PROOF GOD EXISTS – THE BEATITUDES

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In the natural, when we read who Jesus says will be blessed in The Beatitudes we think “crazy” but in our hearts, we know it is right because it is righteousness.

Shortly after Jesus started His ministry he gathered crowds because he healed all who came to Him.

“And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all of Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.” Matthew 4:23

The first time Jesus preached to the “multitudes” He preached the Beatitudes:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:3-12

Surely, those who are open-minded can see that Jesus truly is who He said He was. Before Jesus went to die on the Cross on our behalf, the disciples were perplexed. Take to heart what Jesus said to Thomas.

“Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” John 14:5-7

I am sure we can bold;y assert that no man of all the myriads that have ever lived – let him be as wise as Solomon, the absolute best as Job could ever have invented from his own “thoughts”, the GOSPEL. It was impossible for such a plan of salvation ever to be devised by man’s thoughts.

I believe Andy McIntosh (Professor of Thermodynamics and Combustion Theory at the University of Leeds, UK) provides a good answer as to why humans continue to deny God and His son, Jesus.

“As a scientist, I see nothing to discount straightforward belief in Scripture, when considering the mechanisms in nature… man’s prejudice against design in creation can only really be answered by a radical change of heart and by personally meeting the Author of all… I believe that it is because humans do not want to be accountable to a Creator God that they persist with a theory (evolution) that has little evidence to support it.”

They cannot countenance a Creator to whom they are responsible for their actions. Where do you stand? What do you believe?

WHAT JESUS ACCOMPLISHED FOR US

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It is important to read the following two Scriptures regularly to remind ourselves of what Jesus has accomplished for us. Progressive Christianity has rejected penal substitution, seeing it as cruel and unjust, inducing self-loathing. The problem here is that they have not truly understood what God the Father has accomplished with His Son Jesus. There is no doubt that “the beginning of wisdom is to fear God” but that is not the end of the story.

“For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear. But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.” Hebrews 12:18-24

“Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews… and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek.” John 19:19-20

What actually happened on the cross? If we put aside unhelpful traditions and consider what the Bible teaches us, there is much to celebrate.

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

Jesus didn’t just carry sin, or pay for sin; he became sin. The perfect Lord of all, who humbled himself to serve his own creation, became all human brokenness. Paying for sin is one thing; becoming sin is far deeper. Jesus became every expression of human brokenness, and more than that became the cause of all human brokenness, which is judgement. His spiritual agony was so much worse than the physical pain of the cross. It is no wonder the sky darkened, as all that is good became all that is harmful.

It doesn’t stop there. Jesus became sin, that we might become the righteousness of God. In turn, this means that we become righteousness, as completely as he became sin. 

The cross, then, is an exchange – of our lack for his supply, our brokenness for his wholeness, our fear for his love, which can all be summed up as our righteousness (“filthy rags”) for his righteousness (right-standing with God, forever).

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him.” Colossians 2:13-15

The cross provides the forgiveness of sin, by cancelling our legal indebtedness. Sin and death were destroyed. The enemies of humankind were disarmed, triumphed over, and made a spectacle of. What a wonderful God we have.

THE CROSS OF CHRIST

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“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.” Matthew 16:24-27

Jesus spoke these words before He went to His death on The Cross and in fact the Bible tells us that He spoke about His coming death often “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” Matthew 16:21 So often did Jesus speak of His coming death and resurrection that Peter got annoyed. “And Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Matthew 16:22-23

These were shocking words for Peter to hear but read what Jesus has to say about the reality of us taking up our cross and following Him: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:34-39

Immediately following these tough words: Jesus spoke of the rewards that await those that serve Him. Note both the prophet and the one who receives the prophet get the same reward.

“Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.” Matthew 10:40-41

CORONA VIRUS AND WHAT TO DO

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Great advice from Creation Ministries on the corona virus and viruses in general. I certainly learnt ‘stuff’ about viruses that I did not know, such as, how important they are to maintaining the ecosystem, most are good for our planet. They maintain order. Like bacteria there are those that have mutated and become dangerous to humans and animals. They are part of the curse, what Adam and Eve brought on us at The Fall, when they disobeyed God. For those that know God, the end of the curse is in sight. Believers understand, Jesus has already broken the curse on The Cross, but the Gospel’s fulfilment only occurs at His second coming. Then we receive our new bodies. Do you have that blessed hope? If not take the advice given by Don and Gary at the end of this video.

SPEAK THE MORALITY OF GOD AND THE SCOFFERS WILL HATE YOU

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How do we react to the scoffers and wicked people? The Bible gives us clear instructions:

“He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonour on himself, and he who reproves the wicked man gets insults for himself. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, reprove a wise man and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man and he will still be wiser, teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:7-10

“Do not correct a scoffer… do not reprove a wicked man” We are not to try and teach God’s laws to unbelievers. It is counter productive! Sadly, the majority have become scoffers. Why? Because they no longer believe the Bible is literally true. This includes pastors and Bible teachers leading entire denominations into unbelief. They do not care what God says about morality.

Ten Commandments

“A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” 1 Corinthians 2:14

Look what James says about confrontations:

“Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God… If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.” James 1:19-20,26

What would listening to and understanding our “cultural” enemies look like? What would listening to homosexuals and alcoholics look like to understand their struggles? What would listening to liberals look like? How might we reach out to these groups with the love of Christ? How might we serve them? Remember the job of the Holy Spirit is to convict them of their sin. We need to be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit is doing, if anything, in their lives.

James then gives a second piece of advice:

“Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. James 1:27

It is loving others as ourselves and living pure before Him despite what the world does that is what impresses our Heavenly Father. This is also what makes Christianity attractive. God does not win His battles through political means. He won and He wins by means of the Cross; self denial and love. Political activism won’t do it.

Love Your Enemies – Remake the World

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Love your enemies works, Jeremy Courtney and “Preemptive Love” shows us how to reach Muslims and how to show God’s love. He also gives us a new perspective on suffering and facing fear.

A must view as it is a message from God for our time. I love Jeremy’s “violence unmakes the world preemptive love remakes the world.

Note the leader of the Muslim Jihadists said, we cannot allow these people to continue to save our children as they will cause them to love their enemies. He got it right.

http://youtu.be/vw57RnSTv_k