FROM A PASTOR’S HEART
November 8, 2001

THE GREATEST ABUSE!

Luke 18:18-23 gives the response of Jesus to a question from a rich young ruler. He asked Jesus what he had to do in order to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him to obey the commandments. The man said he did obey them. Jesus then told him to sell all he had, give to the poor and follow him. The man walked away sorrowful because he had great riches.

This man is an illustration of people who want to do something for God so that they can earn eternal life. They fail to realize their total inability to do anything to please God other than believing Him. This man thought he had obeyed God's commands. The fact is that he never had nor has anyone ever obeyed all of God’s command. This man did not know how sinful he was nor how holy God is. The Pharisees were infected with this kind of thinking. They believed they were right with God because of their good works, but Jesus told them they were of their father the devil.

This young ruler failed to obtain eternal life because he did not have enough confidence in Jesus to obey what he said. Every person who goes to hell does so because of the same reason. There are many who believe what the Bible says, but not to the degree that it affects their behavior. Every religion except true Christianity will tell people they must do certain things to be saved. They will be told to quit their sinning, but the fact is that even Christians have not quit their sinning. When the jailor asked, "What must I do to be saved," he was told, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." John 3:36 says, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."

The only way to be saved is to be born again. Jesus said, “Ye must be born again.” A person is “born again” into the kingdom of God when he comes to the place of believing what God has said. It is always believing first. The obedience and good works will come as a result of believing. This is why James 2:26 says, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."

The Pharisees had good works but they did not have faith in the Lord Jesus, so their works were not only useless, they were harmful. Their good works produced an illusion in their minds that they had gained favor with God. When a person is saved, he comes to the place of believing what God says about Jesus and about his own sinful state. This faith brings such confidence in the word of God that it affects the person’s will which produces good behavior. The obedience and good works are brought about by his faith in Christ.

Most Christians come to the place in their lives where they have a hard time overcoming sin, and at the same time they lose their peace and joy. They try to work harder at over coming their sins, but, after a while, they realize they are still without the joy and peace even with all their effort. Why? Ephesians 6:16 has the answer, "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." Satan continually throws fiery darts at believers. Many of our troubles, trials, and heartaches are caused by these darts.

The only thing that can extinguish these flames is the shield of faith. All believers will be struck with these darts, but only believers who are walking by faith will have the shield to put out the flames. This shield of faith is given to us by the Holy Spirit as we subject our mind and wills to the word of God. It is our knowledge of His word coupled with trust and confidence in it.

We learn from His word that God is not only good, but He is sovereign. He is in complete and total control. We learn that nothing can come our way that He will not turn out for our good according to Romans 8:28. Christians want to overcome sin and have pure hearts, but they must learn that it is accomplished by increasing their walk of faith. Acts 15:9 says, ...purifying their hearts by faith." We are saved by God's grace and our faith. As believers, we are to grow in the Christian life the same way. Good works have no capacity to bring salvation to a lost soul, nor do good works have the ability to bring maturity to a child of God. It is always by God's grace and our faith that we are saved. It is also by God's grace and our faith that we grow and mature as people of God.

If we walk by faith, there will be good works flowing from our lives. Hebrews 11:6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." If we are not living by faith, we may still do the right things, but it will be a drudgery to us. If our minds are on the Lord and His word, it will produce in us a love for Him. When love for anyone is us, we look for ways to show it. As we read, study, and meditate on the word of God, it brings the knowledge of God to us. The more we know about our Lord, the greater our love for Him grows. The greater the love, the greater the desire is to obey Him. The obedience brings greater blessings from God which causes us to want to know Him more. It all begins with faith.

Jesus described the only work that is pleasing to God in John 6:29, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." Faith that pleases God believes what God said is true and has such confidence in it that it activates the will to obedience. The lack of good works such as giving, witnessing, going to church, and leading a holy life is simply because of a lack of faith. Romans 10:17 says, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Any Christian who withholds his mind from the reading, teaching, and obeying of God's word will be weak, defenseless, joyless, and useless. The greatest abuse man can experience is not to withhold food from the body, but to withhold the word of God from the mind!

Immanuel Baptist Church: Harlan, KY Phone: (606) 573-6839

FROM A PASTOR’S HEART
October 4, 2001

THE KEY TO OBEDIENCE!

When a person gets saved, he is called to follow and obey the Lord. Luke 9:23 tells us, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” We are to continually follow the Lord but because of the " Adam nature" that is still in the believer, there is the tendency to sin and disobey. Most of our problems come because we violate some principle or command God has given in His word. Anytime sin is committed, there will be trouble associated with it.

All Christians want to completely obey the Lord, but all fail. The pull of the flesh is so strong that many times we fail to obey as we should. Some fail to obey because they have never been saved, but think they have been. They need to recall the story about the rich young ruler who came to Jesus seeking eternal life. Jesus told him to sell all he had, give to the poor, and follow Him. This man showed that he cared more for his wealth than he did the Savior. He would not obey. If there is not a strong desire to obey the Lord, there is a lack of salvation. First John 2:3 says, "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments."

Every Christian wants to obey, but every Christian has a hard time obeying the way he wants to. Even though we know that obedience is the path to blessing and joy, we still have a hard time. Even the Apostle Paul said, "The things I want to do, I don't do, and the things I don't want to do, I do." Most can identify with that. To obey the Lord is the desire of our hearts, but we all fail. Only God’s word can give us the insight we need to be more obedient. Romans 13:8,10 tells us how we can fulfill all the law of God, "Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law ."

There is a debt we owe, but it will never be paid no matter how much we pay on it, but when we do pay on our debt of love, there is something wonderful happens according to First John 2:10, "He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him." Loving our brothers is one way to know we are saved and it is a way to prevent us from stumbling.

Matthew 5:44 tells us what our relationship is to be with the rest of the world, "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." We are to love everyone. The Bible tells us that loving one another includes, teaching others, setting godly examples, bearing one another's burdens, covering others faults, and forgiving one another.

We can do these things only when we have the love of God in us. Romans 5:5 says, "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." As a child of God, we have a debt to pay. It requires the love of God to do that, and we have been given that love by the Holy Spirit at salvation.

Here is our problem: “When sin comes in, love goes out.” This is one reason First Peter 1:22 says, "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned (genuine) love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently." As we purify our hearts, we gain the ability to love others the way we should. One reason we are to attend church is given in Hebrews 10:24, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works." If you love someone, you will not steal what they have, nor lie against them, nor murder them, nor commit adultery against them, or covet what they have.

You cannot love someone and do them harm. This means that the key to obedience is love. If we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, there would not have to be any more laws. When we violate a law of God, it reveals that we are not loving God as we should. When we violate any person, it reveals that we are not loving them as we should. Love is the key to obedience!

We are called to love because love fulfills all the law God has given. We have been given the ability to love by the Holy Spirit at salvation. The question is, "How can we love like that? We want to, but how can we?" The answer is given in Galatians 5:22, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith." If we make a determined and conscience effort to yield our self to the Holy Spirit's power and direction, He has promised to produce love in us. With that love will come joy, peace, etc. If we fail to yield our self to the Spirit, we will yield our self to the flesh. Galatians 5:16 instructs us to "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." If we allow pride and selfishness to control our lives, it destroys love. If you continually submit yourself to the Spirit of God, you will be directed by Him. He produces love in you which desires to be expressed in doing for others. The more you do, the more you want to do. The more love is exercised, the stronger it gets.

To be more obedient and experience the blessings of that obedience, we must be filled with the love of God. To be filled with His love, we must be filled with the Spirit who produces God's love in us. This requires a conscious yielding to the Holy Spirit who will then produce love according to Galatians 5:22. For us to be able to yield to the Spirit to be filled by Him, we must be filled with His Word. No one can live a consistent Christian life without having the "word of Christ to dwell in him richly."

God has given pastors and teachers to help Christians to know His word which reveals His will. Get in a Bible believing, Bible teaching church and fill your mind with the things of God. Whatever you fill your mind with will be what you think about. What you think about is what you do. What you do will either evoke the blessings or the chastening of God. Make the WORD a priority in your life!

FROM A PASTOR’S HEART
October 11, 2001

“THE 2nd COMMANDMENT”

The greatest truth man can learn is that there is a God who created him and has a will for his life. He will bless, lead, guide, protect, and provide if obeyed and punish if disobeyed. He is the awesome, majestic, sovereign Creator who is loving, kind, generous, merciful, and just. Every good thing that man has comes from Him. Since He is God, King, Lord, and Savior of all who will trust Him, He has the right to demand that we obey certain laws He has given.

God’s design for man’s relationship with Him and for his fellow man is given in the Ten Commandments. These laws are comprehensive. No person can think of an 11th commandment. The first two commands are obvious, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” Since there is only one God, it is foolish to devise a god in our mind who is no god at all.

The second commandment says, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments” (Ex 20:4-6).

Everyone will worship something or someone! He will worship the true God, or a false god, or he may worship the true God in a wrong way. Only by knowing truth can we know how to worship the true God in the right way. There is no other Bible, no other God, no other way to God than what He has given us in His word. John 14:6 tells us, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

One reason we are not to have any graven image of God nor bow down to them is that God is a spirit. Any physical representation of Him will be wrong.  John 4:24 says, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” Any image misrepresents God. Isaiah 40:25 says, “To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.”

Those who have images and bow down to them will say, “We know these images are not God, but they aid us in our worship. It helps to remind us of God.” That is ridiculous! What would a woman say if she came home and her husband had his arms around a woman and kissing her? Would she be satisfied with the explanation, “I know this seems bad, but it is not what it looks like. This woman reminded me of you. I was thinking of you all the time!” No woman would buy that, nor will God buy the flimsy explanation of bowing down before any idol in an effort to worship Him.

God tells us that He is a jealous God and He has a right to be jealous. There is only one God. Anything that steals our love and affection from Him has become an idol in our life and God is jealous of it. God will not be a part-time God! God will not allow His palace to be a duplex. If we are to worship God correctly, we must have a right conception of who God is. He is the Sovereign Creator of heaven and earth and will not tolerate any other god in our lives.

The way we worship teaches others what God is like. If we say, “There is no hell,” we teach people that God does not punish sin. If we fail to go to church, pray, give, witness, we teach others that these things are not important in our love and affection to our God. The great danger in failing to worship correctly is that we teach others the wrong concept about God.

Exodus 20:5 says that God will visit the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Him. God does not hold the children accountable for the parents sin, but the children will suffer for those sins. This is true in the physical world and in the spiritual world. If a parent is on drugs, the children will suffer for that. If the parents worship God in a wrong way, the children will suffer for that also.

Second Chronicles 26:16 and following is an example of this. King Uzziah allowed his heart to be lifted up in pride and he went into the temple to burn incense unto God. This was to be done only by the priest. The priest rebuked him, but he got mad. At that time, God struck him with leprosy. Here is a parent suffering for his own sin. He had a son named Jotham. The Bible says of him in
2 Chronicles 27:2, “And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Uzziah did: howbeit he entered not into the temple of the LORD.”

His father worshiped God in a wrong way. His son did not go into the temple at all. He was a good man, but what his father did and what God did to him caused him to refrain from even going to the house of God. Jotham had a son named Ahaz. Chapter 28:2-3 describe him, “For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.” In verse 24 it says that he nailed the doors of the Temple shut.

Uzziah the father had misguided worship. Jotham the son neglected worship. Ahaz, the grandson corrupted worship. We teach others about God by the way we worship. Do we show others that we love God by doing those things which are pleasing in His sight? God desires, seeks, and deserves the right kind of worship. John 4:23 says, “For the Father seeketh such to worship Him.”

Worship means “worth ship.” The way we worship reveals what we think God is worth. Those who do not pray, give, read, witness, nor attend church as they ought reveal that God is not worth very much to them. What does your worship teach others about God and your love for Him?

FROM A PASTOR’S HEART
October 25, 2001

MY WAY OR GOD'S?

In God's plan for our lives, there are things He wants us to do and things He has promised He will do. About 99 % of our problems are caused when we get into God's responsibility.  If we had a wall between the things God said He would do and the things He has told us to do, we could see clearly how we are to live. If we stay on our side of the wall, things will be as good as they can be.

Most people who have nervous break downs, self inflicted storms, and make bad decisions are those who try to climb the wall and get over into God's responsibilities. Second Chronicles 7:14 is a good example, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

This verse contains the things we are to do and things God said He would do. Our responsibility is to humble ourselves before God, pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways. When we do that, God said He would forgive our sin and heal our land. The problem is that we want to climb the wall and get into the "healing of the land" business.

Too many of God's people spend time, energy, and effort in fighting abortion, homosexuality, alcohol, drugs, and crime instead of doing what God has said. We need to stay on our side of the wall. The problem with our land is not these things mentioned above. The problem with this land is Christians who will not humble themselves before almighty God, pray, seek His face, and turn from their wicked ways.

Psalm one gives another example, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night." If we want to be blessed, then God has given us our responsibilities. He tells us to not listen to ungodly counsel, nor seek the advice of those who do not know God or His principles in matters concerning spiritual life. Then He tells us to meditate in the law of God day and night. This means to read, study, think about, and obey the truths and principles of scripture.

God's part is to see that we are blessed, happy, and contented people. His part is to see that we are like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit, and that whatsoever we do shall prosper. God tells us that if we run with the right crowd, live in the Bible, and obey it, He will see to it that we prosper. Our problems come when we decide that we want to climb the wall and get over on God's side and then try to do those things that God says He will do. When we do this, we create an idol of our self. We take over God's job. We are saying by our actions, “Thus saith me," rather than, "Thus saith the Word of God."

Proverbs 3:6 says, "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." The first six words tell us what we are to do. The next six words tell us what God will do if we do our part. It is not our job to direct our paths. It is our job and responsibility to acknowledge God in all that we do. It is our job to praise Him, love Him, worship Him, honor, serve, exalt, and obey Him. It is His job to direct our paths.
Our problem is that we want to get over into the "directing our path" side.

We want to decide what we do and where we go. A big problem caused when we are on God's side is we cannot accomplish what we are trying to do. It is not smart to try to do God's job. We are not qualified; therefore, we will fail in our efforts as long as we are on the wrong side of the fence. This leads to frustration.

The next problem caused by getting on the wrong side of the fence is that we are neglecting our responsibility .We not only fail at doing what God said He would do, but we are neglecting what we should be doing. Is it any wonder that things cannot turn our right? If we are really concerned about how things will turn out, find out what the Bible says to do and then do it. Acknowledge Him in all things and let Him direct our paths.

We must quit thinking about how things are going to turn out and get back on our side and start doing what God has commanded. We need to leave the results up to Him. Peter made this mistake when he cut off a man's ear. He got into the "directing path" business instead of acknowledging the Lord. He ended up running away and denying his Savior .

America is becoming a heathen nation. We are turning from God at an alarming rate. The only hope is not political preachers, marches, politics, or the Congress. The only hope for America is for God's people to seek the face of God, turn from their evil ways, and pray. If God's people will do that, we have the promise of God that He will heal the land.

Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." There are so many things we want and need in life. We want and need love, material things, friends, money, and other things. How are we to get them? Almost everyone seeks them. They spend the time and energy seeking the things they want and need. God tells us that it is not our job to provide those things. Our part is to seek God, His Kingdom, and His righteousness first. This is where the main effort of our living is to be spent. If we do that, we have the promise from God's word that He will supply all these other things.

Everyone wants success in life. The way to have it is to find out what the Word of God says and obey it. That is staying on your side of the fence. There is plenty to keep us occupied there! Leave the results of that obedience to the Lord. He is just and faithful to lead, guide, protect and provide all we need. Truly, God is good!