Message in a Bottle

By Rick Mathes

Acts 3:19 (NIV) 

¹⁹ Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.

Every so often you read in the news that a bottle from a long ago and distant land washes up on the shore with a long awaited message to a loved one that came ages too late. Such is the case in many American pulpits.

No message that eliminates repentance can properly be called the Gospel for sinners cannot come to Jesus Christ apart from a radical change of heart as a consequence of submission to His lordship. It erases the moral significance of repenting then believing when the sermon comes from the dark side.

Repent + Believe = Obey

There are those who pretend to be obedient but are actually rebels and others begin as rebels and then repent. If only we could put on our “magic glasses” in church and tell them apart. It would make preaching so much easier.

Unfortunately we don’t have the spiritual insight nor knowledge to judge whether someone is saved or not. This is the employment of the Holy Spirit and His gift of all knowledge, power and presence. We are just called to be obedient, vomit sin and pursue holiness with all that is within us.

Those hands which were fixed to the Cross by cruel nails could have hurled thunderbolts of lightening at those wallowing in unbelief. Those with unfaithful and wandering spirits live next door to the sinning spirits. Knees buckle, faith falls, trust evaporates and the painful crucifixion begins anew as sin slashes its whip on the Lord’s back one bite at a time. The crown’s thorns dig deeply into His scalp and twist throbbing pain once again, and the sword pierces His heart again and again and again when you sin against His pure countenance, integrity and character.

Arise Holy Spirit! Be counted among the defenders of forgiveness through the atoning blood of the innocent Lamb of God. Let the full force of His love demolish the strongholds of the evil one and restore to us the sound mind of Christ in these times of chaos and insanity.

Examine yourself:

• Will you believe that Jesus died for you?
• Do you hate sin?
• Do you feel that you are lost and ruined?
• Are you really seeking after Jesus?

Then open the message in the bottle. It’s been following you through the rivers of time and has finally caught up with you and made itself obvious. Open it and live!

*******

I will never forget the time our children came home from vacation Bible School with a poster they made that had a ring of thorns pasted on it. The poster stated with cut out words, “Crown Him Lord of All!”    Their eyes filled with tears thinking that Jesus shed his blood for their sin and the sins of the world if we can answer “yes” to the above questions.  The message in the bottle may be coming to you now and you will experience that time of refreshing no matter what is going on in your life.