Lil Wayne Christmas

The prayers of many saints went up to God on my behalf yesterday.  Lil Wayne was at the Dope Music Festival at Xfinity arena.   Doors were to open at 6, but the 'artists' were not ready so, the doors did not open till 7, which gave me plenty of time to preach at each of the three entrances. God was glorified in the distribution of over 400 gospel tracts between Thomas Sapp and myself. The Christmas gospel was preached 4 times to several hundred concert goers. There were some good encounters with hecklers.  All of that and a guy came up to me and I thought he was giving me a fist bump; instead he took my hand and put two $5s and a $10 roll of quarters. That is a first. Thanks to God for His indescribable gift!

God bless...

The Whole Truth About Christmas

Merry Christmas!  Happy Hanukkah. A joyous Kwanzaa to you my friends.   My name is Keith and I’m a born-again Christian, and I’d like to share the Gospel message with you while you wait this evening.   ‘Gospel’, it’s an old Bible word that means good news.   Christmas is good news.   The Christmas story is good news, it is the Gospel in a nutshell.

Now I fully understand that Christmas may not be “The Most Wonderful Time of The Year” for everyone.   It’s difficult for those less fortunate.  Or, if you’re separated from loved ones, it’s gotta be painful.  Maybe you’re not a Christian; you don't celebrate Christmas and you’re not interested in Christmas.  I understand.   As for me though, I have only good memories of Christmas.   I’ve always enjoyed Christmas.  The Christmas decorations, the Christmas lights, Christmas cards, singing Christmas carols, giving Christmas gifts, and having Christmas get-togethers with family; and oh yeah Christmas dinner.

But, if you didn’t already know this, there are Christians who don't celebrate Christmas. They don't have anything to do with Christmas, and if you say merry Christmas to them, they will be offended.   I completely understand.  I can see how they come to that conclusion.   First of all, no one knows Jesus birth date. I mean we know He was born, and we know it was roughly 2015 years ago, but no  month and day was given in the Bible, and there’s no external historical record of His birth date.   So why December 25th? Let me give you a few bullet points about  the history behind ‘CHRISTMAS’:

• In AD 336, that’s 336 years after Jesus was born, the Roman Emperor Constantine proposed December 25th.
• A few years after that, Pope Julius I officially declared December 25th be ‘Christmas’.   Christmas just means celebration of Christ.
• Here’s why they chose December 25th out of every other day of the year.   The ancient Romans celebrated their pagan midwinter festival called 'Saturnalia' during the Winter Solstice on December 25th.  So they just replaced Saturnalia - that's to the god Saturn, with Christmas.  That’s horrible.   Mixing pagan traditions with Christianity.  But it’s actually happened a lot.  Even the tradition of the Christmas tree itself was adopted from pagan practices, which Bible specifically speaks against in Jeremiah chapter 10. It says, “Do not learn the ways of the nations..., 3 For the practices of the people are worthless; they cut a tree down from the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. 4 They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter.   So, a pagan holiday was adopted by the Catholic church wrapped up in Christian terms, just like Halloween and Easter for that matter.  Only a Pope would have the audacity to declare Christ’s birth date, without any knowledge of when it was.   Please don’t lump me in with the Catholic church.   The teachings of the Catholic church are at odds with the Bible.   The teachings, and beliefs of Catholicism are contrary to the Bible.  The Catholic mass is blasphemous; They believe Jesus is re-sacrificed every time they celebrate the mass. As a religious system, Catholicism produces not only pediphilic priests, but also pompous, self-righteous, hypocritical, money-grabbers.   Just like every other man-made religious system.   The very best I can say about Catholicism is it is a ‘Christian influenced’ religion, but it is not Biblical Christianity.

Let’s be honest, Christmas fosters materialistism.  Christmas gone wrong brings out the greed and selfishness in kids.   Christmas has been so commercialized  that the Christmas advertising starts even before Thanksgiving.   And shame on parents for lying to their kids and telling them Santa Claus will bring them gifts, if they’re good little boys and girls.   All that worldly filth goes against the true meaning of Christmas; the Birth of Jesus Christ; God giving the gift of His Son to be the Savior of the world.  It’s better to give than to receive, the Bible says.  

Believe it or not though, I don’t have an axe to grind against Christmas.  Really, I’m not against Christmas per se.   I’m not willing to throw out the baby with the bathwater, but I am a messenger of truth, so I want you to be aware of the truth about Christmas.   Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life, and no one comes to God the Father, except through Me.”   John 8:31-32  Jesus said, If you continue in my words, you are my disciples indeed; 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Listen, this is the truth of Christ’s birth from God’s Word, the Bible.  The Bible is the truth. In fact it’s the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so helped by God.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and you shall call his name Immanuel

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Micah 5:2 But you, O Bethlehem in Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth is from of old, from everlasting.

Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
    and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Matthew 2:1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
6 “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
    who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
    weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
    she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”

19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

Luke 1:26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Luke 2:1-21 1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

John 1:1-14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] The same was in the beginning with God. [3] All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. [4] In him was life; and the life was the light of men. [5] And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. [6] There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. [7] The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. [8] He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. [9] That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. [10] He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. [11] He came unto his own, and his own received him not. [12] But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: [13] Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. [14] And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.”

Romans 3:22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Ephesians 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Micah 7:18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
    and passing over transgression
    for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
    because he delights in steadfast love.
19 He will again have compassion on us;
    he will tread our iniquities under foot.
You will cast all our sins
    into the depths of the sea.
20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob
    and steadfast love to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our fathers
    from the days of old.

Galatians 4:4-5 KJV
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, [5] To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

2 Corinthians 9:15 KJV
Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift

2 Corinthians 8:9 KJV
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich

2 Corinthians 4:6 KJV
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Romans 13:8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Ideas for a dope Christmas

1. Receive the gift of eternal life by humbling yourself before God and putting your faith and trust and hope in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior
2. Be converted and become like children this Christmas season, receive with meekness the engrafted Word, which is able to save your souls
3. Clothe yourself in the righteousness of Jesus Christ
4. Be transferred out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his glorious light
5. Be born again according to his great mercy to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
6. Repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out and times of refreshing would come from the presence of the Lord
   

Thanks you God for Your unspeakable, indescribable gift!

II Corinthians 9:15

Four "Except" or "Unless" Gospel Statements of Jesus

You remember the acronym WWJD?   Bracelets, tee shirts, jewelry that said, “What Would Jesus Do?”   I’m going to use the acronym WDJS; in other words, “What Did Jesus Say?”   He said a lot, in fact every word in the Bible is His, even those not be in red, they’re all His words.     2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God (literally ‘God-Breathed’ θεόπνευστος theopneustos), and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect , thoroughly furnished unto every good work.”

We’re going to look at four passages of Jesus' words, from the Gospels of Matthew, Luke and John.   I’m being very picky here.   I’m cherry picking four passages where Jesus makes an “unless” or “except” statement.   

I need to make one disclaimer here before we start; if you hear me say I had this idea, or I came up with this; you better give me a long hard glare… If I say something like that, you really need to challenge me on it; I would deserve a raspberry,  because I don’t remember the last time I had an original idea, and what I’m going to share today isn’t original with me either.   Ultimately, every good idea comes from God anyways, right? James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift comes from above, from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness or shadow of changing.

Unless Statement # 1

Matthew 5:17-22  “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire

So Jesus is saying is that the words that come out of your mouth can equate with an action such as murder.  Jesus said, “every idle word that a man speaks, he will be made to give an account of on the day of Judgement.”   Not only our words, but even our thoughts, and the desires of our heart can be unlawful.   Later, Jesus says, you have heard it said by them of old, you shall not commit adultery, but I say to you that whoever looks at a woman with lust, has committed adultery already with her, in his heart.

The Pharisees pride was in how well they knew and kept the law. The scribes were keepers of the text of the law; they were the copyists.  And Jesus magnifies the Law to them.   He elevates the commandment.   He raises the bar.  What he’s saying to them is this; “So, if you really think you’re going to be good enough to earn heaven, try to keep these”.   Even beyond the letter of the law, He exposes the spirit of the law; it’s not just what you do, it’s what you say, even what you think.   The law is a matter of the heart.   Jesus shines the spotlight on their hearts (and ours too) by what He says.   I had the occasion recently to see my own heart; I viewed my heart on an Angiogram -- It’s an X Ray-based medical imaging modality.   Your heart is displayed up on a computer screen that gives a real-time look at your heart.  You can see it beating.   When they inject this dye into your blood, you can see the blood vessels.   My heart was plugged.   It was polluted.   My heart was not right and the doctors could see right where the trouble was.  Jeremiah 17:9-10 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10 I the LORD search the heart,...  to give every man according to his deeds, and according to the fruit of his actions. It says God’s will judge secrets of men’s hearts. It says God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in Righteousness. I don't know about you, but the thought of having a DVD of my innermost thoughts shown up on a screen, for everyone to see, horrifies me. I don't say this to cause despair or condemnation, but that you would cling to the Savior.   Matthew 5:6 Blessed are you who hunger and thirst after righteousness: for you will be filled.   Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.   Romans 3:22 We can have “the righteousness of God which is by faith in Jesus Christ ...to all who believe” Romans 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil its lusts.   The way that God accomplished this is when Jesus was on the cross, He said “It is finished”, the debt to sin that you and I owed, has been paid in full through Jesus death.  2 Cor 5:21 For he has made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Unless Statement #2

Matthew 18:1-6 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

5 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Jesus is stressing that we must come to God in a child-like way.   Not childish, but child-like.  Kids are unassuming, dependent, humble.   The Bible says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”  So if you want a straight-arm from God, try to come to Him in pride and self-righteousness; see how that works for you.  Another big, important thing is that God is pro-child.   He loves kids.   If someone offends a kid, harms a kid, neglects a kid; God is not happy about that.   You can apply that to whatever social issue or hot-button news story you want, but God is not happy when kids are harmed.

Unless Statement #3

Luke 13:1-5 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

if we think we're better than some other group of people because of what has happened to us or what hasn’t happened to us, or we've done or haven’t done, we need to rethink that.  As Christians, if we think we’re better than those sinners, those heathens, bunch a losers; we’re dead wrong.  We’re no better than anyone else.  We’re way better off, but no better than anyone else.   Ephesians 2:8-9 It's only by God's grace that we’re saved through faith, and that is not of ourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.   Romans 5:8 God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.    Titus 3:5 It’s not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy He has saved us.  By the washing of regeneration and the renewing of His Holy Spirit.   Romans 3:10 There is none righteous, no not one. Romans 14:23 Anything not done in faith is sin, the Bible says.  Isaiah 64:6 Our righteousness deeds (outside of Christ) are as filthy rags in God’s sight.   Not only those sinners need to repent, but we Christians, when we fail, when we fall, stumble or dive into sin, we need to repent. Our lives ought to be characterized as lives of repentance.   1 John 1:9 if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  Just by way of reminder, I think it’s worth repeating, what repentance is.  It’s not just saying you’re sorry.   It’s saying sorry and turning away from sin, to God for mercy.   It’s the idea of 180 degree turn.   My wife taught me the meaning of repentance; it’s a heartfelt “I’m sorry, I was wrong, you’re right, I won’t do it again, please forgive me.”

Unless Statement #4

John 3:1-8 w there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Jesus said “you must be born again and unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God”.   That's the good news, the Gospel.  Why, why is that good news?   It’s good news because Jesus didn’t say, unless you’re a good person, you cannot see the kingdom of God.  If He’d said that we'd have all been disqualified.   So what does it mean to be born again, well, let’s start with Jesus’ explanation, from the text; being born again, means born of the Spirit, born from above.  When you were born into this world, you were born alive physically, but dead spiritually.   Ephesians 2:1 And you He has made alive, who were dead in your trespasses and sins; when you repented and trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the Holy spirit took up residence in your life and brought you to life spiritually.  That's a radical change.  Another way to think about it that's no less radical, is to relate it to when your mom gave birth to you.  Think about when you were born, you didn’t have anything to do with it, you were just there and you were ready to come out.   Your mom did all the work.   It is the same with being born again.   God did all the work by giving his only begotten Son.  God’s love is expressed in the giving of His Son for us.   Now since we have God's Spirit in our life, the Law goes from Commandments on stone tablets to fulfilled promises written on our hearts. Ezekiel 36:26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.   2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  Galatians 5:16 ...Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfil the lust of the flesh.   So let's walk in the newness of life by the Spirit.

By way of recap:

1. Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. So, clothe yourself in the righteousness of Christ.
2. Unless you’re converted and become like a little child you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. So, humble yourself therefore under the mighty hand of God and he will lift you up in due time.
3. Unless you repent you will perish. Repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out and times of refreshing would come from the presence of the Lord.
4. Unless you’re born again you cannot see the kingdom of God. Be born again 1 Peter 1:3 According to his great mercy, ... to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

As I draw this to a conclusion, it really needs to be noted, that the Lord Jesus Christ is laying out an ultimatum for humanity.   The phrase “unless you do this or that you won’t enter the kingdom of heaven” is an ultimatum, no matter how you look at it.   But it’s a little different than the way we normally give an ultimatum.   We usually say, “if you do this, then you’re gonna get a knuckle sandwich.”   Our ultimatums are usually given as a warning, and God, to a certain degree, does the same by sending John the Baptist, saying, “Flee from the wrath that is to come”.   But the ultimatum from Jesus is to stop resisting Him and come to him for mercy, and receive His grace.   Jesus says “be ye reconciled to God.”

So the only reason for any of this is that we, by our lives, serve our King and give Him the glory.   Jude 24 Now to him who is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, both now and forever. Amen.

Oh PETA! You are more valuable to God than any animal

The Barnum & Bailey Circus was at the Xfinity arena again, which means PETA was there, signs in hand, shouting at circus-goers; "shame on you for going in there, to be 'entertained' by those poor elephants and animals".

It is true, that God cares about animals.   They are valuable to Him, but YOU, my friends are even more valuable.

Matthew 10:28-31 speaks to this very thing: 28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.  29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.  30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Responses I got last night were, for the most part, very encouraging:

"We need you here"

"God bless you"

"Amen"

Thumbs up.

Smiles

Initially, I could have gotten discouraged though.   When I walked up, I saw an usher-type arena employee walking toward me.   I said, "Hi, I'm handing out these Gospel tracts".   She said, "I'm not a Christian, please leave."

When I started preaching, a  man was standing right in front of me, with his son.   The man gently put his arm around his son, and turned his son around, toward me; facing me, and they both stood there listening intently for my entire message.

HALLELUJAH!

God bless...

Five Finger Death Punch

Here are some of the responses I got from my preaching:

• "Can you stop, I have a migraine?", and when I told him no, and started preaching again, he started screaming at me at the top of his lungs.  I guess he didn't really have a migraine.
• "You're god is a myth, your book is a myth"
• "You're doing it wrong, this isn't the way to reach these people, I'm going to pray for you"
• "We didn't come here to listen to *&# Sunday School stories"
• "Shut the $%* up"

Good evening Five Finger Death Punch fans… Hi friends, my name is Keith.  I’m a born again Christian and I'd like to share the Gospel message with you.    "Gospel", it's an old Bible word that means "Good News".   My goal here is to make the Good News make good sense to you.   

I did a little research on the bands playing here tonight, and I found out some really interesting information.  So I looked up the discography of Five Finger Death Punch albums and their songs. I read the lyrics of a couple of their songs and I listened to one or two of their songs on YouTube.  It's probably obvious these bands aren't my cup of tea, but believe it or not, the music I listened to when I was growing up on, back in the mid-to-late '70s was pretty in much the same genre as this; in fact some of the bands I used to listen to back then directly influenced these bands playing here tonight.  Back then we listened to music recorded on a 12 inch black vinyl disk or an 8 track tape in our car, but I have to tell you, FFDP (just like the music I listened to back then) does not have any good news. They don't have any good news to offer you.  Their vocalist is just going to scream obscenities at you and growl in that cartoonish voice that's supposed to sound like a demon who smoked 6 packs of cigarettes a day for the last thousand years.   

I found it interesting though, that even as dark and violent as this music is, (and it is dark and violent) it’s easy to find the Gospel message in it, especially since these guys are trying to mock the Bible and turn message of the Gospel backwards, upside-down.  Woe to them (the Bible says)  Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!   

I trust what the Bible says.  I believe the message of the Bible.  Now I know, so many times, down through the years people have twisted what’s written in the Bible to make it suit their own agenda, even through the Bible explicitly warns against that very thing in 2 Peter 1:20-21, where it says, "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."  One of the primary objections I hear against the Bible all the time is, "well the Bible was written by men, it's been changed so many times down through the years, you can't trust it."  But that isn't how history attests to the Bible or how the Bible attests to itself; in 2nd Timothy 3:16-17 says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly equipped for every good work." Psalm 30 says, every word from God is pure. Jesus said in John 17:17 sanctify your people in the truth; your word (oh God) is the truth.

So what I'm going to do is use the first FFDP album title and it's song titles, and kinda re-purpose them.  I'm going to use the song titles from the first FFDP album, "The Way of the Fist" as my sermon outline and I always like to start my sermons with a reminder of our mortality, and the song title "A Place to Die" gets right to the point.   So, I want you to think about your death, but it's not your friend, and it was never your intended destiny. You were created for life, not death.  But Death will have no sympathy on you; When it's your time, death will come. So it is true, we will all die.   We all have an expiration date.   Ten out of ten die.   Every day, one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty thousand people on planet earth die.   They exit time and enter eternity.   That’s about 2 people every second.   Some day, one of those seconds is going to have your name on it.  The Bible says, it’s appointed for a man once to die, and after that comes the judgement.  When you you die, you have an appointment with your Maker to give an account of your life.   The Bible says God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness.  So that’s the standard, righteousness.   It says God will judge the secrets of men’s hearts.    And he will render to every man according to his deeds.   Even every idle word that a man speaks, he will be made to give an account of on the day of Judgement; Every worthless profanity, vulgarity, obscenity and blasphemy will be brought into judgement.   So every thought, word and deed will be laid out as evidence against you on judgement day.  The reason we die is because of sin; it says, the soul that sins shall surely die, and the wages of sin is death.   

The next song title in my sermon outline uses the song title "Meet the Monster”, so I’d like you to meet the monster, and the monster is you!   Now I don't normally call names, I’m really not here to call names; but I would have you look in the mirror so-to-speak and judge yourself.   The mirror I’m going to hold up and shine in your direction is the mirror of God’s Law, the Ten Commandments...

Exodus 20:7
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.    

13 “You shall not murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

This leaves us all guilty before a Holy and Righteous God.   Think for a moment about the song title "Can't Heal You". Your disbelief and rejection of God will not help you and "Can't Heal You" on the Day of Judgement.   You will be without excuse when you stand before your Creator to give an account of your life.   But God Himself provided the solution to our problem, herein is found the Good News, and the good news is that God Himself became a man in the person of Jesus Christ.   He was born of a virgin, and lived a perfectly sinless life.   But they took Him away on trumped up charges.   Make no mistake though, Jesus was completely in charge.   He was completely in control of the whole situation.   He willingly gave his life as a ransom for many.   He said, in John 10:18 No one takes my life from me; I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.”

Next song title I'm going to use at is "The Way of the Fist".   So they lead Jesus away to mount Calvary to be crucified, and he came to His crucifixion by "The Way of the Fist".  In Matthew 26:67 it says Then they spit in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him.  In Luke 22:63 it says that the men that held Jesus mocked him, and struck him. And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him in the face, and told him, Prophesy to us Jesus, tell us who struck you? And many other blasphemous things did they speak against him.   All this happened to Jesus to fulfill what Isaiah the prophet foretold some 700 years before Christ; Isaiah said, those who saw Jesus were astonished; because his face was so marred (disfigured) that he no longer looked like a man.   

The next song title in my outline is “The Bleeding”, which fits right in with the Gospel message, because they took Jesus and nailed Him hand-and-foot, to a wooden Roman cross, where  "The Bleeding" took place.  The Bible says, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission (or removal) of sins. There is redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Jesus bore our sins upon that tree. He who knew no sin, became sin for us so we might become the righteousness of God in him.  The handwriting of ordinances that was against us that was contrary to us have been taken out of the way, having been nailed to the cross there with Jesus.

Consider the song title, "Death Before Dishonor".   Jesus was willing to accept "Death Before Dishonor", so that He could bring life and immortality to light through the Gospel.   So, that whoever trusts in Him would not be ashamed.  Jesus died on the cross for our sins, but three days later He rose from the dead. They had buried him in a tomb and rolled a huge stone over the entrance to the tomb, but three days after his burial, Jesus took up the same body again and walked out of that tomb alive.  So unless you repent, you will perish in your sins.   Repent is an old Bible word that means “change your mind”.   You must change your mind about sin and turn away from it, and turn to God for mercy. But, if you die in your sins, without calling on Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you will received a just recompense of reward for every transgression and disobedience;  Are you committed to your sin?   Are you that devoted to that sin?   Is it worth your life, even your eternity?   Come to your senses, for heaven’s sake.  Think about it; what is your sin good for; just DEATH.   Ditch your sin.  Drop it.  Let go of it.  Renounce it. Don’t make sin your pet; it’s your enemy; in fact it’s your worst enemy.   It'll turn on you and bite you.  It will be the death of you.    

The next song title “Salvation” says it all.   Jesus made the way of "Salvation" for all who would repent and trust Him, He provided not only eternal life, but new life for the here-and-now.   It says the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.   It says, by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.   It says, it’s not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy has he saved us.  By the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit.   Jesus said, you must be born again.   He said unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God.  So what does it mean to be born again.  Well, think about when you were born.  Your mom gave birth to you and you were born alive physically, but you were born dead spiritually.  You were born alienated and estranged from God, so you needed to be born spiritually.  When you repent and trust in Christ as your savior, God Himself in the person of the Holy Spirit comes and takes residence in your heart and life. So that’s what it means to be born again; you’re born by the Spirit; born from above.    It says, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away, behold all things have become new.

So, if your life is messed up; shattered to pieces; if you suffer from depression, or have suicidal thoughts, you might identify with the song title Ashes.   Maybe the song Ashes represents your life.   But I'm here to tell you Isaiah 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the meek (humble); he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison doors to those that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord , and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To give you who mourn... beauty for “Ashes”, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of depression;, that the LORD would be glorified.   Humble yourself therefore under the mighty hand of God and he will lift you up in due time.   You must come to God low, sorry, contrite.  Recognize God is holy, holy, holy.  He’s righteous.  He’s pure, without spot or blemish.   He is light and in Him is no darkness at all.   Without Him we’re all guilty, condemned.   

Next song title is “White Knuckles”... Stop resisting God with your heels dug in and your five fingers in a death grip around your sins, with "White Knuckles".  Don’t be stiff-necked, and hard-hearted. You must surrender to God.  Unless you’re willing to deny yourself; even die to yourself and follow Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are none of His.   Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him" Romans 8:9.   You must accept His will for your life; submit to it.  Do you see yourself as the master of your own destiny and the captain of your own soul?   If you do, you refuse your only hope of salvation, eternal life and forgiveness of sins.

My last bullet point is the song title "The Devil's Own".   The Devil is a loser.   Make no mistake about it, Satan is a fallen angel, and he is your enemy and he has nothing new up his sleeve.   He uses the same tactics he's used since the dawn of time. He'll get you to question God's Word, and twist what God has said. We are not ignorant of Satan's evil devices, he'll play you like any con man would. He'll use the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh,  and the boastful pride of life to draw you away from God.

Zechariah 3:1-2...   Rest assured, Satan will resist you if you decide to stand for the Lord.

1 John 3:10  By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

John 8:44   Is your your father the devil?  Do you carry out his desires?  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Let me just give you a promise from the Bible.   You can take this one to the bank.   Romans 16:19-20... Satan will be crushed by God under our feet shortly.

Jesus called the devil a thief, and he says the thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come that you may have life, and that more abundantly.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, friends, whatever is true, honest, fair and just, whatever is pure, lovely, and of a good report; if there’s anything of virtue, and anything praiseworthy, think on these things.

Set your minds on things above, come to Jesus Christ for life, forgiveness, mercy, and grace. Place your hope and trust in Jesus Christ instead the temporary pleasures of sin.

Planned Murderhood

Today was a very good day. The Lynnwood Planned Parenthood location was closed so I was alone but I got the message out to lots of people in cars. 

God bless...