Tag: church

KNOWING HIM

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KNOWING HIM

By Rick Mathes

Philippians 3:10 (NASB77) 10 that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;

The goal of my soul is to know Jesus. I am completely absorbed in learning all I can about the words and works of Christ. This discipline is called Christology: to know Christ.

It begins for many with intellectual ascent. He is a liar, a lunatic or Lord. There is no middle ground and you must make a decision as to who He is to you. You can’t escape dealing with Jesus so you put your mind to work and study the Word. My focus initially was to disprove the resurrection because without it, Jesus was just an ordinary man and all the miracles were a fraud. So it starts in your mind.

Then it drops to your heart: the seat of your emotional experiences. What does it feel like when you finally believe His is Lord of the universe, created in the flesh? This is mind staggering and most certainly you will feel the effect of this in your emotions.

From there it drops into your soul and you go about the Lord’s business as a faithful saint. You become the skin for His Holy Spirit to dwell, live and work in. Imagine that! You become a living sacrifice to the Lord, the Temple of God: He dwells in you fully.

Knowing Him then is intensely personal. You become closely involved in His day to day activities and it’s by His grace that you can press on, keep the faith, fight the good fight and finish the course.

Once you know, you know Him, you will have a great energy for Him. Your thoughts will soar to dizzy heights as you meditate on who He is that lives in you If all leads inevitably to prayer and praise on a scale you never imagined!

So if I were to sum up our pursuit of knowing God, I would insist that you gain knowledge about God, of God and before God. He will initiative your love, choosing, redeeming, calling and preserving knowledge, experiences and understanding.

KNOW YOU KNOW

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KNOW YOU KNOW

By Rick Mathes

Colossians 2:2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself,

Some don’t know they don’t know. Some know they don’t know. Some don’t know they know and other know they know. (You might want to read this over a few times.)

When I knew I didn’t know I decided to at least examine the basic information about Jesus that all true believers agree on. We Protestant denominations are not fractured and in theological disarray as the Church of Rome would have it. We have the same core values and speak as one on every single major issue in the doctrines of the Bible. The religious distinctives we each have are respected by each other and challenged as any good Barean would be expected to be.

Back to basics requires us to question God becoming man without the aid of a physical father participating in the conception. Our Lord’s virgin birth is the cornerstone of all that followed. His moment as a newborn is the most important element of our faith because all that happened after it was predicated upon the fact that Jesus was God in the flesh, incarnate. It precedes then what were the words and works of Jesus in His three year ministry.

The Holy Scripture is all we need to know on this issue of hypostasis, God-man. Oh how I wish there was another gospel or epistle more because I love the Lord so much and ache to learn so much more of Him. But in God’s wisdom He gave us all we need to know in Him to go and do likewise.

Why did He die? Did He really rise from the dead and did His feet leave the ground and His body   rise into heaven? This can take a moment to believe but a lifetime to study.

My biggest question is, “What does He expect me to be doing when He returns?” The worst words in the Bible is, “Depart from Me I never knew you.” Faith without works is no faith at all. If you don’t walk your talk you don’t know you know. The best thing for you to do is shut up. Don’t call yourself a Christian and live for the devil.

In summary: ask for forgiveness, He will give it, you receive it, and then become a forgiver.

KNOCK KNOCK

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KNOCK-KNOCK

By Rick Mathes

Revelation 3:20 (NASB77) 20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.

What would you do if there was someone knocking at your front door? You would probably do what I do, I put my hand on my pocket on my pistol and cautiously go to see who it is. Now aht if you looked and it was Jesus! What would you do? I would want to verify that it was Him. Satan can counterfeit most anything and I would not want to be a fool over Satan with a mask on. Let’s recall together those attributes which pooled together would unveil the gospel of truth in that visitor on your front porch.

First of all I would know from His word that is He unchangeable so I would look closely at His wrists for the nail driven scars. Then I would look into the eyes of my Creator and say, “My Lord and my God!”

There’s as much difference between divine and demonic as there is between day and night. I truly expect that an anti-Christ wouldn’t be either; just a pinch of dark in light is moral prostitution. Gray is not true to white or black: it is both and neither at the same time. Well I know that darkness cannot invade the light and remain pure with just a little darkness. I would believe nothing less that the blinding Shekinah glory of our true God.

That visitor, if He were Christ, would have a compelling visage of self-sacrificing. If He wore a bejeweled crown and gold inlaid, ermine cape of crimson royalty, I would know him to be the father of lies. My Jesus is a humble carpenter from Nazareth.

His whole countenance would be one of serving not one to be served. I can imagine Him saying to you, “What can I do for you?”

I would see the joy of victory on His face when I opened the door for Him to see me, His trophy. I would then recognize   Him as my Lord and Savior and know that although it was finished on the cross it has only begun for me. How about you?

KISS OF DEATH

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KISS OF DEATH

By Rick Mathes

We can argue endlessly about predestination and free will and many do to this day. My conclusion is that in the Lord’s divine providence, to please Himself, he became the magnet and we were created the metal. The elect have irresistibly drawn their decisions to him ever since.

I marvel at those who willfully resist His grace while all the time professing faith in the words and works of Christ. From my observation, they compose a large part of the attendance in our entertainment centers we too often call churches. Many are blatantly sinning but have found a comfortable fellowship of carnal Christians like themselves, of like sins. “What is right to me is right” is their unifying banter; devils with masks parading around in counterfeit sanctity with all of the demons in Hell howling in laughter and clapping in approval.

Such was the infection of the First Church the moment Jesus welcomed His chameleon apostle Judas Iscariot. For purposes known only to Him initially and then revealed in His last hours, Judas was setting himself up for the “kiss of death.”

I can almost feel you recoiling at the thought of Judas betraying Christ with a kiss, a kiss! An emblem of love and devotion; such is the unfathomable depths of evil a soul such as Judas’ could fall to, beyond comprehension.

How long have you proclaimed that you are a Christian and in the fellowship of believers: a year, 5 years, 10 years or more?

How many times have you presented yourself as a devoted follower of Christ in Church services, Bible studies, prayer breakfasts and the like?

How many true believers have been fooled by your acting abilities and blindsided from seeing through to the real you?

Judas had only 11 peers but he spent all his time in good church standing to boldly betray Jesus with “the kiss of death” as you have for neglecting to repent of your sins that killed God’s Son. You need to repent, submit and obey. How do I know you so well? I know me!

You are giving our Lord the kiss of your death, death in the eternal flames of Hell. He gives life but you have chosen death. You will forever be reminded that Jesus loved you, up to the last moment and Satan took a permitted grip on you. You let him. The kiss of death is from the acid mouth of the Devil unless you stop, stand still, turn around and come back to Him.

Kiss the Son lest He be angry!

(With the kiss of life.)

 

KING OF ISRAEL

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KING OF ISRAEL

By Rick Mathes

John 12:13

Took the branches of the palm trees, and went out to meet Him, and began to cry out, ” Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King of Israel.”

This is the big one Martha! Jesus was coming to be the Son of David and run the Romans out of Israel. We are still trying to do that to this day. In fact, we have a lot in common with this event bacuse it teaches us so very much more about the Lord of lords we bend our knee to. The world about us worships itself and considers man the final arbiter of truth and science as the means of arriving at the God mankind is subject to. We as Christians know differently and more correctly the Creator that became man and dwelt among us as King of all kingdoms; they all understand that Jesus and His throng of followers were posing a threat to Rome and presenting an in-your-face insult to the Emperor. This was a serious affront to both the Church and state in Jerusalem.

Riding on a donkey was the dignified way leaders would parade having come back from battle victoriously. Napoleon is a more modern Emperor that continued this practice. In any case it was the royal manner a victorious dignitary would display that peace was upon those he ruled. It raises Jesus above the Church and state in honor much like the pope does in Roman Catholicism.

There was the no greater honor the crowds could impose but their praises and lining the road with palm branches and their own cloaks. They were clearly honoring Him as King and emancipator from the shackles of Rome. The word is coup or sedition of the authorities. He must be stopped or killed.

He was displaying His dominion or sovereignty of Israel and letting those in attend or know that the King that was promised by the seed of David has arrived to set them free. However, what  they could only see or understand is displayed in worldly terms. His resurrection changed their expectations to a kingdom in glory not on earth.

His power was soon to be unleashed when He had died, resurrected and ascended into glory. Within 150 years, the Emperor of Rome declared that Jesus was the Christ and all the Empire was now Christian. Now that’s what I call a convincing display of His Holy Ghost dynamite!

JUST BECAUSE

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JUST BECAUSE

By Rick Mathes

Galatians 1:16 (NASB77) 16  to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach H im among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood,

Nothing makes me crazier than someone that has an “off the wall” belief with no basis except, “Well, that’s what I believe!” It’s as though truth is whatever you decide it to be regardless of conflicting facts. It’s the old adage, “Don’t confuse me with facts” argument.

Relative or worse, circular thininking about Jesus is carrying the day and solid based reformed and puritanical doctrines are old fashioned with a 2,000 old Bible. The God of our fathers were of God. And the Bible goes back to creation. How about that for old fashioned!

The common scape-goat is society. We claim our attitude toward Christianity I based on what we observe in the society of believers that surround us. I believe this to be a good reason not to be a Christian. Satan has been extremely successful in infiltrating the Church and watering down the truth to be a gospel of another God: this is called religion. Religion is man reducing God to man’s image and likeness that is totally depraved. This, what passes as Christianity is nothing but satanic hypocrisy. Praise God for the small remnant of reformed and puritanical believers such as myself that throughout all ridicule and persecution continue to raise the standards of the only God, the Cross and the Word unadulterated.

In this post-modern period, the relativity of thought, without any constraints or rules of order have produced such a chaos of faith which by definition is insanity. The true standards have been the pillars of reality since the moment of creation: Jesus only, Bible only, Faith only and Grace only!

With Judeo-Christian standards and peferences without any alternative faith system, the Cross of Christ arises again on the shield of the modern day Crusaders. The peer group presses on to believe and obey God’s Word are more than God’s command, they are demans by none other than our worlds only Savior, Jesus Christ.

For those who are paralyzed by questions the devil floods their minds with, I strongly suggest you confess Jesus as your Lord “just because” there isn’t anything better. He is risen!

JUST ASKING

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JUST ASKING

By Rick Mathes

1 Timothy 3:9 (NASB77) 9   but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.

There are a lot of things we are expected to accept and believe by faith that we really can’t understand. John MacArthur Jr. wrote a book, “Hard to Believe” and he was right on. The first question I would have for Jesus would be, “Why did you allow wickedness?” What was it in Adam that prompted him to join Eve in disobedience to God’s command?

I think a great question among others is, “What is prosperity?” Do more toys really signal your prosperity or does the tail wag the dog? In other words, why should we work harder to get more money to buy more things that we don’t need to leave to those who don’t deserve them? Is worth it? It seems to me that the more I have the less time I have to enjoy getting more things that take more time to maintain. Whew!

How about our new birth? Can you explain definitively what “born again” means? What hand did providence have in this? Let me ask you what did God’s foreknowledge have on His predestination?

Have you ever given any thought to your future life? Where will you spend eternity, in heaven, in hell, in Purgatory? Guess what? There isn’t a purgatory so you can scratch that Roman Catholic invention off your possibility list.

What is a union with Christ? Is it physical, mental, spiritual, just what dos being in one with Christ mean? What happens when I exchange all that I am for all that He is? What happens to what I used to be?

Just how did an all-knowing, all-powerful and all-present God become a newborn infant? How sis Mary even get pregnant with the aid of a man?

And let’s not forget that it’s hard to believe God became man and suffered at the hands of His creation. How amazing is the Passion Week for Jesus and Father God? The sky turned black when the Father separated from the Son and let Him die a man. How can a dead man command life to return to His body? I know this much, just because I don’t understand is doesn’t mean that God doesn’t know it.

JUST ASK

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JUST ASK

By Rick Mathes

John 16:23 And in that day you will ask Me no question. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you shall ask the Father for anything, He will give it to you in My name.

There are too many abuses of this verse especially in the prosperity-faith, name it-claim it scams vulnerable sheep are being led to the butcher’s block by smoldering shepherd in flaming pulpits. When they ask, our Lord’s desires are not considered. It’s all about self-gratification. The Scriptures teach to ask in His name according to His perfect will. Beware of His permissive will. This is when He gives the devil to tempt you within limits like He did Job. So when you ask (pay attention here) the answer is always in His will according to His purposes: either perfect or permissive (think about this).

Be sure to advance your request beyond your reach. It is only then that you know the result is because of Him not you. So He gets the full glory. If your request is within your reach, with enough motivation you will just do it and of course take full credit for the outcome no matter how you couch your prayer in solemn pontification, because that’s all it is.

Let’s look at a few hindrances in your prayers:

  • Insincerity: This is the promise to change your ways if your prayer is answered to your satisfaction. It could also include comments to   others that skew the promises of prayer to your favor: no intention of keeping.
  • Selfishness: When you’re asking is riddled with the words, “I-me-mine” it has nothing then to do with, “He-Him-His.” Self-gratification is a futile motive for coming before the throne of grace in prayer.
  • Impatience: Jesus loves you more than you can even imagine love to be. He promises to always answer your prayers with a yes, no or not yet.
  • Unbelief: So many professing Christians can blow you away with their ability to speak to the Lord with convincing supplications. They are eloquent, persuasive, and solemn. The father of lies inhabits every word he taught them.

The simplicity of this teaching is, “KISS.” When you pray, keep it simple stupid! Jesus can see right through your motive and He knows your heart so ask honestly and truthfully, but just ask.

JUST A NAME

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JUST A NAME

By Rick Mathes

Acts 12:13 (NASB77) 13  And when he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer.

If I wrote a letter to the City of New York and signed it “Rick” those that read it would wonder “Rick who?” Whoever heard of just plain “Rick?” But if they received a letter signed “The Donald” they would immediately know the author was Donald Trump.

I have preached to many tens of thousands over more than three decades all over the world via internet but I guarantee you that given a choice between knowing “Rick”” or “Rhoda” most anyone with a Bible would say “Oh yes, Rhoda. She was the servant girt who opened the door when Peter escaped from prison.” I’m not so sure I know who this Rick is, there are so many with that name. I can’t find his name in the Bible though as I can Rhoda’s name.

An obscure servant girl has had her name immortalized in the Word of God! Jesus knew her very well. He knew all about her. She was a perfect example of what a Christian should be so much so she is personally named in the greatest book on earth: Rhoda

She was a true Christian that could always be found in fellowship with others of like persuasion even behind locked doors for fear of her life being taken by those who hated her pastor: Jesus.

In those days, you had to be careful or you would be killed right on the spot if you were a follower of “The Way.” Would you believe this persecution continues to this day? Consider, more professing Christians have been martyred in my lifetime than from my birth date back 2,000 years to the Cross!

Her faith was heartfelt as evidenced by the shock an awe she experienced when she recognized that Peter, THE Peter, the pebble was at her door. She didn’t just shut down in fear, she actively rose to the occasion and announced the unbelievable that the Apostle Peter was at the door of their secret underground church service. This incident, no matter how small gave her a purpose in life: to open the door and give Peter refuge from those who wre looking to crucify him as they had done his Leader.

She put her life on the line and is remembered and admired to this day as a silent warrior for the Lord that did what she did in obedience to her God and He never forgot it!

JUDAS EFFECT

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JUDAS EFFECT

By Rick Mathes

Mark 14:43 And immediately while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, came up, accompanied by a multitude with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.

Every church has at least one devil attending and wherever Christians gather there is a Judas in their midst. Nothing in God’s sovereign will happens to surprise God: all things are predetermined, including a Judas. Let me expand this thought to include the need for us to respond not just to the false Christians around us who want to take us down but more importantly the demons within us. We need to seek out and destroy the Judas within the will betray our Lord at the first change it gets.

You know its name: greed. You can look in any direction including to some degree inside your own mind and heart to learn that greed will conquer creed if you allow it to. Satan will keep you in sight and on friendly terms until his greed overcomes him and then he will betray you. He always wears a mask so you rarely recognize him until its too late.

As a practicing hypocrite you live two lives: one in your essence and the other in your form. That is: what is on the inside, the real you and that which is on the outside, the image you want others to have of you.

This is a treachery of the highest order because the truth is not within you. At the right price, you will sell out our Lord. The really sad that is that you usually dump Jesus for “chump change” and make yuourself out to be the laughing stock, the Saturday Night entertainment of hell.

There were two spectacular failings in Peter and Judas. They both fell from grace and wee deeply remorseful. What was the effectual difference between them?

Peter repented because he did not live up to our Lord’s expectancy and he was ultimately forgiven and restored to grace.

Judas repented because Jesus did not live up to his expectations and he committed suicide and was never forgiven.

Learn from this.