“All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name. 10. For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.”
Don’t misunderstand me: I am not unconcerned about what is going on in our world. I’m as concerned about the moral direction of our country as anyone, but I am not worried about how God is faring. I believe that God is still in control. Do you think that the God who was aware of Cain’s murder of Abel, is not aware of the circumstances in our world? He sees everything that is going on. I am also not saying that I will do nothing to make things better where I can. What I want to deal with in this article is that God is not in trouble because of our world situation. I’m not stating that God is not troubled by our behavior, but that God is not pushed against a wall because of our behavior. God knows what is going on, and in His infinite sovereignty He is working it out, and it will eventually be the way He wants it. I know that God is not in trouble because eventually, “all nations whom (He) has made shall come and worship before (Him)." Whoa! Don’t accuse me of universalism here, i.e., that all people will be saved. What I mean, and what David means, is that one day everybody who has lived on this earth, and will be living in the world on that day, will realize who and what He is. I have Philippians 2:9-11 to verify what I just wrote: “Wherefore God hath highly exalted (Jesus), and given Him a name that is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth.” Paul lived in troubled times just as we do. He lived in a pre-Christian age and knew the meaning of real trouble. Paul was concerned about what was going on in his world, but he went forward anyway, trusting in the almighty God whom he knew through his faith in Jesus Christ. Paul was the guy who wrote in Philippians 4:13: “I can do things through Him (Christ) which strengtheneth me.” Paul like us, could not stop the immoral flow of the world that he lived in, but he did not give up and quit serving God. The world’s problems could not keep Paul from living victioriously because he could “do all things through Christ” who gave Him the strength to do so. This is true of us as well. I know that God is not in trouble because He is Lord of the universe. (David referred to Him as “Lord.”) We do not have to worry about whether or not God has given control of His kingdom into the hands of men, or of the devil either. According to The American Century Dictionary a lord is a master or ruler. A lord has absolute authority. God is Lord and He has not relinquished his authority. If you will closely read history you will see that the world has never been a perfect place, but somehow God’s kingdom has lived through it all and is still flourishing. Because we are misbehaving and some even shaking their fists in the face of God, does not mean that God is dead, nor does it mean that He will do nothing about the world situation. He also doesn’t expect us to give up on the world, but He expects us to keep serving – to keep witnessing. Do not make the mistake that many make when they think God has stopped answering our prayers. We will never live in a perfect world, but we can make it better where we are by the way we live and serve. One thing that keeps me going and not getting discouraged is that “…In all things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” (Romans 8:37) I also believe what Paul wrote in Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to God’s purpose." I am not suggesting that you not care anymore, nor am I suggesting that you throw up your hands and quit. I am suggesting that you put your trust in God, and know that things are, and ultimately will, move in His direction. The Bible tells us not to worry but to trust. Do it! Bro. Joe
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“And Judah said, the strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.”
The Book of Nehemiah is about the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls at the close of the Babylonian Captivity. When Nehemiah got to Jerusalem he ran into all kinds of problems. There were enemies there who did not want the wall rebuilt because of their own selfish reasons. But one big problem that the builders encountered was the “rubbish” or all of the debris where the wall stood. There was so much rubbish that they felt that they could not rebuild the wall. When I read that it occurred to me that “rubbish” is a problem in the building, or rebuilding, of our lives. Nehemiah and the workers on the wall got rid of the rubbish and eventually rebuilt the wall. Let’s look at some “rubbish” that might be keeping us from more victorious Christian living. First, I think that there is the “rubbish” of secret sins, or habits, that keep us from the Christian growth that we could have. I certainly don’t want to meddle in people’s libraries but some of the literature that people read serves as “rubbish” in their lives. The sexual content, for example, does not turn our minds to things of the Lord. I also do not want to meddle in people’s choices of entertainment, but there is a lot of entertainment that seems harmless, but does not do any good for us in our spiritual growth. I’m certainly not an old “fuddy duddy” when it comes to entertainment, but I do know when something can steal my mind away from the better things of the Christian life. Get rid of the rubbish. Second, there is the “rubbish” of guilt. Guilt is a two-edged sword. If you feel guilty about something what you need to do is to take it to the Lord in prayer, repent of it, and stop feeling guilty. I know that’s not easy, but it needs to be done. The other edge of the “guilt sword” is the guilt that we continue to have after we have repented and have forgiveness for our sins. The Bible is clear on this point of forgiveness. 1 John 1:9 is a case in point: “If we confess our sins (Jesus) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." This verse is unequivocal, when we genuinely confess, and repent of our sins Jesus has promised to forgive us. Jesus paid a great price on the cross in order for us to be able to receive His forgiveness. If Jesus has forgiven you for a given sin, you are forgiven and you do not have to deal with the guilt of it anymore. He casts our sins, as the Bible says, “as far as the East is from the West.” Get rid of the rubbish. Third, there is the rubbish of grudges that we hold against people for past grievances. Just as we can be forgiven, we are supposed to be forgiving. The Lord’s Prayer deals with this when it informs us: “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. ”Notice that we are to forgive as we have been forgiven. As long as we do not forgive we are holding a grudge and that grudge will stunt our Christian growth. I can hear it: “But, Bro. Joe, you don’t know how bad so and so hurt me.” No, I don’t know, but I know that others have hurt me, and I had to forgive them. It has not always been easy, but it has always been necessary. (As I think about it, I have caused hurts to people that I had to be forgiven for. It helps to remember that when it comes time for us to forgive others.) The first words of Jesus from the cross were: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” I know that no one has ever hurt me as much as the false trial, betrayal and pain of the cross, and I know that no one has hurt you that much. We are not Jesus, but Jesus expects us to be forgiving just as He was. Get rid of the rubbish. I hope that in the process of reading this, you have done some cleaning up around your “walls.” I repeat: Get rid of the rubbish. Bro. Joe “Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you? 2. You are our epistles written in our hearts, known and read of all men. 3. Forasmuch as you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”
I was looking through my sermon files and came across this sermon that I have preached several times across the years. I thought I would share it with you via this media. Because of the problems that Paul had with the Corinthian Church, he asked them if he needed a letter commendation as some had to do to have access to them. Then he reminded them that they were his letter of commendation. He referred to them as “epistles (or letters) of Christ." In other words the Corinthians were letters from Christ to the pagan world around them. The same thing could be said of us. Which leads me to the question: What kind of letter are you? Are you a business letter? These come across my desk all of the time. They are not bad letters, they are just impersonal. When I see “Dear Sir” I know that the person writing the letter doesn’t know me. This is not bad with letters, but it is with us. We can be “business as usual” Christians. You know, the kind that you see in church some Sundays. It might not be true but these “business” people seem to have no heart. It appears that they do not care about people, and that they are cold and uncaring. Don’t be a business letter. Are you a form, or “junk” letter? I have received these types of letters that were written on computers with my name dubbed in. The letter had no interest in me. Their main interest was what I could do for them, or what I might be willing to purchase from them. If we aren’t careful, we can appear to be “junk” letters. We would appear to be interested only in what we can get out of people, instead of lovub them and being interested in them. Are you a hate letter? This means that it appears to people that we hate them. I know that it is difficult to “hate the sin and love the sinner” and convince people that we love them, but we should surely try. If we aren’t careful we will come across to people as Pharisees. Are you a friendly letter? The Bible urges us to be friendly people. I know, I know what you are thinking. You are thinking that this is not always easy. Proverbs 17:17 reminds us: “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” I interpret this to mean if we are to love people with brotherly, or sisterly, love, we will be friends even in adversity. Are you a love letter? Do you remember when people actually wrote letters and sent them through “snail mail” and that they would write SWAK on the envelope? That meant “sealed with a kiss.” I don’t mean to be maudlin here, but our lives should be “sealed with a kiss.” We are told throughout the Bible to love other people, and we should certainly love even those who are not easy to love. Are you careful about punctuation? I have little space left for this point, so I will make it short, but, I hope, meaningful. Punctuation makes a difference. Dr. Chester Swor gave an example of the importance of commas: “Woman, without her, man is incomplete.” Now leave the commas out: “Woman without her man is incomplete.” The comma changed the entire meaning. One example: We need “pause marks” in our lives. We need to pause to pray, pause to read the Bible, pause to witness and minister to others. You are some kind of letter. Make sure that when people read your life they will see the love and care of Christ. "Let others see Jesus in you..." Bro. Joe “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”
This is a verse of scripture that I refer to often in my own life, in my preaching and in my writing. I have probably referred to it several times in blogs that I have written over the past year. I can’t say that I always succeed, but I try to live joyfully because of the fact that Jesus wants me to be joyful. Here is the amazing fact: We already have joy, we just need to claim it. We can claim the joy that we already have in Jesus, for Jesus has given us His joy. Joy is also listed in Galatians 5:22 as part of the “fruit of the Spirit.” It is a gift from God; therefore, we already possess it. I have discovered that the joy of Jesus is at work even when things are not going well. We do not necessarily have to feel it; we just need to claim it. It is a fact that we are not always joyful, but we always have joy. Why do we fail to claim this joy? Could it be that we prefer being angry and “out of sorts” with other people. Could it be that we prefer griping and complaining to rejoicing? (Just asking) We can save ourselves, and our churches, a lot of heartache if we will simply claim the joy that we have in Jesus. After we claim the joy of Jesus, we need to share it with others. We are more likely to claim Jesus’ joy for ourselves if we will commit to sharing it with others. Sharing the blessings of Jesus with others makes His blessings more meaningful to us. Sharing the joy of Jesus brings abundant blessings into our lives. I think that this is part of the “abundant life” that Jesus promised us. It is important that we share the joy of Jesus in this world. There is a lot of enmity and animosity in our world today. This is true in politics, but it is also true in homes, schools and churches, for example. We need to share His joy for the good of our fellow Christians and for the good of people in general. Think of the difference that it would make in your church if every member decided to share the joy of Jesus in church fellowship and in the community at large. Your church’s sense of fellowship would grow, and your church’s membership would grow. People tend to gravitate toward joy. At least I know that I do. Joy is contagious, and brings smiles to faces and songs into hearts. Just ask yourself if you prefer smiling faces to long faces? I discovered this principle in my preaching several years ago. I wasn’t claiming joy and was not sharing it with my congregation. God convicted me that I should enjoy sharing biblical truth with others, and that I should give joy to others in it as well. This did not mean that I would become “Dr. Feelgood.” It meant that even when I preached a negative sermon, joy would come through. Jesus’ joy knows no bounds. Joy is more effective in helping people change than merely fussing at them. We can rejoice in the joy of Jesus. Philippians 4:4 reminds us to: “Rejoice in the Lord always.” And to emphasize his point Paul added: “And again I say rejoice…” It is remarkable when we remember that Paul was wrongfully imprisoned in Rome when he wrote these words about joy. If Paul could rejoice in those circumstances, we should be able to rejoice in the circumstances of our lives. Rejoicing is the natural result of joy. (You might say “duh” here.) Rejoicing is joy that has risen to the top of our hearts and begs to get out. Is it possible that we do not rejoice more because we do not claim the joy of Jesus in our lives? Let me meddle in your life a little. Do you rejoice daily? Do you rejoice in church services? Do you sometimes rejoice simply because you have to? Answering these questions can help you determine whether or not you are claiming and sharing Jesus’ joy in you. Claim the joy of Jesus and share it. You will see that it will make a big difference in your life. Bro. Joe " O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the
Lord.” Isaiah 2 is about the day of judgment for all nations. In the light of this judgment, Isaiah called for the house of Jacob to walk in the light of the Lord. God put His people in the world to shine. The darker the world becomes the brighter God’s people should shine. Israel had a penchant for joining the darkness instead of shining in it. If we aren’t careful we will do the same thing. God wants us to be lights in this dark world. In Philippians 2:15 Paul wrote that they should “shine as lights in the world.” In Matthew 5:14 Jesus said “ye are the light of the world.” In verse 16 Jesus said “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” We are under biblical mandate to “walk in the light of the Lord.” It is important to note that we are to walk in “the light of the Lord.” As moonlight is the reflection of sunlight, so our light is to be a reflection of “Son light.” Because of sin, there is great darkness in the world. This is nothing new. A cursory reading of history will show that since Adam and Eve there has been darkness in the world. But God put His people here, of which I hope you are one, to be lights in the darkness. Those who are living in the dark, Christless world of sin need for us to let His light shine through us. We need to know that walking in the light means to live in the light of scripture. We cannot walk in God’s light effectively if we do not stay in the Bible. I don’t know why people think that they can shine for Christ when they do not spend time in His word. If you want to walk in the light, open up your Bible and get it in your heart and head. We also need to know that walking in the light means to live in the light of prayer. Christians need to spend time in prayer. The reason that a lot of people do have effective, shining, prayer lives is they think that prayer has to be in a stilted “holy” voice, and that one has to be on his or her knees. Kneeling is a beautiful statement of humility, but the call from God is for us to pray. I don't think that He is overly concerned about the posture of prayer. A special time of prayer is good, and we need one, but the throne of God is open for prayer all day every day. It is very important to know that walking in the light means to live in fellowship with other Christians. 1John 5:7 tells us: “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another." We can call it “going to church” or “fellowshipping with each other.” No matter what we call it, we need it! Walking in the light demands it. Walking in the light involves sharing that light with others. Hight C. Moore wrote: “We are not light-absorbers, but light reflectors.” In his testimony before King Agrippa in Acts 26, Paul told him how Jesus had called him to witness to Gentiles. In verse 18, he quoted Jesus: “To open their eyes, and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith which is in me.” Shouldn’t we adopt this verse as Jesus’ message to us about walking in the light? We need to let the light of Jesus shine through us. We can let this light shine in a verbal witness of His saving grace, but there are other ways that we can do this as well. We really and truly need to let Christ’s light shine through us by the example that we set before people in daily life. We can let Christ’s light shine through us in kind words, good deeds and clean living. It is our task to brighten the world, to live shining lives. This dark world is hungry for God’s light, and they really want to see it shining in genuine Christian living. It is important for us to walk in the light because we might be the only Bible or Jesus that others see until they know Jesus for themselves. Bro. Joe “For the Lord is a great God, and a great king above all kings. 4. In His hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is His also. 5. The sea is His, and He made it: and His hands formed the dry land. 6. O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our maker. 7. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and sheep of His hand.”
Psalm 95 calls on the people of God to recognize the greatness of God and respond to Him positively. Verses 3-7 give us the gist of this psalm on God’s greatness. Verse 3 establishes His greatness: “For the Lord is a great God, and a great king above all kings.”There is no one greater than God. Verses 4-7 tells us why God is great and what that means to us. Verses 4-5: “In His hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is His also. The sea is His, and He made it: and His hands formed the dry land.” These verses tell us that He is the great God of creation. He created everything that we see in nature. Everywhere we look, we see the creating hand of God. Ultimately, this means that God owns everything that we see around us. Psalm 24:1 sheds further light on this fact: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein.” All that we have on this earth, we have on loan from God. In fact, God has revealed Himself through His creation. Psalm 19:1 takes us beyond the earth to the heavens in order to reveal this fact:“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth forth His handiwork.” Concerning this, Paul wrote in Romans 1:19-20 that people who do not believe in the great God are without excuse: “Because that which may be known of God is manifest (revealed) in them, for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”Thus we note that our great God created the world and expects us to see Him in what He has created. Verse 6: “O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our maker.” Not only did God create the world, He created us. God is worthy of worship because He created us. Seeing the greatness of God in creation, we should worship Him. The wonder of nature is the wonder of God. Furthermore, we worship Him because He created us. Psalm 100:3: “Know ye that the Lord is God: it is He that hath made us and not we ourselves.” He created us in His image. Basically, this means that God created us for Himself in order that we might relate personally to Him and have fellowship with Him. Our great God did not create us and forget us – no matter what our materialistic, agnostic world tells us. Therefore, let’s respond to God by worshipping Him daily. Verse 7: For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand…”Notice that “He is our God.” The psalmist was referring to Israel, but on this side of Calvary we know that He is our God because of our faith relationship with Jesus Christ.“And we are the people of His pasture, and sheep of His hand.” We belong to God. Psalm 100:3b: “We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” Through our faith relationship with Jesus Christ we belong to God. We are His people. This fact should make a difference in how we live and how we treat each other. Thank God that because of Jesus you belong to Him, or you can belong to Him. God’s greatness is not just seen in nature; it is seen in what He has done for us in Jesus. Through the Holy Spirit, God wants His greatness to be seen through us. Worship the great God who loves us and is personally known to us through Jesus Christ! Bro. Joe “We love (God), because He first loved us….”
I was asked to preach at the Camilla Retirement Center a few days ago, and I was thinking about what I would say to those good folks. A thought came to me: “What if God built me a pulpit in the sky and equipped me to preach to the whole world? What would I preach ?” Of course, I thought that I might “chew them out” a little bit, as we say in Southwest Georgia: “Give them down the country.” Then I thought: “Yes, but I would have four fingers and a thumb pointing back at me.” So I put that thought aside and began to think more realistically about what the world needs to know about God and the Bible. Following is what I came up with and will share it with you: First, I would tell everyone in the world that God loves them. I don’t think that many people in the world believe this, and some world religions give the opposite view of God. They say either that He is hostile or doesn’t care. Those things are not true of God. The Bible does tell us about God’s wrath, but His wrath is reserved for people who spurn the great love that He has given them, those who do not believe that: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” You have probably read this from me before, but it’s worth writing again: “The bible never says that God is wrath, but it does say that God is love.” (1John 4:8) God loves us in spite of our sinfulness, and He loves us in spite of the fact that we might not think that He loves us. We cannot escape the love of God. He is the “hound of heaven” and woos us continually! Get it down: GOD LOVES YOU!!!!! Second, I would tell the whole world that God wants the best for them, but that they also need to want it for themselves. We can go all the way back to Adam and Eve. God gave them the best that there was. Everything was perfect. There was only one tree in the Garden of Eden that they were not to touch, and if they did not touch that tree they would always have the best that God was willing to give. You know the story, they ate from that tree and sealed their fate as well as ours. But we still have a choice. God offers His best to us and for us. The question is do we want it? Let’s take one thing for example – “the fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Jesus offers all of those through the Holy Spirit to those who trust Him as savior. Why would anyone not take Him up on that promise? Don’t you be one of those who doesn’t take Him up on it. Third, I would tell the whole world that God is sovereign, and that this is good news. If everything has to be under the dominion of one entity, it is good that that One is God. In His sovereignty, God is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-present. If you try to think of the greatness of God without faith in Him it will either blow your mind or be unbelievable to you. Just think of One who knows the number of hairs that we have on our heads. He knows our every deed and He knows our every thought. There is nothing about us that does not interest God. Sometimes we think that we are insignificant in the totality of things. BUT WE ARE NOT INSIGNIFICANT TO GOD. He is as interested in us as He is in the so-called great people of the world. Praise God! Thank Jesus! Yield to the Holy Spirit! That’s what I would tell the whole world, if I were given the opportunity, but I will settle for the fact that I just told you. That is sufficient for now. Do you believe it? Bro. Joe “The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, it is the Sabbath day: it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”
If you don’t already know, I am sure that you are wondering what in the world “preposterous” means. According to The American Century Dictionary the word means “that which is utterly absurd or outrageous.” I thought of this word when I read John 5:10. What had happened was that Jesus healed a man who had been a cripple for thirty eight years. He was lying there waiting for the waters of the pool to be moved by an angel so that he could get in the water and be healed. He was unable to get to the water, so Jesus just simply told him to “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” This is not what is preposterous. What is preposterous is that the Pharisees main concern was that the man picked up his bed on the Sabbath. Forget that he had been healed of an infirmity that for thirty eight years had kept him from the enjoyments of life. This was something that Jesus had to contend with more than once. Perhaps, you remember the time that Jesus healed a demon possessed man who lived among the tombs, and ran around among the tombs naked and raving like a maniac. Well, Jesus removed those demons from the man and when the townsfolk saw him he was “clothed and in his right mind.” Good news, right? Wrong. Jesus had cast the demons, by their request, into a herd of pigs that were nearby. The demon-possessed pigs ran into the water and were drowned. As it turned out, the people were more concerned that the pigs had drowned than they were that a local menace had been healed and able to function as a normal human being again. They cared more about pigs than they did about people. That is preposterous. Keep in mind that Jesus lived by the laws of Moses perfectly, something that no one else had ever done before, and could never have done. But He always put the needs of people above everything else. The Pharisee's kind of thinking is called “legalism.” Jesus pointed out the absurdity of legalism in Mark 3:1-4: “And (Jesus) entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there with a withered hand. 2. And they watched Him, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath day; that they might accuse Him. 3. And He said unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. 4. And He said unto them, is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? To save life or to kill?” The legalists couldn’t answer that, and Jesus proceeded to heal the man. God never intended for His laws to make us callous in the face of human suffering. Jesus’ question, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil,” seems to say that it would have been evil not to heal the man rather than legalistically ignore him. I guess the main point that I want to make here is that being a Christian should not make us callous about human suffering around us. If we really want to be like Jesus, we will not turn a blind eye to the needs all around us. We will listen for the “still small voice” of the Holy Spirit and obey Him in all of these matters. The problem with legalism is that we are often legalistic about things that human beings have said about God’s laws, ignoring God’s intentions in what it really means to obey His laws. Jesus Himself did not come to be religious. He said of Himself that He came to serve, and that He expects the same of us. When asked what the most important commandment was, Jesus said that it was 'to love God... and to “love our neighbor as ourselves.” Let us pray that our commitment to obey Jesus will not make us callous to loving our “neighbor as ourselves.”Let’s not be preposterous in our dealings with people, and let’s rejoice when God uses us to be a blessing to a fellow human being. Bro. Joe |
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