The Grace of Heaven's Gate

Leon Smith and Vickie Kolesnikov were united in holy matrimony, Saturday, January 15, 2011 at Immanuel Baptist Church. On the morning of their wedding, the following was written in honor of their union. Dianna artistically designed, framed, and matted it. We decided to give it to them as a gift.

United As One!
Written for Leon & Vickie By: Michael E. Wood


On January fifteenth, two thousand and eleven,
God joined you as one, ‘til with Him in Heaven.
For now, O Rejoice; by His pleasure delight
In your union reflecting His glorious might!

‘Tis Christ who redeemed and made us His bride—
Shown by the wounds in His hands and His side.
What glorious blessing and comfort of soul,
That through Him we’re justified; by Him made whole.

And now as you journey as Husband and Wife—
O seek Him together and show forth His life.
And never give in to just “go through the motions”;
But, love Him together with pure soul devotions—

That Christ in the end will gain all the glory,
As He, by His Spirit, will lead in your story.
As you live by His faithfulness; in Him abide—
‘Til like Him in Heaven, we stand satisfied!


"As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness." Psalm 17:15

_____________________________________________________________

During the wedding, of which Pastor Robert Briggs officiated, the gospel was clearly presented and interpreted in Russian for the occasion. A primary text preached upon was Galatians 3:27-29 “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ Jesus have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.”

Dianna took a number of pictures, developed the collage above and the following poem came to my mind:

Do you see a picture of the gospel of our God?
How beautiful the feet of those with shoes of peace are shod.
All other walls are broken by His Spirit’s Mighty Sword,
For only those made one in Christ will know His full reward.

Rejoice with them that do rejoice, as all of One shall speak
The glories of our God and King; His kingdom first we seek.
The righteousness of Christ transcends the lines of Jew, Gentile.
Both male and female here on earth are we for just a while.

As heirs according to the promise; Abraham’s offspring,
Made one in Christ, His bride elect; His praise we’ll ever sing.
Forever and forever our Bridegroom then adore,
As we behold the face of God, as pure forevermore.

Beyond all comprehension here or words now to express,
We’ll know the beauty of our God in His Sweet Holiness.
His matchless glory then displayed; our privilege so great,
As all the angels wonder at the grace of heaven’s Gate.

Michael E. Wood
January 17, 2011

From Grace to Glory

Michael E. Wood
December 23, 2010

While reading a treatise on “The Lords Prayer” by Thomas Watson, a particular phrase continued to surface that caught my attention. As he expressed vividly a number of the benefits of the kingdom of heaven to come, as grace gives way to glory, he referred to the fact, “In the kingdom of heaven we shall be freed from all signs of God’s displeasure…Though He has the heart of a Father, he may have the look of an enemy; and that is sad…But in the kingdom of heaven, there shall be no spiritual eclipses, there shall never appear any tokens of God’s displeasure; the saints shall have a constant aspect of love from Him, they shall never complain any more, ‘My beloved had withdrawn himself.’"

Thanks be to God, that we shall be absolutely and ultimately pleasing in His sight, in every aspect of our being because of the finished work of Christ. And thanks be to Him even now for the sanctifying work of His indwelling Spirit, and the promises of His Word, which causes us to long and to pray to the end that in all things He may be glorified.

In addition to these things, we also have need to remember that we live in a fallen world, and that not every thing that happens to us in this world is an evidence of His displeasure, but is a means by which He may get glory to Himself, and for the advancement of the gospel through our response to what may appear to be a frowning providence.

When the face of God appears
Like to an enemy,
Remember that like Jesus
Is to be your destiny.
And when His smile then takes upon
The form of angered frown,
It is His pleasure to withdraw
To make more bright the crown
To be given for the loss
Of all our temp’ral things,
More sanctified and lifted up
To soar with eagles wings
Unto our gracious Father
Who regardeth all our tears.
By steadfast love, secures our way,
Removing all our fears.

So wisely now consider Him
In all you think to ponder,
As He in pleasure draws you near
Unto His heart in wonder
And awe of His great patience
As in Him is all our gain.
Though here before by things we did
Brought Him only much disdain.
But now from grace to glory
And in measure with each loss,
More grace He gives, as Jesus lives
Within to count the cost.
And by His Spirit raises us
By faith in every place.
Til all that’s left is sweet desire
To see His smiling face.

He is our Anchor!

Michael E. Wood
December 14, 2010

(Proverbs 14:14b) and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways.

While this portion of Proverbs 14:14 comes as a stark contrast to the proceeding portion which states, "The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways" the latter sparked a question of which I trust the answer given will bring clarity to some that might think themselves to be "good" when in reality their definition of good is measured by the standard of other men rather than the character and holiness of God.

What is it that makes a man a "good" man?

There are those that are good on a temporal level as they have been created by God, who Is good and created men after His Own image. Thus there are those who are born with a propensity toward good on a temporal level, and shall be filled with the enjoyment of those things which are manifest in this life as a bi-product of their manner of life.

This however falls infinitely short of the original purpose for which man was created. Man was created to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Man in his best estate from natural birth because of the original fall in the garden of Eden is hopelessly self-centered and thus every good deed is in some way bound up in the aggrandizement of self without thought toward the glorification of God with the end result of the temporal life being a separation for all eternity from His transcendent glory and the enjoyment of Him.

The rich man in hell referred to in Luke 16:19-31, is a real man, eternally perishing in a real hell. As he appealed to Abraham to send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water to cool his tongue for the anguish of the flame he is in, he was told, "You in your lifetime received your good things."

God is the source of all good, even on a temporal level. Jesus said, "There is none good but God." He also said, " I and my Father are One." And, "I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father but by me." Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And thus it is only through Christ that any of us are made eternally good. This understanding comes not from any good we may find in ourselves, but solely as a result of the free grace of God unto Whom all the glory is due and shall be given eternally.

So then, in answer, it is not only what, but Who makes a man a good man, but God alone, by His Spirit, through the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. From him comes all things of eternal significance, manifested both in this life and in the one to come. And to Him be all the glory both now and forevermore. Amen!

As all things are from God, I found it quite interesting that here in the state of California most of the larger corporations now require that you make application for employment online. As a part of the employment process, you are also required to answer a series of statements by which they evaluate whether you are the type of employee they desire to hire. One such company which has over 1,400 stores is called Panera Bread. By the providence of God, I happened to fill out an application for this company the day after pondering and writing the previous article. Of the approximately one-hundred twenty statements made, one of them was, "All men are basically good." The choices of answer were, Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly Agree.

WOW! Of course I answered Strongly Disagree, and by the time I was finished felt as though I had just undergone psychological, and spiritual warfare. With the answers that I gave, my thought is that their program is probably preassigned to automatically kick out all applicants which do not fit within their humanistic guideline; will never be seen by a real person; resulting in, not being hired by this company. Feeling a little discouraged by the whole process, I turned to read in the Psalms and came to 74:21, of which actually rhymes in the English translations. Beginning there I wrote:

Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame;
Let the poor and needy praise Your Name.
Arise, O God, defend Your great cause,
Be Thou the helper of him who falls
Before You in honor for all that You Are,
Our Father in heaven , Who names every star.

Remember, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs.
Like waves breaking violently over the rocks
You placed to stand strong against all evil tides
Through strength of Your Spirit, in Jesus abides.
As He is our anchor of hope in this place
Through mercy, that we know more fully Your grace.

Forget not the clamor of all of Your foes,
Which think by their violence Your glory o'erthrows.
Yet Yours is the day, and Yours also the night,
You established to show forth the heavenly lights
And fixed all their bound'ries by covenant made
With Jesus, Your Son, by whom we are saved.

Note: Upon giving a copy of this post to one of the managers at Panera Bread in Citrus Heights, CA, I was assured by him that the computer program didn't automatically kick out applicants for their answers and that I should come back to the restaurant after the fifteenth of January.

O Thou That Hearest Prayer!

Having begun reading "The Lord's Prayer" by Thomas Brooks, the exhortation to Hallow God's Name is given. He speaks of the fact that in so doing, by life and through prayer, "There is nothing lost by what we do for God."

O Thou that hearest prayer,
Unto You shall all flesh come.
For the race is not to the swift;
But through Christ our vict'rys won.

The battle is not to the strong;
But strength You give to the weak.
And pleased You are to give honor
To those whom Your glory seek.

Oh help us to spread then Your fame
With lives sanctified by Your Name.
For nothing shall ever be lost
By those who have counted the cost.

And the price was fully paid,
As our sins were on Jesus laid,
And He then bore our reproach,
That we may now boldly approach.

For mercy is that which we plead.
Give grace to meet every need.
Through Christ, You hear every prayer,
And through Him receive glory there.

Thus we will sweetly resign
To wait as Your ear You incline
To hear now the sound of our voice.
O Father, in You we rejoice!

The One True Offering

Michael E. Wood
November 4 through December 18, 2010

As a result of the finished work of Christ manifesting the steadfast, everlasting love of the Father for us, everything we do should be an expression of gratitude in joyful service as we wait for His return and the full revelation of His Glory!

The first lines of this poem came while listening to a devotional from Isaiah 53:10 by Jeremy Twombley on November 4th; additional lines from a message from 2nd Thessalonians 3:16-18 on December 5th; with the final contemplations resulting from further meditations in Isaiah on December 18, 2010.

Oh what love God did display
When pleased He crushed His Son that day;
And by His Spirit thus diffused
The grace of Him we once refused.

For as his precious blood was spilt;
He from his soul then for our guilt,
Was made the One True Offering
As He saw all of His offspring.

And out of anguish He did see
Our Father satisfied would be.
Accounted righteous; num'rous throng,
The spoil divided with the strong.

Because His soul poured out to death
And bore our sins to final breath;
Transgressors numbered to Him flee,
Secured by Christ at Calvary.

And ev'ry blessing we receive
Is all of grace and fully free--
Assured to us when we believed
And purchased by His purity.

Break forth, and sing; and cry aloud
All ye purchased, faithful crowd--
Gathered with compassion great,
On Him we joyf'ly serve and wait.

The One Who Is Our Purity

Michael E. Wood
December 13, 2010

God, in His infinite wisdom has chosen, as John Bunyan put it, "To withhold light from some better than we" concerning secondary issues which are not essential to the clarity and unity of the gospel. And thus, when the aim of our charge as individual believers as well as an assembled local body is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith, then by the abundance of His mercy and grace we are enabled as one to worship Him in Spirit and in truth unto the praise of His glorious grace.

What sweet communion God affords
As all of Him in one accord
Seek to know in unity
The One Who Is our purity.

As every man that has this hope
Will seek to know the fullest scope
In all of life by His embrace
To be like Him as one new race.

For Christ has broken all the wall
Now ill effected by the fall.
By grace all glory shall be found..
Oh haste the day that He be crowned!

As Peter Saw the Savior's Face

Michael E. Wood
November, 11 through December 10, 2010

On November 21, 2010, Pastor Robert Briggs preached a message on the denial of Peter from Mark 14:66-72, speaking of "The Reality of Spiritual Complacency and its Effects". Dianna and I had read of the account in the book of John earlier that morning. Another statement of truth at the forefront of my mind in writing the following is that Christ is far more committed to our holiness than we are at any point in our life. Thanks be to God that He is and thus we can take heart and be encouraged by the word of His grace, that He which hath begun a good work in us shall perform it til the day of Christ. For without holiness no one shall see the Lord.

As Peter saw the Savior's face
And knew within of his disgrace,
His stare pierced like unto a dart
Within the depths of his own heart.

As he went out and wept and cried
Because Christ Jesus he denied,
He had not seen himself so weak,
When foretold by the man so meek.

And yet because of hidden fear
He ran from Him, he loved so dear.
Yet for our good our Lord did turn
This lesson from Him to be learned.

Oh shall we be such ones to judge
When just like he with sudden plunge
We tend to grieve while we have breath
He who bore our sin in death.

On watch, O Father help us stay
With eyes fixed on eternal day,
In moments which appear with gloom,
To see in You all things will bloom

Beyond our feeble strains convey
The fullness of Your Word displayed,
As Christ will come with trumpet sound
To gain His bride, His faithful crown.