The LiMP

Have you ever seen red? No I’m not talking about the color red. I’m talking about being angry. It is believed the term originates with the art of bullfighting and how it seems the read cape of the bullfighter enrages the bull, and causes it to charge. Or have you ever been beside yourself… with anger? People of ancient history believed that under times of great emotional stress, the soul could temporarily leave the body, and exist in close proximity to its host. As silly as it sounds, these characterizations are how we essentially find Jonah at the end of the biblical account of his ministry. In fact, Jonah told God that he was mad enough to die. I guess that’s similar to phrases like “Just shoot me” or “Kill me now” which many people flippantly use today. But believe me, Jonah wasn’t playing. He was so livid he could die (see Jonah 4:3)! But wow! How did a prophet of God get to the point in his life where he was literally angry at people’s positive response to his message...

God sent Jonah on a mission of mercy and grace. Jonah was to preach that Nineveh had 40 days to turn to God from their wicked ways or God would overthrow their city. It wasn’t about restitution or reparations. It was simply about being reconciled to God. We know this by the very last verse of the last chapter of Jonah where God says that there are 120,000 people there who don’t know their left hand from their right. God was interested in the souls of lost Ninevites.

Jonah only saw people that deserved to be punished the way they had punished others. And he was worried that God would give them the same opportunity He had afforded his own people the Jews, though they were never as wicked as the Ninevites, and were usually the ones oppressed by other people.

I’d like to illustrate by saying that Jonah foresaw the wicked, deplorable Ninevites essentially pole-vaulting out of sin, over and across the slime-pit of all of the heinous atrocities they committed in the world (and to the Jews), and right into the loving arms of the God who is not a respecter of persons! And boy! Jonah did not like that!

In His lesson known as the Parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8), Jesus concludes by asking the question, “When the Son of man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” What prompted that rhetorical question? It is clear that Jesus was stressing the problem that He knew many who believed in Him throughout the ages would face—the temptation to stop believing when we don’t get what we ask for when we want it.

I believe it was the late R. C. Sproul who said that, “The issue of faith is not so much whether we believe in God, but whether we believe the God we believe in.”

Many claim they believe in God. And of course we know that we live in a world of millions of gods. But I can assure you that the Jesus who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” is not even slightly interested in the millions of gods. If He was, He would have spoken about them. Yet He spoke of no other gods because no other gods really exist.

This is our belief as Christians, and we must guard that belief with all of our hearts, because if that is not true, then the Christ who said He was the only way cannot be true. But we know infinitely better.

Now that we have that clear, we have to consider the reason Christ asked such a poignant question as when He comes, will He find faith on the earth. R. C. Sproul alluded to it quite succinctly. Do we believe the God we believe in?

In this episode of the LiMP, I will seek to share with you some details on what I like to call the sevenfold faith that helps us to go beyond just believing in God, and to the level Christ continually tried to get the disciples 2,000 years ago of literally believing what God said...

In His lesson known as the Parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8), Jesus concludes by asking the question, “When the Son of man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” What prompted that rhetorical question? It is clear that Jesus was stressing the problem that He knew many who believed in Him throughout the ages would face—the temptation to stop believing when we don’t get what we ask for when we want it.

I believe it was the late R. C. Sproul who said that, “The issue of faith is not so much whether we believe in God, but whether we believe the God we believe in.”

Many claim they believe in God. And of course we know that we live in a world of millions of gods. But I can assure you that the Jesus who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” is not even slightly interested in the millions of gods. If He was, He would have spoken about them. Yet He spoke of no other gods because no other gods really exist.

This is our belief as Christians, and we must guard that belief with all of our hearts, because if that is not true, then the Christ who said He was the only way cannot be true. But we know infinitely better.

Now that we have that clear, we have to consider the reason Christ asked such a poignant question as when He comes, will He find faith on the earth. R. C. Sproul alluded to it quite succinctly. Do we believe the God we believe in?

In this episode of the LiMP, I will seek to share with you some details on what I like to call the sevenfold faith that helps us to go beyond just believing in God, and to the level Christ continually tried to get the disciples 2,000 years ago of literally believing what God said...

Genesis chapter three is what I like to call the end of the beginning. It is where after God created a beautiful sin-free world and gave it to an innocent humanity, Adam, the father of the human race, ate of the forbidden fruit and caused it all to be plunged into the depths of sin. Without exception we are all fallen products of that fateful choice. Verses 6 through 13 read…

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

I want to begin with the end of the beginning in order to lay a foundation for what will be considering today. I believe it is clear that we need to be re-introduced to the question God asked Adam. My concern is that many of us are so consumed with the influences of the mundane system of this world that we couldn’t even imagine that God might have such a question for us today.

We think that as long as we do our duties to job, to family, to church, and such, that we are doing just fine. But we must understand that from the beginning of time, God has been continually working to bring people to the place where they are willing to admit to Him and agree with Him from the heart that what they’ve done or failed to do was wrong.

Again, it started with the question, “Adam. Where are you?” And I submit to you that it will all end with the quintessential question, “What have you done with My Son?”

This week on the LiMP, we will look at the ongoing problem of racial strife in America and what the Church has to do with it in order to exhort the saints of God in America to do a 1 John 1:9 While We Still Have Time: The American Church’s Acknowledgment of the Reality of Racism.

Genesis chapter three is what I like to call the end of the beginning. It is where after God created a beautiful sin-free world and gave it to an innocent humanity, Adam, the father of the human race, ate of the forbidden fruit and caused it all to be plunged into the depths of sin. Without exception we are all fallen products of that fateful choice. Verses 6 through 13 read…

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

I want to begin with the end of the beginning in order to lay a foundation for what will be considering today. I believe it is clear that we need to be re-introduced to the question God asked Adam. My concern is that many of us are so consumed with the influences of the mundane system of this world that we couldn’t even imagine that God might have such a question for us today.

We think that as long as we do our duties to job, to family, to church, and such, that we are doing just fine. But we must understand that from the beginning of time, God has been continually working to bring people to the place where they are willing to admit to Him and agree with Him from the heart that what they’ve done or failed to do was wrong.

Again, it started with the question, “Adam. Where are you?” And I submit to you that it will all end with the quintessential question, “What have you done with My Son?”

This week on the LiMP, we will look at the ongoing problem of racial strife in America and what the Church has to do with it in order to exhort the saints of God in America to do a 1 John 1:9 While We Still Have Time: The American Church’s Acknowledgment of the Reality of Racism.

You know, the Bible shows us as Believers in Christ that we should be striving for the mastery of our lives, because if we do not, then the world, the flesh, and the Devil more than willingly does the job for us. As old as time itself, sin has always sought to master the human heart. For example Genesis chapter 4 gives the account of Cain and Abel and how God felt about the good sacrifice that Abel brought, and the bad sacrifice that Cain brought.

In His mercy, God gave Cain a chance to repent and to return with the proper sacrifice. In verse 7, God says, “You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” Sin was waiting to master Cain, and because Cain wasn’t interested in mastering himself (i.e. doing God’s will), sin took over and caused him to kill his innocent brother Abel.

The apostle Paul said that he disciplined his body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. He kept focused on what he was fighting for so that he wouldn’t be preaching hypocritically, and end up being disqualified from ministry or losing eternal rewards. Self-mastery is a popular topic in the world, but much of it is absent the saving message of the gospel of Christ. So it is good for time, but not for eternity. Recognizing Christ as Master is the most important realization anyone can come to. And such mastery is not only critical to the Christian, it is also equally critical to the local Church.

Jude is the next to last book of the Bible. It is just one chapter long and only contains 25 verses. But it offers abundant insights into something that is becoming increasingly neglected in the local church. You see, earnestly contending for the faith is being replaced with earnestly contending for personal preference, political party, social justice, and other cultural issues. It seems that the exclusivity of Christ and the culture that is His heavenly kingdom is being set aside for unbiblical inclusiveness, which only leads to divisiveness.

But we shouldn’t be surprised. The perfect word of God tells us that before Christ returns to rapture His Church, there must first be a great falling away. And it certainly looks like that falling away is underway even as we speak. How long do we have before Christ returns? I don’t know. But will the answer to that question even matter one second after He does?

The first three verses of Jude read as follows…

You know, the Bible shows us as Believers in Christ that we should be striving for the mastery of our lives, because if we do not, then the world, the flesh, and the Devil more than willingly does the job for us. As old as time itself, sin has always sought to master the human heart. For example Genesis chapter 4 gives the account of Cain and Abel and how God felt about the good sacrifice that Abel brought, and the bad sacrifice that Cain brought.

In His mercy, God gave Cain a chance to repent and to return with the proper sacrifice. In verse 7, God says, “You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” Sin was waiting to master Cain, and because Cain wasn’t interested in mastering himself (i.e. doing God’s will), sin took over and caused him to kill his innocent brother Abel.

The apostle Paul said that he disciplined his body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. He kept focused on what he was fighting for so that he wouldn’t be preaching hypocritically, and end up being disqualified from ministry or losing eternal rewards. Self-mastery is a popular topic in the world, but much of it is absent the saving message of the gospel of Christ. So it is good for time, but not for eternity. Recognizing Christ as Master is the most important realization anyone can come to. And such mastery is not only critical to the Christian, it is also equally critical to the local Church.

Jude is the next to last book of the Bible. It is just one chapter long and only contains 25 verses. But it offers abundant insights into something that is becoming increasingly neglected in the local church. You see, earnestly contending for the faith is being replaced with earnestly contending for personal preference, political party, social justice, and other cultural issues. It seems that the exclusivity of Christ and the culture that is His heavenly kingdom is being set aside for unbiblical inclusiveness, which only leads to divisiveness.

But we shouldn’t be surprised. The perfect word of God tells us that before Christ returns to rapture His Church, there must first be a great falling away. And it certainly looks like that falling away is underway even as we speak. How long do we have before Christ returns? I don’t know. But will the answer to that question even matter one second after He does?

The first three verses of Jude read as follows…

When Jesus gave us the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, it is clear that it was a mandate for then, for now, and until the end of time as we know it. At least once in each of the three verses Jesus used the word “all,” and in the third verse, He also used the word “always”. Let’s look at it…

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

He said all, all, all, and always, Amen? By the way, He also said that it would be “to the end of the age” or the end of time. That lets us know that Christ’s mandate was for then, for now, and until He returns. Titus 2:11-14 gives us an example of what the gospel produces in all who believe when it says…

11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

The priority of the gospel of God’s grace, which is Jesus Christ Himself, is the distinctive marker of this age we call grace and truth. Do you really want to do something about all of the social and political injustice everywhere? Stay true to seeing souls saved. But remember, though grace is free, the truth often hurts…

In this show, I want to discuss with you the insidious hindrance to the gospel that is increasing in strength and scope. As a result of all of the emotionally driven focus on the social ills of our society, people are being duped into their own sorts of political and social gospels. Much of these things are only serving to perpetuate and exacerbate the lack of soul-saving influence that many Christians and local churches are having on the lost. John Wesley said of Christians that, “You have only one business on earth—to save souls.” I wholeheartedly agree.

Dr. Tony Evans said in response to the Parkland, Florida school shooting that, “the further you remove God, the more chaos fills the vacuum. Its as simple and as difficult as that.” And one can get no further away from God in this life than not being saved. Chaos is at work in all of this strife in America because people need God in their hearts. It’s that simple. But the difficult part is, most people can’t handle the truth. But did Jesus give us an out-clause? Did He say only to preach the gospel during fair weather?

We must not allow anything to even come close to taking priority over spreading the gospel of salvation from sin. Keep coming at these problems with all the cookie-cutter committees and coalitions instead of faithfully presenting the gospel of salvation, and don’t be surprised when we keep getting the same destructive results. We must admit that much of what we’ve been doing is putting the proverbial cart before the horse. We’ve been trying to solve social ills the world’s way. And that just doesn’t work! Its time for some much-needed adjustment…

When Jesus gave us the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, it is clear that it was a mandate for then, for now, and until the end of time as we know it. At least once in each of the three verses Jesus used the word “all,” and in the third verse, He also used the word “always”. Let’s look at it…

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

He said all, all, all, and always, Amen? By the way, He also said that it would be “to the end of the age” or the end of time. That lets us know that Christ’s mandate was for then, for now, and until He returns. Titus 2:11-14 gives us an example of what the gospel produces in all who believe when it says…

11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

The priority of the gospel of God’s grace, which is Jesus Christ Himself, is the distinctive marker of this age we call grace and truth. Do you really want to do something about all of the social and political injustice everywhere? Stay true to seeing souls saved. But remember, though grace is free, the truth often hurts…

In this show, I want to discuss with you the insidious hindrance to the gospel that is increasing in strength and scope. As a result of all of the emotionally driven focus on the social ills of our society, people are being duped into their own sorts of political and social gospels. Much of these things are only serving to perpetuate and exacerbate the lack of soul-saving influence that many Christians and local churches are having on the lost. John Wesley said of Christians that, “You have only one business on earth—to save souls.” I wholeheartedly agree.

Dr. Tony Evans said in response to the Parkland, Florida school shooting that, “the further you remove God, the more chaos fills the vacuum. Its as simple and as difficult as that.” And one can get no further away from God in this life than not being saved. Chaos is at work in all of this strife in America because people need God in their hearts. It’s that simple. But the difficult part is, most people can’t handle the truth. But did Jesus give us an out-clause? Did He say only to preach the gospel during fair weather?

We must not allow anything to even come close to taking priority over spreading the gospel of salvation from sin. Keep coming at these problems with all the cookie-cutter committees and coalitions instead of faithfully presenting the gospel of salvation, and don’t be surprised when we keep getting the same destructive results. We must admit that much of what we’ve been doing is putting the proverbial cart before the horse. We’ve been trying to solve social ills the world’s way. And that just doesn’t work! Its time for some much-needed adjustment…

The resurrection of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is absolutely foundational to our faith. And thus, it is constantly under attack. As born again believers, we must not allow the mockery and ridicule of a world hostile to the righteousness of God to make us feel ashamed of the Gospel of a resurrected Christ.

Our faith is so under attack because it is the one true faith in the only true and living God who created the universe. His Son is Jesus, who died for our sins, and who was raised for our justification. The mere fact that our faith is so attacked should tell you that it is the truth. If a world 2,000 years ago was so hostile to a perfectly innocent, miracle working, loving, giving, and forgiving Lord, then why should it surprise us that a world that is more wicked than ever is constantly attacking what we believe about Him?

I tell you the truth, and I say it without reservation. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the Father in heaven accept by Him! And whoever refuses to trust in Him already has the wrath of God abiding on them. And if they die without trusting in Him, all that is left for them is judgment and eternal damnation. We need not be ashamed of the Good News that offers sinners salvation from eternal torment. Yes, we absolutely know the truth! JESUS CHRIST IS RISEN!

This is part two of our Passion Week series, “A Dying Son. A Rising Savior”

In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul wrote…

3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

The Case for Christ author Lee Strobel gives an account of a conversation he once had with a friend of his who was a psychologist. He says, “I went to a psychologist friend and said if 500 people claimed to see Jesus after He died, it was just a hallucination. He said hallucinations are an individual event. If 500 people have the same hallucination, that’s a bigger miracle than the resurrection.”

The hallucination theory is just one of the various historical attacks on our faith which are directly aimed at this most critical aspect of true Christianity. But saints, Jesus Christ is risen whether the world likes it or not. And the burden of proof to the contrary is on them, not us.

Further on in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul wrote…

12 Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. 14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. 15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. 16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

Leave it to God’s word to give the Devil and his followers ammunition. But that’s what is so awesome about our God. He doesn’t have to hide things or worry about what the enemy would do with such valuable information as what our faith stands or falls by.

Paul, by the Holy Spirit of God,