Fire – The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl
Good morning! We had a great time last night. Most went on the hayride, a few went through the corn maze, but I was content to sit on a bale of hay with Camille. It was very relaxing. We were just sitting there talking, and watching the fire. It’s really beautiful to look at, the warm glow, and the sparks flying upward into the night. And the fire was nice too. Fire gives us light to see. Fire gives us heat to keep us warm in the cold night air. Do you know what else fire is good for? COOKING! I keep looking in the flea markets for an inexpensive cast-iron pot. I want to try making a batch of chili, cooked in an open fire. Chili cooked in an open fire is supposed to taste very good. Anything cooked by an open fire is good. Toasted marshmallows, hot dogs, and S’mores. There are many good uses for fire. And as with any good uses there are also many bad uses.
Smokers who smoke while they drive. They take their finished cigarette, and flip it out the window. The sparks fly as it bounces to the edge of the road still burning. The next thing you know, millions of acres are destroyed across America.
A cow had knocking over a lantern was blamed for the Great Chicago Fire.
300 people died, and 100,000 were left homeless.
Christians, who would not deny Jesus as their Saviour, were chained to a stake and burned alive by unbelievers.
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, tried to burn three Hebrew men in a firey furnace because they would not bow down to the golden idol he had set up. He even made the fire as hot as he could get it. The flames of that furnace were so hot, that it killed the men who were going to throw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the flames. But Jesus was looking out for His 3 children here. Daniel chapter 3 says: “And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire. And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.” (Daniel 3:23-27)
Whenever you are around fire, your clothes are going to smell like smoke. The clothes that the 3 Hebrew men were wearing did not smell like smoke. Jesus protected them 100%.
I mentioned earlier, the Great Chicago Fire in which 300 people died. How many of those 300 are still burning today, because they did not have the protection of Jesus? The fire started around 9 PM on Sunday, October 8th, 1871. D. L. Moody had finished preaching for the day. There was one thing he forgot to do at the end of his service. It was something he would always regret, and he would never neglect to do it in any of his future services. What did he not do?
He did not give the people an invitation to receive Jesus as Saviour.
How many of those 300 were at his church service that night and did not hear the Gospel? How many of those 300 died in the flames, only to open their eyes in the flames of hell? We are not guaranteed tomorrow. Our end here on earth could come tonight. Our only hope for protection from the fire is the Lord Jesus Christ.
2000 years ago, He left His home in heaven and came to earth.
2000 years ago, He shed His blood to pay for our sins: the sins of the world.
2000 years ago, He was buried then 3 days later He rose from the dead, proving that He was who He said He was: God the Son.
John the Baptist had introduced Jesus as the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world. It doesn’t matter what you have done, the shed blood of Jesus cleanses us from from all sin. Ever tell a lie? It doesn’t matter if it was a big lie, or a little white lie. If it isn’t the truth, then it’s a lie. Jesus said, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)
Twice in Ezekiel chapter 18, God warns: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. The Bible also tells us that there is none righteous, no not one, and for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We are all sinners: we have all done wrong. And the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Just be honest with God. He already knows what sins you have committed yesterday, and today. He also already knows what sins you will commit tomorrow. Be honest with Him, and tell Him you have done wrong. Ask Him to forgive you and He will. The Bible also says for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You can survive the fire and come out smelling smoke-free as Sadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did.
Peace! (John 6:37-40)
Posted in Devotions by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
Certainty
Today’s Passage –Luke 1 (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 – Psalms 121 – 125; Proverbs 25
Scripture Memory for October – Matthew 5:1 – 16
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 51
“That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.” (Luke 1:4)
I have always been fascinated by these first few verses in Luke’s gospel. He is writing to an individual by the name of Theophilus who we know very little about; and he is explaining to him, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, in detail all that he knows about the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is interesting when you think about it that Luke appears to be writing this entire book to one man. Now we know that God had other plans for the book; but on a human level, it seems to be the most comprehensive gospel tract ever written. All for one man, Theophilus. The first thought that hits me is the concern that Luke must of had for this one man in order to go through this arduous task just so that Theophilus could be certain about what he already knew about the Lord. Luke is possibly the most diligent soul winner there ever was.
The second thought I have from this Scripture comes from the word “certainty”. Luke penned the Word of God so that the hearer could be certain about the Lord Jesus Christ. That reminds me of another verse that tells us that …faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17) Practical application of this principle tells us that the more time we spend in the Word of God, the more we will be certain about the things of God; and the more certain we are in our faith, the greater our life and ministries will be also. We will be able to boldly plow forward through this dark and cold world with the gospel simply because we are sure of what we believe about God.
If you look at the faithless condition of America today, and consider how that Satan has been effective at both distorting the Word of God in most of our churches, and removing the Word of God from schools and many of the other public venues of our society, it is no wonder that the country is rapidly moving away from God. The answer is the Word. We in the church need to get strengthened ourselves through the certainty that comes through time spent in the Book; and then flood our churches, communities, families, neighborhoods, and workplaces with the Word of God. The more they hear the Word, the more they can be certain about the Lord.
Certainty is very important. Being certain about what you believe will get you through the trials of life with your faith intact. Be certain about your calling will keep you at your post until the Lord makes it clear that He wants you to do something else. Certainty comes from the Word of God, and it is strengthened as we continue to walk by faith. I want to demonstrate this certainty in my life as I minister to the people here in Galloway Township. I want them to be able to see that I really believe what I claim to know about the Lord; and I want them to see a consistency in my life and ministry in the years to come that will be the fruit of the certainty that I have received from the Lord.
How about you? Are you certain about what you claim to believe? Being sure about what you believe will dramatically change the way you live. I believe the reason why most of us struggle so much with our testimony is because we really don’t believe deep down what we say that we believe. Our faith needs to be increased. Ask God to bring you in closer, and give you a greater assurance about His Word and His will. As you meditate upon and study the Word of God, He will increase your certainty about the things of God.
Posted in Thoughts from Luke by Phil Erickson with 2 comments.
Ready, Set, Go
Today’s Passage –Mark 15 – 16
(Second Milers also read – Psalms 116 – 120; Proverbs 24
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” – (Mark 16:15)
“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” – (Matthew 28:18-20)
“And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” – (Matthew 10:7)
“Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.” – (Matthew 22:9)
“Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.” – (Mark 5:19)
“Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.” – (Luke 9:60)
“So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.” – (Luke 14:21)
“And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” – (Luke 14:23)
“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” – (John 15:16)
“Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.” – (Acts 5:20)
Got the message?
Posted in Thoughts from Mark by Phil Erickson with 1 comment.
Servant Leadership
Today’s Passage –Mark 10 – 11 (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 – Psalms 101 – 105; Proverbs 21
Scripture Memory for October – Matthew 5:1 – 16
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 34
“But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” – (Mark 10:43-45)
When I was in Bible college, I went to work for a supermarket chain in the East Texas area. This company had a unique, but refreshing leadership style that I was unaccustomed to at the time. My store manager, and all of the assistants were people that worked hard alongside the employees of the store. They didn’t just bark out orders to the clerks, they were willing to get their hands dirty themselves. It was not at all unusual to see the store manager with a mop in his hand, cleaning up a spill; or out in the parking lot gathering up the buggies (shopping carts). Their philosophy was that in order to be a leader in the company, you first had to demonstrate that you could be a great servant.
I find that in the ministry the same principle should also be true. The pastor, deacons, and other leaders in the church should not be beneath any task that needs to be done within the church. If the bathrooms need to be cleaned, or the lawns need to be mowed, the leadership should be more than willing to pitch in at times to do it. Now, I understand that it may not be the most efficient use of time and talents to have the leaders doing these things that could be done by others, but the leadership should be willing to do whatever needs to be done in order for the cause of Christ to move forward. There are no “big shots” in the ministry. The Lord we serve is the only superstar. The rest of us are merely servants.
Posted in Thoughts from Mark by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
Great Advice – The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl
Today’s Passage –Mark 8 – 9 (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 – Psalms 96 – 100; Proverbs 20
Scripture Memory for October – Matthew 5:1 – 16
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 25
Read “When Your Teen Says No – Part One” by Pastor Chappell
A great gettin’ up mornin’ to ya, fair ye well, fair ye well. And I hope you do fair well today. I don’t know if it’s just me, or not, but when I mount the pulpit to lead the congregation singing, all the cares of my world seem to melt away. And why not? I get to lose myself in singing praises to Jesus.
Psalm 100 says: “A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”
Looking out over the congregation, I can see some people clapping, some people swaying, most singing, but some not, and some being obedient to Psalm 100 and making a “joyful NOISE” unto the LORD! I think about the music David played on his harp and the evil spirit left king Saul. I think about Joshua and all Israel as they marched around Jericho and they shouted a great shout – they made a joyful noise, if you will – and walls came a tumblin’ down. What evil spirits has the Lord removed from your life? What walls has He torn down so that you could be free? As I look out at the congregation again, some are not singing, some look like they would rather be somewhere else. They are not allowing the Holy Spirit to work in them through the song. Dr. Lester Roloff said something like if you can’t sing songs in the night, don’t come to me with songs in the light. When you are going through the night, or times of trouble, God will give you a song to sing. Will you sing it? “It will be worth it all…”
Psalm 100 is a Psalm of praise. There are several instructions contained here that we should know about.
We need to make a joyful noise unto the LORD.
We need to serve the LORD with gladness.
We need to come before his presence with singing.
We need know the Lord who created us, and made us His people
We need to come before Him with thanksgiving and praise.
We need to be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
Why?
Because the Lord is good.
Because the Lord gives us His everlasting mercy.
Because the Lord gave us His truth.
God’s goodness, mercy, and truth should be enough to give us the song in our hearts whether it be day or night.
And speaking of songs, I found a good one. I was flipping through the tv channels when I came to the Create Network. There was a show just coming on called Danny’s Guitar Shop. I wasn’t going to watch it, but this episode was about Gospel music. The church’s choir was practicing this song called Ride On King Jesus. I found the lyrics to it…
from « American Negro Songs »by J. W. Work, 1940
Ride on King Jesus !
No man can hinder him
Ride on King Jesus !
No man can hinder him
Jesus rides o a milk white horse
No man can hinder him
The river Jordan he did cross
No man can hinder him
If you want to find your way to God
No man can hinder him
The gospel highway must be trod
No man can hinder him
I was young when I begun
No man can hinder him
But now my race is almost run
No man can hinder him
Peace! (Revelations 19:11-16)
Posted in Guest Posts by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
Good Ground
Today’s Passage –Mark 4 – 5
(Second Milers also read – Psalms 86 – 90; Proverbs 18
“And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.” – (Mark 4:5-7)
I have always been fascinated by the accuracy of the Scripture. This parable of the sower is a perfect representative of the realities involved when dealing with people in their relationship to God. This story told and explained by the Lord Jesus speaks of four different types of soil, which is representative of four different groups of people. The first type of soil mentioned is hard ground that does not receive the seed, and eventually the seed that is sown upon it is gobbled up by birds. This soil type is representative of the hard-hearted person who will not allow God’s Word to enter into his heart. The last type of soil is the best case scenario, which represents a person who receives the Word of God by first trusting Christ as His Saviour; and then he goes on to produce much fruit in his life.
My focus this morning is on the two types of soil in the middle: the stony ground, and the ground with thorns. These two types of soil represent people who start out well, but eventually fizzle out spiritually. The “stony ground” Christian never lets the Word of God take route in his life. Consider what the Apostle Paul told the church at Colosse:
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” – (Colossians 2:6-7)
If a Christian is going to continue growing and eventually begin producing fruit in his life, he must get “rooted” in the Word of God. This is why our church strongly recommends our discipleship program. Through discipleship the new believer gets a good foundation, and enough strength to help withstand the lure of the world, the tests of the flesh, and the early attacks of the devil. If the new believer is going to survive, he must get in the Word of God.
That brings us to the third type of soil – the soil that is choked with thorns. The thorns represent all of the distractions that can keep the Christian away from the Spiritual nourishment he needs to keep producing fruit in his life. By the way, this can happen to the Christian who, as a new believer, has removed the stones from his soil and has been “rooted” in the Word of God. Thorns have a way of growing up all around us; and if we are not careful we will allow a bunch of things (sometimes even good things) to creep into our lives that will pull us away from God. We need to keep our focus.
In order for us to finish our course and remain fruitful in our lives we must get grounded in the Word; and then we must maintain our walk with the Lord. Anything that pulls us out of the will of God will hinder our ability to produce fruit. We are here to produce fruit.
Posted in Thoughts from Mark by Phil Erickson with 2 comments.
What Does It Mean To Blaspheme the Holy Ghost?
Today’s Passage –Mark 1 – 3
(Second Milers also read – Psalms 81 – 85; Proverbs 17
“Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:” – (Mark 3:28-29)
“Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.” – (Matthew 12:31)
I remember when I was a new believer there were certain passages in the Bible that scared me. On the surface, these verses seemed to contradict what I was being taught in church. Mark 3:28 and 29 are those kind of verses. I used to think that these verses somehow taught that there was a certain sin that I could commit today as a believer that would revoke my salvation. Adding to this problem was the fact that I had no idea what this sin was. What did it mean to blaspheme against the Holy Ghost? For a number of years I just avoided the passage altogether: sort of like hiding a past due bill in a drawer, pretending that it’s not there. Eventually, however, I decided to study the passage out to see what it really was teaching.
As in all Bible study, it is crucial that we look into the context of the passage. In Mark 3, we have the religious leadership of Israel attributing the miracles that Christ was performing to the power of Satan. Basically they were saying that Jesus cast out devils with the power of the devil. Jesus straightened out there false logic by explaining that it made no sense for Satan to divide himself, or attack one of his own. The deeper message from this passage was, however, that Israel’s religious leaders had completely rejected that Jesus was, in fact, the Christ. By stating that Jesus was working for Satan, they totally rejected His lordship as their Messiah, and their God.
The question that I always had about this passage was what did all of this have to do with the Holy Ghost. To understand this, I had to do a little study on the Holy Spirit. Who is He? What Is His ministry all about. I will not give you here all that I discovered, but there are two things about the Holy Ghost that I will share with you, that are critical to answering the question regarding “blasphemy against the Holy Ghost”:
1 The Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost) is God. He is just as much God as the Father is, and Jesus is.
“But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.” – (Acts 5:3-4)
2 The Holy Ghost’s ministry on earth today is to bring people to salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” – (John 16:13-14)
The religious leaders in our text rejected their Messiah, Jesus Christ; and thereby rejected the message of the Holy Ghost. The message of the Holy Ghost is Jesus Christ, and when we die rejecting Christ, we die rejecting the message of the Holy Spirit. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit then cannot be a sin that can be committed by a true believer, because a true believer has already received the Message of the Holy Spirit, which is Jesus. However, if a lost person continues to reject the message of salvation, and dies in his sins, he has blasphemed the Holy Ghost by rejecting the gift of salvation that the Holy Spirit offers through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Posted in Thoughts from Mark by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
Just for Ladies – by Camille Stahl
Today’s Passage –Matthew 27 – 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 – Psalms 76 – 80; Proverbs 16
Scripture Memory for October – Matthew 5:1 – 16
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Deuteronomy 32:4
Great article by R. B. Oullette – “The Basis for Biblical Standards”
The Study of Women in the Bible
Two Babies, Two Mothers
“Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it. And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king. Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.” (1Kings 3:16-27)
Wow! What a story. How disconnected the woman must have been who lost her child. She had no regard for the other woman. She had no compassion towards the living child. The baby is only three days old – no big deal. As long as she doesn’t have what I want, I’ll be happy.
One of the most precious things that God gives us is a child. Some couples pray and prepare about having children, while others get surprised. Many don’t even think about the results of their actions, and then use their child as a pawn in their relationship, or worse ‘get rid of them’ before they’re even born. Women prepare for 9 months for the baby’s arrival. The room needs to be ready with furniture and decorations. A name needs to be chosen. I’m sure even the two harlots were excited and prepared for the birth of their babies. There’s usually a baby shower with lots of gifts and excitement. Finally the day comes and the baby is born. Everyone gathers together, fussing over the new arrival. The baby comes home. The sleepless nights come. The changing of the poopy dippers…..
The child is still so cute and cuddly, so all of this inconvenience is overlooked. Now we get to the terrible two’s. Some mothers realize this is the time of intense training. Other moms would like to remove themselves from the responsibility of being a mother. Some just don’t care. For the next 11 years mother and child are going in one of two directions, growing closer or growing apart. By the time they are teens you either have them or you’ve lost them.
At 6 years old “Mommy, I love you”
At 10 years old “ Mom, whatever”
At 16 years old “My Mom is so annoying”
At 18 years old “I want to leave this house”
At 25 years old “I wanna go to Mom’s house”
At 30 years old “I don’t want to lose my Mom”
At 70 years old “I would give up everything for my Mom to be here with me”
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
(Proverbs 22:6)
As a side note, it’s unfortunate that many pre and young teens are not taught the right way about married life and raising children. I’ve heard great preaching on the subject, but it gets me so mad that parents are neglecting that vital area of their responsibility. Just a thought!
You ask, “how can I apply this to my life? I don’t have children or grandchildren. I’m not a harlot.” Or you may think, “my children are grown, I’ve already raised them in the Lord.” How many times have we heard a mother verbally putting their child down or neglecting them in someway? We say, “I don’t want to interfere, or it’s not my business”.
“The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,” (Titus 2:3-4)
That “aged women” doesn’t only mean old in physical age, but also old in spiritual maturity.
About two months ago, while in Shop Rite, I saw a mother on her cell phone with her 3 children. Two of the children seem to be helping her and the third was in the cart. She looked about 5 years old. She was crying because she wanted to get out to help shop with her brother and sister. The mother backhanded the girl, called her names (cursing), and then went back to texting. I so wanted to say to her how blessed she was that she had children, to help her realize that she could lose them at any moment. I chickened out. While checking out, I notice they were at the next register. The little girl still sitting and crying because she wanted to help, with mom still verbally putting her down. When her mom was paying her bill, I said to the crying girl, “Hey I really like that necklace you have on.” She stopped crying for a brief moment and smiled until mom abruptly say it was time to go. Again, I chickened out about saying to mom how blessed she was. I was so mad at myself, I decided later that day that I would not chicken out again.
It’s just like our story. By not giving kind words (not judgmental), it’s just like being the woman whose child died. We are showing that we don’t care. We get so busy in our lives, that we overlook opportunities to do the work of the Lord.
In closing, if you are guilty in this area – I know I’ve been -pray and ask the Lord to help you. If not, pray and ask the Lord for an opportunity to be a blessing to someone else who may be struggling. You may never know how you’ve touched someone’s life.
Thank You
1 John 5:13 – 14
Posted in Just for Ladies by Phil Erickson with 2 comments.
Who Me?
Today’s Passage –Matthew 26
(Second Milers also read – Psalms 71 – 75; Proverbs 15
“And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? (Matthew 26:22)
“But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.” – (Matthew 26:56)
After reading this morning’s passage, I was determined to write a new blog post in defense of Peter. I can certainly identify with Peter. In this passage we see Peter at his worst. In v 35, he self-righteously declares that he could never deny the Lord. Did you ever have that “not me” attitude? I have. Later in the passage we see Peter following afar off, and then finally we see him swearing while he vehemently denies even knowing the Lord. I am guilty of these actions as well. Peter, forgive me for ever saying anything bad about you in a message, for I am no better than you are – in fact, I have been worse. I am just thankful that all of my sinful actions aren’t recorded in the Book for all to see.
“But like Peter, I can’t even watch and pray, one hour with you, And I bet, I could deny you too.” (from “Grace By Which I Stand” – Keith Green)
The remainder of this blog is a re-post of what I had written previously regarding thoughts from Matthew 26:
Bear with me for a moment while I tell you a little bit about my morning so far. My alarm clock went off as it does every morning at 5 AM. I am supposed to actually get up at that time in order to take my morning “walk with the Lord”. This morning I didn’t actually get out of bed until close to 6, and then I had to rush over to the church for our corporate Saturday morning prayer meeting. During the prayer meeting, I read an excerpt out of Leonard Ravenhill’s book, “Why Revival Tarries”. Ravenhill states in his book:
“The tragedy of this late hour is that we have too many dead men in the pulpits giving out too many dead sermons to too many dead people.”
“By our attitude to prayer we tell God that what was begun in the Spirit we can finish in the flesh…. Yet ministers who do not spend two hours a day in prayer are not worth a dime a dozen, degrees or no degrees.”
I was already feeling pretty bad about my lack of spiritual character and then I came home and read chapter 26 from Matthew’s gospel. If ever there was a passage of Scripture that demonstrates our utter helplessness without the Lord, it is this chapter. When I have morning’s like this, and read chapters like this, I am reminded that I am indeed “but dust”. The problem is that most of the time I actually convince myself that I am God’s gift to the ministry. I often like to look at other people and think about all of their flaws and weaknesses, but most of the time I can’t think of any of my own. Oh, how clever and deceitful our flesh is. In this chapter, we will see how some of the greatest Christians that ever lived failed in their flesh as well. By the way, I am not trying to find comfort from the fact that my weak flesh has some good company. We are not supposed to compare ourselves amongst ourselves anyway; but I do find comfort knowing that our Lord continues to love this bunch of spiritual losers (myself included), in spite of all of their failures.
Consider some points from this passage:
1 “But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?” – (Matthew 26:8) When the disciples observed a woman who worshipped the Lord by pouring a very expensive ointment on Him, they were angry. Why should any of us be angry when someone else expresses their love and devotion to the Lord. Who are we to judge anyone else’s motives, even when we might not agree with their particular action.
2 “Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples. … But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled. … Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.” – (Matthew 26:35, 56, 74) Notice in these verses the pride of, not only Peter, but all of the disciples. They all boasted about their ability to stay true to the Lord. Unfortunately, we also see that when their faith is tested that it fails miserably.
3 “Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. … Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. … And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?” – (Matthew 26:36, 38, 40) Notice in these verses that the disciples could not even stay awake and pray with the Lord for one hour; and this was when the Lord could really have been blessed by their support.
4 “Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.” – (Matthew 26:48-49) Here we see the ultimate act of the flesh – a complete betrayal of the Lord.
I want us now to go back and consider the question all of the disciples asked themselves in v 22, when the Lord stated that one of them would betray Him – “Is it I?” The disciples knew that they all were weak enough to betray the Lord, and they all thought that it was a real possibility that they might be the one. I want to ask the question to myself as well, and then answer it.Yes it’s me. Yes, I have gotten indignant and jealous because of what others have done to express their love and worship to the Lord. Yes, I have been proud and self-righteous, and confident in my own flesh as Peter was; and yes, I have certainly denied the Lord more than once by either an action or attitute, or a lack of action. And yes, I have slept when I should have been praying, studying, preparing, soulwinning, counselling, etc. And, Yes I know that my flesh is capable of even betraying the Lord. It’s me, it’s me, it’s me Oh Lord; and I am certainly standing in the need of prayer. “Oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death.”
Lord, deliver me from this self-righteous, proud, boastful, and always failing flesh. Help me to completely put my trust in You, and help me to never try to steal any of your Glory. Strengthen me through Your Word and through a personal, quiet time of fellowship, prayer and worship. And most of all help me to be faithful to you, and to never deny You or betray You again.
Thank the Lord that even though we are often unfaithful to Him, HE WILL NEVER LEAVE US OR FORESAKE US!
Posted in Thoughts from Matthew by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
Where Lord?
Today’s Passage –Matthew 24 – 25
(Second Milers also read – Psalms 66 – 70; Proverbs 14)
“Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” – (Matthew 24:40-42)
For many years I have misunderstood the above verses. On the surface these verses seem to be speaking about the rapture of the church, which is an event yet in our future, when the Lord Jesus Christ will return and take His Bride (the Church) from this earth, and bring her back to Heaven with Him. Consider the following verses that refer to the rapture of the church:
“Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” – (Acts 1:11)
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” – (John 14:1-3)
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” – (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said,Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.” – (Revelation 4:1)
Note regarding the above verse in Revelation 4 – Revelation chapter 1 deals with the Apostle John’s vision of the Lord in Heaven chapters 2 & 3 are all about the Church Age. When you get to chapter 4, there is no longer a mention of the Church again. The Church (the Bride) has been brought up to Heaven (“come up hither”).
All of the these (not including Matthew 24:40 – 42) passages deal with the Rapture of the Church, but there is another wonderful picture of this event taken from the tradition of the Jewish Wedding. In Bible days when a marriage was arranged, the Groom first came to the Bride’s home and paid the price for the Bride. Then the Groom would return to his father’s home and prepare a home for himself and his new bride. When all of the preparations were finished, the Groom would return to pick up the Bride and take her to the new home. By the way, the Bride never knew when the Groom was going to come, so she had to be ready all the time. A celebration would take place for several days back at the Father’s house, and then the whole procession would return to the Bride’s parent’s home. All of this is a wonderful picture of Christ coming to earth (the Bride’s home), and paying for our sins. He is now back in Heaven preparing a place for us, and someday soon He will return for us and bring us to our new home in Heaven where we will celebrate for seven years (Marriage Supper of the Lamb). At the end of the seven years, we will return to the earth with the Lord.
There is a lot more that could be said about this event called the rapture, but I just wanted to briefly explain what it entails. However, the verses above from Matthew 24 do not deal with the rapture of the Church. The entire context of Matthew chapter 24 deals with the Tribulation Period. Now the Tribulation Period is what will take place on the earth after the church has been taken away via the Rapture. The purpose of the Tribulation Period is to awaken Israel from their spiritual slumber and have their eyes opened to the Truth about their Messiah. Notice Matthew 24:15:
“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)” – (Matthew 24:15)
This is obviously a reference to the Tribulation Period.
Now this brings us back to our original text verses at the top of the page (remember them – I know it was a long time since you looked at them). I said at the beginning of this post that for many years I was confused about these verses. On the surface they certainly seem to be talking about the rapture, meaning that the people that were taken away were raptured by the Lord to go to Heaven. However, the context simply does not support this interpretation. What then do these verses refer to, and where are these folks taken to? The answer to that question can be found in Luke 17, which is a parallel passage to Matthew 24. Notice what it says in vv 31 – 37:
“Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.” – (Luke 17:30-37)
The disciples ask the Lord where they will be taken. He tells them that they will go where the eagles (vultures) are gathered together. This is a reference to Armageddon:
“And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.” – (Revelation 19:17-18)
I just thought that I would try to clear up a common confusion regarding these verses. I must confess that I do not understand a lot about these future events, but I think that I have the proper interpretation of these verses.
This was more of a Bible study than a devotion this morning, but that’s OK – we love to study the Bible, don’t we?
Posted in Thoughts from Matthew by Phil Erickson with 1 comment.