prayer

I SAW HELL ONE FRIDAY NIGHT

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angry-god“Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.” (Jude 1:23NLT).

This is something I am leery to talk about especially with the popularity of visions and myths abut heaven and hell that sell books and movies in the last few years. I believe the Bible has spoken on the subject of eternal hell and we need nothing else, yet I had to include this in my testimony.

I prayed alone most of the time in church. I even tried calling for prayer meetings and only Sister Dorothy would show up. She was a dear soul who came to Christ in her later years. I can still see her how she would walk briskly from her house down the street to the church. What I remember most was when she would repeatedly cry out in prayer, “I love you Jesus. I want to walk with you Jesus. I want to touch the hem of your garment.” People criticized her sometimes for her crying out the same phrase repeatedly in services over time. Maybe she was simple or maybe she was more in touch with God than the rest of us.  I kept thinking of one who said, “Jesus, thou Son of David have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:38). I think she was wonderful and I miss her.

One night our Pastor called for an all night prayer meeting. This was my first. They were not like the prayer meetings of today. There was no music, videos or anything just prayer. When you strip all the makeup off the the face of the modern day church service you would not have much left. I wonder if we had no music and technology in our churches if we would see how spiritually poor, even bankrupt some churches are in the area of true, unvarnished prayer.

We began to pray and we started with a nice crowd and during the hours people began to slowly leave until a few of us were left.

I remember I was up front completely absorbed in prayer and unaware of those around me. It was at this time that the whole idea of my unsaved family, friends, neighbors and schoolmates going to hell overwhelmed me. I began to see dark, long caverns going down as far as the eye could see and I began to see people I knew falling into them. My heart broke and I wept and wept at the thought of it. My heart was full of compassion and it poured out of me as I pleaded with God repeatedly saying, “Save the lost, oh God, save the lost!”

I heard later the Pastor said that I was groaning and he told my brother that he had not seen such a “spirit of intercession” upon a person. I later discovered that the classical Pentecostals called this “travailing in prayer.” (Isa. 66:8). I think it was unnerving for them. Later in life I heard of men of God who prayed and it was hard to be around them because of the agony they felt. Christ agony alone secures the salvation of people, but I believe he allows at times us to feel his broken heart for the lost. I do not know how long I that I was in that state but the reality of people going to hell for me was unbearable. That time in prayer was but a couple of hours then I stopped and I went down to the bathroom to wash my face and gain my composure. I was shaken. It was like nothing I had ever experienced. All I knew I was determined to stop people from going there. This was a wake up call.

Originally, hell was made for the devil and his angels but it also will be the eventual destination of all who die without Christ. Satan knows his end and he wants to drag people to hell with him. He can do this because people follow his ways and he influences their rebellion against God. God is offended by sin. Sin is infinite. His hatred and war with sin is never ending. Thus hell is everlasting.  But God has given us Jesus, “the way, the truth and the life. ” (John 14:6). This is why Christ had to satisfy the wrath of God by his cruel death on the cross. As the Bible says, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8). 

I realized the real problem that I faced beyond the symptoms of sin. My friends were dying and going to hell and I was supposed to get in their way and make them listen to the warnings of God and the good news of Christ. It gave me love and at the same time some grit to my preaching. I need not worry about man’s opinion, “but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Mt. 10:28). I saw my high school, my neighborhood, my WORLD as a battleground  for the souls of men and women.

Now geared for battle, I go back to High School ready to challenge the devil for the souls that belonged to Jesus.

©2015 Rev. Stephen S. Gibney, give credit where credit is due.

WIRELESS CONNECTION

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lion“The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” (Prov. 28:1).

I could not in my own strength and power reach my High School. I needed to accomplish God’s will, God’s way. At 15 years old God chose two weapons out of his arsenal for me: prophesying scripture and praying scripture.

One day while cleaning the church I went up a long passage of stairs to the attic and some of the folks were cleaning it out. I was wondering what treasures I would be able to plunder. I saw books! There were two books there. One was called They Teach us To Pray by Reginald E.O. White and the other The Gifts of the Spirit by Harold Horton. They let me have them. It was gold to me. The one prayer book was about the ABC’s of prayer. My favorite chapter was about Moses and the Benefits of prayer and how his face shined with the presence of God, along with Stephen the martyr and most of all, Christ. I wanted people to see Jesus in me. The prospect of having my face shine after I was done with prayer to let people see the reality of Jesus thrilled my soul. I knew prayer was going to be the key in my life. God saved me for his glory, so I could pray and have communion with Him through the Holy Spirit. Prayer was my wireless connection to God through the scriptures.

I was reading The Gifts of the Spirit and the gift of prophecy kept being placed on my heart. I knew the Holy Spirit gave gifts according to his will but since the Bible spoke of, “covet earnestly the best gifts” (1 Cor. 12:31)  I asked God for that gift. I loved preaching and the thought of prophesying, “to edify, exhort and comfort” excited me (1 Cor. 14:3). I did not want it to be me speaking but the Father, Son and the Spirit speaking through me. I began to pray about this gift and God’s will for me. It was then while I prayed it felt like God dropped a large coin in my Spirit. Something happened-and as all of God’s dealings with me anytime he did something big it was at first quiet, like a gentle soft breeze. Then later the results were huge. Prophecy was my wireless connection with God through scripture,“The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:8).

One summer I met Rev. Loren Wooten. He came for our first revival. I did not know what a revival was but it sounded good. He was an older, seasoned man and they called him an evangelist. He preached different than my Pastor who was an excellent teacher. Brother Wooten seemed to be able to communicate the gospel in another capacity. Watching this man in his late sixties preach with the animation of a young man blew my mind. One night he said something about the account of David and Goliath that I can still recall to this day. He was illustrating how David confronted the Philistine, “He calls him an uncircumcised Philistine. You see what he is saying? I’m a little boy and I have a covenant. You’re a big giant and you don’t have a covenant. I am coming in the name of the God of the covenant and God will give me the victory-I can’t lose!” I had never heard about a covenant before-but it I found it was God’s commitment to us because we belong to Jesus.

He was big on the topic of prayer. He gave us prayer journal loose-leaf and every day of the week had a specific theme which would have a great influence in my prayer time. Brother Wooten would hear me pray and all I would do is quote scripture in prayer and pray in the Spirit. He liked that so much he made me quote 2 Corinthians 10:6 in front of those people. He told the church he had not seen young men like Mike and I so on fire for God in a long time. To God be the glory.

The only time I heard a prophetic Word, or interpretation on tongues was when Brother Chris Olsen would do it. He looked like he was seven feet tall as he reached up with one arm to the ceiling and rocked on his feet to his toes. I remember would say something like, “Yea, the Lord the God is in the midst of thee this morning!” He would weep and I was in awe.  Not long after that during Bro. Wooten’s meetings I prophesied the first time. It was a few short biblical sentences that came to my mind and I thought my heart would explode. I gave the forth telling prophecy taken I believe from John chapter 10 and my Pastor was saying, “Praise God, praise God.” It was both wonderful and frightening. I learned to how speak out the Scriptures in prayer and prophecy by the leading of the Spirit. I was learning to speak the right thing at the right time-a skillful word in season. This would prove to be  invaluable (Prov 15:23; Isa. 50:4).

After that I drove our pastor crazy because I would ask him if I could use to church to pray. I liked being alone in church because I could let out my heart to God in private. He eventually surrendered and made a key for me to get in church. Oh God was so good to me! He gave me the key to his house! We had an altar railing back in those days and I would slump over it and weep. I would pace around the church sanctuary and worship until I felt to pray for others. I began to prayer two or three hours a night. Wednesday nights was intercession night I would get to church early before Bible study. I had a list of 168 people.

Friday night was supposed to be prayer night-but no one ever came, except one night, at one all night prayer meeting.

©2015 Rev. Stephen S. Gibney, give credit where credit is due.

Complain Right Here

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Complaining-ManComplaining is probably one of the most respectable sins among people who claim to know Christ as Savior, next to things such as gossip, an occasional use of profanity or white lies. We usually don’t see it as someone who is complaining-it is usually the person with a bad attitude. After all, it does not seem that bad of a thing or that big of a deal because. everyone complains. We are only human. But this cannot easily be brushed aside as some small sin and Christians need to consider their attitude because it really exposes what they think about God.

Do you realize that this sin was severely punished under the Old Covenant?  It was the most common sin of Israel after they left Egypt (Ex 15:24; 16:2; 17:3; Num. 14:2, 29).  Paul says to the Corinthians: “You must stop complaining, as some of them were doing, and were annihilated by the destroyer.” (1 Cor 10:10 ISV).  Annihilated? Yes.  You are terminated.

It makes you wonder how with all the blessings we have in the New Covenant how God views complaining. Since everything described in the New Covenant is “better” (Heb. 8:6).

It should be very clear: there’s nothing wrong with going to God directly in prayer and pouring out complaints before Him. He knows our thoughts before we think them and our words before we speak them (Psalm 139). Asaph prayed, “I pour out before him my complaint; before him I tell my trouble.” (Psalm 142:2). We are allowed to come and complain directly to the Lord (Psalm 77:2-3). BUT what we should not do is complain to others, look for self pity or grow a huge attitude about something that we should be directing to God in prayer. That is third-party complaining. It is bad enough when we think about how rough our lives are but when it starts dripping out of our mouths in muffled tones like spiritual sewage there is a problem. Stop walking around talking to yourself about how mistreated and misunderstood you are. God can hear you and He does not like it. All this is about is you wanting to have a one sided conversation with a total disregard for God’s input.

Complaining is having a grievance against God that results in cynical distrust in God’s ways. God asks, “Why do you complain…how can you say the LORD does not see your troubles? …How can you say God ignores your rights?” (Isaiah 40:27NIV/NLT). This is when a person mumbles bitterly against God. They are unhappy with Him and the way he does things. They are miserable because of conflicts with people or circumstances. They are resentful for what they see as being unfairly treated by God. But they maintain a veneer of religion and worship. Yet, they accuse God of wrongdoing under their breath. They make sure their complaining is heard but not too loud. They insinuate against the Lord’s character and make sure they make some kind of dig at God without him noticing. They do not scream in protest but as one man puts says they have, “the whispers and looks of discontent.” (Wagner). Complaining hints that God is not in control or it suggests he does not care for his own people. It diminishes God’s glory.

Complaining is a deep rooted heart condition that is seen as a cynical attitude. Complaining is the habit of those who have had difficulty gaining a biblical  mindset and godly perspective on the trials of life-because their expectations are unrealistic and unwise. So they are angry and depressed. Eventually their issues with God manifest in other ways. You usually see complaining where people are unfulfilled and unhappy creating an atmosphere charged with nitpicking, arguing and negativity that eats away at relationships (James 4:1-3). In 1 Corinthians 10 it is the last step before the cliff of total rejection by God of an entire generation of people and Paul intends to warn and threaten the church at Corinth with this truth.

You say, “Wow, that is ugly.”

Indeed it is. Especially for Christians who claim to love and obey God.

The New Testament teaches, “Do everything without complaining and arguing.” (Phil 2:14). Well there it is-everything. There is no amnesty where you can get away with a chronically bad attitude. It can ruin your life and your soul. My suggestion to cure this sickness of the soul is to talk to God in prayer and ask him to forgive you. Ask him to help you to learn contentment by trusting that he is faithful to his promises and will give you the strength to endure hardship. Study the lives of people in the Bible and read the biographies of Christians who suffered and remained faithful to God. Find mature Christian’s who have endured difficulty and talk to them about your challenges. It will encourage you to know that you are among people in a fellowship of sufferings that desire to identify with Christ (Phil. 3:7-10), who want to grow in his grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18) and have a better resurrection (Heb 11:35). Ask God to make you a testimony to others so that you can help others with the comfort you have received from God (2 Cor 1: 3-7).

© 2015 Soul Health Care Ministries. Come on now, give credit where credit is due.

FOR THOSE WHO FEEL DESPAIR

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HoldOnGodKnowsWhatsHesDoing“In my desperation I prayed, and the LORD listened; he saved me from all my troubles.” (Psalm 34:6).

When you pray remember you serve the All Powerful God! God is a God of miracles. Does anyone doubt that? I don’t think so. The struggle is not that God can do anything but that he will answer our prayer (Ps. 17:6)

I realize we don’t live from miracle to miracle. But we make a lot of mistakes, act stupidly and we know it. But our frailties do not hinder God. As he answers our prayer he teaches us. But we are a blessed people, loved by God (Eph. 1:1-6).

God the Father did not withhold his Son from us so he might secure our salvation. He sets the standard of answered prayer by that act. He will withhold nothing from us. He hears and answers our prayers because He promised He would and he is our generous Father (Rom 8:32).

You may doubt or waver when you pray at first because of emotion, shock and even past trauma you may have a hard time believing. The life of faith is not automatic, it takes time but over time, “your faith will grow strong in the truth.” (Col 2:7NLT).

“Doubt is not unbelief. But it can become unbelief…Doubt is like an attention-seeking child. The more attention you pay to it, the more attention it demands. By worrying about your doubts, you get locked into a vicious cycle of uncertainty.” (Alister McGrath).

Deal with your doubts and move on. Unbelief is a serious thing it charges God with lying. Confess that to God! Ask his forgiveness and his help to believe and whether you feel like it or not begin to use the Psalms and scriptures to thank God for his desire and ability to answer prayer. I challenge to you tell God why you think he can’t or won’t help you. Go ahead see his response in your heart and the scriptures he will show you. You will have an attitude change for sure.

I am not big on the “confess it possess it” mentality but there is no use in saying lies when God word says differently. You keep saying God is against you? You thinking God has abandoned you? That is a UGLY LIE Satan that big fat liar is pounding you with and he is trying to plant seeds of distrust in your mind (Rom 8:31-19). Evict his lies IMMEDIATELY! (Luke 10:19). He is misrepresenting your God.

You may feel abandoned, anxious, fearful, lonely, discouraged and depressed. It is an emotional roller coaster, I know. Don’t deny it. Tell God! Pour out your heart to him. He does not mind, he knows it already. You don’t have to fake prayer with your all knowing Father. Don’t pretend everything is OK but go to God and just be honest with him (Isaiah 1:18).

His heart is moved when he hears your cry and pray. He is full of mercy and he pays attention to your tears, broken heart and crushed spirit. The High and Holy God promised to sit down with you and refresh you! (Isaiah 57:15). 

Come O Thou Traveler Unknown

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This is an old hymn By Charles Wesley. I have never read lyrics like this-SG

Come, O thou Traveler unknown, whom still I hold, but cannot see! My company before is gone, and I am left alone with Thee; With Thee all night I mean to stay, and wrestle till the break of day. I need not tell Thee who I am, My misery and sin declare; Thyself hast called me by my name, Look on Thy hands, and read it there; But who, I ask Thee, who art Thou? Tell me Thy name, and tell me now. In vain Thou strugglest to get free; I never will unloose my hold! Art Thou the Man that died for me? The secret of Thy love unfold; Wrestling, I will not let Thee go, Till I Thy name, Thy nature know.

Wilt Thou not yet to me reveal Thy new, unutterable Name? Tell me, I still beseech Thee, tell; To know it now resolved I am; Wrestling, I will not let Thee go, Till I Thy Name, Thy nature know. ’Tis all in vain to hold Thy tongue Or touch the hollow of my thigh; Though every sinew be unstrung, Out of my arms Thou shalt not fly; Wrestling I will not let Thee go Till I Thy name, Thy nature know. What though my shrinking flesh complain, And murmur to contend so long? I rise superior to my pain, When I am weak, then I am strong and when my all of strength shall fail, I shall with the God-man prevail.

My strength is gone, my nature dies, I sink beneath Thy weighty hand, Faint to revive, and fall to rise; I fall, and yet by faith I stand ;I stand and will not let Thee go Till I Thy Name, Thy nature know. Yield to me now, for I am weak, But confident in self-despair; Speak to my heart, in blessings speak, be conquered by my instant prayer; Speak, or Thou never hence shalt move, And tell me if Thy Name is Love. Tis Love! ’tis Love! Thou diedst for me! I hear Thy whisper in my heart; The morning breaks, the shadows flee, Pure, universal love Thou art; To me, to all, Thy bowels move; Thy nature and Thy Name is Love. My prayer hath power with God; the grace Unspeakable I now receive; Through faith I see Thee face to face, I see Thee face to face, and live! In vain I have not wept and strove; Thy nature and Thy Name is Love.

 I know Thee, Savior, who Thou art. Jesus, the feeble sinner’s friend; Nor wilt Thou with the night depart. But stay and love me to the end, Thy mercies never shall remove; Thy nature and Thy Name is Love. The Sun of righteousness on me Hath rose with healing in His wings, Withered my nature’s strength; from Thee My soul its life and succor brings; my help is all laid up above; Thy nature and Thy Name is Love. Contented now upon my thigh I halt, till life’s short journey end; All helplessness, all weakness I  On Thee alone for strength depend; Nor have I power from Thee to move: Thy nature, and Thy name is Love. Lame as I am, I take the prey, Hell, earth, and sin, with ease o’ercome; I leap for joy, pursue my way, and as a bounding hart fly home, through all eternity to prove Thy nature and Thy Name is Love.

Condemned?

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Sometimes questions are better than answers.

Paul asks a good question, “Who is he that condemns?” (Rom. 8:34NIV).

That is a not only a good question but a loaded question.

Well, who is it Paul? 

“It is Christ.”

Surprised? I was. The answer is something different from what we expect.

There is a truth you may not have  known: Christ condemns.

What is it to be condemned?  Is it someone being mean to us, not understanding us? We usually think of being condemned in a unjust light. We do not want people to judge us. But God’s judgement is different. He never misses a clue, he never overlooks evidence, he sees clearly every motive and thought. He is just. When God condemns he sentences a wicked person-a person worthy of punishment and God’s wrath. One day Christ will sentence people for their crimes against heaven.

Christ is the one in scripture that could easily condemn anyone, anytime on the spot! One day people will drop lifeless as the awesome Christ sentences them. I have heard preachers say that those rebels who refuse to bow on Judgment Day would have their knees broken. There is no need for such an action.  Christ conquers all his enemies while seated on his throne and he does not need to rise to his feet (Ps 110:1). All he needs to do is speak and the “spirit of his mouth” will cut people to shreds. His words are sharper than any two edged sword and His words will impale and slice them to pieces to the very marrow of their spirit, soul, and body (Heb 4:12; 2 Thess 2:8). He is the judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42; 2 Tim. 4:1). The Bible speaks of the wrath of the Lamb (Rev. 6:16) and that we should “kiss the Son lest he be angry.” (Ps. 2:12). Yes, Christ is the Judge of all men.

The idea of Christ being crucified for our sins should shock and terrify us. It was by far the most horrific catastrophe in history! The Author of life  had a chapter entitled “Death” (Acts 3:15) in his book. The wicked hands of sinners took the eternal Son of God who was always with the Father, begotten before all worlds, Lord of life and heaven and crucified him. Oh what condemnation should be ours!

It is like when a newscast is taking place covering the crucifixion and suddenly the screen freezes on all channels and all you can see is the head of Christ hanging on his chest, blood covering his body and every channel you switch to is the same. THE SON OF GOD CRUCIFIED! Oh we are without hope, because of sin, yet the death of Christ was worse than all sin put together and piles on an unthinkable condemnation upon us! It takes away the breath of life and darkens the sun of hope from all creation!

Christ could condemn us but instead it says it is, “He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” (Romans 8:31NASB). He who is the perfect Judge is the perfect Savior!

For one question, four wonderful answers!

It is Christ that died. He was crucified  for you and I. Christ could condemn us for our many sins before and after we became Christians, yet he does not. Why, oh, why when he should! But he does not. This does not mean he pleads our innocence before the Father, but his work on the cross. He testifies to his blood that poured out after gulping in the cup filled with the liquid wrath of God that was rightfully ours to experience. 

It is Christ that is Resurrected. He could have condemned me to death and hell. Instead he generously sends us to heaven. He gives us not only “newness of life” (Romans 6:3) but eternal life! Christ says, “Because I live you shall live also!” He gives us newness of life, the new birth! His power has raised our dead spirit. He fuels our hope, and ignites his holiness in our hearts.

It is Christ that is Enthroned.  Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords.” (1 Tim 6:15; Rev 19:16).  Instead of condemning us He has conquered us by his Sovereign matchless grace.  Jesus is King, all other would be rivals are exposed as frauds, and that there can be no other King other than Christ. Those things that would have dragged our souls down as abject slaves the Lord Jesus Christ has defeated! He takes the authority away from all the powers of sin, demonic forces, and death (Heb. 2:14-15). 

It is Christ who Intercedes.  He could have condemned us by not praying for us. Yet scripture says, “From my birth he has made mention of my name.” (Isa 49:1).  We could never go to God on our own. We must have a mediator.  The second person of the Triune God became flesh in his incarnation, becoming one of us and at the same time not  like us. He is the God-man. He can sympathize with our weakness without giving into weakness. Oh what joy and hope is this: that the Son of God whose prayers never go unanswered has already prayed, keeps praying and prays again for his saints.  He is the one who stands between us and God. He is the perfect mediator.

Be encouraged Christian! Christ does not condemn those he has already chosen, called and saved. He seals them up in his heart! None shall be stolen, their foot shall not slide, he will bring you home to present you, “holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.” (Col 1:22).

Prayer of the Exiled

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How long, most holy and true Lord God? I wait patiently for You to remember me. Enemies speak against me, friends are helpless to support me.

I am a stranger in the earth: do not hide your commandments from me!  Kiss me with the kisses of your mouth. Like my heavenly Isaac speak to me, “Come near now, and kiss me, my son.”  I need Your loving kindness that is better than life itself.

Only You by Your hand under my head and arm under my soul can lift me and sustain me with raisin cakes and apples of Your Spirit.

Seasons change, turn my bleak winter into blossoming summer. Blow oh north and south wind upon the sleeping garden of my life!

Where there is barrenness and a wilderness let the cross be planted in the midst of the garden of my heart.

Transplant it from Calvary and make it to me a new and living way, like the Tree of Life and let it wound the earth and when it is planted and bring forth a hundred fold.

My tears of repentance may make my bed to swim but only the mist of your Spirit rise in me and beautify early what no human nor I can sustain.

Warm my face with sunshine of your grace, let me labor for You so I may bring You into my mother’s house, the church and not let you go.

 

Prayer Of the Soul Sick of Sin

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Ezekiel prophesied of the new birth that was coming through Jesus Christ, “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them…ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses…ye shall receive no more reproach… Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.” (from Ezek. 36:25-31)

It is important though we have been forgiven for our past sins that we take serious our bent and natural inclination toward future possibility of sin.  In our flesh “dwells no good thing” and there is an endless battle between the sinful and spiritual nature after we are saved (Gal 5: 16-18). This lah-dee-dah attitude church people have these days toward sin and temptation, shows not only a lack of fear for God, but a lack of respect toward sin’s influence and power.  We are to “put on Christ and not make provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof.”  (Rom 13;14) Now to “put on” is to be clothed with Christ that is not “put on”  a show but to wear the new clothes designed by Christ and throw out of our closet all the old fat, “what not to wear”  clothes of sin. Don’t keep the fat clothes because you don’t want to fit in them again. Sin does not fit in or on our lives anymore. Sin’s power has been broken  by what Jesus did on the cross. But it is still around attempting to enslave us through temptation or the solicitation to do evil.

Sin is breaking God’s law or lawlessness and Ezekiel called this iniquity and sins are also called abominations or the things God hates. That is what we used to let run our lives. We were out of control sinners and we did the things God hates.  Jesus propitiated (appeased) God’s wrath toward sin and sinners and expiated (made amends for) our sins by his death on Calvary’s cross. God hated and was offended by sin and he could easily send the sinner to hell without a second thought.  “But this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came to save sinners…” (1 Tim 1:15).  Not only did God make provision for past and present sins but future sins as well. It only makes sense. The cross had to secure the salvation of God’s people or else all would be lost. 

It is important that we clarify that the scriptures teaching about justification (or being made right with God) is by faith alone  and while are still people who have a propensity to sin, God sees us as saints.  Justification is external, outside the sinner. God legally removes the guilt of sin, the culpability, fault and responsibility of sin. Justification and is an act which is complete at once and for all time.  Thank God for that because of the times, more often than we want to mention, even after we know the Jesus Christ as our Savior, there are outbreaks of sin in our lives.  We repent by saying the same thing that God says about our sin: that we have broken his law and done something he hates. God then says, “if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). He deals with the fruit of sin in the sense of forgiving us in God’s sight.

God says in Ezekiel I will not only cleanse you from your filthiness but from your idols.  God justifies us by faith in Christ by cleaning our filthiness as he sanctifies or purifies us by cleansing us from our idols. Sanctification is internal, inside the sinner and deals with and removes the pollution, contamination, defilement of sin, and is an uninterrupted process that takes place over a lifetime. Idols were images set up in the place of God.  But the idols in our lives are the images or thoughts, and emotions that lead to words and actions. Idols attempt to lead us away from God. The Bible says, “And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.” (Ps 106:36).  Idols are the devices of our enemy Satan who wants to catch and enslave us.  There is a lifelong idol bashing or iconoclasm going on in the Christian heart. God will give the genuinely saved person a hatred for sin and a love for God.  It is important that we take aim at our sin and fortify our faith against temptation, realizing the seduction to act out sin is ever-present.  God by his Spirit  deals with the root of sin exposing and eradicating the idols out of our hearts by the preaching and study of his Word and cooperating with his Spirit’s correction of our lives.  

The repentance I speak of is long after a sin has been committed and forgiven. It can be before or in memory of that sin and the desire never to go back to it.  It is brokenness over that sin. Too often Christian men and women confess their sins and then hope and wish the sinful desire and thoughts go away.  That is not genuine compunction for sin. We recognize that though we are Spirit led people we also have many “crooked ways” and “rough places”  that need to be straightened and smoothed out by the purifying work of the Spirit (Luke 3:5).  We are priests of the Lord (1 Pet. 2:9)  but we still need to be cleansed from presumptuous sins and secret faults (Ps 19:12-13) that lurk in the heart as latent evil.  God has not called us to live under the load of condemnation for sins that have been forgiven (Rom 8:1). He does not want us to beat our breasts asking for mercy already given and wallowing in guilt that has been washed away. Your sins are forgiven, dear brother and sister.  Trust in Christ and stand fast in his promises.  God says, “I will also save you from all your uncleannesses…that ye shall receive no more reproach.” (Ezek 36: 29-30).

The psalmist cries out, “O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!”  He was praying,   Oh that the steps of my life were settled and steady keeping to the course you set.  This is a prayer from the psalmist that expresses strong emotion.  Adam Clarke paraphrases it saying, “Without thee I can do nothing; my soul is unstable and fickle; and it will continue weak and uncertain till thou strengthen and establish it.” (Clarke).  When we see our need to obey God’s law, we cry out to him because in our own strength we cannot obey him. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. So God answers our prayer and he gives us but James speaks of! I love this verse, “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” (James 4:6; Prov. 3:34; Job 22:29; Isa. 57:15).  Oh his grace is yours dear child of God. In our weakness he is strong! He gives greater grace as we humble ourselves in prayer. 

One of the marks of the new birth prophesied in Ezekiel was that not only would we have a new supple heart and a spirit made alive and conscious of God, “Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.” (Ezek. 36:31). The Word washes out our idols, “the washing of water by the word” and when the Word exposes the root not just the fruit of sin we are broken and the washing of our weeping takes place as we repent of the hidden idol. “The tears that accompany repentance, conversion and inward renewal are linked both in the scriptures and in the later Christian spiritual tradition with the concept of penthos, “mourning” that purifies the soul… penthos in the New Testament is also mourning with tears; but it is a grief that leads to a determination to act or change.” (I. Hausherr, Penthos, the Doctrine of Compunction in the Christian East, Cistercian publ, 1982)

Isaac Watts the great hymn writer penned, “Physician of my sin-sick soul, to thee I bring my case; my raging.”  malady control, and heal me by thy grace. Pity the anguish I endure, see how I mourn and pine; for never can I hope a cure, from any hand but thine. I would disclose my whole complaint, but where shall I begin? No words of mine can fully paint that worst distemper, sin. It lies not in a single part, but through my frame is spread; a burning fever in my heart, a palsy in my head. It makes me deaf, and dumb, and blind, and impotent and lame; and overclouds, and fills my mind, with folly, fear, and shame.  A thousand evil thoughts intrude tumultuous in my breast; which indispose me for my food, and rob me of my rest. Lord I am sick, regard my cry, and set my spirit free; say, canst thou let a sinner die, who longs to live to thee?”

This is not the sorrow of the world that works death, but repentance that leads to life (2 Cor. 7:10).  Paul wrote that to saved people who had an idol of sin exposed in them.  Regret is not enough. Penance cannot earn anything with God.  You can cover “the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out” (Mal 2:14).   Esau “found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.” (Heb. 12;:7).  Even when someone dies we must not give into despair. We should not sorrow as those that have no hope (1 Thess 4:13) or weep with,  “the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter…” (Eccl. 4:1).  

God gives the gift of tears to you. Joy is mingled with sorrow! You may have many tears on your face, weeping in secret places, weeping in prayer on your bed at night, sometimes as you wake up. God allows trials and problems to expose the root of the idols that exploit us. You may eat the bread of tears and drink tears in great measure. But it is a blessed gift. Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. Like precious seed he has given you tears.  He that granted you the gift of repentance in salvation, has given you the gift of tears in a deeper compunction.  Like a storm of weeping that washes the earth of its filth,  the sun of grace shines causing a garden of grace to bloom! That healing of heart is the sweetest. The Lord is with you. He is on your side and in His mercy is driving out of your heart by His Spirit the devestating idols that rob your joy and your tears flood out the devices that bring sin and guilt and pain.

You feel hatred for your sin, and pure love for God, you desire to not only be forgiven but to know freedom from the cancer causing idol-agent in your heart. God says, “I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee.” (2 Kings 20:5).  You have washed the feet of Christ with these tears often in asking forgiveness, now the release from this root sin will be yours. Your sin will be sent away from your heart. He will comfort you. He will then save your eyes from tears because he keeps your from falling in this area of your life.  He will wipe away the tears from your face as he swallows up that deadly sinful idol  in victory. In your mourning you rejoice as sin is exposed and put out by the Holy Spirit.  “Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded..” (Jer 31:16). That is the precious collaboration of you and God in work of the heart and inner man who is so neglected, you will be rewarded by “the peaceable fruit of righteousness.”

Tales From the Furnace Part 1

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furnace“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy…for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you.” (1 Peter 4:12-14).

 

We are saved by God’s sovereign grace alone, through faith alone by Christ alone for God’s glory alone. But we will go through a process of sanctification and be comformed to his image. What I am attempting to say is not email, voice mail or snail mail it is heart mail. I only know that in order to change and change I must, that the furnace can not be side stepped. Only when you grow sick and tired of your self and you will, then you of your own free will enter the furnace. You will cry for purging of your sin nature rather than pardon for your sins. The children of Israel were told, “But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day. (Deut 4:20).

 

Those are ominous words at first reading. Peter tells those persecuted Christians thousands of years ago that trials are fiery. This verse can say easily, “Don’t be amazed by the burning!”  I am amazed that this could happen to me. My present suffering is agony on fire and a trial by fire. It burns. It injures. It hurts so badly. My tears are like the crackling of the flames. When I am dumb with silence I just feel the steady heat, I have a steady glow as all the moisture in me is turned into a drought (Psalm 32:4). I am dehydrated. I thirst! My soul is a dry and thirsty land where there is no water and I thirst for God (Psalm 63:1-3)! Of course it burns, scorching fire is involved. If by chance you hear or read these words and you are experiencing pain, you are not unspiritual, it does not mean you are carnal because you are in pain.

 

There is dignity in this time even when you feel all your self-respect has been stripped away. People will accuse you or worse counsel you during this time. This is a matter of intimacy. Man’s opinion or man pleasing is the heart of all lethal religion. Of the Pharisees who refused the fire of Christ’s words it says, “All their works they do for to be seen of men!” (Mt. 23:5). Do you and I feel absolved from this sort of criminal act? The Message version says, “Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next.” Man’s opinion of you must become fuel for the furnace or you will never benefit from this trial. You will be useless for the Master’s work. When you come to the realization of how many things you have done to be seen of men instead of God, it will break your heart!

 

You and I feel disfigured on the way to be transfigured. What you were, what you know does not matter at all in these flames. Self esteem and confidence-what are they in this furnace that incinerates all things?

 

A healthy view of self is not against scripture and impish false humility is loathsome to God but self hatred has its place as well. But everything is an issue to the flames including your identity and titles. Your history and good works are but dung if you would win Christ! (Phil 3:8). Nothing can douse the inferno. Man centered theology cannot help you. Don’t speak to me of psychology. Leave me and my Beloved alone. You cannot know. Only he can. What you and I know about God is tested and if it is worthless it is reduced to ashes as the fire licks at our mind and soul and removes it to where we have more questions than answers! 

 

If you are suffering, you are suffering like Christ did. To be like Jesus is the prayer of any child of God who has a sane understanding of what it is to be a Christian. I am stunned as I read that people “did not accept deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection!” (Heb 11:35). What kind of mindset is that compared to what we hear preached in the pop theology of the emergent, church growth cults of today?

 

But could you look at him in the face, touch his nail scarred hands, the wound that was from a lance thrust in his side and look down art his nail pierced feet never having endured suffering and trial? Is Jesus in his suffering so disfigured in your eyes that you do not see the beauty he has? Paul prayed for “the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings!” (Phil 3:10). The Murdock translation says, “That I might know Jesus, and the efficacy of his resurrection; and might participate in his sufferings, and be assimilated to his death.” The effectiveness of his resurrection life can only be appreciated when you are personally involved with a suffering for Christ and are absorbed into his death! Is this suffering Jesus someone you avoid? It is a fellowship and companionship. Those who associate with him do suffer. But we suffer with him that we might reign with him. (2 Tim 3:12).

 

As hard as it is to accept, a radiance and splendor of his presence is going to be seen in you like never before. You are being integrated into all that Jesus is, in this furnace. The spirit of glory and of God will rest on you.

 

This trial is familiar yet unique. It is a test. Why now? Either things were going so well, or things are bad enough! Now a test comes! It is not a pop quiz, it is like a pop SAT. Trials are not strange. It is not an accident. This is not THE trial with no obstacles afterward. There are many ordeals in this life (James 1:2-3). God says “Don’t be confused. It is on purpose. You must be tested and proven.”  God is not after you he is after something in you. Like a dangerous glaucoma of pride, or the cancer of bitterness, any soul damning desires that lurk like a cancer that pretends to be benign when it actually can turn terminal in an instant.

 

But no matter despite what Peter our brother in Christ wrote to us, my first reaction to life’s complications is that they are strange and I am confused. I have been here before but it is a different scene.

Shot Down By Christ!

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sword_spirit“Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the kings enemies whereby the people fall under thee.”  (Psalm 45:5).

Why does the Psalmist employ the metaphor of arrows and war?  It is because Christ is the ultimate conqueror!  Does that startle you about Jesus Christ?  How can he be the Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6) and at the same time be “a man of war” (Exodus 15:3). Christ “is Faithful and True and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.” (Rev. 19:11).  This is not war like we see in the world today. He does not use man made weapons, nor is he interested in real estate since he has a rightful claim to own all the earth (Ps. 24:1; Isaiah 66:1-2).  But he chooses on conquering the human heart and he uses spiritual arrows.

The scriptures use the picture of warfare because the bloodiest fighting  in all history was waged upon Mount Calvary where Jesus died for sinners (1 Tim. 1:15)!   The Bible says, “His “robe is dipped in blood and his name is the Word of God” (Rev. 19:13)! The living personified Word of God proclaims his sacrifice for sin, in the symbol of “his robe dipped in blood.” In war the enemies blood is spilled, but in this war Christ spilled his blood and became victor. The blood stained banner of the Cross is the flag of victory.  There is not a day that goes by where The Son of God whose  does not engage the human heart and mind to win it to himself and save them from destruction. No one comes to Christ easily! 

The Lord Jesus Christ fights in a sitting position (Ps. 110:1)  to save those inwtj_throne_ls_1 danger of losing their eternal souls  and he exacts justice upon those who stubbornly refuse to change (Isa. 42:13). In the time in which we live, Christ redemptively subdues the hearts of the men and women of this world. He will overthrow sin through the message of gospel. The Bible states that he waits expectantly until his foes become his footstool and his worst, his most hated enemy will be saved for the final coupe de grâce –death (1 Cor 15:25-26; Heb 10:13). 

The Bible says that these arrows “are sharp.“  They are not blunt but exact, precise and intentional. They are able to cut through the excuses of people by razor sharp grace and power.  Through the teaching of the scripture the Spirit of Christ shoots down the root issues of argumentation, twisted thinking and barriers to the truth of God. The minister of the gospel acts like a  “crossbow” preaching the cross of Christ and he  launches the message of the gospel out of the quiver (the case that holds arrows) of the scripture. 

How important it is that the preacher must have weight in his message and force in his words! He has an incredible arsenal at his disposal-in the word of truth, the scriptures. The pastor must be like Jonathan and shoot arrows that send a precise message (1 Sam 20:18-42)! When someone begins to understand the Cross they will be cut to the heart with its truth.

When a courageous man preaches the message of the cross it is a gospel arrow that is shot into the deepest part of a person as the only means to awaken and regenerate that dead soul. You will know when a man is preaching the scripture by its character and disposition. It is a two edged sword (Heb 4:12) and God asks,“Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?”   If it is not like that, it is not the Word! Look, the human heart is not a soft target. The heart is so hard before it comes to Christ it must be struck hard by a gospel hammer in order to be broken. The heart is so rigid it must be melted by fiery preaching.  The gospel is an act of compassionate aggression to fight for those who are “against themselves” and oppose their own spiritual welfare and salvation (2 Tim 2:25). Oh,  I pray that if you do not know Christ as Savior and Lord that the Spirit of God would slay the bondage of sin in your life by the power of his word!

christ1The problem with many preachers today is that they want to do not want to cause any pain in the hearts of people by the scalpel of the word so they medicate them with messages that numb their symptoms. Let us weep in prayer before God and ask his mercy that the Holy Spirit would not only operate in our church gatherings but perform operations on the hearts of those who hear the man behind the pulpit and the remove the malignant sin that has killed them and regenerate their souls that they might repent of sin and turn to God. “Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.” (Hosea 6:1NIV).

They are also shot “in the heart of the King’s enemies.”  Who are these targeted enemies?  People who do not know Christ are called the enemies of God and are hostile to God and prove it by their thinking and actions (Col 1:21).  The worldly mind hates God (Rom 8: 7). Christ loves these enemies, like Saul of Tarsus, who was rushing headlong to destruction (Acts 9),  he must stop them by Sovereign Grace and this involves the launching of these Divine arrows!  He shoots at close range and the arrow strikes with force that is point blank and they enter into the very core of the human being.  Sinner interrupted! He aims a spined arrow that cannot be easily removed! Oh how people need to be convicted of sin, struck through with the sharp arrow of the accurate gospel as Charles Spurgeon says, “Whether for love or vengeance, Christ never misses aim, and cause{s}… a wound which only he can heal.” 

“Whereby the people fall under thee.“   Christ causes people to fall. His message brings fallout. There are those, how sad, of whom the Bible says, that Christ is “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.” (1 Pet. 2:8).  Oh, how fearful it is to fall into the hands of the living God! And there are those who will fall in line with Christ, who will be enlisted by his call to follow him as disciples of Christ.

But Christ’s arrows will cause people to fall. He is Lord of heaven and earth and how ominous are his words in the Gospel of Luke, “Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.” (Luke 20:18). Those who come must be broken of all their ideas, all their rebellion, they must be regenerated and given new life and God will be near to them as they repent and are contrite in spirit. But others will have the stone fall upon them and will be crushed! Oh I am sorry for you if you do not repent of your sins! Christ can by no means clear the clear the guilt of those who refuse to embrace Him as Lord of everything! They will be crushed to dust and blown away by the wind like stubble! Eternity is a moment away, will you not turn to Christ for salvation?  Is the arrow he has launched into you, stinging with pain enough to make you turn to him for healing?

cornerstone02 Christ comes into the human heart and exposes the real enemy: sin and then he shoots at it by the message of the cross! The arrow causes the human soul to seek the forgiveness and deliverance of Christ from a life dominated by sin as if it were a lethal disease that he needs to be cured from.  They must go to Jesus by whose wounds they can be healed (Isa. 53:5).

“For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.” (Isaiah 66:16).  There is the fire of God for condemnation and the fire of the Spirit for sanctification. There is a sword that brings salvation and there is a sword that brings damnation. No matter, in the end God will get the glory! Either your old life will be slain and you will be given a new life or you will be slain in the “second death” of the Lake of fire! Christ never misses those he aims at whether for salvation or damnation.

The message of the cross of Christ is the most sharp instrument that demonstrates the love and justice of God (Rom. 3:25-26; 5:10).  When Christ and his accomplishments are lifted up he draws with irresistible grace all those he effectually calls!  Obviously, it is threatening when we see Christ shooting at people!  It may be seen by some in an negative light because Christ shoots in justice against sin, but if we understand it  in terms of God bringing back to life the human spirit and saving their soul from eternal hell it is good news!  Whether people seem near to coming to Christ or far from God as they can it does not matter! Be encouraged and warned! No one is out of his range and you are never far from his reaching, saving hand! But sin no more unless a worse thing comes upon you and you fall unable to recover.