THE PREEMINENCE OF
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 79th 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 20th 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 71st 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 18th 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 35th 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 9th 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