BY:J.FARRELL FISHER, MAY 28,2019

I RECENTLY READ THOMAS ARNOLD’S COMMENT ABOUT ‘FALSE RELIGIONS’ WHEN IN THE “ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGIOUS QUOTATIONS”, (FLEMING H.REVELL COMP., WESTWOOD,NJ,,1965),HE SAID, “THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY & ALL OTHER SYSTEMS OF RELIGION CONSISTS LARGELY IN THIS, THAT IN THESE OTHERS, MEN ARE FOUND SEEKING AFTER GOD, WHILE CHRISTIANITY IS GOD SEEKING AFTER MEN.” SO TRUE! BECAUSE IT’S HOLY GOD KNOCKING ON THE DOORS OF MEN’S HEARTS ASKING TO BE INVITED IN!

PROVERBS 1:22-29 TELLS US OF ‘SCORNERS & FOOLS’ WHO DESPISE THE ETERNAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE “LIVING GOD”! IT SAYS: “HOW LONG, YOU SIMPLE ONES, WILL YOU LOVE SIMPLICITY? & THE SCORNERS DELIGHT IN THEIR SCORNING, & FOOLS HATE KNOWLEDGE? TURN YOU AT MY REPROOF: BEHOLD, I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT UNTO YOU, I WILL MAKE KNOWN MY WORDS UNTO YOU. BECAUSE I HAVE CALLED, & YOU REFUSED; I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HAND, & NO MAN REGARDED;

BUT YOU HAVE SET AT NOUGHT ALL MY COUNSEL, & WOULD (HAVE) NONE OF MY REPROOF: I ALSO WILL LAUGH AT YOUR CALAMITY; I WILL MOCK WHEN YOUR FEAR COMES; WHEN YOUR FEAR COMES AS DESOLATION, & YOUR DESTRUCTION COMES AS A WHIRLWIND; WHEN DISTRESS & ANGUISH COME UPON YOU.

THEN SHALL THEY CALL UPON ME, BUT I WILL NOT ANSWER; THEY SHALL SEEK ME EARLY, BUT THEY SHALL NOT FIND ME; FOR THAT THEY HATED KNOWLEDGE, & DID NOT CHOOSE THE FEAR OF THE LORD.”

HOW INSPIRING, HOW AWAKENING, HOW TRANSFORMING DO YOU FIND THE WORD OF GOD, AND ESPECIALLY AS IT UNFOLDS ‘FALLEN MEN’S BLINDNESS’ TO GOD’S LOVE, HIS MERCY, & HIS GRACE? IN ISAIAH 65:2-12 WE READ, GOD SPEAKING, “I HAVE SPREAD OUT MY HANDS ALL THE DAY UNTO A REBELLIOUS PEOPLE, WHICH WALK IN A WAY THAT WAS NOT GOOD (IS NOT NOW!), AFTER THEIR OWN THOUGHTS; A PEOPLE THAT PROVOKE ME TO ANGER CONTINUALLY TO MY FACE; ( A LOT OF PEOPLE ‘THINK’, ‘LOOK TOWARD’, EVEN ‘REFLECT UPON “GOD”, BUT THEN LOOK INWARD TO A SELFISH LEAN RATHER THAN UPWARD TO A SAVIOR’S LOVE!); THAT ‘SACRIFICE’ IN GARDENS, & BURN INCENSE UPON ALTARS OF BRICK; (CHRIST JESUS ISN’T ‘BRICK’; HE’S THE ETERNAL “BLESSING” OF THE MIND, HEART, & SPIRIT OF HOLY GOD!); WHICH REMAINS AMONG THE GRAVES, & LODGE IN THE MOUNTAINS, WHICH EAT SWINE’S FLESH, & BROTH OF ABOMINABLE THINGS IS IN THEIR VESSELS;

WHICH SAY, STAND BY YOURSELF, COME NOT NEAR TO ME; FOR I AM HOLIER THAN YOU. THESE ARE A SMOKE IN MY NOSE, A FIRE THAT BURNS ALL DAY. BEHOLD, IT IS WRITTEN BEFORE ME:I WILL NOT KEEP SILENCE, BUT WILL RECOMPENSE, EVEN RECOMPENSE INTO THEIR BOSOM. YOUR INIQUITIES, & THE INIQUITIES OF YOUR FATHERS TOGETHER, SAYS THE LORD, WHICH HAVE BURNED INCENSE UPON THE MOUNTAINS, & BLASPHEMED ME UPON THE HILLS; THEREFORE WILL I MEASURE THEIR FORMER WORK INTO THEIR BOSOM. (IS THAT “HARDENING THEIR HEARTS EVEN MORE”?).

THUS SAYS THE LORD, AS THE NEW WINE IS FOUND IN THE CLUSTER, & ONE SAYS, DESTROY IT NOT; FOR A BLESSING IS IN IT; SO WILL I DO FOR MY SERVANTS’ SAKES, THAT I MAY NOT DESTROY THEM ALL. AND I WILL BRING FORTH A SEED OUT OF JACOB, & OUT OF JUDAH AN INHERITOR OF MY MOUNTAINS; & MY ELECT SHALL INHERIT IT, & MY SERVANTS SHALL DWELL THERE. AND SHARON SHALL BE A FOLD OF FLOCKS, & THE VALLEY OF ACHOR A PLACE FOR THE HERDS TO LIE DOWN IN, FOR MY PEOPLE THAT HAVE SOUGHT ME. ( ARE “YOU” A SEEKER?).

BUT, YOU ARE THEY THAT FORSAKE THE LORD, THAT FORGET MY HOLY MOUNTAIN, THAT PREPARE A TABLE FOR THAT TROOP, & THAT FURNISH THE DRINK OFFERING UNTO THAT NUMBER. THEREFORE WILL I NUMBER YOU TO THE SWORD, & YOU SHALL ALL BOW DOWN TO THE SLAUGHTER: “BECAUSE” WHEN I CALLED, YOU DID NOT ANSWER; WHEN I SPOKE, YOU DID NOT HEAR; BUT DID EVIL BEFORE MY EYES, & DID CHOOSE THAT WHEREIN I DELIGHTED NOT.”

GOD SAYS, “I CALL, BUT YOU DON’T ANSWER?” “I KNOCK, BUT THE DOOR OF YOUR HEART, MIND, & WILL REMAINS UNDER YOUR SELF-PROTECTION?” “I LAY BEFORE YOU MY PROMISES, BUT YOU ‘REST’ IN YOUR PRETENSE?” OH, GOD ALSO SAYS, “I CRY, I MOURN, I LAMENT, OVER MEN,”LIKE THE WORD DELIVERED IN 1 TIMOTHY 6:1-6, & 11-12! IT SAYS: “LET AS MANY SERVANTS (ARE “YOU” A ‘SERVANT OF CHRIST” OR ONE CAPTURED BY ‘SELF-WILL, SATANIC INFLUENCES, WORLDLY, SELF-INDULGING IMPULSES’??).AS ARE UNDER THE YOKE COUNT THEIR OWN MASTERS (BOSSES) WORTHY OF ALL HONOR, THAT THE NAME OF GOD & HIS DOCTRINE BE NOT BLASPHEMED.

AND THEY THAT HAVE BELIEVING “BOSSES”, LET THEM NOT DESPISE THEM, BECAUSE THEY ARE BROTHERS; BUT RATHER DO THEM SERVICE, BECAUSE THEY ARE FAITHFUL & BELOVED, PARTAKERS OF THE BENEFIT. THESE THINGS TEACH & EXHORT. IF ANY MAN TEACH OTHERWISE, & CONSENT NOT TO WHOLESOME WORDS, EVEN THE WORDS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, & TO THE DOCTRINE WHICH IS ACCORDING TO GODLINESS (1 PETER 1:14-15!); HE IS PROUD, KNOWING NOTHING, BUT DOTING ABOUT QUESTIONS & STRIFES OF WORDS, WHEREOF COMES ENVY, STRIFE, RAILINGS, EVIL SURMISINGS, PERVERSE DISPUTINGS OF MEN OF CORRUPT MINDS (ROMANS 1), & DESTITUTE OF THE TRUTH, SUPPOSING THAT GAIN IS GODLINESS: FROM SUCH WITHDRAW YOURSELF. BUT GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT IS GREAT GAIN.

THEN, 1 TIMOTHY 6:11-12! “BUT YOU, O MAN OF GOD, FLEE THESE THINGS; & FOLLOW AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS, GODLINESS, FAITH, LOVE, PATIENCE (OR STEDFASTNESS!), MEEKNESS, (OR TEACHABLENESS!). FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH, LAY HOLD ON ETERNAL LIFE, (&”DON’T LET GO”!!), WHEREUNTO YOU ARE “CALLED”, & HAVE PROFESSED A GOOD PROFESSION BEFORE MANY WITNESSES.”

THE HOLY WORD OF GOD, THE “LIVING PRESENCE OF THE RESURRECTED CHRIST IN YOU BY WAY OF REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD & FAITH IN CHRIST’S FINISHED WORK, & HIS ABIDING PRESENCE IN YOU ILLUMINED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT”, & THE “WITNESS” OF HOLY MEN & WOMEN AROUND YOU IN YOUR DAILY WALK OF FAITH” – I TELL YOU, ‘YOU’ SHOULD NEVER “FALL AWAY”!!

IN PROVERBS 7:1-5 THE “WISE MAN” WROTE: “MY SON, KEEP MY WORDS, & LAY UP MY COMMANDMENTS WITH YOU. KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS, & LIVE, & MY LAW AS THE APPLE OF YOUR EYE. BIND THEM UPON YOUR FINGERS, WRITE THEM UPON THE TABLE OF YOUR HEART. SAY UNTO WISDOM, YOU ARE MY SISTER; & CALL UNDERSTANDING YOUR KINSWOMAN: THAT THEY MAY KEEP YOU FROM THE STRANGE WOMAN, FROM THE STRANGER WHICH FLATTERS WITH HER WORDS.” THE “STRANGE WOMAN”? THAT’S THE SPIRITURAL OR LITERAL ADULTERER; THAT’S THE “PRETENDERS OF THE FAITH” APART FROM “POSSESSED & OWNED BY GOD THROUGH HIS “BLOOD PURCHASE”; THAT’S THE “WORLDLY” SOLD OUT FOR THE HERE & NOW IN THE ‘BEST’ (?) OF “FLESH, OLD SIN-NATURE ALLEGIANCE, & DEMONIC DECEPTION”?

IN HEBREWS 3:6-14 WE ARE ALERTED TO ‘UNFAITHFUL RELIGIOUS DEVOTION, VOID OF TRUE ETERNAL ONENESS IN & THROUGH CHRIST ALONE ! THE HOLY WORD SAYS: “BUT CHRIST AS A SON OVER HIS OWN HOUSE; WHOSE HOUSE WE ARE IF WE HOLD FAST THE CONFIDENCE & THE REJOICING OF THE HOPE FIRM UNTO THE END. WHEREFORE (AS THE HOLY SPIRIT SAYS, TODAY IF YOU WILL HEAR HIS VOICE, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS, AS IN THE PROVOCATION, IN THE DAY OF TEMPTATION IN THE WILDERNESS: WHEN YOUR FATHERS TEMPTED ME, PROVED ME, & SAW MY WORKS FORTY YEARS.

WHEREFORE I WAS GRIEVED WITH THAT GENERATION, & SAID, THEY DO ALWAYS ERR IN THEIR HEART; & THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN MY WAYS. SO I SWORE IN MY WRATH, THEY SHALL NOT ENTER INTO MY REST.) TAKE HEED, BRETHREN, LEST THERE BE IN ANY OF YOU AN EVIL HEART OF UNBELIEF, IN DEPARTING FROM THE LIVING GOD. BUT EXHORT ONE ANOTHER DAILY, WHILE IT IS CALLED “TODAY”; LEST ANY OF YOU BE HARDENED THROUGH THE DECEITFULNESS OF SIN. FOR WE ARE MADE PARTAKERS OF CHRIST, IF WE HOLD THE BEGINNING OF OUR CONFIDENCE STEDFAST UNTO THE END.”

OH, THEN IN HEBREWS 4:9-11, WE READ ABOUT “THE REST OF TRUE FAITH IN CHRIST’S FINISHED WORK”! “THERE REMAINS THEREFORE A “REST” TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD. FOR HE/SHE THAT IS ENTERED INTO “CHRIST’S REST”, HE ALSO HAS CEASED FROM HIS OWN WORKS, AS GOD DID FROM HIS.” AND HEBREWS 4:15-16 NOT ONLY CLOSES THIS PARTICULAR CHAPTER, BUT ENLIGHTENS TRUE BELIEVERS IN WHERE THEIR SPIRITUAL VICTORY OVER THE LAW OF SIN & DEATH HAS BEEN BIRTHED!!

“FOR WE HAVE NOT AN HIGH PRIEST WHICH CANNOT BE TOUCHED WITH THE FEELING OF OUR INFIRMITIES; BUT WAS IN ALL POINTS TEMPTED LIKE AS WE ARE, YET WITHOUT SIN. LET US THEREFORE COME BOLDLY UNTO THE THRONE OF GRACE, THAT WE MAY OBTAIN MERCY, & FIND GRACE TO HELP IN TIME OF NEED.”

I LOVE WATCHMAN NEE’S WRITINGS, & ESPECIALLY IN HIS BOOK, “THE SPIRITUAL MAN”, (COPYRIGHTED IN 1968 BY CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP PUBLISHERS, INC. NEW YORK), WHEN HE WROTE(P.193), “FOR A BELIEVER WHO STRIVES AFTER GOD THE ELEMENT TO BE APPREHENSIVE ABOUT IS THE INORDINATE ACTIVITY OF THE SOUL BEYOND THE MEASURE SET BY GOD. THE SOUL HAS BEEN IN ASCENDANCY FOR SUCH LONG DURATION THAT IN THE MATTER OF CONSECRATION IT EVEN PRESUMES TO TAKE UPON ITSELF THE TASK OF REALIZING THAT ACT TO GOD’S SATISFACTION. MANY CHRISTIANS ARE UNAWARE HOW DRASTICALLY THE CROSS MUST WORK SO THAT ULTIMATELY THEIR NATURAL POWER FOR LIVING MAY BE DENIED.

THEY DO NOT KNOW THE REALITY OF THE INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT NOR THAT HIS AUTHORITY MUST EXTEND TO GATHERING UNDER HIS CONTROL THE THOUGHTS, DESIRES, & FEELINGS OF THE ENTIRE BEING. WITHOUT THEIR HAVING AN INNER APPRECIATION OF THIS, THE HOLY SPIRIT (THOUGH PRESENT) IS UNABLE TO ACCOMPLISH EVERYTHING HE WISHES TO DO. THE GREATEST TEMPTATION FOR AN EARNEST & ZEALOUS SAINT IS TO ENGAGE HIS OWN STRENGTH IN GOD’S SERVICE RATHER THAN TO WAIT HUMBLY FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT TO WILL & TO PERFORM.”

LATER, (P.202-203), NEE SAID:DON’T MISS THIS! “WHAT SEPARATED THE HOLIEST & THE HOLY PLACE WAS REMOVED (THE VAIL WAS, IS, & FOREVER WILL BE REMOVED BECAUSE OF CHRIST’S RESURRECTION PRESENCE!). GOD’S AIM WAS NOT TO DWELL PERMANENTLY IN THE HOLY OF HOLIES. QUITE THE CONTRARY. HE DECIDED TO EXTEND HIS PRESENCE TO THE HOLY PLACE TOO. HE WAS MERELY WAITING FOR THE CROSS TO COMPLETE ITS WORK, FOR IT IS THE CROSS ALONE WHICH CAN REND THE CURTAIN & PERMIT GOD’S GLORY TO SHINE OUT FROM THE HOLIEST PLACE.” ( DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT THE “BLOOD-BOUGHT HEART, MIND, & LIFE OF THE REDEEMED SINNER” IS “NOW” GOD’S “HOLY TEMPLE”?).

I PRAY THAT THE WORD OF HOLY GOD IS NOT ‘TIRESOME’ TO YOU! JESUS SAID, “MAN DOES NOT LIVE BY (‘PHYSICAL’) BREAD ALONE; HE LIVES BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD!” AND, IN 1 CORINTHIANS 6:19-20 APOSTLE PAUL ALERTS US: “WHAT? KNOW YOU NOT THAT YOUR BODY “IS” THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY GHOST WHICH IS IN YOU, WHICH YOU HAVE OF GOD, & YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN?(THAT’S AFTER HIS “BLOOD-BOUGHT PURCHASE OF YOU” & YOUR REPENTANCE & ABIDING FAITH!). FOR YOU ARE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE; THEREFORE GLORIFY GOD IN YOUR BODY, & IN YOUR SPIRIT, WHICH ARE GOD’S.”

IF YOU WERE CONFRONTED, CONVICTED, CONVERTED, & CONSECRATED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT WITH YOUR “PURCHASED BODY” NOW OWNED & INDWELT BY CHRIST JESUS, DO YOU TRULY BELIEVE IT’S YOUR ‘CHOICE’ TO DO AS YOU PLEASE? GIVE ME A BREAK!! IF YOU BELONG TO CHRIST, YOU ARE NO LONGER YOUR OWN TO DO AS YOU PLEASE!!!!!

IN THE OLD BROADMAN HYMNAL (PRODUCED BY THE BROADAMAN PRESS, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, COPYRIGHTED IN 1940) P.75, IS THE HYMN, “O WORD OF GOD INCARNATE.” IT SAYS: “O WORD OF GOD INCARNATE, O WISDOM FROM ON HIGH, O TRUTH UNCHANGED, UNCHANGING, O LIGHT OF OUR DARK SKY: WE PRAISE YOU FOR YOUR RADIANCE THAT FROM THE HALLOWED PAGE, A LANTERN TO OUR FOOTSTEPS, SHINES ON FROM AGE TO AGE.

THE CHURCH FROM HER DEAR MASTER, RECEIVED THE GIFT DIVINE, AND STILL THAT LIFE SHE LIFTS O’ER ALL THE EARTH TO SHINE. IT IS THE GOLDEN CASKET, WHERE GEMS OF TRUTH ARE STORED; IT IS THE HEAVEN-DRAWN PICTURE OF CHRIST, THE LIVING WORD.

IT FLOATS LIKE A BANNER BEFORE GOD’S HOST UNFURLED; IT SHINES LIKE A BEACON ABOVE THE DARKLING WORLD; IT IS THE CHART & COMPASS THAT O’ER LIFE’S SURGING SEA, ‘MID MISTS & ROCKS & DARKNESS’, STILL GUIDES, O CHRIST, TO THEE.

O MAKE YOUR CHURCH, DEAR SAVIOR, A LAMP OF PUREST GOLD, TO BEAR BEFORE THE NATIONS YOUR TRUE LIGHT, AS OF OLD. O TEACH YOUR WANDERING PILGRIMS BY THIS THEIR PATH TO TRACE, TILL, CLOUDS & DARKNESS ENDED, THEY SEE YOU, LJC, FACE TO FACE!”

BUT ‘FALSE RELIGIONS’, ‘IMITATION-DISCIPLES’, ‘DECEIVED PASTORS’, EVEN SOME ‘INTELLECTUALLY-BRED, BUT HEART-DEAD, & MIND DECEIVED’ PROFESSORS & SOME ‘CHURCH-FOLK’, BOUND BY ‘RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS’, NOT ETERNAL BIBLICAL TRUTH, LIVE AS SUPERFICIAL THINKERS WHO CAN’T DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE WORLD, THE OLD SIN-NATURE, & SATAN’S DECEIT, LIVING ‘RELIGIOUSLY’ BUT BLINDED TO ETERNAL TRUTH!

I WANT TO LAUGH EVERY TIME I READ ROBERT BROWNING’S WRITING ENTITLED, “BISHOP BLOUGRAM’S APOLOGY”. “ALL WE HAVE GAINED THEN BY OUR UNBELIEF IS A LIFE OF DOUBT DIVERSIFIED BY FAITH, FOR ONE OF FAITH DIVERSIFIED BY DOUBT; WE CALLED THE CHESS-BOARD WHITE, – WE CALL IT BLACK.”

OH, & I WANT TO CRY WHEN I READ A PASSAGE LIKE MARK 4:40, DISCIPLES “WITH JESUS” IN A BOAT & A “STORM” ARISES! THE DISCIPLES SAID TO JESUS, “MASTER, DO YOU NOT CARE THAT WE PERISH?” & JESUS AROSE, & REBUKED THE WIND, & SAID UNTO THE SEA, “PEACE, BE STILL.” AND THE WIND CEASED, & THERE WAS A GREAT CALM. & JESUS SAID UNTO THEM, “WHY ARE YOU SO FEARFUL? HOW IS IT THAT YOU (DISCIPLES OF MINE) HAVE NO FAITH?” AND THEY FEARED EXCEEDINGLY, & SAID TO ONE ANOTHER, “WHAT MANNER OF MAN IS THIS, THAT EVEN THE WIND & THE SEA OBEY HIM?”

“BRINGING FALSE RELIGIONS TO TRUE FAITH”? HOW ABOUT “BRINGING UNCERTAIN DISCIPLES TO THE CERTAIN CARE OF CHRIST?’ HOW ABOUT “BRINGING IMMATURE DISCIPLES TO THE SOLID FOUNDATION OF THE INDWELLING CHRIST?” WHAT ABOUT “BRINGING TIMID, TERRIFIED, TOUGH-LESS DISCIPLES TO THE UNCEASING, UNWAVERING, UNWEAKENING STRENGTH OF ALMIGHTY GOD?”

IN MARK 13, I WANT YOU TO FOLLOW ME IN VERSES 13-37, THAT’S 24 VERSES OF EMPOWERING TRUTHS FOR YOU IF “YOU” ARE A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST WHO, YES, “CHRIST JESUS” CHANGES “FALSE RELIGIONS, FALSE PROFESSIONS & PROFESSORS, FALSE CHURCHES” INTO TABERNACLES OF HOLY PRESENCE”!! HOLD ON, THE STORM-CLOUDS, THE WINDS OF OPPOSITION TO DIVINE TRUTH, THE DEMONS OF DARKNESS MAY WANT TO INTENSIFY THEIR “ETERNAL DARKNESS” OVER YOU!! MARK 13:13-37!

“AND YOU SHALL BE HATED OF ALL MEN FOR MY NAME’S SAKE; BUT HE THAT SHALL ENDURE UNTO THE END, THE SAME SHALL BE SAVED. BUT WHEN YOU SEE THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION, SPOKEN OF BY DANIEL THE PROPHET, STANDING WHERE IT OUGHT NOT, (LET HIM THAT READS THIS UNDERSTAND), THEN LET THEM THAT BE IN JUDEA FLEE TO THE MOUNTAINS; & LET HIM THAT IS ON THE HOUSETOP NOT GO DOWN INTO THE HOUSE, NEITHER ENTER THEREIN, TO TAKE ANY THING OUT OF HIS HOUSE: & LET HIM THAT IS IN THE FIELD (ON THE WAREHOUSE JOB, THE CITY GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITY, THE SCHOOL SYSTEM, THE BANKING BUSINESS, THE HOSPITALS, THE DOCTORS’ OFFICES, THE PRIVATE CORPORATIONS, THE PILOTS, THE BUS DRIVERS, THE YARD CARETAKERS, THE ATHELETES, COACHES, & FANS),….NOT TURN BACK AGAIN TO TAKE UP HIS GARMENTS.

BUT WOE TO THEM THAT ARE WITH CHILD, & TO THEM THAT GIVE SUCK IN THOSE DAYS! AND PRAY YOU THAT YOUR FLIGHT BE NOT IN WINTER. FOR IN THOSE DAYS SHALL BE AFFLICTION, SUCH AS WAS NOT FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE CREATION WHICH GOD CREATED UNTO THIS TIME, NEITHER SHALL BE. AND EXCEPT THAT THE LORD HAD SHORTENED THOSE DAYS, NO FLESH SHOULD BE SAVED; BUT FOR THE ELECT’S SAKE, WHOM HE HAS CHOSEN, HE HAS SHORTENED THE DAYS. AND THEN IF ANY MAN SHALL SAY TO YOU, LO, HERE IS CHRIST;OR,LO, HE IS THERE; BELIEVE HIM NOT: FOR FALSE CHRISTS & FALSE PROPHETS SHALL RISE, & SHALL SHOW SIGNS & WONDERS, “TO SEDUCE”, IF IT WERE POSSIBLE, EVEN THE ELECT. BUT YOU TAKE HEED: BEHOLD, I HAVE FORETOLD YOU ALL THINGS. BUT IN THOSE DAYS, AFTER THAT TRIBULATION, THE SUN SHALL BE DARKENED, & THE MOON SHALL NOT GIVE HER LIGHT, & THE STARS OF HEAVEN SHALL FALL, & THE POWERS THAT ARE IN HEAVEN SHALL BE SHAKEN.

AND THEN SHALL THEY SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING IN THE CLOUDS WITH GREAT POWER & GLORY. & THEN SHALL HE SEND HIS ANGELS, & SHALL GATHER TOGETHER HIS ELECT FROM THE FOUR WINDS, FROM THE UTTERMOST PART OF THE EARTH TO THE UTTERMOST PART OF THE HEAVEN.NOW LEARN A PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE; WHEN HER BRANCH IS YET TENDER, & PUTS FORTH LEAVES, YOU KNOW THAT SUMMER IS NEAR; SO YOU IN LIKE MANNER, WHEN YOU SHALL SEE THESE THINGS COME TO PASS, KNOW THAT IT IS NIGH, EVEN AT YOUR DOORS. VERILY I SAY UNTO YOU, THAT THIS GENERATION SHALL NOT PASS AWAY TILL ALL THESE THINGS ARE DONE.

HEAVEN & EARTH SHALL PASS AWAY; BUT MY WORDS SHALL NOT PASS AWAY. BUT OF THAT DAY & THAT HOUR KNOWS NO MAN, NO, NOT THE ANGELS WHICH ARE IN HEAVEN, NEITHER THE SON, BUT THE FATHER. TAKE YOU HEED, WATCH & PRAY; FOR YOU KNOW NOT WHEN THE TIME IS. FOR THE SON OF MAN IS AS A MAN TAKING A FAR JOURNEY, WHO LEFT HIS HOUSE, & GAVE AUTHORITY TO HIS SERVANTS, & TO EVERY MAN HIS WORK, & COMMANDED THE PORTER TO WATCH. WATCH YOU THEREFORE; FOR YOU KNOW NOT WHEN THE MASTER OF THE HOUSE COMES, AT EVENING,OR AT MIDNIGHT, OR AT THE COCKCROWING, OR IN THE MORNING; LEST COMING SUDDENLY HE FINDS YOU SLEEPING. AND WHAT I SAY UNTO YOU I SAY UNTO ALL, WATCH.” CAN I SUMMARIZE THIS TEACHING FOR YOU? BELIEVE I WILL! “BRINGING FALSE RELIGIONS TO TRUE FAITH”?

• THERE ARE FALSE MESSIAHS, FALSE PROPHETS, FALSE DISCIPLES,

FALSE CHRISTIANS, FALSE MINISTRIES MORE INTERESTED IN YOUR ‘MONEY’ THAN YOUR ETERNAL HEALING THROUGH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST! BE CAREFUL! (MATTHEW 24:4-5)

2)THERE ARE WARS, TURMOILS, BATTLES, THREATS, ATTEMPTS AT …..MAJOR DECEPTIONS! (MATTHEW 24:6)

…..3)THERE ARE PERSECUTIONS! (MATTHEW 24:7-12)

4)THERE IS THE CHALLENGE TO ENDURE! (MATTHEW 24:13)

……5) THERE IS HOLY GOD’S, KINGLY JESUS’S, THE HOLY SPIRIT’S, YES, THEIR MANDATE ON MINISTRY AS A DISCIPLE! (MATTHEW 24:14)

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL BOARD OF 1940 OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION COPYRIGHTED THE SONG I WANT TO SHARE IN THE “BROADMAN HYMNAL OF 1940! IT’S ENTITLED: “IT IS FINISHED!” SAYING: “IT IS FINISHED,” SAID MY SAVIOUR, AS HE HUNG ON CALVARY; OH, THE AWFUL PAIN & ANGUISH, SUFFERING THERE FOR YOU & ME.

“IT IS FINISHED,” SAID MY SAVIOUR, HE HAD WROUGHT SALVATION’S PLAN; SEE HIM, AS BY GOD FORSAKEN, HANGING THERE FOR SINFUL MAN.

“IT IS FINISHED,” SAID MY SAVIOR, WON’T YOU TRUST THIS SAVIOR NOW? TURN FROM ALL YOUR SINS TO JESUS, AT HIS FEET, COME, HUMBLY BOW.

“IT IS FINISHED,” “IT IS FINISHED,” MY SALVATION FULL & FREE; JESUS PAID THE DEBT FOR SINNERS, WHEN HE DIED ON CALVARY.”

THE SAVIOR, THE LORD JESUS, WAS GOD’S SACRIFICE FOR YOUR SINS! THE SAVIOR’S SHED BLOOD WASHED THE GUILT OF SIN AWAY, THE SAVIOR BURIED YOUR OLD LIFE AS HE TOOK YOU WITH HIM TO THE CROSS,DIED, BURIED THAT OLD LIFE IN HIS GRAVE, & AROSE TO SAY TO YOU, “COME TO ME, & I’LL GIVE YOU REST, RELEASE, RECOVERY, & REAL VICTORY OVER YOUR SINFUL WORLD, OVER YOUR SINFUL NATURE, & OVER SATAN’S DESIRE TO BIND YOU IN HIS CHAINS,HOPING NOT TO SEE YOU FREE FOREVER THROUGH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST’S ATONEMENT!!

OH, I KNOW, IN THIS 21^ST CENTURY WE LIVE IN A TIME PERIOD OF “SPIRITUAL PRETENSE” WITH MANY CHURCH MEMBERS PRETENDING APART FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE RESURRECTED CHRIST, EXTENDING HIS ETERNAL MINISTRY THROUGH THEIR REDEEMED, REGENERATED, RESTORED TO ETERNAL GLORY HEARTS & MINDS, THROUGH HIS ETERNAL GRACE!

IN PSALM 37:34-40 WE READ: “WAIT ON THE LORD, & KEEP HIS WAY, & HE SHALL EXALT YOU TO INHERIT THE LAND; WHEN THE WICKED ARE CUT OFF, YOU SHALL SEE IT. I HAVE SEEN THE WICKED IN GREAT POWER, & SPREADING HIMSELF LIKE A GREEN BAY TREE. YET HE PASSED AWAY, &, LO, HE WAS NOT: YES, I SOUGHT HIM, BUT HE COULD NOT BE FOUND. MARK THE PERFECT MAN (IS THAT THE MAN TOTALLY PERFECTED IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB, BIRTHED AS GOD’S “NEW CREATION” TO BRIGHTEN THE WORLD AROUND THEM?), & BEHOLD THE UPRIGHT (UPRIGHT?) -(THAT’S NOT ‘PRIDE’ – THAT’S THE PRIVILEGE OF GRACE & MERCY & GOD’S LOVE!). FOR THE END OF THAT MAN IS PEACE. BUT THE TRANSGRESSORS SHALL BE DESTROYED TOGETHER; THE END OF THE WICKED SHALL BE CUT OFF. BUT THE SALVATION OF THE RIGHTEOUS IS OF THE LORD: HE IS THEIR STRENGTH IN TIME OF TROUBLE OR NEED.

AND THE LORD SHALL HELP THEM, & DELIVER THEM: HE SHALL DELIVER THEM FROM THE WICKED, & SAVE THEM, “BECAUSE THEY TRUST IN HIM.” TELL ME ABOUT YOUR “TRUST LEVEL” IN THE LORD!

PROVERBS 3:5-6 SAYS, “TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART; & LEAN NOT UNTO YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING. IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, (THAT’S DAILY, FAITHFULLY GIVING HIM THE REINS OF YOUR LIFE!!), & HE SHALL DIRECT YOUR PATHS.” THE AMERICAN HYMNAL OF 1940 HAS A HYMN ENTITLED , “GUIDE ME, O THOU GREAT JEHOVAH.” IT SAYS: “GUIDE ME, O THOU GREAT JEHOVAH, PILGRIM THRO’ THIS BARREN LAND; I AM WEAK, BUT YOU ARE MIGHTY, HOLD ME WITH YOUR POWERFUL HAND : BREAD OF HEAVEN, FEED ME TILL I WANT NO MORE; BREAD OF HEAVEN, FILL ME TILL I WANT NO MORE.

OPEN NOW THE CRYSTAL FOUNTAIN WHENCE THE HEALING WATERS FLOW; LET THE FIERY, CLOUDY PILLAR LEAD ME ALL MY JOURNEY THRO’: STRONG DELIVERER, BE THOU STILL MY STRENGTH & SHIELD; STRONG DELIVERER, BE THOU STILL MY STRENGTH & SHIELD.

WHEN I TREAD THE JORDAN RIVER, BID MY ANXIOUS FEARS SUBSIDE ; BEAR ME THRO’ THE SWELLING CURRENT, LAND ME SAFE ON CANAAN’S SIDE: SONGS OF PRAISES I WILL EVER GIVE THEE; SONGS OF PRAISES I WILL EVER GIVE THEE.” WHAT’S THE TITLE OF THIS TEACHING? “BRINGING FALSE RELIGIONS TO GOD’S TRUE FAITH!” HAVE YOU? ARE YOU “LIVING TRIUMPHANTLY IN GOD’S TRUE FAITH”?

By: J.FARRELL FISHER

“Heirs of His grace, brought face to face, indwelt by His presence, an eternal, heavenly celebration, complete in Christ with nothing lacking, a ‘finished work’ of heavenly grace, blessed with His Spirit’s faithful backing!” (JFF).

INTRODUCTION

To say ‘it’s been easy to write a book on “Christ-given Amazing Grace Or Fleshly-Grit” is a fiction in one’s spiritual journey’ because of so many ‘opinions,’ mis-interpretations, and even demonic deception some fall victim to!

Without a doubt “Christ-Given Amazing Grace” is so eternal in its authorship, yet stripped by some of its authenticity, its challenges, and its benefits and blessings. Consider, that for some, God’s grace is, for them, ‘amazing grease’ that enhances their ‘self-effort-sliding’ but not into Heaven but Hell itself!

“Fleshly Grit” has become for some, in their interpretations of ‘living For Jesus’, the very threshold of ‘good discipleship’! But, is the walk of a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ by his/her ‘self-improvement’ or by the Sovereignly-implanted Presence of the Resurrected, Reigning Christ? Is one’s ‘salvation experience’ the call to self-righteous determinations or the Savior’s “rescue” of your life from the devil’s control?

Is ‘fleshly grit’ one’s self-righteous determinations or the blessing of the gift of Christ by grace of His eternal gifts of forgiveness, His Indwelling, and His calling, that through YOU He’ll touch your world with the same Grace, Mercy, and Love?

Is it blasphemous self-righteousness OR the Savior’s rescue of your life from an imploding, unfulfilling, fleshly, worldly, devilish existence? Is it the unbelieving, self-prominence that deepens the chasm between fallen man, or the “Door-Way” through the loving Savior who longs for YOUR Spirit-transformation, by grace, into a true Spirit-birthed son or daughter of God?

If a leper is confident that he/she is incurable, is that any different for men/women who say, “What you see is what you get – and I’m satisfied with my fleshly world and what I’m becoming by my own self-will, self-dependence, and self-determination”?

There is no consolation for a man who loves his own old sin nature, alienated from God and content with that reality. The best moment of an unredeemed life is when he/she repents (convicted and convinced by the Holy Spirit!) and willingly receives God’s grace that saves, redeems, washes him/her with the blood of the Lamb of God, and indwells that person as the new residence, tabernacle, temple of Jesus’ holy presence!

The worst moment is when spiritual blindness to saving grace becomes blasphemous as one “pumps ‘flesh’ or self-righteousness” over God’s “Amazing Grace”!

Do you understand or comprehend that ‘self-righteousness’, or ‘earn my own way,’ or even determining ‘goodness’ over godliness, is the closing of the “Door” of Christ to one’s heart TO THE SCRIPTURAL RIGHTEOUSNESS IMPARTED BY GOD’S GRACE?

Dare I tell you in this “Introduction” that there is no consolation for a man/woman who ‘loves’ and is devoted to his/her own, old sin-nature and self-governance? You are aware, I assume, that you understand that ‘conscience’ is often, for many, the will of convenience, and they’ll execute that, but “mighty grace” resisted reveals ‘midget, marred, masked men or women’ trying their best, at times, to be ‘religious’. Christ Jesus isn’t interested in your ‘choice of a religion’ – He’s proven His interest is your “new birth”!

I love Paul’s anointed declaration in Romans 1:3-7 (Amplified Bible by Zondervan): “[THE GOSPEL] regarding (God’s) Son, Who as to the flesh (His human nature) was descended from David;

And [as to His divine nature] according to the Spirit of holiness, was openly designated the Son of God in power – in a striking, triumphant and miraculous manner – by His resurrection from the dead, even Jesus Christ our Lord, the Messiah, the Anointed One.

It is through Him THAT WE HAVE RECEIVED GRACE – God’s unmerited favor – and (our) apostleship to promote obedience to the faith and make disciples for His name’s sake among all the nations,

And this includes yourselves, CALLED OF JESUS CHRIST and INVITED (as you are) to belong to Him. To [you then] all God’s beloved ones in Rome, CALLED TO BE SAINTS AND DESIGNATED FOR A CONSECRATED LIFE: GRACE and spiritual blessing and peace be yours from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”

I tell you, without hesitation, one who “trusts AND obeys” Christ alone as His only ‘hope of glory’ is the true believer who ‘floats’ on God’s never-ending ‘stream or river of grace’! Called by God to serve His Son in faith and obedience never happens by ‘grit’ but by grace! Grace ‘grinds’ the SIN IN US by the blood of the Lamb and gives us His gracious gift of ‘overcoming power’!

In “The Merchant of Venice” by Shakespeare, he wrote: “The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose, An evil soul, producing a holy witness, Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, A goodly apple rotten at the heart.”

WE CLOSE THE DOOR TO THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL OF GRACE IN US IF we think ‘grace’, God’s grace, is unimportant in our walks!

I came across a quote of Spurgeon in Ray Comfort’s “Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit of Righteousness.” Spurgeon said: “Salvation by Grace does not erase a single precept of the Law (of God), nor lower the standard of justice in the smallest degree; on the contrary, as Paul says, we do not make the Law void through faith, but we establish (or ‘MAKE TO STAND’) the Law. The Law is never honored by fallen man TILL HE COMES UNDER ITS CONDEMNING RULE, and walks by faith [and obedience! JFF], and live under the covenant of grace.” AMEN?

FOREWARD

By Dr. Doug Darville, Professor at Rome, Georgia’s “SHORTER COLLEGE”,

OUTLINE

CHAPTER ONE: “The Necessity of a New ‘Great Awakening’ of the Gospel of Grace”

CHAPTER TWO: “Stall or Call?”

CHAPTER THREE: “The Intentionality of True Discipleship”

CHAPTER FOUR: “VOID OF THE WORD OF GOD OR VICTORY THROUGH THE WORD?”

CHAPTER FIVE: “Abounding Grace – Gracious Ministries”

CHAPTER SIX: “WANDERING FROM THE FAITH?”

CHAPTER SEVEN: “GUTSY GRIT OR GODLY SORROW?”

CHAPTER EIGHT: “ASININE CHOICES OF FLESHLY DEVOTION TO CHRIST?”

CHAPTER NINE: “CRIMINALIZED FOR STANDING FOR THE TRUTH!”

CHAPTER TEN: “SHEDDING THE SHAME – LIVING TO THE GLORY!”

CHAPTER ELEVEN: “BEARING THE NAME – LIVING WITH SHAME!”

CHAPTER TWELVE: “EVIDENCES OF NEW-BIRTH CONVERSION”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: “THE UNDESERVED OR UNRESERVED RELEASE OF GOD’S OMNIPOTENT POWER!”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: “THE FLESHLY UNFULFILLED OT THE SPIRITUALLY FULFILLED?”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: “OPTIONAL EXPRESSIONS OF LIFE”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: “FATAL FORGETFULNESS”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: “FAITHFULNESS OR DISTRESSING DISGUISES?”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: “CONSIDERING A WORLD OF ABSURDITIES!”

CHAPTER NINETEEN: “THE DIVINE MIRACLE OF A TRANSFORMED MIND”

CONCLUSION

CHAPTER ONE

“THE NECESSITY OF A NEW ‘GREAT AWAKENING’ OF THE GOSPEL OF GRACE”

In Max Lucado’s “The Inspirational Bible, (Copyright, @1987, 1988, 1991 by Word Publishing), Romans 5:21 says, “Sin once used death to rule us, but God gave people more of His grace so that grace could rule by making people right with Him. And this brings life forever through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Oh, but then Romans 6:1 Paul wrote: “So do you think we should continue sinning so that God will give us more grace?” How inciteful is that inspired word? Verse 2 then says, “No! We died to our old sinful lives, so how can we continue living with sin?”

If YOUR ‘old life’ of sin and a sin-nature was crucified with Christ, how convenient and ‘conscious-less-ness’ is it for modern-day ‘church-folk’ to assert, ‘we can’t do anything but sin until we get to Heaven’? In Verses 8-11 the “Inspirational Bible” continues:

“If we died with Christ, we know we will also live with Him – Christ was raised from the dead, and we know that He cannot die again. Death has no power over Him now. Yes, when Christ died, He died to defeat the power of sin one time – enough for all time. He now has a new life, and His new life is with God. In the same way, YOU should see yourselves as being dead to the power of sin and alive with God through Christ Jesus.”

I wanted to put Verse 12 by itself as one of the necessities of a new “Great Awakening” of the Gospel of Grace! It says: “So, do not let sin control your life here on earth so that you do what your (old) sinful self wants to do.” Continuing to willfully sin after supposedly receiving Christ as Lord and Savior is to insult Sovereign God and ‘shame’ the Victory of Jesus for you through His sacrificial death and resurrection!

Examine for yourself as we begin this chapter Romans 5:18-21! It says: “So as one sin of Adam brought the punishment of death to all people, one good act that Christ did makes all people right with God. And that brings true life for all. One man disobeyed God, and many became sinners. In the same way, one Man obeyed God, and many will be made right…

The law came to make sin worse. But when sin grew worse, God’s grace increased. Sin once used death (spiritual death) to rule us, but God gave people more of His grace so that grace could rule by making people right with Him. And this brings life forever through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (That is, IF men repent and rest in His finished work! It’s “finished”, but that doesn’t mean automatic salvation of all with no repentance and faith!)

Why then “The Necessity of a New ‘Great Awakening’ of the Gospel of Grace”? Because ‘deception’ IN the church, offered by many pastors, teachers, leaders, and ‘grass-root-sympathizers’, who major on what ‘devoted, religious people’ (?) can do apart from true repentance toward God and faith alone in the finished work of Christ at the Cross and through His empty tomb and available Resurrection Life, Resurrection Power, and Resurrection-Ever-Present-Eternal-Hope (!!) in the here and now, this present moment of your opportunity IF you RESPOND ON His terms!

But how broad a support does one find across our world today concerning “The Gospel of Grace”? Whether a ‘liberal’ church in New Testament times or a ‘liberal’ church today worldwide, many churches, seminaries, pulpits, or ‘professing’ believers have substituted fleshly wisdom for divine truth, or ‘intellectual professors (?) and teachers’ opinions for holy revelation, or ‘fallen men’s’ warped ideas of human existence void of God,’ or even worldly plans ‘to be religious’ on their terms!

One of the major concerns today is: IS IT POSSIBLE TO SEE A “NEW GREAT AWAKENING” spiritually in the hearts, homes, holy gatherings, OR ‘will compromise, convenience, and false comfort zones prevail’?

A question for YOU in this very moment of reading is: Is it ‘fleshly impotence’ at its best the answer for true revival, renewal, and the spiritual, eternal life importance in touching OUR world redemptively or a return to revival in, restoration through, and full appropriation and full realization BY divine blessing through the amazing power of the Sovereign Work of God’s Grace?

A few words I recently wrote just might be a tool God uses to arouse your search and your hunger for only what God desires to graciously GIVE TO YOU: HIS AMAZING GRACE! It says:

“In the midst of a darkened world, the LIGHT of God’s GRACE still shines; as a darkened world bows before it’s ‘self’, the Throne of God’s Grace still radiates!

Whether in darkness or light, day or night, His mercy and grace and love remains, with repentant hearts and men of faith, bowing before Him with new and opened hearts, they are gladly receiving what Grace alone imparts!

It’s the God of Heaven and the God of the Cross that resurrects ‘dead hearts’ to daughters and sons of the ‘Redeemer’s Faith’, born again by the grace of God, the re-born extending His Kingdom, expressing His love, and imparting His grace to a spiritually dead race!

‘I’m OK, you’re OK’ no longer has any solid ground on which to stand, as the ‘devil’s brand’ gives wayward men NO solid surface on which to land, but only a ‘social change’ outside Heaven’s rule and reign!

‘Happiness is my goal’ is what most men strive for, when it’s God who says, “I’m The Door”! No lofty, fleshly goal ever opens that “Door”, but only a passion, a prayer, a life-presentation with longing for Him alone who IS the ‘eternal cure’!

“Blessed” is God’s intent with an ever enlarging gathering of repentant, trusting, and obedient hearts, but “blind and cursed”, never to be erased is the devil’s gathering of darkened minds, lost lives, and limited fleshly plans.

BUT, “God is able,” the Word declares, and so able to take the repentant sinner and yielded heart and lavish His grace fully on the life that desires only God’s part!

No longer ‘manipulators’ of the best of human nature, but only resting in “the hope of His calling,” no longer ‘stalling’ but fully desiring to be His Temple-manifestation of Holy Presence, not a museum of mortal flesh, but the residence of Christ as His earthly home!

God Himself is our OWNER, our MASTER ENGINEER, using our resident hearts His Way to draw near – near to the needy, near to the lost, near to those who never imagined the price of Heaven’s cost, to reconcile the broken, grant them His token of Amazing Grace for full restoration to Heaven’s Purpose and Place.”

It’s very interesting that as Paul defended his ministry in the Corinthian church, (2 Corinthians 10:4-5), (again, Lucado’s “The Inspirational Bible,”p.1333), “We fight with the weapons that are different from those the world uses. Our weapons have power from God that can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments and every proud thought that raises itself against the knowledge of God.”

When you personally evaluate, if you do, ‘self-evaluation,’ or fallen humanity’s present condition, or even dare to look at whether ‘present-day- church-life’ abounds in the fullness of God’s blessing or is involved in ‘back-slapping’, proud of how they’ve ‘ worked for God’, what do you see or sense based on DIVINE REVELATION?

In his book, “The Gospel of Grace,” by James Montgomery Boice, he magnified the “True Church” of the Lord Jesus Christ as a church that stands for or holds to FIVE CONVICTIONS: 1) SCRIPTURE ALONE 2) CHRIST ALONE 3) GRACE ALONE 4) FAITH ALONE 5) GLORY TO GOD ALONE!

But, consider, 1) How many churches or denominations do you examine or witness who select ‘partial tenets’ but bankrupt or avoiding ALL THE WORD OF GOD? 2) How many churches or denominations uphold their ‘prominent leaders’ as more important than sold out to Christ alone? 3) How many churches, pastors, denominations have you witnessed, heard, or seen on TV promoting ‘grit’ rather than grace alone? 4) Have you ever heard some speak, in the church, about “do your best,” when Christ crucified both your worst and your best? 5) And, in Romans 11:36, Paul talked about “to Him be the glory forever,” but in many corners of the modern-day Christian world, there is a lot of “personal back-slapping”!

I found it so interesting recently to come across one of Martin Luther’s “The Ninety-five Theses,” where he once said: “When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said ‘repent’, He meant the entire life of believers should BE ONE OF REPENTENCE,” and I would say, “Absolutely true until Christ Jesus is fully formed in you who “do not lean to your own understanding, but in all your ways you give Him His rightful place in you as Savior, Lord, and Master of your life!”

“Christ-Given Amazing Grace Or Fleshly Grit”? In your circles of religious influences do you witness “THE NECESSITY OF A NEW ‘GREAT AWAKENING’ OF THE GOSPEL OF GRACE”? Again, 2 Corinthians 10:5 (the old KJV), “Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God”!

In “Christ-Given Amazing Grace”, there ARE “EVIDENCES OF NEW-BIRTH CONVERSION”! In his book entitled “Inklings of God,” Kurt Bruner used a quote by Winston Churchill in his Introduction that says: “Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time will pick himself up and continue on.”

Do you realize how true that statement is? And, especially when confronted by Christ with “You must be born again, born from above, born of the Spirit,” many are offended, resentful, and continue on in unbelief! “I don’t want to hear that, truth or not!”

I was impressed by Kurt Bruner when later in the same book, (p.147), he said: “Frankly, I embrace the Christian faith because it points to God who expects us to behave ourselves but who also knows we can’t.”

Do you know that God knows we can’t ‘redeem’ ourselves? Yet, man-made ‘religions’ worldwide that are so ‘synthetic’ are still active , they think “authentically” to Deny Christ and His call to “You must be born again.” And, sadly, many modern-day ‘so-called’ “Christian” churches live in the façade of even active denial of “new birth” when they believe ‘church membership’ is the same!

Walter Chantry, in his writing, “Today’s Gospel,” 9p.13), wrote: “Products of modern evangelism are often sad examples of Christianity. They make a profession of faith, and then continue to live like the world… ‘Decisions’ for Christ mean very little. Only a small proportion of those who ‘make decisions’ evidence the grace of a transformed life.”

But sadly a large number of American churches AND some preachers major on a “You can do it” mentality rather than “Christ IN YOU the hope of glory”!

No wonder Socrates became a well-appreciated philosopher! He once said: “To move the world we must first move ourselves.” Where do you find THAT in the Word of Almighty God? Didn’t Paul tell us, 2 Corinthians 1:9, [New Chain Reference Bible], “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raises the dead,”?

Most humans all across the world in this nation, the USA, and every other nation, are oblivious to the state of their spiritual death and separation from Holy God! Spiritual success in life is not by the mental philosophy of ‘whatever you sense, you can succeed in’, which may have some ‘truth’ for the ‘flesh’ (or old sin nature) but has no relevance at all to the spiritual dimension that most know nothing about!

So many today, yes, even worldwide, are locked into the philosophy of ‘self-achievement’ so strongly that rewarding ‘self’ with pats on one’s back blocks, denies, or starves any word, leaning, or turning from that ‘self’ to a “Savior”? Life is not a ‘do what you can, as best as you know how’ mental philosophy but an eternal opportunity to be one with God Himself through Christ alone!

It’s amazing to me, and exciting, as I read a statement by Benjamin Franklin. He said several hundred years ago (!), “There is perhaps not one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive. Even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.”

Are you aware of the “embarrassing encumbrances” that are brought to a lot of ‘church folk’ who are swamped by ‘self-importance’, drowning in ‘self-worth’ that Christ crucified, yet stubbornly, stupidly, studiously in pagan teachings, devote themselves to “what we’ve become” apart from the revealed knowledge of God as to the Way, the only Way, to their salvation, healing, and deliverance?

David F. Wells, in his book, “No Place For Truth,” [Wm.B.Eerdmans Publishing Com. Grand Rapids, Michigan & Inter-Varsity Press, Leichester, England, (1993)], so unveiled for me a story that encouraged this book and this chapter [Introduction,p.10]: Wells wrote: “I’m saying that I am a staunch disbeliever in the modern world, I do not wish to appear immodest, as if I come finished with the knowledge of a new discovery. In fact, I do not. In this connection, I will remember G.K.Chesterton’s story about the restless yachtsman who set sail from England with the intention of arriving at an exotic South Sea Island. After many days, he sighted land and, as soon as he could, beached his boat and went inland. Before him stood a dreadful pagan temple. Undaunted, he decided to claim it for England. He scaled its walls and bravely planted the Union Jack [flag] at its pinnacle. Only then did he realize that what he had scaled was the Brighton Pavilion on England’s south coast! He thought he had sailed in a straight line, but, because of an unfortunate miscalculation he had actually traveled in a circle. He imagined that he was first in the land, but it turned out that he was the last.”

Do you realize, sense, or discern that many, many people begin their “religious journey” on the basis of men’s speculations about what they think “God expects” rather than Jesus’ declaration: “You MUST be born again”? Do you remember Paul saying in Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, [and I would also say TODAY: “and don’t be conformed to a man-made religious world”!], but be [BEING] transformed by the renewing of your mind.” And what the Holy Word through Christ Jesus teaches is not simply a ‘mind change’ but a mind changed by the birthing of a new heart through our Lord’s shed blood on Calvary as Heaven’s expression of its love, grace, and mercy, as a result of Holy Spirit-conviction, and conversion!

Several verses from John 3 that I want to use as I continue building, I pray, a strong foundation to this chapter and book: John 3:5-7 [Holman Study Bible NKJV Edition], Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water [the water of the Word!] 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. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again,’” because Jesus KNEW the difference between born of flesh and birthed by the Holy Spirit!

And then, in John 3:16-21, we read: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes (trusts in, relies upon, adheres to) in Him should not perish but have life everlasting. 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.” THAT’S PAUL’S DECLARATION, “I die daily that the resurrection life of Christ may be manifested in my mortal flesh”!

EVIDENCES OF NEW BIRTH CONVERSION? FIRST, NO LONGER IS THERE THE DENIAL OF ONE’S ‘OLD MAN’ SIN NATURE AND SEPARATION FROM GOD, BUT A PASSIONATE, SUSTAINED LONGING AND LEANING ON BIBLICAL ‘RECONCILIATION’! Sometimes it takes a Holy Word from God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, to release His deep conviction reality of one’s old, lost, alienated, separated from Him, awareness in what was unbelieving hearts; and I do believe 2 Peter 2:4-5 can be that ‘shock awareness’ in some hearts and minds to awaken afresh and anew what they once were without His saving grace! It says: (NKJV), “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down into hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly…”.

Notice: GOD DIDN”T SPARE EVEN ANGELS WHO SINNED BUT CAST THEM INTO HELL! GOD DIDN”T SPARE EVEN THE ANCIENT WORLD, EVEN ‘RELIGIOUS PRETENDERS’ CALLED “JUDAIZERS”, OR ‘PROMINENT’, WELL-KNOWN POLITICAL LEADERS’, OR THE “DO MY BEST” CROWD of the ‘self-anointed’ who worship and are devoted to their old sin natures as personal points of admiration to which they yield themselves!

In fact, Hebrews 10:25-31, my prayer is that “IT WILL SCARE HELL OUT OF YOU!” It says: “…not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

FOR if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Of HOW MUCH Worse Punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of Grace?

For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” IT IS A FEARFUL THING TO FALL INTO THE HANDS OF THE LIVING GOD.”

If YOU were “crucified with Christ”, does that not mean He took YOU, your old sin nature, your old godless-living life, and put it to death on the Cross with Him as He shed His blood and died that ALL YOUR SIN AND MINE MIGHT BE WASHED AWAY? WHY RESURRECT WHAT CHRIST CRUCIFED WITH HIM ON THE CROSS? (Galatians 2:20!)

SECOND: “EVIDENCE OF NEW-BIRTH CONVERSION”? “NO LONGER A DEEP, ABIDING LOVE OF THE WORLDLY INFLUENCES, OR PEACE WITH ALL THE DEVILISH AND DEMONIC INFLUENCES AND CONTROL”! Here’s how John relates this as we read his anointed exposure and heavenly challenge in 1 John 2:2-6! “And He Himself (Jesus Christ the righteous) is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. Now by this we know that we know Him, IF we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. BUT whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk just as He walked.”

Jesus was so aware of both the religious influences of false Judaism (not the true “remnant”!) and the darkness of devilish, demonic activities through man-made “religious expressions”, when in John 6:57,60-69, He said, with Peter grabbing hold and holding on to “Jesus Only”! Follow the Word:

“As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.” Then look at Verses 60-69! Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”

When Jesus KNEW in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, [And to us today?], “Does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh (that’s ‘best-effort’ of human devotion apart from the Spirit!) profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.”

For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.

Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of ETERNAL LIFE. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

There is such a vast difference between ‘religious’ individuals who WILL FALL AWAY, and the vital picture and reality of a regenerated soul, birthed by, indwelt by, and led by the Holy Spirit! I love Watchman Nee’s word in his book, “Ye Search The Scriptures,” [Christian Fellowship Publishers, Inc. New York. Copyright @1974, p.16], “Canst thou by searching find out God?” Nee then saying, “God is never arrived at through research. He is found by one way only – through the regenerated spirit.”

In 2 Corinthians 2:1-4, [Amplified Bible], Paul wrote: “As for myself, brethren, when I came to you proclaiming to you the testimony and evidence or mystery or secret of God [concerning what He has done through Christ for the salvation of men] in lofty words of eloquence or human philosophy and wisdom;

For I resolved to know nothing – to be acquainted with nothing, to make a display of the knowledge of [nothing] – among you except Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and Him crucified. And I (passed into a state of) weakness and was in fear (dread) and great trembling [after I had come] among you.

And my language and my message were not set forth in persuasive (enticing and plausible) words of wisdom, but they were in demonstration of the [Holy] Spirit and power of God, operating on me and stirring in the minds of my hearers the most holy emptions and thus persuading them.”

An unbelieving world, a self-indulgent flesh, and a demonically, devilish controlled mind will create and establish all kinds of ‘religious mannerisms’ but oppose “You MUST be born again”! For the most part, fallen humanity and the devil’s crowd, including ‘church pretenders’, will settle for religious entertainment but highly oppose no longer living for yourself but for Christ alone!

What did Paul write in 2 Corinthians 5:14-19? “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died FOR THEM and rose again.

Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

And I say to you, “Don’t casually (kinda) knod at this Word, overlook, or reject Eternal Truth related to YOUR salvation opportunity! I have no doubts that even many ‘church-folk’ easily accept the blood of the Cross for their forgiveness but will rebel, excuse, accuse faithful men of the Word for ‘lying’ when they even share Jesus saying, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, but you do not do what I say?” Dare I tell YOU that obedience is not an option in the age of grace?

Spiritual focus, even in a religious setting, is more often on fleshly concerns than divine revelation! I love what Charles Stanley wrote in his booklet, “In Touch”, [April,2016, p.13], “The Lord isn’t looking for people who change a few habits by sheer force of will; He’s calling people to surrender to Him…We don’t evolve into a saved people by deleting old habits and instituting better religious ones; we are transformed by the saving power of Jesus Christ when we believe [trust in, rely upon, adhere to] Him.”

Many ‘church folk’ are highly appreciative of ‘compromisers’ because they ‘believe’ that “fleshly indulgence is justified”, because, though one is ‘saved’, he/she cannot do anything but sin until Christ comes – so, they blame God rather than trust His Truth! They are euphorically violent to those who uphold Jesus’ Word when He said, “Go, and sin no more,” but they believe sin in a believer is normal, and that without ‘guilt’, because “God is love.”

There’s even, by some, a ‘ministerial’ maligning of the Holy Word because they feel ‘justified’ in ungodly behavior though a professing believer. In the ‘world’ around you there is philosophical rationalization because of ‘spiritual brain-tumors and deformed hearts’ called resistance to Holy Truth: “Who really needs a Savior and Lord? We’re OK – and you, with or without Christ are OK”! Really?

But I can tell you without hesitation that to continue sinning as a ‘believer’ is to deny Jesus’ Victory at the Cross and to refute Jesus’ words in John 15:22 that, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but NOW they have NO EXCUSE FOR THEIR SIN!”

Do you remember Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15:34? [Amplified Bible], “Awake (from your drunken stupor and return) to sober sense and your right minds, AND SIN NO MORE. For some of you have not the knowledge of God – you are utterly and willfully and disgracefully ignorant, and continue to be so, LACKING THE SENSE OF GOD’S PRESENCE AND ALL TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM. I say this to your shame.”

But, in Isaiah 41:8-15, there is a powerful word of hope to, ‘sometimes,’ discouraged disciples who’ve tried to live the overcoming life, no discipleship-training, but only a sad, ‘pastoral’, “do your best”! IF YOU DIDN’T KNOW, AT THE CROSS Jesus took your worst and your best, and it was: “Crucified with Christ”! But look at what God said in the Isaiah passage I just mentioned:

• Verse 9 – “I have chosen you and not cast you off.” 2) Verse 10 – “Fear not…for I am with you.” 3) Verse 10 – “I am your God…(Elohim), meaning the high and lifted up, the Mighty One,” and He’s ‘able’ to sustain us, strengthen us, and guard us (if we let Him) against the world you face, the “old man” trying to resurrect, and even victorious, for us, over Satan! 4) Verse 10 – “I WILL STRENGTHEN YOU and HARDEN YOU TO [DIFFICULTIES]…” And this is probably why Paul shared, “When I am weak, then I am strong,” because he did not lean on ‘fleshly abilities’ but Holy Presence – Christ in YOU the hope of glory!

5) Verse 10 again – “I will hold you up and retain you with My victorious right hand of rightness and justice.” God said in Isaiah 42:13, “The Lord will go forth as a mighty man; HE WILL ROUSE HIS ZEALOUS INDIGNATION AND VENGENCE LIKE A WARRIOR; HE WILL CRY, YES, HE WILL SHOUT ALOUD, HE WILL DO MIGHTILY AGAINST HIS ENEMIES.” 6) Verses 11-13 – “Behold, all they who are enraged and inflamed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; they who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall PERISH. You shall seek those who contend with you, and shall not find them; they who war against you shall be as nothing, as nothing at all.” 7) VERSE 15 – “Behold, I will make you to be a new, sharp, threshing instrument having teeth…” In 2 Corinthians 13:10 Paul wrote: “So I write these things while I am absent from you, that when I come to you I may not have to DEAL SHARPLEY in my use of the authority which the Lord has given me, [to be employed, however] for building [you] up and not tearing you down.”

THE “SHARP TOOL” OF HOLY TRUTH will ‘shape’ you up in His image OR ‘silence’ your voice if you betray Him!

“EVIDENCE OF NEW-BIRTH CONVERSIONS” sharpened in life by His Word, Will, and Work” – OR seeing the slicing to threads the disobeying, compromising, contented disciple who “plays” on both sides of the street! WHICH LEADS ME TO POINT NUMBER THREE AND LAST:

“NO LONGER DEVOTION TO WALK OUT ONE’S LIFE OF ‘FAITH’ (?) ON THE STREETS OF “SELF-INDULGENCES” AND “SELF- EMPHASES,” But STEPPING FAITHFULLY ON HIS HIGHWAY OF HOLINESS!” In Colossians 2:5-10 (Holman Study Bible, NKJV Edition), Paul so strongly laid the foundation of a truly ‘birthed’ and ‘overcoming-LIFE IN CHRIST”! “For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, SO WALK IN HIM, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.”

Don’t you think this foundation of the true “Evidence of New-Birth Conversion” is seen in what Paul wrote to us? AND it strongly agrees with what Christ Jesus Himself said in John 7:37-38! On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, [trusts in, relies upon, adheres to], as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

Even in the walk of redemptive faith there are doors before us – some to condemnation, frustration, and captivity, while others are Christ’s ‘door’ to liberty, freedom from bondage to the old nature and ‘birthed’ to the freedom of everlasting life in the here and now, in and through Christ alone! So…it’s either:

Self-directed in one’s ‘walk of flesh-faith’ or “born-again to new Life In Christ”; it’s either a ‘kingdom-rule, self-determined, that is fleshly rich in sensual satisfactions’ OR the Holy Spirit-enriched life in the very wealth of Holy God and Heaven’s Son, better known as “Emmanuel” or “God With Us, God in us, God through us,” because of Resurrection Life in Christ, Resurrection Power through Christ, and Resurrection Hope instilled within us by His Holy Presence!

It’s ‘philosophically-wise’ in godless ways or personally and intimately blessed with the very “mind of Christ”! It’s either trained by the best of world deceivers, even the devil himself, or Sovereignly guided by the Holy Spirit, truly enriched by the treasures of His Holy Word, and “Master-led” disciple-makers who “feed” us on the “bread of life”, the “milk of the Word,” and upon the very “meat” of God’s Holy Truth!

In Philippians 3:7-14 Paul gives us a “New Testament Hallelujah Chorus”! It says: “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

The claim of Christ that He had come that we might have life and that abundant was not a fictitious claim of a ‘false prophet’ but from the Creator of mankind and the Savior and Lord over mankind!

Jesus said: “I AM THE DOOR” to reconciliation with God, the Door of divine forgiveness, the Door to abiding presence of God within repentant and faith-filled hearts, and the Door of receiving, walking in, and being blessed by the fruit of His Holy Life and His Holy Spirit!

Don’t you find it sad and heart-breaking that you see around you, yes, multitudes who are ‘satisfied’ with the ‘flesh-life’ and all it has to offer (?), closing the Door on the love, grace, and mercy of God? But time will unveil for many the fundamental reality that vocational and financial successes fall short of filling the inner hunger that ONLY Christ Jesus meets and fills!

In Catherine Marshall’s book, “Something More,” [Copyright, 1961, Published by Chosen Books, Lincoln, Va. 22078,p.3], she wrote about: “the famous Hollywood actress, Mary Astor, (who) has known the fairy-tale of movie stardom. An Academy Award, glamourous marriages, two children, several Beverly Hills mansions, furs, jewels, publicity – what more could any woman want? Yet Mary Astor admitted in print that “for years – even in the midst of fame and glamor – I yearned for contentment, happiness. It took me almost twenty years to go from idle curiosity about religion…to meeting God as a Person and a Father and knowing that walking in (redemptive) faith meant growing up.”

AND THAT “GROWING UP” IS “FALLING DOWN” before the King of kings and Lord of lords, repenting, resting in His finished work at the Cross, and experiencing the reality of His Indwelling Presence! IS YOUR BODY NOW HIS “HOLY TEMPLE”?

H.G.Spafford and P.P.Bliss wrote an old, old hymn entitled, “It Is Well With My Soul”:

“When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea-billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, tho’ trials should come, Let this blest assurance control; That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, And has shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin – oh, the bliss of this glorious thought – my sin – not in part, but the whole, Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, O my soul!

And, Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight, The clouds be rolled back as a scroll, The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend, “Even so” – it is well with my soul.

It is well…with my soul,…It is well, it is well with my soul.”

Do YOU rest in body, soul, and spirit-contentment because you’ve “rested” in Jesus only? YES!! THERE IS THE NECESSITY OF A NEW GREAT AWAKENING OF THE GOSPEL OF GRACE!!

CHAPTER TWO

“STALL OR CALL?”

In Acts 24:22-27 we find an interesting, yet sadly, too often, passage about Felix, the procurator over Jerusalem, having been appointed by Rome. It says: “But when Felix heard these things, having more accurate knowledge of the Way, he adjourned the proceedings and said, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will make a decision on your case (referring to Paul the Apostle).” So he commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty, and told him not to forbid any of his friends to provide for or visit him.

And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning faith in Christ. Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.”

Meanwhile he also hoped that money would be given him by Paul, that he might release him. Therefore he sent for him more often and conversed with him. But after two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix; and Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul bound.”

Felix, the procurator over Jerusalem, representing the Roman government, came very, very close to ‘surrender’ to Christ-allegiance, but he ‘stalled out’ and ended up neglecting ‘repentance toward God and faith in Christ alone’, maybe consent to Christ’s reality was enough for him, which it never is!

A “staller” is a man confronted with the reality of God and his need for Him, but far too often is a man who has invested in himself far too long, and has so invested in his own independence from God, to surrender to Him is painful! One doesn’t easily ‘sin’ and then want to commend himself to God without a heavy, heavy struggle with the necessity of repentance and faith in His Word! Sin confessed but not forsaken is not sovereign grace at work but sentimental, religious judgments that remain ‘deadly’!

What was it Felix said? “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.” THAT could easily be defined as “procrastination”, or putting off a necessary decision, or delaying one’s commitment or lack of it, for ‘some other time – not now!’

Sometimes “stallers”, unimpressed by devoted followers, go on their own to “invent” what “tempers” their rebellion and unveils “desires” for the false and not the True or Christ, the Author of Truth! In Exodus 32 Moses was on the mountain-top fellowshipping with Holy God and the people were impatient with him. Exodus 32:1 says, the people ‘gathered together to Aaron’, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf.

Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.”

“Stallers” are creators who invent, create, or substitute “things” for the Living God, whether idols of their imagination, or “businesses” before which they bow, or ‘monies’ rather than God’s mercy, or ‘pleasures’ rather than the peace that passes all understanding, or ‘pretense’ rather than Divine Reality and Holy Presence in and through Christ’s Resurrection life, power, and hope! They settle for the ‘fleshly’ – not the Life of the Spirit of Christ!

And dare I tell you that “stallers” can be, and often are, inventors of their own altars, ‘fleshly fires’, and are verbal declarers of their imitation ‘faith’, inviting the world to follow them? And they have success. Many are ‘wealthy’ word-ers of their perverted, yet often, fleshly profound thoughts and ‘ideas’, and as Horatius Bonar once said, unbelievers promote two things: “a good opinion of one’s self, and a bad opinion of God.” “Stallers” see themselves as individuals with a “perfectly full-orbed, man-made existence, worthy of the praise of a god if there is one”!

“Stallers” are really unbelievers. And Friedrich Wilhelm Krummacher once wrote: [The Encyclopedia of Religious Quotations, Fleming H. Revell Comp., Westwood, New Jersey,p.457], “Unbelief does nothing but darken and destroy. It makes the world a moral desert, where no divine footsteps are heard, where no angels ascend or descend, where no living hand adorns the fields, feeds the birds of heaven, or regulates events.” And its ‘stallers’, who are ‘unbelievers, who reward themselves with darkness and personal destruction, with some only gathering the full impact as the devil opens hell’s gate to welcome them!

“Stallers”, for the most part, are governed by their natural inclinations and in their fleshly manners have determined they are too intelligent to believe in or trust the God of Creation and the Cross to make any difference in their natural-born life! Some even attribute their unbelief to their studious thinking when a godless mind is nothing more than superficial insignificance to life itself! That’s ‘surface living’ with no true foundation.

Would you even consider “stallers” to be “pagans”? The Random House College Dictionary (Revised Edition of 1975) defines a pagan as “an irreligious or hedonistic person”, or ‘a worshipper of false gods’, or one who bows down to self alone! I love Frederick William Robertson’s statement from the same “Encyclopedia..” mentioned earlier, (p.464), “What the world calls virtue, without Christ, is a name and a dream. The foundation of all human excellence must be laid deep in the blood of the Redeemer’s cross and in the power of His resurrection.” “Stallers” are like ‘passing shadows’ that take steps in God’s universe dressed in its’ ‘sensuality’ that is nothing more than the graveyard of one’s soul, waiting for the devil’s call rather than the call of God to the glorious destiny of a redeemed, blood-bought life through Christ!

“Stallers” are authors of the scripts of naked souls, the inventors of fleshly indulgences, sold out to the temporal but bankrupt when it comes to the Kingdom of God rule and reign! That’s like an “Esau” who in Genesis 25:33 sold his birthright! And, sadly, how many do you cross paths with every day who sell themselves for fleshly concerns, resulting in aching voids, and temporal impulses, unaware of the destinies of eternity? The bondage of fleshly indulgence is a soul enslaved to fleshly will, worldly aims, demonic intents, and slavish impulses – divine will to them is a “No, no”! And you are aware: there are many who want elbow-room away from God so they can do as they please without any sense of guilt! That’s why in 1 Peter 2:11 Peter said: “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul”; but sadly, the ‘staller’ yields to the flesh, indoctrinated in darkness!

Listen to Christ Jesus in Matthew 16:24-27! Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life (and I say, FOR himself!) will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. “

Do you think this just might be why Joshua was so inspired to write his challenge in Joshua 24:15? “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. BUT AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD.” His name is Christ Jesus, Emmanuel (“God With Us”!), Messiah, Master, Savior, and Lord, the Son of God, the Atoner and the Atonement: “His shed blood on Calvary’s Cross”! Oh, but also the Resurrected King of kings and Lord of lords Who rules and reigns in the Kingdom of God now and forever!

SO, IF YOU’RE THROUGH WITH “STALLING”, WHY NOT “CALL” ON HIM? Do you recall the Word of God through Joel? Joel 2:28-32 declares: “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; [Dare I say that there is not one person worldwide, then or now, who has not been “poured upon” by the Spirit of God to turn them from self to the Savior?] Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth; blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be SAVED. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls.”

There was a “remnant” in Joel’s day – there’s a “remnant” even now – there will be another “remnant” in future days to come! They “hear the call” and they respond in repentance and trust of the saving power of the blood of the Lamb of God!

Aren’t you both convicted and enlightened, unveiled as the ‘sinner’ and revealed as the ‘saint’, through the blood of the Lamb? Isaiah so challenged every man, every lady, every boy or every girl, when in Isaiah 1:16-20 he was divinely inspired to write: “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. CEASE TO DO EVIL. Learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. ‘COME NOW AND LET US REASON TOGETHER’, says the Lord, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. IF YOU ARE WILLING AND OBEDIENT, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword”; FOR THE MOUTH OF THE LORD HAS SPOKEN.”

Are YOUR EARS, MIND, AND HEART ATTUNED TO THE MOUTH OF THE LORD THAT HAS, DOES, AND WILL SPEAK TO YOU AGAIN AND AGAIN? I love Oswald Chambers’ word in his book, “My Utmost For His Highest,” (p.12), when he wrote: “The call of God is not the echo of my nature; my affinities and personal temperament are not considered. As long as I consider my personal temperament and think about what I am fitted for, I shall never hear the call of God. But when I am brought into relationship with God, I am in the condition Isaiah was in. Isaiah’s soul was so attuned to God by the tremendous crisis he had gone through that he recorded the call of God to his amazed soul. The majority of us have no ear for anything but ourselves, we cannot hear a thing God says. To be brought into the zone of the call of God is to be profoundly altered.” Dare I ask YOU? “Have YOU been ‘profoundly altered’?”

Follow carefully 1 Peter 1:17-25! “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish or without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”

Have YOU “called on the Father”? “IF” YOU call on the Father, the door of your redemption has been opened wide! “IF” YOU repent, the amazing grace of God is released for your divine transformation from a son/daughter of the devil to a son/daughter of faith in the family of God! Acts 3:19 says, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,” and that “presence of the Lord” IS Resurrection Life, Resurrection Power, and Resurrection Hope!

Dare I tell you that “repentance toward God” is often denied, overlooked, or even considered unimportant, as long as one says, “I believe in Jesus,” and they fail to see the divine intent of being “vessels” through which God does through them what He did through His Son! In John 5:17-30, 35, 38-40 we find a powerful, convicting, unveiling of eternal Truth! It says:

But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” THEREFORE the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, [modern-day opponents aren’t interested in His death any more than they are of His Resurrected Presence at their heart’s door!], because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, MAKING HIMSELF EQUAL WITH GOD. Then Jesus answered and said to them (and to YOU?), “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son does also in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, AND NOW IS, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.

For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteousness, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. Verse 35, “He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in His light.” Oh, but then Verses 38-40 says, “But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe (trust in, rely upon, or adhere to!). You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”

Have you received, leaned on, accepted the truth of 2 Corinthians 7:10? “For godly sorrow produces repentance LEADING TO salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” Godly sorrow, true repentance, opening the door to Salvation, but fleshly, worldly sorrow never opens the door to divine transformation through the Resurrected Christ! That just opens the door to a local church assembly but not to oneness in Christ and His eternal, resurrected family of faith and hope! Oh, but when one sees himself as God sees him, “a sinner truly in need of the Divine Savior,” then a holy hymn of praise begins to be written about his/her life:

“My sins, borne to the Cross by God’s Lamb, my sins, not in part but the whole, my Savior willingly carried them Himself to be forgiven and freed from by His blood!

My sins, and its nature, deserving of death, He willingly accepted, and gave His own life for my soul; sin forgiven, death’s debt paid, my relationship to God fully restored!

My sins, so imperfect, closing the door to God’s kingdom of faith, He willingly accepted, and shed His blood that a new door would open, and access gladly given, as broken-hearted men reached out to God in His name and fame.

My sins, no longer the scar that defames, but my sins forgiven brings glory to His name; by my Savior’s offering on Calvary’s Cross, by God fully accepted, and my life of faith perfected in the Name above all names!

My sins, the closed door to God’s wisdom, His righteousness, His sanctification, His redemption, but faith in Christ Jesus and His finished work of the Cross, is clear indication of one’s desire to be dead to himself, but alive in Him, and an open door to all God desires to be in us.”

Receive 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; and he who does not have the Son does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in [trust in, rely upon, adhere to], 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.” DO YOU CONTINUE TO BELIEVE, REST IN, ASSURED OF ETERNAL LIFE IN AND THROUGH CHRIST ALONE?

I was impressed and encouraged by Dr. Charles Stanley’s “In Touch” publication, April, 2016, entitled, “Qualifications for Sainthood,” [p.28], when he wrote: “Many people hold an unbiblical view of sainthood. Their idea of a saint is one who has led such an exemplary life that he or she is venerated by the church, but God’s Word presents quite a different picture. The Corinthian church struggled with all sorts of ungodly behaviors, yet Paul describes them as “those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints,” (1 Cor. 1:2)…saying in the closing paragraph: “Just think – God set you apart for a sacred purpose. That means you are here, not to live as you please but to bring glory to Him. He calls us to live according to our new position in Christ. When we accept this responsibility of sainthood with gratitude, we bring joy to the Father’s heart.”

Sainthood is not a position earned, but a declaration clearly made by God alone! No doubt this is why Asaph, one of David’s chief musicians sang in Psalm 50:2, “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth,” and then in Verse 15 of the same Psalm, Asaph heard God say, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” Yes! “The called of the Lord” are vessels through which God honors the Son and lifts the saints and they glorify God!

Don’t you rejoice in a Simone Biles, several times U.S. Olympic gymnast victor who openly professes her faith in Christ Jesus? And I’m sure she’s one who thanks God for her giftings physically but more importantly spiritually – she’s an ambassador of Christ Jesus as well as a U.S. sports representative – and she’ll strongly influence many aspiring youth in faith, fame, and fortune! Amen? She “heard the call”! And, I pray, she never “stalls” or “falls away”!

I’ve prayed for her that she never “stalls” out but remains firmly planted on the solid foundation of “Amazing Grace”, and continues to honor the Lord faithfully! By “Amazing Grace” she understands NO STALLING, but faithfully calling daily to Him as she leans, rests in, and presses into the King of kings!

Fallen mankind, alienated from God, independent of God mankind, is no more able to live the “blessed life” apart from grace than he is settling and controlling the universes and stars as God does!

Don’t you see, grasp, understand, or stand in His Word alone, that only the grace of God builds hope in the heart and life through Jesus Only? That’s Christ Jesus, the Son of God, bruised for our iniquities, crucified willingly on the Cross in and through Holy God’s willingness, and designated, by God, as the only redemptive way, by grace, for sinners to be reconciled to Him!

Has ‘church membership’ become the fallen man’s religious choice and his/her ‘self-made ticket’ to religious activity, affirming his/her harlotry, apart from accepting the Lamb’s Blood for death to self, washed in that blood, and affirmed by God’s grace as a true son or daughter in the Kingdom of ‘grace-fitted’, ‘God-implanted’ resurrection life, power, and hope?

Omnipotent grace has reigned, does reign, and forever will reign to assure the truly repentant and grace-gifted, and faith-lifted of our Lord’s victory over the devil, your enemy, and your weak or strong ‘flesh-nature,’ plus the deceiving influences of an enslaving world-mind-set, as if one ‘enjoys’ the world as he/she cooperates with Hell!

Do you comprehend that it’s only the grace of God that closes the door on the “stall” and brings you to the foot of the Cross and to the “empty tomb”, revealing to you the Resurrected, Reigning King of kings and Lord of lords? Loving God “calls” YOU by name, appealing to you to open your eyes and see the “Savior” AS IF it was FOR YOUR SIN ALONE He suffered, bled, and died on the Cross?

Hear me! “Stalling” and not calling, no death to your sin and old sin nature will NOT open the door to God’s mercy and grace, but only bind the door stronger to keep Christ out of your life! Deception about your sin is not deliverance from it! If a man refuses to open the door of deliverance from sin by Christ’s sacrifice, he/she reinforces the door from the Savior, Lord, Master of God-pleasing submission and obedience!

When divine sovereignty is denied or ignored, it interprets a life void of grace but still writing one’s ‘best-seller’ of meaningless existence, a marred imitation, and his/her ‘Master-less’ portrait of even a ‘religious self-effort’.

Have you ever come to the place of deep awareness and conviction of God’s ‘knocking’ on your heart’s door, but ‘self’, sin, the world, or the devil deceives you that reconciliation with Holy God is an unnecessary door to open because you’re ‘OK’ with the life you have under your own control and you don’t want to be governed by God, governed by His Word, or governed by His Spirit, or governed by “Emmanuel, God with us”?

No fear of God is not an open door into His presence! And grace IS the only key available to sinners that opens that door for those who fear Him! Where grace abounds in one’s life, though the devil wants you dancing to his tunes, Christ Jesus has you daily dancing to His “Amazing Grace”!

I pray, right now, and again and again, that YOU will not be one who “stalls” but one who “calls” on the God of Grace! I can tell you that it is an easy matter to cross the line from devotion to Christ to, yes, a ‘vile imitator’ of grace and faith, because someone told you that it’s OK to be a ‘disciple’ and ‘sin’ with the lusciousness of their old sin-nature still alive, and “God understands”. Really? Again, were YOU “crucified with Christ”? If so, when ‘sin’ calls, you immediately lean not to your former ‘mind-understanding’ of that old sin-nature, but “Look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith by His “Amazing Grace”!

CHAPTER THREE

“THE INTENTIONALITY OF TRUE DISCIPLESHIP”

There is a very interesting story in Judges 3 beginning at Verse 20 when Ehud went in to the ‘private chamber’ of King Eglon of Moab, saying to him, “I have a message from God for you.” So the king arose from his seat. Oh, and then Ehud, Verse 21, reached with his left hand, took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into King Eglon’s belly. He died! And later the king’s servants came to find him, but the door had been locked. The servants took a key, unlocked the door, and went in to find their master dead on the floor. (Judgment of God or judgment of man?)

What I desire you examining is the statement by Ehud to a compromising, self-serving king: “I have a message from God for you.” Paul had an interesting word for Timothy to say to a rebellious though ‘religious people’ in 2 Timothy 3:8-9, Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth; men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.”

And then in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said to his spiritual son (in training), “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Ehud’s message to King Eglon? “I have a message from God for you.”

And when it comes to “The Intentionality of True Discipleship,” “I have a message from God for you,” and we see it in Luke 19:10 when the Lord Jesus said, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” From Adam onward, most men are totally unaware of God’s eternal intent for each AND every man, but “few there be who find it”, which is sad commentary on fallen mankind or even most of the Christian community, intended by God to be extensions of His life, expressions of His love, and the proof of His power!

As a ‘professing disciple’ of the Lord Jesus Christ, even to you who ‘profess’ but ‘publicly’ deny by silence and daily intent to avoid saying to anyone and everyone around, “I have a message from God for you,”, is there the day, the time when Holy God exposes one’s silence concerning His “Intentionality of True Discipleship”?

Isaiah 50:4-11 is another awakening, prophetic word about the coming ministry of Emmanuel and ends with the word of warning for ‘neglectful’ followers of God who ‘profess the Light’ but walk in darkness! It says, “The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned.

The Lord God has opened My ear; and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away. I gave My back to those who struck Me; therefore I will not be disgraced; therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know I will not be ashamed. He is near who justifies Me; Who will contend with Me Let us stand together. Who is My adversary? Let him come near Me.

Surely the Lord God will help Me; Who is he who will condemn Me? Indeed they will all grow old like a garment; the moth will eat them up. Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? Look, all you who kindle a fire, who encircles yourselves with sparks; walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled – this you shall have from My hand: YOU SHALL LIE DOWN IN TORMENT.”

I love the statement Charles Spurgeon shared in one of his powerful teachings related to this same passage from Judges 3:20, “I have a message from God for you;” Spurgeon said: “It cannot be that God has left the world; it must be that the world has left God. It is not possible that God has ceased to speak to the soul. Surely the soul has ceased to hearken to God; to acknowledge His messages; or to reply to them.”

In fact, if you read Proverbs, you discern “wisdom” from God Himself that should turn one from ‘fleshly wisdom, self-intent, and worldly avoidance of surrender and loyalty to’ “the God of eternal His-story”! In Proverbs 1:24-33 the Spirit-inspired ‘wise-man’ wrote: “BECAUSE I HAVE CALLED AND YOU REFUSED, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, Because you disdained all my counsel, and would have none of my rebuke, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes,

When your terror comes like a storm, and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. THEN they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, they would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke.

Therefore they shall “eat the fruit of their own way,” and be filled to the full with their own fancies. FOR THE TURNING AWAY OF THE SIMPLE WILL SLAY THEM, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; BUT whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil.” What an amazing revelation and unveiling of the “graceless crowd” so proud of their independence from God and the “saving blood of Christ, the Redeemer”!

“God called – and YOU refused”? Is it your indifference to spiritual matters? Is it extreme ‘fleshly carelessness’ that blocks the door to your mind and heart about God’s wisdom? Is it that you only fraternize with worldly, flesh-reinforcing, societal curses, influences of godless parents or wayward associates, friends or neighbors? Does a well-trained, philosophical, godless community of unbelievers succeed in a continual defiling of mind and heart about the “Blood Redemption” Holy God provided for you, but you sense for yourself, “Too late – I’m gripped, guided, and governed by my fleshly intent and that alone!”

“God called – and YOU refused”? Dare I tell you: IT’S NOT TOO LATE! MY GOD SITS ON THE THRONE OF MERCY AND GRACE, READY, SAYING TO YOU: “COME UNTO ME, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST!!” “I, J.Farrell Fisher, have a message from God for YOU!”

Holy God has called and called and called and called! Holy God encapsulated within the human heart and mind His reality and their need of Him, but ‘selfish flesh’, demonic deception, and a lost world’s neglect of submission and obedience to Holy God and His , promotes ‘self-allegiance’ as normal and natural, which it is not! So: “God called – and you refused?” And, as a result, you became enchanted with devotion to your old sin nature, delighted to a ‘low degree’ of Satanic deception, like a magical spell, a ‘bewitching’, a ‘charming of indifference to the will and purpose of Holy God’!

In 2 Kings 20 there is a powerful, convicting, life-changing word as Isaiah said to King Hezekiah, “Thus says, the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.” “I have a message of God for you!”

Why did the Lord Jesus come? Why did He willingly yield Himself to Calvary’s Cross? Why did He rally twelve disciples to be His messengers? And were they? And what happened to them? As Christ was crucified in YOUR place and died, each of those twelves messengers also sacrificed their lives for the sake of the Gospel!

FIRST, PLEASE NOTICE THAT JESUS CAME TO RECONCILE US ALL TO HOLY GOD! Sadly, He shed His blood for all men to reconcile them to God, but many ignore the “Door” to reconciliation with Holy God, even attempting to ‘debunk’ our Lord’s death and resurrection!

In Hebrews 2:9-10, 14-17, we read of the blessed, “Good News” of reconciliation with God! It says: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for to suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, might taste death for everyone.”

Verses 14-17, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” Glory!!

Reconciled to God means Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross voided the penalty of every man for his/her sin, destroyed the devil’s power over men, and released them from the curse of death and bondage TO life, freedom, and the fullness of Holy Presence: Christ in you the hope of glory! Romans 5: 17 is so encouraging and uplifting. It says: “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more THOSE WHO RECEIVE ABUNDANCE OF GRACE and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”

Again, reflect upon more words from Oswald Chamber in his “My Utmost…” book, [p.206]: “Sin is a thing I am born with and I cannot touch it; God touches sin in Redemption. In the Cross of Jesus Christ God redeemed the whole human race from the possibility of damnation through the heredity of sin. God nowhere holds a man responsible for having the heredity of sin. The condemnation is not that I am born with a heredity of sin, but if when I realize Jesus came to deliver me from it, I refuse to let Him do so, from that moment I begin to get the seal of damnation. “And this is the judgment.” 9the critical moment”, “that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light.”

Reconciled to God Because we were “redeemed by the blood of the Lamb”! But…

SECOND, HAVING BEEN REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB AND RECONCILED TO GOD, THERE IS THE HEAVENLY PURPOSE REVEALED WHICH IS: REVEALING THE RESURRECTED CHRIST IN ME TO THOSE AROUND ME! Look at Galatians 1:15-16a! “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, TO REVEAL HIS SON IN ME, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles…”!

Transformed by the blood of the Lamb, indwelt with Jesus’ resurrection life, anointed with and by the Holy Spirit, discipled in and through His Holy Word, a new believer receives his/her ‘marching orders’: Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Peter later said in Acts 2: 32: “This Jesus God raised up, of which we are all witnesses.”

Some ‘disciples’ in the modern-day church feel or sense that witnessing is for preachers and evangelists, but is not necessary as simply a ‘believer’s calling or ministry’. For them, it’s beyond their capabilities. But receive Acts 26: 22-23! Paul said: “Therefore HAVING OBTAINED HELP FROM GOD, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come – that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to Gentiles.”

Without Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior, men you know are alienated FROM GOD, under Satan’s control and domination, limited in the Spirit-realm by ‘flesh’ and without hope of any spiritual blessing – but as a believer you sense no responsibility? Will you stand alone before God’s Judgment Seat one day to give an explanation of your sin, disobedience, unbelief, and rejection of His mercy and grace through Christ, or will your attorney, your advocate, be Christ Jesus Himself?

I rest in Hebrews 9:24-28! “For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another – He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”

What an amazing revelation! And the encouragement the Word gives? 2 Corinthians 5:20-21, “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ (the Redeemed, the Reconciled!), as though God were pleading through us: We implore you on Christ’s behalf, BE RECONCILED TO GOD. For He (God) made Him (Christ Jesus) who knew no sin TO BE SIN FOR US, that WE MIGHT BECOME THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM.” There is no such possibility ever that a man is reconciled to God by his own self-effort or religious bent! It is the biblical unveiling of Blood Redemption through Christ – not by one’s best effort or a ‘conscious experience’ that he’s able to “save” himself! A religious life based only on a man’s self-determination is a fraudulent expression of religious intent that has NO redemptive element at all!

And, as the “righteousness of God in Him,” entrusted with God’s redemptive plan and Person of reconciliation only, 1 Peter 3:15 instructs us, “But sanctify (set apart) the Lord God in your hearts, and ALWAYS BE READY to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear…!”

THREE: “THE INTENTIONALITY OF TRUE DISCIPLESHIP”? I’M FIRMLY CONVINCED IT GOES BEYOND THE FIRST TWO POINTS TO THE AWARENESS OF THE END RESULT OF AVOIDING BOTH – NO REPENTANCE, NO RELEASE OF THE WITNESS, THEN THE AWESOME AWARENESS OF GOD’S FINAL JUDGMENT!

“No repentance”? “No heart-broken confession before Holy God of one’s independence from Him and trust only in his/her own fleshly abilities to ‘please God’? No discernment of His eternal intent that humanity, having repented, become, yes, ‘temples’ or ‘tabernacles’ of Christ’s Resurrection Presence? No awareness of THE final judgment when every man/woman stands before the Holy Throne to “give an account of their ‘saving faith’ or lack of it”?”

Do you remember Christ Jesus Reminding those in His day and ours about being cast into hell “where ‘Their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched’? And, yes, He made mention of “being cast into hell”! The awesome awareness that one cannot save himself/herself is ever before all humanity, or should be, and true disciples, inhabited by Christ Jesus in His resurrection, is the same Christ who preached, “Come unto Me, and I will give you rest”, informing us and the world around us, “Unless you repent, you shall all likewise perish!”

Fallen humanity CANNOT SAVE ITSELF! Fallen humanity CANNOT ATONE FOR ITS WILLFUL SIN AND SEPARATION FROM GOD! But there IS “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” whose names IS Christ Jesus, one and only, Redeemer, Reconciler, of fallen men to Holy God!

Receive what Spurgeon said long ago – it never changes! [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Memorial Library, Vol.12, p.39], “Methinks I hear the cry of spirits lost without hope; mark the worm that never dies, and witness the agonies of conscience never appeased, while the remembrance of opportunities haunts them, and the wrath of God stirs the fire that never shall be quenched.”

Examine carefully 2 Peter 3:10-13! It says: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, WHAT MANNER OF PERSONS OUGHT YOU TO BE IN HOLY CONDUCT AND GODLINESS, LOOKING FOR AND HASTENING THE COMING OF THE DAY OF GOD, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” [Dare I ask? Does righteousness dwell in you?].

CHAPTER FOUR

“VOID OF THE WORD OF GOD OR VICTORY THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD”?

Have you ever considered that you as a believer are to be guided by God’s Holy Word? Being united WITH Christ in your heart, soul, and mind, is it in the fabric of your redemptive faith to “be being saved” in and through your devotion to His Holy Word? Is it possible that in your “wedding vows” with Christ you omitted “devoted to His Word and His will”?

Is it in you as it was with Davis as he wrote in Psalm 25:4-5, “Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day,” but YOU know nothing of the daily discipline of His Word to be taught personally day by day by the King of kings and Lord of lords?

Your will be done”, but you never daily yield yourself to discover His will, His ways, His directive Word, but you settle in, “I’m saved; that’s all I need to know?” I believe that I read IN Psalm 25:12, “Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way that He chooses.” And God’s choice? Matthew 4:4, But He [Jesus] answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

I would challenge you as you’re reading this to evaluate your “saving experience” in Christ IF you are void or neglectful of His Word! So-called “religious experiences” that never leads one to His “revelation” and a hunger to know His will and Word absolutely frightens me! If one has been “born again”, I believe one of the evidences is “that we might KNOW the things that are freely given to us of God” [1 Corinthians 2:12]. Consider a “crying baby” for the warm milk of its mother’s breasts, but for so-called believers , as babes in Christ, how foolish, they say, to “cry for the milk of the Word of God”!

To his spiritual son, Timothy, Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Be DILIGENT to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly diving the word of truth.” I look upon God’s revelation of divine truth in both the Old and New Testaments as magnificent promises and instructions for maturing men and women, boys and girls, who have come to Him in true repentance and faith.

It was Peter who told us in 2 Peter 1:2-4, “Grace and peace be multiplied to YOU in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us ALL things that pertain to life and godliness, through the KNOWLEDGE OF HIM WHO CALLED US BY GLORY AND VIRTUE, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that THROUGH THESE you may be PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

“Christ-Given Amazing Grace or Fleshly Grit”? Do you remember Abraham’s servant, sent by Abraham to find a bride for his son Isaac? In Genesis 24:48 the servant spoke: “And I bowed my head and worshipped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, who had led me IN THE WAY OF TRUTH to take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son.” Thank God for His servants who are “led in the way of truth!”

In Mark 4 Jesus had been explaining His parables to the new disciples. Verses 33-34 tell us: “And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.” [Do You have an “alone time” with Christ Jesus daily to hear His will and Way?]. The very desire of Jesus for you right now is that you listen to Jesus and let Him “explain all things in the Word to you” by the Holy Spirit who “guides us into all truth.” In John 16:13-14 our Lord told His disciples, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” The Holy Spirit if Heaven’s personal “tutor” in the Holy Word of God!

But haven’t you heard it? “I don’t need a personal “tutor” to teach me the Bible! I don’t accept the Bible as the authoritative Word of God – I’m smart enough in myself to sense there is no divine truth as there is no ‘heaven’ or ‘hell’ – find a brain-dead ‘christian’ and you’ll probably fool them, but not me!” And if you haven’t learned it yet in your classrooms or from many university professors who ‘are smarter than God Himself’ they believe, by human interaction you will learn that the most harmful ‘curse’ in life’s spiritual realm is personal pride and intellectual superiority, yes, even superior to Jesus Himself who IS “God in Flesh”!

Have you ever examined thoroughly Jesus’ passionate PRAYER IN John 17 for you and for all mankind as He described “grace” as that which reveals Him and then He unveils “eternal life” by His “grace”? John 17:3, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You [God Himself ], the only true God, AND Jesus Christ whom You sent.” Oh, and then in Verse 17 Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” Sanctify? “Set them apart,” “save them, redeem them, reconcile them, declare them ‘holy’ by Your Word”!! As Josh MacDowell used to say of Jesus: “Liar, lunatic, or the Lord God?”

BUT, “void of the Word of God”, men will, at least some, profess a mental assent and knowledge of Him but never experience “Victory in Him alone through His eternal Word”! Oswald Chambers, in his famous book, “My Utmost For His Highest,” []p.4], said: “Natural devotion may be all very well to attract us to Jesus, to make us feel His fascination, but it will never make us disciples. Natural devotion (fleshly admiration) will always deny Jesus somewhere or other.” What did the Lord Jesus tell us in John 3:3-7?

Jesus answered and said to Nicodemus, “MOST ASSUREDLY, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water [that’s the “water” of the Word!], 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. Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” Didn’t Jesus then say, “Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.”

All believers, then and now, born-again believers, WILL face worldly and satanic opposition to their true faith, but Paul tells all believers in Ephesians 6:10-19, “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 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. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

Above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD, praying always with all prayer, and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

And for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel.” [Don’t you find it interesting that Paul said, ‘And for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,” yet sadly most believers never consider their mandate as God’s messengers or even ask that He will open their mouths wide to share the gospel! Much of ‘Christendom’ remains silent in vocal ‘witnessing’ to the lost, alienated, separated from God, but ‘rests’ in, “I’m saved, what else matters?”

But what you need to grasp is that ‘natural mankind’ poses fierce opposition to Jesus because they in their natural minds are “void of the Word of God” and have no heavenly understanding. Even the early disciples, like Philip, had a hard time understanding who Jesus was and what He was about. Look at John 14:7-11!! “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him and have seen Him…”

Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works…

Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.” But natural mankind and far too many ‘professing believers’ do not realize the resurrected presence of Christ’s desire to live within them, within them to fulfill divine intent and purpose: “Christ in you the hope of glory”!

Natural mankind and ‘deceived professors of faith’ are, yes, void, opposed, and ‘willfully’ resist Biblical Truth that “the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.” Natural mankind is highly opposed to Biblical Truth that says, “obedience to Jesus is required as evidence of a born-again life”, even when Jesus said in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” In fact, in Luke 6:46 Jesus said: “But why do you call Me ‘

Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?” Obedience is not an option in the age of grace but is the evidence grace is at work in you ‘finishing’ its work in you!

We do know beyond a shadow of a doubt that not all of Israel was “lost” because of rejection of the coming of the Promised Messiah – there was a ‘remnant’! But Romans 10:21 says, But to Israel he says, “All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” And even as “Jews” there are those who lived in the “natural”, yes, fully opposed to “saved by grace”! Natural mankind are those who are “a disobedient and contrary people” who have no desire to live by the Life of Another, even by Emmanuel or “God in flesh”!!

Natural mankind, friends of the world, the flesh, and the devil, does not “know” Father-God or the Son of God or the Holy Spirit, the Three in One! We ALL came into this world through “fallen Adam”, yes, “hiding from God, without hope in ourselves, or hope in each other” – we needed a miracle of God! In John 17:25-26 Jesus prayed, “O righteous Father! THE WORLD HAS NOT KNOWN YOU, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be IN THEM, and I IN THEM.” Yes! Glory! Jesus prayed for YOU and ME that God’s love would capture our minds and hearts and wills, drawing us out of the land of darkness of unbelief to the “Promised Land” of heavenly living on earth through His Resurrection Life, Resurrection Power, and Resurrection Hope!

“Void of the Word of God”? I pray that you have not set aside the Epistle to the r! In Hebrews 1:1-3 we read, “God, who at various times and in various ways, spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

But those who are “void of the Word of God,” “void of Christ Himself”, willfully shut the door to His saving grace and mercy and have no seat in the heavenly places! Read carefully Ephesians 2:4-7! “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 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.”

“Void of the Word of God”? That’s those blinded by the world, the flesh, and the devil! It’s why in Galatians 6:7-8 Paul tells us all: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh [that’s his old sin nature, old man, First Adam] will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit [of God] will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”

“Void of the Word of God”? Are you aware of the “stumblers”? Peter told us in 1 Peter 2:8, “…they stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.” God Himself read their hearts and appointed them to their just reward, yes, because of a mental, willful, head and heart rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ!

I think it vitally important to have you read also 1 Corinthians 1:18-31!! Receive it for yourself: “For the message [or word] of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God…

For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.’ Where is the wise ? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer [the debater] of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?…

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;…

But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God…

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

And the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh [First Adam, old sin nature], should glory in His presence…

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption – that, as it is written, ‘He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” Foolishness of men ‘void of the Word’ OR Victory through the Word because we “glory” only in the finished work of Christ “At The Cross”, living a celebratory life because of His Resurrection from the dead?

How about for you an eternal shift by the grace of God to “Victory Through His Word”? In 1 John 5:4-5 John tells us: “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. [Our trust in Christ, our relying upon Christ, our total dependence upon Christ, through His shed blood, His death, His Resurrection, His Ascension, and His soon coming to celebrate with Him eternally!!]. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

I’m forever sorry and broken that ‘religious’ people will never see Jesus in heaven but only at the Judgment Seat as He tells them, “Depart from Me, you who work iniquity!!”

But “born of God”? Are you familiar with Galatians 1:15-16? “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb AND CALLED ME THROUGH HIS GRACE, to reveal His Son in me…” What an awesome revelation!

Do you remember what Jesus said in John 5:38-40? “But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”

There are those who will “read” the Word without “resting” in its Author. There are professors of allegiance to the ‘paper’ of the Book but fail to possess its Author and His Resurrection Life, Power, and Hope! There are ‘historical verifiers’ without “blood-bought, redeemed hearts”! And certainly there are devoted legalists without the Person and heavenly love of the Lord.

The Holy Word tells us: 2 Timothy 3:14-17, “But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Have YOU been “made wise for salvation through faith in Christ alone”? What did Paul tell us in Romans 5:10? “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be [“being”] saved by His life.” Have you forgotten “justified by His blood” and “saved by His grace”?

The author of the Hebrews letter put it like this in Hebrews 9:11-14, “But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation…

Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,…how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

If your life is not a testimony of continuous rejoicing in God for His forgiveness and, yes, forgetfulness of your old sin nature and your pattern and participation in fleshly sins, I believe I would seriously examine what I “thought” was my salvation and what God Himself “says” it is!

Hebrews 10:12-14 tells us, “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice f or sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool…For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”

Your sin became His “pain,” your pain became His suffering, His suffering became your freedom, and your freedom became the theme of your praise to your true Savior, Lord, Redeemer, your Liberator from sin and death, BY HIS GRACE!

So…YOU take the sentence of death DAILY that the Resurrection Life of your Lord and Savior may be manifested in and through you for an unbelieving world to see and seek!

Have you forgotten, overlooked, or never seen and received Paul’s word to us in Galatians 5:24? “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires,” so…Verse 25, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Is it your daily ambition to honor Christ in your earthly walk?

I close this teaching, this chapter, with Oswald Chambers’ words: “Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence.” [“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.256]. AMEN?`

CHAPTER FIVE

“ABOUNDING GRACE – GRACIOUS MINISTRIES”

For me, at least, there is an amazing revelation Paul gave us in 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 when he wrote: “Now then, WE ARE AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, BE RECONCILED TO GOD. For He [God the Father] made Him [God the Son] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” “Abounding Grace – Gracious Ministries”!

“Now then…”! But what was “before then”? Are you aware of ‘strong-willed’, ‘self-determined’, ‘intensely proud flesh’, and, yes, a life dictated to by the devil and the powers of darkness, or even ‘religious people’ shaped by ‘self-indulgent rulers’ of their own destinies, who ignore “Amazing Grace” and lean on their own ‘fleshly grit’ to prove their ‘worthiness’?!?

Christ Jesus spoke, after revealing the “abounding grace” of John 3:16, saying in Verses 17-21, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, (Why? Because a godless, faithless life has already been birthed into a life of ‘self-rule’, godless or not!), but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in (trusts in, relies upon, adheres to) Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God 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.”

Are you aware that the ‘human spirit’, without “born the second time”, yet warned, no doubt, as Paul talked about “taking the sentence of death daily, that the resurrection life of Christ may be manifested in (my) mortal flesh”, (2 Corinthians 1:9-10), is unbelieving people who self-appoint themselves to be “cut in two and appointed to his place or portion with the hypocrites, ‘play-actors’ who experience eternal weeping and gnashing of teeth”? Or is that unveiling of “death to self” taking place in your faith-walk, and as a result, you’re experiencing eternal, resurrection life and hope? Or are YOU, or those around you who ARE unbelievers, like the masses, even from the world’s creation, ‘mockers’ of God and true disciples of Christ unveiling the world’s mentality of, yes, limited mental prowess, maimed minds, and warped wills, while the Holy Word of God describes them (and you, if that’s where YOU stand!) as: “idle talkers and deceivers” (Titus 1:10), and Titus 1:15b, “…but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled”!

In Revelation 21:8 the Holy Word says this: “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and ALL LIARS shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death.”

Are you aware that “sinners” are “slaves”, imprisoned in the human spirit, since Adam, and completely unfit to be a servant of God in Christ apart from the “Blood Redemption” and Miraculous Resurrection into sons and daughters of God through biblical repentance and saving faith in Christ alone, offered by God’s grace and that alone? [Didn’t Jesus say in John 8:56 to the Jews: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad”?!?].

In 1 Corinthians 2: 1-5 Paul wrote, blessed and anointed by the Holy Spirit, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

I wonder how many “believers” you know who sense an awesome, heavenly gratitude, daily, to God, the God of love and Grace and mercy, who tells us in Revelation 1:5-6, “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen (Or SO BE IT!!)”! Do YOU have an ‘Amen’ in your life or a ‘So Be It’?

But our theme of this chapter? “Abounding Grace – Gracious Ministries”! Question! Did man reach out to God or God Himself reached out to man? In Genesis 3, lied to by Satan himself, Eve and then Adam ate of ‘the forbidden fruit’, instituting “Fig-leaf religion” with verse 7 telling us, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings”! God spoke, and Genesis 3:8 then says, aware of their nakedness, they “hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”

Men hide themselves by willful blindness, by woeful ‘dressings’ of nature, by outright, ignoramus ideas that He doesn’t exist, by ‘worshipping’ self or idols, by wrapping themselves in the ‘garments’ of human inadequacy, fleshly disgrace, and invented religious preferences – but YOU don’t see anything wrong with that as “men make their own acceptable away to appease empty hearts and minds, and feel ‘justified’ in self-efforts of their ‘religious needs’”?

Historical mankind has gone from one major conflict to another, from battle to battle, from ‘ups and downs’ to ‘ins and outs,’ from stress to stress, sensing if he remains faithful to what he has determined for himself fleshly, religiously, educationally or not, it’s “My best effort that counts”! Really?

Unbelievers, atheists, agnostics, religions apart from Christ, enemies of Christ’s resurrection, ascension, and coming again, are untiring warriors against “Abounding Grace – Gracious Ministries”! And, though untiring, even by neglect or indifference, their judgments are already sealed by the Victorious, Conquering King of kings and Lord of lords! It’s SO interesting that we read in Jude 14-21,”Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesies about these men (apostates), also, saying, “Behold the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain an advantage. But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time (of historical Judaism) who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts.

These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

Opponents of “redemptive faith” are no worthy opposition to the message of “abounding grace” and, certainly cannot even by killing its “messengers”, put a halt to the move and ministry through their “gracious ministries”! Holy God appoints His ‘ambassadors’, inspired even by men recognizing they and their country need God’s mercy and grace! In Acts 16:9 we read, And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Tell me of YOUR encounters with men pleading with you, “Come over to….and help us”! But, without men, Holy God will intervene in your life as a disciple of Christ Jesus, “Come over and help us,” or God Himself, “I send YOU as my appointed, anointed representative and ambassador – tell them about Christ Jesus!” I’m convinced it’s time for God’s “assembled church” to begin asking Him, “Lord what would you have us to do?” And I believe He’ll say, “Lift up Christ Jesus WHO WILL draw all men to Himself!”

And…how do YOU respond or react to Christ Jesus’ indictment of ‘religious pretenders’? Examine Matthew 23:27-28! “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites (or ‘play-actors’)! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

Bu God gives a life-changing, eternal promise in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14! “…if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, THEN I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Are YOU aware of His “abounding grace”? Are you celebrating in your life the awesome grace of the Prince of Peace and rejoicing that He chose You and assigned you as a ‘special ambassador’ with His “gracious ministry”? And having fully surrendered to this awesome calling, amazing privilege, and ambassadorial assignment, are you aware of how, at times, “sheep are led to the slaughter”, because the world, the flesh, and the devil, want NO interference in their ‘world’ they’ve chosen for themselves! Let’s nail it down permanently in our minds, hearts, and wills!!

FIRST, EVERY CHRISTIAN, EVERY DISCIPLE OF CHRIST, EVERY MEMBER OF HIS REDEEMED BODY IS COMMISSIONED AS HIS REPRESENTATIVE AMBASSADOR! Again, 2 Corinthians 5:20, “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us; we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”

Even across the world nations acknowledge, welcome, and honor ‘ambassadors’ from other countries. But, are you aware of nations today closing their doors to Christian- discipleship ministers, men or women, no longer allowed to enter their nations to evangelize?

Again, what did Christ Jesus tell us in Luke 24:46-48? “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, AND that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things.”

Examine the dramatic, life-change in Simon Peter, from a casual fisherman of fish, to an eternally significant “messenger” of Christ’s redemptive power! In Acts 4, being examined by the rulers, elders, and scribes around Jerusalem, they asked him, Verse 7, “By what power or by what name have you done this?”

Verse 8 and following, Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, BY HIM this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven, given among men by which we must be saved.”

And what really thrills me in this section of the Holy Word? Verse 13! Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

In Romans 11 there is a very interesting unveiling of divine intent about a true remnant “according to the election of grace.” It says: Verses 1-7, Paul speaking, “I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. (The true remnant of faith, grace, and mercy ‘within’ Israel the nation that crucified the Christ!). Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, ‘Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life’? But what does the divine response say to him? ‘I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.’ Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant ACCORDING TO THE ELECTION OF GRACE.”

God’s intent today for any nation, anywhere, any time? “I have reserved for Myself faithful men, faithful disciples, faithful messengers, and they have beautiful feet and carry the message of the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things” to the needy, alienated, separated from Me, men and women, who need to hear of God’s “Abounding Grace – Gracious Ministries”!

What does Romans 10:14-15 tell us? “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher (a “messenger”)? And how shall they preach (witness) unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!’”

SECOND, COMMISSIONED, ANOINTED, DIVINELY ORDAINED MESSENGERS, ARE FULLY AWARE OF BOTH GOD’S HEART AND HIS ULTIMATE INTENTION THROUGH THEM! In Ezekial 33:11 there is a profound, liberating word from God! It says, Say to them, ‘As I live’, says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked should turn from his way and live. Turn, turn, from your evil ways! For why should you die…”, apart from abounding grace and a gracious ministry, in you, through Christ?

What did Holy God say to Isaiah in Isaiah 1:18-19? “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. IF you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword”; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

With that revealed by God, how is it that many professing believers and preachers are deceived into thinking we have, in Christ, no demands on discipleship – “only believe and receive”; like a famous author I’ve admired for many, many years, coming along in his day to say, [“Spurgeons’ Sermons”, Vol. 12, p. 132], “With what joy should a rebellious sinner hear the voice of the ambassador who brings no hard conditions from God”; really? No hard conditions from God?

In Proverbs 15:10 the inspired writer wrote: “Harsh discipline is for him who forsakes the way, and he who hates correction will die.” Dare I paraphrase Proverbs 15:5? “A fool or foolish disciple of Christ despises Father-God’s instruction, but he who receives correction is prudent (or discerning or wise!).”

Did Jesus say, “IF you are willing and obedient?” IF YOU are not aware of biblical truth, please note Luke 14:25-33! Now great multitudes went with Him. And He (Christ Jesus) turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it – lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see begin to mock him saying, “This man began to build and was not able to finish’? Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”

I don’t know how YOU read what you just read in the previous paragraphs, but I’m convinced it is His challenge that true disciples are fully devoted to Him, first and foremost, and highlights radical, personal devotion and surrender to His Lordship! How easy to ‘profess’ a creed, a religious creed, but it’s ‘tough’ to “forsake all and follow Me!” Dare I tell you that the evidence of true conversion, the evidence of a ‘new-born’ life in Christ, the evidence of a true son or daughter of God, IS unaltered obedience and surrender, denying ‘self’ and willfully exalting Christ, and witnessing in your yielded life the ever-abiding and spiritual reality of His Holy Presence being Himself because you chose to be dead to your old self, daily, that His Resurrection Life, then free, to be Himself through YOU!

True disciples willingly offer themselves without hesitation to the Person, Presence, and Purpose of the Indwelling Christ, even as Chambers once said: (“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.26), “It is one thing to go on the lonely way with dignified heroism, but quite another thing if the line mapped out for you by God means being a door-mat under other people’s feet.” But unbelieving, fallen mankind is often so ‘comfortable’ in themselves and their chosen way of life they often say, “Who cares?”, but when trouble arises, it’s either hear God, or, watch your walls fall down! Song of Solomon 5:2 says, “I was asleep, but my heart was awake. A voice! My Beloved was knocking: Open to Me!” Isn’t that Acts 17:28 (NIV)? “For in Him we live and move and have our being”?

It’s so interesting to me that many ‘professing disciples’ are devotedly religious but avoid the Word, the Spirit, the very instruction of Christ Jesus, like when He said in John 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and THEY FOLLOW ME,” and I wondered as I read that passage recently, if those ‘professing disciples’ are willing to be stoned! John 10:31 says, Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Jesus.” Have you forgotten, overlooked, or were never taught 1 Corinthians 1:9? It says, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord”?

In Isaiah 40:27-31, it’s as if God sees and senses His ‘chosen people’ saying “God’s asleep” when it’s really careless disciples not fully awakened to His claims on their lives! It says: “Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel: ‘My way is hidden from the Lord, and my just claim is passed over by my God”? Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints not is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Dare I ask? Are YOU “waiting on the Lord”?

THIRD, AND LAST POINT IN THIS CHAPTER, “BUT FULLY AWARE OF GOD’S INTENT THROUGH US, ARE YOU ‘FOLLOWING, FULFILLING, FINISHING WHAT HE ASSIGNED TO YOU TO DO AS HIS AMBASSADOR’?” Again, 2 Corinthians 5:20, “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”

Are YOU aware that God wants you pleading for the salvation of others? Did Paul say, “as though God were pleading through you”? But to unbelievers, there is the message of witnessing disciples, Ezekial 18: 31b-32, God speaking, “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O American unbeliever? For I (God Almighty) have no pleasure in the death of one who dies (in his/her sin!)”, says the Lord God. “Therefore turn and live!” Repent, return, rest in Christ alone!

What will it be? Ears that are open and responding to His Call: Repent, return, sand rest in My finished work at the Cross and the Empty Tomb, OR, Ears that are closed to “Abounding Grace & Gracious Ministries”? It’s a sad, sad day when Gracious, Loving, Merciful God on His Throne, continues to witness hardened hearts, unbelieving races, world leaders, stubborn students, national ‘all-sufficient-in-self’ political leaders and educational overseers, who sense no need of God’s grace and mercy being ‘worthy’ of their consideration or inclusion in their ‘reigns’ – SO.. “Welcome, Devil – you’re more acceptable with us than God Himself!”

I choose with Paul, Philippians 2:17, “Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.”

CHAPTER SIX

“WANDERING FROM THE FAITH?”

There are not many men anywhere who live with a total disregard of Holy God; and there are many men all over the world who in their deep and abiding love for Him would never consider ‘walking away’ from Him. But, at the same time, there are those “journeyers” with Jesus who have chosen, not simply to willfully walk away, but at times are “drawn away”, or often “swept away” by powerful tides of false influences thrusting them onto the rocks of “doubt, fears, twisted unbeliefs, or careless, fleshly indulgences”! And, for them, ‘surprisingly’ (?) they “fall into” those temptations and give way to the devil’s strong deceptions, the devil even telling some, “you cannot do anything but sin until you get to heaven; so, at least, have a little ‘fun’ on the way!”

“Faith journeys”? There are missed or messed-up directions that some believers take that become “detours” away from the true and living Way, and become “dead-end streets” that cause a “scattering” and not “gathered unto Jesus”! In fact, in John 16:32, Jesus SPOKE TO HIS DISCIPLES! “Do you now believe? Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, EACH TO HIS OWN, and will leave Me alone.”

Don’t you pray that that never happens to you, to yours, to your fellow believers, to your pastoral leadership, even ‘up-until-now’ faithful political leaders who for the most part have sought to honor the Lord Jesus Christ? But are you aware of, yes, some “wandering from the Faith”?

Are you aware of how easy it is to be ‘side-tracked’ to personal interests rather than the cause of Christ in a careless world of, often, a “straying from the faith”? Are there “mental” strayings from pure devotion and surrender to Christ’s Lordship? Are there “willful” choices to disobey and stray away? Are there “inner desolations” or “private sins” that no one sees but God Himself that has captured one’s heart and mind “spoiling” the redemptive blessing of a “new life” in Christ?

course, when you read Luke 19:41-44 about Christ Jesus “weeping over Jerusalem”, you clearly understand how the ‘religious pretenders’ claimed allegiance to Jesus but then participated in His crucifixion, but since “All Scripture is inspired by God, and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God (anywhere, anytime, anywho!) may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work,” (2 Timothy 3:16-17), hear the Master, Lord, and Savior in the Luke passage!!

“If YOU had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you, and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave one stone upon another, BECAUSE you did not know the time of your visitation.” WOW! [Happened to Jerusalem – can happen to you!]

In our “faith journeys” does the Lord Jesus tell us that there are “times of visitation” that become His “times of examination” of ALL disciples? Don’t you find it so interesting and challenging to read King David in Psalm 26:2-8? “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my mind and my heart. For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth.

I have not sat with idolatrous mortals, nor will I go in with hypocrites. I have hated the assembly of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked. I will wash my hands in innocence; So I will go about Your altar, O Lord, that I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all Your wondrous works. Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells.”

In the “faith journey”, with an awareness of examinations and testings by Father-God, some live out the faith carelessly unaware of God’s plan and desire to ‘conform us all into the very image and likeness of Christ’, but darkening opportunities, avoiding divine ability, and limiting the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ! I really don’t know how it is that many ‘believers’ consider “self-effort-best” in the walk of faith when “Christ in us IS the hope of glory!”

How many do you know or become aware of in your pilgrimage who know nothing about “the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us In Christ Jesus”, not in one’s best effort? But, in the “journey” of “being conformed to the image of Christ”, is it possible that some ‘fall way from the faith’?

In Jeremiah 6:10 the “Lord of hosts” spoke to a “falling-away-people”: “To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear? Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot give heed. [Why?], Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them; they have no delight in it.”

Oh, but Holy God didn’t stop there! Jeremiah 6:13-15 is a strong, holy, convicting, awakening Word! He said: “Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely. They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed; nor did they know how to blush. Therefore THEY SHALL FALL among those who fall; At the time I punish them, they shall be cast down,” says the Lord.

Do you remember Joseph preparing his brothers for their ‘journey’ back to Israel and their father? He said, in Genesis 45:24 So he sent his brothers away, and they departed; and he said to them, “See that you do not become troubled along the way.” Did YOU have a spiritual father of the faith who told you that as you began your “pilgrimage of faith and devotion to Christ Jesus”? And yet many failed to warn sons and daughters of the faith that “troubles” leading to a “falling away” can be numerous and horrific!

Didn’t Paul warn the Thessalonians about “the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish (along the way), because they did not receive (or see as necessary for themselves because they were so “spiritual” in their own understanding!) the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10). Oh, and then God made a sovereign judgment! Verses 11-12 says, “AND FOR THIS REASON GOD will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie ( like ‘you can sin and not die’?), that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” Isn’t it true, haven’t you heard them, read them, witnessed them, teaching and preaching the “white-washing” of “dark truths”, promoting “one can sin, and sin, and sin, and not die, because God overlooks a believer’s sin but condemns sinners”?, when it hasn’t changed: “The wages of sin is death!”

Thank God FOR “the Pauls” who serve Him faithfully and warn of the dangers of “falling away”! In Galatians 5:1 and Verses 4-6, Paul wrote: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage….Verses 4-6, You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law ( you who compromise and want to blend fallen flesh with “new birth spirit”); you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.”

And isn’t “the liberty of Christ” the liberty of freedom from, not the liberty to be or do as redeemed ‘flesh’ dictates, but the liberty of Lordship, committed to and dominated by His Holy Will, which IS “Go and sin no more”? (John 8:11!). What ‘yoke’ have you submitted to? The yoke of indulgent flesh or the yoke OF “Christ-Liberation”?

There’s an awesome word from the Lord in Revelation 3:10-12 which says: “Because you have kept My command to PERSEVERE, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I am coming quickly! (Have YOU heard His “door-knocking” at your heart?). Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. He WHO OVERCOMES, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.” There doesn’t have to be a “wandering away from the true, redemptive Faith in Christ alone”, but, sadly, there are those who do!

WANDERING FROM THE FAITH? IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THERE ARE THOSE WHO BEGIN THE JOURNEY WITHOUT COUNTING THE COST? I assume that the words of the Lord Jesus apply as we seek to determine why the ‘wandering away’ occurs – Right? In Luke 14:25-33 we see several ‘types of followers’, temporary-eternal, adapters-adopted, reckless-reliant, divided allegiances- undivided devotion, cost ignoramuses-cost evaluators! Receive Christ Jesus’ “demands of true discipleship”!

Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it – lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish? Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegate and asks conditions of peace. SO LIKEWISE, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”

A ‘king’ considering the cost? Jesus evaluated the ‘human condition’ of sin and separation from Holy God, willingly giving Himself in death to bring opportunity for Resurrection Life, Resurrection Power, and Resurrection Hope to every man who lives in repentance toward God and faith in the Savior’s finished work at the Cross, then three days later rising from the dead, then offering every repentant soul forgiveness, a “new Life”, ushering in the eternal kingdom of God, and assigning all “followers” to endure ‘world rejection’ but rejoice daily in God’s eternal affirmation of a true child of faith that rejects what a fallen world offers and ‘rests’ in what Christ Jesus assures!

It was Paul who said in Acts 17:26-28, “And He (God) has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being…”. And then in Acts 17:30-31 we find out about the eternal governance of God! “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now Commands all men everywhere to repent, BECAUSE He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” Glory!

Were you informed of “the cost” when you “joined” a church? In Luke 24:46-49 Jesus said, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, AND THAT REPENTANCE AND REMISSION OF SINS SHOULD BE PREACHED IN HIS NAME TO ALL NATIONS, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

Repentance? Brokenness over one’s sin and sin nature, brokenness over alienation and separation from Holy God who made you, brokenness that you ignored Christ’s historic death for you too long, brokenness over the alienation and separation from God’s desire to extend His love, express His grace, and exalt His Son through you – but for too long you ignored divine intent, lived with a closed mind to His love, His will, His sacrifice, brokenness realizing that if YOU were the only sinful man who ever lived, and Christ died just for you, how do you relate to that? Will YOU just wander away from redemptive faith or halt the mis-direction of your life and “lean on Christ Jesus only”? “Count the cost”? Death to the old man and full surrender to the “new man” in Christ!

WANDERING FROM THE FAITH? IS IT POSSIBLE A BELIEVER, HAVING REPENTED, SERVED FAITHFULLY HIS MASTER FOR SOME TIME, CAN BELIEVE THE MASTER ‘MAY DELAY HIS COMING’, THEREFORE “I” CHOOSE TO PLAY AROUND FOR AWHILE! Come to Luke 12: 42-46 where Jesus speaks so clearly about this danger that comes over some ‘believers’ lives: “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint his portion with the unbelievers.”

It’s really, really interesting that early in the church’s existence the Apostle Paul had to intervene, at least in Thessalonica, but you’ll find his concern elsewhere in his writings if you so desire, but in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 he stirs up a strong warning to the “play-around” folks who engaged in sexual immorality. Paul wrote:

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles, who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified.

For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.”

I wonder how many “flesh indulgers” of the past, having come to Christ, consult their Master and Lord before plunging into a sea of sexual immorality? Of course, sadly, some were never discipled as to the ‘holy life’ as “ambassadors of Christ”! When Jesus said in John 18:36, “My kingdom is not of this world,” which, I believe, is certainly a call in one’s life of faith that ‘kingdom living’ under His Lordship is opposite of submission to, entertainment of the world’s fleshly ways, especially sexual immorality!

Have you been taught that coming to Christ through repentance toward God and faith in Christ’s finished work at the Cross opens the door of your heart and life to “Kingdom Allegiance”? Jesus told the religious Pharisees in Luke 17:20-21, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

In Romans 14:16-19 we find interesting, convicting, challenging words: “Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; [but at the same time, I add: “but do not let your evil be spoken of as good”, or “Sexual immorality is OK! Don’t let the ‘Bible-thumpers’ scare you! We all do it.” Really?]. for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.”

In 1 Thessalonians 4:1-3 I repeat what I read earlier: “Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us HOW YOU OUGHT TO WALK AND PLEASE GOD; for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is THE WILL OF GOD, your sanctification: THAT YOU SHOULD ABSTAIN FROM SEXUAL IMMORALITY…!”

WANDERING FROM THE FAITH? IS IT POSSIBLE THAT SOME BELIEVERS, SO ENAMORED WITH “PEACE AND SAFETY” TEACHINGS, RATHER THEN “PURSUE, PRESS IN, OR PERPETUALLY” HOLD ONTO CHRIST JESUS, THEY BECOME SO IN LOVE WITH PLEASING ‘FLESH’ THEY ALLOW “SPIRIT-HUNGER” TO DIE? It’s really amazing to me and heart-breaking to read in Isaiah 56:9-12 about Israel’s careless, compromising, irresponsible leaders that influenced a ton of Israel’s people, with only the true remnant remaining steadfast! It says: “All you beasts of the field, come to devour, all you beasts in the forest. (And Jerusalem was ultimately destroyed in 70AD!) His watchmen are blind, they are all ignorant; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down loving to slumber.

Yes, they are greedy dogs which never have enough. And they are shepherds who cannot understand; THEY ALL LOOK TO THEIR OWN WAY, every one for his own gain, from his own territory. “Come,” one says, “I will bring wine, and we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink; Tomorrow will be as today, and much more abundant.” But they ended bankrupt!

That’s “flesh-loving, flesh-desiring, flesh domination”, even as one sings “Peace and Safety”! Oh, but then! SUDDEN DESTRUCTION COMES! In 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 Paul challenges every believer then and now: But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.

But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us NOT SLEEP, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who ARE OF THE DAY be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.

For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.”

Of course, the question of the moment is, “Are you walking, now, this very moment, in the ‘darkness’ of fleshly indulgence or in the “Light” of glorious grace and mercy?” Walking in the “peace and safety” frame of reference is often held by ‘believers’ walking both sides of the street – a devotion to flesh observance during the week and a spirit observance on Sundays! In Matthew 6:24 Jesus said: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Are YOU a ‘compromising disciple’ walking both sides of the street, or His disciple willing to walk in His “way of the Cross” that leads home victoriously?

In Revelation 1:17-18 John was blessed in the divine unveiling of Christ’s Presence! He said: And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I AM He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen.” Amen means “So be it,” and our Lord intends His “AMEN” to be YOUR “AMEN”, not in “falling away” but resting in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

If there has been a tendency in YOU to “walk away”, never resist His Holy Presence within you or around you, or even His Presence through caring, compassionate ambassadors of Christ who have no desire seeing you fall away! HE WILL COME! THEY WILL COME! And caring, loving brothers and sisters ‘in Christ’ will seek to turn you back to Him, not rest as they see you turning to satisfy your ‘flesh’ and fall away!

In Deuteronomy 33:26-27 there is a word of ‘hope’ for Israel as a nation, but also a word of ‘hope’ for people committed to Christ Jesus today, for God is the Same ‘yesterday’, ‘today’, and ‘forever’! “There is no one like the God of Jeshuran, who rides the heavens to help you, and in His and in His excellency on the clouds. The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, and will say, “Destroy!”

You didn’t let Revelation 1:17 just fly over your head without understanding, did you? Again, “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last..”, saying then and now: “I’m Lord over everything you face – you don’t have to “fall away” – let Me finish your earthly walk of faith as you choose to be dead to yourself but fully alive and overcoming in Me!”

I love Oswald Chambers’ words in his book, “My Utmost For His Highest”. (P.104-105): “He laid His right hand upon me.” In the midst of the awfulness (and JFF says, ‘the awfulness of falling away”!), a touch comes, and you know it is the right hand of Jesus Christ. The right hand not of restraint nor of correction nor of chastisement, but the right hand of the Everlasting Father. Whenever His hand is laid upon you, it is ineffable peace and comfort, the sense that “underneath are the everlasting arms,” full of sustaining and comfort and strength.”

The question is: When the temptation comes to “fall away”, will I yield to the ‘old man’ OR surrender to the “new man” in Christ; will I give Jesus His rightful place, in me, as Savior, Lord, Master, Conqueror over temptation Himself, conqueror over sin itself, and Conqueror over the spiritual death within you, and the Author of everlasting Life through your available vessel? “CHOOSE CHRIST, THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and ,THE EVERLASTING LIFE”, finishing strong, not in flesh-effort that fails!

CHAPTER SEVEN

“GUTSY GRIT OR GODLY SORROW?”

There’s an interesting verse in Jeremiah 45:5 where the Lord Himself speaks: “And do not seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I will bring adversity on all flesh,” says the Lord. “But I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go.” And, if God is no respecter of persons, (and He’s not!), then what He said through the prophet to Baruch, does the same hold true to you? Is YOUR “gutsy grit” what Holy God desires from you or a broken, repentant heart, and truly godly sorrow over the sinful state of your God-less life?

One of the saddest words in all of Scripture, so definitive of “fallen men”, is found in Proverbs 21:2 where the Word declares: “Every way of man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts.” A gutsy, gritty heart or a heart of Godly sorrow? A gilded heart of showy appearances or a graced heart of Godly indwelling?

Do you sense any of “gutsy grit” around you, whether child, youth, young adult, or aging adult? Do you ever view the “culture of fleshly intellect” and shake your head as you visualize “cultural unbelief” and fleshly rejection of Holy God and His love and purpose for all fallen men?

Jonathan Edwards, in his writing, “The Freedom of the Will,” wrote: “The heart (that’s the heart of fallen men!) is like a viper, hissing, and spitting poison at God.” The hearts of “fallen men”, alienated and separated from Holy God, are yielded to the aim of pursuing and satisfying the ‘flesh’ and its indulgences with no consideration of eternal purpose or what pleases and honors Holy God with His desire that they be reconciled to Him through the blood of the Lamb of God!

“Fallen men”, large in prominence or known by few, are no different! Both are citizens of the kingdom of darkness and the devil, intent on satisfying all fleshly desires, accepting of “seeming shows,” indulging in vain delights, programmed by civilized ‘stupidity’, critical of true men of redeeming faith through the Blood, satisfied with mental allegiance apart from ‘heart-transformation,’ and certainly with “No fear of God” but only acknowledgement of His existence, even if that! Faith, to them, is simply an awareness of God, if even that by some, but absent from true repentance and redeeming faith and them becoming the temple of Holy Presence on earth! Faith, to them, is for far too many, even some pastors, the faith of possibilities, not the faith of divine realities, which is why ‘philosophy’, factual or fiction, at least governs some’s ‘mental allegiance’!

“Gutsy grit” is never able to translate or transform the ‘chord discords’ or ‘off-key’ fleshly realities into an ‘orchestrated-life-harmony’ apart from the grace and the mercy of God! It was Thomas Carlyle who once said: [“The Encyclopedia of Religious Quotations,” edited by Frank S. Mead, Fleming H. Revell com., Westwood New Jersey,p.456], “There is but one thing without honor, smitten with eternal barrenness, inability to do or to be, and that is unbelief. He who believes nothing, who believes only the show of things, is not in relation with nature or fact at all.”

Do you remember Moses and Aaron going in to Pharoah of Egypt and telling him, (Exodus 5:1-2), “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” And Pharoah said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.” Yet, in Exodus 14 we read of the destruction of the Egyptian armies AND Pharoah with Verse 28 telling us, “Not so much as one of them remained,” and certainly not “gritted Pharoah”! And, dare I tell you, FROM HELL PHAROAH STILL GRIEVES AND GROANS, BUT NOW VOID OF HIS GUTSY GRIT!

“Gutsy grit” by unbelievers and rejecters of Resurrection Life in Christ are men, past, present, and future, who will reveal to you, if you’re ever able to ask them, (I hope not!), “We know now only anthems of despair, the themes of avenging demons, the scary, constant, unyielding voices of devilish phantoms,” or Harriet Beecher Stowe’s words, “No one is so thoroughly superstitious as the godless man. Life and death to him are haunted grounds, filled with goblin forms of vague and shadowy dread.”

There is no evil so great as the evil of the rejection of grace, mercy, forgiveness, and life in and through Christ, just as Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:12b, “If we deny Him, He [the One True and Living God, the Resurrected Christ], ALSO will deny us.”

I find the anointed spirit of Paul so needed in this 21^st Century in our own journey of faith, and especially as one is cemented and grounded in the Holy Word, and fully aware of the fallacy of “gutsy grit”, and fully aware of the need of “godly sorrow”, “redemptive faith,” “and true repentance”! In 2 Timothy 2:23-26 he wrote: “But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that THEY MAY COME TO THEIR SENSES AND ESCAPE THE SNARE OF THE DEVIL, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”

Do YOU find that a frightening statement that unbelievers are those “snared by the devil”, functioning in their lives according to his wants, desires, and plans? Isn’t it amazing, shocking, awakening, alerting to you to even hear Jesus, in Revelation 3:9, even mention “those of the synagogue of Satan”? SO…let’s just call on “gutsy grit” to see us through in our earthly warfare with the devil and the powers of darkness – right? WRONG!

Examine Revelation 12:7-12! And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. AND THEY OVERCAME HIM BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB AND BY THE WORD OF THEIR OWN TESTIMONY, AND THEY DID NOT LOVE THEIR LIVES TO THE DEATH. THEREFORE rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them!

Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”

But, hear me! Whether it’s the world, the flesh, or the devil, Psalm 50:15 tells us: “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” What a promise! Dare I ask YOU? “Do YOU stand on the promises in “gutsy grit” or “REST” in the finished work of Christ “At Calvary”? What does the Holy Word tell us in Ephesians 6:10-18?

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord [ Does that sound like “gutsy grit” to you?] 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.

STAND THEREFORE, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, [that’s imparted, implanted, imputed righteousness by the grace and mercy of God!], and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints –“

Dare I tell you that the day of your ‘helpless feeling’ can be, should be, must be, the day of full awareness of ALL God Himself wants to be and to do through you? Proverbs 3:1-6 is a powerful expression from God that should be the launching of your life of faith and trust through “Godly Sorrow” from a heart and life that does not lean on “gutsy grit” or “fleshly best” but God’s mercy, grace, and love! It says: “My son, do not forget my law (the wisdom and instruction from “trust” in the Lord!), but let your heart keep my commands; for length of days and long life they will add to you. Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, And SO find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and LEAN NOT ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. [Look now at Verses 13, and 21-26]! “Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding.” That’s the wisdom of God and the understanding the Holy Spirit gives to you as you faithfully feed on His Word! Verses 21-26 says, “My son, let them not depart from your eyes – keep sound wisdom and discretion; So they will be LIFE TO YOUR SOUL and GRACE TO YOUR NECK.

Then you will walk safely in your way, and your foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid; Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden terror, nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes; For the Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught.”

So…what does a fleshly, sinful, mortal man do to obtain his personal salvation? Do you remember Paul and Silas imprisoned for the faith in Acts 16 when the jailer came to them after a great earthquake, finding all the prison doors opened, and Paul and Silas still there! He was ready to kill himself, but went in to Paul and Silas asking, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And it wasn’t ‘saved from an earthquake but “saved from his sins”! And in Acts 16:31 Paul and Silas told him, “Believe [trust in, rely upon, adhere to] on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

That’s: BE FINISHED WITH YOURSELF AND ANY ATTEMPT AT BEING “RELIGIOUS”, AND REST IN THE FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST AT THE CROSS! Have you never received, rested in, or relied upon 2 Corinthians 5:17? “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he IS a ‘new creation’; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

“In Christ” we sing a “new song”! “In Christ” we walk in “newness of life” and serve Him in “newness of spirit”! The Lord Jesus said in Revelation 21:5, “Behold, I make all things new…!” We’re ‘clothed’ with “new garments”, we “LIVE” by a “new and living way,” He grants us a “new name”, He bestows upon us out of our death the reality of “new-born”, a “new covenant,” a “new heart and a new spirit,” and as “newborn babes in Christ” we desire, hunger for, rest in, and are assured of His able-ness to keep what we’ve committed unto Him and to keep what He has committed unto us!

2 Corinthians 5:21 declares: “For He (God) made Him (Jesus Christ) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God In Him.” ARE YOU “the righteousness of God IN CHRIST JESUS”? Hear me!

“In Christ” we are no longer ‘mere men’ but sons and daughters of redemptive faith birthed by God to bear, share, unveil His Name!

“In Christ”, by God’s mercy, grace, and love, we’ve been set apart to be “a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own special, blood-bought people”!

“In Christ”, ‘born again by the Spirit into the Holy Family of God, we are declared by Him to be the “righteousness of God in Christ Jesus”! We’re now “sons and daughters” of our Heavenly Father!

Our lives, now “in Christ”, are “hidden with Christ in God”! We’ve been “raised up to be seated with Him in heavenly places at the very right hand of God the Father!

Our lives “in Christ” are now identified as “ministers of reconciliation” and “ambassadors of Christ”! We’ve been counted worthy to walk with Christ, entrusted with His Gospel!

Christ Jesus is the Bridegroom – we’re “the bride of Christ”! We’re now “trustees of the ‘mysteries’! We’re “witnesses” of His Redeeming Grace! God even says of all repentant believers that they are “priests and kings unto Him.”

To God, we are the ‘fragrance of Christ,’ His ‘peace-makers’ in a troubled world, His disciples and disciplers, His “soldiers of the Cross”! We’re “more than conquerors” – we’re “new creations”!

“In Christ” we’re “living sacrifices”, eternal epistles, poems of the grace, mercy, and love of God! Doesn’t the Word declare the truth and reality, and visual presence of “apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, or ‘disciples’ meaning “Followers of Christ”?

“In Christ” we’re “servants” of the King of kings and Lord of lords – we bear the image of the Heavenly Man, because WE ARE ‘the called, the separated, the anointed, indwelt by all the very fullness of God”!

“In Christ” we are His messengers, His proclaimers, the heralds of His gospel or ‘good news’! “In Him” we ARE the “glorious Body of Christ,” members of the Holy Body in particular!

“In Christ” we’re “vessels” through which God Himself reveals His Son, we’re “salt” and “light”, we’re the “Symphony” God sings about, the music of His heart, and over us He sings the sounds of joy and sweet pleasure!

It’s time to settle it for Eternity! Are you a ‘mere man’ or “the anointed, appointed, affirmed holy man of God, infilled by the Holy Spirit to be His holy messengers?

Are you a ‘mere man’ or the biblically-declared “mighty men of valor”? Are you a ‘worldly, anxious ant’ or an “ambassador of Christ”? Are you a ‘mere man’ or a son or daughter of the family of Father-God?

Are you a ‘mere man’ or a “true minister and servant of reconciliation”? Are you simply a ‘mere man’ or a true witness of Saving Grace, Master-Full Mercy, and overflowing in Calvary’s Song of eternal love and Christ-Alone “Blood Redemption”?

Are YOU a “witness” of “Saving Grace”? Are YOU “the elect,” the “set-apart”, the “chosen of God”? Are YOU “the apple of God’s eye”? Are YOU His “workmanship”? Are YOU a “partner with God”, a “vessel of honor before Him daily”, available for Him to do as He pleases through YOU?

Are You “clay in the hands of the Potter, being sculpted into His Holy Image and Likeness”? Are you a “partaker of the divine nature”, one with Him, the fullness of Him who fills all in all?

You do realize that a ‘roller coaster’, at least once in your life, ought to be fun to ‘play on’, but the “ups and downs”, the “around and around” moves you nowhere in life in relation to Holy God! A ‘ferris wheel’ at the State Fair will get you ‘up’ momentarily to look “over” for a brief glimpse of the beautiful side, but then it’s down again and around again to the same old circumstances!

And anonymous writer penned these words: “Do you know what makes man the most suffering of all creatures? It is that he has one foot in the finite and the other in the infinite, and that he is torn between the two worlds.” Are You “torn” or “settled” on the True Foundation of Eternal Life, Christ Jesus, our Lord, Savior, Redeemer, Reconciler of men to God?

CHAPTER EIGHT

“ASININE CHOICES OF FLESHLY DEVOTION TO CHRIST”

Who could ever believe that ‘the safe place of a coffin is about the only choice to live out one’s devotion to Christ’? Certainly assaults against one’s devotion to the Lord and Savior has, can now, and will in the future stir up opposition and resentment toward faithful believers! Genuine, passionate, faithful hunger to know the Lord indicts unbelievers, incites their anger often, and releases personal intimidation against the faithful!

Unbelievers don’t see the desire to know the Lord as ‘sane thinking’ but as exposing believers’ stupidity! It’s as if they think heart passion to know the Lord Jesus is an ‘asinine’ activity, not worthy of their time! ‘Asinine’? The Random House Collegiate Dictionary (Revised Edition, 1975) defines ‘asinine’ as “stupid, unintelligent, silly, or foolish”, which sadly unveils the condition of many opponents of the faith, yet at the same time unveils the sad condition of many professing Christians!

Some believers look on radical disciples who hunger for God’s Word and live to extend His kingdom, walk in His love, and ‘witness’ to others about the Way of reconciliation, as ‘arrogant, pride-full, stuck-up slaves’, which is exactly what many ‘pretenders’ openly are!

Asinine choices of fleshly devotion to Christ is evident when you often hear ‘church members’ talk about, “We work hard at seeking to be like Jesus”; and I have to ask, “What’s the scriptural text for that false assertion?’ Have you ever heard a ‘pretender’ say, “I’m trying to be faithful in making some changes from my fleshly-indulgent days,” not even aware he/she was crucified with Christ over 2000 years ago, yes, your worst and best of human existence put to death on the Cross with Christ? The Living Savior does not, as Charles Stanley wrote in his “In Touch” Bible readings of April, 2016, (p.13), “The Lord isn’t looking for people who change a few habits by sheer force of will; He’s calling people to surrender themselves to Him.” Dr. Stanley went on to say in the same article, “We don’t evolve into a saved people by deleting old habits and instituting better religious ones; we are transformed by the saving power of Jesus Christ when we believe (trust in, rely upon, adhere to) in Him,” and I add: “Trust in Him only to ‘birth me to oneness with the divine, eternal Kingly-Presence of Christ in me, my hope of heavenly glory’”!

There was an interesting statement on national television a few days ago when someone said, “The cop who breaks the law doesn’t deserve to wear the shield!” But compare that to someone professing faith in Christ saying, “I’m so thankful that my forgiveness through His shed blood overshadows any sin I continue to willfully enjoy”, totally oblivious to His ‘finished work’ on the Cross!

In Revelation 2:7 the angel (or messenger) of the church of Ephesus wrote: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”

But remember the title of which I am now writing: “Asinine Choices of Fleshly Devotion to Christ”! Where, in the Bible, do you find, “A Christian can’t do anything but sin until he/she gets to heaven one day,” when the Holy Word tells me, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God…”. That’s Galatians 2:20-21!

“Asinine Choices of Fleshly Devotion to Christ”? Do you remember what followed in Galatians 3:1? Paul went on to say, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified?” Oh, then adding in Verse 3, “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?”

When Jesus said on one occasion: “In the world you will have tribulation..”, (so try your best to overcome? No!..;), but, “ be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).

But, sadly, many are ‘programmed’ that, yes, “Sin in the believer is still normal; get used to it – you’re forgiven,” when the Holy Word declares, Jesus Himself speaking, (John 8:34-36), “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

“Asinine Choices of Fleshly Devotion to Christ”? Rather than ‘pressing on’ in fleshly determination, is there the biblical reality of willful evaluation of the bankruptcy of ‘self-effort’ and the willful trust in Christ’s work on the Cross in my place?

In Philippians 3:7-11 Paul illuminates, not an ‘asinine choice of fleshly devotion to Christ’, but THE spiritual trust in His finished work on the Cross in my place! He said: “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I HAVE SUFFERED THE LOSS OF ALL THINGS, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found IN HIM, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but THAT WHICH IS THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I MAY KNOW HIM AND THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION, and THE FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERINGS, BEING CONFORMED TO HIS DEATH.”

This is why “spiritual ‘fleshers’” (?) of devotion to Christ are so “self-exposing” as to Who or what they put ‘faith’ or trust in, which is “the accomplishment of the best of our self-effort to honor Jesus”, which is nothing more than “pumped up flesh with a religious ‘twang’” that celebrates ‘fallen-men’ at their ‘religious best’ – not “the finished work of Christ” in the Cross and empty tomb!

This is why in 2 Corinthians 1:9-10 Paul wrote: “Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we SHOULD NOT TRUST IN OURSELVES but in God who raises the dead, who delivers us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us..”.

“Asinine Choices of Fleshly Devotion to Christ”? I’m taking personal liberty in Matthew 15:29-31 to use “the physically afflicted” as a “picture”, ‘blown up’, to describe “fleshly people devoted to Christ” who spiritually are still ‘sick’, ‘crippled’, ‘blind,’ ‘no voice of a true, eternal testimony that glorifies God alone,’ even ‘spiritually maimed’ though professing, I’m saved! It says: Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them. So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified God.”

“Asinine Choices of Fleshly Devotion to Christ”? How many “asinine assemblies” have you observed in your faith walk? How many “asinine voices” have you heard that make you want to throw up? How many “asinine publicly professing leaders” have you heard, encouraging you to follow their examples, which often leads to nothing more than fleshly indulgences?

At least Paul, ordained of the Holy Spirit, was able to say, “Follow my example”! In Philippians 3:17-19 the Apostle wrote: “Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame – WHO SET THEIR MINDS ON EARTHLY THINGS.”

“Asinine Choices of Fleshly Devotion to Christ”? There are those who ‘profess’ devotion and allegiance to Christ Jesus, but “seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus”! (Philippians 2:21). Paul later said, Philippians 3:2, “Beware of dogs, (professing unbelievers), beware of evil workers, beware of mutilation!” Why did Paul write Colossians 2:8? “BEWARE lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world and not according to Christ."

Later, in Colossians 3:5-6, Paul challenged, yes, Christians and the church at Colossae and the Christians here in America and the rest of the world, “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which YOU YOURSELVES ONCE WALKED WHEN YOU LIVED IN THEM,” and he is saying, “Part-time indulgence is as dangerous as full-time indulgence”!

“Asinine Choices of Fleshly Devotion to Christ”? In Colossians 4:3-8 we are confronted with another stout Biblical warning, and especially in a nation like the U.S.A. where “fleshly indulgences” appear to be rampant! The Word says, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.”

In Isaiah 26:3 is a ‘song’ of the salvation, healing, and deliverance for the ‘biblical remnant’! It says: “You (God) will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” Are you aware of how “the mind of Christ” can be neglected and the “implanted mind of ‘flesh’” can rule in ‘religious pretenders’? The perfect peace of Christ can be amended, altered, or torched by the “hot flashes” of ‘self-indulgence’ while ‘professing’ allegiance to the Savior, Lord, and Master of eternal life in the Spirit! The perfect peace of Christ starves ‘fleshly imagination’ and STAYS on Father-God! But many leave behind His peace and live on their indulgences! Many are ‘zoned in’ on the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ or ‘zeroed’ Him out in the ‘stultification’ of fleshly futility or absurd distractions from Christ Himself to adoring one’s fallen sin-nature!

It’s so sad that some ‘believers’ easily forget, as Chambers once said, “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve!” In his “My Utmost For His Highest,” [Discovery House Publishers, Box 3566, Grand Rapids, Mich.,49501,p.31], Chambers wrote, writing about 1 Samuel 3:10, “Speak Lord; for Your servant hears,” saying, “Because I have listened definitely to one thing from God, it does not follow that I will listen to everything He says. The way in which I show God that I neither love nor respect Him is by the obtuseness of my heart and mind toward what He says. If I love my friend, I intuitively detect what he wants, and Jesus says, “You are My friends if you do what I command you,” (John 15:14); Have I disobeyed some command of my Lord’s this week? If I had realized it was a command of Jesus, I would not consciously have disobeyed it; but most of us show such disrespect to God that we do not even hear what He says, He might never have spoken.” It’s as if in the Christian pilgrimage many have determined it’s ‘OK’ to live TO himself/herself, but not to the glory and honor of Christ alone!

What a promise we find in Isaiah 60:1-3! “Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles (unbelievers) shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”

What a calling! What a promise! What an opportunity! What a privilege! Used by God to touch your world with “Amazing Grace”! Isaiah 59:20-21 says: “The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” says the Lord. “As for Me,” says the Lord, “this is my covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore.” Amen? “SO BE IT, LORD!”

CHAPTER NINE

“CRIMINALIZED FOR STANDING FOR THE TRUTH”

At a “National Hispanic Leadership Conference” in Houston, Texas, April 29, 2015, former Florida governor and presidential candidate, at the time, Jeb Bush, said: “There is no more powerful and liberating influence on this earth than the Christian conscience in action and today in America it is important to respect and to protect Christians acting on their faith…not just talking about their faith, but there is a constitutional right and more importantly for a loving society Christians need to have the space to be able to act on their conscience.” My only problem with his statement is, that often, the ‘Christian conscience’ is willful determination of ‘flesh’ opinions rather than Holy Word of God revelation!

It wasn’t long ago, maybe same day as Jeb Bush, that former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee, said, maybe same conference, “We are living in perilous times where people who are Christian are on the brink of being criminalized for their convictions.”

And both men, stressing their beliefs, are easily, in this day and time, set aside and considered ‘radical’ by ‘godless’ or even ‘misinformed’ professing believers who don’t stand on the Word of God! It’s difficult to “stand for Truth” when one’s foundation is built on “self-evaluation” rather than “God-revealed-Holy Truth”!

We can go all the way back to Joshua’s day when in Joshua 24:14-15 we read, Joshua speaking, “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

We live in days as a nation that are not foreign to any nation, any people, or even to one, and can visualize what goes on anywhere, anytime, with any persons, just like the historical history of Christ’s crucifixion on the Cross several thousand years ago! Come with me to Luke 23, beginning with Verse 32! “There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots. And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”

The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.” {“If”? Are you aware of the reality of literally millions and millions, more likely billions, who understand, ‘There IS the King of the Jews, the King of all Americans, the King of every European, African, or Asian’ but who selfishly decide for themselves as to whether or not they will choose to serve the Lord?!?}.

In Luke 23:34 then tells us that Christ Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do,” {Which is so true of literally millions and millions who do not know what they do when they trivialize Christ, join those who divide His garments and “roll the dice” hoping what He says is not true – BUT IT IS!}. Even the rulers of Israel SNEERED, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”

Don’t you find that so interesting? They had an inkling about ‘the Christ, the chosen of God,’ but couldn’t, wouldn’t, didn’t receive the prophetic word from many of their prophets hundreds and hundreds of years before His actual coming! Do you remember Jesus saying in John 8:56, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad”? Verse 57 follows, Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” In Verse 58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” And their response? THEN they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them (the “stone-throwers”), and SO PASSED (THEM) by.” {Will Jesus have to “pass you by” when all are brought before His Throne of Judgment, whether you like it or not?}.

In Luke 23:36-38 we read: The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.” And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrews: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Didn’t we just read in Luke 23:33, “And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.” At least Luke KNEW Jesus was not a criminal, but, as God in the flesh, Who willingly offered Himself as THE sacrifice for the sins of all humanity! Even John, early in his writing of the Gospel of John, John 1:14, wrote: “And the Word (the Living Word of God!!) 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,” proclaiming in Verse 29, The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

Examine John 1:32-35! And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ AND I HAVE SEEN AND TESTIFIED THAT THIS IS THE SON OF GOD.” Again, the next day, John stood with two of His disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

Dare I tell you that Christ Jesus IS “the Way of Life” that leads to the “way of death”? In Matthew 10:16-18,21-22 Jesus challenged the original ‘twelve disciples’, saying to them, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.

Verses 21-22 then says, “Now brother will deliver up brother TO DEATH, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”

It is so evidently true that to “follow Christ Jesus” is to follow Him in every step He had to take, including the way of ‘suffering’, the way of ‘rejection’, the way of ‘obedience’, willing to fulfill the Father’s eternal will: death to Himself that resurrection life and hope could, would, and was manifested! Oh, and then in John 20, after His crucifixion and burial and resurrection, in Verses 19-21, we read:

Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” John 20:30-31 then says: And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”

And do you understand that “life in His name” does not come in full fruition apart from the awareness of and willingness to die daily to the ‘flesh’, the old sin-nature, and self-will, plus, a readiness of physical death by persecution if it comes your way, BECAUSE you will not deny Him?

In 2 Corinthians 1:9-10 Apostle Paul wrote: “Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death (“the wages of sin is death”!), and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us…”! Did Holy God, the Father, allow Jesus’ death and then manifest His Holy Power to raise the dead after Jesus’ three days in the grave?

And, how pleased is God the Father for the willingness of 21^st Century disciples to offer their lives daily as a “willing sacrifice” taking that sentence daily to themselves that His Resurrection Life may be manifested in their mortal flesh?

Do you remember Paul and Silas imprisoned, Acts 16:20-24? It says: And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, “These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.” ( Ever heard it yourself? “We’re free Americans and not interested in anything you ‘Christians’ have to say! Keep on, and we’ll have you imprisoned, or kill you ourselves!”}. [I actually heard that threat in India as I preached openly on the streets!].

Continuing in Acts 16:22-24, Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.”

That was a literal event for faithful believers, and it does still happen today that some believers are physically jailed for faithful testimonies in certain locations. BUT there IS a ‘symbolism’ which extends to many today who are vocal for the faith but ostracized by ‘friends’ and ‘family’, opponents shutting the door on them for their outspoken challenge to receive Christ!

“CRIMINALIZED FOR STANDING FOR THE TRUTH OF GOD’S HOLY WORD”? Are you aware of Christian Institutional and openly, strong, faithful disciples of Christ witnessing a rapidly growing opposition and threats because of many enemies of God who are becoming openly hostile to the Word and Will of God and against those who uphold “All Scripture is divinely inspired…”?

Prayer is rapidly being removed from classrooms with kids being told “School is not a place to pray!” Really? Yes, really! Ten Commandments are being removed from lots of places across the Nation where the banners of Truth used to fly! In Sweden pastors have been jailed for opposing homosexuality – and that threat is not far away in the U.S.A.!

There’s an active homosexual- sick man named Mitchell Gold whose diatribe against the Word of God and churches, pastors, and faithful disciples who stand on that Word of God, who has said, “They must be made to take homosexuality off the sin list,” and a New York Time’s writer, Frank Bruni, affirmed Gold’s obscene opposition to Holy God and His Word, saying, “His commandment (that’s Mitchell Gold’s commandment) is worthy – and warranted.”

And what sickens me is when I hear some say of their pastors, “They’ll not expose or speak the Truth because they don’t want to offend ANYBODY!” God, help us! It’s as if our formerly great nation, “one nation under God”, is fast becoming a nation under opposition to God!

“CRIMINALIZED FOR STANDING FOR THE TRUTH OF GOD’S HOLY WORD”? I want to urge you right now to commit yourself to reading faithfully, over and over, the Book of Daniel for at least a week! In Daniel you’ll find, not trivializing Truth, but many who want Biblical Truth obliterated from the national scene or stage! Follow Daniel 6:1-16!

It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps, to be over the whole kingdom; and over these, three governors, of whom Daniel was one, that the satraps might give account to them, so that the king would suffer no loss. Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm.

So the governors and satraps SOUGHT TO FIND SOME CHARGE AGAINST DANIEL concerning the kingdom; BUT THEY COULD FIND NO CHARGE OR FAULT, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. Then these men said, “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”

So these governors and satraps thronged before the king, and said thus to him, “King Darius, live forever! All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators and satraps, the counselors and advisers, have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree, that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.” Therefore King Darius signed the written decree.

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows opened toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.

And they went before the king, and spoke concerning the king’s decree: “Have you not signed a decree that every man who petitions any god or man within thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.”

So they answered and said before the king, “That Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah, does not show due regard for you, O king, or for the decree you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”

And the king, when he heard these words was greatly displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then these men approached the king, and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed.”

SO the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.”

In Verses 21-22 Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.”

AND the accusers, on the king’s command, were all cast into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den!!!

What was King Darius’ response? He wrote a proclamation! Verses 25-28 says: “To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel For He is the living God, and steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall endure to the end.

He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, Who has delivered Daniel from the power of lions.” So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. Glory!

“CRIMINALIZED FOR STANDING FOR THE TRUTH OF GOD’S HOLY WORD”? John 8 is a strong chapter defining Christ’s strong “Personal Witness” against the ‘religious’ Pharisees who determined He deserved to die because He opposed their religious pretense and no true eternal foundation upon which they walked and talked “the game” yet they never faced their guilt, sin, and separation from Holy God, and certainly had no ears to hear both prophetic utterances from hundreds and hundreds of years before or His declaration of Messianic identity!

Jesus told them in John 8:19, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.” Oh, and then in John 8:23-24 Jesus released the eternal arrow of Truth about the scribes and Pharisees and the ‘religious but unredeemed’ Jews: “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.”

In John 8:37-47 Jesus then said: “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.” They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.”

Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I

heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father – God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.

Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.

When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

So…Christ Jesus Himself was ‘criminalized’ by the religious, unbelieving, unrepentant crowd and CRUCIFIED ON THE CROSS for all men because of God’s great love for the world!

What went on then still goes on today! The unbelieving world still condemns the holy and congratulates the hollow; the unbelieving world sentences the sincere and celebrates the sinner; the unbelieving world imprisons the faithful and frees the ‘foul’ from any and every offense; the unbelieving world still maligns the merciful and merits the ‘molded’ in mind and heart!

It was Harriet Beecher Stowe who once said: “No one is so thoroughly superstitious as the godless man. Life and death to him are haunted grounds, filled with goblin forms of vague and shadowy dread.” And, in most cases, it’s the godless man criminalizing those who stand for, in, and through the truth, resulting, for them, a Hell forever with the devil, his demons, and all rejecters of Biblical Truth, and all sin-infected ‘profound minds’, and all ‘superficial thinkers’ who know nothing about standing on Eternal Truth!

CHAPTER TEN

“SHEDDING THE SHAME-LIVING TO THE GLORY OF CHRIST’S NAME”

You’ll remember that I wrote a teaching recently entitled, “Bearing the Name, Living With Shame”! And it certainly majored on “pretenders”, “imitation game-players in the spiritual arena”, or like the scribes and Pharisees about whom Christ Jesus spoke “woes”, in one case saying, (Matthew 23:14), “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.”

There is a powerful, encouraging, challenging word in Psalm 4:2-3 when David “sang”: “How long, O you sons of men, will you turn my glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness and seek falsehood? But know that the Lord has set apart for Himself him who is godly; The Lord will hear when I call to Him”, saying in Verse 8, “I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

What you’ve just read from the Psalms is both a song of divine safety, Prince of Peace gifting, and a song of living to the Glory of Christ’s Name, because through His shed blood, we are reconciled to the protective arms of Almighty, Holy, Loving, Caring, Holy God and His family of redemptive faith!

“Shedding the Shame”? The prophet, Isaiah, in Isaiah 54, began the chapter alerting attention to the “barren ones…who have not born,” alerting us to the fact and reality that, “For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord!

Oh, but then in Isaiah 54:3, enlightening the “true remnant of Israel”, are God’s promises to them, and us, “For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited.”

And then in Verses 4-8, the prophet increases the intensity of excitement, saying, “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; (not Mohammed, not Confusius, not the idols of pagan peoples with their pagan gods); He is called the God of the whole earth!

For the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a youthful wife when you were refused, says your God. “For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; BUT WITH EVERLASTING KINDNESS I WILL HAVE MERCY ON YOU,” says the Lord, your Redeemer.”

And when Holy God “sheds your shame”, He then said in Isaiah 54:14, “In righteousness you [Now!] shall be established [or “made to stand!],” adding in Verse 17, “This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,” says the Lord.

Nor a ‘self-attained’ righteousness but a divinely implanted righteousness, not a recollection in one’s mind about God, but reconciliation with God through repentance and faith, not a positive ‘best effort’, but a persuasive, perpetual, powerful, Prince of Peace miracle of grace, not a collection or gathering of like-minded folks, but a conversion of the flesh-minded to the very mind of Christ, not a mental adjustment of a moral nature, but the might and miraculous power of Holy God; Oh, but then Paul, in Titus 3:5-7, declared, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, THROUGH the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that HAVING BEEN JUSTIFIED [declared ‘just as if we’d never sinned’!] by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” WHAT A DECLARATION OF REDEMPTIVE FAITH!

In “The Encyclopedia of Religious Quotations” that I turn to frequently as I write, I came across a statement by someone named Dwight E. Stevenson,(p.67), that shocked me! Whoever he is, Dwight Stevenson is credited with the following: “The Christian church is not a congregation of righteous people. It is a society of those who are not good.” And, I immediately was ‘sickened’, all because a man declares the ‘church’ ‘a society of those who are not good’! The ‘church’ of the Lord Jesus Christ is the “gathered” by Christ through their repentance and faith, and before Holy God the Bridegroom, Jesus, was united with you, His believing, trusting, yielded bride, “the righteous”, whom Jesus described in Matthew 13: 43, “Then the RIGHTEOUS will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”

But as Jesus dealt with the ‘spiritual elite’ of Israel in His day of ministry on earth, the scribes and Pharisees, he spoke directly to a ‘seeking’ Pharisee, Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, in John 3:3-9, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water (that’s ‘the water of the Word’!) 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. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus answered and said, to Him, “How can these things be?”

“Shedding the Shame – Living To The Glory of His Name”! How familiar are you with Ephesians 2:8-16? Paul wrote: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

THREFORE REMEMBER that you, once Gentiles in the flesh – who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands – that at that time YOU WERE WITHOUT CHRIST, BEING ALIENS from the commonwealth of Israel and STRANGERS FROM THE COVENANTS OF PROMISE, HAVING NO HOPE and WITHOUT GOD IN THE WORLD.

BUT NOW in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, [That’s God and man!] and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinance, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.”

Oh, we clearly know that man without God is fully described when in Romans 3:23 Paul said, “For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..”, but then in Verse 24-26 continues, (thank God!), “being JUSTIFIED FREELY by His grace through THE REDEMPTION THAT IS IN CHRIST JESUS, whom GOD SET FORTH AS A PROPITIATION BY HIS BLOOD, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

Let Biblical Truth sink in!! “Brought near by the blood of Christ”, the open door to the Holy Presence of God! “No separation from God but oneness with Him” through the blood! “Holy God births ‘new men’ through faith in Christ’s sacrifice”!

“Reconciled to God through Christ’s Cross”! “Redeemed” by the blood of the Lamb”! “Peace with God through Christ alone”! “Justified freely by God’s grace through Christ’s blood sacrifice”! “From ‘strangers to God’ to sons of God through Christ”! “Hopeless without the hope only Jesus gives to be brought into the Holy Family of God”! “God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus”! “Through Christ’s Cross, the old sin nature crucified – Resurrected, He grants Holy Presence within every true son and daughter of faith”! “Grit grounded and buried – grace the love gift of God in and through Christ Jesus”!

“No wavering before the promises of God in unbelief, but fully convinced that what God has promised, He’s ABLE to fulfill, in you”! “No excusing God’s sentence of death on your old nature, old man, old fleshly ambitions, but daily celebration and thanksgiving for being reconciled to God through the blood of the Lamb”! “No longer bound by the shame of a godless life, fleshly rebellion, loveless indifference, worldly desires, but NOW consumed with the passion to KNOW HIM and THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION, and THE FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERINGS”!

Do YOU rejoice “in Christ” every day? Do YOU thank Him, every day, for your new, eternal, heavenly identity? Do YOU praise God that NOTHING has to separate YOU from God’s love because of WHO Christ Jesus is? Paul says in Romans 8: 37-39, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 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 things, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

But “the battle, the warfare,” to separate us from our Savior is not any ‘small disturbance’ as we live in this world, but the battle-fronts of the world, the flesh, and the devil are faced in our life’s journey, regularly, looking for opportune moments to turn us away from our Lord and Savior! Paul assures us of “Victory In Jesus” when we lean not to our own understanding BUT Lean on Jesus, the Spirit, and the Word, reminding ourselves to Whom we truly belong!

In 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 Paul reminds us again of the spiritual war-clouds, war-storms we will face! “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high things that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

How ‘strange’ a term Paul highlights for our modern day in America and American churches! Did he really say, “bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,” and as a result refute the point many churches, pastors, leaders assert: “To say Christians have to obey” is, for them, to assert you don’t have to obey – “that would be salvation by works”! No, True salvation births a yielded, surrendered, willing heart, desirous of pleasing the Lord, Master, and Savior who has made true disciples His Holy Temple!

“Christ in you the hope of glory”, but you choose the choice of whether today you want Jesus to be Jesus in you, but when and how and where you please?

True believers are temples of Holy Presence! True believers are men so desirous of honoring Christ in them! True believers understand He ‘predestined’ repentant hearts and yielded souls to, yes, be conformed to the image of God’s Son, and that they clearly understand God called them to His intent, justified them, sanctified them, and glorified them in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

“LIVING TO THE GLORY OF HIS NAME”? Is this why God inspired Paul to instruct us, enlighten us, empower us in Romans 12:1-2? “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world but be [being!] transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

IF we are true believers living to the glory of His Name, are we, yes, praying daily, “Lord, your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven, in us, through us, and by our devotion to Your Holy Presence to extend Your life to others, express Your love to others, and prove, yes, Your present life and power, extending Your Kingdom-rule, and fulfilling the eternal ‘heart-beat of the Father for His Kingdom-rule through others’”?

Even King David became awed by God’s purpose when in Psalm 40:5-10 he prayed: “Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; my ears You have opened. [Are YOU hearing the voice of God speaking to YOU?]. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.

Then I said, “Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart. I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness in the great assembly; indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O Lord, You Yourself know. I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assembly.”

“LIVING TO THE GLORY OF HIS NAME”? It was Leo Tolstoy, in his writing, “The Kingdom of God,” (Chapter 12), who wrote: “The only significance of life consists in helping to establish the kingdom of God; and this can be done only by means of the acknowledgement and profession of the truth by each of us.” How true, and yet many believers remain “silent servants”, embracing ‘a tale told by others’ but not worthy enough for them to lay down their lives extending His Kingdom, expressing the fruit of His Spirit, and proving, by faithful trust, His power and able-ness in bringing others to His glory, grace, mercy, love, and eternal purpose through them! Are you “fruitful” in the extending and expressing and enlightening of Kingdom Living under Christ’s Lordship?

I heard a black disciple, not a pastor, speak in my son’s (Scott) church recently and hearing him say: “Churches are full but their doors are closed,” and what he was speaking about was a ‘cloud of unconcern’ for those of another race, with few outreach ministries, black or white, in both cultures!

I read an interesting quote from Frederick William Robertson, {“The Encyclopedia of Religious Quotations”, compiled by Frank S.Mead, p.294}: “In these two things the greatness of man consists, to have God dwelling in us as to impart His character to us, and to have Him dwelling in us, that we recognize his presence, and know that we are His, and He is ours. – The one is salvation; the other, the assurance of it.” But I add a third: A deep awareness of responsibility in extending His Kingdom rule and expressing His love to the “lost” who need His “Blood-Redemption” also for their wayward walks apart from Him and His eternal purpose and plan through their redeemed lives!

“LIVING TO THE GLORY OF HIS NAME”? Holy God “convicts” one of his sin nature and need of redemption! Holy God “bears witness” through Christ’s Life, Death, Resurrection, Ascension, and His desire to make your heart and life His earthly tabernacle and sanctuary of Holy Presence: Again, “Christ in YOU the hope of glory”! Holy God mandates in every new believer’s heart this word, Acts 1:8, “But YOU shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; AND YOU SHALL BE WITNESSES TO ME IN JERUSALEM, AND IN ALL JUDEA AND SAMARIA, AND TO THE END OF THE EARTH.” Didn’t Paul say later, in Acts 2:32, “This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.” Glory!

It’s so interesting AND convicting when we read in Matthew 20:25-28 that as Jesus called His disciples to Himself, He said: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

“LIVING TO THE GLORY OF HIS NAME”? We just read that Jesus came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” The one thing you ought to be assured of in this moment is that Christ came to You, forgave you, redeemed you, and anointed and appointed YOU to live and share the glory of His Name!! Christ Jesus came to unveil God’s mercy to you and through you!

In John 10:10b, Christ Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” HE CAME TO GIVE HIS LIFE AS A RANSOM FOR MANY, but how many around YOU are you seeing who lay their lives down for the lost, the alienated, the separated from God who so needs His love, grace, and mercy?

Hear me, “The soul that sins (and keeps on sinning) shall die,” but the soul that repents, returns, confesses and forsakes his sin, finds mercy and grace through the Lamb’s blood! And the “new, bright, eternal day” dawns and one begins to live to the glory of His Name, His honor, His praise! Spurgeon quoted an old, old hymn from his day, (Spurgeon’s Sermons, Memorial Library, p.66), that says: “Come, guilty souls, and flee away, and look to Jesus’ wounds; This is the accepted Gospel day, Wherein free grace abounds….God loved His church, and gave His Son to drink the cup of wrath; And Jesus says He’ll cast out none Who come to Him in faith.” Faith is more than awareness – it’s trust!

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“BEARING THE NAME-LIVING WITH SHAME”

“Bearing the Name, then living with the shame, is a life professing faith in Christ Jesus but continuing in a love-relationship with the world, the flesh, and the devil; sadly that’s a life still governed by selfishness rather than the Savior and Lord!

In “The Encyclopedia of Religious Quotations,” (p.398), Robert R. Brown said: “It is part of our human nature but there is that within us which always wants to make self the center of its own universe and, in that selfish way, wants to tear God from His throne and deny his brother and advance his own ambition.”

“Bearing the Name, then living with the shame of self-promotion and self-indulgence”, rather than faithful submission to Christ’s Lordship, is a willing renunciation of that Lordship and compromise with that which is diabolically opposed to the honor and glory of Holy God! And, sadly, sin-indulgent men live with no awareness of its harm and destructive influence and impact on others, even those and that it influences in its ‘cursing’ disregard of ‘blessing and honoring of God’!

Some are confronted with the claims of Christ Jesus for their hearts and lives, but are so contaminated by the sin of self-indulgence that “they” consider ‘suicide’ a better calling for them than surrender to Christ’s Lordship! THAT, my friends, is the depth rebellion can carry one to! But “cold-hearted”, “sin-bound” men will just celebrate their “lost-ness” and “separation” from God with indifference! Oh, and then, “believing Christians” just profess: “We’re under the Blood! So, it’s OK!”

There is a sad, sad commentary of Israel in Jeremiah 11:15-17, (Bearing a resemblance to Titus 1:10-16!!), with God saying in the prophetic passage: “What has My beloved to do in My house, having done lewd deeds with many? And the holy flesh has passed from you. When you do evil, then you rejoice. The Lord called your name, Green Olive Tree, Lovely and of Good Fruit. With the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire on it, and its branches are broken. For the Lord of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced doom against you for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke Me to anger in offering incense to Baal.”

Isn’t it liberating to know what Proverbs 28:13 says? “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” But “covered” sounds so inviting, but “continuing” in after “forgiveness” (?) is more than costly – it’s deadly, destructive, deceiving, dis-abling, and reveals a lingering heart and mind of a darkened mind and heart, if though a ‘religious one’!

And I believe if one presses into Proverbs 28:13 he/she finds biblical covering through the shed blood of the Lamb of God that there is both forgiveness AND freedom to live in the fullness and blessing of His Resurrection Life – but forgiveness with a warped mind, “I can continue to sin since I’m under the blood of the Lamb” which is disgracing the name and work of Christ at the Cross!

In YOUR church surroundings have you witnessed “fig-leaf” dressing rather than clothed in the “finished” garments of the crucified and Resurrected Christ? The shed blood of Christ “washes” clean, but “fig-leaf” rationale suggests “self-will” rather than divine revelation!

Do you hear ‘unbelievers’ even denying their “sin” or sinful state and ‘trusting’ in their personal ‘pretense’, or ‘excusing’ themselves in blaming others – parents, teachers, ‘stars’ that surround them in ungodly behavior and ‘faith-denial’, and because they are such good people, good citizens, good soldiers, but faithless as to the blood redemption, they leave ‘flesh followers’ with no redemptive hope because they view it as unimportant to their ‘refined’ life?

In fact, many, many people, influenced by godless lives, ‘excuse’ their ‘sin’ as a ‘religionized, homogenized milk’ that is fundamental to every human, without consequence, because: “If there is a God, He made us this way; and it’s normal and natural, without consequence!” Others assert, “God’s to blame because He made us this way!” Blame God?

I love what Spurgeon said about it when he once said: “Shall the prisoner at the bar bring accusations against the Judge who tries him?” And “the prisoner in prison” blames the prison superintendent for his guilt and sentence of death?

“Fleshly denial” is certainly a strong influence for many ‘naturalized’ unbelievers AND ‘professing Christians’ who ‘blame God’. “If God ‘made’ man, ‘birthed’ man, and that with a sin nature, then it’s reasonable to blame Him, and free ourselves from guilt. The fault lies with God who made us, and He ought not be holding us accountable for what He created!”

Some say, ‘ God’s harsh in His judgments’, when fallen men initiate perverseness of lifestyles and vacuums of faith, trust, and obedience to the God who birthed them for the pleasures of self-will, self-pleasure, and self-rule – “We may be ‘fallen men’ in God’s mind, but we’re free to do as we please!” And most sense no need of the Savior, Lord, and Master of life!

Oh, but then there are those fully aware of disobedience to God, diabolical hiding to loving, caring Godly parents, and a coveting, masking, fraudulent hiding from even their fallen world around them, because, at least, they have no desire to be included with “transgressors”! So, they choose “dark clouds”, “deceitful explanations”, or only “deceived circles of sin” that they mostly move in, but at least “profess” and “attend” the church that Jesus loved and gave Himself for. They ‘imitate’, they ‘mimic’, they ‘copy’, they ‘assume’ the religious mask when they feel it’s necessary!

Again, Spurgeon wrote: [ Memorial Library, Spurgeon’s Sermons, Vol.12, p.187-188], “Possibly they themselves held their tongue, and flattered themselves that no observer witnessed their movements or could divulge their action. So it was with Achan. I dare say he took the wedge of gold and the Babylonish garment, ‘mid the confusion of the battle, and hid it when his comrades seemed to much engaged to notice so trivial an affair. While they were rushing over the fallen walls of Jericho, amidst the debris and the dust, he might be unmolested; and then, in the dead of night, while they slept, he turned the sod of his tent, dug into the earth, and buried there his coveted treasure. All looks right, to his heart’s content. He has smoothed it down, and spread his carpet over the grave of his lust. Little did he count on the unerring lot that would come home to the tribe of Judah, to the family of the Zarhites, to the house of Zabdir, and, at last, to the son of Carmi, so that Achan himself would have to stand out confessed as a traitor – a robber of his God. Men little know the ways in which the Almighty can find them out, and bring the evidence that convicts out of the devices that were intended to cover their sin.”

“Bearing the Name – Living with Shame”! One of the things that the “shameful” fail to realize, comprehend, or understand, is that ‘mental dexterity’ does not see, sense, or take note, that, though good at ‘covering their compromising lifestyle’, it does not close the door on Holy God’s spiritual examination and exposure of what’s going on in the secret places of a divided heart!

In Luke 11:17-26 we find a strong, exposing word from Jesus about “kingdom division”! He said: “Every kingdom divided against itself (‘half to Jesus – half to me?’) is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelezebub. And if I cast out demons by Beelezebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. HE WHO IS NOT WITH ME IS AGAINST ME, AND HE WHO DOES NOT GATHER WITH ME SCATTERS.

When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came. And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”

“Half to Jesus – half to me”, and the devil rejoices! “Split kingdoms are open doors to devilish shame”! A split kingdom is the devil’s opportunity to thrive in “spoiling” one’s compromised allegiances! Does that result in “empty vines”? Does that mean some measure “fruitfulness” in the spiritual walk as “fruit for myself”? I dare you to search the Scriptures for what it has to say about “divided hearts”!

How strong, how awakening do you find Romans 1:16-25, speaking of a religious but rebellious people who “bear the Name but live with shame”, except for “the few” who are truly the “blood bought” and who DIDN’T exchange “the Truth for the lie”, the lie meaning you can sin and NOT die! It Says:

“For I am not ashamed of the GOSPEL OF CHRIST, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes [Rests in, relies upon, & adheres to!), for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who SUPPRESS THE TRUTH in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even the eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

Because, although THEY KNEW GOD, they DID NOT GLORIFY HIM as God nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man – and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, (the lie? You can sin and not die!), and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

“Bearing the name –Living with the shame?” It’s as if one who ‘bears the name’ believes he/she can cover “disobedience” by occasional response to Christ in some ‘form’ of a ‘Christ-like’ activity when in reality he/she loves the crossing of the line and life of holiness in fleshly rebellion “some of the time”. Concealed sin, cunning deliberation about how to hide it, evasions of responsibility and accountability, are ignored – then the Holy Word speaks! In Numbers 32:23 Moses said: “BE SURE YOU SIN WILL FIND YOU OUT!”

“Coverings, masks, excuses, ‘fleshly interpretations’, even outright denials of sin before Holy God” will have “no grounds” of excuse before the Judgment Bar of Holy God! Even long, elegant robes like the Pharisees and priests often wore in Temple activities, cannot conceal what reigns in the heart!

But there is eternal hope – not in our ‘self-efforts’, but in the finished work of Christ at the Cross! In Hebrews 13:20-21 we read: “Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, THROUGH THE BLOOD OF THE EVERLASTING COVENANT, make you COMPLETE in every good work TO DO HIS WILL, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Again, Psalm 85:2 says: “You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; YOU HAVE COVERED ALL THEIR SIN. You have taken away all Your wrath; You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger,” and in His love, grace, and mercy, He sweeps us up in the arms of His Holy Presence, caresses us in His compassion, anoints us in His Spirit-Power, and the Most High establishes us in the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

And like Paul, we’ve learned to daily take the sentence of death unto ourselves that the Resurrection Life of Christ may be manifested in mortal flesh! That’s “Christ in you the hope of glory”!

All because of the Love of God! Sinners declared saints, rebellious children birthed into the Holy Family of God, darkened lives becoming enlightened minds and hearts in the Glory of God, sin-imprisoned souls transformed into sons and daughters of Heaven’s Royal Family, condemned souls because of sin and the sin nature translated out of fleshly slavery to consecrated spirits of spiritual freedom and spiritual identity as royal ambassadors of the eternal Kingdom of God, the ‘chained’ to the devil’s dark kingdom-rule freed by the power of Christ over demonic control, ‘darkness’ allegiance, and the deathly walk of deception, loosed by the blood of the Lamb, no longer condemned because of sin but commissioned by the Master as His messengers!

Atoned, anointed, appointed, birthed, blessed, baptized in the Spirit, broken bread, poured out wine, consecrated on the altar of service as delegated representatives of the King of kings and Lord of lords, commissioned as holy representatives of the Savior and Lord, guiltless blood for guilty men, from darkened nights of the soul Christ changes miraculously the repentant heart into the Eternal Daylight by His Being, His Presence, His Purpose, His Power, as constant “Son-risers” and “Servant-saints”, and “Sanctified-Sermons” of His grace, mercy, and love!

Do YOU testify and testify regularly? Far too many ‘believers’ who ARE “temples of Christ’s holy presence”, though ‘steepled’, too often fail to ring their “bells” of worthy testimony that the spiritually unlearned might be drawn to Christ by their ringing – but sadly too many times, those “bells” are never rung!

You, as you hear this, may be those who have been redeemed but you haven’t truly reverenced Him because you’re not sure He can redeem others through you! But John 15:13 tells us about “greater love” – and it says, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends”; and then Jesus said in Verse 14, “YOU ARE MY FRIENDS, if you do whatever I command you.” Has there been a New Testament, Christ-Spoken, Spirit-anointed Word to all believers? YES!

In John 15:22 Jesus went on to say to His disciples, and us, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, BUT NOW THEY HAVE NO EXCUSE FOR THEIR SIN.” And, of course, some would say that that related to the Pharisees and Sadducees, but not to all Christians since then. Really? Don’t forget what “All Scripture” is for all believers!

There certainly is the reality of men who pore through the Word but deny its worth for the redemption of their souls! There are those who ‘examine’ Him but without any intent of “repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of Christ at Calvary’s Cross and the Empty Tomb! There are those who admire His compassion but will deny His Crown! There are those who give credit to Him for His strong character and caring outreach to the hungry and needy, but care not that He confessed He was the Promised Messiah! To them, “No man can atone for the sin of all humanity!”

In 1 Peter 2:22-25 Peter wrote, speaking of Christ Jesus, “Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth”; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who 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.”

This is why the author of Hebrews sought to awaken sleeping souls when he wrote in Hebrews 9:27-28, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” A sinful vessel washed, purified, cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, becomes the holy temple of His residence in true believers of redemptive faith! Parodies abound in unbelieving hearts and minds, but “symphonies of praise” are heard worldwide by the “Blood-bought” citizens of Christ’s glorious Kingdom!

Oh, it’s ‘easy’ to deny Christ’s saving grace and mercy when one’s intent is to live with and satisfy one’s sin nature! Self-pride, self-indulgence, self-adulation becomes ‘ruler’ in so many sin-blackened minds and hearts! But one, also, of the great stumbling blocks in unbelievers is their ‘love’ of indifference and unconcern for anything ‘spiritual’! In fact, most unbelievers and rebellers against Holy Truth are “listless”, or, as the Dictionary describes it: “feeling or showing no inclination toward or interest in anything,” except self-rule, self-indulgence and self-pleasure!

Most unbelievers are immersed in the monopoly of what promotes the success I want in what “I” determine as ‘my way of salvation’. But since only true redemptive faith in Christ’s shed blood washes away one’s guilt, ‘fleshly resolutions’ become the fallen’s avenue to success, but always falling short, missing the mark, and coming up empty and drained without saving grace and mercy and love from God Himself!

In Isaiah 45:22-24 the prophet wrote a word from God that call every unbelieving man to repentance and faith. God said: “LOOK TO ME, AND BE SAVED, all you ends of the earth! For I AM GOD, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself’ the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, THAT TO ME EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW, EVERY TONGUE SHALL TAKE AN OATH. He shall say, ‘Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come, and all shall be ashamed who are incensed against Him.”

No ‘looking to Him,’ no repenting of one’s sin, no surrendering to His Lordship, no resting in His shed blood and His promise of forgiveness and resurrection life, no turning to worship and praise the God of Creation, the God of the Cross, and the God whose Throne is in Heaven, Over the Earth, and according to Hebrews 1:8, But to the Son God says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. Verse 9, You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”

Yet, how easy for many to “Bear His Name –Yet – Live With Shame”! But then the grace of God is “Rescuing the perishing, and caring for the fallen!” I love Frederick William Robertson’s words in “The Encyclopedia of Religious Quotations,” [p.399], “We are too much haunted by ourselves, projecting the central shadow of self on everything around us. – And then comes the Gospel to rescue us from this selfishness. – Redemption is this, to forget self in God.”

B.B. McKinney and W.T. Dale co-authored an old Hymn entitled: “Crimson Calvary Answers, ‘No!’” Their words? “Shall I be condemned forever, If I to the Lord draw near; If I sue for peace and pardon, Will He deign to hear my prayer? Will He scorn my deep contrition, Will He not His grace bestow? Will He scorn my heart’s petition? Crimson Calvary answers, “No!”

I am mourning over my follies; I am weeping over my sin; For my guilt’s become oppressive, And a burden long has been; Will the Lord be gracious to me, If I tell Him all my woe, Will He leave me in my anguish? Crimson Calvary answers, “No!”

If I go and tell Him truly How I have His love abused, How I’ve sinned against His mercy, And His pardon have refused; Will He grant His loving favor When in penitence I go; Or in wrath will He forsake me? Crimson Calvary answers, “No!”

CHAPTER TWELVE

“EVIDENCES OF NEW-BIRTH CONVERSION”

In his book entitled “Inklings of God”, Kurt Bruner used a quote by Winston Churchill in his Introduction that says: “Man will occasionally STUMBLE OVER THE TRUTH, BUT MOST OF THE TIME HE WILL PICK HIMSELF UP AND CONTINUE ON,” and I say, totally ignoring ‘divine intervention’!

But do YOU realize how true that statement is? And, especially when confronted by Christ Himself saying to us all, “You MUST be born again, born from above, born of the Spirit,” but many are offended, resentful, and continue on in unbelief.

I was impressed by Kurt Bruner when later in the same book, (p.147), he said, “Frankly, I embrace the Christian faith because it points to a God who expects us to behave ourselves but who also knows we can’t.” But do YOU also know that God KNOWS we can’t ‘redeem’ ourselves? Yet, man-made ‘religions’ worldwide think and act ‘synthetically’, thinking they are ‘authentically’ worshipping, even though like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, deny Christ, the Promised Messiah, and deny His calling: “You must be born again”, and still today the ‘synthetic’ denies the “authentic”, “eternal reality of the Crucified, Resurrected Lord and Savior”!

And, sadly, many modern-day, so-called ‘Christian churches’, live in the façade of even active denial of “new birth” when they believe ‘church membership’ is the same!

Walter Chantry, in his writing, “Today’s Gospel,” (p.13), wrote: “Products of modern evangelism are often sad examples of Christianity. They make a profession of faith, and then continue to live like the world… ‘Decisions’ for Christ mean very little. Only a small proportion of those who ‘make decisions’ evidence the grace of a transformed life.”

But sadly a large number of American churches AND some preachers major on a “you can do it” mentality rather than “Christ in you the hope of glory”! No wonder Socrates became a well-appreciated philosopher! He once said: “To move the world we must first move ourselves.” Where do you find that in the Word of Almighty God? Didn’t Paul tell us, 2 Corinthians 1:9, [New Chain Reference Bible], “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raises the dead”?

Most humans all across the world in their nations, or here in the USA, are mostly oblivious to the state of their spiritual death and separation from Holy God! Spiritual success in life is not by the mental philosophy of ‘whatever you sense, you can succeed,’ which may have some ‘truth’ for the ‘flesh’, but has no relevance at all to the spiritual dimension that most know nothing about!

So many today, yes, even worldwide, are locked into the philosophy of ‘self-achievement’ so strongly that rewarding ‘self’ with pats on one’s back blocks, denies, ignores, or starves any Word, leaning, or turning from that ‘self’ to the “Savior”! Life is not a ‘do what you can’ mental philosophy, but an eternal opportunity to be ONE with God Himself through Christ alone!

It’s amazing to me, and exciting, as I read a statement by Benjamin Franklin. He said several hundred years ago,(?), “There is perhaps not one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive. Even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of ‘my humility’.” That’s Why we were “crucified with Christ”!

Are you aware though, at times, of the “embarrassing encumbrances” that are brought on a lot of ‘church folk’ who are swamped by ‘self-importance’, who are drowning in ‘self-worth’ that Christ crucified, and stubbornly, stupidly, studiously in pagan teachings, devote themselves to “what we’ve become” apart from the revealed knowledge of God as to the Way, the only Way, to their salvation, healing, deliverance, and completion?

David F. Wells, in his book, “No Place For Truth,” [Wm.B.Eerdmans Publ. Com., Grand Rapids, Mich., & Inter-Varsity Press, Leichester, England, 1993], so unveiled for me a story that encouraged this message! [Introduction, p.10}” Wells wrote: “In saying that I am a staunch disbeliever in the modern world, I do not wish to appear immodest, as if I come finished with the knowledge of a new discovery. In fact, I do not. In this connection, I will remember G.K.Chesterton’s story about the restless yachtsman who set sail from England with the intention of arriving at an exotic South Sea Island. After many days, he sighted land and, as soon as he could, beached his boat and ventured inland. Before him stood a dreadful pagan temple. Undaunted, he decided to claim it for England. He scaled its walls and bravely planted the Union Jack [flag] at its pinnacle. Only then did he realize that what he had scaled was the Brighton Pavilion on England’s south coast! He thought he had sailed a straight line, but because of an unfortunate miscalculation he had ACTUALLY TRAVELED IN A CIRCLE. He imagined that he was first in the land, but it turned out that he was the last.”

Do you realize, sense, or discern, that many, many people begin their “religious journeys” on the basis of men’s speculations about what they think God expects rather than Jesus’ declaration: “You MUST be born again”?

Do you remember Paul saying in Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, [and I would say also, “and don’t be conformed to a man-made religious world”!], but be {being} transformed by the renewing of your mind.” And what the Holy Word through Christ Jesus teaches is not simply a ‘mind change’ but a mind changed by the birthing of a new heart through our Lord’s love, grace, and mercy, AS A RESULT OF HOLY-SPIRIT-CONVICTION AND HOLY SPIRIT CONVERSION!

Several verses from John 3 that I want to use in the foundation and overview of this message: John 3:5-7 says: (Amplified Bible), Jesus answered, “I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, except a man be born of water (that’s the “water of the Word”!) and (even) the Spirit, he cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of God.[Ezekial 36:25-27].

What is born of [from] the flesh is flesh – of the physical is physical; and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not – do not be surprised, astonished – at My telling you, “You must all be born anew (from above).”

Oh, and then in John 3:16-21 (Amplified Bible) we read: ‘FOR god so greatly loved AND dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only-begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts, clings to, relies upon) Him shall not perish – come to destruction, be lost – but have everlasting life.

For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge – to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on – the world; but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him.

He who believes on Him – who clings to, trusts in, relies on Him – is not judged (he who trusts in Him never comes up for judgment; for him there is no rejection, no condemnation; he incurs no damnation). But he who does not believe (not cleave to, rely on, trust in Him) is judged already; (he has already been convicted; has already received his sentence) because he has not believed on and trusted in the name of the only begotten Son of God. – He is condemned for refusing to let his trust rest in Christ’s name.

The [basis of the] judgment (indictment, the test by which men are judged, the ground for the sentence) lies in this: that the Light is come into the world, and people have loved the darkness rather than and more than the Light, for their works (deeds) were evil. [Isaiah 5:20].

For every wrongdoer hates (loathes, detests) the light and will not come out into the light, but shrinks from it, lest his works – his deeds, his activities, his conduct – be exposed and reproved. BUT HE WHO PRACTICES TRUTH – who does what is right (according to God’s Word, will, and His ways!) – comes out into the light; so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are, wrought with God – divinely prompted, done with God’s help, in dependence upon Him.”

“EVIDENCES OF NEW BIRTH CONVERSIONS”? FIRST, NO LONGER IS THERE THE DENIAL OF ONE’S ‘OLD MAN’ SIN NATURE AND SEPARATION FROM GOD BUT A PASSIONATE LONGING OF RECONCILIATION!

Sometimes it takes a Holy Word from God to release His deep conviction in one’s lost, alienated, separated from Him awareness in unbelieving hearts; and I believe 2 Peter 2:4-5 can be that ‘shock awareness’ in some hearts and minds! It says: [Amplified Bible], “For God [even] SPARED NOT ANGELS THAT SINNED, BUT CAST THEM INTO HELL, DELIVERING THEM TO BE KEPT THERE IN PITS OF GLOOM TILL THE JUDGMENT AND THEIR (FINAL) DOOM. And He spared not the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven other persons, when He brought a flood upon the world of ungodly [people].”

Notice! GOD DIDN”T EVEN SPARE ANGELS WHO SINNED BUT CAST THEM INTO HELL! GOD DIDN”T SPARE EVEN THE ANCIENT WORLD, EVEN ‘RELIGIOUS PRETENDERS’ CALLED “JUDAIZERS”, OR ‘PROMINENT’, WELL-KNOWN NATIONAL POLITICAL LEADERS, OR THE “DO MY BEST” CROWD OF the ‘self-anointed’ who worship and are devoted to their old sin natures as personal points of admiration to which they yield themselves!

In fact, Hebrews 10:25-31, my prayer is that “IT WILL SCARE HELL OUT OF YOU, IF NEEDED TO!” It says: “Not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together [as believers], as is the HABIT OF SOME PEOPLE, but admonishing – warning, urging and encouraging – one another, and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching.

For if we go on deliberately and willfully sinning after once acquiring the knowledge of the Truth, there is no longer any sacrifice to atone for [our] sins – no further offering to which we look forward. [There is nothing left for us then] but a kind of awful and fearful prospect and expectation of divine judgment and the fury of burning wrath and indignation which will consume those who put themselves in opposition [to God]. [Isaiah 26:11].

Any person who has violated and [thus] rejected AND set at naught the Law of Moses is put to death without pity or mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. [Deut. 17:2-6]. How much worse (sterner and heavier) punishment do you suppose he will be judged to deserve who has spurned AND [thus] trampled under foot the Son of God, and who has considered the covenant blood by which he was consecrated common and unhallowed, thus profaning it and insulting the (Holy) Spirit (Who imparts) grace – the unmerited favor and blessing of God? {Exo.24:8}.

For we know Him Who said, Vengeance is Mine – retribution and the meting out of full justice rest with Me; I will repay – I will exact the compensation, says the Lord. And again, The Lord will judge and determine and solve and settle the cause and the cases of His people. It is a fearful (formidable and terrible) thing to incur the divine penalties AND be cast into the hands of the living God!”

IF you were “crucified with Christ”, does that not mean He took YOU, your old sin nature, your old godless-living life, and PUT IT TO DEATH on the Cross with Him as He shed His blood that ALL YOUR SIN AND MINE MIGHT BE WASHED AWAY? Why ‘resurrect’ what Jesus crucified?

SECOND, “EVIDENCE OF NEW-BIRTH CONVERSION”? “NO LONGER A DEEP, ABIDING LOVE OF THE WORLDLY INFLUENCES OR PEACE WITH ALL THE DEVILISH AND DEMONIC INFLUENCES AND CONTROL”! Here’s how John relates this, as we read his anointed exposure and heavenly challenge in 1 John 2:2-6!

“And He – that same Jesus Himself – is the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins, and not for ours alone but also for [the sins of] the whole world. And this is how we may discern [daily by experience] that we are coming to know Him – to perceive, recognize, understand and become better acquainted with Him: if we keep (bear in mind, observe, practice) His teachings (precepts, commandments).

Whoever says, I know Him – I perceive, recognize, understand and am acquainted with Him – but fails to keep and obey His commandments (teachings) is a liar, and the Truth [of the Gospel] is not in him.

But he who keeps [treasures] His Word – who bears in mind His precepts, who observes His message in its entirety – truly in him has the love of ‘and’ for God has been perfected (completed, reached maturity). By this we may perceive and know and recognize and be sure that we are in Him;

Whoever says he abides in Him ought – as a personal debt – to walk and conduct himself in the same way in which He walked and conducted Himself.”

Christ Jesus was so aware of both the religious influences of false Judaism (not the true “remnant”!) and the darkness of devilish, demonic activities through man-made ‘religious expressions’, when in John 6:57-69, He said, with Peter then grabbing hold and holding on to “Jesus Only”:

“Just as the living Father sent Me, and I live (by, through, because of) the Father, even so whoever continues to feed on Me – who takes Me for his food and is nourished by Me – shall [in his turn] live through and because of Me. This is the Bread which came down from heaven. It is not like the manna which our forefathers ate and yet died. He who takes this Bread for his food shall live forever.

He said these things in a synagogue while He was teaching at Capernaum. When His disciples heard this, many of them said, This is a hard and difficult and strange saying – an offensive and unbearable message. Who can stand to hear it? – Who can be expected to listen to such teaching?

But Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples were complaining and protesting and grumbling about it, said to them: Is this a stumbling block and an offense to you? – Does this upset and displease and shock and scandalize you? What then [will be your reaction] if you should see the Son of Man ascending to the place where He was before?

It is the Spirit that gives life – He is the Life-giver; the flesh conveys no benefit whatever – there is no profit in it. The words (truth) that I have been speaking to you are spirit and life. But [still] some of you fail to believe and trust and have faith. For Jesus knew from the first who did not believe and had no faith, and who would betray Him and be false to Him.

And He said, This is why I have told you that no one can come to Me unless it is granted him – unless he is enabled to do so – by the Father. After this many of His disciples drew back – returned to their old associations – and no longer accompanied Him.

Jesus said to the twelve, Will you also go away? And do you too desire to leave Me? Simon Peter answered, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words (the message) of eternal life. And we have learned to believe and trust; and [more], we have come to know [surely] that You are the Christ, the Anointed One, the Son of the living God.”

There is such a vast difference between ‘religious’ individuals who WILL FALL AWAY and the vital picture and reality of a regenerated soul, indwelt by and led by the Holy Spirit! In John 6:63 Jesus said: “It is the Spirit that gives life – He is the Life-giver; the flesh conveys no benefit whatever – there is no profit in it. The words (truths) that I have been speaking to you are spirit and life.”

I love Watchman Nee’s word in his book, “Ye Search The Scriptures,” [Christian Fellowship Publishers, Inc. New York, Copyright 1974], (p.16), “Canst thou by searching find out God”, challenges the Book of Job (11:7). God is never arrived at through research. He is found by one way only – through the regenerated spirit.”

In 1 Corinthians 2:1-4, “As for myself, brethren, when I came to you I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony and evidence or mystery or secret of God [concerning what He has done through Christ for the salvation of men] in lofty words of eloquence or human philosophy and wisdom;

For I resolved to know nothing – to be acquainted with nothing; to make a display of the knowledge of [nothing] – among you except Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and Him crucified. And I (passed into a state of) weakness and was in fear (dread) and great trembling [after I had ] among you.

And my language and my message were not set forth in persuasive (enticing and plausible) words of wisdom, but they were in demonstration of the [Holy] Spirit and power of God, operating on me and stirring in the minds of my hearers the most holy emotions and thus persuading them.”

An unbelieving world, a self-indulgent flesh, and a demonically, devilish controlled mind will create and establish all kinds of ‘religious mannerisms’ but oppose “You must be born again”! For the most part, fallen humanity and the devil’s crowd and, yes, ‘church pretenders’ will settle for religious entertainment but highly oppose no longer living for yourself but living for Christ alone!

What did Paul write in 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1? Don’t miss, overlook, or casually kind of knod at his word!! It says: [Again, Amplified Bible!], “Do not be unequally yoked up with unbelievers – do not make mismated alliances with them, or come under a different yoke with then [inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership have right living and right standing with God with iniquity and lawlessness? Or how can light fellowship with darkness?

What harmony can there be between Christ and Belial [the devil]? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? What agreement [can there be between] a temple of God and idols? For (In Christ!) WE ARE the temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them and will walk in and with and among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

SO, come out from among (unbelievers), and separate (sever) yourselves from them, says the Lord, and touch not [any] unclean thing; then I will receive you kindly and treat you with favor. And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

7:1, Therefore, since these great promises are ours, beloved, LET US CLEANSE ourselves from everything that contaminates and defiles body and spirit,, and bring [our] consecration to completeness in the (reverential) fear of God.”

I have no doubts that even most ‘church folk’ easily accept the blood of the Cross for their forgiveness but will rebel, excuse, accuse faithful men of the Word for lying when they even share Jesus saying, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, but you do not do what I Say?” Dare I tell YOU that obedience is not an option in the age of grace?

Spiritual focus, even in a religious setting, is more often on fleshly concerns rather than divine revelation or the ultimate Will of God’s eternal intent? I love what Charles Stanley wrote in his booklet, “In Touch”, [April,2016, p.13], “The Lord isn’t looking for people who change a few habits by sheer force of will; He’s calling people to surrender to Him…We don’t evolve into a saved people by deleting old habits and instituting better religious ones; we are transformed by the saving power of Jesus Christ when we believe [trust in, rely upon, adhere to] Him.”

Many ‘church folk’ are highly appreciative of ‘compromisers’ because they ‘believe’ that “fleshly indulgence is justified because, though one is ‘saved’, he/she cannot do anything but sin until Christ comes again – so they blame God rather than trust His Truth! They are euphorically violent to those who uphold Jesus’ Word, like when He said, “Go, and sin no more,” but they believe sin in a believer is ‘normal, and that without ‘guilt’, because “God is love”.

There’s even by some a ‘ministerial’ maligning of the Holy Word because they feel ‘justified’ in ungodly behavior though a professing believer. And in the world around you there is philosophical rationalization because of spiritual ‘brain-tumors’ called resistance to Holy Truth! “Who needs a ‘Savior’? We’re OK , you with or without Christ are OK”! Really?

But I can tell you without hesitation that to continue sinning as a ‘believer’ is to deny Jesus’ Victory at the Cross and to refute Jesus’ words in John 15:22, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but NOW they have no excuse for their sin.”

Do you remember Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15:34? “Awake (from your drunken stupor and return) to sober sense and your right minds, AND SIN NO MORE. For some of you have not the knowledge of God – you are utterly and willfully and disgracefully ignorant, and continue to be so, LACKING THE SENSE OF GOD’S PRESENCE AND ALL TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM. I say this to your shame.”

But, in Isaiah 41:8-15, there is a powerful word of hope to, ‘sometimes’, discouraged disciples who’ve ‘tried’ to live the overcoming life, (with no ‘discipleship’ training), but only a sad pastoral “do your best”. IF YOU DIDN’T KNOW, at the Cross Jesus took YOUR worst and YOUR best, and it was “crucified with Christ”! Look at Isaiah’s ‘Word of Hope’!

• Isaiah 41:9, “I have chosen you and not cast you off.” 2) Verse 10, “Fear not…for I am with you.” 3) Verse 10, “I AM your God…(Elohim), meaning the “high and lifted up, the mighty One,” and He’s ‘able’ to sustain us, strengthen us, and guard us (if we let Him) against the world you face, the “old man” trying to resurrect, AND even victorious over Satan! 4) Verse 10, “I WILL STRENGTHEN AND HARDEN YOU TO [DIFFICULTIES]…”. This is probably why Paul shared, “When I am weak, then I am strong,” because he did not lean on ‘fleshly abilities’ but Holy Presence – ‘Christ in YOU the hope of glory’! 5) Verse 10 again – “I will hold you up and retain you with My victorious right hand of rightness and justice.” God said in Isaiah 42:13, “The Lord will go forth as a mighty man; HE WILL ROUSE HIS ZEALOUS INDIGNATION AND VENGENCE LIKE A WARRIOR; HE WILL CRY, YES, HE WILL SHOUT ALOUD, HE WILL DO MIGHTILY AGAINST HIS ENEMIES.” 6) Verses 11-13 – “Behold, all they who are enraged and inflamed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; they who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall PERISH. You shall seek those who contend with you, and shall not find them; they who war against you shall be as nothing, as nothing at all.” 7) Verse 15 – “Behold, I will make you to be a new, sharp, threshing instrument having teeth…” In 2 Corinthians 13:10 Paul wrote: “So I write these things while I am absent from you, that when I come to you I may not have to DEAL SHARPLY in my use of the authority which the Lord has given me, [to be employed, however] for building [you] up and not tearing you down.” The “SHARP TOOL” of Holy Truth will ‘shape’ you in His image or ‘silence’ your voice if you betray Him!

“Evidence of NEW-BIRTH CONVERSIONS”, sharpened in life by His Word, Will, and Work OR slicing to threads the disobeying, compromising, contented disciple who “plays” on both sides of the street? WHICH LEADS US TO NUMBER THREE AND LAST: “NO LONGER DEVOTION TO WALK OUT ONE’S LIFE OF ‘FAITH’ (?) ON THE “STREETS OF SELF-INDULGENCES AND SELF-FLESH EMPHASES,” BUT STEPPING FAITHFULLY ON THE HIGHWAY OF HOLINESS!

In Colossians 2:5-10 Paul so strongly lays the foundation of a truly birthed and overcoming ‘Life In Christ’! “For though I am away from you in body, yet I am with you in spirit, delighted at the sight of your [standing shoulder to shoulder in such] orderly array and the firmness and the solid front and steadfastness of your faith in Christ, [that leaning of the entire human personality on Him in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom and goodness]. As you therefore received the Christ, [even] Jesus the Lord, [so] walk – regulate your lives and conduct yourselves – in union and conformity to Him.

Have the roots [of your being] firmly and deeply planted [in Him] – fixed and founded in Him – being continually built up in Him, becoming increasingly more confirmed and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and abounding and overflowing in it with thanksgiving.

See to it that no one carries you off as spoil or makes you yourselves captive by his so-called philosophy and intellectualism, and vain deceit (idle fancies and plain nonsense), following human traditions – men’s ideas of the material [rather than the spiritual] world – just crude notions following the rudimentary and elemental teachings of the universe, and disregarding [the teachings of] Christ, the Messiah.

For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead), continues to dwell in bodily form – giving complete expression of the divine nature. AND you [in Christ] are in Him, made full and have come to fullness of life – in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and reach full spiritual stature. And He is the Head of all rule and authority – of every angelic principality and power.”

Don’t you think this foundation of the true “Evidence of New-Birth Conversion” is seen in what Paul wrote to us? And it strongly agrees with what Christ Himself said when in John 7:37-38 we read: “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink! He who believes in Me – who cleaves to and trusts in and relies upon Me – as the Scripture has said, Out from his innermost being springs and rivers of living water shall flow (continuously).”

Even in the walk of redemptive faith there are doors before us – some to condemnation, frustration, and captivity, while others are Christ’s ‘door’ to liberty, freedom from bondage to the old sin nature and ‘birthed’ to the freedom of everlasting life in the here and now, in and through Christ alone! SO…it’s either:

Self-directed in one’s ‘walk of faith’ OR “born-again to new LIFE IN CHRIST”; it’s either a ‘kingdom rule’ that is fleshly rich in sensual satisfactions or the Holy Spirit-enriched life in the very wealth of Holy God and Heaven’s Son, better known as “Emmanuel”, or “God With Us, God in Us, God through Us”, because of Resurrection Life in Christ, Resurrection Power through Christ, and Resurrection Hope instilled within us by His Holy Presence!

It’s ‘philosophically-wise’ in godless ways or personally and intimately blessed with the very “mind of Christ”! It’s either trained by the best of a world’s ‘master’ deceivers, even the devil himself, or Sovereignly guided by the Holy Spirit, truly enriched by the treasures of His Holy Word, and “Master-led” disciple makers who “feed” us on the “bread of life,” the “milk of the Word,” and upon the very “meat” of God’s Holy Truth!

The claim of Christ that He had come that we might have life and that abundant was not a fictitipous claim of a ‘false prophet’ but from the Creator of mankind and the Savior and Lord over mankind!

Jesus said: “I AM THE DOOR” to reconciliation with God, the door of divine forgiveness, the door to abiding presence of God within repentant and faith-filled hearts, and the door of receiving, walking in, and being blessed by the fruit of His Holy Life and His Holy Spirit!

Don’t you find it sad and heart-breaking that you see around you, yes, multitudes who are ‘satisfied’ with the ‘flesh-life’ and all it has to offer, closing the door on the love, grace, and mercy of God. But time will unveil for many the fundamental reality that vocational and financial successes fall short of filling the inner hunger that only Christ Jesus meets and fills!

In Catherine Marshall’s book, “Something More,” [COPYRIGHT, 1961, by Catherine Marshall, Published by Chosen Books, Lincoln, Va. 22078], (p.3), she wrote about “the famous Hollywood actress, Mary Astor, (who) has known the fairy-tale of movie stardom. An Academy Award, glamourous marriages, two children, several Beverly Hills mansions, furs, jewels, publicity – what more could any woman want? Yet Mary Astor admitted in print that ‘for years – even in the midst of fame and glamor – I yearned for contentment, happiness. It took me almost twenty years to go from idle curiosity about religion…to meeting God as a Person and a Father, and knowing that walking in (redemptive) faith meant growing up.”

AND THAT “GROWING UP” IS “FALLING DOWN” before the King of kings and Lord of lords, REPENTING, TRUSTING, RESTING IN HIS FINISHED WORK AT THE CROSS< AND EXPERIENCING THE REALITY OF HIS INDWELLING PRESENCE THROUGH THE “EVIDENCES OF A NEW-BIRTH” RELATIONSHIP!

IS YOUR BODY NOW THE “HOLY TEMPLE”?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“THE UNDESERVED OR UNRESERVED RELEASE OF GOD’S OMNIPOTENT POWER!”

In Hebrews 10:11-14 the author of Hebrews gives us an amazing unveiling of the awesome, unreserved release and availability of God’s omnipotent power to change hearts, birth eternal ministries, and equip “perfected saints”! It says: “And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

BUT this Man (the Lord Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, “God in Flesh”), after He had offered one sacrifice for sins FOREVER, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. FOR by one offering HE HAS PERFECTED FOREVER THOSE WHO ARE BEING SANCTIFIED.”

And “the sanctified”, those “set apart” by the grace and mercy of God, have been “perfected forever” for the very purpose of extending Christ’s life, expressing His love, and proving His power, through you and me? Absolutely! The Holy Word declares it! God’s eternal desire is that He, Christ Jesus, be glorified THROUGH YOU as a true believer!

What does Ephesians 2:4-10 tell us? “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 with Christ, 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, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

It’s so interesting to me that when I read Revelation 3:7-8 Jesus clearly says, “These things says He who is holy, He who is true, ‘He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts, and no one opens.’ I know your works. (SO!) See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have Not Denied My Name.” There IS an open door to Jesus!

But then in Revelation 3:19-22 the Lord Jesus declared: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. BEHOLD, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” [And don’t you find this amazing that Jesus was speaking to those “in the church at Laodecia”?] THEREFORE, HOW EASY FOR UNBELIEVERS TO SHUT THE DOOR ON JESUS, BUT HOW HORRIFIC WHEN “professing Christians and churches” shut the door on Jesus?!?

And I remind you again of Jesus describing ‘believers’ as: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” [Ephesians 2:10!].

Repentant men of faith and trust in the work of Christ at the Cross accept their crucifixion with Him and receive with passion, joy, and celebration His forgiveness, His acceptance of us, and His desire to make each of us His earthly temple and dwelling, not a destroyed memory of a building in Israel, but temples of holy dwellings in the hearts of men in every nation of the world!

Notice, FIRST, what Ephesians 1:3 tells us of GOD’S GOODNESS, “who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ…!” And what amazes me is Ephesians 1:4 tells me, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,” and that with an eternal purpose: “that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” And that’s ALL because of the shed blood of Christ for us and because of our ‘redemptive faith’ in (Ephesians 1:5-6), “having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”

That’s because of God’s goodness, His graciousness, and His sovereign will, which leads us to:

SECOND, GOD’S Gracious Birthing OF Redemption Through Jesus’ Blood, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE, which Ephesians 1:7-8 declares “which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence.” Notice!

It’s only “divine wisdom” that reveals the sin nature, your sin nature and mine, was crucified with Christ, that the open door to His presence and purpose, was then fully revealed as the blood of Christ bought us out of slavery to sin, granted us forgiveness from the guilt of our sin, made us accepted In Christ, with Ephesians 1:12 telling us, “that we who first trusted in Christ SHOULD BE TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY”!

Colossians 1:13-14 declares: “He (God) has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

Are you aware of what Hebrews 10:12-14 unveils to true repentant believers? “But this Man, after He had offered ONE SACRIFICE FOR SINS FOREVER, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. FOR BY ONE OFFERING He (the Lord Jesus Christ!) has PERFECTED FOREVER THOSE WHO ARE BEING SANCTIFIED.” Sanctified? That’s “set apart”, repentant believers then, now, and future, who Repent For the Forgiveness of Sins, are washed in the blood of the Lamb, indwelt by Resurrection Presence, anointed in the power of the Indwelling Holy Spirit, and become “witnesses”, “ambassadors”, “evangelists”, who proclaim the “goodness of God” for His children of faith and hope in Christ alone!

1 Corinthians 1:30 says, “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption – Verse 31, that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” Having forgiveness through the shed blood of the Lamb of God, we realize, rest in, and rejoice, in the reality that our blood-bought faith has opened the door to us of faithfully participating, now and forever, in all God is!

I receive with joy and gladness Oswald Chambers’ words in his book, “My Utmost For His Highest,” (p.255), where he said: “We have forgiveness through His (Christ Jesus’) blood. Identification with the death of Jesus Christ means identification with Him to the death of everything that never was in Him…God is justified in saving bad men only as He makes them good. Out Lord does not pretend that we are all right when we are all wrong. The Atonement is a propitiation whereby God through the death of Jesus makes an unholy man holy.”

THIRD, IN GOD’S WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING, OF BRINGING ABOUT WORLD REDEMPTION AFTER THE “FALL”, DID HE CONCEDE TO A MAN’S ‘BEST EFFORT’ AS A PARTICIPANT IN WORLD REDEMPTION, OR THE NECESSITY OF “NEW VESSELS”? Remember, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God!” (Romans 6:23). “Fallen flesh” never reveals the nature, character, true vision of Holy God, but only ‘man’ defining ‘self’, ‘sinful self’, as a ‘worthy vessel’ even God should use! No!

Romans 6:5-11 unveils fallen humanity’s “old man, old nature, old identity as a slave TO SIN”, but then reveals “Victory In Jesus”! It says: “For if we have been united in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be IN THE LIKENESS OF HIS RESURRECTION, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, THAT WE SHOULD NO LONGER BE SLAVES OF SIN. For he who has died has been freed from sin.

Now IF WE DIED WITH CHRIST, we believe (trust in, rely upon, adhere to the fact) that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God IN Christ Jesus our Lord.” Far too many fail to understand the consequences of their sin and sin nature! That’s why Paul was inspired to say also in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God IS eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

And if that is Biblically true, AND IT IS, does Jesus have to say the same thing to ‘modern-day’ Christians as He did to the “Sad-you-sees” (?) in Matthew 22:29, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.”

And then, in Mark 9:1, to a crowd of people plus His own disciples, Jesus said to them: “Assuredly, I say to you, that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.” What a promise to them and to us!

Luke 4:13-14 there is a mind-boggling, heart-searching, disciple-questioning passage! It says: “Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him (that’s Jesus!) until a (more) opportune time. Verse 14! Then Jesus returned in the POWER OF THE SPIRIT to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.” And “the news of Him”, Spirit-filled, is STILL being spread through available “vessels” who RECEIVE the Spirit’s anointing!

In Acts 10:34-38 we read about “Spirit-Anointed Peter” speaking Holy Truth! “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. BUT IN EVERY NATION whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Christ Jesus – He is Lord of all – that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how GOD ANOINTED JESUS OF NAZARETH WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND WITH POWER, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”

Oh, but then look at the awesome extension of the Holy Spirit’s ministry beyond Peter and the early church even to today and beyond! It says in Acts 10:44-45, While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, BECAUSE the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.”

It’s really interesting as you study Isaiah 40 that you see in Verse 7 about “the breath of the Lord” (Do you believe that breath might be the Holy Spirit?) blows upon it; surely the people are grass. Verse 8, The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of God stands forever.” And the Word of God, the Living Word, IS “Christ in you the hope of glory”, men and women re-born and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, empowered by the Spirit to be the Lord’s “faithful witnesses” and “Royal Ambassadors” of Kingdom Living in and through Him and His Holy Spirit!

Do you remember what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:3-5? “I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, BUT IN DEMONSTRATION OF THE SPIRIT AND OF POWER, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

The “Holy Temple” in Christ, in you, is built upon a strong and sure foundation, which is not only His Word, but His Spirit having His rightful place in you, over you, and around everything you are and everything you do! We’re not led by our “emotions” in the Christian walk but by the “emissions” or “emanating” of the Holy Spirit through your available life of faith and trust in Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit! Dare I tell you that Holy God desires to be and to do more through us, by His Spirit, than tragically, and often, we keep Him from doing?

In Revelation 12: 10-11 John HEARD the voice from Heaven! “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, AND THE POWER OF HIS CHRIST HAS COME, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. AND THEY OVERCAME HIM by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death!”

But, not only Old and New Testament histories, but ‘modern-day’ church “productions”, present to us many who “are at ease in Zion”, content as Pretenders rather than Converted and Transformed and Dwellings of His Resurrection presence!

In Isaiah 32:1 says, “Behold, a king will reign in righteousness…”, and if you didn’t know, that’s a prophetic utterance of the reign of King Jesus in the repentant, redeemed, regenerated, restored hearts of men to God’s eternal intent! And it then boldly described “lands” with thorns and briers, forsaken ‘temples’ or palaces, cities ‘of faith’ even ‘deserted’, but Verse 15 is filled with divine assurance and eternal confidence as Jesus states: UNTIL THE SPIRIT, (the Holy Spirit!) IS POURED UPON US FROM ON HIGH, when ‘the wilderness’ of a fleshly believer becomes a “fruitful field” through Spirit-anointing!

Dare I tell you that to live a victorious, overcoming, Christ-unveiling, Christ-revealing life is not by your “best-efforts” but by a “vessel’ anointed and overflowing in the fullness and fruit and eternal force of the very Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, who “girts” us, “anoints” us, “empowers” us, and, according to 1 John 5:6b, “… And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.” And far too many “professing believers” never become “confessing believers” to others because there is no surrender to be led by Holy Spirit leadership – too many feel they can handle their own ministries, which sadly never occurs – they never become “voices” in life’s wildernesses because, if they ‘witness’, it’s usually about their own spiritual prominence rather than the importance of “repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of Christ in and through Calvary’s Cross and the empty tomb”!

I’m an ‘old hymn’ kind of guy – repeated ‘choruses’, far too often in modern-day churches, leave preparation for preaching on “shallow ground”! But a hymn, like “Thou, Whose Almighty Word”, written by John Marriott and W.R. Braine, in the old “The American Hymnal,” [ Compiled and edited by Robert H. Coleman, the Broadman Press, Nashville, Tenn., 1933], says:

“Thou, (or You) whose almighty word Chaos and darkness heard, And took their flight, Hear us, we humbly pray; And where the gospel’s day Sheds not its glorious ray, LET THERE BE LIGHT!

Spirit of truth and love, Life-giving, Holy Dove, Speed forth Your flight: Move over the water’s face, Bearing the lamp of grace; And, in earth’s darkest place, LET THERE BE LIGHT!

Blessed and Holy Three, Glorious Trinity, Truth, Love and Might! Boundless as ocean’s tide, Rolling in fullest pride, Through the world, far and wide, LET THERE BE LIGHT!” How about “Light IN YOU the hope of glory”?

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“THE FLESHLY UNFULFILLED OR THE SPIRITUALLY FULFILLED?”

In 2 Corinthians 1:12 Paul stated, “For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you.” ‘Conduct in the world’? And Paul laid down his challenge: “Not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God”! And, you realize, there are multitudes who live by ‘grit’, honoring one’s fleshly determination or fleshly abilities, but not to God’s honor and glory, leaving ‘fleshly lives; UNFULFILLED, though crowned by the world and the devil as outstanding folks and ‘worthy examples’.

As Jesus was instructing His disciples, He said in Mark 9:35, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” Yet how many do you know who function through ‘flesh’ at its best and miss God’s eternal intention, with a fleshly, unfulfilled, short of God’s blessing, satisfied with their best life-style and fleshly effort?

Are you aware of the danger of fleshly imagination that has nothing to do with ‘eternal purpose’, but is even that which either doesn’t consider ultimate intention by divine design, or personally chooses to exalt one’s self through personal self-determination above even the knowledge of God Himself?

If the Lord Jesus lived “to do My Father’s will”, don’t you find it so strange that even most Christians have not been disciplined in “bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ”? As a result, their view of their salvation ‘experience’ is short-changed concerning relating to worldly influences, old sin-nature limitations, or even the devil’s interferences with the fullness of their development!

But, “the fleshly unfulfilled” I see as worldly, unfulfilled unbelievers who determine to be ‘god’ or ‘goddesses’ themselves, godless lives governed by self-rule, even satisfied with their own “just-rewards”. Didn’t Paul tell young Timothy about those who were “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of, (some) having a form of godliness but deny its power. And from such people turn away”? [2 Timothy 3:5].

It’s interesting that even in old Israel there came a time, even a time after the time, when, As Deborah said that she arose as a ‘mother’ in Israel only to see Israel “choosing new gods”! [Judges 5:8]. But, of course, in modern-day America, I’m not sure many Americans (?) now have any grasp of the “new gods they choose wo worship”!

Most today bow to a ‘god or goddess’ of appearances with more attention to outside ‘show’ but no inward purified hearts by the blood of the Lamb! Psalm 82:5 speaks of those who, “do not know, nor do they understand; they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of [their] earth is unstable.”

“The fleshly unfulfilled”? Sadly, most are unaware of a ‘way of evil’, walking perverted paths, with no concern for the path of uprightness because they truly love the ways of darkness, rejoice in doing evil things, delight in the perversity of the wicked, looking for crooked paths, desirous pleasures, and devilish men and women – they love unrighteousness and bow willingly before their idols of darkness, deceit, and deathly deception.

“The fleshly unfulfilled”? In 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, Paul spoke of a ‘lawless one (who) will be revealed, saying, “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. AND FOR THIS REASON God will send them a strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth BUT HAD PLEASURE IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.”

“The fleshly unfulfilled”? I have no hesitation in saying that unbelievers that avoid “spiritual fulfillment” are individuals undeniably interested only in themselves, with an attitude of mind and heart that is in “what pleases me, the cares of my world, the concerns of what satisfies me and me alone.” Many are so carnal, crude, self-caring, that to expose their need of the Redeemer heightens their anger, resentment, and bitterness! For many, it’s ‘cold minds’, ‘cold hearts,’ and ‘over-all coldness’ to even the awesome love of God for them or even the Name of Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior!

In Luke 19:41 as Jesus “wept over Jerusalem”, I’m convinced the Ascended Lord at the right hand throne of Almighty God still weeps over cities all over the world, saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”

How many times have you heard someone say that Jesus spoke in parables to make it easily understandable to them about what He wanted them to grasp? Yet when you read what He said in Matthew 13, having spoken of “the Parable of the Sower,” in verses 3-9, the disciples of Christ came asking Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” Jesus responded in Verses 11-17,

“Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, BUT TO THEM IT HAS NOT BEEN GIVEN. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, BECAUSE SEEING THEY DO NOT SEE, AND HEARING THEY DO NOT HEAR, NOR DO THEY UNDERSTAND. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull, their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes THEY have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so I should heal them.’

But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

You do realize that when most men hear about “water” they are considering a physical water to drink, or a water to nourish their fresh-sown seeds, or a water that cleans a dirty car or what they wash their sweaty bodies with, but they never consider “living water”, or as Proverbs 21:1-2 says, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes. Every way of man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.” [And does YOUR heart over-flow with rivers of your own will or rivers of the divine will?]. Sadly, most ‘fleshly’ lives are not even aware of any fountains of life that ought to be ‘abounding with the water” of Life in Christ, of Holy Presence, or of Holy Purpose!

In Jeremiah 2:13, though speaking historically of ‘the chosen people of Israel’, what the prophet heard God say speaks prophetically of all men who go their own way: “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns – broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

And Jeremiah is usually associated with “Lamentations” – and he certainly had much to lament about as he saw his own people turning to their own fleshly ways. There is a bold, icing word he gives us when in Lamentations 5:4 he wrote: “We pay for the water we drink!”

Yes, there is a water the world drinks that is not the “water of life”! There’s a water that is not the water that cleanses the heart! There is a water that is not “pure water”! Are you aware that Peter, in 2 Peter 2:17, wrote: “These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever”?

In the previous verses of 2 Peter 2, he was pointing out the “depravity of false teachers” who were warped in their understanding of the holy life birthed through the blood of Christ! He spoke about those who ‘perish in their own corruption,’ ‘spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions’, ‘eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin,’ ‘enticing unstable souls,’ ‘hearts trained in covetous practices, AND ARE ACCURSED CHILDREN,’ ‘having forsaken the right way and gone astray,’ ‘loving the wages of unrighteousness,’ and, Yes, ‘rebuked for one’s iniquity’; but you realize these are those who say, “Who cares what God thinks? We’re in charge of our own lives!” Then, a day of reckoning awaits them! And it does come!

“The fleshly unfulfilled”? How many do you know who major on things in their lives that will surely guarantee a “successful life” if they set their own goals, and they meet their goals to their satisfaction, but never ask, ‘Is this God’s will, God’s purpose, God’s plan for my life?” Sadly, for many ‘successful people’, relationship to Holy God is the furtherest thing from their minds, if at all!

But, there was “the rich young ruler” who at least acknowledged the reality of eternal life but deemed his riches should be his ‘calling card’ into a blessed life! This ‘rich young ruler’ even took advantage of an opening door to Jesus’ presence, asking Jesus in Luke 18:18, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus reminded him of ‘the commandments’ with the rich young ruler responding, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”

Then in Verses 22-23 we read about those who major on “self” and refuse “selflessness” as a way of life! It says: So when Jesus heard these things, He said: “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich. [How rich are YOU in yourself?].

Being even sorrowful is not full surrender if one wants his wealth more than the will of God! Did he understand it? Yes! For him, he didn’t walk away defiantly – he purposefully listened, but reasoned his fleshly goal was more important to him than God’s eternal desire for men, proven in the sacrifice of His own Son on the Cross of Calvary! His desire for fleshly wealth became more vital to him than a “fire in his bones” for the glory of God’s earnest desire for sons of true faith in their hearts and walks before Him.

“The fleshly unfulfilled”? Most will never admit it, but they are men, if they were to ever consider the will of God for their lives, would at least admit that their “self-allegiance and self-devotion” takes precedent over a man’s devotion to God or His Son, the Lord Jesus! For them, there’s no discouragement about a Godless life, no disenchantment with ‘self-idolatry’, no darkness for them about ‘self-love’ or ‘self-devotion’ – they’ll even say, “That’s my religious faith – I am my own main god!”

And being one’s own conviction about “self”, there are so many who are overwhelmed by the influences of family, or friends, or even societal circumstances, like a war, where many are hardened by the splitting of devotion to protecting lives or ending lives in human wars! There’s nothing that should EVER turn you away from Him, but always turn you to Him in absolute, total surrender and submission to His eternal watch-care, but many are divided, weakened, and become unbelieving that a Holy God could ever care about them!

As one even begins to consider himself related to a fleshly world purpose or eternal divine intent, there’s always, “follow your instincts” or “follow His inspiration” – and, of course, in the world, many are overcome by “the world, the flesh, and the devil”!

There’s a powerful few verses in John 2:23-25 that reveals our Lord’s insight as a discerner of human hearts and their exposure to worldly rather than eternal intent. It says: Now hen Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.”Illusions, ideas, intents, personal intuitions, for many, become more important than divine revelation or Eternal Will, eternal purpose, eternal provision, or plan – “my ideas take precedent over eternal will,” and they’re eternally settled into that frame of mind and heart, united with the devil himself, though they’d never admit that to you, but look upon you as a ‘spiritual lunatic’ or a child of the devil yourself!

For unbelievers, even on their dying death-beds, they’ll hold out for their way of human existence, even if it’s brought them pain, suffering, a void of eternal purpose – “I’ve had my way, and with that, I’ll live and leave with what I face after my death.” Oh, really? They really don’t know what the devil and the hordes of Hell’s demons have in store for them, do they?

After life? Oh, yes! The body way decay to “ashes and bones”, but the true ‘you’ is eternal with the devil’s insignia of ownership if you were never ‘purchased by the blood of the Lamb’! The one thing about Hell you need to be reminded of is the fact the devil doesn’t leave you for a season, but day after day inflicts the consequences of your yieldedness to him rather than to Jesus! Eternal agonizing is the identifying reward for all unbelievers.

Do you have any conception at all of an unbeliever’s ‘multiplied sorrow’ forever and ever as the reward of his/her unbelief and rebellion and disobedience before Holy God? There IS the sorrow of heart and mind that intensifies and is never soothed or removed! There is a sorrow of heart that gets heavier and heavier for any unbeliever under Satan’s domination – and it intensifies more and more, forever and forever! Proverbs 10:10 says, “He who winks with the eye causes trouble, but a prating fool will fall.” Prating? Idle chatter, foolish talking, absurd reactions to the love and purpose of Holy God! That’s about as good as I can describe ‘a prating fool’ – God says, “He/she falls!”

Are you familiar with “astrologers”? “Astrology” is a ‘professed science’ that supposedly can “read the stars” and, for them, basically, interpret their influences on human affairs! Really? Or is it not more of human attempts at ascending to God’s throne and seeing for themselves how they’d like to see things turning out? It’s like men who are natural desiring to be supernatural, determining for themselves how earthly things ought to be since “we see it in the stars”! Dream-World?

Oh, certainly, there are “fleshly star-gazers” who believe they’ve seen heavenly visions for themselves with a ‘bright light’ or “me, my, mine” so alien to submission to the King of kings and Lord of lords. Walking in their “own light, as I see it,” with a strong sense of self-will, self-direction, because of a fleshly sense of property and a fleshly sense of personal right, even ahead of or more than God’s divine sovereignty! It’s the fallen attitude of fallen men that “my life consists of what I want it to be, what I choose, what I want to possess for myself”, when the Lord Jesus said, and still says, (Luke 12:15), “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundances of the things he possesses”, or packages according to his own flesh desire, worldly influence, or devilish possession and domination!

Dare I tell you that you’ve just read up on “The Fleshly Unfulfilled”? But, what about “The Spiritually Fulfilled”? Why not truly examine the Word of God for yourself about Resurrection Life, Resurrection Power, and Resurrection Hope?

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“OPTIONAL EXPRESSIONS OF LIFE – HUMAN OR DIVINE, FLESHLY OR SPIRITUAL, TEMPORARY OR ETERNAL?”

A life bleak or blessed, a life scarred with sin and the old sin nature, or a life conceived by the Holy Spirit, a life trying or trusting, a life programmed by the world, the flesh, and the devil, or a life purposed, promised, and spiritually prosperous in God’s Kingdom because of “new births”, or a life experiencing, exposed to, exasperated by, encapsulated by fears, anxieties, worries, doubts or a life enraptured with, enduring, exciting, and exhilarating in the joy of Jesus’ indwelling, overcoming, victorious Resurrection Presence?

What is your life? Is it the life in Christ Jesus with a peace that passes all understanding or is it a life of spiritual death of the guilty, a life of sinful flesh to offer as best one can, or the “Life in Christ” graciously granted in victorious, overcoming, rejoicing- in- Jesus hearts with symphonic Hallelujahs and glorious praise and thanksgiving from a new-born heart?

A ‘worldly life’ sustained by physical bread alone and the best ‘fallen flesh’ has to nibble on without an ounce of true repentance or pure sustenance or purified heart and mind, void of the Holy Spirit, void of the “fruit” of heavenly love, eternal peace, and life-changing joy that never subsides, wanes, or falters, is a life, though mentally religious but never “born again”, that tries to imitate, even pretend, and attempts with all flesh has to offer, but falls short of the reality of truly transformed hearts and lives by the miracle of the “new birth”!

Do you ever consider, think about, evaluate ‘God-less –living’ as empty, self-centered, mindless, purposeless, unfulfilling, unrewarding in its long haul, or a life filled with the manifestations of Holy Presence in Christ?

Do you remember Jesus saying, “Come to Me, learn of Me, rest in Me, and you’ll find “rest” that is eternal and blessing for your soul” that truly is indescribable?

Is your life based on fleshly ‘fairy’ tales or a life blessed on the divine, eternal, revelation of the Christ of Resurrection Life, Resurrection power, and Resurrection Hope?

The enemy of the “God-Life”, the devil, deceives, entraps, blinds men to the “Christ-in-you-Life” of Holy presence, Holy purpose, and Holy power, with ‘imitation’, ‘non-redemptive,’ ‘fleshly intents alone,’ without any consideration of the miracle of “new birth,” the blessing of “Christ-in-you,” or the fulfillment of divinely-ordained, eternal intent, or sovereignly, ordained, and graciously given “Oneness” with the divine nature in and through Christ!

It was Philip James Bailey, in his “Festus, A Country Town,” who once wrote: “We live in deeds, not years; in thought (or Truth) not breath: In feelings, not figures on a dial. We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best. Life’s but a means unto an end; that end Beginning, mean, and end of all things – God.”

What is YOUR life? “Hell’s bells” or “the Joy-Juice of Jesus’ Presence”? A fleshly flame revealing failing, futile living or the pure flame of the Eternal Son and Sun of Life within us, the Crucified, Resurrected King of kings and Lord of lords?

Life is not a ladder finitely stepped – never has been, never will be – Life was extraordinarily given to give men personal choice of ‘flesh-life’ or the “Divine Life” – life without God or life in Him – not fleshly dreams, finite feelings of sensual pleasures, or faltering feelings of human successes, but a life, not of temporary thoughts of pleasure and satisfactions, but one of eternal peace, resurrection presence, and heavenly joys!

Is your life the “bondage” of your ‘old- as- ADAM’ SIN NATURE OR THE “BLESSING” of LIVING IN, BY, and FOR THE LIFE OF ANOTHER, EVEN CHRIST ALONE THE HOPE OF GLORY?

A man who lives only to satisfy his Adam’s original nature, his flesh, his old, ancient sin nature, his selfish ambitions, is a man who never discovers perfect peace in Christ, selfless surrender to the sovereignty of God, or complete liberty and freedom and desire to honor, bless, exalt, and please the Savior, the Blessed Redeemer only!?!

A life that is satisfied with ‘flesh’ (the old sin nature), that knows no ‘self-denial’, that accepts the devil’s ‘slant’ that ‘You Can Sin And Not Die, That Thinks “devotion to God” is unnecessary, that’s been deceived by the powers of darkness, that loving the world and its lust of the flesh is not evil, never submitting to the reality that THAT world of idiotic, fleshly foolishness, is fading, failing, unfulfilling, and that the lust of it is death constantly just warmed over, and is passing away into a dark abode of demon presence, insisting it’s ‘OK’ – and that’s a life ‘OVERCOMING’ ?– just not overcoming by the blood of the Lamb?

You’ve heard it: “Live while you live – satisfy the passions of your old sin nature, realize you are your own, do as you please, never silencing the demons, and you “just go to Hell” – “it’s OK” – “everybody does it”; while that’s true for the most – it’s not true for God’s redeemed, blood-bought remnant – they find the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life!

How sad that many never come to know the Life that is “in Christ”, never know the true pleasures that never fade that Jesus brings, that never experience the peace that passes all understanding, that never knows “death to self” and “Life in the Savior”, or “death to the fallen nature” and Life in the fullness of the divine nature, or the “death of bad fruit” and not the Life of “the fruit of the Spirit”!

Are you aware of the man-made philosophy that ‘best effort here’ is worthy of life in the “here-after”, that “fleshly best ensures life forever”, that “trusting is good for humanity,” even if God says trusting in Him alone is your only hope?

“Live while you live as your ‘flesh’ dictates” or “Live in Me alone” as Jesus declared? “Live while you live for the pleasures that satisfy your fleshly tendencies” or is it “Live for the purpose of honoring the God who made you, lost you, but bought you with a price, even the blood, innocent blood, of the precious Lamb of God?”

How many do you know who see “life is living it to the fullest for yourself as YOU see it for yourself,” or is it “Life is living as God desires, defines, declares, and delivers me to through a repentant heart, fully trusting and receiving forgiveness, and the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Have you ever heard it? “A man’s ingress into his own world is knowing, satisfying, and promoting himself with all due diligence”, without any consideration of the eternal purpose of God of ordination as a vessel or container of divine life and holy presence? It’s not ingress in ‘self’ but INDWELT by Resurrection Life in Christ alone!

Facts of human existence are not as Fosdick once spoke of as ‘loose types with many meanings,” but human existence was intended before time began to be habitations of Holy Presence as “temples” of a loving Lord and Savior, but many have fallen victims desiring the “Las Vegas’ residences of self-indulgence, unbelief, and fleshly rebellion”!

Can you even ‘see’ in fallen humanity the reality of “chaotic disarrangement” and “self-centered”, self-serving, cynical or godless arrangements, fleshly affirmations and loyalties, and descents into hellish, hollow, and ‘holey’ attempts at life in the flesh alone ,but wanting spiritual existence on their own terms? That’s nothing more than fragments of existence offered as one’s best but never aligning or becoming one with God’s intent! But in 2 Corinthians 4:7-15, (Is this the testimony, not simply of your existence but God’s Indwelling?),

“But we have this treasure in earthern vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed (at times), but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed – always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you. And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I believed and therefore I spoke,’ we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.”

Do you see it? Do you sense it? Have you settled it? Are you aware of it? There is the reality of one’s “best”, the “fleshly unfulfilled”, or God’s “best”, the spiritually re-born, indwelt, regenerated, Spirit-anointed, and “blessed” with the Resurrection Presence of the Living Lord, OR there is the unending evidences of the godless OR the eternal workings of Christ in the “Spirit-Man”.

Yes, there is “the sufferings of the saints” who ARE SUSTAINED BY THE SAVIOR, and who know both toughness in determination to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil, and at the same time are tender followers who show others the way of Redeeming grace, purpose, and power! And though most saints are “forgotten by the world”, they live “fulfilled, blessed, contented, peaceful lives in and through Christ alone”! They are prayers, prepared, and equipped by the Word and the Spirit!

Do you comprehend “fleshly lives as containers of man’s best” or “spiritual lives birthed by the Spirit as recipients and containers and vessels of God’s best, the Living Christ, crucified, resurrected, ascended, reigning, and available to any repentant heart willing to be the temple of the Eternal Christ”?

In ‘fallen flesh” the “best” of human existence is only ‘variations’ and ‘shadows of the True’, but only ‘IN CHRIST’ is there the ‘victory over sin and death and emptiness and meaninglessness’, when only in the flesh is there the rewards of God’s enemy; but ‘IN CHRIST’ is the reaping and receiving of everlasting Life in Him! Christ-less lives are “oil-less lamps” with no ‘Light” that shines forth God’s glory.

Christ-less lives are ‘fragmented’ left-overs of ‘what could have been’ rather than Christ-Indwelt lives, fully revealing a God-ordained, and God-birthed Resurrection Presence!

Fleshly lives at the human-level “best” is only a cheap imitation of illumined, divine, resurrection presence of eternal life, eternal hope, and eternal fruit.

Free men? That’s not ‘freedom’ to do as one “damn well pleases”, but spiritual freedom in the Spirit to honor Christ alone! Only “in Christ” are men truly liberated to honor Holy God!

Most men, apart from God, arise each morning thinking, “What will really make ‘my day’ and ‘pump my flesh’ to historic levels?”, rather than, “What will honor God and exalt Christ through me to the world around me?”

A mortal man is only committed and satisfied in his self-complacency, his self-promotion, and his self- indulgence , but the “Christ-man” desires, longs for, driven by, and holds onto “honoring Christ alone, the hope of glory through me, as a vessel!”

Everything that promotes ‘flesh’, even ‘flesh at its best’, gives honor to the ‘old sin-nature’, turns a blind eye to the will, the Word, and purposes of Holy God, and is a clear exposure of one’s spiritual nakedness and his ‘egression’ willfully further away from God, and not his willful ‘ingression’ in Him by “repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of Christ alone.”

Misspent lives apart from the presence of Christ are like ‘empty glasses or vessels’ rather than residences of Christ in them as His Holy Temple!

Useless living is ‘born in sin’ with no desire to be reconciled to God, just indifferent to His Word and will, with no desire or longing or fleshly impulse to reconciliation or understanding of His Word or anything different from ‘fleshly satisfaction’ or even a thought about ‘birthed in Christ’ through repentance and faith! Yes, millions live without any desire to be “citizens of the Kingdom of God”, living consumed in promoting ‘self’ , not understanding the rebellious attitude that is the ‘death-nail’ to eternal purpose. Personal imagination and personal intent is not divine life nor divine presence nor divine power, but simply “best of the flesh” honoring “self-made men” of temporary existence, fading fame, tainted rewards, and terrible, eternal residences apart from the God who loved them, wanted them, but lost them by their lusts, their stubbornness, indifference, and mindlessness and heartlessness to His good, acceptable, and perfect will –“best effort” or “fallen flesh” is acceptable to them, and not even the Crucified and Resurrected Christ matters to them!

It’s not even ‘how long you lived’, but “in Whom you lived”, not the “best of self-effort existence in the sands of life” but “the solid foundation” of the True Rock who is Christ alone.

Do YOU fathom, do you understand, do you comprehend lives that are nothing more than ‘helpless pieces’ on “Life’s Game-board” with no submission or open door in them to the True Author of Everlasting Life, Purpose, or Divine Moves on their ‘play-boards’ of one’s earthly existence? Apart from Jesus it’s emptiness, vainness, personal game-playing – not the unveiling and revealing and revelation of Eternal Intent!

Life ‘found’ for one’s self apart from the Savior and Lord is a life guaranteed of eternal loss and one of serious desperation and consequences, but life “FOUND” in Christ for His honor, His glory, His praise, will stand eternally before Holy God, constantly reflecting, radiating, revealing Jesus’ everlasting Presence! It was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, in his “A Psalm of Life,” who wrote: “Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal,” but I’m not sure if he even grasped, “Life is eternal” – and it’s either ‘in your best’ or Jesus’ “Resurrection Life and Holy, Resurrected Presence”; yes, there is life that continues beyond the grave and Hell with all its demons, devil, and unbelievers, but with the “graced saints” graciously living in God’s gift of eternal life in and through Christ’s “finished work”, there IS Heaven! Yes, Jesus Only!

Any definition of ‘life’ that has no foundation under it of honoring and glorifying Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior is ‘fruitless’, even ‘hollow religions’, ‘unregenerate church members’, or ‘temples steeped with ‘hypocrites’! But Jesus IS “the Light”, and “Jesus Only” is the ONLY UNVEILING OF LIGHT within men!

Christ Jesus, Emmanuel, Promised Messiah, IS the “Life”, the “Bread of Life”, is the “Author of LIFE” and that more abundantly, IS the “gift of God” and the only door to “eternal life”, and Paul says, “To live ‘in Christ’ is to flourish, and to die ‘in Christ’ is to gain eternal Presence and an eternal home in Heaven; life apart from Christ is a ‘vapor’ that only ‘exists’, and that ‘forever’ with flesh’s author and finisher who is the devil, but ‘in Christ’ there is victorious presence that never dies, falters or fades away in insignificance, but constantly joins Heaven’s Angels in the “Hallelujah Chorus”!

Unhappy lives or even ‘happy lives’ are not “God-blessed” or “Spirit-birthed” but just Adam-seeded, sin-natured attempts at “doing one’s best” with even totally unconcerned, misinformed, or blinded allegiance to God’s purpose in their ‘creation’. Have you ever heard someone say, “The purpose of life is just be yourself to your fullest and be happy?” when God’s intent is one being through with himself, accepting God’s judgment of his/her death with Christ as his/her only hope, and rejoicing daily in His Resurrection Presence in their repentant, redeemed, reconciled to God hearts!

It was Shakespeare, in his “Macbeth”, [Act V, sc.5.1,26], who wrote: “Life…is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.” Did the prophet mention the one who says, “Peace, peace, but there is no peace?”

You do understand, you do comprehend, you have evaluated the consequences of “Godless-men, nations, individuals” who ‘try’ to live with “no need of God”! Leo Tolstoy was right on target when in his writing “The Kingdom of God,” (Chapter 12), he said: “The only significance of life consists in helping to establish the kingdom of God; and this can be done only by means of the acknowledgement and profession [and I, JFF, would add ‘confession’ and ‘acceptance’] of the Truth by each one of us.”

I like what Augustine said when he spoke, “Before God can deliver us we must undeceive ourselves”! “The wages of (“my”) sin is death, but the ‘gift of God’ IS eternal life in and through Christ ONLY!” And as a result of receiving the “finished work of Christ AT THE CROSS,” resurrected to the King’s Presence, His Kingdom, and His witness in us and through us, He gives us graciously the “gift of the Holy Spirit,” and Romans 8:16 declares: “The Spirit (the Holy Spirit!) Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.”

As a result of the amazing miracle of grace and the habitation of the Risen Christ within repentant hearts, and the recipients of the Holy Spirit “bearing witness in us and through us,” do you doubt, or just never informed and discipled to be led by the Holy Spirit? “The Spirit bears witness!” Is He “bearing witness” in you and through you?

I love Oswald Chambers’ explanation of “The Witness of the Spirit” in his amazing writings entitled, “My Utmost For His Highest.” (p.218). “We are in danger of getting the barter spirit when we come to God, wanting the witness before we have done what God tells us to do. “Why does not God reveal Himself to me?” He cannot, it is not that He will not, but He cannot, because you are in the road as you won’t abandon absolutely to Him. Immediately you do, God witnesses to Himself. He cannot witness to you, but He witnesses instantly to His own nature in you. If you had the witness before the reality, it would end in sentimental emotion. Immediately you transact on the Redemption, and stop the impertinence of debate, God gives the witness. As soon as you abandon reasoning and argument, God witnesses to what He has done, and we are amazed at our impertinence in having kept Him waiting. If you are in debate as to whether God can deliver from sin, either let Him do it, or tell Him He cannot. Do not quote this and that person, try Matthew 11:28, – “Come unto Me.” “COME”, if you are weary and heavy laden; “ask”, if you know you are evil. (Luke 11:13).

Chambers went on to say: (p.219), “The Spirit of God witnesses to the Redemption of our Lord, He does not witness to anything else; He cannot witness to our reason. The simplicity that comes from our common-sense decisions is apt to be mistaken for the witness of the Spirit, but the Spirit witnesses only to His own nature, and to the work of Redemption, never to our reason. If we try to make Him witness to our reason, it is no wonder we are in darkness and perplexity. Fling it all overboard, trust in Him, and He will give the witness.”

That’s so true “IF”! “If any man be in Christ, If any man is finished with his old life, old sin-nature, and his ‘fleshly ambitions’, willing ALL old things “are passed away,” then the “new-creation man”, indwelt by Resurrection Life in Christ, is then ready to “receive the Holy Spirit” to guide, direct, empower, and overflow in you and through you with, yes, “the gifts of the Spirit,” ready to reveal a redeemed, re-born, Spirit-filled, appointed, anointed witness to the glory and honor of Resurrection Life, Resurrection Power, and Resurrection Hope!

In the old American hymnal of Robert Coleman’s, published by The Broadman Press in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1933, I came across the song By Horatuis Bonar entitled “I Heard The Voice of Jesus Say.” It says:

“I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto Me and rest; Lay down, you weary one, lay down your head upon My breast.” I came to Jesus as I was, Weary, and worn, and sad; I found in Him a resting-place, And He has made me glad.

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Behold I freely give The living water; thirsty one, Stoop down, and drink, and live.” I came to Jesus and I drank of that life-giving stream; my thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in Him.

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “I am this dark world’s light: Look unto Me, your morn shall rise, And all your days be bright.” I looked to Jesus and found in Him my Star, my Sun; And in that light of life I’ll walk Till all my journey’s done.”

Old man – “new man”; flesh – Spirit; the sinner’s man – His saint; the Undone – in Him a “finished work” complete in Christ lacking nothing; grit, grease, garbage, and gall – “in Christ” is grace, victorious virtue, “fresh springs”, and perfect “God-Likeness”; empty, insignificant, earthly dwelling of ‘human flesh’ – “in Christ” is eternal Life, Holy Presence, and All-Sufficient grace; ‘flesh-poverty? – how about “enriched in Him, heirs, sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father, co-laborers in the Savior’s eternal, redemptive work, recipients of the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ, blessed with “amazing assurance”, divine anointings, holy callings, the natural crucified but resurrection Life amplified, Kingdom living and resident address, Kingdom presence, Kingdom power, Kingdom privileges, and Kingdom testimonies, visions and dreams, and Holy anointings in fulfilling His good and acceptable and purposeful will, citizens of the eternal Kingdom, members of the divine Family, appointees “in Christ” to the mission of world-wide “redemption” through our testimonies of “the blood of the Lamb and His Resurrection Presence in every “born-again” life! “Rise up, O men of God!”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“WHEN MERCY IS MEANINGLESS – FATAL FORGETFULNESS”

I don’t know how you respond when you read a verse like Isaiah 27:11, but it does tell us our Lord is speaking of people who have “no understanding.” It then says, “Therefore He who made them WILL NOT HAVE MERCY ON THEM, and He who formed them will show them no favor.”

I love what Peter wrote about “mercy” as a heavenly inheritance when in I Peter 1:3 he said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” What did Peter call God’s mercy? ABUNDANT MERCY! But there are those upon whom He will have no mercy!

Why is that? It’s ‘fatal forgetfulness’ – mercy is not a ministry of God, an event of epoch proportions, they are interested in. Oh, they may at least on the surface be aware of the mercy of God, but it’s not a road they need to walk down – about like Solomon who said in I Kings 3:6, “You [God] have shown great mercy [Underline that! At least Solomon knew God’s mercy was great!] to Your servant David my father, because He walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.”

Solomon was saying what? “God, You’ve shown great mercy to my dad, and you were merciful giving me his throne, but as for me mercy is meaningless – merit is my ambition and I’ll earn whatever I set my mind to!” Does Solomon reflect at all on modern man today who find mercy meaningless to their existence? Look with me at Psalm 103:17-18,

“But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, to such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commandments to do them.” The mercy of God is for WHO? Those who “fear Him,” to those who understand blood covenant relationship and keep it, to those who sense His commandments are to be kept! [Why do some miss ‘mercy’? “That’s salvation by works”!!]

But, sadly, many are blinded to the misery of fallen sin natures and sense no need to cry out to God for “mercy”! You’ll remember Jesus making that visit to His hometown in Mark 6:5-6 that says: “Now HE could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief…” Does that explain “mercy” as “meaningless” to some people?

Have you forgotten the Galatian dilemma? It explains tons of understanding about “when mercy is meaningless”! In Galatians 3:3 Paul asked: “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

And do you understand that meaningless mercy is not only for heathens or pagans or the self-assured – it’s for deceived masses in the borders of Christendom who substitute repentance for the rigors of personal disciplines and pats on the back of their self-sufficiency!

But…it’s not what YOU achieve but what you receive as a gift from God! It’s not what YOU earn but what you receive by His grace. It’s not a portrait you paint of yourself but the precious privileges God grants to you! It’s not “trying harder” – it’s trusting God more and more.

Deaf ears, blinded eyes, clouded senses to the nearness of God in a man’s life assign him to a meaningless existence weighed against the eternal purpose of God for one’s life. But put that up next to the story of Joseph! In Genesis 41:50-51 Joseph named his firstborn Manesseh and said: “It is because God has made me FORGET all my troubles and all my father’s household.”

But some men manufacture forgetfulness of God, establishing in their minds and hearts that “mercy is meaningless”, but God mercifully blots out our troubles, blessing us with the forgetfulness of man-made miseries and builds in us Heaven’s blessings!!

Men manufacture forgetfulness of God like a Pharoah who says in his mind and heart: Exodus 5:2, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go.” Men easily obliterate the memory of God because they’re bound to the god of self-rule, self-adulation, self-importance, and are comfortable in their state of godlessness and their paralysis of self-analysis!!

But God remains the same! Acts 17:24-31 says: “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshipped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His offspring.’ Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

In fact, in Matthew 5:45 Jesus said of Father-God: “…for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous…”

Listen to A.W. Pink in his “The Attributes of God – The Mercy of God”: “…let us note how vain is the presumptuous hope of the wicked, who, notwithstanding their continued defiance of God, nevertheless count upon His being merciful to them. How many there are who say, ‘I do not believe that God will ever cast me into Hell; He is too merciful.’ Such a hope is a viper, which if cherished in their bosoms will sting them to death. God is a God of justice as well as mercy, and He has expressly declared that He will “by no means clear the guilty,” [Exodus 34:7]. Yes, He has said, “The wicked shall be turned into Hell, all the nations that forget God.”

The willful pride of blindness to God’s mercy, the fleshly forgetfulness of God’s graciousness and kindness, the soulish settling on “me, my, or mine”, deludes one into darkened, defeated, devilish, disillusioned misery with eyes, ears, minds, and hearts off of mercy, God’s mercy, into a state of despair, in which one is comfortable because he’s in control!

There are those who even unashamedly seek to defame, deny, disgrace, and seek to delude the ‘infinite efficacy of the Savior’s atoning death.’ IT WASN’T FOR THEM JESUS SUFFERED, BLED, AND DIED ON THE CROSS! Yet II Corinthians 5:15 clearly tells us: “and He [Jesus] DIED FOR ALL, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”

I was reading Spurgeon recently when he told of a man who decided to keep a ‘tame’ leopard in his home. The man had nursed it from a cub and allowed free roam in the house. The man was sleeping soundly one day when the growing cub licked his hand and it licked a cut where the blood was still seeping…and all the jungle instincts kicked in and the beast began to feed…awakened, the man knew he was in trouble – a life or death situation was before him and he knew it was his life or the leopard’s life.

There was a loaded pistol beside the couch and without hesitation he aimed it at the hungry leopard and killed it!….Whether you believe it or not the leopard of sin, rebellion, disobedience, unbelief, is out to drain your blood – give up your precious leopard of lust, livid sin, furious fleshly instincts – leave them at the Cross where Jesus willingly and gladly took them and yourself upon Himself and willingly laid down His Life for you!! Jesus killed your leopard sin-nature!

I know it’s so hard for prideful men and women to admit the bankruptcy of their births; it is so hard for some and so easy for others to acknowledge high treason against Holy God. In fallen man there are no glamorous genes or heavenly glories or personal worthiness that merits the favor of God!

There’s an amazing confession of King David in 2 Samuel 7:18-22! Hear it:

Then King David went in and sat before the Lord; and he said: ‘Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far? And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O Lord God; and You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come. Is this the manner of man, O Lord God? Now what more can David say to You? For You, Lord God, know Your servant. For Your word’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all these things, to make Your servant know them. Therefore, You are great, O Lord God. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.” I ask you: ARE YOU LISTENING TO GOD?

And before you came to faith in Christ, I’m sure you wondered like David: “Who am I, O Lord God, that You’ve shown me YOUR MERCY?” Without faith in God, mercy is meaningless to many. Without Holy Spirit conviction, mercy is a futile term. Without the historic crucifixion of Christ, mercy is an insignificant, unimportant eternal truth.

But for those who know “the narrow way that leads to life,” they understand deliverance from the pit of destruction; they are aware of God’s lifting them up out of the miry clay of sin and deceitfulness; they clearly grasp freedom from a prison of sin, selfishness, and self-importance apart from God; they rejoice that God’s mercy is His eternal heavenly light, leading them out of the darkness of Egyptian bondage of sin, separation from His “Holy Land,” and the silence of the lightning bolts of eternal revelation and purpose. They know God has shown them HIS MERCY!

But still, for me, there rages an ever-building question, repeated often: “Why, for some, is mercy so meaningless? Why does intentional forgetfulness of God’s mercy dominate so many lives?” WHY?

FIRST, BECAUSE SOME WILL ACCEPT MERCY IF THERE’S NO CALL UPON THEIR LIVES TO WALK MERCIFULLY WITH OTHERS! In Micah 6:8 there is an illuminating verse that reveals why some miss God’s mercy. It says: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”

How does one ‘do justice’ when he/she could care less about others? How does one ‘love mercy’ when he/she is so merciless toward others? How does one ‘walk humbly with God’ when they’re so proud and so self-sufficient, void of the need of God to be God in and over their lives?

Come to Matthew 18:23-35 which is such an eye-opening, heart-convicting story that calls for examination of ourselves, yes, testing ourselves to see if we’re truly of the Faith and the faithful: “Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. [Before inflation that was about $18 million dollars!!].But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had,, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave the debt. But [THEN] that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; [about $18] and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt [$18 million!!] because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry; and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

What does Luke 1:50 tell us? “And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.” It’s why in 2 Corinthians 5:11 Paul wrote: “Therefore knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men…” Proverbs 1:7 tells us: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…”

Come to Proverbs 14:26-27. “In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children will have a place of refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death.” Beside this passage I wrote in my Bible the following statement – I don’t remember if I wrote it or it was a quote, but the sentence says: “Even what one likes, that is not necessarily evil, can become an entrapment of death, like cheese in a mouse-trap.”

Here is Jesus’ amazing challenge to those who believe or border on mercy being meaningless for them and hold no fear of God – Matthew 11:25-28 – At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

SECOND, FOR SOME MERCY IS MEANINGLESS BECAUSE THEY DENY SIN, CONCEAL SIN, EXCUSE SIN, OR ACCEPTING THEIR SINFUL STATE BEFORE HOLY GOD AS NORMAL OR NATURAL! But look at Proverbs 28:13!! “He who conceals his sins [transgressions, wrongs, violations of God’s laws] does not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes and renounces his sin finds mercy.”

Do you remember John’s word in I John 1:7? “But if we walk in the light as He [Jesus] is in the light…the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.” I love what Oswald Chambers said about the truly conscious awareness of sin in a person: “The evidence that I am delivered from sin is that I know the real nature of sin in me.”

Concealment is a covering and convincing of one’s self that sin may be a problem for others but not for the deceived mind. And because of that there are God-sent, God-mandated, even God-initiated consequences in one’s life – like an empty prosperity that never satisfies, like a barking, biting dog in the inner man that never quits or quiets down, like a rich man who loses all his monies because the bank within him is bankrupt, like a criminal who believes he’ll never be caught but lives every moment expecting arrest and final judgment!

I love the call of God on our lives as true believers as expressed by Paul in Galatians 6:1-2 [NIV], “Brothers, if a man is trapped in some sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself; you may also be tempted…Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way fulfill the law of Christ.”

Listen to John Piper in his book, “A Godward Life,” [p.77], “Don’t be muzzled by the comment that you can’t force your religion or morality on others. You are not forcing it; you are commending it for serious consideration. Declaring and persuading are not forcing. Commending is not coercion. The fact is this: Everybody’s idea about what should be done is guided by some kind of prior commitment. Secularists as well as Christians have a world-view that governs their opinions. Every policy suggestion is rooted in view of how things should be.”

Exposing sin is merciful. Exposing sin is an act of grace. Challenging sinners with the claims of Christ builds foundations of possible super-structures in the new lives He can birth and bless!

THIRD, FOR SOME MERCY IS MEANINGLESS BECAUSE THEY’VE NEVER BEEN CONFRONTED WITH GOD’S CLAIMS OF JUDGMENT. I want you to come to Nahum 1:2-8. “God is jealous, and the Lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies; The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon wilts. The mountains quake before Him, the hills melt, and the earth heaves at His presence, Yes, the world and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him. But with an overflowing flood He will make an utter end of its place, and darkness will pursue His enemies.”

Two things that are easily discernible here: 1) God is ‘slow to anger,’ and 2) God “will not at all acquit the wicked.”

In Spurgeon’s Sermons, his “Memorial Library,” the great English preacher preached on the verses we just read. Hear Spurgeon: “God ‘will not acquit the wicked.’ Let me unfold this, first of all; and then let me, after that, endeavor to trace it also to its source: God ‘will not acquit the wicked.’ How do I prove this? I prove it by this. Never once has God pardoned our unpunished sin; not in all the years of the Most High, not in all the days of His right hand, has He once blotted out sin without punishment. What say you, were not those in heaven pardoned? Are there not many transgressors pardoned, and do they not escape without punishment? Has He not said, ‘I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and like a thick cloud your iniquities?’ Yes, true, most true, and yet my assertion is true also – not one of all those sins that have been pardoned were pardoned without punishment! Do you ask me why and how such a thing as that can be the truth? I point you to a dreadful sight on Calvary; the punishment which fell not on the forgiven sinner fell there. The cloud of justice was charged with fiery hell; the sinner deserved it; it fell on him; but, for all that, it fell, and spent its fury; it fell there, in that great reservoir of misery; it fell into the Savior’s heart…It is Jesus suffering all the plagues of sin. Sin is still punished, though the sinner is delivered.”

It was Orin Philip Gifford who said: “You may juggle human laws, you may fool with human courts, but there is a judgment to come, and from it there is no appeal.” I pray you find God’s court of mercy, because in His court of judgment, Daniel 5:27 says: “You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting.”

I want you to be confronted with God’s claim of judgment. In Jeremiah 5:3 Jeremiah asked the Lord, “O Lord, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, but they have not grieved; You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return.”

Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 6:10, “To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear? Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them; they have no delight in it.”

Do you see it? Do you hear it? Do you sense it right now for yourself? GOD DESIRES TO GIVE YOU “THE SURE MERCIES OF DAVID.” [Acts 13:34]. SURE MERCIES ARE REDEMPTIVE – God bought you out of slavery to sin that you might be servants of Christ.

SURE MERCIES ARE REGENERATIVE – God takes you out of spiritual death unto His ETERNAL LIFE.

SURE MERCIES ARE REFLECTIVE – we see no longer a man in his bondage and brokenness – we see Christ in His fullness.

SURE MERCIES ARE RESPONSIVE – in Jeremiah 29:11 God says: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Hear me! Jeremiah 31:3 says: “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.”

And I say to you: Sense His tug, surrender to His Sovereignty, and side with our Savior and Lord!!

You may have denied it – but today is the day to side with Sovereign Mercy! It was Edwin Hubbell Chapin who wrote: “Mercy among the virtues is like the moon among the stars – not so sparkling and vivid as many, but dispensing a calm radiance that hallows the whole. It is the bow that rests upon the bosom of the cloud when the storm is past. It is the light that hovers above the judgment seat.”

This is why David came to say in Psalm 23:6, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

In the old Broadman Hymnal there is a song simply entitled “Calvary”. It says: “On Calvary’s brow my Savior died, It was there my Lord was crucified; it was on the cross He bled for me, and purchased there my pardon free…

‘Mid rending rocks and darkening skies My Savior bows His head and dies; The opening veil reveals the way To heaven’s joys and endless day…

O Jesus, Lord, how can it be That You should give Your life for me, To bear the cross and agony In that dread hour on Calvary!

O Calvary! Dark Calvary! Where Jesus shed His blood for me; O Calvary! Blest Calvary! It was there my Savior died for me!”

Do you grasp it when to you mercy has been meaningless? If you were the only person to have ever lived – past, present, future – what Jesus did 2000 years ago At Calvary, He did it just for you!

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is the never-ending care of God for each of us!

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is the measure of God’s forgiving, never-ending love!

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is the reality of God’s remedy of a godless life!

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is the explanation of God’s possession of the land of our souls and spirits!

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is not man trying harder but hearing Christ say: “It is finished” as He died on Calvary’s cross!

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is the voice of God saying to a praying man: “Your prayer has been heard” [Luke 1:13].

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is the stepping stone into the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ!

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is the open door into Holy Presence!

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is God’s remedy for a man paralyzed by his past!

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is the healing grace of spiritual amnesia, fleshly blindness, and a darkened heart!

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is the divine healing of a hurtful, harmful, hideous past!

In closing this teaching, please come to Luke 18:9-14, And He []Jesus] spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men – extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“FAITHFULNESS OR DISTRESSING DISGUISES?”

I don’t know how you’ll respond to the title of this chapter because only you really know the secret chambers of your heart and mind. Why? Appearances can be deceiving; outward ‘show’ can be simply fictitious, uneventful heart-change, or a desire not to be exposed for what one really believes.

It was C.S. Lewis who once wrote: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen; not only because I see it, but because of it I see everything else.”

But then in a real world of life and death, success or failure, blessing and disappointment, true examples and pretenders, wise or blinded, divine fruit or diseased or dis-eased citizens, people will either “press in to Him” or fall away by their own free will.

Don’t you find it interesting, convicting, and challenging, that in Revelation 2:10b, Jesus tells us: “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”? Is it possible that some begin the walk of faith, are faithful for a period of time in what they know, and then walk away? “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

Are bad turns made away from the highway of holiness that lead to ‘dead-end’ places? Does disappointment in one’s self or others mean, “I choose to be disappointed in Jesus also”? If a ‘Texas dust storm’ can restrict your vision, can a believer’s storm of doubt cast dark shadows on one’s devotion and allegiance and all-out surrender to the King of kings and Lord of lords?

Oh, and hear me – can a preacher-pastor’s ‘falling away’ be the ‘straw that breaks the camel’s back,’ and you decide, “I want nothing more to do with ‘phony Christianity’?

In Ezekial 18:23 God spoke: “Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?” And whatever is opposite of the Word and the will of God and His ways is determined wicked and brings a judgment of death – and God says, “turn from YOUR ways and live!” He went on to say in verses 31-32, “Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord. “Therefore turn and live!”

I know, and I assume you also know, that there are “distressing disguises”! It’s so evident by spiritual blindness, unholy hearing, willful rejection, painful indifference, yes, even deeply-wounded scars from spiritual events of the past that one holds on to, residence in a jail of unforgiveness because someone, somehow, somewhere led them down, they believe, to a place, a practice, a persuasion that didn’t line up with the desire for a ‘godly lifestyle’ but an ungodly lifestyle even when the Word declared and still declares ‘separate from sinners.’

I’m really sorry, but I do not see projected in God’s Holy Word ‘comfort’ or ‘comfortable’ or ‘pleasurable for the flesh’ in a world where Holy Truth is seen as needed to be suppressed and certainly worthless in schools, universities, or any governmental institution locally or nationally!

How dangerous is it for men of all standings, places, ranks, abilities or inabilities, education or the absence of it, to find themselves in a place they don’t feel comfortable, identifying themselves as men unreservedly sold out to Christ so they ignore the church Jesus loved and gave Himself for, going the way of “silent allegiance” when Jesus instructs us to identify ourselves as His true followers and devoted to build up, strengthen, and, yes, laboring for His church-body’s success?!? “Distressing disguises”? Are you ever confronted by those who once have known Truth and then, all of a sudden, because of multitudinous fleshly crises, the door was opened to cast doubt on the Word of God? Sadly, I’ve known men over the years who so devotedly shared God’s Holy Word, but crisis came from business, family, spiritual family, resulting in undefinable criticism, and like a wounded ‘puppy’ they crawl away from upholding Truth!

“Distressing disguises”? Are you aware of those who have been ingrained with partial truth and they profess “Peace, peace! When there is no peace”? [Jeremiah 6:14]. It’s as if the ‘gospel’ they held onto was ‘peaches and cream’ without Jesus’ word, “In the world you will have tribulation!” I would urge every disciple over the next three to four months to devote himself/herself to the four gospels and determine if Jesus ever talked about a ‘trouble-free walk of discipleship!’

“Distressing disguises”? Do you remember in the Gospel of John Jesus telling the scribes and Pharisees that denying Him was the result that they never knew the One True and Living God? In John 8:13 they told Jesus, “You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.” In the eighth chapter alone Jesus told the ‘religious crowd’ about 4 times, similar to verse 21, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.”

“Distressing disguises”? I hope it doesn’t seriously offend you if I tell you that there are “sticklers” for legalism apart from God’s grace, mercy, and love! On the tablet of stone God carved out and imprinted Ten Commandments that exposed men as true ‘law-breakers’ in need of mercy, grace, and love, but deception blinded men to their true need of God because they graded by the ‘curve’, wanting acceptance by self-effort rather than acceptance through the finished work of Christ at the Cross, with God then writing His love, His law, and His liberty on a redeemed heart! How about your devotion? Is it by law or the very love of Calvary’s Cross and the reality of Jesus’ empty tomb and His present residence in Heaven at the throne of God interceding in your behalf?

“Distressing disguises”? Have you not wrapped your mind around the fact that fallen humanity is fully absorbed in the mind-set and heart-absorption of materialism, and the more one has, the nearer he/she is to God? Yet, our Lord and Savior and True Master of all of life has said, Matthew 16:24-26, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life [for himself] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

“Distressing disguises”? You’ll remember as Moses was leading Israel to the Promised Land there came a time when he went up on the mountain for an alone-time with God that became a long time – and his people became anxious.

They went to Aaron and told him, Exodus 32:1, “Up, make us gods which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what is become of him.” Verse 4 tells us he, Aaron, received golden earrings from the people, and fashioned it with a graving tool into “a molten calf”; and the people said, “This be our gods who brought us out of the land of Egypt.” Then the end of verse 6 then tells us, “and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.” God then told Moses, “your people, Moses, which you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them.”

Has anything changed? What is it that has become your own ‘distressing disguise’? But reality also speaks so loud and clear as when Samuel said in I Samuel 10:19, about some in Israel, “And you have this day rejected your God, who Himself saved you from all your calamities and your distresses; and you have said to Him, ‘No, set a king over us!’”

At least David had the sane attitude of brokenness, repentance, and turning from that which scarred him and others so deeply. In Psalm 25:17-22 he prayed: “The troubles of my heart have enlarged; bring me out of my distresses! Look on my affliction and my pain, and forgive all my sins. Consider my enemies, for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred. Keep my soul, and deliver me; let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for You.”

I’m sure you’ll remember Paul challenging the church at Corinth when he said in 2 Corinthians 6:12, “You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections.” And he paid a heavy price for standing in truth! He said to the Corinthians and us in 2 Corinthians 12:10, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, FOR CHRIST’S SAKE. For when I am weak, then I am strong [in Him].”

Paul further testified in 2 Corinthians 13:4-6, “For though He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you. Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? – unless indeed you are disqualified. But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified.”

In Christ you are made to soar, not to sink; you’re a new creation in Him to live victoriously, not defeated; in Him you overcome the devil himself and his temptations, not swallowed up in a sea of denial of truth or ocean depths of drownings in deceptions opposite of Holy Revelation, Eternal Truth, and His ever-abiding presence in you!

“Distressing disguises”? I picked up again recently Mark Levin’s book entitled “LIBERTY OR TYRANNY,” sub-titled “A Conservative Manifesto.” I read it several years ago, but on the back cover of his book he had a statement of Abraham Lincoln, spoken in 1864. Lincoln said, “We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men’s labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible things, called by the same name – liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatible names – liberty and tyranny.”

Do you remember the unbelieving Pharoah of Egypt? In Exodus 5:1-2 we read, “Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharoah, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ And Pharoah said, ‘Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.’”

It’s certainly not always true, but it seems, for some like Pharoah, that ‘wealth’ or ‘riches’ lead an awful lot of people to bow down in idolatry and not live in worship, praise, or thanksgiving, with adoration and submission and loyalty to the God who laid down His Son at the Cross! “That’s not MY calling!” – have you ever heard that? “I serve the Lord who blesses me,” yet the Lord God Almighty, Emmanuel (“God With Us”), Savior and Lord, Master of all of life said: Deuteronomy 30:14-20, “But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, THAT YOU MAY DO IT. [“Why, YOU legalistic God! Who would want to submit to Your Word, Your will, Your way? Not me!”] See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God WILL BLESS YOU in the land which you go to possess. BUT IF YOUR HEART TURNS AWAY SO THAT YOU DO NOT HEAR [and some choose, ‘I don’t want to hear what God says!’] and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today THAT YOU SHALL SURELY PERISH; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

[And just as a reminder if you have questions about what you just read and its spiritual relevance to New Testament disciples, John 8:56 says, Jesus speaking: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”]

“Distressing disguises”! I pastored a church many years ago in which a very visible leader became involved in an adulterous relationship with another church member. In my office he denied it and assured me it never happened.

A few weeks later I received a late night call to hurry to a particular home where the police had already arrived. The church leader was in the home of his adulteress mate with an irate, almost uncontrollable husband.

The church leader had lied and then resigned his visible office in the church. I advised our church officers or deacons that this situation required church discipline, but they all said, “He’s our friend, and it won’t happen. He deserved better than having to care for a sick wife!” Within a short time, God moved our leadership role as pastor elsewhere!

When open sin is ignored it manifests itself in abundant rebellion to God’s Holy Word – I heard years later that adultery, broken marriages, and a suffering church had about died, until several pastors later God placed His man in a strong place of leadership – now, the church prospers spiritually.

“Distressing disguises”! Consider it, examine it, reflect upon it – what’s the result of half-hearted allegiance to a local body of believers, yes, the local body Jesus suffered, bled, and died for? What’s the result of the negligence of whole-heartedness; what’s the result of divided allegiance; what’s the outcome of ‘profession’ apart from possession of the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ; what’s the ‘fruit’ of a ‘couldn’t-care-less’ attitude concerning a needy fellowship of believers?

Is it really possible that believers feel no sympathy for, devotion to, or commitment of their lives to a needy church fellowship or even comfort and healing grace to despondent saints, a battered pastor, or, yes, immature church members? But they find ‘their’ place where the crowd gathers, where the smiles abound, but in far too many living a “laid-down life” is omitted! It’s even happening today that ‘forsaking of the assembling of yourselves together’ is like an old ‘wives’ tale’ – “we don’t need the church assembling”!

I was reading Spurgeon recently. [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Memorial Library, Vol.15, pps. 78-79]. He said: “Is it so, that because you are yourself a member of a flourishing church, and because you enjoy all sorts of Christian privileges, you therefore harden your heart concerning dying churches and desponding saints? Do you imagine that the body can be sick, and yet you as a member of it will not suffer? I tell you, if the church of God goes aside it will be to your injury;’ if the truth of God be not preached you will be a loser; if Christian life be not vigorous you will be weakened.”…(p.80), “If you are not creating a holy warmth, the chill of sin is freezing you.”

‘Ice-berg city’ – the gathering of chilled believers! ‘Ice-berg city’ – the union place of divided allegiances! ‘Ice-berg city’ – the creeping sickness of unconscious allegiance to self-birthing of paralyzed infants who don’t know where they came from or where they are headed. The Lord Jesus said in Revelation 3:11, “Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.” [It would be worth your effort and time to research about “your crown.”]

“Distressing disguises”! It was so interesting and challenging recently when in Luke 16:1-13 I read about the parable of the unjust steward. Read carefully and consider your walk as a professing disciple of Christ! Jesus also said to His disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.

So he called him and said to him, “What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.” [I pray you realize “stewardship” has much more to do in your walk than what you “give” in money!]

Then the steward said within himself, “What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.” So he called every one of his master’s debtors to him, and said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ So he said to him, ‘Take your bill and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ So he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’

So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light. And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.

He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own? 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.”

Is Jesus teaching us about faithfulness in ‘little things’? Is He teaching us about money and its blessing or curse? Is He informing us about faithfulness in what belongs to another man? But now, let’s transition from “distressing disguises” to “FAITHFULNESS”! We’ve just witnessed Jesus talking about “faithfulness” in three ways. Is there more in His precious and powerful Word we should discern and apply?

It’s not difficult to grasp or understand or comprehend the subject of “faithfulness” – the battle comes when faith and faithfulness must be exercised and YOU must discern for yourself, ‘a walk of fleshly sight and its desires OR a walk of faith and faithfulness to honor the God of the Cross and the empty tomb!

I do not know or understand how a person reads or hears read Ephesians 2:4-8, 12-13, and determines to walk away from saving grace! It says: “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…Verses 12-13, that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH AND BY FAITH ALONE! That’s what you just read!

WE ARE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH! Examine Romans 3:19-26 very, very carefully: “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

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, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

Do you remember the lame man outside the temple asking alms as Peter and John were about to go in? Follow Acts 3:6-16, 19-20, 23, 26: Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”

And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them – walking, leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God.

Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed. So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: ‘Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pontius Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go.

But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know.

Verses 19-20, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before..

Verse 23, And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people… Verse 26, To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”

WE ARE TO CONTINUE IN THE FAITH. In Acts 14:21-22 Paul was endeavoring to build a solid foundation in new disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. It says: “And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”

WE ARE TO UNDERSTAND, RECEIVE, WALK IN THE WALK OF OUR HEART, MIND, SOUL, AND SPIRIT PURIFICATION BY FAITH. Acts 15:6-9 says: Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.”

WE ARE TO WALK IN THE PEACEFUL REST OF FAITH LIKE ABRAHAM. In Romans 4:1-8 we read of the faith of faithful Abraham: “What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,

Just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”

WE ARE TO BE EMPOWERED BY FAITH – NOT IN THE EARTHLY WISDOM OF MEN. I Corinthians 2:4-5 instructs us: Paul speaking, “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

WE ARE TO BE AT PEACE IN OURSELVES BECAUSE OF OUR FAITH IN THE FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST AT THE CROSS. Galatians 2:20 illumines our minds and hearts as Paul tells us: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Verse 21, I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

WE ARE TO BE DILIGENT TO THE END BECAUSE OF OUR INHERITANCE OF GOD”S PROMISES. In Hebrews 6:11-12 we see our calling as true believers: “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

WE ARE TO BE WELL-TRAINED, PERSONALLY DISCIPLINED, AS A TRUE SOLDIER IN GOD’S ARMY, NOT GIVEN AN ‘AWOL’ SPIRIT, BUT DEVOTED TO HIM AND THE CHURCH JESUS LOVED AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR. Paul wrote young Timothy as a wise spiritual father, 2 Timothy 2:1-4, “You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”

Earlier, in I Timothy 6:12, he told Timothy, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

You do understand that we serve a God and Savior who is so ever faithful to us! In Lamentations 3:22-27 Jeremiah shared both a broken heart because of Israel’s sin but also a peaceful heart and soul because He knew the faithfulness of God’s compassion:

“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: GREAT IS YOUR FAITHFULNESS!! ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I hope in Him!’ The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth.”

And I have no doubts that this is why Isaiah encourages us in Isaiah 25:1 because he knew God’s faithfulness: “O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.”

Because of our Lord’s faithfulness, His people sprout and bear His fruitfulness! Because of our Lord’s faithfulness to us, our faithfulness to Him is not to be a probability but a sure certainty! Because of our Lord’s faithfulness, we don’t enlist for a seat in a church pew but a place in the front-line of a holy war! Because of our Lord’s faithfulness, we’re not to be inventers of simply religious activities but fully surrendered lives available to His presence, power, and promises to be expressed through our available lives!

It was the old “The Defender” who had this quote: “Faith is dead to doubt, dumb to discouragement, blind to impossibilities.” How true!

Off-key lives are invaded by the “Master-Tuner” and discords vanish and perfect harmonies erupt! When repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of Christ at the Cross finds a permanent home, empty barrels become the overflowing presence of His never-ending LIFE!!

Faithfulness is not a philosophy but Divine Presence, holy certainty, continual blessing, and a sacred marriage of eternal bliss!

Faithfulness is the Shining Sonlight of the resident Christ within, the evidence of God’s Holy Presence, and the certainty of the Holy Spirit’s fulfilling ministry in sons and daughters of faith.

It was B.B. McKinney who wrote the old hymn, “Have Faith In God.” “Have faith in God when your pathway is lonely, He sees and knows all the way you have trod; Never alone are the least of His children; Have faith in God, have faith in God.

Have faith in God when your prayers are unanswered, Your earnest plea He will never forget; Wait on the Lord, trust His Word and be patient; Have faith in God, He’ll answer yet.

Have faith in God in your pain and your sorrow, His heart is touched with your grief and despair; Cast all your cares and your burdens upon Him, and leave them there, oh, leave them there.

Have faith in God though all else fail about you; Have faith in God, He provides for His own; He cannot fail though all kingdoms perish, He rules, He reigns upon His throne.” AMEN?

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“CONSIDERING A WORLD OF ABSURDITIES”

When individuals go through a God-created, God-ordained, and a God-sustained world without any consideration of His intent, desires, and pleasures, they void from their lives the awesome discovery of God-blessed lives. Without hesitation, a ‘God-less world’ is ‘a world of absurdities’!

An ‘absurdity’? The ‘Random House Collegiate Dictionary’ of 1975 defines it as “contrary to all reason, or common sense, illogical, ridiculous, untrue; absurd, ridiculous, preposterous, inconsistent with reason or common sense.” I then liked the dictionary telling me ‘preposterous’ “implies an amazing extreme of foolishness.”

That definition may be why the Holy Word of God tells us in Psalm 14:1, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”

You do understand that highly distinctive people you meet in your lifetime can be superbly blessed people who look inward to themselves and their upbringing with no consideration at all of God’s divine intent or eternal purpose for His reason, desire, intent, or purpose for their existence – they just ‘journey’ in love with who they are and no consideration of “WHO” God IS! They ‘journey’ void of the awesome treasure of being “reconciled to Holy God”!

Just as sad is the person who acknowledges “God is” but has no intention of giving Him His desired place in their hearts and lives, content to make “my way in my world by my personal choice of ‘god unto myself’”!

A little more than two thousand years ago Holy God used strong, influential, political and religious figures of the day, powerful men, to bring about the awesome historical reality of the crucifixion of His Son, the Promised Messiah, not even understanding that they were ushering in His eternal plan of “blood redemption.”

Here’s God’s eternal heart: John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him [trusts in, relies upon, adheres to] should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Superbly blessed people, endowed by God with certain inalienable rights, often “choose” in moral stupidity, to go their own way with no concern for the awesome love of God and His eternal purpose in and through His Son and the only Savior from sin and death! Multitudes turn blind eyes and deaf ears to His unchanging love and awesome sacrifice choosing recklessly to go their own way void of eternal intent and purpose.

Selfish utilization of divine intent is the “door-closer” to eternal intent of heavenly blessing! When Paul wrote Ephesians 2:10 he had been sovereignly blessed with the eternal awareness that he existed in the divine plan through the heavenly door of Resurrection Life, Resurrection power, and Resurrection purpose and intent: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Unselfish living is the “door-opener” to dynamic living of a life honoring the reality of the “Indwelling Christ”! It’s that “sentence of death daily that the Resurrected Christ may be manifested in mortal flesh.” There is not a redeemed person living void of eternal intent – every new-born believer has been “gifted” by the Holy Spirit, yes, in some dramatic way, to honor and glorify the Indwelling Christ as they willfully choose to express His love and prove His power.

In 2 Timothy 1:9-11 Paul testified about ‘the gospel according to the power of God’ that He “saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, and apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.”

It should be so very clear to you that every disciple has a true, distinct, God-honoring call through Christ Jesus, their Savior, Lord, Master, and Guide to the Father’s glory. I want to major on two things in this teaching: First, Our Calling, and Second, Our Commission.

First, Our Calling. Did we just read in 2 Timothy 1: 9, that ‘the gospel according to the power of God’ is that He “saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,” which tells us of Creation, the Fall, and God’s determination of the need of “the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.”

How clear do you find 2 Timothy 1:10 about “God’s own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus BEFORE TIME BEGAN”, “now revealed (clearly) by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, WHO HAS ABOLISHED DEATH AND BROUGHT LIFE AND IMMORTALITY TO LIGHT THROUGH THE GOSPEL,” opening the Door to:

• Following Christ as Lord, Savior, and Master over our earthly existence, transforming fleshly life into Heavenly Presence! “Christ in you the hope of glory”! What did Jesus say to His first and all disciples after them? “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” When the Savior and Lord of life calls you it is the calling of hearing, submitting, and following His Sovereign leadership – a new door opened to touch the world around you with His love, grace, and mercy! We extend His life, express His love, and offer His power to transform others!

Paul said Christ “abolished (spiritual) death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,” and that ‘life and immortality through the gospel’ births disciples submitted to His Lordship and His eternal purpose, “I came to seek and to save that which is lost,” which results in

• Disciples who worship Him and submit to His Lordship and leadership! “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but you do not do what I say?” Worship apart from submission? Worship apart from doing what He says? Worship apart from yieldedness to the divine intent of expressing His love, sharing His power, and expressing His eternal desire to reconcile all men to Himself?
• Are YOU the tree “planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither; and does what prospers and honors His Master, Lord, and Savior”?
• Examine “the fields” around you! In John 4:34-38 Jesus said: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”
• Be ready, be prepared for His coming to you and for you! I often wonder if any consider regularly as they arise, “This may be my final day, hour, or breath. Am I ready to meet my Lord and Savior? Have I fulfilled all He asked of Me?” I tell you: This is the day the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.” Gladness or grief? Gladness or sorrow over His unfulfilled desires for your life, walk, and witness? Gladness in obedience or sadness in your failure to fulfill His calling?

SECOND, CONSIDER A WORLD OF ABSURDITIES! Did I begin this teaching emphasizing ‘a godless-world is a world of absurdities’? I said, “When individuals go through a God-created, God-ordained, and a God-sustained world without any consideration of His desires, His intent, or His pleasures, they void from their lives the awesome discovery of God-blessed lives”!

They ‘breathe’, and have no appreciation of God’s blessing – breath to them is ‘natural’, not super-natural, human without any consideration of divine intent, one’s fleshly ‘best’ without even a thought of eternal purpose, divine will, or sovereign significance!

• Consider a world of absurdities that there is willful sinfulness and no recompense! Have you never heard Romans 6:23? “For the wages of sin is death…”!

What did the Apostle Peter write in 2 Peter 2:1-22? But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.

By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;

And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked

(for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds) – then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority.

They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.

But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime.

They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.

They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.

These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error.

While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.

For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,’ and, ‘a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire’.”

Sin without recompense? That’s destructive heresy! Sin and no penalty? That’s the devil’s lie and the sinner’s reward! Sin and no judgment? That’s the destructive way of denying the word of truth and blaspheming the very Name of Christ! Sin and no consequences? Paul said under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, Galatians 6:7-8, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”

• Consider a world of ‘profession’ but no possession. Our Lord and Savior declared in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”

A profession but no possession! A talk but no walk of true faithfulness and submission. A song but the wrong writer, wrong theme, and wrong intent, which is ‘pumping flesh’ and strangling the Spirit! Though dressed like a sheep, they walk inwardly as ravenous wolves! That’s ‘planked eyes’ that cannot see revealed Truth! That’s lives hearing the sayings of Jesus but never does them because their ‘house of faith’ has no true foundation, and when the floods come and the winds blow and beat on that ‘empty house’ of professed faith, it falls – and great and sad and eternally lives with its reward: kinship with the devil and his demons and a condemned world of faithless people! Jesus will say, “I called, but you refused; I implored, but you ignored the call of the laid-down life; I entreated, but you retreated into your own spiritual world of ‘make-believe’ when I invited you to heaven on earth!”

• Consider a world of ‘claimed allegiances’ but with no responsibilities, accountabilities, or true devotion! To Titus Paul wrote in Titus 1:10-16, “For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain.
• One of them, a prophet of their own, said, ‘Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.’ This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth. To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. THEY PROFESS TO KNOW GOD, BUT IN WORKS THEY DENY HIM, BEING ABOMINABLE, DISOBEDIENT, AND DISQUALIFLED FOR EVERY GOOD WORK.”

Profession is not possession! This is why in 1 Corinthians 1:1-3 Paul declared: “Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ THROUGH the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are SANCTIFIED IN CHRIST JESUS, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Called to be saints? That means “set apart” by God from enmity against God in the flesh to oneness in Him in the Spirit through the sacrificial death and resurrection of God’s Son and our Savior by repentance toward God and faith in Christ’s finished work at the Cross!

But, sadly, some have been deceived by the powers of darkness, that they cannot but sin until they get to Heaven one day when Jesus said, “Go and sin no more”!

I’m not surprised at all that Paul had to expose those who taught opposite of the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, yes, denying the ‘doctrine which accords with godliness’, saying that they are ‘proud, knowing nothing, even believing ‘that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.’ [1 Timothy 6:3-13!].

Before Christ – alienated from God; In Christ – united with God! Before Christ – enemies of God; In Christ – one with God! Before Christ – owned, controlled, dictated to by the powers of darkness; In Christ – transformed into sons and daughters of the Holy Family of God!

Paul closed out his writing to Timothy saying in 1 Timothy 6:20, “O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is called knowledge – by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.”

Some live by ‘grit’ apart from grace and receive an unbeliever’s reward rather than “blessed in and through Christ alone”! Sainthood is a life lived in continual gratitude to Holy God for His amazing love and awesome grace!

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“THE DIVINE MIRACLE OF A TRANSFORMED MIND”

I was recently reading a new book by pastor-friend, Jim Hylton, entitled “Being At Ease”, subtitled Thinking At Ease – Lessening Disease. It is a powerful, challenging, encouraging, informative read that every disciple of Christ ought to read. My son, Scott, bought the book for me and had Jim sign it with “To Farrell a special friend!” Jim Hylton, with a scripture reference, Luke 12:32, then shared Jesus speaking, “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

I’ve often wondered how many ‘pulpit pastors’ have majored on the reality of “kingdom living” through “The Divine Miracle of a Transformed Life”! Are you familiar with Romans 12:2 where Paul challenged the Roman disciples and us saying, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be [‘being’] transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

It was after the Bruce Jenner – Caitlyn Jenner diabolical disaster that Sue and I heard a psychiatrist, Dr. Paul R. McHugh, speaking about Jenner, and spoke of “the disorder of assumption” – and I’ve often wondered about how many so-called ‘Christians’ who are “pretenders” having never experienced, lived by, or taught the truth of “The Divine Miracle of a Transformed Mind,” but are, too many, ‘professors of faith’ who will someday fall into the perilous state of Hosea’s word from God when in Hosea 4:6 the prophet recorded Holy God saying, “My people perish for lack of knowledge.”

To be ‘found in Christ’ is what Jim stated as “the mystery of God” or the “secret of God”, quoting Colossians 1:26-27, [The Message Version of the Bible], “This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it’s out in the open. God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of his or her background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you; therefore you can look forward to sharing in God’s glory. It’s that simple.”

But the sad reality for many, even some ‘professors of faith’, is never being possessed, owned, bought, indwelt by Christ, through repentance toward God and faith in His finished work at Calvary’s Cross, resting in “saved by grace through faith”, and being declared by God Himself as a true son or daughter of the blood redemption, but living with or contending with or conquered by the sad reality of a worldly mind with no eternal purpose, practicing mental and spiritual gymnastics apart from the thoughts and truths of God, even educational geniuses of worldly thought apart from the thoughts, truths, or mind of Holy God, or, yes, even a redeemed life with an uninformed mind or a born-again believer living on a starvation diet apart from the ‘bread,’ the ‘milk’, or the ‘meat of God’s Word’.

Pre-salvation is a state of mind and heart, void of redemptive faith, but governed by an attitude of “enemies of God”, “helpless”, “hopeless”, yet loved by God to the extent of the sacrifice of His Son on the cruel Cross that we might be redeemed through “the blood of the Lamb,’ reconciled, regenerated, restored to His eternal state and plan as sons and daughters of true redemptive faith, “sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling” (1 Corinthians 1:12), no longer enemies or pretenders or professors, but “possessors” of Resurrection Life, Resurrection Power, and Resurrection Hope that is eternal!

In 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 Paul gloriously declared, “For the love of Christ compels us, because we thus judge: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God IN HIM.”

Are you at all familiar with Ezekial 11 as God informed the prophet and Israel and us of His “New Covenant” that was coming? Verses 19-21 declares: “Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes (or My Word) and keep My judgments and do them, and they shall be My people, and I will be their God. But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord.

There’s a description in Isaiah 28:14 about scornful men in Israel who lived in deception, professing one thing, but living another, even the religious majority of Israel , living in deception with their idols, with sexual immorality, and the shedding of innocent blood as some offered their own children as bodily sacrifices in God’s Holy Temple! Isaiah 28:15 tells us of many in Israel who “made a covenant with death”, even admitting, “For we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.”

And in Isaiah 29: 13-16a Holy God prophetically declared for both then and now, Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, BUT have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder; [my son, Scott, described it as “shock and awe”!], for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.” Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord, and their works are in the dark; They say, ‘Who sees us?’ and, ‘Who knows us?’ Surely you have turned things around!” In fact, earlier in Isaiah 1:12-21, Holy God spoke:

“When you come to appear before Me, Who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts? Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies – I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting !!! Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; they are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them.

When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings before My eyes. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.

Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. IF you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword”; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. How the faithful city has become a harlot!”

What you’ve just read is a sad indictment against “pretenders” who “profess” religious loyalty but deny “blood redemption” through the sacrificial Lamb of God! It’s like Moses and Aaron confronting the Pharoah of Egypt with Pharoah saying in Verse 2, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go,” telling him, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness,’” eventually leading to Pharoah and his armies being swept away in the Sea of God’s judgment!

If you are familiar with the Psalms, you’ll remember in Psalm 1:1-2 that David described “the blessed man” who “walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night;” then stating in Verses 4-6, “The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

Psalm 2 then unveils “the realness of rebellion”, which is people plotting “vain things”, taking personal counsel against Holy God! As a result, in Verse 4-5, God describes “the rareness of personal laughter” because Holy God, yes, does and will “distress them in His deep displeasure”! Oh, but then in Verse 6, Holy God unveils “the revelation of compassion” as He sets His King on “My holy hill of Zion” called Mt. Calvary! Then, Verses 7-11, Holy God introduced “the richness of relationship”, Yes! “You are My Son, today I have begotten You,” with holy sons and daughters, “serving the Lord with fear, and rejoicing with trembling” faithfully “kissing the Son” because they no longer have any desire to experience God’s anger or perish in their self-centered ways, but long for, pursue, and rest in “the blessing” of putting their trust in Christ Jesus only!

“The Divine Miracle of a Transformed Mind”! I find Colossians 3:16 to be such a powerful word of encouragement as Paul wrote, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

How did David describe this attitude of heart and mind in Psalm 100? “Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who 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 to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.”

I, years ago, highlighted Psalm 34 as one’s “Lordship Ministry”, 1) Calling for a life of praise, “I will bless the Lord at all times,” 2) Calling for a life of continual seeking of Him and His will and Word, Verse 4, 3) Becoming aware of His “birthing changes”, Verse 6, as this Poor man cried out, the Lord hearing, and saving him out of all his troubles, 4) Verse 7, Awed by His release of angelic ministries, 5) Awed in Verses 15-16 by His fastened eyes and opened ears to the cries of His righteous ones, 6) Promising us deliverance, Verses 17-18, as the “righteous cry out to Him, God hearing, and God delivering them OUT OF ALL THEIR TROUBLES!” Hear me! Verse 18, “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit,” 7) With a firm declaration of Lordship ministry! Verse 19, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Our Lord and Savior transforms trouble into triumph, pain into praise, even ‘wars’ into righteous deliverance!

In the process of “The Miracle of a Transformed Mind”, at times the walk of a true disciple is faced with the clouds of terror, the clouds of temptations, the clouds of triviality, and, for some, the clouds of fleshly treason against the One True Living God and the Resurrected King of kings and Lord of lords, and even against the Holy Spirit! At the same time, God empowers His true disciples to exercise fortitude in the midst of faithless, formidable, frightening opposition! And “The Miracle of the Transformed Mind” is KNOWING there are consumers of religious fabrications or confessors of eternal Truth!

Some walk in their path of redemptive faith apart from the divine revelation and explanation of God’s eternal intent that His children of faith live, not under a man-made philosophy, but under revelation of holy truth and divine authority! In Colossians 2:1-10 Paul wrote:

“For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and YOU ARE COMPLETE IN HIM, who is the head of all principality and power.”

How clear was Paul to the Ephesians and us, when he instructed “the saints who are in Ephesus, and [the] faithful in Christ Jesus”, testifying in the Lord, that [Ephesians 4:17-24], “you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, AND THAT YOU PUT ON THE NEW MAN which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” How awesome is that?!?

Do you understand, receive, and walk in “the new beginning”, that through Christ Jesus alone God has granted to you “a new spirit” under a “new covenant”, miraculously birthing “a new creation”, instructing us to sing to Holy God “a new song”, yes, with “shouts of joy”? The biblical command you read in the previous paragraph is: “put on the NEW MAN which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”

Colossians 1:6-7 declares: [NASB], “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord [or received Christ Jesus as Lord over your life], so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and NOW being built up in Him and established [or “made to stand”] in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.”

If Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life”, and you are now “in Him”, are you experiencing day by day resurrection life, resurrection power, resurrection presence, and resurrection hope? Do YOU think, ‘as He is so am I’? If Jesus IS “the Light of the world”, and He now lives in you, how do you explain unfruitful works of darkness in your pilgrimage with Him? If Jesus ‘overcame’ and He lives in you, then why is there, in you, at times, the ‘overcoming spirit’ of the world of lawlessness, indifference, or ingratitude?

Or, for you, with Paul, does “the thorn in the flesh” speak to you at times? In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 the apostle alerted us, “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

“The Miracle of a Transformed Mind”? Though ‘birthed in the world with an old sin nature’, and ‘thorned in the flesh’ by the devil and demons, even ‘held captive by a godless world spirit’, the Savior came whose Name is Jesus, and the “new day” dawned for a blessed deliverance.

Though ‘birthed in bondage’ as a slave to the sin nature, blackened in mind and heart to a destructive life, void of trust in God’s eternal purpose, mankind wandered in a world of unending strife.

Though ‘best’ effort arose in place of a ‘blessed life’, humanity continued in godless strife; “I am able to do as I please” without a thought of sin’s dreaded disease – a state of mind, a darkened heart, a fleshly will that set God apart. No need of Him – we’re fit and trim, happy in sin, unaware of any consequences.”

Though ‘birthed in spiritual death’ sinners sincerely try to make sense of their emptiness, their godlessness, their imaginary happiness, even declaring for themselves that darkness is light, that self-determination is might, and that willful rebellion to Holy God is a fleshly right.

Though going through life in defense of self-will, they blind themselves to God’s holy will; and walking alone apart from divine purpose, fallen mankind walks in pride and arrogance, never knowing their spiritual emptiness and brokenness, never receiving the gift of God’s mercy and graciousness.

Though granted by God with an awesome free-will, most men in their selfishness never take time to be still; time to look inward, time to look upward, for most men is time to be selfish, time to be enslaved to the pleasures of flesh, but no time to look inward to their godless existence!

Though challenged by God and calling men out, most will relax in their sin-natures of drought, deaf ears to God and eyes that are blinded to God’s invitation and His awesome provisions – oneness with Him and His blessed intent to fill each new heart with Sovereign promises, His Holy Presence, and a heart of assent, raised from death to life, from poverty to wealth, a child of the King in His family of the blessed!

“The Miracle of a Transformed Mind”? I close with Paul’s words to the Philippians in Philippians 3:7-14, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;

That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

Brethren, I do not count myself to have (fully) apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Amen?

CONCLUSION

_{Time. What is it? The seconds, minutes or hours on your wrist watch? For the ancients was time just the shadow on their sun dial? Is time the gauging of the midnight hour on your old grandfather clock? Is it the grains of sand seeping through the hour glass?}

_Leo Tolstoy, in “War and Peace,” said: “Time is infinite movement without one moment of rest.” Sometimes I say YES to that! J.A. Van Horn, in “Physics Today,” said: “To the philosopher, time is one of the fundamental quantities. To the average man, time has something to do with dinner.” Longfellow wrote in “Hyperion,” “Time is the life of the soul.” That definition gets a little closer to the truth! Plato put it like this: “Time is the image of eternity.”

Considering all of the prior attempts at defining time, I believe a better explanation would be, “Time is the moment for a life, with the brush of faith, to stroke on the canvas of one’s being the masterpiece of the presence of God, the reflection of the eternal, through repentance, reconciliation, and redemption.”

Look with me at Ecclesiastes 3:1-9. “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven – a time to give birth, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build up. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to throw stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to shun embracing. A Time to search, and a time to give up as lost; a time to keep, and a time to throw away. A time to tear apart, and a time to sew together; a time to be silent, and a time to speak. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?”

And verse 9 brings us to the moment of divine confrontation, “What eternal profit is there in the daily investment of my life?”

In “A Psalm of Life,” Longfellow wrote: “Lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives sublime, and, departing, leave behind us footprints on the sand of time.” Leah Richmond said, “There is a time to be born and a time to die, says Solomon, and it is the momento of a truly wise man; but there is an interval between these two times of infinite importance.”

In Galatians 4:10,11, Paul is talking to a church who saw only the “surface” and had not yet majored on the “substance.” “You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.”

Jesus spoke to the multitude in Luke 12:54-56, “And He was also saying to the multitude, ‘When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it turns out that way. You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?”

The Psalmist had a discerning of the days when in Psalm 39:4-7 he said, “Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the extent of my days, let me know how transient I am. Behold, You have made my days as handbreaths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight, surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Surely every man walks about as a phantom; surely they make an uproar for nothing; he amasses riches, and does not know who will gather them. And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.”

I want us to study what we must possess in order to face new days confidently. FIRST, WE MUST KNOW THE DAYS ARE DIVINELY ORDAINED.

Psalm 31:15 says, “My times are in God’s hand…” Do you believe that, or is each day just an accident of the ages? Ecclesiastes 8:15 speaks of “the days of [a man’s] life which God gives him under the sun.” Are the days of my life gifts of His grace? Is He in control of those seconds, minutes, hours, days on the clock of my life?

Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” How awesome when we see it!

I believe without a doubt that multitudes never come into confident living in their hour because they’ve never seen themselves as a piece of the puzzle that God is putting together. I believe that many never come into confident living in their marriages because they have never really seen their marriages as an interpretation to the world of what Christ and His bride are like. I believe that far too many businessmen have missed eternal blessings because they’ve built, they think, businesses as a reward of their own diligence and not a tool to honor God and expand His kingdom.

Frederick William Faber: “The surest method of arriving at a knowledge of God’s eternal purposes about us is to be found in the right use of the present moment. Each hour comes with some little fagot of God’s will fastened upon its back.” I would only add, “…not some little fagot of God’s will, but the full assurance of divine intent fastened to your heart!”

Paul, in Acts 17:26-28, said to the aimless Athenians, “And He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist…”

Isaiah 49:5 says, “And now the Lord says, Who formed ME from the womb to be His servant…” And because I know my days and times are ordained of God, according to Psalm 62:8, I will “Trust in Him at all times…” In verse 5 the Psalmist said, “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation (or hope) is from Him.”

And because I know my days and times are ordained of God, according to Psalm 34:1, “I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth…” And because I know my days and times are ordained of God, I’ll not see change as a disaster, but as a blessing! Daniel 2:20-22 says, “Daniel answered and said, let the name of the Lord be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him. And it is He who changes the times and epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men, and knowledge to men of understanding. It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him.”

In Robert Wise’s book, “When The Night Is Too Long,” he quotes a poem written by Ruth Harms Calkin entitled “Once For All.” The poem was found in the belongings of a friend, Jan Wolfard, who had helped him with typing over the years. Jan had suffered from a serious mental illness, he says, “triggered by the failure of her marriage.” But with God’s help and Robert Wise’s, she’d climbed back. At the age of 38, she died. In her belongings they came across Ruth Calkin’s poem: “Lord, may I settle it once and for all that I am dealing directly with You. You need never apologize for any plan You ordain for me since nothing but good can come from Your hand. You are sufficient for every changing circumstance in my God-planned life, for every unchanging circumstance as well.”

Do you sense divine ordination over your life? In Jeremiah 1:9,10, Jeremiah says, “Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, ‘Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”

Is God’s divine ordination written on your mind and heart yet? Look with me at Psalm 139:16, “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your Book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.”

WE MUST SEE THE DAYS AS DAYS OF DIVINE OPPORTUNITY. In Ephesians 1:5,6, Paul said, “having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will – to the praise of the glory of His grace.” Verse 12 goes on to say, “that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.” And verse 14 reiterates, “to the praise of His glory.”

Days of divine opportunity are to be days of magnifying Him! 2 Corinthians 5:18 says, “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.”

To the Galatians, Paul put it like this: “but when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace…to reveal His Son in me!”

Robert Wise, in “When The Night Is Too Long,” tells an awesome story of Christ-like ministry and response as we walk life’s paths of opportunity:

“Kitty Hart is an amazingly energetic woman with great drive. An x-ray technician, she has also raised two out-standing sons. Perhaps the most remarkable quality one discovers as Kitty talks is her energetic buoyancy and zest for living. Considering the extraordinary pain that has filled her life, her optimism is confounding. The fact that she is alive is itself something of a miracle.

As a teenage Jewish girl, Kitty and her family were torn apart by the Nazi assault that ripped her world to pieces. As her family struggled to survive annihilation, they were separated. She and her mother were shipped to Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland. Her father and her brother disappeared.

Kitty discovered quickly that survival depended on doing daily jobs too nauseating to describe. Such tasks as carrying out buckets of human waste from latrines provided minimal shelter to keep winter ice storms from devouring her. Removing jewelry and other items from bodies being prepared for crematoriums gave her precious trinkets with which to bargain for bits of food. Being on a detail that spent the days throwing bodies onto wagons kept her out of the endless flow of human traffic toward the crematoriums. Kitty’s adolescence was spent in pursuit of an existence that seems worse than death.

The horror of the murder of six million Jews is so overwhelming that statistics have persuaded many that people are essentially only animals. The Hitlers, Himmlers, Eichmanns, and Mengelas seem to prove the hypothesis that humanity is no more than the most cunning and dangerous of all species. The death camps suggest that survival of the fittest is a fact and the only measure of right in this universe. So the experience of Kitty Hart poses an unavoidable question for us. Can people really be a reflection of a God of love?

As the years dragged on, Kitty was subjected to horrors that only increased with time. During one period she worked in the infirmary. As the sick poured in, Kitty found old friends and relatives among the multitude. Reunions were a singular source of joy when she was able to smuggle in a crumb of bread or an article of clothing to help someone survive. On one of those bleak winter mornings, the commandant appeared, demanding that the entire infirmary be emptied into waiting trucks. Instantly everyone knew that must mean death.

The influx of more and more Jews had produced an overload of sick people. The Nazi solution for the crowding was to exterminate the present population. Since none would survive anyway, recovering patients were only marking time until they disappeared.

Kitty knew there was no alternative but to comply with the orders, which soldiers stood ready to enforce with club and bayonet. One by one she helped her friends out of the cold, shabby sick bay on their way to death. At such moments the terror and horror that mingled with overwhelming anger created a single desire. Should she survive, the day would come when she would avenge the butchery. Hate kept Kitty alive.

Even though the end of the war was at hand and the defeat of the Nazis had become imminent, Kitty and her mother were sent on a death march to another camp. All that kept her bleeding feet moving was the burning intention to get her hands on her German captors. Germans of any shape or size. Germans who would bleed and die as her people had. Germans who could be strangled.

On the final day of their imprisonment, Kitty and her mother noticed that men in strange uniforms were walking outside the barbed wire. Then an SS guard appeared and announced surrender to the Allies. Immediately the prisoners turned on him, tearing his uniform from his body. As the other inmates beat him, Kitty saw his dagger fall to the ground. Instantly she grabbed the knife and ran for the gate out of the camp. Surging together, the prisoners rampaged into the town seeking food. Kitty clutched at the dagger with one thought in mind. Somewhere she would find a German to try to even a score that had never been settled.

Breaking down the door to one of the village houses they poured in seeking food. The house appeared empty until a prisoner noticed a door that went down to the basement. Quickly Kitty descended the stairs with the knife in the air, poised for attack. From out of the shadows the forms of people began to emerge. There they were. Germans who were trapped just as Kitty and her friends had been for all those years.

“Throw it!” someone yelled in her ear. “Stick them!” As one man stepped from the group, Kitty drew her arm over her head ready to plunge the knife into his chest.

“Throw it!” the man behind her screamed. With the blade overhead, a most contrary impulse surged up from her soul. An almost lost emotion touched her intention. Deep within the recesses of her mind, compassion arose. Unexpected goodness froze the knife in the air. Her obsession with revenge gave way to thoughts of forgiveness. To Kitty’s amazement, her own hand turned, hurling the knife against a wall where it fell harmlessly to the floor.

“I realized that if I killed the man, the Nazis would have succeeded in making me like them,” she now reflects. By bearing humiliation and degradation with forgiveness, Kitty demonstrated that the inhumanity of the Nazis was only a momentary perversion of true humanity. Kitty is living proof that the image of God can be obscured, but not destroyed. The worst life offers produced in her a transcendent quality of character.

Kitty found that she was changed by her decision. By exchanging benevolence for bestiality, she profited the most.

How can the effect of years filled with hate be revised in a few moments of forgiveness? Nothing compares with the power of love. No cleansing agent, no scouring powder, no catharsis can accomplish what a few moments of absolution will do for the soul. The darkest depths of hate reveal most fully the highest possibilities of love.” WOW! DAYS OF OPPORTUNITY – days of ministry to reveal Christ!

WE MUST SEE THE DAYS AS DAYS OF OCCUPATION! Ecclesiastes 3:10-11 says, “I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves. He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

Luke 10:13 makes a similar point: “So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Occupy (or do business) till I come.” Do you remember young Jesus’ response to His parents when they came back to Jerusalem to find him? Luke 2:49, “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

George Macdonald, in the “Marquis of Losaie”, wrote, “I find the doing of the will of God leaves me no time for disputing about His plans.”

** DAYS OF OCCUPATION ARE DAYS OF DECISIONS – Ephesians 1:1 says, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God…” What is the will of God for your life? I Corinthians 2:2 says, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Ephesians 6:6 says, “servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart…”

**DAYS OF OCCUPATION ARE DAYS OF DETERMINATION – Look with me at 2 Samuel 23:10-12, “He arose and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and clung to the sword, and the Lord brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to strip the slain. Now after him was Shammah the son of Agee a Hazarite. And the Philistines were gathered into a troop, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines. But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, defended it and struck the Philistines; and the Lord brought about a great victory.”

Henry Parry Liddon says, “Nothing is really lost by sacrifice; everything is lost by failure to obey God’s call.” John Greenleaf Whittier wrote, “In simple trust like theirs who heard beside the Syrian Sea the gracious calling of the Lord, let us, like them, without a word rise up and follow God.”

Hebrews 12:2-3 says, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart.”

** DAYS OF OCCUPATION ARE DAYS OF DISCIPLINE – Look carefully at I Corinthians 9:23-27 and ask yourself, “Is my walk with Christ disciplined?” “And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I buffet my body, and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.”

As Paul came near the end of his life, he wrote in 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

WE MUST SEE THE DAYS AS DAYS OF ORDER: Do you remember “good King Hezekiah?” In 2 Kings 20:1-2 Hezekiah was sick and near death and Isaiah the prophet went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.” In Amos 4:2 God said, “Prepare to meet your God!!” Set your house in order! Days of order are days of preparation, examination, devotedness and readiness.

In Luke 16:2 Jesus speaks of the rich man’s steward when he called him to himself and said, “What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship…”

To the church at Corinth Paul said, “It is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” Set your house in order.

Matthew 25:10 speaks of those five foolish virgins: “And while the five foolish virgins went to buy, the bridegroom, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding. And the door was shut.” Set your house in order!

Revelation 19:7 also speaks of a wedding. “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and HIS WIFE HAS MADE HERSELF READY.” Set your house in order!

Oswald Chambers, in “My Utmost For His Highest” wrote, “The great need for the Christian worker is to be ready to face Jesus Christ at any and every turn. This is not easy, no matter what our experience is. The battle is not against sin or difficulties or circumstances, but against being so absorbed in work that we are not ready to face Jesus Christ at every turn. That is the one great need, not the facing of our belief, or our creed, the question whether we are of any use, but to face Him…Jesus rarely comes where we expect Him; He appears where we least expect Him; He appears where we least expect Him, and always in the most illogical connections. The only way a worker can keep true to God is by being ready for the Lord’s surprise visits. It is not service that matters, but intense spiritual reality, expecting Jesus Christ at every turn…If you are ‘looking off unto Jesus’ avoiding the call of the religious age you live in, and setting your heart on what He wants, on thinking on His line, you will be the only one who is ready. Trust no one, not even the finest saint who ever walked this earth, ignore him, if he hinders your sight of Jesus Christ.” SET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER!

WE MUST LIVE THE DAYS WITH THE PROMISE OF OVERCOMING! I John 5:4 says, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world – our faith!”

In I Corinthians 15:57 we read, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Is it so? Then…”These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace; In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” 2 Corinthians 2:14 says, “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.”

We are not called to Christ to be men and women filled with pessimistic fear, but men and women empowered by a powerful faith of “Victory In Jesus.” We are not called to Christ to be disciples clouded by doubts, but disciples who are gloriously certain of our conquest because of the unconquerable majesty of Christ. We are not called to Christ to be His servants bathed in the foul smell of failure and short coming, but servants flooded with the heavenly perfume of Christ’s joy, His triumphant victory, and His overcoming life.

We don’t walk despondently toward heaven’s gates, we ride the chariot of faith radiant in the triumphant procession of oneness with Christ. We don’t walk toward heaven’s gates hoping that at least some of our time we are triumphant in Christ, the Word says God “always” leads us in triumph in Christ! We walk toward heaven’s gates because we willfully chained ourselves to Christ, responding to the unfathomable love of the Victor!

George Matheson wrote the text to the hymn, “O Love That Will Not Let Me God.” Those four verses say: “O love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee; I give Thee back the life I owe, that in thine ocean depths its flow may richer, fuller be.

O Light that follows all my way, I yield my flickering torch to Thee; my heart restores its borrowed ray, that in Thy sunshine’s blaze, its day may brighter, fairer be.

O joy that seeks me through pain, I cannot close my heart to Thee; I trace this rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain, that many shall tearless be.

O grace that lifts up my head, I dare not ask to fly from Thee; I lay in dust life’s glory dead, and from the ground there blossoms red, life that shall endless be.”

I often wonder if modern-day “church members” have the slightest understanding of what “good news proclamation” is all about! It’s as if for them modern day evangelism is a myth apart from any meaning or relevance to their supposed “walk with Christ.”

Is identity with Christ a private matter that has no public relevance? Is oneness with the Lord and Savior void of inner activity with a “lost” and “dying” world around them? As long as “I” am saved and assured of an eternal relationship and heavenly home forever in the “family” of God, what difference does it make to those outside the family? Are they really my responsibility?

I am baffled by a group of believers that senses no obligation to “reach the lost” with saving grace. I am confused when “pastors” have no sense of urgency about community, state, national, or world evangelism. I am so disturbed when bodies of professing believers all across our nation have never implemented, supplemented, prayed for, activated, instituted, day by day, week by week, “touching our world with grace, mercy, and love.”

Are true New Testament church relationships to be void of impacting the world around them as long as they’re “faithful to one another”? Is a valid member of the Body of Christ excused from sharing the faith with unbelievers as long as he/she is faithful with his/her tithes and offerings to the local church of which he/she is a part? Is “salt” in one’s profession of faith to be preserved for one’s self or poured out where “salt” is truly needed?

“Good news” – but never told or shared with another? “Good news” – but never announced to a needy friend or family member? “Good news” – but mute to an empty, Godless, perishing world around one’s circle of influence? “Good news” – but void of any sense of personal responsibility to even those one loves the most? “Good news” – but blind to those who are blind themselves to the love, grace, and mercy of God? “Good news” – but content that the “lost” are on their own, “not MY responsibility”? “Good news” – but unaffected by one’s awareness that those without Christ will be eternally separated from the God of love because His love couldn’t, didn’t, wouldn’t flow through you?

“Evangelism – Good News Proclamation”! “Evangelism – Good News Reconciliation to Holy God”! “Evangelism – Good News Forgiveness, Reconciliation, Oneness with the God who made us, lost us, reconciled us to Himself by His own sacrifice”! “Evangelism – Good News participation in His Eternal Plan”! “Evangelism – Good News Discovery of who we are in Him through His shed blood”! “Evangelism – Good News Understanding that God loves us, wants us, and needs us to share with Him in His love for our world”!

Do you see yourself as an extension of His Life, as an expression of His love, and as the proof of His power, to touch the world around you and see God signing His name on others through you? Or is your opinion about yourself such that God sponsors a losing cause if He chooses to “save” the world around you through your witness? If you haven’t learned it yet, man, woman, boy or girl, if you were the only one who had ever lived up until now, what Jesus did 2000 years ago, He did it just for you! God wants you to be His “Master-piece”! God wants you, in and through Christ Jesus, to be His true “symphony of praise” and “thanksgiving” because of what He is able to do through a surrendered vessel in His hands!

I don’t know how you view Genesis, but I see it as “The Beginning of Unveiled Purposes” out of the very heart of God Himself. Abram and Sarai had been in “Haran”, the place of the dead – a charred, parched, burned up, barren, dry land. [That’s where the most of humanity is housed today in our modern day of human expectation!]

But in Genesis 12:2 the Lord said to Abram [just as He does personally to you in this very moment!], “I will make YOU a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing…Verse 3, …and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Verse 4, So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him…”

Has the Lord spoken to you? Of course He has! Our God is no respecter of persons! What He said to Abram He has said to you! Galatians 3:29 says, “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” The promise? “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” But the question is, will you depart and do as the Lord has spoken to you?

I don’t know how you view the Book of Acts but I see it as the New Testament introduction to true discipleship! I call it: “The Master’s Mandate of Meaningful Ministry,” or “The Father’s Faith, Following, and Future,” or “The Final Chapter of a Disciple’s Calling”, or “The Family of Faith and Their Fulfilling Fight.”

But you? Me? Us? How can God Himself accomplish through us what He did through them? And Acts 1:8 tells us, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Please notice: It’s not our abilities but our availability to God’s Holy Spirit who anoints us and empowers us to be our Lord’s witnesses!

But then Peter carries us a step further when in I Peter 3:15 he wrote: “But sanctify [or set apart] the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear…”

Holy Spirit anointing, personal availability, a sensitivity of opportunity, intentional evangelism, a willingness to speak up, speak out, speak to, trusting our angels to lead us, led by the Holy Spirit! Isn’t that Acts 8:29 when the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” And the Word says, “So Philip ran to him.” [Who have you been running to lately because the Holy Spirit prompted you?]

Philip obeyed, and Acts 8:35 tells us, Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.

Acts 9 really unveils for us divine potential for any man. Look with me at Acts 9:10-20, “Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.”… Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”…But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”…Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some time with the disciples at Damascus…Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues that He is the Son of God.”

And as a result of the act of obedience, what is to happen? In Acts 2:47 we read, “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” Are people “being saved” “daily” our true spiritual heartbeat?

“Evangelism – Good News Proclamation”!! I’m always amazed that some are so blind and deaf to the reality of amazing grace that God, YES, God Himself, can heal the lame, open blind eyes, blot out the blackness of a sinful heart, and make someone a new person – and they refuse to believe! The sad truth is: THEY DON”T WANT TO BE TURNED AWAY FROM THEIR SIN AND INIQUITY!

It was Peter who said in Acts 3:16-23, “And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and be converted, [“Good News Proclamation”!!] that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.” “Good news” – but they settle for sad news because they are so in love with their sin and their iniquity!

In verse 26 of Acts 3 Peter said, “To you, first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.” But that’s not ‘glad news’ but “sad news” when one loves his iniquities more than he loves the God of “Good News”!

I have no hesitation in saying to you that naked truth shared to a darkened heart and soul can cut one in pieces and turn him to saving grace and mercy! Listen to Acts 2:36-39!! “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Now when they heard this, THEY WERE CUT TO THE HEART, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, [and because you truly repent], let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” You do understand that it was YOUR SIN that nailed Jesus to the Cross! And it’s your heart-felt repentance that births ‘remission of sins’, not water baptism! Water baptism is testimony of one’s death, burial, and resurrection in Christ to eternal life.

“Evangelism – Good News Proclamation!” Do you see repentant men receiving “the gift of the Holy Spirit”? Right before Jesus’ bodily ascension into Heaven Luke 24: 45-49 says: “And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses to these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

God “opened their minds,” He “opened their hearts,” He “opened their eyes” to sense eternal things concerning world redemption, He “opened their very beings” to sense and receive the capacity of fullness in The Spirit realm – “endued with power from on high.”

“Evangelism – Good News Proclamation!” Do you see YOUR calling? 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” Do you remember in Genesis 24:27 where the man said to Rebecca, “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken God’s mercy and God’s truth toward my master. As for me, being in the way… the Lord led me..”

And as our Lord’s ambassador, His earthly, appointed, anointed, empowered representative, we are to be “in the way, led by our Lord,” discovering the divine opportunities of sharing our faith in Him with others! I love Oswald Chambers in “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.236], speaking of “the intuitive jar” as the inner admonitions of the abiding Holy Spirit guiding us to those He is concerned about. If according to Romans 8:16 the Spirit “bears witness with our Spirit,” then, as true disciples, we must learn to whom the Holy Spirit leads us. Listen to Chambers:

“The Spirit of God witnesses to the Redemption of our Lord, He does not witness to anything else; He cannot witness to our reason. The simplicity that comes from our natural common-sense decisions is apt to be mistaken for the witness of the Spirit, but the Spirit witnesses only to His own nature, and to the work of Redemption, never to our reason. If we try to make Him witness to our reason, it is no wonder we are in darkness and perplexity. Fling it all overboard, trust in Him, and He will give the witness.”

In Ephesian 6 Paul tells us about putting on the whole armor of God even praying ‘always’ ‘in the Spirit’, and especially, verse 19, “for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, verse 20, FOR WHICH I AM AN AMBASSADOR IN CHAINS; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” Certainly it was literal for Paul – he was behind prison bars – but you and I are an ambassador “chained to Christ” – and all around us is a world of people in bondage to themselves and their sin who need to be set free.

“Evangelism – Good News Proclamation!” But do you understand, do you realize, do you comprehend, that one can so shroud or cover his professing faith that no one around him has discovered his ‘devotion’ to Christ Jesus? Is faith in God to be hidden in dark shadows so no one appears responsible in sharing his ‘faith’? Is redemptive faith so strange to you that to share it with others would mark you as a “looney-tunie”?!?

In John 17:1-4 Jesus speaks: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.”

Do you see it, sense it, celebrate it, appropriate it? “I, number one common disciple, have finished the work you assigned me to carry out”! Jesus said on one occasion that He came into our world to “bear witness to the truth” – but you have a different purpose?

I love Acts 4:33, “And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.” Do you long for great grace on all of your church family? Do you passionately long for great power on all of your church believers? If you’re not aware of it, I’ll tell you: Spiritual battles for the souls of men are lost or won on the “plains” of divine will, never in the pews of spiritual satisfaction void of eternal intent. “And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.”

Is there a travailing spirit in you for the salvation of lost souls around you? Or is there a cloud of illusion covering your mind, heart, and spirit, creating within you an aching abyss of absence of the love of the Lord Jesus for lost souls for whom He died? Are we gripped by a worldly independent oneness or have we, because we are now “in Christ,” become spiritually governed by His sacrificial spirit in laying down His life to touch others with His grace through us? Peter wrote in I Peter 4:13 that we should “rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.” Is there gladness in your heart because, governed by the Spirit of Christ within you, lives are touched for Christ and you are eternally blessed?

Oh, I know there is a “war”! Revelation 17:14 tells us: “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are CALLED, CHOSEN, and FAITHFUL.” But far too often the “war” is an inward war concerning will: Will I witness or will I not witness? In I Corinthians 9:16 Paul wrote: “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!”

I don’t know how you look upon Paul’s letter to the Galatians, but I call it “The Gospel of Faith, Freedom, Fullness, and Fruit.” In Galatians 1:15-16a, Paul said, “But when it pleased God who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me…” Biblical fruit is a life you touch in God’s faith, giving freedom, fullness, and the very fruit of the Indwelling Christ! Do people around you glorify God because of the redemptive faith they witness and hear from you?

I would ask you: Does the love of Christ compel or constrain you to touch others with His love, grace, and mercy? Are you a “poured out drink offering”? Have you willingly, day by day, gone to the altar as a willing sacrifice for Jesus?

In Matthew 10:27 hear Jesus!! “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on housetops.”

Let me close with words again from Oswald Chambers: [“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.33], “You shall be My witnesses.” How many of us are willing to spend every ounce of nervous energy, of mental, moral, and spiritual energy we have for Jesus Christ? That is the meaning of a “witness” in God’s sense of the word. It takes time, be patient with yourself. God has left us on earth – what for? To be saved and sanctified? No, to be at it for Him. Am I willing to be broken bread and poured out wine for Him? To be spoiled for this age, for this life, to be spoiled from every standpoint but one – saving as I can disciple men and women to the Lord Jesus Christ. My life as a worker is the way I say “thank you” to God for His unspeakable salvation. Remember it is quite possible for any one of us to be flung out as reprobate silver – “…lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

Are you a spiritual sluggard or a strong saint sharing the Way of salvation? Is it self-realization for you or self-abandonment to the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God for your life and walk and witness as a disciple of Christ? Do you live your church life in the spirit of self-vindication or yielded to the Lord of your life in full surrender or as Moffatt interpreted James 1:4, “Let your endurance be a finished product, so that you may be finished and complete, with never a defect.”

Are we ‘victims’ or witnesses? Are we aimless disciples or ambassadors of Christ? Are we silent ‘sinning’ believers or sounding-off singers of saving faith? Are we ‘self-controlled’ or Spirit-prodded?

Are we to adapt to fleshly nations and peoples or announce the remedy to misguided leadership and followship? Are we deaf to the heart-cries of the aimless or alert to the voice of the Holy Spirit to reach out and touch our lost and dying world?

Has God ‘reasoned’ with you about your walk or REVEALED YOUR HOLY CALLING AS A BIBLICAL EVANGELIST?

It was Benjamin Franklin who once said: “If passion drives you let reason hold the reins.” Is it ‘reason’ or revelation that holds the reins for your walk and witness?

By: J.Farrell Fisher, August 20-21, 2017

Don’t you find it strange AND alarming that many folks who cross your paths in our known world will “die” without one grain of understanding about why they were on Holy God’s beautiful world, no understanding of ‘the meaning of life’ or ‘the meaning of death’? Sadly, for many of humanity’s world populace there is no thought about “Why am I here?”, they just exist, tolerating whatever comes down their lane!

It was Anna Letitia Barbauld, in her writing “Ode to Life”, who wrote: “Life! We’ve been long together Through pleasant and through cloudy weather; It’s hard to part when friends are dear – Perhaps it will cost a sigh, a tear; Then steal away, give little warning, Choose your own time; Say not good-night – but in some brighter clime Bid me good morning.” I’m not sure where she was going to awaken, but be sure, she knew she would – and you should know that YOU CHOOSE through God’s graciousness and kindness and amazing love your destiny of eternal life in Hell or Heaven!

And be assured: Our lives in our known world are of a limited time frame! But, at the same time and in the same vein, you are personally involved in where you spend eternity’s destination! Horatius Bonar wrote: “Beyond the shining and the shading I shall be soon. Beyond the hoping and the dreading I shall be soon…”, but Where and With Whom rests in your own involvement of settling your eternal destiny.

Joshua gave his people and us a necessary warning and needed wisdom in Joshua 24:14-15 when he said: “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt! And if it seems evil to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

IF the anointed Word of God says, “Choose YOU this day whom you will serve,” are you, yes, at least fully aware of the ‘fleshly kingdoms of man’ OR yielded to, in, and for the God-honoring, Christ-glorifying “Kingdom of God”?

Dare I tell you that since ‘fallen man’s beginning’ Holy God has sought to alert in the inward heart of all men the reality of His desire to reconcile every fallen man to the reality of His Rule, His reigning, their Redemption, and their “co-reign” in and through His Son, Christ Jesus?

In Proverbs 1:20-33 the ‘wise man’ of Proverbs wrote: “Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares. She cries out in the chief concourses, at the openings of the gates in the city She speaks her words: “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge.

Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make known my words to you. Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, because you disdained all my counsel, and would have none of my rebuke, I will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, when your terror comes like a storm, and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.

Then you will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, They would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled to the full with their own fancies.

For the turning away of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil.”

“Facing death or Facing Life?” When it comes to all of fallen men’s considerations of why he/she is here in this world, it is certain that in most men it is their own interpretations about what their lives are all about from fleshly ambitions, fleshly aims, even fleshly desires, ‘eating the fruit of their own way’ without any consideration of eternal, divine, loving intention from the Throne of God, His mind, His heart, His desires for men – the source of men’s inspiration for his/her earthly existence must be: “Lord, what would You have me to do?” The astute mind behind the truly blessed man IS the very Mind, Will, Purpose, and Provision of each of us through Christ Jesus, unveiled for us in Romans 5:6-11 when Paul enlightened us, saying,

“For when we were still WITHOUT STRENGTH (or “helpless” concerning “the God-life”), in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having NOW BEEN JUSTIFIED BY HIS BLOOD, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be (“being”) saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” Have YOU received “the reconciliation”?

W.H.McDonald and William G. Fisher wrote the hymn: “I Am Coming To The Cross”. It says: “I am coming to the cross; I am poor and weak and blind; I am counting all but dross; I shall full salvation find.

Long has my heart sighed for You; Long has evil dwelt within; Jesus sweetly speaks to me, “I will cleanse you from all sin.”

Here I give myself to You – Friends and time and earthly store, Soul and body Yours to be – Wholly Yours forevermore.

In the promises I trust; Now I feel the blood applied; I am prostrate in the dust; I with Christ am crucified.

I am trusting, Lord, in You, Dear Lamb of Calvary, Humbly at Your cross I bow, Save me, Jesus, save me now.”

Has Christ Jesus saved YOU, redeemed YOU by His blood, resurrected YOU from sin and death, and called to YOU, “Son, daughter, come to Me and I’ll give you rest”? Do you KNOW that you’ve come out of the bondage of sin and death and Satan’s control, assured in your heart and mind by the Holy Spirit, and by the Holy Spirit are YOU honoring and glorifying Christ in and through your bodily Temple?

Have you “Faced your deathly state without Christ” and are you daily, yes, day by day, “Faith-ing Life in Him”? Are you NOW “being saved by His life?” Remember, Romans 5:10! “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be (“being”) saved by His life.”

Thank God for the Cross of Christ, but if that totals your believing faith, what do you do about His empty tomb and His desire for your redeemed life and body to be the place of His resurrected, abiding presence on earth through YOU? He was made sin for us that through His shed blood, death, and resurrection we might be made “the righteousness of God” in us to be unveiled to the world around us. Loving God made Jesus to be sin for us, yes, the Jesus who knew no sin, but willingly He took our sin and sin nature unto Himself, becoming ‘sin for us’, and by repentance and faith you and I are “made the righteousness of God in Him, in Christ”! Oswald Chambers rightfully stated: “It is not “Christ” FOR me unless I am determined to have Christ formed “in” me.” So true and so aligning to the very heart and mind of God Himself!

“FACING DEATH?” Spiritual death, which is what every human is birthed into, is the reality of the absence of God in the new-birthed, inner heart, because willfully God had no desire to see children birthed with no choice but servitude to the Almighty – He desired and desires the human races of individuals recognizing the empty life, yes, empty meaning, without Christ willfully residing and reigning, but, because of one’s repentance toward God and faith in Christ’s “finished” work at the Cross – one knows, “Yes, it was for ME Christ died because I was a non-possessor of Divine Presence!”

There is a “soul-awakening” sequence of verses in John 2:23-25 that should truly be ‘words of true awakening’ for one in examining his/her own heart and mind! It says: “Now when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. BUT Jesus did not commit Himself to them because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.”

There’s an interesting Verse in Ezekiel 44:25 that says, God speaking about “true priests”, “And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.” Oh, and then in Ezekiel 44:28 the Lord truly exposes the ‘false’ or true men of Faith saying, “It shall be, in regard to their inheritance, that I am their inheritance.” Are there ‘professing disciples’ intoxicated with a “mixed drink” of the ‘holy and the unholy’ or of ‘the unclean and the clean’? That’s “death” in, yes, disillusioned minds and hearts!

“Fallen mankind” is consumed with nonchalant and/or unconcerned indifference when it comes to a “holy relationship to your God – who needs it?” Many live with a cool indifference, even a mindless consideration of the need of Holy God’s mercy and grace!

It was J.B.Phillips, in his writing, “New Testament Christianity”, who said: “The modern intelligent mind, which has had its horizons widened in dozens of different ways, has got to be shocked afresh by the audacious fact that as a sober matter of history, GOD BECAME ONE OF US.” And becoming one of us, He came with the sacred, eternal intent of reconciling us to Himself – but that could never happen apart from “crucified with Christ” and “raised to new life” in Him and through Him!

“Fallen mankind” is fleshly oriented, ruled by the accumulation of the thoughts, ideas, remedies that never satisfies or heals the absence of God but widens the gap further unless bridged, blessed, and beautified by His amazing grace! And it’s only God’s Mind and God’s Heart that can raise “fallen mankind” out of spiritual death and separation from Him only by the shedding of the innocent blood of His Son for us on Calvary’s Cross, then raising Him up by the supernatural power and love of God, taking Him in His arms, then loosing Him to touch us with God’s amazing love and grace!

When it comes to “fallen mankind”, he/she never experiences the sacredness of a holy relationship with God apart from God’s Word, like when He said to Nicodemus, a religious ruler of the Jews, “Except you be born again you’ll never know My kingdom rule!” Of course, fallen men, rebellious to the core and beyond, have no desire to be “ruled” except by their own warped will! Tell me: Do YOU rule in your own kingdom as ‘lord unto myself’, or is it truly in your mind, heart, and walk to be ruled by Another, even King Jesus?

In Isaiah 63:14b, we read the passionate plea of one who recognized the need of Sovereign God ruling in the nation. He cried out, “So You lead Your people to make Yourself a glorious name,” saying in Verse 19, “We have become like those of old, over whom You never ruled, those who were never called by Your name.” James had a ‘perfecting word’ for all believers when he wrote in James 1:4, “But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

If our goal “in Christ” IS “the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ”, is it possible that some become “sidetracked” or “detoured” away from, rather than “pressing in to His fullness”? In James 1:14 James mentions about “each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed,” followed by Verse 15, “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” [Don’t you find it alarming when ‘professing believers in Christ’ live as if He’s not around, indulging their sin natures while Christ weeps, but it doesn’t bother them because they’re ‘free’? Really?].

Follow James 1:21-25 the brother of Jesus warns us: “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the IMPLANTED WORD, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. BUT he who looks into the perfect law of liberty AND continues in it, and IS NOT A FORGETFUL HEARER BUT A DOER OF THE WORK, this one will be blessed in what he does.” Blessed is the evidence of Christ as the source of your walk of faith! Are you “facing death” or are you “FAITHING LIFE”?

“Faithing Life”? I love Moffatt’s translation of James 1:4 when he translated it, saying, “Let your endurance be a finished product, so that you may be finished and complete, with never a defect.” IF ‘Christ in you is the hope of glory’, does Christ Jesus have defects, or is it YOUR defects exposed as you try the best you can to be faithful, when your best and your worst, again, I say to you: It was crucified with Christ thousands of years ago, and you are not to lean on your “best”, but to trust His presence to be Himself THROUGH YOU! Amen?

The “Faithing Life” is not your best in ‘independent individuality’ but dependent trust in Christ Jesus being Himself in us and through us! We read in Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, LOOKING UNTO JESUS, THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

To finish the “Faith Life” are YOU looking unto Jesus, are you presently walking in His joy, are you taking His endurance of His cross daily in your walk, hating the shame, and ARE YOU SEATED WITH CHRIST, RIGHT NOW, IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES WITH CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER SIN AND DEATH, and celebrating with the angelic chorus and the armies of redeemed saints?

Psalm 66:10-12 says, “For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on our backs. You have caused men to ride over our heads; We went through fire and water; but You brought us out to rich fulfillment.” How glorious does that sound to you?!? An old hymn entitled “Glory to His Name” has a verse that says: “Down at the cross where my Savior died, Down where for cleansing from sin I cried, There to my heart was the blood applied; Glory to His name. Glory to His name, Glory to His name; There to my heart was the blood applied; Glory to His name.” Amen?

Psalm 88:12, “Will Your wonders be made known in the darkness? And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?”

INTRODUCTION

This summer has been such an interesting, exciting, perplexing journey! I have no doubts at all that our Lord wanted me writing “Fatal Forgetfulness”! He put it on my heart and began to birth it day by day. I have to say to you that I was being challenged by our Lord to face up to challenges, crossroads, doubts, fears, possibilities, new horizons, even new sorrows, heartaches, deep, deep valleys and high, high mountains that had to be crossed.

For well over ten years I’ve had some physical problems that have really been a challenge but September 17, 2010 to October 21, 2010, I had to have four left shoulder replacements in five weeks because the new “reverse joint” just would not stay in place. It took a major toll body, soul, and spirit. Then February, 2011, my wife Sue had to have both knees replaced. March 3, 2011, I had to have right shoulder surgery because of a rotator-cuff tear. And as I entered this summer of 2012, I knew I had more physical problems with two bad knees and two bad hips.

And I began to ask, “Lord, have I forgotten You? Have I slipped physically because I have slipped spiritually?” Gracious God was so clear, so kind, so gentle: “No, son; it’s our opportunity together to challenge our friends, nationally and internationally, that I haven’t forgotten them and I don’t want them forgetting Me. I want you to write about “Fatal Forgetfulness”! Let’s walk through it together, My son, as I help you, heal you, and happily bestow upon you new wisdom and understanding. Write the book.”

It’s almost September 1, 2012 – and “Fatal Forgetfulness” has been completed! And one thing I know: “This man, Farrell Fisher, will not forget Him!” AMEN?

I will have both knees replaced September 24, 2012. After a healing period I will then have surgery on both hips, December 3, 2012. Keep Farrell Fisher in your prayers! At this point I have no direction for a new book, but I do know that through tough times He births amazing revelations and insights. Let’s pray together about the next book our Lord would have me write! Beyond that? How about a major heart attack in April, 2013, when they gave me an hour to live, but, praise God, my heart surgeon was in the hospital on a Saturday night at 8pm, and I was in surgery within 22 minutes! Successful to say the least – he told my wife, Sue, later that I ought to live to a hundred at least!

It’s for certain I do not possess an ounce of fatal forgetfulness about my God of divine healing grace and mercy. But, sadly, we must, for the sake of others, look to the matter of “Fatal Forgetfulness”!

I pray you find glorious reminders of “pressing in” to Christ alone in your walk of faith, or the lack of it. Know for sure, God knocks on your heart’s door regularly. Beyond that, He’s the Healer of your forgetfulness – just look at His Holy Word! It was written specifically for you and for me!

Our Lord loves you with an everlasting love, and has no desire to be separated from you eternally because you allow fatal forgetfulness to grow in its deathly power! “Lean not to your own understanding, but in all your ways, acknowledge, bow before, repent, and rest in His finished work at the Cross of Calvary in your behalf!”

OUTLINE

CHAPTER ONE: WHY NATIONS FORGET GOD

CHAPTER TWO: WHEN MERCY IS MEANINGLESS – FATAL FORGETFULNESS

CHAPTER THREE: WHEN GRACE IS GODLESS – FUTILE FORGETFULNESS

CHAPTER: FORGOTTEN? GOD WITH US?

CHAPTER FIVE: FORGOTTEN? BODY LIFE – BODY MINISTRY?

CHAPTER SIX: FORGOTTEN? THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES?

CHAPTER SEVEN:FORGOTTEN? A PASTOR’S PRIZE AND PRIVILEGE OF PREACHING?

CHAPTER EIGHT: FORGOTTEN? FIG-LEAF RELIGION IS NOT A FAITH RELATIONSHIP?

CHAPTER NINE: FORGOTTEN? WE ALL HAVE AN ENEMY?

CHAPTER TEN: FORGOTTEN? CHILDREN OF FAITH ARE DISCIPLINED BY THE LORD?

CHAPTER ELEVEN: FORGOTTEN? MARRIAGE: A CELEBRATION OF LIFE AND BLESSING?

CHAPTER TWELVE: FORGOTTEN? CHILDREN A BLESSING – NOT A BURDEN?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: FORGOTTEN? GOD’S BLESSING OF VISIONS, VOICES, AND DREAMS?

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: FORGOTTEN? HOLY FIRE OR SMOKY FEELINGS?

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: FORGOTTEN? JOY COMES IN THE MORNING?

CHAPTER SIXTEEN? FORGOTTEN? PROFIT THAT BECOMES LOSS?

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: FORGOTTEN? THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE OF PERSONAL WATCH-CARE?

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: FORGOTTEN? THE SPIRITUAL ALERTNESS OF “TODAY”?

CHAPTER NINETEEN: FORGOTTEN? THE HOLY SPIRIT TO LIVE IN ME?

CHAPTER TWENTY: EVANGELISM: HEARTBEAT OF CHRISTIANS & CHURCHES?

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: FORGOTTEN? ‘DEAF TO,’ ‘COLD TO’ THE WARMTH OF HIS WORD AND VOICE? [LISTENING TO THE REDEMPTIVE VOICES]

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: FORGOTTEN? THE CONSEQUENCES OF ‘SINKING SANDS’ OR THE BLESSING OF THE SOLID ROCK?

CHAPTER ONE

WHY NATIONS FORGET GOD

There is a stark, shocking verse in Psalm 9:17. It says: “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” …In Psalm 50:22 God says: “Now consider this, you that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.” “Forgetting God?”

Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary says of forgetfulness: “The quality of losing the remembrance or recollection of a thing; or rather, the quality of being apt to let anything slip from the mind…loss of remembrance or recollection; a ceasing to remember; oblivion…neglect, negligence; careless omission; inattention; as forgetfulness of duty.”

Do you remember Daniel confronting Belshazzar in Daniel 5:22-23? [NAS], “Yet you Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Belshazzer, have not humbled your heart even though you knew this, but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear, or understand. But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and your ways, you have not glorified.”

Did Daniel say of some, “There are those who have not, do not, will not GLORIFY GOD”? What did he say? “But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and your ways, you have not glorified.” But a Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:14, “Now thanks be to God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ.” Is your walk of faith a testimony of ‘triumph in Christ’ or an unveiling of negligence toward Him, ‘careless omission, inattention; as forgetfulness of duty?’

Romans 1:18-32 are earth-shattering, heart-breaking verses about people and nations who forget God! [Please read before continuing!]

In Hosea 13:4-9 there are sad, prophetic words that ought to grip, convict, and convert every human soul: “Yet I am the Lord your God ever since the land of Egypt, and you shall know no God but Me; For there is no Savior besides Me. I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought. When they had pasture, they were filled; they were filled and their heart was exalted; therefore they forgot Me. So I will be to them like a lion; like a leopard by the road I will lurk; I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs; I will tear open their rib cage, and there I will devour them like a lion. The wild beast shall tear them. O Israel, you are destroyed, but your help is from me.”

How easy for some to forget Proverbs 14:34!! “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” Righteousness is ‘salt’ that preserves while ‘sin’ is poison that destroys. Righteousness is God’s divine preservative for nations while sin is self-inflicted destruction. Psalm 2:11-12 tells us: “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are those who put their trust in Him.”Do you understand “perishing in the way”? Let’s see if we can discern some of the ways “Why Nations Forget God”!

FIRST, NATIONS FORGET GOD BY OMITTING RESPONSIBILITY TO GOD. In Psalms 37:23 we read: “The steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord.” God is to be in control of every man’s life, yes, his every step. The New American Standard translates it: “The steps of a man are established by the Lord; and He [God] delights in his way.”

I was reading in Marketplace Ministries magazine a statement by Jay Badry. He wrote: “Many people hold fast to the idea that ‘God can do anything,’ but I shrink from that for there is one thing God is incapable of doing: violating His own perfections and attributes. What this means to me is that in a constantly changing world, sinking ever deeper into the mire of depravity, the perfect God is both timeless and changeless. As a kite must be tethered to a fixed point for stability, so my soul, indeed all that I am must be tethered to Him at all times.” That’s a person, a people, and a nation!

If a nation, a life, a family, a business, a ministry, is not ‘tethered’ to God, there is no line, strong line, holding it up soaring in the air where God wants it to soar, but releasing itself from God’s control, it crashes!!

Do you understand that when a government omits responsibility to God it shuts the door on a nation ‘blessed by God’? If you’ve studied American History at all you know that Thomas Jefferson was one of our founding fathers. He is reported to have said: “The God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that those liberties are the gift of God?”

WHEN GOVERNMENT IGNORES, DENIES, SEEKS TO REFUTE THE DIGNITY OF DIVINE INITIATIVE IN ESTABLISHING, YES, A ‘HOLY NATION,’ IT VIOLATES EVERYTHING God intended for the human society He created. When government assumes the Jehovah-Jireh spirit, it has stolen and betrayed the ministry only God can fulfill.

It was D.A. Carson in his book “For The Love Of God” who wrote: “People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”

A nation is not liberated if it omits, yes, legislatively that God has no place in our nation – “We’re Free”!! No, that nation that denies God’s right to rule is bound by the chains of darkness and the devil himself!

Is America today being ‘governed’ by “LIBERALS”? Are far too many churches being ‘governed’ by “LIBERALS”? Are far too many academic institutions today being ‘governed’ by “LIBERALS”?

Liberals foul the mind and fool the conscience. Liberals promote their ‘truth’ and crucify “The Truth.”

Liberals bow at the throne of its own deceptive governments and denounce the government of God. Liberals preach tolerance, interpreted by its own actions as intolerant, especially of God and men and women of saving faith.

Liberals spout freedom while subjecting its students to their bondage, spouting individual determination of one’s own destiny void of the true, lasting, eternal foundation of faith in the God who made them, lost them, and then bought them with the price of the shed blood of the Lamb of God.

Liberals bow before the idol of education leaving its devotees anchored to emptiness, impotence, and shallowness, while it celebrates its poverty and bankruptcy and avoids the true riches of grace.

Liberals and their liberalism, having become one of the largest religious systems in the world, builds its ‘foundations of faith’ on the doctrines of death, seen in the philosophy, ’you can make it without God,’ ‘Christians are kooks, the truly uneducated of our society,’ or, ‘the Bible is the fool’s book.’

Liberals major on mental imaginations of men who see themselves as men of superior intellects, when in reality they are the spiritual midgets and dwarfs void of REALITY. Liberalism masks itself in the assertions of “superior knowledge and intellect,” validated by their degrees, failing to see their unmasking because of their denial that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Liberalism promotes a Godless society, not understanding “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God!’” Liberalism is the cloud of “political correctness” that darkens the sky of constitutional and scriptural freedoms, constitutional intent and scriptural ideals, a nation built on the foundation of faith and submission and obedience and worship and devotion to the one True and Living God as revealed in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Liberalism is the noose around the neck of nations and peoples, strangling the very life of divine intent out of institutions, families, and individuals, captured by the deceptions of foolish men intent on enslaving the wills and minds of those under their diabolical influences.

Liberalism is the release of scriptural restraints upon a society unleashing the release of rebellion, ungodliness, “my way,” my thoughts, ‘god’ unto myself, releasing the supposed higher thoughts of men in total opposition to the holy truths of God.

Do you grasp what I’m speaking about? It’s that shallow grasp for a mystical, meaningless nothing; a deception of diabolical, evil, devilish proportions – no God, no truth, no sin, no wrong, no shame, a reckless abandonment of decency and honor for a moment of soul, sensual, sinful, satanic satisfaction that never satisfies.

For many, their better is better than God’s best, satisfied with the philosophy and religion of personal achievement; for many, educational achievement rules and reigns as supremacy over God’s best, intellectually superior to even the knowledge and wisdom of God Himself.

What did I say ‘FIRST’? “NATIONS FORGET GOD BY OMITTING RESPONSIBILTY TO GOD!” That’s not freedom ‘in Christ’ but freedom from responsibility in doing what God says. Didn’t Jesus say, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’ – but you do not do what I say.”

Oh, I pray you don’t miss what’s going on across our nation today! They say, “We’re free!!”, and by that there are those who mean “Freedom of release of responsibility in relationships that includes not only God but free from the spiritual care of others! False freedom is the freedom to do your own thing without any consideration of the consequences to the covenant Body of Christ, yes, your local assembly!”

False freedom is the freedom to go your own way and do your own thing without one serious thought of leaving voids and vacuums in others! False freedom is the freedom to exercise self-initiative without any submission to Holy Spirit-direction and leadership!

False freedom is the freedom to believe the Gospel without the insight to walk it out where God places you! False freedom is the freedom to see your wisdom as valid that invalidates the wisdom of God for you.

False freedom is the freedom to believe one can preach the Gospel without the nature of Christ leading and to believe one can do that without imparting one’s own life as well. False freedom is to say you’re a friend without the “greater love” of laying down your life for your “friends”.

False freedom is to receive but not to give, the freedom to take and not to share, the freedom to be blessed and ignore the Blessers.

False freedom is to move in an apparent spirituality in order to steal and take from others who accept you blindly because of their loyalty to the Spirit of Christ in them.

False freedom is to abdicate the calling of ministry “helps” with no feeling of guilt or regrets. False freedom is to ignore ‘brotherhood’ because of a greater allegiance to “me-hood”!

False freedom is to reduce others to ‘less-ness’, unimportant to you because of one’s prideful ‘more-ness.’ False freedom is the phony freedom of virtuousness that is a vacuum as one victimizes the greater victors, yes, victimizing the true disciples of Christ with no regrets!

SECOND, NATIONS FORGET GOD AS THEY IGNORE, DENY, SUPPRESS THE MANDATES OF GOD! Deuteronomy 8 is one of God’s most powerful words for any nation anywhere. Please follow me in your own Bible with a marking pen in hand!!

Deuteronomy 8:2-3 says: “And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”

I’m convinced without a doubt that God wants to put His own fingerprint, His own palm-print, His own signature on our lives! Look at verses 11-14!! “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest – when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage…”

What is a ‘lifted-up heart’? That’s pride, that’s self-sufficiency, that’s pumped up flesh! Look at verses 17-19! Then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.”

In Matthew 4:4 we read of Jesus saying the same thing we read in Deuteronomy 8:3, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”….Do you remember what the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy? 2 Timothy 3:14-17, “But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

I pray that you have not failed to grasp the authority, the power, the true freedom that comes for nations through the Word of God. Psalm 119 is so powerful, so liberating, so redemptive in its truth!! Are you ready? Come to Psalm 119!!

Psalm 119:9, 11…Verse 9, “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.” Verse 11, Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”

Psalm 119: 24-25, “Your testimonies also are my delight, and my counselors. My soul clings to the dust; revive me according to Your word.”

Psalm 119:37, “Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way.” Verse 18, “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.”

Psalm 119: 49, “Remember the word to Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope.” Verse 54, “Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.”

Psalm 119: 67, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word.” Verse 72, “The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver.”

Psalm 119: 89, “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.” Verse 92, “Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction.”

Psalm 119: 101, “I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your word.” Verses 103-104, “How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.”

Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Verse 111, “Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever, for they are the rejoicing of my heart.”

Psalm 119:130, “The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” Verse 133, “Direct my steps by Your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me.”

Psalm 119:140, “Your word is very pure; therefore Your servant loves it.” Verse 160, “The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.”

Psalm 119:162, “I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great treasure.” Verse 165, “Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble.”

Do you remember Jeremiah’s testimony in Jeremiah 15:16? He said, “Your words were found and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.”

This is why Peter wrote in I Peter 2:2, “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow [up into your salvation.]”

What did Jesus tell us in Matthew 7:24-29? Listen carefully!! “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

Have you ignored, denied, suppressed the Living Word of God?

THIRD, NATIONS FORGET GOD BY THE SUPPRESSION OF THE CELEBRATION AND WORSHIP OF GOD. Come to John 4:7-26!

All around you there is FAMILY DISINTEGRATION but no celebration and worship of the one true and living God. All around you there is pulpit and church quietness but no celebration and worship of the one true and living God. All around you there is national moral decay but no celebration and worship of the one true and living God. All around you there is ‘false religion domination’ but no celebration and worship of the one true and living God!

Nations forget God by the suppression of the celebration and worship of God.

FOURTH AND LAST, NATIONS FORGET GOD BY FORGETTING INTENTIONALLY AND SEEKING TO OBLITERATE THE GREATEST SACRIFICE OF GOD HIMSELF – THE VERY SHED BLOOD OF THE LAMB OF GOD, JESUS, TO COVER A NATION’S SIN!! Obliterate? Listen to Noah Webster’s definition in his 1828 Dictionary: “To efface, to erase or blot out…to wear out, to destroy by time or means…to reduce to a very low or imperceptible state…to obliterate the monuments of antiquity…”

Well, what about obliterating the truth of the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world? That’s Revelation 13:8!! “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb SLAIN FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.” Before nations existed God knew what fallen nations would do and He decided before the world came into existence that the Son would be the Savior as the Lamb of God slain on the Cross!

Come to Revelation 19:5-10, “Then a voice came from the throne, saying, ‘Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!” And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write” ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!!” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.” And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

In your history studies did you ever come across the French Statesman Alexis Compte de Tocqueville? In early American history Tocqueville said: “I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her rivers, lands, and prairies, and it was not there. Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power.”

GOD, HELP US! GOD, SAVE OUR NATION! GOD, LIGHT THE FLAME AGAIN OF CELEBRATION AND WORSHIP OF THE ONE TRUE AND LIVING GOD! GOD, HELP US AGAIN BE A NATION OF DIVINE RIGHTEOUSNESS!”

H. Ernest Nichol wrote this old, old hymn that ought to be resurrected: “We’ve a story to tell to the nations, That shall turn their hearts to the right, A story of truth and mercy, A story of peace and light…

For the darkness shall turn to the dawning, and the dawning to noonday bright; And Christ’s great kingdom shall come on earth, The kingdom of love and light.

We’ve a song to be sung to the nations, That shall lift their hearts to the Lord, A song that shall conquer evil and shatter the spear and sword.

We’ve a message to give to the nations, That the Lord who reigns up above, Has sent His Son to save us, And show us that God is live.

We’ve a Savior to show to the nations, Who the path of sorrow has trod, That all of the world’s great peoples, Might come to the truth of God.

For the darkness shall turn to the dawning, And the dawning to noonday bright; And Christ’s great kingdom shall come on earth, The kingdom of love and light.”

CHAPTER TWO

WHEN MERCY IS MEANINGLESS – FATAL FORGETFULNESS

I don’t know how you respond when you read a verse like Isaiah 27:11, but it does tell us our Lord is speaking of people who have “no understanding.” It then says, “Therefore He who made them WILL NOT HAVE MERCY ON THEM, and He who formed them will show them no favor.”

I love what Peter wrote about “mercy” as a heavenly inheritance when in I Peter 1:3 he said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” What did Peter call God’s mercy? ABUNDANT MERCY! But there are those upon whom He will have no mercy!

Why is that? It’s ‘fatal forgetfulness’ – mercy is not a ministry of God, an event of epoch proportions, they are interested in. Oh, they may at least on the surface be aware of the mercy of God, but it’s not a road they need to walk down – about like Solomon who said in I Kings 3:6, “You [God] have shown great mercy [Underline that! At least Solomon knew God’s mercy was great!] to Your servant David my father, because He walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.”

Solomon was saying what? “God, You’ve shown great mercy to my dad, and you were merciful giving me his throne, but as for me mercy is meaningless – merit is my ambition and I’ll earn whatever I set my mind to!” Does Solomon reflect at all on modern man today who find mercy meaningless to their existence? Look with me at Psalm 103:17-18,

“But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, to such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commandments to do them.” The mercy of God is for WHO? Those who “fear Him,” to those who understand blood covenant relationship and keep it, to those who sense His commandments are to be kept! [Why do some miss ‘mercy’? “That’s salvation by works”!!]

But, sadly, many are blinded to the misery of fallen sin natures and sense no need to cry out to God for “mercy”! You’ll remember Jesus making that visit to His hometown in Mark 6:5-6 that says: “Now HE could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief…” Does that explain “mercy” as “meaningless” to some people?

Have you forgotten the Galatian dilemma? It explains tons of understanding about “when mercy is meaningless”! In Galatians 3:3 Paul asked: “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

And do you understand that meaningless mercy is not only for heathens or pagans or the self-assured – it’s for deceived masses in the borders of Christendom who substitute repentance for the rigors of personal disciplines and pats on the back of their self-sufficiency!

But…it’s not what YOU achieve but what you receive as a gift from God! It’s not what YOU earn but what you receive by His grace. It’s not a portrait you paint of yourself but the precious privileges God grants to you! It’s not “trying harder” – it’s trusting God more and more.

Deaf ears, blinded eyes, clouded senses to the nearness of God in a man’s life assign him to a meaningless existence weighed against the eternal purpose of God for one’s life. But put that up next to the story of Joseph! In Genesis 41:50-51 Joseph named his firstborn Manesseh and said: “It is because God has made me FORGET all my troubles and all my father’s household.”

But some men manufacture forgetfulness of God, establishing in their minds and hearts that “mercy is meaningless”, but God mercifully blots out our troubles, blessing us with the forgetfulness of man-made miseries and builds in us Heaven’s blessings!!

Men manufacture forgetfulness of God like a Pharoah who says in his mind and heart: Exodus 5:2, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go.” Men easily obliterate the memory of God because they’re bound to the god of self-rule, self-adulation, self-importance, and are comfortable in their state of godlessness and their paralysis of self-analysis!!

But God remains the same! Acts 17:24-31 says: “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshipped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His offspring.’ Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

In fact, in Matthew 5:45 Jesus said of Father-God: “…for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous…”

Listen to A.W. Pink in his “The Attributes of God – The Mercy of God”: “…let us note how vain is the presumptuous hope of the wicked, who, notwithstanding their continued defiance of God, nevertheless count upon His being merciful to them. How many there are who say, ‘I do not believe that God will ever cast me into Hell; He is too merciful.’ Such a hope is a viper, which if cherished in their bosoms will sting them to death. God is a God of justice as well as mercy, and He has expressly declared that He will “by no means clear the guilty,” [Exodus 34:7]. Yes, He has said, “The wicked shall be turned into Hell, all the nations that forget God.”

The willful pride of blindness to God’s mercy, the fleshly forgetfulness of God’s graciousness and kindness, the soulish settling on “me, my, or mine”, deludes one into darkened, defeated, devilish, disillusioned misery with eyes, ears, minds, and hearts off of mercy, God’s mercy, into a state of despair, in which one is comfortable because he’s in control!

There are those who even unashamedly seek to defame, deny, disgrace, and seek to delude the ‘infinite efficacy of the Savior’s atoning death.’ IT WASN’T FOR THEM JESUS SUFFERED, BLED, AND DIED ON THE CROSS! Yet II Corinthians 5:15 clearly tells us: “and He [Jesus] DIED FOR ALL, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”

I was reading Spurgeon recently when he told of a man who decided to keep a ‘tame’ leopard in his home. The man had nursed it from a cub and allowed free roam in the house. The man was sleeping soundly one day when the growing cub licked his hand and it licked a cut where the blood was still seeping…and all the jungle instincts kicked in and the beast began to feed…awakened, the man knew he was in trouble – a life or death situation was before him and he knew it was his life or the leopard’s life.

There was a loaded pistol beside the couch and without hesitation he aimed it at the hungry leopard and killed it!….Whether you believe it or not the leopard of sin, rebellion, disobedience, unbelief, is out to drain your blood – give up your precious leopard of lust, livid sin, furious fleshly instincts – leave them at the Cross where Jesus willingly and gladly took them and yourself upon Himself and willingly laid down His Life for you!! Jesus killed your leopard sin-nature!

I know it’s so hard for prideful men and women to admit the bankruptcy of their births; it is so hard for some and so easy for others to acknowledge high treason against Holy God. In fallen man there are no glamorous genes or heavenly glories or personal worthiness that merits the favor of God!

There’s an amazing confession of King David in 2 Samuel 7:18-22! Hear it:

Then King David went in and sat before the Lord; and he said: ‘Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far? And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O Lord God; and You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come. Is this the manner of man, O Lord God? Now what more can David say to You? For You, Lord God, know Your servant. For Your word’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all these things, to make Your servant know them. Therefore, You are great, O Lord God. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.” I ask you: ARE YOU LISTENING TO GOD?

And before you came to faith in Christ, I’m sure you wondered like David: “Who am I, O Lord God, that You’ve shown me YOUR MERCY?” Without faith in God, mercy is meaningless to many. Without Holy Spirit conviction, mercy is a futile term. Without the historic crucifixion of Christ, mercy is an insignificant, unimportant eternal truth.

But for those who know “the narrow way that leads to life,” they understand deliverance from the pit of destruction; they are aware of God’s lifting them up out of the miry clay of sin and deceitfulness; they clearly grasp freedom from a prison of sin, selfishness, and self-importance apart from God; they rejoice that God’s mercy is His eternal heavenly light, leading them out of the darkness of Egyptian bondage of sin, separation from His “Holy Land,” and the silence of the lightning bolts of eternal revelation and purpose. They know God has shown them HIS MERCY!

But still, for me, there rages an ever-building question, repeated often: “Why, for some, is mercy so meaningless? Why does intentional forgetfulness of God’s mercy dominate so many lives?” WHY?

FIRST, BECAUSE SOME WILL ACCEPT MERCY IF THERE’S NO CALL UPON THEIR LIVES TO WALK MERCIFULLY WITH OTHERS! In Micah 6:8 there is an illuminating verse that reveals why some miss God’s mercy. It says: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”

How does one ‘do justice’ when he/she could care less about others? How does one ‘love mercy’ when he/she is so merciless toward others? How does one ‘walk humbly with God’ when they’re so proud and so self-sufficient, void of the need of God to be God in and over their lives?

Come to Matthew 18:23-35 which is such an eye-opening, heart-convicting story that calls for examination of ourselves, yes, testing ourselves to see if we’re truly of the Faith and the faithful: “Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. [Before inflation that was about $18 million dollars!!].But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had,, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave the debt. But [THEN] that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; [about $18] and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt [$18 million!!] because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry; and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

What does Luke 1:50 tell us? “And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.” It’s why in 2 Corinthians 5:11 Paul wrote: “Therefore knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men…” Proverbs 1:7 tells us: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…”

Come to Proverbs 14:26-27. “In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children will have a place of refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death.” Beside this passage I wrote in my Bible the following statement – I don’t remember if I wrote it or it was a quote, but the sentence says: “Even what one likes, that is not necessarily evil, can become an entrapment of death, like cheese in a mouse-trap.”

Here is Jesus’ amazing challenge to those who believe or border on mercy being meaningless for them and hold no fear of God – Matthew 11:25-28 – At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

SECOND, FOR SOME MERCY IS MEANINGLESS BECAUSE THEY DENY SIN, CONCEAL SIN, EXCUSE SIN, OR ACCEPTING THEIR SINFUL STATE BEFORE HOLY GOD AS NORMAL OR NATURAL! But look at Proverbs 28:13!! “He who conceals his sins [transgressions, wrongs, violations of God’s laws] does not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes and renounces his sin finds mercy.”

Do you remember John’s word in I John 1:7? “But if we walk in the light as He [Jesus] is in the light…the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.” I love what Oswald Chambers said about the truly conscious awareness of sin in a person: “The evidence that I am delivered from sin is that I know the real nature of sin in me.”

Concealment is a covering and convincing of one’s self that sin may be a problem for others but not for the deceived mind. And because of that there are God-sent, God-mandated, even God-initiated consequences in one’s life – like an empty prosperity that never satisfies, like a barking, biting dog in the inner man that never quits or quiets down, like a rich man who loses all his monies because the bank within him is bankrupt, like a criminal who believes he’ll never be caught but lives every moment expecting arrest and final judgment!

I love the call of God on our lives as true believers as expressed by Paul in Galatians 6:1-2 [NIV], “Brothers, if a man is trapped in some sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself; you may also be tempted…Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way fulfill the law of Christ.”

Listen to John Piper in his book, “A Godward Life,” [p.77], “Don’t be muzzled by the comment that you can’t force your religion or morality on others. You are not forcing it; you are commending it for serious consideration. Declaring and persuading are not forcing. Commending is not coercion. The fact is this: Everybody’s idea about what should be done is guided by some kind of prior commitment. Secularists as well as Christians have a world-view that governs their opinions. Every policy suggestion is rooted in view of how things should be.”

Exposing sin is merciful. Exposing sin is an act of grace. Challenging sinners with the claims of Christ builds foundations of possible super-structures in the new lives He can birth and bless!

THIRD, FOR SOME MERCY IS MEANINGLESS BECAUSE THEY’VE NEVER BEEN CONFRONTED WITH GOD’S CLAIMS OF JUDGMENT. I want you to come to Nahum 1:2-8. “God is jealous, and the Lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies; The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon wilts. The mountains quake before Him, the hills melt, and the earth heaves at His presence, Yes, the world and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him. But with an overflowing flood He will make an utter end of its place, and darkness will pursue His enemies.”

Two things that are easily discernible here: 1) God is ‘slow to anger,’ and 2) God “will not at all acquit the wicked.”

In Spurgeon’s Sermons, his “Memorial Library,” the great English preacher preached on the verses we just read. Hear Spurgeon: “God ‘will not acquit the wicked.’ Let me unfold this, first of all; and then let me, after that, endeavor to trace it also to its source: God ‘will not acquit the wicked.’ How do I prove this? I prove it by this. Never once has God pardoned our unpunished sin; not in all the years of the Most High, not in all the days of His right hand, has He once blotted out sin without punishment. What say you, were not those in heaven pardoned? Are there not many transgressors pardoned, and do they not escape without punishment? Has He not said, ‘I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and like a thick cloud your iniquities?’ Yes, true, most true, and yet my assertion is true also – not one of all those sins that have been pardoned were pardoned without punishment! Do you ask me why and how such a thing as that can be the truth? I point you to a dreadful sight on Calvary; the punishment which fell not on the forgiven sinner fell there. The cloud of justice was charged with fiery hell; the sinner deserved it; it fell on him; but, for all that, it fell, and spent its fury; it fell there, in that great reservoir of misery; it fell into the Savior’s heart…It is Jesus suffering all the plagues of sin. Sin is still punished, though the sinner is delivered.”

It was Orin Philip Gifford who said: “You may juggle human laws, you may fool with human courts, but there is a judgment to come, and from it there is no appeal.” I pray you find God’s court of mercy, because in His court of judgment, Daniel 5:27 says: “You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting.”

I want you to be confronted with God’s claim of judgment. In Jeremiah 5:3 Jeremiah asked the Lord, “O Lord, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, but they have not grieved; You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return.”

Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 6:10, “To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear? Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them; they have no delight in it.”

Do you see it? Do you hear it? Do you sense it right now for yourself? GOD DESIRES TO GIVE YOU “THE SURE MERCIES OF DAVID.” [Acts 13:34]. SURE MERCIES ARE REDEMPTIVE – God bought you out of slavery to sin that you might be servants of Christ.

SURE MERCIES ARE REGENERATIVE – God takes you out of spiritual death unto His ETERNAL LIFE.

SURE MERCIES ARE REFLECTIVE – we see no longer a man in his bondage and brokenness – we see Christ in His fullness.

SURE MERCIES ARE RESPONSIVE – in Jeremiah 29:11 God says: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Hear me! Jeremiah 31:3 says: “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.”

And I say to you: Sense His tug, surrender to His Sovereignty, and side with our Savior and Lord!!

You may have denied it – but today is the day to side with Sovereign Mercy! It was Edwin Hubbell Chapin who wrote: “Mercy among the virtues is like the moon among the stars – not so sparkling and vivid as many, but dispensing a calm radiance that hallows the whole. It is the bow that rests upon the bosom of the cloud when the storm is past. It is the light that hovers above the judgment seat.”

This is why David came to say in Psalm 23:6, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

In the old Broadman Hymnal there is a song simply entitled “Calvary”. It says: “On Calvary’s brow my Savior died, It was there my Lord was crucified; it was on the cross He bled for me, and purchased there my pardon free…

‘Mid rending rocks and darkening skies My Savior bows His head and dies; The opening veil reveals the way To heaven’s joys and endless day…

O Jesus, Lord, how can it be That You should give Your life for me, To bear the cross and agony In that dread hour on Calvary!

O Calvary! Dark Calvary! Where Jesus shed His blood for me; O Calvary! Blest Calvary! It was there my Savior died for me!”

Do you grasp it when to you mercy has been meaningless? If you were the only person to have ever lived – past, present, future – what Jesus did 2000 years ago At Calvary, He did it just for you!

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is the never-ending care of God for each of us!

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is the measure of God’s forgiving, never-ending love!

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is the reality of God’s remedy of a godless life!

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is the explanation of God’s possession of the land of our souls and spirits!

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is not man trying harder but hearing Christ say: “It is finished” as He died on Calvary’s cross!

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is the voice of God saying to a praying man: “Your prayer has been heard” [Luke 1:13].

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is the stepping stone into the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ!

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is the open door into Holy Presence!

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is God’s remedy for a man paralyzed by his past!

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is the healing grace of spiritual amnesia, fleshly blindness, and a darkened heart!

Mercy is not meaningless – mercy is the divine healing of a hurtful, harmful, hideous past!

In closing this teaching, please come to Luke 18:9-14, And He []Jesus] spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men – extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

CHAPTER THREE

WHEN GRACE BECOMES GODLESS – FUTILE FORGETFULNESS

In your church life, in your own devotional life, in small group studies, have you ever found yourself shocked by those who interpret ‘grit’ as saving grace, or you hear those who grind on grace because their emphasis and allegiance is on self-motivation and they’d just as soon spit on biblical grace? At 77 years of age now, I am shocked by the subtle erosion of divine grace with more emphasis on human effort and human ability to be ‘god-like’.

I sense a cumulative effect of spiritual thievery among those who major on ‘the power of positive thinking’ concerning human initiative, genius genes, fleshly ability and energy that God could use if He’d only concede their superior ranks among lesser men and women, like those ‘grace-gifted disciples’.

John Eldredge in his book “Waking The Dead,” [p.13], made a very powerful statement. He said, “The world in which we live is a combat zone, a violent clash of kingdoms, a bitter struggle unto the death.”

That’s why there are those who look upon “Amazing Grace” as ‘alarming grace’ – for them, that’s too much emphasis on God and not enough on human potential! And what we see, hear, sense, and even taste at times is the souring essence on grace and the soaring of the glory of that human potential apart from God Himself.

Wasn’t it C.S. Lewis in his “The Weight of Glory” who talked about “the evil enchantment of worldliness”? And there’s a reason for that: Intellectual attainments in one’s mind of ‘their’ understanding of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness often become nothing more than crippling, cancerous, corrupt ideas void of God and saving grace.

Effort, apart from scriptural grace, becomes the creation of despair – not deliverance and divine healing. Oh, I know there are those who effect changes in their outward behavior and even mental stability but that is not the spiritual circumcision of the heart by the grace of God through the shed blood of the Lamb of God!

Reaching up, reaching high, is not the same thing as being raised from the dead by God’s power and His redeeming grace! Sinful natures are not to be cloaked or covered but by grace are to be crucified with Christ.

You’ve heard it, yes, in some churches where men are devoted to what they’ve paid for and built. “I’m a man so devoted to the bricks and mortar, the lights and stained glass, of our beautiful church building,” failing to understand by God’s grace, their bodies are His holy temple by His grace, mercy, and love.

In Zechariah 9:16-17 we read: “The Lord their God will save them in that day, as the flock of His people. For they shall be like the jewels of a crown, lifted like a banner over His land – for how great is its goodness and how great its beauty!’

But what we see across a lot of the ‘church-world’ today are ‘band-aids’ rather than heart transplants by the Great Surgeon of grace. In Jeremiah 6:14 we read: “They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace.”

Many grace-less souls today are nothing more than puppets of the powers of darkness, mouthpieces of a satanically controlled army of God’s enemy – even the devil himself. It’s why Eldredge said: [“Waking The Dead”,p.161], “they are not glaring opponents [of grace]; they are “IMPOSTERS”. But God does not stand idly by, unconcerned about ‘graceless individuals.’ He gives us a promise through Isaiah the prophet in Isaiah 49:24-26! Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captives of the righteous be delivered? But thus says the Lord: “Even the captives of the mighty army shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible be delivered; for I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children. I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine. All flesh shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

Putting it simply, understandably, importantly – those who manufacture spiritual ‘grease’ rather than stand on God’s grace are anarchists who devise a substitution for the Blood Atonement! Cornelius Platinga Jr. in his book “Beyond Doubt,” made a strong statement: [p.199], “Grace is not God’s applause for the comfortable. Grace is God’s long reach for sinners who are far away.” But the “grace-less” are defined by John in I John 1:8 when he said: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” That’s how law-breakers become anarchists and atheists bordering on criminality!

Paul assuredly knew “saving grace” when to Timothy he wrote: [I Timothy 1:15], “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” That’s not ‘godless grace’ but the God of all grace doing a work in a ‘lost man’s heart’! This is why George MacDonald said: “And then my soul, awaking with the morn Shall be a waking joy, eternally new-born.”

The ‘faith-less’ who are ‘grace-less’ are men and women of famished minds and famished hearts who’ve never fed on scriptural grace. In Ephesians 2:7-8 Paul wrote: “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.”

But some do not do well nor pay attention but build their home and heart-camps in darkness! In 2 Peter 1:16-19 Peter shared a vital word, no doubt having been accused of following ‘baseless fables’. He wrote: “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased.’ And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts..”

You’ve heard the saying, “None are so blind as those who will not see.” In Luke 18:35-43 is the story of Jesus coming near Jericho where a blind man was seated by the road begging. He heard the multitude and asked what the noise was all about. They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. He cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” The crowd tried to silence him but he cried out more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Then Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the blind man said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.” Listen to Jesus’ response! Verse 42, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” Then verse 43 says: And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.”

Are you aware that living apart from grace is like a blind-man comfortable in his blindness? Living apart from grace is a godless existence that was not God’s intention in Creation. When Jesus says, “Come to Me and I will give you rest,” those words fall on deaf ears to spiritual truth because there is no spiritual thirst and hunger for life beyond one’s self!

Grace is denied in many lives, even cultures, religions, and governments, because, as C.S. Lewis wrote: “mere decency passes for heroic virtue and utter corruption for pardonable imperfection.”

Grace is denied in many lives because grace in the heart of God calls for sacrifice, laying down one’s life in behalf of others, even dying so that others might live – the grace of God in God Himself was so great He gladly yet sorrowfully gave His Son as the sacrifice on the Cross – and to follow ‘grace’ means: “Deny yourself; take up your cross, and follow Jesus!”

Grace is denied because if God forgives my debt, then I must enter a living relationship with Him of forgiving others who violate me!

Grace is denied because the biblical mandate of I Timothy 4:7 is “exercise yourself toward godliness,” – and if I’m surrounded, indoctrinated, influenced, poisoned by a godless world, how would I ever fit in with grace and mercy and love?

Grace is denied because as Jesus was confronted with the question [Matthew 22:36], “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?” And Jesus answered, verse 37, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

That’s surrender which many are not willing to do! That’s giving which many refuse to do! That’s obedience which many totally reject! That’s Godly-longing and Godly-pursuit of that which gives Him glory alone which the masses see no importance for! That’s taking fallen man’s hits, accusations, even libels, as honors unto Jesus which grace-less men refuse because of that pride and self-importance!

Grace becomes godless for some because the call to be “steadfast, immovable, abounding in the work of Jesus Christ” is more than they are willing to be or do! Do you remember when Jesus was at Bethany and the woman came with that jar of costly ointment and poured it on Jesus’ head? The people around her and Jesus scolded her, but Jesus said, “Let her alone…she has performed a good service for me…she has done what she could…!” [Mark 14:3-8]. Graceless lives are unwilling to be shaped in the nature and character of Christ or even this caring saint who loved Jesus!

Grace is denied when one realizes God’s call to “proclaim the praises of Him who calls you out of darkness into His marvelous light,” [I Peter 2:9], and the silent settle for Christ-less living “if I have to be vocal about Jesus!”

Grace is denied by some when they misunderstand and fail to realize God’s call to be “saints” – [Romans 1:7] – You’ve heard it: “I’m no saint” – but if you are ‘in Christ’, you are “set apart” [that’s a saint!!], set apart to the honor, glory, praise, and blessing of the Christ in you, God’s hope of glory for you!

Cornelius Platinga Jr. so ably and powerfully describes “the saints” like this: [“Beyond Doubt,” p.270], “The body of Christ, the temple of God, the bride of Christ, the people of God – these wonderful phrases tells that the church is all about belonging. Even the word “church” reflects this fact. The English word “church” (like the German ‘KIRCHE’) is derived from a Greek word that means “belonging to the Lord.” The church belongs to the Lord of the church…What follows from this? A great deal. The institutional church is not our club rigged up to suit ourselves and to meet our religious needs. The church is rather a living instrument of Jesus Christ, equipped to do His work in the world. It is set up to serve not only ourselves but also those outside our gathering. We do not form ourselves into a church by our voluntary cooperation. We are rather “called” as a people to praise God, to serve His children, and to give ourselves for others in the same way as Christ sacrificed Himself for us. In other words, the Christian church is an agent, witness, and model of the gospel itself…A church turned in on itself is like people who shut themselves in a closet and try to live by breathing their own carbon dioxide.”

Acts 2:42,44 tells us: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. All who believed were together…” But “grace” is denied because some don’t need, will not, and refuse to have a relationship with God’s people.

Grace is denied because there are those who assume church attendance, even membership is OK, but you’ve spoiled their “show” if you reveal Christ’s calling of men to be His disciples.

Grace is denied and becomes godless when some realize God’s plan for their lives to be the very base of operation for the Kingdom of God, experiencing His Life, expressing His love, proving His power, as we extend that Kingdom around us – and the grace-less say: “Not through me!”

It’s why grace is godless for some because of an unwillingness to “take My yoke upon you” – fearful of being yoked with Christ in the yoke of His calling! They don’t understand or comprehend that to be yoked with Christ is life on Heaven’s plain, not life under a dictator but life through a Liberator!

Grace is denied because false images have been formed that say “Christians are poverty-stricken, the intellectualy bankrupt society, the moral misfits, hostile individuals who want us imprisoned to their cold, cruel, callous life-styles” – when the truth is Christians are united as one in Christ ‘in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,” according to Colossians 2:3.

Grace is godless when one is convinced “if I can’t earn my own way, I want no part of Kingdom living.” It’s godless when one is willing to profess allegiance but without the call to obedience even though Jesus said: “Why do you call Me ‘Lord! Lord!’ but you do not do what I say.”

Grace is denied when some want allegiance to His prominence but not allegiance to His preeminence. Grace is denied and is godless when some gather around ‘fleshly allegiance’ to a prominent pastor but deny gathering around those living in and through the power of His resurrected Life and Holy Spirit presence!

Grace is denied when social conformity to a certain Christian group is accepted but spiritual second-birth, singular submission to Christ’s Lordship is called for – spiritual transformation, spiritual formation, those are unacceptable terms!!

Grace becomes godless when some hear that following Jesus means radical devotion to His Word, His Spirit, His Vision, His intent, His mandates – oh, they’ll accept religious activity and especially what they will define as allowable and acceptable on their terms, but Jesus said in John 14:15-17, “:If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”

Grace becomes godless to some because when Paul says in Galatians 5:24, “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires,” they say, “My passions and desires are who I am,” and they surrender themselves to their chains, their bondages, to the prison-cell of self because that’s WHO they love! But Jesus gives ‘grace-folks’ a promise: John 12:26, “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.”

Grace becomes godless because grace calls for unconditional surrender to Christ’s Lordship – and if He is to be Lord of all or not Lord at all, for them they choose ‘boss’ of their own defiled minds and hearts. Look with me at Isaiah 1:2-9!! “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: ‘I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me; the ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, My people do not consider.’ Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward. Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed or bound up, or soothed with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; strangers devour your land in your presence; and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a hut in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Unless the Lord of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been made like Gomorrah.”

But there is a more encouraging word! Come to Psalm 16:8-9! “I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope.” Which of these last two sections of scripture do you choose for you and your family?

I want you to hear words spoken by Thomas Watson in “All Things For Good,” spoken about the year of 1663! [Reprint, Banner of Truth Trust, 1986, p.74]. Thomas Watson said: “The first fruit of love is the musing of the mind upon God. He who is in love, his thoughts are ever upon the object. He who loves God is ravished and transported with the contemplation of God. ‘When I awake, I am still with You.” [Psalm 139:18]. The thoughts are as travelers in the mind. David’s thoughts kept heaven-road. “I am still with You.” God is the treasure, and where the treasure is, there is the heart. By this we may test our love to God. What are our thoughts most upon? Can we say we are ravished with delight when we think on God? Have our thoughts got wings? Are they fled aloft? Do we contemplate Christ and glory?…A sinner crowds God out of his thoughts. He never thinks of God, unless with horror, as the prisoner thinks of the judge.”

Grace is not a ‘fairy-tale’ but faith-truth! Grace is not even a mystery but a miracle of everlasting love! Grace is not fortune-telling but assurance of Christ-likeness!

It was H. Richard Niebuhr who said: “The great Christian revolutions come not by the discovery of something that was not known before. They happen when somebody takes radically something that was always there.”

I know and believe that you realize how easy it is even for some Christians all over the world to put a dark veil over the grace of God at times, but it’s time we unveil His expressive grace, His embracing grace, His extravagant grace, His extending grace, His empowering grace, His enlightening grace, and His ‘earth-quake-ness’ of grace! Hear the Word!!:

Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Romans 3:24, “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 5:1-2, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have received access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

2 Corinthians 9:8, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have abundance for every good work.”

2 Corinthians 12:9, “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

Galatians 1:15-16, “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me…”

Ephesians 1:7, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace..”

Titus 2:11-14, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed, and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”

Titus 3:7, “that having been justified by His grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

I Peter 1:13-15, “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation [or the unveiling of Christ in His fullness!!]; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct…”

II Peter 3:17-18 “You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.”

I love what the great Methodist preacher said about grace, Dr. Charles L. Allen: “In the Bible there are three distinctive meanings of grace: it means the mercy and active love of God; it means the winsome attractiveness of God; it means the strength of God to overcome.”

Charles Wesley in “Refuge” wrote: “Plenteous grace with You is found, Grace to cover all my sin; Let the healing streams abound; make and keep me pure within.”

Grace for the godless is just as rich and full and free as grace for the God-filled who walk in the fullness of Christ!

CHAPTER FOUR

FORGOTTEN? GOD WITH US?

Isn’t it amazing to you that as you read Genesis 3 and find in verse 8 that Adam and Eve “hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God”, newly created by Holy God but they want to hide from Him? But the sad truth is that there are many across the world of fallen mankind who never think about hiding from God because they don’t sense God is near or even if there is a God – and for sure, for some, there are those who have no desire for God to be with them. “God With Us?” “That’s a fairy tale, foolish talk, feeble-minded belief!”

Jeremiah, the prophet, heard God speak and recorded it! In Jeremiah 23:23-24 God said: “Am I a God near at hand,” says the Lord, “and not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?” says the Lord; “do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.” And God speaks of His omnipresence!

In Genesis 11, as fallen mankind began to “make a name for ourselves,” they began to construct a “tower whose top is in the heavens.” They were intent on the reign, rule, regulation of their own lives with the high tower of “self-rule” that became known as the Tower of Babel – the word “babel” means ‘confusion,’ which is always true of those who don’t believe in God, don’t believe God is near, and certainly will not assert, stand on, or proclaim that “God is with us!”

Oh, there are those like Jonah who know God is real, know God has a purpose for each life, but Jonah ran from God’s direction as men today run from divine destiny! Jonah 1:3 is clear – “But Jonah arose to flee Tarshish from the presence of the Lord!” He was running from God’s call on his life as many still do today. [We’ll look at Jonah together a little later!].

We’re going to look at King David more fully later, just as we will Jonah, but I want you to know early on in this chapter even David, at a certain point in his life, wasn’t sure HE wanted God around! In Psalm 139:7-12 we read a part of David’s journey of faith on momentary faithlessness! He said: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me,’ even the night shall be light about me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to you.”

In the four gospels are we aware of the Crucifixion of Christ? Does it embarrass you that even Jesus, on the Cross, cried out: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” That’s Matthew 27:46! But that ought to give you comfort that even Jesus, in a fragment of a moment, wondered about “God With Me?”

There are dark clouds in all human circumstances at times and the “Son-Light” may be hidden for a time, but God Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you!”

Some who question “God With Us” have witnessed family, friends, faith-folk, in even, yes, horrendous circumstances, horrible pain, heavy, heavy burdens, and they can’t see His light, they don’t know His promises, and witnessing the hard times in those they know, love, and care about, their tears, their sorrow, their anger, their doubts, their fears, block the holy hand of God with healing grace reaching around those He loves more than they love themselves!

Others who doubt “God With Us” are handicapped when they view the Christian faith as ‘pie in the sky by and by,’ ‘a rosy world with no thorns,’ ‘marriages with no heartaches,’ ‘children with no calamities, deformities, or failures,’ ‘people with no pain, no suffering, no sorrows,’ ‘people with peace, people with the absence of disease, people with no sudden disagreements, disappointments, distresses – perfect people in a perfect world!’ I don’t think so!

You’ve heard it: “God with us?” Where was He when the Holocaust happened with six million Jews killed? Where was God when the towers were destroyed in New York and thousands killed? God with us? War after war after war after war! God with us? Broken marriages, broken hearts, broken children! God with us? The fires burn and burn and burn – they destroy home after home! God with us? Millions and millions imprisoned worldwide. God with us? Sickness, disease, death!

If you’ve read my books, you know I love the writings of John Piper! On-line on my computer I came across one of his messages entitled “The Supremacy of Christ in an Age of Terror – Desiring God.” Piper wrote: “So even in our own experience – in our own souls – believers or unbelievers, there is a kind of witness that the world of evil and pain and misery and death is not a meaningless place. It is not a place without a good and purposeful God. Some people – not all –have found in the greatest evil – the time of greatest sorrow – the greatest need for God and the greatest evidence of God…It happens like this. A great evil happens – say the holocaust with 6,000,000 murders. Or the Stalinist Soviet gulag with many more than that sent to their deaths. In the midst of these horrors, the human soul, that had been blithely pursuing its worldly pleasures with scarcely a thought about God and with no serious belief in any absolutes like evil and good, or right or wrong – happily living in a dream-world of relativism – suddenly is confronted an evil so horrible and so great as to make the soul scream out with ultimate moral indignation: No! This is wrong! This is evil! And for the first time in their life they hear themselves speaking with absolute conviction. They have a conviction of absolute reality. They know now beyond the shadow of a doubt that such a thing as evil exists. They admit that all their life up till then was a game. And now they are confronted with the stark question: If there is such a thing as evil – if there is a moral reality that is above and different from the mere physical processes of evolutionary energy plus matter – then where does it come from, and what is it based on?….”

And what does Romans 5:8 tell us? “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

You’ve heard people say, “If God is truly real, why doesn’t He reveal Himself?” “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” What did your friend say, what did your parent say, what did your professor say? “If God is with us, why doesn’t He speak to us?” “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

How many have you met on your path of life who’ve convinced themselves we’re here by chance – not by God’s choice of Sovereign will?” How many have sought to influence you into believing our world came from nothing or no one and has no divine purpose or plan? What did Paul write in Romans 1:20? “For since the creation of the world His [God’s] invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” But…are there excuses why some have convinced themselves “God is NOT with us”?

FIRST, THERE ARE THOSE WHO HAVE CONVINCED THEMSELVES “GOD IS NOT WITH US” BECAUSE, LIKE JONAH, GOD’S PLAN IS DIFFERENT FROM WHAT “I” DESIRE! Come to Jonah 1:1-3, “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.’ But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.”

Notice: Jonah “arose to flee…from the presence of the Lord;” Notice: “Jonah went down..” It’s always a downward spiral when one ‘flees’ from the Lord! Notice: Jonah made a willful choice opposite of the will of God!

What was going on with Jonah? He was running from God’s call on his life! In Proverbs 1:20 the inspired Word of God says: “Wisdom calls aloud in the streets [right on your journey!!]…Verse 23, Surely I will pour out My spirit on you; I will make My words known to you. Verse 24, Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded.”

No regard for God’s Word is ‘running’ so you can fall on your own words, choices, decisions, plans, and fleshly purposes! There’s no regard for the reality of one’s need of God because he’d rather fall because of self-will, self-pleasure, self-plans apart from our Eternal Maker and Blesser and Redeemer.

It’s kind of like one of my grandsons, Zack; as he first began to walk and talk, Sue or I would call for him to come, and Zach would say, “I don’t want to!”, and then he’d run! That’s a picture of a little two-year old which many grown men and women, when hearing God call, like Jonah, they say: “I don’t want to!”, and run from God Himself!!

In Jeremiah 16:10-13 we read a sad prophetic word from the mouth of God! “And it shall be, when you show this people all these words, and they say to you, ‘Why has the Lord pronounced all this great disaster [Shipwreck?] against us? Or what is our iniquity?” Or what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ then you shall say to them, ‘Because your fathers have forsaken Me,’ says the Lord; ‘they have walked after other gods and have served them and worshipped them, and have forsaken Me and not kept My law. And you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, each one follows the dictates of his own evil heart, so that no one listens to Me. Therefore I will cast you out of this land into a land that you do not know, neither you nor your fathers; and there you shall serve other gods day and night, where I will not show you favor.”

Do you remember Julia Ward Howe’s “Battle Hymn of the Republic”? “He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat, He is sifting out the hearts of men before His Judgment Seat.”

I don’t believe that men want to be weighed in the balances and found wanting but most have no clear understanding of God’s eternal purposes and they get caught up in “my way.” It was John Greenleaf Whittier, in “The Pressed Gentian,” who wrote: “Man judges from a partial view. None ever yet his brother knew; The Eternal Eye that sees the whole May better read the darkened soul, And found, to outward sense denied, The flower upon its inmost side!” Only God gives “eternal blossoms” – man births only ‘enhanced fleshliness’!

SECOND, SOME SEE “GOD NOT WITH US” BECAUSE, EVEN MOMENTARILY, THERE ARE SOME WHO WANT LESS THAN GOD DESIRES FOR THEM; THEY WANT ‘LOOSENESS FEELINGS’ BECAUSE GOD BINDS THEM, OR THEY’RE TEMPTED BY LEWDNESS – SO GOD MUST BE FAR AWAY.

Think about David for a period time in his life! There was a time in David’s pilgrimage that he ‘show-cased’ the fallen nature of us all without God’s saving grace! In Psalm 12:1-4 David wrote: Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases! For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. They speak idly everyone with his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak. May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaks proud things, Who have said, ‘With our tongue we will prevail; our lips are our own; Who is Lord over us?’

In Romans 1:18-19 Paul nailed it so strongly! “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.”

Come to Psalm 139:5-12, 15-16….What did God do? Verses 5-12, “You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me; it is high, I cannot attain it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me.’ Even the night shall be light about me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.” Verses 15-16, “My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.” Hear me, men’s fleshliness doesn’t stop God’s eternal ambition for any of us, even the atheists and agnostics and the ‘pretenders’! Verses 17-18 tells us: “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You.” [I challenge you!! Look at the sands of all seashores across our world – and know: God’s thoughts ABOUT YOU are more than that number!]

Though Jonah ran from the presence of the Lord, though David ran from the presence of the Lord, though Adam and Eve sought to hide from God, “GOD WITH US” IS ETERNAL TRUTH THAT NEVER FADES AWAY!! And if Jonah needed a storm, God was willing to bring it on! Though David failed miserably in the flesh, God sent His Holy Spirit’s convicting power and Psalm 51 was birthed! And even though Adam and Eve trusted “fig leaves,” God’s “forever love” never failed them!

In Isaiah 46:9-13 there is such a powerful word of hope for those who think God is deterred by their choices! His Word says: “Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’ Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it. Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted, who are far from righteousness; I bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off; My salvation shall not linger. And I will place salvation in Zion, for Israel My glory.” [You do know there is an eternity’s difference between physical Israel and spiritual Israel – right?]

THIRD, SOME SEE “GOD NOT WITH US” BECAUSE NATURAL MINDEDNESS CAN BE A BLINDER RATHER THAN A CALL FOR EYES TO SEE WHAT GOD HIMSELF WOULD HAVE ONE SEE; NATURALNESS, WITHOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT, IS BREEDING SPIRITUAL DEAFNESS TO THE VOICE OF GOD, AS WELL AS SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS TO THE SOVEREIGN WORKS OF GOD.

In I Corinthians 2:4-16 we read, Paul speaking, “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For ‘who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”

Are you aware that “persuasive words of human wisdom” do nothing in opening understanding in one’s mind and heart? Paul said redemptive words only come alive in a man’s mind and heart by the ‘demonstration of the Spirit and of the very power of God,’ because redemptive faith comes, not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God!

But minds apart from the Holy Spirit are not in tune to the voice of God or His Word! This is why in 2 Corinthians 7:1 Paul talked about “perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” I would then surmise: no faith – no fear!

I love how Oswald Chambers dealt with this in his book “My Utmost For His Highest,” [pps.55-56], “Having therefore these promises.” I claim the fulfillment of God’s promises, and rightly, but that is only the human side; the Divine side is that through the promises I recognize God’s claim on me. For instance, am I realizing that my body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, or have I a habit of body that plainly will not bear the light of God on it? By sanctification the Son of God is formed in me, then I have to transform my natural life into a spiritual life by obedience to Him. God educates us down to the scruple. When he begins to check, do not confer with flesh and blood, cleanse yourself at once. Keep yourself cleansed in your daily walk….I have to cleanse myself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit until both are in accord with the nature of God. Is the mind of my spirit in perfect agreement with the life of the Son of God in me, or am I insubordinate in intellect? Am I forming the mind of Christ, who never spoke from His right to Himself, but maintained an inner watchfulness whereby He continually submitted His spirit to His Father? I have the responsibility of keeping my spirit in agreement with His Spirit, and by degrees Jesus lifts me up to where He lived – in perfect consecration to His Father’s will, paying no attention to any other thing. Am I [are you?] perfecting this type of holiness in the fear of God? Is God getting His way with me, and are other people beginning to see God in my life more and more?”

FOURTH, SOME SEE “GOD NOT WITH US” BECAUSE NATURAL MEN PLACE NO VALUE ON KNOWING CHRIST WHO IS CALLED “EMMANUEL”, “GOD WITH US”!!

And you do understand that even “religious” men can be caught up with their belief, “God Isn’t With Us Either!” In John 8:13-20 we read about those who came against Emmanuel! It says: “The Pharisees therefore said to Him, “You bear witness of Yourself. Your witness is not true.” Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.” Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have also known My Father also.” These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.”

And, no doubt, you remember that Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews who “came to Jesus by night.” Why the night? Was the reality of the Pharisaical view of Christ being torn down in him? Was the reality of “God with us” moving heavily on this man? Did he not want his world around him to know he wanted to know Truth? One’s ego CAN be the death-nail in one’s coffin of life as it is – or one, like Nicodemus, CAN risk the upward reach for truth beyond what he has learned or known.

There IS a world around you that has forgotten, forsaken, even fought against the knowledge of God. Examine your own schools, universities, networks, businesses, local or national governments that have departed from the awareness of God. And the one thing I pray that you learn in this very moment if you haven’t already is: Ezekial 33:11, “Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?”

I pray that by God’s Spirit you and yours have your eyes opened, ears opened, minds and hearts opened to the great truth of Emmanuel, “God With Us,” because in 2 Timothy 2:8-9 Paul told us: “Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained.”

In Acts 4 you’ll remember Peter and John let go by the ruling authorities in Jerusalem. Follow carefully verses 23-33: And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: “Why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.” For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.

How did that come to fruition? We read in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” While we were yet sinners, while fallen men chose blindness to God and absence from God, He demonstrated His love! While His created world was filled with rebellious, disbelieving, sinful, godless men, He came and demonstrated His love for us. While His created world floundered in the broken ages of spiritually-blinded futility, He demonstrated His love! While alienated people, alienated from God, alienated from His divine plan and purpose, living sadly, living savagely, living ultimately unto themselves alone, GOD PROVED HIS LOVE FOR US!

Have you missed Jeremiah 32:40? “And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.” What a promise! That everlasting covenant is the blood covenant between God the Father and God the Son as Jesus shed His blood on Calvary’s Cross for you and me! And there’s no turning to God apart from Emmanuel! In I Peter 3:18 we read: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He [Christ Jesus the Lord] might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.”

The Cross of Christ is not only God’s proof of His love for us – it is the pulling power of His grace, mercy, and love, translating us out of our seas of forgetfulness into His heavenly grace and grip of lovingkindness! Jeremiah 31:3-4 says: “The Lord has appeared of old to me saying: ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you. Again, I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! You shall again be adorned with your tambourines, and shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoiced.”

What amazing, anointed, life-altering verses in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15!! “For the love of Christ compels us, because we thus judge: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”

You may not be familiar with the name, Charles Hodge. He was a 19^th Century Reformed theologian. He wrote: “A Christian is one who recognizes Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, as God manifested in the flesh, loving us and dying for our redemption; and who is so affected by a sense of the love of this incarnate God as to be constrained to make the will of Christ the rule of his obedience, and the glory of Christ the great end for which he lives.” [Charles Hodge, “Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians,” Grand Rapids: Wm B. Eerdman’s Publ. Co., p.133]

Oh, you need to hear it over and over and over: “Christ died for the ungodly…We are now justified by His blood.” [Romans 5:6,9].

I close this chapter of forgetfulness concerning those who hadn’t as yet discerned Christ but now have, with words Paul spoke in Colossians 3:1-2!! “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on the things on the earth.”

CHAPTER FIVE

FORGOTTEN? BODY LIFE – BODY MINISTRY?

In Dallas Willard’s “The Great Omission” a statement was made from “World Christian/U” magazine, [January 1989], a magazine printed for university and college students. The statement? [p.172 of Willard’s book], “Frequently in the evangelical church, we’ve been taught that to be a disciple only requires us to read a portion of scripture daily and to pray. But those two activities easily become meaningless.”

And I believe after more than 70 years of church life I’ve witnessed such a vast chasm between New Testament ‘church life’ and what far too many professing Christians settle for – “read the Bible, then pray” – when God’s Word paints a far different picture!

I’ll just go ahead and shock you just a little before we get fully into “Forgotten? Body Life – Body Ministry”! In Titus 2:14 Paul wrote Titus: “[Christ] who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us…and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”

I’m not really sure how confident and assured most church folk are when they hear, having been redeemed, having been purified by the shed blood of the Lamb, that now they are “His own special people, zealous for good works.” I wondered if a lot of church folk are layered in a ‘religious familiarity’ rather than birthed into relational faith!

Sometimes I feel like Mary when she came to Jesus’ tomb and He wasn’t there. She said: [John 20:2], “They have taken away the Lord, my Lord, and I don’t know where they have laid Him.” Has Jesus been “taken away” and been substituted for everything but what He died for?

In John 12:32 Jesus said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” I believe without a doubt Jesus was talking about His crucifixion and that as He was lifted up to die for all, it would draw men to Himself. But often rather than a spiritual magnet drawing men to Himself, the church, rather than exemplifying the crucified and resurrected Christ “forgets” who they are in Him and what they are to be about!

Church life was never to resemble children’s games, but at times you have to wonder: Where is Kingdom of Christ demonstration? Has the church of today, purchased by the Blood of the Lamb, been challenged to take the sentence of death unto itself, been “dispersed” or settled in to a quiet, separated unto itself, comfortable community, without the intent of Christ through them touching our world with grace, mercy, and love? In the early church ‘the Acts of the apostles’ became willing marching orders dispersed into a dying world that so needed the words of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and holy intent to reconcile that dying world into Resurrection Life, Resurrection Hope, and Resurrection Power!

Two verses out of I Peter 2 that I pray will prick your heart and turn you into our Lord’s earthly representative: 1) I Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…” 2) I Peter 2:21, “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps…”

It was Cornelius Platinga Jr. in “Beyond Doubt,” [p.185], who made a very powerful and thought-provoking statement about the modern Church in these ‘last days’: “So often we are nature’s victims and culture’s captives,” when in reality, in Christ, we are new creation victors and Christ’s liberated servants!

In his book “A Godward Life” John Piper has a chapter entitled: “Matthew’s Amazing Warnings Not To Be A False Disciple,” [pps. 255-257]. Piper said, quoting Matthew 5:20, “I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven,” saying, “The righteousness called for here is not the imputed righteousness of Christ, as utterly crucial as that is at the bottom of the Christian life.” Then, commenting on Matthew 7:21-23, Piper wrote: “Prophesying, casting out demons, and doing mighty works in the name of Jesus do not prove that Jesus has known us. The evidence of being savingly known by Jesus is to be an evildoer no longer, that is, to have righteousness that surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees. Religious zeal and even miracle working do not prove a new heart of love.”

FORGOTTEN? FIRST, LET’S LOOK AT THE FORGETFULNESS OF BODY LIFE. It’s so interesting, so convicting, as you read Jesus’ words and seriously consider them! In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus said: “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.”

Then in Matthew 10:39 Our Lord and Savior draws the line in the sand. He said: “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” I’m not so sure a lot of church folk really know about the Body Life that comes because of ‘self-denial’! In Matthew 16:24 Jesus told His disciples: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him DENY HIMSELF, and TAKE UP HIS CROSS, and FOLLOW ME.”

In the early days of Peter’s ‘follow-ship’ with Jesus, the Lord had a question, John 13:38, for him: Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.” The last part of Romans 4:17 speaks of “…God, who gives life to the dead (spiritual death) and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.” You know that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Apart from our Lord death reigns in us all, sin abounding, but grace reigns through righteousness to eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

This is why Paul told the church at Galatia, Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ [not only Paul but every sin-infested human being, past, present, or future!]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; [Why? TO EXTEND HIS LIFE, EXPRESS HIS LOVE, AND TO PROVE HIS POWER!!]; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

And this “Life In Christ” is not simply an earth-experience! In I Corinthians 15:19 Paul wrote: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitied.” Life in Christ? It is eternal life!! Hear me! Far too many ‘church folk’ are centered on their ‘flesh walk’ with no serious consideration of our ‘forever walk’! In Galatians 6:7-8 Paul wrote: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”

The beloved John was so passionate about God’s people fully knowing and understanding in and appropriating the very fullness of our life in Christ. In I John 5:11-13 the beloved John shared with us: “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.:

This is why Jude challenges us in Jude 20-21! “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” No doubt, this is why George Herbert wrote: “And here in dust and dirt, O here the lilies of His love appear.” I believe it’s our calling in “Body Life” to truly be a part of spiritual revolution that brings resurrection hope into the very churches of our modern day. I believe this is why H. Richard Niebuhr has written: “The great Christian revolutions come not by the discovery of something that was not known before. They happen when somebody takes radically something that was always there.”

Life in Christ for true disciples is not trying to achieve what always seems so beyond “us” – but acceptance of divine gifts through God’s faithful promises and His amazing grace! In Acts 2:41-47 we see “Body Life”! “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

Did you notice “continued steadfastly”? Did you notice “godly, holy fear” that guided their daily life? Did you notice “all who believed were together”? Did you notice they shared what God Himself had blessed them with? Did you notice the “daily walk”? Did you notice they had reason to continually “praise God,” they had “favor with all the people,” and they were daily being blessed with the birth of new disciples?

In “This Little Church Went To Market” by Gary E. Gilley, he has written a powerful convicting word: [pps.38-39], “One would hope that things would be different [today] among evangelical Christians, but such does not seem to be the case. It appears that the church is in lockstep with the world. The problem is this – Christians have been seduced and trained by the same forces that have enticed society as a whole. Too many Christians, just like their unsaved counterparts, are impressed by appearances rather than structure; are seeking thrills and excitement rather than substance; are more apt to respond to emotional manipulation than to rational discourse. How does a church compete in this rather crowded marketplace? If entertainment has become the primary value of the American way of life (as some are suggesting) then how can the church vie unless they become a bastion of entertainment? But if it gives way to this powerful temptation has not the church been transformed into something other than the church? [Quoting Neil Postman, author of “Amusing Ourselves To Death,”] Gilley wrote: Postman, who does not pretend to be a Christian, nevertheless recognizes, ‘Christianity is a demanding and serious religion. When it is delivered as easy and amusing, it is another kind of religion altogether…There is no doubt, in other words, that religion can be made entertaining. The question is, by doing so, do we destroy it?” Gilley then said: This is a question all serious Christians should contemplate. The problem is that the main business of entertainment is to please the crowd, but the main purpose of authentic Christianity is to please the Lord.”

I’m so sorry if “Body Life” is offensive to you and you desire the church to be that entertainment center of your life – but when I read I Corinthians 1:18-23 I see our Lord’s wisdom about “Body Life”, and I know that’s where I want to see churches today centering themselves. What did Paul write? “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.’ Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness…”

I have a deep, deep thought that our modern religious world, yes, even Christian world, would like to muzzle the very voice of our Lord and Savior and neglect every word He and His Holy Word has to say about “Body Life.” You may have read about Leo Tolstoy who said: “I lived only during those times I believed in God.” Can the church today say, “We live only through the time Christ IS our “LIFE”, and He lives through us”?

If ever there is the death of hope in the church that Jesus alone is our “LIFE”, then we will become those who witness anew spiritual death all around us, leaving a church world in despair and so very empty!

You know what John said, but do you still believe it for the modern-day church? John 1:1-4, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” I pray you let the previous verses and the following verses seal in your minds and hearts the churches’ abundant LIFE IN CHRIST!

John 3:14-15 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in [trusts, adheres to, relies upon] Him, should not perish but have eternal life.”

John 5:38-40, “But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom God sent, Him you do not believe. You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me [Jesus]. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”

John 6:51, 53, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world…Verse 53, Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.”

John 10:10, 27-28, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. Verses 27-28, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”

John 11:25-26, Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

John 17:3, Jesus speaking, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You [God Himself], the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

Romans 5:10, “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be [being] saved by His life.”

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

Colossians 3:3-4, “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”

2 Timothy 1:8-12, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus, before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”

I 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.”

Revelation 21:27, “But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination, or a lie, but only those who are written the Lamb’s Book of Life.”

Do you remember the words Shakespeare wrote in “Macbeth”? “Life…is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” But, a modern-day version? “Church life…is a tale told by the untaught, full of noise and fight, signifying denial of all Jesus offers.”

If “Body Life” is forgotten, you can be sure “Body Ministry” takes a back-seat in church planning! Oh, hear me! I’m not down on all churches, denominations, pastors, or leaders – in my over 50 years of “church life and relationships with pastors” I’ve been blessed to know some of our Lord’s gifted, graced pastors, and been blessed by Spirit-led, Spirit-anointed, Christ-honoring churches that so reflected fruitful ministries.

But, sadly, many churches are ‘vision-less’ as to “Body Ministry”! Dallas Willard, in his book “Renovation of the Heart,” [p.203], made a statement that I would like to change only one word. Willard said, “Where LIFE MEANING is lacking, performance is at a premium.” My sentence? “Where LIFE MINISTRY is lacking, performance is at a premium.”

One thing is sure though – the least gifted Body of Christ is stronger, more significant, and more beneficial than the “best” a fallen society has to offer! In his book, “Body Life: The Church Comes Alive,” [Regal, Glendale, Ca., 1972, p.13], Ray Stedman wrote: “God’s first concern is not what the church does, it is what the church IS. Being must always precede doing, for what we do will be according to what we are. To understand the moral character of God’s people is a primary essential in understanding the nature of the church. As Christians we are to be a moral example to the world, reflecting the character of Jesus Christ.” HOW HUGE IS THAT IN CHURCH MINISTRY! Is there a “Forgetfulness” Of BODY MINISTRY?

FIRST, BODY MINISTRY IS WITNESSING, SHARING, PROCLAIMING, UPHOLDING, DECLARING, AND, YES, PORTRAYING BY ONE’S DAILY WALK CHRIST JESUS, SAVIOR AND LORD!

In Acts 1:8 God’s inspired Word says, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” You barely get into Acts 2 before Peter challenged Israel as the church OUGHT to be challenging every community! Those who heard Peter were challenged and convicted! Acts 2:37 says: “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” And Peter followed Jesus’ ministry by saying, Acts 2:38, Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Look at what happened in Acts 2:41! Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” It doesn’t matter to me what you call it, but when a church loses its evangelistic impact on the world around it, it is signing its own death certificate! I find it so interesting, wondering if a church, because of its witnessing ministry is ready for a jail sentence! It happened in Acts as God’s people were determined to touch its world with grace.

SECOND, BODY MINISTRY IS THE DIVINE WORK OF EQUIPPING THE SAINTS TO DO THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY. Please come to Ephesians 4:11-16! “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, FOR THE EQUIPPING OF THE SAINTS FOR THE WORK OF MINISTRY, FOR THE EDIFYING OF THE BODY OF CHRIST, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ – from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

Without hesitation, I am firmly convinced that modern Christianity has totally reversed roles, ministries, and callings, with an attitude, mind-set, delusional thinking: “That’s what we pay a pastor for!!” And many pastors succumb to the role of DOING what they were called to do in equipping the saints to DO THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY!! As you read these verses in Ephesians 4, did you notice, were you gripped by Ephesians 4:13? “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;”

Listen, feed on, incorporate what Oswald Chambers said in his book, “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.141], “The church ceases to be a spiritual society when it is on the look-out for the development of its own organization. The rehabilitation of the human race on Jesus Christ’s plan means the realization of Jesus Christ in corporate life as well as individual life. Jesus Christ sent apostles and teachers for this purpose – that the corporate PERSONALITY might be realized. We are not here to develop a spiritual life on our own, or to enjoy spiritual retirement; we are here so to realize Jesus Christ that the Body of Christ may be built up.”

As a disciple, as a church member, as a follower of Christ, are you sharing in the mission of growing people into the fullness of Christ? Chambers said earlier, “The initiative of the saint is not towards self-realization, but towards knowing Christ Jesus.” In Hebrews 10:24-25 the writer tells us: “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Redemptive faith births community ‘followship’ and fellowship. God’s redemption, His redemptive work, is His blessed ministry of making the Body of Christ complete by the inclusion of every ‘body-part’ – nothing is to be missing, ignored, overlooked, denied – but inclusive to the honor of Christ!

Come to I Corinthians 12:11-31!! But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, whether slave or free – and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one but many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you;” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.” [Then comes chapter 13!!!]

THIRD, BODY MINISTRY IS INVASIVE AT THE POINT OF HUMAN NEED AND INTROSPECTIVE OF ONE’S SELF TO THE HONOR AND GLORY OF CHRIST. Look at James 1:27, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”

I’ve been in Brazil to work for the honor of Christ alone and been shaken to the core to learn of child prostitution. I’ve been in the major cities across India to witness orphans and widows with cardboard over their heads on busy streets for shelter with millions of people passing them by! America is fast becoming ‘horror’ cities where children are abused and widows totally neglected!

True religion! How do YOU define it? How is “true religion” played out through your journey as a church community? Is your ‘church’ breaking out, moving out, planning ‘out’ or outside its four walls to touch its community with grace?

FOURTH, BODY MINISTRY IS THE BIBLICAL PATTERN OF “MAKING DISCIPLES”! I don’t know how churches so easily omit Jesus’ words 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; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.”

In my early days of pastoring in the Florida area, I always loved to hear Dr. Jess Moody preach at our pastors’ conferences, evangelism conferences, or local events in the area where I was pastoring. One of the things Dr. Moody always talked about was the problem, omission, failure of “undiscipled disciples”!

In Dallas Willard’s “The Great Omission,” he wrote: [p.9], “Nondiscipleship costs abiding peace, a life penetrated throughout by love, faith that sees everything in the light of God’s overriding governance for good, hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging of circumstances, power to do what is right and withstand the forces of evil. In short, nondiscipleship costs you exactly that abundance of life Jesus said He came to bring [John 10:10]. The Cross-shaped yoke of Christ is after all an instrument of liberation and power to those who live in it with Him and learn the meekness and lowliness of heart that brings rest to the soul.”

Do you really have a handle on discipleship? In Acts 10:38 we read what should be true of every equipped, trained church member! It says: “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” Paul was so strong, as he should have been, as he addressed the Corinthians, 10:31, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

FIFTH, BODY MINISTRY IS ‘KINGDOM OF GOD’ LIVING. Do you remember what John the Baptist said as he began his public ministry? Matthew 3:1-3 tells us: “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord. Make His paths straight.’”

The young disciples had asked Jesus to teach them to pray, and in Matthew 6:9-10, Jesus said they were to pray in this manner: ‘Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” and the end of verse 13 says, ‘For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” Then in Matthew 6:33 Jesus said: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

We’re seeing the kingdom of God on earth that is a kingdom to be entered! But then in Matthew 7:21 Jesus said: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My father in heaven.’” Willful surrender, willful submission to the will of Father God, willful sub-ordinance [or subject to control], willful sufficiency knowing God’s ample supply to meet any need we might have according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus! In ‘kingdom of God’ living, in 2 Corinthians 9:8, Paul wrote: “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”

And how did the anointed Paul describe kingdom-ministry? Look at Romans 14:17!! “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Jesus Himself made such a profound, eye-opening, sobering, even shocking statement when in John 14:12 He defined kingdom ministry for all, yes, ALL of His disciples. He said: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also, and greater works than these he will do because I go to My Father.” JESUS ANNOUNCED THAT HIS DISCIPLES, HIS SERVANTS, HIS ‘BODY OF CHRIST’ MINISTRY, would be DOING THE WORKS OF JESUS!

I would dare say that most ‘church disciples’ are shocked when they hear about ‘kingdom ministry’ or ‘doing the works of Jesus.’ Our personal inadequacy should open the door to Holy Spirit anointing and adequacy in every disciple! It was T.Z. Koo who said: “The kingdom of God does not exist because of your effort or mine. It exists because God reigns. Our part is to enter this kingdom and bring our life under His sovereign will.” Since my college days, over 55 years ago, I’ve been a fan of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He said: “If we let passion take the place of judgment, and self-will reign instead of Scriptural authority, we shall fight the Lord’s battles with the devil’s weapons, and if we cut our own fingers we must not be surprised.”

But that’s not our calling as we usher in Kingdom authority through “Body Ministry”! Listen to Peter in 2 Peter 1:3-4! “…as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

And Matthew 16:19 is our rock of assurance and hope in honoring Christ through our church’s “Body Ministry”: “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” “Body Ministry” IS “KINGDOM OF GOD ALLEGIANCE” that is seen, interpreted, explained, witnessed, proven, by the ‘Servant’ spirit. Listen to Jesus in Matthew 20:25-28!! But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

“Body Ministry” is “KINGDOM OF GOD ALLEGIANCE” that is seen as the sacrificial spirit of lives, yes, laid down in touching others with His love, grace, and mercy! In Hebrews 13:12-16 we read: “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”

You’ll remember Paul saying in Galatians 2:20, “…and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me…,” and that love and giving spirit of Christ should permeate the walk of every true disciple of Christ! In John 7:38 Jesus tells us: “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

Oswald Chambers put it like this: [“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.181], “Our Lord’s teaching is always “anti”– self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a man; His purpose is to make a man exactly like Himself, and the characteristic of the Son of God is self-expenditure.”

I close this chapter with a statement by Dallas Willard in his book, “The Spirit of the Disciplines.” He wrote: “The world can no longer be left to mere diplomats, politicians and business leaders. They have done the best they could, no doubt. But this is an age for spiritual heroes – a time for men and women to be heroic in their faith and in spiritual character and power.” AMEN?

CHAPTER SIX

FORGOTTEN? THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES?

In Psalm 88:12 a highly significant question is asked by the psalmist as he “cries out to God day and night”: “Shall Your wonders be known in the dark? And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?” And it would be no surprise to me if some of us found ourselves at a place in life that we wondered if God had forgotten us, but we know that’s not true – the greater problem is when men forget Him, and especially forget “the Name above all names”!

The prophet Jeremiah heard the broken heart of God. In Jeremiah 2:32 he heard God say: “Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number.” In Jeremiah 3:21-22a the prophet wrote: “A voice was heard on the desolate heights, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel, for they have perverted their way; THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN THE LORD THEIR GOD…’Return, you backsliding children, and I [God] will heal your backslidings.”

Through biblical prophets God will speak to bring warnings of disaster to those who find themselves “falling away” or forgetting the Name above all names. Jeremiah 18:12-18, And they said, “That is hopeless! So we will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one obey the dictates of his evil heart.” Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Ask now among the Gentiles, Who has heard such things? The virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing. Will a man leave the snow water of Lebanon, which comes from the rock of the field? Will the cold flowing waters be forsaken for strange waters? Because My people have FORGOTTEN ME, they have burned incense to worthless idols. And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways, from the ancient paths, to walk in pathways and not on a highway, to make their land desolate and a perpetual hissing; everyone who passes by it will be astonished and shake his head. I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back and not the face in the day of their calamity.’ Then they said, ‘Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us attack him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.”

In Deuteronomy 32 we find “The Song of Moses” as he sang out a convicting word about the dilemma of a people “encircled” by the Lord Himself but they found it easy to forsake God! Look at verses 9-12 followed by verses 15-20!! Beginning at verse 9, “For the Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, so the Lord alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him.” Now verses 15-20!! “But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; You grew fat, you grew thick, you are obese! Then he forsook God who made him, and scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation. They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods; with abominations they provoked Him to anger. They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they did not know, to new gods, new arrivals that your fathers did not fear. Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful, and have forgotten the God who fathered you. And when the Lord saw it, He spurned them, because of the provocation of His sons and His daughters. And He said: ‘I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation.”

I know without hesitation that there are times, seasons, even circumstances of the soul when one feels, “Where is my Lord? Has He forsaken me, left me, forgotten all about me?” Have you ever been there? In Isaiah 49:14-16 the prophet Isaiah wrote: But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.” “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me.”

There is a promise God gave us all in Proverbs 3:1-2. It says: “My son, do not forget My law, but let your heart keep My commandments; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you.” Then, please look carefully at Proverbs 3:5-6 and let the Holy Spirit guide you into “the way.” “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

And that “way”? In John 14:6 Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Jesus is the “way” that leads to Life, the “way” that opens LIFE to the fullness of God Himself, the “way” that leads to the fullness of blessing, the “way” that is the eternal foundation of Holy Living! But then our Lord has a word of warning: Matthew 7:21-23!! “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who DOES the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” “Forgotten? Forgotten the Name above all names? Forgotten the Master, forgotten the Message, forgotten the ministry of His Name, forgotten the might and power of the Name above all names?”

To the church at Philippi Paul wrote a powerful word about Christ Jesus: Philippians 2:9-11! “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” That’s God Almighty’s ministry of exaltation of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! And, thank God, there are those who never forget – Revelation 2:12-13 tells us of that body of believers in Pergamos who held fast to His Name and DID NOT DENY THE FAITH!

Why does Pergamos hold fast to Jesus’ Name but others deny Him? Do you remember the first few verses of Jesus teaching His disciples “The Model Prayer” in Matthew 6:9-10? “In this manner, therefore, pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” “Hallowed be Your name?” Strong’s Concordance says the word ‘Hallowed’ comes from a Greek word HAGIAZO meaning ‘made holy’, ‘sacred’, ‘pure’, ‘blameless’, and I believe that’s holding the name of our Lord in the highest esteem, the holiest elevation, and heart-felt and held elevation above all ‘names’!!

I find it so interesting that John, in Revelation 2:12, saw the Lord Jesus with “the sharp two-edged sword” in His hand! It is serious business to know our Lord as ‘commander-in-chief’ who has been, who is, and forever will be defending Truth. Yes, our Lord judges, our Lord defends, our Lord follows up, sweeps up, and with the sharp sword will cut away what needs to be cut away. He says He sees into every church, every life, every family, with constant oversight, just as He saw Pergamos. Jesus ‘saw’ that they “dwell…where Satan’s throne is,” and Pergamos stood faithfully to honor His Name! But sadly many do not! Why is it that far too many people choose to ignore, deny, forsake, accuse, and abuse the “Name above all names”?

FIRST, I BELIEVE FORGETFULNESS OF THE NAME ABOVE ALL names IS BECAUSE OF OUT-AND-OUT DENIAL OF HIS PRECIOUS NAME. In Matthew 12:30 Jesus said: “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.”

You’ll remember Moses and Aaron going before Pharoah of Egypt saying to him: [Exodus 5:1-2], “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ And Pharoah said, ‘Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”

What goes on in the hearts and minds of people like Pharoah? If the very knowledge of God and the very awareness of Christ Himself was birthed in them by God Himself, what has gone on in them? In Paul’s letter to the Romans [Romans 1:18-25], the inspired Word reveals the deadly ‘self-introspection’ that crowds out the saving grace of God through the shed blood of the Lamb of God: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man – and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

In Matthew 10:38 Jesus clearly said: “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” But rather than denial of Jesus as ‘the Name above all names,’ John said in I John 4:15, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” ‘Confesses’ is a present tense, continuous action word! Confesses and keeps on confessing, confesses and keeps on confessing, confesses and keeps on confessing, but God help the man that denies and keeps on denying!

It was Spurgeon who said: “A life in which we have shunned the cross of Christ will lead to a state in which we shall miss the crown of glory.”

SECOND, I BELIEVE FORGETFULNESS OF THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES IS BECAUSE OF ‘PEER PRESSURE’. The man born blind met Jesus and Jesus “anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,” and his eyes were opened! The Jews didn’t believe and they called the parents of the man who had his eyes opened and said to them: [John 9:19], “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” But then look at John 9:20-21! His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.” And then verse 22? His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed that He [Jesus] was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.

Earlier in John, John 7:10-13, we see that same ‘peer pressure’ that adversely affects redemptive faith! “but when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, ‘Where is He?’ And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, ‘He is good’; others said, ‘No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.’ However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.”

‘Peer pressure’ can be, sadly, parentally impacted; peer pressure can come from religious rulers who will protect their religious agenda void of the redemptive atonement of Christ’s shed blood! In John 12:42-43 we see a heart-breaking story: “Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”

Jesus Himself warned us of the peer pressure that would come from some parents, some faithless religious leaders, even peer pressure from some godless governmental ‘leaders’, peer pressure from close friends, employers, university professors: In John 16:1-4 we read of the warning of our Lord and Savior because He knew as the faithless hated Him, they would also hate His followers or those on the edge ready to make a step toward ‘saving faith’: “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning because I was with you.”

David’s son, Absalom, was not in ‘lock-step’ with his father. In fact the time came when Absalom became treasonist toward his father.” 2 Samuel 15:6 says, “So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.” There are also times when ‘peer pressure’ is active even in the area of ‘bribery’! Exodus 23:8 says, “And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous.”

THIRD, I BELIEVE FORGETFULNESS OF THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES IS BECAUSE OF THE POISON OF PROCRASTINATION. It’s so amazing to me that the Apostle Paul, arrested for his faith, appeared before Felix and his wife Drusilla ‘concerning the faith in Christ.’ [Acts 24:24]. But then look at Felix’s response to Paul in verse 25! “Now as he [Paul] reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, ‘Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.’” But there is no evidence Felix ever found ‘a convenient time’ – he procrastinated.

In Acts 25-26 Paul was brought before King Agrippa. He shared his testimony of conversion after Christ Jesus the Lord had appeared to Paul in that “light from heaven, brighter than the sun.” And Paul told the King he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.

In Acts 26: 22-23 Paul challenges Agrippa: “Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing to both small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come – that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Gentiles and to the Jewish people.” Then in verses 27-28 we see the ‘bottom line’ and end result! “King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.” Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” How many have you known who procrastinated and never yielded to our Lord’s saving grace?

FOURTH, I BELIEVE FORGETFULNESS OF THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES HAPPENS WHEN SOME ARE ‘BRAIN-WASHED’ AND HEART-HARDENED BY FALSE ‘PROPHETS’, FALSE TEACHING, AND A FUTILE, FLESHLY FAITH OF THEIR OWN.

Paul was so clear and convicting when he wrote to the church at Colossae, [Colossians 2:8], “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” You’ve heard from the godless, from the highly educated faithless professors and teachers who’ve decided they are smarter than God Himself, from those who believe ‘if’ there is a God He’s not interested in them, from evil men who wax worse and worse with a futile approach to life without meaning or purpose, from blackened hearts who’ve chosen the way of sin, the way of earthly, fleshly pleasures void of an ‘interfering God’ who doesn’t want them happy as they try to satisfy their depraved natures!

The ‘cheated’ don’t even know, understand, or comprehend the emptiness of deceit that has flooded their minds so fully, that for them, there is no spiritual hope, not knowing God’s faithful Word tells them that God is able to save the UTTERMOST, or the one the furtherest throw away from Him!

2 John 7 says: “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh [Emmanuel]. This is a deceiver and an anti-Christ.” Frightening, sad verses come also from John in I John 2:18-19, “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.”

What did John say in I John 4:1-3? “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.”

In I Timothy 6:20-21 receive the passion of Paul for his spiritual son, Timothy! “O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, AVOIDING THE PROFANE AND IDLE BABBLINGS AND CONTRADICTIONS OF WHAT IS FALSELY CALLED KNOWLEDGE – by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.” He told Titus in Titus 1:14, “not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men WHO TURN FROM THE TRUTH.”

If Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Emmanuel – the name God GAVE HIM – if He is Lord and Savior and the True Master of all of life, if Jesus is [and He is!!] the “faithful and true witness,” then how does one turn away, refuse to hear Him, and call Him ‘LIAR’? Please understand – it is an evil act, an evil mind, and evil intent to reject Jesus and live as ‘lord and savior and god’ of your own life! We all are His creation with eternal purpose and eternal designs that were given to honor, bless, exalt, please, magnify, and glorify the Living God who is the resurrected King of kings and Lord of lords but only through the New Birth, Second Birth that is ours because of the gift of redemptive faith through repentance toward God and the finished work of Christ at Calvary!

FIFTH, I BELIEVE FORGETFULNESS OF THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES BECOMES A LIFE CHOICE WHEN THE PLEASURES OF UNRIGHTEOUSNESS CAPTURE ONE’S HEART, MIND, AND SOUL. You’ll remember the parable of the sower that Jesus told us about in Luke 8:7 where some ‘seed’ fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it, explaining in verse 14: “Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are CHOKED WITH CARES, RICHES, AND PLEASURES OF LIFE, and bring no fruit to maturity.”

One who refused that disastrous way of life was Moses. In Hebrews 11:23-26 we see, yes, a young boy who when confronted with the pathway of sin rather than the pathway of holiness chose to please God rather than satisfy his flesh or fallen sin nature! The Word says: “By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command. By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharoah’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.”

Again, Paul was faithfully instructing his spiritual son, Titus, when in Titus 3:3-7 he wrote: “For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

LIFE CHOICES? Heir of Christ or son of Satan? Citizen of Jesus’ Kingdom of Light or slave to Satan’s kingdom of darkness? Pleasing our Lord and Savior or indulging our fallen sin natures? In 2 Timothy 3:4 Paul spoke of those who are “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” And the one thing we all must be confronted with is the reality of only temporary satisfaction in earthly pleasures with eternally bad results!

What are “the wages of sin”? I believe the Holy Word is so very clear: THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH!! In 2 Peter 2:12-17 the Holy Spirit of God anointed Peter to “shock” some into spiritual reality and see birthed repentant hearts!! “But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity; a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.”

There was a man who discovered God’s Holy Word, and out of that encounter a prophet was birthed, Jeremiah! In Jeremiah 15:16 he wrote: “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.” And notice what God Himself revealed to Jeremiah, sending him out to call God’s people to repentance, return, and restoration!!In Jeremiah 16:10-13 we read: “And it shall be, when you show this people all these words, and they say to you, ‘Why has the Lord pronounced all this great disaster against us? Or what is our iniquity? Or what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ then you shall say to them, ‘Because your fathers have forsaken Me,’ says the Lord; ‘they have walked after other gods and have served them and worshipped them, and have forsaken Me and not kept My law. And you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, each one follows the dictates of his own evil heart, so that no one listens to Me. Therefore I will cast you out of this land into a land that you do not know, neither you nor your fathers; and there you shall serve other gods day and night, WHERE I WILL NOT SHOW YOU FAVOR.”

THAT IS THE FUTURE OF EVERY LIFE THAT WILLFULLY, SINFULLY, REBELS AGAINST GOD’S GRACE AND MERCY!! “NO FAVOR FROM GOD”!!

SIXTH, I BELIEVE FORGETFULNESS OF THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES RESULTS IN A WILLFUL, DELIBERATE DETERMINATION TO HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT HOLY NAME – THEY WILLINGLY AND GLADLY FORSAKE HIS NAME. In Hebrews 3:8 the author of Hebrews quotes from an Old Testament passage about: “Do not harden your hearts AS IN THE REBELLION, in the day of trial in the wilderness.” Then in verses 9-10 the Holy Spirit spoke: “Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I [God] was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.”

Because they have not known God’s ways, they are blinded and even ignorant of the end result of a Christ-less life! Just listen to James 5:19-20 where the brother of Jesus is urging true believers to turn back the spiritually blinded, the wanderers, the faithless, who do not know or understand the end result of denial of the Name above all names. James wrote: “Brethren [of the true, saving faith], if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way WILL SAVE A SOUL FROM DEATH AND COVER A MULTITUDE OF SINS.”

The danger in willingly and gladly forsaking the Name above all names? Once again Paul wrote the Romans, [Romans 1:21-25], “because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man – and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God FOR THE LIE [“You can sin and not die!”], and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

In Romans 1:24, 26, 28, three times the inspired Word of God says, “God also gave them up,” “God gave them up,” “God gave them over.” Do you, do those you encounter, do those near you who deny our Lord’s saving grace, really know “the righteous judgment of God”?

Unbelief is sin! Faithlessness is sin! Denial of faith is sin! Willful rejection of Jesus is sin! In Romans 6:16 God’s Word says: “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness.” WHAT HAVE YOU CHOSEN?

As Paul told the Galatians, [Galatians 1:6-7], “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert [distort] the gospel of Christ.” Would it surprise you that even some of the early followers of Christ Jesus walked away from Him? John 6:66 says: “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.”

This is why in Luke 9:62 Jesus said: “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom.” You’ve heard it: “No Jesus for me,” “No ‘churchianity’ for me,” “No spiritual tiddelly-winks for me,” “no ‘religious, holy-roller ‘ life for me,” “No relationship for me with all those church hypocrites,” “No cross, no washing feet for me, no servant activity for me,” and on-and-on and-on it goes with rebellious determination: “No faith-walk for me”! And they deny our Lord and Savior! “Blot His name from my memory!”

I can only pray that as you read this book YOU are convicted, convinced, and cemented as one with Christ willingly and gladly!! Oh, but, praise God, there ARE THOSE like Pergamos in Revelation 2:13, “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you HOLD FAST TO MY NAME, and did not deny My faith…”

Acts 3 is such a powerful passage, and certainly the preaching by Peter! The lame man had been healed, the people were leaping and praising God, and the men of Israel who put Christ on the Cross were not happy at all! Follow these verses, Acts 3:11-21!! Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed. So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of Life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.”

Not all deny, disbelieve, denounce the Name above all names! In John 1:11-12 we read: “He came to His own [domain], and His own [people] 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 [trust, adhere to, rely upon] in His name.”

Peter and John had been arrested and appeared before the Sanhedrin – [Acts 4:5-12]. In verse 7 they asked of these disciples: “By what power or by WHAT NAME have you done this?” Peter didn’t hesitate, wasn’t afraid, and had no doubts! In verses 10-12 we read, “let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that BY THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands before you whole. ‘This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

This is why Paul encouraged the church at Colossae, and us: [Colossians 3:17], “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all IN THE NAME of the LORD JESUS, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” We’ve seen earlier in this book that His name is Immanuel or Emmanuel, or “God With Us”!! [Isaiah 7:14]. And Isaiah 9:6 says, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

In Isaiah 12:4, because of the redemptive power of His Wonderful Name, a hymn of praise is birthed in Isaiah’s heart. Verse 4 says, And in that day you will say: “Praise the Lord, call upon His name; declare His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His name is EXALTED.” What is your ‘desire’? In Isaiah 26:8 the prophet said: “Yes, in the way of Your judgments, O Lord, we have waited for You; THE DESIRE OF OUR SOUL IS FOR YOUR NAME and FOR THE REMEMBRANCE OF YOU.” Let us who’ve not denied the faith intercede for those around us who need Jesus to be “the desire of our soul” and remember Him, not falling into fatal forgetfulness!

You’ll remember Holy God leading Moses and Israel “with His glorious arm, dividing the water before them to make for Himself an everlasting name.” Though you may fall into forgetfulness, in your eternal separation from the Name above all names, I believe you’ll witness a ‘flash-back’ to Almighty God dividing the waters! This is why Jeremiah said, in Jeremiah 3:17, “At that time Jerusalem shall be The Throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the dictates of their evil hearts.”

God’s true people “glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord.” Why is that? Because His Name is the Name of God Almighty; His Name is Jealous; in Jeremiah 10:6 the prophet said: “Inasmuch as there is none like You, O Lord [You are great, and Your name is great in might”]; His Name is MESSIAH! [Look at John 4:25-26!], The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” [who is called Christ]. When He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.” JESUS IS “SAVIOR OF THE WORLD!!” Do you really know about His Name?

JESUS IS: Our Atoning Savior, Our Advocate before the judicial bar of heaven, Our Abundant provider, Our Access to Father God, Our All in All, Our “I AM THAT I AM,” Our Apostle and High Priest, Our Author of Eternal Salvation, Our Author and Finisher of our Faith,”

JESUS IS: Our Balm of Gilead, Our Beautiful Savior, Joy of the Whole Earth, Our Begotten Son of God, Our Bishop of our Souls, Our Blesser, Our Bondage-Breaker, Our Bread of Life, Our Breadth and Length of God’s Love, Our Breaker of the Bands that Bound Us, Our Breastplate of Righteousness, Our Bridegroom, Our Brightness of God’s Glory, Our Substitutionary Broken Body and Shed Blood, Our Builder, Our Buried Yet Resurrected Lord and Savior, Our Buyer Who Bought Us Off the Auction Block of Sin and Death and Separation from God.”

JESUS IS: Our Calling Into One Hope, Our Cloud of Heavenly Glory That Rests In Us, Upon Us, and Around Us, Our Comfort for Troubled Hearts, Our Coming King of kings, Our Commander-in-Chief, Our Confidence Toward and In Our Lord Himself, Our Everlasting Consolation, Our Covenant Sacrifice and Provider, Our Creator and Co-Author of Our Salvation, Our Cross and Crown Victorious Warrior.

JESUS IS: Our Daystar, Our Defender, Our Delight, Our Deliverer, Our Departed But Soon Coming Lord and Savior, Our Desire In The Flooded Heart of Holy Presence, Our Declaration of a Ready Mind, Our Royal Diadem in the Oneness of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, Our Director of Every Step, Our Discoverer of Deep things even in Darkness, Our Doer of the Will of God, Yes, Even the Cross, Our Door Into Holy Presence, Our Dove of Peace Constantly Present, Our Dresser of the Vineyard of Our Lives, Our Dwelling Place in All Generations.

JESUS IS: Our Eagle’s Eye of Holy Watch-care, Our Earnest Expectation and Hope, Our Everlasting Gospel To Preach, Our Escape From Earthly Meaninglessness And Our Entrance Into Eternal Joy.

JESUS IS: Our Favor Before God, Our Fellowship and Follow-ship of Holy Presence, Our Forgiveness of Sin Through His Shed Blood, Our Protective Fortress, Defender, and Deliverer, Our Foundation That Stands Sure, Our Fountain of Living Water.

JESUS IS: Our Gentleness and Goodness In The Very Fruit Of The Spirit, Our Girder With Enduring Strength, Our Oil of Gladness, Our Giver of Power and Great Glory, Our Guardian of Life and Faith, Our Guide on the Highway of Holiness.

JESUS IS: Our Habitation of God in the Spirit, Our Haven of Rest, Our Head of the Church, Our Healer and Helper, Our Hearkener, Our Heart, Our Heaven on Earth, Our Heritage To Be Honored, Our Hope of Glory, Our Hope That Doesn’t Fade Away, Our Hope That Is Living Hope, Our Husbandman Who Waits For Precious Fruit, Our Hyssop That Purges.

JESUS IS: Our Image of the Invisible God, Our Immortality Brought to Light Through the Gospel, Our Imputer of Righteousness Apart From Works, Our Increaser of Godly Likeness, Our Inheritance Incorruptible and Undefiled And That Does Not Fade Away, Reserved In Heaven For You.

JESUS IS: Our Jealous God, Our Joint-Heir, Our Joyous Journey of Faith, Our Judge of All, Our Justification.

JESUS IS: Our Keeper, Our Keeper of the Keys To The Kingdom of Heaven, Our Kindler of Heaven’s Earthly Spiritual Fires, Our King of kings, Our Kinsman-Redeemer.

JESUS IS: Our Lamb of God, Our Lord of lords, Our Lamp of God, Our Ancient Landmark of Heaven’s Boundary, Our Language of Godly Love, Our Leader To Eternal Liberty, Our Lifter of Our Heads, Our Light In The Darkest of Nights, Our Limitless Provider, Our Longsuffering Savior and Lord, Our True Lover of Our Souls.

JESUS IS: Our Majesty Enthroned in Heaven, Our Man among men, Our Manifested Name among Men, Our Marked and Bruised.

JESUS IS: Our Nail-Scarred Hands of Suffering Sacrifice, Our Name Above All Names, Our Narrow Way, Our Nazarene, Our Necessary Atoner, Our ‘Nevertheless’ of Life In Christ, Our Now and Always Present Lord.

JESUS IS: Our Obedient Son of God Even Unto Death, Our Obtainer of Our Eternal Inheritance, Our Offering of Himself For Us, Our Oil of Gladness, Our Omnipotent Lord Who Reigns.

JESUS IS: Our Passover, Our Prince of Peace, Our Peace-Maker, Our Perfect Love, Our Pillar of Strength and Stability, Our Plentiful Provider of Every Need, Our Possessor of Heaven and Earth, Our Poured-Out Drink Offering, Our Present Power of God, Our Praying Savior and Lord, Our Preacher of Repentance, Our Powerful Presence Presiding Over Life In Him, Our Preserver of All Things Eternal, Our Prophet, Priest, and King, Our Proclaimer of Liberty and Freedom, Our Promise-Keeper.

JESUS IS: OUR QUICKENER FROM SPIRITUAL DEATH TO SPIRITUAL LIFE.

JESUS IS: Our Ransom For All, Our Reconciler, Our Redeemer, Our Refresher, Our Reigning King of kings and Lord of lords, Our Reason of Rejoicing and Celebration, Our Crown of Rejoicing, Our Repairer of Breaches, Our Rest, Our Restorer of Life and Brokenness, Our Resurrection, Our Rewarder and Reward, Our Riches in Glory, Our Righteousness.

JESUS IS: Our Sabbath of Rest, Our Sacrifice of Praise to God, Our Safety and Peace, Our Salvation, Our Security, Our Sovereign Ruler and Helpmate, Our Same Savior – Yesterday, Today, and Forever, Our Sanctification, Our Satisfier, Our Sword of the Lord Defending the Faithful, Our Faithful and Humble Servant, Our Shepherd, Chief Shepherd of His Sheep, Our Sign and Wonder of Eternal Grace, Mercy, and Love, Our Solid Rock and Sure Foundation, Our Son of God, Our Souls’ Safeness and Soundness, Our Spoiler of Principalities and Powers, Our Storm-Stopper, Our Stream of Living Water, Our Strengthener and Our Song, Our Strong Defender, Our Surety of a Better Covenant.

JESUS IS: Our True Tabernacle, Our Teacher, Our Tender Mercy, Our Therefore, Wherefore, Here-For, Our Tidings of Great Joy, Our Tiller of Our Hearts, Our Touch of Healing Grace, Our Towel-Bearer Who Humbly Washes Our Feet, Our Transformer, Our Eternal Truth, Our Eternal Treasure, Our Tree of Life, Our Triumphant Hymn of Praise.

JESUS IS: Our Able-Savior To The Uttermost.

JESUS IS: Our Verily, Verily Teacher, Our Vine of Truth, Life, and Fruit, Our Vision of the Heavenly.

JESUS IS: Our Warrior For Truth and Faith, Our Watchman On The Wall of Our Hearts and Homes, Our Water-Well Springing up in Life, Our Way, Our Whenever, Wherever, Whatever, Whoever, Our True Wine, Eternal Wisdom, and Faithful Witness, Our Wonder of Wonders, Our Wonderful Work of God, Our Word of Eternal Life.

JESUS IS: Our Yoke of Yieldedness to the Father’s Will.

JESUS IS: Our Zealous Lord Intent on Fulfilling God’s Purpose.

YES!!?? Jesus’ Name IS the Name above every name! “Hallowed be Your Name!” We’ll hold it fast by the renewing of our minds. We’ll adhere to His Name and let unbelievers be the liars. We’ll proclaim His Name until the day we die. We’ll be “fools for Christ’s sake.” We’ll defend the priceless preciousness of His Name. We’ll faithfully bow before His throne. We’ll sing of the preeminence of His Name. We’ll orchestrate the masses to continually surrender to Alpha and Omega. We’ll uplift the unchanging Truth: JESUS, “the same yesterday, today, and forever.” We’ll let our world know that “there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

The old hymn says it strongly: “Jesus, the name that charms our fears, That bids our sorrows cease; It’s music in the sinner’s ears, It’s life, and health, and peace.” AMEN?

CHAPTER SEVEN

FORGOTTEN?

A PASTOR’S PRIZE AND PRIVILEGE OF PREACHING?

I know the context of Isaiah 17 and “The burden against Damascus,” but as I read verse 10-11, I could not help but ask, “Lord, is this a prophetic word for pastors and preachers who’ve slid into negligence concerning their preaching ministries?” Isaiah 17:10-11 says: “Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not been mindful of the Rock of your stronghold [or refuge], therefore you will plant pleasant plants and set out foreign seedlings; In the day you will make your plant to grow, and in the morning you will make your seed to flourish; but the harvest will be a heap of ruins in the day of grief and desperate sorrow.”

If you continue on in Isaiah, there is a word in Isaiah 46:2 that describes a lot of modern-day preachers: “They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but have themselves gone into captivity.” I believe that to be one of the saddest verses I’ve read of late! And our modern-day preaching problem? It’s, rather than remembering the high calling and ultimate privilege of preaching, some really do forget while others have no history of faithfulness in preaching! And it’s for sure, if a preacher has no history of biblical preaching, he has no meaning to his role as pastor-preacher!

Deuteronomy 8:10-20 needs to be read as if these verses were written to negligent pastors who’ve forgotten the weighty responsibility of ministering to their people faithfully in the Word of God: “When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest – when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses [church buildings] and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks [church membership] multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied [tithes and offerings], and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions [demons?] and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end- Then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ [I, I, I, Me, Me, Me]. And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the power to get wealth [ to prosper in preaching for His glory alone!!], that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. Then it shall be, if you [preacher] by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, [other gods? Preachers preaching a false gospel and a false word?], I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God.”

God never gives up on preachers standing behind the sacred desk! Through Jeremiah 3:15 God gave His people a promise: “And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.” But then in Jeremiah 5:1-2 the prophet heard a word from God: “Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem [Mumbai, Chennai]; see now and know; and seek in open places IF YOU CAN FIND A MAN, if there is anyone who executes judgment, who seeks the truth to preach God’s truth!], and I will pardon her. Though they say, As the Lord lives,’ surely they swear falsely.” And Jeremiah responded in verse 3: “O Lord, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, but they have not grieved; You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return.”

I sincerely am afraid that Jeremiah, Old Testament prophet, is spurned and scorned by many preachers today who have forgotten “the prize and privilege of preaching.” I believe Jeremiah wetted the pages of his scroll as he wrote Jeremiah 6:10! “To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them; they have no delight in it.” Jeremiah 9 the prophet said, verse 3, “…[There are those who] are not valiant for the truth on the earth…”

Does God indict preachers in modern days who are not valiant for the truth? If ALL SCRIPTURE is God-breathed, including the book of Jeremiah, read carefully Jeremiah 18:11-12, God spoke: “Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah [leaders, teachers, preachers!!] and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem [the holy city, the gathered assembly], saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one [of you straying preachers!] from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.’ And they said, ‘That is hopeless! So we will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one obey the dictates [stubbornness, imagination] of his evil heart.’”

But in the midst of this modern-day madness among many ‘messengers’, there is a word of hope, of grace, and of a blessed future! Jeremiah 20:9 says: Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name,” but His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not.”

Sadly, there are many commissioned by God to preach His Word who do not believe that He is interested in guiding, governing, and giving Holy Spirit anointing and leadership in how that pastor is to “feed” His people and faithfully proclaim that Word to the “lost”! The truth is there are those who’ve turned deaf ears toward what God wants to say through them in His Word! It’s also true that many are simply indifferent to the preaching of God’s Word and they paraphrase their preacher-friend’s insights but it’s not that birthed in them by God Himself!

I really want you to approach this chapter with Spirit-dependency, Word consciousness, and a love for preaching and preachers! How is a preacher’s prize and privilege of preaching lost over time and the freshness and faithfulness in preaching forgotten and set aside?

FIRST, FORGETFULNESS IS A CRIPPLING SPIRITUAL DISEASE CAUSED BY A LACK OF SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE. And for the preacher-pastor this is deadly! Listen to what Paul wrote in I Corinthians 9:27! “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” Do you believe the ‘castaway’ spirit produces passionate, Spirit-anointed, life-changing preaching? I don’t think so!

Paul, in 2 Corinthians 5, talked about “this treasure” of Truth and truth that we possess in ‘earthen vessels’, and if our lives are going to be fulfilling rather than forgetful ministries in preaching, then, we need to understand [Verse 10] “always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body,” Yes, as we share the Word with those our Lord has put in our trust!

If spiritual discipline daily is not a part of a preacher’s walk, then be assured ‘forgetfulness’ of the prize and privilege flies out of the window of his mind and heart! Well, then, some might ask: “As Paul said, ‘I keep under my body,’ practically, what does that mean?” Again, in 2 Corinthians 5:11 Paul said, “For we who live [we who preach] are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” Yes, preachers are, or should be, daily delivered to death for Jesus’ sake that in their preaching His Voice is heard, His Word is declared, and His conviction finds a fertile heart!

It will never be His Word through us until it’s His Word in us! Preachers prepared to preach His Word faithfully and with fire? Andrew Murray, in “The Believer’s Absolute Surrender,” [Dare I say “The Preacher’s Absolute Surrender”?] [Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, Minn.: 1985, p.45]. “Please note that this is what man [preacher] was created for – to be a vessel into which God could pour His wisdom, goodness, beauty, and power. That is the heritage of the believer [the preacher]. It is God that makes the seraphim and cherubim flames of fire. The unrestricted glory of God passes through them. They are vessels prepared by God, come from God, that they might let God’s glory shine through them.”

SECOND, FORGETFULNESS OF THE PRIZE AND PRIVILEGE OF PREACHING OCCURS WHEN THE PREACHER IS NOT SPIRIT-FED AND SPIRIT-LED. In I Corinthians 2:3-5 Paul said: “I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

See if your pulpit preacher can be recognizable in the Spirit-realm of Revelation 4:5 “And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.”

The prophet Isaiah really had a word so vital for every preacher to hear: Isaiah 32:13-15 says, “On the land of My people will come up thorns and briers, Yes, on all the happy homes in the joyous city; Because the palaces will be forsaken, the bustling city will be deserted. The forts and towers will become lairs forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks – UNTIL THE SPIRIT IS POURED UPON US FROM ON HIGH, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest.”

Here’s how Oswald Chambers put it in his book “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.251-252], “Never rely on the clearness of your exposition, but as you give your exposition see that YOU are relying on the Holy Spirit. Rely on the certainty of God’s redemptive power, and He will create His own life in souls.”

Preacher, preachers, you must be so aware that you are the vessel – Jesus and the Holy Spirit are to be the content and overflow of your life, your sermon preparation, and your preaching, always expecting heavenly results! Didn’t Paul say elsewhere, “as though God did beseech you by us?” [2 Corinthians 5:20]. What did Jesus say in John 12:32? “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”

As Paul continued training and equipping the church in I Corinthians 2, you must not overlook I Corinthians 2:9-13! But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has REVEALED THEM TO US THROUGH HIS SPIRIT [HIS HOLY SPIRIT!] For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”

Do you not understand that a twelve year old boy, anointed, in-filled with the Holy Spirit, can speak more redemptive wisdom than the preacher with his PhD and no Holy Spirit? ‘Wise’ words apart from the Holy Spirit are just like the spring water you may physically drink, but in those waters there is no existence or experience of “the rivers of living water!!” Didn’t David say in Psalm 87:7, “All my fresh springs are in You”?

THIRD, FORGETFULNESS OF THE PRIZE AND PRIVILEGE IN PREACHING ERUPTS STEADILY BECAUSE OF A LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF OUR BATTLE FRONTS. In Isaiah 61:1-3 the prophet received from the Holy Spirit our preaching ministry agenda! “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that He may be glorified.”

Oh, contemplate the heart of God, the mission of God, the intent of God through the coming, the ministry, the death of the world’s only Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ of Nazareth! And consider also that to give allegiance and devotion to Christ Jesus as a preacher is to invite the opposition of Satan himself to come against you full-bore!! It was A.W. Tozer who said: “So, it becomes the devil’s business to keep the Christian’s [the pastors’] spirit imprisoned. He knows that the believing and justified Christian has been raised up out of the grave of his sins and trespasses. From that point on, Satan works [aggressively] that much harder to keep us bound and gagged, actually imprisoned in our own grave clothes. He knows that if we continue in this kind of bondage we are not much better off than when we were spiritually dead.” How frightening is that? It ought to scare the living hell away from you and from your intent to preach anointed in the Spirit the unsearchable riches of Christ!

Decide right now! NO TOE-HOLD BY SATAN! Decide right now! NO DAY IN WHICH I HAVE LEFT UNDONE DEATH TO SELF THAT THE SPIRIT MIGHT REIGN THROUGH ME IN MY CALLING TO PREACH! I will fulfill the ministry of the anointed Word in Isaiah 61!!

But if I or you or some preacher you know exhibits characteristics, signs, markings, trends, that are opposite Isaiah 61, what do you conclude? John Eldredge in his book “Waking The Dead” wrote: [p.161], “Religion and its defenders have always been the most insidious enemy of the true faith because they are not glaring opponents; they are IMPOSTERS.” You are aware that there are those ‘messengers’ with no redemptive ministry who are nothing more than puppets of the powers of darkness!

Preacher, are you truly converted [born again, born the second time?], have you truly been cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb body, soul, and spirit? Have you consecrated your preaching ministry on His altar of sacrifice? Have you chosen come hell or high waters to preach His Word passionately? Have you yielded to His constant cleansing as needed by His Blood? Do you live in a state of confession of all He is and desires to be through you?

FOURTH, FORGETFULNESS OF THE PRIZE AND PRIVILEGE OF PREACHING OFTEN COMES ABOUT BY A SPIRIT OF ARROGANCE AND CONDEMNATION THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. Job’s friends surely felt they were ‘superior’ in knowledge and understanding, and so, they came against Job unmercifully!

Read carefully Job 6:24-30. “Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; cause me to understand wherein I have erred. How forceful are right words! But what does your arguing prove? Do you intend to rebuke my words, and the speeches of a desperate one, which are as wind? Yes, you overwhelm the fatherless, and you undermine your friend. Now therefore, be pleased to look at me; for I would never lie to your face. Yield now, let there be no injustice! Yes, concede, my righteousness still stands! Is there injustice on my tongue? Cannot my taste discern the unsavory?”

Have you ever been in on a preacher with ‘windy words’ foreign to the fruit of the Spirit? Have you ever been around that one so in love with himself, so proud of his manhood, so into himself he had no words of comfort for the troubled, so into himself no passion for the lost, so into himself no comprehension of ‘fleshly failures,’ horrible mistakes, ‘yes’, even some bordering on superstitions with no grace, mercy, or love! Sadly, for some preachers there is no fruit of the Spirit and, therefore, no love for the sinners as they are.

Far too many preachers are ‘self-confident’ rather than Holy Spirit dependent! Listen to Spurgeon, [Memorial Library, Spurgeon’s Sermons, Vol. 19, pps. 215-216], “Certain persons are very proud because they are self-made men. I will do them credit to admit that they heartily worship their maker. Self made them, and they worship self. We have among us individuals who are self-sufficient, and almost all-sufficient; they sneer at those who do not succeed, for “they” can succeed anywhere at anything. The world to them is a football which they can kick where they like. If they do not rise to the very highest eminence it is simply out of pity to the rest of us, who ought to have a chance. A vat of sufficiency ferments within their ribs!…Self-confidence is the death of confidence in God; reliance upon talent, tact, experience, and things of that kind, kills faith. Oh that we may know what faith means, and so look out of ourselves and quit the evil confidence which looks within!”

You’ll remember Acts 5:19-20! “The angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, ‘Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.” Question! “Led by the fruit of the Spirit, do you stand strong and speak to the people all the words of this life?

FIFTH, FORGETFULNESS OF THE PRIZE AND PRIVILEGE OF PREACHING IS OFTEN HINDERED BECAUSE OF ZEALOUSNESS FOR EVERYTHING BUT PREACHING. In the Book of I Corinthians, chapter 14, verse 12, Paul wrote: “Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.”

Preachers, what are you zealous for concerning your oversight of your churches? In Titus 2:14 Paul encouraged Titus and us, “who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” Truly, how is your development of New Testament disciples? Think about your ‘equipping ministry’ of the people under your trust and watch-care. In your preaching ministry to the church, what about your zealousness, not your sluggishness, but a true imitation and reproduction, and building up of men, women, boys, and girls, who “through faith and patience, [learn] to inherit the promises?”

Beauchene said it: “You are never a great man when you have more mind than heart.” It could be said: “You are never a great preacher when you mentally approach your people but void of Calvary love!!” Does the Word explain that attitude or approach? Jeremiah 6:14 says: “They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, saying “Peace, peace!” when there is no peace.” Another translation says: “They dress the wounds of My people as though it were not serious.”Zealousness! Fervency!

To the church at Galatia, Paul put it like this: Galatians 5:24, “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” Is that your spiritual frame of reference as a preacher? Oswald Chambers, in “My Utmost For His Highest” [p.256], spoke about this verse: “Very few of us debate with the sordid and evil and wrong, but we do debate with the good. It is the good that hates the best, and the higher up you get in the scale of the natural virtues, the more intense is the opposition to Jesus Christ. “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh” – it is going to cost the natural in you everything, not something. Jesus said, “If any man will be My disciple, let him deny HIMSELF,” i.e., his right to himself, and a man has to realize WHO JESUS CHRIST IS before he will do it. Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence.” Does that fit you, Preacher, in your pulpit ministry?

SIXTH, FORGETFULNESS OF THE PRIZE AND PRIVILEGE OF PREACHING IS OFTEN HAMPERED BY THE LOSS OF A TRAVAILING SPIRIT. I’m sure you know the verse in Isaiah 66:8! “For as soon as Zion was in labor, travailing, she gave birth to her children.”

I cannot help but wonder if this is not the problem of most all the preachers of faith wherever they preach in whatever nation they preach! Is there such a characteristic of ‘agony of spirit’ about the Word God that would have you preach out of concern for your hearers? Eruptions of revival fires? Not apart from the labor and travailing spirit of God’s intercessors! Major waves of spiritual growth in your people, Preacher? Not apart from the travailing spirit! Giant spiritual quakes tearing down strongholds in the lives of those around you, Preacher? Not apart from the agony of spirit!

Agony of spirit? Travailing in spirit? Brokenness over the future of those without Christ? Sorrow that pervades your every wakened moment because of the spiritual lost-ness of your citizenry? A weighted mind and heart because of Satan’s delusions capturing family, friends, and foes?

Inactivity in touching our world with grace, indifference to our world’s ultimate destiny apart from Christ, insensitivity to even the spiritual dilemma of our own children and grandchildren and their friends and classmates, blindness and deafness to their separation from God, cold heartedness to the condition and future of Men without Christ? Where have we come to as preachers, churches, or disciples of Christ? Oh, we’re good at the band-aid approach when what is needed are heart transplants!!

What did God say through Jeremiah concerning, yes, His preachers of Today? Jeremiah 2:12-13!! “Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid; Be very desolate,” says the Lord. “For My people [preachers] have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns – broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

If God “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds,” what are preachers doing today with their travailing spirits or lack of them? Do you even know, comprehend, understand the weight of pain God Himself has carried concerning the lostness of fallen humanity, the pain He has had to carry concerning those who are separated from Him, and what did God do? His Son, our Savior, came and willingly travailed and suffered AT THE CROSS for their salvation! Jesus came and “gave His life [on the Cross] as a ransom for many.” [Matthew 20:28].

I pray that you as a preacher of the Gospel are not captured by a ‘care-less’ attitude in your preaching ministry! I pray that you as a preacher of the Gospel are one who has laid down your life as Jesus did His! I pray that you, if you have to stand alone, WILL stand alone, preach His Word passionately and lay your life down for the salvation of your people! I pray, with Paul, “that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened.” [Ephesians 1:18].

CHAPTER EIGHT

FORGOTTEN? FIG-LEAF RELIGION IS NOT A FAITH RELATIONSHIP?

Deceivableness is a major outbreak of spiritual sickness, blindness, unrighteousness, releasing all manners of man-made religious activity that carries men and women further away from God and they don’t even know they are hiding from true redemption. When you think about deception and its origin among men, only one look is explainable, and that is at the source of deception which is the devil himself!

How easy to lose track of the road of redemption, reconciliation, regeneration, or re-birth! And, of course, because our enemy is a step ahead plotting our demise concerning true redemption! I know that you haven’t forgotten what Jesus said in John 10:10! “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, and have it to the full.” Satan isn’t interested in your blessing – he wants you captured in your ‘curse’!

Our Lord and Savior faced the onslaught of Satanic opposition just as we all do. There even came a time when Satan backed away from our Lord for a more opportune time. He left Jesus “for a season.” Satan’s one desire is to frustrate, deny, cover over both Christ’s and your divine purpose, intention, and holy will. Yes, even substitutions of the real truth will do for your sinister opponent!

Can you translate Adam and Eve out of the garden and put yourself there for a moment? They were God’s creation! They WERE man and wife! They were both naked there, and not ashamed! In Genesis 3 the serpent who is Satan came to Eve first to say, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’” Eve responded that what the serpent said contradicted what God told them, but his intent is to cast doubt in all our lives concerning the TRUTH of the Word of God!

Eve said, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of THE TREE which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.” And the devil’s response? “You surely shall not die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

When Eve saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of that fruit and ate. She then gave some to her husband and he ate. Then what happened?

Please examine carefully Genesis 3:7-9! Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed FIG LEAVES together and MADE THEMSELVES COVERINGS. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

Think about what God just said to Adam! Do you really believe God didn’t know where Adam was or was God probing Adam to alert himself concerning his present spiritual condition? Was God’s question drawing two pictures?: 1) Genesis 2:25, “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” 2) Then, hiding from God’s presence, because now they were ashamed!! Satan, sin, sad choices left them in a spiritual dilemma, and they determined they had to take matters into their own hands!

You do realize that this picture drawn by Adam and Eve in the earliest days of their “Fall” away from God is given by the grace of God to alert us all about the danger of believing our “fig-leaves” are a true faith relationship! “Fig-Leaf Religions” are men’s inventions to take redemption into their own hands, their own way, determining for themselves how to be acceptable before Holy God! I’m sorry if it irritates you, but, Christianity, biblical Christianity, is not a ‘religion’ but a relationship! I look at Romans 5:8 and wonder, how deceived were Adam and Eve and the founders of world religions when the heart of God has always been out for a relationship – not religions founded by men? “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

And then in Romans 5:9-11 we see ‘Relationship’ because of reconciliation! “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be [being] saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have NOW received the reconciliation.” Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, who has torn away our “fig leaves” and given us, by His grace, mercy, and love, a Living, Breathing Relationship!

Do you remember Jesus weeping over Jerusalem? Luke 19:41-44 tells us about this “religious city”! Now as He [Jesus] drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, BECAUSE YOU DID NOT KNOW THE TIME OF YOUR VISITATION.”

‘Hidden from your eyes?’ Has ‘Fig-Leaf Religion’ or religions, become the stumbling block to true redemptive faith? For the Jewish city of Jerusalem it was “the pride of Pharisaism” that shut the door to many hearts concerning saving faith – and that spirit still exists all over the world! Millions flock to their “religious cities”, holy places, sacred sights – and go away from, not toward, Holy God!

In reading Oswald Chambers’ “My Utmost..”, I came across words of a verse of a hymn: “Since my eyes have looked on Jesus, I’ve lost sight of all beside, So enchained my spirit’s vision, Gazing on the Crucified.” I might ask: “How are you dressed? Fig-Leaves or Redemptive Faith?

Later, Chambers wrote: [p.69], “We can never fathom the agony in Gethsemane, but at least we need not misunderstand it. It is the agony of God and Man in one, face to face with sin. We know nothing about Gethsemane in personal experience. Gethsemane and Calvary stand for something unique [I could say, eternal!]; they are the gateway into Life for us.” Understand? Fig-leaves are statements about spiritual death, false religions, empty results – redemptive Faith is the shed blood of Christ Jesus on the Cross in our stead birthing Life, Faith, Hope, Relationship, Fulfillment – not emptiness and self-awareness of: “I’m empty, lost, separated from God; I better do something about my spiritual condition!”

“Fig-Leaf Religion” is the scheme of self-help, self-importance, self-abilities, self-enhancement, totally ignoring “saving grace”! It was Daniel Yankelovich, in his book, “New Rules: Searching for Self-fulfillment in a World Turned Upside Down,” [New York: Random House, 1981, p.237], who wrote: “the human self can be wholly autonomous, solitary, contained and ‘self-created.” Let me paraphrase it: “the religious self can be wholly autonomous [and is!], solitary [separated from God], contained [selfishly harbored and protected for what I believe to be religious faith], and ‘self-created’, [a religious work of art by my own hand!]”

“Fig-Leaf Religion” is the absence of God from spiritual life and the insertion of man’s own abilities to correct, enhance, and shine out his amazing spiritual skills to recover on his own!

“Fig-Leaf Religion” is man-centered – not God-centered, believing man is able, on his own, to do exceedingly abundantly above all he sets his mind to!

“Fig-Leaf Religion” is man loving himself so much that he doesn’t have to look beyond his own nose to help himself – he’s a true ‘self-lover’ so opposite of what Jesus said in John 12:25! “He who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.”

“Fig-Leaf Religion” is man serving himself with himself only in view, but Jesus Himself said in John 12:26 “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me,” when self-serving religion is devotion to one’s self, not devotion to the claims of Christ!

“Fig-Leaf Religion”? That’s all-out total absorption in one’s self-awareness, fleshly abilities, yes, even worth and value wrapped up in the cheap tissues of religious activities when Jesus says to us through what Paul learned: Philippians 3:7-8, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.”

“Fig-Leaf Religion”? Haven’t you heard it? “If Christ died for the ungodly, then what relevance is that to me? I’m Okay, you’re okay, we’re all okay!” Across our modern world how rampant do you believe ‘self-importance’ has become, even to the point of ignoring God Himself to establish one’s own ‘religious identity’ apart from repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of Christ?

“Fig-Leaf Religion”? Rules, regulations, rituals, reaching for What Cannot Be Obtained, opposite of ‘rest,’ ‘rejuvenation,’ regeneration, restoration of God’s eternal intent, standing on the record of our Lord’s ‘finished work,’ not our best efforts!

“Fig-Leaf Religion”? Bondage to the devil and the powers of darkness! Satan loves ‘religious’ people because he knows they are in his camp whether they know it or not! But true faith, true relationship with Holy God? Hebrews 2:14-15 says: “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself [Jesus] likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Are you aware that ‘religious’ activity equals bondage and no freedom?

“Fig-Leaf Religion?” An earthly, fleshly, selfish attempt to ‘save’ one’s self by ‘doing better’ but never coming to the end of one’s self in the crucifixion with Christ at the Cross! “Crucified with Christ? That doesn’t compute with me! I can take care of myself – I’m a religious person!” Oh, really? It was Abraham Kuyper who once said: “There is not an inch of any sphere of life over which Jesus Christ does not say, ‘Mine.’” Are you His or are you ‘yours’?

“Fig-Leaf Religion”? “Slaves of sin, chained to slave masters, convinced ‘I am what I am, I am where I am, I do what I do’, because this appears to be a normal way of life for most folks,” when in reality Jesus came to totally set us free, then gladly and willingly chained to Christ, I “serve” out of a new heart of joy and gladness and divine fulfillment that honors my Lord and Savior!

“Fig-Leaf Religion”? “Earning! That’s what religious activity is all about! Self-discernment about what is right and good! That’s what a religious person is up to! Rightly taking care of number one, me, is truly beneficial activity [when on the Cross Jesus took our best and worst and put it all to death!].”

“Fig-Leaf Religion”? “Don’t concern yourself about my spiritual condition. It’s A-OK! I joined First Church last Sunday!” Really? Our ‘Christian’ world now defines the ‘Second Birth’ as joining the church, adding my name to the church rolls, showing up occasionally to verify I’m on board?”

“Fig-Leaf Religion”? ‘You really, Pastor, shouldn’t be down on people because they sin, but now that deacon of yours, Joe Blow, you may think he’s a holy, righteous, godly man, but I see him as an abomination to the Lord.” Oh, really? Proverbs 17:5 says: [RSV translation!] “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord,” but, remember, “Fig-Leaf Religion” is so valuable to some while the ‘Faith-Walk’ is abhorrent to them!

“Fig-Leaf Religion”? It is that drive that what matters is one’s devotion to make a better world around us without any consideration or motivation of the ‘eternal’ or our residency in heaven one day! The Christian faith is centered on the here and now as well as beyond the grave! “Fig-Leaf” people, sadly, are motivated by what goes on in their ‘flesh,’ in the ‘here and now,’ but bristle when a true believer suggests as great a devotion to eternity as their present reality! Could that fleshly, fig-leaf mind-set be “saving one’s life, but losing his soul”?

“Fig-Leaf Religion”? “Accumulation, accumulation, accumulation! A man’s life does consist in what he accumulates! It shows he’s favored by God “– when in reality Jesus said in Luke 12:15, “a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions!” What did Paul write to the church at Rome and us in Romans 8:5-6? “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally [fleshly] minded is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.”

“Fig-Leaf Religion”? “I cannot believe that your pastor and church elders really believe that they need to deal with or discipline Brother So & So. That is so unlike Jesus or God on His throne!” Yet Hebrews 12:5-11 says: “And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: ‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.’ If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

“Fig-Leaf Religion”? “Those Christians, those fanatical preachers, those misinformed Bible teachers, are so off base when they talk about ‘fearing God’! Why, I believe I’m His best friend – and there is no fear in me!” Yet the Bible I read tells me that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” [Psalm 111:10]. I read in Psalm 34:7 that “The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear him, and delivers them.” Was Jesus so unwise, untaught, off base about ‘fearing God’? I read in Matthew 10:28, Jesus speaking, teaching, enlightening, His disciples: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

“Fig-Leaf Religion”? Can’t you hear it? “Those Christians! They really believe that, because of this Jesus’ shed blood, that God calls on them to live pure, holy, clean, unstained lives. Well, I believe that I can’t do anything but sin until I get to heaven someday or find myself waking up in some paradise of purity and holiness – I know I’ll never be fully pure!” Yet, we’ve already seen in Titus 2:14 that God’s, YES, Holy Word says: “[Christ] gave Himself for us to redeem us…and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.” I’m not sure that the one who says he can’t do anything but sin has ever read passionately God’s Holy Word! In Romans 6:1-14 we read one of the most liberating passages of God’s Holy Word that exposes the “Fig-Leaf Religion” concept you just read about! It says: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

“Fig-Leaf Religion”? “ Suffering? Trouble? Tribulation? Heartache? Tears? That may be what you sense is in your path as a religious man/woman, but religious faith that really means something in the life here and now is a life void of all pain and heartache – that’s what I sense!” But does that line up with the Lord of our salvation? In John 16:33 Jesus said: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. IN THE WORLD YOU WILL HAVE TRIBULATION; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

I’m not sure that you know of Samuel Rutherford, but you should learn all you can by this brilliant minister and teacher of humanities at the University of Edinburgh in the 1600’s. He received a theology degree also and later pastored a church at Anworth in the year of 1627. From church history you may have read about the Episcopalians rising up to rule over the Scottish church. Rutherford was a nonconformist and, as a result of that, was imprisoned. He learned such strong, eternal, life-changing truths while in jail!! E.M. Bounds quoted him in “Heaven: A Place, a City, a Home,” [Grand Rapids: Baker House, 1975, p.13]. Don’t miss this!! Hear it!!:

“If God had told me some time ago that He was about to make me as happy as I could be in this world, and then had told me that He should begin by crippling me in all my limbs, and removing me from all my usual sources of enjoyment, I should have thought it a very strange mode of accomplishing His purpose. And yet, how is His wisdom manifest even in this! For if you should see a man shut up in a close room, idolizing a set of lamps and rejoicing in their light, and you wished to make him truly happy, you would begin by blowing out all his lamps, and then throw open the shutters to let in the light of heaven.” God’s ways ARE NOT the ways of “Fig-Leaf Religion”!!

How did Habakkuk respond about this, in agreement with Rutherford? Habakkuk 3:17-18 says: “Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls – Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” WOW!!**!!

“Fig-Leaf Religion”? “This concept that God knows us all personally, intimately, and practically has a special plan for every life is so unnecessary, so unfounded! He’s a Big God with an overview of all – knowing us personally is so unfounded!” Really? In Romans 1:5-6 Paul wrote: “Through Him [Jesus}, we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, among whom YOU ALSO are the called of Jesus Christ…”

In his book, “The Power of the Call,” [p.35], Henry Blackaby wrote: “God Himself CHOSE US, CALLED US IN HIS TIME, and separated us out FOR HIMSELF. As clearly as God separated from all other days and sanctified the seventh day [set it apart for Himself, Genesis 3:3] and commanded it to be “the Sabbath of the Lord your God” [Exodus 20:10], so God set you apart from all others – for Himself!!” Glory! Hallelujah! God be praised! God be Blessed and Exalted! He’s not the author of “Fig-Leaf Religion” but the author of “FAITH BLESSED RELATIONSHIPS”!! AMEN?

As I close this chapter, I would fail you miserably if I did not point out to you that in the wanderings of Adam and Eve in the “Fig-Leaves”, God showed up!! “Where are you, Adam?” God knew – but it was time for Adam to come to his spiritual senses and rest himself and his bride at the throne of God where grace, mercy, and love resides!

CHAPTER NINE

FORGOTTEN? WE ALL HAVE AN ENEMY?

I don’t know if you are familiar with Leif Enger – I wasn’t – but I saw a statement he wrote that spurred me on into this chapter. He said: “We and the world, my children, will always be at war. Retreat is impossible. Arm yourselves.” Certainly, mankind has had an enemy called the ‘devil,’ Satan, the serpent, since the day of Creation of man and woman in the Garden when he came to Eve calling God ‘a liar.’ And ‘the serpent’ hasn’t changed but fallen humanity has, yes, and bought into his ‘lie’ and still suffers from the consequences of a cruel spiritual war!

Have you ever heard this from blinded, deluded, captured by Satan individuals? “Evil isn’t real – it’s the result of mental illness!” “The demonic or demons aren’t real – it’s mental illness!” “The devil or Satan isn’t real – he’s a disjointed, convoluted figure of ‘Christian’ delusional thinking!” “The powers of darkness? That’s nothing more than ‘self-imposed,’ personal choices of ‘less-than-my-best’!” “Sin? That’s only personal failures that make us stronger over the long haul – nothing deadly about that!”

But let me hit this theme head-on: John 10:10, Jesus Himself said, “The thief [Satan] comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I [Savior and Lord] have come that they may have life, and have it to the full [maximum intensity God wants us all to have].” But there is a thief, a robber, a deceiver, a killer of God-ordained hopes and dreams in too many lives – mostly because they’ve never done battle, warfare, spiritual attacks against their enemy!

It’s really a bit of intellectual brain-deadness to say that demon-activity is reserved for ‘primitive people’ or ‘the educationally deprived’! Or, yes, to say ‘there is no devil’ or ‘Satan’ or that the armies of Hell are not real or surrounding us for attacks on us and our families! It doesn’t matter to me if you’re in the darkest area of Africa spiritually or the most modern, up-to-date city in the U.S.A – the old serpent is comfortable in any surroundings!

I will not forget being in a major mountain city up from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. Mark and Colleen Handy were with me along with Billy Graham Paulose, son of Moses Paulose of Rameswaram, India. After the day’s seminar had finished, we’d had dinner, and were ready for bed; as we got our hotel room keys, the lady-manager, who was from England, said to me: “I know you are Christians and you minister spiritually to the needy. One of my hotel house-cleaners has a spiritual need. Could you help her?” I said, “When she comes to work in the morning make sure her husband is with her, and send them to my room.” The team met there early to pray before we started the day’s seminar. The worker came with her husband – she barely had gotten into the room before she “fell out”! We all knew it was demonic – that her enemy, the devil, wanted to disable or kill this woman. I began to pray, to take authority over the controlling demons of this troubled woman, and I gave the demons a command in the Name of Jesus to come out this lady! Immediately, though this lady knew no English, never spoken English, out of her mouth a strong male voice spoke in English saying, “We don’t have to come out and we’re not coming out!” The battle intensified, but those demons came out of the woman, she was healed, came to Christ, and left the hotel room rejoicing in Jesus.” Later, Billy Graham Paulose said to me, “Papa, that’s the first demon I’ve ever heard speak English here in India!!” For some, India may seem ‘primitive’, but I’ve witnessed demons coming out of highly educated Americans also.

It absolutely amazes me that here in America there are those who sadly believe that Jesus was only adapting Himself to the limited thought patterns of His day, and He went along to get along. GOD FORBID! There was no accommodation on Jesus’ part – only commitment to dethrone the ‘god’ of this fallen world – Satan! In I John 5:19 John wrote, “The whole world lies under the power of the evil one.” But the one thing you will learn right here is that the shed blood of our Lord and Savior has erased the sting or bite of the serpent who wants you dead – we’re, in Christ, recipients of resurrection life and hope – and our Lord has defanged our enemy!

There is a powerful word of instruction in Isaiah 52:1-2 for Jerusalem then and the people of Jesus NOW! It says: “Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come to you. Shake yourself from the dust, arise; sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion!” Notice: “Put on your strength [that’s Jesus!]; put on your beautiful garments [His robe of righteousness!]; Shake yourself from the dust [defeated demons because of Jesus’ shed blood!]; Loose yourself [Taking the authority Jesus has given you!]!!” In Christ, you ARE “more than conqueror!!”

From the Garden of Eden to the heartland of America, from the Garden of Eden to busy streets all over Europe, from the Garden of Eden to the over-populated streets of Asian cities, from the Garden of Eden to the dark corners of Africa, those armies of Hell itself are armed to capture, enslave, bind, suffocate, mar, maim, cripple, put to sleep, steal, blind, and, yes, claim you for the citizenry of darkness! Look at Revelation 12:7-9!! “And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

I pray that you please hear me, give heed to God’s Word, and also look across our known world to the devastation your Enemy leaves behind in his movements in lives, families, cities, and nations! Revelation 12:12b says: “For the devil has come down TO YOU, having great wrath [fury, anger], because he knows that he has a short time.” I so love and appreciate what John Eldredge had to say in his book “Waking The Dead,” [Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 2003, p.152], “To live in ignorance of spiritual warfare is the most naïve and dangerous thing a person can do.”

Eldredge then quoted William Gurnall: “The devil has more temptations than an actor has costumes for the stage. And one of his all-time favorite disguises is that of a lying spirit, to abuse your tender heart with the worst news he can deliver – that you do not really love Jesus Christ and that you are only pretending, you are only deceiving yourself.”

Disguises? It’s so amazing to me that Paul was used of our Lord and Savior in challenging us to be discerning on our spiritual journeys. He said in 2 Corinthians 11:14, “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light,” requiring every earthly citizen to walk in spiritual discernment! There is a War going on for every human soul and especially believers as Satan wants us disarmed. This is why Paul said in Ephesians 6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” That’s Satan’s kingdom of darkness – He hates the Light and those who dwell in the Light!

In I Peter 5:8-10 are encouraging words, at least for the one who knows he’s in a war for his soul! It says: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour [swallow up]; whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who has called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you.” Peter said his intent is to :devour” you; but he’ll seek to deceive you, disillusion you, defeat you, disarm you, decay you, depress you, denounce your faith, detour you away from your only hope!

Adrian Rogers, before his death, wrote a book on “Kingdom Authority,” and in it he wrote: “Satan is a consummate liar, and he is spiritually wicked, brilliantly stupid, and hideously beautiful. He wants to pull the veil of darkness over his activities. For a while he may persuade sophisticates that he does not exist at all. They think of him as a mythological character or in the comic sense as a little guy in a red suit with a pitchfork trying to catch somebody bending over.” [B&H Publ Group, Nashville, Tn. 2002, p.6]. Do you understand? Do you sense it in what you see happening all around you with some family members, maybe your own parents, close friends, classmates, government leaders, business leaders, the movie industry, the nation? And you, they, society in general, are unaware that Satan thrives on darkness, destruction, disease, dying, death! What did we see about ‘the thief’ in John 10:10? “The thief comes not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.”

Satan was cast out of heaven because he chose to be his own boss! Have you? He would not be ruled over, led by, or even blessed by God! Cast out of heaven? Because he loved the indecent, the impure, the dirty, unclean, immoral! Your enemy thrives on spiritual sickness and sadness! He’s blessed by those who allow personal torment and paralyzing acts to guide their daily lives for a ‘bigger kick’ than they received yesterday from their own debauchery instigated by Satan! Oh, how he thrives on the breaking up of meaningful relationships, yes, especially where ‘church splits’ divide, separate, usually disillusioning some! Marriages and families are primary “fronts” of attacks! [I had lunch with our church’s Youth Minister recently, and sadly he told me, I believe, that eleven or twelve of the young boys in his youth group had no fathers around them!] Satan is filled with hatred of Christ and Christ’s children of faith! He despises it all!

And the one thing I want you to grasp, Frederick Buechner said it so well: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” Concerning our Lord and Savior, concerning eternal purpose, concerning lives of blessing – so many are deprived, denied, yes, even enslaved in dark cells of demonic activity, because Satan is not interested in those around you, blinded by him, that there is another Way – where you are, with whom you relate, God has placed you there to let them know ‘freedom in Christ’, yes, from demonic activity!!

It was C.S Lewis who once said: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen; not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” And you see not only Christ’s finished work at the Cross – you see the prison cells of life where many ARE enslaved by the demon powers! But the sad thing is that many Christians ignore the ministry of caring that Jesus daily exemplified including “deliverance” of many from the clutches of Satan’s hold! Certainly George Bernard Shaw was not a believing disciple of Christ but he sadly nailed the church-at-large when he said: “The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that’s the essence of inhumanity.” But too many ‘believers’ are so fragile when it comes to outreach opportunities among the spiritually enslaved to the powers of darkness because their situation and circumstance is beyond the disciple’s ability to help – but the problem is not one’s inability but his availability to all Jesus IS!! And He’s the Deliverer!!

I found it so very, very interesting and convicting in reading what John Stott had to say in his book, “Human Rights and Human Wrongs [Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1999, pps.83-84]. He wrote: “Our Christian habit is to bewail the world’s deteriorating standards with an air of rather self-righteous dismay. We criticize its violence, dishonesty, immorality, disregard for human life, and materialistic greed. “The world is going down the drain,” we say with a shrug. But whose fault is it? Who is to blame? Let me put it like this. If the house is dark when nightfall comes, there is no sense in blaming the house; that is what happens when the sun goes down. The question to ask is, “Where is the light?” Similarly, if the meat goes bad and becomes inedible, there is no sense in blaming the meat; that is what happens when bacteria are left alone to breed. The question to ask is “Where is the salt?” Just so, if society deteriorates and its standards decline until it becomes dark night or stinking fish, there is no sense in blaming society; that is what happens when fallen men and women are left to themselves, and human selfishness is unchecked. The question to ask is, “Where is the Church? Why are the salt and light of Jesus Christ not permeating and changing our society?” It is sheer hypocrisy on our part to raise our eyebrows, shrug our shoulders, or wring our hands. The Lord Jesus told us to be the world’s salt and light. If therefore darkness and rottenness abound, it is largely our fault and we must accept the blame.” And sadly I don’t see too many ‘church-folk’ invading a demonized society with Jesus’ promise of liberty and freedom!!

And I have no hesitation in reminding you of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s words: “Action springs not from thought, but a readiness for responsibility.”

Plus, C.S. Lewis really shared insightful words when he wrote: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen; not only because I see it, but because of it I see everything else.” And you’re unsure whether Christ and His Word has enlightened you as to the ministry of deliverance concerning the Satanic, demonic world you encounter just about every day? God’s Holy Word has shown us, revealed to us, opened the door to us, in understanding the “Distressing Disguises” the Devil himself tries to dress us with, but Jesus exposed and won the victory over “them” through His shed blood at Calvary’s Cross!

Luke 9:42 tells us: “And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.” WHAT A WORD OF HOPE!

In Revelation 12:11 never forget this Word as you step out and step on the battlefield against Christ’s and His enemy, Satan: “And they overcame him [the Devil and Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

“DISTRESSING DISGUISES?” Satan casts doubt on the Word of God, but we do know “All Scripture is God-breathed…!!!” Satan is a stickler for legalism apart from grace, mercy, and love. Satan confesses to ‘Lies’ – not to the Truth! Satan twists the Truth [ask Eve!] and misuses Scripture to what he believes is his advantage! Satan fights, wars, for what he “thinks” is his; Satan induces bitter souls to end sadness before they find “joy”, giving his approval to any and all who will take their own lives! Satan is the master of anxiety, worry, fear, discouragement, and sin! Satan majors on shifts of spiritual eye-contact – always away from God, from His Word, from Jesus, majoring on your ‘short-sightedness’ about our Lord’s eternal purpose for that person! Satan majors on thorns, briers, unplowed fields of the human heart and mind, unseeded fields void of the seeds of His Holy Word! But there is:

“DIVINE GRACE”!! I John 5:18 says: “We know that whosoever is born of God [Second Birth, John 3] sins not; but he that is begotten of God keeps himself, and that wicked one touches him not.” And that happens because as Paul said in Ephesians 4:26-27, Be angry and sin not; let not the sun go down upon your wrath; neither give place to the devil.” And didn’t James say that if we submit ourselves to God, RESIST the devil, that he will flee from us? James 4:7. Divine Grace CONQUERS !!

I want to close this chapter With Adrian Rogers’ conclusion to his book on “Kingdom Authority”!! He wrote:

*Rather than “Lord, be with us,” pray, “Father, we welcome Your presence.”

*Rather than “Lord, give us victory,” pray, “Lord, you are our victory. I thank you to cause us always to triumph.”

*Rather than “Lord, defeat Satan,” pray, “Lord, I thank you that Satan has been defeated by your shed blood.”

* Rather than “Lord, give me strength,” pray, “Lord, you are my strength, shield, and deliverer.”

*Rather than “Lord, help me to be a better servant,” pray, “Lord, I consciously yield myself to you. I report to duty.”

I encourage you, in spiritual warfare against Satan and his armed forces, RESIST him in the name of Jesus, resist him through Jesus’ shed blood, resist him, yes, because you love your life in Christ even to the point of death if necessary for the honor of your Savior and Lord alone!! To the devil, Satan himself, if he comes to you, speak the words of Jesus, the victory of Jesus at the Cross and empty tomb, and stand on His promises that in Him YOU are more than conqueror!

CHAPTER TEN

FORGOTTEN?CHILDREN OF FAITH ARE DISCIPLINED BY THE LORD?

I know for those who are intimately acquainted with New Testament discipleship that they are not unfamiliar with New Testament ‘discipline’ as they journey on in the pathway of faith and faithfulness, but ‘youngsters’ in the faith sometimes are those, yes, like little children learning the discipline of caring parents. Our ‘walk with God’ IS an intimate relationship like Parent to a growing child, and that does include spiritual disciplining just as much as true parental disciplining! Aren’t you aware of ‘friends’ in the faith whose walks fail to exemplify ‘trained disciple’ but picture tragically untrained pilgrimages, untrained hopes and dreams of usefulness to the glory of Christ, even possibly resenting even any mention that true faith is founded on true faithfulness birthed out of steady, scriptural disciplines?

To the young or immature disciple of the Lord Jesus, spiritual discipline seems to make no sense to them because they’ve fallen for the idea that “common sense” is their guide! They are smart enough to decipher for themselves what is good or bad, what is holy or unholy, what is right or wrong – but in John 16:12-14 Jesus said: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.”

Now, please notice, wrestle with, decipher what God is saying to YOU through Hebrews 12:5-13! “And have you FORGOTTEN the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: ‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.” If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.’”

Notice, ‘dislocation’. Have you ever known the pain ‘dislocation’ brings? In the Spirit-realm that’s to be without discipline! What about lameness? What about feeble knees? What about illegitimacy? What about weakness? No discipline means careless, fruitless, short-sighted living, apart from that God desires you to have! Our Lord and Savior is not interested in seeing anyone with hands hanging down, feeble knees, or crooked paths! He wants you strong in Him walking straight paths to His glory, honor, and praise! Undisciplined living spiritually for any man opens the door to drastic erosion like the physical erosion seen in Florida or California shorelines! It can be explosive ‘sinkings’ in the spirit-realm leaving some to ask, “Is there any hope?” For some there is no hope for them because they bought in to a “false gospel” producing deception, disillusionment, unrealized spiritual dreams, because that “false gospel” related to self-effort, self-assertiveness, self-fulfillment, and self-glory, and no biblical directive of “the way of salvation.” Sheep are willing to be led – sadly donkeys usually have to be driven!

The donkeys of undisciplined lifestyles are described in Psalm 147:10 where the psalmist wrote: “He [God] does not delight in the strength of the horse; He [God] takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.” That’s the one standing “on his own” in no need of saving grace or mercy! Then verse 11 says, “The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy.” The undisciplined ‘donkey-style’ of life misses our Lord’s mercy and grace, but sheep have the Shepherd they’re willing to be led by! And God gives those a promise: Isaiah 45:2-3, “I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord who call you by your name, am the God of Israel.” Amen?

Have you FORGOTTEN His exhortation? Have you forgotten children of faith ARE disciplined by the Lord? How does that happen? Why does it happen?

I BELIEVE THE FORGETFULNESS OUR LORD SPOKE ABOUT IS BECAUSE OF AN ALLEGIANCE TO SELF, THE FLESH, THE ‘OLD MAN’ IN FALLEN ADAM BECAUSE OF A REFUSAL TO DENY SELF. In Matthew 16:24 Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”

A lot of people across the world ‘follow Christ,’ but refuse the cross, and certainly have no plans at all in denying self! Our Lord and Savior said in Matthew 10:32-33, “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”

Do you remember the passage where Jesus described those on “His right hand,” and also “those on His left hand”? It’s Matthew 25: 31-34, 41-46! May the Holy Spirit of God open all eyes who read this passage! Verses 31-36, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And he 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…Verses 41-46, Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ Then they also will answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

The “Forgotten Exhortation” of Hebrews 12 starts with verse one which is your challenge right now! “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

Oswald Chambers wrote in his “My Utmost For His Highest,”, [pps.257-258], “The characteristics of individuality are independence and self-assertiveness. It is the continual assertion of individuality that hinders our spiritual life more than anything else. If you say – “I cannot believe,” it is because individuality is in the road; individuality never can believe. Personality cannot help believing. Watch yourself when the Spirit of God is at work. He pushes you to the margins of your individuality, and you have either to shall – “I shall not,” or to surrender, to break the husk of individuality and let the personal life emerge. The Holy Spirit narrows it down every time to one thing [Matthew 5:23-24], “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” The thing in you that will not be reconciled to your brother is individuality. God wants to bring you into union with Himself, but unless you are willing to give up your right to yourself He cannot. “Let him deny himself” – deny his independent right to himself, then the real life has a chance to grow.”

I BELIEVE THE FORGETFULNESS OUR LORD SPOKE ABOUT IS ALSO BECAUSE MOST WALK AWAY FROM GOD – NOT TOWARD HIM. In Genesis 5:24 there is a very simple yet declarative verse. It says: “And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.”

If you have any doubt or doubts about a man’s faith or not, just examine his walk! Examining a man, consider the mundane experience of every-day living, not simply when the “religious spotlight” is shining on him! If you look at Hebrews 11:5 you see another word about Enoch. It says: “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, and was not found, because God had taken him ; for before he was taken, he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”

It is so interesting and thrilling and challenging to me as I read John 1:36 which says: “And looking at Jesus as He walked, John said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” As Jesus was known by His walk as well as His word, so, true disciples reveal their devotion to their own watch-care over their walks. But too many ‘fallen men’ spiritually refuse to walk toward or with God. Independence is the rule of their every step, yet think of Peter in Matthew 14:29, who “walked on the water to go to Jesus!”

Jude had been talking about “ungodly sinners” who speak against Jesus, and then said in Jude 16, “These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts…” John said it like this in I John 2:11, “But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” And do you understand – for some they could care less that they’ve chosen darkness and missed the True Light!

I call the Psalms “The Story of Authenticity!” And it begins with Psalm 1: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way [the walk] of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

I BELIEVE ALSO THE FORGETFULNESS OUR LORD SPOKE ABOUT IS THE WRESTLING AND WARFARE GOING ON IN ONE’S MIND THAT THEY SELFISHLY ALLOW TO WIN OUT OVER THE TRUTH OF GOD. In 2 Corinthians 10:5 Paul made mention of those who are, yes, even presently having to: “cast down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God…” Isn’t it sad to you that even ‘religion’ in men’s minds become stumbling blocks to the True Faith?

There is no hesitation in saying to you that redemptive faith majors on the heart, but often the ‘mind’ of fallen men put up strong roadblocks to keep one penetrating their hearts. Morally men oppose the Gospel and forget the Gospel, but mentally the ‘brain-washing’ process is just as dangerous excusing the filthiness of mind, flesh, and spirit as “the price I pay to be free to please and satisfy myself”!

How did Paul put it to the Corinthians? I Corinthians 2:14, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.”

Didn’t God say through one of His prophets, “My thoughts are not your thoughts”? And, sadly, you do know that one of the great ‘sins’ of fallen humanity is insubordination toward God and His Word!?!?

In Philippians 2:5-8 by His Word God challenges all through Paul: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

Our example of a yielded mind? “Yes, God, even to the point of dying,” and, as result many say, “That’s not my mind-set!”

FORGETFULNESS? FATAL FORGETFULNESS? “IF GOD EXPECTS ME TO DEAL WITH WHAT IS IN MY LIFE THAT OFFENDS HIM OR HINDERS MY SPIRITUAL GROWTH, FORGET IT, I’M NOT INTERESTED!” Are you familiar with Matthew 5:30? Jesus said: “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.”

What in the world was our Lord saying? He was saying that nothing, not even your right hand, was important enough in your life if it caused you to miss or forfeit “the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” That was not an edict for all smart spiritual people to go cut off their right hand! But that right hand is not more valuable to you than relationship to Christ! Except that it is true for many because they place no value on knowing Christ – they are saviors of all they deem important for themselves!

Do you remember Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead? You’ll find the story in John 11 as Jesus had ministered to Martha about resurrection life. Jesus spoke, “Lazarus, come forth!” And verse 44 says, “And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave-clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.” How many have crossed your path disinterested in your testimony because they are comfortable in their ‘grave-clothes’ and have no desire to hear about the One who sets captives free! Comfort in grave-clothes? No interest in removing deathly consequences?

Paul passionately wrote to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 7:1-3, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Open your hearts to us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one. I do not say this to condemn; for I have said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.” Perfecting holiness? Forget it! Seeing myself cleansed from all filthiness of flesh and spirit? Perfecting holiness in the fear of God in me? Forget it! Open my heart to others like Paul? Forget it! Choosing death daily that I might experience resurrection life in its fullness? Forget it!”

FORGETFULNESS? “COMMIT TO DISCIPLINE SO FRUIT WILL COME THROUGH ME HONORING CHRIST?” “The free gift of God in Christ has personal responsibility tied to it to be a fruit-producer that honors Him? I don’t think so. Hard ground in me has to be plowed, the soil of my life enriched, good seed planted, watering with the water of His Word, waiting for a crop? I believe I’ll pass!”

Peter had been talking about one being a partaker of the divine nature – and in 2 Peter 1:5-11 he said: “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control, perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has FORGOTTEN that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Please check the eighth verse again! “For if these things are yours and abound, you will neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Oswald Chambers was so on target! In “My Utmost…” he said: [p.96], “When we begin to form a habit we are conscious of it. There are times when we are conscious of becoming virtuous and patient and godly, but it is only a stage; if we stop there we shall get the strut of the spiritual prig.” Well, that’s true of some, but others are of the attitude and frame of reference, “I don’t want to be a fruitful field for God!” and they mean it!

FORGETFULNESS? “THE NECESSITY OF SPIRIT-ANOINTED LIVING? I’M NOT IN CONTROL? I BELIEVE I’LL PASS.” In Luke 24:49 Jesus said: “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

I don’t know how anyone could casually read through the Book of Acts and not be excited about Spirit-Anointed Living! A few disciples, filled with the Holy Spirit, turned their known world upside down, inside out!

Receiving the ministry of the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential for every man Jesus loves and wants to breathe into His spiritual breath of life, but with some people in some places the Holy Spirit is not welcome when His one desire is to quicken Christ in us and empower us to overcome! Don’t reject the Holy Spirit! Don’t refuse His desire to bless you as He convicts you of sin, righteousness and the judgment to come!

Rather than forget, ignore, deny the Holy Spirit, why not say, right now, “Oh, Holy Spirit, I welcome you right now to honor Jesus IN ME and THROUGH ME. I yield to your desire to bless me ‘in Christ,’ I yield to your desire to cover me and crown me in Your anointing, empowering me to honor Christ rather than refuse His saving grace, mercy, and love. Fill me, Holy Spirit, with power divine – I’m tired of my impotence that does nothing redemptive in me or through me. Amen!”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

FORGOTTEN? MARRIAGE: A CELEBRATION OF LIFE AND BLESSING?

FORGOTTEN? When you look at our modern America and, yes, our world-at-large, concerning home and family, have we fatalistically been wrapped in a futile hope of something good and lasting being restored or will we be fully wrapped in the “Blessed Hope” of Faith and Fulfillment in families – or do we just settle in to marriage being ‘forgotten’ as God ordained it to be?

I’m sincerely afraid that for far too many homes and families biblical marriage, home and family have been set aside, or, at least for a period of time, ‘masquerading’ as if everything is A-OK in our ‘house’. Has America forgotten its biblical roots concerning marriage?

Are we pulled, pressured, paralyzed by a perilous secular society, sin-ladened, which it and us in the church refuse to recognize as our dilemma, OR, can there be again a spiritual reformation and re-awakening through a powerful pull of God by His convicting Holy Spirit, sin-forgiven through His mercy and grace and the blood of Christ concerning ‘family forgetfulness,’ gladly, again, giving Jesus His rightful place as Lord over our marriages and homes?

Related to the marriages, homes, and families, have we ‘FORGOTTEN GOD,’ living though as ‘practical atheists, believing in God yet living separately as if He didn’t exist,’ OR, will we be once again fully immersed, not only in belief in Him and His Word, but learning to LIVE the ‘exchanged LIFE IN CHRIST’ – living by the Resurrection Life of our Lord in our homes and families?

FORGETFULNESS? Have we all of a sudden inherited a lost sight of God in our marriages corresponding to a lost sight of our true identity in Christ, BLINDED by the ‘god’ of this world, OR, can we say once again: “You, God, see us in our homes and families…and Your gaze on us has gracefully and graciously revealed that we need “to turn our eyes [of marriage and family] once again on Jesus Only.”

Marriage? Home? Family? Kids? Have we FORGOTTEN? Will it be the “godless” lives of choice – selfish, impersonal, radical disobedience to Holy God, OR, will our marriage and home and family be the predestined, the redeemed, the reconciled – a “Christ-filled LIFE” of selflessness, service, caring, loving, ministering, teaching, disciplining, blessing – intent on marriage and family being a God-honoring witness?

There is no doubt in my mind that what was established by God as a holy, reflective institution of God Himself has been stolen by fallen humanity and establishing for themselves the absence of ground rules, with their own ideas negating biblical revelation!

Henry de Lubac in “The Drama of Atheist Humanism,” [trans. By Edith M.Riley, 1950; New York; World Publishing Com. 1963, IX] wrote: “Man cannot organize the world [dare I say (JFF) ‘cannot organize marriage & family’?] for himself without God; without God he can only organize the world against man, [dare I say [JFF], ‘disorganize marriage & family for his own selfish interests?]. Exclusive humanism is inhuman humanism.” And I believe that explains so much about the debacle of marriage and family.

Christopher Dawson wrote “Progress and Religion: An Historical Inquiry, [1931, Peru, Il: Sherwood Sugden & Co., 1991, p.228]. He said: “It seems as though a new society was arising which will acknowledge no hierarchy of values, no intellectual authority, and no social or religious tradition, but which will live for the moment in a chaos of pure sensation.” Is that descriptive to a great degree of marriages and families in our world today?

But I believe that what has been forgotten is God Almighty’s intent that “Marriage [be]: A Celebration of Life and Blessing”! I was recently reading through Hebrews 11 and God so clearly spoke to my heart about true believers in a maddening world of marriage and family chaos! My wife and I on June 10, 2012, celebrated our 56^th anniversary of marriage. Hebrews 11:13 says, speaking of heroes of the true faith: “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”

Hebrews 11:14-16 goes on to say: “For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.” Is your desire a ‘better country’ for marriage and family around you, “that is, a heavenly country”?

You do understand that our ‘faith in Christ’ is because we knew, by His grace and by His Spirit, that we needed to be saved by His grace, had to be saved or we personally had no hope, but also, just as in the fleshly realm with fallen sin natures and a walk away from God, fleshly men AND women are only concerned in marriage with what brings them pleasure, and if their fallen sin natures aren’t pleased they look for new territory and new opportunities to satisfy that fallen sin nature!

In our modern society our population has been geared toward self-determination without God, self-rationalization as to what satisfies us the most with our fallen sin natures, self-realization on our own terms, and, yes, self-gratification which opens huge, wide doors away from God’s purpose and plan in Christ! Marriage failures usually come through one or even possibly both parties that live by a false philosophy of “self-enlightment” which is nothing more than fleshly indulgence! Mostly men, but at times some women, have decided to be free from marriage because they are “free from God”!

Read carefully Martin Buber’s convicting comment in Thomas F. Torrance’s “God and Rationality,” [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971, p.29], where Buber said: “Something has stepped between our existence and God to shut off the light of heaven…,[and] that something is in fact ‘ourselves,’ our own bloated selfhood.”

In I Corinthians 3 Paul challenged ‘men’ in the church, but I believe it speaks to all ‘men’ and especially those who live imitating men of fallen sin natures as it relates to their marriages or marriage failures. Paul said in the first three verses: “And I, men, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal,[fleshly, men with their old sin natures], as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you [do you believe that would include marriage troubles or divorces?], are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?”

Isn’t it sad to you and heart-breaking that our marriage culture in America has become so superficial, so faithless, even indifferent in far too many families as to personal and family trust and yieldedness to Holy God and our loving Savior and Lord and to His Church? It’s as if marriage has decayed to a meaningless relationship that has no blessing, no reward, no prize out of the participants’ participation even though they live under the same roof!

This attitude toward marriage is what Martin Luther foresaw as he wrote the following: “[Fallen human nature] is completely self-centered…It puts itself in the place of everything else, even in the place of God himself and seeks only its own purposes and not God’s. For this reason it is its own chief and most important idol.” [ Luther, quoted in Paul Althause’, “The Theology of Martin Luther, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1966, p.147]. Would you even think or consider that divorce, home-break-up, absentee fatherhood or motherhood, is because most bow before and yield to the idol of self-devotion, self-pleasure, self-idolatry? Could or would we even dare to speak about “marital narcissism” or self-indulgence at any price?

Too many marriage partners have established themselves as the final authority on what they intend to do in their marriages – stay or go? – and God and His will about it is overthrown, usurped, denied, as the partner wanting divorce establishes and bows before self-centered omnipotence! Can’t you hear them? “God may exist, but when it comes to what makes me happy I decide for myself!” And they reject, deny, even defame biblical authority! Do you sense as I do that tons of people in marriages across America and the world see no relevance of God to their situations and circumstances as it relates to what they do or don’t do in their marriages and families? Will of man in marriage or will of God in marriage? I’m convinced our Lord’s Lordship is as vital for our marriages as our personal relationship is to Him as our Lord of lords!

One of the reasons I sense for marriage failures and not blessing and celebration is a lack of “response-ability” [a term Craig Gay uses]. When I saw that term of Gay’s and hid it away in my mind and heart, I immediately thought of Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child [yes, a marriage mate] in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Most ‘bail out’ when they should ‘hold on’! Think about what Jesus said and relate it to your marriage and family: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. [That’s ‘rejuvenation’ or ‘made young again’!]. Take My yoke upon you [Are you and your wife mutually yoked to Christ?] and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

And I tell you, it doesn’t matter about age – young, old whatever – as a marriage partner, get in the yoke of Christ; He’s strong, steady, set apart to the Glory of God alone – and every step tied to Him will be straight and in the right path!! But if you become your own ‘chief and most important idol’, even in your marriage, apart from God, you become just like yourself!! And Psalm 135:15-18 says: “The idols of the nations [marriages, self-worship etc.] are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. [Made by a fallen sin nature, the making of one’s self into its own idol, and worshipped, bowing before, yielded to!!] They have mouths, but cannot speak [wisely], eyes, but they cannot see; [blinded to God’s will, God’s way], they have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths [spiritually dead before Holy God and His Word!]. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.”

That should spur thoughts in you, right now, this very moment, about why there is ‘forgetfulness’ of celebration and blessing in marriages – you’re not sure? Come to Luke 22: 25-27! And Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.” In your marriages are you lords or servants?

Have you not grasped it yet? Has our Lord’s example in relationships not been enough for you? Taking the sentence of death unto ourselves daily, “in marriage,” is the awesome spiritual reality of overcoming fleshly selfishness and blocking out selfishness that the servant spirit of Christ might reign through us to our wives! Look at I John 3:16, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for [our wives!!].”

Charles Swindoll, in his book “The Quest For Character”, [p.107], wrote the following: “Home is indeed where life makes up its mind. It is there – with fellow family members – we hammer out our convictions on the anvil of relationships. It is there we cultivate the valuable things in life, like attitudes, memories, beliefs, and most of all, character. Give God thanks today for His help in using your home to develop these all-important essentials…”

Do you remember Paul and Silas imprisoned in Acts 16? The ‘keeper of the prison,” after the earthquake, said to them, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said to him, Acts 16:31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, YOU AND YOUR HOUSEHOLD.” Because marriage is to be a redemptive relationship between husband and wife and parents and children!

Though Karl Heim was writing about “the Church”, I’m taking the liberty to change ‘The Church’ to marriage. In his “Christian Faith and Natural Science, [New York: Harper and Brothers, 1957, p.24], Heim wrote: “[Marriages often] are like a ship on whose deck festivities are still kept up and glorious music is heard, while deep below the waterline a leak has been sprung and masses of water are pouring in, so that the vessel is settling hourly lower though the pumps are manned day and night.”

What is ‘the leak’? One or both of the marriage partners has ‘sprung a leak’! One or both marriage partners have lost ‘mutual submission in the fear of God’! One or both marriage partners have lost the sacrificial spirit of laying down one’s life! One or both marriage partners have lost ‘the denial of self and the taking up of Christ’s cross’ to serve the partner!

Why would I apologize to you about what I firmly believe and know: Jesus Himself is not only the Savior of the world – He is the Savior of every marriage if He was given His rightful place! Christian marriage and Christian family living begins at the Cross and the empty tomb with all members yielded to His saving grace and Sovereign Lordship!

I love what Larry Christenson wrote in his book, “The Christian Family,” [p.151], “It is not a child’s intellectual immaturity, but the adult’s intellectual sophistication, which is the real barrier to faith. “Now they were bringing even ‘infants’ to him, saying, ‘Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” [Luke 18:15-17]. Since it is by “FAITH” that we receive the Kingdom, we have here the unmistakable authority of Jesus to assure us that children – ‘even infants’ – can indeed receive His saving grace. This is absolutely fundamental to Christian family living. We must have the faith that the Holy Spirit works in even the very small child, bringing him into personal relationship with Jesus.”

Oh, I know you’ve heard it – but I’ll say it again: The family that prays, stays! The couple that prays, stays! Yes, even the children that pray, often hold families together! In the Name of Jesus, forget the old decaying life of marriage and settle in to the “celebration and blessing of marriage” in the Lord Jesus – He’s your marriages’ eternal foundation!

CHAPTER TWELVE

FORGOTTEN? CHILDREN A BLESSING – NOT A BURDEN?

You are so aware of this chapter title whether you experienced your childhood as if it were a ‘horror’ movie or not. I doubt if any family in America has lived through their generations without awareness of one’s own family, friends, neighbors, who’ve experienced that some parents didn’t, wouldn’t, haven’t seen children as a ‘blessing’ and not a burden. I was a product of a broken marriage, family, and especially with my father. The divorce was not my father’s desire, but even so, I only stayed in my father’s home only one night in my entire life. I never had a call, a note, or any encouraging word from him. It was if when my mother wanted the divorce, it included me also. But at three years of age, after the divorce, in 1939, I was taken by my mother to live with her parents as she went to another city to find employment. My grandparents raised me from three years of age to about twelve years of age when my mother re-married. There’s no doubt for my grandparents that I was a burden but also a blessing. They received me lovingly, carefully, and with a commitment to see I was nurtured and cared for physically and spiritually. They were always in church every time the church door was opened! There I was touched by many caring people who also saw it was their responsibility to be a blessing and nurture a needy child. I thank God for that and for all those years under the care of my grandparents and a caring church family.

Psalm 127:3-5 says to us: “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate.” Don’t you find these verses so interesting? Blessed with our children! A reward from God! A full quiver doesn’t make you ashamed, but even opens the door for you to speak with your enemies “in the gate.” I truly believe there is so much in those words that most of us have never touched what our Lord is telling us, but it sounds to me like our kids are even door-stoppers as our enemies seek to press in!!

In Deuteronomy 7:13 we read: “And He [God] will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also “BLESS THE FRUIT OF YOUR WOMB” and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you.” Blessing? The fruit of the womb is blessing? The birth of new babies, the children of our households, our kids now teens then adults, and they are a blessing? I thank God, praise God, rejoice in His gifts to Sue and me – four grown children, and now nine grandchildren, and now one great grandchild – and I’m not blessed? Sue and I aren’t blessed?

David said and sang in Psalm 139: 13-16, “For You [God] formed my inward parts [and God made a mistake?]; You covered [wove] me in my mother’s womb[And He made a mistake?] I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame [bones] were not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they were all written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.” How awesome is that? From God’s point of view, He’s known of every birth in every nation, knew us before we were born, and put blessing after blessing after blessing in His book of the days fashioned for each one of us! And parents know that or they coldly reject anything God has to do with their children! That’s when “FORGETFULNESS” is birthed! That’s when children become a burden and not a blessing! Sadly some parents deny God any right to their children! But even with that attitude God overruled in my case! There is such an informative word for parents in Psalm 34:11 where David was speaking, “Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” And without a doubt this is that stumbling block for a lot of parents! “Fear God? I’m to teach my children the fear of the Lord?”

Isn’t that amazing? Rather than receiving that holy word, some parents believe themselves to be smarter than God and refuse to put that basic foundation into their children’s lives, even when Proverbs tells us at least 12 times that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge or wisdom!” In Proverbs 8 the Word speaks about “wisdom”: Verses 22-36, “The Lord possessed me [wisdom] at the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I [wisdom] have been established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there ever was an earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought forth; while as yet He had not made the earth or the fields, or the primal dust of the world. When He prepared the heavens, I was there, when He drew a circle on the face of the deep, when He established the clouds above, when He strengthened the fountains of the deep, when He assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters would not transgress His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth, Then I was beside Him as a master; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in His inhabited world, and my delight was with the sons of men. Now therefore, listen to me [wisdom!], my children, for blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord; but he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; all those who hate me love death.”

I do not know of a more vital or important section of God’s Word than what you just read. Yes, we are to teach our children “the fear of the Lord,” understanding that precious “fear of God” opens parents and children to the wisdom of God, the wisdom of His Word, and the wisdom of parental watchcare of their kids as a sacred trust from God. As a result parents build the bridge in their children for the reception of “divine life,” “obtaining the favor of the Lord,” and having instilled within them a love for His life, not “wronging their own souls”!

Do you remember the angel appearing to Zacharias in Luke 1 telling him his wife would bear him a son, his name was to be John, and that he was to go before Jesus in the spirit and power of Elijah, verse 17, “to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just [or justified], to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” How awesome and challenging is that concerning parental responsibility! Making ready and preparing your children FOR THE LORD!

I want you to also come to Matthew 7:6-11! Follow carefully!! “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. Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

I pray you also read the previous passage in Matthew from parents or a parental standpoint! Asking – receiving, seeking – finding, knocking – opened…BECAUSE YOU ARE PARENTS OR A PARENT FAITHFULLY GOING BEFORE GOD IN BEHALF OF YOUR CHILDREN!

But you realize there are those I call “bottom-feeders!” That’s parents with no faith, no interest in the things of God, rejection of the Gospel of Christ as an offense to them, who had just as soon give their children “stones” for bread, and the “satanic” for fish!

Though Titus was speaking of qualifications for elders in a local church, I believe what he said about “elders” should be true in every parent concerning their rearing of children or the lack of it. Titus 1:6 says a man is eligible for eldership if: “if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation [ debauchery or incorrigibility] or insubordination.” To Timothy Paul talked about a ‘bishop’ “ruling his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence.”

Often in children, youth, you see not submission but rebellion, not faithfulness but unfaithfulness, not purity but impurity, not one who is moldable, but one who is incorrigible! Jesus even spoke of “children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death,” [Mark 13:12]. Spurgeon said: “Put poison in the spring [or well], and it will impregnate the whole stream.” A good, strong, worldly education will not equip your children for a God-blessed life – it requires, yes, requires daily parental example and instruction about devotion to the one true and living God and to a redeemed, reconciled, regenerated relationship with Jesus, King of kings and Lord of lords!

Do you “teach” and live before your children the faith of our Lord and Savior? Do you impart the Word of God to them as their necessary milk, meat, fruit, bread, and water of the Word that spiritually sustains their lives? Oh, you know it’s true, except for a few reserved, nervous children! Excitement reigns in their little minds and hearts when you first take them to school. Why do you think it would be any different with them when you as a parent become their ‘spiritual school teacher’ and share God’s Word with them?

You’ve got to recognize and accept your parental responsibility in preparing your children for a life of faith, a pilgrimage with God, a journey of discovery for them of His good, acceptable, and perfect will for their lives.

It may not be easy at first or maybe never easy, but it is essential, necessary, mandated from God that every parent must respond to and to answer God Himself as to how we handled parental responsibility of nurturing our children. Children come into this world so cute and cuddly but it doesn’t take long for parents to learn that they are unplowed fields, yes, hardened soils of a separated heart from God, no order, no discipline, no awareness of why you plow and plow and plow, and why you carefully treat the soil of their hearts, and why you carefully seed them with eternal seeds of supernatural miracles coming to life through them! But they will and do learn. I really don’t know who said it, but I’ve kept it close and knew the moment would come when it would challenge some folks – how about parents? “To be on the road is not tantamount to arrival, but it is better than never starting.”

I’ve always appreciated Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s writings. You know he was imprisoned by Nazi Germany for his faith that could not, would not be silenced. In prison he wrote a powerful word for a niece who was about to be married. Bonhoeffer’s note to his niece said: “Marriage is more than your love for each other. It has a higher dignity and power, for it is God’s holy ordinance, through which he wills to perpetuate the human race till the end of time. In your love you see only your two selves in the world, but in marriage you are a link in the chain of the generations, which God causes to come and to pass away to his glory, and calls into his kingdom. In your love you see only the heaven of your happiness, but in marriage you are placed at a post of responsibility towards the world and mankind. Your love is your own private possession, but marriage is more than something personal – it is a status, an office.”

I even see marriage as a ‘holy calling,’ a heavenly ministry, an eternal training ground and equipping center, the location of the field of evangelistic harvesting, new-birth nurturing, and heavenly blessing on earth. It is to be an earthly expression of the heavenly body and enterprise of touching our world with grace. No church is built to the honor of Christ apart from parents and children living Him out in and through the daily life of home and their rich relationships. What do we read in Psalm 127:1? “Unless the Lord builds the house [dare I say family?], those who build it labor in vain.”

As I looked to closing out this particular chapter, I really wanted to pin-point for parents what is needed to spiritually, parentally, succeed in child-rearing blessings and not burdens in the children God entrusted to their watch-care. I was reading Spurgeon, and before my eyes, mind, and heart, there it was! Spurgeon taught on parents teaching the fear of the Lord! [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Memorial Library, Vol.2, p.356].

First, “Teach morality.” ‘What man is he that desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.” [Psalm 34:12-14].

Second, “Teach godliness, and a constant belief in God’s oversight.” ‘The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.’ [Psalm 34:15].

Third, “Teach the evil of sin.” ‘The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.’ Psalm 34:16-17

Fourth, “Teach your children the necessity of a broken heart open to the Lord Himself.” ‘The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.’ Psalm 34:18.

Fifth, “Teach them the inestimable blessing or blessedness of being a child of God.” ‘Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones: not one of them is broken.’

There’s no desolation of godly parents as they disciple and discipline and define their children in their Lord and Savior! There’s no desolation of children as they receive the care, training, discipling of godly parents! AMEN?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

FORGOTTEN? GOD’S BLESSING OF VISIONS, VOICES, AND DREAMS?

You’ve heard it in your spiritual pilgrimage: “You hear from God? What planet are you from? I may not be a PhD, but I’m smart enough to know your “talks, visitations, voices” from God is sure lunacy! If I were you, I’d visit a professional, highly intelligent psychiatrist!” And they walk away from you as if they had met the devil himself if they believed in him.

But I would point you to Abraham who was one of world history’s most famous people. In Genesis 15 “the word of the Lord came to Abram ‘in a vision,’ God saying to Abram, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” And the history, the pilgrimage, the journey is still going on! In fact in John 8:56, Jesus said: [Did you read it right? Yes! “Jesus said,”] “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”

Listen carefully to Galatians 3:5-9! “Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? – just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’ So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.”

After being a Baptist pastor for 12 years, 1962 – 1974, in February 1974 I was truly and mercifully born again, born the second time, born of the Spirit, and began an amazing journey of faith and obedience to my Lord and Savior. Between 1975 through 1981, I made about one trip a year to Brazil, working along the Amazon River. A friend said to me in 1981, “Farrell, you need to go to India!” I was not impressed but our gracious Lord DID put India on my heart. My first trip there was about 1982, a door being opened by another friend to a Church of South India church fellowship where I taught pastors in the daytime and did a three-night open-air crusade in a huge lot next to the church. After the final service was over that Sunday night, alone, I walked around that open field, thanking the Lord for the gracious harvest and the huge blessings. Then the Lord clearly spoke as if in an audible voice – I will never forget it. It was if God opened the heavens and said to me, TO ME!, “Son, you are to begin a journey with the purpose of the rest of your life ministering life and truth to my India pastors!”

In 1983 Macedonian Ministry of Missions was established and for 25 years, 4-5 trips a year, from 3 weeks to 3 months, I have ministered all over India in pastors’ conferences and open-air crusades. I taught in Haiti, the Philippines, Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Thailand, Cambodia, and a few conferences in England – all because I HEARD THE VOICE AND VISION OF GOD FOR MY LIFE AND MINISTRY!

In Numbers 24:1-4 God’s Holy Word says, “Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times, to seek to use sorcery, but he set his face toward the wilderness. And Balaam raised his eyes, and saw Israel encamped according to their tribes; AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD CAME UPON HIM. Then he took up the oracle and said: ‘The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor, the utterance of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, with eyes wide open..” What an awesome revelation from the God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever! GET READY- HIS VISION, VOICE, OR DREAM IS ABOUT TO COME TO YOU!!**

Since God is no respecter of persons, examine Psalm 89:15-24, putting your name alongside David’s expecting God to do for you what He did for David! “Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance. In Your name they rejoice all day long, and in Your righteousness they are exalted. For You are the glory of their strength, and in Your favor our horn [strength] is exalted. For our shield belongs to the Lord, and our king to the Holy One of Israel. THEN YOU SPOKE IN A VISION TO YOUR HOLY ONES, and said: “I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from among the people. I have chosen My servant David; with My holy oil I have anointed him, with whom My hand shall be established; also My arm shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not outwit him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him. I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague those who hate him. But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him, and in My name his horn shall be exalted.” And, Thank God, that the God of true salvation is no respecter of persons!

I remember being in a pastors’ conference that Pastor Peter Lord led in his church in Titusville, Florida, many years ago. As I recall that conference, I remember a young pastor in his late twenties or early thirties asking Peter a question. Peter had been teaching on hearing God’s voice and the young pastor said to him, “I’ve never heard the voice of God! How does it happen?” And Peter instructed us all as well as the young pastor to bow our heads in total silence, begin to ask the Father to speak to us personally, and after a number of minutes, in that quietness, we all began to hear a man weeping. It was the questioner – and Peter said: “Young man, what did God say to you?” And the young pastor, through his tears, said, “God said, ‘You are My son, and I love you!’” He or you will never be the same when God speaks, envisions for you, or gives you a ‘dream’ out of the heart of God!

What does Proverbs 29:18 tell us? “Where there is no vision, the people perish,” or “cast off restraints”! In Proverbs 8:32-36 there is such a valuable Word that truly opens the door to divine opportunity or closes that door leaving a man to ‘try’ and find his own way, which usually leads him away from God, not towards Him! It says: “Now therefore, listen to me [to wisdom], my children, for blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord; but he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; all those who hate me love death.”

But, what if you are one who does NOT love “death,” but has a deep longing in your heart to hear God, how does one ‘get in’ on “The Blessing of Visions, Voices, or Dreams?”

I BELIEVE THE BLESSING OF VISIONS, VOICES, OR DREAMS BECOMES REALITY WHEN ONE IS TRULY SENSITIVE AND OPEN TO GOD’S UNVEILINGS OF HIMSELF AND HIS WILL THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD! When you come to the Book of Habakkuk, in chapter 2, verse 1, we read: “I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He [God] will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected.”

That is one huge ‘life-changer,’ the attitude of standing watch over one’s own heart, setting one’s self in the frame of reference of WANTING TO HEAR GOD, and “watching to see what God will say to me.. and what I will answer when I am corrected!” But far too many are not interested in ‘correction’ but God’s approval for them to continue down the road of self-affirmation!

The promise IS GIVEN! Verses 2 & 3 tell us: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” In other words, God’s Word is sure!

What did Jesus quote to Satan who came to tempt Him in Matthew 4:4? “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Do you understand? God’s Holy Word has been written specifically for YOU as if YOU were the only one it was ever written for! Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word, God, is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Is that true for you? The psalmist said in Psalm 119:130, “The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.”

No doubt this is why Peter said in I Peter 2:2, “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,” [or grow up into your salvation!]”. It’s so interesting and so valuable and so important to us what God said in Jeremiah 23:22!! “But if they [the prophets] had stood in My counsel, and had caused My people to hear My words, then they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings.”

I BELIEVE THE BLESSINGS OF VISIONS, VOICES, AND DREAMS, ARE BIRTHED EVEN IN THE MIDST OF GOD’S OPPORTUNITIES IN DRASTIC HUMAN EVENTS. Do you remember Paul and Silas imprisoned for the faith in Acts 16? Look with me at verses 25-34! But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. SUDDENLY THERE WAS A GREAT EARTHQUAKE, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.” Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.”

Jail, prison, hospital, family crisis, student dilemma, war and a soldier in a fox-hole, job crisis, job loss, business failure, marriage seemingly down the tubes of failure,…and somebody cries out: “God, help me,” – and He sends Jesus as your rescuer and Redeemer!

I BELIEVE THE BLESSINGS OF VISIONS, VOICES, AND DREAMS, ARE BROUGHT TO REALITY AND FRUITION BY THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. In I Corinthians 2:9-12 we read: But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”

All of a sudden, by grace through faith, my journey is not determined by my best efforts, my own ‘wise’ or ‘unwise’ counsel, by even my fleshly attempt to learn from others’ failures, but by the holy presence of God’s promise of the Holy Spirit to be in me, ‘guiding me into all truth,’ ‘testifying of Jesus and His plans for my life,’ and ‘opening up God’s Word through Holy Spirit interpretation practically for MY journey day by day!’

Oswald Chambers said in his “My Utmost For God’s Highest,” [p.265], “If you try to dam up the Holy Spirit in you to produce subjective experiences, you will find that He will burst all bounds and take you back again to the historic Christ. Never nourish an experience which has not God as its Source and faith in God as its result.”

In John 20:21-22 we read, So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” No doubt this is why Paul had to ask the Corinthians if their walk was an explanation of Holy Spirit presence and power: I Corinthians 3:16, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

Isn’t it amazing to you as it is to me after discovering God’s blessing of the Indwelling Holy Spirit that Christians often fear the Holy Spirit and apart from faith the unsaved don’t even know “the power of God and His leadership through the Holy Spirit?” Three times in the first five verses of Romans 8 Paul said: “according to the Spirit”! The Holy Spirit convicts, convinces, and converts, then consecrates a “new-born life” on the altar of sacrifice! Yield to the Holy Spirit!

I BELIEVE THE BLESSINGS OF VISIONS, VOICES, AND DREAMS, FLOURISH WHEN ONE IS OPEN TO SOVEREIGN, DIVINE DIRECTIVES, OUT OF THE MIND, HEART, AND SPIRIT OF GOD HIMSELF. Come to Acts 8:26-35! Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is desert. So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading from Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come and sit with him. The place in the Scripture which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opened not His mouth. In His humiliation His justice was taken away, and who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.” So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself, or of some other man?” Then Philip opened His mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.”

Notice, an angel of the Lord spoke to him. Notice, also, the Holy Spirit directs Philip. And notice, Philip was available to represent God before the eunuch! You’ve, no doubt, heard of “entertaining angels unaware”! Then praise God, the eunuch was spiritually sensitive enough to seek for himself, with help! But when pride enters in, when rebellion fills the heart, when hardness shuts the door, opposites of the eunuch neither listen, hear, or envision what God truly has in store for them.

It was T.S.Eliot in “Choruses from the Rock” who wrote: “Endless invention, endless experiment, Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness; Knowledge of speech, but not of silence; Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word. Where is the Life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?”

How on target is that? Endless activity, but no time for an angel! Endless effort, but no time for Life! Speech, words, motion but no time for the Master! Blessing doesn’t come in and of ourselves. Eternal purpose is never discovered when my ears are deaf to the spoken Words of Jesus. Overcoming power of fleshly lives never becomes “God’s helping hands” when I see only myself as the answer to and for me. In Jeremiah 13:25-27 [NIV] we read: “Because you have forgotten me and trusted in false gods, I will pull up your skirts over your face that your shame may be seen – your adulteries and lustful neighings, your shameless prostitution!”

In “The Power of the Call,” Henry Brandt wrote: [p.49], “If a man is a sinner, the diagnosis disturbs him. It is my responsibility and the pastors’ to declare the truth to him. [Like an angel!]. It is important we speak the truth in love by describing what he will see in the mirror of God’s Word.”

Wrong road travelers need angelic assistance, passionate Philips, and those who speak to them under Holy Spirit anointing! Those under the curse and not the blessing need “truth-speakers” not agree-ers who know the end result of going one’s own way, doing only what one’s fallen sin-nature dictates, and feeling comfortable walking the ways of the godless, and at the same time thinking everything is A-OK when I deny God His rightful place in my life.

At least the psalmist feared God! In Psalm 119:37-38 we read: “Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way. Establish Your word to Your servant, who is devoted to fearing You.”

In 2 Corinthians 1:8, Paul walked where a lot of people in our troubled world walk, but not without hope. While he was in Asia trouble came his way to the point he was ‘burdened beyond measure..despairing even of life. Verse 9, Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.” Spiritually dead! Trust in God – not in yourself!

I BELIEVE THE BLESSINGS OF VISIONS, VOICES, AND DREAMS ARE ACTIVE AND FULFILLING WHEN ONE”S HEART IS SINGULAR AND NOT DIVIDED. In 2 Chronicles 26:16 the Word says of Uzziah, “But when he had become strong, his heart was so lifted up that he acted corruptly. For he was false to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to make an offering on the altar of incense.”

At one point here was a man who grew in stature before the Lord and men, then fell away. Did it say “his heart was lifted up?” A lifted-up heart when God says, “Guard your heart?” A lifted-up heart when God tells us “the heart is deceitful?” A lifted-up heart when in Jeremiah 17:9 God tells us: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? Verse 10, I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”

But do you understand a “darkened heart”? Are you aware of a “deceived heart”? Does a “disillusioned heart” say anything to you? Human lives with no hope of “new”, “changed or exchanged,” “God-given hearts”, or some of the saddest people you’ll ever be around, even as they ‘smile’ at you or make fun of your faith!

Peter said “you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,” and he was talking about Jesus with whom God was well-pleased! [2 Peter 1:19]. Look at verses 16-18! “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ AND WE HEARD THIS VOICE WHICH CAME FROM HEAVEN when we were with Him on the holy mountain.”

Is your heart singular minded in yieldedness to Almighty God or are you still divided as to your allegiance and reception of God’s “His-Story”?

I BELIEVE THE BLESSINGS OF VISIONS, VOICES, AND DREAMS ARE TRULY LIFE-YIELDING WHEN ONE PRAYS THE PRAYER OF REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD AND FAITH IN THE FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST AT THE CROSS – I SIGN ON TO THE TRUTH OF GOD’S UNVEILING OF THE ONE TRUE SAVIOR AND LORD! Look at Romans 10:8-13!! But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach); that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Billy Graham’s daughter, Anne Graham Lotz has written a book entitled: “My Heart’s Cry.” [pps. 18-20], She wrote: “Years ago I had the privilege of praying with a woman in my class as she responded to God’s Word by confessing her sin, claiming the cross as her atonement for sin, and inviting Jesus into her heart and life, surrendering to Him as Savior and Lord. Her face was soaked in tears and wreathed in smiles when she got up off her knees. She was assured she belonged to the Shepherd and was safely inside the fold of a personal, permanent relationship with God.

Several days later, she asked me to accompany her as she went to tell her pastor of the decision she had made. I sat beside her on the small sofa in the pastor’s elegantly appointed study as she poured out her heart. With a voice that trembled with emotion and eyes that brimmed with tears, she described the commitment she had prayerfully made earlier in the week then blurted out, “I’ve been born again!”

The pastor, wearing a three-piece pinstripe suit with a gold watch chain draped across the front of his vest, listened attentively as he sat in a red leather desk chair. His silver hair was immaculate, his manicured fingers were fanned out and pressed together in a thoughtful pose, and his expression was kindly patient as his deep voice resonated in the paneled chamber. With a condescending tone that might be used with a rather slow-witted child, he explained, “But my dear Susan, you weren’t born again this week! Why, you were baptized when you were twelve years old! You’re a member of this church. You teach Sunday school. You’ve been a Christian all your life.”

I barely noticed the hostile dagger of a glance he threw me because I was so incredibly dumbfounded! His reaction to Susan was a totally unexpected revelation of what seemed to be a false shepherd!…Susan had taken God at His Word! She had heard the voice of the Shepherd, calling her by name, and she responded by following Him in a life of faith, with the first step being her own salvation. And this professional shepherd was saying it wasn’t so!…It was depressingly obvious that he was a false shepherd who had led that very prestigious church possibly without ever having entered through the Door of the fold for himself! He did not recognize or acknowledge the Shepherd’s voice in Susan’s life.”

Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the precious and powerful Holy Spirit, The Holy Word of God, that loving pastor, that caring friend, that unannounced angel, the heavenly, eternal music, that stranger in the night, that caring, ministering doctor treating you in the hospital, that true grocer, that loving neighbor…on and on and on!! Visions, voices, and dreams! They aren’t flukes of nature, lies out of hell, fiction stories from phony teachers – IT’S GOD! IT’S JESUS! IT’S THE HOLY SPIRIT!! And they say, “Come, come unto Me…and I [Jesus] will give you rest! I’ll make you young again!!” Come! Come to Him! His vision, voice, and dream is for your salvation!

“Where there is no vision the people perish!”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

FORGOTTEN? HOLY FIRE OR SMOKY FEELINGS?

Have you ever heard it? “Well, Brother Fisher, when I’m up, I’m up; when I’m in, I’m in; but when I’m down, I’m down; and when I’m out, I’m out; I don’t know about this “fiery stuff”, but I do have smoky feelings at times and really believe I just might be what I profess!” But there’s no change that reflects the Indwelling Christ. Could it be too much smoke and not enough fire?

What I’ve learned over my 78 years of life is: Wordy sermons touch heads; holy fires touch hearts. Intelligent teaching touches minds; holy fires touch the will of men. Classy speech in the pulpit moves intellect; holy fires touch the diseases of a compromised life!

Have you ever seriously considered why the first four centuries of the Christian faith were so powerful in touching our world with grace, but our modern world concerning church life and its impact on a sick world is so fragmented and fruitless to a great degree? I was recently reading Exodus and verses just exploded off the page in Exodus 3:1-5! Listen with your heart and your mind: Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of the bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”

Did you see “mountain of God” or high places? Did you consider “the Angel” [messenger of the Lord] appearing to him? Did you see a manifestation “in a flame of fire from the midst of the bush”? Did you see Moses saying, “I will turn aside and see…?” Did you see, in the midst of all that, God saying, “HOLY GROUND”? What is it for you: smoky feelings or Holy Fire? Heart changes never come about redemptively through social or political recommendations but through the “holy fires of God”!

Has that changed for this modern day? I don’t think so! In Deuteronomy 4:11-12, as Moses spoke to Israel, so God speaks to us: “Then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; you only heard a voice.” GOD HELP US! WE NEED GOD AGAIN SPEAKING TO US OUT OF THE FIRE!

In Jeremiah 23:29 God spoke through the prophet: “Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” Jeremiah the prophet suffered because he sought to be faithful to God’s revealed Word, will, and way. There came a moment when he thought he’d have to walk away. But listen to what Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 20:9, “Then I said, ‘I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name,’ But His Word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not.” God help us again to witness, not smoky feelings, but a fire in our bones!

Don’t you find it interesting, and, yes, convicting, that God’s Word tells us in Hebrews 1:7, “And of the angels [messengers] He [God] says: ‘Who makes His angels spirit and His ministers a flame of fire’”? How did John put it in Luke 3:16? John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Oh, really? Show me the fire in you! I was reading recently George Mallone’s book “Furnace of Renewal.” He really laid it out for disciples and churches when he emphasized ‘cosmetic renewal of the church’ is not an option churches and disciples are to take, but to find themselves “refined in the furnace of renewal”! That sounds to me like disciples and churches getting enveloped in “the fires of God”, not their fleshly best!

Leonard Ravenhill, in his book “Why Revival Tarries” made several penetrating statements: [p.20], “Preachers used to sow seed; now they string intellectual pearls. (Imagine a field sown with pearls!)…Away with this palsied, powerless preaching which is unmoving because it was born in a tomb instead of a womb, and nourished in a fireless, prayerless soul.” If one becomes ‘fireless’, it is an indication he hasn’t been on his face before the throne of God, and, is an indication spiritual death reigns in him rather than Resurrection Life, Resurrection Hope, and Resurrection power! No doubt this is why Samuel Chadwick wrote what he did: “Truth without enthusiasm, morality without emotion, ritual without soul, are things Christ unsparingly condemned. Destitute of fire, they are nothing more than a godless philosophy, an ethical system, and a superstition.”

Oh, but hear me: You know ‘godly fire’ when a man or a church’s impotence is infused with God’s omnipotence! You know ‘godly fire’ when a man or a church’s weakness is totally overshadowed by God’s reigning Spirit of power! You know ‘godly fire’ when the dry faith of a dried-up, shrinking disciple or the dried-up skins of a shrinking church’s faith is lit on fire by Holy Spirit anointing with rivers of living water flowing, yes, even through the flames! You really want to know what true Christianity and true church-life and true discipleship is all about? Stand next to the flames of the fires of God!

It was Andrew Reed who prayed: “Come as the fire, and purge our hearts with sacrificial flame; Let our soul an offering be to our Redeemer’s Name.” Sacrificial flames? You know, I’m sure, about Chuck Colson, former Special Counsel to President Nixon who ended up in prison and then came into the fullness of an intimate relationship with Christ Jesus. I read about him in the book “For Such a Time as This.” It’s an amazing story of the evidence of a Christ-lived, fiery testimony! Listen: [p.43], And on the darkest day of my life – when my dad had died, and my mother was alone, and the other Watergate fellows were released because they were sentenced by a different judge – the darkest day of my life – I received a phone call from Al Quie, the seventh ranking Republican Congressman in the U.S. House of representatives, later Governor of Minnesota. He said, “Chuck, I know what you’re going through in prison. Your prayer group has been praying and I’m going to see President Ford tomorrow and ask him if I can come in and serve the rest of your prison sentence.” I went to my bunk that night and said, “Thank You, Lord. I know you are real when no greater love as this, that a man will lay his life down for a brother.”

But that’s not all of the story! Listen to what else Colson wrote! [pps.43-44]. “I told that story across America. One day, a woman for PBS was interviewing me in Chicago after I received the Templeton Prize, and I told her that story. She said to me, “How can you be so sure that Christ is real?” I told her the story. As I was telling it, you could see the mascara was covering a lot of scars on her face. And as I was telling that story, the tears started to roll down her cheeks. She said, “Excuse me a minute Mr. Colson,” and she went in the washroom. When she came back, she had washed her face and gotten all the cosmetics back on. She said, “Let’s film that scene again. Would you repeat that story?” I repeated the story and I looked over the second time and the tears were flowing down her cheeks; she couldn’t stop. I met with her afterwards; she had grown up in the church, fallen away, got disinterested, and she looked at me and said, “If that really is the church, I’ve got to go back and be part of it.”

Our Savior’s love, grace, and mercy is a heavenly fire that attracts, draws, and embraces one to the point he’s willing to lay his life down as Jesus did His! Warm fires have drawing powers to cold souls! And certainly communities of saving faith are to be communities that are so strong and warm and loving and caring and touching others with our Lord’s selfless love that those touched don’t want to be any other place than surrounded by fires of divine love and compassion! This is why Paul said in Galatians 1:15-16, “…when it pleased God…to reveal His Son in me.” In Christ, you, yes, that’s YOU! And you are the “bond-fire” of His Living Presence that God uses to attract others to Himself!

But some say, “I haven’t sensed the ‘fire’; or, “I’m afraid that the fire I’ve known needs to be re-kindled!” I love how Robert Browning put it in “Fifine at the Fair”: “Beneath the veriest ash, there hides a spark of soul Which, quickened by love’s breath, may yet pervade the whole O’ the gray, and, free again, be fire.” The Lord Jesus is the Author of promises, and on His promises you can stand, filled again with ‘holy fire’!

It was Reinhard Bonnke in “Evangelism by Fire” who said: [p.22], “Fire is the ensign of the Gospel, the sign of the Son of Man. Only Jesus baptizes in fire.” I don’t know how it is with you, but one thing I’m assured of: Deep hunger calls for hot fires in the Spirit-realm of our journey! Fiery passion, not faithless pursuit, opens the door of Heaven for God Almighty to step down in our midst releasing His ‘rivers of Living Water’! Sovereign intervention ‘strikes the match’ to Holy Spirit release in us who find ourselves empty, dry, wondering how we fulfill His eternal purpose, and crying out for God’s help. Someone asked John Wesley about the “how” of his explosive ministry in England and across the world of his day, and he responded, saying, “I just set myself on fire for God and people come to see me burn!!”

I want you to come to Romans 8:22-23, 26-27! “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body…Verses 26-27, Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the SPIRIT HIMSELF makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” THANK GOD FOR THE INTERCEDING HOLY SPIRIT!

“Flesh” does not, cannot, will not bear witness to redemptive Truth, but the Holy Spirit “bears witness” through surrendered, yielded lives! Come to I John 5 where the ‘beloved disciple’, John, bears witness because of the Holy Spirit within Him: Verses 6-11, “This is He who came by water and blood – Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. AND IT IS THE SPIRIT [the HOLY SPIRIT] who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” THE SPIRIT BEARS WITNESS!

This is why Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:18, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.” Didn’t we read in the beginning of this chapter, Hebrews 1:7, that God makes “His angels [messengers] a flame of fire”? That comes to each and every disciple! But do all receive that available gift and anointing? I don’t think so!

Fire without faith is a futile, fragile, feeble representation of the presence of Holy God in His fullness. Fire without fruit is the absence of the nature and character of Christ and fatal to an on-going walk that reflects Christ in His fullness. And fire without fullness is emptiness, a dry-well life, a river or lake spiritually drained to the degree of drought.

In Chuck Swindoll’s book, “Come Before Winter,” [p.44], he told about how, during the reign of Oliver Cromwell, that the British government began to run low on silver for coins. Swindoll said: “Lord Cromwell sent his men on an investigation of the local cathedral to see if they could find any precious metal there. After investigating, they reported: ‘The only silver we could find is the statues of the saints standing in the corners,’ to which the radical soldier and statesman of England replied: ‘Good! We’ll melt down the saints and put them in circulation!’” Does a melted saint speak to you?

In Ezekial 34:26 God spoke then and now: “I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing.” That is Spirit-fullness and Spirit-fire! Don’t miss Acts 2:14-21!! Please read!

In the close of Swindoll’s book, “Flying Closer To The Flame,” [pps.246-247], he wrote: “When we are Spirit-filled and therefore rightly related to the Spirit of God:

*We are surrounded by the Spirit’s omnipotent shield of protection, continually and routinely.

*We have an inner dynamic to handle life’s pressures.

* We are able to be joyful…regardless.

*We have the capacity to grasp the deep things of God that He discloses to us in His Book.

*We have little difficulty maintaining a positive attitude of unselfishness, servanthood, and humility.

*We have a keen sense of intuition and discernment; we sense evil.

*We are able to love and be loved in return.

*We can be vulnerable and open.

*We can rely on the Spirit to intercede for us when we don’t even know how to pray as we ought.

*We need never fear evil or demonic and satanic assault.

*We are enabled to stand alone with confidence.

*We experience inner assurance regarding decisions as well as right and wrong.

*We have an “internal filtering system.”

*We can actually live worry-free.

*We are able to minister to others through our spiritual gift(s).

*We have an intimate, abiding “Abba relationship” with the living God.

Have we so easily forgotten what John proclaimed in Matthew 3:11? “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Oh, how there needs to be the radiance of the Spirit over rituals, fruit of the Spirit over fleshly smoke, willfulness under the Spirit’s leadership over fleshly waywardness, the Spirit-Age over any church-age, tongues of Spirit-anointed truth over our ‘fleshly’ interpretations, solid Spirit-revealed Truth over the professor’s faithless interpretation, the divine ‘fire’ of the Holy Spirit over ‘dummy ammunition,’ the fullness of the blessing over the emptiness of Satan’s lies, furnaces of holy presence over the empty tin-can promises of Satan!!

In fact, in God’s Holy Word, Isaiah 59:19b, His precious Word tells us ALL: “…When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.”

I close this chapter with words from Oswald Chambers in his “My Utmost…” [p.248] Quoting John 16:14, “He shall glorify Me,” Chambers wrote: “The pietistic movements of today have none of the rugged reality of the New Testament about them; there is nothing about them that needs the Death of Jesus Christ; all that is required is a pious atmosphere, and prayer and devotion. This type of experience is not supernatural nor miraculous, it did not cost the passion of God, it is not dyed in the blood of the Lamb, not stamped with the hall-mark of the Holy Ghost; it has not that mark on it which makes men say, as they look with awe and wonder – “That is the work of God Almighty.” That and nothing else is what the New Testament talks about….Jesus said, ‘When He the Spirit of Truth is come…He shall glorify.” When I commit myself to the revelation made in the New Testament, I receive from God the gift of the Holy Spirit Who begins to interpret to me what Jesus did; and does in me subjectively all that Jesus Christ did for me objectively.” And that objective work in me? The Spirit lights a fire!

For you, what is it? Holy fire or smoky feelings?

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

FORGOTTEN? JOY COMES IN THE MORNING?

As long as ‘professing Christians’ are in control of their own spiritual destiny, ‘joy’ is not only forgotten, it is totally absent from the ‘professor of faith.’ Does it ever occur to us that ‘our choices’ cripple our joy in Jesus? Whatever happened to “Your will be done on earth [through me] as it is in heaven?” I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Happiness is an emotion of feelings that has nothing to do with faith, but joy is the very fruit of the Holy Spirit filling, directing, and blessing your life! And, oh, how easy it is to slip out of Spirit-control to our own ‘fleshly control’!

Oswald Chambers wrote this: [“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.178], “What was the joy that Jesus had? It is an insult to use the word happiness in connection with Jesus Christ. The joy of Jesus was the absolute self-surrender and self-sacrifice of Himself to His Father, the joy of doing that which the Father sent Him to do. “I delight to do Your will, Father-God.” Jesus prayed that our joy might go on fulfilling itself until it was the same joy as His. Have I allowed Jesus Christ to introduce His joy to me?”

As a pastor who performed many, many weddings, I don’t believe I ever knew a “friend of the bridegroom” who was downcast, unhappy, but literally joyful over his friend’s wedding! And “friends of the Bridegroom-Jesus”, are blessed with eternal joy, not fickle feelings of happiness!

There was a purpose, eternal purpose about why Jesus came. Isaiah 61:1-3, and verse 7, tells us: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me, to preach good tidings [joy?] to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness [or depression]; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that He may be glorified…Verse 7, Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, and instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting Joy shall be theirs.” Wow! What a promise fulfilled through the Indwelling Christ in us!

Have you ever been around folks whose countenance is usually ‘uncommon despair’? But then you come face to face with a Paul! Listen to Dallas Willard in his book “Renovation of the Heart,” [p.236], “The weakness of the vessel, Paul’s physical reality, was accepted and recognized by him as the occasion for the triumph of the treasure.” And I’m sure the ‘triumph of the treasure’ was and is the Indwelling Christ and the fruit of His Spirit including “joy”!

Earlier in the same book, [p.133], Willard said: “But for joy, ‘all’ is well, even in the midst of specific suffering and loss. Self-sacrificial love is therefore always joyous – no matter the pain and loss it may involve. For we are always looking at the larger scene in which love rules: Where all things (no matter what) work together for good to those who love God and are drawn into his purposeful actions on earth.” No doubt this is why Paul said in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!”

In Psalm 30:5b we read: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” That’s a sure promise from God Himself, but I have to ask, “Is a ‘night’ a twenty-four period or a season of the soul that is dark? Is the ‘morning’ the next sunrise or also that which can be future, a few days, a few years, or even decades?” But why do some forget, doubt, or refuse to believe, at least in their case that joy will come ‘in the morning’?

I BELIEVE SOME INTENTIONALLY FORGET THAT “JOY COMES IN THE MORNING” BECAUSE THEY CANNOT RELATE ‘TROUBLE,’ ‘CONFLICTS’, OR ‘TRIBULATION’ AS A PART OF RELIGIOUS FAITH. But in John 16:33 Jesus Himself said: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Can’t you hear the doubters, the drifters, the defiant ones, who would like to be a part of God’s Kingdom, but not if trouble is their ticket to a full and blessed life? “Your God can’t protect you? Your God can’t deliver you from trouble? You mean if I come to Christ I should expect hardship, battles, troubles, conflicts, even injuries body, soul, and spirit?”

Our walk with Christ, with the Living God, is a walk in His winepress – and we’re the grapes that will be crushed so His pure wine through us is released! Let me tell you of “the celebration of privilege” from Paul’s point of view! 2 Corinthians 11:22-28! “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? – I speak as a fool – I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness – besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all churches.”

Hear me! There is abiding joy in Jesus regardless of our circumstances! There is abundant joy in Jesus in the midst of suffering! There is an always abounding joy in Jesus irrespective of what comes our way because HE IS WITH US! He tells us: “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” And “joy comes in the morning!”

I BELIEVE ALSO SOME CIRCUMSTANTIALLY FORGET “JOY COMES IN THE MORNING” BECAUSE FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND AN UNBELIEVING WORLD AROUND YOU OPPOSE YOUR FAITH –IT’S HEAVY – BUT WE DON’T LOSE HEART! It was Eliphaz who said to Job in Job 4:7-9, “Remember now, whoever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright ever cut off? [You do see that Job’s friend thought he was cut off by God when Job’s suffering is coming from his friend in false accusations!]. Even as I have seen those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of His anger they are consumed.”

Blaming behavior is a technique of friends and family who have no relationship with God or are totally deprived of understanding of His Word because they never read it! In Job 8:6-7 Bildad came against Job unmercifully: “If you were pure and upright, surely now He would awake for you, and prosper your rightful dwelling place. Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end would increase abundantly.”

And here is an amazing blessing: Job 42:10, “And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.” “Joy comes in the morning!”

I BELIEVE “JOY IN THE MORNING” IS FORGOTTEN WHEN WE STRIVE IN OUR OWN STRENGTH AND FAIL! Nehemiah 8 is such an important chapter of biblical reading for every person anywhere in the world. Why? Because fleshly effort had birthed only failure and guilt and they knew they were ‘law-breakers’ without any strength!

But then in Nehemiah 8:10b Nehemiah said to those who had no joy but bathed themselves only in sorrow, “Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Try or trust? My effort or His ease? Our attempts or His Atonement?

I hope you clearly understand God’s understanding of YOU WITHOUT HIM! IN Romans 5:6 Paul wrote: “For when were we still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”

Self-strength people are truly the most hopeless people on earth because they believe they are “able” when truly, before Holy God, they are and need to be “helpless”!

In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Paul bares his soul: “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasures in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Do you see that, understand it, rest in it? Your strength – no joy, your striving – no joy, your best effort – no joy? You’ve seen it more often than you’d like – “self-made” individuals with any suggestion by you that they need to be finished with themselves and rest in the finished work of Christ at the Cross!

I BELIEVE “JOY IN THE MORNING” IS FORGOTTEN WHEN SOME ARE OVERWHELMED BY FALSE ACCUSATIONS AND THEY SUCCUMB TO THEIR ACCUSERS AND FALL IN ‘LOCK-STEP” WITH THEM RATHER THAN OUR LORD – AND WHATEVER JOY THEY EXPERIENCED IS LOST. I’ve witnessed that in a number of lives over the years, but I’m so encouraged when I see, read about, or witness the attitude of those like David: Psalm 27:11-14, “Teach me Your way, O Lord, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence. I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!”

We just saw in Nehemiah 8:10 that “The joy of the Lord is your strength!” But the false accusations can be so debilitative if we are not cemented in His Word and standing faithfully with the heroes of the faith who are not swayed by the false accusers!

In Proverbs 25:18-20 we read: “A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, and a sharp arrow. Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth, and a foot out of joint. Like one who takes away a garment in cold weather, and like vinegar on soda, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.” Because of your faith in Christ, have you ever felt “the club, the sharp arrow, or the sword” in your mind, heart, or spirit? But then Proverbs 25:28 challenges us: “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.” Who or what ‘rules your own spirit’ – God and His Holy Word, OR, the false accusations of false accusers? As a result…Next,

I BELIEVE “JOY IN THE MORNING” IS FORGOTTEN OR LOST BECAUSE SOME WILLINGLY WALK AWAY FROM THE AWARENESS OF HIS ABIDING PRESENCE. In Psalm 16:11 there is such an encouraging, illuminating verse of hope and assurance: “You [God] will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” True? Absolutely – without any shadow of a doubt! But then there came a brief ‘moment’ when even David cried out, “God, where are You?”

I know, and I’m thankful, that there are those precious people who’ve never stepped away, never had a doubt, never stumbled into a state of despair or spiritual frustration, but at the same time I know the awareness of His abiding presence can slip away for moments, days, weeks, even years! And that ‘choice’ produces clouds of doubts about His presence.

So…settle it in your mind and heart: Jesus says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you!” But, like David, there was a departure and he lost his joy! In Psalm 51:12 he cried out: “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.” The deep valley of your own humiliation can become the mountain peak of His constant restorative love and grace!

Oswald Chambers wrote: [“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.139], “Have you the slightest reliance on anything other than God? Is there a remnant of reliance left on any natural virtue, any set of circumstances? Are you relying on yourself in any particular in this new proposition which God has put before you? [ Let me insert Proverbs 3:5-6 right here, right now! “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”] That is what probing means. It is quite true to say –“I cannot live a holy life,” but you can decide to let Jesus Christ make you holy. ‘YOU CANNOT SERVE THE LORD GOD,’ but you can put yourself in the place where God’s almighty power will come through you. Are you sufficiently right with God to expect Him to manifest His wonderful life in you?” It’s time to ‘run to Jesus’ if you’ve lost His joy!

I BELIEVE “JOY IN THE MORNING” IS LOST WHEN WE FAIL TO SEE “JOY” AS PLANTED SEED WITH “JOY” COMING AS WE FAITHFULLY REAP. Psalm 126:5-6 says, “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seeds for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”

There’s a sad word in Isaiah 16 as God came into Moab in judgment – and His Word says: Verse 6, “We have heard of the pride of Moab – he is very proud – of his haughtiness and his pride and his wrath; but his lies [or vain talk] shall not be so.” And the result? Verse 10 says, “Gladness is taken away, and joy from the plentiful field; in the vineyards there will be no singing, nor will there be shouting; no treaders will tread out wine in the presses; I HAVE MADE THEIR SHOUTING CEASE.”

Isaiah 9 has a more encouraging word for those who want to “reap” JOY: Verses 3-4, “You have multiplied the nation and increased its joy; they rejoice before You according to the joy of harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For You [God] have broken the yoke of his burden…” [Could that burden for you be “no joy”? It’s broken in Jesus Name!! Receive afresh and anew the joy of the Lord!!]

How did Paul put it for us in I Thessalonians 2:19-20? “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.” Are you planting the seeds of joy and seeing a faithful harvest?

I BELIEVE “JOY IN THE MORNING” IS SIDE-TRACKED WHEN WE FAIL TO SEE THE TRUE ‘KINGDOM OF GOD’ LIVING IN THE HERE AND NOW. How often have you heard it: “Oh, Kingdom of God living? That’s when we get to heaven in the after-life.”

You do realize there are those who don’t believe the Bible to be God’s Holy Word, or, if they do believe it, never open it! But in Matthew 6:9-10 as Jesus Himself was teaching men to pray, He said: “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Paul so amplified it for us when in Romans 14:17 he wrote: “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” And if the kingdom of God IS “joy in the Holy Spirit” in the here and now, it’s time to claim Kingdom of God ruling and reigning in our lives!

I BELIEVE “JOY IN THE MORNING” IS FORFEITED WHEN MEN LOSE SIGHT OF PRAYER AS THEIR FORTIFICATION AND FULFILLMENT OF GOD’S PROMISES. In Romans 15:22-33 Paul shared about his plans in the Lord to visit Rome. Don’t miss this for the very health of your daily spiritual life!

“For this reason I also have been much hindered from coming to you. But now no longer having a place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come to you, whenever I journey to Spain, I shall come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey, and to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while. But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things. Therefore, when I have performed this and have sealed to them this fruit, I shall go by way of you to Spain. But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, that I may COME TO YOU WITH JOY BY THE WILL OF GOD, and may be refreshed together with you.”

Why would Paul request prayer for his joyous arrival in Rome? Do you remember him telling the church at Ephesus to “put on the whole armor of God” including the weapon of prayer? Because there are enemies of the Faith in the natural world and from the god of this age, even Satan! If there is ‘prayerlessness’ it is because we have no enemies in darkness, only friends, OR, we are shamefully neglectful of finishing our journey well – one becomes complacent, then indifferent, and then comes ‘shots’ out of Hell itself putting an end to your ‘profession’.

This is why Jesus said in Luke 18:1, “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” I’ve never seen a ‘fainting spell’ by a lady or a gentleman to be a joyous occasion! Let’s let Oswald Chambers enlighten us a little bit: [p.259], “Our work lies in coming into definite contact with God about everything, and we shirk it by becoming active workers.” And there is such a huge distance between ‘active worker’ and ‘active warrior’ – and no one is ready to be a joy-filled servant who has lost the passion of prayer! Is prayer for others an evidence of a joy-filled heart?

In I John 3:16-17 are vitally important and discerning words: “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” And I don’t believe that you can separate love from joy or joy from love. Has your spiritual temperature?

Let me close this chapter in Hebrews 12:2, “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Where are you presently seated?

Elizabeth Barrett Browning died early in the year of 1861. I have a book of her poems that was published in 1838. It is 400 pages long. Her last poem was entitled “Weariness”. Follow her words carefully: “Mine eyes are weary of surveying the fairest things, too soon decaying; Mine ears are weary of receiving The kindest words – ah, past believing!…

Weary my hope, of ebb and flow; Weary my pulse, of tunes of woe: My trusting heart is weariest! I would – I would, I were at rest!

For me, can earth refuse to fade? For me, can words be faithful made? Will my embittered hope be sweet? My pulse forego the human beat?

No! Darkness must consume mine eye – Silence, mine ear – hope cease – pulse die – And o’er mine heart a stone be pressed – Or vain this, – ‘Would I were at rest!’

There is a land of rest deferred: Nor eye hath seen, nor ear hath heard, Nor hope beheld is hope no more! There, human pulse forgets its tone – There, hearts may know as they are known!

Oh, for dove’s wings, thou dwelling blest, To fly to thee, and be at rest!”

I’m not really sure Where Browning was spiritually when she wrote “Weariness”, but I assure you that you can “FLY AWAY” with a joyous heart because of Jesus!

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

FORGOTTEN? PROFIT THAT BECOMES LOSS?

Because a man “gains the whole world,” is unusually successful in meeting all his pre-planned goals, pats himself on the back as a super-achiever, what has he ‘gained’ or what has he ‘lost’? It was the great Methodist preacher, J. Wallace Hamilton, who said: “people are training for success when they should be training for failure. Failure is far more common than success; poverty is more prevalent than wealth; and disappointment more normal than arrival.” And with that being true, which I think it is, what do we do about it?

Henry C. Link said: “While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior.” And I don’t look at that “becoming superior” as pride or arrogance, but one who learns true values, eternal purposes, a divine plan, that if he falls, he gets up and moves on with God!

Dr. James Kennedy, in his book “Cross Purposes,” [p.171], says the following: “The death of an unbeliever can be unpleasant. Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI, was a great prince. In fact, he is immortalized as a royal personification in Machiavelli’s “the Prince.” He was devious and consummately dexterous in dealing with men and affairs. He was prepared for every extremity, for every circumstance of life. However, shortly before his death in a besieged castle in 1507, he is said to have written, ‘I have provided in the course of my life for everything except death. Now, alas, I am to die almost entirely unprepared!”

And I would say to you, “No man is prepared to live who is not prepared to die!” Why? Because this earthly, short life, is only a breath – after death is ETERNITY! Beyond the reality of death, ever before us as we live, is the question, “What is this earthly life all about?” And some never answer it although they find answers about how to prosper financially in the world they think they made for themselves!

There’s a reason for that: Look at Romans 1:21, 25! Verse 21, “because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened…Verse 25, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

Forgotten? “Profit or Loss?” In Matthew 16:26 Jesus said: “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Richard Foster, in his book “Money, Sex, and Power,” [San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985, p.29], wrote these words: “Behind money are invisible spiritual powers, powers that are seductive and deceptive, powers that demand an all-embracing devotion.”

Didn’t Jesus give us all a warning in Luke 12:15? “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” It is possible for a man to be wealthy who is not captured by the deception of worldliness because the Lord Jesus has his heart, not his wealth being an idol he bows before!

I believe Jeremiah was so on target, so understanding of “profit or loss”, so gripped by the eternal difference between the life that truly profits against the life that ends up ‘bankrupt’. In Jeremiah 6:16 he heard the Lord! “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls…But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”

Do you remember Jesus saying in Luke 14:11 these words? : “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” “Profit or loss?”

For many ‘profit’ is nothing more than self-promotion and bowing before an idol that one calls “wealth, money, lots of it for my pleasure!” For others ‘profit’ is counterfeiting dignity or the grace of human potential for ‘self-glory’. Your importance to God is not to be indulged in as importance to yourself only as number one in your own life or better or more important than anyone else! God is the author of visions and dreams and drives in every single life – profit or loss is dependent on whose road map you use, yours or God’s!

Are you familiar with T.S. Eliot’s “The Cocktail Party”? He wrote: “Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important..

They don’t mean to do harm – but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it, because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.”

And, how many have started, yes, even a walk with Jesus, and ended up disappointed, disillusioned, deterred, and detoured, fallen away, because they didn’t understand or know about “failing” or “falling” and getting up, or stopping short of the goal rather than persevering or pressing in or enduring to the end? They didn’t know, hadn’t learned, or comprehended about “counting the cost”, failing to see a cross in the walk before the manifestation of resurrection power!

In Romans 6:16 Paul wrote: “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are the one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness.” Phillips’ translation says it like this: “You ‘belong’ to the power which you choose to obey, whether you choose sin, whose reward is death, or God, obedience to whom means the reward of righteousness.”

And, either ‘profit’ or ‘loss’ is a radical choice that an individual makes on his own, influenced to spiritual profit by the Holy Spirit testifying of Jesus, or, influenced to ‘loss’ by the powers of darkness, brought into bondage by the devil himself even though his way appeared so ‘right,’ so ‘rewarding,’ but left one bankrupt!

John Bunyan wrote about the man he called “Mr. Facing-Both-Ways,” but that has never worked, never will work, and leaves one so fragmented, so fractured, so falling short of divine intent! This is why our Lord said: [Matthew 6:33], “But SEEK FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

In the book by Billy Graham entitled “The Secret of Happiness,” [p.7], he wrote: “A French leader has said that if the whole world had enough to eat, money to spend, and security from the cradle to the grave, they would ask for nothing more.” That sounded to me like President Obama and his ‘socialist’ philosophy bringing a people into bondage under government control! Jesus didn’t come to enslave a people but to set them free. Dr. Graham responded later, [p.9], “No man is so ignorant as he who knows nothing and knows not that he knows nothing. No man is so sick as he who has a fatal disease and is not aware of it. No man is so poor as he who is destitute and yet thinks he is rich.”

I’m not sure of Machiavelli’s spiritual allegiance or lack of it, but in “The Prince” he wrote: “Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions.”

I want you to come back with me to Matthew 16 – and in this passage I want us to see verses 24-26, not just verse 26! It says, Jesus speaking, Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life [for himself] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” “Profit or loss?”

What has Jesus told us? 1) DENY YOURSELF. Have YOU? Do you? Will you? 2) TAKE UP THE CROSS. And that’s daily – the sentence of death to one’s self daily, and, 3) FOLLOW CHRIST.

Mary B.C. Slade, in the 1800’s, wrote a hymn entitled “Footsteps of Jesus.” Hear these words:

“Sweetly, Lord, have we heard You calling, ‘Come follow Me!’ And we see where Your footprints falling, lead us to Thee….Tho’ they lead o’er the cold dark mountains, Seeking His sheep, Or along by Siloam’s fountains, Helping the weak…If they lead through the temple holy, Preaching the Word; Or in homes of the poor and lowly, Serving the Lord…By and by through the shining portals, Turning our feet, We shall walk with the glad immortals, Heaven’s golden street…Then at last when on high He sees us, Our journey done, We shall rest where the steps of Jesus End at His throne…Footprints of Jesus, That makes the pathway glow, We will follow the steps of Jesus, Where’er they go.”

Let me share several things my Lord has shown me: FIRST, SUBSTITUTIONARY LIFE FOR THE REAL, THE ETERNAL, THE PURPOSE-FILLED, THE BLESSING, IS SO AIMLESS AND EXTENDS AND EXPANDS ‘DEATH’ ALL AROUND FOR SOME! I don’t care how you interpret it but: “The wages of sin IS death,” always has been, always will be! There is such a huge difference in how fallen man interprets ‘life’ and how God interprets ‘life’! And you have grasped, if you’ve read this book this far that there is such a vast difference between ‘trying to survive’ and one being blessed, ‘trying to exist’ and truly “LIVING”, ‘trying to make it’ and being “made by God Himself”!

Haven’t you witnessed it far too often – the man who has defined life for himself void of God and saving grace, sold out to comfort, sold out to wealth security, sold out to a life of pleasure and prosperity. For this man, he is one navel-noticed and navel-rooted! He is the man who could be defined in no other way than ‘self-centered’. His wife knows it, his children know it, his friends know it, and even the world around him knows it! Substitutionary Life – without Christ!

SECOND, THE MAN WHO ALLOWS JESUS’ SUBSTITUTIONARY DEATH ON THE CROSS TO BE FOR HIM AS IF JESUS SACRIFICED HIMSELF FOR THAT MAN ALONE FINDS LIFE ETERNAL AND ETERNAL GAIN AND PROFIT! John put it a little differently but so on target! In John 1:4-9, 12-13, John wrote: “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world…Verses12-13, 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.”

IN HIM [JESUS] WAS LIFE, AND THE LIFE WAS THE LIGHT OF MEN! In John 8:12 Jesus told the woman ‘caught in adultery,’ “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of light.” Apart from Jesus Christ men are locked into the reality of spiritual death and separation from God Himself, but Jesus came “to set the captives free”!

Oh, please look, listen, and lay ‘your’ life down as you read Romans 5:1-2, 6-11! “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God….Verses 6-11, For when we were still without strength in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be [being] saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”

RECONCILIATION! Reconciled TO God, reconciled to His eternal purpose, reconciled to the God-head of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, reconciled to eternal life – not fleshly, spiritual death, reconciled to the usefulness of our redeemed lives in honoring Him, reconciled to His purpose of being an extension of His life, an expression of His love, and the proof of His power, reconciled to be His vessel to touch our world with His grace, mercy, and love!

Usefulness to the glory, purpose, and honor of God! Do you have a “Big Dream”? I was recently reading Bruce Wilkinson’s book entitled “The Dream Giver”. He has a chapter entitled “You Were Born For This.” Don’t miss a word, but as you read contemplate our Lord’s words in John 14:12, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also, and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” Hear Bruce Wilkinson’s story!

“The Hollywood producer didn’t believe it was true, and I couldn’t seem to change his mind, even though I was about to buy him lunch at my favorite neighborhood restaurant. He couldn’t believe that every person has been created with a Big Dream, and that most people, for one reason or another, just aren’t pursuing it. He said only a few people are ‘born dreamers.’ “Just because you happen to be one of them,” he said, “you don’t really think everyone in this restaurant is one, do you?”

I was losing the debate as we took our seats, and I didn’t know what to do. Our conversation had special meaning to me because, although my producer friend didn’t know it, I was trying to help him pursue HIS Big Dream. I was almost to the point of giving up when an idea came to mind. Why not try to prove it right in front of him?

When our waitress Sonja came to take our order, my heart was pounding. But I took a risk. I asked her, “Are you doing what you’ve always wished you could be doing?” She looked at me questioningly. “What do you mean?” she asked. I said, “Well, maybe you ARE doing your dream, and that would be terrific. But I wonder, do you have a Big Dream inside of your heart that hasn’t come true yet?”

Sonja thought for a moment. Then she said, “My mother is a nurse. My sister is a nurse. And I always dreamed of becoming a nurse.” “Would you have been a good nurse?” I asked. Sonja became emotional. “I would have been a really good nurse,” she said softly. “Would you like to be a nurse at this very moment?” I asked. “Yes,” she said.

So I took another risk. “Do you happen to believe that God wants you to be a nurse?” I asked. She looked away for a minute, then said, “I think so.” “If God wants you to be a nurse, then there must be a way for you to be one,” I said. “What has stopped you?” Sonja listed the reasons: an education cut short by marriage, then two children, then the demands of raising a family. “Now it’s impossible,” she said. “It’s too late.” I heard the sadness in her voice.

“What would have to happen for you to become a nurse,” I asked. “We don’t have enough money,” she said. “I can’t afford a babysitter, so I can’t go to school.” “So if you had a babysitter, you would go to school?” I asked. “Yes,” she said without hesitation.

I glanced at my producer friend to make sure he was taking this all in. Then I took another risk, “Sonja, I believe there’s somebody in your life that cares about you and would babysit your children for free. Who is that person?” Sonja thought for a moment, then her face lit up. “It’s my mother!” she exclaimed. “She just retired two months ago! She loves her grandchildren. And she’s always wanted me to have my dream. She’d babysit my kids for free if I just asked her!”

While she spoke, her eyes brimmed with tears. Mine did, too. Anytime I see someone else’s dream surfacing, I’m deeply touched because I know how sad it is not to be able to live your dream. Without even taking our order, Sonja slid in next to a friend at another table to announce that she was going back to school. “I’m going to be a nurse!” she said with tears of joy.

My friend sat across from me, shaking his head. “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes,” he said, “I wouldn’t have believed it. Maybe you’re right. Maybe everybody DOES have a Big Dream.” [Multonomah Publishers, Sisters, Oregon, 2003, pps.72-75]

Look at I Corinthians 2:9! But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” WOW! In John 12:24-25 Jesus tells us all: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” Tell me about your ‘love-hate’ relationship with yourself in this world!

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

FORGOTTEN? THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE OF PERSONAL WATCHCARE?

Have you considered that which is ‘spiritual’ has to do with a man’s relationship with God, or the lack of it? Are disciplines that which relates to athletes and the sports’ world? What about what is personal – does ‘personal’ define what goes on in the inner man between a man and his God? Is there such a responsibility to be accounted for called ‘watch-care’? Have you, have we, forgotten?

It’s my prayer that you are not one among many who so easily forgets “the spiritual discipline of personal watch-care”! It is not something that comes in a flash like a meteorite crossing the dark night’s sky afire and then is gone. It is not that which comes and goes like a temporary habit – but it is to be that which is constant, firmly established in the inner man, and permanently preparing a man for a God-honoring, Christ-exalting walk among men.

It was Robert Burns in “The Cotter’s Saturday Night” who wrote: “Compared with this, how poor Religion’s pride, In all the pomp of method and of art, When men display to congregations wide, Devotion’s every grace, except the heart!”

And if “the spiritual discipline of personal watch-care” IS everything but the heart, one has become lost in the sea of self-esteem not honoring God at all! But in Matthew 24:42-44 we read: “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

John Wesley was so wise as he wrote “Letter To Charles Wesley”. “I desire to have both heaven and hell ever in my eye, while I stand on this isthmus of life, between two boundless oceans.” Why? Freedom in this life to choose to look toward God Himself, knowing we have an enemy called Satan, is to be free to be all God desires me to be ‘in Christ’ – not deceived by the powers of darkness who want me enslaved to my ‘old man’ under Satan’s domination!

I don’t believe most men understand life apart from God’s blessing and presence with them and in them – “there’s nothing hazardous about being an unbeliever; I’m master of my own destiny;” but for those who know that there is a huge ‘masculine’ journey of faith, they want answers! I don’t know at all about journeys on the open seas without any directional helps at all. And when it comes to the journeys of life apart from God who created us, I don’t know how any man survives – and there is such a huge difference between a life of ‘survival’ and a life blessed by God Himself!

So…you ‘gain the world, the whole world’ but lose your soul? What advantage is that? What reward is that? What kind of blessing is that to “lose your soul”?

In William Barclay’s “Daily Study Bible,” [Vol. 2 on Matthew, p.170], Barclay wrote: “A man owes himself and everything else to Jesus Christ; and there is nothing that a man can give to Christ in place of his life. It is quite possible for a man to try to give his money to Christ, and yet to withhold his life. It is still more possible for a man to give lip-service to Christ, and to withhold his life. Many a person gives his weekly freewill offering to the church, but does not go to church; obviously that does not satisfy the demands of church membership. The only possible gift to the Church is ourselves; and the only possible gift to Christ is our whole life. There is no substitute for it, and nothing less will do.”

And, although church membership is a part of our journey, it is not my emphasis in this chapter – the emphasis is between you and Jesus alone! “The Spiritual Discipline of Personal Watch-care!”

Let’s look, first, AT THE MATTER OF SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE THAT RELATES TO ONE’S PERSONAL EXAMINATION AND TEST EVALUATION – ‘DO I BELONG TO CHRIST’? In 2 Corinthians 13:5 Paul wrote: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you – unless indeed you are disqualified?”

It’s so interesting that earlier, in I Corinthians 9:26-27, Paul said: “Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”

Does that sound like a man who could care less about his spiritual development or one that knew, yes, the daily discipline of keeping watch over his body, soul, and spirit, as it related to Christ? And more than his own personal watch-care, he knew to Whom he had committed himself! In I Thessalonians 5:23-24 Paul said: “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He also who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.”

Paul knew personal responsibility but also yieldedness to the Christ within him. He understood the attitude of the wise man of Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

Isn’t it amazing to you that the Son of God, Jesus, born of the virgin Mary, “…increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men”? [Luke 2:52]. In verse 40 of Luke 2 it also says: “And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.”

“Grace of God, be on us! Grace of God, abound toward us! Grace of God, increase our stature and our favor with You and with men around us! Grace of God, make us strong in spirit! Grace of God, fill us with Your heavenly wisdom! Grace of God, honor yourself through us who do examine ourselves whether we’re in the faith or not!”

But also, LET’S LOOK AT OURSELVES CONCERNING THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE OF PERSONAL WATCH-CARE RELATED TO GOD’S DIVINE PURPOSE AND PLAN FOR OUR OWN PILGRIMAGE. You’ll remember Stephen being martyred in Acts 7 as “the stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, who always resisted the Holy Spirit,” and along with Saul of Tarsus, consented to stoning Stephen to death!

Acts 8 opens with a great persecution against the church – and again, here’s Saul of Tarsus right in the middle of it! Acts 8:3 says “As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison [because of their faith and commitment to Christ Jesus!].

Acts 9 opens with Saul “still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.” He’s determined to wipe them off the face of the earth! But look at Acts 9:3-6!! “As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And he said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So he, trembling and astonished, said, ‘Lord, what do You want me to do?’”

But, do you realize or comprehend how few there are who ask that question Paul asked? I love Oswald Chambers’ statement in “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.145], “A man is a slave for obeying unless behind his obedience there is a recognition of a holy God. Many a soul begins to come to God when he flings off being religious, because there is only one Master of the human heart, and that is not religion but Jesus Christ.”

There is nothing ‘passive’ about the spiritual discipline of personal watch-care! “Lord, what would YOU have me to do?” shows true faith is active as one lays his own life down for the glory of God alone. But far too many would not even ask Paul’s question because for them it’s surrender to someone else’s sovereignty other than their own!

This leads us to LOOK AT OURSELVES CONCERNING THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE OF PERSONAL WATCH-CARE RELATED TO THE DAILY DISCIPLINE OF DEATH TO SELF FOR THE MANIFESTATION OF RESURRECTION LIFE, POWER, AND HOPE. In Galatians 5:24 Paul is so very clear! “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh [your old sin nature] with its passions and desires.”

What did we see in Matthew 16:24? Jesus speaking, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” I’m actually afraid for many who have never, ever, considered themselves as someone who needed to deny himself, or take up his cross, or truly follow Jesus as his/her only hope! But Jesus not only volunteered for the Cross, He took us with Him – what did Paul say in Galatians 2:20? “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

In Romans 6 Paul laid it on the line for us to resolve in and of ourselves! Romans 6:1says:”What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” [Look at Romans 5:20b-21! “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”] Now, look at Romans 6:4-14! “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

Again, Oswald Chambers so illumined for us in his book “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.256], the battle most ‘church-folk’ never enter! He wrote: “It is the things that are right and noble and good from the natural standpoint that keep us back from God’s best. To discern that natural virtues antagonize surrender to God, is to bring our soul into the center of its greatest battle. Very few of us debate with the sordid and evil and wrong, but we do debate with the good. It is the good that hates the best, and the higher up you get in the scale of the natural virtues, the more intense is the opposition to Jesus Christ. “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh” – it is going to cost the natural in you everything, not something…;Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence.” In I Corinthians 15:31 Paul said: “I die daily”!!

But there is something else we all MUST CONSIDER! IN OUR SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE OF PERSONAL WATCH-CARE ARE WE AWARE OF THAT WHICH CAN SEDUCE, DISTRACT, AND DISTURB ‘GODLY CONTENTMENT’? Come to I Timothy 6:6-20! “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold of eternal life, to which you were also called and confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen. Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust….”

Paul was so clear when in I Corinthians 7:35 he wrote: “And this I say for your own profit, not that I may put a leash on you, but for what is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distraction.” Are you aware in your pilgrimage of alluring distractions? The New American Standard version speaks of securing “undistracted devotion to the Lord.” For some it’s an ‘obsession’! I Timothy 6:3-5 says: “If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.”

It was Francois de Salignac who said: “Resign every forbidden joy; restrain every wish that is not referred to God’s will; banish all eager desires, all anxiety; desire only the will of God; seek him alone and supremely, and you will find peace.” Does the cup of your life, your walk, your witness, overflow with ‘Godly contentment’?

Let’s look also at THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE OF OUR LORD’S CHALLENGE AND COMMISSION TO ALWAYS PRAY. Look at Luke 18:1 where our Lord’s Holy Word says: “Then He [Jesus] spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.”

Do you understand our Lord’s passion and love for His disciples? He’s not interested in a single disciple losing heart, fainting in the way, or stumbling along the way. I want to challenge you to take your Strong’s Concordance and compare the word ‘ought’ in Luke 18:1 to the word ‘must’ in John 3:7! You’ll not be surprised that the necessity of the ‘new birth’ is the same ‘ought-ness’ of “always praying and not losing heart”!

I so love Alfred Lord Tennyson’s words in “Morte d’ Arthurt”: “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice Rise like a fountain for me night and day. For what are men better than sheep or goats that nourish a blind life within the brain, If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer Both for themselves and those who call them friends? For so the whole round earth is every way Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.” Later Tennyson wrote about “battering the gates of heaven with storms of prayer.”

Prayerless men are inept and useless to the glory and honor of God! Prayerless men are void of the very keys and notes of music that bring about the symphony of heavenly blessing and a heavenly harmony that soothes the troubled soul! Prayer calms the storms! Prayer chains our enemy! Prayer grabs hold of God who grabs hold of a praying man! Prayer is one saying ‘Yes’ to God’s willingness to answer and to bless! Prayer opens the door to the heart of heaven itself!

But, yes, the adventure of the spiritual discipline of personal watch-care grows rapidly WHEN THERE IS OPENNESS TO CONFRONTATIONS AND CHALLENGES OF CARE, CONCERN, AND COMMITMENT TO BE HIS INSTRUMENT OF OTHERS’ RECONCILIATION TO OUR LORD. Come to I Corinthians 9:16, 19-23! Verse 16 says, “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!…Verses 19-23, “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.”

Alan Redpath, author of “The Royal Route To Heaven,” studies in I Corinthians, has a chapter entitled “The Genuine Article,” and it is I Corinthians 9! He wrote, [p.107], “I believe the world is tired of religion that is a sham. People want to see in the hearts and lives of those who profess Christ the characteristics of the genuine article. Unless these marks are upon our testimony, others will not desire our Lord.”

Redpath later said: [p.110], “I do not wish to be uncharitable, but isn’t it sad that in so many instances Christian people move in their own little watertight compartments and never launch out into somebody else’s situation at all? They are locked in; their circle never touches the circles of unbelievers. They move only in their little circle of Christian fellowship; very seldom do they take the plunge outside in order to win another for Christ. I believe perhaps the greatest need of all in our evangelical circles today is that we might have the boldness in Christ to cross some of the barriers that exist to win others for Him. ‘Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel,’ says Paul.”

Let me close this chapter with the spiritual discipline of personal watch-care that thrives on ‘LOVING AND LEANING ON HIS HOLY PRESENCE’! In Psalm 16:11 David said: “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

I don’t know how it is with you, but I’m so thankful that living in His Holy Presence blesses me with the fullness of joy and that at His right hand are pleasures forevermore!

In fact, when I read Acts 3:19, my heart flourishes in His joy: “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”

Don’t you know that the eternal desire of Jesus for you and for me is, “That My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full,”?[John 15:11].

The seventy returned with joy to Jesus, saying to Him, [Luke 10:17-20], “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

FORGOTTEN? THE SPIRITUAL ALERTNESS OF “TODAY”?

It was really interesting as the Lord had laid “Today” on my heart – and I really wanted to know what He was saying to me. I opened up Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary to the word “today” expecting this huge explanation to stretch my brain and heart, and it simply said: “The present day.” ‘Present’ was really interesting because Webster said first: “Being in a certain place; opposed to ‘absent’. One thing is for certain – we should not be those absent from God’s presence!! And I was thrilled as I looked at John 14:25 where Jesus said to His disciples, “These things I have spoken to you while being PRESENT with you.”

Is Jesus ‘present’ with you “today” or somehow have YOU wandered away from His presence? Remember, He told the disciples that He would never leave us nor forsake us.

I really don’t know all that “Today” is to mean for each of us but there is building in my inner man an irrepressible desire, assurance, and confidence of His abiding presence with me and in me! It’s that inner awareness that apart from Him I could never fulfill God’s plan for my life but one with Him “Today” will be celebration day in the fulfillment of His good, acceptable, and perfect will!

You’ll probably remember C.S. Lewis’ statement in “Mere Christianity,” [New York, Simon & Shuster, 1996, p.21], “If I find in myself a desire that no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” But, I’m thinking, dissatisfaction with self is because I was made for another Lord – not lord unto myself but the Lordship of Jesus Christ in this world that I’m appointed to by His grace! If you’re ‘delighting’ in yourself, you’re living a lie, but if you delight in Jesus, you’re living in the Truth!

I don’t think any person has ever entered true beauty, true blessing, and a true benediction to life who has not settled into “I am the resurrection and the life…,” Jesus’ words of Himself. And when one is settled into Him, life becomes more than daily routine – it becomes divine reconciliation and enjoyment and blessing and fulfillment and satisfaction and peace and hope and love that is eternal and mercy that is Master-full!

Yet “today” there are those who ‘die’ in despair having never been enlightened to the Lord of this day and every day! You’ll remember Christopher Reeve who played ‘Superman.’ Before his premature death he said: “When I do good I feel good. When I do bad I feel bad. And that’s my religion.”

Hardness of heart is not a haven of rest for those who have “Forgotten” TODAY! Hardness of heart is not hope for those who have no hope in themselves and never see ‘hope’ in others’ choices.

It was the year 1969 when Lloyd John Ogilvie wrote his book “A Life Full of Surprises.” Receive what he wrote then for now! It’s his first chapter, first paragraph, and it’s so needed 43 years later! “The most exciting thing I see in our time of history is the new breed of humanity God is raising up out of the traditional church. In the midst of all the bad news about the failure of the church, much of which is more than justified, something now needs to be said about this amazing cadre of people who have come alive and about their churches which are wrestling with what it means to be a liberating fellowship. These are winsome, willful men and women who are constantly surprised by what God is able to do with life completely under his marching orders. They have a radical freedom expressed in a reconciling ministry. For them there is no tyranny of the either/or. They have both personal faith and social concern – love for Christ and love for the world – time for devotion and time to demonstrate.”

How awesome is that! “Today”!! A time for devotion and a time to demonstrate! “Today”! A time in radical freedom to be reconciling ministries! “Today”! The moment for the Master’s mind and will expressed through available vessels!!

Let’s look, First, at the “TODAY” OF HEARING HIS VOICE AND NOT HARDENING OUR HEARTS. In Psalm 95:7b-11 we read: “…Today, if you will hear His voice: Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, When your fathers tested Me; they tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘they shall not enter My rest.’”

Have you ever considered, thought about, or contemplated: “How many people are there who are listening for His voice ‘today’? How many are anxious and excited to hear God speak to them? I’m convinced God has spoken and still speaks through the revelation of His Holy Word. I have no doubt that when a man of God stands and preaches God’s undiluted, uncompromising Word, men can hear Him. I believe you’d be foolish to say that God cannot, has not, will not, speak through human circumstances and events. And I’m also assured His audible voice is heard at times by servants of the Most High God. And Jesus, Lord and Savior, also has appeared and has spoken to chosen servants.

But rebellion can close ears, blind eyes, and bring folks into an awful state of denial, intent on being masters of their own destinies! Israel tested God in the wilderness, tried the Lord as if He needed to be imprisoned by their judgments, and grieved Him in His heart for refusing to give Him His rightful place in their minds, their hearts, and their wills. They rebelled, they went astray from God, they refused to know His ways, and they did not enter His rest!

Is our modern day any different than those in the wilderness who in their ‘today’ harden their hearts and refuse to hear His voice? Peter spoke of those who “once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” [I Peter 2:10]. The God I serve is the God of love, grace, and mercy, who still is reaching out, speaking clearly, tapping on the shoulder, shining bright lights, and saving souls!!

But also in Joshua 5:9 there is such a word of hope that ought to put you on shouting grounds. Hear God’s Voice in this: The Lord said to Joshua, “Today, this day, this very moment in time, I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” Therefore the name of this place is called Gilgal [rolling away] to this day.” GOD ROLLS AWAY YOUR REPROACH!

For 400 years Israel was in bondage, in slavery, captive to a people and rulers who did not know God and had no desire to know Him – they opposed Him at every turn. To be unsaved, to be an unbeliever, to shamefully be controlled, manipulated, abused, by the powers of darkness, you are covered in reproach, bound in spiritual chains, locked up tight by enemies who call you their friends! To be in sin is to be in spiritual grave-clothes, bound body, soul, and spirit, by those who want you sharing their darkness!

The reproach of Egypt! Incarnate unbelief! The reproach of Egypt! Unbridled recklessness, abandonment of God, unbelief! The reproach of Egypt! Accursed actions, sexual abuse, immorality! The reproach of Egypt! Ungodly pleasures, ungodly biases and blunders, ungodly relationships, ungodly unions! The reproach of Egypt! Separation, saturation in worldly, fleshly, demonic activities, bowing before idols man-made, man-accursed, man-alienated from God!

But God “rolls away your reproach”! It’s by the blood, in the blood, through the shed blood of Jesus on Calvary’s Cross, that your reproach is now gone!

Lelia N. Morris, over a hundred years ago, wrote a hymn that says: “In the misty days of yore Jesus’ precious blood had power Even the thief on the cross to save; Like a bird his spirit flies to its home in Paradise, Through the power of Calvary’s crimson wave…I was lost and steeped in guilt, but the blood for sinners spilt Washed away my sins and set me free; Now and evermore the same, praise, O praise His holy name! Will the cleansing stream availing be…God in mercy asks you why, brother sinner, will you die When such full redemption He provides? You have but to look and live, life eternal He will give, For the power of Calvary still abides…Bring your burdens, come today, turn from all your sins away, He can fully save and sanctify; From the wrath to come now flee, let your name recorded be With the blood-washed, and redeemed on high…And the blood has never lost its power…No, never, no, never, Jesus’ blood avails for sins forever…And will never lose its power.”

And, having been washed in His blood and your reproach rolled away, God comes and says to us: “SON, GO, WORK TODAY IN MY VINEYARD.” That’s Luke 21:28! Verse 29 says that he answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went.”

Having been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb and your reproach rolled away, you don’t believe God has divine intent for you in holy service to the Lord? “Go, work today in my vineyard.”

Have you ever witnessed a new field of opportunity made ready for a harvest? There’s clearing away what needs to go; there’s making sure those weeds and wild things are removed; there’s the plowing and breaking up of hard ground; and then there comes the seed planting which is the precious seed of the Word of God. There’s watering, more weeding, still soil preparation – and then a harvest!

Whoever said “witnessing” for our Lord was easy – I’m not sure what they were talking about when it comes to ‘working’ in His vineyard! Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 3:11, “For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies.” And that is so true – it’s as if they see the field to be prepared for the harvest but they stand outside the fence and watch, but never work!

Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:19, “Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” In 2 Timothy 4:5 he told Timothy, “But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

And that’s the ministry of sharing the faith in our work-a-day-world! He had said to Timothy earlier in 2 Timothy 1:8, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God.”

As a result of God’s grace and our salvation, what’s the end result? Ephesians 2:10 says: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Tell me about your ‘walk’ of faith and your ‘good works’!

But there’s something else I must ask you about. We’ve just seen the ministry of evangelism. Is there legitimately and genuinely A MINISTRY OF DISCIPLES OF COMPASSION AND CARING FOR THE NEEDY AND THE POOR? In Luke 19:1-10 look with me at Zacchaeus and his encounter with Christ: Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was short of stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.” Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Is there a true test of heavenly spirituality or have we concluded that all that matters is showing up at church regularly and paying our tithes? I believe “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” is so beyond our church attendance!

Carelessness, carnality, and coldness toward the needy are not trade-marks of a true disciple devoted to the resurrected and reigning Christ! Look with me at John 13:14! Jesus said: “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”

Listen to Oswald Chambers in his “My Utmost For His Highest,” [pps.187-188], “Ministering as opportunity surrounds us does not mean selecting our surroundings, it means being very selectly God’s in any haphazard surroundings which He engineers for us. The characteristics we manifest in our immediate surroundings are indications of what we will be like in other surroundings…The things that Jesus did were of the most menial and common-lace order, and this is an indication that it takes all God’s power in me to do the most commonplace things in His way. Can I use a towel as He did? Towels and dishes and sandals, all the ordinary things of our lives, reveal more quickly than anything what we are made of. It takes God Almighty Incarnate in us to do the meanest duty as it ought to be done.”

But, also, I want you to consider “today” what you have chosen for yourself – A BLESSING OR A CURSE! Come to Deuteronomy 11:26-28!! “Behold, I set before you TODAY a blessing and a curse; the blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.”

It was Thomas Carlyle in “Cromwell’s Letters and Speeches” who said: “Blessed are the valiant that have lived in the Lord.” And I have no doubt that ‘in the Lord’ IS THE BLESSING and without the Lord is THE CURSE!

To the Ephesians Paul wrote: [Ephesians 1:3], “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” Have you fully grasped what Paul is telling us?

“God chose us in Christ,” “predestined us to adoption as sons,” “made us accepted in the Beloved,” “redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins,” “He abounded wisdom and understanding to us,” “He revealed His will to us,” “we have obtained an inheritance,” “we shall BE to the praise of His glory,” “we were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,” “we have our guarantee”!!

And you choose “the curse”? Listen to Deuteronomy 30:14-20! “But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earthy as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

I believe I’ll “side” with Joshua and Jesus!! Joshua 24:14-15 says, “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served…Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Why not see yourself as a new Jeremiah for our day? Jeremiah 1:4-10 says: Then the word of the Lord came to ME, saying: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said: “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.” But the Lord said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth.’ For you shall go to all whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces. For I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord. Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.” Look at verses 17-19! “Therefore PREPARE YOURSELF and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, lest I dismay you before them. For behold, I have MADE YOU FOR THIS DAY a fortified city and an iron pillar, they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you,” says the Lord, “to deliver you.”

“Today” is not ‘never’; “Today” is not later; “Today” is not tomorrow; “Today” is not sometime; ”Today” is NOW! In Luke 6:21 Jesus said: “Blessed are you who hunger NOW, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep NOW, for you shall laugh.” What a promise from our Lord!

CHAPTER NINETEEN

FORGOTTEN? THE HOLY SPIRIT TO LIVE IN ME?

Isn’t it amazing to you how easily some ignore the revelation of God’s Holy Word about the Trinity? That’s God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit – the three in one! Some say, “How is that possible?”, when they look at man and see man, husband, and father effectually working as one! Have you heard them? “I don’t even like to think about the ‘man’ part, and ‘husband’? Lord, help us! And ‘father’? What a poor representation of man!” But sadly some totally ignore the Trinity, and especially God the Holy Spirit – as if they’d wandered over into ‘ghost-land’!

I really don’t know, don’t understand, that if ‘discipling’ is a primary, foremost responsibility of the local church, how “Receive the Holy Spirit” is usually totally ignored by those in charge! Yet, most discipleship training materials are void of Holy Spirit training. But I also know that there has been abuse, misinterpretation, false teaching, even antagonism against those who do include Holy Spirit equipping and training. “God, help us! Save us from biblical ignorance and ill-equipped disciplers who will not touch Holy Spirit training!”

But I’m also confident that ‘power religion’ is not Spirit relationship. I’m also confident that much of the Spirit-training by some compartmentalizes private thoughts about their interpretation of Spirit-activity apart from the revelation of the Word! I’m also confident that if one teaches ‘ministry of the Holy Spirit’ from a denominational frame of reference much then of the all-inclusive ministry of the Holy Spirit is lacking, ignored, or even denied by some!

Of all the teachings necessary for a free, full, fulfilling relationship to Christ and His Holy Word, I’m convinced it is the scriptural foundation in one’s pilgrimage as disciple of Christ to be that of a proper, empowering leadership of the Holy Spirit in one’s daily life. But there is such controversy about the Spirit that some have assumed teaching about the Holy Spirit causes too many problems, causes too much controversy, and causes some to “fall away” not understanding no leadership of the Holy Spirit creates that vacuum!

Questions! Is the Holy Spirit truly a part of the Trinity or an invention of misdirected Bible teachers? Is the Holy Spirit a part of my salvation process? Is the Holy Spirit absolutely essential in the maturing process as a follower of Christ? Is the Holy Spirit necessary in understanding the Word of God? Is New Testament evangelism founded on the ministry of the Holy Spirit? Is a follower of Christ to be led by the Holy Spirit on one’s spiritual journey daily? These questions, and I’m sure others, will be with us as we traverse the paths of the Holy Spirit’s leadership.

Let me begin this study of the Holy Spirit in Genesis 1:1 where God “created the heavens and the earth,” with verse 2 telling us “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters,” letting us know Creation was a partnership arrangement between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

In Genesis 1:26 our Holy Word tells us, Then God said, “LET US [PLURAL] make man in ‘OUR’ image, according to our likeness…” And this is so vital in your own understanding of your need of the Holy Spirit in the “new creation” activity of your own life in Christ – and, just as God saw “that it was good” in the natural creation [Genesis 1:31], so does Holy God see your “new creation” in Christ as good! The Spirit was, is, and always will be so involved in what God the Father and God the Son are up to in your life – look at Hebrews 9:14! “how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

Did you notice, did you highlight “the eternal Spirit”? When Pharoah decided to set Joseph over Egypt as an officer over the food and grain of the land, he said to his servants, Genesis 41:38, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” Even pagan Pharoah recognized God’s Holy Spirit in and on a man like Joseph!!

Moses knew God’s people should not be without a shepherd. In Numbers 27:17 we see where Moses spoke with God about His ‘sheep which have no shepherd,’ and in verse 18 the Lord said to Moses: “Take Joshua the son of Nun with you, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him…” And, then, in Joel 2:28-29 God gives ALL His precious promise of the Holy Spirit to be with us in so exalting Christ through our daily lives. Through Joel God said: “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; and also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”

What did God’s angel tell Zechariah in Zechariah 4:6? “This is the word of the Lord: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.” It’s the Holy Spirit that authenticates the work and Word of the Lord – not men’s ‘might’ or men’s ‘power’! I’m sure this is why Thomas a Kempis once said: “Many are deceived in the end, who at first seemed to be led by the Holy Spirit.”

The one thing I pray for as I do this chapter is that I don’t misinform but inform, that I don’t mislead but lead, that I in no way deceive but enlighten us all in the ministry of the Holy Spirit! Evangelical spirituality is sadly scarred and bruised when ‘fleshly fruit’ is majored on rather than the Fruit of the Holy Spirit! Notice what God’s Word says about the Holy Spirit!

WHEN THE SPIRIT HAS COME [and He has!] THERE IS CONVICTION OF SIN! Here are the words of Jesus: [John 16:7-8], “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, HE WILL CONVICT THE WORLD of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment to come.”

Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary says of CONVICTION: “The act of convincing, or compelling one to admit the truth of a charge; the act of convincing of sin or sinfulness; the state of being sensible of guilt…” And remember: “For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

What Paul then says elsewhere is so vital! 2 Corinthians 7:10, “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”

Hear Oswald Chambers in “My Utmost For His Highest”! [pps.240-241], “Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin; we know the experience of being disturbed because of having done wrong things; but conviction of sin by the Holy Ghost blots out every relationship on earth and leaves one relationship only – “Against You, You only, have I sinned!” When a man is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every power of his conscience that God dare not forgive him; if God did forgive him, the man would have a stronger sense of justice than God. God does forgive, but it cost the rending of His heart in the death of Christ to enable Him to do so. The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the Divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. When we have been convicted of sin we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary, and nothing less; the love of God is spelt [spelled out] on the Cross and nowhere else. The only ground on which God can forgive me is through the Cross of my Lord. There, His conscience is satisfied.”

BUT, ALSO, WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS COME, THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH, HE WILL GUIDE US INTO ALL TRUTH. Isn’t that what John 16:13 tells us? “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth.”

And I’m talking about GOD’S TRUTH, not a ‘truth’ some fallen man has fashioned or designed for himself. This is why ‘religious truth’ is so dangerous. In 2 Peter 2:1-3 Peter wrote: But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.

Then verse 10 speaks of those who are “presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,” and then in verses 12-17 we read: But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, or as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity; a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

But the Holy Spirit has a different ministry than false teachers or false prophets! 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 says: But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And God graciously gives us the Spirit of Truth! In John 14:15-17 Jesus tells us: “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” Look at John 15:26! “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” JESUS IS TRUTH!!

But also DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE NECESSITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE REALITY OF NEW BIRTH FROM A SON OF SATAN TO A SON OF GOD? In John 3:1-8 we read: There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water [the Word of God] 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. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Physical birth? We know the reality of that – and most thank God for it! But the failure comes, those dark nights and days of the soul when one figures spiritual birth is fiction. Is it fiction or is it a reality and necessity of life? Jesus said: “YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN!” Truth or fiction? Nicodemus said: “How can a man be born when he is old?” He was looking only at physical birth and not the birth of the Spirit! But Jesus said and says today: John 3:3, “most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John had said in John 1:12, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe [rely upon, trust in, adhere to] in His name.” Are you glued to Christ?

New birth is new allegiance! Your old man is old allegiance to self-rule, but the new man is new allegiance to the reign of Christ as Lord and King of the kingdom of God. New birth is new sanctified eyes where I begin to “see” my life under the sovereign rule of Christ as Lord of my life!

BUT ALSO WE MUST DISCERN THAT, HAVING RECEIVED THE HOLY SPIRIT, WE DID NOT RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT IN PART, OR PIECEMEAL, OR ‘A LITTLE DAB WILL DO YOU’!! WE RECEIVED HIM IN HIS FULLNESS! In John 3:33-34 we read: “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 His Spirit by measure.” Look at Romans 8:9-11! “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

Is there a limitation to the Holy Spirit’s work in us? Oh, I don’t think so – there may be a limitation in us, a blockage in us – but not in Him! I’m not talking about a life now with sanctified common sense, but a life indwelt by the fullness of the Holy Spirit – He has no limitations but only our resistance to what He wants to do through us!

In Romans 8:26 Paul said: “We know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Never find yourself insensitive to the leadership of the Holy Spirit! Never close the door on His promptings! Never consider self as wise enough to make eternal decisions on your own – rest in the fullness of God’s Spirit and the fullness of God’s Spirit’s leadership!

I’M ALSO CONVINCED THAT WE MUST BE YIELDED TO THE HOLY SPIRIT IN BOTH PRIVATE AND PUBLIC WORSHIP! In John 4:23-24 Jesus said to the woman at the well: “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Worship, both private and public, is one bowing before Father-God in full surrender, in one grabbing hold of God and holding on, in one bowing, under the Spirit’s leadership, in a life dedicated afresh and anew to the glory of God.

Worship is, led by the Spirit, a fresh bowing and a new and full surrender to our Lord’s Lordship – it’s yielding, it’s surrendering, it’s renewing, it’s rekindling! Dwight Bradley put the Spirit-worshipping life like this: [“Leaves From a Spiritual Notebook,” Harper & Row Publishers]: “For worship is a thirsty land crying out for rain, It is a candle in the acts of being kindled, It is a drop in quest of the ocean…It is a voice in the night calling for help, It is a soul standing in awe before the mystery of the universe…It is time flowing into eternity…a man climbing the altar stairs to God.”

In John 4:24 again – it must be cemented in your mind, heart, and spirit of daily living! “God IS A SPIRIT; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

I don’t see worship though as a rule but release of the fullness of the life within us. Worship is not a law but the overflow of love. Worship is not a life-jacket on the ship of “Faith’ but inner Presence expressed in outward magnifying! It was Napoleon Bonaparte who said: “If Socrates would enter the room we should rise and do him honor. But if Jesus Christ came into the room we should fall down on our knees and worship Him.”

David, in I Chronicles 16:29 said: “O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” And, I wonder: How many ‘worship’ and ‘bow down’ in full surrender’!

ONE LAST TRUTH OF VITAL IMPORTANCE FOR OUR UNDERSTANDING OF OUR NEED TO BE YIELDED TO THE HOLY SPIRIT: FLESH [YOUR OLD SIN NATURE] DOES NOT, CANNOT, WILL NOT TESTIFY OF OR GLORIFY CHRIST – THAT IS THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN AND THROUGH YOU. In John 15:26 we read again: “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, HE WILL TESTIFY OF ME.”

And then in John 16:14 Jesus said of the Spirit, “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” The Holy Spirit is YOUR limitless resource of honoring Jesus in your daily walk! Understand – the Holy Spirit reveals your blessing in Christ, your life in Christ, and interprets your every step as opportunity to honor Him and glorify Him on earth as He is glorified in heaven! YOU, in Christ, are a ‘partaker’ of the Holy Spirit, and He enlightens, empowers, and encourages your walk in Christ.

Settle in to Romans 8:26-27! “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

Oh, please hear and receive God’s Word for your own “SPIRIT-BLESSED SPIRITUAL HEALTH”!! I Corinthians 6:19 says, “Or do you not know that YOUR BODY IS THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO IS IN YOU?” Have you made your body “a den of thieves” or is it the Most Holy Place where the Holy Spirit resides and is to reign honoring Christ? B.B. McKinney and Edwin Hatch wrote they hymn: “Breathe On Me”. It says: “Holy Spirit, Breathe on me, Until my heart is clean; Let sunshine fill its inmost part, With not a cloud between…Holy Spirit, Breathe on me, My stubborn will subdue; Teach me in words of living flame What Christ would have me do…Holy Spirit, breathe on me, Fill me with power divine; Kindle a flame of love and zeal Within this heart of mine…Holy Spirit, breathe on me, Till I am all Thine own, Until my will is lost in Thine, To live for Thee alone…Breathe on me, breathe on me, Holy Spirit, breathe on me; Take Thou my heart, cleanse every part, Holy Spirit, breathe on me.”

Tell me of your prayer to be filled with and by the Holy Spirit!

CHAPTER TWENTY

FORGOTTEN? EVANGELISM: HEARTBEAT OF CHRISTIANS AND CHURCHES?

Colin Sterne and H.E.Nichol wrote a powerful hymn many years ago entitled: “We’ve a Story To Tell.” It says: “We’ve a story to tell to the nations, That shall turn their hearts to the right; A story of truth and sweetness, A story of peace and light, A story of peace and light…We’ve a song to be sung to the nations, That shall lift their hearts to the Lord; A song that shall conquer evil and shatter the spear and sword, And shatter the spear and sword…We’ve a message to give to the nations, That the Lord who reigns above, Has sent us His Son to save us, And show us that God is love, And show us that God is love….We’ve a Savior to show to the nations, Who the path of sorrow has trod, That all of the world’s great people Might come to the truth of God, Might come to the truth of God!…For the darkness shall turn to the dawning, And the dawning to noon-day bright, And Christ’s great kingdom shall come on earth, The kingdom of love and light.”

Darkness does prevail over most of our world today, but ‘in Christ’ the Light is shining – and our Lord, because of His grace, mercy, and love toward His chosen, redeemed people, has said: [Matthew 5:16], “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Because of what our Lord has done graciously and mercifully in Christians and churches, we are assigned the responsibility of touching our world around us with the same grace and mercy! Jesus even said in Matthew 5:13, “YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.”

In John 7:38 Jesus said of His new-born disciples, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” That’s a disciple – that is to be His church! If the Lord poured out His life for our salvation, is the mandate and mission on Christians and churches to be the same?

If the Word declares that He [Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world, [I John 2:2], then do we have thrust upon us, Christians and churches, THE MISSIONARY MANDATE, THE WORK OF WITNESSING, AND THE WITNESSING OF HIS REDEMPTIVE TRUTH? If Jesus says “Go”, do we have the option to “stay”? If Jesus says “Tell,” do we have an option to be “silent” about Him? In Acts 20:17-28 Paul called for the elders of the churches of Ephesus: “From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them: ‘You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”

Right before His Ascension Jesus spoke to His disciples in Matthew 28:16-20. Do you believe “last words” are important? Listen to Jesus! Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshipped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earthy. 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; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” AMEN.

How could any disciple, any church, entrusted with God’s Holy Word ignore or set aside as an ‘option we hold’, Acts 1:1-8? “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘Which,’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’ Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

“You shall be witnesses to Me…!” Paul put it a little differently in 2 Corinthians 5:11, “Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;…” Then, in a few verses later, he identifies all believers in this particular way: [2 Corinthians 5:14-20], “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer; Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”

Witnesses, ministers of reconciliation, Ambassadors for Christ, Truth-Tellers, men and women of the holy, heavenly persuasion, living epistles known and read by men! In 2 Corinthians 2:12-17 Paul also said: Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord. I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I departed for Macedonia. Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.”

Let’s look, FIRST, AT OUR HEARTBEAT FOR OTHERS BECAUSE OF WHAT JESUS CAME TO DO. When Jesus was speaking about Zacchaeus in Luke 19:9-10 He said: “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” BUT WE’RE NOT A PART OF THAT?

In I Timothy 1:15 Paul said, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” And didn’t we just read in 2 Corinthians 5:19 that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing [or reckoning] their trespasses to them, and HAS COMMITTED TO US THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION”?

RECONCILIATION? Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary says this: “In Scripture, the means by which sinners are reconciled and brought into a state of favor with God, after natural estrangement or enmity…” And, ‘in sin,’ all are naturally estranged from God [“LOST”] and live even in enmity toward God! Well, what about our “lost-ness” in our sins and estrangement from God? Again, Webster’s 1828 Dictionary says: “Ruined, destroyed, wasted or squandered; employed to no good purpose;…forfeited, a ‘lost’ estate; unable to find the right way;…alienated; perplexed; being in a maze; hardened; ‘lost’ to shame; ‘lost’ to all sense of honor; shipwrecked, sunken…” And THAT”S WHO JESUS CAME FOR! THAT’S THOSE FOR WHOM HE DIED! THAT’S THE ONES FOR WHOM HE SHED HIS BLOOD! “LOST!!”

It was Jean Nicolas Gross, in “Alliance Weekly,” who said: “Do not shelter the mirror which reflects your soul’s lack of beauty; rather welcome the truth, and believe that next to the knowledge of God nothing is so precious as the knowledge of self.”

William R. Newell and Daniel B. Towner wrote these words to the song “At Calvary”: “Years I spent in vanity and pride, Caring not my Lord was crucified, Knowing not it was for me He died on Calvary…By God’s Word at last my sin I learned; Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned, Till my guilty soul imploring turned to Calvary…Mercy there was great, and grace was free, Pardon there was multiplied to me; There my burdened soul found liberty At Calvary.”

Omission of Truth, carelessness of self-contemplation, denial of God’s deep love for the ‘fallen’ and the ‘lost’, irreparably unmade apart from God’s mercy and grace, deceived as to one’s separation from God and His eternal intent for man – it ALL says “Lost!” But I wonder, isn’t it better to say, “I was ‘lost’ but Jesus found me, I was blind but He made me see, I was bound in sin’s cruel bondage, but Jesus set me free!!??”

Also, OUR HEARTBEAT FOR OTHERS IS BECAUSE WE KNOW THOSE OTHERS AROUND US DON’T HAVE TO LIVE CAPTIVE AND SLAVE-LIKE ANY LONGER TO THEIR OLD SIN NATURES. In 2 Timothy 2:19b Paul said, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

I remember reading of those World War II U.S. veterans imprisoned by the Japanese in a prisoner of war camp who remained in their cells after U.S. soldiers approached the camp even though the Japanese had unlocked their cells then ran off! When some have been enslaved to their old sin natures for so, so long, it’s hard to believe they are truly free by our Lord’s sacrificial death and resurrection!

Didn’t Paul tell us in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Verse 21, I do not set aside the grace of God…”

To the church at Rome, and us, Paul wrote in Romans 6:10-23, [OH, how vital these words are to you, believer!]. For the death that He [Jesus] died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In Christ, we are FREE!! No longer are we captives and slaves of our old sin natures! The pillars of the Christian faith that keeps our spiritual health so strong are the pillars of God’s Holy Revelation about us ‘in Christ’ and the pillars of eternal freedom! Jesus died to set the captives FREE! John 8:36 says, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” And what happens to most of us is, we have to experience the renewing, the re-programming of our minds according to God’s Revelation, not our feelings, thoughts, or opinions! This is why in Galatians 5:1 Paul wrote: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty where-with Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

OUR HEARTBEAT FOR OTHERS IS BECAUSE WE KNOW, IN CHRIST, ONE DOESN”T HAVE TO LIVE UNDER THE CONTROL OF SATAN AND DEMON POWERS. To Timothy Paul wrote in I Timothy 4:1, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.” But, who are these who give heed to these spirits and demons? In 2 Timothy 3:13 Paul told Timothy, “But evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

Do I believe ‘born-again believers’ can be harassed, challenged, intimidated, influenced, maybe even ‘led astray’ for a short period of time, or maybe “sifted like wheat”? Absolutely! But there is a difference for true believers between oppression and possession. In Hebrews 2:14-16 hear the truth of Christ’s aid to “the seed of Abraham”: “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself [Jesus] likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.”

Can the demon-possessed be freed by Christ? Absolutely! He has conquered not only sin but the devil and every demon the devil sent to you! Listen to Revelation 12:9-17!! So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ has come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

This large spiritual warfare is actual global warfare between the devil and people of God on every continent. Satan leads the war between good and evil, between the saints and the powers of darkness, between the armies of the Most High God and the armies of the devil himself. Ephesians 6:12 tells us: “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.”

But the promise of God’s Holy Word for every follower of Christ is found in Colossians 2:15! Jesus, “having disarmed principalities and powers, [He] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it [the Cross].”

And I ask you, right now, to pause and reflect upon Jesus – was He tempted, tried, tested by the devil? But you don’t believe unbelievers and believers have to consider a warfare with Satan and the powers of darkness? Please – let them all know that Jesus is their victory over their enemies! But if they refuse, if they rebel, if they yield even an inch to their enemy, share 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12! “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

It is also so vital that you share with those separated from God and His eternal purpose that ONE DOESN”T HAVE TO LIVE SEPARATED, EMPTY, AIMLESS, MEANINGLESS LIVES MISSING OUT ON WHAT GOD PASSIONATELY DESIRES FOR THEM TO HAVE, MISSING OUT ON WHAT GOD INTENDED FOR THAT LIFE!

In Romans 12:1-2 Paul challenges our aimless world, our self-centered societies, our ‘pressed-in’ and sadly influenced godless culture, that there is a better way! “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Earlier, in Romans 5:1-2, 8-10, Paul gives hope for those who are “without strength,” for those alienated and separated from God, experiencing only death in the daily walk. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Verses 8-10, But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

God has called YOU! I Peter 2:9 says: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” And this precious, purposeful, powerful calling is so blessed with holy privilege. In I Peter 3:15 Peter wrote of the blessing of God’s intention of your faith-filled life in influencing others: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.”

But also there’s something else you must grasp and give to your unsaved friends, family, and foes: ONE DOESN’T HAVE TO LIVE BLINDED TO GOD BUT CAN HAVE ONE’S EYES OPENED TO SEE, TO CELEBRATE, AND TO HONOR OUR LORD. In James 1:21-25 we read: “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”

Disintegration of life is a sad, sad state. A divided life is a terrible turmoil. Discouraged lives are those based on self and not the Savior. Darkened lives are those never lit by the fiery, inner presence of Christ! But James said, verse 25, “But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”

The perfect law of liberty? In John 8:36 Jesus said, and still says: “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” Freedom is forgiveness in Christ. Freedom is fullness in Christ. Freedom is heavenly force for the fight of faith. Freedom is the free gift of blessing upon blessing upon blessing upon blessing – in Christ! Which leads us to:

ONE DOESN’T HAVE TO LIVE ISOLATED FROM THE GREAT BLESSING OF BEING A PART OF GOD’S KINGDOM, HIS COMMUNITY OF FELLOWSHIP, AND HIS FAMILY OF FAITH, OR BECOMING ONE WITH HIM WHO DESIRES TO WORK IN AND THROUGH YOU IN RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS! In Philippians 2:5-18 we read some of the most encouraging, challenging, fruitful verses that relate personally to a believer in a dark world and a community of faith that needs YOU! It says: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.”

In “My Utmost For His Highest” Oswald Chambers wrote: “Are you willing to be offered up for the work of the faithful – to pour out your life blood as a libation on the sacrifice of the faith of others? Or do you say – ‘I am not going to be offered up just yet, I do not want God to choose my work. I want to choose the scenery of my own sacrifice; I want to have the right kind of people watching and saying, ‘Well done.’…It is one thing to go on the lonely way with dignified heroism, but quite another thing if the line mapped out for you by God means being a door-mat under other people’s feet. Suppose God wants to teach you to say, ‘I know how to be abased’ – are you ready to be offered up like that? Are you ready to be not so much as a drop in the bucket – to be so hopelessly insignificant that you are never thought of again in connection with the life you served? Are you willing to spend and be spent; not seeking to be ministered unto, but to minister? Some saints cannot do menial work and remain saints because it is beneath their dignity.”

Beneath one’s dignity? Our Lord and Savior humbled Himself and became a “foot-washer”, but that’s too menial for you? Have you “FORGOTTEN” Jesus? Poured spoke of being “poured out as a drink offering” – but you’re unsure of laying your life down in service of others? Almighty Jesus emptied Himself that we might be filled – open your life, pour it out, and see those around you blessed for eternity! The steadfastness of ministry in the name of Jesus should be the main highway you travel on! Be blessed!!

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

FORGOTTEN? “DEAF TO…”, “COLD TO THE WARMTH OF HIS WORD AND VOICE”,

OR, “LISTENING TO THE REDEMPTIVE VOICES”!!

Intro: There is one thing that must be settled in every human heart – redemptive faith is never the result of fleshly sight and fleshly hearing! Oh, all across the world everyday people are hearing voices that they think they ought to heed and follow.

In Deuteronomy 18:9-22 God is so gracious to forewarn His people: LISTEN!! “When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations…There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer,, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. [That’s a demon!!]. For all who do those things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you. The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, according to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’ And the Lord said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ – when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken;; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of Him.” Do you understand how many ‘prophetic voices’ are around you every day? – and their conscious or unconscious desire is to lead you away from God, away from His purpose, away from His Person and APPOINTED PROPHET?

Are you aware that ever since the Fall of man in God’s Garden of Holiness that even a ‘snake’ showed up there voicing deception and never spoke “TRUTH”?

And because of the Fall, there is the need of Redemption and Reconciliation with Holy God, regeneration through faith in the finished work of Christ at the Cross – Redemption is God’s Reality, Redemption is God’s Restoration, Redemption is God’s Release into the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

But too many have ears superbly trained to hear what they want to hear, to hear what pumps their flesh, to hear what everybody does so they can fit in with anyone but the God who made them, lost them, but then bought them with a price!

I say to you: Beware of any voice, anywhere, anytime, that competes, contends against, or tries to contradict the Voice of Jesus only, the Voice of the One True and Living God, and beware of the voices that speak their opinions and not the revelation of His Word!

Redeemed men have redeemed ears to hear and serve God because they’re blessed with a divine love-gift of a life that hears Him speak, responds to His voice, and reaches out for His destiny and purpose in them and through them.

Redeemed men are not such that are inclined to tell God what they think He ought to do or to let out for His approval their plans, their ambitions, and their determination to “get- er-done” with or without Holy Him.

Redeemed men, blessed as “partakers of the divine nature,” are men who know and understand that it “pleased God…to reveal His Son in [them}..” and they comprehend their “walks” as disciples are an overflow, a release, a service, to the honor of Christ out of the explanation of sheer love, sacrificial devotion, spontaneous obedience to the Proven Voice and Living Word within them!

Do you remember Genesis 15? Verse 1 says, “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.’” THAT’S FAITH IN GOD – NOT FAITH IN HIMSELF! And God gives Abram a vision –

Verse 5, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them…So shall your descendants be.”….”How will this be?”, Abram was asking. And God cut a blood covenant with Abram! WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?…Verse 11 says, “And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.” Oh, what a fighter, what a defender of the Faith, what a warrior in the eternal warfare of the ages! RIGHT?….Verse 12, “Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; [Ever felt you’ve been in a deep spiritual sleep?]…and behold, HORROR & GREAT DARKNESS FELL UPON HIM.”….Verse 17 tells us: in that darkness “a smoking oven & a burning torched passed between those pieces,” God assuring Abram “he was on the right journey”!

COVENANT HAD BEEN ESTABLISHED! At the end of chapter 16, it says Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.” [13 years before Genesis 17:1!] – “When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said: “I am Almighty God; walk before me and be blameless.” Verse 3 – Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him…” He gave Abram a new name: Abram was ‘Exalted Father’ – Abraham was “Father of a Multitude”!

Sue and I established early in our marriage a mutual covenant – a covenant of prayer for our line of the Fishers to be established for a 1000 generations to honor God – WE HAD HEARD HIS VOICE!

In Job 42:2 Job said to the Lord, “I know that You can do all things and that no thought or purpose of Yours can be restrained or thwarted.”….And this, no doubt, is why David wrote the 23^rd Psalm out of a heart that had learned to listen to God’s heart-beat and God’s Voice!! ….[READ!!]

In 2 Timothy 2:7-9 Paul wrote: “Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things. Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not bound or chained. Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”

I’m telling you: YOU NEED TO STRIP FROM YOUR MINDS the thin gauzes of doubt, unbelief, speculation, indifference, and irreverence toward God’s Voice, and put on yourself the Royal Robe of Submission, Surrender, and SOLE RELIANCE on the VOICE OF GOD, not the wagging tongues from defiled hearts & rebellious minds who’ve determined: “WE DON’T NEED TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE!!” – I’m telling you: RUN even from a classroom, or a doctor’s office, or from a lawyer who is the ‘Law’ unto himself!

Listen to Dr. R.G. Lee out of his famous book “Payday Someday,” [pps. 55-56]. Dr. Lee preached: “In this Word of God which can never be bound or imprisoned, the historian has found his most thrilling chapters, the artist his loveliest conceptions, the poet his loftiest themes, God’s prophets their divinest messages, ethics its greatest authority, philosophy its profoundest inspiration, oratory its most beautiful quotations to bejewel its grandest flights, and many writers multitudinous themes and suggestions that blossom like rare and fragrant flowers in the world’s vast garden of literature.”

Do you understand that when one turns a deaf ear to “Redemptive Voices”, they have personally awakened in themselves afresh and anew the death knell to blessing, liberty, freedom, guidance, and the eternal destiny of fullness in Christ?

What did Paul say to the Athenians? “In Him [in Christ] we live, and move, and have our being”! And, I say, “Thank God for those who listen, hear, and respond in faith and obedience to the Redemptive Voices!”

FIRST, WE NEED TO HEAR, LISTEN, AND RESPOND TO THE VOICE OF THE LAW OF GOD. I want you to come to Exodus 19:4-6 and witness precious privilege, a treasured possession, a holy vow, and a Godly promise. The Word Says: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”…Then look at verse 19, ‘Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice.” And then comes the voice of Holy Exposure in Exodus 20:1-21!!

Why the Ten Commandments engraved on those tablets of stone? Come to Galatians 3:10!! Are you ready? “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’” – Law’s Purpose? Galatians 3:24 tells us: “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” Verse 7 has already told us “Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.” Why?

In John 8:56 Jesus said of Abraham: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”…THE LAW CARRIES EVERY MAN TO THE HOLY BAR OF GOD! THE LAW CONDEMNS EVERY MAN FOR VIOLATIONS! THE BROKEN LAW CAUSES US TO CAST OURSELVES ON THE MERCY SEAT and GRACE and LOVE OF GOD TO LEARN HIS ETERNAL WAY OF SALVATION and HEALING PROVISION

Look at the 10 Commandments, Listen to the Voice of God speaking, and then LEAN ON HIM in repentance toward God and faith in Christ’s finished work at the Cross!!…..THE VOICE OF THE LAW CONDEMNS –THE VOICE OF THE CROSS LIBERATES!….THE VOICE OF THE LAW SEPARATES – THE VOICE OF THE CROSS UNITES!….THE VOICE OF THE LAW EMBITTERS – THE VOICE OF THE CROSS SWEETENS!…THE VOICE OF THE LAW DECLARES JUDGMENT – THE VOICE OF THE CROSS DECLARES INNOCENCE!…THE VOICE OF THE LAW DECLARES DARKNESS TO THE SOUL – THE VOICE OF THE CROSS DECLARES “LIGHT” TO THE SAINTS!…

I want you to hear words from the great British preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, dead now almost 150 years ago: [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Memorial Library, Vol. 4, pps. 237-238],…”Now, I beseech you, hear this word and believe it: ‘This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.’ Oh, you can say, ‘I believe this Word – it is true – blessed be His dear name; it is true to me, for whatever I may not be, I KNOW THAT I AM A SINNER; [a Law-of-God breaker!]:…And, good Lord. You know when I say I am a sinner, I do not mean what I used to mean by that word. I mean that I am a real sinner. [A LAW OF GOD VIOLATER!!]. I mean that if you should damn me, I deserve it; if You should cast me from Your presence forever, it is only what I merited [ earned] richly. O my Lord, I am a sinner; I am a hopeless sinner, unless You save me; I am a helpless sinner, unless You deliver me. I have no hope in my self-righteousness; and Lord, I bless Your name, there is one thing else, I am a sorrowful sinner, for sin grieves me; I cannot rest, I am troubled. Oh, if I could get rid of sin, I would be holy, even as God is holy, Lord, I believe.’ But I hear an objector cry out, ‘What, sir, believe that Christ died for me simply because I am a sinner!’ yes, even so. ‘No sir; but if I had a little righteousness; if I could pray well, I should then think Christ died for me.’ No, that would not be faith at all, that would be self-confidence. Faith believes in Christ when it sees sin to be black, and trusts in Him to remove it all. Now, poor sinner, with all your sin about you [Law-breaking etc.], take this promise in your hands, go home today, or if you can’t, do it before you get home – go home, I say, upstairs alone, down by your bedside, and pour out your heart, ‘O Lord, it is all true what the preacher said today; I am condemned, and Lord, I deserve it. O Lord, I’ve tried to do better, and I have done nothing with it at all, but have only grown worse. O Lord, I have slighted Your grace, I have despised Your Gospel: I wonder You haven’t damned me years ago; Lord, I marvel at myself, that You suffer such a base wretch as I am to live at all. I have despised a mother’s teaching, I have forgotten a father’s prayers. Lord, I have forgotten You; I have broken the Sabbath, taken Your name in vain. I have done everything that is wrong; and if You condemn me, what can I say? Lord, I am done before Your presence. I have nothing to plead. But Lord, I come to tell You, You have said in the Word of God, ‘Him that comes unto Me, I will in no wise cast out.’ Lord, I come; my only plea is that You have said, ‘This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.’ [Sinners? Law of God breakers and violators!!] Lord, I am THE SINNER; He [Jesus] came to save ME; I trust in it – sink or swim – Lord, this is my only hope..[THE LAW] has pointed me to Christ alone!”

I wish you could have heard my son’s Youth Minister preach recently on Mark 9:7-8, “And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!’ Suddenly when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but Jesus only with themselves.”

SECOND, WE NEED TO HEAR, LISTEN, AND RESPOND TO THE VOICES OF HEAVEN’S ANGELS AND DEPARTED SAINTS….Come to Revelation 11:15-18, “Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, and He [Jesus] shall reign forever and ever!’ And the 24 elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshipped God, saying, ‘We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come. Because You have taken Your great power and reigned. The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth.” [You do understand! God isn’t talking about non-environmentalists here!!}

I want to ask you a very serious question! Are you aware that there are loud voices opposed to God, loud voices intent on the destruction of the earth, of God-ordained intent, God-ordained purpose, and a God-ordained ‘way of life’?….Rather than ushering in ‘heaven on earth just as it is in heaven now,’ there are co-conspirators intent on ‘hell on earth as it is in hell right now’!

I love reading John Piper – and, in his book, “A Godward Life,” he wrote: [pps.207, 209], “Jesus had a lively, daily awareness of heaven & hell. These awesome realities were always relevant for the way He lived and taught. He was radically reasonable about these things. If we will live forever in bliss or torment, then securing the one and escaping the other is more important than most of what we think about…So He motivated loving actions with the hope of God’s fellowship in heaven, and he motivated radical purity with the fear of separation & torment in hell. For Jesus a profound desire for heaven and a potent fear of hell were practical, daily parts of living a glad and holy life….We are playing games if we say we long for heaven more than this earth & then live like earthbound people.” And then Piper quoted I John 3:3, “Everyone who has this hope fixed on [Christ] purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

Back in the early ‘80’s as I was pastoring Highlands Church in Ocala, Florida, it was the spring of the year. Into the Sunday a.m. fellowship walked a man & woman I’d never seen before – he had a white suit on and his lady friend, coal-black hair, also had a white suit. They filled out a visitor’s card and the address was the apartment complex across the street from the church. As per every Tuesday I made the visit, invited in, found out about his nationally known Christian ministry of piano with Rex Humbard’s church and even numerous appearances with Bill Gaither.

After casual and cordial conversation, he then informed me that the two were not married, that they both had left their mates and children so they could be together! I WAS STUNNED, to say the least! I then carefully dismissed myself and asked the man if he could come by my office the next morning – he agreed. Wednesday morning had almost passed – it was lunch time and I needed to go eat with Sue. But, as I was leaving, the man opened the church door, big smile on his face, then said: “Pastor Fisher, what did you think about what I told you yesterday about me and my lady friend?”….I pointed my finger at the man and said to him: “Sir, you are an adulterer and the woman you’re living with is an adulteress. And unless you both repent you’re bound for Hell! And I want you to know, unless you repent, don’t step foot in this door of God’s church.”…I walked out – and left him standing with his mouth wide open.

One year later, 2:30 a.m. in the morning I received a phone call. It was this man. He was weeping, crying, hard for him to talk, but I heard him through his tears say: “Pastor Fisher, I want to thank you. You are the only pastor nationally who told me the truth. Across Canada and America I asked leading pastors, well-known pastors, what they thought – and all but you said, “It’s OK, Brother; God wants you happy!”….NO!! GOD ISN’T INTERESTED IN YOUR HAPPINESS – HE WANTS YOU HOLY!!

The piano player and his wife had been reconciled, God had given them a ministry to troubled marriages, and they wanted to come to Ocala and share what God had done through truth shared!…Please, please, hear me: There are those “spiritually lost, spiritually destitute, spiritually inclined” to deny truth and destroy the earth – but there are the servants of God, the prophets, and the saints who’ve heard His Voice, Fear His name, and are willing to stand, & yes, die for eternal truth!

THIRD, WE NEED TO HEAR, LISTEN, AND RESPOND TO THE VOICE OF GOD CALLING OUT FOR VOLUNTEERS! Come to Isaiah 6:1-9! “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!’ And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: ‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.’ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away and your sin is purged.’ Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me.’ And He said, ‘Go, & tell this people:…”

Did you catch it? I don’t know how you could miss it! Isaiah said what? “..I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go FOR US?” US?…ALMIGHTY GOD – LOVING SON and THE HOLY SPIRIT CALL TO US!! “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’; …And Isaiah responded: “Here am I! Send me.”

Are you aware that every day, men and women, boys and girls, are confronted by open doors to the habitations of the temporal or the habitations of the Eternal?….You are either pressed in to ‘pathological self-obsessions,’ ‘acute self-consciousness,’ the childish framework of ‘me, my, mine’ – or you’ve heard God’s Holy Voice calling out: “Whom shall I send and who will go for Us?”

In Mark 1:14-15 Jesus had begun His public ministry. Mark wrote: “Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, & believe in the gospel.” BUT THAT’S NOT ALL

Look at Mark 1:16-17!! “And as HE [Jesus] walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon & Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then Jesus said to them: “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

In Dallas Willard’s “The Divine Conspiracy,” Willard wrote: “This is a call for us to reconsider how we have been approaching our life, in light of the fact that we now, in the presence of Jesus, have the option of living within the surrounding movements of God’s eternal purposes, of taking our life into His life.”….I’d rather say, “taking His life into our lives,” and with Isaiah say: “Here am I! Send me!” “I want to be what you want me to be! I want to go where you want me to go! I’ll be a shoe-shiner for the glory of Christ! I’ll be a carpenter for the honor of my Lord. I’ll be a musician for the honor & blessing of Christ Jesus. I’ll be a scientist, and especially one who affirms God’s creative genius – not one who denies it. I’ll be a doctor extending my Lord’s healing grace and power.”

How can one profess redemptive life and redemptive love and redemptive liberty and redemptive privileges, and not say with Isaiah: ‘Here am I! Send me!’………You may find yourself so very much at home with the Rangers and the Mavericks and the Phil Micklesons and your pets and favorite movie stars – but you need to grasp that it is God who made you, the Lord who saved you, and a world that needs you out there! Out there is a God-birthed, God-blessed, God-bathed, God-enveloped world that needs Him!….Have you ever heard it? “Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal”? And you understand – you can be heaven’s messenger of healing grace!….With transparent, transformed, and triumphant lives because of God’s grace and mercy, with the flames of our Lord’s unquenchable love, with a faithful and truthful presence and an available “Send me,” we can change the world around us!

It was Henry Ward Beecher who wrote: “Consecration is not wrapping one’s self in a holy web in a sanctuary & then coming forth after prayer and twilight meditation and saying, ‘There, I am [now] consecrated.’ Consecration is going out into the world where God is and using every power for His glory. It is taking all advantages [opportunities, crises] as trust funds – as confidential debts owed to God. It is simply dedicating one’s life, in its whole flow, to God’s service.”

FOURTH, AND LAST, WE NEED TO HEAR, LISTEN, AND RESPOND TO THE VOICE OF CHRIST – SAVED OR UNSAVED, LOST OR FOUND, SPIRITUALLY RE-BORN OR SPIRITUALLY DEAD!….Come to Revelation 3:18-22!….Let me tell you of the love of Jesus!! “I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

It was Charles Morrison who once said: “The love of God is no mere sentimental feeling; it is REDEMPTIVE POWER.”……….Harold Cooke Phillips put it like this: “This coming to know Christ is what makes Christian truth redemptive truth, the truth that transforms, not just the truth that informs…”….I want to close with an old hymn!!

“My Faith looks up to Thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine! Now hear me while I pray, Take all my guilt away, O let me from this day Be wholly Thine!…Verse 2, May Thy rich grace impart, Strength to my fainting heart, My zeal inspire; As Thou hast died for me, O may my love to Thee, Pure, Warm, and changeless be A living fire!…Verse 3, While life’s dark maze I tread, And griefs around me spread, Be Thou my guide; Bid darkness turn to day, Wipe sorrow’s tears away, Nor let me ever stray From Thee aside…Verse 4, When ends life’s transcient dream, When death’s cold, sullen stream Shall o’er me roll, Blest Savior, then, in love, fear and distrust remove; O bear me safe above, A ransomed soul!”

What is our Lord saying to us? From “Ashes to Fire”, From slave of Satan to son and servant of Holy God,

From a world-promoter to a world-changer, From a life of indifference to a life of passion to be God’s instrument in touching others with His grace and mercy,

From a nobody to His somebody, From chains to freedom in Christ,

From a darkened soul to an enlightened spirit,

From self-consumption to spirit-sacrifice,

From deaf ears and blinded eyes to one who hears and sees and responds to our Lord’s compassion for the needy!

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

FORGOTTEN? THE CONSEQUENCES OF ‘SINKING SANDS’ OR THE BLESSINGS OF THE SOLID ROCK?

Do you believe that every church building you see is exemplary of the True Body of Christ? Are you aware of the massive differences between ‘man-made churches’ and the spiritual ministries of born-again disciples of Christ? Does ‘profession of’ always mean the reality of ‘possession’ by the Indwelling and Ever-Presence of the Living Lord?

Is explosive growth always evidence of Christ-anointing and Holy Spirit presence? Does ‘pastoral personality of attractiveness’ assure Heaven’s Hand of anointing TO THE GLORY OF GOD?

‘Jokesters,’ ‘pumpers of flesh,’ ‘All-Stars’ of intellectual genius, ‘mental manipulators’ void of the Master, knowledgeable men acquainted with the Scriptures but absent of its Author – what goes on today in churches when ‘members’ of the congregation are hand-cuffed by a man’s personality, drugged by fleshly or false doctrines, fooled by a familiar spirit, and tranquilized by a man’s interpretation apart from God’s revelation?

Do men’s business acumen (sharp perception), talents, and training assure a church’s ‘success’ to the glory of God or does it become a stumbling block in hearing the voice of God because they ‘know’ it all?

God’s “beware” of false prophets is the divine call and encouragement for His people to “be wise” in the Word led by the Holy Spirit who will, if we let Him, ‘guide us into all truth.’ Then there are the spiritual arsonists who can craftily create ‘false fires’ which have nothing to do with the Holy Fires of God; ‘kiddies’ kindling small match-book fires never realizing they can erupt into major fire-storms – and though false preachers only want to light matches under, over, and in young followers, lighting devoted ‘followship’ to them, they are so unaware of spiritual deception in themselves that they don’t even flinch when their devoted followers begin to ‘burn’ in their fleshly spiritual bondage – prisoners of their preacher rather than bound to Christ!

“Stars” of the ‘false preachers parade’ shine best with darkness not Light, wanting to hover over their subjects in commanding fashion, not Christ-like faith and fellowship and fullness of the Servant Spirit. Christ Jesus IS Lord before whom we are to bow but I have personally witnessed ‘pastors’ who demanded devotion to them as if ‘they’ were the true Lord, them becoming so assertive and controlling of their parishioners as if they were the Lord Himself!

There’s an interesting verse in Isaiah 10:21-22 where God said to Isaiah, and us, “The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God….For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet [only] a remnant of them shall return…” Do you remember what Samuel said to Saul in I Samuel 15:23? “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king [or reigning with Him].”

I don’t know how familiar you are with Habakkuk, but you need to major on it for days! Habakkuk 1:5-9 and also verse 12, “Look among the nations and watch – be utterly astonished! For I will work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told you. For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation which marches through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places which are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful; their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and more fierce than evening wolves. Their chargers [or horsemen] charge ahead; their calvary comes from afar; they fly as the eagle that hastens to eat. They all come for violence; their faces are set like the east wind. “they gather captives like sand.” And verse 12? Are You not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, You have appointed them for judgment; O ROCK, You have marked them for correction.”

Revelation 20 speaks of a day when Satan will be bound for a 1000 years. Then verse 7 says, “And when the 1000 years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. Verse 8 says, “And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.”

Now you must come and read, ponder, think, evaluate Matthew 7:13-27!! Here it is!! “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. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken to a wise man WHO BUILT HIS HOUSE ON THE ROCK; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, FOR IT WAS FOUNDED ON THE ROCK. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house ON THE SAND; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

“SINKING SANDS OR THE SOLID ROCK?” “Sinking Sands?” In Proverbs 2:18, speaking of the “strange woman,” we read: Amplified Bible, “For her house SINKS down to death, and her paths to the spirits [of the dead].” Does that ring an awakening bell in your mind and heart? Webster’s 1828 Dictionary says of “strange” that it means “foreign, pale,…odd, unusual, irregular, estranged…” And could we say ‘estranged from God Himself’? “SINKING SANDS”!

Woodward said: “That finer matter called ‘sand’, is no other than very small pebbles.” And what are ‘pebbles’ when compared to ‘Solid Rock’? Is ‘sand’ what you’d build your spiritual house on or on the foundation of ‘Solid Rock’?

What did Jesus say in Matthew 7:26-27? [Amplified Version]. “And every one who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a stupid [foolish] man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great and complete was the fall of it.”

A decision in one’s mind, heart, and spirit, to choose sinking sand to build one’s life upon is no doubt a major part of fallen man’s old sin nature! There is that that every man wrestles with: SELF-WILL, SELF-PLEASURE, SELF-RULE – warped living that always wants to shut God out and become himself the crumbling center of his own godless universe, denying God, denying the Word of God, denying the Son of God, denying the Cross and the Resurrection, and pushing to the surface of his mind, heart, and will, his own decision as to ruling, his own sick ambition to be his own lord, ‘master’ of his own destiny, denying accountability to Holy God at God’s judgment seat.

Sinking Sands? How casual, how indifferent, how resentful are they to the sinking, shifting sands, when they are defined, explained, or scripturally exposed! Sinking sands? That’s the world, the flesh, and the devil himself and his demon hordes that enslave, capture, confine, restrict, limit, abuse, accuse, bind up, suffocate, squeeze out any turning to eternal truth! In Luke 22:31 we read, “And the Lord said, ‘Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.” Have you been ‘sifted’ lately?

What a warning for any life choosing to walk on sinking sands! It’s 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10: “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved.”

Sinking sands? In 2 Thessalonians 3:1-3 Paul wrote: “Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.”

Sinking sands? I Thessalonians 1:9b-10 says” “…and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He [God] raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

Sinking sands? Ignorance of ‘the times and the seasons’ – that’s a day when every man, woman, boy or girl, will stand before Holy God and give an account, “What then did you do with Jesus who is called the Christ?” In I Thessalonians 5:1-7 Paul calls us to spiritual sobriety while the world, the flesh, and the devil, are crying out “Peace and safety” for themselves when their eternal destruction is knocking on their door. The Word says:

“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.”

It was Alexander Maclaren who wrote: “That which of all things unfits man for the reception of Christ as Savior, is not gross profligacy and outward, vehement transgression, but it is self-complacency, fatal self-righteousness and self-sufficiency.” Sinking sands!

“Sinking sands”? It is a walk through life in the animalistic intent on success and survival on ‘my terms’ strictly on the basis of ‘self-interest’ with no concern as to God’s eternal intent! This is why Jesus boldly said in Matthew 16:24, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”

Listen to Oswald Chambers in “My Utmost For His Highest”! [p.257], “Individuality is the husk of personal life. Individuality is all elbows, it separates and isolates. It is the characteristic of the child and rightly so; but if we mistake individuality for the personal life, we will remain isolated. The shell of individuality is God’s created natural covering for the protection of personal life; but individuality must go in order that the personal life may come out and be brought into fellowship with God. Individuality counterfeits personality as lust counterfeits love. God designed human nature for Himself; individuality debases human nature for itself.”

Do you see that, understand it, run from it – to God? “Sinking sands”? “…individuality debases human nature for itself…!” “Individuality… all elbows” with no reaching hand of faith and trust and surrender and obedience to God! “Individuality… counterfeits personality as lust counterfeits love…!”

“Sinking sands”? That’s standing in life fully devoted to carnality, at war with the Spirit of God, an unrenewed, fallen, rebellious sin nature, a nature and state and determination of one’s life to go it’s own way, to satisfy ‘flesh’, to deny ‘saving faith,’ one consumed with the passion to live, enjoy, incorporate his unrenewed nature in opposition to God’s eternal intent!

“Sinking sands”? It’s ‘bitten’ by the “Serpent” with a deadly poison flowing through one’s veins that has brought on a condition of life that defies human remedies! That one, yes, all, opposed to “repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of Christ at the Cross” live ‘soul-shaken’! and ‘sin-stricken’, ignoring, denying, refusing, pleading blindness to saving grace!

“Sinking sands”? That’s establishing man-made religions in opposition to a personal relationship with God through the sacrifice of Christ! That’s ‘cosmetic coverings’ apart from true conversion in Christ! But there if ‘Hope’, not fatal forgetfulness; there is THE eternal answer to fallen man’s dilemma, not fleshly hopelessness; there is the Sovereign remedy of life and heart change and eternal hope as one stands saved, secure, sanctified, and Sovereignly sure on “The Solid Rock”!!

But there is ‘hope’, not fatal forgetfulness; there is THE eternal answer, not fleshly hopefulness; there is the Sovereign remedy of life and heart change and eternal hope as one stands saved, secure, sanctified, and Sovereignly sure on “THE SOLID ROCK”! Oh, please, please, STAND ON “THE SOLID ROCK”! In Matthew 7:24-25 what precious, personal, powerful words we find! Jesus is speaking here! “therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house ON THE ROCK; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.”

It was Edward Mote and William B. Bradbury who wrote the famous hymn “My Hope Is Built”, or also known as “The Solid Rock.” The hymn says: “My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly live on Jesus’ name…. When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil….His oath, His covenant, His blood, Support me in the whelming flood; When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay….When He shall come with trumpet sound, Oh, may I then in Him be found; Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne…. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand. AMEN.”

In Matthew 16:13 Jesus had come to the region of Caesarea Philippi and He asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” And, no doubt, that questioned is ignored, answered faithlessly, denying Him carelessly, and, to them, totaling obliterating His Name as a subject they want to discuss or discern. But the disciples answered Him in verse 14, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Then, here it comes…!

Then Jesus said to them, “But WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?” And, praise God, for Simon Peter who answered in verse 16, “You are the Christ [the Messiah, the Eternally Anointed Promised Savior], the Son of the Living God.” In verses 17-19, what a revelation! Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and ON THIS ROCK I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

And for yourself, WHO DO YOU SAY JESUS IS? Plus, you do understand that how you answer is evidence of your life on “sinking sands or Solid Rock”!

SINCE CHRIST JESUS IS “THE SOLID ROCK,” THEN ONE’S ANSWER DETERMINES HIS FAITH IN GOD’S MIRACLE OF GRACE, MERCY, AND LOVE – OR ONE’S LACK, VOID, ABSENCE OF TRUST IN CHRIST ALONE! What did Jesus say? “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to Father-God but by and through Me and My redemptive work at the Cross.”

I John 5:12 says, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” Then in John 17:3 we read, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Oh, how misconstrued life becomes when one alarmingly believes it’s what he/she wants, what he/she wills to do, and what he/she does to form their private constitution independent of Christ!

I want you to know “The Solid Rock” is our Lord and Savior, and intends He become our Master and mastery of life! “The Solid Rock” is Emmanuel, ‘God With us’! In his book, “The Secret of Happiness,” written by Billy Graham in 1955, he wrote: [p.136], “To know about Christ is not enough. To be convinced that he is Savior of the world is not enough. To affirm your faith in Him, as we do in the Apostles’ Creed is not enough. To believe that He has saved others is not enough. You really don’t actively believe in Christ until you make a commitment of your life [to Him] and receive Him as your Savior [and Lord]…You can best demonstrate your faith in a bank by putting your money in it. You can best show your faith in a doctor by trusting him with your physical welfare in times of illness. You can best prove your faith in a boat by getting aboard and going someplace on it. You can best demonstrate your faith in Christ by trusting him with your life and receiving him unconditionally as your Savior.”

SINCE CHRIST JESUS IS “THE SOLID ROCK”, THEN ONE’S FAITH UNDERSTANDS, KNOWS, AND IS WILLING TO COMMIT TO “STANDING” ON “THE SURE FOUNDATION.” In I Corinthians 3:10-11 we read: “According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

So desirous of encouraging young Timothy, in 2 Timothy 2:19-21, Paul wrote: “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and ‘Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.’ But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.”

Is your life “founded on the Rock”? Is your life “safe on the Rock”? Is your journey “sure on the Rock”? No doubt this is why the wise man wrote in Proverbs 10:25, “As the whirlwind passes, so is the wicked no more; but the righteous is an everlasting foundation!”

Raging winds, raging waters, raging wars – but the life “founded on the Rock” will never blow away, wash away, or be a victim of a senseless spiritual war – His Rock Is Christ!

SINCE CHRIST JESUS IS “THE SOLID ROCK,” AND ONE IN REPENTANCE AND FAITH RESTS HIS/HER LIFE ON THE SURE FOUNDATION, THEN IT’S NOT “THE RUDDER OF RHETORIC” BUT THE REVELATION OF GOD’S HOLY WORD THAT KEEPS OUR FEET ON THAT SURE FOUNDATION! I want you to open your own Bible to 2 Samuel 22! What an awesome Word! It’s David, King David, and he’s singing a song to the Lord!

In verses 2-4, as David sings, “The Lord IS my ROCK and my fortress and my deliverer; the God of my strength, in whom I trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; my Savior, You save me from violence. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.” And I’m asking you, right now, this given moment of opportunity: IS GOD YOUR ROCK, YOUR FORTRESS, YOUR DELIVERER?

In verse 5-7 David sings about opposition and God’s answer to it: “When the waves of death surrounded me, the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my voice; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry entered His ears.” And I’m asking you, right now, this given moment of more than likely your own opposition: “In YOUR distress have YOU called upon the Lord?

In verses 8-20 David sings about those ‘shaking sands’, the Sovereign answer, and David’s deliverance!

In verses 21-31 David sings about “Solid Rock rewards,” about “Solid Rock watchcare,” about “Solid Rock” windows of enlightment”!!

SINCE CHRIST JESUS IS “The Solid Rock,” HIS PEOPLE SHOULD BE THOSE WHO “ASCRIBE GREATNESS TO OUR GOD”!! Deuteronomy 32 :3 Moses proclaims “the name of the Lord;” and he says, “Ascribe greatness to our God.” Why? Deuteronomy 32:4, “He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.”

Isn’t it sad when you read a Socrates saying, “If we could but see God, we would know how we ought to live,” and yet ever before any man, anywhere, anytime, God has shown Himself! Isn’t that John 1:14? “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.”

In “Mere Christianity” C.S. Lewis wrote: [chapter 10], “If I find myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world (something supernatural and eternal.”)

But you know that some deny “The Solid Rock” and have no desire to “ascribe greatness to…God.” They suppress Truth and live for The Lie!!

In closing this chapter I want YOU to turn in your Bible and read Romans 1:16-32 at least three times!! Amen??

CHRIST JESUS

BY J. FARRELL FISHER

Colossians 1: 18, “And He [Jesus Christ] is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.”

INTRODUCTION

The verse in Colossians 1:18 is clear, convincing, convicting, and can never be denied”: “…that in all things He [Jesus Christ] may have the preeminence.”

In the “Random House Collegiate Dictionary”, the word ‘preeminence’ is defined as: “the state or character of being preeminent in quality, rank, influence…above, or before others; superior; surpassing…” And you have doubts about the preeminence of Christ Jesus?

You have doubts when even God the Father said, “This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased”? [Matthew 3:17].

Recently I was reading the February, 2015, issue of “Success” magazine [Published by Success Partners, 200 Swisher Road, Lake Dallas, TX.75065], and in it I read an article by Robin Amster entitled “Take The High Ground.” In it, in the title page, I found these words: “INTEGRITY – which can be strengthened – lays the foundation for trust.”

Of course, the author was majoring on ‘integrity’ in the business world, but, I have to ask you: ‘Do you believe in God’s ‘integrity’ in Christ Jesus’ sacrificial offering in your behalf and my behalf?’ ‘Is God’s love demonstrated at the Cross an unveiling of God’s integrity’? ‘Is demonstrating His love for us “At Calvary” the proof of God’s love and His integrity?’

When the author of the article was sharing about building integrity in the business world, the first point the author made was: “Fulfill your promises”! How strong is that when it concerns God and His relationship with you and me?

In 2 Corinthians 1:18-20 Paul unveils “God’s Integrity”! “But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us – by me, Silvanus, and Timothy – was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him [Christ Jesus] are Yes, and in Him Amen, [“so be it!”], to the glory of God through us.”

My prayer for this book? That its content converts, convinces, and inspires YOU in “taking the High Ground”, living the life that unveils the Lord Jesus Christ!

In Romans 15:8-9, and verse 13, we read: “Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision [Jews, Israel], for the truth of God to confirm the promises made to the fathers, AND that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy… Verse 13, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

And I pray these many chapters of this book will convict, convert, and instruct and inspire you to live honorably for the glory of our Lord and Savior!

OUTLINE

CHAPTER ONE: ALL GLORY TO GOD ALONE

CHAPTER TWO: OUR FATHER’S WILL

CHAPTER THREE: THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST

CHAPTER FOUR: IS CHRIST THE ONLY HOPE?

CHAPTER FIVE: THE DEATH OF CHRIST JESUS, THE LORD GOD

CHAPTER SIX: THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST JESUS

CHAPTER SEVEN: HERE COMES THE LAMB OF GOD

CHAPTER EIGHT: THE DECLARATION OF EXCLUSIVITY

CHAPTER NINE: THE COSTLINESS OF CHRIST’S CHOOSING

CHAPTER TEN: CHRIST JESUS – OUR FREEDOM

CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE REJOICINGS OF A KING

CHAPTER TWELVE: FOLLOWING CHRIST JESUS

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: CHRIST JESUS – THE ONE AND ONLY SAVIOR AND LORD

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: CHRISTIAN DETERMINATIONS

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: DEPART…I KNOW YOU NOT

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: DENYING JESUS OR DENYING YOURSELF?

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:BEGINNING LIFE ANEW – IN CHRIST JESUS

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: AROUND JESUS – THE MEMORY OF MARY, THE ANOINTER

CHAPTER NINETEEN: CHRIST JESUS OR THE SELLING OF THE SOUL

CHAPTER TWENTY: CHRIST JESUS’ FREEING OF THE GUILTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: CHRIST JESUS, AND THE FAME OF THE PRIVILEGED

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: CHRIST JESUS, AND THE BLESSING OF THE ACCUSERS

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: CHRIST JESUS – KING JESUS

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: CHRIST JESUS AND ME

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: KNOWING GOD – THROUGH CHRIST JESUS, OUR LORD AND SAVIOR

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: CHRIST JESUS AND GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE FULFILLED

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: CHRIST JESUS: NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES

CONCLUSION

CHAPTER ONE

ALL GLORY TO GOD ALONE

In I Corinthians 4:7 Paul asked an eternally significant question that, at first, may seem to be ‘off-base’, but truly is a very strong foundation to “The Preeminence of Christ”! It says: “And what do you have that you did not receive?” That is so basic, so fundamental, so foundational to redemptive faith, yet multitudes in my life time, whom I’ve witnessed in spiritual awakenings over my 78 years of life, often become so introverted that they believe they are where they are spiritually by ‘self-means’ resulting in self-glory, when God Himself IS “the author and finisher of our faith”!

But that was not the testimony of either Old or New Testament saints. Never did they consider their victories, their spiritual accomplishments, their understanding, their overcoming tenacity having anything to do with themselves! The beloved John said in Revelation 19:6-7, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the ALMIGHTY REIGNS…Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him!”

In I Timothy 1:17 Paul wrote: “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” It was David who called our Lord, in Psalm 3:3, “My glory and the lifter of my head.”

Then, the author of Hebrews really lays a strong foundation for us when in Hebrews 3:6 the author tells us: “…but Christ was faithful as a Son over His House whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.” [And if Christ IS the preeminent One, why would we not hold our confidence in Him strongly and faithfully?]

I know this is why Paul challenged the church at Corinth and us when in 2 Corinthians 12:9 he said, “And God has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

No wonder John was so beloved! He said in John 3:27, “A man can receive nothing, unless it has been given him from heaven.” Does God provide what you need to live a victorious, overcoming, Christ-honoring life? Let’s examine ‘WHY’, in our lives, we need understanding about “All Glory To God Alone”!

First, WE GIVE GLORY TO GOD ALONE BECAUSE OF HIS GIFT OF THE UNVEILING OF REVELATION, KNOWLEDGE, AND UNDERSTANDING ABOUT HIMSELF. Paul wrote in Romans 1:19, “…that which is known about God is evident within them; for GOD MADE IT EVIDENT TO THEM…”

The very awareness and acknowledgement of God is His “precious gift” to every believer who leans not to his own understanding, but, in all things, acknowledges God and gives Him His rightful place! In Romans 3:21-26 Paul explains “saving grace”!

“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,…

Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,…

To demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

Second, WE GIVE GLORY TO GOD ONLY BECAUSE OF THE GIFT OF HIS DRAWING POWER. In John 6:44 Jesus spoke then and NOW! “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

This is why God unveiled Truth to the prophet Jeremiah and had him to write Jeremiah 31:3! “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.”

Oh, hear King David as he wrote to us in Psalm 18:16-19 the following: “He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters; He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me.” God Almighty delights in you, but you don’t delight in Him?

Third, WE GIVE GLORY TO GOD ONLY BECAUSE OF THE GIFT OF HIS TEACHING TO ENLIGHTEN US. In John 6:45 the Word is so clear: “…taught of God.” The verse then says, Jesus speaking, “Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.”

Heard? Learned? From the Father-God? “…comes to Jesus!” But some sadly never listen. In I John 2:27 John also wrote wisely: “And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as HIS ANOINTING TEACHES YOU ABOUT ALL THINGS, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, to abide in Him.”

It was Henry F. Lyte and William H. Monk, in the early to mid 1800’s who wrote the hymn: “Abide With Me”. It says:

“Abide with me; fast falls the eventide; The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide! When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O abide with me.”

But some never realize, without God they are helpless in the matter of eternity! In 2 Timothy 2:7 Paul wrote: “Consider what I say, for the Lord WILL GIVE YOU UNDERSTANDING in everything.” But some, oblivious to eternal matters, live lives totally empty of eternal matters, and especially that they’re accountable to Holy God!

Fourth, WE GIVE GLORY TO GOD ONLY BECAUSE OF THE GIFT OF THE CONVICTING POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. It was Jesus who said in John 16:7-8, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come [the Holy Spirit], He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”

This is why Jesus told us in John 15:22, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.”

And then Jesus told us in John 15:26, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” That’s the Holy Spirit testifying of Jesus as God’s blood sacrifice for your sins – and the Spirit of God comes and convicts YOU of your sin!

Zechariah 12:10 prophetically alerts us and exposes us, with a promise! “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a first born.” “Me”? That’s Jesus Christ, the Promised Messiah!

In I John 5:20 the beloved John told us, “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.”

Fifth, WE GIVE GLORY TO GOD ONLY BECAUSE OF THE GIFT OF AN OPENED HEART ENABLED TO RESPOND TO HIS TRUTH. How clear is Acts 16:14? “…and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.”

I’m sure that you are least aware of Jeremiah’s anointed word about the heart of ‘fallen man’ when he said in Jeremiah 17:9-10, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”

One cannot read the Psalms and not be aware of the regenerated attitude of King David. In Psalm 101:2-5 he testified about his commitment to the Lord to walk with a perfect, opened heart to the glory and honor of Holy God. He said: “I will behave wisely in a perfect [blameless] way. Oh, when will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set nothing wicked [or worthless] before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall way; it shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness. Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; the one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, him I will not endure.” It’s an ‘opened heart’ to God that willingly responds to His revealed truth! A closed heart willingly responds to untruth, to darkness, to the sinful world of fallen mankind!

Sixth, WE GIVE GLORY TO GOD ONLY BECAUSE OF THE GIFT OF THE FOUNTAIN FILLED WITH BLOOD. How thrilling do you find I Peter 1:18-19? “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

How broad a brush do you sense in fallen men who imitate “aimless conduct received by tradition from their fathers”? For the majority of ‘fallen men’ who’ve fallen away from Holy God, they have no comprehension at all of living to the glory of God alone. Peter said in I Peter 2:24, “Who 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.”

Paul wrote to Titus in Titus 3:3-7, “For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Seventh, WE GIVE GLORY TO GOD ONLY BECAUSE OF HIS GIFT, NOT OF OUR WORDS, BUT HIS WORD WHICH GIVES LIFE ETERNAL. In I Thessalonians 2:13 Paul tells us, “And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God’s message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.”

I’m sure you understand that God’s Word is not simply ink on paper, but the Word that is living, powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword!

Our Savior, the Lord Jesus, said that “man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God! It’s why Peter wrote in I Peter 1:23, “for you have been born again, not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God.” And what a powerful Word of redemption God’s Word really is!

Eighth, WE GIVE GLORY TO GOD ONLY BECAUSE OF THE GIFT OF REPENTANCE THAT LEADS TO LIFE. In Acts 11 Peter was defending the grace of God, and in verses 14-18, he said, “who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved.’ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?’ When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.” GLORY TO GOD!

Ninth, WE GIVE GLORY TO GOD ONLY BECAUSE OF THE RICHNESS OF THE GIFT OF LIFE IN AND THROUGH CHRIST JESUS. 1 Corinthians 1:30 declares, “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus who became for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…” That, my friends, is just the beginning of God’s outpouring on our lives through Christ!

2 Corinthians 8:9 declares, “For YOU KNOW the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” I do not hesitate in telling you that some of the ‘wealthiest’ people in the world are villagers in India who’ve come to Christ Jesus without much, if any, rupees or dollars – just absolutely wealthy in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Do you stand on the Word of God as your personal treasure? In 2 Peter 1:2-4 we read, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,…

As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue…

by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” But you have no concept of spiritual wealth and riches through Christ?

Tenth, WE GIVE GLORY TO GOD ONLY BECAUSE OF THE GIFT OF HIS WORK WITHIN US. Paul wrote the Philippians and us in Philippians 2:12-13. The Word declares, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your out salvation with fear and trembling; FOR IT IS GOD WHO WORKS IN YOU BOTH TO WILL AND TO DO FOR HIS GOOD PLEASURE.”

To belong to Jesus Christ is to have fully available to you the handiwork of God Almighty! You’re the clay – He’s the Potter! And Paul said in Colossians 1:29, “To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.”

David knew the King and His glory. In Psalm 24:8-9 he wrote, “Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.” Yes! Come in Lord Jesus, come in, Mighty God, come in, Holy Spirit! Thank You, for your strength and might in the spiritual battles of life!

Eleventh, WE GIVE GLORY TO GOD ONLY BECAUSE OF THE GIFT OF A NEW IDENTITY. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 Paul wrote, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

I pray you understand the very “freshness” of divine revelation and divine identity! In Revelation 1:5b-6 the beloved John tells us, “…To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Twelfth, WE GIVE GLORY TO GOD ONLY BECAUSE OF HIS GIFT OF OVERCOMING POWER. Didn’t John tell us in 1 John 4:4, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them [the spirits of the Antichrist], because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

But then in 1 John 5:4-5 John informs every true believer, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes [trusts in, relies upon, adheres to] that Jesus is the Son of God.”

Lastly, WE GIVE GLORY TO GOD ONLY BECAUSE OF THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT, ESSENTIAL TO THE STRENGTH AND HEALTH OF HIS BODY OF REDEEMED BELIEVERS. In Ephesians 4:11-16 Paul instructs the Lord’s ‘church,’ His family, His army of spiritual warriors, “And He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,…

For the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,…

Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;…

That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,…

But, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head –Christ – from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

Enough said! All glory to God alone!

CHAPTER TWO

OUR FATHER’S WILL

In Acts 21:13-14, when local residents where Paul was, were begging him not to go up to Jerusalem, “Then Paul answered, ‘What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’ And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, remarking, ‘THE WILL OF THE LORD BE DONE!’”

There is no doubt that God [Ephesians 1:11] “works all things after the counsel of His will…!” And if that is true – AND IT IS! – it would seem that mankind would be intent on ‘discerning the counsel of God’s will’!

But Spurgeon wrote [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Memorial Library, Vol.10,p.186], “To know that which God conceals seems to be one of the depraved desires of the human heart.” Yet, at the same time, humankind will ignore that which Almighty God has clearly revealed. I’ve heard them say, ‘Oh, if only I knew the will of God!’

When Ananias came to Saul at the Lord’s direction (Acts 22:12-16), Ananias told him, “The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will…”! I was reading Chuck Colson’s book entitled “Loving God”, when he asked, “But how do we love the Lord?” [Loving God, Hodder & Stoughton, London, p.40] Listen:

“Jesus answered this in a discussion with His disciples: ‘If you love Me, you will obey what I command.’ [John 14:15] Or, as the apostle John wrote later, ‘This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.’ [1 John 5:3]…

And that love leads us to just one place: the Holy Bible. To obey His commandments, we must know His commandments. That means we must know and obey the Scriptures, the key to loving God and the starting point for life’s most exciting journey…

But be warned: Unless you are prepared to have your comfortable notions uprooted, you may want to stop reading right now. A few years ago a magazine article about my prison ministry concluded that ‘prison radicalized the life of Chuck Colson!’ It is understandable that the reporter might have thought that, but it is simply not so. I could have left prison and forgotten it; I wanted to in fact. But while every human instinct said, ‘Put it out of your mind forever,’ the Bible kept revealing to me God’s compassion for the hurting and suffering and oppressed; His insistent Word demanded that I care as He does….

What ‘radicalized’ me was not prison, but taking to heart the truths revealed in Scripture. For it was the Bible that confronted me with a new awareness of my sin and need for repentance; it was the Bible that caused me to hunger for righteousness and seek holiness; and it was the Bible that caused me into fellowship with the suffering. It is the Bible that continues to challenge my life today. That is radical stuff. It is irresistibly convicting. It is the power of God’s Word and it is, all by itself, life-changing.”

Someone asks, ‘Why?’ And I say to you with all my heart, “Because the Holy Word of God reveals “Our Father’s Will”! And he has appointed YOU to know His will!! Ephesians 1:1 says, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God…” To the church at Colossae, he wrote, Colossians 1:9, “…we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding…”, then later in Colossians 4:12, Paul said, “… always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.”

In Acts 13:22 the Word tells us, “And after He removed Saul, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY HEART, WHO WILL DO ALL MY WILL.’” Oh, and then in Psalm 143:10 it says David cried to the Lord, “Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God…”

It was Jesus who said in Matthew 12:50, “..whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother…” OUR FATHER’S WILL! He wants us all to know it, receive it, celebrate it, walk in it, and do it!

HE WANTS US TO KNOW THE “SURETY” OF HIS LOVE, GRACE, AND MERCY. Examine carefully John 6:39-40 and rejoice evermore! “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day…For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, [trusts in Him, relies upon Him, adheres to Him], may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

Salvation! Redemption! Regeneration! James 1:18 says, “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth!” This is God at work! Spurgeon wrote: [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Memorial Library, Vol. 10,p.187], “It was God’s will that ordained salvation by faith, salvation through an atoning sacrifice, salvation by way of the new birth, salvation by the way of perseverance up to perfection.”

In Ephesians 1:5 Paul wrote, “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, Verse 6, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved…”

What does Galatians 1:3-4 reveal to us? “Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age, ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF OUR GOD AND FATHER.” Have YOU received His grace, His peace, His Son into your life?

HE WANTS US TO KNOW “HIS ETERNAL DESIRE” FOR THE SANCTIFICATION OF US ALL. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 says, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality…” What is sanctification?

• Clearly in this verse it is the absence of sexual immorality – 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8 says, “For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification…Consequently, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.”
• Sanctification is the absence of obedience to self-centeredness related to sensual desires and fleshly indulgences. Romans 8:6 says, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace.”
• Sanctification? It is the absence of continual yieldedness to the Old Adamic sin nature. I Peter 4:1-2 tells us, “…because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.”
• Sanctification? It is The Presence of Heart-Hunger for the Holiness of God. In Philippians 3:14 Paul says, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
• And the upward call of God in Christ Jesus is the Presence of Heart-Hunger for Honoring God through one’s daily life. In Philippians 1:20 Paul challenges all believers: “according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.” How does one come to that place? Verse 21, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
• Sanctification? It’s the Presence of Heart-Hunger for my Completion in Christ! In Colossians 2:9-10 Paul wrote, “For in Him [in Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” [But His rule is not your heart’s desire?] In chapter 1 of Colossians and verse 27 Paul challenged us, “to whom God WILLED to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery…which is, Christ in you, the hope of glory…” And, no doubt, this is why Peter told us in 1 Peter 2:15, “For such is the will of God that by doing right [in God’s eyes!] you may silence the ignorance of foolish men…”

[Before I move on from here, I want you to examine carefully Romans 9:22-24 where Paul wrote: “What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?”]

GOD ALSO WANTS US TO KNOW OUR SPIRIT-ANOINTING IN POWER AND PRIVILEGE AS A MEMBER OF THE BODY OF CHRIST. In Ephesians 5:17-18 the Holy Word declares: “…understand what the will of the Lord is…BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT…” Earlier, in Ephesians 1:19 Paul wrote about “what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe…” RESURRECTION POWER! But also its RELEASE through you!

1 Corinthians 12:11 instructs us all as disciples of Christ Jesus, “But one and the same Spirit works all these things distributing to each one individually JUST AS HE WILLS!”

This is why the author of Hebrews tells us, Hebrews 2:4, “God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” And the question is: Have You yielded your self to His sovereign control?

GOD ALSO WANTS US TO KNOW THE SENSITIVENESS OF GOD TO HUMAN NEED. Come to Matthew 8:2-3, read, and carefully examine your own heart: “Have I truly yielded to the Holy Spirit to fulfill God’s healing heart to the needy?” A leper came to Jesus and bowed down to Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out His hand and touched Him, saying, “I AM WILLING; BE CLEANSED;…”

In Acts 10:38 the Holy Word schools us in the heart of God! “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil: FOR GOD WAS WITH HIM!!”

Is God WITH YOU, in You, desiring to be Himself through You? There is such a powerful story in Luke 10:30-37 that should awaken every true believer to our calling in following Jesus! In verse 29 a man asked Jesus: “And who is my neighbor, [that I should care for?] ?” Verses 30-37 Jesus is training US ALL AS HIS DISCIPLES!

A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side…

Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion…

So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, “Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.” Jesus then said:…

“So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among thieves?” And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” Are YOU going and doing likewise?

GOD WANTS US ALSO TO KNOW THE STEADFASTNESS OF GOD IN ACCOMPLISHING HIS ETERNAL PURPOSE. In 2 Peter 3:9 we read, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some men count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance…”

Through Ezekial, [Ezekial 18:23], God asks, “Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?” This is why Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 2:4, “God…desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth…”

He is telling us ALL of God’s compassionate heart and His steadfastness in giving them opportunity! 1. He’s telling us of God’s eternal compassion. 2. He’s telling us of the Constancy of God’s call to us to be AMBASSADORS and WITNESSES to the uttermost parts of the earth. 3. He’s telling us of the Constraining, Compelling Love of Christ that He didn’t die for the few but the many, for the whole world of fallen mankind. 4. He is telling us of the billions of people along India’s coral strands. 5. He’s telling us of the billions of people along China’s invisible wall of unbelief and slavery. 6. He’s telling us of the millions & millions across the dark continent of Africa enslaved by earthly war-lords and hellish demon powers. 7. He’s telling us of the intellectually blind and morally impoverished and the deceived millions in the Americas!

“God is not willing…that ANY should perish!!” So Jesus came! Years ago I had purchased Dr. W.A. Criswell’s book entitled “Expository Sermons on the Epistles of Peter”. In pages 159-160 Dr. Criswell told the following story – so inspirational concerning our steadfastness for the souls of lost men and women. He wrote: “This story takes place more than 100 years ago, in the days of the gold and silver rush in the western states. It happened in Silver City, Nevada. A young woman had given her life to be a missionary and in the providence of God was not able to go. Later, she married a man who was the manager of a silver mine in Silver City. In that town, in an adobe hut, lived an old prospector who was dying. He was a vile and loathsome and filthy man. He was evil and cursed so constantly that those who tried to befriend him by bringing him food left it by the bed and went away. This young woman heard about it. She went to that filthy place and looked on the face of the dying prospector. He cursed her, but she, seeking to befriend him, asked, Did you not have a mother who loved you? He cursed his mother for she also was a vile and bad person. The young woman then asked about his wife. The prospector cursed her memory for she was a woman of the streets. Whatever the young woman said was met with an oath and a curse. She left but came back with food the next day and many days after that, but always met those same curses…

One evening, kneeling before bedtime with her children, the young mother was asked by her son if she prayed for the bad man. The mother had to admit she hadn’t. The little boy asked, “But, mommy, has God given him up too?” Then the mother realized God had not given up on him. So she prayed and prayed and prepared to go back…

On her way to that filthy place she met a neighbor and her little girl who said they would go with her. So the three of them went. Again the young woman was met with vile cursing. But while she was there, the little girl playing outside laughed about something. The old man heard this and it sounded like the ringing of a bell. He asked what that was, and when he found out he asked if he could see the girl. The little girl was brought in and in her hand she held a bouquet of purple flowers from the sagebrush. The little girl was frightened but she held out the little bouquet of flowers and the bad man reached forth his bony hand. But he did not touch the flowers. He touched the little dimpled hand of that child and asked her name. The little girl replied that her name was Mamie. Mamie? The old prospector had had a little girl named Mamie, but she had died, and he began to curse God for taking his little girl from him…

However, the young wife saw an opening and inquired about Mamie. Again the miner cursed God for taking her from him. But the young woman spoke to the miner of his mother and wife whom he had cursed and then said, “Sir, it would have been that had your little Mamie been reared by your mother and your wife, she would have grown up to be like them.” Well, the vile man had never thought of that. The young woman went on. “Maybe God took your little Mamie that He might keep her pure and fresh for you. And it could be,” said the young wife, “that if you would give your heart to Jesus and let Jesus save you, that some day in heaven you could see that darling little girl again.” Could it be? The young woman told the man how Jesus had died for his sins that He might wash him, and that He was in heaven waiting for those who love Him, and by His side is a little girl named Mamie. Could Christ forgive someone as bad as he? The man finally repented of his sins and gave his heart to Jesus. But he had never been to church and wanted to go just once. So they decided to bring the church to that hut. All the old prospectors and miners filled that little place and the old man told those inside to get down on their knees for the young woman was going to tell the story of how they could see God some day…

That is God. Whatever is done is always done in pity and tender mercy that God might lead us to trust in Him and to look in faith to Him.”

GOD ALSO WANTS US TO KNOW OF THE SACREDNESS OF TRUST IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF LIFE. Simply, clearly, and in convicting fashion Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” It hasn’t changed at all! God awaits your celebration of His watch-care over you in life’s circumstances!

GOD ALSO WANTS US TO KNOW OF THE SANCTITY OF PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT IN HIS ETERNAL MISSION ENDEAVORS. Yes, even faithful, sacrificial giving in order to touch the world with His grace, mercy, and love.

In 2 Corinthians 8:5, Paul said of the churches in Macedonia, “And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.”

That’s a good, grand, and glorious thing! But in verse 2 Paul also wrote: “that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality.” In other words they generously supported world missions to the honor of Christ Jesus! Amen?

I have no doubts that those disciples gave generously because of their deep and abiding love for the mission of Christ! IT IS THE WILL OF GOD TO SUPPORT HIS ETERNAL MISSION, even sacrificially!

No doubt this is why Peter wrote in 1 Peter 4:19, “Therefore, let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.” Why? Ephesians 6:6 declares: “not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.” Glory! So be it, Lord!

CHAPTER THREE

THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST

Do you understand, comprehend, receive the Biblical revelation of, yes, “the virgin birth of Jesus Christ,” or do you side with the unbelievers, the skeptics, the doubters, the verbal refuters of what the Holy Bible tells us about our Lord and Savior’s virgin birth?

I was on a trip in September, 2014, with some very dear friends, and while on this trip a friend shared with me that a mutual friend of ours told him that he did not believe in the virgin birth although he attends church regularly. Being in the medical field he had determined that it wasn’t possible for a ‘virgin birth’ and he didn’t feel that a relationship with God was dependent on what one believed about Jesus Christ of Nazareth related to a virgin birth.

Without hesitation, I say to you, I do not agree but firmly believe in the Triune God of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit – One God with three identities or three ministries for the sake of fallen mankind of which we all are a part because we came from Adam and Eve who “fell” and needed to be reconciled to Holy God.

It’s always interesting to read and re-read Genesis 1:26 where the Holy Word tells us: Then God said, [Question! Did He or didn’t He ‘say’?], “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” Verse 27, So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” “Us?” A lie, a figment of a man’s mind, an illusion that has nothing to do with fleshly reality?

But what is Genesis 3 about? Oh…there’s a serpent present! That’s the devil or Satan who, 1)Casts doubt on the Word of God, 2) Twists the Truth and distorts it, 3) Confuses humankind, 4) Speaks “the Lie”, [you can sin and not die], 5) Spews doubt, unbelief, and entices men to deception!

And Genesis 3:8 tells us about Adam and Eve [and all of fallen mankind!] who “hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God.” Men have been hiding from God ever since that day in the Garden of Eden and, of course, have even clothed themselves in all forms of religious deceptions.

Genesis 3:24 tells us: “So He drove out the man…and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.” That’s an amazing, awesome revelation when you tie all of God’s Word together both Old and New Testament. A flaming sword? But in later Scripture we read of the “sword” that has been “dipped in blood”! Isaiah 34:5-6 tells us, “For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; indeed it shall come down on Edom, and on the people of My curse for judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood. It is made overflowing with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.”

No doubt this is an Old Testament picture of “shed blood” authored by God in both judgment and redemption. For to the rebellious and unbelieving it is severe judgment. For the repentant and believing and faithful, it is the shed blood of the Lamb of God poured out by God Himself!

But the shed blood of the Lamb of God is the blood of Jesus WHO IS THE LAMB OF GOD! Jesus IS Immanuel, “GOD WITH US,” because the perfect Lamb of God was and is the sinless sacrifice determined by God, yes, even BEFORE the foundation of our world as we know it! Revelation 13:8 clearly tells us of the Lamb ‘slain from the foundation of the world.”

And the other interesting truth found in Genesis 3:24 is that “the flaming sword which turned every way, TO GUARD THE WAY TO THE TREE OF LIFE,” but in your compromised minds you’ve never seen the ‘tree of life’ as the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus? Have you never seen the sword of the Lord as the Word of God that never fades away? Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

What did our Lord and Savior and Master of life tell us in Matthew 4:4, yes, quoting His WORD from Deuteronomy 8:3? “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”

Oh, hear me, I am firmly convinced that God wants to put His FINGER-PRINT, His PALM-PRINT on our lives by our receiving the Word of God as our true ‘bread of life’ – and He does so through the LIVING WORD, JESUS, and the WRITTEN WORD, His Holy inspired Word!

Before I attempt to fully examine “The Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ,” after reading Deuteronomy 8:3, I want you to carefully examine Deuteronomy 8:11-19!! “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today,…

Lest – when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied;…

When your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, from the house of bondage; who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock;…

Who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and the He might test you, to do you good in the end – then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’…

And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.”

Oh, I see – you believe in “the Lord your God” but you do not accept Jesus as Emmanuel or the Holy Spirit who guides us into all Truth? And you do not accept that it takes God Himself as the Lamb, the sacrificial Lamb, who would be the “sacrifice” for your sin? I want you to examine carefully Isaiah 7:14 where the Immanuel prophecy tells us: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” [Or, “God-with-us”].

The Hebrew terminology for the word “virginity” is the word b’tulah, but Isaiah’s word that he was inspired to write was ‘almah’ or ‘a young woman of marriageable age’ because young women of that Old Testament age WERE (mostly) VIRGINS and their marriage preparation was purity of body as well as purity of heart! I’d say that’s a little different from godless societies!

Genesis 24 is such a powerful word for parents today as it unveils Abraham’s heart and spirit concerning a marriage partner for his son Isaac. Abraham had sent a faithful servant to find, not an unbeliever or immoral woman, but a bride for Isaac who was of his God’s calling and expectation of a, yes, holy bride, pure and set apart to honor God through her devoted life to her husband. The servant found Rebekah, and Deuteronomy 24:16 says, “Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her…”

In Genesis 24:26-27 we read about this Godly servant: Then the man bowed down his head and worshipped the Lord. And he said, “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.” Did you notice, were you alerted as a parent, has it been your consideration to lean upon the leadership of Holy Almighty God, in both the dating patterns and marriage choices of your children?

Hear this servant in Genesis 24:42-44 and verse 48! “And this day I came to the well and said, ‘O Lord God of my master Abraham, if You will now prosper the way in which I go, behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass that when the virgin comes out to draw water, and I say to her, ‘Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,’ and she says to me, ‘Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,’ – let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’ Verse 48. “And I bowed my head and worshipped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has led me in the way of truth to take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son.”

But what about the New Testament revelation of ‘virgin’? In Matthew 1:23 we have a direct quote of Isaiah 7:14 but with the Greek word of ‘parthenos’ specifically used and defined as ‘virgin’. I also find Luke 1:1-4 extremely important. Luke, the physician, wrote: Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things written from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.”

Did you pause and reflect upon verse 4? “that YOU MAY KNOW THE CERTAINTY OF THOSE THINGS IN WHICH YOU WERE INSTRUCTED” –CERTAINTY? You mean a physician who walked with Jesus Christ the Promised Messiah knew that Jesus was virgin-born without a doubt?

Both Matthew and Luke, inspired by the Holy Spirit, guided by the Holy Spirit, assured by the Holy Spirit, tell us that Jesus was birthed in a supernatural way, that a virgin was blessed with the seed of God Himself in her womb apart from a human, sexual event, and that she, yes, birthed the Son of God!

How would one define “the deity of Jesus” apart from the virgin birth? Adam’s ‘fallen race’ was and is desperate for DIVINE INTERVENTION – why? Because Holy God requires DIVINE REDEMPTION, DESTINED AND DEFINED RECONCILIATION, and A DISTINCT RESURRECTION. Luke 2:6-7 tells us: So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

I tell you, if you are not awed by Luke 2:8-14, I’d reach out for a miraculous healing of a hardened heart and a stubborn, un-submissive mind! It says: Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid…

Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”…

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

And I believe as I continue reading in Luke 2 that I hear the ‘doubters’ description of Simeon as “Silly Simeon,” as “Sickly Simeon,” or as “Short-changed Simeon in the brain”: Luke 2:25-35 tells us, And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him….

And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:

“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”

And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Did you leap over Luke 1:27? That’s when Luke unveiled the answer to every man’s unbelief! “For with God nothing will be impossible!” “THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST?”

FIRST, THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST WAS ETERNALLY PLANNED IN THE FATHER’S HEART BECAUSE GOD THE FATHER KNEW WHAT ‘MAN’ WOULD DO. The author of Hebrews had no doubt about Jesus but only divine unveiling. In Hebrews 1:1-3 we read, God, who at various times and in various ways, spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, THROUGH WHOM ALSO HE MADE THE WORLDS; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

I encourage you to reflect upon those words and receive God’s Word to us in verse 2, [God] “has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, THROUGH WHOM ALSO HE [JESUS] made the worlds…” Before the world was, Jesus IS! As the world was being made, it was Jesus in design, Jesus in implementation, and Jesus with His eternal signature revealing Himself: DIVINE IN PURPOSE, DIVINE IN ITS PRINCIPLES, DIVINE IN ITS PRECIOUSNESS, DIVINE IN ITS ETERNAL PROGRAM, [Glorifying the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!].

Have you ignored John 1:1-4? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS GOD. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

Oh, but then one comes to Colossians 1:15-18! It says, ‘God illumining His eternal purpose through Christ Jesus,’ : “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that IN ALL THINGS HE MAY HAVE THE PREEMINENCE.”

Have you forgotten or overlooked Isaiah 43:21? “This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise.” And in Isaiah 43:25 our Lord speaks: “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.” I don’t know about you but I am awed as I read that our Lord and Savior blotted out our transgressions by the covering and washing in and through His blood “for My own sake”!! I sense our Lord saying to us that through the Cross our Lord and Savior WANTED TO DRAW US TO HIMSELF! HE WANTS YOU AS AN ETERNAL PART OF THE HOLY, DIVINE, ETERNAL FAMILY who are placed “under His wings”! “For my own sake” means Jesus is forever blessed and enriched through your relationship with Him.

Does Hebrews 1:10-12 encourage you as you sense our world today is in our Lord’s hands? And: “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; and they will grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail.”

I John 1:1-4 is such an encouraging passage about experiencing true joy in your life of faith. It says: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life – the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us – that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.”

SECOND, THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST WAS PROPHETICALLY ANNOUNCED. It’s not possible to include all prophetic announcements about the VIRGIN BIRTH OF CHRIST, but you need to know that in the Old Testament there are at least 700 verses concerning the coming of the Messiah, and He was, is, always will be Jesus Christ of Nazareth!

I’ve already shared earlier Isaiah 7:14, but it’s so important for you to wrap your mind and heart around and on the Holy verse! Do you understand also the Christmas hymn entitled “Joy To The World”? Isaiah 9:6-7 announces: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”

Did you see it? “His government, His name, His kingdom, His throne, His rule and reign”!! [But He doesn’t rule your heart, your mind, your very life, because you believe “Jesus was only a man – not Emmanuel?”]

Look carefully at the prophetic announcements of His Virgin Birth because, yes, He IS ‘King of kings and Lord of lords’! What were those announcements? His ‘Kingdom’ was to be and is a “Blood-Bought Kingdom,” a ‘Kingdom’ that was and is “Sacrificial In Nature,” a ‘Kingdom’ that was and is “Ruler-based,” a ‘Kingdom’ that “Shines with the Light of God’s Glory,” a ‘Kingdom’ that is “Holy Presence Dominated,” and a ‘Kingdom’ of “Eternal-Mission Purpose” designed, implemented, and empowered by God through “vessels” like you and me!

Have you overlooked Isaiah 61:1-3? Yes, it IS about Jesus!! “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that He may be glorified.”

Oh, and I challenge you: Receive for yourself Isaiah 61:7!! “Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, and instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs.”

Even in the New Testament there is prophetic utterance as in Luke 1:67-79, and the Dayspring came!!

THIRD, THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST WAS AND IS SCRIPTURALLY, HISTORICALLY, AND PERSONALLY EVALUATED. Don’t you find it amazing that the Gospel of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus Christ? And you don’t know WHO HE IS OR WHERE HE CAME FROM? [Read it carefully in Matthew 1:1-17.] Oh, but then Matthew, inspired by the Holy Spirit, writes Matthew 1:18-25 telling us, Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit…

Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit…

And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, ‘God with us.’”

Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.”

Have you thoroughly evaluated Galatians 1:1-5? And have you personally experienced the intent of God in revealing Christ Jesus to you? In Galatians 1:15-16, 22-24, Paul reveals God’s divine intent for every true believer:

Galatians 1:1-5, Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead), and all the brethren who are with me. Grace to you and peace from God the Father AND our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Galatians 1:15-16, But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me…”

Galatians 1:22-24, And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ. But they were hearing only, “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God in me.

Are you of the “mind-set” that ‘Jesus is not divine – never was, never is, and never will be?’ This is why Paul encouraged and challenged and informed the church at Colossae and us in Colossians 2:8-10, “Beware least anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.”

Oh, then Paul unveils for us God’s pointing to His purpose, His pleasure, His perfection in you and through you! He wrote in Colossians 3:1-3, 10, 15-17, the following: If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Verse 10, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him…

Verses 15-17, And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord . And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Do you remember Pontius Pilate asking the people as Jesus was brought before him, Matthew 27:22-26? Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!” Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!”

When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.” And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.” Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.”

And when YOU stand before Holy God in your day of judgment before Him, He’ll ask you: “What did you do with My Son WHO IS THE PROMISED MESSIAH and SAVIOR who is called the Christ?” – What will be YOUR answer?

FOURTH, THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST, YES, REQUIRES BELIEVING AND TRUSTING AND OBEYING GOD HIMSELF. In Hebrews 10:26-29 we read: “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries…

Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment do you suppose, will be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?”

The author of Hebrews, inspired, yes, by the Holy Spirit, wrote in Hebrews 10:31 and verses 35-39, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God… Verses 35-39, Therefore do not cast away your confidence which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: ‘For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.’ But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.”

And how does Hebrews 11:6 awaken our souls and spirits? “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

Question!! Do you believe the Gospel of Christ is eternal? It’s not simply a New Testament revelation – it’s always been in the heart of Eternal, Compassionate, Merciful, Gracious, and Loving God. He tells us in Hebrews 11:23-28 as we read about the faith of Moses: “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command…

By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharoah’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward…

By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.”

Holy God then calls US: Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, LOOKING UNTO JESUS, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

If I were you, I’d search diligently “the grace and mercy of God,” and especially if you’ve doubted for yourself and then discerned that He is not what or who God and Himself and you have decided because it does determine your eternal future past this earthly existence! In Hebrews 12:12-17 we read: “Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord; Looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;…

Lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.”

Hear me! And hear God’s Holy Word! Holy Scripture is not man’s best of fleshly, mental rationalism but DIVINE REVELATION! And it is not the modern-day philosophy of ‘churchianity’ but Resurrection Life, Power, Purpose, and Hope in and through Jesus Only!

Did you know that in the Old Testament alone that it is recorded over and over: “This is what God says”? What about the New Testament? Let me give you a taste of what New Testament disciples stood on: I Peter 1:18-21 says: “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, BUT WITH THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you…”

Again, the author of Hebrews so longed to awaken unbelieving hearts even in those who professed faith in God only but couldn’t accept “blood redemption” in and through the Crucified Christ who was known as Emmanuel – “God in Flesh!” In Hebrews 3:1-2, 5-6, 12-14 and the BIG “IF” in verse 14, plus Hebrews 4:11-12, 14-16, we read: Hebrews 3:1-2, “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house.”

Hebrews 3:5-6, And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

Hebrews 3:12-14, Beware brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ IF we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end…”

Hebrews 4:11-12, Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Hebrews 4:14-16, Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

I close this study with a vital passage written by Paul in Ephesians 1:4-14, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself,…

That in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both of which are in heaven and which are on earth – in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him, who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory…

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”

Yes, to the praise of His glory, Jesus Christ, born of the virgin, lived a sinless life, sacrificed His life on the Cross for us who were dead in our trespasses and sins, but washed in His blood, we are free from the law of sin and death, and rejoice evermore in the Son of God, our Savior and Lord, our Resurrection Life, Resurrection Power, and Resurrection Eternal Hope! That is: Jesus Only!!

CHAPTER FOUR

IS CHRIST JESUS THE ONLY HOPE?

Three different passages of the Holy Word will open this chapter. 1 Peter 2:6 says, “Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a Chief Cornerstone, elect, precious; and he that believes on Him shall not be confounded.”

Then Colossians 1:27 clearly declares, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” John 6:66-68 informs us, From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the [original group of twelve] to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

To whom or what have you gone to related to eternal salvation? I ASK you; ‘do you believe CHRIST Jesus is the only hope’? The multitudes in Jesus’ day and the multitudes in our day have not listened to, longed for, or sought the “life”, the “eternal life” that IS in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior! Man in his self-=satisfied way has turned away Him who IS the “Way, the Truth, and the Life”!

According to Dr. R.G. Lee, great former pastor of Bellview Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, Jesus IS “literature’s loftiest ideal, philosophy’s highest personality, criticism’s supremest problem, theology’s fundamental doctrine, and spiritual religion’s cardinal necessity.” [R.G.Lee, “Bread”, p.10]

In John 1:11 we see that “He [Jesus] came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” He comes unto His own today, and His own do not receive Him!

Is there life beyond the grave? Have you ever asked that? Job did! He was one of the most righteous men to ever live! In Job 14:14 he said, “If a man dies, shall he live again?” And he found his answer! In Job 19:25-26 we read him: “For I KNOW that my Redeemer lives, and He (Jesus, Redeemer, Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world) shall stand at the last on the earth…And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God.”

Do you want to live forever in the presence of Holy God? Do you want to see God? My Savior, my Lord, My redeemer, whose name is Jesus, was praying to His Father and Jesus said: “And this is eternal life that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life!” But modern mankind is so spiritually stricken with unbelief that they are not sure where to go. Some say: “Let’s go to the god of science.” At a university luncheon there was a faculty wife who said to the wife of a minister: “We have no religion. My husband is a scientist.” And because of scientific ‘achievements’ in the area of the physical world, and now in the processes of the mind, some feel indifferent toward the Eternal Truth of the Bible! Man believes in himself so much that he now believes he is scientifically ‘self-sufficient’!

“Lord, to whom shall we go?” Let’s just look at where “education” has dumped modern young people! Teachers, ‘guidance counselors,’ university professors, have become so “knowledgeable” that they’ve raised themselves above sin. I would point you to the 1930’s, 1940’s, to a country called Germany where there were more PhD’s and ThD’s per capita than any other nation on the face of the earth. I read of one PhD lady who walked down the corridors of prisoners examining their naked backs of prisoners picking out skin she wanted for her bedroom lamps! There’s no salvation in education! “Ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth!

“Lord, to whom shall we go?” “Well, let’s just settle ourselves with ‘military strength’.” And I tell you without hesitation that presidents who deplete the military are tools of Satan and His kingdom of darkness! Military can protect but not redeem!

“Lord, to whom shall we go?” How about us establishing a new religion called “The Faith of Do-Good-Deeds”? Really? There are millions and millions, yes, even billions upon billions spent to raise people out of physical poverty, never realizing the battle is a spiritual battle! You don’t remove men from “slums” until you remove “slums” from within men!

“Lord, to whom shall we go?” Let’s just major on momentary pleasure and fleshly wealth! Really? Do you go to the river of fleshly pleasures and dreams that never come true? Do you go to the harbor waiting for the ship of peace through pleasure and prosperity to come, but when it does, you see it filled with despair, disappointments, decay, and disillusionments?

“Lord, to whom shall we go?” The greatest declaration about the nature and character of the one true and living God is found in 1 John 4:16 when John wrote: “And we have known and believed the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in ‘agape’ love abides in God, and God in him.”

From the foundation of the world and from the fall of man and their separation from Holy God because of their sin and sin natures, God Almighty has been intent on one thing – to prove His love to you and for you! In Jeremiah 31:3 we read, “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying, ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” It’s Romans 5:8 that tells us, “But demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Let me illumine several biblical truths related to Christ Jesus as our only hope. Number One: CHRIST IS THE ONLY HOPE FOR THE MEANINGLESSNESS THAT INVADES THE GODLESS, HUMAN, FALLEN-AWAY SPIRIT FROM HOLY GOD. It was Somerset Maugham in his writing “Of Human Bondage” who said: “On the pending death of two elderly people: ‘They had done nothing, and when they went it would be just as if they had never been”. Oh, how tragic, and yet so often true!

We are being inundated, confronted, split apart, by a new way of life about us so different from the call of God on our lives! It’s a life apart from, even denying life without divine purpose or divine meaning! Fast developing before our very eyes is an appalling aimlessness of human living. There was a survey taken on a Texas campus of 12,000 students – “What is the basic purpose of life?” And 75% could not answer!

It was Thoreau who said: “Most men live lives of quiet desperation.” The majority of men let down their empty buckets into empty wells of self-centered living and tire easily from drawing up nothing of eternal significance and don’t know where to turn.

There was a man who gave much thought to the question, “Why did Jesus die?” To find his answer he did as Luther told us all we should do, “Begin at the wounds of Christ.” And his conclusion? “He died for all men that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto Him who died for them.” I’d say, think of the Cross of Jesus Christ! And willingly say, “Thank You, Lord, for saving my soul!” And forgiveness of sins, reconciliation to the Heavenly Father, the power to live the overcoming life – that’s part of what our Lord’s death on the Cross was about, but, yes, even so much more!

The message of the Cross, conversion, faith in the fellowship of Jesus is that YOU lose your life to find it again in Him! Robert McCracken, in his book on “Questions”, [pps.71-72], said: “The death of Jesus not only means that something amazing and wonderful has been done for us; it means that something demanding and exacting is expected of us, Christ on the Cross is a perpetual challenge to our world, and the head and front of the challenge is that we give up self-centered living.”

The message of the Cross, conversion, faith in the fellowship of Jesus is that you lose your life to find it in Him alone! What are the master, compelling, motives of your life? Are you living for His honor and glory through you? What is the dominant demand of your existence – self or Christ? How about the meaning of your life and its direction? Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Number Two: Christ Jesus IS THE ONLY HOPE FOR THE MORAL MADNESS OF MODERN MAN. Years ago Samuel Taylor Coleridge looked upon the world of his day and wrote: “Aloof with hermit eye I scan The present work of present man…A wild dream-like train of blood and guile Too foolish for a tear; Too wicked for a smile.”

And I wonder, what would Coleridge think about, what he’d be inspired or dismayed, to write about today if he looked at our decaying generations!

I’m sure he’d feel like the little girl who looked up to the stars and said: “Twinkle, twinkle little star, How you wonder what I are.” The Angel Gabrriel, in “Green Pastures,” said to ‘De Lawd”: “Everything nailed down is comin’ loose, Lawd!” I don’t remember the hymn approaching my 79^th birthday June 12, but just a line: “Change and decay in all around I see.”

The moral disintegration of our modern world is so apparent. Standards that built a spiritual nation are being abandoned, family disintegrating, immorality rampant, open defiance of God and His Word is becoming extreme!

I really don’t remember where I found the following news-print many years ago, but I do remember at five years of age when the bombing of Pearl Harbor took place. I was seated in my grandfather’s lap as he listened to the radio. I was probably in my twenties when I read the following article from the commander of the first air fleet of the Japanese Imperial Navy who led 360 planes in that raid on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and became a Christian eleven years after that tragic day. He said:

“Little did I dream that my view of life would be so revolutionized. Japan today is standing at the crossroads. Communism is working on the left-hand – Shinto Imperialism on the right. Now since I have found Christ I am convinced that the way for Japan is neither Communism or Imperialism, but Jesus Christ.”

Look at our nation today, our communities, our homes, the lives of our fellow country-men. You’ll see on many fronts the open demonstration of moral madness, understanding many with inner dilemmas and no awareness of deliverance and salvation and healing through Christ only. “Lord, to whom shall we go?”

Romans 8:1-2 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh [or one’s old sin nature!], but after the spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death.”

Number Three: CHRIST JESUS IS THE ONLY HOPE FOR THE BLACKNESS OF SIN THAT CONTROLS THE MIND, WILL, EMOTIONS, AND HEART OF THE REBELLIOUS SINNER. Recently on the television they were recognizing those astronauts who made it to the Moon and back. “Moon Men” were honored again, rejoicing in the tremendous accomplishment of science.

We’ve learned to send men to the moon and conquer outer space, but why do so many know nothing of the inner space of their lives God would love to inhabit? It was an article in my hometown newspaper of Cleveland, Tennessee, written in the Cleveland Daily Banner by Bill Farley. He said: “We can send three men on half million mile space journey and land their returned vehicle with pin point accuracy in the largest ocean on earth, and yet, so frequently we can’t get one automobile through an intersection without hitting another…

We can build the greatest economic and governmental system [before Obama!] the world has ever seen, and yet we can’t explain it sufficiently to our children to have them cherish it….

We can discover the secret patterns of life in the DNA molecule, but often we fail to find the most obvious paths to peace at our breakfast table. We can calculate the exact distance to a star, but we don’t seem to be able to find a way to save a Biafran child from starvation or the horrors of war…

We can tunnel through mountains and bring oil from the bottom of the sea, but we can’t guarantee the balance of a single personality.”

And I have to ask, WHY? And the answer? Because of SIN that men refuse to bring to the “Great Physician” for healing grace and mercy! Science can present to me technological advancements beyond my understanding; they can present to me wonderful chemicals to take off stains from my hands, but what about the blood-stained hands and heart of Lady MacBeth – those spiritual stains, those dark spots in far too many lives? “Lord, to whom shall we go?”

No philosophy of this world past, present, or future can wash away the blackness of sin in the hearts of unredeemed men. No political system is so strong it can remove the guilt of sin. No educational institution presided over by the learned can provide remedies for the ruin sin has brought to the heart of every man. And no church, regardless of its ‘traditions’, can grant dispensations to dispel the misery of sin. But, 1 Corinthians 5:7 tells us, “For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.” And Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

God was not playing “games” at Calvary – it was a matter of life or death – your life and your death. God said that Christ IS the only hope for the midnight blackness of sin.”

Number Four: CHRIST JESUS IS THE ONLY HOPE FOR A MEANINGFUL UNDERSTANDING OF GOD THE FATHER. Ever since I was a young child I’ve been fascinated by the story of Moses as he approached God asking to see God’s glory; he wanted an outward manifestation of what he had experienced in his heart about God.

“Show me Your glory!” God spoke: “I will make all My goodness to pass before you…but you cannot see My face; for man shall not see My face and live…I will put you in the cleft of a rock, and I will cover you with My hand until I have passed by…and you shall see My back.”

Isaiah made mention that “verily, You are a God who hides Himself!” God WAS like that! “THEN JESUS CAME”! And He said “when you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen God!” Doesn’t His Holy Word tell us that “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us…and we beheld His glory, yes, the glory of Father-God” that Moses didn’t see but believed in the Christ to come?

I read stories long ago of the great old ships as they made their way home, close to the harbor, but the blackness of many moonless nights brought fear to the hearts of the crew and the travelers, but then from the Crow’s nest one would speak out: “All is well – the light is shining brightly!” For us today on a “darkened sea of life,” Jesus tells us, “All is well – My Light still shines!”

In 1 Corinthians 15:19 we read, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” Not Paul! In Philippians 1:21 he said, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Number Five: CHRIST JESUS IS THE ONLY HOPE FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. Hebrews 9:22 declares: “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.” What blood? Innocent blood! Who? Jesus only! 1 Peter 2:24 is so very clear: “Who Himself (Jesus) bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness…By whose stripes we are healed.”

But you don’t believe in ‘sin-sickness’? Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:7, “In Christ Jesus we have redemption through His blood, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.” When YOU stand before the Judgment Bar of Holy God, what will be your plea?

Number Six: CHRIST JESUS IS THE ONLY HOPE FOR A FULFILLING, GOD-HONORING LIFE. Ephesians 1:23 speaks of “The fullness of Him who fills all in all.” To come to Christ in repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of Christ AT THE CROSS, is to know the “fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ”! And as a result, one then receives ALL OF GOD and All God wants you to have!

What does Galatians 2:20 tell us? “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Verse 21, I do not set aside the grace of God…”

That’s all because of God’s graciousness to every repentant heart! He declares that He makes all things new through the shed blood of Christ at the Cross and a man’s full surrender to, yes, the Lordship of Christ!

And that “HOPE” in Him brings victory over Satan and the powers of darkness, begins a new life and eternal relationship, and then gives us the blessing of an eternal home in Heaven!

Heaven is not for the religious, but the redeemed; Heaven is not for the sons of the devil, but for the sons of God; Heaven is not for the unbelievers but true, repentant believers; Heaven is not for the sinners, but for those justified, sanctified, and glorified by Christ alone!

[In closing this chapter, please read, meditate, and walk in Revelation 7:13-17].

CHAPTER FIVE

THE DEATH OF CHRIST JESUS, THE LORD GOD

In Luke 2:25-35 is a powerful word of unveiling Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior! It says: “And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him…

And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:…

“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”…

And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against…

(yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Did you notice? “Joseph and Jesus’ mother MARVELED at those things which were spoken of Him!” In Verse 26 the Word says, “it had been revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” That’s the Promised Messiah, the promised Redeemer, the fore-ordained “Lamb of God.”

All through human history, from the earliest days after the Fall, men put their faith in the One who would redeem them from the “curse of Law-breaking.” And Simeon said, “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word;…FOR MY EYES HAVE SEEN YOUR SALVATION.”

Then to Mary, “BEHOLD…this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against…(yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

A piercing of the heart because of the purpose-filled death of Christ Jesus the Lord! Colossians 1:20 says, “And by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, HAVING MADE PEACE THROUGH THE BLOOD OF HIS CROSS!”

In Philippians 2:8-9 Paul wrote, “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even THE DEATH ON THE CROSS…Therefore, God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.”

“THE DEATH OF THE CROSS,” DO YOU HEAR IT IN YOUR HEART? “THE BLOOD OF THE CROSS,” DO YOU HEAR THAT? And humanly speaking we wrestle with the piercing of a mother and a father’s heart. We wrestle with Gethsemane’s agony that is so holy, so sacred, and so mysterious and mountainous! And we wrestle with the Cross’s cruelty, so cruel the Roman government never allowed a Roman citizen to be crucified, and we wrestle with the “suffering” of that cruel cross.

But then we hear, Romans 5:8, “God PROVED His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ DIED FOR US!” And the sympathy of suffering became a symphony of celebration because we learn God’s eternal intent!

Frederick Lehman wrote the following: “The love of God is greater far Than tongue or pen can ever tell; It goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell; The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win; His erring child He reconciled And pardoned from his sin…

O love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong! It shall forevermore endure The saints’ and angels’ song…

Could we with ink the ocean fill And were the skies of parchment made, Were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade, To write the love of God above Would drain the ocean dry, Nor could the scroll contain the whole Tho’ stretched from sky to sky.” Oh, how profound and to the point of God’s love for us, even at the price of Jesus’ Cross, His suffering, and His death “At Calvary”! Let me begin for you a scroll of understanding:

FIRST, THE DEATH OF CHRIST JESUS WAS GOD’S DELIVERANCE OF US OUT OF THIS PRESENT EVIL AGE! Galatians 1:4 says, “who gave Himself for our sins, THAT HE MIGHT DELIVER US FROM THIS PRESENT EVIL AGE, according to the will of our God and Father.”

Is God your Father? Is it you for whom He gave His Son because of your sins? Is the will of God being accomplished in and through you? Have YOU been delivered from this present evil age? The word ‘deliver’ basically means “to rescue”. J.B. Lightfoot believes this to be the whole central theme of Galatians, [“Galatians,”p.73], “The Gospel is a rescue, AN EMANCIPATION from the state of bondage.”

Consider your life in this very present moment: Are you enslaved or emancipated? Is it “in bondage to this present evil age” or “blessed by the powerful Emmanuel, the Almighty? Are you “captive” of the powers of darkness or liberated by Christ? Is it, for you, “the kingdom of evil” that explains your life or the “Kingdom of God,” righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit?

In I Samuel 2:6-8 we find Hannah’s prayer; Receive it! “The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up…The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up…He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the ash heap, TO SET THEM AMONG PRINCES AND MAKE THEM TO INHERIT THE THRONE OF GLORY.”

Oh, and then Paul wrote in Colossians 1:13, “He [God] has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”

SECOND, THE DEATH OF CHRIST JESUS IS TO DELIVER US OUT OF THE BONDAGE OF SIN’S POWER AND PENALTY! In Revelation 1:5-6 the beloved John wrote: “To Him who loved us and washed us FROM OUR SINS IN HIS OWN BLOOD, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Dr. W.A. Criswell was one of my favorite preachers. He died, I believe, at the age of 92. He had pastored and preached so faithfully at First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas, for over 60 years. [Don’t hold me to that time-line!]. In his “Expository Sermons on Revelation,” [Vol.1, pps.90-91], he told the story of a friend who was a retired Air Force Chaplain.

In one of our wars he was placed in field hospitals throughout the war. “He said that the doctors had a little secret sign by which they would tell the chaplains how long a boy would live. Three fingers meant he would live three minutes. Five fingers meant he would live five minutes. Ten fingers meant he had about ten minutes to live. If the doctor held up ten fingers twice, the boy would have about twenty minutes to live.”

He’d kneel by each young soldier and ask him, “Son, have you been saved? Do you know the Lord? In the forgiveness of your sins, have you trusted Jesus as your Savior and Lord?” And then he’d say, “I would talk to the boy: ‘Son, do you realize you are a sinner?’ And the boy would reply, ‘Yes, I realize I’m a sinner.’ And I would say, ‘Then, son, will you trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins?’”

Then he said, “I would have the boy pray and confess his sins to Jesus and ask Jesus to forgive his sins.” Dr. Criswell asked the chaplain, “What if the boy didn’t know how to pray?” The chaplain responded, “Then I would have the boy to pray after me, to follow the words as I said them.” And a Jewish boy? “Son, will you trust in your great Messiah, the Atoning Redeemer, who died for your sins? WILL YOU TRUST HIM?”

Dr. Criswell asked, “Did you have any to refuse?” The chaplain said: “NEVER!” He told Dr. Criswell, “I could not tell you the number of times I have seen the light of the glory of God upon the face of an American boy as he left us to be with the Lord!”

“Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour? Are YOU washed in the blood of the Lamb?”

Please digest Romans 6:3, 10-18, 22! Romans 6:3, “Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” Verses 10-18, For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God…

Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts…

And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God…

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered…

And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness…Verse 22, But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.”

Sin wears and tears, makes weary, wilts lives, fills one with worries and anxieties; sin frustrates, fades away any semblance of good, fights against God! Sin blackens, bruises, desensitizes, paralyzes, pulverizes! Sin cripples, sickens, deadens, harms and makes hollow. Sin weakens and destroys, sin deceives and makes one deeper into spiritual destitution. Sin promises, but never delivers !

Oh, but JESUS!! He “washed us from our sins in His own blood!” Jesus cleans, frees, liberates, enlightens, purifies, makes new! Do you remember Andrae Crouch’s famous song?

“The blood that Jesus shed for me, ‘Way back on Calvary; The blood that gives me strength from day to day, It will never lose its power!”

THIRD, THE DEATH OF CHRIST JESUS WAS TO DELIVER US TO THE BLESSING AND JOY OF LIVING UNTO GOD, NOT UNTO OURSELVES! 2 Corinthians 5:15 states, “And He died for all, that those who live should live NO LONGER for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”

Do you remember the elders before God’s throne in Revelation 5:9 singing that “new song”? “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; For You were slain, and have REDEEMED US TO GOD by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” HEAR ME!!

It’s “cheap graced” if you want forgiveness of sins without fidelity unto God! It’s “phony faith” if you want forgiveness of sins and still live unto yourself! It’s a “hollow holding” of an empty belief system if we’re not RECONCILED TO GOD!

It’s no longer “business as usual” – it’s business in the supernatural realm of Holy God! It’s no longer “empty promises” – it’s the realm of the absolute faithfulness of our God in whom all His promises are “YES” in Christ Jesus!

Do you know and understand what is the universal bent of humanity? “Live for yourself, unto yourself, by yourself, in yourself.” That’s total “fleshliness,” consumed by the passion of “Me, My, Mine”…. And then before us there is “THE CROSS”!!

“And He died for all, that those who live should live NO LONGER for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”

FOURTH, THE DEATH OF CHRIST JESUS WAS THAT WE MIGHT LIVE IN HIM – IN THE SPIRIT! Come to Romans 8:1-6! “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh [or old sin nature!], but according to the Spirit…

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, GOD DID by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,…

That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit…

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit….

For to be carnally [fleshly] minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

To the church at Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 5:10), Paul stated it even more clearly: “who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, WE SHOULD LIVE TOGETHER WITH HIM!” My body is here – Christ Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, but in THE SPIRIT WE ARE ONE! It’s the Truth of “the vine and the branch.”

Follow John 15:4-5! “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

Major Ian Thomas, in his book, “The Saving Life of Christ,” [Zondervan, 1961, p13], wrote: “Christ did not die simply that you might be saved from a bad conscience, or even to remove the stain of past failure, but to “clear the decks” for divine action. You have been told that Christ died to save you. This is gloriously true in a very limited sense. In Romans 5:10 we read, “If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, MUCH MORE, being reconciled, we shall be being saved by His Life. The Lord Jesus Christ therefore ministers to you in two distinct ways – He reconciles you to God by His death, and He saves you by His life.” “FOR TO ME TO LIVE IS CHRIST!!”

FIFTH, THE DEATH OF CHRIST JESUS WAS FOR THE PURPOSE OF GOD OF BIRTHING A NEW MAN! We WERE of the First Adam and his nature because of the Fall. But now we are of the Second Adam and His nature because of the Cross and Jesus’ resurrection from the dead! In Colossians 3:3-10 we find God’s unveiling process of a “new man.” It says: “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory…

Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them…

But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, AND HAVE PUT ON “THE NEW MAN” WHO IS RENEWED IN KNOWLEDGE according to the image of Him who created him.”

You are aware of your “old man” without Christ, but in Christ you are daily putting on the “new man”! In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we read, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a “new creation”; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Jesus didn’t die that in Him you might remain the same “old man”! He didn’t die so you could maintain your allegiance to First Adam. The death of Jesus on the Cross was not impotent – keeping you the same in your sin, but just forgiven. The Cross was not for your comfort in the old man. Galatians 2:20-21 declares: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh [body] I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me…I do not set aside or frustrate the grace of God.” Is that true of you in your profession of faith and allegiance to your Lord and Savior? And this leads us to our sixth understanding:

SIXTH, THE DEATH OF CHRIST JESUS WAS GOD’S PLAN OF AN OPEN DOOR OF MINISTRY THROUGH THE REDEEMED AS A PECULIAR PEOPLE ZEALOUS OF GOOD WORKS! Look with me at Ephesians 2:8-10! “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created IN CHRIST JESUS, for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” GLORY!

God looks upon the redeemed, the reconciled, the regenerated, and the released ones, saying, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Again, a quote of Major Ian Thomas in his book, “The Saving Life of Christ,” [Zondervan,pps.17,19], “How much more then can Jesus Christ do through you and through me? EVERYTHING! He is limited only by the measure of our availability to all that He makes available to us, for ‘in Him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him.” [Colossians 2:9-10], but Major Thomas goes on:

“To be in Christ – that is redemption; but for Christ to be IN YOU – that is sanctification! To be in Christ – that makes you fit for heaven; but for Christ to be IN YOU – that makes you fit for earth! To be in Christ – that changes your Destination; but for Christ to be In You – that changes your destiny! The one makes heaven your home – the other makes this world His workshop!”

SEVENTH, THE DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST IS TO MAKE US A HOLY, ETERNAL GENERATION, REFLECTING GOD’S GLORY! In Ephesians 4:4-6 Paul wrote: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…”

A chosen generation! A royal priesthood! A holy nation! His own special people! Yet far too often rather than a holy nation, His people appear at times a helpless generation; rather than a holy nation, at times they appear as a ‘hole-ly’ generation; rather than a holy nation, they portray at times a hopeless generation; holy or a ‘ho-hum’ generation? Holy or a humanized generation?

EIGHTH, THE DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST WAS TO REVEAL, NOT A LIFE WALKING ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, BUT A LIFE THAT WALKS IN THE SPIRIT OF HOLY GOD! In Romans 8:10-11 and 13-14 God unveils “Victorious Living” through the Holy Spirit! “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is LIFE because of righteousness…But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit WHO DWELLS IN YOU…Verses 13-14, For if you live according to the flesh [old sin nature] you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.”

In Revelation 2 & 3, over and over, John said, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Do you ever wonder, ‘What was going on concerning the Spirit’s reminder: “I have a message for God’s people”?

It was Joel Blomquist who wrote it! Make it your own right now! “Heavenly Spirit, Gentle Spirit, O descend on us, we pray; Come, console us, and control us, Christ, most fair, to us portray…

Hear us pleading, interceding, You interpreter of love; With Your Fire, us inspire, Holy flame from God above…

Come to cheer us, You be near us, Kindle in us heaven’s love; Keep us burning, humble, yearning, Dwell in us, O heavenly Dove…

Pilgrims, strangers, ‘mid life’s dangers, We on You would ever depend; Spirit, tender, our Defender, Guide us, keep us to the end.”

Upon what are you depending in your walk with Christ? Flesh or Spirit?

NINTH, THE DEATH OF CHRIST JESUS WAS AND IS TO DESTROY THE POWER OF OUR ENEMY! Hebrews 2:14-15 says, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, THYAT THROUGH DEATH HE MIGHT DESTROY HIM WHO HAD THE POWER OF DEATH, THAT IS, THE DEVIL…and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”

Do you clearly understand that the only power Satan has over you is that which you willingly and voluntarily give to him? Carefully examine Colossians 2:13-15, “and you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, HE HAS MADE ALIVE together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses…having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross… HAVING DISARMED PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS, HE MADE A PUBLIC SPECTACLE OF THEM, TRIUMPHING OVER THEM IN IT.” That’s in and through the Cross Jesus won the victory over Satan’s principalities and powers!

Are you acquainted with Martin Luther’s words? “And tho’ this world, with devils filled, Should threaten to undo us, We will not fear, for God has WILLED HIS TRUTH TO TRIUMPH THROUGH US…. The prince of darkness grim, We tremble not for him – his rage we can endure, For, lo, his doom is sure: One little word shall fell him.” [“Boo! Devil!”]

TENTH, THE DEATH OF JESUS WAS GOD’S OPENING THE DOOR TO US TO BE MADE ANEW INTO OUR LORD’S DIVINE IMAGE AND LIKENESS! It’s THROUGH THE CROSS! 2 Peter 1:4 declares, “by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these “you” MAY BE PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” ESCAPED? Our corruptions, sinful affections and lusts, were nailed to the Cross, and IN CHRIST, WE ARE BEING TRANSFORMED INTO HIS LIKENESS AND IMAGE!

Do you remember the life-changing verse in Romans 8:29? “For whom God foreknew, He also predestined TO BE CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON, that He [Jesus] might be the first-born among many brethren.”

“Jesus, be Jesus in me, No longer me but Thee; Resurrection power, Fill me this hour, Jesus, be Jesus in me.”

It’s not much – God gave it, I wrote it, but it sums us up: “Darkened in sin, broken within, captured by choices I made; But He paid the price, a Self-sacrifice, and into the tomb was laid…

And up from the grave He arose, No power to hold by His foes; In His Resurrection is my benediction, the Blessing of Oneness and Completion.”

Charles Wesley was the writer – WOW! RECEIVE IT JOYFULLY! “And can it be that I should gain An interest in the Savior’s blood? Died He for me, who caused His pain? For me, who Him to death pursued? Amazing Love! How can it be That You, my God, shouldst die for me?…

He left His Father’s throne above, So free, so infinite His grace! Emptied Himself of all but love, And bled for Adam’s helpless race! It’s mercy all, immense and free, For, O my God, it found out me…

Long my imprisoned spirit lay Fast bound in sin and nature’s night. Your eye diffused a quickening ray: I woke – the dungeon flamed the light! My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed Thee…

No condemnation now I dread: Jesus and all in Him, is mine! Alive in Him, my living Head, and clothed in righteousness divine, Bold I approach the eternal throne, And claim the crown, through Christ my own…

Amazing love! How can it be That You, my God, should DIE FOR ME!” Amen?

CHAPTER SIX

THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST JESUS

Do you realize what “governmental rule” means to all of our lives in and across the entire world? Nations are blessed or cursed by what is in a ruler’s heart good or bad! Nations are blessed or cursed by its leaders – some dictators, tyrants, lawless perverts, communists, godless, demonic – while others are led by Godly, benevolent, God-inspired and God-led wise leaders!

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, what is in a man’s heart, what is sewn into the character of his life fabric, what is the spirit and nature of his life and world view, will of necessity translate, interpret, and determine the character of his years in a leadership role.

And families? Even the leadership of a father or mother, good or bad, paints the portrait of interpretation of family living.

Consider the ship that sails in our behalf in the war on terrorists – it has a commander. Consider that unit of special forces, Rangers, Green berets – they have a leader. Think about a classroom without a teacher!

But when it comes to the “Self-Life” most men have determined that there is no need of a Head in the Kingdom Rule of the heart outside of one’s self. And they determine, deny, undermine, put aside the only hope they have for now and for eternity.

In Mark 1:3 it tells us of “the voice crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT…” I can only ask: “Have YOU prepared the way of the Lord in your heart and home, and have YOU made His paths straight in your life?

Mark 13:8-14 is so powerful as it reveals the “servant spirit” of the King of kings and the Lord of lords! Peter said to Jesus, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”…

Simon Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, not my feet only, but also wash my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.”…

So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, FOR SO I AM. IF I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” As Josh MacDowell once said: “Is Jesus ‘Liar, Lunatic, or the Lord God’?”

As Paul introduced his letter to the “Romans,” he wrote in Romans 1:1-4, “Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God, which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our LORD, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”

James Montgomery Boice, in the Foreward of John MacArthur’s “The Gospel According To Jesus Christ,” wrote: “Why is today’s church so weak? Why are we able to claim many conversions and enroll many church members but have less and less impact on our culture? Why are Christians indistinguishable from the world? Is it not that many are calling people Christians who are actually unregenerate? Is it not that many are settling for a “form of godliness but denying its power?” [2 Timothy 3:5]

And I would add, “Is it not because some claim allegiance to Christ apart from Lordship? Is it not because we’re culturally acclimated to “church-life” apart from surrender to Christ’s Sovereign rule and an unwillingness to follow His lead?” MacArthur, later, in his book, [p.54], wrote: “He [Jesus] came to save His people “from” their sin (Matthew 1:21), NOT TO CONFER IMMORTALITY ON PEOPLE IN BONDAGE TO WICKEDNESS.” So very, very true!

LET’S LOOK, FIRST, AT THE FOUNDATIONS OF CHRIST’S LORDSHIP!

• Christ’s Lordship over the human heart is SOVEREIGNLY DETERMINED: Acts 2:36 says, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that GOD has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” In the counsels of Eternity, even before our world began, Omniscient God and the Submissive Son, settled on “the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world,” and also settled was “Jesus IS Lord to the Glory of God the Father.” It was Almighty God who declared, “Jesus Christ IS LORD.” And whether or not I recognize it, bow before its truth, receive its work in my life, Jesus always has been and always will be Lord because of the Father’s Sovereign Declaration!
• Christ’s Lordship over the human heart is ROYALLY EARNED: Receive in your mind and heart Philippians 2:8-11! “And being found in appearance as a man, He [Jesus Christ] humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Who could ever look into the face of the Crucified Christ and say that His Lordship is not deserved? Who would ever dare say that the love of our Lord is undeserved when they carelessly think of Heaven’s Glory becoming Calvary’s sacrifice? But they do. Who could ever look upon His unrecognizable, massively wounded head, face, and body, the spear thrust through His side, and deny the beauty and blessing and worthiness of His Lordship and our outright, utmost, full devotion to the King of kings and Lord of lords?

• Christ’s Lordship over the human, earthly heart of man is HEAVENLY-LONGED-FOR: Receive Romans 14:9! “For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again that He might be Lord both of the dead and the living.” Listen to Oswald Sanders (?) in his book, “Christ Indwelling and Enthroned,” where he said, “there emerges the startling fact that the very purpose of His death and resurrection was not alone, that WE might be saved in the future from the agonies of Hell, but that HE might be exalted in the present as the Lord of [and over] our life.”

Do you understand? Even before you were, He knew you and wanted to be your Lord and Savior, even knowing you as you were and would become when birthed into a fleshly existence! “You didn’t choose Me; I chose YOU!” The very goal of His coming, the very purpose of His Incarnation, the very determination and desire of His sacrifice at the Cross, was the capturing of single and undisputed Lordship over the souls of men that He willingly and lovingly and for whose sakes He suffered and bled and died on the Cross to be Lord over all!

Do you really, really understand? It was and is the longing in Heaven’s heart – let Jesus be Lord! It’s the passion of the angelic chorus – let Jesus be Lord! It’s the WILL OF THE HOLY FATHER – let Jesus be Lord! It’s even the cry of the great cloud of witnesses gone before us – let Jesus be Lord!

Do you recall the Hebrews writer telling us to “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” WHO “for the joy set before Him endured the Cross…?”

“The joy set before Him?” Have you ever considered the thought that that “joy set before Him” was YOUR JUSTIFIED LIFE under His Lordship because you gave Him His rightful place in your heart? “My Lord to the Glory of God the Father,” and Jesus drinks the cup of Joy because of your repentance toward God and faith in Jesus’ finished work ‘At The Cross’?

• Christ’s Lordship over the human heart, sadly, is Faithlessly Denied by some: Come to Luke 19:11-14!**, Now as they heard these things, He [Jesus] spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately…

Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return…

So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas [about 3 months wages], and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’ But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’” Are you aware of the many who deny Jesus’ reign over their lives?

What did John tell us in John 1:6-11? There was a man sent from God whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of that Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light…

That 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.”

In Mark 5, a demon-possessed man was healed, and the city and country-side where the man was healed, (Get this!), Verse 17, “Then they began to plead with Jesus to depart from their region.”

But the sad truth is that there are multitudes who willingly accept His healing but want no part of the Healer and His Eternal Health! They are satisfied with expressions of some blessings on life but refuse His leadership – they’ll take the “savior” part but deny the “sovereign” principle and Person of Christ the Healer!

They will gladly appropriate benefits from the kingdom but refuse to “BOW” before the King! EXAMINE YOUR HEART! What is it you want from Christ? Partial benefits or Permanent Blessing? Acknowledgement or allegiance? Your way or His Way? Self on the throne or King Jesus Reigning Over Your Daily Life?

SECOND, LET’S EXAMINE THE FEATURES OF JESUS CHRIST’S LORDSHIP! I have no hesitation in writing: Jesus Christ IS the Supreme Spiritual Ruler over every man’s life; Jesus Christ had, has, and forever will be the Master, the Ruler, the Sovereign Deity over all men whether they bow before Him or not! In examining His Lordship, let me show you four areas of His watch-care over us:

• There is to be the walk of submission in the heart to Christ Jesus as “My Lord”! In 1 Peter 3:15, the New King James says: “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts” – another translation says, “set apart Christ as Lord.”

Adelaide A. Pollard and George C. Stebbins wrote the old hymn, “Have Thine Own Way, Lord.” The fourth verse of that hymn says: “Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! Hold o’er my being absolute sway! Fill with Thy Spirit Till all shall see Christ only, always, Living in me!”

• There is to be the walk of surrender of all I am and all I have! Acts 10:36 says, “The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ – HE IS LORD OF ALL.”

Do you remember Ananias and his wife Sapphira in Acts 5? Ananias sold a possession. Verses 2-5 says, “And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet…

But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down, and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things.”

• God’s Holy Word calls us all as true believers to the walk of unquestioning obedience! In Romans 1:5-6 we read, “Through Him [Christ Jesus] we have received grace and apostleship FOR OBEDIENCE TO THE FAITH among all nations for His name, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ.”

There is one powerful, convicting, convincing statement or question by Jesus in Luke 6:46 when our Lord and Savior asked, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?”

The Book of Malachi is worth the time of your reading over and over! But in Malachi 1:6 God spoke: “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My reverence? Says the Lord of hosts to you priests who despise My name…”

• The Scriptures illumine the walk ‘in Christ’ of a dynamic, explosive disturbance! A rabbi becomes a preacher of the Gospel; a doctor becomes a missionary team member; fishermen lay down their nets and become fishers of men; sons and daughters face the wrath of fathers and mothers; fathers and mothers face the wrath of sons and daughters; rich men lay it all down at the feet of Jesus!

In Hebrews 11:32-40 we find testimonies of lives who experienced dynamic, explosive disturbances: “And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jepthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets;…

Who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens….

Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment….

They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented – of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth….

And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.”

THIRD, LET’S ALSO EXAMINE THE FIERY FORCE OF EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP! In 1 Corinthians 12:3 Paul wrote encouraging believers to be so aware of spiritual gifts, and especially the anointing of the Holy Spirit. He said: “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.”

And then in 1 Corinthians 12:7 Paul illumines every true believer of the Spirit’s anointing on ALL of the servants of Christ! “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all…”

You do understand that every born-again believer is to know, receive, walk in, and be a poured out drink-offering all around his/her every step! In 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 Paul continued to enlighten all believers: “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

Don’t miss Luke 11:13 when Jesus said: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” As a disciple of Christ Jesus, RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT’ anointing and ministry in and through your life!

FOURTH, SETTLE IT IN YOUR MIND AND HEART: THE FAITHFULNESS OF OUR FAITHFUL LORD NEVER FAILS OR FALLS SHORT! In Romans 10:12-13 Paul wrote: “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

When Paul wrote the church at Corinth, in 2 Corinthians 1:18-20, he really sealed confidence in God’s faithfulness! He said, “But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us – by me, Silvanus, and Timothy – was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”

Just how awesome is that?!? Paul went on to say in verse 22 of 2 Corinthians 1, “who also sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” Our Lord never falters, fails, or fizzles out! He fulfills and fills full every true believer in the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! John said in Matthew 3:11, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He [Jesus] will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

As Paul was finishing his letter to the church at Rome, he said in Romans 13:14, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts,” and as a true believer, we die to the ‘flesh’ and yield to the Holy Spirit! He said in Ephesians 5:18, “…be filled with the Spirit,” yet, often, many believers are so filled with themselves, they never consider the Spirit-anointed, Spirit-filled life! This is why in Galatians 5:16 Paul said: “I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”

Again, to the church in Corinth, Paul wrote: 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” Did you receive it? “In Christ”, your body has become “the temple of the Holy Spirit!”

I believe with all my heart that one of the great needs of the church in these days is a new in-filling of the Mighty Holy Spirit! It’s time to glory in God’s power through His anointing of our lives in the very fullness of His Holy Spirit! It’s time to daily die to the old man and rejoice, not only in the new man, but the new man in-filled with the fullness of Holy Spirit power and anointing!

Yes, Pentecostal power is for every recipient of the Indwelling Christ! Ask Him!

CHAPTER SEVEN

HERE COMES THE LAMB OF GOD

I want you to look carefully at John 1:19-34 before continuing in this chapter. I want to lay a strong scriptural foundation to what you are about to read. After reading, I want you to put on your thinking cap. I want you to creatively capture a possibility of bondage, a prophetic promise of deliverance, a provision of an announcer, and a power of fulfilled presence. [Please read John 1:19-34!!]. Here it is:

“We’re Americans. The first and only people at this time to ever lived. But we live in bondage subject to the forces of spiritual darkness….Forces are demanding, demeaning, demoralizing, debilitating, and deceitful….

But the president of our nation has received a Word out of the heavenlies: One is coming who will prepare the Way for the Deliverer. Hold On to the Promise….”

It has been taught daily to the enslaved. Hope is on the horizon. The Deliverer is on the way. Victory is assured. A hundred years pass, five hundred years, and still the message is the same. It’s now a thousand years…

And all of a sudden, here’s this strange man. Dress is different – not a wool and polyester blended $500 suit but a garment of camel’s hair, and didn’t eat steak, tossed salad, and a baked potatoes but locust and wild honey. And he doesn’t have the local civic center rented but goes out to the country-side.

He doesn’t have a fancy name for a blazoned marquee but only “THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS,” and he cries out, “MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD. MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.”

And curious Americans begin leaving their busy life-styles and work places and go where this stranger is speaking. They go by the thousands and the thousands, And they hear him say:

“The One we’ve been looking for – He’s coming. The One we’ve been taught about, He’s coming. Our Deliverer, He’s coming. Our “Savior and Lord” – He’s coming!”

And those who have lived in the hope of their deliverance begin to congregate around this authoritative figure. Then, all of a sudden: “Behold, He’s Here!”

I personally cannot comprehend the full significance of their waiting faith, fluctuating emotions, highs and their lows of expectations, tests of generational training – “Hold on, don’t give up, wait, wait expectantly. The Deliverer will come. The Savior will come. The nation will be free. Wait, wait, wait, wait.”

In Malachi 4:5 God said, “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.” Israel knew that, the chosen people knew that, the people of God knew that. ELIJAH IS COMING.

Now, come to Luke 1:11-18! Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him…

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth…

For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb…

And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. “He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’” And Zacharias said to the angel, ‘How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.’”

Please study carefully John 1:19-23, 29! Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”…And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am

‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord,”’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” Verse 29, The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

As they stood on that mountain-top together (Genesis 22), Isaac asked his father Abraham, “where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” And Abraham said, Verse 8, “God will provide Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” What a powerful statement of saving faith!

Exodus 12:3 speaks of “a lamb for each household” – not prejudicial salvation! Acts 17:30 says, “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is nor declaring to men that all everywhere should repent.”

In Revelation 7:9 John said, “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could number, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and the Lamb…”

Then Revelation 21:27 speaks of those “whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” I want to be in the Lamb’s book of life! I want to ask YOU a question: Is there a book of “good intentions” there? Is the “good old boys” book there? Is the book of Mormons there? Is the book of those who ‘live by the golden rule’ there? Is there a Baptist book, Catholic book, Methodist book, Presbyterian book there? Is there a baptismal book there? Is there a book of conformational certificates there? Is there a book of “good deeds” there?

Another question: Micah 6:6-7 says, “With what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself before the God on high?…Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my first-born for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

Can I tell you, some still do, and they remain in darkness. But there is a city of light, a heavenly place, and the Word says in Revelation 21:23-24, “the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb…and the nations shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it.” “IT’S LAMP IS WHAT?” THE LAMB OF GOD!!

• That’s the Incarnate Lord, Emmanuel, Who IS THE LAMB OF GOD 2) That’s the Eternal Son of God “Who loved me and gave Himself for me.” 3) That’s the Almighty one who was “Meek and Lowly in Heart” and was “Led as a Lamb to the slaughter.”

There’s an old English hymn that says this: “It is my sweetest comfort, Lord, and will forever be, To muse upon the gracious truth of Your humanity…

Oh joy! There sits in our flesh, upon a throne of light, One of a human mother born, in perfect Godhead bright!…

Forever God, forever man, My Jesus shall endure; And fixed on Him, My hope remains eternally secure.”

“HERE COMES THE LAMB OF GOD!!”

First, JESUS CHRIST COMES APPOINTEDLY: In the Messianic Fortieth Psalm, Verses 7-8, Jesus said, “Then I said, ‘Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me…I delight to do Your will, O My God; Your law is within My heart.” Then, in John 20:21 Jesus said, “…as the Father has sent Me…”, reminding us also in John 5:30, “…I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”

Peter told us that we were redeemed, 1 Peter 1:19-20, with the precious blood of Christ,…Who verily was Foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times FOR YOU…!!”

Isn’t this what Paul was telling us in Romans 5:8? “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, CHRIST DIED FOR US.” Yes, that’s Christ dying just for YOU as if YOU were the only person to ever live, Past, Present, or Future!

Second, AS THE LAMB OF GOD, JESUS COMES WILLINGLY: Look with me at John 10:17-18! “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again…No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

In the King James Version, Luke 9:51 says, “And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.” And that was to ‘party’ with His friends? No! He voluntarily went to Jerusalem to willingly die on the Cross in our place!

In Matthew 16:21-28 we see the truth about eternal “Kingdom Living” – and it has nothing to do with ‘palace partying’ but Personal participation in the Way of the Cross! It says:

From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised the third day…

Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”…

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it…

For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.”

I pray that you understand His will, His way, His wonder – and you find yourself laying down your life willingly for the glory of Christ Jesus!

Third, AS THE LAMB OF GOD, JESUS COMES SURELY. In Matthew 2:1-2 we read, “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him.”

You do know that there are a minimum of 700 prophecies that relate to the coming of God’s “Promised Messiah”! And you know that Christ Jesus came ‘surely’ in the fullness of time, on God’s eternal, divine calendar, with Galatians 4:4 telling us, “But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman…”. He came surely verified in humanity’s historical records. He came surely on the Emmaus, Damascus, Bedford, Texas, roads!

“Surely?” You could say that, as a child of faith in Christ Jesus, that you were historically of the family of Abraham, but it would be meaningless if “Shiloh” had not come. You could say that you offered sacrifices every day, that you faithfully went to the tabernacle where there was an altar, an ark, an angelic mercy-seat and it would have been meaningless if we didn’t see the sign of Christ within it. You could say, “I AM AN ORTHODOX JEW,” and it would be a statement of vainness and emptiness if the Jewish ‘shadows’ were not completed by the very “Substance” of Christ Jesus!

Fourth, AS THE LAMB OF GOD, JESUS CHRIST COMES BLAMELESSLY. Exodus 12:5 informs us, “Your ‘lamb’ shall be an unblemished male…” Why? Because it was the portrayal of the FUTURE, SINLESS LAMB OF GOD WHO WOULD PAY THE PRICE, THE PENALTY OF OUR SINS!

Hebrews 4:15, speaking of Jesus, the Son of God, our great High Priest, says, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are; yet without sin.”

What blame would you put upon Jesus? In John 8:46 Jesus boldly asked, “Which of you convicts Me of Sin?” He’s the Sinless Savior, the Spotless Lamb – the One who knew no sin! Peter told us in 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.”

Fifth, AS THE LAMB OF GOD, CHRIST JESUS COMES VICARIOUSLY AND PURPOSEFULLY IN OUR PLACE. There are two verses you must rest in that 1 John 3: 5-6 reveals to us. It says, “And you know that He appeared in order to take away sins: and in Him there is no sin…The Son of God appeared f or this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

This is why Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, and us, 1 Corinthians 5:7, “For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us…”. And if He also came to destroy the works of the devil, how did it happen? In Hebrews 2:14-15, the author of Hebrews tells us, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” But you’re not sure that relates to you?

In I John 4:9 we read, “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.” And we are able to live through Him because WE WERE CRUCIFIED WITH HIM AT THE CROSS and recognizing our death there with Him, we accept His Resurrection Life through us! 1 Peter 2:24 says, “And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness: for by His wounds you were healed.”

Sixth, ALSO JESUS CHRIST THE LAMB OF GOD CAME JUDICIALLY. In Isaiah 53: 10-11, the prophet of God tells us 700 years before Jesus’ birth, “Yet it pleased the Lord God to bruise Him [His own Son];He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.” When at the Cross Jesus said, “It Is Finished,” it was and is finished! And most men are not ‘lost’ now because of their ‘sin’ but because of their unbelief! John 3:17 says, “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved!”

Seventh, CHRIST JESUS CAME SUFFICIENTLY AND VICTORIOUSLY. Hebrews 7:22-28 explains to us all: “…by so much more, Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. But he, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.”

Christ Jesus? “Able to save – save forever – save completely – save to the uttermost the one who is the furthest away from God!”

A Lamb was led to the slaughter and a sinner found salvation! A Lamb was led to the slaughter and lost sheep were found by the Shepherd! A Lamb was led to the slaughter and the incomplete were made complete! A Lamb was led to the slaughter and the empty were made full! A Lamb was led to the slaughter and the hungry found green pastures! A Lamb was led to the slaughter and losers became winners! A Lamb was led to the slaughter and the unrighteous were declared righteous! A Lamb was led to the slaughter and the valley of death became the Mountain-Top of availability to eternal life! A Lamb was led to the slaughter and the powerless were anointed with the oil of God’s Power! The Lamb was led to the slaughter and the empty cup of human existence found the never-ending stream of Living Water! A Lamb was led to the slaughter and the sheep captured by a wily wolf were set free! A Lamb was led to the slaughter and those who had lived in darkness were transferred and translated into the Kingdom of Light!

Spurgeon wrote: [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Memorial Library, Vol.5, p.313], “There is no case which the blood of Christ cannot meet; there is no sin which it cannot wash away. There is no multiplicity o0f sin which it cannot cleans, no aggravation of guilt which it cannot remove. You may be double-dyed like scarlet, you may have lain in the lye of your sins these seventy-years, but the blood of Christ can take out the stain. You may have blasphemed him almost as many times as you have breathed, you may have rejected him as often as you have heard his name; you may have broken his Sabbath, you may have denied his existence, you may have doubted his Godhead, you may have persecuted his servants, you may have trampled on his blood; but all this the blood can wash away. You may have committed whoredoms without number, nay, murder itself may have defiled your hands, but this fountain filled with blood can wash all the stains away. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from ALL sin. There is no sort of a man, there is no abortion of mankind; no demon in human shape that this blood cannot wash. Hell may have sought to make a paragon of in iniquity, it may have striven to put sin, and sin, and sin together, till it has made a monster in the shape of a man, a monster abhorred of mankind, but the blood of Christ can transform that monster. Magdalen’s seven devils it can cast out, the madness of the demoniac it can ease, the deep-seated leprosy it can cure, the wound of the maimed, yes, the lost limb it can restore. There is no spiritual disease which the Great Physician cannot heal. This is the great Catholican [universal in its range], the medicine for all diseases. No case can exceed its virtue, be it never so black or vile; all-sufficient blood…” Amen?

CHAPTER EIGHT

THE DECLARATION OF EXCLUSIVITY

In John 14:6 Jesus made an eternal declaration that shocks a lot of people across the modern world of today. He said: “I AM the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Even as the beloved John opened his gospel, in John 1:14 he wrote: “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.”

In the May 6, 2002, issue of “U.S. News & World Report,” is an article entitled “Faith In America.” After just reading the two previous verses opening this chapter, I knew you’d find the article interesting, sad, awakening, and challenging to your own mind and your own convictions.

The sub-title of the article says: “It’s (“Faith In America”) as important as ever, no matter what you believe.” Really? DOES IT MATTER WHAT “YOU” BELIEVE? In their poll among ‘Christians’ (?) in America, get this, ONLY 20% of Christians believed their faith was the only TRUE FAITH, which I see as ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING!!

Only 50% of the ‘Christians’ polled said they had experienced God’s Presence! Egon Mayer, sociologist at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, said in the article: “It’s not that Americans don’t believe anything; THEY BELIEVE EVERYTHING!”

I hate to tell you, but if Jesus were to come into our world today He would not find a warm welcome. Because of His “declaration of exclusivity” a religious world would stone Him, or try to crucify Him again, if He said “I’m the only Way back to Holy God!”

And His declaration confronts us all in the valley of decision: Are there many doors to God or only one? Is God a debtor to man’s religious inventions or is man debtor to God and God’s declarations?

Can we take different paths and all arrive at God’s door-step? Which brings us to examine Jesus and ask as Josh McDowell did in “Evidence That Demands A Verdict,” “Is Jesus Liar, Lunatic, or the Lord God?”

What did Jesus say, “No man comes to the Father but through Me”? Is it settled in your mind and heart? And do you understand man’s dilemma when HIS RELIGION IS VOID OF THE TRUTH OF CHRIST? With God’s help YOU must see the Truth:

You can be religious without being regenerated and Jesus says, “You MUST Be Born Again.” You can be awakened to conscience without being reborn in the Spirit. You can be Conscious of God without being Reconciled to God. You can even be “Christian in Culture’ without being captured or converted by Christ.

You can be knowledgeable of Truth without being kept by Him who is Truth. You can be a faithful devotee to the tenets of your chosen religion without being a faithful disciple of the Christ’s shed blood redemption.

You can be ambitious to be cloaked in the activities of a specific religion with no aim to be pleasing to God alone, because He says, “Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord…and do not do what I say?”

Good deeds do not necessarily mean God-like! Attendance of a mosque, temple, or church doesn’t necessarily mean the True Worship of God in Spirit and in Truth! Following a ‘prophet’ doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve found God or been led to God by that prophet.

The conflict of the ages has always been, “Is there more than one way to God, multiple doors and options, many windows,” OR IS CHRIST JESUS THE ONLY HOPE?” Is it what I do before God or what God has done in my behalf? Is it “grit” or grace? Is it the measuring of a man’s doing or The MERCY OF GOD WHICH IS FINISHED IN CHRIST?

Is it man’s precepts or THE PROMISED MESSIAH? Is it man’s demands of acceptability before God or God’s conditions of a Holy Alliance, repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of Christ at the Cross?

What are man’s opinions when we have historically the Revelation of God pertaining to a man’s Salvation? What are man’s attempts at ‘white-washing’ a blackened heart when the blood of Christ washes that heart as white as snow?

What are man’s buildings or temples in comparison to God telling man he becomes the True Temple through the very Habitation of God in the Spirit? What is some “light” if it’s not the True Light? What are moral principles without the Master’s Presence? What is an element of truth without the Evangel of Truth? What is direction but pointed in the wrong way away from the True God revealed in Christ and void of the divine destiny God authors through the only Lord and Savior?

Want is Strictness apart from Sanctification? What is regimentation without the true return to God through Christ alone? What are ‘traditions’ if they’re empty of the Triumphant Christ who rose from the dead? What is an earthly glory that fades away without the manifestation of the “Glory” of Christ’s presence that never dies?

What are devotions without the disciplines that reveal a true desire to unveil the only Savior and Lord of one’s life? What or who are authors of religious activity without THE Author and Finisher of a Saving Faith?

Would you dare compare hollowness with the Wholeness God desires? What is busyness compared to God’s desire for Birthing, Blessing, and Becoming? What are prayers that penetrate nothing when God desires prayer that lays hold of Him?

Do you remember Adam and Eve in the garden after the fall when they pieced fig-leaves together as they realized their nakedness? That’s “Fig-Leaf Religion” – man’s attempt at his own salvation!

But God, through the Cross of Christ, clothes us in His robes of righteousness, He dresses us in the garments of His salvation, He declares us worthy because of the winsomeness of Calvary’s Cross which has nothing to do with ‘religion’ but everything to do with the Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Listen carefully – if the One, True Living God, who is the true source, the fountain out of which all the universe flows, the One who only is right and good and holy, and HE CHOOSES TO UNVEIL HIMSELF, HOW DOES HE DO IT?

Do you remember the angel’s message to Mary in Luke 1:34-35? Mary had asked how she could have a baby since she was a virgin and had known no man intimately. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby born to you will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.” Another place, His name ? IMMANUEL – God in the flesh!! Which is why in John 14:6 Jesus EXCLUSIVELY declares, “I AM the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but through Me.” Notice,

FIRST, THE EXCLUSIVE DECLARATION OF THE WAY! Jesus didn’t say “a way”, He said, “I AM THE WAY…” The exclusivity of opportunity! The Way what? Back to God, back to a holy relationship with a loving, caring God, who lost us because of our sin – separated, severed, disconnected from mighty God, lost and wandering away from “The Way”!

And notice, it’s not simply what He taught – it’s WHO HE IS! You understand, we’re all part of a deathly dilemma. Listen carefully: (NIV), Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin…” AND WE KNOW IT! Sin and shame! Death and darkness! Separation because of our abandonment of God! And that choice of our life’s path led us down a trail of domination by the powers of darkness!

Ephesians 2:3 says of us without Christ, we “were by nature children of wrath, just as the others…” Romans 5:12 is clear and to the point, “…and in this way, death came to all men, BECAUSE ALL SINNED…”

Oh, and then notice what God did! Romans 8:3 says, “…God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful men to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in sinful men.” Paul so wanted all men to know the sad severing between lost men and loving God, and so, led by the Spirit, he illumined for us in Romans 3:24-25 the very heart of God: “…justified freely by His grace through the REDEMPTION that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in His shed blood.”

In Josh McDowell’s book, “Beyond Beliefs To Convictions,” [p.89[, we read: “That is what the Incarnation says to you – and to all of us. Despite your sin, Jesus VALUED YOU ENOUGH to die FOR YOU. His love for you is so great, He spread His arms the width of the cross and said, ‘I lay down My life for you.’” That’s Immanuel, God in flesh, and He came to be YOUR sin-sacrifice!

Do you remember John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness? Matthew 3:3, “…Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight…” Notice, “The WAY of the Lord,” the Way of the Lord God Almighty, the Way of the ONE TRUE AND LIVING AND LOVING God – “The Way of the Cross leads home!!”

There’s a story in the Old Testament about Abraham sending his servant to Abraham’s home-place to find a bride for his son Isaac, Genesis 24:27, the servant speaking, “…As for me, being ON THE WAY, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.” And he found Rebecca.

But for us, it’s not being ‘on the way,’ which is good, but being “in the Way”, [that’s Jesus!], is much better because Jesus is the Redeemer who by His own precious blood shed at the Cross, reconciles us to Holy God!

SECOND, LOOK AT THE EXCLUSIVE DECLARATION OF THE “TRUTH” – THE EXCLUSIVITY OF OBSERVATION! What Jesus said certainly was truth, but when He said, “I AM THE TRUTH” it was not what He taught, BUT WHO HE IS! In John 15:22 Jesus said, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now (because I’ve come) they have no excuse for their sin.” JESUS IS TRUTH… And THE TRUTH IS: There is only one Lamb whose shed blood washes away SIN and GUILT – the LAMB OF GOD, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!

The Truth is, there is One Mediator between God and man – the God-Man, Jesus! The Truth is, there is only One Door into the heart of God – Jesus is that Door! The truth is, there is only One Bread that is truly the Spiritual Staff of Life that nourishes hungry souls – Jesus Christ is that Bread! The Truth is, there is only One Sacrifice that satisfies the offense of Holy God because of our sinfulness – the Sacrifice of Himself, the Son of God who became the Son of Man that sons of men might become sons of God!

Pontius Pilate, Roman governor of the area of Judea, is confronted by Christ Jesus as Jesus is brought to his court! John 18:33-38 says, Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?”…

Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”…

Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are you a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault at all.”

In another Gospel, Matthew 27:24, the Word says, “Pilate took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this person. You see to it.” NO! None of us are innocent of the blood of Christ Jesus – it was because of your sin and mine that Jesus died!

THIRD, EXAMINE THE EXCLUSIVE DECLARATION OF THE LIFE! THE EXCLUSIVITY OF OVERFLOW! In the Gospel of John, John 10:10, Jesus declared, and still declares: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

Do you understand that, though we were born physically alive, we were birthed IN spiritual death! Roman 5:12 speaks the truth: “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, BECAUSE ALL SINNED…”

There is a famous India native living in the U.S.A today, a Christian, by the name of Ravi Zacharias, who in his teen years, began to deal with two realities of us all – SIN within him and DEATH within him. He knew the answer was not IN RELIGION BUT IN RELATIONSHIP – if we all are SEPARATED FROM GOD because of our sin nature and sins, and we experience DEATH in the inner man, WHERE DO WE FIND LIFE?… And all of a sudden he realized it wasn’t his search for God but God’s search for him. [Romans 5:8].

Jesus took our death on Himself that we might have His Life. Jesus took our unrighteousness on Himself that we might have His righteousness. Jesus took our curse on Himself that we might have His blessing. Jesus came to earth to a place called Calvary so we could through Him go to Heaven forever!

In Ephesians 4:14-15 Paul wrote, “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting…but, speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ –“

Pontius Pilate stood before a large crowd and said: “What then shall I do with Jesus which is called the Christ?” And in your mind and heart are two options: Crown Him as the King of your salvation OR “CRUCIFY HIM!!”

In 1 Timothy 4:1 Paul said, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.” What or Who do you choose?

CHAPTER NINE

THE COSTLINESS OF CHRIST’S CHOOSING

In Matthew 22:14 Jesus stated authoritatively, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” Have you resolved it in your heart by the Holy Word and Holy Spirit that you are the “chosen of God”? Sometimes I really wonder how many have seriously considered “The Costliness of Christ’s Choosing.”

In John 15:18-19 Jesus said, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you…If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, BUT I CHOSE YOU OUT OF THE WORLD, therefore the world hates you.”

I know nothing of the spiritual heritage of Walter Lippman, only that he was a Harvard graduate, a journalist, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize; but I came across a profound statement he once made: “No saint, no hero, no discoverer, no prophet, no leader ever did his work cheaply and easily, comfortable and painlessly, and no people was ever great which did not pass through the valley of the shadow of death on its way to greatness.” SO TRUE!

When David wanted to build an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah, Araunah wanted to give it to David, but in 2 Samuel 24:24 David responded, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God WITH THAT WHICH COSTS ME NOTHING.”

In Isaiah 43:10-11 God spoke: “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN, that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I AM HE. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me…I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior.”

God told Moses to tell the people, Deuteronomy 7:7-8, “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples;…but BECAUSE THE LORD LOVES YOU, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers.” CHOSEN OF GOD! HOW AWESOME! Then came the SAD REPORTS! Judges 5:8, “They chose new gods; then there was war in the gates…”

So in Judges 10:14 God responded to their foolishness, “Go and cry out to the gods which you have CHOSEN; let them deliver you in your time of distress.” It seems as if it was getting to be really serious between God and a foolish people! Isaiah 65:11-12 says, “But you are those who forsake the Lord, Who forget My holy mountain, who prepare a table for God, and who furnish drink for men…Therefore I will number you for the sword, and you shall all bow down to the slaughter; Because when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not hear, But did evil before My eyes, AND CHOSE THAT IN WHICH I DID NOT DELIGHT.”

And please examine Isaiah 66:3b-4, the Lord says, “…Just as they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations, So I will choose their delusions, and bring their fears on them; Because, when I called, no one answered, when I spoke they did not hear; but they did evil before My eyes, and chose that in which I do not delight.”

Oh, but then we read in Psalm 65:4-5, “Blessed is the man YOU CHOOSE, and CAUSE TO APPROACH YOU, THAT he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Of Your holy temple…By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us, O God of our salvation, YOU WHO ARE THE CONFIDENCE OF ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH, and of the far-off seas…”

In Psalm 119:30 David said, “I HAVE CHOSEN THE WAY OF TRUTH; Your judgments I have laid before Me…” [What have you chosen as YOUR WAY OF LIFE?] Verse 173, “Let Your hand become My help, For I have chosen Your precepts.”

Do you remember Jesus’ words about counting the cost in Luke 14:28? “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it –“ THE COSTLINESS OF CHRIST’S CHOOSING”!!

FIRST, LET’S LOOK AT THE REDEMPTION OF OUR SOULS THAT IS COSTLY! Psalm 49:8 says clearly, “For the redemption of their souls is costly…” Does John 3:16 still move you? Does it send chills up and down your spine when you think about it? Does it cause you to praise Him faithfully?

James Thompson, in “The Great Argument,” wrote: “Christianity without the Cross is nothing. The Cross was the fitting close of a life of rejection, scorn, and defeat. But in no true sense have these ceased or changed. Jesus is still He whom man despises, and the rejected of men.” YET… “Jesus Paid It All, All to Him I owe, Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.” COSTLINESS?

1 Peter 1:18-19 says, “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers…BUT WITH THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST, AS OF A LAMB WITHOUT BLEMISH AND WITHOUT SPOT.”

SECOND, THE RELEASE OF HIS FULLNESS IS COSTLY! Numbers 17:5 says, “And it shall be that the rod of the man WHOM I CHOOSE WILL BLOSSOM…” But what if I paraphrase it to say, “And it shall be that THE MAN OF THE ROD, (THE MAN OF GOD’S APPOINTING AND GOD’S ANOINTING, THE MAN OF GOD’S DESIGNATED, DELEGATED AUTHORITY) whom I choose WILL BLOSSOM.”

It speaks of a “Coming Forth,” “Emerging,” “Birthing”!! Like that Lily pushing itself up through the stubborn sod! Like the “birth-pains” until Christ is FORMED IN US! I used to take our children to Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, Florida to watch the glass-blowers – they’d apply the heat and blow into it forming and shaping the images of their minds. AND GOD APPLIES HIS HEAT TO US, TURNS UP THE ENERGY OF THE SPIRITUAL SON TO MELT US, MOLD US, SHAPE US INTO THE IMAGE OF HIS DEAR SON.

Oswald Chambers, (“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.270) wrote: “The hindrance in our spiritual life is that we will not be continually converted, there are [wadges] of obstinacy where our pride spits at the throne of God and says – I WON’T. We deify independence and willfulness and call them by the wrong name. What God looks on as obstinate weakness, we call strength. There are whole tracts of our lives which have not been brought into subjection yet, and it can only be done by this continuous conversion. Slowly but surely we can claim the whole territory for the Spirit of God.”

THIRD, THE RELOCATION OF THE PLACE OF WORSHIP IS COSTLY! Follow Deuteronomy 12 and verses 5, 18, 29-31! Verse 5 says, “But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go.” Verse 18, “But you must eat them before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all to which you put your hands.”

Verses 29-31, “When the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’..

You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.” [Deuteronomy 30:11-20 is very important that you read carefully in your Bible!]

Now, look with me at John 4:19-24! The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

David, after the death of his son, rose up to worship! Disciples, on a stormy sea in their boat, saw Jesus calm the waters and they rose up to worship. Paul, abandoned and left alone, rose up to worship because God stood with him. In 1 Corinthians 14:25 Paul told the church that when “the secrets of [a man’s] heart are revealed… [he’ll] fall down on his face, [and] worship God and report that God is truly among you.”

In Revelation 19:10 John heard the call to the marriage supper of the Lord, and “I fell at His feet to worship Him.” Then, in 2 Chronicles 7:3, we read, “When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshipped and praised the Lord…”

FOURTH, THE REALIZATION OF FAMILY DEVOTION IS COSTLY! Joshua 24:15 is so very, very clear: “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. BUT AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD.”

You do understand that every day families make choices as to where their devotion lies, what they will worship, or Who they will worship. There are those who are under the sway of “the gods which your fathers served”; there are those under the sway of “the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell”; there are those who manufacture their “objects of worship” – even altars to “the Unknown God.”

But then God calls, confronts, challenges: Genesis 18:19, “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, THAT THE LORD MAY BRING TO ABRAHAM WHAT HE HAS SPOKEN TO HIM.”

What do you want for your family? What God has spoken or the futility of your’s and the world’s fleshliness? My wife and I pray the Fishers worship and bless Holy God to a 1000 generations!

FIFTH, THE RADICAL CHOICE OF WILLFUL SUFFERING IS COSTLY! In Hebrews 11:25 the author said, “choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin…”

Don’t ever forget or overlook 2 Timothy 3:10-12 when Paul encouraged Timothy, “But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance…persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, at Lystra – what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me… Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus WILL SUFFER PERSECUTIONS.”

What do you think John 15:18-19 is about? YOU ARE GOING TO SUFFER IF YOU CHOOSE TO WALK WITH CHRIST!! “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, BUT I CHOSE YOU OUT OF THE WORLD, THEREFORE THE WORLD HATES YOU.”

What are many of the Psalms about? The suffering from opposition even at times from family, friends, and foes! You cannot please God and think the world around you is happy about it! John 16:33, Jesus is speaking: “…in the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” [Check Luke 6:20-26!].

SIXTH, THERE IS THE RESPLENDANT GLORY OF LEADERSHIP THAT IS COSTLY! Psalms 78:70-72 says, “He also chose David His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds, From following the ewes that had young He brought him, to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance. So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.”

Three things I want to emphasize here: 1) Leadership is taken from its comfort zone to the crucible of human experiences. 2) Leadership is taken from the frying pan right into the fire. And 3) Leadership is taken, often, from its natural surroundings’ training to the dimension of the spiritual and the Eternal.

And I’m not simply talking about pastors and elders; nor fathers and mothers; but leadership in the world, on the job, as a part of community – even state, national, and worldwide leadership!

The great South African preacher of the past, Andrew Murray, wrote: “God has no more precious gift to a church or an age than a man who lives as the embodiment of God’s will and inspires those around him with the faith of what grace can do.”

Hebrews 5:4 says, “And no man takes this honor to himself, but he was called by God, just as Aaron was.” THE RESPLENDANT GLORY OF LEADERSHIP THAT IS COSTLY!

Abraham, called of God, “Get out of your country, from your family, and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.” WHAT A COST! But he became the “father of many nations.” Moses, called of God, to return to a land of God-filled resistance and hostility at great COST! But he set a people free with “the blossoming rod of God.” How many early disciples were scattered abroad and faced martyrdom because of their faith! What a cost! But they turned the world upside down for the Glory of Christ!

It was Samuel Brengle who put it like this: [“Samuel Logan Brengle” by C.W. Hall, p.274], “The final estimate of men shows that history cares not an iota for the rank or title a man has borne, or the office he has held, but only the quality of his deeds and the character of his mind and heart.”

SEVENTH, LOOK AT THE RESPONSE OF A PEOPLE OR A NATION AS TO IT BEING BLESSED OR CURSED THAT IS COSTLY! Psalm 33:12 says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance.” But then examine Psalm 9:17! “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations THAT FORGET GOD!”

Isn’t it sad that people and nations never really or fully consider what it means for them to give God His rightful place in their lives? In Psalms 106:4-5 David prayed, “Remember mem O Lord, with THE FAVOR You have toward Your people. Oh, visit me with Your salvation, That I may see the benefit of Your chosen ones, That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, That I may glory with Your inheritance.”

In the June 25, 1993, edition of USA Today, Barbara Reynolds, a liberal columnist, wrote a very profound article on the lawlessness and lack of social order in too many of our cities. Listen: “Those murderous habits aren’t based solely on financial poverty, but on a bankrupt human spirit caused by an absence of the spirit of God. If it weren’t for the religious faithful [in cities and schools] life would be utterly hopeless…

The downward drag started in 1963 when the court kicked prayer out of public schools. Our moral foundation crumbled. Violent rap music, drugs, guns, and illicit sex leaped into the vacuum…

While I don’t want mandated prayers or Bible readings churning out robotic prayer warriors, you must find ways for schools and the workplace to implement values based on love, justice, and mercy, principles most religions adhere to…

My generation blew it by pushing God out of public life. UNDO THEIR MISTAKES. MANY LIVES DEPEND ON IT.”

Do you understand? It’s not a battle over values. It’s not a battle over philosophical debate. It’s not a battle over whose moral vision runs America, some or none. It’s not a battle over even the definition of “family”. The battle is WHO OR WHAT GOD DOES OUR NATION BOW BEFORE!

EIGHTH, LOOK AT THE REACH OF CHOSEN VESSELS TO BEAR HIS NAME THAT IS COSTLY! In Acts 9:15, “But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children. Verse 16, For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

In Hebrews 13:12-13 the writer said, “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him outside the camp, BEARING HIS REPROACH.” REPROACH? “railed at, chided, taunted, defamed…”

Do you remember Moses in Hebrews 11:24-26? “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharoah’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer afflictions with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.” WHAT DO YOU ESTEEM? What has your heart? What consumes the majority of your time and energy?

Moses “esteemed the reproach of Christ greater than the treasures of Egypt!” Do you remember Howard Carter’s discovery of King Tut’s tomb in 1922? All he saw was “the glint of gold.” It took them ten years to catalogue all that he discovered! Yet Moses walked away from it because “the reproach of Christ (was) greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.”

Are you a modern-day Pharoah sold out to modern-day Egypt? Are you a Paul to bear His name? Are you a fisher of men? Do you walk with beautiful feet? Are you His witness in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth?

NINTH, EXAMINE THE RECOGNITION OF ONE’S EMPTINESS APART FROM CHRIST THAT IS SO COSTLY! In I Corinthians 1:26-29 Paul talked about: “foolish”…weak…insignificant or lowly based…despised…NOTHINGS…!!” And that’s how God sees us apart from Christ and far too many live it out, never finding the only answer in Christ Jesus!

A number of years ago in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, a couple, on Valentine’s Day, had gone for a drive enjoying the beauty of a small forest of trees. Something caught their eyes shining in the trees. As they got out of the car and walked over they found a dead teenager hanging from a limb, a white bed-sheet wrapped tightly around his neck. There was a note, no names, addressed only to “Mom and Dad”. The note said: “I never did develop into a real person and I cannot tolerate the false and empty existence I have created. What frustrated me most in the last year was that I had built no ties to family or friends. There was nothing of lasting worth or value. I led a detached existence. I am a bomb of frustration and should never marry or have children. It is safest to defuse the bomb harmlessly now; simple create me as John Doe.” No one ever claimed him – he was buried as UNKNOWN.”

But what did Jesus say? “I AM COME that YOU may have life and to have it more abundantly.”

TENTH, DO YOU RELATE TO THE RENEWING OR REFINING OF THE CHOSEN ONES THAT IS SO COSTLY? In Colossians 3:12-13 Paul challenges us all: “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.”

Chuck Swindoll, in “Come Before Winter,” [Christian Literature Crusade, Manila, 1985, p141], tells of a couple of men who worked alongside the inventor Thomas Edison. “Weary to the point of exasperation, one man sighed, ‘What a waste! We have tried no less than 700 experiments and NOTHING has worked. We are not a bit better off than when we started.’ With an optimistic twinkle in his eye, Edison quipped, ‘Oh, yes, we are! We now know 700 things that don’t work. We’re closer than we’ve ever been before.” With that, he rolled up his sleeves and plunged back in.

You may have had 700 failures, but do you know how close you are because you’ve been willing to count the cost! Philippians 1:6 [Amplified] says, “He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ – right up to the time of His return – developing (that good work) and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.”

In closing this chapter there are several things I want to highlight. Look at Isaiah 41:9-10! “You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth (Does that include you?), and called from its farthest regions, And said to you, ‘You are My servant, I HAVE CHOSEN YOU AND HAVE NOT CAST YOU AWAY (Has the Devil, have you told yourself, ‘He has cast me away?”). Fear not, FOR I AM WITH YOU; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

Oswald Chambers, (“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.238), wrote: “The tendency is to look for the marvelous in our experience; we mistake the sense of the heroic for being heroes. It is one thing to go through a crisis grandly, but another thing to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, no one paying the remotest attention to us. If we do not want medieval haloes, we want something that will make people say – What a wonderful man of prayer he is! What a pious devoted woman she is! If you are rightly devoted to the Lord Jesus, you have reached the sublime height where no one ever thinks of noticing you, ALL THAT IS NOTICED IS THAT THE POWER OF GOD COMES THROUGH YOU ALL THE TIME.”

What a cost of Christ’s choosing!! “Whatever you do, do all to the Glory of God!” T.O. Chisholm had it right! “Living for Jesus a life that is true, Striving to please Him in all that I do; Yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free, This is the pathway of blessing for me….O Jesus, Lord, and Savior, I give myself to Thee, For Thou, in Thy atonement, didst give Yourself for me; I own no other Master, my heart shall be Your throne, My life I give, henceforth to live, O Christ, for You alone.” Amen?

CHAPTER TEN

CHRIST JESUS – OUR FREEDOM

In John 8:31-32 we read, Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Isn’t it absolutely amazing that Jesus says, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free,” and too many of God’s people live in BONDAGE?

I believe it’s why DL Moody needed to say, “A rumor will get half round the world before the truth has got its boots on.” There are the penitentiaries of life spiritually that can keep us living so enslaved with the chains of personal condemnation!

How many of us see our lives so cast in concrete that we cannot perceive a life fluid and free in the Spirit? How many of us see our lives as walled cities too high to leap over in a single-bound like Superman? How many of us have no dreams because we’re bound up in despair? How Many of us have no vision of the infinite because we’re locked up in the fear of failure and frustration majoring on our FINITENESS? How many do you know who are prisoners to the peril of earthly contentment, satisfied with something less than God’s expectations and EXALTED REMEDY? How many do you know who are spending counterfeit currencies in their life investment ending up detached, enslaved, isolated, and out of touch with eternal realities?

It was William Gladstone, great English statesman of the past who wrote: “I am convinced that the welfare of mankind does not depend on the State and the world of politics; THE REAL BATTLE IS BEING FOUGHT IN THE WORLD OF THOUGHT, where a deadly attack is made with great tenacity of purpose and over a wide field upon the greatest treasure of mankind, the belief in God and the Gospel of Christ.” SO VERY, VERY TRUE!

Why would the devil want you to know that there is eternal truth in Christ and that truth liberates you? Andrew Murray wrote: “God has no more precious gift to a church or an age than a man who lives as the embodiment of His will, and inspires those around him with the faith of what grace can do.”

Gordon Bridger, in “Keswick Gold,” (p.73, OM Publishing, PO Box 28, Waynesboro, Ga., USA, 1991), preached: “There is a Deliverer. I may be pessimistic about myself, but I’m very optimistic about what God has done, and can do, to change my nature, and to make me into the kind of person He wants me to be.”

THAT DELIVERER IS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST! Do you remember Jesus saying in Luke 18:41, ministering to the blind man sitting by the road begging? Jesus asked, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the beggar said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.”

If Jesus asked that of you or of all mankind spanning the globe, most would say, “That I may have the chains broken off from the things that enslave me life!” Do you understand? Bondage, enslavement, chains, and yes, blindness, spiritual blindness, that most ignore, but still burdened to the point God’s blessing cannot rest on that life! It’s a life nailed down in the circumstances and conditions to the point that that life cannot soar in the heavenlies!

Oswald Chambers wrote: [“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.240], “We are designed with a great capacity for God; and sin and our individuality are the things that keep us from getting at God.” How can we ‘get at God’ if we’re nailed down in sin and death? Notice:

CHRIST IS OUR FREEDOM FROM THAT DOGGED-HOUNDING OF THE SENSE OF SIN AND CONDEMNATION SO LIMITING DIVINE POTENTIAL! John 8:34-36 says, Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

The guilt of sin and the grit of condemnation will grind you into a powdery substance of despair, discontent, or dismay. But the grace of God through the shed blood of Christ washes you WHITE AS SNOW!

Romans 8:33-34 declares, “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? IT IS GOD WHO JUSTIFIES…Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.”

Do you remember it? Rest in it! “He breaks the power of canceled, He sets the prisoner free; His Blood can make the foulest clean; His Blood availed for me.”

Listen to Charles W. Koller, former president of the Northern Baptist Seminary in Chicago: “Let it be the concern of the Church to reveal the gravity of sin and the imperative need for repentance! In the sight of God there are no mild sinners, and sin does not come in pastel shades. Sin is disobedience, lawlessness, moral anarchy, such as would dethrone God if it could.” And the sad truth is sin separates and enslaves!

It’s not that SIN is a “hard bargain” – it doesn’t bargain, it battles, belittles, and bruises! But listen to Romans 6:17-18! “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered…AND HAVING BEEN SET FREE FROM SIN, YOU BECAME SLAVES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

Now, receive the Word! You are either a slave to sin or you are a servant of God! John Piper, in “A Godward Life,” (p.153), wrote: “I could not go on without the cross. Why? Because periodically I discover surprising sinfulness in me that I did not know anything about. Without the cross to cover all that, I would despair because I am sure that in the folds of my heart there remains unknown corruption.” BUT REMEMBER, CALVARY COVERS IT ALL!

CHRIST IS OUR FREEDOM FROM SELF’S ENSLAVING HOLD. 2 Corinthians 5:17,15 declares for us: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a NEW CREATION: old things have passed away; BEHOLD, all things have become new…Verse 15, And HE DIED FOR ALL, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for HIM who died for them and rose again.”

But there can be such a terrific battle that goes on! In Romans 7:18-19 Paul said, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find…For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.”

Is that the end? Is there no hope? Is there no way to escape from the old self’s enslaving hold? Look at Romans 8:2! “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ has made me free from the law of sin and death.” And sadly too many Christians ‘camp’ in Romans 7 and never move on. They live with a “ball and chain” mentality as if they can never be free from the old life.

What does 2 Corinthians 5:15 say? Because Jesus died, those who live in Him no longer live for themselves! In the book, “Lives of Twelve Good Men,” Dean Burgon has a sketch of Dean Mansel, Christian philosopher of the past. There’s a powerful statement made about Mansel (Read carefully!), he “PROSTRATED HIS REASON BEFORE THE WORD OF GOD.”

Yet, how many regularly attend and bow down in the Temple of Self-Worship? Do you remember what Paul said to the Church at Galatia? (Galatians 5:13), “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh…”

CHRIST ALSO IS OUR FREEDOM FROM THE DISABILITY OF PERSONAL RULE TO THE ABILITY OF THE SOVEREIGN RULE AND REIGN OF CHRIST’S LORDSHIP! We read in Romans 14:7-9, “For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself…For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s… FOR TO THIS END Christ died and rose and lived again, THAT HE MIGHT BE LORD OF BOTH THE DEAD AND THE LIVING.”

LORD? That’s one having full authority, ruler, to whom one’s service, worship, and obedience are due! It’s very simple! When Saul of Tarsus met Jesus on that Damascus road, what did he ask? “Lord, what would You have me to do?” Later Paul said, “For to me to live is Christ…” I want you to hear this with all your heart! A simple belief in the truth of the Gospel, divorced from a declaration of Christ’s Lordship over your life, is to give assent to an idea that is much, much less than SAVING FAITH!

In 2 Corinthians 4:5 the Word declares: “For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord.” John MacArthur wrote in “The Gospel According to Jesus,” (p.14 of the preface) – “I am, however, equally certain that no one can be saved who is either unwilling to obey Christ or consciously rebellious against the lordship of Christ. The MARK OF TRUE SALVATION is THAT IT ALWAYS PRODUCES A HEART THAT KNOWS AND FEELS ITS RESPONSIBILITY TO THE EVER-AWAKENING REALITY OF THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST.” Is Jesus your Lord to the Glory of God the Father?

CHRIST IS OUR FREEDOM FROM THE YOKES OF BONDAGE AND THE YANKS OF THE BATTLES WITH SATANIC ACTIVITY! Galatians 5:1 says, “Stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage!” Verse 7 adds, “You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?” I want you to read Hebrews 2:14-15 with an unending spirit of praise and thanksgiving because of what our Lord has accomplished for us who are in the Faith! It says: “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death HE MIGHT DESTROY him who had the power of death, that is, the devil…and release those who thr5ough fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”

You must clearly understand that even though the yokes of bondage are real and the tanks of the battles with Satanic activity mushroom like an ash cloud over an erupting volcano, the ‘lion’ may roar, but at the Cross of Christ he was defanged!

Christ died, grasp this, surely that your sins might be washed whiter than snow, but He died that you might be free from the bondages and battles with the approaching forces and weapons of a spiritual pharaoh!

Ralph Turnbull, in “A Minister’s Obstacles,” (p.128), wrote: “When a man knows hi has been called by the Holy Spirit and has within him the assurance that nothing can shake that conviction, then he is fortified against that demon of discouragement.” Fortified? Are you? What about that demon of greed – that demon of ever-increasing wants?

What about that wild-fire demon of lust, of glandular idolatry, of the demon of rebellion to God’s laws of sexual purity, the demon of pornographic madness that’s involved even in church circles?

What about that bondage and battle with doubts and fears? Is that war raging about acceptance or rejection of your peer group? What about that dark cloud of depression, that demon of darkness that wants you hidden away behind closed doors, alone and lonely?

Do you know what Isaiah 61:3 says? “…to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, THE GARMENT OF PRAISE FOR THE SPIRIT OF HEAVINESS, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

It’s not time to lie down – it’s time to rise up. It’s not time to give in – it’s time to rest in the Lord. It’s not time to bow down to the temptations of a modern world’s golden idols – it’s time to walk into that fiery furnace of Holy Presence! This isn’t cowering time – it’s crunch time because in Christ we’re more than conquerors! This isn’t cowardice time – but “brave-heart” time because “greater is He that is in us than (he) that is in the world.”

No wonder Paul said in Galatians 6:14, “But God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

And the evidence we’re in on it? Listen to Oswald Chambers in his “My Utmost For His Highest,” (p.266)! “The Gospel of Jesus Christ always forces an issue of will. Do I accept God’s verdict on sin in the Cross of Christ? Have I the slightest interest in the death of Jesus? Do I want to be identified with His death, to be killed right out to all interest in sin, in worldliness, in self – to be so identified with Jesus that I am spoiled for everything else but Him? The great privilege of discipleship is that I can sign on under His cross, and that means death to sin. Get alone with Jesus and either tell Him that at all costs you want to be identified with His death. Immediately you transact in confident faith in what our Lord did on the cross, a supernatural identification with His death takes place, and you will know with a knowledge that passes knowledge that your “old man” is crucified with Christ. The proof that your old man is crucified with Christ is the amazing ease with which the life of God in you enables you to obey the voice of Jesus.”

It was N.B. Herrell, sometime in the 20^th century, who wrote: “The Unveiled Christ.” It says:

“Once our blessed Christ of beauty Was veiled off from human view; But through suffering death and sorrow He has rent the veil in two…

Yes, He is with God, the Father, Interceding there for you; For He is the mighty conqueror, Since He rent the veil in two…

Holy angels bow before Him, Men of earth give praises due; For He is the well beloved, Since He rent the veil in two…

Throughout time and endless ages, Heights and depths of love so true; He alone can be the giver, Since He rent the veil in two…

O behold the man of sorrows, O behold Him in plain view, Lo! He is the mighty conqueror, Since He rent the veil in two, LO! He is the mighty conqueror, Since He rent the veil in two.” AMEN?

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE REJOICINGS OF A KING

Jeremiah 10:10 tells us: “But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth will tremble, and the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.” Of course, you remember they were mocking Jesus when He was nailed to the Cross, but over His head they put a writing: “This Is Jesus The King Of The Jews.” And, of course, He was and still is – but also He is King over ALL! Even Pilate acknowledged “Jesus of Nazareth, The King of The Jews.” But I wonder: Have YOU crowned Him “King of My Heart”?

In Revelation 19:16 there is a picture of Christ, “The Word of God,” and it says of Him: And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS”! But when I come to Psalm 21:1, I see David describing himself as king saying, “The king shall have joy in Your strength, O Lord; and in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice.” The King of kings and the Lord of lords acknowledges every born-again believer a “king and priest”!

When I look at Psalm 21:1 am I simply reading a true historical testimony of what happened in King David’s life or is it also a picture book of what every disciple should experience in Christ? For instance, do YOU see yourself in Christ as a “king”? Have you been clothed in the robes of royalty and is there a symbolic crown of identity on your head?

1 Timothy 6:15, speaking of Jesus, says: “…He who is the blessed and only Potentate (Sovereign), the King of kings and Lord of lords.” King of kings? Is the Word speaking about you? In the Word of God, Revelation 1:6, speaking of those washed from their sins in Christ’s blood, “And has made us kings and priests to His God and Father…”

We’re going to be examining “The Rejoicings of a King”! Psalm 33:1-3 in the Living Bible says: “Let ALL the joys of the godly well up in praise to the Lord, for it is right to praise Him. Play joyous melodies of praise upon the lyre and on the harp. Compose new songs of praise to Him, accompanied skillfully on the harp; SING JOYFULLY.”

IN THE “REJOICINGS OF A KING” LET’S LOOK AT THE KINGLY REJOICING IN GOD’STRENGTH AND GOD’S SALVATION. That’s Psalm 21:1 again. “The king shall have joy in Your strength, O Lord; and in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!” I want you to come with me to Psalm 28:6-9 (“Living Bible”) – “Oh, praise the Lord, for He has listened to my pleadings! HE is my strength, my shield from every danger. I trusted in Him, and He helped me. Joy rises in my heart until I BURST OUT IN SONGS OF PRAISE TO HIM.. The Lord protects His people and gives victory to His anointed king. Defend Your people, Lord; defend and bless Your chosen ones. Lead them like a shepherd and carry them forever in Your arms.”

Again, in the “Living Bible”, look at Psalm 37:17, “…the strength of evil men shall be broken, BUT THE LORD TAKES CARE OF THOSE HE HAS FORGIVEN.” FORGIVEN? And you have no reason to sing? You’ve been taken care of BY GOD, and there is no song of praise and thanksgiving in your heart? Do you remember when David repented in Psalm 51? And one of his heart-cries was “Restore to me…THE JOY OF YOUR SALVATION…” Do you remember what Nehemiah said? Nehemiah 8:10, “don’t sorrow, because the joy of the Lord is your strength!”

Have you ever experienced the on-going victory of Jeremiah 15:16? “Your words were found and I ATE THEM, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart: FOR I AM CALLED BY YOUR NAME, O LORD GOD OF HOSTS.” When Jesus went before the Father in John 17 in His “high priestly prayer,” He prayed, (Verse 13), “But now I come to You (Father), and these things I speak in the world, THAT THEY MAY HAVE MY JOY FULFILLED IN THEMSELVES.”

Habakkuk 3:17-19 says, “Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls – Yes I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet. And He will make me walk on my high hills.”

I’m telling you that nothing is more thrilling or fulfilling than experiencing for yourself God’s STRENGTH and God’s SALVATION. Psalm 5:11 says, “Make everyone REJOICE who puts his trust in you. Keep them shouting for joy because You are defending them. Fill all who love You with Your happiness.”

And then in Psalm 16:11, “You have let me experience the joys of life and the exquisite pleasures of Your own eternal presence.”

IN THE “REJOICINGS OF A KING” LET”S LOOK AT THE KINGLY REJOICING IN GOD’S FAITHFULNESS OF ANSWERED PRAYER! Psalm 21:2 says, “For You have given him his heart’s desire, everything he asks You for!”

Is Jesus a liar or the Lord-God? What did He say in Matthew 7:7-8? “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you…For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, IT WILL BE OPENED.”

Eliza Hickok put it like this: “I know not by what methods rare, But this I KNOW: GOD ANSWERS PRAYER. I know not if the blessing sought Will come in just the guise I thought. I leave my prayer to Him alone Whose will is wiser than my own.” G. Ashton Oldham said it even wiser and stronger: “Prayer is the chief agency and activity whereby men align themselves with God’s purpose. Prayer does no consist in battering the walls for personal benefits or the success of our plans. Rather it is the committing of ourselves for the carrying out of His purposes. It is a telephone call to headquarters for orders. It is not bending God’s will to ours, but our will to God’s. In prayer, we tap vast reservoirs of spiritual power whereby God can find fuller entrance into the hearts of men.”

You have answered prayers from God yet no reason to rejoice?

IN THE “KINGLY REJOICINGS” HOW ABOUT YOUR REJOICING IN GOD’S ROYAL BLESSINGS! Psalm 21:3 says, “You welcomed him to the throne with success and prosperity. You set a kingly crown o0f purest gold upon his head.”

Have you forgotten Ephesians 2:4-6? “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.” Do you understand that blessing? “SEATED WITH CHRIST”! That’s in the Seat of Authority, in the Seat of Rest From A Finished Work, that’s in the Seat of Provision, the Seat of Identity, the Seat of Omniscience, the Seat of Overflowing Heavenly Blessings that never subside!

Psalm 24:5, in the Living Bible says, “They will receive God’s own goodness as their blessing from Him, planted in their lives by God Himself, their Savior.” Are you aware of “MY CUP RUNS OVER”? In Psalm 34:8 we read, “Oh, put God to the test and see how kind He is! See for yourself the way His mercies shower down on all who trust in Him.” Then Psalm 36:8 says, “You feed them with blessings from Your own table and let them drink from Your rivers of delight.” And you have no reason to rejoice in Christ Jesus? IN THE “KINGLY REJOICING” HAVE YOU BECOME FULLY AWARE OF GOD’S SHARING OF HIS FOREVER LIFE? Psalm 21:4 says, “He asked for a long, good life, and You have granted his request; the days of his life stretch on and on FOREVER.” How could it be otherwise?

We read in Deuteronomy 33:27, “The Eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms…” If God is ETERNAL and I’ve become One with Him, if God is Eternal and I’ve taken on His nature, what am I blessed with? HIS FOREVER LIFE!

Somehow have you missed or overlooked Jesus’ words in Mark 10:29-30? Jesus answered and said, “ASSUREDLY, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, FOR MY SAKE AND THE GOSPEL’S… who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time – houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions – AND IN THE AGE TO COME, ETERNAL LIFE.” FOREVER LIFE -IN CHRIST JESUS! AND YOU HAVE NO REASON TO REJOICE?

IN THE “KINGLY REJOICING” EXAMINE GOD’S DISTINCTIVE USE OF OUR LIVES! Psalm 21:5 says, “You have given him fame and honor. You have clothed him with splendor and majesty.” Oh, and then in Psalm 25:10 we read, “And when we obey Him, every path He guides us on is fragrant with His lovingkindness and His truth.” What did it say? “…EVERY PATH “HE” guides us on…”! We didn’t CHOOSE to be used of God – HE CHOSE US!

In 1 Thessalonians 2:4 Paul said, “But as we have been APPROVED BY GOD to be entrusted with the Gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.” It was God who chose the pagan Abram. It was God, in the burning bust, who called Moses. It was God who set apart the prophets. It was God who chose the disciples. It was God who chose Paul.

And it is God who distinctively calls you and me out of this world and sets us apart unto Himself. And YOU have no reason to rejoice?

I AM THRILLED ALSO WHEN I SEE THE KINGLY REJOICING IN GOD”S ENDOWMENT OF ETERNAL BLESSING! Psalm 21:6a says, “For You have made him [the king] most blessed forever.” Come to Psalm 32:1-2, &10-11! “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute [charge his account with] iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit…

Verses 10-11, Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous; and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” Oh, and then Psalm 33:21 says, “For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have TRUSTED IN HIS HOLY NAME.” Have you?

IT GETS BETTER! THERE IS THE KINGLY REJOICING IN GOD’S GIFT OF THE UNQUENCHABLE JOY OF HIS EVER-ABIDING PRESENCE! Psalm 21:6b says, “You have made him exceedingly glad with Your presence.” Later, in Psalm 27:4 David wrote: “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty [delightfulness] of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.”

But have you witnessed “sons” leaving the Father’s holy presence, going with ‘rebel-prodigal-sons’ at the world’s pig-pens? And if you are one – YOU ARE NOT HIDING FROM GOD THERE! He sees you!

In Psalm 139:23-24 you find what ought to be the attitude of all believing hearts daily! “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Have you examined your attitudes lately concerning our “call” to abide in His Presence?

THE LAST VITAL POINT: THE KINGLY REJOICING IN GOD”S ABILITY TO KEEP US AND HOLD US! Psalm 21:7 tells us: “For the king trusts in the Lord, and through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved [or show contempt toward God with his lips].”

Are you familiar with Psalm 37:25? It says, “I have been young and now I am old. And in all my years I have never seen the Lord forsake a man who loves Him; nor have I seen the children of the godly go hungry.”

Jude 1 identifies “Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James,” and then he closes out his epistle in verses 24-25 saying, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.”

And I cannot close Jude out without alerting you to the second part of Verse one when Jude wrote: “To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and “preserved” in Christ Jesus!” Praise God for His eternal preservation! Amen?

CHAPTER TWELVE

FOLLOWING CHRIST JESUS

The ultimate destiny of blessing of a man or a ministry depends upon his acceptance or rejection of the call of Christ Jesus, “FOLLOW ME.” Have you ever considered fully the significance of Christ Jesus to your life?

Jesus showed us the heart of Father-God. He unveiled the friendship of the Holy Spirit. He revealed a blessed life lived out under submission to Divine Sovereignty. He so amplified the Law and Life of Eternal Love revealed in the Glory of Servanthood. He solidly established Kingdom rule and authority. He displayed the reality of an everlasting hope…And He comes to you and me, saying, “Follow Me”!

“Follow Me”? That’s the Commander-In-Chief of the Heavenly Army who comes and calls to us: “ATTENTION!” It is the King of Spiritual Zion who has issued a royal decree: “Follow Me”! It is the Eternal Emperor with a call to share His Kingdom rule. It’s the Archbishop of our souls who wants to share His spiritual authority. The Author of Truth writes a ‘Living Epistle’ of our victory through Him. The Conqueror of death and hell reveals how through Him we overcome the same. The spiritual head of the Holy Council of Heaven wants us at the same table: “Follow Me.”

In 2 Peter 1:16 Peter said: “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty…” Yet how many do you know who’ve been trapped and snared by “cunningly devised fables”? They’re not “Followers of Christ” but followers of deception. How sad!

Then in Ezekial 13:3 God speaks, “Woe to the foolish prophets, who FOLLOW THEIR OWN SPIRIT, and have seen nothing.” Judges 2:12 speaks of the children of Israel who “Forsook the Lord God of their fathers…and FOLLOWED OTHER GODS.” You’ll find in 2 Kings 13:2 where Joash “did evil in the sight of the Lord and followed the sins of Jeroboam who had made Israel to sin.”

Reflect upon the cry of the Coming Messiah in Isaiah 55:7, “Let the wicked forsake ‘his way’, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God for He will abundantly pardon.” WHOSE WAY? FORSAKE MAN’S WAY! We read in Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” The wise man wrote in Proverbs 21:2, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.”

Jeremiah understood what you’ve just read; he wrote in Jeremiah 10:23, “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.” This is why in 1 Kings 18:21 Elijah cried out: “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, FOLLOW HIM; but if Baal, then follow him.” But the people answered him not a word. What’s your answer or your response to Holy God?

And here’s the King of Babylon! He always shows up! Ezekial 21:21-23, “For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the road, at the fork of the two roads, to use DIVINATION: he shakes the arrows, he consults the images, he looks at the liver…In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem…And it will be to them like a false divination in the eyes of those who have sworn oaths with them; but he will bring their iniquity to remembrance, that they may be taken.”

There is a ‘gate’ of divination – but also there is a “Gate of Grace”! There is a ‘gate’ of death – but also there is a “Gate of Eternal Life”! What are YOU about to enter? In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus said and says right now, “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.”

Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:21, “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that YOU SHOULD FOLLOW HIS STEPS…Verse 22, WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS GUILE FOUND IN HIS MOUTH, and then Verse 25, “For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls…” HAVE YOU? ARE YOU FOLLOWING CHRIST? Why “follow” Christ?

FOLLOW CHRIST BECAUSE WE KNOW HE IS THE ONLY WAY OF TRUE, BIBLICAL, LIFE-CHANGING SALVATION! Does John 14:6 bring our world to the valley of decision? Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. NO ONE comes to the Father except through Me.”

In Acts 4:12 we read of, yes, the boldness of Peter and John in front of the public, the priests, the “Sad-u-sees” – “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” In Exodus 12 you’ll learn of the Passover Lamb, ordained by Father-God, a “lamb without blemish and without spot.” That lamb was slain and the blood posted on the doorposts of their homes. And God said: “When I see the blood, I WILL PASS OVER…”!

New Testament relevance there? John 1:29 informs us all, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said: “Behold! THE LAMB OF GOD who takes away the sin of the world.” And you ask, “What is the Lamb of God all about?” In 1 Peter 2:24 Peter wrote: “who 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.” OH, and then in 1 Peter 3:18 Peter said: “For Christ [not Mohammed, not Buddha, not some ‘idol’ of a man’s creation!], also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might BRING US TO GOD, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.”

St. Thomas Aquinas wrote in his “Summa Theologica, II”, “If a man born among infidels and barbarians does what lies in his power God will reveal to him what is necessary for salvation, either by inward inspiration or by sending him a preacher of faith.” But one thing is for sure eternally: God’s Call has always been: “FOLLOW CHRIST JESUS.”

Do you remember Cornelius in Acts 10:2, “a devout man, and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always”? And you read, not only about Cornelius, but “all his household”! And when his household heard, they responded, and followed the Lord Jesus, were baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit! Even in Acts 8 we read of the Ethiopian eunuch who heard the Gospel, and responded having believed, “What hinders me from being baptized?” And he was!

Washington Gladden once wrote: “But what can mortal man do to secure his own salvation? Mortal man can do just what God bids him do. He can repent and believe. He can arise and follow Christ.” ARE YOU “FOLLOWING”?

WE FOLLOW CHRIST BECAUSE WE KNOW HIS VOICE! Come to John 10:2-5, 16, and 27! Verses 2-5 first: “But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out…

And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

Verse 16, “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.”

Verse 27, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” Jesus said in John 6:63, “…The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

In his book entitled “Mr. Jones, Meet the Master”, Peter Marshall said: “Give us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for, because unless we stand for something, we shall fall for anything.”

Follow the “visions” Jesus gave to His disciples: John 15:11, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” John 15:22, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.” John 16:1, These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.” John 16:4, “But these things I have spoken to you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.” John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me, you may have peace. In the would YOU WILL HAVE TRIBULATION; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Do you remember the two disciples on the Emmaeus Road? Luke 24:32, “And they said to one another, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?’”

It’s the voice of the stranger or the voice of the Savior! It’s the voice of the enemy or the voice of the Friend! It’s the voice of the powers of darkness or the voice of the Prince of Peace! It’s the voice of ‘the lie’ or the voice of the Truth! It’s the voice of the deceiver of the nations or the voice of the Lord of all nations! It’s the voice of the compromising church or the voice of the crucified, buried, and resurrected Christ! It’s the voice of crippled cultures or the voice of the conquering Christ! It’s the voice of the bondage-giver or the voice of the bondage-breaker! What did Samuel say? “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening!”

WE FOLLOW CHRIST BECAUSE OF THE BLESSINGS AND BENEFITS OF WHO HE IS, AND BECAUSE OF OUR FAITH IN HIM, WE SHARE HIS LIFE! John 10:10 says, “…I Am Come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” I like what Reinhard Bonnke said in his book, “Evangelism By Fire,” (P.252): “In Christ, the least distinguished people CARRY KINGDOM STATUS…”

In 1 Peter 2:9-10 Peter said, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people…Who once were not a people BUT ARE NOW THE PEOPLE OF GOD.” What did Paul say to the Corinthian Church? 1 Corinthians 1:30, “BUT OF HIM (by God’s doing through Christ at the Cross!!) YOU ARE IN CHRIST JESUS, who became for us WISDOM FROM GOD, (Grace gives us THE MIND OF CHRIST!) – and RIGHTEOUSNESS (exchange of our filthy rags of righteousness for His PERFECT Righteousness), and SANCTIFICATION (set apart, not unto ourselves, but SET APART for the Glory of the One who loved us and gave Himself for us) and REDEMPTION (bought by the Blood!!). Our blessings and benefits?

• BECAUSE THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD: I shall not want (Psalm 23:1) and “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE, and I will dwell in the House of the Lord Forever.”
• BECAUSE THE LORD IS MY SAVIOR: I am “In Christ” – Ephesians 1! Blessed with every spiritual blessings in the heavenly places. (Verse 3). Chosen in Him, (Verse 4). Predestined to Sonship. (Verse 5). Made accepted in the Beloved. (Verse 6). Obtained an inheritance. (Verse 11). Sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise. (Verse 13). Made alive together with Christ. (Verse 2:5). Raised up and made to sit together in Heavenly Places. (Verse 2:6). His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. (Verse 2:6). By His blood, brought near to God. (Verse 2;13). Having access by one Spirit TO THE FATHER. (Verse 2:18). “Fellow citizens with the saints and a member of the Household of God.” (Verse 2:15). “Built upon a sure foundation.” (Verse 2:20). “A habitation of God in the Spirit.” (Verse 2:22).
• BECAUSE JESUS IS OUR LORD and HE’S MY LORD: Hosea 6:3 says, He “lets us know…and brings us in to the knowledge of God.” John 17:3 says, “And this is ETERNAL LIFE, that they may know YOU, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
• BECAUSE I AM HIS: In John 8:12 Jesus said, “HE WHO FOLLOWS ME shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” God tells me in Isaiah 30:21, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.”
• BECAUSE JESUS IS THE WAY: Proverbs 10:29 says, “The way of the Lord is strength for the upright.”
• BECAUSE JESUS IS THE WAY: Proverbs 12:28 says, “In the way of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death. [John 11:25-26}.
• John 12:26, “If anyone serves Me (says Christ Jesus), let him FOLLOW ME; and where I am, there My servant WILL BE ALSO.”
• Luke 1:79, “…GUIDES OUR FEET INTO THE WAY OF PEACE…”

IN FOLLOWING CHRIST, FOLLOWING ON WITH HIM UNVEILS FOR US THAT FOR WHICH HE LAID HOLD OF US! Paul said in Philippians 3:12, “Not that I already attained, or am already perfected, but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.”

Do you remember what Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16:19? “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed already in heaven.” That’s “PARTNERS IN ETERNAL PURPOSES!”

God has a Noah to build an ark. God has an Abraham to bless the nations. God has a Joseph to feed the hungry. God has a Moses to take them out. God has a Joshua to bring them in. God has a David to slay the giant. God has an Elisha to fill the cruse with oil. God has an Isaiah to reveal and announce the Messiah. God has a John the Baptist to make straight the way of the Lord. God has a Paul “to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Christ.” And Paul says: “I WAS NOT DISOBEDIENT TO THE HEAVENLY VISION!”

Christ Jesus is that Author and Finisher of our Faith! Almighty God Plans our Paths and our Purposes! “…the steps of a righteous made are made or ordered by the Lord…” OUR SAVIOR paints the portrait of the eternal blueprint of our lives!

2 Timothy 1:9-10a says, “[GOD]…has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began…BUT HAS NOW BEEN REVEALED BY THE APPEARING OF OUR SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST…”

REVEALED? Disciples – not simply church members. Witnesses – Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth! Ministers of reconciliation! Servants of the Most High God! Ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ! In Ephesians 1:11 we read, “…predestined according to the purpose of HIM who works all things according to the counsel of His Will…”

Leigh Mitchell Hodges, in his “Processional,” [1933], wrote: “Lord of the light, unfading from day to reborn day; God of the world brocading this planet’s nightly way; Master of Hope, and builder of life’s immortal span, Now, when the days bewilder, Thunder again to man!”

WE FOLLOW CHRIST JESUS BECAUSE FOLLOWING OUR SAVIOR OPENS THE DOOR TO DIVINE, SOVEREIGN LEADERSHIP! In Genesis 24:27 Abraham had sent his servant to find a bride for Isaac: “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. AS FOR ME, being on the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brothers.”

It was “ON THE WAY” when Paul was “Forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the Word in Asia.” [Acts 16:6]. He went to Mysia and tried to go into Bithynia, “But the Spirit did not permit them.” (Verse 7).

Do you remember Israel’s journey in Exodus 13:21? “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.”

And in 2 Corinthians 2:14 we read, “But thanks be to God WHO ALWAYS LEADS US IN TRIUMPH IN CHRIST…!” God leads us, God always leads us, and God always leads us in triumph in Christ! Why would ANYONE ever want ‘My Way’ when they can walk God’s way?

WE FOLLOW CHRIST JESUS BECAUSE OF THE PRECIOUS PRIVILEGE OF INHERITING THE PROMISES! Hebrews 6:12 speaks of those who “do not become SLUGGISH [or LAZY], but imitate those who through faith and patience [or endurance] inherit the promises.”

In 2 Corinthians 1:20 Paul said, “For all the promises of God [IN CHRIST] are YES, and [IN CHRIST] AMEN, to the glory of God through us.” But do you really believe we’re going to have promises fulfilled if we’re not “In the Way”? Do you really believe we’re going to have promises fulfilled if we walk the road of rebellion? It’s those who imitate faith and endurance who are inheriting the promises of God’s Word!

WE FOLLOW CHRIST JESUS BECAUSE WE BECOME PARTICIPANTS IN GOD’S PLAN OF REDEMPTION! Didn’t Jesus say to us in Matthew 4:19, “FOLLOW ME, and I will make you fishers of men.” In Luke 4:18-19 Jesus also said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed…To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” WE’VE HEARD THE LORD JESUS JUST NOW !! AND WE’RE NOT ON A TRIVIAL ERRAND BUT A HOLY MISSION!

Reinhard Bonnke in his book, “Evangelism By Fire,” [p.200], wrote: “Christians are not the hunted, but the hunters; not the attacked, but the attackers. We are God’s ‘STORM TROOPERS’, sent to release the hostages of hell. We are invading forces of the Lord!” Then, on page 208 of the same book, Bonnke said, “Salvation is not just an evangelist’s pet subject, it is the Lord’s principle work.”

I pray that you haven’t overlooked or skipped John 15:16 where Jesus said to ALL DISCIPLES, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain…” THAT’S NOT ONLY THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT BUT THE FRUIT OF SOULS! In Acts 8:35 we read, “Then Phillip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.”

WE ALSO ARE TO FOLLOW CHRIST JESUS INDEPENDENTLY OF OTHERS! In John 21 Jesus had just signified by what death Peter would glorify God. Peter saw the disciple Jesus loved following, the one who had leaned on Jesus’ breast at the surgery – and then Peter asked who it was who would betray Jesus, and in Verse 21, Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, ‘But, Lord, what about this man?’” In Verse 22 Jesus responded, “If I will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? FOLLOW ME!”

Does your allegiance to Christ Jesus depend upon others or, if necessary, will YOU walk alone with Him? A thousand may fall away at your side or even ten thousand at your right hand. But, if necessary, will YOU walk alone? Elijah had had great victory at Mt. Carmel but faded with the phony threats of a Jezebel. So he hid in a cave. God came: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He responded, “I alone am left; and they seek to take my life!” And God said to him, “I have 7000 in Israel, Elijah, who’ve not bowed the knee to Baal. You’re not alone.” FOLLOW CHRIST JESUS! “If none will join me, still I will follow!”

FOLLOW CHRIST PASSIONATELY BECAUSE WE KNOW THE END RESULT! In Numbers 14:24 we read, “But My servant, Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him, and has followed Me fully, I WILL BRING INTO THE LAND WHERE HE WENT, AND HIS DESCENDANTS SHALL INHERIT IT.” But follow Numbers 32:11-12 and see the ‘other side of the coin’! “Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from 20 years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not followed Me fully… except Caleb and Joshua…for THEY HAVE FOLLOWED ME FULLY.”

In Luke 5:11 we read about those who, “So when they had brought their boats to land, THEY FORSOOK ALL AND FOLLOWED JESUS.” And I thank God for the example of David who said in Psalm 63:8, “My soul follows hard after You…Your right hand upholds me!”

FOLLOW HARD AFTER CHRIST JESUS BECAUSE WE KNOW WE’RE NOT EXEMPT FROM WHIRLWINDS, STORMS, AND DARK CLOUDS IN LIFE’S JOURNEYS! Nahum 1:3b says, “…The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.”

And follow carefully: Fiery furnaces are nothing more than ‘flashpoints’ of divine opportunity! Storms are occasions for Christ Jesus to arise and speak to you: “Peace be still!” Darkness may be “on the face of [YOUR] deep” – but the Spirit of God is hovering over the face of your dark waters! Psalm 18:9 says, “darkness [IS] under His feet.”

In Psalm 91:1 we read, “He who dwells in the secret places of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty…” Verse 2, “I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him, I trust.” Oh, and then we read in Luke 1:79, Jesus comes “to give LIGHT to those who sit in darkness.”

WE FOLLOW CHRIST JESUS IN A LIFE-CHANGING WALK OF OBEDIENCE BECAUSE WE KNOW HE IS LORD! Romans 14:9 says, “For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.” And as our Lord and Savior we receive His valuable confrontation! John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

Michael de Montaigne wrote: “The first law that ever God gave to man was a law of obedience; it was a commandment pure and simple, wherein man had nothing to inquire after or to dispute, for as much as to obey is the proper off ice of a rational soul acknowledging a heavenly superior and benefactor. From obedience and submission spring all other virtues, as all sin does from self-opinion and self-will.”FOLLOW CHRIST JESUS BECAUSE IT IS THE OVERCOMING, ALL-CONQUERING WAY! 2 Corinthians 2:14 says, “Now thanks be to God who always leads un IN TRIUMPH IN CHRIST…” Then, in 2 Samuel 23:10, it speaks of Eleazer, “He arose and attacked the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand stuck to the sword. THE LORD BROUGHT ABOUT A GREAT VICTORY THAT DAY…” Then Verse 12 speaks of Shammah, “…he stationed himself in the middle of the field, defended it, and killed the Philistines, AND THE LORD BROUGHT ABOUT A GREAT VICTORY!” [Psalm 98:1, says, “…[God’s] right hand and His holy arm have gained Him THE VICTORY!”

The overcoming, all-conquering way? Romans 8:2 informs us all, “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Oh, and then the Holy Word schools us: Revelation 12:11, “And they overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb…” 1 John 5:4 challenges us, “And THIS is the VICTORY that overcomes the world…even our faith in Christ alone!”

The Lamb of God had opened one of the seals and one of the four living creatures told John: (Revelation 6:2), “Come and see,” “and I looked and behold a white horse. AND HE WHO SAT ON IT HAD A BOW; AND A CROWN WAS GIVEN TO HIM, AND HE WENT OUT CONQUERING AND TO CONQUER.” What does Romans 8:37 say? “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us!”

“IN CHRIST JESUS” you haven’t been clothed with rags of defeat – you were clothed with the robes of His eternal conquest! You’re not adorned with an attitude of loss – you’re adorned with an attitude of always triumphant! You’re not a loser – you’re a winner, you’re not the conquered – you’re the conquering, you’re not the constantly oppressed – you’re the constantly conquering; your mind and heart, washed in the blood of the Lamb, is not for darkness and depression – you are one with Him in Light and Everlasting joy, equipped with the armor of God that overcomes the ‘foreign foe’ called Satan!

“O Victory in Jesus, my Savior forever, He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood; He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him, He plunged me to Victory beneath the cleansing flood!”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHRIST JESUS – THE ONE AND ONLY SAVIOR AND LORD

I want to introduce this chapter with three different Scriptures: First, Matthew 17:1-8, says to us: Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.” When they lifted up their eyes, they SAW NO ONE “BUT JESUS ONLY.”

Acts 4:12 is the Second Verse I want to highlight: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” The only name for man’s salvation? “JESUS ONLY!”

Third Verse of eternal significance: John 3:16, “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.”

“JESUS ONLY!” What powerful words! I don’t believe I’ve ever been more moved or touched so deeply than by those two words that jumped off the Word into my heart: “Jesus Only!”

What a powerful revelation! It’s what God had been saying all along through human history but also even before the foundation of the world! Colossians 1:15-20 says to us all: “He [Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him…

And He is before all things, and in Him all things consists. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence…

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”

“JESUS ONLY!” What a powerful symphony of praise and adoration, what a powerful testimony of true faith, and what an awesome unveiling of true allegiance and personal dedication: “Jesus Only!” Romans 1:16 says: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” And Paul said later when he thought about his mission journeys: Romans 15:29, “But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.”

But at the same time, I want to alert you, that the Transfiguration experience CAN BE DANGEROUS and cause us to detour from God’s main intention – 1) It’s not the symphony of Transfiguration that brings melody to your heart, but knowing the Composer and Conductor – “JESUS ONLY!”

• It’s not the bright lights of life after a death experience, but Fellowship with the Light of Life – “JESUS ONLY!”
• It’s not the blessed privilege of witnessing the presence of Godly men gone on, but the blessed privilege of union and communion with the Author of Saving Faith – “Jesus Only”!
• It’s not the number of multitudinous mountain-top experiences that heightens our spiritual growth, but the moments of having Truth sealed in our hearts – “Jesus Only!”
• It’s not even the willingness to build tabernacles unto His honor (even ‘good works’?), but the grace of forever living in the presence of “Jesus Only”!!

There are a few truths I really want to nail down for you concerning this awesome Truth: “Jesus Only”! FIRST, I WANT TO ALERT YOU TO THE POSSIBILITIES THAT ARE ALWAYS PRESENT WITH US IN THE MIDST OF TRANSFIGURATION EXPERIENCES: And the Word foundation? Matthew 18:20 tells us, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of her.”

Matthew 28:20 says: “As you’re going, be assured, I am always with you, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” What do you sense out of those two verses? I see: God in the midst of those who gather – God Present with those who “Go” out in His Name!

But you’re aware that many “profess” faith but sense nothing in their walks! There can be the “moving” of the Very Spirit of Almighty God – and nothing is felt, alerted to, or aware of! That’s Paul saying in 2 Timothy 3:5, “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof…”

There can be a miraculous out-pouring of Sovereign Providence, and nothing is received, Zip, Zero! In Matthew 13:54 we read, “And when He was come into His own country…” [Nazareth] – Verse 57, “they were offended in Jesus.” Verse 58, “And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”

There can be the majestic nature of the ever-present Christ, but some are deluded by their devotion to the law and fleshly prophecies! “LAW” can be “symbols of sacrifice” without knowing the Sacrifice or the Adventist! Fleshly prophecies? Avenues of Advent but know nothing about the knowledge of Truth! “Ever learning,” but empty of Holy Presence! Learning, longing, but never “leaning on Jesus Only”!

There can be the ministry of Revelation magnified and yet personally refused! Look at John 8:32-37! Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”…

Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.”

Pharoah heard God’s Word through His servant Moses, and they saw God’s wonders, yet they refused to bow to God’s will. Do you think that still occurs today?

THE SECOND TRUTH I WANT YOU TO SEE IN THIS CHAPTER IS THE PRESENTATION OF GOD’S ANSWER TO MAN’S NEED! “JESUS ONLY”!!

• Jesus Only in calming the fears of man: Matthew 17:6 says, And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.” Have you ever been sore afraid? It may be because of the anxious present of out of control circumstances – and you’re falling apart and afraid. It could be because of a haunting past of hidden sin – and guilt “hurts” and builds “fear”. It could be because of what one senses of a fearful future, and they don’t know the One who holds their future in the palm of His hand; they’re afraid of a “future shock”! Familiar failure may come around again – economic collapse, personal depression, the certainty of death, even a ‘dark-aloneness’.

To his mouse-friend Robbie Burns wrote: “And forward, though I cannot see, I guess and fear.” But to His men Jesus proclaimed: “Take heart, it is I: have no fear.” “And Jesus came and touched them, and said, ‘Arise, and do not be afraid.’ And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no fear, but Jesus Only.”

• Jesus Only in covering the sin of man and granting forgiveness. Acts 13:38 says, “Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man, Jesus, is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. A nationally known psychiatrist pronounced: “95% of the insanity of this country can be put down to the fact that at some crucial stage in the journey of life, the victims have refused the forgiveness of sin!”

Ephesians 1:7 declares: “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” That’s through Jesus Only! What’s involved in receiving forgiveness?

CONFRONTATION! “Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.”

CONFESSION! And that entails an awareness of one’s sin, sorrow for it, and a willful turning to Christ Jesus and repentance before Holy God!

CLEANSING! “Jesus breaks the power of canceled sin, He sets the prisoner free, His blood can make the foulest clean, His blood availed for me.”

• Jesus Only in creatively energizing man in the fields of service God calls us all to be involved in. Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

And, yes, we thank God for His indwelling and anointing Holy Spirit, but the Holy Word also declares in 1 Thessalonians 5:24, “Faithful is He that calls you, who also will do it.” It’s Jesus Only in the fullness of power and glory that empowers you to be a witness in this lost and dying world.

It’s Jesus Only in the fullness of His Indwelling Presence that molds you into a Godly man, a Godly husband, a Godly wife and mother. It’s Jesus Only in the faithfulness of His promise that finishes our faith journey and purpose in the daily walk. It’s Jesus Only in the fullness and force and finality of His blessing that “presents to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” So willfully let Him finish His intent in you and through you!

• Jesus Only in the only calling that fulfills a man and gives him eternal peaceI In 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 we read, “For the love of Christ constrains us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead…And that He died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them and rose again.” And He gloriously was raised by God from the dead that God might “reveal His Son in us!”

Dr. John Wesley White, former associate of Billy Graham, has a message entitled: “This One Thing I Do.” And it says so much about “the only calling that fulfills a man and gives him peace.” Dr. White said:

“This One Thing I Do – Vocationally!” He quoted John Osborne, English playwright from the play, “The Entertainer”: “Everybody’s tired, everybody’s standing about, loitering without any intent whatsoever, wanting to be picked up by whatever they may allow to happen to us next.”

What’s your “business”? I always appreciated so much the former All-Pro receiver for the Baltimore Colts. I heard Raymond share: “I make my living by playing Pro football, but my business in life is to serve the King of kings.” There’s an old Hymn that says: “I am a stranger here within a foreign land, My home is far away beyond the golden strand; Ambassadors to be of realms beyond the sea, I’m here on business for my King.” Dr. White also said:

“This One Thing I Do – Devotionally!” In Colossians 3:2 Paul challenges us all, “Set your affection on things above…where Christ sits on the right hand of God.” It’s an old song I grew up on that says: “There’s within my heart a melody – Jesus whispers sweet and low, ‘Fear not I am with you – Peace be still,’ in all of life’s ebb and flow. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus – Sweetest Name I know, Fills my every longing, Keeps me singing as I go.”

“This One Thing I Do – Mentally!” Philippians 2:5 is so very clear: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” And we know why: “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.” You “cannot serve two masters.” George Elliott once wrote: “What makes life dreary is absence of motive. What makes life complicated is multiplicity of motives; what makes life victorious is singleness of motive.” And if your life is absent of motive concerning Christ Jesus, then mentally self-motive is an empty chamber!

“This One Thing I Do – Morally!” It was George Bernard Shaw who once stated: “The trouble with Jesus Christ was that He had disciples.” But then I read Paul in Ephesians 4:17-24!…”This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,…

Having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness…

But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus; that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts,…

And be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”

“This One Thing I Do – Materially!” Do you remember Jesus’ powerful Word? “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?” In 2 Corinthians 8:1-5, 7-9, Paul so encourages us, yes, about our Lord’s example of “grace giving”.

“Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality…

For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints….

And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God…

Verses 7-9, But as you abound in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us – see that you abound in this grace also. I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others…

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”

“This One Thing I Do – Ultimately! Philippians 3:20 says to us, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Missionary Jim Elliot, martyred by the Auca Indians, preached, wrote, lived, and reasoned soundly: “It is a beautiful thing to see a man give up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

In closing this chapter, many look up to H.G. Wells as one of the world’s great historians. When he was eleven years of age, he was already an angry young man. At that age, he shook his fist defiantly toward God exclaiming: “I hate God – if there is one. I hate Jesus Christ. I hate his church. I dedicate my life to the extermination of all these ideas.”

It is documented that on the occasion of his 71^st birthday Wells invited as his guests many of the outstanding historians of the West to come together and help him celebrate.

On that occasion and by his own admission stated: “I am an old man. I suspect in retrospect that the trouble with the likes of me, is that the ancient Nazarene, Jesus Christ, was too big for my small heart.”

If only he’d known, seen, received “Jesus Only”! He’d be singing right now, “What A Friend We Have In Jesus.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHRISTIAN DETERMINATIONS

I want you to come to the book of Judges, Chapter 2, where in Verse 8 we find that Joshua has died. Joshua was Moses’ replacement, chosen of God to lead Israel into the Land of Promise! And Israel became unfaithful. Follow the Word:

Judges 2:11-12, Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers…and followed other gods….provoking the Lord to anger… Verses 21-22, “I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the Lord, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not.”

Judges 3:7, 12-14, So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs. Verses 12-14, And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. Then he gathered to himself the people of Ammon and Amalek, went and defeated Israel, and took possession of the City of Palms. So the children of Israel served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.

Judges 4:1-4 says: When Ehud was dead, the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera…

And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, for Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and for twenty years he had harshly oppressed the children of Israel. Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time.

Deborah called Barak to go against the Canaanites with 10,000 men because God was going to deliver them into Israel’s hands. The victory was won, and in Judges 5, Deborah sang a song of praise like Moses. But sadly we learn that four and a half tribes didn’t show up for the battle! Look specifically at Verses 15b-16! “Among the divisions of Reuben there were great resolves of heart…Why did you sit among the sheepfolds to hear the pipings for the flock? The divisions of Reuben have great searchings of heart.” Oh, yes, great searchings of heart, thoughtful considerations of the mind, but empty of will and purpose and determination to fulfill the call of God through their lives. They went to the ‘sidelines,’ content to let someone else fight God’s battles!

Listen to Gary Inrig, in “Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay,” [Moody Bible Institute, 1979, Chicago, p.79], “You can almost see the people meeting together, holding debates, passing resolutions, drilling the army. BUT IT NEVER WENT ANY FURTHER THAN THAT. They were emotionally stirred, their hearts were moved, but their feet never went. They stayed at home, listening to the shepherds piping their sheep, but they never heard the blast of the war trumpets. They were moved by SENTIMENT, but not to sacrifice.”

But follow Deborah in verse 9, “My heart is with the rulers of Israel, Who offered themselves willingly with the people. BLESS THE LORD!!” Notice, with Reuben, “great resolves of the heart,” but no action! And what is sentiment without sacrifice and action? What is a DECISION without GODLY DETERMINATION to see your resolve fulfilled? CHRISTIAN DETERMINATIONS!

In Psalm 119:59 we see the picture of both resolve and determination. It says, “I thought about my ways, and TURNED MY FEET TO God’s testimonies.” Oh, and then, in Acts 11:21-23 we read: And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord.” Determined! Purpose of heart!

In Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, the word ‘determined’ is defined as “ended, concluded, decided…fixed, settled, resolved… having a firm or fixed purpose, as a determined man… or manifesting a firm resolution.” And I thought, ‘how easy for the Reubens of God’s Kingdom to MANUFACTURE a resolution, and miss manifesting fulfillment of that firm resolution!

Henry Ward Beecher wrote: “There is not a heart but has its moments of longing, yearning for something better, nobler, holier than it knows now.” And yet for most men those moments are “fleeting” moments and they settle into the dull routine of simply trying to survive!

BUT NOT THE TRUE DISCIPLE OF JESUS! Shakespeare, in “Anthony and Cleopatra”, [Act V, sc 2, l.282], wrote: “I HAVE IMMORTAL LONGINGS IN ME.” Robert Southey updated Shakespeare, writing: “It is not for man to rest in absolute contentment – he is born to hopes and aspirations as the sparks fly upward, unless he has brutified his nature and quenched the spirit of immortality which is his portion.”

In “The Spanish Gypsy,” George Eliot wrote: “Strong souls live like fire-hearted suns; to spend their strength is FURTHEST STRIVING ACTION.” In following Christ Jesus, are you a “fire-hearted” son of God? Are you spent out in Christ-like determination to fulfill God’s will through your walk?

Luke 9:51 says, “Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that JESUS steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.” HE DETERMINED STEADFASTLY, RESOLUTELY TO GO TO JERUSALEM TO DIE ON THE CROSS!! In Luke 9:23 Jesus had said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” CHRISTIAN DETERMINATIONS?

DETERMINED THAT CHRIST JESUS ALONE IS MY LIFE! In Philippians 3:7-14 we read about what is the surpassing value of knowing Christ! “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ…

And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,…

If, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Did Paul say “I press…”? That’s pursuing, following hard after, given over to! “What things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.” – “I count all things loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for WHOM I HAVE SUFFERED THE LOSS OF ALL THINGS, and COUNT THEM AS RUBBISH, that I may gain Christ” – “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” In Philippians 1:21 Paul said, “For to me to LIVE IS CHRIST.”

What’s the determination about your life? I don’t know of a day, like now, wherein Paul’s words to Timothy were so prophetic! Follow 2 Timothy 3:1-7, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come; For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,…

Unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!…

For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Tozer in his book, The Set of the Sail,” [Christian Publications, Camp Hill, Pa., 1986, p.109], speaks of “intellectual magpies with a tic” – lovers of “wisdom” rather than lovers of God! What’s the determination about your life? Earthly fame or maybe fleshly reputation? In John 5:44 we read, “How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?” Yes, what’s the determination of your life?

Tozer also said, “Seekers after nothing” – “the human vegetables who live by their glands and instincts.”

To the church at Corinth, Paul said, [1 Corinthians 1:29-31], “…that no flesh should glory in His presence…But of Him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us WISDOM FROM GOD – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…that, as it is written, ‘HE WHO GLORIES, LET HIM GLORY IN THE LORD.” There MUST BE that determination in your life – “CHRIST JESUS IS MY LIFE!”

Philippians 3:9-10 tells us, “…and be found in Him (Christ Jesus), not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death…” And Because He Is My Life, The SECOND DETERMINATION?

DETERMINED WILLFULLY TO WALK WITH THOSE WHO WITH GOD AND WITH THE RESURRECTED CHRIST! In 2 Timothy 2:22 we read: “Flee also youthful lusts; but PURSUE (Press in, following hard after, given over to, fully surrendered to Jesus’ Lordship!) PURSUE righteousness, faith, love, peace WITH THOSE WHO CALL ON THE LORD OUT OF A PURE HEART.” Pure hearts? That’s those washed clean by the Blood of the Lamb. That’s those immersed in that precious fountain of the finished work At Calvary as Jesus willingly shed His blood. That’s those purchased by the Laid-Down Life of Jesus at the Cross!

Pure hearts? The Holy Family of God. The Body of Christ with each of us members in particular. That’s the “general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in Heaven…!” Please camp around Acts 2:40-47 for a while! “And with many other words he (Peter) testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them…

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,…

And sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

Oh, I tell you with all my heart, we ought to have, hold onto, and hallow devotion to the church Jesus loved and gave Himself for – Christ Jesus, through His crucifixion and resurrection, became the “first-born” of a new Family under the Fatherhood of Holy God! It’s called “the church”!

ALSO, DETERMINED, AS A CHOSEN COURSE OF LIFE, ETERNITY OVER TIME AND HEAVEN OVER EARTH! Colossians 3:1-3 enlightens us, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

How many do you know who are totally submerged in the “here and now” and seldom, if ever, consider “God’s Eternal Tomorrow”? It’s so easy to be distracted because we are living in a real world, and much of it, if not most of it, has no interest in eternal things and finds Heaven on earth an illusion. So…the world distracts you with the curious, distracts you with the scattering of your thoughts rather than focused on “God’s things,” always disquieting the heart and mind in invisible wars most know nothing about, absorbing your interests in things temporal and not eternal, focusing us on the world around us and not the Kingdom of God!

Are you really aware of what’s going on in the true spiritual realm or the demonic? There’s “the whirl of the world” or “the winsomeness of the Kingdom of God – righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost!” There’s “the whirl of the world” or, yes, the tiredness, the frustrations, the disappointments, the un-fulfillment, what one calls “the familiar world of sinful human society which swells about and beneath us as the waters of the Flood once surged and churned around the ark of Noah.”

A swirling world is a world of massive UNBELIEF! It is a world of rebellious IMPENITENCE! It is a world of godless philosophies and morally deficient educations! It is a world of searches outside of us and below us – not eternal, divine intent of God for His Life within us, yet so beyond and above the majority of “fleshly – ruled” lives! That’s FLESH! SMELLY FLESH! DECADENT, FAITHLESS SURVIVAL MODE WITHOUT GOD’S BLESSING!

That’s the pumping up of “self-worship” that has no rich reservoir of reward, the cheapening of the life God so wanted to bless, the starving of the soul, hoping without the Hope, following the majority rule rather than the Master’s revelations, indulging the pleasures of the flesh rather than enriched in the eternal purposes of God.

How many do you know who do know that God has promised a “forever Life” but they’ve settled for the fleshly, failing, fleeting seconds of earthly time? How many do you know who have settled for an inglorious present when God has painted clearly for us a glorious future? We sadly don’t understand “the times,” and don’t fully comprehend the eternal purposes of God!

In Jeremiah 8:7 the Lord said to Jeremiah, “Even the stark in the heavens knows her appointed times; and the turtledove, the swift, and the swallow observe the time of their coming. BUT MY PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW THE JUDGMENT OF THE LORD!”

Where or what are YOUR “LIFE” issues, interests, or purposes? What guides or directs your time here or there? Now or then? Earth or Heaven? My interests or “those things which are above”? exposed by the ISSUE OF SELF or hidden with Christ in God?

It’s not only “covet earnestly the best gifts” but cover earnestly your life with a passion to honor Christ now and to live with Him forever!! Philippians 3:13-14 says, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

DETERMINED EXPANSIVELY THAT OUR LIFE’S PURSUIT IS GOOD, GODLY, AND NOT EVIL ALL THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES! Receive Galatians 1:10, “For do I now persuade men or God? Or do I speak to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ!” What did we read in Judges? Joshua died. He was a “type” of Jesus, but it’s not that Jesus is now dead but He can be DEAD TO ME AS FAR AS I’M CONCERNED, and I’ll do as I please!!

Examine carefully Judges 2:11, “Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals…” Judges 3:7, “So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God…” Judges 3:12, “And the children of Israel AGAIN did evil in the sight of the Lord…”

In Judges 4 Israel was under the control of the Canaanites, sold by God into bondage because they did evil, but Judges 4:3 then tells us, “And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord…” Then came Deborah’s song in Judges 5 – and examine Verse 31! “Thus let all Your enemies perish, O Lord! But let those who love Him (God) BE LIKE THE SUN WHEN IT COMES OUT IN FULL STRENGTH.”

I want good and not evil to be the testimony of my life. I’m determined that my witness not be a flashing, burned-out meteor but a Blazing Sun! The “whosoever” for me becomes the “Will-Forever” choosing of God and His goodness and His graciousness! Yes, I am determined not only to be different from the crowd around me but distinctly marked out as a man of God! I don’t revel in evil – I’m repulsed by it. I don’t gravitate to the pig-pen any longer – I run from it into my Father’s arms.

“Choose you this day WHOM [and What] you’ll serve, but as for me and my house, we’ll serve the Lord God Almighty!!” How many Esaus do you know whose major, fatal flaw is moral complacency – they don’t or won’t hear the call of God for goodness because they are so content with evil?

DETERMINED SO TO LIVE THAT WE CHOOSE TO DIE EVERY DAY IN EVERY WAY! In 1 Corinthians 15:31 Paul said, “I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I DIE DAILY.” Do you understand ‘willful choice’ and ‘selfless determination? Listen, receive, abandon self fully to the liberating Word of God – Romans 6:6, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we SHOULD NOT SERVE SIN.”

To the church at Galatia, (Galatians 5:24), Paul wrote: “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” For true disciples, it’s not the affections and lusts of the flesh but the Fruit of the Spirit! In 1 Peter 2:24 Peter said, “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, SHOULD LIVE UNTO RIGHTEOUSNESS, by Whose stripes you were healed.” It gets stronger! Choosing to die daily, determined not to be ruled by our old sin natures but ruled by Christ!!

2 Corinthians 4:11 says, “For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal life.” Then, in 2 Corinthians 5:15 the Apostle Paul wrote: “and Jesus died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but [LIVE] FOR HIM who died for them and rose again.”

Live for yourself and you’re an indoctrinated son of Adam; die to yourself and you’re an inspirational son of God! Live for yourself and you portray fallen humanity – superficial, unreal, unfulfilling, insincere; die to yourself and God paints a Master-Piece Portrait of the redeemed, transformed, real, fulfilling, serious and sincere about what really matters!

Receive Tozer’s words in “The Set of the Sail,” [pps 36-37], “The first step for any Christian who is seeking spiritual power is to accept his unique position as a son of heaven temporarily detained on earth, and begin to live as becomes a saint. The sharp line of demarcation between him and the world will appear at once – and the world will never quite forgive him. And the sons of earth will make him pay well for separation, but it is a price he will gladly pay for the privilege of walking in fruitfulness and power.” Live for yourself? That’s living powerless! Die to yourself daily for the glory of Christ? That’s both power and fruitfulness! 2 Corinthians 1:9 says, “Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.”

DETERMINED TO LIVE ALSO SO AS TO LIVE IN SUCH A WAY THAT OUR “LIVING EPISTLE” IS READ BY ALL MEN TO THE EXTENT OUR LIVES ARE BECOMING A SWEET-AROMA UNTO GOD! Come to 2 Corinthians 2:14-3:6, and you begin to know and understand of that which God’s Holy Word speaks!

2 Corinthians 2:14-17, “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, AND THROUGH US diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing…

To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ…

2 Corinthians 3:1-6, Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men;…

Clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. And we have such trust through Christ toward God…

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

Do you know of which God speaks? Is there understanding springing up in your mind and heart? “The Fragrance of Christ” OR the smelly aroma of sinful flesh? A “cold-water-douser” OR a Fire-Builder in the souls of men? A diffuser of the fragrance of the foul-smell of sinfulness OR a diffuser of the fragrance of God’s knowledge in every place? A peddler of God’s Word out of insincerity OR a proclaimer of God’s Word out of the overflow of a blessed life? An insufficient minister of a covenant message out of the letter OR a supplying witness of the Redeemer’s Life in and through the witness of the Holy Spirit?

“I belong to Jesus,” “I’m a disciple of Jesus,” yet the witness is out of a dead faith, no wind, no fire – and one wonders if God is saying, “Be quiet – you’re doing more harm than good,” OR “He’s My Son In Whom I am well-pleased. It is fresh faith, the strong wind of the Spirit, and he/she is full of fire!”

Jim Cymbala wrote in “Fresh Faith,” (p.45), “The greatest Christian is not the one who has ACHIEVED the most but rather the one who has RECEIVED the most!” Sweet Aroma? “All He is, I AM!” It’s not us in the best effort of flesh – it’s Christ in us, through us! Oh, that YOU might hear someone say, “I’m so thankful to God for the life in Christ you have lived before me. You pointed me to Him!” And God shouts and the angels sing!

DETERMINED SO TO LIVE THAT OUR SOLD-OUT LIVES TO CHRIST AND HIS TRUTH WILL ALWAYS UNIQUELY CAUSE US TO BE KNOWN AS “TROUBLERS IN ISRAEL”! There are several Verses I want you to read in Acts 4. Verses 1-2, 18-20, and 23-31. Acts 4:1-2, Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

Acts 4:18-20, So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”

Acts 4:23-31, And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had to say to them. So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them,…

Who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: ‘Why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.’…

For truly against Your Holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,…

By stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”

You are either a son of compromise OR a son of sacrifice even of your very life for the Truth! You are either a prophet of Baal and Ashtoreth OR you shout the Truth as vocal as you can be. You are either silent about Truth and you let it perish in the streets OR you shout the Truth as vocal as you can be!

When Christ Jesus was here it was continuous deadly conflict over Truth, against the lies of the devil, and war over who reigns – Satan or God, flesh or the Spirit. All through history, God’s man, God’s woman, chose to be men and women of controversy. One author said: “They fought the devil to the death and kept the torch of truth burning for all succeeding generations.” [Tozer, p116].

DETERMINED SO TO LIVE AS TO DARE TO BE SO DIFFERENT AS TO BE RECOGNIZED AS ONE WHO HAS BEEN WITH JESUS! Acts 4:13 says, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.”

Follow 2 Corinthians 10:12-18! For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise…

We, however, will not boast beyond measure, but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us – a sphere which especially includes you. For we are not overextending ourselves (as though our authority did not extend to you), for it was to you that we came with the gospel of Christ;…

Not boasting of things beyond measure, that is, in other men’s labors, but having hope, that as your faith is increased, we shall be greatly enlarged by you in our sphere, to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s sphere of accomplishment….

But “he who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends.”

Our walks ‘in Christ’ are not to be “standardized” to fit in with the rest of the world, but “saved” and “set apart” lives to the honor of Christ alone! It’s not life conformed to the image of our own society, but life transformed into the likeness of Christ which makes you to be different. Nowhere does the Bible teach ‘uniformity’ among men, but only ‘unity’ among believers! Even in the Body of Christ we know there are “different members”. Nowhere in God’s brilliantly created galaxies of stars and planets do you find one just like the other! But we all are called to be “Christ-like”! Is that YOUR determination?

What is the testimony of your “faith-walk”? Dead, dull, cold and colorless orthodoxy? Limiting liberalism that suffocates and drowns one in a sea of unbelief? Or is it, “Christ in me, the hope of glory”? Be for certain, Paul was right: “I am crucified with Christ!” And His Life is extended!

DETERMINED SO TO LIVE THAT THE TERSTIMONY OF MY LIFE IS NOT FLESH BUT SPIRIT – THE SPIRIT OF GOD – HOLY GHOST MANIFESTATION AND EMPOWERMENT! In Zechariah 4:6 we read, “This is the word of the Lord for Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

If you knew the will of the Lord for your life, would you want to walk in it? In Ephesians 5:17-18 Paul instructed early believers, “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is…And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.” Is that clear to you? “Filled with, empowered by, guided and instructed by, truth illumined by, gifts given, understanding illumined in the Word by the Holy Spirit – but you’re too smart to need the Holy Spirit?

You’ll remember in Acts 19 Paul asked new Ephesian believers, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And sadly they knew nothing about receiving the Holy Spirit and giving Him His rightful place in their spiritual journeys. The same thing occurs today – and the Holy Spirit is ignored.

DETERMINED THAT WHATEVER I DO IT’S TO BE FOR THE GLORY OF GOD! Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” What an awesome determination! Do you realize how life-changing this determination is?

In Ephesians 3:20-21 Paul says to us: “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKS IN US…TO HIM BE GLORY IN THE CHURCH BY CHRIST JESUS TO ALL GENERATIONS, FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN?” OR “SO BE IT!”

In word or in deed, whatever I do, I am to choose to honor Christ Jesus! I so want my life to be a testimony to Him of the Glory of God and the Fruit of the Spirit! My education to the glory of God! My life-calling and career to the glory of God. How I relate to my family and friends to the glory of God! Resolving disagreements to the glory of God!

How I spend my money to the glory of God! Choosing my marriage mate to the glory of God! Relating to the opposite sex in my date-life to the glory of God! How I spend my time to the glory of God! The words out of my mouth to the glory of God! Relating to my church to the glory of God! What I watch, what I read, to the glory of God! Facing any temptation to the glory of God! Fighting the fight of faith to the glory of God! Resisting Satan to the glory of God! Serving others to the glory of God! God’s Kingdom first to the glory of God!

Not to be ministered unto but to minister to the glory of God! Passionately hungering and thirsting for righteousness to the glory of God! Poured-out lives to the glory of God! A foot-washing spirit to the glory of God! The salt of the earth to the glory of God! Loving God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength to the glory of God!

“Father, We Love You, We worship and adore You, Glorify Your name in all the earth. Glorify Your Name, Glorify Your Name, Glorify Your Name in all the earth.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

DEPART…I KNOW YOU NOT

In Luke 13:22-30 we read: “And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then one said to Him, ‘Lord, are there few who are saved?’ And He said to them, ‘Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying ,’Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”

Do you understand how awakening and shocking and earth-shattering it will be for so many people to hear those spine-tingling words from the lips of Jesus, “Depart from Me, I never knew you”? Hear our Lord as you’ve never heard Him before. It is so sad that some men will carry the whole body of Christian, Biblical truth in their minds from boyhood to the grave without the slightest impact upon their character or aims. It has less influence upon them than learning one plus one equals two!

“Dead in trespasses and sins” is a foreign language they cannot or will not comprehend! “Separated from God” to them means you’re not American born! And sadly for some, “Born again the second time,” means you’ve joined a church not realizing church membership doesn’t make you a disciple of Jesus any more than owning a piano makes you a concert pianist.

In “Heartcry (for) Revival” (Life action Ministries, Issue 22, Winter 2003) George Whitfield preached: “I address those who deceive themselves with false hopes of salvation. Some, through the influence of a good education or other providential restraints, have not run into the same excess of riot as other men. They think, therefore, that they have no need to receive the Holy Ghost, but flatter themselves that they are really right with God. However, do you show it by bringing forth the fruit of the Spirit? Do you pray without ceasing? Do you not commit to sin? Have you overcome the world? And do you love your enemies and all mankind in the same manner as Jesus loved them? If not, although you may be civilized, yet you are not converted. No, you are yet in your sins.”

Do you realize how many men are esteemed in the eyes of fallen humanity, but in the sight of God they’re “whited sepulchers,” “Pharisaical perverts,” “barnyard manure whited by the fallen snow of self-righteousness” which is “as filthy rags”?

Jesus always sought to “win friends and influence people” didn’t HE? He was a “smooth-talkin’,” “back-slappin’” kind of guy wasn’t He? In Matthew 23:25,27 Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.”

And what is the problem, what is the dilemma? What has created such a vacuum in mankind that causes him to major on self-indulgences, pretense, dead men’s bones, and all uncleanness? C.S. Lewis put it like this: “A car is made to run on gasoline, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other.”

And that is why the incarnation is so awesome! That’s why, “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the World,” is so amazing! That’s why “God proved His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us,” becomes so illuminating as to the heart, nature, and character of God Himself!

He wants to know us, receive us, forgive us, bless us, complete us, and use us for His glory and honor! Thomas A.Kempis wrote: “If we would endeavor, like men of courage, to stand in the battle, surely we would feel the favorable assistance of God from heaven. For He who gives us occasion to fight, to the end we may get the victory, is ready to succor those that fight manfully, and do trust in His grace.”

Yet Jesus had to sadly and sorrowfully say, “Depart from Me; I do not know you or where you are from.” HOW CAN THAT BE?

“Depart…I know you not” – BECAUSE OF THE ABSENCE OF REPENTANCE! If you’ve never heard this verse, you need to build the tabernacle of your life around it! 2 Peter 3:9 says, “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.”

And what I hear and know through God’s Holy Word is that He wants none to perish but for all to repent. But does all repent? I’m afraid not. In Matthew 4:17, as Jesus began His public ministry, He was continually proclaiming a single message: “From that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”

Acts 5:31-32 says, “Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things and so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

Did you notice, “The gift of repentance?” Do you remember in Acts 11, after God had given the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles that Peter had to defend God’s grace? In Acts 11:17-18, God’s Word says, “If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God? When they learned these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, ‘then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.’”

A gift – a gift of God’s grace, a gift of the greatness of God’s heart! But the question is, why did Jesus say, “I know you not?” Because sadly, men settle for religious activity rather than the desire to be reborn! Men settle for beliefs that have nothing to do with a change of behavior! Men can be remorseful without a longing of being remade.

Albert Schweitzer once wrote, “The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives,” but the greater tragedy is a life that never begins to live in Christ because he’s so unaware of his spiritual state of death before Holy God!

And just as tragic is the misconception of Biblical repentance! W.E. Biederwolf wrote: “True repentance does not mean remorse. Repentance means giving up sin!” St. Ambrose wrote the same thing: “True repentance is to cease from sin.” William James said, “The best repentance is to get up and act for righteousness and forget that you ever had a relationship with sin.”

In Romans 6:3 Paul asks a vitally important question: “Or do you not know that as many of us were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” Of what death is he speaking? His death on the Cross? Look at Romans 6:10: “For the death that Jesus died, He died to sin once for all.” The death that Jesus died, He died “TO” sin. It was His death TO sin that made Him the acceptable sacrifice in His death “FOR” sin. And if I come to Christ with a repentant heart, I’m choosing to longer serve sin or my old sin nature but to be a servant of Christ and a partaker of His divine nature!

Here’s the question: In your heart is there an absence of repentance (“I never knew you?”) or the assimilation of that gift as a way of life until Christ is perfectly formed within you?

“DEPART…I KNOW YOU NOT,” BECAUSE OF THE AVOIDANCE OF RECONCILIATION! 2 Corinthians 5:15, 18-21 says, “and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again…Verses 18-21, “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us; we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ.”

Someone anonymously wrote: “Our lives are a manifestation of what we think about God,” and, since there are those who don’t think about Him at all, their lives are a manifestation of emptiness, sham, hypocrisy, vainness and denial because to think about God would mean I have to ask, “How am I reconciled to Holy God?” So…they don’t ask!

But all mankind does get active about the “god” thing: 2 Corinthians 5:15 reveals the possibility of living for ourselves, becoming “god” unto ourselves! 2 Corinthians 10:12 reveals there are those who are “measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, (and) are not wise.”

Romans 1:21 says, “although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

How many have you crossed paths with who insist that God should accept men on the basis of their best efforts, or the basis of the recitation of all their good deeds but are barren as to the divineness of God’s grace and mercy? Francois Fenelon wrote: “There is practically nothing that men do not prefer to God. A tiresome detail of business, an occupation utterly pernicious to health, the employment of time in ways one does not dare to mention, anything rather than God.”

I know you’re aware of it! Man is his own “star.” He’s the center of his attention, occupied body and soul with how to satisfy his sinful soul in his own indulgent fashion. He’s his own self-crowned wonder of his corrupt creation, marred clay without the Potter’s hands, calling himself a free and liberated man of his own destiny not knowing he’s bound in the chains of ownership of the title deed of his soul in the cruel hands of Satan, believing he’s the champion of fleshly conquest when in reality he’s confused chaos, in the mud and mire of uncertainty, the scandal of the ages – created by Holy God, granted free will, and man sinks to the state of total depravity – that’s life without God, a slave to the old sin nature, the court jester of Satan’s realm where no one laughs, only crying, pain, sorrow, sinfulness without God and without hope in himself, unfulfilled, incomplete, having missed the mark!

Horace Walpole once wrote: “What a dreadful thing it is for such a wicked little creature as man to have absolute power.” And his absoluteness of self-rule gets him nowhere! Paul was so right when he wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 2:5, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” Have you avoided or appropriated reconciliation with Holy God through Christ Jesus?

“DEPART, I KNOW YOU NOT” – BECAUSE OF THE AIMLESSNESS OF RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY! In L:uke 13:24 Jesus said, “STRIVE TO ENTER THE NARROW GATE…” and fallen man says, “No…we choose the broad ways!” The narrow gate is Jesus Himself – God’s divine prescription for the health of your soul! The narrow gate is Jesus Himself – “The Way, the Truth, and the Life,” and no man comes to God in any other way!

In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘

Lord, Lord,’ have we not prophesied in Your Name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in You name. And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you, you who practice lawlessness.’”

What a difference between religious activity and redemptive ministry! What a difference between pumping religious flesh and praising God! What a difference between dressing up a dead corpse and entering the narrow way to be reborn! What a difference between acts of fleshly penitence and the awesomeness of a living faith that pleases God! “Depart…I know you not.”

“Depart, I know you not” – BECAUSE THE TRUTH ABOUT FALLEN HUMANITY IS REJECTED! Luke 13:26-27 says, “…then you will begin to say, ‘we ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’”

You are aware that in that spiritual realm of democracy of the spiritually dead that all men are equal! Romans 3:23 says, “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:10 says, “…there is none righteous, no, not one..” In Isaiah 64:6 we read, “But we are all as unclean things, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away!”

In Proverbs 20:9 the wise man said, “Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sins?” It was the German theologian Soren Kierkegaard who wrote: “Not until man has become so utterly unhappy, or has grasped the woefulness of life so deeply that he is moved to say and mean it: ‘Life has no value – not till then is he able to make a bid for Christianity.’”

Blaine Paschal, in “Pensees V111,” was on target when he wrote: “The Christian religion teaches me two points – that there is a God whom man can know, and that their nature is so corrupt that they are unworthy of Him.”

Do you understand from verse 26 of Luke 13 that there are those who will tolerate Jesus to a point – eating and drinking in His presence and even willing to listen to Him teach – BUT, when it gets to confrontation as to their condition before Holy God, “workers of iniquity,” they’ll clap and applaud as they stand before Christ’s crucifixion!

“Mew, a sinner, a reprobate, a sin-blackened heart, needing to be saved? How ridiculous! Me? Needing to be born again? Needing to partake of a blood atonement? Needing a washed heart? How warped are those ill-informed Christians!” “DEPART…I KNOW YOU NOT.”

“DEPART, I KNOW YOU NOT” – BECAUSE OF RESISTANCE TO ONE’S APPOINTED TIME! Luke 19:41-44 , “Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Each one of us has an appointed time, a day of visitation. We will either be prepared for it and embrace it, or ignorant of it and resist it. In Isaiah 10:3 God is asking, “And what will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from afar? To whom will you flee for help?”

I believe one of the saddest verses in all the Bible is Proverbs 1:23-24: “Turn at my rebuke, behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known My word unto you, because I have called, and you refused; I have stretched out My hand and no man regarded.”

How awesome this day is! Look with me at 2 Corinthians 6:2, “For God says, in an acceptable time I have heard you., and in the day od salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the accepted time, Behold, now is the day of salvation.” And the author of Hebrews asks, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” What did Jesus say? “…and you did not know the time of your visitation.” Do you?

“DEPART…I KNOW YOU NOT” – BECAUSE OF SELF-WILL RATHER THAN DIVINE WILL! Jesus rebuked the inhabitants of Jerusalem for their rejection of God. In Luke 13:34-35 He cried out, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but YOU WERE NOT WILLING! SEE! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the times comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

“You were not willing!” Oh, they willed but not according to God’s will – they were willing to settle for self will!

A Mr. Herman wrote: “For one who rejects Christianity because he misunderstood it, ten reject it because they understand it too well – because they know it is a call to the selfless and sacrificial life.” Self-will? “I know you not.”

In Jeremiah 4:1 God said, “If you will return, O Israel, says the Lord…” If, if you, if you will, if you will return. Oswald Chambers, in “My Utmost For His Highest,” wrote: “The battle is lost or won in the secret places of the will before God. The Spirit of God apprehends me and I am obliged to get alone with God and fight the battle out before Him. Until this is done, I lose every time. The battle may take one minute or a year, that will depend on me, not on God; but it must be wrestled out alone before God, and I must resolutely go through the hell of a renunciation before God. Nothing has any power over the man who has fought out the battle before God and won there.”

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:15, “And Jesus died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”

In “Aids to Reflection; Aphorisms,” Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote: “He who begins by loving Christianity better than truth will proceed by loving his own sect or church better than Christianity, and end in loving himself better than all.”

Can you grasp that? Do you understand why Jesus will sadly say to some, “Depart, I know you not,” because they are so in love with themselves, so in love with self-rule and self-will that they truly shut out an impassioned Savior who loves them? They are so caught up in self that they are blind to the true Jesus! They are so caught in self-will they buy into a man-made gospel with no demands! They are so caught up in themselves they’re led by an unholy spirit rather than God’s Holy Spirit! Religious but not reborn, awakened but not regenerated, a “form of godliness” but denying the saving power of Jesus.

Around the kingdom but not in it, informed but not transformed, a lust for vindication without the “life” of eternal victory. Masked with religious talk without merger with the Redeemer’s truth of mercy, pretending to be so right when we’re so wrong. Promoting our sense of merit when we’re blind to our sorry mess before Holy God, singing the self-song, when we’re “sold unto sin.” Delirious with self-praise when in actuality we’re bound behind the door of personal destitution!

Again, Oswald Chambers wrote convincingly, “Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence.” Do you remember Paul’s defense before King Agrippa in Acts 26:27-28? “King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.” Then Agrippa said to Paul, ‘You almost persuade me to become a Christian.’” “Depart…I know you not.”

Are you a courageous Bible reader? I dare you! Read carefully Matthew 25:6-13. “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out and meet him!’ Then all the virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” “Depart…I know you not.”

Follow Luke 12:39-46 carefully: “But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’ Then Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?’ And the Lord said, ‘Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day where he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.” “Depart…I know you not.”

Now to Revelation 22:12-17. “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.’ Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. ‘I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Off-Spring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” Outsiders?

“Depart…I know you not.” “I’ve tried to be as good as I know how!” TOO LATE, “I know you not.” “I really meant to repent and to turn!” TOO LATE, “I know you not.”

“I was influenced by the wrong crowd!” TOO LATE, “I know you not.” “I only meant to sow a few wild oats!” TOO LATE, “I know you not.” “I stagnated, suffocated when I intended to soar with Christ!” TOO LATE, “I know you not.”

“I didn’t mean to play the fool with my soul!” TOO LATE, “I know you not.” “I heard Your voice calling – I thought I had time to play around!” TOO LATE, “I know you not.”

“I was captured by the spirit of this present world when I intended to walk Your Way!” TOO LATE, “I know you not.” “I meant to leave room for the things of the Spirit but I gave You no space!” TOO LATE, “I know you not.”

“I know I should have looked to you to be saved!” TOO LATE, “I know you not.” I only stopped my ears to your call for a short time…I didn’t mean it to be permanent!” TOO LATE, “I know you not.”

“I thought partial obedience was enough!” TOO LATE, “I know you not.” “I thought reading was heeding!” TOO LATE, “I know you not.” “I envisioned service without sacrifice.” TOO LATE, “I know you not.”

“I thought Christian attributes and experiences were the ‘in’ thing…I didn’t know abandoned unto Jesus alone!” TOO LATE, “I know you not.” “Loving the Lord with all your mind, heart, soul, and strength? I simply believed!” (So do the devils!) TOO LATE, “I know you not.”

“Let go? Lay hold? There was too much I couldn’t let go of and too much I held on to!” TOO LATE, “I know you not.” “My ruling passion was to be happy not holy, ambitious but not blessed!” TOO LAT, “I know you not.”

“I had an interest but what is this ‘identification’ thing?” TOO LATE, “I know you not.”

One of the great hymns of the church was written by Philip Bliss, entitled “Almost Persuaded.” He wrote: “Almost persuaded, now to believe; Almost persuaded, Christ to receive; Seems now some soul to say, “Go Spirit, go Thy way, some more convenient day, on Thee I’ll call.”

Almost persuaded, Come, come today, Almost persuaded, Turn not away; Jesus invites you here; angels are lingering near, Prayers rise from hearts so dear.

O wanderer, come! Almost persuaded, Harvest is past. Almost persuaded. Doom comes at last. “Almost” cannot avail, “Almost” is but to fail; Sad, sad that bitter wail – “Almost” but lost!”

“Depart…I know you not!”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

DENYING JESUS OR DENYING YOURSELF?

In Matthew 16:24 we read Jesus saying to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and FOLLOW ME.” Do you realize how ‘foreign’ a concept is of ‘denying yourself’ to a self-serving world? A life that shuns the words of Jesus is a life that leads to a state of mind and condition void of God’s crown of glory. Rather than ‘deny himself’ far too many find it so easy to just deny the true, redemptive, saving, life-changing faith!

The word “deny”, according to “Strong’s,” is from a Greek word meaning, “to deny utterly, disown, or abstain” from , and that’s either from “self” or Jesus!

The first mention of “deny” is found in Joshua 24:27, “And Joshua said to all the people, ‘Behold, this stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, LEST YOU DENY YOUR GOD.’”

The last mention of “deny” is found in Jude 4, “For certain men have crept in unnoticed who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of God into licentiousness and DENY the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In Revelation 2:12-13 the Lord of the Candlesticks says: “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write: These things says he which has the sharp sword with two edges: I know your works, and where you dwell, even where Satan’s seat is: AND YOU HOLD FAST TO MY NAME, AND HAVE NOT DENIED MY FAITH…”

I know that “deny yourself” is certainly a pre-salvation step, but I also know that it is a Continuous Process on that spiritual pathway of BEING AND BECOMING.

Halford E. Luccock, a number of years ago, preached a message saying, “Christianity has grown soft, sentimental, saccharine; it has become too much FLUTE and not enough TRUMPET.” And I believe what he was saying was that Salvation doesn’t make us “tea-sippers” on a quiet, sunny Sunday afternoon, but “warriors” in the invisible war of the heavenlies that has Eternal consequences!

“DENY YOURSELF” – The self-assured individual is so truly empty even without his awareness of emptiness and proves himself of no worth or value to God! Have you ever heard someone boldly say, “I have no need of God; I’m not weak like you!”? But the ‘weak’ individual who is made strong in Christ? Though it is not his intent, Christ Jesus takes that “empty”, weak individual, and transform him/her into a strong witness of eternal significance in the glory-cloud of Mighty God! How does that happen?

THERE IS THE DENYING OF THE PHANTOM OF PERSONAL RIGHTEOUSNESS, WRAPPING OURSELVES IN THE ROBE OF DIVINE RIGHTEOUSNESS. Follow the boldness of confrontation of the prophet, Isaiah, in Isaiah 64:6! “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

Is that clear to you? What we call ‘personal righteousness’ God calls “filthy rags”! In Romans 3:21-22 we read, “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 Christ Jesus, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference.” Paul really opens up one’s understanding when in Romans 5:17 he wrote, “For if by the one man’s offense [Adam] death reigned through the one, much more, those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”

Do you see that there is a “reign of death” but also there is the “reign of Life in Christ”! Romans 5:21 then tells us, “so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” And it really doesn’t matter what a person or a religion declares – without Christ there is no hope! Religions of the world promote the ‘righteousnesses of the phantom of personal righteousness, religious righteousness, even national righteousness which is foreign to the grace and mercy of Christ Jesus!’

What did Paul amplify for us in Romans 6:13? “And do not present your members [bodily members] as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” [And if I were to search for it diligently, I’d find it is to be my or our daily discipline!]. Jesus told us in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

What did Paul tell us in Romans 10:9-10? “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. FOR WITH THE HEART one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

THERE IS THE DENYING OF THE PARALYSIS OF EARTHLY WISDOM AND ENTERING THE FULL RELEASE OF HEAVENLY WISDOM. Do you remember Paul talking to Timothy about the last days and how perilous times will come? And he warned Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:7 of those who are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” [Does that sound a lot like numerous university professors today who are geniuses in ‘worldly deceptions’ because when God is denied or avoided they’ve exposed the blind minds and empty hearts!].

Jeremiah gives us God’s perspective on this when in Jeremiah 9:23-24 he quotes the Lord God Almighty! “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches…But let him who glories glory in this, THAT HE UNDERSTANDS AND KNOWS ME, that I AM the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says the Lord.”

I have no doubts at all that the next verse I want to share with you is a word that is ‘foreign’ to most folks who would describe themselves as ‘seekers’ or even the “finders” who ignore the very heart of Almighty God! Psalm 111:10 says: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

What is earthly wisdom with a doctoral degree if the soul is damned by God and He says, “Depart…I never knew you”? What is earthly wisdom without the Wisdom of the Word, the Counsel of the God-breathed, Spirit-Anointed, Holy Scriptures?

Follow carefully James 3:13-17! “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth…

This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” You do understand that ‘hypocrites’ are actually “play-actors”!

THERE IS DENYING THE POROUS POWER OF SELF-DETERMINATION. In Isaiah 14:12-15 the prophet illumines us, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’”

Are you aware, whether vocalized or not, you sense in far too many rebels against Holy God, “I can do whatever God might ask me on my own,” when even Jesus Himself said: “the Son can do nothing of Himself…” (John 5:19). Have you heard it? “I can fulfill what God requires,” like the young man who said to Jesus, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” What did Jesus say to him? “Go sell what you have and give to the poor,” and the young man went away sorrowful because, to him, what he possessed was more important than God’s eternal plan for his life!

“I can understand without the Holy Spirit as my guide,” when Jesus declared the Holy Spirit would “guide us into all truth.” This is why Paul wrote in I Corinthians 2:11, “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? EVEN SO NO ONE KNOWS THE THINGS OF GOD EXCEPT THE SPIRIT OF GOD.” “I can say what God expects me to say,” when even Christ said: “I only say what I hear the Father saying.”

Follow this statement from the old Western Christian Advocate: “The most difficult thing that the good Lord has to deal with in the man of today is his sense of self-sufficiency. He is TOO PRONE to think he can get along pretty well without God.”

THERE MUST BE THE DENYING OF THE STRONG CONTROL OF SELF-WILL, SURRENDERING TO HOLY GOD’S DIVINE WILL. Look at Romans 12:1-2 which says: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but [be being] transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

I love what Alexander Maclaren once said: “All along the Christian course, there must be set up ALTARS TO GOD on which you sacrifice yourself, or you will never advance a step.” Do you think it might be why Paul said, “I take the sentence of death to myself daily that the resurrection life of Christ may be manifested in my mortal body”?

Jesus said in John 4:34, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me; and to finish His work.” Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, veiled in human form like us, bows before Holy God to say, “Not My will – but Your will be done.” There was a Gethsemane, and then the Cross! The challenge of the Word of God to every believer? 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; FOR THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD IN CHRICT JESUS FOR YOU.”

THERE MUST BE DENYING MENTAL MANIPULATION FOR THE MASTERY OF THE MASTER’S MIND UNDER THE ILLUMINATION AND GUIDANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. In 1 Corinthians 2:16 we read, “For ‘who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?’ BUT WE HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST.” That, my friend, is an eternal blessing of the grace of God!

We’re not to be programmed in our minds to think worldly, fleshly, or devilish thoughts – God blessed us with the mind of Christ – in Him YOU can think God’s thoughts!! Yet Paul, in 2 Corinthians 11:3 said, “I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, SO YOUR MINDS may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

The mind is the battlefield, and in 2 Corinthians 10:5 Paul tells us, “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” Job made a covenant with his eyes – this is the time to make a covenant with our minds!

Do you see it? You’re either starving the fleshly mind and enriching your spiritual mind OR you’re starving the spiritual mind to feed your fleshly mind!

In “A Godward Life” John Piper quotes Colossians 3:2, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” Then he said, “Jesus Christ is refreshing, but flight from Him into Christ-less leisure makes the soul parched. At first it may feel like freedom and fun to skimp on prayer and neglect the Word, but then we pay: shallowness, powerlessness, vulnerability to sin, preoccupation with trifles, superficial relationships, and a frightening loss of interest in worship and the things of the Spirit.” So true!

Do you understand the difference between a ‘starving mind’ and a “thriving Spirit”? The fleshly, wisest mind, void of God, is in reality a starving mind! And certainly it is a vain and empty heart!

ALSO, THERE MUST BE DENYING THE DRY BEDS OR DIRTY WATERS OF SELF-PROMOTION FOR THE RIVERS OF LIVING WATERS, HONORING AND GLORIFYING CHRIST. In John 7:37-39 Jesus tells us, “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink…He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water…But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Do you remember “Glory in the church?” When Paul said that he took the sentence of death to himself daily, do you have an inkling of what he was speaking about? We’re either pumping and promoting ourselves or we choose to glorify Christ! We’re either looking out for Number 1, (ourselves on the throne) or in our daily lives Crowning Jesus daily as King of our hearts and our homes!

Old Testament Scripture can be, and often is, a picture of what happens in some New Testament lives. Look at Genesis 26:15-18! “Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his [Isaac’s] father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. [Question! Are you aware of one filling the spiritual well of life in Christ with dirt?]…

And Abimilech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.’ Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father…” You understand – the majority of times it’s the “foreigners” that fill the spiritual wells with “dirt” – protect your “WELL”, it’s so vital to blessing!

THERE MUST ALSO BE THE DENYING OF THE CRUTCH OF ACCEPTANCE AND APPROVAL OF MEN FOR THE CROWN OF OUR “ACCEPTANCE IN THE BELOVED”! Listen to Galatians 1:10! “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I WOULD NOT BE A BONDSERVANT OF CHRIST.” That verse is like a deadly hammer right above the nose!

What you just saw in Galatians is an illuminating and convicting statement like Paul made in Romans 2:29, “but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that OF THE HEART, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose PRAISE IS NOT FROM MEN BUT FROM GOD.”

If the battles of life include acceptance or rejection, how do we win that war? Ephesians 1:6 says: “to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which HE MADE US ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED.”

Do you understand the “Rat Race” of rejection? Rejection – more rejection – greater rejection – deeper and wider rejection – and you find yourself in a never-ending cycle! That’s so wanting others’ acceptance, so there are those who will do anything to avoid rejection because that’s what they deem themselves worthy of rather than deeming themselves worthy because of Christ’s death on the Cross in their behalf but they just can’t accept that truth because they long for the praise of men more than the praise of God! But Isaiah 60:7 speaks of: “ascending with acceptance on My [God’s] altar, and I will glorify the house of My glory.” Are you crowned with acceptance that comes from God alone?

LASTLY, THERE MUST BE THE DENYING OF THE STRONG, UNSEEN CLASP WITH THE TEMPORARY SATISFACTION OF OUR SENSES FOR THE ETERNAL BLESSING OF GOD’S SPIRIT THROUGH US. 1 Timothy 5:6 says, “But she who lives in pleasure (or indulgence) IS DEAD WHILE SHE LIVES.” We read in Jeremiah 2:13, “For My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns – broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

Pascal said: “Let it not be imagined that the life of a good Christian must be a life of melancholy and gloominess; for he only resigns some pleasures to enjoy others infinitely better.”

The psalmist knew what he was talking about when in Psalm 84:10 he wrote: “For a day in Your courts [God] is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” What’s your choice? Pleasing “Flesh” or “Blessed” in God’s Spirit? Your soul will either be a ‘soul-sense satisfaction’ or a “Blossoming Life in Christ”! It will be a choice of temporal indulgence or the eternally honoring of Holy God.

John Mason once wrote: “They that deny themselves for Christ, shall enjoy themselves in Christ.” But then Tolstoy said, [other side of the coin], “Everybody thinks of changing humanity and nobody thinks of changing himself.” In you, what needs to change, in you, what needs to be denied?

Here’s the challenging verse of the day, week, month, year, or lifetime: 2 Corinthians 1:9, “Yes, WE HAD THE SENTENCE OF DEATH IN OURSELVES THAT WE SHOULD NOT TRUST IN OURSELVES BUT IN GOD WHO RAISES THE DEAD.” Have YOU been “raised” or are you still entombed in your body of spiritual death?

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

BEGINNING LIFE ANEW – IN CHRIST JESUS

There is such a vast difference in hearing the tender cries at birth and the heart-breaking tears at a loved-one’s death, but what takes place between those two events is also common to all. It’s the experiences or conscious decisions made that impact us for the worse or for the better. There are those times, those momentous events, those life-altering choices and circumstances that cause us to ask, “can my life begin anew”? “Can my marriage, my ministry have a new start?”

We know about the “old man” or the “Old sin nature.” We know the difference between First Adam and Second Adam. We know the difference between the lost and the found, the blind and the seeing, the profane and the Holy. At least we should, and we know so on the basis of the unveiling and revealing of Holy Scriptures.

And if, all of a sudden, we find ourselves “diseased” soulishly and spiritually and understand and we sense we’re ‘at the point of death’, we don’t need untrained, unspiritual “experts” analyzing and prescribing for us what cannot help us. I don’t need a worldly mentality, worldly remedies, worldly values, or a worldly religion with a bottomless hole in the bucket! But we can look to God’s Holy Word and SEE “Beginning Life Anew” because that’s God’s specialty in and through Christ Jesus!

The impact upon our world around us happens, not because we offer them a low-powered brand of Christianity, a superficial, insincere, never validated brand, changing nothing or no one, but living before them the Divine Reality of “Beginning Life Anew” in the real and true experiences of life they live but a life in which they have no answers, but in our lives, in-filled by the Lord Jesus’ Holy Presence, we reveal “New life, “new Hope,” and a new identity!

If your “life” has become a mess, is it possible for God to transform it into His “Master-piece”? If your “walk” has been packed with bad choices that have left you devastated, distressed, defiled, disturbed, and defeated, a slave to your own sin, is it possible for God to raise you up to “winner,” “more than conqueror” status?

If the mail or letter of your life reads like a saga of sin and sordidness and sadness, is it possible for God to compose a symphony in your life of celebration, holiness, and joy? If your allegiances, loyalties, passions and pursuits, have been for anyone or anything but God, is it possible, because of God’s Sovereignty, unending love, and convicting transforming Holy Spirit, to capture our hearts and eternally change us into DEVOTED DISCIPLES OF CHRIST JESUS?

If the testimony you’ve manufactured about yourself has been nothing but dead-end streets going nowhere, is God about to bring you to an “about-face” and put you on the pilgrimage of the pathway of Eternal Life, Glory, and Blessing Forevermore?

Look at Revelation 21:1-7! Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea [separation]. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband…

And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away…”

Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.”

In Max Lucado’s book, “A Gentle Thunder,” he told the story of James Whitaker, a member of a famed, hand-picked crew who flew the B-17 Flying Fortress captained by Eddie Rickenbacher. It was October, 1942, and the Flying Fortress was reported “lost at sea”. Over the Pacific, out of radio range, the plane ran out of fuel and went down into the ocean. For 30 days, in 3 rafts, the 9 crewmen battled it all – fear, storms, tremendous waves that tossed them like toothpicks, sharks that rammed their little rafts bigger than the rafts, 8 days all food gone or water-soaked.

One morning after prayer and Bible study, Rickenbacher needed a nap. He pulled his brimmed captain’s hat over his eyes and leaned back. A sea gull landed on his head. The captain knew they had to have the bird to survive. He caught it, the crew ate it, and they even used the intestines as bait to fish. They survived.

In 1985 there was a reunion of the remaining crew members and/or their wives. Coreen Schwenk had been engaged to one crew member who didn’t survive but she went to the reunion anyway. But there she met the widow of James Whitaker.

Whitaker was an unbeliever. Even the crash and facing death hadn’t changed him. His widow said Whitaker was always irritated with one crew member who always read the Bible and prayed. Protests from Whitaker only encouraged John Bartak to be more faithful interceding for Whitaker. Lucado said, “Unknown to Whitaker, the soil of his heart was being plowed. It was one morning after a Bible reading that the sea gull landed on Captain Rickenbacher’s head…And at that moment Jim became a believer.”

We need to know that there is not a moment in our lives that passes without God’s knowledge and readiness to help us “Beginning Life Anew,” even if it’s a sea-gull landing on your head!

WE BEGIN LIFE ANEW WHEN WE COME TO THE DIVINE CONVICTION THAT THERE IS MORE GOD INTENDED THAN WHAT WE’VE FOUND ON OUR OWN! You know it, or you should, that apart from Christ Jesus we’re the First Adam, the Old Man of sin, the wandering sinner in directions away from God – worldly, fleshly, earth-bound, trying our best or living our worst, always coming up short or at least realizing the empty vacuum of our lives.

That means we are aliens to the Kingdom of God, strangers to the covenants of promise, without God and without hope in ourselves! But then we hear a Paul, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes…” Believes means to trust in, rely upon, adhere to!

We hear a prophetic John the Baptist declaring of Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world…” And you realize, ‘My sin in particular. It was FOR ME CHRIST JESUS DIED ON THAT CRUEL CROSS!” And you hear Jesus saying, “You MUST be born again…born of the Word of God and the Spirit of God!”

And it begins to dawn on you: “A NEW BIRTH!!” The bell of Truth rings powerfully and personally for YOU, 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a NEW CREATION; old things pass away, and all things become new.” “A NEW CREATION” – that’s me – I can be a new creation of God Almighty!

All of a sudden God’s vision for me expands: Revelation 2:17, “And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone A NEW NAME written which no one knows except him who receives it.”

Hear it with your hearts as well as your heads!! Psalm 40:2-3, “[The Lord] He brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps…HE HAS PUT A NEW SONG in my mouth – Praise to our God…”

My wife, Sue, remembers the “Old-Time Methodists.” When I claimed her for my own, “she WERE ONE”!! They used to preach about being “soundly converted,” but now some just want to make sure you go through ‘confirmation’ classes and then they CONFIRM you as a Methodist, whether you’ve been born again or not!! Even some “Baptists” just want to make sure you’ve “joined the church”, again, sadly, whether you’ve truly been born again or not. Have you been “soundly converted”?

WE MAY BEGIN LIFE ANEW WHEN IN THE MIDST OF GREAT SORROW WE KNOW IT’S THE TIME TO WORSHIP AND NOT TO WILT! Come with me to 2 Samuel 12:15-23, Then Nathan departed to his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill. David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground…

So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm.”…

When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.” So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshipped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate…

Then his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’…

But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

With all my heart I pray that you clearly understand what was going on with David. He was a sorrowing father but something lifted his spirit and soul and he was able to go on. It’s not that Christians don’t sorrow! Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, LEST YOU SORROW AS OTHERS WHO HAVE NO HOPE.”

It was Saturday evening, January 5, 2002, at a banquet in Clearwater, Florida in honor of Dr. Bill Anderson who retired from Calvary Baptist Church, Clearwater, after twenty-six and a half years of ministry as pastor. It was Bill and Cookie, their 4 married children, 15 grandchildren, a few close friends, and church staff both former and present. It was a “roast and toast” time. A former staff member stood to tell what Bill had meant to him when 20 years before his 4-year old son had drowned. How tough and trying! 20 years later the tears still flowed freely. But he said, “I had such a hard time. I thought I was losing my mind, about to have a nervous breakdown, and so ashamed. I told that to Bill and he said, “You’re normal and natural. How else would you feel after your son drowned. But God will see you through.” And he did.

It’s not how you feel but what YOU WILL that matters! Christians aren’t sealed from sorrow with a spiritual spacesuit that protects us from sorrow. But we do overcome because we have the HOPE! We Overcome because we have the help of our Lord’s abiding presence! We overcome because we have the comfort of the Holy Spirit and comforting friends and family and because we have the promise of Almighty God of turning our mourning into dancing!

Dr. Robert deVries, after the death of his wife, left with 3 small children, wrote “Mourning Into Dancing”: “I should dance in God’s presence, they say, tho’ my heart is burdened with grief. I should revel in God’s mercy, they say, tho’ my life is shattered with pain…

My partner has died. This is the darkest night of my soul. Days and months press on. Evenings and mornings lumber past…

My grief is great; my soul cries out, “Why me, O God, why me?” “Not you, My child, Not you. Your spouse has died. Not you…I gave you LIFE. I gave you joy. I can give again. SABBATH. Rest now and begin again.”…

The sun burns brighter – so slightly brighter. THE PAIN OF THE GRAVE BECOMES THE POWER OF GRACE. Step by step, God works His miracle. “You shall dance again, my child. You shall dance again.” You, O God alone, can turn my mourning into dancing.” [Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Mich., 1998, p.8]

Philip Yancey, in “Where Is God When It Hurts,” [Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1977, pps 73-74] wrote: “If God halted all tragedies which involved Christians, it would insulate us from complete identification with the world.” So very, very true! We are not intended by God to be insulated but poured-out drink offerings! Paul knew what he was talking about when he said in 1 Corinthians 15:54, “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

We don’t wilt when trouble comes – we worship. We’re not silenced because of death – we celebrate. We don’t pass out because of the heavy load of sorrow – we praise our ever-caring God. Why? “Yea, tho’ I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; YOUR ROD AND STAFF they comfort me…You make me to lie down in green pastures; You lead me beside the still waters…You restore my soul…”

In Hebrews 13:5 we read, God Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you…” In Billy Graham’s book, “Facing Death, “ [Word Books, Waco, 1987, pps.70-71], he tells of his wife’s little brother, Nelson Bell Jr., who died at the age of ten months, after an illness of 18 days, even though Ruth’s father was a medical doctor-missionary in China when her brother died. The year was 1925. Dr. Bell wrote a letter about Nelson Jr’s death:

“Virginia and I realized that he was going and we were with him alone when the end came. It was so sweet and peaceful, no struggle and no evidence of pain, just quietly leaving us and going back to Jesus…

His going has left an ache in our hearts and our arms feel very empty, but oh the joy of knowing he is safe. It has but drawn us closer to Him (Jesus) and given us a new tie and joy to look forward to in heaven. We would not have him back for we know it was His will that he should go. There is no repining, wishing we had used other medicines etc. We feel that everything that possibly could have been done was done. We had the joy of caring for him ourselves while he was sick and the memory is very sweet. He had been such a perfectly healthy baby, in some ways one of the best developed children I have ever seen and so full of life that he was a favorite with the foreigners and Chinese alike…

Virginia and I had the privilege of fixing him ourselves when he died, and then Virginia went to the Talbots where Rosa and Ruth were at school. She wanted to tell them herself, rather than have them hear the news through the Chinese. They were nearly heart-broken, but it was a wonderful opportunity to bring the great hope that is ours very close and plain to them…

We laid him to rest just at sunset and the service was such a sweet one and we pray was a blessing to the large number of Chinese friends who came. Virginia expressed my feelings exactly as we were leaving the cemetery when she said, “I have a song in my heart, but it is hard to keep the tears from my eyes.” At the grave we sang “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow,” for this had made the wonderful hope of eternity doubly precious to us. Were it not for that HOPE we would not be here in China.”

Do you know why we overcome sorrow and begin life anew? In John 14:18 we hear from our Lord and Savior: “I (Jesus) will not leave you orphans; I WILL COME TO YOU.” Do you know why we overcome sorrow and begin life anew? Psalm 116:15 says, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the DEATH OF HIS SAINTS.”

You may lose your husband or your wife, your grandparents, your parents, your brother or sister, your closest friend, your pastor – but you’ll not let death bind you – you’ll let it free you to rest in Him, to worship and praise the name of your Savior and Lord who abolished death and brought life and immortality to LIGHT through the Gospel!

Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “I find the greatest thing in this world not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving. To reach the port of Heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind, and sometimes against it, but we sail, and not drift, nor live at anchor.”

I’LL NOT BE DRIVEN BY THE WIND OF SORROW, BUT REST IN THE WITNESS OF MY SAVIOR! I’LL NOT DRIFT FROM FELLOWSHIP BECAUSE OF SORROW, BUT DETERMINE IN FAITH TO CELEBRATE! I’LL NOT BE ANCHORED BY THE PAST BECAUSE OF SORROW, BUT ACCELERATE IN JOY BECAUSE OF MY FUTURE!

WE WILL BE “BEGINNING LIFE ANEW” WHEN OVERCOME BY FEAR BECAUSE WE SENSE, HEAR, AND KNOW THE VOICE OF DIVINE PRESENCE THROUGH GOD’S GIFT OF FAITH! In Genesis 3:10 Adam said, “I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself…” Yet in his garden of fear God was present!

It was Sarah who ‘laughed’ because God told Abraham she was to bear a son, and she denied to God and Abraham her laughter because she was afraid, but it was God solidly present who said, “Is anything too hard for God?”

Do you remember Jacob feeling so alone and afraid that dark night as he laid his head on that stone for a pillow? Then, he had a dream! Genesis 28:16-17, “Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it…” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

Fear! The House of God because God specializes in transforming fear into Faith! Fear! The Gate of Heaven because God stands with fearing men! Psalm 3:6 says, “I will not be afraid of 10,000’s of people who have set themselves against me all around…” Why? Verse 8, Because, “Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah!” Blessing?

That’s Holy Presence with a heavy heart of fear! That’s Holy Presence when everything seems lost or in vain! Holy Presence when the dark cloud of fear wants to separate us from our confidence in God, and God uses that cloud as a stepping stone to us!

There’s never been a “foxhole of fear” where Holy God was not faithfully present! There’s never been a hospital waiting room filled with fear and anxiety where Holy God hasn’t taken up residence! There’s never been a frightful mind so filled with dreaded fears of all kinds where God hasn’t decided to set up His Holy abode of confidence and assurance! There’s never been a deep lake of loneliness and fear without the Mighty Ship of Holy Presence sailing with us – WE WILL NOT FEAR FOR GOD IS NEAR!

WE WILL BE “BEGINNING LIFE ANEW” WHEN STORMY TIMES ARE ALLOWED TO BECOME DIVINE OPPORTUNITIES! Come with me to Mark 4:35-41! On the same day, when evening had come, Jesus said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boast as He was. And other little boats were also with Him…

And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”…

Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

I don’t have to ask you if you know about “stormy times” or “stormy situations” or “stormy days” or “stormy events” that want to drown you! It’s a stormy day if you drop $3 million in the stock market like one man I used to know. It’s a stormy day if you discover your children want no part of the Faith you’ve imparted to them. It’s a stormy day if your marriage has become a “mess” and not a miracle! It’s a stormy day if your wife/husband walks out on you! It’s a stormy day if your son flies a plane into a tall building or a mountain-side! It’s a stormy day if your child drowns or is killed in an automobile accident!

It’s a stormy day if your husband-pilot’s plane goes down! It’s a stormy day if your son accidently shoots himself with a shotgun as he climbed through a fence while on a hunt! It’s a stormy day if there’s war and death and hatred and bitterness and anger! It’s a stormy day if you lose your job! It’s a stormy day if your pastor fails and falls away! It’s a stormy day when there’s a great financial depression! It’s a stormy day when your health has failed!

“Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

It’s been a number of years ago when my dear friend, Dr. Bill Anderson, had his retirement service from Calvary Baptist Church, Clearwater, Florida. Sue and I went to dinner with Bill and Addy after that event, and we began to share “war stories” at the table. Bill said, “Do you remember when Bailey Smith got in trouble for saying that God doesn’t hear the prayers of Jews? Well, I’ve been reaching out to Clearwater’s Jewish Rabbi, Peter, for a long time. He called me very upset. I told him, “Hold on, Peter, you see a Nazi under every rock. Your scripture even tells you why He doesn’t.” And Peter said, “Will you come to the Jewish Temple and tell my people that?”

Bill said, “I jumped at the opportunity. I gave them Isaiah 59 and told them that both Jew and Gentile have access to Father-God because of what Christ Jesus did at Calvary. After about an hour of questions and answers, I was leaving when this little old lady motioned for me to come over. As I did she pulled up her sleeve and showed me her arm with an A and four numbers. I said, ‘You were at Auchwitz! Tell me about it.’

She said, “My father, mother, brothers, and sisters, with some close friends were imprisoned there. I was 12 years of age. Each day we had a bowl of hot water with rottening cabbage once a day. It was so little we ate grass until the Germans caught on and began to shoot those who ate the grass. But one day I was so hungry I said that even if they kill me, I’m going to eat some grass. There was a small patch of green grass that I walked over to, bent over, and began to eat, when I heard the gun cock and I turned to see a soldier aiming at me. I looked toward heaven and said, “Oh God, please come help me.”

And between me and the soldier with cocked rifle there appeared Jesus Christ the Lord. The soldier became so frightened he put his rifle down and ran away. Ever since that day I’ve served Jesus Christ the Lord. Bill said, “What are you doing here?” She said, “I’m here to witness of God’s love and saving grace in sending Jesus Christ the Lord to Jews first and then to the Gentiles.” Bill responded, “What did the Rabbi say?” And she responded, “Oh, he said, why didn’t you call for Moses?”

She said, “I called on God for help and He sent Jesus Christ the Lord!!” Anna Kellerman was her name, and I’ll never forget her story of “Amazing Grace”! “God, do You not care that we’re perishing?” And He sent Jesus who ARISES, REBUKES your storms, and still says to the raging seas of life, “Peace, be still!”

“BEGINNING LIFE ANEW” ALSO WHEN MORAL FAILURE CALLS FOR MESSIAH’S FAITHFULNESS! Even in the midst of moral failure, or SIN as the Bible calls it, most people feed on intellectual absurdity and not divine truth, and they never see the consciences bothered or troubled by Godly conviction about what they’ve done or are presently doing. The phony attitude of far too many is, “If David got away with sin, so can I!”

But they know nothing of the heart, the heartaches, or the awful consequences that painted a dark side to his life incessantly. If you’ve had MORAL FAILURE, I want you to know our MESSIAH IS FAITHFUL! But His faithfulness is released personally because of one’s truly repentant heart! [Check out David’s prayer of repentance in Psalm 51!]. Proverbs 28:13 tells us, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes his sins WILL HAVE MERCY!!”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, in “The Children of the Lord’s Supper,” wrote: “For tis’ sweet to stammer one letter of the Eternal’s language – on earth it is called FORGIVENESS.”

It was A.W. Tozer, in his book, “The Set of The Sail,” [pps.19-20], who made two powerful statements I must share: “To offer a SINNER the gift of salvation based upon the work of Christ, while at the same time allowing him to retain the idea that the gift carries with it no moral implications, is to do him untold injury where it hurts him worst…To remit a man’s past without transforming his present is to violate the moral sincerity of his own heart. To that kind of thing God will have no part.”

“Moral sincerity” in a repentant one’s heart is evidenced by him/her finding the “mourner’s bench” where he/she seriously does business with God!

“BEGINNING LIFE ANEW” WHEN MINISTRY FAILURE BECOMES THE SPRINGBOARD TO DISCOVER OUR MASTER’S FULLNESS! And I’m not just talking about ‘pastors’ because we all are “priests and kings to God the Father!”

In Matthew 26, after Jesus had celebrated Passover with His disciples, Jesus said to them in verse 31, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night…” Verse 33, but Peter answered Jesus: “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.” Verse 34, And Jesus said to Peter, “Assuredly, I say to you, that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” He did – so, it’s over, right?

In Verse 75 “And Peter remembered the word of Jesus…So he went out and WEPT BITTERLY!” Then John 21 tells us of Jesus’ personal appearance to Peter after the Resurrection, and RESTORATION OCCURRED!

Do you remember Samson losing the ANOINTING? Oh, how tragic is that!?! He knew the fire – now there’s barely smoke! He knew the FULLNESS – now there’s emptiness! He knew the FRUITFULNESS – now he’s barren! He knew the deep ocean of Holy Ghost power – now he’s a dry creek-bed! The Philistines “put out his eyes, bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison!”

Oh, but follow Judges 16:28-30 and spring-boarded to renewal and restoration! Then Samson called to the Lord, saying, “O Lord God, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance of the Philistines for my two eyes!”…

And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he killed in his life.”

“BEGINNING LIFE ANEW” WHEN “PRIORITY” CONSUMPTION IS A CRASH RATHER THAN A CROWN AND CHRISTLIKE READJUSTMENTS AND REEVALUATIONS CAPTURE YOUR MIND AND HEART! There was a little booklet that came out many years ago entitled “The Tyranny of The Urgent.” Charles Hummel wrote it. [Intervarsity Press, 1967, p.4], One sentence sums it up: “Don’t let the urgent take the place of the IMPORTANT in your life.” But do you realize how many are consumed by what they deem “urgent things” and what is important between you and God is left undone?

In Ephesians 5:15-16 Paul wrote: “See then that you walk CIRCUMSPECTLY (carefully), not as fools but as wise men…redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Has that changed? I don’t think so – I perceive ‘the time’ today as worse than ever! Psalm 90:12 declares, “So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

Are you aware of how careless most people are about ‘numbering their days”? One older gentleman wrote: “I get up each morning, dust off my wits, Pick up the paper and read the obits. If my name is missing, I know I’m not dead, So I eat a good breakfast – and go back to bed.” No redeeming of the times in him!

It was Daniel who “purposed in his heart.” It was Paul “determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” It was Caleb who held on to the promise of his ‘mountain’ and wouldn’t be confused by a 45-year delay!

Again, I point you to A.W. Tozer in his writing, “The Set of the Sail.” “If any man will…let him follow Me,” Jesus says, and some will rise and go after Him, but others give no heed to His voice. So the gulf between man and man, between those who will and those who will not. Silently, terribly the work goes on, as each one decides whether he will hear or ignore the voice of invitation. Unknown to the world, perhaps unknown even to the individual, the work of separation takes place. Each hearer of the Voice must decide for himself, and he must decide on the basis of the evidence the message affords. There will be no thunder sound, no heavenly sign or light from Heaven. The Man (Jesus) is His own proof. The marks in His hands and feet are the insignia of His rank and office: He will not put Himself again on trial; He will not argue, but the morning of the judgment will confirm what men in the twilight have decided.”

Matthew 16:24, “If any man will come…” You’re the man or woman of destiny! “If any man or woman will come to “BEGIN LIFE ANEW;” Will to come or will not to come! A CHOICE IS MADE: YOUR choice! What or Whom do you choose?

In his “Poems That Preach,” John R.Rice shared the following from an unknown author: [Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1952, p18], “I had walked life’s path with an easy tread, Had followed where comfort and pleasure led…And then by chance in a quiet place – I MET MY MASTER FACE TO FACE.

With station and rank and wealth for my goal, Much thought for my body but none for my soul…I had entered to win this life’s mad race – WHEN I MET THE MASTER FACE TO FACE.

I had built my castles, reared them high, Till their towers had pierced the blue of the sky…I had sworn to rule with an iron mace – WHEN I MET MY MASTER FACE TO FACE.

I met Him and knew Him, and blushed to see That His eyes full of sorrow were fixed on me; And I faltered, and fell at His feet that day While my castles vanished and melted away.

Melted and vanished; and in their place I saw naught else but my Master’s face; And I cried aloud: “Oh, make me meet To follow the marks of Your wounded feet.”

My thought is now for the souls of men; I have lost my life to find it again Ever since alone in that holy place My Master and I stood face to face.”

And I say to you, “Look unto Christ Jesus, the true Author and Finisher of our Saving Faith!

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

AROUND JESUS: THE MEMORY OF MARY, THE ANOINTER

It always amazes me how there are those who so easily look down on others in their condescending pride and arrogance. The Pharisees were so upset that Jesus gave this ‘sinful woman’ His attention. According to Mark even the disciples “scolded” Jesus for allowing ‘this woman’ to lavish on Him a fragrant oil and waste it! Matthew says the disciples were indignant. What a sad commentary!

Do you know what the disciples were expressing? There are those who are really upset about “extravagance” poured out on Jesus. There are those who want whole-=hearted disciples to tone down their enthusiasm. There are those who would prefer you backslide to be in step with them and not embarrass them. For many, lukewarmness is a better testimony than “fire-hearted” allegiance.

There truly are those who look upon “sold-out disciples” as touched in the head, never made it to the top floor, a little crazy and certainly ‘fanatics’. A ‘fanatic’? One with great zeal and passion – when did that get colored as something bad?

What Mary did is something that we should consider as ‘off the mark,’ irresponsible, thoughtless, bordering on evil? In Mark 14:6 Jesus said, “She has done a good work for Me!”

Do you prefer to be measured by men or by Christ? Would you refer your detractors to write your biography or Jesus? Would you prefer Judas interpreting your actions or Jesus? How about man’s highest court or the Holy consciousness of God about what your life has been about? Do you prefer the frown of men or the smile of God?

You need to learn it if you haven’t already – all-out passion for Jesus will get you a ‘cold-shoulder.’ Hot-heartedness is an affront to half-heartedness. Spurgeon wrote: (Spurgeon’s Sermons, Memorial Library, Vol.16, p178), “You cannot commit a greater crime against some people than to be more useful than they are.” God’s call upon your life is the overflow of your love, your blessing, your service, your sacrifice for the King of kings, and you care not what others think whether they rain on your parade or condemn or even appreciate it. What you do unto Him is not for the judgment of men but the honor of God!

And what did Jesus say in Mark 14:9? “Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached IN THE WHOLE WORLD, what THIS WOMAN HAS DONE will also be told as a MEMORIAL TO HER.” She took that “alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard, broke the flask and poured it on Jesus’ head.” AND, it is to be TOLD ALL OVER THE WORLD AS A MEMORIAL TO HER!! What’s that about?

IT WAS, FIRST OF ALL, [without question!], A HEART MOTIVE OF UPLIFTING AND GLORIFYING CHRIST JESUS! Do you remember the birth of Jesus, how the angels came and with them a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, “Glory To God In The Highest…”? That’s the heavenly realm, with a heavenly hosts, and with angels praising God and giving Him “GLORY” for the birth of His Son.

But here, in Mark 14:6, Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me.” She wasn’t intimidated by the ‘religious crowd’ – she was inspired by Jesus. She wasn’t living her faith in a passive attitude – she actively and personally wanted to exalt Jesus Christ! Colossians 3:17 says, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

In Romans 15:6 Paul said, “that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This precious woman glorified Christ in her unselfish offering; she glorified Christ with a thankful heart; she glorified Christ with her very tears and hair; she glorified Christ as she kissed His feet and anointed them; she glorified Christ because she knew in Whom her only hope rested!

Examine romans 15:7 where Paul also said, “Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the Glory of God.” Do you see how practical and enlightening the Word of God is? It’s as if some who say they want to glorify Christ want some mystical, ethereal, celestial cloud to descend upon them – but God says, “Glorify Me?” Then, receive one another!

Even before the Cross, I believe this “sinful woman” knew the Savior. So with Paul, even before he was on the scene, she agreed: 1 Corinthians 6:20, “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” That’s acknowledgement of divine ownership!

Again, what did Paul say in the Romans 15:6 passage? “with one mind and one mouth GLORIFY GOD…” That’s walking and living in spiritual unity, in oneness, THE ONE BODY OF CHRIST GLORIFYING GOD!!

What did Jesus say in The Sermon On The Mount? Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Then in John 15:8 Jesus was so clear: “By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” FRUIT? “The fruit of the Spirit!!” FRUIT? What about the reproduction of ‘fruit-bearing’ in the souls of men? Listen to what Paul said to the Thessalonians who had come to Christ through his witness: 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20, “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?…For you are our glory and joy.”

Exalting and glorifying Christ Jesus? I love John Piper’s comment in “A Godward Life,” [p.22], when he said, “God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him.” Is Jesus your “all in all”? Is it, “For to me to live is Christ…?” Luke 7:37 says, “when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house…” “SHE KNEW!!” Hope in Christ alone. Love in Christ alone. Forgiveness in Christ alone! A future in Christ alone…And SHE comes to GLORIFY CHRIST!

IN THE SECOND PLACE, THIS IS A MEMORIAL WORLD-WIDE FOR A WOMAN WHO OUT OF LOVE WAS THANKING CHRIST FOR HIS PENDING DEATH ON THE CROSS! How do we know that? Look at Mark 14:8 where Jesus said, “She has done what she could. She has come BEFOREHAND to anoint My body for burial.” Before the fact there were those who rested in the sacrificial death of the Worthy Lamb – and they knew and understood that they were loved by God. Jesus said, “Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he was glad.” (John 8:56).

It was a slain animal whose blood was shed and skins from that slain animal became covering for their nakedness. Even Isaiah, writing 700 years before Christ’s birth, prophetically portrayed the Lamb of God, the Worthy Lamb, “led as a lamb to the slaughter,” (Isaiah 53:7), and according to Verse 5, “But He was wounded for our transgression, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” And this woman who was “a sinner” knew her plight and knew her hope! She knew God had made her, lost her, and bought her back at an enormous price, bought not with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of the Lamb of God.

You don’t see it in the natural realm but you know “the sinful woman” was building a beautiful “temple of love” and stone upon stone unfolds before us: “I love Him because He first loved me.” “I love Him because His sacrifice was in my behalf.” “I love Him because He closed the door on my past.” “I love Him because He promises His abiding Presence to walk with me.” “I love Him because He’s opened the door for me into His eternal home.” “I love Him because He closed the door for me to Hell where I was headed without Him.”

THIRD, NOTICE ALSO THIS MEMORIAL REVEALS A COMMITMENT TO THOROUGH, INTENSE, SACRIFICIAL PREPARATION, remembering her testimony, and encouraging our devotion. John reveals this significant understanding when in John 12:7 Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has KEPT THIS for the day of My burial.”

She “kept this.” She held it fast. She kept it close. She maintained it. She guarded it. She had her eye upon her gift to Jesus and nothing was going to spoil it. She “kept this”. What have YOU reserved that’s only for Jesus? What are you protecting and guarding as wholly reserved for the honor of Christ? What is locked away in your heart that is totally devoted to Christ alone?

I don’t know how long she’d made preparation for this historic ministry, but I tell you – it was no impulse, it was no afterthought, it was no sudden decision to do something for Jesus. I believe in some prior day, month, or year, this woman, in bondage to her sin, heard Jesus talk about His deliverance unto death, how they’d spit upon Him and scourge Him, and nail Him to a tree – all because of God’s love for – and even though He would die and be buried, He would RISE AGAIN – and she believed it, she responded to it, and she began to consider, plan, get ready to meet Him and pour out upon Him that flask of fragrant oil.

What’s the flask of fragrant oil that you’re keeping in the Name of Jesus? What are you holding onto to pour out on Him in an expression of overflowing love?

To Timothy, Paul said, (2 Timothy 1:13-14), “Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus…That good thing which was commanded to you, KEEP BY THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO DWELLS IN US.”

Revelation 3:8 says, “…you…have kept My Word, and have not denied My name.” Verse 10, says, “…you’ve kept My command to persevere…” Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7, “…I’ve kept the faith.” To the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:20-21 Paul said, “I kept back nothing that was helpful…testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”

And this memorial? It was a commitment to thorough, intense, sacrificial preparation in honoring Jesus with our devotion – and it’s steadfastness undergirded by Sovereign Grace! Philippians 2:12-13 says we’re “working out our own salvation…(knowing)…it is God who is at work in (us), both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

It’s a strange word for far too many church-goers. It’s the word: devotion, devoted, dedicated, resolved, determined – here’s how Paul put it in 1 Corinthians 2:2, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” And in our modern “information” society, nothing could be more important for every life in determining what or Who has your heart, where and why you take your next steps in investing your life for saving it or losing it. This woman “KEPT” her intention to HONOR the Lord Jesus Christ!

In closing this chapter, please notice: THIS IS A WORLD-WIDE MEMORIAL BECAUSE OF THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE COSTLINESS OF HER DEED! Several things you must see:

There was costliness in the gift she poured out. Look at Mark 14:3-5! “…a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke it and poured it in His head…But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, Why was this fragrant oil wasted?…For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor…”

Remember that instruction to David about erecting an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Arunah the Jebusite? Arunah wanted to give it to David, but listen to David’s response in 2 Samuel 24:24, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price: nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God WITH THAT WHICH COSTS ME NOTHING.”

There’s no doubt that Judas got involved, keeper of the disciples’ purse strings, penny-pincher, greedy, the one who sold his soul for 30 pieces of silver. Judas lived in the accusatory mood and couldn’t see love. Remember the woman who gave her last two mites? Two women – and even with those great sacrifices, they would tell you, it wasn’t enough.

Listen to Spurgeon as he preached on this subject and this particular truth of understanding the costliness: (Vol.16, Spurgeon’s Sermons, Memorial Library, p186), “…the glory of service to Christ is to serve Him with the best of the best! He deserves, if we serve Him with sermons, that we preach the best discourses mind can frame or tongue deliver; or if we serve Him with teaching in the class, He deserves that we teach in the tenderest fashion, and feed His lambs with the best of the grass; or if we serve Him with the pen, that we write not a line that may need to be erased; or if we served Him with money, that we give with liberality of the best we have, and much of it…”

But, oh, to give to Jesus freely, richly, whatever it is with which He has entrusted us, whether it be the minted coinage of the purse, or the living courage of a loving heart, gold or genius or words, or the labor of a loving hand, let us give our Well-Beloved the best we have, and He will call it beautiful! Mary’s gift was all for Him, and all for love, and it was done at great expense, and therefore it was beautiful. In other words, Jesus not only acknowledged it and accepted it, but ascribed to it a WORLD-WIDE MEMORIAL STATUS!

Jesus eternally remembers the heart of a sin-ladened woman forgiven by the master’s love. Jesus eternally remembers the confession of the thief on the Cross, “Remember me when You come into Your Kingdom,” and He does.

The Psalmist said, (Psalm 25:6), “Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses, For they are from of old.” And He does!! His mercies are new every morning.

In verse 7 the Psalmist said, “Remember not the sins of my youth…” And He doesn’t – they are in the sea of His forgetfulness, cast as far as the east is from the west!

And when this “sinful woman” came to Christ Jesus, it was at great cost – she laid everything down at the feet of Jesus! It was Martha Stockton who wrote the words to “Redeeming Love”:

“God loved the world of sinners lost and ruined by the fall; Salvation full, at highest cost, He offers free to all…

Even now by faith I claim Him mine, The risen Son of God; Redemption by His death I find, and cleansing through His blood…

Believing souls, rejoicing go, There shall to you be given; A glorious foretaste, here below, Of endless life in heaven…

With victory over Satan’s power My heart with rapture sings, I’ll triumph in the dying hour Through Christ, the King of kings.”

What a story!! “A sinful woman” through the grace of God has established in her name a singing, shouting, sensational memorial of one who looked only to Jesus!

Memory of Mary – the anointer! She anointed Jesus with her tears, with all she had, with her faith and trust, with her boldness to step in where angels fear to tread, with her love and selfless expressions, with her hope and trust and surrender…AND GOD HONORS HER FOR HER DEVOTION TO CHRIST JESUS!

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHRIST JESUS OR THE SELLING OF THE SOUL

If you dare repeat the title of this chapter, Christ Jesus Or The Selling Of The Soul, there is a chilling effect that grips your very being! And we have to ask, are there really people who’ve forfeited Christ and who’ve sold their souls?

I look at the Clintons, both Bill and Hillary, and see people who’ve sold their souls for political, fleshly, and financial gains. Being from Tennessee originally, I often wondered how Al Gore could so easily sell his soul!

I look at teen-agers on the streets all over America who’ve sold their bodies as well as their souls because they wanted free of parental control or parental abuse – and they reaped a whirlwind of terrible degradation.

I began to pastor churches in 1963, and in about 52 years of ministry, I’ve witnessed even pastors who ended up bankrupt in every respect because they sols themselves for a few moments of sexual pleasure.

Jesus asked a powerful, penetrating, and gripping question that ought to stop every man in his tracks when in Matthew 16:26 Jesus asked, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” He had told His disciples, and us, (Matthew 6:33), “Seek first the kingdom of God…”, but you realize there are those totally focused on the kingdom of self!

John said to Gaius in 3 John 2, “…I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, JUST AS YOUR SOUL PROSPERS.” God’s aim for us is “soul prosperity” but far too many live bankrupt lives because of the selling of the soul for that which does not produce God’s blessing.

In Isaiah 55:1-2 God spoke: “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price…Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your souls delight itself in abundance.” In You, is there soul abundance or soul deprivation and emptiness?

The ‘classic’ selling of the soul is found in Matthew 26:14-16, “Then one of the twelve, called Judas Ischariot, went to the chief priests…and said, What are you willing to give me if I deliver Jesus to you? And they counted out to him 30 pieces of silver…So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.”

In verses 47-50 there’s the follow-up: “And while He was still speaking, behold Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people… Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him…Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ And kissed Him…But Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, why have you come?’ Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.” WHAT WILL A MAN GIVE IN EXCHANGE FOR HIS SOUL?

Notice, FIRST, THOSE WHO SELL THEIR “BIRTHRIGHT” FOR A “MESS OF POTTAGE.” That’s Esau, and we find his story in Genesis 25:29-34, “Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, (by the way, Jesus said, ‘the field is the world!’), and he was weary…(Worldliness always produces tiredness!!), And Esau said to Jacob, ‘Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.’ Therefore his name was called Edom…But Jacob said, ‘Sell me your birthright as of this day.’…And Esau said, ‘Look, I am about to die; so what is the birthright to me?’…Then Jacob said, ‘Swear to me as of this day.’ So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob… And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, AND WENT HIS WAY. Thus Esau despised his birthright.”

Let’s let the New Testament give us some insight on Esau. Hebrews 12:16 says, “…lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.” That word ‘profane’ means ‘godless.’

There’s no hesitation in saying that godlessness always produces tiredness, and men like Esau are always looking for a bigger hit to get the same satisfaction and end up EMPTY. He said he was ‘about to die,’ not from malnutrition, but because of the course and direction of his life.

Here he is: broad and brawny and brown of body from his outdoors’ style of life, but bent and broken and bitter and blinded in his soul toward the things of the spirit. THE SELLING OF THE SOUL!!

Here’s a “man’s man” with mythical spiritual measurements and hopes. Here’s a man of the smelling aromas of flesh that had captured his heart yet never satisfied. Here’s a man who looked to immediate satisfactions with no view of eternal blessings. Here’s a man who scoffed at “birthrights” as totally unimportant to his life bent toward death, even though he didn’t know it or couldn’t understand it. Here’s a man who would sell his soul for a moment of momentary pleasure. Here’s a man who chose the profane over the Holy. Here’s a man of the Nimrod mentality who was a hunter but had no passion to find God. Here’s a man who sold his soul for his hairy image with no ambition of holy inspiration. Jesus was right, Luke 14:11, “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

In Mark 8:35 Jesus said, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it.” Did you catch Esau’s path of life in Genesis 25:34? Having sold his birthright, eating and drinking because he was about to die, AROSE, “AND WENT HIS WAY.” Do you remember Proverbs 14:12? “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” If Esau heard, “This is the way, walk in it,” he’d say, “My way is the way and that’s where I’m walking,” and he sells his soul!

SECONDLY, CONSIDER THE SELLING OF THE SOUL THROUGH THE SINFUL SENSUOUSNESS OF SEXUAL IMMORALITY! I want to begin with the New Testament principle inspired by the Holy Spirit! It’s 1 Thessalonians 4:3, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality.”

Do you realize how foreign that is to the majority of American society who bow before the idols of sexual, immoral indulgence? In 1 Peter 2:11 Peter challenges us, “Beloved, I beg you, as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.” I love what John Piper said in “A Godward Life,” (p119), “If you love God’s gift of sexuality, take a stand for treating it like precious gems rather than common gravel. Guard it in the velvet-lined safe of steel commitment. Don’t strew it on the street or in the press.”

If you don’t know how vulgar sexual immorality has become, you’re void of decency and Godly wisdom. You’re selling the soul for cheap moments and bad memories, and sometimes difficult, painful results. “Used goods,” “Second hand,” “Practice dummies,” are not good image builders but deflators. Sex offenders in any shape, form, or fashion become the enemies of God, because they violate holy covenants.

Come to Leviticus 18:20-30 for a wake-up call!! “Moreover you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, to defile yourself with her…And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of the Lord your God: I am the Lord…You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination…Nor shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion…Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you…For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants…You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among…(for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled)… lest the land vomit you ought also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you…For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people…Therefore you shall keep My ordinance, so that you do not commit any of these abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you do not defile yourselves by them; I am the Lord your God.”

There is either going to be “the selling of the soul” through sexual immorality or the dedication of the soul and body to the honor and glory of God. When it comes to decisions about sex, they should never be made by your glands but by your heads and your hearts!

I’m not here to condemn you if you’ve sold yourself short of the glory of God but to challenge you to repentance and faith because God sits on a throne of mercy. There is forgiveness – Samson found it after being sheared. David found it after his horrible fall, and though forgiven, lived with sad consequences the rest of his life. The woman with 5 husbands and living with another not her husband found forgiveness. BUT THEIR FAILURES SHOULD NEVER BE USED AS AN EXCUSE FOR YOUR FALLS! Forgiveness, mercy, and love is the language of God proven at Calvary!

Charles Colson, in his powerful book, “Loving God,” tells the story of Patti Awan as she poured her heart out to her congregation in suburban Washington. Now she’s a young Sunday School teacher, married to a great husband named Javy, and now with children. Hear what Patti had to say:

“Years ago a young girl sat crying on the floor of a New Jersey apartment, devastated by the news of a lab report. Unmarried and alone, she had just learned she was pregnant.” A hush fell over the assembly of believers; with flowing tears it didn’t take long for the church to realize who this young woman was – it was Patti Awan!

“I considered myself a Christian at the time,” she continued, ‘but I had found out about Christ while in the drug scene. After I learned about Him, I knew I wanted to commit myself to Him, but I couldn’t give up my old friends or my old habits. So I was drifting between two worlds – in one smoking dope every day and sleeping with the man who lived in the apartment below mine; in the other, going to church, witnessing to others, and working with the church youth group.’

“But being pregnant ripped through the hypocrisy of my double life. I had been meaning to ‘get right with God’ but I kept slipping back. Now I couldn’t live a nice, clean Christian life like all those church people.

“I felt the only answer was to wipe the slate clean. I would get an abortion; no one in the church would ever know. The clinic scheduled an abortion date. I was terrified, but my boyfriend was adamant. My sister was furious with me for being so stupid as to get pregnant. Finally, in desperation I wrote my parents. They were staunch Catholics, and I knew they would support me if I decided to have the baby. My mother called me: “If you don’t get an abortion, I don’t want to see you while you are pregnant. Your life will be ruined and you’ll deserve it.”

“I had always been desperately dependent on other people. But I knew this was one decision I had to make alone. I was looking out my bedroom window one night when I thought clearly for the first time in weeks. I realized I either believed Christianity or I didn’t believe it. And if I believed in Christ, then I couldn’t do this. God is real, I thought, even if I’ve never lived like He is.

“That decision was a point of no return. I put my faith in the God of the Bible, not the God I had made up in my head. I was still everything I didn’t want to be – pregnant, alone, deserted by family, and rejected by the one I had loved. Yet for the first time in my life I was really peaceful, because I knew for the first time I was being obedient.

“When I went to the obstetrician and told him of my decision to have the baby and why I had made that choice, he refused to charge me for pre-natal care and delivery. I confessed my double life to the church, and through the support of Christians was able to move away from my old friends to an apartment of my own. I began going to a Christian counseling agency and felt God leading me to give the baby up for adoption. “I had a beautiful baby girl and named her Sarah. She was placed with a childless Christian couple, and we all felt God’s hand in the decision.

“And so that’s why I praise God this evening. I thought in the depths of my despair that my life was ruined, but I knew I had to at least be obedient in taking responsibility for my sin. But today, because of that every despair and obedience, I have what I never thought I could – a godly husband and children of my own. But what matters more than anything is that what I was searching for so desperately before – peace with God.” [“Loving God,” Charles Colson, Zondervan Publishing House, 1987,1996, pps167-169].

THIRD, LOOK AT SOULS SOLD IN THE SERIOUSNESS OF LEADERSHIP REBELLION! There are two verses in Hebrews 13 I want you to study, and then we’ll journey to Numbers 16. Hebrews 13:7 says, “Remember those who rule (or lead) over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of your conduct.” Hebrews 13:17 then says, “Obey those who rule (or lead) over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.”

Those are two powerful, penetrating verses! But when it comes to true “pastoral leadership” always remember that the greatest among you is the servant of all. Biblical leadership is never tyrannical, dictatorial, bossy leadership, but one that is in front of the pack showing the servant spirit of Christ Jesus.

True servant leaders lead, speak the Word of God to you, leading out of the overflow of a living faith, watching out for your souls, knowing they must give an account of your follow-ship or failure to do so, which will be either with joy or with grief. You’re either a “profitable” follower or an “unprofitable” rebel. You’re either a submissive servant or rebellious ‘church boss’ who keeps a fellowship on the edge of explosive trouble. “Mutual submissiveness in the fear of God” is the call to both church leadership and church follow-ship which produces a sweet fellowship.

Swindoll, in “Come Before Winter,” (p.179), gives a word of encouragement to leaders. “Run hard as you set a new pace. Refuse to reduce your stride. Embrace quality and excellence and determination. WITHOUT FUDGING ONE INCH ON INTEGRITY AND HUMILITY push on…lead on. Ignore the “little” world of onlookers who are too petty to produce, too suspicious to affirm, too envious to acknowledge greatness. Go hard after your goal, get on with it!” In other words, pastors, never lose sight of the greatness of servanthood!

But what is you’re a follower who has determined no man will have oversight over you? What if you’ve determined, all are holy, and no Moses will lead you? What if, in your spiritual ignorance and immaturity, you oppose God-appointed, God-anointed leaders? YOU’RE IN THE PROCESS OF SELLING YOUR SOUL!

Come to Numbers 16, and in the first few verses look at Korah, Dathan, and Abiram as they RISE UP AGAINST MOSES! Verse 3, “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”

Men are never exalted, but Almighty God will surely elevate men to places of leadership that He chooses, and His people are to follow. Look carefully at Numbers 16:19-38! [Please read!!]. But look carefully at verse 38 where God Himself says, “these men who SINNED AGAINST THEIR OWN SOULS…shall be a sign to the children of Israel.” In 1 Chronicles 16:22 God gave a clear warning: “Do not touch My anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm.” ‘Nuff said!’

LOOK AT ANOTHER MAJOR DIMENSION OF THE “SOUL-SELLERS”! IT’S THOSE WHO SELL THEIR SOULS TO THE IDOLS OF THEIR GOLD AND SILVER, so money-hungry they bow before the dollar sign rather than bow before Holy God! Come to Ezekial 7:19 and read carefully: “They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be like refuse; their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord; they WILL NOT SATISFY THEIR SOULS, nor fill their stomachs, because it became their STUMBLING BLOCK OF INIQUITY.”

Do you remember Jesus sharing the Parable of the Rich fool? It’s found in Luke 12 where in verse 15 Jesus said: “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” Yet how many do you know or have seen who bow before the idol of money? It consumes them, controls them, directs them, envelops them – “more, more, more! Give me more!”

Anonymously someone has written: “For those who seek the answer in homes, lands, and rings, WILL SOMEDAY FIND THAT EMPTY LIVES ARE JUST AS EMPTY FILLED WITH THINGS.” Read carefully Luke 12:16-21!! “Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully…And he thought to himself, saying, What shall I do since I have no room to store my crops?…So he said, I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods…And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years: take your ease, eat, drink and be merry…But God said to him, FOOL! THIS NIGHT YOUR SOUL WILL BE REQUIRED OF YOU; then whose will those things be with which you have provided?…So is he who lays up for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

The Bill Gates and Warren Buffets and Ted Turners of the world ought to turn their attention to the words of Jesus along with every other man who is RICH TOWARD HIMSELF and not rich toward God! They’ve sold their souls for what? [Read carefully Revelation 18:9-20 and repent now!!].

Come now to Ezekial 13 and see those who have SOLD THEIR SOULS FOR A SPIRIT OF DIVINATION! There is divine leadership, but sadly some substitute God’s leadership for the “diviners.” Do you know about which I speak? Look at Ezekial 13:18-23, “Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the women who sew magic charms on their sleeves and make veils for the heads of people of every height TO HUNT SOULS! Will you hunt the souls of My people, and keep yourselves alive?…And will you profane Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, killing people who should not die, and keeping people alive who should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies?…Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against your magic charms by which you hunt souls like birds. I will tear them from your arms, and let the souls go, the souls you hunt like birds….I will also tear off your veils and deliver My people out of your hand, and they shall no longer be as prey in your hand. Then you shall know that I am the Lord…Because with lies you have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and you have strengthened the hands of the wicked, so that he does not turn from his wicked way to save his life…Therefore you shall no longer envision futility nor practice divination; for I will deliver My people out of your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

And some would say, “What an out-dated, irrelevant passage of Scripture. It doesn’t apply to our enlightened age.” And how wrong they are! I believe it was the summer of 1981 when Sue and I traveled to the island of Grenada to do a conference for the Windward Islands missionaries at the invitation of the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. In the host church I met a young man that I was intrigued by. The host missionary-pastor told me he had fled Houston, Texas, after being convicted of ties to the Houston Mafia, the youngest Supreme Court justice of Texas at the age of 32. U.S. authorities couldn’t touch him on Grenada and he was enrolled in medical school there. Later, in India, I told this story to a national leader who traveled often to Houston. Before this young man’s conversion, my India friend had been in his office, witnessing a “crystal ball” on his desk, and asking him about it. Every morning on the phone with his ‘enchanter’, as he gazed into the crystal ball, he was getting instructions about financial, judicial, and other matters. The young man later came to Christ, but after having fled to Grenada, needing another course from another island medical school, traveled there and was met by the FBI. He may still be in prison as far as I know.

So many across our world, including America, are trapped in the devilish activity of divination. They’re slaves to their magic charms, crystal balls, horoscopes, even to voices of the demons and don’t even know it.

But there are precious promises for deliverance for those who have sold their souls to ‘magical’ slavery. Listen to Psalm 124:7-8, “Our souls have escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth.”

Year after year, in India, 25 years of travel 5-6 trips a year, I personally witnessed those with AMULETS around their necks and wrists, wanting to be free, break off the amulet, call upon Jesus, and be instantly and dramatically and gloriously healed, delivered, and born-again! [Acts 19:11-20 tells of great victory over the spirit of divination!].

But notice also THE SELLING OF THE SOUL IN TURNING DEAF EARS TO THE ONLY HOPE FOR ETERNAL SALVATION! Examine Acts 3:22-26, “For Moses truly said to the fathers, The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. HIM YOU SHALL HEAR IN ALL THINGS, whatever He says to you…And it shall be THAT EVERY SOUL WHO WILL NOT HEAR THAT PROPHET shall be utterly destroyed from among the people…from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days…You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, And in your seed all the families of the earth are blessed…To you, first, God, having raised up His servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquity.”

There’s only one hope that saves, one way that opens the door to reconciliation with Holy God, One Savior and One Lamb whose shed blood washes us white as snow – that’s Jesus!! Hebrews 6:18 speaks of having strong consolation, “who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us…Verse 19, this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil…Verse 20, where the forerunner has entered for us, Even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” But remember, the Word says, “Every soul that WILL NOT HEAR shall be destroyed.” It’s that Proverbs passage when God said, “I called, but you refused.”

Mohammed doesn’t SAVE – he indoctrinates and numbs souls to the love of God. Buddha doesn’t SAVE – he blinds. Confusius? He doesn’t SAVE – he confuses. Religion has never saved, never will – but the Blood Redemption of Christ Jesus transforms, regenerates, reconciles, renews a right relationship with Holy God. THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST JESUS IS GOOD NEWS not bad news; it’s GOOD NEWS – not sad news. It’s a message to shout to the world that they might at least hear their hope – yet there are those who will not hear.

Acts 4:12 is not untruth but the declaration of the only truth! “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” The only name? Christ Jesus! Lamb of God! John was right when in John 1:4 he said of Christ Jesus, “In Him was life, and the light was the light of men.” It’s why Jesus Himself said in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, AND THERE ARE MANY WHO GO IN BY IT…Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Here’s Paul’s word to the church at Rome, Romans 6:4, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Did you hear it? To the church at Corinth and to you, Paul said, 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Hear – and respond!

Last of all in this chapter on THE SELLING OF THE SOUL: WHAT ABOUT THOSE WHO DRAW NEAR BUT THEN DRIFT BACK TO DESTRUCTION? That’s Hebrews 10:38-39, “Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone DRAWS BACK, My soul has no pleasure in him…But we are not those who draw back to perdition, but of those who BELIEVE (and keep on believing!) to the saving of the soul.”

It’s the sad story of King Agrippa who heard the vibrant testimony of Paul’s conversion. He heard the Gospel and then said, (Acts 26:28), “Paul, you ALMOST persuade me to become a Christian.” ALMOST…BUT LOST!! How very, very sad. Agrippa sold his soul. Have you?

P.P. Bliss wrote this long-forgotten hymn: “Almost persuaded” now to believe; “Almost persuaded” Christ to receive; Seems now some soul to say, ‘Go, Spirit, go Thy way, Some more convenient day on Thee I’ll call..

“Almost persuaded,” come, come today; “Almost persuaded” turn not away; Jesus invites you here, Angels are lingering near, Prayers rise from hearts so dear, O wanderer come…

“Almost persuaded” harvest is past! “Almost persuaded” doom comes at last! “Almost” cannot avail; “Almost” is but to fail! Sad, sad, that bitter wail – “Almost” – but lost!” Came close – but drew back! Drew near – but turned away! Considered – then rejected God’s gracious invitation! It was John Piper who said, “When a man is wrapped up in himself, he makes a pretty small package!”

I don’t want to be a small package – I want to be wrapped up in God’s Bigness! It’s not to be, “almost” – but fully persuaded and fully surrendered! In “Come Before Winter,” (p208), Swindoll said: “We need to hear the voice of the Ringmaster as He raises His hand to stop the band: ‘We interrupt this program to bring all of you a reminder that the world in which you live is not the whole world, but only a very small part of the world FOR WHICH I DIED.’” Small world for you – or BIG GOD?

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHRIST JESUS’ FREEING OF THE GUILTY

Matthew 27:15-26 doesn’t seem to show us Christ Jesus’ “Freeing of the Guilty”! It says: “Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished. And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas…

Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy. While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.”…

But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” They said, “Barabbas!” Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!”…

Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!” When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.”…

And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.” Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.”

The year was 1829. The scene is a federal courtroom. Two men, Wilson and Porter, had been convicted of robbing the U.S. mails, and received a sentence of death by hanging. But just three weeks before the time was set for George Wilson’s execution, he received a pardon by then President Andrew Jackson. Listen to Wilson’s response! He refused the pardon! The Supreme Court of the U.S. became involved and the court gave its decision: “a pardon is a deed, to the validity of which delivery is essential. AND DELIVERY IS NOT COMPLETE WITHOUT ACCEPTANCE. It may then be rejected by the person to whom it is tendered; and if it is rejected, we have discovered no power in this court to force it upon him.”

It was because of Jesus that Barabbas, a murderer, was released from prison. You and I and every person on the face of God’s earth has received a pardon through the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary’s Cross, but…”DELIVERY IS NOT COMPLETE WITHOUT ACCEPTANCE.”

John 3:16 says, “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.” But the 18^th verse of John 3 also says, “He that believes not is condemned.”

Look with me at Mark 15:15, “So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.” Pilate, wanting to content the defiant, the unbelievers, the rebellious, frees a murderer, scourges Jesus with 39 lashes, and turns Him over to an angry mob to be crucified.

Pilate had asked, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” And they said to him, “Let Him be crucified!” And every man, woman, and child, past, present, and future will be called to answer that question, “What will YOU DO with Jesus who is called Christ?” “DELIVERY IS NOT COMPLETE WITHOUT ACCEPTANCE!”

The verdict on all mankind? Guilty! “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” not because of what we’ve done but who we are: First Adfam, Fallen Humanity, Born In Sin, Debtors To God, Alienated and Separated, Void in the Inner Man of Holy Presence, Fully “Flesh”, estranged from Christ, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope in and of ourselves, without God in the world, “old man,” who has given place to the devil, darkness residers, cave dwellers hidden away from Eternal Purpose, dwellers in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, created for God’s pleasure and praise but living unto self-will, self-rule, self-pleasure, aimless in this world, absent of divine intent…uncircumcised in the heart, sold souls, incomplete, unfulfilled, a huge vacuum in the heart, devoid of understanding of the good, acceptable and perfect will of God, sin-ravaged, sensual pleasure consumed, devil-controlled because of the title deed to your life he was given, subject to his bondage and fearing death, a slave to sin and its passions and perversions…don’t know God, does not obey the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, a life-messenger and example of the mystery of lawlessness, guided by unrighteous deception, fornicators, adulterers, homosexuals, liars, perjurers, profane, unholy, enslaved to youthful lusts, forms of godliness but deny the “real thing,” learning but refusing to come to the knowledge of the Truth…covenant breakers, law breakers, vow breakers, home breakers, heart breakers, professing to know God but in works denying Him, bloodless in belief, religious but not reconciled or regenerated or redeemed or renewed…professors without possession, insulters of the Spirit of grace, self-seekers in the heart and mind, guided by a wisdom that is earthly, sensual, and demonic, a capability of the worst of the worst, a design of even evilness IN THE HEART, a bent away from God not toward Him, “LOST,”:

Wrong is right, bad is good, evil is entertaining rather than deathly, dark is light, curse is cool, sin is acceptable, hypocrisy is HIP, black is white…Walking both sides of the street is normal with one foot in Heaven and the other in Hell, abortion is normal in my culture of death, adultery is acceptable in a ME, MY, MINE GENERATION… Sexual immorality is not immoral – it’s a free choice of a free society that does as it pleases, self-will is sensible in a self-seeking society… And God’s estimation of me? – who cares? What matters is the discipline of self-determination in my God-less world… Spiritually blind toward God is not a bad thing – I see what I want to see…The absence of fences is brilliant – I don’t want anything or anyone telling me what to do or not to do…

Why is that? “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God!” Proverbs 20:9 says, Who can say, “I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?” The prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 53:6 wrote: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way…” Then, the beloved John wrote in 1 John 1:8, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Then again, I Isaiah 64:6 we read: “But we all are as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness is as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

On the foundation of these Biblical truths there are several vital truths that must pierce our minds and hearts if the story of Barabbas comes alive for us:

FIRST, I MUST SEE MYSELF AS “THE BEAST” AND UNDERSTAND ONLY THE “BEAUTY OF CHRIST” AND HIS KISS OF REDEEMING LOVE BRINGING ME TO TRANSFORMING FREEDOM! Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont wrote that powerful mythical story entitled, “Beauty and the Beast.” And I know some will react to it, “We’re not beastly,” and I can only say, “God, open our eyes to ourselves, to what we’re really like without You.” Remember the story?

“Now Beauty feared that she had caused his death. She ran throughout the palace, sobbing loudly. After searching everywhere, she recalled her dream and ran into the garden toward the canal, where she had seen him in her sleep. There she found the poor Beast stretched out unconscious. She thought he was dead. Without concern for his horrifying looks, she threw herself on his body and felt his heart beating. So she fetched some water from the canal and threw it on his face…

Beast opened his eyes and said, “You forgot your promise, Beauty. The grief I fel;t upon having lost you made me decide to fast to death. But I shall not die content since I have the pleasure of seeing you one more time…

“No, my dear Beast, you shall not die,” said Beauty. “You will live to become my husband. I give you my hand, and I swear that I belong only to you from this moment on. Alas! I thought that I only felt friendship for you, but the torment I am feeling makes me realize that I cannot live without you.”

Beauty had scarcely uttered these words when the castle radiated with light. Fireworks and music announced a feast. These attractions did not hold her attention, though. She returned her gaze to her dear Beast, whose dangerous condition made her tremble. How great was her surprise when she discovered that the Beast had disappeared, and at her feet was a prince more handsome than EROS himself, who thanked her for putting an end to his enchantment.”

I know that millions go on in their ‘beastliness’ never knowing the transformation that comes from “the kiss of Christ,” but there are those who know, “God demonstrates His own love for us, in that, while we were yet ‘sinners’ Christ died for us,” and through God’s transforming grace, we become saints!

What did I say? I MUST SEE MYSELF AS “THE BEAST” AND UNDERSTAND ONLY THE BEAUTY OF CHRIST BRINGS TRANSFORMING FREEDOM! “All have sinned…” That’s me! “Christ frees and forgives…” – that’s the Gospel, the “good news,” the message of God’s eternal hope in and through Christ alone!

In Luke 7:30-35 we learn the second truth that liberates: “Christ Jesus – THE FRIEND OF SINNERS!!” To the Pharisees it was a derogatory term, but to sinners it’s their deliverance and healing of an eternal disease! “But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by Him…And the Lord said, To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like?…They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying, ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance, we mourned to you, and you did not weep.’…For John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking wine, and you say, He has a demon…The Son of Man has come eating, and drinking, and you say, Look. A glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!…But wisdom is justified by all her children.’

Next event? Look at it – it’s Luke 7:37!! “And behold, a woman who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil…and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with fragrant oil.”

Why? Because being a sinner and knowing it, she discovered that Jesus is THE FRIEND OF SINNERS. In Luke 7:48 Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” And the Pharisee’s response? Verse 49, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” That’s Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, That’s Messiah, divinely appointed by God to show His love for sinners. Luke 19:10 then declares, Jesus speaking, “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Matthew 20:28 says, “Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” In the beginning of earthly time, following the Fall, with a broken heart – God knowing He must judge sin, provided an ark of safety – it was the prophetic sign of the coming safety found in the Savior, Jesus Christ, friend of sinners!

Romans 5:19 says, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” “Friend of Sinners!”

Jesus Had To Go To Samaria – because there was a sinful woman who needed a loving Savior. There was another woman, caught in adultery – the Pharisees would stone her, Jesus forgave her. There was a persecutor of the church, a hater of Christ’s teachings, chiefest of sinners – but he met Christ, friend of sinners, on the Damascus Road and his life was changed. Peter denied Him, but Jesus loved Peter – He’s the friend of sinners. The disciples forsook Jesus, but Jesus loved His own – He’s the Friend of Sinners! Our world, our kind, our constituency, our family, our fellow citizens of the kingdom of darkness, crucified Jesus – but He’s the Friend of Sinners!

True friends are forgiving, true friends are faithful, true friends are forceful coming to stand beside us and help us, true friends are FULL of blessings and want to share them, true faithful friends are always able to be found – they don’t hide from us, go their separate ways; no, true friends are of the nature and character of Christ Himself, “The Friend of Sinners.”

THE THIRD TRUTH I WANT YOU TO SEE IS THE TRUE FRIEND WHO BRINGS TRUE FREEDOM! If there were no Jesus, there would be a dead Barabbas! Can you imagine that scene two thousand years ago? Here’s Barabbas, behind bars, chained to his conviction, guilty of murder and sedition, under a death sentence.

But someone came to him, “Barabbas, get your things together – you’ve been freed!” Barabbas responds, “What do you mean free? I’m under the sentence of death!” And the jailer responded, “Someone named Jesus is going to die in your place. You’re free!” The prison doors were opened and the guilty man walked out free never to face that same conviction and sentence of death ever again!

In John 8:31-32 Jesus said, “If you ABIDE IN MY WORD (forgiven, free, fulfilled, finished product complete in Christ lacking nothing!), you are My disciples indeed…And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

The prophet Isaiah unveiled for Barabbas and us the liberating work of Christ, Isaiah 61:1, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me (the Messiah); because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he has sent ME to bind up the brokenhearted, TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” GLORY!! FREEDOM!! Romans 8:2, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”

FREEDOM!! Romans 8:21, “Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”

FREEDOM!! Hebrews 2:14 tells us we’re to be free from the control of Satan, and verse 15 says free from the “fear of death (who) were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”

FREEDOM!! From aimlessness, headed toward nothing, because (Philippians 1:21), “For to me to LIVE is Christ.”

FREEDOM!! 1 Peter 1:3 says we’re free from hopelessness! “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy, has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

FREEDOM!! “Free from the law, O happy condition, Jesus has bled and there is remission.”

FREEDOM!! In bondage to the elements of this fallen world, we’ve come out of slavery to its passions to BE sons and daughters of God Almighty!

FREEDOM!! Debtors, chained, behind prison bars of our own making, but Jesus opened the prison doors, called His own sheep by name, and led them out.

And Paul challenges us in Galatians 5:1, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which CHRIST HAS MADE US FREE, and do not be entangled with a yoke of bondage.”

Julia Ward Howe, in the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” nailed it: “In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me;…

As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, While God is marching on.”

George Gordon, Lord Byron, in “Sacred Songs, Sound the Loud Timbrel,” wrote: “Sound the loud timbrel o’er Egypt’s dark sea! Jehovah has triumphed – His people are free.”

What about the “free” Barabbas? I wonder if he heard Paul’s exhortation to the Galatians? (5:13), “For you, brethren, HAVE BEEN CALLED TO LIBERTY; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

LAST TRUTH IN THIS CHAPTER – BARABBAS IS FREE, CHRIST HAS DIED ON THE CROSS OF CALVARY – IS THE CROSS THE CONTINUAL FOCUS OF BARABBAS’ FREEDOM OR A FORGOTTEN MEMORY? It’s five years later – has Barabbas found himself back at the Cross reflectively considering Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice? Ten years later, forty years later – as Barabbas comes to his death-bed, is the Cross of Christ upon his mind and heart?

I rejoice in John Piper’s statement in “A Godward Life,” (p153), “I could not go on without the Cross. Why? Because periodically I discover surprising sinfulness in me that I did not know anything about. Without the Cross to cover all that, I would despair because I am sure that in the folds of my heart there remains unknown corruption.”

Remembering the Cross? Psalm 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

Remembering the Cross? 1 Peter 2:24, “Who His own self bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.”

Remembering the Cross? Isaiah 53:5, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.”

Did Barabbas forget? Could we forget? Isaac Watts was so moved by his reflection upon the Cross, he wrote these words: “Alas, and did my Savior bleed? And did my Sovereign die? Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?…

Was it for crimes that I have done, He groaned upon the tree? Amazing pity! Grace unknown! And love beyond degree!…

Well might the sun in darkness hide, And shut His glories in, When Christ, the mighty Maker died, For man, the creature’s sin…

But drops of grief can ne’er repay The debt of Love I owe; Here, Lord, I give myself away, It’s all that I can do!…

At the Cross, At the Cross, where I first saw the light, And the burden of my heart rolled away, It was there by faith I received my sight, And now I am happy all the day!” AMEN?

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHRIST JESUS, AND THE FAME OF THE PRIVILEGED

Three verses I want us to read before we examine Christ Jesus, and the Fame of the Privileged: Matthew 27:32, “Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His Cross.”

Mark 15:21, “Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His Cross.”

Luke 23:26, “Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the Cross that he might bear it after Jesus.”

The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia, about 1300 pages long, with a short paragraph on the world’s famous people, including political figures, religious leaders, Nobel prize-winners, the Pulitzer prize winners for journalism, sports heroes, like Hammerin’ Hank Aaron, or a Bill Gates catalogued as a computer genius, or South African Nelson Mandela, our 35^th president John F. Kennedy, France’s Napoleon Bonaparte, the popes, the caliphs, the Dalai Lamas, the archbishops, presidents, Supreme Court justices – BUT NO SIMON OF CYRENE!

Is that name familiar to you? Does it even spur any interest? Simon, a Hellenistic Jew, from Cyrene, on the north coast of Africa. Many Cyrenes had come to Jerusalem and established a settlement, no doubt to further their religious education, to establish business contacts, and to build businesses themselves. Simon may have been one of the attendants at the feast, (Acts 2:10), the time period of the celebration of Passover. You know from New Testament History and the Gospels that Jesus had been betrayed by Judas Ischariot, betrayed with a kiss at the price of 30 pieces of silver.

Jesus was arrested, led to the Sanhedrin, where false witnesses unjustly accused Him. Peter denied Him three times. The disciples had fled in fear.

Then as morning came the chief priests and elders plotted to put Jesus to death. They bound Him and led Him away to Pontius Pilate, Roman governor of Judea.

Judas hanged himself out of deep remorse but not one sign of repentance in his heart. “Are You the King of the Jews?” they asked, and Jesus responded, “It is as you say.” Because of the feast they were celebrating, the governor had the authority to release one prisoner. Pilate asked, “Barabbas or Jesus?” And the multitudes cried out, “Release Barabbas – CRUCIFY JESUS!!” “Release Barabbas – CRUCIFY JESUS!!” “Why? What evil has He done?” “Let Him be crucified!!”

An eternal question was asked by Pilate, not only to those gathered around him in the “judgment hall,” but to every one of us – “WHAT THEN WILL YOU DO WITH JESUS WHO IS CALLED CHRIST?”

And you wonder if through his jail-cell Barabbas was a part of that vocal crowd crying out “Crucify Him – Crucify Him!” Jesus was “scourged” – that’s 39 lashes – and Isaiah 52:14 says, “…So His appearance was marred more than any man. And His form more than the sons of men.” Jesus was totally unrecognizable because of the beatings! Jesus was brutalized!

Then they stripped Him naked, put a scarlet robe around Him, twisted that crown of thorns on His head, then put a reed in His hand as a scepter, and mocked Him, “King of the Jews,” “King of the Jews.”

They spat upon Him, struck Him, stripped Him again and led Him away to be crucified. Do you understand? He’s been sleepless, He’s been accused and abused, scourged beyond recognition, suffering few of us could even begin to comprehend – and as He struggled with carrying the Cross, He collapsed.

Then, Matthew 27:32 says, “Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His Cross.” Next stop? Golgatha – “place of the skull,” no doubt a reference to the place of death, and Simon of Cyrene bore the Cross for Jesus.

Do you remember what Mark said as he told the story in Mark 15:21? Simon, “the father of Alexander and Rufus,” two well-known men in the early church. I have no doubts that as Simon bore the Cross for Christ that he saw Jesus die on the Cross for him and became a follower and a faithful father! William Barclay, in his Matthew commentary, stated, (p404), “That which to Simon had seemed his day of shame became his day of shining glory!”

We’ll check the “infamous” in a few moments – but now, put it down in your forever memory, that day in Simon of Cyrene’s life became the day he was lifted to the immortal peak of fame throughout the ages and eternity – Simon bore the Cross for Christ!

Look with me, FIRST, AT THE “INFAMOUS” IN LIGHT OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST JESUS! “Infamous?” The Random House Collegiate Dictionary defines it as shamefully bad, disreputable, notorious, disgraceful, scandalous, heinous. And who would that describe?

What about the religious crowd who for the sake of their traditions crucified Him who IS TRUTH? That’s the High Priest, the chief priests, the elders, the grass-roots’ laity in bondage to what they believed rather than captives of how they behaved or what they were in the inner man!

In Matthew 15:7-9 Jesus, trying to win friends and influence people, being meek and mild, syrupy sweet to gain followers said of that religious crowd, “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: These people draw near to Me with their mouths, And Honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me…And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” In verse 3 Jesus had clearly said, “you transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition.”

What was going on with the religious crowd? They are those who so easily substitute “inward reality” for “outward trivialities,” who would “twist truth” for personal application and satisfaction that had nothing to do with redemption, and from “The Gospel of Done” they settled for selfishly conceived “do’s and don’ts”!

The religious crowd is active but not actualized in Christ! The religious crowd are “fig-leaf” gatherers like Adam and Eve in the Garden finding their own way to cover their nakedness. The religious crowd majors on “flesh” and not on “spirit” and have no understanding of Kingdom Living. Romans 14:17 says, “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

The religious crowds are blind to Christ and open to criminals. The religious crowds kill true prophets and bow at the feet of false prophets. The religious crowds are slaves not servants and don’t even know it. Peter nailed it in 2 Peter 2:19, “While they promise liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.”

Religion has never redeemed and regenerated sinful souls – it’s only the relationship of one to the Worthy Lamb that transforms and reconciles to Holy God. What about the political crowd who for the sake of their own positions and prominence assent to our Lord Lord’s crucifixion? Do you not remember Psalm 2:1-3? “Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing?…The kings of the earth themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, LET US BREAK THE BONDS IN PIECES AND CAST AWAY THEIR CORDS FROM US.”

It is the height of extreme arrogance and utter stupidity for a nation to say that faith and God have no place in the political process. Psalm 9:17 is clear, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” But then Psalm 33:12 says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord…”

Herod, Pontius Pilate, empires like Rome rise and fall because Holy God is in control. Politicians are blessed or cursed on the sole premise alone of devotion or lack of it to the King of kings and Lord of lords! Pilate sought to wash his hands of responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus but one’s relationship to Jesus has nothing to do with one’s “hands” and everything to do with the HEART!

What about the street people, the soldiers, the merchants along the streets that led to Golgatha? Were they also vocal or silent? Did they raise their hands in “yes” votes or use those hands, “Stop, Stop. This is wrong.” You know what they did – vocal or silent they were just as guilty and just as infamous. Revelation 19 tells us about the “merchants” who saw their riches go by the wayside because that was what they worshipped. The citizens of a Christless society watch as “the fruit (their) souls longed for has gone” (away)!!

Soldiers who gambled, women warped in their hearts, youth sold out to themselves – all stand guilty before a loving Savior. And what about you and yours and me and mine? What about the citizenry in every nation and continent? Infamous people who because of their inherited and participatory sin natures voted ‘yes’ for the death of Christ. It was because of you, and me, that Jesus died on the Cross. Don’t blame Pilate – look at yourself! Don’t blame the soldiers – look at yourself! Don’t blame the Sanhedrin – look at yourself! Don’t blame Rome – look at yourself! Don’t blame the Jews – look at yourself! Please get this – if you were the only person who ever lived, past, present, or future, in your sinful state, you alone would have voted for Christ Jesus’ death, and because of His love for you, Jesus would have willingly gone to the Cross for you alone – “No man takes My Life from Me – I willingly lay it down!” (Luke 5:32).

SECONDLY, PLEASE LOOK WITH ME AT “THE FAME” THAT COMES TO ONE, LIKE SIMON THE CYRENE, WHO CHOOSES TO BEAR THE CROSS!! Simon’s physical picture of “bearing the Cross” is the spiritual destiny of followers of Christ. In Luke 9:23 Jesus said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, LET HIM DENY HIMSELF, AND TAKE UP HIS CROSS DAILY, AND FOLLOW ME.”

One bears the Cross as a testimony of reconciliation to God: Ephesians 2:16 says, “And that He (Jesus) might reconcile…to God in one body through the Cross…” In 2 Corinthians 5:19 Paul wrote: “that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them…”

Through the shed blood of the Worthy Lamb of God the debit page of one’s life in the Lamb’s Book of Life was cleared, washed clean, declared worthy, righteous, and one is reconciled to God! One, then, bears the Cross as a testimony of a NEW IDENTITY. 2 Corinthians 5:15 declares, “and He (Jesus) died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”

New identity? All that needs to be known is that YOU are a “follower of the Way.” Paul said, “It’s no longer I that live but Christ lives in me.” I may be an American by citizenry but I’m a disciple of Jesus by conversion to His Resurrected Life Eternal! I may be a musician by choice but I’m a disciple of Jesus by calling, conversion, and consecration. Again, Paul said, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.”

One bears the Cross as a TESTIMONY OF A NEW WAY OF LIFE WITH NEW HOPES! 2 Corinthians 4:10-11 says, “always carrying about in the body, the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the Life of Jesus MAY BE MANIFESTED IN OUR BODY…For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

One bears the Cross as a TESTIMONY OF THE ONLY THING ONE HAS TO BOAST ABOUT OR GLORY IN! Galatians 6:14 says, “But God forbid that I should boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Some boast in their wealth and riches. Some boast or glory in their degrees. Some boast in their athletic prowess and strength of body. Some boast in their carefree, reckless, debased lifestyles. I glory only in Christ Jesus and His Cross!

One bears the Cross as a TESTIMONY OF WILLINGNESS TO SUFFER FOR CHRIST AND HIS HONOR. Acts 5:41 says, “So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.

The writer of Hebrews said, (Hebrews 2:9), “We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.” And He followed up by saying that the captain of our salvation, through suffering, was “bringing many sons to glory.” And bearing the Cross we willingly “go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.”

It’s not simply a medal worn around the neck but the mercy of God birthed in the heart. It’s not a picture of something that happened to Christ 2000 years ago only – it’s the fresh painting of selfless lives now living to honor Christ Jesus. Is the oil paint wet and fresh upon your life today as you bear the Cross? Which brings us to the third truth:

WHAT APPEARS TO BE SHAMEFULNESS AMONG MEN IS ALWAYS TRANSFORMING BY GOD HIMSELF INTO ETERNAL BLESSEDNESS AND GLORY!! Did you know that no Roman citizen could ever be put to death by crucifixion because they saw it as TOO SHAMEFUL? Servanthood by the masses of men is seen as nothing more than shameful slavery, yet Jesus said, “I didn’t come to be served, but to serve and give My life a ransom for many.”

Look at Philippians 2:5-11, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God…But made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men…And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the Cross…Therefore God also has highly exalted Him, and given Him the name which is above every name…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth…and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

LET THIS MIND BE IN YOU – MAKE YOURSELF OF NO REPUTATION – HUMBLE YOURSELF – BE A FOOTWASHER, WASHING MEN’S FEET LIKE CHRIST – TAKE THAT SENTENCE OF DEATH TO YOURSELF – BE THE SERVANT OF OTHERS – GOD CALLS IT “THE WAY OF GREATNESS” – and around you they’ll laugh, they’ll scoff, they’ll ridicule, they’ll persecute, they’ll speak falsely, they’ll even spit upon you with their foul words – BUT GOD?

Your SHAME becomes HIS GAME – and you win! Your SCARS become HIS STARS – and you shine! Your CURSES become HIS BLESSINGS – and you glory! Your INSULTS become HIS NEW NAMES – and you rejoice! Your WOUNDS become HIS KISSES – and you’re healed! Your EMPTYING becomes HIS FILLING – and you’re FULL! Your HUMBLING becomes HIS EXALTING – and He raises you up! Your REJECTION becomes HIS ACCEPTANCE – and your identity is sealed! Your DENIAL becomes HIS DEFINITION – and you’re known by men and angels! Your SUFFERING becomes HIS BADGE OF HONOR – and you’re standing in God’s HALL OF FAME!

Elizabeth Clephane wrote a moving hymn of dedication: “Beneath the Cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand, The shadow of a mighty Rock within a weary land,…

A home within the wilderness, A rest upon the way. From the burning of the noontide heat, And the burden of the day…

Upon that Cross of Jesus mine eyes at times can see The very dying form of One who suffered there for me; and from my smitten heart with tears – two wonders I confess – The wonders of His glorious love and my own worthlessness…

I take, O Cross, your shadow For my abiding place; I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of His face; Content to let the world go by, To know no gain nor loss, My sinful self my only shame, my glory ALL THE CROSS!”

She and Simon the Cyrene knew “Christ Jesus and the Fame of Privilege”!!

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHRIST JESUS, AND THE BLESSING OF THE ACCUSERS

Come with me to Luke 23:33-34. “And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him (Jesus), and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left…Then Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do…And they divided His garments and cast lots.”

Jesus was denied three times by Peter when the big fisherman had said he’d die with Christ. Jesus’ disciples forsook Him and fled and hid. Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. The chief priests, the elders, the Sanhedrin sought false witnesses against Him. He was accused of blasphemy.

They spat on His face, they beat Him, others struck Him with the palms of their hands. They chose Barabbas, a murderer and a seditionist, to be released and cried out boisterously, “Crucify Jesus!” They scourged and flogged Him with 39 lashes with a stranded whip of leather, sharp glass, and razor-like pieces of steel so brutalizing that He was beyond recognition.

The soldiers in the garrison stripped Him naked, they put a scarlet robe around Him, they twisted a crown of thorns on His head, and put a reed in His hand as a scepter to mock Him…”Hail, King of the Jews,” as they knelt before Him in ridicule. They took off the robe and paraded Him through the streets naked again as they led Him to be crucified. AND HE WAS – brutally crucified, an act so horrendous no Roman citizen could ever be crucified.

The rulers taunted Him, “He saved others,” as they sneered, “let Him save Himself if He is the Son of God!” And they laughed. The soldiers gambled for His garments. The crowds taunted Him. The rulers belittled Him. Then they pierced His side with a spear and immediately out flowed blood and water. (A broken heart?). But before He died, He said, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.” THE BLESSINGS OF THE ACCUSERS!

I want you to come with me to Psalm 22 and see this prophetic heart-cry of the Messiah and see an eternally vital truth: especially verses 21, 24, 30-31:

Verse 21, “Save Me from the lion’s mouth And from the horns of the wild oxen!” Verse 24, “For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard.” Verses 30-31, “A posterity shall serve Him. It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation…They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, That He has done this.”

Oh, how I want you to see that God heard and answered the prayer of Jesus, and His accusers have a blessing that is to be appropriated. In Deuteronomy 30:19 God spoke, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and a curse; therefore – choose life, that both you and your descendants may live…”

And when you look at the Cross, what do you see? You see life or death, blessing or a curse, and the decision rests in your heart, in your will, and in your own free choice! If you don’t believe it’s the will of God to bless you, it’s because of a blinded mind, a self-determining lifestyle, and a total ignorance of the Word, Will, and Way of God. Listen: Genesis 49:25-26, “By the God of your father who will help you, And by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessing of the deep that lies beneath blessings of the breast and of the womb…The blessings of your father have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills…”

Peter said he didn’t want God’s children living under a curse: (1 Peter 3:9), “returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.” Which leads us to the first truth in this chapter I want you to see:

I WANT YOU TO SEE, KNOW, UNDERSTAND, AND REJOICE IN THE HEART OF THE SPIRIT, THE NATURE, THE CHARACTER, THE GOD-LIKENESS OF THE ONE WHO PASSIONATELY LONGS FOR “YOU” TO BE FORGIVEN AND TO WALK IN THE BLESSING! In Luke, as Jesus was dying on the Cross, He looked around at His tormentors and said, “Father, forgive them,” and it is not a sad delusion, an out-of-character remark. It was not because they’d given Jesus a mind-altering drug. It was not because He wanted to be God-like when He wasn’t. WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET!

It is not that He’s able to share ‘some’ truth – HE IS TRUTH! It is not that He does merciful things – HE IS MERCY! It is not that He’s capable of doing loving things – HE IS LOVE! And it is not that He can express an act of forgiving – HE IS FORGIVENESS!

Come to Mark 2:3-11 and see what is revealed: “Then they came to Jesus, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men…And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was… So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”…And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts…”Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”…But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His Spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?…Which is easier to say to the paralytic…”Your sins are forgiven you,” or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk?’ But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” – He said to the paralytic…I say to you, Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house!”

How awesome! “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” But that you (doubters) may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins – “RISE UP AND WALK!” And he did! Why didn’t Jesus raise him up first? Because Jesus knows the greatest dilemma any man faces, the greatest paralysis that holds us down, the biggest noose around our necks, is sin and guilt!

And I say to you A FORGIVEN MAN IS BLESSED whether he’s paralyzed or not! God IS forgiveness and wants you to walk in it! What does Romans 5:8 say? “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

“Demonstrates?” The KJV says, “commendeth,” or “to introduce, to EXHIBIT,” which means to clearly UNVEIL for man’s understanding the very heart of God. “Demonstrates” is a present tense verb in Greek which means “God demonstrates AND HE KEEPS ON DEMONSTRATING HIS LOVE FOR US!”

Christ “DIED” for us…is a past tense verb. It happened historically 2000 years ago. Listen to 1 Peter 3:18!! “Christ also suffered ONCE for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.” “Father, forgive them…” Jesus alone unveils the heart of God. “For God so loved the world…” BC – “before Christ” AD – “in the year of our Lord.”

It is the eternal hope of God that a past event, “Christ died,” brings a present reality of understanding of the grace, the greatness, and the guarantee of God who passionately longs for you to be forgiven and reconciled to Him!

What is, “we love Him because He first loved us,” if not an illumining of our own minds and hearts about the nature of the God we serve! Can you even begin to comprehend what the life of that paralytic was like after Jesus forgave him and raised him up? What did he think about God? What was his new walk all about? What consumed him as he thought about Jesus “who is God and forgives sin?”

In 1 Samuel 10:26 there’s a verse that says, “Saul also went to his house in Gibeah; and the valiant men whose hearts GOD HAD TOUCHED went with him.” God is not some absentee landlord. God is not an uncaring, unavailable Ruler. God isn’t lounging on a cloud somewhere in a distant universe beyond our reach. Samuel said, “the valiant men whose hearts God had touched!” That’s God’s nature, that’s God’s Spirit, that’s God’s awesome longing…that’s His divine intent – they didn’t just hear God; they didn’t have some mysterious, foggy cloud resting upon them; they were not touched by some illusive spirit – it says, “the valiant men whose hearts GOD HAD TOUCHED!”

Do you understand? The paralytic could have settled into “a pity party;” he could have settled for a bath in a tub of bitterness; he could have closed the door, shut the blinds, and rotted in darkness.

But I believe he heard his four friends, “We’re taking you to see Jesus; He’s healed the sick, cast out demons, called men to follow Him; He said, ‘When you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen God!” He’s the Healer, He raises the dead, He gives men hope, He’s the mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, the government is upon His shoulders, He’s the Savior, Promised Messiah, Worthy Lamb, He gives new hope, new meaning, new purpose, new direction, new power to sustain a life of faith. We’re going to see Jesus, and we’re taking you!”

SECONDLY, LOOK AT THE PRICELESS, PRINCELY, PRESENT PARDON THAT IS AVAILABLE! Verse 35, Luke 23, “And the people stood looking on.” Jesus had just prayed to the Father, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And what we’re hearing is the heart of God concerning fallen man’s redemption and reconciliation to Holy God. What we’re hearing is the heart of God for man’s restoration to His eternal intent! And His remedy makes that possible!

What we’re hearing is that as Jesus died on the Cross, we died with Him, and the opening door to Resurrection Living is divine forgiveness and Jesus was paying the price for it! What did Peter say? 1 Peter 1:18-21, “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers…but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot…He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you…who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and your hope are in God.”

Have you grasped it? Before God created us He knew about the Fall! Before He created us He knew about the separation! And before we were even born God took the initiative to provide a way of escape for us. God planned YOUR redemption before the world began. God strategized and implemented your pardon before the world’s beginning. Receive 2 Corinthians 5:19! “that is, that God was IN CHRIST reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

The word of reconciliation? There is PARDON? For whom? Reconciling the world of fallen humanity, the world of sinners, the world of pagans, the world of idolaters, the world of unbelievers, the world of atheists and agnostics, the world of sorcerers, the world of the immoral, the world of the spiritually blind, even the world that hates God! There’s pardon – God does not impute their trespasses to the ledger sheets of their lives!! Listen so very, very carefully to 1 John 2:2, “And He (Jesus) Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” How awesome! NO LIMITED ATONEMENT!

Does that mean all are saved? Of course not because we’re going to see in a few moments a pardon can be accepted or rejected, truly acknowledged or flatly denied, gladly rejoicing in or vehemently opposed to! Do you understand “UNIVERSAL OPPORTUNITY”?

In Romans 10:12 Paul wrote, “For there is no difference between the Jews and the Greeks; for the same Lord over all IS RICH UNTO ALL THAT CALL UPON HIM.” Which is why God spoke through the wise man of Proverbs (1:24), “Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out My hand and no one regarded.” “I called – you refused.”

Jesus is no liar! In Luke 11:10 He said, “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” If you haven’t learned it yet you need to know that God is no respecter of persons. His pardon is available to all!

Consider it – a pardon to pastors, a pardon for criminals, a pardon for Miss Americas, a pardon for prostitutes, a pardon for popes, a pardon for the former Usama bin Ladens, a pardon for kings, a pardon for the homeless, a pardon for an FDR, a pardon for a Hitler, a pardon for an Ollie North, a pardon for a Genghis Khan, a pardon for Mother Teresa, a pardon for Molly Ivans, a pardon for Constantine, a pardon for a Ted Kennedy, a pardon for an Abraham Lincoln, a pardon for a Michael Moore, a pardon for a Laura Bush, a pardon for a Bette Midler, a pardon for the straights, a pardon for the gays, a pardon for professing Christians, a pardon for the Hindus, a pardon for TD Jakes, a pardon for a Jesse Jackson, a pardon for a Bill Gates, a pardon for Condelezza Rice, a pardon for the broke and broken of the world. But… it’s “Whosoever WILL may come…!”

But then we have to see the last truth in this passage: A PRESENT PARDON PURCHASED BY THE SAVIOR’S BLOOD CAN BE ACCEPTED OR REJECTED! Come to Luke 23:48-49, “And the whole crowd who came together at that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned…But all His acquaintances and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.”

A crowd walked away – the crowd had fixed their eyes on Jesus. Some were sorry – some were saved. Some were drawn – some were repelled. Some were doubt-filled – some were totally trusting. Some were converted – some were simply curious. Some were believers – some were unbelievers. Some came to the “Light” – some were held back by their darkness. Some were willing to count all things lost for the sake of knowing Christ – some were contented to hold on to what they had and who they were.

Do you remember the rich young ruler who asked about inheriting eternal life? Jesus said to him, (Luke 18:22), “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me…” But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich. He rejected his pardon because his heart bowed faithfully to his idol of greed!

Acceptance or rejection! Naomi said to Ruth, (Ruth 1:15), “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” And what did Ruth say? “Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, AND YOUR GOD, MY GOD>” Acceptance or rejection!

Life-style of Ruth or life-style of Orpah? Life-style of Jesus or life-style of the rich young ruler? After hearing Paul’s testimony, King Agrippa said, “Paul, you almost persuaded me to be a Christian.” Almost, but lost! What did Joshua say? “Choose you this day whom you will serve! As for me and my house we’ll serve the Lord.”

Sad, sad verse in John 6:66 which says, “From that time many of His disciples went back and WALKED WITH JESUS NO MORE.” And then Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” And Peter responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

It was Peter Drucker who said, “A decision is a judgment. It is a choice between alternatives.” And that is so true…a choice between alternatives: life or death, blessing or the curse, Christ or the corruption of the self-life, heaven or hell, meaninglessness or eternal purpose, on God’s side or the Devil’s, reborn or religious, same-old-same-old or a new passion…

The temporal or the eternal, Babylon or New Jerusalem, darkness or “Light”, the dying ember of me or the Bright and Morning Star, fleshly hollowness or a faithful hero of Christ Jesus, super sinner or super saint, lord of my own life and my own kingdom or servant of Resurrection Life and the Kingdom of God, restrained in my own selfish affections or released loving God with all my mind, heart, soul, and strength…?”

It was Spurgeon who said, “Forgiven sin is better than accumulated wealth,” which is why Jesus stated in Matthew 16:26, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

The pardon – accepted or rejected? The pardon – received or refused?

The pardon – sins remitted or sin the noose around your neck? The pardon – declared as righteous as Christ or continuing to live under the cloud of your own unrighteousness?

The pardon – freedom from bondage or still a slave to your old sin nature? The pardon – forgiveness or guilt?

The pardon – oneness with God or separation from Him? The pardon – whiteness through the blood of the Lamb or the blackness of heart my sin produces?

The pardon – escaping final judgment or enveloped by fear of the day appointed that I cannot escape? The pardon – serenity and soundness in Christ or sorrowfulness with the Judas’?

The pardon – redeemed, reconciled, regenerated by God or the rebel by heart with the Devil and his angels?

The pardon – the riches of God’s grace or the accumulated indebtedness and fraud of the unbelievers? The pardon – new creation in Christ or ‘same-old’ First Adam?

The pardon – saint or sinner? Servant or slave, realization or devastation? Transformation or the same rotting flesh?

The pardon – marriage to God or divorce from God? Complete in Christ or short in self? Restored relationship with God through Christ or a total relational breakdown?

The pardon – raised up to be seated with Christ in heavenly places or because of my extreme selfishness put down to reserved seats in Hell?

Listen to Isaiah 55:7, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, FOR HE WILL ABUNDANTLY PARDON.”

Micah 7:18 says, “Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage.” 1 John 1:9 says it all: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

AND YOU’VE GOT A BETTER OFFER, A BETTER REMEDY, A BETTER SALVATION? WAKE UP BEFORE IT’S EVERLASTINGLY TOO LATE!!

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“CHRIST JESUS – KING JESUS”

Three passages I want to use to lay a strong Foundation: Isaiah 9:6-7, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace…Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”

Luke 23:33 says, “And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.”

Revelation 19:11-16, “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war…His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself…He was clothed with a white robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God…And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses…Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God…And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”

You realize that those most responsible for nailing Jesus to the Cross were the religious people of the day. They were the “well-informed.” When wise men from the east came to Jerusalem asking “Where is He that is born King of the Jews?”, the chief priests told Herod the Scriptures foretold of one born in Bethlehem, He was to be the Governor, and rule the people of Israel.

And because they didn’t want Jesus to be the King of their hearts, homes, and lives, there were some who refused to acknowledge His Kingship. Others just simply ignored His Kingly Life. Some thought that to remain ignorant about the Nazarene was a state of bliss but became Hell’s burden.

But then the active enemies made their move: “People say Jesus is a King. King Jesus, that’s it. King Jesus, and certainly He ought to be identified as head of a royal family. He ought to have a royal insignia, He ought to be branded, and they tore off His clothes, and with cat-tail whips, cut His back to shreds and called Him, “King Jesus!”

“As the King, He ought to have a crown!” And from the thorny plants of the landscape, they platted a crown, and pressed it down upon the brow of Heaven’s King; they crowned Him King Jesus, and blood flowed from His tender cheeks. “The King of Israel – we ought to give Him a testimony of allegiance,” and from their vile, dirty, sinful mouths, was hurled profane insults, wretched resentment, and cruel hatred. They spat upon Him.

“He’s a King, and He ought to be viewed by His subjects.” So they took a heavy cross, laid it upon Jesus, and led Him out into the streets: “He, bearing His own cross went forth to the place called Calvary.”

“King Jesus is His name! We ought to have an audience, we ought to be introduced.” So they stood before Him, raised their hands in superficial salutes, came down upon His face with brutal slaps, and then unsympathetically pulled beard from His face and yanked unmercifully at His hair.

As they arrived at Calvary – Golgotha – place of the skull, they said, “As King of Israel He ought to be royally dressed,” so they stripped Jesus naked, stark naked, to the gaze of immodest, unchaste, sin-clouded men.

“King?” “He ought to have a throne!” So they nailed Jesus to a cross. “King? He ought to be blessed with companions complimentary of His heavenly office.” They nailed Jesus to the tree, raised Him up, and then on either side of Him hung two thieves! They took the Lily of the Valley and set Him between poison ivy! They took the Rose of Sharon and put Him in the midst of a godless garden! They raised Him up to die! They wanted to put an end to Christ Jesus, but they didn’t know He’s Alpha and Omega, eternal beginning, eternal end!! Above His head they raised a sign, “King of the Jews;” they raised it high. For them it was not a lift to prominence and preeminence, but the laugh of perverted, paralyzed hearts and minds.

It was not honor bestowed but dishonor bared from the hearts of callous men. There was no design to share His glory, but to scorn Him as He faced the grave. It was not in their hearts to alleviate His pain and shame of crucifixion, but an attempt to add to His disgrace.

“This is Jesus – The King? This is Jesus – the King of the Jews?” And down the hill called Mt. Calvary rolled sounds of laughing mockery and taunts — King of the Jews, King of the Jews…more laughter and derision!! Yet from ungodly men, unbelieving minds, unwilling hearts, raised over the head of Jesus was and is Eternity’s greatest Truth, “THIS IS THE KING – KING JESUS IS HIS NAME!!”

He may have been uncrowned in their lives, but He’s still the King. He may have been rejected by them, but He still reigns. He may have been ridiculed by a heartless crowd, but He’s still King of God’s created order both now and forever! It may have been a maligning in their mean, malicious hearts and minds, but the Song of the Ages is still being sung, “The Majesty and Magnificence of the Master, Jesus Christ, Who Is King of kings and Lord of lords!”

Notice, FIRST, CHRIST JESUS HAS ALWAYS BEEN KING!! Genesis 1:26 says, “Let US make man in our image…and let them have dominion over..the earth.” Before there was a Kingdom as we know it, there was THE KING! Before there were citizens, His rule had been eternally established!

What did John say? John 1:1-4, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the WORD WAS GOD…He was in the beginning with God…All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made…In Him was life, the life was the light of men.” Doesn’t it absolutely amaze you that one like John is entrusted with the Truth of the ages? Led by God’s Holy Spirit John majored on the Man who IS the message! And it’s out of ETERTNITY!

In Colossians 1:17 Paul told the church at Colossae, “…He is before all things..” Then through John again, (John 8:58), Jesus said unto them, “verily, verily I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM!” Not the Mormon heresy that they teach, “As man is, God was; as God is, so man may become.” No, a thousand times, No! Hebrews 7:3 says of Jesus, “…having neither beginning of days, nor end of life…He abides continually.” Always has been – always will be!

To the Father, John 17:5, Jesus prayed, “And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” Without a doubt, Jesus IS “the same yesterday, and today, and forever!!”

SECOND, JESUS IS THE KING OF PROPHECY AND PROMISE!! Come to Genesis 49:10, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, UNTIL SHILOH COMES; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be.”

God gave Moses that call of leading His people to the Promised Land. And in Exodus 32:34 God gave a promise, “behold, My Angel shall go before you.” I truly believe that’s Christ Jesus! And if you don’t know about the Bright and Morning Star, Numbers 24:17 tells you, “…there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel…”

Look at Deuteronomy 18:15, “The Lord your God will raise up unto you a Prophet from your midst, of your brethren, like unto Me, and unto Him you shall hearken.” Isaiah the prophet made it even clearer, Isaiah 9:6, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulders; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.”

Abraham declared, “The King Is Coming!” Moses declared, “The King Is Coming!” Samuel declared, “The King Is Coming!” David declared, “The King of Kings Is Coming!” Jeremiah declared, “The King Is Coming!” Micah declared, “The King Is Coming!” Isaiah declared, “The King Is Coming!”

Do you realize it? Seven hundred years before Christ’s birth, God opened Isaiah’s eyes to see not only The Suffering Servant wounded for our transgressions willfully, but saw also the “government upon His shoulders.” He saw Him, King of kings and Lord of lords!

It was Josh Macdowell who told of an MIT mathematics professor who was asked to calculate what the odds were for one man to fulfill only eight of the four hundred prophecies in the Old Testament. If you didn’t know, Christ Jesus fulfilled all four hundred of them! But one person meeting only eight? The professor calculated and found it to be one in ten to the seventeenth power! That’s a 10 with 17 zeroes after it!! Jesus is King of prophecy and promise!

But also notice Christ Jesus was “Kingly” in His birth! Matthew 2:1-2 says, “…wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him!”

It was a Kingly birth because it was God-ordained and God-implanted. It was a Kingly birth because it was Angel-announced. It was a Kingly birth because it was Holy Spirit – conceived. It was a Kingly birth because it was Star-directed. It was a Kingly birth because it was shepherd-praised. It was a Kingly birth because it was “wise-men-confirmed”!

Jesus wasn’t born to someday maybe be a king – He was Born A King! He wasn’t born to eventually earn a crown – He was born the King! He wasn’t born to possibly wrest the rule from ungodly men – He was BORN King of kings! “WHERE IS HE THAT IS BORN KING OF THE JEWS?”

Also Jesus is “King of the Calendar”: B.C. doesn’t mean before Columbus! B.C. doesn’t mean before Confucius! B.C. calendar dated means “before Christ!” A.D. doesn’t mean in the Age of Aquarius. It doesn’t mean in the Age of the Survival of the fittest! A.D. means “In The Year Of Our Lord!”

Job understood it, Job 24:1, “…the times are not hidden from the Almighty.” David understood, Psalm 31:15, “My times are in Your hand…” Paul knew the King of the calendar: Acts 17:26, “…He has determined the times BEFORE appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.”

What does the hymn say? “I need You every hour, stay Thou near by…Tempations lose their power, When You are nigh.” Manuel Scott, great Negro preacher, shared a slave’s prayer he found: “Father, I thank You for last night’s lying down, And this morning’s rising; I thank You, That my bed was not my cooling board, And my cover was not my winding sheet; I thank You, for You touched me with a finger of love, And bidding my golden moments to roll on…a little while longer.” Are your times in the Savior’s hands?

Jesus is King of the physical universe! Look at your New Testament! He takes a stormy sea, speaks to it, and it becomes a sea of glass. He touches the raging winds and they become sweet, cool breezes upon His sacred brow. He faces matchless mountains and moves them. He faces uncrossable rivers and walks on them. He speaks to rocks and there flows streams of living waters. He takes water and turns it into the ruddy red fruit of the vine. He’s got the whole world in His hands – He’s King Jesus!

He is also King of all precious truth: Only 12 years of age, but He stood in the Holy Temple to confound the wisest of Jerusalem’s leaders. It wasn’t long into His public ministry before multitudes were crying out, “No Man ever spoke like that.”

In Mark 1:27, “And they were all AMAZED, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, ‘what new thing is this? What new doctrine is this? He speaks as One having authority, and not as the scribes!!”

In John 18:37 Pilate said unto Jesus, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a King. To this end was I born, and for this cause I came into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate said, “What is truth?” And you know don’t you? John 14:6 declares, Jesus speaking, “I am the Truth!” Jesus, the King of Truth! God says, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him.” Have you heard Him? Have you answered? Have you responded? Have you received Him? Have you crowned Him King of your heart and home?

Jesus is also King over SIN!! He came without sin. 2 Corinthians 5:21 declares, “God made Him to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.” We all in our fleshly lives were shameless sinners, but Christ who had no sin, took our sin upon Himself, and we received by grace the Righteousness of God credited to our account! The angel said, “You shall call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins.” At the Cross Jesus was fully immersed in our sinfulness, His blood was shed, and the covenant between Jesus and the Father, made the washing of all sin fully available to any man! He truly is: “Able to save to the uttermost (the one the furtherest away from God) who come to God through Him. Paul said to the church at Galatia, (1:4), “He gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of God…”

Bonhoeffer, martyred German Christian, from prison, (Letters and Papers From Prison, p164) wrote: “Only a suffering God can help!” And he spoke of Christ Jesus, King of kings who suffered for our sins! Have YOU crowned Him King over YOUR sins?

Jesus is KING OVER LIFE: John 10:10, Jesus speaking, “I am come that they might have LIFE and that abundantly…” “Amazing sight the Savior stands and knocks at every door…Ten thousand blessings in His hand, to satisfy the poor.”

I tell you, you are poor in life if you’re trying to live without the Lord Jesus Christ! You are spiritually bankrupt in life if you’re living apart from Jesus! It’s a deprived life if He’s not King of your heart and your home! 2 Corinthians 8:9 says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might be rich.” He’s rich in grace, rich in generosity, rich in gratitude, rich in gentleness, rich in goodness, rich in the Gathering Together of God’s family, rich in great joy, rich in forgiveness, rich in a Godly, eternal hope!

Jesus is KING OVER DEATH: 1 Corinthians 15:25-26 clearly says, “For He MUST REIGN, till He has put all enemies under His feet…The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” In verse 55 Paul asks, “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?” “Up from the grave He arose With a mighty triumph over His foes. He arose a victor from the dark domain, And He lives forever with His saints to reign. He arose, He arose, Hallelujah! Christ AROSE!!…Death cannot keep his prey…Jesus my Savior! He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!”

Jesus is the King who waits to be crowned in your repentant heart!! “that at the name of Jesus, every knee would bow, every tongue confess that Jesus is King, to the glory of God the Father!!” Charles Howard, (Evangelism, 1962, p90), preached: “Life is so hideously incomplete without the Kingship of Jesus. The flowers would be as incomplete without their color and fragrance. The retina of the eye would be as incomplete without its light. The lung without its breath, the artery without its blood, the book without its pages, the sea without its water, the body without its life.” It is so right to make Jesus King of your repentant heart!

In the midst of World War 11 there came a great American Love Story. A soldier in the battlefield in Europe had a lovely sweetheart back home. He was from the West. She was from the East. They corresponded as often as the censers allowed letters through. There came a time when she stopped receiving letters. There had been no news of his death or that he’d been wounded. She was very upset, uptight, waiting, wondering. Then one day a letter came in a strange handwriting. Anxiously she opened it and read: “Dear Nelly, you’ll not recognize this handwriting because another is writing it for me. I wanted to write you oftener than I have. I wanted to write this letter before to tell you something. Nelly, one of those awful days on the battlefield I lost both arms. The one that is writing this letter to you knows that I can’t write because I have no arms or hands with which to write. But I want you to know that I love you more than I loved you when we kissed good-by two years ago. But I cannot hold you to your promise to marry me, an armless man, so I release you from your promise to be my wife.” She read the letter again and again. What did she do? What would any Christ-like, loving, young lady do? She caught the first train she could catch that would take her to the VA hospital where he was located. Hurriedly she made her way to the hospital that held and was helping her soldier boy home from the war. She found out his bed-number and excitedly made her way through aisle and cots until she came to where he was. She knelt beside him, put her arms around him, her sweetheart, and said, “Oh, Tom, you’re mine, you’re mine. And I love you, and I’ll be your right arm and I’ll be your left arm until death do us part.”

How I pray that as you heard or read this, that you’re saying, “King Jesus, here are my hands since Yours were nailed to the Cross for me. Here are my feet to carry you where you want to go. Here’s my tongue to testify of the tenderness of Your love for a loveless world. Here’s me. Take me. “Lord, lift me up and let me stand, By faith, on heaven’s tableland…A higher plane than I have found, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”

What does this all mean? 1) There is to be a DECISION OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT – “That at the name of Jesus, King Jesus, every knee is to bow…” 2) There is the DUTY OF ACCEPTANCE – “and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father, and 3) There must be a DECLARATION OF ALLEGIANCE – “that they which live should live no longer unto themselves but unto Him who loved them and gave Himself for them.”

Revelation 11:15 says, “And the seventh angel sounded: and there were great voices in heaven saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, of our Christ: and He shall reign forever and ever.”

Luke 1:33 says, “…And of His kingdom there shall be no end…”

“Crown Him with many crowns, The Lamb upon His throne…Hark how the heavenly anthem drowns All music but its own! Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee; And hail Him as your matchless King, throughout eternity.” AMEN?

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

JESUS AND ME

Three scriptures to capture your heart! Philippians 1:20-21, “according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death…For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Colossians 2:6-7, 9-10, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him…rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving…Vss 9-10, For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily…and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.”

1 John 4:17c, “…because as He is, so are we in this world.”

These are amazing revelations about OUR IDENTITY IN CHRIST!! Sadly however many have never come into the fullness of God’s unveiling of who we are in Christ. Please, don’t misunderstand, I rejoice that our sins are forgiven and that we’re going to Heaven someday [OR Heaven coming down, with our new life in Christ fitted for His honor and praise!], but what about in between?

There is a marvelous message we need to hear, to learn, to celebrate about…and a destiny and walk we must fulfill!

We were the old man…Now, we are the New Man in Christ! We once were “lost”…But now, we’re found! We were of the old sin nature…But now we are partakers of the divine nature!

We were earthly men…but now we’re heavenly men! We were fleshly…but now we’re of the Spirit! We were called sinners…but now we’re called saints! We were of the temporal…but now we’re of the Eternal!

We were aimless as to divine intent…but now we’re purpose-filled! We were sons of the devil…but now we’re sons of God! “Jesus and Me!!” What did Paul say? “We are complete in Christ, LACKING NOTHING!”

LOOK FIRST AT OUR “LIFE”: John 10:10, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I (Christ Jesus) have come that they might have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Rather than death which I was walking in, Christ Jesus gives me LIFE – that which is of the Spirit, is abundant, and is eternal!

Rather than rejection, Christ Jesus gives me acceptance! Rather than separation from God, Jesus gives me Oneness! Rather than the bitter consequences, He gives me the forever sweet!

Rather than spiritual poverty, He gives me riches in His grace! Rather than meaninglessness, He gives me the Life of Purpose, Eternal Purpose! Rather than my weakness, He gives me His strength!

Rather than my doubts, He gives me His certain Faith! Rather than my downfalls, He gives Me His uplifting, even into the Eternal realm!

Rather than my lost-ness, He gives me His found-ness! Rather than my fears, Jesus gives me His confidence! Rather than my loss, Christ Jesus gives me His gain!

Rather than my trash, He gives me His treasures! Rather than my sinfulness, He gives me His God-likeness! Rather than my cross to bear, He gives me His crown to wear!

Rather than my fleshliness, He gives me His spiritual nature AND character! Rather than my guilt, He gives me an eternal pardon! Rather than my curse, Jesus grants me His eternal blessing!

Rather than my nothingness, He gives me His inheritance, granting me the status of “joint-heir”! Rather than my futility, He gives me His guarantee! Rather than my brokenness, He gives me His seal of covenant promises!

Rather than my death in trespasses and sins, Christ Jesus gives me His aliveness together in the Godhead! Rather than my aloneness, Jesus gives me togetherness in the unity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit!

Rather than my hopelessness, He gives to me the Eternal Hope! Rather than my disappointment in who I am, He gives me satisfaction in who He is! Rather than my troubles, He gives me His peace that passes all understanding!

Rather than my decaying building, Christ makes me the Holy Temple of His Presence! Rather than my oldness like a discarded garment, He gives to me the confidence of my completion in Him!

Rather than the rotting fruit of my sinfulness, He gives me the fruit of His everlasting righteousness! Rather than my orphan state in the spiritual realm He makes me an adopted son of Holy God!

Rather than the low road of human possibility, He gives me the “high road” of eternal expectation! Rather than the loneliness of being an ALIEN in my own world, He makes me a worthy and blessed citizen of His Everlasting Kingdom!

Rather than my discontentment with my life as it is in the fleshly nature of fallen humanity, He grants me divine contentment of His Life as it is!…”As He is…So am I!”

Rather than the disjointedness of my earthly existence, He gives me the “GLUE” of His eternal sovereignty and holds me together with and in Him! Rather than my tree void of fruit, He takes me and produces in me the fruit of His Holy Spirit!

Rather than my lack of a true identity, He calls me “the chosen and elect of God”!! Rather than Lost on my own, He tells me I am “hidden with Christ in God”! Rather than doubtful about my identity, He tells me I am “approved by God and worthy to be entrusted with the Gospel”!

Rather than my life being a sad refrain of disappointment, He tells me I am His crown of rejoicing! Rather than my concern about my faithfulness or my faithlessness, He tells me the One who calls me IS FAITHFUL AND WILL FINISH WHAT HE STARTS IN ME!

Rather than my sense of fleshly fears at times, He tells me He’s not given me a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind! Rather than my sense of a falling away at times, God Almighty assures me He stands with me and will strengthen me and, yes, guard my soul commitment to Him!

Rather than my sense of a surrounding and siege of the Enemy, Christ Jesus assures me that I am held in God’s arms of Holy Love! Rather than fear because of life’s temptations, the Lord Jesus assures me there’s mercy and grace present at His throne!

Listen to I Corinthians 1: 30-31, “But of Him YOU ARE IN CHRIST JESUS, who became for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…that, as it is written, ‘He who glories, let him glory in the Lord!’” And WE WILL BOAST about “THE LIFE ETERNAL” He’s given us!

In 2 Corinthians 5:15 Paul wrote: “And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” In verse 21, he added, “For God made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

How righteous are you? What is your percentage of righteousness? 50%, 65%, 30%, or maybe 75%? Terrible answers!! NO!! 100% righteous because “As Jesus is…So am I!!” I am complete in Christ. His life is my life – I lack nothing! On the ledger sheet in the Lamb’s Book of Life it says of me, “perfectly righteous” because of Christ in me!

SECOND, CHRIST JESUS IS MY LOVE! Come to 1 John 4:8-10, 19…Follow carefully! “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love…In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him…In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins…v19, We love Him because He first loved us.”

It’s not that God simply does loving things – He IS Love! It’s not that God is described as a “loving God,” He IS Love! Have you ever heard someone describe a friend of yours as ‘a loving man’? But that doesn’t mean he IS LOVE. A sinner can do loving things but can never be described as the man who is LOVE. That’s the definition of God alone! That’s the true declaration and interpretation of a Loving Savior! That’s the symphony of praise sung by both men and angels: “GOD IS LOVE!” Look at Creation – and you see God who IS LOVE! Look at the Cross – and you see God who IS LOVE! Look at Conversion – and you see God who IS LOVE! “We love God because He first loved us!”

Romans 5:8 so clearly declares, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” And how do some so easily avoid or ignore Jeremiah 31:3? “The Lord has appeared of old to me saying, ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I HAVE DRAWN YOU.”

Do you understand what God is saying to us and about us…and what He wants to say through us? “As He is, So Am I!!” I’m to be a lover of men’s souls! I’m to be filled with His everlasting love! And because of that awesome love, with lovingkindness I’m to draw men to Christ!

Receive 1 John 3:17! “But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him…How does the love of God abide in him?” Powerful question!! But then look at verse 16! “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for brothers!” Oh, and then 1 John 4:8 says, “He who does not love God does not know God, for God is love!” Remember…As He Is, So Am I!!

THIRD, JESUS IS MY LIGHT! John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

When Jesus talks about darkness and light, I don’t believe He’s talking about “daytime” and “nighttime.” It’s as if our world, our lives are like a divided street…right down the middle!! Over here is darkness – over here is Light! We were the darkness – He only is the Light! In the midst of all darkness Jesus shines as “The Bright and Morning Star!”

Oh, but then listen!! “Jesus and me!!” Matthew 5:14-16 tells us, Jesus Himself speaking TO US: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Then from there come to Philippians 2:12-16, As He Is – so are we! “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…for it is God who works IN YOU both to will and to do for His good pleasure… Do all things without complaining and disputing…that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world…holding fast the word of life…”

CALLED TO BE ILLUMINATING LIGHTS IN OUR LIFE IN CHRIST IN THE MIDST OF A PARALYZING DARKNESS! Where there’s darkness, we must go because Light penetrates darkness and DISPELS IT!

Darkness is prohibitive of seeing! But when the Light shines people see things they never saw before or never knew they were there! Darkness breeds a spiritual sickness, but when Light comes, there is healing! Darkness breeds fear, but when the Light comes, confidence and assurance and courage is birthed. Darkness will get one into ditches you didn’t even know were there, but Light shows that Highway of Holiness fully lit by Christ Jesus! Darkness is for the powers of darkness, but Light will chase them away!

FOURTH, JESUS IS MY LIBERTY! Colossians 1:13 says, “He has delivered us from THE POWER OF DARKNESS and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” Do you understand what God’s Word is telling us? Get ready for a ride of deliverance through God’s Holy Word!

Ephesians 2:1-4 (NKJ), “And 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…BUT GOD…”

Hebrews 2:14-16 tells us, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil…and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage…For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.”

Galatians 5:1, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again in a yoke of bondage.” John 8:31-32 says, “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed in Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed…And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Jesus and me!

When I was attending Baylor University in Waco, Texas, about sixty years ago, on athletic scholarship for football, I had a teammate named Bill Green, big tackle from, I believe, Temple, Texas. He told me once of his pilot-brother who flew cargo planes during the Second World War.

On an occasion he had an unusual conversation with his commanding officer. “The circumstances surrounding this proposed mission are so unusual I’m giving you the right to say Yes or No.” Bill’s brother asked, “What is it?”

“Our soldiers in Burma are operating in difficult mountain terrain. We must get supplies to them, but to do so will require flying 72 mules in to carry the supplies. Are you interested?” Of course Bill’s brother was ready to do whatever was necessary to help the troops.

They loaded the huge cargo planes with supplies and then loaded 72 mules. The plane was filled with needed fuel. After taking off and traveling a number of hours toward the Himilayan Mountains Bill’s brother realized two things: he was too over-loaded to get over the high mountain-peaks and not enough gas to get back to his base or fly around the mountains.

He called his commanding officer: “What do I do?” His commanding officer said, “Open up the back door and get rid of 72 mules!” Which he did and then got over the mountains. Listen carefully! Too many are over-loaded with the “mulish” things that keep us from soaring with Christ in the heavenlies! It’s time we receive our orders from our Commander-in-Chief, open the exit doors in our lives, and kick out those mules! If you don’t know, they’re called “foul spirits,” even “demons,” and you know them by name! In Luke 4:18 Jesus describes His ministry from Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed…” Jesus and me! “As He is, so am I!”

I’ve just finished reading a book entitled “Philosophers Who Believe.” And in it, a chapter of Alvin Platinga, there is a sentence that stood out. He is talking about the justification of philosophers – or more importantly the Body of Christ – and he says, “Another part of our justification, however, is just that it is a part of the task of developing a COMMUNITY OF PERSONS in which THE IMAGE OF GOD IS COMMUNALLY DISPLAYED.” How awesome! Do you see it? Jesus and me! Jesus and us! As He is, so are we! The Image of God Communally displayed!

In closing, Andrae Crouch wrote a powerful song that so describes our relationship with Christ Jesus! “How can I say “Thanks” for the things You have done for me? Things so undeserved, Yet You proved, You gave Your Love for me.

The voices of a million angels could not express my gratitude – All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe it all to Thee…

By Your BLOOD, You have saved me, By Your Power You have raised me, To God be the Glory for the things You have done…

Just let me live my life, let it be pleasing, Lord, to Thee, And should I gain any praise, Let it go to Calvary…

All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe it all to Thee.” AMEN?

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

KNOWING GOD – THROUGH CHRIST JESUS, OUR LORD AND SAVIOR

One of the most enlightening passages in all of scripture is found in John 17:3 where Jesus said, “And this is eternal life, that they might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

As the Apostle Paul walked through the streets of Athens his spirit was provoked within him as he observed the city full of idols. Preaching to a crowd of intellectuals gathered at Mars Hill, he said that as he was observing their objects of worship he came upon an altar inscribed, “To An Unknown God.” Paul then boldly announced, “I proclaim to you the God you do not know!”

You can know Him! He desires for men to know Him. He wants us to know Him intimately and personally, it is life changing – “It is eternal life”! In Psalm 98:2 the declaration is clear, “The Lord has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.” Psalm 9:16 says, “The Lord has made Himself known.”

In spite of God’s desire to be known, Paul declared Him to be “The Unknown God.” To the church at Corinth Paul said, “the world through its wisdom did not come to know God.” 1 John 3:1 says, “the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.” Romans 1:18-21 shows us that man can know God and that his lack of knowledge concerning God is inexcusable. Paul wrote, “that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them…they are without excuse!”

What is it that prevents us from knowing Him? In Romans 3:10-11, & 23 Paul reveals the answer to that question: “As it is written, there is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” It causes me to wonder, what would Paul have to say to us if he visited our cities and chur5ches? Upon examining our objects of worship he would say the same thing to us that he said to the religious intellectuals in Athens? “I PROCLAIM TO YOU THE GOD YOU DO NOT KNOW!”

In Galatians 4:8-11 Paul reveals the tragedy of a man coming to the knowledge of God and then turning back to the very things that prevented him from knowing God to begin with. “However, at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.”

Many people have come to know God and turned back; they allow worthless, elemental things to lead them astray. Many have come to know the Covenant-keeping God, yet have not followed the example of Abraham in driving away the vultures from the Covenant-carcass (Genesis 15:11). Paul spoke of this in Romans 1 saying, “even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God…they exchanged the truth of God for a lie!”

Throughout the New Testament we are warned not to follow in the same example of disobedience that is recorded for us in the history of the nation of Israel. In Hosea 8:1-3 the Lord said, “Put the trumpet to your lips! Like an eagle, the enemy comes against the house of the Lord; because they have transgressed My Covenant, and rebelled against My law. They cry out to Me, ‘My God, we of Israel know You!’ But Israel has rejected the good; the enemy will pursue him.”

The Lord spoke to Israel through the prophet Isaiah saying in Isaiah 1:2-3, “Sons I have reared and brought up, but they have revolted against Me. An ox knows its owner, and a donkey its master’s manger, but ISRAEL DOES NOT KNOW, MY PEOPLE DO NOT UNDERSTAND.”

His people are no different today. We have the “practical atheists” filling churches every Sunday in large numbers. Paul said in Titus 1:16, “they profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.” Just as God warned His people through the mouth of His prophets in the Old Covenant, He is warning His people of the New Covenant. His trumpet is sounding forth today also! Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica, “the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God AND to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.” [2 Thessalonians 1:7-9].

It is an awesome scriptural truth that many walk with Jesus and yet never know Him. They have an awareness of who He is, they know about Him, but never come to truly know Him. Many have witnessed His miracle-working power, and yet have never allowed that power to change their heart6s; in fact, many deny the power of God CAN change their hearts. They do not know Him. Paul describes these people in 2 Timothy 3:7 saying they are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

This truth is demonstrated in the life of Phillip, one of the twelve apostles. After ministering with the Lord for over three years and being taught directly by Jesus Himself, on the night of the Lord’s arrest he said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus responded with a rebuke, “Have I been so long with you, and yet, you have not come to know Me, Phillip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”

There is, on the other hand, that gracious Word of Hope! Paul declares in 2 Timothy 1:12, “I know whom I have believed.” GLORY!! WE CAN KNOW HIM!

[The Word of God has much to say on the subject of Knowing God – Through Christ Jesus – Our Lord! And space will not allow an exhaustive coverage of each point. But I encourage you to follow through in your Bible and allow the Holy Spirit to minister to you through His Word as you look up each reference.]. Notice,

KNOWING GOD THROUGH CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD AND SAVIOR RESULTS IN A CHANGED, CONVERTED LIFE! 1 John 5:20 teaches that “the Son of God has come, and HAS GIVEN US UNDERSTANDING, in order that we might 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.” Verse 11 of that same chapter tells us that the witness of God is this, “that God has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son.”

“We have known the darkness, but Christ is our Light.” Paul said in Ephesians 5:8, “you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light.” We must come to the light and allow our hearts to be exposed and purified by it.

“We have known ‘the lie’” handed down to us from the garden of Eden, that man can sin and not die. God is still saying to us that “the wages of sin is death,” and the devil is still saying, “you surely shall not die.” The result of our believing Satan’s lie was death. Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:1, “you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked.” Life in Christ is freedom from the penalty and power of sin that separated us from Holy God. We can now come to the provision of His victory over sin and be baptized into His death – the death to sin – Romans 6:10. The light becomes brighter and the glory of our God becomes clearer as the veil is removed from our faces.

“We have known the errors of unprincipled men,” the philosophies and empty deceptions according to the tradition of men. The wisdom that comes not from above but that which is earthly, natural, and demonic, and we were enslaved by it. But in Christ there is the wisdom that comes from above that is pure, peaceable, gentle, full of mercy – “the truth that liberates” – “You shall KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE.” It frees us to KNOW HIM!

“We have known the gods of this world,” the gods of our own making that we bowed down to. Rather than knowing the One True God, like Israel we have “sacrificed to demons who were not God, to gods whom they have not known, new gods who came lately, whom your fathers did not know,” Deuteronomy 32:17. But the law of God thunders in our ears saying, “You shall have NO OTHER GODS besides Me;” and so we come to Christ who has the “preeminence” and He leads us to the eternal, loving, caring, merciful Father! “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God be glory and honor both now and forever, AMEN!” (1 Timothy 1:17).

“We have known the deception of self-improvement,” the ‘success motivation’ syndrome that promotes the very ‘flesh’ God condemned on the Cross! Now we’ve come to understand through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus that “in my flesh dwells no good thing.” Self-improvement is an affront to God’s Word and sin against the Savior, for ‘man at his best is worthy only of the cross!’ Paul said in Philippians 1:21, “for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” – that hasn’t changed even in our affluent, educated, modern world.

“We have known selfishness and self-centeredness, but knowing Him is to deny one’s self, take up the Cross, and follow Him.” Paul exhorts us in Philippians 2:3-4 to “do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Jesus became our example of this selfless life. Paul continued in verses 5-8 saying, “have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, being made in the likeness of men, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death.”

“We have known what it means to hoard – but God gives.” We take notice of His love for us and we learn of His heart, His nature, and His character. He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. His character is to give extravagantly and sacrificially. Jesus related this aspect of the Father in Matthew 7:11, saying, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him?”

As we learn of the Father’s heart to give, our hearts begin to take on the very same desire. Paul wrote of the first century churches in Asia saying, “they gave of their own accord, begging us with much entreaty for the favor of participation in the support of the saints.” (2 Corinthians 8:3-4). The principle of hard work to provide our own basic needs and to share in the needs of others is revealed throughout the Scriptures. In Ephesians 4:28 Paul tells us to “labor, performing with (our) own hands what is good, in order that (we) may have something to share with him who has need.” God loves a generous, cheerful giver!

“We have known the ways that seem right to us but always end in death.” But there is another way, God’s Way, the Ancient Path. Isaiah speaks of that ancient path as the Highway of Holiness – “A highway will be there, a roadway, and it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for him who walks that way, and fools will not wander on it.” (Isaiah 35:8).

Moses cried out to the Lord in Exodus 33:13, “Now, therefore, I pray, God, if I have found favor in Your sight (and through the blood of Jesus we have found favor with God), LET ME KNOW YOUR WAYS THAT I MAY KNOW YOU.”

Knowing God is not only discerning His ways, but also walking in them. In Hebrews 3:10 the Lord reveals His problem with His people Israel, saying, “Therefore I was angry with this generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their hearts, and did not know My ways.’” In Amos 3:3 we are asked how two can walk together unless they are in agreement! Enoch is an example for us of a man who walked in agreement with God, and the Scripture simply says, “he was no more, for God took him up.” Why? According to Hebrews 11:5, “for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up ‘he was pleasing to God’! He committed himself to walk in the ways of God and his life so pleased God that God wanted his continual fellowship. And that’s God’s desire for each of us.

“We have known compromise – a divided heart” – trying to walk with Jesus and be a friend of the world at the same time. James warns us that “whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” [James 4:4]. He calls this kind of a person a “double-minded” man and says, “let not that man expect he will receive anything from the Lord.” Knowing God is knowing Him as Lord, as Master, as Ruler, as Savior of my heart – and, He is either Lord of all or not Lord at all!

KNOWING GOD THROUGH CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD IS ALSO THROUGH THE “LIFE-FLOW” OF THE HOLY SPIRIT! Knowing God is through the life-flow of the Holy Spirit and not simply an acknowledgement and assent to certain historical facts and doctrines. 1 John 4:12 says, “No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.” Paul tells us that the natural mind cannot accept the things of the Spirit of God because they are ‘spiritually appraised.’ In Romans 8 he tells us that the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and that all who are being led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. Knowing God is life in His Spirit! (See also 1 Corinthians 2:1-16, Galatians 5:13-25).

KNOWING GOD THROUGH CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD BIRTHS A HEART THAT SEEKS TO KNOW GOD’S TRUTH! Knowing God is through a heart that loves and seeks to know the truth of God through His servants and through His Word. Paul told Timothy that the church is to be “the pillar and support of the truth.” John tells us in 1 John 4:6 how to discern the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. “We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” In 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 Paul warns us about the destruction that will come upon those who “did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved…who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.”

A love for the truth will bring with it a discernment to recognize God’s servants. Malachi 3:18 tells us that there will come again a time when “you will distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.” John the Baptist reveals a key identifying mark of God’s servants, “for He whom God has sent speaks the words of God,” John 3:34. In Jeremiah 23:22 the Lord proclaimed to Israel, “if they had stood in My council, then they would have announced My words to My people, and would have turned them back from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds.”

There is no life in man’s opinions or rationalizations about the Word of God. The Lord goes on to say in Jeremiah 23, “what does straw (man’s words) have in common with grain (God’s Word)?” It is His Word that is spirit and life. (See James 1:18-25, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-13, Acts 17:11, 1 Peter 1:23-25).

KNOWING GOD THROUGH CHRIST JESUS BIRTHS AND ENLIVENS IN THE MIND AND HEART NEW COVENANT LIVING! Hebrews 8:11 says, “they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’ for they shall all know me, from the least to the greatest of them.” If we seek to understand the fulfillment of that verse by the context in which it was written, we find in verses 6-10 that it is through the “new and better covenant” between the Lord and His people which was instituted by the blood of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 9:11-14 and verse 26 tells us it is the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ that opens spiritually blind eyes to see and know God! It was “by the sacrifice of Himself.” There is no greater truth that will bring us to the knowledge and understanding of God than God having proved His love for us “in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!” Glory! (See also Ephesians 1:7-9, 2:12-13, Revelation 5:5-14.).

KNOWING GOD IN AND THROUGH CHRIST JESUS IS LEARNING TO REST IN HIS ABILITY – NOT OUR BEST EFFORTS! In 2 Timothy 2:12 Paul proclaimed, “I Know that He is Able!” And we must come to the understanding that He is Sovereign; it is He who causes us to be born again, it is He who saves us through His blood redemption, and it is He who changes us from the old man of sin into the “New Life in Christy”! We receive, “He who began a good work in you WILL perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” We must know with Paul, that “it is God who is at work within you both to will and to work His good pleasure.”

There is the reality of examining ourselves as Paul instructs in 2 Corinthians 13:5, but eyes that are fixed only on self in morbid introspection will never come to fullness of victory in Jesus! Instead of continual self-examination, Hebrews tells us to “fix our eyes of Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” HE IS ABLE!

*Able to deliver – Daniel 3:17-18; * Able to cause dead stones to become His children – Luke 3:8; *Able to fulfill every promise – Romans 4:19-21; *Able to make grace abound – 2 Corinthians 9:8; *Able to do above all we ask or think – Ephesians 3:20; *Able to subdue all things – Philippians 3:21; *Able to guard what I’ve entrusted to Him – 2 Timothy 1:12; *Able to save to the uttermost – Hebrews 7:25; *Able to keep you from falling – Jude 24!

KNOWING GOD BECAUSE OF THE LOVE, GRACE, AND MERCY OF CHRIST INSTILLS IN THE REDEEMED LIFE THE POSSESSING OF OUR VESSELS FOR HIS HONOR! Knowing God is to possess my vessel for His honor and praise, “not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God,” but in “sanctification and honor.” “This is the will of God, your sanctification.” 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5. (See also Ephesians 5:1-10). In 2 Timothy 2:19-26 we find what it means to possess our vessel (or life). Some vessels are vessels of honor and other vessels are of dishonor. My life may possess earthly things that defile, or as Paul states, “if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, and useful to the Master.” Because I want to honor Him, I cleanse my life by forsaking that which does not honor my Lord. (See also Hebrews 12:14; 2 Thessalonians 2:13, Romans 6:19-23).

According to Daniel 11:32 “the people who know their God will display strength and take action!” That is 3-fold:

*The strength and action of “occupying” – Luke 19:13 *The strength and action of “overcoming” – Revelation 2:1-7 *The strength and action of “offering” – 2 Corinthians 2:14 & 3:6.

Jesus instructs us in Matthew 5:13-16 that we are “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world.” What does it mean that we are to occupy? Very simply, we demonstrate our faith in the Lord by the way we live our lives in the world. Our lives are to be lights in the midst of darkness. Jesus explains this in verse 16, “let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” We also see this in Paul’s comments concerning our witness to the natural Jews. In Romans 11:11-14 he says that “salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.” But have we? Have we so demonstrated the power and presence of Almighty God that they cannot help but recognize that He is in our midst? Are our lives causing the world to take notice of our God? What is it they should be seeing in us that will cause them to want what we have? It is the overcoming life, the very fruit of the Spirit, and the Lord Jesus’ abiding presence! Throughout the Scriptures we have the testimony of mighty men of God that the world had to take notice of. There is Joseph who despite his unfavorable circumstances in life, remained faithful to God’s ways. He was exalted to the number two position of power in the Egyptians empire. There is Daniel, who remained faithful to God’s ways and whose abilities were so far superior to his contemporaries that he became a ruler in Babylon. Did either compromise God’s ways to attain positions of prominence? Hardly, both suffered greatly and yet remained steadfast in faith. The fruit of our lives, the development of our God-given abilities for His glory, our homes, families, and churches should be causing the world to take notice that we have been with Jesus.

The offering is our life – presented as a living sacrifice, holy and blameless before God. As we do this, the Spirit of God continues to consume the sacrifices of our lives on the altar of service to Him, and as Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2:14, “the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him” manifests through us for others to see.

KNOWING GOD IS TO KNOW AND APPLY THE LOVE OF CHRIST IN DAILY LIVING. Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:17-19 that we are to be “rooted and grounded in love…to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” It is a love that produces single-minded devotion to Him.

In 1 John 2:4-6 we see the kind of life that this devotion produces. John said, “The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him; the one who says he abides in Him ought Himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” HOW DID CHRIST JESUS WALK? Totally devoted to the Father in love! (See also John 8:28-29, 5:19, 30, 20-29; Luke 2:51-52; Hebrews 5:7-9; 1 Samuel 15:22-23.).

KNOWING GOD IS AS A UNION OF MAN AND WOMAN IN MARRIAGE. In Hebrews 2:19-20 the Lord said, “And I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in lovingkindness and compassion. And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, THEN YOU WILL KNOW THE LORD.” Scripture reveals that His love for us is like the love shared between a husband and wife on their wedding day. Our love for Him is to be filled with the excitement and joy and devotion of a bride that has made herself ready for her husband, adorned with beauty – and our beauty is to be the beauty of holiness.

Marriage symbolizes the deep love shared between the Lord and His people, the intimacy that is shared between lovers. When the Lord was crucified and buried, Mary Magdalene was at the grave to mourn His death. As she stood at the tomb weeping, two angels appeared to her and asked her why she was weeping. Mary responded, “Because they have taken my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” John 20:14 says that “when she had said this, she turned around, and beheld Jesus standing there, and DID NOT KNOW THAT IT WAS JESUS.” She saw Him, but thought He was the gardener. Then Jesus spoke to her and she heard – she heard in a way she never heard before. Something eternally dramatic happened! I don’t know all that took place, but I know that Mary “knew” Him in a way she had never known Him before. It may be what Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:16, “Therefore from now on we recognize no man according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.”

This same thing happened to Job who, although he knew the Lord as Redeemer, was able to say to the Lord, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes.” This is the promise that God has for His people. The Lord said in Jeremiah 24:7 “I will give them ‘a heart to know Me,’ for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.” That’s what it means t6o have the intimate relationship with Him depicted in the symbol of marriage – “To know Him, and to love Him with the whole heart.”

Betrothed – in Spirit, not the flesh! Promised unto Him as a pure virgin and not as a bride with a dirty wedding gown! Engaged to Him on the grounds of heavenly living not worldly compromises! He says the betrothal is “in righteousness and in justice, in lovingkindness and in compassion, (it is) in faithfulness.”

How many people today know Him only according to the flesh? Their knowledge of Him consists only in accumulated facts about His life on this earth, yet beyond that they do not perceive or understand that He is alive today! He is the Reigning King of kings and Lord of lords! In 2 Corinthians 11:2-3 Paul warns us, “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and the purity of devotion to Christ.” This marriage relationship is one of purity and deep devotion. In Revelation 17:14 we find who is with the Lamb in the heavenly places as He wages war against the enemy – “they are the called, the chosen, and the faithful.”

KNOWING GOD THROUGH CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD IS TO PRESS ON UNTIL THE PROMISE BECOMES COMPLETED REALITY! What is the promise? He has promised to change us – that we will be like Him, conformed to His image. In 1 John 3:1-4 we are told that “when He appears WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM…and everyone who HAS THIS HOPE fixed on Him, purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

Our blessed hope is not only the bodily return of Jesus to this earth, it is that those “whom God foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son.” In 2 Corinthians 3:18 Paul says that as we come to the mirror of God’s Word and behold the glory of the Lord, we “are being transformed into the very same image.”

In that process of change that has been promised to every disciple that must be kept as a goal, not content with anything less than conformity to Him. Paul speaks of groaning over our present condition, buffeting our body and making it our slave. In Philippians 3:12-14 he describes this walk of pressing on, saying, “not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I PRESS ON in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus…forgetting what lies behind and REACHING FORWARD FOR WHAT LIES AHEAD, I PRESSON TOWARD THE GOAL for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Hosea tells us “let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; and, He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth.” (See also Hosea 6:4-6).

That is the Christian Life – pressing on to know the Lord and He will come to us! Jesus promised that very thing in John 14:21, 23. “He who has My Commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him. If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word; and My Father will love him, and WE WILL COME TO HIM, AND MAKE OUR ABODE WITH HIM.”

KNOWING GOD THROUGH CHRIST OUR LORD IS FOLLOWING THE SHEPHERD WHEREVER HE LEADS. We KNOW His voice! Revelation 14:4 tells us of those who are worshipping the Lamb before His throne, and they are “the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.” In John 10 the Lord describes Himself as the Good Shepherd who “puts forth all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” In verse 27 he continues, saying, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”

In Matthew 7 Jesus revealed a wise man and a foolish man by saying that the wise man hears His words and acts upon them, but the foolish man hears His words and does not act upon them. It is not enough just to hear His voice. Many people today assume that because they hear good preaching or because they study the Bible that they are His sheep, but notice how Jesus defined His sheep: 1) My sheep hear My voice, and 2) they follow Me.

Sadly the message spoken to God’s people through Zephaniah is as relevant today as when it was first spoken. In chapter 3:1-2 he cried out, “Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the tyrannical city! She heeded no voice; she accepted no instruction. She did not trust in the Lord; she did not draw near to her God.” (Read on through Verse 17!). We find in the New Testament that the Lord visits a church that has closed its doors to Him, and Jesus says to that church, in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and I will dine with him, and he with Me.”

He desires to speak to us, to personally instruct us in His ways, to lead us in the paths of righteousness. He is that Shepherd of Psalm 23 who promises peace in the midst of the storm for those who follow after Him. He tells us in Jeremiah 33:3, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

KNOWING GOD THROUGH CHRIST OUR LORD IS TO LEARN, YES, GOD IS A GOD OF JUDGMENT! God is a consuming fire and the wicked will not go unpunished! Oh, but then Hebrews 10:30 reminds us, “we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’” He does not want His people to forget that it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Peter tells us that judgment begins “with the household of God.” There has never been a time during God’s dealings with mankind that He has ever tolerated, hidden His eyes from, or allowed wickedness to go unpunished even in His own people. In 1 Peter 4:18 we gain an insight to the seriousness of God’s judgment when Peter says, “if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner?” Jude reminds us in verse 5, “that the Lord, AFTER SAVING A PEOPLE out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe (obey).” Peter reminds us of God’s impartial judgment upon sin throughout the history of mankind, saying that “He did not spare the angels when they sinned.” And “He did not spare the ancient world…(but) brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.” He also “condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ages, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly thereafter.” Peter’s point is that in remembering all of these events, we must keep in mind, “the Lord knows how to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.” (See also Romans 2:2-11, Luke 19:12-27, Joshua 23:8-16, James 4:4-10.).

KNOWING GOD THROUGH CHRIST OUR LORD IS KNOWING THAT GOD IS FOR ME! David said in Psalm 56:9, “This I know that God is for me!” Are you aware that there are many church members today who do not understand that God is for them? How do I know that? I was one of them even as a pastor for over twelve years!

During the summer of 1973 I was with a group of 16 pastors at a conference in Georgia. I didn’t know what was happening in my life, everything was coming apart inside of me and I needed help. I needed Him! In a glorious moment the presence of the Lord filled that circle of pastors and I withdrew from that circle cringing at the thought of Holy God seeing my unholy life. For the first time in my life I felt His Holy touch, His Holy hug. His presence took me into His loving arms and said, “Farrell Fisher, I am for you! It’s going to be alright. TOGETHER we’re coming to VICTORY!” I found out that although I had known about Him, I didn’t know Him.

If only YOU’LL hear His voice saying to you, “I AM FOR YOU!” We must know with certainty what Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 2:4 that God “desires all men (including YOU!) to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Peter tells us that He “is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but IS PATIENT TOWARD YOU, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

In Ezekial 18:23 God asks, “Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked…No…rather that he should turn from his ways and live!” Then in verses 30-32 our Lord asks, “For why will you die, oh house of Israel?” Today He is asking us, “Why will you die, oh insecure one…why will you die, oh lonely one…why will you die, oh one who thinks no one cares…I CARE!” He does! Do you really know the God who proved His love for you in that while you were still a sinner Christ died in your place, in your behalf?

“THIS IS ETERNAL LIFE, THAT THEY MAY KNOW YOU, GOD!” DO YOU?

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHRIST JESUS AND GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE FULFILLED

Of course, Holy God clearly understood, before the world had been created, that created mankind would “fall away” and find themselves in need of, yes, salvation, restoration, and ‘blood redemption’ whether they fully understood it or not! And in His Holy Word we learned of “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,” because Holy God, filled with amazing love and grace, destined His Son to be our Savior, Redeemer, Master, and Lord!

And then, in Luke 15:10, Jesus tells us, “Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” How awesome is that when you see “angels” rejoicing over ‘one sinner’ who repents! Does it awaken in you personally the awareness of angelic awe and holy rejoicing when a “lost” man is found and a “sin-bound” heart is washed clean by the blood of the Lamb of God? “There’s joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

In Charles Spurgeon’s collection of “Spurgeon’s Sermons,” [Memorial Library, Vol.6, p.49], the passionate preacher wrote: “Strange that though leagues of distance lie between the finite creature and the infinite Creator, yet there are links that unite us both!” And I see it as the angels rejoice over a redeemed life! And I’m convinced that happened because of the angels’ presence near and around the very throne of God – and as He rejoiced, so the angels’ broke forth in “Praise and adoration” of the amazing grace of God!

In 1 Peter 3:12 Peter quoted the psalmist in Psalm 34:15, “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears open to their cry.” God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and God’s angelic army rejoice as they see His eternal intent coming to fruition even in one man!

Are you aware of God’s nearness to YOU as He begins that stirring of your heart and mind to turn you away from darkness to light, from “lost-ness” to being found by Him, from His directional turning of your life from a sea of despair to the ocean of His mercy and grace? He knows YOU by name, and longs for you to “know Him and the power of His resurrection and, yes, the fellowship of His sufferings”!

“Saints” are the redeemed, Washed in His blood, God over-seeing your saving from the flood; Resurrection from the dead to ‘new life’ in His Son, God has ordained you be joined to the Savior, raised from the dead to Heaven’s favor!…

“Saints” will know pain and, yes, subject to distresses, as Jesus Himself suffered pain and heart-ache, because the people He loved whipped His body, and led Him to Calvary to pay the price of their very sin and ours included, as from His body the blood flowed unceasing till Divine Life paid the full price, releasing, sinners forgiven, new saints ordained, as they see His death and their death not in vain!

“Saints” are the army of Heaven’s Great King, disciplined by the Cross to announce to others His forever reign, Enthroned in Heaven, and before Him we bow, knowing His Word faithfully tells us how, as children of faith, a part of God’s race, we take our place in the front-line of battle, assured of victory won because of God’s eternal Son!

Christ Jesus And God’s Eternal Purpose Fulfilled? That’s “the Preeminence of Christ Jesus!” Christ Jesus IS King of kings and Lord of lords! And this is why Isaiah wrote 700 years before His birth in Bethlehem, Isaiah 55:6-7, “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”

But you do understand that “returning to the Lord” to find abundant pardon goes against the grain of mindless, clueless, ‘all-sufficient’ natural men who have no need of redemptive grace and mercy – they’ve determined “best effort” is normal and natural! Yet, the Holy Word of God still declares, and always will, because we clearly understand, receive, rest in the eternal truth that God Almighty loved us and gave Himself for us through Christ Jesus only!

You saw it in the introduction as I showed you Random House’s Collegiate Dictionary the definition of “preeminence”: “eminent above or before all others; superior, surpassing”…Syn. “distinguished, peerless, supreme”. And that’s Christ Jesus! Do you remember also Isaiah’s prophetic word in Isaiah 7:14? “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel “ – which literally means “God With Us”! In the 9^th Chapter of Isaiah, the prophet tells us in verses 6-7, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of Davis and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” God Himself will usher in the Kingdom-rule of Christ Jesus!

EXAMINING CHRIST JESUS AND GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE FULFILLED THROUGH HIM, NOTICE, FIRST, THE PREEMINENCE OF CHRIST JESUS IN THE FACT THAT CHRIST JESUS IS GOD AS WELL AS MAN! Just how clear and to the point is Matthew 1:21 which says, “And she [Mary] will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated ‘God with us.’”

Dr. Luke really puts ‘intellectual’ (?) doctors in their place when he tells us all in Luke 1:26-35, Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary…

And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was…

Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David…

And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” [She WAS, Yes, a virgin!] And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.” Always has been, always is, and forever will be!

In Matthew did we learn there that the One Mary birthed would be called, Immanuel, meaning “God With Us”? Ten thousand times, “YES”!! God’s Holy Word doesn’t need approval of the world-wide “Doctors’ Association” as to the truth of the birth of Immanuel! He always was, always is, and forever will be “God With Us”!

Examine Hebrews 1:1-4! “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and THE EXPRESS IMAGE OF HIS PERSON, and upholding all things by the word of Hid power, when He had BY HIMSELF purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”

How awesome is that?!? “He (Jesus Christ) has obtained a more excellent name than they!! Immanuel – “God With Us”! Messiah – Promised Messiah, the Word of God, True Light, Lamb of God, Savior, Lord, Master of all Life, Son of Man, Son of God, Giver of Living Water, “I am the Light of the world,” “I am the bread of life,” “I am the living bread,” “I am the One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.” “Before Abraham was, I AM.” “I am the door…,” “I am the good shepherd,” “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” “The foot-washing Savior and Lord,” “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” “I am the true vine…”…

Christ of the Cross, Christ of the empty tomb, Christ seated at the right hand of the Father, Christ attended by angels, Christ who took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses, Christ the Lord over demons and the devil, Christ the ‘sea-calmer,’ Christ the Healer, Christ who is Lord – not to be served but to serve and give His life a ransom for many, Christ who gives “eternal rest,” Christ, the Son of Man, who is Lord of the Sabbath, Christ Jesus the King of kings and Lord of lords reigning in His blood-bought Kingdom even now!

THE PREEMINENCE OF CHRIST JESUS? HE’S THE GOD-MAN WHO KNEW NO SIN! How bold and breath-taking do you find 2 Corinthians 5:21? “For He [God] made Him [Christ Jesus] WHO KNEW NO SIN to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Romans 1:24-32 explains man’s dilemma without God in his life – it says, “Therefore God also gave them up [fallen mankind!] to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, WHO EXCHANGED THE TRUTH OF GOD FOR THE LIE, [the lie? “You can sin and not die”! which is the Devil’s “lie,” Satan’s ‘sham’ of fleshly indulgence without penalty!], and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature…

Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due…

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,…

Backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteousness of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”

And to turn, not to the false wisdom of fallen men, but to turn to the true wisdom of God’s Holy Word, is to learn eternal truth: Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The God-Man who knew no sin? Examine Romans 6:10!! “For the death that He [Christ Jesus] died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives TO GOD!” “Sinless Savior for our sin He died, Sinless Savior who took our place, Sinless Savior birthed a new race, Free from the bondage, released to New Life, gone forever is fleshly strife, Sinless Savior Head of the new people, Disciples are their new names as forever they rest in His eternal fame!” The God-Man who knew no sin!

THE PREEMINENCE OF CHRIST JESUS? HE’S “GOD IN FLESH” WHO ALWAYS WAS, ALWAYS IS, AND FOREVER WILL BE! Do you remember Jesus’ prayer in John 17? Examine with me the first three verses: Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may also glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. AND THIS IS ETERNAL LIFE, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

Remember, the prophetic name given to the Savior of the world was “Immanuel,” or “God With Us”!! And “Immanuel” always was, always is, and forever will be! To be “in Him” through repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of Christ at the Cross is to be blessed with Holy Presence and Holy Purpose that never dies – and also remember, it was God Himself who said: “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased!” Taking in Christ is to take in His forever presence that is always with you, in you, and forever will be day by day as you die to yourself and yield to His forever, abiding presence!

THE PREEMINENCE OF CHRIST JESUS? JESUS WAS AND TRULY IS OUR ETERNAL MIND AND HEART READER! If Jesus knew the very heart of the Pharisees, do you sense He reads our minds and hearts as believers? In Luke 16:15 Jesus said of the “legalists”, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”

Are you aware of how easy it is for professing believers to stray, to wander, or to fall away from the faith? And God doesn’t care? Oh, Yes, He cares – and having read our minds and hearts, He’ll move in on us with great compassion and conviction! In 2 Timothy 2:15-22 Paul challenges every young disciple: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth…

But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some…

Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.’ But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor…

Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” [But for you, you’ve convinced yourself or deceived by the devil himself, that Jesus has “covered” you, and you can do as you please in the flesh?]. Jesus knows us and will affirm or deny us as to whether or not we are truly His!

THE PREEMINENCE OF CHRIST JESUS? CHRIST JESUS HAS THE POWER TO HEAL, FREE, AND CHANGE MEN’S MINDS AND HEARTS! Don’t you absolutely love and deeply appreciate the openness of Paul about his own journey of faith and how he came to full, absolute, total surrender to the Lordship of Christ Jesus? In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 he wrote: “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure…

Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me…

Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

That’s “strong in Christ,” “strong in the Word and the Spirit,” “strong, yes, in self-determination to be through with myself, fully yielded to ALL Christ Jesus is and wants us to receive from Him! And what about “strong in God’s ultimate intention” for each disciple fully surrendered to our Lord and Savior?

I’m convinced this is why the Spirit of God so inspired Paul in Galatians 1:15-16a, “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me…” Are you fully yielded to all Jesus is and desires to be through you? Daily, do you choose to die, that the resurrection life of Christ may be manifested in and through your mortal body? Are YOU, having been reconciled to God through Christ, “being saved by His life”?

Or, failing to know truth, are you unaware that Christ Jesus “reads” the mail of your mind and heart daily?

THE PREEMINENCE OF CHRIST JESUS? HE BOLDLY DECLARED HIS TRUE IDENTITY IN AND WITH FATHER-GOD AND THE HOLY SPIRIT. In John 10:24-30 we read: Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do you keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me…

But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand…

My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE.”

As Josh MacDowell once said, “Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord God!” I pray you come down with the eternal Truth! “I and My Father are One!”

In Jesus’ prayer to Father-God in John 17:11 He prayed: “Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.”

Do you remember Peter praising God the Father? 1 Peter 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy, has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” Peter knew God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit,” and they were, they are, and they forever will be “the Three in One”!

THE PREEMINENCE OF CHRIST JESUS? HE IS THE GREAT “I AM”! In John 11:25 Jesus said to Martha, “I AM the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”

Do you remember Jesus’ conflict with the Jews in John 8:56-58? “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” Then the Jews said to Jesus, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

Just how bold and blessed do you find Christ Jesus when He said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

And our Lord and Savior clearly understood His mission – in John 8:28-30 we read, Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.” [Have YOU believed?}.

Historically, it was first the ‘religious’ Jews who refused to believe in their “Promised Messiah.” Jesus told some of the unbelieving Jews in John 8:42, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.” He told them a little later, John 10:37-38, “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” He said: “The Father is in Me, and I in Him,” meaning, “We are One and the Same! To receive Me is to receive the Father. To reject Me is to reject the God you claim to believe!”

It was Philip Doddridge and Lowell Mason who about 200 years ago wrote the words to the old hymn entitled “Baptized into Our Savior’s Death.” It says: “Baptized into our Savior’s death, Our souls to sin must die; With Christ our Lord we live anew, With Christ ascend on high…

There by His Father’s side He sits, Enthroned divinely fair; Yet own Himself our Brother still, And our forerunner there…

Rise from these earthly trifles, rise On wings of faith and love; Above, our choicest treasure lies, And be our hearts above…

Let not earth’s pleasures draw us down; Lord, give us strength to rise, And through Your strong, attractive power, At last to gain the prize.”

It was Paul, in Philippians 3:13-14, who challenges us: “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Upward call of God in Christ Jesus or the downward pull of the world, the flesh, and the devil, to the darkness of eternal separation from the God of love, mercy, and grace?

In Philippians 2:9-11 the Holy Word challenges us: “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER.” Yes, Glorious Name!!

It’s time to bow before Him, it’s time for personal brokenness to come to full fruition, and for Christ Jesus to be exalted in every heart and home as King of kings and Lord of lords, our Redeemer, our Reconciler, our Savior, our Resurrection Life and Hope!

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

CHRIST JESUS: NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES

I want to begin this closing chapter by sharing Psalm 72:7 – 17, but, first, Verse 19 which says: “And blessed be His glorious name forever. And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.”

The whole chapter is, as my New King James entitles it, the “Glory and Universality of the Messiah’s Reign”! Verses 7-17 tells us, “In His days (Messiah’s days”) the righteous shall flourish, and the abundance of peace, until the moon is no more. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth….

Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him, and His enemies will lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles will bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba will offer gifts. Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him…

For He will deliver the needy when he cries, the poor also, and him who has no helper. He will spare the poor and needy, and will save the souls of the needy. He will redeem their life from oppression and violence; and precious shall be their blood in His sight…

And He shall live; and the gold of Sheba will be given to Him; prayer also will be made for Him continually, and daily He shall be praised. There will be an abundance of grain in the earth, on the top of the mountains; its fruit shall wave like Lebanon; and those of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth…

His name shall endure forever; His name shall continue as long as the sun. And men shall be blessed in Him; All nations shall call Him blessed.”

Do you believe that “all nations” today are calling Jesus “blessed”? Do you believe that “all men” today are bowing before Christ Jesus, honoring Him as “King of kings and Lord of lords”? Sorry…but I don’t think so! And my personal observation, after 78 full years of life on this earth, is that I’m not even sure most of the church worldwide even recognizes the need of evangelistic “flourishing”, reaching out in His name to share redemptive faith and hope! And, if you’re unfamiliar with the Holy Word, you need to know that even ‘fleshly’ religious people build tabernacles, temples, buildings, with no comprehension that “in Christ” every disciple of redemptive faith has become the “true temple” God is interested in by putting His anointing on that, yes, spiritual temple built by His love, grace, and mercy!

The Resurrected Jesus, yes, still comes to the “church,” but never in a compromising fashion, accepting both the best and the worst from those who at least ‘profess’ faith in Him – but He comes to the unfaithful as “judge” of their professing faith? Did the Lord actually say, Revelation 2:16, “Repent, or else I will come to you quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth”? And with that same sword that He wields against the unfaithful, He exercises it to defend and stand up for those the Bible calls ‘faithful disciples”!

In Romans 10:1-3 Paul assures both physical Israel and all unbelievers of their need of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He wrote, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is THAT THEY MAY BE SAVED. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and SEEKING TO ESTABLISH THEIR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.”

Isn’t there a verse that speaks about “fearfulness has seized the hypocrites”? A hypocrite is a “play-actor”! Is it impossible, or a reality, that many “play” the “church-game” very well! But nothing and no one is hidden from the eye of our Lord! He sees, He knows, and, yes, He judges every “professing” believer, saved or an imitator!

Revelation 2:13 is very clear to me that our Lord and Savior has and holds to the desire of intimate personal relations with every believer! John quotes the ‘angel of the church in Pergamos.’ “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.” But the “church” in this century, several thousand years later is exempt from devilish interference?

Did Jesus say, “you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith…”? Have YOU ever considered, examined the Word, or received through the Spirit the eternal danger of one denying the truth of the Holy Word? We just read Jesus speaking of those who “hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith!”

But then there are those who are sadly influenced by “peer pressure”, like the parents of the young man who received His sight from Jesus. The Pharisees asked the parents, “Born blind – but now he sees? How did it happen?’ They responded, (John 9:20-21), “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.” Oh, and then Verse 22 says, “His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He [Jesus] was the Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.”

Shunning the name of Christ, shunning the Truth of Christ, shunning the cross of Christ, because of “peer pressure”, assures one is not worthy to bear the Name of Christ! But beyond “peer pressure” many refuse bear His name, vocalize His Truth, proclaim His saving grace, because one has been immersed in false teachings, introduced to false philosophies, educated by the godless whether families or ‘familiar spirits’ (called “demons”) or worldly, highly educated professors in schools or universities who’ve determined they are smarter than God Himself!

Colossians 2:8 is so very clear: “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.”

“Peer pressure,” “false philosophies,” but then there is also “godless living” because of a cold, dead heart to the reality of our Ever-Present Holy Father, as one celebrates moral failure over Heaven-made success! It’s like the old Frank Sinatra song, “I did it my way,” – and “your God has no right to my life!” And, usually, bitterly, they walk away from the God of Calvary’s Cross! No death to fornication, uncleanness, passions, evil desires, covetousness, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language, lying! The “godless” love their fallen, enslaved, demonized ‘death-styles’! The unrighteous pleasures of sin have truly captured their hearts and minds, and they feel right at home with their “chains” and “bars” of personal enslavements!

“Out and out denial” is another measurement of falseness in human lives alienated and separated from Holy God. It’s like Pharoah saying to Moses and Aaron in Exodus 5:2, And Pharoah said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”

Do you remember Job’s discourse on ‘wicked men’? Job 21:15, “Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?” If Jesus says, “He who is not with Me is against Me,” do you understand the willful blindness and out and out denial of King Christ Jesus unveils one’s eternal position of opposition to the King of kings and Lord of lords? And some willfully position themselves in a worldly army of unbelievers with no concerns for “eternal crowns,” even the Lord’s bestowal of His “crown of glory.”

But, the “Name above all names”? There is no doubt in my mind that it comes by one’s Renewing of his/her mind! Acts 17:11 says, “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”

This is why Paul wrote in Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed “by the renewing of your mind,” that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” “Transformed?” That’s “squeezed” or “pressed into a mold,” and of course that mold is Christ Jesus!

Are you aware that “true faith,” “saving faith,” redemptive faith, is certainly based upon receiving the words of Christ Jesus, the only Savior and Lord? In John 6:51-56 Jesus said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”…

The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.” Is that clear to you? Tell me about your spiritual diet!

The “Name above all names”? Beyond “the renewing of the Mind” is the open declaration of full surrender of allegiance, yes, at all times, regardless of the price or cost! Paul described himself in 1 Corinthians 4:10 as a “fool for Christ’s sake!”

In Philippians 2:5-11 Paul wrote about “the humbled and exalted Christ”! He said: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men…

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The “Name above all names”? Examine the Priceless Preciousness of His Name! I so love Isaiah 9:6-7! “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” And God has, is, and forever will be establishing the “kingdom of Christ”!

Are you aware of the angel appearing to Joseph in a dream with the word that Mary, GET THIS!!, Matthew 1:23, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God With Us.”!! At the Name of Jesus have YOU truly bowed with the angels to worship Him?

Examine, yes, The Power of Christ Jesus’ Name! Christ Jesus IS “King of kings and Lord of lords”!! The angel who announced Christ’s birth to Mary also told her in Luke 1:32-33, “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” What else did the angel tell Mary? Look at Matthew 1:21, “Mary, you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” How powerful is that?

Carefully examine and search the Word of God thoroughly for understanding “The Preeminence of Christ Jesus’ Name!” Does Revelation define Him as “Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end”?

Preeminence? In Christ Jesus is the eternal ability, through His shed blood, to grant forgiveness of your sins, to accept us “just-as-if-we’d-never-sinned”, to declare us 100% holy and righteous, totally able to raise us up and sit us around the throne of His eternal Kingdom rule! Glory!

I love what Charles Spurgeon once preached in England: “He [Jesus] saves us from the punishment of sin because ‘the chastisement of our peace was upon Him.’ He died as a victim in our stead. He saves us from the power of sin by His Spirit, and by faith in His death: we overcome sin by the blood of the Lamb.”

Peter and John had been arrested and were brought before the Sanhedrin to answer, “By what power or by what name have you done this?” They confessed, [Verses 10-12, Acts 4], “Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands before you whole. This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone. Nor is there salvation in any other, FOR THERE IS NO OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN GIVEN AMONG MEN BY WHICH WE MUST BE SAVED!!”

Preeminence? That’s Jesus Christ who lives out His identity in unchanging demonstration of His eternal purpose and plan – in fact the author of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 1:1-3 and verse 8 the following eternal Word: “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;…

Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…Verse 8, [Don’t miss this! Never take it lightly!], But to the Son He (GOD) says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom!” And Jesus’ Kingdom-rule, yes, is forever and ever!

Preeminence? I pray that YOU are not a part of those who look upon true disciples of Jesus as the “nit-wits”, but that you are a part of “the nitty-gritty” spiritual family of faith and loyalty who truly live under the Banner of Christ’s Cross with your daily blood pressure beating “faithfully and regularly” because it IS the heart of Christ in you because you KNOW your first heart died with Christ at Calvary! YOU KNOW “blessed hope” and “eternal assurance” because your life is based upon “JESUS ONLY”!

Preeminence? Master, Savior, Ruler, Liberator, Propitiation, Lamb of God, Promised Messiah who came and comes to set the captives free! And having professed and claimed Him as our Savior and Lord by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, as true disciples of the Lamb of God, we walk in ministry daily under the divine anointing of the Holy Spirit to honor Him in our walks through life daily and forever!

Preeminence? Holy God calls us out, Holy God sets us apart, Holy God anoints us with the River of Living Water, with the authority of His Holy Word, and with His resurrection, holy presence in us, our hope of glory that never changes! “Jesus Only” is God’s faithfulness for your daily and eternally provision of “Victory In Jesus” always!

I was reading Spurgeon’s Sermons recently from his Memorial Library, [Vol. 19, p.52], as he shared an old Christian legend concerning Ignatius, “that Ignatius never spoke without mentioning the name of Jesus whom he loved. His speech seemed saturated with love to his Lord, and when he died the name of Jesus was found to be stamped on his heart. It may not have been so literally, but no doubt it was true spiritually.” And I would ask you: What name is clearly stamped on your heart?

That speaks to me of “dependence,” of “destiny,” of “determination,” of “desire,” and of, yes, “discipline”! Yesterday, was Jesus Lord of your life; today, is Jesus Lord of your life; tomorrow and forever, will Jesus be the explanation to Holy God at the throne of Judgment of the reason you were able to live an overcoming, victorious, Christ-honoring life?

Paul closed his 1 Corinthians letter in Chapter 16, Verses 13-14, saying, “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that YOUR DO be done with love.”

And I say to you, what YOU DO is to be done in Christ’s love because He first loved YOU and gave Himself as God’s sacrifice on the Cross to demonstrate His eternal love for you as if you were the only person to ever live! AMEN?

CONCLUSION

This has been an awesome journey of adventure into the reaching in to the life and ministry of Christ Jesus, Yes, His preeminence, and our desperate need of Him in our lives, homes, churches, businesses, schools, universities, with the spiritual ambition and eternal desire of truly being the children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you [we] are to shine as lights in a darkened world, holding fast the word of life, so that we all may rejoice in the day of Christ that we have not run in vain or labored in vain.

Because we are “in Christ,” having been redeemed by the blood of the Lord, crowned Him King of our hearts and King of our homes, therefore, “our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. [Philippians 3:20-21].

How’s the “journey,” the “walk,” the “pressing in” and the “heavenly transformation”? I hope you clearly understand the need of your daily sentence of death to yourself that His Resurrected Life fills your daily walk with Him guiding, leading, inspiring, motivating, mastering your life and walk and testimony to His own glory and praise and honor! THAT, my friends, is a good and godly desire! Be blessed, J. Farrell Fisher

I really am not sure how to begin this, I pray, a biblical study on man’s or one’s search for meaning to their ‘existence’, if that, to them, is all they sense about their earthly presence or ‘fleshly’ pilgrimage. One thing I’m sure of: most men without God are out to find the ‘filling’ for their empty, tortuous, godless living, and are not even sure they want to learn about His “eternal intent” for them as ‘vessels’ or ‘containers’ of His Heavenly Presence in their hearts and lives! If they are not in control, they’ll substitute anything, anyway, any-how, any-‘who’, if they can find even a moment’s relief from their ‘pointless lives’!

Societies, lives, families, nations, even churches, have choices: Christ or the chaotic, fleshly or the spiritual, sin-nature determinations or ‘vessels of Christ’s Holy Presence that he calls “temples”’, or compromise with convenience or conviction of His Holy Truth, or a participant in societal disintegration or a soldier of Biblical discipline trained in the Lord’s army, or a ‘self-determined idolater’ worshipping what his sin nature dictates or a life convicted, converted, captured, and controlled by His Indwelling Holy Spirit?

I know that the Prophet Hosea was a tool to speak to the rebellious nation of unrepentant, unredeemed Israel, but I also know “All Scripture” does speak to any man, any where, any time! The national judgment of Israel did not apply to the repentant, redeemed, blood-bought sons and daughters of true faith within Israel! But in Hosea 4: 6 God spoke and still speaks: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because YOU have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because YOU have forgotten the law of God, I also will forget your children.”

Oh, and in Verse 8, God said: “They (demons and ‘the religious of the mind and not the heart’, and unfaithful, unbelieving powers of darkness) eat up or feed (on) the sin of My people; they set their heart on their iniquity,” even approving of all that is opposite to the Truth and Holiness of God!

There IS a ‘world’ of “Yesterday-minded men and women, even boys and girls” who fall into the devilish trap of “Has God really said? You surely will not die – if you sin and fall away – God’s too loving”! Really?

“YESTERDAY”? I pray that YOU see that there was a time when your life was WITHOUT HIM, life without purpose, meaning, a goal or God! “Yesterday”? Pain, emptiness, no spiritual goal or intent at all, no God but simply the ‘god’ you willingly bowed down to daily, your ‘self’!

“YESTERDAY”? Striving but failing, trying but drooping, attempting but falling ‘short’, seeking to prove yourself worthy but wilting short of God’s intent and purpose and plan!

“YESTERDAY”? It’s either a forgotten or painful memory OR that stone on which you choose to stand without Him to determine your next step without God with accumulated failures of emptiness, and the ‘hole’ seems to get deeper and wider – and you’re surprised, even shocked by your own spiritual ineptness!

YESTERDAY”? For most, it’s just sad memories because that ‘emptiness’ and ‘unfulfilled desire’ wasn’t seen as God’s provision of an exposure of life without Him, but just a human failure, a cultural blunder, and a sad reward. When ‘self-awareness’ is all one sees in his fleshly journey, it’s difficult for some to see, “This is the day the Lord has made – I will rejoice and be glad in it.”

“YESTERDAY”? That’s a backward look at an empty space without any consideration, contemplation, or confidence at all of divine intent and eternal purpose! At the same time, how many do you know who are pleased in the arrogance of their ‘fleshly successes’ without one ounce of understanding or consideration of the eternal plan and planting

of God for their lives?

“YESTERDAY”? That’s a backward look at one’s ‘age of anxiety’ without any consideration at all of the Historic Day of Atonement! That’s even a backward look at those who enter churches or temples or religious sanctuaries with no understanding that God doesn’t make His abiding in places made by human means but in the “new-born” temples of men’s repentant, regenerated hearts! In John 17:3 Jesus declared: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent,” with 1 Peter 2:4-5, telling us, “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up “a spiritual house”, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

“YESTERDAY”? That’s man’s fleshly will in full control even if he/she ‘professes’ faith in Christ! There’s a huge gap between ‘believing’ and ‘belonging’ to Jesus Only! It was H.W.Webb-Peploe who once said: “Joy is perfect acquiescence in God’s will because [at last! JFF!] the soul delights itself in God Himself.” That’s God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, and a redeemed heart and mind trusting in Him alone!

“YESTERDAY”? It was Leo Tolstoy who once said, “I lived only during those times when I believed in God,” and I couldn’t help but wonder: “How fleshly is that? Life on, life off, life on, life off – blessed when I believed but cursed when I departed from Him?” Temporary belief or temporary loyalty is not “Oneness with Christ”! That’s, no doubt, why C.S Lewis could describe some spiritual journeys as “an ever increasing desire for an ever diminishing satisfaction.”

The holiest interpretation of Christ is not any man, any woman, at his/her ‘best’, but the “with Christ crucified” that His Resurrected Life may be God’s interpretation of Holy Presence in a present-day earthly setting – your redeemed body as the ‘temple’ of His Holy Presence! Perfect good is not man at his earthly best, even attempting to interpret His Holy Presence, but the “born-again life” in which Resurrection Presence is allowed to be Himself in us, our only hope of glory!

I was reading Kurt Bruner’s book entitled “Inklings of God,” [Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530, Copyright by the author! P.79], when he wrote about Mother Teresa in India before she died. She was one stout lady of true faith who ministered the Truth in India. Bruner wrote, speaking of the Hindu religion, “Its law of karma teaches that those who suffer are paying off debt from a former life, purifying themselves in this life so that they can reincarnate into something better, like a cow, in the next. The entire caste system depends upon the premise that we are destined to pay in one life for messing up in another. To help those suffering is to extend their payment plan. That is why the sick, poor, and disabled suffer so in and beyond India. Their suffering is meant to be. So, in the name of compassion, their religion tells them to avert their eyes [or ‘turn aside’ from how God sees them!].”

Dare I tell you that Hindus in India, unbelieving ‘self-sufficient’ in the U.S., “yesterday” men and women unrepentant, unbelieving anywhere, live breathing the air of ‘personal, self-omniscience’, smarter than God, yet living with illusions encouraged by the devil himself! And they live in the ‘death’ of their hopelessness, not interested in God’s eternal Word of hope, Christ alone! Should I dare tell you that what you believe in the spiritual realm of fallen humanity determines how you live it out, to the glory of fallen flesh or to the glory of Holy God!

“YESTERDAY”? That’s men on their own, even in a religious sense or scene, determining what should be ‘acceptable to God’ on the basis of their “best efforts”! It’s really, really interesting to me to hear Jesus say in John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him,” saying later, in John 12:32, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” Verse 33 then says, This He said, signifying by what death He would die.” And if the Cross hasn’t drawn you to God, nothing else will!

Yesterday’s men and women are drawn by religious activity that leads nowhere – but the “blood-redeemed” understand the willingness of full surrender to the Lordship of Christ! A born-again believer is “drawn” to Christ by the Spirit, while the ‘pretenders’ attempt by best effort to disassociate themselves from godless living but always fall far short of “Redemptive Truth” in and through Christ alone!

Isn’t this why Paul said in Galatians 6:14, “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world”?

“YESTERDAY”? Have you heard the ‘religious world’, world-wide, proudly asserting that “There are many ‘doors’ to God – any ‘door will do’ as long as you promote the religious door you entered and uphold its religious dogma,” which I believe means “eat any old ‘dog-ma meat’ you desire – you’ll be okay,” but I trust only the divine Word like 1 John 1:7 which says, “But if we walk in the light as He (Jesus) is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His (God’s) Son cleanses us from all sin.” Hear me! The Holy Word just declared the eternal way only by which fallen man’s sin-nature is transformed into “new life” is through the shed blood of the Lamb of God, and His shed blood on the Cross unveils the seriousness of my need of deliverance from the penalty of sin and its presence, imparting to me the eternal Truth that I have been made complete in Christ, lacking nothing, but daily ‘resting’ in Him and His manifestation through me of His fullness, His blessing, His purpose, His power, and His desire to express His love, prove His power, and manifest His eternal will through an available ‘vessel’!

In Romans 13:11-14 Paul challenged both the redeemed remnant of Israel and the newly-birthed redeemed of Rome and us in the 21^st Century: “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us was properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in envy and strife. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

“YESTERDAY”? Loyalty to lust or loyalty to the Lord Jesus? Loyalty to the ‘flesh’ or loyalty to the Spirit? Loyalty to one’s natural affinities or loyalty to His eternal birth-marks, God-honoring giftings, and the servant-understanding that, yes, “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose,” (Romans 8:28!)? Loyalty to ‘my interpretation’ or loyalty to His revelation, like John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep My commandments”? Loyalty to the ‘privacy of my own desires’ or loyalty to His “blood-bought possession” of my life, like 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 declaring: “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

And how many ‘doors’ are then shut TO God, and ‘self-serving’ folks, some religious ‘church-goers’, because, even though they ‘profess’ loyalty to Christ, when it comes to ‘religious activities’ they still “call the shots for our own lives”! Paul went on to say in 1 Corinthians 6:17, “But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him,” and HE IS LORD OF ALL OR NOT LORD, for them, AT ALL!!

THEN, WHAT ABOUT “TODAY” IN YOUR SPIRITUAL JOURNEY? Do you remember Zacharias’ prophetic utterance in Luke 1: 67-79? He had been filled with the Holy Spirit, and then he prophesied! “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, [Is God the Lord over every nation in the world? YES, whether they yield to Him or not!], for He has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David [Or in the house of His servant J.Farrell Fisher or YOU?], as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who HAVE BEEN (and still are!) SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN,

That we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, To perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to our father Abraham: To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; (The Beloved John?], for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, To give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

There’s another ‘prophetic word, not only about the birthing of the Promised Savior, of the Coming Savior of the world, the Lamb of God to be sacrificed by merciful God on the Cross for our redemption,’ but to the true faithful sons and daughters who “TODAY” unveil the Resurrected, Reigning Christ to a needy world: Psalm 2:7-12 is about “The Richness of Relationship In God’s Eternal Son AND sons!” It says:

I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, TODAY I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, AND the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron (Biblical Truth?); You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’

Now therefore, be wise, O kings (“In Christ” are we declared “kings and priests unto God the Father”?); Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO PUT THEIR TRUST IN HIM.”

In his book, “My Utmost For His Highest,” (p.227), Oswald Chambers quoted 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?”

“Crucified with Christ, raised to “New Life” in Him, and now, “Today”, the new “Temple of Resurrection Presence,” with the biblical awareness: “I AM NOT MY OWN,” agreeing with, aligning with, receiving the instruction of Paul and Chambers: “We are not sanctified for ourselves, we are called into the fellowship of the Gospel, and things happen which have nothing to do with us, God is getting us into fellowship with Himself. Let Him have His way, if you do not, instead of being of the slightest use to God in His Redemptive work in the world, you will be a hindrance and a clog.” OR, shouldn’t you and I daily choose: “I take the sentence of death daily that the Resurrection Life of Christ may be manifested in my mortal flesh” TODAY?

What did Isaiah say in Isaiah 60:1? “Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.” Do you daily live with that awareness?

ONE OTHER OBSERVANCE AND REFLECTION: WHAT ABOUT “TOMORROW”? And, have you reflected upon what Paul quoted and wrote about in 1 Corinthians 15: 49, and Verses 54-58? 1 Corinthians 15:49, “And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.”

1 Corinthians 15:54-58, “So WHEN this corruptible has put on the incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?’ The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

You may, at times, sense the ‘onslaught of Satan’ and his demonic forces, but remember, IN CHRIST, WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS! Are YOU “at Rest” in Christ as you face YOUR “Tomorrow”? C. Wordsworth, in the old “The American Hymnal”, wrote the words to this hymn entitled “O Day of Rest and Gladness.”

“O day of rest and gladness, O day of joy and light, O balm of care and sadness, Most beautiful, most bright; Om You, the high and lowly, Bending before the throne, Sing, Holy, Holy, Holy, To the great Three in One.

On You, at the creation, the light first had its birth; On You, for our salvation, Christ rose from depths of earth. On You our Lord victorious, The Spirit sent from Heaven; And thus on You most glorious, A triple light was given.

Today on weary nations The heavenly manna falls; To holy convocations The silver trumpet calls, Where gospel light is glowing With pure and radiant beams, And living water flowing With soul-refreshing streams.

New graces ever gaining From this our day of rest, We reach the rest remaining To spirits of the blest. To Holy Ghost be praises, To Father and to Son; The Church her voice upraises To You, blest Three in One.”

Will YOUR “Tomorrow” be the ‘curse’ or the Everlasting Blessing in Christ alone?

APRIL 24-25, 2019

BY: J.FARRELL FISHER

I BEGIN WITH POWERFUL, CONVICTING WORDS FROM JEREMIAH 9:3-6 AS THE PROPHET OF GOD WAS INSPIRED TO WRITE THE FOLLOWING, HAVING HEARD GOD SPEAK!! AND HE’S TALKING ABOUT “SPIRITUAL ADULTERERS”!! “THEY BEND THEIR TONGUES FOR LIES: THEY ARE NOT VALIANT FOR THE TRUTH UPON THE EARTH; FOR THEY PROCEED FROM EVIL TO EVIL, AND THEY KNOW NOT ME, SAYS THE LORD.TAKE YOU HEED EVERY ONE OF HIS NEIGHBOR, AND TRUST YOU NOT IN ANY BROTHER; FOR EVERY BROTHER WILL UTTERLY SUPPLANT, AND EVERY NEIGHBOR WILL WALK WITH SLANDERS. AND THEY WILL DECEIVE EVERY ONE HIS NEIGHBOR, AND WILL NOT SPEAK THE TRUTH: THEY HAVE TAUGHT THEIR TONGUE TO SPEAK LIES, AND WEARY THEMSELVES TO COMMIT INIQUITY. YOUR HABITATION IS IN THE MIDST OF DECEIT; THROUGH DECEIT THEY REFUSE TO KNOW ME, SAYS THE LORD”

THE RANDOM HOUSE COLLEGE DICTIONARY IN 1975 DEFINES DECEIT AS FOLLOWS: “THE ACT OR PRACTICE OF DECEIVING; FRAUD,CHEATING…AN ACT OR SCHEME INTENDED TO DECEIVE; A LIFESTYLE OF BEING DECEITFUL; FALSENESS; DECEIT,GUILE, HYPOCRISY, DUPLICITY,FRAUD,TRICKERY,…THE INTENTIONAL (LIFESTYLE) OF CONCEALMENT OR PERVERSION OF TRUTH FOR THE PURPOSE OF MISLEADING..”!

DID IT SAY, “A LIFESTYLE OF BEING DECEITFUL”? THE WORLD, YOUR OLD SIN NATURE, AND SATAN HIMSELF ARE EQUIPPING FORCES TO KEEP YOU SEPARATED AND ALIENATED FROM HOLY, LOVING, MERCIFUL, CARING GOD. THE “WISDOM” THAT GRANTS AND GIVES NO PLACE FOR GOD IS SPIRITUAL DARKNESS EVEN UNDER THE SUNSHINE THAT STAYS BRIGHT! THIS IS WHY IN 1 CORINTHIANS 2:14,AND VERSE 16, WE READ: “BUT THE NATURAL MAN RECEIVES NOT THE THINGS OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD; FOR THEY ARE FOOLISHNESS UNTO HIM; NEITHER CAN HE KNOW THEM, BECAUSE THEY “SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED”!”

VERSE 16b THEN SAYS, HAVING ASKED IN 16a, “FOR WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE (GOD) MAY INSTRUCT HIM?”, FOLLOWING WITH VERSE 16B,”BUT WE HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST!”…THE BIRTHING OF ALL HUMANITY BY GOD WAS GOD’S ISSUANCE OF ‘FREE-WILL’ FOR EVERY BIRTHED ONE IN THE WORLD WHO IS GIVEN THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE: THEMSELVES AS THEIR OWN MASTER, SAVIOR, AND LORD AS THEY SEE FIT, OR CONVICTED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, THEY REPENT OF THEIR SINFUL BENT, ASKING FOR SOVEREIGN BLESSING IN AND THROUGH CHRIST’S CRUCIFIXION, RESURRECTION, AND ETERNAL RULE ON THE THRONE OF GOD AND AVAILABLE FOR THE LIFE, HEART, AND DESIRE OF ONE WILLING TO BE THE SERVANT OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST,AND-UPON CONVERSION, THEY THEN DISCOVER CHRIST INDWELLS THEM TO BE THEIR SERVANT!

AGAIN, POWERFUL WORDS FROM PAUL IN 1 CORINTHIANS 3:16-17! THIS IS TO PROFESSING BELIEVERS, TO PRETENDING CHURCHES, TO ‘IMITATION’ GOVERNING STATES OR NATIONS! “KNOW YOU NOT THAT YOU ARE THE TEMPLE OF GOD, AND THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD DWELLS IN YOU? IF ANY MAN DEFILE THE TEMPLE OF GOD,(HIM,THEM,IT!),HIM,THEM,IT SHALL GOD DESTROY; FOR THE TEMPLE OF GOD IS HOLY, WHICH TEMPLE YOU ARE.”

HAVE I HIGHLIGHTED ENOUGH “THE DECEPTION OF FALLEN WORLD CULTURES” FOR YOU? THEN, I WANT TO SHIFT GEARS AND TURN TO: “THE TRUTH THAT HOLY GOD LOVES US”! LOOK AT MALACHI 4:1-2! “FOR, BEHOLD, THE DAY COMES, THAT SHALL BURN AS A OVEN; AND ALL THE PROUD, YES, AND ALL THAT DO WICKEDLY, SHALL BE STUBBLE; AND THE DAY THAT COMES SHALL BURN THEM UP, SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS, THAT IT SHALL LEAVE THEM NEITHER ROOT NOT BRANCH. “BUT UNTO YOU THAT FEAR MY NAME SHALL ‘THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS’ ARISES WITH HEALING IN HIS WINGS; AND YOU SHALL GO FORTH, AND GROW UP AS CALVES OF A STALL.”

HAVE YOU WITNESSED LATELY LIVES AROUND YOU LIKE ‘CALVES OF A STALL’, ALIVE, WELL, JOYFUL, JUMPING, KICKING THEIR HEELS, BECAUSE SALVATION IN AND THROUGH CHRIST DELIGHTS THEM,EVEN HILARIOUSLY,AMAZINGLY,JOYFULLY UPLIFTING THEM EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY?

I TELL YOU, IT’S FAR MORE THAN JUST A “CHRISTMAS SONG” BECAUSE ISAAC WATTS AND GEORGE HANDEL “KNEW” THE BLESSING OF GOD’S AWESOME MERCY AND GRACIOUS GRACE! THE SONG IS IN THE HYMNAL, THE BROADMAN HYMNAL, FROM THE BROADMAN PRESS, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, PUBLISHED IN 1940! IT SAYS: “JOY TO THE WORLD! THE LORD HAS COME; LET EARTH RECEIVE HER KING; LET EVERY HEART PREPARE HIM ROOM, AND HEAVEN AND NATURE SING…

JOY TO THE EARTH! THE SAVIOR REIGNS; LET MEN THEIR SONGS EMPLOY; WHILE FIELDS AND FLOODS, ROCKS, HILLS AND PLAINS REPEAT THE SOUNDING JOY.

NO MORE LET SINS AND SORROWS GROW, NOR THORNS INFEST THE GROUND; HE COMES TO MAKE HIS BLESSINGS FLOW FAR AS THE CURSE IS FOUND.

HE RULES THE WORLD WITH TRUTH AND GRACE, AND MAKES THE NATIONS PROVE THE GLORIES OF HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND WONDERS OF HIS LOVE.”

IN LUKE 19:10 JESUS SAID, “FOR THE SON OF MAN IS COME TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THAT WHICH WAS LOST.” BIRTHED FLESHLY INTO THE WORLD EVERY CHILD IS BIRTHED IN ‘FLESH’, BIRTHED WITH AN INHERITED SIN-NATURE, BIRTHED ABSENT OF THE PRESENCE OF THE RESURRECTED CHRIST, HIS LOVING FATHER, AND HIS FRUITFUL HOLY SPIRIT, DEFINED BY GOD AS LOST, ALIENATED, SEPARATED, IN NEED OF BEING BORN SPIRITUALLY BY GRACE AND FAITH WITH A FREE PASS INTO KINGDOM OF GOD LIVING!

DOES CHRIST JESUS HAVE ENEMIES? YET AT THE SAME TIME DOES HE ALSO HAVE CO-LABORERS, BIRTHED TO BE SOLDIERS OF CHRIST IN THE ARMY OF THE FAITHFUL? HE DOES HAVE ENEMIES, WARRIORS AGAINST HIM, BUT HE ALSO HAS FAITHFUL SOLDIERS THAT BEAR HIS CROSS AND FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH! IN REVELATION 17:14, IT SPEAKS OF HIS ENEMIES, THEN HIS OWN CO-WARRIORS! “THESE SHALL MAKE WAR WITH THE LAMB, AND THE LAMB SHALL OVERCOME THEM; FOR HE IS LORD OF LORDS, AND KING OF KINGS; AND THEY THAT ARE WITH HIM ARE “CALLED,” “CHOSEN,” AND ARE “THE FAITHFUL”!

THIS IS WHY SABINE BARING-GOULD AND ARTHUR SULLIVAN WERE INSPIRED TO WRITE THE HYMN PUBLISHED IN “THE BROADMAN PRESS” IN NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, IN 1940(P46).IT SAYS: “ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS,MARCHING AS TO WAR, WITH THE CROSS OF JESUS GOING ON BEFORE! CHRIST, THE ROYAL MASTER, LEADS AGAINST THE FOE; FORWARD INTO BATTLE, SEE, HIS BANNERS GO!

AT THE SIGN OF TRIUMPH SATAN’S HOST DOES FLEE; ON THEN,YOU CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS, ON TO VICTORY! HELL’S FOUDATIONS QUIVER AT THE SHOUT OF PRAISE; BROTHERS, LIFT YOUR VOICES, LOUD YOUR ANTHEMS RAISE!

LIKE A MIGHTY ARMY MOVES THE CHURCH OF GOD; BROTHERS, WE ARE TREADING WHERE THE (SAVIOR) AND THE SAINTS HAVE TROD; WE ARE NOT DIVIDED; ALL ONE BODY WE, ONE IN HOPE AND DOCTRINE, ONE IN CHARITY.

ONWARD,THEN,YOU PEOPLE, JOIN OUR HAPPY THRONG,BLEND WITH OURS YOUR VOICES IN THE TRIUMPH SONG; GLORY, LAUD, AND HONOR, UNTO CHRIST THE KING; THIS THRO’ COUNTLESS AGES MEN AND ANGELS SING.

ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS, MARCHING AS TO WAR, WITH THE CROSS OF JESUS GOING ON BEFORE!” (ARE “YOU” A SOLDIER OF THE ARMY OF CHRIST INVADING A WORLD OF UNBELIEF AROUND YOU? OR DO YOU “SLEEP” IN YOUR BARRACK BED DEAD TO,YES, THE GREAT NEED SPIRITUALLY OF THOSE WHO NEED TO BE AWAKENED AND CONFRONTED WITH CHRIST’S PRESENCE KNOCKING ON THEIR HEARTS’ DOORS SAYING, “OPEN YOUR HEART’S DOOR, AND I, KING JESUS, WILL COME IN ESTABLISHING MY THRONE IN YOU TO REIGN THROUGH YOU”?

ARE “YOU” A CHILD OF THE KING? DOES KING JESUS REIGN IN YOU AND THROUGH YOU EXPRESSING HIS LOVE, EXTENDING HIS MERCY, AND PROVING HIS POWER? HATTIE E.BEULL, IN THE SAME HYMNAL, HAD HER SONG PUBLISHED,(P.47), THAT SAYS, THIRD STANZA, “I ONCE WAS AN OUTCAST STRANGER ON EARTH, A SINNER BY CHOICE, AND AN ALIEN BY BIRTH; BUT I’VE BEEN ADOPTED, MY NAME’S WRITTEN DOWN, AND HEIR TO A MANSION, A ROBE, AND A CROWN.

I’M A CHILD OF THE KING, A CHILD OF THE KING: WITH JESUS MY SAVIOR I’M A CHILD OF THE KING.”

DARE I TELL YOU? I BELIEVE I WILL! “TOO MANY ‘PROFESSING’ CHURCHES AND ‘BELIEVERS’(?) DEGRADE THE TRUE CHRISTIAN FAITH “AND” CHRIST BY ‘PROFESSING’ WITHOUT ALLOWING HIS POSSESSING FREELY HIS RELEASE, HIS GIFT AND GIFTS, HIS ETERNAL LONGING TO BE HIMSELF IN THEM, BUT THE ‘FUTILE, FATAL, FLIPPANT BELIEVERS’ LIVE EXPRESSING HEAD KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT HIS HOLY PRESENCE IN HUMAN HEARTS EXTENDING HIS LIFE, EXPRESSING HIS LOVE, AND PROVING HIS POWER! WILL YOU LET JESUS BE JESUS IN YOU? AGAIN, JEREMIAH 9:3-6 PLUS VERSES 7-9!!

“THEY BEND THEIR TONGUES LIKE THEIR BOW (AND ARROW) FOR LIES: BUT (ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?), BUT THEY ARE NOT VALIANT FOR THE TRUTH UPON THE EARTH; FOR THEY PROCEED FROM EVIL TO EVIL, AND THEY KNOW NOT ME,SAYS THE LORD.TAKE HEED EVERY ONE OF HIS NEIGHBOR,AND TRUST NOT IN ANY BROTHER; FOR EVERY BROTHER WILL UTTERLY SUPPLANT, AND EVERY NEIGHBOR WILL WALK WITH SLANDERS.

AND THEY WILL DECEIVE EVERY ONE HIS NEIGHBOR, AND WILL NOT SPEAK THE TRUTH; THEY HAVE TAUGHT THEIR TONGUE TO SPEAK LIES, AND WEARY THEMSELVES IN COMMITTING INIQUITY.YOUR HABITATION IS IN THE MIDST OF DECEIT; THROUGH DECEIT THEY REFUSE TO KNOW ME,SAYS THE LORD.

VERSES 7-9 FOLLOWS SAYING:THEREFORE,THUS SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS, BEHOLD, I WILL MELT THEM, AND TEST THEM; FOR HOW SHALL I DO (OR DEAL) WITH THE DAUGHTER OF MY PEOPLE? THEIR TONGUE IS AS AN ARROW SHOT OUT; IT SPEAKS DECEIT; ONE SPEAKS PEACEABLY TO HIS NEIGHBOR, BUT IN HEART HE LAYS IN WAIT. SHALL I VISIT THEM FOR THESE THINGS?SAYS THE LORD: SHALL NOT MY SOUL BE AVENGED ON SUCH A NATION (OR SUCH A PEOPLE, OR SUCH ‘PROFESSORS’ WITHOUT ANY DESIRE TO BE POSSESSED, OWNED, AND POURED OUT TO SPIRITUALLY ‘THIRSTY’ PEOPLE, FOR SOME WITH ONLY HEAD KNOWLEDGE), BUT VOID OF A “NEW-BORN”, ETERNALLY TRANSFORMED, IGNITED WITH THE “FIRE” OF HIS RESURRECTED PRESENCE REIGNING IN AND THROUGH YOU, BY BEING “GUIDED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, TAUGHT BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND EMPOWERED TO BE HIS HEAVENLY WITNESS”!

WHY NOT LET: “JESUS, BE JESUS IN ME; NO LONGER ME BUT THEE; RESURRECTION POWER, FILL ME THIS HOUR; JESUS, BE JESUS IN ME!”? WILL “YOU”?AND THAT WILL BE “THE DAY” IN YOU,IN AND THROUGH YOU, IN WHICH “YOU” ALLOW HIM TO EXTEND HIS LIFE, EXPRESS HIS LOVE, AND PROVE HIS POWER! THE OLD HYMN, “ALL HAIL THE POWER”,SAYS: “ALL HAIL THE POWER OF JESUS’ NAME!LET ANGELS PROSTRATE FALL; BRING FORTH THE ROYAL DIADEM, AND CROWN HIM LORD OF ALL.

YOU CHOSEN SEED OF A NATION’S RACE, YOU RANSOMED FROM THE “FALL”, HAIL HIM WHO SAVES YOU BY HIS GRACE, CROWN HIM LORD OF ALL.

LET EVERY KINDRED, EVERY TRIBE, ON THIS TERRESTRIAL BALL, TO HIM ALL MAJESTY ASCRIBE, AND CROWN HIM LORD OF ALL.

O THAT WITH YONDER SACRED THRONG WE AT HIS FEET MAY FALL; WE’LL JOIN THE EVERLASTING SONG, AND CROWN HIM LORD OF ALL.” DOES CHRIST JESUS LIVE AND REIGN THROUGH YOU THIS VERY DAY, THIS VERY HOUR, THIS VERY MOMENT?

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