Category Archives: Encouragement

The Value of One

by

0


What is the value of one man?

With clamoring, Man elevates all his unholy “strength”.

One man can corrupt millions.

And so, ungodliness prospers like violent weeds.

But what is the value of one servant of Christ?

I consider Stephen, the celebrated first martyr in Christ.

He was not one of the 12.

There is no miracle attached to his witness.

Yet see how God used him with excellent power of revelation.

In the midst of worthless power, Stephen testified with revealed Glory.

What is the value of one man of God?

How the kingdom of lies was shaken and stirred to violence,

When God moved within the soul of that one man.

 

Let us not consider that a mass of men must rise in order that the Gospel might become a prominent power among men.  But let us remember the Promise of God.  “For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, ‘In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.'” (Isaiah 30: 15)  Does the Holy Fire of God seek a place of venting among men?  As lava seeks the place of release, does the Holy Will of God seek a man to “do”?  And what shall be said when the Will of God finds that soul who “will”?

With confidence, the man of God lives out his days.  He knows the Living God’s Holy Son.  He is not restrained by terror.  He speaks with authority, for from Authority he is taught.  He joyfully does the Living Will of the Living God.  With a whisper he quiets the clamor of Man.  With the Holy Wisdom of God, he dispels the lies in which men trust so violently.

What is the value of one man?  What is the power of that man’s prayer?  How brilliant does that one shine before the Holy Throne of the Living God?  How willing is God to teach he who is willing to hear?  How sharp is the eye of the one who desires to see?  How powerfully is God willing to act when He finds one man willing to be used?

“For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance.”  (Matthew 13: 12)

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  (Matthew 10: 10)

What is the value of ONE MAN?

Two Promises

by

0


Profit and loss.  The entire world is based on these two concepts.  Absolutely everything we do contains things that are considered profitable, and those things that are considered loss.

In every possible way, creation has been subjected to loss.  It takes serious diligence to build and maintain anything.  And if we are slack, we will quickly witness our work returning to “nothing” from which it came.

This is true of material things.  It is true of our relationships with one another.  It is true of all “life”, which is so very abundant in this world,  And it is absolutely true of Spiritual things.

“By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” (Hebrews 11:3)  We could easily say that all creation was created from what was “not”.  And if left alone, to its origin all things glide.  Creation could easily be perceived as a great splash in an eternal ocean.  The water will reclaim its equality of height, by absolute necessity.

It is the blessing of God to provide Life.  It is the curse of God to restrain His hand.  That’s all it takes for man to experience loss.  Just as we can produce loss by neglect, so it is with God.

He is the Sustainer of all things.  But even the idea that something must be sustained, indicates that it tends to obliteration.

There are two promises from God.  If you will consistently turn to me, I will sustain you.  But as you desire your own strength, you will suffer loss.  The first promise leads to eternal life in Christ Jesus, for God offers no other source of blessing and life.  The second is simply our natural destination; we came from nothing, and to that nothing we will return.  But God offers eternal life to every soul that will turn to His Holy Son in faith.

I know that there is a massive misunderstanding of these things.  Man thinks that he can save himself.  How can you save yourself if your hands are busy trying to hold up your own roof?  What knowledge do you have of eternity?  Isn’t it true that eternity is only a concept within the heart of every man who ever lived?  We are born and die.  That’s not eternity, friends!

What do we know of Holy Sustaining?  We can’t even make it through an entire day without causing some sort of destruction.  We crush a bug as we walk.  We speak an unholy word in casual conversation, or we do not speak what is holy when it should have been spoken.

Proof lies abundant within us, that we can’t sustain anything for very long.  Quickly, the glide to oblivion pushes past our strength to keep things going.  We are, by nature, walking death.  God alone, and this in His Holy and Righteous Son, is LIFE.

Make your own choice.  Consider these things with the utmost diligence, or relegate these promises to obscurity.  Choose death or Life.  The one is a given, we slide through time to the place of obliteration without any effort at all.  But life must be gained from He who is Life, Christ Jesus, the Holy Son of the Living God.

Making God Proud

by

0


There is a saying among men that is worthy of inspection.  Anything that’s worthy is simply worthy.  Come on, let’s get after it.

“Be the kind of man of which God can be proud.”

On the surface it sounds pretty good.  It’s inspirational.  It provokes a never-ending stream of good behavior.  As far as I know, it’s grammatically correct.   But it is also seriously wrong.

A mother may be proud of her ugly and inept son.  But her pride is not due to the fact that he is a supreme representation of humanity.  She is proud of her responsibility.  She is proud of her gift from God.  Frankly, she is proud of God.

God is no respecter of any man.  To say that he is proud of any man, can be considered pure folly.  This is the same God who said all our righteous deeds are as filthy rags (let the reader understand the meaning of the words “filthy rags”).

What can a man possibly do that would make God proud of him?  Every righteous deed we do is as if under duress.  For every man will readily tell you that if he does not behave he will be punished.

There is One of whom God is proud.  His name is Jesus.  As we obey and praise God’s Holy Son, the Pride God has for him is enhanced.  Let us then, revamp the saying. 

“Let us be the kind of men who honor the One who has roused God’s pride.”

By His Grace

A Purposeful Tongue Lashing

by

1


How many times do the people of God need to be encouraged before they will take the mantle of the Gospel upon their shoulders?  How easy it is to encourage them to be lax in the things of the Most High God.  They readily embrace social peace.  But war against what is wicked is relegated to a tiny few.

As a child abhores spinach, yet craves the sweetness of sugar, so the people of God have sought peace with the wicked.  And as the sugar will rot the teeth of the child, so this craving for peace has rotted the Church of God.  Where is the healthy mouth?

It is ridiculous to make a call for action for the entire Church.  But let those with understanding mount up for the sake of the Gospel!  To prayer with all of us!  To the things of God, with godly zeal, with every willing man and woman of God!

Let us open our eyes and look around.  Witness the compromise!  Take note of what is unholy.  See how the things of the Glorious Lord Jesus have been brought to such a small affair.  It is considered a trophy to attend church twice a year!  It is considered holy restraint to keep your lips sealed among the wicked!

How near the end of things must it be, that the church has become so complacent?  Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Valentine’s Day, and so many more, have taken the place of the crucifixion and the resurrection.  And suffering for the name of Christ Jesus has become an abhorrent obsession of a few.

So many Bibles in the world, yet so very few read and understand.  So much time for prayer, yet there is hardly a flake of callus on the knees of God’s people.  So many opportunities to speak out against wickedness, yet you would think Christians are mute; at baptism God rips the tongue out of the man!

If now is not the time to rise up for Christ, tell me when it will come upon us.  What are the signs I should look for, that I might see an explosion of zeal for the Living God’s Christ?  Who, among the children of God, will rise up and embrace the things of Jesus?  And do we need to wait another 7 days for this to happen?  Is it necessary to wait even another 10 minutes!

Who will come and die with Christ?  Who will render his life to prayer, a serious and diligent study of the Word of God, and become an ambassador to the Holy Lord Jesus in this wicked and adulterous place?

Is it true that it takes imprisonment to wake up a soul for Christ?  Will you wait for a house to house search before you commit to a boldness for Christianity?  What are you waiting for?  Define the obstacle so that we can speak of it openly!

Look how foreign these words are among what is called civilized Christians.  So very well dressed on Sunday.  But so putrid against holiness throughout the week. 

The debate among God’s people is not directed at how brightly we should burn.  It is more the focus of what can we get away with.  Where is the holy and burning fire of obedience among Christians today?  Has it not been replaced by wealth, social integration, and dedicated complacency?  Unholy lies dance in our streets!  Children murder one another!  And if one man is caught spreading the Gospel, all Christianity feels vindicated!

Decide for yourself if this is right.  Why should we listen any longer to words of restraint?  Who elected the cowards as our leaders?  Will God not support and catch those who step out from the cowering crowd?  Or has faith in Christ really become such a rare and elusive animal?

I am so tired of watching us hide.  It is sickening to the stomach to see the Glorious Lord Jesus hidden like some abomination among men; as if he had been a rapist, a thief, a murderer, and every other wicked thing!  Do you really think God will honor such purposeful obscurity?

By His Grace

Peace, of God!

by

0


Man is not ashamed of his greed.  He is only fearful of being exposed. 

The zealots of false religion do not hide their zeal.  They are only fearful that their lies are exposed or denounced. 

The timid are not ashamed of their fear.  They are dressed in false peace.  They are only fearful that someone may rightfully ask “too much” of them.

Man pursues what he desires.  And with all his strength he is zealous to gain or retain.  But make no mistake, so is God! 

Why should God’s people not be zealous for the things of their master?  It is like man to be zealous for all He desires.  Why can’t that zeal be reigned in for the Son of the Most High God? 

What right do we have to fear?  Where is it written that God’s people will fear?  Is there such a thing as cowering in the Kingdom of the Most High God’s Holy Son?  Isn’t it true that he has spoken exactly the opposite?

Men desire what they want, and with all their strength they pursue it day and night.  All God’s people are purchased from man.  How is it that when a man becomes a Christian he loses his desire to pursue?  Before we belonged to Christ we fought tooth and nail to keep what we desired. 

Who told us that the Peace of God rips desire from our heart?  Capture such who say these things and put them to open shame!  For the fruit of their false words diminishes the Army of our God.  Our brothers fight with less strength, because the liars turn away their fellow warriors from the battle between righteousness and ungodly wickedness!

There is a war that has been since before you were born.  This war will continue until God says “Enough”!  Do you desire to take part?  Then by all means, with what is left of your ability, move yourself to the fracas!

If you are an able Christian, with healthy arms and legs, run to the battlefield.  If you were wounded and nearly dead, grab hold of rocks and grass, and slither yourself to the field of blood.  Let your soul stand for Christ!

Let us endure the “holy pain”, for the sake of the glorious Lord Jesus.  Let us put our selves in a conspicuous place.  Let us swallow fear.  Let us fight for Christ!

This place of testing is nearly finished.  Will we be caught as desirous of “peace”?  When the Son of man returns will he find us amiable and willingly among the ungodly and the wicked?  Will he find us embroiled in friendship with the world?  Or will he find us being ripped to shreds on the battlefield of godly intent?

By His Grace

What is Sin?

by

0


Sin is “doing wrong”, whether in the mind or by the hands.  Sin is a living being, expressed by the individual.

I have spoken often about how sin disrupts the Righteousness of Eternity.  I have written of how the will of God is staved off by our disobedience called sin.  But Charles Spurgeon takes this concept one step farther than I had perceived.  You can find the entire audio of his sermon, “Thoughts on the Last Battle” at this link http://www.spurgeongems.org/messages/028chs.mp3.

Brother Spurgeon speaks of sin, as it is, past the sealing of the soul.  He asks, (in my own words) if sin destroyed the will of God while the man lived in this place of testing, what will it become when the soul is sealed in sin for eternity?  What will the “man” become when all the restraints of God’s beautiful Grace of the Holy Spirit’s influence is removed?  When the Holy Blood of Christ is no longer effective, when repentance is no longer an option; for the man is now sealed in the manner of soul he allowed God to create.

What then is sin?  Is it simply a game we play between ourselves?  Is it simply a futile expression of disruption in the Truth of God for Eternity?  Is it simply being a rebellious child who stands outside the door of God’s Holy Family?  Is it simply pleasure?  Or is sin a growing monster?

Will hell restrain the wickedness of wicked souls?  Do you think that you will live one slight moment in hell with a smile on your face?  You will be frustrated beyond description.  You will find desire consuming you.  Yet there will be no more avenue to disturb the Holy Will of the Living God or His Holy and Righteous Christ.  You will no longer have a body to command.  You will be only an essence of SIN.  You will be a distilled form of desire, with no possibility of expression or gain.

If God had not designed hell to be obliterated, there would be eternity to suffer within an indescribable torment of desire.  But ask yourself this:  How long will the Living God allow the display of tormented, wicked, desire ridden, useless souls to remain?  Even if He allows the display to remain for the sake of reminder to His Holy People, there is a place where even the display will be done away with.

Not only will those multitude of souls be in agony of frustrated desire.  They will face the prospect of eternal extinction.  And they will know it for certain.  For in their consignment to hell, they will have, no doubt, been told that death must join them.  When death arrives, “Nothing” becomes.

Is that what you want to be?  When your moment of transfer from “life” to the grave comes upon you, is that what you want for your hope?  Pleasure calls now.  But do you think you’ll love pleasure as dearly when there is no longer any means to employ it?

The offer of transformation remains, only as long as a man is in this place of testing.  Only while we are in the flesh of this body, is the Holy Blood of Jesus of any effect.  He calls all men to take from His Holy hand the things of Grace.  But when our hands are no longer able to hold anything, what is Grace to us then?

Jesus stands ready and willing to embrace any man in the Righteous Way of Christianity.  But who will consider these things and live?

Addition:

I have wondered why, in the story of the Rich man and Lazarus, Abraham sat on a hill overlooking Hell.  Can it be that Abraham and Lazarus were learning about the prospects of God’s Holy Promise to eternally punish the wicked?  (Luke 16: 19-31)

And I am reminded of the words of Christ Jesus, 9 “A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: ‘If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. (Revelation 14)

Let us wake up to the reality of the Gospel’s power.  The promise of eternal life is TRUE!  The promise of eternal torment is TRUE!  Which will each man choose?  We all, every man, know.