Sunday, February 24, 2013

We Sin With Knowledge

The Lord God when He knitted us together in our mothers womb and formed our inward parts gave us a conscience, we are borne with it. Our conscience can become seared by repeatedly going against it. Despite this we all have a conscience, and therefore are without excuse. The word conscience is a two part Latin word; con means with and science means knowledge. So when we sin we do it with knowledge that it is wrong.

One who tells lies does so with knowledge that they are lying and thus they are a liar.

One who steals does so with knowledge that he is stealing and thus is a thief.

One who commits adultery does so with knowledge that they are having sex with someone other than their spouse and thus is an adulterer.

One who fornicates does so with knowledge that they are having sex outside of marriage and thus is a fornicator.

One who murders does so with knowledge that they are taking the life of a human being and thus is a murderer.

A woman who has an abortion does so with knowledge that in her womb is a baby and thus is a murderer.

God has written his law on the heart of every man though we may suppress that knowledge in our unrighteousness (our thirst for sin and self gratification and preservation of our sinful lifestyles) but we all know and all who sin do so with knowledge and have no excuse!
"And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment," (Hebrews 9:27). When our souls (the word soul is synonymous with the word life) depart from our bodies it returns to The Lord God from whom all life originates, He is Himself life and all will face Christ in judgment for every thought, every word, and every deed we have done in this life. "Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die." (Ezekiel 18:4)

"Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Cor 6:9-10)

"But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)

So we ,knowing the terror of the Lord, preach the law of God to bring the knowledge of sin and the gospel of Jesus Christ. The only way to escape the wrath of God against our sin. Telling all who hear repent (turn from sin) and believe (by faith alone receiving Jesus as both Lord and Savior) to the glory of God.

God is righteous and just, "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;" (Psalm 89:14). We are not, we are sinful beings, so what does a good God do with a people like us; sinners? God is good so he cannot overlook sin, God has promised that all sin will be punished and the punishment God has ascribed for sin is hell and God is eternal so His punishment is eternal. We are not eternal, we have a beginning so we can never satisfy the wrath of God for our sins.

God is love but His love is not unjust, God is not love at the expense of His righteousness and justice. So what did God do so that He could forgive sinful men and be righteous and just?
He Himself became a man in the person of Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man and without sin. He went to the cross at the command of God the Father and bore in His flesh the sins of all who would come to repent and believe in Him. The only One who could fully satisfy the wrath of God for sin is God, and man sinned so man had to die. So the one who bore the wrath of God for sin had to be both fully God and fully man and without sin; He had a life to give.

He died, Jesus said; "It is finished" (John 19:30) meaning He had met the requirements of God's law for sin. He drank down the eternal wrath of God for the sins of man to the full. He died and was buried and on the third day He arose from the grave defeating sin and death. Proving who He was (the Son of God) that He had the right to take away sins "Salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9). Demonstrating that the wrath of God against sin had been fully satisfied in Him or He would have remained in the grave and His body destroyed. His body saw no corruption and was fully raised to life and we can be confident that the wrath of God against sin is satisfied in Him because He arose from the grave.

He ascended to the Father and now sits at the right hand of God the Father in heaven and intercedes on behalf of all who come to God through faith in Him. So what must we do, what must you do? Repent (turn from sin) and believe (by faith alone receiving Jesus as both Lord and Savior) to the glory of God.


Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ


Monday, February 18, 2013

I Hate Abortion Mill Ministry


I love evangelism; nothing makes me happier than to glorify Jesus Christ through the preaching of His gospel, glorifying Him in one-on-one witnessing encounters, and glorifying Him through gospel tracts. Yes, the evangelist is mocked, reviled, ridiculed, insulted, and cursed. But you know when people hate you, and revile you, they hated Jesus first (John 15:18); so you know nothing among men but Christ and Him crucified for our sins (1 Corinthians 2:2). When people reject Christ they are only destroying themselves. We are given such a privilege to glorify our Lord and Savior before men, through the preaching of His gospel. Four passages always come to mind when I think about this and the truth that they bring drives much of my evangelism efforts.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16) “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14) “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).

I have a confession to make, while I love evangelism I hate abortion mill ministry, you heard me correctly; I hate it! There is nothing worse than pleading with a mom & dad to have mercy on his or her child and watch them boldly walk into a building to have their child murdered by a professional hit man, a murderer for hire. Maybe I'm too close, I understand all too clearly, exactly what is going on; by profession I’m a Registered Nurse. I could explain these things in detail but that would only distract from the point at hand; I hate abortion mill ministry. In abortion mill ministry, when the moms, dads, and clinicians ignore the Law of God and the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, rejecting the gospel call of having repentance towards God and faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21) they then destroy another person besides themselves; a little precious baby who has no means to defend his or her self, it turns my stomach just to think about these things much less to be there at the mill when the horrendous act of human baby murders are carried out.

So why go to an abortion mill and plead with the moms, dads, and clinic workers to have mercy on those little babies with the word of God and gospel of Jesus Christ when it is so hard to be there?
"Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward."(Psalm 127:3)

The child that is growing in a mother’s womb is a gift from God. How can we, even if they; forsake what the Lord has given as a gift? He or she is a child, a human being made in the image if God (Genesis 1:27) and abortion is murder. Did you know that at just 6-8 weeks gestation a babies’ heart is beating and he or she has their own blood supply? Murder is taking the life if another human being by malice of forethought (purposely killing another human being). The Lord says "Do Not Murder" (Exodus 20:13) and God's word says that the Lord hates Hands that shed innocent blood (Proverbs 6:17) and “cursed is he who accepts a bribe to strike down an innocent person” (Deuteronomy 27:25).

The gospel requires repentance and faith (Mark 1:15, Acts 2:38; the gospel produces obedience (1 John 3:24). So what is an obedient slave of Jesus Christ to do?
"Open your mouth for the mute,
For the rights of all the unfortunate.
Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And defend the rights of the afflicted and needy." (Proverbs 31:8-9)

We must go against our own understanding and plead for these babies’ lives as the Lord commands us and do so biblically with the word of God and glorious gospel of Jesus Christ alone. The issue at hand is a sin issue, nothing but the word of God and gospel of Jesus Christ can change a wicked heart bent on destruction of another human being. There is no one else to love them and stand for their lives; they are hated by the very people God gave them to for love and nurturing. Jesus said; “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." (John 14:15). Did He not say to love your neighbor as yourself? (Luke 10:27) These babies are our neighbors, let us not be like the lawyer who wanted to justify himself saying; “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29). I don't know about you, but I'm willing to do a lot for myself. Would I not be willing to plead for my own life? These babies have no voice and cannot plead for their own lives so they need someone to love them and plead on their behalf. So if I love these littlest of neighbors as I love myself, should I not do what I hate for their sake, despite my personal feelings or difficulties and go, "Open your mouth for the mute, For the rights of all the unfortunate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, And defend the rights of the afflicted and needy." (Proverbs 31:8-9) And all that we do may we do it for the glory of Christ alone.



Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Friday, February 15, 2013

Jesus the Good Wine


The other day a woman said that Jesus was the final Word of God in this end times and then quoted Hebrews 1:1-3. So let us take a look at that now, I’m going to add in verse 4 for a complete thought.

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.” (Hebrews 1:1-4 NASB)

This got me to think about these things, the LORD God spoke directly to Adam but after Adam sinned he was thrown out of the garden, out of the presence of God and from that point on God spoke to Adam (man) through prophets. The Bible is the word of God; the divinely inspired word of God. “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (1 Timothy 3:16-17 NASB) The scriptures were given to us by God through Moses and the Prophets; but in these end times the Word Himself who was prophesied of in the Law and the Prophets came to us as the final Word of God.

I have been memorizing the gospel of John so I meditate on it often, especially when I am alone in my automobile traveling to and from work. I was reciting John chapter 2, and mediating on it after thinking about the things written above. That God had spoken to us through the prophets and in these last days He has spoken through His Son. In John chapter 2 Jesus came to a wedding feast and they ran out of wine, so He by the request of His mother turned water into wine. Jesus told the servants to take it to the master of the feast; now pay close attention to what happens and what the master of the feast said.

“When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And said to him, ‘Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guest have well drunk, then the inferior, you have kept the good wine until now!” (John 2:9-10 NKJV)

So I then realized that is exactly what God did. God spoke through inferior sinful men (the prophets) in many portions and in many ways. Listen to what the word of God says about Elijah. “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.” (James 5:17 NASB) The prophets were men just like us, sinful inferior men, with a nature just like ours (the inferior wine). Jesus the final Word of God is not like us, He is like God; He is God, the God Man. “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.” (Hebrews 1:3 NASB) Jesus is (the Good Wine).

God is not like a man; “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guest have well drunk then the inferior, you have kept the good wine until now.” (John 2:10 NKJV) God has kept the Good Wine until now.


Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ



(In case you were wondering why I used both the NASB & NKJV translations Because the NASB is the translation I am currently reading from but John chapter 2 is in NKJV because that is the translation I have memorized and thus the text I was meditating on.)