Sunday, November 30, 2014

Jesus has not changed!

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”

We all know that Jesus Christ is God; unless we delete the entire bible we must believe that the man Christ Jesus is God. However, with that being said we must also remember that Jesus Christ was and is a man; His status did not change after His death, burial, and resurrection. Mark 14:62 “And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” The word “Power” should be capitalized because it refers to God. That is where the Son of man sits today still in His glorified body. But He is still God even though He is still a man in a glorified human body. Remember the angels told the men of Galilee in Acts 1:11 “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Meaning everything about Him would be the same even though it has been more than two-thousand since His death and resurrection. Jesus Christ has not changed in any way. “this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven” the very same one. Some people (whether Christians or not) want to believe that since sentiment among the people on earth, and/or some religion groups, and/or even some Christians wants Jesus to have changed over time that somehow things He and others in the bible taught are no longer valid but they are most definitely wrong. Nothing has changed with God. People have changed, churches have changed, the world has changed, but Jesus Christ and His word have not changed and never will. Whatever was wrong or right two-thousand years ago is still wrong or right today. The United States government has the right to change our laws but no authority to change Gods. Even if the world was to agree on change it would not change Gods thinking or ways. God does not seek mans counsel or advise on how to run the world. So next time people say that what you say or think is old school just thank them because the thinking and ways of God are old school. Do you really think that church services today are anything like what they had in the first churches? The people standing up waving their arms, singing rock and roll? I don’t hardly think so. There were not gay churches, cowboy churches, motorcycle churches, or etc, etc, etc,. The church assembled, prayed, sang bible songs, and taught the truth, none of this stuff you see in churches today. They did not seek to please man but rather God. No, Christ Jesus has not changed, He is the same and so is His thinking and ways. The only change has been man who has changed the truth of God into a lie to satisfy the lost among them. Jesus warned the churches in Revelation 2:5 “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” Folks, be careful in trying new things when it comes to Jesus Christ and the churches because not everyone who claims to be of His are. False prophets are everywhere starting places of worship calling them churches that are not even close to being what a church is. The word and the truth of the word have not changed because it is Gods word. God is not concerned with the world and what it takes to get them to church, He builds the churches and if He wanted them in church He would put them in church.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

God has so much to be praised for.

Psalms 50:14 "Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:"

As we approach the holiday of Thanksgiving, let us all approach it with grateful hearts. We have so much everyday to thank God for that we could never thank Him for everything He has done for us. Thanksgiving for the believer ought to be a daily thing; it ought to be a delightful thing. We have no idea what is good for us and what is bad for us, but God does. We are reminded in Matthew "...for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." Matthew 6:8 therefore we should thank God before we have time to think what is good and what is bad. Peter and John thanked God for being able to suffer for His name sake. Acts 5:41 "And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name." suffering is not always a bad thing; if God gets glory then it is worth our suffering. People believe that God only wants good for us therefore He only wants us to be healthy, wealthy, and wise, but did not God appoint us all to die and to face judgment? Sometimes God chooses for us to suffer many things for his glory. Look at Job, he lost everything including his children, land, cattle, and wife of sort when she told him to curse God and die. Now I wonder who we would all deal with those sufferings? We truly have no idea what to be thankful for, something looks good we think it will be good and if it looks bad then we think the world has caved in on us. But God knows because He has appointed it for us and will bring it all about. We know two things, (1) God works all things to our good Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." And (2) God will never put more on us than we can handle. 1 Corinthians 10:13 "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." Therefore we must trust God that whatever happens is Gods will whether good or bad, and to be thankful for it. Thanksgiving is just a holiday and it is neither a godly holiday nor a holyday. However if one needs to be reminded to be thankful maybe they need to attend church more. It is best to be thankful for everything therefore you will never fail to be thankful for what you need too. The Psalmist reminds us in Psalms 106:1 - 2 "Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. (2.) Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? who can shew forth all his praise?" Be thankful and praise God not at Thanksgiving but every moment of everyday that you can and for everything.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

A Guarantee Of Walking Godly!

“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16

There is only one guaranteed way of walking godly in this wicked world, walk in the Holy Spirit. The bible is the words of the Holy Spirit because every writer was Spirit inspired to pen what was written. Since it is the words of the Holy Spirit it is therefore Gods book and if one walks in their life according to Gods word then you will be walking after the Holy Spirit. If one is walking in life according to Gods word then you will walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. Paul also told us in verse 25 “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” If you are truly a Christian then this ought to be your desire, to walk godly. If you are not a Christian then anyway you desire to walk is fine. Unsaved people are not required to, neither can walk godly, but every Christian ought too. The Lord said in Romans 8:5 “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh…” walking fleshy is the best they can do, however in the same verse Paul went on to pen these words “…but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.” If you are saved then your mind set ought to have changed to desiring spiritual things. For a Christian to say they have no desire to walk godly or after the Spirit means the Spirit is not present in their heart because all Christians feels the need to walk godly and feels guilty for not walking properly. It reminds me of a person who says they are saved but have never experienced the Holy Spirit in their hearts working, if one has not felt the Holy Spirit in their salvation then they are not saved. Therefore, if one has no inner felling to follow the Holy Spirits teaching then they are not saved. Romans 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” And that is only as many… and no more. And the same can be said of wanting to walk godly; if there is no desire then there is no salvation. While the lost person only wants to walk fleshly, a Christian should want to walk godly. However, this is only accomplished by walking according to the scriptures which should be what your heart is telling you to do. If one has no desire to walk godly then it is time for a spiritual checkup because there are a lot of folks who no desire to walk godly, or who think they were saved outside of the Holy Spirit. It is not that a true Christian will not sin nor that they will not have to fight off fleshly desires, however they will be a different desire in their hearts causing them to walk different. All Christians feel this desire. Do you feel it? If not maybe a salvation checkup is needed.

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Christian Voting.

Romans 13:1 “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.”

The question if Christians should vote is a highly controversial subject, even among the Sovereign Grace Baptist. Some believe as Christian we ought to simply accept what God ordains and therefore we have no reason to vote in a non-Christian world, as some believe women have no right to vote in the Lord’s churches. I am not here to ruffle feathers of my brethren in the Lord but I must disagree with both. First, I believe every member in the Lord’s church have a right to vote if they choose too. I understand submission but I find no instance in the scriptures where the church would not allow their women to vote. A husband and wife ought to talk about their opinions and should reach an agreement in how to vote just as they should in a National election. I also do not believe that a woman casting a vote one way and her husband casting a vote another way would violate the submission rule. My wife and I talk about things before we vote and 99.999% of the time vote alike on everything. I know some will disagree but when we get to heaven we will agree 100%. It is true that God ordains all the powers that be including world leaders. It is true that President Obama is in office because God put him there. These ungodly men ruling the world are what I would call ungodly servants of God. God has the right and the power to do with His creation as He chooses even the lost. Ever who is elected next Tuesday (November 04) will be Gods choice for sure. All will not be for our (the Christians) good but remember God also has a predetermined plan for the world to enter the tribulation period and God will setup an evil world leadership to take the world into this period. However, with this being said I do not believe this excuses the Christian from voting. I believe that Gods will, will be done in the Lord’s churches, but I also believe in voting. I believe we are servants of God and should do God’s will and be used of God to see His will done. I have a question; can God save a sinner without us preaching the gospel? The answer is yes, if a church never preaches the gospel God can and will continue to save the lost souls because Salvation is not dependent on our preaching, God simply chose to use our preaching in salvation, but it is not a must. 1 Corinthians 1:21 “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” However it is the churches responsibility to preach the gospel to the world, because God uses that gospel to save the lost. However, God’s elective will, will always be done no matter what we do. We are taxpayers, we are part of this world, we are living in this world according to the laws these people set in place for us, and we ought to vote. Our vote will not hurt the ordained will of God, but God could use it to accomplish His will. It is our responsibility to God (if we vote) to vote for people as close to godly as we can. There are no excuses in voting for a person who hates God or outright tries to override God’s word. I believe ungodly laws are here to stay like abortion, gay marriage, and etc, etc, etc. however, we as Christians ought not to vote for people who support these views. Find out where the person you are going to vote for stands on these issues. I believe we are accountable to God for the way we vote, as we are in every other way. We are Christians and we are to live like one and also vote like one. Remember God has ordained all things, so the results are Gods will and therefore also remember that the world is quickly heading for the tribulation or wrath of God so do not be discouraged, lift up your head, for redemption drawth nigh!