HybridTalk's Thought provoking Blog

By whose authority are you doing these things? 

In Matthew 21:23-27 we read about the religious leader’s response to Jesus Temple cleansing project. "By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked. "And who gave you this authority?" Jesus asks them a question about John the Baptists authority and its origin. They are unwilling to answer. Then Jesus told them another parable. 

In the parable told by Jesus, there was a father with two sons. When the father asked for his one son’s help, the son said no, but then he changed his mind and came to work. The other son said he would help, but then ran out on his father. Then came the question, “"Which of the two did what his father wanted?"  "The first," they answered.” That is the right answer.

 Jesus states to the religious leaders, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.” (Matt 21:31-32)

So what group do you connect with in the parable? Are you with the religious leaders or the tax collectors and prostitutes?

The problem is that rebellious sinners in this world choose not to recognize Jesus’ authority. Religious groups today, who don’t want to offend me, recognize Jesus as a good teacher, but not the Savior of the world. Seeking to show Christians tolerance, they give the Full Monty of insults. 

Likewise, the unsaved won’t see Jesus as the savior of the world, but they view him in safe terms, like a community organizer. In their sinful rebellion, they offer to Christ a title, “Community Organizer” with the expectation it will appease him. But they will not recognize his full authority and position. 

To be saved, we need to identify with the tax collectors and prostitutes in Jesus parable because they saw themselves unable to save themselves. If you are like the religious leaders who questioned Jesus authority and consider him just a community organizer, you need to open your eyes. Jesus described two groups and we are all a member of one of those groups. No exceptions will be applied. Decide now what group you are in.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and He also created time and He made it linear and with a purpose. In that time line He chose a people to bless and through whom He would bring redemption to the entire world (Gen 12:1-3). God raised up leaders and civilizations and he brought them down, all according to His providential plan to bring about His kingdom and to bring glory to His name (Acts 17:26-27). At just the right time the Father sent the Son to redeem humanity from their sin (Galatians 4:3-5). The next big event on history’s calendar is the Return of the King to claim His Kingdom and the heavens and the earth will be remade.

Paul tells us that Christ was involved in the creation process. All things were created by Him and for Him and are held together by Him. Colossians 1:16-17 “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” We read in the gospel of John a similar statement John 1:3 "Through [Christ] all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”

God has made the universe and that includes the earth. He made if for His own specific purpose, and He is holding it together, or you might say His sovereign will is being exercised over the earth even as you read. There is nothing that escapes His control. 

But every day I find brothers and sisters in the Lord who believe that mankind has greater power than God and that man has usurped power that once belonged to our Creator God. They believe that man has the power to destroy what God’s word says He has established and maintains. Where do ideas like that come from, and why do Christians believe it? This thinking does not represent the God of the Bible, but one they have been sold of human origin. 

Is your faith in God so weak that you believe man can wrestle the control over the earth from His hands? Is your faith so weak that you think man can obstruct God’s providence over the earth and the people and the kingdoms of this world? Has your faith in Christ been hijacked and replaced with a faith in man or a fear of man? O’ little sheep, your faithful Shepherd is looking for you (Matt 18:12-14). We are all prone to wandering, but the Shepherd wants us to be returned to the Flock. Don’t listen to the calls of the wolf, but return your attention to the Shepherd of your soul. He will recover you and strengthen you and restore you. 

Like it says in Daniel 4:34-35 I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: "What have you done?"

Article 29: The Marks of the True Church.

THE oldest of the doctrinal standards of the Christian Reformed Church is the Confession of Faith, popularly known as the Belgic Confession. 

During the sixteenth century the churches in this country were exposed to the most terrible persecution by the Roman Catholic government. To protest against this cruel oppression, and to prove to the persecutors that the adherents of the Reformed faith were not rebels, as was laid to their charge, but law-abiding citizens who professed the true Christian doctrine according to the Holy Scriptures, de Bräs prepared this confession in the year 1561. 

Although the immediate purpose of securing freedom from persecution was not attained, and de Bräs himself fell as one of the many thousands who sealed their faith with their lives, his work has endured and will continue to endure. 

One Article that should be revisited these days is the 29th Article which contains: 

Article 29: The Marks of the True Church. [excerpts] 

The true church can be recognized if it has the following marks: The church engages in the pure preaching of the gospel; it makes use of the pure administration of the sacraments as Christ instituted them; it practices church discipline for correcting faults. In short, it governs itself according to the pure Word of God, rejecting all things contrary to it and holding Jesus Christ as the only Head. By these marks one can be assured of recognizing the true church-- and no one ought to be separated from it. 

As for those who can belong to the church, we can recognize them by the distinguishing marks of Christians: namely by faith, and by their fleeing from sin and pursuing righteousness, once they have received the one and only Savior, Jesus Christ. They love the true God and their neighbors, without turning to the right or left, and they crucify the flesh and its works. 

As for the false church, it assigns more authority to itself and its ordinances than to the Word of God; it does not want to subject itself to the yoke of Christ; it does not administer the sacraments as Christ commanded in his Word; it rather adds to them or subtracts from them as it pleases; it bases itself on men, more than on Jesus Christ; it persecutes those who live holy lives according to the Word of God and who rebuke it for its faults, greed, and idolatry. 

These two churches are easy to recognize and thus to distinguish from each other. 

I have been a Christian for only twenty-some years and have seen the demise of a number of congregations because the leadership chose to assign more authority to itself than the Word of God. They saught to give more authority to the sinful behaviors of men than they did to the pursuit of righteousness. Church leaders and congregants these days are embracing and justifying sin and not “fleeing from sin”, which in the end leads to their spiritual death. Imagine where the church in America would be today, if it wasn’t so compromised with sin. 

It brings me back to Christ’s own words in  Luke 18:8b. “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"  

IS IT IN YOU?  

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.   

Ephesians 1:13-14 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.  

2 Corinthians 5:16-19 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.  

I love Scripture passages like those I have introducing this blog. They are confirmations from the Apostle Paul to the believers of his day that they were genuinely in Christ. If his readers could not associate the Apostles words with their own experience, they knew something was wrong that needed righted. This is true of today’s Christians also. 

If I were a confessing Christian, and read about how God set his seal of ownership of the promised Holy Spirit, but I didn’t have that Spirit, I would want to rectify that situation immediately. If I read about a deposit I was supposed to have received that made me a new creation, but I still felt like the same old me, I would wonder why. 

Paul clearly states that when we are regenerated, we will get a deposit as a first fruit of what we will get when Christ returns to claim His kingdom, the guaranteeing what is to come.  

Is that guarantee in you? 

  Great RAVENHILL QUOTES
  -Leonard Ravenhill.

    
  “The last words of Jesus to the church (in Revelation) were ‘Repent!’”
 
  “A true shepherd leads the way. He does not merely point the way.”
 
  “There are only two kinds of persons: those dead in sin and those dead to sin.”
 
  “Children can tell you what Channel 7 says, but not what Matthew 7 says.”
 
  “Some women will spend thirty minutes to an hour preparing for
  church externally (putting on special clothes and makeup, etc.).
  What would happen if we all spent the same amount of time
  preparing internally for church—with prayer and meditation?”
 
  “Maturity comes from obedience, not necessarily from age.”
 
  “The only time you can really say that ‘Christ is all I need,’ is when
  Christ is all you have.”
 
  “The Bible is either absolute, or it’s obsolete.”
 
  “Why do we expect to be better treated in this world than Jesus was?”
 
  “Today’s church wants to be raptured from responsibility.”
 
  “When there’s something in the Bible that churches don’t like,
  they call it ‘legalism.’”
 
  “Our seminaries today are turning out dead men.”
 
  “How can you pull down strongholds of Satan if you don’t even have
  the strength to turn off your TV?”
 
 “If a Christian is not having tribulation in the world, there’s
  something wrong!”
 
  “Many pastors criticize me for taking the Gospel so seriously. But
  do they really think that on Judgment Day, Christ will chastise me,
  saying, ‘Leonard, you took Me too seriously’?”
 
  “If Jesus had preached the same message that ministers preach
  today, He would never have been crucified.”

Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”                                                         
                      -  2 Samuel 12:13 

It is so refreshing to read David’s words. In a culture where the social lexicon has removed the word “SIN” and its meaning; where sin has been replaced with conditions and prejudices that can be cured with the latest pharmaceutical for depression and therapy, David’s honest assessment of his actions is like a cool glass of water on a hot day. David had committed a sin by taking someone else’s wife for his own, and then killing her husband. As king, he could ensure there were no witnesses, save one. God Almighty is witness to all our thoughts and actions. David thought he got away with this sin, but God sent His messenger Nathan to bear witness to the truth.

Today, a David formed by our culture would have cried out, “I am a victim of society! It wasn’t my fault! I’m no worse that anyone else! Don’t JUDGE me!” But the David of history and of the written record of the Bible had a heart for God, not excuses.  The most important relationship to David was the one he had with the Lord. Even though his sin sometimes messed with that relationship.

In Proverbs 28:13 we read, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” 

Then we have Psalm 32 

Psalm 32 (New International Version) Of David. 

 1 Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 

 2 Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. 

 3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 

 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.   

5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.  I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD "—  and you forgave the guilt of my sin. 

It doesn’t have the same ring as “It is your parents fault” but the confession of sin has a longer lasting result and better health benefits than anti-depressants. Our culture wants to blind us to our sins, and keep us imprisoned to them.

God wants us to be free of our guilt and pain, and to confess our sins, and be blessed.

John 11:55 It was now almost time for the Jewish Passover celebration, and many people from all over the country arrived in Jerusalem several days early so they could go through the purification ceremony before Passover began. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, but as they stood around in the Temple, they said to each other, “What do you think? He won’t come for Passover, will he?” 57 Meanwhile, the leading priests and Pharisees had publicly ordered that anyone seeing Jesus must report it immediately so they could arrest him.

I just love how the people had an expectancy that Jesus was going to show up. You don’t get much of that today. Even in churches, you have people who are not looking for or expecting Jesus to show up. Why don’t we have an expectation of Christ coming to meet with us, His people? After all, if we spend time in fellowship with Christ as we read His word, don’t we expect Him to join us as we take in the word? As we pray in private, do we not feel His presence in our own spirit as He hears our prayers and intercedes for us? So why wouldn’t we expect Him in our public worship?

Meanwhile, there are those with an agenda, who have given orders to report any appearance of Jesus so He can be arrested. That is the way of the unsaved, to arrest the work of Christ. First in their hearts, as light shines on their sins, they seek to arrest that light before it exposes the dark sins of their heart. Secondly they seek to arrest the influence of Christ in their lives where it is inconvenient or conflicts with their own worldview. They believe that they are Lord and not Christ. In education where Christ can benefit anyone who kneels before the King. Christ educates through His word, for “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16, 17

Sadly, unbelievers embrace the always changing values of a fallen world over the solid foundation of Christ. They seek to arrest the great teacher at great expense. Many are the times the unbeliever acknowledges that Jesus was a great teacher, and then they try to arrest His teachings when confronted with their sin.

Know this, the King and His Kingdom cannot be arrested. 

Of the increase of his government and peace
       there will be no end.
       He will reign on David's throne
       and over his kingdom,
       establishing and upholding it
       with justice and righteousness
       from that time on and forever.
       The zeal of the LORD Almighty
       will accomplish this. – (Isaiah 9:7)

Let’s expect Christ to meet with us today, and let’s pray for those who think they can arrest Jesus, the King.

1 Samual 29 1 The entire Philistine army now mobilized at Aphek, and the Israelites camped at the spring in Jezreel. 2 As the Philistine rulers were leading out their troops in groups of hundreds and thousands, David and his men marched at the rear with King Achish. 3 But the Philistine commanders demanded, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”  And Achish told them, “This is David, the servant of King Saul of Israel. He’s been with me for years, and I’ve never found a single fault in him from the day he arrived until today.” 

 4 But the Philistine commanders were angry. “Send him back to the town you’ve given him!” they demanded. “He can’t go into the battle with us. What if he turns against us in battle and becomes our adversary? Is there any better way for him to reconcile himself with his master than by handing our heads over to him? 5 Isn’t this the same David about whom the women of Israel sing in their dances, 

   ‘Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?”  - (NLT)  

Recognizing the enemy within. The Philistine commanders were wise not to trust David and his crew. The truth was, David and his merry men were secretly attacking Philistine cities and leaving no one to report the deed. 

Last week I had the humble privilege of talking with a couple of Pastors from our area and from a few other states. These men were called to serve Christ and they have a passion for Christ and proclaiming the gospel.  But one common thread of disappointment they conveyed was how their people no longer want clear biblical teaching. Or in some cases the congregation wanted solid biblical exposition but maintained the preference that knowledge was all they needed, and not obedience. 

I learned that many join a church membership for reasons other than a relationship with the Father through the Son, and fellowship with others who are reborn. Reasons varied from politics to social activism but the majority didn’t become members to pursue holiness or a deeper faith. The majority were not interested in crucifying the flesh, and mortifying sin in their lives. I heard stories about members being self-focused and not Christ-focused as a primary way of life. 

One of the men I was talking with said, “The enemy has found a home here in our body, like a cancer, and is killing our spiritual life, and it seems everyone accepts it.”

“Self has killed his thousands, and sin his hundreds of thousands.” 

This conversation has caused me to reflect. Am I in my faith allowing the enemy to live with me As king Achish allowed David to live with him? I read the words in the scripture from 1 Samuel again, and read the words of king Achish, who was fooled by David into thinking David was an ally, “But Achish insisted, “As far as I’m concerned, you’re [David] as perfect as an angel of God.” 

Is there some sinful attitude or behavior I see in me as something from God that is actually an enemy, send to destroy me from within? 

The prospect is worth consideration.

"Shaken, not stirred" is a famous catch phrase of Ian Fleming's fictional British Secret Service agent, James Bond and his preference for how he wished his martini prepared.

But if you reverse the recipe to “Stirred and not Shaken” you can describe a number of people who have heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These are folks who have learned that they are sinners, and that God sent His only Son to be the atonement for those sins, but they are not shaken in their conscience, only stirred. 

They may go to Bible studies, and pray at dinner, and go to Sunday services a few times a year, but they don’t bow their knee to Christ and admit their guilt and ask for forgiveness. 

In the gospel of Mark, we have an example of one of these who is stirred but not shaken. His name is King Herod. He had captured the herald to Christ, John the Baptist, and put him into prison. While John was contained behind bars, he kept telling his message to anyone who could hear it. In Mark 6:20 we read how “Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.”

Herod was stirred by John’s message of repentance and of the coming kingdom, but it didn’t shake him to his core, leading to repentance. In the end Herod would have John beheaded, never acting on the good news he heard from John about Jesus.

Another example Scripture gives us of those who heard the gospel but they were only stirred and not shaken were Governor Felix and his wife Drusilla. They had the Apostle Paul in prison, much like the situation between Herod and John. In Acts 24:24-26 we read, “[Felix and Drusilla] sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, "That's enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you." At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him.”

Governor Felix and his wife Drusilla were stirred into getting something worldly from Paul like money in the form of a bribe. Here, Paul held out the most valued information ever, the forgiveness of sin and a reconnection to the Father in heaven. A stirred spirit or conscience doesn’t fully respond to the message though.

Many of us are like Herod and Felix and Drusilla. We keep the message of Christ’s work in a prison of our own making, but we enjoy listening to His message. The problem is that we see ourselves as the ruler who gets to make the decisions and not Christ.

Will you keep the message of salvation locked away, keeping it at a safe distance, not acting on it? Or is today the day you set the message free, and allow yourself to be shaken and changed and reborn?

Passover is coming Tomorrow.  Here are a couple random thoughts on the event of Passover to consider. 

In the conflict between God and Pharaoh we need to understand:

The Pharaohs were supposed to be gods. God’s judgment on Egypt and Pharaoh were:

Proving Pharaoh wasn't god ; Pharaoh’s gods are not gods;   God is God ;  That which is created is not God (judgment against pluralism and pantheism)

Pharaoh’s hardened heart: [The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart; Pharaoh hardened his heart; Pharaoh’s heart became hard]  All three statements are true and must be held together. Every disobedience is a deliberate hardening of the heart, results in the heart becoming hard and does so under the moral, providential ordering of God. God alone foresees and determines the point at which human disobedience with its consequent heart-hardening merits divine judicial action where by the heart is declared irretrievably hardened. At the time of Moses, Pharaoh had reached this point of no return.  – John Stott.

 The Plagues God brought against Egypt was directed at the false gods of Egypt. Here are some examples.

The Plague on the Nile (turn to blood) : Egyptian god Osirus - God draws first blood from the false gods of Egypt.

The Plague of frogs : Egyptian god Hekt

The Plague against Livestock : Apis, the Bull God. The Apis god could not prevent its earthly representative from dieing, but God would save and rescue His own people.

 The Plague of Boils : Imhotep – Healing god

The Plague of Darkness : Ra – The Sun god. Pharaoh was known as the son of Ra.

The Plague of the First Born:  Pharaoh – was a god but he could not save the sons of Egypt from the one true God.

The battle between God and Pharaoh is a picture of us as we are being freed from the enemies of our soul. 

God will destroy and discredit all the false gods of this world (even ours). (Self, material goods, earth worship, etc)

Exodus 1: 22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live."

Exodus 4: 22 Then say to Pharaoh, 'This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I told you, "Let my son go, so he may worship me." But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.' "

Happy Passover!

A Promise Keeper is committed to reaching beyond any racial and denominational barriers to demonstrate the power of biblical unity.

Since the mid 90’s I have been part of the Promise Keepers movement. During those days my family specifically sought membership at a Church in the area that had racial diversity. The makeup of the congregation was almost 50/50 and provided opportunities for more fortunate Christians to help those who were struggling to find their way. 

In those many years, we never heard angry words from the Pastor about race. What we heard was that in Christ, divisions were broken down (Ephesians 2). It was taught that in Christ we were all equals. Equally guilty of sin, and equally worthy of God’s wrath, but equally loved and restored by our Savior. 

My children grew up knowing and caring for their peers who were of color. They learned that unwed Black and White and Asian moms with children all struggled but all loved their children, their country, and mostly, the Lord Jesus. Our congregation worked together as best as we could to make sure that needs were met, in the name and power and love of Christ. 

Two examples of teaching on biblical unity are included below as examples.

1 Corinthians 1:  26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him. 30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

Here is another example:  

Out of the many faith stories in the Bible, one of my favorite is from the book of Numbers. Moses and the Israelites are making their way through the wilderness after being delivered into freedom from Egypt. God had shown Himself capable of doing anything, and had defeated the greatest most powerful nation of that time in history. Yet, the people still didn’t understand how blessed they were to be God’s free people. They still had a “slave” mentality. We read in Numbers about an incident where the people didn’t stop to seek God’s blessing, but slandered Him and spoke against their new leader.  God had been feeding them daily with manna, something that never had happened in the past. They were not thankful, but ungrateful. 

 Numbers 21 The Bronze Snake 

 4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"  6 Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people.  8 The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived. 

Check that out again. “When anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived”. That is FAITH in action. God said that the people’s requirement was to believe what He said about the snake on the pole. If I was there, I am certain I would have been one of the grumblers, and would most certainly been bitten by one of those poisonous snakes. To live, I’d be required to believe God’s solution and look at that snake on a stick. Would I have the faith to do something so undemanding of me? Or would I die because the idea of believing God would save me with a determined look at a bronze snake on a pole seemed so 2500 B.C.? 

There was another time that God asked His people to do something simple to preserve their lives. It was at the first Passover, and God told the people to sacrifice a lamb. Then they were told to use that blood from the lamb on their door posts. 

Exodus 12:7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 

How would something so simple save their lives? 

Exodus 12:21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his house until morning. 23 When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down. 

Again, a simple act of faith brings life. Put blood on door and live. Ignore directive to put blood on door, and die.

Later we discover these stories return in the life of Jesus and His mission. Jesus gave this description, “John 3:14-15 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” 

Just as the Israelites who had been snake bit and were dieing from the venom of the snake could be saved by faith, likewise, those who were snake bit by sin could look to Jesus on the cross as payment for their sin debt and live. Not JUST live, but have real life and eternal life with Him. 

So the question is; can you believe that God can provide something so simple to save and heal you, or will you choose Option B?

There are many who tell me that during the season of Lent, they like to spend more time reading Scripture. But what if you could listen to it?

Our congregation has provided a CD that has the entire NIV New Testament as MP3 files. It is a dramatic reading and I have really enjoyed it. 

I was looking at their website, and you can actually download the contents of the CD to your computer for free! What a deal.

If you are interested, goto:

https://www.faithcomesbyhearing.com/store/languagec
onfig?productid=681

Take the default options and then on option 3 choose the FREE download.

The program is to listen to the Scriptures for about 30 minutes a day for 40 days. You can choose your own program. Enjoy.

Presidential Candidates are quick to offer hope, but what is that hope? How substantial is that hope?

When a candidate says, "America wants hope again" I want clarification. What does "wanting hope" translate into? Will hope solve America's conflict with radical Islam? Will hope bring down gas prices? Will hope transfer America's sovereignty to the United Nations? Will hope make all citizens of the world, American citizens?

What happens if a candidate has one hope for America and American's have another hope in mind? Whose hope will emerge?

As a Christian, I have hope, but it isn't hope in man. My hope is in my Savior, Jesus Christ. This isn't a hope, like you would expect of a voter in an election. That kind of hope is like the morning mist and is like wishing on a star. Christian hope is in a real person who has done something real that has had a real and profound impact on the one who hopes in Christ. Christ really died for my sins, and He really rose from the grave. He is really going to return to claim His own, and judge His enemies. 

Holoman defines Christian hope as: Trustful expectation, particularly with reference to the fulfillment of God's promises. Biblical hope is the anticipation of a favorable outcome under God's guidance. More specifically, hope is the confidence that what God has done for us in the past guarantees our participation in what God will do in the future. This contrasts to the world's definition of hope as “a feeling that what is wanted will happen.” Understood in this way, hope can denote either a baseless optimism or a vague yearning after an unattainable good. If hope is to be genuine hope, however, it must be founded on something (or someone) which affords reasonable grounds for confidence in its fulfillment. The Bible bases its hope in God and His saving acts.

But how do we know enough to trust in our hope?

True believers are given an experience called the rebirth or what the Bible refers to as “Christ in you”. They (we) go from convicted rebel to saved citizen of the Kingdom of God. 

Also, we have some Scripture that helps to explain this hope and who our hope is in.

Paul says in Eph 1:13,14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession.”  - So those in the Kingdom have been given a piece of the Kingdom as a guarantee of what is to come. A down payment of  the reality of the Kingdom. That is the Holy Spirit.

Paul also tells Christians in 2Cor 1:21-22 21 “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. “ 

Paul talks about this hope in Romans 5:5 “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

Now, if I made the claim that I was a follower of Christ, but these Scripture truths didn't ring true with me, I would seek them with all I was worth to receive them. But as a Believer in Christ who has received the Holy Spirit in my heart, and His hope, and His guarantee, I know that my hope is secure in Christ. There can be no denying it without becoming a liar. 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Hope in God; and now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today.

Lying tongues were busy against the reputation of David, but he did not defend himself; he moved the case into a higher court and pleaded before the great King Himself. Prayer is the safest method of replying to words of hatred. The psalmist prayed in no coldhearted manner; he gave himself to the exercise--threw his whole soul and heart into it--straining every sinew and muscle, as Jacob did when wrestling with the angel.

Thus, and thus only, shall any of us speed at the throne of grace. As a shadow has no power because there is no substance in it, even so that supplication in which a man's proper self is not thoroughly present in agonizing earnestness and vehement desire is utterly ineffectual, for it lacks that which would give it force.

"Fervent prayer," says an old divine, "like a cannon planted at the gates of heaven, makes them fly open." The common fault with most of us is our readiness to yield to distractions. Our thoughts go roving here and there, and we make little progress toward our desired end. Like quicksilver our mind will not hold together but rolls off this way and that. How great an evil this is! It injures us, and what is worse, it insults our God. What should we think of a petitioner if, while having an audience with a prince, he should be playing with a feather or catching a fly?

Continuance and perseverance are intended in the expression of our text. David did not cry once and then relapse into silence; his holy clamor was continued till it brought down the blessing. Prayer must not be our intermittent work but our daily business, our habit and vocation. As artists give themselves to their models, and poets to their classical pursuits, so must we addict ourselves to prayer. We must be immersed in prayer as in our element, and so pray without ceasing. Lord, teach us so to pray, that we may be more and more efficacious in supplication.

Please note: Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg. Copyright (c) 2003, Good News Publishers and used by Truth for Life with written permission. Scripture quotations are taken from Holy Bible: English Standard Version, copyright (c) 2001, Good News Publishers.