February 28
Lev 22:17-23:44 | PS 44:1-8 | Prov 10:19 | Mark 9:30-10:12
With companies like Ancestry.com and 23andMe people desire to understand their roots. People will travel to their parent's hometowns and walk the streets and talk to the townspeople to better understand their heritage. Many like going through old photos, etc. to get a better grasp of their parents and grandparents. There is nothing wrong with this quest, but better than this is to desire to understand one's Creator. Sadly, so few have any desire to know God. This does not require travelling to a foreign country or sifting through the basement. It requires one to actually pick up the Bible and go through it with an open mind from cover to cover. God loves us so much that He left us with a 66-book lover letter called the Bible, that He wrote for us through men. This should be our greatest desire, as Chuck Swindoll said, "God deals with the hard questions of life. Not questions like how do I make a living, but how do I make a life? Not how do I spend my time, but how do I spend eternity? And not so much how do I get along with the person who sits next to me, but ultimately, how do I get along with God? When we answer the hard questions correctly, all the others fall into place." Yesterday, like so many other days in my office I spoke with many patients who have suffered serious losses of loved ones along with other hardships. Besides empathizing with them I strongly encourage them to read through the entirety of God's Word. Many point to a denomination. Many talk of going to church. Many talk of saying a prayer here and there. These are not the answers to real relationship with God. There are simply no shortcuts.
As to the topic of denominations, we read in Mark 9:38-41, "John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group.” “Don’t stop him!” Jesus said. “No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us. If anyone gives you even a cup of water because you belong to the Messiah, I tell you the truth, that person will surely be rewarded." I love my church, Calvary Chapel Old Bridge, but simply walking through the front door does not make one a Christian any more than walking into a garage make one a car. Worship where you feel God leading you but get clarity through the entirety of God's Word. Many feel no sense of urgency, deeming themselves "pretty good", or continuing to go to the church that they have traditionally gone to simply because that is what they have always done, even if they don't get anything out of it. Church is not a social club, and if any see themselves as "pretty good" then they do not know their Savior. We read in Leviticus 2:18-20, ...“If you present a gift as a burnt offering to the Lord, whether it is to fulfill a vow or is a voluntary offering, you will be accepted only if your offering is a male animal with no defects. It may be a bull, a ram, or a male goat. Do not present an animal with defects, because the Lord will not accept it on your behalf." We are simply not good enough and never will be. It took a perfect Savior to bring about salvation for us, and that Savior is Jesus Christ. Unless you read Scripture this is easily missed, and Jesus can be more of your mascot than your Savior. It is so easy to miss this point as even the apostles who were with Jesus for three years were arguing amongst themselves as to who of them were the greatest in Mark 9:33-36.
This is not the first time that we read of the Jewish feasts, repeated for us in Leviticus 23. Realize that these feasts were actually dress rehearsals for the greater fulfillment in the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus has already fulfilled the first four feasts of Spring. The first feast is Passover, and when Jesus was sacrificed on the Cross on that Passover day, the Lamb of God who alone takes away the sins of the world died for us. Passover represented the Angel of Death passing over the Israelites on the tenth plague. Jesus' sacrifice enables eternal life so that we can escape eternal death or separation from God. The feast of Unleavened Bread represents Jesus' life without sin. Yeast represents sin in Scripture, and Jesus freed us from the bondage of sin. The next feast, the feast of Firstfruits, the day after the first Sabbath after the Passover, was when Jesus rose from the grave on that Easter Sunday, and represents the firstfruits of salvation as we read in 1 Corinthians 15:20, "But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (NKJV)" Lastly, the feast of Pentecost was when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church as seen in Acts 2. The last feasts, the fall feasts, will likewise be fulfilled surrounding the events of Jesus' second coming. God offers us everything. But so many have no desire to get to know Him. Please pick up your bibles. If you find it difficult, get a version that reads easier such as the NLT. Please join along with us. Don't worry about what you have missed just join along and get to know the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is the thread that weaves together the entire 66 books of the Bible.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: