The Flock - Part 3

Ephesians 4:4-6 “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”

 

Pastor Herk continues that the ritual of “water baptism” is an outward expression of an inward change that has taken place in our lives after we have placed our faith and trust in Christ. 

 

John 3:16-18, 35-36 “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. The Father loves the Son and has entrusted all things to His hand. The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

 

Thirdly, there is one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. There is unity in the body of Believers that is brought about through the work of the Holy Spirit. That body of Believers came into existence through the work of the Son because it flows from the Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. We live in a fallen world due to sin. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Sin is defined 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.

 

This means that due to original sin and the sin nature in all that causes us all to continue to sin, everyone will pay the wages of sin by death in this life and eternal damnation in Hell, unless they individually believe that God exists, repents of sin, believes by faith that merciful God by grace alone sent Jesus Christ alone as a free gift to die on the Cross in their place for the payment of sin in full, and that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day to conquer sin and death forever in God’s plan of Salvation. 

 

Unfortunately, many are saying that since He is “God of all”, so everyone is a child of God. There are the same people that claim there are many roads to reach God, and it doesn’t rather which road you take, as long as you are sincere. They are sincerely wrong. But, to believe that claim, everyone would have to ignore and reject everything written in the Bible about God’s Plan and Way to Salvation. Jesus Christ is Plan “A”, and there isn’t a Plan “B”. It is not surprising that God didn’t provide many paths to Salvation. What is amazing is that sovereign God provided any path at all.   

 

John 1:11-13 says that in Christ’s redemption road from Heaven to Earth in God’s plan of Salvation, He came to His own, and His own people did not accept 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 a man, but of God. When the Apostle Paul writes that there is one God of all, he is clearly saying that this is only true within the context of “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 a man, but of God”, which are born again Believers in Christ, also known as the Christian church. 

 

In Matthew 16:15-18 Jesus asked, “But who do you yourselves say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him,  ,,, “upon this rock [this Truth of Who I am] I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” And true Believers are to be unified because they have the same Heavenly Father. In Galatians 3:26-28 the Apostle Paul confirms, “For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

 

The Christian church focuses far too much on our differences. But, do they all believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that came from Heaven to earth to go to the Cross, died for our sins and rose on the third day? And then we have the promise of eternal life through the Holy Spirit? Focusing on differences is a distraction that destroys the unity that God has established among His children. The enemy says: “divide and conquer”, so focus on what the Christian church has in common as the unified Good Shepherd’s flock. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are in unity, as are the children of God flocking together. If we are to be a part of God’s family, then we are to follow God’s holy Word, Will and Way as our example. Focus on the things that unite us rather than the things that divide us.    

 

In Christ, Brian

The Flock - Part 2

Ephesians 4:4-6 “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”

 

Pastor Herk continued that the second tie is though the work of God the Son. Our passage of Scripture says “one Lord, one faith, one baptism”. The Lord is at the center of this seven-fold unity. There is to be unity in the body of Christ and there can only be one Lord, and that one Lord is the head of the body, Jesus Christ; the very center of who we are as Christians. In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” But unfortunately, in our culture today Jesus has even become the source of division among Believers who claim to follow Him as Lord. Many have a false Jesus that they have fashioned in their mind to fit the immoral life-style and prideful ethics of their own sinful flesh desires. Unique individuals would come up with unique answers to what Jesus world do in specific situations based upon their egotistic covetous cravings to justify their ungodly behavior, in essence saying “the I know would do what I want to do”.  

 

During His earthly ministry, Jesus performed many miraculous healings by many supernatural methods. We can get our focus on Jesus’ methods rather than making Him Lord and Savior; realizing that all we need is the one Lord Jesus. Because there is only one Lord, there is only one faith. In theology, faith is defined as the assent of the mind or understanding to the truth of what God has revealed. Simple belief of the scriptures, of the being and perfections of God, and of the existence, character and doctrines of Christ, founded on the testimony of the sacred writers, is called historical or speculative faith. Evangelical, justifying, or saving faith, is the assent of the mind to the truth of divine revelation, on the authority of God's testimony, accompanied with a cordial assent of the will or approbation of the heart; an entire confidence or trust in God's character and declarations, and in the character and doctrines of Christ, with an unreserved surrender of the will to his guidance, and dependence on his merits for salvation. In other words, that firm belief of God's testimony, and of the truth of the gospel, which influences the will, and leads to an entire reliance on Christ for salvation. Are you faithful Followers of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? 

 

Ephesians 3:14-19 “I bend my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner self, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints [whose who have been sanctified] what is the width and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.” Faith is connected to Jesus Christ. There is only one kind of faith that can save a Sinner; saving faith is clearly defined as trusting Jesus Christ alone for eternal life. So, only one true body of belief in one true doctrine centered in the teachings and finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross and the resurrection that unites us, trusting completely in Him as the basis for our relationship with almighty Father God.  

 

Romans 6:3-4 “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.” The third element of God the Son’s work is one baptism. The Greek word for “baptism” in this passage is “baptisma”, meaning immersion, submersion, so of Christian baptism; baptism is a rite of immersion in water as commanded by the Lord Jesus Christ, by which one after confessing his sins and professing his faith in Christ, having been baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for the cleansing of sin, been born again by the Holy Spirit unto a new life, identifies publicly with the fellowship of Christ and the church. In John 3:5-6Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit.

 

1 Corinthians 12:13 “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” The Greek word here for “baptism” here is “baptizo”, meaning to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water, to wash one's self, bathe. Are you washed in the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb of God for the forgiveness in sin? The Holy Spirit is the instrument and means by which we are baptized. The indwelling Holy Spirit is given to born again Believers at baptism to guide them in life, but who gives us the Holy Spirit? Mark 1:7-8says that John the Baptist was preaching, saying, “After me One [Christ who has strength of soul to sustain the attacks of Satan, strong and therefore exhibiting many excellences] is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to bend down and untie the straps of His sandals. I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Baptism points to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Let's conclude Pastor Herk's message  on the Flock of Jesus in the next post. In Christ, Brian

The Flock - Part 1

 

Ephesians 4:4-6 “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”

 

Last Sunday, Pastor Herk continued in his sermon series through the Pauline epistle of Ephesians and preached about the seven ties which bond Believers together based on the unity of God Himself. There is an old idiom that states: "birds of a feather flock together,” meaning people who have similar interests, ideas, or characteristics tend to  seek out or associate with one another. There are all kinds of ties that bind us with others people; strong family ties, sports, hobbies, common beliefs and et cetera. In the church, the Holy Spirit establishes the unity of Christ-followers. Christians need to be bonded together in unity to improve, maintain and preserve that common body in the purposes of God, the Father of all who is over all and through all and in all, with Christ as the head.     

 

The key word in the Bible passage above is “one”. The Greek word used seven times in this passage is “Heis”, meaning “one” as opposed to “many”. True consecrated and sanctified Followers of Christ are united in one body of Believers with the same calling and hope in the same faith and baptism by the same One and only Holy Spirit over, through and in the same One and only almighty Creator God. The body is not divided or exists in separate parts because have one and the same common God and purpose. Romans 12:4-5 “For just as we have many parts in one body and all the body’s parts do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually parts of one another.” In Christ, the body of Believers is complete, as "birds of a feather flock together”. These bonds are soul deep and profounder than any ties based on common causes or interests. The blood of Christ in the family of God is eternally thicker than all other ties that bind, because they find their roots in God Himself. Ephesians 4:3 be diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

 

The seven ties which bond Believers together reveals the work of the three members of the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and how they take effect in the lives of Believers. The Trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, work in perfect unity to accomplish the purposes of God. God exists as Father, Son and Holy Spirit in a community of greater humility, servanthood and mutual submission, and delight than you or I can even imagine; three and yet One (1x1x1=1). It is the oneness of God that is the model for God’s people. The overall principle is the oneness of Believers is based on the oneness of God.    

 

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling. One body, one hope and one calling are clearly the work of the Holy Spirit, who causes a person to see his or her sin as a wicked transgression and inequity against a just and holy Creator God, convicts the soul of evil turpitude deserving Hell, and illuminates the need of a Savior. It is the Holy Spirit that transforms the soul, converts the heart and regenerates the spirit to place sanctified people into the body of Believers of the universal church of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:13 “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” God never intended for Christ’s church to be divided by manmade Theology. Real Christianity is united in the Holy Word of God, united in the faith, united in the Creator of the world, united in the Savior of the world, united in proclaiming the Gospel, united in the Lord of all and His purposes as birds of a feather. Our competition is the sinful and dark God-rejecting world and denies Christ. We need all the power of God to reach that world with the message of repentance, forgiveness and salvation power of the Gospel that leads to “saving” faith. 

 

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen.” The Holy Spirit brings hope into our lives. Ephesians 1:13-14 tells us that in Jesus, “you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise, who is a first installment of our inheritance, in regard to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” The Lord Jesus tells us in John 14:16-17, 25-26 “ I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you. These things I have spoken to you while remaining with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I said to you.”

Let's continue Pastor Herk's message on God and the church in the next post.

In Christ, Brian

Heavenly Cause

 

This week Michael writes that Jesus gave His message on the Sermon on the Mount to enlighten the multitude about his purpose, and about redeeming them from the sin nature they inherited from Adam’s fall. All men and women have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. Jesus Christ defeated death, which is the consequence of sin, through his death and resurrection. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In Luke 14, Jesus said there are three things that you cannot do. First, He said, you need to love God above all. Second, you cannot live for your worldly possessions. Third, neither can you live for the praise of the world. Jesus said, if you are preparing to build a tower, you must first count the cost. What is it worth to you? Do you have the resources of time, materials, manpower and knowhow to build a tower that will not fall? Without proper preparation and planning, you will be laughed to scorn when you build the tower and it falls because you failed to plan.

When the crisis comes and courage is required, God expects his people to have such confidence in Him that they will be the reliable and dependable ones. There is safety in the midst of the crisis when we trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not unto our own understanding. As God said to the Apostle Paul said, “My strength is made perfect in your weakness… My grace is sufficient for you.” When a disciple is dedicated and convinced of the majesty, glory, and value of the cause to which they dedicated their life, then they will be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause. For though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me. If we have nothing to stand for, then we will fall for anything. If there is nothing worth dying for, then there is nothing worth living for.  

AW Tozer said, “Christ’s Savior-hood is tied to his lord-ship.” Can you accept Jesus Christ as Savior and not Lord? Many have been taught what it means to accept salvation. However, not many have been taught what it means to confess “Jesus is Lord.” There are many definitions of the word “saved.” These include, to be saved from danger and to be rescued or delivered from harm, death, and destruction. Another meaning of salvation is to be made whole. Salvation means to be made complete by receiving God’s gift of Holy Spirit. The word Lord means ruler … the one who has ownership and preeminence. To confess Jesus is Lord means to change ownership. It means that I am no longer the owner of my own life. It means that my life is hid in Christ with God. Christianity is not “who we are.” Christianity is “WHOSE we are.”

What is the cost of following your cause? The greatest response is the response to the most difficult challenge. Jesus Christ challenged the multitude that followed Him around. Most of them were drawn to Him to witness the signs, miracles, and wonders he did. As Mother Theresa said, God works best with nothing. The first of the Beatitudes says, blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall inherit the earth. God cannot fill us unless we come to him with empty hands.

Christianity is not a part-time job. The key to living life more abundantly is to live for the heavenly cause to which he called us: that we would glorify God by living to the praise of the glory of His grace. If we worship the things of this world  (the people we love, worldly wealth and possessions, or the praise and accolades of others), then we have the wrong god. The first of the Ten Commandments says in the Aramaic text, thou shalt have no other gods between your face and my face. Why? Because when we love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, this is the first and great commandment.

There is an order of priority in love. For a parent, the best way to love your children is to love their spouse. The best way to love your spouse is to love the Lord Jesus Christ. There are always irreconcilable differences between husbands and wives. Jesus Christ is the one who reconciles. He is the one who breaks down the middle walls of partition between our hearts and God’s heart so that we can be reconciled together in fellowship with God and with others in the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus that in having prepared our hearts to live for the cause of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, we will love God above all in the unity of the spirit, that we may forever live to the praise of the glory of God’s grace,

Your brother in. Christ, Michael

Unified - Part 3

 

Ephesians 4:1-3 “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

 

Pastor Herk continues that the second sanctifying principle is that our attitudes do not create unity, but my attitudes preserve or destroy unity. There are certain attitudes which are crucial to living and walking in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. We as followers of Jesus Christ are not responsible for creating unity in the body, but we are called to have an attitude that encourages and preserves unity. 

Ephesians 2:14-15 “For He [Jesus] Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the hostility, which is the Law composed of commandments expressed in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two one new person, in this way establishing peace.” This pertains to the body of Believers; the corporate universal church and the individual local Christian churches in the world. That unity is in established in the church’s foundational vertical relationship with God and preserved in the horizontal relationship of Believers.  

 

Romans 12:15-18 says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never repay evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all people. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people.” Focus on the attitudes that promote peace and unity for the common good. Four attitudes that promote peace and unity are (1) Humility – defined as: (a) In ethics, freedom from pride and arrogance; humbleness of mind; a modest estimate of one's own worth. (b) In theology, humility consists in lowliness of mind; a deep sense of one's own unworthiness in the sight of God, self-abasement, penitence for sin, and submission to the divine will. It means that we can put the needs of others ahead of our own. Without a doubt, the best example of humility is Jesus Christ. The Blessed Savior of the world exemplified humility, putting the need of us all and went to the Cross to save us. 

 

The second attitude is (2) Gentleness – defined as: a genteel behavior. Softness of manners; mildness of temper; sweetness of disposition; meekness. Kindness; benevolence. Tenderness. In our culture, the word meekness carries with it a connotation of weakness, but is actually “power under control”. In Matthew 11:29Jesus invites us to, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” In being yoked to Jesus in gentle rest and humble peace is unity in the body of Believers, in which preservation is uncomplicated task. 

 

The third attitude we need is (3) Patience – defined as: the suffering of afflictions, pain, toil, calamity, provocation or other evil, with a calm, unruffled temper; endurance without murmuring or fretfulness. Patience may spring from constitutional fortitude, from a kind of heroic pride, or from Christian submission to the divine will. A calm temper which bears evils without murmuring or discontent. The act or quality of waiting long for justice or expected good without discontent. The Greek word is “makrothymia”, meaning endurance, constancy, steadfastness, perseverance, patience, forbearance, longsuffering, slowness in avenging wrongs. Galatians 5:22-23 tells us that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, Tolerance, self-control; against such things there is no law.” It is the quality of self-restraint in the face of provocation, which does not hastily retaliate or promptly punish. Have a “long fuse”. It is the spirit which bears insult and injury without bitterness or complaint. It is the spirit that can suffer unpleasant people with graciousness and fools without irritation. It means that we willing to put up with those who are less spiritually mature and ignorant.  

 

The fourth attitude we need is (4) bearing with one another. Unity in the body of Christ does not mean uniformity. God gave us different personalities, talents, abilities and gifts in order to work together. We need to honor, respect and make allowances for the uniqueness of each individual part of the church’s body of Believers. We are not to tolerate blatant sin, but we are to sincerely tolerate those who are different than us, bearing with one another. It is a unified decision to love. Maintain unity in the church.

 

In Christ, Brian   

 

Unified - Part 3

 

John 3:3 Jesus responded and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone

is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

 

Pastor Herk continues that salvation from sin, redemption and forgiveness, escape from God’s justified wrath and eternal damnation, adoption and reconciliation into the family of God, and citizenship with eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven is not something that we were just naturally born into and no control over; we are born-again into this by repentance and acceptance of God’s free gift unto justification (the remission of sin and absolution from guilt and punishment; or an act of free grace by which God pardons the sinner and accepts him as righteous, on account of the atonement of Christ). Making the choice to accept and believe by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross as Divine Savior for the payment in full of our rebellious sins, and as the risen Lord of our life ongoing in this earthly existence until we join together with Him in in glorification in the kingdom of Heaven for eternity. The lifelong journey of walking with the Lord and the indwelling Holy Spirit as our guide is a constantly learning experience of growing into the likeness of Christ, called sanctification, which is the act of making holy. In an evangelical sense, the act of God's grace by which the affections of consecrated men and women are set apart for a sacred purpose, purified or alienated from sin and the God-rejecting world, and exalted to a supreme love to God. 

 

Philippians 1:27 “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.”

 

The sanctifying first principle that our practice doesn’t determine our position, but our position does determine our practice applies to the born-again Christian’s walk because the way that we live our lives does not determine our position; God determines our position. The Apostle urges us to live a life worthy of the calling with which you have been called and of the calling you have received. What is it that we need to be worthy of? All spiritual blessings from God, from being chosen by God to being filled with all the fullness of God, which establishes our position in Christ by what Jesus has done for us. Our position, however, determines our practice, the sanctification process in our walk on life’s journey, balancing with our Christian doctrine (position) and corresponding with action to our calling (practice). A child of God is to live, think and act as a child of God. We are to walk worthy of our calling, which is a call to walk on a plain that is commensurate with the position that we have in Christ.     

 

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

 

Some Christians are primarily oriented to experiences and thrive under the teaching and exercise of spiritual gifts in practice. This is where their focus is. But, they find the positional, doctrinal teaching dry and impractical, therefore out of balance. Generally accepted doctrine (ecclesiastical teachings for the Christian church) is orthodoxy (church tenets and beliefs). It gives correctness of godly thought without the without the practical vitality of the life of Christ. We have to think about Christ’s life and practical aspect of that life was for us. But, practice without godly doctrine of the Christian faith leads to misconnection of meanings or aberrations and wrong feelings in holy Scripture that then lead to easily going off in the wrong direction. The Word of God is doctrine that God put there for us to follow. Salvation and sanctification in living the Christian life comes from the Christian doctrine. As important as each are, we cannot attach too much in importance to one and not the other, otherwise we become out of balance. We need both doctrine (position) and godly action (practice) working together. Practice is the result of the doctrine that we have learned and the proof of its divine nature in growing in the knowledge of God and of good fruit.   

 

Colossians 1:10-14 “so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all perseverance and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” All this is because of what Jesus did on the Cross. That common position in Christ is a crucial unifying factor; members of the same body of Believers. 

Let's conclude Pastor Herk's message on Christian unity in the next Post.

In Christ, Brian

Unified - Part 2

Ephesians 4:1-3 “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

 

Pastor Herk continues that it is important that the Christian church doesn‘t get sidetracked from its purpose. One of the major distractions for the church is in putting too much importance on “growth” in membership. The Christian church needs to be concerned about accomplishing our five purposes (Membership, Maturity, Missions, Ministry, and Magnification) and lives touched for Christ. If there is balance in these purposes, then God will see that the growth will naturally happen. All churches have not problem with fellowship within the church family members; that part is easy. The harder pieces are involvement in ministries outside the church, mission projects, teaching and small groups, encouraging to grow in the knowledge of God, the Word and Christ as mature Christians.    

 

In this day and age, divisions within the church occur mainly due to personality differences more than theological differences. There is a selfish, “me first” focus at this time and that attitude needs to be set aside in order to meet the needs of others. In the past, doctrinal issues and heretical teachings were the main causes of divisional splits in denominations and individual churches, but today the scenario has changed to conflicting and protracted struggle and oppositional clash between interests and ideas of strong-willed individuals that are tearing the church apart. Power, popularity, passion,  persuasion, and pomp politics take priority over piety and probity before Almighty God. 

 

Splits find their roots in our fervor to make ourselves, our needs, our goals, our opinions, or our Theology the most important things in the church. This is the “Me, myself and I” factor of a self-centered, individualistic mindset that causes separation and create cliques. They are usually organized around power and popularity. Leaders of such groups often are charismatic and controlling. Members of the group rely on exclusivity and very strict internal codes to establish and maintain the idea that they are something special. They have no tolerance and feel that unless something represents their particular views or conforms to their positions and beliefs, then it is absolutely not acceptable. But, if the Word of God says it, that settles it. Obey the Lord. St. Augustine of Hippo stated: “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.” 

 

This is what the Apostle Paul was saying in Ephesians 4:1-3 about making every effort and being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is a danger to the faith when we do not have unity. He stress what God has done for us in salvation and providence, then focuses on our response in light of that fact and stressing the need for unity in the body as we apply these Christian life principles. Two principles here are (1) that our practice doesn’t determine our position, but our position does determine our practice. Being “born again” in Christ grants us conversion adoption into the family of God. We don’t do anything to earn that position of Child of God. It is strictly a function of our Heavenly Father’s actions. That position that the consecrated and sanctified Christian has plays has a great impact on the way that they attempt to live their life. 

 

John 1:12-14 “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 a man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. It is a redemptive reality into the eternal kingdom of Heaven, yet there is pressure in a fallen world. Yet, we relish our position in Christ. John 3:16-18, 35-36 explains our eternal choice stating, “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. The Father loves the Son and has entrusted all things to His hand. The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

 

Because of the Fall of Man and God’s offer of Salvation, everyone is in the position of making a choice. It is not amazing that God doesn’t save everyone after the Fall’s rebellious doubt, inequity and unbelief. The amazing thing is that our Just and holy Creator gives everyone a choose for forgiveness and salvation, redemption and reconciliation, eternal life, adoption and citizenship in Heaven at all. We all voluntarily choose of reject or accept the free gift of salvation in the atoning and redemptive death of Jesus Christ on the Cross in our place for our sins and receiving eternal life. The Apostle John confirms this in 1 John 5:11-13 “And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” That is the unified Gospel truth.

Let's continue Pastor Herk's message on Christian Unity in the next post.

In Christ, Brian

Unified - Part 1

 

Ephesians 4:1-3 “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

 

Pastor Herk continued in his sermon series in the Pauline Epistle of Ephesians. From the above Bible passage, we focus in the theme of this message is unity. We think of unity in the family, in the community, in the nation, and in Christ’s church; and the key in order to preserve unity for each is our attitude and focus. As a sovereign nation, the United States of America’s Pledge of Allegiance states: "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all" , and should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart; one nation unified. 

 

Romans 1:19-25 “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.—who is forever praised. Amen.” 

 

You may have noticed that in the nation, that there are various major division in in morals and ethics within many families, communities, national politics, and even in Christ’s church  as “In God We Trust” of the Judeo/Christian foundations of this country is reduced and “In Man We Trust” of secular humanism usurps the biblical standards that establish and maintain the unified moral compass of God’s creatures. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator. In a world that is fallen in sin, there is always the light of truth revealed in God’s Word, Will and Way, but there is the darkness of rebellious inequity, unbelief and wickedness. True justice is based on a real, just and holy Creator God, who is the true measure of all things. 

 

John 17:17 “ Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” The Father of our Country and First President of the United States stated: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens.”Founding Father and Second President of the United States of America stated: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” The nation’s Liberty, Freedom, Justice and unity fought for, preserved and enjoyed for over 200 years are under divisive attack today by godless darkness. Even nominal Christian churches are acquiescing and splitting due to abandonment of God and His God’s foundational truth standards and commandments for political correctness, new tolerance and sinful social acceptance. The attacks on God and country are the classic battle between good and evil, love and hate, faith and unbelief. 

 

Fractures within local bodies of Believers occur more often than we realize, and most times not over theological issues, but pagan political issues, secular interpersonal relationship, conflicting individual personalities, fleshy personal human preferences and exclusive materialistic or hedonistic social-clicks. That is not what the Christian church is about. All godly and Spirit-led ministries in the church are important. The church has five purposes: (1) Membership – the family of God and fellowship of Believers. (2) Maturity – teaching and strengthening disciples of Christ as they grow in faith and knowledge of our Lord. (3) Missions – The Great Commission of Christ’s Evangelism to makes disciples of all nations. (4) Ministry – Demonstrating God’s love to others through ministering inside the church and outside in the community. (5) Magnification – Lovingly worshipping, exalting and glorifying God through the church. Unified in purpose.   

Let's continue PAstor Herk's message on being "Unified in Christ" in the next post.

In Christ, Brian

Good News / Bad News - Part 2

 

Mark 13:5-6 Jesus, answering them, began to say: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and will deceive many.”

False prophets lead God’s people/Christ’s flock astray, especially in the church. They look like the sheep on the outside but on the inside but they are ravenous wolves, fleecing the flock. Their fruit will reveal their hearts. They outwardly appear to be Christian, but their heart is not conformed to the image of Christ, they proclaim a false Christ. Some have even deceived themselves. Like the Pharisees, in the vanity of their own minds they teach that their performance and actions merit righteousness in their own power. Only God can reveal the deception of false prophets. Without the Holy Spirit that convicts our own hearts when we sin, we cannot spot the sin in the lies of the deceiver and his false prophets.  

To identify the counterfeit means that you know the characteristics of the genuine; in the church the genuine is the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ. Unless we know the Lord and His Word, we cannot perceive the false teachings of false prophets. In Matthew 12:33-37, Jesus said, the tree is known by its fruit. The good man brings from his heart good fruit. The evil man brings from his heart evil fruit. A false prophet will be convicted by his own words and actions which are contrary to the Word of Truth. False prophets say there is good news but they do not reveal the consequences of the bad news; that the wages of sin is death and that there is a broad way of the world that leads to destruction. 

 

The good news, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, confronts sin and death. The point of repentance is when we humble our hearts under the mighty hand of God. Repentance starts with brokenness, meekness, and humility. Blessed are the poor in spirit who are broken and mourn over the sin that separates our heart from God’s heart. To enter into the narrow gate starts with understanding that “in my flesh dwells no good thing,” for there is none good but God. Then in meekness and humility I can turn from my selfish self, turn around in repentance and follow Christ. Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

The good news of ‘life in the spirit of life’ in Christ is bad news for the “old man” of the fallen flesh, the natural man born of Adam’s fallen in sin seed. To turn from the sin nature and the wicked sin that separated us from God is to die to self and live for Christ. Therefore, the ‘true’ disciple of Christ is an example of Galatians 2:20... I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me, that we may live to the praise of the glory of His grace! Praise the Lord!

Your brother in Christ, Michael

 

Good News / Bad News - Part 1

 

This week Michael writes that the way of Jesus Christ is not the difficult path … it’s the impossible path. Apart from God’s Spirit, we cannot approach our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said in Matthew 7:1-5, if we are continuously judgmental in judging others, we’re subject to the same measure of judgement from God Himself. You cannot see to remove the speck in your brother’s eye until you yank the plank from your own eye. The plank is the two by four of judgmentalism. If we think we’re superior in our own power, then we have the greater sin. Our righteousness is in Christ alone. In the very next verse Matthew 7:6, Jesus goes on to say in “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.” To determine who are the dogs and swine, you must judge, but a continuous judgmental attitude is not godly. The intent of reproof and correction is to restore fallen individuals back to an right position before the Lord.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, I am the narrow gate and the narrow way that leads to life eternal. The broad way of the world leads to sin, death, and destruction. In Matthew 7:15-17, Jesus reminded the multitude about false prophets who come to destroy the flock. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing. They appear to be righteous, but they are actually ravenous wolves. Jesus asked, how can you recognize a false prophet? Then he said, you shall know them by their fruit. A bad tree produces poisonous rotten fruit but a good tree produces good fruit. He didn’t call us to be judges. Instead he called us to be fruit inspectors. These false prophets stand by the entrance to the narrow gate to distractingly tempt those who would enter into the narrow gate. They say, don’t enter into the narrow gate. Instead you need to be “tolerant of sin.” However, the broad way of the world tolerates the lies of the devil and leads to destruction and eternal damnation.  

Jesus warned the multitude about the false teachings of the Pharisees. These Con-artists do everything to be seen of men and women. They are concerned about their own vanity and vain glory. Their drug of choice is the praise of men and women. They preach about their own made-up laws that are contrary to the Word of God. They clean the outside of the cup, but inside of the cup is rottenness and the stain of sin Their rules are fear-based and works-based. Though they say that you can, no one can follow their impossible self-serving commands. They outwardly appear as righteous men and women. Jesus said, You are like whitewashed sepulchers… graveyards that appear green, beautiful and carefully manicured on the outside. But inside you are full of dead men’s bones.

False prophets never tell about the judgment of sin; of missing the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. They are “unconscious hypocrites” that never examine whether a person has come to the Cross of Christ on God’s terms. They deny the consequences of sin and iniquity, which is of the fallen nature we inherited from Adam’s fall. They distract the unwary from the truth of the spiritual battle. They speak flattering words that appeal to vanity, pride, and self-sufficiency. They say, you can make it on your own. You deserve to be in the limelight, to be front and center. You deserve the praise of men and women. Jesus said, They seem to draw nigh unto God with great flattering words of eloquence, they say seem to say the right things, but it’s for their own vain glory instead of to God’s glory.

Let's continue Michael's message on "true and false" in the next Post.

In Christ, Brian

Guilt - Part 3

Ephesians 2:1-3 “You He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the 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.”

 

Pastor Sproul asks: How can we make up for a crime against God? How much time do we have to spend to make it right, to atone for offenses against an infinitely holy being? In the categories of biblical justice, our sins against God are infinitely heinous. That means we are unable to do the time. There is nothing we possibly could do to make up for our shortfall. Most people do not understand that the debt, the moral debt, we owe to God is so vast we never can repay it. So they say to themselves, “God is a God of love; He’s a God of mercy; He will never require payment.” They’re hoping against hope that God will adjust His standards to meet them where they are, that He will give the human race a plenary indulgence and not going to hold them personally accountable for their guilt. Many millions of people are counting on that. Jesus taught over and over again that there will be a final accounting, and that every idle word that you and I speak will be brought into the judgment. 

As we have seen, we have real guilt before God. Maybe the reason you feel guilty is because you are guilty and compromised your integrity. You have violated the law of God. It’s important for us to understand that nothing we can do can make our guilt before God go away. The law is based ultimately on God’s own personal character. We can try, by many acts of penance, to make restitution for our violations of God’s law. However, the guilt always remains. In the final analysis, I said, the reason to obey the law against sex outside of marriage for example is not merely to escape painful consequences but to avoid offending the just holiness of God. So to ask the question, “What do you do with your guilt?” is simply to ask the question, “How do you live with yourself?” How do we live with our innate knowledge of what we have done and of who we are? We are objectively guilty in God’s sight—and we must deal with that guilt. 

The good news is that God has given us a way to deal with our guilt. In fact, we might say that the whole message of the Christian faith is the proclamation of God’s solution to a problem we cannot solve ourselves. He has made a provision to deal with the reality of guilt, and He does it on the basis of real forgiveness, which is one of the most liberating, freeing, healing experiences of the human soul. That’s the good news of the Christian message. That’s the power of forgiveness, for what happens in forgiveness, according to the Scriptures, is renewal. God’s answer is not to paint a big red ‘S’ for Sinner on your chest and make you walk through the community in shame and embarrassment. The answer to guilt is always forgiveness. The only thing I know of that can cure real guilt is real forgiveness. What you need to do is get by yourself, get down on your knees, and tell God what you have done. Tell Him that you’re sorry and ask Him to forgive you and to make you clean , experiencing the forgiveness of Christ, not just in a symbolic sense but in a real way. 

Whenever we break the law of God, we incur objective guilt. We may deny that the guilt is there. We may seek to excuse it or deal with it in other ways, but still the reality is that we have the guilt.  I believe it is one of the mercies of God that He protects us from having to feel the full weight of the guilt that we actually have incurred in His sight. The only cure for real guilt is real forgiveness based on real repentance and real faith. Try to live the Christian life on the basis of Scripture, because Scripture is objective truth that transcends the immediacy of a person’s experience. Ultimately, the only source of real forgiveness is God. If we deny our guilt, we are simply fooling ourselves with self-deception. We all sin. Therefore, we all contract guilt. 1 John 1:8-9 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” What, then, are you trusting—your feelings or the truth of God? You’re a debtor who can’t pay your debts. All you can do is cry unto God 

Pastor Sproul asks: “Do you believe in Satan?” I know that we live in a time and in a culture that has an almost totally secular worldview. It has no room for supernatural beings, but the Scriptures take Satan very seriously. We need to understand that while Satan does indeed tempt Christians, his primary work in the lives of believers is accusation. That’s his favorite pastime. His very name means “slanderer.” Why would Satan invest so much time and energy in accusing people who have been forgiven of their sins? As the archenemy of God and His church, Satan wants to paralyze us, to rob us of our freedom, to take away from us our joy and our delight in the free grace of God. The difficulty lies in the fact that God the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, whereas Satan accuses us of sin. The same sin may produce both conviction and accusation. 

When the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, He does so to bring us to repentance and, ultimately, to bring us to reconciliation with God, to forgiveness, to healing, and to cleansing. In other words, when the Spirit of God convicts us of sin, His entire purpose and entire motive is redemptive. When Satan accuses us, perhaps of the same sin, his purpose is to destroy us. It takes wisdom, persistence, and saturation in the truth of God to discern the difference. The way to silence the Accuser is to confess our sins before God and believe the Word of God, even as Jesus did in His temptation experience. The only support system we have for standing in the presence of God as sinners who have violated the law of God is the forgiveness that God gives us in Jesus Christ. We need real forgiveness. But that real forgiveness requires real repentance and real faith, and without real repentance and real faith there is no real forgiveness to real guilt before God. Our guilt should drive us to search for the way of forgiveness and reconciliation that God provides for His people; it should drive us to the cross, where Christ paid the price for our transgressions. 

In Christ, Brian

Guilt - Part 2

 

Pastor Sproul continues: Let me return now to the question: What do you do with your guilt? You have every right to respond to me by saying: “What guilt? You’re assuming that I have guilt.” That is true, but I can make that assumption based on my theological and biblical perspective. Ever lie, cheat, steal, lust or hate; nobody’s perfect. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:19–23). They know that they have broken the law of God. That’s why, when I ask this question, I do not start by arguing that there is such a thing as guilt. I can assume that people understand the reality of guilt. Manifestly and unambiguously, the Scriptures teach here not only the reality of human guilt but the universality of it. God has declared the whole world and every person in it to be guilty of breaking His law. 

The word sin in the New Testament in the Greek language, harmartia, literally means “to miss the mark.” It was borrowed from the sport of archery. But when it is carried over into the theological categories of the New Testament, we’re not talking about shooting arrows at targets, we’re talking about life. We’re talking about reaching the standard of the perfection of God’s law, and the Scriptures say that no one has hit the mark. Everyone falls short of the standard of righteousness, the standard of moral conduct that has been established by God Himself. Because that’s the case, every- one in the world is guilty before God. 

“What do you do with your guilt?” I’m talking about the person’s guilt before God. The most frequent response to that question is this: “It’s God’s job to forgive.” It’s one thing to adjust the sight on the bow or to reduce the distance to the target, and it’s another thing to ask God to adjust His character. Remember, the law of God flows out of the character of God, and His laws are righteous because He is righteous. He will not adjust the law that reflects His perfection to accommodate you and me. As long as He doesn’t adjust that law, we remain guilty before that law. 

We know from the study of psychology that there is probably nothing more paralyzing to human action than unresolved guilt feelings. Such feelings paralyze people. That’s why, when we are confronted with guilt feelings, we need to deal with them. Unfortunately, all too often, we attempt to deal with our guilt and guilt feelings by man-made methods. When we wrestle with the question of what we do with our guilt, at least on the human level, we are asking how we can make up for our guilt. We want to know what we can do to set the scales of justice back on an even plane. In some cases, we can make restitution or endure certain punitive measures. But what about our guilt before God? God does exist. 

Pastor Sprout states that some people in denial say: “I don’t believe I have guilt in God’s sight.” Not caring about God’s response to one’s guilt does not make the guilt go away. The Scriptures teach us that God has published His law plainly, not by putting it on billboards or on national tele- vision, but by giving us a record of His moral law in the written Scriptures. God has published His moral law not only on the tablets of stone that were delivered from Mount Sinai by Moses and became part of the inscripturated Bible, He has written His law on the hearts of His creatures. This means that every human being has an innate sense of what is right and wrong. Simply put, God has published His law in a place that no one can miss—it’s not in some obscure law book tucked away on a back shelf in a library; rather, it is in our hearts. When the Bible speaks of the heart in this context, it obviously is referring to the idea of the conscience. So whether we like it or even acknowledge it, we cannot change the reality that we have some grasp of what is right and what is wrong. 

Because of that shame, our behavioral patterns change. Not only that, our ethic, our moral expectations, not simply for other people but for ourselves, also changed. We’ve adjusted our ideals downward. We adjusted our code of behavior downward. We adjusted our morality downward. Why? So that we could have an ethic we could live, a moral code that was within reach, one that would give our conscience rest and peace, and would leave us with a good feeling about ourselves instead of a rotten feeling. In essence, We’re living in denial of our guilt. I am convinced that many people, if not all people, go through a similar process of denial. 

There’s a very real sense in which we are to act carefully according to the direction of this inner voice of God that we call “conscience.” But we must remember that for us to be wise in following the dictates of our conscience, we must first make sure that our consciences are informed by the Word of God. The Scriptures say that the silence at the final judgment will be maintained. Every mouth will be stopped, because there will be no excuses, no denials, no protestations of innocence, no alibis. Paul tells us that we are without excuse when we violate the law of God (Romans 1:20). In God’s court, we’re guilty, and nothing we can say can change it. It is absolutely futile for any human being to attempt to justify himself or herself before God. 

By way of analogy, the psychological pain that comes with guilt feelings is God’s way of sending an alarm to our souls that speaks to us and tells us there is something wrong that we need to deal with. But we try to get relief from the pain by denying it or excusing it rather than understanding that guilt feelings may, and often do, have a therapeutic and redemptive importance to our lives. 

Let's continue Pastor Sproul's message on "guilt" in the next post. In Christ, Brian

Guilt - Part 1

Pastor Sproul asks: What do you do with your guilt? This question often provokes a dramatic shift in the tenor of the discussion. It touches on something that is a visceral matter for many people, something that affects them at an existential level, so it moves the discussion beyond the abstract realm. In most instances, the person with whom I am speaking does not become angry when I ask this question. Sometimes the person will say that he has no guilt or that guilt is simply a term invented by religious people. Usually, however, the person treats the question seriously and tries to explain how he is dealing with guilt. This, I think, is evidence that every human being knows what guilt is. Every human being, at some level and at some point in his or her life, has to deal with it. 

What is guilt? In the first place, we have to say that guilt is not subjective but objective because it corresponds to an objective standard or reality. That leads me to the simplest definition of guilt that I can compose: Guilt is that which a person incurs when he violates a law. 

We understand how this works in the criminal justice system. If someone breaks a law, a statute that has been enacted by a government, and that person is apprehended for having broken the law, he may have to appear in court. But in any kind of trial, the key question is this: Is the person guilty? In other words, did the suspect do it? Did he or she transgress the law? When we talk about guilt, we’re talking about the transgression or violation of these rules or laws. 

The biblical view is that God is the supreme Lawgiver and that He holds every person who is alive accountable for conforming to His mandates. People have said to me on many occasions that Christianity is not about rules and regulations; it’s about love. That’s simply not true. Christianity is about love, but that is because love is one of the rules—God commands us to love Him and to love one another. Christianity is not just about rules and laws, but rules and laws decreed by God have been a fact of life since the day of creation. So if we define guilt as that which a person incurs when he violates a law, we incur supreme guilt when we break the law of God. That is because His law is perfect. It is never arbitrary. It does not reflect merely the vested interests of a particular lobby group, but the perfect, holy, righteous character of God Himself. 

I believe all of us have broken the law of God, but even if we have not violated God’s laws, we’ve certainly broken the laws of men. So all of us have experienced the objective situation of having transgressed a law. At some level, we all understand that there are certain things that are inherently wrong, and if we do those things, we incur guilt. 

PAstor Sprout says an interesting thing occurs when I ask people, “What do you do with your guilt?” I don’t ask what the person is going to do about his or her guilt feelings. My question has to do with his or her guilt. While these two are closely related, they are not precisely the same thing. The basic distinction is between objectivity and subjectivity. Feelings are things that personal beings experience. People are personal beings. They have minds and wills. Each of them has a feeling aspect in his or her life. So when we talk about guilt feelings, we’re talking about something that is personal and subjective. The lack of guilt feelings does not always indicate a lack of guilt. The mere fact that a person does not feel guilty says absolutely nothing about whether he actually broke the law.  

It is possible for people not to feel even the guilt they bear before God. We can be so practiced and habitual in her infidelity, we have lost any sense of embarrassment or shame. It is clear that there is often a large gap between objective guilt and the ensuing guilt feelings that flow from it. The Bible frequently speaks of the hardened heart, which causes a person no longer to feel remorse for his or her transgression. It is dangerous for us to rely totally on our guilt feelings to reveal to us the reality of our guilt itself because we can quench the pangs of conscience. The bottom line is that any time we experience feelings of guilt, we need to step back and ask ourselves as honestly as we possibly can, “Have I broken the law of God?” 

One of the easiest ways to manipulate people is to heap some kind of guilt upon them in an effort to shame or embarrass them into doing what we want. There are people who have become masters at guilt manipulation. The process of guilt manipulation can be very destructive and devastating in human relationships. But that’s a small problem compared to the other side of the coin. We can become professionals at silencing the feelings of real guilt. We live in a culture that teaches us that guilt feelings are inherently destructive because they undermine a person’s sense of self-esteem. Even in the realm of psychology today, we’re told that there’s something wrong about telling people that their behavior is sinful. The driving idea here is that we don’t want to tell anyone that his behavior is wrong because we might make him feel guilty, and if he feels guilty, he may suffer some kind of psychological distress. 

Let's continue Pastor Sproul's message on "Guilt" in the next post. In Christ, Brian

Both

 

Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

 

The Greek word for mammon is “Mamōnas”, which translates as riches; wealth; or the god, which you treasure; an idol. The old saying goes, “You cannot have it both ways.” Yet, how many say that they want God plus some other self-gratifying temptation that they love. The Greek word for “idol” is “Eidolon” meaning a false god; anything on which we set our affections more than God; 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 your face and God’s.

 

In Exodus 20:1-6 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, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

 

The Ten Commandments are known as the “Decalogue”. The statements of God quoted to Moses at Mt. Sinai in Exodus 20:1-17 and confirmed in Deuteronomy 5:6–21 are entitled "the ten words, or utterances" of God (Deca or Deka in Greek means “ten” and Logue means “discourse, or spoken word” – “Logos” means “Word of God”). By way of eminence, idolatry is a precept of the decalogue, or moral law, written on tables of stone, at Mount Sinai; the first of the ten commandments. Pastor Kennedy explains that the moral laws, reflect the eternal, holy, and unchangeable nature of God. All the moral laws are summed up in the Ten Commandments. God’s moral laws have never passed away and will never pass away. We must obey them always. We need the moral laws because they draw people to Christ. They restrain wicked people. They smash our pride and drive us to our knees. They guide us in the way we should live. In considering the moral laws, people make two basic errors. Some people believe they can save themselves by keeping the laws. Others believe just the opposite—that if they are saved, they don’t have to keep the moral laws. But God wants to create a perfect kingdom of righteousness where, in joyful and willing obedience, men and women yield themselves gladly to God’s eternal law because of their love for and gratitude to their Savior and Lord.

 

The Ten Commandments of God are not suggestions. A command of God is a mandate; an order or injunction given by sovereign authority for our good and well-being by our loving Creator, Father God. Every kingdom has a king over the domain. The Kingdom of Heaven is no exception. A king is defined as the chief or sovereign of a nation; a man invested with supreme authority over a nation, tribe or country; a monarch. Kings are absolute monarchs with sovereign dominion over their domain. The Creator has sovereign dominion over His creation in Heaven and the Universe. His holy and sovereign Word is subject to obedience by His subjects; his creatures of His creation. To disobey and defy a Commandment of the King is a rebellion deserving castigation. The devil’s lie is that we can be like God. That we should doubt God, so that we can have bothGod and our selfish heart’s desires (Mammon, whatever we treasure, idols), opening the door to sin and death. 

 

1 John 5:19-21 “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” Amen.

 

In Christ, Brian