Peace, Good Will Toward Men

 

This week is bracketed by two national holidays. The time between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day have feel like limbo or the twilight zone for many, but it can be a peaceful reflection period before starting a new calendar. We can look back on this last year with 2020 hindsight and praise the Lord for His many blessings during a year of turbulence and disruption of daily routes. It’s been a bit of a wakeup call, a chance to stop and evaluate what is truly important in life and measure our focus. The experience shall not be forgotten and the reality overtaking distractions. 

Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

 

Continuing the true meaning of Christmas series, Michael writes today that the Christmas message starts with the angel’s proclamation: Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace on earth good will toward men. Jesus came to bring peace to a world that was dead in trespasses and sins … a world without dignity, honor, and righteousness. Jesus came to a fallen world without God and without hope. A world of darkness in secular humanistic unbelief is a difficult place to develop godly relationships. You cannot see in the dark and there is so much ill will in a world of darkness that it breaks trust among men and women. The world promises worldly peace, but it’s only a fleeting and temporary peace. In a fallen world, peace based on circumstances is as fragile as the next unkind word.

Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

 

The Prophet Isaiah had prophesied many years before the birth of Jesus that “He shall be called the Prince of Peace.” Peace is the end of all strife and contention between God and man. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Jesus came to bring peace by reconciling God to man. Peace is the result of bringing opposing factions together based on a common bond of unity. Jesus said, “you won’t have peace unless you are men and women of good will.” In order to have peace, we must subjugate our mind, will, and emotions to His will. Ultimately peace is the result of making His will our will.

 

The angel’s Christmas proclamation was that Jesus came to bring a peace treaty from His Heavenly Father. In the midst of the raging storm Jesus said, “Peace be still” – Mark 4:39. Even the winds and rain obeyed Him – for He is God the Son, Lord of all, and the Author of Creation – John 1:3. The peace of Jesus Christ is different from the peace offered by the world. Peace according to the world is the absence of war. However, peace according to the Word of God is the result of making the Prince of Peace lord of your life. This is the type of peace that Jesus prayed about in the Garden of Gethsemane, “not my will but thine be done.” Peace is the result of Salvation’s transformation of the soul and regeneration the spirit resulting in reconciling our will with His will.

 

The peace of God transcends circumstances and situations. Peace comes not from external things, rather peace comes from the inside because it is Christ who dwells in us. God sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to bring a peace treaty from the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus came to reconcile the separation between God and mankind, for He who knew no sin was made the perfect sin sacrifice on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him. Jesus said, “Come to me all you who are weary and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” He said, “My peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” – John 14:27

Isaiah prophesied about the advent of our Lord: Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty of God the everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. The message of the Christmas season is for us to deliver the same message of peace that the Angels said on that first Christmas … For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior, which is Christ the Lord. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace good will toward men! God with us.

May God richly bless you.
Your brother in Christ, Michael

Change

 

Psalm 102:25-27 “Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure; yes, they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will change them, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will have no end.”

 

This marks my 3000^th post today. It just seems like yesterday when I first started this ministry of writing Christian messages to the worldwide web and reaching people all around the world with the light of the Gospel. I thought about what the subject of this milestone message and the answer came quick and obvious … “Change”. The word “change is defined as: To cause to turn or pass from one state to another; to alter, or make different; to vary in external form, or in essence. I’ve heard it said that the one thing that doesn’t change is the fact that everything changes. Things can change for the better or for the worse. 

 

Both the Bible book of Genesis and John begin the first chapter with the same first three words: “In the Beginning”. God laid the solid foundation of creation and a lot has changed since then. All have followed our original parents Adam and Eve in sin, but Creator God (which is what those first three words of Genesis reference) provided a way to change our fallen nature through the sending of a Savior (which is what those first three words of John references). Yet, many fallen individuals today try to change the creation to a godless explanation and change the Christmas story from the arrival of the Savior of the word, God with us. Their sin remains upon them as they reject their Maker and their Savior in a futile attempt to be the lord of their life, or think as the devil said in Genesis 3:4 “you will be like God”. 

 

Proverbs 24:20-22 “For there will be no prospect for the evil man; the lamp of the wicked will be put out.  My son, fear the Lord and the king; do not associate with those given to change; for their calamity will rise suddenly, and who knows the ruin those two can bring?”

The change that is needed in this world is what the Lord Jesus told us in John 3:3, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” That born again change starts with repentance of sin. The 1828 Webster’s dictionary defines the word “Repentance as: Real penitence; sorrow or deep contrition for sin, as an offense and dishonor to God, a violation of his holy law, and the basest ingratitude towards a Being of infinite benevolence. This is called evangelical repentance, and is accompanied and followed by amendment of life. Amendment of life means change of direction from away from the Lord, turning around and living towards God’s holy word, will and way. This born-again transformation of the heart and soul by accepting the free gift of salvation by Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the Cross for our sins regenerates the spirit that died in sin. But, much more also. 

 

Jesus tells us in John 1:10-13 “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” He goes on in John 3:16-18, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. It’s time to change to Jesus Christ, the One that never changes. Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” In God We Trust.

 

In Christ, Brian

Amazing Grace

 

This final week of 2020, Michael writes: According to Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.” This is amazing grace! Grace is unmerited divine favor given by the one who didn’t need to give it to the one who didn’t deserve to receive it. The very next verse is an exhortation for a man and woman of God to live their life so that their pastor won’t need to lie at their funeral. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, (His masterpiece, His great work) created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” We who have been saved by grace have been called to the great co-mission: to spread the gospel of the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ

 

For a non-Christian, the most important question is: “if you died today, where would you spend eternity?” The bible says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It is appointed for all men and women once to die, and then comes the judgement. How did we get to the point that we needed to be saved? God created man and woman with His spirit within them: In the image of God created He them God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to bless them. He gave them only one commandment: “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For on the day that you eat thereof thou shalt surely die.” 

 

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s only commandment, they committed the original sin by doubting God. The bible says, “He who knows to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” Sin breaks fellowship with God. When they doubted God and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they died spiritually that day. All men and women inherited the sin nature from Adam. Adam passed to all humankind his nature of body and soul. Soul is biological life for mind, will and emotion. However, as a consequence of Adam’s sin, we are all born without God’s spirit. After Adam and Eve sinned, they hid from. God. The first consequence of sin is shame and guilt. Sin separates men and women from God. Their eyes had been opened to evil and they were afraid of God’s righteous judgement for their sin. 

 

If a criminal is caught on camera committing a capital offense, there is no defense for the evidence of the camera’s eye-witness that convicts him. According to the Word, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Though we were born guilty of sin deserving death and our sins have convicted us, the good news is that “though your sins be as scarlet, you shall be as white as snow.”

 

The requirement for salvation starts with repentance. Repentance means to change your mind. It means to change direction from serving myself to serving the Lord. Repentance is to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. When we understand that “in my flesh dwelleth no good thing, a broken and a contrite heart God will not forsake.” God who is rich in mercy by his great love wherewith he loved us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly.

 

When someone hears the gospel of salvation, there are four responses. The first is outright rejection. The second response is attempting to live according to the Law of God. These are the people who go to church and walk the aisle at the altar call. However, they never really accept Jesus as Lord of their lives. The third response is those who Jesus addressed when he said, “They call me Lord, Lord. But I shall say unto them, “I never knew thee.” These are those who think that they will enter heaven because of their good works, but won’t. The fourth category are those who “know whom they have believed and are persuaded that He is able to keep that (Holy Spirit) which He has committed unto them against that day of (righteous) judgement.” They are assured of their conviction that Jesus is Lord. These are those who are “born again” of the spirit, not of corruptible seed (inherited from Adam) but of incorruptible seed (of the Holy Spirit of Christ in you the hope of glory) by the word of God which lives and abides forever.

 

Jesus said, “come to me all ye who are weak and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” According to John 10:10, Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life (of the Holy Spirit) and that they might have it more abundantly.” For He who was without sin became the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him. Adam and Eve sinned and they died spiritually the day that they disobeyed the Word of God. However, the good news is that we who have confessed that Jesus is Lord and have believed that God has raised Him from the dead have been saved. Salvation is to be made whole. We were made whole… born again of the spirit of life in Christ when we confessed Jesus is Lord. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. This is the gospel message. This is the good news of salvation. This is amazing Grace!

 

May we ever live to the praise of the glory of HIs grace!
Your brother in Christ, Michael

The Joy of Christmas

 

 

Luke 2:8-10 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.”

I came across this Christmas devotional that I’d like to share with you today. Imagine yourself in the shepherds’ sandals. You’re minding your own business, tending to the evening duties all shepherds attend to, when an angel shows up and the glory of God shines all around you. You not only behold such a magnificent sight, but you also hear the angel proclaim, “I bring you good tidings of great joy. That angel was the first preacher of the gospel—glad tidings, wonderful news, the glorious message of great hope and joy for all people!

The joy of Christmas is the joy of reconciliation. If you’re like the rest of us, you know the sadness and pain of being at odds with someone—especially with someone you love—because an argument or harsh, cruel words have divided you. When those times come, you can feel a cold, thick wall separating you from your spouse, child, friend, or relative. You believe you’ll never experience joy again until the moment you reconcile. And when you finally knit your hearts together again and your tears of sorrow have turned into laughter and hugs, you can feel joyful once more.

How much more do we feel that joy when we’ve reconciled with God! Our sin and rebellion have built a wall between us and God. Ever since that fateful day in Eden, humankind and God have been estranged. But Jesus was born to break down that wall by atoning for our sins. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, we can be reconciled with God. At last we can rest in His arms and receive the robe of righteousness and the ring of kinship. Now the joy bells start ringing in our hearts, and a song bursts forth from our lips—a song of praise unto Jesus Christ, who has made it all possible, who has joined the hand of the sinner with the hand of the Father.

What a joy is that reconciliation! Today, join with me in celebrating the wellspring of joy that comes from a heart reconciled with God. As Charles Wesley wrote: "Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled! Joyful all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies." May the joy of Christmas forever shine in your heart.

A Shot of Hope - Part 2

Continuing Pastor Kyle’s message, he spoke of four things that will happen when we choose to take our one shot at hope, seeing and believing in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; for the first time or in a new rededication right now. First, Jesus’ shot of hope neutralizes the disease of negativity in the long run and makes it less severe in the short run. Jesus’ shot of hope offers full neutralization of the disease of sin and death by His finished work at the Cross. That once and for all, anyone who would believe in Him as their blessed Redeemer would not perish in Hell but would have everlasting life in Heaven. On this side of eternity, living in a fallen world, negativity is always going to be around us. Jesus’ shot of hope gives us a way out of a negative cycle for us now and is the only thing that can lessen the negativity of this world on us now. Jesus shows us the way to hope in a negative world. 

 

In Matthew 19:26 Jesus said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Real hope is powerful and changes lives. Though hope begins in a moment of time, but the process of hope transforming our heart can take a period of time. Rewiring negative thoughts into positive thoughts can be a lifelong process of sanctification. In becoming a Christian, a huge seed gets planted in our soul on the day of our salvation rebirth that is nurtured, maintained and watered. Nurture the hope that is in your heart. If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior and Lord, God will always offer you a path out of the negativity of this world and into hope. Jesus, the hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight and transforming lives still today. Sadly, many will throw away the shot of hope that only Jesus offers. We have this one shot at this thing called “life” and we need to make it count. Only God can give us the fresh shot of hope that we need to find for meaning in the midst of life and offers it freely. Start the year 2021 Anno Domni with hope.  

 

Secondly, Jesus’ shot of hope exchanges peace for praise. Peace comes from taking that shot of hope, and that is done by praising and obeying God. Jesus says in John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” Jesus brought His heavenly peace into the world, but it is truly up to us whether we get to experience it. The depth of our hope is directly measured by the depth of our trust, dedication, devotion and our obedience to the Lord of all. Peace in hard and trying times is one of the promises given to Christ’s flock, who obediently puts their life in God’s hand. May we all continue to trust God with our lives and give Him praise today, tomorrow and till we meet Him face to face.   

 

Thirdly, only Jesus’ shot of hope can fill the hole in our hearts – now and always. With the current pandemic upon the world, we feel a sense of emptiness because of the separation for safety sake due to the risk of infection and spread of the virus. Today, Jesus offers hole for the holes in our heart that this world brings. It comes when we treasure up the things of the Lord and ponder them in our heart. We treasure who He is and what He has done for us. We treasure what He has given us and ponder the goodness of our Lord and Savior. Jesus is the only One who can fill the Christ-shaped hole in our heart., gives us hope and the strength to get through. 

 

Forthly, Jesus’ shot of hope promises that we will grow through what we are going through and we will be stronger at the end of it. Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through

Christ who strengthens me.” Only Jesus’ hope can give us the perseverance and the endurance we need to get to the other side. The purpose of our perseverance is to build up our spiritual strength with a sure hope. Hope is not some mystical idea. The hope of the Lord is real, a promise from God to anyone who walks with Him and available today to everyone who repents and trusts in Him. God sent this shot of hope into this world when He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to live the life that we were meant to live but couldn’t because of our sin; to suffer the punishment that we deserved for those sins; to die the death that we should have died on that Cross; and rose from the grave so that death itself would not have the final word of humanity. 

 

Will you take the shot that Jesus is offering you today? Anything is possible when you take that shot of hope. Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Amen.

 

In Christ, Brian

A Shot of Hope - Part 1`

 

Luke 2:8-20 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

 

Never before have we seen the world in need of deliverance quite dramatically as we are seeing today. Other past generations have endured great conflicts, hardships and pandemics, but 2020 has affects every life histrionically with such a negative impact. Yet, there are inspiring examples of first-responders and frontline workers performing unselfish and heroic acts as light in the darkness. But deep down in their heart, this world is waiting for something ... a shot of hope. 

 

We’ve all learned to long, hope and wait for something in a way that we probably never have before. As in the time of the first Christmas, we might be catching a glimpse of the hope that Israel felt in the coming of the Messiah, the Savior of the world. The classic Christian Advent hymn states: “O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear. O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free Thine own from Satan's tyranny; from depths of hell Thy people save, and give them victory o'er the grave. O come, Thou Dayspring, from on high, and cheer us by Thy drawing nigh; disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death's dark shadows put to flight. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.” Isn’t that a little like what we are praying for the Lord to do this Christmas? The redeeming Rescuer, the Victor over death and Satan, and the Savior of the world. The storm-calming Light ... the Good News of Jesus Christ!

 

Whenever angels appeared to people in the Bible, great fear was the reaction of the supernatural spiritual realm visiting the natural physical realm, and the angelic heralds beginning their message by saying “fear not”. This announcement was not about a baby being born, but about the birth of the Christ, arrival of the long-awaited prophesied, promised Messiah, the day of the Lord’s visitation, God incarnate; God with us. 

Let's continue Pastor Kyle's Christmas message in the next post.

In Christ, Brian

Merry Christmas 2020

From our house to yours, we wish you a merry and blessed Christmas. May the joy of the gift of God in the Savior of the world, God with us, fill your hearts with love and give you peace.

 

Brian

The Christmas Message

 

This week of Christmas, Michael asks that if someone from another culture who didn’t know anything about Christmas asked you, “what’s the meaning of Christmas?”, what would you tell them? If you know John 3:16, then you know the meaning of Christmas. God surrendered his only begotten son, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. The angels heralded the advent of the Son of God.

 

In John 4:10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

 

At Christmas, we wonder what gifts we should give our loved ones. God so loved that He gave a gift. The greatest Christmas present is the presence of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The angels declared, Joy to the World, the Lord is come. Good tidings of great joy was the message of the first Christmas announcement to the Shepherds by the angels on that Judean hillside. 

 

Ephesians 2:5-9 tells us that “even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

 

Jesus came to give us peace: Peace on earth good will toward men. The Prince of Peace has come. John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Peace is the absolute end of all strife and contention between God and man. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ is the perfect lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world. For he who was without sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.

 

Christmas is the announcement of great joy which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord. Joy to the world is not the absence of pain, rather Joy is the presence of the Lord. Though we may have lost loved ones this past year, we grieve not as others who have no hope. We have the hope of the resurrection and the hope of eternal life. Jesus was God’s plan of redemption and there is no plan “B”. He is our salvation, our joy and our hope of life. 

 

God has revealed the light of His Son in our hearts. The light of Christ will break through the darkness of this world. The celebration of Christmas is to celebrate the life of the spirit of Christ in us, the hope of glory. It’s not about us, it’s about Him. "Christmas" is a shortened form of "Christ's mass". The word is recorded as Crīstesmæsse in 1038 and Cristes-messe in 1131. Crīst (genitive Crīstes) is from Greek Khrīstos (Χριστός), a translation of Hebrew Māšîaḥ (מָשִׁיחַ), "Messiah", meaning "anointed"; and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist. The message of Christmas is “Christos mass” May we be ever be mindful of the gift of Christmas presence … the presence of God in Christ in us! And may we may ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace.

Your brother in Christ, Michael

Why the World Needs Christ - Part 4

Continuing Pastor Kennedy's message on why the world needs Christ, he points out that every man has received the light of creation and most have rebelled against it. In Romans 2, we read of the light of conscience where God has placed a moral monitor into the hearts of men “(their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men . . .” (vv. 15–16). And everywhere we see that this is true. 

I have asked people all over the world this question: Have you ever done anything that you believed was wrong? Every one of them has said, “Of course,” and all but one of them have laughed. They said, “Why, of course, many times. Hasn’t everybody?” They have sinned against their conscience. God has revealed to them certain things that they know are right or wrong. This is clear because universally people condemn one another. Little do they realize what they are doing to themselves when they do. “Therefore, you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?” (Romans 2:1-3). Everywhere people do this. 

 

Immanual Kant, the famous philosopher was, no doubt, one of the most brilliant men who ever lived on this planet. If you doubt that, I suggest you pick up a copy of The Critique of Pure Reason and start wading through it—the most difficult book I have ever read in my entire life. This man was profound in his intellect, but he said something I have never forgotten. He said: “There are two things that fill me with a deep awe, and they are the starry heavens above and the conscience within.” The light of creation and the light of conscience. All men have received that light and all men have sinned against it. All have sinned and come short of the Ten Commandments? No. Sermon on the Mount? No. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)—as revealed in the light of creation, as revealed in the light of conscience. 

 

Third, there is the light of Christ. There only do we have hope and mercy, because the light of creation requires something from us—that we worship the living God. The light of conscience requires something of us—that we follow those commandments that God has written on the fleshly tablets of our heart. But the light of Christ is the light of grace, where God does something for us and gives His Son to die in our place and offers freely eternal life to those who are utterly undeserving, to those who will trust in Him. It is sin that condemns. It is Christ that saves. John 3:16-17 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

 

There is one other thing you should never forget, and that is that there are degrees of punishment in Hell, as there are degrees of reward in Heaven. To whom much has been given, will much be required. Forget for the moment about the heathen in the midst of Africa. You, who have sat right here in this sanctuary and have heard of the Gospel of grace, and the death of the Son of God, and the free offer of eternal life to those who will repent and trust in Him, if you have not done that, you will receive a far more severe judgment than that cannibal headhunter in the midst of Africa. You, respective one; you, counsel member; you, president of this, that or the other, God is no respecter of persons. To whom much has been given will much be required. So, I would ask you who have received much light—whereas the cannibal in Africa may have sinned against the candlelight of creation and conscience, you have sinned against the blazing sun, the noontime sun of the love of God displayed on the cross of Christ—have you truly surrendered to Christ? Have you truly repented of your sins? 

 

Have you truly trusted in Him as your Savior? Have you ever really been lost? Do you know that you have really been found? Ah, my friend, the world desperately needs Christ because the world is lost, and each one of us desperately needs Christ because we either have been, or some of you still are, lost. 

PRAYER: Father, I pray that your Spirit will speak to hearts right now, that you will draw unto yourself such as should be saved, and some may say, “O God, I see. I see the light I have received, and I yield myself now to Christ. I receive Him as Lord and Master and Savior of my life. I accept the free gift of eternal life, and henceforth, I desire to follow Him. In His name I pray. Amen. 

Merry Christmas

Why the World Needs Christ - Part 3

Pastor Kennedy continues his message on why the world needs Christ, saying that about this time, my friend that I visited hit upon an idea, an objection he thought was certainly going to demolish all of my arguments and utterly lay in ruins the Gospel, the Bible, Christianity, and God Himself. He said to me, with a guffaw and a laugh, “Hah, and you believe the heathen in the midst of Africa is going to be condemned simply because he has not believed in Jesus Christ, whom he has never heard of.” Oh, he was so proud of himself, he could hardly stand it. He had hit upon the absolute unanswerable objection to the Christian message. He thought he certainly had ended the conversation. He sort of said, “Gotcha!” You may have heard that argument also.

 

He was quite shocked, truly startled, when I replied to his accusation, “No, I don’t. I do not believe that the heathens in Africa, India, China or anywhere in the world are going to be condemned for simply not believing in a Jesus they never heard of. That would mean they would be condemned merely for ignorance. 

 

Now, of course, people who raise this objection never seem to think about the fact that in our jurisprudence, people are frequently condemned for ignorance. Ignorance of the law is no excuse! Have you heard that before? But in God’s system of perfect justice, it is. But, you see, their basic premise is flawed. Therefore, their conclusion is wrong.  By the way, I believe that the heathen in Africa or India or anywhere else, without Christ, will be condemned. It is just that they will not be condemned for simply not believing in a Christ they never heard of. They will not be condemned for their ignorance. 

 

Here is another spiritual principle I hope you will never forget, and it is this: Whether in your town or Timbuktu (which, in case you don’t know, is in Western Africa, or anywhere else on this planet) there is only one single solitary reason why anyone, anywhere, at any time, will ever be condemned by God. Only one, and that reason is sin. Nothing else! 

 

A man is out in the midst of the wilderness. Suddenly he is bitten in the calf by a poisonous snake that injects that deadly venom into his body. The man is in tremendous agony. He writhes around, he gets up, he staggers for a bit and then he falls on his face, and slowly, there in the mud and the muck, he dies. While all the time, here in the local Hospital, there is a cabinet, and in that cabinet there is anti-venom—that antidote to various kinds of venom, whether it be rattlesnake or water moccasin or perhaps poisonous spiders, scorpions, or whatever. It’s all there in the hospital marked in bottles under lock and key.

 

Now, as any rational, reasonable, intelligent, sophisticated modern person will surely understand, the reason that man lies dead in the midst of the wilderness is the hospital’s fault. That hospital killed him! Well, that is errant nonsense. The hospital had nothing whatsoever to do with killing him. What killed him? The poison from that serpent that was pumped into his blood stream—that and nothing else! Ah, yes, the anti-venom in a bottle in a cabinet in the Hospital would have saved him, but it had nothing whatsoever to do with killing him. 

 

Dear friends, it is sin that kills. It is sin that condemns. It is Christ that saves. “I came not to judge the world,” said Christ, “but to save it.” Now, you say, how can a person sin if he has nothing to sin against, if he is ignorant. Ah, you see, there is the fallacy to that argument: no one is ignorant of God, because God has revealed Himself to all mankind in at least two out of the three ways. 

 

God first revealed Himself in the way described in Scriptures: “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Wherefore God also gave them up [for idolatry]” (Romans 1:20– 24). 

Having known God the Creator, they turned and worshipped birds and beasts and creeping things. Do you know that there is church every night? Every night, everywhere, all night long in every city, in every village, out in the jungles, up on the mountains—everywhere. It’s right out there to be seen. The psalmist said it, David proclaimed it 3,000 years ago: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament show his handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night shows knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard” (Psalm 19:1-3). There is no excuse. Repent and turn to God, your loving Maker.

Let's finish this message by Pastor Kennedy on why the world needs Christ in the next post. Merry Christmas 

Why the World Needs Christ -Part 2

 

Continuing Pastor Kennedy's message: Third, the world needs Christ because the world is lost, and only Christ can save it. Jesus Christ said, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). No one else has done that. There is no other Savior in the world. No one else died for the sins of mankind. No one else has risen from the dead—only Christ. No one else can save a lost world. The problem, however, today is that so many people don’t realize they are lost. Therefore, they don’t respond as the shepherds did when the angels brought that first proclamation, “I bring you good tidings of great joy . . . For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). Who needs a savior but one who is lost, and if one doesn’t know that he is lost, he is not going to respond joyfully to the announcement of a savior, whether 2,000 years ago, or now. 

 

That is why the world covers up the great Christian holidays with some trivial, insignificant secular meaning. Thanksgiving becomes a family gathering for “turkey day.” Christmas is about Santa Claus and presents. A survey showed that many children in our public schools do not even know whose birthday we celebrate at Christmas. Easter, of course, has something profoundly to do with “bunny rabbits” and colored eggs to hunt for. So, the truth is suppressed in unrighteousness, as the Bible said it would be. 

 

People just don’t know they are lost. One minister said that the problem today is not getting people saved, the problem is getting people lost, because most of them think themselves to be saved already. A survey showed that 70 percent of Americans believe their chances of getting to Heaven are somewhere between good and excellent. Some of these people have a terrible shock waiting for them. Heaven’s gate is narrow and few find it.

 

I would ask you the question: Have you ever been lost in sin? If you have never been lost, you have never been saved, because Christ came to seek and save only one group of people: the lost (those who realize they are lost in sin). A man who has been lost in the woods for days on end, utterly despairing of finding his way home, would be delighted and thrilled if someone suddenly appeared and guided him out. A man who is in the midst of the ocean and going down for the third time, would thrill with joy if he saw a boat approaching. But a man dressed in a nice suit and walking down the street on his way to a comfortable home in this world is not going to respond very well if someone comes up and tries to save him, because he does not consider himself lost. 

 

When it comes to our eternal home, since lostness means that we don’t know how to find our way home—though most of us should know that here on this earth—there are millions who don’t know how to find their way to their home in Heaven. Therefore, they are spiritually lost. 

 

The Apostle Thomas was one such person, and he was willing to admit it. Christ said, “Where I go you know, and the way you know. Thomas said unto him, Lord, we know not where you go; and how can we know the way?” (John 14:4–5). Thomas was lost. He knew it and he admitted it. Wish to God that there were more like him today. “Jesus said unto him [Thomas], I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). As marvelous as those words were, in the ears of many modern day people, they are not greeted so hospitably as when Thomas received them, because there are many today who find those words to be very narrow and discriminatory. 

 

I visited a man in his home recently who had this very view. He told me he had given the matter of religion considerable thought over the years, and he had arrived at his own conclusions. His conclusion concerning the “way” was simply this: If a man tried to do the best he could, kept his nose clean, stayed out of trouble, and tried to help his neighbor on occasion, then certainly he would at last end up in Heaven. That was all there was to it. 

 

He really wasn’t interested in hearing anything else. He had thought about it and had reached his conclusion. He didn’t know that the Scripture says, “There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12), and this gentleman described it perfectly: It is the idea that if I will simply be good enough, I will go to Heaven. It is a way which has seemed right at some time in their life to every person who has ever been born on this planet. 

 

But the Bible says, “There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (v. 12). And it repeats the text again: “There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (16:25). Does it seem right unto you that if you just follow the commandments and love your neighbor that all will turn out well in the end. . . . “but the end thereof are the ways of death” (v. 12). 

 

The fact that this man and all those who hold that view, which is, by the way, the basis for all heathen religions, do not realize that they are acting contrary to Christ, contrary to the Scriptures, contrary to the Gospel, and contrary to God and His Word. As far as this man was concerned, if this was contrary to God, so much the worse . . . for God, because, you see, he had thought it over and had decided what was right and what was wrong. If God didn’t agree, that was God’s problem. What arrogance! 

 

There is a spiritual principle I have discovered over the years. I hope you will write it down on the walls of your mind. It is this: The unregenerate man—that person who has never been renewed, born again, recreated by God—always tries to justify himself and condemn God, while the regenerate man, whose heart has been transformed by God, always tries to condemn himself and justify God. In John 3:5-7 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” Jesus came to make that possible.

Merry Christmas

Hope in All Times and Circumstances - Part 2

Luke 2:25-35 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So, he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.” ]And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Luke 2:36-38 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

 

Anna choose to go God’s way. Rather than devoting herself to the ways of the world, she devoted herself to the ways of God’s Word, to being a woman of worship and prayer. She chose to serve and trust God for the rest of her life in ministry and found her life purpose in Jesus. A hope-filled life is constantly searching for God’s presence and purpose in life’s pain. There are things that happen in life that we cannot imagine how we are going to recover from them. Pain is a part of a fallen world, but can be viewed through the lens of the hope of God. When our world falls apart, we need to cling to the One who holds the world. 

 

Painful life circumstances offer all of us a choice. We can succumb to the pain of life or we can search for the presence of the power and purpose of God in the midst of it. We all could use a fresh dose of hope going into 2021. What I’m talking about is a hope-filled life. It starts with taking our eyes off the pain and suffering in our life that lead to sadness and depression, and searching for the power and presence of God in this moment right now. All of us could spend more time in fasting and prayer, reading our Bibles, seeking the face of God and having a constant awareness of His presence. How are you seeking God in these times and circumstances today? Continue to seek hope in the darkness. Psalm 130:5-6 “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his Word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.” God’s plan is for God’s people to have a hope and a future. 

 

A hope-filled life with be noticeable and must be shared. 1 Peter 3:15 “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” What draws people to Christ is the hope that is in you. The Gospel is good news and when the hope of God is in you, then you naturally want to share it.  Psalms 96:3 says, “Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.” The wonder and hope that is in you is Jesus. The more that we see and obey Jesus as Lord, the more we will experience hope, because we build our lives of a solid and lasting foundation, and others will ask you for a reason for the hope that is in you. 

 

In Christ, Brian  

 

Hope In All Times and Circumstances - Part 1

 

Pastor Kyle continued last Sunday in our church’s Advent Sermon series, stating that there is no doubt that we are living in uncertain times. Joseph and Mary also lived in uncertain times, but trusted in God with a sure hope. 

 

Luke 2:22-38 Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” 

 

Joseph and Mary dedicated Jesus to God and gave the offering allotted by the Mosaic Law. The King of Kings was born into a humble and obedient family. A hope-filled life has a trademark of daily obedience to God as a way of life. In Exodus 13:1-2, the Lord said to Moses, “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.” Exodus 13:11-12 confirms, “When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord's. God has always, and shall always, want to be the first and requires the best from every one of us. We do not give to God out of what is left after using what we receive for ourselves first. We are to give the first and the best out of our lives. 

 

Even though it is something that we have to do for the Lord, it is really something that we get to do for the Lord in worshipping God in this unique way. That is dedication to God. Our heavenly Father rewards us for our obedience and sacrifices, more than we’ll ever understand. Obedience to God is the only way to find lasting hope in this life, no matter how difficult the sacrifice might feel at the time. Obedience and hope are inseparable. The very best that this world has to offer is a fleeting glimpse of hope that fails away quickly. Obedience is a willing response of the heart, where we want what God the Father wants for us, because we know and trust that He loves us and that his heart for us is truly good. 

 

Once we know what obedience is in certain situations, then we have two choices. (1) we can submit to it, or (2) we can rebel and go the other way. There is no middle ground when it comes to obedience. If we choose to go our own way, we are deciding to build our lives on what Jesus called “shifting sand”, rather than on the “solid rock” of obedient faith that we so desperately need. Obedience meets that God wants to be first in absolutely everything in our lives. A hope-filled life looks expectantly for those divine substitutions, which foreshadow that God provided a substitute for our sins at the Cross, His one and only begotten Son Jesus. 

 

Colossians 1:15 explains that, He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. The sacrifice that Joseph and Mary where making by dedicating their first born [Jesus], was a way of foreshadowing that Jesus was really God’s firstborn over all creation who would be the perfect substitute to redeem the world by standing in the place of our sins so that we could then stand in the presence of the heavenly Father. God wants to be first and obedience defines our life. The practical reality of putting God first means making daily decisions of obedience that are often sacrificial to pave the way for lasting hope. This daily obedience is what we saw in Jesus’ parents, what we saw in Jesus and what leads to lasting hope today. 

Let's continue PAstor Kyle message of "Hope" in the next post.

In Christ, Brian

 

Why the World Needs Christ

Romans 1:20–21 “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” 

In a classic yuletide sermon, Pastor Kennedy points out that Christmas is coming, but does the world really need Christmas anymore? Does this modern, electronic, technological world really need Christ, or Christmas? Quite evidently, commerce needs Christmas, since many businesses do 40-60 percent or more of their income in the month of December. But do we really need Christ? There are those, of course, who say we don’t. I, of course, believe we do, for many reasons. I will mention two briefly. 

 

First, Christ is the hope of the world. The world desperately needs Christ because the world desperately needs hope. We live in a world where most of the hope has been drained away. That is why suicide has become commonplace, especially among the young in college, because they live in a world without hope. All looks very bleak and dark. Yet Christ could say, “I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore” (Revelation 1:18). “Because I live, you shall live also” (John 14:19). Every soul yearns for something permanent, something eternal. You may try to stuff it full of material things, but it just won’t be satisfied, and somehow, sometime, the soul is going to peak out around the corner of the day after tomorrow and say, “Isn’t there anything better than this? Is this all there is?” 

 

The world needs hope and the only real hope available is found in Jesus Christ. This is not some vain, vacuous, empty hope, but a hope that is built on solid evidence. It is a hope that is built on solid rock, a rock against which you can dash all of your doubts and all of your unbelief—the cold rock of an empty tomb. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is built upon such solid evidence of such many diverse sorts that it has never been disproved. It has been denied, it has been ignored, but it has never been disproved, though all of the guns of unbelief and skepticism have been trained upon it. The world desperately needs Christ because the world needs hope and no one else can give it. 

 

Second, among the many reasons, let me say that the world needs Christ because Christ gives meaning and significance to life. Dr. Stephen Jay Gould of Harvard, America’s most prolific evolutionist today, reminds the people that they were of no real significance at all, and that life had no more meaning than a dried twig. Mind you, not a branch or fruitful bough, or even a tree, but merely a dead twig you might pick up off the grass in your back yard and toss into the fire or the garbage can. Dear friends, that is not humility, that is futility. That is meaninglessness. The Bible gives us true lessons in humility. But it also tells us that we are made in the image of God, and we have real significance and meaning when it comes to the great ultimate questions: Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? How should I live? Where am I going? Those are the questions that fill the mind of every sophomore in college. 

 

What is the evolutionist’s answer to these questions? Who am I? Twiggy, that’s who. 

Where did I come from? You slithered up out of some primordial slime, dropped your tail, climbed a tree, grew some fur, jumped down, put on a 3-piece suit, and voila, here you are. How should I live? Who knows? They certainly don’t. There is no guide book that comes out of the primordial slime with you. Where am I going? You are going into oblivion, into the heat death of the solar system and the entire galaxy. Truly, there is no meaning and no significance to life at all.. 

 

Christ’s answers are far more glorious: Who am I? I am the child of the King. I am a child of the Living God. Where did I come from? I came from the hand of an omnipotent and omniscient Creator. Why am I here? I am here to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. How should I live? He has given me a guide book—His Word— the Bible, which not only gives me the principles to live by, but gives me the Living Exemplar, Jesus Christ, who lived them out perfectly. Where am I going? I am going to that place He has prepared for me in paradise. 

 

It is a glorious life with a glorious beginning and a glorious consummation. How different the answers of Christ from the answers of the skeptic and unbeliever. The world desperately needs Christ, because we all desperately need meaning and significance to our lives. 

Merry Christmas.

The Curse

Genesis 3:17-19 Then to Adam God said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”

 Do you remember the last time you blew it with God and sinned against Him; either doing what the Lord said not to do, or not doing what the Lord said to do, therefore not living a life pleasing in His sight? Do you remember what that did inside of you? You’re not alone. People have experienced those guilt and shameful feelings of letting God down since the beginning of time.

I read a great little devotional that asked: What happened to Adam and Eve when they sinned? They died spiritually. Their minds were darkened. They stubbornly followed their own wills, their spirits out of tune with God. Through their sin, Adam and Eve allowed sorrow, separation, guilt, fear, and self-centeredness into Paradise of the Garden of Eden and into the lives of all humankind, bringing hatred, crime, violence, war, death, and Hell in their wake.

The Curse resulting from Adam and Eve’s sin has not only spiritual implications, but also physical ones. God pronounced “the Curse” first upon Satan for deceiving and tempting the woman, condemning the Serpent to crawl on its belly and eat dust. Then God cursed the woman, increasing her suffering in childbirth and subjecting her to her husband. For the man, God took the delight from work, relegating the man to a life of labor and toil in the midst of thorns and thistles. All of the animals came under the Curse, and what had been kindly and loving pets became dangerous, wild, and poisonous creatures. Finally, all creatures would eventually succumb to physical death most often preceded by disease, illness, pain, and weakness.

Maybe you’d rather not dwell on such depressing issues at this time of year. And, fortunately, you don’t have to. Why? Because Christmas is all about Christ’s coming to take away the effects of this horrible curse. Christ came to earth as a baby to absorb the Curse for us. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus destroyed the Devil’s works and created a way for us to be restored, perfect in God’s sight.

In the classic Christmas song “Joy to the World”, there third verse says: “No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found, far as, far as, the curse is found. God begins that work in you and me when we surrender to Him and become His children, born of the Spirit. That work continues throughout our lives in the process of sanctification. Fully and perfectly, we will be restored when we reach Heaven; Christ will have completed His work in us and eliminated the Curse. In a perfect world and in perfect bodies, we shall dwell forever with Christ in the kingdom of Heaven.

This is the message of Christmas, the reason Jesus came to earth as a babe, God incarnate. As you and I anticipate Christmas this year, let’s rejoice that all curses are reversed in Jesus Christ, Emmanuel.

Merry Christmas