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Northeast church of Christ, 2040 N McMullen Booth Road, Safety Harbor, FL (2026)

01/07/2021

In light of America's problems politically, morally and spiritually.

I thought of this passage from 2 Chronicles 20:12 when Jehoshaphat was going to battle against the Moabites and Ammonites, he prayed a prayer to Jehovah. In verse 12, it is recorded as he ended his prayer: "O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

We need to look up, our salvation is not in earthly kings or presidents or retirement accounts, but in the living God who made us and created us to be able to go to heaven and spend eternity with Him. Are your eyes upon Him today?

06/07/2020

The shepherds have announced starting today, Sunday morning, June 7th, the church will assemble for worship. Precautions have been taken due to the coronavirus pandemic still existing.

Currently, until further notice, the church will assemble on Sunday mornings only.

05/31/2020

Jesus Calls a Sinner

Disciples of Christ come from all kinds of different backgrounds, different walks of life, different circumstances: some have lived immoral lives, some have gone to jail and some just live a reprobate life.

We are the same way: we have come from different backgrounds and such. And there might be things in our life we don’t want anyone else to know about, at least in a specific, detailed way, but we all had the same problem – sin.

The apostles of Jesus were no different. Paul spent time killing Christians. Peter denied the Lord. Thomas doubted the resurrection when the apostles first told him they had seen the resurrected Christ (of course, we know that they all doubted it).

The title of this article could very well refer to many of the people Jesus encountered in His time on the earth, but the one we’re considering is the call of Matthew (Matthew 9:9-13).

Three things we want to consider from this passage on the call of Matthew: the Call itself, the Sharing of Matthew and the Defense of Matthew.

The Call of Matthew
When this passage begins, it begins describing Jesus in Capernaum; he had just come “to His own city” (v. 1).

Jesus showed the scribes that He had the power to forgive sins by healing a paralytic (vv. 2-8). It was as Jesus was leaving the multitudes gathered after the healing the paralytic and while He was going to his own house that He encountered Matthew.

When He saw Matthew sitting at the tax office, He said to him, “Follow Me.” Matthew arose and followed Him.

Matthew was much like tax collectors today, they aren’t viewed in a good way. Tax collectors were noted for taking more than the actual tax the Romans imposed. They were allowed to keep whatever extra they charged.

It is also possible that Matthew had others under him doing this kind of work. He may have been a supervisor to that group. Luke says that he gave a “great” feast in his house, and a “great number” of tax collectors and others ate with him (Luke 5:29).

Here’s this tax collector, if he were like the others, he was involved in extortion and greed, not likely a very respectable person. Yet, Jesus called him anyway.

We might wonder, why would Jesus call this guy? We’re not told directly in Scripture why, but I believe Jesus could look at Matthew and see what he would become, not what he was (cf. 1 Samuel 16:7; John 1:47).

When Jesus looks at me and you, He sees more than just our “baggage;” He sees what we’re capable of; He knows what we can become.

Matthew immediately followed Jesus, will we do the same?

The Sharing of Matthew
This point is based on verse 10 where Matthew had a great feast and had many others there.

I want to note here that I believe Matthew gathered all his colleagues to meet Jesus. Some speculate that Matthew was doing other things like celebrating his life as a tax collector and he was giving that up. I seriously doubt this, I think Matthew was introducing his friends to Jesus.

Matthew knew who Jesus was, what Jesus could do for a person, and he wanted his friends to experience the same joy he was experiencing. I think we can infer that Jesus may have had some contact with Matthew prior to this day, but not in the way He was about to.

We know who Jesus is, we know what He can do for a person, we know the peace that comes from giving everything to Jesus.

Why would we not want our friends to experience the same?

The Defense of Matthew
When the Pharisees saw it, they took exception to what Jesus was doing, they said to Jesus’ disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (v. 11).

When Jesus overheard the question, He answered their question of why, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (v. 12).

Notice that Jesus is calling Himself a physician. Just as a physician heals the body, Jesus heals something far greater than the body, He heals the soul.

Jesus likened the Pharisees to those who are well. Jesus does not mean to imply that they are well spiritually or that they do not need him. But the Pharisees thought they were well.

The tax collectors and sinners are those who are sick. Although they weren’t in any greater need for Jesus than the Pharisees, the “sinners” recognized that they needed him. Because they recognized they needed Him, He was able to help them.

God wants us to recognize the awful disease of sin and to go to the Great Physician who can cure the sin problem. He doesn’t want us to be comfortable and think we’re well like so many do, He wants us to go to Him, give Him our hearts and rely on Him.

Will you give God your all? Matthew did, will you? He calls you to follow Him.

05/25/2020

“If These Things Are Yours and Abound”

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-11).

Peter encouraged the brethren to be diligent to add to your faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love.

Peter is saying these things need to be in abundance in your lives. They don’t get there accidently, we must be working on them and working them into our lives and keeping them there.

So, we need to determine as God’s children, that we are going to grow in these seven areas and when we do, we will not be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Some food for thought comes from John 15:1-6, when Jesus talked about He is the vine, we are the branches. He said, “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

We need to be in Christ Jesus. What happens if we are not being fruitful? It means we are trying to do it apart from Christ, that we’re trying to be our own little plant away from Jesus. Jesus warns if that happens then the branch is cut and thrown into the fire (v. 6).

What happens if we’re fruitless branches on the vine? Peter answers that in the next verse (v. 9).

Blind (shortsighted) carries with it the idea of putting smoke in front of someone. The word meant they cannot see afar off, they were shortsighted (some translations use the word near sighted), you lose focus of what is ahead of you.

Forgotten means he ceases to hold in remembrance the glorious time when he was washed from his sins by the blood of Christ in baptism.

The word forgotten isn’t like we forgot to get milk at the store, it means to remove from our memory the blessing of having our sins removed on that day of conversion. To have this kind of forgetfulness is disastrous to our souls.

Instead of being unfruitful, rather we are to be fruitful. As Peter says to give diligence to make our calling and election sure.

We must make the effort to be grounded in these qualities Peter mentioned. We make the effort, we don’t get tired, or falter in the effort to acquire these seven things.

Calling: again the word is used earlier in verse 3, being called by glory and virtue. We are called by God’s word; called by God’s word for a greater purpose.

Election: God then chooses us, when we accept His call (Matthew 22:14).

Peter identifies another reason for possessing the qualities of service: one won’t stumble and fall. Falling is never a good thing.

strength is found in Christ Jesus, it’s found in adding these qualities to our spiritual lives. We will still face temptations, but the power to overcome them is found by staying in Jesus so that we do not fall.

And by making our calling and election sure, we can have assurance in our salvation! We can know that we are right with God at the present time.

Adding to our faith … virtue … knowledge …etc. indicates preparation being made for this abundant blessing of entering the eternal kingdom. Heaven is a prepared place for a prepare people. This is what Peter is writing about and why he was reminding them of this, even though they already heard it, knew about it and were trying to live for it. The same is true for us today.

Are we making every effort to add these characteristics to our life? Make every effort to increase in these godly characteristics. In so doing, we know our salvation is secure and we know that we are part of the eternal kingdom of Jesus.

05/17/2020

Try Jesus
When going through a store parking lot recently, I noticed this sticker on the back window of a vehicle, ‘Try Jesus, if you don’t like him, Satan will take you back.’ I’d like to change that to ‘live for Jesus, you don’t want Satan to take you back.’

Living for Jesus is a life wholeheartedly devoted to Him, it means to put Him first in our lives. Many believe living for Jesus is trial and error, they’ll give Jesus a try for a little bit to see if it’ll work out and if it’s worth the ‘trouble.’ After some time, if they don’t like Him, they can give Him back.

A lot of people ‘try Jesus’, but after some time they don’t like Him anymore. What is there about Jesus that someone would not like? What Jesus offers is far more than what the world has to offer.

Consider His invitation, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” No one can offer such an invitation as Jesus. The world offers fortune and fame, but the true fortune is not physical, it is spiritual, eternal. Those who accept the invite of Jesus can live. Consider Jesus’ words, “…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Paul wrote about those dead in trespasses and sins, but have been made alive in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:1-5).

Paul wrote, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). Paul realized it was important to live for Jesus and if it meant dying for Him, he would gladly lay down his life and gain a crown. Paul would also write, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Paul’s attitude centered around Christ being first in his life. We are to recognize how important it is for Jesus Christ to be first in our lives. Even Jesus noted, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

To live for Jesus means we’re going to have to give up some things, namely the world and the ungodly things it does. The world is passing away, but doing the will of God will allow one to abide with God forever (1 John 2:17).

Jesus said, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Mark 8:34). Those who desire to follow Jesus, realize that we cannot do it alone. In comparison to the great sacrifice made by Jesus, our sacrifices are small. What Jesus invites us to do is go with Him on the journey, together with Him. What He wants us to do is lift our cross and follow Him.

Living for Jesus is a life that is true, there will be hard times, but also there will be good times. As long as we’re hand in hand with Jesus, we have nothing to fear what this life throws at us. Let us be committed, faithful and true to Jesus to have eternal life.

The alternative is to continue living for Satan and that will not end well for anyone. Satan and his followers have a place reserved in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone (Revelation 20:10-15). While it is true those who don’t like Jesus, Satan will gladly have you back. My question is why would you want to give up Jesus for anything?

Jesus gave up so much for us, He became poor so we can become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). May God help us all to realize to live for Jesus because you want to live in heaven for eternity, you don’t want Satan to take you back.

05/10/2020

Godly Jealousy
Paul’s relationship to the church at Corinth was a relationship of love and concern. He invested his energy, his love and his very life for the interests of the brethren of this congregation. He wrote two recorded letters to this church, a church bogged down with problems, he wrote the first letter to get them to rally around the cross of Jesus Christ, where true unity can exist.

In the second letter, he was passionate about the Corinthians getting to where they need to be and not listen to those who ‘preaching’ another gospel. When we get to the eleventh chapter, particularly verse two. He explains in verse 2 that he was jealous of them. Consider his words: “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”

Jealousy can be a very powerful emotion causing people to do things they wouldn’t normally do in a proper frame of mind. We know the Jews put to death Jesus because they were jealous of him (Matthew 27:18). But here in this passage, Paul is not talking about selfish interest, he claimed “godly jealousy.”

What is godly jealousy? Paul’s jealous claim is a divine jealousy felt by God Himself for His own people in the Old Testament period and was felt by God’s people in the New Testament days.

Israel in the Old Testament period was described as standing in the relation of wife toward God. Jehovah spoke through Isaiah to His people: “For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.” (Isaiah 54:5).

Jehovah is the God of the covenant with His people, regulated with commandments beginning with the fundamental (Exodus 20:5-6). We know that God indicated in the opening commandments of the Ten Commandments, that they were not to worship other gods, nor make them, for the true and living God was a jealous God. God has the right to be jealous because there is no one greater than He in heaven and in earth. He will not take second place to anything or anyone.

What is interesting is how this word jealousy can used, it can be used: 1. Intense feeling that prompts hostility toward some and 2. Warm consuming zeal toward others.

When Paul said he had a godly jealousy for them, he brought up the marriage relationship. Jealousy can exists if others try to get involved in that relationship and take it over. Note what the wise man wrote about that, “For jealousy is a husband’s fury; Therefore, he will not spare in the day of vengeance” (Proverbs 6:34). When you consider what as taking place in the church at Corinth, these false teachers were trying to take the place of Jesus Christ. The very One whom they were to be united in, they were pushing Jesus aside into second place.

In our relationship to God, the act of “zeal” or “jealousy” is viewed in a positive way as the process of advancing God’s glory and cause over Jehovah’s competitors. God’s holiness does not tolerate rebels. Paul had betrothed them to one husband (Christ) in order to present them as a chaste virgin to Christ.

Chaste means, “pure from carnality, modest, of an unsullied virgin” (Thayer 8). But Paul feared something … he feared they had been deceived.

Paul’s jealousy is based on his fear that they might be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. Simplicity refers to single hearted devotion that Christians are to have towards Christ, unmixed with other loyalties. And the simplicity is linked with purity (chaste virgin).

Paul saw the false apostles as agents of Satan (v. 15), capable of repeating at Corinth what Satan had successfully achieved in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:13; 1 Timothy 2:14).

This is a real danger. People can be deceived, led astray. Sin is pictured as the product of temptation that is nurtured in the minds of individuals. Everyone is “tempted by his own lusts” (James 1:14-16). Satan is the master craftsman in the use of cunning devices.

False apostles teach a perverted message that can transform themselves into angels of light (vv. 15-16).

They preached their shameless pride of a purely human Jesus that was “another Jesus,” bearing no resemblance to the real Jesus. They preached another gospel with another spirit and are condemned for it (Galatians 1:8-9), and yet the Corinthians accepted it. In other words, they just readily accept it without questioning it cause after all this brother can’t be wrong in preaching this Jesus.

We, too, are to have a godly jealousy. We do not want to see our brethren be ‘married’ to anyone else but Jesus. Sadly, though, many divorce Jesus and marry the world again. It can only lead to a life of misery and eternal death.

Let us be zealously godly and put all things of God first in all that we do so that we can have eternal life with God, who is the only true and living God.

Northeast church of Christ

01/07/2021

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05/31/2020

05/25/2020

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