Does Your Church Preach Repentance and Faith to Achieve Salvation?

Look, I am quite aware that the primary purpose of the church gathering each Sunday is for worship and to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. The latter is why we meet on Sunday instead of Saturday.

That said, there is a legitimate question to be asked: If an unsaved person visited your church, would he (or she) know what the "fuss" is all about?

Would he know of his condition in relationship to God?

Would he know that repentance is absolutely necessary to establish a relationship with God?

Would he know that salvation is a gift of God's grace and is realized by faith in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary?

Proper understanding of and application of Scripture will always lead to the need for repentance, for confessing Christ as Lord and for belief in what He has done through His death burial and resurrection. That is the sum-total of what Scripture is about.

ANY sermon that does not reveal every person's sin problem and the solution to that problem in Christ has failed to fulfill God's desire for that sermon.

Every service should involve worshiping God. Every service should involve celebrating Christ's resurrection. Every service should also include why we need salvation and how repentance and belief in Christ is necessary to achieve it.

OF WHAT KIND OF WORSHIP IS GOD WORTH?

Moses Worshiped God

We know all the right words to apply to God: Sovereign; Worthy; Majestic; Awesome; Powerful; Mighty; Omniscient; Creator and all of the rest of them. If we believe them, why is our worship so slip-shod and puny?

When we should be falling prostrate on our faces, we are behaving like we're in a social club. When we should be humble, we are presumptuous. When we should be offering up the best there is to Him, we offer Him spiritual pablum, chaos and rank amateurism.

God's right hand spans the universe. One word from God and things come into existence or go out of existence. He is the Judge of judges. He is the keeper of eternity's books. He holds your life, temporal and eternal, in His hands. And we dare to offer up to Him disharmony and disorder in our worship? How? What makes us think that's alright?

"Well, we're just family" is not a reason to minimize the reverence we must have for God. Everything we do in worship must enhance the personal encounter with Him that is worship. Every element of  our worship must point people to God. Every part of worship should be an exaltation of Him. Every second of our worship must be for Him and only for Him. There is no place for "us-toward-ness" in worship.

That is not a call to sterility, it is a call to proper enthusiasm; enthusiasm that inhales and exhales the very Breath of God, who is the Holy Spirit. Worship should include reverent fellowship. There is more than enough entertainment in most worship services.

In worship, everything must be done as well as it can be done: singing; announcing; praying; speaking; sermonizing; inviting. Whatever we are doing in worship must demonstrate our understanding of who we serve.

Nothing, absolutely nothing in worship is about us. It is all about Him, His character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption.

Can we clap in worship? As long as the clapping is an offering to God and not to the "performer." Can we "Amen!" in worship? As long as the "Amen" is in agreement with one of the great principles of God, and not some phony response to some "rib-tickling" platitude.

Worship is not about what kind of music is sung, how eloquent our prayers are, how funny the pastor is or how pious his sermons sound. Church worship is coming corporately into the presence of Almighty God through Christ by His Holy Spirit.

God has given us His best: His only Son, Jesus. Ought we to offer anything less than our best in worship?

A Study in Ezekiel-Week 01

One rendering of Ezekiel's vision

This book will be studied in an overview fashion.  The basic meanings of the passages will be dealt with.

Ezekiel was a priest (Ezekiel 1:3) but never served in that office, as he was still a young man when he was taken captive during the reign of Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:10-16). He was contemporary with Jeremiah and Daniel. Ezekiel spoke to the captives who had been brought to the rivers of Babylon. 

While the other captives wept when they remembered Zion, Ezekiel exulted in the greatest visions ever given to any prophet.  “Ezekiel is the prophet of the Spirit, as Isaiah is the prophet of the Son, and Jeremiah the prophet of the Father.”

Ezekiel was the prophet of the glory of the Lord. The meaning of Ezekiel is seen in the coming glory during the kingdom. Ezekiel looked beyond the sufferings of Christ to “the glory that should follow” (1 Peter 1:11).

Chapter 1 - Displaying the glory of God

Verse 1 - Whereas Jeremiah was the "weeping prophet," Ezekiel is the prophet of visions. His visions were not like those of the founders of the cults: Mary Baker Eddy, Charles T. Russell, Joseph Smith and the like. Ezekiel's visions conform to the message of the Bible, theirs did not.

Verses 2-4 - This is a vision of the presence of God, a Theophany. The lights are brighter than the sun. 1 John 1:5 tells us that God is light. Hebrews 12:29 describes Him as a consuming fire. Acts 26:13 reveals that Paul saw a light from Heaven brighter than the sun.

Verses 5-14 - Intelligent purpose is demonstrated. They reflect the power of God over the whole earth. In each of the creatures we see the face of a man. This is prophetic of the incarnation. It looks to Christ.

The cherubim's job is to show the holiness of God. They are the servants of God. They follow Him going where He orders them to go and doing what He tells them to do.

Verses 15-25 - In the wheels we get a sense of the ceaseless activity and never ending omnipotence of God. God is moving forward. He never goes backward. If we go backward, we are not following God.

These are not the wheels of a UFO, an airplane or some futuristic vehicle. There were eyes around the edge of the wheel. They could see all things. We cannot escape God. He sees and knows everything.

When the cherubim moved, the wheels had to go with them. The Spirit of God had control of the cherubim. Where the Spirit went, the cherubim had to go. God spoke and the cherubim stood still and lowered their wings. His voice was like a mighty army; like an ocean whose waves could not be stopped. His voice brought fear into the heart of a man; a fear that was the beginning of knowledge and wisdom.

Verses 26-28 - Ezekiel saw a throne. It shone like sapphire. On it was a person like a man. This was the preincarnate Christ and Ezekiel had to fall on his face in front of Him and he worshipped Him.

The four faces (Revelation 4:6-8) remind us of the four Gospels in which Christ is revealed in four aspects: in His kingship — symbolized by the lion (Matthew); as a servant — symbolized by the ox (Mark); in His perfect humanity — symbolized by the face of a man (Luke); in His deity  — symbolized by the flying eagle (John).

We must recognize the power and sovereignty of God. When we do, we will recognize our sin and its consequences. We must repent of our sin and turn in faith to Christ. We must trust in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary. Then will not only survive being in the presence of God, we will joyfully be with Him in eternity.

Chapter 2 – The Prophet’s call and enduement with power for the office.

Verses 1-2 – The Holy Spirit comes upon Ezekiel in preparation for his office. Israel had once again been rebellious. 

Verses 3-5 – This is about the prophet’s call. He is to speak for God, but will not be heard or obeyed. What they need is a savior. We’ll see the Savior later in the book.

Chapter 3 – The Prophet’s preparation; office as watchman

Verses 1-6 – Ezekiel is told to eat the scroll. The scroll represents the Word of God (Christ).

Verses 7- 8 – God warns of the reaction to and the reception of the message of Ezekiel.

Verses 9-14 – God prepares Ezekiel for the resistance of his people. When we share Christ, we will likely encounter resistance. But we have to share, because Christ said to.
Chapter 7 – Prophecy of final destruction of Jerusalem

Verse 15 – He is a prophet to the captives. His message was heavy duty, and Ezekiel brooded over it before delivered it.

Verses 17-19 – As the watchman on the city walls, Ezekiel is responsible for giving God’s warning. When we are righteous in our own “power,” we will fail. It is when we receive the righteousness of God through Christ that we will succeed by being saved from the penalty of unrighteousness.

Chapter 4 – The Judgment of Jerusalem – The false prophets were telling the people they would have peace. Ezekiel will confirm the word of Jeremiah: You’re not going to have peace. Jerusalem will be destroyed. Governments think they can bring peace. They cannot and they will not. Paul wrote: “When they say ‘peace, peace’ sudden destruction looms. There is only one Prince of Peace, Jesus.

Verses 1-3 – Sign of the tile. Ezekiel was to draw the city of Jerusalem and then break it. The iron pan between him and Jerusalem showed that the city would fall. The defiled bread symbolizes the other issues Israel would face. The bread of the world leads to destruction. The Bread of Life (Jesus) leads to eternal life.

Verses 4-5 – In symbolic action, the prophet lies 390 days on his left side and eats defiled bread.

Verse 6 – The prophet lies forty days on his right side (one day equals one year), depicting the coming siege.

Chapter 5 – The Sign of prophet shaving hair

Verses 1-5 – Ezekiel shaved off his hair (unusual for a priest), divided it into three parts. The three parts depict the three judgments of Jerusalem.

Verses 12- 17 – The judgments are spelled out: The destruction, the judgement of the survivors and the scattering of Israel. The world should heed the warning that without Christ they are doomed. But they will resist the warning.

Chapter 6 – The Sword is to fall upon Jerusalem & the remnant will be saved.

Verses 1-7 – The Word of the Lord is to show the God is the Lord. Choose Him or judgement. The world will not provide shelter. Only God can---through Christ.

Verse 8 – The remnant. There will be a few who will be saved. The road to eternal life is narrow and there are few that will find it. Christianity is a very narrow, by design of God. We need to be warning the world that God will judge their sin. They need to come to God through Christ.

 Verses 1-11 – The concept here is that God is not to be “fooled” with.

Verse 12 – The time is come. This is the prophecy of the final judgement of Israel.

If you are a Christian, God has chosen you to live triumphantly and to tell others about Christ. Whether they want to hear it or not is irrelevant. We are to tell them that to be saved they must place their faith in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary.

To Chant or Not to Chant? That is the question.

There is a lot of ignorance among Christians about music. Fine music that praises God  takes many forms. One of those forms is the Gregorian Chant.

The Gregorian Chant is not a chant in the sense of rhythmically repeating spoken words, such as one might hear from certain pagan rituals or from certain ethnic groups.

Gregorian chants are made of music that has form, substance and melody. To think that they do not have melodies or rhythmic patterns is just musical ignorance.

Here are a couple of Gregorian Chants you might (or might not) enjoy:






Here's the thing. There are all kinds of valid praise and worship music. There is valid contemporary praise and worship music. There is valid traditional praise and worship music. There is valid Southern Gospel praise and worship music. There is valid country praise and worship music. There is valid choral praise and worship music, valid Native American praise and worship music, valid Eastern praise and worship music, valid African praise and worship music, valid reggae praise and worship music and valid praise and worship music of kinds I can't even think of.

When someone claims that contemporary music is somehow more valid in today's Christian society than Southern Gospel or hymns or praise choruses he is speaking out of ignorance.

The use of music is a two way street. Because one song is loud and accented on the 2nd and 4th beats and the other is softer and accented on the 1st and 3rd beats has nothing to do with its relevance, value or valid use in worship. Various styles of music a valid and meaningful.

What that really matters in Christian music is whether the music is faithful to right doctrine, whether the words chosen fit the music setting and whether the combination of music, beat, melody and tempo are pleasant to someone's ears.

God can be worshiped and praised in many different ways.