Romans 1: 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,[1] for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."[2]”
Dr. Martin Luther the founder of the Protestant reformation said, "St. Paul says that man is made righteous or just by believing in something that God has done for him. But what has God done for man to make him righteous or holy? He sent Jesus Christ to make us holy? He sent Jesus Christ to make us holy! Jesus kept the law perfectly, and yet He was punished by being put to death. He had not done anything wrong, but I have! That’s it! God punished Jesus in my place, by letting His own Son be punished by death. Now I am holy in God’s sight because I know and believe that Jesus is righteous and holy for me, and He has taken my punishment!" What Luther realized was that the Gospel is a Gospel of reformation. It is has the power to change our lives, and to change the way we live. Luther realized that the gospel is not simply another good message or even good medicine, but the very power of God to change the culture in which we live. More than in any other age it is this age in which we live in that needs to hear the Gospel message of Jesus Christ which will change souls for all eternity. It is this Gospel of Christ that saves it is not men’s ideas of the Gospel but only Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross that makes it possible for humans to experience the divine work of the Cross. It is not a message of condemnation, but it is a message of hope. It is this hope that we have through Messiah which makes it possible to receive the benefits of eternal life both presently through the indwelling of the Spirit and in the future sense to enjoy the Millennial reign of Messiah. In all this though in our present age in our present condition as it stands, the Body of Messiah needs to stand up on its own two feet and hear the Word of God. We are ashamed of Messiah and have made His word an open anathema. Instead of being the life giving force that our world needs we are exactly the opposite of what it needs. What the world needs is to hear the message of the Gospel not a message of opinion. If we are to stand upon the Word of God alone then we must reach out to those who are broken hearted who seek mercy, because it is this message that they truly need.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:9, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God." This verse is a picture of what we are to be as Christians. Peace in the Hebrew language is the word shalom. It signifies all is well. Israel is a people that God has covenanted with His blessing. Those who oppose Israel, the church, oppose God. Jesus Christ paid for the church with His very own precious blood. If God was hard on Israel in the Old Testament, how much more will He be on the church that was purchased with the very blood of Jesus! Judges 6:24 says, "The Lord is peace." Jesus said in John 16:33, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage: I have overcome the world." 1 Corinthians 7:15 says, "God has called us to peace." Paul also says in II Corinthians 5:18, "Now all these are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation." Reconciliation is the work of being a peacemaker. Paul continues in II Corinthians 5:19-20, "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us." Have we really gained so much or lost so much as to lose our minds? We have more than did our forefathers who walked before us with the expansion of time. Looking back what have we gained? More tradition? More lies? More hypocrisy? Yes to every single answer. More idol worship? As it stands for many Christians sadly instead of worshipping Messiah they worship a wooden idol which in turn leads them astray. As with the people of Israel when they received the ten commandments and Aaron lead them to worship a golden calf, because they were not patient enough for Moses to return.
I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Despite the best claims of those who have come against everything that opposes the flame of faith in Messiah throughout the ages the Word of God will always be preached in purity from this pulpit regardless of my feelings, comments or otherwise. I am not ashamed to call myself a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. What do we need? We need to be a people who will flat out refuse to worship idols and pagan holidays that seek to lead the people of God into bondage and away from the Lord Jesus. As believers we are to believe in the validity of the Word of God alone. The Word of God stands in judgment of men at all times, not the other way around. Peace will never exist here on earth and maybe not biblical unity either in the Body of Messiah. Many wish to replace Messiah the real Jesus Christ who purchased for us eternal life and in so doing make it harder for people to have eternal life-in turn as well peace with God.
The other day someone told me that I believed in a tradition of faith. To this, I wish say no I don’t, I hold to the Word of God. As a scholar of God’s Word, I balk at such a notion that I hold to the traditions of a faith that has for the better part of 2,000 years been used and abused, manipulated and twisted by man. This Satanic pervasion was prevalent in the early churches by the same people today who are Mormons who call themselves Christians, but by their elevation of eternal life into them thinking that they are “god’s” they are nothing more than heretics. It is the same with Jehovah’s witnesses.
In the early church there was Monasticism, whose founder made the Pauline epistles easier to swallow by taking out the fact that you had to repent. Therefore, if we don’t have to repent we don’t need a Savior, and we definitely don’t need to be in the 144,000 of which the Jehovah’s witnesses do believe that you have too. If there were only 144,000 people going to heaven, or we were “god’s” even if that were possible who would want to be? If we believed this as do false religions then we would be in the wrong, because Jesus said in John 14:6, “6Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Its time that we bowed our knee not to some man but to the Messiah. It is the Lord of hosts who will return for His bride. If you are not counted among that lot or feel yourself ashamed of Him then what do you expect? Do you expect Messiah to greet you warmly and embrace you when you willfully reject the hope of eternal life with Him during the Millennial reign? What you ought to do instead is repent and embrace the warm filled grace that God offers to you in a relationship with His Son Jesus. Instead of barking around orders at another as a commander would do in battle; what you out to do is bark at yourself telling yourself what you have done is wrong. It is wrong to elevate idols and replace the Lord of glory with mere opinions of which idols are founded.
If we are not ashamed of the Gospel of Messiah and believe its power is able to change the world then what are we to do? What we ought to do is set our hearts on fire through the study of God’s holy Word. It is the Word of God which changes the hearts of men through the preaching of the purity of the Word. It is only through this that the crystal clear message of the Gospel can go forth because it is the reality that needs to touch every man to the core of his being. It is the truth unequivocally. It is the fire that ought to burn in every believers Spirit. Instead of being lazy and slothful the Body of Messiah ought to awaken out of her slumber and embrace the warmth of the love of Messiah. Are you ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the power of God to touch a nation. It is the power of God to spark souls to fire in Him. God does not want people who will be lukewarm, because He rebuked Laodicea for such actions, and how much more do you think He will do the same? It is time that instead of adopting the conformality to the world that we instead adopt the attitude of conformality to Messiah who reigns over all. Our faith presently instead of being founded on the Word of God in the Body of Messiah is founded by men who know nothing more than a mere cup of coffee which cannot even speak at all. To equate it would be to a banana which sits there awaiting it to be eating. The Word of God is sweet as honey not bitter like a rotten banana. If we wish to soak in the truths contained in God’s Holy Word then we must consider the Word of God to be as honey which will liberate our very souls and take us higher into the revelation of His Word through the study of God’s Word.
Sometimes I feel like I’m banging my head against the wall trying to get people to wake up in the joys of God’s Word. God keep speaking His Word right into my heart and as long as He does that, as long as I have breathe I will speak forth His Word in clarity and truth. I am not ashamed of the Word of God for it is the power of God to change souls from sinners captivated by idols to sinners saved by grace. Grace is the power which draws nigh the sinner into the experience of the extravagance of God’s marvelous love that He has for us. It is the peace of God which surpasses all understanding which enters the soul of the believer and awakens the Spirit aspect inside of every human being.
Why would this awaken? It is only through the sacrifice of Messiah who Himself became our high priest tearing apart the veil so that we would not have to do blood offerings of animals, so that we could in turn have one Passover Lamb-mainly Jesus Christ who gave His life. When He said it was finished Jesus Christ became our Passover Lamb tearing apart the veil that separated us from God the chasm that held us back from the personal intimacy that comes from accepting and receiving the marvelous love of God through Messiah’s sacrifice on the Cross. It is this love I am not ashamed of because it is this peace that surpasses all understanding that warms my heart every morning. This love reminds me that everyday that I am His child bought by His blood. Bought by the blood means that we are redeemed by His sacrifice. It is this sacrifice of which we speak of often. The present condition of the Body of Messiah is like a sick patient in a hospital. When your sick you go to the hospital to be made better, and so you go to experience wellness that you may get better. It is time that we consulted a doctor as believers, because we are so sick and so full of opinions that it threatens the very integrity and morality of the Body of Christ. Our doctor in this case is the Word of God and the Lord Jesus. Only He through the guidance of the Holy Spirit can shape the Body through vessels who are willing to wield His Word willingly.
If we wish to even have two feet to stand on then we must run to the love of God. It is the love of God which Jesus showers upon us through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. It is this very love which ought to motivate us drawing us further into the marvelousness of His love. If you are ashamed to call yourself a Christian then a Christian ye be not. If we love Jesus we will not be ashamed of the peace, which Christ offers, nor ashamed of preaching the message of eternal life through His blood sacrifice. It is this blood that covers our sins and makes it possible for us to be called children bought by the blood of Messiah. If you are ashamed of that then what point is there to call yourself a Christian? Yet many would wish to call themselves Christian because it is either socially acceptable or pleasant to think that one has a system of morals. Many people go to church or to groups online to study the Bible, but never experience the love of God which suparasses all understanding. Now why would this be? It is because the leaders of the churches and of the groups online are Pharisees caught captive by the same arrogance for which Jesus Himself was murdered. It is because deep down in their hearts of hearts they know neither Christ nor His Word. History bears witness to the fact that Constainte while named Christian still acted as the Roman “high priest”. Constainte wished to have harmony in his churches and considered himself a bishop of bishops if you will calling the council together in Constantinople When the state was given the authority to settle disputes in Christianity that was where things went awry.
Yet is should not shock us to find that when the state has intervened in the interests of Christianity it has not only messed things up but horrific things have occurred. The history of the catholic church is replete with plenty of illustrations many of which are so atrocious one is forced to ask the question, “How can they do that and name themselves Christians?”. If what we believe is what we believe then what we believe must in turn be what is changing us. If what is changing us is God’s Word then what we believe about God’s Word will in turn change us. As with Jesus walking along the streets going to and fro or as with the Prophets of Old, we need people who will speak forth the clarity and truthfulness of the Message of eternal life through the blood of Jesus. We do not need more idols what we need to do is remove the idols from the churches which are prevalent through the notion of traditions which do not unify the church but divide the church. The other day I got called a heretic, a “Judaizer”. A Judaizer is someone who keeps people under the Old Testament law. Yet if we take a look at Matthew 5:17-20 we find that Jesus condemned people who wished to abolish the standard of the Law. Again if we take a look at Paul’s teachings in Galatians 3, Romans 7-11, among others you can easily find that Jesus fulfilled the standard of the Law but that the standard of the Law is to turn us not towards self but towards Jesus. If I’m a Judaizer then so be it, but I will not deny the Jewishness of Jesus. If one wants to do that then you can be my guest, but in the process you are forced to deny the existence of the Word of God itself in its entirety. What is wrong with the Body of Christ? Have we totally lost our minds? If we do not believe the Word of God which is clear by the demonstration of many of ya’ll’s actions online in these sites then what point is it to call yourself and name yourself a Christian?
Such hypocrisy is why the church is living in the dark, and speaking in the dark. Sure, we have preachers who preach on television, but so many of them don’t really know the Gospel message in the first place they are only out for their million dollar pocket books not the salvation of souls nor the Kingdom of God which is available to every soul which repents and believes upon the sacrifice of Jesus Christ alone. If we think that our mere motivations and eccentric actions will save us we are dead wrong. It is time that we stopped sleeping and listening to lies. It is clear that we are ashamed of Jesus Christ who gave His life for us. If we believe the Word of God to be true then lets preach it. Don’t sugar coat the Bible in your preaching nor in your life. When you go to eat you want to experience the flavor of the food. People are going to burn in hell because Christians won’t stand upon the Word of God and unite biblically under the banner of Jesus Christ. I am not ashamed to call myself a believer in Jesus Christ nor am I ashamed of the fact that I openly support the nation of Israel, nor do I support that notion that Islam is a religion of peace which our government wants to support. I do not support the above said positions, because they run contrary to the written revealed Word of God upon whose foundation I stand upon.
Anything else other than the Word of God is not only flat out wrong, it is idol worship found in pagan religions. 2 Peter 1:20knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,[1] 21for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God[2] spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. 1st Corinthians 213These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy[1] Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 1st Thess 2: 13 For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.”
2nd Timothy 316All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." Where true peace is, there is righteousness, holiness and purity. You cannot have righteousness without purity or holiness, because righteousness is their guard. When Jesus said in Matthew 10:34, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on Earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.". Jesus did not come to bring peace at any price. In our culture there is much resistance to the Gospel, and in this being said, there will always be resistance before there is harmony, and there will always be strife before there is peace. When we are making a stand for Christ we are setting God’s standard of righteousness before a world that is full of wickedness, and there is naturally an unavoidable conflict as a result of that.
It is time that we as believers in Jesus unite under the banner of Messiah, because it is Jesus Christ who gave His life for us. Those who wish to oppose that oppose the work of salvation, which in turns deny the whole entire Godhead. If we wish to stand for Christ unashamed then let our voices rise and not be silenced. Let us arise out of our sleep and slumber, and let the world hear the message of eternal life through His blood. It is time that we were not ashamed to call ourselves among the elect of Christ, called and chosen for His purposes that we might be called, “Romans 8:17, "Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ." A peacemaker is one who is characterized as someone who is able to find a point of agreement. To not correct someone who has wrong theology, wrong standards, wrong beliefs, and wrong attitudes is not only wrong, but is also a travesty. We must face those who are in opposition with love and prayer. In doing this, it promotes peace. Those who are peacemakers are often accused of being troublemakers and disturbers of the peace, as Ahab accused Elijah in I Kings 18:17, as well as the Jewish leaders of Jesus in Luke 23:2,5. a peacemaker is one who is motivated to lead others to peace with God. Christians are an organism making up the body of Christ, not just some institution made up of a bunch of happy people but the household of God commanded to bring the Gospel to the nations. The Pharisees are a picture of what peacemakers are not. Their hearts were hard against the things of God, and as a result caused strife wherever they went. They cooperated only when it was to their best interest. John MacArthur comments that, "The peacemaking spirit is the opposite of that. It is built on humility, sorrow over its own sin, gentleness, hunger for righteousness, mercy, and purity of heart." G. Campbell Morgan says much the same thing, "Peacemaking is the propagated character of the man who, exemplifying all the rest of the beatitudes, thereby brings peace wherever he comes." One of the purposes of the church is to preach what Acts 10:36 says, "Peace through Jesus Christ." As we share Christ with others, we are promoting peace, because He is peace.
What will be your response today? Will you be as a man who heard the truth and ran away because its claims drove you to your knees and in turn drove you mad? It was reported during a sermon by Edwards which he preached that men and woman alike writhed in pain, because they experienced the sin nature of man so innately that they writhed in pain. If we wish to love our sins more than our Lord then we don’t know Him at all. All we are is blinded by the darkness of sin, and its prevalence in our lives. If we love sin more than Christ then we are characterized by Christ’s own words, “18"He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (John 3:18-21). What is your decision today? Will you stand upon the foundation of Christ and His Word? Or will you be blinded by those who wish to keep you trapped into the tradition of man? Its time that the Body of Christ acted like the Body of Christ which is demonstrated by the preaching of His Holy Word. It is His Word which can change souls and if we stand upon the foundation of His Word we are like an animal crying out for help in the wilderness. May we all stand upon the validity of the Word of God, and not deny it by our actions.
As one standing in the wilderness, I call out as John the Baptist did. Those who wish to join are only those who will walk in the wilderness who know the cost, and have counted the cost. They are those whose hearts are set upon the rock of His Word and know that the souls of humanity are at stake. The Word of God going forth may bounce off people’s head, and they may not understand it at first, but the preaching of the Word through the strength of the preacher’s inner life ought to draw people in turn through the preaching of God’s Word which doesn’t go forth without void, but goes forth with power from those whose lives are in turn right with God. Those who preach with power are those whose lives are right with God. It is because their lives are not contaminated by the false gospel, which derives from the pit of hell, which says that sin is okay. You can count on as many fingers as you want and call sin okay, but the reality is that sin is not only wrong it will in the end kill you and lead you to an place of eternal suffering and despair. If you want to go to that place then by all means be my guest. What Jesus Christ offers you is eternal life with Him. You can experience that today through not being ashamed of Him and what He did for you.
Upon that Cross Jesus Christ suffered so that you and I, could even have this conversation today. If one is ashamed they need to revaluate what they believe because to count the cost means to walk to the Cross. The Cross is the banner of our faith. As a solider raises a banner in battle so we ought to raise our banner which is the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word. Yet if we don’t then we really in fact deny Jesus Christ, and make His sacrifice utterly meaningless. If we do this we are nothing more than a social club, which in many cases we are. God did not purchase eternal life for us upon that Cross, so that we could be a social club. Jesus Christ purchased eternal life for us upon that Cross with His blood spilling down from that tree, so that we would serve humanity. It is service and intimacy of our service that will change the world. Yet we once again we can only do these things not through the notion of self or glorification of self, but through the preaching and studying of God’s Holy Word.
It is my sincere prayer that every one reading this will study God’s Word. Studying God’s Word is the most rewarding thing that anyone can ever do. When you study His Word the fire and experience of joy floods your mind and warms your heart. As I prepare to share with each of you, the Lord warms my heart with the revelation of His love and sends me forth to share His message with His people. They are not my people in the first place, but God’s people and therefore God’s message to God’s people who He loves. If God wishes to use what has been said it is not for my glory or praise, it is merely for the glory of the Lord and the furtherment of His Kingdom. I love the Lord with all of my heart, and am not ashamed to call myself a believer in Him. I am not ashamed to call myself a supporter of Israel, and pray for the peace of Israel. I am not ashamed to call myself a believer in the Messianic movement which is seeing Jews and Gentiles come to know Jesus Christ throughout the world. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because it is the Gospel first to the Jew and the gentile. I count it a privilege to suffer for the name of Jesus Christ, upon whose life I base my own life whose life I want to reflect and whose life I have committed to preaching, declaring and studying, for the rest of my days.
May God bless each one of you with the revelation of His peace through His Son Jesus Christ.
Pastor Jenkins
