2018 grads embark on new beginnings! - Carolina Peacemaker - Carolina Peacemaker
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Sunday, June 24, 2018
DON'T GET IT TWISTED-Rev.M.D.Rogers
Rev. M.D. Rogers M.Div.
Biblical Text: James 3:13-18
13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
If someone were to ask you, "What is wisdom?" how would you reply? It's easy to misunderstand wisdom, especially when the temptation is there to twist and adjust wisdom to your own personal definition. Our desire should be to pursue TRUE wisdom, the kind that produces a world in which mankind can live in love, joy and peace, and have all their needs met.
It's easy to twist true wisdom. Ask all the know-it-alls in the world. It's not hard to get to the place where you think you know more than the preacher, or your teacher, or your boss, or your spouse. Just ask James. James was one of those writers who didn't hold back. He put enough needles in this haystack we call the Epistle of James, to prick the conscience of every dull, defeated, and degenerated Christian in the world. His book is designed to exhort and encourage; to challenge and convict; to rebuke and to revive. But in these verses of our text, James is also trying to set some things straight. In these verse, James describes a practical holiness...a wisdom for all ages, which drives the believer toward the goal of a faith that works.
So what is wisdom? It's no surprise that James doesn't want us to get it twisted, because for a while, he did. As the half-brother of Jesus, James grew up in the same household with Jesus. But he did not believe Jesus was the Messiah until after His resurrection! It was only then that James became a strong leader in the Jerusalem church.
So James poses the rhetorical question, "Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you?" Before you raise your hand, let me tell you what the term 'wise man' means. It comes from the Greek word sophos which means teacher. A teacher was considered to be a religious expert, skilled in spiritual knowledge. He was the rabbinical priest, the one entrusted with preserving and interpreting the Word of God.
Who are the bearers of wisdom in our church? You would think they would be the ones who study the word diligently; who take their spiritual leadership role seriously, and seek to preserve God's Word for the next generation. But James says, "Don't get it twisted. There's more to it than that!" James teaches us that "If you want to be a teacher, you don't just have to KNOW some things; you have to DO some things." James teaches us that wisdom is measured more by deeds in the community than by degrees on the wall. It's not a matter of just acquiring knowledge; you have to learn how to apply that knowledge to your daily life.
James gives us three life lessons in these few verses of our text.
First, practice what you preach.
There ought to be a display of morality and purity in your life. A wise man knows how to conduct himself like a Christian. A man who professes himself to be a Christian, must learn how to take the facts of the Word and apply them to his walk. This is necessary in any field or profession.
• What good is a lawyer who knows the law, but does not know how to apply the law to win cases?
• What good is a doctor who knows all about medicine, but does not know how to apply that medicine to save lives?
• And what good is a Christian who knows the Word of God, but does not live according to the Will of God?
A person who knows the Word of God inside out and backwards is nothing more than a smarty-pants, a know-it-all. But a believer who knows the Word and lives the Word is truly wise. James says that if a believer claims to be wise, "Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom."
I like the way Jesus put it. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock." (Matthew 7:24).
So practice what you preach, brothers and sisters. But then...
Second, no phony-baloney.
A believer should not be "the great pretender". God will expose you.You see, you can go through all the motions of being a Christian; you can be faithful to worship, and missions, and Sunday School. You can smile at everyone and "walk circumspectly in the world" as a good Christian should, not participating in anything that is outside the will of God. You can appear to be the epitome of perfection, while all the time you are inwardly seething with jealousy, disappointment and resentment.
James says, "But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth." In other words, don't try to wear an outer cloak of holiness, when all the while you're incensed and irate on the inside.
Anyone can pretend to be spiritual when he's really nothing more than a "wise guy". A real wise man knows Christianity is no game of Show and Tell. He doesn't wear his Christianity like a coat to hide his true feelings. You may know someone like that. You may know someone who goes to church faithfully, participates in ministries, and gives generously to the work of growing God's kingdom. He appears to be wise in the ways of God, but something is wrong, because as soon as he gets home, he's complaining about something or someone, stirring up trouble, burning up the phone lines. James says, "This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work."
James says that bitter envy (in the Greek: erithian, which means 'zealous jealousy') is Satan's trap. It lures the unsuspecting Christian into tainted territory where strife is the order of the day. It is our duty as followers of Jesus, to reject bitter envy, and the subsequent strife it fabricates, and replace it with love and humility. That's the Christian way.
We can't pretend our way to the throne room of God. True wisdom desires to be replicated in the life of the believer. Envy and selfish ambition can only produce disorder, confusion and evil. A wise man does not seek glory or gain. Instead, he is gracious and giving. God needs a few real Christians who desire, not only to BE wise, but also to LIVE wisely.
So, practice what you preach, and please...no phony baloney! But there's one more lesson to be learned.
Promote peace!
James says, "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." James teaches us that when peace is sown, it yields a harvest of righteousness. A true wise man, then, is a man of peace.
I like that phrase 'without partiality'. Did you catch it? There is nothing I loathe more than a Christian who shows favoritism. He saves his 'good fruits' for his closest friends or family, and gives the rest of us his leftovers; leftover energy, leftover monetary gifts, leftover kindnesses.
• Grumpy toward your spouse, but pleasant with the boys.
• Grumpy on the job, but happy after hours.
• Sweet toward the pastor, but crabby toward your spouse.
• Meek at mission meeting, but quarrelsome in your kitchen.
James says in the first chapter of his letter, "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8). A person who is unstable is inconstant, not steadfast, not dependable, shaky, unsound and insecure! The true sign of a stable mind is someone who treats everyone the same.
• He is the same with his neighbor as he is with his mother.
• He s the same with his barber as he is with his children.
• He s the same with his pastor as he is with the guys he invites into his man cave to watch a game.
• And lest we leave the ladies out, she's the same at church meetings as she is at the beauty parlor.
A peaceful person is impartial. He or she treats everyone the same; gives everyone the same benefit of the doubt; gives everyone his best effort; prays for everyone; encourages everyone. He s the same...yesterday, today, and always...because he reflects the Christ he vowed to replicate.
How is peace promoted? It's promoted in every aspect of our daily lives...
• Peace in the kitchen
• Peace in the family room
• Peace on the job.
• Peace in a traffic jam.
• Peace at church business meeting.
• Peace in our walk and peace in our talk.
James says we ought to be 'easy to be intreated'. That simply means that we should be easy to persuade, easy to calm down, easy to make compliant. There's another word for it...it's called SUBMISSION. When we submit ourselves, one to another, we work together as one cohesive unit.
I know the world is a crazy place. I know it...
• Toys with your emotions
• Stretches your last nerve
• Pushes all the wrong buttons.
But Jesus said, 'Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid' (John 14:27).
Who are you going to believe? James eventually came to realize that his half-brother was the Messiah they had all been waiting for, and he lived the rest of his life believing in the teachings of Jesus. In the end, he didn't get it twisted.
Don't YOU get it twisted. If you want to be truly wise, understand that wisdom is of God¬ man. If you have godly wisdom, you will...
A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes
Half a truth is often a great lie.
If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.”
As you shall sow, so shall you reap.
Just because everybody's doing something, doesn't mean it's right.
No sin is hidden to the soul.
Pretending to be someone you're not is a waste of the person you are.
I'd rather be hated for who I am, rather than loved for who I am not.
Things come apart so easily when they have been held together with lies.
Truth crushed to earth will rise again..
Love the Comforter who never leaves.
Mirror the Rock who never moves.
Follow the Shepherd who never fails.
This is your mirror moment. Who will you reflect?
Don't get it twisted!
The Battle for Truth in The Church
The Battle for Truth in The Church
Rev.M.D.Rogers M.Div.
I. Introductory
Remarks.
Isaiah 59:14
Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is
fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
In this study I want to begin talking about "The Weapon
of Truth." Truth is one of the most
powerful weapons we possess in the spiritual arsenal God has given to us to
deal with the enemy. Unfortunately truth
has fallen in the streets and has been replaced by the lies of the devil. It is time for God's people to arise with the
weapon of truth and to go forth in the power of His Spirit pleading for truth.
Isaiah 59:4-5
No one calls for justice, nor does any plead for truth. They trust in
empty words and speak lies; they conceive evil and bring forth iniquity. They
hatch vipers' eggs and weave the spider's web; he who eats of their eggs dies,
and from that which is crushed a viper breaks out.
We live in a culture and an era that is inundated with
falsehood and lies. Not many are
pleading for truth and those who do are mocked and ridiculed as being
extremists in a politically correct society that is based on falsehood and
lies.
Even in the church, those who stand for a strong adherence
to Biblically sound doctrine are ridiculed and labeled as legalists, who are
not flowing with the Spirit.
As a result we have provided the perfect environment for
Satan's power and deception to rule in the lives of people everywhere. Satan's power and antichrist spirit is being
unleashed today as never before. The
absence of truth has given him a strong foothold and place to stand to oppose
and exalt himself above all that is called God.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-10
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs,
and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish,
because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
The Bible is full of Scriptures that speak of the strong
deception that shall come upon the world in the last days that shall even cause
many to depart from the faith. This is
all are result of truth having fallen in the streets.
Although there is probably not a whole lot we can do about
the absence of truth in the secular world, I believe there is something we can
do about it in the kingdom realm. There
are two areas God wants His truth securely establish in. They are in the church and in our personal
lives.
II. Truth As A Weapon.
If we are to stand in an evil day we must put on the belt of
truth and walk in the uncompromising truth of God's Word.
Ephesians 6:13-14
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore,
having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of
righteousness...
We must realize that walking in the truth of God's Word is
one of the most powerful weapons we have against the enemy with his wiles and
schemes. We must have a powerful love
and adherence to the truth of God's word if we are to stand against him.
·
Satan has nowhere to stand when he is confronted with the Truth.
John 8:44
"You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father
you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the
truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from
his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
If we take away his place to stand, then he is not able to
use his many devices and schemes against us.
He is rendered totally ineffective.
III. The Battle For Truth In The Church.
God has chosen the church to be the place from which His
truth flows from. It is the pillar and
ground of truth.
1 Timothy 3:15
...but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to
conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God,
the pillar and ground of the truth.
It is my conviction that the church of Jesus Christ has been
guilty of compromising and watering down the truth of God's Word to make it
more palatable to the society we live in and as a result truth has fallen in
the streets and given the devil a giant foothold to speak lies and
falsehood. We should be crying out and
pleading for truth to be firmly established in the church according to the
uncompromising truth of God's Word.
There is a tremendous battle that is raging in the church
today over truth. Satan's objective is
to infiltrate the church with his lies.
He knows that if he can spread his lies and dilute the truth, he has a
secure place to stand and unleash his power and deception.
·
In
the more historical & traditional churches the battle is over whether the
Scripture is divinely inspired or not and whether Jesus was really God manifest
in the flesh. This gives way to battles
over all kinds of moral issues within the church. When truth is fallen righteousness stands
afar off.
·
In
the Charismatic realm the battle is over extra Biblical experiences vs. what is
clearly stated or established in God's Word.
This causes people to seek after signs and spiritual experiences rather
than the truth of God's word. It will
set them up to be deceived by lying signs and wonders.
With the weapon of truth we can claim victory in both of
these areas by adhering to the truth of God's Word in the following ways.
1. We Must Accept The
Entirety Of God's Word As His Truth.
Psalms 119:160 The
entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments
endures forever.
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness...
2. We Must Rightly
Divide the Word of Truth.
2 Timothy 2:15
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not
need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
This means we approach the interpretation of God's Word
honestly without personal preferences.
There are those who twist the Scriptures to make them say anything they
want to say.
2 Peter 3:16
...as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in
which are some things hard to understand, which those who are untaught and
unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the
Scriptures.
No Scripture is of private interpretation. It must be properly exegeted in light of the
whole. It also means you build on those
passages that are clear and precise and not on those that are vague or
nebulous. Allow the Scripture to
interpret itself. It does it very well.
3. The Word of Truth
Must Take Precedence Over Experience.
One of the things that is happening in the Body of Christ
today, particularly in the Charismatic ranks is a focus on extra Biblical
experiences that are being esteemed as a genuine move of the Holy Spirit. Any experience must be based on the Sound
Doctrine of God's Word.
It is my conviction
that God can soverignly move upon my life however He sees fit, but I do not
have the liberty nor the authority to take something that is not Biblically defined
and build a movement on it.
1 Corinthians 4:6 Now these things, brethren, I have
figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may
learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed
up on behalf of one against the other.
·
The example of Peter and the Mount of Transfiguration.
A good example of esteeming the word above spiritual or
emotional experiences is found in the example of Jesus with Peter, James and
John. When Peter later wrote about this
experience, He said the written word was a more sure word of prophecy.
2 Peter 1:16-21 And we heard this voice which came
from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. We also have the
prophetic word made more sure, which you do well to heed as a light
that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in
your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any
private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy
men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
·
The example of Jesus at His Baptism.
Another example is when the Father spoke to Jesus on the day
of His baptism. Those who heard the
voice all heard it a little differently.
Jesus heard it perfectly, because He was perfect. Our spiritual experiences are filtered
through our imperfect minds, so therefore our interpretation of the event is
not a perfect interpretation of what happened.
John 12:28-30
"Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came from heaven,
saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."
Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.
Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him." Jesus answered and said,
"This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.
Even though spiritual experiences we may experience from
time to time may be good and even build our faith, we do not have the right to
glorify the experiences beyond what is written in the word or to the point that
they become a movement within themselves.
4. We Must Have A
Love For The Truth Of God's Word.
Psalms 119:162 I
rejoice at Your word As one who finds great treasure.
David walked in faith and victory throughout most of his
life because he had a genuine love and appreciation for God's Word.
·
This involves enduring sound doctrine.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not
endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have
itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn
their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
IV. Concluding
Remarks.
Being a part of a local church that is Bible centered and
adheres to God's Word of Truth gives us as believers a strong foundation to
walk in the truth that God so desires for us.
But we must also take personal responsibility for walking in truth as
God reveals it to us. This will give us
the kind of faith and victory that will cause the enemy to flee from our lives
and enable us to fulfill God's divine calling in each of our lives.
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Monday, June 4, 2018
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