More preaching from Bertie.........

Last night I had the privilege of going to hear Bertie Brits speak, this time a bit closer to home in Northwest Philadelphia. The church that held the meeting was also an Indian fellowship, and when I entered the sanctuary I quickly realized I was THE ONLY white woman there, without a sari and head scarf. Very cool! Thankfully, I sat on the right side, as I also quickly noticed the men were on one side and the women on the other. We only sang one song in english, then several in, well forgive me, but whatever dialect, not sure if it was Hindi or not. I actually was quite thrilled to be fellowshipping with like minded believers yet of a whole different culture. It's a beautiful thing!! 

Bertie was on fire last night! Yow! He was preaching to a much larger crowd than on Friday night, and he was preaching with a translator. He reiterated a lot of what he shared on Friday, and really just spelled out the radicalness of the Gospel with such passion it was powerful! He started out in Rom. 5:19, and explained how it's not your disobedience that made you a sinner. We were born sinners, because of one man's sin. It is also not through your obedience that you were made righteous. Through the cross and Jesus shed blood you were made righteous, and born into newness of life. So it's important to see that our good works or efforts have nothing to do with our righteousness. 

You simply cannot measure temperature with a ruler, you measure it with a thermometer. In the same way good works can never measure holiness. The Cross is the way to measure your holiness. Praise God!!!  Salvation is NOT a process, it WAS a process and Jesus completed that process. It was finished!!!

He also read in Luke 24, about how the two men were walking on the road to Emmaus and Jesus found them and they were sad. So there is a way to perceive the 'Word' with sadness. If you view it in the wrong way it will produce sadness. But after Jesus shared the 'Word' with them, they said did not our hearts burn within us. When we read scriptures pertaining to Jesus our hearts should burn within us. That is the true 'Word of God'.  It is what Jesus came to do for you. If a word you read is not God's love for you, it's not the Word of God, because God IS love. Jesus was full of grace and truth. If your message is not full of grace and truth, it is not the Word of God. 

Then he went on to James 1:23 and talked about what being doers of the Word really means. Now that he had laid a foundation for what the 'Word of God' is, he said it does not mean be doers of the law. Being a doer of the Word, means being a partaker of what Jesus has done for you, and of no condemnation.  Then he went on to explain how it's not just the 10 commandments that believers try to assume is doing the Word of God, but any rule you come up with in the church and put on people. He also said, 'Now I am going to shock you - God gave the law so you can sin more!'  Think Romans 5:20. If you want to sin more, get more rules. 

What followed was hilarious. He started giving examples of how the church makes up rules, but then can't even follow them, and often they are not even in the Bible, and even if they were they should not be trying to live by them. The church was laughing quite a bit during this part. He really shook some religious mindsets I am sure. 

Unfortunately, I had to leave before it was over, cause my nose was running like a faucet and I was sneezing my head off. Ugh. As I got ready to leave, standing outside of the sanctuary, wishing I didn't have to go, the pastor approached me. He asked how I came to be at the meeting, and I explained how I followed Bertie's teaching. He kindly invited me to visit them anytime. I am glad I was able to go, it was a lovely experience altogether despite my overactive sinuses. 

Also, Bertie asked this question and now I ask you; "What is the perfect law of liberty?".............