In 2020

In 2020, we are witnessing the younger western world Christian generation go through an environmental metamorphosis. For previous generations what was not only acceptable but encouraged, is now being turned against and hated. What Isaiah warned and prophesied against has come about, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20. Many turn from the faith and run to darkness for answers! News reports show a dramatic rise in witchcraft and other paganist beliefs. Just two years ago, “According to a study by the Pew Research Center, there are now 1.4 million mainstream Presbyterians in the United States but 1.5 million who identify as Wiccans or pagans.”[1] This is not including all other forms of beliefs and practices which identify as something else. For the born-again believer who is growing up in this reality, they are having to witness the result of the change. What was first deemed acceptable by some Christians, such as yoga, and allowed in the Church, is now being recognized as having a direct link to the embracing of such religions, “Experts believe that the explosion in the witch population is due to millennial women’s embracing of new-age spirituality, mindfulness, meditation, and yoga.”[2] Nevertheless as the younger generation of Christians who will have to grow up in a world of being the minority, we should not be afraid, our loving Lord and Savior has given us His Word to guide and help us. As younger believers seek guidance from the older believers, we can look at 1 Peter chapter 5 for help on such manners, but also with understanding we have a roaring lion who is out to devour us!  

“You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” 1 Peter 5:5. We need to be seeking the guidance that spiritually older believers have to offer to us. One of the biggest things we can see on the news and in our entertainment, is the idea of pride and living for the moment. This sadly will not only keep you from learning from God in His Word, but also cause Him to have to do what is necessary to keep you focused on Him. I once heard it said, “Lord please let me be a quick student.” Some of the hardest lessons I have learned in life were because of my pride in not wanting to listen to God and what He was trying to teach me.

We need to humble ourselves under what God is wanting to teach us and allow Him to mold us into the person He wants us to be, not what we want to be, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God” 1 Peter 5:6a. This can be hard, especially in today’s world where so many Churches are not preaching the Word of God and are all about tickling the ears! We need to listen and wait on His timing, “that He may exalt you at the proper time,” 1 Peter 5:5b. He has a plan for you and I. If we wait for His will, just like in Joshua’s day, we can see God work! “Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in. The Lord said to Joshua, ‘See I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors. You shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up every man straight ahead” Joshua 6:1-5. We need to wait on the Lord’s timing, we are not going to do anything that He desires without His calling and on His timing. But that does not mean we sit and wait, but rather, “casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” 1 Peter 5:5c. What an incredible statement, “He cares for you” with knowing that we can be rest assured that no matter what is coming in 2020 or in 2021, we have the living God on our side.

Yet, that does not mean we can be complacent, but be sober minded and knowing what is going on in the world, “be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world” 1 Peter 5:8-9. We are soon entering a state in the world, where all Christian believers will be in similar circumstances, where the world will be actively against and openly hostile towards us! Though this might sound scary, we have Jesus Christ who is with us, “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of grace who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect confirm, strengthen and establish you” 1 Peter 5:10. He is eagerly watching us and is there to help us. Remember what Jesus Christ said to those believers who would suffer for His name and righteousness sake, “because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” Revelation 3:10. As possibly the final generation within the Church, it is ever more important that we go back and reflect on the first generation Church and see what characteristics we should be reflecting, for our commissioning by Jesus Christ has not changed, we are to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” Matthew 28:20a. Some might say this commissioning was for the disciples only, I would just remind them of the final part of Jesus Christ’s statement which He is making directly to us in this generation, “and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” Matthew 28:20b. So, let us take up the responsibility as the coming generation, lean on the Lord, and do what He has told us to do.

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming

JL

[1] https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=181e80d6-a180-4bed-bdbf-4b2e981f72db

[2] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6404733/Number-Americans-practice-witchcraft-estimated-high-1-5-MILLION.html

Freed From Sin

For those who have come to the realization that we cannot measure up to God’s standard based on our own merits and good works, we must accept that the only way to be rectified with God is through His Son, Jesus Christ.  Once we see that we have this free gift of salvation that Christ offers to those who are willing to accept Him, we must come to the question that Paul asks in Romans 6, do we continue in our sinful ways? Paul answers this question in a most absolute way, if we are among those who have died to sin then may it never be that we continue in it (Romans 6:2).

But why is it that we are free from the chains of sin?  Paul continues to answer this as he states that those of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus, baptized by the Spirit not just a water baptism, have also been baptized into His death.  When Christ became the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, buried and then rising to life again, He defeated the hold that sin has on those who accept Him.  When we accept this sacrifice, we have also been buried with Him (Romans 6:4).  Sin no longer has a hold on us because we become new creatures. “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). “6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;” (Romans 6:6). Our past sins no longer have any hold on us because we become a new creation in Christ. We take on the likeness of Christ not just in the likeness of His death, but also the likeness of His resurrection (Romans 6:5). This does not mean that we will not make mistakes, our sin nature is still there, but it means that the punishment of death is no longer applicable to us.  Sin no longer has us bound because through our baptism into the death of Christ, we become new.

Through Paul’s explanation that we have died with Christ, we also see that we will also live with Him (Romans 6:8). He is talking about the spiritual death which we who are living in Christ, have also died in Christ. Our sins were placed on the cross and are no longer attributed to us for punishment. Though we might die in this body, we are living in Christ. Spiritual death, is where sin has caused a permanent separation from God and does not allow second chances, for those who are not saved this is what awaits you, “then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to the deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, everyone one of them according to the deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire,” (Revelation 20:11-15). But for those who are saved, who have their name written in the book of life, they are Christ’s. So we who are supposed to be imitators of Christ need to understand that when Christ died for the sins of the world, He was raised from the dead, and this allowed Him to have mastery over death.  “10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God” (Romans 6:10).  This should be our response to sin, we must consider ourselves dead to sin but alive in Christ (Romans 6:11).  Sin no longer has hold on us, we no longer offer our ways as instruments of unrighteousness, but instead offer ourselves as instruments of righteousness to God (Romans 6:13).  We must die daily to our sinful nature and instead live as Christ lives, offering our actions to the glory of the Living God.

Paul continues to state that we are not under the law, for our salvation cannot come through the law, but our salvation comes through grace.  This does not allow us to continue in our sins because we are not under the law because we either continue in our sins and allow sin to continue its mastery over us, or we present ourselves to God and through obedience to Him we are righteous.  When we become obedient to God we have been freed from our sins and are instead slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:18).  When we were slaves to sin, no matter how good of a person we thought we were, our actions lead to further sins and ultimately the second death.  We saw this when we looked at how we cannot be saved through the law.  If we are guilty of one action that separates us from God, then we are guilty of them all.  But when we accept His free gift of salvation then we become slaves to righteousness which results in sanctification.  And the outcome of sanctification is eternal life.  “5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

Seek the Truth and encourage one another,

                        Alex

Challenges for the Christian

A few years ago I was hiking deep in the Montana mountains and enjoying nature. I had gone by myself and was looking for tracks of elk and mule deer. I had spent most the day high in the mountains where I could see for miles, but occasionally I would go deep into some of the lower valleys looking for where they might bed at night. When I was higher up, it was easier to see where I was and where I was going. However, when I went down into the valley, I found that it was very easy to get turned around and lost. If you have ever been in this type of scenario, you understand the unnerving feeling that befalls on you when you quickly realize you are lost. Your troubles and worries of before vanish and you are confronted with the very present, very creepy feeling of “I am lost,” and the dangers of the present take over! Luckily for me, I had trained for such a scenario and knew the first steps to take. Once I realized that I was turned around and that I needed to find my direction again I had to first calm down and look for high ground. I knew I had several hours before it was dark but just needed to get a better sense of my location. Instead of staying in fear and staying disconnected in the valley, I went looking for high ground. Thirty minutes later I found myself coming out of the valley and realized that I was still on the western side of the very mountain I was on. I now had my location centered and the feeling of fear and dread quickly vanished for the thrilling view that God had presented to me on the mountain.

Christians similarly can find ourselves lost at times when we are not connected continuously with Christ. I am not talking about salvation, but rather the ever present leaning on the Lord God for our foundation. When we disconnect, we put away our Bibles and will quickly find ourselves lost. Fear and dread become a present danger and we are now lost in a valley which we shouldn’t be lost in. A common issue that many Christians who are struggling with fear, dread, and depression have in common is their lack of time with Jesus Christ. Now I am not talking about the app that tells you a daily Bible verse, or the little one to two page devotional we do, or even the schedule plan to read the Bible in a year. These are not wrong but it does distract at times from having a real connection with God. We need to be in His Word daily and allowing Him to guide and enrich us as He sees fit. Without this, we will soon become lost in our own valleys and entrapped by the fear and dread which can haunt those who are stuck in such a situation. Without God’s Word being present in our lives, we are vulnerable to listening and following the distractions of this world, “the naïve believes everything, but the sensible man considers his steps. A wise man is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is arrogant and careless” Proverbs 14:15-16. As those who are saved, our salvation cannot be taken away, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor heights, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 8:38-39. This discussion is not about assurance of salvation, but as believers we need to take root in knowing that when we fail, He does not fail. So when we are lost in the valley, we are still not lost from God.

As Christians, the 21st century has turned into a time where our “time” is running at a pace never dreamed of before. We focus in on the year 2020 and we have been disconnected from our spiritual community and yanked into a valley of fear, dread, and misinformation. We read the headlines and they predict millions will die, we watch the news and we see violence in the streets, and for some of us we walk outside and see the real life dangers that have embraced 2020. Unfortunately as Christians we have become entrapped with staying focused on the situation of the valley we find ourselves in, instead of seeking the Lord and finding our foundation with Him. I want to offer up three challenges for us as believers to start doing. These challenges are simple and can be orchestrated differently based on your personal situation and location in the world.

Challenge 1:

Reexamine our personal time in God’s Word. We need to connect with Him, we need to be with Him. I understand that we have busy lives, but do not allow the business of our life to distract us from the very reason we have life. I would encourage you to spend additional time daily that is separate from you typical Bible study and dig in deep. Ask Him to share in you what He wants to. Spend time praising Him with a Psalm, two good ones to start with are Psalm 117 and Psalm 115. Keep the Bible commentaries, the self-help books, and all the other distractions aside and allow Him and you to spend that time together. On top of all of that, read the Proverbs of the day. For instance if it is the 3rd, read chapter 3, if it is the 7th, read chapter 7. The longer you are in the presence of the Lord, the more He can change you. Look at Moses who after coming down from the Mountain, was changed! “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God” Exodus 34:29. If you spend the time with Him, He will transform you into what He needs you to be.

Challenge 2:

Do not forsake gathering together. As Christians we are designed to be the body of Christ. The Book of Ephesians states, “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; One Lord one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all” Ephesians 4:1-6. We need to be with one another, we need to be encouraging one another. So, no matter what that looks like, you need to be connected with other brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. We have the luxury in living in the digital age and have this at our disposal, be intentional and spend that time with our fellow believers even if you cannot meet in person.

Challenge 3:

Focus on the times we live in. We currently are coming closer to a time that all previous generations of believers have longed to see, the return of our Blessed Hope Jesus Christ for His Church. I know there are many who will say that the rapture is not in the Bible and today I am not going to argue with the scoffers. If you have questions regarding this topic CLICK HERE.
But we need to be studying and understanding what the Bible says. I would challenge you to start studying Bible prophecy and see how quickly what is foretold is coming closer. Revelation is the only book of the Bible that gives a blessing to those who study it. If you have questions on Bible prophecy and want to know more, we have a weekly study on Saturday going over Bible prophecy in the news and other resources, CLICK HERE. Titus 2, which is the foundational scripture for Mill House Ministries, describes the need for us to stay vigilant as our Blessed Hope comes closer, we are to encourage one another. “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness, and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you” Titus 2:11-15.

Wrapping this up, if we as believers recognize we are in a valley, we might need to come to grips that it is because we have forsaken our time with the Lord. We have unplugged and desperately need to reconnect back to Him. These three challenges are numbered by importance, first you need to have that personal time with Him. You need to be with Him in His scripture! Second, we need to be in fellowship with other believers, be that via technology or in person we need that time with the Body of Christ. Thirdly, recognize the times we are living in and adjust accordingly. We need to get to work doing what God has told us to do. Tell the gospel to anyone willing to listen and help embolden and warn of the coming wrath. We will not be here for that hour of testing, but we can rest assured that tribulation in our present age is still here. We need to study God’s Word and be ready to refute those who are attempting to distort the truth of who Jesus Christ is.

This challenge is not only a challenge to you the readers, but also to us here on the Mill House Ministries staff. We want to help encourage and build you up. If you ever have a time you need prayer, answers to questions, or resources, please reach out to us at our contact page.

Remember we have a God who is living and is mightier than anything this world can throw at us, let us lean on Him and allow Him to guide us out of the valley that 2020 has brought us into.

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming

JL

RE-POST FRIDAY!

Today’s post is a reflection on the transition from Blessed Hope Podcast to Mill House Ministries, for those who are wanting to hear the podcast and see how the ministry changed this would be a great article to read! CLICK HERE!

Roman’s Road

After last Wednesdays post, Everyone’s Day in Court, you might feel inadequate for God and His impossible standard for us to meet. We have all come into this world as sinners, and last week’s post may have left you feeling as if there is nothing that can be done to rectify this situation.  Well this week I am going on a brief look throughout verses in the Book of Romans to see how we can be saved and be rectified with God.

Last week we saw that we can sin not just by physical actions but also through our thoughts.  “23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23.  No matter how hard we try we cannot make ourselves righteous with God. “10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Romans 3:10.

What is the result of falling short of the glory of God?  Romans 6:23a explains it clearly “23 For the wages of sin is death”, this is a sobering idea for those who believe that if they are a good enough person they will make it to heaven on their own.  We have already seen that we have all fallen short of the plan that God has for us, we have all sinned, and this sin resulted in a separation from God, not only while we are on earth but permanently when we die.  However, the rest of Romans 6:23 shows that humanity’s hope is in Christ alone. “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23b.

How amazing it is that even though we have all fallen short, God has offered us a gift of salvation.  And what is even more amazing is that this gift is free! We do not need to work for our salvation! But why is this? Well look at Romans 5:8 “8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We have a God who showed us His love for us while we were sinners and undeserving of it.  He sent His own Son to die for us. “7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.” Romans 5:7 our nature is not to put others before ourselves, but our God cares for us so much that He sent His Son to die for us while we were undeserving.  This salvation is the free gift that God gives us.

But how do we receive this salvation?  Romans continues to answer this question, “9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” Romans 10:9-10 and again in Romans 10:13 “13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” We can receive this salvation only when we confess that we are sinners that we have all fallen short of God’s design and that we need Jesus to intercede for us, that He lived a perfect life, that He died on the cross and was resurrected on the third day, and He is alive today.  When we call on His name, we are saved.  It is not about us, it never was, salvation is for God alone to give and He gives it freely to those who seek Him.

Now that we have seen how salvation is received, what is the result of salvation?  We find that answer in Romans 5:1-2 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God”, and Romans 8:1 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” We have been justified through faith alone, in Christ alone, and we have now been granted peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  We have been justified through God’s grace and not by our own merit and this justification is for us to boast in the glory of God.  We have been made new through Jesus Christ and are no longer condemned. “21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” Romans 3:21-24.

I hope now that if you are reading this and you have held to the idea that you can claim righteousness based off of your own merit you now see that this is an impossible task.  We have all fallen short of the glory of God, we all need a Savior who can bring us justification before God the Father. That Savior is Jesus Christ the Son of God, through faith alone, in Christ alone we are found righteous and made new, we are no longer condemned.  I ask that if you see now that Christ is the only way to rectify yourself to God the Father that you take a moment to pray that Jesus would come into your life. “4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes” Romans 10:4. If you ever have questions or want to talk to us, feel free to reach out to the staff at Mill House Ministries at our contact page.

Seek the Truth and encourage one another,

                        Alex

Dear Reader

Today I wanted to take a step back from going deep into the Word of God and open up to you all a little bit about myself. I believe that telling your testimony or of the works that God has done in your life can be a very encouraging gift for the reader and person telling. I want to hopefully do that for you today. I will be honest; I was uncertain at first as to why this was on my heart. I have been planning on going deep like we did with Jude, but felt I needed to take a step back and open up to you, the reader.

I know we are living in crazy days, yet it is important that we do more than just reflect on the Word of God, but rather embrace His Word. I believe Psalm 25 puts it clearly, “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul, O my God, in you I trust, Do not let me be ashamed; Do not let my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none of those who wait for you will be ashamed; Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed. Make me know your ways, O Lord; Teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me for you are the God of my salvation; For you I wait all the day.” Psalm 25:1-5.

We need to be waiting each and every moment like it is the moment our Lord and Savior is coming back. I was asked recently if this would be tiring, waiting all the time? I simply smiled and told them that waiting on the Lord has been taken out of context. People think waiting on the Lord means we are just waiting for Him to do something and He is just absent. Waiting on the Lord is actually an active thing.

He is there for me when the world is persecuting and being its normal evil self, He is there! “Turn to me and be gracious to me, For I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses. Look upon my affliction and my trouble and forgive all my sins” Psalm 25:16-18. Waiting for the Lord means that the Lord is not missing but is with you. For those of us who are saved in Jesus Christ, the verse in proverbs is literal “But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” Proverbs 18:24b.  For a believer waiting on the Lord means having the Lord at the controls of your life as we live it.

Over the past several years, I have moved across the nation to a place with no family minus my wife. Yet, God was with us all the way. When we found out that we were going to be parents, my wife and I realized that God was with us in the preparation and planning of this little one. We still have no idea why He moved us across the nation, nevertheless, I remember what Timothy is told by Paul in 2nd Timothy, “Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything” 2nd Timothy 2:7. This verse has two applications to it. First being the obvious, the Lord will help you understand the Word of God, we know this from John 16, “I have many more things to say to you but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak’ and He will disclose to you what is to come” John 16:12-13. But the verse from Timothy also has application regarding our lives at times. When we are confused on why God has us in a certain place or at a certain time with a specific problem, He might be attempting to teach, show, or instruct us in something specific in our life. He does this so that we do not become complacent in this world, which is why I am so glad that I go through the challenges that God has ordained for me to go through, it is why you should be glad about them as well. I am reminded that our challenges are not to degrade us, but rather to edify us in the body of Christ, remember we are not of this world those of us who are saved, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” Romans 12:2. We have a God who loves us and wants to be with us. I most of all need to remember that at times, we need to slow down and reflect on what God is doing right now in the present with our lives. Yes, we know that our past was sinful flesh, we know our future is glory in Christ Jesus, but the current is God speaking to us what He is wanting us to learn.

In summary, I wanted to highlight that at times we might not know what is going on in our current personal predicaments, let us not forget to stop and observe what God is trying to do in our lives in the moment. Maybe take a step back from the thousand-foot view and see the microscopic view and see the small lesson that Christ might be attempting to show us. We need to address each second in complete anticipation and obedience to God’s will, this is the true wait upon the Lord scenario. We need to keep mindful with the time He has allotted us. I have been serving God through Mill House Ministries and I plan on continuing to serve Him in this ministry as long as He wants me to. I love writing each and every week to you all. If you ever have questions, prayer requests, or just need a personal encouraging word, please contact us at the ministry. “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you” Philippians 3:1.

Finally, no matter what happens over the next couple months, let us not forget to seek after the Lord and truly do what Titus 2 is all about, ”For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory  of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed and to purify for Himself a people or His own possession, zealous for good deeds. These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you” Titus 2:11-15. As we continue on with our studies and postings, no matter where God takes you the reader and us the writers, let us not forget that we serve a God who is greater than anything that can happen in our lives. I will end on this, “What a mighty God we serve, What a mighty God we serve, angels bow before Him, Heaven and earth adore Him, what a mighty God we serve.”[1]

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming

JL

[1] Song by Hezekiah Walker

RE-POST FRIDAY!

Today’s post is a reflection on our first ever post on Mill House Ministries, for those who want to know a little bit more about the ministry this would be a great article to read! CLICK HERE!

Everyone’s Day in Court

10 As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11     there is no one who understands;
    there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
    they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
    not even one.”
13 “Their throats are open graves;
    their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
14     “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16     ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.”
18     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

Romans 3:10-19

The topic of sin is a touchy one, no one wants to admit that they are sinners and have fallen short of what God has called them to be.  Instead, we would rather go on pretending that we are good people who have some faults but surely none that would cause God to say “depart from me, I never knew you” Matthew 7:23. Surely if we are a good enough person, if we help those around us, if we go to Church, if we play nice, or if we follow the Mosaic Law then surely we will be good enough to enter heaven.  This was definitely my line of thinking before I became a Christian, before I bowed my knee to Christ and admitted that I am a sinner, I know that I am not the only one.  However, when we look at Romans 3:10-19, we can clearly see that there is not one human who is righteous enough to enter heaven on their own merit, we have all turned away from and are held accountable to God.  How is it that we are held accountable?  Well when you look at Exodus 20 we see that God has outlined a standard for us to meet, you are probably familiar with this standard even if you have not read it.  The standard that God holds us all to is the Ten Commandments, and as outlined in Romans 3:10-19, I want to discuss how we have all fallen short of this standard.

1.)   “You shall have no other gods before me” Exodus 20:3

The First Commandment seems like it would have been a simple one for the Israelites to have kept.  The Commandments were given when they had been taken out of Egypt and were following God in the cloud of fire to the Promise Land.  However, sin nature took hold and they forgot that they were told to only worship God, instead they began to worship the gods of the Moabites.  “While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, 2 who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. 3 So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the Lord’s anger burned against them.” Numbers 25:1-3.  Here we can see that when the Israelites placed other gods before the one true God, it lead them to idolatry and adultery. But how do we fail this command today?  We are failing when we do not know the God of the Bible.  We sing worship songs that go against what He says He is, we are worshipping other religions and claiming that it is all the same God, we do not know and understand who He is that we worship a god of our own understanding.  By doing this we are leading ourselves into idolatry.  When we use our perceived notions of who God is to say that we are enough to earn our salvation. Rather than reading the Bible to know and understand our God, we become like the Pharisees in Matthew 23:27-28. “27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” On the outside we look like good people who are following God, but on the inside we are dead to any real form of righteousness and are full of idols.

2.)   “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.  You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God” Exodus 20:4-5

I once heard a sermon that stated that an idol is anything that detracts from spending time with God.  It is not just statues like the Israelites worshipped in Exodus 32:1-35, although for some that is the case.  It is our work, desire to eat healthy, desire to exercise, desire to be involved in our communities, and so much more. While all of these look like good things, if they come before spending time with our Lord and Savior then they are nothing more than idols in our hearts.  I ask you now to take a look at your day and see what is taking up the most time.  For my husband and I, there was a time that we would be getting up only with enough time to get ready for the day, go to work, come home, have dinner, and then spend the rest of the time in front of the TV.  It was only as we were getting ready for bed that we realized that we had not spent time with our Lord and quickly do a Bible study that never went in depth.  Once we realized this, we made an effort to get up earlier so that the first thing we did was a Bible study, if the TV was on it was playing a sermon.  We began to use the tools around us (TV, phones, etc.) as just that, tools that we could use to know more about our God.  I do want to make a note here, while the internet is great in allowing us to hear different pastors, listening to these different pastors can also turn into an idol if it takes the place of reading our Bibles and asking the Holy Spirit to guide us in our Bible study. We are called to put to death any idols in our lives, Colossians 3:5. Why is it important to not have idols? Well not only is our God a jealous God, but He desires us to put away any idols because we become like what we worship.  “15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 16 They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; 17 they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. 18 Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them.” Psalm 135:15-18 The aspects that take up most of our time shows us where our priorities are, the more time we spend focusing on our idols the more we are brought down, the more we spend time with our Lord, the better we can be like Him while on earth.

3.)   “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name” Exodus 20:7

When we are called to not misuse the name of the Lord, it is calling us to not break any vows that we make.  Jesus describes this very well in Matthew 5:33-37 “33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” When we make a vow we are held to God’s authority, whether or not we swear by His name. If we break a promise, no matter how small, then we cannot be found righteous. The other way that humankind uses the Lord’s name in vain is when we use it in emptiness.  What I mean is when we say that we are followers of Christ, but we use His name to commit sins.  We are pretending to serve Him when we are not, we cherry pick Bible verses to make it seem like we are righteous in our sins.  A great article on those who use the Lord’s name in emptiness can be found here.

4.)   “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” Exodus 20:8

It is true that we are called to have a day of rest, Exodus 20:9-11 make this clear.  So how is keeping this commandment causing us to fall short of what God wants for us?  We fail in holding to this commandment when we so strictly follow it that we fail to cultivate a relationship with God.  Since the law prohibits any work from being done on the Sabbath, the Pharisees took this to mean not helping anyone and were offended when Jesus healed on the Sabbath, Matthew 12:1-14.  We forget Jesus’s words in Mark 2:27-28 “27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.””. When we focus on worshipping on a specific day we are cultivating that we are made for the Sabbath and not the other way around.  All this is doing is creating another false idol in our lives.

5.)   “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you” Exodus 20:12

There are many ways that we can honor our families, whether it is helping them keep the house in order, making sure our elderly parents have groceries, or just making sure to spend time with them.  How this command is broken though can be found in Matthew 15:1-9 “Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6 they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 8 “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’” We see here that the Pharisees and teachers of the law were upset that the disciples were breaking human traditions rather then what the Word of God actually commands.  They were placing human traditions over God, which is nothing more than an idol. Religion is the strongest and most seductive form of idolatry found, and when we idolize the sabbath higher than what it was meant to be, we are turning something meant as a symbol into a stumbling block.

6.)   “You shall not murder” Exodus 20:13

This would seem like an easy commandment to follow, after all not everyone holds enough hatred in their heart to actually kill someone right?  Well if you look at 1 John 3:15, you would see that that ideology would be wrong.  “15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.” Holding hatred in our hearts is the same as actually committing murder according to John.  It is why we are called to live peacefully with our brethren and to love as Christ did.  Now this is not to say that there is never a need to be angry, in fact there is such a thing as righteous anger that would not be considered a sin.  Righteous anger occurs when we are angry about the loss of innocent lives, mistreatment of the innocent, to sum it up, righteous anger is anything that God Himself would be angry about.  People love to focus on the loving God, and He is a loving God, but they forget that He is also a God who drove merchants out of His house not once but twice for making the temple nothing more than a market place, Matthew 21:12 and John 2:13-16.  There are times that righteous anger is needed and in those times, there is no sin.

7.)   “You shall not commit adultery” Exodus 20:14

When discussing adultery, people automatically focus on the physical aspect of adultery.  However, when you look at Matthew 5:28, you can see that sin is not just in physical actions but also in the mind. “28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” What we do in our private thoughts shows what we hold close to our hearts.  We can put on a façade of righteousness to the outside world, but if on the inside we are focusing on sinful traits, then we have already committed sin whether or not we physically do the action. Again, when this is our practice we are nothing more than whitewashed tombs.

8.)   “You shall not steal” Exodus 20:15

Again this seems like it would be an easy commandment to follow.  However, we have already seen that sin is not in physically acting something out.  We have already stolen an object when we begin to covet it, the act of coveting will be discussed more in just a moment.

9.)   “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor” Exodus 20:16

The word testimony here give an impression of a court proceeding, and while that may definitely be true, false testimony occurs any time that we spread facts that we know to be untrue about someone.  James gives a sobering description of the tongue. “5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” James 3:5-6.  When we spread slander we are showing our alignment with the world and will be consumed by it.

10.)  “You hall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Exodus 20:17

This is yet another command that shows how sinful actions are not just physical actions.  The act of coveting something that does not belong to you begins in the mind.  Look at King David with Bathsheba.  David began to fall into sin when he stayed home rather than joining his armies in the battle against the Ammonites.  Because he was not with his army, he instead saw a beautiful woman bathing (coveting and adultery), when she became pregnant David than ordered for her husband to not be protected in battle (murder, even though David was not the one to physically kill him). One sinful act will often lead us into another.  It is why we must continually pray “Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, 9 lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.” Proverbs 30:8-9

After looking at this list, you may be feeling disheartened.  When you see how failing in one commandment opens us up to further sin it makes it seem impossible that we could ever been seen as righteous in our actions.  And this is true, we cannot prove ourselves righteous to God through our actions. “20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” Romans 3:20. However, there is a way that we can be found righteous, and that is through accepting Jesus Christ. You see, He is perfection represented as Man and God. He is the perfect sacrifice for you and I to become saved. It is through Him alone, through faith alone, that we can become righteous.

Seek the Truth and encourage one another,

                        Alex

A Message to this Generation II

“Other than Jesus Christ deity and salvation through Him, no other doctrine of the Bible is attacked and ridiculed as much as the pre-tribulation Rapture. That shouldn’t shock us, the world hates Jesus Christ, hates His deity, hates His salvation, why would it not hate His return for those who have put their faith in Him? Their relentless attack only proves the authenticity of the doctrine as an assured thing.”

A Christian answering a Pastor mocking Jesus’ return

As discussed last week we are going over the book of Jude. We know that Jude was writing to the believers that would be living right at the end of the Church age. The second part of this book goes from verses 20 to 25. Here we see Jude has made a pivot in his book, the first part was writing to us not to lose our mercy, peace, and love, and to know that our Heavenly Father will still bring justice on His own timing. We see Jude is worried about identifying those who have crept in the Church unnoticed and are now actively working against the gospel of Christ. Now however, we see Jude take a different approach, he is actually giving us orders on what we should do.

Now before we go to what he is directing us, we need to remember what he has already told us in verse 17 to go back and read the apostles and Jesus Christ’s words, he is warning us to keep the scripture close to us, near to us, and that we should be studying it. “But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ” Jude 1:17. This is important for what we are about to study in Jude.

  Jude is emphasizing on what the apostles and Jesus had previously stated and written, we are to be building on our faith, we are to be in God’s Word, we are to be praying in the Holy Spirit. “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit” Jude 1:20. We should take notice that this entire verse is defined by action, “building and praying,” it is as if Jude is trying to underline the fact that Christians should be active! And we should be, God has given us talents and we should be using them as He has designed and bestowed those gifts on us. Just look at what Jesus Christ said in His parable in Matthew 25. The two good servants are actively working. This is not to say we are saved through our works but rather we are to work for the Kingdom of Heaven. We have been given a job to do, no matter if that means being the Pastor of a church in Guatemala, an accountant at a law office in New York, a net repairman in Bangladesh, or a stay at home mother. God has given us a job to do, and we are to find ways to bring the glory back to God whenever we get the chance.

Now this brings us to verse 21, before we go any further, I want to remind the reader that Jude has already reminded us to go back and reread the apostles and what Jesus states. Jude has proved that he is writing to a coming generation (which I believe is now) that will experience the lateness of the age, a group that would be in comparison to Enoch, proclaiming to a wicked world Jesus Christ. Now what happened to Enoch? He was taken by the Lord! He was RAPTURED! As discussed in part one of this two-part series, Enoch is a foreshadowing of the generation that would go through the event commonly called the Rapture. We have verse 21 to help establish this as a fact. “Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life” Jude 1:21. What is this mercy? We know this mercy is quoted by Jesus Christ Himself in Revelation chapter 3, “Because you have kept the word of my perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” Revelation 3:10. The mercy which the Church will receive is to not be a part of the hour of testing that is coming, this testing is described in Daniel chapter 9 as a time for the Jewish nation to go through “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate” Daniel 9:27. There are many people who will claim the Church must go through the Tribulation, there are some who would even claim that we are to be pulled out half way through or before the wrath begins, I would state the Word of God to them, read Revelation chapter 5 “And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:10. God has made US Kings and priests to our God; And WE shall reign on the earth. Many translations have “them” and “they” in these translations, however I believe this is inaccurate and older translations have proven to have “us” and “we,” I am not advocating for one translation over another but rather to study the Bible we need to look at all reputable translations. To say one is better than all, like many say regarding the King James Version is ridiculous and those who make such an argument can be compared to as 21st century Pharisees. Nevertheless, in this case of Revelation 5:10, the KJV got it right!

We who are purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ, who are to be priests ruling upon the earth, are witnessing the seals being broken by Jesus Christ Himself. We are seeing it happen from heaven; thus, the rapture has already happened by this time in Revelation. Revelation 4:1 gives John’s account of the rapture taking place, “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things” Revelation 4:1. So now let us go back to Jude 1:21 and see further evidence of Jude talking about the rapture. Remember we need to always know the context of what is being stated, which in this case Jude is writing to a group of believers that the faith has been passed down to, who would be living during the times like Enoch with wickedness abounding. We know Jesus described the end days like in those days of Noah which Enoch lived in and we know Jude is reminding us to go back and read what the apostles and Jesus wrote and spoke about regarding the later days. With that in context, we see something interesting with the word in verse 21 “anxiously”, here the Greek gives us a remarkable set of clues into what Jude is really trying to portray to us.

The word “anxiously” comes from three Greek words προσδέχομαι (prosdechomai) which is defined “as to receive to oneself, accepted, accepting cherish, looking, receive receives, waiting, waiting anxiously” the next word is πρός (pros) which is defined as “advantageous for, at (denotes local proximity), toward (denotes motion toward a place) about accord, according.” The final word is δέχομαι (dechomai) “to receive, accept, accepted, received, receives, take, taken, took, welcome, welcomed.” In summary this word means that we should be eagerly looking for, waiting for a sign to which we will be taken and received from one place to another, we will be taken. The verse gives us greater clarity when Jude states “waiting” as if we do not know when it is to come, Wayne Brindle wrote very elegantly, “These passages [passages supporting imminent rapture] that promise the rapture of the church all teach, imply, or allow for imminence as an event that can occur ‘at any moment.’ The purpose of most of these passages is to encourage believers concerning the hope that awaits them or to motivate them to pursue holiness in anticipation of seeing Christ soon. As Feinberg notes, "there is no mention of any signs or events that precede the rapture of the church in any of the rapture passages. The point seems to be that the believer prior to this event is to look, not for some sign, but the Lord from heaven.[1]” Which would directly correlate with what Jude is stating in his letter, for us to be building our faith and praying in the Holy Spirit. Jude is wanting us to work on our personal relationship with Christ prior to any action taken by us with others as we will see in verse 22.

Jude verse 21 is a perfect example of instructions for the believer to be anxiously waiting for the return of Jesus Christ for us, the specificity of the Greek bring us to believe this is in fact a rapture verse in addition to the other supportive evidence of Enoch being the sole human example given, it can be concluded that Jude 1:21 is in fact a reference for us who are believers in Jesus Christ to be building on our faith in studying the Word of God, praying in the Holy Spirit, and keeping ourselves in the love of God waiting eagerly for His return to which will be a sign signifying we have been taken from literal place to another and received onto Himself. I am immediately reminded by Jesus Christ’s own words “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going, how do we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the father but through me” John 14:1-6. I would ask those who say there is no such thing as a rapture, is Jesus Christ a liar? Because apparently, He is if there is no rapture since He is preparing a place for us and is going to take us there one day. Verse 5-6 in John 14 gives us even more evidence it must be Jesus Christ who is to take us away, for no one comes to God the Father without going through Jesus Christ who “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18. 

Jude is wanting to remind us of what was already promised by Christ and discussed by the apostles, he is advocating for us to be watchful for Jesus Christ’s return for us. But until that happens Jude has us doing the work God has intended us to do from Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” As we come to the end of the age, we are still mandated from Jesus Himself to do what He commissioned us to do. We are to do as Jude states in verse 22, “and have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh” Jude 1:22. We should be showing mercy on spiritually younger believers, teaching them and discipling them, share the gospel to those who are not saved, doing everything we can to help those who are questioning and wanting to know more about Jesus Christ. We need to be teaching the scripture, showing what is right and what is wrong, hating the very polluted garments that are created by the flesh. Jude is wanting us to be eagerly waiting on the Lord’s return for us, but also working to advance the Kingdom of Heaven. What a marvelous mission we have been given, to share the gospel to anyone, and to those who accept, help them grow in the Lord.

Jude ends the book bringing the importance on who our focus needs to be on, which is Jesus Christ. “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 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” Jude 1:24-25. Did you see the additional clue regarding the rapture, we, through Jesus Christ, will stand in the presence of His glory blameless and with great joy. He is wanting us to remember that at any time the game will be over, and we are being called to Him. Thus, we need to be actively focused on Christ, and additionally doing His work.

Jude is a unique book because it is the final book before the book of Revelation. How ironic this small book is put right before the greatest end times testimony ever given to mankind. Jude is focused on the Church and its relationship with our Heavenly Father Jesus Christ. The book starts wanting us to calm down and have mercy, peace, and love due to the times Jude knew we were going to be in. Jude wants us to be alerted to a savage group of evil twisted people who have entered the Church unnoticed and are causing havoc. Jude is wanting to remind us that Jesus Christ will have His righteous justice which will come one day and that we should be on guard to keep preaching salvation, and helping our fellow believers build up their faith in Jesus Christ. However, Jude is most importantly reminding the reader to keep our eyes fixated on the mercy of Jesus Christ in His coming of taking us home. The context of this book highlights the importance of understanding that Jesus Christ is not only an all loving God, but also a God who is all justice, and He will bring judgement onto those who are wicked and rescue those who are His. The Church is never meant to go through the Tribulation, Jude helps to make that very clear, the Church is here as a body of believers in Jesus Christ, living and building up each other who are saved in Jesus Christ. Just remember Titus 2,“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. 15 These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you” Titus 2:11-15. 

So, like last week when we started this study, imagine, the sun had set and the moon had started to rise, local police patrols in your area had increased due to the insurrection and riots in the area. You are gathered under a lamp in the living room, with other believers willing to meet, you see a computer salesmen, construction workers, and other locals all in a circle sitting down breaking bread and drinking wine. The room is silent until an older man with grey hair steps up, you can tell he is tired from the chaos of the year but his eyes reflect eagerness, “Our brother Jude, has written a letter to us” the room erupts with pages turning to the book of Jude in their Bibles, everyone waits for the Church Elder to open his, “before we read, let us pray.”

Through Jude, Jesus is writing to you and I!

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming

JL

[1]Liberty University Biblical Evidence for the Imminence of the Rapture https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/58821853.pdf pg 151

RE-POST FRIDAY!

Dear reader!

Mill House Ministries is proud to announce “Re-post Friday” this will be a chance for reviewing previous Biblical lessons published by Mill House Ministries. With a growing reader population, we on staff have realized not everyone has read our previous posts and we want to give everyone that chance.

We encourage all readers to review these posts in comparison to what the Bible says. We have a wonderful God who helps guide Christians in His Word. “Make me know your ways, O Lord; Teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me for you are the God of my salvation; For you I wait all the day” Psalm 25:4-5. Re-post Friday will post every Friday at 8am EST.

Remember if you ever want to ask a question or request a post on a specific subject feel free to look at our contact information and ask/request. As always Keep the Lord first and be focused on our Blessed Hope.

Love in Christ,

Mill House Ministries Staff

Counting it all Joy

For the last few weeks we have been going over the Book of Philippians and I hope that you have learned what it means to pray for our brothers and sisters, and not just to pray but to pray with joy (Philippians 1:4), how difficult situations lead to the advancement of the gospel (Philippians 1:12), and how we are united with Christ and not with this world (Philippians 2:1). We have seen Christ’s example of humility (Philippians 2:5), and we have seen Paul’s example of how we gain righteousness not through religious actions or our heritage, but through faith in Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:9).  As Paul concludes his letter to the Philippians, we see that Paul shows that the prize for the Christian is peace, it is peace with others, themselves, and their circumstances as they follow God’s will.

Paul begins to conclude his letter to the Philippians with a message to stand firm in the Lord, throughout all of Philippians Paul has shown us examples of how we must lean on our God when we are going through trials. Christ has the ability to understand our trials because He Himself went through them when He was on earth.  We have also seen how we have been called to be of one-mind throughout the Church body, and it is this that Paul is encouraging two women to remember.  Paul calls out Euodia and Synthyche to agree with each other (Philippians 4:2) as well as asks for the members of the Church to help the two women resolve their differences (Philippians 4:3). I am sure that if it was involving Biblical understanding and practice, Paul would have intervened in the issue specifically to bring clarity on the subject being disputed. Since the issue is not described, we can only assume that the issue between the two women was nonbiblical. Paul is encouraging the two women to set aside their differences to prevent the Church from going against what God designed it to be, which is to live in harmony with itself. When reading about these two women and their unknown dispute, I am always reminded of James 1:19 “19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,”, this is not only the standard that we are called to meet, but also the example that Christ gave us.  When He was on trial and false witnesses came against Him, He did not become angry. Instead, He listened and when confronted about being God’s Son, He calmly confirmed it. “33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”” John 18:33-37. We can also see that when we strive to be united with Christ, we will be able to live in peace with others because God will grant us peace. “11 Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” 2 Corinthians 13:11.

Paul continues to tell the Church in Philippi to rejoice and let their gentleness be evident to all (Philippians 4:4) Paul reminds the church that the Lord is near and because of this we have no need to be anxious about anything in this life. “6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7. As someone who deals with anxiety, this is something that I try to remember on a daily basis.  We have a God who we are able to commune with directly through our prayers, He is always with us and always cares for us, He knows what we are struggling with, and He knows what is over the hill.  When we turn our anxiety over to Him who is bigger than this world and the one who currently rules it, we gain the peace of God that will surpass all comprehension.  It is why we are called to mediate on His word daily, the more we know about our God and the more we know His Word, the more we can recall when we are struggling and this is how we can find peace within ourselves.  It is not a peace that we have earned, but a peace that has been given freely by God. Paul continues to remind the church to focus on what is good, “8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8-9. When this world is going crazy, and it seems like every day there is some new worry, we need to focus on God and His attributes, it is through this that we will gain peace for we see that God is bigger than everything going on around us.  We need to put the aspects that we have learned into practice as well, this will show that we have the spirit of humbleness that Christ had as He fulfilled the Father’s will.

In Philippians 4:10-22, Paul concludes his letter with the final peace that we can find, and that peace is with our circumstances.  When we first went over Paul’s story of conversion, we saw what happened to him.  Paul was bitten by a viper, shipwrecked, beaten, stoned, and imprisoned which is where he currently was as he wrote this letter.  Despite all of these things happening to him, Paul continued to find joy in his circumstances.  Paul knew what it was like to have plenty and also to want,  to be well fed and to be hungry, Philippians 4:12. Throughout all of this Paul lived out the words found in Proverbs 30:7-9 “7 Two things I asked of You, Do not refuse me before I die: 8 Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, 9 That I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?” Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God.” Paul knew that for every situation that he was in, God was in control and only wished to be in the will of the Lord.  “We are at peace when we are leaning on the Lord and on His understanding.  Through the actions of the Church of Philippi, we are given a wonderful example on how to be thankful when others help us.  It is also a reminder that God will use us at times and in ways we might not know or have done before, since we don’t know when we may be used by God to help others we should maintain the attitude that has been described throughout Philippians, and that is an attitude of joy.  If we have joy in what the Lord wants and is doing in our lives, then we will have contentment for what He has given us in that moment.  This is the mindset that we should have, we should not be looking for more than we need nor stressing about what we do not have.  God will provide for us just as He does for the flowers and birds,” Matthew 6:28-29.  

Now that we have come to a close on our study of Philippians, I hope that you can use this to find joy in your current situation.  And as we are all going through a lock down that has not happened in the history of the world, I hope that you will lean on the Lord, look for His understanding, not mingling with this world, but holding yourself to a higher standard.  I hope that you encourage those around you to do the same.  I am wanting to end this study just as Paul does in his letter.  “23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.” Philippians 4:23

Seek the Truth and encourage one another,

                        Alex

A Message to this Generation

“The Bible like no other book in the world has the capacity to write something for a future generation not known, in a situation not yet seen, and be exactly what is needed for the reader to know”

Imagine, the sun has set and the moon has started to rise, Roman patrols in your area had increased due to the insurrection and revolts in the area. You are gathered under candlelight with your small group, you see merchants, fishermen, and other locals all in a circle sitting down breaking bread and drinking wine. The room is silent until an older man with grey hair steps up, you can tell he is tired from his long journey but his eyes reflect eagerness, “Our brother Jude, has written a letter to us” the room erupts in whispers as everyone waits for the Church Elder to open the letter, “before we read, let us pray.”

It is interesting that the same letter that was written by Jude thousands of years ago is still very much needed today. We know from verse 1, “Jude, a Bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James. To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ” Jude 1:1, that he was writing to believers no matter if they were Jew or Greek. We know that he was one of the younger half-brothers of Jesus Christ, Matthew 13:55. So what made this letter so unique? While there was application for the first readers of the letter, Jude was not writing to them, but to you and I! He is writing to a coming generation that would experience issues which he felt compelled to write about and give guidance! Our study is going over the words of the book of Jude and what he was trying to write to us.

This letter was written in the hope of bringing the reader to not losing but gaining a greater mercy, peace and love, “May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you” Jude 1:2, Jude is wanting the reader to not lose these things. We know that as the hour grows late, that the love of man would grow cold, “Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold” Matthew 24:12. The faith was handed down for us, like a baton in a race, being passed to each generation, “beloved while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints” Jude 1:3. We know that Jude is writing after most of the apostles had written their books and Jude is highlighting a time that this is being ultimately written for, “but you, beloved ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that were saying to you, ‘in the last time..’” Jude 1:17-18.

Finally, we know this book is written to us, due to the only positive human example given for us in the entire book is Enoch who lived before the flood. He lived during the days of Noah, he prophesied that judgment was coming, not the flood but rather God’s wrath as described in Revelation 19, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” Revelation 19:11-16. Enoch was preaching to a world that was outright rejecting God, nevertheless, he would be raptured up, “so all the days of Enoch were there hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” Genesis 5:23-24. Based on these aspects we can conclude that through Jude, God was writing to a future generation, that generation would see it as in the days of Noah described by Jesus Christ, “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be” Matthew 24:37-39. We know that Jude was writing this letter specifically for us, where the love of many would grow cold and the sin described in the book would be prevalent, it would be like in the days of Noah and it would be as the apostles describe the latter days. Jude is writing to you and I, to the saints who the faith had been handed down to!

Now that we know that this is written for us, let’s give a deeper look into the first of a two-part series of what Jude is trying to remind the reader.

The book can be dived into really two main parts. Part one, from verses 3 to 19 where Jude is attempting to help remind us about God’s judgement and wrath. Why would he need to do that? It is because there would be so much wickedness in the world. Man is innately a moral man, who has a right and wrong built inside of us, saved or unsaved we have the ability to see what is good and bad. We know that the rise of evil in this world is worrisome on the soul, Proverbs helps explain that to us, “When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, But when a wicked man rules, people groan” Proverbs 29:2.  For believers this is even worse, we see evil take a firmer grasp on what is going on and despair grows in us. Yet, Jude is wanting to combat this, he is wanting to highlight that our God is a God who will have His justice on the earth and against all those who are not righteous. But before he even gets to combating the issue of despair and the belief that God’s justice is missing, Jude must alert us to a serious threat.

“for certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” Jude 1:4. Jude is alerting us of a serious threat that needs to be identified immediately. He alerts us that a group has crept in unnoticed, they are in our Churches, they teach in our Churches, they lead in our Churches. God has already marked them for condemnation, their characteristics are of ungodliness, they turn the grace of God into something that must be worked for, they deny Jesus Christ as the only Master and Lord. In short, these people have added onto the gospel, and are denying that Jesus Christ was who He clearly stated He was “I AM.”

“For by Him [Jesus] all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him” Colossians 1:16.

The author of Hebrews even indicated that God the Father calls Jesus the Son of God who is not a created being, “But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions” Hebrews 1:8-9. There are those cults/other religions who will deny Jesus Christ’s deity. No other writing, no other teaching is equal to the Bible, Jesus Christ was God, is God, and will always be God. We also know from Jude verse 4 that these people would try to make more for the Christian to do to be saved. There are groups such as Mormonism, Seventh Day Adventist, and Jehovah Witnesses who all have been off shoots of the warnings described in Jude verse 4. Christians need to take everything back to only God’s Word and nothing else. Be cautious when dealing with such groups who Satan has implanted with the purpose to lead the believers astray. 

We can see Jude quickly takes a turn from alerting us to informing us of what will happen to those who are actively against God, who have come in unnoticed and who have attempted to add and take away from the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ. Verse 5, “Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe” Jude 1:5. Starting here we see a sequence of events and a progression of sin being listed. We see the first step in sin is unbelief, it is the idea that you do not need God, and you can do it on your own. God will destroy those who do not believe.

Verse 6, “And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day” Jude 1:6. We see here that after unbelief, a person will decide to do what they want, they will follow their own will and therefore continue to follow their sin. In our sequence of events we see that God not only will destroy those who do not believe but will place them in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. It is a common misconception that anyone is in the Lake of Fire right now. The Lake of Fire currently has no one in it. It is reserved for those who do not believe and are judged at the end. Revelation states “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” Revelation 20:14-15.

Verse 7, “just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire” Jude 1:7.  After disbelief, we go from deciding to do it our own way, to outwardly wanting to defy God and how He has designed the world to be. The sinner looks for ways to disobey. In our sequence of events, we now come to what Revelation 20 described, eternal fire. In these three verses we see a sequence of events of a sinner, but also God’s righteous actions when He wields His justice. The sinner does not believe, they believe they can do it on their own, and finally they look for ways to dishonor God and do it their own way. The sinner dies, they are bound and await judgment and eternal fire. Jude is wanting the believer to see the sequence of events and allow them to understand that God is not ignorant of what is going on but rather patient for those who are still to be saved, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” 2 Peter 3:9. What an incredible God we have who is waiting until all who would come to Him have their opportunity to do just that. The wicked will have their day in court, Jude is wanting us to know that God’s justice has not been forgotten, He is patiently waiting.

Now we know that there are those who are actively working against Jesus Christ, but Jude is also going to show us how to deal with such individuals. These individuals will act in such a manner, “dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority , and revile angelic majesties” Jude 1:8. These people are actively attempting to find ways to not only reject God’s authority, but also act against His design. Jude helps understand that we should not bring about a list of judgments against such people but rather rebuke them in the Lord. We are to allow Jesus Christ to have His way, His power is in His name. If we are in a situation where we are confronted with such opposition, we are to have Jesus Christ’s power, His authority in the Word of God, the very power in His name, Jesus Christ, as our weapon. Remember, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” Ephesians 6:12. Our enemy is aligned with supernatural help, we are to keep Christ centered when dealing with such an enemy. I once heard a Christian state,

“the scariest thing a Christian should be worried about is not the possibility of seeing an overtly demon possessed person as in the Hollywood movies, but rather missing the unnoticed Bible Study leader who is willfully acting to subvert people away from the Gospel.”

Jude continues to describe the characteristics of those who would be involved in the Church, “But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed” Jude 1:10. These people follow the instincts of the fleshly body, what they do not comprehend is that these actions have already been judged, and they are condemned.

We now come to a point where Jude is wanting to make sure we can identify the culprits who have crept in unnoticed, we see “Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.  13 wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever” Jude 1:11-13. Here we see that Cain, the first murderer is mentioned. He was angry that his brother Abel had an offering that was acceptable. The characteristics here are frightening, what Jude is saying is that these individuals who have crept in unnoticed believe like Cain, they can do what they want to please God. They have taken what was really established in God’s Word for a forgery, a god in their own making. They would be so compelled to keep what they want they would even be willing to murder for their own cause. To keep a god in their own liking, to keep their own religiosity.

We next come to Balaam, who lived during the Exodus of the Hebrew slaves of Egypt, “Balak, King of Moab, offered rewards to Balaam if he would curse the Israelites. Balaam refused to curse them, but he persuaded Balak to corrupt them by getting them to marry the pagan Moabite women”[1] if you want to know more about this story read Numbers 22-25. Those that are like Balaam, have two issues against them. First is they seek money over the truth, God’s Word is not the priority that it should be in their life. Second, they seek to curse God’s chosen people, the Jews. Balaam was a religious gentile actively against the Jews going to their homeland and actively against the commandments of God to His people. There are many spiritual leaders today who deny Israel’s right to be in their ancient homeland and who even work against their wellbeing.

The final person mentioned by Jude involving the characteristics of the unnoticed individuals is Korah. Korah refused to have Moses as the leader and rejected God’s authority in who God wanted to lead the nation. These people reject God’s authority and ultimately come with their own conclusions and their own ideas, goals, and doctrine. If you have not noticed yet, the common issue with all three is self over God, and pride of what the self wants over humility and wanting what God wants. They are a cancer to the Body of Christ and need to be identified at all cost.

Jude helps us identify with further characteristics of these individuals, that they will be like “These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted;13 wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever” Jude 1:12-13. They have caused what used to be a time of Biblical celebration to be self-centered, they lack substance in their words and actions, they have no fruit even though from a quick glance they would look like they were righteous, these people are destructive in their own nature. To a person filled with the Spirit of God, they would look like a person wondering without guidance from God. The fruit of their actions would be grumbling, identifying others sin in a shameful unbiblical manner, and following their own lusts. They will speak arrogantly and flatter people for the sake of gaining an advantage. “These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage” Jude 1:16.

Jude has identified a serious issue that the born-again believer needs to understand that is in our Churches. Nevertheless, Jude does have a correction against us, in verse 17-19, we see “But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18 that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” 19 These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit” Jude 1:17-19. Jude is having to remind us of the apostles and Jesus Christ’s teachings regarding the last days. If there is one issue that is common across the world with all believers right now, it is the lack of daily study and enriching of God’s Word in our lives. Instead of studying, we play Christian. Clearly Jude is having to remind us to not only review God’s Word, but recognize the times we live in and see that God has given us instructions, descriptions, and warnings of these days and how we should and ought to act. As believers, the book of Jude should be read with sirens and alarms going off. We should be encouraging our brothers and sisters telling them “to arms, wolves in sheep’s clothing have entered,” we should be reviewing what our children learn in church, what the small group leaders discuss, what the worship leaders sing, and finally what the pastor preaches on.

Nevertheless, Jude in verses 14-15 does give us a glimpse of what will happen but also what we should be doing, like him we should be in the Lord’s Word. Enoch walked with God, He was spending time with God and because of that, God revealed and commissioned him to go out and speak on His behalf, “It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, 15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him” Jude 1:14-15. Enoch who walked with God, who was raptured and by many (myself-included) believe he was a foreshadowing of the Church being raptured. He is symbolizing the Church walking with God, he preached God’s Word, and before judgement came with the flood of Noah, we see Enoch is taken up with the Lord. He never died! We see Noah and his sons being a representation of God’s chosen people Israel in the days of Jacob’s trouble. Like Enoch, we as the body of Christ walk with God and should proclaim to the world His message of salvation while there is still time. We are to keep solely focused on what God wants us to be doing.

Next week we will go over the second part of Jude, where we see him writing to us regarding a detailed explanation on what we are to be doing but also one of the biggest examples of our Blessed Hope coming for us. God is a great God, and He desires for us to be armed with His Word, and if we fail to arm ourselves, we will fail to notice those who creep in, who come in unnoticed and attempt to add and/or take away from the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ. So, keep vigilant and watchful, and if you do find yourself having to confront one of those as described in Jude, take the lesson from Michael the Archangel and rebuke in the name of the Lord. Use Jesus Christs’ words and His authority that only a born-again member of the Body of Christ can do. But this can only happen if we are reliant on the Lord, for us to be reliant we need to be in His Word and know His Word.

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming

JL

[1] https://www.bibleref.com/Jude/1/Jude-1-11.html

An Example in Paul

Paul has set for us the example that we ought to live by as well as shown us how to find joy in our troubles.  We have also seen Paul use Jesus Christ as an example of what it means to have a spirit of servitude.  This week we will see Paul use himself as an example of the prize that awaits all who come to Christ, and that prize is knowing Him. 

Chapter three of Philippians starts off with a warning about an issue that was not only rampant during Paul’s life, but continues today.  It is those who say that you can get to heaven through your own deeds, through religious acts, or any number of things.  Paul describes these types of people as Judaizers, they believed that circumcision was necessary for salvation and placed their hope in their fleshly deeds.  Paul reminds the Church in Philippi that they are the circumcision because they “worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh” Philippians 3:3.  We see that Paul continues his remarks to the Judaizers by reciting his own lineage in verses 4-6.  Here we see that if we were to rely on our own deeds, Paul would have more reason to boost than others because he was a “Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless” Philippians 3:5-6. Paul had more claim than anyone if salvation was based off of human deeds, but as we look farther we see that Paul comes to see all of his previous actions, and all the ways that the world would say he was good, as a loss.

Paul understood that in the world’s eyes, his actions would lead him to gain but instead of playing by the world’s rules, Paul saw the bigger picture on the road to Damascus when Christ confronted and called to him.  From that point on Paul began to see that to know Christ is the true reward and gain that we can have.  It is how he was able to say that “to live is Christ and to die is gain” Philippians 2: 21.  To seek the knowledge of Christ is greater than following religious traditions and Paul understands and expresses in Romans 3:21-5:21 that righteousness does not come from religious acts but in the knowledge of Christ. Paul also understands that we must continue to grow in our knowledge of Christ.  He understands that even though he has come to know Christ, it is a continuous action that must be done throughout our own lives.  We have not received full sanctification, and won’t until we are with Christ either through death or the rapture, but knowing more about our God is something that we can and must continue to do throughout our lives.  2 Peter 3:18 “18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen”

Paul further states in verse 14, that by continuing in knowing our Lord we will win the prize that He has for us.  The answer to what this prize is, is found in verses 20-21. “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like is glorious body” Paul is reminding the church in Philippi that their citizenship is not on this earth.  Paul’s message here is still applicable today as we see 2020 consumed in chaos and worldly uncertainty.  Paul is telling the church to look up, for that is where their citizenship is, and this is still true today.  No matter what city, state, or nation you belong too, if you are part of Christ’s family than your true citizenship is in heaven.  Do not be dismayed when you look around you and see things going crazy, this was predicted to happen and it is coming true.  When we see the world showing its true desires, we know that those who are following this pattern are living enemies of the cross and destruction is their only gain.  We have a place away from this and one day we will live in a world that is ruled by Christ.

Seek the Truth and encourage one another,

                        Alex

A Lesson From Jeremiah

“Be cautious when listening to those who speak for God, who declare for God”

Today I want to speak directly to the Christians, those who are eagerly following the Lord right now. It is not that I do not care for the unsaved, but this message is for those who already have recognized the need for Christ being first and His Word being the ultimate authority in our lives. If you claim to be a Christian but do not follow the Lord or believe His Word is not perfect and impractical for us today, please take some time and review who Christ claimed to be and what His Word has proven to be. This is for those who understand our foundation can only come from God’s Word and nothing else.

Now that we have that out of the way, we can discuss a growing concern that has been placed on my heart for the saved. Many are seriously struggling with the craziness and differences of opinions that they are being slammed with in the Church, some of these culprits are pastors, missionaries, clergy, evangelists, teachers, worship leaders, and so many more. The tornado of events of this world has only caused an avalanche furthering these issues. The matter of opinions and argumentative talking points has caused us to be dazed and confused.

Fear has become the ever-growing child of such confusion, causing us to slack in our spiritual growth and want to tighten down our personal forts and hunker in. Yet we know that by “hunkering in” due to worsening events, we might be keeping our attention from where it should be. We do not want to have fear pull our attention from Christ Jesus, “But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” 2 Corinthians 11:3. Fear has been used by Satan many times before, this is not a new play book he is using but rather a time proven concept getting Christians so worked up in their earthly dwelling that they fail to see the Heavenly outlook of what is going on, “So that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs” 2 Corinthians 2:11 We should ask Christ for His help when we are afraid, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears” Psalm 34:4. Satan, loves to make us confused and focused on the “crazy” that we are going through. Recently I have seen pastors “prophesying” that a heat wave was coming and God was going to kill the Covid-19 Wuhan Virus. Others have joined with popular anti-Semitic groups to help them fund raise and change public policy, others proclaim the need for a social gospel, Social Justice and the uplifting of the earth to a worship level. Some proclaim that the tribulation has started, and it is our job to fight the Antichrist, some have even gone on and said we are living in Christ’s Kingdom right now. With all of this I could not more strongly say how wrong they are. The Word of God is true, and it will not change or be altered by those who believe they speak or represent God’s purposes on earth. “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever" Isaiah 40:8.

As saved people we should be going to His Word for us to understand what is happening, for us to better know what is coming, and for us to realize what we can be doing right now. Our God has not left us. For those living in the U.S, the scenario that we have been living in has radically changed and it will continue to get worse. For those in other nations it has continued and will still continue to get worse. We are at an end of an age, Christendom is being prepared for our Blessed Hope and the time of Jacob’s trouble is close to ignition. I do not use “ignition” lightly, as someone who has seen explosives go off I can assure you it is going to happen quickly and vigorously, the end of one and the reinstate of the other is coming. Nevertheless, we who are saved need to take everything spiritual leaders say back to the word of God.

I want to draw our attention to a story in which the Israelites were informed of coming events and yet spiritual leaders falsely proclaimed otherwise. Jeremiah was able to help testify and proclaim to the Israelite nation that Babylon was going to be taking over and it was God ordained, “In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying— 2 thus says the Lord to me—“Make for yourself bonds and yokes and put them on your neck, 3 and send word to the king of Edom, to the king of Moab, to the king of the sons of Ammon, to the king of Tyre and to the king of Sidon by the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 Command them to go to their masters, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, thus you shall say to your masters, 5 “I have made the earth, the men and the beasts which are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to the one who is pleasing in My sight. 6 Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I have given him also the wild animals of the field to serve him. 7 All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will make him their servant.8 “It will be, that the nation or the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine and with pestilence,” declares the Lord, “until I have destroyed it by his hand” Jeremiah 27:1-8. Israel knew what God had ordained and many were still looking for ways to get around what was proclaimed.

In today’s world we know that God has ordained certain things to happen, and yet, it is apparent that many saved individuals are refusing to acknowledge these statements in God’s Word. There are Christians who are currently preparing for the tribulation, they believe we are to go through the seven years of which God has ordained for bringing about the salvation of Israel, we who are saved right now due not need to worry about this, “Because you have kept the word of my perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” Revelation 3:10. This is fore shown just a few verses later in Revelation 4, “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.’2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne” Revelation 4:1-2. We are not going to go through what is coming but that does not mean it is not going to get worse. We have spiritual leaders who are so wrong in their outlook of God’s Word that I believe it would be accurate to say they fit the bill for what the apostle Peter stated, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.2 Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned” 2 Peter 2:1-2.

In Jeremiah’s day God also warned that false teachers and individuals ignorant of the scripture would proclaim answers, yet they were to ignore them, “But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers or your sorcerers who speak to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10 For they prophesy a lie to you in order to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you out and you will perish. 11 But the nation which will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let remain on its land,” declares the Lord, “and they will till it and dwell in it” Jeremiah 27:9-11. We must be willing to take everything back to what the scripture tells us if we are to keep a rock solid base in these troubled times, and remember that God has not abandoned us, He has given us the ability to see exactly what is happening and what we are to do about it. Jeremiah had to deal with the false prophet Hananiah who proclaimed, “Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years I am going to bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. 4 I am also going to bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles of Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares the Lord, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon” Jeremiah 28:1-4.

We can clearly see that God had already stated that Nebuchadnezzar was going to rule and his son would and his son after him, so when this prophet shows up claiming in two years Babylon would rule them no longer, we have a serious issue. The Word of God is different than what the spiritual leader was saying. Today it is the same way with the spiritual leaders making accusations that are no where in the Bible. As saved individuals we have the reliance of Jesus Christ, we have the Spiritual assets and the Word of God to test everything that the spiritual leaders might say to us. For if we are in the Lord, if we are following Him, the craziness of this world will have no bearing on us, Christ is our rock! We can be unified in Him, if you want to know more about such unity in Christ, just click here.

Now what do we do when spiritual leaders state something that God’s Word does not? Jeremiah was able to give us a great example of what to do. God had already spoken that Babylon was going to be the ruling Kingdom for the next three generations. Hananiah had declared that in two years Babylon would be broke. So, what did Jeremiah do? “then the prophet Jeremiah went his way” Jeremiah 28:11. He went his way, he continued to do what he was doing, He followed God’s Word. How do we know that? Verse 12 shows us that He went and obeyed God’s direction, “The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah.” Jeremiah was listening to the Lord. He follows what the Lord wants for him to do, “Go and speak to Hananiah, saying, ‘thus says the Lord, ‘ You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made instead of them yokes of iron.’ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon; and they will serve him. And I have also given him the beasts of the field” Jeremiah 28:13-14. Jeremiah was listening to the Lord, he followed and obeyed the Lord.

So if spiritual leaders in our day attempt to tell us something that is not correct in God’s Word, we are to tell and show them, as Jeremiah did, and if they continue to disagree, we continue on our own way and follow God. He will deal with them in His own way and in His own timing, “Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, ‘Listen now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. 16 Therefore thus says the Lord, Behold, I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This year you are going to die, because you have counseled rebellion against the Lord.’ 17 So Hananiah the prophet died in the same year in the seventh month” Jeremiah 28:15-17.

So why is this discussion needed? We are bombarded by false information and what we should be believing that is directly against God’s Word. We are being pushed and shoved into believing that our Jesus was something He was not. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, He is a Jew, and He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He died on the cross and resurrected triumphantly, His Word is everlasting and should be taken as the ultimate authority. It should be our first reference, and our last reference in any topic of discussion and information in our decision-making process. We should remember Proverbs 30:5 “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.” We should also remember how we are to act with other believers in regard to God’s Word, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” Colossians 3:16. So as the world grows darker and the chaos continues, let us lean on Christ and His Word. When spiritual leaders or other individuals in the Churches, Bible Studies, and/or other areas we study God’s Word, state things that do not match up with what He says, let us study the Word and follow Jeremiah’s approach. Keep following the Lord and allow Him to do what He does best, LEAD!

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming

JL

Humility through Christ

With the last couple of weeks, we have looked at what it means to suffer for Christ as well as what it means to be united with Christ.  We have seen that even during suffering we can have joy, and how being united with Christ is not the same as being united with the world.  But what are these characteristics to be sought after?  As we conclude our look into the second chapter of Philippians, we see that Paul gives us an example to follow for being humble, and that example is none other than Christ.  As we read Philippians 2:5-11, we will see that our attitude should be that of the suffering-servant Himself, and how on earth Christ did suffer but this suffering was rewarded.

Even though Jesus was all God and all Man, He still humbled Himself by putting Himself under the authority of God the Father. It would have been easy for Christ to use His God given authority on earth when He was persecuted by the Jewish council,  as well as the Roman Courts and would have to bear the sin of the World. He even helps us see this when He says, “And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will” Mark 14:36.

Jesus also gives us an example of His capacity to be humble and patient in waiting for the appropriate time. In the third temptation that Satan has for Christ, Satan offers up the world if only Jesus would worship him. “Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” 11 Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him” Matthew 4:8-11. Jesus was humble to the plan that was predestined for Him. He knows that one day He will have the nations and will rule, but it had to be done a specific way. Christ set aside His authority to come as those who belong to Him, He experienced life as a man so that He would have a humble nature since He understood our trials. “17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” Hebrews 2:17. By taking the place of a servant on earth, Christ as King is faithful and merciful.  Throughout every stage of our lives, we will always be under someone else’s authority.  Christ’s example through His life and ministry show us how we are to handle ourselves.

We can see again how Christ humbled Himself as a servant through the example that He gave his disciples.  Look at John 13:12-17, “12 So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” Here Christ shows that we need to take on a spirit of service with those around us, but also reminds us that we are not to do it to boast ourselves. Instead we should be serving so that we can show the glory of God.

Christ’s continuing show of His spirit of humility can be found in verse eight which states that Christ came in the appearance of man.  Isaiah 53:2 also describes the appearance of the coming Messiah. “For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.” We can see from this verse that Christ would not outwardly have any special traits that would draw people to Him. 

Now that we have seen the example that Christ has set for us regarding humility, I want to look at the reward that His humility and service gave Him.  After the death on the cross, God exalted His Son to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name. (Verse 9). But what was the place that Christ was exalted too?  That answer can be found in Hebrews 1:3 “3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” We have an eye witness account of Jesus in Heaven right now, it is the account of Stephen in Acts 7 testifying that he could see Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

When Christ died on the cross, He made purification of sins as the perfect sacrifice.  This act gave Him the place at the right hand of God where Christ continues to intercede for us today.  We see also in Hebrews 12:2 that Christ is at the right hand of God “2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” We can see here that through Christ submitting Himself to the will of God the Father, He became not just the author of faith but also the perfecter.  It is hard to believe that as gruesome as death on a cross is, that Christ would find joy in it, but because He had submitted Himself to the Father’s will Christ found joy in being able to give the situation up to the Father.  It is through this example that we can find joy in difficult situations.  Christ knew what would be asked of Him and yet He still submitted to the Father and this allowed Him to take His place at the right hand of God.  I want to mention Mark 10:45 as well “10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” By His actions, we have been sanctified.  It is not a process that we can do on our own, this sanctification can only begin once we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Christ was also rewarded in that there is nothing that is not subjected to Him.  Through His actions as the servant, everything has been placed under His feet. “You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. 9 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.” Hebrews 2:8-9.  When Christ came as a servant He was under the authority of the Law, but through the death on the cross everything has been made subject to Him.

Christ’s experiences on earth provide for us an example of what it means to submit to the Father and to the Word.  We can see that by humbling ourselves we can find joy in our most difficult situations just as Christ did.  And just as Christ received His reward, we will receive ours as well.

Seek the Truth and encourage one another,

                        Alex

Understanding Our Suffering

“Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him” Isaiah 53:4-6.

It is typically around the Passover we read about Jesus Christ suffering on the Cross and how He took our punishment for those who would freely accept His gift. It is typically around Passover discussions regarding the cross and what He went through are analyzed and discussed. However, His suffering on the cross and the suffering during His first 33 years of life on earth can also be a great example and reminder of God knowing what we are going through.

Today I want to discuss Christ’s suffering so we can remember as we suffer today and in the coming chaos, we can lean on a God who truly understands. While we are kept from the hour of trial and The Tribulation “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth” Revelation 3:10 God never said we wouldn’t go through tribulation in our life, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33.

While this is not a discussion of the reasons why a Christian will not go through The Tribulation but rather through tribulation in life, I will say this, “The Tribulation is for the salvation of the Jewish Nation,” tribulation is an instrument used periodically by God to help us follow and lean on Him.

Suffering in tribulations we go through is a reality, Jesus recognized and told them in John 16:33. Yet, we can review God’s suffering on earth and see because He was 100% man and 100% God at the same time, He now knows and understands what we go through.

In Isaiah 52, we see how Isaiah portrays a marvelous account of Christ in the future and what is going to happen. Verses 52:13 through 53:12 help bring to light the reality of why we can truly say that Christ knows our pain, because He lived through it and conquered it.

Reading the Gospels, we can see that like us today, He has gone through the issues that confront us now. No matter where you are in this world right now, no matter what persecution for Christ you are going through, He is bigger than it and He can understand your pain.

Let us go through just a few examples, (This is not an exhausted list)

Jesus Christ was betrayed by a friend:

“Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus” Matthew 26:14-16.

He was abandoned by His friends:

“At that time Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would against a robber? Every day I used to sit in the temple teaching and you did not seize Me. But all this has taken place to fulfill the Scriptures of the prophets.’ Matthew 26:55-56.

He is lied and cursed by His friends:

“Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.” But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.” Matthew 26:69-75.

The Justice System failed Him:

“Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the people any one prisoner whom they wanted. At that time they were holding a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” For he knew that because of envy they had handed Him over.

While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “Have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.” But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death. But the governor said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Crucify Him!” And he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Crucify Him!” When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.” And all the people said, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!” Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified” Matthew 27:15-26.

He was mocked by the political, and social authority:

“Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head. After they had mocked Him, they took the scarlet robe off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him. As they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear His cross.” Matthew 27:27-32.

His private property was taken from Him:

“And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots.” Matthew 27:35.

He was even mocked at while being crucified for something He was innocent of:

“At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left. And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads” Matthew 27:38-44.

His rightful actions would even be denied:

“Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, Mathew 28:11-15.

What we see is that Christ not only knew suffering but overcame suffering. This list does not even go into His suffering during the rest of His ministry. He had family and friends pass away and He had his own family deny Him, Christ can truly understand where we are right now.

However, I do not tell you this just to say, get over your suffering but to point you to what Christ has told us to do with our suffering. For He has a plan for our suffering and what it can create in us. “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,” Romans 5:3. We are told that suffering will help produce in us the ability to keep moving forward to keep going in our mission, our meaning on earth, to follow Christ.

This doesn’t mean to go looking for trouble or to seek out ways to suffer, of course not, but when it comes do not shy from it, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,” James 1:2. As we go through trials and tribulations, we must remember that He knows us better than ourselves, He will not make us go through trials that we cannot handle “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” 1 Corinthians 10:13.

So let us keep our faith in Christ, and when we go through suffering remember to seek Him who has gone through it, seek Him who is capable of delivering us out of the pain or through the pain, learn to magnify Him in ways we do not understand. I am reminded by the author of Hebrews “Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward” Hebrews 10:35.

So as the world continues to grow more chaotic and the persecution of the Church worsens, remember that we have a God who not only understands what we are going through but is there beside us each step of the way. So, let us proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, let us proclaim His victory over sin and death, let us proclaim the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords will reign on earth. Let us seek the good shepherd, the good physician, the good teacher, the friend who is closer than a brother, the rock, the Son of God, and let us never be ashamed of it! I will end today with this, Stephen the first Martyr for Christ was able to see something remarkable, “Behold I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Acts 7:56. Christ is standing! He is not sitting, He is not somewhere else, He is standing next to God the Father and is readying to welcome home Stephen. What an encouragement to know Christ is not just sitting up there saying “well I did it so it’s your turn now” no, He is standing there ready to comfort us and support us, for He is with us. How amazing is it that for those who are saved, having a relationship that no one can pull us apart, our suffering is only temporary when compared to our connection with Christ “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,” 2nd Corinthians 4:17.  Finally, in the theme of a dear brother of mine who I cannot wait to meet, Hugh Latimer, who in his own Acts 7 moment, encouraged those also suffering for Christ. 

Play the man, brothers and sisters; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, amongst the world, as I trust shall never be put out, for whom shall we fear, for we know who is with us.

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming

JL

Unity in Christ

There is no stronger call right now than to be united. Whether it is uniting to fight a virus, uniting for a cause against social injustice, or a call for a united government, this world wants unity. However, what is troubling is seeing the church fall for the cry of unity that comes from this world.  As we saw last week, suffering in this world and suffering for Christ are different, and we will see as we continue with Philippians that there is a difference between uniting with the world and its desires and being united with Christ.  In Philippians 2:1-4 we see that we gain encouragement from being united with Christ. But what exactly does it mean to be united with Christ? Paul gives us three ways that we can see that we, as a church body and individually, are united with Christ as well as shows us what it looks like if we are not.

First we can see that we can be united with Christ by having a like-mind.  The trinity is the perfect example of what it means to be like-minded with the church body.  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are separate individuals but they work with one mind. A.W. Tozer explains this very well in his book The Knowledge of the Holy “The Persons of the Godhead, being one, have one will. They work always together, and never one smallest act is done by one without the instant acquiescence of the other two. Every act of God is accomplished by the Trinity in Unity.” Christ helps to explain this idea of unity in John 17:20-23 “20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”  Here Christ is praying that we have unity as He and the Father are united, and through this unity we can see the love that God has for us. While we are all separate individuals, we should all work together towards the goal that God wants, and that is to bring all into union with Him. This does not mean we lose our individuality, but rather embrace our true and remarkable God given talents in the pursuit of giving God the glory and honor He so rightfully deserves. It is unity in what God desires, what God holds in value, not what the world wishes to see.  Anywhere that there is sinful desires, God is against and we must be as well.

The second aspect of being united with God is being united in love. When I first became a believer the Bible was described to me as one big love letter written from God to me.  And there is no doubt that throughout the Bible there are countless verses dealing with love. We have all heard the saying “love is patient, love is kind…” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). But there is so much more to what being united with Christ in His love is.  It is putting away our own selfish desires, in fact daily dying to our desires, and putting God first. It is not our love of God that saves us, but God’s love for us. 1 John 4:10 ““10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Or 1 John 3:16 ““16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” Love is an action, it is not merely words. God showed His love for us by sending His Son to die for us, we show our love to God by putting away our selfish desires and act just as Christ did on earth. As a Church body we show that we are united in love by going out as Christ did to share God’s love to everyone.

Next we are called to be united in spirit and purpose with Christ.  Throughout all of Christ’s ministry it is clear what He wants, and that is to unite all people with God.  This is the same purpose that we must have.  I am sure you have all heard of the Great Commission, if not, it is found in Matthew 28:16-20 “16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” The body of Christ is called to go out and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  This is our united purpose and it is what we all must seek to do.  To do this though, does not mean we all must become pastors or even stand on a corner declaring the gospel, although for some this may work.  We all have our different areas of strengths when it comes to speaking of God. For example, I have a difficult time speaking in groups, it is not my strength, but through Mill House Ministries I am finding that I am able to articulate my words better than if I was in front of someone. JL on the other hand, has no issue with being in front of a crowd, or even another friend of ours who does not like to be in big groups has no issue going up to strangers to tell them about Christ. The Bible has another way to describe what I am saying here and that is found in 1 Corinthians 12:15-20 “15 Suppose the foot says, “I am not a hand. So I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. 16 And suppose the ear says, “I am not an eye. So I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If the whole body were an ear, how could it smell? 18 God has placed each part in the body just as he wanted it to be. 19 If all the parts were the same, how could there be a body? 20 As it is, there are many parts. But there is only one body.” We all have different strengths but they all must work towards the purpose that Christ has.

We have looked at the three characteristics that Paul mentions when he states that we are to be united with Christ.  However, when you look at verse three you see that there is a characteristic that shows when someone is not united with Christ. “3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.” When we look towards our own interests, we are not being like-minded with Christ, nor are we loving what He loves, nor serving the purpose that Christ has.  And I am sad to see that this behavior is more common today.  In fact, you can’t look at any major news outlet without seeing people who are acting with selfish ambition.  What I am talking of here are those people who are part of the protests who are breaking into places such as Target, but instead of getting essentials for their families, they are stealing TV’s and other worldly desires.  These people are not behaving in the characteristics that were mentioned above.  And this difference shows truly what it means to be united with either Christ or with the world. An individual cannot serve two masters, they will either follow the world or follow God. Matthew 6:24 “24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Unity with Christ does not equal unity with the world.  These are the two options every individual has to serve either God who is love and justice, or the world who hates what does not belong to it. John 15:19 “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” The world cannot love what it does not recognize, that is why we are separated from the world when we become believers.  And while there are characteristics that God hates, Proverbs 6:16-19 “16 There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.” It is because these characteristics go against everything that God is.  If you are someone who has a lying tongue, a wicked heart, feet that are running towards evil, a false witness, or spreading dissension between the body of Christ then you are not united with Him and are serving the master of this world. It is through our actions that show ourselves and those around us who we truly serve.

When we are united with Christ, behaving in like-mindedness, loving what Christ loves, and united in the purpose of Christ, we are able to have the same humble attitude that Christ had during His ministry.  Through this humble spirit we are able to put aside our own interests and look after the interests of others.  Any time the disciples argued over who would be the greatest, Christ reminded them that they should take the place of a servant because that is what Christ did Himself. Luke 22:25-27 ““25 Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 26 But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” To be united with Christ means to serve those around us, it can be as little as being a part of a food chain to a family with a new baby, serving in the church, or going on mission trips. I am not talking about the social gospel which has taken the place of Christ nor am I talking about bringing the Heavenly Kingdom now. What I am talking about is the undisputed and total recognition of our own rightful place and that is as saved believers to be ambassadors for Christ in this fallen world. Our goal should be to proclaim in our actions, thoughts, and decisions Christ Jesus, we are to serve in whatever way He has called us to. By leaning on Him we as Christians can be united. In the end we are all called to serve because that is what Christ did. Christ had the authority to be sitting at the table, and yet He served those around Him by washing their feet and even going to the cross He served God the Father.

Seek the Truth and encourage one another,

                        Alex

Loving in these Times

“To love the lovable is simple, to love the awkward is popular, to love the unloved is celebrated, but to love the very enemy trying to destroy you, is God given” Author Unknown.

I have found it easy to love a person who genuinely loves me back and is like minded. With family, friends, and those who are similar in my way of thinking it is easy to go out of my way to help them. However, we are starting to enter a time in human history where the common bond that keeps us all together is waning, as lawlessness grows and the desires of many grow more wicked, the love of many has grown cold. Now we know Scripture discusses this when Jesus warned of the coming days “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,” Matthew 24:12.  What Jesus Christ is saying is directed at what the world is going to do, not what the Christian should be doing. I must admit the recent activities of some in my own nation have caused myself to have strong emotions, anger, fear, and resentfulness, as the craziness continues, I am reminded that this was foretold as a coming event in the Bible. We were warned that as the world grows darker and the chaos continues there would be less love for our fellow man.

So, what is a Christian to do? Are we to love unconditionally? Are we to allow the chaos to continue? What should a Christian be doing right now?

Sadly, there are many pastors and Christian leaders who are taking the approach similar with what the world would have us do. I say we go to the Word of God and see what Christ would have us do. For the word is “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;” 2 Timothy 3:16. So let us look at what love in action really should be in these times and what we are told to do.

I want to take a quick moment and state the following, no matter your political thinking, ideology, nor your personal opinions on any matter, the Bible is the final authority in which all Christians are to live their life. So, let us ask the question.

What is love?

This is an interesting question due to many Christians will jump to the Greek and give you the different word choices for love. No doubt the iconic words of Christ might flash before you “love your neighbor as yourself” but there is something deeper to what love really is in these types of times. When Christ was asked, “But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Luke 10:29. We see that Christ gave an answer basically stating anyone can be and that we are to love our fellow man. Luke 10 continues with the Good Samaritan story which I would encourage you to go and read. However, while this has its place, for all intents and purposes we are talking about the actions we are to take now with each other in these unprecedented times. This means discernment is needed as we discuss the application of such an idea of love.

So, what is love?

We see that God is love, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8. If this is so, than we can look at His actions and see what love is like. I would argue the greatest description of love in a single verse of the Bible is the popular, ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16. God is willing to give up His own Son for our sinful actions. He sends the perfect sacrifice for us to have the capacity for salvation. This is love, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13. So this gives us the idea of love in action. Based off these three references we can infer several things. We see that God is love, He loves the entire world, and those who know Him will have love in their heart. So as the world grows darker, those who love God should shine brighter. As believers what does that mean right now? It means we are needed to have love more than ever before; our actions should be designed around God who is love.

This is a problem for the Christian since the God of the Bible is not very popular today. In fact, acting upon some of the beliefs of Jesus Christ are not just intolerable but even illegal. Yet, Jesus gives us a great example of actionable love during the times we live in.

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” John 15:18-25.

Here we see a great evaluation of actionable love during these times. As we live like God has commanded us to, we are going to be hated by those around us. As we live for Christ, we are going to have people stand up against us and that is ok. If I am hated for my desire to be like Christ, it shows that I am taking seriously the commandment of “for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." 1st Peter 1:16. 

So, we have learned a few things, we now know God is love, we know that He loves the world, and we know He wants us to love anyone even those who hate us. Now we come to the crossroads, the issue that we need to have our discernment caps on. How are we to love those who are acting in such a way that they are actively against what we stand for today?

While it sounds tricky it is a simple answer, for this we can look at some statements from Christ and His followers for a great example of how we are to act.

“Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Romans 13:10.

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins” 1st Peter 4:8.

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” 1st John 3:16-18.

“Do everything in love.” 1st Corinthians 16:14.

“Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs” Proverbs 10:12.

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you." Luke 6:27-31.

“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked” Luke 6:35.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" Matthew 5:43-48.

Do you see the similarities? Do you see the characteristics of our actionable love? There are three prime rules that we can pull out of these verses.

1)     Nowhere does it say to accept a person’s sinful life, decisions, and or actions. If it is wrong, we are to declare it wrong.

2)     Nowhere does it say we are to pick and choose who we love, no matter the political standing we are to love that person.

3)     Nowhere does it say we are to put loving man before loving God. He is first in our life, not helping the world.

These three simple issues are causing much of the harm today. For too long Christians have accepted sinful lifestyles, policies, and decisions from those around us. We are too worried about making sure we are being nice. Remember if the world hates you for representing Christ as He wants us to, chances are you are doing it right. Secondly, for too long Christians have picked and chosen who they want to show their brotherly love to, instead of acting as Christ and meeting people where they are and helping them find Christ, we condemn them for not being in a suit when they walk into church or for what side of the city they are from. Finally, for too long Christians have altered and outright changed God’s words, actions, and commandments all to please man. We are not to lose our first love, Jesus Christ is our final and only aim, all other goals are second to Him.

So how do we love today? The simple answer is to live according to how God has told us too. Love should look something like this in our own actions.

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away” 1st Corinthians 13:4-8. 

“With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,” Ephesians 4:2.

“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” 1 John 3:18.

This will be hard for some to do, I know it is for me, current affairs make me want to go crazy when I see what the world is becoming. Nevertheless, we are to stay the course, do not let emotions entangle themselves in our pursuit of Christ. Now as for the Christian do not worry, for God has not forgotten us, He loves us and knows the trials that we go through, there is a coming judgement for those who do not know God, and those who forsake the love. But that is not for us to worry about right now. For now, we are to follow the orders given and to love Christ and secondly love our neighbors. Jesus will not abandon us, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39. However, this does not mean we are to sit idle by as those who are weak and vulnerable are abused, for are we truly loving the unborn, the orphan, the widow, the “fill in the blank” if we allow the world to murder, attack, ridicule, and hurt them? Absolutely not, but we are to stand to protect those who truly cannot protect themselves. We must recognize that until Love sits on the throne and is ruling in Jerusalem (aka Jesus), we will never have a perfect system. Yet as Christians, we should be doing our part to love all, even those who the world does not want to love. So, let us get out there and do what we Christians do best, “Let all that you do be done in love.” 1st Corinthians 16:14.

Hold until relieved, Our blessed Hope is coming

JL

Suffering Done Right

Last week we looked at Paul’s prayer for the Church in Philippi which serves as an example of how we can be praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world. This week we are taking a look at the last half of Philippians one in which we see what Paul was so joyful about with his currently unpleasant situation as well as what it means to suffer with Christ. Our foundational verses are Philippians 1:12-30.

When we began the discussion of Philippians we had learned that Paul was imprisoned and we see him continue to discuss that situation in verses 12-14 “12 Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, 13 so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, 14 and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.”.  We can see here that Paul was not worried about being imprisoned because it allowed for the advancement of the gospel. While Paul was imprisoned he was literally chained to a Roman guard, you can imagine then that Paul and the guard would talk about what Paul had done to be arrested.  This allowed Paul to share the gospel to the guard who would then go and tell the other guards causing the gospel to be heard throughout the palace.  Through Paul’s example, we can see that a bad situation can allow for the spread of the gospel.  A more recent example of how a tough situation can lead to the spread of the gospel would be Joni Eareckson Tada, a woman who after a diving accident became a quadriplegic.  While at first she struggled with her situation, she eventually used this to begin a ministry focusing on the disabled community, a community that is sadly overlooked by many.

            The other aspect of Paul’s situation that allowed him to have joy was that it allowed for others to speak about Christ.  People were encouraged by Paul’s dedication and that gave them the courage that they did not have before to speak of Christ.  Paul used his opportunity to speak calmly to an audience that literally had no way to not listen.  How we speak of our God will be seen by others, it is the first step for a non-believer to see who our God is.  I have seen countless examples of this but the most recent one is when a friend of mine was discussing political policies on social media.  One friend is a believer and the other is not, however they were able to have a calm discussion that allowed for the believer to share God’s love with the non-believer.  Unknown at the time, there was another friend who was a believer going through a similar debate with another non-believer.  This believer was able to mimic the first conversation to lovingly show how God cares.

            Paul continues to find joy in his situation because he knows that either outcome available to him will be for good.  Look at verses 19-26. “19 for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. 23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; 24 yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.”

            Here we can see that Paul knew he would either be put to death or would be released but he had no fear for either outcome.  He knew that God would use his situation to complete His work in Paul and to spread the gospel.  Paul knew that if the result meant his death he would be one of the ones to hear “well done” like is mentioned in Matthew 25:21, or if the result meant that he would remain on earth he knew that it would mean the continuation of him spreading the gospel.  As you can see Paul had a slight preference, he knew that he would gain if he died because it would allow him to finally be at the feet of God. However, Paul knew that there was still work for him to do for Christ here on earth and so he knew that he would live simply because that is what was necessary for the progress of the faith.  Paul saw both life and death as a joyous situation and this is how we as Christians should live.  We should have no fear of death because Christ has already defeated death for our sake, when we die we will be united with Him.  But while we continue here, we must do what needs to be done to spread the gospel.

            Paul ends the first chapter of Philippians imploring the church to behave in a way that is worthy of the gospel.  In verses 27-30 we see Paul stating that by striving with one mind for the faith of the gospel is a sign of destruction to their opponents.  That the believers were granted salvation for Christ’s sake, but in doing so they will also suffer for His sake.  So what does it mean to suffer for Christ? The Bible has several verses regarding suffering, however, in order to get a better understanding of what it means to suffer for Christ, I have five that I want to look at.

            The first is 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 “3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.” In suffering for Christ we gain endurance in the faith.  There will be many so-called believers out there who will turn away from the faith when things get hard or unpleasant.  If you have read our prophecy updates, you would have seen that there was an article about the Christian musician who recently came out and said that he does not believe that there is a God.  Throughout this life there will be many difficult moments and we always have a choice in them.  We can chose to either run from God or toward Him, this is how we gain endurance in the faith, for an example I encourage you to again look at the story of Joni Eareckson Tada and look at how different things could have been for her if she chose to run from God instead of towards him. Our sufferings allows for the “wheat and chaff” to be separated, the true believer will run towards God and seek after Him more than anything else.  Finally, according to these verses, we can see that throughout our sufferings, God is there to comfort us and it is through His comforting that we are able to comfort others.  Our God is not one who is careless and heartless, in fact He cares for even the smallest. Matthew 6:26-30 “26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?”

By seeing His guidance in our suffering, we can then be an encouragement for others when they are going through trials.  This is what Paul was doing when he was writing to the church in Philippi.  He knew that either release from prison or death would result in God’s will being done and was comforted with that idea. He sought to encourage the church to continue in what they were doing.

The next set of scripture that I want to look at is 1 Peter 4:12-19. “12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” When trials and tribulations come upon us, we should not be surprised.  This world will continue to bring hard times on us and that is because we are separated from this world. We do not hold to the values of this world. “18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.” John 15:18-20. To suffer for Christ means to suffer as Christ did, and that includes being hated by this world because we have been chosen out of the world. However, while we will suffer now, we will rejoice in the end if we commit ourselves to our faithful God and continue to hold to Him above all else.

            The third set of scripture that shows us what it means to suffer for Christ is 1 Peter 2:21-25. “21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example ,that you should follow in his steps. 22 “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” 23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 25 For “you were like sheep going astray,”but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” Christ suffered to leave us an example of how we should behave when we are in trials.  When Christ was in front of Pilate, or had the Roman guards beating him, or the crowds throwing insults at him, or even when He was on the cross; Christ did not make threats, did not retaliate in any way, but instead He entrusted the situation to the One who judges justly.  When we are going through similar situations we need to remember how Christ behaved and adjust our behavior and mindset to Him and not on those who are accusing us.

            Next I want to look at Hebrews 2:14-18. “14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” Through these verses we can see that Christ suffered so that He could understand us when we go through trials.  How exciting is that! Knowing that our God is aware of the struggles that we go through because He Himself went through them!  He is not a God who has no compassion, instead He is filled with compassion! The same can be said of us, when we see others going through situations that we have gone through, we can have compassion for them and offer our support.  This is what Christ is doing for us even today! He is sitting at the right hand of God and is acting as a mediator for us.

            Finally, I want to look at Romans 8:17. “17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” This verse should be very comforting to the Christian.  We share in the sufferings of Christ while on this earth so that we may share in His glory in Heaven.  Our God will not leave us nor will He forsake us, He cares for those who belong to Him.  And because He cares, He will one day end all suffering. When we are suffering for Christ, it is further proof to ourselves and to the world that we belong to the one true King.

            I hope now when you take a look at the closing of Philippians one, you can see that our trials have a way of turning out greater progress of the gospel because we become an example to those around us on who Christ is.  We should not be worried about what others are saying about us because in the end our glory comes from Christ. We have no need to fear death because it means that we will be with Christ which is better than what is on this earth, but until that time we need to continue the calling that God has for all of us and that is to share the gospel.  While this may lead us into suffering, we can be assured that God is with us during those times and we should not be surprised when we are going through trials, but know that He understands our suffering, our suffering brings us closer to Him, and finally, our suffering now allows us to share in His glory.

Seek the Truth and encourage one another,

                        Alex

How long?

After writing last week’s post regarding the importance of prophecy, I came to the realization that people are not just asking “what is happening next?” But Christians who are eagerly waiting on the Lord’s return are asking “how long?” How long are we to deal with such craziness, how long are we to see wickedness control the world, how long are we to see injustice prevail, how long are we to see the orphan, the widow, and the unborn mistreated? How long are we to see the innocent abused?

This is a great question, and a question that I want to dive into with you. Today we are not talking about the rapture, but rather something else. The waiting game to such a blessed hope event. In every believer’s life, there has been a time where they have questioned God and asked “how long?” it could be for many things, from trials, to life’s events, to anything in between, we typically ask God this sooner or later.

Is it right to ask God? We can see from David in Psalms 13 that this is exactly what David was asking God. “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” Psalm 13:1. David felt as if God was growing farther away from him, that their relationship was distancing. I have felt that at times and wondered if God had abandoned me, “How long will you hide your face from me?” Psalm 13:1. In times like today, many Christians who are living for God are starting to really feel the heat of the world against them, if you are in the United States, the hostility is to the point you can be arrested for going to church! Feel free to protest and dance in the streets together, but don’t you dare worship and praise God together. For Christians in the Middle East, Asia, and other places, your persecution has grown to the point you might be crying out asking “How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my Heart all day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?” Psalm 13:2-3. We can trust in the Lord and know that He hears our cry! “The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous” Proverbs 15:29. The believer today must remember that nothing can separate us from the love and power which is in Christ Jesus! There might be times in which we feel as David “Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,” Psalms 13:3 but this is only temporary, for our God is a God who is alive and is near us presently and in the future. “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 8:38-39.

We as believers must remember that our enemy has been given this time, so that no one will perish who God, in His ultimate power, knows will come to Him, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” 2nd Peter 3:9. This can be tough for those of us who are already saved and must deal with the issues of this world, but that is ok, for even though our enemies say “ and my enemy will say, ‘I have overcome him’ and my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.” Psalms 13:4 we know God will have His day. As Christians now we can look at the Saints of the Tribulation and see how they ask the same question to God, “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.” Revelation 6:9-11.

Asking God is not a sin, however why we ask can make it a sin or not. David in chapter 13 has asked God several times how much longer, he even has given a description of what his enemies are doing. Yet, David has not lost faith in God, we see in these final verses that he has kept his heart right with God. “But I have trusted in your lovingkindness; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.” Psalm 13:5. We see here that David is asking but keeps his purpose in asking set accurately and humbly on God’s timing. If we have a question, God has no issue with us coming up and asking. Look at the disciples in their countless questions asking Jesus to explain over and over different lessons.

Until God decides to answer the question of “how long?” with “come up here” Revelation 4:1 we are to keep with our Master’s work. Our job should be to follow Jesus Christ’s orders of “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching, them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20. A simple calling but one of great magnitude and importance. As we see what is going on, it could become a challenge to continue in what Christ has called us to do, yet I am encouraged in what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 7:1 “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” So, as we continue in our daily work right now, we see the craziness of the world and how dark times are becoming, do not lose hope. As Titus chapter 2 states “Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; 7 in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, 8 sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.9 Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.15 These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.” Titus 2:6-15. Encourage one another and hold fast to God’s word, tell other believers of your struggles, the Church is designed to be in communion with each other. Look and encourage one another for the Blessed Hope which is Jesus Christ, I can assure you that the days are only going to get worse for the followers of Christ, but as they do we know our departure of this world is coming closer. Just like David, there are times we are going to cry out and ask God how much longer, yet do not let our questioning be a stumbling block for our faith. Humbly ask and seek what He says in His word. Finally, remember this, as we ask God “how long?” let us also state in our same prayer and actions the final verse of Psalm 13, “I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.” Our God has started a wonderful work in our life and as we study His word and eagerly yearn for His fellowship, we can see the blessing of peace, joy, and courage that only He can give.

Hold until relieved, Our blessed Hope is coming

JL