Sin is the reason and the cross is the remedy. Neighbor we need to pray for our nation right now as it faces yet another challenge through the onslaught of Hurricane Rita, less than 24 hours away from landfall as we write this message. No matter WHAT or WHY these events are happening to our nation (Hurricane Katrina hit less than 3 weeks ago), we must ask the Lord to soften our hearts, have compassion on those in need, and pray for mercy and then pray for MORE mercy. The very foundations of America are at stake right now. If the foundations are destroyed, what will the righteous do? Isaiah and James speaks of men "howling" in fear and travail in the last days. That is happening even as we pen these words. I'm sure that will continue in the coming days. There is a hope in this writer's heart that through these events the nation as a whole finds itself back to God and repents and we see an outpouring of the Holy Ghost unprecedented in the annals of human history. We've seen the unprecedented title placed on two tragedies. I'd love to see the liberal news media say the same thing and use the same term about an outpouring of revival on America! The Holy Spirit is in charge of the perfection of this work in our hearts and He will do that - AS LONG AS OUR FAITH IS IN THE CROSS! The complete provision of God is always released through the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. Attempting to find our provision for any thing - be it spiritual or physical - need - outside the realm of the cross of Christ is extremely dangerous. And that is why the church today is filled with so much false doctrine and error is because it's sought to promise provision to people without pointing those people to the CROSS!
By Chris McDonald
Hurricane Rita 9/22/05 - Satellite Image taken at 11:30 P.M. Friday 9/22/05
"The Church in America has so many items in her shop window that the cross is no longer noticed." - A Christian in Singapore making comment of their view of the American Church
This message is about the reason for the problem and the only remedy of the problem!! The world right now is facing one of it's most perilous times in history and the times ahead are only going to get worse. Many wonder why we are seeing the catastrophic events around us including two major hurricanes that have hit the United States just in the last 3 weeks as of the date of this writing in late September 2005. In addition to the hurricanes, the nation has experienced destruction through destructive tornadoes in Wisconsin in late August, and even small, but damaging earthquakes in central California on 9-22. Terrorism continues to be a threat to our freedoms and national sovereignty as we stumble in the dark seeking a solution to fighting the enemies of this once great nation. This nation is still great but the reason America is great is not it's military or economy - it's because of Holy Ghost filled children of God who still believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him Crucified who are praying and interceding for mercy to be released on our nation instead of judgment.
A few days ago I listened to a national radio broadcaster scold those who felt that God had caused the two recent Hurricanes - Katrina and Rita, which is less than 24 hours away from slamming SW Louisiana with 130-plus mph winds as of the time we're writing this message. His view of these storms were that they were just random acts of nature and that God was not directly involved in these events.
Neighbor let me make it clear what this ministry feels about the events and the role of the Heavenly Father in them. At the very least we must all agree that God is in control of this world and in reality involved in EVERYTHING that happens on this Planet. Satan is the prince and the power of the air without a doubt, but Satan gets his marching orders from God! NOTHING Satan does is done outside of God's radar and without God allowing him to do it. The earth is roaring and the waves raging right now because of SIN. SIN IS THE REASON! Sin is the reason for the storms, the earthquakes, the hurricanes, the tornadoes, the devastation, the terrorism and the onslaught of rebellion in America. We live in a fallen world, with a fallen human race controlling the day to day events of life. Adam's fall sent man into a free fall spiritually that man will never get out of without the deliverance of Jesus Christ and the power of HIS blood. Man is more LOST than he'll never know just as th child of God is more saved than many of us truly and fully realize! Our salvation is not built upon man, it's built upon THE MAN, CHRIST JESUS, the Lamb of Glory, the Son of God.
Paul said the creation GROANS with the corruption of SIN and as a result of the corruption it is literally groaning and travailing itself awaiting the Second Coming of the Lord which will bring deliverance to the entire creation.
Romans 8:19-28 - For the earnest expectation of the
creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. [20] For the creature
was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath
subjected the same in hope,
[21] Because the creature itself also
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of
the children of God. [22] For we know that the whole creation groaneth and
travaileth in pain together until now. [23]
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the
Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to
wit, the redemption of our body. [24] For we are saved by hope: but hope that is
seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? [25] But if we
hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Some have said God singled out New Orleans to bring judgment upon it for its wickedness. That point I'm not going to adamantly say "yea" or "nay" on. I will say this though. God always sends mercy and grace FIRST before He moves in judgment. God's patience with a city always is longer than ours probably. When Jesus went into Samaria and preached and they rejected Him, His disciples implored Him to call fire down on them. They were rebuked by the Lord who warned them "you do not know what sprit you are of." So before we callously say New Orleans was judged for its sin we had better pause and remember that we ALL are sinners, some saved by grace, but still ALL IN NEED OF GOD'S MERCY. God sent mercy to New Orleans in Katrina by shifting the storm east at the last minute to spare the city from taking a direct hit. Most of the flooding that hit the city was because of man-made errors in the levee systems. Engineers for years warned the government there of the unstableness of the system, saying that if the city was hit with a catastrophic hurricane there would terrible consequences. Those consequences were felt three weeks ago. Mississippi suffered a greater deal of damage than Louisiana but the news media's focus has been on America's historic city.
I feel God was warning not only the city of New Orleans, but the nation, once again about it's sin. Homosexual parades were being invited to come and march through Bourbon Street by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin just two weeks prior to Katrina. That event was cancelled! Right after the hurricane the city fell into utter chaos because of the rebellion and gang-related events that literally shook the city to its foundation. Thousands of caches of weapons and drugs were taken from hospitals and damaged shops throughout New Orleans in the dark hours following the flood waters inundating the Big Easy. Some of these gangs had come from other cities to literally make New Orleans a war zone. Bourbon Street had been the scene of Mardis Gras, a yearly event that blasphemes God and glorifies all that is of Satan. But now the same area once given over to perversion is now under water.
I heard this morning as I'm writing this message that there were actual hurricane "parties" going on in the heart of New Orleans in anticipation of Hurricane Rita. These parties were not prayer vigils believe me. In the wake of the chaos the American news media along with many voices in the Democratic Party have come out accusing the Bush Administration of racism because the reaction was not as quick as they feel it should have been. Many felt that had New Orleans been a predominantly white city instead of African-American, the pace of recovery would have been quicker. It's amazing that in the aftermath of Katrina not one single ACLU leader was found helping feed a hungry soul or clothe a naked child. Not one time did I see Jesse MORON Jackson lift a finger to assist the hungry and homeless or donate some of his ill-gotten gain for relief. Instead Jackson got on national television arguing over the definition of refugee and hurling insults and accusations against the President.
Not one time did I see Al Sharpton, Louis Farrakhan or any other major "civil" rights individual in America come out and assist the recovery, yet found all the time in the world to trash the President and drop hints that the reasons relief was not more forthcoming was the fact New Orleans was largely black. I'm not going to dignify this stupidity and moronic statements with a response. All I have to say is that this type of cynicism and blasphemy is just piling up greater judgment against the nation. We need a humble heart right now, not an arrogance and pride that trashes all things righteous and glorifying all things sinful.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who wrote a personal handwritten letter to the gay community inviting them to come take over the city in December for one of their events, himself blasphemed God on national radio taking the Lord's name in vain in interviews he gave a few days after the hurricane blaming the federal government for their slow response without admitting he himself had a GREAT DEAL of responsibility for what happened in the hours leading up to the tragedy. The governor of Louisiana was given notice by the White House on Sunday night before the storm hit that President Bush wanted to send national guard troops into the city but refused their help. LIVES WERE LOST in RED TAPE and POLITICS! God is in the LIFE business, not POLITICS! The reason for these things?? SIN! Sin is the reason friend. Man's problem is SIN. Katrina was a warning to not only New Orleans but us ALL to get ready for the rapture and purify ourselves and hearts before the Lord; we are called to repent of our sins and humble ourselves before HIM to avert further judgment.
Witnessing how an act of nature brought on by the earth's groanings brought our government to its knees was something to behold. That should give us PAUSE to recognize that America's so-called invincibility is not so invincible. Pride cometh before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. The rebellion and cynicism of this nation REEKS in the face of God. It mocks anything that is godly and applauds anything that is wicked and evil. The spirit of demons so infested New Orleans before this storm that there have been news reports of national guardsmen encountering supernatural events as they guarded certain areas of the city. New Orleans has been a hub for all types of witchcraft, voodoo and black magic. Katrina, which means purifying, and Rita, which means "pearl" and "light," may cause certain ones to see the hand of God. I make that last statement with a sober thought knowing that MOST DIDN'T with Katrina and most will NOT even with the flooding of Rita! The spirit and attitudes of those in the media and the entire nation about these storms remind me of what John saw in Revelation of what men's attitudes will be during the Great Tribulation:
Rev. 9:18-21
By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke,
and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. [19] For their power is
in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and
had heads, and with them they do hurt. [20] And the rest of the men which were
not killed by these plagues
yet repented not of
the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of
gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor
hear, nor walk: [21] Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their
sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Rev. 16:9-11
And men were scorched with great heat,
and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they
repented not to give him glory. [10] And the fifth angel poured out his
vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they
gnawed their tongues for pain, [11] And blasphemed the God of heaven because of
their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
Rev. 16:21 - And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every
stone about the weight of a talent: and
men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was
exceeding great.
Isaiah writes
in the 52nd chapter that when the Lord's name is "continually blasphemed," that
we will KNOW HIS NAME and KNOW that in that day that it is HE who is speaking! "Behold,
it is I," says the Lord.
Isa 52:5-6- Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people
is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the
LORD; and my name continually every day is blasphemed. Therefore my people shall
know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth
speak: behold, it is I.
Neighbor, the LORD IS SPEAKING TO US THROUGH THESE TWO TRAGEDIES. No, it's not the end of the world, but these ARE the beginning of sorrows spoken of by Jesus that he foretold would increase in intensity prior to His Second Coming. These things are going to become more and more common place as we draw closer to the rapture.
In December 2004 the world witnessed a 30-foot wall of water swallow up Indonesia and SE Asia and shake the earth on its axis. There are some scientists that say the Earth is still reeling on its axis as a result of that event in December.
Before that time in the summer of '04, Florida was hit with four separate storms within 3 months of each other. This year we have seen the seas roaring and continuing as well. GOD IS SPEAKING. GOD IS SPEAKING. GOD IS SPEAKING. What is He saying? He's commanding us TO REPENT!!! He's commanding us to HUMBLE ourselves and plead for MERCY instead of taking our fists and shaking them in His face to blaspheme the events as happening. God is not even being recognized in these storms one iota - EVEN BY MANY IN THE CHURCH. Neighbor, at the very very LEAST, HE IS SPEAKING. HE IS SPEAKING! HE IS SPEAKING. HE IS SPEAKING. HE IS SPEAKING.
Acts 17:28-30 - For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. [29] Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. [30] And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: [31] Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
God is going the judge this world in righteousness! He is going to judge this world BY THAT MAN whom He hath ordained - JESUS CHRIST, the SON OF THE LIVING GOD! The assurance we have that this is coming is that He has RAISED CHRIST FROM THE DEAD! That's why we preach Christ Crucified! That's why we preach the cross and point men to the only REMEDY for the REASON! The reason is SIN, the remedy is the CROSS! The reason for this world going into convulsions is SIN; the remedy is THE CROSS!
The Seas Are Roaring
Luke 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and
upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves
roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things
which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
The two words in the headlines over the past two weeks have been "FEAR" and "SEAS!" Neighbor, Jesus told us that when these signs are being seen and they are intensifying we can know that His coming is getting closer! There is a spirit of "distress" among all nations right now, but especially America. The seas and the waves are ROARING and men's hearts are failing because of FEAR. I have heard over and over the last 3 weeks of people who are walking in such fear that they have experienced life-threatening medical conditions and it will only get worse. We are in the last days. I remember hearing a preacher in 1998 stating he didn't feel we were in the last days. Got a news flash for that preacher - READ THE BIBLE friend. Read the Bible and read the headlines.
WE ALL need to repent and seek God in this hour. This is not the hour to point fingers and blame anyone for what is happening. These events are sent to send us to our knees neighbor. These events are sent to bring us to a place we recognize that something is going on here that is BIGGER than anything a human being can control or stop. God is SPEAKING. GOD IS SPEAKING. GOD IS SPEAKING. Maybe in this speaking there is an element of His judgment being released but neighbor in His judgment He is STILL releasing MERCY. He is STILL releasing MERCY on a nation that does nothing but blaspheme His name and try its hardest to take Him out of everything in our lives. When God finally judges this nation there will be nothing left. And child of God before you beat your chest in self-righteousness, know this - when God judges a nation - HE STARTS WITH HIS OWN PEOPLE! We need to take a look at ourselves right now as the CHURCH in America. The church has backslid so much and stopped preaching a message filled with the convicting power of the Holy Ghost that the nation listens to a siren song proclaiming everything is going to be ok and dandy in the future. If Katrina and Rita don't get our thinking changed to the fact the times ahead will NOT be fine and dandy then maybe, just maybe, we'll start preaching the true gospel again!
1 Peter 4:17-18
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it
first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of
God? [18] And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and
the sinner appear?
Sin is the reason, the gospel of Christ Crucified is the remedy! Sin is the reason, the CROSS the remedy! Neighbor, when God deals with us, our riches will not save us. Our military will not save us. Our vaunted economy will not save us. Our so-called prestige in the world won't save us. Our enemies will rejoice over our destruction. It is time to HEAR the voice of God who is stating, "IT IS I!" "IT IS I!" IT IS I"! IT IS I!"
James 5:1-5
Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon
you. [2] Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth eaten. [3] Your
gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against
you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together
for the last days. [4] Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down
your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, cries: and the cries of them
which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath. [5] Ye have
lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts,
as in a day of slaughter. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been
wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. [6] Ye have
condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient
therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth
for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he
receive the early and latter rain.
Isaiah said that the nations and peoples on earth are HOWLING. James told the RICH to weep and HOWL for miseries were coming upon them. Neighbor, if these two hurricanes have told us anything, they have told us that our riches and wealth can't stop a storm with 130 mph winds from destroying everything our riches build and plant!!!! And not to be callous but those who lost their lives in these storms were not able to stop their fate with their money! A million dollars could not have kept the destruction from hitting New Orleans. NEIGHBOR, it's take we wake up! It's time we get a hold of reality and see what is happening before us. If you don't want to believe God is judging America with these hurricanes that is ok, but you had better at least recognize HE IS SPEAKING! God is SPEAKING. GOD IS SPEAKING. GOD IS SPEAKING, GOD IS SPEAKING!
The Reason: Sin
In the field of medicine, if a doctor cannot diagnose a condition, usually he cannot provide a cure. The diagnosis of the human problem as well as the reasons behind the things we speak of in this message if SUPREME IMPORTANCE! The Bible's diagnosis as we have stated already over and over IS SIN! No other book in the world, unless it derives from the Bible, diagnosis the problem as such. Man looks at these things as just "acts of nature," and "random coincidences." Others go further and do the unspeakably stupid in blaming people for events that are only controlled by God. The environmentalists of America screamed 3 weeks ago that "global" warming is causing the hurricanes. MORONS. LOOK TO HEAVEN. HEAR WHAT GOD IS SAYING and you may find out the REAL reason behind the hurricanes! It's SIN! SIN IS THE PROBLEM OF ALL HUMANITY - rich and poor, young and old, male or female, white or black, short and tall. ALL ARE ALIKE in that we are born with a SIN NATURE that must be dealt with through the blood of the Cross of Christ.
We may call sin by various names - which the modern church world has done so glibly the last few years - but it doesn't change the diagnosis. The world offers the church a lot of fancy, complicated names, but the room problem remains the SAME! A person is unable to deal effectively with their lives until they face the reality of the root problem in their lives. The Bible says this in Romans 3:23:
Romans 3:23
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
The root cause
of sin is not so much "acts," as it is a nature. It's a nature that rejects
Christ and giving His rightful place in our lives, leading lives what withhold
God's glory that ALL of us owe HIM! We have ALL sinned and come short of the
glory of God. That is why we need a remedy!
The Remedy
The story of the Bible is the story of redemption. The Bible deals in the very first chapter of Genesis with the creation of the first man, Adam. In the second and third chapters of Genesis we see man's fall and God's answer to that fall. God's answer has always been the same to sin and rebellion - blood. In relation to this a single word runs through the pages of the Word of God in every single letter and word the Holy Ghost breathed in it's pages - ATONEMENT. The word literally means means at-one-ment.
2 Cor. 5:17-21 - Therefore if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are
become new. [18] And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by
Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; [19] To wit,
that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
[20] Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by
us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. [21] For he hath
made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him.
Genesis 1:26-27
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over
the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth. [27] So God created man in his own image, in the image of God
created he him; male and female created he them.
Genesis 3:1-8 - Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the
field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God
said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? [2] And the woman said
unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: [3] But of
the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye
shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. [4] And the serpent
said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: [5] For God doth know that in the
day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods,
knowing good and evil. [6] And when the woman saw that the tree was good for
food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one
wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband
with her; and he did eat. [7] And the eyes of them both were opened, and they
knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made
themselves aprons. [8] And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the
garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the
presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
Genesis 3:13-15 - And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that
thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. [14]
And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art
cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly
shall thou go, and dust shall thou eat all the days of thy life: [15] And I will
put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it
shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel.
That what atonement really means - that God and the sinner are brought into the relationship in which that at ONE. A more common word today is reconciliation. Through the cross and what Jesus accomplished there, God and the sinner are reconciled to each other. There is no other source where man and God can be one except the confines of the BLOOD OF CHRIST. It is also this same and only parameter that the HOLY SPIRIT works in the lives of those who name the name of Jesus!
Atonement in the Old Covenant and the New Covenant are translated differently but have roots in the same meaning. In Hebrew the word "atonement," is "Kippur," which means "covering." The Day of Atonement was a day of covering! By the sacrifices offered on that day, the sins of the people were covered - but only for one years. The next year at the same time, their sins had to be covered once more. The sacrifices offered that day provided no permanent solution, therefore, to the problem of sin; they merely provided a temporary covering. On each successive Day of Atonement, that covering was extended for one more year.
The picture of atonement in the New Covenant is totally different. We see this when we look at two passages in Hebrews - the book that deals, above all others, with Jesus as our High Priest and with the sacrifice He made on our behalf.
Hebrews 10:3-4
But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
[4] For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away
sins.
Hebrews 9:26
For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now
once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself.
Hebrews 10:3-4 speaks of the
sacrifices of the Old Covenant. The central issue here is TAKING AWAY sis, not
merely covering them. In Hebrews 9:26, on the other hand, the writer speaks
about what Christ accomplished at the Cross! In direct contrast to the Old
Covenant sacrifices, Christ has PUT AWAY SIN BY THE SACRIFICE OF HIMSELF!" In
other words, He just didn't "push them back," or just cover them. He covered
them without a doubt, but HE TOOK THEM AWAY! The Old Covenant sacrifices
reminded people of the fact that sin had not been dealt with and provided a
covering that was valid only for one year. When John the Baptist introduced
Christ in John 1:28-29, he proclaimed that the Lamb of God had come to "TAKE
AWAY" the sin of the world!" Notice he said, "SIN," not "sins," indicating that
Christ would come to not only cover acts of disobedience but change the one
committing those acts by changing the very nature that bred sin to begin with.
He came to set the captive free. He came to destroy the power and nature of
Satan in the lives of the human race for those who would but BELIEVE in what He
did at the cross and keep their faith anchored in HIS SACRIFICE!
God's perfect remedy for the reason is the CROSS! When I speak of the cross, I'm not speaking of some piece of metal or wood that people hang around their necks like some human talisman to ward off demon spirits, but I am talking about the SACRIFICE of JESUS CHRIST and what He did for us there on the Cross. The cross was a SACRIFICE for all humanity to destroy the very power and nature of sin that is destroying millions today:
Hebrews 7:27
Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for
his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered
up himself.
Hebrews 9:14-15
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered
himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God? [15] And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament,
that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under
the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal
inheritance.
The word, "OFFER" refers to what a priest did when he made a sacrifice. But on the CROSS, Jesus offered up HIMSELF, that is to say, He became BOTH THE PRIEST and the SACRIFICE! My Lord, I feel that. As Priest, He offered the sacrifice, but He Himself WAS the Sacrifice, the VICTIM. He offered HIMSELF. Only ONE Priest was good enough to make that type offering friend. ONLY ONE. ONLY ONE. ONLY ONE. ONLY ONE!!! ONLY ONE! JESUS CHRIST was the ONE who and HIM alone could make an offering like that acceptable to God.
In Hebrews 9, the Holy Spirit shows us through the writer that Christ offered Himself "through the eternal Spirit" offered Himself without spot to God." This refers to the Holy Spirit, whose participation in the sacrifice was essential. Every phase of the redemptive process each Person of the Godhead was directly involved! That's how important man's salvation was to God. That's the depth of God's MERCY and GRACE to a fallen human race that deserves hell itself for it's rebellion, but God who is RICH in MERCY, offers salvation to!
Incarnation - The Father incarnated the Son in the womb of Mary by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35)
Baptism In the Jordan River - The Spirit descended on the Son, and the Father spoke His approval from heaven (Matthew 3:14-17)
Public Ministry - The Father anointed the SON with the Spirit (Acts 10:38)
The Crucifixion - Jesus offered Himself to the Father THROUGH the SPIRIT (Heb. 9:14)
The Resurrection - The Father resurrected the Son by the Spirit - (Acts 2:32; Romans 1:4)
Pentecost - From the Father the Son received the SPIRIT, whom He then poured out on His disciples (Acts 2:33)
Acts
2:33
Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the
Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see
and hear.
American needs an outpouring of what
He has shed forth! WE need "THIS," which is the HOLY GHOST! America needs
revival and a renewal of the preaching of the cross to send us to our knees in
deep contrition before God asking and begging for mercy upon our souls.
The Eternal Spirit and the Eternal Cross
Hebrews 9:14-15
How much more shall the blood of Christ,
who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge
your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? [15] And for this cause
he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the
redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which
are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
The word ETERNAL describes something that transcends time. What happened on the cross may be a fact of history but it's more important than that. Jesus took upon Himself the sins of al people, of ALL time - past, present and future - transcending time and making the sacrifice of the cross available to ALL who will come. It's an invitation today to "COME" to the waters, YOU who are thirsty! It's an open door to those who will come to Him in Faith.
Your sin, my sin, the sins of all who have ever lived, and of people not yet born, cam on Jesus through the eternal SPIRIT. He took the entire sin of the entire human race on HIMSELF. That's why the church should hold its head in shame and remorse that we have stopped preaching the CROSS! That's why we should rend our clothes and sit in sackcloth and ashes that we have offered our people other things and mixed the pure preaching of the gospel with a humanistic-based gospel that puts man on the throne instead of God.
I heard a Christian in Singapore once state about the American church, "the Church in America has so many items in her shop window that the cross is no longer noticed." Neighbor, the CROSS is the ONLY THING STANDING BETWEEN US AND THE APOSTASY foretold in Scripture coming upon Planet Earth. The cross is the only thing standing between a fallen human race and hell itself.
We can find a book on every Christian bookstore shelf about "how to have a better marriage," "how to raise godly children," "how to understand your own personality," "how to keep a better house," and on and on and on and au nausea. Some of these books may have merit friend, but they won't change your life!!! They may change your behavior to a small degree but they won't change the HEART! The cross is the ONLY SOURCE OF GRACE that can do that!
"Put No Other Objects Around It."
Exodus 20:24-25
An altar of earth thou shall make unto me, and shall sacrifice thereon thy burnt
offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places
where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. [25] And if
thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shall not build it of hewn stone: for
if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
Deut. 16:21
Thou shall not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord
thy God, which thou shall make thee.
God gave the Israelites specific instructions about the kind of altar on which they were to offer their sacrifices. Their altar, a type of the Cross of Christ, was to made only of materials in their natural condition, not modified in ANY way by man - earth or unhewn stone. Anything added by human hands would defile it. There was also not to be ANYTHING that would distract the attention of the Israelites from the altar on which they were to offer their sacrifices. There was no place for human art or ingenuity that would divert their attention from the crude, stark simplicity of the altar. That is a lesson for us, too. We are not to surround the cross with anything. We are to put nothing on the cross or in FRONT of the cross!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Cross is an ugly scene. Upon the cross we see what sin DID to Jesus and what Jesus did to sin! We see the ugliness of man's nature just as the crucifixion was a stark and horrible scene. There is no way to "gloss" it over and glamorize it as so many church leaders try to do today through humanistic psychology and new age humanism based gospel techniques. MAN IS A SINNER and no matter what the Rick Warrens or Bill Hybels of this world say, man does not need an "evolutionary" experience with God where the "grow" into stages of salvation. Man needs a REDEEMER, not purpose! Man needs a deliverer, not purpose! Man needs to be set free from the powers of darkness that grip and control his darkened heart and fallen spirit, not a psychology based mumbo jumbo formula for success and peace. There IS no peace for the wicked!!!! And those whose faith is not in the cross and trusting in Jesus are those who the Bible terms "wicked!"
The cross will forever be at the center of our faith, unique to Christianity. No other religious system - not Islam nor Buddhism nor Hinduism nor ay of the countless cults - possess anything that corresponds to or even remotely resembles the cross. When we place our faith ANYWHERE else or in ANYONE else than CHRIST and HIM CRUCIFIED, our faith loses it meaning AND POWER! The power of God unto salvation is FAITH in the CROSS! We'll never see a sinful society changed by the power of the purpose driven life or the government of 12 craze hitting the church! There is no power in those things that can change hearts! Only the power of the BLOOD of CHRIST can do that! Praise God. The cross, the cross, the cross IS THE REMEDY!
We Preach Christ Crucified
1 Cor. 1:21-25
For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. [22] For the Jews
require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: [23] But we preach Christ
crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
[24] But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of
God, and the wisdom of God. [25] Because the foolishness of God is wiser than
men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Preachers of the gospel hear me as I close this message. I'm especially speaking to the younger crop of ministers out there today that I see coming into the forefront the church's sphere of influence and positions of authority. Young man, if your preaching or teaching is not CHRIST and Him CRUCIFIED, then it will accomplish NOTHING. I don't care how "nice" it may sound, or how much men "applaud," your wisdom - your wisdom, knowledge and "nice" presentation will send millions to hell! The only source of true life changing gospel power is the CROSS. America's only hope is the CROSS of Christ! And those dead and Christless seminaries many of you attended need to be burned to the ground for producing a crop of preachers today that are nothing more than glorified "pretty boys" without an unction in their hearts or anointings to set men free. God help us. YOUNG MAN, the world does not OWE you anything and neither does the church. You have been called into the ministry to MINISTER and to SERVE not to be served yourself. This selfish, egotistical spirit in many will lead to the destruction of many souls in their path. God help us.
The cross is the foolishness and weakness of God, yet with it God set the world free from the powers of darkness and the devil! This weakness, as it appeared to the powers of darkness and to wicked sinful men on that glorious day in our Christian faith, was the greatest wisdom, power and force ever seen in the universe - EVER! It was not the greatest defeat, it was God's greatest victory!
God ripped the powers of darkness from off humanity the day Christ gave up His life as a sacrifice to Him. Without the cross, man may have a sense or portion of morality, but he will NOT have what it takes to get him to heaven!!!!!! The real source of our strength and power will forever be the CROSS OF CHRIST! It will forever BE the blood of Christ for the remission of sins. Preachers, preach the cross. Preach the cross or have your people wind up in hell! It's that blunt and necessary!
Perfected Forever
Hebrews 10:14
For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
The verb "perfected," appears in
the perfect tense. Only once was this sacrifice to be offered - never repeated -
a perfect sacrifice that would complete PERFECT ALL those who put their faith in
JESUS and what He did at the Cross. Nothing can be taken away from it and
nothing need ever be added to it. Never will it have to be changed or modified.
Our appropriation of it is progressive. It is important to know that His work in
us is always ongoing. The Holy Spirit is in charge of the perfection of this
work in our hearts and He will do that - AS LONG AS OUR FAITH IS IN THE CROSS!
The complete provision of God is always released through the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. Attempting to find our provision for any thing - be it spiritual or physical - need - outside the realm of the cross of Christ is extremely dangerous. And that is why the church today is filled with so much false doctrine and error is because it's sought to promise provision to people without pointing those people to the CROSS!
A few days ago I had a bump in the road in my Christian walk. I lost my temper and said things I shouldn't have said. As I pondered what happened the next day I whispered a prayer to God saying "Lord, I'm sorry I know I need to get this anger under control." The Lord instantly sent a WORD into my heart that made me literally fall on my knees in tears and supplication saying, "I didn't come to Earth and die, shed my Blood for you, that this sin in your life may be 'controlled.' I came so that you may be free!" I'm going to write on that statement more later but those Spirit-anointed words I felt the Lord speak to my heart changed my focus the rest of the entire day. If I'm trying to "control," sin friend, sin will control me! Sin shall NOT and is NOT to have dominion over those who believe in Jesus! But that sin, or sin nature, WILL control us if we don't recognize the depths of His grace and power THROUGH THE CROSS and have a proper understanding of what Christ did there.
Romans 6:14
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but
under grace.
Romans 6:17
But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from
the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Sin is the reason, the cross the remedy. Neighbor we need to pray for our nation right now. No matter WHAT or WHY these events are happening, we must find compassion and pray for mercy and intercede. The very foundations of America are at stake right now. If the foundations are destroyed, what will the righteous do? The howling we have spoken of will be heard in the coming days once more I'm sure but there is a hope in this writer's heart that through these events the nation as a whole finds itself back to God and repents and we see an outpouring of the Holy Ghost unprecedented in the annals of human history. We've seen the unprecedented title placed on two tragedies. I'd love to see the liberal news media say the same thing and use the same term about an outpouring of revival on America!
God bless and be safe. Our prayers are with you all in Texas and Louisiana today and tonight as we write this. Rita is to come ashore in less than 24 hours, and while it is weakening, will still bring catastrophic damage to the region. It's getting late and it's harvest time neighbor. Are you saved today? Are you born again? Is your name written down in the Lamb's book of Life? If not, I admonish you to make your calling and election SURE! Praise God.
Hurricane Rita before it moved south of the Keys 3 days ago
