Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Aug 11th Not Yet

Today’s Passage – Isaiah 64 – 66

The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall bethe serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD. (Isaiah 65:25)

There is coming soon a wonderful period of time when Christ shall rule and reign on the earth; and there will be complete peace and harmony among all of the inhabitants of the earth including the animals. This Book of Isaiah speaks much about this future time where we will not have to fear lions, wolves, snakes, or each other. However that time is “not yet” Right now, we still live on an earth that is plagued with sin of the worst kind. Every creature on earth seems to be out for itself. Animals will do whatever is necessary to survive, and so will man; often at the expense of others.

There are a lot of wolves out there today and we’d better beware of them. They want to come into our homes, and into our churches. They will often disguise themselves as sheep in order to infiltrate the flock and destroy it from within. These wolves may try to pray on the innocence of our children; they may try to bring in false doctrine; or they may try to cause us to stray away from the will of the Shepherd. We need to be sober and vigilant to anything or anybody that will try to move us away from the will of God.

I can’t wait for the Millennium; but for now, if I see a wolf, I am not going to pet it or play with it; I am going to do my best to get rid of it.

Aug 10th Ye That Make Mention of the Lord, Keep Not Silence

Today’s Passage – Isaiah 59 – 63

I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, (Isaiah 62:6)

The context of this chapter and many of the concluding chapters of  the Book of Isaiah is the Millennial Reign of Christ on the earth. Things will be radically different in Jerusalem and on the entire planet during this period. There will be a new sheriff in town: one that will reign in righteousness and holiness. The people of God will no longer be a persecuted and oppressed people; and the land itself will be completely safe from any kind of danger.

The above verse tells us that the watchmen that God has placed upon the walls should keep not silence concerning the Lord. Verse 7 says, And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. The day is coming when the earth will be devoid of evil and filled with the presence and holiness of the Lord; but until that day comes God’s watchmen are to be shouting His praises and His principles from the walls.

I don’t think that I am doing the Scripture injustice by stating that we ought also to be telling everyone that we can about the Lord until He comes back to bring His bride (the Church) up to Heaven with Him. We are often guilty of keeping silent when God wants us to speak. We should not be ashamed of our Lord. This lost world needs to hear about our wonderful Saviour. The Scripture admonishes us,”Let the redeemed of the Lord say so”. Let’s open up our mouths boldly and proclaim the goodness of the Lord to the world around us.

Aug 9th Asleep At The Switch

Passage – Isaiah 54 – 58

His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. (Isaiah 56:10)

“Asleep at the switch” is an old expression that I have used since a child which, I believe, originated with the men who had the responsibility of switching the track that a train was traveling on. If the man was asleep at the switch the train would go down the wrong track and would crash head on with another train. God speaks hear of the prophets of Israel who were spiritually asleep at the switch. Though all of the warning signs were there, these “men of God” ignored them, and failed to warn the people of the judgment that was coming. Oh there were a few godly prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah, but for the most part the watchmen were  asleep, and numb to the fact that the people of God were on the track heading for destruction.

As a dad and as a pastor, I am a watchman. God expects me to be looking out for the enemies that are always trying to slip through the fences in order to destroy the people that God has given me to protect. I must be alert for things that will cause the people I love to go down the wrong track. It may be a person; or it may be a false doctrine; it may be a worldly influence. The list is really endless; but my job is to watch, and then warn. How about your family, or your ministry. Is Satan having a field day sending in through your watch things or people that are going to harm. We need to be sober and vigilant don’t we. Let’s wake up, and stop ignoring all of the dangers that are creeping into our families and our churches.

Aug 8th Determination

Today’s Passage – Isaiah 49 – 53

The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. (Isaiah 50:5-7)

The passage referenced above speaks of Christ, and what He endured when He went to the cross. Of course it is important to remember that Isaiah penned these words over 700 years before the time that Christ would suffer for our sins. When I read these verses I can’t help but be astonished at the determination of our Lord. Knowing full well what He would face, He determined to stay the course. He didn’t deviate to the right or to the left: He set [His] face like a flint. You could say that He was “bullheaded” when it came to the will of God.

I am embarrassed at how often I have wanted to quit the will of God. There have been many times that I have made decisions for the Lord; and then have turned back from fulfilling them. I am often only faithful to the will of God when the skies are clear and the weather is fair. I desire to be the type of person that first discovers what God wants from my life; and then determines to follow the course that God has charted, no matter what circumstances may arise. I have heard it said that every decision we make for the Lord will be tested. Now we need to be very careful about these decisions. Make sure that it is, in fact, God that is telling you to do it. Don’t get caught up with the emotional pressure that men can put on you; but once you know that it is God, obey Him and stay the course. Don’t quit when times get tough! It is my desire to pass the test; It is my desire to stick it out even when it makes no human sense to do so.

How about you? Have you gone back on anything that you determined at one time to be the will of God. The Bible tells us that the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. (Romans 11:29) God hasn’t changed His mind. Have you?

Aug 7th Custom Design

Today’s Passage – Isaiah 45 – 48

Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; (Isaiah 45:1)

For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. (Isaiah 45:4)

I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts. (Isaiah 45:13)

The prophecies of God are amazing. Isaiah wrote this book about 750 BC, which was during the reign of the Assyrian Empire. We know from history that Assyria would be conquered by the Babylonians; and then later the Babylonians would be overtaken by the Medes and Persians. Cyrus, was a Persian king that was “raised up” by God to release the Hebrew captives and make a proclamation to re-build the temple in Jerusalem. The fascinating thing about this is that Isaiah was writing about Cyrus, by name, hundreds of years before he was born. Consider this verse referring to Jeremiah:

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5)

According to this verse and the verses from Isaiah, God knows us before we are even born, and ordains us for a specific purpose. Better than that though is the fact that God actually “forms” us for a specific purpose. God created Jeremiah to be a prophet. God created Cyrus to deliver the captives from Persia and to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. God created me to be the husband of Cindy Erickson; the father of my four children; and to be the pastor of Jersey Shore Baptist Church. These are a partial list of what I was hand made and hand picked to do. God chose me before I was born to fulfill a purpose for Him.

God has chosen you for a purpose as well. He has created you and custom designed you to fulfill His will. What is that purpose? Have you discovered it yet? Max Lucado calls this purpose your “sweet spot”; it’s the thing that you were made for. God formed you, and ordained you; and He even knew your name before you were even born. Amazing! Happy people are the people who have found God’s will for their lives and are fulfilling it.

Aug 6th Sick and Tired

Today’s Passage – Isaiah 42 – 44

But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. (Isaiah 43:22)

Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities. (Isaiah 43:24)

I often use the phrase, “sick and tired”. I frequently say that I am sick and tired about this, or sick and tired about that. We read the phrase in Isaiah 43:22, “thou hast been weary of me”; and then again in v 24, “thou hast wearied me”. It sounds to me like the people were saying that they were sick and tired of God; and then God was saying that He was sick and tired of their sin.

This passage was written referring to Israel. I am not quite sure if in this particular reference the term Israel is used for just the northern kingdom, or if it refers corporately to the entire 12 tribes. At any case, the first several verses imply that God had an unconditional love for this people even though they had rebelled against Him over and over again in their history. There were times when they loved and served God; and then there were times when they were “sick and tired”.

Can you identify with the people of Israel? I know we don’t like to think that we could be rebellious like them; but did you ever get sick and tired of God? Did you ever get sick and tired of going to all of the services? Did you ever get sick and tired of all of the standards; etc. I have. But then I remember that though God gets sick and tired of my sin, He never gets sick and tired of me. I am reminded that God loves me unconditionally, and that causes me to be refreshed and revived in my love and devotion for Him.

For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: (2 Corinthians 5:14)

Aug 5th Misunderstood

Today’s Passage – Isaiah 36 – 41

But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar? (Isaiah 36:7)

Through the years, I have preached many messages from this historical section of the Book of Isaiah. You have probably noticed that chapters 36 – 39 are very different from the rest of the book. This passage reads much like one of the historical books like the Kings or the Chronicles. At any rate, I got to thinking this morning about how this military leader from Assyria (Rabshakeh) completely misunderstood the belief system of the people of Judah. He mistakingly lumped all of the Jews together, comparing the worship of the southern kingdom (Judah) with that of the north (Israel). The northern kingdom of Israel had already been conquered by the Assyrians. However, the only reason that God had allowed this was because Israel had forsaken Him. This Assyrian general figured that since the God of Israel did not come to their rescue, neither will the God of Judah. Rabshakeh knew that the religion of Israel was ritualistic but it wasn’t real. His mistake was that he did not realize that the southern kingdom was still in a right relationship with their God. They were worshipping Him is Spirit and in truth; they were truly trusting in the Lord their God.

I find that the lost world around us, misunderstands us as well. The don’t understand what we really believe in. They often think that our salvation somehow comes through a system of rituals and works rather than through our faith in Christ. This is partially because they don’t have the Spirit of God in them to guide and teach them: the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. But, I think it is also the fault of believers. We often don’t express to the world around us the message of love and compassion that Christ offers freely to all who will receive Him.

The lost people whose lives intertwine with ours should see our separation, and they should hear about our doctrine at times; but more importantly, they should sense that we are a people who have a sincere love for God and a genuine love  and compassion for them. Our love should be the thing that stands out more than anything else. People are still going to misunderstand us, and, at times, misrepresent us; but perhaps if we could learn to let the love of Christ flow through us, we would be misunderstood less. And maybe we would be able to convince more of the people around us to trust Christ and join us in our love and devotion for the Saviour.

Aug 4th Streams in the Desert

Today’s Passage – Isaiah 31 – 35

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. (Isaiah 35:2)

Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. (Isaiah 35:6)

In Lancaster, California on the campus of West Coast Baptist College near the Sisk Dormitory there is a fountain with Isaiah 35:6 inscribed on it. It sits there as a testimony to the goodness of blessing of God. 25 years ago in that same location there was nothing but desert. Some would have called it a “dust bowl” back then; but now it is a beautiful campus with beautiful green landscaping and gorgeous buildings. More importantly, it is a place where God’s Spirit is moving in a great way; and many people are being saved and trained to serve the Lord.

Isaiah 35 tells us about the Millennial Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ where He will rule and reign on the earth. There will be a lot of changes during that time period; but it is safe to say that it will be a glorious time to live on the earth. The desert will literally blossom as the rose. Isaiah encourages the people of Israel often by reminding them of this future period of peace and prosperity. The saved of today will rule and reign with Christ during this time. What a wonderful God we serve!

We don’t have to wait until the Millennium to experience this bliss, however. We can have it right now. Jesus said:

…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:14)

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (John 7:38)

The life of the Christian who is yielded to the will of God, and filled with the Spirit of God is an oasis in the midst of a dry and barren land. Jesus said that He would fill those that are thirsting for Him. Perhaps the reason why so many of God’s people do not experience this type of spiritual refreshing is because they are hungering and thirsting after the things of this world rather than the things that are eternal. Christian, our lives ought to be overflowing with the fruits of the Spirit and the water of life. Perhaps if we were, we just might cause the arid world around us to be thirsty for God.

Aug 3rd Lovers of Pleasure

Today’s Passage – Isaiah 28 – 30

But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. (Isaiah 28:7)

Isaiah 28 is directed initially toward Ephraim which was one of the two half tribes of Joseph, part of the northern kingdom of Israel. Ephraim is often used symbolically to refer to all of the northern kingdom of Israel in the Book of Isaiah. Remember, Isaiah is writing this book right around the time that the northern kingdom was being swallowed up into captivity by the Assyrians. There were many reasons for the downfall of Israel; but here in this chapter we see that they were a prosperous nation (vv 1, 4 – fat valley, referring to the fruitfulness of the land) that was consumed with pleasure. The irony of this whole thing is that God gave them this fruitful land and all of the prosperity that came with it. He also protected them for many years from the enemies around them, which also added to their prosperity. But prosperity will often cause a people to fall sooner than persecution will. In fact, persecution will often cause a nation to draw closer to God. The cycle goes like this: First God blesses His people; then the people in their abundance forget about their God; then God judges His people, removing some of the protection and prosperity; then the people turn back to God; and finally, God can begin to bless His people again.

The multiple references to drunkenness in this passage is not so much a condemnation for a person who is trapped by alcoholism as it is an observation of a nation that is consumed with pleasure. Pleasure seekers often turn to wine, strong drink; and, today, drugs in order to satisfy their lust for pleasure. A people in this condition will quickly fall away from God. This is sadly not just the testimony of the lost people; but is also the way that many Christians are going. It is now acceptable in many Christian circles to allow a little social drinking. The preachers may still preach against drunkenness, but they used to admonish their people to completely abstain from alcohol. We are gradually moving away from the sound principles of the Word of God.

Paul wrote abut this day that we are living in in 2 Timothy:

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. (1 Timothy 3:1 – 5)

We can’t do much about the condition of the world; and we most likely will not be able to stop the judgment that surely must be imminent in America; but we can make sure that we are not a part of the problem. We are Christians! We need to represent Christ to this dark world that we live in; and we aren’t supposed to live like they do. Abstain from the appearance of evil; be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be ye filled with the Spirit. These are God’s instructions to His ambassadors today. As this world around us begins to crumble as it did for Israel, we need to be strong and Spirit-filled so that we will be able to help the fallen find their way back to God.

Aug 2nd Peace

Today’s Passage – Isaiah 23 – 27

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.(Isaiah 26:3)

This is one of those passages of Scripture that has an immediate context involving the nation of Israel (or more specifically here, Judah); but it also contains a principle that can be universally applied to everyone that is trusting the Lord. Peace is something that the world is searching for, but can only be found through a deep, abiding faith in God. The peace that God gives to those that trust Him is the kind of peace that manifests itself at all times regardless of the outward circumstances. It’s the kind of inner tranquility that reminds us that no matter how badly the storm rages on the outside, we are going to be OK; because God has everything under His control. The christian today who has surrendered his life to God does not have to stress and worry about everything because he has full assurance that God is going to take care of him.

Consider some parallel passages in the Bible:

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.    (Philippians 4:7)

Notice here it says that God’s peace will keep your hearts and minds. God does not guarantee that there will not be an outward struggle against evil; but He does guarantee peace within your own mind. I find that most of my unrest is due to worry and stress in my mind. But when I am trusting in the Lord, He assures me and gives me peace.

For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. (1 Corinthians 14:33)

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost (Romans 15:13)

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27)

The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe. (Proverbs 29:25)

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)

Do you have peace today? Is your life filled with inner anxiety and possibly outward turmoil? God can remove all of that, if you will yield your life to Him. I don’t have to worry about anything, because my Heavenly Father already is.