Lest We Forget

(2 Corinthians 10:3)  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

(2 Corinthians 10:4)  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

(2 Corinthians 10:5)  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

            Imagine that it is the early 1940’s, in the midst of WWII. Hitler, who is the leader of the Nazi’s has assembled an army and declared war.  His sole goal is to terminate anyone who he views to be imperfect.  He is not only invading countries, cities, towns, and homes to capture, imprison and eventually kill Jewish people who he views are a lower grade of humanity, but also the disabled and anyone who tries to get in his way.  These people have not done anything wrong but are innocent. 

Now imagine that you are home during the midst of all of this, hearing of this monstrous onslaught of people, unable to do anything to help.  But, there are selfless men and women who gave of themselves to combat against the Nazi army. Who eventually, through many long years of battle, came out victoriously through the defeat of the Nazi army.  They fought so that we could have freedom and joy, and live as we know it.  Today is the day where we remember those brave men and women who sacrificed their time, families and some of them even their life. It is hard to say what life could have been like, possibly living under dictatorship rather than living in a democracy, who knows?

Moreover, even today that same spirit that Hitler had exists in the world, the same spirit that wants to imprison and destroy the innocent.   That spirit is Satan.  Likewise Satan and his army are just as relentless. He will do ANYTHING in his power to ensnare us into sin. He will tempt us, lie to us, and deceive us.  His methods are sneaky, waiting for a moment when our guard is down, when we get distracted by the things of life.  Whether it be work or school, when we lose our focus on the Lord.  That is when he will begin to lie and deceive us. 

Similar to with Eve he will whisper in our ear “Hath God said?” making us question our faith and what God has said. Then he continues by lying to us saying “Surely you will not die.”  He begins to create a confusion in us, making us ask ourselves did God really say I couldn’t do that. We begin to rationalize the situation, and if we are not careful we, like eve, may give into the sweet temptation of the “forbidden fruit”.

(1 Peter 5:8)  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

He wants to devour our souls, he doesn’t care about us, all he cares about is that we become disobedient like he is, so that we may, some day be like him and cast out of the presence of God for eternity. He wants us to spend eternity in hell with him.

We must realize that there is an ongoing battle for our soul.

(Ephesians 6:12)  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

We are not like those brave men and women who fought on battle fields, with physical weapons, and physical death.  No, we are soldiers of Christ battling against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  In other words we are fighting a spiritual battle, against Satan and his army.

            Likewise to the soldiers who came out victoriously through the defeat of Hitler, we to can walk in victory over the defeat of the enemy.  After all people,

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

In Ephesians 6 it goes on to say:

            Ephesians 6:13-18

(13)  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

(14)  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

(15)  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

(16)  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

(17)  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

            Today I am thankful for the soldiers who served and died for our country. Who fought for our freedom, that today we have the liberty to live in a democracy and not under a dictatorship. But today, what I am most thankful for is for a God who gave of Himself. 

Jesus died so that we can walk in liberty, peace, power, self-control and love. I am thankful for a God who looked into the future and saw me as a sinner. Who knew that I would hurt Him, disobey Him, and not always trust in Him.  But He loved me enough to die for me, and for you so that we could have hope, Jesus died that we may live.

Isaiah 53:5-12

(5)  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

(6)  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

(7)  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

(8)  He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

(9)  And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

(10)  Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

(11)  He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

(12)  Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

In other words, almighty God came to earth, wrapped himself in flesh, walked the earth for 33 years doing do harm or wrong. Yet He, the innocent was imprisoned. He would not defend Himself, but was brutally beaten for us, had a crown of thorns put upon his head and was eventually crucified for us. He who knew no sin became sin for us that we may live.

He endured much pain in His death for you and I, to take a breath He had to pull His body up while His hands and feet were nailed to the cross. He was spit on and ridiculed. Jesus went through all of this for YOU. He didn’t have to but He sacrificed Himself so that we could have freedom and hope.  Jesus said” (John 10:10)  : I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

So finally, today as we remember our veterans and the sacrifice they have made for you and I let us not forget the king of kings, lord of lords, the most high God, our redeemer; Jesus, and the sacrifice that He made for us.

One Too Many

One Too Many

(Luk 15:1)  Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.

(Luk 15:2)  And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

(Luk 15:3)  And he spake this parable unto them, saying,

(Luk 15:4)  What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

(Luk 15:5)  And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

(Luk 15:6)  And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

(Luk 15:7)  I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

I find it interesting that a shepherd would go after one sheep. That he would leave 99 to go after just one small sheep. It seems like an insignificant amount to go after. But sheep were an important part of the economy, they gave wool for clothing, meat for food, and most likely had other uses as well. Let me ask you a question, If you had a hundred pennies and you dropped one, would you pick it up or keep going? After all its just one, you have 99 more of them.  

·         The earth reached a population of 7 BILLION on Oct. 31 2011

·         In 2010 108 people died every minute, approximately 156 thousand every day, and 56 million, 907 thousand, 606 people.

·         2 people die every second!

·         These are SOULS entering ETERNITY every second!

·         We have a World to reach!

·         If World War III was to happen this year, approximately 2.3 BILLION people would be dead! How many of those would be entering into eternity without salvation?!

·         One soul without Jesus is too many!

(2Pe 3:9)  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance

·         In 2011 the Population of Charlottetown was 64,487

·         In 2011 the Population of Prince Edward Island was 140,204

·         How many of these people are Lost, going to enter ETERNITY without Salvation?

·         How many of these people ARE saved? Not Enough!

·         We have a great need in Charlottetown!

·         One Soul without Jesus is too many!

(Mar 16:15)  And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

·         Jesus has given us a simple commandment, to proclaim(declare) the gospel to the WHOLE creation.

·         He wants EVERYONE to be saved! You, your friends, your family, the random stranger you meet on the street, the drug addict, the alcoholic, the criminal, the spiritually bound! Everyone!

·         He wants US to tell people about Him, He wants Us to be the the salt and light of the earth! He wants US to be the city on the hill. He gave US a duty to fulfill!

·         One Lost soul without Jesus is too many!

Today is the day of Pentecost, It was on this day that Jesus poured out His Spirit in the Upper Room.

(Act 2:1)  And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

(Act 2:2)  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

(Act 2:3)  And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

(Act 2:4)  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Jesus didn’t just pour out His spirit so that we could enter into eternity with Him, and so that we might be saved, no, although He did do that for us. But He gave us His spirit so that we might be like Him, that we could be His hands and feet, so that we could be moved with compassion as Jesus was, so that WE could go after that one sheep that was gone astray. One lost soul without the Saving message of Jesus Christ is too many! So I pray that we would be moved with compassion, to reach our world, to reach this city, to shine the light that Jesus has given us. To be like Him, Jesus said:

(Luk 19:10)  For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

One Soul Without Jesus is too many!

I would like to end things a little differently today, and just ask that we could all seek the face of God, and pray,

(2Ch 7:14)  If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

(2Ch 7:15)  Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

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But He Kept Going

“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” Luke 9:23

One day as I prayed, this verse came to mind. I could picture a silhouette of Jesus climbing His way to Golgotha (A place of a skull) carrying His cross on His back to be crucified. But after just being tortured and whipped by the Romans, and having a crown of thorns shoved into His head, He was weak and tired. But He kept going.

While climbing and carrying His cross, the Romans would be whipping Him, and spitting on Him; attacking Him. Naturally at times the cross would be heavy and Jesus would fall. While down the Romans would continue to attack. But Jesus got up and kept on His way to Golgotha.  He knew that He had to deny Himself, and how He was feeling. Jesus knew that He had a mission to complete. Even though He had been tortured and was in excruciating pain, and was weak beyond belief, He knew He had to just keep going, so He did.

Could you imagine if Jesus would have gave up when the cross got too heavy? If when He fell He just stopped and gave up? We would never have our sins forgiven, never truly feel the love of God, never experience salvation; never feel freedom from this world. The list goes on and on. I’m so thankful that Jesus kept going, no matter what. Because Jesus kept going and never gave up when the cross got heavy, He was crucified. His blood was shed for us, so that we could be forgiven.

              

             “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29

Jesus was the perfect sacrifice. He was selfless and gave His own life. Our creator became our deliverer and saved us from our sin.

When Jesus told us that we have to deny our self and take up our cross daily, He never said it wouldn’t get hard. He never said that the road would be easy and the cross wouldn’t get heavy, that the enemy wouldn’t attack you, and you wouldn’t fall. And when you do fall that the enemy wouldn’t continue to attack you.

“ For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Romans 8:23

But Just like Jesus did, we have to keep going. Life will get in the way, the going will get rough, but keep going, deny yourself like Jesus did, be selfless and take up your cross.

“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called”     1Timothy 6:12

But He Kept Going, I hope you will too!

Sell It

Mat 13:45  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:

Mat 13:46  Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

Have you ever sold something so you could buy something else? Reflecting on it now, do you ever regret it, or think that it was a silly decision? I know I have.

Let me paint a picture for you of what Heaven will be like, just imagine with me as you read:

Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Rev 21:5  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.

I can’t even begin to imagine this, a place where there is no death, no pain, no crying. I can’t wait to be there!

Rev 21:18  And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

Rev 21:19  And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones.

Rev 21:21  And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

Sounds like a great place to spend eternity doesn’t it? A place where there is no more pain or death; a place where you walk on streets of gold. 

Now, Jesus often spoke in parables using the physical to draw a similarity to the spiritual.

And even though, Jesus was talking about a merchant man seeking to buy pearls, and selling all of it for one pearl of great price, what He was really talking about was Heaven.

We are that merchant man seeking continually to “buy” something of worth.  We constantly seek, buying things to try and fulfill that emptiness inside of us. But when we find that one pearl which of great price, which is Heaven, we must sell everything we have. Now Jesus doesn’t necessarily mean here that we should take everything we have and actually sell it though.

We may have lots of things of value, cars, houses, instruments. The list can go on and on. But money doesn’t matter to God, we can’t buy our way into Heaven no matter how much money we have. So what else then do we have of value you might ask? Our time, our effort, and our will.

Some of you might be asking, how do we give our will?  Well Jesus said

Luk 9:23  “...If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

Think about what Jesus is saying here. We don’t just have to deny ourselves on Sunday at the altar and think that we’re good for the week, or month. But we must deny ourselves every day.  Paul describes it best in Galatians 2:20 and Romans 6:

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

That is so awesome! That Jesus came to Earth, the same God, who spoke everything into existence, came and died for us! He was beat and tortured and crucified for our sin. He who knew no sin became sin!

[Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.]

Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Rom 6:7  For he that is dead is freed from sin.

Rom 6:8  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

We crucify ourselves in repentance and denying ourselves, like Jesus actually died on the cross for us.

We bury our old man through full immersion baptism in Jesus name, just like Jesus was buried after his Death.

Then we rise in newness of life through the infilling of the Holy Ghost with evidence of speaking in tongues, which is the spirit of Jesus Christ living within us. Just as Jesus was raised from the dead.

You too can walk in newness of life! You too can one day walk on streets of gold! You too can one day spend eternity with our Lord and Saviour Jesus!

Be like that merchant man, and sell all you have, your time, your effort, and your will. Denying yourself daily, and following the plan of salvation in

Acts 2:38 “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Jesus said except a man be born of the water and of the Spirit He CAN NOT enter into the Kingdom of God.

So won’t you give your all today, so you can have that one pearl of great price?