Category Archives: General

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)

Last words have a tendency to be lasting words — words which stay with you — and this is certainly true with the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. You will find His last words in all four Gospel accounts and also in the book of Acts. Let’s take a look at them here.

Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

Jesus said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” (Mark 16:15)

Jesus told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:47)

Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (John 20:21)

Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

These last words of our Lord Jesus Christ are commonly known as The Great Commission. They were delivered to His disciples shortly before He ascended into Heaven, after His atoning death, burial, and supernatural resurrection. These words represent His final marching orders to His disciples then and for every disciple throughout the ages. Think for a moment of the incredible privilege we have been given by Jesus to be part of His “disciple-making” mission. There is no greater purpose in this life than to be pouring ourselves out for the expansion of the Kingdom of Christ. It is the only thing we can do in this life that has eternal value in the next.

How well have you taken these last words of our Lord to heart? Does the confession of your life reveal that they are, indeed, lasting words — words that have stayed with you? If that is not the case, what changes do you need to make in your life? Remember, lasting value in this life and the next will only be found in living for the last words of Christ.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God. (Exodus 31:18)

“Take Two” is a phrase that is ingrained in our American culture. We think of the well-worn cliche of a doctor saying, “Take two aspirin and call me in the morning.” Or we might imagine a movie director instructing actors to “Take Two” in order to repeat a particular scene that needs improvement. Well, God has a far more important “Take Two” for you and me that will change the trajectory of our lives if we will but follow His counsel and direction.

The Bible tells us that the Ten Commandments were written by the finger of God on two stone tablets that were inscribed on both sides and kept in the Ark of the Covenant. It is notable that the tablets were made of stone rather than clay, indicating the importance and intended permanence of what God wrote for His people to read, remember, and respond to. This communication from God to Moses was the foundation upon which the people of God are to build their lives, and we have two important reasons for doing so: God’s glory and our ultimate good.

Many people mistakenly believe that the commandments were designed to enslave us and “keep us in line” through fear. Nothing could be further from the truth! God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, is infinitely wise, and He knows what is best for the people He created. He knows the best way for us to live; He knows the best way for us to maximize our full potential; and He knows the best way for us to get the greatest sense of meaning, purpose, significance, and success out of life. And so, in His amazing grace, God gave us the Ten Commandments, to liberate us from bondage to our sinful nature so that we may become all that God intended us to be.

The Pharisees tried to test Jesus regarding the greatest commandment in the Law, a familiar practice for famous biblical teachers at that time. When confronted with a similar question, Rabbi Hillel said, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor.” Jesus passed their test with flying colors, and at the same time gave us the most clear and concise “Take Two” instruction:

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

The most important lesson for us to learn in the school of life is love – vertical love for God and horizontal love for people. If we don’t get the first command right, we will always fail at the second. But when we are in a right relationship with God and love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, then we will begin to be in right relationships with others.

Now, experience has taught us all that we will never do this perfectly, so we must always live in the shadow of the cross, which is the greatest demonstration of love the world has ever seen. The cross reminds us that every time we fail “the love test,” we are still unconditionally loved and completely forgiven. Let that truth set you free to “Take Two” today, tomorrow, and every day that God gives you.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship . . . ?  (Romans 8:35)

In this beloved passage of Scripture, in which Paul went on to say that “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us,” does it not seem odd that Paul would ask “Who shall separate us,” rather than “What shall separate us”? Paul listed trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or sword as possible reasons for separation from the love of Christ, so it might seem that his use of the word “Who” here was incorrect; generally we associate “who” with a person, not with things like “hardship” or “danger.” However, we know that Paul was writing under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, so there is no “incorrect” wording in this passage or any other. All Scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16), we must look a bit deeper to see what God intends for us to understand.

I don’t know about you, but Paul’s list is rather formidable, and it certainly can feel like a “who” when trouble, hardship, persecution, etc., come knocking at our door. Trouble and hardship feel personal, do they not? I believe Paul was intentionally setting up a contrast with the True Who, the One who is far greater than any “who” this sin-stained world can bring against us. The Lord Jesus Christ, through His sinless life, sacrificial death, and supernatural resurrection, demonstrates that He is the True Who.

• Trouble is no match for the True Who.
• Hardship is no match for the True Who.
• Persecution is no match for the True Who.
• Famine is no match for the True Who.
• Nakedness is no match for the True Who.
• Danger is no match for the True Who.
• The sword is no match for the True Who.

There is no “who” in the entire universe that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Remember, every “who” on Paul’s list represents serious struggles that often become storms that we must face in this life. None of these things are good or welcome guests. But God has promised to take every one of them and ultimately work them in our lives for a good and glorious outcome. In conforming us to the image and likeness of the Son, the Father will use every means necessary; often, those means include the waves of challenge that wash over us.

Remember, greater is the power of the True Who that is in you than any power that comes against you. And that means you are, indeed, more than a conqueror through Him who loves us.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Run in such a way as to get the prize.  (1 Corinthians 9:24)

Competition is a fact of life. It starts at the earliest age in our homes, impacts us both in and out of the classroom during our school years, and follows us throughout our adult lives. We compete for jobs. We compete for relationships. We compete for acclaim, award, and approval. One business leader sagely observed that, “Competition brings out the best in products and the worst in people.”

The apostle Paul wrote to people who were quite familiar with competition. The sporting event known as the Isthmian Games was similar to our present-day Olympic Games. All the athletes in the competition and those who watched from the stands knew two things: First, only one contestant would be declared the winner of the event and receive the prize; second, the prize was perishable and would eventually decay into something of little or no value. With this understanding established in the minds of Paul’s audience, he set forth the concept of a cosmic competition of faith that will, in the end, result in a prize of eternal value.

Notice what Paul said:

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. (1 Corinthians 9:25)

Paul was telling his audience then and you and me today that we should indeed compete, but not against others. Rather, we compete against ourselves, with the goal of growing and maturing in our faith. In essence, our goal should be God’s goal for our lives: to be conformed to the likeness of Christ, from salvation to glorification. Paul added:

I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:26-27)

You can see that Paul was serious and intentional about this competition. Running the Christian race was not something he took lightly or engaged in halfheartedly; he was rigorous in his self-discipline.

It is important to point out that this “strict training” was not done out of fear. When Paul spoke of being “disqualified for the prize,” he was in no way speaking about anything related to salvation. Paul made it crystal clear in Romans 8:38-39, Philippians 1:6, and elsewhere that all who are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ are eternally secure in their salvation. No, when Paul spoke of “disqualification,” he was speaking of service; his eye was on his message and his ministry and whether or not he would continue practicing what he preached.

Who have you been competing against lately? Is your eye on the prize the Lord has for you? Or are you focused on the other people running in the race? When we are running our race, the race God has called us to run for His glory and the good of others, we will fix our eyes on Jesus, not those running alongside us, knowing that He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion when we cross the finish line and enter into our eternal rest.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  (Galatians 5:1)

We all have a tendency to be controlled by the opinion of others. We often seek the applause of man rather than the approval of God. Today I want to remind you that the only opinion that truly matters is God’s.

Puritan Samuel Bolton put a sharp point on this truth:

Let us never surrender our judgments or our consciences to be at the disposal and opinions of others, and to be subjected to the sentences and determinations of men . . .

The church is full of people who will tell you how to live your Christian life. They talk about God’s plan for your life, and then proceed to put all the pieces together for you. They insist that you live according to their opinions. Their weapons of choice are “guilt trips” . . . condemnation . . . rejection . . . gossip . . . punitive silence. Such people must be resisted if we are going to live the freedom we have been given in Christ. The casualties inside the church resulting from the effects of this legalism infecting the body of Christ are legion.

I have talked here before about what freedom looks like in the life of the Christian. It is not freedom to do as we please, but rather freedom to do as God pleases in our lives. We live by grace in view of God’s mercies, and we live that grace in the way God has called us to live it.

There is a paradox in freedom that we must understand: Only to the extent we are in bondage and slavery to our Savior are we truly free. It is only the opinion of Jesus that matters in our lives. The the more closely we walk with Christ, the better we will understand His plan and purpose for our lives.

In our verse for today, Paul was addressing some very legalistic and opinionated Galatians. They believed that in order to become a “real” Christian, believers must be circumcised and obey the Law of Moses. If they did not, these Galatians maintained, the uncircumcised lawbreakers were not saved. Paul urgently and vehemently condemned this false, works-based gospel, saying “Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned” (Galatians 1:8).

If Paul were speaking to the church today, he would tell us that any and all man-made rules and traditions are not to stifle the saints of God. Paul made it crystal clear in his letter to the Galatians where we are direct our focus:

Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10)

How is it with you? Whose opinion have you been most concerned with lately? Have you been seeking the applause of man? Or the approval of God? We must remember that our Christianity is in no way tied to compliance to any “rules” and “regulations.” You see, God already completely approves of you because of His Son. You cannot earn His favor or cause Him to frown. You are completely loved in the Beloved. So go live like it, Christian, looking only to the One who says to you, “This is my beloved child, in whom I am well pleased.”

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. (Exodus 16:4)

The title for today’s word of encouragement might seem a bit strange. What does the phrase “gathering grace” mean, when we know that the grace of God is a gift that He bestows on us freely? But when we think about gathering grace in the context of the Israelites gathering manna in the wilderness for forty years, we will be on the right track.

Here are a few things to remember about the manna:

• God provided it.
• God provided it daily.
• God provided the same amount for all His people.
• God’s people had to gather it for themselves.

Here is a simple way to remember this gift of manna: God placed the manna within easy reach of His people, but He did not put it in their mouths. Yes, the manna was a miraculous example of God’s amazing grace, but the people were not entirely passive recipients of God’s provision. They still had to go out and gather the manna in order to eat.

This is the same way we ought to understand the grace we receive. To gather grace is to appropriate it — to take possession of the provision we have already received by grace through God’s ordained means. Now, I want to make it clear that God, in His sovereign purpose and plan for our lives, does use His Holy Spirit to work in our lives apart from any appropriating activity on our part, most notably in the work of giving us saving faith, which is entirely His work and not ours, as Ephesians 2:8-9 clearly says. Yet God has made it clear that we are to be actively engaged in the means He has made available to us so that we can play our role in rightly responding to His grace.

Here are three means for us to appropriate God’s grace:

PRAYER – When the Bible tells us to “Ask and you shall receive,” it is instructing us that the first step in gathering grace is to ask for it in prayer. “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

BIBLE INTAKE – Whether reading through the Word or receiving it in the sermons we hear, we gather grace every time we grow more acquainted with Scripture. “For The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

CHURCH ATTENDANCE – Inasmuch as we are all saved individually, we are saved to community, and that community is His church. We know that the church does not save us, but God surely has ordained His family of faith to be used in sanctifying us as we grow and mature in our faith. Therefore, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing” (Hebrews 10:25).

Remember, every aspect of the Christian life is lived by grace, through faith. But we are commanded to play our role in gathering grace for the race God has called us to run.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

When you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God. (Genesis 3:5)

There is much to be understood about the first temptation that the devil delivered to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. There are many layers to Satan’s lies, but the very root of the temptation was self-sufficiency. Made by God for God, Adam and Eve were created to live in total and utter dependence upon God. Scripture tells us plainly that “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). It was God’s divine design for mankind to live in conscious, consistent dependence on Him.

In this first temptation of self-sufficiency, the devil tempted man to live in autonomy, independent from the Almighty — a state of self-governing self-sufficiency. So alluring was this temptation presented by the devil that Eve, followed by Adam, “saw the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, took some and ate it” (Genesis 3:6). The results were catastrophic for all humanity, but the good news of the Gospel appeared immediately, when God pursued the two rebels on the run, promised to send a Savior, and then graciously worked in the lives of His people to cause them to realize their total dependence upon Him. That is the summary of the entire story line of God’s people, Israel.

Here is how Moses described it:

Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 8:2-3)

When they were hungry, God fed them. When they were thirsty, God gave them water to drink. You would think that after forty years in the desert the Israelites would not need any reminders of their total dependence on God and how He had met their every need. But they did . . . and so do we. Regardless of where we live and where this message finds us, we are every bit as dependent on God to meet our needs as the Israelites were in their wilderness experience.

How instructive to read that God was “causing you to hunger and then feeding you.” Regardless of our need, God has promised to meet it according to His glorious riches in Jesus Christ (Philippians 4:19).

Here is a fabulous verse to help us remember just how dependent we are on the Lord God Almighty: “What do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). Everything we have comes to us from God; and the more we have, the more we are in debt to the One who has given it to us.

What you and I receive from the hand of God may not seem as miraculous as the food and water He provided for the people of Israel in the desert; He most often displays His providential care through ordinary and mundane means. But His great grace and care are no less miraculous than passing through the Red Sea on dry land. We are to see His care for us as a miracle, and that sense of wonder and awe will slay the sin of self-sufficiency.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24)

There is a great little story that speaks to conquering sin in our lives. A young boy was struggling with a variety of temptations, so his parents asked their pastor to come and speak with him. After the young boy described some of the devil’s temptations, the pastor responded, “The next time the devil comes knocking, just ask Jesus to get the door.”

Here is what we must remember when it comes to sin. Sin still remains in the life of the child of God. Just read through the seventh chapter of Romans if you have any doubts that sin smears the life of even the most godly believer after salvation. Yes, sin still remains in the life of the believer, but sin no longer reigns in that life. The power of sin was broken on the cross when Jesus paid the penalty for our sins — all our sins, past, present, and future.

Before Jesus came into our lives, all we could do was sin. Even our best actions sprang from sinful, selfish motivations. But after Jesus raises us from death to life and gives us the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, we have the ability, for the very first time, not to sin. Here is how Paul explained this powerful truth.

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13).   

Here are a few truths to encourage you from Paul’s words to the Corinthians. First, everyone is tempted and temptation is not a sin. Scripture tells us that Jesus Christ was “tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Second, never feel like you have been singled out when wrong desires rear their ugly heads in your life. Others have resisted temptation, and you can too; we all have been given the same Spirit and the same power to fight against the slings and arrows of the devil. God has promised that he will always make a way out for all of us, if we are willing to walk in it.

Is there any particular struggle you are facing in your life right now? Something in your personal life . . . your professional life . . . your family life? Just remember, when the devil comes knocking with his many and varied temptations, just ask Jesus to get the door. I promise you that He will make sure that particular temptation will not overtake you.

Let me close with a word of caution for all of us. We should never try and answer the door ourselves. None of us are strong enough! We simply need to ask Jesus to answer the door of temptation, and we will receive our deliverance.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Carry each other’s burdens. (Galatians 6:2)

Your first glance at this title might cause you to think that I will be sharing some tips from our sport training ministry to help build your upper body strength. And it certainly is true that I enjoy this aspect of our church ministry, having spent most of my life coaching and training athletes in sports and the martial arts. But the “shoulder strength” I am talking about here has nothing to do with weight lifting, but rather lifting weight.

Regardless of your age, athletic experience, physical ability, or station in life, as a child of God you have been given supernatural strength to help others in a variety of different ways. As Christians, we are called to bear one another’s burdens — to come alongside others and let them lean on us when they are not strong and to offer them a shoulder to cry on. We all have the perfect amount of shoulder strength to be a blessing to others in their time of need. It is God who has ordained the church to be His shoulders to help strengthen others in their times of need. It is only when the entire body of Christ is engaged and working together that we will be what God in Christ died to make us — His body.

So how has God been using your shoulders lately? Please keep in mind that this has nothing to do with ability; it has everything to do with availability. God gives all of His children the ability to be a source of strength to others. But it is up to us to make ourselves available to be used by God for His glory and the good of others.

Think back to the last time you needed a shoulder to cry on or when someone came alongside of you to help you bear a particular burden. We really do need each other, because God will work no needless miracle to ease a burden when He has already ordained for His children to be His shoulder strength.

Take some time today to consider those closest to you and how you might be able to meet some particular need. Ask God to show you how He wants to use you in the life of someone who needs your strength, and you will be blessed beyond measure. “And in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

One last thought: Don’t forget that when you are helping carry someone else’s burden, Jesus is carrying you every step of the way. For God has promised to meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

“If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” (1 Corinthians 15:14)

On Monday we took a look at the “embarrassing” evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ in the testimony of the women and on Wednesday we unpacked the “enemy” evidence provided by the religious leaders. Today we will look at Saul of Tarsus, who described himself as “a Pharisee of Pharisees,” and who was a true enemy of Jesus and the Gospel.

For more than two thousand years, no skeptic has ever been able to explain in any reasonable and plausible fashion how or why Saul, the savage persecutor of the church, became Paul, the pastor, preacher, and disciple of Jesus Christ, who penned much of the New Testament.

Saul of Tarsus was greatly feared among the first-century church. He was relentless in his persecution of the followers of Jesus, and he testified to that fact in several of his epistles (1 Corinthians 15:9; Galatians 1:13; 1 Timothy 1:13), frankly admitting his great zeal in persecuting the church (Philippians 3:5). Along with his epistles, the book of Acts records Saul’s efforts to destroy the church. Then something happened on the road to Damascus.

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” (Acts 9:1-6).

There may very well have been no greater enemy of the early church than Saul of Tarsus. Scripture reports that he held the coats of those who stoned godly Stephen to death, giving his full approval to their actions (Acts 7:58, 8:1). Saul was blinded by his self-righteous, false religion, and he did everything in his power to extinguish the light of the Gospel . . . but to no avail. The resurrected Jesus showed up and transformed Saul the persecutor into Paul the preacher.

How do we explain this incredible transformation? There is only one way; it happened just as the Scriptures say it happened. Time and time again, an honest reading of the Bible and of history confirms that the Scriptures are historically true and accurate.

One more thing. It is beyond contestation that Paul was martyred under the emperor Nero for his faith in Jesus. The early church fathers, Polycarp, Tertullian, and Clement of Rome all testify to this truth. The only way anyone could go from killing Christians to being killed for being a Christian is because of a heart-altering encounter with the risen and resurrected Lord. From embarrassing testimony to enemy attestation, God has given us powerful, plausible proof for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So the question is: Do you believe He is risen? He is risen! He is risen indeed!

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!