Page 6

Pacific Waves

Volume 1, Issue 2

Bible Study cont.

The Law and the Prophets were pencil sketches and Jesus was the painting. The painting filled the sketches in.
     The Law, by which the Jews meant God's Word, is eternal. All that is foreshadowed in the Old Testament will be accomplished sooner or later. In fact, "it is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law." (Luke 16:17)
     Some say we don't need the Old Testament. When Jesus quoted from Old Testament books, saying, "It is written", it felt like He was saying, "It's etched in stone". All of God's Word is holy and to be obeyed.
     Therefore, to break one of God's sayings is very serious and to teach others to ignore or break them is even more dangerous. The question we must ask ourselves is, "Am I doing what God has told us to do?"  To be great in God's kingdom we have to be one who first "practices" and second "teaches"
     God's Word. Jesus called the Pharisees "hypocrites" and "snakes" because they taught what they were not practicing.
     Verse 20 is the key verse of the whole Sermon on the Mount. Everyone thought that the religious leaders were the most righteous people around, but Jesus says that their righteousness

is not sufficient for them to even enter the kingdom of heaven! "Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."
     The question for us is: "How can anyone be righteous, or good enough, to please God and enter
His kingdom?" It is not through the following of rules and regulations, whether man-made or God-made. It is only through a relationship!
     Our only hope is in Christ, the Living Sacrifice. "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." (II Cor. 5:21)  We must discard our self-righteousness. That did not make the Pharisees pleasing to God and it won't work for us either. We must come humbly to Jesus as needy, lost sinners in order to be made righteous by His death in our place. U

Juanita Simpson is a retired missionary still serving the Lord in Micronesia after 36 years of ministry.

Lord, Make Us Like Philadelphia! cont.

shall we do?" and "How shall we live?"

   1. Turn your eyes upon Jesus.

   2. Realize we are now a minority as the people of God.

   3. Focus on the power of Jesus, not on our weaknesses.

   4. Do not lose heart. Know that

He has called us to be faithful in our weakness, knowing we can't totally change or stop what's happening.

   5. Remember, no one can steal your crown, but you can forfeit it through unfaithfulness and the denial of Christ's name.

   6. Help prepare our families and friends and those in the

church for the dark times ahead.

     Remember, Jesus said, "I am coming quickly. Hold fast to what you have."  Our prayer must be, "Lord, make us like Philadelphia!