Psalm 97:1-2 "The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof. Clouds and darkness are round about Him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne." *****
WHIPS and CHAINS and BISCUITS The treatment afforded the demoniac of Gadara is a treatise on the means used by false religion to keep its converts committed to its cause. In Mark 5:3-4, two words are used to describe this vile religious practice. The religious folks efforts to recover this poor sinner were two-fold, to "bind" and to "tame." Their first efforts were to bind this sinner in fetters and chains. There can be no doubt that this is the illegal use of the law to control behavior (which is all the law can do, it never reaches the heart). This approach to life is the tool of those who would "make a fair show in the flesh." These love themselves and no one else, and believe themselves to be responsible for the behavior of others. They operate in the realm of guilt mongering. They keep folk in check with their rules, their regulations, their personal convictions and inability to look at their own behavior. They use scripture as a chain to bind the mind, and fetters to bind the feet, thereby keeping their subjects exactly where they want them. The other means used to control folk is to tame them. There are only two ways to tame a wild beast, either with a whip or a biscuit. The whip is the slavish fear of wrath. Those who use this tactic hold their "beasts" in fear of loss and fear of punishment. They make God out to be a petty ogre, veritably licking His lips with pleasure at the thought of someone messing up, so He can ravage their lives. The biscuit is the promise of reward, the pat on the back, the public praise for the job well done. It is the carrot on a stick, held before the mule, to keep him pulling the plow while he stupidly chases what he can never attain. These are wicked means of control. The gospel sets men free! –Pastor Tim James *****
"WHEN I SEE THE BLOOD" The apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians said, "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for you" (1 Corinthians 5:7). He is speaking of that type of Christ which God established in Egypt in Exodus 12 where a lamb was commanded to be slain and the blood applied to the doorposts of the Hebrews’ homes. That passover lamb was a picture of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ and His sacrificial, substitutionary death for God’s elect. Thus God says, "And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt" (Exodus 12:13). When did God see the blood of Christ His Lamb in relationship to His people? He saw Him in eternity past as "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8). He saw Him on the cross in human flesh as His sinless blood poured out from His wounds. He sees Him now as John did in the Revelation as the Lamb that stands and looks as newly slain, His work finished, but fresh (Revelation 5:6). When Christ died, men saw the literal blood of Jesus Christ. When God reveals Christ to and in a sinner by His Spirit through the gospel, that sinner sees the blood of Christ as that which has cleansed them from all sin. God however, has seen it long before we see it. He saw it in that everlasting covenant and had He not seen it then, He could never have seen me in grace! Nor could He have seen Noah as He did before Christ came. "And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before Me in this generation" (Genesis 7:1). –Pastor Gary Shepard
***** "The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise Him." (Psalm 28:7)
Older
Top
