Contend for the faith through God's holy word

April 27, 2007

As Christians we are called to do battle on a daily basis.

While we don't have to go out and physically fight men like gladiators, we are called to do something very specific — we are charged to "contend for the faith."

How many times have we stood idly by and let the world trample God, Christ and the Word — too many.

We are not going to win these battles here on earth, but we will eventually win the war at Christ's return. We have a duty, as disciples of Christ, to make sure the faith is not diluted to pander to the world, but to convict the world of its sins through the preaching of Christ crucified.

Any thing less is not the gospel.

We see two references in the New Testament telling Christians to fight for the Word. The first is from Paul in his letter to the Philippians.

"Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel." — Philippians 1:27

Then Jude urges early Christians to fight for the faith in the church's early days.

"Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend of for the faith that was one for all entrusted to the saints." — Jude 1:3

Sometimes it's hard to fight. We see Christians being bombarded almost daily through the court system, the media and the entertainment industry. It's hard to pick out a single enemy when we are surrounded by hordes of them.

The truth is, if they are not for Christ then they are enemies. While these enemies can fight against us and work to get the name of God banished from this world, they cannot banish God and his Holy Spirit from our lives if we don't let them.

In Philippians 1:28, Paul speaks to this: "Without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved — and that by God."

That's comforting. For those who oppose the faith, that which they oppose (God and Christ) will destroy them, while at the same time our faith in Christ will be what saves us.

There is very little worry that a Christian should have. We all need to take that to heart. There's nothing the world can do to us, including death, that can separate us from a faithful God.

That is why we must contend for the faith because that security is available to everybody who believes.

There's a movement in some churches these days that strips bare once fundamental teachings.

As a Christian, we must come to realize that sin separates us from knowing God. No matter how many ritual acts we can perform, nor how pious a life we are able to live, we are slaves to sin and there is no human remedy.

Some so-called Christian churches do not teach of the need for repentance. There are so-called Christian churches that say there are more than just one way to Heaven.

These modern churches seek to give sensory delight, as the apostle Paul said, "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." — 2 Timothy 4:3-4

As the old saying goes, the truth hurts. It really hurts if it shows and shines a light on sins in life.

It really is hard to admit we are bad, but we are. It's hard to say we are evil, but that is all that dwells in our heart if we do not allow God in it.

We must not let our faith be watered down to suit those who may not want to hear the truth. By doing that, we have allowed the word of God to be changed and we allow people to be gripped by a false sense of salvation.

Is that something we want on our conscience? Not me.

How do we fight?

Holding strong to the Word of God and its truth is how we fight them. We fight those who attack the faith, both head on and subtly by exposing their lies through the Word.

My greatest fear is that I have not done enough to serve Christ in the time he has given me. It's not a fear, it's a reality. While that does not put my salvation in jeopardy, it does weigh on me when I think of how many years I wasted in this life by not standing firm for Christ and the redemption he offers through his sacrifice on the cross.

When the world cries out against God, it also is crying out for its need for God.

Don't let the faith be abused, stand strong and proudly proclaim the words of Jesus, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." — John 14:6

Stand strong and contend for the faith.

Come as you are, Christ will do the rest

May 31, 2008

There's a misconception out there that the God taught by fundamentalist Christians is unaccepting and brutal. There are others whose version of God and Christ is one of a love and total acceptance.

As a fundamentalist Christian, I am proud to say that I don't serve a brutal and unforgiving overseer who demands perfection — quite the opposite, I serve a loving Savior who accepted me despite my vile nature.

There was an Associated Press story written a couple of weeks ago about religion in America; and how religion works around race relations and other social stigmas. In part of the story, it dealt with a young man who said he grew up in a church that said certain people would go to hell, but he left that church to go to a more accepting church.

The truth is, all churches who teach the word of God should be accepting, but for those who reject the truth of Christ — hell is not a possibility, but a certainty.

Christ beckoned all to come to him.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." — Matthew 11:28-30

Here is the King James Version, which I believe is so much more beautiful.

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Want some good news, thankfully, Jesus tells us to come as we are. He doesn't care what evil deeds we have done and about all the wrongs we committed.

No, he shed his blood to cover those multitude of sins in our lives. All he wants of us is to believe in him and what he did on the cross and believe in his resurrection so that we can enter his holy rest.

No matter how good and moral a person seems to be, we all come to Christ filthy and weighed down by sin, but he dips us in his blood and washes away the sins and takes that heavy weight off our backs and we come out clean on the other side.

It takes no works on our part, quite the opposite, there is nothing we can do to earn that salvation.

The problem for a lot of folks, though; is that it ends there.

That young man I mentioned from the AP story, left that fundamentalist church and went to a church that was accepting of his lifestyle. A church that told him it was OK to remain in that lifestyle, that Christ loved him anyway.

Now our stories are at a crossroads, yes Christ loves us all, but we can't know him unless we come to him in true repentance.

"Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." — 2 Corinthians 7:10

With the conviction of sin, we realize how corrupt we are, but when we confess it to Christ, it is taken away and we are charged to run away from that sinful life.

The word repentance comes from the Greek word metanoeo which means to change one's mind for better.

F.F. Bruce described it like this "Repentance (metanoia, 'change of mind) involves a turning with contrition from sin to God; the repentant sinner is then in the proper condition to accept the divine forgiveness."

The young man in the story from the Associated Press did not want to give up his homosexual lifestyle, instead he searched for a church that said it was OK — contrary to scripture.

Christ will welcome that young man in a heartbeat if he will repent no matter his past, but if he continues in his sin then he is displaying the pinnacle of selfishness. As Paul said, his sorrow will be for the life he is being asked to give up, rather than sorrow for ever living that life in the first place.

There is no difference in sins to God, from the smallest of fibs to multiple homicides, all sin separates us from God. Even after salvation, we are still subject to our sinful natures, but the spirit of Christ works to create something new in us. Following will be a long discourse by the apostle Paul from Romans. His inspired words can make my point much more effectively than I ever could.

"Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

"You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

"Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation — but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." — Romans 8:5-14

I want to focus on the last three verses, but I needed to put it all in context that's why I put so much of this passage in here. Paul is telling the Romans that we have an obligation to live by the Spirit which is leading us to live according to God's laws.

Yes, even after we have given our lives to Christ we will sin, but if you look at the Greek root of repentance, we see "meta" which means change. When we come to Christ in repentance, we are undergoing a change. The Holy Spirit is working in us to make us more like Christ and is destroying our corrupt nature.

It is true, Christ beckons all to come to him, but we must push ourselves out of the way in order for us to kneel before the cross.

Christians should be motivated by love of Christ

Nov. 8, 2008

When we left off last time, we were looking at Paul explain his purpose to the church in Corinth.

He began by claiming we should be longing for our reunion with Jesus when we put on our immortal bodies, but that we also had a job to do while we are here and that job is to strive to please Jesus Christ, because in the end we will all face judgment.

Now, let's pick up from there.

“Since, then, we know what it I to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than what is in the heart. If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.” — 2 Corinthians 5:11-13

Let us look at our lives from the perspective of verse 11. If we look at the word fear, from the Greek work phobos, we can understand what that means. One of the meanings of course is fear, dread, and terror, which God can bring upon people if He so wishes, but it also means, “reverence for one's husband.”

What are we as the church? Christ's bride of course. That is the love we should have for God, adoring love that knows no bounds.

Now, if we have that in our hearts, why would we try and hide it? Paul's answer is we wouldn't; we would go out and tell of that wondrous love to others.

If we hold these truths in our hearts, then it doesn't matter what others may think. There are a lot of beautiful buildings our churches are housed in, but while the pews may be full, the church is empty inside because the gospel isn't being preached. If the gospel isn't being preached in church where people are being called to repentance before God, then that church is dead.

As Paul said, they are taking pride in what is seen, rather than what is in their hearts. If we are full of the gospel, then the Holy Spirit will go before us, convicting people and revealing the truth of the gospel to them.

Do not dumb down the message of Christ. He died and rose again. Jesus said in John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

The road to God is a one-way street and no fancy building, or slick presentations will open another path.

Moving on, Paul is about to get to the meat of the matter.

“For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again.” — 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

To paraphrase Matthew Henry, it is the love of Christ that makes us strive to show others what Christ accomplished upon the cross.

“They (apostles) were under the sweetest and strongest constraints to do what they did,” Henry wrote. “Love has a constraining virtue to excite ministers and private Christians in their duty. Our love to Christ will have this virtue; and Christ's love to us, which was manifested in this great instance of dying for us, will have this effect upon us, if it be duly considered and rightly judged of.

All humans everywhere are under the sentence of death. There is no escaping it, but we have a way out. Jesus Christ took up our cause and our sins upon himself at the cross, and in so doing, set us right with God, if we put our faith and trust in what Jesus did for us.

Now, if we believe in Christ, then our death sentence has been commuted. More than that, we have been taken from this horrid life and given a place in heaven.

At this point, there should be no more self. That old part of our lives has been put to death and we should have a singular purpose.

“That those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

Look at it like this. If someone came up to you and gave you a million dollars, no strings attached other than believe that it happened, then wouldn't we at least want to take them out for lunch?

Where is the gratitude for what Jesus did? It's hard to find in many who call themselves Christians, but for those who seek to serve Christ, it is what motivates their every action.

We need to ask ourselves these questions. Next week we'll continue our look at 2 Corinthians 5.

Christians are called to build God's kingdom

May 2, 2008

If we put our faith in Christ, then we are called to do work — construction work to be exact, because we are called to work to build his kingdom.

Many of us, though; choose only to pay lip service to Christ while we carve out a place for ourselves in this world. We must shun this worldly laziness and work for Christ.

Can we see ourselves in the post-exilic Jews who came back from Babylon, but ignored what needed to be done? I can sure see myself.

"This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'These people say, the time has not yet come for the Lord's house to be built.' Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 'Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?'" — Haggai 1:2-3

So many of us like to complain about the corruption we find in the world today — I must admit that I complain more than most. We see evil flourishing around us, but most of us choose to sit in our comfortable homes and let everything else go up in flames, all the while hoping we don't get choked on the smoke.

We go to work everyday, we don't smoke, drink, cuss or chew and don't date girls that do — so it appears we are living "good" lives.

What appears to be missing, though; is our proclamation of Christ above all. We must be bold, so I use this example Paul gave to his young protégé Timothy.

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God." — 2 Timothy 1:7-8

When we have Christ in our lives, it should be our joy to share Christ with the world — that is our construction project, but instead sometimes I feel we act more like the Israelites of the Old Testament.

"Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it." — Haggai 1:5-6

As a Christian, if we live our lives on our own, we always come up empty. Oh, we can do a lot of work, but where does it get us? It leaves us with magnificent cathedrals and nothing inside — empty, just like our lives.

The people of Judah who returned from exile in Babylon knew full well what God could and would do to them. Before the exile they were constantly looking to anything but God for their existence — they paid a penalty for their rebellion.

When God showed his mercy and allowed them to return home did they immediately fall down and give thanks to God for his mercy and their freedom — nope, they looked to themselves.

"You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why? Declares the Lord Almighty. Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands." — Haggai 1:9-11

When we choose to go about our lives without acknowledging Christ in our lives we become desolate — just as God made Judah desolate to bring them back in line with his wishes to build the Temple.

Sometimes it takes some discipline to get us to come to God.

"If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness." — Hebrews 12:8-10

Only through a humble and contrite heart can we come to honor Christ and work for him in the world. We can't do it on our own. We can't understand the ways of God if we don't have Christ in our hearts. We must put off our own desires in order to do the work Christ calls us to do.

The people of Judah finally got their hearts right and began work on the Temple of God and God said he was working with them.

The new Temple was not as grand a structure as Solomon's Temple, but God made a promise to the people of Judah.

"This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come and I will fill this house with glory,' says the Lord Almighty. 'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the Lord Almighty. 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the Lord Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the Lord Almighty." — Haggai 2:6-9

We, as fallen beings can build grand buildings that literally touch the sky. We can work for God and build humble structures that don't seem like they amount to much, but when we add Christ to the equation it becomes greater than anything on earth because we are living in his will and in us he is constructing a perfect, heavenly body — something we could never do on our own.

That is what we work for, that is why we strive on this earth to help further the kingdom — not on our own, but by Christ working through us.

If we ignore Christ's calling then we are subject to judgment — never let anybody say otherwise because there are consequences for our inaction. On the other hand, if we work for Christ, then we can share in his kingdom — praise be to God.

Call out to Christ and He will respond

June 13, 2008

No matter how desperate our situation, if we call out to Christ, he will always beckon us to him.

"During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. 'It's a ghost,' they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: 'Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid.' 'Lord, if it's you' Peter replied, 'tell me to come to you on the water.' 'Come,' Jesus said." — Matthew 14:25-29

There are many times when we find ourselves drifting aimlessly on the ocean of life, but if we really look we can see Christ and he's telling us one thing, "Come to me."

I truly believe that is something we need to understand about God, is that He wants us to come to him. Everybody is welcome.

There are so many people out there who say they believe in a "supreme being," but that whatever that is, he or she doesn’t get involved in human affairs.

That's like saying, "I believe in the sun, but not the light that comes from it."

Life can only come from God, and God wants us to humbly come to him. If the offer from Jesus to come to him was not out there, we would have no salvation.

If we look at other religions, like Islam, salvation only comes through works. They can die as martyrs, which many believe gives them an express ticket to paradise, and for those who are not martyred, they have to wait on Allah to weigh their actions. For those whose good works outweigh the bad are delivered.

As a Christian, though, we know that anything we do can never merit our acceptance to God because we are sinful beings. It is impossible for us to earn heaven by our works.

However, we know our salvation without a doubt because we serve the true Living God, Jesus Christ, and that if we answer his call to come to him, then we have attained salvation because the only way to obtain it is through the blood of Jesus Christ who said he is the only path to salvation.

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." — John 14:6

Most of the folks who read this have already made that decision to believe in Christ and have answered his call to come to him, but sometimes we forget about Jesus and begin to sink.

"Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he was the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, cried out, 'Lord save me!" — Matthew 14:29-30

That seems to be my daily cry to the Lord, "Lord, save me." I always tend to get myself in a mess. I get in the mess because I lose focus on Jesus. I lose focus on Jesus because I pay too much attention to what's going on around me, then I get in trouble and have to call on him to rescue me from my idiocy.

Well, I can take comfort that I'm not alone, at least we know Peter and the other disciples could lose sight of Christ in their lives.

Still, we are without excuse. Let's finish this scene Matthew paints for us.

"Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. 'You of little faith,' he said, 'why did you doubt?' And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, 'Truly you are the Son of God.'" — Matthew 14:31-32

Jesus beckons us to him, and we move toward him, but sometimes we don't go straight to him and we have to call on him, just like Peter had to do.

Now, Christ could have let him swim back to the boat in choppy waters. He could have let Peter drown, but that didn't happen. You see, we serve a God who takes an active interest in our daily lives. If we cry for help, he will rescue us, though we may have to learn a lesson in the process.

Jesus scolded Peter, telling Peter his doubts caused him to sink.

We can't forget that Christ is what keeps our spiritual heads above the water. Though Satan and the world tugs at us constantly, Christ will keep us from drowning and raise us above the stormy seas.

Now, I would like to take a little time and ask everybody to pray for the people up in the Midwest who have lost loved ones in the storms over the recent weeks. I really would encourage you to pray for the parents and family of the Boy Scouts who were killed and injured by the tornado Wednesday evening. I could never imagine the grief they are going through right now. But in all of that destruction, I saw a ray of hope shining through the rubble.

In an Associated Press story I read where one young Scout, in a moment of terror few of us will ever experience, didn't cry out for his mom, dad or one of the Scout masters around him. No, he called out for the one he knew could help.

Here's an excerpt from the story:

Ethan Hession, also 13, said he crawled under a table with his friend.

"I just remember looking over at my friend, and all of a sudden he just says to me, 'Dear God, save us,'" he said. "Then I just closed my eyes and all of a sudden it's (the tornado) gone."

The faith of a child, dear friends, can be a lesson to us all. I don't know the young man's name, but stop and think about how many lives may have been saved by this young boy's simple supplication, "Dear God, save us." Only God can quiet the storms around us.

Fancy sermons and well practiced orations do little to help us. Christ calls us all, it is up to us to answer his call.

Now, here is the best part, because whenever we call on Christ, no matter the circumstances, he always answers our call.

Beware the call for ‘Peace and Security'

Nov. 30, 2007

The Mideast peace summit held at Annapolis earlier this week is now over but its repercussions for this country may be felt for some time and in the area around Israel, it seems things be even worse.

As I was reading news accounts concerning the summit, I was struck by something president Bush said Sunday evening before the peace meeting was even supposed to start. The following quote by Bush from an Associated Press story sent chills down my spine.

“I remain personally committed to implementing my vision of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security,” Bush said Sunday in a statement on the international gathering that begins Monday night with a dinner.

“The Israelis and Palestinians have waited a long time for this vision to be realized, and I call upon all those gathering in Annapolis this week to redouble their efforts to turn dreams of peace into reality,” he said.

Living side by side in peace and security. Sounds wonderful doesn't it, but delve into scripture and see where that exact phrase was used and it will make you shudder.

"Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, 'Peace and safety,' destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape." — 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3

While I am not saying President Bush's phrase is going to ensure our destruction, I am saying we must tread carefully in these treacherous waters.

It may seem to many that I am wasting too much space in this newspaper focusing on Israel, but we must remember that almost all prophecies concerning the end of days revolves around Israel.

Those prophecies did not end in 70 A.D. when Jerusalem was destroyed — despite what many churches today preach.

Israel's return from the ashes in 1948 was truly a miracle and the scenarios in that part of the world that have played out since then should make even the most cynical nonbeliever shudder.

I worry for the world because it seems we are headed toward the great Tribulation.

While I do not worry for myself, there are others for whom I have great concern.

Some may ask, "Wayne, you can't know when the Rapture will happen or when the Tribulation will start."

Scripture reveals the answers to us. It does not spell out dates, but it gives us events to mark the time.

"Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He (the Antichrist) will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him." — Daniel 9:25-27

The antichrist will be revealed when he confirms a seven-year covenant of peace with many.

Now don't get me wrong, if a peace deal is reached out of this debacle I am not saying it is "the peace deal."

I am just saying things are falling in line with those events. The Oslo accords which were negotiated in the 1990s featured a seven-year covenant of peace. It was never signed by both parties, but it is the blueprint being used for these negotiations.

All I ask is that we keep an eye out for Christ's return. He is coming to take his Bride (true believers in Christ) back with him.

For those who are left they will witness unspeakable atrocities if they make it through the tribulation. Many will lose their lives and there will be many who will come to Christ and still others will be fed a lie and they will believe it unto their own destruction.

These are not allegorical writings from deranged prophets, but warnings from Christ about what is to befall the world at the end. Heed his words.

"But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness.

So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." — 1 Thessalonians 5:4-9

God does not want us to suffer through the tribulation. Christ wants to bring us home. Believe on his holy name, confess all sins and put your trust in him.

I give these warnings not out of fear, but of love. I do not fear these times for I know my Savior lives and is coming for me.

That same confidence can be yours — just look to the light that is Christ.

———

All Sins wiped out in a single day

There are a lot of teachings being promulgated in Christian churches that preach limited atonement or tell churchgoers Jesus and the cross isn’t enough to wipe away sins.

Beware of those who preach Jesus plus something else as they are leading you down a dangerous path.

In Zechariah the prophet was foretelling of a time when the time of self-righteousness would end and the people would cloak themselves in the righteousness of God.

“Then he showed me Joshua, the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him.

“The Lord said to Satan, ‘The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?’

“Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, ‘Take off his filthy clothes.’ Then he said to Joshua, ‘See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.’

“Then I sad, ‘Put a clean turban on his head.’ So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by. The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua: ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.

“Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day. In that day each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” — Zechariah 3

Picture this in your mind, Satan is standing by a man, the high priest at the time of Zechariah, and is telling God the man is covered in sins. Matthew Henry writes that when the prophet saw Joshua standing before God, God allowed Zechariah to see him how God sees him, covered and dirty from sin — just as everyone of us are.

At this very moment Satan stands before God accusing us, telling God we are filthy sinners unworthy of acceptance.

Notice what God does, He rebukes Satan. Notice, it was Jesus Christ, described as the Angel of the Lord, who rebuked Satan in the name of the Lord; and then Jesus says this priest, though sin covered was a stick plucked from a burning fire. We would call that “saved” in our modern vernacular.

From the time the law was give to Moses, the people were required to keep the law and in effect, earn righteousness through works by relying solely on God, but the law brought forth the sin of the people.

It is in the next verses in which we place so much of our hope and our remedy. We are shown an image of Satan accusing a servant of God before God — Satan’s very name means adversary or opponent. Before Satan can finish his accusation, the intercessor stands in the breach and pleads the case before God.

Charles Spurgeon said, “Take note that this rebuke comes at the right season. When Satan accuses, Christ pleads. He does not wait till the case has gone against us and then express his regret, but he is always a very present help in time of trouble. He knows the heart of Satan, being omniscient God, and long before Satan can accuse he puts in the demurrer, the blessed plea on our behalf, and stays the action till he gives an answer which silences for ever every accusation.”

In His limitless grace Jesus tells Satan to go away and then Jesus removes the sin-stained garments and puts “rich” garments on us. What is that rich garment?

That rich garment is the righteousness given to us through the shedding of Jesus’ blood on the cross.

Then, Zechariah is told that what he had just witnessed will be done on behalf of all of mankind. Zechariah was written around 520 to 518 B.C., probably about 550 years before Jesus restored mankind to God through the cross.

The Lord tells the prophet the sins of the world would be taken away in just a day — that day was over when Jesus said, “It is finished.” It also foreshadows the day of Christ’s triumphant return and Israel is redeemed once and for all.

For us, for now, Jesus Christ — the stone on which the foundation of the church was built — has ensured for us an audience with God.

All are destined for judgment, but for those who belong to Christ, the verdict is not guilty. The debt for our sin has been paid.

For those who have yet to accept what Christ did for them, their verdict is still outstanding and if they die without Christ the grim reality is a guilty verdict will be issued and the sentence will be eternal.

Sin, brothers and sisters, equals death. There is no escape from it, but Christ came to rescue us.

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.” — John 10:10

Jesus came that we may have an eternity in his presence — all we have to do is give ourselves to him.

Don’t hold anything back. Don’t be like Annanias and Saphira and just give a portion of yourself — pour all of your life into the nail-scarred hands of Jesus Christ and let him cover you in the righteousness given to all freely.

There is no magic formula, there is no ritual to perform other than admitting to Jesus you are rotting in the filth of your own sins and that you know He is the only remedy.

That is the narrow door we must all face.

Writer’s Note: There are many times I sit down to write this with absolutely no idea where it may be going, only that God has led me to a passage of scripture. Invariably, though, God leads my words back to the cross, just as he leads every one of us, so forgive me if I seem redundant week after week, but there is only one conclusion, “The Way of the Cross Leads Home.”

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