Month: February 2016

AN EXAMINATON

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AN EXAMINATION

By Rick Mathes

1 Corinthians 11:28 (NASB77) 28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

No one enjoys the “final exam.” There’s something foreboding and nerve wracking about it and my hands are perspiring already! This is, however, what our Lord commands us to do before we share in the communion of the saints. We shouldn’t be afraid to test our faith and beliefs is we are secure in Him. The adage, “Birds of a feather flock together,” is so true.

So start your self-examination by looking around you and see if those you keep company with respect the Jews ou have come to respect in bread and wine. Are you one of them? When others see you will they label you by the company you keep? Remember that you can’t hang out with dirty people and not get some dirt on you.

If I followed you around day in and day out for a week would I collect enough information to convict you of being a Christian? I an speak for me that my habits changed drastically when I made Jesus my Lord. You won’t find me anywhere near blatant sinners if I can help it. I have a brand new regimen of activities. I only continue in those that please the Lord and magnify His name.

Once Satan has your thoughts for even a moment He advances to conquer your mind. I have even had evil thoughts in the midst of my praying. That scoundrel is so low life he has no respect for any thought but that which is evil and offends our Lord Jesus Christ.

Looking closer you will notice that my affections have done a real one-eighty. My heart beats with His and I love what He loves. I’m under new management now and my love of life has changed from temporal to eternal.

Certainly not last nor least but yet most important is for you to examine your motives. What are your underlying and ulterior motives? Underlying motives are on the table for all to see and ulterior motives are under the table, out of sight. If you are honest with yourself, you have both and for your best interests you need to be very aware of them and pray that both would be pleasing to Him. Take a private exam and let Jesus grade it, not hu.

AN ANGEL SPOKE

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AN ANGEL SPOKE

By Rick Mathes

Acts 6:15 (NASB77) 15  And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an angel.

Stephen was one of our first deacons. He was an honorable disciple of Christ that had no problem letting his fellow Jews know that their sins killed the long awaited Savior. The more popular he got the time of his execution drew closer. In those days the church was primitive and fresh from the personal fellowship of Jesus. Our Lord was very real to them and they expected He would return at any moment. So in the faith of certain martyrdom, this brave young man preached his own funeral sermon with vitality and truth. It was a model message for all the ministers to follow would admire and meditate on.

To keep listeners close attention, the speaker should be courteous and appropriate to the circumstances. Cracking jokes at a somber funeral would be quite out of place.

The audience deserves a certain respect for having went through all the inconveniences associated with them all assembling to be uplifted and edified by the message and music. In our economy, sad to say, most attend church with a “score card” they fill out to rate the service and decide if returning is worth all they went through to attend.

For a discerning member the sermon is the main focus of the whole worship service. It’s only logical to expect a clear brief and Christ-centered Word from the Lord.

We don’t go to church; we are church that takes time to assemble together in our chosen House of Worship. I’m burnt out on “Kentucky Fried Christianity” and I have a personal mission to point all who will listen to the early church that denounced sin and lifted up the Body of Christ in their pursuit of holiness.

All the onlookers needed to hear and see for a powerful sermon could be found in Stephen’s last words and actions. He preached that Jesus rose to glory with his last breath on holy ground and Oh, Lord I pray I go home the same way!

AMBIENCE

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AMBIENCE

By Rick Mathes

Acts 28:2 the natives showed us extraordinary kindness; for because of the rain that had set in and because of the cold, they kindled a fire and received us all.

There is a special comfort in building a campfire to gather around in Christian fellowship. The chill of the winter air is so refreshing but the crackling flames, songs that fill the air and wholesome laughter transform both body and soul. Such is the emanation from Holy Spirit from the pages of God’s love letter to us. The Bible brings an enlightenment that awakens a love within that only His cross could provide. It embraces our body, mind and soul in a rush of His resurrection and the enablement of the Holy Spirit to step forward as an ambassador of the King, in peace.

Prayer is that special ability to bridge the gap from the created to the Creator: this is a privilege for believers only. In private, we can dialog with Jesus our deepest secrets and fear without restraint. It’s a social intercourse that words sometimes cannot capture. The Holy Spirit intercedes, the Lord brings our praise or petition to the Father and He nods His approval. Think of what can be accomplished in our church society if we would all point our swords in the same direction: that’s when the warming assurance and comfort comes up on the Body of Christ.

We then lift our spiritual ears to the heavens and have that special communion and fellowship with Jesus. Meditation is the lesson we receive from Him often prompted by our prayers. For a seeking sinner or forgiven saint, it’s a big bear-hug from our best friend, Jesus. If you are astute and have your spiritual antennae up you feel that in the fellowship of like believers. The Body of Christ, the church, the visible and invisible engulf our very being when this experience occurs with a repentant heart.

The fellowships of Christians help us to return to our first love, to worship and enjoy our Savior and Lord. The Holy Spirit invites us to join Him in the friendship and love of fellow believers. This is a fulfillment of returning to our first nature of actually being love in His Shekinah light: perfecting once again an ambience that only a submission to Him can provide in holiness.

AM I?

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AM I?

By Rick Mathes

1 Corinthians 11:28 (NASB77) 28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

The actual words of God say, “A man ought to examine himself.” When God speaks, we listen! So, let’s have a go at it. As I quiz myself why don’t you join me and do the same?

Let’s start with the foundation of all sin. Am I self-sufficient? I remember like yesterday how exasperated my wife would become as I paraded through our house singing, “I did it my way!” It’s enough to make you gag. But that’s how it was until I made Him my Lord. Now I’m in the process of exchanging all I am into all He is. I’m becoming lesser so that He can become greater. The question now is, “Do people get to know Him when they get to know you?”

Am I self-serving or self-sacrificing?” As I exchange all I am for all He is, we exchange places. He becomes the hand and I become the glove. This way He can go about His business for the Father in my skin; to be effective though, ghere needs to be an “ouch” to give it value. When you reach beyond your grasp it is painful but that’s where He begins: when there is no pain there is no gain.

How deep is your love? The Bible is deep enough to drown an elephant but shallow enough for a baby to splash in. Am I still a baby? Do I still impress non-believes with Romans 10:9 and Psalm 23? Maybe it’s time to jumpinto the deep end of the pool. What do you think?

How about “spiritual constipation;” are you all bound up in the law? Are you driven by grace or works? I have learned the hard way that I can’t do enough to “wash away my sins.” There is always a residue and more filth and decay on the way. You can’t walk through a coal mineof laws in a white suit without getting dirty from violations.

God is in the process of rebuilding our form and life-style but not hyper-sensitive because perfection in this lietie is not possible. We can be too hard on ourselves and not get a real sense of “Who I am?”

 

ALL TOGETHER

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ALL TOGETHER

By Rick Mathes

Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

Peter stood with a sword to fight an army to protect his friend Jesus only to collapse in curses because of a servant girl’s accusations and then dropping to his knees when the Lord forgave him. As he was volatile and bore his strengths and weaknesses, so do we in our everyday lives.

Unbelievers look in and see with natural eyes and marvel that even though we have many denominations, we have one Lord, one faith, one Bible and we are in one accord in the same baptism. Our unity as a family, as brothers and sisters in Christ is baffling to those without any objective truth.

The vocabulary of Christians has been twisted and distorted by the devil so completely that we, believers and unbelievers can use the same words while having two different understandings of each other. This has caused the majority of onlookers and seekers to despair and revert to relativity: this is what I believe. With all our outward appearance of dispersion, the Body of Christ undamaged, fully armored and battle ready. When the right moment in his-story arrives, rest assured our swords will all be pointed in the same direction; at the demons.

So many doubt that we are one body and in one place: holy ground. We have always been scattered throughout the nations of the world. We have only one flag and an allegiance to the only King, Jesus. No country has any grip on us more powerful than God’s hold. There is this beautiful blue pearl hanging on nothingness that is our temporary home untiiil He makes it new again.

Sadly, to our shame, some mock us and we often deserve the ridicule. Slowly but surely the demons have slipped into our tent and have made laughing stocks out  of us on their wide-screen IMAX theatre in Hell. While we have been re-arranging the deck chairs the ship has continued to go down. They don’t understand that we have been filled to the brim with the same Holy Spirit into one filling: one baptism.

Now the evidence of this radical conversion is that we are all together and repenting of our sins. This is repulsive to the lost. We have been baptized into the oneness of the Triune Godhead: one God-Jesus. And as I write this, you and I are receiving to this moment the teaching and illumination that all believers are blessed with together in unity of being all together.

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AGAINST GOD

By Rick Mathes

Acts 5:39 (NASB77) 39  but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.”

No matter what your denomination or form of church government may be, we all have a commonality as evangelical Protestants that the liberals and catholic heretics just cannot quench no matter h0w hard they try. I would like to name a few and expand on them a bit.

Take up your Cross: True sermons include somewhere in the message repent, submit or obey. All others are largely ear-tickling stories, pontification, or catchy illustrations designed to have you return next Sunday. Evangelical services hammer on the soul to pursue holiness.

I know what is from Satan; don’t pray right now. The devil doesn’t want you to do the very thing God created for you: to pray to Him. He loves prayer.

Division divides! How can the Body of Christ function if its body parts are scattered about or in conflict with each other? I’m not really fond of my big toe. It’s really ugley and usually smells but when I stub it, my whole body says ouch! WE must be in one accord: this is from God.

When others have the cancer and you have the cure, you shout it from the roof-tops. And when you know the Savior and His salvation, you become a soul-winner. It’s the natural thing to do.

This will drive ou to the Scriptures to study the Word. When I first became a Christian the Bible was a big book with a small, simple message. Now several generations later it is a small book with more big messages than I could ever preach in many lifetimes.

Preach only to the willing and you will have learned a responsible message from God: don’t cat your pearls to the swine. Go only where you are invied and the doors will open for you to eshort and encourage the children of the promise

Remember, Jesus said, “Whatever you have done these my brothers, even the least of them, ou have done it to me!” This is real heavy dude, heavy! Rebuke and correct the saints and the lessons will fall back on hou just when you need them. But if you look into the eyes of God and spit in the wind, you know what will happen.

AFFLICTION

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AFFLICTION

By Rick Mathes

Romans 12:12 (NASB77) 12   rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,

Sir John Powell: By affliction, God is spoiling us of what otherwise might have spoiled us. When He makes the world too hot for us to hold, we let go.

Jesus doesn’t’ tempt, He tests. It is good for us to learn the pressure points of backsliding so that we can see Satan’s punch coming if our Lord’s permissive will. Satan cannot lay a finger on us without our Lord’s permission and empowerment. Think about this

Sin of course is the final nail in the coffin that couldn’t hold our Redeemer in the tomb. It wears many masks to entice us with its counterfeit pleasures. The devil’s method-of-operation (M.O.) hasn’t changed. First your eyes linger, then your flesh tastes and then your pride holds you captive.

Backsliding is a lapse of spiritual weight-lifting. When you stop pedaling a bike uphill, what happens? You roll back. So when your tongue gets out of control, when resentments rear their ugly heads or pride and self-importance overcomes you, get into the Word!

Some will complain that their environment crafted them to be the creatures of sin that they have become. They claim that they were born into sinful circumstances and to a large extent, this could be true.

Mistreatment, a heart, idolatry, and hypocrisy, wait on every corner to collar you and take you captive in the chains of hell and the home to the fallen angels. Lucifer is there, always there, to welcome you with open, flaming arms.

Matthew Henry: Outward afflictions, wants and burdens are the great arguments Satan uses to make people of God question their Sonship as if afflictions, could not consist with, when they proceed from God’s fatherly love.

No pain, no gain is as true here as it is anywhere. We are to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Consider that there wouldn’t be a shadow if there wasn’t a light in front of us to follow It came to pass….

ABSORBED

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ABSORBED

By Rick Mathes

Ephesians 3:19 (NASB77) 19  and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

I am an evangelical Baptist, conservative, Calvinist, fundamental no nonsense ordained minister. Whew! I am not dazzled by others claims of celestial fireworks, the raising of thousands of the dead in Africa and testimonies of those who died and then went bowled a line or two with Jesus. However, I did have a theophany personally that made a profound change in my attitude toward death.

I was in my bedroom praying at night and repenting of sins back to the day I was born whn my invisible body burst from the darkness into an expanse of sky blue. I knew my body was there but I couldn’t see it. All of a sudden love encompassed me like being under water except it was love. Then like a sponge, I soaked in all that love and I became love. What an unbelievable rush

I believe Jesus gave me a taste of heaven.

Now let’s get back down to earth with you and ask, “What can you hold of the Holy Spirit?” Do you have the will and capacity to soak up love into not just your heart and body but completely including your soul? What would you think then of being filled with the Holy Spirit?

Let me put in the best words I can. Father God is the lover, the Son is the loved and the Holy Spirit is the love between them. It really is because I personally experienced this infilling of the Holy Spirit that I understand this on a new level.

Can you even imagine the works of God you could accomplish if this happened to you? I have now continued in Him by turning lives from crime to Christ for over 30 years. What would happen to you? God only knows!

What is the fullness of the Holy Spirit? How much Holy Spirit is there and how much room do you have for Him in your life? And what would happen if you received all the fullness of God? Wow!

When you were drinking and drugging to the max you weren’t afraid to die so why are you afraid to mainline Jesus and live? Try it you will like it and life will never be the same again.

ABLE NOT TO SIN

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ABLE NOT TO SIN

By Rick Mathes

Romans 6:22 (NASB77) 22  But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

Was Jesus able to sin? Yes, He was able to sin in the flesh as we all are but in His Spirit, He was able not to sin. This same thing happens to you when you receive the Holy Spirit in your baptism: you are able not to sin. We move from captivity to freedom and salvation by being set free. When He stepped out of the tomb, death stepped out of the sting. We are eternal now and will never see death, only life in His presence now and until He calls us home.

This transaction of imputing sin on Him and righteousness on us infuriates the devil and when He discovers you were baptized he assigns a legion of demons to terrorize you with doubt and fear: the keys to hell.

Sin however keeps out of your path as darkness flees from light as you walk “in Him.” Your commitment to body, mind and soul is certainly noteworthy but probably the hardest promise you have ever had to keep. It’s worth the payout: set free.

If you don’t, your mind and heart will collapse into your soul. Your temple will be condemned when the lights go out. Your joy, comfort and contentment will evaporate in the smoke and sulfur of that caldron of liquid flames called hell.

Your family is first to suffer if you abandon His calling and get caught up in the devil’s entrapments. Your first love will be yourself and your stubborn attachment to sin will eventually splinter your family into divorce and estrangement. This demolished family unit, the nation’s building block will begin a coast to coast demolition of Judeo-Christian values and a disregard for the precepts of our constitution.

The ripple effect of a national meltdown has world consequences that apart from the grace of God are irreversible. The cost of all this destruction is not worth letting Satan get his nose in your tent when you have been set free. It only takes a single match to light a universe. Is that you?

 

A SPECIAL BAPTISM

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A SPECIAL BAPTISM

By Rick Mathes

Luke 3:21 (NASB77) 21 Now it came about when all the people were baptized, that Jesus also was baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened,

Let’s join for a moment and take in the wonder of why our Savior would willingly experience the outward manifestation of baptism by immersion. Jesus was sinless, so what was the significance of this unique event?

First of all it was to equip, anoint and strengthen the manhood He has clothed Himself with and secondly to demonstrate obedience, humility and prayer to all generations that would follow.

What an astounding set of circumstances that clearly brought together the visible and audible Trinity of the gospels. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit all sharing truth in a single verse. How blessed is the Word of God to us as it shares this precious and golden moment, never to repeat itself in the infinity of time.

What a wonderful seal of approval for our God-man to launch His ministry of salvation and begin His death walk to the Cross, one firm step following another. From this point forward, He never looked back. Oh, how I wish we could do the same and not ever be ashamed Him with our doubts and fears. Just to put on the armor of God, lift up the sword of the Word and firmly place my feet on holy ground is my fervent prayer!

The dove quietly settled in peacefulness, not known to mankind until that moment. The gentleness of the flight, the landing and the harmlessness of the message of affirmation: the Holy Spirit had arrived to anoint Christ the man for the timeless message of the ancients who spoke of Him in times past.

The voice rang out to a startled universe of angels and every devil shook in mortal terror. God became man on a mission that only the Triune god could ever accomplish. In an eye-blink, salvation arrived with healing and deliverance in the wings of a dove. The provision of love for His elect and eternal doom to those who would reject and murder His Son as your sin does to this very moment.

Submit to the reality that you are owned by the Father, saved by the Son and anointed by the Holy Spirit and you too will have that once in a lifetime special baptism a was demonstrated by our Lord Himself. A moment that will change a lifetime of eternities if only you will accept and savor the fullness of the Trinity of which you were made in Their likeness: body, spirit and soul.