“Take away the dross from silver, and it will go to the silversmith for jewelry. 5. Take away the wicked from the before the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness.”
The proverbs come so fast when I am reading them that it is difficult to remember each one, but occasionally, one will stop me in my tracks and I will have to deal with it. That is what happened with Proverbs 25:4- 5 Here is what I deduced from it: First, we need to clearly define “dross.” It is an impurity of any kind. The impurities must be taken from silver for it to become jewelry. Just so, wickedness must be removed from before the king, and from the king himself, if his throne is to be established in righteousness. Solomon, of all people, knew the truth behind that proverb. The same is true in our lives. We need to get rid of the dross that we know is dragging us down and belittling our witness before people. To be sure, getting rid of the dross is not a one-time thing, but it is a lifelong effort for the Christian. I want to share with you some of the dross that we need to get rid of. Lest you think, I’m looking down my nose at you, I am writing from personal experience, but I think that you too will know what I mean. We need to get rid of the dross of a critical spirit. A critical spirit is, indeed, dross that we need to get rid of in our lives. I do not mean that we can never be critical. There are things that need criticizing. What I mean is that we do not need to let a critical spirit be the tone of our lives. We can become so critical that we become self-righteous and bitter. This makes us resemble the Pharisees that Jesus was so hard on in the gospels. If we find ourselves being too critical, we need to look in the mirror, and we can probably find a lot to be critical of from the person staring back at us in the mirror. I do not literally do this in front of a mirror, but when I find myself being critical of someone else, I start to think of what I need to straighten out in my own life. This doesn’t mean, of course, that I excuse sinful lifestyles, it means that I want to make sure that I am keeping tabs on my own life. You might want to do the same. (By the way, if you are reading this and you are not a Christian, you might want to think of your critical spirit towards those of us who are Christians.) We need to get rid of the dross of lustful thinking. I know that I am touching a tender spot in a lot of lives when I mention this. With all of the information that we have at our fingertips today, it is easy to find a lot to lust over. Of course, this is of a sexual nature, but lust is not just about sex. We can lust about a lot of things. We can lust about what other people have and wish that we have what they have ourselves. We can lust over all of the luxuries that are available to us today. There will never be a point in our lives that we will have everything that we want. That’s why Paul wrote in Philippians 4:12-13: “I know how to be abased (do without) and how abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and suffer need. 13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” We are surrounded by so many “things” that it is difficult for us to be satisfied. We need to get rid of the dross of doubt. Of course, I don’t mean that there is nothing that we should doubt. Dr. Ted Adams, one of my professors at Southeastern Seminary, used to tells us, “Do not doubt your beliefs and believe your doubts.” I am referring specifically to our belief in Jesus. I like what the father of the demon possessed boy said when Jesus challenged him to believe and his son would be healed: “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.” That should be our prayer when doubt begins to creep up on our faith. If we let doubt rule our lives, we will not have joy or victory. There are a lot of other things that I could write about, but these three “drosses” can keep us busy for a while. Bro. Joe
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“Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24. Grace to all who love the Lord Jesus Christ with undying love.”
These are the closing verses of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. They contain four qualities that should be, or will be, part of every Christian’s life. If we will cultivate these qualities in our lives, we can live victoriously for the Lord and we will be better witnesses for Him. “Peace to the brothers” One of the great promises of Jesus to His disciples was that He would give them His peace. He mentioned this specifically in John 16:33: "These things have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” We already have the peace of Christ in our lives; we just need to claim it. Jesus means for us to be at peace within ourselves. We need to remember this when we come across hard times in our lives. Christ’s peace has come to my rescue many times in my Christian sojourn. In that peace we find victory. But this also means that we are to live at peace with other people. This means to be at peace with people at work, at church, and all other places that we might be. The inner peace of Christ makes us peaceable. Claim this great peace today and live at peace with those around you. It is really the best way to live. “And love” The Greek word for “love” used here is the most powerful definition of love. It is the word “agape” (Agahpay). This is God’s kind of love, which means that we are to love people as God loves them, i.e., sacrificially. It is the kind of love that is described in John 3:16. We should not just feel love for others, but we should act in love toward them as God did toward us in sending His Son to serve as a sacrifice for our sins. This kind of love is aptly described in 1 John 3:18: “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue: but in deed and truth.” I guess every married man has heard his wife say at some time or other: “Don’t just say that you love me, that’s easy to do, show me that you love me.” The love that we have should be the kind that shows! “With faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” Hebrews 11:6 tells us that “without faith it is impossible to please Him.” Faith is, as we would say today, “belief on steroids.” To have true faith is not to just believe about Jesus, but to believe in Him and let that faith guide us in our everyday actions. Faith is a gift from “God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” He gave it to us to use in our service to Him and in everything that we do in life. When you mix faith with love and peace, you have a better witness to the world. We should make decisions in our lives based on what we think God wants instead of always what we want. In other words, we should be guided by our faith in the Lord. “Grace to all who love the Lord Jesus Christ with undying love.” “Grace” is the word that makes everything possible in the Christian life. It comes before faith, peace or love. As you probably already know, grace is God’s unmerited favor. We don’t earn it; God just gives it to us. God’s grace enables us to be saved and to live the Christian life. But grace is not just something that we get from God; it is to be part of our lifestyles. We are to practice grace in our dealings with people. Think of how much better our lives would be, and the lives of those around us, if we practiced God’s grace in all of our dealings. I know that the witness of our churches would be much better. All four of these characteristics are, or should be, part of our lives. We need to prayerfully cultivate them in our lives. Bro. Joe “Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
Most of the sermons and lessons that we hear, or read, on giving are about our giving, but we are not asked to give by a God who does not Himself give. I don’t know who it originated with, but I have always heard that you can’t out give God. He is the best giver as our text verse suggests. We are to be givers, but we need to realize that as we are giving we are getting back from God. Why is God the best giver? God is the best giver because His gifts are always good. James wrote that “every good and perfect gift is from above. No gift that we give to God is perfect, but His gifts to us are always perfect. God’s gifts are always genuine and solid. John 3:16 tells us Who God’s greatest gift was: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Jesus was/is a “good and perfect gift.” God also gives us “things,” but His greatest gifts are inward and spiritual. These gifts cannot possibly be evaluated by dollars and cents. We cannot put a price on in the gift of forgiveness for sin. The gift of divine Sonship is priceless; therefore, it does not have a price tag. Knowing that we have an eternal home in heaven is a gift that cannot be bought. In fact, it can only be given by God’s grace. (Which means that we don’t deserve God’s gifts, but we get them anyway– as some say, we get them “in spite of...”) The fact that God’s grace gifts do not have a price tag does not mean that they are cheap. They came to us via the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. We need to remember Psalm 103:2:“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.” God is the best giver because His gifts always bring greater purpose into our lives. God does not give His priceless gifts merely for our selfish enjoyment. I don’t mean that we can’t enjoy them, but the greatest enjoyment comes from realizing His great purpose in our lives and in the lives of others. For example, God has provided the gift of the Holy Spirit to all who are true believers. God has also provided the gifts of the Holy Spirit. No one has ever provided a complete and exhaustive list of these gifts. We think of teaching, preaching, encouragement and leadership, to name a few, but the list just goes on and on. God gives us spiritual gifts in order for us to live full lives. God gives us spiritual gifts in order for us to be able to serve Him more effectively. These gifts enable us to serve God according to His will. If you are not aware of the purposeful gifts that God has given to you, now would be a good time evaluate your life and discover those gifts that God has given you. God is the best giver because He is always giving. From Genesis to Revelation, we see God giving and giving and giving. He gave deliverance to Israel. He gave them manna to eat every day while they were in the desert wilderness. He gave Israel Canaan in which to live and serve Him. When we come to the New Testament, we find God giving us His Son as our Savior. As we receive the gifts of God into our lives, He continues to give and give to us in order to enrich our lives. It is a mystery why many people think that if they give their lives to Christ, that it will somehow diminish their lives. Indeed, it will enrich their lives if they will only give it a try. On top of that He gave us each other. Together, we comprise His church. His church provides fellowship for us and serves as a vehicle of our service to Him. God wants to give eternal life to you. He wants to enrich your daily life with His presence, and with the fellowship of His people. For heaven’s sake, let God give you all that He wants to give you. Bro. Joe (This article is a reprint from 2012.)
There are many reasons why I believe that the Bible is true, but one of the main reasons is that the Bible is honest about it's so-called "heroes." It does not hide the flaws of all of the great men of the Bible. For example, we are told that Abraham, the father of Jews and Christians, went into Egypt out of God's will and lied to Pharoah about Sarah. (Technically she was his half-sister.) Moses, who, according the Bible, was one of the most humble of men and was entrusted with the care of the Hebrew children, was a murderer and a fugitive from justice. He wasn't allowed into Canaan because he disobeyed God in the matter of striking the rock instead of speaking to it. He was also given to tempter tantrums. When he came down from Mount Sinai with the ten commandments, he "broke" all ten of them by throwing them to the ground when he saw the folly of the Israelites. Who is more of a hero in the Bible than David? He was the one who saved the Israeli army by slaying the giant, Goliath. Goliath was nine feet tall, and David was just a boy, but David took him on and defeated him. David was God's anointed king of Israel, and was called "a man after God's own heart," yet we are told about his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba. As we move to the New Testament, we will observe that the only person there above reproach was Jesus. We are told that "He was tempted in all points, like as we are, yet without sin." The same cannot be said for the followers of Jesus. I guess the greatest example is Simon Peter. He was the one who always spoke up and, quite often, "stuck his foot in his mouth." At the transfiguration, he blabbed out: "Let's build three tabernacles, one for you (Jesus) and one for Moses and one for Elijah." (not an exact quote) This was ignored as the silly statement that it was. It was not a sin, but showed Peter's tendency to speak without thinking. This was not Peter's only fault. He bragged about how he would protect Jesus, then when confronted at Jesus' trial, denied Him three times. He was called "the Rock" by Jesus, yet didn't always act like "the Rock." He went on to greatness, but not before we are made to realize that he was a flawed human being. What is the lesson for us? We all have our flaws. We are all "sinners saved by grace." Not a one of us is good by the Bible's standards, yet as flawed as we are, God still uses us. Being a flawed human being is no excuse for not trusting Jesus as our savior, and for not serving Him. All of us are saved by His grace, and we serve in His grace. I consider myself a prime example of that. Bro. Joe “And now, Israel, what does the Lord thy God require (expect) of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul. 13. To keep the commandments of the Lord, and His statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?”
The Book of Deuteronomy is actually a sermon by Moses as the children of Israel waited to enter the "Promised Land.” It is a summation of Israel’s travels and events from Egypt to that present time. In Deuteronomy, Moses gives some summary statements that serve as advice for God’s people as to how they should live. Deuteronomy 10:12-13 is one of those summary statements. It answers the question as to what basic requirements, or expectations, God had for Israel as they entered Canaan. It is good advice for us as well. The first expectation was “to fear the Lord thy God.” This does not just mean to be afraid of God, but hold Him in deep reverence and awe. One of the problems that Israel faced and that we face today is that, “there is no fear of God before their eyes.” God, as we know Him in Jesus, is not just “the man upstairs.” He is the creator of the universe and the master of all that He created. We would do well to heed Moses' advice. Do you really hold God in awe and reverence? The second expectation was “to walk in all His ways.” Moses wanted Israel to understand, as we are to understand, that there are two ways that we can walk – God’s way or our way. Moses knew from experience that Israel had a penchant for walking in their way as opposed to God’s way. God allows us to choose the way we will walk. If we walk in His way, the way might be rough sometimes, but it will be the rewarding way. If we walk in our way, we will eventually walk into disaster. I know what I’m talking about here, and you probably do too. God wants His people, including those of us who belong to Him through Jesus, to live right, to make right decisions instead of making wrong-headed decisions. I think that the disastrous journey of the prodigal son in Luke 15 is an example of what can happen when we take God’s resources and go our own way. He took a rough route until he came to his senses and sought out his father. The third expectation was “to love Him.” Jesus said that the first commandment is to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” We should love God with all of the fiber of our being. If we will just think of all that He has done for us in Jesus, we should have no problem loving Him. When we love Him, we are returning the great love that He has for us. The fourth expectation was “to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord…” Notice that we are to serve Him from our hearts. Everything that we do that really counts in our lives comes from our hearts. If He has our hearts, we will serve Him wholeheartedly. Our salvation from God begins in our hearts, and everything else in our lives should come from our hearts. We are to serve God with all of our souls. This means that our service should proceed from who and what we are in Him. The “soul” is who and what we are, and it should be defined by our devotion to God/Jesus. We are to serve Him with our minds. When Christ saved us, He did not kill our minds. God wants us to keep our transformed minds on Him, and to think when we serve Him. We should serve Him with “the mind of Christ.” How are you doing in these areas of your life? Do you hold God in deep reverence (fear)? Do you walk in all His ways? Do you really love Him? Do you serve Him from deep within yourself? Think about it. Bro. Joe “Only let your conduct be as it becomes the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel."
In Philippians 1:27 Paul encouraged the Philippian Church to live a life “worthy of the gospel.” He approached this theme from the standpoint of their relationship as ecclesia – gathering of God’s people – church, not just their individual behavior. Of course it is reasonable to assume that the church’s relationship depends upon the individual behavior of its members. As the representatives of Jesus in this world a church is to conduct itself so that the gospel will be promoted instead of shamed. How can we do this? We can "stand fast in one spirit.” This means that we are to take a stand for what is right and do it together – in one spirit. We can take a stand on every moral issue, but if we do not do it in one spirit, we will get nowhere with our witness. Each of us needs to ask ourselves if we are thinking in one spirit with fellow members of the churches of which we are members. Why would we deem some issues important and disagree about everything else? For example, why would we take a strong stand on a moral issue and then get into a feud over what color to paint the fellowship hall. No kidding! Churches have split over such issues as this. I heard of one church that split over whether to have metal offering plates or wooden ones. These decisions are made my individuals who divide into parties and commence to feud. The problem is that the wider community hears the feud so loudly that our stand on the greater issue is muted. Each of us needs to make up our minds that we are going to stand together on the large and small things in one spirit. We can be of “one mind.” Does this mean that we will walk in lockstep and never disagree about anything? As long as there is more than one person involved there will be disagreements of some kind. I have discovered that if there is never disagreement in a church some powerful person is calling all of the shots. Disagreements are inevitable in all human affairs, including the church. We just need to learn to disagree like Christians. What, then, does Paul mean by being of “one mind”? In Philippians 2:5 Paul wrote: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…” The“one mind” is the mind of Christ. We are to be guided by the mind of Christ and to make our decisions based on what He wants. This is not always easy, but it is always necessary if we are to act like Christians in making decisions. In the verses following verse 5, Paul related how Jesus humbled Himself and did what He came to earth to do, i.e., die on the cross. If each of us is thinking like Christ, humbly, we will learn to disagree like Christians, and pray ourselves to “one mind.” Each of us will do and say what needs to be done to make it so. Before we “speak our minds” in churches, we need to ask ourselves if we are thinking with the mind of Christ. We need to ask, “Would what I am about to say promote the gospel and enhance the welfare of the church?" We can “stand together for the faith of the gospel.” In one spirit and in one mind we are to strive to promote Christ and His gospel, and not our own opinions. Getting our way at any cost does not promote striving for“the faith of the gospel.” What is your church striving together for? What is the purpose and aim of your church? Is it about the “faith of the gospel” and growth of the kingdom of God? Think seriously about these things and for your part let your conduct be worthy of the gospel. Bro. Joe “Sing praises to God, sing praises unto the King, sing praises. 7. For God is the king of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding. 8. God reigns over the heathen: God sits upon the throne of His holiness. KJV
“Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our king, sing praises. 7. For God is the king of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm! 8. God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne. ESV These three verses in Psalm 47 emphatically urge us to sing praises to God. When I read this, I began to wonder about our own singing. When we sing in church services, either the old hymns, or the praise songs are we really praising God, or just going through the motions of singing the familiar words? I know most of the old hymns by heart since I have heard them my whole life. (At least I know the first, second, and last verses but not the third, since we don’t usually sing this verse.) Not a day goes by that I don’t sing several of the hymns that I know. (Not aloud, however, for the sake of others.) I will admit that they mean more to me when I sing from my heart rather than from memory – if you get my drift. Why should we sing praises to God from our hearts? First, we should sing praises to God because He is our King – with a capital K. A king is the ruler of his domain. In this case, verse 7 tells us that “God is the King of all the earth…” This means that every place on earth is God’s domain. We cannot go farther than that. God is the king of the universe. We are told that God created “the heavens and the earth.” The “heavens” are what we call sky, or space, and we know that space stretches into infinity. If we could go to the farthest reaches of the universe, we would find God there. The immensity of God’s domain will blow our minds if we let it. In fact, the immensity of God will blow our minds if we let it. It doesn’t blow our minds because we think about it in faith and we praise Him in and for His greatness. Second, we should sing praises to God “with understanding.” The Hebrew term used here, translated “psalm” in the ESV, is a term of praise, meaning that we are to understand the greatness of God when we sing praises to Him. We are to be aware of God’s love for us when we sing praises to Him. We are to be aware of God’s grace towards us when we sing praise to Him. We are to be aware of God’s presence with us when we sing praises to Him. To sing praises with these things, and myriads of others, is to sing praises with an understanding of whom and what God is to us and to the world. In other words, we are not just singing praises; we are singing praises to almighty God. This kind of praise could change our understanding of God’s presence in our lives and cause a spiritual growth spurt that would change our lives for the better. Third, we should sing praises to God because “He reigns over the nations, God sits on His holy throne.” The KJV translates this that God reigns over the “heathen.” This is how the Jews in the psalmist's day viewed the nations- anyone who wasn’t a Jew was a heathen. They would understand that the psalmists, in this case the sons of Korah, were telling them that God’s ultimate reign was not just in Jerusalem, but in the whole world. God reigns in holiness over the whole world. Perhaps the majority of the world’s people would scoff at this notion, but that does not make it untrue. That’s why it is so important for us to go to the nations and introduce them to the God who reigns in holiness over them. When you are singing praises to God this week, think about the three things that this psalm tells us about how to sing praises to Him. Bro. Joe “Now when (Jesus) had left speaking, He said unto Simon (Peter), Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught (catch), 5. And Simon answering said unto Him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at your word I will let down the net.”
This text reminds us that Jesus wants us to try again – at His word. If you know about the text, you know that the disciples obeyed Jesus and caught a lot of fish. This is a good reminder to us that we should “never say die,” as the saying goes, because Jesus will help us to achieve what we need to achieve. In this case, it was that Peter and his fellow fishermen needed a good catch of fish, because this was how they made their living. When Jesus is part of our lives, we do not ever have to give up, for He will help us try again. There are some reasons why we should try again. We should try again when we face disappointments. Our faith is strengthened when we try again in spite of our disappointments. Luke 5:4-5 is a case in point. You can imagine that when they had fished all night and had caught nothing these professional fishermen were terribly disappointed. Perhaps, Jesus allowed a night of disappointment in order to illustrate for them what He could do. I think that their faith was strengthened, and that they were able to recall this incident when they faced disappointments later, when they served Him after His resurrection and ascension. Someone wrote that “our disappointments are God’s appointments.” He either allows the disappointment, or causes the disappointment in order to teach us and to strengthen our faith. I know that I have found this to be true in my life. When you face inevitable disappointments, seek to find out what Jesus is going to do to strengthen your faith. We should try again because obedience to Christ can bring rich rewards. We can again look to our text to discover this. Simon Peter said to Jesus, “We have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at your word I will let down the net.” It is important to note that the incident did not end with the complaint, because Simon Peter obeyed Jesus. Following is what happened when Simon Peter obeyed: “And when they had done this, they inclosed a great multitude of fish: and their net broke. And they beckoned to their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.” (Luke 5:6-7) This reminds us that we should not let our failures and disappointments end with complaints, because Jesus will give us victory over our failures and disappointments. When we obey Jesus and try again, we are abundantly blessed. We should try again because it is the right thing to do. I want to throw in a curve at this point: trying again is the right thing to do, even if we have to accept the defeat and get up and go again. Of course, this goes beyond the text, but it does not go beyond reality. The question is, will we continue to love Jesus and praise Him, even if He allows us to go through failure and disappointment without the rewards that we want? We have to decide that Jesus is worth it all, even if we do not succeed as we thought we should. Paul stated this in Philippians 4:11-13: “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, whatsoever state I am, to be content. 12. I know how to be abased and how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Jesus might allow us a failure or disappointment because He has something better for us. It just pays to always try again and never give up on Jesus. It might be that you need to get up and try again. Do it, because you can trust Jesus to do what is best for you, and what Jesus wants will be your greatest reward. Bro. Joe “The things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal…”
There are people who say that they will not believe in anything that they cannot see. This means, according to our text, that they are putting their belief in that which is temporary. This is illustrated for us by the things that we see going on around us. A building, for example, can be a landmark in a city, but it can be torn down and, voila, it is gone. In fact, things are not meant to exist forever. “Here today and gone tomorrow” is true of people and things. According to Paul we need to put our faith in that which is unseen, but not just anything that is unseen. Let me point out what I mean: Let’s begin at the top – God cannot be seen, yet He really exists, and has existed for eternity. The psalmists often referred to God as being “from everlasting to everlasting.” This is another way of saying that God has always existed, though He is unseen. Simon Peter understood the importance of this, when writing about people who were undergoing trials because of their faith in Christ in 1 Peter 1:8: “Whom having not seen, you love; in whom though now you see Him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” Paul addresses this in 1 Timothy 6:15-16: “Which in His times He shall show, who is the blessed and only potentate (king), the King of kings and Lord of lords: 16. Who only has immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man has seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen.” In fact, the Bible teaches that no human being can see God in all of His glory and live. I think that we can say with great accuracy that God is not temporary, but eternal. We can rejoice in the fact that God revealed Himself through Jesus, but we still have to believe to see what He can do in our lives. Another important aspect of the Christian faith that is unseen is faith itself. In Hebrews 11:6 the writer reminds us that: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” This is another way of saying “believing is seeing.” There are a lot of things that we cannot see, yet we believe. Take the wind for example. We cannot see the wind, but we can certainly see the effects of the wind. Ask anyone who has ever lived through a hurricane. I’ve never heard anybody say that they didn’t believe in the wind because they could not see it. All they have ever seen is the effects of the wind. An unbeliever might argue that he or she has not seen the effects of God. This is only because he or she does not want to see the effects of God. The Bible points out in more than one place that nature reveals the effects of God. The orderliness of the universe speaks of His existence. But the greatest effect of God that we can see is what He has done in the lives of individuals. When I was involved in prison ministry, I met men who had been hardened criminals, but they had accepted Christ in a prison Bible study and were changed from hardened criminals to saved individuals. Some of them knew that they would never be released from prison, but they continued to serve the Lord in the prison setting. Besides that I can see the effects of God in my own life. I certainly wouldn’t blame everything that I do, say, or think, on God, but I know that I am different because of my faith in Him. There is one more unseen thing that I want to share with you that reveals God to us, that is, that no one has ever seen love. We have seen love in action, but we have never actually seen an entity called “love.” We have certainly seen the effects of love in God’s supreme act of love as revealed in John 3:16, which you probably know by heart– if not look it up. John pointed out the same thing in 1 John 4:9: “In this was manifested (revealed) the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him." We who believe and see can take comfort in what Jesus said to “doubting Thomas” when Thomas saw Him: Jesus said to Thomas...“Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed.” This includes all of us – rejoice. Bro. Joe “If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you.” John 15:18
“Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.” 1 John 3:13 I began thinking about this subject while reading the book of Ezra this morning. I suggest that you read this book and see what I mean. The Jews who returned from captivity to rebuild the temple had a lot of opposition from their enemies. Then I thought of the two texts that I have printed above. Jesus promised that if we follow Him, we will have opposition; therefore, it should not surprise us that those who do not know Christ as Savior oppose us. A cursory reading of Christian history will verify that. The question is what should our reaction to this opposition be? First, we should not allow opposition to rob us of our commitment to our faith. Satan loves to use opposition to intimidate us. He tried to use this ploy in Jerusalem in the days of Ezra. He used this ploy in the earthly life of Jesus. He used this ploy against the disciples, who were under mandate to spread the word about Christ in spite of opposition. Jesus never covered up the fact that His followers would have opposition, but He also reminded them, and us, to stay faithful to Him regardless of what the world says. I will admit that opposition to the gospel has grown more adamant over the years. Things are different now than they were when I entered the ministry in 1960. So the temptation is to accommodate the world and turn our backs on the gospel. At all costs, we should not let the world intimidate us with polls of the acceptance of sin, or opinions by people who are famous who disagree adamantly with the gospel. The best advice is to endure, endure, and endure. Second, we should not allow opposition to rob us of the love that we are to have for all people. I have to admit here that when I read some of the things that increasingly bold atheists say and write about the gospel, I grit my teeth and really want to “get at’em.” But it would be bad for me to allow opposition to cause me to hate. Take a look at what John wrote about the matter in 1 John 3:14-15: “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loves not the brethren abides in death. 15. Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life dwelling in him.” The word “brother”could be interpreted as meaning “brothers in Christ.” However, if we will look at what Jesus tells us to do, it will not matter how we interpret “brother” here: “You have heard that it has been said, You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. 43. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.” (Matthew 5:43-44) To give in to hatred is to compromise the gospel. We need to remember that. Third, we should not allow opposition to rob us of the facility to forgive. We need to remember what Jesus’ reaction was to those who crucified Him: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) Furthermore, in the Lord’s Model Prayer, Jesus taught: “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12) In verses 14-15, Jesus added: “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15. But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you.” It is not a compromise to forgive people who oppose your faith from your heart. It is compromise if we do not. There is no way to escape opposition to the gospel in this world. This is seen in the life of Jesus and the early Christians. It is also a reality today. The main thing for us to do is maintain the integrity of our faith, not succumb to the world through compromise of our faith or of our love and forgiveness. Bro. Joe |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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