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Showing posts with label Who I Am in Christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Who I Am in Christ. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Scoreboard – Good News in a Mad World - Purity 949

 


Scoreboard – Good News in a Mad World  - Purity 949

Purity 949 01/23/2023 Purity 949 Podcast

Purity 949 on YouTube: Coming Soon!

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a spectacular sunset sky over Port Noarlunga in South Australia comes to us from Dave Baun Photography (https://www.facebook.com/DaveBaunPhotography) as Dave shared this brighter shot from halfway down the winding staircase that takes you to the beach below on social media earlier today.  

Yesterday I shared a “moodier” sunset from the same location that Dave had captured because it seemed to be appropriate in the face of a couple of bad reports I received over the weekend. Little did I know that sullen disposition would turn into a real case of the Mondays as my work day was accompanied by a mild but unrelenting snow storm, challenging circumstances, and negative emotions of fear, anxiety, frustration, and condemnation that painted everything black.  

The weather wasn’t good.  Work was somewhat frustrating. The news I had gotten over the weekend wasn’t good. And I got a new report in the early morning hours that someone else in my life had suffered an unexplained fall and needed to be admitted in the hospital!  With all of these things its difficult to remain positive, but it is even more difficult when your thoughts go negative.  

“Nothing works! Everything breaks! What’s the Use? I hate this! Why can’t anything work? I’ll never be used by the Lord! What’s the point! Everyone lies! I can’t say anything! Don’t they realize what they are doing? Don’t they know what they have done? No one will accept me! Nothing changes! Everything Changes, nothing stays the same. Things just keep getting worse! Everyone hates me! There is nothing good in life! It’s not safe! I’m going to get hurt! I’m going to go off the road! Someone is going to hit me! There’s no time! I’ll never get out of this! Why do I bother! ”  

While I can’t recall the exact content of all my thoughts yesterday… some of those might have gone through my mind.  Don’t get me wrong, this didn’t all happen at once, for the most part I remained positive, careful, and on task. No yesterday seemed to be a progressive campaign of negative mental chatter was sent by the spiritual forces of darkness.  

As a facilitator of the Freedom in Christ course from Freedom in Christ ministries, I understand the fact that because of the unseen spiritual realities of existence, all of our thoughts aren’t necessarily our own and when our outlook on life becomes dark and focused on the world, ourselves,  and the negative aspects of our lives it is safe to assume that we are being influenced by the deceiver and the “accuser of the brethren”, Satan and the demonic forces of darkness who only seek to kill, steal, and destroy our peace. 

Sometimes we will see our “negative train of thoughts” and ask why am I doing this to myself? Why am I thinking about this?   Why would I want to feel this way?  

Well, the simple answer those questions is that we aren’t or at least we are not “driving that train of thought”.  The enemy is tempting us to “get on board” and because those negative aspects of life are there and are “pressing” – we buy the ticket and are taken for a ride to condemnation, anger, fear, worry, or depression.  

Ironically, the enemy can even use our hopes against us.  If we are hoping for good outcomes, the enemy will be there to remind us that “nothing good happens to us” or will accuse us to convince us of why we are not worthy of good things.     

The enemy can even use our love for others to drag us down.  In contemplating the traumas and tragedies our friends and loved ones face, we can question God’s goodness and come away depressed.  When we consider our family and friends who don’t know the Lord or who are locked into a lifestyle of worldliness or sin, we can fear for the immortal souls and doubt that they will ever come to faith.   

The enemy can use our performance against us.  No one does anything perfectly. Our work for ourselves, our employers, or for God’s kingdom will always be subject to judgement, criticism, and second guessing.  The enemy loves to let us know when we are failing or when we could have done things better or how even the good we do won’t matter.   With each passing day, the enemy can point to our advancing years and attempt to convince us of the futility of our efforts and our lives themselves as we slow age and can be tempted consider if our lives have meaning or purpose.   

This maelstrom of existential laments and considerations can be daunting when we fail to remember who we are in Christ.  Because the suffering of the world is a clear and present reality that we deal with every day, the enemy can steal our joy by getting us to focus on these circumstances rather than on the One who is above them all and who is guiding them all for good.   

The enemy wants us to have tunnel vision – where we focus on the negative aspects of our lives to the exclusion of the overwhelming positive aspects of our lives. 

After I suffered through my “no good terrible day”, I realized that I had been drawn into this tunnel of frustration and hopelessness, when in reality I have an amazing life that is surrounded by good things.  

Circumstantially, I am blessed with: 

A job that provides.  A home. A wife who loves me. A collection of possession that work.  Relatively good health.  Friends.  A loving family. Pets. Food and Water.

Those things didn’t go away just because some snow fell on a Monday and some bad things have happened to some of the people I care about. 

Anyone could be grateful for these blessings but when we focus on the negative aspects of our lives, we can feel like we don’t have anything good at all.  

As awesome as these things are and should be remembered to keep us grounded in reality and grateful,  they are all subject to change and we could lose them at any minute.

Yikes, What are you trying to do M.T.? I was just starting to feel better!  

Well, I want you to find the peace and joy goes beyond the good circumstances of our lives by pointing to the ultimate good that comes through faith in Christ alone.   

The one unshakable and unchanging thing we can hold on to in life is God. He is only one that we know who will never leave us or forsake us and who gives us a new life and an enduring hope.  

If nothing else good should come on this earth, we know that because of our faith in Christ, we will overcome.  In Christ, we have the ultimate victory that is never lost!

In sports circles, sometimes a team that is thoroughly beaten will make a good play and out of their frustration will boast and try to rub it in their opponent’s faces.  But even though the eventual victors had been shown up momentarily, the mature ones will remind their nemesis of their imminent victory, by simply saying: “Scoreboard.”

In Christ, we have won. We have all we need for life and godliness. Although there may be suffering here on earth, we are victorious.

For the Christian, our “Scoreboard” is Jesus.  He has won the victory and given it toous.  

Although the enemy will try to convince us that he will never stop ruling this world and causing mayhem, those of us in Christ, can look to Jesus – our “scoreboard” and know that beyond the chaos of this mad world, a kingdom is coming.  The victory has already be won and when we focus on Jesus and on who we are in Christ, our tunnel vision is shown to be spiritual blindness and light of God’s goodness opens up the heavens as we see just how big God is and how deep, how wide, and how high His love goes.  

So, if you train of thoughts take you into a dark place, remember to turn on the light and remind yourself of who you are in Christ and of the victory that we have with us everyday.   God is with us so rather than dwelling on the negative reports from a mad world, keep walking and talking to Him to know the peace and joy that go beyond the circumstances that surround us.   \

In Christ, we live forever and when we walk by faith we are anchored to the victory that Christ has won.  So keep walking and talking with God and remind yourself that everyday is a good day when you are alive and well in His kingdom.  

Today we will skip the Bible verse of the day and read from the Who I Am in Christ list because we need to know this, and live this every day:

Who I am in Christ

I AM ACCEPTED IN CHRIST

            I am God’s Child (John 1:12)

            I am Christ’s Friend (John 15:15)

            I have been justified (Romans 5:1)

            I am united with the Lord and one with Him in Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17)

            I have been bought with a price; I belong to God (1 Corinthians 6:20)

            I am a member of Christ’s body (1 Corinthians 12:27)

            I am a saint (Ephesians 1:1)

            I have been adopted as God’s child (Ephesians 1:5)

            I have direct access to God through the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:18)

            I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins (Colossians 1:14)

            I am complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10)

           

I AM SECURE IN CHRIST

            I am free forever from condemnation (Romans 8:1)

            I am assured that all things work together for good (Romans 8:28)

            I am free from the condemning charges against me (Romans 8:33-34)

            I cannot be separated from the love of God (Romans 8:35, 38-39)

            I have been established, anointed, and sealed by God (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

            I am a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20)

            I am hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3)

            I can find grace and mercy to help me in time of need (Hebrews 4:16)

            I am born of God, and the evil one cannot touch me (1 John 5:18)  

I have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Tim 1:7)

I am confident that the good work God has begun in me will be perfected (Phil 1:6)

 

I AM SIGNIFICANT IN CHRIST

            I am the salt and light of the earth (Matthew 5:13-14)

            I am a branch of the true vine, a channel to His life (John 15:1,5)

            I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit (John 15:16)

            I am a personal witness of Christ (Acts 1:8)

            I am God’s temple (1 Corinthians 3:16)

            I am a minister of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:17-20)

            I am God’s coworker (2 Corinthians 6:1)

            I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6)

            I am God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10)

            I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Ephesians 3:12)

            I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13)

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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.

3. The Sovereignty of God the Holy Spirit in Salvation continues

Each of the three Persons in the blessed Trinity is concerned with our salvation: with the Father it is predestination; with the Son propitiation; with the Spirit regeneration. The Father chose us; the Son died for us; the Spirit quickens us. The Father was concerned about us; the Son shed His blood for us, the Spirit performs His work within us. What the One did was eternal, what the Other did was external, what the Spirit does is internal. It is with the work of the Spirit we are now concerned, with His work in the new birth, and particularly His sovereign operations in the new birth. The Father purposed our new birth; the Son has made possible (by His “travail”) the new birth; but it is the Spirit who effects the new birth—“Born of the Spirit” (John 3:6).

The new birth is solely the work of God the Spirit and man has no part or lot in it. This from the very nature of the case. Birth altogether excludes the idea of any effort or work on the part of the one who is born. Personally we have no more to do with our spiritual birth than we had with our natural birth. The new birth is a spiritual resurrection, a “passing from death unto life” (John 5:24) and, clearly, resurrection is altogether outside of man’s province. No corpse can re-animate itself. Hence it is written, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing” (John 6:63). But the Spirit does not “quicken” everybody—why? The usual answer returned to this question is, Because everybody does not trust in Christ. It is supposed that the Holy Spirit quickens only those who believe. But this is to put the cart before the horse. Faith is not the cause of the new birth, but the consequence of it. This ought not to need arguing. Faith (in God) is an exotic, something that is not native to the human heart. If faith were a natural product of the human heart, the exercise of a principle common to human nature, it would never have been written, “All men have not faith” (2 Thess. 3:2) Faith is a spiritual grace, the fruit of the spiritual nature, and because the unregenerate are spiritually dead—“dead in trespasses and sins”—then it follows that faith from them is impossible, for a dead man cannot believe anything. “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:8)—but they could if it were possible for the flesh to believe. Compare with this last-quoted scripture Heb. 11:6—“But without faith it is impossible to please Him.” Can God be “pleased” or satisfied with any thing which does not have its origin in Himself?

That the work of the Holy Spirit precedes our believing is unequivocally established by 2 Thess. 2:13—“God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” Note that “sanctification of the Spirit” comes before and makes possible “belief of the truth.” What then is the “sanctification of the Spirit?” We answer, the new birth. In Scripture “sanctification” always means “separation,” separation for something and unto something or someone. Let us now amplify our assertion that the “sanctification of the Spirit” corresponds to the new birth and points to the positional effect of it.

Here is a servant of God who preaches the Gospel to a congregation in which are an hundred unsaved people. He brings before them the teaching of Scripture concerning their ruined and lost condition: he speaks of God, His character and righteous demands; he tells of Christ meeting God’s demands, and dying the Just for the unjust, and declares that through “this Man” is now preached the forgiveness of sins; he closes by urging the lost to believe what God has said in His Word and receive His Son as their Lord and Saviour. The meeting is over; the congregation disperses; ninety-nine of the unsaved have refused to come to Christ that they might have life, and go out into the night having no hope, and without God in the world. But the hundredth heard the Word of life; the Seed sown fell into ground which had been prepared by God; he believed the Good News, and goes home rejoicing that his name is written in heaven. He has been “born again,” and just as a newly-born babe in the natural world begins life by clinging instinctively, in its helplessness, to its mother, so this new-born soul has clung to Christ. Just as we read, “The Lord opened” the heart of Lydia “that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul” (Acts 16:14), so in the case supposed above, the Holy Spirit quickened that one before he believed the Gospel message. Here then is the “sanctification of the Spirit:” this one soul who has been born again has, by virtue of his new birth, been separated from the other ninety-nine. Those born again are, by the Spirit, set apart from those who are dead in trespasses and sins.

A beautiful type of the operations of the Holy Spirit antecedent to the sinner’s “belief of the truth,” is found in the first chapter of Genesis. We read in verse 2, “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” The original Hebrew here might be literally rendered thus: “And the earth had become a desolate ruin, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” In “the beginning” the earth was not created in the condition described in verse 2. Between the first two verses of Genesis 1 some awful catastrophe had occurred—possibly the fall of Satan—and, as the consequence, the earth had been blasted and blighted, and had become a “desolate ruin,” lying beneath a pall of “darkness.” Such also is the history of man. Today, man is not in the condition in which he left the hands of his Creater: an awful catastrophe has happened, and now man is a “desolate ruin” and in total “darkness” concerning spiritual things. Next we read in Genesis 1 how God refashioned the ruined earth and created new beings to inhabit it. First we read, “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the water.” Next we are told, “And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.” The order is the same in the new creation: there is the first the action of the Spirit, and then the Word of God giving light. Before the Word found entrance into the scene of desolation and darkness, bringing with it the light, the Spirit of God “moved.” So it is in the new creation. “The entrance of Thy word giveth light” (Psa. 119:130), but before it can enter the darkened human heart the Spirit of God must operate upon it.[1]

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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 Ask Seek Knock blog (https://tammylynask.blogspot.com/ ),  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

 

 



[1] Arthur W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God (Swengel, PA: Bible Truth Depot, 1949), 78–81.


Saturday, January 21, 2023

The Teacher Becomes the Student – The Importance of Community - Purity 947

 

 The Teacher Becomes the Student – The Importance of Community - Purity 947

Purity 947 01/21/2023 Purity 947 Podcast

Purity 947 on YouTube: 


You Tube flipping my photos once again.... 


Good morning,

Today’s photo of the late afternoon sun framed between utility lines from the vantage point of Third Street Extension in Albany NY comes to us from yours truly as I captured this scene at “quitting time” yesterday afternoon.  After a day of working through some more January rain and temperatures just above freezing,  the sun came out as if a sign from God Himself to welcome me to the weekend and to fill me with joy at the possibilities of the future.   

Yes, my friends, it is the weekend, and it is my prayer that anyone hearing or reading this message will find moments of rest and rejoicing as we journey through the 2nd to last weekend of the first month of 2023.  Yeah, don’t blink, because in 2 weeks we will be 4 days into February!

You have to excuse my looking ahead on the calendar, but when you are walking and talking with God on the path of Christian Discipleship, as much as you are enjoying each passing moment in the Lord’s present,  your vision is forward looking and the question that we continually ask God is: What’s Next, Lord?

While we may gain wisdom from examining our pasts or rejoice over previous triumphs to drive us ahead, when we are following the Lord, we can’t help but wonder where we are going.    

My immediate future last night was a good one as I headed up to my countryside home in Easton to be reunited with my wife, TammyLyn, but it didn’t take long before I asked her “What’s next?” by inquiring what our plans for the weekend would be.   As of this morning, other than church on Sunday, we don’t really have plans to go anywhere or do anything.

This of course leaves the door open for spontaneity. So I guess we will see where the day takes us.  

Thursday night I began Deeper Walk International’s School of Pray Ministry’s certification program and will have to review this week’s reading assignments and compose some thoughts of what I think about it.  So even though it’s the weekend, and we have no plans, per se, in order to avoid stress later this week, I am making the decision to stay ahead of the game by using some of my leisure time to meet the responsibilities of this program.  

The best way to plan for the future is to take care of what you have to do today, so I have already read some of the material last night and I plan to finish up the rest and be ready to write, prayerfully, possibly today, or by tomorrow evening.  

I really need to stay ahead of the game on my studies with Deeper Walk because I will be leading another Freedom in Christ course online starting January 31st and my schedule should be pretty full as I learn and am trained with Deeper Walk and as I encourage others to learn who they are in Christ and assist them in experiencing their freedom in Christ.    The teacher has become the student and I am really excited to see how the next several weeks develop because of all the new people and things that these courses will bring into my life.  

With these two courses I will be entering into two new “communities” that are specifically designed to support and encourage one another as we learn and grow together.  

As much as travelling along the path of Christian Discipleship can be a solitary journey, in truth being a Christian was never intended to be about “going it alone.”   Christians are never alone of course because of the presence of the Lord in our lives but we are also supposed to follow Christ’s second commandment to love others as ourselves.  

That requires other people!

So if you just happen to be one of those “Lone Ranger” Christians who are not attending a local church, I really must encourage you to do so.  While I can understand the awkwardness, social anxiety, and fears that can be involved with going into a new church or returning to your old church, I really must encourage you to join the body of Christ somewhere on a regular basis because so much of our maturity as Christians is formed from our interactions in the faith community.   

While I stress the importance of the individual’s daily spiritual practice and seeking the Lord continually,  some things have to be learned and experienced with our interactions in the faith community.  Learning from example, service, forgiveness, and patience are just some of the things that really require our exposure to other people.  So I encourage everyone who hears this message to find a church where you can attend and get involved with the work of the body of Christ because there are somethings we can only learn in community.   

When Christians come together to support one another in their faith walk it can be a beautiful thing, so seek it.  

My canine friend, Harley, is whining as I write this, so I am going to cut this short today… we also have to serve our pets apparently….  

Anyway, keep walking and talking with God, get connected with a community of Bible believing Christians and see where the future takes you by always asking the Lord: What’s Next?    

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

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Ephesians 2:10 (NLT2)
10  For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Today’s verse reminds us that we are God’s “piece of work” and He has created us new in Christ to do the good things that He has planned for us long ago.   

We are God’s “masterpiece” – His love makes us perfectly accepted, secure, and significant and although we are a “work in progress”, we should continually remind ourselves that Christ has made us complete.   I suggest using Dr. Neil Anderson’s “Who I am in Christ” list that is based on scripture to help you to renew your mind and to fully know and accept your identity in Christ.  

With that said, I also want to recommend some balance to what could turn into a “self-adoration” practice by reminding all of us of our purpose in Christ: to do the good works that He has prepared for us, that we are to walk into.  

I knew a Christian who often built himself up with the thought that “God dances over me”.    This idea of God “busting a move” over us is drawn from a single verse from the rather obscure Old Testament prophet Zephaniah.  The “dancing verse”

Zephaniah 3:17 (NLT2) that says
17  For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”

 Bible “scholars” point out that  “rejoice over you” – literally means “dance, skip, leap, and spin around in joy.” And Boldly proclaim that “God dances with shouts of joy over us!”    (https://goodnessofgodministries.international/2013/06/02/1911/)

Yeah, we are awesome. God is dancing a jig over us.  

Don’t get me wrong, Christians need to know that the Lord loves them and that He does rejoice over us.  “Lesson’s like this can help our hearts and minds to accept something that doesn’t come naturally, to have an experiential knowledge of the Lord’s love and acceptance.   Teaching like this can really help us.   

However, the thing that can really empower our faith walk and assure us of our place in God’s kingdom is living out your identity in Christ by seeking and accomplishing our purpose in Christ.   

In other words, we shouldn’t just be “believing” the good news about who we are in Christ, we should be walking in our identity by “doing” what our Father calls us to do.  To be doers of the word and not hearers only.  

So yes, we are God’s masterpieces but let’s not dwell on that to the exclusion of seeking out our purpose for His kingdom. God has things for us to do and people for us to meet as has called us to go out to make disciples.  When we do that, we will know that God rejoices over us because we will be giving Him glory as we become alive in our purpose of showing and sharing His love with the world around us.  

___________________________________________

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.

2. The Sovereignty of God the Son in Salvation - concludes

“For there is one God, and one Mediator, between God and men (not “man,” for this would have been a generic term and signified mankind. O the accuracy of Holy Writ!), the Man Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Tim. 2:5, 6). It is upon the words “who gave Himself a ransom for all” we would now comment. In Scripture the word “all” (as applied to humankind) is used in two senses—absolutely and relatively. In some passages it means all without exception; in others it signifies all without distinction. As to which of these meanings it bears in any particular passage, must be determined by the context and decided by a comparison of parallel scriptures. That the word “all” is used in a relative and restricted sense, and in such case means all without distinction and not all without exception, is clear from a number of scriptures, from which we select two or three as samples. “And there went out unto him all the land of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins” (Mark 1:5). Does this mean that every man, woman and child from “all the land of Judea and they of Jerusalem” were baptized of John in Jordan? Surely not. Luke 7:30 distinctly says, “But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.” Then what does “all baptized of him” mean? We answer it does not mean all without exception, but all without distinction, that is, all classes and conditions of men. The same explanation applies to Lk. 3:21. Again we read, “And early in the morning He came again into the Temple, and all the people came unto Him; and He sat down, and taught them” (John 8:2); are we to understand this expression absolutely or relatively? Does “all the people” mean all without exception or all without distinction, that is, all classes and conditions of people? Manifestly the latter; for the Temple was not able to accommodate everybody that was in Jerusalem at this time, namely, the Feast of Tabernacles. Again, we read in Acts 22:15, “For thou (Paul) shalt be His witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.” Surely “all men” here does not mean every member of the human race. Now we submit that the words “who gave Himself a ransom for all” in 1 Tim. 2:6 mean all without distinction, and not all without exception. He gave Himself a ransom for men of all nationalities, of all generations, of all classes; in a word, for all the elect, as we read in Rev. 5:9, “For Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” That this is not an arbitrary definition of the “all” in our passage is clear from Matt. 20:28 where we read, “The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many,” which limitation would be quite meaningless if He gave Himself a ransom for all without exception. Furthermore, the qualifying words here, “to be testified in due time” must be taken into consideration. If Christ gave Himself a ransom for the whole human race, in what sense will this be “testified in due time”? seeing that multitudes of men will certainly be eternally lost. But if our text means that Christ gave Himself a ransom for God’s elect, for all without distinction, without distinction of nationality, social prestige, moral character, age or sex, then the meaning of these qualifying words is quite intelligible, for in “due time” this will be “testified” in the actual and accomplished salvation of every one of them.

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (Heb. 2:9). This passage need not detain us long. A false doctrine has been erected here on a false translation. There is no word whatever in the Greek corresponding to “man” in our English version. In the Greek it is left in the abstract—“He tasted death for every.” The Revised Version has correctly omitted “man” from the text, but has wrongly inserted it in italics. Others suppose the word “thing” should be supplied—“He tasted death for every thing”—but this, too, we deem a mistake. It seems to us that the words which immediately follow explain our text: “For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” It is of “sons” the apostle is here writing, and we suggest an ellipsis of “son”—thus: “He tasted death for every”—and supply son in italics. Thus instead of teaching the unlimited design of Christ’s death, Heb. 2:9, 10 is in perfect accord with the other scriptures we have quoted which set for the restricted purpose in the Atonement: it was for the “sons” and not the human race our Lord “tasted death.”*

In closing this section of the chapter let us say that the only limitation in the Atonement we have contended for arises from pure sovereignty; it is a limitation not of value and virtue, but of design and application. We turn now to consider—[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 Ask Seek Knock blog (https://tammylynask.blogspot.com/ ),  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

 

 



[1] Arthur W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God (Swengel, PA: Bible Truth Depot, 1949), 75–77.

Friday, December 9, 2022

Damned if you do, Damned if you don’t? To HELL with that! - Purity 910


 Damned if you do, Damned if you don’t?  To HELL with that!  -  Purity 910    

Purity 910 12/09/2022  Purity 910 Podcast

Purity 910 on YouTube: Coming Soon!

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a robust tropical plant and a quaint wooden walking bridge leading to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean comes to us from a friend, a “cousin-in-law?, who shared this scene from South Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida yesterday on social media commenting that they “needed this more than words can express!”

Well, It’s Friday, and in light of recent developments in my life concerning matters of the past that live on in my present, I think I need the weekend to be here more than words can express! Thank You Lord!   

I don’t know if  my “matchmaking” friend and “cousin-in-law” used a filter on this photo but while I can’t discuss the specific matters that are effecting my life because of legal agreements, I will be unfiltered in giving my advice of what to do with untenable situations, in a general sense.   

First of all some common sense with some support from the word of God to validate it’s wisdom.  

You shouldn’t trust people who are not walking with the Lord and especially if they have proved to be untrustworthy in the past, and even more so if they abuse alcohol or drugs.  

In terms or our faith, those without a covenant relationship with God and who are “walking in the flesh” could rightly be described as “wicked”,  and not “wicked good”, no matter how nice, friendly, or dynamic they are.

Proverbs 25:26 (NLT2)
26  If the godly give in to the wicked, it’s like polluting a fountain or muddying a spring.

 

As much as we try to be peacemakers and witnesses for Jesus Christ, and play “nice”,  when we compromise our better judgement by “giving in to the wicked”, we can’t be surprised when things turn into a big mess.   

Christ said:

Matthew 7:17-20 (NLT2)
17  A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit.
18  A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit.
19  So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire.
20  Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

And if someone is not walking with the Lord, it is foolish for us to think that they will do “what’s right.”  Eventually, we could pay for our decisions to “give into the wicked”.  

To paraphrase a line from National Lampoon’s Animal House: “You “messed” up, you trusted us.”    

Yup, you messed up you trusted the untrustworthy! Surprise, things went bad.  

And from my experience, I have learned that before the “disaster” comes there are signs of the impending storm.   Just like an earthquake will be precipitated by tremors, generally we get signs that we have chosen a poor path in trusting the “wicked”. 

Of course, if we respond to these early signs and change our course we can avoid disaster, but when you call someone out at the first sign of trouble, you usually get accused of “overreacting” or “being unloving” or, my favorites: being a “bad Christian” or a “hypocrite”.  

So if you have gotten those accusations thrown in your direction, rather than shying away from withdrawing your trust and making others accountable, I suggest you agree with the accusations that are intended to shame you into inaction and show the accuser that while you have given trust, mercy, and grace, you are free to withdraw them and do what you have to do to correct the situation.

Easier said then done, of course, because dealing with people is always unpredictable and the truth of the matter is that we simply can not control what others do and often there can be negative consequences for taking corrective action.  Doing the right thing may cost you money, time, your reputation, or your relationships and when we consider the costs we may shy away from doing the right thing and just “hope and pray” things will get better on their own.  

Or out of fear, we will agree that we have to do what is right, but we can’t do that “NOW”. Our fear will tell us that the circumstances aren’t right and that we simply “can’t” do it.

“It’s too painful. It costs too much. I don’t like confrontations!  I don’t want to be a “jerk.”

While I can understand all of these sentiments, when we look at them we can see that the voice of fear is speaking through us, not the voice of faith that has confidence in God.

Not long ago, I counseled a brother in Christ that was in a “real pickle”, a situation where he couldn’t see a good outcome no matter what he did.  He saw things dualistically and didn’t think either of the paths he considered would fix his problem. 

He lamented: “I’m damned if I do, and I’m damned if I don’t”  

While I could totally understand where he was coming from, because we can really feel trapped when we don’t see an easy way out, but that “sitting on the fence in fear” does nothing to alleviate our trouble and just prolongs it. 

His situation reminds me of the common experience of removing a bandage from a wound that has healed but is still tender.  There are those who will peal it away slowly, feeling every bit of pain in every little bit of it being removed and there are those who will just rip it off, to feel a sharp sudden pain and then have it be over with in an instant.  

But there is the third option of course, which is to do nothing.  While in this scenario, it is completely plausible that our wound will eventually heal and the bandage will let go and fall away on its own with absolutely no pain, it just requires patience. 

However, I can also imagine this inaction could lead to more pain as the bandage becomes dirty and the wound is prevented from drying out, doing nothing could possibly lead to a bigger problem as the wound doesn’t heal properly and becomes infected.

Of these 4 hypothetical situations, only one of them is pain free but unfortunately we don’t live in hypothetical situations, we live in a fallen world of sin. There are many things than can complicate matters, including the spiritual forces of darkness, and generally prolonged inaction on our part results in the situations becoming worse. 

Most cancers caught early can be successfully treated, the ones that show signs but are ignored and allowed to fester can kill us.   

So although, in the moment, I gave my friend who proclaimed “I’m damned if I do, and I’m damned if I don’t” sound, measured, proactive advice ,when I most recently related that story to the Freedom in Christ Men’s group that led, I said:

“So you think that you are “Damned if you do and you are damned if you don’t”? TO HELL with THAT!  That is a lie of the enemy, who would love to keep you frozen in fear!

That’s a lie. Yeah you may suffer, but we are not to sit idly by while things fall apart around us. We may not be able to fix anything, but God would direct us to do everything we could to makes things better, even if it costs us everything, and He would expect us to trust in Him to see us through."

So because of the things I have walked through, I have discovered that it is best to meet our responsibilities head on and to “get ‘er done” as soon as possible to solve problems.   

However, I am not perfect.  I genuinely want to be loved by everyone. I am a “people pleaser” and because I desperately want to “love my neighbor” and “be kind” I have failed in some instances to “push the issue” to “make things right” and I have left them on the “back burner”.  

In vaguely, detailing this current situation in a recent blog post, my wife, TammyLyn was quite surprised to hear me say that I would deal with it “eventually”. These words coming out of my mouth didn’t sit right with her spirit and she lovingly shared her concerns saying:   “This doesn’t sound like my hubby… “eventually”? That isn’t you. Let’s just get it done”.  

So yesterday, against my fears and fully knowing that action would cost me, I reached out to retain the service of professionals that could take action on my behalf to right an injustice, to finish some bad business, to compel the “wicked” to do what was right.    

So never believe the lie that “you are damned if you do, and you are damned if you don’t”.   God has put us here on earth to be holy and righteous: simply to do what is right, and to undo the works of the devil: to confound and resist the “wicked”, to compel the sinful to repent, and the irresponsible to be responsible.  

Of course that is a hard road, but it is the road that God has put us on as Christ commanded us to go into the world and make disciples: people who would learn and apply the wisdom of the Lord to their lives. So we are to be vocal in telling others what is right and to encourage them to do so.  

If someone is living outside of God’s will, they are suffering.  

If we refuse to do what God would have us do, to be righteous, to be bold and courageous, we will suffer.  

While we can’t control what others do, we can take action to stop the suffering and put an end to untenable situations.  As peacemakers, we want the “greater peace” of being right with God, and sometimes we have to go to war and resist the enemy on the pathway that will lead us there.  

God wants us to fully to surrender to Him and fully trust in Him. We are not to trust in men and we are not to surrender to God in half measures, to compromise His “perfect will” for a life of limited or “conditional” peace that would have us make treaties with the “wicked” that will eventually cause us to suffer or compromise “who we are” in Christ.  

So to HELL with the Devil and to Hell with doing nothing because we are afraid of the consequences of the actions that we don’t know the outcomes to, and to Hell with being less than the people that God calls us to be.  

Yeah, like Jonah I walked away from the Lord’s call to complete freedom from my past because I was afraid or simply “didn’t want to” but as I continued to walk in the Spirit, He wouldn’t let it His desire for my well being go and He sentam angel in the person of my wife, to encourage me to be “bold and courageous” and to do the hard things, to be the person He created me to be.  

So keep walking and talking with God, In Christ we are never “damned” and it is only in trusting Him and following Him that we can discover that He will be with us every step of the way “through the fire” of adversity and that He will see us through, no matter what the out comes are: Trust in God only.      

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

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

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Romans 6:23 (NLT2)
23  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Today’s verse speaks of the reality that sin is death, and that God gives us the free gift of eternal life through Christ alone.  

Ever feel less than fresh?  If we are suffering from bad moods or attitudes, we have most likely stepped off the path of Christian Discipleship by either not remembering who we are in Christ or from doing things or thinking things that are contrary to who we are in Christ: and will it wasn’t etched in stone tablets from the finger of God: that’s sin!

To “sin” is to “miss the mark” – basically to go astray from the way the Lord would have us walk.  So this includes doing things that go against what God has said is right in His word as well as not doing the “good” that God would have us do.  But these things, our behaviors or our inaction are driven by what we believe about life and us individually.  

To agree that something is bad, but to still do it, reveals that a part of us actually believes it is good or desirable in some way, that causes us to do it.   When we say one thing and  do another, it shows we believed the second thing.

The wages of sin is death. Ultimately, we are lost if we don’t repent and have our sins covered by the blood of Jesus: that’s eternal death in torment in hell.  

But sin also causes “death” in our lives as we are filled with shame or guilt or are just cold hearted, spiritually dead, when we live independent of and in opposition to the Lord.  

So as today’s verse tells us we can experience the free gift of eternal life through Christ alone, and when we follow Him and turn from our sin we can experience a life filled with peace, love, joy, and the other fruit of the Spirit here on earth.  

So stop collecting those “death wages” to your mind, body, soul, and spirit by turning away from sin and agree with what God says about you and by avoiding what is wrong and doing what is good.  

 

___________________________________________

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 Ten

The Body of Christ, continues

 

The body of Jesus Christ is identical with the new humanity which he has assumed. The body of Christ is his church-community [Gemeinde]. Jesus Christ at the same time is himself and his church-community (1 Cor. 12:12). Since Pentecost Jesus Christ lives here on earth in the form of his body, the church-community. Here is his body crucified and risen, here is the humanity he assumed. To be baptized therefore means to become a member of the church-community, a member of the body of Christ (Gal. 3:28; 1 Cor. 12:13). To be in Christ means to be in the church-community. But if we are in the church-community, then we are also truly and bodily in Jesus Christ. This insight reveals the full richness of meaning contained in the concept of the body of Christ.

Since the ascension, Jesus Christ’s place on earth has been taken by his body, the church [Kirche]. The church is the present Christ himself. With this statement we are recovering an insight about the church which has been almost totally forgotten. While we are used to thinking of the church as an institution, we ought instead to think of it as a person with a body, although of course a person in a unique sense.

The church is one. All who are baptized are “one in Christ” (Gal. 3:28; Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 10:17). The church is “the human being per se.” It is the “new human being” (καινὸς ἄνθρωπος). As such, the church was created through Christ’s death on the cross. Here the hostility between Jews and Gentiles which had torn humanity apart is abolished, “in order that he might create in himself one new human being in place of the two, thus making peace” (Eph. 2:15). The “new human being” is one, not many. Outside of the church, which is this new human being, there is only the old, internally divided human being.

The “new human being,” which is the church, is “created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness and truth” (Eph. 4:24). The “new human being” is “being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator” (Col. 3:10). It is none other than Christ himself who is described here as the image of God. Adam was the first human being bearing the image of the creator. But he lost this image when he fell. Now a “second human being,” a “last Adam,” is being created in the image of God—Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:47). The “new human being” is thus at the same time Christ and the church. Christ is the new humanity in the new human being. Christ is the church.

The relation of the individual believer to the “new human being” is described in terms of “putting on” the new human being.16 The “new human being” is like a garment made to cover the individual believers. They are to put on the image of God, that is, Christ and the church. In baptism we are putting on Christ (Gal. 3:27), which means we are being incorporated into his body, or into the one human being in whom there is neither Greek nor Jew, neither free nor slave. Whoever is baptized is being incorporated into the church-community. No one can become a new human being except by being within the church, that is, through the body of Christ. Whoever seeks to become a new human being individually cannot succeed. To become a new human being means to come into the church, to become a member of Christ’s body. The new human being is not the single individual who has been justified and sanctified; rather, the new human being is the church-community, the body of Christ, or Christ himself.[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