Tag: salvation

AN ANGEL SPOKE

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

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!

AKU AKU

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

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

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

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

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

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!

http://www.RickMathes.net

http://www.RickMathes.org

A BRICK WALL

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

A BRICK WALL

By Rick Mathes

Philippians 3:12 12 Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

Physics has taught me that if I apply a constant pressure against any object, in time, it will move. It may take a thousand years of my diligent effort, but the wall will go down and the bricks will be scattered until they become the dust from which they were made. So it is with sin and all the agents of corruption: they will come down and return to dust if only you will apply the pressure long enough: persistence of the saints.

Take for example the allurements of the world and all the creature comforts that we are inundated with in every area of merchandising. I expect that when all the surfaces have an advertisement on them, someone will figure out how to project ads on the face of the moon for the whole world to see!

It is second nature to covet or lust for all those things that are dangled just out of our reach. This includes advancement in our career moves. I was so diabolical that I would teach those under me only to a point and I would keep key information and training of special skills to myself so that they would never threaten my position of power and authority. The presumption of corruption and underlying schemes was elemental and necessary to outmaneuver those clamoring to take me down with a smile on their wretched faces. The old leaven surely does foul the whole being and cause a tension of heart-ache only the blood-soaked Cross of Christ can heal.

When your soul has lost ground and Devine life has declined, take a good look at that which was and remind yourself: I can, I will and I must overcome in Him. My heart has lost its softness and my conscience is no longer tender. The Cross has lost its attraction and grace no longer seems sweet to me. I’ve lost my mind to the seclusion of he Netherlands and iti is read meat for the prowling and devouring lion, I am terrified!

Bring me back Oh Lord the convictions of my offense before your holy throne with a godly sorrow that is couched in true humility and confession. I ache to return to You and the sweet comforts of your embrace.

That brick wall will come down and my effort will persist. I will persevere against the immovable obstacle of sin in a measure consistent with my renewed and growing faith. The victory is ours, mine and yours as my besetting sin crumbles into the oblivion of my past, gone and never again an obstacle to the gateway and cornerstone of deliverance.

The wall has come down!

 

100% NEW

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

100% NEW

By Rick Mathes

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NASB77) 17  Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

The center of creation is Jesus because He spoke all you see, all that is into existence. Not only did His superior imagination think of all things but He only had to say the Word and all creation sprang into existence in a fraction of the speed of light! I can’t get my mind around that but I can attest with all truth that all born again believers live through Christ.

Like boiling water through coffee grounds we pass our lives through Him and He filters out all worldly and temporal idols until only He is left for you to worship. As we live with Christ all hat belong to Satan flee from us as darkness cannot last in the presence of light. In living for Christ we pay homage to His love and sacrifice for us even unto death so that we might live.

We Christians are often accused of being judgmental. Sinners hate having their sins exposed to the Savior, so we are hated. They misquote the Word to condemn us of not loving but being mean and judgmental. Well for the record, I am just fine having you or God judge me as I judge you. I can state that because I live to please Him and if I am saying or doing anything contrary to His Word I want you to rebuke and correct me so judge away but also notice the plank in your own eye.

We all have a different purpose in life but be aware of your purpose and don’t neglect it. It was why you were created. You are to fulfill the desires Christ has in His heart, the heart that broke for you and for the atonement of your sins.

If only we could put our ear to heaven I wonder what we would hear the triune God converse about us. Would they be blessed and ecstatic over our pursuit of happiness? You die to yourself and life for the approval of Jesus.

I fear doing anything that would shame or offend my wife because of my lifelong commitmentto be one in her as her soul-mate. How much more are my conversations and actions a reflection of Him when I am born again and 100% a new man I never knew. Won’t you join me for an experience you will never forget.

PRESS ON!

http://www.RickMathes.net

http://www.RickMathes.org

7 WOES

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

7 WOES

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!

PRESS ON!

http://www.RickMathes.net

http://www.RickMathes.org

WHY ME LORD?

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

WHY ME LORD?

By Rick Mathes

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?

WHY DO YOU LOVE SATAN?

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

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.

WHAT IS FINISHED?

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

WHAT IS FINISHED?

By Rick Mathes

Jesus commissioned the Holy Spirit to carry on until He returned. It to Him we seek God’s works by grace in us. As Christians, sold out and totally committed to our returning King we have had our vanity transformed into humility. Once we understood His atonement for our sins on the cross we dropped to our knees, put our faces in the mud, the blood and the tears and cried out, “It is finished!” Our old self died.

In the deepest humility we have an earnestness of purpose that only God knows where it came from. It sure hasn’t been natural since we accepted Him in our head and heart as Savior and Lord.

Because of His finished work we are now friends of God. Can you get a handle on that? We are not at enmity with the Lord of our universe but rather personal friends of His now. We can walk into His presence and be more than welcomed at any time we want to. Imagine that for a moment.

We have been declared righteous. This is not a righteousness of our own but one imputed by Christ’s death on the cross. He took our rap-sheet (list of crimes) with Him. Our record is spotless. God will not even know we ever sinned! Isn’t that something? It is finished! I know that because we have been rescued from sin. The devil hasn’t got his claws in us because we are friends of God.

The cell door has come off of its hinges and the bars have been sawn asunder. We have been set free from the power, punishment and will soon be set free from the presence of sin.

How proud can we be when the Lord stepped from the tomb and Satan knew he was finished. Now like a junk-yard dog, he’s trying to take down every Christian he can until he is thrown into the lake of fire.

We have been chosen of god and predestines to be in that parade when the Lord comes back and reins forever. We who are born again will lift up our hands and shout, “Only you O Lamb or God are worthy!”