Freedom To Choose Comes With Consequences

What are these radical factions afraid of?

Do they not have freedom to choose their religion?

Why do they feel the need to try to take others freedom to choose the risen God?

Freedom to choose comes with consequences! 

You are not forced!

God is perusing you in love.

He isn't demanding!

Your choices decide your eternal resting place.

There are only God's heaven and Satan's hell.

He made a way for forgiveness through His precious Son Christ the Lord.

Without Christ, there is no forgiveness and you die in your sin, forever separated from holy God.

Never trust any religion because it's not what saves! 

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. 

2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.  - Psalm 90:1-2

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.  - Psalm 90:12

15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. 

16 Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. 

17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!  - Psalm 90:15-17

31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.

32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."

34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.

36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

37 For what can a man give in return for his soul?

38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." - Mark 8:31-38

1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,

2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,

4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. - 1 Timothy 2:1-6

22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.

24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,

26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. - Galatians 3:22-29

Hallelujah!!!

The Key to Radical Love

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 5:11–12)

One of the questions I posed while preaching on loving our enemies from Matthew 5:44 was, How do you love the people who kidnap you and then kill you?

How can we do this? Where does the power to love like this come from? Just think how astonishing this is when it appears in the real world! Could anything show the truth and power and reality of Christ more than this?

I believe Jesus gives us the key to this radical, self-sacrificing love, described in Matthew 5:44, earlier in the very same chapter.

In Matthew 5:11–12, he is again talking about being persecuted, just like he was when he said in Matthew 5:44, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” What is remarkable about these verses is that Jesus says that you are able not only to endure the mistreatment of the enemy, but rejoice in it. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you. . . . Rejoice and be glad.”

This seems even more beyond our reach than praying for our enemies or doing good to them. If I could do this humanly impossible thing — namely, rejoice in being persecuted — then it would be possible to love my persecutors. If the miracle of joy in the midst of the horror of injustice and pain and loss could happen, then the miracle of love for the perpetrators could happen too.

Jesus gives the key to joy in these verses. He says, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.” The key to joy is faith in God’s future grace — that is, being satisfied in all that God promises to be for you. He says, “Rejoice, for your reward is great in heaven.” Our joy in persecution is the joy of heaven streaming back into this moment of horror and setting us free to love. So, this joy is the freeing power to love our enemies when they persecute us.

If that is true, then the command to love is implicitly also a command to set our minds on things that are above — all that God promises to be for us — not on things that are on the earth (Colossians 3:2).

The command to love our enemy is a command to find our hope and our deepest soul-satisfaction in God and his great reward — his future grace. The key to radical love is faith in future grace. We must be persuaded in the midst of our agony that the love of God is “better than life” (Psalm 63:3). Loving your enemy doesn’t earn you the reward of heaven. Treasuring the reward of heaven empowers you to love your enemy.

John Piper 

Defeat death—secure your future

BIBLE MEDITATION:

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:20-22

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

I was about to speak at a funeral. And as I wandered among the beautiful flower arrangements, the precious widow walked up and laid her hand on the sleeve of her beloved of more than 50 years. She patted him a couple of times, then turned and walked away. I thought to myself, “Is that it? Is that all there is to life?” 

No. Death does not have dominion! Christ is risen! Those who have fallen asleep in Christ have not perished. There is a God who in the form of man, the Lord Jesus Christ, grappled with the iron bars of death and is victorious. Death does not have dominion because Christ arose. He took the gloom out of the grave. He has given us a hope that is steadfast and sure.

ACTION POINT:

Do you know where you’re going when you die? Have your sins been forgiven? Are you sure Jesus Christ is in your heart? If so, bow your head and thank Him, for sin has been subdued, death has been defeated, and your future is secure. If not, ask him to take control of your life right now. He will save you today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Afraid to Stray

Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind! (Psalm 31:19)

Consider two important truths in Psalm 31:19.

1. The goodness of the Lord

There is a peculiar goodness of God. That is, there is not only God’s general goodness that he shows to all people, making his sun rise on the evil and the good (Matthew 5:45), but also a peculiar goodness, as the psalm says, for “those who fear” him.

This goodness is abundant beyond measure. It is boundless. It lasts forever. It is all-encompassing. There is only goodness for those who fear him. Everything works together for their good (Romans 8:28). Even their pains are filled with profit according to Romans 5:3–5.

But those who do not fear him receive a temporary goodness. Romans 2:4–5 describes it like this: “Do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” Kindness. Forbearance. Patience. Goodness. But it does not meet with the fear of the Lord, but hardness.

That’s the first truth: the goodness of the Lord.

2. The fear of the Lord

The fear of the Lord is the fear of straying from him. Therefore, it expresses itself in taking refuge in God. That’s why two conditions are mentioned in Psalm 31:19 — fearing the Lord and taking refuge in him. “Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have 1) stored up for those who fear you and 2) worked for those who take refuge in you!”

They seem to be opposites. Fear seems to drive away and taking refuge seems to draw in. But when we see that this fear is a fear of running away — a fear of straying from him — then they work together.

There is a real trembling in the heart of the saints. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). But it is the trembling one feels in the arms of a Father who has just plucked his child from the undertow of the ocean. It is the trembling at the terrible prospect of thinking we don’t need a Father.

So, cherish the goodness of the Lord. Fear straying from him. Flee from every sin and take refuge in him. “Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you!”

John Piper 

What are you worth to God?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:4-6

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

What will let you into God’s presence? What will cover your sins—and mine? Just one thing: Jesus’ death on Calvary’s cross.

The cross was not an accident or an afterthought; it was in the heart of God before the world began. Jesus was born under the shadow of a cross.

But Jesus didn’t die as a martyr. He was no helpless victim. He said, “I lay down my life…. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself” (John 10:17-18). On the first day of Jesus’ public ministry, John the Baptist announced, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

The Lamb of God died on the same day—the same hour—as the temple priests were slaughtering Passover lambs on Mount Moriah. Two thousand years before that, Abraham told his son Isaac, “God will provide Himself a lamb, my son.” And sure enough, as Abraham and Isaac began their ascent to the top of Mt. Moriah, a ram, was already there to take Isaac’s place on the altar. Looking back on that scene, Jesus said, “Abraham saw My day, and was glad” (John 8:56).

To the priests sacrificing lambs on Mount Moriah, Jesus could say, “Put away your knives. We need no more lambs. The Lamb has died and paid in full.”

ACTION POINT:

Don’t let this go right past you. Think about the price paid for your salvation. Read Matthew chapters 26 and 27. Hallelujah—God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, thank You for the Lamb!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

A Future for Failures

Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.” (1 Samuel 12:20–22)

When the Israelites have been brought to fear and they repent of their sin of demanding that Samuel give them a king to be like the other nations, then comes the good news: “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil.” Do you hear how backward that sounds — how wonderfully backward? You might expect him to say, “Fear, for you have done all this evil.” That’s a good reason to fear: you have done the great evil of demanding another king besides God! But that’s not what Samuel says. “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil.”

He goes on, “Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.”

This is the gospel: Even though you have sinned greatly, and terribly dishonored the Lord, even though you now have a king which it was a sin to demand, even though there is no undoing that sin or its painful consequences that are yet to come, nevertheless there is a future and a hope. There is mercy.

Fear not! Fear not!

Then comes the great ground — the basis and foundation — of the gospel in 1 Samuel 12:22. Why don’t you need to fear, even though you have done all this evil? “For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.”

The ground of the gospel is God’s commitment to his own name. Did you hear it? Don’t fear, though you have sinned, “The Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake.” This should have two effects on you: heart-breaking humility and toe-tapping happiness. Humility because your worth is not the foundation of your salvation. Happiness because your salvation is as sure as God’s allegiance to his own name. It can’t get more sure.

John Piper 

Does God really love you?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him. Luke 23:33a

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Calvary, the spot where Jesus carried our sins to the cross, had another name, “Golgotha” (“the place of the skull”), because of its skull-like rock formation. This same spot, known also as Mt. Moriah, is where Abraham offered Isaac to God. Did you know that Mt. Moriah, the Temple mount, and Mt. Calvary all share the same limestone ridge? They are all part of the same mountain.

Centuries before Jesus’ birth, God told Abraham, “I want you to take Isaac, your only son, the son you love, the son of promise, to a place I will show you. Not just any place—a certain place. And there you are to offer your son as a sacrifice.” That’s the very same spot where one day, centuries later, Jesus Christ would be crucified.

For Abraham and Isaac, God stepped in and provided a ram caught in a thicket as the substitute for Isaac, and Isaac was spared. On the day Jesus Christ was crucified, no such substitute spared Him—for He IS our Substitute.

ACTION POINT:

Think about what it cost God the Father to sacrifice His only Son on Calvary’s mountain. Think about what it cost the Lord Jesus to be that “ram caught in the thicket” for you. Let what God provided—and what His Son did—sink into the deepest part of your heart.

“Praise the Lamb, for sinners slain. Give Him glory, all ye people, for His blood can wash away each stain.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers