Sean Gooding

Take Up Your Cross :: By Sean Gooding

Published on: by RR7

Bible Truth

Matthew Chapter 16: 24-28

“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”

In Matthew 16:21-23, “The Goal Has Always Been the Cross,” we took a look at how it was absolutely important for Jesus to go to the cross.  We explored how Jesus is the ‘Lamb slain before the foundations of the world.’  We saw how Jesus lovingly and willingly came from Heaven to save us.  God showed His love for us when Jesus came to save sinners (Romans 5:8).

Today we will take a look at an epidemic that is sweeping the NT church today, the idea of Christianity without any cost to us.  The apostle Peter said that he and the other disciples had ‘left all’ to follow Jesus.  Some had left family, family businesses, a lucrative business of tax collecting in the case of Matthew, and other jobs or businesses.  They had put themselves in great danger by associating with Jesus.

I was saved at age 14; I lived and grew up on a little island where the idea of Christianity was revered.  Pastors were almost as powerful as politicians, and churches were very stable.  My pastor in Barbados has been at my home church since 1973.  He will either retire or die, but most likely will not resign.

When I moved to North America, there was an aura about Christians.  The USA had Ronald Reagan as President, and he was not afraid of the Bible like many of the presidents since him.  He often quoted from the Bible.  Churches were fuller than they are now, and no one could have imagined that there would come a time when Bible truth would be hated and Christians vilified.  But this is where we are now.

Homosexuals have more power and influence with the government than Christians.  Christians are being arrested and sued for the truth and for living by the Biblical standards.  So we are kind of like in the era when Jesus walked the earth.  John the Baptist was arrested and killed for preaching the truth, and so were Jesus’s apostles, except for Apostle John the Revelator who died of old age on the island of Patmos to which he was exiled for preaching the truth.

Are you prepared to be arrested for the truth?  Are you prepared to have your business shut down or be sued because of the Biblical stands that you take?  Are you ready to be arrested for reading aloud from the Bible?  This is coming.  In fact, we just had an incident where a Christian group who does an open-air festival in Toronto was held up for their permit because they were teaching that Jesus was the only way.  They were simply teaching what the Bible says, and the city council wanted to deny them a permit for a public meeting.  This is real, folks.

Follow Jesus, deny yourself, verses 24-25

You and I are nothing.  Jesus is everything.  Once we can get this fundamental principle engrained into our minds and psyche, then we will go much further in our maturity as Christians.  Part of the denying of self is that of putting away any sense of self-reliance at all.  This hits us ‘self-made men’ here in North America.  We love the heroes, the myriad of stories on TV or in movies of the man who ‘pulled himself up’ so to speak. But in reality there is no such man or woman.

There should be no sense of pride if we are successful.  God is the only one who blesses, and what we claim as success can often be a curse.

We live in a world that praises the ‘self’: I am more important than anyone else.  The Bible tells us that ‘a man who loves his wife loves himself’ (Ephesians 5:28).  Jesus told us that we would be known as His disciples if we have ‘love one for another’ (John 13: 34-35).  But the world tells us to love ourselves first: if you can’t love yourself then you can’t love anyone else.  And so, when the Holy Spirit comes along and tells us to deny ourselves, we get defensive and depressed and we run from it.  But the truth is, we are not all that, and we must come to grips with that.

If you want to be a follower of Jesus, the first thing that you have to do is put ALL your faith in Jesus.  Peter said to Jesus, we have left all to follow you (Mark 10:28).  That means that they also had to stop depending on self.  Jesus fed them, clothed them, cared for them, rescued them in storms, loved them, and often He was the only friend they had.  The apostles, most all of whom were killed for the name of Jesus, had only Jesus at death.

The scriptures tell us that ‘precious in His sight are the death of His saints (Psalm 116:15).

Is Jesus enough for you?  If not, then you are going to have a hard time in the Christian walk.  There will be times when the only friend you will have is Jesus.  Are you ready to forsake all and follow Jesus, no matter the cost?

Here is a question that most Christians in North America will need to ask if they want to be serious about following Jesus: Are we ready to be arrested, imprisoned, and even executed for the name and cause of Jesus?

North America used to be the place that people ran when running from religious persecution; but if you are a Christian in North America, what you believe about Jesus is becoming illegal.  One can be arrested for preaching that certain things are wrong and immoral.  One can be fired from a job if you write or say anything against the gay lifestyle.  One can even be forbidden from praying in public, especially if you are a public official, or a teacher, or a politician.  Are you and I ready to die if need be?

Gaining the World, verse 26

We live in a church age that is so focused on the now that many of us have forgotten that Jesus is coming back for us.  We see books like “Your best Life Now,” “Every Day a Friday,” and on and on we can go with this focus on living here that we have forgotten that this is NOT our home.  In 1 Peter 2:11 we find these words from the great apostle:

“Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and temporary residents to abstain from fleshly desires that war against you.”

We are ‘strangers’ and ‘temporary residents’; the word can be translated ‘resident aliens’.  It means that we are here, BUT this is not our home.  We are just passing through, yet the modern NT church would have us set up roots here and build our lives as if this is the Heaven we are waiting for.  It is not!

Jesus talked about this as He addressed the Laodicean church in the Revelation.  He warned them about their riches and their reliance on their supposed ‘blessings’ that God was their driving force, but in reality Jesus was not even in the building.  See Revelation 3: 14-17:

“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”

This church was so self-sufficient they did not even need Jesus.  Think about that.  How many of us are the same way?  How many of us pray ‘give us this day our daily bread’ as a formality and not as a true, dire need?  How many of us have all we need laid up for retirement and really are not trusting the Lord for our needs?  This is not to say that we are not to be good stewards of the monies that God allows us to have, but is our dependence really upon Him?

If some event took all that wealth away, would you still be able to sing “It is Well with my Soul?”  Is our confidence in God based on the size of our bank accounts?  Sadly, we have churches that no longer need to depend on God for their resources, and soon we just stop depending on God all together.  We begin to brag about the work that we are doing and not what He is doing in and through us.  If Jesus is not doing it, then no matter what you do, even good stuff, it is not of God.

Jesus is Coming! Are you ready? Verse 27

“The Son of Man (Jesus) shall come” and “He shall reward every man according to his works.”  So let us set the context here so that we don’t get off onto any tangents: Jesus is talking to his disciples, men and women who had already made the decision to ‘follow Him’.  So the judgment here is of the followers, not those not following Him.  To further set this in stone, Jesus is rewarding ‘their works’, and we are aware that salvation is free.

Salvation is a gift from God (Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9).  But we are told in Ephesians 2:10 that we are ‘created in Christ Jesus unto good works’.  The new birth we have in Jesus should result in a ‘new works’ that show the change in us.

I heard someone lay it out this way: We are born into the family of God; we are to grow up and then reproduce.  Kind of like the growth from baby to adult.  We are born, we mature, and then we reproduce.  Christian growth should be the same way.  So judge yourself; are you born again? Do you know Jesus as Saviour?  Then, are you growing?  That means reading His Bible every day, studying it, applying it through prayer and obedience to the Holy Spirit in you.  And then are you seeking to tell others about Jesus?  Birth, growth, reproduction.

There is no doubt that we are living in the last days.  Too many Christians are settling into the world system rather than outside jumping up, doing ‘rapture practice’.  Too many of us are mesmerized by the world’s goods and judge God’s blessing on us by them rather than by God’s way of blessing.  Let us look at God’s idea of blessings in Matthew 5: 1-12:

“Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Does this sound like the blessings that the NT church is promoting on the air waves of today? Look at verses 11-12: “Rejoice and be glad when they insult you and say all manner of evil against you.”  Wow!  We are not to complain and whine, rather we are to rejoice and be glad. We are told that the apostles rejoiced that were worthy to be persecuted for Christ (Acts 5:41).  We would see it today as a curse; they saw it as a badge of honor.

The idea of prophecy is not even touched in many churches today.  We are living in the last days; we are seeing the fulfillment of so many of Daniel’s and Jesus’ prophecies that it is like Jesus knew what would happen.  Ooohh… He did, and now it is happening!  Jesus is coming, Jesus is coming!  Look up; your redemption draws near.  Jesus is coming!  But with that redemption comes the judgment.  We will face Jesus and give an account of all that we have done with the salvation that He has given us.  In 1 Corinthians 3: 11-13 we find these words:

“For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work.…”

Everyone’s work will be tested and tried before Jesus.  Again, this is not about salvation; this is about what you have allowed Jesus to do in you after He saved you.  All of us should take an account of our lives and really work as if we are ready to meet Jesus.

Hebrews 9:27 “And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment—”

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca

FB: Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

 Sean Gooding Pastor Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

 

White as Snow :: By Sean Gooding

Published on: by RR7

White as SnowWhite as Snow

Isaiah 6: 1-8

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!’  And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said:

“Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.’

“Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said:

“Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.’ Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:

“Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me.’”

White as Snow

Isaiah 1:18 promises us that we can be white as snow. As we near Christmas Day, the snow here in Southern Ontario is on the ground; it is cold and looks to stay that way right through Christmas Day. The snow can be dangerous of course for driving, but it is beautiful. It makes everything look white and clean. It lights up with the car lights and makes the fields almost glow.

I did not grow up with snow; in Barbados we had warm, green Christmases. We still sang “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas,” but we did not ever have one. The first time my brother and I experienced snow was in December 1977. We flew from bright and sunny Barbados to Montreal, Canada to spend Christmas with my aunt. My brother and I had an awesome time. We played and played until my parents had to literally drag us in. Snow makes everything look beautiful.

There is a lot of emotion around Christmas time, and there is such a focus on family and friends, gift giving and food that many often forget the real reason we celebrate the birth of Jesus our Saviour. Some 700+ years before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Isaiah promised that a virgin would be with child. In Isaiah 7:14 we see this prophecy,

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”

This was the promised sign to the nation of Israel; and thankfully to us Gentiles as well, a sign that God loved us and was going to redeem us. As we see in history, King Uzziah died about 740 BC, so this promise was made to us 740 years before Jesus was born. In chapter 6 that we are looking at today, Isaiah has an experience with the Lord that transforms him for life.

This is what the Christmas story is all about. God came to offer us the power and the opportunity to be transformed by Him. He could have left us in our state of sin and death, with no hope and no way out.

We will all die – getting older and seeing friends and family die, seeing celebrities die all frail and gaunt, seeing the Terminator begin to look old and the muscles don’t stick out like they used to. Death haunts us all, and the Lord could have simply walked away and left us to the obvious demise – death and hell. But He did not; He made a way. He offered an opportunity to get back to Him and have eternal life.

Please, it is important that we make this very clear: God does not need us; we need Him. God is self-sufficient. He needs no one and He needs nothing else to complete Him. There is a common thread running through the Christian world of a God who needs us. Nothing could be further from the truth. We make ourselves out to be more, way more than we really are.

While the account of the Prodigal Son is a stirring account from the mouth of Jesus, make an honest recollection of the story. The Father did not go looking for the son. He did not chase him down and He did not need him. The Father had all he needed at home. He did not go hungry; his son did. He did not end up serving a Gentile man; his son did. The Father was looking for the son, but it was the son who had to repent, turn back to his father, realize that he needed the Father, and then return home. The father ran to meet him when he saw him, but it was the son who needed the father’s food, home, safety and provision.

Let me share with you for a few moments about the awesome Christmas story. It never loses its wonder for me, and I am 51 years old. The more I study it, the more precious and real it is to me. The more I read the Bible, the more the power of it becomes apparent. I just want to share a few things as we enter the Christmas time:

Isaiah saw the Lord, verses 1-3

If we take the time to look at the world around us, we will see the Lord more than any people or generation before us. Science and archeology remind us of the wonders of the world; it reminds us that this world is carefully and deliberately made. Every part of it is knit together for our benefit. The more we explore the human body and the more we explore the creation around us, we see this amazing design, and of course, the Designer, the Lord God himself.

The heavens declare the glory of God, the Psalmist writes. The shepherds rejoiced when they saw Jesus and went to tell all who would listen about Him. For 2,000 years countless men, women and children have carried the name of Jesus all over the world, telling the story of when God came as a man to redeem us and live with us. His name is called Immanuel, meaning ‘God with us.’ If you see Jesus, you have seen God.

Isaiah was awed by the Lord, verses 4-5

Isaiah was terrified by his state. He saw himself, dirty and wretched before the Holy Living God, and he was terrified. He expected imminent death. The Old Testament prophets did not all understand the mercy of God, nor did they always understand His grace. But God made it clear that He wanted to have a relationship with us. From the days of the Garden of Eden, God walked with Adam and Eve. He came to them and fellowshipped with them. He came to Noah; He came to Abraham; He came to Moses; He came to Joshua, and on and on we can go. And yet it was hard for these persons to see His grace and mercy.

One night a long time ago, back in 1981 when I was 15 years old, I saw myself as dirty and sinful. I asked the Lord to forgive my sins and be my Saviour. Here is the irony of the relationship I have with Jesus: I see myself as dirtier now than I thought I was then. The more of the Bible I read, the more of the truths that I see, the more I read of the awesome loving, merciful and gracious character of our God, the more I see that I am ‘undone, a man of unclean lips.’

My thoughts are not holy; my teeth act more as a gate for my mind than ever before. I constantly have to shake my head to get out a bad idea or thought, and I constantly need to fall on God’s mercy for my sinfulness. I do not even think I knew what sinfulness was back then. Now it haunts me front and center every day in the mirror. I am the chief of sinners.

I am awed by the grace of God. The fact that the infinite and eternal God would make any time for me at all is awesome. The idea that the Holy Living God would make time for a sinner like me is awesome. The idea that the most powerful God would make time for a weak pile of dust like me is awesome. It is awe inspiring, and I wake in wonder every day that the Lord would continue to help me, supply for my family and me, use me to tell others about His Son, and ever be mindful of me.

If you have walked with Jesus for any length of time, and if you read and seek to have the Holy Spirit apply His word to your life, you will begin to see how sinful you are and how rebellious you are. I am. But the Lord should awe you; He should blow your finite human mind. He does mine.

Isaiah feared God; he thought he would die, but he did not. Often, I live in fear of God. I fail Him and I wonder if this is the day His patience runs out. Will this be the day that my portion of grace is exhausted? Thankfully, the Lord has a new supply of mercy for me each day. He does for you as well.

Isaiah was cleansed by the Lord, verses 6-7

The Lord sends out an angel with a hot coal to touch his lips and make him clean. Isaiah’s sins are removed and his sin is purged. Long before Jesus was born, the Lord, in looking forward to the birth of His Son, was already in the redemption business. And, this is what redemption is: to have our sins burned away, removed and purged. God has been doing that since the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3.

This is the essence of Christmas, that Jesus came to make sinners clean. There is no other way, no other hope, no other remedy for our sin nature. Jesus is the Way. Like the apostle Peter said, Jesus alone has the words of life. One night about 2,000 years ago, a little baby came to fulfill the promise that God made to Adam in Genesis 3:15: the Seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. Jesus crushed the devil and destroyed the power of death and hell.

Have you been cleansed by God? Jesus is the soap you are looking for. No one else will take the stench of your sins away, no one can wash away the dark stain of sin on your life, and no one can make you clean like Jesus. You too can be clean. It is instant and permanent; salvation is forever.

Isaiah was ready to serve the Lord, verse 8

You and I are saved to serve the Lord. It is our DUTY to take the Christmas story to all who will listen. We must take it to friend and foe alike. We must be ready for every opportunity to name the name of Jesus and to lift him up. Isaiah did not have to be asked twice; he was eager to tell of the wonder of the Lord Jesus. Are you eager to tell others about Jesus? Are you a bit shy? A bit scared you might say that wrong thing? It is our duty to be ready to answer any and all who would ask about the hope in us.

Will you carry the Christmas story to those around you? Trust me, there are many who still have never heard even living here in North America. Many this very season will have sung along with the Christmas carols on the radio and in the malls, yet they will miss the message, as if these songs are some kind of folklore.

Oh, the job the devil has done to make the greatest message and the best gift just a passing holiday for food, family and presents. But no! God sent His ONLY Son to scream to us ‘come, come you lost; come you broken; come you sinners; come you at death’s door; come and see that the Lord is good. Come get clean and have your sin removed.’ Merry Christmas!

Luke 2: 4-7 “Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.  So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca