The Sure Mercies of David
By Pastor Brad Smith [Brisbane]
The death and resurrection of Christ enabled God to introduce a far better covenant, than the one it replaced. Our covenant begins with the personal anointing (indwelling) of the Holy Spirit. Due to the frailty of human beings, a system is also needed that can successfully deal with our failings and vulnerabilities. To meet these needs, God introduced a covenant dominated by grace and mercy. Mercy =Not getting the judgment you deserve. Grace=Getting forgiveness and blessing you don't deserve. Interestingly enough, God included one of the great, yet little understood blessings of the Old Testament for our ongoing benefit. This mechanism that keeps us free from our shortcomings is called ‘the sure mercies of David'. These mercies are comprised of deliverance from our enemies and deliverance from ourselves... we no longer need to be victims to anything.
We Are No Longer Victims
By Pastor Brad Smith [Brisbane]
When we took up God's offer to live forever by receiving the anointing of the spirit; we also agreed to take responsibility for our own actions. We are also taught that our relationship with God is dependant upon our willingness to be proactive in our life style. This means that we can no longer act as victims of human weakness and other outside circumstances... we need to act and plan accordingly. God has given us the spirit, so we can be led and directed onto the paths of truth and righteousness (John 16:3). We might be subject to the ebb and flow of human failings, but we are not bound nor made powerless by them any longer.
Your Choice
By Pastor Brad Smith [Brisbane]
Firstly, no matter what natural choices you make in life, there is no guarantee of a suitable outcome ever happening. Secondly, all choices end when death comes. Not only do the choices end, but everything you have ever worked for or achieved, all the people you love and are cared by... all permanently vanish. The good news is that God offers a series of choices that are rock solid with guarantees that don't end at death. The first choice is the anointing of the spirit (commonly known as salvation), comes with visible evidence. The second choice is to choose to build your life on values that God blesses (the best life possible for you), or use your natural abilities (not as good and loaded with risks)... God also provides signs to support the benefits of this second choice... if you choose well.
The Manifestation of the Spirit
By Pastor Brad Smith [Brisbane]
Could you imagine the strife that would have erupted if Aaron declared the spirit of God had come to the temple, and the sacrifices had not been consumed by fire and the visible and tangible presence of the Lord had not occurred? Sadly, this is exactly what many of our modern churches are teaching as truth today. They claim the power of God has saved them while the visible presence of God, has been replaced with an invisible, blind faith mantra of self-declaration (I believe... therefore I am). We are told that if we expect the spirit of God to offer a sign, that somehow this is no longer faith, but works... how ridiculous. It is God that does the miracles, not us... God is the one that performs the works, because he has promised to do them. Don't be misled, God has not changed his mind, nor is he the author of any human or scriptural confusion (1Cor 14:33). The bible is still the best source for direction and truth... let's compare the evidence.
Things to Come
By Pastor Brad Smith [Brisbane]
While God is eager to tell us of things to come... the human race is trying to shape their current world without learning from the mistakes of their past. God has already told us they we are doomed to failure... but who listens?
More Than You Ask or Think
By Pastor Brad Smith [Brisbane]
Paul powerfully reminds the church at Ephesus, that God had far more capacity to offer them than what they were thinking about... EPH 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, This means that there is a lot more we could ask for, than what we do. If we want to live the spiritual dream... then we need to exercise the spiritual powers that have been put in us. They don't work unless they are purposefully put into action and this won't happen if there isn't a strong and committed desire to do so... all of this can be achieved through the simplicity of faithful and prayer based commitment.
Common to All
By Pastor Brad Smith [Brisbane]
The letters to the New Testament churches only speak of one salvation, which was common to all of them... Jews and Gentiles alike. There is never any mention of a later anointing of the Spirit for those who were already 'saved', as many falsely claim today. Choosing 'Jesus as your saviour' is not salvation... it is God's choice to respond to us: when our heart is right with him... when we are repentant enough for him to work with us. Baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs when water baptism and/or prayer to receive the Holy Spirit is pursued... God chooses the time, not us. Being filled or anointed with the Spirit occurs when the power of God comes into our body, with God given signs following. The only biblical distinction made between saved people, relates to their willingness to comply to the will of God or not. Like today, the bible writers also faced similar corruptions to the common salvation and found it needful to remind their people of God's truth.
From Babel to Paradise
By Pastor Brad Smith [Brisbane]
God placed Adam and Eve in a perfect place called paradise. They were given simple instructions on how to live forever, but they chose poorly. Death overtook them and has done so to every person ever since. James wrote... JAM 2:26 "the body without the spirit is dead". Without God's spirit (that is what was forfeited in the Eden paradise)... the body will certainly die. The same vital choices of life or death remain with us today.
God's Peace - The Key to Blessing and Joy
By Pastor Brad Smith [Brisbane]
Despite loud and repeated appeals, this world has no capacity, nor desire to develop true and lasting peace. Sustainable peace is a God given fruit of the Spirit and only those who accept and apply the truths of the bible, can enjoy its life changing blessing. Sadly, many Christians don't grasp what God's peace is, nor do they know how to find it. PHI 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Peace is a state of existence, not an emotion nor a feeling: God's peace is beyond natural or rational thoughts or actions... it is only possible and acquired through scriptural obedience, by those who have been anointed with the Holy Spirit and continue to be led of it.
Survival of the Fittest
By Pastor Brad Smith [Brisbane]
Despite ungodly theories promoted by evolutionists, the concept of survival of the fittest is a sound biblical doctrine. Evolutionary theory (natural selection) teaches... 'struggle for life in which only those organisms best adapted to mutate or reproduce in existing conditions are able to survive.' All life holds no purpose, nor reason for its existence. God defines life as much more than physical existence.