WWUTT

At the start of Jesus' earthly ministry, He proclaimed the gospel and said, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel!" Since Jesus said we must repent, it must be pretty important. What is repentance? To repent means to change one's mind. In the case of repentance before God, we change our mind about our sin, realizing that we have done evil in the sight of God, and we change our mind about God, knowing that He is holy and righteous and good. When you repent and believe, you're turning from something to something else. You're turning from the direction of your sin which leads to death and eternity in hell, and you're turning to go in the direction of Christ which leads to life and eternity with God. But the off-ramp to turn you around from unrighteousness to God's righteousness is grief over your sin. Second Corinthians 7:10 says, "Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation, ...

Though you may call yourself a Christian, if you don't go to church, you're probably going to hell. What, no! Church doesn't save anyone. You know that thing about being in a garage doesn't make you a car? So going to church doesn't make you a Christian! Sure. But being a Christian means that you are part of the body of Christ. And what is the body of Christ? Ephesians 5:23 says the body of Christ is the church. Jesus died on the cross for the sins of His people so they could be reconciled to God. That word "reconcile" means "to accept that which was not previously desired." Because of our sin, we did not desire God, and He did not desire us in that state. But because He loves us, He sent His Son to live and die in our place. By faith in Jesus we are made righteous in the eyes of a holy God. Titus 2:14 says, "He purified for Himself a people for His own possession." And in so doing, He reconciled us not only to God but to Go...

In Matthew 16, Jesus asked His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus said, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church." Now let's play a game. What is "this rock" on which Christ would build His church? A) Peter himself B) Peter's confession C) Christ and His teachings D) All of the above? If you guessed "Peter," you are correct, but not if you're Catholic. The Bible says Christ is the foundation and the head of the church, so in no way was He giving either of those titles to Peter and a successive line of popes. Peter is a lesser stone. The true rock is Christ. You know who said that? Peter! In fact, we're all lesser stones being built into a spiritual house unto the Lord (1 ...

In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, "I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." This reference to "gates of hell" is often taken to mean that any attempt of Satan to mount an attack against the church will not succeed. Now, that's certainly true, and history testifies. Two thousand years since the first Christians were baptized at Pentecost, the church is still growing. Saints are added daily through the preaching of the gospel all over the world in the face of opposition. Every effort to stop the mission has failed—not lies, evil, insults, hardships, or persecutions. The devil has not prevailed. But that's not the same thing as saying the gates of hell will not prevail. Gates are not offensive weapons. They're used for defense. So in this particular instance, Jesus was not referring to hell mounting an attack against the church. He was saying the church will be attacking hell! Psalm 9:13 says that the Lord lifts us ...