Tag: Repentance

THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE

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Chief Cornerstone

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Shelby G. Floyd

CHRIST IS A LIVING STONE

The apostle Peter graphically describes the great spiritual house that God is building (1 Peter 2:4-8). Christ is pictured as a Living Stone in God’s spiritual building: “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious…Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame” (1 Peter 2:4, 6).

THE CHURCH IS THE SPIRITUAL BUILDING

The church of Christ is that spiritual building or house Jesus promised to build about 32 A D. (Mark 9:1; I Timothy 3:15). Reference to the scripture that Peter quotes is found in Isaiah 28:16, “…Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily” (NKJV). But according to Isaiah both houses of Israel stumbled because of unbelief and rejected the rock of offence who was their spiritual sanctuary (Isaiah 8:14). The church Jesus built on his deity (Matthew 16:13-19) is now God’s temple in which his people worship (I Corinthians 3:16-17). Continue reading “THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE” →

EYE COVENANT

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Shelby G. Floyd

Eyes Covenant

In the Old Testament we read about one of the greatest men who ever lived, and that was Job. Job was a very good man. He served God with all of his heart. And yet God tested him. And while he was in the midst of his suffering and trial he had to defend his integrity before his friends. In his defense Job said in reply to Bildad the Shuhite, “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustily at a girl” (Job 31:1). That’s what we are going to talk about today. If you haven’t made a covenant with your eyes you need to do so like Job. Job said, “I made a covenant with my eyes.” A covenant is an agreement and when you make an agreement you should live up to it and keep it.

Sexual immorality was a big problem in ancient times and is even a bigger problem today, especially in America. Sexual immorality causes great pain both to the perpetrators and to the innocent people who are not involved. There are perhaps three or four reasons why a person might want to go out and commit sexual immorality. One could just be their ego. Some people are like that. Another reason might be that person’s inner need for sharing and affection, even though it is unlawful. And a third reason might be just because they have the raw lust of the flesh. Sexual immorality is so common in our society today that we excuse it and we accept it. And it is all because man tends to glorify the body and to belittle the spirit that is within that body. Continue reading “EYE COVENANT” →

YOU ARE THE LIGHT

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Shelby G. Floyd

Light

Light and darkness are antipodal. We live in a physical world of darkness and light. Modern technology enables us with better light to see and penetrate the darkness. Also in the spiritual realm Christ enables us to let our light shine in the world:

Matthew 5:14-16
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
NIV

Continue reading “YOU ARE THE LIGHT” →

TEST EVERYTHING

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Shelby G. Floyd

1-thessalonians-5-21-22

God has created mankind with the power to choose between good and evil. From the beginning, that choice must be made. Our world is made up of both good and evil. For the most part, good predominates over evil. Whether good wins over evil in our personal life depends upon how we make our choices.

Paul in writing to the Thessalonians urged them to make the right choice: “Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22). We observe three things from this statement:
(1) Test everything;
(2) Hold on to the good; and,
(3) Avoid every kind of evil. Continue reading “TEST EVERYTHING” →

EXPOSING FALSE TEACHERS

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Shelby G. Floyd

wolf-in-sheeps-clothing

About 65 A.D., the apostle Peter warned the Christians in his day to be aware of false teachers coming into their congregations: “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you” (2 Peter 2:1). Since this is the case, how do we go about identifying these false teachers? We are not left in the dark for there are certain obvious signs of their devious ways. Continue reading “EXPOSING FALSE TEACHERS” →

LIVE WITHOUT REGRET

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Shelby G. Floyd

Drifting-Away

All of God’s people should live our life in such a way, that when we come to the end, we can look back without regret. This means that we must dedicated to the Lord, study his word and rely upon divine wisdom to make the right choices. Life goes by fast and how many times do we hear someone say, “If I had my life to live over again I would have done such and such.” John Greenleaf Whittier wrote,

For all sad words of tongue and pen,
The saddest are these,
‘It might have been’.

“It might have been” represents those who have neglected the great salvation offered by Christ.

In the book of Hebrews the people are warned not to neglect what is important:

Hebrews 2:1-3
Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.
NKJV

If we will heed what is said and not neglect our duty, then we can look back without regret and not think about what “might have been.”

No doubt Esau was filled with remorse and regret after he realized he sold his birthright for a bowl of soup. Esau was a profane person and was filled with regret, “For you know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he carefully sought it with tears” (Hebrews 12:17). No doubt he looked back and wondered again and again, “what might have been.”

Every one of us has a sphere of influence for Christ and the church. We have opportunities to do good for those out of Christ and for those especially who are in the household of God (Galatians 6:10). Let each one of us zealously work to bring our friends and acquaintances into Christ.

Copyright © 2015 Shelby G. Floyd, All Rights Reserved

Shelby G. Floyd

Shelby G. Floyd
Heartland Church of Christ
1693 West Main Street
Greenwood, Indiana 46142

A TIME TO LAUGH

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Shelby G. Floyd

life-is-better-when-youre-laughing-quote-3

Don’t all of you enjoy a congregation where people have a smile on their faces instead of a frown? I do not think any of us enjoy being around grouchy and grumpy people. It pulls us down. To have a good laugh lifts us up. I have been preaching about 54 years, and I have never preached on the subject of laughter. So I felt I needed to do that.

It is revealing when you go to the Bible and start doing research to find out the Bible has a quite a bit to say about laughter. In Ecclesiastes 3: 4 Solomon says there is “A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” Have you ever seen anyone that would cause you to laugh? If you will go to the mall you will see all kinds of people, wearing all kinds of outlandish outfits, and sometimes it is just fun to go over there and sit down and have some good laughs, because people are funny. Solomon says: “There is a time to weep and a time to laugh.” That tells us that God wants us to be cheerful. He does not want us to go around frowning and mourning, being sad and weeping and wailing all of the time. There is a time to do that, but not all the time!

Someone said: “Laugh often, dream big and reach for the stars.” “A laugh is a smile that bursts out.” “Laughter is the spark of the soul.” Someone else said, “Laughter is an instant vacation.” We all need some vacations. We can take that kind of a vacation everyday if we laugh a little bit. God wants us to be joyful and glad. Even God has a sense of humor. We say that because when we raise our children we find out what our parents went through, and now God is allowing us to go through the same thing. We say God has a sense of humor because we are experiencing what our parents experienced with us. As we have heard it said, “It is not a sin to grin.” Some people think you should never smile, laugh, or grin in the church. It is not a sin to grin, but it is a sin to worry yourself to death. It is better to grin, be happy, smile and laugh than to be filled with worry and die a premature death. Continue reading “A TIME TO LAUGH” →

BETRAYAL

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Shelby G. Floyd

Arnold

When one surveys history some notorious traitors come to mind, such as Benedict Arnold, Aaron Burr, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. But the name that most Christians remember is Judas Iscariot, who betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ: “Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: ‘The one I kiss is the man; arrest him’” (Matthew 26:48). Normally, a kiss is a sign of love, loyalty and friendship. But is the case of Judas it has become a symbol of sin, shame and betrayal. Continue reading “BETRAYAL” →

BAPTISM NOW SAVES US

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Shelby G. Floyd

baptism-Jan-2011Credit: Google Images

“Faith only” advocates will explain away every scripture that mentions that baptism is requisite for salvation from sin. And our present scripture is so explicit that “baptism now saves us,” that no one in his right mind can misunderstand it: Continue reading “BAPTISM NOW SAVES US” →

CONFESS OR DENY CHRIST

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Confess ChristCredit: Google Images

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Shelby G. Floyd

Jesus taught that if we confess him before men he will confess us before the Father. He also said that if we deny him before men he will deny us before the Father:

Matthew 10:32-33
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
KJV

Continue reading “CONFESS OR DENY CHRIST” →