Rooftop Ministries

We are all called to go therefore and make disciples . . . teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you (Mt. 28:19) though the way we teach may take many different forms (formally, in fellowship, prayer, correction, mentoring, evangelizing, theologically rich worship, blogs, etc).

As you take up your cross daily and follow (Lk. 9:23) God has promised that He will instruct and teach you in the way which you should go (Ps. 32:8) and God the Holy Spirit will guide you into all the truth (Jn. 16:13). So we should be constantly learning about God's character and the intricacies of the bible and being transformed by the renewing of your mind (Rm. 12:2)

Therefore it is my strong belief that we should be diligent about passing along what the Lord is showing us, not out of a sense of obligation but out of a desire to aid others to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pt. 3:18). It's only logical to think that if you are blessed when God opens your mind to understand the Scriptures (Lk. 24:45) that another member of the body of Christ will also benefit from what God has whispered in you ear (Mt. 10:27).

So if I'm ever blessed with a ministry I would love to call it Rooftop Ministries after Matthew 10:27 What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.

Death

Jonathan Edwards' 9th resolution. Resolved, to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.

To be fair to Jonathan Edwards his resolution has more to do with the period of time surrounding death, but his resolution caused me to consider what death ushers in.

Consider:

2 Corinthians 5:6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord . . . and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

and again . . .

Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. 23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better.

Paul had obviously thought a great deal about his own death and we should be imitators of him as he imitated Jesus. In death our individual redemption will be complete and we will be able to concentrate fully on glorifying God having conscious, intimate, unhindered fellowship with Him. Plus a pure Heaven is simply better than a decaying earth. Additionally, as I realized after a death of a friend last year, when a person dies it means that God has fulfilled His purposes for that person's life and the good works that He prepared for them to walk in were accomplished.

Imputation

I am reading The God Who Justifies by Dr. James White, and this past week I read a chapter entitled "Imputation: The Only Hope for the Sinful Soul". Imputation is the act of attributing (something to someone), in our case the righteousness of Jesus to sinners and in exchange the guilt of our sin to Jesus. This is aptly described "The Great Exchange". Because of this exchange The Accuser (Satan) has nothing to accuse a believer of, so we can say with Isaiah (50:8-9) He who vindicates me is near; Who will contend with me? Let us stand up to each other; who has a case against we? Let him draw near to me. 9 Behold, the Lord GOD helps me; who is he who condemns me? Behold, they will all wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them. And we can say with Paul (Romans 8:33) Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Because of this once and for all, final and complete, act by God of justification there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1) and so we are sealed, saved, and secure of our salvation for all time.

For some time this doctrine has captivated me but just last week was I able to illustrate it to myself so that I could better understand what Jesus did on my behalf. I imagined a friend of mine taking the punishment for some of the things I have done over the years, like getting fired for stealing, failing tests for cheating, fines for speeding, friendships lost for things I've said and done, etc. (In my mind I was more specific and I encourage you to do the same to fully understand my point). I was them able to better grasp the amazing truth that Jesus not only received the punishment for these sins but also for the ones I didn't get caught for, the ones that I didn't realize I committed (sins of omission and opposed to commission), and most of all, the sins of all who would believe. Selah.

Since God poured out His wrath onto Jesus (instead of us, though God's wrath still abides on unbelievers) as punishment for sins committed, the Father was propitiated (satisfied or appeased) and the believer, upon regeneration, is justified and can boldly go before the throne of grace.

Let Your Prayers Ruminate

A little over a month ago I had lunch with a very wise and experienced man. Near the end of our conversation I asked him what I could do to improve my prayer life. Me being me, I was hoping for a black and white answer like "pray for 20 before getting out of bed in the morning and again at night." Instead he retold a story of a man Asking D. Martyn Lloyd Jones when the Lord would bring revival to the Church. Dr. Jones replied, "not until the 'O' returns to mens prayers." Seeing the look on my face my friend must have seem that a further explanation was necessary. He went on to tell me that prayers should be said with great passion and feeling (i.e. O Lord how long until you return!).

We continued our conversation and for weeks I thought about what he had said. It seemed to me to almost be a catch 22. I wanted to pray with passion, but what would it take to develop this passion? Then after noticing a pattern in my own prayer life I began to understand what this dear brother had been trying to convey.

I noticed that I was praying through my "checklist" in rapid fire succession. I don't pray nearly as often as I would like so when I do I try to cover everything and everyone, this causes me to rush. However, a couple of weeks ago at a church prayer meeting before our service when most of the prayer requests had been prayed for I still felt like praying but there was only one thing on my mind so I prayed for a few minutes on one topic and felt invigorated afterwards. I noticed that the longer I spent on a single subject before moving on the more my heart was revealed and I hope transformed to the will of God.

In John 17 Jesus briefly prays for himself before praying for His disciples from verse 6 through 19, where as I probably would have spent only two or three verses equivalent on them. I haven't taken the time to see how many other passages support my ideas but this is just my personal experience and I hope that you may benefit from it to the glory of God.

Thank you Pastor Rob.

The Lord of Glory Revealed

Revelation 1:4-7 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood-- 6 and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father-- to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.

1) The Faithful Witness - Jesus is the eternal eye witness of God and His glory. He is the accurate manifestation and representation of God's character. He is the Word become flesh. We should consider Him, listen to Him, obey Him, and point others to Him.

2) The First Born of the dead - Resurrection 1 Corinthians 15:12 1 Corinthians 15:57-58 Unshakable hope Romans 5

3) The Ruler of the kings of earth - He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. 1 Timothy 6:13-14. Turns hearts of kings. Trust Him and we shall persevere.

4) Who Loved us and washed us - Ephesians 5 Our faith is primarily a relationship , not a list of demands. Jesus died to save us from sin and it's penalty.

5) He Made us kings and priests - Exodus 19:5-6 1 Peter 2:9 We've been saved for good works. Ephesians 2

6) To Him be all glory and dominion is due - Because of what he did and his attributes. 1 Dt. 4:11 1 Corinthians 10:31

7) He is Coming again - Is. 55:6 To judge.