Steadfast 2 - Part 2

Continuing Michael’s message on “steadfastness”, he writes: What is a man and woman of God?  To answer this question, the diagnostic question is:  "Do you find your purpose in your Lord Jesus Christ?" As Paul said, the purpose for life is that we may live to the praise of the glory of His grace. Our victory is that through Christ's death and resurrection, we have been set free from the bondage of sin and death.  Our freedom is that we can live our lives to His honor and glory. A steadfast man and woman is not confused about the purpose of life.  

The average person on the street doesn't know what it means to be a man or woman of God.  A survey of men and women concluded, "people no longer feel empowered." When you approach a man or woman in church and call them a "man or woman of God," they will usually look down in shame and humiliation. When you ask them why they looked down, they'll say, because they feel unworthy. In our own power we're unworthy. However, a man or woman of God comes to the revelation that the phrase "Man of God" means God's man and the phrase "Woman of God" means God's woman.

It's not who we are but whose we are. We're no longer our own. A man or woman of God understands that they are His and He is ours. The prayer of repentance says, "I'm not the person that you meant for me to be, Please God make me that person." This is a prayer that God will run to answer.  We're saved not because of who we are but because who He is.  He is a God of grace, mercy, and love. Our prayer of repentance is the same as David's prayer in Psalm 51, "Against you only have I sinned. Blot out my transgressions and create in me a new heart, O Lord." Acceptance of the grace of God will change our hearts. The law of sin and death is enforced by fear and intimidation. However acceptance of grace says, "Lord, I'll gladly live my life to serve you because I love you." 

1 Corinthians 16:13-14, Paul says, “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. Let all your things be done with charity (the love of God.)" 

1 John 4:18 says, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear; because fear has torment.  He that fears is not made perfect in love." Truth is that which is revealed. God will open the eyes of our understanding when we're faithful to serve Him from a heart of love. When we go the first mile, we're doing it because the law of sin and death says to go one mile. When we go the second mile we will come to understand the meaning of service in love ... not because we've got to but because we get to. The word of God is profitable for doctrine, reproof, and correction. Doctrine means how to believe rightly. Reproof will convict us of our sin, when we do not believe rightly. Correction teaches us how to get back to “right” believing. Correction restores us to an upright condition. When we're in a right position, then we'll be blessed, not because of who we are but because of who God is. We're not saved because we're good but because He's good. Not because we're lovable but because God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Because our resurrected Lord lives in us and through us, "be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

May we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!

Your brother in Christ, Michael

Steadfast 2 - Part 1

1 Corinthians 15:57-58 “But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

The trusted 1828 Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “Steadfast” as: Fast fixed; firm; firmly fixed or established; or constant; firm; resolute; not fickle or wavering. They week, Michael continues with part two of his message on steadfastness. He write that character is built through steadfastness through the trials of life. Thank God for godly fathers and godly mothers who molded and shaped our character in our formative years. 

How do we become steadfast and what does that mean?  In order to stand steadfast in Him, God will need to crush the “self” out of ourselves. Through trials He will teach us that we really have no control over our lives. We're not the masters of our own circumstances ... God himself is Sovereign overall. Anything I have is all of grace and none of me. For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works lest any man should boast.

Every man and woman reaches a fork in the road of life where they must decide what is more important: try to please God or to trust God. The road that says Please God leads to a gathering of people where everyone seems to be having fun. When you approach the guest table, they hand you a mask. A banner on the wall says, "I'm working on conquering my sin to live a better life." However, if we could conquer our own sin, then Jesus Christ would not have needed to pay the price on our behalf. A performance-based Christian lifestyle will leave us frustrated and defeated. Many men and women leave the church in shame because they're tired of lying to themselves and others. Shame says “you don't give enough, serve enough, pray enough, study enough, or love enough”. When you become discouraged trying to please God and others, you slip out the back in shame and guilt. When you return to the fork in the road, you take the other road that says “Trust God”. This road leads to a house full of messy but honest people. They know that they are sinners saved by grace. In this room they live in the liberty wherewith Christ has set them free. In this room God says, "I love you and I even like you. When I see you, I see the righteousness of my son Jesus Christ. There is nothing that you could ever do to keep me from loving you. By trusting me, you will learn to love me by spending time in my presence and abiding with me and within me."

The secular world doesn't teach us what it means to be a man or woman of God. The world teaches that men and women must work for their own salvation from sin. However, salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. You cannot earn your way to Heaven. Grace is all of Thee Lord God and none of me. We are all guilty as charged of sin before a righteous and holy God. However God intervened with His mercy and grace. For The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, His Son.

The fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians shows us the foundation of remaining steadfast. We're steadfast and unmovable because we have the hope of the resurrection. Because Jesus Christ conquered the grave when God raised Him from the dead and we can rejoice in the hope of His return. Our new life in Christ is the witness of our resurrected Lord. In 2 Timothy 4:7-8, Paul said in his farewell address: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”  

Let's continue Michael's message of "steadfastness" in the next post.
In Christ, Brian

God's Grace

Philippians 4:23 “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”

The 1828 Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “grace” as: Unearned favor; good will; kindness; disposition to oblige another. 2. Appropriately, the free unmerited love and favor of God, the spring and source of all the benefits men receive from him. 3. Favorable influence of God; divine influence or the influence of the spirit, in renewing the heart and restraining from sin. God extends His grace to the very creation itself by merely holding atoms together to keep the universe together, producing order within cosmic chaos intending thereby to “speak” and supply knowledge sufficient to display His very nature and power in such a way that there can be “no excuse” about His existence and care for humanity.

I read that 13 times in the New Testament, this phrase “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” is focused on “you.” God’s grace is very personal. Everything that He has done is because He loves you and me beyond any grasp of our earthly imagination. No one is beyond the touch of God’s grace: “For the grace of God that brings salvation hath appeared to all men. “We love him, because he first loved us”. God gives us what we do not deserve in grace’s forgiveness and redemption unto eternal life..

But, it is explained also that once, in contrast, God says unregenerate people will turn “the grace of our God into lasciviousness” (looseness; irregular indulgence of natural animal desires; wantonness; lustfulness with a tendency to excite lust, and promote irregular and sinful indulgences) and deny Him who has bought and paid for all the horrible sin that they embraced to spite such grace. In Titus 1:15, the apostle Paul calls such people “abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate”. Right and wrong, virtue and vice, light and darkness, godliness and ungodliness exist in this fallen in sin side of eternity.

The article pints out that the Lord twice focuses His grace on our spirits, indicating God’s intimate knowledge of our innermost thoughts. Paul noted that God’s grace is “exceeding abundant with faith and love”, and he insisted that His grace is designed to be “glorified in you”. Like today’s verse, most of the prayers for us end in “Amen.” And that’s the way it should be.

Living Waters

Song of Solomon 4:15 “A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.”

Reading a topical study on “living water”, I found that there are eight verses in the Bible with the phrase “living water,” four in the Old Testament, four in the New. All beautifully describe a spiritual truth under the figure of a flowing stream of refreshing water. The difference with or without rain in Israel is amazing – the hills can be barren and brown much of the year, but after a season of rain, covered in green meadows and flowers. Where there are rivers, lush vegetation surrounds them, while only yards away, all is barren. Out of this arose the idea of living water, or mayim chaim, which refers to water in the form of rain or flowing from a natural spring, which has come directly from God, not carried by human hands or stored in cisterns. In the Focus on the Family video series, “That the World May Know”, host Ray Vander Laan magnificently uses the example of the spring-fed En Gedi stream in the wilderness of Israel as a metaphor of “living water” compared to water caught and stored in a Cistern.  

The first of these references of "living water" in Scripture (above) is a portion of the description of the lovely character of a bride as seen by her coming bridegroom, certainly symbolic of the Lord and His people. But then, through the prophet Jeremiah, God laments that “my people . . . have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water”. “They have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters”. One day they shall return, however, and Zechariah prophesies that “living waters shall go out from Jerusalem . . . and the Lord shall be king over all the earth”.

In the New Testament, in John 4:10, the Lord Jesus appropriated this metaphor to Himself as He spoke to a woman of Samaria: “If thou knew the gift of God . . . he would have given you living water.” Jesus continues in John 4:14, “The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life”.

Later in Jerusalem, Jesus cried out to all, saying in John 7:37-38, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believes on me, as the scripture hath said [referring, no doubt, to the above Old Testament passages], out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water”. Then, in the last book of the Bible is found a special promise for those who die for the Lord’s sake. In Revelation 7:17 it says, “He shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes”.

Happy Memorial Day 2019

Happy Memorial Day

A Life of Provision – Part 2

John 6:10-15 Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

Continuing Pastor Kyle’s message on lessons from the feeding of the 5000, the second thing that we see from this story is (2) there are problems only God can solve. We all know that big events take preparations. We deal with all sorts of big problems in life that only God can provide for and solve. How do people get through life without God and His provision? They can’t on our own.  (3) It takes a proactive faith that leads to God’s supernatural provision. It reality, the child in the story of the feeding of the 5000 people had just enough for himself, but was willing to share. Jesus blesses the child’s offering, breaks the bread and multiplied the provision to provide for all. And there was enough for all, plus much leftover. This was a foreshadowing of Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the Cross for our salvation.

Romans 5:14-16 “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.”

Proactive faith involves giving as God leads us. John 3:16 tells us, “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.” God gives and we give back. We walk obediently on the path that God wants for us. There is always a way to be proactive in our faith every day. God wants our cup to overflow and a stream of “living water” to flow from us upon others in abundance, in hope assured, in love abounding, in joy unending, and peace prevailing.

Psalm 23:1-3 “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

In John 10:10-11, the Lord Jesus said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” Divine provision in a life of provision.

In Christ, Brian

A Life of Provision – Part 1

John 6:1-9 After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of  Tiberias. Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased. And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples. Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do. Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.” One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”

This last Sunday, Pastor Kyle continued in our church’s sermon series through the Gospel according to the Apostle John. The word “Worry” is defined in the 1828 Webster’s dictionary as: “to tease; to trouble; to harass with importunity, or with care and anxiety. Persons are often worried with care and solicitude.” We have all sorts of stresses and worries in life. It is no shock that we seem to be always running into obstacles and having to stop in order to pick up the pieces on our life’s journey. Sometimes, we feel like we’ve used up every ounce of energy and are absolutely spent. Some feel ready for God to move in their life, while others feel ruined and ready for a breakthrough.

One of the names of our Creator God is Jehovah-jireh, which translates to “God will provide”. But, our Heavenly Father is looking for His children to transition from helpers to leaders, trusting that God will provide us a place, a plate and a platform for life. The ministry of “loving your neighbor as yourself” involves getting your sandals dusty and your hands dirty. There will be successes and failures, but the Lord expects us to failure forward in this fallen world. Do not get “bent out of sharp about people that you’d never reach anyway. Remember that it is the Holy Spirit working through us that transforms hearts. God is ready to move and can work through you and I whether we are “on top of our game or we have “hit rock bottom”. In ministry to others, it may look like  we have only “five barley loaves and two small fish” compared to the size of life’s issues in this world, but it is the Lord that multiples and provides.

In the story of the feeding of the 5000 is recorded in all of the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Pastor Kyle stated that in them we see three things. (1) That we should pray when the circumstances are far from perfect. Jesus first withdrew to an isolated place to pray to His Father in Heaven. Christ removed Himself to a secluded place to be all by Himself, where there were no distractions that could disturb or interrupt His “one on one” conversation with God. We need to follow His example and find a private, isolated and quiet place, creating the condition to rightly pray to our Almighty Maker God individually, with compassion; not frustration. But this principle of withdrawing to a place free from commotion, disruption  and interruption also applies to corporate prayer with others.

Let’s continue with the other two things that we see in the story of the feeding of the 5000 in the next post.

In Christ, Brian

Life and Life Eternal

1 Corinthians 15:55-57 “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

I read lately how most of us have read or heard the passage in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 that directly challenges death and hell with the fact of the resurrected Christ and the promise of our own resurrection when He returns. There is no “sting” left in death and there is no law that overrides our salvation because our Lord Jesus has gained the victory.

Long ago, the great man Job faced his detractors with the confidence that “in my flesh shall I see God”. The prophet Hosea, in the middle of difficult life demands and during a time of awful apostasy, heard the Lord promise those who were faithful, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction”.

2 Timothy 1:8-10 “Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

The article pointed out that the good news of the implementation of God’s eternal plan brought “life and immortality to light.” All during the millennia of the Old Testament, fulfillment of God’s actions were hinted at, through the sacrifices of the altar, and promised oftentimes in the utterances of the prophets. But when the Messiah became incarnate and dwelt among us, “we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father”. Jesus Christ Emmanuel – God with us.

John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

The apostle John, whose gospel and letters consummate in the great Revelation disclosure, could say in 1 John 1:2, “the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us”. Jesus, who is life promised, “He that hears my word, and believes on Him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life”. 

John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

Steadfastness – Part 2

1 Corinthians 15:57-58 “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

Continuing Michael’s message on Christian Steadfastness, he writes that sometimes men and women can seek knowledge, but according to 1 Corinthians, Knowledge puffs up but charity edifies. Charity , meaning love, benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines people to think favorably of their fellow man or woman, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men. Knowledge inflates person's egos, but the love of God builds up others. Many religions keep knowledge to themselves, to that others can be subjugated to their masters who hold secret knowledge.  

In Genesis 39 Joseph was put in a position of trust in Potiphar's household. When Potiphar's wife tempted him to sin, he said, "how can I do this since my master has entrusted me over everything he has?"  Jesus said figuratively, "if your right hand offends you, cut it off."  Joseph said in resistance to temptation, "How can I do this great evil and sin against my God?"  Joseph literally followed the command, "flee fornication."  Potiphar's wife grabbed his coat and pulled it off as he escaped her grasp and ran away.

1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

Courage is learned under fire. Courage is learned in the crucible of life. Jesus said, “If my word abides in you, you will be faithful to stand.” According to Psalm 1, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law does he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters.  His leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he does shall prosper."

When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were threatened for not bowing down to the golden statue, they said, "our God will deliver us, and even if he does not deliver us, we will not bow down the image of gold."  They were steadfast and immovable.  They wouldn't bend, they wouldn't bow, they wouldn't burn. God sent His angel, the "fourth man in the fire" and delivered them from the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

Decisions are either fear-based or faith-based. In whom do you trust? If you lead with a guilty conscious, it will profit you nothing. Confidence is in the love of God.  Galatians 5 says that “Believing faith” works by love. Our Confidence is in Him and for Him. God has called us to be practitioners of His word. Oswald Chambers said, When the crisis comes and courage is required, God expects us to have such confidence in Him that we will be the reliable ones. In the midst of the trials of life, we'll do what we've practiced ... what we've been trained to do. 

Peter was called to be the rock.  However, he had to be crushed by harsh reality to understand that his power was only in the Lord. Through the trials of life, God will crush the “self” out of us. Peter could not understand who he was called to be until he understood that his true foundation was the rock of Ages ... Jesus Christ himself.  In our own power we are nothing. He who builds his house on the Rock will stand when the storms of life rage. Therefore, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.  

May we ever steadfastly live to the praise of the glory of His grace!

Your brother in Christ, Michael

Steadfastness – Part 1

1 Corinthians 15:57-58 “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

This week, Michael writes that the word “steadfast” means to be firmly fixed in place; constant; firm; resolute; not fickle or wavering. As Christians, everything we do to nourish our souls in the word will help us to stand steadfast. Immovable is unyielding. It means to never give up since the Lord God is our strength and our sufficiency. Testing proves the faithfulness of our faith in Him. Why are we always to abound in the work of the Lord? It's because in the Lord, our labor is not in vain. Otherwise, as Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, everything is meaningless vanity of vanities. That which is done in vain is empty; worthless; having no substance, value or importance. It’s fruitless; ineffectual; "dust in the wind" and will come to naught.  As steadfast Christians, we may not see the harvest, but we can know that God is faithful to bring forth the harvest. Our reward is in Him and not in our own vain glory. The motivation is not because of who we are, but because of whose we are.  

When we're down and out because of the affairs of this world, we will find out who are our true friends. Steadfast friends are not deterred by the affairs of this world. They stand by our side despite our failures and shortcomings. The opposite of a steadfast friend is one who's here today and gone tomorrow. They have no commitment to stand firm. Many pastors feel insecure, inadequate, lonely and fearful. When you call a man "a man or woman of God," most will look away. When you ask them why, they'll say, "I feel unworthy." However, our strength is not in our own confidence. No one is worth in the eyes of God. In Greek the phrase "man or woman of God" is the genitive of possession. A man or woman of God is God's man or woman. It's not who we are but whose we are.

Steadfastness is firmness of mind or purpose; a fixedness in principle; constancy; resolution; as the steadfastness of faith. Steadfastness is to stake our lives on faith that God will do what he says he will do. Peter failed the test of steadfastness. Even though he had raw courage and the audacity to stand for his master, he needed reproof to understand that in his own strength he was insufficient. 

Jeremiah 9:23-24: "Thus says the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:  But let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, says the LORD.”

Let’s continue Michael’s message on Christian Steadfastness in the next post.

In Christ, Brian

Love, Faith, Joy

1 Peter 1:3-9 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.”

In a commentary about this 1 Peter passage, the commentator points out that Peter had seen the Lord, but he was writing to those who hadn’t, including us. Like them, we can have a personal relationship with the Lord, even though we haven’t physically seen Him. In John 20:29, the Lord Jesus said, “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed”. Also like them, we can have terrible trials (nobody is immune to them). Their responses to Christ while in the midst of trials, as given in our text, are likewise appropriate for us.

They loved:

“We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Romans 8:35).

He loves us too much to abandon us, and we love Him in return.

They believed:

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusts [or believes] in thee” (Isaiah 26:3).

“Blessed is the man that trusts in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters” (Jeremiah 17:7-8).

Our faith is well founded.

They rejoiced:

“But rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:13).

The commentator concludes that the proper response to trials brings godly love, unshakable faith and inexpressible joy. The end of such faith as explained in this passage of Scripture is the complete and ultimate salvation of our souls, with many victories of faith along the narrow way that leads to life. 

The Lamb's Book of Life

Revelation 21:22-27 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

It is unimaginable just how wonderful the kingdom of Heaven is. But, we have to remember the cost that it took it enter. An interesting article points out that God does keep books! In fact, when David was pondering the time between his own conception and birth in Psalm 139:16, he said “in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance [that is, as my days continued] were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them”. It seems that God has an entry for each person who is conceived, and that all these together constitute the Book of Life; one great volume containing the names and deeds of every one who was ever given biological life by his Maker.

But sadly, many during the course of their lives will reject (or simply ignore) God’s provision that would also give them eternal life, earning eternal damnation. As David prayed in Psalm 69:28: “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous”. And that will be a fearful thing, for Revelation 20:15 tells us, “whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire”.

Those whose names will not be blotted out of the book, of course, are those who have been redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19). Not one person deserves to be retained in God’s book of Life, for all have sinned, but they have “beheld,” with eyes of thankful faith, “the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world”, and have therefore been redeemed by the Lamb, Jesus Christ.

Finally, only these will still have their names written on the rolls of the heavenly city. God’s Book of Life will have become “the Lamb’s Book of Life” on which are written forever the names of all those redeemed by His blood. 

Can I Get a Witness? – Part 2

James 1:19-20 “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”

Continuing Pastor Kyle’s message from the last post, of the 7 keys to being a better witness to Jesus Christ, (2) is to make the goal of every conversation to listen and hear (not hear and judge). It is said that we have two ears and one mouth so that we listen twice as much as we speak. Listen with your whole self and an ear up to the Holy One, without judgment. They may just want to vent or communicate privately their concerns to a trusted and caring friend. Strive for just thoughts and emotions in prayer, in devotion, faith and a godly heart.

Romans 5:1-4 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that,

but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

(3) Remember that your private witness is what gives power to your public witness. Character counters. Be a bright and burning lamp for Christ, as you are the light of the world – salt and light for Jesus, the Lord and Savior of the world. Be a light that shines on the path to God, telling others of the difference that Christ has made in your life. As 1 Peter 2:4-6 says, “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.’”

(4) Share how you have seen God’s power despite your pain. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 says, And He (the Lord) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” God blesses the broken road of life and one of the greatest witnesses to God is your accomplishments and blessings through the trials, tribulations and pain … and finding God through it. It comes down to faith.

Romans 3:23 “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 1 John 5:11-12 “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” Luke 13:28 “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.”

(5) Never sugarcoat the gospel. Jesus is not on trial, we are. Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Don’t ignore the “good” that Jesus did and is doing for you. No one gets to heaven except by Him (the Savior of the world). Do we live by secular cultural beliefs which lead to eternity in Hellfire and damnation or in the gospel truth of the Bible which leads to eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven? Is the love of God in our heart? Be blunt on salvation issues. (6) Be extremely careful professing to know where someone is with God. 1 Corinthians 2:11 tells us, “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?” It is our omniscient (all-knowing) Creator who looks at the heart of men and women. The Spirit gives us spiritual gifts and supernatural insight for ministry, but it is best to have others come to the conclusion about their eternal home all on their own.

(7) Lastly, find affirmation in God alone. Do not look to man-made affirmation. We do not need other gods nor that peer-pressure in our lives. God is our providence. The children of God, saved by faith, are living stones that testify to the Lord and reflect His image – who He is, what He doe and what he is doing. The question is, Can I get a witness?

In Christ, Brian

Can I Get a Witness? – Part 1

In John 5:30-44, the Lord Jesus stated, “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. I do not receive honor from men. But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?

Being Mother’s Day last Sunday, we thankfully pray to God and express gratitude for mothers. Pastor Kyle continued in our church’s Sunday sermon series through the gospel accounting to the Apostle John. He pointed out that the word “amen means “so be it” and the utterance of the word is an affirmation of agreement. A witness testifies to what has been personally seen or experience, so they bear or produce witness to the evidence or statement presented or in question. Life is amazing with God. Even with the challenges in life, God uses our circumstances for good.

Pastor Kyle gave us seven keys to being a better witness to Jesus. (1) Where does our power come from? Power comes through the proper posture of submission to our heavenly Father. Remember the “Emmanuel” means “God with us”. Jesus Christ (Emmanuel) was God incarnate. We are most like Christ when we take the form of an obedient servant – in service to God and others.

Philippians 2:5-11 “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in

the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made  Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of

death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Let’s continue Pastor Kyle’s message on being a witness to Christ in our next post.

In Christ, Brian

Ungodly Lives

2 Timothy 3:2-5 “For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers,

 without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”

IT reading through a study on 2 Timothy 3, I came across this lesson: The warning in the previous verse to our passage insists that “perilous times” will characterize the last days. This list describes the types of people who will dominate the last days, and it is frightful. The egocentric “self love” of these people is demonstrated by internal motivations driven by the sin nature. Such people will be “covetous”; the Greek term means “fond of silver.” They will also be “boasters” (braggarts) who revel in their sinful behavior. That boasting is driven by a “proud” spirit that is arrogant, willing to show off gaudy ostentations of their conquests. Such behavior, of course, leads them to be “blasphemers,” speaking evil with low, vulgar taunts designed to be injurious.

Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Part of this list includes Greek words with an “un” prefix. There are those who are un-persuadable by parents, obstinate, stubborn, and inflexible. Many are un-thankful, without grace, without thanks, and without any pleasantry. All are un-holy, without the nature to be just or moral. Some are un-affectionate, without a natural love for family or friends. There are also those who are un-reconcilable, not able to make or keep a promise.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Do you not know that the unrighteous (living ungodly lives) will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortionists will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

Finally, there will be those who are diabolos (like the devil). They are slanderous liars, “incontinent” (without self control), savage “despisers” who are opposed to “those who are good.” They will be treacherous, rash, and “high minded” people who are “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” But, “greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). 

Steadfast and Unmovable

 1 Corinthians 15:57-58 “But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be you steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

This week, Michael writes that some people think that if you quote the bible, you're guilty of “hate speech”. However, the Word of God says abhor that which is evil and to cleave unto that which is good.  Despite the darkness of a fallen world we have hope in the resurrection. Our hope is in our risen Lord. The challenge in 1 Corinthians 15 is to finish strong, steadfast and unmovable. Steadfast means to be firmly fixed in place. Paul said in 2 Timothy 6-8, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

Steadfast also means devoted and loyal and unyielding to accomplish the purpose for which we've been called: that we should be to the praise of the glory of God’s grace both now and in eternity. Despite persecution and shame, Jesus said "even though they will crucify me, I'll rise again on the third day." The 15^th chapter of 1 Corinthians is about our hope of heaven because we confessed that Jesus is Lord and have believed that God has raised him from the dead. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the hope of our resurrection.

The Apostle Peter had dedicated himself to follow his Lord Jesus Christ. However, Peter prided himself on his own ability and in his own confidence. Jesus said to Peter, before the cock crows twice you shall deny me three times. God's timing is amazing. When Jesus was led out during his mockery of a trial, he looked toward Peter and their eyes met. Peter had just denied his Lord the third time. Jesus looked at Peter not with condemnation and judgment but with love, mercy, grace and compassion. Peter turned away convicted, went away, and wept bitterly. Besides turning from our wicked ways, repentance means that God will break our heart for what breaks his. Jesus changed Simon's name to "Peter" meaning the Rock.  However like Peter, we must have our egos crushed in order to be rebuilt according to his purpose. 

In the Old Testament, Joseph was sold to Potiphar, a rich man who served the Pharaoh. Because godly Joseph proved himself trustworthy, wise and ethical in his dealings, Potiphar gave him authority over everything he had, except his wife.  Potiphar's wife was drawn to Joseph and tempted him to sin with her in sex. Joseph said, "Your husband has entrusted me with everything he has except for you.  How could I do this evil against him and against my God?"  He literally obeyed the command, "flee fornication." As Joseph ran away from Potiphar's wife, she grabbed his coat and stripped it away from him. Later she used Joseph's coat to accuse him of attacking her. The conclusion to Joseph's story is in

Genesis 50:20. “But as for you, you thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.” 

We're all works in process.  He will break our hearts like he did the Apostle Paul's.  Only then can we come to Paul's conclusion:  "thy strength is made perfect in my weakness, thy grace is sufficient for me." God bless the broken road on life’s path to glory. Trials and tests are for our good. Only through the trials of life can we learn that God is our sufficiency. Jesus said, “I am the vine and ye are the branches.  if you abide in me and I in you then you will bear much fruit.” Those He loves He will prune.  When He prunes us, only then can we together bear much fruit. According to Psalm 1, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, nor stands in the way of sinners. But his delight is in the law of the lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night.  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters.  His leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he does shall prosper.” 

Being “steadfast” is being rooted, grounded, and built up in the Lord. As Oswald Chambers said, when the crisis comes and courage is required, God expects us to be the reliable ones. Through the trials of life, we will learn that tribulation works patience and patience experience and experience hope, and hope makes not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us.

We were unworthy and guilty of sin before a just and holy God. We are saved not because of who we are, but because of who He is. For Jesus Christ came not into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved.  Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Therefore, be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

May we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!

Your brother in Christ, Michael

Who is Jesus? - Part 2

Romans 10:9-10 “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. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Continuing Pastor Obie message on “Who is Jesus?”, he told us that Christian C. S. Lewis wrote in his classic book ‘Mere Christianity’: “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” What “good” person would claim to be God?

Who is Jesus? How you answer that question is a life and death issue. Jesus explained 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.” Come Judgment Day, when we physically die and stand before Christ in Heaven at the Great White Throne and have to give an account of our life, if we have not repented of our sins on earth and accept the redemptive and atoning blood of Jesus Christ for them, then we are condemned by them. When sin came into the world, the wages of sin which we earned (death) came along with it and our spirit connection with within us died. We are condemned already; dead in our trespasses and inequities. How many times over a lifespan do you suppose you sinned against God, His creation and you fellow man?

Romans 3:23-24 confirms that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Romans 6:23 reiterates that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ephesians 2:1-5 explains that “you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air (the devil), the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).” We must be “born again”. Born once, die twice (the second death being Hell). Born twice, die once.

Pastor Obie explains that repenting of sin and making Jesus Lord and Savior of your life does two things. (1) It resurrects us from death to life. The Holy Spirit transforms our heart, renews our mind and regenerates our spirit in resurrection. (2) It makes you adopted sons and daughters of God. John 1:12-14 tells us that “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. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

It’s all about God’s everlasting love that we were mercifully redeemed. But, we have a choice to make. John 3:36 says it once, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” 1 John 5:11-13 tells us a second time “that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” Love God back and believe in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord of your life. Submit everything to Him.

In Christ, Brian

Who is Jesus? - Part 1

John 5:19-23 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

Last Week, Pastor Obie continued in our Sunday sermon series through the book of John. He told the story of how one night at sea, a ship’s captain saw what looked like the lights of another ship heading toward him on a collision course. He had his signalman blink to the other ship: “Change your course 10 degrees south.” The reply came back, “Change your course 10 degrees north.” The ship’s captain answered, “I’m a full captain – change your course south.” To which the reply was, “Well, I’m a seaman first class – change your course north.”  This infuriated the captain, so he signaled back, “I said change your course south. I’m on a battleship.” To which the reply came, “And I say change your course north. I’m in a lighthouse.”

It is vitally important to know who you are talking to and can lead to monumental consequences when you don’t. In these passages of John chapter 5, Jesus undoubtedly declares His deity and reveals His identity as the Son of God. Christ refers to God the Father in a personal way here, being equal to God. First, Jesus claimed to be equal to God in His wisdom, possessing supernatural knowledge and discernment before they happened and as they were thought. He knew all things, having all the treasures of knowledge and wisdom. Second, Jesus claimed to be equal to God in His works. What the Father does, the Son does likewise, mirroring His holy Word, Will and Way. The source of life gives life and we find that the heart of God the Father is seen through the works of God the Son.  Third, Jesus claimed to be equal to God in His worth, through His time, resources, and actions. We find total worship through the acts of worship, as in obedience, prayer, gratitude, devotion, fellowship, giving and the care of others in heart, soul and spirit.

John 5:24-29 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

Fourth, Jesus claimed to be equal to God in His Authority. John 3:35 tells us, “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.”  All authority, to execute judgment and give life to whom He will. Only God can judge; Jesus Christ is God. Judged on our sinful works, we fail. But, believers are judged on Jesus’ works.

Let's continue Pastor Obie's message on Jesus Christ in the next post.

In Christ, Brian

Is Man Basically Good – Part 4

Mark 10:18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.”

Pastor Kennedy explains that it seems good for our pride and ego to hear that we are “good” people. But, I would rather believe the most miserable fact, then be deceived by the merriest lie. And the notion that “man is basically good” is just that; a lie. Chuck Colson said, “In recent decades popular, political and social beliefs have all but erased the reality of personal sin from our national consciousness.” How true that is! We are told that evil does not lie in us, but that it lies in society. Evil is “out there”, in the society and the environment, so they believe that we must repress all efforts to change the hearts of man. We must get rid of religion – out of our schools, out of government, out of every place public and focus all of our attention on the externality. It is rightfully said that you can take a man out of the slums, but only God can take the slums out of man. And only when we realize that the problem lies in the human heart, as the eye of Jesus Christ surely saw this fact when He said in Mark 7:21-22, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil  thoughts,

 adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.” It’s out of the heart that the evil of this world comes and it’s only by the changing of the heart that we have hope.

Romans 6:22-23 “But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of  sin

is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Not only so we have the reality of sin and the ramifications/consequences of it, but, also thanks to God, we have the redemption of sin through Jesus Christ, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation to take away the sin of the world. Yes, we have been in a “fallen” state; the fallen state of sin. But, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. God was willing to take all of the sin and place it upon his Son. God was willing to punish sin, not upon us in Hell, but upon His beloved Son on the Cross. And God was willing to come and take the blood of Christ to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and make us whiter than snow. But, if we deny that we are sinful, if we deny that we have this inequity upon us, then we cut ourselves out from the redemption of Christ. Jesus Christ came to save that which was lost. He came to save sinners; not to call the righteous, but sinner unto repentance of sin. And if we deny that we are sinners, then we will end up as the man in Jesus’ Matthew 22:1-14 parabol about the kingdom of Heaven - “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.

Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him

 nto outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

The kindest thing that can be said to a person who is dying from a mortal disease is that they have a terminal disease and there is a cure. And unless the person recognizes that they have the deadly disease, they will not receive the cure. Ah dear friend, you have a fatal disease; the disease of sin, which will surely and certainly kill you everlastingly and cast you into perdition for eternity. But, there is a fountain filled with the blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins and sinners plunge beneath that blood, loosing their guilt stains. We are truly washed in the soul-cleansing blood of the lamb. Would you be cleansed of that sin? Would you be made perfectly whole? Would you have all of your sins buried in the depths of the sea? Then come to the foot of the Cross, where Jesus died for your sins. Humble your heart, bend your knee and ask the living Savior to come and take your sins away. For that is why He came into this world.

1 John 5:12-13 “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”

Amen