5 days ago
Gospel4You - Gospel4You International - 'Value'
For this broadcast, we turn to our sister program - Gospel4You International- Gospel Messages as short program segments in different languages.
We hear the following message in English, French, Filipino Taglog, Russian, Arabic and Korean
This is Gospel4You International - VALUE in English
How is value defined? The Oxford language dictionary defines Value is the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something..
The word ‘value’ occurs 58 times in the bible. We’ll be taking a small portion of these scriptures in the context of how God defines value and will let God’s Word speak for itself and the words that Jesus spoke.
The prophet Zechariah foretells the betrayal price Judas Iscariot would receive for betraying Jesus.
And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.
Great value is placed on Faith and obedience.
Hebrews 4:2
For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.
The following scripture tells how Moses who experienced God speaking from the burning bush near Mount Sinai- His trust in God developed through all he experienced.
Hebrews 11:26
He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.
In his letter to Timothy, Paul says
For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
Jesus used short stories - parables as a form of analogy. It was left up to those with enquiring hearts to search out their true meaning.
Matthew 13: verses 24 - 30
The Parable of the Weeds
Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
“‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
“‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
From verses 36 - 43
Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
So this happens to individuals but can we expect the world to go on forever?
Peter tells us.
2 Peter 3:10-12
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.
Jesus told more parables to illustrate the level of how our response should be to the Kingdom of Heaven - Putting all worldly values aside.
From Matthew 13 verses 44 - 46
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
The Apostle Paul is speaking to the early church to inspire Godly values that will endure when Christ returns.
In Summary What sort of values should we have?
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
Applying these values can inspire those around us to take notice and action before it is too late.
The Faith we profess is the realisation that God’s values are so far above ours. Our lives can never come up to God’s values so, in his infinite love, God sent His Son Jesus Christ to pay the debt we have to make us right with God. This only comes in to action when we believe and confess in the first place. Without accepting this gift, we do not have God living in us and our destiny is that of the weeds in the parable.
Acts 16:31
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”
We’re telling you this Good News. What is your response? What of the countless millions who die each day without hearing this Good News.
The modern hymn by Keith and Kristyn Getty contains these words..
‘Unnumbered souls are dying
And pass into the night’
This gets me….
Gospel4You is broadcast Monday evenings 8 pm CET (7 UK LOCAL time pm) on 7290 kHz (41 Meters) Shortwave and 1323 kHz Medium Wave and again on 1323 kHz at 10 pm CET (UK LOCAL Time 9 pm). Also on Friday 7 pm UK LOCAl time on Gospel4Grampian
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