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The Purity of God’s Word

The Purity of God’s Word

April 16, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in

“Every word of God is pure; he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.”
(Prov. 30:5 KJV). 

Hundreds of years ago, Agur, the son of Jakeh declared  that God’s Word its pure. 
The word  pure means tried, tested and flawless.  It is without blemish.  It is perfect.  It is complete.  Nothing else can or needs to be added.  It means that  God’s Word has been put to the test.  God’s Word has been tried and found to be  completely reliable and  dependable.  To  those who put their trust in Him!  God’s Word has never failed. It cannot fail because His Word is backed up by God Himself,  and God has never failed! 
(Deut. 7:9). 

Whatever God speaks and whatever God has spoken will come to pass.  If God has spoken it, we can trust what He has said with absolute confidence.  We cannot always say that about people.  And sadly that is true with some  who call themselves Christian. But what a joy it is to know that God and His Word can be trusted with absolute confidence.   

The difficulty we have sometimes is putting our trust in what God has spoken when we have not yet seen the manifestation of it.  We have not yet realized it!  Sometimes things happen immediately when we put our trust in God’s Word (like salvation which is instantaneous (Rom. 10:9-10).  Sometimes things happen after waiting and standing upon God’s Word over a long period of time  (Habakkuk 2:3).  But rest assured God will honor and manifest  His Word at just the right time (Gal. 4:4-5). 

When we learn to trust Him even for that which we have not yet seen (but we know that He has spoken it) our faith is strengthened and deepened.  And the Lord will honor us and defend us as we stand upon His Word (Daniel 3: 16-18).  The Lord declares in Prov. 30:5 that “he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.”  The Lord will defend us against the doubt and unbelief of others.  We can live and stand upon God’s Word with absolute confidence!  His Word has been tried and tested and found to be absolutely pure!  What an awesome God we we serve!

James W. Black

Not Guilty

Not Guilty

April 9, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in

“And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins (1 Cor.15:17 NLT). 

The essence of our faith rests completely upon the resurrection.  If the literal, physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is not true, then our faith is useless.  If the resurrection is not a reality then our faith in Christ is meaningless.  The unbelieving world knows this and that is why the resurrection is the one thing that is constantly denied and assaulted.  It was from the very beginning (Mathew 28:11-15).  It will continue until He returns. 

But Christ is risen from the dead!  He is alive!  The resurrection of Jesus is the most historically  authenticated event in all of ancient history.   Through His death and His resurrection Christ conquered the power of sin and death and has stripped our adversary, Satan, of all his authority and power over our lives.  All the demons of hell tremble at the Name of Jesus (James 2:19).  They, more than anyone else,  understand the power and the authority of that Name!   The only power the adversary has now is what we give him (Rom. 6: 7-14). 

Through the resurrection, Jesus single handedly defeated all the host of darkness and defeated  them completely (Col. 2:15)!   Satan and his demons were totally conquered once and for all!   No one anywhere can rightfully or successfully challenge the Power and the Authority of Jesus! 

Because of the resurrection our sin debt has been paid in full.  And we are declared before the Judge of all the earth (Gen. 18:25) to be “Not Guilty!”  In order for that to become a reality we must fully repent of our sin, surrender to Him and accept by faith what He has accomplished for us (Acts 2:38).   Christ Himself declares that we have been made righteous in His sight (2 Cor. 5:21).  Therefore because of His resurrection, no one can stand against us (Rom. 8:31).  Because of the resurrection we have been made more than conquerors in Christ (Rom. 8:37).  And because of the resurrection, no matter how dark our sin has been, we (the redeemed) have been declared Not Guilty!
Hallelujah!  Praise His Holy Name! 

James W. Black

The Way Into The Presence of God Has Been Opened

The Way Into The Presence of God Has Been Opened

April 2, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in

“‘Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom…”
(Matthew 27:51 NKJV)

Everything about Jesus was supernatural.  His birth. His life. His death. And especially His mighty resurrection!  His death on the cross was marked by a number of supernatural events.  One of the most significant  was the rending of veil in the Temple in Jerusalem!   This veil was massive.  It was 60 ft high, 30 ft wide and 4 inches thick (Source: Josephus).  It was designed to separate the Holy Place (where a priest went in to minister daily ) from the Holy of Holies (where only the High Priest could go once a year).  The design of the Tabernacle (upon which the Temple was based) was given to Israel by God Himself [Ex. 25: 8-22, Ex. 26: 31-35].  The Holy of Holies contained  the Ark of the Covenant.  On top of the ark was the Mercy Seat where the High Priest would place the blood of the sacrificial lamb once a year  to atone  for the sin of the people (Ex. 30:10, Heb. 9:7).   In  the Holy of Holies was the manifest Presence of God.  What  is important to remember is that not everyone had access into this sacred place.  Only the High Priest! 

When Jesus cried “It is finished”  and surrendered Himself to death  (John 19:30), at that very  moment the veil was torn in the Temple.  It is significant to note that the veil was torn from “top to bottom”.  This clearly was a supernatural act of God!     Can you imagine the shock of the priests,  who  who were ministering in the Temple that day,  when the veil began to be ripped  apart by unseen hands?  That torn veil reveals to us a number of things. 

First, this was an act of God and not man.  Man had nothing to do with it!  Second, the way into the Holiest Place (the very Presence of God Himself) was now open for everyone!   It was no longer just for  the High Priest. Third, God’s Presence was now released and available to everyone.  The finished work of Christ had fulfilled the demands of the Law.  It had satisfied the demands of Gods judgment of  sin.  It made righteousness available to anyone who would genuinely receive it.  And it  opened the way for God to have fellowship with anyone  who  would genuinely yield their heart to Him!    The torn veil means that we now have direct access to God!  Jesus has opened the way for us!  Let us never take this access for granted.  And may we  engage in reaping the full benefits of it!

James W. Black

The Key to Transformation

The Key to Transformation

March 26, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in

“Thus saithe the Lord of hosts, turn to me and I will turn unto you, saithe the Lord of hosts.”  (Zechariah 1:3 KJV). 

Israel had experienced great devastation and distress because they had abandoned God.  Because they had turned away from the Lord, He had given them into the hand of their enemies (Deut. 28: 63-65).  Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Babylonians and the nation had gone into captivity and exile some 70 years before.  Now, the Lord appealed to them to turn (or return) to Him once again and He would bless them.   

The key to their blessing and well being was rooted in their turning unto the Lord.  The same is true for us as well.  The Lord wants to bless His people.  The Lord wants to demonstrate His love and favor upon His people.  But He will bless His people only when they turn to Him in sincerity, humility, and repentance (Jer. 29:13-14).  The Lord promises that whenever His people turn unto Him, that He will also turn unto His people.  Once again,  He will become their shield and their defender (Psalm 33: 18-21). He will be their provider (Gen. 22:14).  He will bless their work and their efforts in every possible way. (Deut. 28:1-14).  There will be sufficiency and abundance in all things. 

The problems in our families and in our culture at large can be traced back to the fact that as a whole, we have  abandoned God.  We have become wise in our own eyes (Rom. 1:22-25) and rejected the truth that can only be found in God!   The truth is found in His Person (John 14:6) and His Truth is found in His Word (Psalm 119:30 & 105). 

They key to transformation personally, corporately and culturally is simply turning to the Lord.   The Lord has promised that He will reveal Himself to those who truly want to know Him (Mat. 6:33).   But it is important to note that if it is half hearted and not genuine, the Lord will will neither hear nor respond (Isaiah 1:14-15, Jer. 15:6).  He  knows the intent of our heart.  We cannot fake it with God! 

James W. Black