Sunday, August 31, 2014

The Ultimate Victory


I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord. What needest thou?  All I need is thee.  All things pale in comparison to fellowship with our Father and his son Jesus Christ. God has called us to commit that which we have heard unto faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.

The miracle of Pentecost was the Pentecostal gift... not the gift of cloven tongues of fire but the Pentecostal gift of hearing.   The miracle is that all heard the Pentecostal message in their own language.  Our prayer is that we hear and understand the voice of God in our own language.  Oh for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise!  God inhabits the praise of his saints.  The antidote to anxiety is to praise God.  Jesus Christ is the purpose of the universe...  all things were created by him and for him.  Jesus Christ was and is God's eternal plan for redemption.  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Romans 1:18-24   For the wrath of God is revealed unto all men...  for God has shown to them all things that were created by God...  because though they knew God they did not glorify him as God and were unthankful...  Their foolish heart was darkened.  Professing themselves to be wise they became fools.  They worshipped the creation rather than the creator who is blessed forever. Therefore God gave them up...  to a debased (depraved) and perverted mind.  Their thinking was completely off the reservation.  They removed all trace elements of God in their culture.  However If you judge others, you are also inexcusable.  Who art thou that judgest?  In judging you are judged in return.  An impenitent heart builds up wrath against the day of judgement.  Only God the righteous judge can judge.  The standard for judgement is the Word of God.

God told Noah of the impending flood.  Though Noah had never seen rain from heaven, he believed God at his word.  Noah preached God's deliverance for over a hundred years.  God will provide a way of escape, a way of salvation, a way of redemption.  God always works with his remnant.  God works with his remnant to save the city.  The remnant is where the seeds are for the ensuing believing generations. God doesn't need the majority.  Power is not in the majority of men.  The balance of power is not in a plurality of the people, but rather in the singular power of His mighty hand.

Hebrews 11 records God's hall of faith.  Many were delivered miraculously by God's providence.  However, the ultimate victory is not deliverance in this life.  There is a pivot point in Hebrews 11 verse 23:  others were tortured and were martyred that they may obtain a better out resurrection from among the dead. The Holy Spirit restrains the adversary from overtaking the culture.  The brief shining moment of the glory of God in the United States is waning for want of the the heart of God's men dedicated to his truth.

Three reasons for rejection of The Lord:
1.  Ignorance
2.  Pride
3.  Loving the darkness of sin rather than the light.  Those who love the darkness will not be able to discern right from wrong resulting in certain death.

Revelation 20 is about the great white throne  judgement:  There will be a reading of the life of each individual.  There will also be a reading of the book of life.  Names are either written in the book of death or the book of life.  The second death is reserved for those whose names are not written in the book of life. He who sits on the throne will make all things new.  He is our savior and our friend.  He will give the fountain of life forever. Rev 21:8.  This is the inflection point:  the change of direction  This is the list of those who will not inherit the kingdom of  God.  Do not fear those who can kill your body but rather those who can cast your soul into hell. After the crucifixion, Mary came to Jesus' tomb and pleaded to the man at the entrance, "they have taken my Master, where have they taken him."  She  recognized the man as Jesus when he called her name and said, "Mary."  There is no fear in love, for perfect love casteth out fear.  Mary was the first missionary of Christ after the resurrection.  Jesus said, "Go and tell."

If you're lost, you're still in the game.  However, Once you've perished there is no hope.  Perish in the Hebrew means the opposite of redemption.  Perishing in Hell:  To be in solitary isolation, increasing continuously multiplying eternal aloneness.  A black hole:  the continuous implosion into vacuous nothingness...  the total eternal collapse into darkness from which not even light can escape.  A continuous implosion under the weight of its own gravity.  Fellowship is the antithesis of aloneness.  Fellowship is why God called us to the body of Christ.  Christianity is about relationships...  the way of a father with his son...  the way of a son with his brothers. The way of brothers in Christ together in fellowship as a band of brothers. Are you all in?  Whom do you serve?  Ye are slaves to whom you obey.  To whom do you pledge allegiance?  Choose ye this day whom ye shall serve, as for me and my house we shall serve The Lord.

Your brother in Christ, Michael

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