Nothing is More Important than the Truth

Why do you not understand what I am saying? This is a very important question, and our Lord Jesus immediately follows this question up with the answer. Jesus asked the question and gave the answer to this question in John 8:43. He said, "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word." 

So they could not understand what He was saying because they could not hear His word. Now why could they not her His word? 

In John 8:44 Jesus gives the answer for this; He said, "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies." 

The reason they could not here His word, is because they had murder in their heart, and therefore they could only hear lies. Jesus puts anger on equal footing with murder (see Matthew 5:22,23). 

Perhaps you are angry about something today, and cannot hear the truth. Relax, take a breath, and spend sometime in scripture alone, not to prove your point, and be right, but to truly know what is right. Do as the Bereans of Acts 17:11 did, if you hear something that bothers you, or your unsure of, or you don't understand; examine the scriptures to see if these things might be so. We cannot see things as they are and hear the truth when we are angry. Also do what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 13:5 "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-unless indeed you fail the test?" Don't just pick the passages out of scripture that you like and discard what you don't like. Your faith must be grounded in the Jesus Christ of scripture alone. Truly look at these things, nothing is more important than the truth. Don't let anger keep you from understanding the truth.

Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

And I Saw a Devil

He walked as though he owned the place, he probably does. He was a man familiar with wealth and prosperity giving the appearance of one use to having his way. He walked with a steady gate as he slipped on his suit jacket over his blue shirt and yellow tie. His suit was grey and expensive, he had on brown leather shoes, and he wore glasses and had curly gray hair, approximately 56-62 years of age. He came around the corner at the back of the parking lot and walked by all the cars parked in the lot. He set his gaze upon me, staring at me as he walked. I was preaching from the gospels about our resurrected Savior, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God. As he continued to walk and stare intently, I thought he might come straight up to me, but he then gave a devilish grin and snicker. He then made a left turn for the door of the abortuary, inside awaited 20 women with child. Not too long after this they would begin coming out one-by-one with the gaunt faces of someone who had been medicated, walking with an uneasy gate, obviously from discomfort.

Today was the most difficult day I have had in the nearly one year of going to plead for lives with the word of God and gospel of Jesus Christ outside of an abortuary, I was without my bride or the other brothers that often come with me. I arrived on the public sidewalk, adjacent to Kings Hwy, the road on which the abortuary is located, at 8:45 AM, the parking lot was empty but would soon fill to capacity. A sister in Christ was there whom I had never met in person, but my wife, myself, and others have grown to know her via social media. As we talked and introduced ourselves, having yet to turn our attention to the abortuary, one of the men hired by the abortuary, an off duty deputy city Marshall made a bee line toward our direction, he began to try and use his position to intimidate us, saying “You cannot stand on the sidewalk with your cross, you must keep moving.” I have a 4 ft wooden cross with a question written on the cross beam, “Are You Ready?” I replied, “You are not acting in the capacity of a city Marshall, you have been hired as a guard of this place of death, I will be staying right here. You need to repent!” He then turned and walked away.

If you have followed any of my blogs lately, you would know that when out in public I have been preaching directly from the word of God, word for word. I was doing this in the hearing of the hired escort and the two men hired as guards. I would pause and call out to the mom’s and dad’s as they arrived to have their baby torn out of the womb. As I preached the word of God a woman from across the street began to curse me with much heated anger. Telling me to shut-up with many filthy curse words flying from her mouth; I turned her direction and told her that I loved her and hoped that the Lord might grant her repentance and faith in Jesus. This was when she really began to curse. The escort who sits with a stoic face while the word of God is preached began to snicker. Car after, car after, car would arrive; very often with the occupants laughing. They would get out of their car and walk right through the door of death without even giving a second glance as we pleaded with them to have mercy on their baby.

As I left this place I was filled with much sadness and grief. I had been at a place, in the middle of a busy city in America; in which a wealthy man charged poor people money to tear their child out of their womb. I think that this is the biggest problem, unbelief; people do not want to believe that this is really happening, so they ignore it. I could find solace in no one else so I turned to the Lord, asking the question: How can anyone murder their child, and how can anyone hear the word of God and gospel of Jesus the Christ and not fall to their knees in repentance and faith? I already knew the answer, they cannot hear the word of God because they are dead in their trespasses and sins, it is the same reason that I couldn’t hear until the Lord took out my heart of stone, and gave me a heart of flesh that could be penetrated by the word of God, and gospel of Christ.

What does the Lord say about this? “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God." (John 8:43-47 NASB)



Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Witness

I came to the realization of something today as I was meditating on Acts 1:8.

"but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

I am not a witness for Jesus, you are not a witness for Jesus; neither our words nor our actions are a witness for Jesus. He chose His witnesses Himself, and it was not us.  His witnesses are His chosen apostles, then and now.  When He said to them, you shall be My witnesses even to the remotest part of the earth, He meant His chosen apostles, not us.  How can that be, His apostles are no longer with us? Oh but they are!  They left us a New Testament, and that New Testament alone is their witness of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God into all the world.  You and I my friend, are simply vessels to carry their witness into the remotest parts of the earth.  Think about that brethren next time you go out and proclaim the word of God, and Gospel of Jesus the Christ, the only begotten Son of the living God.  You and I are not the witness of Christ, His chosen apostles are through the words of the New Testament alone. 

Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

The Lord Longs to be Gracious

The other day I began to read a book called “The Institutes of Christian Religion” by John Calvin. In Book 1, The Knowledge of God The Creator, chapter 1, I read a statement that just struck me hard. It was one of those aha moments when you get something. My mind is always on evangelizing the gospel, therefore I related this statement to the proclamation of the gospel. The author said; "But should we once begin to raise our thoughts to God, and reflect what kind of Being he is, and how absolute the perfection of that righteousness, and wisdom, and virtue, to which, as a standard, we are bound to be conformed, what formerly delighted us by its false show of righteousness will become polluted with the greatest iniquity; what strangely imposed upon us under the name of wisdom will disgust by its extreme folly; and what presented the appearance of virtuous energy will be condemned as the most miserable impotence."

When men compare themselves to men they feel alright about themselves, they look pretty good when compared to other men. There has been a push in evangelism a few years back on using the Ten Commandments to bring the knowledge of sin. The law used correctly does have this effect, because when you are comparing your deeds to God’s perfect standard we all fall woefully short. Psalm 96:3 says; “Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.” And that is what John Calvin was saying in the quoted statement. That until a man has knowledge of his Creator he will think he is a pretty good person, and that is what the Law does, and the purpose for preaching it, to bring knowledge of the Creator God. When man sees God, when he comes to the knowledge of who the Lord is, he cannot do anything but what Moses did in (Exodus 34:8 NASB). “Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.” The Law says, this is God, this is His standard, and how absolute the perfection of that righteousness is, the Law declares the glory of God.

My pastor, Phillip Dancy of Sylvania church in Tyler, Texas, was preaching on Isaiah 30:18-26 today. While expositing this passage he read God’s Name from (Exodus 34:6-7 NASB) ; “Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations."

That is our God! A man would never come up with a God like this God; who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He is just. Isaiah 30:18 says that the Lord longs to be gracious to you and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. This God of justice who will not leave the guilty unpunished longs to be gracious to you, all I can say is Wow!!! And because He is both just and gracious He crushed His only begotten Son, Jesus the Christ in our place to prove it. Wow!!! All you need do is cry out to Him in repentance and faith; “He will hear it, He will answer you.” (Isaiah 30:19 NASB) “And He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:6 NASB) Wow, Amazing!!!

So what should we do? Preach the Law to bring the knowledge of sin, declare the glory of the Lord, the Lord of Exodus 34:6-7, then preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the glory of God the Father. Amen!!!



Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Why I Reject Synergism

I am not saved because I loved God and choose Him, the truth is I hated God, I hated truth and loved sin. You might say that is a horrible thing to say, and I agree. That we should hate our creator and love sin is a horrible thing, but it is true nonetheless, and I now by the grace of God love truth and hate my sin. Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin." (John 8:34 NASB). And in Luke 16:13 when talking about serving God and Mammon, He makes the point , you cannot be slave to two masters, you will hate the one and love the other. I love God not because I choose Him. I love God because He loved me first. I am saved because it was His sovereign will to love me and draw me to His Son and it was not my own free will in anyway. How can one opine that faith is a decision, that a man makes in and of himself when the requirements for saving faith are a regenerated heart and mind; being born again, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God, being baptized by the Holy Spirit of God?

Something I have been considering lately in watching, listening to, and talking to people. Ephesians 2:8, 9 says; "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." If you have trusted in Jesus alone and His gospel you are saved, that is a promise from the Sovereign God. We often talk about carnal Christians, those who profess the name of Christ but live a life not keeping with repentance. May I suggest that they have actually believed a different gospel. A gospel not proclaimed by scripture alone but a gospel proposed by modern American churchianity. Their lifestyles would suggest that they believe that Jesus died for them to sin. In other words, He died so that you can sin and get away with it, besides, Jesus said, "do not judge". 

Think about this for a moment, logically. The Son of God left heaven were He had dwelt with the Father in eternity past, humbled Himself, walked amongst wicked and sinful men who hated Him, He then aloud these same men He created to beat Him, and hang Him on a cross for all to see, and while on that cross was forsaken of by the Father He had dwelt with in eternity past, because He became sin on our behalf; and He did all this so that you can go on sinning that grace may abound? As the apostle Paul said, "May it never be".

Christ did not die for you to sin and get away with it, Christ died to save you from the wrath of God for your sin so that you might become the righteousness of God in Him. If this is you, repent and put your faith in Jesus alone, the Christ the Son of the Living God. "So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “ If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31-32)

Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Do You Know Good?

Yesterday I wrote a note to a friend and brother, afterwords it got me to thinking. The world calls good evil and evil good. Good is not what is in your heart; ""The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9 NASB). Good is not what gives you pleasure or happy feelings; good is defined by Scripture alone. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil." (Proverbs 3:5-7 NASB). God is good and is defined through Scripture alone. Jesus said; "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." (John 17:3 NASB). To know God and Jesus Christ whom He sent is to know good; do you know good? Repentance is a change of mind; to call what Scripture alone calls good, and call what Scripture alone calls evil. To worship God alone, that is to embrace that which Scripture alone calls good and to abhor what Scripture alone calls evil. Do you know God and Jesus Christ whom He sent; do you know good? 

Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Righteousness Based on What?

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4 NASB).

Now that is what I call good news! Jesus Said; “You are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48 NASB). Why do people go to hell? Is it because they have sinned? Yes they have broken God’s law; but more than that, it is because God is righteous. If God who is righteous were to allow a man who is not righteous into heaven (God’s dwelling place) God would no longer be righteous. In order for a man to enter into God’s home (heaven), that man must be just like God, perfectly good, that is righteous.

The law of God says do not worship anything but God alone, do not create false gods and worship them, do not take His name in vain, honor the Sabbath, honor your mother and father, do not murder or even hate, do not have sex even by thought outside of marriage, do not steal, do not lie, do not covet. “For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness” (Romans 10:5 NASB). In order to be righteous based on God’s law you must keep the law perfectly from conception until death, which is your entire life span in this temporal realm. “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all” (James 2:10 NASB). Breaking God’s law even once means that we are not perfect and most of us have broken His law a multitude of times. Our heavenly Father is perfect, and therefore we cannot enter into heaven (God’s dwelling place) by the righteousness based on law. This is not good for us, because to be outside of heaven is to be outside of the presence of God, only God is good, and therefore there is nothing good outside of God; only weeping and gnashing of teeth, unimaginable pain and longing, hell.

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4 NASB). This does not mean that Christ is the end of the law all together (Romans 3:31), because the law is good; it is us that are not good. But what it does mean however is that Christ is the end of the law as far as being the way you can be counted righteous before God. Faith in Christ alone means that your righteousness is not based on your own personal righteousness, but on the righteous of another. Namely the righteousness of Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Living God; who lived that perfect life in the flesh that we should have lived, never breaking God’s law even once. He willingly died, separated from God for our sins, because He loves us. Then after fully satisfying the wrath of God for our sins, as only a perfect sacrifice can do, God raised Him from the dead, furnishing proof to all men that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and that through faith in Him alone, we are made righteous, and can come into the presence of God in heaven. This not based on our own merit, but on Christ’s alone. Yes, this is good news, this is good news indeed!



Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ