“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”
Isaiah 8:20 —
Total of 11 little sermons.
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Awakenness — Honest Work
Variables lead to Calculation.Calculation leads to results.Results lead to decisions.Decisions lead to outcome.An outcome may be beneficial or detrimental. To be able to control the outcome, we must be able to measure and control the variables that lead to it. We may neither measure all variables, nor control every variable — for we are given limited cognitive resources. Our calculation, therefore, may never be correct. The results our calculations yield will never cause us to take the best decisions that carry maximum benefit — our decisions may never guarantee the advantage of the outcome that derives from them. So, is there any use to be fully awake and aware, when there exists no inherent capability that can perceive and consider all aspects required for taking certain decisions? Jesus never said “Be awake.” But Jesus said, “Be awake, and pray.” “God will save you from snares, but will not save you from your intentional blindness.” “If you do not open your eyes, you will fall into the pit of your enemy; and if you open your eyes but do not see the snare your enemy has placed before your pit to fall, God will save you from his snare.” Awakeness is not a result but a process.Awakeness does not guarantee success — only the Lord’s promise does.Awakeness… -
The Knowledge of Sin
Sin burdens the heart, forgiveness frees it. The burden of sin is that we must pay its consequences: death — not by arbitrary decision of the Law-Giver, but by natural unfolding of the decisions we take and the outcome they bring. With sin, we live knowing we will die — because inside, we understand that what we have chosen, apart from the Creator's verdict, leads us to inevitable death; for we have betrayed the principle of life and the imperative of living. We understand this by the Spirit of reason and discernment the Creator had nested within us when He created us in His image, which is able to make calculations, and declare their absolute results. The only difference He left between Him and us is that He is able to make calculation of infinite nature — while our numbers are always limited. The choices we make steer our focus toward the outcomes they bring. Sin directs our attention toward the darkness from which it springs and into which it leads. It traps us and dims the brightness of life and reality. We can no longer see life for the infinite holy value it held when God first shared it with us. Life under sin is a fearful anticipation of the lethal doomsday we know… -
There is not one who doeth good. No, not one. We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Only God is just. Only God is good. Only God is righteous. This righteousness is given through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, Who came to reveal the Father's glory, justice, and goodness to ALL who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Do you want to be righteous in God's eyes? Believe His words: you cannot do anything on your own, without Jesus Christ; for all you do of yourself is vanity (sin and selfishness and delusion and emptiness and darkness): God Alone is the Giver of light, and God Alone can impart His light to the sinner who truly repents: and God Alone inspects the hearts of men, and He alone can tell the value of one's repentance: whether genuine or not. But by their fruits ye will know them. Therefore, Bring ye forth fruits worthy of repentance. If you love Him, keep His commandments: it is the forgiving and self-sacrificing love of God alone that begets repentance in our sinful and cunning hearts, and it is repentance alone that opens our hearts to receive the love of God and invites His Spirit in our believing reborn hearts to do His works:… -
Let no Man Defile…
That which God has sanctified, let no one defile. I do not judge myself, for God is my judge. In me there is a will to do good, but no power to carry it out. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Christ died for me while I was still a sinner. If God has forgiven me, who am I to condemn myself for my weaknesses? If He has promised to put a new heart in me, who am I to consider myself an evil person? If He has promised to purge me from all iniquity, who am I to say I am perfect already, or that I cannot reach the perfection He calls me to? But I will run as if I am the only one in the race who must win. If God is for us, who can be against us? Stand still and know that He is God. Who can separate us from the love of God in Christ? And if I say to myself, “God doesn’t love me,” I blaspheme His holy name with which He has called me His son through the death of His Son. And if I say, “I am not worthy of His love,” I devalue His sacrifice and… -
Constructive Pressure
I do not wish to place destructive pressure on you, but constructive pressure. But tell me — do you truly believe that constructive pressure exists? Imagine a deadline. What do deadlines look like? Everyone imagines them differently. I picture them as a container that holds nothing beyond its borders, or as a line cut off at both ends — a segment that allows nothing to stretch beyond its two terminal points, where one point marks the beginning and the other the end. Let that container or cut-off line represent time. Then tell me — is time infinite? Can we act outside that container or beyond that line of time? For although time in itself may be infinite, our time is not. Our time is measured and given within limits — contained within one vessel, between the ends of one finite line. No one has ever lived longer than a few short years. And the time required to achieve success — whether in nature or in society, in the body or in the character — is also limited. A tomato seed cannot bear fruit in two months, much less in two days or two minutes. The success of its fruit depends on how faithfully the sower respects the boundaries that God has assigned to the plant.… -
The Invisible Word: Faith in the Unseen, Good without Display, Works Unpictured
Blessed are they that believe the invisible Word of the Testimony: the testimony of Jesus Christ. That “God was manifest in the flesh, seen by angels, preached unto the world, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” That “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” That “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth, and herein is manifested the love of God toward us.” This is “the testimony of Jesus — the spirit of prophecy.” Whoever believes the Word of the prophecy, believes the Spirit of God. John 20:29 — “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” The visible is always changing, but the Word remains the same. ↑ The Word is invisible, without form, and immovable. When God speaks, it stands forever. Through the Word God created all that is seen and unseen. The Word is invisible, and God is invisible and infinite. {TOC2} Our faith in God, therefore, depends on the Word of God, and not on the form of God — for no one has ever seen God, but… -
“Under His Feet:” Sensationalism against Truth
What is a perception? It is a neutral concept. Why neutral? Because both the liar and the truth-teller have perception. Both the holy and the unholy have perception. Both the created and finite, and the Creator and the Infinite possess perception — they both perceive. They both see. They hear, taste, smell, touch, feel. The conflict arises as to which perception is the right one — the real one. The perception on which reality was built. Whose is it? Is it ours, or is it God's? When we state the question this way, the answer is obvious, right? Yet, daily, by our perception, this truth is not perceived — we confuse reality with what we perceive, instead of anchoring it to that, which is perceived by the One who created reality. And by our eyes alone — together with our ears, noses, lips, hearts and minds — we cannot perceive what God perceives. Unless we rest, BY FAITH, on the Creator's perception, we cannot know what truth is — truth as defined by God, the Builder of reality and the Establisher of the laws the govern it. Perception is how we interpret reality. But truth is not subject to our perception — it is fixed, rooted in the perception of the One who made reality… -
From Lamech to Jesus: the meaning of 70 times 7
Genesis 1:1 — "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 2:15 — "Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it."\ Genesis 2:16–17 — "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 'Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.'" Genesis 3:6 — "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate." (Sin enters the world. Separation from God begins.) Romans 5:12 — "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned." This was the turning point: sin entered the world through one choice, and now we all feel its echo in our hearts — a deep break we often try to fix by blaming others or protecting ourselves. Romans 6:23 — "For the wages of sin is death,… -
The Law of love (a simple reflection)
I want to give you a few simple things to consider tonight—about law versus beliefs. If there is a reason, who placed it? Only the Creator—the One who made us—can answer this. If we want to know why we are here and the right way to live, we must understand: The question is: Can we understand this? Only if He has made it possible. So, how can we understand? Only if He has provided the truth for us—somewhere we can access it—and given us: Now, what is the LAW that exists beyond our beliefs and opinions? Do we agree? It is irrelevant whether we agree or not. So, what is this unchanging Law? This is love. Now, we must ask: Is this the truth? How do we know His way? By reading the text He left for us to understand. But which text? This requires exploration. It takes time. But most people do not care enough to take the time to seek and satisfy their Creator. The Consequence of Ignoring the Law If this Law is real, then those who ignore it will not have the blood of Jesus applied to them as a ransom for their sins. So, if we want to live according to the will of our Creator and find the point… -
Gods’ Physical Law: The Tangible Means to God’s Moral Law
In a time when light has been given in abundance, it is no small thing to willfully remain in darkness. There is a class of professed Christians who walk with confidence in their moral uprightness, yet scoff at the simple, foundational laws that govern the body. They claim to uphold God's commandments while affirming the importance of physical law with their lips, yet undermining it in their actions. They speak of health, truth, and self-control, but do not walk in it. They say, "It is important to be honest," yet twist truth to justify themselves. They say, "It is important not to yell," yet rebuke with raised voices. They say, "Health is vital," yet downgrade or dismiss the very habits that sustain it. This is not ignorance, but refined hypocrisy—a form of godliness without the power. And they forget that to despise one law in practice is to trample the other in truth — because the two are not separable, disobedience of one cancels the profession of the other. They forget that to devalue one is to trample the other underfoot—for to treat one law as optional is to undermine the authority of both. They call themselves wise, yet they deny the very elements by which life is sustained. They refuse sunlight. They detest pure water. They prefer… -
The blessing of rest
is to enter the rest of GOD: the rest which the Sacrifice of His Son has given us: to enter in His love: to enter in His rest. (What is His rest? 1 ⤴) Moreover, end the blessing of rest: to believe that He loves us ⮕ The blessing of faith: this is the blessing of rest… to rest in His love, knowing that He is GOD, and the Father of us all — to remain still, in peace, in humility (humility is resting upon a greater power than ours), knowing that there is a Greater One than we, and that He loves us — that the Creator of heaven and earth is our Father. And what will a Father do for his children who are made in His image? Everything! He would give His life for them from the creation of the earth. Thus, the Sabbath is a symbol that God loves us, and that He gave His life and His Only Begotten Son for us, so that we will live by believing in His love — as His love is eternal, our life will be eternal (and that requires an eternal faith) — “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” — Revelation 2:10) Trust eternally in His…