“The Creator of the Universe is here. We are in His presence. The Holy Spirit is here. He makes all things new,” proclaimed Joel Munoz. Joel affirmed what we all felt, His presence. Then Pastor Josiah declared,”I want a house that is a worshiping house. I want to be a worshiper.” Yes, Lord, I want to be a worshiper, too, with my whole heart, mind, soul and spirit. Pastor Josiah reminded us that our mission is to culture like Christ, and FC’s vision is Jesus. Last week he taught on the extravagant worship of the uninvited woman. She came behind Jesus, cried her tears on His feet, poured expensive oil on them, and wiped His feet with her hair. Her posture was of complete adoration, surrender, and humility, and because of all that, Jesus forgave her sins. This week again Pastor Josiah preached on women, Mary Magdalene, “from whom he had cast out seven demons; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others….” Luke 8:2-3 (NLT)
These women were giving back to Jesus and were supporting His ministry. In contrast the
American church has made it “all about us.” We are so concerned about our comfort (the heat or cold), the volume of the music (too loud or soft), the style of the music (choruses or hymns), to name a few. We have diluted God’s message and made the focus about us. But we need to refocus and realize it is about Him. That is what Joel was pointing out. Pastor Josiah admitted that the Holy Spirit convicted him about a podcast to which he listens. It feeds him. After realizing how much he learned from this podcast, he felt the desire to come along side the ministry. “I want to sow into places that have blessed me,” he admitted. This support is above his tithe, mission contributions, but in addition. We need a revolution of what’s important. May we realize what ministries feed our souls and support them too.
Pastor recommended,”Make Faith Chapel a place of your inheritance.” What does that look
like? We can invest our time, talent, treasure, and testimony into a place whose vision is Jesus. As we lift Jesus up, people come to worship Jesus and serve with us. Just last week there were nineteen 2-4 year olds attending class. That is a big jump from when Larry and I were leading the class, and we had three to five children.
In Matthew 12:22 we learn that “a demon possessed man, who was blind and couldn’t speak, was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he could both speak and see.” (NLT) Jesus evaluated that the root of the man’s maladies was demon possession. However,
every time your toe hurts does not indicate demon possession. Discerning ministers speak to
the root of the issue not the symptoms. We have the antedote-Jesus. Jesus is with us and in
us.
The crowd was amazed at the change in the man’s condition from being mute and blind to
speaking and seeing. They asked,”Could it be that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah?”
Matthew 12:23 (NLT) The common people could see what Jesus had done and responded
positively to it unlike the Pharisees who condemned Jesus for this life-changing action.
The Pharisees said,
”’No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from
Satan, the prince of demons.
Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, ’Any kingdom divided by
civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will
fall apart. And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is divided and
fighting against himself. His own kingdom will not survive.’”
Matthew 12:24-26 (NLT)
The Pharisees’ power and prestige bound the religious leaders up. They were afraid that they would lose too much if they believed their eyes so they blamed Jesus for being a disciple of satan. Because it was all about them and their power, they refused to accept Jesus for who He was. They condemned Jesus because He healed on the Sabbath more than once. He broke their laws about hand washing. He ate with sinners. (Thank you, Lord.) The Pharisees’ logic was that Jesus was from demons because He was against their laws.
Jesus responded to the Pharisees’ accusation with authority, ”But if I am casting out demons
by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you.” Matthew 12:28
(NLT) The Holy Spirit was there. “Casting out means to drive out, to send out violently, to draw out with force.”
A significant point here is that the need is to get something in you, not something out of you.
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes
through the waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then
it says,’I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it
comes, it finds the house empty, swept and put in order. Then it
goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself,
and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is
worse than the first. So it will be with this evil generation.’”
Matthew12:43-45 (ESV)
We do not want to be agents of darkness and evil, but we want to be a reflection of His light in the darkness. We want to be agents of change and to be filled with Him and His Spirit.
Who can fight against the darkness? Only the Way, the Truth and the Light can fight the
darkness. John 14:6 Then Jesus said,
“For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man
like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—
someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.
Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t
working with me is actually working against me.” Matthew 12:29-30
(NLT)
There is no middle ground. You are either for Jesus or against Him. The LORD is disgusted with the lukewarm. Revelation 3:16 states “So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (NIV)
The Paramount Point is I’m not a part of a divided kingdom-I know exactly whose side I’m
on! In other words there is no neutral ground.
Matthew 12:31-32 dealt with blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
“So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven-except
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which can never be forgiven.
Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven,
but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven,
either in this world or in the world to come.” (NLT)
Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is attributing to God the works of the devil. Pastor Franklin
Aytes stated,”I want to know the message behind the power.” “A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad.” Matthew 12:33 (NLT) May my fruit be good because my Savior is Jesus. May I reflect His light in this dark and getting darker world.
Calendar:
9/11-Midweek Encounter 6:30
9/13-Midnight Hour-Activity Center-8:00pm-12:00am
9/20-LB potluck, worship and baby shower for the Aguilars. 6:00pm in the Activity
Center- Our funds from our last Meet to Swap contributed for a stroller system they
wanted. If you want to bring baby gifts for them, that would be wonderful too
Submitted by
Larry and Annette Linthicum
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