Lost Love

Posted on by
Reply

While watching network newscasts recently, I’ve notice a substantial amount of reports focusing on those who call themselves “Christians”.  Most of the time, the reports are not very flattering.  More often than not, they cast a negative perspective on the religion.  First of all, let me express my views on those who call themselves “Christians”.  I have never felt comfortable and for that matter, worthy to call myself a Christian.  I draw my view from the scriptures which tell us that the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.  Please notice that they were called Christians by those who were not.  They didn’t say, “Hello, I’m Paul and I’m a Christian”, they were called Christians. The word itself simply means “Christ like”. So my stance has never been to introduce myself as a Christian but rather let my walk, speech and actions prove out what I am.  If I carried myself like Paul, others would call me a Christian as they did him.

I follow a lot of those who claim to be “Christians” on social media. Some of those I would have no problem calling them Christians while I wouldn’t be so quick to do the same for others. What I believe troubles Christians as a whole is what I have chosen for the topic of this work, “Lost Love.”

I’ve witnessed it on the news and in social media where those who claim to be Christians are constantly putting others down.  This would apply to other Christians as well as the world.  While it is true that we (as followers of Christ), are in the world and not supposed to be of the world and that the servant of the Lord does not bear the sword in vein, I believe we focus too much on condemning and not enough on love.

Now to back up my point, let us remember what our Lord said, “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye should love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” John 13:34. We see the Ten Commandments posted at many churches and other places throughout our travels yet you do not see this New Commandment from our Lord.  Not taking away anything at all from the Ten Commandments but we should always remember that they were in fact issued under the law.  We are not under the law in this age but rather, we are under Grace. This New Commandment was issued under the law by the Lord Himself, in person and in the flesh. Let us look now at 1 John 4:8; “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” There’s no dancing around this one, “GOD IS LOVE”. The scripture is also plain in that if you do not love, you do not know God.  We could delve deeper into the support of this point but I think it has been sufficiently proven.

Many of the statements that I have read in social media by those professing to be of Christ carry the insinuation that if you do this or that, you are not a Christian or you haven’t really been saved.  Some have even gone as far as to say that “Jesus doesn’t work like that.”  I would caution one to be careful when traveling down this path as there usually is more harm than good done when this road is traveled.  Now just to remind us, we are the creation and not the Creator.  The Creator works and does as He pleases not per the requirements or limits that we place upon Him.  Yes, we may say that we have the Bible to back us up but if the Holy Spirit hasn’t opened your understanding to the meaning of the particular scripture, you are leaning to your own understanding and heading for error.

I heard it said that we were only commissioned to be “fishers of men” not cleaners.  According to the scriptures this is true.  We are to fish but Christ reserves the task of cleaning the catch for Himself.  I think we being the creature often believe we have more authority than what was actually granted us by the Creator. Nowhere in the scriptures does He grant us permission or authority to be “cleaners of men.”  Many years ago on the streets of a small town in Georgia, a drunk stumbled up to an old preacher and said, “Brother, you saved me last year.”  The old preacher looked him over and said, “Yep, you look like some of my work.”  The moral here is we have no saving power, which belongs to Christ only.  If a person is saved, God for Christ’s sake, through the Holy Ghost, does the work.  We often here folk say, “I led him to Christ”, or “He led me to Christ”.  I caution again to be careful with this statement as well since it can give place for the devil to sneak in and cause you to be puffed up.  Christ may have utilized you in reaching someone but if they came to Christ, they were drawn by the Holy Ghost.  Remember, no man comes to the Father but by the Son and no man comes to the Son unless the Father draws Him. 

There have recently been those reported in the news media that profess to be Christians, found on the streets of our nation protesting.  Some of the signs they have displayed are very offensive and would cause a non-Christian to run as far away as they could.  I have seen some that even go as far as to say that God hates…(certain groups of people).  They even disrupt funeral services of our fallen military heroes. This is totally contrary to the teachings of the Bible yet they insist that their view comes from the Bible.  We often hear that we should hate the sin and love the sinner.  I agree with this statement but the problem is, this appears to be very hard for the natural or carnal man to do.  It is not a problem for God.  He SO loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son a ransom for all.  This means that He gave His Son for the vilest of sinners.  Remember the words of William Cowper from the great Hymn “There is a Fountain”?   Cowper writes, “And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.”  Now Cowper is speaking of the thief who died alongside Christ on the cross.  As far as I know Cowper was never in his entire life reported to be a thief yet he writes, “though vile as he”. That is the view each of us need to utilize when we see ourselves. So we can say that we hate the sin and love the sinner but we ourselves are sinners and often think ourselves better than the ones we consider sinners.  The plain simple truth is, we are all sinners.  It don’t matter what your church status, education, occupation or anything else may be, you are still a sinner.  The difference is there are sinners and there are sinners saved by Grace.  The latter is on their way to heaven while the former is on their way to hell.

This state that we have allowed ourselves to get in as a religion must be changed!  We see our church attendance dwindling constantly (although there are a few exceptions were Churches stand on love as the first commandment), for the most part, the church themselves are driving folk away. We as a whole are weak, we are sickly, and we are diseased.  What is the answer, what is the remedy?  The answer and remedy are one in the same, Jesus.  For if we love one another as Christ loves us, we would not be tearing one another down.  This applies to sinners saved by Grace and just plain sinners! If you see a brother or sister walking in a way that you believe is contrary to the will of God, don’t go talk about them or post things on social media.  All you need to do is pray for them.  God already knows whether or not they are walking in His will and really, He is the only one who knows.  You see we that are in the flesh have our views on the will of God but God just doesn’t have a view, He knows.  Don’t you see?  When our Lord was nailed to the old rugged cross He prayed, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”  He was speaking to His disciples, to the Jews and He even prayed for those who drove the nails and they were pagan by nature. We are to love one another as He loves us.

Now this is where I have to keep a close eye on myself.  Christ even loved and prayed for the ones who hurt Him there on Golgotha that day.  When I think of those who have hurt me and my family, (especially those who profess to be followers of Christ), I really have a hard time loving them as Christ loves me.  You probably have that same issue.  Now this I have found.  The closer we stay to Jesus, the easier this becomes.  The more of ourselves we allow to be tied up with the weeds of this world, the harder it is to keep this New Commandment that He gave us.  I have also found that when we think we are helping someone by condemning them, most of the time we are doing more harm than good.  Remember that Christ said that the world was condemned already.

1 Timothy 1:5; “Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.”  So the new commandment or if you will, the first commandment is to love as He loves us and the end of the commandment is charity which is give to those in need.  What is the need, why of course it is love.  If you have been born again, you felt that unconditional love that God had for you and you felt it for everyone else.  In fact you wanted everyone else to have the same joy and comfort that you received.  As we travel down life’s pathway, many are the trials and storms we encounter.  It is the devil’s mission to hinder us from keeping Christ’s commandment of loving each other as He loves us and satan is good at his job.  We would do well to examine ourselves and see if we really love one another as He loves us or have we let the tempter puff up our minds to thinking we are above other sinners?  Let’s be honest with ourselves for God already knows.  Have we lost our love?  Remember Revelation 2:4; “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.”

Where Are They?

Posted on by
Reply

Admittedly, I’ve been absent from writing for a while now.  This has been due to many things such as the bustle of the Holidays, (by the way, the word holiday is derived from Holy Day).  Isn’t it ironic that if your place of work or education insists on using the term “Happy Holidays” in lieu of “Merry Christmas”, they are really saying “Happy Holy Days”?  This proves that God will have the glory no matter how much satan and man conspire against him!

I’ve chosen for a text “Where Are They’?  This thought originally comes from an old song found in the Sacred Harp and Primitive Baptist Hymnals.  While it has been transcribed into more modern songbooks that you may be familiar with as the song entitled, “Lord Revive Us”, as usual, modern man drops verses they feel are out dated when really they are giving up some of the true beauty of such works.  One of the verses that was dropped is what I will use for my text. 

Where are those we counted leaders,

Filled with grace and zeal and truth,

Old Professors, tall as cedars,

Bright examples to our youth,

There you have it, where are they?  There were those who were bright examples.  They were professors of the faith and truth.  They were filled with faith, love, zeal and truth.  They were our leaders.  Where are they?  That is a good question.  We still have folks filling the positions of teachers, preachers, political leaders, heads of households, etc., but how many today are tall as cedars?  I will take the liberty to answer, precious few.

So many have said to us that they love and care for us but how many actually do?  Again the answer is precious few!   I watched my saintly parents give their life for the Gospel.  I watched my Dad get up at 3:30 AM, work all day, come in from work and then drive to a distant city to visit those that were sick.  He did this whether he was their Pastor, former Pastor, or just simply a friend.  He did this because he felt led of God to visit and do what he could to provide support and comfort for the families.  Where are they now?  Many have already crossed the river and arrived at their long sought home.  Precious few are left.

Dad never accepted a salary.  He even served as Pastor of a church for a full year and only received a five dollar bill from an old widow woman for the entire year.  How many that we call Pastor’s now would remain at a church for a yearly salary (or call it a love offering if you like), of five dollars?  Again we hear the answer, precious few.  He was truly as tall as a cedar yet when his health began to fail him, I didn’t see all that many of those who he had helped and dedicated his life to serve come around.  Although I must admit that many of them did once he made the crossing.  There were many that came at that time to pay their respects and the same goes for Mom.

I will readily admit that I have not visited and followed my heart like my Dad did.  Compared to him, I’m barely a sprout but this I will state, many that claimed they stood for me and supported me abandoned me.  Some with cause and some without any cause whatsoever.  This beloved is a great failure on behalf of all of us who profess to be Christians.  Now you may choose to justify yourselves in your own minds if you wish but you know that you are guilty just as I know that I am.

You can choose to stop reading now and hold to your weak justifications or you can continue and explore along with me, our shortcomings as those who are supposed to be representing the Lord Jesus to a lost world.  The choice is yours as God has made you a free moral agent.

I have witnessed many modern Pastors that would miss the opportunity of visiting someone in need of their support for the chance to preach to a congregation.  This is vanity and vexation of the Spirit.  God has plenty of volunteers ready to preach to the congregation, what is lacking is those willing to visit those in need when there appears to be little to gain in the way of popularity and or wealth.  God help us.  Where are they?  Those we counted leaders.  They who were tall as cedars.  The answer again is precious few.

I myself get up at 3:30 AM each morning to make my living and find it extremely difficult to do as my Dad did and come in from work and drive to a distant city to visit those who are in need of some Christian support.  I in no way intend to justify myself but rather hope to stir up your pure minds to show you that you are guilty of the same.  I know the argument can be made that times are different and our culture has changed.  While this is true, the Bible teaches us that God does not change. Where are they?  Well, today I visited a cemetery at an old country Church.  I found where many of them where.  Their remains had been placed out in that garden of the silent city of the dead but their souls were not there.  They were with Jesus.

Let us now turn to the next verse of the song following the one listed above:

Some in whom we once delighted,

We shall see no more below,

Some alas we fear are blighted,

Scarce a single leaf they show,

This song was written over 200 years ago and isn’t it amazing how accurate the author is in describing the problem we face today?  This beloved, is how God works.  He is timeless and if He’s inspired something, it is good and true for all ages.   The author leaves you and I very little wiggle room.  If we are not looked upon by others as “Old Professors”, we either have already crossed the river or we must face the fact that our leaves are full of the blight which is a degenerative disease.   If you are reading this and are not considered an “Old Professor”, then you have no other choice but to realize that you have let this world infest you with blight.  By the way, that goes for me as well.

So how do we remedy this?  It is rather simple but the first step is to stop justifying ourselves and our actions.  When a plant needs attention, we should dig around it and fertilize it.  You may wonder what that has to do with this topic?  Simple, dig around in prayer!  Not just repeating what you always say or what you heard others say but talk to God as a son or daughter to their father.  After all, if you are born again, you are a child of God and He is your Father.  After you dig around in prayer, apply the fertilizer or dung as we find it referred to in the Word of God.  Fertilize the plant with His Word and the blight of this world will soon began to fade.

I am full convinced that if you do these things with a pure heart and intention, the fruit that will be borne of the plant will be love.  Not just the word but the true meaning of the word for let us not forget that the scripture teaches us that “GOD is love”.  I’ve heard many say that we should love the sinner and not the sin.  This is a true saying but so many times we choose to disassociate ourselves with the sinner because of the sin.  Christ did not do that and if you think you are justified in doing this, you are not a Christian for term means to be Chirstlike!

So let us pray, (dig), let us also fertilize with His Word and let the fruit be LOVE!  If the fruit is not love, you need to dig and fertilize some more.

Beloved, this work has been written by a sinner albeit a sinner saved by grace and that is what matters.

Let me leave you with words from another song:

Let us love our God supremely,

Let us love each other too,

Let us love and pray for sinners,

Till our God makes all things new,

Love one another as He has loved us!

Sell Christ for this?

Posted on by
Reply

I suppose the title could be viewed in a pleasant or a rather dreadful light.  For preaching the Gospel some would consider us selling Christ.  Not that I agree with that term as it would imply that we offer Christ for our own gain.  Not so as we offer Christ out of duty, commandment and love for our fellow man but for no personal profit ourselves.  The title of this work comes from the autobiography of a great man of God, John Bunyan.  Bunyan lived well over 300 years ago and is best remembered as the author of the famous Christian writing “The Pilgrim’s Progress” which he wrote while being imprisoned for preaching the Gospel.

In “Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners”, Bunyan writes of his struggle for conversion and the many temptations he himself was faced with.  Born a poor man and considered a “tinker” by trade which would amount to a mender of pots, Bunyan did not receive the higher education that one would think is required to do the mighty and timeless works that he did.  This shows how our God can take the small and basest things and perform great wonders with them. 

By Bunyan’s own testimony, we find that he considered himself vile, sinful and could swear greater than anyone he came in contact with.  He stated that he was second to none when it came to swearing and blaspheming the holy name of God. He describes an episode with a woman of the town that he considered to be an ungodly wretch and yet she said this of him, “he swore and cursed at the most fearful rate that she was made to tremble just to hear him.”  She also stated that, “he was the ungodliest fellow for swearing that she ever heard in all her life; and that he, by thus doing was able to spoil all the youth in the whole town, if they came but in his company.”

Upon his marriage he writes that he and his wife did not have so much as a spoon or dish betwixt them.  His father-in-law was a pious man and left his daughter two Christian books which they would often read together.  The books “The Plain Man’s Pathway to Heaven and The Practice of Piety;” did not awaken him from the sinful state but did kindle some desire in him toward religion.  He shows great honesty by admitting that this did cause him to adore the priesthood and desire the chief seats.  Some who read this may be in the same condition.

Raised and acquainted with the Puritan Doctrine, young Bunyan attended a sermon on a certain Sabbath in which the text dealt with remembering the Sabbath and to keep it holy.  During the sermon the Parson warned of breaking the Sabbath with labor, sports or otherwise.  He felt as though the sermon was directed specifically at him as he was a lover of sports.  He speaks of how the sermon troubled and burdened him but after he had eaten his Sunday meal, he shook the thoughts of it off and returned to his love of sports and gaming.

The English of that time had a popular game commonly known as “Tip the Cat” in which Bunyan seemed to enjoy.  He admits that he was partaking in this game on the same Sabbath as that sermon and had struck the cat, (which typically is a wooden object somewhat shaped as a football), and was about to strike it again.  At this point he describes that a voice did suddenly dart from heaven into his soul and said, “Wilt thou leave thy sins and go to heaven, or have thy sins and go to hell? At this point he looked up to heaven as if he saw the Lord Jesus looking down and being greatly displeased with him.  While this did prick his conscience and he admits to realizing that he was a grievous sinner, the tempter immediately sowed the thoughts that it was too late for him and that Christ would not forgive him. I’m sure there are some who read this that the tempter has tried the same trick.

There is no doubt that Bunyan considered himself a sinner above many others.  The next few years of his life is painted by his own brush as a struggle between good and evil.  He begins to read the Bible and puts on an outward appearance of reformation.  We see this even in the day that we live in.  He admits to having a form of godliness and this chiefly due to him having a desire for the praise of men. I commend Bunyan again for his honesty.  He readily admitted to desiring the chief seats, adoring the priesthood and putting on an outward appearance of reformation and godliness.  Most of us have been guilty of these transgressions at one point or another but I doubt we would readily admit them as Bunyan.

Bunyan quits his swearing and tries to abstain from two other favorites of his, ringing and dancing.  I’m not sure why he considered ringing the bell in the steeple house such a great sin other than he does mention that he considered it vain.  He recounts going to the steeple house to watch the ringing although he wouldn’t do it himself.  He tells of how he would fear that the bell would fall or even the steeple and how he feared for his safety, (evidence of a guilty conscience).  He believed for the most part that he kept the commandments and though void of the saving Grace of Christ, thought he pleased Almighty God as well as any man in England.

He came to Bedford one day to work his trade and came across some poor women sitting in a doorway talking about the things of God.  As he thought himself now able to carry on conversations concerning religion, (although he admits that he was nothing more than a painted hypocrite), he quickly realized these women were talking far above him concerning salvation.  They described the joy in hearts, the new birth and how their righteousness was nothing but their righteousness was in the Lord.  This caused Bunyan to shake and mistrust his condition as he had not experienced the new birth or the comfort of the Word and promise and so his struggle continued. 

He labored much over the question of whether or not he was elected or if the day of Grace had come and gone and there was no hope for him.  This caused him much trouble and drove him to his wits end.  This thought fell upon his heart, “Look at the generations of old, and see; did ever any trust in God, and were confounded?” He immediately began to search the scriptures for it. He searched in vain and even asked others but no one could point him to this passage.  Over a year later he found in one of the books of the Apocrypha.  This troubled him a little that it wasn’t in the Holy Canon but he took comfort in knowing that God had led him to the passage to comfort him over the question of election and the passing of the day of Grace.  

The comfort was short lived as the tempter would place thoughts in his heart that perhaps those folks in Bedford that were already saved were all that God would save in those parts.  He longed to hear Christ call him and say, “Follow Me”.  He would have gave anything to have been one of those that heard Christ call them as did Peter, James and John.  God was opening scriptures to Bunyan all through these times of trials but it was as the seed was being sown, the fowls were gobbling them up.

His journey was filled with hills and valleys.  He would hear a sermon on the Song of Solomon and the words, “My love”, would follow him so that he would have comfort for a while and then the tempter would come again and suggest why he thought this Jesus was more than the Mahomet of the Turks. He even had times of thinking himself to be possessed of the devil. Many blasphemous thoughts ran through his mind and some he said that he dared not write about. 

I would read of his comforts and think now is his conversion but no sooner would I read the next paragraph and the tempter would be upon him again inserting doubt and muddying up all the things God was showing him.  I believe that the devil knew the potential of this poor man and launched a grievous campaign against his soul.  Bunyan sat under the preaching of Reverend Gifford at Bedford and begin to think in his heart that he loved Christ above all things.  It was at this time that Satan chose to launch a great assault against him. For a full year this temptation lay upon his heart and followed him, “To sell and part with this most blessed Christ, to exchange Him for the things of this life, for any thing.” Continually running through Bunyan’s mind, “Sell Christ for this, or sell Christ for that; sell Him, sell Him;” every day and as he describes it, almost every hour.  Sometimes it would run through his mind a hundred times, “Sell Him, sell Him, sell Him.” Bunyan would respond in his mind; “I will not, I will not, I will not, I will not; no, not for thousands, thousands, thousands of worlds:” The tempter would then place the thought in him that he valued Christ to little for the thousands of worlds were not enough.  This continued until one morning he described having the said argument between he and the tempter while lying in his bed until he became so weary that he was out of breath.  At that instant a thought rushed through his heart, “Let Him go, if He will;” and Bunyan believed his heart consented to this.

The scripture concerning Esau selling his birthright now began to trouble Bunyan.  He perceived himself a profane person as was Esau who for one morsel of bread sold his birthright. He dwelt on the scriptures dealing with the unpardonable sin.  He compared his sins to other in scripture such as David, Hezekiah, Solomon and Peter looking for any hope in the sad state that he was now in. He did notice how they sinned and were chastised but never put off forever from God’s mercy.  He found it hard to pray as the despair of his condition would swallow him up. He feared he was under the same mark that the Lord had set on Cain.  He would consider all of these examples in the scripture where men of God had sinned.  He would begin to get relief when the tempter would insert that those sins was against the law and Jesus had came to rescue them from the law but Bunyan’s were against Christ Himself.

Bunyan tells of pacing back and forth in his despair while being in a shop.  All of a sudden a pleasant voiced rushed in as it was on the wind and said, “Did’st thou ever refuse to be justified by the blood of Christ?”  He said he will leave the origin or meaning of it to the judgment but admitted that he received a great calm concerning his condition.  But as with his other episodes, the tempter comes again discouraging him from praying by supposing that he had rejected Christ and thus wouldn’t be heard. Struggling with whether or not he would receive grace or be as Esau, this scripture finally came to him; “Mercy rejoiceth against judgment.” 

John Bunyan experienced continual revelations from God even to hearing and seeing spiritual revelations and messages.  Yet with all of this the tempter would cast the doubt in his heart.  Continual struggles accompanied him that if one will take the time to read, I’m sure they can relate their own struggles to his.  Continually the thought would sneak into his heart, “Sell Christ for this, sell Christ for that”.

Finally he came to embrace the promises of God.  The passage that seemed to have given him the most comfort was in John; “And him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.” Isn’t that a wonderful promise? Oh think about it, him that comes to Jesus will in no wise be cast out!   You would think his struggles to be over but after this he joined to the church body in Bedford and partook of the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. He felt the Lord come down and plunge him into His virtue but not long after, thoughts of blasphemies raced through his mind.  For a period he struggled with this continually praying God to keep him from these thoughts.  Wearied and tired, he awoke from a troublesome sleep and was as if he heard this sentence; “Sinner, thou thinkest, that because thy sins and infirmities, I cannot save thy soul; but behold My Son is by me, and upon Him I look, and not on thee, and shall deal with thee according as I am pleased with Him.” 

One would think that with all the revelations and communications Bunyan received of God that the tempter would not be able to trouble him.  Not so, Bunyan as we are was made a free moral agent and subject to like passions.  I’ve experienced comparable events to his and yet the tempter uses every opportunity and occasion to tempt and trouble us.  We should read of his trials and temptations, his brutal honesty, his failures and triumphs and then take strength from his testimony.

I will conclude with a final event in which Bunyan had admittedly been in a cloud of darkness for days when a thought came to him, “I must go to Jesus”. His doubts and former atheism and yes he uses this term, fled away.  He even asked his wife if there was a scripture that stated “I must go to Jesus” and she could not provide one. Shortly thereafter it came bolting upon him, “And to an innumerable company of angels;”  For the scripture in Hebrews was revealed unto him, “Ye are come to mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven; and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.”  

He then told his wife with joy, “O! now I know, I know!”  How wonderful it is when God owns us.  I am reminded of a writer a hundred or so years after Bunyan by the name of John Newton.  You will probably best know him as the author of Amazing Grace.  John wrote another hymn in which a line goes, “Satan accuses me in vain and I am owned a child.”  Now you know you are owned a child and the tempters accusations are in vain. Oh what joy!

Sell Christ for this?  Bunyan did not but rather he would simply cling to the old rugged cross.  Bunyan was imprisoned several times for preaching the Gospel and not for selling Christ.  They conjured up erroneous rumors about him but he still refused to part with his blessed Lord.  They even offered him his freedom if he would just refrain from preaching the Gospel.  He did not sell Christ for his freedom but rather he told them, if you release me tonight, I will preach tomorrow.  Sell Christ for that?  Though the tempter always accused him of selling Christ, he was not guilty.  Through it all every temptation and every trial wound up making Bunyan stronger and more established in his beliefs.

Let us use Bunyan’s examples and wise words to fight the good fight of faith and withstand the wiles of the devil.  Sell Christ for this? Sell Christ for that?  I think not!  We will just take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord!

What shall I render unto the Lord?

Posted on by
Reply

This is a commentary on the 116th Psalm. Some of you may already be aware that the book of Psalms is often considered to contain some of the most beautiful prose within the English language although it was first written in Hebrew.  That in itself should show you the power of our Great God!  He gave the Psalms in Hebrew and when translated into English centuries later, it is ranked among the finest works of English Literature.

  1. I LOVE the Lord because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.
  2. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.
  3. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
  4. Then called I upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
  5. Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.
  6. The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.
  7. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.
  8. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.
  9. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
  10. I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted.
  11. I said in my haste, All men are liars.
  12. What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?
  13. I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.
  14. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people.
  15. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
  16. Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.
  17. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord.
  18. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people.
  19. In the courts of the Lord’s house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem.  Praise ye the Lord.

“I LOVE the Lord because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.” The Psalmist begins with why he loves the Lord. Here he explains how the Lord has heard his voice and his requests or petitions in which he chooses the word “supplication.” The dictionary defines supplication as an humble prayer, treaty or petition. It is truly humbling when you come to the realization that He who created the heavens and the earth has heard your voice and your requests! The Apostle John said that we love Him because He first loved us.  This is something that we should never forget for God is love and so loved us that He gave His only begotten Son a ransom for us.

“Because He has inclined His ear unto me, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live.” Once we’ve come to know Him and His mercy, and realize that He has and still hears our voice, we will surely call upon Him as long as we live.

“The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.” If you have never been under conviction from the Holy Spirit, you may not fully be able to grasp the point that Psalmist makes here.  When under conviction you fear death and most of all eternity for you are made to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that hell is real and you deserve to go there.  This beloved, causes great trouble and deep sorrow in your conscience and spirit.

“Then called I upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.” This is the only remedy for the above condition.  Of course you do not have to choose and sooner or later the Tempter will lay enough in front of you to help keep the trouble and sorrow suppressed so that you may carry on as you were.  The problem here is, once you have experienced the pains of hell through conviction, you have become as Adam and Eve and partaken of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  You are now accountable to God for your sins and you know that you are lost.  The Tempter will try to deceive you with claims that God is not real, Heaven is not real, hell is not real or the Holy Ghost will give you another chance.  The cold hard facts are that he deceived Adam and Eve who were the first humans so of course he will delight in deceiving you as well.

“Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.” The Psalmist also said that “His mercy endureth forever.”  That means as long as we are upon this earth and as long as there is breath in our bodies, there is mercy from our God that continues from Him toward us. He is gracious and it is His Grace that saves us from our lost condition.  We see things happen sometimes that we don’t understand and the more worldly thinkers among us often question God’s righteousness.  This beloved is a grave error for he that comes to God must first believe that He is, in other words that He exists and secondly that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.  In order to diligently seek Him, you must believe He is not only righteous but righteousness in Person! 

“The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.” To be saved, you first are brought low by the conviction of the Holy Spirit.  While men often strive for higher education, salvation is not based upon what you know but who you know.  Paul counted all his great learning as dung that he might win Christ.  So often when we receive higher learning we begin to think that we are too smart for God.  This also is planted by the Tempter and he delights much in using this weed growing in the garden of your heart. Notice how the Psalmist mentioned after he was brought low, the Lord helped him?  This is the only help for you once you have been convicted by the Holy Spirit.

“Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.” Notice how he says “return unto thy rest”?  You see that prior to the Holy Ghost visiting you and placing you under conviction, your soul was at rest.  You were not troubled by the fear of death and eternity as you were after the visitation; you were in fact at rest.  This rest comes from the fact that before you are visited by the Holy Ghost you are as Adam and Eve in the garden before they fell.  You are in a gracious state and if you die in that condition, you are a heavenly bound soul.  But once the Holy Spirit brings to light your condition, this rest flees from you as a bird on the wind.  You are no longer at rest but find trouble and sorrow. With this passage we see the soul who has cried unto the Lord and the Lord has heard and dealt bountifully with.  What did he mean by dealt bountifully?  There is no greater bounty than to be born into the family of God.  You are no longer a citizen of this earth but a pilgrim and stranger here as Abraham and all the patriarchs were. You are now a citizen of heaven and child of the King. Your sinful rags have now been replaced with the robe of His righteousness. 

“For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.” This is typical of the gracious state.  You are delivered from death.  That may seem strange to you but in fact, if you have reached this state, you have experienced the only death you will ever have to taste.  Your old sinful inner man has died out and been replaced with one that is born of God. Of course if the Lord tarries His coming, at some point you will draw your last breath in this natural body and your heart will beat its last time.  For the child of God, this is not death but a great exchange.  In fact, you really now begin to live.  You will sorrow no more for God has wiped all tears from your eyes and you will never sin again so therefore your feet will never slip.

“I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.” Those who have partaken of this free gift of grace are infused with a desire to walk in the way that the Lord directs them while here on this earth.  There is favor and blessings in walking the path that He has laid out for us.

“I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted.” When the Lord first saved me and I began to walk in His way, I thought  it was going to be smooth sailing from that point until I reached Glory, well, I was wrong.  Here we find the Psalmist after the Lord hath dealt so bountifully with him, in an afflicted state.  An old preacher friend of mine used to say, “If you don’t have trouble, lookout, it’s on its way.” This is a true saying and worthy of all acceptation. 

“I said in my haste, All men are liars.” I must confess that as the Psalmist, I too have said this in my haste. While I do believe that all of us have lied, all men are not liars when we consider that Christ was both God and man.

“What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?” Now to address the title of this work; what shall we render unto Him?  He who has held back no good thing from us, He who has created everything for our good, He who gave His only Son for us, what shall we render unto Him? He who parted the red sea, He who gave us the law, He who gave us the Word, He who hears and answers prayers, what shall we render unto Him?  My mind is drawn to the hymn that so many saints have sang, “In my hand no price I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling.” What shall we render unto Him for all these benefits?  We may choose to live a Holy life, to attend Church every time the doors are open, to visit the sick and afflicted, to pray for the lost, we may choose these and many others but remember, these are only our reasonable duties and nothing more. Nothing that we could render would begin to repay the debt of the benefits that we have received. 

“I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.” Well, the Psalmist answered his own question, and I will follow suite, we’ll just take the cup of salvation and call upon His precious name. 

“I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people.” Here is something else we can do to answer the question.  Whatever we have vowed unto the Lord, let us pay it for it is better not to make the vow than to make it and break it! I remembered when the Lord drew me into His church that I had vowed to testify of Him when given the opportunity.  As the Sabbath drew near, I hatched a scheme to visit another church to get out of the vow for I was somewhat shy.  I called my Mom and asked if she would like for me to take her to the Decoration Day services at the church where her Mom and Dad were buried.  Of course she was delighted and agreed immediately to go.  During the course of the service, the Lord reminded me of my vow and now instead of being among my home church and people I knew, He was now impressing upon me to remember my vow among a congregation that I was not familiar with.  This burned so strongly in my breast that I had to yield to the vow that I made and stand and testify.  Of course He met and blessed my efforts but He also taught me that His eye is everywhere and He is wise to the intent of my heart! 

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” As an Evangelist, I’ve leaned upon this scripture many times in my life.  Often it has been while I tried to stand a say a few words over those who had beat me to the crossing of the river and whom I had considered to have fought a much better fight than I have.  I have stood by the bedside of some of those saints as the Lord dispatched the Angel to receive His beloved.  Oh what peace came over them and those that were present?  Oh what Grace is this that while the heart breaks it is also flooded with peace, comfort and hope? Oh the boundless joy to be found within the embrace of His Grace! 

“Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.” The Psalmist turns to Teacher in this verse.  So often we elevate those whom the Lord has worked mightily through.  This I remember and was taught from my Dad, he always considered himself to be serving the church instead of being the pastor.  You would ask, “Where do you pastor?” and he would reply, “I try to serve over at such and such church.” The son of thine handmaid refers to the invisible Mother Church.  This church unlike the visible is perfect, without spot and without blemish and truly is the Mother of those who have been born again.  You have been loosed from the bondage of sin.  You are now the Lord’s freeman.

“I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord.” Here we find another item that we can render unto the Lord.  No longer do we need to sacrifice the blood of bulls and goats for the supreme sacrifice, the Lamb without spot or blemish has been sacrificed and that act in itself is enough for the sins of the whole world.  The sacrifice of thanksgiving is a small thing for us to render but our God delights Himself in the small things. 

“I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people.” Here we find a repeat of verse 14 and to me that means the Psalmist intended for us to get the meaning of this and to take it to heart.  Again, it is better not to make a vow than to make one and break it. 

“In the courts of the Lord’s house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem.”  Praise ye the Lord. Here is the sum of the Psalm.  In the Lord’s house represents the visible church here in this world while Jerusalem represents the invisible church.  I know there are those who would argue that the Psalmist is speaking of the natural Jerusalem but spiritually, the meaning that the Lord would have us take away is not the natural but the Jerusalem that Paul speaks of which is above and the Mother of all living.  Of course the Mother of all living does not mean all who is alive in the flesh but to the contrary, those who have died out to sin and have been born again of the Spirit of God.  The last rendering we see for the benefits is to Praise Him.  What a small price to ask for the many benefits that we have been made to reap!  What joy there is in serving a risen Savior!  What a privilege to take the cup of salvation! What fellowship between the children of God! What peace! What hope! What comfort!  What shall I render unto Him for His benefits toward me?  I’ll just take the cup of salvation (Praise God), and call upon His Holy Name!

Bunions

Posted on by
Reply

I admit the title is an attempt at a teaser since most folks have heard the term “bunion” and know that it is a painful foot ailment. Of course I am not going to write about foot afflictions but about a couple of guys named “Bunyan”.

Many of us have heard from our childhood of a mythical giant lumberjack named Paul Bunyan and his equally huge blue ox called Babe.

 The photo above is from the Pacific Coastal Highway in Oregon. My wife and I had the pleasure to visit this site a couple of years ago.  There are many legends surrounding Paul Bunyan and Babe and even the origin of the myth is somewhat cloudy. The legend is that it took five storks just to deliver the lumberjack. He also dragged his ax and created the Grand Canyon, piled rocks on top of his campfire and created Mt. Hood, and that the 10,000 lakes of Michigan were created from the footprints of Bunyan and Babe.

If we were to ask most people today who is the most famous person they know with a last name of “Bunyan”, I believe that Paul and Babe would be their answer.

For those of you who have never heard and even for those who have, I would like to introduce you to a new “Bunyan”.  Well, he’s not really new and there was definitely a time that he was better known than Paul.  His name is John Bunyan and he lived during the 1600’s in Great Britain.

 John was one of the earliest Baptist to achieve public recognition.  He was a preacher and writer and is best known for writing “The Pilgrim’s Progress”. In his early days he appears to have been known for his extraordinary ability to swear.  Some were even known to have said that he was “the ungodliest fellow for swearing they ever heard.”  John is reported to have heard voices saying “sell Christ” and even reported hearing a voice say, “Wilt thou leave thy sins and go to heaven or have thy sins and go to hell?” This is said to have taken place while playing sporting games on the Sabbath. The Puritans were strongly against any sport on the Sabbath and John’s spirituality is said to have been born from this event.

Although it was reported that he was baptized two days after his birth (as was the custom in most Christian faiths of the time), he was baptized after his conversion into St. John’s Church.   Around 1656, although he had no formal education, he published his first of many books.  He was also made a deacon at St. John’s in 1657.

As with so many that are trying to follow their convictions and do the will of God, as his popularity grew, he became a target for slander.  He was called a witch, a Jesuit, a highwayman and even accused of having mistresses and multiple wives. In 1658 he was arrested for preaching without a license. He was imprisoned in 1660 and urged to agree not to preach anymore to which he refused saying that God’s law obliged him to preach at any and every opportunity. 

John was imprisoned on more than one occasion and always for preaching.  Though some scholars argue over which imprisonment it was, it is sure that he wrote the Pilgrim’s Progress while he was incarcerated. It is said that he only had two books available to him while in prison, the Bible and Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.

In 1672, King Charles II issued the Declaration of Religious Indulgence. This allowed for Bunyan’s release from prison, receiving his license to preach and he was appointed Pastor of St. John’s Church. In 1675, Charles removed his declaration of indulgence and Bunyan was again imprisoned.  The Quakers, although Bunyan was Baptist, helped secure his release by presenting Charles with a list of names to pardon. Bunyan never returned to prison but it is reported that he often went in disguise for fear of re-incarceration.

So if you have never taken the time to read “The Pilgrim’s Progress”, I would strongly recommend that you do so.  For many years it was the most widely read English publication behind the Bible.  Read his works and instead of seeing a mythical giant as Paul Bunyan, you will find a giant of faith and perseverance in John Bunyan.

 

Grace 1.0

Posted on by
Reply

 

It appears that I write often on the topic of Grace.  I believe there is a very good reason for this as I surmise it may be the most misinterpreted and misunderstood of Christian Doctrines. Since this is not my first written work on the topic of Grace and if the Lord tarries His coming it probably won’t be the last, I chose to entitle this work “Grace 1.0″ and intend to increase numerically with future articles as the Lord leads.

Of course I realize that I am not recognized among the great theologians or Christian writers of our day and the only credentials that I am able to provide is that I am a sinner saved by Grace and called by His Providence to deliver a message that carnal teachings often miss.

I do remind you that He has historically chosen the weaker and most base members of the human race to deliver His most profound messages.  This He does to show how insignificant man and man’s intellect is when it comes to the teachings of the Divine.  According to the Holy Scriptures, man at his very best state is altogether vanity!   That passage alone ought to make us leery of leaning to our own understanding and education and cause us to look more earnestly to the Almighty for wisdom and guidance.

Firstly, let us admit that logic is our enemy and one that the devil uses frequently against us.  If you are one of God’s children, if you are saved, that in itself defies all logic.  While I have written computer programs that depend upon logic, none of them have been able to save my never-dying soul from eternal torment.  Only Grace has proven to contain this power.  I may depend on logic during my daily job but I will not depend upon it for my salvation and neither should you!

Common to our upbringing and way of thinking is that if we live in a way that we consider to be good and do good things, then that will be counted in a tally toward justification for acceptance into Heaven.  If we speak of justice the scripture and nature itself is plain concerning our just dessert which is eternal torment in a devil’s hell.  The scripture is also plain concerning our feeble attempts at good works for there in none that doeth goo and sinneth not!  Our good works, charity and church attendance cannot win us a place in heaven and escape that dreadful place which is justly our destination by nature.

The question was asked in the scriptures as to if there was any balm in Gilead and if there was a Physician there?  The answer is rather simple, YES!  The Gospel is balm to the afflicted soul and Jesus is the Great Physician.  Whatever your ailment, Dr. Jesus has the remedy.  It is not by your might or power but by His Spirit and we have scripture for that as well.

So as you read the ramblings of a fellow sinner, fail not to miss the point of this work.  You can be saved right now if the Holy Spirit is dealing with your heart and convicts you of your sin and lost condition.  Salvation doesn’t require Billy Graham, Bishop Jakes, Jimmy Swaggert, John Piper or any other mortal to intercede for us.  Our intercessor is Jesus Christ the Righteous who promised that if we would come to Him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit He would in no wise turn us away.  Oh thou who art greatly longed for in the Lord, let us now sing the lyrics in which the Lord gave Brother John Newton, “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see”!

If Jesus Comes Tomorrow What Then?

Posted on by
Reply

I remember a song that contained the phrase “If Jesus Comes Tomorrow, What Then”, in which I heard a few years ago. I think Vern Gosden may have sang it. Like most things, I’m not sure why these thoughts cross my mind other than God plants them there for me to write about.

The song if I remember correctly made inflections that if Jesus came to your house would you have to hide some things. This is typical of mans’ thinking and our carnal thoughts. First of all, God knows all about us. He knows what is hid in your house, mind and most of all your heart. It would please the devil well for us to think of God as some entity far away that is coming back someday. The fact is our God is a God at hand. He’s as close as the words of our mouth. While He’s promised to come back, if you leave the walks of this life, He has already came back as far as you are concerned.

So now, let us not live worrying about songs talking about Jesus coming to spend the day with us for He spends everyday with us already. Let us not worry about if the Pastor or someone from the Church came to visit if we would have to hide anything. Rather let us seek Christ each and everyday and the rest will take care of itself. 

If Jesus comes tomorrow, what then? Well, if you are born of His spirit, it will be the most glorious experience that has ever occurred in your feeble existence. It will be a glad reunion day! How sweet it will be to lay down all of your burdens and exchange the old cross for a crown. For the unsaved it will be a most different situation. It will be the sad realization that time, mercy and grace has ran out for you along with any hope of joy and peace hereafter.

It won’t matter if you have cleaned your earthly house of all things you would think to be offensive to Him. It won’t matter if you have placed a King James Bible in every room. You may even have religious pictures on the wall or maybe you have erected a shrine in His honor, but if you are unsaved, none of these things will matter. The sentence will be painful and swift, “Depart from me ye workers of iniquity, I never knew you.” How sad and what a shame. You cleaned your house and you may have even tried to clean your life but without His saving grace, you are lost and undone.

To the born again, they will be able to sing, “Oh look what I traded for a mansion and look at what I’m leaving behind. And look who is there to greet me, as I step into sweet paradise.” What a stark contrast. What a loss and what a shame? For those who rejected the call of repentance from the Holy Spirit, the saddest part must be the realization that all hope is gone and their fate is sealed.

If He calls for you tonight dear friend, He has come for you so now I ask you, what then? You already know the answer, if you don’t know Him, in hell you will lift up your eyes. If you know Him and the free pardon of sin, you will go were He is and be forever blessed. The choice is yours but choose wisely as your eternal well-being depends on it.

 

Where Is the Promise of His Coming?

Posted on by
Reply

Beloved, this has been on my mind for several days and at my age, I like to think that I’m getting a little wiser and know when the Lord wants me to write on something.  The thought is taken from: 2 Peter 3:4 “And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”  And of course the subject is, “where is the promise of His coming?”

This should be easily answered for the believer.  When you awoke this morning and you surely realized that it was His mercy that carried you through the night and woke you to another day.  If that escaped your thoughts, maybe seeing the sunrise or hearing the little birds sing reminded you. Perhaps you peeked in the room where your children were fast asleep and remembered the goodness of the Lord and His promise to return.  So many things in a single day are provided to remind the believer and confirm the promises of Almighty God.

The problem lies with the unbeliever.  Existing day by day with no hope once this life is over and doubting if anything even exists once the last breath leaves the body.  I can’t help but believe that when they are all alone, they have to ponder on this and wrestle with uneasiness.  So, for them, we tackle the question of “where is the promise of His coming?”  We have scientists, entertainers, government and just about anything else that is popular attempting to erase this thought from our minds.  I find that alone, coupled with all the warnings He provided us in the scripture that they in authority would do these things would provide plenty of reason to cause the unbeliever to take a closer look at His promise.

We see all the tragedy and corruption in the world and live in an age of information.  Our mother and father’s view of the world was much more confined to where they dwelled but we see what goes on all over the world.  They that are in authority seem to never miss a chance to cast doubt at the Christian for their belief and practice.  This should make the unbeliever take a closer look at His promise.  They even say “all things continue as they were from the beginning” in an effort to throw the unbeliever off course to become a believer.  They say that everything that is happening has always happened but since we were not living in the information age we didn’t know it.  Still more reasons for the unbeliever to take a closer look at His promise.

Now to answer the question for both the believer and the unbeliever, let us go to the Word of God.  John 14:1-3, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” Here beloved is the Promise of His returning. Since it is impossible for God to lie and since Jesus was and is God, the promise is sure and unfailing.  Well, say you, I am an unbeliever?  I’ve already mentioned God the Father, His Son Jesus but now allow me to introduce you to the final installment in the Trinity of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit. It is He who takes feeble posts such as this by feeble men such as I and begins to trouble your conscience and open your understanding. It will be He who confirms what I’ve written concerning the promise and troubles your rest until you either accept the invitation to believe or thrust Him away.

Jesus Police and Fruit Inspectors

Posted on by
Reply

Ok, these are cute little “catch-phrases”.  The latter has been used a lot while I’m not absolutely positive but I believe my children may have coined the former phrase with their dear old Dad in mind.

First of all, we should all know the scriptures concerning judging.  Most of us claim to know them and furthermore we claim to obey them but do we really?

Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” This no doubt is one of the most common of the scriptures that will be quoted whenever judging one another is discussed.

Luke 6:37 “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:”  We see here that Luke even carries it a little farther.

Then comes John by which if we are not careful, we’ll forget Matthew. John 7:24“Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”

And then there is Paul: Romans 14:3“Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.” Romans 14:13 “Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.” 1 Corinthians 4:3 “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.” 1 Corinthians 4:5 “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:2 “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?” 1 Corinthians 6:3 “Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?” 1 Corinthians 10:29 “Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience?” 1 Corinthians 11:31 “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.” 1 Corinthians 11:32” But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.”

I could go on and on for there are many scriptures justifying or else excluding the varying views that the modern and not so modern Christians have concerning judging one another. We find that we do have some liberty to judge but only in righteous judgment.  We also know that by the scripture we have authority to judge a tree by the fruit it bears and this is what brought about the term “Fruit Inspectors”. While we do have this liberty, I’ve not seen a one of us granted a badge or license from the Lord for this purpose.  Paul said if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.  If we as fruit inspectors check our own produce, we would not be as concerned about our neighbors!

Many Christians appear to have volunteered for the job of “Fruit Inspector” but I would caution that you be careful of searching for the mote in your fellow Christian’s eye as our Lord reminds us that there is often a beam in our own eye while we are conducting the search.  Furthermore, a mote is only a spec such as dust but a beam is something strong enough to support a house, therefore our Lord didn’t chew His words when he called such hypocrites.

And now, concerning the “Jesus Police”, at a certain point in my life I considered myself “high-sheriff”. I was conditioned from an early age to enter the ranks of this order.  The Baptist Sect in which I was raised would bring charges during a conference, appoint a committee, visit the accused and bring back the report.  The accused had two choices, they could either make acknowledgements or be excommunicated. The most common offence that was addressed was concerning Brethren who missed a conference without giving a reason!  Of course there were other serious matters but they were much fewer than the offence mentioned above.

I’ve known some good spiritual Christian’s who left this world being excommunicated for not showing up at conference and that dear friends is a shame!

You see beloved, all too often the Jesus Police abuse their power in the Lord.  For in the Baptist faith, matters touching fellowship must be voted unanimous by the body. When voting on fellowship, if one does not vote with the majority, they too will be excommunicated in order to achieve the unanimous goal.  This has resulted in very good Christian’s being excommunicated for simply voting their conscience and nothing more.  A preacher friend of mine uses the scripture, Numbers 16:7 “And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the LORD doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.” The subject being that the sons of Levi, (Deacons), take too much upon themselves.

While I believe the scripture, 1 Peter 1:16 “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy”, I am also aware that I’m afforded only the opportunity to judge with righteous judgment and that my righteousness is as filthy rags.  My holiness as well as my righteousness is in the Lord Jesus Christ and not this filthy flesh. 

My commission is to preach the Gospel and be light to a lost and dying world.  News Alert! Your job likewise is to walk in a way pleasing unto God (not yourself, not me, not any man), and tell folks how precious our Lord is.

I beseech ye therefore brothers and sisters by Almighty God that you refrain from fruit inspection and turn in your Jesus Police badges?  Exchange them for love.  Love works no ill and causes no injury.  God so loved us that He gave His Son a ransom for us and yet we incarcerate, punish and injure one another. Beloved, these things ought not to be.  It is like bitter and sweet water attempting to come out of the same fountain.

1 John 4:20 “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”

What Should You Believe?

Posted on by
Reply

What Should You Believe?
This beloved is a question not only facing Christians but any soul that is born into this world. I concede that there are many religions in the civilized world and it would seem to be a difficult choice since the stakes are so high. Being a Christian Minister of the Baptist persuasion, you should expect me to make the case for Christianity and you are right. I care not for your level of education except that the more educated one tends to be, the more one thinks that their understanding exceeds those who have gone before.

There are many that see the tragedy in the world as a proof that there is no God or that the Christian’s God is unfair in His dispensation of judgment and mercy. Then there are those who believe because they were taught to believe. I intend to take on and address both of these groups as well as unbelievers and those of other religions.

I further concede that you can choose to go through this mortal existence and believe in nothing more than what you see but you know that when no one is around and in your deepest thoughts, you wonder, is there a God and what if old crazy guys like this author is at least partly right?

Well, that is what we need to determine, right? I could tell you about the Bible and about it’s origin. You could counter with “what about the Quran and other religious texts”? While I have devoted enough study to more than adequately defend the Bible, I think that I will choose another method for the purpose of convincing the skeptics.

A while back I had a friend that referenced the horrible earthquake and ensuing tsunami in Japan and though he once professed to be of like faith as I, made the statement that if God had a plan, he sure didn’t understand it. Since I became aware of these views, I noticed many others that shared somewhat the same concerns. Of course this method of analyzing and questioning the Christian God is not new although one may think that they are having original thoughts and genuine concern for the human race.

The truth is, there could never be more concern for the human race than what is reported that the Christian God did for them. There are many religions in the civilized world but none in which the Deity gave of His own to provide a ransom for the race. Not just for one tribe or ethnicity but for all who have or ever will be a part of the human race. This point alone even to our carnal and logical minds, places Christianity above other civilized religions.

The complaints that have come to my knowledge has to do with those tribes and people’s who have never heard of Christianity and how the Christian God can judge those poor souls who have never had the privilege of hearing the gospel of this God? These complaints are among the easiest of any that could be submitted for my view. The Christian God has never and will never condemn one of His creation to eternal punishment without just cause. Please understand that if you have never been convicted of your condition by the Holy Spirit of the Christian God that He does not hold you accountable for your lost condition and you are as sanctified as any who has ever lived. It matters little whether you accept or believe this as it has been and will ever be the truth regardless of what you or I believe!

This claim cannot be truthfully made of any other religion. The reason is simple, the authors of the other religions did not author creation and could not love creation enough to make a way to redeem them. OK, now that all other religions are on the ropes, that leaves me one more group to contend with and of course they are the unbelievers. 

You have been around a long time and you are a formidable enemy. You have viewed the stars, the moon, the sun, the mountains, the seas and yet you try to convince yourself that you have figured out how all of these were created. You have either ascribed to Darwin, the Big Bang or some other scientific theory and think that you have it all figured out. You say this but you really don’t believe it for science came from man and you have surely seen how man will lie and manipulate any and all for his own glory and personal gain. You my friend, are in a conundrum! 

I’m sure with your education and supreme intellect, you are aware aware at the risk involved in having a flaw in your theory concerning salvation? You could choose to go on the defense and pose the same question to me with an added, “how come I think that I’m right”! Of course in person, I doubt that I would be so lucky. 

My salvation is not based upon a theory created by man. My salvation does not depend upon what is written in a book  including the Bible or any other religious texts. My salvation does not rely on history or even ceremony. Since my salvation is not based or generated from any of these things it stands to reason that none of these things can effect or hinder it. My salvation is not even something that I have labored or strove for nor something that I have inherited.

My salvation beloved is a free gift of the Christian God Creator’s Grace. How do I know that I possess it? This is a little harder for me to explain to the non-believer or the cynic but it is dependent solely upon the personal relationship between me, the Christian God, His Son and the Holy Spirit. I know all three of them personally and what is of most import, They know me.

Now is the portion where you can claim that I am deranged or crazed and state that I can offer no proof. You see, the proof that I offer is what I know and have experienced. Remember those doubts that I mentioned earlier that you experience when you are alone? I do not experience those at all but to the contrary a great comfort in the grace that was bestowed upon me.

So now, let us hear the sum of the matter. I am a child of the Christian God. He is the Creator of all and has made a way for all. If you are to experience eternal happiness and joy, you too must become His child. There is salvation in none other for He alone created all and created a method for all to be redeemed. I do not believe this because I was taught it. I do not believe this simply because the Bible confirms it but I know this because of my experience with Him!

Now hear is the portion that I am commissioned to perform. Not because it is tied to my salvation but because I have been instructed of my Father. After reading this you no longer have a cloak for your sin and condition. Furthermore you can no longer plead ignorance for your covering. Down deep inside where only you and God know your thoughts, you know that what you have just read is the truth and now you must deal with it. In the Bible we find that the servant of Abraham was sent to fetch a wife for Isaac, his master’s son. The servant provided this petition which I will now implore. “Deal kindly and gently with my Master.”