The Seven Stars, Look Where They Are.

“The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.” Revelation 1:20

We are always reminded in the scriptures of whom we are. We are sinners saved by grace, we are church members by the choosing and setting in place by God, and we serve by God’s grace. We come to a better understand over the years and appreciate it more as we grow in the wisdom of God. This is what the Apostille Paul was talking about when he wrote “But by the grace of God I am what I am…”1 Corinthians 15:10 I am so blessed to be a minister in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and more blessed to have been more so selected to be a Pastor of one of the Lord’s Churches. We sometimes speak of how church is to thank God for the Pastors, how the church should bless their Pastors, but what about the Pastors the churches? What a place in the church to be, her Pastor! Praise God for His wonderful gift to me and those like me. I love being a child of God, it is the most blessed of all His creation, and it will be the most exciting in the time called eternity. I think sometimes, what the future holds for us poor worthless sinners that God chose before the foundation of the world to save. Sometimes, I simply get lost in my thought, I love to wonder when the Lord might return and rapture us all out of this evil, God hating world. What a blessed thought! Then, we must return our thoughts to what is real right now, and that is continuing the work of God on this earth and in the churches. I am a Pastor, a man that God has set in this church to feed, love, care for, and to protect with everything I have and everything Christ gives me to do so. I pray that what I do is enough, and in the end Jesus Christ, the churches Head, the judge of all the lost and saved will say “job well done”! But I must be consistently reminded again, even with the fight I put into the work, “…by the grace of God I am what I am…” These seven churches in Revelations are not only seven local churches but also seven periods of time of the “church age”. The church age began when Jesus first called her out, brought her together, and spoke to her, and set her in Jerusalem. Her end will be when Jesus returns for the rapture. Through time she has been through many troublesome times, times where members were slaughtered for the cause of Christ, and until today which is the time of apostasy. But with every moment of this time, Jesus Christ has stood in the circle of the churches. Every time the church gathers, she gathers for one reason, to hear the message God has sent her through her Pastor. This is the reason that as Pastors we need never forget our commission “feed my sheep”. Feed them with the message that Jesus Christ has put in your heart, you are the mouth piece of Jesus Christ on this earth. As Pastors, we are the seven stars, messenger’s, Pastors to the local churches, and Jesus Christ, the one in the center of the churches, the one who holds us in His right hand has sent for this, so, very important work. As Pastors we will do what Jesus Christ wants, say what He wants, and do what he wants without fear of anyone in all creation, because He holds us all in His right hand. Personally, I cannot think of a more blessed place to be as the churches pulpit, nor a more blessed time to be than right here in the year of our Lord 2018! So, no matter what that time brings, Satan and the world brings to us, no matter the time of Apostasy is here, and the churches are small in number, I know Jesus Christ holds me in His right hand, there is no better place to be than that. So, Pastors, hold your head up, do your called and ordained work, and keep looking-up, our Head is coming soon. May God bless us all in 2018, and remember where you are and Who is holding you.         

Matthew 1:21 “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”
I cannot thank God enough for the birth of our Saviour Jesus The Christ. He is my life, He is my salvation, He is my everything good. God was so gracious to every soul that is saved by His birth, life, death, resurrection, and His sitting of the Fathers right hand. But, I believe the Christmas holiday is a mockery of our Lord’s birth. I know that some Christians celebrate the holiday, and that is their prerogative. I do not condemn people who do, for my family also do somewhat. No Christian is perfect, and we are not judges and condemners of those who do. Personally, I find it offensive to the birth of Jesus Christ to see what it is. We must admit that Christmas is not a Holy Day but a pagan, secular day and it should be treated as such. However, it is a holiday in America and the world and it affects us all in some form. And, it is a true blessing to me personally when it is over, and the New Years has come. It, like so many other truths in the bible are the reason that believers of truth are ridiculed and treated like monsters against the world, making monsters out of those who believe Christmas is not Christian but worldly. People, in general hate the truths of the bible because they hate the doctrine. But, they also hate those who believe the truth. Let us remember believers, Jesus said, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.” John 15:18 They call us mean and unkind because of what we believe, the word of God. So, let us always also remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5:44 “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” However, let us witness about the true birth of Jesus and what His birth means to us as Christians. Not just this time of year but everyday of the year. We are only good witnesses if we do the truth in love, even if we are hated for doing it. As Christians we are not to be as they are, allow it not to cause us to sin, and our true witness to be damaged. We accomplish nothing in anger, but in love. Let us remember to follow the example of Jesus, and to love those that hate us. Our witness is not about Christmas neither about Easter it is about the birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I love believers in Jesus Christ, I know that some of us will disagree, but do not allow that disagreement destroy our fellowship in Jesus Christ. We are the children of God, and we are what we are by the grace of God. God has not taught us all the same or we would all be the same, and we are not. If you believe the truth you are blessed of God the Holy Spirit, we cannot condemn others who have not seen the truth. As Christians we are about love and not hate, so let the world do what it does and keep yourself pure in the Lord. Thank you, Father, for the birth of my Saviour Jesus The Christ and the salvation given to me in Him!!       

Not One Single Righteous Person.

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” Romans 3:10

 

If you sit and listen to people talk, they love to tell you how good they are. They love to tell you how smart they are and how much smarter than they are than other people. But when you hear God talk, He tells us how filthy and unrighteous we are. God said in verse 9 “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;” and He was talking to both Jews and Gentiles, which is every living soul on the earth. God, yes, the God of creation, the God of all knowledge has just told us that we are sinners and as sinners we are totally depraved in every possible way. Now to those whom reject this truth need to study their bible and pray for the Holy Spirit to give them understanding. Not only are we totally depraved and totally sinful, we are also dead to God, and there is no light in us. “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:20 If there is no light then there is no life and if there is no life then we can do nothing righteous. Many people on this earth will spend their entire adult life attempting to satisfy God in some way, but their labor is totally useless. It is not until one understands that without the Holy Spirit moving in them, quickening then dead spirits, inserting light, life, and faith, then they will never be righteous. Lost people have no knowledge of God or righteousness. Without knowledge there is no understanding of God. “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” Romans 3:11. Therefore God has concluded that without knowledge and understanding of God and our sinfulness, prevents us from ever truly seek God. Therefore, God has concluded that they have gone out of their way seeking their own righteousness, and the end result is their entire effort is totally unprofitable. “They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Romans 3:12 The final conclusion is their entire life will be nothing short of total misery, because sin and remaining in the lost state is miserable. “Destruction and misery are in their ways:” Romans 3:16 A person cannot have peace in this life unless they know Jesus Christ and have believed on Him as their Saviour. Because peace with God only comes through His Beloved Son Jesus Christ. “And the way of peace have they not known:” Romans 3:17 These folks will never truly fear God in their lost state, and one cannot be saved and not fear God. “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Romans 3:18 The very thought that one can simply at will repent and become righteous, or the thought that somehow a person can simply change themselves by making a decision or choice is very flawed. God said, that’s right God said that NONE will seek Him because NONE have knowledge and understanding to do so. People who simply want to be religious, and have chosen Christianity as their religion, are not Christians. One is not a Christian until they have been quickened by the Holy Spirit and have believed on Jesus Christ as THEIR Saviour. To think otherwise is self-deception, because God has just described people’s inability to change what and who they are. God went on to say, “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:” Romans 3:22 That faith is the righteousness of God, that is faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour. Not a little bit Saviour, not much Saviour, but total Saviour. Outside of Christ is simply darkness, and ignorance of God, sin, and the Saviour of mankind.