2 Peter 1:10-14 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: 11 for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. 13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; 14 knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.
Even Apostles die. As Peter, the Chief Apostle, writes to the Church, He said:
“‘As long as I am in this tabernacle’ {vs 13}I’m going to remind you what you as believers should be doing” {my paraphrase}. Peter said:
2 Peter 1:14 …. knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.
Word Study What is “my tabernacle” that Peter is talking about? “Tabernacle” is σκήνωμα skḗnōma, {pronounced skay’-no-mah} which means “a tent, a portable temple”. Peter, as well as Paul (2 Corinthians 5:1, 4) ofen used the term “tabernacle” or “tent” to refer to their earthly bodies. Before Jesus ascended into Heaven He told Peter:
John 21:18-19 Verily, verily, I say unto thee {Peter}, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. 19 This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.
Peter knew that he would die by crucifixion, just as our Jesus did, for Jesus told him so. But Jesus told Peter “Follow me”, which is the mark of the Christian. The Christian follows Jesus. The Christian does as God says do. Peter could have avoided dying for Jesus. He could have refused to follow the Lord, and he would have been no threat at all. But Jesus said “Follow me”.
If you are saved, you follow Jesus.
Do You Have A “Know So” or a “SURE” Salvation?
Death comes to all, and none of us truly know when we will have to “put off this my tabernacle”. Sooner or later it must come. To avoid being frightened of that time – for it should not be frightening to the Child of God – Peter says:
2 Peter 1:10 … brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall
“Give diligence” or make sure you DO this. Make sure, first of all, that you are CALLED of GOD. Every person Jesus has ever saved, He has called. Jesus said:
Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Matthew 4:19) Follow Me; and let the dead bury their dead. (Matthew 8:22) Follow Me, not money (Matthew 9:9) Take your Cross and follow Me (Matthew 10:38) Cast away your false gods, and Follow Me (Matthew 19:21) Follow Me and be blessed (Matthew 19:28)
The Christian follows Jesus. I follow Jesus because I need miracles in my life. I follow Jesus because this world is a scary and lonely place. I follow Jesus, because He gives me confidence to live. The Scripture says – and I agree –
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.
My life must be lived while following Christ Jesus. There is no power in the world. Jesus is the Vine, and I but a branch. My blessing is to be attached to Him. Jesus said in John 15:6
“If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”
We no longer run with the world, for that is destructive. To run with the world is to be “cast forth as a branch, and is withered” – then the world will destroy your life. We follow Jesus.
We do not follow the world, the crowd, my desires, but ONLY JESUS.
It is Jesus Who called me into salvation. It is Jesus Who chose me to be His. The Apostle said:
“give diligence to make your CALLINGand election sure”
Word Study God not only CALLED you, He CHOSE you. God CHOSE to call you. The word “election” is the Greek ἐκλογή eklogḗ, {pronounced ek-log-ay’}, which means to be called out, to be selected, to be set apart. The very word “CHURCH” in the Greek is ἐκκλησία ekklēsía, {pronounced ek-klay-see’-ah}, which means “those who are CALLED or CHOSEN OUT”.
As Christians, you no longer belong to this world. You are on assignment here, but you are children of the Almighty. Your home is in Heaven.
1 Peter 2:7-9 Unto you therefore which believe {Jesus} is precious … 9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 10 which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
The Christian is a person set apart from this world, the chosen and beloved children of God. You do not belong to yourselves anymore – you belong to Him Who paid so much for you. By His Blood the Lord purchased our freedom from sin and hell. The Apostle said:
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
God saved you, and God owns you.
When God saved Israel, He told them:
Leviticus 19:2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.
Peter applies the same standard to the Church. He said in:
1 Peter 1:13-16 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of {life}; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
Holiness Is A Positive, Not A Negative
Israel was to be “holy” or separate from the world, because she was chosen out by God. In like manner you as Christians are chosen out of this world by God. We are to “Be holy” because God is “holy”. What does it mean to be “holy”? Some people view holiness as a series of NEGATIVES. They view holiness like the Pharisees viewed holiness. To the Pharisees, holiness is a list of things that you DON’T DO. But that’s not what holiness is.
Holiness begins with faith in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It begins by giving your life to Jesus. When you give your life to Jesus, when you hear his CALL, He CHOOSES to bring you into the Family of God. Because of Jesus and the love that God has given you as His children, you are also given:
2 Peter 1:4 …. exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
The world has no hold on your soul. God has given you “great and precious promises” because of Jesus. Though you will one day have to “put off this my tabernacle”, when you do so this will just be Phase 1 of your life. Phase 2 is eternity. You belong to God. You are to be imitators of God, not of this world.
Holiness is not a negative, but a positive. It’s not about what you avoid, but what you do. If you are saved by faith in Christ, then Peter tells you to ADD some things to your life.
2 Peter 1:5-8 giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“virtue”. Holiness means to do the right thing, the thing God said.
“knowledge”. You only become holy by learning what Christ said, and doing what you learned.
“temperance”. Control your desires. “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.” (Titus 1:15)
“patience”. Be long suffering with others, and with yourself.
“godliness”. Imitate God your Father.
“brotherly kindness”. Be kind to those around you. Love your neighbor as yourself.
“charity”. Love others by doing good to them, regardless as to what they do to you.
If you are saved by faith in Christ, then you are to work in partnership with God the Holy Spirit to be more like Jesus every day. We are called to GROW in our knowledge of Him. To DO the things He tells us to do.
The great Evangelist Dwight L. Moody said:
“It is a great deal better to live a holy life than to talk about it. We are told to let our light shine, and if it does we won’t need to tell anybody it does. The light will be its own witness. Lighthouses don’t ring bells and fire cannon to call attention to their shining – they just shine.”
Let us all shine for Jesus! Let us live our lives following Him, knowing that our life on this earth is but temporary – but a better time is coming. Let us live for Him! May God bless your hearts and grow you through this devotional. In Christ’s name I pray. Amen and Amen.
This Monday, May 31st, is a holiday we call “Memorial Day”. On Memorial Day we honor the memory of those who died while serving in our nation’s military – people who died to protect our freedoms. It was originally called “Decoration Day”, and only became an official holiday in 1971. Memorial Day also marks the beginning of summer.
Long before there was a United States, a lone Man – not tied to any earthly kingdom, but the Representative that God the Father sent to this earth – that lone Man died to bring freedom to whosoever will. The freedoms that this lone Man brought by His willing death are:
Freedom from the slavery of sin Freedom from the DESPAIR of death Freedom from the WEARINESS OF THIS WORLD Freedom from the LEADERSHIP OF LUCIFER (the Devil)
This lone Man is the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Passover Is An Old Covenant Memorial
Before Jesus was betrayed of Judas Iscariot, and unlawfully tried by the Chief Priests, the Pharisees, and by Pilate, Jesus enjoyed the Passover Meal with His disciples. The Passover was a time when Israel commemorated their salvation and exodus from Egypt. It was on the final night that Israel was enslaved to Egypt that God told them to take a lamb without blemish, a male of the first year, and bring it into your home for four days. On the fourth day kill it, and take it’s blood, and “strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door posts of the house. The lamb is to be roasted, and eaten with bitter herbs that very night (author’s paraphrase of Exodus 12:3-10).
Exodus 12:11-13 … thus shall ye eat {the lamb}; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s Passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. 13 And the blood shall be to you for a TOKEN upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
Where the Blood of the Lamb was not, God took life. Death reigned where the Blood was missing. Pharaoh had been reluctant to release Israel until this Passover night. But once the firstborn of even his household died, Pharaoh released Israel. God said, “when I see the blood, I will pass over you”. It was the Blood of the Lamb that averted death. It was the Blood of the Lamb that freed souls.
God gave the Passover to Israel AS A MEMORIAL. God told Israel:
Exodus 12:14 this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
Word Study“memorial” is the Hebrewזִכְרוֹן zikrôwn, {pronounced zik-rone}, which means “a MEMENTO, something to bring to remembrance or memory over and over again, a MEMORIAL”.
God wanted Israel to remember the Lamb of God, and how only by killing it salvation would come.
Every year every Jew had to go to Jerusalem, and enjoy the Passover Meal, the Memorial of the Blood of the Lamb that brought salvation. Jesus is having the Passover – the Memorial – with His disciples. Let’s listen in and imagine ourselves with Jesus on the Passover Table:
Luke 22:10-18 And {Jesus} said unto {His Disciples}, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. 11 And ye shall say unto the goodman {the owner} of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guest chamber, where I shall eat the Passover. with my disciples? 12 And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. 13 And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the Passover. 14 And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. 15 And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover. with you before I suffer: 16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. 17 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: 18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
Jesus has His disciples set up the Passover Meal in “a large upper room furnished”. As the disciples do this, they think it is just like every Passover they had ever had. They did not know that this would be THE LAST PASSOVER they would ever celebrate. Jesus told them:
Luke 22:15 With desire I have desired {literally “I have EAGERLY DESIRED} to eat THIS Passover. with you before I suffer…
Jesus knew that He was about to go to the Cross. Jesus was EAGER to do this last Passover with His disciples. The Old Covenant of sacrificing animals and shedding the blood of lambs and bulls and goats was about to end. Jesus was eager to see the Old Covenant ended. The Old Covenant Lamb of God was an animal, without spot or blemish. Under the New Covenant the True Lamb of God would be sacrificed for sins. The True Lamb of God is Jesus Christ. Jesus is:
John 1:29 … THE Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world..
The Old Covenant Passover could not permanently pay for the sins we commit, because ANIMALS cannot pay for the sins of HUMANS. We are NOT ANIMALS. We are created in the image of God. The Bible says:
Hebrews 10:10 … we are sanctified {consecrated to God the Father} through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
As a good Jew our Lord Jesus kept this Old Covenant Passover with His disciples. Jesus said:
Luke 22:16 I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God
This would be the only time Jesus would celebrate the Old Covenant Passover. The next time Jesus celebrates Passover, it will be the New Covenant Passover.
We are seeing the transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant in this very passage.
Luke 22:17-18 {Jesus} took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: 18 For I say unto you, I will NOT DRINK of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
Jesus said “I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come”. Before the “kingdom of God shall come”, Jesus must die on Calvary and rise from the grave. The “Kingdom of God” cannot come to this earth and stay while God’s people are under the incomplete animal sacrifices. The Messiah is come. The Messiah MUST go to the Cross. The true Lamb of God MUST
Matthew 16:21 … suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
As Jesus hung on the Cross, the soldiers tried to give Him wine:
Mark 15:23 {the soldiers} gave {Jesus} wine to drink mingled with myrrh: but He received it not ..
Jesus would not drink the fruit of the vine “until the kingdom of God shall come”. Several hours later Jesus would say, “I thirst”. The Bible says:
John 19:28-30 … Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. 29 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
Jesus drank VINEGAR, not WINE BUT VINEGAR, for He could drink no wine until the Kingdom of God came. This was a fulfillment of the prophecy in …
Psalm 69:21 … in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Jesus cannot drink this last Old Covenant Passover Cup. The Kingdom of God must come, but it will only come by the King of that Kingdom laying His life down for us all. Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 17:14), must lower Himself to the status of a Lamb.
Jesus must die. He must be buried. He must rise again, else the Kingdom of God will not come.
The Lord’s Table Is The New Covenant Passover
As Israel had an Old Covenant MEMORIAL, a Passover, the Church that Jesus died for will have a NEW MEMORIAL Passover.
Luke 22:19 And {Jesus} took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
When the Old Covenant Jew celebrated the Passover, complete with the animal sacrifice, they did so in remembrance of God freeing them from Egypt.
Hebrews 10:3-4 … in those {Old Covenant}sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
Word Study The word translated “remembrance” in the Book of Hebrews is the Greek ἀνάμνησις anámnēsis, {pronounced an-am’-nay-sis}, which means “a recollection, a remembering, a memorial”. The Old Covenant Passover was a MEMORIAL. Now Jesus gives His Church a New MEMORIAL, saying:
Luke 22:19 … This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me
Our Lord uses the EXACT SAME WORD found in Hebrews for “remembrance”. Under the Old Covenant, every believer had to yearlysacrifice the Passover Lamb. But now Jesus is ONCE AND FOR ALL replacing that Old Covenant Passover with another “remembrance”.
In the OLD Covenant the LORD told His people to kill a Lamb. In the NEW Covenant, the LAMB tells His people the LORD will be killed.
Jesus is replacing the Passover Meal with what we Christians call either:
“The Lord’s Supper” (1 Corinthians 11:20) “The Lord’s Table” (1 Corinthians 10:21) or “The Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:16)
Jesus said, “This is my body which is given for you”. Jesus willingly BLESSES the bread then BREAKS the bread. Jesus Christ is the Bread of Heaven. He told us:
John 6:47-51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. {48} I am that bread of life. {49} Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. {50} This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. {51} I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
Jesus willingly died for our sins.
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but {being made alive} by the Spirit …
Jesus Christ blessed and then BROKE the bread. He Himself BROKE His own body. Had Jesus not laid His life down, we would yet be dead in our trespasses and sins. But Jesus WILLINGLY went to the Cross for us. He said:
John 10:18 … No man taketh {my life} from me, but I lay it down of myself.
Thank You, dear Jesus, for Your wonderful gift! Christ’s Blood was shed.
Luke 22:20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
Word Study The words translated “new testament” are the Greek καινός διαθήκη kainos diathēkē, which means “New Covenant”. Jesus Christ gave us a “New Covenant, making the First Covenant old” (Hebrews 8:13). “The FIRST COVENANT was dedicated without {the Messiah’s} Blood” (Hebrews 9:18).
Our Lord Jesus came, saying:
Hebrews 10:9 … Lo, I come to do Thy will, O GOD. {Jesus} taketh away the FIRST {COVENANT}, that He may establish the SECOND {COVENANT} …
The animal sacrifices are gone. Jesus Christ has replaced them with His precious Body – blessed be the name of the Lord!
I say to the unbeliever, you must receive the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, by faith, believing that He died for your sins and rose from the grave for your salvation. The disciples did not seize the Bread. It was not earned, it was not deserved, but it was all of Grace. We are saved not by our works, but by His work. We are saved by receiving the Bread of God, the Lamb of God as our Lord and Savior. You have the right to receive or reject Jesus, but if you reject Him, you have no hope of Heaven.
I say to the believer, insure that you are in a right relationship with God before taking of this wonderful Table. This is a MEMORIAL, a reminder of what Jesus Christ did for us.
This Table is also a reminder that we are under not just a New Covenant, but we are under a New Commandment.
John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
As Jesus loved us, so we love one another. Sacrificially, willingly, lovingly we lay our lives down to our Lord and Savior, and to the citizens of the Kingdom of God. To partake of this Table unworthily is to court death (1 Corinthians 11:29). Would you all prepare your hearts, as our servant-leaders prepare this Table. To God be the Glory! May God the Holy Spirit drive this His Word deeply into your souls. Amen and Amen. Let us partake!
Isaiah 1:1-7 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. 2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. 4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. 5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. 7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
Why are we in the Old Testament, in the Book of Isaiah? Isaiah is often called the “Old Testament Gospel of Christ”. Isaiah had many visions and prophesies that related to the Lord Jesus Christ. But there’s another reason. The Apostle tells us in
Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
The Old Testament was written “aforetime”, before the Apostles wrote. It was given to teach us “patience” as we live out our lives, and “comfort” by showing us the faithfulness of God. Israel wandered away from God, just like America has wandered away from God. God calls us to His side when we wander. We are told in …
1 Corinthians 10:6, 11 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition …
The “these things” the Apostle speaks of is – once more – Israel’s wanderings from God. God is faithful. I say again,
1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Preach! God is faithful to His people – ALWAYS. Whether under the Old Covenant of Sacrificial Law or the New Covenant of Christ’s sacrifice, God is faithful. But when God’s people wander from God – when Israel OR AMERICA wander away from the God of Scripture, nothing good comes of it.
When Israel and God’s people honored the Lord, and fulfilled His calling, they were blessed. Israel was not saved so that she could do what she wants. Israel was saved so, as God put it to Pharaoh,
Exodus 5:1 … Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.
God’s people are freed from sin and death (and Egypt is the epitome of sin and death) to GLORIFY GOD in this fallen world (which the wilderness epitomized). Again, God told Pharaoh:
Exodus 7:16 … Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness
God does not save a people so they can be selfish and self serving. We are saved to serve the Lord Who loves us.
Israel, like America today, departed from God, and put their hope in the political process. That is how this prophecy starts – did you miss it?
Isaiah 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Isaiah preached and prophesied for 40 years through the reigns of four different kings of Judah. Some kings, like Uzziah and Hezekiah, started off following God but drifted away. King Ahaz was pure evil, whereas King Jotham was righteous and faithful. Regardless of leadership, the people of Israel continued to wander from God. How tragic!
Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom He hath chosen as His inheritance …
Our blessing as a nation, and as individuals, is in walking with the God Who made us.
Men And Women Are Created To Walk With God
Isaiah 1:2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
God calls on the HEAVENS and the EARTH itself, the angels of God and His own creation, as witnesses of His goodness and faithfulness to us all. When we were made, we were given something that no animal has.
God breathed into us the breath of life (Genesis 2:7). We have the very breath of God – His spirit – as our core component.
The animals do not have this “breath of God”. Men and women are not animals. We are created by God “in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them” (Genesis 1:27).
We were created to rule the earth on God’s behalf. God told humanity:
Genesis 1:28 … be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and SUBDUE it: and HAVE DOMINION over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth …
Humans were made by God to rule creation. The late Dr. Adrian Rogers wrote in his book The Secret of Supernatural Living (pg 21):
“The uniqueness of man is seen in that he has a spirit. Animals, by contrast, can be spoken of as having bodies and souls, but they are void of spirit. God describes the creation of the animals this way: “And God said, let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind, and it was so” (Genesis 1:24). The Hebrew word translated “creature” in this verse is nephesh and is usually translated “soul”. It means self conscious life, as opposed to plant life, which is without soul or spirit. Plants and animals have bodies. Animal also have souls. So what makes a man unique? It is his spirit. When God made man He breathed into him the “breath of life” (Genesis 2:7). This breath of life became the human spirit. … Man was endowed with a spiritual nature and thus the glorious ability to know and worship God. God did not breath this special breath of life into any other of His creatures.”
Humans are not animals – we have a spiritual component. We should strive to know our Creator. What happened in the Garden of Eden was a travesty of epic proportion. Instead of leading, Adam allowed himself to be led by a serpent, an animal indwelt of Satan.
Sin and death are not God’s fault. It is ours.
God saidIsaiah 1:3 … The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
How sad it is that we were made to walk with God – and yet “The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib”. I read something the other day that stated “43% of milennials ‘don’t know, don’t care, don’t believe’ God exists: study”. The study, found at Christian Post, said:
“The study also found that overall, younger Americans are significantly more likely than the two previous generations to embrace horoscopes as a guide and Karma as a life principle, to see “getting even” with others as defensible, to accept evolution over creation, and to view owning property as fostering economic injustice. On spiritual matters, Americans younger than 55 are far more likely to distrust the Bible and to believe God is uninvolved in people’s lives.”
Though this text speaks directly to ancient Israel, it could be written to America today. God said:
Isaiah 1:4-5 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. 5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
When a people draw away from God – for whatever reason – then the body is corrupted. Inscribed on the wall of the Jefferson Memorial are these words:
“Can the liberties of a nation be secure if we have removed from the hearts of the people the belief that these liberties are a gift from God?”
When we depart from God, we depart from the blessings of God. Pastor Jim Henry said,
“We are running on fumes, because we have forgotten God.”
When Sin Is Unchecked By God’s Moral Law, Sickness and Death Abound
Isaiah 1:6-7 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. 7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
Etched in memory is the picture of a television reporter standing in front of burning properties, saying “These are mostly peaceful protests” – and no one laughed!
The only cure for what ails us as a nation – as it was with Israel – is that we return to the Lord Jesus Christ. We must move away from progressiveness and permissiveness, and remember the Law of God. The Ten Commandments are the basis of all lawful truth in any nation. Over the past few years people have wrongly preached lawlessness and called it “Grace” and “Christian Faith”. The Christian is not lawless. Christ never eradicated the moral code of the Law.
Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God Who takes away sin, So we sacrifice no lambs today. But Jesus NEVER abolished the Ten Commandments. Righteousness is always fashionable with God! We need to return to God’s moral codes!
A young man came to Jesus asking, “What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17). Jesus replied:
Mark 10:19-20 Thou knowest the commandments, {then Jesus quotes six commandments} Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honor thy father and mother.
Christ expects us to follow the Ten Commandments. He said, “You know the Commandments”. Our nation must return to the Commandments of God. Only through then do we see order and peace.
Illustrate Jesus said “Honor thy father and mother”. Children must be taught the Law of God, so that they will teach it to their children. We live in an age where the Law is horribly ignored. I watched a young father shopping with his son. The father passed by a display filled with large, rubber balls. When the child saw these balls he first pointed, then reached, and THEN began to scream and throw a tantrum. The father resisted for a moment but, as the child’s wails became louder and louder, he relented and gave the boy a ball. That wasn’t the ball he wanted, so he screamed some more until father gave him what he wanted. Later, as I was checking out, I had the privilege of seeing this father and son duo in front of me. The father emptied his cart, putting all on the conveyor belt so it could be checked out but the ball his son had. Once everything else had been paid for he took the ball from his son, saying “I’m not going to buy these”. The reaction from the child was expected – and immediate. The child screamed like a wild monkey caught in a trap. Dad quietened the child by saying “I’ll get it for you in just a moment. Be quiet!” He paid for his groceries and, quickly, before the child could start up again, walked out of the store – without the ball.
What is that child being taught? Certainly, not “Honor your father and mother”. The child is being taught lying, and self love, but not the love of God.
Any civilized society – Christian or not – to survive must stay under God’s Moral Code. Lawlessness and anarchy destroys a family and a nation. The Law of God tells us it is wrong to murder and commit sexual sin. The Spirit of God writes these laws on our hearts. The Christian does not murder nor commit sexual sin because it is written on stone, but because God has written it on our hearts. The Moral Law of “Thou shalt not commit adultery” tells us it is as wrong to steal another person’s goods as it is to steal another person’s spouse. The Moral Law of “Thou shalt not covet your neighbor’s possessions” tells us to be satisfied with what God has given us. The Moral Law extends even into the New Testament, telling us …
1 Corinthians 7:2 … each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.
Free sex and free love is no more than slavery to the flesh. We are dead to the ceremonial and sacrificial law, but we are NOT dead to God’s moral commandments. “The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” (Romans 7:12). When Christ comes into your life by faith, He works in your heart and makes you love as you should love. The Law then is written – not on tablets of stone – but on the very heart of the Christian.
God Wants Your Heart – Not Your Ritual
Isaiah 1:9-14 Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. 10 Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
Sodom and Gomorrah are long gone, having been destroyed in the Book of Genesis. But God calls His Israel Sodom and Gomorrah because they are like it – reincarnated! What would God call America today?
11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. 12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? 13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
The feasts and offerings were teaching tools that showed the need of a Messiah/ Redeemer. The Apostle said,
Galatians 3:24-25 the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
The Law brought mankind to first a tabernacle, and later a temple, with an animal to be sacrificed. The sacrifices were not just once, but over and over again, showing that the blood of animals does not appease the righteousness of God. The feasts and the law of circumcision were all teaching aids, telling Israel that the Messiah must come. The animal brought before the priest was killed, it’s blood sprinkled, it’s flesh burned, all symbolic of the payment of sins before God.
Then Jesus Christ came. Our Lord Jesus:
Philippians 2:7-8 … made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: {8} And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Eternal God the Son became mortal but Perfect Man. Jesus Christ came to replace the laws of circumcision and animal sacrifice. Jesus Christ died on Calvary to – once and for all – make payment for sins. The Bible says:
John 3:15 … whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Because Jesus stood in my place of judgment, my position before God has changed. The Apostle said:
Revelation 1:5-6 Unto {Jesus Christ} that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen
Dear Christian – if you are a Christian – you are not only loved, but you are washed of sin in Christ’s blood. When the Father looks at us now, He sees not sinners, but “kings and priests unto God”.
God is not satisfied with our rituals. God wants our relationship. He wants us to walk with Him, and unto Him, and for Him.
And if you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, God calls you into a relationship with Him through his Son. Jesus was supernaturally born – made a Man – by the Spirit of God. The Angel told us of Mary’s Child:
Matthew 1:20-21 … that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. {21} And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for He shall save his people from their sins.
The animal sacrifices and good works could not save. Our good works can never save us. We need not good works, but GOD works. We need Jesus. It was Jesus Who came to …
Mark 8:31 … suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
Jesus Christ died for our sins. God calls whosoever will hear Him to come to Him and be saved. God cries out to America, just as He cried out to Israel so long ago,
Isaiah 1:18 … Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
When you come to God through Christ, the Spirit of God changes you. Your sins are covered by the blood of the Lamb of God.
God says “Come”. Come to Him. Believe in Jesus. God says “Come now”. Don’t delay. Run to Jesus today. God says “Let us reason together”. He does not want to damn you.
What is the alternative? To reject God, to walk away from the embrace of God the Son, to commit the unpardonable sin of rejecting the Holy Spirit of God, is to bring cursing rather than blessing. God said:
Isaiah 1:19-20 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: {20} But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
God puts before us blessing and cursing, and gives us a choice. What will you seek? Those who serve sin are so very temporary – for sin brings with it destruction. Jesus said:
John 8:34-36 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. {35} And the servant abideth not in the house forever: but the Son abideth ever. {36} If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Will you be freed from Egypt? Then come to Jesus. Be not entangled again in sin, but live daily to please the Lord. You are released from Egypt to worship God in this present wilderness. You are released from Egypt to enjoy life in Christ, to be filled with the joy of God daily – not to wallow in the mire of the pigpen. The manifest proof of your salvation is the life that strives to please the Lord. The Apostle said:
1 John 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother
If you were wise you would shake off your sin and turn to Jesus while there is time. There is a whole universe for God to govern, yet He makes time to talk to you. Come now. Today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts. Choose life. Choose Jesus. Receive Him as Lord and Savior. May God touch your hearts with His Word and His Spirit. Amen and Amen.
1 Corinthians 1:18-25 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: 23 but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 24 but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Illustration Opening For Mother’s Day a husband brought his wife a small but nicely made statue of Jesus. The statue had Jesus with a crown of thorns on His head. Though not on the Cross, this little statue had puncture marks in its feet and hands. Though the wife loved the gift, their little daughter loved it even more. Every morning she’s wake up, and run to where that little statue was. One morning the mother got up, and decided do a little waxing of the furniture, so she moved the statue to another place. That little girl got up and – running to where “Jesus” was supposed to be – she saw “He” was gone. She ran to her mamma crying, “Mamma, mamma, where’s Jesus?”.
I often hear sermons preached, and have preached some my own self, where at the end of the sermon I wondered “Where’s Jesus”? I have been to funerals where the preacher spoke on the deceased, and tried to comfort the family, but at the end of the message I asked “Where’s Jesus?”. There are families falling apart today, children confused about their divine design, people dying right and left. I ask again, “Where’s Jesus?”.
When Jesus Is Not In The Church, It Is A Family Of Fools
A Church is designed by God to be a family – the Family of God on earth. When Paul recognized the Family of God on earth, the Church, he said:
Ephesians 3:14-15 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named
The Church is not just Riverview, or the Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Holiness, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Catholic, non-denominational, Church of Christ …. I could go on and on. Humans are so flawed, so divisive, that we segregate and sectionalize everything of God. But in Paul’s day the Church had no denominations (or non-denominations, which is a denomination, thank you very much). The Church is a family, governed by God the Father, entered into through the Lord Jesus Christ, and empowered by the Spirit of God.
Every person who has received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is my brother or sister. Every person who has NOT received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is NOT my brother or sister – though I desire them to be. The Family of God is not single colored – it is multicolored. It is distinguished by a people who have believed on the preaching of the Cross.
The Church at Corinth had many problems because they had gotten away from the unifying Cross of Christ. Earlier in the text the Apostle said:
1 Corinthians 1:10-13 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
Anytime a Church is divided and looks foolish, it is because the population has gotten away from the Cross of Christ. The Cross has become boring, or mundane, or out of date. The Apostle reminds us all that:
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
The Cross of Christ is the centerpiece of our faith. The Cross for the Christian is
Romans 1:16 … the power of God unto salvation for everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
It is faith alone in the Cross alone gives the believer a completed salvation.
Notice the Apostle says, “unto us which are saved”. When you receive what Jesus did for you on Calvary by faith – relying wholly totally upon His finished work, the Bible says you “are saved”. That’s not future tense, but past tense. It is what Jesus did for you on the Cross that saves you, that makes you right in the eyes of God.
Some, Like The Pharisees & Scribes, Reject The Cross
1 Corinthians 1: 21-22 … it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 22 For the Jews require a SIGN …
Some are never saved and brought into the Family of God by the Spirit of God because they “require a SIGN”, {Greek σημεῖον sēmeîon, {pronounced say-mi’-on}, means “a miraculous display, a sign, a token from God, a wonder”. God gave Moses “signs” to perform in front of Pharaoh and the people of Israel to prove that he was from God (Exodus 4:8-9).
The Pharisees and Scribes often saw Jesus do miraculous things – but then demanded a “sēmeîon, a sign”. For instance, in …
Matthew 12:22-24 Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
Jesus did a miraculous thing – He healed this man with the power of the Holy Spirit. When John preached on Jesus, the Pharisees asked Him “Are you the Messiah?”. John said that, no, he was not the Messiah, but the forerunner or Herald of the Messiah. Then John said:
John 3:34-36 For he whom God hath sent {the Messiah} speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Jesus received the Holy Spirit of God without measure. Jesus said,
Luke 11:20 if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.
Jesus is THE Messiah. He is THE One that God the Father sent. Yet when the Pharisees and Scribe – the religious crowd – saw Jesus cast out demons, they said “He casts out demons by the prince of demons”. They would not believe in Him. Ignoring and discounting the many SIGNS that Jesus gave, they wanted Jesus to give them another sign.
Matthew 12:28 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
Jesus, we will believe in You if you show us a sign. Oh, to heal the sick, raise the dead, cause the deaf to hear, the blind to see, the cripple to walk – these things are not enough. Do you know why?
Because the Scribes, Pharisees, and Chief Priests thought themselves good enough to go to Heaven. After all, they kept the Law!
There are many today who believe they “keep the Law”, and are therefore certain to go to Heaven. They say, “We don’t need Jesus – we are just fine before God because we keep His Law. Now I want you to understand, the Law of God is perfect, and right, and true. The Law of God has never been rescinded. Our Lord Jesus said:
Matthew 5:17-20 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. … For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
The Law of God is Holy – it is a reflection of God’s image. The Law of God was given by God to every person as a goal to meet. Every polite and civilized society has for it’s law an echo of the Law of God, or what we call “The Ten Commandments”. The Scribes and Pharisees thought that they kept the Law of God perfectly. Jesus disagreed. None of us keeps the Law of God perfectly.
The Law of God is the only thing that God every directly wrote without going through a human. The Law of God was written on tablets of stone with the “finger of God”.
Moses told Israel in Deuteronomy 9:10 the LORD delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the LORD spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.
The Ten Commandments are the only thing DIRECTLY written by God’s own hand – His finger. The FINGER of God is the Holy Spirit of God (Jesus said in Luke 11:20, “I cast out demons with the Finger of God”). The Pharisees and Scribes thought, “We keep the Law perfectly, so we are righteous with God”, but Jesus said, “No, you are not. Your righteousness is NOT ENOUGH to get you into Heaven”. Why is this?
Because NO ONE can keep the Law perfectly – No one BUT Jesus!
That was the whole point of Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount”. You remember that? When Jesus was giving “The Sermon on the Mount”, He was telling the Scribes and Pharisees – all those who are SELF RIGHTEOUS – that they were not fully keeping the Law.
You are not fully keeping the Law if love is not in it!
Hear Jesus’ words. He said:
Matthew 5:21-24 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
Jesus was saying “You have been taught that murder is just the taking of an innocent life – to actually kill is a violation of the sixth commandment. BUT I SAY UNTO YOU you can murder someone without spilling any blood. When you carry a grudge – or speak evil of a brother or a sister in Christ – or make yourself better than another – YOU ARE GUILTY OF MURDER.” Murder is to carry a loveless and hateful attitude toward anyone. It is a sin that will keep your service for God unacceptable. No one keeps the Law perfectly.
Or consider the seventh commandment against adultery. Jesus said:
Matthew 5:27-28 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Our God looks at the heart. When we look at the Ten Commandments, we are not to ignore them and just throw up our hands. The Law of God is righteous and pure. But we are to look at the Law of God written with the Finger of God, and say,
“Lord, I am a sinner. I cannot keep your Law perfectly, that Law written with Your Finger. Lord, I ask for the righteousness of Jesus Christ to be applied to my account. I need more than the tablets of stone. I need Your Finger to write on my heart the love of God. I need You, dear Lord, to come into my life, and make me “born again of the Spirit”. I want the Blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse me from all sin.”
The Law brings us to Christ (Galatians 3:24-25). The Law brings us to the Cross of Calvary. When the Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign, Jesus told them:
Matthew 12:39-40 An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah: For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
The only sign God will give to the “Jewish questioner” is the sign of Christ’s death. Jesus was crucified for my sins, and for your sins. The Bible says:
John 3:16-22 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
When a person comes to Christ by faith and is saved, that person does not become lawless. That person is “born again of the Spirit” (John 3:3, 5-8). The same “Finger of God” that wrote on the stone tablets the perfect Law of God, this finger writes on you stony heart. This was what God foretold through the Prophet:
Ezekiel 11:19-20 I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
Being saved does not make you lawless, but it changes you. Being saved, God comes into your life, and guides you by His Spirit. And as the believer goes through this life, we know that we are saved:
Titus 3:5-6 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior;
The Christian is a “new creature in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:7). I now approach the Throne of God our Father not with my own works for justification, but believing and lifting up the Cross of Christ. It is not the ritual of circumcision that saved me – but faith in the finished work of Jesus (Galatians 6:15).
The Jews Seek A Sign, The Gentiles Seek Knowledge
1 Corinthians 1:22-24 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: 23 but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 24 but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
The Jews relied on an imperfect keeping of the Law for their salvation – which is foolishness to God. But the Gentiles, the Greeks, they rely on inherent human goodness and good works.
The ATHEISTS discount the Cross of Christ because they believe there is no God. An off shoot of ATHEISM, the HUMANIST says “just be good – do good”. When the Apostle Paul preached in Athens, the Bible says:
Acts 17:16 … his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.
When God made humans in His Image and after His likeness (Genesis 1:27), He gave each person an innate, pervasive knowledge that there is something greater than we are. When we do not move toward the God Who created us, the God of Scripture, then we will create a god, whether it be humanism, evolution, atheism, or some other deity.
The Physicist, Mathematician, and Philosopher BlaisePascal spoke of what many call a “God Shaped Hole” in every person’s soul. Pascal wrote in Pensees:
“What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace?
This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself”.
Gentile people are desperately seeking happiness in human works, human things, human loves. Yet all the things that we Gentiles, in our search for wisdom, do not find our completion or our happiness except in the Cross of Christ. When Paul preached at Athens the Bible says:
Acts 17:18 …. certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.
To the world, the Cross of Christ is foolishness. But to the saved, it is the Power of God unto salvation.
We preach Christ crucified. It is Christ crucified that shows me how much God loves me. When Jesus prayed, He told the Father:
John 17:24 Father … Thou lovest Me before the foundation of the world …
Jesus is not just some Man, some Rabbi Who came along. Jesus Christ is ETERNAL GOD THE SON. We are told in …
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made…. 14 And the Word was made 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.
Jesus Christ is Eternal God the Son. He pre-existed with both Father and Spirit before the world was made. This God became Man, Perfect Man, for us, to bring us to God. This Jesus was repeatedly announced by the Father as “My Beloved Son, in Whom I am WELL PLEASED” (Matthew 3:17). And yet, God was willing to have Jesus lay His life down for us. Jesus laid His life down for ALL of us. Born into this world a Jew, Jesus died for every man and woman. The Bible says:
Galatians 1:4 {Jesus} … gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
Jesus – a Jew – laid His life down for red, yellow, black, and white – we were all PRECIOUS in His sight.
We preach Christ crucified. It is Christ crucified that shows us how much we all really need God. The Bible says:
Matthew 26:59 Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;
This is clearly a violation of God’s ninth commandment, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). The Jews had to break God’s Law in order to crucify Jesus. But what about the Gentiles? The Governor of Jerusalem,
Luke 23:4 … Pilate said to the chief priests and to the people, I find NO FAULT in this man.
The soldiers beat an innocent Man. The crowd cried out, “Crucify Him, and release Barabbas” (Mark 15:13). The innocent was crucified with the guilty.
It was not Christ’s beatings and scourgings that made payment for our sins. It was His beatings and scourgings that revealed how wicked we all truly are – and how we all need the Savior.
Jesus was so beaten that “He looked like a worm, and not a man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people” (Psalm 22:6). As Jesus hung on that Cross suffering, “they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that He would deliver Him: let Him deliver Him, seeing He delighted in Him” (Psalm 22:7-8). They mocked Jesus. He thirsted, and they gave Him vinegar and gall to drink. In His sufferings you see how badly we all need Jesus.
We preach Christ CRUCIFIED. This is past tense, not future tense. Jesus Christ paid the penalty for sin – He and only He did – once and for all. Jesus Christ came to do the will of God (Hebrews 10:9). The Bible says:
Hebrews 10:10 … we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Jesus paid for my sins once and for all. Receiving Him as Lord and Savior, I am no longer enslaved to brokenness and sin. I belong to God. And that complete my very incomplete life.
Is your hope in Jesus Christ? If not, I pray that today God would draw you to Him through Jesus. Without Him, there is no life. May God’s Word and His Spirit bring glory to Him, and peace to us all. Amen and Amen.
Isaiah 55:6-11 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
The greatest power that a person can have is to be in step with the God of the Universe.
There is no tragedy that can defeat the person in step with God. There is no evil that can befall the God following Christian. The Prophet Moses sang when the armies of Egypt were crushed under the waters of the Red Sea:
Exodus 15:2 The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
Who is like unto our God? Why does He love us so? I have often found these flies in my home – you know the kind – that will lite on you when you are resting, annoying you, driving you crazy. I find a fly swatter and – whack! – it is gone! So much for the fly! How often are we like flies to God our Creator? He gives us clear instruction, and we do not heed it. We buzz around God’s head willy nilly, rather than seek Him and lovingly trust Him. Why does God love us so? And yet, He does. God loves us, and calls us to His side. The Bible tells us:
Genesis 1:27 … God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.
Humans are not animals. Animals are NOT created in the image of God, but men and women are. Humans are not angels. Angels are sometimes called “sons of God” in the Scripture, but only because God made them. Only men and women are in God’s image. Being in God’s image, we are designed to have an ongoing relationship with God. We were made for God. It is …
Psalm 100:3 … God Who made us, and not we ourselves …
We are incomplete without God. Our text tells us:
Isaiah 55:6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Word Study We are to chase God, to “seek” Him. The word translated “SEEK” is the Hebrew דָּרַשׁ dârash, {pronounced daw-rash’}, which means “to follow, to pursue, to chase after, to greatly desire”. The word is sometimes used for intense prayer.
When Isaac married Rebekah, Rebekah was barren or childless. Isaac “entreated” (עָתַר ʻâthar, {pronounced aw-thar}) or “prayed for Rebekah”, and God doubly blessed her with twins. As the twins began to “struggle together within her” the Bible says Rebekah inquired {dârash, {pronounced daw-rash’} of the Lord. She ran to God in prayer, seeking His face. God answered Rebekah, telling her that the twins, Esau and Jacob would be the fathers of two nations. God said:
Genesis 25:23 … Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
Those who belong to God by faith should seek Him when we are on the mountaintop, but also seek Him in the valleys. We need to build a habit of seeking God. We must build a habit of pursuing His direction.
Isaiah 55:7-11 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
God will not draw near to anyone while they are following the path of unrighteousness. It is God Who establishes right and wrong. Not us, but God. God will not come near while we have hidden sin in our lives. When we repent, humbling ourselves before God, and heed His Word, He will come near.
David Often Sought The Lord, Whereas Saul Did Not
When King Saul defied God’s Word, and the Lord told him “because thou hast rejected the Word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being King over Israel”, rather than repent and seek God’s forgiveness, he ignored God’s Word. When Saul realized that God was going to put David in his place, Saul began trying to kill David. The Priests at Nob gave the fugitive David and his men shew-bread (1 Samuel 21), hallowed bread from the tabernacle. When Saul heard of this, he ordered:
1 Samuel 22:17 … turn, and slay the priests of the Lord; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled {from me}, and did not shew it to me …
Saul had 85 priests killed. Saul ordered Nob, the city of the priests, smote with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword (1 Samuel 22:19). Saul so rejected the Word of the Lord that he murdered hundreds of innocent people. God was far from Saul.
But God was near David. David sought the Lord. He ran from Saul, but sought God daily. When the Philistinesattacked the city of Keilah, the Bible says:
1 Samuel 23:2 … David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the LORD said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah.
David did not make assumptions. He sought out the Lord – and the Lord gave David victory over the Philistines. Saul heard that David had saved Keilah, and Saul said:
1 Samuel 23:7 … God hath delivered him into mine hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and bars.
God was far from Saul, but Saul – in his sin – still thought God was with him. Oh, that Saul had repented! Saul gathered an army of men to take David captive, but David knew to “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near”. David prayed:
1 Samuel 23:10-11 … O LORD God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. 11 Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O LORD God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the LORD said, He will come down.
David kept his eyes and ears on God, and Saul could not take him. The Bible says “Saul sought him every day, but God delivered David not into Saul’s hand” (1 Samuel 23:14).
David Heeded God, Not Man
Saul continued to chase David, seeking to kill him. David and his men went into the wilderness of Engedi. The Bible tells us that while pursuing David, Saul decided to take a rest in a cave in that wilderness. Saul didn’t know that David and his men were hiding in that same cave.
As soon as Saul slept, one of David’s men told him:
1 Samuel 24:4 … the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee.
This sounded like a good idea. God is in control of all things. The Bible says:
Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Saul was chasing you, David. Samuel has previously anointed you to be the next king over Israel. Now here – God has allowed Saul to go to sleep right here, in this cave. You can do what you want – just go on and kill Saul.
When the devil comes, he never advertises his coming. He never says, “Hi, I’m the devil, and I want to mess up your walk with God”. No, the devil comes as a wolf in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15). The devil dresses up in suits and ties when he goes to Church, or dresses up in armor when he goes to war with us. Jesus said of the devil:
John 8:44 … He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
When someone tells you something is a good idea, you had better check it against what God’s Word has said. David’s men are telling him “Go ahead and kill the King”. But God’s Word says:
1 Chronicles 16:22 … Touch not Mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm (see also Psalm 105:15).
Saul has already killed 85 anointed priests and their families. Will David follow the same path? No, for David knew the Word of God. David went so far as to “cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe” (1 Samuel 24:5), but this was as far as he went. David told his men:
1 Samuel 24:6 The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.
God made Saul the King of Israel, and it would have to be God Who took Saul out. Saul would continue to pursue David. The Bible says that Saul pursued David with 3000 chosen men into the wilderness of Ziph. The Bible says that that very night:
1 Samuel 26:3 … David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness … 7 So David and {the mighty warrior} Abishai {went down to the camp} by night: and, BEHOLD, Saul lay sleeping within the {circle of the camp}, and his spear stuck in the ground at his {head}
Once more, David is in a perfect position to kill his enemy. Saul is asleep. The Bible says “a DEEP SLEEP FROM THE LORD was FALLEN UPON THEM” (1 Samuel 26:12). David’s companion, Abishai says:
1 Samuel 26:8 … God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time.
David, you say the word, and Saul will be dead meat! Oh, what a temptation! But what did David reply?
1 Samuel 26:9-11 … Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless? 10 David said furthermore, As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish. 11 The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord’s anointed:
David was “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:4; Acts 13:22). David sought to please God more than himself or others. David was not perfect. There were many times he failed in his relationship with God. But David loved the Lord, and followed the Prophet in “Seek{ing} the Lord while He may be found, call{ing} upon Him while he is near”.
To get away from Saul, David moved into Philistine territory with his men, and ended up in the city of Ziklag:
1 Samuel 27:6 Then {the King of Gath} Achish gave {David} Ziklag that day: wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the Kings of Judah unto this day …
But David’s troubles were not over. One day while David and his men were away, the Amalekites
1 Samuel 30:1-2 … {attacked} Ziklag, and burned it with fire 2 And had taken the women captives, that were therein: {the Amalekites} slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way …
What happened when David found Ziklag burned – their wives, sons, and daughters all taken captive? The Bible says:
1 Samuel 30:4 Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.
It is all right to weep, to express pain and anguish. I have often heard people say “You shouldn’t question God”. I don’t believe that. I do believe that God is much higher, much greater than we are. The Almighty tells us:
Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
When we are hurt, we weep. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself wept. (John 11:35). David wept – with his mighty men – because it hurt him to see all that he loved destroyed. Yet David loved God. David said in another place:
Psalm 56:8-11 Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? 9 When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me. 10 In God will I praise his word: in the Lord will I praise his word. 11 In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.
There is no shame in weeping. There is no shame in asking God “Why”. Asking “why” does not make us bad Christians. Asking “why” makes us good Children. Asking “why” makes me a good son of God. Compared to God, I will always be lesser, a child. Parents expect questions.
Illustrate The Bible says in 1 Samuel 30:6, “David was GREATLY DISTRESSED”, the Hebrew מְאֹד mᵊ’ōḏ יָצַר yāṣar, which could be translated “was besieged”. When an ancient city was “besieged”, it was surrounded by the enemy, and deprived both food and water until it surrendered. David felt like a city besieged. On top of this, we are told:
1 Samuel 30:6 … the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters:
This is a common thing that happens when trials come our way – we seek someone to blame. David was handy, and these people followed David to Ziklag, so obviously it was David’s fault. This adds to David’s agony.
What will David do? Again, looking at God’s Word:
Isaiah 55:9-11 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
We do not understand why things happen as they do – but God is in control. God said the rain and the snow have a purpose – to bring forth fruit in the land. If all we ever had was sunny days, we would never grow. Let me say that again:
If all we ever had was sunny days, we would never grow!
Just as the rain and the snow – though miserable when you are in the midst of it – has a purpose, all that comes to the believer has a purpose. God said “So it is with My Word. What I have said will stand. What I decree will be. Trust My Word. Follow My Word. Live to please Me. So David has a choice. David can respond in the flesh and nothing good will come of it, or David can do what he did:
1 Samuel 30:6 … David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.
When your city is in ruins, and your life is besieged, look unto God! David sought the Lord while He might be found.
1 Samuel 30:8 … David inquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And {the Lord} answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.
David sought out the Word of God. God told David:
Pursue Overtake Recover
As David and his men pursued the Amalekites, he came across an Egyptian slave that had been left behind because he was sick. That young Egyptian led David and his men to their camp. The Bible says:
1 Samuel 30:16-19 {the Amalekites} were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. 17 And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled. 18 And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. 19 And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.
In Conclusion
The greatest strength we have is not in ourselves, but in adhering to God and His Word. The solution to our problems is not found in a political party nor in grand technology. The solution to what ails us is to return to the Lord Who made us. God said:
Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
As God did with David, He will do with you. God is no respecter of persons. Peter told us:
Acts 10:34-35 Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35 but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
How do we get into the “Sure Mercies of David”? We do as David did. We believe on God our Creator. We have faith in Him, and do what He says, no matter what others might think. Our text for tonight started out with these words:
Isaiah 55:1-2 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
God freely gives salvation and blessing to those who put their trust in Him. If you are thirsty, come. Receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Cherish His Word. Commit to following what He says. Not what the world says, nor what others may say, but what Jesus says. What is in the Word. God’s Word is sure. Trust Him, and you shall live victoriously now, and eternally forever. Amen and Amen. May God the Holy Spirit and His precious Word cause a profound change in all our hearts!
Turn with me in your Bibles first to Matthew 5:17-20. We’ve studied this text in detail just a few Sundays ago, but I want to refresh our memories. Jesus said:
Matthew 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
When Jesus came to this earth – God become perfect Man – Jesus lived the Law. He fulfilled the Law of sacrifice by dying on the Cross as “the Lamb of God”. There are no more animal sacrifices accepted from God to cover sins. If you are saved, your sin is covered by the blood of Christ.
It is His Blood that brings us near God (Ephesians 2:13) It is His Blood that establishes the New Covenant (1 Corinthians 10:16) It is His Blood that makes it possible for us to serve God (Hebrews 9:14) It is His Blood that covers our sins once and for all (1 Peter 1:19)
Under the Old Covenant, God called His people to the Temple to worship. Under the New Covenant, the people of God ARE His Temple. God lives in us who are saved! We are to cherish God above all else.
Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial and shadow laws of the Old Covenant, but did not erase the need to love and obey God. His commandments are still in effect, even today. “The Law is holy, and the commandment Holy and Just and Good” (Romans 7:12). When Jesus spoke of the GREATEST COMMANDMENT, He said:
Matthew 22:37-38 … Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment.
God is to have ALL of our love. He is to be loved much more than those that are around you. God is to be loved more than you love yourself. God told His Old Testament believers
Deuteronomy 10:12 … what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
God demands that His people love Him first and foremost. If we love God most, then we will love those around us who are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26). If we love God most, then we will love the spouse God has given us, and the children that are His gifts. We are to “love the Lord our God with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). And if we love God, “we will keep His commandments” (1 John 5:3-5).
One of the most grievous sins in all the Scripture is to not love God, but to place your love on other gods. This is the sin of idolatry. Idolatry is to make a god in our image and in our likeness, to create a false god to follow. This is what the Pharisees and the Scribes did – they were idolaters.
Jesus told us in Matthew 5:20, “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven”. What did Jesus mean by that? In order to understand this, we will look at what many called “The Parable of the Prodigal Son”. Turn with me to:
Luke 15:1-2 Then drew near unto {Jesus} all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.
The phrase “Prodigal Son” is not found in the Scripture. Many Bibles have it posted just before the parable, but this is an addition by the translators. Jesus never called it “The Parable of the Prodigal Son”. If I ask people “What does ‘Prodigal’ mean?”, most would not have a clue. Some would guess it to be “wayward” or “wandering”, but you would be wrong. The word “prodigal” comes from Latin, and means “one who wastes resources by spending it recklessly”. By titling the parable “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” you miss the entire point. Let’s focus. Jesus said:
“Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven”
Now Jesus is near all the publicans and sinners, but far off the scribes and Pharisees murmur against the Son of God. “This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them”, they bitterly say. Their righteousness will not get them into the Kingdom of Heaven. It will not save them. They are self righteous. They are IDOLATERS. Go down to Jesus’ parable.
Matthew 15:11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:
Though Jesus doesn’t give the sermon a title, it is not “The Parable of THE Prodigal Son”. It is a parable about “two sons”. It is a sermon about “TWO sons who were IDOLATERS”. Neither son initially loved the Father of this parable.
The two idolatrous sons could be called “Publican Sinner” and “Pharisee Scribe” PS and PS – both initially missed the mark!
Since Jesus looked at “Publican Sinner” first, let’s read about him first.
Publican Sinner Worshiped SELF & STUFF
Luke 15:11-13 And he said, A certain man had two sons: 12 and the younger {Publican Sinner} of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And {Father} divided unto them his living. 13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
The younger son, Publican Sinner, took what the Father gave him. As the younger son according to Jewish Law, he was allowed 1/3 of the estate, and his older brother the double portion. Publican Sinner is like every person born into this world. Every person who has ever lived has benefited from the Grace of God. It is by God’s Grace that we are given life. It is by God’s Grace that we are not immediately destroyed because of our sinful nature. The Bible says:
Psalm 145:9 The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
God is so good to us all. Jesus said,
Matthew 5:45 … your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Luke 6:35 … {our God} the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
God gives life and breath to us all, even though we are born idolatrous. God does “good, and {gives} us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness”. Old Publican Sinner went to the Father and said, “give me the portion of goods that falleth to me”. Give me what YOU owe me. And the Father – filled with Grace – is “slow to anger and great in power” (Nahum 1:3). He didn’t give his son what he deserved. He gave his son grace – the grace that God gives to us all. Note that our text states:
Luke 15:13 … not many days after the younger son gathered all together
Young Publican Sinner didn’t immediately wander away from the Father. He stayed home for a few days. But then he “gathered ALL together”. He is suppose to be loving the Father with “ALL his heart, ALL his soul, ALL his mind”, but his heart is set on his stuff, his things. Gathering up his things, he moved “into a far country”. What is “a far country”? It is a place in your heart where you turn away from the God Who loves you, and begin to follow false gods and goddesses. The “far country” is a life that ignores the kindness and Grace, the Presence of God. The “far country” is when I stop loving God with my all, and instead make myself a god.
You can be in a “far country”, far from God, sitting in Church. Anytime your idol is yourself, you are far from God. Satan even tempted Jesus to leave God.
The devil told Jesus, “If you’re hungry, command these stones be made bread {That’s a “far country”}. If you’re the Son of God, cast yourself down, and God will save you {That’s a “far country”}. If you’ll worship me, the devil, I will give you all the best this world has to offer” {That’s a “far country”} (see Matthew 4:1-11). Jesus REFUSED to go into a far country – He refused to wander from God. Publican Sinner wandered from God.
Illustrate Beloved, God is everywhere, but in your mind you can go into a “far country”. I loved the illustration Pastor Kyle Idleman used, saying, “God is like electricity”. There is electricity all around you in this building, but few of you notice it unless it is mentioned. Electricity is there. If you were to probe into an electric socket, you would know it is there. God is there. He is there. In one sense Publican Sinner could not get away from God. In our minds, however, we can go into “a far country” by allowing idolatry & sin in our lives.
Proverbs 15:29 The Lord is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.
Publican Sinner “took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living”. He is his own idol, his own god. The Bible says “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). When you love yourself more than you love God, when you are your own idol, you invest everything into that god. But in time, the good times end. Jesus said:
Luke 15:14-16 And when {Publican Sinner} had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. 15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
Idolatry always destroys those who worship it. Idols are nothing at all – they cannot do evil, nor is it in them to do good. Idolatry exchanges the truth of God with a lie (Romans 1:23-25). Idols were always placed in the “high places”, but worship of idols will always bring you low. The Bible says,
1 John 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
The younger son Publican Sinner lost everything. Now he is off feeding pigs. Under the Old Covenant Law, pigs were considered unclean creatures (Leviticus 11:7; Deuteronomy 14:8; Isaiah 65:4; 66:1). The young idolater is hungry. “No man gave unto him”. He is eating the slop he is feeding the pigs. Then Publican Sinner REPENTS. That’s what we read:
Luke 15:17 … And when he came to himself…
This is what the Bible calls REPENTANCE.
Preach This! REPENTANCE is when you stop making excuses and WAKE UP. REPENTANCE is when you get tired of eating the slop of the hogs. REPENTANCE is when you stop saying “I deserve this” and humble yourself, saying “I will go to my father”. You cannot be saved without REPENTANCE. You are not a child of God but for REPENTANCE.
The Apostle Paul preached, “they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance” (Acts 26:20). Repentance is when you wake up, and realize that YOU are not a god – that there is but ONE GOD – and there is access to this ONE GOD through ONE JESUS CHRIST ALONE.
God the Son said in John 7:37, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink”. The Holy Spirit says “Come”! The God of Heaven says “let the one who is thirsty COME. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely”(Revelation 22:17).
Young Publican Sinner repented, saying (Luke 15:17-18) “How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee”.
Notice there are no EXCUSES made here. God never forgives an EXCUSE. He will, however, forgive those who repent. The picture of REPENTANCE is in these words:
Luke 15:19 {I} am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
Young Publican Sinner stopped doing things HIS way, and decided to let God be God. Like the Publicans and Sinners, he drew near to God.
Luke 15:20-24 {Publican Sinner} arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: 23 and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: 24 for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
Publican Sinner is given a new name, a new start. In the arms of his Father he is blessed. In the arms of his Father he is made alive. Jesus earlier said:
Luke 15:7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
Who “need(s) no repentance”? Everyone needs repentance. You cannot be saved without repentance. The Apostle Paul said:
2 Corinthians 7:10 … godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of …
Repentance is a gift of God that leads us to God. It is “God Who grants repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18). God gives the gift of life freely and daily. He kept young Publican Sinner alive until he “came to himself”, or woke up from the stupor of idolatry. Because God is longsuffering (2 Peter 3:9) and kind (Romans 2:4), this young man came to repentance. Repenting, he came to the Father. Repenting, he was received into the family of God.
Pharisee Scribe Stayed With The Father – But He Too Was In A “Far Place”
The younger Publican Sinner has come home, and there is rejoicing throughout the house. Now we read:
Luke 15:25-27 Now his elder son {this is Pharisee Scribe} was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
I want you to notice what Pharisee Scribe did. He did NOT call the Father. He called one of the servants. He asked one of the servants what was going on. Jesus chastised the Pharisees and Scribes because:
Matthew 15:3 … {you} transgress the commandment of God by your tradition …
and in Matthew 15:6 … {Pharisee Scribe} ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
Pharisee Scribe did not consult God, nor His Word, when determining right or wrong. Pharisee Scribe was faithful to be in Church, faithful to the Temple, faithful to the rituals, but had no personal relationship to the Father. Pharisee Scribe wanted the Father to wait on HIM – and was upset that Publican Sinner was being forgiven and blessed. Our Lord said:
Luke 15:28 {Publican Scribe} was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and entreated him.
Pharisee Scribe was just as much an idolater as his younger brother Publican Sinner used to be. The Father came out to him, and begged him to come in. The older idolatrous son says:
Luke 15:29-30 Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: 30 but as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
Now, if you’ll notice, as Jesus speaks the parable, 2/3rds of the parable is devoted to the younger son, but only 1/3 to the older son. God first called the Pharisees and Scribes to Himself through Abraham. God chose out a nation to be His own, a nation called Israel. It was to Israel that God first made His covenants. And yet, when Jesus comes to save the lost, Jesus:
John 1:11 … came unto His own, and His own received Him not
Pharisee Scribe should be pleased that his brother repented, and returned to the fold. But instead he is jealous, and upset. “Why is Jesus sitting with Publicans and Sinners? If He were the Messiah, He would know what sort of people these are”.
Jesus never finishes the parable. There is never a “The End” placed on it. We read:
Luke 15:31-32 And {the Father} said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. 32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
Jesus does not say that the Pharisees and Scribes are not saved. He leaves that open. But He does tell us that – if they are saved – then they should be OVERJOYED that Publicans and Sinners are coming home to God. The saved should be ecstatic that the Kingdom of God is growing.
Jesus didn’t just tell this story to get REBELLIOUS people to repent. He told this story to convict RELIGIOUS people, to get us to repent.
The Kingdom of God is not about what I want. It’s about what Jesus wants. The Kingdom of God is calling whosoever will to repent – to come to themselves – and to return home. The “Prodigal” younger son took the grace of God, wandered off, and got far away from home. He wasted his life until he came to Himself. But the older brother was also “Prodigal”. He was upset because the Father did not give HIM a party. The Father said, “Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine”. The Older Son had access to a party any time that he wanted. But the Older Son became complacent, then idolatrous. Though he was at home with Father, Father was miles away.
Christian – if you are a Christian – are you complacent in your faith? Have you wandered far away from God in your hearts? Are you just going through the motions? The Expositor’s Bible Dictionary says:
“We call it the parable of the Prodigal Son; it might with equal propriety be called the Parable of the Bereaved Father, for the whole story crystallizes about that name, repeating it, in one form or another, no less than twelve times.”
Oh, how the Father loves us! Would that every one who reads this message or hears it’s preaching would open their hearts to Him. God is everywhere, but your heart makes God seem close or far away. As a Church, our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees and Scribes. Our Love must be Christ centered, and our focus joyfully on who we are in Christ. It is time for us to “break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you” (Hosea 10:12). If we want God to bless our nation, revival must begin here. The Prophet Isaiah, tired of the mess that Israel had become, prayed:
Isaiah 64:1-2 Oh {God} that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, 2 as when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!
The Parable Jesus spoke – whether you call it to Parable of the Prodigal Son, the Parable of the Grieving Father, or the Parable of Two Idolaters – is left hanging, with no resolution. It is as if Jesus says, “Now, will you repent? The ball is in your court. I am here. The Father is here. The Spirit is here. What will you do?” Oh Father, make the Holy Spirit of God move in our midst. For your glory and honor. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen and Amen.
Please turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.
The past few Sundays we talked about the Second Coming of Christ. The Scripture presents His Second Coming in two stages: His coming in the Air:
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Jesus’ Second Coming in the Air – the Rapture – will be to save the Church from a “great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24:21).
At the end of that seven year period Jesus will return with His Church to save Israel, and establish the Kingdom of God on the earth, a Kingdom of Peace, for 1000 years.
Though Jesus will return to save His Church from the Great Tribulation, there are times when His Church has gone through suffering and tribulation. The International Mission Board of the SBC notes that in 2020:
• 340 million Christians experience high levels of persecution
• 4,761 Christians were killed for their faith
• 4,488 Church buildings were attacked and destroyed
In Finland, former Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen was criminally charged with “hate speech” for posting a picture of the Bible opened to
Romans 1:24-27 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: 25 who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27 and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.
Päivi said, “The early Christians did not renounce their faith in lions’ caves, why should I then renounce my faith in a court room?”.
In America we as Christians have freedom of speech. The big tech social networks are pushing hard to remove our freedom of speech. There may come a day when the American Christian loses our public freedom of speech. Facebook, I am told, is already blocking some Christian content, especially if it is Bible and Family based.
As I was mowing my grass this past Thursday, and talking with my Lord God, He caused a text of Scripture to pop into my head. In Exodus 1 the Scripture lists the twelve children of Jacob, and says:
Exodus 1:5-8 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already. 6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. 7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. 8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
God allowed Egypt to be a sanctuary for His Old Covenant people, Israel. Israel was blessed in that land. The Bible says “the land was filled with them”. Israel prospered in Egypt, just as the Christian has prospered in America. Yet over time Israel stopped being the light that God called them to be. Israel began to blend with the darkness. And in that blending, the light of God was not seen. A king rose up who “knew not Joseph”. Joseph changed his environment by living for and loving the Lord.
When you live for and love the Lord, you change the world around you.
The King didn’t know Joseph because the believers in Israel compromised with the darkness. When you compromise with the darkness, it isn’t long before the darkness takes you. Because Egypt “knew not Joseph”, in time Egypt enslaved Israel and began to kill her children.
Let us love the Lord our God. Let us keep our eyes on Jesus, and have an attitude of gratitude to our Lord and Savior. We are told:
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice evermore. 17 Pray without ceasing. 18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
As children of the King, let us
Rejoice Evermore – At ALL times!
Word Study The little sentence “Rejoice evermore” is very powerful. It is two words in the Greek, χαίρω chaírō, {pronounced khah’-ee-ro} πάντοτε pántote, {pronounced pan’-tot-eh}, meaning “Overflow with joy at all times”. To “rejoice” is to let joy bubble up from your heart and overflow to your mouth and your face, your entire body. Why should we as Christians be filled with joy at all times? Quite simply, because …
1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ
Word Study What wonderful words! “God hath not APPOINTED us to wrath”. The word “APPOINTED” is the Greek τίθημι títhēmi, {pronounced tith’-ay-mee}, which means “to assign, to lay down, appoint”. The same word is used in Acts 17:31, where we are told “God hath APPOINTED a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ…”. When Jesus returns, the rejecters of the Gospel will have an appointment with Him. He will judge them, and punish those who have rejected His offer of salvation. The Bible tells us:
Hebrews 9:27 … it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment …
The Christ follower is not “appointed … to wrath”. Our destiny is to be with the Lord Who loves us, and will love us into eternity. Those who reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are under condemnation – and are the subjects of the future wrath of God. The Bible says:
John 3:17-18 God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
The “wrath of God” is a real thing. It was the wrath of God that killed the firstborn of every home NOT under the Blood of the Lamb. God’s wrath comes on those who …
Psalm 78:22 … believe not in God, and trust not in his salvation
God’s wrath came on Israel when she continually rejected His love.
Psalm 78:31 the wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.
When you reject the Grace of God, and deny Him His glory, you bring His wrath into your life. The wrath of God is not just an Old Testament phenomenon. Listen Beloved,
I looked up the phrase “wrath of God” in the King James, and found that phrase ten times, nine of which are in the New Testament.
One day that grand old preacher John the Baptist was asked, “Are YOU the Christ?” John replied:
John 3:28-30; 34-36 …. I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him …. THIS MY JOY THEREFORE IS FULFILLED … 34-36 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. 35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. 36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Jesus Christ came to take the wrath of God from us. If we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, we “hath everlasting life”. But there is something else we do not have. We are NEVER under the wrath of God. The Apostle said in:
Romans 5:6-9 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
The wrath of God is not my heritage. God does have wrath. Oh yes, He does. We are told in Revelation 20:15, whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. This “lake of fire” is a horrible place, described as:
Revelation 14:10-11 … the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 11 and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night
Regardless as to what is going on in your life, dear Christian, you are not appointed to wrath. What is your appointment? Again we read:
1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ
Salvation is ours. Eternity is ours. Jesus is preparing a place for us, and it is a mansion, not a fire! As a believer in Christ I am never alone. We are told:
1 Thessalonians 5:10 {Jesus} died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
It is the Christian’s lot in life that we “live together with him”. We as Christians live in union with Christ. He is with us. He is our Lord. We live WITH Him and FOR Him. We are told in:
Romans 14:8-9 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
Rejoice, for Jesus has saved you. Rejoice evermore, because Jesus is with you in the valley and on the mountaintop. Rejoice, for God controls all things for your good. You are His Child by faith in Christ. As you love Him, know He loves you. One of my favorite texts is:
Romans 8:28 … we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rejoice at all times for whatever is happening in your life – regardless as to whether it seems beautiful or horrid – these things “work together for good” in your life. Rejoice evermore. Rejoice at all times!
The Attitude Of Gratitude Is For The Prayerful
1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
If God is in partnership with your life, and if the Scripture is true that says:
Hebrews 13:5 … I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. … then
We as Christians should find prayer as easy and natural as breathing!
Prayer is not just asking God for things. Prayer is talking to God your Father. What a joy it is to know that I have the ear of God, especially when I am going through trials and tribulations. As we pray, we give God the glory by acknowledging that He is Father, and we His children. We honor His name in our prayers, seeking only the glory of God.
Matthew 6:9 Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Prayer honors God by seeking His will in our lives. When His Kingdom comes in our lives, we are filled with joy.
Matthew 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Prayer changes our environment by changing our hearts. Moses prayed:
Exodus 33:13-16 … Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. 14 And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. 15 And {Moses}{ said unto {God}, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. 16 For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us?
Prayer gives glory to God, and magnifies His will in our lives. Prayer invites God into our DAILY lives. “If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence”.
In prayer, we lay our needs at the Father’s feet. We pray:
Matthew 6:11-13 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…
The closer we are to God, the greater will be our attitude of gratitude. Israel was more focused on where they came from, rather than where God was leading them. Invite God into your environment. Walk with Him: “walk in the light, as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7). Confess and repent of any active sin, knowing that sin in the heart muffles your union with God in Christ.
Proverbs 15:29 The Lord is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.
It is sin that quenches or grieves the Holy Spirit of God.
1 Thessalonians 5:19 Quench not the Spirit.
We suppress or grieve the Holy Spirit when we walk in the darkness, following the world instead of the Lord. We are not as we were before we were saved. As Christians, the Holy Spirit of God now lives in us.
We QUENCH the Spirit when we do NOT DO what He says do. We GRIEVE the Spirit when we do what He says NOT to do.
The Spirit of God now lives inside you, dear Christian. “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His” (Romans 8:9). You are now the Temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have of God (1 Corinthians 6:19). God knows your hearts. Confess any active sin in your lives, and repent of that way of life. Hear the Word of God, and apply it to your lives.
1 Thessalonians 5:20 Despise not prophesyings.
Hear what the Word of God says, and do it. The Bible that we have is written by God.
2 Peter 1:21 the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Heed the Word of God, and do what it says.
1 Thessalonians 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast to that which is good.
Do not live your life based on your feelings, but on what God has said in His Word. So many of us rob ourselves of blessing when we do not prayerfully weigh all things against the Word of God.
Illustrate A little girl came to her daddy and asked for a nickle. The father generously opened his wallet and handed her a five dollar bill. The child tossed the bill on the floor, and demanded the nickle. Her daddy said, “But honey, that’s a five dollar bill!” Her reply is like what many of us stubbornly give God. “I don’t want that. I want a nickle”.
Weigh everything by God’s Word and God’s Spirit. When someone tells you something to be true, verify it by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. Make sure that what you are being told is not just a word from man. It is the Word of God that blesses. Your life should align with God’s Word if you expect to have power in prayer.
Be Thankful For All Things – Even The Hard
1 Thessalonians 5:18 In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Did you get the Covid? Be thankful. That was God’s will for your life. Trials grow the Christian. Thank Him for it.
Are you in a hospital, or long term care facility? Be grateful. This is where God wants you to minister. Tell others of Jesus.
Do you have cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, or some other affliction common to mankind. Thank God for it. Do not be filled with sadness or depression or anxiety. Be FILLED with THE HOLY SPIRIT. The Bible says in …
Ephesians 5:18-21 be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19 speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20 giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21 submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Some people take a shot of whiskey, a mixed cocktail, a marijuana product, or a pill to “steady the nerves” or “calm you down”. God’s prescription is to FILL yourself with the Holy Spirit. Chase out the doom and gloom with song! Like a bird, let your hearts be filled with song!
When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
Count your blessings, name them one by one; Count your blessings, see what God hath done; Count your blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear? Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly, And you will be singing as the days go by.
When you look at others with their lands and gold, Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold. Count your many blessings, money cannot buy Your reward in heaven, nor your Lord on high.
So amid the conflict, whether great or small, Do not be discouraged, God is over all; Count your many blessings, angels will attend, Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.
If it is true that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28), then the trial you are going through is GOOD. Trust God in it. Trials make us more like Christ. As we are told in
James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers {trials}; 3 knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Had the first generation of Israel trusted the God Who saved them, they would have entered the Promised Land. God will not do great things with those who have little faith. Thank God for what you have, and for what you lack. Seek an attitude of gratitude.
Pastor Max Lucado wrote:
“A grateful heart sees each day as a gift. Thankful people focus less on what they lack and more on the privileges they have. I attended a banquet recently in which a wounded soldier was presented with the gift of a free house. He nearly fell over with gratitude. He bounded onto the stage with his one good leg and threw both arms around the presenter. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” He hugged the guitar player in the band and the big woman on the front row. He thanked the waiter, the other soldiers, and then the presenter again. Before the night was over, he thanked me! And I didn’t do anything. Shouldn’t we be equally grateful? Jesus is building a house for us (John 14:2). Our deed of ownership is every bit as certain as that of the soldier.”
God did a wonderful thing for us, dear Christian, when He saved our souls. We have Heaven before us, hell behind us, and a Savior and Lord Who cannot be defeated. When we rejoice at all times, pray at all times, and give thanks at all times, we will change our environment. We will be the light that Jesus calls His Church to be. Let us be the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill that cannot be hid (Matthew 5:14). May God touch your hearts with His Word and His Spirit. Amen and Amen.
The grandchildren asked grandma what she wanted for Mother’s day. She said, “I just want my family to go to Church with me this Sunday”. So come Sunday, her children and grandchildren got up, got dressed, and went to Church. After the service they gathered around Grandma’s table to eat. She asked her grandchildren, “So what did you think about the Church service”? The youngest child spoke up. “I really enjoyed the singing – but the commercial was way too long!”
Let’s play a little “pretend” right now. What if today was the last day on earth I could talk to you, and this be the last day you could hear from me? What words would I want to leave with you if I were to go to glory tonight? Better than that, if you were to hear the last words God spoke to you on this earth, what would these last words be? Well, we don’t have to guess on this last part. The last recorded words Jesus Christ spoke are found in the last book of your Bibles, in the last chapter, and in the next to the last verse of Scripture. Turn there with me.
Revelation 22:20 …. Surely I come quickly.
If you have a “Red Letter” Bible, these words of Jesus Christ would be in red. Jesus tells us that He is coming quickly. There is a sense of urgency in this last chapter, for Jesus says this not just here, but two other times for a total of three times. Three is the number of God in Scripture. Working backward through the chapter, we read:
Revelation 22:12-13 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Jesus is coming quickly! We do not know when He will come. He may come, and receive His Church by Rapture before I finish this message. Or Jesus may come and require your soul return to Him this very day. We do not know. As Pastor of this Church I have seen over twenty souls called to eternity, and few of those were expected when called. Jesus said “I come quickly”. Death, like a sleep, comes on us when we least expect it. Are you prepared? Jesus said in the third quote:
Revelation 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
This Word that we will hear today is not a commercial for some do-dad that somebody wants to sell you. Jesus is coming quickly. “Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book”. Are you ready if Jesus comes today? Tonight? Are you prepared to meet your Maker? As God spoke to the wayward nation Israel, He speaks to America today:
Amos 4:12-13 …. prepare to meet thy God, O {America}. 13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The Lord, The God of hosts, is his name.
Why Should I Care That Jesus Comes Quickly?
Some of you may be thinking, “Why would I care if Jesus comes quickly? Jesus is no more than the founder of one religion among many. He’s dead anyway – why would I care?” You should care. Jesus is not just one founder of one religion among many. Jesus Christ is God Who became Perfect Man. Again, return to
Revelation 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
When next you see Jesus –
Revelation 1:7 Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall WAIL because of him. Even so, Amen.
When Jesus comes – when you see Him in the air or when He comes to you at this life’s end – He will come as Judge of all. “all kindreds of the earth shall WAIL because of him”. The first Adam brought sin into the world – “and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12). Man ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and, from that terrible first error, man has developed his own sense of what he or she thinks is right or wrong. Today in our world it is common – even in Church settings – to hear people affirm actions and beliefs that are NOT taught in the Scripture. We as humans have become arbiters of what we think is true. Beloved, Jesus is true. He that sent Jesus – God the Father – is true (John 7:28). Those who know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior can affirm Him and His Words, as John did:
1 John 5:20 … we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
When Jesus comes again, He comes as Avenging God, judging God, righteous God. Jesus said:
John 5:22-23 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: 23 That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
God the Father judges no one. All judgment has been given to Jesus. Those who have honored Jesus have honored the Father. Jesus Christ is the sole Judge of eternal life. The Apostle Peter told the Gentiles at the Centurion Cornelius’ home:
Acts 10:38-43 God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. 39 And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: 40 Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; 41 Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And {Jesus} commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. 43 To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
Jesus Christ is “ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead”. It is only through “his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins”. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God Who makes payment for our sins. Jesus Christ is the Judge, and the Savior. Oh Beloved, it is Jesus Who comes quickly – unexpectedly – and certainly!
Revelation 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Jesus has the sole commission of the Godhead to “give every man according as his work shall be”. Jesus Christ is God made Man. He is the Eternal Word of God:
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16). He was, is, and will always be God the Son. He was transformed when the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, the Angel told Joseph in Matthew 1:20
“that which is conceived in {Mary} is of the Holy Spirit”
and the Angel told Mary in Luke 1:35
“that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called The Son of God”
Not “A Son of God”, but “THE Son of God”. Jesus Christ, God become Man, so that God could call sinful man to His side. Jesus’ reward (Greek μισθός misthós, {mis-thos’}), literally his WAGES or what is OWED HIM is that He be the Judge of all souls. It was Jesus Who – in eternity past – agreed with both Father and Spirit to enter fallen humanity, to take upon Himself flesh and blood. The Bible says:
Hebrews 2:14 … as the children {of Adam} are partakers of flesh and blood, {Jesus} also Himself took part of the same; that through death He might destroy Him that had the power of death, that is, the devil
Man sinned against God, creating an eternal barrier between us. Jesus Christ came to break down that barrier. He is not “just a man”, or “just a founder”. Read with me again:
Revelation 22:12-13 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Jesus says not “I WAS Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last”, but “I AM Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last”. Let us look at His titles for just a moment.
Jesus Christ IS Alpha and Omega
It was the fruit of the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil” that Adam ate, plunging us into the abyss of sin. When John the Revelator walked the earth (he is the God inspired chronicler of this Revelation) the Greeks were thought to possess all knowledge. The Greek language had spanned the world. Even among the Jews of John’s day, many Jews no longer read Hebrew. The Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek, a text called the “Septuagint”. In the Greek Alphabet the first letter is ALPHA, and the last letter is OMEGA. When Jesus said “I am Alpha and Omega” He is saying “I have ALL THE KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM”. Humans believe ourselves to possess great knowledge and wisdom – but often our wisdom is foolishness.
1 Corinthians 3:18 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
Mankind in our foolishness have turned the simplicity of human sexuality into a mad, confused mess. We smile and nod at one another, believing we know better than God. When we depart from God, we enter the sea of madness. The Prophet said:
Daniel 2:20-22 Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: 21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: 22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
All Light and all Knowledge is found in Jesus Christ, in the Word He has spoken. Is your life in disarray? Is your family in trouble? Turn to Him Who is Alpha and Omega. Come to God and, by faith, receive the Gift of God – salvation by relationship to Christ. Bring your burdens to Him. Bring your brokenness to Him. He is able. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega. The Bible promises:
John 1:12 … as many as received {Jesus}, to them gave HePOWER to BECOME the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name
When you receive the Son of God as Lord and Savior, you yourselves become “Children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26). Receive Him as Alpha and Omega. The world stumbles around in darkness, the “blind leading the blind, and both falling in the ditch” (Matthew 15:14). To Him Who receives Jesus, and does as He says, that person is …
Matthew 7:24-25 … a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
The Child of the King of Kings lives their life victoriously. We do not stumble, but walk in the Master’s footprints.
I could care less for what Oprah said, But heed Jesus Who rose from the dead. Who is impressed by the talk show host? Let’s love Jesus, Who gives us the most.
Adrian Rogers said,
“There is power in the Word of God, and Satan does not want you to understand the authority of the Word of God. He doesn’t want you to get the power that will divert his fiery attacks away from your heart — his prime target. When the Word of the Lord and the Lord of the Word become your authority, then Satan and all of his demonic forces will flee, and you are going to have authority for your life.”
Jesus Christ Is The Beginning And the End
Revelation 22:12-13 And, behold, I come quickly … 13 I am … the beginning and the end …
In Jesus is contained all the wisdom of the Godhead. He is the Alpha and Omega. But Jesus is also “the beginning and the end”. It was Jesus at the beginning of human history that both Father and Spirit addressed, saying:
Genesis 1:26 … Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
The Father could not make man without the cooperation of the Son. Jesus Christ was there.
When Adam and Eve ate us out of house and home our Lord Jesus was there.
Jesus has been with man from the beginning of human history, loving us, caring for us. When Adam led humanity into sin the Lord promised to come through the “seed of the woman” (Genesis 3:15). We see the first coming of Jesus promised in the Covenant God made with Abraham. We see Jesus in the Passover Lamb as Israel is freed from the grip of Egypt. There is Jesus in the Ark of the Covenant, for within the Ark is the manna or Bread of God, the Rod of Aaron, and the Ten Commandments.
Jesus is the Manna from Heaven Jesus is the High Priest of His people Jesus is the fulfiller of the Ten Commandments
Jesus is the fulfiller of the Law! By receiving Him as Lord and Savior, the Beginning and the End, your life will begin anew. Because Jesus lives, you shall live forever. Jesus is no shadow, but the very Bread of God. He said:
John 6:33, 35 … the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. … 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
Jesus is the beginning of everlasting life. Jesus is the ending of death. Jesus is the beginning of peace with God. Jesus is the ending of false gods. Jesus is the beginning of victory. Jesus is the ending of fear and victimhood.
If Jesus Christ is your Savior and Lord, then we have His promise:
John 5:24 … Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
Jesus Christ Is The First And The Last
Revelation 22:12-13 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 13 I am …. the first and the last.
If Jesus Christ is first in your hearts, then He will be first and last in your life. In the Old Testament, God often referred to Himself as “the first and the last”. For instance:
Isaiah 44:6 Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
Isaiah 48:12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
The reason God took this name for Himself is because His First Commandment is:
Matthew 22:37 …. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
To be saved, you must give God your ALL. He doesn’t want your leftovers, but your whole life. We are to love God with our ALL. Jesus Christ is God Incarnate. Jesus said in:
Luke 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he CANNOT BE my disciple.
To be saved we come to Jesus, and lay our lives at His feet. The Apostle John commented right after noting Jesus’ three part declaration of Himself:
Revelation 22:14-15 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Those who are allowed into Heaven are those who “do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life”. What is God’s great work? One day some people asked Jesus:
John 6:28 … What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
Jesus replied in John 6:29, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent”. What does God expect of us? “To believe on Him – Jesus – Whom the Father has sent”. Jesus is “the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.” He is God’s Light to a sin filled and broken world.
If you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, today is the day to call upon Him and be saved.
How Is One Saved? By Coming To Jesus. Period.
As we finish today, I now come to a place of invitation. Will you come to Jesus? Will you give your lives to Him? If you are a saved believer who, like a prodigal son, has wandered from home, will you not repent and return to Him? We are told in:
Revelation 22:17 … the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Jesus is coming soon. Don’t make Him chase you. Come to Him, now, and be saved. “the Spirit and the bride say, Come”. The “bride” is the Church of Jesus Christ, the people who have received Him as Lord and Savior. The “Bride is the Lamb’s wife” (Revelation 21:9-11). It is the city of Heaven, the place where Christ’s redeemed live. God’s people bid you come. God the Holy Spirit bids that you come.
Word Study The word translated “COME” in our text is the Greek word ercomai (pronounced er’-khom-ahee), which means “to move from where you are to go along with another”. The Holy Spirit and the Bride say “COME”. You cannot “COME” and continue following your own path. Dear friends, God does not follow us, but we follow God. If we want to be saved we must follow God.
So many linger, holding back when the invitation is given. “I cannot step out, and receive Christ publicly. What will the Church think? What will my neighbor think?” The answer is in our text. “Let him that heareth say, Come”. The believer in Christ will rejoice if you come! The angels of Heaven will rejoice if you come. “Let him that is athirst come”. If you are thirsty for life, come. Do not hesitate, but give your life to Him. “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely”. Oh, what a wonderful day to be born into the Kingdom of God – on Mother’s day! May God move on your hearts through His Word and His Spirit. Amen and Amen!
Colossians 2:8-14 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 9 For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. 10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: 11 in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12 buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
The Devil Attacks The Christian With Philosophy & Vain Deceit
Word Study The word translated “spoil” is the Greek συλαγωγέω sylagōgéō, {pronounced soo-lag-ogue-eh’-o} means literally “to carry off as a spoil of war or booty, to lead captive”. Satan is constantly attacking the Church with the emptiness of human traditions and laws. Through a series of secular laws America has normalized godlessness.
Prayer removed from schools in 1962 The Bible removed from schools in 1963 Abortion legalized in 1973 The Ten Commandments removed from public view in 1980 Same sex marriage codified in 2015 Expanding homosexual & transgender rights in 2020
The nation was never meant to be the source of righteousness. Government exists solely to equally protect it’s citizens. The Apostle Paul, though imprisoned for preaching the Gospel of Christ, wrote:
Romans 13:1-4 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: 4 for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
The government was never meant to be the Church. The government is a kingdom of man established or allowed by God. The Kingdom of God is divinely appointed, headed by Jesus Christ, and inhabited by those who have received Christ as BOTH Lord and Savior. It is only the believer in Christ who is ordered to:
Matthew 6:33 seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
The person who puts their faith in “philosophy and vain deceit” are following the same path that the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus’ day did. King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, chased after “philosophy” or human wisdom apart from faith in Christ. Solomon said:
Ecclesiastes 1:16-18 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. 17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit. 18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
In this Internet Ready, connected world we live in, it is easy for a Christian to be side tracked, as Solomon was, into worldly wisdom and philosophy.If the devil cannot prevent a person from entering the Kingdom of God by faith in Christ, he will attempt to hamstring that person by polluting their soul with human philosophy and human traditions.
I talked with someone who told me his brother came home from Church one day. This man asked his brother, “What did you learn at Church today?” His answer was, “That the preacher must wear a suit to Church”. I do wear a suit to Church. But this “doctrine” is not found in the Scripture, and is patently divisive. I asked another what he heard at a Church revival. He told me, “That women must not wear pants or open toed shoes”. This is not the Word of God, but human tradition. Jesus chastised the Pharisees and Sadducees for following tradition and not the Word of God:
Mark 7:5-9 the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? 6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Isaiah {Isaiah 29:13} prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
Colossians 2:8 … after the tradition of men, after the rudiments {stoicheîon, pronounced stoy-khi’-on} {base elements} of the world, and not after Christ
There were two systems of philosophy that attacked the Church at Corinth:
Stoicism which taught that the person is greater than any circumstance. Stoicism often focuses on human traditions. Whether a person faced poverty or prosperity, the Stoic is detached about it. “I can do all things” is what the Stoic believed. The ancient Rabbis
The poet William Ernest Henley wrote the poem Invictus celebrating the Stoic power of man:
(1) Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. (4) It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.
Though there are Stoics in America today, the greatest false teaching is Epicureanism. Epicureanism teaches that there is no ultimate truth, that truth is fluid, changeable, based upon the viewpoint of the person. Jesus spoke of the Epicurean attitude in:
Luke 12:16-21 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17 and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
The Epicureans, like Atheists, push any thought of God out of their heart.
We Are All Incomplete Apart From Jesus
Jesus Christ is not just another Man, another Charismatic Leader, another figurehead of a religion. The Bible says:
Colossians 2:9 For in Him {in Jesus} dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
In Jesus is “all the fullness of the Godhead bodily”. Jesus Christ is fully God and fully Man. The Scripture says:
Colossians 1:19 … it pleased the Father that in {Jesus} should all fullness dwell;
Jesus told His disciples “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” and “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (John 14:9-10). When He prayed, He said “you, Father, are in me, and I in you” (John 17:21). The Bible tells us that the Eternal God came from glory, and became like us, but without sin. He is “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23).
Humans are broken because of sin. The Bible says:
1 John 1:8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us …
All humans are natural born sinners. When born into this world, we are born – not with a desire to do the good – but with a desire to pursue that which is against God. Our forefather Adam brought sin – like a plague – into this world and onto every son and daughter born from creation’s dawn. When you enter this world kicking and crying you enter it as a son or daughter of Adam.
You are not complete unless you have given yourselves to Christ. Ritual is not enough. Remember that Jesus said to the religious Pharisees:
John 8:44, 47 Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. … (47) He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear [them]not, because ye are not of God.
Pharisees attempt to be “complete” or right with God apart from faith in Christ. That just won’t work. Jesus Christ contains “all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (in human form)”. We cannot be complete – qualified to enter Heaven – unless our lives are attached to Christ by faith.
Colossians 2:11-12 in {Jesus} also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12 buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
When you receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, God the Holy Spirit acts on your life to make you “born again”. Your position before God changes.
A male child born into Israel was required by God to be circumcised on the eighth day of birth – or be cut off from Israel(Leviticus 12:3; Philippians 3:5). This circumcision was only performed on the boy, not on the girl. Circumcision did not save the child, but marked the boy child as a member of the Kingdom of God (Genesis 17). Because Jesus was “cut off” for our sins at Calvary, when we receive Him as Lord and Savior God “cuts us off” in our hearts. This is a God the Holy Spirit “circumcision made without hands”. The Apostle spoke of this in detail in:
Romans 2:25-28 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. 26 Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? 27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law? 28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
The believer in Christ is circumcised in heart with the circumcision made without hands. That person is marked as a citizen of the Kingdom of God because their heart is tender toward God, seeking to please Him, and not man. Genuine believers – members of Christ’s Kingdom – can say “we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of{be pleasing to}{Jesus}” (2 Corinthians 5:9).
You are complete in Christ because Christ Your Savior is completely God!
Colossians 2:10 … ye are complete in him, {Who} is the head of all principality and power
We are told “in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily”. The word “dwelleth”in the Greek text means “to be permanently at home with”. All that God is permanently dwells in Christ. Jesus Christ has and will always have the full nature of God. Before Jesus ever came to this earth He was God, and is still God today:
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Jesus Christ is Creator God. He is, was, and will always be God the Creator. Jesus is, as we are told in 1 Timothy 3:16 …
“God … manifest in the flesh”
What a glorious love God has for us, that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Jesus Christ is “the Brightness of God’s glory, and the express image of God’s Person, Who, upholding all things by the Word of His power, Who by Himself purged our sins, and is now seated on the right hand of Eternal God the Father” (paraphrase of Hebrews 1:3).
Jesus Christ is God. Jesus Christ became perfect Man. Jesus Christ purged our sins. Jesus Christ is alive today. And at the right hand of God the Father. God the Son made us right with God the Father!
We Are QUICKENED TOGETHER With Jesus
Colossians 2:13-14 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Word Study There is an interesting term the Bible uses for the Christian, and it is the term is “quickened together”. We were dead in sins an in the circumcision of our flesh – separated from God because of the sin in us. We were in a helpless and hopeless situation. Then God “quickened {us}together” with Jesus, (“quickened together” is the Greek syzōopoiéō, {pronounced sood-zo-op-oy-eh’-o} which means “made us alive together with Jesus”). As Jesus is eternal, we who are His are eternal. Our destinies are locked together.
Illustrate I’m sure you have all seen a railroad train. The locomotive is attached to the cars, and pulls the cars down the track. Jesus Christ is our Locomotion. We are bound to Him eternally. As we go through this life, we avoid sin, repent of sin, and try our best not to jump the track that Jesus has us on. The locomotive {Jesus} alone has life – the cars which follow it have no inherent life in them – only when they are bound to the locomotive do they do anything productive. They must go where the locomotive leads them. We who belong to Christ are bound to Him in life, and bound to Him in afterlife.
Beloved, if you are saved by faith in Him, God has switched where your car was attached! God has changed the track of your life. Whereas before you were attached to the Locomotive of Satan, and riding on twin rails of sin and death, now your life is different. You are bound to Jesus Christ by faith, and ride on the twin rails of love and hope. The destination of Locomotive Satan is damnation and condemnation. The destination of Locomotive Jesus is salvation and eternal life in Heaven. The wonderful truth of the Gospel is:
Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
We are quickened together with Christ. Praise Him, by Grace we are saved. God has “blott{ed} out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which were contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to Christ’sCross”. We who are believers in Christ are bound to Him forever. As Adrian Rogers once said:
“The train that runs with incredible speed on ribbons of steel is far freer to be what it was made to be than the so called free train that may choose an excursion through the meadow. It is only free to wreck.”
Trust in and follow Jesus. Believe that He is able to save you, and that He is able to keep that which He has saved. Blessed be the name of the Lord!
Pastor Wayne Stiles told the story one time of his two daughters. One child would ask him to throw her up into the air and catch her. Every time he caught her, she would say “Do it again, daddy!”. The other daughter asked her daddy to toss her into the air, but screamed in fear when he did so, and never asked to be tossed up again. What was the difference between the two children? One child focused on the ability of her daddy to catch her, whereas the other child focused on her inability to control the flight. Put your faith fully in Jesus, believer, and trust in Him.
May God drive His Word, by His Spirit, fully into your hearts and lives this very day. Amen and Amen.
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
The Way To Happiness Is To Hear And Do
This morning we looked at Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount”, and talked about how Jesus viewed the Law of God. Tonight I want to look at this small verse, a tiny portion of that Sermon on the Mount.
Word Study The first word is “Blessed”, which is the Greek μακάριος makarios which means “much happiness”. People look for happiness in many things. As Jesus went out the Bible says:
Matthew 4:25 … there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.
Many people followed Jesus for temporary relief. People with “divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatics, and those that had the palsy” flocked to Jesus, and Jesus healed them all. Many people follow Jesus that same way today. They only seek out Jesus when some great negative comes into their lives. When life is good, they only want a part time Savior, a Jesus Who will stay in the background until needed, Who only – like a trained dog – comes when called. The Bible says:
Jeremiah 17:9-10 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10 I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
No heart is born into this world “pure”. “Those that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:8). It is because of the condition of the human heart that evil is perpetuated. Jesus told the Pharisees and Scribes:
Matthew 15:18-20 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 these are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
Illustrate I often people today say “just follow your heart”. Beloved, if you just “follow your heart” you will end up getting in terrible trouble. Case in point, consider the heart of the first human King of Israel, King Saul. When Saul was first chosen the Prophet Samuel told him:
1 Samuel 15:1-3 … The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord. 2 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not…
God gave King Saul very clear (though brutal) instructions. In our modern world, that which God told Saul to do to Amalek seems harsh. But God owns everything and everyone on the big blue planet. If God wanted King Agag and the Amalekites destroyed, that is God’s business. God is God and we are not. What did Saul do?
1 Samuel 15:9 … Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
Saul and Israel looked over the people and the possessions of the Amalakites, and what look vile or useless to them, they destroyed – but what they thought was the best, they saved. This is not what God told them to do.
So God decided to remove King Saul from office. Though the Prophet Samuel prayed to God all night long, interceding for King Saul, God would not relent. When Samuel got to Saul’s encampment the next day, Saul told him:
1 Samuel 15:13 … Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord.
Samuel replied, “What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? (vvs 14)”. Saul justified his actions by saying “the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. (vvs 15)”. Saul heard the Voice of God, knew what God wanted. The instructions were very clear. But Saul “followed his heart” and allowed Israel to do the same. It cost Saul his Kingdom. God told Saul through Samuel:
1 Samuel 15:22-23 … Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
Doing only PART of what the Lord says is the same as rejecting ALL of God’s Word. Let Us Be “Pure”
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Word Study “BLESSED” or “MUCH HAPPINESS” comes to those who are “ pure in heart”. The word translated “pure” is the Greek καθαρός katharós, {pronounced kath-ar-os’}. In other Scriptures, the word is translated as “CLEAN” (Matthew 27:59; John 13:10). How does one become “CLEAN”? It is only by listening to Jesus, and doing what He says. Jesus told His disciples:
John 15:3 Now ye are CLEAN {katharós} through the word which I have spoken unto you.
When the Word of God is heard AND DONE, it cleanses the heart. It is only the CLEAN heart that can see God. When the Apostle Paul speaks of the Church and Jesus, he said that Jesus …
Ephesians 5:26 … SANCTIFIES and CLEANSES {καθαρίζω katharizō} {the Church} with the washing of water BY THE WORD.
It is not just the Word of Christ that cleanses, but the Word of God that is both HEARD and DONE. We see this principle many times in Scripture. For instance:
Romans 2:13 … for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified
and in James 1:21-25 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and {all that remains of wickednessNASB}, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Throughout Jesus’ ministry on this earth, twelve men followed Him everywhere He went. Yet only eleven of these men were blessed. Jesus said to them:
John 13:10-11 … ye are CLEAN {katharós}, but not all. 11 For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all CLEAN {katharós}.
Judas Iscariot heard the Word of Christ on a daily basis. Day after day, for some 3 ½ years, Judas heard Jesus preach. And yet, though a faithful Church member, Judas was not happy. He lost his blessing – and ended up taking his own life. Throughout the Scripture we see those who heed and do God’s Word being blessed. The Apostle in another place warns against blending God’s Word with the word or tradition of man. He tells Titus:
Titus 1:13 … rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; 14 Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth. 15 Unto the PURE (better CLEAN) {katharós} all things are CLEAN {katharós}: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing CLEAN {katharós}; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. 16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
You may not understand or know all of the Word of God. But as His Children, you are accountable to do that which you know. The stepbrother of Jesus declared, “To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17).
When You Both Hear And Do His Word, You Have God’s Promise
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
I have often been asked the question,
“When we get to Heaven, will we see God?”
Every believer I meet has told me that they look forward to seeing God face to face. When John the Revelator looked into Heaven, he wrote:
Revelation 22:3-4 … there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4 and they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
When Moses went up into Mount Sinai, he asked God:
Exodus 33:18 … I beseech Thee {dear God}, shew me thy glory.
God told Moses:
Exodus 33:20 Thou canst not see My face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
God allowed Moses to get into a “clift of the rock” to protect him, and covered Moses so that all Moses could see of God was “His back parts” (vvs 23) … “but My face shall not be seen”. Moses saw just a glimpse of God’s glory. But Moses did not see God face to face.
Can a person “see” God? It depends on what you mean by “see”.
It is impossible to “see” God the Father or God the Holy Spirit due to the very nature of God. The Bible tells us that one of the characteristics of God is God is everywhere at all times. The theologians call this the Omnipresence of God. When I “see” something or someone, the seeing must be in my presence.
God is everywhere. God is Spirit.
The Psalmist said of God in Psalm 139:7-12 Whither shall I go from Thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10 even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. 12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee.
God is everywhere – there is no where where God is not. God is spirit. When Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, He told them:
Luke 24:39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
God is Spirit. Jesus taught us that. In John 4:24 He said, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. ” As a Spirit, God is everywhere. We are told in
Jeremiah 23:23-24 Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? 24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.
God is everywhere at once, and every time at once – and yet He is fully present in the moment. God can manifest an image of Himself, and we can see that image. Yet we are not seeing God – but a representation of God. The Shekinah Glory was a visible demonstration that the invisible God was present (Deuteronomy 31:15) – yet this was not the all of God. The Lord tells us through Isaiah:
Isaiah 66:1-2 Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? 2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
The Infinite God is present with those who both hear and do His Word. But can we “see” God like we “see” a tree, or “see” each other? No, because God is too infinite. It is the infinity of God that blesses us as believers. Because God is everywhere at once, He can promise to every one of His children by faith:
Isaiah 43:2-3 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. 3 For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior:
Only an omnipresent, omnipotent God can promise that – no matter where I go, no matter what I do, no matter what time of the day it is – “ I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. ” (Hebrews 13:5). Theologian Don Stewart notes:
“The universe that God created finds the Creator everywhere. He is everywhere present. There is no place that a person can hide and no chance that a believer will out of His protective care. He is everywhere present in His works and in His personality. This does not mean that God is the same as the universe – merely that His presence is everywhere in the universe. The truth of God’s omnipresence if comforting for the believer for no one can escape God’s notice. ”
So in one sense, no, you will not be able to see God face to face as you see me face to face. We are told in …
1 John 4:12 … No man hath seen God at any time.
The nature of God makes seeing all that is God impossible.
This Is Why God Became Man
Is it possible to see God the Father or God the Spirit in a localized way with our eyes? No, it’s not. So God, in His great love, sent the eternal Jesus Christ into the world. God the Son became flesh, so that we who are flesh can see God face to face. When Jesus promised:
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
He was making a promise that He Himself would keep. God Himself – Father, Son, and Spirit, from eternity past are “immortal, invisible” (1 Timothy 1:17). The Bible says of God that He dwells in unapproachable light, “whom no man hath seen, nor can see” (1 Timothy 6:16). Jesus was like this before the incarnation. Yes, God could manifest an image, a Theophany, or a Christophany, a Shekinah, or a person. But then …
Hebrews 2:14 … as the children (that’s us) are PARTAKERS OF FLESH AND BLOOD, He also Himself (Jesus) took part of the same …
God the Son lowered Himself to become our Mediator. He represents God the Father and God the Spirit to us, and we to God. The Scripture says:
John 1:17-18 (KJV)For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
There is only One Man Who has ever truly “seen” God, and that Man is God become Man, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Jesus said in John 6:45-47 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. 46 Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. 47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
Only Jesus has seen God as God is. But Jesus Christ is God, and when we get to Heaven we will see God face to face – for we will see Jesus! When you see Jesus, you will be seeing God. Jesus said “if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9). All that is of God, we shall see in Jesus, God Who became Man. Why does God love us so much as to want to lower Himself to be like us? The Apostle called this a great mystery. He said:
1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
Will we see God face to face, it will be God the Son we see. When we hear and do His Word then God “shines in our hearts, giving the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). We see God face to face through Jesus Christ. “There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).
Do you know Jesus as Lord and Savior? If not, you will never “see” God. But if you know Him, you will see God in Heaven. You will see Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, and be with Him forever. May God touch your hearts with His Word and His Spirit. Amen and Amen!
