Saturday, May 19, 2018
WORSHIP 5/19/2018
WORSHIP
There is no confusion about the NEED to worship; as the angel told John more than once, we must “worship God” (Revelation 19:10; 22:8, 9). Most everybody is willing to worship Him; but do not understand what that requires. How we worship, and when we worship, and what we do in worship, are essentials. When Jesus said that acceptable worship must be “in spirit and truth” (John 4:24) He was directing our attention to the right attitude (in spirit) and the right practices (in truth).
Jesus wants us to understand that not everything we might offer in sacrifice to Him is acceptable. There are those who think that, whatever they give God is acceptable, to Him -- if THEY like it. A neighbor told me that the trombone solo he was going to render in a Baptist church would please God because it pleased him and because it was his talent. Shortly after that, a lady (?) was reported as planning to offer her talent in the worship service – she was a strip-tease artist. By this time I had lost touch with the trombone player, which was a shame because I knew he would have been delighted to hear from me with this news.
This point is driven home by Jesus in Matthew 15, when He said worship which is the teaching of men is unavailing – “in vain do you worship me“.
With worship we intend to praise God – but we only praise Him as we obey Him. King Saul is a splendid example of one who, claiming to obey God actually ignores the instruction given him. Told to slay the Amalekites and all their livestock, he killed all the commoners, and all the flawed livestock; but he saved the good livestock; and the king. Hear God’s judgment on such sacrifice: “ … Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king” (I Samuel 15:23).
Another example is of Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10) who offered to God a sacrifice “which he had not commanded them”; the result was God sent fire and it “consumed them” (Leviticus 10: 2, 3). Nadab and Abihu had not done that which God had forbidden, rather they had presumptuously offered what He had NOT called for. God does not want our originality: He wants us to speak where He has spoken, and be silent where He has been silent. Pat
Friday, May 18, 2018
Saturday, May 12, 2018
Reaching the lost PT 2
Reaching the Lost
The church that Christ established has one
purpose: to seek and save
the lost. Seeking the lost, reaching out
to those who do not know or those who have refused Christ, is often a
challenge. As disciples of Christ we
must endure a great deal of adversity, hardship, and disappointment in our
labor. However, scripture makes it clear
that the challenges of reaching the lost are expected if we’re truly fulfilling
our purpose as the body of Christ. Not
only that, but when we do suffer hardship for the cause of Christ, we are to
rejoice in them! (Col. 1:24, I Pet. 4:13)
As
a result of these frequent challenges, we often find ourselves
discouraged. Individuals and
congregations may labor for months reaching out to the world and not bring in a
single lost sheep. Unfortunately, it
leads many disciples of Christ to doubt the source and power of our doctrine
and faith. Often, disciples of Christ
give up on actively and consistently reaching out to the lost, and convince
themselves that attending worship services is enough to please God. It has already been submitted that if we are
not reaching out to save the lost we are not fulfilling our purpose and
therefore not pleasing God. It is,
perhaps, an even greater offence when we give up on our doctrine, and deny the
power of the Word itself.
Paul
declares in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it
is the power of God unto salvation to
Truth
is powerful because it never changes (I Pet. 1:25). Consider the doctrines and creeds of men, how
the words of men are always changing with the times. Even though we may have a remembrance of
things men said long ago, and though we may see truth in men’s sayings, the
word of man certainly does not endure forever.
Also, most of the enduring “truth” we see in the words of men is actually
the result of the fact that men throughout history have borrowed truth from the
Word of God in their writings.
But
the Truth as delivered from God and as revealed in scripture is eternal in
nature. This means the Truth we have to
deliver to the lost was true, is true, and will always be true! I Thessalonians 2:13 says that Paul was
thankful that the church at Thessalonica had received the word of God, “not as
the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually works
also in you that believe.”
The church at Thessalonica recognized that they were in possession of
tremendous power, of eternal power, the Truth as given to them from God. As disciples of Christ today, we need to
recognize this blessing as well and do what we are purposed to do with it:
deliver the Truth to the lost. What an
awesome responsibility we have as disciples of Christ, wielding the power of
God’s eternal purpose (Eph. 3:11). Let
us act faithfully and consistently in sharing this Truth, this power,
with our fellow men.
Reflection on the Psalms
Psalm 3 includes a subtitle “A psalm of David. When he fled from
Absalom his son”. The event that led to the writing of this psalm may have come
from the time when Absalom was trying to take the throne away from his father
David. When Absalom began his revolt, many people followed him and rejected
David’s rule. Verse 1 described what was happening to David, “O LORD, how my
adversaries have increased! Many are rising up against me. Many are saying of
my soul, ‘There is no deliverance for him in God.’" The reasons for the
writing of Psalm 3 was simple - betrayal, rejection and humiliation.
Probably no one today can specifically understand what David faced, but
most people, most Christians, have faced betrayal and rejection. The actions
may have come from a “good” friend, a “close” associate, or a loved one. But
the results still lead to pain, shock, disbelief, and anger. Suddenly, an
apparently well-ordered life is thrown into turmoil. What was supposed to be
the truth turns out to be a lie. So, how does a person deal with this? What is
an appropriate response? The world says to strike back, seek revenge, dwell on
what happened, feed and nurture the anger and bitterness.
But verses 3-6 show that David’s response was different. “But You, O LORD,
are a shield about me, my glory, and the One who lifts my
Was there an obvious solution to the problems when David wrote this
Psalm? No. But in spite of the situation he was facing, David’s faith never
wavered. What incredible faith! His words were not a man complaining to God in
a petulant manner. In fact, in verses 5-6, he declared that he was still able
to sleep in spite of the trials he was facing!
Some people sleep soundly out of ignorance or arrogance. Other people’s
spirit has been so seared by sin, that they feel nothing and sleep. But then
there are others who sleep because of their confidence in the Lord. How many
today can make that claim? How many Christians, upon experiencing even a small
amount of what David was describing, could echo his words?
Remember the words that James wrote in James 1:2-4, “Consider it all
joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing
of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so
that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” How many Christians intellectually
understand what the words say, but do not believe that they really work? Yet,
the foundation of a Christian’s spiritual strength is faith in the Father and
His Son - Jesus Christ. And that faith grows and matures through prayer.
David’s words were inspired, but he had no magic tricks for his faith.
In fact, he had less information than people have today. Today, the “Good News”
has been proclaimed. The “mystery of the ages” has been revealed in Jesus
Christ. Sins CAN be forgiven. Eternal life IS obtainable through Jesus Christ.
How much greater should be the faith of a Christian today?
Verse 8 is a fitting conclusion. “Salvation belongs to the LORD; Your
blessing be upon Your people!” Like Jesus, Christians can face physical
suffering and adversity, but nothing in this world can separate a Christian
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. Christians live in the world,
and things will happen that will cause pain, sorrow, and anxiety. But life is
NOT this world. Life is not things, position, or health. Life is the sanctified
relationship that can exist with the Eternal God and Creator of the Universes
through the love, courage and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Indeed, God’s
blessings are upon His people!
Reaching the Lost
Paul writes in II Timothy 3, “This know also,
that in the last days perilous
times shall come. For men shall be
lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, holy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false
accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors,
heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God…”
Who would doubt that we are indeed
now living in these perilous times? It
seems the verse is not talking about the peril of all men, but specifically spiritual
perils that will face the faithful in Christ. The pride, covetousness, blasphemy,
ungodliness, and treachery of men dominates the earth. Everywhere we turn we are confronted by
it. On almost every television channel
its thrust into our homes. From almost
every radio station its thrust into our ears.
Every industry seems to be moved by greed, lust, and pride. False teachers cry out from pulpits to
denominational churches and rule the airwaves and publishing industry. People who profess faith in God and a desire
to live pure and righteously are bombarded by the darkness born from the devil
and his ministers. Indeed, perilous
times for the faithful are upon us!
But we should not look at the world
with an “us versus them” state of mind.
We should not stand among the faithful few and look out at our countless
worldly oppressors as people we
As
members of the Lord‘s church, we need to constantly remind ourselves of our
purpose. Why does the church of Christ
exist and what is our main objective as members? In order to understand the purpose of the
church, we need to understand what the church is. In I Corinthians 12:27, it says of the church
that “You are the body of Christ.”
Ephesians 1:22,23 say that the church is the fullness of Christ and,
again, that the church is his body.
There are many more verses that speak of the church as the body of
Christ, leaving us with the simple fact that the church is the representative
of Christ here in this world.
Now
that we know what the church is, we can talk about its purpose. In order to understand the purpose of the
church, we simply need to know the purpose of Christ. Matthew 18:11 makes it very clear: “For the
son of man is come to save that which is lost.”
So often in the Gospels Christ speaks of himself as a shepherd tending
to his sheep. In the verses that follow
in Matthew 18, he speaks of a man having a hundred sheep, and the labor and
love he puts into recovering one that is lost.
Verse 13 says that he rejoices more over recovering the one lost sheep
than he does over the 99 which he has.
Here is demonstrated the purpose of the church: to reach out to the lost
and bring them to knowledge of Christ.
If
the church does not labor in bringing the lost to Christ, who will? This is our work. This is our mission. This is our purpose. Filling the pews every Sunday morning would
be glorious, but the work does not end there.
Every new soul brought into Christ is a fulfillment of our mission,
every lost sheep shown the path to light and righteousness is our aim. Christ tells us that, “Ye are the light of
the world” (Matt. 5:14). Let’s not keep
our light hidden from a perilous, suffering world that so desperately needs
us. Let’s commit ourselves to this great
purpose, this great work, knowing that “if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them
that are lost…” (II Cor. 4:3)
REACHING THE LOST Pt 3
Reaching the Lost
If the mission of Christ was to teach and demonstrate the path to
redemption (Matt. 18:11), and if the representative of Christ in the world today
is the church (I Cor. 12:27), then it is also our mission as members of the
church to teach and demonstrate the path to redemption. It is our mission as disciples of Christ to
reach out to those lost in the darkness of sin and error, and guide them by the
powerful means of eternal Truth (Rom. 1:16, I Pet. 1:25) into paths of light
and righteousness.
This is no small task and we should not take it lightly. We have the awesome responsibility of sharing
the Truth with our fellow men, especially those living in sin and darkness, and
many times this task is easier said than done.
There are many reasons (some might call them excuses) why we don’t share
the Gospel as much as we can and should, but the last reason we should have is
that we are not confident in the power of Truth. As disciples of Christ, our efforts to reach
the lost - passing out flyers, door knocking, talking to a loved one over the
telephone, standing in line with a stranger at the supermarket, through emails
we send, etc. - should all be brimming with confidence. When people hear the Gospel from us, they
should know that we feel like that which we teach and preach is truly powerful
and eternal! For at least two years of his ministry, Paul lived in a hired
house, receiving everyone that came to him, “Preaching the kingdom of
When we are preparing to share the Gospel with others, far from
our minds should be the question, “Is this going to work?” The power of the Truth is spoken of by
scripture and demonstrated by the fact that even in this “modern” world, people
are still being converted by that Truth.
When we are preparing to share the Gospel, the single thought in our
minds should be Romans 1:16, that our message is “the power of God unto
salvation”, and that it will perform its work.
We also need to remember that our confidence is, in fact, in the
Gospel and not in men’s hearts. We know
that there are different types of hearts in the world that will receive the
word in different ways. The parable of
the sower reveals the majority of the seed planted will fail to be fruitful in
most hearts (Matt. 13:3-8), and we know that ultimately those who find the
straight path to righteousness will be few in number (Matt. 7:14), and so we
know that we should not put our confidence in the idea that everyone we teach
will respond. We desire, as does the
Lord, that all men repent and turn to righteousness, and labor with the thought
that everyone is a candidate for salvation; but our confident is not in man to
respond, but in the Word to transform hearts and minds.
As we labor to reach the lost, let us put all of our confidence in
the Lord and His Word. If we are
diligent in delivering that Word to the lost, we can also have confidence in
the fact that we are fulfilling our purpose as the church.
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