Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
The cross centered life is necessary to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. This means regularly putting our own will, our own desires to death.
Jesus says that to come after Him is to deny self: to follow Jesus is to put self to death.
Let the reader heed this thought and put it into practice and not be deceived by the many ways of "Christianity" in our day. There are always wolves in sheeps' clothing which want to have the world and claim Christ also. The daily pursuits are self centered rather than Christ centered. Christ is like the icing to their cake rather than the cake and the icing.
The cross is an instrument of death. Jesus says that if you are not putting yourself to death daily, you are not coming after Him and not following Him. Think about that for a while. Disciples put themselves to death daily to follow Jesus.
Taking up your own cross is the result of you coming to Jesus Christ's cross. Faith in Jesus Christ exhibits itself in this way of selfless love toward God and others. Genuine, sincere faith is busy thinking about the needs of others in relation to God.
Jesus lived a cross centered life demonstrated in love toward others because of His love for His Father. Those being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ shall also demonstrate loving faith in this way.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
No Kingdom without THE Tribulation
We are currently studying the book of Revelation in our evening study time. The messages are online at www.northwoodsbaptist.com
In Revelation 1:9 John writes:
I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
The phrase "tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience" is very important in understanding what John is writing about in this book. Unfortunately many things are not evident in the English.
In the Greek, the article is before tribulation, and all of the nouns, tribulation, kingdom, and patience are in the same case as the article, indicating that this whole phrase functions as a unit. This means that the tribulation, kingdom and patience cannot be separated in John's (inspired by God) thought. Therefore, it is foreign to John and God Himself that the tribulation and the kingdom could be separated, along with the patience.
Those who separate the tribulation from the kingdom, therefore, twist the Scriptures.
It is also quite important to understand this if you are a professing Christian. If your aim is the kingdom, you should know that you are in the tribulation of which John writes.
John himself identifies himself as a partaker in the tribulation, kingdom and patience, and all those who are in Jesus Christ, are his brothers and companions in all three, tribulation, kingdom and patience.
Do not be deceived by those who separate the tribulation and kingdom. Do not be deceived by those who say the tribulation is yet future. It is now.
2 Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Acts 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
Matthew 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
In Revelation 1:9 John writes:
I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
The phrase "tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience" is very important in understanding what John is writing about in this book. Unfortunately many things are not evident in the English.
In the Greek, the article is before tribulation, and all of the nouns, tribulation, kingdom, and patience are in the same case as the article, indicating that this whole phrase functions as a unit. This means that the tribulation, kingdom and patience cannot be separated in John's (inspired by God) thought. Therefore, it is foreign to John and God Himself that the tribulation and the kingdom could be separated, along with the patience.
Those who separate the tribulation from the kingdom, therefore, twist the Scriptures.
It is also quite important to understand this if you are a professing Christian. If your aim is the kingdom, you should know that you are in the tribulation of which John writes.
John himself identifies himself as a partaker in the tribulation, kingdom and patience, and all those who are in Jesus Christ, are his brothers and companions in all three, tribulation, kingdom and patience.
Do not be deceived by those who separate the tribulation and kingdom. Do not be deceived by those who say the tribulation is yet future. It is now.
2 Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Acts 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
Matthew 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Monday, May 11, 2009
The Spotless Bride being made Spotless
Jesus Christ gave His life to bring to Himself a Spotless Bride, the Church. She is not spotless now, practically speaking, but she is spotless positionally, by justifying faith.
The Cross has a power in the life of those for whom it was planned and accomplished. The faith of God's elect in Jesus Christ, obtains God's righteousness imputed, and the same faith, continued until death or until He comes, obtains God's righteousness practically.
The faith that looks upon Jesus Christ on the Cross and receives salvation, is the same faith which beholds the face of Jesus Christ and is transformed from glory to glory. By beholding the Lord of glory in His Word, the saints of God are being conformed to His image, the image of the Son of God, and are being transformed by the renewing of their mind to approve of God's will, because they behold it in the life of Jesus Christ.
What a thrill to contemplate our position; perfect righteousness of God.
What a thrill to contemplate our transition; to a life filled with the perfect righteousness of God.
All to the praise & glory & honour of Him who gave His life, that we might be made spotless, without blemish, holy, to be presented to Him, the Great Bridegroom.
The Cross has a power in the life of those for whom it was planned and accomplished. The faith of God's elect in Jesus Christ, obtains God's righteousness imputed, and the same faith, continued until death or until He comes, obtains God's righteousness practically.
The faith that looks upon Jesus Christ on the Cross and receives salvation, is the same faith which beholds the face of Jesus Christ and is transformed from glory to glory. By beholding the Lord of glory in His Word, the saints of God are being conformed to His image, the image of the Son of God, and are being transformed by the renewing of their mind to approve of God's will, because they behold it in the life of Jesus Christ.
What a thrill to contemplate our position; perfect righteousness of God.
What a thrill to contemplate our transition; to a life filled with the perfect righteousness of God.
All to the praise & glory & honour of Him who gave His life, that we might be made spotless, without blemish, holy, to be presented to Him, the Great Bridegroom.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
From hearers & doers to judges over God's Word
I recently went away to a Bible Conference & heard great preaching. What made it great preaching? The Bible was preached. It made me think though, about all who talked during the conference, and those who talk in our own Churches.
Are we to judge the preachers, whether they were good, or are we to determine whether the word was preached, and then apply it to our own lives? Ezekiel 33:30-33 gives us an idea of which is our responsibility. If God's messenger brings God's Word, God's people are not to talk about the preacher but about how to live God's Word.
Talking about the preacher, people will quickly find fault and excuse themselves from living and practicing what they heard.
Changes the way preaching ought to be viewed.
Are we to judge the preachers, whether they were good, or are we to determine whether the word was preached, and then apply it to our own lives? Ezekiel 33:30-33 gives us an idea of which is our responsibility. If God's messenger brings God's Word, God's people are not to talk about the preacher but about how to live God's Word.
Talking about the preacher, people will quickly find fault and excuse themselves from living and practicing what they heard.
Changes the way preaching ought to be viewed.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
The Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ
Paul writes on the difficulty of the understanding the application of the Old Covenant in 2Corinthians 3 and explains how a right understanding of its application is found in the New Covenant through Jesus Christ.
We had a guest preacher bring a message on this text this past Lord's Day, and as he went through the text, some important things crystallized.
The problem was not with the covenant, but with the people. Jeremiah 31:31-34 highlights this. They were hardened & blinded, having a veil over their spiritual eyes, their heart, thus they could not rightly obey God in the Old Covenant. Thus, our God and Father through our Lord Jesus Christ, brought in the New Covenant in His blood, by which, all who are in the New Covenant, such as Abel, Enoch and Noah, have been able to see the same glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, as saints since the cross.
God's mercy & goodness shine forth through the Lord Jesus Christ, whereas, with a veil over the heart, man turns that which is by faith into a system of works. Those who have had the veil removed turn to the Lord and through His Spirit changing them from glory to glory are made into the same image of their Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as you behold Christ in the New Covenant, beholding His glory, you are being made glorious, because you are being made like Him. What an amazing thought and not just a thought, but an actual reality for all those who behold the glory of Jesus Christ.
We had a guest preacher bring a message on this text this past Lord's Day, and as he went through the text, some important things crystallized.
The problem was not with the covenant, but with the people. Jeremiah 31:31-34 highlights this. They were hardened & blinded, having a veil over their spiritual eyes, their heart, thus they could not rightly obey God in the Old Covenant. Thus, our God and Father through our Lord Jesus Christ, brought in the New Covenant in His blood, by which, all who are in the New Covenant, such as Abel, Enoch and Noah, have been able to see the same glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, as saints since the cross.
God's mercy & goodness shine forth through the Lord Jesus Christ, whereas, with a veil over the heart, man turns that which is by faith into a system of works. Those who have had the veil removed turn to the Lord and through His Spirit changing them from glory to glory are made into the same image of their Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as you behold Christ in the New Covenant, beholding His glory, you are being made glorious, because you are being made like Him. What an amazing thought and not just a thought, but an actual reality for all those who behold the glory of Jesus Christ.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Holiness of Jesus Christ
This week, considering the firstfruit and root which results in the lump and branches being made holy, I considered who this pictured, the Lord Jesus Christ, and what the Bible had to say about holiness.
Holiness is not just sinless righteousness. Two examples in Scripture demonstrate this clearly.
The first example is creation. God made all His creation and gave Adam & Eve sinless righteous tasks of dominion over the creation, filling it, caring for it, and caring for one another. This is before sin is introduced remember. Then the LORD God commands the sanctifying of the 7th day. It is to be set apart; but how? The 4th commandment in Exodus 20 says to keep the day holy, set apart from the other 6, which were to also be kept sinless & righteously. Holiness is higher, because holiness points to God, thus it is called the Lord's Day.
The second example makes this clear. In Isaiah 6, seraphim, majestic creatures, are before the throne of God crying Holy, holy, holy. These creatures are in the LORD's presence praising Him. From this, we deduce they are sinless and righteous, for they praise the LORD. Yet, they praise the LORD Jehovah as Holy, holy, holy, thereby identifying holiness as transcending the sinless righteousness of His creatures.
Can we comprehend His holiness? No. It is beyond what we can think and imagine. I cannot think of keeping 6 sinless days, let alone a day holy to the Lord. I cannot know nor understand what these majestic seraphim are like or look like, much less the LORD's holiness. Yet, that does not mean we should not ask for understanding nor keep His day holy. We must instead cry out to God for help.
By the way, the Lord & LORD in Isaiah 6 is the Lord Jesus Christ as revealed in John 12:41
The Holiness of Jesus Christ is beyond human comprehension - it will take an eternity to comprehend what we believe and confess by faith
Holiness is not just sinless righteousness. Two examples in Scripture demonstrate this clearly.
The first example is creation. God made all His creation and gave Adam & Eve sinless righteous tasks of dominion over the creation, filling it, caring for it, and caring for one another. This is before sin is introduced remember. Then the LORD God commands the sanctifying of the 7th day. It is to be set apart; but how? The 4th commandment in Exodus 20 says to keep the day holy, set apart from the other 6, which were to also be kept sinless & righteously. Holiness is higher, because holiness points to God, thus it is called the Lord's Day.
The second example makes this clear. In Isaiah 6, seraphim, majestic creatures, are before the throne of God crying Holy, holy, holy. These creatures are in the LORD's presence praising Him. From this, we deduce they are sinless and righteous, for they praise the LORD. Yet, they praise the LORD Jehovah as Holy, holy, holy, thereby identifying holiness as transcending the sinless righteousness of His creatures.
Can we comprehend His holiness? No. It is beyond what we can think and imagine. I cannot think of keeping 6 sinless days, let alone a day holy to the Lord. I cannot know nor understand what these majestic seraphim are like or look like, much less the LORD's holiness. Yet, that does not mean we should not ask for understanding nor keep His day holy. We must instead cry out to God for help.
By the way, the Lord & LORD in Isaiah 6 is the Lord Jesus Christ as revealed in John 12:41
The Holiness of Jesus Christ is beyond human comprehension - it will take an eternity to comprehend what we believe and confess by faith
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Praying in detail
Sometimes in our praying we pray in generalities. "Please help us & guide us in our decisions". When we pray, we need to be specific about what those generalities mean.
The reason is as we get specific, our God will answer specifics and display His glory and give you opportunity to glorify Him before others as you spell out how God answers the details.
My family and I have a family prayer time after our devotional time, and many of our prayer requests seem to be in generalities. I recently determined to take one of those line items and broaden it into the specifics so that as we prayed it, God knew and we knew what we meant, so that when the answers came, we would know that it was of God.
The answers came, and came in specific ways to address our specific requests, and beyond, because God goes beyond what we can think and ask.
Pray in detail
The reason is as we get specific, our God will answer specifics and display His glory and give you opportunity to glorify Him before others as you spell out how God answers the details.
My family and I have a family prayer time after our devotional time, and many of our prayer requests seem to be in generalities. I recently determined to take one of those line items and broaden it into the specifics so that as we prayed it, God knew and we knew what we meant, so that when the answers came, we would know that it was of God.
The answers came, and came in specific ways to address our specific requests, and beyond, because God goes beyond what we can think and ask.
Pray in detail
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