. …How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. Hebrew 2: 3-4
The Christian message rises and falls on witnesses, it is not based on blind faith but on evidential faith. The evidence is what the New Testament writers ask us to place our faith in. They say they saw Jesus alive and testify to that truth. The Passover when Christ was crucified to Pentecost when the disciples preached the first sermon about the resurrection are only fifty days apart. When Christ died the disciples scattered. They ran away. They were defeated rejected and believed that they had wasted three years of their lives. They thought he was the Messiah, the Son of God, but his death to them meant that they got it wrong. The Kingdom of Israel was not going to be established. They were going to return to their old businesses and pervious way of life. One disciple said it this way. “I go fishing”
Then it all changed. Some intervening event changed their lives and their faith. Their own report on why they became so bold after being so scared was that they saw Jesus alive. Most of the New Testament and, all of the Gospels, are written to confirm this eye witness. The Hebrew passage above talks about hearing. The Apostle John adds “which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it.” It is possible to not believe their testimony, however, they claim to have one and they invite you to challenge it.
There is a second witness in the New Testament that should continue until this day. It is the testimony of signs and wonders. A sign and a wonder is a deed done by God, through the faith of men, that is observable, but not necessary repeatable. A healing is the clearest example, but there are others, words of knowledge, prophetic insight to future events, and sometimes natural phenomena that are associated with pray, rebuking a storm for example.
Understanding the value of the first testimony comes through the study of the Bible. If you read the book you will know that the writers are trying to convince you that Jesus the Messiah has been raised from the dead. That truth is clear and irrefutable. The writers of the New Testament believed Jesus resurrected. You may not believe what they are saying but you cannot reasonably argue that they did not believe it. Most died awful deaths because they believed it.
Understanding the value of the second testimony is not only believing that the disciples could perform signs and wonders but that you can as well through, prayer, fasting and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
Many ignore “so great a salvation” because as Christians we are not bold with our belief with either of the two witnesses. We don’t live like we believe the Bible and we do not pray like we believe in the power of the Holy Spirit.
“We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” Hebrew 2:1. I would challenge you today to pay more attention to the Bible. It has supplied men with truth for nearly 4,000 years. Maybe it can help you too. Look closely at life, there are signs and wonders happening every day. There are prayers you have prayed that have been answered supernaturally but you have not had eyes to see or ears to hear the spirit. Pray that your eyes would be open. One Bible personality that calls on the Lord to heal his child says words that we may need to imitate. “Lord I believe, help me with my unbelief.”
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Friday, October 28, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
The Perfect Substitute
For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8: 2-4
One of the best theological discussions I ever had was in a temporary employment agency I worked for in the late 90’s. There was a young woman there and we were discussing the perfect standards of God and our need for a substitute to bear the burden and pain of our sin. I will never forget what she said to me, “of course I need help to meet the standards of God, I can’t even meet my own moral standards.” We Romans 8 speaks about the ‘weakness of the flesh’ that is its reference point. I don’t do the things I want to do and I do the things that I don’t want to do.
That is bad news, but I am a preacher of good news and the good news is that I have a substitute. This is a simple message but it seems to be lost in the midst of our efforts to build his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. The Substitution is multifold for me.
It is at once a singular event and an ongoing reality. The Russian and Greek Orthodox Christians frame this thought as follows. “I am saved, I am being saved and I will be saved.” What they mean is this. When I came to believe that Jesus of Nazareth was God’s only Son sent into the world as God in flesh, to live and die for me I was saved. It also means that as I live my life I live it through Jesus who substitutes my sin and failure with his righteousness and empowers me live a life in the spirit and not the flesh. It means that when I stand before the judgment seat of God. Jesus stands in my place and says. “The law perfectly fulfilled in him because my blood covered all of his sins.
I pray that you are not to admit that you need a substitute, I pray that you will have the common sense understand of the young woman I described who knew that she could not keep the dictates of her own conscience never mind the righteous requirements of the law. I pray that you will be saved in a moment in time, like a new birth, I pray that you will be saved like gold going through the fire, sanctified and made pure. I pray that you will stand before the judgment seat of Christ with dirty hands and a dirty heart but with a substitute that makes you pure and clean and worthy of heaven because of the work of Jesus. God as man before man, and man before God as God would be for you what you could never be yourself;
One of the best theological discussions I ever had was in a temporary employment agency I worked for in the late 90’s. There was a young woman there and we were discussing the perfect standards of God and our need for a substitute to bear the burden and pain of our sin. I will never forget what she said to me, “of course I need help to meet the standards of God, I can’t even meet my own moral standards.” We Romans 8 speaks about the ‘weakness of the flesh’ that is its reference point. I don’t do the things I want to do and I do the things that I don’t want to do.
That is bad news, but I am a preacher of good news and the good news is that I have a substitute. This is a simple message but it seems to be lost in the midst of our efforts to build his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. The Substitution is multifold for me.
It is at once a singular event and an ongoing reality. The Russian and Greek Orthodox Christians frame this thought as follows. “I am saved, I am being saved and I will be saved.” What they mean is this. When I came to believe that Jesus of Nazareth was God’s only Son sent into the world as God in flesh, to live and die for me I was saved. It also means that as I live my life I live it through Jesus who substitutes my sin and failure with his righteousness and empowers me live a life in the spirit and not the flesh. It means that when I stand before the judgment seat of God. Jesus stands in my place and says. “The law perfectly fulfilled in him because my blood covered all of his sins.
I pray that you are not to admit that you need a substitute, I pray that you will have the common sense understand of the young woman I described who knew that she could not keep the dictates of her own conscience never mind the righteous requirements of the law. I pray that you will be saved in a moment in time, like a new birth, I pray that you will be saved like gold going through the fire, sanctified and made pure. I pray that you will stand before the judgment seat of Christ with dirty hands and a dirty heart but with a substitute that makes you pure and clean and worthy of heaven because of the work of Jesus. God as man before man, and man before God as God would be for you what you could never be yourself;
Friday, October 14, 2011
Sheep and Doves
‘for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light’ Luke 16:8
How is the church to deal with the world? There are as many answers to this question as there are churches, but what do the scriptures say, Matthew 10:16 “tell us that we are to be wise as serpents and as gentle as doves’ in the context of living in the world. “I am sending you out as sheep among wolves,” Jesus says. One does not have to be a prophet to know that wolves eat sheep, and serpents enjoy the eggs of gentle birds. Yet the body of Christ continues to prosper and grow. It is not because we are smart or creative nor do we have the right strategy and personnel. None of these things matter. On this truth we need to build our faith, “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, is what Jesus said to Peter
The world is wise, truly, knowledge has been poured out. The world is strong and has indeed built weapons of mass destruction. However spiritual things are spiritually discerned. “Brothers and sisters, consider what you were when God called you to be Christians. Not many of you were wise from a human point of view. You were not in powerful positions or in the upper social classes… As a result, no one can brag in God's presence. You are partners with Christ Jesus because of God. Jesus has become our wisdom sent from God, our righteousness, our holiness, and our ransom from sin. As Scripture says, "Whoever brags must brag about what the Lord has done." God may make you wise and strong and knowledgeable. He may make you influential and give you a place in the highest seats of power, but if you forget your source it will me nothing.
Abraham, Mosses, Joseph, Daniel and many other men and women in the scriptures grew in wisdom knowledge and power, but they never forgot who they were when God called them out of darkness and into his marvelous light. This day remember who you are in Christ Jesus and give him the glory for who he has made you to be. and you might just find yourself building the Church with Jesus and looking wiser than the world at the same time.
How is the church to deal with the world? There are as many answers to this question as there are churches, but what do the scriptures say, Matthew 10:16 “tell us that we are to be wise as serpents and as gentle as doves’ in the context of living in the world. “I am sending you out as sheep among wolves,” Jesus says. One does not have to be a prophet to know that wolves eat sheep, and serpents enjoy the eggs of gentle birds. Yet the body of Christ continues to prosper and grow. It is not because we are smart or creative nor do we have the right strategy and personnel. None of these things matter. On this truth we need to build our faith, “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, is what Jesus said to Peter
The world is wise, truly, knowledge has been poured out. The world is strong and has indeed built weapons of mass destruction. However spiritual things are spiritually discerned. “Brothers and sisters, consider what you were when God called you to be Christians. Not many of you were wise from a human point of view. You were not in powerful positions or in the upper social classes… As a result, no one can brag in God's presence. You are partners with Christ Jesus because of God. Jesus has become our wisdom sent from God, our righteousness, our holiness, and our ransom from sin. As Scripture says, "Whoever brags must brag about what the Lord has done." God may make you wise and strong and knowledgeable. He may make you influential and give you a place in the highest seats of power, but if you forget your source it will me nothing.
Abraham, Mosses, Joseph, Daniel and many other men and women in the scriptures grew in wisdom knowledge and power, but they never forgot who they were when God called them out of darkness and into his marvelous light. This day remember who you are in Christ Jesus and give him the glory for who he has made you to be. and you might just find yourself building the Church with Jesus and looking wiser than the world at the same time.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
The Perfect Place… Exile!
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
The above scripture has become in recent years an oft quoted one. It evokes in the mind a well pleased father who is about to give great gifts to his children. What many do not realized is that this scripture is spoken to Israel in the midst of exile and Godly disciple. The nation was in captivity. They are away from their land, their temple, and you would think that they were away from their God, but they were not!
God like any good father desires to bless his children. He does so prudently and in deliberate and planed manner. He does not share this plan nor does he commit to its immediate fulfillment but it is sufficient to encourage in the present and provides a vision for the future. That vision is often reinforced by the delay of our gratification.
Each of the Lord’s temptations was designed for him to grab something immediately that was to be manifested in his future. He was challenged to turn a stone into bread when his first miracle was to turn water into wine. A manipulation was attempted for him to accept worship from the kingdoms of the world when ultimately every knee would bow and every tongue would confess him as Lord. He was tempted to believe that Angels were far off and needed to be called on when they were observing him at that moment and prepared to minister to him.
Matthew 6:34 encourages us to have a much shorter view of our lives. “So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today.” This scripture is not written so that we can be slothful but in order that like Jesus, we should live beyond our immediate circumstances. They preceding verse reads “but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you”. That kingdom is perfectly present no matter where you are. If you are in exile you have a hope and a future, if you are at the temple and in the place of worship you are there with the Lord. In reward or in punishment the Lord’s motives are consistent, to give you hope and a future.
Our hopes can be lost in the cares of this world, live life with the knowledge that you are blessed no matter where you are and you will feel and know the hope and future that is already planned for you by the Lord.
The above scripture has become in recent years an oft quoted one. It evokes in the mind a well pleased father who is about to give great gifts to his children. What many do not realized is that this scripture is spoken to Israel in the midst of exile and Godly disciple. The nation was in captivity. They are away from their land, their temple, and you would think that they were away from their God, but they were not!
God like any good father desires to bless his children. He does so prudently and in deliberate and planed manner. He does not share this plan nor does he commit to its immediate fulfillment but it is sufficient to encourage in the present and provides a vision for the future. That vision is often reinforced by the delay of our gratification.
Each of the Lord’s temptations was designed for him to grab something immediately that was to be manifested in his future. He was challenged to turn a stone into bread when his first miracle was to turn water into wine. A manipulation was attempted for him to accept worship from the kingdoms of the world when ultimately every knee would bow and every tongue would confess him as Lord. He was tempted to believe that Angels were far off and needed to be called on when they were observing him at that moment and prepared to minister to him.
Matthew 6:34 encourages us to have a much shorter view of our lives. “So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today.” This scripture is not written so that we can be slothful but in order that like Jesus, we should live beyond our immediate circumstances. They preceding verse reads “but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you”. That kingdom is perfectly present no matter where you are. If you are in exile you have a hope and a future, if you are at the temple and in the place of worship you are there with the Lord. In reward or in punishment the Lord’s motives are consistent, to give you hope and a future.
Our hopes can be lost in the cares of this world, live life with the knowledge that you are blessed no matter where you are and you will feel and know the hope and future that is already planned for you by the Lord.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Perfect Place Meetings
Where ever you are today, however life is for you at this moment. You are in the perfect place. If you are exceeding prosperous and healthy you are in the perfect place. If you are poor and sick and broken you are in the perfect place. You are in the perfect place because because it is exactly where you are that God wants to meet you. When Cain made an unacceptable sacrifice, he simply had to do it again. Many of us have got discouraged because we did it wrong and we are frustrated with ourselves. Just do it again. We had a saying in the 2nd Battery 28th field artillery, “a mistake is not a mistake until you refuse to correct it.”
Gates of Praise Ministries has believed that we were to do special meetings for the Body of Christ for many years. We have done some but not nearly as many as we should have so we are going to fix that mistake. God presence in this meetings has always been very strong. We want to invite you to a series of Perfect Place Meetings. These will be held throughout South East New England. The locations we be humble but the anointing will be strong. You will be hearing from gifted preachers, prophets, and those that move supernaturally through a deep and personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
The scriptures say that through Christ we all live and move and have are being. Live again my friend, repair the wall, restore the relationship, admit that you are where God has put you and look up because your redemption is drawing near.
Join us as we enjoy the Perfect Place anointing on our lives.
Gates of Praise Ministries has believed that we were to do special meetings for the Body of Christ for many years. We have done some but not nearly as many as we should have so we are going to fix that mistake. God presence in this meetings has always been very strong. We want to invite you to a series of Perfect Place Meetings. These will be held throughout South East New England. The locations we be humble but the anointing will be strong. You will be hearing from gifted preachers, prophets, and those that move supernaturally through a deep and personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
The scriptures say that through Christ we all live and move and have are being. Live again my friend, repair the wall, restore the relationship, admit that you are where God has put you and look up because your redemption is drawing near.
Join us as we enjoy the Perfect Place anointing on our lives.
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