Browsed by
Author: Phil Erickson

Pastor Phil Erickson has been the pastor of Jersey Shore Baptist Church since January of 2002. Having grown up in Ocean County, Pastor Phil has always had a burden for the south Jersey area. After graduating from Bible College in Longview, Texas, he and his family moved to Galloway Township with the vision of digging in and serving the Lord and the people of Atlantic County. Pastor Phil and Cindy Erickson have been married since 1985. They have four children and ten grandchildren. Their oldest son, Phil Jr. and his wife Katelyn are serving the Lord in Egg Harbor Twp., NJ. Their oldest daughter, Melissa, is married to Wesley Clayton who is in the Air Force and is currently stationed in New Mexico. Samantha, their third child, is married to Justin Mears and they are both serving the Lord at the church in Galloway. Hannah, the youngest, is married to Lucas McCollum, and they are also serving here in Galloway. In preparation for ministry, the Lord led him through a variety of educational experiences that have equipped him to serve the Lord and His people. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Georgian Court University, a Bachelor of Biblical Studies in Pastoral Theology from Texas Independent Baptist Seminary (formerly Texas Baptist College), a Master of Religious Education in Bible from West Coast Baptist College, and a Master of Biblical Studies from The Crown College. More recently, he completed a Graduate Certificate in Biblical Counseling and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Veritas Baptist College. He is thankful for these opportunities to study God’s Word more deeply, and counts it a privilege to use whatever knowledge the Lord has given him for the building up of His church. In addition to pastoring, the Lord has given Phil the wonderful privilege of teaching as an adjunct professor at Vision Baptist College in Berlin, NJ and Veritas Baptist College.
Look Beyond The Cross

Look Beyond The Cross

Comments 4 comments

theeffectsofthecross

Today’s Passage – Isaiah 53 – 57 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – John 15 – 16; Psalms 51 – 55; Proverbs 11)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 89:1

Read the “0811 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” – (Isaiah 53:6)

“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.” – (Isaiah 53:10)

This passage in Isaiah has always amazed me for a number of reasons. First, I am always in awe of the accuracy of the Word of God. Here the prophet Isaiah is writing several hundred years prior to the birth of Christ, and yet paints such an accurate picture of the events surrounding Christ’s death. No wonder the Jewish people have removed this passage from their Scripture. It proves perfectly that Jesus is their Messiah.

Secondly, I have often thought about the phrase from verse 10: “it pleased the Lord to bruise him”; and then in verse 11: “he shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied:” I can’t completely wrap my head around these verses. How could the horrible, agonizing death of His Son please and satisfy God? On a human level, I look at these verses and think to myself that there is no possible way that anything could be worth putting my son through the agony that Christ faced on the cross. But God saw something that made it all worthwhile. He saw you and me; and He saw a way that your sins and mine could be atoned for. He saw a way for fellowship to be restored between us and Him. To be sure, God was not pleased with the Cross in itself. I am sure it was the hardest thing for Him to endure; but beyond the Cross was salvation for you and I; and that pleased and satisfied God greatly. Thank you Father for being willing to watch your Son die for me. Thank you Jesus for being a willing participant in my redemption.

On a practical level, I want to offer one additional thought about the cross that you may be bearing right now in your life. You may be going through a difficult time in your life that is anything but pleasing or satisfying. By faith, look beyond the cross to what God is going to ultimately accomplish through your trial. God may be using you to help bring about the eternal redemption of somebody else, which makes all of the temporary suffering worth it. He may be refining you a little through the process; or He may be just glorifying Himself somehow. I know that He has a wonderful plan, and the cross that you are bearing today is part of it, and will be used by Him to “work all thing together for good.” You may not be able to see it now, but someday God will reveal something beautiful; something very pleasing and satisfying. All because you carried the cross that God placed in your life.

I just thought of another verse:

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” – (Hebrews 12:2)

Jesus looked beyond the cross too.

Bullheaded

Bullheaded

Comments 2 comments

Texas-Longhorn-880x400

Today’s Passage – Isaiah 48 – 52 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – John 13 – 14; Psalms 46 – 50; Proverbs 10)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 61:1 – 3

Read the “0810 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;” – (Isaiah 48:4)

“Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” – (Isaiah 48:10)

There is a man in our church who often tells me stories about his childhood and his relationship with his dad growing up. His dad was a great man who had the uncommon ability to demonstrate love and tenderness but could also be very strong, and was not afraid to correct his children when necessary. When this man was a teenager, he and his dad would sometimes butt heads. His dad would say to him, “Son, you have a pretty hard head, but that’s OK because I am going to soften it up for you.” I think this is exactly the idea found in our text today. God was telling Israel that they were “bull headed,” but He knew how to take care of that problem.

Stubborn, stiff-necked, bull headed: these are all words that are synonymous to the words that God used to describe Israel in Isaiah 48:4. They are also words that could be used to describe most of us. We are a stubborn lot by nature. We are very slow to learn, yet quick to declare that we are right. We are not very teachable, because we think that we know everything that there is to know. God oftentimes is forced to soften us up through the vehicle of affliction. Isn’t it amazing that we tend to learn much better while enduring a trial than we do when we are on the mountaintop. If fact, many people come to Christ at times in their life when they are going through a tough time. God often has to break us before He can teach us. If you find yourself going through an unusually difficult season in your life, it may just be that God is working “in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure”. (Phillippians 2:13) He may be trying to get you to see something that you could not see otherwise. God loves you but whom He loves, He corrects; and correction is good; it helps us yield to a God who knows much better about what is good for us.

“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” – (James 1:2-4)

“Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.” – (Hosea 10:12)

The True God or a god of Your Own Creation?

The True God or a god of Your Own Creation?

Comments 3 comments

Today’s Passage – Isaiah 44 – 47 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – John 11 – 12; Psalms 41 – 45; Proverbs 9)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 55:17

Read the “0809 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read previous posts from this reading passage – “Custom Design“ and “He’s the One and Only”

I noticed two recurring themes in the reading today. God states several times through the prophet Isaiah, that He is the only God, there is none beside Him. In fact, I thought it funny when He said “I know not any” (Isaiah 44:8). Consider again these verses from today’s reading:

“Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. … Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.” (Isaiah 44:6, 8)

“I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. … For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. … Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” (Isaiah 45:5-6, 18, 21-22)

“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,” (Isaiah 46:9)

The other thought that is repeated throughout the passage today is that men are determined to keep making idols, little statues of metal and wood, and they pray to them and worship them, but these hunks of junk can’t do anything for them. Again, let’s look at the verses from today’s passage that demonstrate this:

“They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?” (Isaiah 44:9-10 – also vs. 12 – 20)

In Isaiah 44:12 – 20, God speaks about the folly of a man who plants a tree, then cuts it down to warm his home and bake his bread, and then takes the residue of it to fashion it into a god, an idol.

“Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.” (Isaiah 45:20)

“They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship. They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.” (Isaiah 46:6-7)

Israel had the real God, the only God, yet they continuously chose to forsake Him and create gods of their own, little hunks of wood and metal. Now to be sure, there was real spiritual power behind all of these idols. Satan and his devils were the powers behind these false gods. However, when a man was bowing down and worshipping an idol, the devil was not physically present receiving the worship. He is not omnipresent as our God is. We sometimes make the mistake of assigning Satan and his demons the same attributes that rightly belong to God. Satan is powerful, certainly more powerful than a man, but he is minuscule compared to an omnipotent God. Most of the time, these idol worshippers of old were just speaking into the air, and the only One that really heard them as they were praising and praying to their idols was the true God whom they had forsaken, and He was not at all pleased that they had rejected Him and replaced Him with a hunk of wood.

Israel kept forsaking the Great God, the all powerful God, and replacing Him with these idols. Crazy! But don’t we do the same thing today? Oh, to be sure there are probably not many of us that have little statues around our homes that we bow before and worship, but we sure have a lot of idols. We replace God with all kinds of things that we worship: our money, toys, hobbies, careers, and even sometimes, our families – these are all good things given by God sometimes but they can eventually become more important to us than the God who gave them. We also sometimes dabble in sinful pleasures like immoral sexual activity, alcohol, drugs, etc. Like the idols of old, we thought we could manipulate and control them for our pleasure but eventually they enslave us and ruin our lives. When are we going to learn?

Let’s keep God – the Lord Jesus Christ – at the very center of our worship; not just on Sundays, but every day and in every aspect of our lives. Worshipping Him means that our lives are centered in Him. He is in control of everything we do. Let’s stop chasing the vanity of the idols of this world and pursue after God.

Forgiving and Forgetting

Forgiving and Forgetting

Comments 2 comments

Today’s Passage – Isaiah 41 – 43 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – John 9 – 10; Psalms 36 – 40; Proverbs 8)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 51

Read the “0808 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read a previous post from this passage – “Tired of God?“

“I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.” – (Isaiah 43:25)

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” – (Isaiah 1:18)

“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” – (Psalm 103:12)

The verses listed above are very encouraging to me. Each of these Scriptures speak of God’s forgiveness primarily to the people of Israel, but in a broader context, they apply to all who have “called upon the name of the Lord.” It is certainly a wonderful truth that God forgives our sin. Of course, forgiveness is only possible through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The wrath that we deserved was poured out upon Him. However, God goes beyond just forgiving us: He forgets our sins as well. To forgive is one thing but to forget is another level entirely. The phrase, “blotteth out,” has the idea that the record of our sin has been completely expunged (removed).

Now let’s try to apply this wonderful attribute of God to our own relationships. We are supposed to be like God, aren’t we? If we are saved, we are being conformed to the image of Christ and we have God on the inside of us transforming us to be like Him. If all that be true, then we should be able to forget like God forgets. We say that we forgive someone who has wronged us but we often replay mentally (or re-tell verbally) the act that was committed against us. In other words, the act has not been blotted out completely in our minds. We store the thing that was forgiven in a special compartment where we can retrieve it again in case we need it. We often pull it back out when a new violation is committed. We are keeping score in our minds. God does not do this. He removes the record altogether. Real forgiveness will lead us to blot out the act altogether; not that there will be no consciousness of the act, but it will not be allowed to be dredged back up again for some future judgment against the offender.

I have one more thought. God not only forgives sin, and erases the record, but He also refuses to record any future violations. It is like getting a completely free pass from the penalty of your sins. Don’t believe me?

“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” – (Romans 4:5-8)

Oh that we could be more like Him: forgiving, forgetting, and even determining that we will not hold against someone any future acts committed against us. We like to be the receiver of such treatment, but oh how we struggle to treat others in this manner.

God, help us to be more like you. Help us to love people like you do. Help us to truly accept the forgiveness that you offer us and then help us to return the favor to someone else.

Perhaps as you are reading this, God has put someone in your mind that you are harboring unforgiveness toward. Why not determine to take that person out of your heart’s prison by giving them the forgiveness that God has given you.

“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” – (Ephesians 4:32)

He is the One and Only!

He is the One and Only!

Comments 1 comment

Today’s Passage – Isaiah 37 – 40 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – John 7 – 8; Psalms 31 – 35; Proverbs 7)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 48:1 & 2

Read the “0807 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read a previous post from this passage – “Forsaking Future Generations.“

“12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? 13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? 14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? … 18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? … 25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.” (Isaiah 40:12-14, 18, 25)

Did you notice in chapter 40 the number of times that God asks us to search our minds and consider if there are any that could possibly compare to Him? You can search all you want, but you will not find His equal. He is the One and Only! I love what it says in Isaiah 44:

“8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.” (Isaiah 44:8)

Apparently, God made a search Himself and could not find another God.

Notice some of the verses in this passage and what they teach about God:

  1. All knowledge, wisdom, and counsel is contained in God. Notice vs. 13 & 14 (above). God does not have a teacher or a counselor because He is omniscient. There is nothing that God does not know. That is why we need to be in tune with Him. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6). Our knowledge and understanding is very limited, but God can give us the wisdom that we need to navigate through life successfully. Of course, that wisdom is found in the Word of God. Do you need wisdom? I know I do. Ask God to direct you through His Word, and through His Spirit, help you connect all the dots to figure out how to apply the knowledge He gives you.
  2. All power is contained in God. He not only created all things but he also sustained all things, and he will never run out of energy. “28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:28-31). He is also the Source of our strength. Are you weary? Ask God for strength.

If God is the only God, then why is it that we finite humans are constantly trying to elevate ourselves to take His place? We need to submit to His infinite power and knowledge, and then exalt Him as the only One worthy of honor and glory. And then, why do we value the opinions and positions of other finite men, instead of looking to God?

What Do You Do, When You Don’t Know What To Do?

What Do You Do, When You Don’t Know What To Do?

Comments 6 comments

Today’s Passage – Isaiah 33 – 36 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – John 5 – 6; Psalms 26 – 30; Proverbs 6)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 47:1

Read the “0806 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read a previous post from today’s passage – “Streams in the Desert”

“Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.” (Isaiah 36:22)

Chapter 36 of the Book of Isaiah is the beginning of an historical portion of the Book which will end in chapter 39. You will notice that the style of writing changes completely for just these 4 chapters, and you will find the story that is told in this portion of Scripture is also found in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. In chapter 36, we read the beginning of the story and we learn about a huge problem that had come upon King Hezekiah and the City of Jerusalem. Here, we discovered that an extremely powerful army from Assyria had surrounded the city and was threatening to utterly destroy it unless the people surrendered everything. How would you like to be in King Hezekiah’s shoes at this particular time in history? He is facing an impossible situation and he really has very few options. He could fight them because the Assyrian army was infinitely more powerful than Jerusalem’s defenses. It seems from the context that Hezekiah may have considered getting help from Egypt, but even the Egyptians were no match for Assyria. Jerusalem was completely powerless to do anything on their own; they were utterly helpless. What did Hezekiah do? What would you do if you were King Hezekiah?

Well, we will find out tomorrow what Hezekiah does, but let’s consider just for a moment what we should do when we are faced with impossible problems in life. God has a way of getting our complete attention through tragic and difficult situations. Sometimes, God allows the rug to be pulled out from underneath our feet so that we will have to look up to Him to see what happened. Through much of life we seem to be able to figure out on our own, but every once in a while God will allow something to take place that will drive us to our knees in total dependence upon Him for a solution. As Christians, we are supposed to be trusting God every day for everything, but unfortunately our flesh likes to think that it can “do life” on its own, all by itself. God is very patient and gracious with us, but eventually, when we stray too far from Him in our independence and stubbornness, He will do something to get our complete attention. It is a shame that we cannot learn to pay a little more attention to Him before the impossible problems surround us and painful tragedies come our way.

Why don’t we take a moment right now and ask God to forgive us for our lack of attention to Him and our failure to depend upon Him. Let’s commit to trusting Him today to guide and direct the decisions that we make, and let’s be sure to thank Him for His abundant provision and divine protection. And, by all means, if you are facing the trial of your life today and you don’t have a clue about what you should do, then do what Hezekiah did: go to God. It may be that God will deliver you from your problem just as He delivered Jerusalem from the Assyrian army. But, even if He doesn’t take the problem completely away, He can minimize it, and He also promises to give abundant grace that will help guide you as you go through it.

Don’t Tell Us What We Want To Hear – Tell Us The Truth!

Don’t Tell Us What We Want To Hear – Tell Us The Truth!

Comments 7 comments

truth

Today’s Passage – Isaiah 29 – 32 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – John 3 – 4; Psalms 21 – 25; Proverbs 5)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 34:6

Read the “0805 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.” (Isaiah 30:9-11)

“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2 Timothy 4:2-4)

There is a striking resemblance between the people of Isaiah’s day, and the people of the last days that were spoken of by Paul to Timothy. They do not want to hear the truth, but rather are content to listen to anything, whether true or not, that pleases their ears. They want the preachers of God to tell them what they want to hear. They want to feel good about themselves, and they do not want to change anything about the way they are living. Now I must be honest, there are times when the preaching of the Word of God rubs me the wrong way, but I know when that happens it is because there is something wrong with me, not something wrong with God’s Word.

These passages should send an admonition to both the preachers of God’s word, and also to the people of God:

First to the Preachers – Don’t ever get to the place where you start desiring to please the people with your preaching, rather than be faithful to the truth of God’s Word. You do not have to go out of your way to be offensive, but you do have to have enough courage to preach unpopular truths. There are a lot of things in the Bible that are unpopular in this culture. It is not in vogue to preach against fornication, and homosexuality; and it is not politically correct to teach that Jesus is the only way to salvation; but these truths, along with all the other counsel of God, need to be proclaimed boldly. Remember, it is not the world that you must seek to please, but the Lord.

Next to the People of God – Demand that the people that minister the Word of God to you are faithful to the truth. Encourage the preachers to be completely honest with you, and courageous enough to tell you things that you may not want to hear. Do not tolerate watered down, politically correct speeches. Demand the truth.

“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:” (Ephesians 4:14-15)

Milk or Meat

Milk or Meat

Comments 2 comments

Today’s Passage – Isaiah 24 – 28 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – John 1 – 2; Psalms 16 – 20; Proverbs 4)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 34:1 – 4

Read the “0804 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? [them that are] weaned from the milk, [and] drawn from the breasts. 10 For precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little: … 13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.” (Isaiah 28:9-10, 13)

“2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able [to bear it], neither yet now are ye able.”(1 Corinthians 3:2)

“12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which [be] the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 13 For every one that useth milk [is] unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.” (Hebrews 5:12-13)

Here in Isaiah 28, the illustration of milk is used to describe someone who is immature in his spiritual understanding. Isaiah explains that spiritual growth can only come to those who have been “weaned from the milk.” Notice also the references in 1 Corinthians 3 and Hebrews 5 above. Both passages affirm that spiritual growth must take place if we are to be able to discern the deeper spiritual truths. The bottom line is that just as a child needs to move past milk and baby food if he is going to mature physically, the new believer must also continue developing his spiritual tastes and diet so that he will be able to comprehend and put into practice the more spiritually demanding passages and principles from the Bible. As our spiritual diet grows, so also will our discernment and usefulness for the Lord’s work. Spiritual growth is dependent upon our understanding of Bible doctrine.

Now it important for us to remember that milk is very important for those who are new believers in Christ. Just as it is silly to feed a baby a steak, it is also unwise to expect a new believer to grasp biblical principles that are difficult even for those of us who have been saved and growing for decades. Spiritual babes need milk. They need to know the basics. A good discipleship program would be very helpful at this stage of their spiritual growth. 

2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:” (1 Peter 2:2)

Newborn believers must be taught the basic, foundational principles of Christianity; but if spiritual growth and maturity are going to come, there will need to be a moving past those foundational truths to a more “meaty” doctrinal diet. 

“1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3 And this will we do, if God permit.” (Hebrews 6:1-3)

“18 But grow in grace, and [in] the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him [be] glory both now and for ever. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18)

A House Divided

A House Divided

Comments 2 comments

20120706-094530

Today’s Passage – Isaiah 19 – 23 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – Luke 23 – 24; Psalms 11 – 15; Proverbs 3)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 25

Read the “0803 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.” (Isaiah 19:2)

“And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” (Mark 3:25)

As we read through this portion of the Book of Isaiah, we see that God is pronouncing judgment on all of the nations that have been enemies to God and His people, Israel. In chapter 19, we see that God is dealing specifically with the Egyptians. The Egyptians had been an enemy to the people of God throughout much of their history. Perhaps, they were not as bad as some; yet, still God states here that some judgment is coming.

My thought for this morning surrounds verse 2 of chapter 19. Part of the judgment that was going to come to Egypt was a battle from within its own borders; a fight among its own inhabitants; a civil war. Our nation faced this same type of conflict 150 years ago. It was perhaps the ugliest battle America would ever face: neighbor against neighbor; brother against brother. We found that it was impossible for the nation to move forward until its inner struggle was settled.

I have noticed that we oftentimes face a similar type of judgment in our families and in our churches: a division on the inside; a battle, not with an invading army, but with an injured brother. When a church moves away from fighting the external battle against the world and the devil, it then begins to fight amongst itself. It seems that by nature we are fighters, and to some degree we ought to be. We ought to fight against the sin and the darkness of this world, we ought to hate the devil, and we ought to be striving together in order to bring the gospel to the people around us. Oftentimes we forget who the real enemy is and we take up arms against each other. Satan is very wise and understands that if he can get us to destroy each other, he won’t have to destroy us himself.

We see that this problem is also prevalent inside the home. Parents are not always in one accord, but are often at odds with one another. They fight about finances, about child-rearing, and about a lot of other things. All of this division is rooted in pride, with each individual insisting on getting his and her own way. Shame on us.

The cure for this problem is simply to recognize the battle is not within, but without. When we get busy fighting for the Lord, we will not have time nor desire to fight each other.

Do You Need an “I” Exam?

Do You Need an “I” Exam?

Comments 2 comments

img

Today’s Passage – Isaiah 14 – 18 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here  to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – Luke 21 – 22; Psalms 6 – 10; Proverbs 2)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 19

Read the “0802 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I willascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” – (Isaiah 14:12-14)

Five times in this passage, we see Lucifer (Satan) using the phrase “I will”.  Did you ever notice how much we use the word “I”. We, like Satan, are full of ourselves. Satan fell because of his pride, and most of us have the same problem. We would never admit it, but we are really the “god” of our own lives. We worship ourselves, and though we won’t admit it, we are really not much different than Satan when it comes to pride. It is natural to exalt ourselves, and it is very diffficult to be humble; but humility is required for us to surrender to Christ. In order to be saved, we need to humble ourselves, and in order to live the spirit-filled life, we must continually abase ourselves and lift up Christ. Easier said than done.

Lately, we have been bombarded with news of great men who have fallen into sin. It both grieves me, and scares me because I know that it could be me. I am sure, however, that pride is a root factor in all of these moral failures that we are hearing about. I think if we were to be able to examine each individual case carefully in retrospect, we would be able to recognize a pattern of pride. A Biblical example of someone falling due to pride is what happened to King Saul. He was at one time “little in his own eyes”, but God elevated him in the eyes of men. He enjoyed the praise and respect of men, and began to believe all of the nice things that people were saying about him, and all of the attention that he was getting. Somewhere along the line, he probably started to think that he somehow deserved the credit that he was getting. He gradually began to steal a little of the glory that rightly belonged only to God. He then started to operate independently of God, doing his own thing instead of obeying what God commanded. He also became threatened and insecure when anybody else received any praise. Eventually, he fell.

David fell also. He became too important to fight with the rest of his army, so he stayed home. He saw a woman that belonged to another man, but because he was the king, he felt that he was entitled to take her. He then tried to cover up his sin with the murder of her husband, and he was sure that he would get away with it. After all, he was a big and powerful man. Who would dare question King David? He though that he could do whatever he wanted. He wasn’t under any authority, not even God. What a shame.

Unfortunately, we see this all too often in the ministry, as well. As God begins to allow us to see some success in our ministries, we must remember that it is He that worked through us. We have no right to think that we are deserving of praise. To God be all the glory. Watch out for pride. Stay “little” in your own eyes, and don’t allow people to exalt you. Deflect all praise to the Lord for He alone is worthy.

“O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.” – (Psalm 34:3)

“For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” – (Luke 14:11)

“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” – (Proverbs 16:18)