'But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord..."
The Bible tells us that Noah, though he lived in a pagan society, “found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” Why? The answer is found in Hebrews ll:7:“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by which he condemned the world, andbecame heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” Genesis 6:22: “Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.” Here we have all of the elements of a godly life: grace, faith and obedience (works). (See Ephesians 2:8-10) The Biblical word “grace” is from the Greek word “Karis.” It means “God’s unmerited favor.” Grace is all-important in Christian salvation and in living the Christian life, but it finds full meaning in the heart of faith that follows with obedience. No one else in the world seemed to understand this at that time, for only Noah and his family were saved from the flood. The important thing for us to observe here is that, because of God's grace, Noah did everything that God told him to do. Building an ark in preparation for a rain that at the time was non-existent, would not be the easiest thing to obey. Noah probably took a lot of teasing from the people around him who would not believe what he was telling them. Noah kept on building the ark regardless of the comments of those around him. Sometimes, in spite of grace and faith in our lives, we find it difficult to obey God because of public opinion. When these times come in our lives, we need to draw from Noah’s experience, remembering the godly life always includes obedience to God’s commands. Bro. Joe
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"But without faith it is impossible to please (God): for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that dilligently seek Him."
Faith in Christ is the key to everything in the Christian life. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews is known as "The Hall of Faith," because it lists a number of Old Testament saints whose lives portrayed that they had faith. I think that the chapter is pointing that a relationship with God has always been the result of faith. In fact, it was faith in the promise of Christ that they were saved. Hebrews 11:13 will show you what I mean: "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on earth." Faith in Christ is all-important for our salvation and for our sustenance. We are saved by grace through faith, but beyond that we are sustained by faith. Hebrews 11:1 gives us the essence of faith: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith makes possible that which seems impossible.It makes real that which seems unreal. Without faith we cannot see the need to be saved, nor can we understand the works of God. We should just have faith in a great big God, with Whom "all things are posslbe." I have faith in a great God Who is with me all of the way, and works it all out according to His will. Do not understand me to be bragging about my faith. I am bragging about a great God Who made faith possible. He made it possible for you too. If you realize that, this blog has acheived its purpose. I truly hope that you have been saved by faith in Christ. Salvation is impossible without faith in Christ. I also truly hope that your life is sustained by your faith in Christ. Make no mistake about it, if you are saved by faith, you can surely be sustained by faith. You can face whatever you have to face in life with your faith in Christ. I'm not saying that you will never be afraid again, nor am I saying that things will always turn out the way you want them to because of your faith. I'm saying that by faith, Jesus will enable you to face all of life, the good and the bad, with poise and a good attitude. If you haven't already, placed your faith in Christ do it now. If you have, take full advantage of that faith as you live each day. Bro. Joe “Jesus said unto (Thomas), I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me.”
Jesus lived a humble life, but He never hesitated to tell people the truth about Himself. Jesus was not just another person on this earth. The New Testament makes it plain that Jesus is God incarnate. Prophecies in the Old Testament made it clear that the Messiah was coming and that He would be the Savior. This morning, I thought of Jesus as the divine source of good. Jesus said that He did not come to condemn the world, but to save it. (John 3:17) What do I mean that Jesus is the divine source of good? According to the texts referred to above, Jesus is the source of salvation for those who come to Him by faith. Being saved and enabled to go to heaven forever is certainly a good thing. (That was a real understatement, wasn’t it?) I heard a song this morning that made me think of this: “If it hadn’t been for a place called Mount Calvary, If it hadn’t been for the old rugged cross, if it hadn’t been for a man called Jesus, forever my soul would be lost.” Our soul’s salvation was dependent on the coming of Jesus, of His death on the cross, of His resurrection and His ascension. Because of this, people have the opportunity to be saved. Satan does not have to be in control of people’s lives, because Jesus can save them from his control. The only thing that will count when our lives come to an end is whether or not Jesus was our Savior. In His love, holiness and power, Jesus purchased our salvation. Paul referred to this in 1 Corinthians 6:20, “For you are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” According to John 15:11, Jesus is the source of joy in our lives: “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” When Jesus saved us and empowered us with the Holy Spirit, He gave us His joy. The point here is that the joy that we have in Jesus is not circumstantial; we have it all of the time – it is a gift. This doesn’t mean that we will always be happy, because happiness is circumstantial. Happiness comes and goes with the events in our lives. I’ve never heard anybody say that they were happy all of the time. I can say, however, that I have experienced joy at times when I should have been dejected. The joy that Jesus gives to us rises up in our lives when we need it. We need to be aware at all times that Jesus has given us His joy, and live in the light of that joy. It will help us in the bleak times of our lives to keep our heads up and to keep on serving. James referred to this in James 1:2, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse (many different) temptations (trials).” Why because our trials make us more patient with life’s difficult circumstances. Claim the joy that you have in Jesus. Jesus is the source of the peace that we have in our lives. In John 14:27, Jesus said: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be trouble, neither let it be afraid.” In John 16:33, Jesus said: “These things have I spoken unto you, that in Me you might have peace. In the world you will have tribulation (trouble): but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Jesus never promised to bring peace on earth. In fact, Jesus promised something quite different in Matthew 24:6-7: “And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that you be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” The history of the world before Jesus said this, and afterward, proved His point. Jesus gives peace to those who come to Him by faith and are saved. Jesus is the source of many good things in the lives of Christians. The three listed here are, in my opinion, the most important. Bro. Joe “But I myself said: I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and futility; yet my vindication is with the Lord, and my reward is with God.” HCSB
In the first three verses of Isaiah 49, Isaiah shared that God had called him to prophesy before he was born, and that God put words in his mouth to tell the people God’s will. Yet Isaiah felt that he had labored in vain. He couldn’t see that he had done any good at all. The Israelite people just kept doing what they wanted in spite of God’s commandments and in spite of Isaiah’s prophesying. I know how Isaiah felt, and if you have served God in any capacity, you probably feel the same way. We preach and preach, we have church and have church, we pray and pray, and we hope and hope, but things still seem to go on as before. Instead of getting better, the spiritual and moral situation seems to be getting worse, not better. Understand that to people who have no interest in the Bible, church and spiritual things, things are going rather well – right on schedule. Does that mean, then, that we have lost and that we, like Isaiah, feel that we “have labored in vain”? It doesn’t mean that at all. As you have heard before, God has not called us to be successful, just to be faithful. The problem is that we forget history. (That’s why it is important to know something about history.) There has never been a time when the world was in perfect moral order, yet God has continued to call people into His service, and He continues to bless His Church. The point is that we enter the world at a particular time in history and it is our duty, our privilege, to serve God in that time. We can wish that things were like they were in bygone years, but it will never be. My formative years were in 40’s and 50’s. I have often wished that we could return to the simplicity of those days. (It might be worth it if we could take air-conditioning and medical science back with us. lol) However, I realize that, while those days were simple to me, there were older folks who wished they could go back to the 20’s and 30’s during that same time. Since the fall of humankind in Genesis, the world has not been a perfect place, nor will it ever be on this side of history. We just have to be faithful and serve God in the time in which we live, and trust that He knows what’s going on. Which brings me to Isaiah’s conclusion of the matter: “Yet my vindication is with the Lord, and my reward is with God.” The vast majority of the people paid no attention to Isaiah and went on their merry way, doing as they wanted to do. Isaiah came to realize what we must come to realize, i.e., it is not our fault that people pay no attention to God if we have been faithful in serving Him and telling others what He did for us in Jesus. If we are “walking the walk” and not just “talking the talk,” we can feel vindicated as Isaiah did. (Warning: I’m about to get “fussy” here!) One of the problems is that instead of being Christ’s Church in a sinful world, we play at being the church and society does not take us seriously. That is our side of the problem. We need to live the Christian life before people so that they can take us seriously. We need to love people like God loves them so that they can take us seriously. We need to stand up for what is right, remembering Paul’s admonition in Ephesians 4:14-15: “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the slieight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. 15. But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head even Christ.” But even when we have done our best, we will still just need to trust God and know that our vindication is in Him and not in our effectiveness. Our labor for God is never in vain, for He is still in charge. Bro. Joe “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested (revealed) in the flesh, justified (vindicated) in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, received up in glory.” (NKJV, parentheses mine)
In this world, godliness is always a mystery. But godliness is not just anything that claims to be spiritual. This verse is believed to be a hymn sung by early Christians who saw godliness in the revealed mystery of the coming of the Messiah, the Christ, into the world. The hymn reveals to us the “mystery of godliness.” The “mystery” involved here is revealed mystery. All of it had been hidden in eternity, but now it is known. First, is that God was revealed in the flesh. We call this the incarnation (infleshment) of God in Christ. The apostle John gave the greatest expression to it in John 1:14: “And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Before that in John 1:1 the apostle wrote: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The most basic fact of the belief of the early church was that Jesus was God in the flesh. It is still the most basic fact for believers today. If one changes that, he or she changes the whole purpose of Christ’s coming into the world. Second, Jesus, God incarnate, was justified, or vindicated by the Spirit. He still is. We come to know Jesus through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and we are converted by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It is interesting that when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the Spirit in the form of a dove appeared, and the Father said, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus was vindicated by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is an integral part of everything in the Christian faith. Jesus promised His disciples, and us, that when He ascended, He would send the Holy Spirit to be among us and in us. At Pentecost we saw this happen, and it still does today. Third, Jesus was “seen by angels.” On the night of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, the angels announced His coming to shepherds. The angels were well aware of Jesus and they knew Him in eternity before He was born on earth. After His temptation experience, it was revealed to us: “Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. Fourth, Jesus was “preached among the Gentiles. ” In various places throughout the Old Testament, prophets looked forward to the inclusion of the Gentiles into the people of God. The mystery was that in time, God would send His Son and He would include the Gentiles in His salvation and service. This was a problem for the majority of Jews, and probably still is, but it is what happened. It is interesting that when God wanted to establish a witness to Gentiles, He did not call a good Gentile to do it. He called the meanest Jew in the world, the apostle Paul, who was saved and sent to witness and minister to Gentiles. Because of the preaching to the Gentile by Paul, and others, Jesus was “believed on in the world.” Isn’t it amazing that people still believe in Jesus today after almost two Thousand years? This is because He was God revealed in the flesh, vindicated by the Holy Spirit, seen by the angels and believed on in the world. It is a mystery that all of this happened, but it is a mystery that has been revealed through the written word of God. Finally, the text tells us that Jesus was “received up in glory.” After His resurrection, Jesus spent forty days ministering to His disciples, then He ascended to the Father. The circle was complete. He who came from heaven to make salvation possible for us, returned to heaven where He is at the right hand of the Father and is interceding and advocating for us. Thank God for the “mystery of godliness.” Bro. Joe “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies (compassion), kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13. Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you so also do ye. 14. And above all these things put on charity (love), which is the bond of perfectness.”
Clothing styles come and go. Every season brings its changes, but sometimes what went out of style thirty years ago comes back in style. There is one wardrobe that never changes and that is our spiritual wardrobe. Let me explain: Paul wrote “put on,” which refers to putting on the spiritual wardrobe like we put on our clothes. The only difference is that these spiritual wardrobe items become a part of our lives as we practice them unlike our clothes which we take off. As God’s elect, holy and beloved people, there are some expectations of what we should “put on,” or wear, in our lives. Paul mentioned “bowels of mercies.” This is the King James Version’s way of saying that we should put on compassion. Compassion was illustrated in the Bible by Jesus as He dealt with people on a daily basis. Jesus gave us a parable about a Samaritan who helped a man who had been beaten and left half-dead on the side of the road. You will remember that a priest and Levite passed the man by. Jesus said that the “Good Samaritan” had compassion for the man. That was the difference between the priest, Levite and the Samaritan. It should be the difference in our lives as well. Paul mentioned “kindness.” Kindness is compassion in action. We are not to just feel sorry for people, but we are to actually help them. If we are truly compassionate, we will be kind as well. We can again refer to the priest, Levite and Samaritan. Which one was kind? Of course it was the Samaritan. Let us ask ourselves if we are kind to people that we encounter each day? Are we kind to people with whom we attend church? Do we speak kindly to people we encounter? These are good questions and we should be able to answer them in the affirmative. Paul mentioned “humbleness of mind” and “meekness.” This means that we are not to build ourselves up in our minds over other people. If you will think about it, to be humble of mind and meek demands that we have a clear sense of self and who we are in Jesus. It means that we are so secure in him that we do not have to have the upper hand over people in our lives. In other words, it means that we do not have to compete with others because we already feel like winners because of our relationship with Jesus. Our security in Jesus gives us security within ourselves. Do you have this security? Also, we need to remember that Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” We can take Him at this word on that. Paul mentioned “ longsuffering, forbearance and forgiveness”, and, “above all, love.” This means that we do not just “put up” with people, but that we are willing to be patient and forbearing with them. Not only that, but we are to forgive them if they have offended us in any way. You will agree that this isn’t always easy, given personality differences and bad attitudes that we encounter. How can we do this? Well, “above all” if we love people, we will find it easier to be patient and forbearing with them, and that forgiveness will not be as difficult. Believe me, it will not always be easy, but think of how much better our lives and relationships would be if we were more patient, forbearing, forgiving, and loving with people. Well, there is your “spiritual wardrobe.” I think you will agree that we if we dress ourselves up in this wardrobe we will be better people and certainly better servants of God. Try it! Bro. Joe “These that have turned the world upside down have come here too.”
The scene of this text is in the city of Thessalonica because of what Paul did in a synagogue. What did he do? He preached Jesus to those present. Some of the people believed, but those who did not believe staArted a riot. The KJV says that they “took of them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city in an uproar: and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.” They took Jason and other Christians to the “rulers of the city” and that was when they accused the Christians of "turning the world upside down.” What this meant was that the Christians were trying to get them to change. What a compliment! When was the last time a group of unbelievers accused your church, or mine, of trying to turn their world upside down? This might be understandable, since the Christian faith is not as revolutionary now as it was then, but we need to consider that we might be a little more revolutionary. The county that I live in, in the Bible belt of Georgia, is eighty-five percent unchurched. What would it mean if we began to “turn the world upside down”? First, it would mean that our own world had been turned upside down. Do you think that the main preacher, Paul, had not had his world turned upside down? He went from being a critic of Christians to a champion for Christ overnight. The world of all of the Christians of Thessalonica had been turned upside down. Maybe our world needs to be turned upside down too. Perhaps, then, we could be more serious about our faith in Christ, and in our dedication to Him. In a way this would turn our worlds upside down. It would mean that we were spending more time in prayer and Bible study, which would mean that we would have to give up some of the other things that we enjoy doing. It would mean that we begin to act in love towards other people, and not always so attentive of ourselves and our petty concerns. It would mean that we would have to give up some of the entertainments that we enjoy so much. Though it was different, all of these things happened in the lives of early Christians like Paul, and in this case, in the lives of Christians in Thessalonica. If their worlds had not been turned upside down, they would not have been accused of turning the world upside down. Second, it would mean that instead of turning the world upside down, we would be trying to turn the world right-side up. This was what those early Christians were trying to do. Remember, the accusation of “turning the world upside down” was made by unbelievers. It was not bragging by believers. They were trying to get people out of their pagan religions to Christ – which would turn their world right-side up. Trying to get people to believe in Christ and give their lives to Him is a noble purpose, and anyone who has turned from unbelief to belief will readily admit that their world has been turned right-side up. Turning the world right-side up is the daily task of every Christian. First, we should rejoice that our world is right-side up and live so that others could see how good that is. Second, we should tell others about what it means. One of the greatest joys of a Christian is to see the changed life of someone to whom he or she has witnessed. This means that this person’s world has been turned right-side up. We rejoice when we see someone turn from drugs, alcohol and worldly living, because we know that something wonderful and positive has happened in their lives. Obviously, I am not advocating starting a riot in our communities. I am advocating that we be about the business of telling the world about Jesus as the Christians in this text were. We will have to admit that our world certainly needs "turning right side up." It has to begin with His church - and that it us! 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 “Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but you see me: because I live, you shall live also.”
There are a lot of important doctrines in the Christian faith, but one stands out above all of the others, and that is that Jesus is alive and at work in the world. Everything else hangs on that. If Jesus had remained in the tomb, there would be no Christians and there would be no Christian churches. If you are reading this, you probably agree with me that Jesus is alive and well, living in us and among us. Is Jesus alive in you? If He is, is He should be alive in all areas of your life? Jesus is the Lord of all of our lives. There is no part of our lives that Jesus is not alive in. The question is do we live our lives with this fact in mind? Is Jesus alive in your recreation? When you do things for fun, do you consider that Jesus is a part of it? We can’t compartmentalize Jesus and make Him a part of our religious life, but not a part of our daily life. I’m afraid that a lot of people do this, and we all will if we are not careful. Sometimes we look at it like this: There is a time for Jesus and a time for fun. It all depends on what you count as fun. If Jesus can’t be a part of it, should we be doing it? Think about it! It is not my intention to make you feel guilty about what you do for fun; it is my intention to make you think about whether Jesus is really alive in that area of your life. The question is not whether Jesus is alive; the question is whether or not Jesus' living reality is present in fun times. Is Jesus alive in your family life? I don’t mean do you ask the blessing before meals, or even have family devotions. What I mean is does the living Savior figure into your plans for you and your family? For example, are you seeking to do His will in your life? When your children are talking to you about what they want to do in life, do you try to see that they know that the living Savior has something to do with what they want in life? I think that too many families, even Christian families, send their offspring off to college without grounding them in the faith and the reality of Christ in their lives. This is why we lose so many young people when they go off to school. They are not ready for what they are going to meet in classrooms and dormitories. I was twenty-one years old when I started college, and I had to deal with things that I heard from professors that I held in high esteem. I just had to remember that no one should be held in higher esteem in my life than the living Savior. Is Jesus alive in your church life? You are probably thinking that this is a no-brainer. “Of course, Jesus is alive in my church life – it is, after all church.” If this is true, why are there so many fellowship problems in churches? I’ve worked with churches for a long time, and I know that a lot of things that happen at church do not show the world that Jesus is alive and well. Ask yourself this question: If everyone in your church was like you, what kind of church would it be? Would people be devoted to serving the Lord in whatever capacity He wanted them to serve? Would people use their spiritual gifts to carry out the work of the church? Would people be involved in getting people to the living Savior and getting them into the fellowship of the church? Would people be willing to cooperate with the church’s decisions whether they agree with them or not? These, and lot of other questions, need to be asked of ourselves when we consider that Jesus is alive in our lives. I think by now that you have an idea of what I’m trying to communicate. I’m not just preaching down to you about this, for I have to deal with these things in my life just as you do. Jesus is alive and well and at work in the world. Are we joining Him in what He wants to do in the world through how we live our lives? 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. 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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