Being Your “Self” and Raising the Dead - Purity 943

Being Your “Self” and Raising the Dead   - Purity 943

Purity 943 01/17/2023  Purity 943 Podcast

Purity 943 on YouTube:

Good morning,

Today’s photo of poolside palm trees overlooking the rooftops of buildings in the valley below at sunset comes to us from a friend who captured this scene at the Pura Vida Resort and Spa in Carrizal, Costa Rica while at a  corporate retreat. Our friend seems to be making the most of the trip as he has enjoyed hot tub dips during the breaks, has captured shots of parrots in the wild, and went zip lining through the jungle along the coast of the Gulf of Nicoya this past weekend! While zip lining someone caught a photo of him literally upside down which he changed to his FB profile with the caption:  “Be your self, no matter what position life puts you in…”  

Corporate retreats in Costa Rica… yeah some guys have it rough! Well, it’s Tuesday and for many of us it will be the end of an extended weekend while the rest of us had our case of the Mondays yesterday.  Although it is back to work it doesn’t have to be to be met with depression or disdain. In fact as much as I joke about envying my friend’s trip Costa Rica, I want to point out what I believe is the most important thing about what our friend’s comment and experience can teach us. 

While there is definitely some wisdom in our friend’s sentiment  that “No matter what position life puts you in, be yourself…”, let’s qualify that by saying let’s be our “best self” or what I would say is “the person God created us to be”.   

While we shouldn’t deny our feelings, when I think of people advising others to be their “selves”  I some how get the impression that we are not encouraging one another to be depressed, petty, angry, or selfish people.   Our “best self” – the person God created us to be is the “self” that displays the fruit of the Spirit: peace, love, joy, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, patience, and self-control – although I am sure there are many a “wild child” who would dispute that and claim their rights to “be who they are" which would include their tendencies to be angry and selfish, those responses that come when my “self” isn’t getting everything that “I want.”   

The impression I get from my friend’s sharing from his trip was that he was not only indulging in his selfish desires but was experiencing and sharing joy with others by appreciating the beauty of God’s creation where he was and by taking advantage of the opportunities to relax and explore where the Lord brought him.  He was also tagged in a video where co-workers were dancing which indicates to me that others appreciated his zeal for life and enjoying the retreat.   Our positive attitudes are the perhaps the best thing we can take with us through life. Whether we are travelling to distant places through out the world or if we are just going back to our regular 9 to 5, our ability to experience joy and our ability to return to joy demonstrates our spiritual maturity.  

No matter what position life puts us in, those of us in Christ have infinite reasons to be joyful and to face each day with gratitude and a sense of contentment and wonder.  When we stay in those places:  joy, gratitude, contentment and wonder – we like who we are because we best represent who we are in Christ. 

Paul’s final advice to the Thessalonians demonstrates that these attributes are supposed to define who we are as Christians:  

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NLT2)
¹⁶  Always be joyful.
¹⁷  Never stop praying.
¹⁸  Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

So remember who you are in Christ, and let the truth of your new identity as God’s beloved son or daughter fuel your day and fill you with the abundant joy and peace that is defines your “self” – no matter what position life puts you in.    

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Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.

This morning’s meditation verses are:

Ephesians 1:19-20 (NLT2)
¹⁹  I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power
²⁰  that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.

Today’s verses encourage us understand the power that God provides to those who believe in Him, and it encourages us to not put a limit on what God can do in our lives.  

While many an enthusiastic spirit filled Christian can make bold claims about raising the dead through our faith, resurrecting miracles are not common.  Miracles by definition are rare, although raising the dead is possible with God.  So if you are in a situation where you feel the Lord is inviting you to pray to raise the dead, go for it. But be willing to accept bitter disappointment.  

Hey that’s our faith. We hope for the best and pray for good things, but we accept God’s will and the fact that we don’t perfectly know it. 

In 2019, a woman in California lost a toddler and despite her pastor and church’s belief in raising the dead, the child did not rise, despite their undoubting faith and prayers that lasted for a week.  So we have to realize that the vast majority of the time dead is dead.

Having lost an infant child myself I can understand praying for resurrection. I wasn’t the Christian I am today and when my son Holden died, I prayed and called out to God to not let him go right up until the emergency room doctor had to tell me what was quite obvious, my son was cold and had stopped breathing long before we got him to the hospital. My son was dead.  But I did pray, man did I pray.  But then you accept it.    I can’t imagine persisting in prayer for over a week, and I don’t recommend it.  

What? Where’s my faith? Don’t I believe that we have the same power that raised Christ from the dead? 

I do but because I believe I also accept that His will be done, not mine.  

Also, hello, we are Christian – dead isn’t dead. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.  Should we really be praying to bring people back from God’s kingdom?   For his purposes? Yes. To give Him glory? Sure.  But otherwise we have to realize that the dead person if in Christ, is in a better place than we are!  

That was something I didn’t understand fully when my son died.  Nobody wants anyone to die, okay, but despite our pain we should accept God’s will (He calls everyone into eternity) and remember the “good state” that departing Christians go to.   

We should grieve but stand in faith by thanking God for the love we had and for bringing our loved ones into His presence.  

This is one of those “hard truths” of Christianity that we struggle with and that can be misapplied, so tread lightly and meditate upon these things.  

Yesterday I saw a FB friend share a picture of David Bowie with the caption – rest in peace dear one.   I get it you loved his music and his artistry.  But he has been dead for a while and regardless of his final destination, Mr. Bowie is not resting.   Anyone who dies is either experiencing joy and new life in heaven in God’s presence, or experiencing torment in hell until the final judgement, the second death.    But in either case – nobody is resting. So can we give “rest in peace” a rest?  

Anyway, enough about the dead who live elsewhere currently.  

This passage does the speak of God’s power and Paul’s words encourage us that it is a mighty power without limits, except God’s will of course.  So what does it mean for us? 

It means we can overcome.  It means we can have victory over the personal struggles of our lives because we are free from sin.  It means we can have peace even in the face of death because we know the truth concerning the afterlife. 

God’s power is mighty but besides the rare miracle it can be applied to our lives, by faith – by believing – to transform us.  

So pray at all times and don’t surrender against the “impossible situations” in your life, God is with you and if you keep walking and talking with Him you may discover that His path will take you over and above what you think is impossible.          

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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.

Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink’s “The Sovereignty of God.”

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Bonhoeffer’s books for your own private study and to support his work.  This resource is available on many websites for less than $20.00.

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

By  ARTHUR W. PINK

CHAPTER FOUR

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD IN SALVATION, continues.

1. The Sovereignty of God the Father in Salvation – continues

“A remnant according to the election of grace.” Here the cause of election is traced back to its source. The basis upon which God elected this “remnant” was not faith foreseen in them, because a choice founded upon the foresight of good works is just as truly made on the ground of works as any choice can be, and in such a case it would not be “of grace;” for, says the apostle, “if by grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace;” which means that grace and works are opposites, they have nothing in common, and will no more mingle than oil and water. Thus the idea of inherent good foreseen in those chosen, or of anything meritorious performed by them, is rigidly excluded. “A remnant according to the election of grace” signifies an unconditional choice resulting from the sovereign favor of God; in a word, it is absolutely a gratuitous election.

“For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty: and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in His presence” (1 Cor. 1:26–29). Three times over in this passage reference is made to God’s choice, and choice necessarily supposes a selection, the taking of some and the leaving of others. The Choser here is God Himself, as said the Lord Jesus to the apostles, “Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you” (John 15:16). The number chosen is strictly defined—“not many wise men after the flesh, not many noble,” etc., which agree with Matt. 20:16, “So the last shall be first, and the first last; for many be called, but few chosen.” So much then for the fact of God’s choice; now mark the objects of His choice.

The ones spoken of above as chosen of God are “the weak things of the world, base things of the world, and things which are despised.” But why? To demonstrate and magnify His grace. God’s ways as well as His thoughts are utterly at variance with man’s. The carnal mind would have supposed that a selection had been made from the ranks of the opulent and influential, the amiable and cultured, so that Christianity might have won the approval and applause of the world by its pageantry and fleshly glory. Ah, but “that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15). God chooses the “base things.” He did so in Old Testament times. The nation which He singled out to be the depository of His holy oracles and the channel through which the promised Seed should come was not the ancient Egyptians, the imposing Babylonians, nor the highly civilized and cultured Greeks. No; that people upon whom Jehovah set His love and regarded as ‘the apple of His eye’ were the despised, nomadic Hebrews. So it was when our Lord tabernacled among men. The ones whom He took into favored intimacy with Himself and commissioned to go forth as His ambassadors were, for the most part, unlettered fishermen. And so it has been ever since. So it is today: at the present rates of increase, it will not be long before it is manifested that the Lord has more in despised China who are really His, than He has in the highly favored U. S. A.; more among the uncivilized blacks of Africa, than He has in cultured (?) Germany! And the purpose of God’s choice, the raison d’etre of the selection He has made is, “that no flesh should glory in His presence”—there being nothing whatever in the objects of His choice which should entitle them to His special favors, then, all the praise will be freely ascribed to the exceeding riches of His manifold grace.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ: According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him; in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.… In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph. 1:3–5, 11). Here again we are told at what point in time—if time it could be called—when God made choice of those who were to be His children by Jesus Christ. It was not after Adam had fallen and plunged his race into sin and wretchedness, but long ere Adam saw the light, even before the world itself was founded, that God chose us in Christ. Here also we learn the purpose which God had before Him in connection with His own elect: it was that they “should be holy and without blame before Him;” it was “unto the adoption of children;” it was that they should “obtain an inheritance.” Here also we discover the motive which prompted Him. It was “in love that He predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself”—a statement which refutes the oft made and wicked charge that, for God to decide the eternal destiny of His creatures before they are born, is tyrannical and unjust. Finally, we are informed here, that in this matter He took counsel with none, but that we are “predestinated according to the good pleasure of His will.”

“But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (2 Thess. 2:13). There are three things here which deserve special attention. First, the fact that we are expressly told that God’s elect are “chosen to salvation.” Language could not be more explicit. How summarily do these words dispose of the sophistries and equivocations of all who would make election refer to nothing but external privileges or rank in service! It is to “salvation” itself that God hath chosen us. Second, we are warned here that election unto salvation does not disregard the use of appropriate means: salvation is reached through “sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” It is not true that because God has chosen a certain one to salvation that he will be saved willy-nilly, whether he believes or not: nowhere do the scriptures so represent it. The same God who predestined the end also appointed the means; the same God who “chose unto salvation” decreed that His purpose should be realized through the work of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Third, that God has chosen us unto salvation is a profound cause for fervent praise. Note how strongly the apostle expresses this—“we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation,” etc. Instead of shrinking back in horror from the doctrine of predestination, the believer, when he sees this blessed truth as it is unfolded in the Word, discovers a ground for gratitude and thanksgiving such as nothing else affords, save the unspeakable gift of the Redeemer Himself.

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Tim. 1:9). How plain and pointed is the language of Holy Writ! It is man who, by his words, darkeneth counsel. It is impossible to state the case more clearly, or strongly, than it is stated here. Our salvation is not “according to our works;” that is to say, it is not due to anything in us, nor the rewarding of anything from us; instead, it is the result of God’s own “purpose and grace;” and this grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. It is by grace we are saved, and in the purpose of God this grace was bestowed upon us not only before we saw the light, not only before Adam’s fall, but even before that far distant “beginning” of Genesis 1:1. And herein lies the unassailable comfort of God’s people. If His choice has been from eternity it will last to eternity! “Nothing can survive to eternity but what came from eternity, and what has so come, will” (George S. Bishop).

“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:2). Here again election by the Father precedes the work of the Holy Spirit in, and the obedience of faith by, those who are saved; thus taking it entirely off creature ground, and resting it in the sovereign pleasure of the Almighty. The “foreknowledge of God the Father” does not here refer to His prescience of all things, but signifies that the saints were all eternally present in Christ before the mind of God. God did not “foreknow” that certain ones who heard the Gospel would believe it apart from the fact that He had “ordained” these certain ones to eternal life. What God’s prescience saw in all men was, love of sin and hatred of Himself. The “foreknowledge” of God is based upon His own decrees as is clear from Acts 2:23—“Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain”—note the order here: first God’s “determinate counsel” (His decree), and second His “foreknowledge.” So it is again in Romans 8:28, 29, “For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son,” but the first word here, “for,” looks back to the preceding verse and the last clause of its reads, “to them who are the called according to His purpose”—these are the ones whom He did “foreknow and predestinate.” Finally, it needs to be pointed out that when we read in Scripture of God “knowing” certain people the word is used in the sense of knowing with approbation and love: “But if any man love God, the same is known of Him” (1 Cor. 8:3). To the hypocrites Christ will yet say “I never knew you”—He never loved them. “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” signifies, then, chosen by Him as the special objects of His approbation and love.

Summarizing the teaching of these seven passages we learn that, God has “ordained to eternal life” certain ones, and that in consequence of His ordination they, in due time “believe;” that God’s ordination to salvation of His own elect is not due to any good thing in them nor to anything meritorious from them, but solely of His grace;” that God has designedly selected the most unlikely objects to be the recipients of His special favors in order that “no flesh should glory in His presence;” that God chose His people in Christ before the foundation of the world, not because they were so, but in order that they “should be holy and without blame before him;” that having selected certain ones to salvation. He also decreed the means by which His eternal counsel should be made good; that the very “grace” by which we are saved was, in God’s purpose, “given us in Christ Jesus before the world began;” that long before they were actually created God’s elect stood present before His mind, were “foreknown” by Him, i.e., were the definite objects of His eternal love.

Before turning to the next division of this chapter, a further word concerning the subjects of God’s predestinating grace. We go over this ground again because it is at this point that the doctrine of God’s sovereignty in predestining certain ones to salvation is most frequently assaulted. Perverters of this truth invariably seek to find some cause outside God’s own will which moves Him to bestow salvation on sinners; something or other is attributed to the creature which entitles him to receive mercy at the hands of the Creator. We return then to the question, Why did God choose the ones He did?

What was there in the elect themselves which attracted God’s heart to them? Was it because of certain virtues they possessed? because they were generous-hearted, sweet-tempered, truth-speaking? in a word, because they were “good,” that God chose them? No; for our Lord said, “There is none good but one, that is God” (Matt. 19:17). Was it because of any good works they had performed? No; for it is written, “There is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Rom. 3:12). Was it because they evidenced an earnestness and zeal in inquiring after God? No; for it is written again, “There is none that seeketh after God” (Rom. 3:11). Was it because God foresaw they would believe? No; for how can those who are “dead in trespasses and sins” believe in Christ? How could God foreknow some men as believers when belief was impossible to them? Scripture declares that we “believe through grace” (Acts 18:27). Faith is God’s gift, and apart from this gift none would believe. The cause of His choice then lies within Himself and not in the objects of His choice. He chose the ones He did simply because He chose to choose them.

“Sons we are by God’s election

Who on Jesus Christ believe,

By eternal destination,

Sovereign grace we now receive,

Lord Thy mercy,

Doth both grace and glory give!”^[1]

---------------------------more tomorrow------------------------

Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage Breaker”, "Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the mt4christ247 podcast!

at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts

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These teachings are also available on the MT4Christ247 You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MT4Christ247

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be encouraged.

My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian encouragement via her Facebook Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)

“The views, opinions, and commentary of this publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries, or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the author may represent.”

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

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^[1] Arthur W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God (Swengel, PA: Bible Truth Depot, 1949), 59–65.

Do “Good Guys” Make it to Heaven? - Purity 919

Do “Good Guys” Make it to Heaven?  -  Purity 919

Purity 919 12/20/2022 Purity 919 Pocast

Purity 919 on YouTube: 

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a pleasant green lawn and thick stand of green trees in the back ground under the plain light of a midafternoon of late summer day comes to us from yours truly and from  the distant day of August 16^th 2020.  

With the recent snowfall in my neck of the woods I decided that I wanted to highlight “something green” today and so I dialed my phone’s photo archive back a ways to discover this rather bland “country suburban” scene that I captured on Taggart Rd in “Columbiaville” NY.  Just like in Bible study, sometimes with photography “context is king” and while “lawn lovers” might appreciate this photo for what is here, the reason I took this photo back in 2020 is for what is “unseen” because this plot of land was where I spent Christmas Eve for most of, if not all of, my childhood as this plot of land was the site where my paternal grandfather’s house stood.    I believe the address was 55 Taggart Rd but when you look it up on google maps now you will see a little unnumbered square, which is what was my Grandfather’s one car garage - which is still standing, and you’ll notice a sizable gap in the numbered addresses on Taggart Rd between 42 and 121.

My grandfather’s land went from just to the right of that unnumbered square all the way to the corner of Taggart and Footbridge Rd Extension but after his death in 1990 the house was eventually sold to the owner of 121 who decided to expand their yard and demolish the home where I spent many a weekend with my brothers and every Christmas Eve.

I had moved to Stuyvesant in 2020 and out of nostalgia decided to check out my grandfather’s property and was shocked at that empty space and how the two bushes that had lined my grandfather’s front walkway, and had always been neatly trimmed, had grown into huge unruly mini trees! 

I remembered being shocked at how time had changed so much at my grandfather’s place.  The land and the garage was still there but he and grandmother had gone on to eternity and because they were both gone there really was no reason anymore to visit Taggart Rd in Columbiaville.  The Christmas Eve celebrations moved to my parent’s house and with their advancing ages, it is unclear just how many more Christmases we will have at the Clark Family Homestead on Green Street in Hudson.  

Like I said I wanted to see “something green” today and although a little depressing, I decided to share these scenes from a property that has lost its significance because I wanted to set these photos “free” and because apparently it is going to be another “long December” as I got the unexpected news that one of my co-workers had died after his year long battle with cancer.   

Because I was recently chastised about some of the comments I made while pondering the recent death of another friend, I am choosing not to disclose my co-workers name because I could possibly cause additional pain and suffering to his grieving family.  With that said, this person who is no longer with us was loved and respected by his co-workers and because of his death the company decided to offer us the support of counselors to assist us with our grief.   For a big corporation I thought it was an incredibly nice gesture. 

However, I generally keep to myself at work and just busy myself with my job. I have been transferred several times through out the years to various locations and job functions and am sometimes seem to be the last to know a lot of what is happening around me at work.  Yesterday was proof of this fact as the managers announced that “most of you already know” that our friend and co-worker had died over the weekend.  I didn’t know and finding out in a meeting was quite a shock. 

I am so out of the loop that I didn’t even know that this co-worker was sick! In our job, people get transferred, go out on disability, and retire quite often.  The people you see on a regular basis one day can be gone the next and unless you listen to the grapevine you could never know where they went.   

So when the managers made this kind gesture, which was quite a shock for me, I had to ask how our co-worker died.  It had been quite some time since I had seen them and because of the nature of our job there could have been plenty of explanations for their absence.   And considering the state of the world, an accident and, let’s face it, suicide are real possible causes of death these days – so I had to ask and was informed of my co-worker’s battle with cancer.  So I had the odd mix of emotions of sadness over his death, shame for not knowing he was sick,  and relief that it wasn’t necessarily unexpected and could have been a mercy given the circumstances.  

To their credit, “work” gave us an hour to process the news and gave us resources to handle our grief, but then it was “back to reality” and our regular work responsibilities…

And even though I hadn’t seen this co-worker in over a year, and didn’t have the closest of friendships, he went with me in my memory and in my contemplations through out the day.  

This guy was a “nice guy” – always willing to help, never a harsh word.  This guy was a “family man” – a wife and kids. This guy was a “good worker” – a “solid tech”.  This guy was a “smart guy”. I knew him primarily from our time at Hudson Valley Community College as we were both in the same classes for over a year getting our Associates degrees in Telecommunications as part of a now defunct program our company had.   In those classes ,I learned that my co-worker had a good sense of humor, seemed genuinely kind, willing to help others, was responsible, took his studies seriously, and had some “mad math skills” as he was the “go to guy” if you needed help with algebra or the equations we had to solve in physics. He was also enterprising because I recall that he and his wife had started a business to supplement their income back in our school days. By all accounts, he was a “solid” “good guy”.  He was around my age, probably a few years younger.  So his illness and death are a tragedy. 

However, because our co-worker’s time on earth is over, I spent a good deal remembering all that I knew about him yesterday and had to ask the “big question” – did this “smart guy, good guy, nice guy” – make it? Did he make it to heaven?  

If you consider the good vs bad ratio of his life, there is little doubt that the “good” outweighed his “bad” by a significant margin.  In truth, I can’t think of any “bad” when I remember our interactions in class or at work.  I even believe that like most of the people from our generation, he was “brought up” in a “religious tradition”.  And having seen a few “religious tradition” funerals in my day, I am certain that there will never be any words uttered of speculation in regard to his final destination.  

However, I remembered something in a conversation with them that made me less certain that he was “with the angels in Heaven”.    

My time with my co-worker in school was approximately from 2012 to 2014. The program was a two year program but because of a medical procedure, I didn’t graduate with him in 2014. After my surgery, I went on the graduate in 2015.   I was still a pretty carnal and pretty ignorant born again Christian during this time but I was extremely passionate about my faith and would openly talk about the gift of grace that I had received when I put my faith in Christ alone.  

I don’t recall the specifics of our conversation but my “good guy” co-worker was pretty clear in expressing his opinion on matters of faith.  He stated openly and honestly that “didn’t believe it in”.  His opinion was that “there is nothing” on the other side of death and although, as I have testified, he seemed to be a  relatively kind and moral person, he didn’t claim to have faith in anything.    

So, based on that conversation and what I know about salvation through faith in Christ alone, the indication would be that, if the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, they “didn’t make it” to heaven.  Their disbelief and failure to make peace with God through faith in Jesus would lead one to believe that when he died my co-worker discovered that there is something on the other side of life and that because of his unforgiven sin and independence/rebellion/rejection of God, he would be consigned to hell.  

Now, before you call me a “bad Christian” who is not “making peace” for all of this person’s grieving family and loved ones… LISTEN – there is hope and I am NOT SAYING THEY ARE IN HELL, okay.  

I believe in freedom on speech, and I exercise it regularly.  I also believe in freedom of thought, and usually put the two together in composing these “encouragements”.   Rather than living in fear of what some may think or say about me or of the “possible pain” that my words may bring to all the “possible victims” , I choose to speak for the “Higher good”. 

The good news about my co-worker’s situation is that there was a lot that could have changed about his outlook on life between that conversation in 2012-2013, and now.  We are talking almost 10 years for things to change in my co-workers outlook on life and faith. 

I know I have learned volumes of wisdom in that time period and have grown in maturity in leaps and bounds in that time between then and now.  

Plus, let’s face it, my co-worker had the reality of death with him from the moment the doctor’s diagnosed him with cancer and according to the reports I heard yesterday, his suffering was significant and apparent.  

Did God use the last ten years of this man’s life, and his battle with cancer, to bring him to a place where he could believe and put his faith in Jesus Christ?   

Well, our co-worker certainly had enough time to consider it and it is my prayer and hope that somewhere along the line, he surrendered to his life to God and made Jesus His Lord and Savior.  

On this side of eternity, I will never know if this person put their faith in Christ or not.  I guess I could ask… but I think I will just leave that question unasked and assume what I know is true: that God will do what’s right.  God never makes mistakes and whether or not past friends, family, co-workers, or acquaintances make it to heaven or not, I am assured by God’s word that they will go where they chose to go, one way or the other.  

But as for us, believe on the Lord Jesus, put your faith in Him alone, and know and experience the peace that comes from having your sins forgiven and from being welcomed into God’s eternal kingdom.  

Our co-worker had time but the other people out there might not. So because we know the Lord, we need to be bold and courageous to let people know that the question of Jesus Christ is a matter of life and death.  His life, death, and resurrection show us that He was the Son of God and God the Son. His resurrection proves life after death and His words confirm there is a good place for those who put their faith in Him, heaven, and place of darkness and gnashing of teeth, hell, for those who don’t.  

So keep walking and talking and God and let people know that all can be forgiven and a new life can be found here on earth and as it is in heaven for all who believe in Christ and who decided to walk with Him.

--------------------------------------------------------

Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Ephesians 6:10-12 (NLT2)
¹⁰  A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
¹¹  Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.
¹²  For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

Today’s verses confirm the evil forces of darkness are real but also confirm that we are protected from their attacks when we are “strong in the Lord” and put on God’s armor”.

I believe every teaching out there on spiritual warfare includes these verses because they deliver the hard truth of demons and the good news of our power in Christ.  

I’m short on time but –  the word of God confirms God’s kingdom and the rebel kingdom of Satan and how the evil one is currently the prince of this world.  So any advice that would lead us a way from faith in Jesus, no matter how practical or nice it looks is actually “demonic”.  So don’t follow the world’s ways, follow the ways of the Lord and use your faith in Christ as your defense against the lies and temptations of this world and use the word of God as a weapon to defeat the works of the devil.   

Sin and negative mind states are all the devil’s work, so resist the devil and apply the full armor of God’s word to your life to be victorious over the forces of darkness and our own worst enemy, our fleshly selves.  

 

 

___________________________________________

As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.

Today we continue sharing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Discipleship”, also known as “The Cost of Discipleship”

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Bonhoeffer’s books for your own private study and to support his work.  This resource is available on many websites for less than $20.00.

The Church of Jesus Christ and Discipleship

 

Chapter Twelve

The Saints

The ‘ekklesia’ of Christ, the community of disciples, is no longer subject to the rule of this world. True, it still lives in the midst of the world. But it already has been made into one body. It is a territory with an authority of its own, a space set apart. It is the holy church (Eph. 5:27), the church-community of saints (1 Cor. 14:34). Its members are the saints called by God (Rom. 1:7), sanctified in Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:2), chosen and set apart before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). The goal of their call to follow Jesus Christ, indeed, of their being chosen before the foundation of the world, was that they be holy and blameless (Eph. 1:4). This is the reason why Christ surrendered his body unto death, so as to present those who are his own as holy, blameless, and irreproachable before him (Col. 1:22). The fruit of being freed from sin by Christ’s death is that those who once surrendered their bodies as instruments of unrighteousness are now able to use them in the service of righteousness, as instruments of their sanctification (Rom. 6:19–22).

God alone is holy. God is holy, both in being completely set apart from the sinful world and in the foundation of a realm of holiness in the midst of the world. Thus, after the Egyptians have perished, Moses and the children of Israel sing a hymn of praise to the Lord who delivered God’s people from the slavery of the world: “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders? You stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them. In your steadfast mercy you led the people whom you redeemed; you guided them by your strength to your holy abode.… You brought them in and planted them on the mountain of your own possession, the place, O Lord, that you made your abode, the holy place, O Lord, that your hands have established” (Exod. 15:11ff.). God’s holiness consists in establishing a divine dwelling place, God’s realm of holiness in the midst of the world, as the source of both judgment and redemption (Psalm 99 et al.). It is in this realm of holiness that the holy one enters into a relationship with God’s people. This takes place through reconciliation, which can be attained only in holiness (Lev. 16:16f.). God enters into a covenant with God’s people. God sets them apart, makes them God’s possession, and vouches for this covenant. “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Lev. 19:2), and “I the Lord, I who sanctify you, am holy” (Lev. 21:8)—this is the foundation on which this covenant rests. All other laws that the people are given and asked to keep in righteousness have the holiness of God and of God’s community as their prerequisite and their goal.

Just as God, the holy one, is separated from anything common, and from sin, so too is the community of God’s holy realm. God has chosen it. God has made it the community of the divine covenant. In this realm of holiness God has reconciled and purified it. Now this place of holiness is the temple, which is the body of Christ. The body of Christ thus is the fulfillment of God’s will to establish a holy community. Set apart from world and sin to be God’s own possession, the body of Christ is God’s realm of holiness in the world. It is the dwelling place of God and God’s Holy Spirit.

How does this come about? How, out of sinful human beings, does God create a community of saints that is totally separated from sin? How can God be defended against the accusation of being unrighteous, if God enters into a relationship with sinners? How can the sinner be righteous and God still remain righteous?

God is justified by God; God supplies the proof of divine righteousness. The cross of Jesus Christ works the miracle of God’s self-justification. Now God is justified before God and before us (Rom. 3:21ff.). The goal for the sinner is to be separated from sin and yet to be able to live before God. However, it is only through death that the sinner can be separated from sin. The sinner’s very life is enmeshed in sin to such an extent that deliverance from sin can be brought about for the sinners only through their death. God can remain righteous only by killing the sinner. And yet is the goal for the sinner to live and to be holy before God? How can this come about?

It comes about by God becoming human. In God’s Son, Jesus Christ, God assumes our flesh. In Christ’s body, God carries our human flesh into death on the cross. God kills the Son of God who bears our flesh; and with the Son, God kills everything that bears the name of earthly flesh. Now it is evident that no one is good but the triune God, that no one is righteous but God alone. Now, through the death of God’s own Son, God has supplied the terrible proof of the divine righteousness (ἔνδειξις τῆς δικαιοσύνης αὐτοῦ, Rom. 3:26). In the judgment of wrath on the cross, God had to deliver all of humanity unto death so that God alone would be righteous. God’s righteousness is revealed in the death of Jesus Christ. The death of Jesus Christ is the place where God has supplied the gracious proof of God’s own righteousness, the only place from that moment on where God’s righteousness dwells. Whoever could participate in this death would thereby also participate in God’s righteousness. But now Christ has assumed our flesh, and in his body has borne our sin onto the wood of the cross (1 Peter 2:24). What happened to him happened to all of us. He took part in our life and in our dying, and thus we came to take part in his life and his dying. If God’s righteousness required Christ’s death as its proof, then we are with Christ at the place where God’s righteousness dwells, at his cross, for he bore our flesh. As those who have been killed, we thus come to take part in God’s own righteousness in Jesus’ death. God’s righteousness, which causes us sinners to die, is, in Jesus’ death, God’s righteousness for us. Since in Jesus’ death God’s righteousness is established, and we are included in Jesus’ death, God’s righteousness is established for us as well. God proves God’s righteousness, demonstrating “that God alone is righteous and that God justifies the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26). Thus the justification of sinners consists in God alone being righteous and sinners being totally and utterly unrighteous, rather than in granting sinners their own righteousness alongside that of God. Every desire to possess our own righteousness as well cuts us off completely from being justified by God’s own, unique righteousness. God alone is righteous. Looking at the cross, we recognize this as the judgment which has been rendered over us as sinners. Those who in faith see themselves included in Jesus’ death on the cross, the place where as sinners they are condemned to die, receive God’s righteousness, which triumphs in this very place. They are made righteous precisely as those who neither can be nor desire to be righteous themselves, but who recognize that God alone is righteous. For as human beings we cannot be made right and ready before God except in recognizing that God alone is righteous and we are sinners throughout. The question of how, as sinners, we can be righteous before God is really the question of how, in our encounter with God, God alone can be righteous. Our justification is grounded exclusively in God’s justifying God, “so that you [God] may be justified in your words, and prevail in your judging” (Rom. 3:4).^[1]

---------------------------more tomorrow------------------------

Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage Breaker”, "Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the mt4christ247 podcast!

at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts

(https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and Audible.com. 

These teachings are also available on the MT4Christ247 You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MT4Christ247

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be encouraged.

My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian encouragement via her Facebook Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

---

^[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship, ed. Martin Kuske et al., trans. Barbara Green and Reinhard Krauss, vol. 4, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003), 253–256.

Leaving a Legacy or a Scandal? - The Prisoner’s Dilemma and the Truth - Purity 913

 

Leaving a Legacy or a Scandal? - The Prisoner’s Dilemma and the Truth  -  Purity 913      

Purity 913 12/13/2022 Purity 913 Podcast

Purity 913 on YouTube: 

Not sure how YouTube flipped the Thumbnail!?!

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a street lamp shining like the sun in a blue sky as the real thing fades over the horizon illuminating the road side trees on State Route 9J, or River Road in Schodack Landing, comes to us today from yours truly, as I was moved to turn my phone sideways from its vertical rearview mirror mounted orientation to capture some of the glory before me during yesterday’s commute back to River House. After the previous day’s snow storm the Lord graced us with a clear day and a reminder of that His creation is awesome and something we can miss and just drive through if we are too consumed with the things of this world.  

Well, It’s Tuesday and I learned this morning that Clyde Wilburn’s Memorial Service and Funeral will tomorrow in Catskill but I won’t be in attendance.  I am not the best “griever” and a quote from F. Scott’s Fitzgerald’s “Great Gatsby’s isums up my feelings about funerals, a mob boss in the story says : “Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead.”   Of course, the context of the Gatsby story actually reveals that this quote isn’t so profound as it may have been self-serving, as Gatsby’s Meyer Wolfsheim may have desired to distance himself from his deceased friend and his illegal dealings. 

So, do I want to distance myself from my deceased friend because of his falling away from the church we attended, his illegal choices, and his death by overdose? Not really, I try to be as transparent about my addictive past and don’t try to distance myself from anyone I met along the way during the 5 years that I went through, taught. and eventually led the Celebrate Freedom recovery ministry at my former church.  Because of our interactions there and in church, I will always consider Clyde Wilburn as a brother and a friend but the truth is that other than seeing him earlier this year at a “Bible Study with the Cincotti’s”

 (

https://youtu.be/7hvGHU1lmtg)  I haven’t seen him in quite a while.

My life has taken me in a direction that led me away from Hudson and the church that we used to attend together and before hearing about Clyde’s death on Sunday I didn’t what was going on in Clyde’s life.  I assumed he was well.  I was wrong and discovered that he was charged with armed robbery in September.  In 8 months, Clyde went from a Bible Study to the police blotter and, now 3 months later, his obituary will be all the news we may see regarding our old friend.  

As I was thinking about Clyde yesterday, I was reminded how important it is to keep walking with the Lord and how when I was first saved I was so ignorant about the importance of having a “good testimony”.   Because I had lived a very selfish and sinful life for 38 years before being saved in 2010, I never thought that I would had any hope to leave a “good testimony” other than that God is gracious to forgive a sinner like me.   I didn’t understand that or testimony isn’t frozen in stone. It is progressive.  While it is awesome to say a sinner’s prayer and to attend church services, the glory that we give to the Lord comes from our decision to continue to follow Him and to seek our identity and enact our purpose in Christ. 

My testimony regarding Clyde Wilburn would be overwhelmingly positive as I loved him for his testimony as someone who had walked in darkness and decided to get right with God. His insights on the word of God, his sense of humility and humor,  and his huge heart made it easy to love him, But my testimony is obviously one sided and based on the context of Clyde’s time in church.

However, recently I wrote about how due to situations from my past, some people out there, even though I am walking out my faith the best I can, consider me to be a “bad Christian” or hypocrite.  And as I thought about the unfortunate circumstances and poor choices Clyde had made in his life, I suspect that for every praise of his name that will come tomorrow at his memorial service and funeral, there may also be words of condemnation and possibly cursing whispered or flatly statde about Clyde in the days, weeks, months, and years that will come as Clyde doesn’t get a chance to change his story or to defend himself.  

The woman charged as an accomplice in the armed robbery that allegedly took place in September with Clyde, now has the perfect opportunity to craft a defense as a hapless victim to an out of control man that coerced her into participating in his crime.  How true that is we will never know but whether the legal proceedings regarding those charges are resolved currently or not, this woman now has the option to speak well of or ill of my friend because he gave into his dark side.  

I wonder if she knows that Clyde was a Christian.  Did he share his faith with her? Does she know the Lord? Will she bless Clyde’s name with fond remembrances and a defense of the things he is alleged to have done or will she, possibly rightfully, curse him?  

It’s is doubtful that I will ever know any of the answers to these questions but I pray for peace and comfort for the Wilburn family and I pray for this woman, who remain nameless, in my blog anyway, and all the people that Clyde met in his time on this earth that they would discover the truth the gospel of Jesus Christ, turn to Lord in repentance, and learn from Clyde’s death just how important it is to continue walking with the Lord and to endure in our faith.  

The longer we live as active Spirit filled disciples of Jesus Christ the longer and brighter our testimonies become. No matter how dark our pasts may be, if we keep walking and talking with God and show our faith in the way we live, every day, the brighter and more glorious our lives become.  

So let’s not forget to encourage one another as we walk through the last month of this year, and through out our lives, to stay the course, to resist the devil and his temptations and to stay within the safety of the community and fellowship of the church.  Church congregations and the individuals who make them up may not be perfect but the One who established the church is and He calls His to abide with Him there.  

So let’s draw close together and keep following the voice of the Good Shepherd all the days of our lives and show our friendship to one another while we live so we can report on the good testimony and legacy of faithfulness each of us will leave behind.

 

--------------------------------------------------------

Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.

This morning’s meditation verse is:

John 1:29 (NLT2)
²⁹  The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

 

Today’s verse tells us that Christ was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  

Christ died for all sinners. But we must be redeemed by putting our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  And let’s face it, we also have to follow Him,   

I’m short on time but this “Lamb of God” thing indicates that Christ was the perfect sinless sacrifice to pay for all the sins we have ever done or will ever do and when we put our faith in Him we are forgiven and set free. So thank God for Jesus and your forgiveness and walk free from the sins of your past.

___________________________________________

As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.

Today we continue sharing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Discipleship”, also known as “The Cost of Discipleship”

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Bonhoeffer’s books for your own private study and to support his work.  This resource is available on many websites for less than $20.00.

The Church of Jesus Christ and Discipleship

 

Chapter Eleven

The Visible Church-Community

The body of Christ takes up physical space here on earth. By becoming human Christ claims a place among us human beings. He came unto his own.^[3] Yet when he was born he was given a stable, “because there was no other place in the inn.” And when he died, they cast him from their midst so that his body hung on the gibbet between heaven and earth. Nevertheless, the incarnation does entail the claim to space granted on earth, and anything that takes up space is visible. Thus the body of Jesus Christ can only be a visible body, or else it is not a body at all. Our human eyes see Jesus the human being; faith knows him as the Son of God. Our human eyes see the body of Jesus; faith knows him as the body of God incarnate. Our human eyes see Jesus in the flesh; faith knows him as bearing our flesh. “To this human being you shall point and say: ‘Here is God’ ” (Luther).^[5]

A truth, a doctrine, or a religion needs no space of its own. Such entities are bodyless. They do not go beyond being heard, learned, and understood. But the incarnate Son of God needs not only ears or even hearts; he needs actual, living human beings who follow him. That is why he called his disciples into following him bodily. His community with them was something everyone could see. It was founded and held together by none other than Jesus Christ, the incarnate one himself. It was the Word made flesh who had called them, who had created the visible, bodily community. Those who had been called could no longer remain hidden; they were the light which has to shine, the city on a hill which is bound to be seen.^[8] Over their community stood visibly the cross and suffering of Jesus Christ. For the sake of community with him the disciples had to give up everything, they had to suffer and endure persecution; and yet, in the very midst of being persecuted together with him, they received back in visible form the very things they had lost—brothers and sisters, fields and houses. The community of those who followed him was manifest to the eyes of the world. Here were bodies that acted, worked, and suffered in community with Jesus.

The body of the exalted Lord is likewise a visible body, taking the form of the church-community. How does this body become visible? First, in the preaching of the word. “They continued in the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42). Every word in this sentence is significant. Preaching here is called teaching (διδαχή) in order to set it apart from all forms of religious speech. The term means communication of facts that have actually taken place. The content of what has to be said is already objectively determined. It simply needs to be conveyed through the ‘teaching’. A communication of news is by definition confined to facts which are not yet known. Once these facts are known, it makes no sense to communicate them again. ‘Teaching’ thus aims by definition at making itself superfluous. However, in strange contrast we read here that the earliest church-community “continued” listening to this teaching. This means that this teaching did not make itself superfluous, but, on the contrary, required precisely this continuing attention. There must, therefore, be some rational necessity for this particular ‘teaching’ to demand continued attention. This necessity lies in the fact that the teaching in question is “the teaching of the apostles.” What does “teaching of the apostles” mean? Apostles are those chosen by God to witness to the facts of the revelation in Jesus Christ. They have lived in bodily community with Jesus. They have seen the one who became incarnate, was crucified, and is risen. They physically touched his body with their hands (1 John 1:1). They are the witnesses whom God the Holy Spirit uses as instruments to proclaim the Word. The apostles’ preaching is the witness to the physical event of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ. The apostles and prophets are the foundation of the church whose cornerstone is Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:20). Any subsequent preaching must itself be ‘apostolic’ in the sense of being based on the same foundation. Thus it is the word of the apostles which makes us one with the earliest church-community. But in what way does this apostolic teaching require ongoing and continual hearing? The word of the apostles is truly God’s Word in human words (1 Thess. 2:13). It is thus a Word which seeks to accept human beings and which has the power to do so. The Word of God seeks out community in order to accept it. It exists mainly within the community. It moves on its own into the community. It has an inherent impulse toward community. It is wrong to assume that on the one hand there is a word, or a truth, and on the other hand there is a community existing as two separate entities, and that it would then be the task of the preacher to take this word, to manipulate and enliven it, in order to bring it within and apply it to the community. Rather, the Word moves along this path of its own accord. The preacher should and can do nothing more than be a servant of this movement inherent in the Word itself, and refrain from placing obstacles in its path. The Word goes forth to accept human beings. This is something the apostles knew. It is the very essence of their preaching. They had seen the Word of God with their own eyes, how it had come into the world and assumed human flesh, and with it the whole human race. Now they were compelled to bear witness to nothing else but the fact that God’s Word had become flesh, and had come to accept sinners, to forgive their sins and sanctify them. It is this same Word which now enters the church-community. The Word made flesh, the Word which already bears the whole human race, the Word which can no longer exist in isolation from the humanity it has assumed—this same Word now comes to the church-community. And in this Word comes the Holy Spirit, revealing to the single individual and to the church-community the gifts they have already been given in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit bestows faith on the hearers, enabling them to believe that, in the word of preaching, Jesus Christ himself has come to be present in our midst in the power of his body. The Holy Spirit enables me to trust that Jesus Christ has come to tell me that he has accepted me and will do so again today.^[1]

---------------------------more tomorrow------------------------

Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage Breaker”, "Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the mt4christ247 podcast!

at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts

(https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and Audible.com. 

These teachings are also available on the MT4Christ247 You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MT4Christ247

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be encouraged.

My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian encouragement via her Facebook Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

---

^[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship, ed. Martin Kuske et al., trans. Barbara Green and Reinhard Krauss, vol. 4, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003), 225–228.