James 5:17 ~ "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth."

We look at the men and women of the Scriptures and see the great achievements and amazing communion they enjoyed with God. God spoke to Moses face to face (see Exodus 33:11). Abraham was considered God's friend (see Isaiah 41:8). David was that man who was after God's own heart (see Acts 13:22).

And then there was Elijah.

The premier prophet of Israel. Along with Moses, he was the companion of Christ on the mountain of transfiguration. The man who stood against the false prophets of Baal and called down fire from heaven. This prophet, Elijah, was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind, separated from his companion, Elisha, by the burning chariots of God. Even John the Baptist was called the "Elijah who was to come." This Old Testament prophet appears in the Scriptures as a bulwark of a man, a resounding saint that stands firmly entrenched in his absolute trust in God Almighty.

And then James tells us that "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours." Literally, Elijah was just as human as you and I. For all the moments of opportunity to serve the Lord and see God do amazing things, Elijah was still a sinner saved by grace. It is hard for us to imagine that the prophet was anything like us, but the truth is--there is only one who is good and that is God alone (see Mark 10:18). The rest of the world, including the great saints of God, are still just like us.

There are three words that tell us much of Elijah's connection with God: "and he prayed." There are several times that we see the prophet crying out to the Lord in prayer. He prayed for the widow's son in 1 Kings 17:20, "And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?" He prayed on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18:36, "And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, 'O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.'" He prayed while hiding in the cave (see 1 Kings 19:9-18). 

And, from our text above, we know that he prayed that it should stop raining--and it did. 

But why were Elijah's prayers so effective? The text just before our text for today will tell us: "The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working" (James 5:16). And that's the key... the prayer of a righteous person.

But how can Elijah be considered a righteous person if he is a person just like us? We know ourselves, see ourselves in truth, and know that there is nothing of great righteousness in us. In fact, does not the Scriptures teach that there are none righteous, no, not one (see Romans 3:10). How, then, can there be any effective and powerful prayers?

The answer is--Elijah believed God. Just as it was spoken of Abraham, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness" (Romans 4:3). Elijah believed in God, which moved him to believe God, to take God at His word, trusting His promises and living in obedience to the Lord. If you believe in Christ, do you also believe Him? It is necessary in order to pray. Doubting does not produce a prayerful life (see James 1:6). 

John tells us in 1 John 5:14-15, "And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him."

One of the droughts of the church in this modern era is prayer. And one of the prime reasons why God's people don't pray is a lack of confidence in prayer. But, beloved, you, too, can pray--even as Elijah prayed and saw God move according to His promises. Elijah prayed in confidence because he faithfully trusted what God had said. And you, my friend, can do the same.

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

John 4:2 ~ "...although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples."

There is a wonderful connection between the Lord and His disciples, so that in the work of Christ to bring the lost to Himself, it was the disciples who ministered the ordinance of baptism. Even today that same work is taking place as the Lord brings into the church those who are being saved and the discipling leaders of the church are the ones performing the work of baptism.

It is the Lord's work to bring the lost to salvation. Consider what it says in Acts 2:47b, "And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." It is the Father who draws the lost to Christ to be saved (see John 6:44). And yet, in that work of saving souls unto eternal life, the Lord Jesus gives opportunity for those who are already His disciples to serve with Him. 

So, as we mine this text, let us see if there are some golden nuggets we can find. 

First, Jesus baptized no one--and we can reasonably assume that included His own apostles. The baptism that Jesus provides is the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire (see Matthew 3:11). All who believe on the Lord Jesus are marked out with a baptism that is eternal. The baptism by water is done by the church--by those who are His disciples--identifying believers to the world as those who belong to Christ. This is why water baptism does not save--for it is only an outward sign of the real baptism that takes place with the Holy Spirit. 

Second, the disciples did the work of baptizing new believers. What does this show? It marks out that, even from the beginning of the work of Christ, believers are to participate with Jesus in the work of making disciples. Water baptism is often the first expression of obedience to Christ that is made by the redeemed. Consider in Acts 8:36 the Ethiopian eunuch who heard and believed the message of Christ. "And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, 'See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?'" The apostles were called to make disciples--baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (see Matthew 28:19).

It is of great importance to remember that the church is still called by Christ to participate in the discipling and sanctifying work of the Lord. We are to encourage one another, support and pray for each other, to exhort and admonish, and to build each other in Christ. The work of baptism begins that process and it does not stop until we arrive in His presence.

Third, believers were being baptized by the disciples. A connection was being made for those who would follow the leadership of the apostles. Jesus would not always remain--for He would depart to go to the Father after the work of redemption was completed in His death and resurrection (see John 16:28). These new believers needed to be connected to those who would still remain. Had they been baptized by Jesus, and not the apostles, there would be a break in their connection after Jesus had gone. But, being baptized by the apostles--and now, today, by the discipling leaders of the church--there remains a connection for those who have come to faith in Christ. 

Those who say they do not need the church to be a Christian miss a very important aspect of being a Christian--we are called out of the world to be a body, a fellowship, a family and live in this world being united to each other in Christ. People are baptized into Christ, but that baptism is done through the fellowship of believers so that the newly redeemed would have a connection that traces its lineage all the way back to the apostles. 

Jesus, alone, does the saving of a soul. But it is the church who participates with Christ in the work of discipling. So, beloved, let us serve in His salvation, even as the apostles did, and provide the opportunity for others to be discipled according to God's word.

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

Matthew 5:14 ~ "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden."

​Like the moon shines in its fullness upon the darkness of the earth, reflecting the light of the distant sun, so, Christian, you are to be the light upon which the world can see their way to God. 

No one who knows the make-up of the moon holds to the idea that it possesses its own light. It is a dark satellite that orbits the earth. And, without the sun to reflect upon it and shine down to the earth, the moon would remain dark. But the sun does shine upon it, and though the moon may wax and wane, it still reflects the light.

Unlike the moon, however, the Christian life is more than a simple reflection of the light of Christ, for the light of Christ shines from within the believer and radiates outward to shine upon those who come in contact with them. 

But, how can the Christian be called the light of the world when we learned yesterday that Jesus is the light of the world. Does the Scripture help us to understand this? Yes... it does. Consider what Jesus said in John 9:5, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." This is a conditional statement, for Jesus did not stay in the world, but ascended into heaven and will return at the time appointed (see Acts 1:11).

While Jesus walked upon this earth, he shone forth the light of the glory of God through His work of ministry and, ultimately, through His death and resurrection. But as God will not be without a witness, at the departure of Christ, the Holy Spirit inhabited the church and now we are the illumination for the world to know Him. 

But how does our light shine? Jesus gives us the means of illumination in Matthew 5:16, "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

In the same way as what? The Lord gives us two illustrations: a city on a hill and a lamp on a stand. The city on the hill was easily understood by the disciples as they could not have missed the illuminating glow of the city of Jerusalem, perched atop the mount. And a lamp on a stand was a clear designation as no one actually intentionally lights a lamp and then proceeds to hide it.

So, in the same way, your life in Christ is to be seen and not hidden. And that glowing expression of your faith is radiant in your good works, shining as natural as light--not that you seek to be noticed, but that it cannot help but be seen by others who will give glory to God. And that should be your motivation--that God is glorified through the light that shines from you.

Consider what the Apostle told the church in Philippians 2:14-15, "Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world."

We live in a crooked and twisted generation, and those who live out the goodness of Christ shine like a full moon in a darkened sky. As Jesus was in the world, so He has left us in the world in order to continue the work of bringing His light to those who walk in darkness. Our Lord said as much in John 20:21, "​Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.'"

The question I want to ask is this--will you shine? It is certainly dark enough around us that the world needs to see Christ in us, that they might seek the Lord themselves and find their way out of darkness and into His marvelous light.

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

John 8:12 ~ "Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'"

We live in the land of shadows, where darkness permeates every quarter of our lives. Let a man find himself in a darkened cave, with no light, and he will discover the great quality that light brings to his life. If he even sees a flicker of light, he will pursue it with hope that he should be delivered from groping through the darkness in a maze of unseen caverns. He will fix that light ever in his eyes, as if it is his only hope and chance of finding his way out.

And, in that same way, Jesus Christ is our Light. He has entered into this sin-darkened world and has shown forth the "way, truth and life" (see John 14:6). And if we are to walk out of the darkness of sin and into the light of the glory of Christ, we must follow Him.

Consider how light has been so vital to the identity of Christ:

The prophetic message of Christ was light: "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them a light has shone" (Isaiah 9:2).

The pronouncement of Christ by the angels was ablaze with light: "And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear" (Luke 2:9). 

The presentation of Christ on the mountain was glorious light: "And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light" (Matthew 17:2).

And in the pain of Christ as He endured our judgment on the cross there was--darkness: "And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour" (Mark 15:33).

Have you ever wondered why there was darkness when Jesus suffered on the cross? Consider: the light of the world took upon Himself every sin--and was treated by the Father as if He had lived our lives--would that not bring darkness? 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For our sake he [God the Father] made him [Jesus the Son] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Jesus paid the cost of our sin so that He could impart His righteousness and deliver us from darkness.

Sin is darkness, and all people in this world--including you and I--are rife with sin. And Jesus is the light of the world. He came to deliver people out of darkness and into His marvelous light (see 1 Peter 2:9).  We were the man in the cave, and Jesus has come to lead us out of sin and into His righteousness, out of darkness and into His life. 

The question, then, will you follow Him? Because, as Jesus is the light of the world and has given us the knowledge of salvation in Him, we must place our faith in Him and follow Him out of the caverns of this world. It is not enough to say you believe that the Light of the World is true, you must strive to follow Him. For true belief in Christ is to become a follower of Christ.

​To illustrate this, you have a cross-country flight to take and if you don't believe the plane will safely get you to your destination--you won't get on. But if you do believe, then you enter the plane--displaying your faith and confidence that it will transport you to your journey's end. And Jesus is our only hope of salvation. He has proved His trustworthiness to save all who believe--all who will follow Him by faith. You do not become your own savior, you trust completely in the One who has made the promise of salvation and has purchased it with His own blood.

And this promise holds true for all who follow--they will walk in the light of the Lord, they will have the light of life. Consider what John 1:4-5 states, "In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." 

Is it possible for darkness to overcome light? Try this experiment. Enter a darkened room and turn on the light. Does the darkness cast the light away, fighting to regain mastery of the room? Of course not. Light dispels darkness--never the other way around. And so it is with Christ. Open your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will dispel all darkness, He will vanquish all sin, He will remove from you even the tracing of worldly shadows as His light of truth shines upon and within you.

And  you might then discover something happening to you--you start to bear forth His light through  your life as well. But that lesson is for tomorrow.

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

Proverbs 30:16 ~ "...and the fire that never says, 'Enough.'"

Three things prevent a fire from spreading--a natural barrier, the lack of fuel, or an attack against it by those who know how to douse the flames. A wildfire will continue unabated unless something or someone comes against its progress. It will never, of its own accord, finally say "enough."

And so it is with sin. 

The very condition of mankind is overwrought with an unyielding appetite for sin. Even the introduction of God's law did not curb the appetite. Paul, himself, stated as much in Romans 7:8, "But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead."

How many people do you know, who are aware that their habits are harmful and their sins destructive, still participate in them with regularity? For an example... we know that smoking causes all manner of physical problems--and yet the tobacco industry is made rich in the habits of those who are addicted. Just knowing that it's bad for their health does not seem to be a restraint on their behavior.

Paul would say in Romans 7:19, "For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing." Here is a born-again man of God, an apostle of Christ and servant of the church who is not free from the unwanted fires of the sinful nature in his life. And those three major conflagrations of sin--the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life (see 1 John 2:16)--will never yield its burning rampage across our souls of its own volition.

The burning fire of sin must be extinguished. ​And let us use the three measures presented at the beginning of this reading to overcome the flames.

First, go to the One who has conquered sin--the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are burning with sin, He alone has the power to extinguish it. Flee to Christ, run to Him in prayer and call upon Him in your desperate hour, confessing your sins, for He will forgive your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness (see 1 John 1:9). Consider what John the Baptist said of Jesus in John 1:29, "The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'" Jesus, alone, has the authority and the power to forgive and vanquish sin.

Second, remove the fuel source and prevent your sinful nature from having access to greater opportunities to entice you. A great image is found in the removal of filthy garments and donning clean attire. Ephesians 4:20-24 reads, "But that is not the way you learned Christ!—assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." You must put them away--far away--so that the sinful nature is starved out and the righteous life of Christ is fed and growing in greater holiness.

Finally, dwell near those natural barriers that God provides for the sanctification of your soul. The primary one in this world is the fellowship of a solid, biblical church. Many have discovered a great weapon against sin merely by being near those who are also walking with Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 states, "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing." And Romans 1:12 reads, "...that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine." 1 John 1:7 tells us, "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." We must not forsake the assembling of ourselves together in Christ (see Hebrews 10:25) for in that gathering is found mutual encouragement and strength to overcome sin.

Remember, beloved, the sinful nature does not want to do anything other than consume your life like a fire consumes a forest. If you love Christ and His righteousness, I implore you, do not submit to the cravings of sin.

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

1 John 2:14 ~ "I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning." 

Layer upon layer of spiritual progress in Christ leads to one absolute and overarching truth--you will come to know the Father. There is no greater height to gain than to know God. From the very beginnings of the new life--knowing your sins are forgiven in Christ, through the maturing and strengthening of being a young man who is strong and viable against the enemy because of God's word, all leads to the ultimate rock of truth--knowing God the Father.

There are a couple of truths I want to show you concerning our text today. The first is the description of how a mature believer knows the Lord. The "children" in Christ know the Father in the simple trust of a toddler. It is so much more with one who is mature, for the mature believer, with depth, knows "him who is from the beginning." 

Like a submarine in the ocean, that statement buries us in the depths of the knowledge of God. It speaks to God's greatness--for He is "from the beginning." The fathers of Christian maturity know the Lord in His glory, they have experienced the goodness of God and the greatness of God and they now have in their lives an absolute confidence in the Lord for they have come to know the Faithful Savior, who is God from the beginning and will be God through it all. 

God is from the beginning--the Creator of all things. He is Sovereign and the ultimate and absolute authority over His creation. All things have their origins in the One who made it all.  The mature Christian knows Jesus as He who was and is and is to come, the Almighty (see Revelation 1:8). The Apostle Paul prayed that he should know God (see Philippians 3:10). Is that your prayer? Do you want to know the Lord--not just know His gifts, or His callings, or His promises or His power? Do you want to know Him?

There is a deep relationship formed in the life of the one who knows God as the "one who is from the beginning." It speaks of a depth of familiarity that has moved you beyond calling Him "daddy." Consider where the greatest relationships are found--in the greatness of familiarity. I have known newlyweds as well as those who have been in each other's lives for more than half-a-century. The newlyweds may know the joyful exuberance of the new relationship. But those who have spent their lives together are so intimately familiar with each other that they are like one mind and heart. 

And that is where God wants to take your fellowship with Him. 

The second truth to see, is that those who are mature are identified as "fathers." That identity is rich with meaning. A father has a deep responsibility to those in his care. Fathers are to be the ones who have answers for the children in Christ. Fathers have a maturing influence on those who are growing in Christ. 

A spiritual father is one who has come through life and experiences, trusting Christ, failing at times, learning and growing and have gone from a child nature, through the experience of life and faith, in obedience to God's word, have built their spiritual muscles as a young man and now--mature and confident in the Lord, they are stable, even unshakable, in the Lord.

And this is the level to which God wants to bring you. 

Let me draw from a statement in our text to close out our thought today: "you know Him." Let those three words become the fullness of your pursuit in life. Strive to know the Lord.

​These last three days have been a view to your spiritual growth. Begin where we all must begin--to know your sins are forgiven in His name. Grow strong into a solid, vital believer through the Word of God. And then, mature into that condition that is so stable and strong that you are as a father in the faith. I trust this is your desired path.

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

1 John 2:14 ~ "I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one."

I remember the days when I could run through fields, make mad dashes over rocks and logs, climb exquisite trees, and hike upon mountainous terrain. I was young and strong. But that is the delightful nature of being young--there is strength to overcome the daunting barriers that stand in the way.

As we grow beyond the childhood nature of our Christian life, there comes that time when it seems that we would willingly "take hell with a water pistol." We hear the words of Jesus and believe that there is no stopping the advancement of the army of the Lord when He says, "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18).

Emphasized in both verse 13 and 14 is the idea that the "young men" have "overcome the evil one." It hearkens us back to the statement of the Apostle Paul when he declared in Romans 8:37, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." To be "more than conquerors" and to have "overcome" derives its meaning from the same root word--to be victorious.

There are reasons why armies are filled with young, strong soldiers--for they are capable of taking the fight to the enemy and winning. And there is a strength of vitality that is in the growing Christian's life. A strength that stands against the ever-present temptations of this world and stands for the Lord Jesus in the face of the enemy.
 
But, before you begin to think that the strength of the young man in Christ is derived solely from his own personal abilities, remember what our text says: "the word of God abides in you."

Paul told the Ephesians, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might" (Ephesians 6:10). There is no strength outside of the Lord. There is no power beyond faith in Him. And there is no source of strength for any believer who does not have the word of God abiding in them. We cannot know where to go but by the word of God. We don't have the understanding of how to stand except that God's word teaches us. And those who do not have the word of God abiding in them, will discover they have no means of being strong an overcoming the evil one.

God spoke through the prophet Zechariah a message to the king that we must take as an absolute if we are to stand against the enemy. "Then he said to me, 'This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts'" (Zechariah 4:6). The Psalmist teaches us that there is no one saved by their own great strength, but that God alone is the deliverer of all (see Psalm 33:16-19). 

Do you want to be strong? Do you want to stand victorious over the enemy of God? You must do what the strong, young men mentioned in our text would do--let the word of God abide in you, that you should live it out in faithfulness and discover the strength of Christ and the power of His Spirit to keep you strong.

Let there be a well-worn Bible in the hands of the faithful, for therein lies the strength of the Christian life.

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

1 John 2:13 ~ "I write to you, children, because you know the Father."

What a blessing it is to simply know God as our Father. As children, there is a precious recognition that is found when they know their parents. In a crowd, amongst the gathered multitudes of church, I have seen children weave their way through the forest of people to find that one person who they know--their father. 

And here, John writes a simple expression that carries a weight of wonder for all of us. For each of us started in that simple expression--we know our Father in heaven.

The first statement made concerning children in verse 12 states simply, "I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake." What a blessed and wonderful knowledge to have, that our sins are forgiven for His name's sake. And that is where it all begins--in the forgiveness of Christ.

Have your sins been forgiven? Do you know the merciful love of the Lord Jesus who died and rose again? He did that all out of love for you. He bore your sins and paid your debt before His Father, zeroed out your negative balance and gave you His righteousness in exchange for your sins.

If you know your sins are forgiven--then the very next drop of knowledge is simply this: you have a Father in heaven.

A child does not know much about their father when they are young. Truly they look to their earthly fathers with a simple view--he is their daddy. He guides and protects them, disciplines and comforts them, provides for their needs and loves them. Jesus, our Lord, said that we must come to faith like a little child (see Mark 10:15). So how wonderfully simple is a child-like faith. 

I recall the story of a young boy who had missed his bus to travel home and he was on the corner, alone, huddled in the shelter of the bus stop. Several strangers offered to help the child find his way home, but his only answer was, "my daddy will come for me." And, sure enough, he did. Rounding the corner, a rickety old truck rumbled up to the stop and with joyful delight the boy jumped up and hurried to his dad.

Do you know the Lord God Almighty as--Father? Jesus said that we must. Even in our prayers we are to pray, "our Father" (see Matthew 6:9). The Lord also said that He was departing to go to His Father--and ours. "Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God'" (John 20:17). 

Do not despair, beloved. If your sins are forgiven on account of Jesus, then you have been adopted into the family of God. You have a new heritage, a new lineage, a new family--and a Heavenly Father. And if you are in His family, He will never lose one of His own.

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

John 2:10 ~ "Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now."

Jesus attended the wedding at Cana in Galilee, enjoying the wonderful celebration of a young couple's new life together. And I would like to use this situation as an example to set before you concerning what is yet to come.

When the believer first tastes of Christ it is the "good wine." The fellowship of believers, the word of God, the comfort of His Holy Spirit, the promises in Christ, the participation in worship, and so many more riches of Christ are found in the tasting of the wine of salvation. We truly discover that we can, "taste and see that the LORD is good" (Psalm 34:8). 

I remember my first steps in the Lord Jesus, when He brought me into His salvation and I was enriched in the warmth of His joy and peace. It was like a celebration in my heart--and in truth it was, for I was made new, my sins were cleansed, my soul set right with God and my name written in that book of life that will never be erased. Like drinking good wine, I was flushed with the exuberance of delight for Jesus.

At the wedding, the circumstances changed and the good wine ran dry. There was none left and the guests still remained. Now, the expectation of the host was limited in his view, for he only relied on the human tradition of bringing out the best at first and the worst in the end. 

And there are many who look at their own lives in the same way. How many believe that they had better enjoy their good things now, for soon the troubling reality of the end is coming and only that which is poor and pitiful will remain? How many live with the belief that they had better, "eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" (Isaiah 22:13)? They want their best now... for they fear that the worst is yet to come.

But, for those who are in Christ, that initial taste of the "wine" of faith--an early taste of that which is the good wine--only holds a promise for something more. For the Christian, the best is yet to come!

Consider what the Apostle Paul said to the church in 1 Corinthians 2:9, "But, as it is written, 'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.'"

And here is the illustration that I want to leave you with--just as Jesus commanded the servants and it was the best wine at the end, so at the command of Christ, the best is still yet to come. All things will be made new.

​Worldly people will have their pleasures now, but all who hope in Christ will have their delights fulfilled when He brings us into His kingdom. Whatever we experience in this world, whatever circumstances that occur and we must go through times in life when we rely on the good wine of faith, we will someday have the best wine of His presence. Consider what our Lord says in Matthew 26:29, "I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."

So, beloved, hold out in faith until Jesus brings us into His kingdom. There is coming "that day" and we who have our hope in Christ, will have that hope fulfilled.

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

Exodus 20:5a ~ "You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God."

As the Lord delivered His people from their enslavement in Egypt, bringing them through the Red Sea and leading them with a pillar of cloud and fire across the wilderness, He provided for them the moral requirements to live in fellowship with Him. 

One of those requirements was to maintain an exclusive relationship with Him. In the land of Canaan where they were going, the nations of that land were rife with all manner of gods with practices that were abhorrent to Yahweh. In fact, all other so-called gods of man's imagination are reprehensible to the Almighty. And so, in the second commandment, God forbid the worship of anything of man's crafting--even if their desire was to worship the true God with their carved images. And the Lord gives the reason why--He is a jealous God.

Imagine, for a moment, being in the camp of Israel and led of God out of bondage in Egypt. God fed them, kept them, protected them, guided them and He required that they turn to no other God but Him. Then, imagine, that at the first opportunity, the nation delivered by God turned their attentions to the pagan and worthless idols of the lands around them. Should that not raise the jealousy of the Lord?

Believer in Christ, you have been delivered from the bondage and enslavement of sin through the sacrificial love of God in Christ Jesus. He came to rescue you, paying for your crimes against the Almighty, and freeing you from the "Egypt" of the dominion of darkness. You were bought with a price (see 1 Corinthians 7:23) and the Lord God, Jesus Christ, still requires an exclusive relationship with His redeemed. 

​And yet, have you adopted the idolatries of the world in your worship of the Lord? Many have. There are those who look to the world's entertainment, excitement and enthusiasm for the next expressive thing, and believe it must be adopted into the church for the purpose of worshiping God "better." The idols of the world may not be carved today, but they are no less detestable to God.

I recall one pastor who informed his congregation that their music team needed to be able to "perform better than Hollywood" because the world would never want to come to a church that was "boring." And so entered the idol of entertainment. If ever we look to the world for the guiding principles of our fellowship with God, we are embracing idols. And God, who is still a jealous God, will rebuke His people.

Beloved, look to the word of God and do not go beyond what is written (see 1 Corinthians 4:6). If you are born again, you are to walk exclusively with Christ and have no fellowship with worldliness. 1 John 2:15 warns, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

Jesus, our Lord, clearly taught that we cannot obey two masters. "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money" (Matthew 6:24). 

Just as Israel departed the Almighty to worship the carved images of the world, so many of those who call themselves Christians have departed their true relationship with the Lord Jesus to embrace the philosophies and ideologies and practices of the world.

Let that not be said of you. 

However, if you do find that you have departed from your pure devotion to Christ (see 2 Corinthians 11:3), our God is a tender and merciful Savior who will receive you back into fellowship with Him if you only repent. Let nothing of this fallen world hold any attraction to you. Let your love and affection be given over to the Savior who loved you with an everlasting love and showed you His love in taking upon Himself the very punishment of your sins (see Romans 5:8). 

Our God is a jealous God. Our God is a merciful Savior. How will you experience Him?

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

1 Corinthians 13:12 ~ "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

Years ago, in ages long before we walked upon this world, the mirror was once called a "looking glass." It was a highly polished metal sheet that was used to try to see yourself. The mirror described in our text is that very thing, a looking glass to try and see the condition we are in. 

And our view is obscured, literally darkened and hard to comprehend--an enigma.

When a person looks in a mirror, unless they are a narcissist, they are trying to see if everything measures up to the desired condition or if they are in need of some repair before they venture into the world at large. 

What are we looking for? What will help us to see that we "measure up" in our spiritual appearance? Well... the context of this text is--love.

Paul just went through the entire expression of what love is supposed to be, and then he declares that when he looks at himself in the mirror, the view is obscured. And such is the view of all who are in Christ. Beloved, have you seen little in yourself that resembles the Lord Jesus and His love? You're not alone. As we look into the mirror the image that we see fails to measure up. 

But, remember, our view is obscured. You do not even see yourself correctly. Shrouded by the constant companion of our former sinful condition--a condition that seems to hang on despite our rejection of it (see Romans 7:18)--we look at the mirror and our lives just do not seem to reflect correctly the image that magnifies and glorifies God. We are supposed to look like Jesus in His character and with His love. And we can barely see Him in our reflection.

But, beloved, do not let this bring you to despair. If you are born again, you are clothed in His righteousness. And though it may not shine through when you look at yourself in the spiritual mirror, it will be revealed in the moment you step into His presence. We see dimly now; we shall see with absolute clarity then--even face to face. It will be the full revealing of the love of God in us. We only know in part--in a very limited understanding of our life in Christ. Then we shall know fully--even as we are fully known by Christ. 

If you know Jesus as Savior, and He knows you as one of His redeemed, the Lord does not look upon you according to the former things, but as a new creation. 

So, continue to strive in the love of Christ, building yourself up in the faith (see Jude 1:20-21). There will be growth, your reflection will improve. You will put off the childish ways of your old self and begin to mature in His love. The perfection of His love will increase (see Matthew 5:43-48) in you. And then, one day, you will see Him as He is--and perhaps with great astonishment--you will see His perfect reflection in you. 

In His Grace,
Pastor Michael

2 Corinthians 5:14 ~ "For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died."

​​Let there be no doubt concerning the love of God--and that He loves you.

​​The challenge most people have when it comes to the idea of "love" is from the subjective nature with which we consider it. Human affection is often based upon some quality of interest that the object of our desire has impressed upon our heart and mind, and so we say we "love" them. When that interest wanes, many will determine that they no longer love the other and they will separate their affection from the object.

It is not so with God.

Look at the condition of our nature when God loved us. Romans 5:8 clearly reveals His love, "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." There was no character within us, no quality of interest that should have attracted God's affections toward us, there was nothing but sin--that is all we had. And, in that condition, God loved us to such an extent that Christ died.

Oh, beloved, does this love hold any interest to you? God did not love you for anything other than that you were needing to be loved by Him. He loved you simply because it is in His nature to love (see 1 John 4:8). We were prisoners in the dungeon, justly waiting our eternal punishment and then the word came to us that the King had taken our place! He died to satisfy our crimes. 

Then, because His life could not be constrained by death, Jesus rose from the grave and now calls anyone who will be His to leave the prison and embrace His love through repentance and loyalty to Him.  Romans 2:4 states, "Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?" 

Let the other prisoners laugh at us, let the remaining inmates who reject the King's offer mock us for our abandonment of this earthly dungeon. I, for one, am eternally grateful for His love that rescued me from His wrath and delivered me from His judgment to receive an eternal inheritance in His family.

The Lord Jesus suffered and died on the cross for you--do you now think that if you receive His love that He will sit in heaven not also longing for you to be with Him? Does not love desire to be in the presence of the object of affection? If you are in Christ, you are the object of His affection and He delights to know you. It is this love that God offers to you, not human subjective love, but the solid, unwavering sacrificial love of Christ. And it should be that love which compels us to Him.

Thus, the love of Christ controls us. Another word for "control" is "constrain." That is, it holds us fast--confines us in this life that we should no longer live for anything other than His love. Consider the follow-up verse, 2 Corinthians 5:15, "And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised."

What will you do for the love of God? Not, what will you do to earn it--for you cannot earn His love, but you must humbly receive it. What will you do with your life going forward knowing that He has loved you with such sacrificial mercy? Will you do as the Apostle states, and no longer live for yourself but for Him--that is, Jesus--who died for you and was raised to be the King of kings?

Though we still live in this world, believer, we are no longer bound to its condemnation. We are free--delivered by His love, for His love, and to be in His love forever.

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

Isaiah 45:18b-19 ~ "I am the LORD, and there is no other... I the LORD speak the truth; I declare what is right."

​Of all the imaginations of men, none is more destructive than imagining a god who is not. The idols of mankind come in a plethora of forms, shapes, ideas and ideologies. They have a myriad of doctrines, practices and procedures. They are energized by a host of participants and practitioners. But they are, all of them, a lie.

​There is only One God. 

Consider what the Lord declares in Isaiah 45. It is an echo back to the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods before me" (Deuteronomy 5:7). Some have implied from this statement that there are other "gods" available, but that is not the case. the problem of idolatry is to form and fashion a god after the imaginations of men and then turn to that god instead of the true God. 

It would be like asking a telephone pole to instruct you in the ways of communication. It has been fashioned by man to carry lines of communication, but it has no voice of its own--it just won't happen. Hear the words of Hosea 4:12, "My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles." Or again in Isaiah 44:19, "No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, 'Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?'"

Our text declares with absolute certainty--there is no other. 

​The Lord God, the Almighty, is not the first among many gods, He is the only God. This must be understood by all mankind, for without this knowledge no one will ever truly seek the Lord. If the pantheon of this world dominates the mentality of her inhabitants, people will naturally gravitate to the "god" of their liking. When all other false deities are eliminated as hoaxes and lies, the true God is all that anyone will have left. And, perhaps, they will desire to know Him.

Not only is there no other God, but this One and Only God is the Sovereign over all that is true. The Lord does not merely acknowledge what is true--He declares it. The moment God has said a thing, it is an absolute reality of truth. God cannot lie (see Hebrews 6:18), it is impossible for Him to do such a thing. Yes, it is a part of His unwavering righteousness, but also it is tantamount to His nature. It's not that God "does not" lie, He cannot lie. If, for example, God suddenly declared that the sky was green instead of blue, it would immediately become a sky colored like an emerald. 

Along with that God has the absolute authority, enthroned above all other authorities, and has declared what is right and wrong. The modern mentality of subjective morality is contradictory to the objective standards of the Almighty. All men will be judged before the highest court--the judiciary of the Almighty. The Apostle Paul understood this in 1 Corinthians 4:3-4, "But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me." And you must understand that God's judgments are not subjective but absolute. They will not be based upon any moral code of mankind, but upon His sovereign declaration of right and wrong.

Unbeliever, you ought to tremble at the idea of standing before the Sovereign Judge. He has already declared your guilt (see John 3:18). But, just as God has absolute sovereignty over your life and is just in His judgments against you, He also has declared another promise--a promise of a full pardon through Jesus Christ. If you will put your faith in the Lord Jesus and trust that He, on the cross, took upon Himself the full penalty for your sins against the Almighty God, you will be saved.

Believer, let the unwavering truth and absolute nature of God give you great encouragement. You cannot be declared lost if God has declared you saved. For if the Son of God has set you free from the judgement and punishment of your sin, you are free indeed--for God has declared it to be so (see John 8:36). The world can no longer rise up against you, nor the devil himself accuse you, in order to cast you into the fiery judgment of God. 

If you need this promise, hear the word of God from Isaiah 55:6-7, "'Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.'"

In His Grace,
Pastor Michael

Exodus 32:26 ~ "...then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, 'Who is on the Lord's side? Come to me.' And all the sons of Levi gathered around him."

How much of what is called worship today is merely the dancing around a golden calf? 

Moses had departed up Mount Sinai, having left the people in the care of Aaron and the elders of Israel. They had been instructed in the law of the Lord, and were given by God His Ten Commandments. Yet, when he was gone for many days, the people in restlessness forsook the commands of God and demanded that Aaron fashion for them a symbol of God, an image that they could see and touch, one that was agreeable to them. 

And so, he did.

Let me begin by saying this: pastors and worship leaders beware of pandering to the demands of a crowd who want to express their revelry of worship based upon their imagination of God. God has established His word, and His people must worship not only in spirit but also in truth (see John 4:24). 

Moses and Joshua returned from the mountain in time for them to see the debacle of idolatry in the camp of the Lord. The camp had "broken loose" and everyone was gyrating around the fire and the idolatrous calf with unbridled enthusiasm. They had departed from God's clear directives and their worship was nothing more than the unrestrained havoc of self-expression.

Moses, enraged by what he saw,​ shouted to the multitude: "Who is on the Lord's side? Come to me." 

And that is a great question: who is on the Lord's side? Surely not those who were gyrating around the fire, claiming to worship God, yet all the while doing exactly what He commanded them not to do. 

But Moses' cry is also a call to repentance: come to me. There is this glorious moment when anyone who recognized their wickedness before the Lord in violating the second commandment had opportunity to flee from their sin and return to God by returning to the one He had commissioned to be their shepherd. And all the Levites came to Moses--including Aaron who had actually carved the image for the people. Even Aaron's great sin (for he was the leader of the people while Moses was gone) may be forgiven.

Let me ask you, pastors and leaders, have you fashioned an idol for the people to worship? Have you made for them an image of God, though not carved from stone or metal, but drawn out of your own imagination or fitted to the imaginations of the crowd? Then hear the question of Moses--who is on the Lord's side?

Let me ask you, Christian, is the word of God too constraining and you want to break loose in  your worship, doing that which satisfies your desires? You must also hear Moses' question--who is on the Lord's side?

​If you want to be on the Lord's side, you must flee from such idolatry and run back to the place where God has established His ways--in the Word of God. For Moses represented the word of God and the violation of the Law of Moses was to violate the Law of God.

The Lord Jesus is the living and abiding Word of God and through the Scriptures we can know and respond to God correctly. For our Lord said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15). No one who maintains their own, independent ideas of God and how He is to be worshiped and loved actually worships and loves Him.

And if you need to come back to Him, as the Levites came back to Moses, then you must abandon your notions and return to the Word of God.

In His Grace,
Pastor Michael

2 Kings 4:40 ~ "And they poured out some for the men to eat. But while they were eating of the stew, they cried out, 'O man of God, there is death in the pot!' And they could not eat it."

During a time of famine, when Elisha was gathered with the sons of the prophets, a meal was prepared. This is, in itself, no small thing during a time when food was scarce. During famines, you forage and gather what you can and everything that can be food is procured. 

But not all things that look like food are edible, and some things can be deadly.

During their foraging, a young man gathered up a cache of wild gourds, a seemingly innocent addition to the stew being prepared. They sliced them up, added them in, and at first taste, it was poison.

Okay... just dump it out and start again. After all, it's just a stew and another pot can be boiled up and made ready in a short amount of time. Except for one thing... there was no other food. There was a famine in the land. 

They cried out to Elisha and he cast flour in the pot and they could eat without fear of death. There is no great anti-poison quality to flour, it was an act of faith on Elisha's part. 

So, what have you added to your life that is mixed in now with your spiritual food and is actually death in the pot? There are all manner of worldly, tasty gourds that get blended in to the mix of our spiritual food and end up being deadly. 

In truth, our world is living in famine conditions concerning Christ, where there are fewer and fewer locations where a believer can be fed adequately for the work of the Lord. And then, there are some "pots" where they will add anything from the world that looks like godly ingredients in the hope that it will nourish and supply what is lacking. 

Things like marketing gimmicks, self-help philosophies, entertainment attractions, new age mantras, and many other "wild gourds" are added to the teachings of many churches. The purity of the word of God and the simplicity of faith in Christ are mingled with these and so many other things that to actually eat what is presented will be a deadly concoction for your soul.

What do you do? As the sons of the prophets called out to Elisha to rescue them, so let us call out to the Lord that He should cast His grace and truth back into the pot of our lives and nullify the poison that was added. The wild gourds were not removed, they were neutralized. And when we seek the Lord and be true to His word, we will discover that even though those foolish poisons are still mingled in, they will have no effect upon our spiritual nourishment.

​For God's truth will always neutralize the world's lies.

In His Grace,
Pastor Michael

2 Corinthians 5:2 ~ "For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling."

All of mankind across the world walks through life stirred up with various longings in their heart and mind. Passions, hungers and desires fill up our pursuits. A hungry man longs for food. A lonely man desires companionship. A bound man craves to be free. 

David longed for the waters of Bethlehem. "And David said longingly, 'Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!'" (2 Samuel 23:15)

The prodigal son longed for food. "And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything." (Luke 15:16)

Jacob longed to return home. "And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father's house." (Genesis 31:30a)

For those who are in Christ, there is a longing in their hearts to be clothed in the fullness of His righteousness, to put on our "heavenly dwelling." Is this what you long for? 

It will first be seen in your groanings against sin. Paul said, "for in this tent we groan." The "tent" he speaks of is our "earthly home" (see 2 Corinthians 5:1). But what does that mean? Is it referring to the earth upon which we walk? No... our current, "earthly home," is this body in which our spirit dwells. We are contained within this body of sin and groan against the continued presence of the sinful disposition. 

Consider what Paul said in Romans 7:24, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" The Apostle recognized the reality that we still dwell in a body that is sinful, wretched and dead. He says in Romans 8:10, "But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness."  

And so we groan. We mourn over our continued sinfulness, longing to be free from the constant companion of temptations and the continued war against our fallen flesh. There will be those who groan against the judgment of God, longing for the pleasures of their sinful desires. But for the Christian--you, if you are in Christ--there is grief over the continued presence of sin, and we groan against it.

But the believer does more than groan against sin, he also longs to be covered with the perfect righteousness of Christ, to be clothed with our "heavenly dwelling." We will someday put off our mortal nature for immortality as we read in 1 Corinthians 15:54, "When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

True longing changes the pursuit of the life. Those who long for something will set aside other, lesser considerations and be fixed upon that one goal. More than a wishful thinking or a minimal wanting of the heart, those who long for Christ and His righteousness have a passionate, intense craving for that which He will provide.

So, what do you long for? Do you still desire to satisfy the cravings of the sinful nature or do you hunger for the righteousness of Christ? Remember, longing for something means that you have not quite attained it--but it is the driving passion of your heart.

Remember the promise of Romans 2:7, "to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life." You do not earn your salvation. But for those who are saved, it will be seen in that for which we long.

In His Grace,
Pastor Michael

Matthew 19:22 ~ "When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions."

What will it be that Christ requires you to give up in order to follow Him? 

We look at the rich young man from Matthew 19:16-22 and discover in this story a good man, a man who kept the moral law but still had an urgency in his heart to have eternal life. In fact, that was the primary question he asked when he came to Jesus: "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life" (Matthew 19:16). 

The question the young man asks is telling, for in it we discover the condition of his heart: "what good deed must I do?" He had kept the law of God, and still knew that something was lacking (see verse 20). Yet, in his heart he could see no other process to gain eternal life than for himself to accomplish something--anything--that would bring him into the good company of God.

Anything that is... except one thing.

This rich young man had great wealth. We know nothing of how he acquired it, perhaps by great industry or perhaps by inheritance. It doesn't matter how he came by his wealth, he would not part with it. He was in love with his possessions and to depart from them would not happen. And so, he walked away sorrowful. 

Consider the story of Demas. In Colossians 4:14, Demas was a partner with the Apostle Paul. By the time 2 Timothy was written, Demas had departed. We read of his desertion in 2 Timothy 4:10a, "For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica." That was the tragic end of the story of Demas, he was in love with the world and deserted.

The words of our Lord are clear on this--we must be willing to let all things go for His sake. Self-denial and cross bearing are two conditions of following Jesus. Consider the conditions given by Christ in Luke 9:23, "And he said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'"

One of the problems faced by many is that they think the relinquishing of whatever it is they cling to will somehow invalidate their lives. They have to hold on to it or else they stop being who they are. And in some aspect, it's true. The wealth of the world, the pleasures of the flesh, even the turmoil of our own soul can become our only identifying characteristic. And to lose that is to lose everything we love.

And the only thing people do who love what they hold is to walk away from the One who will give them what they really need--eternal life. Jesus is waiting to give eternal life to anyone who will release their death-grip on what they love in this world and take hold of Him. In simpler terms: Jesus will give salvation to all who repent and put their faith in Him.

Look at the promise Jesus gives in Mark 10:29-30. “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life."

​The ultimate question is simple: which direction will you walk? Will you walk away from Christ, holding fast to those things that you love and refuse to relinquish? Or, will you walk away from the world and all the self-interest you hold with it in order to follow Jesus? 

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

Colossians 3:13 ~ "...bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive."

Perhaps the most expressive quality of Christlikeness is forgiveness.

The question comes in the minds of many of God's children, "How much must I forgive?" This is derived from the idea that there comes a point when someone has wronged us so much that we are convinced their sins are beyond forgiveness. Humanly speaking, it may be true. For our human condition is such that once we become the determiner of the depths of another's sin, we can then determine if someone is "worthy" of receiving forgiveness.

But that does not hold in the economy of God.

Consider our text. We are to forgive as Christ forgave us. Do you know the depths of sin that you have committed against the Lord? Can you fathom the full measure of how much you needed forgiveness? It was seen on the cross. Your forgiveness is paid in full through the wrath-bearing death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And your life is secured in His resurrection. I can confidently say, no one has sinned against you greater than you have sinned against God.

How can you know that your heart has been touched to the core with God's forgiveness? It will be seen when you are willing to love and forgive with the same love and forgiveness you yourself have received from Christ. John writes in 1 John 3:14, "We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death."

When Jesus met at a Pharisee's house, a woman came in with a depth of sorrow for sin that she could no longer endure. She said nothing, but washed the Lord's feet with her tears and dried them with her hair (see Luke 7:36-50). Then Jesus spoke to the Pharisee and said, "Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

This woman, so grieved by her sin, so completely repentant and sorrowful, could do nothing but love the Lord Jesus with her tears! The Pharisee would have rejected her--in fact, society probably did reject her. But her life was transformed and it showed in the way she loved the Lord Jesus. The Pharisee, on the other hand, did not have the same level of love that the woman displayed. Thus, because his love was so shallow, it demonstrated that he understood little of the forgiveness which he needed. Perhaps the Pharisee did not even consider that he needed to be forgiven at all.

We all need forgiveness, for all of us have sinned against God. Our wicked crimes against the Almighty Judge deserve the severest of punishments. But God, who is rich in mercy, offered us grace in Christ who took our sins upon himself. Our forgiveness cost the suffering and death of Jesus. In Matthew 18 Jesus spoke a parable of an unmerciful servant. The crux of the issue comes in the statement of verses 32 and 33, "Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’"

And there is our command: forgive as the Lord has forgiven you.

It will be the highest expression of your Christian walk when you can live out the forgiveness you received in Christ through your willingness to forgive others. It brings a genuine freedom and it supplies a generous dose of God's mercy. Open your eyes and your heart to the magnanimous value of God's grace upon you... for you will then be able to dispense it abundantly to all.

In His Grace,
Pastor Michael

Hebrews 10:24-25 ~ "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."

There is a consideration necessary for every Christian--how can we be a mutual encouragement to one another? To "consider" is to have a way of thinking--literally, we must think this way. So the question posed to you--when you are in fellowship with other believers, is your first thought how you can be a source of value to them?

There are two considerations revealed in this text: to stir up one another to love, and to stir up one another to good deeds. The first is to Christ-like character, the second is to Christ-like behavior.

It is important to note that the attention of each believer must be outward and not inward focused. It is a "one another" mentality, and not an "about me" way of thinking. So, consider the means by which people go seeking out a fellowship of believers. When questions like "does it meet my needs" become the standard by which a fellowship is evaluated, we have stepped outside the real consideration.

There are important questions to ask before becoming involved in a local church--and at the top of the list is how they handle the Word of God. Is the Scripture the authority for their faith, or do they have a worldly mindset when it comes to Christianity? Do they strive to worship and serve the Lord or to entertain and attract a crowd? If the parameters for a Biblical fellowship are met, then the question at hand must move from what can you get to what can you contribute.

With the parameters met for a Biblical fellowship, it is necessary to move on to the question at hand: how do you stir up other believers toward love and good deeds? There are two ways given in the text: meet together and encourage one another.

It seems relatively simple, but how often are these two actions neglected in many church fellowships? It is emphasized in the text that the first one mentioned--meeting together--had already become neglected by some. It was so neglected, in fact, that it was described as a "habit." 

But the gathered fellowship of the redeemed of the Lord is of remarkable importance. In the gathering is where the instruction of the word of God is found, mutual prayer is voiced, the worship of Christ is expressed, and the ordinances given by the Lord are experienced. Not everyone can enjoy the weekly gathering of the church, either because of illness, injury or infirmity. But when you do gather together, it becomes the means by which you can stir up one another toward love and good deeds. You can't stir up anything if you neglect the fellowship.

The second means by which we can stir up one another toward love and good deeds is to encourage one another--with a focus on the Day of the Lord approaching. People can become downcast, morose, depressed, anxious and fearful in our day and age. Circumstances can become hard, persecutions painful, and without that mutual encouragement, a believer may fall into the dangerous dungeon of despair.

But you, believer, have a greater hope, a more certain future with the Lord, a remembrance that God will rectify all things for His glory and the good of those who know and love Jesus. And you can come alongside those who are walking in the shadows and help them again see the light.

So, beloved, there is great value in the fellowship of believers. But that value is only experienced when we look outside ourselves and seek to be an encouragement and support for those who walk beside us in Christ.

In His Grace,
Pastor Michael

Philippians 4:2 ~ "I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord."

Christians ought to be of one mind. And yet, the "ought's" of the Scriptures tend to clash with the desires of the individual and there begins the conflict. 

It is an interesting observation between two Christians who have labored to serve the Lord and desire to live for His glory to find themselves at odds with one another. It may seem that they should be delighted to find themselves in a state of joyful unanimity, walking metaphorically hand-in-hand for the cause of the Lord. Yet, for some reason, the two women mentioned in our text today were of differing mindsets.

There is no place in Scripture where it is revealed the challenge between Euodia and Syntyche. The simple fact is, they were in disagreement--of such a disagreement that the Apostle Paul saw fit to mention them by name in his letter for all the church to read in order to bring them back to unifying fellowship with each other. It is not a stretch to consider that their disagreement was causing a disruption in the life of the church.

But from where do these conflicts arise?

Consider the words of James 4:1-3, "What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."

To boil it down, you don't get your way and so you go to war. 

And, yet, the Apostle Paul was rather tender in his words toward these two women. He didn't "command" he "entreated" them. It a word of closeness, one that conveys the same idea as the work of the Holy Spirit, coming alongside them as a counselor, to guide and direct them back into the way of Christ. What was Paul's entreaty? Simple: agree in the Lord.

Can two Christians have differing views and opinions about matters unrelated to the fundamental truths in Christ? Of course they can, but those disagreements must not override their good sense to stand with each other in their common faith. It is important that such unity exist in the church--a unity that is built from our love for Christ and each other.

Consider the church in Corinth who had taken their divisions to a whole other level--even going so far as to take each other to court! But take to heart the words of the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 6:7 when he confronted their hostility. "To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?" Did not our Lord Jesus teach us to "turn the other cheek" (see Matthew 5:39). 

The women mentioned in our text today were good, solid, hard-working Christians who labored for the gospel. Their disagreement needed to be resolved, their love restored and the work continued for the sake of Christ and His church.

If you are in such a state with another believer, hear the words of Paul and determine to come in agreement in the Lord, even if you cannot come in agreement with the issue that has separated you. Love for each other in Christ must be the higher priority.

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

Nehemiah 4:17 ~ "Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other."

There's a work to be done, a Kingdom to serve and a house to be built for the glory and name of the Lord Jesus. Every believer is tasked to go forward in their lives with this same mindset. Consider what Paul told the Philippians, "Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel" (Philippians 1:27). There is a striving, and a firm standing of believers together, that bring about the spread of the gospel while we are here on earth.

Consider the work of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, and let us learn what it will take for us to serve the Lord in the work of the church.

Severe opposition arose in the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem as the surrounding nations were furious at the attempt. Nehemiah did not lead the people to put away their tools until the persecution ended, nor did he tell them to try to get along with the nations around them. Instead--he put swords in their hands.

Half the people worked while the other half were armed to protect them (see Nehemiah 4:16). And those who worked, did so with a burden of labor in one hand and a weapon in the other. You might think that it would certainly restrict the effort of rebuilding the wall, if the laborers were limited to one-handed efforts. But keeping their weapons at the ready provided them the opportunity to keep working. It is no mystery that those who are struck down, as well as those who surrender, are incapable of continuing the work.

Let us consider two things we can learn from our text.

First, there is a labor that must take place. The church, today, can easily get caught up in all manner of other endeavors and forget the one thing that is of critical importance for the work--the gospel of Christ. Preaching the gospel, sharing the salvation of the Lord Jesus, and laboring for that end is the "wall-building" given to the church today. 

We may carry our burden in preaching, teaching, prayer, outreach, hospitality, meeting needs, and all other means of services in order to do the one thing that God has given us: Go into the world with the gospel and make disciples (see Matthew 28:18-20). They were "loaded in such a way." They were not all loaded equally, nor were they all loaded with the same burden to bear. But they were all loaded to do the work subscribed to them, and they did so with determined effort.

Second, there are enemies against us. It is not right for the church to believe that the world will support our efforts to rescue people out of the world. They won't mind if we agree with them. They won't fight us if we conform to them. But the world hates Jesus (see John 15:18). The cross proclaims their guilt and offers them grace. The gospel is the enemy of self-will and self-righteousness. It demands that a person surrender to the Lord and in humility and with love receive His salvation. 

And, as the workers on the wall of Jerusalem carried their burden in one hand and weapons in the other, so the church must be ready to stand firm against the forces of evil that would destroy our efforts out of their hatred of Christ. Do not work with your eyes closed to the enemy around you. Even Paul recognized that both work and war were before him as he preached the gospel, "For a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries" (1 Corinthians 16:9). 

But do not fear. God will uphold His servants who labor for the Lord and will ultimately defeat those who stand against Him.

My friends let us labor for Christ, fully prepared to do the work, all the while knowing that there is also a war. 

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

Nehemiah 2:4 ~ "Then the king said to me, 'What are you requesting?' So I prayed to the God of heaven."

In the great dilemma of Nehemiah, as he was confronted by the broken walls of Jerusalem, he needed to gain favor from King Artaxerxes. Nehemiah, as cupbearer to the king, had the responsibility to keep a pleasant demeanor in the king's presence. However, this time he was sad--and the king noticed.

Nehemiah's heart was grieved over the sins of his people and the condition of Jerusalem due to the disciplinary judgment of God. He could not hide his countenance from the king--but he could not depart to try and regain his composure. He was in a quandary. 

So what did the cupbearer do? He prayed.

Before you go thinking that Nehemiah dropped to his knees before King Artaxerxes, he most certainly did no such thing. It would have been a direct affront to the king, and Nehemiah's life would be in peril at the instant.

So, then, how did Nehemiah pray? We have no words recorded concerning this moment of prayer, no statement as to what he prayed. It was an "emergency prayer." ​

In Nehemiah chapter one, when he received word of the dreadful condition of Jerusalem and its inhabitants, Nehemiah prayed then--and it is recorded in great detail. Not the prayer of chapter two however, that prayer was not recorded because it was not spoken. It was a prayer of the mind and heart--and God hears those prayers too.

A life and practice of prayer is of inestimable value for the Christian. A daily habit of personal engagement before the Lord in prayerful consideration of all that is happening in and through your life will be of more worth than you can even now know. If you have not done so, let me encourage you to begin developing a constancy of daily prayer. In Matthew 6:6 Jesus even tells us to pray in secret to your Father in heaven: "But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

But emergency prayers will be of great worth to you as well. When Peter was about to drown after stepping off the boat (see Matthew 14:30), he had no eloquence of speech or lengthy time of prayer. Three little words sufficed: "Lord save me!" 

And even if you cannot utter a word upon your lips, your mind and heart can cry out to God in the moment of the emergency and He will hear your prayer. Then do what is right in the next moment, obey God with your next step, and trust that He will strengthen you to the task and give you the needed courage to do what He has commanded. 

In the Gospel of Luke 11:17 it said that Jesus knew their thoughts. So if God knows the thoughts of those who are wicked, surely He knows the thoughts and internal prayers of His children.

Remember also what Paul said in Romans 8:26-27, "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."

Perhaps you're confronting someone at the grocery store with the gospel. Maybe you are standing before some formal review and must give an account. You might be at the bedside of an atheist as they face their final breath on this earth. You don't have time to kneel down for a lengthy prayer. Lift up your mind and heart to the Lord and pray to the God of heaven who hears your every thought. He will strengthen you to do that which is right, and be His witness in the moment that He gives. You can trust Him, even with your emergency prayers.

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

2 Corinthians 11:4 ~ "For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough."

There is danger in the effort to introduce Jesus into the culture different than He is revealed in Scripture.  And the Christians of the church in Corinth are rebuked for that very thing.

Though it is unclear exactly who it was that came into the Corinthians church and proclaimed a different Jesus, with a different spirit and a different gospel, the church seemed quite ready to receive it. The Apostle Paul describes these people in verses 13 and 14 of the same chapter: "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light."

But what is the danger? Simple: the danger is to leave people deceived and yet believing that they are in Christ. However, they are believing on a false Christ. An imaginary Jesus cannot save, how can he--for it is a lie. Peter said that there is no other name by which we must be saved--and that still remains today (see Acts 4:12). 

And much the same thing is happening in the cultural Christianity that has grown in the post-modern era of our world today. Consider what happens when a person has gravitated to a mimic of Christ in some various media expression and they declare that they can now believe in Jesus because He was finally portrayed in a way that they could accept?  They don't look to God's word for the truth of Christ, they look to the modern rendition despite the fact that it bears so little resemblance to the Lord Jesus.

It comes back to the original lie of the enemy, "did God really say?" And buying the lie of an invented Jesus runs a terrible risk of keeping someone from the truth--exactly what the devil wants to do.

It is also what the world desires. Consider the words of 2 Timothy 4:3-4, "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." A more comfortable, more agreeable and palatable Jesus is exactly what the world wants, for eventually they will have a Jesus that conforms to them.

There are two things you can do in the face of this.

First, hold fast to the Lord Jesus Christ as revealed in God's word through the gospel. The rebuke of the Apostle comes at the church for their acceptance of a false Christ. Do not accept anything other than solid, Biblical truth. Second, do not readily put up with any other rendering of the Lord Jesus that does not conform to the Word of God. Many may call you all manner of pejorative names, believing that you've become stolid and unbending, don't give in.

Remember that the distortion of Jesus, even though much might be similar to Scripture, is like a drop of poison in an otherwise pure glass of water. Both are deadly, and it is a foolish thing to drink either.

In His Grace,
Pastor Michael

Ephesians 5:11 ~ "Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them."

A popular quote attributed to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in the face of the wickedness of Hitler's regime, states, "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."

As we step into this new year, and with the continued decline of our world, how much should a Christian get involved? 

It is true that most Christians want to live in peace, to worship and obey the Lord, and to walk through this world with the love of Christ and the gospel that saves those who believe. The problem lies in the fact that the world does not want that. Believer, you must understand that this world is not a friendly environment for the faithful follower of Christ. 

A.W. Tozer is noted as saying that this world is not a playground, it is a battleground. And though the Scripture commands that we strive to live in peace with all men (see Romans 12:18), it is also incumbent upon the faithful of Christ to shine the light of the truth into the darkness of this world.

Remember the words of our Lord Jesus, "For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed" (John 3:20). And, Jesus said in Matthew 5:14, "You are the light of the world." There is a reason that the world hates the Christian, because the light of the Christian exposes the darkness of the world and uncovers the wickedness therein.

So, to answer the question above: a Christian should get involved in as much as their lives and testimony brings forth the light of Christ and reproves the darkness.

First, from our text, we are to "take no part" with darkness.

There can be no fellowship with light and darkness and no partnership with righteousness and wickedness (see 2 Corinthians 6:14-15). The first part of a believer's involvement in this world is to reject worldliness. This does not mean that you reject friendships, but that you must not participate in anything that is of the unfruitful works that would lead you to disobey God and His word. Titus 2:11-12 says, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age."

Second, we learn from our text that, instead of participating in darkness, we are to "expose them." And this part might be the more difficult of the two.

To "expose" in this context, literally means to "reprove or rebuke." It is a public illumination and refutation of the conditions of darkness that fill this world. For a believer to not expose and refute those things that lead people astray is to become participants with them. Proverbs 29:24 says, "The partner of a thief hates his own life; he hears the curse, but discloses nothing." To remain silent in the company of wickedness is to hate your own life and be found complicit with it.

This does not mean that a believer is to go about "pointing fingers" at every person around, but to bring clear exposure to the truth of public wickedness for the purpose of warning others against it--and especially the church. Jeremiah lamented the fact that the prophets did nothing to expose the iniquity of Israel (see Lamentations 2:14). 

Beloved, let us shine the light of Christ, taking no part in darkness, but exposing it in order to rescue those who are ensnared. For someday the Lord Himself will come and all the works of the earth will be exposed in the fire and heat of His wrath. 

"But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed." ~ 2 Peter 3:10

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

Psalm 90:2 ~ "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God."

​It is hard to fathom from this limited, temporary and time-governed world, that God has always been. Our lives have a definitive beginning, a clear duration, and an eternal end. Interestingly, we can handle more courageously the eternal ending--that is, our future everlasting life--than we can handle the eternal reality of God.

He is "from everlasting." That is, He is from before time ever had a moment of expression. He is and always has been, but even using the word "always" infers a concept of time that cannot be applied to God. God does not exist in time--time exists in Him. (Does your brain hurt yet?)

He is beyond our awareness, for our understanding of all things comes through our capability of observation and imagination. And yet, those two functions of our comprehension cannot comprehend God.

What is mankind to do? 

Well, what often happens is we take our observations, mingle it with our imaginations, and come up with a god that is not God--one that suits our thoughts, even when our thoughts stretch out as far as our imagination can take us. And thus, history and societies are filled with all manner of deities that satisfy the mind of man.

If we are not to take our imaginations and couple it with our observations, then how are we to know this God who is from everlasting to everlasting? How can we know the One who is beyond our comprehension? There is only one way.

We must know Him through His own revelation of Himself. 

And how, you ask, did God reveal Himself? Through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Consider what is written in Colossians 1:15, "He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." Jesus, Himself, said, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9).

Let me, even now, implore you to open your heart to His word where He has revealed Himself. Turn to the pages of His revelation--the Holy Bible. If you do not seek Him there, you will not know Him at all. He is beyond our comprehension. He is greater than our observation and more than our limited imaginations can invent. But He does want you to know Him and so He has revealed Himself in His Son and it is found in the pages of His Holy Word.

He is also, "to everlasting." And that, beloved, should give you great hope and joy. For in Jesus, all who are redeemed will be with the Father forever. He will be our God, and we will be His people (Revelation 21:3).

There is no ending with God, for God does not exist in a state of time. When creation comes to an end God will remain, for God is not confined in creation--creation exists in Him. He will remake the heavens and the earth for He is the one who made them in the first place and they are and will always be sustained by Him. 

God Almighty needs nothing to sustain Him. He is self-existent. And God, being from and to everlasting, will bring all those who have been redeemed into the everlastingness of Him. 

You will have no greater thoughts than to think on God, and you have no other resource of revelation concerning God than His word. Meditate on it, be drawn into it, and learn from Him all that He would reveal.

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael