Jesus could come back. He could come back right now – we’d be caught up in the air with Him, and everything would be “happily ever after,” wouldn’t it? But I when I think that Jesus could come back, my heart aches with sorrow. I want Him to come; I really do; but not yet. Please don’t come yet. Not now when we’re all dead, not now when there’s so many who are still living in sin, not now when oh so many would go to hell, not now when there’s still some chance for us to repent.
God, I love the church. She’s your body, your bride. I love her so much, but she’s dying – dead in sin and loving worldly pleasures – please don’t come back yet. Oh, won’t you be merciful a little while longer? I don’t want all those people to perish; but they will if you come back, because you are righteous and a just judge.
“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?”
But Lord, what if WE are not righteous? If we are ungodly and sinful, how can we even stand – must we not perish along with the rest? We ARE ungodly and sinful. Lord, help us! We must not stay like this; we must be godly, we must be righteous – we need You. We must have revival or we shall die, because we are already dead as it is.
"A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why encumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: and if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down."
Friends, enemies, people, everyone! WE are that tree! We ought to be serving the Lord, we ought to be bearing the fruit of the Spirit, we ought to be obedient, we ought to have done so by now. But no, we are still disobedient, always rebelling, doing as we know we shouldn’t; regularly bearing bad fruit. WE ARE IN DANGER OF GETTING CHOPPED DOWN! You must change, you must repent, or you shall perish. You must forsake all sin, everything that is not pure, everything that is any less than pure, undefiled religion, all world-likeness – you must turn to God, you must turn and follow Jesus whole-heartedly. Nothing less than ALL is acceptable. You must obey Him in everything, or you might as well forget about it.
Oh, Jesus! How many years have you dug around us, fertilized us, and yet we still haven’t born fruit!?
Showing posts with label repentance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label repentance. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
What Have We Become?
What have we become!?
We complain about divorce rates being higher than ever before, crime being rampant, society being inundated with immorality. But WHAT HAVE WE DONE? What of us!? We look at ourselves – the church – and then complain about the same things; divorce rates are high, crime and immorality are at an all-time high. We’ve become just like the world, and just like the world, we are dead. We are not a sick church that might be nursed back to health….would to God that was so! But the church is DEAD. So dead, and we don’t even realize it. There are a few, ever so few and oh so far between, that urgently rush through the field of Christendom, examining the bodies strewn about, desperately trying to find one that is still alive, but to no avail. One corpse will moan, and the survivor will rush over in hopes that he’s found someone else still alive, but it’s dead; another will twitch, and the searcher will shout with joy and run to its side, but it’s not alive. One church wears a t-shirt that says “I’m ALIVE,” but it’s just as cold as the rest; some are lying down; some sit up, propped up against others; some even still stand, but as a tottering mannequin, and not as a living soul. The survivor still looks, but as far as he can see, there is little hope. How can there be any hope in such a situation as this?
God, we need a miracle. You’re the only one who can raise the dead. I can’t love the church even a tenth as much as you – you’ve got to do something! If we have not because we ask not, then Lord I’m asking. We need revival so badly. No. we need YOU. You are the breath of life; You are the living word; You alone are life. Only if we are in You can we ever be revived. We need your Holy Spirit; we need Your rivers of living water to flood this place; we need to You to raise the dead.
The wages of sin is death. And oh, how we’ve earned it! We make excuse for sin yesterday, today, and all the tomorrows to come. We preach that actual holiness is not required to see God. We teach that sin is an inevitable part of even a Christian’s life. We say that God overlooks our constant and ongoing sin. We have a hundred thousand reasons why we can’t possibly be righteous. And so we find that we practice what we preach. Sin. But sin must NOT be allowed. Sin is NOT okay. Sin is NOT acceptable nor excusable, nor can it have ANY place with godliness. Sin is the cause of death. There isn't any other reason for death -- spiritual death especially. How can the church possibly be alive if it's not obedient, if it's not righteous, if it's not holy; how can the church be alive if it's sinful? Of all the things that it might be – it might be warm, friendly, casual, open, or any other positive adjective we might care to use, if the church is sinful, the one thing it can't possibly be is alive.
We have GOT to change. You, friend, have got to change. If we go on as we are, we shall surely taste brimstone, just as Sodom did.
God, we must have revival. We must have revival or judgment. But Lord have mercy, for we cannot stand in judgment; we would stand wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Let us come to buy gold from You, to procure white clothes, to find a little eye salve so we might see.
Let us be zealous and REPENT! We MUST have life, and it MUST come from God. Let’s go to Him, and perhaps it is not too late; perhaps He might still yet let us taste of His holy waters; perhaps He might be merciful. But we must go to Him, we must, and we dare not delay.
We complain about divorce rates being higher than ever before, crime being rampant, society being inundated with immorality. But WHAT HAVE WE DONE? What of us!? We look at ourselves – the church – and then complain about the same things; divorce rates are high, crime and immorality are at an all-time high. We’ve become just like the world, and just like the world, we are dead. We are not a sick church that might be nursed back to health….would to God that was so! But the church is DEAD. So dead, and we don’t even realize it. There are a few, ever so few and oh so far between, that urgently rush through the field of Christendom, examining the bodies strewn about, desperately trying to find one that is still alive, but to no avail. One corpse will moan, and the survivor will rush over in hopes that he’s found someone else still alive, but it’s dead; another will twitch, and the searcher will shout with joy and run to its side, but it’s not alive. One church wears a t-shirt that says “I’m ALIVE,” but it’s just as cold as the rest; some are lying down; some sit up, propped up against others; some even still stand, but as a tottering mannequin, and not as a living soul. The survivor still looks, but as far as he can see, there is little hope. How can there be any hope in such a situation as this?
God, we need a miracle. You’re the only one who can raise the dead. I can’t love the church even a tenth as much as you – you’ve got to do something! If we have not because we ask not, then Lord I’m asking. We need revival so badly. No. we need YOU. You are the breath of life; You are the living word; You alone are life. Only if we are in You can we ever be revived. We need your Holy Spirit; we need Your rivers of living water to flood this place; we need to You to raise the dead.
The wages of sin is death. And oh, how we’ve earned it! We make excuse for sin yesterday, today, and all the tomorrows to come. We preach that actual holiness is not required to see God. We teach that sin is an inevitable part of even a Christian’s life. We say that God overlooks our constant and ongoing sin. We have a hundred thousand reasons why we can’t possibly be righteous. And so we find that we practice what we preach. Sin. But sin must NOT be allowed. Sin is NOT okay. Sin is NOT acceptable nor excusable, nor can it have ANY place with godliness. Sin is the cause of death. There isn't any other reason for death -- spiritual death especially. How can the church possibly be alive if it's not obedient, if it's not righteous, if it's not holy; how can the church be alive if it's sinful? Of all the things that it might be – it might be warm, friendly, casual, open, or any other positive adjective we might care to use, if the church is sinful, the one thing it can't possibly be is alive.
We have GOT to change. You, friend, have got to change. If we go on as we are, we shall surely taste brimstone, just as Sodom did.
God, we must have revival. We must have revival or judgment. But Lord have mercy, for we cannot stand in judgment; we would stand wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Let us come to buy gold from You, to procure white clothes, to find a little eye salve so we might see.
Let us be zealous and REPENT! We MUST have life, and it MUST come from God. Let’s go to Him, and perhaps it is not too late; perhaps He might still yet let us taste of His holy waters; perhaps He might be merciful. But we must go to Him, we must, and we dare not delay.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
A Letter
To whom it may concern -- that is, you,
Have you contemplated the goodness of God? It is His goodness that leads to repentance.
His goodness does not consist in forcing every situation to result in the best possible outcome, but in His gracious allowance of our choices, His just reward for our successes and failures, and his provision: for forgiveness of past failures and for exceeding abundant power to succeed (neither of which we deserve)! What then should be our response to God's unpeakable goodness?
First, it should be sorrow, but not mere moroseness. Godly sorrow is contrition -- a realization of God's good standard and our failure to meet it -- deep, no, total regret of our misdeeds and desire to have done rightly.
Second; however, this sorrow should never be our primary mode of existence, because the purpose of godly sorrow is to work repentance. Desire to do right and regret do not make repentance, for repentance is an action. To repent is not to regret our past actions, but to change our present life (that is, our actions); it is also not an incremental change, but a complete, entire, and wholehearted change -- from sinful, selfish motives and actions to reliance on, devotion to, and service to God. In short, repentance is forsaking sinful sef-centeredness and consecrating our life and motives to God, centered on His will, His wisdom, and His lordship as supreme.
Thirdly, our response should be one of continued, persevering submission to God and His cause. Repentance is a start (in fact, the only start), but it is only a start -- we must continue in choosing to act rightly. This is righteousness, for we have not been merely saved from sin (though we do not deserve even this), we have been saved to righteousness. This is the defining mark of every true child of God, for John tells us that in this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: the children of God work righteousness, while the children of the devil work sin (I John 3:10).
Is your life centered around God and His goodness? Or is your life centered around what is best for you and those you love?
In Christ,
Andrew Powers
Have you contemplated the goodness of God? It is His goodness that leads to repentance.
His goodness does not consist in forcing every situation to result in the best possible outcome, but in His gracious allowance of our choices, His just reward for our successes and failures, and his provision: for forgiveness of past failures and for exceeding abundant power to succeed (neither of which we deserve)! What then should be our response to God's unpeakable goodness?
First, it should be sorrow, but not mere moroseness. Godly sorrow is contrition -- a realization of God's good standard and our failure to meet it -- deep, no, total regret of our misdeeds and desire to have done rightly.
Second; however, this sorrow should never be our primary mode of existence, because the purpose of godly sorrow is to work repentance. Desire to do right and regret do not make repentance, for repentance is an action. To repent is not to regret our past actions, but to change our present life (that is, our actions); it is also not an incremental change, but a complete, entire, and wholehearted change -- from sinful, selfish motives and actions to reliance on, devotion to, and service to God. In short, repentance is forsaking sinful sef-centeredness and consecrating our life and motives to God, centered on His will, His wisdom, and His lordship as supreme.
Thirdly, our response should be one of continued, persevering submission to God and His cause. Repentance is a start (in fact, the only start), but it is only a start -- we must continue in choosing to act rightly. This is righteousness, for we have not been merely saved from sin (though we do not deserve even this), we have been saved to righteousness. This is the defining mark of every true child of God, for John tells us that in this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: the children of God work righteousness, while the children of the devil work sin (I John 3:10).
Is your life centered around God and His goodness? Or is your life centered around what is best for you and those you love?
In Christ,
Andrew Powers
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
A Cheap Religion
In perusing a Gospel newsletter, I came across this article, and thought it made a very important point - one that I see describing much of the "church" today, and thus, it needs to be addressed.
A Cheap Religion
This is an age when we want things at a bargain -- a reduced price. This also pertains to religion. All people in all climes want happiness and peace of mind; hence any form of relifion which will promise this and give a hope of heaven, without much ignominy, is the very thing they are after. So we see:
A religion without repentance. true repentance implies not only the forsaking of all outward and inward sin, but restitution as well -- the undoing, so far as possible, of all offenses of the past.. This means confession to God and to individuals who have been wronged, defrauded, or hated. Friend, have you so repented that no one can point at you and say, "You injured me and my standing, and have never apologized"?
A religion of good works. thousands of people, including ministers, arise early Sunday morning, say prayers, take Holy Communion, give offerings to ease the conscience, and make themselves believe they are on the way to heaven; but they lack the one all-essential thing -- the New Birth. Jesus plainly said "Except a man be born again [born from above], he cannot see the kingdom of God." Why be deceived?
A religion without holiness. We read that without holiness no man shall see the Lord, but this cheap religion says, "We must sin; we must gratify unholy desires." Such a religion may please the flesh, but remember it will fail you when you are dying. Then you will want to be as pure as the blood of Christ can cleanse you.
A religion that will let you drink, grudge, speak unkindly, go to law, or seperate you from your family, will dissapoint you at the Judgment.
On the other hand, the right kind of religion will enable you to live a Christlike life. Yea, since you are made partaker fo the Divine nature, you will naturally act like your saviour. As a result, you will love the Bible more than any other reading. You will also love long sessions of secret prayer. Of course, you will love all men of all nations, even your enemies.
Friends, how is it with you? Do not rest on a form, but insist on the power of Christ within.
-- E. E. Shelhamer (printed in Hallelujah!, the official gazette of the Bible Holiness Movement)
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