salvation Archives – Page 3 of 3

December 8, 2013

The Time is Now!!!

Clara Scott authored the hymn “Open my eyes that I May See”. The first stanza reads as : “Open my eyes, that I may see, glimpses of truth thou hast for me…” As we read Revelation 6 more than ever we need to see with spiritual eyes for the truth within is almost more than one can digest. In reading this chapter one verse keeps coming back to mind: John 3:16 “For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” It is when we view God’s love in sharp contrast to the hate of Satan, which is sovereignly allowed upon men in this chapter, that we bow the knee and are overwhelmed with gratitude of God’s gift of His Son’s sacrifice on the cross and our salvation.

John 3:16 says that the gift God has for those who will bow the knee is eternal life. However, in this chapter we find that just as the Israel and the religious leaders during the time of Jesus rejected the evidence: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have good news proclaimed to them, so too men in the last stages of the clock of time, men will not cry out to God for His peace, love and salvation but will continue to reject. That is a frightening thought which should drive us to share the good news of salvation to everyone who is divinely brought across our path that they may not have to face the judgment of God.

In Chapter 6, John shows us what God revealed. It will not be His grace but horror upon horror to show men the power of evil and hate in the form of war, famine, death, disease. They respond by calling out to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?” In reading this another verse came flooding back to this author: Rom 1:32 “Although they fully know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die..” Isn’t it ironic that these men fully understand God’s judgment and his wrath but choose mountains and rocks to the path of goodness, love and peace which only God can provide? We stop and ask “why?” Why do men reject God? Again we turn to the words of John: John 3:19 “people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.”

Beloved, if you have not done so I implore you now to open your eyes and allow the Holy Spirit to illumine you and bring God’s love and peace to your heart. It is not too late—but do not delay, we do not know when God will choose to allow the events of chapter 6 to unfold in all of their reality. Keep in mind God’s clock is running down; have you called upon Him?

November 6, 2013

A Life Hanging in the Balance….

We have all had the experience of a pastor preaching and it seems like everyone around us fades away and we stand alone in the crowd. It is as if the Holy Lord God Almighty is peering at us alone and then He asks: Do you want to be saved—healed from your sins? That is the picture we see in John 5. Jesus has a divine appointment in Jerusalem, not for a feast but for a person’s heart. He does not have to go to the pool of Siloam where the invalids lay but he purposes to go there because there lay a man who has been in this invalid condition for over 38 yrs. And so as he so often does, his heart seeks out that one that needs his grace, his love, his tenderness…and then the question is asked—

Do you want to become well? If that were me I think I would not be hesitant to answer: “YES!!” But, listen to this man’s response. Sigh…. “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get into the water, someone else goes down there before me.” He totally ignores the question just like many do today. Sir, I cannot be saved because of thus and so. When I get someone to come alongside me and take me to the church, to the prayer meeting then and perhaps then…. Jesus then ignores his response and moves aside the cobwebs of blameshifting and pity. “Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk.” His grace is sufficient and is the healing agent that ignores our past and our present because he has a work of grace for our future. His grace must be completed for one reason: that we sin no more but live holy lives in service for him.

And then as the first act reaches its climax we read: (Now that day was a Sabbath.) Why does John tell us this bit of information? It is so that we realize and acknowledge that the day is of little importance, the man’s life and eternity hangs in the balance. It is now or never. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath and “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.” Today Beloved Friend, there is someone who needs to hear the message of salvation; it is now or never. Tomorrow may never come and this person may stand before the Father just as defiled as this paralyzed man. He could not attend worship, he could not beg on the streets, he could not (you fill in the blank).

What divine appointment is God planning for you today? Are you ready to share it with someone who is pitifully laying amongst the crowd waiting to hear “Do you want to become saved?” Beware of listening to their pitiful blameshifting but push forward to tell them the good news. They are waiting for someone, you or I, to pull them aside out of the crowd and ask: Do you know Jesus? If you were to die today where would you spend eternity? Be bold! Be brave! You and I have the message to bring them new life. We can bring them to the Savior and proclaim the message of salvation. Will we do it?

October 29, 2013

October 31st. Pumpkins, Halloween, ghosts, goblins or???

I wanted to post this ahead for any who will be thinking about Halloween.

It seems that our world is head over heels in love with Halloween to the point of whole big box stores with all kinds of paraphernalia to be purchased for all ages. I can remember dressing up as a painter’s man using some of my dad’s painter’s garb. Carrying paint pails and paint brushes, my sister and I won first place and the prize was a silver dollar. What has happened to creativity? Halloween has become big business and the merchants are using their “trick or treat” to drain our pocketbooks and fill theirs. But, what is noticed more than that is the death culture it is promoting with the ghouls and goblins dripping with blood. Today public schools spend the month of October in preparation for the party centered around Halloween, costumes, candy and spooky music! The next day at school the children arrive on sugar load and teaching children is as if they were hanging from the chandeliers! I garner that trick or treating is fun and I must admit I love doling out the candy to the little ones as they come knocking. But, I also have to ask what about the spiritual significance of this day? Have we become so enamored with Halloween that we have forgotten about what really happened in 1517 on this date?

Here’s my dilemma. I will bet you 9 out of ten do not know that Oct 31^st is not only Halloween but there is a significant historical event that we as Christians should know about and even celebrate. Yet sadly many, and that was me as well, have no idea about the significance of what else Oct 31^st represents. For as many years as I had been a believing Christian, the church I attended never once mentioned this date and its spiritual significance. In fact like many churches today it was all about Harvest Parties, all about “fun.” We never even mentioned that something so significant happened that we should stop and take note. It was not until I was privileged to teach in a Reformed Christian Day School that I was awakened to what this day symbolized for me as a Protestant. What an awakening I was about to experience which would forever alter my view of this day! Familiar with All Saints Day? I never heard of it but in passing and never knew the significance of that date. Did you know that it was the date on which the Reformation began? Let me give you a mini history lesson. It all began on Oct 31, 1517 when one young German monk named Martin Luther in great boldness and courage nailed his 95 theses to the Wittenburg Castle door. After years as a monk searching for his peace and digesting the book of Romans, he had come to the conclusion that only through faith is one justified. He could not be quiet when the Holy Spirit had so altered his thinking and his heart. Why did I not know about this?

I began to question my own church hierarchy but came up against a blank slate. Why was this a new idea to me? Why didn’t my church celebrate this day? When I began to question I was politely told that we did not discuss this, but why? Once again it seemed that denominations were the leading divisive tool that the enemy had used to keep us in the dark. I was not satisfied and so went searching on my own. What I found was not only revealing but life altering. I found that this young German Monk, chose All Saints Day, Oct 31, 1517 to step out from his clerical collar and with great courage challenge the sale of indulgences to earn salvation. What Martin had learned in his quest for truth was this: salvation is a gift not to be purchased or sold. Not only did he learn that but he also learned that his church, his very denomination was selling indulgences to gain this coveted salvation. Yet in the first chapter of Romans he also learned this: 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes,” Martin could not be silent. He gathered his courage and wrote about this transformation that had changed his life forever! So emboldened he stepped up and told the world this marvelous news: the just shall live by faith not by works!

The question then before me is this: why am I not as bold as Martin Luther? Why am I not using this opportunity to tell the world of this marvelous news that I too have found? Is that not a significant opportunity to share the gospel with those who do not know? So although Halloween trick or treat is a fun activity there is something far more significant that we should be talking and sharing about. Are we telling the world?

So as a parent, grandparent or even a school aged child how might this day be celebrated? Here’s some ideas I found cruising through the web: http://www.lovetolearnplace.com/SpecialDays/Reformation/ReformersWordSearch.pdf

Have a Reformation Day Faire: http://www.lovetolearnplace.com/SpecialDays/Reformation/activities.html#anchor58776

Sing “A Mighty Fortress is our God” written by Martin Luther: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/m/i/g/mightyfo.htm

Print out this picture for little ones to color as you explain this day: http://www.teacherhelp.org/images/Martin%20Luther.pdf

Excellent ideas for teaching about this special day; activities, books etc.

http://www.lovetolearnplace.com/SpecialDays/Reformation/#anchor22952