Mount Pleasant Baptist Church

Daily Nugget: “… 27 Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.” Matthew 17:24-27 Many spend much energy trying to justify why they should not and do not give their finances sacrificially to the Lord. They miss seeing how God will provide for their needs. I have noticed quite often that those that have justified robbing God by not giving their tithes (Malachi 3:8) are also those that often have the most financial problems. Some of those people have tried to talk me out of giving by faith to my local church. They justified not giving because they supposedly “knew” the Scriptures better than I. They accused me of being foolish when I gave money to the ministry I could not “afford.” These people never got to the point where they ignored human reasoning and lived by faith. I am so gla...

Daily Nugget: “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:17-19 In this chapter are some of the most controversial and confounding verses in this book. The misunderstanding of these three verses (Matthew 16:17-19) is the crux of one terrible doctrine that is taught throughout the world. Here the disciples were just asked who they thought Jesus was. Simon quickly retorted to Jesus, “… Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This is what the disciples should have known more clearly than anyone else at the time. ...

Daily Nugget: “But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? 7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” Matthew 15:3-9 In Matthew 15, we see one of the many accounts of Jesus battling people that gave him the most trouble while He walked this earth. It was not a crowd of sacrifice-offering pagans, a force of Ashtoreth-bowing Canaanites, or sun-worshiping Bel worshippers. This enemy was the one that ultimately participated in His death. This dangerous force was the “worshippers” of God. Immediately, one is aghast. How could a group of God-fearing people become God’s Son worst enemy? They were continually questioning, doubting, and criticizing Jesus because they were not of God. Yes, they read their Torah (the ...

Daily Nugget: Like most of us, there was a time when Peter’s faith was stronger than at other times. Peter found himself in a boat with furious winds and threatening waves all around him. The craft was tossed helplessly by the powerful sea when he and the other disciples saw a most unusual, unbelievable sight. They saw Jesus walk toward them, and He was walking on top of the waves! After talking with Jesus, Peter was summoned to the Saviour’s side. Without question, the disciple stepped out of the boat and joined Jesus. He also was walking on the waters! However, his victory over the laws of nature did not last long. When he looked around, he felt the hard-blowing winds and saw the boisterous waves. He became afraid and began to sink. His lack of faith changed what was happening in his life. Many believers similarly start their Christian walk, as did Peter when he jumped out of the boat. When they get saved and see the wondrous changes that the Lord has accomplished in their liv...

Daily Nugget: Matthew 13 is a chapter with seven parables. A parable is “representation of something real in life or nature, from which a moral is drawn for instruction”— (Webster, 1828). Although there are some applications for today, the primary purpose of these parables was to tell the Jews about the future Kingdom of Heaven. As discussed in the reading in Matthew 5, the Kingdom of Heaven is the time where Jesus will rule on Earth for 1,000 years. It is a time where Heaven will rule the Earth, which is not happening now (Eph. 2:2). Here is what these parables tell us about the coming kingdom: Parable 1: (Mat. 13:3-23) During that time, many will still have difficulty in doing right with the Word of God. Parable 2: (Mat. 13:24-30) The enemy of God will still be present during that time. Parable 3: (Mat. 13:31-32) Much that was spiritually planted by others will be reaped in the Kingdom of Heaven. Parable 4: (Mat. 13:33) Wickedness that was planted by others will be reap...

Daily Nugget: “Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. 32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” Matthew 12:31-32  This chapter is one of the most thought about and talked about subjects, “What is the one sin that God will not forgive?” The Bible clearly says that all sin can be forgiven, but not when the Holy Ghost is blasphemed. The first task to help understand Scripture is understanding the context of the verses. These verses are no different. In this case, Jesus had healed a man who was deaf, could not talk, and had a devil. The religious, but not always biblical, leaders of the day were the Pharisees. These unrighteous men made it known that they thought the only way Jesus could do...

Daily Nugget: “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. 19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.” Matthew 11:18-19 You surely have heard the saying, “You can’t please all the people all the time?” It certainly is true, especially when one tries to live for the Lord. John the Baptist experienced criticism. Jesus noted of the prophet that there was none greater than John (Mat. 11:11), yet that godly man was accused of being demon-possessed (Mat. 11:18). Jesus, the sinless Son of God, was also charged of being gluttonous and a drunkard (Mat. 11:19). If the great spiritual giants and God’s only Son were wrongly accused and spoken of by some, Christians should not be surprised when things get twisted around, and are talked about negatively. Here are some thoughts when your reputation is being questioned: If it is...

Header from Matthew in a 1611 KJV Daily Nugget: When one gets saved, he is expected to serve the Lord that saved him. No one is to lazily sit and soak up God's goodness. He is to do what the God commands in His Word: to go and tell others the messages from God's Word, feed one’s self spiritually, have a relationship with the Lord, and to do what the Lord lays on one’s heart to do for Him. These seem to some to be simple tasks, but these responsibilities can cause one a lot of grief when determining to do them. Matthew 10 is primarily to the disciples that Jesus had hand-picked. The context of the passages is about these men who were to reach the Jews. They were warned ahead of time and that it would not be an easy task to tell others what they had learned from Christ. Although it was addressed to the disciples reaching the people of Israel, there is much that they faced, that if we try to live and do right, we also expect to encounter. This may include persecution and ...