Will You Still Need Me

 

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

 

In the news this week, China is offering parents 500 dollars per year, per child under age 3.

 

You remember China right? They are the ones who were so fearful of overpopulation that they instituted a one child only policy in 1979.

 

This policy was repealed in 2015.  For those 36 years abortion was forced on some women, others faced heavy fines, government employees were terminated from  their job if they had more than one child.

 

An exemption was made  for rural areas where if you had one female, you were allowed to have a second child if it was a male.

 

Where were the  demonstrators to decry the lot of female babies in China? In essence, it was genocide of females. And guess what? China now has a glaring shortage of females to males.  And a glaring shortage of people needed to sustain the status quo.

 

The experts on the matter of a sustainable population say that the minimum size of the family is 2.1 children and China with a fertility rate of 1.01 has now awakened to that truth.

 

The United States fertility rate is at 1.6, and ,most of Europe is also below that 2.1 figure!

 

The full impact of these declining rates has yet to be felt, but the Beatles summed up one of the effects with their song, “Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64?”

 

Did God really say “Be fruitful and multiply,” Or was it be fruitful and subtract?”

 

Did God really say, “Ps 127:3 “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward, or did He say they are a punishment from the Lord?”

 

I can’t pronounce it, but aside from the Bible the best thing I have read on the subject was written by Pope John Paul. The paper was called Humanae Vitae and released on July 25^th, 1968.

 

It is well worth the read.

 

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

 

 

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word. Pop quiz for you today! 

.

 

Have you ever lifted your hands during a time of worship?

 

Who or what compelled you to do that?

 

What was your motivation?

 

Did you do it reluctantly?

 

Did you judge those around you who lifted their hands? Or those who didn’t?

 

Is raising your hands in worship relegated to contemporary services?

 

I hope you took the time to answer these questions.

 

There are many ways by which we can bless God and raised hands in worship is one of them.

 

Ps 134:2 tells us, “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, And bless the LORD.”

 

Raised hands are the universal sign of surrender and seemingly the easiest way to bless Him!  As you sing your worship songs, and the Holy Spirit prompts you to raise your hands…. Well, what are you waiting for?

 

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

 

 

Be Correctable

 

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

 

Ps 141:5 Let the righteous strike me; It shall be a kindness. And let him rebuke me; It shall be as excellent oil; Let my head not refuse it.

 

This verse can be summed up in two words “Be correctable.”

 

It’s very easy for us to think, we have arrived at that point in our lives where no further correction is needed. We’ve got all of our ducks in a spiritual row. Now it’s just a matter of coasting home.

Oh, you must be dead then right? Because the truth is you and I will always need God’s Word and the Holy Spirit for on course correction in this life.

 

By God’s grace, I have been called to preach  and teach His Word…and by that, I mean all of it. Law and Gospel!

 

I sincerely want to be in a place where I don’t have to tiptoe around His commands, with words that barely graze the mark and tend to lump His commands into vague inoffensive generalities.

 

I want to be used by the Holy Spirit to boldly and confidently say “Thus saith the Lord,” because, “It is a kindness”  to call out specific sins! It is liberating truth to those who are ready to receive it.

 

Because when they receive it, they are cut to the heart, and are ready to come to the cross for forgiveness.

 

May we take heart from the first sermon that Peter preached on the day of Pentecost. He was explicit in calling out their sin. He charged them with crucifying the Son of God!

 

Maybe we need to stop tippy toeing around the sin of abortion! I quote Dr. Lamb, the former executive director of Lutherans for Life, he said, “Abortion kills little girls and  little boys in a terrible way.”

 

It is a kindness to speak that truth, but it is even kinder to assure you that there is no sin that Jesus did not pay for on the cross. Still another kindness comes from receiving the words of 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.

 

Holy Spirit, help us all to be correctable.

 

 

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

 

 

Texas Tragedy

 

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

 

A terrible tragedy in Texas. One report says the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in 45 minutes! Impossible to even imagine such a surge! It was an inland tsunami, a flood of almost biblical proportions that wiped out everything in its path.  Including Camp Mystic, a non-denominational Christian summer camp for girls.

 

The recent tragedies of wind, rain, and fire in our country continue to mount up at a pace that we have not seen in our lifetime. And we find ourselves tempted  to shake our fist to the heavens and say, “Why God? Why are you allowing these things to occur?”

 

We fear for the eternal souls of those who died, we grieve with the parents, we pray, and we look for ways to help in the aftermath.

 

But we can take comfort in the fact that God knows those who are His, and not one of His children will be lost.

 

2Ti 2:19 Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: "The Lord knows those who are His,"

 

 Jesus did not skirt the issue of tragedy in His day. He openly talked about it with others and we read about it in the Gospel of Luke.

 

Lu 13:1 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."

 

Every horrific tragedy on earth, gives cause for you and I to consider our date with eternity. It will not go well for those who resist repentance.

 

Don’t let the men, women, and children who lost their lives in this flood die in vain,

 

Come to Jesus, surrender to Him!

 

For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; (2 Cor 7:10)

 

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

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