There has been something that has been on my heart and mind all this week and I would like to share that with you today. “that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:12-14). I read this even now and say wow! So much said in so few words! I am the purchased possession of Jesus Christ, I belong to Him and Him alone do I belong; He purchased me with His very own blood and now I am His slave. When given a direct command I most obey and where there isn’t a direct command I most seek to do what pleases Him. He has promised that He will return for His possession and I await and look forward to His return. I know that I am His because He has sealed me with His Holy Spirit, which is the guarantee until His return for me. A few years ago I heard the gospel that lead me to Jesus Christ and Christ alone saved me, He convicted me of my sins and I Repented and embraced Him, He became my Master and I His slave. You too are a slave, you just don’t know it; I didn’t know it either. Every person who has ever lived is either a slave of sin and Satan or a slave of Jesus Christ! You may think you make your own decisions but it is your sinful nature that makes decisions for you. I ask you, have you repented from your sins and put your trust in Jesus Christ for your salvation? This is the least spoken word in church today but it is the core of the gospel and if you haven’t heard it you haven’t heard the gospel, the word is “REPENT”. In Luke 18:9-13 my Lord Jesus told a parable about two men, one believed himself righteous a Pharisee and the other believed himself to be a sinner a tax collector. They each went to the temple and prayed to God, both men believed in God but only one was saved. The Pharisee prayed this: “God, I thank You that I am not like other men-extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess” (Luke 18:11-12). He patted himself on the back before a Holy God saying; “I am good, look at all the wonderful things I do”. The tax collector prayed this: “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner’ (Luke 18:13)! The Lord Jesus said: “I tell you, this man (the tax collector) went down to his house justified rather than the other (the Pharisee); for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14).
Repentance: “Repentance means that you realize that you are a guilty, vile, sinner in the presence of God; that you deserve the wrath and punishment of God, that you are Hell bond. It means that you begin to realize that this thing called sin is in you and that you long to get rid of it and that you turn your back on it in every shape and form. You renounce the world whatever the cost, the world in its mind and outlook as well as its practices, and you deny yourself and take up the cross and go after Christ, your nearest and dearest and the whole world may call you a fool or say you have religious mania. You may have to suffer financially but it makes no difference. That is Repentance” (Martin Lloyd Jones)!
Do this today! Realize that you are a sinner and Repent, turning from it in every way, deny yourself the pleasures of sin and embrace Jesus Christ as your Lord, your Master and you will be His purchased possession! Your life depends on it.
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ
