Tag: Jesus

BY YOUR DEEDS

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BY YOUR DEEDS

By Rick Mathes

Acts 26:20 but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.

Pray this: “Father God, by your grace I have been saved; Brother Jesus, by your stripes I have been healed: Holy Spirit, you know the mind of the Father and the heart of the Son, What does God want me to do?”

For openers, it is an answer to prayer when the Holy Spirit convicts you of the sin you have been hiding in that dark closet in your soul. Our deepest desire should be to be wholly holy. Any compromise is spiritual prostitution. A little lie with the truth or a little truth in the lie is deceitful beyond compare: neither integrity nor character. In either case the simple law of non-contradiction occurs: A cannot be non A. Sin is spiritual cancer and it must be removed or you will die and eternal death while still on your feet.

The Lord sees us in ways our natural eyes are unable to. If you could see my heart as the Lord sees it, you would run from me and I would be terrified to see yours. We really are sin-machines and our deeds show it. It is only in His shed blood that we receive a full pardon. When Father God looks upon us all He sees is His Son interceding for us. We truly are forgiven and our sins forgotten.

This is how it works; 1) You approach the Cross and as Jesus for forgiveness, 2) He will extend His blessing, 3) You receive the forgiveness (no guilt) and 4) You become a forgiver. The tough one is to walk away from guilt and become a virgin all over again. Flush your toilet and move on.

The vital life is exhibited by the works we produce. I know it’s by grace we are saved not by works but as James taught, if there aren’t any works there is good cause to question the health of this barren tree with no fruit. As the verse clearly teaches, we must repent, turn to God and prove that transaction by deeds. I wouldn’t trust it any other way.

God inhabits His praises like the fragrance of a rose. He also activates good works like a kaleidoscope of good deeds. I would rather see the sermon over hearing it, wouldn’t you? If you aren’t walking your talk, your talking is moot. It’s a waste of oxygen. The Comforter will bring you comfort in the highest degree.

The proof of repentance is a gift of the Holy Spirit. He is to infuse Christ and His efforts into you. You cannot do it without the Holy Spirit and it won’t get done without you. Your hands pick up the baton of continued blessing. Don’t drop it: press on!

BY GRACE ALONE

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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?

HE IS GOD

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HE IS GOD

By Rick Mathes

Matthew 16:15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Jesus is God and we will soon seen Him return in glory and power to rule our earth as a loving shepherd would his precious sheep. He rose bodily into glory and whether he’s in the third heaven or not, when He returns we will see Him as He really is and we will be transformed into new beings. Now is the time to prepare for this spectacular event of His return. So what can we do to be more pleasing to Him?

Is there an example to follow? There isn’t any human example to follow because we all fall short because we are totally depraved. Being Christian is Christ-like only. All of hell has it’s weight on our eyes to look outward instead of upward. When we strive to have our God in the image and likeness of man, we fall way short of how he fashioned us to be like Him.

Is there any command to obey? God so loved the world that He didn’t send a committee. He sent His only Son Jesus. When our Lord commands, all He wants to hear from us is, “Yes Sir!” There’s no arm-wrestling over issues. He is the only Commander in Chief of this world.

Is there any error to avoid? I challenge you to pray as follows: Father God, by your grace I have been saved. Brother Jesus, by your stripes I have been saved. Holy Spirit, you know the mind of the Father and the heart of the Son, ‘What would you have me do?’ I guarantee you, He will answer you and you probably won’t like the answer you hear from Him.

Is there any sin I should repent of? Everyone has one sin that rises above the rest that the Holy Spirit hs convicted you of. It’s the big one you don’t want to repent of. I call that sin, Goliath. Well, when you kill Goliath the Philistines run. The smaller sins are easier to let go of when you have been victorious over the “big one.”

Is there any of His work for me to do? You, with your won best effort will at best only rise to your level of incompetence. When you finally confess, “I can’t” He can be heard saying, “I can!” Reach beyond your grasp. That is where you end and He begins.

Who is He? I would rather ask, “Who is He to you?” God is the same today as He was when He spoke the universe into existence and when He became incarnate man. Pledge allegiance to the King and diligently prepare for His return.

I can hear the hoof-beats. The trumpet is about to sound. Are you ready to go home?

AND THEN

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AND THEN

By Rick Mathes

2 Timothy 2:13 (NASB77) 13  If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself.

What does a hopeless unbeliever expect will happen the moment after their last heartbeat? It musts be scary. How about expecting to fry in the flames of Purgatory for thousands of years like the Roman Catholics believe or soul-sleep nothingness of the Jehovah’s Witnesses? At least the Mormon men believe that they will become a god on their own planet! You can’t make this up. Thank you Jesus the God-breathed words of God assure us otherwise.

The blessed hope evangelists live for is drawing near when we will step into the presence of the Kind of this universe and our personal friend Jesus the Christ. It’s a sure bet because it’s the Word of God and He keeps His word. It would be contrary the very fiber of His being to be mistaken or unknowing or eternal things.

The Word of God washes and purifies the soul. Holiness is a rush if only for a moment so you can imagine how it will e in glory when we are wholly His!

What price would you put on comfort or contentment? I had the wife of a famous millionaire call me and ask what I need and she would write out a check for it. It ws the first time I realized that I didn’t need anything. Imagine that! Having a clear conscience and clean record is priceless; no amount of money can buy it. Our Lord promised our needs would be met and they are.

A hope of eternal life in heaven sustains a taste of heaven here on earth. Consider tht it all was created for our pleasure and we were created for His. He’s coming back and in fact very near at this moment. We are about to embark on an adventure beyond compare so fasten your seat belt and hold on!

How satisfied can one get, to know that now and forever He will never leave us nor forsake us? We will soon see Him as He really is and receive our reward: now that’s what I call total satisfaction no matter what I had to go through to get there. We surely will be blessed: that is, we will be happy beyond words or any joy we have ever experienced. It’s all about Him and His return that anchors us in the Faith.

 

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.

ALL OR NOTHING

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ALL OR NOTHING

By Rick Mathes

Luke 9:23 (NASB77) 23 And He was saying to them all, ” If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

Salvation is not free. It costs everything. We must exchange all we are for all His is. It is a total displacement of who we were for who His is. That’s Christianity, being Christ-like. Not religion.

If you sense in your heart a yearning for Jesus to be Lord, praise Him because you have been especially chosen to be His. No one comes to Him except the Father gives to Him. You are elect and like metal to a magnet, you can’t avoid coming to Him. You are not able to turn back for long for the urge to be His is too great to resist

If you confess Jesus as your Lord, you must submit to His Lordship in everything. This includes those times and places when no one is watching. Well, He’s all present so there isn’t anything you can get by Him. He sees it all. You are His slave and He owns you totally. So like boing water through coffee grounds you process your every move through Him.

We know the cross He carried for us but we usually don’t accept the cross we need to carry for Him. We have been charged with sinning and sentenced to die to self so that we might live to serve Him. It all begins at the foot of the cross when we collapse under the weight of our sinful life and repent of our sins at the feet of the Master.

We must be wholly His to be holy. You can’t be part saved either. You are or you aren’t. When you do, submission to His will naturally follows and He becomes the Hand and we become the glove. He goes about the Father’s business in our skin.

Michael Angelo was asked how he knew that David was I that discarded block of marble. He replied that he just kept chipping on that marble that which wasn’t him. So it is with us as our Lord chips away at our sins so that we might repent, say “Ouch!” and slowly return to our first nature which was to walk in the presence of God. It’s our second nature to sin but all that changes when you are brought to that moment of truth by the Holy Spirit where it is all or nothing.

AKU AKU

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AKU, AKU (Freedom)

By Rick Mathes

Romans 8:1 (NASB77) 1  There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Unbelievers are essentially doubting the Word of God and are calling Jesus a liar. Only He can set us free from the law of sin and death. We are saved from condemnation by His death and atonement on that horrid death-stake. We are set free!

In the deepest parts of African jungles, revivals will last for several days. The natives arrive 3 days early and leave 3 days late. Evangelists preach until they are exhausted and then another takes his place. Thousands cry out to the Lord for salvation and then return to their villages shouting in joy, “Aku-Aku!” (Freedom-freedom) They are set free! Free from what?

Most important we are accepted by the residents of heaven. Those of hell ae whipped into a frenzy of evil and plan their next attack of the beloved more intense than ever. This is all a permitted preparation to show Satan we can stand up to his worst and still inherit our rewards at the precious feet of our Lord Jesus. Jesus washed the feet of the least and we now worship the feet of Jesus the most!

Being sanctified in Jesus means we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and no one dare attempt to break the seal. The official sanction of god is upon His elect and the very gates of hell cannot prevail against His chosen from the beginning of time.

We are possessors of eternal life and are blessed with all spiritual blessings.

C.H. Spurgeon: “I like the only translation. There was a martyr once summoned before Bonner. After he expressed his faith in Christ, Bonner said, “You are a heretic and will be damned.” “No,” said he, quoting the old version, “There is therefore now no damnation to them that believe in Christ Jesus.”

 

HOW TO REPENT

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HOW TO REPENT

By Rick Mathes

Matthew 3:2 “ Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

We need to start out with: Jesus wants you! Now you can wiggle and squiggle like worms on a hook but you need to face it; you are hooked. What Jesus wants, Jesus gets so it is futile to fight the inevitable. Jesus will have you and sooner is a whole lot better than later. He wants to bless you as a loving Father to his son if only you will let him.

So what are you to do when faced with a seemingly irresistible sin? Or in other words, how do you avoid committing this shameful act before the cross of Christ?

The very first thing is you must do is stop dead in your tracks. Just plain stop. Don’t go an inch further. Just shut down all your body parts and senses. Go on disconnect.

Then you need to turn around. Don’t get all hyper and upset and do something stupid or mare shameful. Don’t move. Let your mind catch up with your better judgment. Let the Holy Spirit get behind the wheel once more.

Now you need to turn around. Put you back to the devil and press on! It’s time to hurry back to Jesus. Do not hesitate and don’t look back. You may not have another chance so take this one dead serious and don’t let this opportunity pass you by.

There are three levels of confession and conversion.

The first is intellectual. You need to confess Jesus Lord in your head and really mean it. Don’t try to understand everything about God because you never will. He has informed us through the Word and works of Jesus to take the narrow road to glory and leave all the filth Satan has thrown at is behind.

I don’t trust feelings because feelings because Satan can counterfeit them but when the Word of God and only the Word of God touches my heart, I know it and so will you. We can’t explain it to a non-believer but the Holy Words come alive and now we begin to walk the talk and confess Jesus AS Lord. We have moved from easy-believism to Lordship Salvation when we believe and obey.

MAN GOD

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MAN GOD

Romans 1:3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh,

Jesus was born a descendent of David through His son Nathan to Mary, His mother. He Holy Spirit caused this hypostasis; a miracle to occur so that He wouldn’t be born of Joseph naturally whose linage from Solomon was cursed. A baby was born that was God incarnate. The angels exploded the heavens with joy and Satan’s swarms of death stinging demons went into a frenzy of venomous oaths to kill the King of Glory. They did kill him eventually only to have Him rise from the dead on the third say as He said He would. Death stung Jesus and died!

Jesus was a man’s man in any measure you may use. The perfect Man is not only worth emulating but also our God in the flesh is deserving of all our worship. Yes, He was born of a woman and was God clothed in the flesh blood. He grew in stature but also in wisdom from His text book mentor, Isaiah.

As many of us have, He would go hungry, homeless and suffer much discomfort and also walk and rest in such luxury as His close friend Lazarus would provide Him with. The women fussed over Him and His gang hung on His every word and eventually died with His name on their lips.

Even from the cross, He pulled back His heavenly glory and pitifully cried out with His parched throat, “I thirst.” His physical attributes were very real and human. Consider that He didn’t have the strength to carry a 50 pound crossbeam to the hill of Calvary. Even before that, He rested at the well with the Samaritan woman and how about when He fell asleep in the boat as it was tossed and turned in that violent storm? He was real Man that bled real red blood like we all do as was evidenced by the Centurion who confessed Jesus as Lord.

The real torture that demonstrated His manhood wasn’t on the cross that was anti-climatic. The horror of the hell He was about to suffer came upon Him in the garden. It was so terrifying that He prayed that it might pass and He sweat blood!

No doubt about it, He suffered, bled and died and was buried like you and I will someday find ourselves, planted in the soil that God created us from. The Bib le and other records verify, without any doubt, He was a real historical figure that walked this earth as we do. He was descended as a man from Heaven and returned a King that had conquered death for us.

PRESS ON!

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