Tag: Bible

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.

A NEW COMMAND

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A NEW COMMAND

Matthew 13:34 All these things Jesus spoke to the multitudes in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable,

I have often imagined myself the President of the United States and the most unnerving ability I can imagine would be the office of Commander of the Armed Forces. All other duties, however important, would pale in comparison to having the lives of a million young soldiers in your hands. How his heart must break in wars when these men give their lives for their country as my Dad did in WWII.

When Jesus commands His army to war He provides the armor and sword. His victory is in the heart of those that are His because that’s where the war is waged. He commands us not just to love one another but to love our enemies “for they know not what they do.” As soldiers in God’s army we are to dig in our cleats and unleash the dynamite of the Holy Spirit that is within us at Rev. Lucifer and his wimps. The battle and victory belong to Jesus and the peace resides in our hearts that are joined to His.

Jesus breathed a soul into Adam and His mind and heart followed. So reason and emotions are the pathway of comfort to the soul, in His image and likeness. Satan’s whole being is committed to snatching your soul into his fiery clutches. He knows his time is running out and like the desperation of a rabid hyena facing death, he is determined to take you down with him; hie’s that evil!

Your mind is where the backsliding thoughts are hatched if there is nay fertile ground for them to grow such as: pornography, drugs, booze, gambling, etc. When your mind is in the gutter your heart will follow and your soul will fall from grace. All you have to do is blink and Satan will slip into your mind with the flesh not far behind.

So loving each other with His love is not an option. Our Commander-in-Chief demands it because He knows that love is life and without it you become a casualty and a victory for Lucifer and his hell-hounds.

Receive your marching orders like a good and obedient soldier for Christ. Each time you say no to Satan temptations you earn higher rank in the Savior’s Survivors Squad of warriors. You have His strength as the Holy Spirit partners with you in the conflict for your soul. Jesus says for us to love and then watch the feeble efforts of the devil wither before our very eyes.

A god

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A god

By Rick Mathes

2 Corinthians 4:4 (NASB77) 4  in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Father Lucifer fell with his angels because of his pride. This sin is the root of all evil and the devil is all deceitful false pride. He has nothing to be proud of because of his blindness to sin and all that brings in its tow. Things of this world become gods and the more of them you own, the more they own you. Eventually there is nothing more of you and you are too prideful to walk away from those that are irresistible. Like metal to the wrong magnet, the devil lures you into the bear-trap of worldly toys and then snaps it’s jaws shut.

The attractions the demons drag out for their god Satan and like decorations on a Christmas tree, they blink and glitter in a sensual manner that can pierce the self-protection unbelievers expect will protect them and it doesn’t. No matter what your occupation means to you, it can’t remain your god for too long otherwise you need to be worn down to where your resistance to more and more and more evaporates in the smoke of hell’s chimney.

The devil’s appeal is stronger than your resistance. You are a spiritual prostitute of the highest order his gang of evil hall-hounds will form an attack-pack and tear your unbelief to shreds. Apart from having the Holy Spirit within you, you are not able not to sin. You not only are hopeless with your god, you are being fed false hopes from demons in the pulpits of many churches. It’s the false god Satan and his doctrines of lies that will distort the true Christianity so bad that it becomes a confusing battle of contradictions and denominations that are hell bent on earing the Body of Christ apart.

Man makes god in his image and likeness to deflect notice of his sin by hiding it in a barrage of false teachings. It doesn’t take long to have a man become your god and bow to the wishes of this pope or senior bishop or priest. Once layered by sinful men the fear of man replaces the fear of God. This is the death knell of religion. You get a false assurance that the true faith is whatever you personally believe it to be.

A CHRISTIAN IS

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A CHRISTIAN IS

Acts 26:28 (NASB) 28 Agrippa replied to Paul, “In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian.”

C.H. Spurgeon: “Almost persuaded to be a Christian is like the man who was almost pardoned but he was hanged; like a man who was almost rescued by was burned in the house. A man that is almost saved is damned.”

To be a Christian is not:

An Irrational Leap of Faith

Be sure to read, “The Evidence Demands a Verdict” by Josh McDowell. It is the intellectual ascent and proof of all we believe. It is an absolute must read.

Emotional Crutch

Christianity has been characterized as an emotional crutch for weak people. Ted Turner, CNN founder, said that Christianity is for losers. If you feel that way as he does, you will have an opportunity to explain that to Jesus one day.

Our faith is not for losers. Just look at the lives of those who have refused Christ. Don’t get blind-sided by carnal Christians who haven’t made Jesus Lord. They are so obviously trashing truth. They bow to the creation instead of the Creator.

All too often our faith is written off as a superstition. The sinners have been claiming that from the moment we were distinguished as Christians in 70AD. The Gnostics turned Roman Catholics and the Charismatics have played on people’s emotions and mystical feeling long enough. Slowly but so steadily and superstitions are falling by the wayside as we open our bible and learn what it really says. There are a lot of useless rituals that grieve our Lord.

Watching the charismatics on TV or being in their services is quite an experience. They are manipulated into fanaticism by repetitive music and long prayers in tongues must like the eastern mystical faiths.

Christianity is not only moral teachings and it is not just one of many ways to God, Allah is not God, Yahweh is and He had a Son and His Son’s name was Jesus. I only ask one question of other faiths, “Jesus said He is the way, the truth and the life. NO ONE comes to the Father but through Him.”

Is Jesus a liar, lunatic or Lord? I won’t proceed in the conversation until they answer the question. The Muslims usually shut down and walk away. And rightly, they should!

 

A CALLING

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 A CALLING

Ye call me Master                and obey me not;

Ye call me Light                   and see me not;

Ye call me Way                    and walk me not;

Ye call me Life                      and desire me not;

Ye call me Wise                   and follow me not;

Ye call me Fair                     and love me not;

Ye call me Rich                    and ask me not;

Ye call me Eternal               and seek me not;

Ye call me Gracious            and trust me not;

Ye call me Noble                  and serve me not;

Ye call me Mighty                and honor me not;

Ye call me Just                     and fear me not;

                                                If I condemn you Blame Me not!

FAITH:

  • Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible, and receives the impossible.
  • Faith is to accept the impossible, do without the indispensable, and bear the intolerable.
  • Faith is ideal when circumstances are right, only when they are adverse is one’s faith in God exercised.
  • Faith, like muscle, grows strong and supple with exercise.
  • Don’t be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.
  • A little faith will bring your soul to heaven; a great faith will bring heaven to your soul.
  • Faith is not believing that God can, but that God will!
  • Faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.
  • Faith in God is indispensable to successful statesmanship.

Arabic Proverb

He that knows not and knows not that he knows not:

He is a fool; shun him!

He that knows not and knows that he knows not:

He is simple; teach him!

He that knows and knows not that he knows:

He is asleep; wake him!

He that knows and knows that he knows;

He is a wise man; follow him!

 

 

 

SEVEN WOES

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7 WOES

By Rick Mathes

Matthew 23:8 But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.

You call me:

  • Master but do not obey me
  • Light but do not walk with me
  • Wise but do not listen or learn from me
  • Rich but do not ask of me for help
  • Eternal but do not live like you believe it
  • Gracious but do not trust in my generosity
  • Noble but do not serve me as my slave
  • God but do not fear offending me

If I call you condemned, do not blame me!

Woe is you as you plunge down the flaming pit because of your preoccupation with everything and anything that was self-gratifying. The sum total of all your love and ambitions now and in the future is only your well-being and materialism. All that matters to you is you. Your egotism is so prevalent that you barely comprehend the purpose of those around you but to satisy your needs and wants. You are oblivious to all else.

There is a total vacuum of spirituality within you mainly because your unconfessed sin keeps getting in the way. You can only wall off righteousness for so long until it bursts its walls and destroys itself and all within its path. Now the challenge you face is to put up a face of righteousness around you so that no one will be able to penetrate your façade of holy living.

This impenitence arouses God’s anger at your audacity and deception. He will try His best to have you take a good hard look at who you really are on the inside that place in you that no one is welcome but you.

It’s been over 2,000 years of this nonsense with no change in your perverseness. The sad thing is that there is never another second chance. You may have used them all up and you have no options left. This delusiveness of living is denial of sin, Satan and hell will open up within you.

Go back over this article and see if you can’t pick out the 7 woes and then whip them to submission for the glory of the King of Kings, your Commander in Chief or else!

WHY ME LORD?

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WHY ME LORD?

By Rick Mathes

Author of “Allah or Jesus”

I love the outdoors! The fresh smell of a spring breeze, sunshine and lazy summer days, the gentle falling of autumn leafs, and the gusting winds of many winters past and yet to come. Oh, how I love life and the liberty to reach for the sky with all that is within me.

What a blessing to live in the midst of my ancestors and yet have the privilege of watching my families grow up around me, tall and strong. Rooted and settled in a land of flowers, sunshine and gentle rains, and God’s creation in its fullest.

It was a dismal day, my worst in memory when I was uprooted and taken to a foreign land on a hill that was so depressed and foreboding. I ached with pain and terror as this wretched group of carpenters fashioned me into something I never dreamed of becoming, a cross. As wooden as I am, I still marveled that man was taking me the good and changing me into bad, the cross that the Son of God would be nailed to. What greater horror could I possibly go through!

I was totally depressed and dismayed until I recalled the lessons that were passed on to me from tree to tree since the Garden: What man has made for bad, God will use for good. This comforted me that maybe there was a reason for me to be picked to be the death stake of Jesus the Christ.

I bore the body of the King as they nailed him to my arms. I felt His pain and wallowed in His sorrow. His blood streamed down to the ground that wept in agony. The King was crucified and I was what held him up. Wait a minute. I held Him up! He was the King! Then that made me the throne. I was blessed to hold the King of Kings in my arms and lift Him up to the Father as He became the salvation for mankind. What greater honor could any tree have but to have embraced Jesus for the last time before He slept in the ground and then raised Himself up to His former glory?

I just know that I will be remembered for all times: the symbol of His sacrifice. When others look at me the will think of Him. And when they look to you, will they see Him?

For more go to:

www.MissionGateMinistry.org

www.RickMathes.org

PASS THIS ON? THANK YOU!

 

 

WHY DO YOU LOVE SATAN?

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WHY DO YOU LOVE SATAN?

By Rick Mathes

We are the sum total of the choices we make. They are sewn together by the family who raised us, sown by those we hung out with and collected with those of a feather: in church or in prison. The constant I have noticed with those in trouble and out of sorts with the Lord is that they make bad decisions and compound the likelihood of wrongdoing with those we associate with.

Peer group pressure can foster bad habits that we hang on to as natural because we don’t know any better. Evil thoughts materialize and become reality that includes the seven deadly sins. Think, who do you love and faithfully follow, Satan? Be honest when you consider your underlying and ulterior motives. You have them both you know.

When you choose sin over the Savior you love Satan and you are call Christ a liar.

(Read this over and over until you get this into your thick scull.)

The first tip off of totally turning your back on Jesus is when you are self-sufficient: when you sing throughout the day, “I did it my way!” Believe me you’re no Frank Sinatra. You will soon be making your jail cell bunk your way.

Another dead give-away is being self-serving. You don’t win because you died with the most toys. But when you do have that last visit to the center isle of your church, notice outside, there isn’t a U Hall attached to your hearse.

My biggest gripe is shallow, empty headed people who are too dumb to get saved. You can spot them having a meaningful conversation with their tossed salad before they eat it! Hello cucumber. Oh look there’s Mr. Radish and his girlfriend Olive. Duhhhh!

The sum of all the above feel they are above the laws of heaven and are led about my moron demons because that’s all that is needed to make them the “Saturday Night Live” comedy show of Hell. They become open sores and diseases corpses: the walking dead in memory of Michael Jacksons “Thriller.” The dead burying the dead.

What is it that makes you love Satan (sin) more than the Savior? You need to answer this.