The Golden Calf - Idolatry Part 1

 

Exodus 32:1-6 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” So, Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So, all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.

 

This last Sunday, Pastor Obie continued our church’s sermon series through the book of Exodus. Moses had received the Ten Commandments of God for His people but we find that God had been miraculously delivered the Israelite nation out of Egypt, yet not Egypt out of the Israelite nation and an epic failure resulted. 

 

The first fundament question is: What is an idol?  The 1828 Webster’s dictionary defines the word “idol” as: An image, form or representation consecrated as an object of worship; a pagan deity. Anything on which we set our affections; that to which we indulge an excessive and sinful attachment. An idol is anything which usurps the place of God in the hearts of his rational creatures. Anything that comes between God’s face and yours. Anything that takes the place of priority from God. In “Counterfeit Gods” by Tim Keller, he writes that An idol is anything that seeks to give you only what God can give you. An idol is anything so central and essential that if you lost it, your life would hardly feel worth living. An idol is anything that has such a controlling position in your heart that you could spend most of your time and money on it without a second thought. An idol can be family, children, a career, making money, sex, popularity, the approval of others, or even a successful ministry. An idol is anything that you look at and say: “If I had that, then I feel that my life has meaning and my life has value. Then, I will feel significant and secure.”  

 

Humans are unceasing worshippers. They are going to worship something. If not God, then something or someone will take the place of priority in our hearts in our lives and become that idol. Idolatry is a root of evil. Father of the Reformation, Martin Luther argued that the fundament reason that there is lawlessness and sin is because of idolatry, stating that we never break the other Commandments without breaking the first one [You shall have no other gods before Me].      

 

The making of the Golden Calf idol was an epic failure by the Israelites. How did they make such a monumental mess? There were three things that led to their failure. (1) a lack of patience. The devil uses delays and doubts to start dangerous downfalls. Moses was on the mountaintop a long time (delay) and the people didn’t know what happened to him (doubt), which defaults to the worst-case scenario and a recipe for disaster. In our modern times, each new generation is becoming the most impatient generation in human history because of habituation. With the development of new technology and culture, we are getting used to a new normal of “fast”. We have been ratcheted up in speed by fast food, fast ordering, fast delivery, fast Wi-Fi connections, DVR, entertainment on demand, information on about anything with instant access just a click away on the keyboard on your computer or keypad of your Cell phone. When we do not experience this new normal of “fast”, we become impatience and annoyed.  

 

The other factor that negatively affects patience is doubt. He Israelites doubted if Moses was alive and returning, so they demanded an idol by provided. As foolish as this sounds, how many of us actually make situations worse by having doubts and letting our minds revert to the worst-case scenarios? How much peace do we lose because we let our minds run our thoughts with doubts? This combination of delays and doubts unchecked cause foolish, irrational and unwise decisions. It’s at these times that we need to exercise extra patience and faith based in trust, because this is how the kingdom of God works.      

 

Matthew 13:31-33 Another parable He [Jesus] put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”

 

God’s purposes may be slowly be reveal and actualized with buried or hidden details behind the scene, but his over-arching plan and finished product is big and better than anything we can do or imagine. Isaiah 55:8-9tells us, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Bottomline: Don’t let doubt and delay ruin your day.  

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

OIn Christ, Brian

The issue of Idolatry

  

Exodus 20:1-5a And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.”

 

D. James Kennedy Ministries devotional on idolatry states that there are more denunciations of idolatry than any other sin in the Bible. Though this sin runs deep in the human psyche, and there is a great tendency to idolatry in the human heart, and though this dark stream seems to flow dangerously in the cold subterranean caverns of the fallen soul, it is something that has been followed by a continual stream of condemnation and denunciation by poets and prophets, by preachers and apostles, down through the centuries.

 

There is a story of two sailors squirmed in church as they heard the reading of the Ten Commandments. One of them whispered to the other, “Well, at least we didn’t worship any idols.” Do you also feel certain you’ve kept this commandment? We often seem to think we don’t have to worry about this one, but if this is true, why do the Scriptures often warn against idolatry? God knew that we are religious beings who need to worship something. And when we cease to worship the one true God, we replace Him with idolatry.

 

God knows our weak nature, our need to follow and worship something that transcends ourselves. In fact, even before the words of the Ten Commandments had settled in stone, the people of Israel had broken them, committing spiritual adultery in Horeb by worshiping a golden calf beneath the Lord’s presence while Moses was on Mount Sinai. Jeroboam doubled the sin in Bethel and in Dan, creating two calves for the people to worship. Throughout the Old Testament, from Solomon to Zedekiah, the people of Israel pursued their idols to the high places and brought God’s wrath upon themselves, until  Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian hordes came, tore down the walls of Jerusalem, and carried the people captive into Babylon. In the furnace of Babylon, the last debris of idolatry was burned away.

 

Idolatry is an illegitimate way to fill a legitimate need. People have quested after a tangible God—one who can be felt, seen, and heard. Within the human heart exists the desire to see and know God personally. That need does not have to remain unmet. Jesus, who was fully God and fully man, satisfies that need, revealing God’s nature to us. Have you set something or someone above God? Make sure you give God His proper place in your life as your Lord who deserves all your praise.

Live for God in Christ

 

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

 

Pastor J. Vernon McGee passed away on December 1, 1988, but left behind a broadcast ministry “Thru the Bible” that continue to be aired and teaches the Word of God in context for millions of people around the world. In his monthly newsletter, he writes that living the born-again Christian life can sometimes feel like you are fighting a losing battle against yourself singlehandedly with the struggle happening in you heart. 

 

He states that the purpose of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to lift our shackles of sin so that all might come to the place of salvation, and also to give power to those who want to live for God. Romans chapter 8 is one of the great chapters of the Bible. It opens with “no condemnation”, closes with “no separation from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”, and in between “all things work together for good to those who love God”. You cannot have it any better than that.

 

Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.”

 

Salvation means to be in Christ. It doesn’t mean you have to join a church or say a sinner’s prayer or do anything to earn it. When you are saved from your sins, you are in Christ. But, we need to understand “justification by [saving] faith”. Pastor McGee says, first there is a negative aspect. You and I were once doomed, hell-bound sinners because we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). You may be better than someone else, but you have nothing that is acceptable to God. Every one of us stands before Him as a lost sinner. Therefore, when we come to God, we don’t come offering Him anything. Salvation is not by works of righteousness. We come to God empty-handed, as lost sinners, repenting of our sins and we trust Christ as our Savior. His atoning sacrifice on the Cross was in our place. 

 

Philippians 3:8b-9 “I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.”

 

Now here is the positive aspect of justification. God not only subtracts our sin, not only paid the penalty for our sins, but He outs us in Christ. God looks at us in Christ. Pastor McGee proclaims that you are completely saved in Christ or completely lost out of Christ. You are in Him 100% or out of Him 100%. If you are in Christ, God see you in Him, and you have as much right in Heaven as Christ – or you have no right there at all, because we have no right to be there in and of ourselves. But in Christ, we are accepted the moment we trust in Him. You see, there is no judgment for sin to those who are in Christ. Christ’s righteousness is your righteousness. Go all in.

In Christ, Brian 

Rise Up Oh People of God – Part 2

 

James 4:13-15 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

Michael continues, saying that every earthly relationship will end in pain of loss. Life on this earth is but for a moment, a vapor in the context of eternity. It is appointed for all men and women once to die and then comes the judgement at the Great White Throne Judgement of Christ in Heaven. Therefore, live not for this fleeting moment in time but with our eternal destiny in mind. Pray and live by: “Not my will, but God’s will be done”. A soldier in training has no time for civilian matters. Soldiers must concentrate on their training because in the heat of battle, their lives will depend on performing as they have been trained. They must give heart, soul, mind and strength to focus on their training drills. Then after the battle has been won, when the grateful civilians honor them for their bravery in the heat of battle, the soldier will say, “I’m no hero. I just did what I was trained to do. I did it to protect my country and people.”

The secular world insists that we perform with all of our heart according to that which our worldly authorities require. It’s not about the cost, rather it’s about our value and our contribution to the success of our worldly enterprises. The greatest disappointment in this life is not failure to climb the ladder of success, but that after a lifetime of work, we realize that our ladder was leaning against the wrong wall. Therefore, rise up O men and women of God, have done with lesser things. Give heart and soul and mind and strength to serve the King of Kings. Rise up oh men and women of God. His kingdom tarries long. Bring in the day of brotherhood and end the night of wrong.

Once the last person is won for God’s kingdom, the judgement of God will be manifest after Christ’s return for His church. Jesus said, Now is the time to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Now is the time of brotherhood with those who are born again of God’s spirit. God is no respecter of persons. He is, however a respecter of His Holy Word. When we make God’s Word our word, then we will do according to His Will. The doing of the Word is to accept the promises of God. We accept God’s promises by obedience ... by being doers of the Word and not hearers only.

The church of God thrives in persecution. 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. Rise up oh men and women of God. The church for you doth wait. Her strength unequal to her task, Rise up and make her great. The church that relies on the power of men and women is unequal to the task to which we have been called. The power is not in our own power but in the power of the Holy Spirit. As the Apostle Paul came to understand after he had prayed three times for God to remove his thorn in the flesh, Thy strength is made perfect in my weakness, thy grace is sufficient for me.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that in WWII, the German church was sleep-walking toward a terrible  precipice and they didn’t even recognize it. A crisis is when decisive action is required to avoid a catastrophic failure. The atrocities of Nazi Germany were the result of the church’s acquiescence to Adolf Hitler’s mandate that the German church must “go along to get along.” We have this same mentality with atheistic Socialism today.

Men and women must find their place in God’s economy; not any secular humanist economy. God’s economy is to exchange my life in the flesh for the spiritual life in His Son, Jesus Christ. The world doesn’t need more programs and organizations. The world needs for men and women to rise up in the power of God. Men and women who chase after men and women who chase after Christ. People who find their identity in Christ.  

When you call a person, “Man or Woman of God,” most men and women will look down and look away in shame. They think to themselves, “I’m not worthy.” However ,when we confess “Jesus is Lord,” it means that I’m no longer Lord of my own life, Jesus Christ is. The phrase “Man or Woman of God,” is the “genitive of possession.” It means God’s man or God’s woman. Our identity in Christ is not “who we are,” but “WHOSE we are.” Therefore, Lift high the cross of Christ. Tread where Christ’s feet have trod. As brothers and sisters of the Son of Man, Rise up oh people of God that we may ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!

Your brother in Christ, Michael

Rise Up Oh People of God – Part 1

Ephesians 6:12-13 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against

principalities, other men: Peter, James, and John. So, who are your twelve, and who are your three? Beginning with four men or women dedicated to walk with their Lord Jesus Christ, Christianity has changed the world.  

The biblical instruction for the rise and expansion of the Christian church is in 2 Timothy 2:2, “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men and women, who shall be able to teach others also.” Growth is an exponential equation to the power of three. There are four generations in this one short verse. This logarithmic function means that four men or women replicating for four generations of growth raised to the power of three yields 716 “faithful men and women.” One more generation results in 2172 faithful men and women.

 

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

 

German Lutheran pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident, Dietrich Bonhoeffer said when Jesus bids a man or woman come, he bids them “come and die.” In order to live for Christ, we must die to self. What’s the cost of following Him? Philippians 1:21 says, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” What dies? Our prideful sin nature. Galatians 5:19-25 explains that “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft [drug abuse]; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

Let's continue Michael's message on Christians influencing our culture.

In Christ, Brian

Little by Little – Part 3

  

Exodus 23:29-30 “I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land.”

 

Pastor Kyle continued with the third reminder from Exodus 23 about how God does great things through ordinary people is that as long as we keep working hard in a determined way because God’s never done and something good is always coming little by little. God could have whipped out the pagan nations occupying the Promised Land for the Israelites, but that was not the plan. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” God gives the nations and people an opportunity to know Him, repent and be saved into the kingdom of Heaven. 

 

We all want God to move quickly through the hardships, trials and tribulations in our lives, but when it comes to personal sin issues there that God says should not be there, we are often much slower to work on it. We say, “God do this and do that for me, bless this and bless that for me, then get upset when things don’t move that quickly for us. Many times, God has given us the tools to use and have victory in our life. Things may not look good today, but God can help you take some steps today so that the picture looks better tomorrow. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” God is not done with you; we are works in progress. Little by little, something good is coming down the pike and just around the bend on the road of life. Change happens incrementally for us all. It’s is little by little that the Promised Lands of life get taken as we are maturing to be going in the right direction, to be the people that care for the things that we are responsible to God for. 

 

Psalm 119:105 “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

  

The ancient lamps could only produce enough light to illuminates a few steps in front of a person walking. The principle that God was using is that when we open and read the Word of God, He is not going to show you the whole picture, but reveals the next few steps that you need to take that day. God’s answers to our prayers are either (1) yes, (2) I have something better in mind for you, or (3) you are not quite ready for that yet; let’s let it play out for a while. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image.” 

 

One final question: What little steps do you and I need to start taking today? Start taking small and consistent steps and you’ll be amazed what God can do over the next few years. Then rest in knowing that God is going to do what He has planned to do in your life. We do what we can do, then release everything to God to do what only God can do.  

 

Psalm 37:4 tells us, “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” When we delight ourselves in the Lord, His desires become our desires. And so, what really happens is that our desires change to align with God desires. Slowly but surely, God will give us the desires of our heart because our desires are His desires. Rest when you delight in the Lord. Matthew 6:25, 31-34 says, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Concurrently, Philippians 4:6-7 instructs us, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” 

 

Galatians 6:9 reminds us, “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Remain faithful to want God has called us to do and do not give up; something good is coming just around the corner, little by little.

In Christ, Brian 

  

Little by Little – Part 2

  

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

 

The second reminder from Exodus 23 about how God does great things through ordinary people is that God’s protection and provision depends upon the practices of His people. Exodus 23:20-26 says, “Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him. But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. For My Angel will go before you and bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will cut them off. You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars. So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you. No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.”

 

God promised to protect and provide for the Israelites as long as they paid attention and obeyed Him. This was a covenant with the people of God during the Exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land. We are now under the new covenant established in Christ’s blood on the Cross. The general principle that God protects and provides for His people as long as they pay attention and obey Him is as relevant for you and I today as ever. Provision may not translate into wealth. Protection may not mean that we never get sick or injured. Protection may be a hedge of protection around us that we never see and the trial never reaches our door. Our hope is not here on earth, but in Heaven and the God of Heaven. 

 

To pay attention means obedience, because it is the one response that God wants from His people. When we commit our lives to the Lord, our God, He wants our worship and obedience to Him for the rest of our days. Paying attention to God means fixing our eyes upon Jesus in whatever trial we are going through. Hebrews 12:1-3 says, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.” Sometimes, God allows bad things to happen to godly people because we live in a fallen world, but God will protect our hearts by giving us joy through the trial. God is our healer. Sometimes miraculously, occasionally quickly, but mostly little by little.

 

Jesus is the Great Physician. Mark 2:17 says, Jesus said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the  righteous, but sinners,]to repentance.” Come to the Cross today. What is true about Christ saving our souls from separation from the Father and eternal damnation, is also true about Him healing you and I today. Our posture as New Covenant Believers is that We know who God is, we have faith and trust in the Lord, we have blessed assurance and an eternal perspective, we recognize that God knows our needs, and we ask for healing, but model Jesus in saying “God, your will be done”. Our part is to pay attention to God in the process and to be faithful to what He has asked us to do. In the Bible, God’s Word tells us what the Christian life should look like and how we are to lead our godly life today. 

Let's continue Pastor Kyle's message on God's timing in the next post.

In Christ, Brian

Little by Little - Part 1

  

Last Sunday, Pastor Kyle continued in our Sermon series through the book of Exodus. He states that the greatest achievements in life do not normally happen overnight; they usually happen little by little. Even for the Bible, the greatest achievements took place little by little. We personally know and experience that the history of human achievement advances little by little. Little by little, we all learn what we need to learn in order to do what God calls us to do ... and God does great things through ordinary people, little by little ... one step at a time. 

 

Exodus 23:20-33 “Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him. But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. For My Angel will go before you and bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will cut them off. You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars. “So you shall serve  the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you. No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days. “I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land. And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River. For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

 

Pastor Kyle spoke of three encouraging reminders from Exodus 23 about how God does great things through ordinary people. The first is that God is taking us to a place that He has prepare for us. Remember that in John 14:2-3 Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” In Exodus, God rescued the Israelites and was faithfully taking them to the Promised Land that God prepared for them. But, it didn’t happen overnight, but over 40 years in one step of obedience at a time to the Land of Milk and Honey. God is taking you and I to the place that He has prepared for us little by little. 

 

We are never going to find 100% of the things that we like in any single organization that we are a part of, including jobs, marriages and churches. As long as the core of Christian ideology (God is sought and taught, the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached, and the inerrant Bible taught and applied accurately), preferential practice may differ. Jobs are different as, like it or not, employees are paid to work. But, even there we encounter and grow to love people, find opportunities and gain experiences that God uses to show us that life is broader than imagined and to prepare us for the place that He is calling us to ahead. If you are living an obedient life before God, then you can rest. You can trust that God is preparing a place for you in His timeline, and there is nothing you can do to accelerate it. 

 

We keep obeying God’s instructions until we receive new ones, knowing that the church of Jesus Christ has been growing since He rose from the grave over 2000 years ago. You may think that you have ruined God’s plan for your life, but you haven’t. You and I are not capable of ruining God’s plan for our life. It’s not about our strength and ability, but about the grace of God towards us. 

Let's continue Pastor Kyle's message about changing little by little in the next post.

In Christ, Brian

Official List of Sins in the New Testament

Sin is defined in the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary as: The voluntary departure of a moral agent from a known rule of rectitude or duty, prescribed by God; any voluntary transgression of the divine law, or violation of a divine command; a wicked act; iniquity. Sin is either a positive act in which a known divine law is violated, or it is the voluntary neglect to obey a positive divine command, or a rule of duty clearly implied in such command. Sin comprehends not action only, but neglect of known duty, all evil thoughts purposes, words and desires, whatever is contrary to God's commands or law. Sinners neither enjoy the pleasures of nor the peace of piety. Among divines, sin is original or actual. Actual sin, above defined, is the act of a moral agent in violating a known rule of duty. Original sin, as generally understood, is native depravity of heart to the divine will, that corruption of nature of deterioration of the moral character of man, which is supposed to be the effect of Adam's apostasy; and which manifests itself in moral agents by positive act of disobedience to the divine will, or by the voluntary neglect to comply with the express commands of God, which require that we should love God with all the heart and soul and strength and mind, and our neighbor as ourselves. This native depravity or alienation of affections from God and his law, is supposed to be what the apostle calls the carnal mind or mindedness, which is enmity against God, and is therefore denominated sin or sinfulness. Unpardonable sin, or blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, is supposed to be a malicious and obstinate rejection of Christ and the gospel plan of salvation, or a contemptuous resistance made to the influences and convictions of the Holy Spirit. 

 

 

I read an article where the writer explained that Sin is dreadfully evil and disastrous. It is “utterly sinful” (Romans 7:13b) and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). And yet the average person treats sin in a very casual way and may not even be concerned at all about committing this offense against God, their Creator! In thought, word and deed.

 

Here, as laid out by the Sin book, are the 124 sins listed in the new testament (in alphabetical order). Definitions will accompany those that are not self-evident. All definitions are taken straight from the pamphlet. 

• Abusers of Self: Self polluters, having unnatural lusts
• Adultery (Note: Only for those who have been married)
• Anger
• Backbiters: Those who speak evil of those who are absent
• Banqueting: A drinking party
• Becoming a Stumbling Block to a Weak Brother Through Our Liberty: Taking liberty to do things without thinking of the effect on a weaker brother’s conscience.
• Being Angry with One’s Brother: Expressing unkind thought or action toward others
• Bitterness
• Blasphemy
• Boasting
• Brawling
• Brother Going to Law Against Brother: 
• Burying our Talents: Not making wise use of what God gave us
• Calling One’s Brother A Fool: Ridiculing another
• Chambering: Unmarried people living and sleeping together
• Clamor: Loud, continued noises
• Complaining
• Contentious: Quarrelsome
• Corrupt Communications: Unprofitable or impure language
• Covenant Breakers: Lightly breaking a solemn or legal pact.
• Covetousness
• Craftiness: Cunningness
• Debate
• Deceit
• Defiling the Body
• Defraud
• Denying Christ
• Desiring the Praise of Men: Doing things to gain praise.
• Despiteful
• Dishonesty
• Disobedience to Parents
• Divisions: Forming splits or schisms in groups
• Divorce
• Double Tongued: Making insincere statements
• Drunkenness
• Eating the Bread, or Drinking the Lord’s Cup Unworthily: Taking communion while living in sin
• Effeminate: Unmanly or womanish man.
• Emulations: Ambition to excel
• Envy
• Evil Concupiscence: Longing or desire for forbidden things.
• Evil Eye: Having selfish motives
• Evil Thoughts: Worthless, injurious, or depraved thoughts
• Extortion
• Fathers Provoking Children to Wrath: Frustrating children through harsh treatment and/or failure to communicate.
• Fearful: Discouraged, anxious, faithless
• Filthiness
• Filthy Lucre: Receiving personal gain through unrighteousness.
• Finding Faults with Others While Having a Greater Fault Ourselves
• Foolishness
• Foolish talking : Silliness.
• Giving False Witness
• Fornication
• Giving Offense: Causing another to fall spiritually by our example.
• Greediness
• Guile: Deceit
• Haters of God
• Hatred
• Having Evil Treasures in the Heart
• Having Pleasure in Them That Do Things Worthy of Death: Enjoying the company of sinners.
• Hearing the sayings of Christ, but Not Following Them
• Heresies: Religious opinion different from established Scripture.
• High-mindedness: Arrogant
• Hypocrisy
• Idle Words: Words of no value.
• Idolatry: Loving someone or something more than God.
• Implacable: Refusing to be appeased
• Inordinate Affection: Passion, lust.
• Inventors of Evil Things: Those who contrive evil ways to satisfy their carnal lusts.
• Jesting: Talking to make others laugh.
• Judging
• Knowing to Do Good, but Doing it Not
• Lasciviousness: Lustful, wanton, exciting lust.
• Laying Up Treasures on Earth: Pursuing material success at the expense of spiritual things.
• Living in Pleasure: Fond of luxury and sensual pleasure/gratification.
• Lovers of Self
• Loving Another Person More Than Jesus
• Lusting after a Woman
• Lying
• Maliciousness
• Malignity: Being harmful or dangerous, bad character.
• A Man Prophesying or Praying with His Head Covered.
• Mockery
• Murder
• Murmuring: Grumbling, secretly complaining
• Presumptuous
• Pride: Self-esteem
• Puffed Up: Overestimating of one’s ability or knowledge.
• Purloining
• Railing: Slander
• Reveling: Overindulgence at feasts, merrymaking.
• Rioting
• Seditions: Stirring up opposition against authority.
• Self Will: Arrogant
• Speaking against the Holy Spirit
• Sorcery: Practicing magic with aid from evil spirits.
• Speaking Evil of Dignities: Speaking ill of those to be honored.
• Stealing
• Stiff-Necked and Uncircumcised in Hearts and Ears: Obstinate
• Strife: Quarreling, seeking superiority
• Striker: Ready to Fight
• Swearing: To take oath
• Teaching for Doctrine the Commandments of Men: Neglecting God’s commandments by manmade interpretation or commandments.
• Traitors
• Trusting in Riches
• Not entering by the door into the Sheepfold: Seeking salvation through means other than the blood of Christ.
• Unbelief: Lack of faith.
• Uncleanness
• Unforgiving Heart
• Unmerciful
• Unrighteousness: Moral wrongfulness.
• Unthankfulness
• Vain Jangling: Babbling.
• Variance: Strife
• Voluntary Humility: False humility.
• Wantonness: Lustful, morally unrestrained.
• Whisperers: Secretly spreading false or slanderous information.
• Whoremongers: One who associates with whores, a male prostitute.
• Witchcraft / Phamakia – Drug Abuse
• Wickedness: Evil practices, crime.
• Without Normal Affection: Hardhearted.
• Without Understanding: Unwise
• Wrath
• Woman Prophesying or Praying with Her Head Uncovered

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus

 

 

Matthew 14:30 “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’”

 

Pastor Kennedy asks: Have you ever faced a storm in your life, one so big that you thought you’d never see the light of day again? Maybe you face one even now, and you feel threatened and dismayed by the waves crashing around you.

 

The Apostle Peter knew exactly how you feel. After a long, hard day of ministry, Christ had sent His disciples to sail across the Sea of Galilee while He climbed a mountain alone to commune with His Father in heaven. The disciples’ crossing was anything but smooth. The winds had whipped the sea into a frenzy, and the disciples struggled to control their boat. Unable to make headway, the disciples feared for their lives.

 

Then, in the last watch of the night, Jesus came to them—walking on the water. When the disciples saw Jesus coming toward them, they were terrified. They thought they had seen a ghost, and they cried aloud. But Jesus said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

 

Peter responded, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Jesus replied, “Come.” As Peter began to walk on the surface of the water, he focused his sights on Jesus. Step after step, he walked on top of the water. But, as the sea continued to churn around him, Peter looked at the water and began to sink. He cried out in terror, “Lord, save me!” So Jesus reached out His hand and rescued him, saying, “You of little faith.” As long as Peter kept his eyes trained on His Lord, he had safe passage in the midst of a raging storm. But when he focused on the churning waters, he lost sight of Jesus and lost his footing, too.

 

As you face storms in your life, don’t look at the waves crashing around you. Instead, keep your eyes focused on Jesus. He can steady and sustain you through any storm. Look at Him and walk toward Him—He’ll give you safe passage through the raging seas. It's not how big your storm is; it's how big your Lord and.Savior is that matters.

 

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of the earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” Helen Lemmel

Peace in Christ

Confusion versus Fusion – Part 2

 

Michael continues by asking the question: How did we get to the place where we needed to be fused, reconciled, made at peace with God?

The devil’s original “con-fusion” was when he tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. God gave Adam and Eve only one commandment: “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For on the day thou eat thereof, thou shalt surely die.”

In His temptation of Eve, The devil sowed seeds of doubt and confusion. First he questioned God’s love. He implied, “God doesn’t really love you. He doesn’t want what’s best for you. He wants to keep you ignorant of the knowledge of good and evil.” Second, he questioned the word of God.... “did God really say?”. She knew exactly what God had said. However, when she considered the devil’s lies and questioned the word of God, then she was caught in devil’s strife, confusion, and contention against God. When you doubt the Word of God and the Love of God, you’ve taken the devil’s bait, hook line and sinker. All he has to do is reel you in.  

On the day that Adam and Eve sinned by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they died that very day. What died? Their spiritual connection with God. Jesus Christ came to redeem us from the sin nature we inherited from Adam. Through His atoning sacrifice on our behalf, we were saved when we repented of our sin, accepted His free gift of atoning sacrifice on the Cross in our place for our sins, as our Savior, confessed Jesus as Lord and believed that God raised him from the dead.  

Now that we have peace with God having been “born again” of God’s spirit, how do we manifest the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace? We do this by keeping the two great commandments: to love God above all and your neighbor as yourself.  

Not many people know, but the Ten Commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai were not so that He could punish the children of Israel when they stepped out of line. This is what the world thinks. The Ten Commandments were actually God’s “terms of endearment” with Israel. They were God’s wedding vows with Israel. The first commandment covers all of the other commandments. The first commandment in the KJV says, “thou shalt have no other Gods before me.” However, the ancient Aramaic text says, “thou shalt have no other God’s between your face and my face.” Why? Because we’re attached face to face in the unity of the spirit, in the bond of peace and charity. The love of God is the bond that binds us together.

When you have your vertical relationship intact, loving God above all, then all of your horizontal relationships will fall in line. If you keep the first commandment to love God above all then you don’t have to worry about the other nine “sins of commission.” You just have to worry about the one “sin of omission,” not loving God “with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength.” 

There are two types of salvation and two types of repentance. One is the new birth when we’re made whole because we received the gift of God’s Holy Spirit according to Romans 10:9-10. The other is “working out your own salvation” , your own wholeness with fear and trembling.... with reverence awe, and respect. Philippians 2:12.

Prayer is fusing our heart with God’s heart ... so is studying and meditating on the Word of God. To fuse our hearts with God’s heart means that we have a common standard for truth. That common standard is the Word of God and Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh. 2 Timothy 3:15-17 tells us, “From childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” If God is love and Scripture is His word, then the word of God is the love of God.

How do you overcome con-fusion? You fuse your heart together with God’s heart using the love of God which is the bond of perfectness in the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Then we can love our neighbors as ourselves. We can serve God by serving others, for Jesus said, in that you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.

We are called to counter confusion with fusion in the unity of the spirit by bearing one another’s burdens.... by serving in the body of Christ. We’re all individual components within the body of Christ. He has fitted us each into the body with a particular function and purpose as he has seen fit. Ephesians 4:15-16 says, “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.”

How do you counter confusion? To overcome confusion, fuse together by endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace by loving God above all and your neighbor as yourself. How long shall we continue to battle against confusion? I’d encourage you to read all of Ephesians chapter 4. Verse 13 states: “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: at the return of Jesus Christ.”

An old hymn of the faith says, Blest be the tide that binds our hearts in Christian love,
The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above. Before our Maker's throne we pour our ardent prayers; our fears, our hopes, our aims are one, our comforts and our cares. We share each other's woes, each other's burdens bear, and often for each other flows the sympathizing tear. When we asunder part, it gives us keenest pain, but we shall still be joined in heart, and hope to meet again. The glorious hope revives our courage on the way: in perfect friendship we shall live in God's eternal day.

God bless you all!

Your brother in Christ, Michael