Praying for Power - Colossians 1:11 

Power. Wars have been fought for it, lies have been told to gain it, many have desired it. Is it ever okay for a Christian to hope for power? Well, yes. The apostle Paul even prayed that the Colossian church would be strengthened with “all power”. So, is there more to it? Of course. We’re not just talking about any power here, or the power to do anything you please like reaching your dreams, this is ultimate and divine power for a glorious ambition. Before we get into it, here is a portion of Paul’s prayer for the believers at Colossae.

  Colossians 1:11 ESV … May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy…

Now it’s true that these words were intended by Paul for the Colossians, but they were also intended by God for all of us who hope in the gospel and so this prayer can be applied to everyone who trusts in Christ.

So the power we should be praying for is the power to endure in the Christian walk here on earth and the power to remain patient….with joy.

Endurance
The Bible has a lot to say about endurance in the faith. Here are just a few verses that talk about it.

Romans 5:3-4 ESV … Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

Romans 15:4 ESV … For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Hebrews 10:36 ESV … For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.

James 1:12 ESV … Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Matthew 10:22 ESV … and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

To endure in the Christian walk is to press on through the distractions, the pain, the pleasures, the mundane of everyday life until we come to the end of it. This is accomplished by God’s power at work within us. As Matthew 10 says above, “the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Endurance is vital and impossible without God’s power. So pray for power today, and every day, for endurance till the end.

Patience… with Joy
These three words have been running through my mind since I read them, and have been a prayer on my lips every day. We need patience as we live this life among other human beings. As long as I am by myself I am perfectly patient, but throw kids and a husband and a few bad drivers on the road in and my patience, unfortunately, can fly out the window pretty quick. I most definitely need the grace and power of God when it comes to being patient. So when I read Paul’s prayer for the Colossians to be strengthened with God’s power for the purpose of patience it wasn’t surprising, in fact, it has been my own prayer for myself quite often. But when I saw the words that followed “with joy” I was convicted and moved.

Have you striven for patience but neglected being joyful about it? I know I have. Imagine though, that we can pray like Paul and beg God for all His power to come upon us so that we can be joyfully patient as we mop up spilled milk, help with homework, go to work or school, etc. and most importantly of all we can patiently and joyfully work for the Kingdom of God as we wait for His Return!

“Stand still” – keep the posture of an upright man, ready for action, expecting further orders, cheerfully and patiently awaiting the directing voice; and it will not be long ere God shall say to you, as distinctly as Moses said it to the people of Israel, “Go forward.”

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Preparing the Way,
~ Danae Martin

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How Can You Know God’s Will for your Life?
The topic of God’s will for your life is a popular one among Christians. I know that I myself, many times in the past, have wondered about it and even once considered taking a class on it. I used to think, “If only I knew what God’s will was for my life then I would really be focused on him.” I know this is a common train of thought because I’ve often heard people talk about God’s will for who they will marry, what job they should take, where they should live, even whether or not they should tell someone about the gospel. So, how can you know the will of God for your life?

I think the most obvious, but most overlooked place to start is in the Bible. If God has a will for your life and mine, isn’t it important? And if it’s important, wouldn’t he want us to know what it is? And if he wanted us to know what it is don’t you think he’d tell us? He did, and it’s written right where the rest of the important stuff he wanted us to know is found….in his Word; the Bible.

My study right now is in the book of Colossians. I just started reading there and it’s so exciting. The chunk of scripture that I’m looking at tonight deals with the three things that take place in a Christian’s life once they are “filled with the knowledge of God’s will”. So while the majority of my post will be on those three effects I’d like to mention three things talked about elsewhere in scripture that help answer the “God’s will for my life” question.

Three Things that are the Will of God for Your Life
I learned what I’m about to share from a sermon by John MacArthur and there is so much more to it than the brief summary that I’m listing here; however, if you take the time to look up the accompanying scriptures it will be so helpful and inarguable that these three areas truly are God’s will for all who genuinely believe.

1. It is God’s will that you be saved (2 Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy 2:3-4)

2. It is God’s will that you be filled with the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9, Ephesians 5:17-18, 1 Corinthians 12:13)

3. It is God’s will that you be sanctified (1 Thessalonians 4:3)

I’d also like to add that it is God’s will for you to share the living hope of your faith in Christ with all of humanity, to “shout it from the rooftops”, so to speak. For evidence that this is God’s will for you (that you share the gospel) just look at Matthew 28:16-20.

Three things that will happen when we Know God’s Will for our Lives

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Colossians 1:9-10 ESV

When we are “filled with the knowledge of his will” (which means that we understand what God’s will is for our lives) three effects will take place. First of all we will begin to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord“. Why? Because when our minds and hearts are filled with thoughts of God with concern and passion for His plans, and we no longer strive to accomplish our own plans, then we will live our lives differently than when we belonged to the world. We won’t live to please ourselves, but to please God. We won’t be consumed with seeking out comfort, entertainment, and pleasure for ourselves but rather seeking out ways to fulfill God’s will and serve him each day and not ourselves.

When we are filled with the knowledge of his will we will be constantly thinking about ways to actively serve him and it will affect the way we live, move, speak, and act. So, how are we able to understand God’s will? By the Holy Spirit. (“..that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”)The word “spiritual” in this context means, “given by the Holy Spirit.” So the Holy Spirit is the one who opens our minds to understand God’s Word, and through his Word we learn his will.

Although Christians are completely justified from the moment of initial saving faith, they are not fully sanctified, and they can do things that either please or displease God every day. So it is important to understand what “a manner worthy of the Lord” means. It means living our lives in such a way that we make God look glorious. When our words and actions, and even our private thoughts, glorify God and show that he is to be treasured above all else, then we are walking in a manner worthy of the Lord because he IS worthy to be glorified, treasured, and adored!

Secondly….
This passage from Colossians also says that when we understand God’s will for our lives we will be “bearing fruit in every good work..”. This can be connected to the parable of the sower that Jesus told in Matthew 13:1-23 which revealed the effect of the gospel on a person who receives it with true faith (just like the good soil), they bear fruit “thirty fold, sixty fold, and a hundred fold.”

So when we are full of the knowledge of God’s will we can expect to bear fruit in every good work because we will not be doing good works in a self-seeking or self-righteous manner, trying to make ourselves look good, but we will practice good works as an outpouring of our love and obedience towards God which will in turn cause the good works to bear good fruit, as opposed to “filthy rags” fruit that comes from good works done on our own strength. (See Isaiah 64:6)

When God’s will is top priority in my life then my good works will be for the purpose of bringing him praise, which automatically bears fruit for his kingdom. If God’s will for your life was limited to your personal desires and concerns it would be a pretty shallow existence. There is a bigger picture here and I will soon be blogging on this verse, “…all things were created through him and for him.” (Colossians 1:16b), so I’ll just say this, God’s will for your life and mine is to bring Himself much glory through you and me. Our happiness is secondary and is ultimately found in Him alone and in His promise of eternal life.

Thirdly…
Finally,  when we are “full of the knowledge of his will”, we will “increase in our knowledge of God” because as we dwell on him and his plans, as we draw near to Him, he will draw near to us. As we are cleansed by the Son, as we repent and believe the gospel, and as we say “not my will, but Your will” to God, He will draw near and we will KNOW Him.

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:8 ESV

So God’s will is a thing to be KNOWN, and KNOWING God’s will comes by the Holy Spirit and by faith, and once we KNOW it and are filled with it and dwelling on it each day we will:

1. Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord (What a privilege!)

2. Bear fruit in every good work (Amazing!)

3. Increase in our knowledge of God (The Creator of the Universe!)

Why Do You Want to Know God’s Will?
Please, as you finish reading this, think about your motive in wanting to know God’s will and pray that He will make His will your will. In this you will find much joy and peace.

“When your will is God’s will, you will have your will.”
-Charles H. Spurgeon

Preparing the Way,
Danae Martin

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Opening Thoughts: What this post is not: it is not a post for calling out the men who I know preach this well known “Prosperity Gospel”, neither is it an effort to convince you to desire God over earthly things; that would be futile on my part. My hope and prayer for this commentary is that as you read the scriptures along with me that God would open your eyes to the reason you desire to be near Him. What I mean is, for what purpose do you associate yourself with Him? The Bible makes it very clear that trusting in Jesus for the wrong set of reasons is the same as not knowing Him at all. In fact, in Matthew 7 Jesus actually uses as strong of language as “Get away from Me“, in reference to people who presumed upon salvation simply for earthly blessing and supposed gifts. I’m praying that God will grant many of you eyes that are opened to see His glorious worth, so that everything on this fleeting earth will look no more appetizing than a pile of waste in light of who He is and what He has really rescued us from.

Thinking about something else: I wonder if you’ve ever had a conversation with someone where you know very well that they aren’t listening to you the least little bit? In fact, if the truth be known, they are just waiting for a hole in your chat where they are able to dart in with what’s on their mind. Often times they will even bring up an entirely different subject all together. They may phrase it nicely like, “This is a bit of a different topic”, subtly inferring that the one you were on wasn’t really an interest to them, or that what they had to say was far more important. To prevent a “Log-In-Eye” situation I will be the first in line to say that I’ve been guilty of this all too often. This is actually one of the things that God has changed in me since I had a collision with His gospel of grace a few years back.

In our text tonight we see this very thing happen. Jesus uses a noticeably off topic interruption to reveal why so many people are mistakenly drawn to Him for the wrong reasons. Commonly it’s because they are seeking to get from Him a Gospel with benefits. Jesus is your only Hope, not your Robin Hood. He is either your every satisfaction, or He is nothing to you at all. He is your abundant life because He is your Eternal Life, not because He offers a huge earthly pay-check, or health, wealth and earthly happiness.

Luke 9:24-25 … For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

Main Text: Luke 12: 13-20 ... Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Genie Jesus: There is so much talk these days about having “your best life now”, like people actually believe this stuff! They literally believe that Jesus want’s you to prosper, be successful and have banks filled with money. Now I’m not saying that won’t happen to some people, but it’s possible that it could be anything but a blessing. Take for instance the parable that Jesus tells in conjunction with this man’s request for wealth and a better life. He starts the parable by saying, “the land of a RICH MAN produced plentiful..”. The very reason that this man was rich was because his land produced much fruit, he should have been the most grateful man on the planet, how blessed he was indeed. He had so much wealth that his current situation was a problem. In order for him to retain all his proceeds he was going to have to act quickly. He could either give the excess away to those who needed it, or he could waste valuable money on rebuilding his entire infrastructure in order to retain it for himself and his own use and future comfort.

Awhile back I was interested in real estate, so I purchased a book called “Real Estate Investing for Canadians”. Great  book, the only issue is the whole focus of the book was to visualize your dream for the money. The author called it “Your personal Belize” and the reason he called it that was because he made his dream happen by purchasing land in Belize for dirt cheap and building his dream vacation home there. All through the book he would make mention of “Your personal Belize” and what will you do for yourself once you obtain this wealth. I’m so glad that God took that desire from me, oh yes, when I say He took it from me I mean that. There was nothing I wanted more than to be stinking RICH. I wanted to make a minimum of a million dollars a year (and in my peak it wasn’t that far off). A couple years ago as my wife and I sat in our $660,000 house in “Pleasureville” while at the same time coveting the homes two blocks down that lined the river (evidently our home wasn’t big enough for the three of us), God unexpectedly got a hold of us by His irresistible grace. He shook us up and ripped the taste for wealth right out of our mouths. In a moment of time we found we were looking through different eyes, eyes that saw art hanging on our wall that could literally feed one starving child through Compassion for 3 years. Let me repeat that in case you missed it, we had one piece of art that hung above our fireplace that cost us $1,000 and to support a child in poverty for 36 months costs about $1080. In essence, a child died so that we could have a nice wall.

The Rich Fool: How are you feeling right about now? I know how I’m feeling, even as I write these words out I’m asking God to strip me of even more of my own desires and to purge me from the American dream. The man, let’s call him “the FOOL” since that’s what Jesus called him, wanted to get His entire life ready and finely furnished for his future. He wanted to live in “financial freedom” so that his worries would be over. All he would need to do was sit back and relax, enjoying what the land had provided Him.

Not Rich Toward God: Just like the man who came to Jesus and sat through a seriously lengthy teaching session only so he could ask Him for help with his inheritance problems, so it was with the RICH FOOL who used his wealth and resources on himself, to make himself even more wealthy. Yeah, I know there will be all kinds of arguments over this post, like, “God wants us to be good stewards”. To that I say, “Isn’t downsizing your home, selling one of your cars and reducing your eating out habits, while at the same time using the excess to aid those who are perishing around us being a good steward?” It’s not how much you make that’s the problem it’s what you do with it that reveals your heart.

Conclusion: God is not against wealth, but if we really understood what God requires from the RICH, most of us would run away from it. And yet none of us in North America can escape this huge responsibility because compared to the poor little boy you saw in the picture above you are incredibly wealthy. The next time someone tries to tell you that God wants you to be prosperous (in the earthly sense) run as fast and as far as you can away from them because they are like deadly poison that would try and feed into covetousness.

 ”But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Preparing The Way
~Shane Martin

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Opening Thoughts: What a joy it is to be in Christ! Considering what we all actually deserve (hell) and yet God through His infinite mercy and grace rescued us, adopted us and placed His Spirit in us. We should be the most joyful people on the planet. We should be the most content people in this material world and the most joyfully motivated in declaring His fame.  Colossians 1:27 ”To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” I love that passage for a couple reasons, it talks about how we are to make known to the Gentiles (the world) the riches “this glorious mystery”. What glorious mystery? That the God of the universe, who is entirely Holy, would choose to reconcile a criminal like me, not just saving me from hell but saving me from sin itself. He does this by literally living inside of me in the form of His Spirit. Are you kidding me!?! I think we need to re-read this again and again until it sinks into our souls and then starts to flow out into our lives like a gospel ocean. When I say flowing out, I mean the proclamation of the Good News.

The Motive Behind the Action: Why do people run cancer marathons and invest crazy amounts of their personal time into raising both money and awareness? Well, it’s usually because either they are a survivor of cancer themselves or they have lost a loved one to it. They are passionate about spreading awareness about cancer and helping people in their fight against it. Whenever they are in conversations they look for the opportunity to talk about it simply because they are passionate about ending  it, and they are passionate about it because it has affected them dearly. I saw a construction worker type guy come into the coffee shop today holding a lap top. On it there was a sticker that said F*** Cancer. It did not actually say the F-word, it was written exactly how I just wrote it. Why does he have that sticker on there? Because he’s looking for an opportunity to talk about how cancer has affected him and how he’s fighting to end it. How about you? Are you looking for ways to share with people about how sin has affected you, how it almost destroyed you and that it is affecting them as well? Are you looking for opportunities to share how God rescued you and how Christ Jesus has redeemed you? Are we spending more time working on social causes than we are on eternal causes? Do you shy away from sharing your faith because you don’t think you’re eloquent enough or because you really don’t know what to say? In our text today we will look at the markings of a true believer and how Jesus graciously but firmly instructed the crowds of people how to share the gospel and how He would enable then to do so.

Luke 12:11-12 ESV … And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Persecution: Most times when you see someone who is suffering, being picked on, or just having a bad day you can tell by their demeanor. I remember before I was a true believer that all the suffering that came my way I viewed as an attack of the enemy and pleaded with God with a “No Fair, Why Me” prayer. I didn’t view persecution or trials like I do now. Today, as much as I still don’t enjoy trials, I look for their purpose and the reason that God has so graciously allowed me to suffer. I try to learn what his intentions are, if I am supposed to share with someone through them, or if  they are for my own sanctification.

When it comes to evangelism most of the evolved modern church views persecution as a sign that you are going at it the wrong way, whereas Jesus said we should expect it. Don’t think it odd that when you do begin to be obedient to Christ’s command and verbally share the Gospel that you will not only face opposition from the world, but also from some in the church. Jesus starts this text out by saying to the crowds “And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities…“, He was telling them that they should expect to be persecuted by the religious leaders (synagogues) for proclaiming Christ, as well as being persecuted through the secular courts (rulers and the authorities).  God always has a purpose in us proclaiming the Gospel even in the midst of horrible persecution. God kept Paul alive which ultimately prolonged his suffering simply so he could proclaim the gospel to Nero (Caesar) who in the end had him be-headed. The reasons are not always known, but that is up to God, our duty is to with joy be obedient to the call if not for anything else than the fact that we ourselves owed a debt we could not pay and have been saved by His glorious grace.

Matthew 10:19-20 ESV… When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Don’t be Anxious: I can’t even imagine what millions of Christians around the word face on a daily basis, how the gospel has cost them their family, how right now many of them are in prison with broken ankles, broken legs, whipped backs and are awaiting their unjust trials. In some countries in the Middle East conversion to Christianity will cost you your life. I saw a video awhile back that seriously made me sick to my stomach in seconds. A Muslim man had converted to Christianity and had been captured by the locals. The video was shot by the radicals to send a message to all who would consider the consequences of converting from Islam to Christianity.  They blind-folded this young man, read from the Qur’an and then took about 40 seconds to cut his head off with what looked like a hunting knife. I’m sorry if that was hard for you to hear, but imagine if that was you and you were the one who lived there. What would you do in that situation? Jesus was talking to people here in Matthew 10 that were in that very situation. All the disciples were brutally murdered except John and most of the early church members were as well. Jesus knows all of these things that will take place which is why he tells them to confess His name without concern for their earthly bodies, and also tells them “not to be anxious” or wonder how they will speak or what they will say.

When you think about sharing your faith does the thought of even minimal persecution bring you anxiety? I mean do you wonder what people will think of you or what they will do to you? Jesus says not to worry about what you will say. Why does he say not to worry? Here’s the key, “for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you“. Just ponder on that for a moment, and remember this is Jesus who actually said this, it came straight from the mouth of GOD. Does the words “The Spirit of your Father speaking through you” give you any courage at all? I know it does for me, it’s one of those moments that I sit back and say, “you have got to be kidding! I mean really? Are you being literal Jesus?” Yes, He is dear friends and He will be with you always even till the end of the age (Great Commission).

What if it’s not My Calling? Have you ever heard someone else say (or maybe you have even said it yourself) that evangelism isn’t their calling? Maybe you think you’re more cut out for acts of kindness and that God has gifted certain people with the ability to preach the Gospel? Well, the truth is, it’s not about you, it’s about Him and His glory, not me and mine. It’s not about my calling it’s about His calling. He has appointed me to preach good news. It’s funny that God called all the Christians in the early church to be evangelists but nowadays he only picks the public speaker types, the special ones, the gifted people. Is that true? No, He is a God who never changes. If you profess to be a follower of Jesus Christ then he has called you to follow and proclaim the gospel even in the face of persecution. He doesn’t pick eloquent speakers most of the time so that He will get the glory and we won’t. As you go and are obedient to His command He will speak through you in the proclamation of His glorious Word and will give you the exact words to say in the THAT HOUR!

Luke 21:14-15 ESV … Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.

He Will Give You a Mouth: What does this mean? This is the same language that God used when He was speaking to Moses. God called Moses to go and proclaim the message to Pharaoh who just so happened to be considered like a “god”. He was the most powerful in the land second to none. The message Moses was to proclaim was one of deliverance, one of salvation for God’s people. Moses really had no idea if Pharaoh would let the people go, God just told Him to go tell Pharaoh to let them go. The message was simple and plain, God basically said to Moses, “I’m powerful, and I want you to do this for me.” What do you think Moses said? Let’s see….

Exodus 4:10-13 ESV …But Moses said to the LORD, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.”

Moses responds to GOD by saying, “I don’t have a gift for speaking”. He then went on to remind God that he had never been a good speaker even when he was in Egypt, and that nothing has changed. Then God says, “who made your mouth?”, it’s obvious that God did. He was informing Moses that He knew exactly how bad he was at talking and therefore says, “I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak”. In ancient Egypt, there was a high official called “the mouth of the king” whose job was to mediate between the “god” Pharaoh and the people of Egypt by speaking Pharaoh’s words unaltered to the people. Moses knew these terms and so when God said “I will be with your mouth” he was using a language that Moses was very familiar with, having growth up in the courts of Pharaoh. To be the voice of God is the greatest honor anyone could have. You and I have been called to share the message of the Gospel regardless of our speech or wisdom capabilities. You are called to be an evangelist.

Please Send Someone Else: So how will you answer the call to be an evangelist? God has called you and given you the message of hope for the nations, it’s not your job to save them, it’s your job to proclaim then stand back and watch the Lord work. After God tells Moses “I will be with your mouth” Moses responds to God “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else”. I wonder how you have been responding? What about your neighbors and family members and that person you see all the time at the coffee shop, or even the strangers all around you? Are you okay leaving them in the Egypt of their sin simply because you don’t feel called? Are you going to answer the call or say “Please send someone else”? ………..

Grace & Peace

Preparing The Way
~ Shane Martin

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Blasphemy of The Holy Spirit – Luke 12:10

Opening Thoughts: Have you ever been called into to jury duty? I am glad that I haven’t had that experience. I hear the pay is low and it can be grueling hours. They have to examine the evidence, call witnesses, and depending on how serious the crime is they may do a DNA test. There are so many items that have to be checked off the list before arriving at a final verdict whether it be a guilty or innocent one. In the end, even if someone maintains their own innocence but the jury still finds them guilty, they will be convicted of those crimes and sentenced accordingly. There are times during a court case that the accused will be offered a deal, a bargain, if you will. If they plead guilty and admit to their crimes rather then remaining in their denial, they may be given a lesser sentence, or even escape the death penalty.

Romans 6:23a ESV .. “For the wages of sin is death….”

Our Death Penalty: God’s word is clear in that there is a definite death sentence for crimes against God. Every sinner who has ever committed even one act of disobedience against the throne of heaven has committed ”high treason” against the Kingdom of God. High Treason carries with it an automatic death penalty. God is a holy Judge; He’s a holy God and doesn’t rule with partiality. He is a ruler that is immeasurably just and will not excuse even a trace of sin. Unfortunately many people have an inaccurate view of what the word “just” means. This inaccurate view of God’s nature, will ultimately leave them in the greatest shock of their existence. Read Matthew 7:21-23 if you have not.

Main Text: Luke 12:10 ESV … And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit: So what is this unforgivable sin? If there is one sin you can never possibly be forgiven for, and the rest of your eternity is determined on whether or not you’ve committed it, wouldn’t you want to find out what that sin is? I sure would. Over the years I have overheard people talking about this subject a baffled way. I have had many people ask me what I thought “the sin” was with concern in their voice as if maybe they had committed the unpardonable. Rest assured, if you are still breathing at this very moment then you have not yet carried out this unjustifiable sin. I say this not to put you at ease but to reassure you that there is Hope. In order to comprehend what it is to blaspheme the Holy Spirit and seal off your eternal fate let’s read what Stephen, the martyred elder of the early church, had to say to the religious people of his day.

Acts 7:51 ESV …. “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always Resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.

Resisting The Holy Spirit: Stephen was really taking his listeners by the scruff of the neck and shaking them around in hopes that God would, by His sovereign will, pop open their blind eyes and allow them to see the error of their ways. I want to be clear that although it is God who makes us see and draws us to His Son in accordance to His sovereign will, equally we are obligated to respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit and will be held accountable and sentenced for our rejection of His prompting. God will ultimately save His own people, but no one will be without excuse. When people resist the Holy Spirit it is because they are Blind people who believe that they can see, they will not admit to their own blindness and are in need of sight. Instead they will turn off the conviction of the Holy Spirit and remain in their claim to having sight. See John 9:41 … This is Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, to reject His authority in reminding you that you are indeed guilty and to claim to be innocent, or to reject the need of repentance.

Fearfully there are multitudes of people that leave church week after week and have conversations like this, “Wow, that message really convicted me” … Wait a minute! We need to stop right there. If we spend just two seconds thinking about what the word “convicted” actually means we almost instantly would cease from using it. I mean, do we really mean “I just left church a convicted criminal, guilty, without excuse?” Because that’s what “convicted” means. Definition: “A person found or declared guilty of an offense or crime.” Listen, every time you you read the Word, hear a message or the like and feel convicted, it’s because you are convicted and you are awaiting your sentence. I think we actually use terms like “That was really convicting” to make ourselves feel good. Somehow if we feel convicted we’ve done our part and even have a sense of self accomplishment and spiritual maturity, if you will, even proving that we are sensitive to the Gospel. If this is you, having regular conviction with minimal to no change or fruit in your life, then you need to consider the possibility that you may still be blind. This is not a judgement, this is a heart of “I’ve been there and I know the deception of Churchianity“. My prayer is that if through these words you recognize that you have been blaspheming the Holy Spirit that you would waste no time in calling out to the Savoir as a blind beggar in desperate need of sight. Please read the passages below.

John 16:7-11 ESV … Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

Romans 2:12-16 ESV …. For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also Bears Witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

Bears Witness: God has written the works of the law on the hearts of all men and this law, together with our God given conscience, bears against us and the Holy Spirit ultimately places the Convicted Sign over our door. We are convicted and ready to die, the evidence has been accumulated in the courts of heaven and our conscience will be called as the first witness when we stand before God. He will bring all people to justice and will not play favorites.

We Have Hope: Thanks be to God that He has not left us in our blind hopelessness but has sent His perfect Lamb as our our substitute. He has ransomed us with His precious blood and has absorbed the wrath that we so deserved. Paul says in Acts 20:21 “testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Yes we are convicted criminals, yes we are blind, yes we deserve His wrath, BUT yes he has offered us a glorious Deal in our criminal case. A deal that doesn’t just give us a lesser sentence, praise God, but one that is beyond description, one so indescribably good that even an attempt to explain it in the English language is an insult to its magnitude. We broke God’s laws, we are the criminals, yet He became the criminal in our place, He took the sign that said “Convicted Criminal, Condemned to Die” off our door post and hung it on His own.

So what are going to do about it? Are you going to walk away feeling convicted? Or are you going to recognize that you are convicted and cry out for sight? Repent toward God and look to Jesus as your only HOPE. When I say “look to Jesus” I mean look until until you are saved, look until you are assured you have the poison removed from your body, and then keep looking until the day you are like John lying on your face in His courtroom and He lifts you up and gives you entrance into His kingdom, wiping away your tears and relieving you from your fears forever. That’s the HOPE that I stand on, and by the grace of God nothing in this life could tear my eyes away from gazing on my glorious Redeemer. Grace & Peace

Acts 2:38 ESV … And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Shane Martin
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Colossians 1:1-8 Commentary - The Gospel That Produces

Epaphras: Fruit of the Gospel
Colossae was a small city and the hometown of Epaphras who became an evangelist-pastor after he heard the proclamation of the gospel from Paul in Ephesus. Most commentators agree that Epaphras had likely traveled there, heard Paul preach, and responded to his message. As a new believer he returned home and planted a church. Paul, himself, never visited the Colossians because of his imprisonment in Rome.

Colossians 1:3-8 ESV .. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

Epaphras became a “fellow prisoner” (Philemon 1:23) with Paul in Rome, but not before “working hard” serving and teaching the gospel (Colossians 4:13) to the church at Hierapolis, as well as the Colossian and Laodicean churches. Of course, as Paul gives credit, God above all others is to be thanked for salvation, but Epaphras was the means God used to reach these cities with the word of Life. He was a “faithful minister” and not only obedient to the Great Commission, but an excellent example of the Nature of the Gospel.

What is the Nature of the Gospel?
In the text from Colossians 1 Paul describes the gospel as “bearing fruit and increasing”, both among the Colossian church as well as “in the whole world.” The nature of the gospel, the very constitution of it, is made recognizable by the change that takes place in a person once they respond to it and the outpouring of it from that person back into the world. When the gospel reaches a cold, dead heart and breathes life into it, it begins to function in the manner it was created for. For example, if a physical heart were to stop and essentially die, then be brought back to life by the hand of doctors, that heart would go from being “dead” and lifeless to “alive” and pumping blood to the rest of the body. When the spiritual heart (upon which our mind, will, and emotions are seated) is made “alive” through the message of the gospel the outcome is that person will begin to “pump”, or spread, the life giving message that saved them throughout their entire reach.

The gospel will inevitably bear fruit in you, if you have been truly saved by it, as it did among the Colossian church and as it does today. Epaphras heard the message and brought it home. The fruit of the gospel in you is initially repentance and faith in Christ alone for salvation, from there it “increases” to produce fruit in your own life, which are the fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) as well as fruits of holiness and good works, and the fruit of obedience (which of course includes evangelism, Matthew 28:16-20).

Once the gospel takes hold of you it is always increasing in you; molding, changing, transforming, and conforming us to become more and more like Christ.

Romans 8:29 ESV … For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

An Immediate Effect
While there is a definite process of sanctification that takes place throughout the entire life of every believer, there is also an “immediate effect” that the gospel has on the heart from the first day you “hear” it. (And by “hear” it I mean truly hearing it with spiritual ears of understanding granted by the Father in His timing. Jesus often said, “He who has ears to hear let him hear.” Not everyone who hears “hears“.) Paul said to the Colossians that the gospel was bearing fruit and growing among them since when?

Colossians 1:6 ESV … in the whole world it (the gospel) is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,

“Since the day you heard it”…. Immediately there was a change in the people who believed and responded in repentance and faith. Immediately they “understood the grace of God…. in truth” meaning, God’s grace can obviously be misunderstood and taken out of context but they got it, they saw themselves as wicked sinners in desperate need of Jesus their Savior and their hope of future glory, rather than broken people hoping for a better life here and now.

This kind of awakening comes only by the hand of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and He most often uses the mouths of men and women to deliver the news.

Romans 10:14-17 ESV … How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

So now we are faced with two roads, do you need to call out to God to open your ears to hear? or do you need to call out to God to open your mouth to speak? Whatever the case may be, don’t delay.

Preparing the Way,
~ Danae Martin

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Overcoming Fear of the Great Commission
There are as many methods as there are fears for Christians when they read and consider the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20. Many of us would agree that it is not easy to share our faith with friends, family, and especially….gasp….strangers. We fear rejection, we fear stumbling over our words, etc.  But maybe something is there in the words Jesus spoke to his eleven faithfuls that we’ve missed, and maybe it’s the secret to vanquishing our fears of evangelism. Let’s read the Commission together, Jesus and his disciples have just met on the mountain in Galilee where they have worshiped Him for the first time as their resurrected Lord.

      And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

(Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)

Think this is a passage just for global missionaries? It could be wishful thinking, but it’s not true, Jesus said this to his disciples and by saying it to them he said it to us, and by us I mean all of us Christians. If you’re thinking that evangelism is a gift for certain, special, chosen individuals, read Ephesians 4:11-12.

    And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

(Ephesians 4:11-12 ESV)

Yep, you read it right. The ones who’ve been given the “gift of evangelism” are responsible for “equipping the saints“, in other words, for “teaching the saints how to evangelize.” No one is exempt from this call, this “Great Commission”, and it’s possible we’ve been afraid of it only because we haven’t learned the secret to carrying it out. And I’m not talking about another method.

Recommended Resources
Before I share the secret to the Great Commission I just want to pause and say that a few years ago I was asked to teach a course on evangelism at the church I was currently attending. I had shown some zeal for sharing my faith but I had very little theology behind it which caused my eager efforts to produce a meager amount of fruit. However, in preparation for my class I providentially discovered Way of the Master (a ministry of Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron). And their course on evangelism, “Conquer your Fear, Share your Faith”, drastically affected my thinking on more levels than just a different method for witnessing. (Another great resource is Mark Cahill’s book “One Thing you can’t do in Heaven”.)

The Secret
The secret to the Great Commission is in Matthew 1:23.

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).
(Matthew 1:23 ESV)

One word….no, One Name; Immanuel (God with us). Jesus didn’t give us an impossible command he gave us himself. Matthew 28:20b (of the Great Commission) “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” I hope you’re not disappointed because it is amazing that he ended his mandate to preach the gospel to all nations in this way. The reason we are so fearful when it comes to sharing our faith must be because we have either forgotten or overlooked this most important promise of Jesus. We are not expected to “make a go” of this thing alone.  He is Immanuel, God with us.

The Power of Immanuel
If we are going to make disciples and teach them to obey all of Jesus’ commands it will require an inward transformation that is accomplished by the Holy Spirit as He fills us and teaches us to obey Jesus’ commands by continually conforming us to become more and more like Christ. What does that look like exactly?

    “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

(Matthew 10:24-25 ESV)

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
(Romans 8:29 ESV)

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

(2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV)

These verses explain that it’s a miraculous work of the Lord who is the Spirit, that we have been chosen to be conformed to be like Jesus, and we can expect to be not only rejected but “maligned“, which means to “speak harmful untruths about; speak evil of; slander; defame“. That last part may not seem like the kind of encouragement you were looking for to get out there and fulfill the Great Commission, but it is if you understand that Jesus is Immanuel.

Absolute Authority
In order to understand the weight that the name Immanuel holds, let’s take a second look at verse 18 of Matthew 28,

    And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
(Matthew 28:18 ESV)

What kind of authority does Jesus have? All, every last ounce, all-inclusive, complete and 100% control, power, dominion and rule. Jesus Christ is Sovereign, it has been granted to him by the Father. There is no room in his statement for any exceptions. All things spiritual, all things physical, the angels, the demons, animals, weather, government, people….all final authority belongs to Jesus. This means that Jesus sits on the highest throne and rules in his great wisdom which is beyond our comprehension. Jesus allows things to happen according to God’s good purposes, he saves all who will come according to God’s choosing (John 6:37), and “no power of hell, no scheme of man” has authority to change his plans. What sweet peace this should bring to those who trust in Him. Our God has all authority in heaven and on earth and our God is “God with us”.

If He is your King….
A final thought on what our response will be to Jesus commission; if all authority belongs to Christ and he commands us to “Go therefore and make disciples” and we say no, give excuses, or look for loopholes elsewhere in scripture are we really his disciples?

In the days of old if a subject to the King refused a command given from the throne they likely would have been executed or imprisoned. In modern times, if an employee of the President or Prime Minister disobeyed or neglected his orders they would probably be fired on the spot. God is merciful and shows us unbelievable grace, but if we claim that Jesus is our King then He is also our Ruler, and more than that he is our Savior. So our obedience to him should flow out of more than mandatory submission (which it does also), but from our of deep love and eternal gratitude for saving our souls from deserved wrath of God and an eternity spent in hell.

I gave a gospel tract to an elderly woman a couple of weeks ago when we were out for lunch after church. She had been eating alone and made conversation with our family a bit. I wish now that we had invited her to sit with us, but as I put the message of the gospel into her hands I was overcome by the nearness of eternity to this woman, especially at her age. When we left the restaurant I gave our waitress a gospel tract as well because I realized that eternity was just as looming for her at her young age as it was for Carol Burdett, the elderly woman I had just met. We have Immanuel, God with us, living in us and people all around us are waiting in line for entrance into eternity. Share Him.

Preparing the Way,

Danae Martin

The Value of Street Preaching: A.W. Tozer … Hailing from a tiny farming community in western La Jose, Pennsylvania, his conversion was as a teenager in Akron, Ohio. While on his way home from work at a tire company, he overheard a street preacher say: “If you don’t know how to be saved… just call on God.” Upon returning home, he climbed into the attic and heeded the preacher’s advice.

It’s amazing that He Overheard a street preacher…. you have no idea how many people hear you when you are preaching and will be the fruit of your voice.

My Son Max Understands His Call: For those of you who don’t know us, Danae and I make a practice of handing out Gospel tracts wherever we go. Max has watched us evangelize ever since he was 3 years old and now he has felt the burden for souls that we have modelled for him, his understanding of the gospel is taking root in his 5 year old frame through the amazing grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Generally speaking Danae and I will give tracts out as we go through the drive-thru, grocery check out, or after we have had a brief conversation with people. Not Max, he gets in the mall, pulls out his tracts and heads for the first person he sees. Many times though he will be looking at someone and all of a sudden say, “Mommy and Daddy! That lady needs a gospel tract”, then he’ll proceed to walk right up to her and give her a tract. The other day Danae went with the kids to the swimming pool and as soon as he got in there he wanted to hand out tracts. Danae told him that he should try and have a conversation with people first so that they will receive it better. Max never really has a conversation with strangers at all, simply because he usually has about a million other things going through his head, but he took her advice and as soon as they got into the elevator he jumped right into a conversation with some strangers. He chatted with them the whole ride down and at the bottom before they got out he handed the mom and her little boy a gospel message. Just hearing Danae tell the story stirred my heart so much, to see this little boy who has as many hang ups as any kid his age, loving people that much that he’s willing to engage in a conversation in order to give perfect strangers the eternally altering message of the gospel. I hold on to the eternal hope that God will draw and save all my children for His glory and fame, and that Max would be a faithful servant for the rest of his life.

My First Time Open Air Preaching: This video was shot at 3rd street promenade in Santa Monica and it was the first time I had ever done any open air preaching. If it hadn’t been for Tony Miano from Living Waters (LivingWaters.com) / Way of the Master, I would still most likely be a car preacher. You know, the kind of person who can preach up a storm from the safety of their vehicle. Tony told me it was time I stepped out of the car and stepped up on the box. Was I nervous? Of course I was, following Jesus’ call to preach the Gospel is always a scary thing, but that’s when we can boast in our weakness and His strength which gives God the Glory. We can know that without His grace we would never have the ability to carry out the commission.

Speaking of the Great Commission, in our modern day North American pop culture I think we can pretty much call it the “Great Omission”. Jesus calls us to preach the Gospel everywhere to all people, yet most of the church is so busy with church programs and their own life plans that the call to preach the Gospel pretty much gets ignored all together.

If you’re like I was, you know that you are supposed to obey the call of Christ to preach the Gospel, but you just don’t know how. I hope that this video will somehow be a tool in helping stir you up so that you go from resisting to enlisting.

As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
(2 Timothy 4:5 ESV)

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Three Ways Christ is Denied

Opening Thoughts: As I read this text tonight I was deeply convicted. I want to talk about three very specific ways a person can confess Christ, and furthermore three ways one can deny Him. For many of you the first two points may be a glaring and obvious, “I would never do that”, but most of us will feel the pain of the third denial. I’m not drawing any parallels here, but my hope is that as we read through to the third denial we will be like Peter and experience grief over our actions, then with a new hope rush toward to the risen Savoir, be filled with His Spirit and boldly proclaim the Good News.

Main Text: Luke 12:8-9 ESV .. “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

Matthew 10:32-33 ESV .. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

First Denial & Confession: In our main text from Luke, Jesus is explicitly speaking of denial in the face of persecution. Just prior to saying this He issued a serious warning to the crowds in regard to the teachings of the Pharisees and denouncing them as hypocrites. His message was clear as day, He was calling people to genuine repentance and trust in Him alone in place of the man-centered, extra-biblical, self-righteous attempt to please God that the Pharisees had burdened them down with. Any attempt to please God outside of Faith alone in Christ alone is like pounding in the nails instead of climbing on to the cross beside Him. Jesus was well aware that his message was going to spark rage into His religious opposer’s and that they would not only persecute and murder Him, but they would also heavily persecute and even massacre anyone who professed His name in exchange for their scandalous leadership. He has called everyone with ears to hear to be fearless of what man can do to you, because in the end, what more can they do to you after they kill you? Nothing. Christ had already made it evident, through raising the dead, that He had ultimate authority over death, so He was saying that “anyone who follows Me has no need to fear because, as you have seen, I will indeed raise you back up.”  With this Jesus preaches the doctrine of Hell harder than any man has dared. He sets Himself up as sinful man’s only hope of escaping the fury of God’s wrath. He declares that anyone who forsakes Him is trading their only chance of eternal deliverance for temporal comfort and they will inevitably be found in their sin on judgement day. Regardless of their church attendance, their acts of kindness or pious living, Jesus will distance himself from them on that day and they will lose their soul for eternity. I mean, if you think about it, for thousands of years men have gone to war and have sacrificed their lives for the good of the kingdom, their country and their families. Christ is worth far more than any freedom we could have on this earth.  The first denial is to turn in the face of, or for the fear of persecution, and the opposite is to stand strong and confess even to the point of death.

Second Denial & Confession: World Religions who do not confess Christ as the Son of God and the Only way in which anyone is saved from eternal death and hell is the second denial of Christ. Believe it or not, this type of denial has infiltrated the church in a large way. I have seen  missionaries stand up in Christian churches and declare that the God of Islam is the same God of the Christians, and that one can remain a Muslim and still be a Christian. I’ve also heard Pastors say they believed people would have eternal life if they were faithful to the only light they knew?!? And of course in this past year many professing believers have openly embraced Rob Bell’s teaching that in the end everyone makes it to heaven after they have paid their due. Sadly this isn’t a foreign concept in evangelical churches today. Jesus wasn’t a pushover and He didn’t mess His words up. Jesus emphatically said “I am THE way, THE truth and THE Life”, not, “A way, A truth and A life.” Are you ashamed or have you ever been embarrassed of the Narrow message of the Bible?

Mark 8:38 ESV .. For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

1 John 2:23 ESV .. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.

John 14:6 ESV .. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Third Denial is an Unwillingness to Confess: In Matthew 17:5 we read  that God spoke from heaven saying ……. “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” You have to stop and think for a moment, if you were standing there with Jesus and God spoke from heaven and said, “This is my Son, listen to him”,  I’m pretty sure most of us would be waiting with baited breath for Jesus to say something so we could listen right? I wish it were so, most of us have 3 or 4 copies of His Word right in our homes and yet almost entirely disregard the last command he gave us before He left. Let me ask a question, when Jesus gave the great commission did he say “Go on now, get out a here you guys and go love on some some people, and if an opportunity arises where you sense someone is seeking, share with them about my love in a culturally relevant way. Remember to always focus on on how intrinsically valuable they are and how deep down they have goodness in them. Don’t point them to the picture of the Bloody Cross which magnifies how desperately wicked we really are, after all that may offend them and we don’t want to do that”? I’m sure you all know that this is far from what Jesus said, but rather, “Go and preach the Gospel, make disciples and teach them to obey my commands”. His message does not lack love it is the very picture of love, yet many of us in the church can’t open our mouths to share the truth of the Gospel to those all around us. Instead we say things like, “It’s not my calling”, or, “I just show people the love of Jesus through my life”. Back to the words of God though, “This is My Son, Listen to Him”. If we are truly His children we should not only be obedient but it should be our great privilege to serve, suffer and even die for Him. Take a look at the passage below and notice how unstoppable the early Christians were.

Acts 8:1-4 ESV … And Saul approved of his execution.
And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went about Preaching the Word.

Even if through persecution we should lose our jobs or our families we should never cease to declare the message of the Gospel just like those early church Christians. These people were regular Christians back then, they weren’t the strange ones, they weren’t the fanatics, they were legit, genuine believers with a Biblical Gospel which was neither easy for a sinner to receive nor was it culturally relevant. In fact, it was anything but culturally relevant.

Acts 26:9-11 ESV “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

Paul persecuted them so hard that even when they left their homes and everything they knew and fled to other cities he pursued them and tracked them down. The more I think about these precious brothers and sisters the more I want what they had. They left their homes because if they stayed they would have died, but they weren’t running for fear of death, they were running so they could live and preach. A dead person can’t preach! They lived for the kingdom, they had the same zeal as Paul later had when he said, “To live is Christ and to die is gain”. They knew that everything in life was about making much of Christ and declaring His gospel to dying people even though it would cost most of them their own lives. Does our faith look like that? Do we live to make much of Christ? Do we share the whole gospel with people or do we leave the stuff about sin, hell and judgement out? The third denial is our failure to Listen to our Savoir and preach the Gospel to every creature. I don’t want to stand before the Lord with someone else’s blood on my hands because it made me feel uncomfortable. Do you?

Ezekiel 3:17-19 ESV “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

Preparing The Way
~Shane Martin

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Matthew 28:11-15

Every Verse Counts
I’m finally coming up on the final few verses in the gospel of Matthew after spending the past year reading/studying in this book. There are a couple of reasons why it’s taken so long to plow through only twenty eight chapters, the first being the undeniable truth that ALL Scripture is God breathed, and therefore NONE of it should be dismissed, skimmed over, thought irrelevant, or taken lightly. I mean, if God is responsible for every last word/story in the Bible (which 2 Tim.3:16 gives him credit) then everything is in there for a TIMELESS purpose, right? 1 Peter 1:25 says “the word of the Lord remains forever“, so that tells us that it was written for all the ages, and nothing in it is out of date. I personally don’t want to miss the message God is speaking through each and every verse because I’m on a strict “read through the Bible in a year” program.

My second reason for my lengthy stay in Matthew is, admittedly, my own human shortcomings. I’m not faithful to read every day as I plan to. The honest truth is that if I miss a few days of reading/studying God’s Word I get really tired and ugly towards people because I focus on myself instead of on Jesus. I’m so thankful for His Grace and Long-Suffering towards me, as Keith Green sang, “I know that I would surely fall away, except for grace, by which I’m saved.”

Before I was saved; however,  I used to beat myself up inside about being “out of the Word” for long periods of time and I felt the need to “make it up to God” before I could feel good about reading my Bible and praying again. This is called believing in Works Based Salvation, or depending on your own good works to give you right standing with God instead of depending on Jesus alone. It’s very easy to be blind to its presence, which is precisely what my devotions from Matthew focus on tonight.

Testimony of the Roman Guards
The following account takes place immediately after the angel from heaven descended and rolled back the stone that covered Jesus’ grave; he speaks to the two women who had come to see the tomb while the Roman guards lie on the ground “like dead men” from fear, then the women and angel depart, the guards come to and rush into the city to bear witness to the chief priests of the crazy stuff they just experienced.

 While they were going (the women), behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day. Matthew 28:11-15 ESV

These guards were Romans. To me this seems very significant because it means that they were not believers in the God of Israel so they had no reason to cover up the truth of what they saw (the angel and the empty tomb) other than fear of their own punishment for neglecting their duties as guards, which is what would be presumed by the governor. Neglect of this sort was very serious and often ended in execution, so while the guards were terrified by the angel of the Lord, their fear of man was much greater and the Pharisees jumped at the chance to take advantage of their distress.

There are two things going on here which I find bewildering, first is the blindness of the guards and second, the blindness of the Pharisees. The guards had just witnessed a mighty demonstration of the power of God. They saw a supernatural, angelic being with their own eyes that caused them to collapse with fear, and when they awoke, the massive and immovable stone that had covered the entrance to the tomb was rolled aside with no other explanation than a heavenly one, and Jesus’ body was gone. In spite of the evidence they are blind to the truth and choose to accept the bribe from the chief priests to lie about what they saw. To me this proves that God allows some people to remain blind in order for his will to be accomplished. There is no other good reason why the guards should not have believed. And on the other hand, if the Pharisees had not been so blind themselves, they would have had wonderful opportunity to share the truth of God with these guards when they came to them first with the news.

Then comes the issue with the Pharisees response to the guard’s news, which brings me to the point of the passage….

Blindness and Hypocrisy
The Pharisees taught the Commandments and salvation by keeping them (works based salvation), within three days they murder the Innocent and lie innumerable times in order to maintain their power and control over the church. They broke at least half the Commandments in this short time frame! The shocking part isn’t that they sinned (that’s what sinners do) it’s their hypocrisy and their blindness to it.

 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! Matthew 6:22-23 ESV

The light that the Pharisees thought they had was actually darkness; their minds were darkened and they could not see the truth even when it slapped them in the face. They could have just taken a step back for a moment when those Roman guards rushed in with their miraculous testimony and said to themselves, “There’s no reason for these men to lie to us about this, it must be true, and if true then Jesus was telling the truth. He DID rise from the dead and he IS the Son of God!” But instead they assemble, “take counsel”, and come up with a hefty bribe for the guards to keep their mouths shut. They weren’t trying to preserve the church or God’s Law, they were trying to preserve themselves and their position.

All Works No Fruit
I used to have the heart of a Pharisee. Strange idea, I know. Basically, what that means is, “all works no fruit”. Work, work, work in the church, talk, talk, talk about God, then sin, sin, sin without freedom. It is very hard to see yourself this way if you are stuck in the middle of it, and truthfully it takes a supernatural work of God to see it, but that’s what He does….He makes the blind able to see. I spent ten years pursuing God through works, trying to please him but always failing and stumbling over the same rotten sins again and again, until one day He saw fit to open my eyes. I realized my hypocrisy, through the work of the Holy Spirit, and saw myself for the despicable sinner that I was for the first time.

The Ten Commandments are what opened my eyes and what will open the eyes of all who are saved whether they realize it or not. In short, the Ten Commandments summarize what sin is. If you don’t know what sin is or if you’re guilty of it, look at the Commandments and you’ll know. Growing up in a Christian home, I didn’t really think I was guilty of much until I realized the penalty alone for breaking God’s law about lying.

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Revelation 21:8 ESV

The Pharisees tried to keep the Commandments and it made them hypocrites (they lied, murdered, stole, etc.), so we shouldn’t make the same mistake. We can’t just TRY to live good, Christian lives and not sin. Once we look in the mirror (the Commandments) and see how dirty we are (our sin) then it’s time to be washed (faith alone in Jesus’ blood).

Rags to Riches
All our hard work for social justice, peace on earth, evangelism, preparing a good sermon, or planning the next church event will be seen as “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) if mustered up on our own steam in secret hopes of our own glory, we will be “guilty of good works” as were the Pharisees. But if we repent of our pride and trying to please God aside from Christ and then hide ourselves in Christ, THEN we will please God, have peace with Him, and be forgiven.

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:3-4 ESV

We can be forgiven because of Jesus. A peasant’s two cents would never impress a king, nothing we could offer God could please him unless it’s sealed with the blood of His Son. Are you sealed with His blood? Have you been working to please God on your own merit? Ask his forgiveness today and be free to serve him with a cheerful heart, and instead of works cast aside as rags you will bear rich fruit for God’s glory.

Preparing the Way,
~ Danae Martin