Mount Pleasant Baptist Church

Daily Nugget: Paul emphasizes in Romans 15:1-7 how important it is to make others a priority in our lives. In a day when selfishness reigns in many’s behavior, it is refreshing to be reminded that there is a better, more godly way of living. That way is to try to meet other’s needs. There was a time when a person did something, there would be a concern about how it would affect another. “If I play my music loudly, it will disturb others”; “If I don’t take care of my lawn, the neighbors will not like it,” or even “If I park my shopping cart in the middle of the aisle, no one will be able to get past.” Those thoughts are no longer at the forefront of most people’s minds. Somewhere the concern for others and their needs has been lost. I think it was forgotten when our nation publicly expelled the teachings of the Bible from society, and shortly before the public schools crammed, “your self-esteem is more important” down student’s throats. However, we got here, selfishness does not work.

Romans artwork from a 1611 KJV Daily Nugget: Everyone, including Christians, is different. Each, although saved, may have varied concerns and beliefs. In Romans 14, we are reminded that in the early church, Paul encountered different views of eating and the importance of different days. Some thought it was permissible to eat meat; others felt they should not (Romans 14:2). Some put a priority on one day more than another (Romans 14:5). Perhaps to those people, certain Jewish worship days meant more to them than to others. In these two matters, Paul rebuked those judging others that did not think like themselves. Paul told them not to despise the others because they had different convictions (Romans 14:3). The preacher reminded them that God still accepted those they hated. They were still members of the family of God and should not be shunned. There is a time to stand against those that oppose major issues. Salvation by grace and not by works is one doctrine that should not be compr

  Daily Nugget: Romans 13 discusses God’s perspective of government. This is one chapter that I would rather skip. As a Christian, I love righteousness. Much of what our government does is against godly principles. My spirit is grieved by what many of our leaders are doing. Many are legalizing the murder of babies, stepping up acceptance to let older and sick people die because of the money required to attend to them, making the country accept sinful lifestyles, fighting wars for monetary reasons, rewarding ungodly behavior, and punishing righteousness. As my grievance list grows, my blood pressure goes up. If I had my way, I would stop the ungodliness immediately and throw ungodly rulers out of office this instant. God, however, thinks differently. Christians are commanded to be “subject to the higher powers.” We are to let them rule. We are also told that God allows them to be in that position (Romans 13:1) and that if men oppose them, they “shall receive to themselves damnation.”

Daily Nugget: God has plans for every Christian. To better equip each child of God and to bring Him the glory, each is given a gift(s) to better serve the Saviour. These gifts are not the gifts the early church had before they were given the entire Word of God. These seven gifts (Romans 12:6-8) are necessary to get the work of God done in today’s world. They include the gifts of: Prophecy. This is not the same ability prophets and early disciples had. We have the entire plan of God in His written, preserved Word of God. We do not need to foretell the future as they did in Old Testament days. This gift of prophecy is taking the Word of God and helping others understand it better. Noah Webster in his 1828 dictionary defines the gift as the ability, “to preach; to instruct in religious doctrines; to interpret or explain Scripture or religious subjects …” Ministry. This God-given gift gives a great burden to a Christian to meet the needs of others. Teaching. This is a gift that allows o

  Daily Nugget: Throughout the Old Testament, God often dealt with Israel in different ways. The Lord has a special place in His heart for them. He had great plans for those people. Although they rebelled against Him, disobeyed His commands, or got far away from the heavenly Father, God was very patient with the Jews. He continued giving them chances and opportunities to return to fellowship with Him; sometimes they did, often they did not. Sometimes God sent trials and tribulations in an attempt to turn them back to Him. At times the Jews were spiritually asleep (Romans 11:8), blinded spiritually (Romans 11:9), spiritually “stumbled” (Romans 11:11), and did not believe (Romans 11:20). When the Messiah, Jesus, did come, they rejected Him and even persecuted those who accepted the Saviour. Because they rejected Jesus, God gave the opportunity to be saved to the Gentiles also. A converted Jew, Paul, was even given the ministry to reach non-Jews with the Gospel. The Jew's rejection

  Daily Nugget: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Romans 10:9  Next to John 3:16, Romans 10:9 is one of the most memorized and recited verses in the Bible. Within the Roman’s verse, its 29 words contain a message that has changed the lives of billions and saved countless souls from Hell. It includes God’s directions for being saved from the agonizing wage of our sins. An essential step in salvation is confessing. “Confess” is to “own, avow or acknowledge. To publically declare a belief in and adherence to” (Webster, 1828). We are to acknowledge that Jesus, God’s only son, is alive. He is not dead. He has risen from the dead. Because Jesus did the “impossible” by getting the victory over death, He made it possible for Himself to be the payment for all our sins. Unlike other religious leaders, whose remains are still on this Earth, Jesus did what no other man could

  Daily Nugget: Paul had a tremendous burden for his people, the Jews, and earnestly desired that they would accept the Gospel as many had. However, they were battling Paul personally and what he was preaching. Much of the criticism the preacher faced was that the Jews insisted that they were the only ones God favored. They, like people today, thought they knew God and were conveying to others how God worked. Paul knew better and argued that God would do as He saw fit. He would have mercy on whom He would (Romans 9:15, 18). There are always people that want to put God in a “box.” They try to rationalize what God will and will not do. That thinking is in such statements as: “I can’t believe a loving God would send anyone to Hell,” “I know what I am doing is sin, but I have no choice, so God will understand,” “God will punish them severely,” “We’re a special nation. God won’t punish us for our leaders’ decisions,” and “God will spare us Christians and punish the rest.” God is God. No

Daily Nugget: From time to time, one hears a Christian grumble, “I am a Christian. I can’t do this or that.” Their discontentment indicates they are not enjoying being a Christian. Perhaps, they forgot who they are and what they have. This chapter in Romans reminds us of the many advantages of being a Christian.  When we are saved, the blessings include: We are not condemned (Romans 8:1) for the many sins we have committed. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1 Matthew Henry wrote, “Paul does not say, ‘There is no accusation against them, ’for this there is, but the accusation is thrown out and the indictment quashed. He does not say, ‘There is nothing in them that deserves condemnation,’ for this there is, and they see it, and own it, and mourn over it, and condemn themselves for it; but it shall not be their ruin. He does not say, ‘There is no cross, no affliction to them or no displ

Daily Nugget: In Romans 6, Paul let us know that when we trust Christ as Saviour, our sin-desiring “old man” is dead (Rom. 6:6). That part of us that died, when one is saved, is no longer unrestrained. It does not want to do what is against God’s desires. On the right side of salvation, one no longer must serve one’s sin nature. Romans 7 takes that understanding and explains how we are no longer under sin’s dominion and the Old Testament laws that identified the sins. Paul likens the new arrangement of being saved to a new marriage (Romans 7:2-3). In a marriage, one is bound to one spouse, if they are alive. Before we were saved, we were bound to sin until that nature died. It led us where we allowed it to take us: into bars, into adulterous relationships, into bitterness, into blasphemy, and a host of other regretful places. Our sinful nature was in control. Our first “spouse” died when we got saved. That “husband” contained over 600 Old Testament laws. A saved person is “… dead to th

  Daily Nugget: When working with young people in the past, I often had to get them to recognize and deal with their sin. Iniquity was usually the culprit behind most of their problems. After discussing the wrong-doing they were involved in, and what the Bible said about it, I sometimes heard the remark, “Oh, God just doesn’t want me to have any fun.” The reason God wants all to keep away from sin has nothing to do with prohibiting us from any enjoyment. His reasoning is that sin always hurts someone; that is why God hates sin so much. Getting involved in iniquity ruins marriages, robs people of joy, shortens lives, destroys and wastes futures, causes physical problems, short circuits proper thinking, spreads to others, and has thousands of other terrible side-effects. No wonder God hates sin so much! There is also another very important reason why God hates sin. God knows that there is a terrible price tag on all wrong-doing. Unless one’s sin is paid for by trusting only on the shed

  Daily Nugget: In Romans 3, it was pointed out that all are sinners. To most, that is a self-evident statement. Many admit that truth, at least to themselves, because they know their history. They know that they have sinned.  “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Romans 3:23 To others, that fact necessary for salvation is never recognized or admitted. These people fail to see that they are sinners. I remember talking with my grandmother. She was a very nice person, but she refused to admit that she had ever sinned. Grandmom was insulted that anyone would even think that she had committed a transgression. Verse 12 examines our sinnership in another way than none can dispute. Not only do we sin, but we are all born sinners. Here we are reminded that sin entered our race through the first man, Adam. From his offspring to those born today, all have a sin nature passed to them at birth. If one is knowledgeable of the Scriptures and knows what sin is, one should know

  Daily Nugget: In Romans 4, the doctrine of works versus faith is discussed. Paul stated (Romans 4:3) that the proper teaching on this subject should be aligned with what the Bible teaches. In this matter and other spiritual questions, the deciding answer should come from, “… what saith the scripture? …” (Romans 4:3). Your or my opinion has little importance in the light of topics concerning God’s will and way. Unfortunately, many’s beliefs about spiritual things are not always based on God’s Word. Dr. Mickey Carter called that kind of self-concocted belief “fireside religion.” People sometimes sit around and give their opinion. Often, that discussion turns into a life-time belief on the discussed subject, even though there is no biblical basis for it. There is one God and one way to His Heaven. It is not anyone else’s way, no matter how much education, money, or popularity that person has. Those things do not matter one iota in God’s mind when man’s philosophy does not line up with

Daily Nugget: One of the most important barriers keeping one from being saved from Hell is revealed in these passages. It is the one thing that can keep every single person that was ever born out of Heaven. That one fatal flaw is sin. Romans 3:10(b) reminds us that “… There is none righteous, no, not one:”. We are not as “good” as many think they are. Man may think he is currently good because he may have done some “good” deed recently. Because of selective memory, he may even forget most of his hideous history. God, however, sees through any facade and knows our hearts. He knows that we lose sight of what is demanded of us, and that naturally, we want to please ourselves and not God (Romans 3:11). To further expose man’s depravity, Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, pointed out more of our wickednesses. They include: We usually do not live the way we should (Romans 3:12). We are not profitable for the glory of God (Romans 3:12). Our tongues deceive (Romans 3:13). The

Daily Nugget: One of man’s natural tendencies is to judge others by his measuring stick, usually himself. Paul, in this chapter, strongly addresses this weakness. “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things… 3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?” Romans 2:1-3 Most of the time, when we judge others, we have or have had the same problem ourselves. When I was younger, my mother pointed this out to me, “You are complaining about what others do, but you have done the same thing.” Gulp! She was right. It also seems that those that have had the biggest problems, or are still having them, complain the loudest. It is often the ex-smoker that criticizes the most about another’s smoke he is inhaling. A father grumbles to his son about his child’s late hours of coming ho

  Daily Nugget: A sad discourse of the damage done by sin is detailed in Romans 1.  Paul addressed the people that “… knew God …” or had some kind of relationship with Him (Romans 1:21, 28, 32). Somehow they ignored what they had learned about Him and the way He had shown them to live. They “did their own thing.” The saddest part of this chapter is that God got to the point that He gave them over to the consequences of their sins. God gave up on them! I imagine God thinking or saying, “I convicted your hearts about sin. I gave you the knowledge to know what is sin and that you would stay away from it, but you ignored me. You think you are so smart (Romans 1:21, 22), but you will not stop sinning. I give up on telling you to flee from iniquity, and now you will reap the consequences of your wickedness.” Three times God said He would not restrain them anymore from their sinful commissions (Romans 1:24, 26, 28). God’s guiding and warning hand came off of those people, and soon they wer