A Man Child

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A Man Child

 

Revelation 12:5

"And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne."

Twice in Revelation 12, Jesus is called "a man child." The reason He is called this is because He was all man, even from His childhood.  What I mean by this is that Jesus didn't act childish, but He acted like a man from His childhood.  When Jesus graduated into adulthood, He wasn't still acting like a child, but He acted like a man. Jesus was a great example of how we should train our young men.  From a child He started acting like a man, and when He became an adult, He didn't have to learn how to be a man for He was a man as a child.

I was recently talking to my good friend, Bro. Johnny Esposito, who is the Vice-President of Pacific Baptist Bible College in Long Beach, California. Our conversation was about how childish most men are these days.  He told me a few stories of some of the men in his college whose childish actions amazed him.  He then told me that our problem in today's society is that most men have a Peter Pan syndrome.  What he meant by this is that there are men who still want to play like a child and who have never grown up. I concur with his analysis as I look at most men today and see that they still have child-like tendencies.

If our nation is going to be saved, then we need some young men who will grow up.  This nation will not be saved by a bunch of childish men.  When you study history, you will see that the men who changed their society were not childish men, but they were men.  Just like Jesus acted like a man from a child, we need to start training our young men to be men from their childhood.

If this is going to happen, then there are several things we must do.  First, men need to grow up.  You will never make men out of boys when the men are acting like boys. It is sad when you have forty year old men who are still playing video games. Grow up! I'm not against a dad playing some video games with his children, but I am against a grown man being caught up in the video games himself.  Men need to grow up and stop pushing their responsibilities off on their wives.  Men need to grow up and start working instead of playing all the time.  Men need to grow up and stop whining about how hard life is.  I could go on and on, but if we are going to train our young boys to become men, then they need examples to follow.

Second, start training your boys to become men in their childhood. Teach them to work as a child. One of the greatest things that has destroyed our youth is the work permit.  I know there will be some who don't like this, but to say a child can't work until they are fifteen is crazy.  I'm not for them working forty hours a week, but I am for children learning as a child to work hard.  Boys will not be men if all they do is play, boys will become men by working.  Dad, take your boy with you and let him work with you.  Furthermore, stop babying your boys.  Every time they get a little boo boo, you don't need to baby them. Mom, if it is just a little scratch, you don't need to pamper him.  If it needs a bandaid, then put it on the hurt and let your boy learn how to be toughened up a bit.  Don't let your boy whine every time he gets hit on the football field.  This is good for your boy.

Last, teach your boys responsibility. Give them responsibilities at home for which they are in charge. Teach them how to make decisions.  When they don't fulfill their responsibility, admonish them and use it as a teaching aid to train them to follow through on responsibilities.

We are in desperate need of men. Boys will only become men if they are trained to be a man from childhood. Be sure that you are training a man and not a Peter Pan.

How Great

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What a Great God!

 

Revelation 2:9

"I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan."

In the first three chapters of the Book of Revelation, God reveals Himself to John by showing us four great attributes about Himself. In the writing of this book, John was exiled on the isle of Patmos for preaching the Word of God.  You must realize that John is experiencing persecution, and God is using this opportunity to reveal Himself to one of His chosen saints.  This revelation of Himself to John is certainly helpful for us as we look at the greatness of God.  There are four things that God says about Himself in these chapters that should be encouraging, and yet convicting to you as a Christian.

First, God calls Himself the "I am." Several times in the first chapter you will see this phrase.  What is so encouraging about this phrase is that God did not say, "I was," but He said about Himself, "I am." Christian, God is a present tense God.  He is the God Who is very present in all of your needs.  It doesn't matter what you may be facing today, you can rest assured that God is present with you to help you through your rough times.  It matters not where you live, God is an ever present God to help you through all of your troubles.  He isn't just a God Who helped people in the past, but He is a God Who is presently able to help you with whatever you face today.

Second, God says, "I know." Not only is God a present God, but He is a God Who is an all-knowing God.  As you can see from the Scriptures, He knows all that you do.  This can be convicting or encouraging depending upon what actions you take part in.  If you are living in sin, He knows.  If you are doing right and wonder if anyone notices, rest assured that God knows.  He knows whens others do not notice what you do for Him.  He knows how you feel as you go through trials.  He knows your fears and concerns of each day. He is a God Who knows everything that you do and think.  Christian, you may feel like it is worthless to do right, but let me remind you that God knows.

Third, God says, "I have." We can look at this phrase in two different ways. First, God reminded the churches that He had "somewhat against" them.  Oh, how you should desire not to live your life so that God would have something against you. Life is hard enough without God having something against you. If you are doing wrong, then immediately get it right so that God won't hold that against you.  But, we can also look at this phrase and see that God is a resourceful God.  He has the resources to meet all of your needs.  Your needs may be great, but God is greater than your needs, and He has the resources to meet them.  You need not worry, God is capable of taking care of you.

Last, God says, "I will." This little phrase reminds me that God is a God of action.  He will bless you if you do right. There are many who think that God sits on the sidelines and lets life play its way through, but according to the Scriptures, God is a God Who is very involved in the lives of His children.  He will bless them if they do right, and He will punish them if they do wrong.  If you do right, He will be there for you to help you through any obstacles you may face.  Ask God for His help in all that you do because He is a God Who will.

Take these four phrases and remember that God is a great God.  Everyday, remember that God is, God knows, God has and God will.  These four thoughts should help you to realize that you serve a great God.

Condemn

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Dealing with a Condemning Heart

 

1 John 3:20

"For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God."

In the verse above, John talks about Christians having a condemning heart. Though many times people feel that a condemning heart is more of a present day problem, we can see from the Scriptures that people from all ages have had this problem of dealing with a condemning heart.  This is because sin is an every person problem.  Sin has existed since the Garden of Eden, therefore you will have people who have a condemning heart. Dealing with your condemning heart will determine whether or not you have the confidence needed to serve the LORD.

Let me first of all remind you that the past is the past.  Too many people let their past beat them up when they need to remember that they cannot undo the past. One sad thing about life is that there is no reset button. Once you have done something, you will have to live with that action for the rest of your life.  You can't undo what you have done, so stop letting your past condemn you. What you need to do is move on and start doing right.

Second, every action has consequences. If you don't want your heart to condemn you, then you need to realize that every action has consequences.  There are consequences to being unfaithful to your spouse.  There are consequences to quitting on God.  There are consequences to surrendering to temptation. If you don't want to have a condemning heart, then stop doing those things that the consequences are condemning.

Third, you might not have to live with people, but you have to live with your heart.  Many people think that they can do something and no one will ever find out.  Well, you might be right about no one finding out, but the problem is that your heart will know what you have done.  You may do wrong with someone else and never see them again, but you will have to live with your heart for the rest of your life.

The only answer to dealing with a condemning heart is God and His Word.  If you will start listening to God and doing what His Word commands you to do, then you can silence your condemning heart. Doing right has a way of quieting the condemning heart.

According to the verse above, the result of an uncondemning heart is confidence.  You will never have the confidence you need to serve God until your heart stops condemning you. It is amazing how confident you will become in the Christian life when you start doing right. You will have confidence to teach God's Word.  You will have confidence as a soul winner.  You will have confidence as you walk through life.  Confidence will be natural because you will know that what you are doing is right.

Christian, my desire for you is that you live a confident life because your heart doesn't condemn you, but it commends you.  Always remember that you have to live with your heart, so only do the things that will cause your heart to commend your actions. Be careful today, and every day, to do those things that you won't regret years down the road.

Resist

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Resist to Submit

 

James 4:7

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

The Christian life is often accomplished through opposites.  What I mean by this statement is that in order to obey God I must disobey the flesh.  For instance, in order to properly love I must hate.  I cannot love something without hating what which will hurt that which I love. Therefore, love without hatred is not true love. Thus, the whole Christian life is accomplished by balancing the opposites of life.  Whenever I get out of balance, I end up committing sin and harming my testimony.

No doubt, one of the greatest battles you will face in your Christian life is overcoming the Devil.  Let me make this very clear, the Devil is a real person.  If you believe in God, then you must believe there is a Devil, for God tells us that he is real.  In fact, I believe that not only do most people believe there is a Devil, but most people will tell you that they hate him.  Yet, the truth is most Christians end up succumbing to the Devil's temptations.  Though we hate him, it is amazing how we end up listening to him. In the verse above, God gives us the way to overcome the Devil.

If you are going to overcome the Devil, then you must first submit yourself to God.  The word "submit" means "to place yourself under ones authority." In other words, you will never succeed in overcoming the Devil until you place yourself under God's authority.  Until you yield yourself to God and stop making yourself the authority, you will never succeed in overcoming the Devil.

Moreover, in all submission there must be resistance.  Follow me carefully as I try to explain this.  Submission is not doing something when you want to do it. Submission is doing something that you are told to do when you don't want to do it, and have the power not to do it.  That is why God said you must submit to Him in order to overcome the Devil.  There will be resistance in your attempt to submit to God.  For instance, when God commands me to go soul winning, there are times when my flesh does not want to go.  Thus, though my flesh may resist going soul winning, I must submit to God's authority and push myself to do it.  This can be said about anything in the Christian life. Submitting to God is not easy because you will always find resistance either from your flesh or from others.  Therefore, you must expect resistance when you submit to God.

Furthermore, God says the way to submit to Him is to resist the Devil.  The easiest way for you to submit to God is simply to resist what the Devil tells you to do.  The easiest way to submit to God's instruction to be faithful to church is to resist the Devil's invitation to stay home. The best way to submit to walking daily with God in His Word is to resist the Devil's invitation to stay in bed.

Likewise, the way to resist the Devil is to submit to God.  Too many people are trying to give you all kinds of "Christian psychology" regarding overcoming the Devil when it is as simple as submitting to God.  If you want to resist the Devil, then simply submit yourself to God and His authority.

Submitting to God and resisting the Devil ultimately comes down to a choice.  In every choice of life, you must choose to submit to God and resist the Devil. You must understand that if you submit to God, then you are resisting the Devil. Yet, if you resist God's authority and what He wants you to do, then you are also submitting to the Devil. You simply must decide to whom you will submit.  Let me encourage you to submit to God, and you will be successful in resisting the Devil.

The Last Days

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The Last Days

 

2 Timothy 3:1

"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come."

In the verse above, God warns us what the last days will be like.  When God talks about the last days, He is talking about the final days before He comes back to take His children home to Heaven.  He warns us that in the last days there will be "perilous times." The word "perilous" means "dangerous; hazardous; full of risk." In other words, the last days will be very hazardous for the Christian. Why will they be so hazardous?  The reason is because there will be so many sins that will be prevalent for Christians to fall into.  In the following verses, God shows us what the sins of the last days will be.

In 2 Timothy 3:2-5, God says that the last days will be filled with these sins: "For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."  When you look at this list of sins, you can see that we surely are living in the last days.

Because we live in the last days, every Christian should be careful not to succumb to the sins mentioned above.  Christian, you are as capable of committing any of these sins as is a lost person.  One of the reasons God warned us about the last days is so that we can beware of the sins that we must fight.  Each of the sins mentioned above will become more and more prevalent as we get closer to the LORD's coming.  Because of this, we will have to be more conscience of their presence so that we can avoid, or as the Scriptures says, "turn away" from them.

Furthermore, because we live in the last days, you should get busy serving God.  We don't know when the LORD is going to come, and it would be terrible for Him to find us not serving Him.  In these last days, Christians need to be more involved in their church's outreach ministries.  In these last days, Christians need to lead more people to Christ.  More Christians need to be involved in their church bus ministries in these last days.  In these last days, more Christians need to be leading people to Christ through soul winning.  In these last days, we need more young people to burn their dreams and surrender their lives to serve God full-time in the ministry.  We don't need Christians to do less in these last days, we need Christians to do more.

What are you doing in these last days to prepare yourself and others to meet Christ? Do you have some sin that needs to be cleaned up before Christ comes? Do you find yourself doing less for Christ than what you used to do? Do you find your heart growing colder towards the things of Christ? Christian, we need you in these last days to do more for Christ.  Whatever sin you have in your life, clean it up! Though you may already being doing several things for Christ in your church, let me exhort you to step up your efforts in each area.  Don't be caught doing nothing for Christ!  Go to your preacher and find out where you can get involved in your church so that we can reach more people before these last days come to an end.

How to treat the Preacher

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How to Treat the Preacher

 

1 Timothy 5:17

"Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine."

The Book of 1 Timothy is about the position of the pastor.  You will find in 1 Timothy the requirements God has set forth for the person who desires to hold the position of pastor, what He expects from the pastor, and how the church member should treat their pastor. Though preachers are men at best, the position they hold is an honorable one.  God said in 1 Timothy 3:1, "This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work." You will notice that God places the honor upon the position more than He does the man, and that is why the position is very sacred.

In 1 Timothy 5, God speaks to the church member about how they are to treat their pastor. For over 20 years I have traveled as an evangelist and have seen the good and bad of how people treat their preacher. God will hold every church member accountable for how they treat their preacher. Let me show you what the Scriptures say about how you should treat your preacher.

First, you should respect your preacher. In 1 Timothy 5:1 it says, "Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren;" You will notice the respect that God expects church members to give to their pastor.  You are not to be demanding of a pastor, for you would not be demanding of your parents.  You should give your pastor the due respect he deserves. In other words, address him properly.  I believe the pastor should never be addressed by his first name.  His office demands respect.  Whether or not you respect the man, you should respect his office and address him properly.  Respect him when you disagree with him by approaching him in a proper manner.  Don't be demanding, but respectfully let him know how you disagree.

Second, pay your pastor well. You will notice in the verse above that God says that the pastor is "...worthy of double honour..." In other words, you shouldn't pay your pastor the bare bones just so he can get by, but you should pay him a worthy salary. Too many pastors barely make it financially because their church won't pay them properly.  God will hold those church members accountable who don't pay their pastor a worthy salary.

Third, don't listen to unverified accusations about your pastor.  In verse 19, God says the only time you receive an accusation about a pastor is when you have two witnesses.  Notice it is not two people who have heard something about your pastor, but two people who have seen the pastor do wrong. Don't be caught up in destroying your pastor's name because you listened to unverified accusations.

Fourth, the pastor should be held accountable for his sin.  In verse 20, when a pastor sins, and this is talking about physical improprieties, he should be publicly rebuked.  Though I don't believe that church members should be publicly rebuked, I do believe that the preacher is publicly accountable.  Though some may not like this, every preacher is accountable for his purity. If he abuses his position by being unfaithful to his spouse, then scripturally he should be publicly rebuked.

Last, God commands to give guarded honor to the man of God.  In verse 21, God cautions about lifting one preacher higher than another.  In other words, all preachers should get the same honor.

Be careful how you treat your preacher.  God holds you accountable for how you treat your preacher, and likewise, holds him accountable for how he leads you.

Abound

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Increase and Abound

 

1 Thessalonians 3:12

"And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:"

In a day when mediocrity is acceptable, God in His holy Word commands the Christian to "increase and abound." God is not a mediocre God.  When you study the Scriptures, you will find that God is a God of excellence.  In the verse above, He commands the Christian to "increase and abound." The word "abound" means "to possess in great quantity.  Several times in the Scriptures God commands us to abound, or to have a great quantity of something.

First, in the verse above, God commands us to "...abound in love one toward another..." In other words, God does not want Christians to be people who lack in the area of love. Loving people is not determined by others, but loving people is a choice.  You choose whom to love.  You don't love people because of their status or their appearance, but you love people because you choose to love them.  You shouldn't love people because of what they do for you and how they please you, but you should love people because they need to be loved.  Your love for people should never be lacking. You should always have an abundance of love stored up so that you can love others.

Second, in 2 Corinthians 8:7, God commands us to abound in faith.  Your faith in God should never be lacking.  Whenever God commands you to do something, your faith should be such that you immediately obey.  The only way you are going to abound in faith is through hearing and doing what God's Word tells you to do.  According to Romans 10:17, "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Your faith will never abound unless you hear God's Word preached and read It daily.

Third, God commands in 2 Corinthians 8:7 to abound in knowledge.  Yes, we should be a knowledgeable people.  I believe we should not just be knowledgeable about the Word of God, though if that is all the knowledge you have you will succeed, but you should also be knowledgeable about life.  What I mean by this is you should know what is going on in the world's affairs so that you can be a better witness to others.  When you abound in knowledge, you will have a better chance of witnessing to all classes of people.

Fourth, in 2 Corinthians 8:7, God commands you to abound in grace.  I like to say that when God talks about people having grace that He is talking about having people skills.  Listen, you don't have to be a jerk to be a Christian.  You should abound in grace, or people skills, so that you can live peaceably with all men.  When you abound in grace, you will be able to get along with obstinate people as well.

Do you abound in these areas? Work hard in each of these areas to abound so that you can be the Christian that God wants you to be.  Ask God to help you to abound.  God is the master of all of these areas, and He can certainly teach you and help you to abound if you are willing to let Him help you.