J.A. Matteson
Truly did the Lord Jesus speak just a short time earlier that it is imperative his followers watch and pray, for the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak (Mk. 14:38). For it was not long afterwords Peter's ears heard the accusing words, "This man is one of them" (Mk. 14:69) and he denied his Lord, later being restored to ministry after the resurrection (Jn. 21). After Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Peter would again be tested to the point if death, enduring his own cross. Church tradition holds he pleaded to be crucified upside down, as he proclaimed he was unworthy to die as his Lord did. As redemption history continues to unfold and the forces of evil increasingly seek the slaughter of the elect, it is essential God's children be diligent to watch and pray. Watch with sobriety of mind and spirit and be on your guard against the fallen rebellious world system, your own sinful flesh that temps you to sin, and the devil who daily accuses you. Prayerfully consider and pray now how you will respond if the time comes, for one day your physical life may be on the line and you may hear the words "This man is one of them." Recently twenty one Egyptian Christians heard those words of association resulting in their condemnation and murder on the Mediterranean shores of Libya at the hands of Islamic terrorists associated with ISIS. Reportedly, their final words while on their knees, seconds before the cold steel of a knife slit their throats, were, "Jesus, help us!" Had they in the final moments denied their Lord to save their heads they would have forfeited their souls. Behold the grace of God upon his children appointed to martyrdom. They neither flake nor flag, but entrust themselves to him who is just, knowing that one day he will avenge their demise. Apart from the grace of the Holy Spirit it would not be possible to withstand the instinct of the flesh toward self-preservation. Consider the Lord Jesus who endured not only public humiliation along with the awful physical pain of flogging and crucifixion, but the indescribable horror of drinking the cup of wrath of God for the sin of the world. When the Lord Jesus stated that "the one who endures to the end, he will be saved" (Matt. 24:13), he was not suggesting that a persons endurance under persecution was a means of attaining righteousness unto salvation, but that the righteoushess by grace through faith will, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, endure unto the end (death). While you would do well to decide beforehand how you might respond to the words of ultimatum, "That man is one of them", you need not worry about how you might muster the strength to endure what may follow, for God is faithful and will supply all the grace needed so that you will endure to the end, if in fact, God in his wisdom has appointed martyrdom for you.
Copyright (c) 2015 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever."). Isa. 40:8
Monday, March 16, 2015
Sunday, March 15, 2015
The Effect of Your Obedience Upon Others
J.A. Matteson
Never is your obedience to God carried out in a vacuum where others remain unaffected. "When we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem" (Acts 21:12). Your going about your day pursuing a particular course of action when the Spirit intervenes to alter your course. Clearly the impression is to not complete the action you planned, "The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps" (Prov. 16:9). The correction of direction may come gradually as a check in your spirit or abruptly as an unmistakable red flag of danger if you continue ahead. Stop immediately when the prompting comes and inquire intently in order to know what the mind of Christ is directing you to do. Our obedience is always for a testimony of Jesus Christ, a furtherance of the gospel. It is at this pivotal juncture that the Spirit of God applies the Word of God to your circumstances by bringing to your remembrance what he has previously said. Until now a particular statement from God's word may have been abstract, but now with crystal clarity you know without any degree of uncertainty God is applying it to your present circumstance. You further recognize in that moment that obedience will likely invoke the displeasure of those around you, but disobedience is not an option. Compelled by the Spirit you alter your course, following the lead of the Spirit regardless of the cost personally. Most around you will not understand because the promoting is intensely personal, a word spoken to your heart alone. Some will reason you are out of your mind. Some will harbor displeasure because your obedience cost them something they felt entitled to, generally your obedience will impact their sense of entitlement with regard to power, money, security, reputation, position or status. But with your obedience the Spirit also whispers the sweet words, "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Matt. 25:14).
Copyright (c) 2015 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever.") Isa. 40:8
Never is your obedience to God carried out in a vacuum where others remain unaffected. "When we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem" (Acts 21:12). Your going about your day pursuing a particular course of action when the Spirit intervenes to alter your course. Clearly the impression is to not complete the action you planned, "The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps" (Prov. 16:9). The correction of direction may come gradually as a check in your spirit or abruptly as an unmistakable red flag of danger if you continue ahead. Stop immediately when the prompting comes and inquire intently in order to know what the mind of Christ is directing you to do. Our obedience is always for a testimony of Jesus Christ, a furtherance of the gospel. It is at this pivotal juncture that the Spirit of God applies the Word of God to your circumstances by bringing to your remembrance what he has previously said. Until now a particular statement from God's word may have been abstract, but now with crystal clarity you know without any degree of uncertainty God is applying it to your present circumstance. You further recognize in that moment that obedience will likely invoke the displeasure of those around you, but disobedience is not an option. Compelled by the Spirit you alter your course, following the lead of the Spirit regardless of the cost personally. Most around you will not understand because the promoting is intensely personal, a word spoken to your heart alone. Some will reason you are out of your mind. Some will harbor displeasure because your obedience cost them something they felt entitled to, generally your obedience will impact their sense of entitlement with regard to power, money, security, reputation, position or status. But with your obedience the Spirit also whispers the sweet words, "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Matt. 25:14).
Copyright (c) 2015 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever.") Isa. 40:8
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Lay Open Your Heart
J.A. Matteson
Beware of believing self-imposed characterizations of God not supported by scripture which may develop in response to your presuppositions of God's essence. "He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong" (Mk. 12:27). The spiritually fatal error for the Sadducees was not their error, per se, but their unrepentant blindness to the truth when their error was revealed to them. Jesus did not condemn the Sadducees for their reverence of scripture, nor did he chasten them for their study of it. Rather it was their biased interpretation of divine revelation, forcing it to fit their presuppositions that Christ rebuked. There are both explicit and implicit truths in scripture, and apart from the guidance of Holy Spirit it is impossible to accurately interpret and apply it, "Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from your Law" (Ps. 119:18). Beware of the dogmatism rooted in immature spiritual bias to support your preconceived notion of the person and work of Jesus Christ. If we are to avoid the error of the Sadducees we must come to the scripture humbly, confessing our tendency to bias, beseeching the Lord to illumine our minds to the truth of his word, "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known" (1 Cor. 13:12). The transformation and salvation of Saul on the road to Damascus illustrates how a hard misguided heart, rebuked by God, ought to respond in broken humble repentance, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" (Acts 9:4). Until this moment Saul presumed he was doing God's work by ravaging Christians. Awakened to his error Saul turned to God in repentance and faith. On the other hand the Sadducees were hardened in their unbelief. Be willing to lay open your heart before God and invite him to search you and your understanding of him, to correct innacurate presuppositions you may hold as to his person and work. And when the fog lifts, followed by the blazing light of his glory, remember to thank him for the treasure he has shared with you, "Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, 'Were there not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to a God except this foreigner?'" (Lk. 17:15:18).
Copyright (c) 2015 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever.") Isa. 40:8
Beware of believing self-imposed characterizations of God not supported by scripture which may develop in response to your presuppositions of God's essence. "He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong" (Mk. 12:27). The spiritually fatal error for the Sadducees was not their error, per se, but their unrepentant blindness to the truth when their error was revealed to them. Jesus did not condemn the Sadducees for their reverence of scripture, nor did he chasten them for their study of it. Rather it was their biased interpretation of divine revelation, forcing it to fit their presuppositions that Christ rebuked. There are both explicit and implicit truths in scripture, and apart from the guidance of Holy Spirit it is impossible to accurately interpret and apply it, "Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from your Law" (Ps. 119:18). Beware of the dogmatism rooted in immature spiritual bias to support your preconceived notion of the person and work of Jesus Christ. If we are to avoid the error of the Sadducees we must come to the scripture humbly, confessing our tendency to bias, beseeching the Lord to illumine our minds to the truth of his word, "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known" (1 Cor. 13:12). The transformation and salvation of Saul on the road to Damascus illustrates how a hard misguided heart, rebuked by God, ought to respond in broken humble repentance, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" (Acts 9:4). Until this moment Saul presumed he was doing God's work by ravaging Christians. Awakened to his error Saul turned to God in repentance and faith. On the other hand the Sadducees were hardened in their unbelief. Be willing to lay open your heart before God and invite him to search you and your understanding of him, to correct innacurate presuppositions you may hold as to his person and work. And when the fog lifts, followed by the blazing light of his glory, remember to thank him for the treasure he has shared with you, "Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, 'Were there not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to a God except this foreigner?'" (Lk. 17:15:18).
Copyright (c) 2015 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever.") Isa. 40:8
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
The Danger of Comparison
J.A. Matteson
Unless I forsake my sense of entitlement I cannot be a disciple of Jesus Christ, I am a fraud. "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Mk. 8:34). The demands of discipleship are absolute, death to my will is replaced with singular devotion to God's will for my life. We become distracted by what God is doing in the life of other disciples and our misplaced focus inhibits our obedience to God's path for us. Forget about what God has purposed for others, you must follow Jesus. Peter was rebuked for comparing his path to John's, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!" (Jn. 21:22). Ultimately the destination for all disciples is the same, Calvary. The path to that destination is also the same, self-denial; but the providential outworking of the journey is different. As a disciple of Jesus Christ I must die daily to the inward tendency of self-preservation and self-determination until all I see is Calvary. And God has an infinite variety of providential experiences to test my resolve to carry my cross of self-denial, following Jesus to Calvary. The danger of comparison and the reason for Jesus's rebuke to Peter is because it breeds an entitlement mindset of coveting another's path that we perceive as more desirable than our own. The only thing in this life we are entitled to is death; grace affords every moment of mortal existence. It is good to plan and anticipate the morrow as long as our anticipated endeavors are submitted to God for him to intervene as he chooses. Be alert, therefore, to providences that appear to threaten your sense of entitlement, these are the narrow paths and gates leading to your personal Calvary God has designed to test your faith. To the extent we recognize them and submit to them is the degree to which we have forsaken our life in order that we might find true life. At the dawn of each day let our thoughts of be Jesus, and let us greet every providence throughout the day with childlike trust that our heavenly father is lovingly giving opportunity for us to demonstrate our love and obedience to him by willingly pursing Jesus en route to Calvary.
Copyright (c) 2015 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever.") Isa. 40:8
Unless I forsake my sense of entitlement I cannot be a disciple of Jesus Christ, I am a fraud. "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Mk. 8:34). The demands of discipleship are absolute, death to my will is replaced with singular devotion to God's will for my life. We become distracted by what God is doing in the life of other disciples and our misplaced focus inhibits our obedience to God's path for us. Forget about what God has purposed for others, you must follow Jesus. Peter was rebuked for comparing his path to John's, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!" (Jn. 21:22). Ultimately the destination for all disciples is the same, Calvary. The path to that destination is also the same, self-denial; but the providential outworking of the journey is different. As a disciple of Jesus Christ I must die daily to the inward tendency of self-preservation and self-determination until all I see is Calvary. And God has an infinite variety of providential experiences to test my resolve to carry my cross of self-denial, following Jesus to Calvary. The danger of comparison and the reason for Jesus's rebuke to Peter is because it breeds an entitlement mindset of coveting another's path that we perceive as more desirable than our own. The only thing in this life we are entitled to is death; grace affords every moment of mortal existence. It is good to plan and anticipate the morrow as long as our anticipated endeavors are submitted to God for him to intervene as he chooses. Be alert, therefore, to providences that appear to threaten your sense of entitlement, these are the narrow paths and gates leading to your personal Calvary God has designed to test your faith. To the extent we recognize them and submit to them is the degree to which we have forsaken our life in order that we might find true life. At the dawn of each day let our thoughts of be Jesus, and let us greet every providence throughout the day with childlike trust that our heavenly father is lovingly giving opportunity for us to demonstrate our love and obedience to him by willingly pursing Jesus en route to Calvary.
Copyright (c) 2015 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever.") Isa. 40:8
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)