At the cross I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled. away. It was there by Faith I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day. At a bloody cross, Jesus died for my sins. He bare our sins in his own body on a tree. He had become sin, who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. God had laid on him the iniquity of us all. Surely he has borne our sorrow, and by his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53, 1Peter 2:24, 2Corinthians 5:21. Let’s enumerate some benefits of the Cross. First, Matthew teaches Christ became a substitute for us — A vicar, as in the word vicarious — a deputy who acts in the place of another. “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to…
Category: <span>Liberty – Redemption</span>
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. John 15:3 Water baptism is such a blessed celebration in our churches because it visibly demonstrates the great inner transformation that happens to us. When we understand that we have been buried with Christ in his baptism of death, and we go down in that water, we are, in effect, saying to the world, thanks be to Jesus Christ, that old nature, that old creation , that old life with all of its mistakes and failures, that old life with everything that went on, has been separated from me forever and ever and ever. It’s gone and I believe it, and I accept it. It is buried. It is buried forever. Then our coming out of the water depicts our exit from the old life and our entrance in the ever new, eternal life God has given. Dr.…
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. John 17:17 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. Psalm 100:5 For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. 2Corinthians 13:8 “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. John 18:37b Ephesians 4:15 teaches, ” …speaking the truth in love, we grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.” Truth is the ultimate weapon of the believer. It ever endures, cannot be negated through opposition. In truth we are sanctified, speaking it we grow. As we live in truth, we hear the voice of truth. The Spirit of truth guides us into all truth. (John 16:13). We gird our loins…
And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. Luke 5:37 -38 From “The Freedom of the Christian Man” by Helmut Thielicke we have an explaining of the parable of Jesus from Luke. He says, “the appeal to freedom becomes good news only when our existence is given a new foundation and then we are enabled to be free.”” …only if his mind is given the dignity of being a maker of decisions…”” …he makes decisions because a decision has been made concerning him.” Beloved, unless a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Another quote from the same source goes: “… for the person who has not been made free to love, freedom is something that demands too…
The Bible shies not away from graphic language when speaking of the devil’s work. Here are a few examples: Daniel 7:25 “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High …” Isaiah 59:19b ” …When the enemy shall come in like a flood …” Revelation 12:10b ” … for the accuser of our brethren … which accused them before our God day and night.” Like a flood with a torrent of words and accusations, our enemy rides the waves of high things directed at and purposed to make mincemeat of the believer’s mind. There is a lie in his right hand, a false scenario, a fabrication of truth. Very believable are the lies since the fallen nature of man has a capacity to worry, to be anxious, fearful. Sadness can overwhelm us, unforgiveness plagues us, doubt distracts us. Cares…
We face perilous times. These times include harassments, distractions, risks and threats. However these perils are nothing more than statues on a lawn, pictures on a door, costumed children at our house for “trick or treat.” Though very real to those who “keep” their life, they fade away to those “losing” their lives — to those “dead” and hid with Christ in God. see Colossians 3:3. Let’s consider 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, “For the love of Christ overmasters us, the conclusion at which we have arrived being this–that One having died for all, His death was their death, and that He died for all in order that the living may no longer live to themselves, but to Him who died for them and rose again. — Weymouth translation. You see, ” For, with me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” was Paul’s striking testimony in Philippians 1:21. He saw…
Wishful thinking can be larger than life. Lets begin with one man’s observations about the atheist, the politician, and the diplomat. “The definitely concrete fact that they (the atheist), do not acknowledge God determines their knowledge of God. And the fact that they do not want to admit His existence, later gives them, in plenty, the means of legitimizing their desire. If the wish is ever father to the thought, it is abundantly so here. …how cheaply are thoughts and reasons to be had. …the history of philosophy might well be written as the history of wishes; and the history of history-writing as a history of wishful thinking; and indeed, the history of religions as the history of pious wishes. ” “The art of political and tactical speech in general — alike to the man in the street and for the official spokesman — invariably consists in seeking reasons for…
” In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travelers walked through byways.” Judges 5:6 Matthew Henry makes an observation about what this verse meant: First it meant “No trade. For want of soldiers to protect men of business in their business from the incursions of the enemy, and for want of magistrates to restrain and punish thieves and robbers among them (men of broken fortunes and desperate spirits, that, having no employment, took to rob on the highroad)….” Secondly, “No travelling. Whereas in times when there was some order and government the travellers might be safe in the open roads, and the robbers were forced to lurk in the by-ways, no, on the contrary, the robbers insulted on the open roads without check, and the honest travelers were obliged to sculk and walk through by-ways, in continual…
Galatians 5:13 instructs us, ” …brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” In this profound verse, Paul addresses the Christian who has discovered the Precious Holy Spirit, the death of separation, the life of resurrection, the victory of ascension, the repose of being seated with Christ in glory. In a sense, Paul admonishes us as Spiritual men and women: Don’t use your liberty as a bondage maker by willfully reverting to the sphere of “non-liberty..’ The implication here carries a power house of truth. The Spiritual man has become a discerning person. also a will-deciding individual he or she choose their identity. They carefully must be wary of past identities. They must discern false identities. They must adhere to the parameters of their new identity in Christ. Paul summarizes the accepted identity, “in love…
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 Defined by the Dictionary of Psychology, Imagination is “the reorganization of data derived from past experiences, with new relations, into present ideational experience”. This means that imagination is often based on real experiences, or a person’s experience with their own reality. It is safe to say that imagination is how one views the world. It is often a re-creation of the world. So, if one is asked to close their eyes and describe a place, they would re-create an image in their head about their perfect world and this would be imagination. Proverbs 13:15 tells us, “Good understanding giveth favor: but the…