Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 
-1 Peter 4:12-13 KJV

Was the cross enough? Well, which cross? His or yours? Did you know that Jesus tells us that there is more than one cross involved in our salvation? So, is His death and forgiveness enough to get you to pick up your cross to follow Him?
 
 Perhaps the better question is: IS the cross enough? Is the example that Jesus left you on the cross enough to convince you to lay down your own life and to suffer with Him? Is it enough to cause you to be willing to suffer for Him, like He did for you? What about suffering for the brethren? Your friends? Your neighbor?

Luke 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
 
 Hebrews 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Matthew 9:37 Then saith He unto His disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest.

1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.

I’ve heard it said before, “everyone wants to be a Christian, but not very many of these want to serve Christ.” Sad to say, this appears to be very true. The bible is filled with the word “works”. The unfortunate thing is that this word refers to many different types of “works” as found in context pertaining to the many different subjects in which it appears in the bible. "Unfortunate" I say, because most individuals get these many different kinds of "works" confused and so begin to call evil good, and good evil.

In this podcast, we explore what labor is ordained of those that want to truly love and serve God.

Spiritual baptism is the work that we perform through and by the power of God with the guidance of His Holy Spirit. It involves the renewing of the mind with God’s Word. We can only retain a certain amount of knowledge. So, what would happen if we were to get it so full of God’s Word that not much else would fit? -We would then have the mind of Christ – and THAT, is the goal of the spiritual baptism that Christ will perform in a true believer's life!

Water Baptism is an outward act (outward repentance) in obedience to God’s instruction. It is our consent to accept the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We are stating our belief of the Gospel and acknowledging our decision to follow Christ (outward repentance). 

When we consent to water baptism and cause it to take place by participating in it as the person being baptized, we are making a public statement that we believe The Truth, The Way, and The Life, and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We are consenting to the ‘entering in’ of a relationship with Christ outwardly. -We basically just said “Yes, I will marry you”!  At this point, we are the giver and He is the receiver of this beautiful display of obedience to His Word. 

Praise God! I want to thank The Lord that we can all be here today (wherever and whenever that might be for you.) Before we get started I would also like to say that the subject we are about to discuss is not a common teaching found in the world today. I am telling you this, because it may be the first time that you are hearing the things being said. If so, you will most likely be challenged to accept or reject what you do hear. Let’s let God be true and count all others as lies. Amen? If you have not heard before, why?

Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.

BUT as for me… Job 27:11 says I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.

AND… Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

What is the difference between God’s Way and mankind’s way? His way is perfect and ours is not…

Psalms 18:30 As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

So, how much different (really) is God’s way than ours? Man will tell you “faith plus nothing”. Is this truly God’s Way though? Notice that there is no patience involved in what I said man’s way is? No suffering either, is there? Just how much work would it be to be God, the creator of our universe, and to humble yourself to be made a man, be despised by your creation, rejected, spit upon, and then – yes, crucified! Pitiful, isn’t it?

Thank God! James 5:11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

Let me ask again, who’s way is being proclaimed in this world that says faith plus nothing merits salvation in the sight of God? Jesus said this (below) about the cross. As you read, ask yourself this: where did the cross lead Him? Are you better than He is? He came here to set an example for us…

Luke 9:23-26 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. 

This is another teaching in this collection entitled "The Process of Salvation".

The Law of Sin and Death is a teaching found within the book of Romans. Of late on this blog and podcast, we talk a lot about “counting the costs” and otherwise being prepared to give our all to The Lord. Rather than blindly saying that we “accept” Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we realize that, though scripture, there is much more to this thing called “The Salvation of God” than the world in general would have us to believe. 

This message is part of a group of teachings that I have entitled, “The Process of Salvation”. The first of these was the previous message that was released last week entitled, “God’s Drawing, Leading, and Pursuit – Know the Difference”. Both the blog entry and podcast versions can be found at www.INTRUTH.site

It is no big secret that God takes His time doing things (with patience) and that this often involves working things out through processes that He has, no doubt, designed to yield a just and perfect result every time. Ever wonder why God did not make the earth and everything therein in a split-second of time? He could have, right? But no, He chose to perform that work in 6 days, and then to rest. Why is that?

Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

The more we learn of the spiritual realm through His Word, we can also see how that God has no beginning or ending. Basically, time does not exist where God resides, yet He chooses to do things through patience. I am not sure that we can fully understand His patience in work from our vantage point, but it is clear that He does like things to be done a certain way. He definitely has His own methods. Doing things in a ‘methodical way’, over a period of time, is called a “process”.

1 Corinthians 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

2 Peter 3:8-9 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Today’s world-wide web is filled with the ‘modern’ misconception that says that God “pursues” His people to have a relationship with them. This, no doubt, came about with the many, many new (so called) English bible translations; which appear to be more like interpretations of the original English texts rather than actual translations from the original Greek and Hebrew scripts.

...Now, let’s look up some scriptures from our good old King James Bible on this subject of “pursue” to see how this word was used there. In doing so, I think that we may find that the truth of the matter is a little different than what the modern world would have us to believe.

A shocking Truth: The word "pursue" is no where to be found in the New Testament scripture of the King James Bible!

"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world" - Titus 2:11-12

Salvation (which is the end-result of what we are discussing here) has all to do with the redemption of a man (or woman) from their sinful life, so that they might trade that life in for the life that Christ gave for us and wants us to have.