Tag Archives: pleasure

Perhaps

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“We interrupt this presentation of the NFL for a special message from Billy Graham.”  And for the next hour and 12 minutes, Mr Graham gives us the Gospel.  How might such a thing be received?

A godless man will hate the living God.  A godless man is a tyrant over obedience.  He will not allow his heart and mind and soul to do anything for the Living God.  He is like a violent and jealous husband.  If he suspects that his heart desires what is good, he beats it cruelly, and treats it to all manner of vile behavior.  “Back to pleasure with you!  You will not do what is right!”

So the godless treat themselves.  Pleasure is their king, and they will not obey what is holy. 

They are like the young man whose eyes are full of insolence as he works at his job.  Though his boss says nothing, it is easily seen the boy does not love his work.  Trouble will surely come, for the child hates his place.

But there are some who will die watching football this season.  For them the interruption is not a mere hour and 12 minutes.  Eternity will break on them in less than a heartbeat.  And they will find their pleasure rudely interrupted.  They will finally obey God; their soul will remain in hell.

Not only will this happen to some who watch football.  It will happen in the sleep of some.  It will happen while they do their work.  It will happen to a few women as they go out to shop.  Death will appear without notice, claiming their soul for God.  The shock of death belongs to those who have not prepared their soul.

God is sovereign, he answers to no one.  But look how men treat him; as if they are sovereign and have a right to do as they please.  But God has already determined the end of a man’s life.  Go ahead and make three guesses, who wins, God or man?

You insolent masses to hate the Holy God who gave you life.  Pleasure is your god.  Rebelion is your worship.  As you despise going to work on Monday, for it interrupts your pleasure, so you despise obedience to the Holy Living God.  But you are the ones who will suffer.

During times of trouble you call on God.  Why should he listen to your words, you have not listened to his.  You act like you pray for a touchdown.  Expecting God to bless your desires.  How utterly void of understanding.  How fully insolent and arrogant!

“I am not a religious man.”‘  You say.  I am not a Jew, nor a priest, nor a Christian.  God does not expect of me the things he expects of you.” 

Your heart thinks in foolishness.  God has made every man.  And will surely call every man to account for the same Holy standards.  And you know this!  Look how you blame a label instead of taking responsibility for your own life!

You have already rehearsed your excuses.  But not a single one will do, when you lose your perceived sovereignty.  It will happen faster than you can think.  And eternity will be more sure than what you have now.

But do go and fill yourself with pleasure.  By every means, fill up the judgment against you.  To rebuke a foolish man is to incur wrath.  You do not listen to the Sovereign God, why should you listen to me?

When’s the last time you even looked at a Bible?  Have you ever spent time on your knees in prayer?  Have you used the name of God’s Holy Son in anything other than profanity?  Have you even considered the end of your days?

“Prop me up beside the jukebox when I die.”  This is the stupidity of the folly of man.  You will not be here for your corpse to enjoy.  Yet you think there is something to be gained by the life you lead now.

Since before you were born men have been warning of what is to come.  And even while you slept this morning, preparing for your hated Monday, the Holy Lord allowed me to write this message to you.

What use is it to say more?  I do not expect a single one of you to even find this message, let alone read it and understand.  Perhaps the Sovereign God will have mercy on you and show you this place.  Perhaps he will have mercy on you and strike you with a holy fear.

               Perhaps.

By His Grace

Pleasing God

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Let no brother or sister in Christ believe that it is impossible to please God.  In the sum of our salvation, there is no sacrifice we can make to save our souls, for all belongs to God.  Yes, this is true.  And Jesus, the Word of God, has made the sacrifice for all men; fulfilling the entire Law of God.  Yes, this is true.

 

But God pleases God.  Isn’t that the gist of the Gospel?  And where God is, there is pleasure to God.  Isn’t that true?  And when God moves, there is pleasure in the Holy Throne Room.  Isn’t that true?  So when we learn to do the things of God willingly, doesn’t that bring pleasure to God?  So how can one intelligently say, “It is impossible to please God?”

 

I understand the confusion.  Salvational pleasure cannot be brought about by any man; fulfilling the Holy Law of God is impossible for anyone who has sinned even once.  Salvation belongs to the One who is unblemished.  But the living in the Holy Spirit gives great pleasure to the One who bought us by His Holy Blood.

 

Let us not take the words of others without giving them lengthy consideration.  They may have understood before they spoke.  And what they spoke may be faultless.  But has our perception come in line with understanding?

 

A man may think that to say it is possible to please God leads to pompous and errant thoughts of self.  Thus many deny the possibility.  But do they do God a favor by beating any possible joy from their soul?  Aren’t they trying to please God by denying that pleasing God is possible?

 

Why isn’t it better to live in the freedom of fellowship with Jesus?  Why isn’t it better to receive that Holy smile of pleasure?  Again, let us be careful what we include and disclude.

Palpable Forgiveness

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Beyond this place is joy for those who learn to trust the Lord.  And since we know that God cannot lie, we learn to believe that there is a certain joy in receiving his forgiveness now.  Those who believe this have proven that God is true.  Yes there is proof!  And any man can know it.

It is God’s glory to give, for he is life.  Therefore it is our glory to receive.  And we do not receive without a substantial reward.  For in the soul of he who receives is proof that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him.  It is not the reward that comes from the things of this world.

To the soul who is yet blind, such words carry no weight.  But to those who have received, a joyful amen comes quickly.

This world will offer you a billion alternatives to the pain you now suffer.  They offer you pleasure of every possible sort to alleviate your troubled soul. 

I am over 60 years old now and have searched this world for the things that help.  from the sensual to the religious, and all things in between, I have looked.  I have found nothing that compares to the palpable forgiveness of God in Christ Jesus.

They offer what will deaden a man’s senses.  They offer distractions.  But such things are not effective in alleviating our guilt before the Holy One; a guilt that troubles us every day and every night of our life.

The guilt of the soul causes hatred of every sort.  It stifles love.  Its restrains joy to temporary distractions.  You know sooner grasp a joyful moment, and it is taken away.  You want to love, but the guilt of your soul proves you are unlovely.  So you end up striking out in various ways, or trying in vain to cover your shame.

Yoga teaches tranquility of mind.  But nothing in the body can bring tranquility to the soul.  Religions of this world teach sacrifice.  But God has chosen his own sacrifice, therefore he does not accept the sacrifice of men for their salvation.  No sacrifice a man can make brings tranquility to the soul.  For God has chosen his door of giving.

The riches of this world can be gathered, yes.  And for a time they alleviate the stress upon our minds.  Yet the soul is restless and full of guilt and shame.  And the one who puts his trust in the things he can gather or do, is not at peace deep within himself.   He only finds himself looking for another way.

But the tranquility that comes from the forgiveness of Christ is complete.  One moment a man’s guilt is upon him.  He can feel it as if it is a thick blanket.  The next moment he is free and full of joy.  An unexplainable transformation has taken place.  Unspeakable piece has arrived.

Where foreboding was, now joyful expectation comes.  Tears flow.  But they are not the tears of a man.  They are the tears of a son of God.

I know we have sinned.  I know we feel guilty to the very center of our soul; a guilt that our hands cannot reach.  I know that in our great weakness we look for anything to alleviate this pain. That is the first part of the gospel of Christ.  But if that is all there is, then there is no hope.

But the one who puts his faith in the Holy son of God, and continues throughout his life to look to him for help, will find himself full of an unearthly joy.  It is not the joy of child feels at Christmas time.  It is an unshakable peace.  The man’s Maker has come and healed him.

Men laugh at this message.  But even those who laugh, desire it to be true.  It is true my friend.  The joy you desire lay just beyond the door of pride. 

At the threshold of humility a man finds what he needs.  If a man will put away the knowledge of his own mind, and understand these things by faith, he will find he has hope.  This hope will not disappoint him, if he continues to live in it. And in time, all the remedies of this world pale to oblivion.

I do not speak of this as one who has only heard.  I speak of this as one who continually proves that the Lord’s gospel is powerful, effective, true and eternal.  And I speak of this as one who’s conscience is clean.  It is not that I am sinless.  It is that the forgiveness of Christ is stronger than my guilt.  And I testify that his forgiveness affects my soul.

If you will listen to these words and seek His face with all you have, You too will be able to prove the glory of God in Christ Jesus. 

Purposeful restraint

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Something odd has occurred to me that has not knocked on my door in the past.  Contrary to popular belief among Christians, the sinful nature is quite intelligent in its own way.

I believe the sinful nature is oblivious to the fact that it will be destroyed.  But it is certainly not oblivious to what gives it Pleasure.  In fact, its entire focus is on the freedom it enjoys to sin.

The intelligence of the sinful nature can be found in its avoidance of restraint.  It will do everything it desires except those things for which it can be imprisoned.

Folly however is not that intelligent.  Folly will encourage the sinful nature to be stupid.  But a little wisdom goes a long way in making the sinful nature happy.

Perhaps this is the reason why so many Christians are caught up in such great sins.  How horribly sad.  When God stands ready to give wisdom without judgement to anyone who asks.

Mr. “No-Name” (Who’s that?)

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Imagine living your life without any name.  It might be impossible to us to imagine that.  For we are named from our birth.  And even at our death, out name is placed on our grave.

But unless you receive the Mercy of God in Christ Jesus His Holy Son, your name will be utterly blotted out of eternity.  You will not be mentioned or thought of ever again.  You will cease to be of any importance at all.

For now a man might be important by causing trouble.  If he is incapable of any righteous behavior, at least he can be known for wickedness.  How many wicked men have bragged that others will remember them by their violent behavior?  But that “name” will be taken away.  Even your opinion will not be honored with thought at all.

This is the promise of God toward the unholy, unrighteous, rebellious, those who love false religion, those who love pleasure of the world more than the Righteousness of God, and those who worship anything other than the Living God.

Perhaps you have not considered this.  It is likely.  For it is impossible to imagine living our entire life without a name.

You may say, “I don’t believe any of what you’ve written here.  You’re simply a self-righteous bigot who hates the freedom of man.”  What is such boasting to me?  If you continue in that way, your name will cease.  You will find your end.  You won’t cease because I have told you these things.  The Holy Lord will establish His eternity.  No wicked thing will be allowed to continue past that point.  A new “age” of righteous men made perfect will appear.  And all who have despised the Lord will simply vanish.  “You will look for them but they will not be found.”

The Lord has prepared a staggeringly beautiful place for all who love Him.  Do you seriously think you will be of any importance at all when His people enter the place the Lord has prepared for those who love Him?  No.

You will know your own death.  You will cease to be.  What will that be to those who serve the Living God forever?  Why would you point your finger at such as me?  Why would you chose to blame others for the unholy faults you now embrace?

 

Personally

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Personally I would rather die
with my hands upon the wheel
of the ship where God has placed me
than some pleasure here to steal.

Let old bones embrace me
while his course I hold so tight.
May his Holy will entice me
As I work with all my might.

Let others put away the things
that brought them now delight.
For I would rather perish
In a storm of Holy Light.

By His Grace