Month: September 2012

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Act 1:8

Last week, as we reviewed what we had previously read, we considered one of the clear evidences of the giving of the Spirit of God.  Every one possessing the Spirit will be a faithful witness of Jesus Christ!  God’s children confess Christ, and He in turn confesses them before His Father. (Mt 10:32) “By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God…” (1 Jn 4:2) But for every true thing, Satan has a counterfeit!  His ministers disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness (2 Cor 11:14-15) and preach in Jesus’s name as well, but beware, dear soul.  They are preaching another Jesus! (2 Cor 12:3-4)

To be a witness of Christ means we must faithfully represent Him.  We can’t change who He is to make the gospel message acceptable to a wider audience!  As Paul told Timothy, our job is to simply, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season.” (2 Tim 4:2) In other words, whether the word is acceptable to the taste of those who hear or not, just be faithful to preach it, and make sure you don’t change it to suit their tastes!

The English preacher Charles Spurgeon wrote an article in the 1800’s entitled “Feeding Sheep or Amusing Goats”.  In it, Spurgeon rebuked the churches of his day that had shortened their sermons and added concerts and drama to attract the masses.  He observes, “The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them.”  He saw this trend beginning over a hundred years ago.  He would no doubt be shocked at the forms of entertainment in churches today and just how little faithful, gospel preaching takes place!

One of the clearest pictures of Christ in the Old Testament is Abraham’s son Isaac.  “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering…” (Gen 22:2)  Remind you of another Son who was made a sacrifice?  In Gen 24, Abraham sent his servant to his homeland to find a wife for Isaac.  It is a beautiful picture of God sending His servants to call individuals to come to Christ and become part of His spiritual bride, the church.  Concerned that the young woman might not be willing leave her home and come to Isaac, the servant asked, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?”  Abraham was emphatic: “Beware that you do not take my son back there.” (v. 5-6)

Do you see the analogy?  We have a responsibility to declare Christ to the souls around us.  We invite them to come, but they must leave their world behind to meet Him–we are not to change who Christ is to suit them!  We are called to be witnesses of Him.  Tell them of His glory and majesty, but don’t make Him out to be anything He’s not.  What if they won’t come?  God’s response is the same as Abraham’s to his servant in v. 8: “And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there.”  Your oath is fulfilled as long as you faithfully declare Christ as He is, handling the word of God truthfully!  “But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitful, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” (2 Cor 4:2)

Jamie

Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
Act 2:38-39

We have previously considered the great hope in Peter’s response in Ac 2:38 to those who were guilty of the blood of the Son of God.  We now turn to the audience that he is addressing.  We see clearly in Ac 2:5 that he was speaking to “Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven,” but when Peter declares there is forgiveness of sins, he expands his audience to include in that promise “all who are afar off”.  There is little doubt then, in the context of this passage, that by including those “who are afar off”, Peter is extending the gospel message to the Gentiles; however, there is a thought in that description that applies to every member of the human race for we are all born “afar off” from God!

When man sinned against God in the garden of Eden, the consequence of that sin was separation.  In Gen 3:24, we read that God “drove out the man”.  Leprosy was the literal disease in biblical times that separated men from others, and it was a picture of our spiritual disease of sin which separates us from God.  We are like the ten lepers of Lk 17.  When Christ entered their village in v. 12, “there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.”  In their diseased state, they were cast out of society lest they should infect others, and their entire existence was described as one “afar off”!  But God is greater than our disease, O sinner!  Though disease initially kept them separated from Christ, by the end of His visit, we find a healed leper praising God and giving thanks “at His feet”! (v. 16) Jesus’ healing power brings us near!

Only those that realize their separation are candidates for this cleansing.  The Pharisee that entered the temple to pray in Lk 18:10-12 saw himself as being near to God.  While he was busy listing his reasons why God was so blessed to be near him (“I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers…”), the tax collector cried out to God “standing afar off“! (v. 13) He had no worthiness of himself to draw near to God, and simply begged, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!”  His prayer was the only one God heard!  Jesus said that this man who stood afar off was brought near to God for he “went down to his house justified”. (v. 14)

Now is the acceptable time for cleansing, sinner.  Now there is hope of being brought near to God.  Cry out to Him for cleansing while there is still opportunity!  In Lk 16:23, we find the rich man suffering in hell while Abraham and Lazarus enjoyed eternal comfort in communion with God in paradise.  What was the rich man’s position compared to theirs?  “And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”  He was forever “afar off” from the mercy of God!

What were you before God saved you, Christian?  You were among those “having no hope and without God in the world.” (Eph 2:12) I’m so thankful that passage doesn’t stop there!  “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (v. 13) Jesus’ blood has brought us near!!  If you are yet without that cleansing, embrace this promise that Peter declared on Pentecost, for the promise is to you and “as many as the Lord our God shall call.” (Ac 2:39) And, this promise will never be revoked for those that are in Christ Jesus because “He who promised is faithful”! (Heb 10:23)

Jamie

Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Act 2:38

An old pastor now with the Lord used to say, “Love God, and do what you want to do.”  My pastor often confesses that while that pastor was alive, that statement never sat well with him.  His thought was, “If you tell people that, they’ll get involved in all sorts of sin!”  It wasn’t until after that older pastor was dead and gone that my pastor understood the wisdom of that statement.  If you love God, you will desire to walk in obedience, AND you also enjoy great liberty in Christ.  Do what you want because love will guide you to enjoy your freedom in the Lord while never deviating from a life of obedience to Him!

“Freedom” is what the Geek word “remission” means in our text above.  When Christ preached from Isaiah in Lk 4:18, He described His ministry as follows: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised…”  He came to set captives free, and “if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed”! (Jn 8:36)

When Jesus told the Jews of His day they were in bondage, they responded, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone.” (Jn 8:33) They failed to realize that bondage is the state in which all men are born and that Christ’s work alone can “release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Heb 2:15) It is the fear of death that keeps man in bondage, and 1 Cor 15:56 says, “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.”  Because of the demands of the law coupled with the weakness of our flesh, man is born bound, never able to satisfy the holy God that expects righteousness.  But, where we fell short, Christ excelled!!  When the Father looked upon that sinless sacrifice, for the first time His righteous requirement was satisfied!  “He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.  By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.” (Is 53:11)

If you are covered by that sacrifice, the Father no longer sees your work of sin but instead Christ’s work of righteousness!  Just listen to the freedom we now enjoy in the Lord!

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Rom 8:1-4)

There is NOW no condemnation!  Hallelujah!!!  You have been set free by the Son, brethren!  God’s commandments don’t scare us.  We delight in them! (Ps 1:2)  “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Cor 3:17) Enjoy that freedom you now have in Christ, and don’t let anyone take it from you.  Even today, there are those among us that Paul warned the Galatians about–“false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage)…” (Gal 2:4) They would enslave Christ’s bride again, pushing her to add to the finished work of Christ by seeking acceptance with God by maintaining their list of do’s and don’ts.  We must be careful to “stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” (Gal 5:1) Jesus’ work makes us acceptable to God, not any work of our own!  So, as the old pastor said, “Love God, and do what you want to do!”  You are led by the Spirit of God which will always lead you in “the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.” (Ps 23:3) “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” (Gal 5:13)

Jamie