| Whatsoever
Things Are True
by Dan Coburn Pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church pastordan@mtida.net Two groups of people as far as God is concerned. This is going to make some folks mad, but so be it. They are 1) Saved (not my word but His), regenerate, born again, sanctified, etc. These are sold out for Christ. These have counted the cost, and abandoned, to the degree possible this side of heaven, sin, self and the world. And 2), Those that are lost. The Bible uses terms like "sheep and goats", wheat and tares, etc. These range on the spectrum from folks who just simply don't believe in God or the Bible at all, and are honest enough to tell you that, to those who we call "LADS" or Lost and Deceived. These think they are "good to go" because they have been told they are by some presumed authority figure. Some of these think they are OK because they look around and see such evil and selfishness and say to themselves: "I am much better than that, so if there is a God, and a heaven, I'm sure I'm going cause I'm better than most. "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death." Proverbs 16:25. For a change, let's focus on the first group. Why did God save you? Is it so you can be saved? So you can go to heaven? So you can walk the streets of gold? So you can never feel pain or hurt again? Sorry, That's not it. Those are all great, and from our perspective, these are the goal, but not from His perspective. God chose you from eternity past (Eph. 1:4) to be His disciple so that you can ------- Bear Fruit. If we don't, we are useless (John 15:5). We should, earnestly desire to glorify God. How does He say we do that? ----- Bear Fruit - John 15:8. All the equipping, all the preparing, all the sacrifice is to equip us to do what -- circle the wagons and wait for His return? No. We are to be about our Father's business which is "to seek and to save that which was lost". Let's turn the Spiritual Switch: What if I don't? What if I just take my "fire insurance policy" and patiently wait for God? In the worst case scenario, He will kill me. What? Yep. 1st Cor. 3, 1st Cor. 11, and my personal favorite, Numbers 14. God had delivered His people from the hand of Pharaoh. He had protected them with pillars of fire by night, and a cloud by day. He had parted the Red Sea, allowing His people to escape (all the while carrying the spoils generally reserved for victorious armies) and closed up the waters on the balance of Pharaoh's army. Now he has brought the people to the land He had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the people disobey Him by refusing to enter. They also plotted to kill Moses and Aaron, God's ordained leadership, and elect their own king. God was going to wipe them out but for the intercession of Moses. After killing the ten spies responsible for bringing the "evil report", the people all decided to go ahead and do what God had told them to do. What do you think happened? What do you think was God's reaction? Moses asks them in vs 41: "Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the Lord? but it shall not prosper". Why? vs 42: "Go not up, for the Lord is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies." The word "transgress" here could be rendered "overstep". Either way, it's bad. What am I saying? As a Follower of Jesus, we must do as He tells us, When He tells us. We often rather find programs and activities that seem like a good idea to us, and ask God to RUBBER STAMP them. That would relegate the God of the universe to a tool at our disposal. See from the text, the Best thing that can happen to us when we are doing things -even with good intentions, of our own design is that God Won't be with us. In Exodus 33, following the Golden Calf debacle, God told Moses He would go ahead and keep the word He had promised to the forefathers. He would deliver the people into the promised land. He would drive out the giants that dwelt there currently, but He would not go with them. They had angered Him till He said If He went into the midst of them, He would kill them. Is God serious about this? Are you a Christian? What are you to be doing? It isn't near enough to just wait on the trumpet. You will either be taken out, or spend your life trying to do supernatural things under your own power. This is why many many professing Christians feel so frustrated. God bless. |
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