It’s All Been Paid For, Evans Olang

Luke 18:9, “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ (NIV)

 

To live a Christian life is never easy, there are ups and downs in this walk. I mentioned recently how we often measure the success of our walk by what we accomplish rather than what He has accomplished for us on the cross. We say something like this, “dying on the cross for our sins was something we could never do, but living the life of a Christian is something we are most capable of doing”. I come across many sermons preached on “How to” rather than what “He has”. A while back I was in a Christian book store, it’s shelves were filled with self-help books, filled with “how to”, examples “how to write your ticket with God”, “7 steps to being blessed”, “how to get God’s attention and favor”. We say we are saved by grace but behave like our salvation is kept by the law.

 

If you are kept by “how to”, you will be discouraged the days you do not pray, read the word, or reach others like you should. If anything, you become an idolater because your joy comes and depends on your accomplishments. Jesus speaking, “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, …” in Luke 18:9 told of a parable. While this was addressing those who looked down on others, I see another side of the coin in addressing those who measure their Christian walk by others as the standard. In other words saying something like this, “I do not pray like so and so, maybe I need to try harder etc.”. In giving this parable, Jesus said, vs. “10 Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ His accomplishments, I fast twice in the week – So did all the strict Pharisees: every Monday and Thursday. I give tithes of all that I possess – Many of them gave one full tenth of their income in tithes, and another tenth in alms. This was the strictest sect among the Jews; they were men that prayed, and fasted much, and were great sticklers for the ceremonies of the law, and the traditions of the elders, and did all they did to be seen of men. This Pharisee trusted to himself that he was righteous. Most of us may not do it to be seen of men, but we do it to be seen of God and use it as “how to” get blessings from the Lord.

 

The Pharisee felt justified, he was no hypocrite for they were the most righteous people by man’s standards. To give a list of his accomplishment was to prep him as a candidate for greater things. The bible says, he prayed about himself, he prayed about his accomplishments, he was the center of his prayer and using a tax collector as his measuring stick for his righteousness.

 

In this regards, there were people who tried their best to measure up to them, one could have been the tax collector who found that he fell short he therefore prayed directly to God. It must have been mind boggling when Jesus dropped a bombshell in addressing those who wanted to be righteous as these people, Jesus response,  Matthew 5:20, “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven”. In other words, unless your righteousness surpasses the righteousness of the most righteous people, you will by no means enter the kingdom of God.

 

If we could never attain the righteousness on our own, how do we expect to maintain it unless we fall back on the One who called us in the first place. Paul begins by telling us how we attained the righteousness, 2Corinthians 5:21, “For He (God the Father) made Him (Jesus Christ) who knew no sin to be sin for us (lost sinners), that we might become the righteousness of God (traded places) in Him (completed by Him and in Him). Emphasis mine in brackets. Paul then  tells us what is required of us to do now that we are made righteous and qualifies it with this statement, it has to be by God for God in us, through us for His glory, Philippians 2:12-13, “12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure”.  You bear out what He has produced within.

 

We cannot work for what He has already accomplished, we can only bear it. He is the true Vine, we are the branches (John 15). The branches do not produce, they only bear what He has produced. Our job is to bide. Jesus said, Luke 12:32, “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom’”.  Acts 17:28, “28  for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring”.  We are saved by hope, purified by it, blessed by it, kept by it, favored by it. All in Christ for His name sake because He paid for it all with His own precious blood on the cross when He said, “it is finished”. Blessings, Ev

Be Lifted Up, by Evans Olang

John 12:32-33, “32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” 33 This He said, signifying by what death He would die”

 

Jesus thrice speaks of his death as a lifting up, a euphemism for being crucified. The lifting up meant being glorified, He says as recorded in John 12:23, “…“The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified” The cross was the means by which the Son of Man be glorified by men when He draws them to Himself. That is why we preach Christ crucified.

 

Christ, bringing the world to God by the doctrine of His cross, broke the power of sin, and cast out Satan as a deceiver. The soul that was at a distance from Christ, is brought to love Him and trust Him. There is power in the death of Christ to draw souls to Him. That by the cross, we have victory and in that victory is Christ lifted up.

 

After His death, burial, resurrection and ascension, Jesus left His disciples and those who will believe in Him to continue to lift Him up. Acts 3 is one example, as Peter and John were going to the temple to pray, vs. 2 says, a certain man lame was carried by the gate of the temple daily to ask for alms. On this day, Vs. 3-7, “3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. 4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them” Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” 7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength”. Wow, what a great testimony, Peter presented what they had, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He proclaimed healing and right then by his hand lifted him up. While it appears that this man was the one lifted up, it was Christ in this miracle lifted up, because right after the miracle, this man was not rejoicing over Peter and John, He was rejoicing over God, vs. 8. Says, “So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God”

 

Acts 3:12-16, “So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. 14 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. 16 And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all”. Peter and John had a mission and that is of lifting Christ up and Christ did the rest drawing not only this man but also those who by this means heard the gospel.

 

There have been times I have found myself troubled that in my prayer time, I did not lift all the needs I planned to pray for. Then there are those times, people say to me, “thank you for praying for me, I had a break through” While they say such, in the back of my mind I am thinking, “I do not recall praying for that need”. And while sometimes I beat myself that I did not, I come to learn the truth that as I spend more time lifting up Jesus, His cross, as I pray, He draws those in need to Himself. He draws the unsaved, the broken marriages, the sick, etc. because He is more important than all these.

 

As Paul Washer said, “The priority of prayer in Jesus life, the great majority of His words dealt with one thing, a passion for God to be glorified throughout the world.” Prayer is about passion, zeal, drive, hunger, burden to lift Him up, make His name great and advance His kingdom and not ours. In Matthew 6:25-34Jesus talks about worry concerning our needs and how He knows them before we even ask. This was not suggesting that we should not ask because He knows, but rather we ask what we need the most and that is to lift Him up by seeking His kingdom first and His righteousness. That as we lift Him up in our prayers, He will draw you and your needs to Himself for His glory. Who is most lifted up in your prayers, you or Christ? Choose this day who you will lift up.

Blessings

Ev

Because Of Who You Are, by Evans Olang

Psalm 115:1-3, “1 Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, Because of Your truth. 2 Why should the Gentiles say, “So where is their God?” 3 But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases”

 

Living for God does not always make things smooth. You are not always going to be on top of the mountain. And if you find yourself in the valley, praying will not necessarily mean God will take you out of the valley. This is not an indication of His lack of care or teaching you a lesson. This and all things ought to be about God making much of Himself in the life of believers wherever they may find themselves.

 

One common error I constantly see with our walk is trying to make a deal with God. I do this so that you can do that for me.  And many of teachings are based on how to get stuff by working something right (mostly working faith). If you are not getting it, it is because you are not working it right. I ask myself many times, “why do we try so hard to work for the things the Lord already paid for on the cross?” We ran back to the summary of the law (love God, love people) and present it to the Lord by saying something like this, “I have done this and that, hopefully you are pleased, now I am a candidate for blessing, bless me”. “Love God, love people is what the gospel produces not what it commands. It’s not addition to the gospel”, Voddie Baucham. It is not the means by which God responds to prayers.

 

All the good we do, is done by the power of His grace; and all the good we have, is the gift of His mere mercy, and He must have all the praise because He authored and completed it. You cannot live the gospel and gain merits for blessings and you cannot live without it and make. It is not a formula for provisions. You and I don’t pray to get God closer to our will, we pray to get closer to His will. The harbor does not move closer to the boat, it is the boat that moves closer to the harbor.

 

In the former psalm, the past wonders which God had wrought were recounted to His honor. In this Psalm, the psalmist is entreating the Lord to glorify Himself again, he says, vs. “1 Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, Because of Your truth”. The heathen presuming upon the absence of material blessings at a given time led them to ask, “Where is now their God?” It grieved the heart of the godly that God was not honored the way He should, and they beseeched the Lord at least to vindicate His own name. David in Psalm 23:4, talks of the Lord leading him in His path of righteousness for His name sake. Joshua also used the like argument when he said, “Then what will You do for Your great name?”, Joshua 7:9. So was Moses when God was ready to wipe out the Israelites for the complaining and murmuring, Moses said, Exodus 32:12, “Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people”

 

These men had one thing in common, “the glory of God”. And the desire of their heart was not to make a deal with God and gain something from Him but God to make much of Himself through their lives even if it meant blessing them or not. Their drive to serve and glorify God was based on “HE IS WORTHY”. That is why they came, that is why they were concerned for His name. They were concerned for His honor and that is why they prayed for victories in their own lives that the heathens’ mouths would be silenced.

 

About a year ago after long time of praying and waiting, our later diagnosis showed that for my wife and I to have children naturally was not possible.  Through the means of medicine and the aid of insurance we started a process. The IVF done pointed to good promises, at one point we were declared pregnant only for it to be terminate after a short time taking us back to ground zero. Recently as we were checking with our insurance as to what is next, our fears were confirmed when we were told we had maxed our coverage for pregnancy, therefore we are on our own. The first thing that ran through my mind, “but Lord we have been praying, waiting, trusting. What will those who see us pray think when they see or think our prayers are not answered”. I was concerned for what our prayers should do rather than be concerned with God’s great name for His glory. It also sounded like I was trying to make a deal with God. I should seek God for who HE is, “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, But to Your name give glory”  because vs. 3, “…our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases”, for His own glory. We are in the valley, however our drive is, “just because of who You are will we praise You”. We pray because He is worthy of it. We seek for this miracle that He may glorify Himself through it. If He does not bless us, He will still gain glory in our valley.

 

In such manner, let us pray when no other plea is available because of our sense of sin; for the Lord is always jealous of His Honor, and will work for His name’s sake and no other motive will move Him. Blessings, Ev

Come to Christ, Part 2, by Pastor Phil

Matthew 11:28-30, “28Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

 

As we looked at previously, Christ desires that His creation comes to Him.  Here He further defines those who should come to Him, because in fact not all do come to Christ and there is surely a reason for that.  He states, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden…”  Who are those He was speaking of that are laboring and heavy laden?  Is it those with abundance of worldly problems?  Is it those who are tired in this life?  Perhaps it is those who have such burdens upon them that they literally feel weighed down by such.   I have heard all of these and more as a reason why Christ calls us to come.  However, if this is truly the case, then one would surmise that the Donald Trumps, and Bill Gates of the world would not need to come.  There are those in this life that are not experiencing worldly labor, and many who don’t feel heavy laden.  To these, Jesus said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.   The Reformation Study Bible shares, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth. The difficulty is not because riches in themselves are evil and disqualify those who possess them, but because the rich are tempted to depend upon their riches and may be unable to admit their need of God“.

 

Those who labor and are heavy laden are those that see their spiritual bankruptcy illuminated to them by the Lord.  These people have labored to keep the Law of God and are heavy laden under its weighty demands.  This is why Christ calls such persons to Himself and then says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me...”  He doesn’t take them back to the Law they already know their guilt of, and also in addition, and perhaps compounds the problem is that the oral traditions of the scribes and Pharisees went far beyond the demands of God and became a heavy burden on the people.

 

“When the law was understood as a way of salvation, it became a “yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1). By contrast, the yoke of Jesus, while demanding, is “easy” because it is from One who is “gentle and lowly in heart” and can provide true rest for the soul (The Reformation Study Bible).”  Coming to Christ is therefore refreshing, because one can then rest in the only One who has ever fully, and completely kept the Law along with all of its demands.  The realization that Christ has fulfilled the Law, and paid the price for sin makes for a light burden, because Christ becomes, and is the burden bearer.  This is what happened to the woman at the well (John 4), the woman caught in adultery (John 8), the publican (Luke 18), Nicodemus (John 3), and the disciples of Christ.  He is the only road and door to the Father (John 14:21), and the Father has extended His kindness toward us “…in that while we were yet sinners [Lawbreakers] Christ died for us.”

 

Application:  Acts 3:19-20, “20 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus.”

 

Until the nets are filled…

Blessings,

 

Phil,

Soulfishing Ministries Evangelist<><

Come to Christ, Part 1, by Pastor Phil

1 Peter 2:4-7, vs. 7 “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,…The stone that the builders rejected…”

How does a moth end up getting burned by a flame.  If you ever heard the expression, “like a moth to a flame,” you will know that the moth is drawn to the flame, but “The phrase is a simple allusion to the well-known attraction that moths have to bright lights. The word moth was used in the 17th century to mean someone who was apt to be tempted by something that would lead to their downfall”.  Some are, “Irresistibly and dangerously attracted to something or someone.” (The phrase finder).  God’s children are drawn to Him (while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8), He did the irresistible drawing of us to Himself.

Jesus spoke the Words in John 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” Left to myself I would have stayed as an enemy of the Lord, but thanks be to God that He has drawn me, and not only me but all of His children.  His children collectively are also His Bride.  The Father has drawn the Bride to the Groom.  The bride initially has nothing to offer the Groom.  Christ was and is perfect, and we are not, we were more likened to the prostitute in the book of Hosea.  Yet while we were in our sin, Christ died for us (Roman 5:8) and then drew us to Himself.

                                            

R.C. Sproul shares, “Coming” to Christ includes initial repentance and faith, but the Greek tense implies a continual drawing near as well.” The verdict is not only a day that you came to Christ drawn by the Father, but furthermore do you keep coming and drawing near.  James says it this way, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you“.  John MacArthur states, “Pursue an intimate love relationship with God (cf. Philippians 3:10). The concept of drawing near to God was associated originally with the Levitical priests (Exodus. 19:22; Leviticus. 10:3; Ezekiel. 44:13), but eventually came to describe anyone’s approach to God (Psalm 73:28; Is. 29:13; Hebrews 4:16; 7:19; 10:22)”

 

Peter continues describing Him (Christ) as a living stone rejected by men.  The estimation of the identity of Christ was one of a rejected man by those that were in power, and authority in Christ’s Day.  He was certainly a living stone, but utterly despised by those that should have sought to embrace Him.  Oh, how so many missed the reality of who Christ was, and many still do.  To the Father, Christ was chosen and precious.  Men viewed the Son of God through their sinful eyes, while the Father viewed His Son as both chosen and precious.

 

Men rejected, God chose; men despised Christ as a cursed Jew (Galatians 3), but the Father saw Him always as precious, the of precious of all.  The Father spoke from Heaven the words, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased“. The Father honored His Son in the sight of all who saw Him.  There has never been a time when the Father was not pleased with the Son, even when the Son was on the cross, the sacrifice pleased the Father to turn His wrath from coming upon humanity.  The Father is revealed in the glory of the Son, because of the Trinity, as they are One.  We must come to the One that the builders rejected, because unless the Lord builds the house they labor in vain that build.  Did it ever dawn upon you that Christ choose twelve disciples to be a light to the world, because the twelve tribes of Israel failed to do so.  Now of course through the tribe of Judah Jesus came, but what of the tribes being the light?  Jesus’ Twelve would shine for Him because they came to Him, He called them to be fishers of men, and they kept coming to Him until the days of their martyrdom.

 

Application:  Do you and I look upon Christ as a stone to be rejected, or as precious in the sight of God?  John Piper often asks, “Is Christ the greatest treasure in your life.?”.

 

Please also listen to this short and powerful illustration by Paul Washer on Come to Christ

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=327101648234

 

Until the nets are filled…

Blessings,

 

Phil,

Soulfishing Ministries Evangelist<><