The Express Way to Eternal Glory - Purity 967

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of the statue of the 1961 Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis with the orange lighted dome of the JMA Wireless Dome, the Carrier Dome, in the background comes to us from yours truly as I decided to take advantage of my business trip to Syracuse by seeing the SU men's basketball team take on the NC State Wolfpack last night. The Orangemen came up with big plays and a little luck to upset, uh, NC State, who is the 23rd ranked team in the nation. Little did I know it at the time, but apparently SU hadn't beaten a ranked team since 2021. So way to go, Orange! I'm not much of a sports fan these days, but last night I really got caught up in the excitement of rooting for the Orange Men and was positively thrilled with their victory. On the way out, I just happened to walk past Ernie Davis's statue and took today's photo without really knowing his story either. Not only did Ernie Davis win the Heisman in 1961, he was also the driving force behind Syracuse University's only national champion— championship in football in the 1959 season. He was an extremely talented athlete, but his story is also a cautionary tale about the brevity of life, as he died of leukemia at the age of 23. Although his athletic prowess earned him the nickname the Elmira Express and a contract with the Cleveland Browns in 1962, he died on May 18th, 1963, never having played a professional football game. Today, Davis is remembered for his sportsmanship, the grace with which he handled the racial intolerance of his time, and his courage in facing a disease that ultimately claimed his life. In 2008, Universal Pictures, uh, films released The Express: The Ernie Davis Story to keep Davis's memory alive by exposing new generations of fans to his story. I haven't seen the film myself, but I think I will check it out because according to an online— an article I saw online, Davis's sportsmanship and character were rooted in his faith as a Christian. If you are as interested to see the movie as I am, I, uh, it is free to stream on Tubi, and I am including the link to it on the blog today. As tragic as Davis's story may appear to be, as it is always sad when young people die in the prime of their life, I know that the Ernie Davis story isn't over, as his faith in Jesus Christ would have graced him with something of immense value that all the awards and championships could not compare to— eternal life in God's kingdom. And the wonderful news for you and me is that we don't, we don't need to be as fast or as athletically talented as Ernie Davis to join him in God's eternal glory. We only need faith in Jesus Christ to find the expressway to eternal glory, as Jesus assured us of eternal life to those who believe in him, and a place for his disciples in heaven. Before his death and resurrection, Christ told his disciples in John 14:1-3, "Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And Jesus also said in John 11:25-26, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. Whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? Jesus Christ's resurrection proves he is God. And what he said is true. Ernie Davis's life story isn't over, and neither will our story end if we die before Christ's return. He has prepared a way for all who put their faith in him, and he has won the victory over sin and the grave for all who follow him. As thrilling as the world— this world's triumphs can be, the victory we have in Christ far surpasses anything this world has to offer. Either put or keep your faith in Jesus and rejoice, because whether we win or lose in the struggles or contests we will face on this earth, we are on the winning team and are riding on the expressway to eternal glory. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's verses are Romans 6:12-14. They say, do not let sin control the way you live. Do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law, Instead, you live under the freedom of God's grace. Today's Bible verses encourages us to live in the freedom that we have received by giving ourselves completely to God and doing what is right for the glory of, of the one who has given us new life. Christ didn't just give us forgiveness and eternal life in God's kingdom. Faith in Jesus gives us new life. As we are made spiritually alive, given the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit and power over sin. We can overcome our old worldly ways of sin when we put our faith in Jesus and decide to believe the truth of our victory by surrendering ourselves to God's will and doing what is right. We won't be perfectly sinless, of course, but God will empower us to grow and mature in our faith and progressively be sanctified as we give ourselves completely to God. Refuse to give into temptation, and decide to let Christ live through us in the way we live our lives. So keep walking and talking to God and listen to his guidance that will lead you in paths of righteousness and give our Lord glory. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.org, where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink's The Sovereignty of God, uh, when we— as we continue in chapter 6, The Sovereignty of God in Operation. And today we're hitting the second point of God's method of dealing with the wicked. So if you want to see what that point is and how he deals with the wicked, go to mt4christ.org and go to the end of today's blog post and you'll be able to see that resource. As always, we encourage people to walk out their faith in spirit and in truth, because like God has given us more than just a ticket to heaven, he's given us the power to overcome and grow and rejoice, uh, in our new lives in, in Christ. As we walk in the spirit, as we walk in the spirit, we experience the fruit of the spirit growing in our lives of peace, love, joy, goodness, kindness, patience, self-control, And I think I forgot faithfulness, but God is not— God doesn't forget to be faithful. So that's why we encourage people to walk in it. Why? Because unfortunately for most people in Christianity, they haven't discovered their freedom in Christ. They view Christianity as a religion where they worship once a week or periodically, but haven't decided to apply their faith to all the areas of their lives. To live a discipled life for God. So we encourage it because we discover the power that it gives you over, over sin and the, the great joy that comes from experiencing God's grace on the terra firma. So keep walking and talking with God. And, uh, if you need help, if you don't know what that's like or, or whatever, we offer our our discipleship classes to you for you to check out and grow in. On the podcast and our YouTube channel, both of the same name, M.t. Clark 247, you'll find discipleship classes for Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ. We're all based on the word of God and the work of Dr. Neil Anderson, and they, they have been used by the Lord to transform transform people's lives. So we encourage you to check those out. As always, we also encourage you to read the Bible. We have to need to know what it says if we're going to apply it to our lives. And so we encourage Bible study by doing a Bible study once a week with Arthur and Susanna Cincotti. I have to make an announcement that I'll be on vacation this, this coming weekend. And we, although we didn't announce it last week, we've decided to take a break mid midwinter recess, if you will, from our Bible study on Sunday. So, but the good news is there's lots of studies out there if you wanted to, uh, to listen to us discuss, uh, different topics regarding our faith, as we have an archive of Bible studies with Mr. Encinas that go all the way back to 2021. So we encourage you to check those out as and to have a Bible study of your own. Um, but we offer ours in case you, in case you don't have one and want to be encouraged through us. So, um, well, today is Wednesday, and today is officially the last day I will be in Syracuse, God willing, as my training for work is over, um, at the end of the day or at the mid middle of the day. I'm not sure, but I look forward to getting in my car after class and driving home and leading the Freedom in Christ course that I do online for Freedom in Christ Ministries later this evening. Again, God willing, everything goes well, we'll be home and on Zoom encouraging people to, to believe the truth and you know, to make that decision to believe what, what God says is true and to live according to it. We don't receive everything by faith. We have to also, you know, show our faith by doing it, putting action behind our, our beliefs. As the third lesson of the Freedom in Course teaches, you know, we really know what people believe by the things they do. You know, that's the true test. Yeah, you say this, but do you do this? When we live out our faith, we show our faith is authentic. Of course, we'll never, you know, you can always put on a show, I suppose, where your faith isn't true when you're just trying to do good works. But we encourage faith first and then action after. They go hand in hand. Faith without works is dead. But, you know, your works alone will not save you. You have to have faith in Christ. It's not what we— it's not what we believe, it's what we believe is true. And we know Jesus is the truth, the way, and the life. So we encourage you to check out the Freedom in Christ course if you want to know what that, you know, what that, that third lesson teaches. Anyway, it's Wednesday and I'm gonna pray, so let's do that. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you for safely bringing us to where we are today through all the trials and tribulations of our lives. Um, Lord, and you kept us alive. We know our lives are a precious gift because of the example of people like Ernie Banks— who are Ernie Davis. I don't know why I keep saying Ernie Banks in my head. Um, but Ernie Davis Um, lost his life at 23 years old, and we're 50, so we feel blessed that we had the time, because if we had only lived to 23, we would have never had faith in Christ. So we thank you for your grace and mercy and keeping us alive until 38 when we put our faith in, in you. And now we, we live to give you glory, Lord. Lord, we pray for you to bless anyone who might be reading or listening to this message that you would, um, encourage them in their faith and bless them and answer their prayer requests, um, Lord, to show that they're not alone, that you're with them every step of the way. Lord, as always, we, we just pray for you to go before us today, show us the things that you want us to see, and lead us in the paths of the things that you would have us do. Lord, all we want to do is represent you on the earth and lead other people into the kingdom. And we just pray for you to help us with all of that. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you. We pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.