"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me."Galatians 2:20.
In my previous posting, I said that Paul was by far the greatest Christian leader of all time. I believe it would be a futile endeavor on anyone's part, mine included, to attempt a search for someone equal to his level of commitment to Christ. I say this because Holy Scripture itself gives us sufficient evidence that this saint was consumed by Christ. Consumed is the word I feel is most fitting to describe Paul with regard to his life of faith and service. This is mainly due to his firm resolve to disclaim all significance about himself. "For to me to live is Christ," and, "To be absent from the body and present with the Lord is far better:" Both of these statements of Paul's tell me much about what, or I should say, Who, preoccupied him.
Whenever Paul made any reference to himself, such as using "I" or "me," he used them only as his life directly applied to his oneness with the Lord. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I love by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." Outside of that sacred realm, nothing else about Paul, as far as he was concerned, really mattered.
Yet, after Paul's miraculous life change in Damascus, as he grew in God's grace and knowledge, he came to understand the importance of caring for others. He expressed many times his burden for his own people, the Israelites, and he came to appreciate the fact that God is an all-inclusive God, meaning that He desires that all men everywhere might be saved. And so, the Apostle, in his unswerving commitment to the Lord Jesus, came to have the same desire in his own heart to see all persons come to a knowledge of God's saving gace and truth.
If Paul were to be here in this world today, he would tell you and me that "it's not about me. It's all about Christ and His love for us all." Being crucified with Christ means just that. It means a deliberate resolve to die, die to self. If I earnestly expect to live with Christ, I must, as He did, die. For in dying, I will truly live.
Much out there in this present world appeals to peoples' quest for personal gain and personal fulfillment, whatever that means. Billboards on roadsides say "You owe it to yourself," or "You are really all that matters." But I feel here to say that the longer I live on this present earth, the less interested I am in what matters to me. In all honesty, me is what I need to get away from. Me is what got me into trouble in the first place. Me and myself and mine is all about me, and that will mean me will, at the close of my life here, end in bitter disappointment. But if I deny me and take up my cross daily and follow the One who loved me and gave Himself for me, I will never be disappointed, never. And never will you either, if you come to terms with this awesome truth. The big paradox, I suppose, is that since we matter to God, which is why He sent His Son to die for us, then what ought to matter to us is living as if God truly matters to us. This, of course can only be realized when we say to Him, "Lord, it's not about me. It's all about You and Your love for me. Therefore, make me into the man or woman You desire for me to be, and while You are at it, Lord, please move me completely out of the way, so that when I stand before You on that Day, all You will see is You.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Near is not Near Enough
Since the beginning of another glorious Christmas season, I have felt led to pursue Paul. I desire to know more about his life and ministry. Both are to be found in Luke's Book of Acts as well as the letters of Paul himself.
This evening there is an account I want to share which I will borrow from my own personal hand written faith journal I had begun last January, mainly because I have come to regard Paul as the greatest Christian disciple who ever lived. I feel he was by far the greatest of the Lord's followers simply because he not only lived for Christ, but he lived Christ. When he wrote to the believers in Philippi, "for to me to live is Christ," he truly meant it. He was a man fully controlled and consumed by Christ.
But Paul was not always this way, as none of us who are God's people can truthfully say we were always God's elect people. None of us was always a Christian since the day we were born.
There was another man who came before Paul. His name was Saul, Saul of Tarsus. That was his name his parents gave him when they, by jewish tradition, presented him to the high priest to be circumcised eight days after he was born. O granted, the two were the same men. Before Paul was Paul, he was Saul. Saul was a pharisee, a religionist of the strictest sort. He believed in one God, and he fervently studied the law and the prophets. He could likely quote every passage word for word, as some folks even now can quote the Bible verse by verse, cover to cover. And if ever there might be a man as near to knowing all a man could hope to know about God, it was Saul of Tarsus. But as we hopefully will discover, near is not near enough.
Saul was a young Jew who studied at the feet of Gamaliel. That experience might well be likened to a young person having the honor and priviledge of studying at Harvard, Yale, or Princeton. Saul had grown to a level of knowledge so prestigious that he won the admiring attention of both his peers and teachers. And Luke tells us in Acts 7 & 8 that he willing had a hand in the presecutions that began to be waged against those who trusted and followed Christ as Lord and Savior. Chapter 9 begins with Saul "breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord." And to prove he meant business, he went to the high priest and obtained letters (we may call them warrants) he could take along with him to Damascus that would permit him to bring back to Jerusalem any he found of this way."
Then all of sudden, the situation changes. There he is on the road to damascus, and as Brother Luke tells us, Saul "came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. And he (Saul) fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, "Saul,
saul, why persecutest thou me?"
Saul was near Damascus when this occurred. I feel here that i need to say before the Lord got hold of me and turned my miserable life around, He had to bring me near that turning point in my life. Once I was saved, I was saved and forgiven all at once. But He had to bring to a point in which I was near enough to that point that I was under great conviction. When Saul fell to the ground due to the blinding brightness of that heavenly light, he might not have right then been changed in his heart concerning the Lord. But he was certainly well on his way.
Now if I come off sounding like a hyperCalvinist, please understand whenever I give my salvation testimony, I do have to confess that on the night of September 10, 1978, the blessed Sunday night I was gloriously saved the Spirit of God brought such conviction tp my heart that I felt I just could not refuse Him. Let me put it this way; I did not want to refuse Him because I realized at that moment if I did, and I died in my sleep that night, I would surely lift up my eyes in hell as did the rich man in Luke 16.
Saul was near Damascus. The Lord Jesus, according to Mark, was asked by a scribe what is the first commandment of all. The Lord answered with "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is non other commandment greater than these."
The scribe then praised the Master for His answer by saying that all these were worth more than whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. When the scribe said that, Jesus said to him, "Thou art not far from the kingdom of God."
But being not far or, for that matter, being near to the kingdowm, does not mean a person will enter the kingdowm when he dies. He cannot stop there, just being near the point of being saved. He must go all the way into the redeeming presence of the most holy God, confessing his need to repent (turn from sin), confess he is a lost, hell-deserving, hell-bound sinner, ane then ask the Lord Jesus to forgive and cleanse him from all unrighteousness.
I am not a sports lover, that is, basketball, football, or baseball, as far as watching games on television. I have enjoyed playing some of them, namely a friendly backyard game of touch football. but I do happen to know that if a given team loses by one point, whereby the final score is 14 to 13 , the team that lost simply lost. It does little good for the losing team to leave the field saying, "We nearly won," or, "We barely lost." Whether it be a close score or a wide one like 20 to nothing, the fact still remains that the team lost the game.
As I go about daily activities, (at this time, I am taking needed time off to enjoy the Christmas holidays), it strikes home to my heart that there are people everywhere out there, in stores, malls, merchants selling their wares, who might be like Saul of Tarsus. They are still on damascus Road, and they are near Damascus, but they just have not got there quite yet. These are seekers, and the Lord obviously deals with seekers since he did say "Seek and ye shall find, ask and ye shall receive, knock, and it shall be opened unto you." I was finally brought into the pasture of safety after spending sometime on my own Damascus Road, but I was, thanks be to Him, on that road, near Damascus.
Only please do not be deceived by the notion that being near to making that salvation decision for Christ is near enough. Near but not yet there can also put you farther back. the Spirit of god is the One who brings lost people to God, and faith in His saving grace. But in putting off that decision too many times can result in your never reaching Damascus at all. I use the name of that city here to symbolize the salvation/forgiveness/eternal life experience through and in Christ. It is my hope and prayer that anyone who reads this post will, if he or she has not yet done so, get on that road that leads to heaven one day. "Behold," the Word of god says, "Behold, now is the accepted time; Behold, now is the day of salvation."
This evening there is an account I want to share which I will borrow from my own personal hand written faith journal I had begun last January, mainly because I have come to regard Paul as the greatest Christian disciple who ever lived. I feel he was by far the greatest of the Lord's followers simply because he not only lived for Christ, but he lived Christ. When he wrote to the believers in Philippi, "for to me to live is Christ," he truly meant it. He was a man fully controlled and consumed by Christ.
But Paul was not always this way, as none of us who are God's people can truthfully say we were always God's elect people. None of us was always a Christian since the day we were born.
There was another man who came before Paul. His name was Saul, Saul of Tarsus. That was his name his parents gave him when they, by jewish tradition, presented him to the high priest to be circumcised eight days after he was born. O granted, the two were the same men. Before Paul was Paul, he was Saul. Saul was a pharisee, a religionist of the strictest sort. He believed in one God, and he fervently studied the law and the prophets. He could likely quote every passage word for word, as some folks even now can quote the Bible verse by verse, cover to cover. And if ever there might be a man as near to knowing all a man could hope to know about God, it was Saul of Tarsus. But as we hopefully will discover, near is not near enough.
Saul was a young Jew who studied at the feet of Gamaliel. That experience might well be likened to a young person having the honor and priviledge of studying at Harvard, Yale, or Princeton. Saul had grown to a level of knowledge so prestigious that he won the admiring attention of both his peers and teachers. And Luke tells us in Acts 7 & 8 that he willing had a hand in the presecutions that began to be waged against those who trusted and followed Christ as Lord and Savior. Chapter 9 begins with Saul "breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord." And to prove he meant business, he went to the high priest and obtained letters (we may call them warrants) he could take along with him to Damascus that would permit him to bring back to Jerusalem any he found of this way."
Then all of sudden, the situation changes. There he is on the road to damascus, and as Brother Luke tells us, Saul "came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. And he (Saul) fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, "Saul,
saul, why persecutest thou me?"
Saul was near Damascus when this occurred. I feel here that i need to say before the Lord got hold of me and turned my miserable life around, He had to bring me near that turning point in my life. Once I was saved, I was saved and forgiven all at once. But He had to bring to a point in which I was near enough to that point that I was under great conviction. When Saul fell to the ground due to the blinding brightness of that heavenly light, he might not have right then been changed in his heart concerning the Lord. But he was certainly well on his way.
Now if I come off sounding like a hyperCalvinist, please understand whenever I give my salvation testimony, I do have to confess that on the night of September 10, 1978, the blessed Sunday night I was gloriously saved the Spirit of God brought such conviction tp my heart that I felt I just could not refuse Him. Let me put it this way; I did not want to refuse Him because I realized at that moment if I did, and I died in my sleep that night, I would surely lift up my eyes in hell as did the rich man in Luke 16.
Saul was near Damascus. The Lord Jesus, according to Mark, was asked by a scribe what is the first commandment of all. The Lord answered with "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is non other commandment greater than these."
The scribe then praised the Master for His answer by saying that all these were worth more than whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. When the scribe said that, Jesus said to him, "Thou art not far from the kingdom of God."
But being not far or, for that matter, being near to the kingdowm, does not mean a person will enter the kingdowm when he dies. He cannot stop there, just being near the point of being saved. He must go all the way into the redeeming presence of the most holy God, confessing his need to repent (turn from sin), confess he is a lost, hell-deserving, hell-bound sinner, ane then ask the Lord Jesus to forgive and cleanse him from all unrighteousness.
I am not a sports lover, that is, basketball, football, or baseball, as far as watching games on television. I have enjoyed playing some of them, namely a friendly backyard game of touch football. but I do happen to know that if a given team loses by one point, whereby the final score is 14 to 13 , the team that lost simply lost. It does little good for the losing team to leave the field saying, "We nearly won," or, "We barely lost." Whether it be a close score or a wide one like 20 to nothing, the fact still remains that the team lost the game.
As I go about daily activities, (at this time, I am taking needed time off to enjoy the Christmas holidays), it strikes home to my heart that there are people everywhere out there, in stores, malls, merchants selling their wares, who might be like Saul of Tarsus. They are still on damascus Road, and they are near Damascus, but they just have not got there quite yet. These are seekers, and the Lord obviously deals with seekers since he did say "Seek and ye shall find, ask and ye shall receive, knock, and it shall be opened unto you." I was finally brought into the pasture of safety after spending sometime on my own Damascus Road, but I was, thanks be to Him, on that road, near Damascus.
Only please do not be deceived by the notion that being near to making that salvation decision for Christ is near enough. Near but not yet there can also put you farther back. the Spirit of god is the One who brings lost people to God, and faith in His saving grace. But in putting off that decision too many times can result in your never reaching Damascus at all. I use the name of that city here to symbolize the salvation/forgiveness/eternal life experience through and in Christ. It is my hope and prayer that anyone who reads this post will, if he or she has not yet done so, get on that road that leads to heaven one day. "Behold," the Word of god says, "Behold, now is the accepted time; Behold, now is the day of salvation."
Monday, December 22, 2008
,Why am I here?
This question is not intended to suggest that I do not know why I am here on this earth. For that matter, it is not even intended to give anyone the impression that I do not know why I am a resident of Anderson County in the upstate of South Carolina. In fact, it does far more than suggest anything of the sort. From the biblical perspective, I am here on this present earth to live a life of faith, trust, and obedience: faith and trust in the great Lord and Savior who delivered me from sin and its resulting judgment, and obedience to Him any way He has chosen for me to live out my remaining days in this present, sin-corrupted world. As for my living out my remaining pilgrim days in Anderson County, it is because this is where God has purposed me to be at this time. He may or may not have my wife and me to live anywhere else during our remaining time on this earth. But we will live wherever He so desires for us to live, and right now, this is the place.
In my personal study of the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit is showing me how faith, trust, and obedience were very much at work in the lives of men like Peter, James, John, Stephen, and finally, Paul. There was a time earlier in my years as a Christian when I thought that these men were exceptional, in that God had made them to be above the ordinary human population. But I had later discovered through a deeper study of God's Word, that these and other great men of the Bible who followed God and were used by Him in extraordinary ways, differed from so-called average men only in their faith. In essence, and I want to be very careful in the most reverent sense when I state this, these were all ordinary men who chose to trust a very extraordinary God, with an extraordinary faith.
I honestly believe that God will mightily use any man, woman, or young person who is willing to submit to His rightful authority over their lives. They do not have to be super talented or endowed with a superior intellect. I do not desire to say that with the intent of deliberately offending certain readers, but such assets can be far more a liability than an asset when it comes to one's being useful to God. Several accounts are given in God's Word to affirm this, so then please feel free to take up this matter with Him, not me. God is showing me that the life He has given to me here has true worth and value only when my life is daily placed in His complete control. He chooses the low things of this world, not the high and mighty, to serve and honor Him. He delights far more in doing His greatest work through an old empty rusted out bucket that knows it is empty, than He does in a pot full of gold that often gloats in its being full, but ends up being too full for God to do anything with it except set it on a shelf to collect dust. This means every hope, dream, and ambition, including personal plans, have to be completely surrendered to Him. In addition, even my most prized possessions must be recognized as His. This includes members of my family: my wife, children, and grandchildren. Nothing I have is really mine, Everything, myself included, is His, and He, being God, has every sovereign right to determine every outcome. In short, God wants to empty us before He fills us.
I must admit that as I read and study the lives and ministries of these men covered in the Word, I sometimes feel a bit threatened as well as convicted in my heart. This is because of the sacrifice these early saints made to be and do what their Lord patterned them to be and do for Him. Through the entire Bible are examples of faith that was stronger than the human will. Abraham went out from his own kin after he believed He heard God call him, while not knowing just where he was to go. But once he started on his faith journey, he learned in time that God was leading him toward the land called Canaan. Jeremiah surrendered to the call from his God to be a prophet after God had told him no one would listen to his message and respond favorably to his preaching. And once Peter, James, John, and Stephen got a big filling from the Holy Spirit, their only aim from then on was to persuade lost people to believe the gospel and be saved. Even time in jail and receiving whip lashes from their religious adversaries did not stop them from living out God's purpose for their lives. Saul became Paul after the Lord got hold of him, and after that miraculous life-changing encounter with the Lord on Damascus Road, nothing mattered to Paul but living his entire life for the Savior. Little wonder he was glad to pen these words to believers at Philippi: "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Phil. 1:21 And in another verse, "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ." 3:7
It is tempting to choose the easy way, or to get so enamored with the pleasures of this temporal life, that it becomes hard to turn loose of it all and follow Christ no matter what. But this is not the life! I honestly believe that knowing this truth, will serve to transform the unresolved Christian into one fully resolved to live for God's promise of betters things to come. The life which really matters is the one we cannot see with our fleshly eyes, but long to see with faith's eyes. As for this present life, it is temporal, that is, it is very temporary, very short. In fact, as I heard one old preacher put it, "This life is a training base for the one to come." Another grand old saint said that "the whole reason for Christian education down here is to teach God's people how to live one day up there." The late, great missionary to the Aucas told his wife Elizabeth only a few days prior to his being killed by those Indians that "No man is a fool who is willing to lose what he cannot keep, in order to gain what he cannot lose." Those words echo the timeless words of our Savior:
"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whoso-
ever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it." Matthew 16:25
And regardless of what we who are God's elect people may have to go through down here on this present earth, that will be nothing compared to the glories awaiting God's faithful when this life is finally over. Over this past year, the Lord has been helping me to see a much farther reaching enterprise in the words of Paul, recorded in Romans 8:18:
"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be
revealed in us."
In my personal study of the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit is showing me how faith, trust, and obedience were very much at work in the lives of men like Peter, James, John, Stephen, and finally, Paul. There was a time earlier in my years as a Christian when I thought that these men were exceptional, in that God had made them to be above the ordinary human population. But I had later discovered through a deeper study of God's Word, that these and other great men of the Bible who followed God and were used by Him in extraordinary ways, differed from so-called average men only in their faith. In essence, and I want to be very careful in the most reverent sense when I state this, these were all ordinary men who chose to trust a very extraordinary God, with an extraordinary faith.
I honestly believe that God will mightily use any man, woman, or young person who is willing to submit to His rightful authority over their lives. They do not have to be super talented or endowed with a superior intellect. I do not desire to say that with the intent of deliberately offending certain readers, but such assets can be far more a liability than an asset when it comes to one's being useful to God. Several accounts are given in God's Word to affirm this, so then please feel free to take up this matter with Him, not me. God is showing me that the life He has given to me here has true worth and value only when my life is daily placed in His complete control. He chooses the low things of this world, not the high and mighty, to serve and honor Him. He delights far more in doing His greatest work through an old empty rusted out bucket that knows it is empty, than He does in a pot full of gold that often gloats in its being full, but ends up being too full for God to do anything with it except set it on a shelf to collect dust. This means every hope, dream, and ambition, including personal plans, have to be completely surrendered to Him. In addition, even my most prized possessions must be recognized as His. This includes members of my family: my wife, children, and grandchildren. Nothing I have is really mine, Everything, myself included, is His, and He, being God, has every sovereign right to determine every outcome. In short, God wants to empty us before He fills us.
I must admit that as I read and study the lives and ministries of these men covered in the Word, I sometimes feel a bit threatened as well as convicted in my heart. This is because of the sacrifice these early saints made to be and do what their Lord patterned them to be and do for Him. Through the entire Bible are examples of faith that was stronger than the human will. Abraham went out from his own kin after he believed He heard God call him, while not knowing just where he was to go. But once he started on his faith journey, he learned in time that God was leading him toward the land called Canaan. Jeremiah surrendered to the call from his God to be a prophet after God had told him no one would listen to his message and respond favorably to his preaching. And once Peter, James, John, and Stephen got a big filling from the Holy Spirit, their only aim from then on was to persuade lost people to believe the gospel and be saved. Even time in jail and receiving whip lashes from their religious adversaries did not stop them from living out God's purpose for their lives. Saul became Paul after the Lord got hold of him, and after that miraculous life-changing encounter with the Lord on Damascus Road, nothing mattered to Paul but living his entire life for the Savior. Little wonder he was glad to pen these words to believers at Philippi: "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Phil. 1:21 And in another verse, "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ." 3:7
It is tempting to choose the easy way, or to get so enamored with the pleasures of this temporal life, that it becomes hard to turn loose of it all and follow Christ no matter what. But this is not the life! I honestly believe that knowing this truth, will serve to transform the unresolved Christian into one fully resolved to live for God's promise of betters things to come. The life which really matters is the one we cannot see with our fleshly eyes, but long to see with faith's eyes. As for this present life, it is temporal, that is, it is very temporary, very short. In fact, as I heard one old preacher put it, "This life is a training base for the one to come." Another grand old saint said that "the whole reason for Christian education down here is to teach God's people how to live one day up there." The late, great missionary to the Aucas told his wife Elizabeth only a few days prior to his being killed by those Indians that "No man is a fool who is willing to lose what he cannot keep, in order to gain what he cannot lose." Those words echo the timeless words of our Savior:
"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whoso-
ever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it." Matthew 16:25
And regardless of what we who are God's elect people may have to go through down here on this present earth, that will be nothing compared to the glories awaiting God's faithful when this life is finally over. Over this past year, the Lord has been helping me to see a much farther reaching enterprise in the words of Paul, recorded in Romans 8:18:
"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be
revealed in us."
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