Sanctification and the Holy Ghost

Dear Weekly Readers!  God’s Peace!

This week we will get to our third lesson from the Principles of the Doctrine of Jesus Christ as taught by the Apostolic Lutheran Church of America.

I have been concerned this week because my father in law’s heart stopped!  He died for a while, but the Lord saw fit that he was at the hospital when it happened, and they revived him.  The next day the doctor told us that he had very little chance of survival.

However, it appears God still has a use for him; he has improved greatly and is talking now!  Thank the Lord for your continued prayers for him and all that need your prayers here in the USA.

May God Bless your week!    John R.

Sanctification and The Holy Ghost

A converted person,

...through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ... (I Peter 1:2)

... has access by faith into God's grace. Also,

the love of God is shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost (Romans 5:5).

The Holy Ghost is his teacher and guide into all truth:

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ,- Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works (Titus 2:11-14).

Through the Word, the Holy Spirit teaches the converted person in the same manner as Jesus did, to

…arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house (Mark 2:11).

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Romans 8:14).

The Spirit of God leads one into truthful actions, such as making restitution or reconciliation where one is conscious of having wronged someone in the past. And as Jesus says:

But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God (John 3:21).

The Holy Spirit reveals to the child of God that Jesus is the way, as He states:

...I am the way, the truth, and the life... (John 14:6).

The Holy Spirit also gives the faith to continue on this way from victory to victory.

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? (I John 5:4,5).

On this narrow way, there is room for but one Leader.

He goes before His sheep as the Good Shepherd and the sheep follow His voice (John 10:4).

The Apostle Paul writes:

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:1).

Jesus also speaks of a way that leads to destruction:

...broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat (Matthew 7:13)

On that way, there are many voices for one to follow, if one chooses to walk after the flesh rather than after the Spirit. The scriptures indicate some of these as:

...one's own carnal mind (Romans 8:7)

...the philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world... (Colossians 2:8)

...teaching for doctrines the commandments of men (Matthew 15:9)

...the enticing words of man's wisdom (I Corinthians 2:4)

...false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves (Matthew 7:15)

...the thief and robber, who have climbed up into the sheepfold some other way (John 10:1)

and Satan, the very father of all lies, who is

...transformed into an angel of light (II Corinthians 11:14).

But the child of God shall be led safely through all perils, by faith in the word of the Lord, as He has promised:

...for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee (Hebrews 13:5).

God's children are also joined together in unity by the same Spirit:

But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin (I John 1:7).

They have also become members of the body of Christ, which is His Church. Christ Himself is the chief cornerstone of that building which is not made with hands.

Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious: and he that believes on Him shall not be confounded (7 Peter 2: 5,6).

God's Gifts

Dear Weekly Readers!    God’s Peace!

This week our article is written by a very beloved Pastor who passed away in the last year.   I remember this Pastor all the way from when I was a small child.  He had a wonderful knowledge of scripture, and a real gift for preaching.  We are thankful that we can still enjoy his articles! 

 

To God be all the Glory, great things He has done!

 

By: Pastor Alvin Holmgren

I n his writings, Apostle Paul gives us a list of gifts that God has given to the church—gifts that are to be used for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:12)

He likens the body of Christ to the physical body and its members, explaining that each member in the physical body has its own peculiar function and that all of the members work together for the health and the welfare of the whole. There is no competition among the body's various members; each one by nature performs the function for which it was designed by our Creator. In applying this analogy to the body of Christ and to the gifts God chooses to give to individual members of that body, we can see how God has planned for the work of the Gospel to prosper.

Among the gifts Paul lists are apostles, prophets, teachers, miracles, healing, helps, governments and diversities of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:28). Although these gifts are diverse, they have been given by the same Spirit; although there are differences of administration, it is the same Lord; although there are diversities of operations, it is the same God that works in all (1 Corinthians 12:4-6).

As we observe the variety of gifts that God has distributed in the fellowship, it is important for us to remember that they are His good gifts and that their use in the work of His kingdom and to His glory is good. The apostle's example is for us to recognize these gifts in one another and to encourage their use.

At times we may find ourselves comparing our gifts with those God has given to someone else. In so doing we may become like Paul's example where the head says to the feet, "I have no need of you;" or the ear says to the eye, "Because I am not the eye, I don't belong to the body (1 Corinthians 12)."

My father always told me that all of God's gifts are good; He does not give any gifts that are unnecessary or useless. He always encouraged me to use and develop the gifts that God had given me, no matter how small the seed. As parents and elders in the church, we also need to encourage our youth in the ways and the work of the Lord. When we see the Spirit's work in them and recognize God's leading, let us encourage them and also endeavor to provide opportunities for them to use their gifts.

This does not mean that we do not uphold the Biblical teaching that the younger are to be subject to the elder and that the elders who rule well are to be counted worthy of double honor. But as elders we are also to remember that we are not to be lords over God's heritage, but examples to the flock. Apostles Peter and Paul were elders in the early apostolic church.

Let us learn from them something about the use of the gifts that God has given. In both of his letters to Timothy, whom he called his own son in the faith, Paul acknowledged the work of God that was evident in Timothy and then gave him both counsel and encouragement. In his first letter, he warned Timothy against neglecting the gift that had been given him, and in his second letter, which is believed to be his last writing, Paul encouraged him to stir up the gift of God which he possessed.

In Apostle Peter's writings, we are told that every man who has received a gift is to minister as a good steward of the manifold grace of God. And if any man speaks, Peter wrote, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man ministers, let him do it with the ability that God gives, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 4:11).

Whatever our gift may be, let us always remember that how the gift is used is more important to the work of God's kingdom than how we or others may rank our gift. Love is to be desired above all gifts and in all gifts. Certainly this is what Apostle Paul teaches when he says:

But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. (1Corinthians 12:31; 13:1-2) 

The Generous Householder

Dear Weekly Readers!

May God’s Peace be truly felt in your heart today! 

We are now only one month away from our annual ALC church convention to be held in New Hampshire, USA.   I am so thankful that many people are already working on this event, and many more are praying that God’s Word would be spoken during this time.

I would like to take this opportunity to ask you to pray for these meetings and services.  The dates are July 12^th to July 15^th!

 

This week our article is by Pastor Ernest “Chuck” Bylkas.

 

May God Bless your week!   John R.

THE GENEROUS HOUSEHOLDER!

For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?

They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.

And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

Matthew 20:1-16

When I hear the parable of the laborers of the vineyard, my first thought is, "How unfair!" Surely Jesus doesn't sanction the behavior of the householder, does He? It seems only natural that the laborers who worked the longest should get paid the most. The action of the householder offends our natural sensibilities, because we hear the parable with fallen ears and a sin-stricken mind. In fact, we probably aren't really hearing the message of the parable at all, because our focus is misdirected.

This account is often referred to as "the parable of the laborers of the vineyard." Perhaps a better title would be "the parable of the generous householder." Jesus even emphasizes this point as He begins the parable:

The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder… The parable is not about how poorly the laborers have been treated but, rather, how kind the householder is to all of his laborers. The householder does indeed have every right to spend his money as he wishes. He was perfectly fair to the laborers who worked for the entire day, for they agreed to work for a penny a day.

Those laborers were offended because the householder was equally gracious to all those who were invited to labor in his vineyard, regardless of how long they had worked.

What a marvelous picture of God's grace toward sinners! God is gracious to us, not because we have labored so hard in His vineyard, but because Jesus laid down His life for us. It is not our work that earns us anything, but the finished work of Christ at the cross merits us the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.

Christ has paid the price we could not pay in order to give us the gift we could not earn. May God be praised for the grace and mercy He has generously shown us in His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. ~our Lord. ~

Pastor Chuck Bylkas

South Range, Michigan, USA

Alive in Christ

Dear Weekly Diner!

Thank you so much for your prayers for our travels in the USA!  We have safely arrived home on Friday.   We surely had a wonderful time in fellowship with Christians in the southern part of our country!

This week’s article is written by Pastor Cal Niemela.

In Adam All Die…

In Christ Shall All Be Made Alive

 The desire of every human being is a long and healthy life.  Man dreads the thought of dying, and, while he avoids the subject on the one hand, he knows that he must die and therefore spends time and energy caring for his body with the hope that such an investment will put off that fearful reality.  If there is one statement in the Holy Scripture that even the most hardened infidel believes, it is the text we have chosen for this short message: For as in Adam all die… (1 Corinthians 15:22) There is not one person so foolish as to deny this Bible truth. All know and believe that man is mortal, having a day of birth and a day of death. Everywhere we see evidence of this unavoidable reality.  

The reason each of us must eventually experience the frightening grip of death squeezing the life from our bodies and leaving us a cold corpse is that we all possess the seeds of mortality within our earthly frame.  How did they get there you ask? The answer: Adam, the father of all mankind, was told by God in the Garden of Eden that if he ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he would die, and, as it is recorded, Adam (with his wife Eve) was tempted by the devil, ignored God's Word and warning, and ate of that forbidden fruit.  At the very moment of Adam's disobedience, his immortality was dealt a death blow.  He was now a dying creature subject to the power of death. Since that time, the posterity of Adam have all been born of corruptible seed (1 Peter 1:23), which binds with strong cords our future to the grave, where our natural bodies will return to the dust of the earth.  If that was the end of the matter it would be bad enough, but it's not; it gets even worse. There was another part in Adam, that spiritual portion or, as the Bible calls it, his "living soul" that was also affected by his act of disobedience and suffered a like fatal blow.  Dead in trespasses and sins, Adam and his children faced eternal death where their souls would be condemned to spend eternity in hell. For the wages of sin is death… (Romans 6:23)

Here every sensible and wise person will stop and ponder his own predicament and hopefully ask the all important question: What must I do to be saved? (Acts 16:30) The answer is found in God's Word:  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved… (verse 31) If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)  In another place Jesus told the people: Repent ye, and believe the gospel. (Mark 1:15)  When a person has been given the gift of faith he becomes a new creature in Christ. Unbelief is overcome of faith and it can be said that God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-7)

T hen that person found resting in the finished work of Christ Jesus can rejoice in the closing words of our text, when the Apostle says …even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:22)  Later in the same chapter, he says: For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:53), and that dreadful enemy, Death, is swallowed up in victory! ~