“Stand fast, therefore, in the Liberty with which Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1).

The cross has eliminated sin in the world. We don’t see it or feel as yet but we do know it is coming. God is holy and He can not countenance sin and know this: Sin has been subdued.

Sinlessness will happen for the child of God when he leaves the earth set for heaven. It may be through death or rapture but the albatross of sin is gone as soon as we head for glory to be with the redeemed of all ages.

Sinlessness will happen for the earth and for the heavens when God makes a new heaven and a new earth. The Book of Revelation assures us that there will be no more sea, death, tears, sorrow, crying, nor pain. When every vestige of sin is removed God will remove the very effects of sin.

Times of refreshing are coming. The Kingdom of God rests in the bosom of the child of God. One glorious day we will be totally free from sin. Therefore my fellow believer, stand! Stand in the liberty which Christ has made us free. Do not be confused or entrapped with any sin for God has and will free us from the terrible sorrow of sin! In the mean time live by faith through love to the Father.

“And they shall scourge him, and put him to death. And the third day he shall rise again” (Luke 18:33).

Three pronouns, one scourging, one death, and One to rise again. Who is this person? Who is Dr. Luke describing? Or better yet, Who is this who is describing himself?

It is none other than the Son of man. He came to save and to seek those who are lost. What does it mean to be lost? It means to understand that God loved you, satisfied His own righteousness by judging His own Son to death upon a rugged tree for you and for me. He went to the desk of Calvary and paid the bill for you with His own blood, the payment of sin which leads to death.

To be found means to know that God’s love (His Son) was given to die as you. His mercy will forgive you if you recognize that you are THE Sinner and ask Him. It is His mercy you and I need today. Are you willing to understand that Jesus was scourged in your place, put to death in your place, and rising again proving He died for all your sin and mine.

“And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire” (I Samuel 30:1).

As David’s exterior world collapsed, he returned to his interior, rebuilt his primary identity, recovered his base. David had escaped Saul, duped the Philistines, now endangered by his own men, and God brought David back to Himself and reliance upon Him.

What do you do when your world collapses? You return to your interior, the interior of where God lives. God allows trouble to bring you to where we belong. We are united and in planted in Christ. Allow God to work. Allow His discipline to take hold.

Christ is capable of living the Christian life, for the obvious and simple reason that He is the Christian life. Allow the grace of God to work in your bad situations and good situations.  As David faced much we are grateful that the Christ who lives in us is more than able to face anything and conquer

A New Start

“For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).

Paul went through much of living in a culture that was antagonistic toward Christ. So many problems came and went against him, trouble on every side of him, problems that pressed hard against him, and yet he learned the secret of contentment.

Look at yourself in the mirror. Tell me what you see? I see in the mirror a man who is aging and breaking down externally. But, again,  take a look in the mirror of the Word. What do you see? Do you see the eternal springing up within you, the everlasting joy that comes from looking away from the obvious to the real?

Paul did not faint because he kept his eyes on the eternal and the internal. His daily focus was disciplined upon Christ and His Word. He learned that the outward things were temporal and could be discouraging. The things not seen were eternal and were an eternal weight of glory. What is discouragement? It is a temporary loss of perspective.

Focus on that which is unseen, the truths you know in your heart, for it is that truth that is a reality. We need to focus on the inner man. Life is passing us by. We have the opportunity to focus on the eternal and internal daily for the next 364 days of the year.

“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works” (Hebrews 10:24). L.R. Scarborough said that if we could only have a five-minute glimpse into hell our evangelism would be changed for a lifetime. Just the other day I was trying to imagine what a look into hell would be like. I’m sure the “terror of the Lord” would take on a dreadful new meaning if I could see hell. We believe that Sunday School is important, as far as it goes, but that is about it. The number one reason why most attend the Sunday affair is because of their own fellowship and teaching for them, or just out of obligation.  Yet if we are content to be spiritually fed, spiritually welcomed, and we forget about participating in bringing others to hear the good news, then we do not have the heart of Christ. Sunday School is meant to bring others to hear what you hear and feel what you feel and to share what you share. Prayer with others on a specific night is important as well. It is at the prayer meeting where we come together as a body to beseech the God of glory for the lost and for our own strength that only grace can provide. The Kingdom of God is coming upon this earth one glorious day. And God is peopling His kingdom with people who have been prayed for, reached for, and sought for–who come to submit to His way of salvation for them–through the outreach and prayers of His people. When you and I have food and a future we can not be content with others who are starving and lifeless. The four starving lepers of Samara who walked into a deserted enemy camp discovered food and a future, and they could not keep this to themselves. They said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent” (2 Kings 7:9). So they did something about their passivity. Together they went and told the good news of food and a future in the camp. It is together that we invite others, it is together we pray, it is together we meet with God. Church is important for groups to gather and not for individuals just to meet. God works through His gathered people. The greater the unity of God’s people the greater the authority we have as God’s people.

“…for I have provided me a king among his sons”  (I Samuel 16:1c).

These are days of immense significance to the Christian Church.  Any of us with discernment cannot but believe the truth of the Word of God, that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back soon to take His people home and thereafter establish His kingdom.  Yet how few of us relate our lives to this significant truth!

The church machinery is working overtime at a very severe strain trying to keep things going.  There is a great denominational cry for production.  Yet there is very little heavenly reality attached to the product.  The lasting quality of the goods is subnormal, and even borders on abnormal.

The Lord is still looking, as He did in David’s time, for a man after His own heart.  This ought to be the cry in prayer for the Lord’s work and Word to find such a man.  In these times, before the coming of the Lord, we should be bound to pray for a life that can stand the fiery trials and that can stand against the times.  It is through a Spirit-filled man that is the fastest way to evangelism.

Remember that the Lord is coming.  He said that the last days would be days of great trial and savagery.  The flesh is more prominent today than ever and yet we are told that “greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.”  Don’t stand down.  That’s cowardice!  Don’t stand aside.  That’s compromise!  Don’t stand against.  That’s contention!  Stand Up!  That’s conviction and courage!