Sunday, August 30, 2020

My Lord Knows The Way Through The Wilderness

Proverbs 3:5-7, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.”

If we don't stay focused on the Lord Jesus Christ as saints, we won't make it! There are many frustrated people today, who are bitter and angry at life. John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 16:33, These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.What beautiful and encouraging passages of Scripture! As Christians we should always be at peace, regardless of the circumstances in our life. The reason why is because Jesus is risen!!!

The Lord is our peace according to Ephesians 2:14, “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;To understand this Scripture, you need to understand the layout of the Old Testament Tabernacle and Holy Place. The Tabernacle had three sections. There was the outer court, the inner court, and then the innermost holy of holies. Families were allowed into the outer court. Only the temple priests (the Levite tribe) were permitted into the inner court. But only the high priest, and only with the blood of a spotless slain lamb, was permitted to enter into the holy of holies. Once a year, the high priest entered into the holy place with a lamb's blood, to sprinkle that blood on the mercy seat in the presence of God, to atone for the sins of the people. This was the holiest place of all on earth, where God's presence and the Word of God dwelt. The holy of holies was separated from the inner court by a heavy curtain, several inches thick. On one side of the curtain you had sinful humanity under the curse of the law, but on the other side you had a holy God who pardoned men's sins on the basis of the blood of the lamb!

When Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins, God ripped that thick curtain in two, like tissue paper! Mark 15:37-38, “And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. What saith the Scripture? Romans 5:1-2, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.Carefully notice that the only way to have PEACE WITH GOD is through justification BY FAITH!!! I am so sick and tired of hearing false prophets, like Dr. Steve Pettit at Bob Jones University, who very deceptively talk about salvation by grace through faith, but then add the unbiblical requirement to “turn from your sins to be saved. Such nonsense creates an entirely different mindset in the mind of lost sinners, ensuring that they can never be saved by a counterfeit gospel.

Jesus is our peace! Praise God! I love Ephesians 2:14, “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;Jesus removed the barrier between God and man. 1st Timothy 2:5-6, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” If you read 1st Timothy 2:1-4, we are commanded to pray for our government leaders, because Jesus is in control. There's not a politician in the world that can undo this mess in America today! As much as I like President Donald Trump, he will not save our country from doom. 

As long as ungodly homosexuals have legal “rights” to get married, and “rights” to adopt children, our nation will be under God's curse! Proverbs 3:33, “The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.” As long as abortionists have “rights” to murder children, God's curse will upon our nation! Proverbs 14:34, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” Isaiah 1:4, “Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.” I thank God for the precious gift of His dear only begotten Son Jesus Christ!!!

I was rejoicing about something that I realized the other day. I chose Jesus! God didn't force me to believe. Nobody put a gun to my head and made me accept Christ. I, of my own free volition, received Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. I CHOSE HIM! That's makes me happy, because it means I have the grand opportunity to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, when I cannot see Him. That requires faith! John 20:29, “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.I am one of the blessed, who have believed without seeing! 1st Peter 1:8-9, “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.I have heard wicked sinners all my life challenge God's existence. One man said to me many years ago: “Until God knocks on my door and says, 'This is my Word,' I will not believe!” That man is a fool of fools! ...
Luke 16:28-31, “For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
If someone will not believe on the basis of the King James Bible alone, they are well nigh hopeless! The only exception is a godly life, which the Bible says can lead a lost sinner to Christ. Hebrews 12:14, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:Unsaved people watch us as Christians! When they see that we are honest, having integrity, faithful to our spouse, and true to our faith, we earn their respect, which sometimes is the very thing that enables us to win them to the Lord. The same is true of an unsaved husband. The Bible says an obedient wife has more influence over him than the Bible does. 1st Peter 3:1, “Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;” One of the best examples is the testimony of former mob boss Michael Franzese, whose born-again wife's faithful Christian walk influenced him to get saved. Apart from the godly influence of an acquaintance, friend or loved one, the Bible teaches that if a man won't heed the Word of God, he is beyond hope.

My Lord knows the way through the Wilderness (vocal singing), all I have to do is follow. You don't have to be a theologian to be saved, you just need to trust Jesus Christ, because of what He did on the cross to pay for your sins. And as a believer, you don't have to figure everything out along the way (I sure can't figure my life out), we just need to TRUST IN THE LORD! Proverbs 3:5-7, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.” I love those Bible verses! Jesus is our peace, for eternal life and all that we need in this troublesome life. No matter what happens to us in this life, whether it be the death of loved ones, sickness, suicide, pain, loss, betrayal, crime, divorce or persecution, our blessed Savior is still on His throne and His Spirit lives within us (Romans 8:9). Just pick up those 'Broken Pieces' and give them to the Lord, at the Savior's feet, and He'll put them back together!!!

This Scripture passage absolutely applies to the Lordship Salvation crowd too! They are wise in their own eyes. Lordship Salvation appeals to human rational—the demand that a person must turn from their sins to be saved. I mean, you cannot expect to receive God's free gift of eternal life and just continue sinning without impunity, can you? Yes and no! Yes, as far as getting saved is concerned, because it is a free gift. No, because if you sin as a believer, God will scourge and chastise you (Hebrews 12:6-8). God is not an absent parent! Furthermore, you may end up in prison if you break any laws. All that is required to be saved is to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Likewise, we live the Christian life the same way that we got saved, by faith!

The key to living the Christian life is to always stay focused on the promises of God in the Bible. If we take our eyes off Jesus, we can go downhill quickly! God gave us His Word to keep and guide us through life's storms of life. We have an anchor ladies and gentlemen, and our anchor holds!!! The King James Bible is our anchor! Jesus is our anchor!!! I don't know what tomorrow holds here on earth, but I know He who holds tomorrow! Jesus is precious!!!

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