Say Hi To Jimmy

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word.

 

Televangelist Jimmy Swaggert passed away this past Tuesday (July 1^st) at the age of 90.  The Holy Spirit used him to bring many (including me)  to faith.  I’ll never forget that day that he pointed at the camera and called out drunkards. (That was me) Reminding me and others that drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God!)

 

1Co 6:10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

 

This revelation came on the heels of my second OWI! I realized this was no way to live. I don’t recall saying the sinners prayer, but I do remember getting on my knees and surrendering my life to Jesus.

It was a classic battle with the devil on one side, reminding me that as a Christian I would have to give up all the fun stuff in my life, (a lie by the way) and the Holy Spirit on the other side nudging me to just let go and surrender, and begin a new life as a forgiven follower of Jesus. It was the day I said “yes” to Jesus.”

 

Let’s fast forward to July 4^th 2024.

 

My sister Marlee who was dealing with COPD had taken a turn for the worse and was nearing death. She had been badly burned by the church and for years she refused to listen to any talk of Jesus.

 

But last year, on this date as she and family members had gathered around her kitchen table, she resolutely announced, “I say yes to Jesus” The Holy Spirit did it again! He brought another sinner (my sister) to saving faith in Jesus. It was a declaration not of independence, but one of a new found dependance on Jesus.

 

This year, every firework I see, I will lift my eyes to heaven and think of the celebration that took place in heaven exactly one year ago!

 

The day that Marlee said yes to Jesus! One month later Marlee went on home to Jesus.

 

Hey Marlee, if you see Jimmy up there, give him my thanks.

 

 

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

 

 

The Permanence of Marriage

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word.

 

In Ezra chapter 10, we have a large contingent of men, women, and children weeping  in the church with remorse over the sin of being unequally yoked.

 

Enter Shechaniah. He confesses the sin to Ezra and then offers a solution.

Ezr 10:2 And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra, "We have trespassed against our God, and have taken pagan wives from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this.

 3 "Now therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them, according to the advice of my master and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.

 

My spirit is greatly troubled by his proposal. First of all if a covenant with God is to be made, it is God who initiates it, not man.

 

Secondly, it seems that they have forgotten God hates divorce! Mal 2:16!

 

Not only that, but God doesn’t want His church to  make widows and orphans, He wants us to take care of them!

 

Ah, but Shechaniah and the others have an ace in the hole. We’ll call it the divorce papers. Divorce became acceptable during the days of Moses. If the husband found his wife to be “unclean or indecent, all he had to do was write a certificate of divorce, hand it to her, and send her away.

 

 

The subject is brought up in the NT when the Pharisees came to Jesus with one of those questions that they used to try and trip Him up. His stance on the permanence of marriage would not sit well with the people.

 

Mt 19:3 The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?"

 

 Open your eyes and see what has happened here. Grounds for divorce moved from uncleanness and indecency to the modern day equivalent of no fault divorce.

 

Jesus replies with a question of His own! Have you not read your Bible?

And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,

 5 "and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?

 6 "So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."

 7 They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?"

 8 He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

 9 "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."

 10 His disciples said to Him, "If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry."

 

The disciples got it! Marriage is meant to be permanent! No easy outs, God let them divorce in the days of Moses because of their hard  heartedness! Just what every follower of Jesus wants to be known for…hard hearted ness, a heart  that resists truth;

 

Jesus mentions one exemption, that of sexual immorality. Joseph was going to play that card with Mary, until God straightened him out!

 

By the way, the exemption clause is only found in the Gospel of Matthew. You won’t find it in Mark or Luke. I wonder why? Matthews Gospel reflects a deep understanding of Jewish customs, traditions, and scriptures.

 

And the Jewish custom concerning marriage was if the groom found out he had not married a virgin, he could call off the wedding.

 

The people in Ezra’s day did good by confessing their sin of marrying unbelievers, but they thought they could pay for their sins by sending their wives and children away. You can’t pay for your sins by committing another one.

 

Remember the woman caught in the act of adultery?

What were Jesus; last words to her? “Go and sin no more.”

 

Jesus had assured her that He did not condemn her, and then warned her to not do it again.

 

I’m thinking that would’ve worked a lot better in the days of Ezra, rather than divorcing them as an answer to the sin.

 

It’s true really for all sins. 1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

We get a do over thanks to the grace and mercy of God.

 (NKJV)

 

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

 

When Sin Is Embedded in the church

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word.

 

Moving on to chapter 10 of Ezra and this matter of taking on pagan (unbelieving) spouses continues. Ezr 10:1 Now while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping, and bowing down before the house of God, (because of the national sin of marrying pagans) a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept very bitterly.

 

They had forgotten that this was one of the first commands God gave to His people before they entered the Promised Land. and they dropped the ball!

 

God said in  De 7:3 "Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son.

 

Why? What’s the big deal about marrying an unbeliever? What’s the harm?

 4 "For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.

Disobeying this command leads the believer away from the faith  AND it  stirs up the wrath of God and that’s not a good place to be. So the church wept bitterly.

 

This was mass remorse, mass conviction over this particular sin, people were actually trembling over what they had done and what they had coming to them for their disobedience.

 

Imagine if something like mass remorse would happen in your church!  Holy Spirit generated conviction of sin. It can only happen when the preaching of God’s Law  is set before the people, and of course when the bitter weeping comes, be prepared with the solution to turn God’s wrath away….namely repentance and the gospel.

 

An example of deep[y embedded sin in the church today is fornication. : Who is speaking out what God’s Word says these days  about fornication? (Sex before marriage) It has become an acceptable and even expected arrangement in the world and the church has joined in, by (for the most part) looking the other way.

 

God’s solution is simple and it’s still another one word command from Him. Are you ready to hear that command?

It’s found in 1Co 6:18 Flee fornication.

 

Mean  business! Don’t just walk away…..run, and let your “partner” know why you are moving out. You are leaving because your love for Jesus trumps your love for your “partner”

 

Parents, fear a strained relationship with their children if they bring the subject up! Keep loving your children but when the “partner” comes along to spend the night, it’s separate bedrooms only. Take a stand!

 

As pastors we far too often steer away from the specifics of sins and speak in generalities so as to not offend anyone. And the sins sink their claws in deeper and deeper.

Thankfully the Lord is on our side: He is able to pull us out of compromise and set us on the Rock! Ps 40:2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Flight 171 from India

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word.

 

276 people lost their lives in that plane crash in India on June 12^th    Thanks to smart phones, I saw three haunting images that I can’t get out of my mind.

 

The first was a family video showing a man (who was a doctor) and his wife and their three children on their way to London to start a new life.  Doing what most of us would do, capture the moment on film with a video and sharing it with others.

 

But, this was not the “new life”  they were thinking of. Where are their souls now? Only God knows. Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, and that judgement for each soul is either not guilty or guilty, faith in Christ or no faith. Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

 The second video I saw was one of the crew, all in uniforms with smiles on their faces as they prepared for the flight. It was a typical day in the life of flight attendants.

But the Bible tells us that it was also  a typical day in Sodom before judgment struck!

Lu 17:28 "Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;

 29 "but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.

 

All except Lot and his two daughters.

The third clip that I viewed was taken during the aborted take off, with the fatal crash just seconds away.  People were bracing themselves for the inevitable crash, some were praying, but most were just screaming.

And that is what has been haunting me.  

 

A vivid picture of judgement day spelled out for us by Jesus in Mt 13:42 "and will cast them (unbelievers) into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

 

What about the only survivor of this tragedy. How did he manage to escape? He was seated by one of the escape doors and when they crashed the escape door opened, he saw daylight and scrambled out.

 

He serves as a reminder to God’s people of the rapture of His church on the Last Day!

1Th 4:15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.

 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

 

We have no way of knowing how many believers were on that plane. Only God knows, but Jesus urges us to learn from all tragedies. And He gives us two examples in Lu 13:1-5,  There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things?

 3 "I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.

 4 "Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?

 5 "I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish."

 

I pray that these 270 some people y will not have died in vain, I pray that souls will heed these warnings of Jesus, that they, maybe you will repent and believe the gospel.

 

Be like this lone survivor and head for the Light, He’s  your only hope to escape

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Todays Living Word.

Do I Have To Come Down There?

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word.

 

2Ch 36:16 But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy. 17 Therefore He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, on the aged or the weak; He gave them all into his hand.

 

Why did He do that?

Because, they mocked.

They despised

They scoffed

At the words of God’s prophets.

 

They had reached the point of no return, no other remedy, but the perfect justice in all its finality delivered by God.

 

I remember all too well growing up in a house where the kids bedrooms were upstairs and the parent downstairs,

We would get a little raucous in our behavior, and my dad would come to the bottom of the stairs and with a loud threatening voice, “Do I have to come up there?”

 

If he did come up we paid for it with a little butt warming.

 

Well it’s the same principle in play here, except we are downstairs and God is upstairs and when we get a little too raucous and careless with His Word, He says, “Do I have to come down there?

 

It’s what He did with Sodom and Gomorrah, and more than butts were warmed as He rained down on those cities with fire and brimstone, a picture of what will happen when Jesus returns to the earth on the Last Day.

 

But the Good News is right now we are in a place of grace. God’s remedy was sent to the world through Jesus. He took the wrath that we all deserved and died on the cross to pay for our sins.

 

The remedy is right before our eyes. Grab it!

It is faith in Jesus and His Word, and as many as received to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: (Jn 1:12)

 

Time is running out! Stop your mocking, stop your scoffing stop despising God and His Word! All of it!

Repent, believe the gospel and be spared!

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Todays Living Word.

Fasting

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word.

 

Another lesson for us from Jehoshaphat!

 

2Ch 20:1 It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat.

 2 Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, "A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; and they are in Hazazon Tamar" (which is En Gedi). 3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

 4 So Judah gathered together to ask help from the LORD; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

 

Three nations combined their forces and gathered at En Gedi. En Gedi was an oasis located just west of the Dead Sea. It belonged to the tribe of Judah, but right now, it was occupied by enemy forces who were bent on conquering the Southern kingdom of Jehoshaphat.

 

Notice the reaction of Jehoshaphat. He feared. Fear is a powerful emotion that can rule and ruin our lives. How did Jehoshaphat respond?

He set himself to seek the Lord! And he used one of the tools God has given to us when fear and anxiety, and panic start to move in. Fasting.

 

Fear mongering is part of the devil’s calling card, and he uses it every chance he gets in order to try and separate you and I from the love of God.

 

But Jehoshaphat was having no part of it. He set himself, via a time of fasting to seeking God’s help.

 

I find myself wondering, when’s the last time I fasted. Have I ever even thought about it using it when anxiety and panic rise up in my life.

 

Fasting is one of the disciplines that mark the followers of Jesus. In His sermon on the Mount Jesus mentions three of those disciplines.

 

Prefacing them with the word “when.” In other words, it’s not “if” but when. When you pray, when you give, and when you fast.

 

It doesn’t have to involve day upon day, just skipping a meal is enough, or giving up other things that are important to you.

 

In fasting, we declare to God that hearing from Him is more important to us than food or pleasure itself. It is as Jesus said when the devil came to tempt Him.

 

Mt 4:4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"

 

If you struggle with fasting, this is a great verse to have on hand.

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Todays Living Word.

Lessons From Jehoshaphat

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word.

 

2Ch 17:3 Now the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the former ways of his father David; he did not seek the Baals,

 4 but sought the God of his father, and walked in His commandments and not according to the acts of Israel.

 5 Therefore the LORD established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah gave presents to Jehoshaphat, and he had riches and honor in abundance.

 6 And his heart took delight in the ways of the LORD; moreover he removed the high places and wooden images from Judah.

 

Jehoshaphat was one of the “good kings” of the southern kingdom. He sought the Lord and his heart took delight in the Lord’s ways.  

 

The timeless message of Jehoshaphat is get rid of the idols in your life. Admit (confess) that there is only one God. And if He is indeed your God, then seek to live your life in accordance with His  Word, the Bible’ Let the word of God shape your life, rather than the ways of the world.

A promise given a long time ago to Solomon is relevant even today.

1Ch 28:9 "As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.

 

It’s either/or isn’t it? Life with God forever, or life without (forsaken) by Him forever.

 

I’d say that’s pretty high stakes! We could get caught up with the theology of salvation, embodied in the “who sought who, but I would rather rejoice in my state right now.

 

Because I once was lost, but now I am found. I don’t care about the semantics, I just rejoice in the fact that God has seen to it that I am found! The glory is all His!

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Todays Living Word.