Jacob The Heel Catcher - Spiritual Adultery

[MessageOfTheCross]

The Miracle of God’s Word

Proverbs 24:7
Wisdom is too high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the gate.
God’s wisdom is only found through faith in the One, in whom all the treasures of God’s wisdom are found (Colossians 2:2-3), that being Jesus Christ. God says it is the fool who says in his heart there is no God (Psalm 53:1). This is why the fool/unbeliever cannot attain wisdom. It is too high for him to reach. God also says that His Way of Life is ABOVE to the wise so they may depart from the hell below (Proverbs 15:24).

The fool not opening his mouth in the gate refers to the fool not having, or shouldn’t have any input in places of authority. The gate refers to where judicial decisions were made in the days of old, and as should be obvious, the fool, who doesn’t believe in God, therefore without the wisdom of God can’t make any wise decisions.

Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!

Pastor Curtis

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Your Word for Today

“Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again: For whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into Everlasting Life (Jn. 4:13-14).

This scene at Jacob’s well is one of the most amazing in human history. The dread Judge of the quick and the dead and one of the vilest of sinners are met together. But He is there not to condemn her, but to seek and to save her. The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, was sitting, weary and thirsty, by a well, but had no means even to quench His thirst. He, as Man, was dependent on an outcast woman for a little water.

His Grace and Love, rejected by Israel, now pour out their fullness upon an impure Samaritan — for Love is pained unless enabled to act. The floodgates of Grace lifted themselves up to bless the misery which Love pitied. Man’s heart, withered with self-righteousness, cannot understand this. Thus, sinners respond to the Grace which Pharisees proudly refuse; for Grace flows in the deep channels dug by sin and misery.

These two isolated hearts met — His, isolated by Holiness, for He was separate from sinners; hers, by sin, for she was separate from society — and this encounter of Holiness and sinfulness resulted in the Salvation of the sinner, for Jesus is “the Saviour.”

Apparently ashamed to come with the other women in the cool of the morning to draw water, she was obliged to come alone in the burning heat of the noonday sun. As with Nicodemus, so with the Samaritan, the Lord hastened to raise the question of sin in the conscience. Nicodemus was highly moral and the Samaritan, grossly immoral; yet was there no difference between them. Both were sinners needing cleansing and Salvation. But how different was the Lord’s method with each of them! The moralist was at once met with the abrupt word, “You must be born again,” but to the sinner, and One Who knew she was a sinner, He said, “Give Me to drink”!

A profession of faith in Christ which ignores the question of sin, the Holiness of God, the spirituality of worship as distinct from sacerdotal ceremonies, the need of pardon, and the condition of trust in an atoning and revealed Saviour — such a profession is worthless.

We learn from all of this that the Holy Spirit seeks people (16:13-15); the Father seeks worshippers (4:23); and the Son seeks sinners (Lk. 19:10).

Jesus did not pointedly reveal Himself to Nicodemus, but He did reveal Himself to this Samaritan woman.

Why not Nicodemus?

The sinner, exampled by the woman, accepts such, but self-righteousness, exampled by Nicodemus, could never accept such! Merit, in the one case, did not admit into Eternal Life, and demerit, in the other, did not exclude from it.

When Jesus, concerning the Messiah, said to the woman, “I am He!” — she was then saved by that Revelation (Mat. 11:27); for intelligence in Divine things comes by conscience and revelation and not by intellect.

Upon accepting Christ, “The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and said to the men (religious leaders of the city), Come, see a Man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” (4:28-29). This woman, who had been married five times, thus became the first Preacher of the Gospel to the Gentiles. So effective was her preaching that it caused a Revival. She became a vessel to receive and then to minister the gift of life.

And so can all who make Jesus the Saviour and the Lord of their lives."

—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”:
Donnie Swaggart

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

https://thecrosswaychurch.sermon.net/Cross_Time/CrossTime/21406092
Righteousness Pt. 12

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Your Word for Today

“the nobleman said unto Him, Sir, come down ere my child die. Jesus said unto him, Go your way; your son lives. And the man believed the Word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way (Jn. 4:49-50).

Someone has well said, “Desperation always precedes revelation.” More than likely, that is more true than not. This individual was a “nobleman,” which means that he was wealthy; however, his wealth didn’t stop the difficulties of life, such as the near death of his son.

Living in Capernaum, actually the Headquarters of Jesus, he heard that Jesus would be in Cana, which was approximately 10 miles west. So he went to Jesus and “besought Him that He would come down, and heal His son: for he was at the point of death.”

The Holy Spirit evidently informed Christ as to the thinking of this man, for Jesus said unto him, “Except you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” The Lord’s seemingly rough answer to the nobleman’s request, similar to that addressed to Nicodemus, was designed to test and deepen his faith; for Jesus knew his heart, its unbelief, and its demand for signs and wonders. Strengthened by this rebuke, the cry of anguish burst from him: “Lord, come down ere my child die!”

Jesus simply said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” That was it!

So the man had a choice. He could believe the Word of the Lord, or not believe it.

That’s all that he had, the “Word” given him. One can well imagine the consternation that filled his heart. According to what Jesus had said to him, he may have thought that Jesus would come with him to Capernaum. After all, he was a very wealthy man. Or, there would be some type of demonstration that instantly would make obvious the great Power of Christ. He had, however, only the simple word, “Go your way; your son lives.”

To be frank, that is enough! That is what every single person in this world has, the Word of the Saviour, i.e., “The Word of God.” Do we believe it, or do we not believe it?

Evidently, the nobleman believed. He probably had to stay the night in Cana, departing the next morning to go back to Capernaum. What would he find when he arrived home? It seems his servants were some distance on the road toward Cana, awaiting his coming. For they met him and told him, saying, “Your son lives,” actually, the identical words that had been used by Christ.

What joy must have filled this man’s heart! He asked his servants about the exact time the boy began to get better. They replied, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” That was the same hour that Jesus had pronounced the boy’s healing. His Word as enough!

The Scripture says that the nobleman believed, as well as the entirety of his house, which, of course, meant the entire family. This man had the “Word” of the Lord, and he found that it was enough. Today, we have the Word of the Lord. And I, as well as millions of others, can assure you, “That is enough!”’

—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”
Donnie Swaggart

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=496200111138555

Evangelist Torrance Nash Ministries

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Bread Crumbs “Amazing Grace”

The message of grace can be abused in two primary ways. First, it can be belittled by those who do not fully comprehend man’s desperate need for grace’s majestic provision. There is no such thing as cheap, sleazy, or greasy grace. To use any of these terms in association with the grace of God is blasphemy! There is absolutely nothing cheap, sleazy, or greasy about the price Christ paid on Calvary. Not only does the opponent to grace cut himself off from the only means by which God shows mercy and favor to man, but this attitude reveals an attitude of self-righteousness. Second, there is confusion created regarding Biblical grace by those who think that God’s grace indicates His approval of a continual sinful lifestyle. Biblical grace does not condone sinful activity. A proper doctrine regarding grace recognizes the necessity for confession of sin’s committed and a turning from the practice of all known sin. We who understand Grace as God’s goodness given to the undeserving based solely upon our faith in Christ refuse to be drawn into either of these two major errors. We do not fail to preach the grace of God as the one true way to life. And, to the practice of sin we join Paul in saying, “God Forbid!”

Ephesians 1:2 - Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pastor Loren Larson

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

The Miracle of God’s Word

Proverbs 24:8
He that deviseth to do evil shall be called a mischievous person.

He that plots and plans to do evil WILL be called a mischievous person means they WILL BE called a scheming person. They will be known in this manner. The child of God is to behave in such a way that expresses Christ, which means we are to live lives that represent the gospel of Jesus Christ that we claim to believe (Philippians 1:27).

Whatever we are trusting, and I did NOT say what we say we are trusting, but that in which we are trusting with our hearts (Romans 10:10), is the source and cause of our issues in life (Proverbs 4:23), and flows from there the fruit which we see manifest. Man, in all reality, is only in control of one thing, and that one thing is that which we place our faith in. If we place our faith in Christ and His work at Calvary, the Holy Spirit can take control of our lives and order our path, but if we are trusting in anything other, the devil, the world and our flesh will dominate, deceive and destroy us (Romans 7:11). I will choose Christ again today!

Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!

Pastor Curtis

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

https://thecrosswaychurch.sermon.net/Cross_Time/CrossTime/21406117
Righteousness Pt. 13

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=321834885364411

Evangelist Torrance Nash Ministries

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Bread Crumbs “Things Are Out Of Hand”

When preachers preach the Cross it is very likely that things will begin to get out of hand. As the Spirit of God move’s freely among God's people, as they hear and perceive the truth, they will begin to experience a Spirit induced feeling of exhilaration. They will walk in the exultation of freedom and liberty. In their hearts will beat a brand new longing for righteousness and holiness. From their lips will come a joyful praise of thankfulness and thanksgiving, rising up from the very depths of their souls. Things are sure to get out of hand! Believer’s will come out from under the contemptible hand of Satan. Deliverance will break out on the left hand and on the right! The Saints of God will come out from under the compelling hand of worldly desire. The things they had been drawn to and desired will wilt away and no longer be sought after. Those who trust in Christ Crucified will come out from under the captivating hand of all manner of temptation and sin. Yes sir, when the preacher preaches the Cross, things will certainly get out of hand! So preach the Cross and watch God’s people come out of the hand of the enemy!

1 Corinthians 1:23 - But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

Pastor Loren Larson

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

The Miracle of God’s Word

Proverbs 24:9
The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men.

The thought of foolishness refers to the planning to do foolishness, which is defined as silliness, and that which is not of God, and this is in God’s eyes is sinful. Remember that God has said that anything NOT of faith is sin (Romans 14:23), and faith only comes by hearing and hearing God’s Word (Romans 10:17) in the context of Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice.

The scorner, which is one who mouths at, mocks, and speaks against the Way of God, is an abomination to men. Christians who are walking with the Lord in the Spirit (Romans 8:1) will know who the scorners are. The scorner is recognized and known by all as foolish and silly, which is an abomination to all. The only escape from this foolishness and silliness is to place one’s faith in Christ and His saving and delivering work at Calvary! Today your lives can be changed forever simply by trusting in Christ, for at the cross He destroyed everything that would hinder our relationship with God!!

Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!

Pastor Curtis

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

https://thecrosswaychurch.sermon.net/Cross_Time/CrossTime/21409967
Cross Time with Pastor Curtis Jude Lesson 1

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Your Word for Today

“after this there was a Feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water (Jn. 5:1-3).

The Sabbath, the Passover, and the Feast of Tabernacles, as forms and witnesses, were fulfilled when Christ, Who ordained them, appeared. Man had degraded them so that they became merely “Feasts of the Jews”; their impotency to give life is contrasted here with Him Who is Life. Sadly and regrettably, men cling to forms and festivals all the more strongly when lacking the life which these forms and festivals symbolized under the First Covenant of works; they used these forms to fight against Him of Whom the forms witnessed.

We will find that the healing of the impotent man contrasts the quickening Power of Christ with the powerlessness of the Law. It demanded strength on the part of the sinner in order to obtain the life it promised. But man is without strength (Rom. 5:6). So what the Law could not do because of the weakness of that upon which, and through which, it was to act, i.e., the carnal nature of man, Christ, as sent by God, effected, for He brought with Him the power to accomplish that which Grace willed. A single word from Him sufficed.

Jesus asked the man, “Will you be made whole?”

That is, in effect, the same question that the Lord is asking all. Man is undone, impotent, wandering as a lost sheep, all because of sin. So, down through the ages comes the cry, just as potent today as it was then: “Will you be made whole?”

And yet, it is so hard for men to believe.

The man answered Christ, saying, “Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool.”

In those words, we have the plight of the entirety of the human race. They are looking to other men, but the other men to whom they are looking are just as impotent as they are. While some men definitely may have this world’s riches, still, that which man really needs cannot be supplied by man. If we look to man, we always will be disappointed.

Jesus said to the man, “Rise, take up your bed, and walk.” This man had been sick for 38 years, the same period of time that Israel spent in the wilderness. All of this time, the impotent man vainly sought life in the Pool of Bethesda, just as Israel had vainly sought life in the Law. In both cases, strength was required on the part of the person who sought what was promised, but they found that they could not receive.

Upon the Word of Christ, “immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked.” What a day that was for him! He was a picture of helpless humanity, unable to help himself, and finding no one who could help him.

But Jesus came. . .!

The man not only now could walk, he also carried his bed, that which once had carried him. More still, it was sin that had caused the sickness in the first place. To be sure, sin is the cause of all problems. So Jesus told him, “Behold, you are made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you” (Jn. 5:14).

While we should relish that which the Lord did, and rejoice thereby, still, we must also not fail to take in the lesson that continued sinning brings continued judgment.”

—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”
Donnie Swaggart

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=449097199263834

Evangelist Torrance Nash Ministries

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Bread Crumbs “Too Good To Be True”

The only thing that sounds too good to be true in this life, that really is true, is the gospel. The only thing that promises to change your life, that will truly change your life for the good, is a dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ. As human beings we are prone to search for fulfillment in every thing but the one thing that can truly satisfy. We labor to earn, we fight to own, we struggle to keep; but all this is in vain if we know not the Lord. The person who loses his life for the gospel’s sake is the only one that will ultimately experience gain without loss. The person who pursues everything but Christ will end up losing it all. So take a close introspective look at your present priorities. Are you focused on the only thing that can truly satisfy or are you in pursuit of something that you are guaranteed to be deprived of? The only pursuit that is able to produce peace, power, position, or prosperity of any lasting value or truly purposeful nature is the pursuit of a relationship with Jesus. Seek this first and God will then add to your life blessings that are just too good to be true!

Matthew 16:25 - For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Pastor Loren Larson
Loren Larson Ministries

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

The Miracle of God’s Word

Proverbs 24:10
If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.

Jesus Christ endured the cross for the Joy that was set before Him (Hebrews 12:2), as this Joy was experienced by Him there, and offered to us from there daily, if this is where our faith is, as the Joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). God here reminds us that if we faint in the day of affliction, distress, and trouble, our strength is small, revealing to us that it must be our strength if it is small, because His strength is great and made perfect in our weakness while we are trusting in Christ’s work at Calvary, as this is grace (2 Corinthians 12:9).

God’s answer for anything that comes against us to steal our strength, and attempts to cause us to faint, is to look to the cross of Christ. He has told us that unless we grow weary and faint in our minds, to consider the One who endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself (Hebrews 12:3). Never leave the cross, or you won’t make it.

Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!

Pastor Curtis

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

https://thecrosswaychurch.sermon.net/Cross_Time/CrossTime/21413556
Cross Time with Pastor Curtis Jude Lesson 2

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Your Word for Today

“then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His Blood, you have no life in you. Whoso eats My flesh, and drinks My Blood, has Eternal Life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed. Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you Twelve, and one of you is a Devil? He spoke of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was who should betray Him, being one of the Twelve (Jn. 6:53-55, 70-71).

The question is often asked, “Why did Judas do what he did?” How could he have been personally chosen by Christ, walk with Him for some three and a half years, witness the greatest array of miracles the world had ever known, and then betray the Master? The answer is found in the last half of this Sixth Chapter of the Gospel of John.

Judas did not appreciate the Message of the Cross, for that’s what the Message here was. Judas, in fact, totally rejected God’s Redemption Plan, which was the Cross of Calvary.

When Jesus spoke about “eating His flesh” and “drinking His Blood,” He was speaking of the Cross, i.e., the Sacrifice He would make there. He would offer up His Perfect Body as an Atonement for sin, thereby, in the giving of His Life, pour out His Precious Blood. This was the price that God demanded, and this was the price that Jesus would pay.

In this Message, more particularly Verses 53 through 56, Jesus proclaims the fact that the believing sinner must so embrace the Cross of Christ, that is, what Jesus did there, that he, in essence, and by Faith, becomes a part of Christ and what Christ did. It could be explained no better than Jesus, when He said, “He who eats My flesh, and drinks My Blood, dwells in Me, and I in Him” (6:56).

Whether Judas that day totally understood what Jesus meant, we cannot know; however, he most definitely came to understand what Jesus meant, and he fully rejected it. That’s why Judas betrayed the Lord! He did not want the Cross, nor any part of the Cross, just as millions presently follow the same path.

Regrettably and sadly, the far greater majority in the modern Church have also rejected the Cross. As Cain of old, they see no need for a Sacrifice. They are willing to accept Jesus as a great Prophet, a great Statesman, even a great Miracle Worker, but the Cross? No!

However, the following should be noted:

1. The only way to God is through Jesus Christ (Jn. 14:6).
2. The only way to Jesus Christ is through the Cross (Lk. 9:23).
3. The only way to the Cross is by and through a denial of self (Lk. 9:23).
4. The only way to deny self is by looking to Christ and the Cross (Rom. 6:3-5).”

—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”
Donnie Swaggart

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Bread Crumbs “Washed In The Blood”

Where have all my failures gone? Where are all the defeats of last year, last month, the last hour? They are washed away beneath the blood of Christ. They were placed there through the agency of simple faith; faith that was expressed in the completed work of Christ on Calvary. They are removed from me as far as the East is from the West, placed underneath the waves of God’s sea of forgetfulness. I do not live under a verdict of “guilty!” There is therefore now no condemnation attached to my name! Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin and I am that man! Though I deserve banishment and pain, though I deserve hurt and despair, though I have earned the right to be rejected, I am not. Instead, I am cleansed. I am washed. I am accepted in the beloved! I am sanctified. I am purified by my faith in Christ. He paid the price. He took my punishment. He gave His life. He tasted death so that I will never have to. So to my failures I say, “Behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” He has taken my sin away!

Ephesians 2:13 - But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Loren Larson
Loren Larson Ministries

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

The Miracle of God’s Word

Proverbs 24:11
If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain;

God here reveals how important it is to be an active part of the Body of Christ, which means through our faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel message reaching to those who are being drawn unto death and who are ready to be slain eternally. The Lord is watching and will reward us according to our works (Proverbs 24:12).

It is every Christian’s duty to live and to share the gospel in an attempt to deliver from death those who are lost and only awaiting to either be eternally saved or eternally slain. Make no mistake, it is also our responsibility to remind the church of it’s responsibility to continue believing the gospel, or they will become dead (Revelation 3:1, Romans 7:9), and no longer bear fruit and Jesus said that would be fatal (John 15:2). It is the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of the Lord (Ephesians 6:17), in the context of what Christ did at Calvary that will either save or slay, but you and I must carry that knowledge with us everywhere we go (2 Corinthians 2:14-16). The same Word of God that delivered Israel from Egypt hardened Pharaoh's heart. Which of those are you experiencing today? God loves you and sent His Son, Jesus Christ to prove it to you. Is your heart hard against the world or against the Lord?

Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!

Pastor Curtis