Monthly Archives: September 2020

Fruitful Under Persecution

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And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. Exodus 1:7

Today were going to begin looking at the whole book of Exodus. As we study the Old Testament, it amazes me how similar Israel is with the Church. And I know some try to seperate them by dispensationalism and others continue to keep them connected. What we do know is the Israelites were Gods people as our Christains today. Just as Israel was called out of Egypt, Christians were called out as to follow Christ

In the beginning Israel was fruitful and multiplied, same with the Church. On the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit officially started the “Church” (Acts 2) Christians continued to multiply rapidly. Now when were talking about being fruitful for Christians, were not talking about worldly fruit, but Spiritual Fruit

And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. Exodus 1:9-10

The new King of Egypt recognized the Israelites were increasing abundantly and growing stronger by numbers, he became threatened by them. So what did Egypt decide to do? Of course persecute and oppress the Israelites.

Now fast forward to the Church , as Christians continue to increase and be stronger in numbers, how did Rome react? The persecuted and oppressed the Christians, they fed them to lions for entertainment, they burned some of them on stakes (hence the name Roman candles) Rome became threatened by a peaceful group , why? Because they not only had power in numbers, but the power of the Holy Spirit

But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. Exodus 1:12

The more Egypt oppressed the Israelites, the more they kept multiplying in numbers. Think about the early Christian Church, the more Rome tried to destroy the Christians, the more they kept increasing in numbers and spreading out

There is a clear correlation here, If God is with us, who can be against Us? Understand as you study Israel in the Old Testament, its a clear correlation to the Church today Amen!

Living Sacrifice

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By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Hebrews 13:15-16

Jesus is our sacrifice, but that doesn’t mean we should stop sacrificing! You might say “What do you mean” ? The Apostle Paul tells us to offer ourselves as a Living Sacrifice to God” (Romans 12) It means everything we do, everyday we live , lets give Thanks to the Lord and do works that are pleasing to Him

Offer your body as a Living Sacrifice, (Romans 12) our bodies crave sin, things that pollute us. Lets reject these worldly pleasures to offer our praise to God. Treat your bodies as a Holy Temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16) No this is not works based salvation, this is offering a pleasing sacrifice to God. As salvation is in Christ alone!

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. Hebrews 13:17

One of the downfalls of The Church is a lack of good authority. With all the sin and corruption is alot of Churches today, many are reluctant to submit to the authority of the Church. Inorder to have a healthy Church, we need to raise up Good leaders, how much time do we spend developing disciples as Jesus commanded during the Great Commision? (Matthew 28:19)

Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly. Hebrews 13:18

Its been said we are only as good as our prayer life. Those who don’t spend much time in prayer are often being led astray. While the world will mock prayer, the Christian should know this is a powerful connection between Heaven and Earth everytime we pray

Sacrifice, Obedience, and Prayer it sounds like a simple formula , but its the ingredients that produce a healthy Christian and Church in Jesus Amen!

Who Shall I Fear?

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So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Hebrews 13:6

 This is the message the world needs to meditate on today, with all the fear of viruses , and violence, and poverty, remember Jesus is your helper and in Christ you don’t have to fear what the world can do to you! You might say , “How can this be”, “How can we live free from fear in Christ”? This is what faith is all about, trusting in the Lord all your heart and not leaning on your own understanding

Jesus said “Dont fear them that can kill the body, Fear The One who can destroy both the body and soul in Hell” ( Matthew 10:28) When you understand that Jesus is Lord over All, that He holds the keys to life and death, then all these problems in the world seem very small. All the fear that Satan tries to generate seems so weak when you understand the power of our Living God

Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Hebrews 13:7

Its important that we have Biblical teachers in our lives, teachers who have the Holy Spirit and many years of experience wrestling with the scriptures. Part of the reason the Church is struggling today, is because we undermine the authority of The Bible. Without The Bible and The Holy Spirit, we have the blind leading the blind

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Hebrews 13:8

The same Jesus that was here during the Creation of the world, is the same Jesus that defeated sin and death, is the same Jesus that is coming in the clouds to reestablish Gods Kingdom. 

There is no need to live in fear Jesus is your helper and Lord over All things Amen!

Brotherly Love

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Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.  Hebrews 13:1-2

One thing I think the Church needs is “Brotherly Love”, often Churches become too institutionalized, too political. Sometimes we run the Church as a business instead of being the Body of Christ. We get wrapped up in positions, titles, and agendas. We forget that we are gathering to support and love one another, were gathering to worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, period

Its interesting the author of Hebrews says some strangers we meet are actually “Angels in Disguise” It will be interesting when we look back at our life and see how many angels we actually encountered during our life. So next time your going to disregard a stranger, remember they might actually be sent by God to test you!

Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. Hebrews 13:3

As the Apostle Paul taught us when someone suffers in the Church , we all suffer. And when someone rejoices, we all rejoice! (1 Corinthians 12:26) Instead of worrying about the agendas of the Church, we should worry about the people who actually belong to the Church

So if someone hasn’t been to Church for awhile, instead of reprimanding them, ask them if everything is ok, remember your members of the body of Christ. Church is not a checkbox that we mark off every week, its a gathering of the Saints to worship our Lord and Savior on the Resurrection Day

Continue to love your brothers and sisters in Jesus Name Amen!

Jesus Our Mediator

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And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. Hebrews 12:24

Why is the New Covenant a better covenant than the Old Covenant? Its very simple, its all because of Jesus. In the Old Covenant God revealed his Law, which is a reflection of Gods holiness, and nobody could fulfill The Law. When we measured ourselves against The Law, we realized how short we have fallen as people. 

Even Moses, who was the Mediator for the Old Covenant, fell short and wasn’t even allowed to see the Promise Land. But Jesus is the perfect sinless Son of God, He was able to fulfill The Law (Matthew 5:17) He is our Mediator between God and Man. Because of Christ and The New Covenant , we are justified and declared righteous  before God

See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. Hebrews 12:25-26

Woe to them who refuse to Repent and make Jesus their Lord, for if your not under grace you are under The Law. The wages of our sin is death, nobody shall escape the wrath of God except by the blood of Jesus Christ 

And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear For our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:27-29

Jesus provided to us an unshakable Kingdom. A Kingdom that is eternal and will never fail. All of this was only possible because Jesus loved us and died for our sins. Our God is a consuming fire! You don’t want to fall into the hands of the Living God without being washed by the blood of Christ

As Moses trembled at Mt Sinai, the Fear of God will save your life. If you want to get right with God, you need Jesus Christ! Amen!