Tag: sin

LEFT BEHIND

By Rick Mathes

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

While you are asleep at night, Satan is doing push-ups and planning the lies about Christianity he will begin broadcasting when the sun comes up. We are at war and it’s about time you signed up.

Let’s set the record straight: Christian faith is not an irrational leap of faith. The faith we enjoy is perfectly rational and is not an emotional crutch as so many non-believers claim. Our emotions harmonize when we are in tune with the angels.

Superstitions do not have verifiable facts and hundreds of witnesses. No, it is not some old wives tale or legend. Don’t fall for the secular claims that the so called lost gospels of Christ prove that much of what we understand Christianity to be is bogus. I will admit that by my reckoning, only two-percent of those that claim the are born again really are.

Some are run off because they believe that our faith is nothing but a long list of rules: do’s and don’ts. It’s true that the Pharisees were very rigid on their traditions and alleged violations of Scripture but Jesus set them straight and the Bible breathed the breath of freedom once again. We are not under the law anymore. It was instituted to define what repulsed God. But when we submit to His Lordship we only gravitate to holiness.

Christianity is not just a lot of rituals. Christianity is a person: Jesus. All the rest is not relevant. The early church met in a home, near water for baptisms. They sang hymns, reaffirmed the Decalogue, heard a Scripture reading, and had communion and a fellowship dinner afterwards. All the Roman Catholic Popery is nonsense and has no Biblical basis. It is completely made up by the religious elite that think they can invent their religion as they go along. Paul said that if you change anything in what was originally taught, you should be kicked out of the church and relegated to Hell.

Christians have been called fanatics. Do you know what a fanatic is? It’s someone who loves the Lord more than you do!

The most absurd claim by unbelievers, the World Council of Churches and other liberals is that there are many ways to get to heaven. Jesus does not leave that option open to anyone. He said, “No one comes to the Father but by Me.” This is very clear but most don’t get it.

LAST WORD

By Rick Mathes

Matthew 28:18-20 (NASB77) ¹⁸ And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ” All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  ¹⁹ ” Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,  ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Matthew ended his gospel with the final thoughts he wanted the readers to note and do something about. Our Lord’s last words here have more the weight of pure gold. It’s my understanding and the teaching of the word is to be a Christian is to be Christ-like.

Christians are being persecuted in every quarter of the world More have been killed for their faith in my lifetime than from my birthdate back to the Cross! Satan has accelerated his attack at an unprecedented pace and the only thing that will save us is the fearless preaching of ministers that are totally consecrated to Him and pursuing holiness with all that is within him.

What must oe do I these perilous times to keep the faith, fight the good fight and finish the race? How can we as mortals take a tan against Lucifer and his fallen angels?

It takes spiritual testosterone and fearless preaching! I am so ashamed of the so called ordained that are feminine wimps. How can we fight against the Caesars of thie secular war when the pulpits are silent on abortion, homosexuality, immorality, alcohol & drug abuse, child molestaing, etc. I am aghast  at the horror show I see on our local news each night of murders, sodomy, terrorists, war, starvation, plagues, and wht do you hear from our Lord’s professing ambassadors on the altars across our lands; nothing but baby food, cute jokes & illustrations but mostly just entertainment. A cross we must carry to save our civilization is a persecution of our faith. The revolution with the Sword of the Word must rage now or the America our forefathers founded will be D.O.A.

The solution for you and I is to put Jesus first, follow Him and deny self. Reformed faith and revival of primitive Christians hinges on what eachof us does about Jesus. Your family and mine ae the building blocks of the Christian society Satan is hell-bound on destroying. We know the end result; we win but we must get into the battle as the Lord last word commands us!

 

LAST SERMON

Luke 23:35 ³⁵ And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.”

“Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”

Bless His bleeding heart. He began this sermon with forgiveness of those who have sinned against Him. This is an intercession of charity that has forever been unmatched in human history. It was the major opening theme of all who met Him and spoke the good news to those who would listen and it is the heart of the pulpit message to this day.

“Today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Now that’s what I call an assurance of salvation. Note that the thief never even looked at a Bible, he didn’t attend a church service, he never experienced an immersion baptism nor did he have any outstanding gifts nor display any signs and wonders.

“Woman, behold your son. Behold your mother.”

The only thing we can take with us to heaven is our family. What greater love can a son have but to love and care for the mother that gave him life. There is something special in a son’s love for his mother.

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?”

I can answer that: so that He would never leave nor forsake us. How horrible that the Godhead was ripped apart in the black night of mid-day. God turned His back on His Son and let the full weight of all hell’s sin crush the life out of Him.

“It is finished!”

Yes but it is not done. We still have time to go about the Father’s business. The full understanding of this dropped me to my knees to accept His forgiveness and it is as new, profound and fresh today as it was then.

“I thirst.” “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

He wet His parched lips to announce His homecoming! Having said and done all that the Word prophesied. It was time to go home. He was the second Adam but the first-born to everlasting glory and when our duty here on earth is complete, we will join Him and all the saints that have passed before us. Won’t that be quite a party!

LAMB OF GOD

By Rick Mathes

John 1:36 and he looked upon Jesus as He walked,

and •said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

The eyes are the window of the soul. They are the entry level to who you are and who you are becoming. Satan uses your eyes to linger on sin until you taste of it and become to proud to admit it and repent. The Holy Spirit has an entirely different plan for your eyes and of course the destination of your soul. You are sovereign over y0our body and your eyes will only look where your will directs them. So I want to encourage you to learn the following lesson and do some spiritual weight lifting with me.

1. Look Backward: Don’t allow Satan to run your nose through your dirty past to steal your joy. But look backward to a dying Savior nailed to the tree gasping “Forgive them.” He stretched out His arms and said, “I love you this much,” and it was finished. Your past is now past. In fact my favorite verse in the KJV is, “It came to pass!”
2. Look Upward: Put your face in the mud, the blood and the tears at the foot of the cross and then look up into His suffering face and eyes. Can you see the love and pity He has for you? Like giving birth, He suffered the pain so that you might be born again. He loves you so much He would go through it all again just for you.
3. Look Inward: Christ lives in you. The old has gone and the new has come. You are now Christ with skin on. He became the hand you are the glove. When people get o know you do they get to know Him? You might be the only gospel another person may ever see. What a good life it is!
4. Look Forward: Stepping through “Heavensgate” will be the most thrilling experience of your life! He’s coming back and we are pressing on! In the Old Testament the prophets looked forward through the telescope to the Cross. Now we have spiritual vision and see the glory we have been promised forward to His second coming.

He said that the gates of Hell will not prevail against us. He will never give us more than we can handle. He will always give us a way out. He will never leave nor forsake us. No one can take us out of His hand and where He is we will be. He said it, I believe it, that settles it!

LACKING

By Rick Mathes

Matthew 19:20 The young man •said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?”

People of wealth are usually owned by what they own. Things of affluence and comfort can choke the Word of God out of their golden lives: all sizzle and no steak. We are the culmination of all that past before us and we are the product of that which will be: garbage in – garbage out. A look in our mirror only reflects what we want to view and too often, we don’t see with His eyes. The Light of Jesus is an illumination that discloses real life without the shadows of demons that lurk behind money, power and prestige.

Satan offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world if He would bow down and worship him. It stands to reason that he couldn’t have offered them if he didn’t have them. A glaring example of this is Las Vegas NV: the capital of self-indulgence, decadence and materialism. Sins of pride and covetousness are the magnets that irresistibly draw you to your slow death of spirit and ultimately even your life.

Jesus said that He was the way, the truth and the life!

There is no love in sin. The feeling you get is a pathetic feeling of hate and self-loathing. God made y ou in His Image and Likeness. What can you add to that? Then why try? Your spirit is restless for what you see on the outside instead of who you are, in Him, on the inside. So Satan captures your eyes, flesh and then pride hostage and you become addicted to more, more and more until you finally red-line yourself to death: dead. Christ is your only salvation, got it?

This peace that protesters seek will not and cannot be produced much less even discovered apart from Him. Our hope is then reawakened. The unbelievers shift their center of gravity from divine to human where each becomes god and determines morality, integrity and character upon the basis of “self.” This omission of God is a fatal attraction that Satan relishes in.

The joy we lack is replaced with any counterfeit we will fall for. The devil knows the right buttons to push and even though he can’t make us sin and lose our joy, he can lead us to despair and unhappiness with what appears to be worldly prosperity.

Face the fact that your only security is in the capable hands of your Maker. God alone has all the true wealth and it is all yours in glory if you will let go of it here on earth.

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

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.