"And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest"  
(Luke 10:2)



These are the words Jesus spoke to His disciples when he set aside seventy-two men to go two by two to prepare the way for His coming. Jesus sent them as lambs among wolves, fully dependent upon the Lord for their provision. They were to carry no money, no food, and no extra clothing. Their needs were to be met merely by those to whom they brought the message, "the Kingdom of God is at hand."

What a time this must of been. These men witnessed the work of God in the lives of their hearers. In some places, hardness a rejection of the message. In other places, joyful acceptance. Just as Christ message had been confirmed through power, so too their declaration would be attended by  miraculous healings. How much their hearts must have been stirred when they returned to the villages they had visited and saw the work of Christ among them!

When is the last time you prayed to the Lord of the Harvest? Our God is a missional God. He is consumed with His Glory and in his merciful grace He has chosen to extend the knowledge of His glory through the means of men proclamation the Gospel. God has chosen the foolishness of preaching to bring about the saving influence of the Gospel.

"How beautiful upon the mountains

are the feet of him who brings good news,

who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,

who publishes salvation,

who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns.'" (Isaiah 52:7)

We are the hands and the feet of the message of Christ. We are to live this message in word and deed. When we pray to the Lord to provide opportunity to proclaim Christ this is one request He will grant, because this is praying in accordance with His will.

Where should you preach Christ? Who is it the Lord would have you speak to? It is not about results, but faithfulness. We have been given the honor to make Christ known. Let's do it! The fields are white for harvest, but how few workmen are there? Let us not sit idly by and watch this hell bound world perish, but let us stand together for Christ and make Him known.

Mez Mcconnell is right when he says, "I truly believe that our God places a higher premium on our faithfulness to His commands than the results generated by His Holy Spirit."

Do you believe this? 

Early in the morning...Tree

Tree Rising - by JM

Psalm 5
"1 Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning. 2 Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray. 3 O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch. 4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. 5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. 6 You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. 7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you. 8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me. 9 For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. 10 Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you. 11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. 12 For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield."

The Manifold Wisdom of God

Today I want to strongly recommend you listen to a recent sermon by Marc Wragg, Pastor of my church, Saving Grace Bible Church. The sermon is based on Ephesians 3:7-12 and is entitled the  "The Mystery of God" (Part 4). 

The sermon focuses on the meaning of the mystery of God. According to Pastor Wragg a mystery is defined as "how God planned, according to His own will, to bring the hope of salvation to every family on the Earth, through Jesus Christ." 

In other words, a mystery is something formerly hidden by God, that has now been made known. Anything we know of God is only what he has made known to us. Moses describes a mystery in Deuteronomy 29:29 this way:

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law." 

The mystery Paul describes in Ephesians is the inclusion of gentiles into the promises of God. (Romans 9:22-26) This inclusion is no secret when one searches the scriptures or the ministry life of Christ, however, it wasn't clear prior to God's revelation. 

Paul was the minister of this mystery as the apostle to the Gentiles. His ministry faced opposition among his contemporaries. However, once the Lord Christ had made this mystery known to him, the truth of the scriptures and the effectiveness of his ministry proved his message true. 

With regard to the ministry of this mystery Pastor Wragg says:

“The Church does not exist simply for the purpose of saving souls, though that is a marvelous and important work. The supreme purpose of the Church, as Paul makes explicit here, is to glorify God by manifesting His wisdom before the angels, who can then offer greater praise to God. The purpose of the universe is to give glory to God, and that will be the ultimate reality after all evil is conquered and destroyed.”

He further simplified this truth with a wonderful illustration: Heaven is a classroom, God is the teacher, the angels are the students and the church is the illustration. The lesson is the manifold wisdom of God. 

As the angels see the wisdom of God put on display their worship intensifies... what an amazing truth! Considering the mystery of Christ and Peter writes:

"Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiringwhat person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven,things into which angels long to look." (I Peter 1:10-12)

The prophets didn't understand what they wrote, but they longed to know the truths we far too often take for granted. The angels didn't understand how God could be so long-suffering with sinful man. His plan was hidden even from them. Yet, as God made known His will, the manifold wisdom of God was put on display to an ever increasing chorus of Angelic worship.

This sermon works on so many levels to expand the heart and the mind. What a gracious Lord we serve! He has permitted sinful man to become redeemed man. He has granted us a stewardship of the gospel and through our transformed lives He fuels the worship of an angelic hosts. 

Listen to this sermon and be encouraged by our gracious God who has not left us to our own devices but has made himself known, to the praise of His glory!

I am a son of Abraham

"Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham." (Galatians 3:7)

Abraham was the father of two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. The first came by the strength of man. Ishmael was blessed by God and became the father of twelve sons. Of those offspring there was and has been no end of strife. In the affairs of man there is a lesson here: when men attempt to superintend the affairs of God the eventual outcome is sin and sorrow.

The second son, Isaac, the son of promise, came by the power of God. Isaac was the son whom Abraham had long awaited. Following his foolish attempt to hasten the promise of the Lord, Abraham had this son in his old age. This is the son from whom the patriarch, the prophets and the Christ have come.

Although Isaac was the son of promise, this promise was not limited to his natural offspring. No, this promise had a twofold fulfillment. It was for the natural descendants firstly and secondly for all who come to God in the same manner of Abraham - by faith.

"I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Genesis 12:3)

I am a son of Abraham. Not by Ishmael, nor by Isaac, but by faith. I am one who was far off;  a sinner by nature and by choice, a hater of God, an inventor evil. I have come by no merit of my own, but by the grace of God. According to his eternal decree I have been rescued and redeemed. I have been brought near to God and am a beneficiary of the promise to Abraham. I am a son of Abraham!

The purpose of this blog will be to unfold the truths of this reality: It is for all who wonder at the patient love of God. It is for those who long to know the purpose of God in drawing rebels near to himself. It is for those who desire to live lives of obedient sacrifice. It is for those who long to worship with the angelic host in awe of God's manifold wisdom.

All of this has been accomplished by Christ Jesus. He is the redemption. He is the righteous sacrifice. He is the firstborn from the dead. He alone is the source of salvation for all who believe and are given the right be called co-heirs with Christ and sons of the living God.

My desire as this blog goes forward is that your hope will be placed in Christ alone. May he who is faithful and right be declared here. May all who profess the name of Christ know the saving grace of Christ and declare with me: I am a son of Abraham, a son of the living God!

- JM

"Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." (Jude 24,25)