Grace Bible Church – Winchester, Kentucky

Psalms 118:1 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. How many times have I read that phrase to give thinks to the Lord, and then it says He is good! Have you ever got on your knees and just thanked the Lord for who He is and the country that you live in and the freedoms that we experience? This past week I was doing my devotionals and I was reading in the book of Psalms and I read Psalms 118:1. As I said “I have read this phrase many times in other parts of the Bible but this time it just stuck out to me and I had to stop and acknowledge it. Why? Because on Sunday nights I have been teaching on the different kinds of religions other than Christianity. After studying about Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism in which this is the major religions of the world. What I have discovered is these belief systems have one major philosophy within them, which is how to control people, the freedoms that we have in America stand drastically against the freedoms that we the people have. These religions have many things in common. They teach that god is distant and you cannot know them, but Christianity teaches that our great God invaded humanity so we could get to know Him. Other religions, if you reject them and especially in Islam you are ostracized from your family and it could even cost you your life. Whereas in Christianity, God’s word says who so ever will. God wants you to love Him not because of fear, but out of love for Him because you see Him as He truly is. Remember Phillip who asked Jesus to show us the Father, and Jesus said to him “if you have seen me, you have seen the Father”. In these other religions you cannot know that you will someday be in Heaven, but the Lord God wants us to know that you are saved and on your way to Heaven (I John 5:13). What about death? Jesus is the only one who died and resurrected, no other religion can teach that. What about those leaders who religions look back on? Mohammed was illiterate, he married 16 women, and one was 7 years old and he had sexual relations with her when she turned 9. He also took many lives who didn’t agree with him. Buddha didn’t even believe in God, and Hinduism has 300,000 gods. Then you look at Jesus who didn’t take any life but gave His life for people like you and me. The last thing is that that you can take all the religions of the world and put them on one side and Christianity on the other because all those religions and philosophies of the world are a work salvation or man trying to reach God, which is impossible. Christianity is by Grace. Jesus came into the world to do what man could not do. Jesus was God reaching down to man and providing by Grace, a way for man to be able to someday stand in God’s presence. Why? Because the way that all religions were offering to the Lord were finite offerings. But why did Jesus have to die? Because He was God’s son and therefore when He died for all mankind it was not finite but infinite. Pastor Lee Cruse who now you can see why Psalms 118:1 says the Lord is good and His mercy endures forever that is why we need to give thanks to the Lord.

Christianity vs. Other Religions

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by

Brandon Pence
in

Psalms 118:1: “Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.“

How many times have I read that phrase to give thinks to the Lord, and then it says He is good! Have you ever got on your knees and just thanked the Lord for who He is and the country that you live in and the freedoms that we experience?

This past week I was doing my devotionals and I was reading in the book of Psalms and I read Psalms 118:1. As I said “I have read this phrase many times in other parts of the Bible but this time it just stuck out to me and I had to stop and acknowledge it. Why? Because on Sunday nights I have been teaching on the different kinds of religions other than Christianity.

After studying about Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism in which this is the major religions of the world. What I have discovered is these belief systems have one major philosophy within them, which is how to control people, the freedoms that we have in America stand drastically against the freedoms that we the people have. 

These religions have many things in common. They teach that god is distant and you cannot know them, but Christianity teaches that our great God invaded humanity so we could get to know Him.

Other religions, if you reject them and especially in Islam you are ostracized from your family and it could even cost you your life. Whereas in Christianity, God’s word says who so ever will. God wants you to love Him not because of fear, but out of love for Him because you see Him as He truly is. Remember Phillip who asked Jesus to show us the Father, and Jesus said to him “if you have seen me, you have seen the Father”.

In these other religions you cannot know that you will someday be in Heaven, but the Lord God wants us to know that you are saved and on your way to Heaven (I John 5:13).

What about death? Jesus is the only one who died and resurrected, no other religion can teach that.

What about those leaders who religions look back on? Mohammed was illiterate, he married 16 women, and one was 7 years old and he had sexual relations with her when she turned 9. He also took many lives who didn’t agree with him.  Buddha didn’t even believe in God, and Hinduism has 300,000 gods. Then you look at Jesus who didn’t take any life but gave His life for people like you and me. 

The last thing is that that you can take all the religions of the world and put them on one side and Christianity on the other because all those religions and philosophies of the world are a work salvation or man trying to reach God, which is impossible.

Christianity is by Grace. Jesus came into the world to do what man could not do. Jesus was God reaching down to man and providing by Grace, a way for man to be able to someday stand in God’s presence. Why? Because the way that all religions were offering to the Lord were finite offerings. But why did Jesus have to die? Because He was God’s son and therefore when He died for all mankind it was not finite but infinite.

Pastor Lee Cruse who now you can see why Psalms 118:1 says the Lord is good and His mercy endures forever that is why we need to give thanks to the Lord.

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