The Price Has Been Paid!

1Corinthians 7:23, “Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.”

What is the value of a human being? The U.S. government federal agencies have a very specific answer. They say a human life is worth about $10 million. 80 quadrillion dollars. A housewife would be considered worth an estimated salary of $113,586.00 per year.

Psalms 51:5, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

Ways To Evangelize Effectively – STOP USING THE WORD “SIN!” by Robert Wimer|Published December 31, 2019, stated this,

“Probably the worst thing you could do when evangelizing to anyone is to use the word “sin.” It’s a word that has no meaning to anyone except Christians. Jesus never used it, but this is what He did do.” WRONG!

Joh 8:34, “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.”

Rom 5:12, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”

Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

I read recently that one very large church in their invitation to the public won’t use the words “blood of Jesus”, “calvary”or “resurrection” in an effort to make their church more accessible to a wider audience, they have chosen not to use certain words that might alienate potential non-Christian attendees.

When talking about our salvation the “blood of Jesus” is an extremely important doctrine that we need to understand.

Leviticus 17:11, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.”

In the sacrifice that was required of the Israelites, blood was the main ingredient in it, Hebrews 9:18-22, “Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.”

This is no more apparent in the “Passover” found in Exodus 11-19, a lamb without blemish was to be sacrificed, “Exodus 12:5-8, “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.”

Now I have heard that the angel of death only had to see the blood upon the doorposts and would Passover that house no matter who was inside the home.

But there was a preparation made before the blood was applied, the house was to be rid of leaven which often is referenced as “sin” in the bible. Like wise before the blood of Christ can be applied in our lives, we need to do one thing! Acts 2:38

Matthew 26:26-28, “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

1 Peter 1:18-20, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,” How precious is that blood?

The price has been paid and God had the plan for it before the creation of this world.

One of the last things Jesus mentioned on the cross was “It is Finished”. Telling us the era of the law was over, Jesus came not to destroy the law but fulfill it and the beginning of the era of Grace was to begin.

The one thing that amazes me in all this is Romans 5:6-8, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.”

Hebrews 12:1-2, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

You looking unto the author and finisher of our faith?

1Corinthians 6:19-20, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s”

We can because the Price has been PAID!

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Christian’s and Suicide

suicide

By Pastor Jeff,

Will a Christian that commits suicide go to heaven? That is a question that is in much dispute and I must say that I will not come to a definitive answer in this blog, but I will share some thoughts and let you come to your own conclusion. The reason I can’t make that definitive answer is that I’m not God and I do not claim to have answers to every question that man seeks answers to. However like the Apostles Paul did occasionally I will deliver my opinion on the matter.

In our bible we can recall six suicides mentioned, Abimelech (Judges 9:54), Saul (1 Samuel 31:4), Saul’s armor-bearer (1 Samuel 31:4–6), Ahithophel (2 Samuel 17:23), Zimri (1 Kings 16:18), and Judas (Matthew 27:5). If we want to add Samson to this equation we find seven! Everyone is tragic in its own right and everyone, even Judas was done under extreme moments of depression, fear, and despair.

I have in the last few years and more heavily this past year have studied Mental Health and especially how it is handled by the Church. I found that my past thoughts on the subject were severely lacking and judgmental. I can easily blame those that have in the past blamed any mental health issue on a lack of faith, seeking attention, or worse declaring those affected as being demon possessed. But this belief is just a cop out that I had to come to terms with as a christian first, a brother in the Lord, and then a pastor.

I have found out that this area is very complicated not only in the world but also in the church, I need to admit that I don’t have all the answers, nor do I know all of the questions but I’m searching with an honest heart. In looking at the word of God with this new perspective I have found that though our God is awesome, He chooses people that are very flawed to do His work. The prophet Elijah is one that jumps out at me, in 1 Kings 18 we find Elijah part of a great conquest on Mt. Carmel against 450 prophets of Baal. When we look at chapter 19 we find this same prophet fleeing under the death threat from Jezebel, verse 4, “But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.” Sounds to me that Elijah was severely depressed to the point of wishing to die.

The problem we have as Christians that the bible declares in Exodus 20:13, “Thou shalt not kill.” Could we not say that suicide is in violation of this commandment? After all you are taking death which is appointed by God into your own hands. I in recently years have seen extreme suffering by non Christians and Christians alike not only physically but emotionally. I in no way will defend someone that takes his or hers own life but I will not and cannot stand in judgment of them either. Jesus Christ is the one who has the keys, Revelations 1:17-18, “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” It is “He” that will open the books, Revelations 20:11-12, “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”

In most cases of suicide, no one is there at the time of the passing of the person, only God knows what the state of mind that person was in or the conversation they may have had with our Lord at the moment or time prior to them passing. Listen I don’t have the power to put anyone in nor take anyone out of heaven. That’s God business, I preach the gospel, do my best to love everyone, and keep studying the scriptures to have a reason of my hope. I take comfort in these words found in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Let God be God!

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The Devil isn’t the only liar! (part 2)

Lies

By Pastor Jeff,

In part 1, I spent a little time talking about the devil being not only a liar, but the father of all liars! I would like to in this section discuss who else is a liar. We know that Satan came to Eve and beguiled her and then Adam into eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Yes, Adam and Eve’s eyes were indeed opened to the knowledge of good and evil for we see immediately Adam tries to not only blame Eve but God for him falling into sin!

What I find rather shocking is that it didn’t take very long for man to easily fall into being able to lie, for after Cain slew his brother Abel, God asked Cain what happened and Cain answered in Genesis 4:9, “And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?” This ability to tell a lie is a part of our sinful nature in which we constant battle against, Romans 7:24, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Only the power of the Holy Ghost can free us, Romans 7:25, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”

Lying was such an issue that when the Ten Commandments were handed down we have a commandment in dealing with it, Deuteronomy 4:20, “Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.” Jesus told us where this ability comes from in Matthew 15:19, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:” Revelations tell us that liars are equal to murderers in the eyes of God in 21:8, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

In our day it seems that people have become so used to lies and lying that a second thought is not given to it. It used to be that politicians and salesmen were considered skillful of telling non-truths (not all politicians and salesmen are liars). Now its just common place, it’s been even said if you really believe the lie is true that it isn’t really a lie. We used to swear on a bible with fear as a symbol that we would be telling the truth, but people will even swear to God, even though it may be blatant lie!

I wonder what would happen if what occurred in Acts 5:1-10,“But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.”

Lord, help us to guard our tongues and never bear false witness against God and our neighbor in Jesus Name!

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