A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy. —Matthew 8:2-3

All of us can tell whether another person is going to accept us. We can almost feel it. You must have some inkling if you came to see me whether or not I would listen, whether I would care. What I wish is that I could radiate the love of Jesus, that you would feel that I want to be like Him.

The leper knew that if he went to Jesus he would be accepted.

Some people teach that a precondition to becoming a Christian is that you have to do this or that, and only then will Jesus accept you. What we see here is that Jesus accepted the leper just as he was, and lo and behold, the leper believed Jesus could heal him, and Jesus did. Jesus is still the same today. He accepts you as you are.

In fact, we are told in John 8:3-11 that Pharisees, who were a self-righteous, legalistic group of people, brought a woman caught in adultery and said to Jesus, “In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” Jesus bent down and started to write in the ground with His finger. Then He said to these people, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Hearing that, they all left. Then Jesus said to the woman, “Where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

The woman said, “No one, sir.”

Then Jesus declared, “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.”

What did He do? He accepted her. That is His way. Jesus displays such tenderness. I could give one example after another to assure you that whatever may be in your past, whatever it is that you’ve done, this Jesus will accept you.

Excerpted from All’s Well That Ends Well (Authentic Media, 2005).

It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. —Luke 12:43

What do we mean by the phrase “living between the times”? To begin with, that is what life is—a series of events linking the past and the future. Most are mundane happenings, but others are so special in their nature.

Between the times is when you are waiting for it to actually happen. Could it be that is where you are? Perhaps you feel that you are living between the times. You may not realize that God has brought you to this place, but you will discover that God is up to something.

Why is it that God makes us wait and for so long? There are three things I want us to see:

1. Some things take time—even for God.

How many of you have ever said in your prayers, “O Lord, how much longer?” But what about God? He has to wait, too. He has the power to end everything, but for reasons that we will not understand until we get to heaven, God subjected Himself to the conditions He created, whereby He too must wait.

2. Between the times there’s something for us to learn.

Perhaps you have lost sight of God’s promises and are still blaming everybody else. You may be a mature person, yet you still wallow in self-pity. If that is the case, you need to seek a fresh and wonderful outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

3. Between the times, God still looks after us.

Some people mistake God’s care for their needs for being in right standing with Him. Now, God’s provision may show that God is with you, but it doesn’t mean that everything is right with you.

From our viewpoint it is sometimes difficult to understand why God doesn’t act sooner. But when, eventually, He acts, we come to see that it couldn’t have happened sooner, and it is a mercy that it didn’t.

Excerpted from All’s Well That Ends Well (Authentic Media, 2005).

What is impossible with men is possible with God. —Luke 18:27

Providence means that God overrules. He sets aside something to take over. He works through evil and through our weaknesses. Do you know why He does it? It is so He receives all the glory and honor.

Are you presently in a situation where there seems to be no way out? God says, “Give that one to Me.” Are you trying to make it easy for God? He says, “No, I want a difficult case. I want something that humans cannot possibly do. Leave it to Me! I’ll do it!” Will you let God do it, or do you have to pull a string here and there and say, “Remember me? My name is … “

Humanly speaking, there was no way your situation could turn out for good, but God loves to work when everything looks absolutely bleak. God’s providence sorts out the sore spots in our lives.

Do you have a sore spot? Of course you have. Could it be your pride that’s getting you into trouble all the time? Are you hypersensitive? Is it your jealousy? Is it your negative spirit? Is it that you love gossip? Could it be sexual lust or some addiction? Have you stepped on people to get where you are? Do you have an inability to handle money? God has to deal with you. Do you want to be exalted? That’s all right. There’s nothing wrong with that. God wants to exalt you—in His due time—but the sore spot will have to be dealt with first.

Excerpted from All’s Well That Ends Well (Authentic Media, 2005).

But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose. —1 Peter 2:20-21, NAS

In a sense all Christians are chosen vessels, because a Christian is a person chosen by God from the foundation of the world. But there are those Christians raised for a very special work, and we call them “sovereign vessels.” A sovereign vessel is someone chosen by God for special work, and the more special the work, the more specialized the suffering.

Jacob was a sovereign vessel, and we have already seen how he suffered—but he was undergoing the greatest trial yet. All that he went through in running from Esau, all that he endured after being with Laban, and all he suffered in losing Rachel, all of that was eclipsed when he saw the bloodstained coat of many colors. Not knowing that it had been dipped in the blood of a goat, he concluded his son Joseph was dead and he would never see him again. It was the trial of trials.

Perhaps you know great suffering, and just when you think you can’t take any more, lo and behold, something happens that turns into the worst ordeal you have ever undergone. Listen. It is a hint from God—you are a sovereign vessel—He doesn’t do that without a reason. Deep suffering is a strong hint that God has chosen you for a very special task. It’s an honor to be a sovereign vessel. But if you want to volunteer to be a sovereign vessel, don’t do it until you’re ready for God to deal with the sore spots in your life, for you do have some. Some have sore spots, and it is as though they have them forever and nothing is ever done about them. But if you have been raised up for a special work, God is going to refine you by dealing with the sore spots in your life. You may volunteer to be a sovereign vessel—but don’t do it until you are ready to pay the price. The connection between suffering and a sovereign vessel is inseparable. One day you will look back and see the hand of God in everything.

Excerpted from All’s Well That Ends Well (Authentic Media, 2005).

The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” —1 Corinthians 11:23-25

From these verses we can discover what you might call the “ABCs” of worship at the Lord’s Table. It is amazing how we can do something for years and years and think we know so much about it, only to find suddenly that we really know so little.

The first thing we can see is that worship at the Lord’s Table was initiated by Jesus Christ Himself. It is the Lord’s own design.

The second main thing we can see is that true worship at the Lord’s Table only happens when certain conditions are in operation. Paul gives a series of sober exhortations, and whether or not we apply them will determine whether we will actually worship at the Lord’s Table.

The first thing is that the eating and drinking be done in a worthy manner.

The second thing that must happen is that there must be self-examination. Let these three words help us, then, with our self-examination: self-importance, self-isolation, and insensitivity. We will have passed the test when we refuse to claim that we are in the right over another Christian, when we are at peace with all our Christian brothers and sisters, and when we feel abiding compassion for those who don’t have as much as we have.

The third exhortation is that there should be a discerning of the Lord’s body (v. 29). What is actually meant by “the Lord’s body”? Simply, it is feeling Jesus near. It is not seeing physical bread and calling it Jesus. It is not seeing physical wine and calling it Jesus’ blood.

When we partake of the bread and the wine, Jesus draws near. We know this because He said that He would be there. And the kingdom of Jesus is here, now. As Christians we are members of it. So when we come to the Lord’s Supper, Jesus is there. The question to ask is, do we see Him?

Excerpted from Worshipping God (Hodder & Stoughton, 2004).

Do not put out the Spirit’s fire. —1 Thessalonians 5:19

The Spirit has feelings, and we can hurt His feelings when we grieve Him by the things we do. The Greek word translated “grieve” (lupeo) comes from lupee, which means “pain” or “sorrow.” It is the opposite of joy.

We know from the apostle Paul that the Holy Spirit can also be quenched. Paul’s words put out come from the Greek word sbennumi, which basically means “to quench.” In the ancient Greek world it referred generally to extinguishing fire or burning objects. Paul’s warning not to quench the Spirit can only mean that sometimes the Spirit’s fire can be put out.

It is hard to know the difference between the Holy Spirit being grieved and being quenched. But there are nuances of understanding we can discover. Grieving the Spirit refers to actions of ours that hinder the Spirit from being Himself—from being what He could be in us. On the other hand, quenching the Spirit refers to actions of ours that hinder the Spirit from doing what He could do through us.

When He is ungrieved in us we will manifest His personality—defined in Galatians 5:22-23 as the “fruit of the Spirit.” If we have not grieved the Spirit in us, we will also demonstrate these characteristics—just as Jesus demonstrated them.

When He is unquenched in us we may well manifest His power, perhaps through the expressions of the gifts of the Spirit. (See 1 Corinthians 12:8-10.)

The anointing must be the totality of all that the Spirit is and is able to do. We must want to exemplify the personality of Jesus as much as to demonstrate His power. We must experience the Holy Spirit from within—ungrieved in our private lives—before we can anticipate an outward demonstration of His power. If we expect the Dove of the Spirit to remain, it is surely essential that all we are does nothing to cause the Dove to flutter away.

Excerpted from The Sensitivity of the Spirit (Charisma House, 2002).

When Solomon had finished building the temple of the Lord…the Lord appeared to him a second time.…the Lord said to him… —1 Kings 9:1-3

God doesn’t always pay a second visit to those to whom He has spoken before. He doesn’t have to; He doesn’t need to. What is it like when He does?

It will be very real, just as real as the first time. When God speaks a second time in the manner I refer—when He came to Jonah, to Abraham, to Solomon, and as when He came to Jacob, it would have been a very real experience.

It confirms what God said the first time. Sometimes a person needs to hear the same thing again. When God came to Abraham the second time, He said the same thing as before.

What does it mean then when you are one of those to whom God comes a second time and when He speaks powerfully again?

It means four things:

1. God cares a lot.

2. He wasn’t speaking aimlessly the first time.

3. You are special. You are earmarked for something special.

4. He wants you to believe what He said the first time and never forget it.

So when God speaks a second time, it’s because you especially need to hear Him speak to get you through what lies ahead. I can tell you this: if you want God to speak to you a second time—if that’s what you need—that’s what you will get.

Excerpted from All’s Well That Ends Well (Authentic Media, 2005).

And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. —1 John 5:6-8

How does God speak? Primarily through His Word, the Bible. As far as I know how, I only preach what the Scriptures ask me to preach. I don’t make up things or come up with ideas; I just follow the Bible and let it speak for itself. It means that when I speak the Holy Spirit can use my words, and thus they are not merely my words. At some stage, you become conscious that God Himself is speaking.

Sometimes God will speak in a particular context. You may be in a situation where you are suffering. Perhaps something traumatic has happened to you. Maybe you have gone through a particular kind of trial, and you happen to be in the service, and, lo and behold, the word that is spoken is so relevant and so intimate that it’s almost embarrassing. You think that the preacher knows all about you, but it’s only the Holy Spirit applying the Word.

In other words, once we hear God speak, it’s as if we suddenly understand it. The person who hears the same old gospel week after week may say, “I have heard it before, and I know all of that.” Then suddenly the truth hits him, and he says, “Oh, I see it! I see that Jesus lived on this earth, kept the law for us, and because He did, He is our righteousness. I am actually saved by what someone else did. Jesus died on the cross as my substitute, and God punished Him instead of me. The blood He shed satisfied God’s justice.”

“You’ve got it. Well, you’ve heard it a thousand times.”

“Yes, but tonight I heard it for the first time.”

Someone has said that no one has the right to hear the gospel twice until all have heard it once, which is a fine statement. But a truer statement would be that nobody hears the gospel once until they have heard it twice, and suddenly they realize that God is speaking to them. You see, only the Holy Spirit can make you understand the gospel.

Excerpted from All’s Well That Ends Well (Authentic Media, 2005).

The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” —Matthew 20:31

Have you ever heard of David Brainerd? Had David Brainerd lived, he would have become Jonathan Edwards’s son-in-law. He was an unusual man; he was a missionary to the Indians in the state of New York and became almost a model for missionaries. After Brainerd died, Edwards published his journal, and that journal is said to have been responsible for putting more people on the mission field than any other piece of literature.

Once David Brainerd had a quarrel with God. The more he discovered about God, the angrier he got. Brainerd saw four things about God as he read the Bible, and they all made him mad at God. The first thing he saw was that God demanded a perfect righteousness, and he knew he didn’t have it. It meant that he would have to have a substitute, and he kept thinking that he could do it alone, until he saw he couldn’t produce the righteousness that God required.

The second thing David Brainerd saw was that God demanded perfect faith, and once again he knew he couldn’t produce it. He would try to believe perfectly, but he’d find himself doubting. And he became frustrated and got angry with God. The third thing he found out was that God could give faith or withhold it and be just either way, and the fourth thing he discovered was that God could save him or damn him and be just either way. At last he saw that he needed God’s mercy. Rather than being angry with God, thinking that he could snap his finger and God would jump, he began to cry out for mercy—and God saved him.

Seeing the God of the Bible makes us realize that we don’t have bargaining power. We have no leverage. We have no claim that we could make. We come before God and ask for mercy.

Excerpted from The God of the Bible (Authentic Media, 2002).

The second is this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no commandment greater than these. —Mark 12:31

Have you ever heard someone say, “I hate myself”? People who hate themselves don’t like other people, and they are miserable. But saying this also gives them a certain kind of self-righteous feeling, as if people will excuse them. But when you have real self-respect you like yourself. You may say, “Oh, I don’t think God wants us to like ourselves.” Wrong. The apostle Paul said that no man ever hated his own body. (See Ephesians 5:29.) Jesus told us to love our neighbors as ourselves, and that is part of being human. But when you don’t appreciate yourself, something has gone wrong.

The opposite of being confident is being fearful. Are you governed by a spirit of fear where you don’t have confidence? Are you always looking over your shoulder thinking, Look who’s here! What are they saying? What will they think of me if I do that? Have you ever wanted publicly to confess Christ but have been afraid of what someone would think if they heard about it? Confidence is lost when you lose self-respect.

The gospel of Jesus Christ was designed to give you self-respect. Jesus will never lead you to do anything that would prevent you being true to yourself. If you want to regain that feeling of self-respect, of liking yourself and feeling confident and unashamed, you need to come to the foot of the cross and get right with Him. Once you put your faith in Jesus, you are given the Holy Spirit. He will be with you and will guide you. The Bible will become the most precious book you have ever known, and you will know through the Spirit and the Word how to live your life. You will begin to like yourself and to have confidence, and you will not live with feelings of guilt and shame.

Excerpted from All’s Well That Ends Well (Authentic Media, 2005).