Melissa Scott Wescott Christian Center

And so the same words, we have here “in Him to us the redemption in the blood of Him.” This aspirate at the end makes it “of Him,” or “His blood.” “Forgiveness of,” and the same word, not “sins” — “transgressions.” Now it seems like we should all know the word for “sin.” We should all know that word. Right? Hamartia, that is the word we look at to quell and quiet the world that simply refuses to believe that it is a picture of everybody. It’s a picture of fallen Adam. We all fall short. In fact, if you look up this word, the key definition is “to fall short, to miss the mark.” There isn’t one person on the face of the earth who does not stand under this word hamartia. But Paul’s not using that here.

If you read through, he says, “In whom we have,” apolutrosin, “redemption through the blood of Him.” And where do we have “sins”? Do you see anywhere where it says hamartia? No, because the word Paul used is a strange word: paraptomaton. Wait a minute. You know what’s coming, don’t you?

And so the same words, we have here “in Him to us the redemption in the blood of Him.” This aspirate at the end makes it “of Him,” or “His blood.” “Forgiveness of,” and the same word, not “sins” — “transgressions.” Now it seems like we should all know the word for “sin.” We should all know that word. Right? Hamartia, that is the word we look at to quell and quiet the world that simply refuses to believe that it is a picture of everybody. It’s a picture of fallen Adam. We all fall short. In fact, if you look up this word, the key definition is “to fall short, to miss the mark.” There isn’t one person on the face of the earth who does not stand under this word hamartia. But Paul’s not using that here.

If you read through, he says, “In whom we have,” apolutrosin, “redemption through the blood of Him.” And where do we have “sins”? Do you see anywhere where it says hamartia? No, because the word Paul used is a strange word: paraptomaton. Wait a minute. You know what’s coming, don’t you? I want you to remember these words. They are words that should be ingrained in our brains. In English, parap, and the end looks like “tomato,” tomaton. Okay, this word is not hamartia; it is equal in value, but being used here as the word trespass.

But He chose for Himself. He didn’t choose out for something else; He chose for Himself. He knew. And this has become the doctrine also for these people who have decided that everything’s wind-up. No, not everything’s wind-up, and that picture in the Garden proves the point that we are definitely walking vessels with minds of our own; we can do whatever we want. In fact, in the study of ontology, we have one of the more famous people who made their mark. Heidegger made his mark in association with Hitler, then turned around and said, “Boy, it was just a bad social experiment that went wrong.” But he did make some valuable and important contributions to the field of philosophy. I don’t want to say he was an existentialist, but he was, and his thing was being there, and why there is something rather than nothing, coming back to being there.

He did a whole study on that. Well, if you take that mindset and try to apply it to “He chose out for Himself,” you’d have to be there to be chosen, right? The whole mindset of proving God’s existence: does God exist? Does He exist for Himself, or does He exist for me? Say no more. If you live out in today’s society, God exists for me to do my will. That’s the society, the world viewpoint. “Having foreordained us….” If you have these notes in your Bible, if not make them, “Having foreordained us unto the adoption of children….” I stop there again.

Q. There’s been a lot of distortion on giving. You have taught for thirty years how people should give. If you could briefly, in a few words, say what giving should mean, what would you say?

A. We are creatures and we have needs. God is the Creator and He has no needs. The first thing I’d say is what a shame it is that people in the churches raise money as though God needs the money. “The earth is the LORD’S and the fullness thereof.” (Psalm 24:1) God doesn’t need our money. Jesus told his disciples not to take a scrip, which was a begging bag that heathen priests carried to beg money for their Gods. God doesn’t want us to be beggars for Him. God is the provider. Now, C.S. Lewis said it brilliantly. He says God as Creator has no needs. We as creatures have needs. God was kind enough to humble Himself to meet one of our greatest needs, the need to be needed. God could do His work with angels. He doesn’t need us. But God bowed Himself in humility and let us partner with Him, and lets us give as an expression of our value for Him, His Word, and the opportunity to serve Him. Now, we need to understand the distinction between the tithes and offerings.

The tithe is the Lord’s. That gets to the guts of honesty in relationship to God. That gets to the guts of whether or not we recognize we are bought with a price and we are not our own. That gets to the guts of the Lord’s ownership of everything, and the rest of the world are squatters on His territory. We as Christians recognize His ownership and we are honest in our dealings with God as He is faithful in His dealings with us. We give because we recognize we are the Lord’s and the earth is the Lord’s. We believe that He has promised, without any qualification, to bless those who honor Him with their tithes and offerings. Offerings go beyond the tithe and are a voluntary expression of value. Galatians 6 says, “Let him who is taught in the word share (koinonea in the Greek) share with the one who taught him in all good things.” That’s not spiritual prayers, that’s THINGS—boats, houses, land, money, jewels. God doesn’t need any of these things, but He wants us to express our understanding of the value of who He is and what He has done for us.

Now having said that, turn with me in your Bible to I Corinthians 1:9 because I’m going to make my point about koinonia as a noun. I Corinthians 1:9. Your Bible reads “God is faithful, by whom you were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” That word ‘fellowship:’ koinonia. I really, because it’s so simple it might just get passed over and you might think it’s not a big deal because you understand what I said about giving God’s way.

Pastor Melissa Scott tells us that this is just like an overview. I could probably have done at least twenty different messages on each subject. I don’t want to have to come to Church every week and talk about money. But maybe the chance that one or two might hear what they’re supposed to do with the right spirit. God loves a hilarious giver. God’s way, not your way and our way is never His way. This is just too easy. “God is faithful by whom ye were called unto the fellowship,” koinonia ‘joint-participation,’ ‘sharers’ “of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Now maybe for some of you, you just kind of ‘Okay. Well that’s great, I’m already a sharer.’ Now, recognize something. Not only did He pay the price and you have the benefits but now again if you have been – here it goes, it’s a Scottism – if you’ve been ‘koinoniaing.’ It also means by this token you’ve been ‘koinoniaed’ by God. I want you to think about that because it’s so easy to say “Well I give.” Now I give with a right heart and the paradox is I turn around because I give with the right heart this is what He does. “God is faithful, by whom you were called unto the koinonia,” the joint-participation, “the sharing of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” That’s one.

Pastor Melissa Scott tells us that the five offerings in the Book of Leviticus. You have the burnt offering; the meal, which is called the ‘meat’ in your King James, the grain, meat, meal, grain it’s the same thing; the peace offering; the sin offering; and the trespass offering, which I hope we’ll get to talk about. Those concepts are completely fulfilled, I just said the burnt offering: Jesus Christ 100%. And you yourselves and I can say for myself as well, when a person dedicates their life to Christ…. I’m tired of people saying, I’ve heard many people say “Well you should have altar calls in your Church.” The altar call should happen while you’re hearing the Word. There’s something that smites you inside where you say “My God I just heard something.” It happened to me while I listened to my husband preach not yet my husband. I heard him speak and it was like “My God that’s it! There can be no other than what he has just said.” That was the match that lit the fire that has not gone out. The altar call happens in your heart and it happens by hearing the Word.

Many people have taken this, “Okay this is pre-law.” What happens? What God instituted before the law was refined in the law. And there are certain things that in type we actually still do. There are people that will, in this congregation have been taught, who will say “I’m sending in a burnt offering. This is my burnt offering.

This is my joy offering.” There are people who have been taught in the Word who understand what that means. And I like when people say “I like to have joy. Well I want the joy of being a Christian without the cross.” Well go find it somewhere else. You ain’t going to find it here, it’s a tough trip.

Now “remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.” ‘Well I go to church once a year.’ ‘I go to church every single week but man it interferes with all my other stuff I want to do. I can never get anything done because I have to go to church every week.’ That’s part of keeping it holy. If these are the conditions and the standards by which you’re going to live by out there in TV land. If you’re going to keep the law, you better keep every last dot. And I guarantee you the law doesn’t end with the Ten Commandments. It extends to the Levitical code. It extents to everything that God said. So if you think the thought of doing something, you’ve just really put yourself in a pickle. What’s the measuring stick? Certainly not what brother and sister so-and-so think. And not even what you think. What do you have to measure it by? Your own failures? Your own successes? This is the measuring rod right here. The glory of God and the glorious standard begins and ends with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now I guarantee you if I were to make a comparison between me and Jesus. I’m like something out of quantum mechanics. I’m like a little neutrino or something in comparison to this cataclysmic whole universe that represents Jesus. I’m like pttew. Guess what? We all are. Well I like that string theory better because it has many dimensions. I could be many things simultaneously.

Pastor Melissa Scott tells us that the glory of God is Jesus Christ. The glory of God is what I’m being conformed to every day. I’ve said this a thousand times, if I’ve not said it one time. It is the message I really want to talk about one of these days because it so changed me and impacted me: the Potter’s house. I’ve referred to it for many weeks now. I’ve talked about this idea. Somehow there are two sets of Christians. Look. Go back to the woman taken in adultery. There weren’t two sets of people: guilty and not guilty. Guilty as charged. But what about my neighbor? Let me look in a camera. What about my neighbor that hates me? You’ll not know if that’s real or not. It doesn’t matter. Well I’m a work in progress. Didn’t I say that? God’s got to show me the way. It’s easy to just do what we do in the flesh, but His standard. I can never measure up to. Man I want to but I can’t. So let me go back to where I started. This whole reason for communicating this. When you take of those elements. When the next time you take of those elements, don’t look at those elements and say ‘ho hum.’ Don’t look at those elements and say hocus-pocus. Don’t look at those elements and say ‘well if I could just be…’ I am! I’m made worthy by the blood of the Lamb, unworthy, worthless sinner that I am. I’m made worthy! Glory to God! I’m made worthy by the blood of the Lamb.

That’s His message and mine.

Melissa Scott tells us that the verse somehow seems an intrusion here, because in Romans 3:21 through 31 is not talking about sin but about the way of salvation.”

Je ne sais pas. Don’t ask me. I’m just reading from what he says.

“I think differently now, however” – Thanks because that’s wonderful because that’s what he’s dealing with – “and reason I think differently is that now I understand the connection between this verse and grace.”

Now let me add something before I read on. Grace is unmerited favor. We did nothing to deserve it. We did nothing to earn it. So the minute somebody says ‘I’m rolling my burdens on Him’ and everything, all that there is bought and paid for. That sphere of grace that covers me also covers those emotions that well up, because it’s so hard to believe. In fact I’m just – I’m going to wait but let me come back to this. I need to ask a question: how many of you – and this is a no-brainer, because it’s not a religious question. It doesn’t have to interfere with your spiritual stimuli right now. How many of you whether you agree or disagree with people that are out in Iraq or wherever they be in the world, how many of you agree – I want to see hands – that they are protecting you and your country? Show me your hands. Okay. You have no doubt about that.  No doubt. Now how many of you fought in a war. You fought in a war. Show me hands. There’s – yeah. You’d do right to applaud.

You went, you might have enlisted, you might have been drafted; you went to protect the country. You protected me. Personalize it for wherever you are. You were being put on the front lines, in danger. There are people that have died. Lost limbs. And there are no ‘buts’ attached. You did it with no ‘buts’ attached. Right? Why then would I say ‘Well you went and you fought for the country, but…’? Now take that same analogy. Jesus died on the cross, ‘but…’ See how ridiculous that is?

My intention was to gather in the Chapel with the people and film a Communion that we put up on the air for all new people who have never partaken explaining it like milk. And man there was enough people sitting in the Chapel I could pick up the vibrations it was like ‘Mrs. Scott’ – I felt like kids sitting there like you know a child will look at a mother and say ‘come on Mom’ it’s like ‘this is milk, come on.’ I know you. And the ones that are sitting here who were sitting in front of me trust me. I pick up those vibrations. The staff people will tell you if there’s something going wrong my radar picks it up. And I thought ‘you know I understand where they’re coming from’ but I have a dilemma. After we were done I concluded something.

The reason why I want to take the Communion to put up on the air to bring to new people – is  there is so much confusion. If I don’t teach people – forget about a baby milk Communion – if I don’t teach people what’s underneath that – those elements, the bread and the wine – if I don’t teach those basic, fundamental principles I am just as guilty as the next person who’s not teaching it correctly, because we are to discern what we’re doing when we partake. We’re not to focus on ourselves. We’re to discern the elements. And I thought ‘Okay.’ We did this Communion and I picked up some interesting vibes as I told you.

Pastor Melissa Scott tells us that it also dawned on me. I need to – we need to go back to the basics. Some of you who have been so well taught and new people who haven’t been taught at all here, not to insult, lest I would insult anybody, I’m sure people have read the Bible.

And at some point you have to decide what’s worth-ship you’ve been taught – the contraction of the value – worth-ship: what you have received, what it’s worth to you. And not because I’m crying some tears in the screen and I’m telling you we have to feed starving children in some foreign country. Maybe we do that behind the scenes. It’s none of your business. You give for the worth of the teaching. You give because you love God and God loves a hilarious giver. Period.

Now, Turn to Mathew 13:33. We’re going to go back to Revelation. I want to show you this very quickly. “Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven.” Now I need to say this. I know a lot people are going to say ‘Whoa, don’t even go there.’ This forth little section of a whole series woven in here is like the fourth church. The fourth church: Thyatira. Read this “The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.”

Pastor  Melissa Scott tells us that the meal being represented as Jesus, Bread of Life, Manna from Heaven, the Logos, the Word. Leaven is always – I don’t care where you look – ninety-nine per cent of the time it’s going to be evil or corruption. A lot of people hate this because it’s right there and what does it mean for me and what does it mean for you? It means that this woman, again another type of the church, she took the Word and she mixed in corruption until the whole thing was corrupt.

Huh? Now if you have a problem with me saying “the kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven” then you’ll have a problem with verse 24 when it says “The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man.” Same thing. We’re not talking about specifics. I know some people will say ‘Well it has to mean something else.’ It means exactly what it says. So when we take the type of corruption that is being put into the church in this time, in these Dark Ages. Go back with me now to Revelation.

“And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations; And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my father. And I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”

Wow! Could this be the same Jesus in times past? Absolutely. God has a right to get ticked off if He wants at what He sees. Let that sink in for a millisecond. Every letter has more or less the same formula. And I hate to use that word, but it has the same formula. We’ve got ‘To the church’ ‘From Jesus’ and a description of Himself. And what I love about this: this could be a message in a message. To each church, He comes to the people right where they’re at. Guess what? That hasn’t changed. Jesus comes to us exactly where we are. We don’t have to reach up to Heaven to bring Him down nor bend down to bring Him up. He comes to us exactly where we are.

Pastor Melissa Scott tells us that these churches no different; the first church He’s in the midst with the seven stars, seven candlesticks in the midst of the churches and He tells them ‘if you don’t change your ways I’m going to take away your church.’ But He came right where they were. The second church He tells them ‘don’t worry, I became dead and I’m alive. To you who are suffering persecution and martyrdom, don’t worry about it. You’re going to be okay. I’m your typo here. I’m your proof that you’re going to overcome and not be hurt of the second death. The third church the sharp sword. Two edges because there’s going to be some cutting and the same words will bring life to some and death to others. This church here; no different; He comes exactly where they are and if you’re reading the passage it has an interesting little introduction. “These things sayeth the Son of God.”