Saturday, January 30, 2010

The counsel of God is always accomplished!

As we draw closer and closer to the second coming we see more and more doubt and even among some who (at the least) call themselves Christians. I can understand in some ways how there is some doubt because in most “churches” (or some that call themselves a church) doubt is taught from the pulpit every single service. We heard a local Pastor of a “Baptist Church” (or so they call themselves) speaking about John 1:14 and he said “God took a chance in coming to this world in the form of a man in that He could have failed, but we are thankful He did not”. Beloved this an ignorant statement does not deserve a good insult so I will just say “hogwash”. God never “takes a chance” God is sovereign in every possible way and the counsel of His will is always accomplished Ephesians 1:11. It has to make one wonder what kind of ignorant professors are teaching at Baptist seminaries. What has happened to simple Bible Baptist Theology? The simplest minded Baptist Preacher understands this; it was the first thing my professor at the Country Baptist Church in Sulphur Springs, Texas taught me. Brother Hammond (my professor) would have made me direct traffic in the middle of Interstate 30 if even in my youngest ministry I had said something as asinine as that about God. I can still recall the look (almost like it was seconds ago) he gave me in my first sermon when I said we had a choice in salvation; it is still a nightmare to me and this kind of statement I am afraid he would have beat with a water hose (just a joke Ha! Ha!). Beloved God never took a chance at anything; He is absolutely sovereign in every possible way. It is man that has failed to keep the sovereignty of God alive. How could we ever have trust in a God that “took a chance” or was not in absolute control over everything, or has not predestinated all things to come to pass at His own will. The scripture could not be more clear “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” Here we have a woman past her child barren years in Elisabeth the mother of John the Baptist be with child because God made it possible. However this is not the first time we have seen this because thousands of years before we saw Sarah the wife of Abraham have a son after her child barren years. The scriptures cannot be mistaken, God always accomplishes His own will and that is without man’s assistance in any way. Some Preachers will say that God cannot change mans will but that also is “hogwash”, beloved God changed Paul’s will and if you are saved He has changed your will also. When Jesus was speaking to the young rich man and told him to sell all that he had and give it to the poor notice what Jesus said “When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? (26.)But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. Matthew 19:25-26 what Jesus had just said is if God had wanted this young man truly saved then He (God) would have saved him but unfortunately for this young rich man that was not God’s will; but rather God showing him (mankind) that we do not have the ability within ourselves to change.

Beloved this is fact; God can do and does as He please, when He please, and in the matter He pleases and He depends on no one or anything for help, and this is what is meant by we serve a sovereign God. He did not take a chance on the young rich man selling what he had and giving it to the poor because He already knew that he would not. This was not a condition for salvation it was simply and example of mans greed. This is why we trust in God, because we know His will is always accomplished and this is why we can say “And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. Romans 4:21. Chance, I don’t think so!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Helping those with burdens.

Galatians 6:2 “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

The Lord Jesus Christ has a commandment for all believers; "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. John 13:34. Yes He said for us to love one another and this is not a suggestion but rather a commandment. And as we look here at Galatians 6:2 we are instructed to bear the burdens of other believers. Sometimes we are quick to condemn our brethren for act of unrighteousness but beloved let us all understand there is a time for church action and a time to love and help those in need. The Lord calls this "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:16 Redeeming the time means buying the time or buy this opportunity. When the Lord gives us opportunity to help our brethren in their time of need then that is our opportunity to redeem the time. If we have a brother or sister in need of spiritual help then that is our opportunity to spiritually help them because of our love for our brothers and sisters. Sometimes (for many reasons) we tend to jump to a conclusion and cause a great divide between ourselves and therefore failing to buy our opportunity to help those with a burden and failing to redeem our time. The Lord gave us the right as a church to bring certain one before the church for expulsion but only if they neglect to hear the warnings and refuse to accept our help, however there should be much love and kindness given first. Sometimes there doesn’t seem to be much patience given by some to help bear their brothers burdens. Patience is a virtue in that it comes with experience and growth as a Christian. With this being said let us see what the Lord says; “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience." Luke 8:15. Isn’t it our prayer that God be patient with us? “The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.” Matthew 18:26, Thank God He is not as quick on condemnation as we sometimes are. Beloved we are all in the same world and sometimes the very same temptation in life and although we may not all react the same we are all subject too. Beloved no Christian is above sin and not all will fall to the same temptation but in this life we will all fail in something. So next time a fellow Christian fails to over come temptation and has some spiritual burdens in life, then help them bear those burdens, and if the time for expulsion presents itself then as a church do what you must. I know as a Pastor there have been time when I have been quick to bring some before the church and I also must learn to be more patient with those who simply need more love and help. Romans 15:1 “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”

“…and so fulfil the law of Christ.” This is the law of Christ in that it is what He taught us all to do. We all who are Christians seek to fulfill His law and this one is no exception. The key to fulfilling this law is love "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Galatians 5:14. Beloved sometimes when one falls it brings a great amount of disappointment to us however as we quickly overcome our disappointment then it is time to bear their burdens with them and redeem the time that God has given us opportunity too. Let us not forget the church is a body and when one member of that body suffers the rest of the body also suffers. We must tend to the hurting arm before you exclude it from the body. 1 Corinthians 12:26 “And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.”

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Hold yourself off from a view that is evil.

“Abstain from all appearance of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:22

I think I remember writing about this scripture sometime back, however new light concerning it has come to view. Most Baptist preachers equate this with an act of evil or to something that appears to be evil; however I believe this verse goes much deeper than just that one point. As it was so brilliantly pointed out in a commentary I was looking at; this scripture taken in its context has another side to it and that is its main reference is to doctrinal issues. Without belittling what has been and is so often referred to with this scripture let us take it in the actual context in which God has planted it. Verse 19 “Quench not the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit controls our biblical education, verse 20 “Despise not prophesyings.” That is don’t make light or reject the teaching of old, and verse 21 “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” Prove all the doctrine and stand firm on that which the scripture teaches. And this brings us to verse 22 “Abstain from all appearance of evil” now if we take two words in verse 22 “Abstain” which means - to hold oneself off, that is, refrain” - and the word “appearance” which means - form or a view – and take in the context of the verses before verse 22 the main reference is to the teaching of the word of God. Therefore, it is suggested this verse is teaching us to “Hold yourself off from a view that is evil.” That is anything outside of what the Holy Spirit teaches, despising not the teachings of old, proving all things scriptural to be truth, and standing firm on those truths which is good. The Lord never promised us they would ever be good to the ears of the religionist or of modern day assemblies but always to His chosen few. Beloved it is our reasonability to the Lord to obey His commandment and stay away from anything that sounds or appears to be contrary to His word and this includes modern day teachings. The reason for this is not to allow ourselves get caught up in the teachings of the world and to focus on the truths of God’s Holy Scripture. And in verse 23 we see the reason for this “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” To keep ourselves blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. If we allow ourselves to be led away from God’s truths we will suffer great loss in rewards and therefore being less in God’s kingdom because we have no rewards before the King’s throne.

In Isaiah 33:15, 16 we read “He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; (16.) He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.” Those that stand and walk according to God word will dwell higher than those who left the truth for worldly gain. Beloved the Lord has always rewarded those who are faithful to Him and being faithful to the Lord today is standing on truth and not even viewing other doctrine at all. I know the thought today is you have to hear all sides and then make up you’re mind to what is truth or not and I say hog wash, the Lord say not to even view what they have to say because Satan is a great deceiver and a greater liar and will draw us all into his web of lies if we give him a chance. It is not our concern what they are teaching and therefore we are to look the other way when they are teaching. So here it is “it is not ok to give any attention to false teachers at all” because that means you are viewing evil teaching.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Shout For Joy in The Lord!

Psalms 5:11 “But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.”

As we take a look at this verse of scripture let us never forget as believers in Jesus Christ we all have great reason to shout and to shout often. The word shout means – to cry aloud with joy outwardly – therefore making it something beyond and inward joy. This is something often missing in church services today, but should not be at all. I believe we as Christians and churches of the Lord Jesus Christ have allowed Arminianism to rob us of some of the goodness of being a real Christian. I believe this is one of those things and would like to see it returned in the churches. What has happened to the word “AMEN” in churches today, the word “Amen” means – let it be so or truth and I agree – however it seem to be that fewer men in churches today have a desire to say it during a sermon. I understand the last thing we as Baptist want to do is to allow ourselves to appear anything like an Arminian with all of the shouting, standing and waving, and etc. but please understand the Lord told us to show an outward emotion and shout, so come on, say AMEN. While we do not go to church for some kind of fleshly satisfaction or for a show which makes us appear to be Christians as the Arminianism, it doesn’t mean we have to silence the inward joy we have in the Lord by sitting silent and motionless. The Lord tells us in Psalms 118:15 “The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.”

The Psalmist reminds us “But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice…” that is those that put their trust in the Lord has much reason to rejoice about and do rejoice in the sermons they hear, but fail in the second fact here “…let them ever shout for joy…” so beloved lift up your voice to the Lord and excite yourself. The Lord also reminds us “let them ever shout” meaning it should not come to an end or to become obsolete in the worship of the Lord. Now please understand I am not talking about the phoniness of the Arminians but when your heart has been blessed by the teachings of God’s word it should be shown with an outward shout. Jeremiah 31:7 “For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.”

Let us not forget the return of our Lord will be with a shout 1 Thessalonians 4:16 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:” There will be a great shout in heaven because the Lord is returning for all of those in the world that has believed in Him for salvation. I believe this is an example of things to come, that there will be much shouting in heaven. The Lord love’s to be praised for His works and believe me if we are there then the Lord is much glorified because He has performed a great work. Every time a sinner come to believe in Jesus Christ there is much rejoicing in heaven Luke 15:7, 10 “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. (10.) Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” Not only in the angels themselves but “in the presence of the angels of God” as in all of heaven rejoices over the gracious and merciful goodness of God in the saving of another lost sinner. So beloved let us outwardly show the joy in our hearts and shout AMEN! And the Lord shall be praised.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

“In Every Thing Give Thanks”

1 Thessalonians 5:18 "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

In everything give thanks because it is the will of God that we do this, or this is God’s permissive will that we do this. We must understand the difference between God’s permissive will and God’s decreed will; God’s permissive will allows us the freedom to act according to the teaching of His word, and God’s decreed will is His absolute will that cannot be changed and will always happen just as He has predetermined it to come to pass. For example God decreed that Jesus Christ be born and die for our redemption and it must and did happen, on the other hand it is God’s will that we all worship in the Lord’s churches on the Christian Sabbath however sometimes members for various reasons just cannot find the time to do it, this is God’s permissive will. So here we find Paul telling us to give thanks in everything however we all fail in this area and for that we fail to fulfill God’s permissive will. Every time we fail to attend church except for very limited reason we have failed in fulfilling God’s will and every time we fail to thank God for EVERYTHING in our life we fail God’s will. God did not say only in good time or in happy times but in everything. God also tells us “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;" Ephesians 5:20 and “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Philippians 4:6. So as we can see the word “everything” means just that and our failure to do so is failing to abide according to the will of God. Some will say it is hard to give thanks for bad things but let us also not forget that God said “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.” Romans 8:28. We don’t always know how something bad may in time turn out to have been good for us and therefore we should have thanked God for it. How about we just trust the Lord and always give thanks for everything and therefore not failing to have faith if the workings of God.

I understand sometimes it is hard to remember to thank God in everything especially when hard time or very bad times happens in our life (however this is not an excuse) but what about the simple things like thanking God every day for His blessing on you and your family, what about your health, what about your paycheck, and what about your food? When we eat out at a restaurant we rarely see anyone giving thanks for their food this is especially surprising on Sunday at lunch. I sometimes watch folks set down and eat dressed in their church clothing and never offer thanks, this always disturbs me because if there is one day a week people should be reminded to offer thanks shouldn’t it be Sunday after church? Beloved this is the will of God that we do this and everyday people who call themselves “good Christians” cannot simple act according to God’s permissive will. It makes me wonder if people are thankful for the goodness of God.

Beloved let us not forget what God’s permissive will is for our lives and do those things according to His word. Even the simple things like giving thanks and please remember God is in charge and nothing happens without His Decreed will controlling it, so let us enjoy the blessings of God and thank Him whether or not we think it is beneficial to us. “And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.” Matthew 15:36