Dr. John C. Reddy

Home  “ But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.  ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.”   [Matthew 22:11-12 ]  "For many are invited, but few are chosen."   T he kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.  He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.  “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business.  The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.  The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. “Then he s...

Home  “ No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.”   [Joshua 1:5 ]  "...but if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us"   T he Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.  Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds.  Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country.  They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys.  They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. Midian so impove...

Home  “ And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. ”   [2 Kings 6:17 ]  "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them"   T hose who are with us are more than those who are with them"  Now the king of Syria was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, “I will set up my camp in such and such a place.”  The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Beware of passing that place, because the Syrians are going down there.”  So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.  This enraged the king of Syria. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”   “None of us, my lord the king...

Home  “ Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,      and whose sins are covered;  blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. ”   [Romans 4:7-8] "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned..." [Romans 5:12]  Are you “Acquitted” or still “Condemned”?   A s a result of Adam’s sin, human death entered the world. Death became the common lot of all Adam’s descendants because they had all sinned in him. It is true that they all committed individual acts of sin. Paul’s point is that Adam’s sin was a representative act, and all his posterity are reckoned as having sinned in him. Man is condemned on three grounds: He has a sinful nature, Adam’s sin is imputed to him, and he is a sinner by practice. But his crowing guilt is his rejection of the provision which God has made for his salvation. All those who put their faith i...

Home  “ Unless the LORD builds the house,    the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city,    the guards stand watch in vain.”   [Psalm 127:1]  Jesus and the Miraculous Catch of Fish  E arly in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.  He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”  “No,” they answered.  The Lord Jesus met them by the Sea of Tiberius (Galilee). Seven of the disciples were together at the time--Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel, James and John(the sons of Zebedee) and two others whose names we do not know. Simon Peter decided to go fishing on the lake, and the others agreed to go with him.  This seemed to be most natural decision. That night they caught nothing. They were not the first fishermen to spend night fishing without success! They illustrate the uselessness of human efforts apart from divine help, especially in the matte...

Home  “ Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?  But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.”  Then the man got up and went home.”   [Matthew 9:4-7]  "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven"  F our men came to Him, carrying a paralytic on a crude bed or mat. Because of the crowd, they had to tear up the roof and lower the man into Jesus presence. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you." When some of the scribes heard Jesus declare the man's sins forgiven, they accused Him of blasphemy within themselves. After all, only God can forgive sins, and they were certainly not about to receive Him as God! The Lord Jesus read their thoughts, rebuked them for the evil in their hearts of unbelief, and then asked them whether it ...

Home  “ The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”   [1 Samuel 17:37]  ...But I come to you in the name of the LORD  T he Philistines assembled their troops for war at Socoh of Judah.  Saul and the Israelite army assembled and camped in the Elah Valley, where they got organized to fight the Philistines.  The Philistines took positions on one hill while Israel took positions on the opposite hill. There was a valley between them.  A champion named Goliath came out from the Philistine camp. He was more than nine feet tall. He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore bronze scale-armor weighing one hundred twenty-five pounds.  His spear shaft was as strong, and its iron head weighed fifteen pounds. He stopped and shouted to the Israelite troops, “Why have you come and taken up battle formations? I am the Philistine champion, and you are Saul’s servants. Isn’t t...

Home  “ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand.  But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. ”   [Daniel 5:16-18]  The Image of Gold and Blazing Furnace  K ing Nebuchadnezzar made an idolatrous image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. He then summoned all the provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. So the provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it. Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “Nations and peoples of every language, this is what you...

Home  “ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;  idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions  and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. ”   [Galatians 5:19-2]  RESULTS OF THE FLESH  L isten! What kind of works does fallen human nature produce? There is no difficulty in identifying the works of the flesh.  They are evident to all. Adultery is unfaithfulness in the marriage relationship. Fornication is unlawful sexual intercourse. Uncleanness is moral evil, sensuality. Lewdness is shameless conduct involving absence of restraint. Idolatry is not only the worship of idols, but also the immorality that accompanies demon worship. Sorcery is witchcraft, magic spells. It also include superstitions. Hatred means strong feelings of malice directed towa...

Home  “ While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “ What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he? ”  “The son of David,” they replied.  He said to them, “ How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,  “‘ The Lord said to my Lord:    “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies    under your feet. ”’    If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son? ”  No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.   ”   [Mathew 22:41-46]  DAVID'S SON IS DAVID'S LORD  W hile the Pharisees were still awed by Jesus’ answer to the lawyer, He faced them with a provocative problem. “What did they think about the Christ? Whose Son is He? Most Pharisee did not believe that Jesus was the Christ; they were still waiting for the Messiah. So Jesus was not asking them, “What do you think of Me?”  He was as...