Ray Kelly

The following audio message is from a dear brother of mine by the name of Ray Kelly, who is an elder at Calvary Chapel, Southampton, and also leads the home group I attend.

This is part of a series of messages which can be found at the church website linked above, but I would like to highlight this message in particular, as it comes strongly against the common tendency within the church that desires to become like the world in order to reach it with the Gospel.

Ray makes a clear argument that the exact opposite approach needs to be taken, where as Christians, we need to also share in the vow of the Nazirite, that  is prepared to lay down a life of sacrifice before entering the joy to come.

Originally posted 2009-08-14 06:02:55. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Luke 19:9-10

As with millions of other Christians, I am so very much aware of the wonderful saving hand of Christ upon my life, and how I was dead in my sins at one moment, and then saved for all eternity the next. I am constantly reminded of how the simplest victory would have been absolutely impossible without His sacrifice, and I am also aware of how fully and completely His sacrifice has redeemed my life.

Obviously I would never wish to be forgetful of these things, yet it has begun to dawn on me recently, and to my deepest shame, how I have been ignorant to something of equal importance, and that is the way in which Christ indwells believers by His Spirit, not purely for their own benefit, but that they may become vessels to continue His mission to seek and save the lost in this world. We are reminded of this in His Word quite clearly:

How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

Isaiah 52:7

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

Romans 10:14

For far too long I have allowed myself to be insulated against the shame that accompanies the Gospel message. I can join the throng of professing believers in the West and say to myself that I do not face persecution because I live in a Christian nation, or I can be honest with myself, and say that the reason I do not face persecution for the namesake of Christ is because I fail to live as the witness He commands me to. Yes it’s true that on the ‘net, behind my own little PC monitor I may have quite a loud voice at times, and I thank the Lord each day for the way He has allowed me the privilege to be involved in such ministry. However truth be told, in my personal life, face to face with the hard and Godless of this world, I remain as a dumb and silent bystander, and this truth is splitting me in two!

It is my prayer that the Lord will take me as I am, and use me as a tool for His glory, living to boldly proclaim the Gospel message to all who will listen, and regardless of personal cost. I don’t know what that may mean in practical terms, but I do know deep down in my heart that these are desperate times, calling for desperate measures, and oh how I pray that I may enter the Kingdom of God on that Final Day, bruised and battle scarred, along with the true and faithful saints from through the ages.

Originally posted 2010-03-13 13:04:56. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Psalm 1
1  Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

Those in Christ are blessed with eternal life according to the promise of God’s Word, by faith in the completed work of Christ alone, and not of anything to do with their own efforts. However the blessedness in the sense of our happiness, peace and stability as believers is conditional. We must strive to enter and remain in the rest Christ secures for us, by turning away from ungodly counsel, departing from sinful lifestyles, and refraining from hypocrisy and scornfulness.

True godly counsel can only be found through the counsel of Scripture, and from those who look alone to the Scripture as a complete revelation from God for the fullness of their teaching and instruction.

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.

As followers of Christ we must delight in His Word, allowing it to take hold of our thoughts day and night. It is not sufficient to simply read through the Bible out of a sense of duty. Rather we shall find a passionate obsession for Christ and His ways grow within us through the internal work of His Spirit. It is the love of His truth, and intimate knowledge of Him that sets us free.

3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.

If we are submitted to Christ in this manner, we shall be like a tree planted by a river. We shall bring forth fruit for His glory effortlessly, for just as a tree by the river, it is not the effort of the tree, but the location it is planted that causes abundant growth.

Also, just as with the tree, our leaves shall not wither. It is the leaves that help the tree to absorb the light, and expel oxygen. In the same manner, if we are rooted in Christ we shall draw from His strength, and our leaves shall be sensitive to draw in the Light of His Word, and expel that which should be expelled from us.

We shall prosper in the works that God has created us for. It is not like an empty “prosperity gospel” promise to become wealthy and affluent whilst clinging to the world. It is a promise to those who sacrifice all to abide in Christ, that they shall prosper in all that He has called them into.

4 The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

The ungodly are like dry and dusty chaff that is at the mercy of the wind. This can still apply to Christians who are in a place of rebellion in some measure, and only true repentance, and belief expressed through obedience, can lead a person back to a place of peace with God.

5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

Just one of many verses right the way through Scripture that flies in the face of universalism. Only those abiding in Christ shall stand in the Day of Judgement, and only those who abide in Christ, shall be considered worthy to dwell in His eternal congregation.

6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

The Lord knows those who are His, and has written their names in the Lamb’s Book of Life. All who put their trust in Him shall be named in this Book, and as a result shall inherit eternal life. However all who refuse to repent and believe the Gospel of Christ, and whose names are not recorded in this Book, shall be damned for eternity.

Originally posted 2010-01-14 09:57:43. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Sourced from: The Sacred Sandwich

Originally posted 2009-11-10 19:07:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

2 Corinthians 11:3-4
3  But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
4  For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!

Before beginning the “Back to Basics” studies a short while ago, and indeed this was one of my major reasons for starting them, was that I became increasingly aware of a hideous lack of Scriptural doctrine in my own life. I began to realise as I looked into the Scriptures, many of the reasons I had for claiming my faith was actually in Christ, could not be found secured in Scripture at all, but rather on church traditions, and the advice of well meaning but misguided Christians. Since beginning this journey into the fundamental truths of Scripture, along with other believers who have been affected by much of the same influences as myself, we have begun to realise how wayward much of the “seeker sensitive” teaching, which clearly includes the Alpha Course, actually is.

When the true Gospel message is proclaimed it brings offense. It makes no attempt to hide the true state of mankind, that we are sinful from birth, at enmity with God Almighty, and destined for eternity in Hell. It makes no attempt to lift up our most noble and kind words and deeds, as simply anything more than filthy rags before a Holy and Righteous God. It makes no attempt to offer false hope, claiming that we can somehow cling to our life yet inherit the life Jesus died to give us. Nor does it dare to suggest that anyone can come to Him by any other way, than they are chosen and drawn in by the power of God Himself.

The Alpha Course, with its seeker sensitive message, has drawn many into a luke warm church that is destined to be spewed out of His mouth when Christ returns. It has injected enough of the Gospel message into the hearer to immunize them against the real Gospel message, and has in turn begun to create a breed of church leader that embraces this luke warm gospel message with all their might. Why on earth would anyone want to receive the Gospel in such a second or third hand fashion, when they can receive the fire of the Gospel straight from the pages of Scripture if only some would dare to preach in such a way! This preaching would not raise up hoardes of “carnal” Christians as the Alpha Course does, but would drive the sword of the Spirit through the flesh of the hearer, crucifying the flesh, and providing the empty vessel that can truly be occupied by the Spirit of God Himself.

How long will it take us to realise that, if we continue to preach a half hearted and incomplete Gospel message, we risk the souls of many entering the Lake of Fire for all eternity? And if this is so, how can we expect to avoid being held accountable before the Living God Himself for so great a negligence?

Originally posted 2009-06-17 22:26:00. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Originally posted 2010-01-29 23:30:47. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Sourced from: The Sacred Sandwich

Originally posted 2009-12-07 09:57:19. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Success in God’s eyes is being totally fulfilled in ministering to him. Such servants aren’t striving to “make it” or seeking earthly security. They only want to know their Lord and to minister to Him.

Think about the 100 prophets hidden by Obadiah (1 Kings 18:4). They lived an isolated existence in caves for at least three to four years, during a severe famine. These men had no outside ministry. They were completely out of the public’s view, forgotten by most people. They couldn’t even share in Elijah’s victory on Mount Carmel. No doubt, the world would call them failures, insignificant men who hadn’t accomplished anything.

Yet God had given these devoted servants the precious gift of time. They had days, weeks, even years to pray, study, grow and minister to the Lord. You see, God was preparing them for the day when he would release them to minister to his people. Indeed, these same men would shepherd those who returned to God under Elijah’s ministry.

Years ago, the Lord blessed me with this gift of time. Before I ever pastored a church, I went into the woods and preached to the birds and trees. I had no plans, no agenda, no dreams. I only wanted to get to know God’s heart. So I prayed daily, seeking the Lord and ministering to him. And I marked my Bible from cover to cover. I was hidden, not seen by anyone. But God knew my address all along.

My advice is, “Quit looking for ministry. Spend your time seeking God instead. He knows where to find you. He’ll summon you when he sees you are ready. Forget what others are doing. Strive to be a success at God’s throne. If you’re ministering to the Lord and praying for others, you are already a success in his eyes!”

Originally posted 2009-08-22 13:14:11. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Q: I’ve been a Christian for quite some time, and have realised that some of the things I’ve accepted as true, are actually not true according to the Bible. What can I do?

Proverbs 3:11-12
11  My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor detest His correction;
12  For whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.

2 Chronicles 7:13-14
13  When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people,
14  if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Ezekiel 18:29-32
29  Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair?
30  “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord GOD. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin.
31  Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel?
32  For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord GOD. “Therefore turn and live!“

Joel 2:12-13, 25-27
12  “Now, therefore,” says the LORD, “Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
13  So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.
25  “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you.
26  You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame.
27  Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God And there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.

We can have confidence that the Lord brings correction and discipline to those He loves and calls His own. This may mean at times that, through the neglect of His Word, we may find ourselves in a place of disobedience, and as a result, in a place of spiritual dryness and pestilence. We should avoid falling into the popular trap of attributing every aspect of suffering to the devil, and begin to test ourselves in the light of Scripture, to see if what we are experiencing is actually the correction of the Lord Himself, with the aim of restoring us to Himself.

When we are in such a place, we can have confidence in the promise of His Word, that it is not His desire to leave us there. But rather it is His desire that we repent, or in other words turn back to Him and His ways, and find the life He has promised to us, restored again. What’s more He is willing and able to restore things in such a way that is impossible for us to do ourselves, in that He is able to restore that which even time spent in disobedience has caused to wither away.

1 Kings 18:3-4, 22
3  And Ahab had called Obadiah, who was in charge of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly.)
4  For so it was, while Jezebel massacred the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and had fed them with bread and water.)
22  Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men.”

As we are awakened to wrongful ways in our lives, including those that have been established through wrong teaching within the church, we are called to reject them as sinful. As we seek to turn away from them and back to God and His ways, the first thing we often experience is the sense of being alone. In the verses above, Elijah only knew that Jezebel had massacred his fellow prophets of God, and felt totally alone and isolated, whilst being totally outnumbered by those opposed to him. In reality however, the Lord always has those He has set aside and who fear Him, and He is able through those people, to reserve for Himself those who will remain faithful. We must remember this, and not allow isolation to cause us to give in and back down to that which is false, even though that will always be the easier option.

Judges 6:15-16, 25-26
15  So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
16  And the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”
25  Now it came to pass the same night that the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it;
26  and build an altar to the LORD your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.”

When we are in this situation, we may feel a strong comparison to that of Gideon in the verses above. We may feel insignificant in relation to the church in general, and definitely do not consider the church to be our enemy, for it is our family, so why would we want to offend or attack it? God’s response to us would be the same to us as to Gideon, that He is with us, He has identified the true enemy within the church, and shall defeat it through those faithful to Him, as one man. For it is not man that God is seeking to defeat, but rather our sinful and ungodly practices.

The command to us would be the same as to Gideon too. He was to take that which was being sacrificed to Baal, even though it would have been considered highly precious within his family, and tear down the alter that it was sacrificed upon. In its place, he was commanded to build an alter to the Lord, “in the proper arrangement”, and sacrifice what remained from the old sinful alter unto the Lord.

There is no room for sentiment in serving the Lord wholeheartedly in this way, for we are commanded to single mindedly tear down the error of our old ways, regardless of the consequence, and sacrifice them to the Lord God as we follow His ways instead. This may place us in a position where we find the relationships and things in our lives that are most precious to us, under threat as we surrender ourselves to the Lord and His ways above all else.

Luke 14:26-27
26  “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
27  And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

Q: I understand what I’m being called to do, but in a practical way, how do I carry this out?

2 Timothy 3:16-17
16  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
17  that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

1 Peter 1:22-23
22  Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
23  having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,

2 Corinthians 10:3-6
3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
4  For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
5  casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
6  and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

If you have been following these studies, it may seem we have come full circle to the initial study called “How do we follow Jesus?”, for the answer always lies in the Word of God given to us through Scripture. As we obey the truth of His Word, through the Spirit within us, we will constantly hear His voice speaking to us, and guiding us in His ways.

It is pointless trying to make a list explaining all the ways in which we can be in error in the sight of God, for it would be too simple to check things off as fine, and then carry on regardless. Instead we must earnestly, and constantly press into His Word, meditating on it day and night. We must bring every thought captive to it, and every act into its light, that our lives may be completely laid open before Him. As we do this, in His great mercy, He will point out one by one, the things in our lives that need dealing with. He will give us the strength, wisdom and determination to break down these high places in our lives, but we must be willing to surrender ourselves to the task. A high place in this sense would be anything, either in thought or deed, past or present, that exalts itself against the knowledge of God revealed to us through His Word. Even if it’s something we’ve already done, we can still acknowledge the error of it, and refuse to stand by idly and allow others to be led along the same path unknowingly. As for our own part, God will restore all the years lost because of this error in our own life, as we acknowledge it for the sin that it is, turn away from it, and turn back to God.

Romans 8:13
13  For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Colossians 3:9-11
9  Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,
10  and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
11  where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

Ephesians 5:25-27
25  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
26  that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,
27  that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

We must understand that we cannot treat our life in Christ half heartedly. We have been called into a way of life that, though often painful, we shall be conformed more and more into the likeness of Christ, until that Last Day in which we are called into our eternal and glorious inheritance with Him. There are no short cuts, easy routes, or anything of the sort. But only a hard narrow path that demands our all if we are to walk in it, but if we are willing to surrender all, we have the promise of God that we shall overcome by His power and strength.

If we live a life claiming to be Christian, then it must be understood that we must walk the path of self denial, and death to self that Christ calls us along. We are either in Christ and our lives are hidden with His in God, until Christ, who is our life, is revealed in glory. Or we are outside of Christ, and remain under the threat of the Wrath of God that will surely fall upon the wicked that He judges in His Righteousness. There is no in between ground at all, and those truly in Christ have a similar mark. They will allow their lives to be examined in the light of the Word of God, and will constantly turn back to Him as its light exposes the error within them.

Do you long to be greeted by Christ Himself as, “good and faithful servant”? Do the words of Jesus that tell us, “many are called, but few are chosen” cause you to want to examine yourself closely to ensure He chooses you? Does it bring fear and trembling to your soul, to consider that many will say in that Day, “Lord, Lord! Have we not prophesied in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” only to be turned away as those He never knew, who practice lawlessness? If so, then seek to earnestly and sincerely join the apostle Paul in his exhortation to the Philippian church:

Philippians 3:7-21
7  But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
8  Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
9  and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
10  that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,
11  if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12  Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
13  Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
14  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
15  Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.
16  Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
17  Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.
18  For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
19  whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things.
20  For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21  who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

Originally posted 2009-06-18 23:19:15. Republished by Blog Post Promoter