Jesus' Living Water

 

John 4:13–14 “Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life’ ”.

 

Ligonier writes that in John 4:1–6, on the way to Galilee from Judea, Jesus stopped at the town of Sychar in Samaria and sat by a well there at the sixth hour (noon by our reckoning of Hebrew time). Sychar was located about 30 miles north of Jerusalem, approximately half-way between Jerusalem and Nazareth, at the base of Mount Gerazim, the Samaritans’ holy mountain. The Jews viewed the Samaritans as biological and religious half-breeds. Our Lord was weary and thirsty, for it was the hottest part of the day. Here we see a revelation of Christ’s human nature. According to His humanity, Jesus [God incarnate], being fully man could get tired and thirsty just as we do.

 

Jesus was not by Himself at the well for too long before a Samaritan woman came out to draw water. In those days, women ordinarily traveled in groups to get water for their households, and they would come earlier in the morning or later in the day in order to avoid the intense heat of the noonday sun. That the Samaritan woman came to the well without the company of any other women and that she came at a time when she was likely to be the only one at the well indicate something of her status as an outcast. We read later on that the woman had had five husbands and was involved with a man who was not her husband. The Samaritan woman was rejected by her community for her sexual immorality.

 

This helps explain why she was so surprised when Jesus asked her for a drink, for she was an immoral woman, and one would not ordinarily converse with a known immoral person in that culture. Furthermore, He had no bucket with which to draw water, so He would have had to drink from hers, but Jews and Samaritans did not ordinarily share the same vessels for food and drink. But Jesus did not press her on her reluctance to serve Him water; rather, He took the opportunity to teach her something about Himself. That one of the wonderful things about the good news that Jesus brings is that it meets the basic need that all people have.

 

Jesus said that if she knew who He was, she would ask Him for “living water” (v. 10). This living water, the entire chapter makes clear, is nothing less than eternal life. But the woman did not understand this at first, thinking that Jesus was offering physical water drawn with a physical vessel. She understood that He was claiming to give her better water than she had ever drawn, hence her disbelief. After all, the great patriarch Jacob had dug the well at which they sat, and water had flowed there for more than a millennium. How, then, could Jesus provide better water?

 

But of course, Jesus was not offering physical water of better quality than what was available at the well. He was offering the water of eternal life, the abundant, never-ending sustenance from God Himself that ensures we will live forever. Dr. R.C. Sproul writes in his commentary John that the water of life Jesus provides meets “not just a need of the moment but a need for all eternity.” Jesus is the Savior who can give living water to all thirsty sinners. If we trust anyone else for spiritual life, we will continue to thirst. But if we come to Him alone for salvation, we will be satisfied now and forever. Let us seek the only living water and its only Provider—Jesus Christ our Lord.

Blessings

Desperate Heart Lives – Part 2

Deuteronomy 8:11-14 “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God.”

Michael continues: In a season of comfort and complacency, our heart will be tempted to fall into sin. King David left the battlefield, forsaking God’s call as Israel’s commander in chief. Instead, he retreated to his palace for rest and relaxation. Then in a moment of complacency, he gazed longingly upon his neighbor’s wife Bathsheba bathing on her rooftop. He was consumed with the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. David’s lust was consummated in adultery, deception, and murder.  

1 John 1:9 says, If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The sin is anything that breaks our fellowship with God by leading our hearts away from God’s heart. Sin is missing the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The solution to sin is to aim for and pursue the mark ... to chase after our Lord together with others who also chase after Christ. Jesus said, blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. King David in his confession said in Psalm 139:23-24,search me O Lord and know my heart... if there is any evil thing in me. Create in me a new heart O Lord, and cleanse me from all iniquity.

It’s easy to deceive our own hearts. As humans, we look at our own outward appearance. However, God looks upon the heart. Men and women often do the right things but for the wrong reasons. The people said to Jesus, didn’t we cast out demons ... didn’t we prophesy and do many wonderful works in your name? Jesus said, depart from me ye workers of iniquity ... I never knew you. He said to the Pharisees in Mark 7:6-7, “Well has Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, this people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

How do we know if we’re doing the right things for the right reasons? According to 2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with open face beholding (the truth of the Law of God) as in a glass (mirror) the (spiritual) glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory (of the flesh) to glory (of the spirit), even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” When we through Christ’s eyes behind our eyes look into the Word of God, it reflects our true nature as born-again believers ... the reflection of the Holy Spirit of God in Christ in us.

The nature of God is mercy, grace, compassion and love. Romans 3:23 says, all have sinned and come short of God’s righteous standard. The solution to sin is the Savior from sin. According to Romans 6:23, “for the wages of sin Is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Thank God for reproof and correction. For whom the Lord loves, He takes the time with care and concern to chastise. To correct means to return to an upright position before the Lord. Even though it’s painful to be straightened, when we have our vertical relation with God in alignment, we can live in the abundance of life to which He’s called us. The blessing is in seeking the Blessor and not the blessing that our hearts may be made right to praise and glorify our Heavenly Father through His son, our Lord Jesus Christ ... that we may ever live in fellowship, in communion with our Lord to love, honor and glorify God.

Your brother in Christ, Michael

Desperate Heart Lives – Part 1

Jeremiah 17:9 says, “the heart is desperately wicked above all things, who can know it?” 

This week, Michael writes: The Apostle Paul said, “In my flesh dwells no good thing.” The fallen nature that we inherited from Adam seeks the things of this world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. However, Jesus said, blessed are they who hunger and thirst, not for the things of this fallen word, but for God’s righteousness. They are blessed because they shall be filled. Only God can satisfy and fill those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Christian author CS Lewis said, if you’re looking for a religion that makes you comfortable, then Christianity is not that religion. It’s uncomfortable to admit when we’re wrong. However, Proverbs 28:13 says, “He that covers (and hides) his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy.” Men and women of this world seek to justify themselves. Those who deny God think that they are in charge of their own lives ... that they can define for themselves what is just and praiseworthy in order to appease their own selfish and depraved hearts. They take pride in their own self-righteousness that says, I’m not subject to a holy God. Then they think they’re justified when they transgress God’s righteous standard for truth.

The Sermon on the Mount explains Jesus’ keys to the kingdom of heaven ... the things that set believers apart as followers of Christ. Bible Commentator Matthew Henry said, It’s folly to trust in man, for he is frail and deceitful. Our own hearts deceive us into thinking that we trust in God when we really don’t. It’s a common mistake for men and women to think their own hearts better than they really are. God’s standard for truth says that the heart of man is deceitful above all things. A deceived heart calls evil good and good evil. Then It colors the lie with a rosy deception. It distorts the truth, blinds the eyes, and cheats men and women so that they fall into their own ruin. The heart of man is deadly, desperate, and past relief. Its conscience is seared with a hot iron as it deceives itself into thinking it is the candle of the Lord (Proverbs 20:27). It twists the truth into a corrupt, watered down disposition. The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. As the Apostle Paul said, “Who can deliver me from the body of this death?”

Jesus said, “apart from me you can do nothing. To bear good fruit you must abide in the vine. I am the vine and ye are the branches.” To know the condition of our fallen hearts, we must compare our hearts to the righteous standard ... the Word of God and Jesus Christ, the word of God made flesh. There is no hope apart from the grace of God through the payment for sin Jesus Christ made on our behalf. We can know our hearts when we walk in the light as Christ is in the light. Then when we walk in the light as he is in the light, the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. In 1 John, to sin is to break fellowship with God. In order to have a right relationship with God, we must reconcile our hearts with God. Our first priority is our vertical relationship with our Heavenly Father.  

Let's continue Michael's message on desperate hearts in the next post.

In Christ, Brian

Fear Not

While on my vacation, Michael's messages shall be featured. Today, he writes: Proverbs says that where there is no vision the people perish. Many churches around the world had no vision for 2020 and 2021, so they were caught totally unaware when the worldwide pandemic laid bare those who were unprepared. There is much confusion in the world today. However, God has given his church an opportunity to either listen to the bad news according to the prince of the power of the air (the devil) or to listen to His Word which lives and abides forever. The world is searching for reliable sources of truth ... of good news to counteract the bad news of the world. The Apostle James says, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations for the testing of your faith produces patience and endurance which when they have finished make you perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. God will make a way where there is no way. When we cooperate with the revelation of His Holy Spirit. His mercies are new every morning. The last two years have been a couple years of purification ... of trial by the refining fire of tribulation. In the midst of the trials God will bear His mighty arm when men and women forsake their own power to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. 

 

Updraft turbulence is the air pressure gradient that allows an eagle to soar. Despite the wind and turbulence around us, the power of God is the wind beneath our wings. Isaiah 40 concludes ... they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. God presents us with a choice to proceed with either fear or faith. He never honors fear ... He always honors faith. The faith is in the Word of God. God is faithful to His Word. He is no respecter of persons. He is a respecter of the conditions according to His revealed Word, Holy Scripture, the Bible. The command “do not fear” is the most common Commandment in Scripture. The Lord said to Israel through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 41:10: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.“ 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

The church thrives and proliferates in the midst of persecution. What people meant for evil, God meant for good. In the first century the church multiplied when the Christians in Jerusalem were persecuted and scattered to distant lands. Hebrews chapter 2 says that Jesus Christ himself took part of the same nature as ours ... that we would no longer fear death. So that He through His own death would render powerless the one who had the power of death, that is the devil. God has called a remnant unto Him to show the world that His church would thrive in the midst of the turmoil and confusion of this world of darkness. God will use what the devil throws at us in order to show that light triumphs over the darkness.

God shows up and shows off when His people are loyal. God calls us to bloom where He’s planted us. We’re given the choice to prove whether or not the Bible is the true Word of God. In Luke 18, “will the son of Man find faith when he returns?” The question is this: are you driven by faith or fear? There is no fear in love, for perfect love casts out fear. He who fears is not made perfect in love. We’re called to contend for the faith that was once given to the saints. According to Jude 1:3, contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to the saints. Our challenge is to remain in the arena, striving to press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Tribulation separates out the true believers. Those who are afraid will cut and run when the crisis comes. However, when the crisis comes and courage is required, God expects his men and women to have such faith and confidence in Him that they will be the faithful reliable ones. According to Romans 8:28, all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. What men meant for evil God meant for good. Despite the darkness of this world, the darker the night the brighter the light shines. Therefore, let your light so shine among men, that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven, that we may live to the praise of the glory of His grace!

Your brother in Christ, Michael

 

Black Friday

 

Psalm 138:1-6 “I will praise You with my whole heart; before the gods [specifically used in the plural thus, of the supreme God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit]. I will sing praises to You. I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; for You have magnified Your word above all Your name. In the day when I cried out, You answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul. All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O Lord, when they hear the words of Your mouth. Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. Though the Lord is on high, yet He regards the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar.” 

 

Before Halloween this year, I started seeing Christmas advertisements on the television commercials and in store displays. By November 1, the candy was swapped out and the preparation for “Black Friday” [the big sale on Christmas gift items on the day after Thanksgiving] was in full swing. I read that Black Friday has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year in the United States since at least 2005 and I can attest that it is a madhouse as many stores offer highly promoted sales on that day and open very early (it’s getting earlier all the time). It is said that the term “Black Friday” comes from the notion that retail stores that operate the entire year up to this event finds their bottom-line profits suddenly go into the black in their accounting ledgers due to this “spending spree”. I used to get up early, join the mayhem and wait in those massive lines, but not anymore; it’s madness. It is pure “shop until you drop” or max-out your credit card, whichever comes first. Now, Cyber-Monday has joined the mega-sales parade for online Christmas shopping.

 

But Christmas is not a commercial holiday and [as nice and enjoyable as it is] isn’t about our gift-giving; it’s about God’s gift to the world - Jesus - the Christ, God incarnate, God among us. We’ll discuss this more next month, but I have a question: What about the National holiday of Thanksgiving Day? It has virtually disappeared from the stores, except for a sale on frozen turkeys for the family get-together for dinner. I am not knocking the families getting together [we need more of that family love today], and I am not knocking the dinner feast of tasty old family recipes that only appear once a year to enjoy. I’m talking about our holy Creator God, who designed, created and provided the people and the food in the first place and the family of God.

 

We can get all caught up in this earthly existence, the shiny things that catch our eyes and the exciting distraction of the busyness, that we forget to be thankful for the provision of our lives and living, His lovingkindness and His truth. Life is glorious because of the glory of God in it. Thanksgiving is about giving thanks with our whole heart and praise from our soul to the author and sustainer of life. Our forefathers proclaimed a day set aside to thank the good Lord for His many blessings upon us. Let us not bypass that holiday of grateful praise and adoration of God, nor set our hearts on things of this earth, but foundational set our minds on things above and build on the foundation that is the Rock - the Lord on high; for in Him, all our days are in the black and profitable. 

 

In Christ, Brian

Happy Thanksgiving Day 2021

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. -- President 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

Thankful

 

Prayer and praise to our Heavenly Father is the outpouring of a thankful heart. Israel's King David himself was a man after God’s own heart. Psalm 100 says: “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all you lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know you that the LORD He is God: it is He that has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endures to all generations.”

Thanksgiving in The United States is a uniquely American holiday. The first thanksgiving was celebrated by the Pilgrims... Puritan Christians celebrating in gratitude to God for His divine providence for blessing them with fellowship, peace, and the bounty of an abundant harvest.  

George Washington wrote a declaration of Thanksgiving as the first president of the United States. According to Washington’s declaration, “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—and whereas both 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 signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.” 

During the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving as a National holiday. An excerpt from Lincoln’s Thanksgiving declaration says, “It has seemed to me fit and proper that the (gracious gifts of the Most High God) should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens of the United States... to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November... as a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.”

In Luke 17 Jesus illustrated the importance of a thankful heart. This is the record of his healing ten lepers. As Jesus went into Galilee after passing through Samaria, ten lepers called out to Jesus, “Master, have mercy on us.” Jesus said to them, “Go show yourselves to the priest.” As they were walking, they were healed. When they realized that they had been healed, only one of the ten lepers ran back after Jesus to thank him. This man was a Samaritan. Jesus said, “Werent’ there ten lepers? Where are the other nine?”  

The lesson to the nine lepers is to beware of the sin of ingratitude. The lesson to the one Samaritan is the duty and the beauty of a thankful heart.  

In the Jewish tradition, proper Jews would avoid going through Samaria on their way to Galilee. Jesus never followed this tradition. The Jews considered Samaritans as half breeds. They were descendants of the twelve tribes of Israel whose blood line was contaminated by taking wives from heathen nations. Even though proper Jews traveled the long way around, Jesus often went right through Samaria.  

Lepers were outcasts in their society. However, in a leper colony, it didn’t matter who your relatives were or your country of origin. Their common bond was their disease which required them to be quarantined and set apart from their communities. They were joined by their common bond of disease and misery. Their hearts were likeminded in their desire to be delivered from their debilitating disease.  

Leprosy is a picture of sin. One of the worst aspects of leprosy is that it numbs pain. Sores and gangrene from this disease don’t cry out for attention. Likewise, sin “sears the conscious like a hot iron.” When we are indoctrinated by the world to accept sin, then we’re in the devil’s domain. When we convince our own minds to call good evil and evil good, sin no longer convicts us. God sent his Holy Spirit to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.

Salvation’s healing wholeness starts with humility and shame about sin and iniquity. To seek deliverance from disease requires that we first realize that we are sick. Jesus came not to minister to those who thought they were healthy but to those who realized they were in need of healing. David was living comfortably in sin with Bathsheba. David’s confrontation with the Prophet Nathan is an example of his becoming aware of his need for deliverance. Repentance, turning from sin to righteousness, is the first requirement for returning back to the Lord.  

The Lepers realized their position as outcasts who were in need of healing and restoration. Jesus healed different people in different ways. Jesus said, “I always do my father’s will.” Jesus did not use a common method to heal the sick. Instead, he listened to the specific instructions of his Father and did exactly as his Father revealed to him according to his Father’s will.

When Jesus cleansed the ten lepers, only one came back to thank him. All ten had been ostracized from their families and communities. Their heart’s desire was to be delivered from this disease to be reconciled back with their families, friends, and circles of fellowship. However, when they were healed, they forgot to be thankful.

Only the one leper, a Samaritan, returned to Jesus, fell on his face, and worshipped his Lord. Jesus had said, “I am the way, the truth, and the light. No man cometh to the father except by me.” The story fo the ten lepers proves Jesus’ parable that said, “Broad is the way that leads to destruction. But narrow is the way and narrow is the gate that leads to eternal life.” 

In John 2, Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover. Howerver Jesus did not commit himself to anyone, for he knew what was in the fickle heart of man. He knew that man’s fallen nature was to be double minded. The natural man without God’s Holy Spirit is without conviction. James says, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” Double minded men blow hot and cold... they are here today and gone tomorrow.  

The one leper who thanked Jesus was the one out of ten who came through the narrow gate to follow his Lord. He fell at the feet of Jesus indicating his complete surrender and acknowledgement of his commitment that Jesus is Lord.  

Jesus had said to the ten lepers, “Go show yourselves to the priest.” According to Old Testament law, the priest is the one who would certify that a leper had been cleansed and could enter back into society. The Samaritan returned to Jesus, the high priest after the order of Melchizedek. The Old Testament priests offered sacrifices over and over on behalf of the people. However, Jesus Christ our high priest after the order of Melchizedek offered himself as the spotless lamb of God once for all time. For Jesus Christ who was was without sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him. Jesus Christ is the true high priest, for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

Our joy, rejoicing, prayer and praise is to be thankful unto him, and bless His name. For what are we thankful? God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The greatest blessing is the resurrection... that in him we died and that in him we were raised again from the dead when we were justified at his resurrection.

Therefore, be thankful unto him and bless his name. For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations that we may ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!

Your brother in Christ,
Michael

But If Not

Luke 9:23-25 “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?”

 

Ligonier ministries states that in Daniel 3:1–18, the golden image was as tall as a nine-story building. It was built by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the most powerful man in the world at the time. He constructed the blasphemous monstrosity to cement his political power, exalt his glory, and superstitiously counteract Daniel’s inspired interpretation of his dream from 2:31–45. The Babylonian monarch was determined to protect the future of his kingdom. In his mind, the golden statue was integral to his future reign.

 

A royal invitation went out to the “satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up”. The finest musicians were gathered. The most educated, wealthy, and gifted people in the land were called to attend this grand occasion. Neither attendance nor participation was optional, however. The affair was compulsory. If any refused to participate, to bow down and worship the image at the appointed time, they would “immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace”. The pressure to worship the idol was immense.

 

When the orchestra began to play, “all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image”. Everyone paid homage to the statue, and thus to King Nebuchadnezzar’s insatiable lust for power and glory. Everyone, that is, but three brave young Jewish exiles named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They refused to bow, valuing the glory of God and true worship above their very lives. It was a marvelous display of holy conviction.

 

The king was “filled with fury” when he received the news. The three Hebrew companions were ushered into his presence and firmly reminded that if they did not “fall down and worship the image” they would be thrown into the fiery furnace. They were not intimidated: “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. (3:16–18).

 

The courage of holy conviction was most clearly communicated in those three little words: “but if not.” Their own comfort and physical well-being were not the goal of their faith. Rather, it was the worship and glory of their heavenly Father. Aren’t we called to live with this same kind of resolve? Isn’t it time that we courageously stand for truth as the masses bow down to the sin and blasphemous counterfeit gods of our culture? Christ suffered the fiery furnace of God’s wrath on the cross to save us from what our sins deserve. It is now our great privilege to live for Him—no matter the cost. Die to sin and live for Christ! 

 

Blessings

True Assurance

 

2 Timothy 4:8 “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

 

Ligonier Ministries states that having a false assurance of salvation—believing that you are in the right with God and yet being outside of the kingdom of God is a real problem in our world. It probably would not be an overreach to state that most people go about their lives thinking that all will be OK because they are “good people.” After all, they might surmise, they take care of their families and have never killed anyone, so why would they not be saved?

 

Although measuring the state of our lives and our good works is one aspect of finding true assurance of salvation, by itself the presence of good works does not prove anything. One does not have to be saved in order to refrain from murder, to love one’s family, or to be a productive citizen. In fact, Paul tells us that although nonbelievers suppress the knowledge of God, they still have the law of God on their consciences and live up to many of its standards in an external fashion (Romans 2:14–16). That is, external conformity to the law is possible for people who do not know Christ, although nonbelievers cannot do what is fully pleasing to God. This is because apart from grace, people are dead in sin and thus cannot be motivated to do their good works by true love for God (Ephesians 2:1–10). If good works are to be in any way evidence that we are truly saved, we must couple them with right doctrine, knowing that believing in the biblical Christ alone saves us (John 3:16). Good works are evidence of the true faith that alone can justify us only if we believe in the Christ revealed in Scripture.

 

Those who are saved fall into two classes. First, there are those who are truly saved and know that they are saved. They are assured of their salvation because they believe in the biblical Christ and see evidence of that faith in works of service to God and neighbor (James 2:14–26). Yet, personal experience shows us that the combination of right belief and right action does not always give people assurance of salvation. It is possible for someone to be truly saved and yet to believe that he is not saved. Satan accuses us, encouraging us to call into question the state of our salvation, and our sin can make it hard to believe that Christ really loves us and has redeemed us.

 

So, the second class of saved people consists of those who are saved but have no personal assurance of their salvation. But such Christians do not have to languish forever in uncertainty. They can know that they are truly saved if they have love for the biblical Christ. Revelation 12:10 calls Satan “the accuser of our brothers” because he loves to bring up our sin and use it to make us doubt our salvation. The Holy Spirit will convict us of sin, but He does not do so in a way that makes us despair of ever finding assurance. Satan, on the other hand, will try to convince us that true assurance is impossible, so when we hear such a charge, we can know that it comes from the devil, not from the Lord.

Blessings in Christ

Blessed Assurance of Salvation

Ephesians 2:1-5 “You were dead in the trespasses and sins . . . carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ”.

 

In Ligonier Ministries  study of the assurance of our salvation, they have alluded to the importance of rightly understanding doctrinal Christian teaching for gaining true certainty that we are saved. 1 John 5:11-13 “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”

 

Looking at our lives for spiritual fruit and good works plays a part in our assurance (2 Peter 1:3–11), but finding good deeds is insufficient to give us true assurance because nonbelievers also do good things. Doing good in itself will not give us true assurance, but true assurance is strengthened when doing good accompanies faith in the biblical Christ alone. John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Only the biblical Christ can save us, so true assurance comes only if we believe in the Jesus revealed in the Bible, not the Jesus of Islam, Mormonism, or any other religion or philosophy. And yet, many of us still have difficulty finding true assurance of salvation even when we have good works that evidence our faith alongside belief in the biblical Christ. Thus, we must go further and consider two more doctrinal points and their bearing on our experience and true assurance. We are speaking of the doctrines of human depravity and regeneration.

 

Many people seriously misunderstand human depravity. The Apostle Paul describes our condition apart from grace as one of deadness; that is, unless God sovereignly intervenes and changes our hearts, we are enslaved to sin and incapable of responding in faith to the gospel. All people, apart from Christ, are born into this world with “no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:9–20). We do not want God to reign over us and cannot work up within us the desire to love and serve the Lord. We are dead to the things of God. The only way out of this is for God to resurrect us spiritually. He must make us willing to believe. And this is not something we ask Him to do; He does it of His own accord, and only then are we able to see the kingdom of God, let alone believe and enter it (John 3:3,5). 

 

In theology, Regeneration is new birth by the grace of God; that change by which the will and natural enmity of man to God and his law are subdued, and a principle of supreme love to God and his law, or holy affections, are implanted in the heart. Since we cannot love and trust God apart from His intervention, any genuine love for the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is evidence that our hearts have been changed and we have been given love for the Creator. And since nothing can separate us from God’s love, if God loved us enough to change our hearts so that we love and trust Him, we cannot finally fall away from grace. If we are saved today, we are saved forever.

 

Romans 8:38-39 “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor

principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

 

True assurance of salvation comes from a combination of objective and subjective factors. Objectively, we must have the right biblical doctrines of Christ, human sin, and regeneration in order to know if the subjective affection we feel for Christ is genuine and Spirit-given. We study doctrine not merely to fill our heads with knowledge but so that we can discern the state of our hearts.

 

Have a blessed Sunday, Brian

Inherit the Kingdom – Part 2

 

Ephesians 5:1-6 “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”

 

I didn’t understand the Gospel message and thought that the ticket to Heaven was through behavior modification. I didn’t understand what Romans 6:23 meant by “death”, when it said, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” I was ignorant of Ephesians 2:1-3’s explanation that, “you God made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” I didn’t grasp in John 3, when Jesus said “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. The Son of Man must be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 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. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

 

I didn’t have the complete picture. I didn’t pave the way to Heaven by good works or provide the gate in. Ephesians 2:4-8 explained, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” It was only by God’s Plan of Salvation that there was a Way to the heavenly kingdom at all. That narrow gate was Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. God provided the gate.

 

2 Corinthians 5:21 makes it clear, “For [God] made [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” There is a transformation and exchange involved in repentance of sin, trust, belief and faith in Jesus Christ, from lost to restored by God and inheritance of the kingdom. Either Jesus pays the wages earned by our sins, or we do. Now, 1 Peter 2:24-25 makes sense, “who [Jesus] Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” 

 

In Christ, Brian

Inherit the Kingdom – Part 1

 

Matthew 25:33-35 “He [Jesus] will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

 

I cannot remember when but at a very young age, I was taught that God created everything and creation was good. There never was a question about macro-evolution for origins. I learned that Adam and Eve doubted and disobeyed God, so sin and death entered the world, separating mankind from God, and humans then had a heart with a sin nature, so we think, say and do things that are wrong in the eyes of God. Later, I learned that people are made of body, soul and spirit and the spirit died within each of us and needs regenerated by God. That original sin remains in our heart, so we needed a Savior to reconcile this situation because we are unable to. So, God made a plan to send His Son to us to pay for our sins and we world inherit the kingdom of God and go to Heaven. I also learned, that Satan rebelled against God in Heaven and was expelled to earth where he temps and deceives us today. Finally, I learned that there was a Heaven for good people and a Hell for bad people. Pretty simple concept that I understood at that pre-school age. Later, I learned what “good” and “bad” really meant. 

 

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor

homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

 

We grew up in a world where there were mainly “good guys” and a few “bad guys” in our country, who broke laws, robbed or hurt people which the police took care of and they went to jail. There were even “bad guys” in other country’s that started wars and our soldiers fought to protect us. Our parents would watch over and protect us at home, so we felt safe and secure to live a normal life. Growing up, I didn’t know about these passages in the Bible about “the works of the fallen flesh”, but they made sense that they were “bad” things that would make us unrighteous before our “just” and “holy” Creator God. Sin is a dirty thing and we should want to do what God says is “good” and wholesome. I wanted to go to Heaven and surely didn’t want to go to Hell. I knew that God would help me.

 

Galatians 5:19-23 “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. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 

 

It was in my early twenties that I read Jesus say in Matthew 7:13-15 “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”, and realized how big God’s salvation issue was. If most people were “good” and few people were “bad” then why was the gate to Heaven narrow and the way difficult? And why is the gate to Hell broad and the road wide … how could “many” be going in on it? Was acting and doing “good” not the measure to inherit the kingdom? I didn’t understand the narrow gate.  

Let's continue my message on inheriting the kingdom of Heaven in the next post.

In Christ, Brian

Offended? – Part 3

 

Ephesians 6:10-13 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

 

Continuing: America’s National Motto is “In God We Trust” and enemies knew that this nation could not be defeated from outside attack due to its military strength, the deep patriotism of its citizens, and their steadfast trust and reliance on God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). So, a strategic plan was devised and a list of goals employed to turn Americans against themselves and destroy the nation from the inside. This list of 45 goals was discovered and read into Congressional record on January 10, 1963. Goal #24 reads eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them “censorship” and a violation of free speech. Goal #25 – Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, movies, radio and TV. Goal #26 – Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as “normal”, natural and healthy. Goal #27 – Infiltrate the churches and replace “revealed” religion [the focus on believing God and obeying the Bible in a vertical relationship] with “social” religion [focus on horizontal interpersonal relationships and feelings]. This includes discrediting the Bible and emphasizing the need for intellectual maturity, which does not need a “religious crutch”. Goal #28 – Eliminate prayer or any phrase of religious expression in the schools on the grounds that it violates the principles of “separation of church and state”. Who is offending who? The spiritual battle is for the hearts, minds and souls of this Christian nation, but ultimately against God Himself. Bottomline - In the final conclusion, the issue is: “the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; the unrepentant, unsaved Sinner will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Christians look up to God in Christ, and only look down to pull their fellow man out of the pit of Hell to life in Christ.

 

In John 10:9-11 Jesus tells us, “I am the door [the narrow gate]. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

 

Darkness cannot co-exist with light because, by definition, darkness is the absence of light. “Evil” is natural or moral. Natural evil is anything which produces pain, distress, loss or calamity, or which in any way disturbs the peace, impairs the happiness, or destroys the perfection of natural beings. Moral evil is any deviation of a moral agent from the rules of conduct prescribed to him by God, or by legitimate human authority; or it is any violation of the plain principles of justice and rectitude. Fallen humans have a sin nature to have sinful thoughts and doing sinful things (greedy, prideful, arrogant, jealous, prejudice, envious and hateful). Who is offending who? There is a metaphoric story of a scorpion that came to the shore of a pond and asked a turtle in the water for a ride on their back across to the other side. The turtle said no, because the scorpion would sting him on the trip across and he would drown. The scorpion replied that he would not sting the turtle on the ride because he would sink and drown too. It made sense, so the turtle allowed the scorpion upon his shell and started swimming across the pond. Halfway across, the scorpion stung the turtle in the neck and before they both sank to their death, the turtle asked “why did you sting me knowing that they both would die”, to which it replied “because I am a scorpion and that’s what I do; it’s my nature.” We shouldn’t be surprised when evil and bad, by nature, do evil and bad things. But, unlike scorpions, people can be transformed and change their nature through Jesus Christ.

 

John 3:30-36 says, “He [our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ] must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains and abides on him.”

 

The Holy Spirit transforms the heart and soul in born-again conversion of the repentant Believer, changing their nature. It is the supernatural spiritual heart transplant of a sanctified life [changed by God for God’s purposes] in thought, word and living (180 degrees away from the God-rejecting sinful being); now walking aligned with the Lord’s holy Word, Will and Way. God changes our “want to”, so that we “want to” walk in righteousness and holiness, living for Christ, but we no longer “want to” walk in sin. 1 John 5:11-12 confirms, “This is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life [will not inherit the kingdom of God].” By God’s plan of Salvation, Jesus came to “seek and save the lost”, but saved from what? 

 

Revelation 20:10-15 tells us that “the devil who had deceived [the world] was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. 

 

If you were to die tonight and God asked you: “Why should I let you into My Heaven?”, what would you say? Where is your faith? Romans 3:22-25 tells us that there is “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This is the light of truth and loving faith that saves.

 

In Christ, Brian

Offended? – Part 2

  

John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only 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.”

 

Pastor Kyle continued that the second of four unavoidable realities on this issue of disputes is (2) that God’s Number One goal is always for Believers to pursue mutual understanding, forgiveness and (if possible) reconciliation. We fail to grasp just how far humanity fell because of original sin and the effect on the flesh and soul of the natural man. It is explained in John 1:9-14 that the Word [Jesus] “was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

 

We live in a fallen in sin world. All hell is breaking loose and people cannot even agree to disagree. James 4:4explains why, “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” The children of God, followers of Christ, are “in the world” but not “of the world”. Galatians 5:24-25 explains why, because “those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” The indwelling Holy Spirit is given to all born-again Believers at their transformational regeneration. Romans 6:23 further explains, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Since the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden, God has been graciously working His plan of redemption and salvation through Jesus Christ’s atoning, substitutionary sacrificial death on the Cross to pay our wages of sin. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us, “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.”

 

 It has always been God’s intent to restore fallen mankind back to an upright position and the vehicle to that salvation and restoration is God’s grace and our faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Ephesians 2:8 explains,“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” But like any gift given, the recipient must receive and accept the gift, and not reject it. Jesus is the gift, the Word, the Way, the Narrow Gate. In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus tells us, “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.” Even though Romans 3:21-24explains, “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”, not many will choose to believe the Gospel and be saved. Men loved darkness rather than light, and because the world did not know Him and His own did not receive Him.

 

In the Gospel message, disciples will have saved and unsaved family, friends, neighbors, acquaintances, and co-workers co-existing in this world. So, as Romans 12:18 says, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” To find common ground and have ability to talk with all factually and sensibly. Jesus gave the commandment of the Great Commission to his disciples in Matthew 28:19-20, “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”, because salvation and restoration is the reason that He came and the mission goal and purpose. Hence, all Christians are called disciples, as they profess to follow, learn and receive and adhere to His doctrines and precepts, trust, obey and emulate the Lord and Master, teacher and instructor, Jesus Christ, which includes reaching out to the lost in sin, listening to their thoughts and concerns, standing on the Word of God, giving the Gospel message of forgiveness and salvation, while speaking the truth in love. Love the sinner, but hate the sin enough to expose it for what it truly is and point to the Cross. Remember who is influencing who and why.

 

Tolerate others, but communicate and demonstrate the kingdom of God as an Ambassador through the Gospel light, without accepting or affirming that which is sin in the eyes of the Lord (as revealed in the Word of God, the Holy Bible. Redemptive kingdom work begins with building friendships on a common level in order to prove the opportunities to caringly share God’s love, grace and truth. Be able to talk and listen, discuss and debate why each feels the way that they do, shed some light and find mutual understanding of where they are coming from, even if it only leads to differing views, philosophies and ideologies. Ephesians 2:1 tells us that the fact is God has the power and desire to make alive, those who were dead in trespasses and sins. That salvation and restoration should be the Christian’s desire also. There is no harmony or peace in sin, just chaos and death. 1 John 3:4 tells us, “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.”

Is it loving or unloving to take the action to save someone from certain death and spending eternity in Hell? Is it loving or unloving desire eternal life in Heaven for someone when they pass from this life, and lasting love, joy, peace and contentment in their soul now? Even if it is not possible to be at peace with all, it should always be the goal. You may just win another soul for Christ in the process. 

 

The third of four unavoidable realities on this issue of disputes is (4) that when God’s Number One goal is not possible, then put on the “full armor of God” and stand. The Hebrew word “Satan” means "an accuser, an adversary, one who resists." The word “devil” is the descriptive name of Satan in the Christian Greek Scriptures, which means “Slanderer.” Satan was given the name Devil because he is the chief and foremost slanderer and false accuser of Jehovah, His good word, and His holy name. 

Let's continue Pastor Kyle's message on "who is offending who" in the next post.

In Christ, Brian