“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3.16, ESV)¹

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¹Jesus said, “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7.21-23, ESV). Since we are to “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4.23, ESV) and “For as he thinks within himself, so he is” (Proverbs 23.7, ESV), it would do us well to protect and guard our hearts from sin entering in.

Peter wrote, “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy…” (1 Peter 3.15). As we weed out the impurities in our life through repentance and abstinence of sin, we allow Christ and His word to have full reign in our hearts.

Brethren, is this something we are ever improving on? If you’re interested in learning about ways to allow God’s word and thankfulness for Him to dwell in your heart instead of the cares and pleasures of the world e-mail Bryan Garlock or text 903.308.4905. We will study with you anytime!

“Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.” (1 John 2.10, ESV)¹

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¹In the immediate context, John wrote, “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes” (1 John 2.9-11, ESV)

How is there no cause for stumbling? If we love our brethren we will not stumble over bitterness, malice, haughtiness, hate, revenge, jealousy, envy, strife, anger, grudges, etc. Instead, we will love, seek peace, seek the best for others, strive not to provoke one another, show patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness to each other, etc.

Are you tired of living in a world full of hated and anger? Let the Franklin Drive church demonstrate to you exactly what love and peace is. Visit with us and contact Bryan Garlock or text 903.308.4905 if you’re interested in learning more about God’s will for your life.

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” (James 1.22, ESV)¹

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¹Tonight may be the last night of our meeting, but there is much work to be done. First, we must take what we have learned and internalize it and let it dwell in our hearts, and second, we must apply it to our lives.

Let us be blunt. What is the purpose of this gospel meeting if we are not going to practice what we have learned? To learn about God’s will and refuse to seek to better ourselves is fruitless in the kingdom and destructive to our souls!

Therefore, James taught, “Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing” (James 1.21-25).

If you are interested in learning more about God’s will and how to apply the gospel to your life, e-mail Bryan Garlock or text 903.308.4905.

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal. 5.19-21, ESV)¹

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¹Have you ever notice that Paul says “and things like these” in the above text? What exactly is meant by “and things like these”?

First, anything that is contrary to God’s will is included in those four words. Even things not mentioned in the Bible. For example, purposely running the red light. Nowhere are those laws expressed in God’s word, but obeying the government is (Rom. 13, etc.). We must understand that the Bible is not so much a book of “thou shalts” and “thou shalt nots”, but it is a book of principles. Consequently, even if it breaks God’s law in principle alone, it is sin and included in “and things like these”. Therefore, Christians must learn to discern between right and wrong to be able to overcome Satan (Heb. 5.11-14).

Too often people put degrees on sin as if there are “acceptable sins”. However, all wrongdoing is sin (1 John 5.17) and whenever one fails to do what he knows that it is right to do, it is sin to him (James 4.17). Simply put, anything contrary to God’s law is included in “and things like these”.

Let us notice some other “lists of sins” found throughout Scripture that would be included in “and things like these”:

“There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” (Prov. 6.16-19, ESV)

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matt. 7.21-23, ESV). Notice that this includes all works that are seen by us to be “good works”. Yet, if they are not according to God’s word, they are not good works and are included in “and things like these”.

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matt. 25.41-46, ESV)

“And he said, ‘What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’” (Mark 7.20-23, ESV)

“They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.” (Rom. 1.29-31, ESV; see also vv18-32)

“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Cor. 6.9-11, ESV).

“But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them…” (Eph. 5.3-7, ESV)

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.” (Col. 3.5-8, ESV)

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” (2 Tim. 3.1-5, ESV)

“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Rev. 21.8, ESV)

These are just some of the sins mentioned in the Bible. For everything else, we need to train ourselves in God’s word to be able to discern right from wrong!

If you’re interested in learning more about sin e-mail Bryan Garlock or text 903.308.4905. We can help you overcome sin in your life and learn what true freedom – freedom in Christ – feels like!

"So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus." (Acts 4.17, ESV).¹

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¹Because of their pride and jealousy (Acts 4.16; 5.17), upset authorities would not let the apostles continue to preach Christ's name. Luke records, "'But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.' So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, 'Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard'" (Acts 4.17-20, ESV). After being caught teaching again, the authorities said, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us” (Acts 5.28, ESV).

When the apostles were arrested for preaching about Jesus Christ, they answered "we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard" and "we must obey God rather than men". We see the conviction of these men when they continued to speak God's word even in the face of opposition. In other words, while they are convicted for preaching the gospel, it is because of their conviction that they continue to preach!

Are we willing to stand firm on our convictions (beliefs)?

If you're interested in learning more about God's word, e-mail Bryan Garlock or text 903.308.4905.