Tag: aftercare

CAUSE OF PAIN

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CAUSE OF PAIN

By Rick Mathes

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

Sin obviously is the culprit. The wages of sin is a “painful” death. It hurts you to hurt Jesus. When you offend God you have put your trust of protection into yourself which is the same as the flesh or in the devil. When your sin turns your back on Jesus, you become a Satanist because sin is proof that the devil is your lord. You are on a “highway to hell” and the only way to turn back is to stop your backsliding immediately.

The subtlety of sin can begin it’s poisonous attack with your tongue and the words that flow from that sewer you call your heart. The foulness of hat you say falls back on you in the form of resentments. You can even resent yourself and the verbal vomit that flows from the belly of the beast you have created and feed with pride.

It makes my eyes cross to try to make sense out of the dichotomy of comedy and tragedy those battles within your battered soul. That pride will put up all impenetrable wall, a Masada or impenitence. Bold faced, in your face, two-faced sin is the womb you were born in. From your first breath came forth a cry of anguish that represents the doubt and fear you wake up to every moment you torture yourself without our Lord’s love and forgiveness.

The mistreatment you receive from unbelievers begins with those closest to you, your family and friends. This element of environmental and societal cancer is unavoidable in its infancy but as you suffer the pain of your choices, you learn what can be done for pain avoidance. Your hard heart though hammers your self-gratification with glittering idols that pull your eyes, mind and heart outward instead of upward.

Forgetting Jesus and pretending to be His is an unforgivable hypocrisy that can only be remedied by a genuine born again experience? Satan however, will convince you that the pain is a small price to pay for the freedom of restraints!

BY THE CROSS

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BY THE CROSS

By Rick Mathes

Colossians 1:15 (NASB77) 15  And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation.

When I was a teenager run away I was always getting into fights and quite frankly losing most of them. Anyone who wanted to beat me up did. That’s why now I so thoroughly enjoy knocking Satan and/or his demons right on their butts. When I am hit with a big temptation I remember I love the Lord more than I love the sin and I whip it When I do I feel like King Kong. I put down the bottle and picked up the Bible. I put down the drugs and lifted up my cross. I threw donw my evil ways and lifted my holy hands to the King. I am redeemed!

The Cross put the fear of God into evil influences. The demons know that Jesus is Lord and they tremble and cringe in terror. The cross fends off the flaming arrows from the abyss and quenched the exploding darts that wee meant for me. Satan cannot make yuou sin and all you have to do is look to His Cross!

All the evil power of hell is nothing but an annoying itch on God’s butt. Satan is a fish-faced, thumb-sucking, bed-wetting gay punk in the Name of Jesus. I know that if you kill Goliath (your main sin) the Philistines (smaller sins) will scatter. God is still God and David’s faith can be yours because the real spirutal power belongs to God. The devil, his fallen angels and the lake of fire are all creations of Jesus and isn’t the Creator much greater than the created? Get some spirutal “T” will you?

The severest afflictions will have no power over you if you know that the Lord is testing your faith. Know that “it came to pass.” Just hold on , take the tsunami of grief and pain and the peace that follows will be worth it; like having a baby in your arms after the pain of delivery.

Lastly as you look around you can’t help but notice that worldly allurements are in sight in every direction. We are almost swallowed ina sea of sinful allurements of sex, drugs, rock-n-roll violence and every other perversion ever invented in the lowest levels of hell. All the satanic power in the world like a laser on you cannot make you sin. Think about this. Only you an walk to the Cross, give Jesus the finger and sin. Only you alone can do this or not. Make your choice.

BY GRACE

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BY GRACE?

By Rick Mathes

Ephesians 2:5 (NASB77)              5  even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved),

I went through all of grade school and high school in the Roman Catholic education system. I can remember like yesterday asking the Marist Brother, “What is grace?” many times and I couldn’t understand what he said. Also, I never understood that I deserved anything. I was on my own from age 13. My life was like endlessly swimming against the current of black ink: dark and ugly.

Then at the age of 38 a Presbyterian minister told me that it was by grace that I was saved. “What is grace?” He responded, “Unmerited favor.” All of a sudden “Tetelestai” became crystal clear, “Paid in full!” I dropped to my knees and sobbed, “Thank you Jesus” and I have never turned back since. His saving grace was all I needed and for His reasons alone He chose me to be His. Talk about a lucky draw? I had 5 aces!

I soon learned that His grace didn’t end there. Time after time temptations would have overtaken me had it not been for His sustaining grace. I can’t walk on water without His empowerment. When we surrender and step out of the boat, saving grace is the ability to stand on the surface of the deep. Sanctifying grace is walking on the water. Our need for grace continues to the grave.

We can’t walk through that dirty world without getting some dirt on us. It’s like walking through a coal mine in a white suit. It is inevitable that we will soil ourselves from time to time. That’s why “Repent” was the first sermon of John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul, me and many other evangelists. We must repent, submit and obey!

“I don’t get no satisfaction” from any counterfeit the Devil may invent. My only peace and contentment is in His satisfying grace of love and eternal security in Him. It’s by grace we are saved and I thank God He chose me so that I might respond by choosing Him! But if you choose sin of the Savior, Satan doesn’t have any grace. You will drop like a rock into the eternal abyss of flames?

 

BURIED ALIVE

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BURIED ALIVE

By Rick Mathes

Ephesians 2:5 (NASB77) 5  even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved),

We were just musing over the pros and cons of cremation. I’m against it because I have made great efforts over the years to avoid the flames. Also, I want to have all my body parts in one place to make it easier for our Lord to reassemble me! Both reasons, of course, are nonsense because there is no such thing as dead. Either you are living in glory with Jesus and your loved ones or you are dying in hell with those who tried to take you down with them but you are alive in either instance.

It’s by grace that we have our next heartbeat to celebrate. My point is that there will never be a last heartbeat. We will have a moment when breath one breath hear and the next there. You will have a physical death but the beat goes on. Either you were born twice and died one or born once and died twice. In either case you will be fully conscience of the consequence of your decision to believe in Christ or not. There is no “plan B.”

If you choose to have Satan as our Lord you will experience a second death that is spiritual. All Satanists, those who call Satan Lord, will suffer an eternal nightmare of pain and anguish. If I could open up the floor beneath you to gaze at Hell you would go insane. Hell is worse than anything you can imagine. Hour sin killed God’s only Son!

Eternal is forever. Get a grip on that. Let me help you. Consider what is at the end of the sky. What is past are all the stars we see. Where is the end of it? It’s called the n’th degree. Our minds cannot conceive infinity but it is there and you will be there either in the blessings of heaven or the blaze of hell.

It is by grace that you are saved from hell and only because God feels like saving your rotten hide. We don’t even deserve our next breath but He loves us so much that if His being crucified again would bring your heart to Him, He would come back and do it all over again. You are going to be buried alive and were you live is your choice.

BOTTOM LINE

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BOTTOM LINE

By Rick Mathes

Matthew 7:21 (NASB77) 21 ” Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.

The following is the bottom line of all I believe and all I have taught for over 30 years. Study it carefully and your life will never be the same.

There is no justification without regeneration. You must be born again and then after regeneration will be followed by reformation, revival and the revolution.

Faith without works is dead. There must always be a cause for every effect. The cause of all is faith and trust are the keys to heaven as doubt and fear is your “admit one” ticket to hell.

The proof of justification is perseverance. My birth father was killed in WWII. My mom remarried and I changed my name and life for my step-father. Although I was outwardly a different person, you could not take my father’s blood from my veins. You can’t take your Father’s Holy Spirit from your soul. Once saved, always saved.

Faith in a savior that isn’t Lord is a fraud. The NIV says, “If you confess Jesus IS Lord…” and the NAS says, “If you confess Jesus AS Lord….” Intellectual ascent must stand with obedience.

You must bear your cross if you are going to follow Christ. That could be the consequence of your sinning, it could be persecution from friends and relatives, but I believe it is you’re dying to sin and rising to holiness.

No one will even see the Lord without holiness. To be holy you must be wholly His. I’ve tried all my life and I can’t do it. There is always some small sin I am reluctant to let go of. I must depend totally on Jesus’ imputed righteousness on me. I become a mirror so that when Father God looks on me He sees Jesus.

This is the Gospel according to Jesus:

  • Total depravity
  • Unmerited salvation
  • Limited atonement
  • Irresistible grace
  • Perseverance of the saints

Everyone is Calvinist but some are not quite knowledgeable enough to recognize it. AMEN!

BLOODY THRONE

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BLOODY THRONE

By Rick Mathes

1 Corinthians 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness,

Sin had killed God’s Son and Pope Satan was having high mass to celebrate with all the candles, glistening gold, gowns, pomp and ritual he could invent. The fallen angels and counterfeit Christians were ecstatic that there would be no more conviction of sin and no moral authority. As it is today, we are enjoying the undying curse of anything goes, right is wrong and no one should ever be judgmental. It’s all relative.

Oh how wrong the false professors of Rome were when they declared Jesus dead. As a mother in child-birth, after the pain came the glory. His death was the gate that opened life. Does this make sense? Let me elaborate the depth of king Lucifer’s stupidity.

When Jesus said, It is finished!” my translation would have been, “Satan, you a toast!” The blood of Jesus satisfied Father God’s propitiation of sin. Man was reconciled at last with God the moment of our Lord’s last heartbeat. Our journey, as believers, tour first nature had begun. Holiness was now within reach for those who would reach beyond their grasp. It is at that point of thin air where faith begins.

His sacrifice cleanses our record of all offense. “Not guilty, your Honor.” Becomes a true statement in the courts of justice. We are justified and now are able not to sin. (Able not to sin.)  We are virgins all over again. The Lord gave us another chance and I believe that our last chance is upon us. All the sin of the world is peaking in it’s intensity and the perfect storm is forming rapidly. Jesus is near and soon to return in wrath for those who reject Him.

Our redemption is upon us in the Cross of Christ. There’s nothing more He can do for our salvation, ever. We will soon hear Him say, “It is done.” And fro hat poin on the great devide will be unrepairable.

We can live as though His will be coming tonight but plan that His return is hundreds of years off. Only the Father knows that day when we will return to the New Jerusalem. I bet my life and soul on this truth and hope because of His death for my sins and resurrection as the first born for me to follow.

BLOODY FOOTPRINTS

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BLOODY FOOTPRINTS

By Rick Mathes

(Author of “Allah or Jesus”)

Luke 23:26 And when they led Him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.

What was going through the thoughts of Simon as he stepped into the bloody footprints of Jesus? He couldn’t help but wonder why this innocent man was being put through this torturous execution. There must have been a look or a word from our Lord because in time, both of Simon’s sons became the first Bishops of color in this new world conquering religion.

Let’s put ourselves into Simon’s sandals and carry our Lord’s Cross. How can we do this? Pick up and continue His love for His brethren. We don’t necessarily need to like each other but we must love each other. Love is not an emotion, it is a decision. The emotion may or may not follow. The last beatitude is persecution so let’s get used to it and carry His Cross, the weight of Hell’s effort to trash His atonement.

Don’t forget that He walks before us. He is leading us to quiet waters through the reconciliation with the Father through His death; His final sacrifice. The Lord, the real Lord is our Shepherd. We don’t follow Father Lucifer anymore. Our old shepherd only let us to death, insanity or incarceration.

It’s by His grace, will and strength that we can carry His cross, keep the faith, fight the good fight and finish the course. We press on because we know where He is leading us to. He is the way, the truth and the life. He is our partner and the burden is light yoked to Him.

It is only for a short time of three-score and ten that this burden is ours so let’s give it our best shot. The consequences of our sin is truly a heavy load but we did it to ourselves and the least we can do is pick up our cross and follow Him. The reward, like childbirth, is well worth the pain. What a privilege it is to take it to the Lord in prayer.

BLIND

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BLIND

By Rick Mathes

(Author of “Allah or Jesus”)

Romans 3:11 (NASB) 11  THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;

AUGUSTINE

Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore, seek not to understand that thou mayest believe but believe that thou mayest understand.

The ignorant man always adores

What he cannot understand.

Our condition before God is so bad we get into denial to hide our real self. If you saw my heart as God sees it you would run from me and yours would be terrifying if exposed. We have an underlying and an ulterior motive. The underlying motive is in plain sight but the ulterior motive is under the table and driven by self and sin.

When we walk in willful sin we cannot really see the beauty of Christ’s countenance. It’s blurred with the smoke from hell. You lose the presence of His grace because you have yielded to Satan’s lordship; Satan has become your lord. It’s like running your hands through the filth and decay of a cesspool and then lifting them to God for mercy. You are only making God gag.

Keep focused on the things of God by seeing through His eyes. It’s like moving from black and white to color; a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. This can be a wonderful adventure as His world, sin-free opens up to you.

I have controlled glaucoma in both eyes. My mom and grandfather both went blind from it. I am so grateful for the gift of sight and I dedicate this medical miracle to the Great Physician. Of all the terrible things that could happen to me physically, I fear going blind most.

The pressure of Jesus points out the need of a new birth. The evil of this world is smothering us body and soul with the filth of sin. This sin killed God’s Son. This is very serious. In your blindness you will have the penalty of sin fade into the wide road that leads to eternal flames. So get your spiritual eyes checked as I did and don’t allow yourself to go blind to the grace and goodness of our Savior, Jesus.

BLESS VS CURSE

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BLESS VS. CURSE

By Rick Mathes

Romans 12:14 (NASB77) 14   Bless those who persecute you; bless and curse not.

Everyone, including myself, have an obvious motive and an ulterior one. Both or either can be blessed or cursed of the Lord. The motive on the table could be self-sacrificing or under the table, self-gratifying.

There is the form and the essence. The form of God we see with the eyes of the Holy Spirit is the body and life of Jesus. His essence, or what He’s made of is found in God’s breathed Word, our Holy Bible.

A double blessing is a double grace.

Bless the Holy Spirit with all that is within you and He will reciprocate with all that is within Him: the words and works of Jesus Christ. We know His efforts are successful because He is God: all-knowing, all-powerful and all-present. God never fails with His intentions. You might pray, “I’m not having a good time,” but you are in His perfect will nonetheless.

Your heart beats with His and His instructions for your life are perceived and accepted. The Words He has for you leap off the pages of the Gospel according to Jesus Christ. Our Lord’s Words and Works. Try my system: read and parse all the red parts of your Bible with as many commentaries as you can carry. I did. I was a red-letter theologian.

Born-again means you die to the old life which hardly any professing Christians do. They continue to drag that rotting corpse along behind them. His power, the very power of creation itself, think about this, is in you!

  • How big is your God?
  • How much room is there in you for the Holy Spirit?
  • How much of Him will you allow in?

Your yielding to divine grace is absolutely irresistible. Like metal drawn to a magnet, you are being drawn to the foot of the Cross to repent of your sins in the mud, the blood and the tears of those that preceded you to this holy ground of forgiveness.

You may not see, hear, taste, touch of smell our Lord but as heaven is real, so are all your feelings of His presence in the Holy Spirit. The blessing is Him and the curse is sure to follow if you stand at the foot of the Cross and give Him the finger!

BELIEVE

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BELIEVE

By Rick Mathes

Acts 16:31 and they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household.”

Faith is reaching beyond your grasp and when you do in Christ you become a believer. So the Christian faith begins with you believing in Him. Once I knew I knew He rose from the dead, I believed and have never turned back since. It is finished business because the Lord said so from the Cross but it isn’t done. He doesn’t announce that until after the white throne judgment when He will say, “It is done.”

The bone chilling consequence of this is that there will be a moment, a blink of an eye from that point forward no one will be able to be saved. It will be too late for those that have put it off and rejected Jesus as their Lord. The Muslims, Roman Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science and other eastern cults will drop into the flaming pit, the abyss of the dark-side with evil personified in Father Satan.

Receiving our Lord’s offer is the best choice you will ever have to make. His grace is handed to you and all it costs is everything you have and you are. In fact, the rest of your life is none of your business. You didn’t come to Him, He extended His hand, the Master’s hand and you reached back a slave evermore subservient to His slightest wish. This is the biblical truth! Don’t let anyone “soft-soap” you out of this fact with any scripture twisting.

He earned your trust through the witnesses of the sixty-six book library we call our Bible. They looked forward to the Cross and now we look backward to the same Cross.

WE do this to hear His voice ring through the ages in word and deed; As Josh McDowell has put it in his book “Evidence Deserves a Verdict.” Is Jesus a liar, lunatic or Lord? Let the Holy Spirit open your eares to hear the saints as they speak to you from the precious pages of His gospel.

“Look and be saved!” Moses had a foreshadow of His crucifixion. By His stripes we have been healed. Once you look into those pitiful eyes of our dying Savior, what choice is there but to yield to His call, “Believe in Me and be saved.” What is your plan B compared to Him?