The last words of a person on earth are often very significant. Sometimes, they tell you not only how a man died, but also how he lived. For example the great evangelist, D.L. Moody said at his deathbed, to his sons who were with him, “If God be your partner, make your plans large.” Before our Lord Jesus departed for Heaven, He gave His bewildered disciples a commission to continue and expand the Gospel to the whole world. That same mission that was given to His disciples is meant for us as well, both individually and corporately, through His Church. The work of missions is not an easy task. No one could do it by his or her own power. It takes the power of God for anyone to survive any missionary venture, including reaching our neighbors, work associates, and family members for Christ. Before Jesus ascended, He promised the disciples and us that we “will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). If we did not have His power and His command and His authority, our efforts to win persons to Christ would be futile. Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). Having assured His disciples of His power and authority for the task ahead, He then gave them His mandate to carry out. We serve a great Lord, who, before He gives us a task, equips us for such responsibility. In Matthew 28:19-20a, Jesus specifies His divine plan for His mission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” In Jesus' plan, there is one main imperative verb, which is “make disciples” and three subordinate participles, which explain how one makes disciples. As every Christian goes (living their normal life), they are to witness to those without Christ. When a person trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, they are to be baptized, which is their public confession of faith in Christ. This new believer is then helped to grow by teaching them to know and observe all that God has commanded us. God's plan was always growth by reproducing godly followers of Jesus. So often, today, when someone comes to Christ, there is little or no follow-up. God has not called us to make decisions, but to make disciples who in turn make other disciples, beginning where we are. Having reassured them (the disciples) and us of the power for missions and the plan of missions, Jesus Christ gave them one further promise for their success. Jesus reassured His disciples of His continued presence with them after His departure: “And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20b, NIV). This promise conveys the constant and continued presence of Jesus with His people. This presence was a timeless one—to the very end of the age. God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5, NIV). God is still calling every one of us to join in His mission. The field is ripe for harvest, but the laborers are few. Would you answer God's call to join Him in this challenge? Our mission is global and our mandate is very urgent because many people are dying in their sins daily. Begin where you are, receive His power, follow His plan, and go with the confidence of His eternal presence. May God find us faithful when He comes!
We tend to forget that Jesus is coming back again (just like in the Days of Noah, Matthew 24:37-39). One out of every 30 verses in the Bible mentions the subject of Christ's return. Of the 260 chapters in the New Testament, there are over 300 references to the return of Christ. Only 4 out of the 27 N.T. books fail to mention Christ's return (Adapted from Ryan Rice). When Peter says, “The end of all things is near” (1 Peter 4:7), he was essentially saying there is nothing keeping Christ back from returning at any moment. This was the early church's blessed hope that enabled them to endure the sufferings they were experiencing in the world, and it is the same hope that can encourage us during times of trial. According to Peter, here are 4 characteristics that should define those who are living with a view towards the coming of Christ:
In Gideon's day, Israel was in desperate straits spiritually. The nation would rebel against the Lord, only to fall into the oppressive hands of its enemies. After years of hardship and pain, the people would repent, and God would raise up a deliverer, a judge, to rally an army and cast off the yoke of heathen bondage. Gideon was one of those judges whom God commissioned (Judges 6) to deliver Israel. If we are going to accomplish extraordinary things for the Lord, you first need to believe what God says about you. When the angel of the Lord, who I believe is the pre-incarnate Christ, appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior” (Judges 6:12). Gideon was flabbergasted! His response is found in verse 15, “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” (NLT) The Lord's answer in verse 14 was, “Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?” Can you identify with Gideon? Analyzing our inadequacies can paralyze us. As long as Gideon looked at himself, his confidence was zero. Only when he chose to believe God, instead of his own feelings of inferiority, was he ready to do some wonderful things for the Lord. What does God say about you? Study His Word and the position you have in Christ, and trust God's assessment of your character and abilities. If God has called you to do something exceptional, He will supply the strength and guidance to succeed. Secondly, we need to trust in God's power rather than our own. Gideon did obey the Lord and called together a great army of 32,000 men (Judges 7). Then, the Lord began to reduce Gideon's army so that his victory would be dependent upon God. God instructed Gideon to send home anyone who trembled with fear, so more than two-thirds of his army left, and only 10,000 were remained (Judges 7:2-3). God further reduced his army by giving his soldiers the water test, separating “everyone who laps water with his tongue as a dog laps, as well as everyone who kneels to drink” (Judges 7:5). When only 300 men lapped water (Judges 7:6), the odds were now 450 to 1, just the kind of odds that God delights in. Sometimes God reduces the size of our army (support system), so that He can show us and the world His power. Our areas of weakness can be God's showcase for accomplishing marvelous things. The final test we must face to accomplish exceptional things is to trust God's methods, even when those methods seem strange, even stupid to those around you. God's ways are not our ways. Gideon divided the 300 men into 3 companies, and he gave each man a trumpet and an empty jar with a torch inside. When Gideon and his men reached the enemy camp, they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars, shouting, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” (Judges 7:16, 19-20). The Midianite army, confused by the sudden burst of light and sound, began to attack one another and fled. Gideon won a great victory that day, and he won it by faith and obedience to God's word, His power, and His methods. I believe that a major part of Gideon's victory is found in Judges 6:34, “So the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon. Today, the Spirit of God dwells within us and is always available to lead us and empower us to do God's will (1 Corinthians 6:19). I wonder if you are able to identify with Gideon. You may be “crouching in the wine press” with fear, shirking responsibility, or running away from opportunity. My prayer is that you would hear the Lord calling you a mighty man or woman of valor. He is speaking strength over you. He is calling you to a life that matters. Allow His Spirit and His Word to speak to your mind and heart, and follow His voice in faith that you might be used in greater ways than you could ever imagine.
At times, we all face failure in our personal, professional, and ministry lives. Failure can become a powerful ally when we allow God to transform something bad and unpleasant into something good and useful for our growth, and for God's glory. To help us understand failure, I will look at the life of Peter. Failure is needed to reveal blind spots. When Jesus told his disciples that they would suffer many things from the religious Jewish leaders and be killed, Peter rebuked the Lord by saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You” (Matthew 16:22). In response, Jesus said, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me, for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” Peter's failure revealed his temporal values and what he needed to know about himself and about the Lord. On another occasion, as Jesus faced His crucifixion, Peter boasted about his bravery when he said, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death” (Luke 22:33). We know the rest of the story about the denial of Peter and the crowing rooster. Failure taught Peter, and can teach us, that we are not as courageous as we thought, and we need to see life and circumstances from God's viewpoint, not ours. Failure is valued by the Lord. He knows that apart from failure, we would have little need for His forgiveness, His communion, and His help. Psalm 103:10 tells us that God does not deal with us according to our sins or reward us according to our failures. In the same way Christ forgave Peter's repeated failures, he will forgive ours. It is encouraging that Jesus prayed for Peter's faith that his faith would not fail (Luke 22:32a), and as our sympathetic High Priest, who ever lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25), our Lord prays that our faith would not fail in the midst of temptation. Besides, Jesus had a purpose for Peter's failure, which was to strengthen the brothers once he turned again (Luke 22:32b). Likewise, the Lord will even use failure to ultimately accomplish his purposes in and through us. Failure teaches us humility, and confronts us with our limitations and need for God's grace and help. Failure is used by the Lord. Peter is restored to the Lord in John 21, and in spite of his failures, Peter becomes the first preacher of Christ's new Church and 3000 souls were saved from his first sermon. He also became the leader of the Church in Jerusalem and the author of 1st and 2nd Peter. John Mark deserted Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. But later, he became a valuable asset to Barnabas, was sought by Paul and called “profitable” to him for the ministry (2 Timothy 4:11), and penned the Gospel of Mark. Failure is a great teacher. Don't let failure define you; let God use it to refine you so that we realize how much we desperately need God and to cause us to overflow with gratitude for all that God is and all that He does. Failure is the channel to showcase God's mercy, grace, forgiveness, and power. Jonah fled to obey God's call on his life and found himself in the belly of a large fish. But God supernaturally rescued Jonah and recommissioned him. In spite of Jonah's dismal failure the first time around, God still wanted to use him, and the result was 120,000 people turned to the Lord. God used Jonah's failure to proclaim His great mercy in response to sin. Moses failed before he ever started his appointed ministry by killing a man and trying to cover it up. Rahab was a harlot. David was a murderer, an adulterer, and a schemer, yet God chose to bring His own Son through the lineage of Bathsheba and her son Solomon. Our failures have consequences, but our God is an expert at creating purpose out of chaos, beauty out of ashes, and accomplishing His will, even through our failures. God's ultimate goal is to make us like Christ, and anything that moves us closer to that prize, including lessons we learn through failure, brings Him pleasure and glory!
It was 2 days before Jesus' crucifixion when He spoke this parable. Consequently, He used this opportunity to drive home the truths He most wanted His disciples to remember. On His list of top-priority issues was stewardship. More than half of Christ's 30 plus parables deal with the subject of stewardship, emphasizing the eternal implications of our present service for the Lord. What we have is not ours (25:14) . A steward's primary goal is to be found faithful by his master in the usage of those entrusted resources to accomplish the tasks delegated to him (1 Corinthians 4:2). Verse 14 says he “entrusted his possessions to them” (slaves). Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” James 1:17 reminds us that “Every good thing given, and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father.” What authority does God have to say that I am His steward? Well, the Lord made us, He sustains us, He saved us, He sanctifies us, and He will judge us. We're given what we can handle (25:15) . Each servant received talents (a large sum of money). The word used in verse 18, agryrio, indicated that these talents were silver. Each servant received talents “according to his ability.” Your responsibility is tied to your ability. The master does not give each servant the same amount of talents. Not everyone is gifted in the same way, and that needs to be okay with us. We must invest what we've been given (25:16-18) . There are 3 things you can do with your life. You can waste it, spend it, or invest it. Jesus teaches us that the greatest use of your life is to invest it in something that will outlast us. “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10). Jesus makes it clear that the size of the gift is not the important variable. What each servant does with what he's been given is the variable that matters. While the first servant is given more than double what the second servant is given, they are both commended with the exact same words: “Well done, good and faithful slave, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master” (25:21, 23). The one talent guy was a slacker who went off and buried his blessing (25:18). God judges the third servant not for doing bad things, but for doing nothing. Realize that we have great freedom to spend our gifts of time, energy, and money any way we want. A day of accountability is coming (25:19) . Jesus is coming again, and there will be a day of reckoning. While most of us believe that in our heads, we don't always live with eternity in our hearts. If we thought more about His return, we'd be more focused on making investments that outlive us. “For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. So then, each one of us will give an account of himself to God (Romans 14:10b, 12). Wouldn't it be terrible to be ashamed and unprepared when Jesus comes back? “Now little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming” (1 John 2:28). What we do with what we have reveals our view of God (25:20-25) . The third slave thought of his master as one who expected us to gain a profit where he made no provisions. But God is not a cruel master. He deals with us in grace and with joy, and gives us the means to do that which He expects. The master took away the talent from the wicked slave and gave it to the one who had 10 talents (25:29). The abundance for the good and faithful slaves included the pleasure of hearing Jesus say, “Well done” (25:21. 23), the honor of ruling with Christ (25:21, 23, 29), and the invitation of entering into Christ's joy (25:21, 23). The worthless slave will be thrown “into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (25:30). This last phrase is used 7 times in the New Testament, always in the context of the final judgment and describing those who are cast into hell. Those who don't know God don't serve Him. A lack of serving may indicate that a person has never been truly converted. The wicked slave lived in the house of the master but didn't know and love the owner. What talents and abilities do you have? How can you use the unique combination of talents, abilities, and opportunities that God has given you to honor Him and help others? The choices we make now will determine what is waiting for us later.
On June 8, we celebrated Pentecost, which means, “50th” or “50th day.” It was the Jewish feast held 50 days after Passover. It celebrated the first fruits of the wheat harvest. For Christians, Pentecost marks the birthday of the Christian Church. It was at Pentecost that the Holy Spirit began His work of building the church by baptizing believers into the Body of Christ. “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13). It seems to me that there is a decline in the recognition of Pentecost. Also, there is often a lack of appreciation for the significance of events associated with Pentecost. “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place” (Acts 2:1). The first important result of Pentecost was the birth of the Body of Christ. You cannot navigate the Christian life alone. You need your Christian brothers and sisters. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you” (1 Corinthians 12:21). So many people who claim spirituality are pursuing it on a Lone Ranger basis. A second important consideration is the necessity of being in the spirit of prayer. “These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer” (Acts 1:14). We need times alone in prayer. We need times together in prayer. Some of us are so busy running around doing things that we haven’t taken the time to listen, to be open, and to receive that divine guidance and encouragement that God wants to give us through prayer. A third surrounding factor is to take seriously what the Scriptures have to say. I’m fascinated by the fact that during these days between the ascension of Jesus and Pentecost, this group of 120 close followers of Jesus heard the Scriptures taught. Peter expounded the Old Testament teachings to them. It’s a posture of receptivity to God’s teachings. How receptive are you to God's Word? A fourth aspect related to Pentecost is that they were waiting expectantly for God to act. “Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised” (Acts 1:4): the Holy Spirit. Is there that dimension of waiting in your life? We live in a culture of instant gratification. If something goes wrong in my life, I learn quickly that I still have not conquered patience. God uses those waiting times to get our attention and to develop Christ's character. Furthermore, you cannot pray, sing, serve, or live correctly as a Christian unless and until you have been empowered and enlightened by the Holy Spirit, which first fell on the Lord’s apostles on Pentecost! Since then, the Holy Spirit indwells every genuine believer (1 Corinthians 6:19). Finally, remember that Jews had, by this time, spread into every region of the world. On Pentecost, many Jews returned to Jerusalem to celebrate. That is why there were people there from Africa, Asia, and Europe. That is why Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and Persians all were present in one place at one time (Acts 2:9-11). God was doing two wonderful things at once: He was converting people who could take the message back to their respective countries and establish the gospel throughout the world. Secondly, He was establishing a church that consisted of and welcomed people from every race and region of the world. Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). If you apply these associated events, you will experience Pentecost continually!
Happy Birthday, America! On July 4th, America celebrated its 249th birthday. I thank God for our country and for the freedoms we enjoy here. However, I am especially grateful for God’s gift of freedom, which far exceeds those benefits we enjoy in America both in significance and in duration. There is no real or lasting freedom apart from Christ. Until a person accepts God’s gift of salvation, they remain in the slave market of sin. So true freedom can only come through Christ. “If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).
There is a growing belief in Christendom that ultimately everyone will be saved here on earth or given a second chance after they die (Heb. 9:27; Lk. 16:26). What would you say to someone who holds the teaching that God will save everyone who never heard of Jesus? How about the 2 billion Muslims and 1.2 billion Hindus? What will happen to them?
Personal identity is one of the most important things to understand about ourselves. Who we befriend, how we handle conflict, and how we see life are all affected by identity. If someone were to ask you who you are, how would you respond? If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior , you have a special identity that you may not be fully aware of. Your identity in Christ doesn't depend on your hair color, body type, where you live, or where you work. As believers, we don’t belong here. We’re just “passing through,” because everything changed the moment we came to Christ. Philippians 3:20 explains, “But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior” NLT). Why do we, who have been called out by our Heavenly Father, try so hard to fit in and get approval from a world we are no longer a part of? The world's approval doesn't matter. You have a Heavenly Father who loves you more than anyone on this earth ever could. And His love for you doesn't change. It never fails, and it will last forever. Once you become a new creation in Him, everything changes for the better. You're given a new name. Your whole identity changes because you've been rescued and redeemed from sin and darkness and welcomed into God's Kingdom family. 1 Peter 2:9 says, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light."
What is true repentance? Figures vary a lot, but something over 40% of Americans profess to be "Born Again" yet there is little or no evidence to give confirmation of that profession. So many people claim that they love Jesus, yet they live in direct disobedience to both His direct commandments and the principles of His Word. Why are so many excuses given for sin? And why are we, as Christians, so willing to make excuses for those in sin? When Jesus began his ministry, He did so by preaching "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). When Jesus sent out the Apostles, He told them to preach that " repentance and forgiveness for sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations” (Luke 24). Salvation is by faith alone, but real faith is always accompanied by repentance. This change of mind from disbelief to belief is called “metanoia” or “repentance.” When a person comes to understand the sufficiency of the finished work of Christ on his behalf and believes it, he has repented and has passed from death into life. Therefore, repentance is not an act separate from believing the gospel, but is inherent in the act of believing. Paul also preached repentance. Paul told the Athenians, "In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent ” ( Acts 17:30 ). In Acts 20:21, Paul summed up his ministry by saying he "declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus." Repentance is also not an option for living the Christian life. When a Christian sins, repentance is necessary to restore one's relationship both with God and with those sinned against. Repentance is an ongoing process. It is not something done once and forever accomplished. It is not enough to once change your mind about sin. True repentance affects the whole person and should result in a renewed lifestyle. This turning from sin and self toward Christ is and must be a continuing process. It is a day-by-day progression of refusing to follow sin and self and of deliberately following Christ. Genuine repentance involves three things: First, it involves the renunciation of sin. “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy” ( Proverbs 28:13, NIV ). The prodigal son upon coming home, told his Father, “I have sinned against heaven and against you.” Secondly, true repentance seeks a reconciliation with others. Therefore, if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering” ( Matthew 5:23-24, NASB ). Finally, authentic repentance includes a restitution for sin whenever possible. Zacchaeus, the tax collector, said to Jesus when he visited, “‘Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.’ “Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house’” ( Luke 19:8-9, NIV ). Are there any specific sins in your life that you have never truly repented of? Are you willing to repent of those sins here and now and enjoy the forgiveness and fellowship that only comes through Jesus Christ?
