Jeremiah 1:10
"See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant."
Jeremiah's prophetic call was from God. God would never call a man to that great work who thought too much of himself. Jeremiah did not feel he measured up to such a high vocation. I suppose that is why he told the Lord in verse 6 that he could not speak, for he was only a child.
But God does not want the man He does call to the ministry to think too little of himself. That is why he answered Jeremiah with a solemn retort, "Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I send thee, and whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak." He further told his man for that work not to be afraid of those to whom he would send him.
Finally, after this matter of the call God gave Jeremiah was settled, He then told him that he would be given His authority to root out, pull down, destroy, throw down, then build and plant.
There is a powerful message here concerning men's greatest need, and that is to brought down so that in time he might be lifted up. God's Word teaches this: that until we are brought low, we cannot be lifted up. This is a matter of humility. There are those of us these days who profess faith in Christ, that they are going to heaven when they die, but there is a spiritual arrogance which keeps them back from being all that the Lord desires for them to be. That is why the Bible admonishes us in James 4:10, "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up." In the preceding verse 6 we are warned, "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble."
I can never rightly expect my life to truly count for God and His glory unless I am first willing to be brought down low, for it is only when I am down that can be raised up. And no person, no matter how good or fit he might think him or herself to be, will never see, nor enter heaven until he repents of his sins and surrenders his life to Jesus Christ. He said, "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein."
Think on this.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
What Difference Does it Make?
"Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17
This verse has really grasped my attention, and for a very good reason. Its words are quick to remind me not only of what God in His grace and mercy delivered me from, but more importantly, what He delivered me to. It also serves to remind me of a life of service He delivered me for. Since my life has been changed by the power of God's Holy Spirit, my behavior and attitude should be a reflection of that change. This means that what I once loved and God hates, I should now hate it. And what I once hated that God loves, I should now love. This means that if I truly experienced that miracle of the new birth in Christ, my entire life ought to show evidence that this miracle really took place.
Of course, I know that as long as I remain down here in this corrupt body, that old man called the flesh will remain with me. For this reason, it is necessary for me, as well as for other Christians, to go through a daily process of growth known as sanctification. This word in the Greek means to make clean, to purify. It also indicates a process of growth or maturity. This is what Brother Peter meant in the last verse of his second epistle:
"But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 3:18)
It is very difficult for me to accept this current teaching going around telling us that mean, bitter spirited people, if they are Christians, will go to heaven. I overheard a message on the radio sometime ago in which the speaker said with a chuckle, "Listen beloved: You might have some mean, hateful Christians in your church, but if they are Christians, one day all that meanness will go away once they enter the pearly gates." I thought, "What utter nonsense!" Being a mean, hateful Christian is a contradiction in terms.
This is the bottom and top line: If I was mean and hateful before Christ saved me, that meanness and hatefulness ought to be gone or at least on its way out of me, as a result of that miracle transformation. As for any traces of it still hanging around, the Holy Spirit dwelling in my heart will give me the desire and power to get rid of that nasty, hateful spirit. I will not want it in my life, and I will work toward getting rid of it as I rely on God's power to help me get ride of it. To think that anyone who is continually hateful and mean-spirited and never changes while he is down here, will suddenly be transformed into a wonderful, loving, joy-filled member of heaven's glories once he gets there, is foreign to the teachings of Holy Scripture. The changes get underway here through daily sanctification and spiritual renewal. And this can happen only through a daily discipline of prayer and study of the Word of God.
Self examination is a good thing. It keeps us constantly aware of our accountability to a Holy, righteous God who loves us perfectly.
This verse has really grasped my attention, and for a very good reason. Its words are quick to remind me not only of what God in His grace and mercy delivered me from, but more importantly, what He delivered me to. It also serves to remind me of a life of service He delivered me for. Since my life has been changed by the power of God's Holy Spirit, my behavior and attitude should be a reflection of that change. This means that what I once loved and God hates, I should now hate it. And what I once hated that God loves, I should now love. This means that if I truly experienced that miracle of the new birth in Christ, my entire life ought to show evidence that this miracle really took place.
Of course, I know that as long as I remain down here in this corrupt body, that old man called the flesh will remain with me. For this reason, it is necessary for me, as well as for other Christians, to go through a daily process of growth known as sanctification. This word in the Greek means to make clean, to purify. It also indicates a process of growth or maturity. This is what Brother Peter meant in the last verse of his second epistle:
"But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 3:18)
It is very difficult for me to accept this current teaching going around telling us that mean, bitter spirited people, if they are Christians, will go to heaven. I overheard a message on the radio sometime ago in which the speaker said with a chuckle, "Listen beloved: You might have some mean, hateful Christians in your church, but if they are Christians, one day all that meanness will go away once they enter the pearly gates." I thought, "What utter nonsense!" Being a mean, hateful Christian is a contradiction in terms.
This is the bottom and top line: If I was mean and hateful before Christ saved me, that meanness and hatefulness ought to be gone or at least on its way out of me, as a result of that miracle transformation. As for any traces of it still hanging around, the Holy Spirit dwelling in my heart will give me the desire and power to get rid of that nasty, hateful spirit. I will not want it in my life, and I will work toward getting rid of it as I rely on God's power to help me get ride of it. To think that anyone who is continually hateful and mean-spirited and never changes while he is down here, will suddenly be transformed into a wonderful, loving, joy-filled member of heaven's glories once he gets there, is foreign to the teachings of Holy Scripture. The changes get underway here through daily sanctification and spiritual renewal. And this can happen only through a daily discipline of prayer and study of the Word of God.
Self examination is a good thing. It keeps us constantly aware of our accountability to a Holy, righteous God who loves us perfectly.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
So, What?
If the above title I have chosen for this post comes off sounding rash or sarcastic, I appeal to your willingness to forgive me. But if you sit down and read what I am about to share here, you will hopefully appreciate why I chose to use it. Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, 5:16, "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Two key words here are, "redeeming" and "time." Paul used redeeming here to mean in the Greek, rescuing from loss. And he used the word time, (kairos), also Greek, to mean a prescribed period, such as days, months, or even years.
Of course, all that the apostle wrote in this epistle, he meant them to apply only to believers, not those outside of Christ. Paul was always a man with a strong sense of urgency. This is not to even imply that he was impatient. It means that he was simply a man who could quickly size up a situation and be ready to deal with it when it came his way.
I believe what Paul meant here paralleled much with the Lord's admonition:
"For what will it profit a man if he should gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul?"Or what will a man give in exchange for
his soul?"
What is the value of a long earthly life if that life is not lived for the glory and honor of the Savior? This is what I cannot help hearing, ringing loud and clear in my heart and soul. We live in a time, yes, "time," when many people are so very health and long life conscious. We are bombarded nearly every time we turn on the television, with commercials that sell foods and beverages designed to build strong bones and a healthy heart. There is a program on the air featuring people who are overweight and who desire to lose it through an intense training and diet regimen. And the person who loses the most weight during a given time, will win a large sum of money.
Now, while I am not cutting down such things, or insinuating that they do not have any sort of importance, I do feel led to say that if a person is more concerned with keeping himself physically fit and well, than he is with nurturing his spiritual life, he or she is wasting precious time rather than redeeming it. And the time that I would waste on pursuits which have no eternal value, that is time which can never be restored. It is lost forever.
But Paul says that while there is still time left, live out that time focused upon living it for God. Over the past several months, amounting to a little over a year now, I have had the chance , by the Lord's grace and mercy, to take a careful look at the way I had been living. Our heavenly Father will bring to us anything which He knows is necessary, to cause us to stop and reevaluate our lives.
During my long walk and time with God this afternoon, it struck me, now being 61, that if He were to give me another thirty-two years on this earth, and I did nothing with those years to glorify God, that it would be thirty-two years completely wasted. Every time I think about a man like David Brainerd, whose earthly life ended at 29 years of age, but during those tender, brief years he gave his life completely to his God, preaching to the Indians, and composing thousands of gospel tracts for people of New England to read for their eternal welfare, I feel rather shamed. I feel this way mainly because here was a man who saw his life as being of value only as it was faithfully lived for his Lord and Savior.
What if the Lord should grant me, or you, or anyone, for that matter, a long healthy existence, say up to ninety-plus years? So what? If those years are wasted on frivolous endeavors, namely becoming rich in this world's goods, or making a big name for myself in busines, art, music, or whatever might grab my fancy, it will be a wasted life indeed. This is not my opinion. This is the solemn truth given in God's holy Word.
The Lord is working on me heavily these days, giving me some set backs in the body that remind me I am not what I was when I was 20 years old. But if that is what He knows is necessary to make and shape me into the vessel of honor He means for me to become, then I gladly welcome and accept it. He is doing me a great and wonderful service in so doing, because I would rather He give me only a short time longer, enabling me to bear much fruit for Him during that short time, than for Him to let me stay here till I am a hundred, and after that stand in His glorious presence empty handed. I am looking forward to heaven and the new earth to come, but I do not want to waste the precious hours, days, weeks, months, and years He might give to me until that great Day arrives. And neither should you, dear Christian brother and sister. Let us begin now, redeeming the time we now have, for they are very few at best.
Of course, all that the apostle wrote in this epistle, he meant them to apply only to believers, not those outside of Christ. Paul was always a man with a strong sense of urgency. This is not to even imply that he was impatient. It means that he was simply a man who could quickly size up a situation and be ready to deal with it when it came his way.
I believe what Paul meant here paralleled much with the Lord's admonition:
"For what will it profit a man if he should gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul?"Or what will a man give in exchange for
his soul?"
What is the value of a long earthly life if that life is not lived for the glory and honor of the Savior? This is what I cannot help hearing, ringing loud and clear in my heart and soul. We live in a time, yes, "time," when many people are so very health and long life conscious. We are bombarded nearly every time we turn on the television, with commercials that sell foods and beverages designed to build strong bones and a healthy heart. There is a program on the air featuring people who are overweight and who desire to lose it through an intense training and diet regimen. And the person who loses the most weight during a given time, will win a large sum of money.
Now, while I am not cutting down such things, or insinuating that they do not have any sort of importance, I do feel led to say that if a person is more concerned with keeping himself physically fit and well, than he is with nurturing his spiritual life, he or she is wasting precious time rather than redeeming it. And the time that I would waste on pursuits which have no eternal value, that is time which can never be restored. It is lost forever.
But Paul says that while there is still time left, live out that time focused upon living it for God. Over the past several months, amounting to a little over a year now, I have had the chance , by the Lord's grace and mercy, to take a careful look at the way I had been living. Our heavenly Father will bring to us anything which He knows is necessary, to cause us to stop and reevaluate our lives.
During my long walk and time with God this afternoon, it struck me, now being 61, that if He were to give me another thirty-two years on this earth, and I did nothing with those years to glorify God, that it would be thirty-two years completely wasted. Every time I think about a man like David Brainerd, whose earthly life ended at 29 years of age, but during those tender, brief years he gave his life completely to his God, preaching to the Indians, and composing thousands of gospel tracts for people of New England to read for their eternal welfare, I feel rather shamed. I feel this way mainly because here was a man who saw his life as being of value only as it was faithfully lived for his Lord and Savior.
What if the Lord should grant me, or you, or anyone, for that matter, a long healthy existence, say up to ninety-plus years? So what? If those years are wasted on frivolous endeavors, namely becoming rich in this world's goods, or making a big name for myself in busines, art, music, or whatever might grab my fancy, it will be a wasted life indeed. This is not my opinion. This is the solemn truth given in God's holy Word.
The Lord is working on me heavily these days, giving me some set backs in the body that remind me I am not what I was when I was 20 years old. But if that is what He knows is necessary to make and shape me into the vessel of honor He means for me to become, then I gladly welcome and accept it. He is doing me a great and wonderful service in so doing, because I would rather He give me only a short time longer, enabling me to bear much fruit for Him during that short time, than for Him to let me stay here till I am a hundred, and after that stand in His glorious presence empty handed. I am looking forward to heaven and the new earth to come, but I do not want to waste the precious hours, days, weeks, months, and years He might give to me until that great Day arrives. And neither should you, dear Christian brother and sister. Let us begin now, redeeming the time we now have, for they are very few at best.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Not About Me
"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.
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.
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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