Not Fair!!!

Luke 23:39-43
And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.

Drive by a local ball park and you'll hear these words every time... "That's not fair! Come on ref, make a fair call." Better yet, drive by the local courthouse or jail and you'll hear the same thing. How many of us have made this same statement? I'm sure that we all have at sometime.

An awesome discovery in the Bible is that word, "fair". Most every time it is used it is describing the beauty of a person (mostly women of the Bible). It tells of their outward beauty. The scriptures say things like... "A fair young virgin, she was fair to look upon, or he had a fair countenance." When we think of fair we often think of how we are treated and not how we look.

The truth of it all is that life isn't fair or pretty at times. Situations that life and sin throws at us are some of the ugliest things that we can think of. Did you know that in the book of Isaiah it says when Jesus was dying on the cross that there was no beauty in Him that we are attracted to Him? The cross is such an ugly image. A man, the Son of God, being brutally murdered on a wooden cross. Now think of it... There is absolutely nothing fair or beautiful about that! Someone who never sinned or done wrong, dying for us who have.

But read all the scripture today. Don't you just love how one man says, "It's not fair!" While the other says, "We are getting what we deserve! This man has done nothing wrong." Then Jesus hears the prayer of the deserving sinner and gives him something that isn't fair. He gives him life eternal. He gives him the fair haven of Heaven. Hallelujah! I'm glad life isn't fair.

Right In Front of Your Face

Mark 12:32-34

And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth:for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

I can remember getting directions before and thinking we were so close to something only to find out that we were miles away from our destination. On the flip side of that, I've asked directions before thinking we were miles away from somewhere and finding out we were just around the corner from it.  

Imagine this man and the question he had for Jesus.  He asked what the greatest commandment was?  He wanted to know about true life and the source of truth. He wanted directions and found out he was so close. Notice what Jesus said about the man's response of keeping all these things. He said, "Thou art not far". "Not far", not there, but not far. You are so close but yet not there just yet. 

You see, keeping commandments are for those who are His servants or are enlisted in service. Following Him is an act of trust and love.  We are saved by His Grace alone. There is nothing, nothing good that we can do.  No greatest commandment can get us in right standing with God. Only the blood Jesus shed for our lives gives us a righteous standing before our God. 

This man was so close, so close that the Son of God was standing right in front of him. The Savior of the world was looking him in the eyes. How close are you? You are closer than you think. 

Praying for Your Pastor

Ephesians 6:19-20
And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel. For which I am an ambassador in bonds that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

As I was preparing to preach one Sunday morning, I placed my bible upon the pulpit and the front cover opened up. Inside the front cover, on a sticky note, was this scripture. It was written by my wife. I can't begin to tell you of all the times I have found a sticky note of encouragement from her. Some that say, "I Love You" or "You are so good looking". Maybe not as many of that last one that I would like to have, but nonetheless she has always found some way of encouraging me.

When I read the words of this scripture I was overwhelmed. God began to speak to my heart so clearly. You see, Paul was speaking about prayer for all the saints of God when he came to this portion and said, "And for me..." He was saying, "If you would offer prayers for me let them be that I would be filled with the utterance of the Spirit." "If you choose to pray for me, then pray that I will open my mouth boldly as I preach the Gospel of Jesus."

My wife was telling me that she was praying for me. Her prayer was that I would be filled with the Holy Spirit while I preach the Gospel of Jesus boldly. Oh, you have no idea! You don't know what that means to me as a husband. But let me tell you something greater. She wasn't just praying for her husband, she was praying for her Pastor.

Instead of picking your Pastor or the preacher apart how much do you pray for him? Would you like to know what every true, God-called preacher would want you to pray for them? Ephesians 6:19-20

I thank God for all of the prayers that have been prayed for me as a preacher of the Gospel. Without your intercession and prayers for the Spirit to fill me I wonder what kind of minister would I be?

He Is...

Deuteronomy 32:4
He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

Our God! Our Lord! Our Rock! When you read about Him this morning doesn't it stir your soul? Let's take some time today to think of who our God really is.

First let's look at what Moses thought about his God. He started by saying that He is the Rock. Moses is saying that God is unmovable and unshakable. Of all the Egyptian gods that Moses has known in his life, there has been none like his God. They are all trophies of wood and stone in a sinking world, but not God Jehovah. Not his Rock! Moses says that God's work is perfect. His judgment is pure, truthful and without iniquity. After everything that Moses had gone through with Egypt and the children of Israel he says that God's leading is perfect. He closes out this line of scripture with knowing that God is just and right.

Now you take the rest of your time with God right now and think of one characteristic about Him. What would it be? If I could only choose one characteristic of my Lord today I would choose to praise Him for He is Holy! He is worthy of all our praise because of His holiness. It's His holiness that makes Him all-sufficient for me and anyone else who will trust Him.

So what would it be? My God is... He is... ? ? ?

He Saved Others

Matthew 27:42
He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.

Have you ever said something that you really didn't know what you were talking about? Nah, not you right? I know that I have commented on things that I had no clue about. Sometimes the things I said were accurate even though I didn't know what I was talking about. Why is it that we feel that we need to speak on subjects that we have no understanding on? The person in this scripture today is no different.

It could have been an emotional comment from this person, well, I'm pretty sure it was. Anger drove this person to comment on the crucifixion of Jesus. Lashing out, the words are heard, "He saved others..." How did this person know that Jesus had saved others? Could it be because they viewed it? This first statement is no doubt the absolute truth! Jesus saved others. As a matter of fact, He saves-s-s-s others.

Now look at the latter part that says, "himself he cannot save". Did you know that this is also truth? On the cross of Calvary Jesus could have called for help or salvation from the pain and death but he couldn't save himself. Why? Because he had surrendered to the plan of the Father. He didn't come to earth, be born of fleshly woman, suffer a beating by Romans and hang on a cross to save himself.

No, he did all of that to save YOU! Now you may not believe this but the person that said something that they had no clue about actually told the truth. He was willing to take the beating. Hang on a cross condemned to die. Be mocked, ridiculed and shamed. Why? To save others and not himself.

Bibles and Butterflies

John 17:17
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

How important is the Word of God in your life? As a Christian, if your answer is not top priority then I'm sure your life lacks the Spiritual power and peace that Christ wants you to have. If you choose not to eat, what would your level of strength be? Very weak, very weak.

While Jesus is praying for us in this scripture we hear Him say, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." He tells us that His word is the truth that we need. We need it for direction. We need it for nourishment. We need it for wisdom, peace and to understand the greatest love we could ever hope to have. Doesn't that make you excited? It gets me emotional and feel the butterflies in my stomach.

Sometimes we are tempted to live more on that excitement than the Word. We love the butterflies in our stomach and follow them everywhere they flutter. We want more emotions and more feelings. We  want the warm feelings that comes with excitement about God and His Son. We have traded our Bibles for butterflies.

The Word! It's the Word! The Word sanctifies. The Word teaches. The Word of God instructs. It is the Word of God that causes our excitement. Stop playing with the emotional butterflies and dive into the Word of God. You know what is awesome? When you run through a field, butterflies fly upward and refresh your spirit. Well when you search through the Word of God the truth flies up, up, up. When I read it my emotions are stirred and my heart flies upward.

It ain't about the butterflies, it's about the Word of God that gives me the butterflies. I love it!

Nothing Better, Nothing!

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

What more do we need? There is an attitude, even among the church, of needing something more or something new. Preachers ask for more understanding. Congregations ask for more stories and humor. May I be honest? We need nothing more to accomplish what God has commissioned us to do.

We need no more tools. We need no more words. We just need to trust in the message of the Cross. We need to rely on the message of God's love for the world. We need to sink our teeth into the meat of God's Word that says, "God loved us so much that he gave His only begotten Son".

Stop asking people to join your movement. Stop trying to change people through a philosophy or a step program and preach the blessed Gospel of Jesus Christ found in this great text. This scripture has found itself on billboards. Found its way in the end zone of a football game. But when it invades our pulpits and our witness. Oh, I can't even imagine what could be done for the Gospel.

This morning please understand that it is still the old love story that saves lives. It's still the message of the cross that reaches the vilest sinner. It's still the love of God that changes hearts. Stop looking for something else or something new for you will never find anything better!