“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world” (John 1:6-9).
All Kings have a herald. A herald is an official messenger sent by the King to announce His coming, he precedes or foreshadows the coming of the King, he proclaims the King and the message of the King, he promotes the King. Earlier this week my wife and I went to see a comedian named Tim Hawkins, prior to his coming on stage the pastor of the church who was hosting this event stood up and said many great things about the comedian Tim Hawkins, he got the crowd worked up about his entrance into the auditorium and had everyone stand and clap as he turned and announced his entrance, this pastor was a herald for the comedian Tim Hawkins.
When Jesus first entered into the world he was heralded by angels, it was angels sent from God who preceded and announced his birth into the world. The angel of the Lord appeared to Mary and then Joseph and told them of the birth of Jesus Christ. And when Christ was born into the world an angel of the Lord appeared to shepherds in the field announcing the birth of Jesus. “And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger’. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men’” (Luke 2:9-14). Christ was heralded into the world by angels who announced his coming and glorified Him. And Christ was heralded into His ministry by a man and the man’s name was John (John the Baptist).
This man John was sent from God for the specific purpose of heralding Jesus Christ into His ministry and John was no ordinary man, John was the greatest man to ever live. He was the last of the Old Testament prophets, there hadn’t been one in 400 years, and was the first of the New Testament evangelist. If the incarnate Christ was to begin His ministry, who better to announce it than the greatest man, how do I know he was the greatest man? Jesus said: “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11). If Jesus said this of John and John said this of Jesus: “It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose” (John 1:27), where does that put you and I? I mean if Jesus said John was the greatest among men and John isn’t even worthy to loose His sandal strap we are nothing and yet Christ died for us so that we could live! Did you hear that, can you see that? God in human form died so that we could live, every time I think about it I am blown away!
John came to bear witness of the Light; all other lights are just a reflection of the Light, the Light that gives light to men. What is amazing and tragic to me is verses 7-8 that anyone would have to bear witness of Light, I mean Light. Who can’t see Light? Blind people can’t see Light! All men coming into the world where given light but our sin and Satan have blinded us from seeing the Light. “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). So John was given the task as the first evangelist to point the Light out to blind people and all of us who have seen the light are to bear witness of the Light and direct blind people to the Light so they can see and be born again, born of water and the Spirit and see.
Have you ever tried to point something out off in the distance to someone and they just can’t see it. You will even point out things surrounding the object to try to get them to see the thing that interest you but still they can’t see what you are pointing out. Then suddenly they see what you have been pointing out all along and you begin to discuss it, they see it as plain as day and can’t believe they never saw it before because it was of such great interest and was right in front of their eyes. But what if in this same scenario the person whom you were trying to point the object out to refused to even look, it would be very difficult to get them to see the object of interest nor could they discuss it with you or take delight in it with you, that my friends is the plight of the world; as hard as it is to get people to see who are looking, it is extremely hard to get people to see whom refuse to even look. People love the darkness and love there sin and refuse to even look at the Light because their sin would be exposed in the Light. Trust in the Light, the true Light, the Light that gives light to every man coming into the world, it is in Him your affections should be with; not in your own righteousness, not in the things of this world, and not in the pleasures of sin but in Him, the true Light. “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you’” (John 6:53).
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Beginning Word (John 1:1-5)
These past two weeks the Lord has had me read the gospel of John repeatedly and in doing so, He has caused my love for Him to expand and has given me a great desire to know Him better, to have an intimate knowledge of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The other gospels while they give an incredible account of Jesus Christ in the things He did and His teachings, no other gospel focuses more on who Jesus is than John. John was close to Jesus and that is obvious when you read his words. The Lord led me to write this blog one year ago prior to that I had no ability to write anything, so of all the 53 writings over this past year, He is responsible for them all. I didn’t know it at the time, but this past year has been in preparation for what He would have me do next. As I have been reading the gospel according to John something happened, I grew so found of my Lord through this gospel that I didn’t want to leave it, I wanted to know my Lord better. This past week the Lord put on my heart that I should write about His gospel, I thought at the time that it was just a passing thought but it wasn’t, I am convinced that it is what the Lord wants me to do, I have prayed about it repeatedly over the past week and each time He has revealed to me that this is what he wants me to do. This is a large undertaking, it is something that will take years to complete. The gospel of John is a book containing 21 chapters, each of those chapters are broken up into verses to give us quick referencing ability, there are 879 verses in the (NKJV) from which I will be referring unless otherwise stated, each week I will put to memory 4-5 verses, meditate on those verses, pray about those verses and write down what the Lord has shown me in those verses; at the rate of 4-5 verses a week, this will take 3-4 years to complete. This seems so huge to start with but I believe it is what the Lord wants me to do and I being His slave in whom I owe my very life, who am I to refuse, besides the closeness that I will have with my Lord as He leads me through this will be priceless without measure, it will require His holding my hand and my heart and leading me every step of the way as I follow, so join me in unfolding the gospel of our Lord as revealed by the apostle John.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:1-5).
Each time I read that, every time that I have thought about it and every time I have prayed over these verses I am awe struck. How could anyone read that and not know that Jesus Christ is God? One of the tell tale signs of a cult is what they do with Jesus, every single cult denies the deity of Jesus Christ, they all lower Him in some way. They may have Christ in their name but deny Him as Lord and Savior. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God”. John says in the beginning because there is not a word in Greek or in English to truly express eternity prior to creation, I can’t even do so using multiple words because I am a created being existing in time, so it is difficult for us to grasp eternity, you see eternity exist outside of time. Just like we are created beings, time itself is a creation; time did not exist until God spoke it into existence. Genesis 1:1 referring to the beginning of creation, John 1:1 reference beginning to try and convey to we who are stuck in time that Jesus Christ existed before time ever even began. He refers to Him as the Word, He is the very Word of God. The first reference to the Word comes in Genesis. “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward’” (Genesis 15:1). Jesus is God’s Word that came to man. What is a word? A word is composed of letters, “Alpha and Omega” (Revelation 1:11) are the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet. Jesus was the last Word of God to man and was the full embodiment of God in a man (Hebrews 1:1-3), “who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High” (Hebrews 1:3). John wanted to make sure that we understood that Jesus is the supreme authority, that He was the beginning of all things and that He is the end of all things, He was the complete embodiment of God in a man, which He always has been and always will be. Jesus said: “I and My Father are One” (John 10:30).
“All things where made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made”. This is one of those things that is so incredibly difficult for people to grasp, Jesus created the very world He came into, the very world that rejected Him, the very world that spit in His face, persecuted Him, beat Him, murdered Him, and yet He loves them. “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16). People do not have a problem with the works of Jesus, the Pharisees did not have a problem with the works of Jesus, but it is the Words of Jesus that people have a problem with, they do not except Him as God. “The Jews answered Him, saying, ‘For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God’” (John 10:33). Jesus was in the beginning with God, Jesus was God, and it was through Him that everything was created.
“In Him was life, and the life was the light of man. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it”. Who can’t see light? The blind cannot see light. The people of this world walk around in spiritual darkness and cannot see the light; they are blind and will remain so unless their blindness is healed by the Lord. In a prime example of spiritual blindness I talked with a man earlier this week and told him that God loves him, I told him that God loves him quoting: "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). This is one of the most beautiful pictures of God’s love in all of scripture it is absolutely beautiful and I talk of it frequently but this is what the man said in reply: “Wow, nice guilt trip then. I would never, ever try to guilt my children into believing/doing/following something. That's not love, that's manipulation”. There is no other explanation, this man is blind. How can you take Romans 5:8 and get that out of it? It makes no since, it is as though he heard completely different words than what I had spoken. One of my favorite stories in scripture is in John 9 where Jesus healed the man born blind, he was taken to the Sanhedrin who wouldn’t believe him until they brought in his parents, then after they confirmed that he was born blind, and even then they still refused to believe that Jesus had done it calling him a sinner. The man confirmed that it was Jesus who had healed him and confessed to them that Jesus was of God because no one that was born blind had ever been healed of his blindness since time began, for this they threw him out of the Synagogue, for the Jew that was devastating. “Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of God’” (John 9:35). After Jesus revealed to him that He was the Son of God the man confessed that he did believe and worshiped Him. It is only God who can make a man see, and until God opens the spiritual eyes of a man he will remain blind. 70 times in the gospel of John he tells us to believe and that through this belief we are saved. What are you to believe? Believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who takes away the sins of the world, your sins, and trust everything he said, throw yourself at His mercy.
Trust in Jesus Christ as Lord,
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:1-5).
Each time I read that, every time that I have thought about it and every time I have prayed over these verses I am awe struck. How could anyone read that and not know that Jesus Christ is God? One of the tell tale signs of a cult is what they do with Jesus, every single cult denies the deity of Jesus Christ, they all lower Him in some way. They may have Christ in their name but deny Him as Lord and Savior. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God”. John says in the beginning because there is not a word in Greek or in English to truly express eternity prior to creation, I can’t even do so using multiple words because I am a created being existing in time, so it is difficult for us to grasp eternity, you see eternity exist outside of time. Just like we are created beings, time itself is a creation; time did not exist until God spoke it into existence. Genesis 1:1 referring to the beginning of creation, John 1:1 reference beginning to try and convey to we who are stuck in time that Jesus Christ existed before time ever even began. He refers to Him as the Word, He is the very Word of God. The first reference to the Word comes in Genesis. “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward’” (Genesis 15:1). Jesus is God’s Word that came to man. What is a word? A word is composed of letters, “Alpha and Omega” (Revelation 1:11) are the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet. Jesus was the last Word of God to man and was the full embodiment of God in a man (Hebrews 1:1-3), “who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High” (Hebrews 1:3). John wanted to make sure that we understood that Jesus is the supreme authority, that He was the beginning of all things and that He is the end of all things, He was the complete embodiment of God in a man, which He always has been and always will be. Jesus said: “I and My Father are One” (John 10:30).
“All things where made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made”. This is one of those things that is so incredibly difficult for people to grasp, Jesus created the very world He came into, the very world that rejected Him, the very world that spit in His face, persecuted Him, beat Him, murdered Him, and yet He loves them. “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16). People do not have a problem with the works of Jesus, the Pharisees did not have a problem with the works of Jesus, but it is the Words of Jesus that people have a problem with, they do not except Him as God. “The Jews answered Him, saying, ‘For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God’” (John 10:33). Jesus was in the beginning with God, Jesus was God, and it was through Him that everything was created.
“In Him was life, and the life was the light of man. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it”. Who can’t see light? The blind cannot see light. The people of this world walk around in spiritual darkness and cannot see the light; they are blind and will remain so unless their blindness is healed by the Lord. In a prime example of spiritual blindness I talked with a man earlier this week and told him that God loves him, I told him that God loves him quoting: "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). This is one of the most beautiful pictures of God’s love in all of scripture it is absolutely beautiful and I talk of it frequently but this is what the man said in reply: “Wow, nice guilt trip then. I would never, ever try to guilt my children into believing/doing/following something. That's not love, that's manipulation”. There is no other explanation, this man is blind. How can you take Romans 5:8 and get that out of it? It makes no since, it is as though he heard completely different words than what I had spoken. One of my favorite stories in scripture is in John 9 where Jesus healed the man born blind, he was taken to the Sanhedrin who wouldn’t believe him until they brought in his parents, then after they confirmed that he was born blind, and even then they still refused to believe that Jesus had done it calling him a sinner. The man confirmed that it was Jesus who had healed him and confessed to them that Jesus was of God because no one that was born blind had ever been healed of his blindness since time began, for this they threw him out of the Synagogue, for the Jew that was devastating. “Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of God’” (John 9:35). After Jesus revealed to him that He was the Son of God the man confessed that he did believe and worshiped Him. It is only God who can make a man see, and until God opens the spiritual eyes of a man he will remain blind. 70 times in the gospel of John he tells us to believe and that through this belief we are saved. What are you to believe? Believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who takes away the sins of the world, your sins, and trust everything he said, throw yourself at His mercy.
Trust in Jesus Christ as Lord,
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ
Saturday, June 11, 2011
A Young Man Glorifies Jesus at a High School Graduation
Last week I got into a debate with a man about school prayer specifically prayer at High school graduation, he had posted an article that got my attention. After debating the man on this subject I decided to share with him something that I had recently witnessed, something that caused me to glorify God and give thanks for his people; you see the man that I was debating says he is a Christian, so if this event had that an impact on me, I assumed it would have an impact on this man.
My daughter had recently just graduated high school 5/28/2011. A young man whom I know well had finished as one of the top students in his class and therefore was given the honor of the opening welcome for the graduation ceremony; he asked everyone to stand and said "let's pray". He gave thanks to God for the entire student body for everything he had done for them all of their lives to bring them to high school graduation. He asked Him to guide them all throughout their lives. He praised the Lord Jesus for saving him from his sins and prayed for all the students to come to faith In Christ. He ended with in Jesus name, Amen. In attendance there were Believers, Atheist, people who just don't care, and I noticed a group of Muslem women sitting together. This is what I heard in this prayer the Lord was glorified, and all heard him declare his faith for salvation was not in himself, not in the works he does, not in his goodness, even declaring he was sinful, but his faith for salvation was in the son of God and all heard! Glory be to Jesus! And He was glorified before all that day!
The answer that the man I had been debating gave astounded me, I
was finished with the debate at that point and would discuss it with him no longer, and I shook the sand from my feet, but this has weighed heavily on my heart all week and I have spent much time in prayer with my Lord about this and for this man, God has called me to pray for him and his family daily. This is the answer he gave “and that school broke the law”. I have to tell you, I couldn’t believe it! How could a story like that not bring great joy to anyone who believes Jesus is the only begotten son of God who takes away the sin of the world? This High School graduation was in a large arena filled with people, some spilling over into a nearby auditorium where the ceremony was televised, there were somewhere around 3,000 people listening. This young man comes to the podium and in a quick and concise way preaches the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 3,000 people many who are not believers heard him in a very loving way tell people that there is salvation from sin in Jesus Christ.
Here is the first Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances”.
I ask you, if this young man had been prevented from saying this prayer, whose rights would have been violated? I tell you it would have been his! There are three distinct marks of a believer and all who truly trusts in Jesus Christ have them.
1. Obedience to His (Jesus’) word: If Christ says “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” you go.
2. Desire to be with Jesus at all times: That is your ultimate goal in life, to be where Jesus is, that is why believers pray without ceasing, that as why they are in His word daily, to be with Jesus because He is their one true love.
3. Worship Jesus Christ as Lord: They don’t worship themselves, they worship Jesus, He is their adoration, they drop to his feet and worship.
Jesus said before ascending to His Father in Heaven, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). This young man was obedient to his Lord standing up in front of 3,000 people preaching the gospel. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech”. Now I ask you again if this young man would have been prevented from saying this prayer whose rights would have been violated? Jesus said, “preach the gospel”, this young man being obedient to his Lord did just that, if he had been prevented from doing so his rights under the first amendment would have been violated, he would have been prevented from freely exercising his religion and from freedom of speech. This was not the government establishing religion, this was the government getting out of the way and not preventing this young man from freely exercising his religion and freedom of speech. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the most powerful and loving thing that has ever happened in this world. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). But to a depraved humanity wrath and anger rise up over the gospel of Jesus Christ, because to believe the gospel you must see your eternal state before God in truth, that you are a sinner headed to Hell, you then must be willing to turn away from the pleasures of sin and by faith turn to Jesus believing that He is the only begotten son of God that takes away the sins of the world and offers all who believe eternal life. The gospel is not an easy thing to take, to believe the gospel and except it, Christ said you must be “born again” (John 3:3). God has to transform you spiritually before you can even believe. There are many who believe in a kind of Jesus but it is not the Jesus of the gospel it is only God who can cause a man to believe the gospel because he must be “born again”.
Just like there are three things that mark a believer there are three things that mark a false believer:
1. Disobedience to His (Jesus’) Word: If Christ says “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” you will do anything but. You may do a bunch of good deeds thinking you’ve done something great but never preach the gospel.
2. No burning desire to be with Jesus: They love the world and all of its sinful pleasures, they only want Jesus for what he might give them or maybe some of His precepts, but when it comes to repentance they go the other way.
3. They do not worship Jesus, not the Jesus of the gospel: They worship themselves and will support anything, wither it is the church or government that will serve them, there wants and their desires.
No one’s rights were violated by this prayer this young man gave. There is no right to not here something, if you are offended by the gospel of Jesus Christ guess what, you’re not unique, most of the world is offended by the gospel. The world tells you are good; the gospel says you’re bad. The world tells you that you deserve good things that you deserve to be happy; the gospel tells you that you deserve Hell. The world leads you to believe that you are at the center of all things, that you are god; the gospel says that Jesus is Lord. Yes the gospel of our Lord is hard to take and it goes against our sinful human nature; you truly most be “born again” to except it and this truly is what is going on here with this debate, not just between me and this man, but in this country over the subject of school prayer. The gospel is offensive and many will go to great lengths so that they don’t have to hear it. The first amendment was written to keep the government from interfering and is now being twisted in such a way to cause interference, to keep people from freely exercising their religion and from freedom of speech. To shut the mouths of those who obediently serve their Lord, doing what he said to do “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).
In the record of the early church the book of “Acts” while the ruling leaders of Israel met to discuss how they may stop “The Way” the gospel of Jesus Christ, a Pharisee named Gamaliel a member of the council stood up and said; “but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God”. The ruling leaders of Israel tried to stop the Apostles from preaching the gospel but they did it anyway and it spread. Rome tried to put the church to death but believers continued to preach the gospel and it spread. The Catholic Church tried to hold the gospel hostage and keep it from being spread to the common man and the world; but those who where obedient to their Lord preached it and it spread. Satan has even come up with false gospels to confuse; but the true gospel of our Lord continues to be preached. Satan has placed wolves in the church to discredit the gospel; but it continues on. I don’t care what law man passes that attempts to silence the Lord’s people, the gospel cannot be stopped and I for one will continue to preach it no matter the cost, for all the glory belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. This young man glorified Jesus Christ in praying at this High School graduation I encourage you to do the same.
Glorify Jesus Christ confess Him before all men;
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ
My daughter had recently just graduated high school 5/28/2011. A young man whom I know well had finished as one of the top students in his class and therefore was given the honor of the opening welcome for the graduation ceremony; he asked everyone to stand and said "let's pray". He gave thanks to God for the entire student body for everything he had done for them all of their lives to bring them to high school graduation. He asked Him to guide them all throughout their lives. He praised the Lord Jesus for saving him from his sins and prayed for all the students to come to faith In Christ. He ended with in Jesus name, Amen. In attendance there were Believers, Atheist, people who just don't care, and I noticed a group of Muslem women sitting together. This is what I heard in this prayer the Lord was glorified, and all heard him declare his faith for salvation was not in himself, not in the works he does, not in his goodness, even declaring he was sinful, but his faith for salvation was in the son of God and all heard! Glory be to Jesus! And He was glorified before all that day!
The answer that the man I had been debating gave astounded me, I
was finished with the debate at that point and would discuss it with him no longer, and I shook the sand from my feet, but this has weighed heavily on my heart all week and I have spent much time in prayer with my Lord about this and for this man, God has called me to pray for him and his family daily. This is the answer he gave “and that school broke the law”. I have to tell you, I couldn’t believe it! How could a story like that not bring great joy to anyone who believes Jesus is the only begotten son of God who takes away the sin of the world? This High School graduation was in a large arena filled with people, some spilling over into a nearby auditorium where the ceremony was televised, there were somewhere around 3,000 people listening. This young man comes to the podium and in a quick and concise way preaches the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 3,000 people many who are not believers heard him in a very loving way tell people that there is salvation from sin in Jesus Christ.
Here is the first Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances”.
I ask you, if this young man had been prevented from saying this prayer, whose rights would have been violated? I tell you it would have been his! There are three distinct marks of a believer and all who truly trusts in Jesus Christ have them.
1. Obedience to His (Jesus’) word: If Christ says “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” you go.
2. Desire to be with Jesus at all times: That is your ultimate goal in life, to be where Jesus is, that is why believers pray without ceasing, that as why they are in His word daily, to be with Jesus because He is their one true love.
3. Worship Jesus Christ as Lord: They don’t worship themselves, they worship Jesus, He is their adoration, they drop to his feet and worship.
Jesus said before ascending to His Father in Heaven, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). This young man was obedient to his Lord standing up in front of 3,000 people preaching the gospel. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech”. Now I ask you again if this young man would have been prevented from saying this prayer whose rights would have been violated? Jesus said, “preach the gospel”, this young man being obedient to his Lord did just that, if he had been prevented from doing so his rights under the first amendment would have been violated, he would have been prevented from freely exercising his religion and from freedom of speech. This was not the government establishing religion, this was the government getting out of the way and not preventing this young man from freely exercising his religion and freedom of speech. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the most powerful and loving thing that has ever happened in this world. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). But to a depraved humanity wrath and anger rise up over the gospel of Jesus Christ, because to believe the gospel you must see your eternal state before God in truth, that you are a sinner headed to Hell, you then must be willing to turn away from the pleasures of sin and by faith turn to Jesus believing that He is the only begotten son of God that takes away the sins of the world and offers all who believe eternal life. The gospel is not an easy thing to take, to believe the gospel and except it, Christ said you must be “born again” (John 3:3). God has to transform you spiritually before you can even believe. There are many who believe in a kind of Jesus but it is not the Jesus of the gospel it is only God who can cause a man to believe the gospel because he must be “born again”.
Just like there are three things that mark a believer there are three things that mark a false believer:
1. Disobedience to His (Jesus’) Word: If Christ says “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” you will do anything but. You may do a bunch of good deeds thinking you’ve done something great but never preach the gospel.
2. No burning desire to be with Jesus: They love the world and all of its sinful pleasures, they only want Jesus for what he might give them or maybe some of His precepts, but when it comes to repentance they go the other way.
3. They do not worship Jesus, not the Jesus of the gospel: They worship themselves and will support anything, wither it is the church or government that will serve them, there wants and their desires.
No one’s rights were violated by this prayer this young man gave. There is no right to not here something, if you are offended by the gospel of Jesus Christ guess what, you’re not unique, most of the world is offended by the gospel. The world tells you are good; the gospel says you’re bad. The world tells you that you deserve good things that you deserve to be happy; the gospel tells you that you deserve Hell. The world leads you to believe that you are at the center of all things, that you are god; the gospel says that Jesus is Lord. Yes the gospel of our Lord is hard to take and it goes against our sinful human nature; you truly most be “born again” to except it and this truly is what is going on here with this debate, not just between me and this man, but in this country over the subject of school prayer. The gospel is offensive and many will go to great lengths so that they don’t have to hear it. The first amendment was written to keep the government from interfering and is now being twisted in such a way to cause interference, to keep people from freely exercising their religion and from freedom of speech. To shut the mouths of those who obediently serve their Lord, doing what he said to do “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).
In the record of the early church the book of “Acts” while the ruling leaders of Israel met to discuss how they may stop “The Way” the gospel of Jesus Christ, a Pharisee named Gamaliel a member of the council stood up and said; “but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God”. The ruling leaders of Israel tried to stop the Apostles from preaching the gospel but they did it anyway and it spread. Rome tried to put the church to death but believers continued to preach the gospel and it spread. The Catholic Church tried to hold the gospel hostage and keep it from being spread to the common man and the world; but those who where obedient to their Lord preached it and it spread. Satan has even come up with false gospels to confuse; but the true gospel of our Lord continues to be preached. Satan has placed wolves in the church to discredit the gospel; but it continues on. I don’t care what law man passes that attempts to silence the Lord’s people, the gospel cannot be stopped and I for one will continue to preach it no matter the cost, for all the glory belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. This young man glorified Jesus Christ in praying at this High School graduation I encourage you to do the same.
Glorify Jesus Christ confess Him before all men;
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ
Saturday, June 4, 2011
All Consuming Belief
Do you believe? I mean do you BELIEVE!?! “And as Moses lifted up, the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). So I ask you, DO YOU BELIEVE? This has been on my heart all this week, there is so much floating around to confuse, so many people claim the name of Christ but by their actions appear to trust in everything else but Christ. This makes no since at all, I am confused by this; the Author of Life humbled Himself and became a Man, the Son of Man and yet people live as though this was passé. God does not call for a belief that is passé but an all encompassing belief, a belief that comes from a new birth, not a physical birth but a birth that comes from God Himself, a rebirth of your spirit, a complete change of your heart, no longer caring for the things of this world but your entire existence is of the Kingdom of God.
In talking with the Pharisee Nicodemus (the only time in scripture the Lord had a conversation with a Pharisee that was not totally confrontational by Him and the Pharisees) said this to Nicodemus; “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up”. Nicodemus came to the Lord at night, most likely so that no one would see him but that is not confirmed. But he did come with a truth seeking heart, he saw the works the Lord did and was not blinded by hatred and Satan he knew they were of God. The Pharisees had built up a system in which they believed you earn righteousness over a life time, by doing works. The Lord said this to Nicodemus assaulting his belief, showing him that salvation is of faith alone. This is in reference to Numbers 21:4-9, the people spoke against God, so God sent serpents into the camp and bit the people, and the people who were bit died, so the people came to Moses and said they had sinned against God asking Moses to pray to the Lord on their behalf. “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live’” Numbers 21:8). If you looked up by faith you were heeled and if you did not you died. So Christ was referencing this passage for Nicodemus, to bring understanding to this man who had great knowledge of the books of the law and prophets that salvation was by faith alone and that the object of that faith is the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, who would be raised up on a pole for all to see and if you look on Him with total belief you are saved from death, but if you look on Him with unbelief you will die.
What is the works that God wants from you? Jesus said: “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (John 6:29). Many of you have sat in churches, in Sunday schools and may have even read the bible yet you don’t believe. “But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe” (John 6:36). Belief in Jesus Christ is not passé, it is all encompassing, it will take over your entire life, it is a full force diving in where nothing is left on the surface of the waters, if you believe in Christ you belong to Him, your life is no longer your own, it is His. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47). Jesus said: “I am the bread of life” (John 6:48). “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world” (John 6:51). That is a full force all in kind of faith, a belief that leaves nothing open, Jesus call us to consume Him, He calls us to an all consuming faith that takes over every part of your being. “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you’” (John 6:53). The Bible says of God, “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24). Don’t you think that believing in Him whom God sent is an all consuming fire as well?
For some this may have been the first time you have heard of God’s only begotten Son Jesus Christ who takes away the sin of the world but for others this is a wakeup call. You can keep your life as it is but in the end you will lose it, but if you give it totally over to Him, you will save it. “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will find it” (Mark 8:35). For those of you who believe, who are the called of Jesus Christ, He says: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Tell people about Jesus, proclaim His name throughout the earth in every setting, no matter who is there, do not fear man and do not be swayed by popular opinion, He is the Lord and all is His. Salvation is His! Jesus said go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, that means all settings, all the time, no man, woman, or government should stop you, proclaim His name. Salvation is of the Lord! BELIEVE!
God be with you,
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ
In talking with the Pharisee Nicodemus (the only time in scripture the Lord had a conversation with a Pharisee that was not totally confrontational by Him and the Pharisees) said this to Nicodemus; “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up”. Nicodemus came to the Lord at night, most likely so that no one would see him but that is not confirmed. But he did come with a truth seeking heart, he saw the works the Lord did and was not blinded by hatred and Satan he knew they were of God. The Pharisees had built up a system in which they believed you earn righteousness over a life time, by doing works. The Lord said this to Nicodemus assaulting his belief, showing him that salvation is of faith alone. This is in reference to Numbers 21:4-9, the people spoke against God, so God sent serpents into the camp and bit the people, and the people who were bit died, so the people came to Moses and said they had sinned against God asking Moses to pray to the Lord on their behalf. “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live’” Numbers 21:8). If you looked up by faith you were heeled and if you did not you died. So Christ was referencing this passage for Nicodemus, to bring understanding to this man who had great knowledge of the books of the law and prophets that salvation was by faith alone and that the object of that faith is the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, who would be raised up on a pole for all to see and if you look on Him with total belief you are saved from death, but if you look on Him with unbelief you will die.
What is the works that God wants from you? Jesus said: “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (John 6:29). Many of you have sat in churches, in Sunday schools and may have even read the bible yet you don’t believe. “But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe” (John 6:36). Belief in Jesus Christ is not passé, it is all encompassing, it will take over your entire life, it is a full force diving in where nothing is left on the surface of the waters, if you believe in Christ you belong to Him, your life is no longer your own, it is His. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47). Jesus said: “I am the bread of life” (John 6:48). “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world” (John 6:51). That is a full force all in kind of faith, a belief that leaves nothing open, Jesus call us to consume Him, He calls us to an all consuming faith that takes over every part of your being. “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you’” (John 6:53). The Bible says of God, “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24). Don’t you think that believing in Him whom God sent is an all consuming fire as well?
For some this may have been the first time you have heard of God’s only begotten Son Jesus Christ who takes away the sin of the world but for others this is a wakeup call. You can keep your life as it is but in the end you will lose it, but if you give it totally over to Him, you will save it. “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will find it” (Mark 8:35). For those of you who believe, who are the called of Jesus Christ, He says: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Tell people about Jesus, proclaim His name throughout the earth in every setting, no matter who is there, do not fear man and do not be swayed by popular opinion, He is the Lord and all is His. Salvation is His! Jesus said go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, that means all settings, all the time, no man, woman, or government should stop you, proclaim His name. Salvation is of the Lord! BELIEVE!
God be with you,
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ
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