LifeLink Devotions (Click Link for Audio Blog)

Friday, November 19, 2021

Today we come to the fourth quality control test for a real church – love. To write a single devotional on the subject of love overwhelms me. If I were to write a daily devotional on every passage of Scripture that uses the word love, I would have material for the next 138 weeks. Obviously this is an important and vital subject from the heart of God, for God is love.

Our purpose in this study this week has been to evaluate the spiritual condition of the church that we attend in light of Paul’s words in Ephesians about what the church is.  In today’s Scripture we discover that the church, the whole body of Christ, is growing, and as it grows its distinguishing characteristic is to be love.

Ephesians 4:15-16  “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”

What I would like us to do today is to consider the following passages of Scripture that speak about love within the fellowship of believers and its expression outward to the world. I pray that they will minister to our spirits.  

1 Peter 1:22  “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.”

1 Peter 2:17  “Show proper respect to everyone: love the brotherhood of believers…”

1 Peter 3:8  “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.”

1 Peter 4:8  “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”

1 John 3:14-18  “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers…This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers…Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” 

1 John 4:7-12  “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

I don’t know about you, but I am both convicted and blessed. Convicted that I do not love enough. Blessed to know that I can love to this extent because of God’s love in me.  So here are two action points:

1. Seek out those we already love and love them more. Do something unrequested and unreturnable.
2. Seek out those we don’t yet love and love them. Do something undeserved.

Have a great weekend showing God’s love to everyone.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions (Click link for audio blog)

Thursday, November 18, 2021

So far this week we have looked at two of the 5 characteristics of a quality church as found in the book of Ephesians.  On Monday we discussed holiness. On Tuesday and Wednesday we looked at unity. Today, we look at characteristic #3 – maturity.

In Ephesians 4:13, Paul says this – “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” The Greek word for mature used here means “to be brought to its end and need nothing more for completion.”

The conclusion to be drawn from this word’s usage in this verse is that it is entirely possible for the church today to be so complete in Christ that we lack nothing and attain the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Has anyone out there ever been to a church like that? Anyone want to be a part of a church like that?

Well I do! If it’s possible, then I want to see it happen and be a part of it. It’s my personality to be that way. I want the fullness of every experience. I want the best of what life offers. I want a hole in one on every par three. I want a record-breaking fish on every cast. Of course these things are possible, but not necessarily fulfilling. What I really want is someone saved with every sermon. I want lives changed and empowered by the Holy Spirit in every ministry of the church. I want people on their knees in repentance seeking the forgiveness of God. I want people focused on Jesus Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit. I want a church of mature people who are experiencing the fullness of Jesus Christ in their lives so that He powerfully impacts every part of their being. I want these things not because I’m selfish or seeking personal glory or fame or recognition. Let that never be the case. I want them because it’s possible and it is God’s desire and provision for us. It is not immature to want the fullness of what is available; it is actually mature to do so – at least in the spiritual realm.

There are many aspects of the fullness of Christ which we could discuss, but let me focus on just one today, and I will trust that you will do a continuing study using your concordance on the other passages in the New Testament that talk about fullness and maturity. The passage I want to share with you is again found in Ephesians, chapter 3, verses 14-21. Read them carefully. They are my prayer for all of you and for our church.

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Notice 3 powerful points:

1. Building our lives on the love of God gives us God’s power to spiritually understand the fullness of God’s love which is not humanly knowable.
2. The understanding of God’s love produces the fullness of God’s being in us.
3. The fullness of God in us gives us the power to do immeasurably more than we could ever imagine.

All of this is made possible because it will result in God’s glory in the church. I want that! I want the powerful presence of God’s love to fill every part of our church and its ministries. That means it has to start with me, and with you. So whatever you do today, do it all in the name of Jesus and for God’s glory. Be mature!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions (Click Link for Audio Blog)

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Yesterday we began a discussion on unity in the Body of Christ. One additional thought from yesterday is this – unity is not something we accomplish or create – it is something we experience as a gift of the Holy Spirit. Paul says, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit.” Notice that he does not tell us to create unity, or to develop unity, or to strive for unity, but rather he says to keep the unity of the Spirit. We are caretakers of what the Holy Spirit produces when our hearts are focused on the person and work of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!

For today you were asked to read and study First Corinthians chapter 3. In that passage we see the ways in which people tend to divide churches rather than unite them. It’s easy then to see how churches fail to keep this wonderful gift from God called unity.

1 Corinthians 3:3-9, 21-23 “You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men? What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future – all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.”

Paul admonishes the church at Corinth to consider why there were divisions between groups of people.

1. People were acting according to the world’s standards of behavior and not according to the Spirit’s transforming power. The worldly characteristics of social and economic advancement had become the norm of the church. People were seeking their own agendas and aligning themselves with support groups that would help them defend their positions. They even went so far as to become name-droppers, hoping that the influence of a famous and influential person would add credibility to their position. Some even claimed that they were the most committed to Christ. What arrogance it is to try and win an argument by playing the “I’m the most spiritually minded” card.
2. People were suffering from worldly insecurity, which manifested itself in selfishness. You see, insecure people desire and demand value to be added to their lives, and in most cases that value is added by making comparisons to others. When an insecure person can judge their lives to be more successful or spiritual than someone else, they feel good. When their lives are not so successful or spiritual as another person, jealousy results. Then quarrelling begins as people try to prove their positions for the sake of defending their personal value.
3. People were giving the credit to men for spiritual accomplishments when God alone is worthy of all glory and praise. “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” Anytime people take credit for what God alone can accomplish the Holy Spirit’s ministry is quenched and the spirit of unity is destroyed.

As you can see, when the focus of our lives turns from Christ to men, huge problems result. Paul says it this way – “So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future – all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.”

Do not be a follower of a mere man or woman. Do not model your life after a mortal person. Do not attempt to add value and credibility to your life by aligning yourself with a particular preacher or movement that claims some superior knowledge or spiritual experience. Do not even call your particular theological position by a man’s name. Man has no business standing in the place of God. His only business is being a servant of God.

Please look carefully at every area of your spiritual life, and make sure that no claim to fame is being made because of what you believe or claim to know. If there is any pride in us, any attempt to draw attention to ourselves, any jealousy, or any need to cover our insecurities by adding value found in affiliations with famous people, then we must humble ourselves before God and repent, asking for His forgiveness so that we might exalt Jesus Christ in all things. Then and only then will we be able to keep the unity of the Spirit.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

One day several years ago as I was typing a devotional, I made an error. My dear friend Cindy caught it and called me. In an attempt to define the people of the church being UNITED I accidently typed that the people were UNTIED. Simple typing dyslexia, but how powerful a point it made because it is often true.

Unity is one of the characteristics of a spiritually healthy church. However, many people don’t understand what it is. To help us, let’s first talk about what it is not.

First, unity is not sameness in the sense that everyone must look the same, feel the same,  act the same, or even think the same. There are certain non-negotiables of Scripture that regulate our thoughts and actions to produce holiness, as we discussed yesterday. However, when we begin to require robotic responses and behaviors that stifle the uniqueness of an individual and minimize the expression of their personality, we hinder the work of God’s Spirit.

Second, unity is not conformity to methods. Here’s what I mean by that: not everyone will do the same task in the same way. Some people demand that programs, ministries, and worship services be conducted in the same way they were always done regardless of the new people involved or new goals that have been set. Some churches are still doing things the same way they did them in the 60’s, because the people in charge are still living in the successes of those days. It’s like a pastor friend of mine said to me, “It’s tough to bring a church into the 80’s.” People resist change, but God provides new perspectives and personalities to invigorate a ministry. Let’s encourage newness and uniqueness.

So what is unity? It’s described for us in Ephesians 4:11-13.

“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

The Greek word means agreement, and is used only twice in the entire New Testament, both times here in Ephesians 4 (verse 3 and 13). When combining the use of the term from both verses we come to a definition of unity that involves the following elements:

1. Unity is built on the foundation of faith in the Person of Jesus Christ and His Lordship. (Unity in the knowledge of the Son of God)
2. Unity is based on our agreement that everyone needs salvation and the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross provides for that salvation. (Unity in the faith)
3. Unity is a product of the ministry of the Holy Spirit as He produces the character of Jesus Christ is each of us as individuals, manifesting itself in humility, gentleness, patience, and love. (Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.)
4. Unity is strengthened when we agree that spiritual growth is progressive, and requires all of us to be servants for it to be realized in its fullness. (to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity…)
5. Unity is achieved when the first four elements are accomplished and we experience the fullness of Christ in us as a church body. (attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.)

The church’s highest calling is to be the dwelling place of God through the Holy Spirit, because that produces unity. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 that we as individuals in the church are responsible to guard that unity, and anyone found destroying it will be held accountable. So how do people destroy the unity of the church? Well, simply put, by not focusing on the five characteristics of unity we just listed. But to be more specific, read First Corinthians chapter 3, and we’ll discuss it tomorrow.

For today, make sure you are correctly defining unity and all of the elements of unity are at work in your heart. As a church we need you to be focused on the saving power of Jesus Christ, on the work of the Holy Spirit to produce the character of Christ in us. That is best seen when we serve others in love. Humble hearts are required for unity to exist. How’s that going for you?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions (click link for audio blog)

Monday, November 15, 2021

A church and a nightclub were situated on the same block in an average size city. The nightclub owned a parrot that was part of one of the acts, and the parrot lived in the rafters of the club. One Saturday night there was a fire at the club and the bird flew outside to seek other shelter. Finding an opening in the attic vent of the church, he flew in and roosted on a beam over the sanctuary. He was awakened on Sunday morning by a crowd of people entering the church, and as the service began he chirped, “New MC.” Spotting the choir he chimed, “New chorus girls.” Then looking over the congregation he loudly squawked, “Same old crowd!“

For the past few weeks we have been doing a devotional study of the REAL church in the book of Acts. In the building of a spiritually healthy church there must be some quality control. One area that needs attention is that of personal holiness. There is a huge contrast between the church of the New Testament and the church of modern society in the area of personal holiness.  Let’s look at how a spiritually healthy church is defined in Ephesians 2:19-22. 

Ephesians 2:19-22 “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.  In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

There are four characteristics of a spiritually healthy church listed here by the Apostle Paul:

1.      Equality with no discrimination (fellow citizens)

2.      Unity based on equal need of salvation and equal faith in the Savior (Jesus is the chief cornerstone)

3.      Holiness as a product of being united in Christ (rises to become a holy temple in the Lord)

4.      Purpose – to become a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit (a dwelling in which God lives)

Compare that to many churches today and you immediately see some discrepancies. People are not treated equally, but divisions based on social, political, or financial status are commonplace. Unity is based on common goals rather than on a common past. The people have lost a desire for holiness because the church is not viewed as the dwelling place of God but rather the means to a desirable end. Church for the average person has become a justifier of sinful behavior and a protector of a social image. My heart cries when I think of the number of lost people being deceived by Satan into believing that they have met the requirements for eternal life when in fact they are in the bondage of eternal death. 

The Word of God is very clear – the church is to be the temple of the Holy Spirit where God’s holy presence can dwell in glory, and we as individual parts of the church are responsible to be a growing part of that holiness. In fact, as you read today’s verses, you will see that holiness is a proof of a real relationship with Christ. The Holy Spirit says, “In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.” Because we are joined together with Christ, we will rise to become a holy temple. This is not optional: this is the actual response of anyone who is connected to Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit. 

The first test of spiritual health in a church and in a person’s life is this: How do we react and respond to sin in our life? Is it tolerated or terminated? Is it rationalized or removed? We must ask ourselves these tough questions and let the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit bring us to a point of repentance. We are joined together in Christ, and we are to be rising together as a holy temple in Christ. May it not be said of any one of us that we are responsible for quenching the glory of God in our church because we choose to continue in sin. 

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday, November 12, 2021

One of the highlights of ministry life for me is to see people from radically different religious backgrounds coming together in Christ and forming a loving, unified body because of the peace provided for them at the cross. I am especially blessed to have experienced this in other cultures.

I have been doing a lot of thinking about the Philippines and India lately. I pray almost daily that the Lord would provide a way for me to return to those countries and personally participate in the mission works I love there. I pray that international travel will be able to be a reality for me.

I am especially moved by the transforming power of the cross when I think about the tribal churches that have been planted up in the mountains. I have visited several of those churches, and I remember one in particular. The church met in a community shelter in this extremely poverty stricken area. Now you must not visualize a community center according to American standards. The building was 8’ x 8’ made of bamboo with a palm branch roof, and a small 15’ x 10’ dirt courtyard surrounded by a broken down bamboo fence. We had church on this particular Sunday morning in the courtyard, with around 45 people in attendance. They had walked up to 10 miles down the mountain trails to get there that morning so that we would not have to try to take the mission vehicle up the muddy trail to their village. We sang some songs to the sounds of a crude guitar played by one of the tribal boys who was learning to praise God with an instrument. No worship band – just worshipping people! It was awesome. I preached that morning on Elijah and the prophets of Baal when they met on the mountain. I shared how God’s power conquered the false worshippers.

The reason I had chosen that story for that day was because of the living reality of it in those people. They came from a tribe of false worshippers and spiritism, and they had never heard the truth of Jesus until one of the graduates of our Bible college went there to plant a church. These had been people who had never seen a white man, and who probably would have killed one in their village area if he had gone there unannounced and unescorted. They were dressed as well as their meager means would allow. A few of them still had some teeth. Our American standards have conditioned us to avoid such people. But now, because of the cross, we were worshipping together. We were smiling at each other with a joy that is only shared between family members. In fact, I am crying my eyes out right now as I write this because of the joy in my heart that Jesus saves equally and completely.

Ephesians 2:11-18 “…remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”

Just think, in Christ we have equal access to the Father! I receive no preferential treatment from God because I am American or have a home or money or cars or because I dress right, and especially not because I have a particular color of skin. In Christ we are all one!

That’s the power of the cross – it brings peace that passes all human reason. Let’s not draw lines of separation between people when Jesus came to obliterate those lines and make us one!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, November 11, 2021

When I was in high school in the Twin Cities, with a graduating class of 825, I was an unnoticed nerd – or at least I thought I was. I was very insecure, I hated my appearance, and I had nothing that identified me except my trombone, and according to the cool kids, band was for geeks. But one day in English class, one of the most popular girls in school came up to me (she happened to be a cheerleader) and said, “I love it when you wear blue because it brings out the color of your eyes. I love blue too.”

Well, you can imagine how I felt after they revived me from fainting. I had found a connection point to the cool kids. I wore blue every day. I started to choose my clothing carefully, and I became one of the best-dressed kids in school. No blue jeans ever. Only dress pants and nice shirts and sweaters. All of my clothes had to be the latest fashion. I even wore shirts with French cuffs and cufflinks, and they were always blue. I was compelled to make a good impression outwardly. No one had ever noticed me for who I was inwardly, and I didn’t believe they ever would. For sure if they saw the real me they would reject me, and there was no way I was about to put myself through that pain. No one wants to be persecuted for who they are.

In Galatians Paul makes this point – don’t use an external image of religious conformity to avoid the pain of rejection.

Galatians 6:12-15 “Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh. May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.”

The Judaizers, those Jewish Christians who believed that salvation was only available to those who believed in Jesus and conformed to the Jewish law, were trying to force Gentile Christians to get circumcised. I don’t believe they were doing this because they theologically believed it, but because they socially needed it for their own approval rating. They could remain active in their Jewish sub-culture if they minimized the effect of the cross and kept some of their socially and religiously accepted traditions.

How often are we guilty of this in our lives? We add an external appearance or behavior standard to the message of the cross so that we can stay in our comfort zone. But let’s be clear about this: the message of the cross is simple and powerful. By the shed blood of Jesus as God’s sacrifice for our sin, all sin is forgiven in the life of any person who repents of their sin and by faith receives its cleansing power. At that instant they are made a new creation by the power of the resurrected Christ in them.

2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

They are blessed with every spiritual blessing from on high.

Ephesians 1:3 – Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 

They are made joint heirs of all eternity with all of the saints in glory, including you and me.

Romans 8:16-17 – The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.

Anyone!

Everyone who believes!  

There is the very real possibility that within your family or your circle of friends, or even in your church, you will be rejected and persecuted for living this way. Yet Paul was so convinced of the power of the cross that he said he would never boast about anything else in his life except that. He did not take pride in his pattern of behavior or in his theology and use those things as a means of gaining acceptance with anyone. He simply loved the cross. He simply loved people who loved the cross. He knew that the power to affect the external had to come from the power of the eternal in them. 

When the Holy Spirit brings the new creation of Christ into a spiritually dead person, His ministry is just beginning. He will bring the external changes necessary to complete His work. He uses all of us to help influence that development, but we must be willing to let the finished work be unique, not cloned. What we do for Christ must be for the glory of the cross, not for the approval of people.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

The crucifixion of Jesus Christ must remain the central focus of all that we are and all that we do. That is the conclusion drawn by Paul to the church at Corinth as he opens his letter to them.

1 Corinthians 1:17-18  “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel – not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

You may remember that this church was going through a lot of difficulties. One of the  issues Paul addresses is the tendency church-goers have to be people-followers. There were divisions in the church because some people liked Apollos better than Paul or Peter, and some even were taking pride in the fact that they had stayed true to Jesus. They were arguing and bickering about who taught better, who led better, and who gave them the best spiritual benefits.

In addressing these divisions, Paul makes it clear that the following of any human wisdom diminishes the power of the cross in our personal lives and in the life of the church. When the focus and form of our teaching and preaching becomes self-centered rather than Christ-centered, we lose power.

Let me illustrate: once there was a professional football team that had incredible talent but couldn’t win the big games, primarily because the focus of the team was on an individual rather than the purpose of the team. It was so bad that free agents from other teams were refusing to even consider becoming a part of this team. Then it happened – the team changed its focus from the problems caused by an individual to the goal of accomplishing their purpose, and a huge change occurred. Weaknesses in the team were suddenly made strengths. Free agents from other teams were anxious to become a part of the organization. Franchise players from other teams are begging to be traded to this team. Why? Because the self-centered focus has been replaced with a team spirit based on a unified purpose.

That’s what must happen in a church. People must move from a self-centered, people-following, people-pleasing lifestyle to one of surrendered, sacrificial commitment to Christ and His purpose. When it does, people who are not part of the body of Christ yet will want to be. They will ask to join us, because that is the power of the cross.

We hear a lot today about the seeker-sensitive church, and one of the characteristics of such churches is a non-offensive presentation of the Gospel. I have a very serious question in that regard: How can the Gospel message of the cross of Christ be non-offensive to an unbeliever when Paul states here in today’s Scripture that the cross is considered foolishness to the unsaved, and in Galatians 5:11 he states that if he compromises the Gospel in any way the cross loses its offense to the unsaved?

So many churches today are avoiding the real issue of people’s lives by speaking only to the perceived or surface issues because they believe it will attract more people and offend fewer people. My friends, I do not wish to purposely offend anyone, but I most definitely will not offend my Lord and Savior by turning the church or the ministry to which He has called me into an effort of human wisdom. I will preach the cross of Jesus Christ, and those who respond will be transformed by the power of God and not by human reason. And they will respond, because the power of God will draw them to the place where their spiritual need can be truly met in Christ. Calvary is that place – the place of the cross. May Calvary the church represent its name well.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Why did Jesus die? That questions has plaqued people for centuries. Unsaved people explain it in ways that reduce Jesus to mere mortal who was weak and therefore deserved to die.  However, in his Holy Spirit empowered sermon, Peter declares that it was not because of the weakness of Jesus or His failure that He was put to death, but rather by the sovereignty and foreknowledge of God to accomplish His purpose.

Acts 2:22-24  “This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. “

This is so very important for several reasons:

1. Man can take no credit for anything that has been done for our salvation. No man or government can claim any credit or be given any specific blame for the crucifixion of Christ. The religious leaders of Israel cannot now claim any reward from God for having been willing participants in the plan of salvation. The Romans cannot claim any earned favor from God for having done what He wanted. All participants in the crucifixion are called wicked, and all the credit for it goes to God who ordained it to happen. Salvation is God’s plan done God’s way in God’s time.
2. The crucifixion of Jesus does not negate the accrediting of God that came through the miracles, wonders, and signs, but rather is a part of the accrediting process, for only by death could the power and glory of Jesus be seen in a resurrection. In Acts 2:24 we read, “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” This points directly to the divinity of Jesus. Eternal life was the nature of Jesus. Death had no power over Him. He went into it knowing He would conquer it. His resurrection was more than the outside force of God working on His dead body to raise it up; His resurrection was the force and power of His own nature coming forth. He is declared to be the Son of God by His resurrection. 

How does this apply to us in a practical way today? First, none of us can take any credit for our salvation in any way. God planned it, provided for it, and prepared us to receive it. We have earned nothing. We have been bought with the precious blood of Jesus, and we are to live lives of gratitude and praise for His magnificent grace!

Second, as believers, Jesus Christ, in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, has made our lives a temple in which He permanently resides. Jesus brings the power of His life to conquer our death. We are alive in Christ because it is now our nature to be alive. When we do the deeds of a dead person we are acting in contradiction to our nature.

Many people claim that it is easier to fall back into sin than it is to stay holy. This points to a serious lack of understanding of their salvation. It is always easier to follow our nature, and in Christ our nature is to live, not to die. It should be more natural for us to be holy than to sin, and if it is not, then we need some spiritual refreshment.

Spend time today contemplating the wonder of your salvation. Pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Then the next time you are tempted to sin you will discover that the nature of Jesus Christ immediately conquers that thought and brings it captive so that the resurrection power of Jesus Christ reigns supreme.

How awesome to know that Jesus lives, and He lives in us, giving us the power to be more than conquerors.  

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions (Click link for audio blog) 

Monday, November 8, 2021

For the last two weeks we have been studying the first and second chapters of Acts to discover the fundamentals of a REAL church. It is in the second chapter of Acts that the REAL church gets its start when the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit falls upon the believers in Christ on the day of Pentecost. When Peter stands up to preach with the power of the Holy Spirit, he becomes the first Gospel evangelist, and his sermon is very simple. It presented to the people the truth that Jesus is both Lord and Messiah based on His death and resurrection.

In the days ahead we are going to look at some of the various New Testament passages on the cross, and discover some wonderful truths about God’s indescribable gift of salvation to us. For today, I want to focus on one thing from Peter’s sermon.

Acts 2:22-24  Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 

Peter tells the people that they know who Jesus is because God accredited Him to them by the miracles, wonders, and signs God performed through Him. Jesus was affirmed as the Son of God by the supernatural work of God in His life, and these unsaved people to whom Peter was preaching knew it. They had not yet placed their faith in Him, but in their heads they knew who Jesus was.

I find that to be all too true in our world today – people who have head knowledge of the truth, but it has not yet penetrated their heart. In their minds they know the truth. They have heard about Jesus, and have seen His work in the lives of His followers, but they deny any need to surrender their lives to Him. 

However, can it be said today that people who observe our lives have a knowledge of Jesus because of what they see?They may have heard about Jesus, but have they really seen the resurrection power of Jesus at work in the lives of His followers?

What a challenge this is to us. Is God continuing to accredit the reality of Jesus to a lost world through His powerful work in us as believers? Oh, we may not all be gifted to do miracles and signs and wonders, but we are all gifted with the Holy Spirit who produces the character of Christ in our lives so that the fruit of the Spirit is visible. When love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control rule our lives, God is affirming the reality of Jesus Christ to a world that does not know Him.

In Ephesians 1, verses 18-20, Paul the Apostle says, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.”

The same power that God exerted when He raised Jesus from the dead is the power that He exerts in us when He raises us from spiritual death to new life in Christ. You see, God is still accrediting Christ to the world through the miracle of a transformed life. How are we doing at showing it to them?

Pastor John