Monday, November 30, 2020

The “Rest” of the Story – Part 1

 

This week, Michael writes that the book of Hebrews was written to the Hebrews ... the twelve tribes of the House of Israel that had been scattered abroad. The precious gems of truth in Hebrews also pertain to Christian believers who have been “grafted in to the root of Israel.” God gave Israel the first five books of the Bible ... including the Old Testament Law so that Israel could be blessed through their obedience to His holy Word. The Bible is its own best commentary. The book of Hebrews explains the purpose for the Pentateuch, the first five books of bible containing the Old Testament Law of Moses. One major theme of the book of Hebrews is the “Sabbath Rest” signified by the completed work that Jesus Christ accomplished through His crucifixion and resurrection. In Matthew 5:17 Jesus said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the (Old Testament) Law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”

God had called Israel as His people and promised them a land flowing with milk and honey that He had prepared for them. God instituted a system of sacrifices to show them what the coming Messiah would accomplish when He was sacrificed as the perfect Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the worldThere is much strife and confusion in this world. According to Hebrews 3:12, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.” We need to “keep our heart with all diligence for out of it proceed the issues of life.” We’re encouraged to take heed that we keep our focus on the goodness of God and the promises of His world. Hebrews 3:13 is the antidote to an unbelieving heart: “But exhort one another daily, while it is called today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.”

Our encouragement is to exhort one another to do the right thing by walking in the light as He is in the light. As partakers of Christ, having partaken of His grace, mercy, and love, our confidence is in Him. Our assurance is in the object of our faith. Our salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. We need to keep guarding our hearts with all diligence to keep a high and exalted view of Christ. When we focus on sin, we will sink deeper into the pit of despair. The antidote to sin which means “the missing of the mark,” is to focus on the mark and not on the missing. The mark is the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Because of Israel’s unbelief Hebrews 3:18-19 says: 
And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.” The subject of Hebrews 4 is the Sabbath rest. Jesus said, “come unto me all ye who are weak and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Biblically speaking, there are several types of rest. One is rest from exhaustion. The other type of rest is to rest or rely and trust in the Lord’s completed work. In resting in the Lord, we let go of the worries, cares and anxieties of this world. When we rest in the Lord, we turn toward Him and away from strife, contention, guilt, shame, anger, and vindictiveness. The ultimate type of rest is metaphorically “the heavenly blessedness in which God dwells, and of which He has promised to make believers in Christ partakers after the toils and trials of life on earth are ended.” According to Hebrews 4:9-12: “There remains therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His. Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.


Let's continue Michael's message on "rest" in Christ on the next post.

In Christ, Brian

Sunday, November 29, 2020

Get These Right – Part 2

Pastor Kyle continues: Our ultimate hope is not that things are going to get better in this “fallen in sin” world. Our ultimate hope is, as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, is that one day we will be in the loving arms of Jesus in Heaven. It is a “sure hope” and a hope only because it hasn’t come to fruition yet, as faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen … yetWe hold this hope in the one hand, while holding the reality of this fallen world in the other. It is the hope of Jesus that allows us to deal with the reality of this God-rejecting world system around us. The reality here is a tool that every Believer can use to point others to the hope that we have in the Lord, the Savior of the world. Only disciples of Christ can tell unbelievers that it gets better; that God has a better plan than anything and everything that they are currently going through right now. We must balance the hope of Jesus with the reality of this “lost in sin” world. In doing so, it helps us manage our expectations in life, helps us avoid disappointments and helps us make better decisions. 

 

Jesus said in Matthew 5:44-46 “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?”

 

There are some Christians so out of balance about the reality of this world that they are very pessimistic. In their mind, everything seems to be hard and the first thing they see in every blessing is that it can be a burden. It drives them to be a devil’s advocate at times. Yet on the other hand, other Christians are too unbalanced towards the positive hope of Christ (example: thinking that bad things in life cannot happen to them) that they end up getting crushed when the reality of this “Fallen” world strikes home. Bad things happen to godly people and ungodly people all the time on this side of Heaven. We should lean on the hopeful side, but we need to balance our expectations about the world that we live in today. 

 

God gave Moses a “head’s up” that times were going to get tough, and we don’t get the luxury of being forewarned of difficult seasons and events coming our way. But, Jesus did tell us in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Life is harder than it has ever been for most of us because of this worldwide pandemic and it’s effect of society. We need the hope of Jesus more than ever these days. Do not let fear dominate your life rather than faith. Are you balance in hope and reality today? 

 

Exodus 4:24-26 Now it happened at the lodging place, that the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him [making him deathly ill because he had not circumcised one of his sons]. Then Zipporah took a flint knife and cut off the foreskin of her son and threw it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Indeed you are a husband of blood to me!” So He let Moses alone [to recover]. At that time Zipporah said, “You are a husband of blood”—because of the circumcision.”

 

We live in the age of grace and the new covenant through the blood of Jesus, but the people of God in Moses’ time, the circumcision was their sign of their covenant commitment to the Lord. Sin is not just “bad and wrong stuff that we do”. It is also the “good and right stuff” that we do not do. In other words, doing what Lord God tells us not to do is equally as wrong as not doing what Almighty God tells us to do. They are both sin against a just and holy sovereign God. We might think that some sinful issues would slide by unnoticed by our omniscient Creator, but they are not. God holds us accountable for our sin and morality. We’ll never become more moral without God and that begins with us embracing and modeling God’s Word, Will and Way in our own lives before going into all the world teaching everything that Christ commanded, modeling Jesus and making disciples. You cannot teach what you do not know, understand and believe. 

 

I just want to encourage you now to have your own “mountain top” experience with God. God has brought you to this point right now so that you can commune and connect with Him so that He can prepare you for what He has in store for you, that He can give you hope that you desperately need, and that you can get a sense of how He sees you and how He want you to be in Christ to use for His glory in this world and time. 

 

Blessings in Christ, Brian

Saturday, November 28, 2020

Get These Right - Part 1

  

Exodus 4:18 Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

 

Pastor Kyle continues in our church’s series through the book of Exodus, and states that in this life there are no guarantees. Following God is not a magic potion for an easy life, but if we walk in the Spirit, aligned with God’s Word, Will and Way, our load will be lighter and our overall effectiveness will be will be higher. When we put God first in our lives, everything else is a lot less likely to go wrong. What does it look like when we put God as the top priority in our lives?

 

There are a few key lessons in this passage in terms of what Moses got right embarking on his journey back to Egypt and some not so right. First, he sought the blessing of Jethro before he made this big decision. There is a powerful lesson here about seeking the blessing of family and mentors in our lives. Honoring and respecting them is a part of putting God first in their lives as a way of life. We learn to lead as we follow well. God told Moses to go back to Egypt and did not need Jethro’s blessing, but asking for his blessing was not about seeking approval; it was about showing honor and respect for this man who had done so much for him. Later, God would give Moses the Ten Commandments, and one of them was to “honor your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12). Whenever there is something worth seeking their blessing, we should do it because that is part of being a person of honor and respect.   

 

Exodus 4:19-23 And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” So, Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand. And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’”

 

The second key lesson is to hold hope in one hand and reality in the other. God tells Moses that the ones who wanted him dead were dead, but also tells him that He was going to harden the heart of the new Pharaoh to not let the Israelites go. This reality translation: It is going to be amazing, but it is not going to be easy. Also, the whole death of the first born was actually started by the prior Pharaoh. God is just and looks at death differently than we do. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, therefore to live is Christ and to die is gain. The difference between Pharaoh’s edict and God’s is that God gave everyone a chance to repent, by grace offering mercy as a way out.  

 

Some people say, “How can a loving God send people to Hell? In reality, God doesn’t send any people to Hell. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that “The Lord is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” Jesus explains in John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” God sent His own Son as the doorway into Heaven, and all we have to do is repent of our sin and receive Him as Savior and Lord to have eternal life. In Egypt, what God gave was a way out of this Judgment. And at the Cross, God gives every human being the same option out of judgment. So, if somebody refuses the free gift of Salvation that Jesus offers them, make no mistake, God is not sending them to Hell; they are condemned already by their sin and they making that choice all on their own to walk away from God’s love, mercy and grace. So essentially, they send theirselves to Hell.


Jesus, in speaking to this fact, said in Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” There is only one way; it is narrow and few accept God’s plan of Salvation and take it. What is that one way? Jesus tells us in John 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 


Let's continue Pastor Kyle's message on thing to get right on in the next post.

In Christ, Brian

Friday, November 27, 2020

Back to Biblical Basics – Part 2

Continuing Michael's message, he writes: God commended His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. To follow Him, we must give up the right to ourselves. However, as Oswald Chambers said, “the kingdom of self is heavily defended territory.”  God uses our habitual sins to keep us humble. As He answered Paul’s prayer to remove his thorn from the flesh, “My strength is made perfect in your weakness. My grace is sufficient for you.” To turn unto the Lord, we must first humble ourselves. We must come to the realization that God is Sovereign and we’re not.  

We’re as close to God as we want to be. If we perceive we’re far from God, who moved? Even though we may feel that He is an unjust judge, an unkind master, and an unreasonable lord, He is not. For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations. God works in ways we cannot understand in our own finite minds. However, all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Our testing in this life will produce a testimony for Him. For 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.

Even when we have a hard time surrendering to God as Lord, when we reach the point of repentance, of turning around, God will run to embrace us as a loving Father. Therefore, taste and see that the Lord is good. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled. The word of God is an acquired taste. Jeremiah said, I found thy words and I did eat them, and they were unto me the joy and rejoicing of my soul. According to Psalm 19the word of the Lord is pure making wise the simple. More to be desired are they than gold, yea than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honey comb.

 

Jesus said in John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”


The abundant life is in seeking the Blessor not the blessing. Our joy is in the object of joy. Therefore, rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. The truths that God told Israel through His prophet at the dedication of the temple still holds true today: “If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then shall I hear from haven, and shall forgive their sins and heal their land.

God is still Sovereign over all. God does not worry over the results of man’s elections. The nations are but a drop in the bucket to God. Nations rise and fall, but the word of God lives and abides forever. Therefore, we lament not the results of man’s election. Rather, rejoice because we are the result of God’s election, that we may live to the praise of the glory of His grace!

Your brother in Christ, Michael 

Thursday, November 26, 2020

Thanksgiving 2020

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, beans, squashes, and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as he has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience.

Now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday, November 29th, of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty-three and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings. --William Bradford, Ye Governor of Ye (Plymouth) Colony, November 29, 1623

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WHEREAS, It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor;
WHEREAS, Both the houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted' for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have show kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best. --George Washington - October 3, 1789

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The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience. --- President Abraham Lincoln - Oct. 3, 1863

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Psalm 100 – "Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations."

I included the original three proclamations by Bradford, Washington & Lincoln to remember the original intent of this holiday that we set aside in America. We live today in a very egocentric and materialistic world, society and culture (and maybe it has always been that way in varying degrees due to human nature). Americans have freedoms and blessings in abundance that most other nations and peoples never know.

I love President Lincoln’s assessment “To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come. Do we take our lives for granted and neglect the freedoms and liberty that we enjoy, our families and loved ones, the bounties of our possessions, and the source of them all (Almighty God)? We need an “attitude of gratitude” towards God, not only for the things that happen in our lives but also for the things that did not happen by His providence. We need to give thanks in the “good” times and the “bad” times, in all places and in all things despite our current circumstances because of who He is, what He does, how He loves us, what He did for us in Jesus Christ, our adoption into the family of God and our eternal home in Heaven to come.

Do we thank God for our faith, for the gift of Heaven and eternal life? Is it not Jesus Christ who loves us, seeks us, guides us and protects us as the “good shepherd? Despite our faults and failures, God still loves us, still accepts us; we are still his child, and still His desire. We can come to Him with our dreams and our problems without fear because of our relationship, our standing and our position with God. Our decision to salvation through Jesus Christ brings hope, forgiveness, prayer, peace, blessings, holiness, and an eternal prospective of the world to come in Heaven.

Are our lives in conformity with His will? Do we desire and strive to live a life pleasing to Almighty God? Do we claim to be a “Child of God”, and give no thanks? The sin of ingratitude displeases our Holy Father in Heaven. Where our heart is at, this is where our treasure is. Where is our treasure? Where are our hearts? We need to begin each day with thankful gratitude, end each day with gratitude and fill in the middle with thanksgiving. We are not lucky, but blessed and need to thankfully rejoice as Christians! What do we have that we didn’t receive from God? May the gracious name of God have all the praise! This is Thanksgiving Day, but every day should be Thanksliving Day!

Psalm 136:1-3, 26 "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever."

I wish you and your families a blessed and happy Thanksgiving Day. 
In Christ, Brian

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Back to Biblical Basics – Part 1

 

This week, Michael writes: The Bible is the best-selling book of all time. Many intelligent people enjoy reading the Bible. As an educated person, I think you would enjoy reading it if you took the time to check it out.

Many of the people we meet are not familiar with Christianity. They have never been introduced to the Bible; the revealed Word of God. As followers of Jesus Christ, our “great commission” is to go and make disciples of all nations.” Our calling is to tell others about Jesus Christ, teaching everything that He commanded and then let the Holy Spirit move in their life. As Christians we need to focus on the basics, to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and him crucified. We are to encourage an abiding relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ and to be a positive influence as we chase after our brothers and sisters who chase after Christ.

The vision is to transform lives, creating a culture to change lives, and to influence the world for Christ. Oswald Chambers said, his mission wasn’t to develop a successful Bible college but to create an environment where the Holy Spirit can come help Himself to our lives. The stronger Christian we become, the more benefit we are to bless those around us to God’s glory. Only a truly transformed life can produce lasting fruit. Abiding and living in Christ is the key to a truly transformed life. Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). Abiding with and within Christ is the purpose of Believers.  

Our goal is to bring glory to God by bringing forth lasting fruit, and to shed the light of truth in the world of darkness. Those who have eyes to see will see according to the Spirit of life in Christ. To those whose hearts abide in Christ’s heart God will reveal to them his grace in our lives. According to 1 John 1:9, even though Christians are born again of God’s Spirit, we will continue to sin in our flesh, the natural flesh nature we inherited from Adam. Sin is breaking our fellowship with God by not do what God says to do or by doing what God’s says not to do. 1 John 1:9 says that when we sin, if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Salvation is all of thee God and none of me. For by grace are you saved by faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works lest any man should boast. According to Galatians 2:20For I was crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. To crucify is to execute by nailing the person guilty of a capital offense to a cross. The cross is the “torture stake” to execute the criminal in a humiliating and excruciating public execution. Because Jesus Christ willingly allowed His execution, sacrificing His innocent life for our guilty life, Jesus Christ who was without sin was made the perfect innocent sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.


Let's continue Michael's message in the next regular post. on Friday. Tomorrow is a special Thanksgiving post.

In Christ, Brian

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Cosmic Treason

At one of our Small Group Small Studies this month, Pastor D. James Kennedy made the statement (in describing the biblical illiteracy of America) that most people do not even know what "Sin" is. Bible literacy is a key point in discipleship (Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.) a couple of the "tactics of darkness" is either lose the definitions of biblical terms or redefine them to meaning something different and non-threatening, that they are not recognized as the abomination of Sin, a transgression against God, an inequity against God, treason against the Kingdom of Heaven, and spiritual death. 


I since ran onto this article that explained the reality and seriousness of "sin" well. The question, “What is sin?” is raised in the Westminster Shorter Catechism. The answer provided to this catechetical question is simply this: “Sin is any want of conformity to or transgression of the law of God.” It is cosmic treason against God and God’s Law.

 

Let us examine some of the elements of this catechetical response. In the first instance, sin is identified as some kind of want or lack. In the middle ages, Christian theologians tried to define evil or sin in terms of privation (privatio) or negation (negatio). In these terms, evil or sin was defined by its lack of conformity to goodness. The negative terminology associated with sin may be seen in biblical words such as disobedience, godlessness, or immorality. In all of these terms, we see the negative being stressed. Further illustrations would include words such as dishonor, antichrist, and others.

 

However, to gain a complete view of sin, we have to see that it involves more than a negation of the good, or more than a simple lack of virtue. We may be inclined to think that sin, if defined exclusively in negative terms, is merely an illusion. But the ravages of sin point dramatically to the reality of its power, which reality can never be explained away by appeals to illusion. The reformers added to the idea of privatio the notion of actuality or activity, so that evil is therefore seen in the phrase, “privatio actuosa.” This stresses the active character of sin. In the catechism, sin is defined not only as a want of conformity but an act of transgression, an action that involves an overstepping or violation of a standard.

 

In order to grasp the meaning of sin, we cannot define it apart from its relationship to law. It is God’s law that determines what sin is. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul, particularly in Romans, labors the point that there is an inseparable relationship between sin and death and between sin and law. The simple formula is this: No sin equals no death. No law equals no sin. The apostle argues that where there is no law, there is no sin, and where there is no sin, there is no death. This rests upon the premise that death invades the human experience as an act of divine judgment for sin. It is the soul who sins that dies. However, without law there can be no sin. Death cannot enter into the human experience until first God’s law is revealed. It is for this reason that the apostle argues that the moral law was in effect before God gave Israel the Mosaic code. The argument rests upon the premise that death was in the world before Sinai, that death reigned from Adam to Moses. This can only mean that God’s moral law was given to His creatures long before the tablets of stone were delivered to the nation of Israel. 

 

This gives some credence to Immanuel Kant’s assertion of a universal moral imperative that he called the categorical imperative, which is found in the conscience of every sentient person. Since it is God’s law that defines the nature of sin, we are left to face the dreadful consequences of our disobedience to that law. What the sinner requires in order to be rescued from the punitive aspects of this law is what Solomon Stoddard called a righteousness of the Law. Just as sin is defined by a lack of conformity to the Law, or transgression of the Law, the only antidote for that transgression is obedience to the Law. If we possess such obedience to the Law of God, we are in no danger of the judgment of God. 

 

Solomon Stoddard, the grandfather of Jonathan Edwards, wrote in his book, The Righteousness of Christ, the following summation of the value of the righteousness of the Law: “It is sufficient for us if we have the righteousness of the law. There is no danger of our miscarrying if we have that righteousness. The security of the angels in Heaven is that they have the righteousness of the law, and it is a sufficient security for us if we have the righteousness of the law. If we have the righteousness of the law, then we are not liable to the curse of the law. We are not threatened by the law; justice is not provoked with us; the condemnation of the law can take no hold upon us; the law has nothing to object against our salvation. The soul that has the righteousness of the law is out of the reach of the threatenings of the law. Where the demand of the law is answered, the law finds no fault. The law curses only for lack of perfect obedience. Yea, moreover, where there is the righteousness of the law, God has bound himself to give eternal life. Such persons are heirs of life, according to the promise of the law. The law declared them heirs of life, Galatians 3:12, ‘The man that doth them, shall live in them’” (The Righteousness of Christ, p. 25).

 

The only righteousness that meets the requirements of the Law is the righteousness of Christ. It is only by imputation of that righteousness that the sinner can ever possess the righteousness of the Law. This is critical for our understanding in this day where the imputation of the righteousness of Christ is so widely under attack. If we abandon the notion of the righteousness of Christ, we have no hope, because the Law is never negotiated by God. As long as the Law exists, we are exposed to its judgment unless our sin is covered by the righteousness of the Law. The only covering that we can possess of that righteousness is that which comes to us from the active obedience of Christ, who Himself fulfilled every jot and tittle of the Law. His fulfilling of the Law in Himself is a vicarious activity by which He achieves the reward that comes with such obedience. He does this not for Himself but for His people. It is the background of this imputed righteousness, this rescue from the condemnation of the Law, this salvation from the ravages of sin that is the backdrop for the Christian’s sanctification, in which we are to mortify that sin that remains in us, since Christ has died for our sin.

 

Dr. R.C. Sproul

 



Monday, November 23, 2020

Your Calling - Part 4

  

Malachi 3:8-10 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.”

 

Another aspect of God’s calling that sounds a little extreme to those who do not know the Lord is the concept of Tithing. Webster’s dictionary of 1928 defines the “tithe” as: the tenth part of any thing; but appropriately, the tenth part of the increase annually arising from the profits of land and stock in an agricultural society or wages in an industrial society, allotted to the clergy for their support. The word “tithe” translates to “a tenth” and the concept is that everything belongs to God and God provides everything we have to the labor of our hands and minds to make a living. Our Maker, God simply requires that we give back a one-tenth portion of our earnings which He first gave us for the church for ministry support. Just about everyone would agree that it is good and right and give of our time and efforts to help others in need, but to give one-tenth of everything we earn on a continuous basis for the work of God’s church and ministry is so foreign in our culture today. 

 

The “first fruits” concept of tithing is that we give the first tenth of our income to the Christian ministry and budget the remaining 90% to pay for our living expenses. That way, we never run short and fail to pay God His tithe. This is the only area of life that God says to put Him to the test and see “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.” Crazy callings come with crazy blessings. 

 

Now, even though God has called all of His children to make disciples and teach them to obey all that He commands, not everyone is called to be an evangelist to foreign country around the world. For the vast majority of Believers, we are to raise families and live quiet and peaceful lives as we make an impact of the advancement of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ within our sphere of influence, modeling the Lord in every situation, and speaking the gospel truth in love. 

 

Exodus 4:1-9 Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”

   

An ordinary item in the hands of an extraordinary God can complete divine purposes. He can take whatever is in our hand to accomplish His Will. We often doubt that we are enough or that we have what it takes for God to use us. At those times God will say to us: what is in your hand Christian? Whatever you have can be turned into an instrument for God to work miracles. The key is to throw it down in front of the Lord to use it for His glory. Every calling is confirmed with hard evidence. God reassures us with tangible evidence that He will be with us every step of the way. God will make a way when it seems that there is no way. God supplies where He guides. If God is calling you to it, He will see you through it. 

 

Exodus 4:10-17 But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.”

 

Look back over the course of your life and what do you see? Hasn’t God faithfully got us through life and put people into your life to encourage you and find that sense of belonging? Haven’t you seen God in the midst of your pain? God was right there, speaking peace into your hurt, frustrated and angry heart at that moment. God was right there comforting you. Life doesn’t always make sense, but God’s calling has never change and always makes sense. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He has gotten us to this point and will get us to and through our future. That is the goodness of God in your calling.

 

In Christ, Brian 

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Your Calling- Part 3

Exodus 3:13-20 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”  God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go.”

 

The third common element in the Divine calling of Believers is that every calling has a battle cry. The great “I Am” has sent me to you and this is my name forever. Every Christian needs a battle cry in these spiritual battles today and there re two aspects of that. The first battle cry should be a biblical one that gets you fired up and encourages you to follow God and get on track with what He want you to do. Personal Bible verses can be a great “rally cry” for you. The second is a personal battle cry of a set of stories of the good work that God has been doing in you that remind you why you are a Christian, called to follow God and revs you up. Your own salvation story is a huge part of that set, along with key spiritual moments. 

 

Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

 

Some aspects of God’s calling sound a little extreme at times. This is especially true for people who are not yet following the Lord. They are seemingly crazy aspects as Believers that have crazy blessing on the other side. The first one is this whole concept of waiting for marriage in order to have sex. Sex outside the context of marriage is known as “fornication”. Fornication is defined as the incontinence in terms of lack of self-restraint or lewdness of unmarried persons, male or female. This concept of abstinence (the self-enforced restraint from indulging in sexual activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure) is so taboo today in our hedonistic society. It is considered archaic, outdated, old-fashion, patriarchal, and controlling. Though 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 warns, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God”, we live in a sinful world today that wants to be uninhibited and free to do whatever we want, whenever we want, with whoever we want. 

 

But, our Creator God says. “I have a better way, which is one man with one woman fully knowing each other intimately in the context of marriage, which goes far beyond the physical pleasure; to the emotional righteousness and spiritual holiness. God says that there is no such thing as “safe sex” outside of the marriage union as He designed. You may be able to guard against disease and pregnancy, but the only way to guard your heart and soul is to wait for the wedding day. Whether you call it “having so-called casual sex, hooking up, sleeping together or fornication”, you are sinning against our sovereign, just and holy Creator God, while giving away a part of yourself that you may never be able to get back again. Fornication is evil in the eyes of God. In Mark 7:20-23, the Lord Jesus said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 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. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” Purity, godly morality and faithful obedience to our Heavenly Father is our desire and aim as a child of God. My our thoughts, words and actions be pleasing in His glorious sight always. That is our calling.

Let's conclude PAstor Kyle's message on our calling by God in the next post.                             

In Christ, Brian 

Saturday, November 21, 2020

Your Calling- Part 2

Exodus 3:7-12 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

Continuing Pastor Kyle message  he tells us that the second common element in the Divine calling of Believers is that every calling has a commission. The Lord heard the cries of the Israelites and (in His timing) answered them. In the same way, God hears our cries, petitions and prayers to Him today also and plans our deliverance. Psalm 34:17 says, “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.” Moses’ calling was immediately followed by His commissioning to deliver God’s people from slavery in Egypt. Per John 1: 12-13, Christians are also God people today, so as children of God and citizens of Heaven, what is our calling and commission today? 

 

Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

 

This passage, a commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ, lays out the vision of God for every Christian and Christian church for all time forward. We do not need to go find some “big plan” for our life; we need to step into the calling and commission that Jesus has already laid out in “the Great Commission” here. There will be some Christians who are gifted and commissioned to other additional callings in the world by the Lord, but they are secondary callings, as this Great Commission is foundational for all Believers. The first side of Jesus’ Great Commission is to “go and make disciples of all”. This is more than the evangelistic action of sharing your faith as it says in 1 Peter 3:15, “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” and sharing your redemption and personal relationship with Jesus story. It also includes living a righteous and godly life that causes people who do not know God to wonder what is inside you and finding compassionate and caring ways to share the Gospel of salvation that cause that “born again” change so that they may find and experience Christ’s redemption and transformation.  

 

The second part of the Great Commission is teaching them to observe all that I have commanded usThere are two side of this portion also, because if we are going to teach them all that Jesus has commanded, then we need to be learning and understanding, apply and living them out those commands ourselves first. You cannot teach people what you do not know, or lead people where you have not been. So, every step of obedience that we take is a small step towards living out the “Great Commission” and living out our calling as a Christian each and every day. This is the calling and commission for every Christian, period; they are our marching orders on this side of Heaven from the Lord. 


Let's continue Pastor Kyle's message on "our calling from God" in the next post.

In Christ, Brian

Friday, November 20, 2020

Your Calling- Part 1

Exodus 3:1-4:17 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

 

This last Sunday, Pastor Kyle continued in our sermon series through the Book of Exodus by speaking to how God has been drawing us to Himself for a long time, making things happen to soften and prepare our hearts, before we make an anchor pivot-moment decision to accept the calling of Him as our heavenly Father and His gift of salvation through Christ in our walk with the LordWith God’s calling of Moses in Exodus, we should take a good look at God’s calling in our own life. 

 

When we come into the presence of the Lord, our God, there should be reverence towards our heavenly Father. When we step into the presence of God there should be the sense of glory-filled awe and a dispositional change into exulted admiration in worship. There are common elements in the Divine calling of Believers, the first being that every Believer’s calling begins and ends with Christ. Moses calling by “the angel of the Lord” was a restating that God had a plan for Moses and a reaffirmation of his original calling to free the Israelite people from Egyptian captivity. Moses discerned the voice of the Lord in the burning bush and we also need to discern the voice of the Lord in the busyness and distractions of life today. As Isaiah & Moses said when God called them, we need to say, “Here I am” in openness and obedience to our heavenly Father, Almighty God. A calling begins with the One who calls, and that is Jesus Christ. 

 

We do not have to go find Omnipresent God. There is only One who can initiate divine calling and you cannot find a spiritual connection outside of the God of the Bible. Attempting to will lead to serious consequences that might be demonic, its not going to work out for you and you will just come up empty in the end. The only way to find meaning and purpose in this life is to find it in the One who found you and called you unto Himself – Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. We do not find God; God found us. We do not have a God who finds us when He sent His one and only Son to die on a Cross for our sins, so that if anyone would believe in Christ the Savior, would easily and quickly find their way to salvation at the foot of the Cross. We have God’s Word to learn and understand exactly what the Gospel means for us on this side of Heaven. God’s reveal Himself through His living and holy Word, pivotal life experiences, well-placed extraordinary events during our daily routine, but every calling begins and ends with Christ. It is good to get away to an isolated location to tune out the distraction and commune with the Lord. But, we do not need to go on some elaborate journey to find God and our calling in life. He’ll meet us right where we are at.


Let's continue Pastor Kyle's message on "our calling from God" in the the next post.

In Christ, Brian

Thursday, November 19, 2020

Attacking God


Romans 1:16-23 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.”

 

I have always loved Science and was not surprised to hear that all the major branches of the field were discovered by Christians. Johann Kepler coined a phrase indicating that scientific research, ideas and discovery were “thinking God’s thoughts after Him.” He also believed that scientists must guard against the propensity to “glorify our own minds instead of giving God the glory.” It has always been known that the origin of life could not have generated from any natural causes or conditions, being astronomically impossible. So, how does evolutionary scientific theory (something from nothing) start and dominate society. It all gets down to faith verses unbelief, or more accurately God being God with mankind being accountable to their Creator or man being god and only accountable to themselves. Evolutionist Julian Huxley said, “The reason we leaped at ‘The Origin of Species’ was because the idea of God interfered with our sexual mores.” So I guess, if you do not like the rules or laws, just get rid of the Ruler and Lawgiver (eliminate the light of truth), saying that He doesn’t exist. They fabricate a lie that poses an alternate, yet intentionally defying, new reality which challenges creation and its Creator. 

 

John 3:18-20 “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. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

 

Notice that evolutionist start from the assumption that there is no Creator God, then builds all of the theories from that philosophical hypothesis and will not deviate from that original premise, even if the evidence of geology, paleontology, planetology, cosmetology, zoology, biology and the scientific method proves otherwise. Because they cannot believe in a Creator God that they are accountable to in though, word and action, they will not believe in Him, no matter what. They believe the lie, teach the lie, and demand the lie be believed, because the truth of Creator God is unacceptable to them. So, evolutionist attack the creation scientists with their evidence, Believers in Creator God and the Word of God in the Bible from the very first verse: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In 2013, atheist astronomer Lawrence Krauss stated on Big Think, “Teaching Creationism is Child Abuse. The purpose of education is not to validate ignorance but to overcome it.” The evil attack is vicious to deny and eliminate God and His people. They even use the legal system to force compliance and to indoctrinate the masses with the lie. 

 

Matthew 5:11-12 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

 

But, the lies are false and have no scientific evidence, but plenty of distraction, deception and noise, including a Big Bang. The truth of creation is in scientific evidence of every field of science that backs up the biblical accounts of God’s Word., and more discoveries are being uncovered, discovered and brought to light all the time. God is true. His Creation is true. Science is known, but it must be truth based upon the facts and the evidence, not a godly bias. Almighty Creator God wins in the end. Love science, love truth, love God and stand.

 

James 1:2-4 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

 

In Christ, Brian

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Crucified with Christ – Part 2

 

Continuing Michael's message, he asks: What was the purpose of the crucifixion? Philippians 2 says, even though Jesus being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, he set aside his heavenly nature and humbled himself. He took upon himself the form of a servant and became obedient to his Heavenly Father, even unto death. The purpose is that God highly exalted Jesus and gave Him a name that is above every name. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Because my old nature was crucified with Christ, the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one cometh unto the Father except by me.” For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.  

To reconcile with others, we must meet each other at the foot of the Cross of Jesus. God has called us into one body, the Church of Jesus Christ. According to Ephesians 1, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory ... has put all things under Jesus’ feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that fills all in all. The spirit of Christ in you the hope of glory is the reason for the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The church is not an organization. Instead it is an organism ... the living body of the Lord Jesus Christ.  

How can we make a sacrifice unto God? How do we sacrifice for the good of others? The world thinks that “sacrifice” is a burden and a curse. However, the Bible is its own best commentary. From God’s perspective, the sacrifice is not what we give up. Instead, the sacrifice is the sacrifice of praise. According to Hebrews 13:15, “By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” Jeremiah 33:11 says, “Bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord”. The sacrifice of praise is the outpouring of a thankful heart. The greatest blessing in life is not in seeking the blessing. Rather, the greatest blessing is to bless the Blessor. This is the purpose for which we were created ... that we may be to the praise of the glory of His grace.

For by grace are you saved by faith. Salvation is in the object of our faith. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Because we were “born again” of God’s Holy Spirit, we now have the capacity to love with the love of God. Spiritual (agape) love is the unconditional love of God. The characteristics of the love of God are listed in 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter. The love of God loves the unlovable and forgives the unforgivable. This is the love that God had toward us even before we came to Him. For in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. He loved us first. We love Him because he first loved us. Because we have been born again of God’s Spirit, Jesus said, Come unto me all you who are weary and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. We can rest in His completed payment for our debt of sin ... He who was without sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we could be made the righteousness of God in Him.

There is much division, strife, and contention in the world around us. However, other people are not our enemies. The battle is a spiritual battle, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness form on high. The devil’s strategy is to divide and conquer. Despite the devil’s vain attempts to usurp God’s power, from God’s perspective, the lyrics of the Battle Hymn of the Republic still ring true today:

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored. He has loosed the fateful lightening of His terrible swift sword. His truth is marching on.
I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps. They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps. I can read His righteous sentence in the dim and flaring lamps. His day is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea. With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me. As He died to make men holy let us live to make men free
While God is marching on.
Glory, glory, hallelujah. Glory, glory, hallelujah. Glory, glory hallelujah. His truth is marching on! Amen.

Be crucified with Christ that you may ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ, Michael

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Crucified with Christ – Part 1

 

This week, Michael writes: The beauty of the Word of God is that it is fresh and new every day. Morning by morning new mercies I see. The light of the Word of God reflects God’s glory like a diamond ... a multi-faceted prism that refracts, separates, and reflects the light of God’s truth into the colors of the rainbow... a spectacular display of beauty to the praise of the glory of His grace.

Many Christians have memorized Galatians 2:20. This foundational verse says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” It’s important to unpack this verse to understand the great gems hidden beneath its surface. This meaning of this verse separates Jesus of Secular Society, California from Jesus of Nazareth.

People called to the ministry are told by God: “Preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified... then let the chips fall where they may.” Jesus Christ has to be the aim, the goal, the purpose, the application, and the first and last reason for living. Why? It’s because our old nature of the flesh was crucified with Christ and our new nature of the spirit of life in Christ was resurrected when God raised Jesus from the dead.

What is the significance of the crucifixion? As a nation forgets God, a false god takes His place in the minds of a self-absorbed society. The darkness of doubt and unbelief introduces a harmless counterfeit version to fill the void, which is an impotent substitute that fits their egocentric sin nature as they turn their backs on their Maker, Savior, and lord – the One True God. This Jesus of Secular Society is an uncrucified Christ. There is no cost in following an uncrucified Christ, nor is there salvation. The Jesus of Secular Society says, "everyone will go to heaven and there is no such thing as sin." The Jesus of Secular Society stresses egalitarianism and especially material prosperity.  The emphasis is in equality of outcome and all-inclusiveness for material riches, the so-called blessings of this world. Yet, this false savior is a fabrication of evil.

 

Jesus of Nazareth said, “I am the way the truth and the life. No man comes unto the Father [Creator God in Heaven] but by me.” Jesus of Secular Society says that I can come to God on my own terms not His. Jesus of the Secular Society says, it’s not about Christ, it’s about you. He says to worship yourself ... God is here to bless me and to give me the abundant life, like a servant. Jesus of Nazareth says, “Come unto me. In your confession that I am your Lord, you will be reconciled to God.” 

Jesus of Nazareth focuses on our walking in fellowship with Him and our Heavenly Father. Colossians 2:6-7says, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” After a person is executed for a capital crime, the law has no more control and penalty over him. Likewise, when we were crucified with Christ, the law of sin and death had no longer any control and penalty over us.  

To crucify is to destroy the power of sin and death. When Satan’s minions crucified Jesus, they thought that they had destroyed the power of God. During Hitler’s regime in Germany, Bonhoeffer said, “When Jesus bids a man come, he bids him come and die.” We must die to self in order to live unto Him. In Matthew 10:39 Jesus said, “He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it.” According to Philippians 2:11, “Let nothing be done through vain glory and selfish conceit.” In order to approach God’s throne of grace, we must leave our selfish pride behind. Humility and meekness is the prerequisite to enter the presence of the one true and holy God.

According to 2 Chronicles 7:14, before God can heal the land, the people must first do four things: They must humble themselves before God, pray, seek his face, and turn from their wicked ways. The promises of God depend on obedience. When God’s people obey these four conditions, then God will honor his three promises: he will speak from heaven, forgive their sins, and heal their land. When we approach God according to His terms, the battle belongs to the Lord. Our responsibility in the spiritual battle is to put on the whole armor of God. As a man or woman of God, absolutely, we know whom we have believed and are persuaded that He is able to keep that (Holy Spirit) which He’s committed unto us against that day of righteous judgement. As the apostle Paul said, we preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. To those who are saved the preaching of Christ is a sweet-smelling fragrance unto God.


Let's continue Michael's message on crucifying our sinful life with Christ in the next post.

In Christ, Brian