November 4, 2010

2 Kings 17

Anger is often thought of as a sinful emotion. Yet the Scripture tells us that the Lord was angry with Israel because of their sin. If I am going to have a full view of God, then by necessity, I must understand and appreciate His anger as part of Who God is. If I truly understood His anger, would that not play into my motivations as I am faced with temptations to pursue other gods? If I fear Him because He gets angry when I pursue other gods, wouldn’t be part of a legitimate motivation to pursue Him? I should hope so. The message that is credited with starting the greatest revival that North America has ever seen was entitled Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Often Jonathan Edwards is parodied as a wild-eyed preacher. In actuality eye-witness accounts state that he read his sermons in a monotone voice, but the power of God was so strong on the congregation that people literally fell on the floor wailing in sorrow over their sin and begging forgiveness of the Holy God, against whom they had transgressed. Most of Jonathan Edwards sermons dealt with the beauty of the Grace God. They knew His Grace. When they were faced with the reality of His anger, they had a balance view of His glory. His anger against sin is every bit as much of a part of His glory as is His mercy. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor john

Hebrews 1

The Lord Jesus Christ is the heir of all things. Someday it is all going to be His. Somehow we think that we and/or others own the things around us. Perhaps we feel like we will have them forever. Not so, it all belongs to Him. And it should belong to Him. After all, He made all the worlds.

The Lord Jesus is also the visible manifestation of God the Father. When we have seen Him, we have seen the Father. He is the express image of the Father. There is only one way that I can see the Father, and it is through Jesus. But Jesus is no longer here. That is why the Word and the Holy Spirit are so important. As we hear, read, study, memorize, meditate upon His Word, we find Jesus. His Holy Spirit begins to take the word and reveal Jesus to us spiritually. We can see Him through the eyes of our hearts. His glory begins to become real to us. It is so vital that at those times, when His glory is becoming real, that we speak His glory to one another.

What holds the atoms together? We say things like the electrical charges of the protons, neutrons and electrons. What holds them together? We can talk about things like quarks. But ultimately there is only One that holds all things together. The Lord Jesus upholds all things by the word of His power. Wow! I admit it! I really don't understand that. But this I realize, if He chose to let go, everything would cease to exist.

This Creator, this Powerful One became flesh and purged our sins. Amazing! He is now seated at the right hand of the Majesty. One day every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. His name is above any other. He even has a name that we cannot even grasp! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor John