West Salem Baptist Church

( Deut. 6:5-7) “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children…” Before Israel went in to poses the Promised Land, the Lord warned Israel’s Fathers of the importance of the 3 commandments above . 1) To Love God first above all . God wanted Israel’s Fathers to give first place in their hearts to Him. Why?  Because He knew man, and how quickly he would forget Him if he didn’t. You see, if leadership forgets to put God 1 st , so will the family and those who follow; therefore, God commanded them to make God the Lord of their heart, soul, and mind. 2) To Know the Word of God .  How can a father teach the Word of God if he knows not the Word himself? How sad it is when the leaders of our homes do not study or know for themselves what they are commanded to live and teach. Therefore, God expects all fathers t

(John 18:37) “Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. ( 38) Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?” So, what is truth anyway ?  To the world it is whatever they choose to believe, but to those of us that are of the “truth” it is simply Jesus and his Word. And so here lies the problem. If there is no absolute truth, then truth is defined by whatever man decides. Evil then can be good, wrong can be right, and the absolute truth  is subjective to our individual discretion. No! 1) Jesus is the absolute truth . God must have the final say on things or there can be no absolute right and wrong. 2) His Word is absolute truth . The Bible teaches us that God cannot lie, and that His Word is infallible, or without error. That cannot be said of man . (Rom. 3:4) “Let God be true and

(John 15:4) “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.”  Have you ever wondered why it is that some Christians quit when tried while others continue walking on with God, or why it is that some win souls and others not? Could it be due to their “abiding” in Christ?  In the above verse Jesus wanted his disciples to understand that without him (15:5) they could “ do nothing.”  Meaning that, unless we as believers abide in the vine of Christ, we cannot bear the fruit of the Christian life. Therefore, the key to our Christian growth and fruit bearing is found in  #1) Abiding in Jesus Christ. In other words, if you’re not saved you have no part of him, nor can you draw from his power and bear fruit. #2) Abiding in His Word .   Jesus promised his disciples that if they would “abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” They would not only h