Searching For Wedding Gifts

Many times throughout the Scriptures, the Church is referred to as “the Bride” of Christ, and Jesus as “the Bridegroom”. The Bible teaches us that one day, God the Father will present the Church to Christ as His Bride, clothed in “fine linen, bright and clean” (Rev. 19:8) and the redeemed will be joined together with Christ, our Bridegroom, forever. If you follow this wedding illustration throughout the Scriptures you will discover the amazing mystery of the relationship of the Holy Trinity. John MacArthur puts is this way:

“We are a people called out for His name, redeemed, conformed to His Son’s image, made to be an immense, incomprehensible, all-surpassing expression of love between the Persons of the Trinity. The church is the gift that is exchanged. This is God’s eternal plan for the church. We ought to be profoundly grateful, and eager, and thrilled to be a part of it.” (Why I Love the Church, part 3)

If you have been truly converted, your very inner nature changed by God Himself (1 Cor. 5:17), then He has made you a glorious part of an eternal wedding gift He will give to His Son on that great Day when we are gathered to Him in Heaven! MacArthur is right in saying “We ought to be profoundly grateful, and eager, and thrilled to be a part of it.” But how do we display our eagerness? How do we prove we are grateful? There are many things we can do to show God we are grateful, but I believe the one work that pleases Him more than any is sharing the Gospel. Jesus Christ came to earth for one main reason: to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). His entire mission to fulfill the Law by living the perfect life God demanded of us, then sacrificing His perfect life on the Cross to be our substitute, paying the FULL price for ALL the sins of His people, can be summed up in that statement. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. The Apostles, along with all Christians, are commissioned to preach the Gospel to every creature and make disciples of every nation. This great work God has privileged us to participate in gives “feet” to the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world.

Dear sinner saved by grace, press your mind down on the great promises of Romans chapter 10...

“THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART.”

“WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

“How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed?”

“How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard?”

“And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent?”

“HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!”

God is preparing a wedding feast. The guest list consists of those He has chosen to give to His Son as a wedding gift (John 6:37-40). As we share the Gospel, we are searching with God the Father and God the Spirit for wedding gifts for God the Son! Think of the gift Christ has given you in the Cross. What would your condition be right now, as well as eternity without it? May those thoughts drive you to spend your life diligently searching for wedding gifts that your Savior will be given that great Day!

(Written by Dennis R. Swanson, 10-25-2010)

Revival: The Pastor's Part - Preach the Word!

I Will Remember My Covenant...

"The bow shall be seen in the cloud." --Genesis 9:14

The rainbow, the symbol of the covenant with Noah, is typical of our Lord Jesus, who is the Lord's witness to the people. When may we expect to see the token of the covenant? The rainbow is only to be seen painted upon a cloud. When the sinner's conscience is dark with clouds, when he remembers his past sin, and mourns and laments before God, Jesus Christ is revealed to him as the covenant Rainbow, displaying all the glorious hues of the divine character and betokening peace. To the believer, when his trials and temptations surround him, it is sweet to behold the person of our Lord Jesus Christ--to see Him bleeding, living, rising, and pleading for us. God's rainbow is hung over the cloud of our sins, our sorrows, and our woes, to prophesy deliverance. Nor does a cloud alone give a rainbow, there must be the crystal drops to reflect the light of the sun. So, our sorrows must not only threaten, but they must really fall upon us. There had been no Christ for us if the vengeance of God had been merely a threatening cloud: punishment must fall in terrible drops upon the Surety. Until there is a real anguish in the sinner's conscience, there is no Christ for him; until the chastisement which he feels becomes grievous, he cannot see Jesus. But there must also be a sun; for clouds and drops of rain make not rainbows unless the sun shines. Beloved, our God, who is as the sun to us, always shines, but we do not always see Him--clouds hide His face; but no matter what drops may be falling, or what clouds may be threatening, if He does but shine there will be a rainbow at once. It is said that when we see the rainbow the shower is over. Certain it is, that when Christ comes, our troubles remove; when we behold Jesus, our sins vanish, and our doubts and fears subside. When Jesus walks the waters of the sea, how profound the calm!

"And I will remember My covenant." --Genesis 9:15

Mark the form of the promise. God does not say, "And when you shall look upon the bow, and you shall remember My covenant, then I will not destroy the earth," but it is gloriously put, not upon our memory, which is fickle and frail, but upon God's memory, which is infinite and immutable. "The bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant." Oh! it is not my remembering God, it is God's remembering me which is the ground of my safety; it is not my laying hold of His covenant, but His covenant's laying hold on me. Glory be to God! The whole of the bulwarks of salvation are secured by divine power, and even the minor towers, which we may imagine might have been left to man, are guarded by almighty strength. Even the remembrance of the covenant is not left to our memories, for we might forget, but our Lord cannot forget the saints whom He has graven on the palms of His hands. It is with us as with Israel in Egypt; the blood was upon the lintel and the two side-posts, but the Lord did not say, "When you see the blood I will pass over you," but "When I see the blood I will pass over you." My looking to Jesus brings me joy and peace, but it is God's looking to Jesus which secures my salvation and that of all His elect, since it is impossible for our God to look at Christ, our bleeding Surety, and then to be angry with us for sins already punished in Him. No, it is not left with us even to be saved by remembering the covenant. There is no linsey-wolsey here--not a single thread of the creature mars the fabric. It is not of man, neither by man, but of the Lord alone. We should remember the covenant, and we shall do it, through divine grace; but the hinge of our safety does not hang there--it is God's remembering us, not our remembering Him; and hence the covenant is an everlasting covenant.

From Charles Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening". CLICK HERE for more!

Revival: Why We Need It

The Message is EVERYTHING...

It doesn't take much discernment to see that there is something terribly wrong with most of the Protestant, evangelical church today. A man once said that that the moral temperature of the culture is always directly related to the spiritual temperature of the church. Television has always been a good moral measuring stick of the culture. So to prove the point, think back just 50 years ago to the "I Love Lucy" show. There was a very controversial episode where Lucy & Ricky slept in the same bed together. Even though they were married, wearing pajamas that completely covered them and they were sleeping on opposite sides of the bed, there was an outcry from the culture to ban the show from television for showing a married couple in the same bed together. Now fast forward to television today. Think about your average soap opera. Not only do they show couples in bed together, but they are NOT married, NOT wearing clothes and NOT completely under the covers. Add to that what they DO show while they are in bed together is nothing short of soft pornography, and for the most part these shows are accepted by the culture! To add to the list of shocking changes, think of the liberal movement. Homosexuality. Sex & pregnancy outside of marriage. The lack of respect children show adults. What has changed so drastically over the past 50 years to change our culture so much? I can summarize the culprit with two words: THE CHURCH. Now I want to make it clear that when I refer to this "church" that has changed, I am NOT referring to the Body of Christ. I'm referring to what our culture today views as the church. The Americanized version of the church. The pragmatic church that cares more about pleasing the goats & not realizing they are starving the sheep with a weak, anemic, easy to swallow message that contains no evidence of the biblical Gospel. The Gospel that was faithfully proclaimed a lot more 50 years ago and is almost non-existent today. The Gospel that not only defines wicked behavior, but condemns those who practice it along with those who accept such behavior as if it was no big deal. The Gospel that says nothing of "accepting Christ as your personal Savior" or "asking Jesus into your heart" or "making your decision for Christ" or "saying the sinner's prayer". We do not find any of those concepts in Scripture anywhere. The Apostles, Prophets nor Christ Himself ever conveyed these messages or concepts in any of their evangelism. Their message didn't take into consideration what man thought, how he would respond or whether he would be offended. Their message was filled with truths about the consequences of sinning against a holy God and the great sacrifice that was made to reconcile wicked people to that God. The goal of their Gospel message was to show men their true, eternal condition & squash their pride in order to humble them before a righteous God who will send them to Hell and be perfectly just in doing so. A Gospel that offered a free pardon for sin on the merits of Jesus Christ ALONE. A Gospel that rejects ALL efforts of man to be "good enough to make it to Heaven someday". That is the Gospel that was prominent 50 years ago and has all but vanished from churches today. And what is the result? Churches being FILLED with people who aren't really interested in living separated, holy lives unto God, but only getting a "get out of Hell free card" so they can continue in sin and still get to Heaven. And pastors all over the country feed these goats a false sense of security by assuring them they are OK with God as long as "said the prayer" or were "sincere in their decision" regardless of their lack of genuine repentance. In order to keep their churches full, they remove nearly all offenses of sin, judgment & repentance, along with any challenges to "examine yourself" or to "make your calling & election certain" or to "work out your Salvation with fear & trembling". Then to make matters worse, they add lots of things that will comfort the lost while starving God's true flock at the same time. Cheap grace, weak gospels and man-centered, entertainment focused approaches to evangelism are sending people on a happy & comfortable trip straight into Hell.

Ernest Reisinger in his book "Today's Evangelism" says, "...the supposed converts have missed Bible repentance, and their life and their dedication to Christ and His church testify that they do not perform deeds appropriate to repentance. Many of our serious church leaders and members know that there is something wrong with most of the so-called "converts", but they do not seem to trace the problem to the message of evangelism. This is why they are forever rushing on the contemporary scene with some new method while the real problem is the message. The harvest of poor, lost church members that we have reaped is a result of the seeds that have been sown - seeds that did not include what out Lord clearly commanded to be part of the Great Commission." (pg. 30)

May God Almighty this post as a church wide call to not only examine the gospel message that we're sharing, but also test ourselves in light of the biblical Gospel to be sure we are in the faith, "unless, of course, we fail the test." (2 Corinthians 13:5)

Written by Dennis Swanson, 8-2-10

Unlocking the Parables of Jesus: The Parable of the Sower

"As it pleased the Potter...

"Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.

Jeremiah 18:3-4

Most of our days on this earth are made up of living life as it pleases us. For those who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord & Savior, this is all they know to do. But even the most devoted followers of Jesus Christ can find themselves questioning the purity of their motives. Even more dangerous is questioning the purity of God's motives. When life seems to be going very well for us, and then takes a drastic turn for what seems to be the worse, we need to be quick to remember...

"The LORD gives, and the LORD takes away. Blessed be the Name of the LORD." (Job 1:21)

When good health and seasons of blessing give way to fiery trials, do we remember that we are clay and not the Potter? Do we remember that even though our names may be on the deed/mortgage of our homes that it is really the Potter's house?

"For the earth is the LORD's, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it." (Psalm 24:1)

As a follower of Jesus Christ, our names may be on our birth certificates, but who holds the certificates of our re-birth?

"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price..." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20a)

What price was paid? The most selfless price of infinite value was made and has taken claim of your life if you are truly a follower of Jesus Christ.

"Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ." (1 Peter 1:18-19)

God created Adam from the clay (or dust) of the earth, and Adam fell into sin and became a corrupted lump of clay. Since all of mankind inherited Adam's sin nature at birth, we are also lumps of corrupted clay. Being the clay, it's never enjoyable to be squeezed, smashed down and re-shaped under the Potter's hand, but if He has chosen us to be a vessel of honor on His wheel, there is no better place to be! Just to know that we are on His wheel should fill us with joy considering the alternative. And even though it's painful as He continually re-shapes us into those vessels, we are ALWAYS under the skilled and loving hands of the Master Potter and nothing will stop Him from finishing the work He has begun on us. When we learn to live as completely submitted lumps of clay, fully trusting the Potter's loving hands, we will find in the end that we will be thoroughly pleased with what He has transformed us into - as it pleased the Potter to make.