Tag: christ

Categories
Devotionals

THE HUMANITY OF JESUS

September 27, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

THE HUMANITY OF JESUS

Whenever mortal sinners like you and me approach the subject of the Incarnation of Christ, we are warned to “take off your shoes from your feet for the ground in which you are standing is holy ground.” We would do well to take heed! Let all remember that “spiritual things can only be discerned spiritually.” The carnal mind disqualifies itself “for it is at enmity against God’s law.”

Now, please read Hebrews 2: 5-8 first. Then consider these:

“Christ is presented here as being ‘lower than the angels,’ though ‘crowned with glory and honor.’ He is shown to be VERY MAN, as truly as in the first chapter He is shown to be VERY GOD. His humanity enables Him to be the kind of High Priest [merciful and all-powerful Intercessor, Mediator, Advocate] men need.

Continue reading “THE HUMANITY OF JESUS”
Categories
Devotionals

MANY MORE NEGLECT THAN REJECT YET THE FINAL RESULT IS THE SAME

September 21, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

MANY MORE NEGLECT THAN REJECT YET THE FINAL RESULT IS THE SAME

“How shall we escape, if we neglect?”

Heb. 1: 3, KJV.

“This question is so framed as to demand the answer, ‘We shall not escape.’ The danger here pointed out is not of rejecting Christ and the [true] gospel. But we are persuaded that many more neglect than reject. And it is against neglect that the apostle warns!

“Comparatively FEW definitely and finally reject God’s offer of eternal life [through the divine plan of salvation as taught in great detail by the sanctuary doctrine]. Most men intend at some time [procrastinate, put off for a ‘more convenient time’] to attend to their religious duties. But they DELAY and NEGLECT; and before they are aware of it, ‘the harvest is past, the summer is ended, and they are not saved.’(Jer. 8:20). It is always dangerous to neglect, for ‘now is the accepted time!’ [‘Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.’].

Continue reading “MANY MORE NEGLECT THAN REJECT YET THE FINAL RESULT IS THE SAME”
Categories
Devotionals

BEAUTIFUL FEET SHOD WITH GOSPEL OF PEACE

September 17, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

BEAUTIFUL FEET SHOD WITH GOSPEL OF PEACE

“And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”

Eph. 6:15, KJV.

Paul  wrote further: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring good tidings of things!” Rom. 10: 15, NKJV (See verses 14-16).

“We are living in the midst of an ‘epidemic of crime,’ at which thoughtful, God-fearing men everywhere stand aghast. Everyday brings its heart-sickening record of violence and lawlessness, of indifference to human suffering, of brutal, fiendish destruction of human life. Everyday testifies to the increase of insanity, murder, and suicide. Who can doubt that Satanic agencies are at work among men with increasing activity to distract and corrupt the mind, and defile and destroy the body?

Continue reading “BEAUTIFUL FEET SHOD WITH GOSPEL OF PEACE”
Categories
Devotionals

THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS: OUR BREASTPLATE OF SAFETY IN THESE PERILOUS TIMES

September 15, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS: OUR BREASTPLATE OF SAFETY IN THESE PERILOUS TIMES

“Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness.”

Eph. 6:4, NKJV.

“We must put on EVERY piece of the armor [verses 13-18], and then, stand firm. [this is the order]. The Lord [Commander-in-chief of the army of His spiritual kingdom on earth, the true church] has HONORED us by CHOOSING us [the ‘chosen ones’] as His soldiers. Let us fight bravely for Him, maintaining the right in every transaction [of life]. Put on as your breastplate that DIVINELY PROTECTED RIGHTEOUSNESS which is the PRIVILEGE of all to wear. THIS WILL PROTECT YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE.

Continue reading “THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS: OUR BREASTPLATE OF SAFETY IN THESE PERILOUS TIMES”
Categories
Devotionals

CHRIST’S HUMAN NATURE

September 14, 2020
FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

CHRIST’S HUMAN NATURE

Please find time to prayerfully and unhurriedly read verses 1-18 of Hebrews chapter 2. Here are the first 4 verses(emphasis mine):

“Therefore we must give the MOST EARNEST HEED, to the things we have heard, LEST WE DRIFT AWAY. For if the word spoken through angels, proved steadfast, and every TRANSGRESSION AND DISOBEDIENCE received a just reward, HOW SHALL WE ESCAPE IF WE NEGLECT so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God AlSO bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?”

Heb. 2:1-4, NKJV.

SYNOPSIS OF CHAPTER: “This chapter opens with a warning against INDIFFERENCE. It is the first of many admonition scattered throughout the book, which evince the author’s [apostle Paul] anxiety for the SPIRITUAL WELFARE of his readers. From the nature of the exhortations we learn that, unlike the Corinthians, the DANGERS threatening them were NOT MORAL DELINQUENCY but a GRADUAL DRIFTING AWAY from the things they had heard, COUPLED WITH a lack of desire to apply themselves to a SERIOUS study of the Word.

“The larger part of the chapter is devoted to a discussion of the HUMANITY of Christ. In the first chapter the author brought indisputable proof of the DEITY of Christ. In the second chapter he shows that it is NEEDFUL for Christ to BECOME A MAN IF He is to be a merciful and faithful High Priest.

“How else could He deal gently with the weak and erring? He MUST be TEMPTED IN ALL POINTS LIKE AS WE ARE for it is only by passing through the EXPERIENCE to which [all] men are subject that He can succor [save, deliver, empower] those who are weak!

“This section contains a warning against the SUBTLE SINS of apathy and carelessness. Paul was greatly concerned about the SPIRITUAL condition of the people. There were TROUBLOUS TIMES AHEAD for the church. Persecution would soon break out anew; in a very few years the Roman armies would take the city, the Temple would be destroyed, and the Christians would be compelled to flee for their lives.

“Despite this, THE CHURCH WAS NOT FULLY AWAKE. They were ADRIFT with no anchor. Their condition was critical, and MOST SERIOUS OF ALL, they did not sense their danger!” (Andreasen, The Book of Hebrews, 79, 80).

This is same condition we are facing today! The very signs taking place right now in America and the world are already announcing, in trumpet tones, that we entering the prophesied early time of trouble! Are we adrift or are our hearts and minds firmly anchored in the Rock, Christ Jesus and His Word—“It is Written,” “unto the law and the prophets,” “to the law and the testimony.”  Bless all, NMF 

Categories
Devotionals

THE BATTLEFIELD WHERE CHRIST’S KINGDOM OF GRACE IS BEING SET UP AGAINST THE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD

September 11, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

THE BATTLEFIELD WHERE CHRIST’S KINGDOM OF GRACE IS BEING SET UP AGAINST THE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against SPIRITUAL wickedness in high places.”

Eph. 6:12, KJV.

“The FALLEN WORLD is the battlefield for the greatest conflict the heavenly universe and the earthly powers have ever witnessed. It was appointed as THEATER on which would be fought out the grand struggle [AKA ‘the great controversy’] between good and evil, between heaven and hell.

“Every human being acts a part in this conflict. No one can stand on neutral ground. Men must either accept or reject the world’s Redeemer. All are witnesses, EITHER for or against Christ. Christ calls upon those who stand under His banner to ENGAGE in the conflict with Him as FAITHFUL soldiers, that they may inherit the crown [that is called] eternal life.

Continue reading “THE BATTLEFIELD WHERE CHRIST’S KINGDOM OF GRACE IS BEING SET UP AGAINST THE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD”
Categories
Devotionals

THE ARMY OF CHRIST’S KINGDOM OF GRACE ON EARTH

September 10, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

THE ARMY OF CHRIST’S KINGDOM OF GRACE ON EARTH

“Take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

Eph. 6:13, KJV.

“The strength of an army is measured largely by the efficiency of the men in the ranks. A wise general instructs his officers to train every soldier for active service. He seeks to develop the highest efficiency on the part of all. If he were to depend on his officers alone he could never expect to conduct a successful campaign. He counts on loyal and untiring service from every men in his army. The responsibility rests largely upon the men in the ranks.

And so it is in the army of Prince Emmanuel. Our General, who has never lost a battle, expects willing, faithful service from everyone who has enlisted under His banner.

Continue reading “THE ARMY OF CHRIST’S KINGDOM OF GRACE ON EARTH”
Categories
Devotionals

HEBREWS CHAPTER ONE SUMMARIZED

September 8, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

HEBREWS CHAPTER ONE SUMMARIZED

In fourteen pithy verses of Hebrews chapter 1, Paul  introduce us to Christ’s DEITY as the Son of God. In chapter 2 Christ’s incarnate HUMANITY is  revealed to us as the Son of man.

“In the first chapter the apostle sets out to prove the deity of Christ, and successfully accomplishes his task. His purpose in writing the book requires him to establish beyond a doubt that Christ IS God. He intends to show that the CEREMONIES that had been instituted by Moses at the command of God [under the ceremonial law of the Mosaic dispensation of the Old Testament time] had been fulfilled and abolished by Christ [when type met antitype and the shadow met its substance].

Continue reading “HEBREWS CHAPTER ONE SUMMARIZED”