own, then we should certainly be able to do the same. It can happen when we die to self and live to God.

If we think only about ourselves, we will be selfish. If we get out of self and think more about the benefit of others than the benefit of self, then we will be selfless. 

The parable of the talents theme is being ready for the Lord's return, but it also makes a strong point that we are accountable to the Lord for the gifts He has given us. The Lord intends us to use these gifts to further His kingdom - not keep them hidden.

This parable also shows the Lord dealing with His servants according to their own individual gifts and abilities. The servants who doubled their Lord's money were praised equally, even though one had produced two and one-half times as much revenue for His Lord than the other. Every man's work shall be judged as to what sort it is - not what size it is.

Most people are preoccupied with quantity of ministry instead of quality of ministry. The Lord is going to reward us based on how well we did, not on how much we did. 

Those who are not governed by the Holy Spirit in their actions will see all their good works burned up on the day we stand before the Lord and He tries our works. Those who acted only under the guidance of the Holy Spirit will find that their works will endure the test and they will receive a reward.

Many people choose to do good things thinking that God will be pleased. It is our positive response to God's direction (faith) that pleases God (Hebrews 11:6). 

We were created with a purpose and every individual has a God-given plan for his life. Unless our actions are in agreement with God's plan for our life, they will not survive the test of God's fire.

Jesus prophesied that just as in Noah's day, people will be dominated with the temporary affairs of this life instead of eternal spiritual truths, when Jesus returns. 

Before our Lord's second return, there will be plenty of signs to show that the time is drawing near, but few will heed them. Preoccupation with the affairs of this life can dull us to the spiritual realm.

The Lord kindly but seriously, points out the urgent need to be ready for His return. In the same way that a thief comes when people are the least prepared, so our Lord will return in a time when people are not looking for Him.

This is not because our Lord desires to surprise everyone and see how many He can catch unprepared.  He is urging us to be watchful so that we will be prepared. Jesus gave us the signs of the end times to help us be prepared. 

He is simply prophesied that there will be a condition of apathy in the latter days that will tend to lull even the faithful to sleep if they don't take heed to His words.

Believers will not be assembled on a mountaintop somewhere waiting for the Lord's return. They will still be going about their daily routines. 

The Lord told us to "occupy till I come" (Luke 19:13). We should be ready for the Lord to come back at any moment, yet work as if His return was still far off.

Jesus teaches that the believer must persevere to receive complete salvation. Salvation is a gift that cannot be earned or maintained by our own works. It has to be received by faith. There needs to be effort on our part to maintain that faith. This is where holiness comes in.

Holiness will not produce relationship with God, nor will a lack of holiness make God turn away from us. He deals with us according to our faith in Jesus, not our performance. 

Holiness will keep Satan from stealing our faith, while a lack of holiness is an open invitation for the devil to do his worst. A person who wants to endure to the end cannot live a lifestyle that permits Satan free access to him.

Although God is not holding our sins against us, we cannot afford to sin because it allows Satan to have access to us. 

When a Christian does sin, and allows the devil an opportunity to produce death in his life, the way to stop this is to confess the sin. God is faithful and just to take the forgiveness that is already present in our born-again spirit and release it in our flesh; removing Satan and his strongholds.

Holiness is a fruit of salvation. Holiness is a by-product of relationship with God; it does not produce relationship with God. It is the nature of a Christian to walk in the light, not in the dark. 

When we are rightly informed of who we are and what we have in Christ, then holiness will naturally flow out of us because it is our nature.

A righteous man, like Lot, can vex his soul from day to day by hearing and seeing the unlawful deeds of the ungodly (2 Peter 2:8).

We have to deal with the world's system and those in it, but we need to be careful and maintain proper balance. We should avoid relationships with those who influence us negatively more than we influence them positively.

Marriage is one area where this principle is especially true. There is no closer union in life than the marriage relationship. A believer who marries an unbeliever is directly violating this scripture and is messing with disaster. The Lord should be the most important person in our life. How could we possibly become "one" with a person who doesn't love our Lord?

It is foolish to think that after marriage an unbelieving spouse will accept the Lord. It has happened, but it cannot be guaranteed. In fact, statistics are overwhelmingly against this happening. Regardless of that possibility, a believer who marries an unbeliever is directly violating God's instructions here. It is not a good start to any marriage to reject God's Word.

Being unequally yoked with unbelievers just doesn't work. Believers and unbelievers are as different as righteousness and unrighteousness, light and dark, Christ and the devil. One has faith and the other has none. One is the temple of God and the other an idol. Any Christian who doesn't see this conflict is deceived.

Deception can be avoided or else Jesus would not have said, "Take heed that no man deceive you." Satan can only deceive those who allow him to do it.

Ephesians 6:11 tells us to "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Putting on the whole armour of God will protect us from the deception of the devil. Just wearing part of God's armour will not fully protect us. Many Christians have been running around with the helmet of salvation on but nothing else. There is more to overcoming the devil than just being saved. We have to understand our righteous position in the Lord. We also must possess faith, know the Word, and understand the gospel of peace.

The Christian life is a constant struggle against Satan, who is trying to corrupt us. Most Christians are aware of the warfare, but they don't know where the warfare is occurring. The battle is in our mind. Just as the serpent didn't come against Eve with brute force, but rather used words to deceive her, Satan tries to corrupt us through thoughts contrary to the gospel. Satan's original tactic was deception and that is still his method of operation.

One of the characteristics of children is that they are easily deceived. They are gullible. One of the things that must take place to move from childhood into sonship is spiritual discernment. This comes from being grounded in the Word of God.

The way to recognize deception is not to analyze all the false claims but rather to become so familiar with what is genuine that a counterfeit will be easily recognizable. Anyone who is truly grounded in the Word of God will not be deceived.

The treasury, in the days of Jesus, is a place located in the Women's Court that was in the temple area but was not part of the temple itself. Women were not allowed in the temple, so the fact that this widow was casting her offering into the treasury tells the location of the treasury.

Jesus used an instance to teach His disciples a very important lesson. He did not say these things to the widow personally. God's promises concerning giving, gives us  assurance that the offering was blessed back to the woman in her life, but the widow did not hear His comment. There is no indication that the poor widow ever knew that anyone recognized the extent of her sacrifice.

There are times when we may feel that no one knows or appreciates our sacrifices. But, just as surely as Jesus saw this woman's giving and knew of the sacrifice involved, God takes note of our smallest deeds and one day, will reward us openly.

The Lord does not judge the size of our gifts by how much we give, but rather by how much we have left over after we give. 

People tend to compare themselves with each other but the Lord doesn't judge our giving by what others give. He judges our gifts by what we have to give. The Lord looks at the heart of the giver more than at the gift. 

When we stand before the Lord, all of our works, not only our giving, will be tried to determine what sort, not what size they are.

One of the ways that God's goodness is revealed is by His mercy. Mercy is the readiness of God to relieve the misery of fallen man. Many times mercy is called compassion or lovingkindness. It is expressed toward the sinner because of the misery that sin has brought upon him.

God's mercy to the believer is shown us by God taking away the misery of sin's consequences through the New Covenant of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Mercy is not something deserved or earned, it's a gift, as the apostle Paul states, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to HIS MERCY He saved us" (Timothy 3:5).

Paul called the heavenly Father "The Father of mercies." The word father is used many times in the word as an originator or as a source. 

The devil is called the father of lies (John 8:44), i.e. he is the author and originator of lying. Our heavenly Father is the author, originator, and source of all mercy. 

Each time that mankind cried out in faith, God's mercy reached out and meets that need.

God is rich in mercy because of His great love wherewith he loved us (Ephesians 2:4), and to have a throne called grace whereby we may come and obtain mercy. 

God wasn't motivated to save us through pity or a sense of obligation as our Creator. He was motivated solely by love. God is loves and He loves us!

Some have taught that Jesus did away with the tithe since it is not a specific part of the New Testament teaching. 

But Jesus made reference to the scribes and Pharisees tithing and implied that they were right in doing so. The New Covenant did not do away with the tithe but it clarified what the motives for tithing should be.

Abram tithed over 430 years before the law was given. Jacob also tithed approximately 300 years before the time of the law. Tithing was a Biblical principle that didn't begin or end with the law of Moses. 

The law of Moses did include tithing as part of its commandments and attached stiff penalties for those who didn't do so. It was concerning these punishments for not tithing, that the New Testament differed from the Old Testament. 

Malachi 3:8-9 says that if a man doesn't tithe, he has robbed God and is cursed with a curse. So, people gave out of  debt and obligation. 

Jesus redeemed us from this and all the other curses of the law, so that God will not curse us for not tithing.

The apostle Paul also made it very clear that any type of giving motivated by anything less than God's kind of love is useless. He went on to explain in 2 Corinthians 9:7, that God wants us to give, "not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver." 

The type of giving that God loves is cheerful, freewill giving. This does not mean that tithing is contrary to the New Testament. It is the "fear of punishment" motive, that the Old Testament law attached to tithing, that has been done away with. 

Giving and tithing are still very much a part of the New Testament doctrine, and if done with the New Testament attitude, are still acceptable to God. Love to be a giver.

He who thinks that he will be exalted by acting as a servant, pretending to be humble so that he will receive the promise of God's Word, is sadly mistaken. Hypocrisy is an attitude or motive.

There are two main types of hypocrisy: 1) People don't practice what they preach. 2) People's motives are wrong even though their actions are right.

The second type of hypocrisy is why Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees.

It is more subtle than the first type and is very common in religion. They were seeking self-glory instead of seeking to glorify God.

Their priorities are wrong, and their focus is on outward displays instead of on the condition of their heart. They always persecute the true worshipers of God.

All people dislike blatant hypocrisy; although this subtle type of hypocrisy has been encouraged and even promoted by religion. Religion teaches tithing and giving for selfish motives while 1 Corinthians 13:3 and 2 Corinthians 9:7, make it clear that giving will profit us nothing unless we have the proper motive. 

The same thing happens when people try to achieve holiness by performing many other religious acts. It is not always the acts that are wrong, but the motives behind the acts. These wrong motives can also make us hypocrites.

Anyone who rejects salvation because he doesn't like religious hypocrites, should remember that if he doesn't receive Jesus as his Lord, then he will spend eternity with these hypocrites in Hell.

In Romans 12:10 we are advised to desire the needs of others more than our own; to like others better than ourselves. 

That is an awesome command that can only be obtained through God's supernatural love. If this very simple truth could be understood and applied, then strife would stop (Proverbs 13:10). The world would see Christianity as never before, and we would discover the true joy that comes from serving someone besides ourselves.

There is much confusion today on the subject of love because we have only one English word (love) to describe a broad aspect of meanings. [For example, if I said, "I love my spouse, I love apple pie, and I love my dog," obviously I am not talking about love in the same definition].

God's type of love; the highest kind of love, is when we seek the needs or good of others even when we don't feel like it. God's love does not come from feelings. Jesus displayed God's kind of love by going to the cross and dying for us even though He didn't feel like dying. Jesus wanted the best for you and me, regardless of His feelings.

We, can also love our enemies even though we don't have a warm feeling of affection for them. If they are hungry we can feed them; if they are thirsty we can give them a drink. We can choose to seek the needs and good of others regardless of how we feel.

If anyone becomes a servant and humbles himself with the motive of being praised, then he is not truly fulfilling Jesus' command. Jesus is teaching about a true, servant's heart, that loves others more than itself and will joyfully go without so that someone else may prosper.

A rebuke by Jesus to the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy was the harshest treatment that He ever gave to any group. He did it publicly before the multitude, the people the hypocrites most wanted to impress.

Jesus had faced many previous battles with the scribes and Pharisees. On this day, the encounter started with the chief priests and elders challenging Jesus' authority. Jesus stunned them by replying with a question that challenged their authority. 

Then He used three parables to illustrate that the leaders of the Jews had rejected the rule of God in their lives, despite their pious religious acts. They "perceived that He spake of them."

The Pharisees countered by tempting Jesus with a question about paying taxes to the Roman government. Then the Sadducees tried to stop Jesus with a question about the resurrection, and finally, a lawyer tried to snare Him with a question about the greatest commandment. Jesus did so well in each test that "no man after that durst ask Him any question." Jesus then asked the leaders who were supposed to know it all, a question that none of them could answer. These Jews, who prided themselves on having superior knowledge, were totally humiliated by a man who had never been through their religious training. This resulted in them being afraid to ever try to trap Jesus again, by questioning Him.

These were the events of the day that led up to Jesus' public rebuke of these hypocrites. Jesus gave this rebuke knowing full well that they were planning to kill Him. Jesus was totally fearless in the face of their threats. All of these questions were intended to snare Him, but in His superior wisdom, He evaded their traps. 

Jesus took an apparent contradiction in Luke 20:44 and through combining these statements (concerning the humanity and deity of Christ) brought the truth that Christ is God in human flesh. Both assertions (the fact that Jesus was David's son and yet David's Lord) were right at the same time.

It was correct that Christ was David's son and it was also correct that Christ was David's Lord. This meant that Christ also was God. Christ was not exclusively David's son nor was He exclusively David's Lord. These two truths had to be combined to arrive at the whole truth. 

No truth of God's Word stands independent of the other truths in God's Word.

A lack of balancing truth with truth is usually the cause of much contention among men when interpreting scriptures. 

Some argue that everything is by grace, while others emphatically state that without faith it is impossible to please God. The Bible teaches us that we need both grace and faith to be born again; not one without the other. 

The same is true of faith versus works, and many other truths in God's Word. Error can simply be truth taken to an extreme at the expense of other truths.

One of the concerns of many Christians is, "How can I know I'm thinking and acting properly?" If we seek the Lord with a pure heart and singleness of purpose, then the Lord will show us anything we need to change. All we have to do is focus on the Lord with a pure heart, and He promises to show us any error. 

The only people who need to fear that they might be deceived are those who are not seeking the Lord with a pure and single-minded heart.

Jesus told that all of the Old Testament laws were designed to instruct us how to love God and love others. 

The two commands that dealt directly with loving God and others (Leviticus  19:18 and Deuteronomy 6:5) were the most important.

The religious leaders had become so obsessed with keeping every detail of the law that they had lost sight of its purpose. They neither loved God nor their fellow man, yet they thought they were keeping the law.

The same thing is happening. Some of the cruelest acts of men towards their fellow man have been done in the name of the Lord by people who thought they were defending God's commandments. But, if we violate one of the two greatest commandments by trying to enforce some other commandment, then we are misapplying God's Word just as the religious Jews did.

The Old Testament law and the New Testament grace compels men to the same, that is to love God and their fellowman. The motivations to this are different. 

The Old Testament law motivated man to love God and their fellowman through fear of punishment if they failed to do so. 

The New Testament grace freely gives man a God-kind of love that is unconditional and tells them to love others as they are loved.

It is possible to display actions of holiness, but not love God. It is impossible for God's kind of love not to produce holiness. Holiness is a fruit of loving God!

Deuteronomy 6:4, states that "The Lord our God is one Lord." 

There are not two or three Gods and yet Jesus claimed to be God just like God the Father. This union is a great mystery that defies human understanding but can be accepted and believed.

Jesus in His pre-existed state was in the form of God. "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1). 

Jesus is God manifested in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16). Jesus did not demand His rights as God. He laid aside His Divine rights and privileges in order to take the form of a servant and be made in the likeness of man. He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the Father, even to the point of death. This was the supreme sacrifice that identified Jesus totally with man and helped God to redeem them. 

By dying a criminal's death upon the cross, Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy of Deuteronomy 21:23, and bore our curse in His own body. This redeemed us from the curse, opening God's blessing of justification through faith in Christ, and gave us the promise of His Holy Spirit (Galatians 3:13-14).

The Creator became the creation; the Lord became the servant; the Highest became the lowest. All of this was done because of God's love for us.

The word heaven comes from the Greek word meaning "the sky; heaven as the abode of God"; by implication, "happiness; power; an eternity."

Paul mentioned being caught up into "the third heaven" in 2 Corinthians 12:2. Since "the third heaven" exists, there must also be a first and second heaven. The first is probably the atmospheric heaven, the second, the abode of supernatural angelic beings, and the third, the place where God dwells.

God now dwells in the hearts of His people, but He also sits on His throne in heaven. The Lord's commitment to dwell in us and never leave us or forsake us, must be taken as an indication of His great love for us. 

Heaven has a real temple which is patterned after the Old Testament tabernacle. Saints who die go immediately into heaven and into the presence of God.

Paul had a vision of heaven that made him long to go there. Most people cling to this physical life for selfish reasons. Only when we lose our life (die to self and live for Christ and others) do we truly find out what life is all about. If we seriously thought about what the scriptures teach us about our life with Christ after this physical life, we would all think like Paul. The things prepared for us are so wonderful that we can't totally comprehend them with our finite mind. 

We need to value our eternal life more and our temporal life less. This would solve many problems and remove a lot of grief.

It was customary for a host to provide the guests with wedding garments to wear to the wedding. It was an insult of the highest degree to refuse to wear the clothing provided since the guests were brought in directly from the highways and streets. 

The wedding garment speaks of the righteousness of Christ that God so graciously provides for all who accept His invitation into the kingdom. It must be put on by both good and bad (Matthew 22:10).

Right standing before a holy God is not to be achieved in keeping the law but in trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ. 

No one, who is trusting in his own righteousness, can have the benefit of Christ's righteousness. The righteousness that gives men relationship with God is the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD, and it comes freely through faith in Jesus Christ.

The way we obtain this righteousness is by putting faith in what Christ has done for us at the cross. When we place our faith in Christ, then the righteousness that Jesus obtained by His faith becomes ours.

Through faith in Jesus, we can receive the very righteousness of God as a gift. God's righteousness is infinitely more in quality and quantity than man's  righteousness. No one can ever be justified in the sight of God based on his own righteousness which comes through acts of holiness. 

We must have God's righteousness which only comes through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. Paul said in Philippians 3:9, "And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." This is "the righteousness of God."

The Greek word for baptize is "baptizo."  New Testament Greek, the same basic meaning has been retained: "To immerse, submerge, dip or plunge." Jesus is stating that the disciples will indeed be plunged into the same sufferings that He will experience.

There are many forms of persecution. Having your life threatened because of your faith in Jesus is one way you can be persecuted. 

History shows that the church has always flourished under persecution with increased numbers and zeal. During intense, life-threatening persecution, people's priorities get straightened out and the Lord assumes His rightful place. 

This always works for our good, regardless of what our outward circumstances might be. It helps to recognize that it is not you that they are persecuting, but rather Christ in you. You are actually taking part in His sufferings and will share in His rewards. 

With this in mind, we can actually shout and leap for joy in times of persecution.

The parable in Matthew 21:28-30 was given in response to the religious leaders rejecting Jesus' authority. Through this parable, Jesus reveals God's rejection of the Jews in response to their rejection of His Son. Jesus is showing that those who do the will of God are actually the ones invested with God's authority.

These leaders had a form of godliness like this second son, but they were not doing the will of God. The publicans and harlots had no form of godliness, but when confronted with the preaching of John, many of them repented and began to do the will of God like the first son in the story.

These religious Jews, who sat in the seat of Moses, disqualified themselves from being God's representatives here on earth, because of their hypocrisy and hard hearts.

Even the publicans and harlots, who repented at John's preaching, were ahead of them. There is no sin more frequent among religious people than that of self-righteousness; that is to honor the Lord with the mouth when the heart is far from Him.

These sinners were entering the kingdom of God ahead of the very religious Jews because they knew they were sinners and they put their faith in a Savior. 

One of the deadliest things about religious self-righteousness is the deception that we will be saved because of our good deeds. We cannot save ourselves regardless of how good we act. 

The Greek word for resurrection means "a standing or rising up." The resurrection is a major theme of New Testament teaching. Out of the 13 sermons in the book of Acts, 11 stress or simply mention the resurrection.

Man consists of three parts - a spirit, a soul, and a body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). The body is mortal while the spirit and soul are immortal. At death, man's body goes through the decomposition process and returns to its original elements [dust].

At the resurrection, man's departed soul and spirit are called forth from either heaven or hell. The material elements of the body are raised up, reassembled, and united with the spirit and soul. We have the complete personality of the individual reassembled. Everyone will be resurrected - some to life, and some to damnation.

The hope of the believer is the resurrection unto life. The natural, earthly, corrupt, weak, mortal, vile body is said to be raised, changed and fashioned into a spiritual, heavenly, incorrupt, glorious, powerful, and immortal body. This is the completion of everything that has been purchased for us in Christ.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:12-17 that if there is no resurrection, then our faith is vain and we are yet in our sins. It is the resurrected life of Jesus that brings spiritual life into us and the resurrection of the body that brings physical regenerating, us into the very image of God. 

The transformation from this physical condition to our glorified bodies will be a huge difference, but the power of God can accomplish it easily. If the Lord can work that miracle, then surely, He can heal our bodies and free us from other bondages.

The image on the denarius, the only small silver coin acceptable for imperial tax payments, was probably that of Tiberius Caesar [reigned A.D. 14-37]. The inscription upon the coin read "Tiberius Caesar Augustus, Son of the Divine Augustus" with the reverse side reading "Chief Priest." This inscription was a claim to divinity and as emperor, the right to be worshiped.

The Jews had tried many times to accuse Jesus on the basis of religious issues and had always failed. Now they approached Him about paying taxes in hopes that His answer might give them the opportunity to deliver Him to Pilate for prosecution.

These Pharisees and Herodians reasoned that any answer that Jesus gave would be wrong. If He approved of the Roman taxes, then He would lose popularity with the masses. If He spoke against the Roman taxes, then the Jews would hand Him over to the Roman government and Pilate would dispose of Him. It looked like they had Jesus trapped. Jesus, however, answered with such simple wisdom that these Pharisees and Herodians were caught in their own trap and made to look like fools.

Jesus declared, "Render [give back] to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Mark. 12:17). People are made in God's image, so we must render to God the things belonging to God [our lives] and to Caesar the things belonging to Caesar [his money and other benefits of his rule].

Proverbs 29:25 says, "The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe." 

The men who were seeking to snare Jesus in His words, couldn't because He was safely trusting in the Lord. It was easy for Jesus to "turn the tables on them" and catch them because they feared man (John. 5:44).

Jesus had already shown that all of their works were done so that they could be seen of men (Matthew 6:5). They were not really seeking to please God, but were doing all their religious works for the praise of men. It is totally vain for a man who is bound by the fear of man to try to intimidate a man whose trust is totally in the Lord.

When David fought Goliath (1 Samuel 17), everyone mocked him because of his belief that he could win. Goliath was a giant and he was only a small boy. But David said something very important in his defense. In 1 Samuel 17:34-37, David revealed that this was not the first time he had depended on God for a victory against something bigger than himself. He had already killed a lion and a bear with his bare hands. He KNEW he could defeat Goliath with God's help. 

Faith must be developed much like a muscle. Those who wait until the day of the contest to start training are going to lose. That's not the way it works in the natural or the spiritual.

When we say "so and so" is my life, we mean that all of our attention, our focus, and our purpose for living, is directed towards and revolves around that person. In a similar way, we need to be totally consumed with Christ and His life. 

True life is only to be found in Christ. It is not to be found in fortune, fame, or things, but only in the one who is life - Jesus Christ.

There are qualifications for believing and receiving as well as restrictions for receiving answers to prayer. Unforgiveness in our hearts will keep our prayers from being answered.

We should forgive others as quickly as it takes to make the decision to pray. The Greek word for "when" means "whenever, as soon as, or while." When we stand praying, we must forgive if we have ought ("anything at all, the least little part; whatsoever") against anyone.

When we are offended or hurt, we often feel justified in holding a grudge.

The Old Testament law expressed it when it stated, "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth" (Exodus 21:23-25). Until the offense was paid, we did not feel free to forgive.  

God dealt with all men's offenses by placing sin upon the perfect Savior who was judged in place of every sinner of all time. To demand that others must earn our forgiveness is not Christlike. Jesus died for every man's sins, extending forgiveness to us while we were yet sinners, and we should do the same.

It is doubtful that a person who refuses to forgive has ever experienced forgiveness himself. This is liked to the servant that Jesus talked about in Matthew 18:23-35. He was forgiven a debt of over $3,000,000,000 and yet he refused to forgive his fellow servant who owed him $3,000. The forgiveness that we have received from the Lord is infinitely greater than any forgiveness we will ever be asked to give to others. 

Freely forgive as you have been forgiven.