Words of Truth

Fellow christian, we will never die!  Those of us who have taken the Lord at His word and have “come to Him by faith” by doing so, have found refuge and rest for our weary and once-dead souls.  You are now ALIVE from the grave, never to return, once for all delivered from death!  We were, and many still are, very much in darkness, but now we are sons and daughters in the marvelous light of God's abiding kingdom.  We have been translated from the realm of death and eternal torment and have moved to the “firm status” of heirs of the everlasting kingdom of God's Son, Jesus the Christ!  Overwhelmingly Amazing.

Sadly, it seems that we forget that we were once dead and now have been made alive  in Christ.  I Pet.1:18-21 states, “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb, without blemish and without spot.  He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”

We are easily absorbed into the material world all around us without realizing how far we fall short of the confession of “Jesus as Lord” that once poured forth from our lips.  In Rom. 12:2 we are commanded to, “not be conformed to this world” but rather, we are to be daily transforming our minds by the renewing of our minds in God's word.

When the circumstances of our lives as christians get dire and dark, only then do we actually see and comprehend the true nature of our condition.  We sense that without the His abiding presence, we are totally lost.  

We must recapture the attitude of raw appreciation for our deliverance from so great a death as our apostolic forefathers faithfully understood when the Lord launched them to be His ambassadors of His message on the day of Pentecost.  In Acts 4:12 we have their powerful message summarized with these simple words, “nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  

These words spoken to the religious power brokers of the apostle's day, the keepers of the truth, the magistrates of justice and equity in the land of Palestine, were spoken by common men to an august and regal council of 70 well educated and properly birthed men of renown, known as the Sanhedrin.  The same council that sentenced Jesus to death as a common criminal.  Notice the peril of any religious community that loses its saltiness, it seeks to crucify the work of Christ's people.

All true believers who have embraced at face value the reality of our salvation, have been saved from a certain destruction and an impending doom that haunts all men.  But somehow we forget this awesome truth and allow complacency to sneak in subtly in our attempt to make a distinct culture that is friendly to us and that is OK, but not totally alive to God.  

It doesn't matter what denomination or non-denominational church you join, most, if not all are touched with a subtle sleepiness that allows for complacency to take over the mind and heart of the church.  The culture of “church” is designed by the angel of light, Satan, to put us to sleep so that we distance ourselves from our calling in Christ to be the light of the world and salt of the earth. 

By declaring “all men as sinners and under the wrath of God” without hope in this world, dead and lost in their sins, overwhelmingly estranged from the way of righteousness.  If we set our values on a most prominent public stage, I believe only then will we see positive results and real change.  In other words, let's get the message of a crucified Savior in the marketplace not to sell stuff but to be honest with folks about the cry of heaven.

In light of our dire situation today, the day has come for God to rise and for all of His enemies to scatter (Ps 66:1).  When God arises and raises His precious sheep from certain destruction, only then will we see the situation as God sees it.  Go through hard circumstances as a soldier of the cross and you will feel the resistance on every front of American life.

When Peter, James, John, and Paul are brought before the political authorities they are not concerned about how they represented themselves as the church of Jesus, they  were to present openly and unashamedly the Lordship of Jesus over the nations.  What do you think would happen if one of Jesus radical preachers were to go before Congress to discuss the matters of morality and political concern for christians in our country?  They would not present their qualifications, No, with great unction and Spirit-led skill, they would declare Jesus Lord through the words that Christ's Spirit brings to their heart to say.

Eph. 2:4-5 reminds us, “ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” This is our confession and our theme today, and it shall mark all our days on our journey to heaven's glory.  From the beginning to the end we carry this reality within our bodies and for the entire duration of our lives. We are and always will be dead men walking outside of Christ.  But Christ saved us through His resurrection power.  We have this power within our heart.  No matter what troubles assail us in these days we operate under the blessed assurance that have been saved from the wrath of God. 

We have no other life or way but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  To speak life and salvation in no other Name but Jesus of Nazareth.  In places where men and women can respond to this public declaration. they must know of a salvation to come from His Powerful Throne as they receive the timeless message of true salvation, eventually revival will set in! 

The Holy Spirit filled our forefathers with boldness to declare a resurrected Jesus to a world who thought Him dead, which by the way, was for them, political suicide.  We are alive to do nothing but a wild and unknowable execution of the spiritual power of God to tell men there is life in no other name but Jesus Christ.  

These heart are hearts of hungry and desperate men and women who simply are charged with a mandate to revive a dead church.  Do we want to see thousands of souls saved?  Then I exhort you to put out of your mind any political action, and put in its place an unvarnished devotion to preach Jesus in public places.  Let's create a stir that will have us drug before governmental leaders all over the land.

These words from Rom. 10:9-10, “if you confess with your mouth that Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Mark the way for us.  The same God who raised Jesus from a very real grave, is the same Jesus who has raised us from a very real death.  There is much power in Christ's resurrection to fix any problem to you have, but your very real and serious problem with a very holy and powerful God. 

Your confession of Jesus as Lord launches you into the wildest adventure of your life, all bets for comfort and ease are off.  You belong to Christ, you have been purchased at a great price.  You have been saved to press the kingdom of God forward in the land.  You have been delivered from a real death to trust in His eternal salvation.  It is real and accomplished in Christ, no matter what threats of doom come upon you.  

Salvation is salvation.  We are saved from a very real death.  We are already seated with Christ in heavenly places.  On this earth we are recognized in the class of alien and sojourner.  We own nothing, we do not possess stuff here.  No, our assignment is to follow our Lord as He guides our feet to do whatever His Spirit leads us to do in the context of the confession of our own lips, “Christ my Lord.”  

Why should we walk this way? Because He is forever enthroned as our King, the captain of our salvation.  He holds the keys of the kingdom of heaven and He has given these keys to His church, to the extreme power position of whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.  Mt.16:18

Let's agree that it is God's time to rise and shine.  Let us awake from our sleep and live and do like we have never done before. By waiting for God and His power to come from His Throne together we will see something happen, I guarantee it!.  Until He comes, let's wait patiently and do whatever His Spirit guides us to do, in concert with His word and way.

Many Blessings,

Jonathan