Friday, February 26, 2010

Christians are "living" Epistles...known and read of men.

2 Cor 3:2-6...Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

Think about this? A living Epistle of Christ in 2010! A living letter written by Christ! A letter that is written in the tables of your heart! Read and known of men! Every individual Christian in the world is a book written by Jesus... in the fleshy tables of our hearts! It's a book "seen"..."recognized"... "read"...and "known" of men...through your life and your actions. It's a letter known by the unbelieving world around us. Yes, my brothers and sisters if you're a child of God "you are" a letter written by Jesus...through the work of the Holy Spirit! Your sufficency is of God..not yourselves!

The Bible calls this the ministry of the Holy Spirit! Remember...the ministry of the Law given to Israel (before the death of Christ) was great! The ministry of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives today (in this present Grace Age)...is even GREATER! Why? Because Christ heads this ministry! He's alive! Christ ministers to our hearts and lives through the omnipresence of his Holy Spirit! Christ writes His holiness, His purity, and His righteousness in our hearts and minds. A Christian's sufficiency is not his own! It's produced by Christ's sufficiency! Glory! We in the Church today have passed from the glory of the Law written in the tables of stone to the Glory of the Spirit written the tables of our hearts!

2 Cor 3:3...written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

Yes, my brothers and sisters we live in the glory of having the Grace of God, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, the authority of Christ in our lives. Christ is the head of the Church, the body of Christ! Glory! We are members of Christ's body! Jesus governs our hearts and lives. How blessed we are to have the power of His Glorius Gospel in our lives! It's a minstry!

2 Cor 4:1-4...Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Shine my brothers and sisters shine...Let the world see your light! Be an example of holiness! You are an Epistle "known and read" of men. Let the world know that Christians are morally changed by the Grace of God! You are an Epistle "known and read" of men. Glorify Christ in your body and Spirit! Glory! Shine on!

I love you all! Walk in love even as Christ loved the Church. Let you love be known!

By the way... February 22, 2010 was our first year anniversary at the Churches on Trial. Looking forward to another year of Christ and His great blessing in my life! Glory!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Did you know "The Spirit of Holiness" is God's way of giving the believer in Christ a "desire" to do right?

Yes, God can take an unholy man and make him holy in the presence of God! Yes, God gives the believer in Christ a desire quit his meanness. How? By the Spirit of Holiness! The miraculous thing about the new birth is that the Spirit of God places in a man the "desire" to quit sin and unholy living. This God given desire is the Holy Spirit's effectual work in the human soul.

Holiness of heart begins when man is "enlightened" to the effect that Calvary has upon the soul of a believer. Holiness from God is revealed to the heart of a believer from the light of Calvary that shines upon the darkness of the human heart. The Spirit of holiness raised Christ from the grave! The Spirit of holiness makes unholy men...Holy men! Holy men are children of God as result of the Spirit of Holiness!

Belief in Christ allows man to recognize the holiness of God that flows from Christ at Calvary! Belief in Christ allows God's Grace to come into man and morally change the way a man thinks, acts, and behaves. The effect of Calvary works upon the heart of man through the Spirit of Holiness. The Grace of God since the death of Christ on the Cross...empowers the Spirit of Holiness to work in the heart and life of all believer's in Christ.

The Bible teaches that God's Divine Grace, New Testament Apostleship, and the Christians personal obedience to God...all flows from the effectual work of Calvary...

Rom 1:1-5...Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,(Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:


Think about the God-given desire to be obedient to God every day of your life. Isn't it a blessing? How precious is the Grace of God that brings Salvation and Holiness to our hearts and lives. Christ blesses us so richly! I love all of you for your participation and fellowship on this Blog! You can be victorious! Live right and do right in the eyes of God...because your blessed! Bring honor to Christ...not dishonor! Glorify and testify to the power of God's Grace. Don't live in disgrace. Tell the world about the Saviour that lives and morally changes unholy men! You've been bought for a price...Nothing can defeat you! The Devil has to flee from the authority of Christ! Your a child of the King! Glorify Him in your body and spirit! I'm getting blessed!

Service tonight at the Upper Room! What a privilege and honor! Serving Christ with a "whole" heart! What a blessing! I'm thankful! Spreading the Word! Building peoples faith! Encouraging others! Bringing enlightenment to the Gospel! Glorifying Christ! Teaching the Word!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

In the days of old they denied that Christ was a human...today they deny the fact that he is very...God!

Yes, today they are trying to humanize our Christ. Just look around at all the religious bodies that make claim that Christ was a Prophet, or a great man, and humanize the God of our Salvation. Some even teach that Christ had a sinful nature! Get it clear...God cannot sin and was not born with sin! Christ never struggled with the carnal nature because He is Divine! Sin and death are subject to God. Human beings are subject to sin and death. Christ only took upon himself human form to taste death for the sins of humanity. He was still God in the flesh! Glory! The Bible teaches that Christ...by the Grace of God...tasted death for you and I...

Heb 2:9-10...But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory

The Bible teaches that for this purpose Christ was manifested to destroy the works of the Devil...

1 John 3:8...For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

What a great tragedy it can become to put more emphasis on Christ's humanity than on his Deity! That form of doctrine can become very misleading! It humanizes Christ when really the Deity must never be slighted! Christ became a man..but He was still God! His deity "was"..."is"... and "always will be"...because He is very God! Glory! He was promised to be born of a virgin! He was made the seed of a woman! He appeared as the promised Messiah on the colt of an ass. Christ even forgave sin during his earthly ministry! He walked on water! He withered the fig tree! He healed! He casted out demons! He walked as a man but was very God in the flesh. The Bible says so! The Bible also states this topic is to be "without controversy".

1 Tim 3:16...And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

As God allows, I will attempt to expound on "mankind's denial" of Christ's necessary humanity...to be the atoning Lamb of God slain for the sins of humanity! Denial of Christ's humanity takes away from God's redemptive and effectual work of Salvation that flows into the human soul from the cross at Calvary! "Denial" of that very "atoning work of God carried out within the humanity of Christ " was the heresy taught by the Gnostic's in John's day. John declared this heretical concept (taught within Gnoticism) to be the...'the sin unto death".

1 John 5:16...There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.

More later...