Never Tell Someone to Stop Sinning

I will never again tell someone to stop sinning; I will however explain sin, declare the condemnation for sin, and proclaim the good news, that Christ blood was poured out for the forgiveness of sins, and therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There is no power in preaching behavior modification. The power of God is in the gospel, the greatest motivator to live rightly is faith. "We love, because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19 NASB)

For me to say I will never again tell someone to stop sinning is scandalous to many. Just to read those words causes some to cringe. You cannot have victory over sin by stopping from sin; in fact the truth is you can’t stop sinning. The apostle John said; “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8-10 NASB)

So if we cannot have victory over sin by stopping from sin; how then can we have victory over sin? “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.” (Romans 7:24-25 NASB) The answer is through faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God.

The passage in Romans 7:14-25 is bothersome to many. Typically this passage will be interpreted one of two ways:

1. Paul is talking about himself prior to conversion.
2. Paul is talking about himself as a believer continuing to struggle with sin.

The two natures that Paul is speaking about here is about one thing, which is faith! Where do you put your faith? Faith in Adam, which is your flesh (yourself), is death; faith in Christ, which is to trust in Him alone, is life. You cannot have victory over sin in Adam, you cannot have victory over sin by stopping from sin; you can have victory over sin through faith in Christ alone.

When you believed in Jesus as the Christ the Son of God, and believed Jesus, that through trusting in Him alone you have eternal life, you were at that moment born again. You have a new nature; you are literally a new creature. Physically the body you have is the same, but you have a new life, a new soul. Eternal life is not an extension of the old life, the old soul that you once had, eternal life is a new soul. “Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (1 Corinthians 5:16-17 NASB)

You are a new creature, you are a new born babe in Christ, and as a new born baby you are learning to walk in this newness of life which is faith. Just as new born human babies do, when learning how to walk we fall down, in fact when you first begin to learn to walk in faith we fall down a great deal; but overtime as we mature in this new life of faith we fall down less and less. Not only do we begin to walk without falling, we learn how to run, and not only to run, but to mount up with wings like eagles; remember you are a new creature in Christ “the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

“Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.” (Isaiah 40:30 NASB)

In the aforementioned passage of Romans 7:14-25 Paul uses the example of Coveting, I will keep with that in this exposition; as a new creature in Christ you are dead to sin, sin has no authority over you. The problem is for many, instead of walking by faith they are walking in the oldness of the letter of the law. Paul said; “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:14)

Let’s use an exaggerated example; your neighbor drives home in a brand new McLaren 12c, and you know that the price tag on this particular vehicle is $300k. You may be tempted to covet, after all it is a very nice vehicle, and besides where did he get the money for such a car? Temptation is not sin, but what you do with that temptation to sin is a different story all together; we will look at the two ways you could respond to this temptation to covet your neighbor’s car.

1. You see this new car your neighbor has; you have this temptation to covet. You know the law that says, “You shall not covet.” You do not want to disobey the law of God that says, “You shall not covet.” You agree that the law is good, so you tell yourself “I will not covet my neighbor’s car.” But the more you tell yourself this, the more you become focused on the objects of your coveting, and before you know it, “I am doing the very thing I hate.” How did this happen? You agree with the law that it is good, you do not want to covet, but you wind up doing the very thing you hate, coveting. Pay attention here; listen to what you said to yourself, “I will not covet my neighbor’s car.” I will not, your faith is in your flesh and your own abilities to resist sin. Adam’s nature is sinful, so if you are trusting in your flesh (yourself) to resist temptation, what is the outcome going to be? Sin!

2. You see this new car your neighbor has; you have this temptation to covet. You ignore the temptation; this is so contrary to how we deal with things in the flesh; “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:11 NASB) As a new creature in Christ you are dead to sin, sin has no authority over you; all your sins are done away with in Christ so ignore this temptation and turn to Christ by faith. “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.” (Romans 7:6 NASB) Ignore the temptation to covet and turn to Christ by faith thinking Him for the blessings He has given you; “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NASB)

The answer to having victory over sin is not, stop sinning. The answer to having victory over sin is not we and our abilities to resist sin. The answer to having victory over sin is found in Christ Jesus alone and that my friend is what the gospel is all about, it is good news. Never tell someone to stop sinning, but instead tell them to Repent (that is to change their mind) and believe in the gospel. “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” (Romans 7:24-8:1 NASB)




Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Augustinian, Huguenot, Anabaptist

Approximately 2 ½ years ago I was in a church Sunday school class and a man had filled in for the associate pastor who normally taught the class. I don’t remember the lesson or exactly what was said, but I do remember that at the end of the class I pointed out some things that the scriptures said in regards to the topic he had taught, and I remember his response, and reaction. He said to me, “That’s Calvinism”. So he then disregarded everything I had said, because what I had said in pointing out scripture was something called Calvinism. I had been labeled, and was discredited, when I didn’t even know what the label meant. All I knew was scripture, and I knew scripture very well, because I had opened up the bible 8 years prior to that day and have read it every day since.

I knew scripture very well, if you were talking about a passage of scripture I could reference to other passages that related to or stated the same. What I didn’t know was theology. In fact, I didn’t even know the term theology. There was much in this particular church that was bothering me, because it did not line up with what I had come to understand through scripture; a year later my wife and I would leave this particular congregation that we had been a part of for 9 years, and join a congregation that is the closest match in our community to the doctrines and theology I had come to understand and believe from scripture. Although I did not even know the word theology, I had a theology, and that theology had been strongly wrought in me through countless hours of reading scripture. I’ve tried to tell some of my brothers about this, but I don’t think they can really grasp that the Lord allowed me to develop my personal theology in a void, without much influence, and by scripture alone. The church I was going to at the time was based on Rick Warren’s purpose driven church, devoid of both doctrine and theology. Sermons were what you would call; three points and a poem. There was a little scripture thrown into the sermon, but the sermon was not on the scripture. In April of 2003 as a church, we were all encouraged to read the 40 days of purpose one chapter at a time for 40 days. Then once a week in a small group talk about it. My wife and I had joined the church a few months prior. Up to this point in my life I was for the most part un-churched. A prayed the suggested prayer in the text of the 40 days of purpose to except Christ as Savior, at the end of that 40 days something happened that would completely change the life God had given me, and I now know that it was the drawing of the Spirit. I decided to pick up the bible and start reading it every morning, I read through it all the way, then again, and again; I couldn’t go without reading the word. During that time the Lord was teaching me and drawing me unto Himself, it was in December of 2009 that I would come to repentance and faith; putting my faith in Christ Jesus alone as both Lord and Savior.

So I had for 6 ½ years been reading the bible every day, been granted repentance and faith, then another 1 ½ years later this man would not listen to what I had to say because it was Calvinism. So I had to find out about these things, since I had been labeled as such. So from then, until now, 2 ½ years later, I would continue to read the bible every day, but also read books on theology and church history. I’ve read Augustine, Calvin, Luther, Spurgeon; I also read about the reformation both in Europe and in England, I read about groups like the Huguenots and the Anabaptist. Now while reading these things didn’t give me a theology, I already had a theology, what it did give me were names for the things that I had already believed. It also gave me understanding as to why a man wouldn’t listen to me, and label me, when I was just telling him exactly what the scripture said.

So today I thought that I should label myself; I believe that I am a bit of an enigma. Many, as this man did would call me a Calvinist. I have studied and agree with many things that Calvin said, but I am not a Calvinist, nor am I an Armenian and I am diffidently not a Romanist. So then what am I? Good question, let’s see. With regards to the Sovereignty of God, the total depravity of man, justification, and predestination; I am as Augustine, but I am not an Augustinian. With regards to scripture, I am as a Huguenot, but I am not a Huguenot. With regards to being a disciple and follower of Jesus Christ, Baptism, resisting and evil person, and community; I am as an Anabaptist, but I am not an Anabaptist. So then what am I? I am "justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith."

In conclusion; I have used my story as an example to show what can happen when your thoughts are driven by theology and doctrine verses scripture alone. What is theology? Theology is mans understanding about the things in scripture; therefore there can be both correct and incorrect theologies. Doctrines are teachings given by man to explain the things of scripture as related to his theology; therefore there can be both correct and incorrect doctrines. The problem is not theology or doctrine, understanding theology and using doctrines can be good; but this is the problem. When one becomes theology minded he has a tendency to be prejudiced, but when your thoughts are of scripture alone you tend to be more discerning.

One thing that I would like to encourage my brothers in sisters in Christ to do is read your bibles, not commentaries, or books written by men, videos, or sermons on-line, but your bibles. There is nothing wrong with study, study is good but it should never take the place of being alone with God in the scripture. Set aside a portion of your day, every day to open the word of God and just read, then pray. Ask yourselves this question; would I have come up with the ideas I currently have just reading scripture alone? Some of your ideas with regards to theology and eschatology, would they be what they are now from just reading scripture alone? Seriously, ask yourself this. Some of the things I see argued and debated amongst brothers and sisters on facebook would end, if you just stopped and asked the question. Would I have come to this conclusion or this understanding of the subject at hand if I had done nothing but read scripture? If the answer is no, stop! If nothing else I hope this has encouraged you all too just open your bibles and read, allow your hearts and minds to be renewed by the reading of God’s word.



Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Love Is Hard

I wasn't where I wanted to be, nor where I thought I should be, but the Sovereign Lord had me exactly where He wanted me to be. This past week has been one of the most trying and difficult of my life. One year ago I asked my wife, and two other couples to come along with me to plead for lives, and preach the gospel outside of "The hope medical group for women" abortion mill in Shreveport, LA. One of the men decided to organize an outreach this past weekend; encouraging others to come and minister outside of this abortion mill for three straight days, also inviting speakers from around the country to this abortion mill training event.

Just about three weeks ago I learned that I would not be able to attend this event. I kept quiet about this, but inside I felt devastated. I had personally stood on the side walks around that abortion mill a great deal and had left much of my heart at that place. I had talked with many people, preached the gospel numerous times, read the Word of God aloud, I had been threatened, cursed, and much more over the past year. As hard as it is to minister at this place of death, the bond that you have with the brothers and sisters that you minister with is indescribable. So with these brothers and sisters being there and many more arriving to let the city of Shreveport, LA know that at 210 Kings Highway Babies Are murdered here. That is where I wanted to be, and where I thought I should be, but could not be. No, instead of being out saving the world my time was to be spent on more trivial matters; honoring my mother and father.

As I said; while out ministering at this abortion mill I had been called numerous things, I have been told by some who profess the name of Christ that I was unloving, as a stood on the sidewalk of an abortion mill 100 miles from my home, sometimes by myself, on my day off from work, spending my own money to get there and get home; that I should have the gall to plead with mothers, fathers, and workers of that place not to kill. These trials would not prepare me for this past week, because while all that goes on at this mill and others deeply saddens me, I can leave the mill and go home; also there are other brothers and sisters involved in this type of ministry that we can encourage and they can encourage us, not so over the things that have occurred in this life over the past week.

In this blog I will deeply expose myself and my family, but I need to tell someone because this burden is weighing so heavily upon me and my wife. I did not grow up in a Christian home. My mother decided to take us to a Methodist Church when I was in Junior High school but that was the extent of my Christian upbringing. In 2003 when the Lord drew me to Himself and I began to follow Him and read the word of God, much changed in my life, the Lord was preparing me for the things that He has me doing today. My parents had some problems in their marriage about 15 years ago and as part of the reconciliation process with one another, they began attending church together regularly. My hope is that they have repented of their sins and put their trust in Christ alone, but I do not know that for certain, so I speak to them about Him often, trying to always keep Christ in the conversation. A few years ago after my father’s retirement from the Dallas Fire Department he became ill, his illness has now progressed to a very advanced Parkinsonism. He is 90% bed ridden, he is able to get out of bed for very brief periods of time, then he has to return to bed quickly or he passes out. He has lost control of his bowels. He does not know for certain where or when he is most of the time. Everything in his conversation is mixed with both reality and fantasy so his logic is faulty and his reasoning is all but gone. Caring for him is extremely difficult, while being confused; he is probably the most prideful human being I have ever met. As a child growing up I always saw my father as being an extraordinary human being. He was both physically strong and strong in attitude. As a young man growing up, often times some neighborhood boy would bring up into conversation whose father could beat up whose. As foolish as these conversations where from boys, picture this; I’m a young boy growing up in the 1970’s in a suburban neighborhood, all these other boys fathers were pot bellied and stood 1 ½ feet below my dad. Yes my dad was a real giant of a man, 6 feet 11 inches, 270 LBS with no fat. He was in the, late 1960’s – early 1970’s a professional athlete. He was a basketball player for the Dallas Chaparrals (now called the San Antonio Spurs). After his career as a Pro Basketball player he would then become a Dallas Fireman, he just retired 8 years ago.

Here are some pics of my father that you might enjoy: The first one is dad on the cover of a game program, the second is a news paper pic of dad guarding Julius Erving (Dr. J), the third is my dad running with me in the late 1970's.


As stated previously he is a very prideful and private man, he refuses to have anyone care for him other than my mother who herself is elderly. They had been living on a place, literally out in the woods on several acres away from anyone. My mother decided that they would move to a home within the same town as my wife and I so that when she needed help, we could come over and help. This move was extremely difficult and now a week later is still not complete. My mother whom I love very much has no organization skills at all. My wife and I had instructed her on several occasions to hire a moving company that would both pack up everything they had and move it; she had told us on several occasions as we brought this up that this is what she had done. We were under the impression that on the day of the move that we were going to move her potted plants and help her unpack. I had rearranged my work schedule so that I could be off for the move, working 72 hours, 6 x 12 hour shifts so that I could be off for the move, my brother Jeff came down for the move.

The day of the move, this would be comical if it were not true. A small moving company showed up, and moved the large furniture items leaving everything else there. At the home was left virtually all their belongings, myself and my father in a wheelchair. My mother had gone to the new home. My brother would help with the move for 1 ½ days, my wife and I spent four straight days from morning until night packing up their belongings and carrying them a car load at a time to the new home. Under extreme strain I felt angry inside, my wife was angry and complaining, and I was angry that she had been put in that situation, that so much had been thrown into her lap unexpectedly. We had been told on several occasions that a complete move had been purchased so we felt let down. So on Friday, after several trips, I said something to my mother about it, how disappointed I was, how I was then in the processes of doing exactly what I had on numerous occasions been told that I would not be doing. I then would repent, spending time in prayer and decided that I would continue on with the move without complaint. My brother would leave and return to his home an hour later. This left me and my wife with the sole burden of this move. We worked until well after dark, got something to eat and went to bed. We would go to the home in separate cars to carry things the next morning. She was at the old home packing, while I would load the truck and carry to the new home. I arrived with my first load of the day at the new home, my mother complaining about how the move was going. I had decided to stay quiet and continue forward expressing my love for them no matter what was said, or how I felt about the situation.

It was then when I arrived back at the old home that I received, given the situation; the most hurtful, mean, and wicked message I had ever received from anyone. It was my brother blasting me, and attacking my faith in Christ. Calling me an unloving and hateful person; why is it that if someone doesn’t like what you are doing they attack your faith in Christ? I would later learn that my mother had talked to him over the phone and I presume now, because of her guilt, that she was complaining about us as we labored. I asked him to please not text me anymore but he did anyway so I deleted the text without reading. Here Darlene and I were all alone, just she and I to pack up and move all their belongings. With my mother complaining that we were doing it wrong, my brother calling me a hateful man and attacking my faith in Christ; all the while spending our own money on the move, renting equipment, and paying for the dump, spending countless hours laboring. This has put an emotional strain on us that is difficult to bear, then on top of it all, I went back to work with some of the most stress filled days that I have had at work in years.

So why did I right this?
1. Because Darlene, I and, my family need much prayer; this will be difficult for some time to come.
2. Because I just needed to share it in some way, it is just eating me up.
3. Because while we think our ministries are difficult, and the people on the streets are hard to love; it is nothing compared to the difficulties of loving those whom you can’t leave.


Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Doulos Christou Iesou

Originally I wrote this as a letter to my church elders to inform them of the ministry that the Lord has laid upon my heart. I have altered it somewhat for use as a blog. In this letter I give a brief history of how I became an open-air preacher and the ministry with regards to open-air preaching that the Lord is drawing me to. I ask that you pray with me as I begin this endeavor; also pray that the Lord will bring others along to join in this ministry.

My name is Mike Peek a member of your congregation. My wife Darlene and I have been attending Sylvania church since April 2012; we became members in July of that same year. Most of you except for maybe Dave Rowlett, know me fairly well, and are aware for the most part of the ministry that I have been involved in. In January 2010 the Lord put an incontrovertible burden within my heart: First to glorify the name of Jesus Christ out of thanksgiving for what he did for me, and secondly out of love and concern for my neighbor, that they might know Him and be saved from the impending wrath of God. By profession I am a cardiovascular intensive care nurse, I have no idea how many men and women I have stood over, pounding their chest in an attempt to resuscitate them as the Lord took them from their body. Death is real for me, I see death so often, and it never gets easy. So when I say the burden that the Lord has given me for the lost is high, it is very high indeed.

I began to pour over scripture and try to figure out how to share my faith in Christ with other people. I first began talking with people, even to telemarketers as they called my home. Then I began passing out gospel tracts, and intentionally heading out the door for several hours at a time to witness to people. I began to write a blog called, “A slave of Jesus Christ”, which I initially started as a witnessing tool, but this has changed with time. One day I typed in a slave of Jesus Christ into Google, to see if my blog would pop up. It didn’t, but another blog did called, “Doulos Christou Iesou”. I clicked on the blog and the first thing there was a YouTube video, in the video there was a man standing on a street corner at an intersection in the evening light with a wooden cross with these words on the cross beam, “ARE YOU READY” and the sound in the video was John MacArthur preaching a sermon that I had previously heard and had named my blog after called, “A slave of Jesus Christ”. I immediately saw this as another tool in the arsenal with regards to the burden God had given me, to glorify the name of Jesus Christ and to reach out to the lost. The man with the cross I would later meet and call both friend and brother, his name is Tony Miano, he lives in California. Tony is like me, a reformational open-air preacher. Shortly after interacting with Tony I would have this overwhelming desire to preach Christ and Him crucified out in public, I had much fear, but would not be settled until I did, and I have been preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ out in the public arena ever since.

At this point I found myself in kind of a spot, I knew of these brothers in California who were out sharing their faith but didn’t know anyone in East Texas who did, and no one from the church I was a part of at the time was interested, so I felt very alone. I prayed to the Lord, asking Him to give me a partner to go out and preach with, He would answer that prayer quickly. Darlene and I had gone to dinner and were eating outside. When we had finished and were through eating Darlene noticed a man handing out gospel tracts, I would then meet Seth Capps of Carthage, TX, who was also a reformational open-air preacher and knew Tony Miano and many other men who were doing this. Seth had been involved with Sports Outreach International, the parachurch ministry that I go to the Super Bowl with each year. Ever since then, myself, Seth Capps (Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Longview), Mike Anderson (Bethel Bible in Tyler), Jason McMurray (First Baptist Lindale) have partnered together to go out and preach the gospel at events around the state and at the abortion mill in Shreveport, LA.

Now that I’ve given you a brief history, allow me to explain the reason that I am writing you. This past Wednesday, October 23, I, and Mike Anderson went out to Tyler Junior College to exalt the name of Christ and preach the gospel. As I said, we are reformational open-air preachers, meaning that we are reformed in our theology; we all believe that salvation comes by the grace of God alone, through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone, and that faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. So, therefore, as reformational open-air preachers we go out into the public arena, open up the word of God, proclaim the word of God, then expound upon the text focusing a great deal on the gospel. There are people that we know about, but don’t personally know, who go to places like college campuses and call themselves preachers of the gospel. But what these men are is open theist, because of their theology their methodology is a mess. These men will hold up signs that say things like, “TURN OR BURN” and many others. They will purposefully incite anger, calling people names to draw a crowd then somewhat preach but in order to keep the crowd they have to keep calling people names. They will almost never preach the gospel, but just keep telling people to repent of their sins. I had seen on the news that a group of these men had been at Tyler Junior College the week before and had caused much trouble.

My heart was broken by this, so, therefore, I asked Mike Anderson to go with me to Tyler Junior College to exalt the name of Christ and lift Him up; we don’t need things like this, or pragmatism, but all we need to do is exalt Christ and He will draw men to Himself (John 12:32). This past Wednesday I preached Romans 3:9-28, I’ve included a sound cloud link of that message in this letter, so that you, the elders will know what it is that I am preaching, it is a long message, because it was on a large text, but I thought it was needed that day. https://soundcloud.com/mike-peek-1/justification-by-faith

We were well received by both the students, and staff of Tyler Junior College; we had a few students, who just hate the name of Christ, but for the most part we were well received and the preaching caused many gospel conversations.

Since going, my heart has been burdened for that school. What I would like to do, Lord willing is to take some of what we are doing in the church and bring that to this campus. Phillip just recently finished “The Gospel According to John”, and I would like to take that, and bring it to this campus. My plan Lord willing is to go to the campus of Tyler Junior College one day every week, and systematically preach through the gospel of John. I plan Lord willing to begin this week with John 1:1-5. It will take me through the end of the fall semester to get through the 1st chapter of John, and then pick up with chapter 2 the first week of the spring semester. I believe the Lord can use this to draw men to Himself.



Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ


Note: Click on the things highlighted to take you to things that I have referenced in this blog.

Stop Preaching Extemporaneously

I recently wrote a blog titled: “Witness”. In that blog I showed who the witnesses of Christ Jesus are; His chosen apostles, not you and I. Remember, the gospel is purely the good news concerning Jesus the Christ the Son of God; His righteous life, His sacrificial death for the sins of men, His burial, His bodily resurrection from the dead, and His ascension into Heaven. So when the Lord said to His disciples; “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” (Mark 16:15) He was telling them, “go tell the world about Me, go tell them what I have done.” Why is this important to understand, because we can easily get caught up in so many different things, but the gospel alone is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16). We are not witnesses of any of these things; the apostles of Christ Jesus are His chosen witnesses into the world. They have left us with their witness, which is the New Testament. “You are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:48)

So then what are we, the redeemed in Christ to do if we are not His witnesses? We still have the commission that was given to the entire church throughout the ages by Christ in Matthew 28:18-20; “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." We still have His chosen method of making disciples. The preaching of the gospel (Mark 16:15, Luke 24:46, 47); but we are not the witnesses of these things, it is His apostles alone who are the witnesses of the good news concerning Jesus the Christ the Son of God; His righteous life, His sacrificial death for the sins of men, His burial, His bodily resurrection from the dead, and His ascension into Heaven. So, therefore, when we proclaim the gospel, we must take out anything that is not their witness. We must first proclaim the scripture as it is written, and then secondly explain the scripture exegetically, which is a critical interpretation of the text. We are not to take individual scripture out of its context, and then apply them to fit our ideas. We are to take what has been written within the context of what proceeds and follows it.

So what am I saying? Stop preaching extemporaneously! Most pastors are not guilty of this, but many of my open-air preaching brethren are. Instead of first proclaiming what has been written, which is the first hand account, and then secondly explaining what has been written by critical interpretation of the text (exegesis), they will speak what has been formed in their own minds off-the-cuff or use some credo form that was given to them by someone else, and will often spout individual verses out of context, making themselves the witness of Jesus Christ. I am guilty of this, and am currently repenting.

I know that many of you will not like what I just said, but it is true nonetheless. Preaching is not a game, it is serious stuff, and needs not be taken lightly, but taken with much care and respect for the word of God, and the authority with which God has given men to proclaim His word. Open up the scripture, read the scripture, study what has been written with much care and diligence; then and only then go preach. When you go preach; firstly open up the scripture, don’t just hold the bible in your hand as a symbol, but actually proclaim what is written on the pages, then secondly explain what has been written, within context. I recently heard a brother in Christ and fellow open-air preacher whom I respect say; “Preaching is teaching with authority” (Tony Miano). Do not take this authority lightly.

This is not to say that you can never spontaneously preach the gospel, of course you can and should; but only after you have previously put in the necessary time, of opening up the scripture, studying the scripture. Then and only then will you be prepared to firstly proclaim, and then secondly explain what has been written by those who are the witnesses of Jesus the Christ the Son of God; His righteous life, His sacrificial death for the sins of men, His burial, His bodily resurrection from the dead, and His ascension into Heaven.



Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Witness

What is the gospel? The gospel is purely the good news concerning Jesus the Christ the Son of God; His righteous life, His sacrificial death for the sins of men, His burial, His bodily resurrection from the dead, and His ascension into Heaven. So when the Lord said to His disciples; “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” (Mark 16:15) He was telling them, “go tell the world about Me, go tell them what I have done.” Why is this important to understand, because we can easily get caught up in so many different things, but the gospel alone is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16).

I have three questions for you while keeping the gospel in mind:
1) Did you witness these things?
2) Who did witness these things?
3) Who then are the witnesses for Christ Jesus?

I'm going to teach you about something you may not have heard before, at least in this way, but it's not new, the reformers referred to it as “Sola Scriptura”. Now “Sola Scriptura” referrers to all of scripture, both the New and Old Testaments, but what I would like to talk about today is the gospel. We are the redeemed in Christ; what that means is we have been saved from the wrath of God for our sins; by the grace of God alone, through faith alone, in the Jesus Christ alone. We are the redeemed in Christ, but make no mistake, brethren; you and I are not His witnesses. Yes, you heard me correctly, we are not His witnesses. The apostles chosen by Jesus Himself are His witnesses: both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth. They are the ones who witnessed His righteous life, His sacrificial death for the sins of men, His burial, His bodily resurrection from the dead, and His ascension into Heaven. When you and I preach the gospel in this world, we are not giving witness of the things we have seen and heard; we are simply reporting the news given to us by those who did. When you come to understand this, it will revolutionize the way you preach the gospel, and talk to people about Jesus. You will also have understanding with regards to what really should be said, and the reason why. What I have to say today is in no way exhaustive on the subject; it is just a beginning, scratching the surface on a subject that covers the entirety of the gospel accounts and Epistles. Pay close attention to the personal pronouns when you are reading both the gospel accounts and Acts; this will really bring this subject to light. I’ve included in this post four short passages of scripture as examples of this.

“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” (1 Corinthians 15:1-5 NASB)

I used this passage because it is a good quick synopsis of the gospel. As you can see from the passage, Christ appeared to the apostles after His resurrection, they were witnesses of His resurrection. Paul received the news of Christ death for the sins of believers and Christ subsequent resurrection from the dead the third day, the same way all of us have; by the testimony of those who witnessed the events. Paul then passed this news along to others so that they may also believe and be saved. Paul did see the risen Savior and was sent by Him, making Him an apostle, so therefore he himself could give witness to the resurrection.

He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 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." (Acts 1:7-8)

As you can see from this passage, all the personal pronouns in reference to being a witness are of the apostles, His chosen witnesses, and in the greater passage of Acts 1:1-11 the Lord’s dialog is with the apostles, His chosen witnesses. The very ones He had chosen early on during His earthly ministry to be His witnesses.

"I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17: 20,21 NASB)

In this, the High Priestly Prayer Jesus is praying on behalf of the church, all those who will come to faith in Him. Take note as to how they come to faith in Him, through the word given by His chosen witnesses, His apostles.


"Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name." (John 20:30, 31 NASB)

In this passage the apostle John states the purpose for his writing this account. In this passage the signs Jesus performed where done in the presence of His disciples and they were not all written down. What has been written; has been written so that you, I, and a multitude of others would believe and be saved, to fulfill the commission that the Lord gave them, to be His “witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

As I stated earlier, this is in no way exhaustive on the subject, I try to keep these blogs brief, but I hope it does bring some understanding to something you may not have considered before. Remember what the gospel is; the good news concerning Jesus the Christ the Son of God; His righteous life, His sacrificial death for the sins of men, His burial, His bodily resurrection from the dead, and His ascension into Heaven. Remember that you were not a witness of these things, Jesus chosen apostles were the witness of these things. So when you share the gospel with others, weather that be one on one, or by preaching, take out of your presentation what does not belong there, and report what the apostles of Christ Jesus witnessed. Remember we can easily get caught up in so many things; we have a tendency to make the gospel about ourselves or the people of the world. Let us report what we have received from the apostles witness, worshiping our Lord by telling the world what He has done, remember; it is the gospel alone that is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16).

“So many things have to be done to attract a crowd and to keep that crowd they have attracted why is that? Is it because the Gospel no longer has power? Or is it because we deceive ourselves into thinking that we are preachers of the Gospel? Paul said the Gospel is the power of God to salvation for everyone, and that is true because power is demanded.” ~Paul Washer



Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Solely by the Act and Will of God

It was two weeks ago today when I last wrote anything on this blog. I enjoy writing because it is a venue by which I can impart the thoughts the Lord has given me to others. During the past two weeks since my last writing, I have gone to the Herald Society in Philadelphia, PA, and since then, I have spent the past week reflecting on my calling to go out into the world and preach the most glorious news of all. That is, the gospel of the precious Son of the Living God, Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus has come in human flesh, He lived a righteous life, fully meeting the requirements of God the Father for eternal life, willingly dying in place of men for their sins against God, He was buried, then on the third day from His death Jesus arose from the grave, demonstrating that He is the Son of God, and that the Father was fully satisfied with His sacrifice on the cross as payment in full for the sins of men; “who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John1:13 NASB)

The man who has been born again has been granted eternal life by God and it is solely by the act and will of the Sovereign Triune God of Creation. It is not of blood, this to say, it does not matter what family line you come from, it does not matter who your parents are, or who your grandparents are; the Jews thought that they would be saved because of their father Abraham; they thought it was by blood, but salvation and eternal life is solely by the act and will of God. It is not of the will of the flesh; every other religious system on earth is based on the will of the flesh. Follow the rules setup by the deity and just maybe, if he determines that you have dotted all the I’s and crossed all the T’s then just maybe, you can enter into paradise. You cannot do enough good to please this God of creation, He is righteous, and you have sinned against him, there is not enough good works in all of creation to appease a just and Holy God for the crimes committed against His sovereignty. The process of being born again is solely by the act and will of God. It is not of the will of man; some people believe that if a man makes a decision, if he decides of his own free will to repent of his sins and follow Jesus Christ, God will give him His Spirit and he will be born again. Salvation and eternal life is not the will of man; it is solely by the act and will of the Sovereign God. The gospel call is to tell the sinner to repent (have repentance toward God for their sins), and put their faith (that is their trust) solely in Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior for the forgiveness of their sins. An unregenerate, unbelieving sinner cannot of himself hear and capitulate to the gospel call, he is dead in his trespasses and sins. Oh he might have some outward sign of contrition, because he got caught in an adulterous relationship or something else. He may even put on the Lord Jesus Christ and give the Christian thing a go for a while to see what he might get out of it, but in the end he was never born again. To be born again is solely by the act and will of the sovereign God. God cleanses a man of his sins by the blood of Jesus Christ through faith alone. The Father gave His only begotten Son, Christ Jesus. Jesus lived the righteous life that we should have lived, and did not. Jesus then willing gave up His reward; we deserve death, He deserved life, He willing stepped in and took death in our place; we are then granted His righteousness before God by the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ Jesus alone.

How does this saving faith in Christ happen? God the Holy Spirit takes out a man’s heart of stone and gives him a heart of flesh. The Word of God is described in Ephesians 6:17 as being the sword of the Spirit. A sword cannot penetrate a stone; if you were to take a sword and wheeled it against a granite stone it would strike the surface of the stone but not penetrate the stone. If you take that same sword and wheeled it against soft flesh, it would penetrate that flesh to the core. So the Lord cleanses a man by the blood of Christ Jesus through faith alone, he does this by taking out his heart of stone and giving him a heart of flesh, so that he can then hear the gospel, not being able to resist it’s call, the gospel penetrates to his core. The Lord then puts His Spirit within the man causing him to walk in His statues, sanctification. And the greatest revelation about all this, the reason God did this. It is for the Glory of God alone!

Ezekiel 36:22-32 is the best description of the process by which the Lord causes a man to be born again I have found in all of scripture, I’ve included it below.


Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ



"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God, "It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. 23 I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord," declares the Lord God, "when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. 24 For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. 28 You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God. 29 Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you. 30 I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. 32 I am not doing this for your sake," declares the Lord God, "let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!" (Ezekiel 36:22-32 NASB)