“He went out from thence, and came into his own country [Nazareth] …and many hearing him were astonished, saying…what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? … And they were offended at him…. And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief” (Mark 6:1–3, 5–6).
Most readers know that the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled the Ten Commandments cannot be displayed in any government courthouse. This landmark decision has been covered exhaustively by the media. But what does the ruling mean?
A courthouse is where laws are enforced. And the Ten Commandments represent God’s moral law, which never shifts or changes. It is as fixed as the law of gravity. If you defy that law, it’s like stepping off a high building. You can deny that the law affects you, but there are consequences sure to be paid.
Exodus 14 describes an incredible moment in Israel’s history. The Israelites had just left Egypt under God’s supernatural direction. Now they were being hotly pursued by Pharaoh’s army. The Israelites had been led into a valley surrounded on both sides by steep mountains, and ahead of them was a forbidding sea. They didn’t know it yet, but these people were about to experience the darkest, stormiest night of their souls. They faced an agonizing night of panic and despair that would test them to their very limits.
"Surrender." What does this word tell you? In literal terms, surrender means to give up something to another person. It also means to relinquish something granted to you. This could include your possessions, power, goals, even your life.
Christians today hear much about the surrendered life. But what does it mean, exactly? The surrendered life is the act of giving back to Jesus the life he granted you. It's relinquishing control, rights, power, direction, all the things you do and say. It's totally resigning your life over to his hands, to do with you as he pleases.
How can anyone who calls himself a lover of Jesus knowingly continue in sin? As followers of Christ, we claim to be delivered from sin's power. We testify that the cross has fully redeemed us from the bondage of iniquity. Yet multitudes of believers today continue to cling to lusts, habits, grudges, bitterness.
I received a letter from a brother in Christ who probably would claim he is a very upright man. Yet there was bitterness in his words to me:
"Brother Wilkerson, what has happened to you? You used to preach so powerfully against sin. But I believe you've gone soft on sin lately. Your recent message on Jubilee gives people a license to sin. You're offering comfort to compromisers, instead of convicting them!
Jesus came to earth as a man to redeem humankind from our sins and from every kind of bondage and imprisonment. That fact has been established in the minds and hearts of most Christians. But Christ also came to earth for the purpose of revealing to us the heavenly father.
First he told his disciples, "...The Father hath sent me..." (John 5:36).
Then he said, "I can of mine own self do nothing... I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me" (verse 30).
And finally he stated, "...I go unto my Father" (14:12).
DAVID boldly declared, "...God ...is the health of my countenance ..." (Psalm 42:11). And he repeats the same statement in another psalm: "...God...is the health of my countenance..." (43:5). In the original Hebrew, the proper rendering of both these verses is, "God is the salvation of my face!"
Imagine this scenario from Luke 17: Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem as the time for His crucifixion drew near. As He passed between Samaria and Galilee, He approached an unnamed village. And outside that village, ten lepers were encamped in terrible squalor and shame.
Evidently, nine of these lepers were Jews, and one was a Samaritan. Now, the Jews of that day did not even touch Samaritans, let alone live with them. But apparently the common distress of these ten had brought them together in a shared misery.
I want to tell you about three men whom God used mightily — and how God used failure to produce godliness in each of them.
We hear so much talk today about how to be successful. It is time the body of Christ learns to recognize the scriptural pattern God uses to produce His chosen servants. And the hard truth is this: Pain, torment, sorrow and failure have produced the men and women of God who have stirred their generations.
