A Confession

20 March 2015

Print this Entry

Several years ago, I tried to preach through "The Sermon on the Mount" for the first time. I remember vividly when I studied the Beatitudes and meditated on the words of the Savior when he said "blessed are those which are persecuted for rightouesness sake."

The reason this sticks in my mind is that I remember saying,"I can't name a time when I was ever persecuted for doing the right thing." I felt guilty and left out but I quickly dismissed those feelings with the idea, "oh, that just means God has blessed me to live without persecution."

That blessing may be true at times but that is not what was happening at all!

Paul told Timothy,

"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." (2nd Timothy 3:12)

The reason that I was not being persecuted was that I was not living righteously enough to be noticed!

I had watered down my speech where it was no longer salty. I was not living in a way that showed others the life of Christ. I had hid my light so that I would not offend.

This behavior robbed me of blessings but more importantly, it was robbing God of His glory.

God has designed it so that when we do a good thing, the glory He receives is magnified. He gets glory when we act in faith because He gave us the faith. Moreover, He gets magnified glory when another child of God sees us do well and gives glory to God for our faith. Even more, their statement gives God glory and another person can then glorify God for that. And then it just explodes from there.

We should not concern ourselves with what others think. There are going to be two reactions to our good works. They will either glorify God or think we are "drunk with new wine." (Acts 2:13)

Our focus should be to fulfill what David charges us with in the Psalms:

"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God,in the mountain of his holiness." (Psalm 48:1)

David is telling us that our praise should match the greatness of God. The only way that is possible is if we let our light shine!

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

Tags: 2nd_timothy, acts, discipleship, evangelism, harmony_of_the_gospels, matthew, psalms, sermon_on_the_mount

Welcome

Brentwood Hills Primitive Baptist Church is a community of believers working together to transform our lives to the image of Jesus Christ. We believe it is our duty and privilege to live the gospel of the doctrines of grace in such a way as to edify the families within our church and other children of God in our community. Through regular worship based on strong Biblical principles, fellowship, admonishment, and outreach, we glory in the grace of the sovereign God working in our lives thereby showing the Spirit of God in the world.

Brentwood Hills was organized in 1906 in Fort Worth, Texas as Laodicea Primitive Baptist Church. You can find much of the history of the church, as well as other churches here: Primitive Baptist History Database

We identify ourselves as an old-line Primitive Baptist church. If you read our Articles of Faith, you’ll see that we hold to such doctrines as the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible. We recognize the King James Version (KJV) as the only English translation worthy of being called the Bible. We believe in salvation solely by the grace of a sovereign God. We believe that Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, came to the earth to do the will of His Father, which was to deliver from the sentence of death all those the Father gave Him before the world began. We believe that Jesus fully satisfied the Father by atoning for all the sins of all His people. In time, we believe the Holy Spirit comes to each person that belongs to Jesus and regenerates them. Then (and only then) can anyone have faith, which is a fruit of the Spirit, by which you are able to believe the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether or not you ever hear the gospel, or believe it if you did hear it, or obey it if you did believe it, rest assured that Jesus will remain forever faithful to you because, if He died for you, He will never deny that you belong to Him.

We believe that everyone for whom Christ died will without fail be raised again from the dead to a glorified life. Even if we are alive when He returns to raise the dead, we shall be changed to a glorified life. All the Redeemed will meet the Lord in the air. Then He will take us to Heaven and there we shall forever be with the Lord. The wicked will be raised at the same time as the righteous, but the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment along with Satan and his angels. Until that glorious day when Christ returns to raise the dead, He has provided a place for His people to find rest for their souls. This place is the Church. Jesus Christ set-up His church on this earth before His death on the Cross. The church is there for those of His people who have come to believe that God saved them by His Son, Jesus Christ. To believe that Christ “paid it all” gives believers the strongest motivation to serve Him. Once enlightened to this glorious truth, then the child of God should feel an obligation to become and remain an active member of the His church. To serve the Lord in His church makes for one of the great blessings to experience this side of Heaven. It fulfills you to serve in His church and it gives your life purpose and meaning.

Living in Liberty

Elder Bryce Lowrance

Content

This is some content. This is some content. This is some content. This is some content. This is some content. This is some content. This is some content. This is some content. This is some content. This is some content.