Tag: King James Version

There is no Resting in Peace!

As I write this the recent events are that the ultimate champion and boxing legend Muhammad Ali has passed, the greatest hockey player (arguably of course) Gordie Howe has passed and over 50 people were gunned down in the bar in Florida. In between these events, many individuals all over the planet, not famous, not nationally known or recognized, experienced a loss of their own. My mind started processing thoughts about death as the loss of Ali. I saw a nation, led by our self-proclaimed Christian President, as well as leaders from around the world, ask that the dead “rest in peace”. I am certain that there were those unknown and more common people across the planet that wished the same for their lost loved ones as well.

What is it that we really know about death? Nothing for sure other than one minute you are alive, and the next second you are not. So beyond that, it comes down to a matter of faith, the belief in something unknown and unseen. For that reason, let me take a second to explain why I believe in the unknown and unseen.

For many reasons I believe there really is a God. When I look around at life, I find it impossible to believe that some explosion created all of this. I have often marveled at the care my God put into creating the human body. The fact that we create hydrochloric acid in our stomachs. This is an acid that eats through anything. Yet God created the right mix, and the right balance that we might use this in the digestion of our food. The bible says that man was made from the earth and scientists have proven that the chemical make-up of man has no ingredient that is not found in the earth, not one microbe of us can disprove that we were initially created from the earth. Please, do not even get me started on the wonders of the female body. The delicate exchange of oxygen and food that enables a life to grow inside a life still amazes me. No scientist has ever created something new out of nothing. No one has ever snapped their fingers and said let there be a doo-hickie, and then bam, there is this thing never seen before. But my God created it all. No man has ever raised a man after being three days dead! But eye witnesses to this account tell me that Jesus did. And no other faith can boast about their God being gone from the grave. Their leaders did not defeat death and the grave. These are just a few, a very few reasons why I believe in God Jehovah. That is important because it is that belief that forms my understanding of death. I chose to believe the bible regarding death, which is truly not the end of life.

In the book of Revelation, the testimony of Jesus, told by Jesus through John, we find that after our physical death there will be a search. The book of life will be searched and if your name is not in it, you will be sent to hell.

Revelation 20 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

So why wouldn’t our name be written in the book of life?

Romans 6 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So if sin is death and death keeps us from having our name in the book of life, what is sin?

James 4 17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

1 John 3 4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth (violates) also the law: for sin is the transgression (violation) of the law.

So if sin is the violation of God’s law, what is a violation?

Jesus testified in Revelation 21 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Jesus taught us in Mark 7 20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Galations 5 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

2 Timothy 3 3 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

How do you avoid hell and overcome sin so that our names are in the book of life?

Romans 10 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Galations 2 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me

Why do I explain this to you? For as much as we all loved to watch Ali or Gordie perform in the ring or on the ice, and for as much as we love our friends and family who pass on (from the unknown everyday person to those in the national headlines as victims of crime), UNLESS they, in the last moments of their life, called on the name of Jesus and believe in God Jehovah as the one true God, THERE IS NO “resting in peace”.

As Christians we must learn that the earthly love we all want to live by is an unhealthy love because it is a love of satan, which is to say a love of lies. We must want to love people to life, not to death. Ali did not believe in God, he was a muslim. He is not resting at all. His soul will be tormented in the fires of hell forever. And if that thought disturbs you because you liked him so much here on earth, then please, stand in front of the mirror and challenge yourself against the scriptures I presented you. I am not sure of the spiritual condition of Mr. Howe, or any one of those people killed in the bar, or anyone who died. It is possible, and I pray that it is the truth, that as the last moments of life came to Ali he saw the errors of his ways and accepted Christ. It would be a shame that his testimony of such a change cannot be shared, but it would be glorious to God and just fantastic for his soul. I can only say that if they were not covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, they are not in peace.

Understand that you as a Christian have a job to do. That job is not to love others to hell, but to love them to heaven.  It is our job, our very important job, to talk to as many people as possible about the love of Christ, the natural human nature of sinful man, and the need for Christ’s cleansing blood of salvation while they are still alive. We want to serve our God who served us while on this earth by not letting people die in sin. For those who say “but he is my brother” or “she is my sister, and if I try to talk about Christ they will stop loving me.” please let me remind you that Jesus’ own people murdered him for what he preached. I have no problem choosing God over my family! Some have walked away from me already. It is sad, but I am not going to lie just to maintain a relationship. I owe more to God than that. He was rejected by many. His own half-brothers and sisters did not come around until He was well into His ministry. Why is our relationship with our family more important than His? Why are our feelings more important than Christ’s? God is hurt everyday by those who curse Him, and even nicely deny him. That brings Him much sorrow. Are we more important that God?

We Christians need to get back to telling the truth, starting with more brave preachers. I know of only one who publicly came out and spoke of this matter. That does not mean he was the only one, it means I only know of one. That’s sad because hundreds and thousands should be making statements like this everyday. The murders in the bar in Florida are a tragedy, but the greater tragedy is that they were in the pit of sin in the first place! The greater tragedy is the thought that their lives were taken so suddenly that they did not get right with God before they died and they are now tormented in hell for all eternity. If I am wrong about hell, then I guess I am just wrong about hell. But if I am right about hell, then why can’t we agree that this is a bigger tragedy than just the earthly death?  A brother of mine told me, “Things are only going to get worse.” He is absolutely right, they certainly are, and the world will fall apart before God comes and puts it all back together in the perfect way for which it was intended. But that does not mean that we are to sit idly by and let wrong be wrong. When we are a saved Christian we become His agents, we become disciples. We take on the same charge that he gave to the original 12. We are to speak out against sin!

Mark 16 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Acts 1 7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

We are indeed to let the light of Christ shine in us through our behavior that we might draw unbelievers to the cross. But that DOES NOT translate to helping people feel comfortable living in their sin. And if they reject you, take comfort that Christ was rejected to the cross, and you are under His care! We can start by being honest and stop lying just because people are dead. We need to speak the truth to them while they are alive, and if they reject Christ, we need to be just as truthful after their death. Maybe if we start telling the truth about dying in sin, people will start living for Christ! Those who do not have the spirit of Christ in their hearts when their hearts stop beating will not experience peace, but the torment of the fires of hell! That’s the truth!

If you stand in the mirror, what will the reflection tell you about your relationship with God and what are you going to do about it? May the peace of God be abundantly heaped upon you and your home, straight from the cross to the Christian!

If you can’t beat’em, join’em

So many times in my life I have used the circumstances of my situation and environment to justify what I knew to be a wrong behavior. To this very day I still do it, and I still hear others do it. It is weird but also amazing what you hear and observe when you admit to yourself that you do the same thing. I know a lot of people who conform, even pastors, yet they would never admit it because they know it’s wrong to do so, but even they have been socialized. I have used, and am willing to assert that you have used (if you stand in that mirror and are completely honest with yourself) some of these justifying statements.  Number one- “But everybody is doing it.” Number two, “If you can’t beat’em, join’em.” Number three, “That was then, this is now.” Number four, “Times change, people change.” Number five, “These things we have today weren’t even made in the times of Jesus.” I am certain that there are many variations of these phrases, but they all lead to the same principal. We make excuses galore to be content in our earthly disobedience.

There are many examples of disobedience in the Holy Bible. Everyone would be right in saying that most all of what we have today was not present in the times of Jesus. However, everyone would be incorrect to say that the relevance of the principles Jesus taught are not the same, and not applicable to our lives today. First remember that Christ created everything, and then that he knows everything. If you believe that then the stories that He spoke were spoken to you! Let’s take the story of Elimelech.

The example that Elimelech left for his sons is that it is okay to try to solve all your problems on your own and not take the word of God seriously. Elimelech lived and was raising a family during a time of famine. He heard there was plenty of food and life in Moab. So he decides to move his family. The issue here is that the bible mentions no instance of prayer, or divine guidance. He left God and God’s people to go to the pagan city filled with food, but also filled with sin. The Moabites worshiped hundreds of Gods. They sacrificed their own children to these Gods. He marched his family of faith into the den of vipers. Upon arriving into the land of sin, Elimelech dies.  In those times that meant the son’s, particularly the eldest, are now the head of the family. Do they exercise faith and obedience to God and return to their people, the chosen people of God? Nope

Key Verse

Ruth 1

4 And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.

5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.

They married women from Moab. Now, just in case we need some reminders about this type of activity, let’s look at the word of God and try to see if we can clearly get God’s take on this activity.

Deuteronomy 7

7 When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;

2 And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:

3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.

4 For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

5 But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.

6 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

7 The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:

8 But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

That seems pretty clear to me. Remember that this is the same God we serve today. God HATES SIN!!! I believe we have become a people who live according to our flawed definition of love. God’s love is righteous, and people will be held accountable. Here, these nations that God is calling for complete destruction of are nations who chose to live in sin, and not under His love.

Genesis 6

6 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

I can hear people now, wait Mike, I don’t understand what Genesis 6 has to do with this. Awesome, let me explain. Re-read it, but before you do, think about how this all came to be. Cain killed Able. Able’s heart was true, and God was well pleased with him. Cain was selfish, and thought more of himself than he did God. His heart was not true; and when God was displeased with the behavior, Cain became overwrought with envy, and hate. Instead of taking the correction and doing better next time, he lashed out and murdered his brother. God banished Cain from the family. He sent him out into the world to be on his own. As the story unfolds, we see descendants of Seth and Cain mixing, taking husbands and wives without regard to God’s desire to remain separated from the sinful world. This mixing was not about black and white like most people would like to suggest. This was about God’s people, and worldly people. The result was that there were so many offspring from these “unequally yoked” relationships that God was hurt. The whole earth became corrupt with sin. The Bible talks about how man was so wicked that he corrupted even the dirt of the earth. And so God needed to destroy all of it. I praise God for Noah, and that in spite of what society was telling him, in spite of how the people of his time were making fun of him and persecuting him, in spite of what everyone was doing, and, praise God, in spite of all the hardships of preaching an unwelcome word, giving warnings of a end of time revelation, Noah NEVER said, “If you can’t beat’em join’em!” No, he remained faithful to the end. All of that destruction, because the line of Seth mixed unequally with the line of Cain.

Even though the Israelites knew this story, we see the sons of Elimelech thinking and acting just like their dad. They took wives from the pagan group of idolaters, murderers, and all-together immoral people. Not only did they take wives, but they pitched their tents and squatted for ten years.

Charles Spurgeon commented,  “Which was about ten years too long. Probably they did not intend to remain so long when they went there, they only meant to be in Moab for a little while, just as Christian people, when they fall into worldly conformity, only purpose to do it once, “just for the sake of the girls, to bring them out a little.” But it happens to them as it is written here: “and they dwelled there about ten years.”

Adam Clark comments,

“The Targum very properly observes, that they transgressed the decree of the word of the Lord, and took to themselves strange women.”

For those who do not know, the Targum (pictured above, and no it is not the original) is a collection of commentaries from the first century. It is not the bible, but it is interpretations as Rabbis read Hebrew and taught and preached in Aramaic. So they needed to explain a lot. So Clark used the Targum to show that the boys were acting outside the will of God in their marriages here. Some believe that the wives converted to Judaism before they married, otherwise known as “proselyte”. Again, you cannot, if you want to be an obedient child of God, marry a non-believer. Many non-Christian religions today require conversion, if they do not outright forbid the marriage. Unfortunately, the Christian Church, with only a few denominations withstanding, don’t care who they marry. They will marry believers, non-believers, same gender marriages, all in the name of man’s own flawed definition of “Love”. A believer in the Christian faith should never even date a non-believer. What comes first is witnessing and bringing that person to the cross. Since Christ is the head of our home, the man and the woman should both be of Christ in order for Christ to be the head of the house. It is the number one reason for divorce. I do blame the American Church’s decline of this standard for the inflation of divorce, which has been high for a long time, not just recently. Even in the 50’s when Dr. J. Vernon McGee preached, he spoke of divorce rates of 50%. So I tend to agree with the likes of Clark and Spurgeon, and disagree with the likes of Coke and Gill on this. I do not believe they converted but that the men lived in the moment and turned their backs to God. The boys spent no energy even trying to be obedient.

In the first chapter of Ruth we saw the leader of the home make some bad choices that cost him, but also his lineage. The boys followed in the dad’s footsteps and they reaped the same consequence. Why did it happen ten years later; I have no idea. But it really doesn’t matter, does it? It was all according to God’s plan. And the story is told so that we can see that God is not weak, He is not confused. We are weak and we are confused. The bible is the living word of God and it is here for us to not only study, but to follow. It is our guide.

On the marriage Ellicott comments, “This seems to have been after the father’s death. The fault of settling on a heathen soil begun by the father is carried on by the sons in marrying heathen women, for such we cannot doubt they must have been in the first instance. The Targum (or ancient Chaldee paraphrase) says: “They transgressed against the decree of the Word of the Lord, and took to themselves strange wives.” This act was to incur a further risk of being involved in idolatry, as King Solomon found”

It is my belief that not a single one of us is perfect. We will ALL fall short. We will ALL violate God’s will for us; we will ALL be disobedient every day. That is not in question. What is in question is, “What are you going to do about it?” Are you going to make some changes in your life? Remember that when we become believers we should behave differently than the world. We are to be a peculiar people. Or, are you going to say well society says it’s okay, so it must be. No matter how hard it is, we never join them. No matter how many magazines say that the spaghetti strap and thong bikinis are good, no matter how many GQ magazines say that peanut shell speedos are the trend, no Christian should ever be exposing that much of their body. We are to be a modest people. In America sex sells! That’s the truth. No Christian should dress like they are selling their sexuality. I see people come to church dressed like that, let alone anywhere else in the world. Some say, well it makes me feel good to have all my flesh hanging out, or to go to church or even church functions, in front of children looking like an extra from Saturday Night Fever. And at the end of the day, our relationship with God is not about us feeling good. These boys, should there not have been any God Jehovah fearing women in Moab, should have lived a peculiar life and drawn people to God through their conduct. That didn’t happen. There is no reverence for God in selfish and idolatrous behavior. In a church house you should be screaming “PRAISE GOD”, not “LOOK AT ME”! We need churches who still preach the truth. And if people pick up and go to Moab, well, that’s between them and God. A friend of the world is an enemy of God. Again, I believe God is serious; I don’t think He is kidding. What are you conforming to? What behaviors are you making excuses for because they are just too enjoyable to give up? It is hard, but it is true. When does the God fearing hero stand up and say that enough is enough? When do we say, “I will NOT conform!” It all starts with that look in the mirror.

If you stand in the mirror, what will the reflection tell you about your relationship with God and what are you going to do about it? May the peace of God be abundantly heaped upon you and your home, straight from the cross to the Christian!

Are You ‘Declared’ to Receive a Crown?

I was in a bible study just a couple weeks ago and the preacher teaching the class directed us to the book of Romans, and proceeded to teach the first seven verses. My attention was grabbed by the beautiful words in verse 4.

4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

I am drawn to the word declared. Sometimes the idea of God being both man and God can confuse a person. It is certainly a piece of our faith that non-believers point to and say, “How can that be?” As man, as flesh, I understand how that can be a distraction. This particular idea is more meat than milk, and if you are looking for ways to disprove or dilute the word of God by way of confusion, this is a useful idea that will bewilder a babe on the milk. But I ask, “Are you ‘declared’ to receive a crown?”

First let’s look at the word ‘DECLARE’. If you are to read this verse like you read a novel, or the newspaper, you will read right over the word and attach the meaning regarding speech. To most of us, ‘declare’ means I said something. However that is not what it means here.

The Greek word here is Horizo. It means to define, mark-out, appoint, and determine.

Adam Clark writes of this word, “The word ορισθεντος, which we render declared, comes from οριζω, to bound, define, determine, or limit, and hence our word horizon, the line that determines the farthest visible part of the earth, in reference to the heavens. In this place the word signifies such a manifest and complete exhibition of the subject as to render it indubitable. The resurrection of Christ from the dead was such a manifest proof of our Lord’s innocence, the truth of his doctrine, and the fulfillment of all that the prophets had spoken, as to leave no doubt on any considerate and candid mind.”

The son of God has always existed, just as the spirit has. The trinity was in existence at the time earth and man was created. This is the reason for the pluralism, ‘our’, when we hear that man was made in ‘our’ image. Jesus was not defined the ‘Son of God’ during his life on earth, but long ago. However, the resurrection, an activity that only ever happened once (Lazarus was resurrected by Christ, Christ resurrected himself) is undeniable proof that Christ is who he says he is, and was ‘declared’ to be. If you go back to verse 3 you see Paul describing Jesus as flesh when he refers to him as the ‘seed of David’. Paul points to his humanness at a period of time, life of David, when Jesus was not yet born from the virgin Mary. But yet Jesus ‘was made from the seed of David’. Christ has always been as he was prophesied to be since the old testament. This is important to observe because we as man need to fully understand and believe that Jesus was man and is our example as to living according to the Father’s will and not our own. Jesus had to be man, he had to be just like us so that we could not say, “yeah well he was God and I am not”. He was tempted like we are, hungry like we are, thirsty like we are, hurt and alone like we are, and if anyone reads about his walk to the cross with any amount of sincerity, you have to admit that his body was broken like ours are.

To this point, Charles Surgeon said, “He is as much the Son of God as he was the Son of man. The humanity is as true as the divinity, the divinity as true as the humanity.”

Why is this so important to understand? Because just like Christ was flesh, so are you. Christ is God, and you are not. You and I, we are sinners. We are the children of man, and a creation of God. We have no power and authority over our flesh, and to ward off satan. However, because Christ came and sacrificed himself on the cross, we have the opportunity to accept the spirit into our flesh. At that moment, this part of Paul’s teaching becomes paramount in our faith. It is a teaching to the difference of being a man open to the sin of the world without Christ and being a redeemed soul in Christ living in our flesh. The difference between being alive in flesh, and being dead in flesh. With the acceptance of the spirit, we become appointed, marked out for heaven. Man is broken and needy. We are poor and sinful. We have no hope, just the coming of death. In the spirit we are rich. We have hope in the promise of Christ. We have the coming of a transition to eternity. We are the called of Jesus, because we saw the flesh and warred with it, losing every time. Until that day we called on Jesus, the son of God, and requested to be filled with the spirit so that, as the war against the flesh continues, we may turn that war over to Him, for He already has be victorious.

The proof of this meaning is noted in verse 6 of Romans 1, “Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:”

Calling on the LORD with the sincere repenting mind, we too become a child of God. Reflecting back to verse one Paul said that he is, “separated unto the Gospel of God.” There is a pattern here. Christ was always marked-out as the son of God, Paul received the spirit and was therefore “separated”, or marked out, unto the Gospel. Our flesh is not to be held onto. Understand that this part of your body is not the priority. The soul is. It is not what we are that should drive us, but rather what we are defined and determined and marked-out to be that drives us. We are marked-out to have fellowship, a true relationship, with God the father. We cannot do that when we allow our flesh to get in the way. We cannot do that when we do not see ourselves as marked-out, as different from the rest of the unredeemed world. We are not better than anyone, we are separated because we know how weak we are, how defenseless we are, and how much we need Christ. We separate ourselves because that is the example of Christ, and the apostles.

I am grateful that Jesus came in the flesh to show me being in the flesh alone is not good. I must have a power inside me, His power. I am glad that Paul recorded this message, that I might see the importance of knowing that I am appointed for something greater than just living in sinful flesh, so that I can understand, and help others understand, that the flesh is broken and useless, that I can doing nothing to save myself but confess to the Father that I want to be marked-out for His Glory and His plan.

If you stand in the mirror what will the reflection tell you about yourself, and what are you going to do about it? May the peace of God be abundantly heaped upon you and your house, straight from the cross to the Christian!