| Whatsoever
Things Are True
by Dan Coburn Pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church pastordan@mtida.net Was Dusty Springfield right? "Wishin and hopin and plannin and prayin, and You Will Be His" I know this isn't what she was talking about, but let's turn the Spiritual Switch anyway. Most of us wander the land wondering in our heart of hearts if there is a God as revealed in Scripture. Is He all knowing, and what does that mean to me? Is he going to save some - and are many going to a literal hell? Can I know? Who can I trust to teach me? How good do I have to be to make the cut, and/or how bad to I have to be to be eternally condemned? Is there an eternity? And at the end of the day, if I am a good representation of humanity, why would a Holy God bother to save anyone? We get so weary of the questions, we quit asking by the time we are young adults. Compound that with the way many professing "Christians" act, and the pull of this messed up world, and what's the use. An accepted doctrine is that of "prevenient grace", which simply means that before I as a sinful man am even capable of asking the right questions, or desire to pursue God, He must first pursue me. Jesus put it like this: "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:44 This makes perfect sense in light of the fact that "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast." Eph. 2:8-9 No one is going to be in heaven bragging about how they made a good decision, or lived a good life - "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) but it is only by His grace any are saved, and to that end, He gets all the glory now and forever. In fact (bad news/good news), Here's a short but accurate description of our condition prior to surrendering to Him as Lord and Savior. We were "dead (separated from God) in trespasses and sins;" since in time past we "walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature children of wrath", just like everybody else. Eph. 2:1-3 You see, we have to get past the worldly notion that God grades on a curve, and as long as I am better than most, I'll be OK. God says on your best day, your righteousness is like (the same as) filthy rags. "Jeepers preacher, that's harsh. What's the use? Why would God save anybody, let alone me?" Well here it is. I can answer the question, but I can't explain it. "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" Eph. 2:4-6 "God commended (displayed) His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" - Romans 5:8 In Deut. 7:7, God says He didn't choose you because you were the best looking, strongest, bravest or best behaved (paraphrase), "I chose you because I loved you." in fact, God chooses the foolish things to confound (confuse) the wise, and the base (weak) things to confound the strong - 1st Cor. 1:27 Ever feel weak or foolish? You might be just what He is looking for. We even reciprocate - "We love Him because He first loved us." - 1st John 4:19. Here's the Application. Your feelings tell you in your dark place, that you are un-lovable, while God says that In Him, you are a unique treasure - the Apple of His Eye - The object of His affection. In Eph. 2:10, He says we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. The word "workmanship" is poema in the Greek, and means literally Masterpiece. "But preacher, I don't feel like a masterpiece!" Someone is lying; either your feelings or the word of God. It's time to quit living Satan's lie. God does love you. If you are "in Christ" (saved) God wants you to quit living a defeated life. If you haven't come to Him yet and savingly believed on Him because you don't feel worthy, He wants you to know you are right; you aren't worthy, but He is, and you are eligible because He is worthy. If this is all gibberish, have a nice day. But if the Holy Spirit is drawing you, let nothing on earth keep you from a new life in Him, because He loves you. God Bless. |
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