Sunday, March 17, 2024

How Many Sins Were Placed in Jesus' Body?

Have you ever thought about how many sins were placed in Jesus’ body when He died on the cross?

First, we must establish that Jesus died for EVERY PERSON.  “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2). Jesus died for everyone and make forgiveness available to all. “We have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.”  (1 Tim. 4:10). He is the savior of all men in the sense that He died for everyone, but He is especially the savior of believers because they have received His sacrifice.

Second, approximately 117 BILLION PEOPLE have lived on earth, and that doesn’t count all the PEOPLE BORN IN THE FUTURE.  Jesus died for the sins of everyone who has lived and who will live in the future. He was the one sacrifice “for all time” (Heb. 10:10-14).

Third, we need to estimate how many SINS THAT EACH PERSON COMMITS. That’s impossible for us to know, but if we sin (thought, word, deed) 40 times a day and live over 70 years, that’s over a million sins. Now multiply 1,000,000 x 117,000,000,000 = 117,000,000,000,000,000 sins. Only God knows, but this gives us a general idea of what Jesus did for us.

EVERY SIN of EVERY PERSON for ALL TIME were placed IN THE BODY of Jesus on the cross. “For He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross” (1 Pet. 2:24). The worst part of the cross wasn’t the physical torment of being crucified, but when the sins of the world were placed in the sinless, holy body of Jesus. 

Even though Jesus died for your sins, you must receive Him into your life for your sins to be forgiven. The salvation is IN Jesus, so to be saved you must receive the Savior in your life.

FASCINATING VIDEO: Shocking Evidence About Shroud of Turin

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Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
www.makinglifecount.net   

Sunday, March 10, 2024

View Rejections in a New Way

 A young salesman was discouraged because he had been rejected by so many customers he approached. He asked a more experienced salesman for some advice. “Why is it, every time I make a call on someone, I get rejected?”

 “I just don't understand it,” the older salesman answered. “I’ve been hit on the head, called dirty names, and thrown out the door, but I’ve never been rejected.”

Rejection isn’t what happens to you, but how you interpret what happens to you. Instead of being upset, choose to view your rejections in a new way. God may remove a person from your life to protect you from future devastation. Rejection can be a closed door to keep you from making a costly mistake. Man’s rejection can be God’s direction to send you to a new and better place where you wouldn’t have gone to on your own.

Sometimes you won’t understand why God allowed the rejection until later. A friend of mine told me, “When I was fired from my job, it plunged me into depression and I wondered why God would allow such a thing. It turned out that getting fired was the best thing that ever could have happened to me!

“After it happened, the Lord opened a door for the job that I’ve had for over twenty years, which I absolutely love. I couldn’t see why He let it happen at the time, but it’s real clear now as I look back. I thank God whenever I think about getting fired from that job because He had something much better planned for me.”

Find your acceptance in God; not in people’s opinions of you. Remember that rejection cannot thwart God’s plan.

CREATION VS. EVOLUTION: Facts About Earth

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Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
www.makinglifecount.net  

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Casting the First Stone

Some Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery to Jesus and asked if she should be stoned to death. The Law stated both the woman and the man caught in adultery were to be stoned to death (Lev. 20:10, Dt. 22:22-24), but they only brought the woman. 

Two or three witnesses were required, and they would be the first to cast stones (Dt. 17:5-7). The rocks used in stoning were very large, and usually the first stone killed the person. Jesus said, “Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone” (John 8:7). Jesus was the only one without sin qualified to cast the first stone, but He didn’t do it.

After saying this, Jesus wrote in the dirt. The same finger that wrote on Moses’ tablets and Belshazzar’s wall wrote a message in the dirt. The Bible doesn’t record what He wrote, but He might have written individual messages to each, from oldest to youngest. Since He said “the one without sin,” He could have written their own specific sins, including adultery. Some scholars speculate He wrote the names of women with whom they had committed that sin. Could it be the Pharisees didn’t accuse the man caught in adultery because he was in their group?

It’s possible they were all guilty of adultery, which meant they would have to stone each other! They all left one by one, beginning with the older ones. The older ones had accumulated the most sins and had reputations to protect. Without an accuser, the woman was free under Jewish Law.

After her accusers left, she called Him “Lord” (8:11). Jesus replied, “Neither do I condemn you.” Condemnation is not telling people they are sinners; it’s stoning them! Many people quote this verse saying “don’t cast stones at me” and “Jesus didn’t condemn her,” but they omit “Go and sin no more” (8:11). Jesus forgave her adultery, but He also told her to never do it again. He says the same to all who call Jesus their Lord, “I forgive you. Go and sin no more.”

WATCH THE LYRICS SONG: REBEL by Anne Wilson  (Good lyrics—makes you think)

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Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
www.makinglifecount.net  

Sunday, February 25, 2024

Dying to Selfie

Hundreds of people have died in recent years while taking selfies, usually when they're doing something risky. In case you don’t know, a selfie is when people take a picture of themselves with their smartphone.

A 38-year-old man living in India, died last week after he jumped the fence at the zoo and tried to take a selfie with a lion. Apparently, he didn’t know lions don’t like their pictures taken. A couple on vacation in Portugal fell over the edge of a cliff while taking a selfie. A man in Washington taking a selfie on a railroad track was struck by a passing Amtrak train. Two young men in Russia died after pulling the pin on a live hand grenade while taking a selfie. The phone with the picture on it remained as evidence of the incident.

God doesn’t want us to die taking selfies, but He does want us to die to self. Paul said, “I die daily” (1 Cor. 15:31), which meant he chose to die to selfishness each day. Why does it need to die? Because “Self” wants to be the center of attention, demands its own way, and fights against doing God’s will. Dying to selfishness can only be done by submitting to the Holy Spirit. “If by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:13).

You probably don’t want to do the things listed below because your “Self” doesn’t want to do them. Don’t listen to him. Here are some ways to die to selfishness.

1) Give at least 10% of your income in offerings to the Lord. That’s 10% you can’t spend on your Self. No pun intended. Self dies when you give.

2) When someone insults you, you humbly say something nice to them. “Not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead” (1 Pet. 3:9). Self dies when you don’t retaliate.

3) Forgive the person who hurt you. Every time you forgive someone, Self dies.

4) Quit talking about yourself, especially when you’re seeking to be praised. Self dies when you don’t brag about him.

You can probably think of other ways to die to self. Just don’t let Self talk you out of them.

PRINTED SERMON: Fishing Lessons

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Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
www.makinglifecount.net  

Sunday, February 11, 2024

When Jesus Cleansed the Temple

A fight broke out at a salad bar in The Spring Haven Retirement Community in Florida. Mealtime turned ugly when an 86-year-old man got mad at another gentleman who had been picking through the lettuce. When name-calling escalated into punching, the police were summoned. No one was seriously injured, but one of the men was expelled from the home.

Jesus expelled the moneychangers from the temple, not for touching the lettuce, but for turning the temple into a corrupt business. No one likes to talk about God’s anger, but there are some things that He won’t tolerate. The Lord is slow to anger (Ps. 103:8), but that doesn’t mean He never gets angry. God told Jeroboam, “You have done more evil than all who were before you, and have gone and made for yourself other gods …to provoke Me to anger (1 Kings 14:9).

Jesus was provoked to anger when He walked into the temple court and watched people haggling over the prices of animals. The animals to be offered as sacrifices were being sold for an outrageous profit, and the moneychangers gleefully counted stacks of coins with their greedy little hands. And the priests in the temple, who were accustomed to seeing all this activity, didn’t think anything was wrong! But Jesus was furious. The same Jesus who kissed babies was about to show them His angry side. He grabbed some ropes, made a makeshift whip, turned over their tables and drove the money changers out of the temple (John 2:14-15).

Anger in itself, isn’t sinful. “Be angry, yet do not sin” (Eph. 4:26). Righteous anger isn’t sinful, otherwise Jesus would have committed His first sin by doing this. Cleansing the temple was a wakeup call and a final warning to bring rebellious people to repentance. Do you think God might be angry about some things happening today?

BIBLE STUDY: How to Control Your Anger

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Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
www.makinglifecount.net  

Sunday, November 26, 2023

Overcoming Discouragement

It was the best of times; it was the worst to times. For David, his best times were defeating Goliath and becoming king. His worst times were many. There was the time when David was playing the harp and Saul threw a spear at him, but David escaped (1 Sam. 18:10-11).

Then there was another time when Saul tried to kill David, and his wife had to let David down through a window so he could escape (19:11-12).

Then there was the time when Saul sent his army after David and was about to seize him. At that moment, a messenger reported to Saul the Philistines had attacked, so Saul quit pursuing him and David escaped again (23:25-28).

Then there was the time when the Amalekites attacked Ziklag, took all the women and children captive, and burned down the city. David and his men wept until there was no strength in them. Could it get any worse? Yes. His own army talked about stoning him. “David strengthened himself in the Lord his God” and recovered the captives (30:1-19).

Then there was the time when, after David became king, his own son Absalom led a rebellion against him. Absalom took over his throne, forcing David and his servants to flee Jerusalem. Zadok the priest and the Levites carried the ark of the covenant with them. David spoke by faith and told Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the sight of the Lord, then He will bring me back again” (2 Sam. 15:25). David wept as he walked barefoot up the Mount of Olives. In his darkest hour, God turned the situation around and restored him to his throne.

David overcame every disappointment because he put his complete trust in God to come through. He wrote, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Ps. 27:13).

No matter what you’re going through, or how discouraged you may be, don’t give up! God is not finished with you and wants to write a good ending to your story. He did it for David, and if you’ll trust Him, He’ll do it for you.

PRINTED SERMON: “When God Intervenes”

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Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
www.makinglifecount.net  

Sunday, July 2, 2023

How Can a Loving God Allow Evil and Suffering?

Many people ask, “How can a loving God allow evil and suffering?” Jesus could have explained, but He didn’t. Luke 13:1-5 tells us about two disasters where people were killed:

“There were some present who reported to Him (Jesus) about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no … Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no’

Pilate ordered some Jewish worshippers to be murdered, and 18 people died when a tower fell on them. Satan incited Pilate to murder the worshippers. The tower fell due to the law of gravity, presumably because someone made a mistake during construction. Jesus was essentially saying, “Don’t blame God for men’s evil actions, or try to give a spiritual explanation for every natural disaster.”

 

Jesus healed multitudes of sick and disabled people, but He never told them, “Let me give a theological explanation about why you’re in this condition.” Jesus came into a world filled with evil and suffering, but He never said, “How can a loving God allow evil and suffering?” After all, He was the loving God! Rather than explaining why bad things happen, He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil” (Acts 10:38). Much of His teaching tells us to help others, and how to respond when evil people attack us.

Satan wants you to blame God for evil and suffering in order to poison your faith and give you a distorted view of God. Never form your beliefs based on bad things that have happened. Disasters and tragedies have occurred since the beginning of time and will continue until Jesus returns. Evil is in the world, but God is always good, which is why we must “Trust in Him at all times.” (Psalm 62:8).

BIBLE STUDY: Does Everything Happen for a Reason?

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Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
www.makinglifecount.net