“Made perfect.”
Hebrews 12:23

Recollect that there are two kinds of perfection which the Christian needs—the perfection of justification in the person of Jesus, and the perfection of sanctification wrought in him by the Holy Spirit. At present, corruption yet remains even in the breasts of the regenerate—experience soon teaches us this. Within us are still lusts and evil imaginations. But I rejoice to know that the day is coming when God shall finish the work which he has begun; and he shall present my soul, not only perfect in Christ, but perfect through the Spirit, without spot or blemish, or any such thing. Can it be true that this poor sinful heart of mine is to become holy even as God is holy? Can it be that this spirit, which often cries, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this sin and death?” shall get rid of sin and death—that I shall have no evil things to vex my ears, and no unholy thoughts to disturb my peace? Oh, happy hour! may it be hastened! When I cross the Jordan, the work of sanctification will be finished; but not till that moment shall I even claim perfection in myself. Then my spirit shall have its last baptism in the Holy Spirit’s fire. Methinks I long to die to receive that last and final purification which shall usher me into heaven. Not an angel more pure than I shall be, for I shall be able to say, in a double sense, “I am clean,” through Jesus’ blood, and through the Spirit’s work. Oh, how should we extol the power of the Holy Ghost in thus making us fit to stand before our Father in heaven! Yet let not the hope of perfection hereafter make us content with imperfection now. If it does this, our hope cannot be genuine; for a good hope is a purifying thing, even now. The work of grace must be abiding in us now or it cannot be perfected then. Let us pray to “be filled with the Spirit,” that we may bring forth increasingly the fruits of righteousness.

Just in case you missed this, the following video chronicles Chinese Christians receiving their first copy of the Word of God.  These moving pictures truly are worth a thousand words.

Let me share a quote with you that sums up a lot of my heart.

“We had done quite a lot of thinking and self-examining the previous few years. It seemed to us that so much of Christianity was being spread by advertising designed to ‘put across’ something, that there as very little genuine recognition of the supernatural. Suppose we had awakened today to find everything concerning the Holy Spirit and prayer removed from the Bible – what difference would is make practically between the way we worked yesterday and the way we would work today and tomorrow? What difference would it make in the majority of Christians’ practical work. Where does the supernatural power of God have a real place?”

Read the entire article here: http://thesoultrap.blogspot.com/2013/05/response-to-response-to-response.html

What does our age have to do with ageless truths and traditions?

For those of you who may not know me, I am a young pastor, thirty-two to be exact.  I have been in full-time ministry since I was twenty years old.  My first experience in the Lord’s work was at the age of fourteen when I began leading the music in my childhood church.  Needless to say, and to God be the glory, most of my life has been invested in the work of the Lord through the local, New Testament church.  I LOVE THE LOCAL, NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH.

As I sail through life and ministry, I have felt strong winds blowing in the last several years among men of my generation.   These men have like experience with me.  Most of us were saved, called to preach and trained in Independent Baptist Bible Colleges of like faith and practice.  As these men have increasingly entered pulpits or started new churches, I have observed through social media and a few private conversations a restlessness and openness to change that does alarm me.  There would be no way of being effective here without addressing these issues “head-on.”

Though there is nothing wrong with some changes, I am cautiously reminded that the Scriptures say, Meddle not with them that are given to change (Proverbs 24:21).  During the history of the church, things have changed.  Instrumentation in music has changed, buildings have changed, and dictating laws of the land that affect churches have changed.  These are not the ultimate changes being mentioned here.

Inside the Bible, Outside the Box

To clarify, the Bible contains the mind of God.  Second Timothy chapter three declares to us that the Bible is profitable for our doctrine (beliefs and teachings).  When we open the Bible we see the mind of God, the heart of God and the will of God for us.  We are to take our faith and practice from the Bible.  What is blatantly described on its wondrous pages is our doctrine.  The Bible is the box in which our minds are to reflect upon God and His wonderful work.  Several years ago an acquaintance of mine suggested I was much like his pastor.  He said, “You, like my pastor, believes there is a lot of grey area in the Bible and are willing to think outside the Bible.”  He was wrong…very wrong.  The cleanest life that might be lived is one filled with chapter and verse markings on our decisions and our doctrines.  The old expression says, “God said it- I believe it- That settles it.”   If the Bible is our only rule, “God said it- That settles it- Period, End of Sentence.”

There are new ideas that are “outside the box but inside the Bible.”  If these ideas do not harm any doctrine or matter of faith and practice, they might be implemented without any harm to our conscience.  Have some majored on minor points?  Yes.  Have some brethren broken fellowship over that which is outside the box yet Biblical in nature?  Yes.

What is written here, however, is not of this sort.

I shudder to think that the following frustrations will lead to a whole generation of men my age leaving the doctrines and practices held so dear for a bowl of prideful porridge, while our birthright to inevitable blessing lay in the bosom of our Father in Heaven.

So, why is my generation frustrated?

1.  A desire to duplicate a modern church than a first-century model.  Thank God for Lee Roberson, Tom Malone, Jack Hyles, and others.  We have what we have because God used them as a channel to the Twenty-first century.  We have had great colleges where we have trained for ministry. However, are we in ministry seeking to duplicate those ministries, or are we conscious of the church of  Antioch (Acts 13) as to make it our model?

We are frustrated, I believe, because of our own expectations.  Christ said, I will build my church (Matthew 16:18).  That is sovereignty.  He will build His Church, His way.  The size, the location, the congregation are His doing.  Now, we are laborers together with God (I Corinthians 3:9), but Christ is at the helm.  In Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).  Our frustration stems from our expectations of success, rather than the expectation of the Great Commission, And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world (Matthew 28:20).

2.  Comparison

Let’s be honest.  As a pastor, have you ever had a good day at church, and arrived at home tired and exhausted, grateful in the blessing of God that Sunday, only to go to twitter and read of all the “success” someone else had that day?  Here, we have made a mistake.  The Scriptures tell us to Rejoice with those who rejoice, and well we should, but are we comparing ourselves to others?

Do you drive by your town’s liberal church on Sunday, seeing its parking lots teeming with this week’s flavor of congregation, and say to yourself, “What am I doing wrong?  I am preaching the truth, living the truth, praying and walking with God?”  Be encouraged, friend, that our Blessed Lord suffered one of the most devastating church splits in history.  John chapter six records that from that time many of His disciples went home, never to return.  Was Christ a failure?   No!  Should He alter His preaching concerning discipleship?  No!

The Bible says, But godliness with contentment is great gain (I Timothy 6:6).  The enemy of contentment is comparison.  Is the Judgment Seat of Christ not a great enough remuneration to you for your faithful and loving service to Christ?  If it is not, be ready to bend.

It is not our message that needs amendment.  It is not our Spirit-filled music that needs revision.  It is not our preaching that needs to soften.  Our King James Bible is not out-of-date.

Let’s be who we are.  When the children of Israel were living in Egypt, God gave them Goshen, a land where they could live, rear their families, raise their live stock and be shepherds.  In others words, it was a place where they could be themselves.  Is Goshen not, in like manner, a picture of the local Church?  It is not in the local church where, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, we can just be ourselves, offer our sacrifices, sing our music, and serve our Great God?  The church is the gathering spot of the faithful.  Would to God we never compromise who we are and what we do to make Goshen more palatable to the Egyptians.

3.  Unscriptural Alliances in Social Media

“Show me your friends, and I will show you your future.”  Do we believe that?  Teenagers are not the only individuals faced or affected by peer pressure.

We must be careful who we “follow.”  We are the books we are reading, the men we are following, the churches and pastors we admire.  Paul reminded Timothy,  But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them (II Timothy 3:14).

Every great truth in my life has a name beside it.  Great truths are always identifiable by the whom we learned it from.  Great errors are, too.  I quote Paul again who said, Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? (Galatians 5:7).

4.  Programs over Power, Media over the Message

Jesus Christ left us with an irreplaceable resource.  “Whatever you do,” He said, “Tarry in Jerusalem until ye be endued with power.”  There in the Upper Room, the disciples gathered.  Pie graphs, power point presentations and iPads filled with philosophical dogma were not lining the walls and covering the tables.  That room was but a holding cell for that mighty army until they be filled with Holy Spirit power.  Pentecostal power did what man’s programs could never do.  Peter’s message marinated in Holy Ghost unction did what thousands of well-planned words could never do.

Someone said, “We plan our work, but God is working His plan.”  I am not suggesting we have no plan.  This article is not to signify an end to prayerful considerations in how to get the Gospel out.

However, my generation is restless for results and revival.  We want what revival will produce.  We want to baptize the scores of Lee Roberson, preach the sermons of Dr. Malone and hold the revivals of Ham and Sunday.  We want the magnetizing music of Rodeheaver, Alexander and Hart, but all our efforts at achieving those ends are but echoes of the past.  We need the Voice of the God of Heaven speaking and working in our time!  The question is, “Are we willing to pay the price for this great blessing?”  Will we pray with all our power?  Will we give ourselves to fasting and intercession?

Our sermons can be polished, pretty, pixelated, and prompt but will fall short until they be endued with power!  Our songs may be melodious and masterful, but has the Spirit of God breathed upon them?  Has it occurred to you that just maybe the old-time religion music is not broken, but rather the singers of it are?  Our music has dripped with the honey of Heaven’s blessing upon it when sung in fullness of power. Need we seek a new power for our music or the Powerful One?  Need we change the tempo or our trust from the vocalist to the Vicarious One?

The words of old-time religion remind us that, “ALL IS VAIN unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down.”

Dear friends, my heart is burdened.  Before we tear down all the fences, let us stop and ask ourselves why someone put those fences up.  The Bible says, Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle (II Thessalonians 2:15).  I still believe that we as Elijah serve in the generation of thousands who have not bowed their knees to Baal, mammon or the culture.

However, there is a growing number who carry our flag and wear our fatigues but write, speak and rally against the old-time religion.  If they are offended by the name “traditional” or “old-time religion,” may they no longer use us or our money to start new works under traditional premises only to change their positions when our money is no longer needed.

Selah.

You can decipher who has had the greatest impact on your life by those people who walk the pathway of your mind each day.  When thoughts of their love, kindness, affection or care for you enter your heart, they being dead, yet speak (Hebrews 11:4).  

There are men of the highest caliber who daily enter into my heart.  As I remember their investment in me, I am thankful to God for the time they did invest and long to see them again in Heaven.  

One such friend was Dr. Earl Holloway.  From day one he always made me feel loved and valued.  He proved his love through educating, mentoring, and caring for me.  I met him when I was a young teenager, and our friendship knew no age boundaries.  He was over 50 years my senior, yet our time together was sweet.  I would never claim to have been his favorite, but I knew he loved me.  He made everyone feel the same way.  At his funeral I mingled with many whose feelings were united.  Whether one was valued higher than the other was irrelevant.  We were all loved and nurtured.  He was all our friend.

In John chapter eleven a similar situation is described in God’s Word.  Jesus was a man of relationships.  He cared for all kinds of people in all kinds of ways.  He was as likely to welcome children to Himself, as He was to go out of His way to nurture a woman of a checkered past and uncertain future.  At the city of Bethany was a family dear to the Saviour.  This family of three, Mary, Martha and Lazarus, became central to the story of Jesus.

While Jesus was away from the city, Lazarus became ill and died. When Jesus showed up at their home four days later, Lazarus’ dead body began to decay in an earthly grave.  Jesus had delayed in arriving, for Christ came, not to heal a sick man, but to raise a dead man!  When He entered the city limits, He was chastised by the two sisters for being late.  (By the way, when you think God is late in your life, you are early!  God is always on time!)

The Bible records that as Jesus approached the sepulchre of Lazarus, He wept (John 11:35).  This shortest verse in the Bible is worth ten thousand more.  As He wept, the Jews said, “Behold, how He loved him!”

As I reflected on this verse I realized that Jesus had the same affect on Lazarus as Earl Holloway and others have had on me.  Was Lazarus the only man that Jesus loved? NO! The Bible says, “For God so loved the world” (John 3:16).  Was Lazarus’ residence the only place Jesus visited?  NO!  Were these three individuals worth more to Christ than everyone else?  NO!  It is my settled conviction that Jesus had such an influence on others as to make them feel like they were the most precious person in the world to Him.  The songwriter put it this way, “He loves me like I was His only child.”

 In this spirit, it is Christ in others that wields the same power.  

I want to live my life earning this same favor.  May God’s Heaven reveal our enduring significance to many souls, making men in the here-and-now feel invaluable both to us and to God.

“But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock.”

1 Samuel 13:20

We are engaged in a great war with the Philistines of evil. Every weapon within our reach must be used. Preaching, teaching, praying, giving, all must be brought into action, and talents which have been thought too mean for service, must now be employed. Coulter, and axe, and mattock, may all be useful in slaying Philistines; rough tools may deal hard blows, and killing need not be elegantly done, so long as it is done effectually.

Each moment of time, in season or out of season; each fragment of ability, educated or untutored; each opportunity, favourable or unfavourable, must be used, for our foes are many and our force but slender.

Most of our tools want sharpening; we need quickness of perception, tact, energy, promptness, in a word, complete adaptation for the Lord’s work. Practical common sense is a very scarce thing among the conductors of Christian enterprises. We might learn from our enemies if we would, and so make the Philistines sharpen our weapons.

This morning let us note enough to sharpen our zeal during this day by the aid of the Holy Spirit. See the energy of the Papists, how they compass sea and land to make one proselyte, are they to monopolize all the earnestness? Mark the heathen devotees, what tortures they endure in the service of their idols! are they alone to exhibit patience and self-sacrifice? Observe the prince of darkness, how persevering in his endeavours, how unabashed in his attempts, how daring in his plans, how thoughtful in his plots, how energetic in all! The devils are united as one man in their infamous rebellion, while we believers in Jesus are divided in our service of God, and scarcely ever work with unanimity. O that from Satan’s infernal industry we may learn to go about like good Samaritans, seeking whom we may bless!

-taken from Charles Spurgeon’s devotional, Morning and Evening

Recently, I was counseling someone who is on a diet. Seeing that they were struggling, I said, “If you have to cheat a time or two to keep yourself on track, that is better than quitting.”

That might be good advice for the physical world but terrible advice for the spiritual world. Paul said in Romans chapter thirteen, “And making no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof.” There are no cheat days in the Christian life when we can openly sin and get away with it.

In this day may we make no sinful provision for our flesh but rather crucify the desires of the flesh that we might please our blessed Lord.

What is God’s grace?  That is a great and inexhaustible question.  As I was reflecting upon grace, the Lord revealed ways in which we might exhaust the subject:

• When we can fully explain how Deity became Humanity, then you understand grace.
• When you can fully explain how a Sinless Son became a Substitute for Sinners, then you understand grace.
• When you understand how the Great Law was overwhelmed by God’s Love, then you understand grace.
• When you understand how Hell’s Worsts become Heaven’s Bests, then you understand grace.

That which I will never fully explain, I still greatly enjoy.  May we all live daily in gratitude for God’s abundant, infinite, matchless, marvelous and amazing grace!

It has been reported that in no less than one hundred and fifty ways, Joseph was like the Lord Jesus Christ.  If we are to follow in Christ’s steps (I Peter 2:21), Joseph must be a mirror of the Saviour.

Joseph was the apple of his father’s eye.  He and his brother Benjamin were the two sons of Rachel, a woman supremely loved of Jacob.  With Joseph having such a large family, including eleven brothers, it strikes one as amazing that Joseph was bountifully and obviously loved more by his father than all the other siblings.  This would be enough to incite jealousy in any child, not to mention those grandiose dreams Joseph had been having about his brethren worshipping him!

When the opportunity presented itself, the forbearance of his brother’s jealousy wore paper-thin.  While coming to check on them as they tended father’s flock, they sold him into slavery and hid the crime.  That once beautifully colored coat of Joseph was now stained with blood and ripped to shreds.  Proof enough to one and all that Joseph had fallen prey to wild beasts!

For those of you new to the story, you might ask where God was.  To be honest, God was in it all. God had sent Joseph ahead to preserve life (Genesis 45:4-5, Genesis 50:20)  promoting him, inevitably, to the Vice Regency of Egypt and having full control of that empire’s food supply.   In the process of time, Joseph’s ten brothers, Benjamin being left at home, traveled to Egypt to buy bread.

When they arrived, Joseph was a stranger to them…but to him they were still brothers.  We pick up with the words of Genesis chapter forty-five.  There the Bible says,

Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.
And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.
And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.
And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.  (45:1-5)

The heart of our Saviour is seen in the words of Joseph, “Forgiven!  You are forgiven!”  Forgiveness had long rested in his heart and to them it was granted.  Twice he says, “I am Joseph,” as if revealing himself afresh and anew to them.  Read again those heart-rending words, “I am Joseph…come near to me.”

There was a day in my life when Jesus revealed Himself to me.  I was born a sinner and had done many things to prove my enmity to Him.  He was concealed from me, but softly said, “I am Jesus,” and He drew me near.  He drew me near with bands of love and granted me forgiveness!  I am saved because my Heavenly Joseph issued a grand pardon and made me His child!

In our story and several years later, Jacob died.  Into chapter fifty of Genesis we come.  ”Well,” said the brothers, “Daddy is dead, and Joseph is going to get us now.  He did not act against us while Daddy was around, but, hang on, the hammer is about to fall!”

The Bible says,-

And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.
And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. (50:16-20)

“Daddy told you to forgive us,” was the tenor of their comments.  It is here, then, that we see one of Joseph’s greatest likenesses to Jesus Christ.  He says, “I am not God.  I have forgiven you, having come to understand that it was the plan of God.  You are still forgiven!”

I am so glad today that the forgiveness I found in the blood of Christ Jesus shall never be wiped away!  The glory of Divine restoration shall never tarnish.  The peace treaty with sinners signed with Christ’s blood at Calvary shall never be null and void.  I am forgiven!  And once forgiven, always forgiven!

Regardless of your past, if you have come to God by faith, trusting in Christ alone to forgive your sins and to wash you in Calvary’s blood, you are still forgiven!  You may come to God like Joseph’s brethren, saying, “Okay, peace was nice, but surely you are going to repay.”  However, our Heavenly Joseph died once and for all to settle the issue of your sin and give you peace and release from your past.  What a great God, and what a great picture of forgiveness in the life of Joseph.

Selah!