“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4. Who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5. to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen”
When I read these verses this morning they almost jumped out at me. I don’t know how many times I have read these verses over the years without their making a big impression on me, but this morning they spoke loudly to me about the fullness of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. These verses comprise Paul’s greeting in his letter to the churches in Galatia. These churches had been troubled by false teachers who were trying to pull them away from the truth of the gospel. These verses reflect that concern. Paul began the greeting as he usually did in his letters: “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The gospel is based on the grace of God. The only reason that anyone can be saved is that God is the God of grace and in His grace is His peace. Grace is generally defined as “unmerited favor.” What this means is that no one deserves to be saved, but through God’s grace and the sacrifice of His Son, we can be saved. Paul stated it like this to the Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace are you saved through grace, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.” Through His grace, the Lord Jesus Christ “gave Himself for our sins.” This is the heart of the gospel. It is stated succinctly in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosover believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Jesus voluntarily came from heaven and gave Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. Here is what He said in John 10:18: “No man takes it (His life) from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” It is through the death and resurrection of Jesus that people are saved – based on the grace of God. Why did Jesus give Himself? He did it “to rescue us from this present evil age.” Just as people in Paul’s day lived in an “evil age” so do we. A cursory reading of history will show us that every age could be called evil. There has never been a time after the fall of Adam and Eve when evil was not prevalent on the earth. We certainly can’t deny that the time in which we live is a “present evil age.” The point of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that though no one deserves to be saved, people can be saved through faith in Jesus Christ, in spite of the evil age in which they live. Only through God’s grace and through His Son, Jesus, can we be delivered from this “present evil age.” Paul wrote to the Romans in Romans 12:2: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Through faith in Christ, we do not have to be consumed by this “present evil age.” Paul concluded this greeting with this reminder: “According to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever.” The gospel came about on our behalf because it was the will of God. In His great heart of love, the Father’s will was that people should be delivered from the sins of the present age through His Son. Because of this we are to give Him glory “forever and ever.” We should never forget that we have been enabled to be saved, not from any merit of our own, but because it was God’s will to give us salvation by His grace through His Son, and for this we should glorify Him. Amen Bro. Joe
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“And there came certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. 20. Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. 21. And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch.”
What does a football team do after they lose a game? Do they get together in the locker room afterward and declare to never play football again? No! They pick up and go again. They go out the next week and practice even harder. This is sort of like what Paul did after he had been stoned (had rocks thrown at him in order to kill him) and was left for dead. One would think that Paul would have surmised that this “Christian thing” was just too dangerous. That’s not what he did. He picked up and went again. In fact, they went back to the cities they had preached in and even went to Lystra, where Paul had been stoned. There is a good lesson for us here. We need to learn to “pick up and go again.” When we are going through periods when it seems that nothing will ever go right again for some reason or other, we need to take that as a challenge and go forward instead of quitting. I know that life can hand us some hard blows, but even the hardest of blows cannot keep us down if in our hearts and minds we do not intend to stay down. When I was seventeen-years-old, I quit high school, at the end of the tenth grade, and went into the Navy. Needless to say, I did not feel like a great winner, but something was awakened in me, which was of the Lord, and I stopped being a “high school dropout” in my own mind, and started to go forward. It certainly was not “ever onward” from then on, but I recovered from it. I don’t mean to brag on myself, because without Jesus it would never have happened, and I would probably be dead now - having drowned in self-pity. The Lord gave me a good swift kick where I needed it, and awakened me to a better life. Like I wrote a few lines back, it was not ever onward, but those backsets gave me a chance to “get up and go again.” If we want to get up and go again, we have to believe that the Lord has a purpose for our lives. If I hadn’t discovered that truth in my life, I would have quit. The Lord got hold of me, and in spite of my innate sorriness, led me on. None of us are here by accident, for God has a purpose for everyone. But you might be thinking that few people realize that purpose. That’s true, but that doesn't mean God doesn't have a purpose for them. This has not been a perfect world since Adam and Eve sinned. The Garden of Eden is closed, and people can choose to go their own way. They find purpose of their own for their lives, but they would be better off if they realized God’s purpose for them. You need to consider this for yourself. If we want to get up and go again, we have to put our faith in Jesus. This is why Paul kept on going instead of throwing up his hands and quitting. Even when we are living out God’s purpose for our lives, we still have plenty of ups and downs. We all have high moments and low moments in our lives. The low moments test our faith and they strengthen our faith if we get up and go again. I don’t know what you are going through right now, but I know that God knows, and He is working in your life to bring you victory. Put your faith in Jesus and let Him lead you upward instead of downward. Pick yourself up and go again. Bro. Joe “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath of the everlasting arms and He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee, and shall say, destroy them.”
In his book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 W. Phillip Keller wrote: “When I turn to (God) and expose the problem to Him, allowing Him to see that I have a dilemma, a difficulty, a disagreeable experience beyond my control, He comes to assist. Often a helpful approach is simply to say aloud,‘O Master, this is beyond me – I can’t cope with it – it’s bugging me – I can’t rest – please take over.'” Of course, Keller followed this with: “Then He does take over in His own wondrous way….” When I read that, I thought of a verse that I have probably quoted several times on CouchPotatoRedux pages – Deuteronomy 33:27. Our God is the “go to” God. In fact, He longs for us to come to Him, to let Him help us in the problems of our lives, but too many times, we want to do it ourselves. When we go through health problems, God wants to go through them with us. I know that what we want God to do is to heal us, but He doesn’t always do that. I know that God heals because I have seen it happen many times in my years in the ministry. But sometimes He wants to teach us while we are ill. I know that when I went through cancer in 2010-2012, I initially asked God to heal me. He did not heal my body until I had gone through the treatments, but I found every day as I went through the ordeal, that it is true that “underneath are the everlasting arms.” I learned more about God and myself during that time than I would have if I had been healthy all of that time. Do I want cancer again? Of course not, but I know that if I do get it again the everlasting arms of God will be there to catch me. God answered my prayer through doctors, and He did a work on my heart while He was healing me. When we go through family problems, God wants to go through them with us. Every family goes through some kind of problem at some time or other. Many families today live in crisis most of the time. If you are encountering problems with a child, teenager, or even a parent, you need to remember that “underneath are the everlasting arms.” It is always God’s will that all families be happy families. I know that all families are not happy families, but that is not God’s fault. We need God’s wisdom to raise children in these hedonistic times. Things happen in families that literally try people’s souls. Those who “take it to Jesus,” are more apt to solve the problem than those who do not. The only reason the help of Jesus would not work is because the people do not work His plan but try it their own way anyway. Take your family to the Lord. You will find that He will go through the problem with you and show you a way regardless of how it all turns out. Trust the Lord to do a work in your life. This would be true of your personal problems as well. I can’t promise you that things will turn out like you want them to, but they will turn out good and you will be a better person for it. When we go through church problems, God wants to go through them with us. I pastored seven churches that were filled with good people, but good people can go off in a bad direction sometimes. When ego and self-will rule in a church, and when people choose sides, bad things happen even in Christ’s church. Churches are made up mostly of saved individuals, but saved individuals are human beings. If your church is encountering seemingly impossible problems, take those problems to the Lord. He is the answer for those problems and will show you a way, even if it means changing your church. It is as true now as it was when Deuteronomy 33:27 was written: “Underneath are the everlasting arms…” And they will catch you. Bro. Joe “Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. 7. Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
If we want examples of what real Christian love does, we can turn to the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) and observe how Jesus behaved. The Bible encourages us to be like Christ. This does not mean that we are to be more religious and legalistic; rather, it means that, among other things, we will be more loving. It means that we will practice the agape love that is framed for us in 1 Corinthians 13. I hope that these three posts on real Christian love will make an impact in our lives. The world is crying out for us to be authentically Christian, and the formula for that is right here in 1 Corinthians 13. “Love…rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth.” “Iniquity” is a word for sin that means “twisted.” Christian love will not allow us to be twisted in our thinking about sin. Sin has been so twisted in American society today to the point that no sin is seen as sin anymore. We are fast becoming an “anything goes” society. This twistedness (My computer tells me that this is not a word, but what does my computer know?) has even found its way into churches. But we shouldn’t be surprised, the world system has always been twisted, because it is run by the “eternal twister” himself – Satan. I could point out a lot of ways that we have become guilty of iniquity, but I will concentrate on one, the one that I think is one of the most important: We have twisted our fellowship with each other by giving in to anger and a party spirit. Real Christian love “rejoices in truth.” We need to face the truth about ourselves, even if it hurts. We should certainly not be proud of ourselves when we act less than loving toward each other. “Love…bears all things.” The NIV translates this as “love protects all things.” I have no idea what that means. I will stick with the KJV translation of “bears all things.” What this means is that we will be patient in all our relationships – home, work, church, etc. The Bible tells us to bear with each other. I think that it means a little more than “putting up” with each other, although I will admit that in my case this has at times been my reaction. I am sure, however, that other people have “put up” with me at some time or other. (There are probably some “amen’s” going on out there at this moment. Lol) We can bear with each other in love, or we can hate each other like the devil wants us to. We might as well admit that one of the biggest problems in our lives is other people. How we react to other people makes a huge difference in our witness to the world. “Love…believes all things and hopes all things.” This does not mean that real Christian love is naïve. It means that we are willing to give people the benefit of the doubt, and accept them. Hope and belief definitely go together. It is our belief in God and belief in other people that gives us an outlook of hopefulness in the world. It is certain that there are many people who make it difficult for us to “believe all things” and “hope all things.” That is where our faith in Christ comes in. He gives us the desire to believe, to trust and to hope. “Love…endures all things.” We would call this “keeping on keeping on.” Life can grind us down and make us just want to give up, quit and retreat into a shell. Satan will certainly try our endurance. If the early Christians had not had this kind of love, things would be a lot different in the church today. If Christians in countries today where they are persecuted did not “endure all things,” they would just quit and there would be no churches. We need to learn to love like this, and endure all of the slings and arrows of Satan and the world, and continue to give a Christian witness to a world that is in dire need of a Christian witness. If we love people as Jesus does, we will endure to the end. Bro. Joe “Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil.”
1 Corinthians 13 gives the biblical definition of love. The love that is mentioned here is God’s kind of love that is sacrificial and active. We usually associate love with feelings, and that is valid, but God’s kind of love and what I call “real Christian love” acts on its feelings, just as God did in sending His Son to die for our sins. We need to remind ourselves that love is ultimately important in the Christian’s life, because Jesus commanded that we love. “Love…Does not behave itself unseemly.” The NIV translation of this is “love is not rude.” I love both translations because they tell us that we need to be aware of how we are being perceived by the world. I remember mama telling me when I misbehaved (I should have added rare times. lol) that I was “acting ugly.” That’s what “unseemly” reminds me of. We need to be careful not to act ugly. We also need to be careful that we are not rude. People who know such things say that waiters and waitresses say that the most difficult people to wait on are those who come in from church on Sunday. This should not be. If we want the world to take us seriously, and take our faith seriously, we will remember to behave ourselves in public – and in private. Sometimes other people’s behavior does not lend itself to not being rude, but we need to let that be their problem. Jesus told us not to retaliate against people. “Love…seeks not her own.” Another translation of this is “love is not selfish.” The NIV translates it “love is not self-seeking.” We might even give the more radical translation “love is not greedy.” We have all heard the definition of Joy as: Jesus – Others – Yourself - in that order. That was not a problem for me to write at all, and it is no problem to talk about it, however, living up to it is a real challenge. We might be surprised at how much we think of ourselves in a given day. If we tried to count them, we might lose count. It is not wrong for us to take care of ourselves, but it is wrong when we are obsessed with ourselves and live our lives that way. We need to make a conscious effort to reach out in praise to God and in ministry to others. “Love… is not easily provoked.” The NIV translation of this is “love is not easily angered. “ Anger itself is not a sin. Jesus was angry at various times in the Gospels. When He cleansed the temple, let us say that He was not smiling. He had every reason to be angry. But at the same time when Jesus was mistreated at His trial and in the subsequent crucifixion, He did not lash out in anger. We need to learn how to be angry at things that should make us angry, and to not be provoked by things that will ruin our witness if we lash out in anger. I am not claiming that this is easy; I am suggesting that it is important. Fits of temper at an inopportune time can be hurtful to our witness. We need to work on it. “Love…thinks no evil. Our lives are defined by what we think about. I know that you already know that thoughts become actions. We need to be careful what we allow in our minds. The world gives us plenty of opportunity to think evil thoughts. I know this, not because somebody told me, but by what I experience on a daily basis. We can easily think lustful thoughts if we do not guard our minds. We can also think evil about other people if we are not careful. Love will make us keep a close guard on our thoughts. To be continued….. Bro. Joe “Love suffers long, and is kind; love envies not; love vaunts not itself, is not puffed up. 5. Does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil.”
The word that is translated “charity” in the KJV is a translation of the Greek word “agape” (ah-gah-pay). The same word is translated as love in almost all of John’s writings, including the well-known John 3:16: “For God so loved the world…” Agape describes real Christian love, for it describes God’s kind of love. In a sense, when we practice agape, we practice God’s kind of love. 1 Corinthian 13 reveals agape love as a gift that Christians are to use to express their love in word and deed. What will real Christian love do or how will it act? “Love suffers Long” A modern translation of “suffers long” is patience. There are two different Greek words used for patience in the Bible. One is patience in the sense of waiting, as we would use it about being stopped at a red light. The other word is “longsuffering”, i.e., being patient in suffering and not becoming impatient with the circumstances or with God. Real Christian love is willing to suffer. The author of 1 Corinthians 13, Paul, is a good example of this kind of love. It can mean to be patient in persecution, and to not become impatient with God. I haven’t scratched the surface of the aspect of real Christian love, but I think you have enough here to understand what it is about. If you want to see it in action read the Gospel narratives of Christ’s trial and crucifixion. “Love…is kind.” If there is one word that would describe Christ like love it is the word “kind.” Again, Jesus was kind to the people that he encountered in His earthly life. It takes just as little time to be kind as it takes to be unkind. The choice is really ours, and if Jesus lives in our hearts, He will help us make the right choice in this matter. Think of your daily encounters with people and determine whether or not you were kind in these encounters. For example, how did you treat the waitress/waiter at the restaurant who didn’t refill your tea? Being kind is an integral part of our Christian witness. “Love does not envy.” Envy, or jealousy, is a real witness killer. When we envy anyone about anything we are not acting in love toward them. Why not be happy for the person that you envy? If one of your friends gets a raise, or a promotion, the response of Christian love would be to be glad for them and to congratulate them. When we do otherwise, we are listening to the devil, who has no interest in our Christian witness. “Love vaunts not itself, is not puffed up.” A modern translation of this is: “Love is not boastful, is not conceited.” If we really love God and people, we will not be boastful, because boastfulness is based on false pride and can be self-promotion. Our responsibility is to promote Christ, to brag on Him, and not boast about ourselves. (It didn’t say that we couldn’t brag on our grandchildren….) A conceited person is self-centered. Quite often, a conceited attitude repels people and makes them not want to be around us, let alone accept our witness. Besides that, conceit often betrays an inferiority complex, and causes us to be preoccupied with ourselves to the exclusion of others. To be continued…………. Bro. Joe “And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a riverside, where prayer was wont to be made: and we sat down and spake unto the women who were there. 14. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. 15. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come unto my house; and abide there. And she constrained us.”
The incident mentioned in the text above took place at Philippi during Paul’s second missionary journey. He and Silas encountered a group of women who were having a prayer meeting beside a river, where we are introduced to Lydia, a great woman of God. The text reveals some things about her that we need to know and to emulate. The first thing is that she worshipped God. Lydia was from Thyatira and was evidently on business at Philippi. Being a seller of purple cloth from Thyatira, she was probably a busy woman, but she took time to observe the Sabbath and to attend a prayer meeting. This is a mark of reverence for the Lord that we should all seek. She was probably a wealthy woman, since she had a house at Philippi to which she invited Paul, Silas and their party. Lydia was not at the river by herself because other women were there with her. She not only wanted to worship God, she wanted to worship Him in fellowship with other people. We need to worship God when we are alone, but we should also crave worship with other believers. The second thing is that Lydia was open to the word of God. Notice that the text said “whose heart the Lord opened.” She made herself available to the Lord and was open to learn about Him. The text tells us that Lydia listened attentively to the word of God about Jesus while Paul spoke about Him. While she listened, the Lord opened her heart and she was, evidently, converted to Christ. The Lord opened her heart because she was interested in and receptive to the word of God. We know that the Lord will not force Himself into our lives. He could if He wanted to, but He does not. He responds to our response. I think that while Paul spoke, the Holy Spirit was speaking to Lydia’s heart. Her heart was open and she responded. How open are you to the word of God, not just to be saved, but to grow in your faith?. Every time we read the Bible, or hear it preached, we should be open to whatever truth God has for us there. Too often we see with our eyes and hear with our ears, but our hearts are not open to the truth that we see and hear. The word needs to find its way into our hearts, minds and souls. What happened to Lydia should happen to us each time that we break open the word of God, or whenever we hear it preached or taught. The Bible has a message for the heart and begins its work in our lives from there. Third, Lydia became involved in the work of God. This is ultimately the point in worshipping God and being open to His word. When we take it all to heart, we want to serve the Lord as Lydia did. In verse 15, Lydia invited Paul and Silas to stay at her house – which they did. In verse 40, after the incident with the Philippian jailor, we are told that they “entered the house of Lydia when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them and departed." A church was meeting at Lydia’s house in Philippi. She was not only saved, she also became involved in the work. Many church members today need to follow her example. We do not know a lot about Lydia, but what we know lets us know that she was a great woman of God and that she made a difference in Philippi, and I’m sure in Thyatira also. We need to follow her example. Bro. Joe “May He grant you according to your heart’s desire, and fulfill all your purpose.” (NKJV)
The desires of our hearts tell us a lot about ourselves. Our heart’s desires are what we dream about, think about, and that control the purpose of our lives. That’s what the text printed above reveals to us. If God grants us the desires of our hearts, our purpose will be fulfilled. The important thing is that our heart’s desires be worthy of great purpose. By “great purpose” I do not mean a purpose that will shake the world, but purposes that will help us realize God’s will for our lives. Those things that we think about and plan on should have something to do with what God wants for us. If you realized your heart’s desire today, what would it have to do with the kingdom of God? I do not mean that you can’t have your heart’s desires that have to do with secular things, but if you are a Christian, your main desire and purpose should have to do with Christ. When I was a little boy, my heart’s desire was to be a cowboy just like Roy Rogers. I could just see myself riding on a horse, chasing the crook down, pulling him off of his horse and beating the living daylights out of him. But as I began to mature a little, a new desire formed in my heart. I felt that God was calling me to be a preacher. After a roller-coaster ride from age 12 to age 21, that desire was realized. It was a life-changing experience. I can’t tell you that I have always fulfilled God’s purpose in my life, for, like you, I still have “Adam’s blood” in me. I can’t say that I never wanted to quit the purpose to which He called me, for from time to time I did feel like quitting. Obviously, I did not quit, since I have been In the ministry for 53 years. It has been an interesting , fulfilling, humbling life, filled with challenges. That is enough about me. I want to ask you what your heart’s desire is at this very moment in your life? If that desire should be fulfilled what would be the result for you, your family and the world around you? Would your desire’s fulfillment make a difference in the world? Is your heart’s desire something that you talk to God about regularly? If you aren’t praying about it, you are not interested in what God wants for you. If this desire was fulfilled and you realized your purpose, would it make you a better person? Would you be easier to get along with? Would you be a more loving person? Would you be a better husband or wife? Would you be a better father or mother to your children? Would you do better on your job? Would you be a better member of your church? Would people see a difference in your life? These are a lot of questions for you to answer, but they are very important questions. We are supposed to grow as Christians. It is our heart’s desires and our purposes that help us to grow. Some people are satisfied being nominal Christians. Their real heart’s desires have more to do with secular matters than on God’s will for their lives. If that is the way your life is now, you need to ask God to examine your heart and give you the desire to be a better servant of His. Jesus is waiting for you to align your heart, and consequently, your purpose with what He wants with your life. Perhaps, you need to do some serious praying when you finish reading this. Take my word for it; you will be a more joyful person for it. You will be a better witness for Jesus. If none of what I have written makes any difference, or even any sense, to you, then you need to seriously examine your relationship with Jesus. What is your heart’s desire? What is your purpose? Give it some thought. Bro. Joe “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged, and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again.”
“Judge not” is one of the most confusing concepts written in the New Testament. On one hand it makes sense that one human being cannot judge another, on the other hand it seems to be in order that to “judge not” we will have to ignore sin. I will try to make sense of this for myself and for you. “Judge not” does not mean that we cannot recognize sin. Sin is a reality that was brought into the world by our first parents, and it has been with us since. The whole Bible deals with the reality of sin. Why was there a flood that destroyed the whole world? Sin! Why were Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed? Sin! Why did David write Psalm 51? He wrote it because he had sinned and he knew that he needed to be forgiven for those sins. Why did Jesus come into the world, to live a perfect life and die on the cross? It was because of sin. Sin is real and it is the reason for all of the things that happen in this fallen world. We do not have to judge sin, because God has already judged it and it is always wrong. “Judge not” does not mean that we can’t warn people about sin in their lives . If we know that someone is headed in the wrong direction and that this direction could ruin their lives, we are negligent in our Christian witness if we do not give a word of warning. It is not “ugly and mean” to warn people about how certain sins can ruin their lives. We are, however, to approach people in an attitude of compassion and love. I know that I have been helped by loving and compassionate Christians reminding me of the reality of sin in my life. This was especially true in the years that I was growing up and experimenting with what the world had to offer. I did not always heed the warnings, but I surely needed the warnings and I think that my life is better because of intervention of fellow Christians. We are not doing anyone a favor when we ignore sin in their lives. “Judge not” does mean that we need to be careful when we are warning other people about their sins, that we are not doing the same things, or maybe even worse. Jesus made this plain in Matthew 7:3: “And why behold thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but do not consider the beam (or log) that is in your own eye?” Paul gave a warning about this in Romans 2:1: “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are that judges: for wherein you judge another you do not consider yourself, for you that judge are doing the same things.” It is much easier for us to recognize sin in someone else’s life than it is to recognize it in our own lives. We need to remember that our sins are being judged by someone much higher than ourselves, and that He knows what is in our lives. “Judge not” does mean that we are not to be pharisaical and condescending ("holier than thou") when we are warning others about their sins. We need to remember that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” and that this verse applies to us as well. Paul wrote about this in Ephesians 4:15: “But speaking the truth in love may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.” We are not qualified to be condescending before any person, no matter how bad they seem to be. Remember that Jesus was not impressed by the Pharisee who went to pray and in his prayer condemned the tax collector who was praying at the same time. (Read Luke 18:10-14.) “Judge not” means that there is only one real judge, and He is not us! (I know that is bad grammar.) It is certainly not wrong to be concerned about sin in other people’s lives, but it is wrong when we think that we are qualified to look down on them. If anyone has ever been qualified to look down on people it was Jesus, and that is not how he treated sinners. When we look down on people, we are committing the sin of false pride, which is certainly condemned in the Bible. We are not to ignore sin, and this means that we are not to ignore our own sins. Bro. Joe “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming….”
Christians around the world wonder when the Lord will come. Every time there is a crisis, it heightens our desire for the Lord to intervene, for Christ to take His church out, and for all of our problems to be solved. The only thing that the Bible tells us to do in this intervening time between the first and second comings of Christ is to watch. Predictions have always fallen through. If Jesus Christ Himself wouldn’t set a date, I am certainly not qualified to do so. What I thought about today was what Christ means when He tells us to watch. I thought about it and made an acrostic of the word “watch” that I think will explain what we are to do while we watch. Worship We are not to sit and twiddle our thumbs, so to speak, until Jesus comes. He wants us to spend time worshiping Him. This means that we are to praise and honor Him daily, and to join together in public worship. Our personal worship should include personal time spent in the Bible, reading and studying His word. We should praise Him on a daily basis. Worshiping makes us conscious of His presence in our lives and puts us in connection with Him. Ask A major part of our worship will be time spent in prayer. Jesus promised that if we would ask He would respond with answers to our prayers. James wrote: “You have not because you ask not…” Of course, it is not just a matter of asking, for we must ask in faith and in the process pray that God’s will be done as we pray. Throughout the Bible, we are reminded to ask God for the blessings that we want in our lives. While we watch, we are to stay in communication with God, for it is through prayer that we make daily connection with Him. We need to remember that we can pray anytime day or night. The door to prayer is never closed. Tell Worship and prayer are basically personal, i.e., they are things that we do to enhance our personal relationship with Him, and in the matter of public worship with our fellow Christians. But we are to reach outside of ourselves while we watch and tell others about Jesus. We call it evangelism or witnessing. The plan that Jesus left with His disciples was that they would be empowered by the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses in all parts of the world. This plan has not been changed. We are to tell the world what Jesus did for them on the cross, and what He will do for them in their lives if they will receive Him. We cannot depend on others to tell, we must decide that we are going to tell the world about Jesus. Choose As we watch we will be hit with a lot of choices. We need to pay attention to Joshua and “Choose you this day who you will serve.” Satan will be tempting us to choose to waste our time in things that do not make a difference in the kingdom of God. The choices that we make while we watch will determine the quality of the lives that we live. Let’s make our choices make a difference in the kingdom of God. Help Jesus spent a lot of His time on earth helping people. He was never too busy to take the time to help people. Even when He would try to get away for private time, He would take the time to minister to and help people. While we are waiting for Jesus to come, we should be involved in what we call “helping ministries." This means that Jesus wants us to be involved in the lives of other people, even if it is inconvenient to ourselves. I’m sure that this acrostic falls short of all that we should do while we wait, but I think that these are the most important things that we need to do while we watch. Bro. Joe |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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