Peace

In the first half of the book of Isaiah, the prophet generally gives the message of judgment for sin, and he calls Judah, Israel, and the surrounding nations to repent of their sins. Yet during this message of judgment, Isaiah foretells that the Christ would come to bring peace. “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace“, Isaiah 9:6. This prophecy came during a time of great darkness, but God promised through Isaiah to send a light who would shine on everyone living in the shadow of death. Indeed when Christ was born in Bethlehem, the angels announced the event of His birth with these words, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good will toward men”, Luke 2:14.

During His lifetime Jesus gave His peace to those who believed on Him. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you…” John 14:27. Jesus distinguishes His peace from the peace as the world understands it: the absence of war on earth. What Jesus brought instead of worldly peace, was a reconciliation between God and man. With Christ’s peace we have no need to fear the present or the future. This peace only comes to those who heed such warnings as Isaiah’s to repent from their sins and find that reconciliation between themselves and God. Those who do not receive Him, remain in a state of alienation from God and His people. The antagonism of the unbeliever toward Jesus and His followers is such that it will even destroy the closest family relationships. Jesus did not come to bring the kind of peace that glosses over deep differences just for the sake of superficial harmony. Conflict and disagreement will arise between those who choose to follow Christ and those who don’t. Jesus also taught his disciples that His peace was not meant to bring worldly peace. Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man’s enemy will be those of his own household”, Matt: 10: 34,35.

As Christians we continue to live in a state of spiritual warfare. Jesus taught us that war will be waged within the institutional church. In it there will be false sheep and shepherds. Although there will be the pure in heart who see God, there will also be those within the church who try to satisfy the pleasures of the flesh and are proud. Even Jesus disciples were proud when they were found arguing about their prestige in the kingdom, “Now there was a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest” (Luke 22:24). There will also be those within the church who are worldly, “Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him”, (I John 2:15). Some people think worldliness is limited to external behavior – the people we associate with, the places we go, and the activities we enjoy. But worldliness is also internal because it begins in the heart. There will also be backbiting within the church, ” But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another”, (Gal. 5:15). When we are not motivated by love, we become critical of others. We stop looking for good in them and see only their faults. When we express their faults to others, soon the unity of believers is broken.

If as Christians we live in a continued state of spiritual warfare we find ourselves asking, where is the peace Christ promised? We must remember that the peace Christ gives us today is not peace with others or peace from the problems of this world, but peace that can be found in our hearts. It is a peace that the world cannot give. It is a peace that comes only by expressing faith in Jesus. Paul wrote to the Romans, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Faith is required of those seeking His peace.

The return of Jesus, however, will fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah for future peace when the unrighteous will be separated from the believers and destroyed. Jesus describes this in His parable of the weeds, “The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them (tares) is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age”, Matt. 13: 37-40. At the end of the world, angels will separate the evil from the good. There are true and false believers in churches today, but we should be cautious in our judgments because Christ is the only one qualified to make the final separation. It is more important to judge our own response to God than to analyze the response of others.

As Christians we find peace, not in the world, but in our hearts, because we have been reconciled with the Father. There is an old hymn that I love, “Take It To the Lord In Prayer”. The lyrics say, “oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer.” How much pain are you bearing needlessly today, because you are not experiencing the peace of Jesus in your heart, and not taking your problems and pain to Him?

"If life has knocked you down, I prophesy that you will Rise & Walk"

Why Would You Want To Completely Understand God?

Why would you want such a God? I read in the Book of Isaiah:

Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

According to these verses God’s thoughts, God’s methods are way beyond our own comprehension. Some people struggle with that. They want a God made in man’s image instead of man made in God’s image. Another passage that I enjoy is this one:

1 Corinthians 1:27-29 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.

There you have it. No one is going to be able to say, I got God all figured out. It’s just not possible and why would you want it to be? Why would you want a God that is no larger than your capacity to understand?

I believe in a God and a Saviour that is vastly larger than my ability to comprehend and to fully imagine. If I could understand everything about God, Who God is, and why God does what he does, then I’d probably be God. And if that were true, we’d all be in a lot of trouble. No, I thank God that He is larger than my finite ability to comprehend. I thank God that He is vastly larger than anything I can imagine.

I don’t want a small God. I don’t want a God that can be contained within the confines of my own brain and imagination. I don’t want to find an end to my God or my Saviour, Jesus Christ. I don’t a God that can be quantified, digested, and distilled in the confines of man’s inventions and imaginations.

I want a God where I am always learning about, Who is capable of surprising me at any time, any place, and in any way. When I pray I want my prayer to be heard by a God that is not limited to what I imagine is possible. I want the God that I have. I want the God of the Bible.

Why would you want anything less?

"If life has knocked you down, I prophesy that you will Rise & Walk"

Follow Me!

Christians are told how important it is to continually follow Jesus. We are to follow Him constantly and consistently. We are to follow Him closely enough that others will see Jesus in us. It takes courage to follow Him. When we hear Jesus say to those who were scattered along the hillside, “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all maner of evil against you falsely, for my sake,” we know that it took courage. When we read that as they followed Him they were afraid, we know that it took courage. Those of us who walk with Him know the courage it takes when some fear grabs at our heart. We know the courage it takes when we sense how far the road with Him can lead. We know the courage it takes when we sense how high the Christian adventure can lift us. We know the courage it takes when we sense how much acceptance and how much surrender it may mean.

There is an incident in the New Testament which turns our thinking completely around. It is full of human compassion which sooner or later touches all of us. A father full of grief had come to Jesus to tell about the death of his child. After telling Jesus, the father went straight to his house. Jesus followed. We don’t need someone to explain the deeper meaning of this drama. What happened so long ago has happened to every one of us. There have been times when we have poured out our hearts, said all there is to say, then went our way. Then we sensed we were not alone. Jesus followed. The soul knows it’s crisis, when our world falls apart and all certainty seems to disappear. There are no words in these moments. Our prayers are stifled. Fortunate is the man or woman who know in that hour they need not walk alone. After all, Christianity is a faith for crisis. It does not matter whether it is a crisis of joy or a crisis of sorrow.

Let us ask ourselves some questions that reach deep into us.

I. Have we the courage to ask Jesus to follow us to the place where we live?

Our home is our world. Everything we are is reflected there: our integrity, our vulgarity, the nature of our weakness, the nature of our strength. Do we have the courage to leave the door open so that Jesus can come in with us? Do we dare ask Him to be near us during those moments of intimate relationships when we say things the world must never know or hear? Would we wish Jesus to follow our thoughts no matter where they might lead? Would we want Jesus to follow our hopes and dreams no matter what they encircle?

II. Have we the courage to ask Jesus to follow us to the moment in which we are tested?

There are times when we are like a man sinking in the quicksand. We do not want to yield to our weakness, be we feel ourselves alone and helpless. We find ourselves in the grip of something that is not of ourselves. There are times our heart is divided and our mind is unclear. In that moment we may see the old standards of our parents by which we were raised grow hazy. We begin to rationalize and justify our actions. We seek to persuade ourselves we have found a better wisdom and a new morality. We live as though there is no future. If only then we could remember there is a tomorrow and tomorrow will be full of loneliness and remorse.

There are other times of testing when we must follow our course. There are times when we must stand against our own kind, when we must set ourselves against our own families and follow a voice that cannot be silenced. We cannot turn a deaf ear to that voice or turn from that sense of duty in ourselves. There is only one road and we must walk down that road. But there is that other voice whispering of the price we shall have to pay, and of the cross we shall have to bear. If in that moment we waiver, we will never be ourselves, and we will never build a better world.

III. Have we the courage to ask Jesus to follow us to the place of our fears?

There are those bitter days when our minds are torn by conflicts. We are afraid and our fear dominates everything we do. We do not trust ourselves for fear we will fail. We do not trust our friends for we are persuaded they cannot help us. Our souls are truly sick. Panic sets in and we run from psychiatrist to psychiatrist seeking relief. Do we then have the courage to ask Jesus to follow us to the place of our need?

What is it we do when our heart is troubled? We ask ourselves questions, but there are no answers. We find our hopes and dreams have been carried away. We look for fulfillment, but there is never any end. We grow bitter about life. But it might have been different if we had asked Jesus to follow us. How many answers would we have found, how many dreams might have become reality, and how much fulfillment we might have seen if we had asked Jesus to follow us? What could our faith had done, with what assurance could we have met our difficulties, and with what dignity could we bear our troubles, if only we had the courage to ask Jesus to follow us?

Yes, it takes courage to follow Jesus, but it takes more courage to ask Him to follow us. The road before us may be long, we may need to travel through the dark, we may be afraid. Then we hear footsteps. We look behind us and see the shadow of Jesus following after us. It is then that we know all will be well for He will be with us whenever and wherever our need is.

"If life has knocked you down, I prophesy that you will Rise & Walk"

The Savior

There are certain views and prejudices which stand between many people and a full knowledge of Jesus Christ and a true joy of salvation. Certain views and prejudices create fixed ideas and limits which make it impossible to obtain this knowledge and joy. For some people everything must fit into these limits or else be left outside. This charge is frequently brought against religious people. Religious people are frequently charged with being narrow-minded and having a fixed outlook and nonflexible.

Examples of this charge include:

Religious persons:

1. A man who claims his religion is the only true religion.
2. A man who claims he has full revelation and unless you agree with and accept all his doctrines you are wrong.

Non-religious persons:

1. A man who says all forms of religion are wrong.

For the non-religious, religion is only meant to apply to a certain type of person. Many non-religious people recognize religion as something that does some type of people good. They feel it is all right for some, but they don’t feel they are the type. They say religion is not appealing to them, but fail to realize this is true because they have not given religion a chance. Their outlook is cramped and confined and their view of the Truth is that it is something which can be fitted into their mind, instead of something their mind needs to absorb and be fitted to. These narrow-minded views result in not understanding the mysteries of life and the things which make life worth living. These narrow-minded views result in the inability to find true fellowship with one another.

The view Christ came to teach:

Christ taught that we are the same and there are no barriers. He came to banish and break down divisions whether religious or non-religious. He came to proclaim that all men and women are one in nature and have one great need, a true knowledge of God. Christ constantly referred to God as Father in order to stress this. The first move on the road to being a Christian is to stop being a social, moral, or intellectual snob. The way to obtain salvation is to realize the need for it and to seek it. This is the theme of the New Testament: the humble find salvation, but the proud and arrogant ever remain on the outside. The people who consider themselves in a special and particular position never find happiness, for God does not legislate for special cases, but for mankind. He provided a Savior for the world in His Son. It is therefore our own responsibility if we consider ourselves to such exceptional people that a world-Savior does not include us.

The story of Jesus speaking to the Samaritans recorded in John 4:41,42 illustrates these truths and the working out of this idea. “And many more believed because of his own word; And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard [him] ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world”. This story reveals the power of God and the Gospel. However, there is a casual element in the story. It shows us the great possibilities that are in life for all of us if we just take advantage of them. Nothing could be quite as casual as the chance meeting of Jesus and this woman. They just happened to meet and talk about a drink of water. From their conversation came the salvation of the woman and a large number of people from her town. This is the very essence of the Gospel; that there are infinite possibilities which are present in the most unlikely circumstances. That is how the Gospel is spread.

Think of the woman going out of town to the well. She was a burdened sinner who returned a redeemed soul. Life under the guidance of God is full of this kind of situations. You never know when God is going to appear or when the Holy Spirit is going to descend. You never know when Christ is going to deal with you and remove your burden and give your soul release. That is why every Christian must be optimistic. Just when you are about to convince yourself that your struggle is all in vain and your fighting is useless – just then, when least expected, you are rewarded with victory. Thousands of times this has happened and it is the belief of the Christian, who believes in the unity of the human race and who regards all men and women as being equal. It is his belief that what has happened once can always happen again – that if one man has been saved, all men can be saved. He who doesn’t expect, doesn’t receive.

Consider all this in the light of the Samaritans and you will see how an honest, open, unprejudiced mind is rewarded. The Samaritan men were in the city following their occupations, not thinking of anything in particular. Suddenly the woman appears and shouts, “Come see a man which told me all things that I ever did. Is this not the Christ?” The Samaritans knew the woman well. They were aware of her notorious character. She was living with her sixth husband or at least one who passed as her husband. She was one of those unfortunate people who had gone down and down, who had broken every moral law and desecrated every thing that is required as sacred. Her life was in a hopeless mess, but at that moment she was a messenger of the Gospel. She was the one who called upon the people of Samaria to come out of the city to see Christ. There is enough Gospel in that fact alone to save the whole world if we could but see it.

Consider the reaction of the men. They are asking, “what is this woman talking about? What is this hysterical outburst?” Thank goodness she found someone who can frighten her and bring her to her senses. We can easily add, “religion is quite useful in slums and pagan countries; such people need something to change them.” The messengers of Christ are strange people. They are sometimes the last you would expect: ex-convicts, ex-drunkards, ex-everything immoral. Would you be prepared to listen to them?

Consider the woman’s message. If the messenger seemed strange, the message was even more so. She said, “Come, see a man which told me all things that ever I did.” Not a man who told her all her good points, nor praised her. He was a man who told her of her faults and her sins. He revealed all her past with all it’s horror. In other words her message was, “Come see a man who told me the truth.” She had met a man whose religion was personal, one who stated honest bare facts. This is the very secret of the Gospel. It understands human nature. We are usually prepared to listen to a man who is serious and earnest. Jesus’ message may lash out and hurt us at times; nevertheless, His message shows that He is out to help us. Jesus exposes our sins and weaknesses, but He does not stop at that. Why was this woman shouting about this? Not because He had exposed her sins, but because He had removed them.

The result of the woman’s message was that what happened to her happened to those whom she spoke to. Their lives were changed. They knew their sins had been forgiven. They became filled with this joy and they turned to the woman and said, “now we believe, not because of thy saying, for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, Savior of the world.

"If life has knocked you down, I prophesy that you will Rise & Walk"

In Defense!

Liberal theology interprets God’s plan of salvation as something He devised so that we sinners could get to heaven even though we miss the mark. All one has to do is admit that they are a sinner, ask forgiveness for being a sinner and believe that Jesus said the price for their sins and then they are in.

To give them credit many of that group want to be good and try to be good, but if it’s too hard--oh well, god will forgive them for their weaknesses.

There is a branch of this group who don’t even care if they sin--thinking that their sins are covered, according to Jn:3:16 and Rom: 10:9-10

The trouble with this theology is that it does great harm and is not in line with a lot of scriptures. I will point to many of the scriptures that show this interpretation of the plan of salvation to be in error.

But first, the harm is that it negates the true intention of God and violates the true plan of salvations. For I will show that God’s intention is to restore the sinner to spiritual life and to give the repentant sinner the power, knowledge and equipment to overcome sin and death.

And second harm is that it violates God’s plan to have obedient children who will love and help the world--be a part of the answer and not be a part of the problem--to do this one must learn to make godly decisions that are good for themselves and those whom they touch rather than harm. Lies, sexual sins, abuse of substances, obesity, greediness, putting money first, not knowing God’s Word, ugliness, a me first attitude, and a my little world perception are a few of the wrong choices that cause harm and suffering.

Now I will show the loving heart of God and His ingenious plan of salvation.

Rom: 8:1-4: There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3: For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

5-8: For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6: For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7: Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8: So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

9-11: But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.10: And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11: But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

12-14: Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13: For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

15-18: For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16: The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 18: For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

"If life has knocked you down, I prophesy that you will Rise & Walk"