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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for March 17, 2010
“If-Then Statements of the New Testament”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
I like if-then statements.
They’re so black and white, so solid.
If I take action X, I will get result Y.
So many things in this world are uncertain. You can take action X all day long and still get result P or Q or Z.
“Doctor, if I eat right and exercise, can you guarantee I won’t get cancer?”
“No.”
Financial investing, raising children, getting married – we can try to do everything right and still end up problems.
That’s why I like if-then statements, things I can bank on. If I take action X, I will get result Y.
So I did a study of the New Testament, looking for if-then statements. What can I bank on? What can I hang my hat on, my life?
Here is what I found. Here are some clearly stated if-then statements of the New Testament.
One of the most quoted is First John 5:19. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
See, the “if” part is our part. In First John 5:19, our part is to confess our sins. We need to confess our sins, and what happens when we do? He will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we take action X as found in the Word of God, then we can put our faith in the fact that result Y is going to take place.
Here is another if-then statement dealing with forgiveness. Matthew 6:14 says, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”
Then verse 15 flips it the other way. “But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
So far we have two things to do: confess our sins, and forgive other people their sins.
Here is another highly quoted if-then statement in the New Testament. Romans 10:9 says, “…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Our part, action X, has two elements: confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead. If we take those two actions, we get result Y: we will be saved.
Another popular if-then statement is found in James 1:5. If we ask God for wisdom, He will give it to us.
I like verses like this! I ask God for wisdom all the time, and I trust 100% that He will give it.
Now Jesus made some very bold if-then statements about faith. For example, He said in Matthew 17:20, “…if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”
In Mark 9:23 Jesus said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
In Matthew 21:21 Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt…if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.”
In Luke 17:6 He said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
Along these lines is John 15:7 where Jesus said, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”
In Matthew 18:19 He said, “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.”
In John 14:14 He said, “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
Those are some pretty bold, blanket statements, but Jesus said them, and they show up multiple times in the Gospels. So these are if-then statements we can bank on, and we need to pray and seek God about how to put them into practice.
Plus we find something similar in First John 5 which says, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
This is not an exhaustive list of if-then statements from the New Testament, so I encourage you to dig them out for yourself. But I do believe that these are the ones that stand out the most.
And what do they tell us to do, what is our part?
We are to confess our sins and forgive other people their sins.
We are to confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead.
We are to ask God for wisdom.
We are to have faith and believe.
We are to abide in Christ and let His words abide in us.
We are to agree with others and ask God for things in Jesus’ name.
That’s our part, and when we do our part, God will do His part.
And that’s what I love about these powerful if-then statements from the New Testament!
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
And here is one more oft quoted if-then statement. Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”
© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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