Sunday, May 26, 2013

A Place Prepared For Us.

John 14:2 - 3 "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. (3.) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." When most Christians read this passage of scriptures; the first thing they notice is “In my Father's house are many mansions…” and it is an exciting thought. Who would not like to live in a mansion for all eternity? However I think the most glorious thought here is over-shadowed by this thought. The two most glorious thoughts here are “…I go to prepare a place for you…” and “…I will come again, and receive you unto myself…” If we would think about it the word “mansions” simply means - a staying place, that is, a residence – it has nothing to do with what we would consider mansions here on earth. I believe heaven is sectioned off because we do find the Holy of Holies which is where Gods throne is, and we do know that Christ Jesus throne sits right next to Gods. Colossians 3:1 "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." When we think about it Jesus said “In my Father's house are many mansions…” or many residences therefore it is evident that different creatures have different places assigned to them. But Jesus said “I go and prepare a place for you” that is all of Gods elect or all of Gods children. We are not going to be scattered all around (I don’t believe) but rather we will have a special place. I also believe the church will have and even more blessed place as the Lords bride. Jesus did give us a hint here when He said “…that where I am, there ye may be also” I believe our place in heaven will close to our redeemer. We do find believers where we find Jesus in the scriptures. I believe our dwelling place is together in the special place Jesus has prepared for us. The second glorious promise is “…I will come again, and receive you unto myself…” Jesus is coming again someday and all will be over on this earth for the “church age”. It is glorious to think about all the believers that died in Christ is there with Him and when He returns as here He promised than all saints will be caught up in the air to be with the Lord. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:6 - 8 "Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (7.) (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) (8.) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." I am ready dear Lord please come. I know the thought of the Lords return has grown to skepticism but the Lord said it would; Luke 18:8 “…Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” I see that little faith today. However let’s remember that the Lord is going to return and I see it soon, just look around, is the world ready for the Lords return? I see that little faith on the earth, therefore I see the Lords return without much delay. The Lord promised to come quickly so I pray come quickly Lord, come quickly! Revelation 22:20 “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” So don’t pay so much attention to the word “mansions”; believe me every part of heaven will be royalty but rather pay more attention to the other two promises. Please keep praying with me that the Lord returns without delay.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Contentment In The Lord’s Churches.

Philippians 4:11 - 12 "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. (12.) I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." I know this is really to us the believer’s however today I would like to point this to the Lord’s churches. We are living in a time of apostasy where many have left the Lord’s churches for a good time and feeling in the religious places of worship. I am a firm believer that we are living in the last days and the Lords return is not so far away. However the reason, it is a fact that the Lord’s churches are all feeling the pains of smaller membership, less money, fewer visitors, and even less people being saved. But as churches we all must remain CONTENT at all times in the churches as we must in our personal life. Being content means to be satisfied, and the reason for this is because we cannot change any of it on our own. Everything to the churches are in the Lord’s hands and He will do as He pleases in them all. We must all (as Paul said) learn that whatsoever state we are in to be content and remain happy in the Lord. Your Pastor is God’s servant to the church; in Revelations the Pastors are called “Angels” which means messengers. They neither are church builders nor are they money raisers, nor are they saviour’s, they are simply servants of Jesus Christ to the Lord’s churches. The Lord blesses the churches that are content in whatever state they are in and He never said it would be easy, but He did promise not to put more bad on us than we could handle. Paul said he had experienced both “abased” (that is to be trampled upon by man, to suffer hardships) and to “abound” (that is to excel) and whether the times were good or bad we are all to be content. Paul went on to say “…in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." We are to both be full and hungry and both to excel and to suffer hardships. In my 9 years as Pastor here in Texarkana we have been through all these thing and as of right now we are being richly blessed but who knows tomorrow it may all fall apart, but whatever the Lord gives us we will certainly learn to be content. Please dear brethren do not fret if things are not going so well in your church because God is in charge and all things are His blessed will. Churches get into trouble when they fret and start attempting to make things happen; we simply cannot do Gods work for Him because if we mess up He may remove the candlestick. All we can do brethren is to continue to teach and walk in truth and trust God to do all the other. He is in charge and He is the only one who can make the bad times better. Paul went on to say in Philippians 3:8 “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,” I would not trade the knowledge that Christ has given me for a church full of people because if I did it would be all for loss. We must count all things as dung rather than to change who we are or what we teach for gain on the other side. The sovereign grace of God is worth more than a hundred new members any old day. Folks stay true to Gods word and He will stay true to you, what have you gained, if you gain the whole world and lost your own soul. That is exactly what churches give up when they change for gain. Times and likes may change but God never changes. Let us all continue to pray and for one another that Jesus will return soon and take us all home so that the Bride can be joined with her Groom.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Who Is A God like Unto Thee!

“Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.” Micah 7:18 Oh! merciful and gracious God who is like unto thee! One can never answer this question until they realize the grace and mercy of our great God and Saviour Jehovah God. I am not talking about all the trash that is preached from the pulpits today, I’m talking about really having a basic understanding of Gods grace and mercy. People sing the glorious old hymn every week titled “Amazing Grace” and never have an understanding of what they sing. This is grace “…that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage…” one is not simply saved; oh no; one is saved because of Gods mercy and grace. One does not simply change their mind and follow the Lord. “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” Romans 3:11 Not one single person since the fall of Adam. Every single person born since Adam fell has been born at enmity with God. Not one single person should have ever been allowed to stand before our great God; not one. God is holy and cannot accept sin before Him at all. God hates sin as He hates the workers thereof. He should have never loved one single sinner since the fall of Adam. Every single human being since and including Adam and Eve should rightly be cast into eternal darkness to burn in hell’s fire for all eternity. Paul said in Romans 7:24 "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" and then he goes on to answer in the next verse "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord..." because man certainly cannot deliver himself. Oh I know many today proclaim that salvation is easy and free and all you have to do is to do some impossible act on your own, they say that God cannot change mans will but that you must change you own will, but I say, as God says that is impossible. A Leopard cannot change his spots and an Ethiopian cannot change his skin color and man cannot change what he is and that is one that is at enmity with God. Now this is a fact; all that talk does is cancel the grace and mercy of God. How can one sing “oh merciful and gracious God” if all or any of salvation is up to a person who will never seek God on his own! If salvation was in any part or in any way up to man we would never be saved. God said in Romans 11:6 "And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work." Just as grace stops being grace once one believes that salvation is by our works, then salvation stops being mercy and grace once man has any part in it. Jonah shouted "...I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. Jonah 2:9 not because he rescued himself but that he was entirely rescued but God. How are we to ask “Who is a God like unto thee…” if we fail to recognize that He is the Saviour. It is God folks, not God and me, but simply God. Understanding that we cannot save ourselves nor do we play any role in our salvation. It is only then that we can even begin to have an understanding of both mercy and grace. "For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee." Psalms 86:5 but we will never call on Him without God first calling us and leading us to the cross of Christ where both His mercy and grace is at.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

God is immutable in all His ways!

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James 1:17 Jeff Foxworthy is the host of a new game show on TV called "The American Bible Challenge". My wife and I sometimes watch the show and enjoy it overall except the errors the show has. They had a poll a few weeks back that really shows the ignorance of the American people. The question was (however I cannot promise this is an exact quote) “what percentage of Americans believes that God has at some point changed His mind?” The answer was what disturbed me and it was 75%. Well that tells me that 75% of the American people have no idea what they are talking about. God has never changed His mind about anything, ever! The word “variableness” means – transmutation which means no changement or no evolution and goes as far as to mean no developpement – and why would there be any change with God because not only is He immutable (unchangeable) but He is also omniscient (has all knowledge). Let’s look at the truth, the world wants God to change for many reasons and the biggest reason is they don’t like the fact that God is bigger and better than they are. The religious world has put God on our level or below and therefore He is nothing, because that is what man is outside of Christ. The world would like to think that God has evolved and is still evolving. They would like to think that God has changed on Abortion but He has not it is still murder, and on homosexuality but He hasn’t it is still an abomination to God. Sin is still sin to God and He still going to hold all guilty that have not been washed in the powerful cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. The world is still heading full steam toward the Tribulation Period, a time when God will show His wrath against this world and yes He is still going to melt the earth with fervent heat and send all the lost to hell just as He has always planned to do. James went on to say “…neither shadow of turning." That means - there is not the faintest hint or shade of change in God – so for all those 75% who think that God has changed His mind; you might want to change yours on that question. We see in Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” and in Isaiah 46:10 it says “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:” when God said “…My counsel shall stand…” that means - that it shall be stable, settled, fixed, established. Therefore for God to have ever changed in the slightest hint means that He is not God. For God to have changed in the minute change would destroy all that He is. Paul said "For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." Romans 11:29 John Gill said on this verse; "that is, they are immutable and unalterable; God never revokes them, or calls them in again, or takes them away from the persons to whom he has made such a previous donation: the reasons are, because that his love from whence they spring is always the same; it admits of no distinction, nor of any degrees, nor of any alteration; and electing grace, according to which these gifts are bestowed, stands sure and immovable; not upon the foot of works, but of the sovereign will of God, and always has its sure and certain effect" The Sovereign will of God; this is what people have forgotten because they are scared to death of Gods sovereign will; so like homosexuality and abortion as to many other things in this world they have changed the truth into a lie and a lie into the truth. They make God out to be small and ineffective but they will find out that was a mistake. God has not changed nor will He ever change; He is the same Sovereign God He has always been and His will is still being done. "For I am the LORD, I change not..." Malachi 3:6 AMEN!