Category Archives: the gospel

A Letter From the Least

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Do not mistake the following lines for condemnation.  They are a confession of love from a man who knows God.

I know who you are, my brothers and sisters of flesh, you wicked and adulteress people of this place of testing.  I see what you do.  I know the things you love, and that what you love is unholy.

I know that many of you will die in disrepair.  Even now you complain that life is cut short.  I know that even now through silence you complain against the Holy One.  You turn to sin as if it produces tranquility.  You turn to the pleasure of sin that you may relieve your anxious heart.  I know that you offend one another for the hatred that lives in your bones.  And you glory in a strength that leads to death.

But I do not condemn you.  I do not judge you, for I have done the same things.  By my own actions I know who you are.  Because he has shown me my sins I know what sin is.  Therefore I look at you with eyes that know.

But I do not judge for the sake of condemnation.  I rightly assess because I have been caused to see rightly.  By the work of Christ within me I have come to understand the difference between righteousness and the folly of man.  And I know that with one touch of his hand you too can see.

So I stand here and plead with you.  Go to the Father and receive the peace of his Son.  The throne of God is wide open to those who have the courage of faith to approach. 

This very day is that day of opportunity.  There are two days in which the door of opportunity will be slammed shut.  Which will come first, who can tell.  But one day is your own death.  The other day is when the Father sends his Son to put an end to salvation in this place of testing.

The joy of knowing the Sovereign God through Jesus His holy son is more than a man can speak in full.  So I spoke to you first of the sin that I know dresses you in a black cloth.  Then I spoke to you of open forgiveness from this man.  Finally I gave you the words of eternal peace.

I have written this that you may live.  Consider, if he has touched me so that I might forgive, how much more power does he hold in his hand for you?

I am the least of his people.  Yet the strength of his love lives within me.  Many who now living in sin are greater than I.  How much greater can these be if they receive the love of God?

By His grace I have written.  By His grace, what I have written is true.  By that same grace life stands ready to embrace you.  All that is necessary is that your humble yourself and pray. 

Pray with ernest heart.  Pour out what you know to be true.  Confess your sins and beg for life.   Do not cease and you will receive.  The kingdom of heaven is not given to those who are not earnest.  But salvation belongs to the weak who will call out in truth.

God is faultless.  His ways are pure and Holy.  He has sent his Son as a seal of his desire to save.  This is a promise he has made and sealed with the very blood of his own Holy Son.  It is impossible for God to lie.  Yet who will believe?

The Race

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The human race races.  Listen to the cheers of the crowd.  “Be first, conquer, achieve,  amass, gather and enjoy!”

To what do they compare victory?  Do they look at what they did not have when they were born?  Do they look at what they now have and consider it victory?

This is not the measure of victory that God perceives.

God is first.  He has set his Son as first.  His son has conquered.  His son has achieved all that can be achieved.  He has amassed all righteousness; for that is what he loves.  Even now he gathers men from among the seed of men.  And he is eternally anointed with the oil of joy from the living God.

How does the race of men compare?  They will have what is not theirs to keep.  They will have what is not theirs.  But he keeps because he desires his Father’s Holy will.

Will you continue in the race of men?  Or will you relinquish your rights to gain what cannot be lost?

There is a race that requires no strength.  It does not hope for the things of this world.  The world will hold what is of the Spirit in great contempt.  But all things of flesh rot and fade away.

All the while men clamor to gain, heaven moves forward in true joy.  Beyond the grasp of man, beyond the vision of eyes, beyond the hearing of ears, the righteous worship God.  And it will not be taken away from them, for by the strength of Jesus the Christ they have overcome.

Who will cease the frenzied race?  Who will grasp with their soul what can never be taken away?  He is willing to give.  Who is willing to receive?

Highest possible

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The hope we have in Christ Jesus is the highest of all possible hopes.  It is eternal life in a perfect Kingdom.  What more could possibly be asked?

The world condemns the Lord’s people because they dare to dream of something the world cannot attain; God with us.  Yet to anyone who is willing to believe, this hope is standing ready to give.

We believe and are saved.  We believe and he teaches us.  We believe and become.  And all who believe say Amen.

Let those who doubt consider their plight.  Let the foolish become wise.  The door is standing wide open.  Let all who will humble themselves come to the Lord and receive this magnificent hope.

But let all who will continue in doubt continue then in doubt.  The Lord’s Way is written in the blood of His Holy Son.  God is righteous and true.  His judgments are without fault.  And his kingdom moves forward without the slightest impact of the lies of men.  And the harvest of God will eternally separate!

BEST

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Regarding man’s righteousness; his ability to perform in this life in a manner worthy of God’s acceptance:

Man can learn to do many things.  He is able to build towering structures, both material and spiritual.  He is able to clean and maintain all that he has.  He can keep the streets clear of clutter.  And he can produce a life free of wilful sins.

But the righteousness that pleases God is more.  For man can only work with what he has been given. Man is born a receiver.  Nothing he can do that is “best”, is anything more than maintaining what he has been allowed to have.  Therefore, nothing “best” we can do is as “Best”, as God defines “Best”.

Jesus is the very Word of the Living God.  He has been so from the beginning of creation.  What He has done is God stuff.  His righteousness is not received, He is the origin of all that is purely Righteous.  He, being the first and direct offspring of God, is not a receiver.  He is a pure giver.

Can man possibly compete with that?  Is he even wise to try?  God Himself has proclaimed the place of Christ.  Who is man to challenge, with his uninformed mind?

Let Jesus be your righteousness.  Stop seeking to impress God.  Jesus is the only One who can do that.  TRUST!

Yes HE is!

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The Holy Lord, the God of Eternity who has made this place, is risen from the dead!   He has been given all authority over heaven and earth.  He sits at the right hand of the sovereign God of Glory.

If a man accomplishes a great task we can say with confidence he was always able to do it.  And we must admit we were wrong to doubt. 

If the man told us he would do it we were wicked to call him a liar.  And now the proof of our folly stands before us.  Who, in his right mind, would stand before what the man has built and say it does not exist?

From eternity the Lord Jesus was able to attain this Great position.  Doubt and accusation has reduced the evil one to less than he was.  And this was done long before the world was created.  So he went about perverting.

And even when the Great Holy Temple of our Lord Jesus was completed the devil has not ceased his perverting. 

I do not say this to cast accusation against the devil.  I say this to shine a brilliant light on all who would speak evil of the Holy Lord of life.  I say this to all men who observe the holy place in which they live yet cast aspersions on the One who made it.

Am I wrong to call creation a holy place?  Does the Sun rise over millions of years without failing?  Do the seasons cease or become disordered?  Does heat and cold fail to be?  Then how do men assail the Holiness of God who made this place?

The Lord Jesus has risen from the dead as was prophesied by the Holy Lord God Almighty.  Let men doubt as they will.  Let them mock Him with their own parade of wickedness; even on this day of celebration for His glory.

His holy ways are before us day and night.  They are like the fool who stands before the finished building and says it is not there.  They are the ones who have blinded their own eyes because they live in derision, rebellion and lies.

We are born in sin.  Yet all our life we observe what is holy and consistent.  Where is understanding?  How does it evade the fool?  How can man love ignorance,  while the proof rages a torrent against his unbelief?

The Holy Lord Jesus is risen from the dead!  And now the accusations against The Father’s enemies become His.  Let the nations rant and rage against the Holy Lord Jesus!  They are the ones who will suffer.

The Holy Lord Jesus is risen from the dead!

Would you like some vinegar with that?

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Many have painted the gospel through the perspective of man’s compassion.  They focus on our need for hope, joy and compassion.  As is reasonable they see the suffering of man and turn the gospel toward them as a solution.

The broken hearted, the humble, and those discarded in this world, may benefit greatly from this purpose of delivery.  It is to these that the gospel of Jesus Christ finds the greatest effectiveness.  These perceive the need.  These are most pleased to hear it.  We remember it is written he who is forgiven much loves much.  And the Lord came to seek and to save those who are lost.

But that message does little to the man who is proud or rich in the things of this world.  Such men perceive a compassionate message as a license to sin.  They may well see the love of God as a weakness to be exploited.

There is another view of the gospel.  Those who are hungry for righteousness and desire what is good will find this other side of the gospel in due time.

While the gospel speaks strongly of compassion, tenderness, mercy and forgiveness, it also speaks strongly about the judgment to come.  The first is more pleasant to deliver.  And the relief it brings is sweet.  While the second is more like serving someone a glass of pure vinegar.  It is a severe test of a man’s desire.

Many preach the sweetest part of the gospel.  But let us not lay aside the severity of the coming judgement.  We do no one any favors by sugar coating the Word of God.