Galatians 4:4 - Jesus came when the time was right for Him to come.

The balanced truth about Jesus…

He complimented, but He also condemned.

Matthew 8:10 - Jesus compliments people for their faith.

John 2:13-17 - Jesus drives the moneychangers from the temple.

Matthew 23:13-33 - Jesus calls out the religious leaders of the day for their unfaithfulness.

He praised family life, but He also made severe regulations.

Matthew 15:3 - Jesus rebukes the traditions of the Pharisees.

If Jesus spoke out about marriage like this today, would he be popular?

Serving God must always come before family.

He offered salvation, but He also demanded obedience.

Matthew 11:28-30

Matthew 7:21-27 - We can’t be acceptable to God with just lip service. We must obey!

He spoke of heaven, but also of hell.

Matthew 25:31-46 - Jesus describes the scene at judgment.

Matthew 5:22 - Jesus warns of punishment for those who do not obey.

Acts 24:25

Self-control means “mastery” or “restraint”. It means that we have the ability to do something, but we refrain from doing it.

If no one in a society exercised self-control, there would be total chaos and anarchy.

Why must we exercise self-control in these areas?

Emotions (Proverbs 16:32

Emotions themselves are not sinful, but they can cause us to sin if we leave them unchecked.

Speech (James 1:26

If we don’t control our speech, we can greatly harm others and ruin whatever good influence we may have with them.

Rmans 4:1-12 - If a man is saved, it will be because of his faith which reaches out to grab the grace and forgiveness that God offers.

Lessons from aforetime:

Abraham (Genesis 22:1-12

Job (Job 1:21

Joseph (Genesis 39:7-10

Moses (Hebrews 11:24-26

The results of a positive faith:

As relates to daily living: (I Timothy 5:22

As relates to the local church (I Corinthians 16:1-2

As relates to the sinner who has come to have a positive faith

As relates to the newborn Christian

As relates to the mature Christian (Hebrews 5:14

As relates to the negligent

As relates to the apostate (Acts 8:22

Luke 19:1-10

What a short story about a short man teaches me about serving God today

Jesus loves the small guy

Luke 3:12-13 - Many tax collectors of that day abused their power and collected more taxes than necessary.

James 2:2-4 - warning about being prejudiced for or against those with wealth

Romans 12:16 - Do not be wise in your own estimation.

The grumblers missed the point

Luke 15:1-2 - More grumbling about Jesus associating with tax collectors.

Luke 7:36-39 - the Pharisee grumbling about the woman anointing Jesus

We need to be careful not to miss the point. Religion is not about pomp or entertainment or elevating your status - it’s about serving God and saving souls.

Zaccheus was ready to repent, not brag.

Luke 18:18-23 - The rich young ruler.

We must not rest on our laurels!