Post by Les Brewer on Jul 4, 2012 8:37:41 GMT
John Wolf
Calvary's Cross Ministries
Preaching Christ Crucified
From the Pastor's desk....
Good morning this July 4,2012.I pray God will bless each and everyone of you,on this, the 236th.year anniversary of this great nation.I love America,and thank God that He allowed me to be born in this land......Please pray for our country,it is in dire need of revival and a return to the righteousness it once walked in.
"For we are the circumcision,which worship God in the spirit,and rejoice in Christ Jesus,and have no confidence in the flesh.Though I might also have confidence in the flesh.If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh,I more:Circumcised the eighth day,of the stock of Israel,of the tribe of Benjamin,an Hebrew of the Hebrews;as touching the law,a Pharisee;concerning zeal,persecuting the church;touching the righteousness which is in the law,blameless.But what things were gain to me,,those I counted loss for Christ.Yea doubtless,and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:for whom I have suffered the loss of all things,and do count them but dung,that I may win Christ.And be found in Him,not having my own righteousness,which is of the law,but that which is through the faith of Christ,the righteousness which is of God by faith." (Phil.3:3-9 KJV)
Briefly,what Paul the apostle is conveying to us,is a warning not to take our eyes off of Christ and begin to have confidence in the flesh.What does he mean by "confidence in the flesh"? He sums it up very well in verses 5-6,by giving us a rundown of his own life.His tribal blood line,Hebrew of the Hebrews (a man's,man),a high ranking Pharisee in Israel,he had zeal,and kept the law to the letter,he was righteous according to law.In today's world,he quite possibly could be compared to the likes of F.Lee Bailey or Simon Greenleaf,two of the most well know attorney's of modern history.If law degrees were available in his day,he quite possibly would be known as Paul the Apostle,Phd.
What Paul was simply saying,was this.If anyone had the qualifications for being accepted by God for their accomplishments,he certainly had them.Yet,he felt that,in order to win Christ and to be found in Him (Christ),everything he had accomplished in his life,was worthy of the refuse pile.And this point that he made brings me to my point.We as Christians must learn to stop relying so much on what we can accomplish through our own efforts,and come back to the full confidence that what God has begun in us,He is also able to complete simply by us placing all our confidence in what Jesus Christ accomplished for us at the Cross.
In reality,God does not call the qualified,He qualifies the called.The Lord does not look at us and think that,"Well,I can use this one or that one,because they went to this college or that seminary." He looks on our heart,and will be able to know exactly what area we can be of best use,to win souls.And this,my friends,is the bottom line.SOUL WINNING!!!!
Let us come back to the foot of the Cross once again and repent of our own, over inflated ego's,and realize that it is He (Christ),who bears us and not we ourselves.Without Him we can do nothing of any lasting eternal good.Our lives are hidden in Christ by God the Father Himself.When God the Father looks at us,He doesn't see us anyway,He sees His Son.He sees the righteousness of Christ in us not our own pathetic attempts at "being good and doing right" according to our own interpretation of right and wrong.
Self is our problem and self will always be a problem.That is why we must die to self daily and live unto Christ and His way every day of our lives.I know it's hard,trust me,I know.Self gives me more problems than the devil does,every single day.But let's not give up the fight.Fight the good fight of faith and lay hold of eternal life in Him,Amen???!!!.....God bless you all....I love you in Christ...J.W.
Calvary's Cross Ministries
Preaching Christ Crucified
From the Pastor's desk....
Good morning this July 4,2012.I pray God will bless each and everyone of you,on this, the 236th.year anniversary of this great nation.I love America,and thank God that He allowed me to be born in this land......Please pray for our country,it is in dire need of revival and a return to the righteousness it once walked in.
"For we are the circumcision,which worship God in the spirit,and rejoice in Christ Jesus,and have no confidence in the flesh.Though I might also have confidence in the flesh.If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh,I more:Circumcised the eighth day,of the stock of Israel,of the tribe of Benjamin,an Hebrew of the Hebrews;as touching the law,a Pharisee;concerning zeal,persecuting the church;touching the righteousness which is in the law,blameless.But what things were gain to me,,those I counted loss for Christ.Yea doubtless,and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:for whom I have suffered the loss of all things,and do count them but dung,that I may win Christ.And be found in Him,not having my own righteousness,which is of the law,but that which is through the faith of Christ,the righteousness which is of God by faith." (Phil.3:3-9 KJV)
Briefly,what Paul the apostle is conveying to us,is a warning not to take our eyes off of Christ and begin to have confidence in the flesh.What does he mean by "confidence in the flesh"? He sums it up very well in verses 5-6,by giving us a rundown of his own life.His tribal blood line,Hebrew of the Hebrews (a man's,man),a high ranking Pharisee in Israel,he had zeal,and kept the law to the letter,he was righteous according to law.In today's world,he quite possibly could be compared to the likes of F.Lee Bailey or Simon Greenleaf,two of the most well know attorney's of modern history.If law degrees were available in his day,he quite possibly would be known as Paul the Apostle,Phd.
What Paul was simply saying,was this.If anyone had the qualifications for being accepted by God for their accomplishments,he certainly had them.Yet,he felt that,in order to win Christ and to be found in Him (Christ),everything he had accomplished in his life,was worthy of the refuse pile.And this point that he made brings me to my point.We as Christians must learn to stop relying so much on what we can accomplish through our own efforts,and come back to the full confidence that what God has begun in us,He is also able to complete simply by us placing all our confidence in what Jesus Christ accomplished for us at the Cross.
In reality,God does not call the qualified,He qualifies the called.The Lord does not look at us and think that,"Well,I can use this one or that one,because they went to this college or that seminary." He looks on our heart,and will be able to know exactly what area we can be of best use,to win souls.And this,my friends,is the bottom line.SOUL WINNING!!!!
Let us come back to the foot of the Cross once again and repent of our own, over inflated ego's,and realize that it is He (Christ),who bears us and not we ourselves.Without Him we can do nothing of any lasting eternal good.Our lives are hidden in Christ by God the Father Himself.When God the Father looks at us,He doesn't see us anyway,He sees His Son.He sees the righteousness of Christ in us not our own pathetic attempts at "being good and doing right" according to our own interpretation of right and wrong.
Self is our problem and self will always be a problem.That is why we must die to self daily and live unto Christ and His way every day of our lives.I know it's hard,trust me,I know.Self gives me more problems than the devil does,every single day.But let's not give up the fight.Fight the good fight of faith and lay hold of eternal life in Him,Amen???!!!.....God bless you all....I love you in Christ...J.W.
