Objective Truth

John 2:13-22 - Why Do You Believe?

2011-06-16T17:28:00.000-07:00

As we open God's word tonight I want us to remember why John has written this gospel to us. We want to keep this theme as our overall back drop of what John is communicating to us. As we progress through this Gospel we are going to see this theme occur over and over again and tonight will be no different. Let us turn in our Bibles to remember what this central theme is:

Please open your Bibles to John 20:30-31.

30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;

31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

So that we may believe that Jesus Christ is God and we may have life only through Him because there is no other way then through Him.

But why do we believe in Jesus Christ? Have you ever really thought about it, what is it about Jesus that made us believe in Him? Is there good evidence in what He says and what He has done? Do I believe because my parents made me go to church, do I believe because I think it is better than other religions? Why do we believe in Jesus, instead of Muhammad, Buda, Joseph Smith or any other religious leader? Are they all valid choices, just different ways to get to God?

What authority does Jesus have that I should believe anything He says? Why should I put my faith and trust in Him alone over any of those other religious leaders?

The last few weeks we have seen men who dropped everything in their lives to follow after Him. We saw Jesus calling each of His disciples and each of them responding in different ways. Some of them needed a little more convincing than others but Christ sought after each of them and they believed.

And last week we saw Jesus giving His very first sign that He is who He says He is, and that was at the wedding in Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine. He demonstrated to His disciples that He is God and He has super natural power. John 2:11 tells us why He turned water into wine, it was to demonstrate His glory, that He is the true Messiah and the result was this, His disciples would believe in Him. This is it God demonstrates His glory and our faith is confirmed by what He has done. If Jesus only said He was the Messiah but His life didn't demonstrate it His followers probably would have fallen away. But as we see through His miracles His disciples are convinced and they believe.

We don't get to see these exact same miracles that Jesus performed but we get to read about them and we get to see other miracles that are just as amazing. All we have to do is look at our own lives and see the miracle that Jesus has done in our hearts. [Sarah Ortel, witness on Facebook]

Lets open our Bibles and turn to John 2:13 and read to verse 2:22.

John 2:13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

John 2:14 And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.

John 2:15 And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables;

John 2:16 and to those who were selling the doves He said, "Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a place of business."

John 2:17 His disciples remembered that it was written, "ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME."

John 2:18 The Jews then said to Him, "What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?"

John 2:19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

John 2:20 The Jews then said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"

John 2:21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body.

John 2:22 So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

In Verse 2:13 we see Jesus heading up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. The Passover was celebration in remembrance of the Jews being freed by their bondage of slavery to the Egyptians. When the Jews were in bondage to Egypt God told them to sacrifice a lamb and place the blood on the door frame of their homes and when the Lord came to strike down the first born of every house it would pass by those who had the lambs blood on their door frames. This was the final plague/judgement on the Egyptians. After Pharaoh's son died he released the Jews from their bondage. Every year the Jews would celebrate their freedom by making a sacrifice at the temple and have a great feast to acknowledge how God had freed them from the slavery of the Egyptians by the blood of lambs.

Here is the irony of this situation.

And who is going up to Jerusalem to celebrate this feast, as we have learned Jesus is THE Lamb of God who is going to take away the sins of the world. Here we have the final sacrifice, Jesus Christ Himself going to the city to celebrate the Passover. The Passover is just a mere shadow of the things to come. We have Jesus who is going to free people from the bondage of their sins. Just like the Jews in Egypt were in bondage. We have the advantage of looking back through corridor of time and know that Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice. He is the Lamb who is going to shed His blood for all those who believe.

As Jesus makes His way to the temple what does He find? Does he find people preparing for this feast? Are they giving worship and reverence to God for what He did for them in the past? Unfortunately not, what did he find but them doing big business. He found a place of business not a place of worship and giving God glory. The house of the Lord was being abused by its leaders and Jesus is going to address this issue. There were no God honoring acts of worship going on but what is happening...?

Verse 2:14 tells us

John 2:14 And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.

Well why would this anger Jesus? Jews had to travel great distances to get to the temple and it was impractical for most to travel with their animal sacrifices or maybe they were people who dwelt in the city who didn't raise animals. They needed to buy their sacrifices which would be fine but we get to the root of the problem. People were selling animals at exuberant prices. Have you ever been anywhere when you have no choice but if you want a bottle of water that should cost a buck and they are charging five for it. You know you are being ripped off you just have no choice in the matter.

Then there were the money changers, every Jewish male over the age of 20 had to pay their annual temple tax. The temple would only take Jewish or Tyrian coins. So foreigners would bring their currency and the money changers would charge them as much as a 12.5 % fee so people could make their annual temple tax payment.

Those in charge of the temple where ripping the people off. These are the men who are holly above reproach, who are to be representatives of God and they were taking advantage of the people. Jesus was angered and it a was righteous anger.

How does Jesus respond? It is so different than how we perceive Jesus in the New Testament. Isn't Jesus full of love and forgiveness? I say yes of course. But isn't He the just Judge as well. Yes of course and we see this righteous Judge bring judgement to the people of the temple. I think of all the images that have been painted of Jesus and it seems most the time they show Him as this frail kind of wimpy guy. But I don't think Jesus looked that way at all. I mean He was a carpenter by trade, I think that He was strong and probably had calluses on His hands and He was not meek or wimpy but strong and bold. So what did He do? Look at verse 2:15

John 2:15 And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables;

John 2:16 and to those who were selling the doves He said, "Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a place of business."

He clears the temple of unrighteousness and we have two groups of people who are watching all this go on. Let's talk about the first groups response. Watching in amazement are the new followers of Christ, His disciples. They saw His passion and his righteous indignation of God's Holy Temple being used as a market instead of place of worship. Here in verse 2:17 His disciples remembered that it was written, "ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME."

This is a direct quote from Psalms 69 which is full of messianic prophecy about Jesus. Jesus was concerned for God's house and wanted no unholy activities to be taking place in it. He wanted it cleansed of all unrighteousness. The disciples were able to connect with what they saw with what was written about the coming Messiah. They see the connection they are being further convinced this is the Messiah, we believe!

The second group responds with a challenge. I can just hear the contempt in their voices for Him. The second group are the religious leaders, those who were overseeing the temple activities. Verse 2:18 tells how they respond. "who do you think you are?" John 2:18 The Jews then said to Him, "What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?"

What is interesting to note here is that the Jews didn't have Him arrested immediately but they are looking for a sign from Him, maybe they saw the authority of what He was doing and they were wondering who on earth this guy is.

Jesus responds with what must have seemed like a crazy response. NO one in that temple either the Jewish leaders or His disciples understood his enigmatic response.

He declares destroy this temple and in 3 days I will raise it up!

What a response. It confounded the Jews it. It was a response to veil His statement of truth to unbelievers. It is the same way Jesus communicated truth in the parables He taught. The statement wasn't for the Jewish unbelievers but it was for His disciples and us as well. How glorious we get to understand this truth that they never understood. How did they respond?

John 2:20 The Jews then said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"

Woosh that went right over their heads. They have absolutely no idea what He was saying nor why. Even years later after Jesus was crucified and raised 3 days later they completely missed the point of Jesus' statement. It went right over their heads.

John 2:21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body.

No longer was anyone going to need this physical temple to perform animal sacrifices. Among them was the one who was the perfect sacrifice who would take away the sins of the world, Jesus Christ. This was a prophetic message that Jesus proclaimed His death and sacrifice were going to take place and in 3 days of His death He would be raised again. He promised and He fulfilled.

This was the sign that He promised.

John 2:22 So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

Two groups were given a sign. One group never even saw it. The other group recognized the sign.

They believed and in Him they found eternal life.

John 1:1-5 Unveiling Jesus Christ

2011-04-07T11:52:00.000-07:00

Well this morning I want to start things off a little different then we normally do. I want us to take some time right now and brainstorm and write down a list of items that we cannot control. What are the things in this world or things in our life that we cannot control?

Diseases
Natural Disasters
Death
Life
Results of my witness encounters
Health
My Genes
War
Famine
Weather
Evil People
Persecution
If my boss likes me
Plane Crashes
Nuclear Disasters
Terrorist
False Accusations
Racism
Hatred
People making fun of another person

Here we have this huge list of things we say we don’t have control over, things that are out of our hand, and things that we cannot change. But there is one who is able to control these things. There is one who has such amazing power that he can even use these things for good. There is One who never changes and we can always trust. The Gospel of John presents us with Jesus, the Man, who is God. This is the God who was and is and is to come. He is living today, and able to bring us new life as well as to exercise His own control over those things that are beyond us. There is nothing that surprises Him there is nothing that He cannot overcome. He is God. Jesus Christ is the God of all. This is who John is introducing us too, the God who is in control, the God who is Light, the God who gives Life. Do you believe this is true?

Many years ago the Apostle John took up his pen to write to us about Jesus Christ and he wrote the things he saw, the things he witnessed and the things he knew as truth. And when the Apostle John was coming to a close in his letter he wrote the following to us:

John 20:30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
John 20:31 but these have been written (Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit I write these things to you) (For what purpose?) so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. John wrote this Gospel so we may have life in Jesus Christ.

John’s written Gospel is unique from the other 3 synoptic Gospels that were written to specific audiences in Jesus’ time. Matthew was written to the Jews and he wanted them to see Jesus as the King, behold our King. Mark was written to the Romans and he wanted them to see Jesus as the willing Servant, behold the suffering Servant. This is why Mark’s Gospel contains no genealogy because no servant had a genealogy that mattered. Luke was written to the Greeks and he wanted them to see the humanity of Christ, behold the man. Finally, John’s Gospel was written as a universal Gospel to present the deity of Christ, behold your God. John’s purpose is to unveil the Man, Jesus Christ, and to reveal Him as God! He is not half man and half God but He is fully man and fully God. He is the light unto this world and He is the author of life, not just physical life, as we will learn but that of spiritual life as well.

John unveils that Jesus Christ is God.

Like any great author, John is going to introduce us to the main protagonist of his book. However, this is not a book of fiction this is not some make believe story but this is the account of the God Man, Jesus Christ!

John is going to unveil one incredible fact about Jesus Christ. It is a simple truth that all of us have heard, Jesus Christ is God, all of us know this fact but the real question is do all of us believe? Does my life really demonstrate that I believe Jesus Christ is God? (Go BACK to the Whiteboard Do I believe God is in control of) Have I put my faith in trust into this God Man? Or are you like me and you question whether you believe, am I really sold out for Jesus Christ?

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:2 He was in the beginning with God.
John 1:3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
John 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
John 1:5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John begins his Gospel so different than Matthew or Luke who introduce us to the genealogy of Jesus. But John begins his Gospel unveiling Jesus Christ as God, the everlasting eternal God and He explains that he has always existed. In verse 1 we see Jesus called the Word and have you ever thought to yourself why does John call Jesus the Word. He is the only author who uses this term for Jesus.

Well there is a good reason and it has a two-fold meaning. First to the Greeks the term “Word” referred to the rational principle that supervised or governed the universe. The idea to them that there was some sort super power that controlled all things and they would philosophize that this being had a mind, had reason and had power.

To the Jew the term “Word” was a reference to God. We see this in the very beginning of Genesis that God created the universe by His Word, He spoke everything we see into existence by His Word. We see His power, His will, His mind directed towards men through His Word. John was communicating to his contemporaries that Jesus Christ is in control of everything and He is God. It is brilliant!

In the beginning was the Word and John is telling the Greeks you know that power you talk about, that thing that controls the universe, it is Jesus Christ and He is God. And to the Jews John is telling them you have been looking for this Word, the Messiah, and here He is Jesus Christ, He is God.

John continues in verse 1… that Jesus was with God in the beginning. They have eternally coexisted with one another for all of eternity. There was never a time when Jesus Christ did not exist. The Father, the Son and the Spirit have always existed together for all of eternity. There was no beginning for them but there was a beginning for us and they existed before that beginning.

We call this the doctrine of the Trinity, 3 distinct persons who make up the Godhead. I know trying to wrap our head around that fact can be really difficult and we are not going to dive into this doctrine but here is a perfect place were we see the distinct personhood of the Father and the Son.

John has told us that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and he concludes in verse 1 that the Word was God. They are one in the same. They are different persons but they makeup the One True and eternal God. The Word is literally God; Jesus Christ is God in body form. He is the perfect revelation of God. Jesus tells us Himself; if you have seen Me you have seen the Father, I and the Father are one.

Then in the 2nd verse, John reiterates so simply what he has already told us. He wants to make sure we understand this really incredible fact in such simplistic terms. Jesus Christ was in the beginning with God.

John unveils Jesus Christ is God. Do you believe?

He continues in Verse 3
John 1:3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

John tells us all things came into existence through Jesus and nothing apart from Him came into being. Everything we see the entire creation around us, even the things we don’t see like, love, gravity, thoughts, and feelings were all created by Jesus Christ, apart from Him nothing came into being.

Jesus Christ is the uncreated, who created all things. We know there is a God because all I have to do is walk outside and see creation around me. There is no denying this simple fact because God says His creative power demonstrates His existence. However, many people have denied God’s existence.

Listen to what Paul writes in Romans 1 about the creation and no man has excuse to deny John1:3.

Rom. 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

Rom. 1:21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Rom. 1:22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,

I was listening to a Podcast the other day by Greg Koukle, a Christian apologist, and he was having a discussion with a Biochemist Dr. Fuz Rana who has written a new book Creating Life in the Lab. And essentially Fuz Rana said that within a few years man would create life in a test tube. When you hear man has created a brand new life form does that create a problem for us? Is that going to shake the core of your faith? When you read in the newspaper one day and across the headline it says man creates life, there is NO God. Does everything we believe in crumble? Has man created something from nothing? We tell our kids God has made everything and my son looks over at a car and says He didn’t create that did He? And I tell him He did, not directly but He created our minds and provided the raw materials for it so in essence He did. But what about man creating a new species of bacteria, does that disprove a creator?

Absolutely not all it does is confirm what John is telling us in this gospel.

John unveils Jesus Christ is God. He is creator of all! Do you believe?

How does man creating a living organism demonstrate there is a creator? Because these men who have been working on this project for 12 years plus PROVE that you can only create life with intelligence. Life did not happen randomly like an evolutionists claim but to create life it takes a DESIGNER! These men have spent hundreds of thousands of hours to create the basic cell structure it takes very specific ways of aligning the DNA, proteins and molecules to create the basic structure. Its like the fictional challenge the Scientist make to God. We can make life just like you. They take a bucket of dirt and gather their materials to make life and God says what a second you don’t get to start with dirt you need to start like I did with nothing!

John unveils Jesus Christ is God! Do you believe?

And we come to verses 4 and 5 let me read them again to you, because it is so rich.

John 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

John 1:5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

These two verses really articulate John’s entire message in his Gospel. Jesus Christ is life, and if we were to look up the Greek word here we would see that John is talking about spiritual life, He is telling us God is self-existing He is the Life, there is no life without Him neither physical nor spiritual. It is through His life that we may obtain spiritual life, that we can spend an eternity giving glory to our God.

The life was the Light of Men, here we see that Jesus Christ and His Gospel message is the truth and knowledge for all mankind. It is a common metaphor that John uses to demonstrate the truth and knowledge of God. This is why God came down to earth to give us the knowledge and truth of who He is.

This Light, Jesus, shines in the darkness. The God of everything was willing to enter His creation and continues to be actively involved in demonstrating His truth and His Holiness to this dark world, and the darkness did not comprehend it. Or a better translation would be and the darkness did not overcome it. Jesus Christ has conquered this dark world He has shed Light for all men to see, for all men to comprehend it, for all men to believe in Him.

Jesus brings light into this dark world; He brings His Truth and His Life. We go back to our whiteboard and we see these things that we have no control over. We see tragedy, we see despair, we see evil people; we see the darkness of this world. But there is a light, there is truth, there is someone who is Holy, and He has come to give you life, what an amazing God we have who was willing to give us His Light and His Life and darkness can never overcome it.

John unveils Jesus Christ is God! Do you believe?

John knew He was God, John walked with Him, John saw His miracles, John saw Him crucified and John saw Him resurrected. John unveils Christ is God.

There is only one question left for you today. Do YOU believe this fact? Not in some theoretical knowledge but do you believe with everything you are, that Jesus Christ is God? How does this work out in your life? Are you willing to give up everything for Him? Are you willing to do anything and everything He asks of you? If He is God and we believe this fact and we place our trust in Christ then we will answer with a resounding YES! We are on a mission to discover this Truth through the book of John in the coming months!

See, we live in a world full of darkness, full of things we have no control over, but there is One who has come to show you the light, the truth, and to give you life, do you believe?

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
John 3:19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
John 3:20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
John 3:21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

John unveils Jesus Christ is God! Do you believe?

If you say yes does your life demonstrate that fact?

Are You Rooted? - Part 3

2010-02-18T16:04:00.000-08:00

Part 1 and Part 2

Welcome to Rooted! We have a special night planned and I am really excited to see God working in this room. He is changing hearts, He is changing lives, and He is changing you and me. Tonight we are going to glorify God and I hope to edify the body Christ. We are going to have communion tonight in remembrance of what Jesus did upon that cross. We are also going to give an opportunity for you to share with this body of believers your thankfulness for what Christ is doing in your lives. We have also a short video clip from Saving Private Ryan, all kinds of fun stuff to talk about and see tonight. I am overflowing with gratitude tonight and you will see why!

We have been learning what it means to walk in Jesus Christ the Lord. We have answered two questions in the last couple of weeks, the first is why, why do I want to walk in Him? I know you have this answer in your head, because He is Lord. He has given us life and has transferred us to His Son’s Kingdom. He died upon that cross to give us life. That is why we want to walk in Him.

And last week we talked about how. How do I walk in Him? First, at a given point in time I must become rooted in Him. It is when He becomes the Lord of our lives. We put our faith and trust in Him it is when we believe in His death and resurrection upon the cross. It is when we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that He is Lord.

Then we are built up in Him. This is a continuous process not a one-time event. We have our foundation established by being rooted in Jesus and then we are ready to be built up. We get built up in a two-fold process; first we need to understand what God wants from us. We go to scripture for all spiritual matters to know what He wants from us, then the second half of the process is that we must apply it to our lives. A head full of knowledge about God is useless unless we apply it.

We get rooted then built up in Him we then become established in our faith. It is the promise of God that He establishes us for all of eternity.

Do you know why we are here tonight? For one reason to give Him glory. He deserves all glory. I hope tonight we get to glorify Him and praise His name in all we do.

Please open your Bibles to Colossians 2:6-7 and lets take one last look out our passage. Tonight we are going to be focusing on the last 3 words of this passage. It is a result of everything that we have learned in the last two weeks. Let’s read.

Col. 2:6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
Col. 2:7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

Overflowing with thankfulness. That is the outcome of all that we have learned. It is our hearts filled with love for our Lord, our hearts are full appreciation for what He has done for each one of us. We should be walking in Him, overflowing with gratitude. If you are walking in him this is the attitude you will have. If you are not excited and overflowing with gratitude then you might want to check if you are really walking with Him. Now of course its not that we are bouncing off the walls every moment but when we think about Christ and what He has done I hope that overflowing thankfulness wells up in your heart. If it does not then you better check whether you are truly rooted in Him.

Tonight you are going to be given the opportunity to share what you are grateful for, what is overflowing in your heart? How has Christ changed your life and what are you thankful for? But before we get to that I want us to see a human example of what God has done for us.

I want to take a look at this video clip from Saving Private Ryan. And see what it looks like when man lays his life down for another man. In the movie Private Ryan was one of 4 brothers who went off to fight in WWII. His other 3 brothers ended up dying and the US government sent men out to look for him to bring him home back to his mother so the entire family was not lost. The ultimate cost was paid to save him. Please watch.

John 15:12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:14 “You are My friends if you do what I command you.
John 15:15 “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
John 15:16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
John 15:17 “This I command you, that you love one another.

There is no greater love than someone who lays his life down for a friend.

The video clip we just watched showed us the ultimate human sacrifice or as the bible says the ultimate picture of love, one man giving his life for another.

Can you believe the creator of all things has come down to this dark earth and laid down His life for you and me? He is the one person who lived a perfect life, He is the one person who was completely sinless, and He is the one person who did not deserve to die but He did. He was willing to die in our place. He was willing to pay our debt.

Are you walking in Him overflowing with gratitude?

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. When Jesus imputed His righteousness into us it is the day that we were rooted in Him. It was the day we were saved.

The Creator of the universe, Jesus Christ the Lord, who we have become rooted in, and now being built up in Him and established us in our faith, as we have been instructed should cause an out bursting of overflowing gratitude and thankfulness. This is what God has taught us through Paul’s teaching.

Are you overflowing with gratitude in your soul? Should we Walk in HIM or what? I kick myself and think about all the times I walk away from Him and instead of walking in Him I ignore Him or worse yet I turn my back on Him. Oh wretched man that I am who can save me from myself! Thank heavens Jesus can and does and will.

I think about that video clip and really how insufficient it really is, our God is a million times greater than what those men did for Private Ryan. Our God gave us life and He has saved us from an eternity of suffering. If you noticed in the video the Captain told him to earn it. Earn this gift of life we have given you. Our God tells us you can’t earn but I am going to give the gift of salvation to you anyways. I am going to take all the punishment you deserve, I am going to take your place on that cross and die for your debt. Is it not amazing?!!!

Walk in Him overflowing with gratitude. I pray that each one of you have done this:

Confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, that you will be saved;
Rom. 10:10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

If you say you have then….walk in Him, be rooted in Him, be built up in Him, be established in your faith in Him.

Are You Rooted? - Part 2

2010-02-11T15:53:00.000-08:00

Part 1 and Part 3

This ministry is for one person and one person alone. It is for Jesus Christ. We are here so we can glorify Him. We are going to glorify Him through our lives and that can look so different for each one of us. Some of us have the gift of playing an instrument or singing with your voices. As much as I want to have that gift God did not give it to me. Others have the ability to preach and teach, or you may have the gift of servitude, or maybe your gift is compassion for the elderly. I don’t know what your gift is but what I do know is all of you have a gift. We want to help you with your gift and encourage you to use. See we want to build up a body of believers who make an impact in this world. Everything we do inside these four walls is to equip you when you leave to be the church to the world. To be a light unto the world, to reflect Jesus to everyone who comes in contact with you to love those people who are lost. We want to be a community of believers who change this world so those who are not giving glory to God turn their lives over to Him and give Him glory. We want to build up His Church. We want to walk in Him.

Tonight we are going to look at how we walk in Him. Last week we answered the question why we should walk in Him. Do you remember why? Because He is Lord!!

He is the God of the universe, He is Creator God of all things and all things were created by Him and for Him.

We also know as believers in Christ he has transferred us from the domain of darkness to His Son’s kingdom. At one moment in time we were perishing forever and the very next moment we are transferred by God into His Sons kingdom.

How were we transferred? How does this happen do you remember Romans 10:9-10

Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
Romans 10:10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

It is by making Jesus Christ the Lord of our lives. When we confess Jesus as Lord and believe that He died for your sins and was raised from the dead you will be saved. He has conquered death. God has given us the greatest gift. He has laid down His life to save our lives. He has paid our debt upon that cross.

This is the ultimate reason why we want to walk in Him as we learned.

So our question we want to answer tonight is how do I walk in Him. What does it mean when Paul tells the Colossian people to walk in Christ Jesus the Lord.

How do I walk in Christ and what does that look like?

Well to answer that question we better take a look into our bibles for that answer. This is where we find all answers to any spiritual questions you may have.

Please open your Bibles to Colossians 2:6-7

Col. 2:6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
Col. 2:7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

This is such a fantastic passage to study. We are answering the question how should I walk in Him and Paul gives us 4 ways how and tonight we are going to cover the first three and the 4th is really a result of what He has done for us.

Here we see Paul writes having been firmly rooted, now being built up and established in your faith. What is really interesting is that each of these things we are to do has a perfect tense of the participle. The verb of each of these things goes from past, to present to future.

Having been Rooted this means at some point in time the eternal planting of salvation has taken place and we are to grow deep roots into Christ. Christ has become the source of our spiritual nourishment; we grow because our roots are planted deeply in Christ.
Now being built up in Christ, is the process of being more and more like Jesus Christ by continuous action in our present lives. We will keep growing and be built up in Christ. It is the things that we are doing now to build our lives upon Him.
Lastly, the results of being rooted and built up in Him cause believers to be established in their faith. It is an act of God working in our lives that establishes us in our faith for all of eternity. Once we have this faith God continues to establish it for us for all eternity. We have past, present and future events as we walk in Him.

Like a tree with deep roots in a rich soil believers have been firmly rooted in Christ. That eternal planting took place on the day of salvation. It is when Christ became the source of our spiritual nourishment and growth. It is the day we say Jesus Christ is Lord. It is the day we received Him and we bow our knees to His Lordship. It is the day we confessed with our mouth and believed in our hearts that He is who He says He is. It really is the day we were planted as believers and we grow deep in Him. For us to walk in Him we have to be saved. It all starts when we plant our roots in Christ. This is a one-time event in our lives. We get rooted once and we grow in Him. Once you are rooted in Him you can never be uprooted. Once we are saved we are always saved. You cannot lose your salvation you cannot be uprooted.

It reminds me of John Chapter 10
John 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;
John 10:28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
John 10:29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

But what happens if our roots are not deep in Christ but are really rooted in this world?

Let’s use the illustration of a tree. A big tree with lots of foliage and lets say this tree represents our life. And this tree has tons of branches representing all the good things in it. I have a great job, I have an awesome wife and kids, I just got a raise at work, we just got back from a Tahiti vacation, we just got a new 4000 square foot house over looking the ocean, you get the idea life seems swell. Yeah I go to church on Christmas and Easter. Yeah I walked down at a Harvest Crusade and said the sinner’s prayer but honestly everything else besides God is important in my life. The tree looks really good on the outside but it has no roots in Christ. Then one physical at the DR office and the next thing you know you are diagnosed with a brain tumor and it is all going to end very soon for you. All that has been important to you are the things of this world and the pleasures of the here and now. Want to know what your life is going to look like? [Slide 1] It has been uprooted. Not being rooted in Christ is going to leave you in a disastrous situation. Everything looks really good on the outside but you have no roots in what is important, Jesus Christ. The results have eternal consequences if you are not rooted in Christ.

What is the results if your roots are deep in Christ and you are walking with Christ as your Lord? Has anyone ever seen one of these? [Slide 2] It is a stump grinder.

I remember when my next-door neighbor had 4 fairly large trees all planted next to one another and he decided it was time to get rid of them. He chopped them down and cut up the branches but he was left with 4 stumps hence why he needed the stump grinder. Now let me tell you this is a piece of manly equipment. It has a motor, it makes a lot of noise, its got a throttle, and it takes a lot of effort to control it without killing yourself.

Anyways my neighbor let me try it out and we ground these stumps down to nothing. It was crazy it was like riding a motorcycle out of control. There were wood chips flying everywhere. His backyard was covered in wood chips. All that was left were 4 big holes where the stumps used to be.

I helped him clean up. We raked all the chips covered the holes and we laid brand new sod down on the ground. His backyard looked beautiful and these 4 trees were no more. But you know what happened about 3 weeks later? Lo and behold there were what seemed like a hundred new trees growing up through his brand new lawn. So we pealed back the lawn and started digging. You know what we found? Big giant roots and they were growing! We dug as many as we could and the pile of roots was huge. We laid the lawn back again and you know what happened in about 6 weeks? MORE TREES!!

These roots were deep! They just kept coming back. It is the same when we put our roots deep in Jesus Christ. No matter the situation if our roots are deep in Him life can throw us any curveball and things may look hopeless but that is not the case. We are rooted in Him and He will always sustain us in every situation that we face. We establish our roots deep in Him and our faith will be established to the end. It is His promise.

If we want to walk in Him we must first make Him Lord of our lives, we must be rooted in Him. You are getting the right nourishment your foundation is solid. You are ready to be built up.

Paul says so you have been rooted in Him now I want you to be built up in Him. We are to grow in Christ. Our roots are in the right spot now we need to be built up in Him. This is not a one-time event but this is our continued growth in Christ. Our continued walk in Him, to live for Him daily. How do I figure out what He wants, where do I go to get this information on how my Lord wants me to walk in him? How am I supposed to be built up? What should my life look like?

Have you ever really wanted to learn something that you have never done before? I think about Photography and the skills you need to take really great photos. Have you ever tried to use a camera with all manual controls? I know most today have auto settings but sometimes auto settings are not going to get the desired picture you want.

I remember wanting to learn how to take these great nighttime photos but every time I tried to take them they would come out blurry, to dark or just plain old ugly. I made a decision I wanted to learn how to take great nighttime photos, but I knew nothing about it. I knew I needed a new camera with manual controls so I went out and bought one and thought that was going to do it. I did my research and found a really nice camera but I still didn’t understand how to take great nighttime photos. They were still coming out blurry and dark. What was I missing? I was missing a manual on how to take nighttime photos. I needed to understand what it took to take great photos. There was a lot to understand about taking them. I found out I was still missing some essential equipment to take them. I needed a tripod to hold the camera still. You can’t take good photos without one. I had to understand shutter speeds, aperture size, ISO sensitivity. I had to understand how all these combinations worked to take good pictures. The book I used explained all these technical terms that I had no understanding of before. I could have kept guessing on how to use the camera but the results were going to come out the same, just bad. I had to go to the manual to figure it out.

It is the same with being built up in Christ. We don’t become a Christian then just know how to walk in Him. How are we built up in Him? We need to understand our manual. We need to study and read our bibles and apply those principals we learn into action. It is a two fold processes in being built up. First I have to understand what is required from me and second I need to apply those things to my life. It is how we are built up. Our Christian walk in Christ is a combination of many things in our life, it consist of worshiping God, growing in holiness, prayer, fellowship, obedience, understanding who Jesus is, all these things are like understanding how to take nighttime photos you just don’t get a camera and start shooting beautiful photos but you have to study, you have to practice taking pictures you have to know all the components of taking the pictures. And when we walk in Christ it is the same thing, there are many things that God wants from us and we learn these over time.

Have you ever seen a stalagmite? [Slide 3] Here is a picture of a massive stalagmite in the Carlsbad Caverns. Do you know how a stalagmite grows? It is just a little water dripping down to the ground that contains calcium carbonate and starts to build it up from the ground up. A drip of water built this massive stalagmite. It didn’t build itself over night but took just a little water over a long time to build it up. It is the same with our walk with Christ, you don’t become super Christian over night, you don’t become perfect the next day you become a Christian but over time as you dig into God’s word, and you pray, and you live a life of obedience you will be built up in Him just like this stalagmite was built with water over the years. It is on ongoing process that will continue till the day you die or the day Christ comes back for His own.

Those small decisions we make everyday help us be built up in Him. Am I going to watch that next episode of Lost or am I going to sit down and pray and read my bible. I am I going to use the gifts God has given me or am I going to play another video game? Am I going to spend my money all on me or am I going to give some to those in need? Am I going to watch something on the Internet that does not honor God or am I going to honor Him by turning my eyes from those things? Am I going to walk in Him or am I going to walk in me. Every time we live for Him or Walk in Him I am being built up in Christ.

Being firmly rooted in Christ and growing in Him results in believers being established in their faith.

Here we see that we are established in our faith this is the result of us rooted in Him and being built up in Him. Our faith becomes strengthened and we will not waver in our faith. We will not be tossed to and fro by every wave of doubt because we are established in Christ.

Our faith is strengthened when we are walking in Christ. You know when I lose faith or you know when those doubts creep into our minds? I know when I am at my weakest is when I am in sin. It is when I feel the furthest from Him and my faith can become very week.

It’s such a simple concept but why is it so hard for us to walk in Christ everyday being built up in Him strengthened in our faith.

Are You Rooted? - Part 1

2010-02-04T15:43:00.000-08:00

Part 2 and Part 3

We want to understand what does it mean to be rooted, who are we rooted in, what happens if I am not rooted.

But today we are going to see what God says about how we are to walk in Him. About being rooted in Him, Christ Jesus. We want to be rooted in Christ and nothing else. We want our roots deep in Him, because He is Lord. If you have your Bibles please turn to the book of Colossians the 2nd Chapter and we are going to look at 2 verses today. Colossians 2:6-7. Lets read.

Col. 2:6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
Col. 2:7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

Over the past several months I have probably read this passage over 100 times and as I have studied it and meditated on it and wrapped my self in God’s word it just gets deeper and deeper. I really feel like we could spend several weeks on this passage but don’t worry it is only going to be two weeks specifically on this passage. But let us discover God’s incredible truth in these two verses, it is awe-inspiring.

Before we dig into the scripture, I want to give a little context of what is going on during this time Paul writes this letter to the Colossians and what is his purpose for it. In Paul’s day you would be hard pressed to find an atheist who believed there were no god but almost all people had some sort of religious deity that they worshiped. It is not unlike today that the number of true atheist in our world is pretty small but most people claim they are spiritual and there is a god or gods. And this is exactly what Paul was addressing with the Church in Colossians. There were people in the Church who were teaching false doctrine about Jesus Christ, who He was and what He has done for us. They were mixing other religious ideas with the Gospel and essentially corrupting the Gospel of Christ.

So Paul wants to do two things in this letter and that is first to warn the believers of these false teachers. Second he wants to encourage the proper spiritual growth of the believers in Colossae or as Paul puts it he wants us deeply rooted in Christ and built up in Him and established in Him.

I want you to think about this question tonight.

Why does Paul tell the Colossians people to walk in Christ Jesus the Lord? And if Paul has told them to walk in Him why should we want to walk in Him? Why do we want to walk in Christ Jesus? Why should you want to walk in Christ? This letter was written a long time ago to people living in Colossae but as we know God’s truth is absolutely eternal. The Bible tells us the heavens and the earth will pass away but God’s word will last forever! This message is as applicable today as it was back then.

Let’s dig in and see what God’s eternal word is telling us tonight.

Paul tells us in the first verse therefore you have received Christ Jesus THE LORD, so walk in Him.

Why should the Colossians want to walk in Him? What makes walking in Christ so important? Why do we want to walk in Him? It is the same reason why all people should walk in Him.

You guys want to know the know the answer to that question? I will spill the beans up front. Here is the answer to that question. Lord, because He is the LORD. Did you hear that again? HE IS THE LORD! Oh the depths of that truth! That is why Paul encourages us to walk in Him. HE IS LORD.

Lets go back to our text and tell me what is the very first word in chapter 2 verse 6 it says therefore or it can be translated since. Since you have received Jesus Christ the Lord we need to walk in Him. That word therefore transitions all Paul has already told the Colossians the reason why we should walk in Him. For us to fully comprehend why Paul commands us to walk in Him we better go find out why? Lets see the reason Paul commands us to walk in Christ after receiving Him, to be rooted in Him.

Lets go back one chapter in Colossians and let’s hit a few highlights and see what Paul tells us about Christ.

Col. 1:13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
Col. 1:14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

We want to walk in Him because He has rescued us from the domain of darkness. Do you hear that, if you have received Christ Jesus He has rescued us from what? The domain of darkness, not only that but he has transferred us into His Son’s Kingdom.

At one moment of time we were here, in the domain of darkness and the next moment of time we are here in the Son’s Kingdom.

I remember that day. I remember the day I finally was rescued out of the domain of darkness and God carried me into the Son’s kingdom. It is the single greatest event that took place in my life. Someday I will share all the details how I came to a saving knowledge of Christ but let me tell you I was neck deep in the domain of darkness. I was a sinner who had broken every single one of God’s commandments. I was a liar, I was a thief, I was a fornicator, I was a disobedient son, I didn’t honor God, I used His name as a cuss word, I had many idols in my life. I had sinned against a perfect and Holy God. The domain of darkness was controlling me and I had absolutely no hope in my life, and you know what I was terrified to die. I believed I was either going to die and never exist again or I knew enough about the bible that I would suffer in Hell for all of eternity. Now knowing the Bible if I had died back then I would have spent an eternity in Hell.

But about 12 years ago I don’t remember the exact day but I remember the event like it was yesterday. God finally broke the domain of darkness in my life and carried me into His Son’s Kingdom. What He did that day was allow me to see myself a sinner against a Holy and perfect God. He allowed me to see who I really was and that is a sinner who needed saving. It is the day I bowed my knee to Him and He became Lord and in a very instant I was rescued from the domain of darkness and transferred me to the Son’s Kingdom. In simple terms it was the day I was rescued from Hell. If you have received Christ as Lord then you know exactly what I am talking about.

Why does Paul encourage the Colossians to walk in Christ? Why should we walk in Christ, because He has saved us from spending an eternity in Hell to spending an eternity with Christ in heaven? Christ has moved us from the domain of darkness into His Son’s Kingdom where He will reign forever and ever. Do you see why we should walk in Him believers? He is LORD.

Lets take a look at Verse 16 and see why we else we should walk in Him.

Col. 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him.

Jesus Christ has created all things, all things we can see and even those things we cannot see.

How many of you have seen Louie Giglio’s video on How Great is our God? If you have never seen it go to YouTube and check it out. It is an amazing video on how big our God is. It is so hard to wrap our mind around God but just for one example the universe we live in is a 146 million light years across and we are one of billions of Galaxies. Try to wrap your head around that one. He is a Big God. And he has created all the things we see.

I also think about all the things God created that we don’t see but they are there. Think about our consciousness that we know we exist, or how about love. I can’t see it, I can’t touch it, but I can feel it inside of me. That thing I feel when I look at one of my boys sleeping, or thinking about my wife and all that she means to me. Where did that feeling come from? If there is no God how did it come into existence? How did the idea of 2+2= 4 come from?

Here is the great problem for anyone who does not believe God created all things. Can anyone explain how this equation makes sense?

Nothing+Nothing=Everything?

NO there is a creator of all things and He has existed eternally and all things have been created through Him and for Him.

Here is God’s ultimate crown jewel to creation. It is you. He has given you life. He has planned you out before the foundations of the earth. He has given you the air you breath, the water you drink, the food you eat. When you sit down and ponder that this God of this enormous universe has created YOU. He has created you for a purpose and that is to receive Him and walk in Him, this glorifies Him. When we walk in Him we glorify Him. What an honor we have to honor the being who has created us.

Why does Paul encourage the Colossians to walk in Christ? Why should we walk in Christ, because He is the creator of all things? He has given you everything including life. He breathed life into you. Jesus Christ is creator God of all things. He is LORD.

The first chapter of Colossians tells us everything we need to know about Christ and that He is Lord and that is why we should walk in Him.

Do you know what word for Lord is in the original Greek language? It is the word Kurious. This is the word Paul uses since you have received Christ Jesus the Kurious. It is an interesting word that means Jesus Christ is the Master.

Sometimes we forget that Christ is really Lord. Sometimes we just think of Him as Savior, which He is but He cannot be your Savior if He is not the Lord of your life as well. They go hand in and are inseparable. It is a package deal when He becomes your Savior He has to also be the Lord of your life. And If He is the Lord of your life then He is your Savior too.

Paul does not tell the Colossians just except Jesus as Savior and do whatever you want. Paul tells them and us Since you have received Him walk in Him. The verb walk in Him in the Greek is peripateo and this is not a suggestion but it is a command Paul is giving us. Its not on option or a you should do this but it is I Paul since you have received Christ the Lord command you to Walk in Him.

Again why do we walk in Him, why do we live for Him why do we want to obey Him? Because He is Kurious, He is our Master.

He has given us life, He has created us He has saved us from the dominion of darkness, He is Master. We owe all to Him, I owe my life and my salvation to Him. Do you see how He is Master? It is hard for us to think of God as Master and that He commands us to walk in Him but this is what He wants from us.

We have a hard time because when we think of Master we think of a Master being over someone with an iron hand. Even calling Him Master could be hard for us because here in America we think about being free that no one is over me. I should be able to do what I want when I want it. But that is not the life God has called us to live.

But we need to understand He is the perfect Master.

It is hard to fathom a perfect master. Here on earth there are no perfect Masters. I think about those who are over me here. I look at my boss and he provides for me in many ways for my family and I but he is far from perfect. Or even what about my earthly father who I adore and love and respect. Has he been a perfect father to me? Has he been a perfect master to me? Of course not and maybe your father was never there for you, maybe he never loved you, maybe your father abandoned you, maybe your father was a lousy father and that is all you have known. But I stand her today to proclaim to you that our Father in Heaven is perfect. He is the perfect Master, the perfect Savior and the perfect LORD. He is everything perfect.

He loved us so much that He was willing to send His Son to die for you and me. He has given us life, He has created all things He has saved us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into His Son’s Kingdom. Therefore Christian ….Walk in Him.

There is one last word I want to look at in verse 6. It is the word received. It says since we have received Jesus walk in Him. This is just an amazing word in the original language it is paralambano. Here is what this word does not mean.

Jesus you sound like a pretty good guy. I like that you can save me from the domain of darkness. I am pretty hip on the idea that you created me. I guess I will let you into my life. Now that we have that settled you sit over here and I am going to do my thing. I am going to live my life the way I want, I got Jesus and my fire insurance.

But the word paralambano means I receive Jesus in an intimate relationship I am joining myself to Him because of who He is. It is to have a relationship with Him because He is Lord and I acknowledge Him to be such as he professes to be. I want to walk in Him in this deep committed relationship. He is my everything and I will do all that He asks of me. Why because He had done everything already, He has provided me with life, with salvation, He is the perfect LORD and He was willing to die to save all those who receive Him.

My question to you this evening is…are you walking in Him, are you in a deep relationship with Him? Have you received Him as Lord?

Christian If you are not walking with Him today WHY NOT? Has He not done enough for you? I encourage you to Walk In Him Today.

Power of Prayer - James 5:13-18

2009-10-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

Who here loves to study the bible? Who here likes to dig into the word and figure out what God is trying to communicate to us? Who here wants to know God’s Truth?

Well today we are going to be doing a bible study. We are going to dig a little deeper than what seems to be on the surface of our text today. I hope this is an exciting morning for us that we may get to learn some truths that you have never thought about before.

This is why we do what we do, first we want to learn about God’s truth and second our desire here at the Rock is for you to fall in love with God’s word and make it a priority in your life above everything else in your life. It is how we build our relationship with Christ our Lord. Sometimes it is going to take some work but the reward of our studies is so amazing. So we learn and then we apply what we learn to our lives and as James has taught us we become Doers of the word not just hearers. God blows my mind with His Word.

Here are a few questions for you.
What is the proper response when my boss at work treats me unfairly and causes suffering in my life? What is the proper response when I am struggling with spiritual weakness in my life? What is the proper response when it seems I just can’t stop that one sin I continue to struggle with in my life? It is prayer gentlemen it is getting on our knees and seeking after the Lord. We are to pray as individuals when we are suffering and going through hardships. We seek after the elders to pray for us when we are weary and worn out. We are to pray for one another when we are in sin.

You may believe your prayers are not effective but as we will learn today they are very effective and there is great power in our prayers.

Please open your Bibles to James 5 and let’s read from verse 13-18 and see what God has to say about prayer.

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.
14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;
15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.
18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

[Pray]

As we are winding up the book of James it is good to remember the theme of James is about living out ones faith. And this theme continues as we are coming to a close in James. We see the word pray, prayer and prayed used 7 times in these 6 verses. Part of living out our faith is trusting in the power of prayer. By faith we believe God listens to our petitions. It is why we pray because with trust that God will answer our prayers.

We come and pray every Wednesday morning because we believe God answers our prayers. James is encouraging us to pray, to pray in faith and God will answer our prayers. Maybe the answer is not what you expect but God will answer with your very best interest.

Well todays passage has a challenge in it. There are many biblical scholars who believe James is encouraging us to pray for sick believers to be healed. That is people who are physically sick. Other biblical scholars believe it can only mean a spiritual healing. They believe James is encouraging believers to pray for spiritual restoration. It could mean one or it could mean the other or maybe it could be both? It is definitely a possibility.

We even see Jesus in His ministry here on earth physically healing individuals all across Jerusalem. Everywhere He went we see people being physically healed of their infirmities. Can Jesus heal us physically even today? Of course we believe that, and it doesn’t even have to be a miraculous healing but He has provided knowledge to Dr. to heal us or medicines to heal us. We believe Jesus can heal the physically sick 2000 years ago and all through the centuries up to this very day.

But here is my question to you. Do you think the focus of Jesus’ ministry is more concerned about the physical healing of individuals or is His primary focus on spiritual healing. Did He come down to earth to physically heal us or did He come down to spiritually heal me of my biggest problem here on earth. Can anyone tell me what is the biggest problem I have? Bob Thompson would say it is my hair, Anthony Terrones would say it is my singing abilities, My wife would say my loud mouth. But what does God say my biggest problem is? It is my sin. This is the sickness I have, this is my disease. The Psalmist even tells me I was even born with it. This is the disease that can kill my body and soul. Jesus came to save me and you from the sickness called sin.

So why did Jesus physically heal people? His primary purpose was to prove that He could also heal them spiritually. We see the perfect example of this in Matthew chapter 9 where the paralytic is healed. Do you remember the story? The paralytic is brought by his friends, and Jesus sees them and Jesus seeing their FAITH tells the paralytic your sins are forgiven and Jesus turns and walks away? No He doesn’t He is going to prove to all the people who were watching that He does have the power to forgive people of their sins or as I said earlier to heal us of our greatest sickness which is sin. Jesus is surrounded by the Jewish scribes and Jesus knows the heart of the men who are watching this whole thing and says why are you thinking evil in your hearts. Which is easier to forgive this mans sins or to say get up and walk. He turns to the paralytic and says get up, pick up your bed and go home. Jesus first healed this man spiritually by what means? Through his faith. He didn’t need to heal him physically except for a single reason. To prove that He can also heal him spiritually. And this is what I believe James is telling us today.

Here is the big idea. Why does James tell us to pray? Because we all need prayer for our spiritual healing. This is James primary focus in verse 13-20. This is what he is encouraging us to do. If we are in spiritual suffering, then pray, if you are spiritually weak, then pray, if you are in sin then pray.

First and foremost God wants us spiritually well that is why James is exhorting us to pray. Maybe God in his graciousness will physically heal us to demonstrate who He is but then again maybe that is not His will to physically heal us but to only spiritually heal us.

Lets take a really quick refresh in what we have learned from Bill Morris in the last two weeks. In James 5:1-6 we see James warning the rich how they are condemned because they have misused their riches and have taken advantage of the laborers. Then in verse 7-11 God is asking for the bretheren who have been taken advantage of to be patient. Be patient, God is going to set everything right when He comes back and He is returning soon to set all things right. James goes on to exhort them to not to complain against one another so you are not judged like the rich with the wrong heart. But instead be willing to suffer be willing to endure like the prophets of old. He tells them you know what happened to Job. He endured and we saw the outcome of the Lord’s dealings with him, the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful. The Lord will work all things out in the end.

And now we finally come to our passage today in verse 13. James asks a question. Are any of you suffering. Are any of you suffering because there is hardship in your life? Are you enduring afflictions against you? James tells us the solution to the suffering caused by evil treatment is seeking God’s comfort through prayer. It is prayer that comforts us in our time of need. It is when we need God the most. Does James tells us we Should pray? NO he tells us we MUST pray!

But what if everything is going great? If you have a cheerful heart you are not suffering with anything then do what as well. Sing praise to God. Which is just another form of prayer to God. Whether you are suffering or everything is going great we need to be praying or praising God. We are to communicate with our creator in the times of struggle and in the times of great joy. We MUST pray.

Now we come to verse 14 and we need to dig a little deeper to understand this scripture in its proper context of what James is trying to communicate to us. Remember where we are in this passage, he has just told us about the rich who are persecuting us, he warns us not to complain against our brothers, he exhorts us to be truthful, he is warning us not to be in sin, not to be in judgement, he tells us we may have to endure like Job did.

He then asks us a question - Is anyone among you sick?

This is kind of strange question why does seem he is shifting gears here. Lets dig.
If we look up sick here in the Greek it is the word astheneo which means to be weak in this context. James is asking are you weak in what you are dealing with, are you struggling with the persecutions that are coming against you? Are you spiritual defeated? Then what MUST we do? Another commandment.

Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him,

Have the spiritual leaders pray for your weakness in what you are dealing with whether it is persecution against you or your own struggling spiritual condition. It says to have them come and pray and anoint you with oil. This is not some sort of ceremonial anointing but it is actually meaning to rub with oil. Why did people rub oil on someone, it was how they would heal wounds in James day. Do your remember the parable of the good samaritan? He rubbed oil on the mans wounds and it is the same language being used here. James is telling us, if we are struggling then call upon the Elders of the church to come and support you, to encourage you, comfort you. Metaphorically the elders are anointing the weak and defeated with oil to encourage them, and to strengthen them.

The blessed result of the comfort and ministry of intercessory prayer of the elders is revealed in Verse 15.

and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick

Again we need to look at two words in their original language to understand what James is saying. First, the word sick here is the Greek word kamno which is only used in one other location in the New Testament and that is in Hebrews 12:3 and refers to those those who are weary spiritually. No where in the New Testament does this mean someone who is physically sick. But a person who is enduring the hardships and hostility of those who come against a believer. The second word we need to look at is restore which is sozo and communicates the idea restoration and commonly is translated as save. Here is the idea of this passage, the elders’ prayers will deliver weak, defeated believers from their spiritual weakness and restore them to spiritual wholeness. We know this power does not come from the elders but it is the power of God who restores an individual.

James continues to tell us if the spiritually weak believer has committed sins, they will be forgiven him, this tells us as well that James is probably not speaking about physical healing here because we know all sickness is not due to someones sin. Now God could allow someone to become sick due to their sins however do you remember the blind man who was healed by Jesus. Before Jesus healed him his disciples asked Jesus was it his sin or his parents sin that caused him to be blind? Jesus responded and said neither but this man was born blind to glorify God. We know that our sins can only be forgiven when we as individuals pray to God for forgiveness. An elder cannot pray for me, and my sins are forgiven. So the idea here is that the elders can encourage us to confess, to help us discern our sins and join their prayers for forgiveness of our sins. I think about the individuals even in this room who have been prayed over by us and the elders of this church. (Daniel asked permission) 1 John 1:9 Tells us that If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When we pray He is faithful to forgiveness of our sins and restores us to our creator. (He restored Daniel)

Now we come to verse 16 and we see a transition take place with word therefore.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.

James turns his thoughts from those who are spiritually defeated and need of assistance from the elders to the rest of us. He exhorts us to confess our sins to one another and to pray for one another for healing. Obviously we are to first confess them to God first then to our friends. Again we want to look at the greek word for healed. We pray for each other for what kind of healing? The word healed in the Greek is iaomai. This is more than just a physical healing but is related to a supernatural event, a spiritual healing. Peter uses this term in 1 Peter 2:24 describing the healing from sin Christ purchased for believers on the cross. It is all about restoration to God, to turn from our sins and turn to God. Again this is not a suggestion but a command for us to do.

James is encouraging us to confess our sins so our secret sins don’t remain private because they can drag us down spiritually. We know the consequences of unrepented sin. They can be devastating in our lives. God knows your sin, He wants us to turn from them and one of the best way is to confess them with your brothers and have them pray for you. If one of my brothers is struggling with a sin I can help hold him accountable to it. I am able to pray for him and encourage him with his walk with Christ. It is about spiritual restoration.

And then in the last part of verse 15 through 18 James drives the point home with his example of Elijah.

17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.
18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

It is so important for us to understand why James choose Elijah. here as an example of righteous man who prayed and it did not rain for 3.5 years. What is James wanting us to know about this prayer by Elijah. These are the things in scripture that amaze me. God is so, so consistent. If James was focused on physical healing through prayer in all these previous passages it would be a very strange illustration that James used as proof for physical healing. So why does he use Elijah.

Well the back drop is that Ahab was the king of Israel and he was one of the most evil kings that Israel ever had. God warned the people of Israel if they turned from God to serve other gods he would cause a drought. We see from our passage in James that Elijah had prayed for this drought and God answered it. What god had the israelites and Ahab turn to back then? It was the god of baal, he was the god of the rains and fertility. Guess what? He was an impotent god. And our God proved that by not sending rain to the israelites for 3.5 years.

Elijah prayed this prayer for what reason? So they israelites would turn from Baal to the True and Living God. That they would turn from their sins and turn back to God. God wanted spiritual healing for the nation of Israel. He wanted restoration for His people to turn back to Him from the god of baal.

Elijah was a righteous man and his prayers were very effective. But guess what he just a normal one of us. James tells us that he had a nature like ours. If Elijah can pray and have the rains stopped for 3 years do you think our prayers of turning from sin can be accomplished. Do you think our prayers of spiritual restoration will be heard by God? Well he does listen because after 3.5 years Elijah prayed for rain to return and the dry parched land was restored.

If you are struggling and suffering spiritually, pray, if you are so weak that you need the help of the elders then call them, to pray, if you are in sin pray that God would help you overcome it. He wants to restore you and you have the key that will unlock the door for you. PRAYER.

Complete in Christ - Colossians 2:8-15

2009-10-28T13:31:00.000-07:00

Can anyone make sense of these philosophies? Why should I believe any of them? Do they have the authority to validate their claims. Should I be persuaded by these men and women to believe what they say? Should I be taken captive by their world views?

Today we have so many different religions and people telling us who is Jesus...

The Mormons tell us Christ is satan’s brother, Muhammad says Christ is a great prophet, Jehova Witness’ tell us Jesus is really the Arch Angel Michael, Dan Brown the Author of the Divinci Code says Jesus was just a man who was married and had children, Oprah Winfrey tells us Christ is not the only way to God but there are many ways to God, Ekhart Tolle the spiritual guru tells us Christ came to show us the way to Christ consciences.

It goes on and on and on. Who is right? Who do I believe? Why should I believe one over the other? Should I believe any of them at all? Are you persuaded by these claims that men and women of the world make? I am here to proclaim the Truth to you tonight. I am telling you by the authority of Gods Word that each of these peoples claim come directly from the liar of liars. These are demonic beliefs and ideas and their power comes from satan. We are not to be persuaded by these empty deceptions by these traditions of men. They are false and untrue.

Do you know 2000 years ago there were people teaching the same type of falsehoods about Christ? Do you know that there were teachers who used the name of Jesus but mixed in their own ideas about Him. People were perverting the true nature of Jesus and were trying to take believers captive with these deceptions. But there was a man, a man, who was taught by God himself, who God has used to reveal who Jesus truly is. This man has written a letter from God to us. This man is Paul and just like 2000 years ago there were people in his day and age who were twisting the truth. It is the same as today. The power of darkness continually tries to cause people to stumble in their faith. The power of darkness is trying to pervert the true identity of Christ. The power of darkness is trying to twist the completed work of Christ on the cross. The power of darkness is telling us Jesus is not God.

So lets open our Bibles tonight and see how Paul warns the Colossians against the empty and deceitful teachings of men. Paul is going to give an answer why the Colossian believers should not be persuaded through philosophies, empty deceptions and traditions of men rather than according to Christ. Please open your Bibles to Colossians 2:8-15.

Believer, I want you to take one thing home tonight, it is this: in Him, Jesus Christ you have been made fully complete. You don’t need anything else but Him. In Him You Are Complete!

Colossians 2:8-15 (NASB95)
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.
9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;
11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;
12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

Here we have Paul in verse 8 telling the Colossians do not let the elementary principles of the world take you captive. Do not let these philosophies and empty deceptions persuade you. What are these philosophies Paul is speaking about? Well the word philosophy comes from two greek words phileo and sophia which means the love of wisdom. Men throughout all time have been using their own wisdom to come up with answers to the big questions in life. Why am I here, what is my purpose in life, where am i going when I die, where did all this stuff come from, who is God and so on.

Paul is telling us, their is wisdom from the world to answer these questions or there is wisdom from God. There is philosophies of the world or there is Christ. There are men who want to deceive us into believing all kinds of crazy worldly ideas. These ideas originate from satan himself. He twists and contorts the truth in ways to deceive men. He deceives them for a single reason to destroy their souls. He is the great deceiver who roams on the earth looking for those who he can destroy.

You want to know how satan uses these world philosophies to capture people? His strategy has been the same since the day he was thrown out of heaven. It is the same lie he has been telling over the centuries. It is how Eve was deceived in the Garden by him. He mixes truth with deception.

You want to know one of the big deception he has used over the centuries? What is the one thing that all world religions and cults have in common? They deny who Jesus Christ is. They deny His deity. They deny Jesus is God. He doesn’t tell them Jesus does not exist but he denies the true nature of Christ. Here is where all religions divert from the truth.

This is exactly what Paul is addressing to the Colossians, there are men who are teaching a different Jesus. They are not denying Jesus they are just twisting the truth of who Jesus is.

But who does Paul say Jesus is? What claim does Paul make about Jesus? Please lets read verse 9 again from Colossians. Paul writes. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in the bodily form, For in Christ all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in his human body.

This is one of the strongest statements in the Bible that is used for the Deity of Christ. Paul is making a very clear claim that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. The word Deity is theotetos and it means Christ essence as God. The full deity of Christ is contained in bodily form. He dwells, God dwells in the body of Christ forever. He does not go and come but He continues. We are going to see Him again in his fully glorified body.

You think Jesus is just a good person, you think Jesus is prophet, you think Jesus, is a good teacher, you think anything other than He is God then you are wrong. He is the God man. He is 100% God and He is 100% man. How this works is one of those mysteries about God and what an awesome fact it is. It is comforting to know that God is greater than what I can understand about Him.

We don’t have some new age zealot telling us we can find god by creating thoughts in our mind, we don’t have some spiritual guru who tells us we can find god in ourselves, but we have God Himself who came down to earth in bodily form to teach men about who He is and what He has done for us.

Don’t be persuaded by these false claims about Jesus. Jesus is God and In Him You Are Complete!

This is the first argument that Paul makes against the false teachings of his day. He is telling the Colossians and us as well that Christ is, was, and will ever be God. You don’t need the philosophies of men you just need Christ. He is God. It is the plain and simple fact that Jesus Christ is God.

You may be thinking in your mind. I get it. I get that Paul and the Bible clearly state that Jesus Christ is God. But why should I even believe Paul? Why should I take his opinion over lets say a Mormon who claims Jesus is just a man who earned His way to godhood?

I believe that is a great question to ask. I want to know the truth I don’t want just someone’s opinion about who Jesus is, I want to know that I am not mistaken about this fact. Everything is riding on this question, our eternity rests on the claim that Jesus is God.

So why should I believe Paul about His claim?

Of course we have the Bible which states it, we have all the miracles that Christ did, we have the greatest miracle His resurrection but why should I believe Paul. What does he bring to the table that helps us understand his claim is truth. Why should I be convinced what he says is true rather than lets say Oprah Winfrey?

What are the facts that we know about Paul. First before Paul became a Christian he was a Pharisee. He was a zealot for the law. His whole life was wrapped around Judaism and the keeping of the law. He was such a zealot that when he heard about Christians who said they no longer needed the Law or Judiasm he was infuriated. So what did he do? He became one of the chief persecutors of the Christians. We see him in Acts at the stoning of Steven. He gave approval of the very first martyr for Christ when they stoned Steven. He was a killer of Christians. He hated the Christians and wanted to destroy christianity.

But something happened to Paul. What happened on the Damascus road is an incredible event. We know after this experience he was a changed man. No longer a zealot for Judaism, but he became a zealot for Christ. What caused this instantaneous change of heart? It had to be something incredible.

Have you heard the story of Carrie Lightner? It was just another beautiful day in Fair Oaks CA. It was early afternoon and Cari dressed in her orange and white softball uniform started a short walk to the neighborhood church. Cari and her friend were in fits of laughter as they made their way down the sidewalk anticipating an afternoon of fun. But Cari never made it the church carnival and it forever changed a family and a nation. On that quiet suburb street Cari and her friend were crossing the street to the carnival when a 47 year old man who had been on a 3 day drinking binge climbed into his car drunk. Barreling down the residential street the drunk driver swerved and hit Cari throwing her 125 ft and killing her. For the Lightner family life changed that day.

The day after Cari’s funeral the circumstances of her death became know. She was killed by a drunk driver who had already been arrested multiple times for drunk driving. It was the day a mother got MADD. Cari’s mom Candace found out that the man who had killed her daughter was probably going to be put on probation and that was it. Propelled by the grit and determination to stop drunk driving, MADD got to work. On October 1 1980 Candice on the footsteps of Capitol Hill announced her plans to change the laws and penalties for drunk driving and became a force to be reckoned with. For 29 years Mothers Against Drunk Driving have been fighting to change the laws and increase the penalties for drunk drivers. A dramatic event changed Candace’s life forever.

Paul on the way to Damascas to imprison more Christians had a dramatic life altering change. He met the true and living God on that road. That day he was killed. Not physically but he died to himself that day. He became a follower of Christ no longer a persecutor of Christ.

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

What do we see Paul doing shortly after meeting Jesus? Acts 9:20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

Can someone explain this radical change? Not only was Paul willing to proclaim the Gospel, but he was willing to suffer for it. We know he was beaten, shipwrecked, stoned, and ultimately killed for his faith in Jesus Christ. He was an eye witness of Jesus Christ who met him on that Damascus road. Everyone he knew as well had seen the risen Lord.

If Paul had not met Jesus on that road that day then what other reasonable response would there be for his life altering change? One day you are killing Christians and the next day you become one? People could make up some lame reasons why this is not true but the plain answer would be He met God that day and it changed his life. He was willing to die for the truth. This is just one of the many reasons why I believe Paul is telling the truth about Jesus’ deity.

Paul tells us not to be taken captive by these empty philosophies because Christ is God and He has done what for you?

Verse 10 tells us: 10 and in Him you have been made complete,

I can just hear him saying You don’t need any of these false teaching you don’t need anything else because Christ is God and in Him you have been made complete. You have everything you need in Christ. He is all you need. In Him is everything why would you possibly look to anyone else to take you captive? By their silly philosophies, some man made ideas? You are followers of Christ you have everything you need!!! You are complete in Christ!

He has made you whole. This is his point he is making you are whole. You don’t need human philosophy, you don’t need empty deceptions, you don’t need any spiritual guru, you don’t need anything when your receive Christ and His Salvation. You are whole. There is absolutely nothing missing you are full! What a declaration!

So what is this definition of being complete. Paul is going to tell us in the next couple of verses. It is so powerful it is so amazing what Christ has done to complete us.

We have complete salvation in Him.
We have complete forgiveness in Him.
We have complete victory in Him.

Do you see a pattern how we have been completed. It is not through any other mechanism then through Him, Christ our Lord.

Look in verse 9 in Him, verse 10, in Him, Verse 11 in Him, Verse 12 with Him two times, verse 13 with Him, verse 14 both have the phrase He Has. Who has made us complete? Why should I never look to anything but Christ. Because in Him I have been made complete.

Verse 11 and 12 we see our salvation complete in Who? In Him.

In Him You Are Complete!

11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;
12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

In the Old Testament the act of circumcision was pictured as the removal of sin. Cutting away the sinful flesh.

Paul was telling the Colossians you don’t have to be physically circumcised in the flesh but you have already been circumcised by a spiritual operation and. The idea Paul is communicating to us is we have been circumcised of our sins by what Christ did on the cross.

Why is Paul bringing up circumcision? He is telling the Colossians this, there are people who are telling you if you want to be a follower of God you must be circumcised. It is something you must do earn the approval of God. Paul is telling them don’t listen to this empty tradition. It is only through Christ that your sin is removed. Paul in Galatians 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything...

We can’t physically cut away our sinful nature it was only in Him that are sinful nature was cut away.

Verse 12 In who? In Him we were buried with Him in baptism. We are also raised with Him through faith by the working of God who raised Him from the Dead. We are in his burial we are in His resurrection and it is all done by God. Our old life has been buried and we are now alive in Christ.

We can summarize salvation in Christ in these two verses. You believers you have no need of external circumcision. You have already received the true circumcision of the heart and you live. Your sinful nature has been cut away. You have been made complete by Faith in Christ. When he was buried your wicked selves were buried with him. When he was resurrected as new creature you were resurrected with him. All by the power of God when you believed. it is done. It is complete. You have complete salvation and you need nothing else.

Someone may say yes you need belief but what about keeping the law. No, well don’t you have to do this or that? No it was finished on the cross. Complete Salvation, is it not awesome!

Verses 13 and 14 explain how we have complete forgiveness in Who? In Him.

In Him You Are Complete!

13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Those two verses are absolutely incredible. The depth and majesty of them are so awe inspiring. Here Paul tells us we have complete forgiveness. Any one in this room needs forgiveness? Let me raise both my hands because this is why I need a savior. I need forgiveness for my sins. I know I was in bad shape and we actually all were in bad shape. We were dead in our transgressions.

What does it look like when I am dead in my sins? It would be like me laying at the bottom of a pool, drowned and dead. Is there any possible way I can save myself? Is there anyway if I am dead laying at the bottom of the pool that I can make myself alive? Can I reach up to grab the life preserver? No I am dead! Oh wretched man who can save me? I have no ability to respond to anything.

Next thing you know I was pulled up from the bottom of the pool and made alive. How? He, Jesus Christ, made us alive. He breathed life into this sinful dead body and made me alive by forgiving us of our sins!

In our former lives we were controlled and dominated by sin, completely powerless to break the chains of sin, powerless to discover the truth of God without hope, without God and we were dead. But He made us alive in Him.

How did He make us alive? When we received Him by faith. It is when Christ becomes the Lord of our lives when we turn from our ways and put our faith in trust in Him. When that is accomplished in our lives what does He promise us in verse 13? He forgives All of our sins? How many? a couple hundred? No he forgives us of all of our sins!

In verse 14 what did He do with our sins? He cancelled the debt I owed God and and He nailed it on the cross taking it away from me. Can you see what He has done for you and me. We owed Him an I.O.U. that we cannot pay but he nailed it on the cross and paid that I.O.U.

We each have sinned against God, all I have to do is look at the 10 commandments which Paul calls the school master. When I go through each of them and as you go through each of them we see how we have fallen short of God’s perfect standard. How many lies have you told? Have you always put God above everything? Have you always honored your parents? Have you ever stole anything in your life? We know we have broken His commandments. We have broken His laws and there is a debt we owe. But He, Jesus Christ has nailed it to the cross and paid our debt through his sacrifice. Incredible.

In Him You Are Complete! Why on earth would we ever look at mans philosophies verses Christ. It is foolishness if we are ever taken captive by their empty deceptions.

Last verse 15 proclaims the Victory over satan and the principalities of this world. Where was it that Jesus bruised the head of satan, at the cross. Where was it that he broke his power, at the cross? Where was it that he took away the power of death, at the cross?

Death and Sin were conquered at the cross. He has triumphed over them, through Him, Jesus Christ. In Him You Are Complete!

Luke Warm And Loving It

2009-09-17T13:34:00.000-07:00

Great simple truth. You can not walk away from this sermon without it impacting your life.

Two Awesome Testimonies

2009-09-09T13:39:00.000-07:00

In the last few days I have been blessed with watching two different transformations of people who put their faith and trust into Christ. There is hope for all to believe in Him. These are impactufl testimonies that I hope will encourage you to continue to preach the Word of God, or if you have not put your faith in Christ then there is no better day than today to trust in the Lord.

This first testimony is from Pastor Greg Laurie. This is based off of his latest book Lost Boy.

This next one is former guitarist from KORN, shares his very RADICAL, TRANSPARENT, LIFE CHANGING, story of sex, drugs, rock and roll and JESUS?

Disarming Your Doubts

2008-06-07T17:22:00.000-07:00

Have you ever questioned your faith? Have you ever had doubts that the Bible is God’s Holy Word? Is God really there? Have you ever doubted your salvation?

Have you ever cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” as the father of a demon possessed boy did in Mark 9.

Doubt is one of those things that can cause us to stumble or we can use our doubts to trust and grow in our relationship with Christ by digging deep into His word. I always like what Pastor Ken “Hutch” likes to say, “I should always doubt my own doubts and just trust the promises of God.”

Today we are going to look at disarming our doubts. What is doubt? Doubt is defined as this: distrust, mistrust, suspicion, cynicism, uneasiness, apprehension, reservations, question, challenge, feeling uneasy. But what I think what really helps to define doubts the best is looking at the antonym (or the opposite) of doubt and what is it? Trust. So doubt is lacking trust.

How do we doubt God? How do we doubt our salvation? It is when we don’t trust His word and ultimately we don’t trust Him and His promises. This is when doubt can start to creep into our lives and cause great havoc when we don’t trust in His promises.

I want to address 3 ideas today the first is what and who does the world say to trust, second what some Christian teachers say to trust, and lastly what does the Word of God say about what and who to trust.

As I have been preparing this message it is funny how God works through our circumstances to reveal His truth in everyday life. What the world says to trust was reinforced this week in the disguise of something that seems so good but is laced with a lie.

Well if you didn’t know I was on a Disney Cruise this last week with my wife and boys. It was an amazing trip to say the least and I would highly recommend it to any of you looking to go on a cruise. The rooms were huge, the food was just so good and I think I probably gained about 5 pounds in one week. All the deserts served did not help out my diabetes to say the least.

There are events for every age throughout the day and you will never be bored unless you choose too be. However, as wonderful as the cruise was and even as we had probably the best vacation of our lives there was a prevailing wicked/worldly idea that Disney pushes upon its patrons. It is oh so subtle but it is there right in our faces. Because it is of the world and not of God.

It reminds me of the example of the chocolate chip cookies that look so sweet and so good but there is something grossly wrong with it. From the outside everything looks good but hiding in all the yumminess of it is just a smidgeon of rat poison that would make you extremely sick if you were to eat one. This was the message from Disney. It looks really good on the surface but if you really apply it to your life you are going to be as sick or worse than eating a cookie with rat poison.

What is this dangerous message?

Faith, Trust and pixie dust. Here is my question that I wanted to stand up and scream what in the heck are you putting your faith and trust in? Pixie dust or something far more dangerous?

Well let me tell you (spin and say I believe in me I can do anything I dream of).

So according to Disney I am to put my faith and trust into myself. Do you think this is a dangerous message for our youth? Now I am probably going to a pretty extreme example and many of you may be saying cmon Wes that is just Disney fun. Just ask my wife if I can be to extreme but I argue that it is the same as the cookie with hidden rat poison. If I buy into I am no longer putting my trust in the one who can conquer my doubts but I am putting trust into myself.

I don’t know a scripture in the Bible that tells us to believe in ourselves but the exact opposite is taught by God.

Proverbs 28:26
Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.

Jeremiah 17:5-8
5 Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.

7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
8 He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Verse 7 tells us to trust in the Lord and if we do we will not have to fear anything even our doubts. But if we trust in ourselves or anything besides God we will be left as a dried out weed in the desert. Not a pleasant thought at all.

So the world tells us to trust in ourselves but there is something that I believe can even be more dangerous than what the world teaches us and that is professing Christians who say we can’t even trust the words of God which include His promises to us.

How many of you have heard of the the Emergent Church?

I want to read a few quotes from their leaders in this movement and see if it lines up with what the Bible tells us. Do these ideas and philosophy's help with my doubts or does it just throw gasoline on the fire?

These are Christian leaders who are basically telling me I can’t trust the word of God. I can’t know and trust in the Bible. Again instead of encouraging us to rely on God’s word they feed on my doubts. If I cannot trust the Word of God what do I have? I am a step closer to falling off the cliff of doubting God. These quotes take me strait back to Genesis 3:1:

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

They are twisting the word of God!

When I hear comments about mistakes in the Bible, or that it is a not authoritative or it is not infallible I always think about God this way. If my God can speak the universe into existence from nothing, don’t you think he can communicate to us so clearly through His word? Couldn’t he make the Bible so clear that even a child can understand its basic concepts? Yes there are some “mysteries” in the bible but the basic promises are so clear that I can put my trust in them. We have a God who has clearly communicated His promises to us.

This is why small groups are so critical and why going through the bible chapter by chapter is fundamental to the Christian life. If you have spent the last year and a half studying Genesis with us you KNOW the promises of God are true. He does what he says and says what He is going to do and He follows through 100% of the time. I know this is why my pastor, John Werhas, never deviates from preaching from God’s word line upon line. It is how we test all things.

We even have Satan trying to make us doubt the promises of God. He wants us to doubt our salvation. You know that feeling you get when you have sinned against God? What does Satan whisper in your mind? “You’re not a Christian. Why would the Lord ever save you? You’ll never make it—you’re not good enough. You don’t deserve to be saved.”

Some people even preach that we can lose our salvation or we can really never know we are saved until Jesus returns or we die and meet Him face to face. What a burden this type of teaching puts upon people. But what about 1 John 1:4 when it says And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. or 1 John 5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

John MacArthur writes:
Why does Satan want us to doubt our salvation? Because he wants us to doubt God’s promises. He wants us to believe that God doesn’t keep His Word. He wants us to believe that God won’t hold onto us forever. He wants us to deny God’s power and think that God’s a liar. He knows that, in effect, if we doubt our salvation, we have removed our helmet.

However this being said there is a place in scripture where Paul writes to us to examine ourselves. 2 Corinthians 13:5 says Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

And Peter writes 2 Peter 1:10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

We are also to examine ourselves when we take communion in 1 Corinthians 11:28: Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

But why does God want us to examine ourselves? It is to KNOW we are in the faith as is written in 1 John 3:19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him;

He does not tell us these things to increase our doubts but to know that we have true trust in Him. It is all about knowing Him and knowing His word is always true.

Our salvation and trust in God has a past, present and future result. And like Pastor John tells us it really is not about how we start but how do we finish. Paul writes in Philippians 1:6

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Lets read that again:
And I am sure of this, that he who began(past - starting the race) a good work in you (present - I am running the race) will bring it to completion (future - how I finish the race) at the day of Jesus Christ.

I don’t have to doubt I can trust in God that His promise is true to keep me running the race until He brings in me to a full completion at the return of Jesus. How encouraging is this that we know who is truly in control of all things.

Christ even tells us in John 6:37
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

John MacAurther also writes:
“God’s calling cannot be removed, His inheritance cannot be defiled, His foundation cannot be shaken, and His seal cannot be broken. Because that is so, there’s no need for believers to fear Satan’s assaults. Our future glorification is divinely assured.
In John 10:27–29 Christ gives this picture of the believer’s eternal security:”

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, [1] is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

It is one of those great things about the Christian faith that our continuance in eternal life depends not on my weak hold on Christ, but His firm grip on me. And the beauty of this passage is that there is a double protection. Not only is Christ holding onto me but in verse 30 it says the Father also keeps us from being snatched away. How awesome is that!!

I want to end today with one of those passages that in the time of your greatest doubt is to hide this passage in your heart. It is why I never need to doubt God nor do I ever need to doubt my salvation. Nor do you.

Romans 8:38-39
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Dying with Cancer - My Mom - Mother of 3 - Wife of One - A Lover of Jesus

2008-01-16T15:34:00.000-08:00

12 years ago my mom was diagnosed with brain and lung cancer. It was a day I will never forget. My world came crashing down around me with complete disbelief in what was happening. I remember I wanted to just crawl up in a ball and sleep it away. She had less than a 1% chance of surviving more than 6 months. 12 years later after brain surgery and a lung removal it has come back in a vengeful way. Monday January 14th 2008 my mom has been given less than a week to live. They have found a massive tumor in her brain and now is in a hospital bed in the middle of my sister’s house waiting to make her final journey to home. A home that Christ has promised to her, to me and to you if we are willing to turn to Him.

Today she is still alive in and out of consciousness. I have been able to pray with her, read scripture to her and sing praises to her. But most of all I want to HONOR her and glorify God with her life. This is my first attempt into honoring my mom who has meant the world to me in so many ways.

If you have read my testimony or known anything about me I lived a life of pretty much debauchery for 29 years. Yes my parents took me to church all the way up until I was 16 and I basically said I am not going back. They tried to give me a good foundation (which they did) but I pretty much rejected everything in the church and wanted to live for Wes.

But who was praying for me? Who never stopped believing that God could change me? Who, through I am sure tearful nights, kept her faith strong? My mother, through the love of Christ in her heart. It was her faithful prayers that God answered. All of her children are living for Christ today. Between the 3 of us right now she has 6 grand kids and they are all being raised to know Christ. One women’s prayers have made an impact in this world. She has two children in ministry and one who loves the Lord with all her heart.

One women’s prayer after 30 years saved a marriage. One women’s prayers have saved a family. One women’s prayers can impact the world for Christ. One of the things I am going to miss the most is knowing there will be one less powerful prayer warrior who prayed for me all the time will be gone. I love you mom. I can’t wait to see you again the way you were to be created from the beginning of time. All my hope is in Christ and I thank you for your faithful prayers that He pulled me from death to life because of you.

Oprah and Friends - A Course in Miracles

2008-01-08T15:08:00.000-08:00

Oprah has launched a new radio program called "A Course in Miracles". This is the just downright sickening and I can't believe anyone would buy into this gobbly gook. Here is an excerpt on what this course is all about.

"A Course in Miracles (often called just "the Course") is an educational program for retraining the mind that is spiritual, rather than religious, in its perspective. Although it uses Christian terminology, the Course expresses a universal experience, and its underlying ontology is reminiscent of ancient refrains, echoing the world’s most hallowed traditions.…

Hmm can we say relativism, universalism and just a whole bunch of nothingness. Check out this last paragraph. If it wasn't serious I would laugh but they are serious and how many thousands are buying into this LIE?

Remember only this; you need not believe the ideas, you need not accept them, and you need not even welcome them. Some of them you may actively resist. None of this will matter, or decrease their efficacy. But do not allow yourself to make exceptions in applying the ideas the workbook contains, and whatever your reactions to the ideas may be, use them. Nothing more than that is required

What on earth does that paragraph mean? Seriously, I don't need to believe, I don't need to accept them and I don't even need to welcome them. Ok how about I just throw your whole idea in the garbage where it belongs.

Check out this junk.

A Course in Miracles, Lesson 1
Original Air Date: January 1, 2008
Listen to today's lesson!

Spiritual transformation begins with shifting your physical perceptions of what's real. If you think what you see and hear is all that's real, you'll be dictated by the limits of your senses.

Extend your perception beyond what your senses register…to what your heart knows to be true. Be willing to have your eyes opened to the love in any situation, even when with your physical eyes you cannot see it.

That is the miracle beginning.

Begin to shift your perception of what's real, with Lesson 1:
Nothing I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place] means anything.

1. Now look slowly around you, and practice applying this idea very specifically to whatever you see:
◦ This table does not mean anything.
◦ This chair does not mean anything.
◦ This hand does not mean anything.
◦ This foot does not mean anything.
◦ This pen does not mean anything.

2. Then look farther away from your immediate area, and apply the idea to a wider range:
◦ That door does not mean anything.
◦ That body does not mean anything.
◦ That lamp does not mean anything.
◦ That sign does not mean anything.
◦ That shadow does not mean anything.

3. Notice that these statements are not arranged in any order, and make no allowance for differences in the kinds of things to which they are applied. 2That is the purpose of the exercise. 3The statement should merely be applied to anything you see. 4As you practice the idea for the day, use it totally indiscriminately. 5Do not attempt to apply it to everything you see, for these exercises should not become ritualistic. 6Only be sure that nothing you see is specifically excluded. 7One thing is like another as far as the application of the idea is concerned.

4. Each of the first three lessons should not be done more than twice a day each, preferably morning and evening. 2Nor should they be attempted for more than a minute or so, unless that entails a sense of hurry. 3A comfortable sense of leisure is essential.

Quote of the Day
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Osteen - Mormons are True Christians

2008-01-03T23:09:00.000-08:00

Osteen is at it again. He tells us Mormons are Christians. He uses Mitt Romney as his example because Mit has stated that he believes in Christ as his Savior. This is the deception of the mormon church to use Christian lingo but to poor completely different meanings into it.

Does Osteen have any type of discernment skills whatsoever? He is a dangerous man.

Wes Porter
Galatians 2:20

Apologetics Bible - Who Is This?

2008-01-03T14:44:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year I received the new Apologetics Study Bible. I have found some interesting articles in it already. Some are very good and some that I do not agree with completely (of course not the scripture but commentaries and articles in it). But there is a fantastic article by the late D. James Kennedy titled Christ: The Fulfillment of Prophecy. Read through these scriptures and at the end he asks a skeptic a very good question.

More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; mighty are those who would destroy me, those who attack me with lies. (Psalm 69:4)
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed (Psalm 2:2)
Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me. (Psalm 41:9)
... “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones. (Zechariah 13:7)
12 Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. 13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter. (Zech 11:12-13)
Now muster your troops, O daughter [2] of troops; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek. (Micah 5:1)
I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. (Isaiah 50:6)
For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet (Psalm 22:16)
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? (Psalm 22:1)
7 All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; 8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink. (Psalm 22:7-8)
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; (Psalm 22:14)
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. (Isaiah 53:4)
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. (Isaiah 53:7)
they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. (Psalm 22:18)
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12)
...you shall not break any of its bones. (Exodus 12:46)
He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. (Psalm 34:20)
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. (Zechariah 12:10)
And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. (Isaiah 53:9)
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy One see corruption. (Psalm 16:10)
You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there. (Psalm 68:18)
The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” (Psalm 110:1

D. James Kennedy writes: (talking to a skeptic)

I said to him, "About whom did I read?"
He replied, "Well, you obviously read of the life and ministry and suffering and death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth."
I said, "Is there any question in your mind about that?"
He answered, "No that could refer to no one else."
I replied, "Well then, I would want you to understand that all of the Scriptures I just read to you are taken from the Old Testament, which was completed some four hundred years before Jesus was born. No critic, no atheist, no agnostic has ever claimed that any one of those writings was written after His birth. In fact, they were translated from Hebrew into Greek in Alexandria some 150 years before He was born. If this is merely a book written by men, would you please explain to me how these words were written?"

I would love to hear a response from someone who has an answer besides divinely inspired.

Do You Know Him?

2007-12-26T22:23:00.000-08:00

There are lots of concepts of what it means to “know” God, but there is only one way to truly know God and that is through His Son Jesus Christ. Since I have been studying in 1 and 2 Thessalonians and I have come across two passages that talk about not knowing God, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at what it means to know or not to know God. Why is this important to examine? It is because there are serious consequences with our knowledge of God. Without truly knowing God through His Son Jesus Christ you will spend an eternity in suffering and separated from God in hell. This is why it is so important to have a TRUE knowledge of God.

I want to take a look at four ways I can know God. They are:

I know nothing about Him
I can have knowledge of Him
I can know things about Him
I can truly know Him

I know nothing about Him
Well unfortunately for people this is not a valid statement. We all know about God whether we want to admit it or not. It is impossible to make this claim whether you are born in the most populated city in the world with thousands of church’s or if you are buried deep within the Congo Jungle and have never even heard the name of Jesus. Paul tells us the following in Romans 1:18-20

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

Paul tells us two things in this passage. First, God is known within all of us, it has been written upon the human heart and mind that there is a God. But what does sinful man do but try and repress the truth because they rather do acts of unrighteousness. Second, all I have to do is look at the creation around me and it tells me there is a God creator. There are only 4 possible solutions to the cosmological argument (where everything came from).

I am just an illusion (crazy talk)
Universe has always existed (no credible scientist in this day and age believes this)
Universe sprang out of nothing (beyond credulity)
God

No human can make the claim they know nothing about God. God did not leave that as a possibility.

I Can Have Knowledge of Him
I would guess most people in the world fall into this category of knowing God. It is a knowledge that their is a God and He does exist but that is as far as it goes. They are not interested in the things of God and what He desires for them. People rather just not deal with God because they would have to deal with His ways and no longer live the way they want too. Who else has this type of knowledge of God, the demons and the devil himself? What does the Bible say about demons knowing Christ?

Mark 1:34

34 And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.

Mark 8:28-29

28 When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way.
29 And they cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

So like the demons we can have a knowledge of God and even acknowledge who He is (Son of God) but still not know Him in a way that will save you from the torments of hell. The demons know what is going to happen to them one day, eternal torment. Their knowledge of God is not enough to save them nor is yours if you just acknowledge Him.

I Know Things About God
Here is the most dangerous situation to be in, it is knowing God in a way that causes self deception. These are people who say they have a saving knowledge of Christ but have twisted His truth to cause themselves to not be saved. There are millions of people who fit into this category. I have family and friends who say they are Christians but their lives don’t reflect a true knowledge of Christ. Just to be clear I would never judge anyone to hell or heaven because God is responsible for that, however He calls us to be fruit inspectors and watchman to warn those who are not in the faith.

People can have a said faith but unless their lives display the works that represent their saving faith then they are deceiving themselves. James tells us in James 2:17-19

17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.

Of course no one is ever saved by works but it is a represents the faith they have, we do works because we have a true knowledge of what Christ has done for us and He is our Lord. We desire to obey Him because we love Him.

Think about all the mormons, jehovah witnesses, muslims...etc they all have a knowledge of Christ but it is not the Christ of the Bible who they believe in. They have made up their own God in their own minds and denied Christ Jesus who is God.

There are many passages in the bible that address this issue. I would suggest reading Revelation chapter 3 and look at the apostate Laodicean Church who believes they are Christians but Christ is going to reject them (vomit them out). Here is another passage that should give us great concern and warning and this is from the mouth of Jesus himself saying in Matthew 7:21-23

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’
23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

There are people who believe they have a true knowledge of Christ but He is going to reject them because they are self deceived. Matthew 7:13

13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.
14 “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

True Knowledge of God
How do I get to enter the narrow gate? How do I get to have eternal life with the Creator of the universe? How do I get to spend eternity in heaven? How do I get to praise and worship God forever? How do I become a follower of Christ?

In one million years there is only one thing that will matter here on earth and that is whether you repented and turned from your ways to to a saving knowledge of Christ Jesus. Nothing else at the end of the day will take precedent over that event. Because you are going to either spend eternity with a perfect, holy, loving God or you are going to be in eternal torment for all of eternity separated from Him forever. He tells us that we can come to know God through the Son of God. 1 John 5:20

20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

Jesus Himself tells us it is only through Him that we may come to the Father John 14:6

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

We then see what John writes about knowing God. He tells us in 1 John 4:7-8

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

What does Jesus tell us about this kind of love? John 14:15

15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

What are Jesus commandments? Matthew 22:37-39

37 And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38 “This is the great and foremost commandment.
39 “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

Matthew 16:24-27

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
25 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
27 “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.

Here it is the bottom line on knowing God.

If you want to know even more you can read the Roman’s Road of salvation.

Sola Scriptura vs The Emergent Church

2007-12-11T22:10:00.000-08:00

I have read about the Emergent Church. I have listened to their leaders. I have read some of their books. I have thought to myself how can these guys even be believed? Is anyone really following them, challenging everything that I believe to be true and right? My question has been answered with a resounding yes. There is a following and it frightens me to death.

Are these guys smart, yes. Do they know how to present their case, yes. Do they care about people and social injustices, yes. Do they seem to be concerned about fixing the church, yes. Do they truly believe scripture, NO? It is a resounding no. I have not met read or seen a single emergent follower who holds onto scripture as Sola Scriptura.

Scripture alone is a totally foreign concept to their ideas. Many of them say they hold a high esteem for scripture but they question it. They make the claim we can’t know it. They claim it is a bunch of stories that may or not may be true. So what do they claim is truth, the community, tradition, reason and then scripture mixed in. I keep wondering when there is a conflict between any of these who decides what is right and wrong. One emergent told me it is always the community. I wonder can the community ever go against God? I believe this emergent community is going directly against God and His word.

What is Sola scriptura? This is the Latin term for scripture alone. It asserts that the Word of God is self evident, self authenticating, clear to Christians who read it, supports itself (scripture interpreting scripture) and sufficient for the final authority of Christian doctrine.

I believe the emergent church is one of the most dangerous forms of religion that looks very close to Christianity but it is apostate. Are there authentic Christians in the emergent church today? Probably, but what I have seen and read makes me believe there are a lot who are not.

First, if we go back to the very beginning with Adam and Eve in the garden, what is the very first twisting of truth? It is the challenge of God’s word. When I hear someone question the word of God the first thing I think about is Genesis 3:1

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

How much more of a red flag do I need then this? Here it is in black and white the very first deception of God’s word. Did God really say that? How do people in this movement not see that this is what they are saying when they question the authority of the Bible. It is the very lie from the father of lies and they are buying into it.

John MacArthur writes an excellent 5 part series on the attack of TRUTH. MacArthur writes: “The doctrine of the clarity (or perspicuity) of Scripture (that the central message of the Bible is clear and understandable, and that the Bible itself can be properly interpreted in a normal, literal sense) has been a cornerstone of evangelical belief ever since the Reformation.”

The dominant Roman Catholic idea had been that the Bible was obscure and difficult to understand. But the Reformers disagreed, arguing instead that anyone who could read could understand biblical teaching. Rather than limiting biblical interpretation to the clergy or the Magisterium, the Reformers encouraged lay Christians to study and interpret God's Word on their own. All of this was premised on the Reformed belief that the Bible itself was inherently clear, and that God had been able to communicate His message to men in an understandable fashion.

Here is a link to the full 5 part article and it addresses the primary leader of the emergent church Brian McLaren and his attack that we just can’t be certain about the Bible.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Wes Porter
Galatians 2:20

1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 - Sexual Purity

2007-12-06T21:48:00.000-08:00

1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

We are going to learn something special in todays message, what is the will of God? There is absolutely no ambiguity about what God expects from us in 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8. I hear people talking about what is God’s will in my life? This answers one of the clear expectations He has for us.

What we are going to look at today affects every single male sitting in this room without exception. We are going to see what God has to say about moral purity and how do I abstain from sexual immorality.

In today’s society we are completely bombarded with sexual iniquity. It is in our music, it is on TV, in the movies, in books, magazines and I can’t even drive on the freeway without being assaulted with advertisements for gentlemen’s clubs. But most recently it has become the preoccupation of millions of people on their computers as they access pornography over the internet.

We are drowning in this sea of sexual evil and we don’t even know it. In today’s society we don’t care if our leaders are full of sexual sin as long as they agree with our politics. We don’t care because with think it is a private issue and it is a personal matter. What is even more of an oddity is the idea that it is becoming increasingly strange for those who stay faithful and married to their spouses. We make fun of men who desire to be sexually pure. There are movies created to mock a 40 year old virgin like there is something wrong with that if someone chooses to wait till they are married. All I have to do is look around me at my place of work and I am constantly faced with the talk of pornography, glorifying of sexual sins and married men gawking at other women and talking complete trash amongst one another.

We are so like the frog in hot water that we don’t know we are being cooked. Think about this just over 40 years ago on the Ed Sullivan show refused to show Elvis Presley from the waste down shaking his hips. Now days that is comedy for us, we think how silly is that. But I ask you, where are we today with simulated sex on the stage of MTV. We are lost in a world of sexual sin.

But there is hope my friends. There is hope from God’s word how we can truly separate ourselves from this world. You know God calls to live in the world but not of the world. He tells us does not want us to conform to this world but be transformed by a new mind set that is focused on His will. Romans 12:2

And do not abe conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Here we see that we are to renew our minds so we can prove what the will of God is, and His will is good and acceptable and perfect. Lets take a look at what God’s will is for our life. Please open your Bible to 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8.

1 Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more.
2 For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;
4 that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,
5 not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
6 and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you.
7 For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.
8 So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

In verse 1 we see that the Thessalonians were doing a pretty good job of walking in the ways of God. They were being an Acts 2 Church who were continually devoted to sound doctrine, fellowship, communion, prayer, worship and giving. But Paul wanted to them to excel even more. Paul knew sexual immorality was a problem in the Thessalonian Church and he wanted to make it perfectly clear that God is calling them to be holy.

When we look at our society and know we are in a society filled with sexual immorality. Well the Thessalonians were in a society that compared to us or even worse. They were involved in prostitution, adultry, homosexuality, pedophilia, the only difference from then to today is the exposure of it. We can’t get away from it today because it penetrates everywhere. We need to learn how to be holy in this perverse world of ours.

In verse 2 Paul tells them you know these commandments and these commandments came from God. They are well aware of the need to abstain from sexual immorality. This is not something man has made up but it is the will of God.

Verse 3 tells us that, it is His will for us to be pure. God care so much about this topic to clearly state this is His will. He tells us it is our sanctification. Sanctification means to be set apart. Not to be like the world. God is telling us the world is full of sexual sin but I require from you to be pure not to be like the pagans and their lustful passions. God is telling us to be set apart from sin to holiness. James 4:4 Says

You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God

Let’s take a look at scripture and see why God takes sexual immorality so seriously. I want to look at several passages so we get a broad understanding of what God is telling us and why. You might want to write these down and just listen instead of turning to each passage. You can go back and take a look at them later.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,
10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 10:8

Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.

Ephesians 5:3-5

But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints;
4 and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which bare not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Colossians 3:5-6

5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,

Jude 1:7

just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

Revelation 21:8

“But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Do you think God is serious about this subject? So how do we overcome this, how do we stand against sexual immorality? Verses 4 and 5 tell us how. First, We need to learn to posses our own vessels to deny ourselves. Don’t let your body control you. We need to gain mastery over our bodies. Paul says in

1 Corinthians 9:27

but I discipline my body and make it my slave

Verse 5 really gives us the root problem of sexual immorality and that is not knowing God. The lustful passions of the gentiles were a result of not knowing God. I want to read a quote from John Piper because I think he articulates what it means to know God.

“It's knowledge that stuns you, and humbles you. It's knowledge that wins you and holds you. It comes like it did for Lydia when the Lord opened the eyes of her heart. At one moment you think you will burst with its fullness, and suddenly there is a chasm of longing for more. It's the knowledge we call faith—the assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen.

It's a knowledge that is so real, so precious, so satisfying to your soul, that any thought, any attitude, any emotion, any addiction which threatens to hinder this knowledge will be attacked with all the spiritual zeal of a threatened life. This is the fight of faith that rages in the godly soul when lust lures the mind away from God.”

How do I know God? There is only one way gentleman and that is through His word. How do I stop being sexually immoral, how do I become pure? I want to tell you how and it is a passage that I have held unto with complete conviction and passion. Pastor John has gone over this verse in the last few weeks and it is found in Pslam 119:11

Your word I have treasured in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.

This is it guys. This is what we need. We need the word of God in us, through us it is everything. It is the only way I know what God wants from me. We need to want to consume it, meditate on it, live it, obey it, and most of all apply it to our lives. This is the solution men. This is what we need to stand upon. This is what will give us victory in our bondage to sin. It is the guide book on how to live our lives and to keep from sinning. This is what will convict your heart to stop slapping Jesus in the face with our sins.

God gives us free moral will to choose between right and wrong. Now God has a sovereign will that will get accomplished no matter what moral choices we may make. Look at verse 8 if we reject this idea and say that I don’t care what God thinks about this then are we not only sinning against God but we are rejecting Him. We are not rejecting some human philosophy but the actual will of God.

Why does Paul mention the Holy Spirit in this verse. It is because the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins. If we are not convicted by this type of sin then God is not in us. J. Vernon McGee writes:

A child of God is in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit. He cannot continue to live in sin because the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit. The time will come when the child of God will long for holiness in his own life.”

So what does the bible say about practical steps of dealing with sexual sin. Here are 5 steps

Confess your sin 1 John 1:9, God is faithful to forgive us of our sins. Then confess it to a brother. Get an accountability partner who you can discuss these things with. This is part of the fellowship of the Acts 2 Church.
Be like Joseph and RUN. He was confronted with the potential of a sexual sin and instead of pondering it, going over it in his mind, toying with the idea HE RAN from it. What does this mean to me and you today. Throw the TV out, Get rid of the computer, run from the temptation.
Hide God’s word in your heart. Make the word a daily part of your life. It is the only weapon we have against the evil one.
Prayer, we need to be on our knees praying for holiness, praying to God to help us obey his commandments.
Stop, whatever it takes stop it now. Just stop. Stop your complete selfishness. Deny yourself and pick up your cross.

James 1:21
Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

Wes Porter
Galatians 2:20

Ambassador of Christ - Greg Koukl

2007-12-03T21:31:00.000-08:00

Greg Koukl, the founder of Stand to Reason (STR.org), has released 44 videos on answering some of the toughest questions Christians are asked. Here are the titles of just a few, is Christianity the only way to God, why is there evil in the world, is it fair to condemn people who have never heard the gospel? Greg has been doing this for over 30 years and is a master in tactics, critical thinking, philosophy and apologetics. I would highly suggest reviewing some of these videos if you want to see what an ambassador of Christ looks like then Greg is a very good model. We should strive for this kind of clarity in our answers and strive for the manner in which he shares his faith. Send these videos to all your friends they are really good.

Here is the link to all the video resources.

Here is a sample video for your enjoyment titled.

Why is Jesus the only way?

Wes Porter
Galatians 2:20

Foul Mouthed Christianity - Is Cussing OK

2007-11-27T21:03:00.000-08:00

(Image from Pyromaniacs Check out the rest)
I have been dialoging with some interesting so called Christians who have a very twisted view of scripture and what it means to be a Christian. They write and say that they feel it is perfectly fine to use foul and degrading language. Most of these gentleman are part of the emergent church and claim to be living their lives like Christ commanded. But instead of their "cool" worldliness they are going directly against the Word of God. I would like to address the topic of our language and how we speak and what we speak represents to the world who Christ is in us. Is it ok for a Christian to walk around using 4 letter words, is that being a good ambassador of Christ?

I have read through the Bible several times and I have never found a scripture that promotes the use of vulgar language. On the contrary I find scripture after scripture that condemns this type of language. If I want to be an effective ambassador of Christ am I going to be separate from the world or am I going to embrace it and be part of it and do the things of the world? As Christians should we try and be above reproach so that no one has anything against us? Or do we follow after culture and "try" to be "cool" or "hip"?

I remember shortly after repenting and turning from my ways to Christ ways was to stop my bad habit of cursing. I was just like the world using it all the time but the Holy Spirit started to convict me of my language and I left cussing behind. What is interesting is that I hadn't even read the bible passages below that talk about being foul mouthed. It just happened and I knew it was not how God wanted me to be talking any longer.

Now before I go on any further I want to make sure that if you struggle with this problem you are not "condenmed" by it. I have friends who are Christians who slip but then apologize for their language. We all are sinners who need a Savior and this may be something that you are dealing with. However, there is a big difference about trying to work on a sin and having the attitude it is just the way I am so deal with it. If your heart is in this kind of condition then you might want to really examine what it means to be a follower of Christ. What does it mean to you when Christ says if you love Me you will obey my commandments? This applies to any sin that is in your life. Me included, trust me I have a million things to work on about my heart. But I know one thing. I desire not to sin. I desire to hide God's word in my heart so I might not sin against Him. Psalm 119:11.

Let us take a look at what God says about our language.

Basic instruction on what should come out of our mouths. (2 Timothy 2:16) But avoid worldly {and} empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness,

(Colossians 3:8) But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, {and} abusive speech from your mouth.

(1 Corinthians 15:33) Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."

(Ephesians 4:29) Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need {of the moment,} so that it will give grace to those who hear.

(Ephesians 5:4) and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

Do we glorify God in using curse words or foul language?(Matthew 5:16) "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

How do we represent Christ setting ourselves apart from the worlds standard. (Titus 2:7-8) in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.

Here is the worst thing we can do is misrepresent Christ with offensive language. How can we be holy if we don't follow what Jesus commanded?(Colossians 4:6) Let your speech always be with grace, {as though} seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.

(James 1:26) If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his {own} heart, this man's religion is worthless.

(Matthew 15:11) "{It is} not what enters into the mouth {that} defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man."

(1 Corinthians 10: 31) Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

How do unbelievers know us, by our fruits?(Matthew 7:16-18) "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn {bushes} nor figs from thistles, are they? "So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.

We are known by our fruits. As Christains we should not be known by fruits of foul speech.
All glory, all praise, all worship, all honor goes to the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ, my Savior.

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Emergent Church - Roger Oakland - Faith Undone

2007-11-21T20:51:00.000-08:00

Roger Oakland gives an outstanding presentation on the emergent church. After watching this video my heart becomes burdensome for the lost who are buying into this false form of Christianity. I highly suggest watching through the whole thing because it will give you a much deeper understanding how the emergent church is attacking Christianity and making a mockery of God's Word.

Here is a statement from Roger on the emergent church.

In the not-too-distant future, most evangelical pastors will have to decide whether to support or reject the spirituality behind the emerging church. If this movement continues unfolding at the present pace, mainstream Christianity will be completely restructured, and the biblical gospel of Jesus Christ will be considered obsolete. If I believed for one minute that this movement was just another passing whim or the discontent rumblings that so often occur with young people as they search for answers to life, I would never have written this book.

But sad to say, the emerging church is far more than a fleeting fad and much more than the complaints of a group of young leaders. It is indeed a new way of being Christian and its objective is to usher in a new reformation throughout the world.

Those who refuse to embrace this direction will be considered spiritual oddballs that are hindering a unified one-world spirituality that is promoted as the answer for peace and that is prophesied about in the Bible. I know these sound like preposterous concerns. How could a movement that seems so unorganized and mismanaged do so much damage? The answer to that is the reason I wrote this book. For behind this new kind of worship, this new kind of church is a strategic apostasy and maneuver by the prince of this world, the enemy of our souls, to literally take apart the faith of millions—it will be nothing less than faith undone.

Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Let me know if you think the Emergent Church is as dangerous as described?

All honor, all glory, all praise, all worship goes to the King of kings and Lord of lords Jesus Christ.

Wes
Galatians 2:20

My Utmost for His Highest - Galatians 2:20

2007-11-13T20:46:00.000-08:00

Galatians 2:20 is a verse I have committed to memory. My desire is to be done with the "I" but how hard is it to live it 24x7 365 days a year being completely dead to myself and alive in Christ. How many times does the "I" try to rear its ugly head and steal my joy in Christ. So why do we even bother to die to ourselves? Why try to be a godly man or women? Why try to do what is right? Because He loved me and gave Himself on my behalf.

He gave Himself for me, a sinner, who hated Him and rebelled against Him. I owe Him everything because He laid down His life so I could live. I can't even comprehend it at times. It is just too much for me to understand His love, mercy and grace but I am so thankful for what He has done.

Below is one of the devotions from Oswald Chambers in his book "My Utmost for His Highest". I have found it a blessing today and wanted to share it. He convicts me of my attitude and my lack of utter gratefulness to my Lord and Savior at times. To many times the "I" comes out with what Wes wants.

Galatians 2:20 - For I have been crucified by Christ, yet I live, no longer I but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith towards the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself on my behalf.

"The Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)

We have to battle through our moods into absolute devotion to the Lord Jesus, to get out of the hole-and-corner business of our experience into abandoned devotion to Him. Think Who the New Testament says that Jesus Christ is, and then think of the despicable meanness of the miserable faith we have - I haven’t had this and that experience! Think what faith in Jesus Christ claims - that He can present us faultless before the throne of God, unutterably pure, absolutely rectified and profoundly justified. Stand in implicit adoring faith in Him, He is made unto us "wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." How can we talk of making a sacrifice for the Son of God! Our salvation is from hell and perdition, and then we talk about making sacrifices!

We have to get out into faith in Jesus Christ continually; not a prayer meeting Jesus Christ, nor a book Jesus Christ, but the New Testament Jesus Christ, Who is God Incarnate, and Who ought to strike us to His feet as dead. Our faith must be in the One from Whom our experience springs. Jesus Christ wants our absolute abandon of devotion to Himself. We never can experience Jesus Christ, nor ever hold Him within the compass of our own hearts, but our faith must be built in strong emphatic confidence in Him.

It is along this line that we see the rugged impatience of the Holy Ghost against unbelief. All our fears are wicked, and we fear because we will not nourish ourselves in our faith. How can any one who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear! It ought to be an absolute pæan of perfectly irrepressible, triumphant belief.

(Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, 235, 236)

Wes Porter
Galatians 2:20

John Piper - Future of Justification

2007-11-07T20:44:00.000-08:00

John Piper has just released his new book on justification. I have read the first 24 pages of his book and as usual Piper is right on the money with his exegesis of scripture. Piper is addressing specifically the latest books of N. T. Wright and the "new" views on Paul's writings. I don't have a full grasp of Wrights ideas but here are a list of 8 issues that Piper addresses in the introduction.
I hope to have this finished soon so I can give a decent review of what Piper has to say. Here is a quote from the beginning of the book about why Piper wrote it and his mindset.

The Final Judgment feels too close for me to care much about
scoring points in debate. Into my seventh decade, the clouds of time
are clearing, and the prospect of wasting my remaining life on games-
manship or one-upmanship is increasingly unthinkable. The ego-need
to be right has lost its dominion, and the quiet desire to be a faithful
steward of the grace of truth increases. N. T. Wright is about three
years younger than I am, and I assume he feels the same.

The risen Lord Jesus sees through all our clever turns of phrase—I
am preaching to myself. He knows perfectly when we have chosen
words to win, but not to clarify. He has planted a banner on the pulpit
of every preacher and on the desk of every scholar: “No man can give
the impression that he himself is clever and that Christ is mighty to
save.”1 We will give an account to the all-knowing, all-ruling Lord of
the universe in a very few years—or days. And when we do, what will
matter is that we have not peddled God’s word but “as men of sincer-
ity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ”
(2 Cor. 2:17).

And here is the sweet bonus you can download the book for free right HERE!

Wes Porter
Galatians 2:20

Divorce Is Not An Option

2007-11-06T19:00:00.000-08:00

I just want to put this very bluntly, divorce is not an option for any Christian. My friend and I were discussing if there is any valid reason for getting a divorce and there is only one instance of were God allows divorce and this particular situation does not happen in our culture today. My friend found this great article written by Thomas M. Strouse, Prof. of Theology on The Bible, Marriage and Divorce.

Now we as men and women can come up with lots of excuses why we should be able to divorce, but God's plan is for no one to separate a man and women. We may find ourselves in some very difficult situations with our husband/wives but God's word is very clear on this issue. I also can look at Genesis 2 and see the original plan for marriage that we should strive for and there is nothing in Genesis that says men cleave to your wife unless... Nope it is until death. Take a read of this article it is excellent. I would be curious to know if anyone disagrees with this or not.

The Bible, Marriage, and Divorce

by Thomas M. Strouse, Prof. of Theology
717 N. Whitehurst Landing Road, Virginia Beach, Virginia 23464

Introduction

The major social unit of society, the family, is being devastated by social aberrations such as divorce. God has a clear plan for families as set forth in the Bible. For the American society to be strengthened, Christians need to know and need to obey the Bible teaching with regard to marriage and divorce. This essay will show what the Bible says about marriage, what Christ says about divorce and what Paul says about divorce and remarriage.

The Bible and Marriage

God instituted marriage with the first man and woman, Adam and Eve (Gen. 2:20-24). The Bible formula for marriage is "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (v.24). There are three factors delineated for a marriage union. The "leaving" delineates the social factor, the "cleaving" delineates the spiritual factor, and the "weaving" delineates the sexual factor. All three factors are necessary to constitute a Biblical marriage. The social factor involves a public awareness that the couple is married. This awareness is usually conveyed by a public ceremony or document. The spiritual factor involves a unity of mind and heart on the major matters of life. The sexual factor involves an intimate relationship which is monogamous and permanent. These factors are foundational and prerequisite for strong family units for any society. It is true that some Bible characters violated God's plan for marriage and were polygamous, but God's plan is nevertheless binding for all who desire the Lord's blessing for strong families. In the New Testament, Christ reaffirmed this marriage formula for His audience (Mt. 19:4-6).

Christ and Divorce

When questioned by the major religious leaders of His day concerning the popular plan for divorce, the Lord Jesus Christ reaffirmed the Bible plan for marriage by citing Gen. 2:24 (Mt. 19:4-6; Mk. 10:11, 12; Lk. 16:18). The Pharisees attempted to force Christ to choose between the two popular plans for divorce, the Hillel position which was very liberal (divorce for anything) and Shammai position which was very conservative (divorce for infidelity). Christ did not concede to either position, but rather He cited the teaching given to Adam and Eve and declared "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder" (literally this verse means "stop severing what God has permanently put together") in Mt. 19:16. Furthermore, the Lord said "Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery" (Mt. 19:9).

This verse has already been interpreted by Matthew in his first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew (Mt. 1:18-25). The Jews had the custom of betrothal for approximately one year before the wedding. This meant that the Jewish man and woman entered into a betrothal covenant (Mal. 2:14) which could only be broken by divorce for unfaithfulness. The classic example of this is Joseph and Mary; Joseph thought Mary had committed fornication and had become pregnant and consequently he was going to divorce her ("put her away privily") during the betrothal period and before Joseph and Mary had become married through physical consummation. Although Joseph and Mary knew by divine revelation that Jesus was the virgin born Son of God, the Lord Jesus lived with the stigma of being a child of fornication (Jn. 8:41).

Christ's answer to the Pharisees was two-fold: marriage was for life and divorce was only for the betrothal period (cf. Lk. 16:18). The Bible allows for divorce only before physical consummation and not after physical consummation (i.e., not after marriage).

Paul and Divorce and Remarriage

The Corinthian church wrote the Apostle Paul about some questions they had about the married state. Paul's answers include what Christ said about marriage and additional apostolic teaching as well (I Cor. 7:1-40). Paul's clearest statement is "but and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife" (v. 11). In this context, the Apostle allows for temporary separation and no remarriage. Furthermore, the goal of all marital conflicts is reconciliation, and divorce is never an option for Christians. Paul makes it clear that remarriage is only possible when the marriage union is dissolved by death: "The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth: but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord" (v.40).

Some misunderstand Paul, thinking that he is allowing for divorce when he states "art thou loosed from a wife" (v. 28). The "loosed" is a perfect verb and refers to the permanent state of bachelorhood. All Paul is stating is that in a time of persecution ("present distress," v.26) bachelors should remain unmarried.

Conclusion

The Bible is God's guide for mankind in general and especially for Christians. The Bible teaches that marriage is permanent and monogamous. The Bible teaches that divorce is only for the betrothal period prior to physical consummation. The Bible teaches that reconciliation, not divorce is the solution to marital difficulties, and that remarriage is only allowable when the marriage union has been broken by death. May Christians and mankind follow the Bible's guidance for strong family units by realizing marriage is for life and that the Lord God of Israel hates divorce (Mal. 2:16).

Wes Porter
Galatians 2:20

Seeker Sensitive Church "Confession"

2007-10-31T18:55:00.000-07:00

One of the largest seeker sensitive church's in America is Willow Creek. They are primarily responsible for the seeker sensitive movement about growing large mega-church's and they have released a new book on their findings about the spiritual depth of their congregation. Not surprising their results were not good news and they have found their congregations to be spiritually weak. This is well worth a read. I am so blessed to have my pastor,John Werhas, who isn't all about the "church" programs but about teaching the Word of God book by book, chapter by chapter and verse by verse.

Here is a quote from the founder of Willow Creek and below is a full article from Town Hall.com

"We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between services, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own."

Bob Burney over at Town Hall has written a piece about this new finding. You can find it HERE.

What is church to do and promote, very simple all I need to do is go look at the first Church started by the apostles in Acts 2:42:

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

What is the first thing they devoted themselves too? Sound doctrine from the apostles teaching. If your church is not based on sound doctrine and teaching you from the Word of God you might want to rethink why you are going there.

Wes Porter
Galatians 2:20

1 John And Confessing Our Sins

2007-10-25T18:50:00.000-07:00

It is almost the end of October and I don't know how many times I have read 1 John this month but it has been a lot. John tells us about sin and how we are to deal with it and what is our response to it before and after we become believers. John is not messing around about sin and he expresses that we should have no sin in our lives. To have no sin in our lives is only accomplished one way, through the sacrifice of Christ.

In the first few verses of this book John tells us that he is an eyewitness to the things he is going to tell us. He proclaims to us what he has seen and heard concerning the Word of life (Jesus, 1 John 1:1) He then immediately addresses the sin of the unbeliever. He gives us some stern warnings; If you claim to walk with Him but you walk in the darkness you deceive yourself. If we claim to be without sin, we are deceived and the truth is not in us and we are liars. What is the answer for the unbeliever who is lost. It is answered in 1 John 1:9, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Once I confess my sins, admit that I am a sinner and believe Christ died and rose again for my debt, only then I am made righteous and can walk in the light with God for eternity. How many times do I have to do that?

Here is my question that I have been struggling with after reading this passage so many times. Am I to confess every single sin over and over again to be cleansed over and over by Christ? Or were all my past, present and future sins already paid for so I don't have to keep confessing each of them specifically? Now let me be very clear here. I am not saying this so I can go out and do whatever I want. How do I know that is not what John is saying? 1 John 2: 3-6 says the following, "We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands. The man who says, "I know Him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him; Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.

There is no way I could ever think that just because Christ died for my sins that I am free to keep on sinning. But here is the beauty of Christ and what He has done. 1 John 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. Wow what a promise from our Lord and Savior. He is our advocate to the Father.

I am thinking that 1 John 1:9 is for unbelievers. If I have to confess every sin to be forgiven and be made righteous over and over again I am going to be in some serious trouble. What if I forget about one that I committed or worse yet what if I commit a sin and don't even know it. Have I lost my relationship with Christ because I didn't confess it? Am I now unrighteous? I don't think so. But what does God want me to do? Obey Him, follow Him, and love one another. 1 John is thick with loving my brother, obeying Christ, following after Him and not sinning.

As all of this has been whirling around in my head I was listening to Greg Koukl on the radio and a women called in asking specifically about having to ask for forgiveness for every sin she committed everyday. His response was a little shocking at first like maybe you are feeling the same about what I have written. I wanted to dig a little deeper. Then I had a conversation with a fellow brother and he told me when he was growing up that his sunday school teacher told him that if he did not confess all his sins he would be in big trouble with God. This frightened my friend as a child who asked the teacher but what if I can't remember one. The sunday school teacher went on to say you better pray that God lets you remember. How insane is that, but do we put ourselves through that same type of turmoil?

Well my friend who I was having this discussion with found this excellent paper written by Greg Koukl and here it is, this will help explain a lot of what I have read in 1 John and what I am trying to articulate. One day I hope I can write things like this, amazing stuff.

Clarification on ConfessionGregory Koukl

To put it simply, the one who says, "I don't need forgiveness," is at odds with God and doesn't get it.

What is the place of confession of sin in the New Testament?

1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

I realize from the comments that I get that there are a lot of people who are confused about my position on confession of sin. They think that I don't believe in confession at all or that I don't think it's appropriate to deal with sin--it doesn't matter if we sin, we're forgiven, so we don't have to worry about it. I want to take a few minutes to express my understanding from the Bible on this particular issue.

There is a lot of confusion, I think, on the issue of confession. So I'd like to take a few minutes and address this issue. What is confession? What does the Greek word mean and how is it used in the New Testament? What does the concept of confession have to do with confession our sins? What results from confession of our sins to God and what role does confession play in the Christian life in resolving issues between God and man relevant to their sin, the times that they've broken God's law?

Let me tell you how I resolved these questions. I went back to the Bible and found every single place where the word "confession" is used and I did an inductive study on what the Bible teaches on the concept of confession. In the New Testament there are 34 different usages of this word " homologeo ," which means literally "to speak the same thing."

We have a problem in our culture and it has to do with words that have scriptural, spiritual meaning. The problem is that we have contemporary usages of words and we have biblical usages of words. Sometimes the definition in a contemporary sense is not the same as the definition in the scriptural sense. For example, we say "Repent." What does "repent" mean? We say that repent means to turn from your sin. Well, that is the common evangelical definition of the word repent. But that is not what the word repent means in the New Testament. It simply means "to have a change of mind." "Repent" needs an object. So the text may say, "Repent of sin," or it may say, "Repent towards God." One commands to change your mind or have a change of life or action about sin, which would be turning from sin. The other commands change your mind about God, and particular sin is not in view.

The point I'm making is that we have to be careful about importing our popularized definition of words. We have to be careful about taking out twentieth century definitions of words and exporting that 2000 years back into the text when the words in the text don't necessarily mean what we mean now when we use them.

So, what does "confess" mean? We think confess means that we're sorry for our sins, that we tell our sins to God and ask Him for forgiveness. However, the word is used 34 times in the New Testament and only four of the 34 times is sin in view. Fourteen times the word confess is used to refer to Jesus or the Gospel. We confess Jesus before men or we confess the Gospel. Two times it's used to acknowledge God. Seven times it's used simply to state something (Jesus said, "Then I will declare to them 'I never knew you. Depart from me you who practice lawlessness.'") The word declare is " homologeo ." It means "to confess, to speak the same thing."

There are actually two different forms of the word. One is " homologeo" and one is " exhomologeo ." Homologeo means "to speak the same thing." Exhomologeo has the prefix "ex-" which mean "out" and it means "to speak out the same things." "Homologeo" is confession and the only place in the New Testament where " homologeo " is used related to sin is 1 John 1:9. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The word exhomologeo, "to speak out the same thing," is used three times regarding sin in the New Testament. So we only have four references of confessing sin in the New Testament. Three of them relate to speaking out the same thing, speaking out a confession, in other words a public confession of sin.

We see in Matthew 3:6 that when John was baptizing, the people were confessing their sins. They were speaking out the same things, " exhomologeo ." In Mark 1:5 we see a parallel passage with the same event. In James 5:16 it says, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another," speak out the same thing regarding your sins, "and pray for one another so that you may be healed." The point being, three references to confession of sin: one is private confession in 1 John 1:9; one is public confession of sins with John the Baptist recorded in Matthew 3:6 and Mark 1:5; and finally, the public confession of sins that we see in James 5:16.

Now the question that I have to ask is: do these verses support the popular notion about confession that when we sin we must confess sin to God in order to be forgiven and must we confess our sins before God in order to have prayer with God? In other words, if we're Christians and we come to prayer, do we, to use a popular term, exhale our sins through confession to clear the board and then inhale the Holy Spirit so then we can talk to God? That is a popular teaching and a lot of people go through that. They use the acronym ACTS-adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication-for their prayer time.

My question is simply: is it a biblically enjoined practice to list your sins and reflect on your sins before you go to prayer before God?

My conviction is this. There is a place for confession of sin--the Scripture talks about it clearly in three different places--but ongoing confession does not keep Christians forgiven because forgiveness is a past event not an ongoing process. Secondly, there is no scriptural injunction that we list our sins before we pray and offer our requests to God. In fact, I think it's counterproductive to a healthy Christian life.

I'll tell you why, from the text, step by step. Keep in mind that in order to answer the question biblically we must answer it from the Bible. So we go back to the New Testament references to confessing sin and simply look at those passages and we draw our conclusions from those passages.

1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

This verse is the most obvious one and therefore the best place to start.

Now I admit that if we take this verse in isolation, we could conclude that when Christians confess sin, that is, when they list their offenses against God, itemizing the ways they've disobeyed Him, then they are cleansed and forgiven before Him. That seems to be the most straightforward reading of the text. Most Christians accept this, even teaching it is necessary (or at least desirable) to confess regularly to God before they pray in order to open the channels, so to speak, between them and the Lord.

If that is the accurate view--and that is the view of those who object to my position on this--then this view creates two conflicts for me. First. if this verse teaches that we are supposed to confess our sins on an ongoing basis as Christians, then it also teaches that it is necessary to confess in order to be forgiven. If we don't confess, then we aren't forgiven. Those are the words of the text.

Most hold that Christians are supposed to confess their sins before they come into God's presence in prayer, but then they'll admit that Christians are already forgiven even if they don't confess. However, the verse as it stands doesn't allow that flexibility. If we're obliged to confess, as this verse commands, then confession is necessarily linked to forgiveness. You can't have it both ways. You can't split it in half and say the first part applies but the second part doesn't. Those who view the text this way are caught in a "textual two-step," talking out of both sides of their mouths. The second concern I have is similar. What's the point of 1 John 2:1? This verse immediately follows 1 John 1:9; if you remove the chapter break it reads continuously. It says, "My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world."

It seems to imply that for Christians--and I think Christians are clearly in view here because he used the endearment "little children"--the secure antidote for sin is the advocacy of Jesus acting as a defense counselor for us.

I now have to ask this question: Is Jesus' advocacy dependent upon our day-to-day confession of sin, or is it independent of it? If it's dependent on our confession of sin, we have a problem. Sin is only forgiven as we confess; Jesus is our advocate only as we list our transgressions and take them before Him. But the New Testament teaches that He has already forgiven us all our transgressions (Col 2:13), that God will never remember our sins or lawless deeds again (Hebrews 10:17).

These two issues caused me to take a closer look at the passage as a whole. It's fine to take the verse at face value if it doesn't conflict with other verses. But once we see a conflict with other verses then we have to step back and ask if maybe what seems obvious at first glance might not be mistaken after deeper scrutiny.

This is an example of interpreting the unclear in light of the clear. We have clear teaching in a number of places in the New Testament that our forgiveness is a one time event, that it's done when we confess that Jesus is our Lord, when Jesus comes into our life we enter into eternal life, that our sins and transgressions God remembers no more, then how is that we can interpret 1 John 1:9 that we must confess in order to be forgiven if, in fact, we are forgiven already?

I took a closer look at the passage in context and when I did, I began to see the first chapter of 1 John in a different light. I noticed that in the first four verses, John is making an appeal for people to have fellowship with him and with God through Jesus Christ. Keep in mind that fellowship in this passage means regeneration, salvation. It does not mean the kind of thing that we mean when we say we're in fellowship with God and we're out of fellowship with God. According to John, a person in fellowship with God has the blood of Christ cleansing him from all of his sins. The word fellowship when applied between God and man in the New Testament is synonymous with salvation. John invites us to saving fellowship with Jesus Christ and he says that his appeal is valid, he points out, because he was an eyewitness to Jesus' earthly ministry and teaching. In other words, he knows that what he's saying is true.

Basically, John is beginning his letter with a simple defense for the faith: "I've been with Jesus. I've seen Him. I've put my faith in Him and know Him. You can do that too." This first section is strongly evangelistic, it is addressing the non-Christian contingent of his readers: "What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus the Messiah." Now that's an evangelistic thrust.

But why be evangelistic to Christians? Isn't he speaking to believers here? Well, the answer is yes and no. He is writing to Christians but like any good preacher he knows that his audience is mixed. Every preacher on Sunday has a mixed audience. He addresses some of his comments to Christians and he addresses some of his comments to non-Christians and basically says, "If the shoe fits wear it." John, I think, is doing that here. I can say that because his first statements seem to make a very straight forward evangelistic appeal.

In verse 5 John announces the message he has received from Jesus (v3). John tells us about the character of God, that God is without sin. Those who know Him must not habitually live in sin either. He promises, however, in verse 7 that if we do walk with Him "in the light" then we will be cleansed of all sin through the blood of Christ. [1]

There is a catch, however. In order to be cleansed of your sin through Christ Jesus, you must first admit your need before you can be helped. To say that you have no sin is untruthful and self-deceptive (v8). The alternative to saying you have no sin is to confess your sins, resulting in cleansing (v9). That's where I think verse 9 fits in.

I think that in verses 5-9 John continues his evangelistic appeal. He's already invited people to have fellowship with God and walk in the light so their sins might be cleansed (i.e., salvation), and explains that walking in the light entails not living in sin.

The first step in that process is acknowledging our sin ( homologeo : to confess, agree, lit. "to speak the same thing"). If we come into relationship with God we will be cleansed, but that requires that we acknowledge our need for cleansing. If we don't acknowledge that we need cleansing, that we have sinned, then the truth is not in us. But if we do agree that we have sinned (and here is where verse 9 comes in), then God will forgive us and cleanse us from all our unrighteousness.

This chapter is not speaking, in my view, of a Christian's ongoing relationship with God but of a person who is being asked to enter into a relationship with God based first of all on John's eyewitness testimony of Jesus, secondly on the reality that God is without sin, thirdly on the reality that we all have sinned, and fourth, on the final promise that if we acknowledge our sinfulness and confess our sin, we can enter into that relationship, that fellowship with God based on the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

To put it simply, friends, as I look through chapter 1, I realize verse 9 creates a problem if I understand that it applies to Christians as it stands because it violates other Scriptures. So I look closely at the chapter and I see a very strong evangelistic thrust in John's first chapter and I draw the conclusion from the words that John uses that he is not addressing Christians in particular here. He is addressing people who need Jesus. He's saying that Jesus will forgive your sins and you can have fellowship with Him, but you must acknowledge that you are a sinner. If you don't, the truth is not in you and you call God a liar. And now my paraphrase of verse 9: If you confess or say the same thing with God, that you are a sinner, then He will forgive your sins and cleanse you of all unrighteousness.

Then he goes on in chapter 2 with what the Christian antidote to sin is, that is Jesus Christ. In chapter 2, John specifically addresses Christians ("My little children"). He writes what follows in order that Christians not fall into sin, but then assures them that if they do sin they have forgiveness, not as a result of ongoing sin-listing and continued requests for forgiveness, but simply by the fact that they have an advocate with the Father in Jesus. Jesus is the full satisfaction (propitiation) for all their sins, and He is an advocate that is so adequate He is capable of making complete defense for sins for every single person in the world (v2).

Another way of putting it is that Christians are ones who are acknowledging sinfulness before God. We are the kind of people who say, "Yes, we are sinners and we need Him." And because of their admission they are experiencing cleansing. Non-Christians are those that don't acknowledge their need and therefore aren't cleansed.

However, admitting our sinfulness doesn't imply that we are verbalizing a tally of our current transgressions. This passage deals with the issue of cleansing and what is necessary for cleansing. John is simply saying, in my view, that some say they have no sin and make God a liar, whereas the Christian continually acknowledges his sinfulness, is continually aware of his need for God's forgiveness and, as such, is a person God has forgiven and is continually cleansing.

To put it simply, the one who says, "I don't need forgiveness," is at odds with God and doesn't get it. Alternatively, the Christian is forgiven because he says, "I continually need forgiveness because I'm continually sinning, but I have confidence of continual cleansing because I continually have an advocate in Jesus."

Now that's 1 John 1:9. There is no hint there that confession helps improve out existential relationship with God, our daily "walk" with Him. It doesn't even talk about that. I think that explanation is offered as sort of "textual two-step" to get around the clear wording of the passage that implies that if you don't confess then you're not forgiven. Christians can't have it both ways. I think that this is a better way of looking at it.

James 5:16

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed."

James 5:16 has to do with speaking out our sins. This is an important passage in the area of confessed sin. It relates to a public confession of sin ( exhomologeo , to speak out the same things), as do Mark 1:5 and Matthew 3:6 (incidentally, I want to re-emphasize that these four verses are the only New Testament references to confessing sin ).

The question really has to do with what James means by "healed" here? There are four possibilities: physical healing, emotional healing, healing of relationship or, in the case of one just coming to Christ, spiritual healing, that is, forgiveness of sin (mentioned in the previous verse). Any of those things could be in view, theoretically.

There are places in the Scripture where it appears that sin actually produces illness (e.g., 1 Cor 11:30). Confession in this case would lead to health. Problems in relationships are healed when one party confesses to the person that he has wronged. There is also a powerful emotional impact when we take a private sin and make it public, even if only one other person learns about it. It seems to relieve a tremendous emotional burden from our hearts and gives us an increased ability to repent. It seems to take the teeth out of the temptation.

Hebrews 10

Another passage that's really important is Hebrews 10. This passage doesn't deal directly with confession, but it does say something very important about the New Covenant and the issue of drawing near to God in prayer.

The writer of this book points out that one of the functions of the Law was to constantly remind us of our sins. You should read Hebrews 10, it's a wonderful, wonderful chapter. He notes that this reminder was prima facie evidence--evidence on the face of it--that forgiveness and cleansing were not complete. In other words, continual sacrifices reminded us that forgiveness and cleansing weren't complete. Then he says, "Otherwise, would [sacrifices] not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins?" (v2)

Earlier in chapter 9:13ff, the writer argues that the blood of goats and bulls cleansed the flesh, but the blood of Christ cleanses the conscience . That same word again. That's important.

The conclusion I draw is that because the sacrifice of Christ was complete, we no longer need a reminder of sins, instead, our consciences can be clean before God. That seems to be God's conclusion, too. Later in the chapter it says, "And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more " (v17), and "Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience " (v22).

If those things are true, why is it desirable to remind ourselves of our sins and burden our consciences with our error when God has gone to a great deal of trouble to do exactly the opposite? Why do we keep making ourselves feel miserable by reminding ourselves how awful we are? That was a function of the Law that is now done away with. God says in Hebrews 10 that we are cleansed even of an evil conscience, so we don't need that continual reminder of sins. In fact, God Himself has judicially forgotten all of our sins.

Putting it all together

Let's put this all together, now. How does all of this "theology" work itself out in practice?

First, God wants us to come into relationship with Him, and this is the application for those of you who don't consider yourselves Christians, or maybe you're on the cusp and you're thinking about Christianity. Let me tell you what the Bible says about your condition. God wants us to come into relationship with Him and to live a life that is characterized by godliness. Those that are in fellowship with Him, that is, those who are rescued from their sin and forgiven are continually cleansed by the blood of Christ. It's an ongoing process. 1 John 1:7 makes that clear.

In order to join with God we must not deny that we have sinned. We can't just keep going around saying we don't have anything to be sorry for. "I've never done anything wrong." "I'm basically a good person." Friend, if you're in that position the Apostle John says that you are calling God a liar because God says you have sinned. And it's pretty hard to be reconciled with God by calling Him a liar. So the first thing you must not do is deny your need of forgiveness.

Instead you must confess your sin, you must acknowledge that you are a sinner, that you've broken God's Law. The acknowledgment can be a general one or you can talk about specifics. That's fine too. You can get down on your face and say, "God, I have done this and this," and spend as much time as you need there to get that all out. That confession may be private (1 John 1:9) or public (Mk 1:5, James 5:16). You can make a public confession of your sins.

As Christians we are people who characteristically walk in holiness. You seek to live righteously. That's what John says in 1 John 1:6. Even so we are continually acknowledging that we are sinners in need of God's continual cleansing (1 John 1:9). If anyone comes to me at any particular time, I can't look down my self-righteous nose at them and say I've got it together and they don't because I am a person who continually sins everyday. I'm getting better. I'm not sinning as much as I used to and that's to God's credit as He has changed my life. But the fact is, I still need forgiveness. Christians are people who acknowledge that. They are people who sin as well. So we're in the same boat as anybody else.

I also have the same confidence that when we sin as Christians, God is faithful to bring that sin to our awareness through conviction in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (John 16:8). The Holy Spirit convicts of sin and righteousness and judgment. Also the conviction comes through the Word (Hebrews 4:12). "The Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword." Or through other Christians as in Gal 6:1. God will bring sin to our awareness by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, by other Christians, and through the Word. And when He does, we agree with God that this is sin and also agree with Him that He has cleansed us from it through the blood of Jesus.

When the Holy Spirit makes us aware of failure then we deal with it. "God, I realize that I shouldn't have said what I said or did what I did." We immediately take steps to turn from that sin. That's why I hold that repentance, not sin listing, is the appropriate biblical response to sin. God makes us aware of it, we agree with God--call it your confession if you want--we acknowledge with God that He has forgiven us of our wrong doing and we take immediate steps to turn from that. That's the Christian antidote for the practice of sin.

The conviction of sin may be accompanied by feelings of remorse over what we've done. This remorse is a work of the Holy Spirit. The flesh can't produce it. Sometimes we feel very sorry. But other times we may feel almost nothing. However, we turn from sin not because we feel it's wrong, but because it is wrong, not because we feel guilty, but because we are guilty. There is no need, I believe, to take our "guilt temperature" before we act in obedience, repenting from something we know is wrong. If God says it's wrong, even if we feel good about it, it's still right to turn from it. Some would suggest that you're not truly confessing and repenting unless you feel absolutely miserable. The Scripture doesn't indicate that's a requirement. It just says we should repent. That's an act of our will, not of our emotion.

As we come to God in prayer, we don't focus introspectively to increase our conscious awareness of our sins as the Law used to do. Part of the work of the cross is actually to remove our conscious awareness of sin and replace it with confidence of acceptance. That's the point of the Hebrews 10 passage. We focus, rather, on God's forgiveness, coming before the throne with the full confidence and assurance of faith knowing that God has faithfully cleansed us even of an evil conscience. That's what Hebrews 10:19-22 says. We have full assurance of faith and we can come before Him because we know that He has cleansed us.

In all circumstances we know and are assured of God's continued faithful forgiveness of us in any circumstance because Jesus is always there as our defense council (1 John 2:1-2).

In this viewpoint there is no hint of license to sin here because the reality is that those who are walking with God in new birth are characteristically growing in holiness and are not seeking to walk in darkness and in sin. They have died to sin and have been raised up in a new life, as Paul says in Rom 6:1-11.

The practice of listing and reviewing our sins before we have conversation with God is not, as far as I can determine, a New Testament teaching nor is it promoted in the text as a Christian discipline. In fact, I would argue that Hebrews 10 seems to indicate this was a negative function of the Law that can actually work against our sense of closeness with God and our boldness in coming before the throne.

I also don't see any indication of a scouring self examination to find all the places that we've fallen short of God's expectations. As far as I can tell, it's the Holy Spirit's job to examine us. When we go before the Lord and He makes us aware of something then we deal with it, we don't ignore it. But we don't have to go looking for things to feel bad about in God's presence.

That's my view. If you disagree with this, you're certainly at liberty to do so. But please, scour the text yourself and find out in what ways my analysis is not biblical. I realize that what I've said is not in step with the belief of the current rank and file evangelical on this issue. But my request is that you examine my analysis biblically and examine the evangelical frame of mind biblically because I don't think that frame of mind holds up under rigorous examination.

[1] Note that the terms "in fellowship" with God and "walking in the light" have a different definition in modern evangelicalism than John is using here. We use the term to mean living a spiritual life, not a fleshly one, being experientially tight with God as opposed to backsliding. That is not what John has in mind. In this passage, having fellowship with God and walking in the light are both synonymous with salvation. All people who are born again are in fellowship with God, regardless of the current existential state of their growth. Technically, a Christian is never "in the flesh" either. All people who have the Spirit of God living in them are not in the flesh but in the Spirit by definition (see Romans 8:9).

Appendix

There are two Greek words for confession, homologeo and exhomologeo. Both mean "to speak the same thing."

Confess/Confession; homologeo - to speak the same thing

Usage: Confessing sin

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Usage: Referring to Jesus or the gospel

Matt. 10:32 Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.
Luke 12:8 And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man shall confess him also before the angels of God.
John 9:22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed, that if anyone should confess Him to be Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.
John 12:42 Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue;
Rom. 10:9-10 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses , resulting in salvation.
2 Co. 9:13 Because of the proof given by this ministry they will glorify God by your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all,
1 Tim. 6:12-13 Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate,
Heb. 3:1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession .
Heb. 4:14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession .
Heb. 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;
1 John 4:2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus has come in the flesh is from God;
1 John 4:3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.
1 John 4:15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God.
2 John 7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.

Usage: Acknowledging to God

Usage: To state something

Matt. 7:23 And then I [Jesus] will declare to them, "I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.
Matt. 14:7 Thereupon he [Herod] promised with an oath to give whatever she [Herodias] asked.
John 1:20 And he confessed , and did not deny, and he confessed , "I am not the Christ." [John the Baptist]
Acts 23:8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.
Acts 24:14 But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law, and that is written in the Prophets.
Titus 1:16 They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient, and worthless for any good deed.
Heb 11:13 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

Usage: To give thanks

Heb. 13:15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.

Confess/Confession; exhomologeo - to speak out the same things

Usage: Confessing sin

Matt. 3:6 And they were being baptized by him [John the Baptist] in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
Mark 1:5 And all the country of Judea was going out to him [John the Baptist], and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

Usage: Referring to Jesus
Phil. 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Usage: Acknowledging to God
Rev. 3:5 He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I [Jesus] will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.

Usage: To agree to do something

Luke 22:6 And he consented , and began seeking a good opportunity to betray Him to them apart from the multitude.

Usage: To speak out

Acts 19:8 And he [Paul] entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

Usage: Praising God

Matt. 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, "I praise Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent and didst reveal them to babes."
Luke 10:21 At that very time He [Jesus] rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, "I praise Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent and didst reveal them to babes. Yes, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing in Thy sight."
Rom. 14:11 For it is written, "AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD."
Rom. 15:9 and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written, "THEREFORE I WILL GIVE PRAISE TO THEE AMONG THE GENTILES, AND I WILL SING TO THY NAME."

This is a transcript of a commentary from the radio show "Stand to Reason," with Gregory Koukl. It is made available to you at no charge through the faithful giving of those who support Stand to Reason. Reproduction permitted for non-commercial use only. ©1992 Gregory Koukl

For more information, contact Stand to Reason at 1438 East 33rd St., Signal Hill, CA 90755
(800) 2-REASON (562) 595-7333 www.str.org

Joe Francis, Founder of Girls Gone Wild, I Am Just Like Jesus

2007-10-22T18:44:00.000-07:00

This is about the most pathetic piece of garbage I came across in a long time. Joe Francis, the founder of girls gone wild, has been arrested on various accounts of filming under aged girls. He has also been charged with tax evasion, caught with illegal prescription drugs in jail and tried to bribe an officer in jail. In a Fox News interview, with Greta Van Susteren, he is being targeted because of what he does and that he has done NOTHING wrong. He goes on to describe how he is being mocked by the other inmates and how he fell down and a priest helped him up and asked him, do you ever think about Jesus. What was his response, "yeah everyday because just like Jesus I am innocent." Bring me the barf bag.

So I decide to head over to Greta's blog and post the following, I had some nasty responses to what I said. I think there were at least 3 people who said who am I to judge. John 3:16 is not longer the most popular verse quoted nowadays but Matthew 7:1 Judge not, that you will be judged. But people miss the meaning of the verse and use it soooo out of context. My favorite response is do you believe in the court system? Should we not judge murderers and rapists? God is telling us if we are doing the same thing then who are we to judge.

Here is my post:
Mr. Francis you make me want to vomit when you compare yourself to Jesus. Sir you are not innocent nor are you sinless. You exploit women and are a cancer to society. You provide no benefits to this world with your videos and I can only imagine how many marriages you have impacted in a negative way. I hope they convict you to the fullest extent of the law. It is funny how the Bible is always true. Your sins will find you out and what you sow is what you will reap.

However, you have an opportunity to repent and turn towards Christ. He was willing to die for your sins and pay your debt. He offered up His ultimate love as the Bible says in 1 John 3:16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Mr. Francis you are nothing like Jesus. You are not innocent, you have not laid your life down for those who hate you, you are not sinless. I would highly suggest you get yourself a Bible and read it and find out who Jesus really is before you make more silly statements.

You can overcome this and ultimately death and have eternal life. Who is it that overcomes? 1 John 5:5 says, "Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" Turn and repent and you will be saved.

Sometimes I wonder just how lost our society is and that there are people sticking up for this garbage.

Wes Porter
Galatians 2:20

Are You An Antichrist?

2007-10-17T18:41:00.000-07:00

In the last week I have been doing a serious study on 1 John. I was listening to a John MacArthur Podcast and he talked about taking each of the New Testament books and reading one book for 30 days everyday. I have read through the entire Bible lots of times and I think for the next 2 years I am going to try this and still read through the entire Bible in a year. We will see how it goes but it has already been a blessing for me in so many ways.

1 John is just an amazing slice of scripture. There are so many blessings and so many nuggets of information in this short 5 chapter book of the Bible. I have been thinking about what I wanted to write about 1 John and after reading some other posts on some other blogs I thought the topic of the AntiChrist would be appropriate.

Here is what was said about Christianity on one of the blogs I regularly read (str.org),

“The public face of Christianity: peace loving do-gooders making the world a better place, is a distortion of what Christianity really is: a cult driven by authoritarian fear mongering based on a suspension of logic, reason and free thought in favor of ancient superstition that hinders the progress of the human race, and gives those who claim religious authority the perfect power and opportunity to psychologically manipulate their followers. Throughout history social reform has been hindered by the religious...”

Wow, then he goes on and rails that Christians are intolerant. I guess it is ok to be intolerant of Christians though. There is so much in this one paragraph it would take days to write what is wrong with the above quote. But, I want to address 2 things from 1 John about the author of this statement. According to God’s word who is this person and secondly address what Jesus says on how we should treat one another. God’s word exposes who this person is and secondly it tears down his philosophy about Christianity.

This gentleman is in a serious situation. He is an antichrist. 1 John 2:22 Says,

Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.

This gentleman is in no worse or better state than anyone who denies who Christ is. I wouldn’t expect anything else from someone who does not have a personal relationship with Jesus. We should pray for this individual that God would open his eyes to the truth and that he would repent and turn to God.

Obviously I don’t go around telling anyone they are antichrists because it really would do no good. But what I want to show is that they are in a serious need of a Savior. If they do not repent they are going to perish. 1 John 1:9 gives us hope.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

How does God make us righteous? By paying for our sins through His death. Now the above author claims that Christians use our religion to manipulate their followers through fear by authoritarian mongers? REALLY? Well lets see who we put our faith into and see if this is who He is.

1 John 3:16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Hmm, did Jesus come down to create this “cult driven by authoritarian fear mongering based on a suspension of logic”? He laid His life down for the rebellious sinner. I am trying to figure out where statements like this come from? Yes, Christians screw up and make mistakes and yes maybe there are some Christian MEN who have behaved in this manner. However, we need to look at what Christ did and what He says. Here is the crux of the problem. Non-Christians need to take a look at Christ and His perfection and put their faith in Him. I am not going to put my faith in any man’s deeds but to put my faith on the perfect Savior Jesus Christ.

What does Jesus tell His followers to do? Lay down our lives for one another. How do I do this in everyday practice. By putting others before me, to deny my own pleasures for others. I fail miserably sometimes but this is my hearts desire. I want to pick up my cross and deny myself daily. How does that work out in day to day realities? By putting my wife and kids needs before mine, by being a servant at work, by caring for others before my own needs. This is what Jesus teaches because HE DID IT FOR US!!!! The irony of the quote above.

I want to end with a passage in 1 John 5:10-13. This portion of scripture just makes me love my God so much and encourages me in the hope we have in Him.

10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. 11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

All glory, all honor, all praise, all worship are for our King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ.

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Joel Osteen's New Book

2007-10-15T17:02:00.000-07:00

Joel Osteen is releasing a new book "Become a Better You" and he was interviewed on 60 minutes about his new book and his ministry. You can see the entire interview here. Mr. Osteen received 13 Million dollars up front for his new book. Unfortunately the early previews are more of the same self help and prosperity gospel message he speaks about. I wonder how fast his 40,000 member church would shrink if he would finally give them the true gospel message and let them know they are in a serious state, a rebellious state against God.

Thank heavens they had someone on 60 minutes to refute Joel Osteen's message and claim it as heresy. It is the worst kind of heresey because it is wrapped in such a great package. He is an amazing orator and if he was just willing to preach the truth God would be able to use him mightily. Dr. Michael Horton from Westminster Seminary has written 5 essays on the 60 Minutes broadcast with Joel Osteen and was the voice of reason on 60 Minutes. He addresses the problems with Mr. Osteen's message. Here is an excerpt from Mr. Horton essay.

"Name it, claim it"; the "health-and-wealth" or "prosperity gospel" : these are nicknames for a heresy that in many respects is only an extreme version of perhaps the most typical focus of American Christianity today more generally. Basically, God is there for you and your happiness. He has some rules and principles for getting what you want out of life and if you follow them, you can have what you want. Just “declare it” and prosperity will come to you. (1) God as Personal Shopper.

Although explicit proponents of the so-called “prosperity gospel” may be fewer than their influence suggests, its big names and best-selling authors (T. D. Jakes, Benny Hinn, Joel Osteen, and Joyce Meyer) are purveyors of a pagan worldview with a peculiarly American flavor. It’s basically what the sixteenth century German monk turned church reformer Martin Luther called the “theology of glory”: How can I climb the ladder and attain the glory here and now that God has actually promised for us after a life of suffering? The contrast is the “theology of the cross”: the story of God’s merciful descent to us, at great personal cost, a message that the Apostle Paul acknowledged was offensive and “foolish to Greeks.”

You can read the set of essays here.

All glory, all honor, all praise, all worship go to the King of kings and Lord of lords Jesus Christ.

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Noah's Ark

2007-10-11T16:50:00.000-07:00

Here is a great article on Noah's Ark. I have had people challenge me that I am completely silly for believing in the factual account of the ark. Here is a great article that gives some insightful facts about the ark and a great study into Genesis. Here is an excerpt from the article and a link to the full article at www.AnswersInGenesis.org

The account of Noah and the Ark is one of the most widely known events in the history of mankind. Unfortunately, like other Bible accounts, it is often taken as a mere fairy tale.

The Bible, though, is the true history book of the universe, and in that light, the most-asked questions about the Ark and Flood of Noah can be answered with authority and confidence.

How Large Was Noah’s Ark?The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits (Genesis 6:15).
Unlike many whimsical drawings that depict the Ark as some kind of overgrown houseboat (with giraffes sticking out the top), the Ark described in the Bible was a huge vessel. Not until the late 1800s was a ship built that exceeded the capacity of Noah’s Ark.

The dimensions of the Ark are convincing for two reasons: the proportions are like that of a modern cargo ship, and it is about as large as a wooden ship can be built. The cubit gives us a good indication of size.1 With the cubit’s measurement, we know that the Ark must have been at least 450 feet (137 m) long, 75 feet (23 m) wide, and 45 feet (14 m) high. In the Western world, wooden sailing ships never got much longer than about 330 feet (100 m), yet the ancient Greeks built vessels at least this size 2,000 years earlier. China built huge wooden ships in the 1400s that may have been as large as the Ark. The biblical Ark is one of the largest wooden ships of all time—a mid-sized cargo ship by today’s standards.

You can find the rest of the article at AnswersInGenesis.org. It is a very informative read.

Wes Porter
Galatians 2:20

I AM

2007-10-10T16:42:00.000-07:00

Well a couple of you guys were asking about getting a copy of the video I put together for this mornings sermon. I have tried to compress it as best as I can but it is still a 28 MB download. So if you are not on a high speed connection don't bother trying to get it.

How awesome is our God? The promises Jesus makes in Revelation to the church's and us is just so amazing. I love all the statements that He makes about Himself and how it encourages me that we have a God who sees all, is in control of all, and that His will is done.

I was blessed doing this study beyond measure. I don't deserve these things but I am so thankful for what my Lord and Saviour does for us. I am encouraged when Jesus tells each of the seven church's the following statements about overcoming and having eternal life with Him.

Revelation 2:7b
To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.

Revelation 2:11b
He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.

Revelation 2:17b
To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it

Revelation 2:26
And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—

Revelation 3:5
He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

Revelation 3:12
He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.

Revelation 3:21
To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

How do we overcome? John tells us exactly how we overcome in 1 John 5:4-5

4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

It is our repentance, belief and zeal for God that saves us. It is the belief that Christ paid the sins for those who repent and put their faith in Him. There is nothing we can do on our own without Christ.

John 15:5
I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Lord we thank you for doing everything.

All praise, all worship, all honor, all glory goes to the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Here is the video I hope you enjoy.

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Bush: All Religions Pray To Same God??

2007-10-08T16:39:00.000-07:00

How many people in America believe what the president says about God. Does he have any idea what the heck he is talking about?
'That's what I believe. I believe Islam is a great religion that preaches peace' ....Really? hmm that is why they hate Jews, Christians and Americans and want to destroy us? I don't get it.

What else does our president claim:

"Well, first of all, I believe in an Almighty God, and I believe that all the world, whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God. That's what I believe. I believe that Islam is a great religion that preaches peace. And I believe people who murder the innocent to achieve political objectives aren't religious people, whether they be a Christian who does that – we had a person blow up our – blow up a federal building in Oklahoma City who professed to be a Christian, but that's not a Christian act to kill innocent people.

I wonder if he really means it or is someone forcing him to write this trash? Or is this truly his lack of Biblical Truth. They BOTH CANNOT BE TRUE. One claims Jesus is God who rose from the dead and Islam states he was just a good prophet and never died on the cross. All of Christianity hangs on this one event to be true.

Just a simple cursory look at Christianity vs Islam shows that the two religions are in complete opposition.

You can check out the full article here at Worldnetdaily.com.

Wes Porter
Galatians 2:20

Be Zealous And Repent

2007-10-03T16:24:00.000-07:00

After my morning sermon on the Church of Laodicea, I think this devotional by Charles Spurgeon is more than appropriate. I will be posting my sermon in the next few days. Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Luke 24:47)

I am glad to find in this verse that old fashioned virtue called repentance. It used to be preached, but it has gone out of fashion now. Indeed, we are told that we always misunderstood the meaning of the word repentance and that it simply means a "change of mind" and nothing more. I wish those who are so wise in their Greek knew a little more about that language, for they would not be so ready with their infallible statements. Gospel repentance is a change of mind of the most radical sort–such a change as never was wrought in any man except by the Spirit of God.

We are also to preach the motives of repentance–that men may not repent from mere fear of Hell, but they must repent of sin itself. Every thief is sorry when he has to go to prison; every murderer is sorry when the noose is about his neck; the sinner must repent; not because of punishment of sin, but because his sin is against a pardoning God, sin against a bleeding Savior, sin against a Holy Law, sin against a tender Gospel. The true penitent repents of sin against God, and he would do so if there no punishment.

We are to tell of the Source of repentance, namely, that the Lord Jesus Christ is exalted on high to give repentance and remission of sins. Repentance is a plant that never grows on nature’s dunghill; the nature must be changed, and repentance must implanted by the Holy Spirit, or it will never flourish in our hearts. We preach repentance as a fruit of the Spirit, or else we greatly err.

Wes Porter
Galatians 2:20

Total Depravity

2007-09-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

Travis Carden (http://www.traviscarden.com) has done some fantastic work putting a list together to show we are in a constant state of depravity until God breathes spiritual life into our spiritual deadness. If we take these passages as a whole I have a really hard time thinking that any man can bring himself or should I say “choose” God. I cannot align myself to be in the right position to receive God’s grace and mercy when I am completely depraved and dead in my sins. What do you think?

How does someone reconcile these verses that there is any good in us and I can reach out to God on my own?

is man basically good or basically evil? Ecclesiastes 7:29
"Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices."
Mark 10:18/Luke 18:19
And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone."
Romans 5:12,19
through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned... through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners
c.f. Ecclesiastes 9:3

all men? are there any exceptions? Romans 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Isaiah 53:6
All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way;
Romans 3:9-12
What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, "There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.
1 John 1:8,10
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we say we have not sinned, we make [God] a liar and His word is not in us.
c.f. 1 Kings 8:46; Psalm 53:1-3, 116:11, 130:3, 143:2; Proverbs 20:9; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Jeremiah 2:29; Micah 7:2-4, Mark 10:18; Luke 18:19; James 3:2; etc., etc.

are people good deep down? Mark 7:21-23
"For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."
Psalm 5:9
There is nothing reliable in what they say; their inward part is destruction itself. Their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.

are men totally depraved? is any faculty of the person yet uncorrupted? Heart/Thoughts (Deceitful) Jeremiah 17:9
"The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?"
Ecclesiastes 9:3
the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead.
Genesis 6:5 & 8:21
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually... from youth.
Psalm 36:1-2
Transgression speaks to the unGodly within his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. For it flatters him in his own eyes concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it.
Proverbs 28:26
He who trusts in his own heart is a fool
c.f. Ecclesiastes 8:11; Psalm 94:11; Mark 7:21-23

Mind/Understanding (Depraved) Romans 1:28-31
And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being... without understanding
Titus 1:15-16
to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled
Ephesians 4:17-18
So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;
Jeremiah 10:7-8,14
For among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You. But they are altogether stupid and foolish. Every man is stupid, devoid of knowledge

Will/Choosing (Enslaved) John 8:34
"Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin."
2 Timothy 2:25-26
if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
Titus 3:3
For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.
Romans 6:6
our old self was crucified with Him... so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient... and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
Romans 6:20
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
Romans 7:14
For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.
c.f. John 8:31-32,36; Galatians 4:9; 2 Peter 2:19

Affections/Desires (Perverted) Romans 1:24-27
Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
2 Timothy 3:2-4
For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God
Proverbs 21:10
The soul of the wicked desires evil
John 3:19
"This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil."
c.f. Genesis 3:16; Psalm 4:2, 140:8; Proverbs 10:23; 2 Peter 2:13

et al (Utter Ruin) Titus 1:15-16
to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled
Romans 7:18
I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh
Isaiah 1:5-6
The whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head there is nothing sound in it, only bruises, welts and raw wounds, not pressed out or bandaged, nor softened with oil.

are they just misdirected? do men "not know better?" Romans 1:18
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unGodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.
Romans 1:21
For even though they knew God they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Romans 1:32
and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
c.f. Romans 2:14-15

can men still do good when they want to? Matthew 7:18
"A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit."
Romans 8:7
the mind set on the flesh... does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so
Jeremiah 13:23
Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good who are accustomed to doing evil.
Genesis 6:5 & 8:21
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually... from youth.
Titus 1:15-16
to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.
c.f. 1 Samuel 24:13; Job 14:4; Matthew 12:34; Romans 14:23

are men at least born pure? what about the "tabula rasa?" Psalm 51:5
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.
Psalm 58:3
The wicked are estranged from the womb; those who speak lies go astray from birth.
c.f. Proverbs 22:15; Isaiah 48:8

what is the natural disposition of man toward God? John 3:20
"For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed."
Romans 8:7-8
the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Colossians 1:21
you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds
James 4:4
You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
c.f. Romans 1:28-30

what is man's relationship to God? Psalm 58:3
The wicked are estranged from the womb; those who speak lies go astray from birth.
Ephesians 2:12-13
remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Ephesians 2:3
Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
c.f. Isaiah 59:2

can man then do anything to please God? Proverbs 15:9
The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord
Proverbs 15:8/21:27
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord
Proverbs 28:9
He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination.
Isaiah 64:6
For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
Romans 8:7-8
the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please [God]
c.f. Psalm 50:16; Proverbs 21:4; Isaiah 1:10-15; Amos 5:21-24

are men at least seeking God? John 3:20
"For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed."
Isaiah 65:1
"I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me."
Isaiah 64:7
There is no one who calls on Your name, who arouses himself to take hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us and have delivered us into the power of our iniquities.
Romans 3:10-12
"there is none who seeks for God"
c.f. Romans 10:20

can the natural man comprehend the gospel or come to saving knowledge of God on his own? 1 Corinthians 2:14
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
our gospel is veiled... to those who are perishing, in whose case the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
1 Corinthians 1:18,21-24
For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Crist crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness
Matthew 11:27
"no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.'
c.f. Psalm 119:18; Proverbs 4:19; Ephesians 4:17-19; 2 Corinthians 2:15-16; 2 Corinthians 4:3-4

can men of themselves accept God's gift of salvation? do men choose God or come to him on their own? John 3:27
John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven."
John 14:16
"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him
John 1:12-13
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 6:44 & 64
"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him;" And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father."
Romans 9:16
So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.
Romans 11:35-36
Or who has first given to [the Lord] that it might be paid back to him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
1 Corinthians 1:30
But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus
Philippians 2:13
for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
c.f. Jonah 2:9; Zephaniah 3:9; John 15:16; 1 Corinthians 15:10; Philippians 1:6; James 1:18

who supplies faith/belief/repentance?Romans 12:3
God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
Acts 5:31
"He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
Acts 11:18
When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, "Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life."
Philippians 1:29
For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake... to believe in Him
Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
2 Timothy 2:25
The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, [etc.]... if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth
1 Corinthians 12:3
no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit
2 Peter 1:3
His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and Godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence
John 3:6 & 6:63
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit... It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing;"
c.f. John 5:44; Ephesians 6:23; 1 Corinthians 4:7; 2 Peter 1:1

can men do anything to help themselves? Romans 5:6
For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the unGodly.
Ephesians 2:5
even when we were dead in our transgressions, [God] made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)
c.f. Psalm 49:7-9; Jeremiah 2:22

who then can be saved?Matthew 19:26
Jesus said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
c.f. Mark 10:27; Luke 18:27

All praise, all worship, all glory, all honor, go to the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ.

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Prosperity Gospel Continues

2007-09-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

Our church has been studying through the book of Acts for the last year, I keep wondering how these prosperity teachers explain why Paul wasn’t living in a mansion being chauffeured around in his limousine eating finger sandwiches with Grey Poupon mustard.

Paul’s life was anything but the life of worldly pleasures and worldly prosperity. But we know he was rich in spiritual blessings. Lets read from 2 Corinthians 11:24-29

24 From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness— 28 besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?

I wonder if it Paul didn’t have enough faith? Maybe if he had sown some more $77.77 seeds of faith to the local evangelist he would have been blessed more and God would have given him that special secret he always desired.

Or maybe if he would have read Joel Osteen’s heresy book on Your Best Life Now he would have faired much better. But I digress. Check out these two video clips for a good laugh. One is completely a spoof and sadly the other one is not. Check it out.

All praise, all worship, all glory, all honor, go to the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ.

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Who Gets The Credit?

2007-09-12T16:05:00.000-07:00

This is another reason why I believe God has chosen us and predestined us who are followers of Christ and that is... He gets all the credit for my salvation. I know there was nothing good in me and I was completely dead in my transgressions until God breathed spiritual life into me. He gave me the faith to believe and the ability to repent and turn towards Him. He then imputed me with His righteousness.

John Piper has a great little article that expands on this idea from Desiring God website. Here is what he said:

“Some might say that, in regards to our salvation, it really doesn't matter who chose whom first. Why do you believe it is important to understand that God chose us first?  Because God means to get all the glory for our salvation. We need to know the One on whom we're leaning and what we're really leaning on Him for. Let me say a word about each of these two.  The second one: we need to know how we got saved. We were born not of blood, not of man, not of the human will--we were born of God. That is, we were brought into being as spiritually alive people by God. We were dead, according to Ephesians 2, and now we are alive together with God--by grace we have been saved.

Grace is the sovereign work by which God speaks to the dead corpse of our own spiritual life, and says, "Lazarus, come forth," and we awake from the dead, or "John Piper, come forth!," and we were brought into being. Now we need to know that so that we can rest in God's sovereign saving of us. That's how we got saved! We didn't somehow raise ourselves from the dead. We didn't somehow create--out of nothing--spiritual affections. God did this for us, which leads now to the first thing: He means to be glorified for all of this.   

God wants to be acknowledged for all that He has done and for all that He is. We will not give Him all of the praise and all of the glory that He should get if we don't think He did all that He did for us. So I think it is really important that we teach people how they actually got saved, even if they don't fully understand how they got saved, because we want them to begin--now better than never--praising God and honoring and relying on God for all that he did and not just for part of it.”

AMEN! God is so good to us!

All praise, all worship, all glory, all honor, go to the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ.

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Trying So Hard

2007-09-06T16:21:00.000-07:00

I have had a lot on my mind in the past few weeks with so much going on in my life and trying to do all I can to live for my Lord and Savior. I have been wondering what is God going to do with my life and how can I be used most effectively. Sometimes I wonder if I am doing what God wants me to be doing. My Pastor, John Werhas reminds us that I don’t make up the plans of my life then tell God to follow me. But I am to do the will of God and follow Him. I think I know what the will of God is for me but why do I seem to flounder at times?

There are some key areas in my life that I KNOW I need to stay focused on and those things are obeying, praying and and keeping in fellowship with my Lord and Savior, loving my wife and trying to be the best husband I can, training my children in the ways of the Lord and serving the body of Christ. It sounds so simple but why is it so hard sometimes? I think I have an answer and it always goes back to ME. Why oh why does my will get in the way of these things?

Trying so hard on my own strengths, on my own desires, on my own ideas. I think of the new Casting Crowns song Altar and the Door and I probably need to apply this more to my life, it goes like this:

I'm trying so hard to stop trying so hard
Just let You be who You are
Lord, who You are in me

I am trying so hard but let “I” stop trying so hard and let Jesus be who He is in me. I know I have huge responsibility to keep running the race and I need to do my part. There is so much to learn and I thank God for His Love Letter to us all. Lord please help me to be sold out completely for you. Help me Lord to deny myself and pick up my cross.

Jesus Said in Matthew 11:28
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Jesus Let me find rest in You.

All praise, all worship, all glory, all honor, go to the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ.

Wes
Galatians 2:20

We Are Saved Just Like Abraham

2007-09-06T15:59:00.000-07:00

We are still continuing through the book of Genesis in my men’s small group (MOB). This week we have read through were God accounted His righteousness to Abram. Many people ask how were the people in the Old Testament saved? Just like we are saved today through the blood of Christ. Our hope is in the things that have already happened, that we have faith, belief and repentance to what Christ already did.

Abram and the the people before Christ died had faith, belief and repentance in the forward promise of God. The Old testament points forward to the cross, the gospels point at the cross and the rest of the Bible points back at the cross. It is always the same way how someone is saved.

Genesis 15:6 says,
And he(Abram) believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

Just like John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

It is always based on what Christ has imputed to us and nothing of our own. However, as James says without works do we really have faith. Not that our salvation comes from works but just that it proves our faith. He writes in James 2:21-24

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

Pastor John Courson puts all of this in a crystal clear statement by saying the following:

Was it when Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees—a place of real sophistication and wealth—that God declared Abraham righteous? No. Was it when Abraham took his son Isaac to Mount Moriah in order to offer him as a sacrifice that God declared him justified? No. God declared Abraham righteous when Abraham simply believed Him (Genesis 15:6). When is a man saved and justified? Not when he follows God’s call obediently or even offers himself sacrificially, but when, like Abraham, he simply says, “Lord, I believe You. I believe what You say is true—that I’m righteous in Christ Jesus, that my sins past, present, and future are all forgiven.”

It is our belief, faith and repentance(turning toward God) that saves us. It is not something we earn. God calls us to HIm, we never come to Him on our own merits. I was once dead but He has now breathed life into me.

All Glory, All Honor, All Worship go to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Post Modern/Emergent Posters

2007-08-10T17:09:00.000-07:00

Over at Pyromaniacs they have created some of the most funny post modern posters I have seen. They model the inspirational posters we have all seen. The emergent movement is challenging truth and more importantly they say we can’t even know what truth is.

If you know nothing about the movement you should really take a hard look at it because this is a huge attack on the Bible and the church.

Here is a great article by John MacArthur on the movement.

Couple more of my favorites.

Here is a link to all the posters.

All Glory, All Honor, All Worship go to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Ezekiel 18 - Repent and Turn

2007-08-08T17:03:00.000-07:00

This video clip features a message from Paul Washer, a hard core pastor, spreading the Gospel message. I have previously posted on one of his sermons and commented on what a powerful message he gave of God’s good news. You can listen to his previous message here. What is amazing to me is no matter when I hear the Gospel message it fills my heart with joy for what Christ has done for us.

But today I want to address what it means to examine ourselves. Are we continuously looking at our lives and ensuring we are doing the things of God. When I sin am I being convicted of that sin or do I have sin in my life that I am ok with? I need to be looking at every aspect of my life. Am I allowing the world to seep in and compromise my relationship with Christ however small it may seem. Man this is a battle to deal with but if we are true followers of Christ we should certainly be concerned with our own holiness and obeying God and His Word.

Paul Says in Galatians 6:3-4 the following:
3 For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.

We are not to think of ourselves as anything because as soon as we do we are committing another sin and that is pride. But instead let us focus on our own works and compare those works to what Christ has commanded us to do. We fool ourselves in making excuses for our unfruitful works. We justify our sins in so many ways that God just hates. I can think of things that I try to justify because I just want to do them. Let it not be so!!!!! I want to rejoice and praise God for the good works that He allows me to do but always realizing that I need to mature in Christ and deny my own desires. I need to self examine myself daily. We all need to repent and believe and turn to Christ EVERYDAY. Like Paul Washer explained it is not a one day event but something that happens everyday. Keep turning to Christ.

Or how about being the Spiritual leader in our homes. Are we allowing sin to creep into our homes? Do we allow sinful video games, movies, books, magazines, TV shows, alcohol, etc... to impact our families? Are we doing everything as men to protect our families from the evil one. Or are we willing to compromise because we are too stinking lazy to do what is required of God? Guilty!

All Glory, All Honor, All Worship go to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Examine Yourself

2007-07-27T17:01:00.000-07:00

All Glory, All Honor, All Worship go to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Marriage - God's Blessing

2007-07-25T16:54:00.000-07:00

Life has been crazy busy these last few weeks and I have really failed on keeping up on the blog. Hopefully as things calm down I will get back into my routine of posting a couple of times a week.

But what I really want to talk about today is a special letter to my wife. We just celebrated our 10 year anniversary, we went to Solvang and had a complete blast. We left our 3 boys with the in-laws and were able to spend some well needed alone time.

My Love Paula,

I can’t even begin to express the love, the joy, the happiness, the tears and even the pain that has changed me in so many ways by being married to you. I thank God for you. I thank God that He used you in my life to completely break me and realize how far from a truly godly husband I was in the beginning of our marriage. Obviously, I still fail but you know I am a work in progress.

God has shown me what it means to be a Godly husband in His Word, but the irony of the situation is I have had a perfect example of selfless love all along in you. You exemplify what it means to be a servant, to deny your own needs for everyone else’s. I am blown away time and time again how you give 100% of yourself. God has provided me with the perfect wife custom made for just me.

Noah, Nathan, and Nolan, I want you boys to know how special my wife is to me. Your mother has given everything for you boys. She has committed her life in loving you boys and sacrificing everything for you. I want you boys to always love and respect her. I know it is my responsibility to show you boys how to love your wives by the way I love your mother Paula. I know I can keep improving but I want you to know what she has meant to me in my life. Besides Jesus she is number one.

I hope we have another 50 years together and one day we get to look back and say it has been a good and well traveled road with Christ always leading our path. It is only through Him that we are here today. I love you Paula, I love who you are, I love your sweetness, I love your empathy, I love your comforting, I love your kindness, I love your selflessness, I love your smile, I love your humor, I love your gentleness, I love your understanding, I love your loyalty, I love your warmth, I love your touch, I love your intelligence, I love your beauty but you know what I love about your the most... that you love Jesus

Jesus, thank you for Paula, you have blessed me more than I can even understand. You are a great God, there is no other like You.

All Glory, All Honor, All Worship go to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Faith Without Works

2007-07-11T16:53:00.000-07:00

In our weekly men’s breakfast this morning one of our pastors was going through the 2nd chapter in James teaching on faith and works. I have been thinking about my own faith and does my life show the fruits of my faith. I think in some ways yes and some areas I definitely need to improve. But as I thought more about this and the people who I know who are true Christians always demonstrate fruit/works in their lives. Then I started thinking about people who claim faith in Christ but there is NO fruit and on top of that they don’t even believe in what the Bible has to say.

I find these individuals with a said faith the very most difficult to deal with regarding their walk with Christ. I can definitely understand God’s warning in Revelation to the lukewarm church in Laodicea. People who have one foot in the world and one foot in a said faith are in a very dangerous position. It is easy to talk with people who either reject or don’t know about Christ than someone who claims they have a relationship with Christ but nothing in their life exemplifies that Christ is living in them. I believe these individuals have head knowledge of Christ but are really trying to buy the fire insurance of salvation while ignoring the LORD part of Christ reigning in their lives.

Let me give an example of someone I know that claims Jesus and says things like me and JC are tight while holding his fingers crossed together. Now let me be clear, he may very well be saved I am not going to make that judgement however let me list some of the things I know this person does: swears, doesn’t desire to read the Bible, rejected many offers of joining a Bible study, only goes to church on holidays, makes irreverent remarks about Christ, has no problem with pornography. If I look at these behaviors I am seriously concerned whether this person is a believer or not. I have even set down with this person and specifically asked how you are going to get to heaven and instead of saying something like i am a sinner saved completely by grace, I got the response I am a pretty good person. But this person insist that he is a Christian. I have warned him that everything in his life points that he is not and that I would be concerned if I was him. Is he truly saved? All I can say is the works that James talks about is not evident whatsoever in his life.

James says the following in 2:14-18

14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

What I do want to make clear is that James is not saying we are saved by our works but they are our evidence of our faith. Do you have works/fruits in your life today? Is Jesus your LORD and Savior or is He just providing you with hopeful fire insurance of salvation. It is good to self examine what we are doing and why we are doing these things.

All Glory, All Honor, All Worship go to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Humility - Empty Me

2007-06-26T16:51:00.000-07:00

Andrew Murray wrote one of my favorite books called Humility The Journey Towards Holiness. It is a pretty short book but very powerful at a 110 pages you can finish it in a few hours.

This is the third time I have read it and again it leads me to self examine my motives and what I am doing and why I am doing it. Murray does an excellent job focusing on the ultimate act of humility and that is our Lord and Savior willing to lay His life down for us. Can you just imagine the God that created us is willing to die for us and shed His innocent blood for our wickedness.

Murray goes on to explain that if there is any pride left in us than how can we be completely filled with Holy Spirit. Until I am willing to empty myself I am not going to be completely filled with Christ. This seems almost an impossible task at hand, I try and try to empty my wants, my needs, what I think I should do and give them all to Christ. But how fast do I try and take the reigns in control again. My flesh is so week and the spiritual warfare is so present.

Paul writes in Philipians 2:5-9 the following:

5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:  6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,  7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature[b] of a servant,  being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross!  9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,

We need to try to make ourselves nothing and take the role of being a servant. I definitely don’t hear this message coming from the prosperity gospel teachers like Joel Osteen, Crephlo Dollar, Paula White and the likes. Instead of denying and humbling myself I am to demand that God gives me what I deserve. It is all about me and how I feel and my self esteem. Do these guys even read their bibles?

How much more Christlike would we be if we could empty ourselves and fill our lives with Christ. How much better would our lives be if we were willing to be complete servants of Christ.

Jesus Said in Luke 9:23-24
And he said to them, If any one will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me; 24 for whosoever shall desire to save his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, he shall save it

We, me, need to deny ourselves way more we need to empty our pride and follow Christ.

All Praise, All Worship, All Glory, All Honor, All Love to the King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus Christ!

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Just A Choice

2007-06-25T16:47:00.000-07:00

This morning I was assaulted on the home-page of msn.com with the following headline: Why I Chose Abortion. Here we go again with the justification of murder.

Either we should be able to murder babies for any reason or there is absolutely NO justified reason for killing babies. I read pro choice information like this and it makes me want to throw up my hands and say what is the world coming too? How do we justify murder? It all comes back to subjective truth and subjective morality. What is good for me is my moral choice and it doesn’t matter what anyone else says especially God. I always want to ask people if it is ok to torture young infants. Is that wrong and if so why? Its my choice to do it.

One of my sons had a speech problem from the ages of 2 to 4 and we had to take him to speech therapy for two years. What if some genetic test was created to let us know that he was going to have this problem. Is it justified that we could kill him.?

Here is a link to the full article http://lifestyle.msn.com/mindbodyandsoul/womenintheworld/articlemc.aspx?cp-documentid=4595719&page=1

Here is a stunning quote from the lady in the article who killed her baby because of a genetic defect.

“Seven months later, in November 2003, 14 weeks into my second pregnancy, I gently rubbed my rounded belly, tears rolling down my cheeks as I watched George W. Bush sign the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act on CNN. It would be at least two more weeks before I could learn via ultrasound if this baby squirming around inside my womb was healthy or not. Taking in the scene, I understood that if this baby were plagued with the same genetic defects as my last, any choices I had were being taken away from me.

Once the president signed the act -- the first federal ban on any abortion procedure in the 30 years since Roe v. Wade, and the first ban on a surgical technique in the history of this country -- the 400-strong crowd at the ceremony exploded in whoops and hollers. "For years a terrible form of violence has been directed against children who are inches away from birth, while the law looked the other way," Bush said. It was time to "defend the life of the innocent."

I stared at the screen. The president was, in essence, calling me a baby killer. Even members of the Democratic Party -- 17 in all -- voted for the ban. One of my own senators, John Kerry, perhaps looking to dodge the liberal label in anticipation of his bid for the White House, conveniently missed one of the key votes (as did his future running mate, John Edwards). “

RIGHT YOU ARE A BABY KILLER. Duh. Has satan completely blinded our eyes to the value of life? She is upset that we passed a law on the murder of children. I don’t get it.

Here is a great article from STR.org on the subject.

Partial-Birth Abortion Is Not About Abortion

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Get Up And Run The Race

2007-06-20T16:46:00.000-07:00

This entry is completely directed towards myself. I need to hear this message.

Have you fallen, have you messed up, are you beating yourself up for something you did that you know was wrong? Are you asking yourself questions like how can Christ possibly love me with my wicked heart. I should just throw in the towel I can’t live the way Christ wants me to live 100% of the time.

But as I sit her and those thoughts enter my head am I truly in any other position with Christ than the day before? Did he really pay for my past present and future sins? I feel about like dirt right now and I know I have messed up but when we have blown it is the time we need to get on our knees the fastest. We need to ask for forgiveness first from God and then take the responsibility of rectifying what we have broken. I know there are consequences for our actions and I need to deal with those things. I also know what I sow is what I am going to reap. I am only made righteous by the blood of Jesus. And what is the righteous man or women supposed to do?

Proverbs 24:16 says:
For a righteous man may fall seven times. And rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity.

We need to get up and keep moving forward. We need to run the race and finish no matter what it takes. I need to keep my eyes focused on Christ and rely on Him.

Just like my pastor always says it’s not how we start the race that matters but how we finish. We can’t give up ever even though the evil one would love nothing more than for us to quit the race.

Tomorrow is a new day and I get to keep running. Thank you Jesus

Here is a great article from John MacAurthur that has helped me today called Running the Race

Wes
Galatians 2:20

WOW Hymns - Awesome

2007-06-18T16:45:00.000-07:00

I am not a huge fan of compilation CD’s of lots of difference artists but WOW Hymns is just fantastic. If you love the old hymns and their messages but want more of an up to date tune then this is the CD for you.

I hear some of the “older” men at my church say that the music today is just fluff and no soul to it. I think they might have a point with music like Toby Mac. Now I like Toby Mac but some of his songs lyrics don’t contain the richness of the old hymns. Here is the song list with the various artists:

1. Holy Holy Holy Steven Curtis Chapman 4:54
2. Take My Life (And Let It Be) Chris Tomlin 5:00
3. For the Beauty of the Earth BarlowGirl 3:17
4. 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus Casting Crowns 3:16
5. Fairest Lord Jesus Natalie Grant 4:57
6. I Need Thee Every Hour Jars Of Clay 3:48
7. I Surrender All Brian Littrell 3:58
8. All the Heavens Third Day 4:03
9. In Christ Alone Newsboys 4:16
10. Just as I Am Nichole Nordeman 4:07
11. Wonderful Maker Jeremy Camp 4:29
12. Trust and Obey Big Daddy Weave 3:54
13. There Is a Fountain Selah 3:56
14. Here Is Love Matt Redman 5:32
15. The Solid Rock Avalon 4:11
16. Doxology Crowder, David Crowder Band 4:35
17. The Wonderful Cross Michael W. Smith 6:24
18. This Is My Father's World Amy Grant 3:06
19. The Old Rugged Cross Bart Millard 4:24
20. It Is Well with My Soul Rebecca Saint James 4:08
21. All Creatures of Our God Shawn McDonald 4:48
22. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing Mark Schultz 3:31
23. Draw Me Nearer Caedmon's Call 4:19
24. Praise to the Lord, The Almighty Passion, Watermark
25. Be Thou My Vision Fernando Ortega 3:52
26. Grace That Is Greater Building 429 4:09
27. Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us Todd Agnew 4:06
28. All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name Point of Grace 2:34
29. Great Is Thy Faithfulness Israel Houghton 5:25
30. Rock of Ages Chris Rice 3:14

My personal two favorite tracks are 11 Wonderful Maker and Track 20 It is Well With My Soul. Just awesome.

Click here for samples off the album.

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Crown of Righteousness

2007-06-08T11:30:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I was able to present how we earn the crown of righteousness. I have written out my notes and hope you find them helpful.

The Crown of Righteousness,
What does this crown of righteousness really entail and more importantly how do I even earn this crown of righteousness. Is it even possible to earn it? How does God describe this crown? These are very good question to think about and I hope to examine it with you today.

In 2 Timothy 4:6-8 let’s take a look at what Paul has to say about the crown of righteousness. This is the final letter Paul writes to the church before his death. He is about to be beheaded by Nero in approximately 66 AD.

Paul Says,
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

How does Paul receive this crown of righteousness at the end of his life? Is it something he worked for? Or is it something outside of himself that allowed him to earn it.

Before we find out that answer to those questions let's take a look at the definition of righteousness. I found this definition and I believe it hits the nail on the head.

Being sinless in the sight of God; also called 'justification.'

Uh oh. Houston we have a problem.

Being sinless in the sight of God?

I think maybe we have all broken 1 or 2 of the commandments. For me its pretty much all of them, I have even committed what society calls the worst of the 10. Besides cheating, stealing and lying. I have committed adultery and murder. If we remember what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount he said even if we have hated someone we have committed murder. Also this one I have struggled with my whole life and that is if I even look upon a women with lust I have committed adultery. The law has convicted me I know I am not sinless. It is why God gave us his commandments to let us know how short we come to Gods perfect standard. I am thinking this crown may be unobtainable through my own merits. If we claim we are sinless the bible tells us differently in 1 John 1:8 , 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Let's turn to one of the very first man that was called righteous by God himself. in Genesis 15:6. Abraham was found righteous in the eyes of God. What was it that he was accounted righteous for before the Lord? Lets read.

15 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

It is only Abraham’s belief that makes him righteous by God. Not anything else he has done. If we take a look at one of my favorite radio pastors besides pastor John Werhas, Jon Courson articulates why Abraham was found righteous. Let me read what he says.

Was it when Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees—a place of real sophistication and wealth—that God declared Abraham righteous? No. Was it when Abraham took his son Isaac to Mount Moriah in order to offer him as a sacrifice that God declared him justified? No. God declared Abraham righteous when Abraham simply believed Him (Genesis 15:6). When is a man saved and justified? Not when he follows God’s call obediently or even offers himself sacrificially, but when, like Abraham, he simply says, “Lord, I believe You. I believe what You say is true—that I’m righteous in Christ Jesus, that my sins past, present, and future are all forgiven.”

This goes directly back to Ephesians 2:8-9 that is for by grace that you have been saved and not of yourself, its is the gift of God lest anyone should boast. We can’t earn it.

As pastor Fred spoke this weekend. The criminal on the cross was not able to get down from it and go perform works of any sort. It was strictly his belief in Christ that could save him. It always amazes me when I hear people talk about having to be baptized to be saved. I always ask what about the guy on the cross when did he get baptized?

Let’s flip the coin and see what the other kind of righteousness looks like. Self-righteousness.

Well maybe we should take a look at the religious leaders of Jesus’ day and see if they have any insight into what it means to be righteous. I mean these guys are super religious right? If anyone can give us a good example of how to be righteous they surely could help us out don't you think? We shall see!

In Luke 18:10-14
Jesus tells us about two men who go up to the temple to pray. One is a Pharisee and the other is the scum of Jerusalem in that day in age the TAX Collector. I don't know if much has changed from then to now. Is anyone happy to see a tax collector? I guess today we could change it out for the dreaded lawyer!

Lets read from Luke 18:10-14.
Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’

Let me pause here for a moment. Who is the Pharisee praying to? HIMSELF! What on earth? I mean talk about self-righteousness to the nth degree. He went to the temple to pray with himself or was it to pray in front of others to show how righteous he is? How many I’s are used in three sentences I thank you, (best part of his prayer) I am not, I fast, I give, I posses. Can I ask where is this Pharisees heart?

We also see he calls him self just. Not like the others who he claims are unjust. Look at his very last thought I give tithes of all that I posses. He doesn’t even give God credit for what he has but he is so righteous that he gives what he posses. Are not the things he has God’s to begin with. We could spend days analyzing all that is wrong but we know what the problem is, pride and self-righteousness.

But do each one of us have a little Pharisee in our own heart? Let me take out my little checklist that I keep track of. This sermon is preaching directly to my heart.

Went to church – check
Read my daily bible verse – not one more or less – check
Put on Christian t-shirt - check
Gave beggar on the corner a dollar – check – man I am good
Blogged on how Joel Osteen is a wolf in sheep clothing – check

What am I doing? With all these things that I am accomplishing am I giving glory and credit to God who has given me these abilities? Am I creating a vertical relationship with God or am I creating a horizontal relationship with the world and men. Or am I doing them because pastor Fred or Wes come up and say that-a-boy Wes. You are a godly man – yeah right!

Or could it be that we do these things because we think we are pleasing God through our own works? In Isaiah 64:6 says
But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all our righteousness' are like filthy rags;

I believe these things can be pleasing to God but like Abraham they mean nothing if I don’t believe in God in a way that I put my complete faith into Him and what He has done for me. My righteous works mean nothing if I don’t have faith and belief in Christ.

Continuing from Luke 18
13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

What is the difference between the two? First off we see the tax collector prayed to God not himself. God be merciful to me a sinner. He knew his position with God. He knew there was no way that he was going to be righteous is the sight of God. He is building and establishing that vertical relationship with God. God is looking at the heart of these men. It always goes back to the heart. In 1 Samuel 16:7 God says

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Where is your heart today? Are we like the Pharisees full of pride of our own self-righteousness or are we like the tax collector who knows he can only be made righteous through God? And knowing that God has made us righteous that we desire to do good works and best of all he created us to do good works when Christ is the center of our lives. Ephesians 2:10 says

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

To come full circle back to the original question we raised with Paul’s passage in 2 Timothy 4:6-8. How did he earn his crown of righteousness? We know now that there is nothing we can do ourselves to earn it. It is only through our belief and faith in our Lord and Savior who covers us with His righteousness. Once we are covered by His righteousness we desire to do righteous things because of what He did for us. I want to end with this really short video clip on 1 Peter 2:24. Peter says the following starting with verse 23:

23 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. 25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Wolf In Sheep Clothing

2007-06-05T16:44:00.000-07:00

Again more false teachings and misuse of funds from false prophet Kenneth Copeland. Mr. Copeland is a word of faith preacher claiming Jesus wants to make you material rich as well as spiritual rich. Also if you are sick God will heal you if you have enough faith. Here are a bunch of ideas that Mr. Copeland has taught on. You can make your own evaluation of his teachings. but according to my bible he is a heretic. Also at the bottom is a video of how they are misusing funds with their 20 million dollar airplane which is suppose to be used for ministry only.

That we do not have a god in us but that we are a God.
“You don’t have a God in you. You are one!” - The Force of Love audiotape

God is the greatest failure in the Universe
"I was shocked when I found out who the biggest failure in the Bible actually is....The biggest one is God....I mean, He lost His top-ranking, most anointed angel; the first man He ever created; the first woman He ever created; the whole earth and all the Fullness therein; a third of the angels, at least--that's a big loss, man. . .  Praise-a-Thon program on TBN [April 1988]

God lives on a mother planet  "Heaven has a north and a south and an east and a west. Consequently, it must be a planet."  Spirit, Soul and Body I 1985 audiotape #01-0601, side 1

You don't think earth was first, do you? Huh? Well, you don't think that God made man in His image, and then made earth in some other image? There is not anything under this whole sun that's new. Are you hearing what I'm saying? This is all a copy. It's a copy of home. It's a copy of the Mother Planet. Where God lives, He made a little one just like His and put us on it."  Following the Faith of Abraham I, 1989 audiotape #01-3001, side 1

God has no right to the earth at all, he needs an invitation  "God had no avenue of lasting faith or moving in the earth. He had to have covenant with somebody. . . . He had to be invited in, in other words, or He couldn't come. God is on the outside looking in. In order to have any say so in the earth, He's gonna have to be in agreement with a man here."  God's Covenants With Man II 1985, audiotape #01-4404, side 1

Jesus was raped by homosexual Roman soldiers everyway possible
"Let me tell you something folks. Anybody in here that's ever been sexually abused, listen to me right now. Listen to me very carefully. The bible's very careful about the way it says these things. But down there in that dungeon, Romans, ungodly men, ungodly men, put him (Jesus) to every kind of abuse that you can think of. There is no sin that Jesus didn't bare. There is no thing, there is no such thing as a sexual abuse on somebody that Jesus doesn't know firsthand what it's all about. He's been where you are, I don't care what you've been through, Jesus has been through it. And everything's done to him that we we couldn't even speak of."
The Resurrection Truth

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Sharing the Gospel Part 3

2007-06-04T16:39:00.000-07:00

I have been pretty busy, I apologize for taking so long to get this last installment posted up.

John MacArthur has written an excellent outline of the following six points.

1. Teach them about God’s holiness
2. Show them their sin
3. Instruct them about Christ and what He has done.
4. Tell them what God demands of them.
5. Advise them to count the cost thoughtfully.
6. Urge them to trust Christ.

I think each of these points needs to be addressed when we witness. I believe we have covered all these points in the previous two posts but this really sums it up. You may not like the approach I choose to share the gospel by going through the ten commandments, but however you do share the gospel I think you need to address the following points during your discussion.

Teach them about God’s holiness. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” ( Ps. 111:10 , cf. Job 28:28 ; Prov. 1:7 ; 9:10 ; 15:33 ; Mic. 6:9 ). No-lordship theology misses this point entirely. In fact, much of contemporary evangelism aims to arouse anything but fear of God. “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life,” is the opening line of the typical evangelistic appeal today. No-lordship theology takes it a step further: God loves you and will save you from hell no matter whose plan you choose for your life.

The remedy for such thinking is the biblical truth of God’s holiness. God is utterly holy, and His law therefore demands perfect holiness: “I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy.… You shall be holy for I am holy” ( Lev. 11:44–45 ). “You will not be able to serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgression or your sins” ( Josh. 24:19 ). “There is no one holy like the Lord, indeed, there is no one besides Thee, Nor is there any rock like our God” ( 1 Sam. 2:2 ). “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God?” ( 6:20 ).

Even the gospel requires this holiness: “You shall be holy, for I am holy” ( 1 Pet. 1:16 ). “Without [holiness] no one will see the Lord” ( Heb. 12:14 ).

Because He is holy, God hates sin: “I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me” ( Exod. 20:5 ). Sinners cannot stand before Him: “The wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous” ( Ps. 1:5 ).

Show them their sin. Gospel means “good news.” What makes it truly good news is not just that heaven is free, but that sin has been conquered by God’s Son. Sadly, it has become stylish to present the gospel as something other than a remedy for sin. “Salvation” is offered as an escape from punishment, God’s plan for a wonderful life, a means of fulfillment, an answer to life’s problems, and a promise of free forgiveness. All those things are true, but they are byproducts of redemption, not the main issue. When sin is left unaddressed, such promises of divine blessings cheapen the message.

Some no-lordship teachers go so far as to say that sin is not an issue in the gospel invitation. Sin, they believe, is a postsalvation concern. Others believe it is optional whether we confront unbelievers with their sin. One man who edits a no-lordship newsletter replied to a reader’s question: “No, I do not believe that one must recognize that he is a sinner to be saved. The key word is must. It is conceivable that a person could be ignorant of the fact that he is a sinner and yet know that he was bound for hell and could only be saved by trusting in Christ alone. Some small children might fall into this category.”13

He did not attempt to explain why people with no understanding of their own sinfulness would believe they are headed for hell. But one wonders what sort of salvation is available to those who don’t even recognize their sin. Didn’t Jesus say, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners” ( Mark 2:17 )? To offer salvation to someone who doesn’t even understand the gravity of sin is to fulfill Jeremiah 6:14 : “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.”

Sin is what makes true peace impossible for unbelievers: “The wicked are like the tossing sea, for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up refuse and mud. ‘There is no peace,’ says my God, ‘for the wicked’ ” ( Isa. 57:20–21 ).

All have sinned:

There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one. Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes ( Rom. 3:10–18 ).

Sin makes the sinner worthy of death: “When sin is accomplished, it brings forth death” ( James 1:15 ). “For the wages of sin is death” ( Rom. 6:23 ).

Sinners can do nothing to earn salvation: “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away” ( Isa. 64:6 ). “By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight” ( Rom. 3:20 ). “A man is not justified by the works of the Law … by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified” ( Gal. 2:16 ).

Sinners are therefore in a helpless state: “It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” ( Heb. 9:27 ). “There is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known” ( Luke 12:2 ). “God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus” ( Rom. 2:16 ). “The cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” ( Rev. 21:8 ).

Instruct them about Christ and what He has done. The gospel is good news about who Christ is and what He has done for sinners. No-lordship doctrine tends to emphasize His work and de-emphasize His Person, particularly the aspect of His divine authority. But Scripture never presents Jesus as something less than Lord in salvation. The notion that His Lordship is an addendum to the gospel is utterly foreign to Scripture.
He is eternally God: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.… And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” ( John 1:1–3 , 14 ). “In Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form” ( Col. 2:9 ).

He is Lord of all: “He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful” ( Rev. 17:14 ). “God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” ( Phil. 2:9–11 ). “He is Lord of all” ( Acts 10:36 ).

He became man: “Although He existed in the form of God, [He] did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men” ( Phil. 2:6–7 ).

He is utterly pure and sinless: “[He was] tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” ( Heb. 4:15 ). He “committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously” ( 1 Pet. 2:22–23 ). “He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin” ( 1 John 3:5 ).

The sinless one became a sacrifice for our sin: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” ( 2 Cor. 5:21 ). He “gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds” ( Titus 2:14 ). He shed His own blood as an atonement for sin: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished upon us” ( Eph. 1:7–8 ). “[He] loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood” ( Rev. 1:5 ). He died on the cross to provide a way of salvation for sinners: “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed” ( 1 Pet. 2:24 ). “Through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross” ( Col. 1:20 ).
He rose triumphantly from the dead: Christ “was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead” ( Rom. 1:4 ). “[He] was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification” ( 4:25 ). “I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” ( 1 Cor. 15:3–4 ).

Tell them what God demands of them. Repentant faith is the requirement. It is not merely a “decision” to trust Christ for eternal life, but a wholesale forsaking of everything else we trust, and a turning to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Repent: “Repent and turn away from all your transgressions” ( Ezek. 18:30 ). “ ‘I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,’ declares the Lord God . ‘Therefore, repent and live’ ” (v. 32 ). “God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent” ( Acts 17:30 ). “Repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance” ( Acts 26:20 ).

Turn your heart from all that you know dishonors God: “[Turn] to God from idols to serve a living and true God” ( 1 Thess. 1:9 ). Follow Jesus: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” ( Luke 9:23 ). “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (v. 62 ). “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant also be; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him” ( John 12:26 ).

Trust Him as Lord and Savior: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved” ( Acts 16:31 ). “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved” ( Rom. 10:9 ).

Advise them to count the cost thoughtfully. Salvation is absolutely free. So is joining the army. You don’t have to buy your way in. Everything you will need is provided. But there is a sense in which following Christ—like joining the army—will cost you dearly. It can cost freedom, family, friends, autonomy, and possibly even your life. The job of the evangelist—like that of the army recruiter—is to tell potential inductees the full story. That is exactly why Jesus’ message was often so full of hard demands:

If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, “This man began to build and was not able to finish.” Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and take counsel whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks terms of peace. So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

Luke 14:26–33

Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

Matthew 10:34–38

The free-costly, death-life enigma is expressed in the clearest possible terms by John 12:24–25 : “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.”

The cross is central to the gospel precisely because of its graphic message, including the awfulness of sin, the profundity of God’s wrath against sin, and the efficacy of Jesus’ work in crucifying the old man ( Rom. 6:6 ). A. W. Tozer wrote,
The cross is the most revolutionary thing ever to appear among men.

The cross of Roman times knew no compromise; it never made concessions. It won all its arguments by killing its opponent and silencing him for good. It spared not Christ, but slew Him the same as the rest. He was alive when they hung Him on that cross and completely dead when they took Him down six hours later. That was the cross the first time it appeared in Christian history.…
The cross effects its ends by destroying one established pattern, the victim’s, and creating another pattern, its own. Thus it always has its way. It wins by defeating its opponent and imposing its will upon him. It always dominates. It never compromises, never dickers nor confers, never surrenders a point for the sake of peace. It cares not for peace; it cares only to end its opposition as fast as possible.

With perfect knowledge of all this, Christ said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” So the cross not only brings Christ’s life to an end, it ends also the first life, the old life, of every one of His true followers. It destroys the old pattern, the Adam pattern, in the believer’s life, and brings it to an end. Then the God who raised Christ from the dead raises the believer and a new life begins.
This, and nothing less, is true Christianity.…
We must do something about the cross, and one of two things only we can do—flee it or die upon it.14

“For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s shall save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” ( Mark 8:35–37 ).

Urge them to trust Christ. “Knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men” ( 2 Cor. 5:11 ). “[God] reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” ( 2 Cor. 5:20 ).

“Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” ( Isa. 55:7 ). “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” ( Rom. 10:9–10 ).

MacArthur, John: The Gospel According to the Apostles : The Role of Works in the Life of Faith. Nashville, TN : Word Pub., 2000

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Experience Over The Bible

2007-05-31T16:37:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting video how people are willing to put the bible aside and rely on their on experiences. I would be way too afraid to rely on my own heart and not check it against what the Bible says. In this video John MacArthur address letters sent to him by people that tell him their own personal truths are more important than the Bible.

This is just another ratchet against objective truth. Objective truth does not rely on my feelings. Objective truth comes from the Bible; its how I compare my heart to God’s truth.

All Praise, All Honor, All Glory go to our King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ.

Part 3 of Sharing the Gospel is coming!

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Hillsong Concert

2007-05-24T16:35:00.000-07:00

My wife and I went to the Forum last night to see Hillsong United. They have just released a new album which is amazingly good called “All of the Above”. If you have never heard of them I highly recommend their music. Here are the lyrics to one of my favorite songs on the new album called Lead Me to the Cross.

Saviour I come
Quiet my soul
Remember
Redemption's hill
Where Your blood was spilled
For my ransom

Everything I once held dear
I count it all as loss

Lead me to the cross
Where your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to you
O lead me
Lead me to the cross

You were as I
Tempted and tried human
The Word became flesh
Bore my sin in death
Now You're risen

Everything I once held dear
I count it all as loss

Lead me to the cross
Where your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to you
O lead me
Lead me to the cross

We really enjoyed the music but their was one thing that really disappointed me last night and that was their pastor who came out to give a gospel message. First off I wouldn’t say anything was “wrong” or completely unbiblical but geez it was a really watered down message. There was no talk about sin but just about how God wants to make beautiful noise from you if you put Him in your heart. He never talked about God being holy and why we even need Him. It really felt like this: Jesus could be your favorite ice cream, why don’t you try it out see if you like Him or not.

I don’t know how the pastor can give a message like that when the group sings a message that is right on. The lyrics above would have been a way better message than what I heard last night from the pastor. Anyways, buy the album it rocks!

All Praise, All Honor, All Glory go to our King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ.

Part 3 of Sharing the Gospel is coming!

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Sharing The Gospel Part 2

2007-05-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

In my previous post we discussed how Jesus used the 10 commandments to show the rich ruler how he had fallen short of God’s glory. We also saw how the commandments are called a tutor because it shows us that we have broken God’s law. God is a just God.

Perhaps you think that God is good, and will therefore overlook your sins. But it is His goodness that will make sure that murderers, rapists, thieves, liars, etc. receive justice. He would be a corrupt Judge if He turned a blind eye to injustice. We need to communicate this truth to people. It is the reason why we need a savior.

I want to give a short example of how we can communicate this to people. Here we go.

Lets say I meet one of my co-workers the water cooler.

Wes: Man did you hear that tragedy at Virginia Tech?

Bob: Yeah that was crazy those poor people

Wes: Man do you ever think what happened to those people after they die?

Bob: It has crossed my mind they are probably good people:

Wes: When you die where do you think you are going to go:

Bob: I am a good person I am definitely going to heaven if there is one.

Wes: Thats great can I give you a little quiz?

Bob: sure

Wes: Have you ever told a lie?

Bob: Well of course I am human hasn’t everyone lied.

Wes: Of course we all have what would that make you?

Bob: I guess that would make me a liar.

Wes: Have you ever stole anything even if the value was nothing like a pencil or change from your mom’s purse when you were young?

Bob: Well when I was a kid I stole stuff from the local grocery store. Nothing Big though.

Wes: what would that make you?

Bob: Ouch. I guess a theif.

Wes: Bob have you ever used God’s name in vain?

Bob: Yes

Wes: God calls that blasphemy.

Wes: Bob have you ever looked upon a women with lust?

Bob: Geez I am not dead am I?

Wes: Jesus in Matthew 5 says even if we have looked upon a women we have committed adultery in our hearts.

Wes: Bob You are in serious trouble. According to God’s word in Revelation 21:8 it says the following: All liars, adulteress, blasphemers and thieves will be thrown into the lake of fire.

(This portion is taken from one of my bible tracts from www.livingwaters.com)

The Bible says that God will punish all murderers, rapists, thieves, liars, adulterers, etc. He will even judge our words and thoughts. On Judgment Day, will you be found to be guilty or innocent of breaking His commandments?

The Bible says that the Law is perfect. It commands you to be perfect (Matthew 5:48). Are you perfect (in thought, word, and deed)? Will you make it to Heaven? You may say that you are still good, but God says you're not (see Psalm 14:2-3). So one of you is lying, and the Scriptures tell us that it is impossible for God to lie. Remember that all liars will be cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 21:8). God's Law demands justice, and the penalty for sinning against Him is death and Hell. Listen carefully if you want to live.

God Himself made a way where His justice and His goodness could meet. We broke the Law, but He became a man to pay the fine. Jesus suffered and died on the cross to satisfy the Law. God can forgive us and grant us the gift of everlasting life! But you may still think that you can (from now on) keep the Ten Commandments. But isn't it true that the best of us have lied, stolen, lusted, hated, failed to love God above all else, and failed to love our neighbor as ourselves?

How can we then, live a "good" life if we have already sinned against God? At best we are reformed liars and thieves . . . but still Lawbreakers. Think of it this way - would you sell one of your eyes for a million dollars? Would you sell both for $50 million? I'm sure you wouldn't. Your eyes are priceless, yet they are merely the windows of your soul. What then must your life (soul) be worth? With these thoughts in mind, what would be a fair price to pay for everlasting life? It is utterly without price. Yet, if we trust in our own goodness to enter Heaven, we are saying to God, "I should enter Heaven because I have done good - I have earned my way in."

Imagine if you wanted to give me a brand new (very expensive) car, but I said, "I can't take it! I feel embarrassed receiving such a gift . . . here's 10 cents for it." I'm sure you would be very insulted by such a pathetic offer of payment. Besides, if I pay for it, it is no longer a gift, it's a purchase . . . it's mine by right.

When we talk of entering Heaven by being good, by trying to keep the Ten Commandments etc., we are tossing God 10 cents of "self-righteousness," which is a terrible insult to Him, in the light of His sacrifice. The only thing we can do is humble ourselves, repent of our sins, and receive the gift by trusting Jesus Christ alone. Almighty God demonstrated how much He loves you when Jesus suffered for you on the cross. If you want to trust in your own goodness, then you are saying His agonizing death on the cross was in vain. The Bible says, "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." You cannot earn a gift.

When Jesus said to "believe" on Him, He was saying we should have faith in Him, in the same way you would trust a parachute to save you when you jump from a plane. You don't merely believe in the parachute - you put it on. Please don't "jump" without Jesus. If you die in your sins there is no second chance. God will give you justice, and you will end up in Hell forever. Any troubles you have at present are dwarfed by the trouble you are in with your Creator. His wrath abides upon you (John 3:36). God doesn't want you to go to Hell. Neither do you want to go there, so confess your sins to God right now, put your trust in Jesus to save you, and you will pass from death to life. Then read the Bible daily and obey what you read. (See John 14:21). Your obedience to God is the proof of your love. Have faith in God, He will never fail you.

Pray something like this:
"Dear God, today I turn away from all of my sins (name them). This day I put my trust in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. He is the only way for me to be saved. He is 'The way, the truth, and the life.'" Please forgive me, change my heart, and grant me Your gift of everlasting life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen."

Of course you can conform this style to your own but it is a great start if you have never really known how to share your faith. I would highly recommend a book by Mark Cahill called “One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven”.

I still have one last thought on sharing the Gospel message that I will address tomorrow.

Wes
Galatians 2:20

Sharing The Gospel Part 1

2007-05-17T16:33:00.000-07:00

Jon Courson writes: The greatest joy in the world comes from seeing someone:

For whom you’ve been praying,
With whom you have been sharing,

to receive Christ.

I want to examine each one of these statements Jon makes.

Our witnessing begins on our knees.

Paul writes in Colossians 4:2-6
2 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. 3 Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. 4 Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.
5 Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive[a] so that you will have the right response for everyone.

We need to be praying that God will use us as instruments to share the Good News with people. Not only should we be praying that God uses us in a mighty way but we should be praying for those who will hear the Word and pray that they repent from their sins. Every morning when we get up as our feet are hitting the floor we should be asking God to use us today for His kingdom. God please put people in my life today that need to hear your Good News. Let the Holy Spirit guide my words, let me love those who need to hear from You.

Sharing the Good News

In Acts 1:8
We are commanded by Christ to share the Gospel to Samaria, Judea and the ends of the earth. He is saying wherever we go we should be sharing the Gospel message with those who will listen.

I have heard this repeated many times it goes something like this: Preach the gospel at all times and use words if necessary. There is some value to that statement but tell me how do people who I have just met see that I am a follower of Christ. If I am on a plane flight to Arizona I have about 45 minutes to share something about Jesus. It’s going to be a little hard to live my life as an example to the person I am sitting next too.

Secondly, it is not MY actions that change anyone. It is the WORD of GOD!
Hebrews 4:12 tells us

12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
My actions only verify what God’s word says. It is Gods word that pierces the heart.

Being a Witness

What is the difference between witnessing and sharing you may ask. Witnessing is how I live my life that is an example of Christ in it. This comes into play when I share the Message with co-workers, family members, friends. I share the word then I live it out. In Thesonalica if Paul, Silas and Timothy had preached God’s word then went down to the local tavern and were getting drunk and picking up on women would their sharing have meant anything? Of course not. Our families and friends are going to be taking a close look at our lives and see if Christ is really leading them. If we are hypocrites then or sharing of Jesus is meaningless. We need to marry both together our sharing with our witnessing.

How to witness like Jesus.

Here is where the rubber meets the road. Lets take a look at the encounter with Jesus and the rich ruler and see how Jesus shared and witnessed to him.

Lets read from Luke 18:18-22

18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”
21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” 22 So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

In the first two verses Jesus address that no one is good but God. But what is the first thing someone who doesn’t have a relationship with Christ says on how they are going to get to heaven. I am good. But Christ said no one is good. God’s word is so great it answers the wicked who think they are good. He then takes the rich ruler through the commandments to show him his sin. The commandments were given to us to show that we have fallen short of God’s glory.

Jesus uses the law to show him that he is not good?

In Psalms 19:7 the Psalmist writes:

7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

Paul also writes in Galatians 3:24 that the law is a tutor:

24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

I will continue this thread in my next blog and give an example of how to witness in a real life scenario. I will then give the 6 items we must communicate if we want to be effective in our witnessing.

Wes
Galatians 2:20