DECEMBER 2008
ENTER YE INTO THE GATES OF PEACE
PART 10
Nehemiah Chapter 3
As we deal with the content of how to live a life of peace with God we find ourselves in the final article of this thought. For the last 10 months we have covered the ten gates of the city of Jerusalem and illustrating how entering these gates can bring us to the fullness of peace in our hearts and lives. If you have not read all the articles you can go back through the past months and view them for yourself. I hope that many of you will download them and use them in your preaching and teaching.
The final gate in found in verse (31) the gate is called "Miphkad" which means an appointment. Remember last month was The East Gate and that shows the return of our Lord to catch His children away in the air. Now we go from a rapture straight to a time of appointed judgment. This gate reveals to us the divine appointment to stand before God for the services done in our body after we received Christ as our Saviour.
(IICor. 5:10) tells us that we will all appear before The Judgment Seat of Christ to give an account of ourselves. We will shout when Jesus comes to get us, but a few seconds in front of Him and I think things will get silent for awhile. We must remember that this time of appointment is not to give an account of our past sins for they were washed away by The Blood of Jesus Christ upon the moment of salvation. Neither is this judgment to find out if we are saved or not. That again was determined at the time of receiving Christ.
This is not the judgment of the lost found in (Rev. 20), that is not until after the tribulation period in chapters 6 -19. This is not the judgment of the nations, revealed as sheep and goats. That judgment again is national and takes place after the tribulation period concerning the way nations treated Israel during that time of God's wrath. You must understand that God has appointed a time for His children to give account of the deeds done in their bodies after they were converted.
Great men and smart Bible students have some minor disagreements on the setting and the purpose of the judgment we are dealing with. It is generally called The Judgment Seat of Christ. One major dividing factor is if a child of God can lose their rewards that they have already wrought? I will present both sides and you can decide for yourself. (IIJohn verse 8) tells us to stay faithful less we lose those things that we have wrought. Some content that this verse suggest that is faithfulness until the end is not experienced then the good deeds that they have wrought will be lost forever and the rewards that would follow as well.
While others content that God is a debtor to no man and would not take back rewards He has already prepared for you. Illustration; If you paid your child to cut the grass and they did so for the whole year but started slipping toward the fall of the year. Yes they would lose what they could have had but you don't go back and take back from them that which they honestly work for. The suffering lose would be seeing what they could have had burn up in wood, hay, and stubble on the day of judgment.
I'm not sure how it will all pan out but I know it will be done in a just and fair fashion. For the one of the throne is just and righteous in His very nature. But I am sure about three different areas of our lives that we will give an account for on that great day.
1. OUR ATTITUDES
Many times during His earthly ministry Jesus had to adjust and rebuke the attitudes of His followers. Some times they were very un thoughtful toward the children that desired to see Jesus. Some times they wanted to bring down fire and burn people into hell. Some times they wanted to cut peoples ears off when those people needed to have the chance to listen. Through the pressures and problems of their day they would find themselves getting instructed on how to have a better attitude by our Lord.
If that was true in their day, how much more in this pressure cooker we are now living in. They did not have computers, cell phones, IPods, e-mail, text messages, beepers, etc...There were times when these good men were pushed beyond their limits and it affected their attitudes. The same conclusion can be found in most of our lives and many times we develop attitudes because we fell like we are pressed out of measure.
Bad attitudes seem to find their way into expressing themselves the most on the people that are closest to us. Many times attitudes are formed against people that have nothing to do with the issues that are at hand causing the pressures we are facing. Yet it seems like unleashing our attitudes toward them serves as a release effort for us.
Think about standing before God for every attitude we have had that did not reflex the attitude of Christ. Jesus was longsuffering, patient, humble, and forgiving and understanding in every way. When I think about the many times God has checked my attitude and found me wanting, It makes me fearful of the truth that I will meet Him with this personal area of my life on judgment day.
2. OUR AMBITIONS
This private area of our life deals with our goals and desires during our days on earth. Was Jesus really first in our lives in every manner of faith and practice? Did we allow things or people to get in our way to keep us from being all we could be for Jesus. One woman came to Jesus to worship Him and she began to fall at His feet and anoint them and wipe His feet with her hair, some complained and murmured. Jesus gave her one of the greatest testimonies one could ever acclaim. He said: "She hath done what she could." What greater joy that to know that when all your desires have been revealed and tested, it can be said of you that you did all you could. That comes through setting goals and dedication to not allow any thing to get between you and The Lord.
There will be times in your life that God may deal with you about some thing that may not even be wrong. But He has dealt with you about removing it from your life. Hard to understand how others can do things and you can't? God may know that the very thing you desire could become a stumbling block and hinder you from being all you can be for Jesus. There are things God will not allow me to do that can not be found in The Bible. That does not make me better than others or more holy, God may foresee some thing getting in my way of serving Him to my fullest ability. I just want to serve Him and be willing to make any adjustment in my ambitions to serve Him better.
All of our goals and dreams should be baptized in the will of God. Any thing in our lives that would draw us from Jesus and His perfect will for us needs to be removed from our ambitions.
In 1994 I had a desire to learn how to fly an airplane. So I took all the lessons and became a pilot in 1994. I enjoyed flying and had a plane any time I wanted one. I had a dear Christian friend that owned a plane and allowed me to use it any time I had time to fly. I would come home for a day or so and head for the sky and just fly around for a few hours just to get away and enjoy the beauty of flying.
A few years ago I got up early one morning and was going to fly over into Tennessee and land there and eat and fly back home again. On my way to the airport God spoke to me about flying. The Lord told me to turn around and go home and not fly again until He told me I could. Without arguing or wondering, I turned my pick up around and headed home. I put all my pilot books and flight patterns in my desk and that is where they remain until this day. Now there is not a thing wrong with flying, so why did God tell me to ground my plane? Maybe He knew that down the road it would become a priority in my life, I really don't know and He does not have to tell me, I just want to be in the middle of His will for my life. I said that to say this; some times good things can become a priority in our lives and those things have to be considered a hindrance and must be dealt with according to God's word.
3. OUR ACTIONS
Our accountability will be according to our "deeds" as well. The works we have done in our bodies for Jesus after we got saved. By the time we stand before God for our attitudes and our ambitions I don't know if there will be much left to be judged according to our works. The old saying is still true; "Only what is done for Jesus will last through the pages of time and eternity." He did and still does a great work for us the least we could do is a little faithful work for Him.
On this great day of judgment we will give an account of only ourselves. The excuse of using others for you not being what you should have been will be eliminated. Only your works in your body during your life will be present for evidence and accountability.
When The Lord reveals how much time we have invested in every thing else we had during our life time and how little real time we invested in His work, we will be extra glad we are saved by grace without the deeds of the law or works. The average Christian gives 3% of their lives to the work of God. Are you willing to meet God today with 97% of your Christian life focused on things that does not matter?
I pray that all of us will close out this year making the needed adjustments in our lives to get ourselves ready to meet God according to these three areas of our lives on judgment day.
May God give you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!
NOVEMBER 2008
ENTER YE INTO THE GATES OF PEACE
PART 9
Nehemiah Chapter 3
This months article finds us in verse (29) where we find The East Gate. This section of repair is a type of The Second Coming of Jesus Christ to the earth. Last month we talked about The Horse Gate, the gate of warfare and battles. Notice that this takes place until the second coming becomes a reality. But some glad day when Jesus comes again all of our heartaches and trials are forever over.
This gate is the blessed hope of all believer's, the living ones as well as those buried around the world. Did you know that all cemeteries bury the dead facing the East? This was since the founding of our nation to illustrate that we are burying our loved ones until the great day when Jesus returns from the East to gather His own.
When you study the coming of The Lord you must always remember that His return is in two parts. His first return is what is known as The Rapture; this means to be caught up or gathered and taken away. According to (I Thes.4) this will happen in the air. At this time Jesus will not touch the earth, but will shout from the clouds and all of His children will be caught up to meet Him in the air. Those that have died in the faith will be brought up from the ground and those alive will be changed and gathered as well.
The Revelation of His second coming will take place seven years later at the closing of The Tribulation Period. This is found in (Rev.19) This time Jesus returns with His saints to the earth to face the great battle and declare His victory world wide once and for all. He will set on The Throne of David and reign for 1,000 years on this earth. The curse will be lifted. Israel will be saved in a day. The earth and the heavens will swell with His glory and His praise. The Devil will be bound for 1,000 years in hell! The lion will lay down with the lamb. Peace will cover the whole earth. And the government shall be upon His shoulders. What a wonderful day this is going to be!!!
I believe with all my heart that we are facing the last of the last days before the coming of Jesus Christ for His own. The times and seasons all point to His promised return. I would not argue with you on the debate of the signs pointing to His rapture or revelation, but we can see the stage being set before our eyes everyday no matter which view you hold too. I will attempt to reveal to you some events happening today that are warning signs for all to get ready for The Lord's return.
1. THE CONDITION OF OUR SOCIETY.
Even people of no faith will admit to you that our society cannot continue on the path it is on without major effects coming our way. The mind set of The American People has changed to a dark understanding that is totally separate from our founding fathers thinking. I have often wondered what our forefathers would think if they could see the direction our nation is headed in today.
Who would have dreamed 50 years ago that we would live in a land founded on God's Word where now The Bible cannot be shared in the school system or public prayers cannot be uttered at any school function. Yet sex education and perverted life styles are promoted and taught in the class room. Television daily burdens the clean mind to think ungodly and to be twisted into godless thought patterns. Dirty language and loose living has become the accepted life style of our day. Even little children swear and cuss in public while parent's laugh and support it.
I look at the thieves and crooks in Washington that have stole billions of dollars from hard working investors and they walk away without even their hands being smacked! While hard working middle class people suffer the results of being beaten out of their retirements. And then to think that our nation would turn around and give this same company 700 billion dollars of our money to bail them out while we have lost everything. The greed, sex, and pleasure of Washington has become public to the people and our nation is in dismay concerning our future.
Have you been following the election? This nation is split down the middle in it's views. The liberals are growing in number every election. People are voting according to what they can get out of it and many are voting according to color or the person's sexual gender. Values and morals don't even get mentioned much any more in debates and personal views. America has sold her soul for the hog pens of this world.
The international testimony of our nation has crumbled into a comic section of the world wide news papers. The "super power" of this country has been swallowed up by corruption and greed. The respect from other nations is so weak that even small, third world lands challenge our standards. The fear and respect of our land being one that is blessed and bold is forever gone into the winds of liberal thinking and weak leadership.
2. THE CONDOLENCE OF SIN.
Paul warned Timothy that the latter times would be wicked and ungodly, but I never dreamed I would witness some of the things I am seeing in our land today. Shacking up has become the new method of marriage. Long term marriages are just things we talk about that used to be. Divorce is not only at an all time high it is now happening at the youngest ages ever recorded in our history. Teen girls getting pregnant without a husband in now 750 thousand a year in America. 80% of them will be on welfare all their lives and 79% of those raised on it will continue to be on government support the rest of their lives as well. We are rewarding people for sinful and unlawful actions while punishing people for having morals and work ethics.
Now same sex marriages are being conducted in different states while movie stars and talk show host indulge in the sinful pits of depravity. Adoption clinics now allow same sex couples to adopt children and raise them with the mind set that this life style is wholesome and acceptable.
While around the corner the same clinics are killing 4000 babies a day from the wombs of their mothers without respect to the child's life. Parent's are now selling their young or killing them for insurance money to support their drug habits. Women are putting drugs in their children to knock them out at night so they can go out and party and not worry about the child being up in the night. Babies are born drug addicts because of the life style of their sorry Mom's. Step father's continue to rape their step children while the mother turns her head because she needs his financial support. Pimping your own flesh and blood is about as low down and sorry as a human can get!
People murder and are walking the streets free again in 5 to 7 years. Prisons and jails are overflowed with 7 out of 10 convicts returning again within the first year. The law is slack and justice is fallen in the streets. Good is seen as evil and evil is seen as good. The guidelines and standard of righteousness has fallen to its lowest level ever.
The decay of sin and corruption will continue to be unveiled and revealed until Jesus comes. It is not going to get better it is going to get worse. If you think it is bad now, if Jesus doesn't come soon, the worse it yet to be experienced. The Lord is getting His people to the place where they will be crying out and begging Him to return to this old sinful world and take us all home!
3. THE COLDNESS OF THE SAINTS.
The Bible declares that the love of many would wax cold. Never before has the church in American seen what we are seeing today. The cold, dead, formal services are leading people away from the things of God. In the 33 years that I have been saved I stand amazed at the difference in the temperature of the church services we are now having. What we call a "good service" now was considered a joke when I got saved.
The fire of revival, the burden for sinners, the desire to be fed from God's Word, and the excitement of church has turned into a machine that produces robots and formal religion. God never intended His church to be dry, dead, and divided.
Just this week I was informed of a church where to brothers got in a fight over the offering plates they were going to buy. The conflict was if they should be wood to match the pulpit or brass to show a little class. They started yelling at each other and moved to the parking lot where it turned into a free for all fight! Others got involved and the police were called in to break it up. The church has now split and many people have just stopped gong to church altogether. This is the kind of conflict the devil loves to start.
Even in revivals I can see the spiritual decline among God's people. They couldn't care less who is preaching and what you are saying, they are set in their ways and they could not be any more unconcerned than they are right now. I hold meetings and the pastor's wife misses half the time or does not come at all. I have had the pastor miss one night to take his son to play basketball during service. I could give you an endless list of how sorry church people are becoming, but I think you get my point. We have lost the realness of God in our homes, nation, and churches. It has become a system and not a Spirit.
The falling away will be great, but by God's grace I plan on living for Jesus until my final breath or until He comes to get us. We will all be crying out like John before this mess is over with "Even So Come Lord Jesus."
OCTOBER 2008
ENTER YE INTO THE GATES OF PEACE
PART 8
Nehemiah Chapter 3
As we continue our journey into the fullness of God's divine peace for our hearts and lives we are confronted with the gate that we all face daily. (v.28) deals with The Horse Gate. Remember horses were the number one weapon used during the times of warfare. Great armies and influences were respected according to the number of horse riders that were mounted in national armies during the times of conflict. So this month we will deal with the dangers and battles we face that can hinder us from having God's peace in our lives.
Many good people have been taught that coming to Christ assures us of no future conflicts or problems. Leaders tell their assemblies that what Christ did on the cross supports the fact that all battles have been won and the conflicts of life are over and all we face now is victory and joy. Though this may sound good to the ear and even promote the flesh, the truth is we all know that we have an enemy that sets out to get us from the time we got saved until this very moment.
Being saved does not mean you do not have problems and you do not face situations that are not comfortable to us. Being saved means we will never faces any of these issues alone. Christ is our comfort and our guide during these times of temptation and trials. To lead people to Jesus with the attitude that they will never have difficult times in their lives is misleading and not true according to God's Word.
A great percentage of God's children seems to face more conflicts and battles after they get saved than they ever did before their salvation. This is not a bad sign, but rather a good one. Before you got saved you and the enemy were walking hand in hand, since your conversion you now are headed in a new direction with a new leader headed to a new place. This of course makes the enemy mad and frustrated that your salvation has changed you forever. So don't complain because things may seem harder for a period of time, its really a good testimony of your conversion to Christ.
Always remind yourself of this one thing when you hear something that sounds to good to be true, most of the time it is! Always compare what you hear to God's Word. Preachers tell others that they will never be sick, have problems, or face heartache. But Jesus said you will have tribulation. Jesus said you would have trials. Jesus said you would have wars within yourself. Jesus said we must allow The Spirit to overpower the desires of the flesh. Jesus said He would send a Comforter, for what? I thought we would not have problems that would make us need a comforter? Jesus said to let not our hearts be troubled? All these verses and many more shows us that we are subject to issues of life that are negative and carry a burden along with it.
My motive this month is not to give you some kind of false hope that will stir your flesh for a few days, but allow me to give you some Bible truth that will settle you in the things of God. Pressure, conflicts, and burdens are used not only to help us grow in grace and strength, but they promote our desire to be with Jesus where we will be free from all care.
The whole book of (I Peter) deals with the different manner of battles we will be confronted with during our journey to peace. I will attempt to reveal each chapter with its important truth and conclude the article with how to have peace while these things are happening to us.
1. Trials Come Our Way (ch.1)
(v.7) Sums up this first chapter. The writer tells us that we not only will have trials, but that the workings of that trial are more precious than gold. That conclusion can be reached because that trial will be found for God's glory and God's praise. In other words, God allows some things to happen in our lives because He will get glory from our situation. But according to our text, sometimes the glory of it is not revealed until His appearing. This is where we must accept what God says without question or doubt. We may not understand all we go through at the time, but when He appears we will see where He got the glory out of it all.
2. Temptations Come Our Way (ch.2)
(v.11) Talks about the fleshly lust that we are to resist from in our lives. The context of the scripture reminds us that just because we are saved does not mean that we don't have to war against the flesh anymore. I don't care how saved you are your flesh is still unconverted and has to be changed at the coming of Christ for His own. Paul called it our "vile" body. So we not only have trials that confront us, but battles from within our own heart and flesh. The scriptures said that the flesh wars against the Spirit. And victory over the flesh comes through a yielded life to the leading of God's Holy Spirit that lives within us.
3. Turmoil's Come Our Way (ch.3)
(v.14) Illustrates the fact that suffering may be part of our lot in life. I call this the turmoil's of life. There are two different reasons behind suffering In a child of God's life. We know that it can come as an act of God on us because of disobedience and rebellion. God uses the pressure of situations to break our will to bring us back to Him. The text says we can suffer for righteousness sake. There are times when turmoil may come our way just because we are trying to do right. This suffering can come from your own family as well as the people you work with, and even from church members. As long as our attitude is right and what we are facing is a result of loving Jesus and staying true to His Word then the text said we are happy! That's right, we should count it as a joy and honor to suffer for Jesus sake.
4. Treatments Come Our Way (ch.4)
(v.14) Warns us that if we live for Jesus with all our heart and life there will be those that try to bring a reproach on our testimony. The verse says that we will be spoken evil of, but not to let that move us because God knows everything and that He will be glorified through it. After I got saved the biggest shock that hit me was the butchering attitude that many church people had toward others. Fault finders and two-faced friends almost turned me against the things of God as a new convert. I seen very quickly that is I was going to live for Jesus everyday and every way I was going to face reproach not only from without the church but also from within. Everyone likes to be loved and accepted for who they are, but we must divorce ourselves from these feelings if Christ is going to be the leader of our lives.
5. (ch.5)
Sums it all up on how we can face daily conflicts and pressures and still have the gates of peace ruling and reigning in our hearts and lives. (v.7) Casting all of our situations and heartaches on Him for He cares for us. The key to victory over warfare is allowing God Himself to carry our burdens. Now He did not say burdened would not come He said that when they come to cast them of Him. We don't have to be overloaded and overwhelmed with issues of life for we have one that carries are burdens for us. He yoke is easy and His burden is light.
In closing I want to focus on the word "casting" two different illustrations come to mind. One comes from the sport of fishing. You cast the rod, but reel the hook back to you again. The second comes from (Rev.20) when the lost are cast into the Lake of Fire. This means to release once and for all. We say we give God our problems, but we reel them back to us again before we ever get up off the altar. We need to release them from us to Him once and for all. This allows us to live in total victory no matter what is going on around us. God desires for all His children to dwell and live in His peace and security. May all of us allow this divine truth to change us today and forever.
SEPTEMBER 2008
ENTER YE INTO THE GATES OF PEACE
PART 7
Nehemiah Chapter 3
We must remind ourselves from time to time that our motive for dealing with these gates are to give us the fullness of God's divine peace. Peace is a wonderful benefit of life that only those that know Jesus Christ as their Saviour can experience and witness. The lack of this peace will lead us down the road of restlessness and defeat. May all of us never lose the focus of these articles past and future. I want each of you to dwell in the richness of His ever loving peace. The gate we will enter this month is found in verse (26) it is known as The Water Gate.
This represents the constant cleansing necessary for fellowship with our Lord. Water in The Bible is a type of God's cleansing power through His Word. Remember we are clean through The Word. God's Word keeps us clean so we can stand in fellowship with God without being hindered and separated. God's Word is what brought us to Christ. We are begotten by The Word. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by The Word of God. The same Word that cleansed us into Relationship is the same Word that keeps us in Fellowship.
Your need for God's Relationship into His family only happens one time. Your need for being cleansed for Fellowship will happen everyday. To confuse the two events will lead to multiple conversions and a heart filled with fear and doubt. Every time you witness conviction you will identify it with a need to be saved and not understand that it is a need to get closer to God.
Remember the story of Moses and his experience with the rock in the wilderness? He was told the first time he approached the rock to smite it with his rod. This was a type of Christ being smitten by the hands of angry men. He obeyed and God blessed with floods of water for the people and their beast. The next time Moses approached the rock God told him to speak to the rock. Showing that the need was not salvation, but fellowship. You never smote the rock more than once! He returned and disobeyed and smote the rock again. Later when it was time to cross the Jordan River God called Moses to the mountain top to speak to him. Now Moses had made some mistakes in his life. The one that kept him out of the new found land was the sin of hitting the rock more than once.
There is a great lesson for all of use to learn here. It seems like people that never settle their salvation and are always trying to get "resaved", never get victory and peace. You come to Christ for salvation once and once only. If you were honest and wanted Jesus to save you and He didn't the first time what makes you think He will the next time? You must take God at His Word and learn the difference between relationship and fellowship.
Allow me to use our children as an example. Your child may turn and rebel, and that action would affect your fellowship. Maybe they don't call or they run away and you don't know where they are. All of this would hinder your ability to talk to them. That does not mean they are not your child anymore! Fellowship does not affect relationship.
One night when working in a funeral home a family was called to identify a body. It was their long time wayward son. They had not seen or heard from him in a long time. As they entered the area to view the remains I heard the dad whisper, "That is my son." Though fellowship had not been between them for years the truth of the mater remained, it was his child. So it is with God. Fellowship is a wonderful blessing that most don't ever use or respect. That does not affect your relationship of being in God's family if you are saved.
Three personal areas of our lives must be addressed and submitted if we are going to experience cleansing and fellowship with our Great God.
1. WE MUST BE HUMBLE BEFORE GOD
(IPeter 5) Commands us to be clothed with humility. (Psalm 9) God promised not to forget the cry of the humble. (Psalm 51) It was David humbled himself before God that he received true forgiveness and fellowship restored. We cannot approach God in fellowship thinking we are something when we know that we are nothing. We all need to cry like John The Baptist; He must increase and I must decrease.
Seeing yourself for one-second like God sees you will produce true and consistent humility. We all need to be reminded that we are but dust and at best we are still as filthy rags in God's sight. For God to even take time for sinners such as we are should cause us to fall in the dirt and magnify His name.
Those of a proud heart and a stiff neck will never make it to first base with God. For He resisteth the proud, but gives grace to the humble. God pushes away those that approach Him on their own merit and goodness. To those that smote their chest and cry out for mercy and forgiveness, those shall obtain the favor and blessing of God.
Flesh loves to be built up, bragged on, seen, talked about, and noticed. All of these actions may pull the favor of man and the approval of brethren, but it makes God flee from your fellowship. I had rather have my walk with God than the applause and approval of man! And until we all get to that point we will continue to be far from God in true fellowship.
2. WE MUST BE HONEST BEFORE GOD
Does that not sound simple? Yet in the flesh it is a very hard thing to do. Even though we know that God knows everything anyway, we still have a side about us that wants to hold back from being totally honest with God about ourselves. God does not bless us because we reveal things to Him about us, for He already knows. But God blesses us for our honesty even when it is a hard thing to do.
God judged Saul, but was forgiving toward David. What made the difference in these two men? They were both great fighters. They were both great men. They were both kings of the land. One thing was different about them. Saul was proud of his testimony and boastful of his record. When God rebuked him he continued to rebel and run. David did wrong and when he was addressed for his sin he humbled himself before God's man and admitted his guilt. David found God's forgiveness and favor not by what he did, but by the way he admitted his sin and guilt before God.
Sometimes our greatness is not in what we have done in public, but rather in what we have confessed in private to God. Being honest means taking sides with God against yourself. Its confessing that God and His Word is right and our actions or attitudes have been wrong.
In our day it seems to be a crime to have people say they are sorry to others for the wrong they have done. Now if man is not willing to do that to man, you can bank on this, they are not willing to do that toward God either. In God's sight we are guilty if we admit it or not because God knows everything. The blessing and fellowship comes from our obedience to His Word and His Will. For us to confess and stay clean toward Him for a closer walk with Him.
3. WE MUST BE WILLING TO HEAR FROM GOD
Cleansing is sometimes hindered because we are not willing to do what God tells us to do. To not only clear things up with Him, but with others as well. The Bible talks about an offended brother and how we are to handle the differences that might be between them. As long as it is arguing over who started it, and how to get them back, and who has the most followers, then the issues will never die and be settled. The fact remains that there are times when God will command us to separate ourselves from others, and even mark them. There are times when issues become personal and the lack of willingness to obey what God tells us now hinders our fellowship.
Have you ever had a spat with your mate and then tried to act like everything is all right hours later. God speaks to your heart and says, "you need to tell them you are sorry." Man the battle begins over issues God already knows about. We try to justify ourselves and blame others for our actions. The real issue is the fact that we need to listen and respond to God's direction for our lives.
Speak Lord thy servant hearth, came from the lips of Samuel when he was a lad of a boy. I often wonder how much further the church and our homes could go if we would all claim that prayer. Why should God speak to most of us? We would not do what He is telling us to do anyway!
Being open minded toward God, His will, and His direction will lead any Christian into a land of peace they have never known before!
AUGUST 2008
ENTER YE INTO THE GATES OF PEACE
PART 6
Nehemiah Chapter 3
As we continue our study on how to enjoy the fullness of God's wonderful peace we find ourselves in verse number (15). This very important gate covers only one verse of scripture. Showing us that God wants us to understand and obey this gate at first glance. Very few Christians ever enter this gate for several different reasons as we will see. But one main reason most never enter The Fountain Gate is because they are being led by pastor's that have never entered the gate themselves. Preacher's can't lead people to an area of life they have never experienced on their own.
The Fountain Gate illustrates the filling of The Spirit. This Bible truth has fallen from most preacher's sermon books as well as their lives because of lack of dedication and willingness to pay the price for this anointing. Notice that this gate is described as being surrounded by doors, locks, bars, and even a wall. The divine protection of this section is to secure the fact that only those most honest and humble can enter in.
Also notice that the stairs from this gate lead "down" from the city of David. Humility and self denial is the only key that will ever open the gate to being Spirit Filled. The City of David illustrates a throne and attention, but The Fountain Gate illustrates private submission and becoming nothing for Christ' sake.
We will attempt in our own feeble way to express and encourage the greatest need of our day in this months article, the need for The Spirit Filled Life. I trust that through this short report all of our hearts will long and desire to be filled to overflowing with God's power and presence through His Spirit.
1. THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Spirit of God must be understood in light of The Holy Bible. God's Spirit is not just a part of God as man's spirit is a part of man. God's Spirit is a person within Himself not just a part of God. There is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Understanding The Divine Trinity is a hard issue to solve.
Though we accept it by faith, because it is taught in The Bible, we can also look around us in our daily lives and see the same situation. For example; if I were to hold up an egg and ask you how many eggs do I have in my hand you would reply "one" which is correct. But really the egg has three different parts within the one egg. You have the yoke, the white, and the shell. As simple as it may seem we accept that fact without debate. But, when it comes to God people rush to prove that The Trinity can not be possible.
The Holy Spirit is just as important to the Godhead as any other part we mentioned. All have their services and actions in God's redemptive plan. All are equal in glory, power, and possession. This is proven over and over in the scriptures. The Holy Spirit does His own work.(John 14:17,26). He has His own feelings.(Eph. 4:30). He has His own will.(Acts 13:2). He also has His own mind.(Romans 8:26). All of these verses prove the person of The Holy Spirit.
2. THE DEALINGS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Just what is the reason for The Holy Spirit in God's divine plan toward mankind? He was involved with creation. He overshadowed men during Bible inspiration. He anointed God's servants of old. In the life of Jesus He was involved in His birth. He was at His baptism. He was in His miracles. He was in His teachings. He was there during His times of temptation. He was there at His resurrection as well. He now draws men to Christ with conviction of sin. He regenerates those that call upon Christ for salvation. He indwells each believer. He seals the saints. He imparts gifts as He will. He teaches truth to the sheep. He gives access to the Father. He bares witness that we are the children of God. He intercedes on our behalf. He brings fruit out of our lives. He gives power over sin. He daily sanctifies our lives. He empowers us to carry The Gospel to the world. And He will resurrect us on the great day when Jesus comes again.
So I hope we all realize how feeble, weak, and hopeless we are without the person of The Holy Spirit dealing within our lives. Yet He is the most misunderstood, ignored, and abused of The Trinity. Many movements and churches misuse and misidentify The Holy Spirit with false teaches and actions that are not supported by the scripture. We hear of the Baptism of Fire. The Gift of Tongues. The Slaying of The Spirit. The Pentecostal Experience. The Outpouring of the Anointing. All of these terms and many more have come to surface in our day. Though, to some, they might sound spiritual and deep, they do not line up with God's Word on the subject.
We must not allow big crowds, emotional experiences, and swelling words to distract our attention from the foundation of truth set forth in The Bible. Any experience or feeling that one encounters that is contrary to The Word of God must marked off as false and misleading. There is much going on in our day that is blamed on The Holy Spirit that He has nothing to do with.
3. THE DESIRE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
In Himself; God's Spirit has a desire to deal and draw people to Christ that all might be saved. His main focus toward the sinner is to put him in the pathway of The Gospel so He can take the Word and germinate conviction that will result in salvation. After people get saved they can look back over the pages of their lives and see how God's Spirit was working and moving to get them to the place of faith and salvation. The goal of The Holy Ghost is to rescue mankind from the bondage of sin and hell.
Upon salvation He indwells and seals each believer until the day of redemption. Every believer has the person of The Holy Spirit living within them. Not one verse teaches a saved person to seek The Holy Ghost. Now He can begin to mold our lives to be more like Jesus (whom He has come to glorify). He takes The Word and reveals positive and negative aspects of our lives in light of God's will for us. His workings are daily and consistent within all of us that know Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour.
I would like to close this article by dealing with our desire to be filled to overflowing with God's person and power of His Spirit. We need a revival of hunger and thirst for the filling of The Holy Ghost. Getting back to the place where we are doing God's will and God's work under the power of God's Spirit. Without Him all of us are just going through the motions and the letter of the law. A fresh awareness of our need for this filling could submerge us into a revival over night! May we never arrive to the level of contentment and satisfaction in our spiritual lives. I will share with you how I approach God myself in desire to be filled.
a. I empty me of myself. This includes all my dreams,plans, and efforts within my flesh.
b. I confess every sin that comes to my heart and mind, with a willingness to forsake all.
c. My prayer of unworthiness and dependability must come from the depths of my soul.
d. My desire to be more like Jesus must be the heat beat of my very breath.
e. Time, money, friendships, and comfort must lose all its value and charm.
f. All other relationships must appear faded and unimportant compared to that with God.
g. I count the cost of running through troops, burning bridges, forgetting the past, and overcoming walls.
h. I cry from my soul; "Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death."
i. I wait..... I trust..... I affirm..... I thank Him..... I can now carry on totally divorced from the approval of man or the applause of the world!!!!!
JULY 2008
ENTER YE INTO THE GATES OF PEACE
PART 5
Nehemiah Chapter 3
Verse (14) of our chapter leads us into the next gate that produces peace in our lives. This is a gate that is rejected and hated by many, yet it is important if you are going to have the fullness of God's peace in your heart. It is known as The Dung Gate. This gate illustrates refuse, that which is rotten, that which needs to be put out of our lives. Though it is a fact of life that does not remove the need for the matter to be done away with.
This gate reminds us that outside of Christ and His Holy Spirit in us, there is nothing good about us within ourselves. This could reveal the massive failure of self righteousness, as well as a type of the need to clean our lives up daily before The Lord.
One thing that we would all agree on is the fact that the flesh will profit nothing. All we are and ever hope to be is because we have been grafted into the True Vine that leads us to life everlasting.
Knowing who we are and what we are is a needed truth before one can ever learn to lean on Jesus alone for support, victory, and peace. The power of The Spirit is revealed when we accept the weakness of the flesh. Paul said that in him dwelt no good thing. He was referring to his flesh and his life without Christ. Man is nothing more than waste and ruin until Jesus Christ enters his soul and controls his life.
This peace does not come from beating yourself over the head because of your failures, it comes through allowing your past to teach you your need to allow another to rule your matters in life. Jesus can take your broken and wasteful life and turn it into something beautiful once we are humbled and depend on Him.
There are three facts about all of us and our flesh that I would like to deal with in this article. Always remember that our flesh is just as lost now as it was before we were converted. God's work of redemption changed us inside and The Rapture will change us outside or our bodies. Notice what The Scriptures says about human flesh:
1. FLESH PRODUCES A WARFARE
Paul declared in The Book of Romans that he had a war going on inside of him. A battle of good and evil. Wanting to do good, but finding himself doing wrong. We that are saved and trying to serve God can understand this battle ever so well. The more we try to do for Jesus the more the flesh will try to rise up and cause conflict and confusion.
This is what Paul meant when he warned us not to become weary. There is a danger of getting tired of fighting and struggling with the flesh and the desires thereof. You can become tired of getting up everyday and finding your flesh ever so faithful to hinder your service and dedication to The Lord.
The new man that was born in us upon calling upon Christ will always hunger to do right and seek after God, but the flesh will have to be fought every step of the way. Again God uses this to remind us of our total trust in Him and Him alone to perform His work and will through us.
Education, age, or wisdom will never bring you to the place where you will not have problems with your flesh. That is why God will change our vile body to be like Jesus when The Lord returns for His own. I wish I was as faithful to God and His will as the flesh is to war against my body and mind. Paul called this the good fight of faith. It is good because when our flesh tries to rise up within us we have a Saviour that is more powerful and divine. We will overcome and we have already won the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ if we walk in The Spirit.
2. FLESH PRODUCES WEAKNESSES
Everyone has weaknesses. Now yours may not be the same as another, but we all have them. Every Boxer has a weak spot and it is the job of the fighter you are fighting to attack you until the weak spot is discovered and then apply pressure in that area until the person falls out. What might seem silly to you as a weakness can be a serious problem for another. It can be the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, or the pride of life. I don't know what direction The Devil will attack and try to punish you in, but I know he will try to find your weak spot everyday until he finds it and then he will apply pressure in that area until you fall out of God's will for your life.
In the 30 years that I have been preaching I have seen people fall out of God's will by the truck loads. Some that I never dreamed would ever give in are now damaged and out of the battle altogether. Preachers, friends, families, teens, The Devil could careless who you are, what age you are, or how long you have stood. He only knows that he is after you right now. His focus is not on what you have done, but rather what he can hinder you from doing now.
As a Boxer, the best way to defend your weakness is to double up your protection in that area. If a fighter is weak to the body then he needs to tuck his elbows tight against his stomach. This guards him from body punches. If his chin is glass then he needs to draw his gloves to the center of his face to protect his chin from being punched from side to side and knock him out. If his temples are subject to knock outs then he needs to spread his gloves some to guard the sides of his head from the gloves of the other fighter. I'm trying to say that to double your guard does not mean you are a sissy or a weakling. It shows that you have enough respect for the fight to give it all you have even in protection. It's the sloppy fighter that thinks he has it all and can't get hurt, he is the one that will be counted out next!
Face it, you know your weak spots. So guard yourself stronger in those areas at all times. Never let your guard down for a second. Never think you are above getting hurt and knocked out. Proceed with caution and determination to finish the fight in God's will with God's power on your life.
3. FLESH PRODUCES WICKEDNESS
Never say never, when it comes to saying what your flesh will and will not do. I have heard the stories for many years, of people that said they would never do so-an-so. And that was the very sin that caused them to fall. Sometimes it seems like the areas we think we are strong in are the areas we could fall in later on. Example; David was a clean dedicated young man when the young ladies of the land danced in front of him for killing the enemy. David ignored the beauty and the lust and went on to become a great fighter for God. Yet, later in his life when you think he would have that under control, he fell with another man's wife. Remember Peter said he would never deny or forsake The Lord, yet that was the very thing
he did.
These examples and many more just reminds us how wicked the flesh is and can become. When you get saved you cage the flesh and deny it of many things it enjoyed before salvation. If you ever open that cage in your heart and the flesh leaps out, it will be worse than it has ever been. Now the desires and lust can run free without captivity.
Paul warned us to put no confidence in the flesh for this very reason. Flesh is unconverted and will lean toward the dark every time it has a chance. Flesh was condemned in the garden at the fall of man and it has never changed since. Flesh dishonors God, it does great damage to lives and families, and it has no conscience about it's actions.
It seeks only to please itself without weighing the results of it's actions. It strikes every chance it can get and cries out for more ability to function. It's never satisfied or happy. It's cravings and desires grow with thoughts and strength every time you give it a second. This is why we all must lean on Jesus to conquer and control our bodies.
I could write for pages and tell you stories of people that I love and the sad conclusion sin has left their lives in. Broken homes, ruined ministries, bad testimonies, hurt wives, weeping children, discouraged husbands and the list could go on. And it all happened because the flesh was given a chance to exercise it's unconverted will.
CONCLUSION
The Bible teaches us that we can walk above the defeated actions of the flesh by walking in The Spirit. Paul declared that if we walk in The Spirit, then we would not fulfill the lust of the flesh. We need to rise up every morning and spiritually nail the flesh to the cross of Jesus and die to self and walk in the newness of life that is in Christ. We are to reckon ourselves indeed to be dead to ourselves and to be alive in Christ. May the wisdom and fear of God protect and safely guide us until our journey reaches our blessed home above.
JUNE 2008
ENTER YE THE GATES OF PEACE
Part 4
Nehemiah Chapter 3
We have now traveled into our forth gate that leads into the city of peace. I must remind all readers that there is a difference in having PEACE WITH GOD and having the PEACE OF GOD. Our study will show us how to advance into a spiritual level that floods our souls with the peace of God. The world and all it's dwellers are going from one end of the earth to the other seeking total peace. This ten month study will reveal and encourage each of us to go through the gates of peace so we can all experience a closer and more fulfilling walk with our God.
This month we will consider The Valley Gate. This gate is located tucked away in verse 13 of our chapter text. The Valley Gate symbolizes growth, trials, low time in our lives, humility. All of which are needed to obtain God's fullness of peace. This is a gate that seems to be shunned and rejected by all. People say they want peace, but they desire it only if it does not carry a price with it.
(I Peter 5:10) Declares that the trials of our faith will strengthen us and settle us in our faith. Valleys plant us and grow us to be better, not bitter. Low times in our lives should make us reach up and out of our despair and trust God more than ever. In Mississippi we grow pine trees and the tallest trees grow in the low places on the land. Growth is a common desire for those that are saved and thus valleys must become a common place in all of our lives in order for maturity to take its place in our hearts.
Our thought today will give us insight on why God allows all of us to go through the valleys we will face in our life time.
1. VALLEYS SHOW US WHO WE REALLY ARE
Valleys have the authority to strip us of all self confidence and comfort and bring us to the place where we can identify with all of our weaknesses and faults. Mountain top experiences alone gives us a false support of pride. Remember when Jesus took the three men to the top of the mountain and was transformed before their eyes? They returned from that experience fighting over who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom! (Luke 9).
High times with God are needed and they are truly wonderful, but that alone would ruin all of our lives. So God balances our blessings with our need to depend on Him as our only strength. That need cannot be more expressed or realized more than when we are going through low places in our lives.
As I read of many great men that were powerhouses for God, I find within the pages of their lives time after time situations and problems that drove them to their knees. I read of hurt, disgrace, problems, death, misunderstandings, forsaken, lied on, misjudged, depressed, lonely, rejected, and even protested. Yet through that dreadful experience they came out stronger and more settled in the faith once delivered unto the saints.
We all might think of ourselves more highly than we ought, but one dark night in the valley and we are confronted with our many weaknesses and limitations. It may be dark in the valley, but there is enough light for us to see ourselves for what we really are.
The mirror of truth and revelation must be placed in front of our lives often to reassure our flesh that we are but dust without Him and His mighty power to protect and guide. Spirit filled people are not strong people within themselves, they are weak people that confess their strength is not of them at all, but rather of God.
When I hear people boast and proclaim of themselves, I say to myself, "one good valley will change that thinking pattern." Peter thought of himself to be strong and one of leadership. He declared that he would never deny The Lord even to the point of death. But in the halls of judgment he proclaimed he never knew Jesus and even started cussing again. God allowed this situation to arise just to prove to Peter that even his strongest will and desire was weak and sinful without God's help and support.
What ever happened to the old hymn "Leaning On The Everlasting Arms"? We have stopped singing it because we have stopped practicing it. Many of our hard times and deep valleys could and will be avoided if we will just lean and trust God's strength and power to lead us and guide us along life's journey. God will and must remove all props and self proclaimed supports from our hearts and lives before He can trust us with His power from above.
2. VALLEYS SHOW US WHO OUR FRIENDS REALLY ARE
Fair weather friendships is a common thing in our day, as it was in the days of Job. People only desire a place at our table as long as things are going right. If trials ever appear they scatter like birds being hunted by a pack of dogs. They even turn and begin to judge and run you down and they don't even know the story.
The first thread of doubt toward you breaks all past relationships with them. This kind of friendship is dangerous and weak to say the least. If I remember right a friend loves at all times? That does not mean they even agree or support everything you say and do, but what binds you together is greater than that which would seek to separate you.
A friend is someone you find standing next to you when they have every reason not to be! One preacher said one time, "I don't need you when everything is right, I need you when everything is going wrong!" God uses painful situations in our lives to reveal to us who are true friends really are. A friend is someone that knows your faults and still loves you anyway.
That one who will hold up your hands when you are weary. That one who will listen to you tell the story over the phone in the night even though you have shared it with them many times before. That one who will cancel their plans to fit yours to be there for support and trust. That one who will not listen to the voices of others that would do you hurt and harm. That one who stays in touch while others seek chances to flee your presence. That one who weeps with you and offers no resolve, but true friendship. That one who talks little, shows up often, and never seems to be in a hurry.
Friends are wonderful to have, but friendship is only real friendship once it has endured storms and testing from this life. The fire of trials will only weld the hearts of those together that have proven to be real friends. Love, support, and long suffering are just a few of the benefits of a real and true friend. I would hate to think of where I would be in this world without true friends. God has given me some of the best friends a person could ever wish for. Our love and dedication to each others cause and pain is a gift from God above.
The next time you are facing a valley or a storm, look around and see those standing close to you, because therein you are looking at your real friends. They are worth more than gold and kingdoms. Their price is beyond any value man could ever offer. Maybe, when you read this article you need to pick up the phone and call some people and just thank them for being a friend. Or maybe you have a friend that is going through a tough time right now, maybe you need to get closer to them now and stand by them through it all. If you are going to have friends you must also be friendly yourself.
3. VALLEYS SHOW US WHO GOD REALLY IS
It is only when the bottom has fallen out of our lives and the answers cannot be found on the lips of mankind that we give God a chance to reveal to us who He really is. When God's men were going into the boat to set sail to the other side, they all believed they would make it to the other side, because Jesus said so, that was when the sun was shinning. When the winds and waters came they all doubted and ask Jesus if He even cared that they perished. It was then that God was able to reveal to them His divine plan and power. The storm was not sent to hurt, but only to teach. The lesson was that God has everything under control, even when they could not see it or understand.
It was not until the storm was out of control and about to take them under that Jesus spoke three words and the situation changed in one-second. After the miracle, they all proclaimed,"What manner of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey him"? God had used the storm to allow His people to see His power like never before.
When Paul was buffeted with a thorn in the flesh he sought God to remove it. It was painful, a hindrance, and a consistent battle. When God declared His grace was more than enough, Paul then changed his testimony and said he would glory in his infirmity so that the power of Christ would rest upon him. Paul said, I had rather have the thorn and God than to have the thorn removed and be without His presence and power.
Hard times do not always come because we are bad, sometimes they come because we are trying to be good and God wants us to be better. Faith is like film, it is developed in the dark. And when the lights are turned back on it reveals Christ in the picture and not ourselves. We carry afflictions to the conclusion that others might see Christ through us.
God reveals Himself to us through three different experiences in life.
a. Salvation- reveals Him as our Saviour. b. Storms- reveals Him as our Strength. c. Sacrifice- reveals Him as our Supplier. May each of us not think it strange when trials and valleys come our way, but may we see ourselves as we really are. Our friends as they are, and see God as He is!
MAY 2008
ENTER YE THE GATES OF PEACE
Part 3
Nehemiah Chapter 3
Now that we are in the third month of our study we can expound on our thought without having to rehash our past study. If you desire to read the subject from the beginning then you can pull up our past articles from this site. This month we are studying what is known as The Old Gate, found in Nehemiah chapter 3 and verse six and following.
This gate shows me the need for a standard to be lifted up of old. It is a testimony of the need to keep some things basic and common. It also defends against new upcoming methods that would affect the peace of those within.
Remember these are gates not just walls being built. Gates are used to keep the enemy without as well as setting forth a public testimony. The old paths that we are commanded to support are to forbid the entry of liberal designs as well as set a standard in a lost dark world.
In our text verses we see that this gate was supported by heavy beams that strengthened its structure. Showing us that this gate was one that would face much pressure and abuse. Never before since the founding of our land have The Old Paths been under as much pressure to open to new forms of doctrine and worship. Yet we know that God has so structured our foundation that it can stand against the wilds of The Devil and liberal directions that are pressed upon the true church daily.
I am not against improving in any area of church work if it is done in a proper way to present The Gospel and lead people to Jesus Christ. But when we have to rearrange our form of doctrine and compromise our standard of holiness to make outsiders feel comfortable, then we have crossed the line. We must always balance our love for sinners with our dedication to Christ.
The body of this article will be to remind and rebuke us about our promise to the things of God to never change or dip our colors to win the approval of this wicked world. I will compress this thought into three main points of interest.
1. NEW METHODS
Again I am not so narrow minded that I do not believe that there are tools out there that can aid us in reaching people with The Gospel, but we must beware lest we get caught up in methods and forget this is a ministry. Remember when David brought the ark back on a new cart? It looked like it was working at the time, but it brought death and the wrath of God upon the nation. New ideas and new entertainment may seem to be doing the job for a short period of time, but in the long run it may prove to do more damage than good.
oday's mega churches have pulled out all stops to bring people in. They offer anything from sports teams to beauty contest to trick people into attending their churches. Always remember that what you use to get them, is what you are going to have to perform to continue to keep them. So if you get them with entertainment then entertainment must continue. If you get them with food then the party must go on. If you get them with pleasure then where does it stop? If you reach them with preaching then guess what? You can keep them with preaching!
I think churches need activities for all age groups of the church, that is not my beef at all. but I want to stress the fact that you cannot build a solid church on activities, games, and food. Only God's Word can reach down into a persons heart and change them forever. That will be done through the preaching of God's Book under Spirit Filled preachers that cling to the old paths of doctrine and practice.
Many good men have buckled under the pressure of other area churches who offer more to keep their flock from relocating due to entertainment and activities. This is not a reflection of the condition of the church, this is a reflection on the condition of the people we pastor. When parent's and children are so carnal that they depend on activities to lead their future instead of God's Word, that reveals where their heart is been all the time.
One old timer told me one time, "If you win them with a hot dog you will lose them with a hamburger." A simple statement with a very deep meaning to it. I'm saying that if we start the church off with the right methods then we won't ever have to change them to get our people to stay and be happy. Adding to your involvement to minister to your flock as it grows is no crime at all, but we must remind ourselves often that methods do not build strong churches but rather ministries that preach do.
2. NEW MUSIC
Remember when Moses came down from the mountain top where he had been with God and he heard a strange noise from the camp? Within his hands were the Ten Commandments of God, yet he threw them down and broke them. He understood that the type of music they were playing and dancing to would never allow their minds to understand God's Word. The influence of their music had caused them to worship in a false manner and it also affected their moral standards. They had made a golden calf and they danced around it naked before each other as a new manner of worship.
The golden calf was one of the false god's they were introduced to while in Egypt. Here they are set free by God's grace and enjoying God's liberty and they try to mix it with their past music and life style. Sad to say, but this seems to be the road that many churches are taking today. The music that has become most popular among our teens are sounds that we left in the world years ago upon our conversion. Notice that with the sounds of our times we are also facing moral issues like never before. I conclude that the music you listen to affects your moral standard. John The Baptist lost his head because of a song Herod heard as he lusted after a young woman that was dancing before him.
It has become a sick and weak attempt for some singers to try to mix Egypt songs with Heavenly words. You cannot feed the flesh and The Spirit at the same time and this is the effort they are trying to produce. It has failed among The Old Gate believers, but has blossomed among the "new" era that we are now facing. People are so carnal and worldly minded that the music determines their church membership instead of the preaching.
Music is important and it plays a part in worship and the setting for the service. It is not what the church is built on. Jesus preached many times without music before His message, didn't seem to bother Him any. Sometimes I hit the pulpit at my church before the first song is ever sung and start preaching! And when we do sing it is out of a hymn book (that we hold in our hands, not following a bouncing ball across the wall of the church).
Example: A church in our town has hard rock and roll concerts as their singing before preaching each Sunday. They have video clips they have sent out showing their "worship" services. I saw a clip where they were dancing across the stage and people came up from the church seats and were body surfing across the congregation. That means they were jumping off the stage into the hands of the people below and they were passing his body around while holding him over their heads. This is the same actions you will find at rock concerts all across this nation.
The flesh is very alive and willing to adapt to any surrounding to have a chance to exercise it's will and desires. Actions like this and many others I could name, give peoples depravity a perfect chance to be expressed and encouraged in settings that honor carnal exercises.
3. NEW MESSAGES
Somewhere within the last 25 years many have decided that the old message and its approach was no longer working. So efforts to brush it up and make it more appealing have been experienced within my life time. The results have been unreal and seductive. No longer is old time preaching promoted and supported. Now preachers are preaching in blue jeans and tee-shirts along with flip flops and mohawk hair cuts. Television is full of preachers with ear rings and untucked shirts as they dance across the platform looking like they are fresh off the streets.
I wonder what would have happened if that priest of old would have entered into the tabernacle with such a dress code? They would have pulled him out of the tent dead as a door nail! People can get saved without a dress code of any standard, but God's men should be dressed without trying to fit the influence of the styles of their day while preaching God's Word.
This is all a trend that has come from liberal thinking that if we dress like we used to it will offend those that visit. Doctor's still wear their white coats after all these years and no one says anything about that! Surgeon's still wear their mask and I have not heard any complaints about it! Fear and lack of God's power on our message has driven us into a mold to believe that we must conform to the world in order to reach them.
We must rebuke any thought pattern or idea that would dare to make us compromise our message and desire that we should stand out and be pure and dedicated to God. We must divorce ourselves from other preachers and churches. We must ignore numbers and size of buildings and focus on changing people one life at a time through preaching the old story of Jesus and His life.
We must not let the "teachers" and "speakers" make us feel ashamed and fretful to stand up and preach in the old fashion way. Our voices are to be as trumpets not harps! We are to be loud not liberal. We are to be sound not sissy! We are to be bold not babblers! We are to stand up not set down! We are to come forward and not back down! We are to be thankful not timid! We are to be sure not sloppy! We just need a revival among preachers for an old fashion filling of The Holy Ghost and get back to what we know we should be doing!!!!!!
May The Good God of Glory help all of us to stay with the old time way and walk wherein is the good life that leads to life everlasting.
APRIL 2008
ENTER YE THE GATES OF PEACE
Part 2
Nehemiah Chapter 3
For the next nine months we will continue our study on the ten gates that led inside the city of Jerusalem. We noticed last month that the first and most important gate of all the city was The Sheep Gate. This is the gate that the sacrifices entered in and were to be taken to the high priest and offered up for the atonement of man's sin. We declare that if a man is ever to have a deep settled peace from within toward God he must experience forgiveness through receiving God's lamb as their eternal sacrifice for their sins. This does not produce atonement in our day, but rather full forgiveness.
This month we are going to look at the second gate mentioned in our text, The Fish Gate. This gate is mentioned in verse number 3 of this chapter. This gate was used during our Lord's earthly ministry to lead the people to the fish markets of that day. When you study The Bible you realize that fishing is used many times in relation to soul winning and reaching out to win people to Jesus Christ.
Think about this; just after you enter The Sheep Gate and get saved, it is God's will for you to enter The Fish Gate and start trying to reach others with The Gospel. It should be a common reflex for new converts to have a desire to see their family and friends get saved. (Mark 1:17) Jesus declares that all of His children are to be fishers of men. Jesus Himself used fishing as an illustration to evangelism, and there can be no doubt that the parallels between the two are remarkable and educational. The rest of this article will be to compare soul winning to fishing.
1. FISHERMEN NEEDS 3 ABILITIES TO WIN
A good fisherman must have knowledge of his approach, persistence in his goal, and dedication to his cause. The more fishermen know about the sport the easier it can become to get a catch. He can learn the right weather, hooks, rods, seasons, lures, flies, trolling, fly fishing, wind, tides, rivers, lakes, oceans, and the list could go on. But the more he knows about all the conditions listed, the more educated he becomes to the task at hand. The more we learn about different people and different situations, the more it educates us to realize when those we are trying to reach are ready or if there is a better time in the near future.
Persistence in your goal seems to be a big problem of our day. Fishermen always want the catch to be easy and comfortable. But real fishermen endure cold, getting wet, tired and dirty. He must rise up long before the sun and travel long distance. He has to spend some of his hard earned money to sacrifice for the catch he desires. As Christian's, reaching people is not always comfortable and easy. You may have to overcome different issues that may arise during your experience of reaching out to others. But we must go on and overcome those things that might try to hinder us from winning some lost sinner to Christ.
My Uncle Buford Kidd, visited with our church visitation program for 25 years and never led one soul to Jesus Christ. But he never missed visitation and he always said someday there will someone out there that I can win. 25 years after his persistence he led me to The Lord. Since that night I have led thousands of sinners to the foot of the cross for redemption. My dear uncle will receive his just reward not only for winning me to Christ but for his persistence in going after souls when things were rough and seemingly fruitless.
Dedication. Our dedication does not depend on what we can do within ourselves but we are dedicated to God so that He might use us to win others. Real fishermen make any needed adjustments in their lives to obtain fish. So must the soul winner be willing to adjust their own personal life for the cause of Christ if they are going to have any meat at the end of the journey. (Luke 5) Teaches us that we can labor and have no results within our own abilities. But through Christ and His Spirit we can cast the net and have a draw that will produce meat for the Master's use.
2. DIFFERENT FISH BITE DIFFERENT APPROACHES
One fact every soul winner needs to accept is that the approach that works on one person may not be the best way to approach another person. Example; you don't fish for bass the same way you do a trout. The difference is the approach. Follow Jesus and how He addressed different people in different ways. When He called Peter, James, and John. He walked by them and said "Follow Me' and they forsook all and followed Him. But the woman at the well He took the time to illustrate how the water from the well and His eternal water was different. He rebuked the religious nuts of His day before reaching out to the woman in adultery and offering her forgiveness. The wild man from Gadara ran to Jesus and The Lord never said a word to him until after he was converted.
I'm simply trying to say that we need to be sure that when we go after a sinner that we are using the right "bait" to get them to Christ. Some people you have to show compassion, some rebuke, others you just listen and realize that they are ready to be saved. Using different approaches does not mean you become a machine instead of a ministry, but it gives you a chance to exercise different attitudes when witnessing. Winning people in one of the greatest experiences any Christian can ever afford. But handled improper and the lack of the needed approach can cost some poor soul their eternity.
3. THE CATCH IS WORTH THE INVESTMENT
Oh the joy of a fisherman when he pulls a fish from the water and gets it to shore or in the boat. That experience alone will drive him to many more days of fishing even if he catches nothing. There is just something about feeling that tug on the end of the line and knowing that the fish is about to leave the only life it has ever known and experience a new surrounding for the first time. The same when reaching people. There is something about witnessing God tugging on their heart and seeing God bring them out of what they have always known and putting them in a brand new surrounding. Once you experience that, it will take you back out to fish for men even if you have many days of no results.
Every Christian should ask God to let them led some sinner to Jesus this year. It will change your life forever. When I started filling in at the little church in Mississippi, I decided that I was not going to have to leave the pulpit and led people to Jesus alone. I trained our 9 people on how to lead a soul to Christ. One woman was 71 when she led her first convert to The Lord. It changed her and everyone else that has done it. Almost every member of my church has led someone to Christ, and that is why we are witnessing a large growth in our church. Once they felt God moving and saving they desire to see it every service. Our little church has grown from 4 people to a steady 160 in no time at all.
No greater joy can be experienced by a saved person than to take The Bible and lead some lost sinner into the light of The Gospel. Try it one time. Learn how to use your Bible to talk to others about their soul. Ask your pastor to help you learn how to witness and win souls. May we preachers crawl out of our dusty studies and get back on the streets and highways and start winning people to Jesus ourselves. We have to long laid down our spiritual fishing rods and put away our desire to bring a fresh catch to our Lord. May God put a renewed burning in all of our hearts to win the lost at any cost. You talk about peace! Win souls, spread the good news, reach people, save lives, change futures. That my friend brings peace.
MARCH 2008
Enter Ye Into The Gates Of Peace
Part 1
Nehemiah Chapter 3
While Nehemiah was in Persia he had heard of the struggling distress his fellow Jewish families were encountering back in Jerusalem. The community of returned brother's was not firmly established and the land was reduced to ruins. Nehemiah was given the authority by royalty to return to his home land and lead in an effort to rebuild Jerusalem. The job would be great and the forces or resistance would sometimes feel higher than the walls Nehemiah was trying to construct.
Anytime we witness a calling on our lives to serve God in a special way we can count on the fact that there is going to be problems and hindrances along the way. Nehemiah had not seen the city, but he had only heard of it's ruin. Once he arrived and toured the broken remains of his land his heart was moved with even more determination and dedication to complete the task before him. There is something strong within us that is awakened when we see the burden we feel. Jesus Himself would look on the crowds and be moved with compassion. Understand that a need is not a call, but I do believe that God uses what we see to influence our desires to serve Him in a certain area of ministry.
Nehemiah's calling was to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. This city means "peace" or "Salem." God is showing us that when He begins to reconstruct a battered life He does it to form peace in the person's heart and life. It takes work, a vision, effort, and willingness to face battles to bring a deep, settled, long lasting peace into ones life.
The city was surrounded by a wall that had 10 gates of entry from without. We are going to look at each of these gates and show 10 steps to total victory and peace in a Christians life. The types and illustrations from each gate in light of The New Testament is amazing to me. I trust that God would use these next 10 articles to thrust us into the joy and peace that only God can give to His children.
1. THE SHEEP GATE
This will be the first gate we will deal with. It is located up in the North east corner of old Jerusalem. This gate must come first because it deals with man's greatest need, the need to let the sacrifice make them whole before God. This is the gate that all sacrifices came through on their way to the altar to pay for the sins of others. The sheep was innocent but their life was given to supply forgiveness to those that could not cleanse themselves.
This is why Jesus was called" The Lamb Of God" by John The Baptist. John knew that Jesus was sent to die for the sins of others that could not save themselves. The lamb had to be without spot or wrinkle showing a sign of perfection. This again points to Jesus God's sinless Son. The type is beautiful and touching at the same time. To think that God loved sinners so much that He allowed His only begotten Son to freely shed His blood to remove the guilt of mankind!
We understand that not one sin was ever washed away by the blood of bulls and goats, but rather it pointed to a better day that was to come. And in the fullness of time God sent forth His Son, born of a virgin to fulfill the long awaited scriptures concerning The Christ.
When you think about where Jesus prayed just before the angry mob surrounded Him. And look at how they would have brought Him into the city. They would have used The Sheep Gate!.. Of course; they had too, for He is The Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. What other gate should a lamb enter the holy city? After His entrance He was taken straight to The High Priest. Again the same route sheep took on their way to the altar of sacrifice. Jesus tread the road of blood that millions of lambs had been taken down for thousands of years. Yet, until Jesus came, not one or all the sacrifices ever took away sins. But this Man, after making Himself a sacrifice for the sins of the world completed God's just demands and satisfied redemption's plan for all mankind.
This gate cannot be listed other than first at all times. For without Christ's redeeming blood applied to a sinner's soul he will never have any kind of relationship with a thrice holy God. Man's quest to be made right in the sight of God must come through the blood beaten path that Jesus trod. Without The Lamb there is no salvation, no hope, no joy, no satisfaction, no light, no forgiveness, no new beginning, no future, no direction, no PEACE!
God desires for all men to enter the city of peace through receiving The Lord Jesus Christ as your own personal Saviour. All other attempts to approach God makes you worse than a thief and a robber. Don't try to climb the walls, just enter through the gate that has opened the blinded eyes and healed all manner of decease's of sin stricken souls. Come by the way of The Lamb.
(John 5) talks about a pool that is located just inside The Sheep Gate. It is called The Pool of Bethesda. It had five porches that stands for grace. Here a man laid for 38 years by the water waiting for help but none ever came. But once Jesus passed by he was healed and took up his bed and walked away with it. When The Lamb entered the gate lives were changed and people were made whole. Jesus still passes by lives that are filled with affliction and pain. But once He comes into the picture miracles take place and people are never the same.
Only those of us that have experienced God's saving grace can relate to the divine peace that comes through knowing Jesus Christ in a personal way. The faith and assurance that our sins have been placed on Him and He took them away forever making us just and righteous in God's divine sight. The peace of knowing that when our journey here has ended our body may return to the dust but our never dying soul will be in the presence of Jesus. Knowing Jesus Christ is knowing the true meaning of a deep settled peace.
Enter Ye Into The Gate my friend and trust Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour right now. Admit to Him that you are a sinner deserving of death and hell. Believe that what Jesus did on the cross was God's divine way to cleanse the dirty souls of men. Confess that you believe God raised Him for the dead. In faith and repentance receive Him into you heart and life as your only means to be redeemed back to God. Now to the best that is within you ask God from your heart to save you and forgive you of all your sins. Praying from your lips and not meaning it from your heart will never bring peace. You must want to get right with God more than anything in the world. Then and only then will God receive you on Christ's account.
I trust that many of you that read this article will once and for all make Jesus Christ your real and eternal PEACE.
FEBRUARY 2008
CHOICES AND RESPONSIBILITY
John 9:19 - 23
The context of this story has always amazed me to some degree. We have a man (his age not mentioned) that has been blind from birth according to the record and the testimony of his own parents. The man meets Jesus and The Lord gives him his sight for the first time in his life. He runs to his church to share the blessing and miracle that has just happened in his life. Instead of the membership giving God the glory they began to question him.
This man belonged to this church so for sure they all knew that this was the man born blind. Yet their doubtful hearts charged them to question the man and also bring his parents into the church for testimony and questioning. The conclusion brought on another question, was He a sinner or not. Doubt always leads to endless questions and insecure thinking.
The parents were very quick to admit that the man was their son and that he was born blind, but they refused to answer any questions about his miracle. They thought that the only was to relieve themselves from the pressure was to cast the question back at their son, which had already told them the story. They cried twice that "he was of age, ask him."
Shame on the parents that seem to proud of their children in life until in comes to having a personal experience with God. They should have been shouting and praising God because of the sight that was given to their son, but instead they seemed offended and ashamed. Even today parents shout when their children achieve in any area of their lives but when it comes to the things of God the parents seem distant and almost embarrass.
But the thought of my article is this, The parents thought if their child was old enough to experience a choice then they were old enough to give an account of their actions. We have drifted ever so far from reminding people that the choices you make in life carry heavy responsibilities and accountability with it. People want to do things and then cry out that they are not accountable for what they have done.
As leaders, preachers, and even parents. We can try to direct others, influence for the good, warn of bad choices, and set the right example but life reminds all of us that the day is coming when each of us are responsible for our own actions. Everyone reaches a day in their life when they do right because they want to not because they have to.
One of the first school shootings in America happened in my state. The young man killed his mother with a knife before going to school that morning and then took a gun to school with him and shot and killed two students at the school. He was arrested and brought into custody to be questioned. The first defense was that he should not be held accountable for his actions because of a disorder. Excuse me! We all know that a man that stabs his mother to death and shots two students has a disorder, but that should not make him unaccountable for what he did. Since then all young murderers are crying the same song. "I did it but you can't hold me accountable for whatever reason."
Can I give you 5 questions I always ask myself before I make a choice in my own life? I penned these down years ago before having to make a big decision in my own life.
1. I'm I looking at the immediate or the long term effect of this matter?
2. Is this choice due to the influence of others or have I decided this on my own with God's help?
3. Will this choice make be a better person?
4. Is this choice leaving behind an example that I will be proud of later?
5. When I face God will this choice make me thankful or ashamed?
This is just a simple outline that I use on myself to help keep me in check as I know I must give an account of myself before God Almighty someday.
I. WHAT ABOUT YOUR CHOICE OF FORGIVENESS?
Since you are old enough to hear and receive The Gospel have you made Jesus your personal choice? Salvation is not something that you inherit, pass on, or grow into. That is why we ask have you received Jesus as your own "personal" Saviour. We understand that as a person we each must have a point in life where God dealt with our hearts and drew us to Jesus with conviction and truth. If you are old enough to hear and understand The Gospel, and you have been dealt with, then you are from that moment accountable for yourself to God. Humans of all ages will plunge into the fires of hell because of bad choices when it came to trusting Jesus.
I had a lady come to me this week, she was concerned and doubtful about her salvation. She explained to me that her grandfather prayed with her as a child and she was not sure of her salvation. I listened to hear story and ask the question if she knew she was lost that day. She replied that she did not. You can't get saved without the truth of being lost accepted as fact. So she bowed before God and trusted Jesus Christ as her own personal Saviour. Grandpa and dad will not meet God for your salvation, you must give an account of yourself to God someday. You better make sure that your calling to God was real and that you are ready to face eternity with your experience. Salvation must be in line with the scriptures if it is going to work and not be made void and of none effect.
II. WHAT ABOUT YOUR CHOICE OF FRIENDS?
I preach almost every week of my life and I warn people often that you are what you hang around. Look at what you run with for that is what you will soon become. I caution teens all the time to make friends with positive influences that have goals and dreams of doing something with their lives. Don't run with bums, dead heads, and those that would harm your direction in life. I have seen so many young people go bad in a short period of time just because of who they made friends with during a school year or at a part time job.
I have seen families torn apart because of some husband or wife start running with the wrong crowd on the job. Parents need to set the right example for their children about running with positive influences. You men need to shun the God cussing crowd on the job. You ladies need to put space between you and those middle aged divorced women that talk filth all the time. Be a testimony and a light but not a close friend. Next thing you know you will be divorced and trying to act 16 again!
III. WHAT ABOUT YOUR CHOICE OF YOUR FUTURE?
An old preacher was dying not long ago and this is what he told his family, "Living for Jesus allows no breeding ground for regrets." He could say this as an old man only because he looked at his future when he was a young man. And how true his testimony is. Peace, comfort, help, security, and joy fills your life as you get older because your memories are blessed because of your dedication to making the right choices in life when you are younger.
Joseph made the choice as a young man. Moses made the choice as a young man. David made the choice as a young man. And the list goes on and on. When you make bad choices you need to accept the responsibility of your actions. Example, Young men getting girls pregnant out of wedlock. The little girl runs hom