"Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, we would see a sign from thee. 39. But He (Jesus) answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah: 40. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
"If we could just see more miracles, we would believe." This was basically said by the scribes and Pharisees, and by many people today. I find myself sometimes asking God to do some miracle so people will believe. I have found, however, that miracles do not necessarily result in faith. I am certainly not against miracles. I've had some in my life and have seen them in the lives of others. I seek miracles from the Lord and pray that Jesus will be praised and thanked. Miracles are wonderful and real, but they do not necessarily make a person turn to Jesus. Besides that, what other sign, or miracle, did the scribes and Pharisees need? They had seen Jesus' miracles, and surmised that His power was from Satan. Which proves my point that miracles do not necessarily make people focus on Jesus. The problem is that, as wonderful as they are, miracles sometimes tend to call attention to themselves, not to Jesus. Jesus said that the number one sign, or miracle, would be His resurrection. The fact that Jesus defeated death, hell and the grave is what should draw us to Him. Our faith is to be in a person named Jesus, not only in what we have seen Him do. Jesus did not have to prove Himself to the scribes and Pharisees, and He does not have to prove Himself to us. The fact that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was raised three days later, and ascended to the Father forty days later, is really all that we need to believe. It is possible to rejoice in a miracle and miss Jesus. Our focus should be on Jesus, first, second and always. He is the source of our salvation. This is what Jesus wanted the scribes and Pharisees, as well as ourselves, to see. He is enough! We need to put our faith in Jesus, for He is the only way to the Father. Bro. Joe
0 Comments
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
This is a question that we all need to ask “What ‘Centers’ You?” First, I need to define what I mean by “centers.” What is it that calms you, emboldens you or gives you a feeling of completion? This is not a real good definition, but I think you get what I mean. We have something, or someone, that we can fall back on when life seems to be getting out of control, or when we just feel down and depressed. When we center ourselves on that, we can see things more clearly. There are people and things that encourage me and help me in life, but when the going really gets tough the main thing that centers me is my faith in Jesus Christ. Everything else just falls at His feet. I pray that you can say the same thing. What I have found is that I am more easily centered on Jesus when I stay in close fellowship with Him through prayer and Bible reading. Jesus cannot be the center of things for us, if we do not take advantage of the intimate, personal relationship that we have with Him. The question then becomes: “Who Centers You?” Paul stated it succinctly in the text: “I live, nevertheless not I, but Christ lives in me.” That is the most important relationship that we can have in our lives. Relationships with family and friends are certainly important, but even those relationships are stronger when Christ is the center of our lives. We can be glad that Jesus is not just a religious figure, or statue, like Buddha. Jesus is a real living person, who loves us and wants the best for us. He lives in us through the Holy Spirit, and is available all of the time for us to fall back on. The Bible even promises us that He loves us enough to discipline us if we get out of line. Pause now and ask yourself if Jesus is the One who centers you. Paul added something to this testimony about Jesus: “And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Now we can turn to the “what” of what centers us. The cause of our personal, saving relationship with Jesus is “by grace through faith” in Jesus. It is faith in Jesus that helps to center us in our daily lives and in all of the bumps and bruises of life. I imagine that you are like I am when I really get in a bad situation; I turn to Jesus in faith and He gets me around or through whatever it is that is troubling me. This will not do a whole lot of good if I ignore Him when life is going smooth, and then call on Him in faith when life gets rough. Our faith in Jesus is meant for every situation in our lives – the good and the bad. You know: “The God on the mountain is still God in the valley…” We need to understand that the Lord, who is the center of our faith and our lives, honors our faith in Him. This is true throughout the whole Bible. The Old Testament does not stress the word “faith” like the New Testament does, but faith is implicit in its teachings. Hebrews 11 tells us about the faith of Old Testament saints. They had faith in the promise of God, and that faith enriched the lives of people like Moses, David, Elijah and Daniel. Their faith in God and in His promises centered them and helped them to serve Him effectively. Like us, they stumbled and fell from time to time, but all in all their lives reflected their faith in God. In the New Testament we have men like Peter, Andrew, James, John and Paul to show us what it means to center our lives in faith in God/Jesus. You just need to ask yourself if it is faith in Jesus that centers you as you face all of life? Think about it. Bro. Joe Proverbs 21:2 - "All a man's ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart."
1 Corinthians 4:5 - "Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time, wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God." Why do we do what we do? Do we do good works to win the praise of people, or do we do them because it is what God wants? I will concede that if we do a good work on our own and people are helped in some way, they will be grateful, but we should pray that their gratitude would be to God as well. I will confess that the temptation to win the praise of people is difficult to overcome. All of us want to be appreciated for what we do. Somebody asked me one time if I got tired of people saying, "I enjoyed the sermon." My answer was, and always is, "no." Would I want them to say "lousy sermon today." The important question is what was my motive when I preached the sermon? If I preached because I was led of God to do so, then God was pleased, and, because He was, the people were blessed. All I can say when people say nice things to me about my preaching, or any other Christian service, is "thank you." If I know in my heart that my motive was to please the Lord, I don't need to explain that to them. They will also give God the credit. Over the years, I have discovered that the greatest motive that the Lord lays on our hearts is love. We minister to people because we love God and people. Indeed, preaching should be done from the motive of love, whether we have a negative point or a positive point to make. The motive should never be, "I'm gonna tell'em today." Love should be the motive for every Christian, not just preachers. The important message is that God knows "the motives of men's (and women's) hearts." God knows why we do what we do.. Our prayer should be what is expressed in Proverbs 19:21: "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." That should be what we pray for when we serve. Bro. Joe “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day and night.”
This verse is part of the psalmists description of godly and ungodly people. This is a description of what the godly person delights in. (By “godly” I do not mean self-righteous and condescending.) What we delight in will tell a lot about our lives and what is really important to us. We occasionally need to pause and ask ourselves where our real delights are. We can delight in a lot of things, but we need to be reminded that some things are more worthy of our delight than others. There are some things that we should delight in if we want to live godly lives and be effective witnesses for Jesus. In the context of this verse, the godly person delights in “the law of the Lord.” This means that his delight is in the word of God – the Bible. We should delight in God’s word because it steers us in the right direction. I will admit that not all of it is delightful to human eyes, but it is delightful in what it teaches us. There are parts of the Bible that I delight in more than others, and this is, no doubt, true of you, but when taken in its totality all of God’s word is delightful because it is from God and because it was written, not just for our information but for our good. The Bible is a treasure trove of God’s wisdom and God’s actions through the ages. We can never understand the working of God if we do not read, study, and delight in the Bible. We can never fathom the ups and downs of life if we do not acquaint ourselves with the word of God. The Bible helps us understand suffering, it helps us understand righteousness, and it helps us understand all of the difficulties of life. We should delight in God Himself. After all, the Bible was given to us by inspiration of the Holy Spirit in order for us to have a better understanding of God. The Bible depicts God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The triune God is not revealed in the Bible to puzzle us, but to inform us of the true nature of God. It is only as we see Him as the Father sending the Son to die for our sins, and the Son sending the Spirit to dwell in our hearts and lives, that we understand that He takes us personally. All of the world’s religions that recognize a god, see him as one who is distant and so far above humanity that he could not possibly be interested in their lives. How can one delight in a god who has no interest in his or her life? How can one delight in a god who creates but does not relate to His creation? We can delight in God because He not only wants to relate to us but has gone to great lengths to relate to us. All the way through the Bible we see God working out His relationship with us, warning us, seeking us and ultimately saving us through faith in His Son. We can delight in our God, for He is the true God of the universe. We should delight in the worship of God. I think that church seems boring to us sometimes because we see church attendance as a duty that we have to perform. Church worship is not a duty, it is a privilege. We gather together as God’s people in order to delight in our corporate worship of Him. But we also need to remember that we can delight in our worship of Him on a daily basis. We can have a time of personal worship, but we can also delight in worshiping Him as we go through each day. Don’t you sometimes look up to the beautiful blue sky and just praise and worship God just because He is God? Don’t you sometimes just want to burst out in praise and adoration for Him, because you know that He is present with you, loving you and wanting the best for you? Some people do not delight in worshiping God, because they do not understand His love and concern for their lives. Don’t be one of them! This would be a good time for you to pause and ask yourself what you really delight in and at least turn your attention to the three things that we have looked at today in which we should delight. Bro. Joe “Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
You probably already know what happened on the Mt. of Transfiguration. Jesus took Peter, James and John to Mount Tabor, which is the traditional site for Jesus’ transfiguration. Jesus was transfigured before these three apostles, which means that they caught a glimpse of His heavenly light, and appearing with Jesus were Moses and Elijah. Wow! Can you imagine seeing Jesus and two of the greatest Old Testament prophets at one time? Like Peter we would have been in awe, and we might have wanted to say something profound and meaningful. However it came out as rather inane and insipid. Jesus just ignored it for the inane expression that it was. It reminds me of a story I heard one time about an airplane that was about to crash. Someone said, “Quick somebody do something religious.” A Baptist preacher was on board and he took up a collection. That collection probably did as much good as what Peter said. Peter was in awe and building tabernacles was about the most religious thing that he could think of. Peter needed to learn, and did in time, that following Jesus is not about religion or being religious. What is it about? Following Jesus is about a personal relationship with Him. Certain people make fun of us when we say that Jesus is our personal Savior, but that it is what being a Christian is. Jesus has promised to be with us when we are worshiping Him. Jesus is not like an idol that we come together to worship. He is our Savior who comes to the place of worship with us. The “woman at the well,” in John 4, mentioned that the Samaritans worshiped God there where they were standing, and that the Jews said that the place of worship was in Jerusalem. Jesus said that the Jews were right, but that the hour was coming when “true worshipers would worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” The woman wanted to argue about religion, Jesus wanted to discuss relationship with the seeking Father. Following Jesus is not about religious observance as much as it is about fellowship with fellow Christians. Of course, there are observances that are important. The writer of Hebrews reminded us not to “forsake the assembling of our selves together.” But why did he write this? He explained why: “But exhorting (encouraging) one another.” We meet together with each other under the power of the Spirit of Christ and we encourage each other in Christian worship and service. Our observances are constant reminders of our need for Jesus and our need for fellowship with each other. When we attend worship together, we are not “doing something religious;” rather, we are ministering to each other so that we can be encouraged to witness and minister to the world around us. Following Jesus is not about doing religious things that make us feel like we are serving God; rather, it is about actually serving Him on a daily basis wherever we are. Jesus has empowered us by the Holy Spirit to serve Him and that is what we are to do. I think sometimes that instead of serving Jesus, we try to build “tabernacles” to Him, and think that this is what satisfies Him. What satisfies Jesus is saving us, empowering us to serve Him, and enabling us to spend eternity with Him. Jesus doesn’t want our “tabernacles.” He wants us. 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 “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 are 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, and enable us to make a difference in the world. 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 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 20, 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 have never wanted to quit the purpose to which He called me, for from time to time I did. Obviously, I did not quit, since I have been In the ministry for 60 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 with 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. What is your heart’s desire? What is your purpose? Give it some thought. Bro. Joe "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth (looks on or examines) the hearts." Proverbs 21:2
"But the Lord said unto Samuel, look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord sees not as man sees: for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." 1Samuel 16:7(This was said to Samuel when he was choosing a successor to King Saul from the family of Jesse in Bethlehem. It was said concerning one of David's older brothers, Eliab.) Most of us worry about what people think of us. We work hard to keep up appearances in order for people to have a high opinion of us. Is this the right way to live? It is not according to the two texts written above. We might look good in our own eyes and in the eyes of others, but God is more concerned about our hearts, i.e., what is inside of us, than He is in our appearance. The Lord cautioned Samuel to not choose Israel's next king based on outward appearances, but on what was in the future king's heart. The Lord knew David's heart and knew that he was the right one for the task. (In fact, David was once called, "a man after God's own heart.") So today we need to consider that God is not judging our lives, and our Christian service, based on what they appear to be, but based on what they really are - what is in our hearts. He is concerned about what our real motives are. One translation of proverbs 21:2 has it that "the Lord considers our motives." Our real motives are those that come from our hearts. Why do we do what we do? Do we do religious things to impress people, or do we act in faith to please God? That is a huge question. It gets right to the heart of the matter. Jesus dealt with this in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, chapters 5-7. For example. in chapter 6 He took the Pharisees to task for doing religious things to appear righteous to people. He mentioned that when they gave alms for the poor, they were not to advertise the fact, but just give from their hearts. This would please God. Jesus mentioned that when they prayed, that they should not pray loudly on the street corners, but shut themselves away from the world and seek god privately. He was not condemning all public prayer, only that which is done as a religious show. We should weigh our motives very carefully, and ask ourselves whether we are serving for appearance' sake or for Jesus' sake? It is not that for our service to please God, it must alienate people. It is not bad if people are pleased and happy with what we do. It is bad if to please them is our only motive. We need to keep careful check on our hearts. We need to weigh our motives. The most effective service is that done from the heart, not for self-aggrandizement, or to hear people brag on us, but to please God. Serving God from the heart will be better for people, in the long run, than serving just to please them. Bro. Joe “And there came there certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing that he had been dead. 20. Howbeit, as the disciples stood around about him, he rose up and came into the city; and the next day he departed with Barnabas for Derbe. 21. And they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch…”
Acts 14:19-21 takes us into the middle of Paul’s first missionary journey. He and Barnabas had just come through a rough time in Lystra, where their adversaries had stoned Paul and left him for dead. Well, that took care of that – right? Well, no it did not. When Paul got up, he and Barnabas continued to do what they had been sent out to do – preach the gospel and start churches. This is where today’s title comes from: “Why Do We Serve?” Those who stoned Paul thought that they taught him a lesson that he would never forget, and that he would stop this preaching about this Jesus. It didn’t happen that way. Paul got up and kept going. Which leads me to some questions for us? What does it take to make us quit in our service to the Lord? I have seen people quit under all kinds of circumstances. I have known people who quit serving the Lord because their feelings were hurt. We are living in a time when our “feelings” are obviously the most important things in the world. It has gotten to the point that we can hardly mention the name of Jesus without offending somebody. Don’t put your feelings ahead of Jesus and your service for Him. I have known people who have quit serving the Lord because they thought the church did not appreciate all that they had done. Did they do it for Jesus or for themselves? The saying today is: “It’s not about us, it’s about Jesus.” If it really is about Jesus, then we will get up and keep going when our feelings get hurt, or when our work seems unappreciated. If we quit, who will do what God wanted us to do? Think about this for a moment. God has saved us, given us gifts of the Holy Spirit, and sent us forward to use those gifts for the purposes for which he called us. This means that God is counting on us to do His work on earth, to be His hands, feet and tongues. If we do not do what God has willed us to do, will it get done? Good question: how will you answer it? Bro. Joe “Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Before we make a decision to do something we should ask if we are doing it for the glory of God. I do not know what “it” means for you. “It” can be to sing in the choir, teach a Sunday School class, do a good deed for a neighbor, or whatever. The point is that whatever “it” is it should be for the glory of God. There are at least three ways that we can determine whether or not something is done for God’s glory. First, if you do this thing will you be able to thank God for it. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us of the importance of this: “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” You will know in your heart whether you are serving for the glory of God, and when it is done, you will be thankful for the opportunity of doing it. Psalm 100:2 tells us to “serve the Lord with gladness.” This means that God lets us serve Him, and when we do a service for Him, whatever it might be, we should gladly do it and we should thank Him for letting us serve Him. If you serve only to receive the praise of people, you are not doing it for the glory of God. This was a prevailing sin of the Pharisees in the New Testament. Jesus said that they prayed gave alms and tithes, etc. for the glory of people, not for the glory of God. Second, if you do this thing can you do it in Jesus’ name, or will you do it in Jesus’ name? Colossians 3:17 reminds us: “And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.” Notice that this verse also tells us to be thankful that we are allowed to serve God in some way. We need to ask ourselves, if we do this thing, will it be worthy of the name of Jesus. I don’t know if we would take this to the extent that if we water the flowers, we will do it in the name of Jesus and for His glory, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask. We need to ask if a service that we are going to render is worthy of the name of Jesus. Third, if you do this thing will it ultimately bring glory to God? 1 Corinthians 10:31, our text written above, tells us to be mindful of this. In Matthew 5:16, Jesus said: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven.” If you do “good works” in order for people to say what a great person you are, you are not doing them for the glory of God. Again, this does not mean that we should not get a sense of satisfaction out of what we do. God would certainly not demand that of ys. But we should be careful that the focus is on God and not just on us. I will confess after preaching hundreds of sermons over the years that this motivation is not always easy, because we want to know that what we do is appreciated, but we should be careful anyway that God gets the glory. Are you doing "it" for the glory of God? Bro. Joe |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
All
Archives
September 2021
|