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The Importance of Knowing Where Your Faith Lies

The Epistle of James

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On June 1, 1976, in a television interview with Reverend Adrian Rogers, then president of the Southern Baptist Convention and George Otis, director of High Adventure Ministries, Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States spoke these words. “I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t call upon God, and hopefully thank Him as often as I called upon Him. And, yes, in my own experience there came a time when there developed a new relationship with God and it grew out of a need. So, yes, I have had an experience that could be described as “born again.” 1 Knowing where your faith and confidence lies is vitally important in these ‘darker days’ in which we live. This knowledge should not lie just in a ‘one time’ experience with God but in a day to day, situation by situation lifestyle. The believers James writes to, in his epistle, had their faith somewhere else. It’s helpful to be reminded of his counsel.

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#S2-047: How To Make Sure You Are An Instrument of Righteousness [Podcast]

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A college Sophomore was in need of a car and had a series of dreams one night and everything was in yellow, everything! Early the next morning he began to hit the used car lots, looking at one car after another. Finally he found God’s will for him: a yellow car, yellow inside and out. He didn’t even ask to drive it. He just bought it. Turned out to be a lemon. 1 Yellow in your dreams is hardly the way to acquire God’s will. Jesus knew what the Father’s will was for His life. One day Jesus began to share with His disciples some of that plan. He met with some resistance. What lessons can we learn from Matthews account of this encounter?

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Why the Glory of God Makes Prejudice Unlikely

The Epistle of James

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The entire second chapter of  the book of James addresses two areas: the hypocrisy of prejudice (James 2:1-13) and the life-altering alliance between faith and works (James 2:14-26). Prejudice, bitterness, segregation, hatred, disturbance, hurt, anger, and division rage between people. They rage in the hearts of husbands and wives, children and parents, students and teachers, neighbors and workmen, races and religions, denominations and organizations, neighborhoods and nations. Division in all its various forms is one of the greatest problems confronting the world. It is the most serious problem confronting men, for as long as men are divided from God and from each other, there is no hope of man’s ever being reconciled to God. God’s eternal purpose has been to create a new body of people, a people who will love Him and each other supremely. Note that this is what is known as the great mystery of Christ. 1 Using the rich and poor as an illustration, James disassembles the sin of prejudice, as it existed in the congregation.

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#S2-046: How to Recognize the Voice of Satan the Chameleon [Podcast]

The Believers Authority in Christ

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In some of the outlying areas of British Columbia, Canada, farmers have been plagued with wolves killing their livestock. Meetings have been held with farmers, environmentalists and concerned citizens in a move to solve the problem. The majority of the local people favored shooting or poisoning the marauding wolves. At one meeting a woman strode to the microphone, listed her impressive credentials and explained her solution. “Vasectomy is the answer,” she thundered. “Simply trap the wolves humanely, neuter the males and release them.” One grizzled old sheep farmer rose to his feet. “Ma’am,” he said in a gruff voice, “no disrespect meant, you bein’ an expert, but them wolves is killin’ my sheep, not makin’ love to ‘em.” 1 As funny as this story is, two-legged wolves in the church are a serious problem. Jesus addressed this problem and gave us some clues in how to recognize their potentially damaging threats.

This is part five of the Series entitled, ‘The Believer’s Authority in Christ’. You can find Part One ‘How to Terrorize the Terrorist Encore [Podcast]‘ here and Part Two ‘How to Stop Satan from Pushing You Around’ [Podcast] here, Part Three, ‘How You Can Overcome the Tools of Satan’ [Podcast],  and Part 4 ‘What Is the Greatest Tool in Satan’s Toolbox?’ [Podcast] here.

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The Spirit of the Lord in the Life of Jesus

The Parables of Jesus: Physician Heal Yourself

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As I shut the door of the office after me, it seemed as if I met the Lord Jesus Christ face to face. It seemed to me that I saw Him as I would see any other man. He said nothing, but looked at me in such a manner as to break me right down at His feet. I fell down at His feet, wept aloud like a child, and made such confessions as I could with my choked utterance. It seemed to me that I bathed His feet in tears. I must have continued in this state for a good while. I returned to the front office, but as I turned and was about to take a seat by the fire, I received a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost. Without any recollection that I had ever heard the subject mentioned by any person in the world, the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to come in waves of liquid love; it seemed like the very breath of God. I wept aloud with joy and love. – Charles Finney 1 The Spirit of the Lord was active in the life of the great revivalist, Charles Finney. And, he is and can be highly active in your life. We can learn much about His activity by looking at the workings of the Spirit in the life of Jesus.

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#S2-045: What Is the Greatest Tool in Satan’s Toolbox? [Podcast]

The Believers Authority in Christ

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The Lord has given to every man his work. It is his business to do it, and the devil’s business to hinder him—if he can. So, sure as God gives a man a work to do, Satan will try to hinder him. He may present other things more promising; he may allure you by worldly prospect; he may assault you with slander, torment you with false accusations, set you to work defending your character, employ pious persons to lie about you, editors to assail you, and excellent men to slander you. You may have Pilate and Herod, Ananias and Caiaphas all combined against you, and Judas standing by to sell you for 30 pieces of silver. And you may wonder why all these things have come to pass. Can you not see that the whole thing is brought about through the craft of the devil, to draw you off from your work and hinder your obedience to Christ? Keep about your work. Do not flinch because the lion roars. Do not stop to stone the devil’s dogs. Do not fool around your time chasing the devil’s rabbits. Do your work; let liars lie; let sectarians quarrel; let editors publish; let the devil do his worst. But see to it that nothing hinders you from fulfilling the work God has given you. He had not sent you to make money; He has not commanded you to get rich. He has never bidden you to defend your character nor has He bidden you to contradict falsehoods about yourself which Satan and his servants may start to peddle. If you do these things you will do nothing else; you will be at work for yourself and not for the Lord. Keep about your work. Let your aim be as steady as a star. Let the world brawl and bubble. You may be assaulted, wrangled, insulted, slandered, wounded, and rejected. You may be chased by foes, abused by them, forsaken by friend, despised and rejected of men, but see to it that with steadfast determination and with unfaltering zeal you pursue that great purpose of your life and the object of your being until at last you can say; “I have finished the work which you, dear God, have given me to do?” [ 1. Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2002)] There are some things we can learn about handling the hindering effects of Satan’s opposition to the gospel by looking at Satan’s most widely known tool, temptation.

This is part four of the Series entitled, ‘The Believer’s Authority in Christ’. You can find Part One ‘How to Terrorize the Terrorist Encore [Podcast]‘ here and Part Two ‘How to Stop Satan from Pushing You Around’ [Podcast] here and Part Three, ‘How You Can Overcome the Tools of Satan’ [Podcast] here.

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Why You Should Consider Jesus as Your Rabbi

The Parables of Jesus: Physician Heal Yourself

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Rejection is part of living among free-will opinionated humans. Everyone thinks they are right and if you don’t think so, just ask them 🙂 In 1902, the poetry editor of Atlantic Monthly returned a stack of poems with this note, “Our magazine has no room for your vigorous verse.” The poet was Robert Frost.  In 1905, the University of Bern turned down a doctoral dissertation as “irrelevant and fanciful.” The writer of that paper was Albert Einstein. In 1894 an English teacher noted on a teenager’s report card, “A conspicuous lack of success.” The student was Winston Churchill. 1 You get the point, rejection happens even to the most prolific and influential of men. Yet and still, the Lord instructed us to go into all the world and preach the gospel. But what do you do when people reject it? In part one of a series entitled: “The Parables of Jesus: Physician Heal Yourself”, we begin to look at this very issue. But first, let’s take a peek at Jesus in his hometown of Nazareth and His public ministry as a Rabbi in Israel.

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#S2-044: How You Can Overcome the Tools of Satan [Podcast]

The Believers Authority in Christ

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Writing in Moody Monthly, Carl Armerding recounted his experience of watching a wildcat in a zoo. “As I stood there,” he said, “an attendant entered the cage through a door on the opposite side. He had nothing in his hands but a broom. Carefully closing the door, he proceeded to sweep the floor of the cage.” He observed that the worker had no weapon to ward off an attack by the beast. In fact, when he got to the corner of the cage where the wildcat was lying, he poked the animal with the broom. The wildcat hissed at him and then lay down in another corner of the enclosure. Armerding remarked to the attendant, “You certainly are a brave man.” “No, I ain’t brave,” he replied as he continued to sweep. “Well, then that cat must be tame.” “No,” came the reply, “he ain’t tame.” “If you aren’t brave and the wildcat isn’t tame, then I can’t understand why he doesn’t attack you.” Armerding said the man chuckled, then replied with an air of confidence, “Mister, he’s old—and he ain’t got no teeth.” 1 That’s an accurate description of Satan the roaring lion who seeks to devour (1 Peter 5:8). He is a defeated lion with no teeth. But, that doesn’t stop him from making a bunch of noise. In order to enforce his defeat, and to shut his mouth, you have to learn to call his bluff. You can do it if you know his devices.

This is part three of the Series entitled, ‘The Believer’s Authority in Christ’. You can find Part One ‘How to Terrorize the Terrorist Encore [Podcast]‘ here and Part Two ‘How to Stop Satan from Pushing You Around‘ here.

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What Does Offense Have to Do with Living a Fruitful Life?

The Parable of the Sower

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Jesus gives us the essential reason why we must have our roots in Mark 4:17. The King James uses the word ‘offended’ which means to fall. Jesus is saying, ‘Make sure you allow God’s Word and God’s love to be rooted in you or you will fall away when the enemy sends affliction and persecution your way. People who are rooted in love endure. They endure persecution and affliction. They understand it is for the Word’s sake.

This is part 7 of the Series “The Parable of the Sower?” You can find Part 1 ‘What Is the Parable of the Sower [Podcast]’ here, Part 2 ‘How Important is Understanding Jesus Parables?‘ here, Part 3 ‘What Are Fruitful and Unfruitful Places with God?’ here, Part 4 ‘In the Parable of the Sower, What Is Wayside Ground?‘, Part 5 ‘How Can You Become a Man of Understanding?’ here‘, Part 6 ‘How Meditating the Word Makes You Sharp in the Things of God’ and Part 7 ‘In the Parable of the Sower, What Is Stony Ground?’
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#S2-043: How to Stop Satan from Pushing You Around [Podcast]

The Believers Authority in Christ

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Multitudes of people in this world today are held hostage in their minds by the devil. They are incarcerated, locked up, and caged in their minds and emotions, held like slaves, prisoners, or detainees who are under arrest and live at the mercy of their conqueror. 1 But, this doesn’t have to be your legacy. You can live and walk free everyday of your life all the while side-stepping Satan’s minefield. There’s simply a bunch of stuff you can avoid in life. Tests and trials you can by-pass. Discomforting situations you can live free from if you learn how to stop Satan from pushing you around.

This is part two of the Series entitled, ‘The Believer’s Authority in Christ’. You can find Part One ‘How to Terrorize the Terrorist Encore [Podcast]‘ here.

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In the Parable of the Sower, What Is Stony Ground?

The Parable of the Sower

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John Bunyan, that great Puritan soul said these words. “If you would be rid of a hard heart, that great enemy to the growth of the grace of fear, be much with Christ upon the cross in your meditations, for that is an excellent remedy against hardness of heart. A right sight of him, as he hanged there for your sins, will dissolve your heart into tears, and make it soft and tender” 1. Stony ground is the term Jesus used in the Parable of the Sower to describe a hard heart which won’t produce a harvest. What does Jesus say about how we can avoid it?

This is part 6 of the Series “The Parable of the Sower?” You can find Part 1 ‘What Is the Parable of the Sower [Podcast]’ here, Part 2 ‘How Important is Understanding Jesus Parables?‘ here, Part 3 ‘What Are Fruitful and Unfruitful Places with God?’ here, Part 4 ‘In the Parable of the Sower, What Is Wayside Ground?‘, Part 5 ‘How Can You Become a Man of Understanding?’ here‘, and Part 6 ‘How Meditating the Word Makes You Sharp in the Things of God’.