Wednesday June 15

Half way through June. Time is unstoppable.  It moves on no matter what man or nature does.  It is the great equalizer, it is the one thing all of nature shares.  Time is the metronome that keeps all things synchronized and working together.  
How are you using your time? 


But soon, all time stops and ETERNITY takes over, endless, forever, eternal, everlasting, with out end... and God will be there with you IF you are one of Christ's own, a Christian, saved from your old self and made new through the blood sacrifice of our Lord Jesus.  


How? James Ryle puts the whole path into understandable words, here's how he puts it:


Four Points of a Prevailing Life (Part 1)
"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" (Romans 6:1, KJV)
In the earliest days of my journey with Jesus a godly man came alongside me and taught me a truth with such unrelenting resolve that it has stayed with me to this very day. Indeed, not simply stayed with with — it has powerfully swayed me from turning the wrong way on many, many occasions and kept my feet from stumbling. Yes, there have been times when I ignored the voice of the Holy Spirit, and tumbled in a ditch — but even then, it was this truth that factored in my recovery. 
I want to pass this truth along to you.
Paul uses four key words in his masterful argument against sin, and for righteousness; and these four words give us the bullet points of a prevailing life. Know, reckon, yield, and obey. 
Let's look briefly at these over the following four days.


First, there is something we are to KNOW — "our old man was crucified with Christ" (Romans 6:6). 
The Messages puts it this way — "Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the Cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life — no longer at sin's every beck and call! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ's sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection."
Pass by any cemetery and you will see just what the Lord has done for you on the Cross. He brought you into His own death, and thereby rendered sin's power over you as ineffective as it is upon those buried there in the ground. Your enslavement to sin's power has ended, and through Christ's resurrection you now have been raised to a new way of living — free from always having to do what sin demanded.
You will never be able to walk victorious in faith without KNOWING this truth. This may be the primary reason why Satan is so set against the preaching of the Cross, and why so many churches have veered far off course in this happy-go-lucky-day of sentimental sensationalism in song and sermon.
Take your place in humble adoration at the foot of the cross my fellow pilgrim, and rise not from that place till you KNOW that all which is within you that once lived unto sin has been executed in your Savior's death.
"When I survey the wondrous cross, 
on which the Prince of glory died; 
my richest gain I count but loss, 
and pour contempt on all my pride. 
Forbid it Lord that I should boast, 
save in the cross of Christ my God. 
All the vain things that charm me most, 
I sacrifice them to His blood. 
Were the whole realm of nature mine, 
that were a present far too small! 
Love so amazing, so divine, 
demands my soul, my life, my all." (Isaac Watts 1748)


Four Points of a Prevailing Life (Part 2)
"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" (Romans 6:1, KJV) 


Yesterday we focused on the first of four key words used by the Apostle Paul in his classic case for the Cross presented in the sixth chapter of the Book of Romans. Today, we want to look at the second word: RECKON.
More modern translations use words like count, consider, think, or regard. All share the same essential meaning — "to take into account." In other words, this is the conclusion you are to carry in your heart once you KNOW that your were indeed crucified with Christ: "I am dead to sin, but alive to God through Jesus!"
Go ahead and give it a try — say it out loud just now as you read this. "I am dead to sin, but alive to God through Jesus."


Now, later on in the day when temptation comes creeping round the corner and suddly backs you against the wall — pause, take a deep breath, and then speak the truth of these words in the face of Hell's assault. You will stand, and the enemy will flee! Remember the Sienfeld episode where Jerry's dad kept yelling, "Serenity Now!" That didn't seem to work too well for him, and it won't work for you either. But THIS does work — "I am dead to sin, but alive to God through Jesus." Truth works!
Here is how The Message summarizes it — "From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That's what Jesus did. (Romans 6:11-14).
Because Jesus did it, you and I can now do it! He conquered sin and death, and ended their supremacy over our lives. We can now walk in freedom — and will do so only as we COUNT on it; reckoning ourselves dead indeed to sin, but alive to God!
"In the cross of Christ I glory, 
towering o'er the wrecks of time; 
all the light of sacred story gathers round its head sublime! When the woes of life o'ertake me, 
hopes deceive and fears annoy; 
never shall the cross forsake me — 
Lo! it glows with peace and joy. 
Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure, 
by the cross are sanctified; 
peace is there that knows no measure, 
joys that through all time abide." 
(John Bowering, 1872)
I reckon so.

Four Points of a Prevailing Life (Part 3)

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" (Romans 6:1, KJV)
The power of the Cross unfolds daily in our lives as we first KNOW that our old man was crucified with Christ, and then RECKON ourselves to be indeed dead to sin, but alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The next thing that follows is the most sensible step possible — we are to YIELD ourselves to God as though who are alive from the dead.
Paul writes, "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God" (Romans 6:13).
The word he uses means "to stand beside so as to present oneself for service." It is our way of saying, "Here I am; use me." The point being that this is what we once did when sin was our master. But now Jesus is Lord, and we are to yield ourselves to Him, to be used for His purpose each day.
The Message says, "That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don't give it the time of day. Don't even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time into God's way of doing things. Remember, you've been raised from the dead! Sin can't tell you how to live. After all, you're not living under that old tyranny any longer. You're living in the freedom of God." (Romans 6:12-14)


"Jesus keep me near the cross, 

free to all,

a healing stream flows from Calvary's mountain. 

Near the cross, there a precious fountain; 

a trembling soul, love and mercy found me; 
there the Bright and morning Star 
shed His beams around me. 
Near the cross, O Lamb of God! 
Bring its scenes before me; 
help me walk from day to day 
with its shadow o'er me. 
In the cross, in the cross be my glory ever; 
till my raptured soul shall find 
rest beyond the river!" 
(Fanny J. Crosby, 1915)

June 15

Four Points of a Prevailing Life (Part 4)

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" (Romans 6:1, KJV)

We now come to the fourth and final word in our survey of the wondrous cross. The word is OBEY. Paul says, "God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you" (Romans 6:17).

The natural sequence of these four word are beautiful in their symmetry, and powerful in their simplicity. The life-transforming work of the Cross unfolds daily in our lives as we first KNOW that our old man was crucified with Christ, and then RECKON ourselves to be indeed dead to sin, but alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. The next thing that follows is the most sensible step possible — we are to YIELD ourselves to God as though who are alive from the dead. Once yielded, it only remains for us to faithfully OBEY the Lord, and do His bidding.

The word means "to listen to something with attentive stillness, so as to conform unto what is being said." The Message says, "But thank God you've started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom! (Romans 6:17-18)

This gives us a rich image of how the Lord shapes our lives to be more and more like Himself. It is as though the Word of God is a mold, into which our surrendered lives are poured in a yielded softness. Then, with the passing of time, we harden to the shape of the mold, and once the Lord removes it we then discover that He has used His word to remake us into what we always wanted to be! That's what happens when we OBEY!

"Holy Spirit, breath on me, 

until my heart is clean; 

let sunshine fill its inmost part, 

without a cloud between. 

Holy Spirit, breath on me,

 my stubborn will subdue; 

teach me in words of living flame 

what Christ would have me do. 

Holy Spirit, breath on me

 till I am all Thine own; 

until my will is lost in Thine, 

to live for Thee alone! (B. B. McKinney, 1886)

KNOW, RECKON, YIELD, and OBEY. There you have the four points of a prevailing life. May I encourage you to put this truth to the test? If so, then you will find that Truth Works!

I pray that all will Know our Lord Jesus, that they will Reckon their new state of existence as Redeemed saints, Yield their whole being and soul to God and Obey the Will of God.  

I pray for you and me that we will be the True Children of God.