We Are Not To Harbor Self With Excuses
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Matthew 16:24
“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26-27
This is not a command to hate people. It is not speaking of hating in the deliberate, malicious sense, but in the indirect sense–the sense of denying all that would interfere with or come between our following the Lord.
An example of this could be Abraham’s response in following God’s order to offer up Isaac (Genesis 22, Hebrews 11:17-19). Abraham could have let his feelings for his son forbid his obedience to God. But he did not. His faith in following the Lord refused the constraints of paternal love. What he did was not driven by any ill will towards his son Isaac, but rather he acted on the hope and expectations of pure faith.
Fleshly relations, or associations, will afford conflicts of interest with respect to following Christ. Human feelings about our obligations to fleshly relationships, has the propensity to excuse oneself from following the Lord, to attend to fleshly relations. Thus, we have to deny the dictates of human feelings when and where these conflicts arise, to determine the will of God. Instead of being drawn away from doing God’s will because of the constraints of fleshly love, we are to have a hatred for anything that becomes an object that seeks to prevent our following the Lord, which includes our fleshly relations.
The principle of discipleship is that we develop a personal, spiritual constitution that requires that we obey and follow the Lord, no matter what the conflict of interest, even if it be ourselves.
“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” (Luke 9:24) No matter what the personal cost in the short term for following the Lord, it will reap a bountiful harvest in the long term. But to lack the faith to put God first, seeking to save ourselves any personal losses, will backfire with both a failure in this life and an eternal loss.
God honors those who honor Him, 1 Samuel 2:30. To cave into our circumstances, rather than having done all to stand, will not only short circuit Divine favor, but it will wean us away from being dedicated to the Lord. “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation.” Hebrews 2:3
SHARING
Cain vs. Abel
CAIN: Being a sinner, death stood between Cain and God. But in Cain’s offering, there was no recognition of that fact. Neither was there a presentation of an innocent, sacrificed life, to meet the claims of Divine righteousness (Romans 3:20-22) or to answer to Cain’s condition as a sinner.
Cain treated God as if He were altogether such an one as himself–one who would accept the sin stained fruit of a cursed earth, offered by one who was no more than a sinner.
Cain’s response bore record that he was not seeking God’s mercy and grace, but was guilty of sinful presumption.
Cain’s worship is the belief that if you do the best you can and offer the best you have, that it will warrant your being accepted by God.
Cain’s worship is the belief that God receives certain men for their goodness, rather than believing that salvation is the free gift of God’s grace to the unworthy sinner.
ABEL: His offering demonstrated that as a guilty sinner, he was deserving of the judgment unto death of his substitutionary sacrifice. He manifested his belief in the fact there was such a thing as a sinner placing the death of another between himself and the judgment for the guilt of sin.
His offering typified that only through the offering of the innocent, righteous life, would God’s demands for righteousness be met (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Hebrews 11:4 tells us that through Abel’s sacrifice, he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts.
God did not bear witness to Abel, but to Abel’s sacrifice, as that which fixed the ground of Abel’s peace and acceptance before God.
THUS, ETERNAL SECURITY! Since the grounds of a sinner’s acceptance is Christ’s offering, then God would have to reject Christ’s offering for a sinner to lose their salvation.
Full, perfect, unqualified justification by faith only, makes God everything and man nothing; and man does not like this, and it causes his countenance to fall and draws out his anger.
Had Abel been accepted on his own merits, Cain’s anger would have had some foundation. But since Abel was accepted on the merits of his sin offering, it was the enmity of Cain’s sinful pride against that offering, that caused his reaction.
SHARINGWill America Self Destruct
By Norman H. Wells (an excerpt)
America has veered so far from its Christian course that it is about to self destruct. America has gone from being a Christian nation to a non-Christian nation in one lifetime, and is now one step away from becoming Satan’s society. (This)…is not to be exaggerated into thinking there was ever a time when the majority of Americans were born again Christians, because that condition never existed.
Let us try to refresh our memories as to what it was like in a Christian America. In the first place, it was generally accepted that truth existed and that the Bible was the truth. It is hard to remember, but it hasn’t been so long ago that this fact was hardly questioned. It seems strange now and a little difficult to understand, but even those who did not believe nor obey the truth accepted the fact that it was truth and it was there. And what seems even more difficult to understand now is, that in the Christian America of yesterday, truth was accepted as absolute. It was truth that was perfect, complete, unconditional, and unchangeable. It is hard to recall the kind of difference this made in America. There was always the assurance that there was something sure and safe to fall back on–something that would always be there. It was something that was fixed and established and that could always be relied upon in any circumstance. There was a foundation–a final appeal. This gave a cohesion to the whole nation: this acceptance of the fact of an absolute truth is what held it together and gave all a common bond. There was truth in the Christian America: a truth that had been proven in every conceivable situation and thus gave a real assurance for solving all of tomorrow’s problems.
Again it must be said, our memory of a Christian America is not to be interpreted that everyone in America ever lived by the truth: but it does mean that nearly everyone accepted the fact that absolute truth was there and that is what made the difference. It was there–even if it wasn’t always used.
Another thing about a Christian America that is a little difficult to explain to today’s generation is that, not only was it accepted that absolute truth existed, but anything that denied, or was contrary to the truth, was error. Now to an older Christian, with a good memory, this might bring a smile–the idea that it has to be said that there is truth, that which is opposite or contrary is error, seems so simple. Why, surely, everyone knows that. Back in a Christian America, only a few intelligent philosophers would have challenged this fact–and no one listened. The difference is that today, we have a whole nation of intellectual philosophers and things like this have to be explained. Truth–error. Right–wrong. Pure–impure. The Bible spells out this fact in one verse.
“Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” 1 John 4:6
In a Christian America, truth and error could be defined. Truth was being faithful to fact and reality. Truth was true in relation to being, knowledge, or speech. Truth was right according to divine revelation. In a Christian America, the Bible was the accepted truth. It made this claim for itself and was accepted as such.
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life” John 14:6. Jesus spoke as one having authority when He said, “I am the truth.” The Bible speaks of a God that cannot lie (Titus 1:2). What God says in the Bible is truth, absolute truth. He cannot lie. How strange this sounds in today’s babel of confusion.
SHARINGIt’s In The Valleys I Grow
Sometimes life seems hard to bear
Full of sorrow, trouble and woe
It’s then I have to remember
That it’s in the valley I grow.
If I always stayed on the mountain top
And never experienced pain,
I would never appreciate God’s love
And would be living in vain.
I have so much to learn
And my growth is very slow,
Sometimes I need the mountaintops
But it’s in the valleys I grow.
I do not always understand
Why things happen as they do
But I’m very sure of one thing
My Lord will see me through.
My little valleys are nothing
When I picture Christ on the cross
He went through the valley of death;
His victory was Satan’s loss.
Forgive me Lord for complaining
When I’m feeling so very low.
Just give me a gentle reminder
That it’s in the valleys I grow.
Continue to strengthen me, Lord
And use my life each day
To share your love with others
And help them find their way.
Thank you for the valleys, Lord
For this one thing I know,
The mountaintops are glorious
But it’s in the valleys I grow.
–Jane Eggleston
SHARINGThe Power Of Our Words
–By Caleb Deininger
“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” Proverbs 25:11
Seldom do we say exactly the right thing at exactly the right time. In fact, we usually take about ten steps away from a conversation before kicking ourselves over what we should have said. But there are few things sweeter than when a downtrodden soul hears the words they need to press on, or when a sinning brother or sister gets a much needed and unwavering reproof.
“A word fitly spoke” can be a word of encouragement: few words uttered by man have held the weight of Christ’s timely comfort in Matthew 11:28-30, for “heavy laden” Christians everywhere. It can also be a firm rebuke: in 2 Samuel 12, Nathan’s four words to David, “Thou art the man,” were probably the most powerful, most affecting, and most beneficial words David could have heard.
On the other hand, the tongue can be a tool of destruction: Absalom’s deceitful tongue “stole the hearts of the men of Israel” (2 Samuel 15:6) and inspired mutiny against King David. And, of course, Satan’s simple and “sensible” persuasion in the Garden of Eden cast the curse of sin upon all mankind
All too often, God’s children fall prey to the temptations of evil speaking, backbiting, talebearing, etc., while failing to be mindful of the power of our words. James 3 offers a profound insight into the duality our speech can yield. How can the mouth that curses man be fit to praise the God who created him? And the line between playful jesting and cruelty isn’t a line at all–it is a slippery slope. These things can introduce elements of bitterness and insecurity into the fellowship that would otherwise be foreign. When we use our speech in such harmful manners–even if it is unwittingly–we can chip away at the very bonds that hold the church together and sow the seeds of discord and strife.
We must never underestimate the effect our words have upon others. They can either lift up a weary soul, or further dishearten him. They can either set God’s erring child right, or sheepishly consent to his transgressions. And they can either strengthen our congregation, or tear it apart. May our words contribute to the church’s spiritual well-being, and be those “apples of gold in pictures of silver” that someone may need to hear.
SHARING
