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May

2010

Don’t add anything to the blood…

Journal,.

Ever wondered why so much emphasis in the Bible is placed on the blood. Well, there is much more to the issue of blood than meets the eye. The Bible says that the life is in the blood. Let’s talk about it.

On the score of Science, scientists have long since discovered that a person’s lineage can be researched through DNA testing. It is well accepted in courts. DNA can be used to prove paternity. It can be used with a high degree of accuracy to determine if an individual was involved in a certain crime. The degree of accuracy is in the millions to one.

[DNA: A nucleic acid that carries the genetic information in the cell and is capable of self-replication and synthesis of RNA. DNA consists of two long chains of nucleotides twisted into a double helix and joined by hydrogen bonds between the complementary bases adenine and thiamine or cytosine and guanine. The sequence of nucleotides determines individual hereditary characteristics.]

I realize all of this calls for questions, but for the sake of this study lets keep things as basic as possible. Included within DNA foundational studies are chromosomes. Women have xx chromosomes. Men have xy chromosomes. Only the male has the y chromosome. The male passes this chromosome to his male children. It never passes to the daughters. The y chromosome remains unchanged through the generations.

Note: Don’t confuse what we are dealing with simply with genes. A gene is a portion of a DNA molecule. Every child receives 23 genes from each parent. Each child is equally of the father and of the mother, and receives equal attributes from both parents.

With this basic information at hand we can now look at how the blood of Jesus can be called God’s blood. God was His Father. It will help us greatly to understand in a deeper way God’s work of salvation through Jesus Christ. Listen carefully to two seemingly disparate Scriptures:

“For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” (Acts 20:27,28)

“For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.” (Psalm 139:13,14)

The weaving of God

Keep in mind the ‘weaving‘ language. DNA is made up of two strands woven together.

But lets first let’s look at Paul’s statement. The apostle tells the elders of Ephesus that the blood of the cross was God’s own blood. And it is here that we must take a journey.

The blood shed at the cross is called precious blood. It was both human blood and God’s blood. This is why the apostle said,

“You were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold … but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” (1Pet1:18,19)

How then did the blood of Christ redeem us? The apostolic writer said that Christ entered into the heavenly tabernacle with His own blood. Out of this came eternal redemption. Keep in mind that Jesus is Son of God and God incarnate. And so the Son of God took our place on the cross. (Cf. Heb9:22-26)

The work of the cross was for the sins of all humanity, from Adam’s sin, to our own sins, whether they be past, present or future. In His suffering, Jesus took the place of man. At the cross was a life exchange. Jesus exchanged His life for our lives. The judgment of all sin came upon Him. Yes, the cross was a judgment. Out of His resurrection came justification of life to the whole of humanity. John said,

“He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; but not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1Jn2:2)

Our spiritual DNA traces our lineage through the Son to the Father.

Because Jesus was both God and man, it was through His cross that heaven is opened for the repentant sinner, that is, the one who will confess Jesus Christ as his own Lord and Savior. Which, in turn, brings us back to the blood.

Since the blood of Jesus was and is God’s blood, and since the blood of Jesus also represents the human family, a wonderful thing happens to the repentant person. Peter said that the Holy Spirit takes of the blood of Jesus, which, again, is God’s blood, and sprinkles it upon the heart of a believer. (1Pe1:2)

What is in the sprinkled blood? The life of God. And this is what being born from above entails. Every person born of God has had his or her heart sprinkled clean by the very blood-life of God Himself. This is why we can be called ‘children of God.’ And this is also why the apostle said that we now share in the divine nature.

Yes, we still have our humanity. But we are a redeemed race. On this planet there are two distinct kinds of people. You have the Adam race, which includes all peoples, Jew and Gentile. And you have the race of Christians, who take their name from the Christ of God. The race of Christians carry in them the very life DNA of their Father God. Both Paul and Peter allow us to understand that we share in the divine nature. (We have to be careful not to go beyond the Scriptures with this idea of divinity. We are not little gods.)

And now we come to David’s statement, where he said,

“You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.”

It gets more amazing.

It is here that David defines and describes DNA weaving, thousands of years before it was discovered as a chain of life. Isn’t the Bible amazing? The Bible is the only book ever written that records history before it happens.

But there is more. David was a prophet. This means that Christ often spoke directly through David. So in this wonderful Psalm we have a corporate picture of Christ being formed in the womb of the Virgin, along with what we can receive to ourselves.

Note: Please take time to meditate on Psalm 139. You will be able to see both Christ and yourself in this Psalm. Of Christ, it can be easily said the He was woven in the womb of Mary, that He was fearfully and wonderfully made, and that His soul knows it very well. While the story does differ in certain respects, yet we are told that God knew us before we were even born and that He had plans for our lives before eternity began.

With a special view to Jesus, there is a term used exclusively for Him. The term ‘monogenes‘ means unique, one of a kind, or, one and only. ‘Monogenes‘ is used seven times with regard to Jesus. The message never varies. Jesus was uniquely the only one of His kind. This is because in Him was the very life of God. He was fearfully and wonderfully made.

How then does Psalm 139 apply to the person born from above? It applies in a very unique sense. Each believer is born from above after the order of Christ. It can be said that each believer is fearfully and wonderfully made. And though Jesus is the monogenes, we are His brothers and sisters by virtue of God’s blood.

We have eternal salvation.

One final thought — The reason our salvation is called eternal is because of the eternal sacrifice made by God Himself. The blood is eternal. Our forgiveness is eternal. We now have eternal life. Eternal life speaks of ‘without cessation.’ It also speaks of the very life of God. Eternal life speaks of a present possession.

Paul pretty much nailed it down when he said,

“If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us, how will he not also with Him freely give us all things. … For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, 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.” (Cf. Rom8:31-39)

The apostle John said that the one who has the Son has the life.

Well that pretty much says it. How powerful is the blood? It is God’s keeping power. For God to lose one of those who have been saved by the blood, He would have to cut off His own hand. We are in the nail prints.

Now I’ve shared some insight into the blood of Jesus that speaks to the heart of our redemption. Yet there is one more item to consider. Christians must be careful not to add to or take away from how we are saved through the blood of Jesus. Too often today we hear many forms of the gospel. You have those who preach a 7th Day Adventist gospel, a Mormon gospel, a Jehovah’s Witnesses gospel, and many other strands of gospels that add to God’s message of our completion through the blood.

Don’t be someone who carries about a strange gospel. Do not add to the blood.

Here is where I’ll let a young lady speak of the glory of the cross. She is telling all believers not to add to the gospel things that do not belong. (Thank you Sabine.)

Take time to listen to Blair Wingo…

In Christ always,

Buddy

May

2010

What happened to our Hebrew heritage…

Rabbi Steward Rosenberg, after having observed Christians for years, made this statement; “The stronger a person’s Christian faith, the more Jewish will he regard himself.”

The preeminent Christian theologian Carl Barth said, “The Bible is a Jewish book. It cannot be read, understood and expounded unless we are prepared to become Jews with the Jews.”

Journal,

Why would two learned men of different religious traditions, Judaism and Christianity, reach such a similar conclusion? The answer is simple. Christianity finds its roots in ancient Judaism. As one writer said, “Christians are spiritual Semites.”

Actually the term ‘Jew’ was a later adaption for the people of Israel. They were originally called Hebrews. Abraham was known as, ‘Abram the Hebrew.’ (Gen14:13) — The term Hebrew is becoming even more popular in Israel today —

And so Paul said, “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.” [Cf. Gal. 3:29] This is where the idea of spiritual Semites comes in.

The apostolic writers taught that Christians are the spiritual children of Abraham. Without being technical over terms, does it surprise you that anyone would speak of Christians as spiritual Semites?

Whatever the case one of the greatest needs among Christians today is to rediscover our Hebraic heritage. The Church has been living in a Greek-Latin mind set ever since she lost her appreciation for her Hebrew roots. (You can pretty much thank Rome for that. And don’t mistake a rediscovery of our Hebrew roots for the Messianic movement today. That movement can largely be compared to the Judaisers of Paul’s day. Read Galatians.)

Actually many Christians are not aware that Christianity began as a sect of Judaism. Early Jewish Christians spoke of themselves as ‘the Way.’ (Acts 9:2; 24:14,22) Later Jewish authorities began to speak of Jewish Christians as ‘Notzrim’, or, ‘the Nazarenes’. (Jerome says that Jews cursed ‘the Nazoraeans’. Cir. 400 a.d.)

Only two movements survived.

After the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, only two of these movements survived. One evolved into Rabbinic or Talmudic Judaism. Rabbinic Judaism was a take off from the Pharisees.

The other movement took on the name Christianity. Christianity became heir to the ancient faith of Israel in which she longed for her Messiah. Rabbinic Judaism would have her day, but it would be in the far distant future. (Second coming of the Lord.)

Yet in spite of all this, we still share a deep kinship with the Jewish people. Jesus was the Jewish Messiah. The apostles were Jews. The prophets were Jews. The Bible of the early Church was Jewish. In fact the Bible we love is a Hebrew document from Genesis to Revelations. (This is why when Jews read the New Testament, they hear a Jewish voice.)

When Jerusalem was destroyed, Rabbinic Judaism, which had its source in the Pharisees, began to supplant Biblical Judaism, and became anti-Christian. Jesus Christ was rejected as the Messiah. Because of the rejection of Jesus, the Jews would become prey to many false Messiahs. This has been their history.

In early church persecutions, the persecutions were Jews persecuting Jews. Christian Jews were accused of being heretics. Following the destruction of Jerusalem, the two branches of Judaism continued with a love-hate relationship. The issue, however, was that the Christian branch had an atonement in the Messiah. The Judaists had neither atonement nor temple. A new religion had been created. It continues that way to this day.

With the temple gone there was little need for a priesthood in Israel. The Sadducees passed off the scene. Judaism eventually evolved into modern Judaism with its three major groupings; Orthodox, Conservative, and Reformed Judaism. The Rabbis were at center stage.

As for the other major branch of Judaism, a name change was foretold by the prophets. Peter, who was most certainly a Jewish apostle, told the new covenant believers never to be ashamed of their name as ‘Christian.’ (Cf. 1 Pet 4:16; Isaiah 65:15)

The changing picture.

As Gentiles flooded into the Church, Christianity began to drift from her Hebraic roots. Greek philosophy filled the Church. Dualism became the norm. But it was when Christianity began centering in Rome, that the Church started taking on a strange nature. The Church put on her imperial vestments. She was now ‘the’ religion. She was now ‘the’ kingdom of God manifest in the earth. She could now pronounce curses on any who did not agree with her. And she carried the sword to enforce her will. Saddest of all, the Jewish element of the Church was treated as a step child at best.

(It should be noted, however, that there have always been purer forms of Christianity than that which evolved out of Rome. Keep in mind that the one who has the votes writes the history.)

What eventually happened is that the Greek-Latin aberration of Christianity took the place of the Hebraic form. Darkness began to overtake much of the Church. Paul warned of this. (Cf. 1 Tim. 4:1-6)

Engrafted into the ancient tree of redemption

Paul had also warned Gentile believers not to boast against the Jewish branches who were broken off because of their rejection of Jesus, nor to boast against the Hebraic nature of the Church.

Paul went on to explain that Gentile believers are wild olive branches who have been engrafted into God’s cultivated olive tree. This means that Gentiles were partaking of a completed Messianic-redemptive faith.

The point is that our engraft is into a tree that existed long before New Testament Christianity. The olive tree is metaphoric. It could be said to reach back to Abel. (Many thoughts can come forth from a study on the olive tree.)

As engrafted branches, Gentile believers were to take on the nature of the olive tree, not vice versa. Perhaps it is in this sense that Gentile believers began to feel themselves as having Jewish hearts. (Jewish in the sense of a completed Messianic Judaism.)

While it is true that in God’s salvation code being Jew or Gentile is meaningless, the fact remains that the Church is Hebraic in nature. All believers are spiritual descendants of Abraham. Our Bible is written entirely in Semitic thought form. The more you study, the more you began thinking Hebraically. Paul said that to the Jews alone God committed His oracles. (Cf. Romans 3:2)

Things we have lost.

Now let’s consider some examples of what we have lost from our Hebraic heritage. Often when Christians read and study the Scriptures, our desire is to accumulate knowledge. We gather data. We study with scholastics in mind. However, in the Biblical-Hebrew tradition, God’s people are taught to study the Scriptures in order to draw near to God.

For the ancient Hebrews the study of Torah was the highest form of worship. It was through study that a person came to know God in a personal way. Yet for the Jews who rejected Jesus, the Torah became a closed book in many senses. This is because Jesus is the living Word of God. The Biblical Christian still meets and worships God by meeting Him in the Scriptures.

Then we have prayer. Often Christians are taught that the more we pray the more spiritual we become. The stress is often on long prayers. Certainly there is a place for longer prayers, yet in the Hebrew tradition, long prayers were not that common. In fact, Jesus rebuked the Scribes and Pharisees over their pretence of righteousness with the use of long prayer. (Matt. 23:14)

The Jewish people were taught that their whole life was an offering of prayer. Even their work was to be considered worship. The Hebraic emphasis is more on short prayers of thankfulness. (Cf. Matt. 6:5-13; 1 Thess. 5:16-18.)

When Paul says we should pray without ceasing, he was speaking as a Jewish man. As a rule our daily life should to be a continuous activity of short prayers filled with thanksgivings.

Then there is dualism.

Some Greeks felt that anything of the material world was evil. When Paul said that in his flesh dwelt no good thing, he was not calling his body evil. He was saying that there is a principle of sin in fallen man. The Hebrew writers refer to this as the evil inclination. (Yetzer haRa.) Actually we are to rejoice in our humanity.

"Catholic Monk Reading His Bible in the Church Courtyard" Photographic Print With the Greeks the highest form of spirituality was to enter into a monastic form of living. Monasticism comes from a root word which means to be alone. What did God say about aloneness? He said it wasn’t good. (Gen. 2:18) It was this kind of thinking that contributed to extolling celibacy in the priesthood.

One of the Latin fathers went so far as to say that when a man and his wife have conjugal relations the Holy Spirit leaves the bedroom.

Nowhere does the Bible teach that a celibate lifestyle is in particular spiritual. Actually it teaches the opposite. The Bible affirms the goodness of marriage and the family. A Biblical requirement of a Christian bishop (pastor) is that he be married.

In the Hebrew tradition the act of love in marriage was and is considered both sacred and joyful. Love in marriage allows a couple to express their gift of maleness and femaleness. If you don’t think God wants us to celebrate the romantic side of
marriage, read the Song of Solomon. Because of our western mindset this book can be embarrassing. It is a love manual. (Cf. Prov. 5:15-20; Eccl. 9:9; Heb. 13:4)

An identity crisis.

Perhaps it is enough to say that we Christians are finding ourselves in an identity crisis. Who am I? What am I about? Where did I come from? You can be certain that many of these questions have their answer in a rediscovery our Hebraic heritage in Christ.

"Invitation" Print But it is not only Christians who are in an identity crisis. Jews are there also. There is a statistic put out by the Jews that I find quite interesting. They say that over 50% of Jewish men marry outside their culture. Most marry Christian woman. Why would a Jewish man be drawn to a Christian women? Is it possible that it relates to a Messiah hunger in the Jews? Could this be another indicator of the second coming of Christ? I think so. Many walls between Christian and Jew are beginning to melt away.

There is a final caution. In our search for roots, we should not reject everything that is not Hebraic. Neither should we get on a Jewish lust trip. No person is ever closer to God than being in Christ Jesus. What we should do is rejoice in the diversity and beauty of Christianity while seeking to learn more about our true Biblical heritage.

Yes, we do share a heart with the Jewish people. But we have to remember that new covenant people have been given a new name. Christian means those who belong to the Messiah.

Just some things to think about.

A fellow pilgrim on the journey of life,

Buddy

May

2010

I come as an ambassador…

“I come as an ambassador from the kingdom of God, and I have a message for you from the King.”

Journal,

It happened many years ago. We were crossing a mountain in Honduras to reach a village near the border of Guatemala. I knew that I’d be preaching the gospel in the village, but I wanted to know if there was something special the Lord wanted me to say. I heard in my heart, ‘Tell them that you come as an ambassador from the kingdom of God, and that you have a message for them from the King.’

The church was packed to the extent that some of the men were actually sitting in the open windows. Women and children crowded most all the pews. A few men were scattered around while a large group of men gathered at the back of the church. There was little room for anyone else to enter the building.

The moment Nathan began to interpret what the Lord had given me to say, a holy hush settled over the crowded assembly. I began preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That is when it happened. As I was bringing my message to a close, an old Indian stood up and began making his way towards the front. I could not take my eyes off of him. I was watching the power of the gospel. The old Indian was coming to meet his King. And meet Him he did. It was as though the Lord was allowing me to see the spiritual side of redemption. It had nothing to do with me. It had everything to do with the power of the gospel.

I have never forgotten that scene. It has been imprinted deep in my heart. And that is only one of multitudes of scenes that the Lord has imprinted in my 45 years as a servant of the Lord. I fully understand why Paul said,

“For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified … so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.” (Cf. 1Co2:2-5)

So, what gospel did the apostles preach? Was it a Catholic gospel? Is it a Protestant gospel or an Evangelical gospel? And on and on and on.

Then you have the Mormon gospel, the Jehovah Witnesses gospel, the Seventh Day Adventists gospel, the Messianic movement gospel, the Charismatic movement gospel. Is it any wonder that people get confused today? What is the gospel?

Is it not strange that we would even have to ask what gospel the apostles preached?

Is it not strange that we would even have to ask, “What is the message that has been entrusted to the Church for the past 2000 years, by which any person can be saved?”

Well, don’t find it strange that we should ask these questions. Satan’s greatest efforts of deception have always been to put a death shroud over the gospel of our salvation. He does it by wrapping it up in religious jargon. He does it by introducing a mixture of strange teachings. He does it by adding things that were never taught by Jesus or the apostles. Satan’s mode of operation is to create strange gospels.

Satan well knows that the simple gospel of Jesus Christ is the one thing people need to hear in order to be saved. Somehow he has to keep that message from going forth in its purity.

Did not the writer of Hebrews, say,

“Do not be carried away by strange teachings?” (Heb13:9)

Did not the apostle say,

“We are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.” (Eph4:14)

Paul is using a picture of a foamy sea, combined with twisting winds, to make his point. And his point is that immature believers, who are not anchored in the true gospel of Jesus Christ, are easily caught up in the swirl of false teachings.

Seeking the next experience.

Contending false gospels have always been a major battle zone for the church. This is why you see so much ‘experience’ chasing today. People have never discovered the beauty and power of the simple gospel. And so, they are continually seeking the ‘next’ experience that will truly set them free.

Ever notice how it is always the next revival, or the next move, or ‘we are right on the edge of something great,’ or, ‘the next thing is the Elisha move.’ Ever stop to think what all these terms are saying? They are saying that Jesus is not enough by Himself. They are saying that no believer can stop and rest. We must strive! Strive! Strive! Next thing you know, you have believers confused, tired and a little more than upset.

We are living in an age of spiritual junkies. The next great revival is just around the corner. Did you know that the apostles never taught any such thing? They never taught a striving after the next move. What they preached was our fulfillment in Christ Himself. Did not Paul say, “Christ in you the hope of glory.”

What did Jesus say?

Did He not say,

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heaven-laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt11:28)

Did not John say,

“For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” (John 1:16)

Paul said,

“But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” (2Co11:3)

James said,

“But the wisdom (fruit of the gospel) from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.” (James 3:17)

Listen carefully to this Scripture:

“For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him YOU HAVE BEEN MADE COMPLETE, and He is the head over all rule and authority.” (Col2:9,10 – Caps for emphasis only.)

So what did the apostles preach?

First understand that Paul placed a curse on false gospels? Do you remember him saying,

“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should PREACH TO YOU a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed.” (Gal1:8)

Please listen carefully – There is one word that we need to connect to with in the issue of what the apostles preached. It is the word, ‘preached.’ The apostles preached something that every false gospel tries to undermined. Do you know what it is?

Well, let’s see what it is. Listen carefully to Romans 10:8-10;

“But what does it say? ‘The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart,’ that
is, the word of faith WHICH WE ARE PREACHING …

…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; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

You can read the Scriptures for yourself. Ask the Lord to show you the true plan of salvation. He will open your eyes to the glory and beauty of simple faith. The only thing you will need to do is to get into the Bible for yourself. Read it with a passion.

Let me pass something on to you that is wonderful beyond words. Someone once asked Charles Spurgeon, the man known as the prince of preachers, to write a defense of the gospel. He responded that the gospel did not need to be defended. It is like a caged lion. Turn it loose and it will take care of itself.

Now a word about metaphysical gospels –

Many believers today do not realize how very subtle the teachings of metaphysics are. It is very easy to cross over into this realm without truly understanding what is happening.

Metaphysical teachings appeal to our desire for control. Since we are spiritual creatures, we love the appeal of great things. All we have to do is learn the spiritual laws. For example, “You can create with your words!” Or, “If you say a thing enough, it will happen.”

Did you know that this kind of teaching is the basis for sorcery? Sorcery involves the manipulation of spiritual forces.

But is this what the apostles taught? Hardly. The apostles taught the principle of Lordship.

Paul warned the Corinthian Church that they were bordering on the occult. Did you know this?

Listen carefully;

“For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.” (2Co11:4)

What under heaven was Paul talking about? He was talking about the very thing that is happening in certain movements in Christendom today. Spiritual laws are being taught in the place of Lordship. How to accomplish prosperity is being preached in the place of Biblical repentance, and in not striving after wealth. The list is endless. All these strange teachings are replacement gospels.

What does any of this have to do with the old Indian?

It has everything to do with the old Indian. I brought to the old Indian the only message that can be validated from heaven, the only message that we are authorized to preach. I brought to him the gospel of the kingdom of God. I preached what Paul preached, what Peter preached, what John preached. Here it is:

“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” (1Co 15:1-4 NASB)

Yes there is more to be said about preaching the gospel from heaven. I’ve often told folk that I can preach the gospel a thousand different ways but it will always be the same gospel. It will always be about Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Seems if I stay with that message I will always be in good company.

If you are still curious about what the apostles preached go to this page:

http://buddymartin.net/blog/salvation/

Think about it.

In Christ always,

Buddy

May

2010

An awakening to the gospel…

“So, will there be Catholics in heaven?”

“Yes, there will be Catholics in heaven. The Lord does not save us based on our religion. If any person calls upon the Lord Jesus and receives Him as their personal Savior, they are guaranteed a place among the redeemed.”

x

x Journal,

A young man that I have had occasions to communicate with by email asked the above question. But before you think I’m just coming down on Catholics there is something you need to understand. It would not have mattered to me had he asked me if there would be Baptists in heaven, or Pentecostals in heaven, or Methodists in heaven. The answer remains the same. God does not save us according to our religions. Since his question was about Catholics here is the rest of my response:

“The problem with the Catholic system is that they obscure the gospel message with all their rituals, rules, and misteachings. Yet in spite of all the obscuring there are Catholics who truly come to know the Lord in salvation.”

Obscuring the gospel.

Let’s not just lay this on the Catholics. Many other religious groups that make a claim to Christianity can be found tying the gospel to their religion. In far too many instances true Biblical Christianity is replaced by Churchanity. I call this a form of Church-idolatry.

This is why so many young people as well as others can be found asking the same question as the young man asked me. Church-idolatry goes like this, which by the way is one of the hall marks of Christian sectarianism and even generates to a Christian cultic environment. Here is what Church-idolatry says:

‘We are the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through us.”

Of course no one will admit to saying such a thing. Yet the truth be known, whether they verbalize such a thing or not, this is exactly what they are preaching. They have venerated their church as part of the gospel message.

[Venerate: Regard with feelings of respect and reverence; consider hallowed, exalted or be in awe of.] x

When religion was replaced by reality.

Now let’s speak to what true Christianity is about.

Did you know that the best religious system the world has ever known was dismantled at the cross? Jesus explains this in his conversation with the Samaritan lady at the well. Her argument had to do her confusion over which religion was right, the Jewish religion or the Samaritan religion —

Jesus said,

“Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

“But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshippers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:19-24)

This brings us to another question –

Since the best religious system ever created, and we know that it was created by God Himselt, that is, the covenant of Moses, was dismantled at the cross, what need do we have for flocking together as a Church?

The answer to that question is simple. The need is great. God has ordained it that each of His people be assigned to a particular flock for their care and safety.

Peter said:

“[To elders and pastors] shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.” (1Pe 5:2-3 NASB)

It should go without saying that we aren’t in heaven yet. Nor are we secured from the presence of evil. And so God has decreed that He will meet with every flock, regardless of how tiny it may be, and in these flockings, He will make Himself known in special ways. (This does not preclude the fact that every believer shares the glory of Jesus in their heart.)

The point is that true worship is never contained in outward observances but rather in the deepest of a believer’s heart. The heart is where we sanctify Jesus as Lord over our lives.

So why then should we meet together as believers?

Whenever and wherever we meet we honor Jesus.

The ancients had a saying that spoke of when five or more gather to study the Torah, that the Shekinah [God’s Presence] passes between them. They believed this moment of gathering for the study of God’s Word was the most sacred of moments. You would be surprised at how this idea is actually carried over into the new covenant.

Listen to this promise:

“…in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you.” Exodus 20:24

Fulfilled in Jesus:

“For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” (Matt18:20)

These are special promise of the Lord’s presence when His people gather together, regardless of the size of the gathering.

There is another reason for God flocking His people. The young lambs need a place of security so they can grow properly, and be taught the ways of the Lord, and not have to worry about
harassment by wolves.

Oh, them wolves can be such a problem. Paul warned us about them. Wolves are sly. They often try to enter the flocks disguised as sheep. But you can recognize them after a bit. They emit an order that is unpleasant to the sheep. Besides that, wolves are really stuck on themselves. They can’t hide it.

Of course, wolves don’t really know how to love. All they know to do is to intimidate. They are hard and demanding. On the other hand, sheep are humble creatures and non-threatening.

A need for caution.

Here we need to be cautious. Systems of worship are not necessarily wrong. But they aren’t necessarily right either.

The problem is that God does not deal with us according to our systems of worship. He deals with us one on one on one. He deals with us family by family. He deals with us flock by flock. Isn’t it wonderful to know that you don’t have to worry about which system is right. None of them are right. The only question we need to ask is whether we are right with the Lord.

There is one test to determine if a certain group is Christ centered or into church-idolatry. Paul said that if any group preaches any other gospel than what the apostles preached, they place themselves under a curse.

Listen to the apostle:

“As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!“ (Gal 1:9 NASB)

“… the word of faith which we are preaching, 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; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Rom10:9,10)

Think seriously about it. If we are preaching any other gospel than what the apostles preached, we have placed ourselves under a curse. Why is this? It is because a false gospel is a destroyer of men’s lives.

So the question to ask is –

Does the group that you are associated with preach this one message that believing in and receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savor is the only requirement for salvation, or do they preach their church-idolatry.

Do not let anyone fool you. The message of salvation never changes. Here it is in its basic form: “And it shall come to pass that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

The choice is yours. Paul quoted from Moses in saying that we can choose life or we can choose death. We can choose the blessing or we can choose the curse.

Please take time to listen this song (Let it become your confession of faith):

x
Just some things to think about.

In Christ always,

Buddy

May

2010

Like a Ship at Sea…

“Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters; they have seen the works of the LORD, and His wonders in the deep.” (Psalm 107:23-24 NASB)

Journal,

I met her in dry dock in Seattle, Washington. The USS Calvert, was the oldest troop transport in the Pacific fleet and one of the most decorated. She was undergoing some needed repairs. This was in 1962. I had spent a year and a half in the Philippines, and now I was to serve as one of Calvert’s radiomen.

What an initiation! On our voyage down the coast to San Diego we met a fierce gale off the coast of Oregon. I watched as her bow disappeared beneath the waves and then rise up again. The old ship would shudder. For me it was electrifying. For the USS. Calvert it was business as usual. The old ship had seen greater storms than this one. She just kept right on course.

A launch into faithfulness…

I will never forget my year and a half as a radioman on board the USS Calvert. We carried troops throughout the far east, always ready to make assault landings.

Yep, I spent four years in Uncle Sam’s navy. For your curiosity there is an adage which says, ‘Sailors have salt water in their veins.’ If that is the case then I come from a family of salt-water in-your-vein sailors. I sailed the same seas as two of my uncles who served in WWII.

Anyway, some many years later the Lord gave me a dream about a ship. In the dream the Lord directed me to take the ship out from the coastal area and launch into the deep waters. We were to move Christian Challenge completely away from the shallow emotional driven teachings that were making rounds in certain church movements at that time. These teachings appealed to man’s natural nature but did not revolved around a true Christ-honoring walk with the Lord.

Yes, my pulpit knew there was something taking place at Christian Challenge. (This was back in the 8os.) And this is where Christian Challenge began to be restored to her true nature of being a nonsectarian, gospel-centered ministry. Our stewardship from the beginning was to train disciples for service in the vineyard of the Lord. This change in course was the wisest thing we could ever have done.

And the winds keep blowing and blowing.

Would you believe that making a change in course is a major part of any minister’s walk with the Lord. Even the apostles had to learn to separate misguided teachings from the truth of the new covenant.

Often time we aren’t aware of the bad teachings that we are under until the Lord opens our eyes. And being under bad teachings does not mean a person isn’t saved. But when the light comes it is time for a course adjustment.

Is it easy to make a course adjustment? Not really. These course adjustments often need a separation from those that we truly love and hold dear.

Listen as the Lord gives instructions to the prophet Jeremiah:

“Therefore, thus says the LORD, ‘If you return, then I will restore you– Before Me you will stand; and if you extract the precious from the worthless, you will become My spokesman.

“They for their part may turn to you, but as for you, you must not turn to them. Then I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; and though they fight against you, they will not prevail over you; for I am with you to save you and deliver you,’ declares the LORD. ‘So I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent.'” (Jer 15:19-21 NASB)

Is the Lord speaking to you?

Yes, the winds are still blowing strong. This is why I caution believers not to be taken in by movements or the ‘Lo Christ is here,’ beaconings. Christ Jesus is with you always.

But don’t think it strange. The winds of false teachings and false movements have blown across the church from its infancy. They seem to be growing stronger all the while. Do you feel like you are being battered about by strange winds?

Why do I have this strange notion that someone reading my journal needs to hear this? Perhaps the Lord is calling you to the deep of His faithfulness.

Perhaps now is your turn and your time to find the calm peaceful waters that belong to the covenant of God’s dear Son. The Lord wants to bring you into the safe harbor of His love.

Listen to this instruction from the apostle Paul:

“So then, we may no longer be children, tossed [like ships] to and fro between chance gusts of teaching and wavering with every changing wind of doctrine, [the prey of] the cunning and cleverness of unscrupulous men, [gamblers engaged] in every shifting form of trickery in inventing errors to mislead.” (Eph 4:14 AMP)

Guess I need to find a stopping place. I would dearly love to hear from any of my readers who feel the Lord has spoken to them through this journal entry. I would love to hear your story. (You can write me personally if you prefer: Buddy@ChristianChallenge.Org (I will respond.)

In closing, do you feel like you are facing a storm. Please take time to listen to The Isaacs. God wants to speak to your heart. (I dearly love this song. Have used it on prior entries.)

Your friend and brother in Christ,

Buddy

May

2010

Happy Mother’s Day mom – I miss you heaps…

“Upon You I was cast from birth; You have been my God from my mother’s womb.” – Psalm 22:10 NASB

Journal,

It should go without saying that I miss my mother greatly. Mama went to be with the Lord on Easter Sunday morning, 2005. She was eighty-five years young.

Now we four children are left with our memories. But such memories they are. Actually reminiscing can be a lot of fun when you reach the age of grandpa and great-grandpa. Yep, this August I will be 72 years old. In my figuring it won’t be too long before I get to see mama again.

In the meantime let me share a bit of insight on God’s greatest gift to the man side of the human family.

The woman in your life.

The sage said,

Mama in her mother's arms. Cir 1921.

“Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.”

Peter also brings this to bear. Listen carefully;

“You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.” (1 Pe 3:7)

Mama - Young unmarried. Cir 1934

Here are the lessons:

(1) The woman is a weaker vessel. (Physical strength. God made her that way. )

(2) The woman is to be honored as a fellow heir the grace of life. (Not as an inferior person.)

(3) The man’s prayers will not be answered if he fails to take these instructions to heart.

(4) None of this takes away from the differing roles of the man and woman. The apostles were careful in this area to let us see how God’s original purpose has never changed.

Mom and Dad and their first born - 1936 (Bertie)

Created in the image of God.

Adam was created first and had covenant responsibility for the family of humankind. But in his relationship to Eve, Adam was not to be without Eve, and Eve was not to be without Adam. Each had a role to fulfill.

Each had gifting that were theirs in particular. Each had nature traits that belonged to them alone. It would take both Adam and Eve to fully express what the term ‘image’ really means.

Since we know that Adam was given covenant headship, let’s look at what Eve’s role was in relationship to covenant.

Mama's second born - 1940 (Me)

Genesis 2:20, says,

“…there was not found a helper suitable for him.”

Two words are important. Helper is the word ‘ezer.’ This word is similar in some respects to the Greek word, parakletos. As you know ‘parakletos‘ is applied to the Holy Spirit. Jesus said,

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever.”

Someone who brings freshness.

Mama in late 40s

Then we have the word ‘suitable.’ This is also an interesting word. Listen carefully men — Neged literally means ‘in front of’, ‘in sight of,’ or, ‘opposite to.’

It means she is to be ‘before‘ your face. (Not ‘in‘ your face.) So Adam needed someone whose gifting were companion gifting, to make up for His own lack in areas. Yes, the Lord also designed Adam where he could not be a lone ranger.

Next we find the Lord putting Adam into a deep sleep. The Hebrew term for ‘deep sleep’ is not often used. It is close to a death word, in which consciousness of life is not present. This is the word used for Abraham’s sleep where he sees the flaming torch and smoking oven.

1954 - Bonnie in arms and Julia. (Julia born 1947

Here is where we see some of the wonderful mystery of Christ and the church, but also the wonder between a godly man and his wife. (Learn this men, and you will learn how to enjoy life with the woman who you love.)

The Triple lesson.

Let’s follow this triple lesson. God presents Eve to Adam. God presents the Church to Christ. God presents the wife to the man. All this is contained in the Adam-Eve story.

But notice one thing in particular. God required Adam to die before He would give him Eve. This is so important to understanding how God’s gifting of maleness and femaleness work. It is never a matter of submerging one’s life under another. It is a matter of merging of lives, where both lives count, but neither is to be without the other.

Mama in the 60s

“The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.”

Do you see the beauty in this. God fashioned the woman himself. He didn’t fashion her from the earth. He actually took a part of Adam, and fashioned Eve from that part. (Not the head or toe, but from the heart area.)

The very first words that Eve hears, are the words of Adam ‘sanctifying her to himself.’ Here is how Adam sanctified Eve. He looks at her, and says,

“This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man.”

(Apply this to Christ and the church and get excited. We are the body of Christ. We are bone of His bone. Flesh of His flesh. He doesn’t fill us full of fear. He sanctifies us by driving our fears away.)

Adam sanctified Eve to himself.

Mom in the 1980s

Husbands, it is so important that you learn to affirm your wife to yourself. (Holds true with the wife also.) Even in nature, God designed the male to be the one who courts. To sanctify Eve, Adam had to drive away her fears. This is exactly how Christ sanctifies the church to himself. John said that perfect love casts out fears.

Mom in 2000s

The Word without the Spirit can produce legalism. The Spirit without the Word can produce instability. Perhaps this is why Jesus said,

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” (John 6:63)

Finally, when it comes to covenant issues, there is no stronger spiritual working power on this planet than a man and his wife who are in spiritual union. All the promises that relate to ‘two’ people doing something, find their greatest impact in the godly marriage.

Yes indeed, I loved and still love my mama. She was the one who taught me to pray the little child’s prayer of, ‘Now I lay me down to sleep.’

She was my confidant and the one to whom I could open my heart and she with me.

And so to all my readers I leave this precious Psalm with you:

“O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; nor do I involve myself in great matters, or in things too difficult for me. Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; like a weaned child rests against his mother, my soul is like a weaned child within me. O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forever.” (Psa 131:1-3 NASB)

And to all your women in we men’s lives.

Happy Mother’s Day – We love you.

Always in Christ,

Buddy

May

2010

Do we share kinship with God…

“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” (Act 20:28 NASB)

Journal,

Among the Semitic people the term covenant carried the idea of ‘kinship’ with the god of the covenant. The god supposedly would adopt the people as his people. This idea carries over in the history of Israel as being the adopted people of the Lord God.

In the new covenant the idea of ‘kinship’ with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob changes. In the new covenant we become ‘blood kin’ of God, through the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus. This sprinkling of the blood is a work of the Holy Spirit. It gives all believers both a spiritual kinship to God, and a blood guarantee of a future resurrected body. This is why Paul said,

“The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are [right now] children of God.” (Rom 8:16)

And why John said,

“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” (1Jn 3:2 NASB)

Back to the Old Testament idea of covenant.

Among the Semitics, it was the tribal fathers who would make covenant. Cutting a covenant usually included taking a substitute sacrificial animal, splitting it in two, with both parties passing between the pieces. The fathers and their descendants were then considered to be one together. If aggression was made against either covenant partner, it was an aggression against both. If one transgressed the covenant, then what was done to the sacrificial animal was to be done to the transgressor.

Substitutional ‘blood kin’ can be seen in the tabernacle of Moses. Note Hebrews 9:19-22:

“For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.’ And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood.”

The sprinkling of blood signified oneness with the God of Israel. Thus if anyone touched Israel, they touched the God of Israel. But if Israel transgressed the covenant, then judgment would be had.

The idea of adoption.

The people of Israel were not the spiritual children of God. They were adopted children. Until the sin of Adam could be dealt with there could be no spiritual children and most certainly no true blood kinship to God.

Moses calls attention to this:

“The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He. They have acted corruptly toward Him, they are not His children, because of their defect; But are a perverse and crooked generation.” (Deu 32:4-5 NASB)

What was their defect? It was the fallen nature of Adam. All of humanity shared in Adam’s fall from the glory that was originally his.

Peter draws from what Moses said in his message on the day of Pentecost:

“‘For the promise [of the new covenant] is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.’ And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, ‘Be saved from this perverse generation!'” (Act 2:39-40 NASB)

And so the sprinkled blood of the sacrificed animal could only be a symbol. When the blood was sprinkled the people ‘came under’ the blood of the covenant. The people themselves were adopted. They were still not by nature God’s own spiritual children. Their nature was unlike His.

Paul further explains the issue of adoption.

“Who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory, and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises.” (Romans 9:4)

When Paul speaks of ‘the adoption as sons,’ he precludes any idea of a spiritual birth. No one in the Old Testament could be born of God until the Lamb of God came on the scene.

Peter also calls attention to the blood of the new covenant in saying that our redemption is with ‘precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.’ He also calls attention to the futile way of life that was their inheritance from their fathers. (Speaking of the forms and shadows of the former covenant that could never remove sin or bring the people close to God. Cf. 1Pet1:16-25)

When Peter speaks of a “futile way of life inherited from your fathers,” he is not disparaging the patriarchs of Israel, nor is he drawing attention to the wickedness of their forefathers. He is simply calling attention to the same thing that Moses called attention to. The term ‘futile way of life’ fits every class of the lost family of Adam, and not simply the Jews.

This issue of salvation must never be overlooked.

The Jewish peoples during the time of Christ believed that they could not be lost because of their blood line to Abraham. John the Baptist and Jesus, and all the apostles came against any such notion. This is why John said that God could raise up stones to be children of Abraham.

Here Peter makes an even stronger case for the sprinkled blood of Jesus:

“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ [repentance and faith] and be sprinkled with His blood:

“May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, …

…”to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1Pe 1:1-5 NASB)

The whole human race has been contaminated by sin.

We were all of a ‘crooked and perverse’ generation. This came from our father Adam. The bloodline of Abraham was no exception.

But now through Christ Jesus we have the reality of what the Old Testament types could only point to. The blood that Moses sprinkled on the people could only speak of their adoption to God, but it could not remove their sins, nor could it actually make them true spiritual children of God. No animal blood could do that. Only the blood of Jesus could make our kinship a reality.

The apostle Paul puts everything in place when he says that the blood running through the veins of Jesus was literally God’s blood. So when the blood of Jesus is sprinkled on the human spirit, that human being becomes a totally new creature, born of heaven.

This responds to the promise given to Abraham, when the Lord said,

“’Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’” (Genesis 15:5)

So – Are you kin to God?

Yes, you are kin to God if you have a heavenly birth. This means that you are born of His blood and His Spirit. You are His very child, nature of His nature, blood of His blood, and seed of His seed. It is our ‘blood of the Lamb’ that gives us the promise of a future resurrection of glory. We are marked out as the very children of God. We have a destiny that is beyond anything to be imagined.

Just something to think about.

In the meantime listen to this wonderful song that puts the gospel to music. (By Adrenne Liesching and Geoff Moore – Originally by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty.)

In Christ always,

Buddy

Apr

2010

The new covenant of the Vine…

“Let me sing now for my well-beloved A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.” (Isa 5:1 NASB)

Journal,

A most beautiful picture of our covenant life in Christ is found in the analogy of the Vine and the branches. The Vine had long been a symbol of Israel’s covenant relationship with the Lord. The Psalmist said,

“You removed a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground before it, and it took deep root and filled the land.” (Psalm80:8,9)

Isaiah drew attention to the vine, in saying,

“Let me sing now for my well-beloved a song of my beloved concerning His vineyard.” (Isa5:1)

And over the entrance of the Holy Place in Herod’s temple was the symbol of the grape vine. The grape vine represented Israel. So when Jesus spoke of the Vine and branches, His Hebrew disciples already had this covenant symbol fixed in their thinking. The sad side of the story was that when the leaders in Israel rejected Jesus Christ, they became dead branches to be discarded. The Vine of Christ would only include true believers.

(You can read a prophetic picture of Israel’s loss as the Vineyard of the Lord in Isaiah 5:2-7, and in Matt21:33-46)

With that in mind let’s take a closer look at our new covenant experience in Christ, by drawing from the analogy of the Vine and the branches.

It takes place in the upper room.

Jesus is sharing some awesome things with the disciples in preparing them for the cross and the things to come. It is during this time that He says,

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

“You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” (John 15:1-8)

There is a much more to the analogy of Jesus being the ‘true Vine’ than meets the eye. Jesus has always been the true vine. But let’s leave that be for now. What we want to do is bring this into the new covenant experience.

The word ‘abide’ is the key in this prophetic analogy.

Abide carries strong covenant overtones. The Greek word ‘meno’ means to stay in place, or to remain within a sphere. As for covenant overtones, we have a picture of this when God speaks to Abraham, and says,

“I am God Almighty; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you.” (Gen17:1,2)

Notice the Lord says that He will do the establishing of the covenant.

So, we do the walking, God does the establishing. Believers are to live by faith in the Lord Jesus. We are to walk in the knowledge of God’s strength and presence and of His love, that is, a love that we can never be separated from! This is our completeness.

The issue of abiding is at the very heart of the new covenant. We share our life with Christ. He shares His life with us. It’s not half life we share. We share in the full life of Jesus. He shares fully in our life.

The word covenant in Hebrew is the word ‘berith.’ In Greek it is ‘diatheke.’ Both words speak of a declaration of the will of God concerning His own commitment, promises, and conditions by which He enters into relationship with man.

God is the one who establishes the covenant. He is the initiator and completer. For this reason the vine is a vivid picture of our new covenant relationship with God.

The believer has one role in the Vine life. He is to look to the Lord Jesus for everything in life. Yet it is this one truth that believers sometimes stumble over. It is so easy to concentrate on working for Lord, and not on abiding in Him. Of course the end result is often frustration and even burn out.

The truth of the matter is that God has designed us to be faith-dependent on Jesus. This alone is the true secret of power!

Paul discovered this truth the same way that many of us do. The apostle said,

“Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me– to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.

“And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

“Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2Co12:7-10)

There is no question that Paul was a man of great zeal. His eagerness for the Lord was to be admired, but this eagerness also became a danger point in Paul’s life.

And Paul found that prayer by itself could not take care of the problem. He had to learn the vine secret. When Jesus said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness,'” the apostle recognized that he was attempting to do too much on his own.

And so, what did Jesus tell the disciples about their vine life? He said, “Without Me you can do nothing.”

Our perfect example of the vine life is Jesus Himself.

In His earth walk, not one time do we ever see Jesus defensive or frustrated. Can we be like that? What was His secret? To answer that question, we need to ask another question. How many times do we hear Jesus say that He does nothing on His own initiative?

That is the key. (For your study consider the following Scriptures; John 5:30; 8:28; 8:42; 12:49; 14:10.)

Keep ever before you that the victory we walk in is the victory of the cross, that is, God’s finished work in Christ. It is the victory of Jesus that we are to abide in. It is His rest that we enter into. We are to trust in the Lord to work out His will in our life. It is in this arena of trust that the quiet life of abiding takes over.

Listen to these Scriptures:

“And the work of righteousness will be peace, and the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.” (Isa32:17)

“The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. And He will be the stability of your times, a wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is his treasure.” (Isa33:5,6)

“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matt11:29)

Now let’s go a step further.

It is in learning how to abide that we learn the outflow of God’s will. It really isn’t hard for any child of God to learn the flow of God’s will. There are only two things we need to know. First, we need to understand that God has a perfect will for all of His children. This includes His general will, and His specific will.

And, secondly we need to know that God is the only One who can work His will in our life. We don’t work God’s will. God works His own will.

Consider these key Scriptures:

“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Phil2:12)

Notice it says that God is at work in each of us according to His will and for His own pleasure. Now for an even broader picture;

“Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Heb12:20,21)

Again notice that it is the God of peace who equips us ‘in everything‘ to do His will. He does this through our relationship with Jesus Christ. Again note that God’s work has to do with His pleasure. God is pleased to work with all His children.

There is no part of a believer’s life that the Lord is not vitally concerned with. This includes our mess ups. God can take the most terrible things of our own doings, and turn them to good. This is why the prophet of old could say,

“The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” (Lam3:22,23)

The Lord never ceases to love and care for His people. Perhaps David said it best of all. He said,

“You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand upholds me; and Your gentleness makes me great.” (Psa18:35)

The Lord’s gentleness.

The Hebrew word for gentleness, ‘anavah’, speaks of meekness, humility, condescension. This word paints a picture of a father giving tender instruction to his young child, in helping the child learn lessons of character. Our Father is a loving Father.

What is it that we need to learn from the Father? Let me share three simple keys to the Vine life that we need to learn. These keys include much of what we have already studied. But it will do well to review them again.

The 1st key to a victorious life is simply learning to abide in Christ. We discussed this earlier, but it needs to be reemphasized. Remember that it is His fruit that we bear. Therefore, we must learn to let our faith settle in Him absolutely. This is where God receives glory.

The 2nd key to a victorious Christian life is found in the second half of verse 7. Jesus said,

“…and My words abide in you.”

The Greek language has two words for word. Logos means thoughts and conceptions, or arrangements. It is in our meditations and study that God’s Logos flows. However, this is not the word Jesus uses here. Here Jesus says, ‘…if my Words (rhema [hray’-mah]) abide in you…’

Rhema speaks of that which has been uttered by a living voice. We are always to seek from the Lord Himself, that is, His voice in our hearts, for instructions for our lives. This is Christ ministering His Word in the heart of a believer. There are many voices in world, but there is only one voice we are to seek for and listen to.

The 3rd key is the love key. Jesus said,

“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.” (John15:9.)

To abide in His love is to keep always before us His love for us. Meno means to settle down in the knowledge of His love. God’s love is your protection. The apostle said that nothing can ever separate a believer from the Father’s love for us that is found in Christ Jesus.

So now you know the story of ‘the covenant of the Vine.’

Here is your song. There is a message in ‘God Will Make A Way”. Listen carefully. The Lord wants to speak to your heart.

Don’t be discouraged. The Lord will see you through.

Your friend and brother in Christ,

Buddy

Apr

2010

Making peace with the past…

“For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.” (Psa 86:5 NASB)

Journal,

Is there Biblical precedence for a person having a sickness or some other ailment, including a physical disorder, as a result of harboring unforgiveness, resentments, bitterness or ill will towards others. Yes, the Bible does teach that in some instances our physical and emotional well-being can very well reflect our inward state of being. Just like a tree we grow from the inside out. If the tree is not healthy on the inside it will reflect on the whole of the tree. So it is with us.

This is why the sage said,

“My son, give attention to my words; incline your heart to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life to those who find them and health to all their body. Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the SPRINGS (outgoings) of life.“ (Pro4:20-23)

The Hebrew word for ‘springs’ is the word ‘tosaah.’ This is a geographical word. It speaks both of a boundary and of a source. Its reflective meaning addresses ‘goings forth’ or ‘outgoings.’ The point is that what we have in our hearts will determine the boundaries or the outgoing of our own life. Thus we give shape to our own life by what is in our own heart.

David draws attention to this with regard to the man who refuses to bless others, but only curses. Listen carefully:

“Because he did not remember to show lovingkindness…

“,,,he also loved cursing, so it came to him; and he did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him.

“But he clothed himself with cursings as with his garment, and it entered into his body like water and like oil into his bones. It came to him as a garment which he covers himself…” (Psalm 109:16-19)

The New Testament addresses bitterness in the same category as immorality. Notice Hebrews 12:14-16;

“Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.”

The peace of God’s kingdom.

Pursuing peace addresses the peace of God’s kingdom. We are to be makers of peace when it is in our power to do so.

It is our purpose to bring ‘living water’ to those around us. These waters speak of the message of the cross. It is James who draws attention to this area of our not being able to share the gospel properly because of a mixed message.

“With it [our tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?”

(Jas 3:9-11 NASB)

And hence the problem with bitterness. Here we are told that bitterness is a defiler. It not only defiles our personal life, but it can defile those around us.

Lets continue with the understanding on how bitterness may affect us today. I did not read the earlier statement about how bitterness can create an excessive burden in a believer’s life, and how that bitterness may even result in a discipline of the Lord.

Note the preceding Scriptures:

“All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful …. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.” (vv12,13)

This is metaphoric language. Yet it calls attention to some of the burdens than can weigh a believer down as a result of unforgiveness and resentments. Is it not possible that some of our physical ailments are a result of the bitterness we carry? Is it also possible that some of our health issues can be the result of a connective measure from the Lord? These are things to consider.

Both Paul and Peter speak to this.

Let’s tie some Scriptures together:

[Paul] “For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.” — The background for this is the Lord’s table, but its directive is to those who were resentful of others. The sicknesses in this case are punitive or corrective judgments from the Lord. — 1Co11:22-34.

[Peter] “Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.” (1Pe2:1,2)

We don’t always catch what Peter is saying. Where Peter speaks of the ‘pure milk’ of the word, he is speaking of milk that has not been adulterated by bitterness and other such things.

As a country boy I can give an example of what pure milk is not. In the south we have what is called bitter weeds. A cow will sometimes make these weeds part of her diet. If you drink milk from a cow who had eaten bitter weeds, believe me, you will spew the milk out of your mouth as quick as you can. The milk is filled with bitterness. And yet the milk itself looked perfectly good.

Failure to make peace with the past.

This is where bitterness can become a defiling thing in our life. Most bitterness is a result of not having forgiven someone. We carry the unforgiveness in our heart. It is not a matter of whether the person deserves forgiveness, or even if they have asked for forgiveness. It is a matter of keepings one’s own spiritual life pure.

We have a perfect example to follow from the cross. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them. For they don’t know what they are doing.”

We also hear this with the first Christian martyr. Stephen said, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” In neither case were the peoples asking for forgiveness.

When Jesus said, “Father, forgive them,” was this not the message of the cross? Are we not forgiven on the basis of a life exchange with Jesus? Jesus gave His life up for us. Are we not to learn to live in this flow of forgiveness? Are we not to forgive?

What many don’t realize is that unforgiveness is a sin. Why so? It is a sin because we are under commandment to forgive. We are also under commandment to walk in love the way Jesus walked. The Lord pointed out that a powerful faith walk revolves around forgiveness. He said,

“Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.” (Mark 11:25)

And so it may well be that the most crucial matter in a believer’s life is in coming to grips with the past. Until we learn to make peace with the past, we will suffer in the now. Are you free from the past? Is there something you need to let go?

“How to I get started?”

The way to get started is …

Identify with Jesus.

What does identifying with Jesus mean? John said, “Greater is He who is in you and he who is in the world.”

That isn’t a hard issue to solved. How did Jesus conduct Himself in the gospels. He loved and He forgave. What should we do? Love and forgive. Jesus forgave all our sins, past, present, and future. How can we do otherwise. In fact if we learn to forgive quickly, it gives us the power to jerk the rug out from under the enemy. He will have nothing to work with.

And since the greater One lives in us, Paul give us how all this works. Listen and learn:

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Gal 2:20 NASB)

Did you catch it? Good. Then I don’t need to explain it any further.

Now while you think on these things, take time to listen to Jeff and Sheri Easter. This song has a message for you.

Much love to be found in Jesus,

In Christ always,

Buddy

Apr

2010

Songs of the mirror…

x– You go to bed a little troubled. You wake up still unsure about how to handle a situation. You are standing before the mirror in the bathroom, and for some unknown reason, you begin singing. You now find yourself with an uplifted mind. What happened to bring about this change? You didn’t just decide to start singing. The song just sort of arrived! But where did it come from? –

Journal,

Perhaps we need to talk about this. Does Jesus ever sing over His own? What a strange question. Most of the pictures we see of Jesus are about his sufferings. Do we ever see a picture of Him joyful? Actually, there are Scripture references to Jesus singing and even dancing. We will look at this area a bit later.

But it does seem that someone decided we needed a picture of Jesus full of laughter and joy. Here it is.

And this brings me to another question. What does the Bible mean by ‘a song of deliverance’? Are songs of deliverance a part of our walk with the Lord?

Let’s pick up with a thought from David:

“Blessed be the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my supplication. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him.” Psalm 28:6-7

Here David speaks of his song. In another place, David draws attention to another kind of song.

“You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance.“ (Psalm 32)

Here David draws attention to songs that have their origin in God Himself.

Psalm 32 is a Psalm of correction and repentance. Note some of the beginnings of this Psalm:

“When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.”

Then David adds,

“I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’; and You forgave the guilt of my sin.”

Hence the song of cleansing.

And here is where David speaks of being surrounded with songs of deliverance. David’s songs of deliverance came when his thoughts were directed to the Lord, and his heart changed through his repentance. And so it is with us. [By the way, the apostle Paul quotes from this Psalm in saying, “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered.” Rom4:7]

OK, back to the now. Sometimes our minds are troubled because we have failed to correct a situation. We convinced ourselves of our rightness. Isn’t it amazing how we can justify ourselves to ourselves? And yet we go to bed troubled in mind. And we wake up with a troubled mind.

What happens in front of the mirror? If you are a man, you are possibly shaving. If a lady, you are making your face even more lovely. The point is that we are now facing yourself. It is in this quiet moment that the musings of the heart begin. The Holy Spirit begins reflecting on our heart. Our thoughts go to, “Boy, I had no right to do what I did. It was wrong. I was wrong.”

Conviction is at work.

Conviction is a judicial word where the guilty person is forced to face the facts and is then left without a defense. When the pang of guilt is felt, the work of conviction is being completed.

This is the spiritual side of the working of repentance. We feel sorrow in our heart. We are sorry for the misdeed and we ask the Lord’s forgiveness. (By the way, it doesn’t have to take place in front of a mirror does it.)

Back to the song? The song is a cleansing release from the burden of our misconduct. We now have a heart of repentance. The song is a song of our deliverance. It is a song brought to bear by the Holy Spirit. This is what David is describing in Psalm 32.

I like to call these songs ‘Songs of the Mirror.’

What does that mean? In my case, much of my daily musings take place at the mirror. But it doesn’t have to be a case of repentance. Sometimes it is just pure joy springing up and the song overflows.

In any event, the mirror song is the Word of the Lord reflecting itself on our heart. Jesus is speaking to us in our thought life. The song can be a song of cleansing or just an overflowing heart as we think about the goodness of the Lord.

Let me use a play on words where Paul shares how the Lord changes our lives by a special working of the Holy Spirit. Listen:

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2Co 3:18 NASB)

In this case, the mirror actually is the Word of God. John also speaks of this cleansing grace. He said,

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1Jn1:9)

There are other aspects to special songs of the Spirit.

Now let’s talk about Jesus singing over us. In one place we hear of the joy of Christ described as a song He sings over the redeemed. Listen –

“I will proclaim Your name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise.” (Heb2:12)

Does this not mean that Jesus rejoices in us and with us? Indeed it does. The apostolic writer tells us that Jesus endured the cross because of the joy that was set before Him. Evidently, the heavenly Father pulled back the curtain of redemption and there Jesus saw all the redeemed people of the ages who would be saved because of the cross.

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 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.” (Heb 12:1-2 NASB)

How do we know it is the redeemed that Jesus is rejoicing over? We hear it in Hebrews 2:13, where Jesus says, “Behold, I, and the children whom God has given Me.”

But we also hear it this joy in Luke 10:21, where Jesus literally leaps for joy over the joy that has been set before Him.

Here is the setting:

“At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, ‘I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.'” (Luk 10:21 NASB)”

It is very easy to miss what is happening in this picture. Where it says that Jesus ‘rejoiced greatly’ the Greek term ‘agalliao’, literally means to show one’s joy by leaping and skipping. It is a term that speaks of ecstatic joy and delight. In the Septuagint Greek translation of Old Testament, this word is used to describe a rejoicing in song and in dance.

Let me share one more Scripture setting that describes the Lord singing with shouts of joy. It has to do with Israel’s full redemption. (A moment in history that we are quite close to.) Listen carefully:

“In that day it will be said to Jerusalem: ‘Do not be afraid, O Zion; Do not let your hands fall limp. he LORD your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.” (Zep 3:16-17 NASB)

That last statement in the Hebrew language is a very strong rejoicing language. “He will exult over you with loud singing.” It even includes the idea of a twirling dance.

Now is the time to think about all this. Do you have need of repentance? Do you need a cleansing in your inner life? Have you had any mirror songs lately? How is your shout doing? When is the last time you felt like dancing out of sheer joy?

Now is the time to start looking up. Our redemption is drawing near. The clock is ticking and Jesus said that He would shorten the days for the sake of His people.

In the meantime take a listen to this Jewish Christian group ‘The Isaacs’ as they sing ‘Hallelujah‘. They are singing in the city of Jerusalem. (Did you know that the day is coming with Jews and Christians will sing the same song.)

Much love in Jesus,

Buddy

Uncategorized

Don’t add anything to the blood…

What happened to our Hebrew heritage…

I come as an ambassador…

An awakening to the gospel…

Like a Ship at Sea…

Happy Mother’s Day mom – I miss you heaps…

Do we share kinship with God…

The new covenant of the Vine…

Making peace with the past…

Songs of the mirror…

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