There is a creature that exists within our churches that is foreign to scripture. It has declared itself saved by once walking down a church aisle and reciting a parroted prayer, yet has no desire to really know the Lord. It says that it is headed to heaven, yet doesn’t care to read the Bible or spend time talking with God. It has remained in the same state it was in before walking that aisle, but will tell all who asks, “I’m borne again, done did that”. It says I have eternal life and when asked about this eternal life it has little to say about God, but talks about the things that will give it pleasure and happiness in heaven. It talks about hunting, fishing, playing golf, and seeing long lost family members who may or may not have known the Lord. That heaven will be pleasurable for it, but it is in no hurry to get there, it is fine right here thank you.
So one may ask the question, what is eternal life? Is eternal life these things in this world that give a man pleasure and happiness during this existence of flesh, blood, and bone? Jesus prayed to God the Father on behalf of those who believed that He came from the Father and not only for them, but all who would believe in Him through the word of those believers. He said: “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that you sent Me.” (John 17:20-21) This amazing prayer of our Lord comprises the entire 17th chapter of John and in it He states specifically what eternal life is. And what the Lord tells us is so amazing and wonderful it goes far beyond any happiness or pleasures brought on by created things. Here are His words. “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:1-3)
Did you see it, did you get that, I just got it myself the other day. Eternal life is knowing God, the only true God! That is what eternal life is; knowing God. It’s not a mere knowledge of Him, or a casual relationship; it is more intimate and a deeper, than with any created being any of us has had at any time on Earth. Eternal life is not endless existence; it is infinitely knowing God, the Creator of all things. People often want to know the meaning of it all, what is life all about, why are we here? We are created to know God and to worship God. Most of us like the creature described in the first paragraph worship the creation rather than the Creator. What does the average person say when asked what heaven will be like? The answer will most often be whatever they worship and love; created things, whatever makes them happy. We were not created to worship the creation, we were created to know God and worship Him. The most tragic thing imaginable happened in the Garden of Eden; man sinned and was separated from God. An enmity was placed between God and man; he could no longer be with God, he could no longer know God because he had sinned. God is Holy He is separate from man. Man was cast out of the Garden of Eden and a barrier was placed at the entrance, so that man could no longer enter; he was cast out of the presence of God into the earth, where he was to work and toil to eat all the days of his life. God is good, He cannot allow what is evil into His presence; because God is good, and man is evil man cannot commune with God.
You can read through any Book in Scripture and all of Scripture is about God restoring the relationship between Himself and man. He sent His Son Jesus; fully God and fully Man who through His bloody death, burial, and resurrection made it possible for God to restore the relationship with man. All who repent and believe in the gospel have eternal life. If you by the grace of God, through hearing the gospel preached, received the Holy Spirit, causing you to repent and believe in the Person of Jesus Christ (God the Son) and the work of Jesus Christ (paying the price for your sins in full through His death, burial, and resurrection), you have received the gift of God; Eternal life, that you may know the only true God. The overwhelming desire to know God, and to be with Him, has to be the greatest fruit of salvation.
Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ that you may know God;
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ
Quotes and References: (John 17, John 17:20-21, John 17:1-3, Genesis 3, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Mark 1:15, Acts 2:38)
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Good News
My name is Mike Peek, I have some good news for you; but before I give you the good news I have some bad news. No one likes to think about their death, but we all are headed for death, and in death, judgment before our Creator. The bible says, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment”. Are you ready to face God in judgment? God has given us a Holy set of scripts, His law by which we can judge ourselves to see our standing before God; before that impending Day of Judgment.
I have four questions to ask you:
1. Have you ever told a lie, even once?
2. Have ever stolen anything, regardless of its value, taken anything at all that didn’t belong to you without the owner’s permission?
3. Have you used God’s name in vain, used the names of God in place of a curse word or used His names without reverence?
4. What we are doing here is going through a few of God’s Ten Commandments; the 7th says do not commit adultery. In bringing light to this commandment Jesus said, “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Have you looked at another person with lust?
Now that is just four of God’s Holy Ten Commandments with another six to go; how are you doing? The bible says, “For whoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all”; you’re probably saying to yourself, “Everyone sins, who hasn’t broken these commandments?” And you would be right, but that doesn’t make it ok. I once thought the same way, because God is a loving God right, He will just forgive us of our sins, right? God is a loving God, and God is merciful; but God is also righteous, Holy, and a just judge. God hates sin and His law says that if you sin (break His law) you will die. “For the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.” The bible says that no thief, no adulterer shall enter the kingdom of God and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. To be cast out of the kingdom of God into the lake of fire and brimstone, that is hell my friend and that is what awaits everyone who has broken the laws of God.
God is love, and God is merciful, but before He could be merciful to sinful man God’s justice and righteousness had to be served. Sin had to be dealt with, His law says; if you sin, you die. Man sinned so a man has to die. So what did God do so that He could be both just and merciful? He became a Man, Jesus of Nazareth. He was fully Man, borne of the Virgin Mary; and He was fully God, conceived of by the Holy Spirit. He had to be fully Man, because man sinned, man had to die; He had to be fully God because, “Salvation is from the LORD.” He is the Son of God, He is the Son of Man; fully God and fully Man. He never sinned; He never broke one of God’s laws and was completely obedient to God the Father from birth to His death at the command of God the Father on the cross. He was the perfect offering for sin; God the Father poured His wrath out on Him as a Man for the sins of man, He died and was buried, then He rose again the third day from the grave proving who He was; the Son of God. Because He rose from the grave we know that sin has been dealt with, God’s wrath for sin has been satisfied, justice has been done, and He can now have mercy on man. God’s free gift is everlasting life to all who repent from their sins and put their faith alone in His only Son, Jesus Christ.
You and I are facing the physical death of our bodies and when that happens, you and I will face God in judgment, giving an account of everything we have thought, said, and done in this life. God’s law demands justice, someone broke His law, so someone has to die “and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” There is only one sacrifice that is acceptable to God the Father for Sin; the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. I know when I come before the thrown of God I will be clinging to the Son of God and His sacrifice on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins; how about you? “Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no once comes to the Father but through Me.” All who repent of their sins and put their faith in Jesus Christ are forgiven; all who reject the Son of God remain in their sins and will die in their sins. Repent of your sins and put your faith in Jesus Christ alone and you will be saved.
(Quotes and references NASB: Hebrews 9:27, Romans 3:20, Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5, Matthew 5:28, 1 Corinthians 6:9&10, Revelation 21:8, James 2:10, Jonah 2:9, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Hebrews 9:22, John 14:6, John 8:24)
I have four questions to ask you:
1. Have you ever told a lie, even once?
2. Have ever stolen anything, regardless of its value, taken anything at all that didn’t belong to you without the owner’s permission?
3. Have you used God’s name in vain, used the names of God in place of a curse word or used His names without reverence?
4. What we are doing here is going through a few of God’s Ten Commandments; the 7th says do not commit adultery. In bringing light to this commandment Jesus said, “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Have you looked at another person with lust?
Now that is just four of God’s Holy Ten Commandments with another six to go; how are you doing? The bible says, “For whoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all”; you’re probably saying to yourself, “Everyone sins, who hasn’t broken these commandments?” And you would be right, but that doesn’t make it ok. I once thought the same way, because God is a loving God right, He will just forgive us of our sins, right? God is a loving God, and God is merciful; but God is also righteous, Holy, and a just judge. God hates sin and His law says that if you sin (break His law) you will die. “For the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.” The bible says that no thief, no adulterer shall enter the kingdom of God and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. To be cast out of the kingdom of God into the lake of fire and brimstone, that is hell my friend and that is what awaits everyone who has broken the laws of God.
God is love, and God is merciful, but before He could be merciful to sinful man God’s justice and righteousness had to be served. Sin had to be dealt with, His law says; if you sin, you die. Man sinned so a man has to die. So what did God do so that He could be both just and merciful? He became a Man, Jesus of Nazareth. He was fully Man, borne of the Virgin Mary; and He was fully God, conceived of by the Holy Spirit. He had to be fully Man, because man sinned, man had to die; He had to be fully God because, “Salvation is from the LORD.” He is the Son of God, He is the Son of Man; fully God and fully Man. He never sinned; He never broke one of God’s laws and was completely obedient to God the Father from birth to His death at the command of God the Father on the cross. He was the perfect offering for sin; God the Father poured His wrath out on Him as a Man for the sins of man, He died and was buried, then He rose again the third day from the grave proving who He was; the Son of God. Because He rose from the grave we know that sin has been dealt with, God’s wrath for sin has been satisfied, justice has been done, and He can now have mercy on man. God’s free gift is everlasting life to all who repent from their sins and put their faith alone in His only Son, Jesus Christ.
You and I are facing the physical death of our bodies and when that happens, you and I will face God in judgment, giving an account of everything we have thought, said, and done in this life. God’s law demands justice, someone broke His law, so someone has to die “and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” There is only one sacrifice that is acceptable to God the Father for Sin; the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. I know when I come before the thrown of God I will be clinging to the Son of God and His sacrifice on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins; how about you? “Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no once comes to the Father but through Me.” All who repent of their sins and put their faith in Jesus Christ are forgiven; all who reject the Son of God remain in their sins and will die in their sins. Repent of your sins and put your faith in Jesus Christ alone and you will be saved.
(Quotes and references NASB: Hebrews 9:27, Romans 3:20, Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5, Matthew 5:28, 1 Corinthians 6:9&10, Revelation 21:8, James 2:10, Jonah 2:9, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Hebrews 9:22, John 14:6, John 8:24)
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
The Power of God’s Word
In having recently read through the book of Ephesians I would like to impart to you a few thoughts I had. Ephesians 6:12 says: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Now I have to tell you, that in and of itself is frightening, but he goes on to tell us the weaponry used to fight this battle and one of which is, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). Now how powerful is this sword that we have been given by our Lord? Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Now if you ask me I would say that is one powerful weapon, and should give us much confidence in using it “against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Now take the gospel for instance; the apostle Paul said of the gospel in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” It is not you the preacher that has the power; it is the gospel, it is not the messenger that has power, it is the word of God that is the power.
So my friends let’s take a look at how the word of God says, a man is saved. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). So salvation is by the grace of God alone, through faith alone; it’s not by anything we can do, it is by the grace of God alone. So who and what is that saving faith in? “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). So salvation is by the grace of God alone, through faith alone, in the person of Jesus Christ alone; not of us it is of God alone. And what is that faith in? “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). So salvation is by the grace of God alone, through faith alone, in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone. So how does one come to this faith in Jesus Christ? “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). So salvation is by the grace of God alone, through faith alone, in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone, through the hearing of the word of God alone. “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:14-15). We have been commissioned by our Lord, we have our marching orders, and that includes all who believe. So what are we to do? We are to do exactly what our Lord Jesus Christ said to do, just before He ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father in heaven. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). All is of God, the word preached is His, grace is His, faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ is His; none of salvation is of us, none; it belongs to God alone, “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). God gives us a wonderful gift; the believer gets to participate in being used by God, to preach the word of God, which God uses to save those He has elected by His grace, through faith. How awesome is that?
Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved,
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ
So my friends let’s take a look at how the word of God says, a man is saved. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). So salvation is by the grace of God alone, through faith alone; it’s not by anything we can do, it is by the grace of God alone. So who and what is that saving faith in? “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). So salvation is by the grace of God alone, through faith alone, in the person of Jesus Christ alone; not of us it is of God alone. And what is that faith in? “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). So salvation is by the grace of God alone, through faith alone, in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone. So how does one come to this faith in Jesus Christ? “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). So salvation is by the grace of God alone, through faith alone, in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone, through the hearing of the word of God alone. “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:14-15). We have been commissioned by our Lord, we have our marching orders, and that includes all who believe. So what are we to do? We are to do exactly what our Lord Jesus Christ said to do, just before He ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father in heaven. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). All is of God, the word preached is His, grace is His, faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ is His; none of salvation is of us, none; it belongs to God alone, “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). God gives us a wonderful gift; the believer gets to participate in being used by God, to preach the word of God, which God uses to save those He has elected by His grace, through faith. How awesome is that?
Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved,
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ
Saturday, April 14, 2012
What a Good Friday
Some may call it rude, some may call it annoying, some may say he has gone mad; but I tell you this, I heard the call and obeyed. This past Friday, (Good Friday) the Lord lead me to do something I had never done before; preach the gospel in open-air. Shortly after the Lord saved me, I knew that I had to go out and tell people about Him; what He had done for me and what He had done for them. So I began to pour over His word and pray seeking His will in evangelism; in spreading the gospel (the good news) to a lost and dying world. You see, I had been a false convert; sitting on a pew in a church, listening to sermons, going to Sunday School classes, going to church functions even reading my bible. But I was lost and living a life of sin, I read my bible and didn’t even know what sin was. The Lord through the knowledge of my sin, (“for by the law is the knowledge of sin” Romans 3:20) and through the preaching of His gospel, (“that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” 1 Corinthians 15:3-4) my sin was vividly displayed before me as I watched the movie “Fire Proof” while home alone the evening of December 19th 2009. The main character’s father then preached the law and the gospel to his son (Kirk Cameron’s character was the son). I found my-self on my knees confessing my sin to God and putting my faith in Jesus Christ. After a week long battle with my sin nature, I came to full repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and savior. He really had saved me; he yanked me out of my sinful state, awoke me, and graciously gave me a saving faith in Him as Lord and Savior. On the last Sunday of 2009 (December 26th 2009) my Sunday school teacher Dan Sala gave us a challenge; he wanted us to write down goals for 2010 and seal them up in an envelope, opening them up after the completion of 2010. What I had written, I didn’t think of as goals but instead what I knew God wanted of me.
There were two things I wrote down:
1. I would give God complete Lordship, I would follow Jesus wherever He lead me.
2. I would love my neighbor as myself.
(I had no intention of writing a testimony but I guess the Lord did, I asked Him to write this blog and this is what has come out of that prayer.)
This is the first time I’ve given this testimony. Why? Because I hate my sin! I hate that I sinned against my Lord. I hate what my sin did to my wife, children, and everyone else I hurt all of those past years. God really saved me; I was drowning in a cesspool of sin and I was enjoying it, and He reached in, jerked me out, and used the law to bring the knowledge of sin, then through the preaching of the gospel, the Holy Spirit brought me to repentance and faith. One week later under the direction of the Holy Spirit I made a dedication to the Lord written for my own keeping and by prayer. At the time I had no idea what the Lord was going to do with that.
I began to pour over the word of God and it opened up to me like it had never done before, the word of God was alive and God spoke to me on every page. The Lord’s words: “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you” (Mark 5:19) and “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), was speaking directly to me. So what to do, I was compelled to be a witness but how? There was no evangelism training at church and I had heard Kirk Cameron was involved in ministry so I looked him up on the internet; which lead me to a TV program by Kirk Cameron & Ray Comfort of Living Waters Ministries, in which they would instruct believers on how to go out and evangelize, I also studied some other methods as well, but they didn’t seem as biblical. I began with passing out trillion dollar bill gospel tracts that I purchased from Living Waters ministry. I was learning so much from scripture, I needed an avenue to share with people, so this blog was born in June of that year, 2010. Later that year, I with the help of my daughter created a Christmas gospel tract on my computer, printed 100 of them. Prayed, shared with one of my accountability partners what I was going to do, I headed out to the Mall on black Friday with the gospel tracts in hand. Pulled into the Mall parking lot, prayed, went into the Mall more scared than I had ever been in my life, passed out the 100 tracts and left the Mall rejoicing in the Lord. The Lord continued to grow me in evangelism the following year 2011, I had read a blog written by one of the staff members (Tony Miano) of Living Waters called “Why I Carry A Cross”, the Spirit of the Lord stirred within me as I read that blog, I thought now that’s something I could do. So I ran out to Lowe’s, bought the materials and made a cross, but made a mistake, I told my friends and family what I had planned to do with that cross, so it sat in my garage for the remainder of that year unused. I had become bolder in my witnessing, passing out tracts by the hundreds, witnessing to people in person and on the phone but God began to tell me more was to come.
I began to think about preaching, I would think about it often as I ran. One of the things I enjoy doing is running and while running I talk with the Lord. I probably thought about and preached the gospel a hundred times while running, but not to people, it was just me, God, and His creation. Then this year 2012, the morning of January 29th 2012 I read a facebook post by an evangelist named Shawn Hole, he and a team were preaching the gospel in Nepal and they were stoned. They didn’t know if they should leave the country or stay. So what did they do? They did what the Apostles did in Acts when they were threatened; prayed to God for boldness and went out and continued to preach the gospel. Then I’m in church that morning singing worship songs, then we began to sing a song called: “I Surrender All to You” and I knew I did not. The following day I wrote a blog post called sick of church, later that week grabbed the cross that had been sitting in my garage for months, went out to the corner of Rice & Broadway in Tyler, TX for one hour and knew that this was the right thing to do, the Lord has had me out weekly since and I am so thankful for the ministry.
But there was that continues thought, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). So the week before Resurrection Sunday, I relented and had an extreme desire to preach the gospel in a public place on Good Friday. I picked the court house because I knew people where pouring into the court house at about 8:00 am every morning, I arrived there and no one was to be found, the entire downtown area was devoid of people, then I went to the park, no one was there as well. Went home, planned to go out with the cross that afternoon after sleeping, having come off a night shift. Woke up around 2:00 PM, read my bible and spent time in prayer, I suddenly had an overwhelming feeling to go to the University of Texas at Tyler and do what I had planned to do that morning, Read aloud the trial and crucifixion of Christ from John 19 and then preach the law and gospel. I arrived and parked by the tennis courts, filled with much fear I prayed, stepped out of the car, the tennis courts and around them were full of people. So I walked away from there and walked around the campus, there were a few people at the swimming pool but otherwise the rest of the campus was devoid of people. I really don’t know what I was looking for as I walked. I made my way back around to the tennis courts and walked down to the tennis courts.
Before I knew it I was reading aloud John chapter 19 about a third of the way through a woman walks up and says, “Can you stop? You’re bothering our tennis game.” I replied, “No I can’t” and continued to read aloud. About two thirds of the way through a man walked up and said the same thing the women had said, and then another man says, “I’m enjoying it, you can read here.” I continued to read aloud, but I began to move towards the man who had enjoyed what I was reading, I guess out of comfort. By the time I had finished reading I found myself on higher ground and my voice had gotten louder, so that my voice carried even further. I began to use the law 3rd, 7th, 8th, 9th commandments to bring the knowledge of sin, preached the gospel of my Lord in open-air, then told them all that they could be saved if they would, Repent and put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I departed got into my truck, thanked God and prayed for the salvation of all those who heard. I wrote this for one reason, to glorify my Lord. The same reason I stand on the corner with a 4 ft cross, the same reason I read aloud the crucifixion of my Lord and preached His gospel, to glorify Him and the hope that some will be saved as He saved me. Thank you Jesus!
Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ
There were two things I wrote down:
1. I would give God complete Lordship, I would follow Jesus wherever He lead me.
2. I would love my neighbor as myself.
(I had no intention of writing a testimony but I guess the Lord did, I asked Him to write this blog and this is what has come out of that prayer.)
This is the first time I’ve given this testimony. Why? Because I hate my sin! I hate that I sinned against my Lord. I hate what my sin did to my wife, children, and everyone else I hurt all of those past years. God really saved me; I was drowning in a cesspool of sin and I was enjoying it, and He reached in, jerked me out, and used the law to bring the knowledge of sin, then through the preaching of the gospel, the Holy Spirit brought me to repentance and faith. One week later under the direction of the Holy Spirit I made a dedication to the Lord written for my own keeping and by prayer. At the time I had no idea what the Lord was going to do with that.
I began to pour over the word of God and it opened up to me like it had never done before, the word of God was alive and God spoke to me on every page. The Lord’s words: “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you” (Mark 5:19) and “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), was speaking directly to me. So what to do, I was compelled to be a witness but how? There was no evangelism training at church and I had heard Kirk Cameron was involved in ministry so I looked him up on the internet; which lead me to a TV program by Kirk Cameron & Ray Comfort of Living Waters Ministries, in which they would instruct believers on how to go out and evangelize, I also studied some other methods as well, but they didn’t seem as biblical. I began with passing out trillion dollar bill gospel tracts that I purchased from Living Waters ministry. I was learning so much from scripture, I needed an avenue to share with people, so this blog was born in June of that year, 2010. Later that year, I with the help of my daughter created a Christmas gospel tract on my computer, printed 100 of them. Prayed, shared with one of my accountability partners what I was going to do, I headed out to the Mall on black Friday with the gospel tracts in hand. Pulled into the Mall parking lot, prayed, went into the Mall more scared than I had ever been in my life, passed out the 100 tracts and left the Mall rejoicing in the Lord. The Lord continued to grow me in evangelism the following year 2011, I had read a blog written by one of the staff members (Tony Miano) of Living Waters called “Why I Carry A Cross”, the Spirit of the Lord stirred within me as I read that blog, I thought now that’s something I could do. So I ran out to Lowe’s, bought the materials and made a cross, but made a mistake, I told my friends and family what I had planned to do with that cross, so it sat in my garage for the remainder of that year unused. I had become bolder in my witnessing, passing out tracts by the hundreds, witnessing to people in person and on the phone but God began to tell me more was to come.
I began to think about preaching, I would think about it often as I ran. One of the things I enjoy doing is running and while running I talk with the Lord. I probably thought about and preached the gospel a hundred times while running, but not to people, it was just me, God, and His creation. Then this year 2012, the morning of January 29th 2012 I read a facebook post by an evangelist named Shawn Hole, he and a team were preaching the gospel in Nepal and they were stoned. They didn’t know if they should leave the country or stay. So what did they do? They did what the Apostles did in Acts when they were threatened; prayed to God for boldness and went out and continued to preach the gospel. Then I’m in church that morning singing worship songs, then we began to sing a song called: “I Surrender All to You” and I knew I did not. The following day I wrote a blog post called sick of church, later that week grabbed the cross that had been sitting in my garage for months, went out to the corner of Rice & Broadway in Tyler, TX for one hour and knew that this was the right thing to do, the Lord has had me out weekly since and I am so thankful for the ministry.
But there was that continues thought, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). So the week before Resurrection Sunday, I relented and had an extreme desire to preach the gospel in a public place on Good Friday. I picked the court house because I knew people where pouring into the court house at about 8:00 am every morning, I arrived there and no one was to be found, the entire downtown area was devoid of people, then I went to the park, no one was there as well. Went home, planned to go out with the cross that afternoon after sleeping, having come off a night shift. Woke up around 2:00 PM, read my bible and spent time in prayer, I suddenly had an overwhelming feeling to go to the University of Texas at Tyler and do what I had planned to do that morning, Read aloud the trial and crucifixion of Christ from John 19 and then preach the law and gospel. I arrived and parked by the tennis courts, filled with much fear I prayed, stepped out of the car, the tennis courts and around them were full of people. So I walked away from there and walked around the campus, there were a few people at the swimming pool but otherwise the rest of the campus was devoid of people. I really don’t know what I was looking for as I walked. I made my way back around to the tennis courts and walked down to the tennis courts.
Before I knew it I was reading aloud John chapter 19 about a third of the way through a woman walks up and says, “Can you stop? You’re bothering our tennis game.” I replied, “No I can’t” and continued to read aloud. About two thirds of the way through a man walked up and said the same thing the women had said, and then another man says, “I’m enjoying it, you can read here.” I continued to read aloud, but I began to move towards the man who had enjoyed what I was reading, I guess out of comfort. By the time I had finished reading I found myself on higher ground and my voice had gotten louder, so that my voice carried even further. I began to use the law 3rd, 7th, 8th, 9th commandments to bring the knowledge of sin, preached the gospel of my Lord in open-air, then told them all that they could be saved if they would, Repent and put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I departed got into my truck, thanked God and prayed for the salvation of all those who heard. I wrote this for one reason, to glorify my Lord. The same reason I stand on the corner with a 4 ft cross, the same reason I read aloud the crucifixion of my Lord and preached His gospel, to glorify Him and the hope that some will be saved as He saved me. Thank you Jesus!
Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ
Monday, April 9, 2012
Mercy, Way More Than I Ever Thought
If you have read my blogs over the past few weeks you will have noticed a pattern. I have written a lot about Romans chapter 3. I just cannot get past this; the more God teaches me and the more I learn the more there is to learn in this incredible passage. My focus has been directed by the LORD to a single passage in Romans chapter 3 that I have written about previously; the passage begins in verse 22 and ends in verse 26. This passage is so incredible it is the gospel and it answers all the questions of the faith. My focus this week has been narrowed down to a single word in that passage and has caused me to go on a journey in discovery; and what God has thought me is just amazing. I think that next to the names of God that this word is quite possibly the most important word in the entire bible yet you seldom here it spoken. This word is so important to the Christian faith, that when I stand back and look at it I am amazed that it is not used in everyday Christian language. We have several words in the Christian faith that if it were not for the faith we wouldn’t use, but use all the time; but this word is not one of them and it is the understanding and meaning of this single word that defines the Christian faith.
We know from reading Romans 6:23 that, “the wages of sin is death.” Romans 3:23 from the above mentioned passage says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Then verse 24 the very next verse says “being justified freely by his grace.” How can this be, this just does not fit and when you read all throughout scripture and come to understand the nature of God and who He is, this just does not fit. I have been talking about this for some time now but it completely goes against the nature of God to let a criminal just go free. We in America have a vague since of justice because we see so many injustices done in or criminal system. But I’m telling you, if someone is guilty of a crime and the law clearly states that the crime is punishable, and the law clearly states what that punishment is to be; if the judge lets the guilty criminal go free he is unjust. And every single one of us has broken God’s laws and is guilty, and the law clearly states that the guilty are to be punished and cast out of the kingdom of God into the lake of fire and brimstone which is the second death. Proverbs 17:15 clearly states that “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.” So if it is an abomination to the LORD to justify the wicked how then does He justify us who are clearly guilty and have broken His laws with the clear penalty being death and hell. You see many men state that God simply forgives sin, and what they are doing wither they know it or not are declaring God to be unjust, and they are degrading the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
The answer to this dilemma is in this single word that I spoke of earlier, “Propitiation”. It was obvious to me that this passage, all of chapter 3, and all of Romans hinged on this one word and even more so the One in whom this is fulfilled, or LORD Jesus Christ. I use the NKJV of the English translations, it is a good literal translation, and now that I have memorized so much of the text it would be difficult to change, but with all translations it is not the original text. This word was so vitally important that I thought that I needed to research it in the original text and found out something wonderful and powerful, that what was being said here goes far beyond anything I would have imagined. In the NKJV this word propitiation occurs 4 times; Romans 3:25, Hebrews 2:17, 1 John 2:2, 1 John 4:10; but in Romans 3:25 which is where my focus was, the Greek word that it was translated from was different than the word the other three were translated from. The Greek word is( ἱλαστήριον) - pronounced Hilasterion, in the Greek New Testament this word Hilasterion occurs twice; Romans 3:25 and Hebrews 9:5. In Hebrews 9:5 the text is referring to the Mercy Seat, the covering of the Ark that contains the Testament of God, written with God’s own hand the moral law, the Holy Ten Commandments. In the Septuagint; which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament this word Hilasterion occurs 20 times translated from the Hebrew word (Kapporeth). In the Septuagint (Hilasterion) occurs many times in Exodus, several times in Leviticus, and in Numbers. So in Exodus God tells Moses what the Mercy Seat was to look like, and that it would sit atop the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the testament of God, (the Holy Ten Commandments).
Let’s take a look at that from Exodus 25:17-22. “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat. And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.
The Mercy Seat is where God and man meet; it is the covering for the moral law of God and is the meeting place between God and man. In the temple was the Holy place in which only a priest could enter, there was another curtain which divided the Holy place from the Holiest of Holies which is where the Ark of the Covenant was, containing the law of God and the Mercy Seat. The high Priest and only the high priest could enter into the Holiest of Holies and could do so only once a year, on the Day of Atonement; all of this can be found in Leviticus Chapter 16. I will describe this briefly, leaving out much detail in order to be brief; I highly recommend that you read all of Leviticus Chapter 16 yourself. So once a year the high priest would enter the Holiest of Holies on the Day of Atonement and in order to enter, atonement had to be made for his sins. He the priest had to sacrifice a young bull without blemish, then would come before the Mercy Seat, sprinkle the blood of the bull on the Mercy Seat and before the Mercy Seat to atone for his own sins. Then he would take two kids (two goats) and cast lots between the two, one was sacrificed before the LORD and the blood of the kid was sprinkled on the Mercy Seat and before the Mercy Seat to make atonement for the sins of all the people. Then the other kid was taken before the LORD the high priest would put his hand on the kid and confess all the sins of the people before the LORD transferring their sins to the kid. Then verse 22, “The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.”
After reading all of this and now knowing what propitiation is referring to, I have to tell you, I was beside myself, the Spirit of God had revealed something to me in His scripture that is incredible and I am just overwhelmed with it. God set forth Christ Jesus as a Mercy Seat; only God can sit on the Mercy Seat, it is His place alone. The sins of the people are atoned for by blood; the one on the Mercy Seat shed His own blood to atone for the sins of the people. The sins of the people were placed on Him and He died alone, forsaken by the Father, cast out into outer darkness, He carried our sins with Him into Sheol, into death, He bore our sins on Himself, all of our iniquities to an uninhabited land. While in that uninhabited land He defeated sin and death and arose from the grave, victorious over sin and death, now that my friend is propitiation. To top all of this off I later read in the gospel of John the resurrection of Christ and how Mary Magdalene remained outside of the tomb weeping after Peter and John had departed, and then she stooped down and looked into the tomb and what she saw was amazing. “And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain” (John 20:12). Just like the Mercy Seat on top of the Ark of the Covenant, the place of God. Wow!!!! Propitiation – the Mercy Seat, the One on the throne, the Judge, shed His Own blood to atone for the sins of His people in His mercy, then bore the sins of His people into the wilderness, cast out alone into death, defeated sin and death and arose from the grave, so that all who put their faith in Him shall live. How can God be both Just and Justifier? God the Father demonstrates His Just punishment for sin which is death in pouring out His wrath on His Son for the sin of man; and God the Son demonstrates Himself as justifier in mercifully taking the punishment for sin as a Man, “to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:26) Propitiation!
Repent of your sins and trust alone in Jesus Christ,
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ
We know from reading Romans 6:23 that, “the wages of sin is death.” Romans 3:23 from the above mentioned passage says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Then verse 24 the very next verse says “being justified freely by his grace.” How can this be, this just does not fit and when you read all throughout scripture and come to understand the nature of God and who He is, this just does not fit. I have been talking about this for some time now but it completely goes against the nature of God to let a criminal just go free. We in America have a vague since of justice because we see so many injustices done in or criminal system. But I’m telling you, if someone is guilty of a crime and the law clearly states that the crime is punishable, and the law clearly states what that punishment is to be; if the judge lets the guilty criminal go free he is unjust. And every single one of us has broken God’s laws and is guilty, and the law clearly states that the guilty are to be punished and cast out of the kingdom of God into the lake of fire and brimstone which is the second death. Proverbs 17:15 clearly states that “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.” So if it is an abomination to the LORD to justify the wicked how then does He justify us who are clearly guilty and have broken His laws with the clear penalty being death and hell. You see many men state that God simply forgives sin, and what they are doing wither they know it or not are declaring God to be unjust, and they are degrading the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
The answer to this dilemma is in this single word that I spoke of earlier, “Propitiation”. It was obvious to me that this passage, all of chapter 3, and all of Romans hinged on this one word and even more so the One in whom this is fulfilled, or LORD Jesus Christ. I use the NKJV of the English translations, it is a good literal translation, and now that I have memorized so much of the text it would be difficult to change, but with all translations it is not the original text. This word was so vitally important that I thought that I needed to research it in the original text and found out something wonderful and powerful, that what was being said here goes far beyond anything I would have imagined. In the NKJV this word propitiation occurs 4 times; Romans 3:25, Hebrews 2:17, 1 John 2:2, 1 John 4:10; but in Romans 3:25 which is where my focus was, the Greek word that it was translated from was different than the word the other three were translated from. The Greek word is( ἱλαστήριον) - pronounced Hilasterion, in the Greek New Testament this word Hilasterion occurs twice; Romans 3:25 and Hebrews 9:5. In Hebrews 9:5 the text is referring to the Mercy Seat, the covering of the Ark that contains the Testament of God, written with God’s own hand the moral law, the Holy Ten Commandments. In the Septuagint; which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament this word Hilasterion occurs 20 times translated from the Hebrew word (Kapporeth). In the Septuagint (Hilasterion) occurs many times in Exodus, several times in Leviticus, and in Numbers. So in Exodus God tells Moses what the Mercy Seat was to look like, and that it would sit atop the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the testament of God, (the Holy Ten Commandments).
Let’s take a look at that from Exodus 25:17-22. “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat. And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.
The Mercy Seat is where God and man meet; it is the covering for the moral law of God and is the meeting place between God and man. In the temple was the Holy place in which only a priest could enter, there was another curtain which divided the Holy place from the Holiest of Holies which is where the Ark of the Covenant was, containing the law of God and the Mercy Seat. The high Priest and only the high priest could enter into the Holiest of Holies and could do so only once a year, on the Day of Atonement; all of this can be found in Leviticus Chapter 16. I will describe this briefly, leaving out much detail in order to be brief; I highly recommend that you read all of Leviticus Chapter 16 yourself. So once a year the high priest would enter the Holiest of Holies on the Day of Atonement and in order to enter, atonement had to be made for his sins. He the priest had to sacrifice a young bull without blemish, then would come before the Mercy Seat, sprinkle the blood of the bull on the Mercy Seat and before the Mercy Seat to atone for his own sins. Then he would take two kids (two goats) and cast lots between the two, one was sacrificed before the LORD and the blood of the kid was sprinkled on the Mercy Seat and before the Mercy Seat to make atonement for the sins of all the people. Then the other kid was taken before the LORD the high priest would put his hand on the kid and confess all the sins of the people before the LORD transferring their sins to the kid. Then verse 22, “The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.”
After reading all of this and now knowing what propitiation is referring to, I have to tell you, I was beside myself, the Spirit of God had revealed something to me in His scripture that is incredible and I am just overwhelmed with it. God set forth Christ Jesus as a Mercy Seat; only God can sit on the Mercy Seat, it is His place alone. The sins of the people are atoned for by blood; the one on the Mercy Seat shed His own blood to atone for the sins of the people. The sins of the people were placed on Him and He died alone, forsaken by the Father, cast out into outer darkness, He carried our sins with Him into Sheol, into death, He bore our sins on Himself, all of our iniquities to an uninhabited land. While in that uninhabited land He defeated sin and death and arose from the grave, victorious over sin and death, now that my friend is propitiation. To top all of this off I later read in the gospel of John the resurrection of Christ and how Mary Magdalene remained outside of the tomb weeping after Peter and John had departed, and then she stooped down and looked into the tomb and what she saw was amazing. “And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain” (John 20:12). Just like the Mercy Seat on top of the Ark of the Covenant, the place of God. Wow!!!! Propitiation – the Mercy Seat, the One on the throne, the Judge, shed His Own blood to atone for the sins of His people in His mercy, then bore the sins of His people into the wilderness, cast out alone into death, defeated sin and death and arose from the grave, so that all who put their faith in Him shall live. How can God be both Just and Justifier? God the Father demonstrates His Just punishment for sin which is death in pouring out His wrath on His Son for the sin of man; and God the Son demonstrates Himself as justifier in mercifully taking the punishment for sin as a Man, “to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:26) Propitiation!
Repent of your sins and trust alone in Jesus Christ,
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ
Monday, April 2, 2012
The Righteousness of God
Yesterday afternoon I was meditating on Romans 3:22-26 as I find myself doing often as of late. God has really opened up my heart and mind to these scriptures in particular, with a broader focus on Romans 3:9-28 but with an even more intent focus on Romans 3:22-26. As many of you know I have been memorizing the gospel of John and I have been doing so that I may know my Lord more intimately and it has had a profound effect on me and the way I see my Lord, He is so beautiful and amazing that words cannot even begin to impart. What I have put to memory is mine, I can meditate on it at anytime anywhere and no man can take it away from me. If all of scripture was destroyed and all the writings of godly men were destroyed, what God has put to my memory will remain with me for life and eternally. But if somehow all of my memories were to be erased and I could just hold on to one passage it would be Romans 3:9-28 and particularly Romans 3:22-26, in it is the revelation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Man’s sin and rebellion against God, the justice of God, the mercy of God, the Holiness of God, God’s hatred of sin, and most of all the righteousness of God.
Most sermons that I here are very man centered, it seems that man is at the center of attention and God saves man, and it’s all about man. But that is not what I see when I read this passage, the gospel begins and ends with God, we are but created beings worthy of all condemnation that God demonstrates His perfect love on and His righteousness. The gospel is not about man it is all about God. As I was meditating on this passage yesterday and it suddenly occurred to me (I believe from the spirit of God), that Jesus did not die for man but solely to demonstrate the righteousness of God. For the sake of God’s own righteousness did Jesus die. “To demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). The greatest question in all of Christianity, the greatest question in all of scripture is this; if God is just how can He justify the wicked? “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD” (Proverbs 17:15). If God is good and a just judge He cannot pardon the wicked, if He pardons the wicked He is not just. I say that to people and they have the biggest question mark on their continents. It amazes me that this is not a normal thing in Christianity, because it is the gospel. I listened to a sermon yesterday by Paul Washer and he said something I thought was profound and truth, “This country is not gospel hardened, this country is gospel ignorant.” God’s perfect justice says that if you break His law the penalty is death being cast out of the kingdom of God into hell fire. If He were to simply say, “That man right there, I love him I don’t want to see him perish, I am going to pardon him, I want him to be with me in paradise”; if he did that He would be unjust he would not be upholding justice. Would He be merciful yes, but not just?
Man has sinned so a Man has to die; “Salvation is of the LORD” (Jonah 2:9) so the One who saves has to be God. Now how can God be both just and merciful at the same time, there is only one way and in that way is perfect love? The One who poured out is wrath from heaven on His only begotten Son for sin has to also be the same One on the cross barring the penalty for sin, which is death and being cast out alone into outer darkness. You heard me rightly; the One who was punishing was also the same One being punished. Jesus said, “I and My father are one” (John 10:30). There is One God, the creator of all things? He God the Father was in heaven pouring out His wrath on His only begotten Son for sin; for His justice, and He God the Son was on the cross barring the full wrath of God for sin; for His mercy. So therefore God was both in heaven and on the cross, coexistent and One God. Why? “To demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26 emphasis added).
Repent and put your faith in Jesus Christ alone and you will be saved,
Mike Peek
Most sermons that I here are very man centered, it seems that man is at the center of attention and God saves man, and it’s all about man. But that is not what I see when I read this passage, the gospel begins and ends with God, we are but created beings worthy of all condemnation that God demonstrates His perfect love on and His righteousness. The gospel is not about man it is all about God. As I was meditating on this passage yesterday and it suddenly occurred to me (I believe from the spirit of God), that Jesus did not die for man but solely to demonstrate the righteousness of God. For the sake of God’s own righteousness did Jesus die. “To demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). The greatest question in all of Christianity, the greatest question in all of scripture is this; if God is just how can He justify the wicked? “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD” (Proverbs 17:15). If God is good and a just judge He cannot pardon the wicked, if He pardons the wicked He is not just. I say that to people and they have the biggest question mark on their continents. It amazes me that this is not a normal thing in Christianity, because it is the gospel. I listened to a sermon yesterday by Paul Washer and he said something I thought was profound and truth, “This country is not gospel hardened, this country is gospel ignorant.” God’s perfect justice says that if you break His law the penalty is death being cast out of the kingdom of God into hell fire. If He were to simply say, “That man right there, I love him I don’t want to see him perish, I am going to pardon him, I want him to be with me in paradise”; if he did that He would be unjust he would not be upholding justice. Would He be merciful yes, but not just?
Man has sinned so a Man has to die; “Salvation is of the LORD” (Jonah 2:9) so the One who saves has to be God. Now how can God be both just and merciful at the same time, there is only one way and in that way is perfect love? The One who poured out is wrath from heaven on His only begotten Son for sin has to also be the same One on the cross barring the penalty for sin, which is death and being cast out alone into outer darkness. You heard me rightly; the One who was punishing was also the same One being punished. Jesus said, “I and My father are one” (John 10:30). There is One God, the creator of all things? He God the Father was in heaven pouring out His wrath on His only begotten Son for sin; for His justice, and He God the Son was on the cross barring the full wrath of God for sin; for His mercy. So therefore God was both in heaven and on the cross, coexistent and One God. Why? “To demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26 emphasis added).
Repent and put your faith in Jesus Christ alone and you will be saved,
Mike Peek
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)