The Nets Didn't Break

 John tells us in the last chapter of his gospel, when the disciples got out of the boat and stepped onto the beach, “they saw a charcoal fire already laid and fish placed on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have now caught.” Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.”

That’s a lot of fish, probably much more than their nets would normally hold. Otherwise John would not have added the detail of the number of fish caught, and then add: “The net was not torn.”

And so, not only was the catch supernatural, but the net’s strength was also supernatural.

Do you feel the weight you carry today is too heavy to endure? Do you sense something is about to break at any moment?

Please listen: God cares more about YOU than He cares about fishing nets. That’s why He made an unfailing promise to you and to me: “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13, NRSV)

Will you trust Him one more day? And then the next? And the next? He will NOT fail you.

Hear again what God says: “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will also help you, I will also uphold you with My righteous right hand.’(Isaiah 41:10, NASB)

First Sunday of Advent 2020

 The First Advent

Why God Entered Humanity through Jesus

Today we celebrate the first of four weeks of Advent – the season observed in many churches as a time commemorating the First Coming of our Messiah.

Why did God enter humanity through the virgin’s womb 2000 years ago? One reason is to offer us an abundant life – a life overflowing with joy in the Holy Spirit. But before we look at that reason, we need a little backstory into the origin of salvation history. For that, let’s turn to Genesis 3. You will remember how Satan, in the form of the serpent, deceived Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, and then Adam joined her in that sin.

Listen, if you don’t know this, you NEED to know this: The devil is not ambivalent to us. He is our cruelest, most vile, supremely evil and mortal enemy. And he has only one goal: to destroy us. Jesus tells us this in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”

Which brings us back to one of the reasons for the first Advent. Jesus Himself tells us, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10)

But that begs the question: “How did God provide us the means for an abundant life, a life overflowing with freedom and hope and love and confidence and joy in the Holy Spirit?

Let me suggest five ways in which God made it possible for us to have an abundant life.

Number one: To provide us an opportunity for an abundant life, God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world to reconcile sinners with their Holy Creator. Scripture tells us that before Christ, we were “by nature children of wrath” and we were “strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” You’ll find all that in Ephesians chapter two.

Nevertheless, also God tells us: “For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in [Christ], and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross . . ..” (Colossians 1:19-20)

Our need for reconciliation dates to the Garden when our first parents sinned. That’s why we need a new heart. A new birth. Here is what God tells us through the prophet Ezekiel: “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26)

And you will remember what the Lord Jesus said to the Jewish theologian Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3 

Some of you may remember the words of this hymn: “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. O precious is the flow That makes me white as snow, No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Do you remember the first time you realized ALL of your sins were wiped from God’s memory? I’ve often quoted from Psalm 103 and Micah 7, but here is Isaiah 43:25  “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”

So, the first way God made for us to have an abundant life in Jesus’ first Advent, is that He came to offer us reconciliation with the Father. But as with any offer, we can accept the gift or reject the gift. I hope you have accepted the offer – and will continue to do so from the Father’s hand.

The second way Jesus’ First Advent offers us an abundant life is that He came to expose the deceptions of the devil before they trap us in lifestyles of sin. Satan knows that a lifestyle of sin makes us enemies of God. James tells us in the fourth chapter of his epistle, “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Deception has been Satan’s strategy since the Garden. Do you remember what he said to Eve? “The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5)

Did you catch that? You will be like God. He tempted our first mother with the promise of being in control of her own kingdom, to live her way, for her purposes, according to her will – and not need to be submissive to the will of God. It’s called the lust for power – power over our circumstances and over others.

In that brief conversation with Eve, he persuaded her to question God’s love for her. “You surely won’t die” he lied. “Go ahead and take the fruit. It’s pretty isn’t it? It holds the promise of satisfying your hunger, doesn’t it?  God doesn’t want you to have it. Why do you think that is, except He is holding you back from what you deserve?”

So Eve, being fully deceived, took the fruit, and then gave it to Adam. And if you know the story, they DID die. Their sin severed their special and intimate relationship with God. The branch was broken off from the vine. It’s what happened to all of us when we willfully rebelled against God. Here is a portion of John 15 in which Jesus says, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. . . . Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. . . If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. (15:1-6)

May God help us always to be alert to the enemy’s subterfuge.

Number three: Jesus came in His first advent to teach us how to walk the path of eternal life instead of the path that leads to everlasting destruction.

The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5-7 is the quintessential example of that demonstration. “Blessed are the gentle . . .“Blessed are the merciful . . .Blessed are the pure in heart, “Blessed are the peacemakers . . . . Give in secret. Pray in secret. Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. No one can serve two masters. Stop worrying about what you will eat and what you will wear. Seek first the Kingdom of God.  Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you."

God knows we need a supernatural Counselor to guide us, to teach us. Jesus tells us in John 16:13, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth.” And where do we find eternal, inerrant, and timeless truth that leads to eternal life? Only and exclusively in the Word of the eternal God.

God has given the world His instruction book, and His Holy Spirit to guide those who want to walk in truth.

An abundant life. Here is the fourth way Jesus’ First Advent leads us to an abundant life: The Father offers everyone the privilege to become His child through faith in the atoning and bloody sacrifice Jesus made for us on Calvary’s cross. But His offer is ONLY to those who want to be God’s children.

Don’t be deceived by those who tell us everyone is God’s child. That is a devilish lie. Yes, all men and women are created in God’s image, but only those who come to Him through faith in Messiah Jesus can be adopted into God’s family. 

Here is Scripture’s unbending declaration of the matter: “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:11-12).

And number five, Jesus’ first advent offers us an abundant life because He came to defeat death.

Ever since Adam and Eve sinned, death has haunted humanity at every corner and in every shadow. But here’s what the Holy Spirit tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:

“Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

So, why did Jesus leave glory itself to become a human baby who grew to be a man who then offered Himself to die a torturous death on a cross?  Why did Jesus do that? 

To reiterate, Jesus came to us the first time to:

1. Reconcile us again with the Father

2. Shine His light on the devil’s continual deceptions

3. Demonstrate for us how to live a life set apart for God

4. Make us children of God

5. Defeat death

Let me close now with the wonderful words of this 19th century hymn by Phillip Bliss:

Hallelujah, What a Savior

Man of Sorrows! what a name For the Son of God, who came, Ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude, In my place condemned He stood; Sealed my pardon with His blood. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Guilty, vile, and helpless we; Spotless Lamb of God was He; “Full atonement!” can it be? Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die; “It is finished!” was His cry; Now in Heav’n exalted high. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

When He comes, our glorious King, All His ransomed home to bring, then anew His song we’ll sing: Hallelujah! What a Savior!

end

Context!

 Did you know the Bible actually says, “There is no God”? In fact, it says it TWICE, just to make the point. You’ll find it in Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1.

Go ahead, look it up.

Ok, I’ll save you the trouble. Here’s the context of each verse: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”

Yes. Context is everything. Beware of ANYONE – clergy, teachers, politicians, ‘missionaries’ who knock on our doors . . . be alert to anyone who takes God’s word out of context. You might want to memorize this maxim: “A text taken out of context is a pretext to teach error.”

Our safety from spiritual deception is inflexibly rooted in knowing God’s word. If you have not made a habit of reading God‘s word every day, you might think about doing so.

There is no shortcut to protecting yourself and those you love from liars and thieves who want to steal your soul.

Take Five with Jude, Lesson 27

 

Take Five with Jude

Lesson 27

 

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy . . . .”  

 

Last time we looked at the first clause in verse 24. Let’s now dive into the second clause which promises the believer that God is able to make us stand in the presence of His glory, blameless and with great joy.

 

Can you imagine that? God can make treasonous, guilty, and vile sinners as we most surely are – He can make us stand BLAMELESS in His holy and utterly righteous presence.

 

Some synonyms are ‘Innocent,’ and ‘Righteous.’ The New Testament uses yet another adjective: ‘Justified.’ For example, St. Paul tells us: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Here also is his letter to the Christians at Corinth: “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

 

I hope you caught that last sentence. Regardless of their sin, deep as it might have been, God declared them ‘justified’ (righteous) in His sight.

 

How could the Holy God declare such sinners to be righteous? That’s an easy question to answer. It’s because they placed their sins under the blood of Jesus. They were washed clean with that Holy Blood.

 

I love the lyrics of the old hymn, Man of Sorrows. Here is a short excerpt, but it makes the point of Jude’s words in today’s text:

 

“Man of Sorrows,” what a name

For the Son of God who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim!
Hallelujah! what a Savior!

 

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood;
Hallelujah! what a Savior!

 

Guilty, vile, and helpless, we,
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
Full redemption—can it be?
Hallelujah! what a Savior!

 

On that Calvary cross, Christ BECAME sin, so that through their faith and subsequent obedience to Christ, God made them as righteous as His Son. (See 2 Corinthians 5:21).

 

That is no insignificant text in Jude 24. Think about the WORST sin you have ever committed. Did you confess that sin to God? Did you repent and ask Him to wash you with the sacrificial blood of the Savior?

 

When you did that, Scripture tells us God transferred the punishment you deserved onto Jesus – who became your SUBSTITUTE.

 

That was the whole message of the Mosaic sacrificial system, especially when the High Priest laid his hands on the sacrificial animal, transferring the people’s sins to the animal. It became their substitutionary sacrifice. (For example, see Leviticus 16 and Isaiah 53).

 

THAT is how – and why – the holy and righteous God of creation can make every follower of Christ “stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy.”

 

No wonder Jude warned his readers earlier in this short letter to be aware of ungodly false teachers “[who] crept in unnoticed” into their fellowship, and who “have gone the way” of Cain, Balaam, and Korah. Jude warned them these false teachers – likely some in their own church leadership – who were “hidden reefs” causing shipwreck to the faith of God’s true children. (verses 4, 11, and 12).

 

Our loving Father is able to make any sinner blameless, righteous, and justified through their faith in the sacrificial and atoning blood of Jesus.

 

ANY sinner. For any sin. And for every sin. Which is why, I am sure, Jude justly concludes his letter with words that should mark our daily walk with the Lord: “To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (verse 25)

 

Amen.

Can We No Longer use the "G" and "W" Words?

 I originally published this to my blog in 2009. I republished it in 2014. Today, more than eleven years after the original post, things have even grown much worse -- even INSIDE the Church.  I updated my original remarks only a little.

------------

When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life. (Ezekiel 33:8-9)

Many years ago, St. Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, "For when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:1-2).

In discussing politically sensitive subjects like abortion and same-sex marriage, I hear Christians appeal less and less to eternal standards -- like, God says it is Wrong (the "G" and "W" words). Instead, they appeal to more nebulous "touchy-feely" arguments like, it's not good for the family, or, it's not good for the children, or, it's not good for society, or it's not good for (fill in the blank).

But God tells His followers to preach Christ. Here is His word to us through Paul's letter to Timothy: "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths."  (2 Timothy 4)

Preach the truth! Teach the truth! Stand for the truth!

Liasten! Scripture warned us that the time would come when people willfully turn their ears away from truth and seek pastors and teachers to tell them what they want to hear. 

And Oh! If there ever was such a time that people seek for ear-ticklers, it is 2020!.

Lord Jesus help us! When will we who claim allegiance to the King of kings, Lord of lords, and the Judge of all flesh -- when will we leave off the arguments from sociology, philosophy and post-modern theology and stick to eternal truth? The current culture -- even within an increasingly growing number of churches -- scoff at the idea of eternal truth, but when true Christians stand for truth, we will have done what the eternal God has called us to do.

No wonder the Lord Jesus vomits the lukewarm churches like Laodecia out of His mouth. 

Thanksgiving Message 2020

You can watch my message here on YouTube: https://youtu.be/BgOpZSPdpRY  

Message for Thanksgiving 2020

This week is Thanksgiving week. It’s the celebration of the historical story of the when first settlers on this continent to give thanks to God for His rich blessings and gifts to us.

 

And so, on this Sunday before our Thanksgiving celebration, I thought it good to take these next 30 minutes to reflect – not just think about, but to reflect – on the things for which you are thankful; And for which I am thankful.

 

Some of the first things that come to mind for which I am thankful are – for example – good health, for living in a country where people are free to worship – or not to worship – as they choose. A place where we can speak our minds without fear of Storm Troopers knocking down our doors at 2 in the morning.

 

I am thankful for my wife of 46 years, for our healthy children, for comfortable finances. So, I am thankful to God for many of the gifts He has given me over the many years – even before I began serving Him. And I know you here are also thankful to our God for the gifts He has given you over the years and even to this day.

 

But all of those gifts, we realize – if not consciously then subconsciously – all of those gifts can be gone in an instant. Life changes. At times, slowly, and at other times, in a moment.

 

Take health, for example. A stroke. A heart attack. A fall – and our health changes for the rest of our lives. Or our relationships – a death of a spouse, or even worse – a divorce can change our lives. Finances can evaporate like smoke from a candle in a hurricane.

 

So, if we hang our thankfulness on things that are by their very nature transient – health, relationships, finances, and the like – if we hang our thankfulness on those things then what happens when those things are gone? Do Christians have anything firm, rock solid, immovable and unchangeable for which we can always and at all times be thankful to God for His unchangeable gifts?

 

The answer to that serious question is an unquestionable and resounding, Yes!

 

And so, what are some of those unchangeable gifts God has given to every one of His children who were born not of the flesh, but through their faith in and obedience to Jesus the Christ? I can list off the top of my head a dozen of God’s promises, and so could many of you. But we do not have time to list them all and talk about them, so what I have done is selected only three of the gifts of God for which we can and ought to be thankful.

 

First: There is the Bible, God’s unchangeable, eternal, inerrant, and transcultural voice to us – His very heart to us. How could you know God loves you like a precious Father if we did not have His assurance of that relationship in His word to us? How could we know He forgives us for every and any sin when we repent, if we did not have His vow to that effect in the Bible? How could we hope for divine direction in our moral decisions if we did not have God’s flawless word to guide us?

 

How can the Christian be sure – really, really SURE that when we close our eyes in death, we will open them a moment later in the smiling face of our Father in heaven? We can be sure of that reality because God tells us it is a reality in the Scriptures.

 

How can the Christian know what kind of lifestyle is pleasing to God and what lifestyle brings His judgment? Again, we go back to the unchangeable and infallible word of God. Surely, as Isaiah tells us, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:8) It is for those reasons, and for so many others that we cannot take time to rehearse them, it is for those reasons the psalmist tells us, “How can a young man [or an old one] keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word” (Psalm 119:9). And later in the psalm: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (verse 105).

 

So when all of life changes – slowly or in an instant, the Christian can be thankful for the unchangeable word of God, the voice of God, the heart of God, the counsel of God, the direction of God, the promises and the warnings of God found in the pages of Scripture from Genesis through Revelation.

 

For what else can the Christian be thankful on Thanksgiving Day? How about for God’s forgiveness, that glorious and unfathomable truth that God placed all the sins of the penitent on the Lamb of God as He suffered and died on that cross. Scripture tells us that Jesus became our substitutionary sacrifice, that He purchased our pardon from the Father with His most precious blood.

 

Jesus died in our place, for our sins, so that WE would not have to pay that eternal penalty.

As I was reading the first chapter of Luke’s gospel a few days ago the Holy Spirit stopped me when I came to verses 76 and 77. The context is Zacharias’ prophecy about his newly born son, John. Here are the verses:

“And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins”  (Luke 1:76-79).

 

The Greek word Luke uses here for forgiveness is a-fay-CEASE. It is most often translated as the remission of sins. So, what does remission mean in the New Testament? It carries the idea of a forgiveness or pardon of sins to the extent as if they had never been committed.

 

Did you get that? When God gives us remission of sins it is as if those sins had never been committed!   It’s the same word Matthew used when he recorded the words of Jesus during the Last Supper: “And he took a cup, and gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many unto remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:27-28, ASV)

 

I heard an illustration a short while ago that helps illustrate what that promise means. When a person breaks a bone and the orthopedist places it in a cast for healing, the bone will eventually heal and be pretty much as good as new. BUT, for the rest of the person’s life, an x-ray will always reveal the place where the bone was broken.

 

When we commit sin, when our relationship with God is broken, repentance (we will look at that word shortly) – repentance restores our relationship,

and fixes the ‘break.’

 

Scripture tells us God casts the sins of the truly penitent – meaning the one who has acknowledged to God that he or she sinned against God, broke His commandments, is truly sorry and demonstrates that sorrow by a decision to never commit that sin again – God casts the sins of the truly penitent as far as the east is from the west. You find that promise in Psalm 103. Scripture also tells us God casts our sins into the depths of the sea. You can find that one in Micah 7.

 

BUT – and here is the thing I have missed for decades and decades: When we repent, God grants us remission of our sins. In other words, from God’s perspective, it is as if WE NEVER COMMITTED THE OFFENSE!

 

Please now take a moment to think of the absolute worst sin you have ever committed in your life. Do it now. I will give you a moment to do that.

 

Did you ever confess that sin to God and ask forgiveness for the sake of Jesus’ sacrifice for that sin? If you did, then God tells us through His unchangeable words of promise that He has remitted that sin, meaning it is now as if YOU NEVER COMMITTED THAT OFFENSE.

 

Oh! Happy Thanksgiving!

 

I heard this song the other day during my morning time with Jesus. The lyrics spoke comfort and confidence to me. Here are some of the lyrics. I hope they speak comfort and confidence to you, too:

 

I’m Amazed, by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

I'm amazed that You love me. I'm amazed how You care
Through Your precious blood I've found pardon
And my sins are washed; They're all washed away
All my sins are washed away

 

Yes there've been days when I've failed You.
Lord You know the many times I've gone astray.
But I've learned Your love is stronger than my weakness,
And Your ear is open every time I pray. . . .

I'm amazed that You love me I'm amazed how You care
Through Your precious blood I've found pardon
And my sins are washed they're all washed away
All my sins are washed away

 

Please hear me. When I think of the worst sins I have ever committed, then I remind myself of what I only recently learned about the remission of sins. Oh! How can I not be thankful – even if my world has crashed into flames all around me – how can I not be thankful for God’s unchangeable promises for His remission of all sins for the truly penitent.

 

And so, for the sake of time, I will remind us of only one more truth for which Christians be thankful.

 

We have a PURPOSE in life. A life-MISSION. A reason for living. God has gifted you and me with the privilege to tell others of this great news, this news that I am telling you now.

 

We have the message of God’s promises that bring irreducible hope to others! Whatever they’ve done in their lives, we can give them the ASSURANCE that through repentance – turning from their sin – we can give them the full assurance from God Himself that He views their sins as if they NEVER committed them.

 

I know I keep repeating myself. I do that for a reason. I want you – and I want myself –l to get that truth burned into our souls.

 

No wonder Peter tells us: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)

 

The Lord Jesus quoted a passage from Isaiah and referred to it about His own ministry – but don’t think for a nanosecond the same Great Call, the same Great Mission does not apply to ALL God’s born-again children: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners;  To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn . . .” (Isaiah 61:1-2)  

 

Listen to what the Lord Jesus said to the rabid persecutor of the Church when he was on his way to Damascus to wreak havoc there among the Christians. Jesus said to Saul: ‘[G]et up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you . . . ¹⁸ to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins (there’s that Greek word again for remission of sins – a-fay-CEASE) and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’ (Acts 26:15-18)

 

It is a devilish deception to think anything else but God’s gracious grace through the bloody sacrifice of Jesus His Son remits, takes away our sins’ deepest stains. No amount of good works. No amount of money we give. No amount of prayers. You could go to church every day. You can teach Sunday School or Catechism classes for twenty years. Nothing will sanctify us before God, nothing will wash away our sins but our faith in the sacrificial death of Jesus; Jesus, who was sacrificed for us.

 

THAT is the mission, the purpose, the message God gifts to us to gift to others.

 

Have you asked Jesus to cover your sins with His blood? Are you now living for Him? Are you now forsaking your own will and lifestyle for His will and lifestyle? If you are not sure, then you need to BE SURE. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where you need to make changes in your life.

 

Let me close with this last reminder. Health, family, friendships, a warm home, good food, and so forth – all those gifts of God are transitory. They are fleeting. Like that puff of smoke I mentioned earlier that evaporates like smoke from a candle in a hurricane.

 

But there are things God gifts to us that NEVER change or disappear. We looked at only three of those gifts this afternoon: The Bible, the remission of sins, and the mission, the purpose God has gifted to all His children born through faith in Christ.

 

I encourage you to remember those things, not only when you sit down to your Thanksgiving meal, but from this day and every day for the rest of your life. Oh, may God the Holy Spirit remind us all of His indescribable gifts.

 

Amen.

Wives and Husbands

 “Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” (Ephesians 5:22-25, NRSV)

Some time ago I heard a pastor say from the pulpit that he wouldn’t touch this subject with a 20-foot pole. The congregation chuckled.

I did not. 

I wonder how God felt when this pastor, called by God to shepherd God’s flock, I wonder how God felt when he sidestepped an important opportunity to remind us of God’s immutable expectations in marriage.

 

Christian, please listen. God’s word is His voice to us. It is His heart to us. When we dance around truth, dilute truth, or try to explain away truth, God’s word still and forever holds final authority over all life and relationships.

 

I know Christian couples – and you probably also know of some – couples married a short time, or a long time who, like this pastor, choose to ignore the so-called ‘hard truths’ of Scripture.

 

In our culture, Feminism – which is a code word among many feminists for “Do what is right in your own eyes” – Feminism has for two generations encouraged – even from pulpits – God’s children to choose their own way over God’s.

 

But make no mistake about this fundamental truth: “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)

 

And so, back to Ephesians 5. Here is God’s expectation AND requirement for a God-honoring and healthy marriage: Wives respect your husbands as you respect Christ. Give deference to your husbands as you give deference to Christ.

And husbands, God has a commandment for you too. Husbands love your wives just as Jesus loved the church and sacrificed Himself for her.

Oh, God, help us accept and obey the hard truths of Scripture, even when the culture scoffs and rails against them.