Author: thesouldoctor

The Christian’s Transcript

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Charles Spurgeon refers a Christian person’s life being a “transcript of the will of God.”

A transcript is the record that we use when transferring or going to another school it tells people what classes you have taken and what was your grade point average.

We are in the school of Christ who are people who “learned Christ” (Eph. 4:20) not about Christ but Christ. There is a difference between learning about marriage and being married.

The Christian’s life is Christ’s life. That is our transcript.

It is all about Jesus! The apostles were men who for three and a half years had daily, undiluted, full strength Jesus poured into them.

Paul even says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Gal. 2:20).

The semesters of your life should be a transcript of three classes: Jesus in the morning, Jesus in the noontime and Jesus when the sun goes down.

SQUEEZE!

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The Bible teaches that without the charity or love of Christ living in and through us we are A BIG ZERO with the rim kicked off.  How is that for starter’s?  First Corinthians thirteen defines, “the grace of love…even love to God, and love to Christ, and love to the saints, which is a grace implanted in regeneration by the Spirit of God.” (Gill).

“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.”

The times I hear this passage most read is usually when people are vehemently debating (how ironic) over whether the spiritual gifts still operate in the church or it is the romantic passage of choice at many wedding ceremonies (again how ironic).

No matter our claim to purest doctrine, deep spiritual experiences, miracles, growing churches and community involvement if we do not have charity, we are in serious trouble.  I am not writing while feeling good about myself (just the opposite), or because I took out my neighbors garbage, did the dishes for my wife or volunteered to help my church.

I am writing this because I was home all day with a blood pressure monitor courtesy of my cardiologist. It was going off every half hour squeezing my arm while I drove, sat on the couch, ate dinner and it makes you think. It is at first interesting, then it is inconvenient, then annoying. It will be doing this all night, even as I write this article.

I think the Lord monitors us in some way through his Word and presence. Maybe you too will share a squeeze in your heart reading this article.

When that squeeze comes on spiritually, at first you wince and say, “Thanks Lord, I get the message.”

Then you are saying, “Ouch, OK Lord, I copy that.”

The day goes on and he squeezes your heart again and “I heard you the first fifteen times Lord!”

Finally, you almost are crying saying, “Please STOP Lord, you are killing me.”

When Paul says without love “he is nothing” and he “amounts to nothing” (1 Cor 13:1-3) it is DEVASTATING.

And I can feel the squeeze…

That means that in spite of all Paul has accomplished, he is nothing and what he does is meaningless if there is no charity in what he says and does.

This may not seem profound or deep but it is more like theological surgery and I am bleeding, bad.

Why did God have to put that in the Bible?

It really upsets us, it hurts, it makes us think we are poor in charity as we should be and everyone is right about us.  He does not excuse our personality or nationality. He does not waive the obligation to love psychologically because of our dysfunctional lives.

We all think we are so loving, and WE ARE NOT. We love the way we think we should love, but we do not get off the hook that easy because the love or charity Paul describes is a character sketch of Christ.

Squeeeeeeze.

If this is a joke, then what is the punch line? To love like Jesus loved people? Isn’t that unreasonable to ask of us?

Why didn’t he just say to be generous or sacrificial was enough?  How about knowledgeable about the Bible and theology as the apex of spirituality. Impressive miracle-working power or great faith-that sounds godly!  How about being a martyr burned at the stake?  We want some goal, some motivation and we even charge admission to teach people those things in religious circles today, but love is not like that. You cannot be trained and educated to get it, you cannot make it happen.

SQUEEZE!

Charity or love has to be the hardest virtue to claim because it is at its highest expression only when you love others who do not reciprocate it, and not only do they not return it but they are sometimes hostile, bitter and mean even when you love them. After all, that is the love of Christ.

The Bible teaches “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,  endures all things. Love never ends.” (1 Cor 13:7ESV). Oh come on now! Are we talking about human beings here? How is this humanly possibly?

Some very smart church people, teachers and pastors say, the Holy Spirit gives you the love. Really? I know some want to give me a doctrinal lesson on positional and experiential sanctification. right now but let me ask, Do WE really have the Holy Spirit? Is it really a gift to love? Or is this fruit or character? Does this mean when I was converted to Christ I got all the love I needed for others? I think not. It is possible the seeds for that love were planted in a true believer in Jesus? Ok so where is the grove after all these years?  If I give you piece of fruit from the supermarket that is fine, but it is after you eat it that it has served its purpose and is gone. If you do not eat it it can go bad.  But if I have a garden or a fruit tree in my yard that is another thing.

Now I am thinking about what Jesus said, “You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”  (Matt. 7:16-20ESV).  Jesus says people are like walking trees. Like a tree that produces fruit so is our character. ” I read somewhere that character is “the stable and distinctive qualities built into an individual’s life which determine his or her response regardless of circumstances.”  

A tree is not cannibalistic or “tree-balistic” (I made that word up) so it does not eat its own fruit.  Others eat of its fruit. What if we thought of our lives in this way. What we say, and do is like feeding others with health or disease. Now I know Jesus was speaking of false prophets in that passage but what if without love we are false prophets. That is frightening.  Without love we are a diseased tree, with unhealthy fruit.

Squeeze!

It is the definitive mark of Christian maturity. “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” (1 Cor 13: 11ESV). Love is the sign of Christian manhood or womanhood. Healthy fruit trees must grow over time. Fresh spiritual fruit is not something you can microwave, it cannot be theologically flash frozen and you cannot borrow it from others, no matter how many DVD’s, CD’s and MP3’s you purchase or download. I do not need another book or video-what I need is this Christlike love.

For those who say they can never pray that long because they run out of things to pray for…let’s change that right now.  The love of God in Christ is to be lived out in the Christian life. This is the earmark of Christianity and without it you are probably not a Christian.

Oh Lord, we feel the squeeze, let the seeds of this Christlike love finally grow in our hearts!

© 2012 Soul Health Care Ministries, If you share this article just let them know about us and where it came from.

Yes, there is a Lenten season, Stephen.

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My son, asked me what Lent was. At that time, I could not give clear answer so I researched it and…this is what I came up with for my scholar son and buddy.

What is Lent? No one has told you? Or is it something you think only Roman Catholics do? Did you know that Anglicans ; Lutherans ; Methodists  and even some Presbyterians celebrate Lent as well.

No, I am not going back to Roman Catholicism, nor encouraging anyone to do so. No, I do not believe works contribute anything to your salvation. I am Protestant and I love my Roman Catholic friends even though I do not believe in many things they believe.

Why are we such snots about things such as tradition? What is the deal? What are we afraid of being normal Christians?

I think it is fear of being extra-biblical or legalistic perhaps, but I have to confess there is way too much ignorance of the rich Christian tradition that systematically helps us with understanding scripture.

I have called myself Catholic and part of the universal church and you should see how people raise their eyebrows when this simply confesses that I adhere to the Apostles Creed. 

Many of you see no need for celebrating Lent and some are adamant against it and I respect that.  I know some make fun of people with ashes on their heads (a practice as a sign of mourning and repentance) and there are of people who just are “nominal” church goers who just do things out of ritual with no thought. I am glad we do not have anyone like that in our churches (snicker).

Here is what I have found and I hope it proves helpful for the interested parties.

Lent is a very old Christian tradition that can be traced before or around the legalization of the Christian faith in the edict of Milan around 313AD.

The word Lent comes from an the Anglo-Saxon word Lencten, and German word Lenz and Dutch word Lente. The words actually mean length or lengthen because during the month of March and the season of Spring the days become longer. The word Lent can even mean Springtime or March.

From various dictionaries and all, the idea of Lent came from a much longer word  (no pun intended) Quadragesima, “fortieth” (Cuaresma) and is the Christian observance of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. According to the Synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent forty days fasting and prayer in the wilderness before beginning his public ministry, where he endured temptation by Satan.

Thus, Lent is described as being at least forty days during the Spring.

It is that simple.

Christians in the West celebrate Lent beginning on Ash Wednesday and Eastern Orthodox Churches call it “Great Lent” and it begins on Clean Monday. There is also the day before Lent which is  Shrove Tuesday in Great Britain (which comes from a word “shrive” meaning to confess) where people eat pancakes before Lent begins because pancakes have fat, butter and eggs which were forbidden during strict Lenten celebration. There is also Fat Tuesday where we have the Mardi Gras insanity which true Christians should avoid because the idea of getting sin out of your system by sinning it up, is a deception and unbiblical.

In my humble opinion, there is a double standard among Protestants because they reinvent tradition instead of embracing it. The popular,  “Forty days of Purpose” is one example. David Mains has the very helpful, “Fifty Day Spiritual Adventure” and some encourage spending twenty-one days of January in fasting and prayer.  

Lent is a time of self-denial and repentance and contemplation on the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yes the gospel is a lifestyle for all Christians but I am glad we have this tradition in an increasing anti-Christian society.

I will be spending Lenten season reading through the four gospels and if possible reading them several times as a discipline during this season. I encourage you to let the Word of Christ dwell in your richly and learn more and more about the Jesus of the Gospels, in the Bible-the real Jesus.

Lent is an old Christian tradition where we learn about the biblical Jesus. No gimmicks offering changed lives, bigger churches after forty days. We only have to promise Jesus and that is the greatest promise we can make.

©2016 Rev. Stephen S. Gibney

Married to Christ

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Let these words heal your heart today, right now, think and ponder them as fresh bread  and cool water being freely offered to you in the freeness of the gospel of Christ!”DON’T YOU REMEMBER when you were first being DRAWN BY YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER

and JESUS BEGAN TO WOO YOU to himself?

Tell me oh man, Tell me oh woman!

DON’T YOU KNOW OF A TIME

when

THE BLESSED SPIRIT OF GOD STRIPPED you of the fig-leaves of your own righteousness,

HUNTED YOU OUT of the trees of the garden of your performances,

FORCED YOU FROM the embraces of your old husband the law, and MADE YOU ABHOR your own righteousness, as so many filthy rags?

CAN YOU REMEMBER, after a long struggle with unbelief, Jesus appeared to you, as altogether lovely, mighty and willing to save?

AND CAN YOU REFLECT UPON A TIME, when your own stubborn heart was made to bend; and you were made willing to embrace him, as freely offered to you in the everlasting gospel?

AND CAN YOU NOT WITH UNSPEAKABLE PLEASURE REFLECT

On some HAPPY MOMENT

Some

CERTAIN POINT OF TIME,

In which A SACRED SOMETHING (perhaps you could it not then well tell what)

DID CAPTIVATE AND FILL YOUR HEART?

SO THAT YOU COULD SAY,

In a RAPTURE OF HOLY SURPRISE,

and

ECSTACY OF DIVINE LOVE

“MY LORD AND MY GOD!”

“MY BELOVED IS MINE AND I AM HIS!”

“I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES”

OR

“MY MAKER IS MY HUSBAND!”

(Rev. George Whitefield).

Anfechtungen

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No, this is not another Volkswagen commercial, I am am not asking you to stand at attention or you do not have to say, “Bless you!” as if I was sneezing.  Anfectungen is a very old German word.  Theology has lots of words and well, it is annoying and tedious to some people.  But they have a ryhme and reason to them. That is why I ask you to please indulge me on my use of Latin or Greek words. In many of my articles, I am attempting to share with you my discoveries in theological language. It is similar to visiting a foreign country like a tourist and asking the natives what the road signs mean and learning to say to right words to buy a coffee with milk and three sugars. I found out enough to navigate around town, the coffee was good and I am just sharing my experience with you.

I noticed the word Anfechtungen studying church history and specifically about Dr. Martin Luther. He had his struggles with understanding God and salvation.  Since Martin was a boy was that he haunted by insecurity concerning his salvation even when he was translating the Scriptures into German after he torched the World with his writings. He describes these insecurities as Anfechtungen (German) or Tenatio (Latin) or Afflictions (English, oh you know that language don’t you?).

Richard P. Buchard wrote that, “Anfechtungen is the (German) word that Luther used to describe the overwhelming times of spiritual trial, terror, despair, and religious crisis that he experienced throughout his life. At the heart of such an Anfechtung was the terrifying feeling that God was going to judge and condemn the sinner at any moment. In the wake of such a feeling came subsequent feelings of deep sadness that God had forsaken one.”

I was surprised and actually encouraged that Martin Luther  struggled terribly in his life with feelings of despair concerning his soul. It was not a psychological depression but a spiritual war that raged in him. He had a hard time conveying his feelings but it seems that he struggled terribly with issues about God, his wrath, election and predestination. He felt like he was dying and going to hell and if these afflictions lasted for even for ten minutes he would have would have turned to ashes. (see Luthers Works 31:129).

It may describe the Christian persons struggle to understand spiritual truth in those hard to understand, “senseless times” when you are attempting to study the scriptures and let God speak to you through his word and then suddenly you are body slammed with some trial or (dare I say it) demonic attack. During the beginning of the Protestant Reformation Luther had serious fights with the demonic powers and any time the truths of scripture are illuminate to your heart, Satan become active like the birds attempting to eat that seed.

Luther considered his spiritual trials as good. His Anfechtungen were valuable because they drove him to Scripture and compelled him to cling to God’s promises. They taught him by experience, how sure, mighty, and comforting, God’s promises can be. Thus, he not only knew, but lived God’s Word.  Thus it is through the Scriptures that Luther overcame his Anfechtungen. When the onslaught of darkness began he would turn not just to any word of Scripture, but to the Gospel portions of Scripture, the promises, which spoke of Christ’s completed salvation and of God’s present help and mercy. Luther’s Anfechtungen were crucial to him, for they drove him into Scripture; and once inside the Scriptures they continually drove him to Christ.

The Christian is called the live Vita Passiva the receptive life or the life that receives the truth of God from the scriptures and the power of the Holy Spirit.  This involved three things: prayer (oratio), meditation (meditatio), and temptation (tentatio).

All three revolved around ongoing, faithful attention to God’s word… These three terms describe the life of faith as a cycle that begins with prayer for the gift of the Holy Spirit, concentrates on the reception of the Holy Spirit through meditation on God’s word, and results in spiritual attack. This in turn leads a person back to further prayer and intensified meditation. The Bible is the only book of salvation and using your own mind and reason were useless. If you use your own understanding like Lucifer you and others will plunge from heaven to hell.

Luther, however, does not here reject the careful reading, grammatical analysis, and literary exegesis of the Scriptures, in favor of reliance on the direct mental guidance by the Holy Spirit. He does not claim that through prayer and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the reader receives special insights into the text of the Scriptures, its true meaning. Rather, Luther presupposes that God the Father grants His life giving, enlightening Holy Spirit through His word. So the student of theology prays for the enlightenment, guidance, and understanding that the Holy Spirit alone can give through the Scriptures. Three correct ways to study theology according to Luther based on his teaching from his first volume of German writing of Psalm 119.

Oratio-Prayer

Kneel down and earnestly pray that God will reveal his truth to you. The Holy Spirit must be both teacher and tutor through earnest heartfelt prayer, it is then that the heart or the person praying knows they can never master the scripture but they desire the scripture to master them. God will not grant the gift of the Holy Spirit’s illumination without the written Word, the Bible.  The scriptures were not to be used as a spiritual launch pad into heavenly places. But Luther taught that you were go into your little room and pray approaching God without self promotion or achieving spirituality but coming as a beggar. That is the problem with us, religion will make you a salesman, Christianity a receptive beggars, unworthy in and of ourselves but blessed by the grace of God.  Luther did not visualize the spiritual life in active terms as a process of self-development but in passive terms as a process of reception from the Triune God. In it, self sufficient individuals became beggars before God.

We inwardly hear what we outwardly hear.  We are not theorizing or engineering truth in our theological laboratories. It has nothing with religious manipulation that gets God to do something for you. But it is a lifelong process of being a humble student of the scriptures.

Meditatio-meditation. Meditation is an issue of the heart but not just the heart. It is extroverted not introverted. It is an outward physical activity. As a Roman Catholic monk Luther was instructed in silent contemplation, but real meditation was more speaking the word to ourselves and out loud and listen to the scriptures with our whole heart. In his studies of the word meditation in the Bible he found that it involved speaking, whispering, shouting, chattering, singing, humming even groaning. It is like smelling good food and tasting it slowly relishing the savor and flavor. We rub it like an herb that releases its fragrance and healing powers as it is crushed. We do not assimilate the Word but the Word assimilates us and produces holy living. We do not use the scripture to mould our own lives the Word moulds us into the image of Christ.

Tentatio-Agonizing struggle. Luther called this temptation but it was more than a solicitation to do evil by Satan. To Luther it meant Satan’s attack upon our faith in Christ and God’s condemnation of us as sinners. As long as we operate by our own power, with our own intellect and our own too human notions the devil lets us be. But as soon as we enter into real meditation and prayer and begin to draw on the power of the Holy Spirit, the devil begins to stir up contradiction, opposition and persecution. He will attack from enemies where our congregation meets or the enemies of the gospel in the world. Hearing and receiving truth can be so exciting. But there are times it can be so painful. Satan wants to undo the hidden work of God’s Word in us and the devil tries to drive it out so that we will not operate in the power of the Spirit.

But these attacks are counterproductive and end up making you a real theologian, because these attacks will teach you to seek out and love God’s Word. Satan’s attack drives us back to God’s Word as our only resource. If we rely on our own wisdom and power we will fail. Our weakness makes us trust in God, we experience the suffering of Christ; we are drawn away from ourselves and drawn near to Christ.

© 2012 Soul Health Care Ministries, If you share this article just let them know about us and where it came from.

2012

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It is my belief that the disease that has infected the churches of the United States of America is NOT fatal and can be cured.

That cure is still found in the remedy of God and his Gospel, flowing from the bloodstained hill called Calvary and administered by those who will DARE to preach it amid the disgust and revulsion of the religious empire disguised as the church.

Any soul that has been treated by the power of the Cross can attest, “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now I am found twas blind but now I see!”

Jesus Christ the great Intercessor can save to the uttermost! He can still raise up the worst profligates and prodigals among men and women out of the miry pits of sin and abject lostness and bring the precious news of peace with God through Christ.

They may even today be lying in a gutter, homeless, living under a bridge and God can save and fill them with his power and raise up an Luther, Spurgeon, Whitfield among them.

There are in the worlds eyes among the exploited and abused, no- names who have already been recorded in heaven’s annals as among God’s own choice in the book of life, whose names cannot be blotted out.

They will sing and preach better than anything you may have ever heard. They will have an iron will in politics, unyielding to compromise. They will revolutionize the medical filed and discover cures for disease that were considered incurable. They will rebuildl the broken down walls of the family.

They will solve social ills that have plagued our country and will feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless.  They will be missionaries they will break down the fortresses of gospel hardened nations and reach those who have never heard the name of Jesus.

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

Those of you who know this gospel MUST GO out and reach them. Those who know their God will do exploits! Don’t waste your precious time, money and energy in religious slavery with those who love their agendas, programs, buildings and entertainment more than Christ.

Make this year a year that Calvary and the Gospel are lifted up higher than before! Immerse your minds and hearts in the scriptures and feast everyday and then serve the bread of Life so needed by those God is calling to himself.

 

Touching the King

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“I speak of the things which I have made touching the king.”

IT is my heartfelt conviction that every message a man preaches from the pulpit should be centered on Christ. While we must preach about wrath, hell and judgment and we must give every message a “cross-check” with mercy, forgiveness and peace. Point them to the Cross and what Christ has accomplished on the behalf of his people. It is sound and biblical.  Christ is the Advent and Apex, He is Lord of  Life and Death, He is the Alpha and Omega, He is the Beginning and Ending so let us make him known and saturate our message, yes, our very lives in him. In order to preach about Christ effectively, in order to pray with confidence we must embrace him in royal friendship.

At this point in our study we see David speaking of “the King” and his King as the subject of his writing.

The kingship of Christ is an unavoidable subject and it brings great joy to the heart of a believer. David is credited with writing this psalm. He saw God as his King and Christ as his Lord (Psalm 110:1; 145:1).  He is only a lowly servant despite his earthly crown.  In Psalm  22 he sees the dying Messiah becoming the one who will rule all the nations and to whom all the ends of the earth and its families will remember and worship.

The heart of a believer has been conquered by the gracious, living Savior whose crown of thorns is now many crowns of glory upon his head and He reigns even now, in the heart and the universe. He is putting down all rebellion, until death itself finally dies and the abundant life, knowledge and glory of God fills all known expanse (1 Cor. 15:25-28).

The phrase “touching the king” is another way of saying he composed his message to direct at the King. Matthew Henry comments: “This psalm is touching the King Jesus, his kingdom and government. It is a shame that this good matter is not more the subject of our discourse. There is more in Christ to engage our love, than there is or can be in any creature. This world and its charms are ready to draw away our hearts from Christ; therefore we are concerned to understand how much more worthy he is of our love.”

This is David’s Son who would descend from him (2 Tim. 2:8)! Yet “David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord.” (Mt 22:43; cf. Ps 110:1). Paul says it this way that the King of David is, “Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” (Rom. 1:3-4).  This is the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man who is the King of all kings and Lord of all lords.

David was not only a King but a prophet (Acts 2:30) who were of old-time were called seers (1 Sam 9:9).  They would have visions or dreams given from the Lord (Num. 12:4). Isaiah saw the Lord after the tragic death of King Uzziah (Isaiah 6:1). The throne room scene was powerful and he was gripped with a sense of his own sinfulness (Isaiah 6:5). Yet these scriptures say it was the glory of Jesus Christ that he saw (John 12:41).  Ah may we be gripped with such a sense of how deplorable our sinful state is! Then when the remedy comes we will see that the Physician of our souls brought us back from death! Like Moses he complains of his useless lips (Ex. 4:10)! Who was he to speak about God, or for God?

Oh that men who stand in the pulpit would have such an experience, to understand their personal unworthiness can only be remedied by the hot coal of God’s word pressed upon their lips like molten metal on flesh!  Oh that we would think, “How dare I come into the pulpit without God’s words stamped on my lips to speak to people I pastor?”  Who are these men today who intrude into the holy place? “But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.” (Ps. 50:16-17).  Oh that these men would come to a screeching halt and whip around on the roads of their lives and ministry back toward the cross of Christ and his glory!  May they spit out with disgust the words of man’s wisdom and philosophy and let the hot coal of God’s holy altar touch their lips with the burning words of scripture! If you have failed, oh man of God, even now God is gracious! As his sin was purged with a hot coal from off the altar of atonement (Isa. 6:7), God will purge away the tarnish from your lips and you will speak for him!

It seems David’s heart is full of admiration and love for who he sees. God has been his friend for many years. Yet we throughout the Psalms, David deeply senses  his own depravity. When David finally was surprised by the outbreak of his sin (Ps. 51:4) with the adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah, he realized that a surface work of religion and ritual would not break his behavior, the powerful sins that controlled his heart, mind and will. David cries in pain,  “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow…Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” (Ps. 51:6, 7, 10). He turns to the only remedy, the cleansing of the leper. Like a person afflicted with that incurable skin disease of his day, he sees his spirit eaten away with the horrible heart disease of sin and desires cleansing and health! It is the blood of Christ that he sees in the future, that Christ will make covenant with him and grant what we call the sure mercies and covenant love of David (Isa 55:3). Here even in the Older Covenant the King dying for the sins of his people and forgiving them is woven into their hearts and the pages of scripture.

David was a seer for sure.  This is no mere play on words as he sees the glorified Christ coming into clear view in this Psalm. Oh that we may SEE Jesus (John 12:20) and be such seers. Ah we add not to a closed canon but there is a biblical mine full of precious truth and jewels that remain untapped for our souls. It is nothing new or innovative we need, but like treasure hidden in the earth, so the pages of scripture contain the most precious jewels, purest gold and untarnished silver.  It is an inexhaustible vault full of spiritual wealth and hidden treasure (Prov. 2:4).

To see the wonderful Christ as KING in the scripture should be our goal and delight! He is our one and only King, we need no others. By this he becomes our dearest friend. Let all rivals bow before him. The study of the scriptures and the love behind their words leads us to the ultimate goal who is Christ, the end of the law for everyone who believes in him and that righteousness fulfilled in them given them a certain sense of Christ’s friendship that they have not had before (Rom 10:4). When the religious salesmen, and ecclesiastical gurus of today say, “Here is Christ!” or “There is Christ.”  that he is in some other book, ministry, some church, conference center, building, or you must travel to see him. Don’t believe them. They serve the father of lies! They are all false counterfeit Christ knock offs developed to appease the whims of people and fill religious auditoriums (see Mt 24:23-26). Once you know the real Christ another fake christ will not do. In the pages of scripture you may look-here is Christ and there is Christ. He is everywhere in its pages. It’s pages and prophets speak of things that touch the KING!

One of the most popular songs today is, “I am a friend of God.” One has to wonder if people realize what that entails.  They will speak of Abraham being God’s friend (Isa 41:8).  Being a friend of Christ according to him is that you OBEY him. “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” (John 15:14). Some people treat Christ these days as a drinking buddy, fishing pal or boy friend.  It is rather sickening. We must acknowledge Christ as our King before he is our friend.  That my life and will is swallowed up to his whim! While we imperfectly serve the Lord,  we should be devoted and dedicated to his rule and Lordship. This is a prerequisite to being his friend. “Obey the king as you have vowed to do. Don’t always be trying to get out of doing your duty, even when it’s unpleasant. For the king punishes those who disobey. The king’s command is backed by great power, and no one can withstand it or question it. Those who obey him will not be punished. The wise man will find a time and a way to do what he says.” (Eccl. 8:2-5 TLB). Those who do not see him as King cannot appreciate him as friend.

The Love Behind the Words

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The last time we discussed the wonder of the Holy Spirit’s work of heart in Psalm 45. Here we see the results.

The sweet singer of Israel says, “His heart is “indicting a good matter.”

This is word carries a different meaning than the english word for “indict.” In the original Hebrew language it  means to bubble up and overflow. In this Psalm the song writers heart steadily boils and then overflows at what it understands.  His teaching in song (Eph 5:19-20) serves to reveal Christ. The saint serves God with heartfelt affection and gratitude! I know we joke about God’s chosen frozen, but there is no room for a frigid, aloof relationship with the Savior of our souls! The problem with church people and preachers is Jesus is not quite enough for them! Preaching the cross seems too simple for them despite their abject ignorance of  penal substitutionary atonement. Calvary is not the Gospel 101 and we move on to better or deeper things-it is our doctorate of divinity! It is the love behind the words!

Christians are men and women who have been given access to the Holy of holies by the blood of Christ (Heb 10:19) and there like Moses they may hear and read the written word of God (Heb. 4:12) and see his ultimate Word in Christ (Heb 1:1-2).  The Bible says, “Whenever Moses went into the Tabernacle to speak with the LORD, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the Ark’s cover–the place of atonement–that rests on the Ark of the Covenant. The LORD spoke to him from there.” (Num. 7:89NLT). The LORD spoke to him from there. Where? The place of atonement? Only the Bible can bring us directly to the place where Christ’s blood and cross still speak his love to his own people through the gospel!  Christ and his gospel, his love behind the Words, is the only cure for men’s sin sick souls and the power of God that raises them from among the spiritually dead!

The one who truly stands in His presence will melt  and their eyes fill with tears as they see the battered body of Jesus on Calvary! We see his pain, his forsakeness and it comforts us in our trials and we give that gospel comfort to those in need (2 Cor 1:3-6). Ah how we look for the finely crafted hand made, melted and molded preacher of the pure gospel and not these factory cookie-cutter models of today! These are the weathered Shulamites among all the sterile daughters of Jerusalem (Song 1:5-6). They may not be attractive, people are repulsed by their sun baked blackness and brokeness as they derided Jesus on the cross (Mk 15:29) but God has ordained that these people are his workmanship (Eph 2:10) and they are those who know their God, who LOVE their God and that have served him graciously and humbly no matter the trials or circumstances. You don’t have to be good-looking and talented to be a vessel for the Master-just one who has endured the storm with this testimony, you pleased God (Heb 11:5) and speak with love behind the words.

This Psalm is an outburst of one who loves the Lord who has knowledge of the holy (Prov. 9:10) and unlike so many rude, meaningless, emotional outbursts that distract us from true worship these days, this directs us to “seeing him who is invisible.” (Heb. 11:27).  We must point with forthtelling  prophecy to Christ for their welfare. Paul says, “But one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them.” (1 Cor. 14:3NLT).  We need MEN (and I mean MEN) who can mark the Word of the Lord! Jeremiah asks, “For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?” (Jer. 23:18). This is the churches greatest advantage over the enemies of the Lord. In these days of apostasy how there is need for an intelligible, clear and meaningful sound from those who preach.

There is so much false doctrine these days it is like chasing pillow feathers, we must preach Christ crucified as the cure for sin and error! People must not only repent of sin but false ideas about God. The Holy Spirit will convince and cross-examine (oh what a thought) of their need of Christ (John 16:8).  May the preacher cross-examine his congregation. What I mean is preach the cross so that they will examine their hearts (1 Cor 11:28)! “As they listen, their secret thoughts will be exposed, and they will fall to their knees and worship God, declaring, “God is truly here among you.” (1 Cor 14:25NLT).

I must also add that our friend the psalmist heart began to become full and gush with so much love that he felt compelled to speak the revelation he received to bring relief to his soul. For example, in Luke 3:2 it says that, “the word of God came unto John” or it came upon (epi) John. It pressed down upon him and exerted force. This teaches that there is a Divine pressure that comes upon a man who loves Christ in that he must preach Christ in order to sense release in obedience. There is a weight with which the Word of God is carried by a man (Jer. 23:38). I doubt if we could even see a finer example of the superintendency of the Spirit of God in breathing the scriptures into the hearts of men. May God in his mercy grant those who preach his word that if our message be not from the Lord that our tongue would cleave to the roof of our mouths and if it is his message that we would be free to speak (Ezek 3:26-27)! Oh that God would grant us men in the pulpit that could not feel relief unless they obediently preached the Word of God as written.

Those of us who have settled the issue of the Holy Spirit’s power in the authorship of the Bible sometimes fail to see the Divine love that was in the weeping pens of the writers. The love of God was poured into their hearts (Rom. 5:5)! Like a cloudburst of rain upon a parched and dry countryside so the love of God is poured into our hearts from these Bible words. We have a dire need for true gospel preachers whose hearts have been warmed by being with God in the oracle room of the written Word (1 Kings 6). In that place there is only one light-the candlestick of the Holy Spirit that illuminates their hearts with understanding (Eph. 1:17) and that room has no place for the counsel of the ungodly (Ps. 1:1) and there they learn the love behind the Words.

The love of God constrained the writers of scripture (2 Cor 5:14). They sensed not only obligation but divinely inspired devotion as they wrote. Most translators see this as the word constrain as “control”, but from what I have derived is the love of Christ pressed in on them, motivated them and took up their thoughts!  It gave them focus, it kept them in a straight line.

It is amazing what happens to the heart when it is focused on Christ! When John preached in the wilderness his message carried a sense of urgency because Christ was coming. There is much teaching about foretelling prophecy these days, one for every mood or opinion. But John’s message was not just eschatological but Christological. He pointed to Christ in his message!

Such is the direction in the torrents of the river of scripture. It rushes toward Christ and when he arrives there is nothing more that needs to be said (Heb 1:1-2). Could it be that the Spirit of God caused such a love for Christ in the hearts of apostles and prophets that they wrote down the testimony of the scriptures in an unbroken, elegant and fluent manner that could only be described as the truth in love (Eph 4:15). Is it any wonder that when a true child of God reads the scripture he begins to shed tears or rejoice every time he beholds in the mirror of scripture the love behind the words, the glory of the Lord Jesus?

© 2011 Soul Health Care Ministries, If you share this article just let them know about us and where it came from.

A Work of Heart

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“My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.” (Psalm 45:1-2).

We are never nearer Christ than when we find ourselves lost in a holy amazement at his unspeakable love.  ~John Owen

I preached this Psalm in a message a very long time ago about a Christ I only thought I knew.  Since that time, God delivered me from false doctrine and now as he gives me strength I will not let him go but bring him into my mother’s house, the church.  I will attempt to write on this psalm for the next few weeks. So many groups only carry in their doctrinal flash drive a certain facet of Christ and church is only seen as a USB port to plug it into. Those who do not proclaim those pet doctrines enough are in their eyes lesser Christians or not Christians at all. The worst false doctrine is to exalt the distinctive of one group, it is imbalanced and will certainly lead to error.  We ought to exalt Christ alone. We must always insist that in Psalm forty-five as in the other scriptures we would see Jesus (John 12:21).  This is the goal of scripture, to reveal the living Christ, walking among his Church and conquering the world by a redemptive kingdom.

The first thing the songwriter mentions is his heart. He says, “my heart.” The heart think, feels and here it writes. This is a heart felt Psalm. Did you know that the heart is mentioned over nine hundred and fifty times in the scripture? So we are assured that the heart is a biblical doctrine. The heart is the nucleus of human affection, desire and thought. It is our inner nature. It is synonymous with “the hidden man” (1 Pet. 3:4) and “the inner man” (2 Cor. 4:16).

It is God’s goal to capture the heart, he calls to a person by His Word, thus the preacher ought not just appeal to the head but the heart.  Ah that men would preach and it would cause a blue flame that burns with a love for the words of Christ! That Christ would dwell in the hearts by faith and his word grow and prevail in their heart!

Psalm forty-five is not just a work of art, but “a work of heart” sweetly performed by the gentle Holy Spirit.  The Psalm instructs those who read and sing it regarding the husband/wife relationship between Christ and his church, much like the books Song of Songs and Hosea which should be used as an encouragement to the church when she is overwhelmed by trials and failure.

Here we see the heroic Savior, Christ the Beautiful, the Divine King of Kings, full of grace and blessing. He is God the Son, Supreme ruler over the church and the universe (Heb. 1:8). Here God the Son in his everlasting love  draws the Psalmist  into the inner chamber of his Word and we will run after him!

God creates by his command a pure and true heart in us (Heb. 10:22; 1 Tim. 1:5 ) as he did when “commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts.”  (2 Cor. 4:6). What is the light in our hearts?  It is “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”  This is when we become a new creation (2 Cor 5:17).  As light is to the eyes so is understanding to the heart, that is what we call illumination.  The heart of the psalmist is flooded with spiritual light (Eph. 1:17).  As Charles Spurgeon comments, “The eyes of a true heart see more than the eyes of the head.”  Here is the key to understanding Christ: grace, it is all of grace! 

Oh this it is this the priceless gift of grace that God has made to be stored in the hearts of his elect children. The heart that understands is a heart that has been opened by the presence of Christ (Acts 16:14) and has been set on fire  by the words of Christ (Luke 24:32).  

Can you hear the Holy Spirit today with a still small voice and if you hear his voice do not be stubborn and harden not your heart, “And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me: and if not, tell me.” (Gen 24:49).  Is there a work of heart yet to be done in you?

 

(c) 2011 Soul Health Care Ministries, If you share this article just let them know about us and where it came from.

Stuck on the Steeple

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Recently two men were stuck at a height of 122 feet in a construction bucket which stopped working and lodged against a New Jersey church steeple for hours before they were rescued. These men were working on a restoration project, according to the church’s pastor. Not even the fire department could help them.  As surreal as it seems, the New Jersey State Police dispatched two helicopters to assist those men! After about three hours, the men were taken down by a basket hooked to a crane. The Pastor was thankful and even prayed with those that helped.

I wonder what it would be like to listen to these men tell the story to their friends and family about the day they were stuck on the steeple.

I am not here to blame the pastor for that nightmare, and the breakdown of equipment.  I am not against church repairs. But for the sake of illustration, I wonder about pastors who are more like religious business owners and whose focus is on how tall the “steeple” of the church more than the souls of their people.  There is a sermon  here in fact, it is very possible churches and church goers are stuck on the steeple. I am prompted to advise pastors with the scripture,

“Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, and look well to your herds.” (Prov 27:23)

This passage encourages the pastor to know the faces or the state of his sheep, to put his heart into the condition of those that God has entrusted to his care. The pastor has a job to know the condition of the souls of the people he pastors, nothing else is more important. Soul work is hard work and all the work done in a church should flow the condition of people’s hearts.

Pastors today feel the lure of the new models of religious marketing and church growth. That shining serpent beckons to them and promises them freedom from “old religious ways”  and to attract more crowds to church in the name of love and healing. I am concerned that they may have forgotten their true call, to care for their sheep.  I have seen pastors and churches advertise and market programs and go light on preaching. When they do preach, they are sloppy on the gospel.

There is a possibility of involving people so much in “God’s Work” that they get end up in a dangerous situation. In seemingly thriving churches I have seen adultery, drug abuse and financial controversy. How could this happen? They are stuck on the steeple. Pastors may be putting people  in danger, because their agenda has become their gospel.  We shuld love helping the poor, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry we should do it without a second thought but these things are NOT the gospel. Man cannot live on bread alone. Full stomachs can result in anorexic souls.

I have been part of churches where Sunday after Sunday they push small groups, leadership programs, denominational conferences so much that it becomes forced. It is like an arranged marriage to an ugly partner. The religious peer pressure kicks in and you either get left out or singled out.

The bottom line is not the project it is the condition of people souls! Their souls are more important than any agenda you may have. Is what you are doing, contributing to a dangerous situation for them spiritually?

Many of these pastors seem promote membership and Churchianity.  They preach with passion the importance of attendance and faithful tithing. If only they would preach the cross and exposit scripture with such fire! They quote Hebrews 10:25 and have the nerve to shake their finger at people for neglecting the fellowship. But I wonder, what is the sense of going to church when they nauseatingly preach a man centered message to a gospel hardened people?

I have heard messages that were not messages at all. I have heard pastors talking about sex until it bordered on soft porn. I have hjerad them use vulgarity when preaching. I have heard them preach on finances until you felt like you were going to work and they were about to sell you a new 401k plan. They act like stand up comedians who use the Bible as a punchline. Many look like slobs and act like slobs. They will show movies, plays and concerts in place of what used to be Sunday morning worship. This is a bad dream and “Ouch!” that pinch hurts when you realise you are wide awake.  It breaks my heart. When you confront these things all you hear from these same people is that you are “religious” “judgmental” or pharasaical! That gets old fast mainly because it is so unoriginal.

How many more churches and preachers must be exposed for their malpractice until they repent!  Some men see people problem and clear themselves of the blame saying it is this or that person’s fault. But they say that are praying for them. Oh you will pray for them? Ah, to little too late. 

Recently, the Michael Jackson wrongful death case was blazed in the media. Dr. Conrad Murray was found guilty.  He gave drugs to this troubled man who was depressed, full of anxiety and despite all his success and charity was empty inside. The man that should have helped him heal, created the perfect storm in his body and killed him. We do not know all the wherewithal about this case still, but we know that a Doctor who was supposed to keep an oath to care for the welfare of his patient literally gave him the drip of death. We are aghast at this! Yet how much more those who give the drip of death to the soul.

You are being charged with malpractice by the Surgeon General of Souls! If you continue to go against the scripture or only use scripture as a garnish for the toxic candy you serve people God will remove your license to practice. The salt is in danger of losing its savor. Repent now, help those people stuck on the steeple you have made!

Imagine your people stranded to the point where the world has to come in and “rescue” them. We surrender our problematic people and flock to the programs of men, their philosophy, their psychology and counsel. We exalt the counsel of the wicked to help them and because we have laid aside God’s Word, his true grace, true love and true forgiveness. The repair of their souls cannot be found in the hands of those like Absalom who kiss them and steal their hearts from the Lord. People who call themselves Christians live dangerously close to the world and not for the gospel. I watch them dabble in all sorts of witchcraft, violence, idolatry of all kinds and I wonder what are they hearing in church? Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you?

Stop using the pulpit for idiocy! You are endangering the souls of your people! Stop being an activities director, a marriage counselor or financial guru and start looking at the faces of your flock. Look at them burned out on the steeple, forced  to work in man-made vineyard and yet neglecting their own spiritual vintage. Start preaching and ministering to their hearts.  Look at your people, they are miserable, on the verge of spiritual collapse stuck on the steeple you sent them to repair. They trusted you as their pastor and you are more like a taskmaster.  Repent now, your candlestick is in danger of being removed!  Look to God’s Word for your guidance. He will show you the path and he will make it clear how to minister to your people. He loves them. He will rescue them. Let God’s glory and their spiritual welfare be your goal. Let God speak to them through you by his Word, and he will rescue them from being stuck on the steeple.

God is sending help to rescue these people from these taskmasters and their steeples. Just like in the Garden of Eden he will expose these lies for what they are and all your fig leaf suits and hiding behind your Bible won’t stop his presence from exposing it!

 (c) 2011 Soul Health Care Ministries, If you share this article just let them know about us and where it came from.