Men and women of this world follow the god of this world, who has blinded the eyes of those who do not believe lest the glorious light of the gospel of truth shall shine unto them. However, did Jesus rail against the Roman soldiers who nailed him to the cross? Jesus said, Father forgive them for they know what they do. Jesus makes this same appeal to God on our behalf, for in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. How do you defeat the enemy? Do you rail against evil? Do you tell sinners about eternal punishment, fire and brimstone? Surely, yes. In Revelation 21:6-8 the Lord Jesus Christ Himself said, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Hell is the ultimate outcome for unrepented sin and unbelief. A person must know what they have been saved from before they know what you are saved to. Sin is rebellion against Creator God and sin must be punished. The book of Romans says, be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good. That good is the Good News of the Gospel. Speak the truth in love. How do you quench the fire of Gehenna that burns within the soul of men and women of this world?
The heart of flesh is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. How do you purify the heart of the flesh? US President Abraham Lincoln said, the best way to defeat your enemy is to make him your friend. What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and grief to bear. The battle is not for territory, property, wealth, treasure or worldly power. The battle is for hearts, minds and souls. You’re most like the people with whom you choose to associate. Oswald Chambers said the purpose of the Christian church is to create an environment where the Holy Spirit is welcome to help himself to our repentant hearts. Then from a heart of love, we seek to excel to the building up of the church, the body of Christ as we serve one another from a transformed heart of love.
The devil is alive and well on planet earth. However, the Bible says, greater is He [Jesus] that is in you than he [the devil] that is in the world. It’s not about what you stand against. Instead it’s about what you stand for. Therefore, stand up, stand up for Jesus. Stand in His strength alone. The arm of flesh will fail you. You dare not trust your own. When we decrease, He will increase. Thy strength is made perfect in my weakness ... thy grace is sufficient for me.
How do we purify our hearts? 1 John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.” The cleansing and purifying is in the walking in the light of Christ. The light of Christ washes us, cleanses us in His atoning blood on the Cross of Calvary, and disinfects us from the filth and contamination of this world of darkness. For our fellowship is with our Heavenly Father, His son Jesus Christ, and one with another in the household of saving faith.
Job 19:25-27 “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God,
Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”
Blessed are the pure in heart ... who have been cleansed and purified by the blood of Christ, for He who was without sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him that we may ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ, Michael
No comments:
Post a Comment