Category: General

To Purge: “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;” – Hebrews 1:3

To Put Away: “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 9:26

To Remember No More: “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” – Hebrews 10:17

To Cleanse: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” – 1 John 1:7

To Wash: “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” – Revelation 1:5-6

To Cover: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” Psalm 32:1

To Remove From: “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” – Psalm 103:12

To Cast Behind His Back: “Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.” – Isaiah 38:17

To Blot Out: “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.” – Isaiah 43:25

To Cast Into the Sea: “ He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” – Micah 7:19

Amos 8:11 “ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:”

If there was ever a time in our history when men needed to hear and heed the Word of God, it is today. If there ever was a time when the preacher needed to proclaim the “whole counsel of God”, it is today instead, there is a famine in the land. Folks who used to love to come to church in here God’s word preached, no longer care for it. People who used to be able to quote passages of scripture without hesitation, can hardly find the books of the Bible. Why? Because the average church member has no hunger for spiritual things anymore. Evidence of this is our evening attendance. Evidence of this is the cold, blank, ignorant stare the preacher gets when preaching on the simple, basic doctrines of the Bible.

The church member who reveals a deep calmer sincere hunger for Bible preaching is the exception to the rule now a days. Some churches have gone into the entertainment business. They put on a show for those who come. Other churches have a great giveaway schemes, giving prizes to those who attend, in order to show a big attendance for the day.

God forbid! If the Word of God isn’t enough to bring god’s people to the house of God, nothing else should be used in its place. What we need is not a change of our church services, but a change of heart. We don’t need entertainment in our churches, we need old-fashioned hell fire and brimstone preaching, and a dedicated, consecrated, and repentant congregation to take the words into their heart. Church members who think they are doing God a favor by being in church need to wake up to the fact that it is a precious privilege to hear God’s word proclaimed, and to be careful not to be caught up in the great famine of the day: a famine of the Word of God.

Genesis 2:9 : ^“And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”  The “tree of life” pictures Christ. Like Christ, it was provided by God for the purpose of offering eternal life to man. The fruit of this tree was to be “freely” eaten (Genesis 2:16: “ And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:”, just as eternal life in Christ is to be freely received. Merely knowing about the tree wasn’t enough; man had to personally receive its fruit into his system by eating of it.  He had a fair option to choose either this tree or the “tree of knowledge of good and evil,” but like men today, he chose death rather than life.

Genesis 2:1-2: ^“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.  And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.” The fact that God rested on the seventh day indicates a Sabbath. Although He doesn’t reveal the Sabbath to man until well over two millenniums later. Nehemiah 9:14: “And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:” Exodus 20:8: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.”, God does observe it Himself. In fact, the Sabbath serves as a type of Christ. In Matthew 11:28-29, Jesus said, “ Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” The best argument against Christians keeping the Sabbath is the fact that the Sabbath is keeping us! Our Sabbath is not a day of the week, but rather the rest for our souls that we find in Christ. Therefore, Colossians 2:16 says, “ Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:” God’s promise of a Sabbath rest remains today. Hebrews 4:1-10 “ Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.  For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.  For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”

Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” The fact that God made the first man “in his own image” is very instructive and points us directly to Christ. Adam, representing the entire human race and loses the image of God in Genesis chapter 3. Consequently, when a son is born unto him, the Holy Spirit records that this son is born in Adam’s image, not in God’s image (Gen. 5:3). No man is born in God’s image until the Lord Jesus Christ is born, and it is expressly stated that He is the “image” of God (Colossians 3:10; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Hebrews 1:3). So Christ is the “last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45) is typified by the first Adam who was the first to have God’s image. The only way for men to have God’s image today is to be “born again” of His Spirit.

       In 2 Kings 4:1-7 is a dramatic incident which has challenged the thinking of every Bible lover from the days of Elisha. In its appeal to life, it is unsurpassed in beauty. In its expression of God’s care for the minute things of one’s life, it is unexcelled in grandeur.

    The story opens with “…a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets…” (verse 1) who was in distressing, heart breaking trouble. Her husband, a prophet of God, had died, leaving her with two boys to care for; and with a debt to a cruel man who demanded pay at the expense of her son’s liberty.

    It would seem that God had let the widow down; that following the cause of righteousness had brought disaster. No day could have been darker. By comparison, your days and mine are flooded with noonday sun.

    The instruction given to this woman is worthy of meditation, “…thou shalt shut the door upon thee…”

    Shut the door to opinion. Had she gone down the street asking for the opinions of the wise ones, those opinions would have been varied and contradictory; but they would have been unanimous, that to follow the prophet’s advice was a foolish thing to do – it would be only a waste of precious time. The good woman would have been advised, “Use what time you have left in trying to refinance your loans.” But she shut the door to opinion.

    You, too, will need to shut the door to the opinions of others if you experience escape from the clutching hold of sin and the starving force carnality.

     Shut the door to fear. How filled our lives are with fear! From morning until night, from the cradle to the grave, fear stalks our pathway. We are afraid the sun will spoil our complexion; we are afraid we will not pass in the high school; we are afraid to attempt college; we are a afraid of…the list is almost endless.

    Shut the door to fear. You may have to die, but only once. You may have to suffer, but only to a point; then comes unconsciousness. You may fail, but there is always another starting line. Close the door to fear, and do it now. Look your problem squarely in the face; take one step toward it; you will discover that the closer you get to it the smaller it becomes.

    Shut the door to unbelief. Unbelief said, “The borrowing of the extra vessels was only lost motion.” Unbelief said, “The whole experience of the race is against expecting a small bottle of oil to fill all those vessels.” The good woman closed the door to unbelief, and filled every cup that faith had brought in.

    Close your door to unbelief. Believe in people. Not everyone is a scoundrel. Endeavour to see in every man the image of God. Believe in yourself. Act as if were impossible to fail. Never allow yourself the luxury of prophesying gloom. Believe in God and God’s son, the Lord Jesus Christ – God transcendent, personal, righteous, compassionate; God, big enough for this day of big things; God, powerful enough for your problems. Enough to get you through life, with honor.

    Shut the door to everything that is little and mean and vile and selfish. There you will find the flowing oil, the manifestations of God, and the glow of a glorious experience of being closer to our Creator.

Genesis 1:14-16: “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:  And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.  And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.”

The sun being the “greater light” and the moon the “lesser light” speaks of Christ and His relationship to the church. As the moon reflects to the earth the greater light of the sun, so the church reflects the greater light of Christ to the world, thus becoming a lesser light herself. So both Christ and the church bear the title “the light of the world”

John 8:12: “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

Matthew 5:14: ^“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.”

Genesis 1:4: ^“And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.” God “divided the light from the darkness.”

As soon as Christ the light of world (John 8:12) begins to glow in the heart of a new believer, He begins an inner dividing work, separating the clean from the unclean, spiritual things from carnal things. This naturally leads to an outer division among people.

In fact, Jesus said, “Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:” (Luke 12:51)

John 7:43 says, “ So there was a division among the people because of him.”

As it was in the very beginning, division follows when true light appears. Rather than be disturbed by it and oppose it, wise Christians will understand this to be the natural course of things and accept it.

Yes, some division is of God.

Always reads her Bible, for daily nourishment.

Believes God’s promises without fear.

Covers each child with diligent prayer.

Disciplines her little ones scripturally.

Enjoys her family to the uttermost.

Forgives her children when they fail repeatedly.

Goes to church out of need and gives faithfully.

Holds her children accountable and truthful.

Isn’t afraid to ask forgiveness of her children.

Just knows when something’s up with her child.

Knows she’s deeply loved by her Jesus.

Loves and respects her husband exceedingly.

Models Christlikeness to her family.

Never calls her children bad names.

Overcomes struggles by calling on Jesus’ name.

Places her children into the Father’s hands.

Quietly smiles with satisfaction and delight.

Refuses to worry and fret over her children.

Sets boundaries for her children’s behavior.

Tries to listen to her children intently.

Understands her limitations and need for rest.

Very often hugs and tenderly touches each child.

Works and labours without complaint.

Xpects her reward from God, not others.

Yearns to help her children succeed in life.

Zealously sees to her family’s health and welfare.

Genesis 1:1 – “ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

Christ is the Creator Who created the heaven and the earth, according to:

John 1:1-3, 14 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

Colossians 1:16 – “ For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:”

Hebrews 1:2 – “Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”