The Sure Foundation

Michael E. Wood

May 12, 2014

Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 2 Peter 1:1-2

“Now this is surely a message for us at the present time. The first thing we have to do is make certain of the foundations. We need not to labour this point. We all must be ready to agree that the main effect of the various movements in the realm of thought and in the realm of religion (alas!) during the last hundred years has been to query and to question the foundation. The trouble still in the church is a matter of foundations.” October 6, 1946, from a message preached by DM Lloyd Jones in Westminster Chapel, London.

While contemplating thoughts that came to mind upon beginning a new book of expository sermons on 2 Peter I was reminded that we need to preach the gospel to ourselves every day.

The gospel call is what I know

And need to hear most, every day.

For Jesus set His love within

My heart, to speak along the way.

The narrow gate, He brought me in

By blessed holy union

And through His blood I now enjoy

The Father’s sweet communion.

The Holy Spirit leadeth me

And shows to me my teachers,

Confirming truth by scriptures

As they’re taught by His own preachers

Appointed and anointed

To instruct by wisdom given

To live each day by faith in Him

Who in me is now livin’.

How subtly our enemy

Attacks the sure foundation

On which we have been built

Upon in each new generation.

But Christ who has accomplished

Our salvation to the end

Will glorify Himself

In each new battle that we win.

So courage take, by righteousness

Through Christ within the veil

As we as bones and flesh of His

Are strengthened to prevail

O’er all that is now present

In this worldly evil haze

Till all the glory of His light

Shines through all of our days.

Our Father, Ever Dear!

Michael E. Wood

November 15, 2013

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.
2 Corinthians 2:14-17

Quite often, my precious wife Dianna will ask me if I am ready to preach just prior to the time I am scheduled to preach. More often than not my answer is, “I never feel ready.” Now while that statement may not be altogether true, I do find that with my current schedule in teaching and preaching several times a week I feel so very inadequate and ill-prepared when I think of the incomprehensible responsibility of proclaiming the Excellencies of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. And yet I am encouraged by the promises God has given through the written word that it is indeed He who makes those whom He has called to this task sufficient as ministers of the good news of the grace He gives from day to day and enables us by His Spirit to be the conduits through which He speaks.

While in the process of preparation for a Bible study at the Terraces in Roseville, California, a flood of passages came to mind to bring emphasis and weight to the particular text we would be looking at for the day. In this process I was given the confidence that these passages came to mind as a free gift of the grace of God and that He would use them to magnify Himself during our time for the day, and then the following words came to mind.

I often marvel at the grace

You give to seek You in the face

Of Christ whose glory we behold

By faith in scripture You unfold

Because He came and bled and died

As You in Him are glorified

While by the Spirit we are changed

Fulfilling all You have arranged

Till all shall see Him then on high

And bow the knee to glorify

Your matchless Name by which You own

All praise and glory on the throne

From which You rule o’er every thing

And shall forever as we sing

New songs of praise with all who fear

You, as our Father, ever dear!

Preach Through Word and Song

Michael E. Wood

March 16, 2013

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, Acts 16:25

Do we segregate our worship of God in song to appointed times of corporate gatherings alone? Do we fail to realize, that through our praise to Him through singing regardless of our circumstances or surroundings may be the very thing of which God will use to speak to the hearts of others, administering comfort to believers and pricking the conscience of unbelievers?

No, we are not all wired the same way but let us learn a lesson from Paul and Silas. Our worship of God through song regardless of circumstances or surroundings could very well have an eternal impact on the souls of men and women, as He opens opportunities for the gospel through our praise to Him.

Thy Word we preach through word and song;

Expressions of true hearts that long

To know You, Lord and make You known

As You fill us from glory’s throne-

With rapturous thoughts exceeding all

What we may think, to heed the call

You make to raise us from the dead

To worship You, Oh Christ, our Head.

Oh dictate by Your Spirit, moving

Men to know Your wondrous mind

And join us by communing through

The matchless grace in You we find-

To unify the body of

Your glory through every age

To worship You in holiness

On that grander, purer stage

Of which You have appointed

And remind to keep in view

Till all will see and know

The beauty found alone in You! 

Righteousness; Not of my Own

Michael E. Wood

October 27, 2012

...filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:11

 It seems that I often have need to be reminded that as I come before the Father to receive from Him that which is needed in the ministry of the Word to others, that acceptance before Him is not found in anything that I might do. Though I am instructed to preach the Word, and to study to show myself approved of God; all of these things are provided as a free gift of His grace by the Spirit, which is given through the righteousness of Christ alone; to the glory and praise of our God.

Thank You for the quiet, wherein I may more comprehend

The wonder of Your presence, with Your glory as my end.

For in the moments when it seems I don’t accomplish much,

You use them to remind me, Tis not I but Christ and such

As comes by Your Sweet Spirit to behold with faith-filled eyes,

You are my All in all, Oh God, and Christ my treasured Prize!

So as it now may pleaseth You, I ask my heart You fill

With more of Your transcendent love to know and do Your will.

And as I now reflect upon what You may do or say,

Be pleased Oh Father to rejoice to prove through Christ: the Way,

That by his resurrection satisfaction is supplied

To show Your glory by Your righteousness, as not denied.

The righteousness; not of my own produces fruit that brings

All praise and glory to my God, through Christ; the King of kings.

For he has by himself fulfilled Your just and holy law

That we may by the grace he gives behold in humble awe,

The fact that You have saved us for the sake of Your own Name

And will present us faultless in Your glory without shame!

Oh Where Are Thy Tears

Michael E. Wood

October 18, 2012

Oh where are thy tears, oh preacher, oh man,

As you preach of Gods glory and His saving plan,

Amidst stone cold hearts now steeped dead in sin

Which cannot nor will not let Jesus Christ in?

And though by thy tears they shall never be moved,

Can it be that thy also need somewhat reproved?

For how can thy Savior’s true beauty be seen?

But by thy humility through which we glean

Those handfuls on purpose of which God has left

By our kinsman redeemer which pour from the cleft

Of his side which was riven to show forth the fruit

That we are his offspring, as he is the root

From which we draw courage and strength to abide

By his Spirit effectual in whom we confide

To teach us more clearly and further the cause

Of His transient glory by which he now draws

A remnant so great to the end of the age;

Oh glory to Christ, who for us did engage

The wrath which was due as we sunk in our sin,

But took on himself in exchange there to win

On the cross by his blood as he poured out his soul,

As the offering up of the sacrifice whole,

Which not only purchased forgiveness complete

But the righteousness whereby we come now to meet

With God in communion to know Him so great

Who fashioned us for the eternal estate

To show forth His glory in kindness to man

In spite of ourselves by His own loving hand.

Gods Glory Thus We Shall Proclaim!

Michael E. Wood

August 13, 2012

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”  But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?”  So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.  Romans 10:14-17

"'If you can stay out of the ministry, stay out.' You should only be in the ministry when you cannot stay out of it; when you can no longer refuse; when you have to give in as it were, and you stop resisting. That is the call; that is the sending. It becomes inevitable. You cannot do anything else."   Martyn Lloyd-Jones commenting on a quote by C.H.Spurgeon

Pastor Robert Briggs preached a devotional message on Wednesday, August 8, 2012, from Romans 10:14-17 which was used to cause me to investigate more thoroughly the meaning of the text.  Thus, while spending several hours in research, the following words came to mind.

Are you called by men or sent

By God’s choosing and are leant

As a gift through God’s own Son?

A gospel herald of the One,

Who in time now speaks to men

To show He is Yeah and Amen!

Discernment Christ will give to fill

The knowledge of His Father’s will

To all appointed and made plain

That it is He that doth ordain

To open up by Sovereign choice

The scriptures that men hear His voice.

The Holy Spirit shall confirm

Though we as men be but a worm;

The message which before was sealed,

The power of the cross revealed,

To know and love Him as He is

To all He has alone made His.

Stand firm then in the faith Oh men

Who know Him as He’s always been

The same today and yesterday,

Forever Light, and Life; The Way;

The Truth embodied for one aim:

God’s glory, thus we shall proclaim!

The Living Stone!

Michael E. Wood

May 9, 2012

City Light Preaching Nights

Various preachers and pastors from biblically based churches from around the city of Sacramento have been given the task to preach a series of messages on the attributes of God, hosted by Immanuel Baptist Church the first Saturday night of each month from May through the remainder of this year. Pastor Robert Briggs of Immanuel Baptist preached the first night, May 5^th, on “The Knowable God”.

Quoting from J.I. Packer, he noted, “It is better to know a little of God than to know a great deal about God.” “All men know God “, Pastor Briggs went on to say, reading the text from Romans 1:19-23  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

The first four verses of the following poem came to mind as he was preaching and was completed Wednesday morning while pondering the thoughts that had been expressed.

In what way do you know Him

Who is God of all the earth?

Do you know Him just by nature

Or in truth of all His worth?

For He himself has shown you

Even though you may suppress

The truth of who He is

By all your own ungodliness.

And though you may now hide behind

The things of your own mind,

Born out of such imagination

In the end you’ll find-

He has indeed revealed to you

And made it very clear,

Jehovah-Tisidkenu* alone

Is He whom you should fear!

For those of us He purchased

And has made His very own,

We take delight in giving praise,

For Jesus did atone.

As for our sake He took upon

Himself all of our sin,

And justice met with mercy,

For us righteousness to win.

And as we are now justified

And give the glory due,

God likewise will be honored

By His condemnation too.

For all who are not humbled

With new hearts made to repent,

Rejecting Jesus as the only One

Of whom He sent

Will bow before Him in the judgment

When comes the final day

And proclaim Him Lord of all,

His triumph then display.

Oh will you not now come to Him?

By grace through faith alone

And trust in Him for mercy

As He Is The Living Stone!

(*Jehovah Tisidkenu- Jehovah is our righteousness.)

2 Corinthians 5:20-21 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

The following City Lights Preaching Night Schedule is included as an invitation to anyone may read this blog during this season of special meetings. Thank you Greg Garcia and Viktor Palenyy for your labor of love.

CITY LIGHT PREACHING NIGHT A SERIES ON THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD

6:30 PM WHERE: IMMANUEL BAPTIST CHURCH (1424 24TH STREET - MIDTOWN)

1.	The Knowable God	May 5th	Robert Briggs	Immanuel Baptist Church
2.	The Triune God	June 2nd	Steve Meister	River City Grace
3.	The Infinite-Personal God	July 7th	Greg Stoever	River City Grace
4.	The Holy God	August 4th	Phil Layton	Gold Country Baptist Church
5.	The Loving God	September 8th	Erik Myers	Veritas
6.	The Wrathful God	October 6th	Jeremy Twombley	Immanuel Baptist Church
7.	The Faithful God	November 3rd	Ron Poarch	Grace Reformation Church
8.	The Beautiful God	December 1st	Jon Mroos	Elk Grove Bible Church

That Place of Contemplation

Michael E. Wood

March 23, 2012

While given the privilege to preach the Word on a regular basis, I am constantly aware of my own incapacity to do anything of eternal value apart from the mercy of our Father through the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in absolute dependence upon the Holy Spirit to write upon the hearts of men and women the wonders of His glorious grace. At the same time it behooves us to continually ask for our Father’s help.

Oh help me bring Your people

To that place of contemplation

Of the Sweet Communion

With no need of vain oblation,

But that which was so firmly fixed

Through Christ and by Him owned

That we as one in body

May approach Thy Holy throne,

To know Thee as our Father

As You take us to Your breast,

Embracing by the love transfixed

By Christ our righteousness.

For though we have much need

By Thy sure grace to yet improve

Upon all You have by Your mercy

In our hearts so moved,

We trust You will yet finish

What it seems You just begun

To make us in Your time

Much more perfected by Your Son.

For when we come to glory

All will know and find in You

That You are so much greater

Than the glory that is due.