Many people talk about preaching the gospel to the lost but how many of us have stopped to consider what the gospel really is? When you preach the gospel, what exactly are you preaching about? The Bible does not have one passage that outlines the gospel in its entirety yet when we study the Bible in its entirety, the entire gospel is found therein. What are the contents of the gospel? There are many ways in which the gospel can be preached but no matter how you preach it, there are certain elements that should always be present. I have heard many sermons in which the gospel is not preached yet at the end of the sermon, a call is made to those who want to “get right” with God. Some may preach about tithing and at the end you may hear them say, “Your tithing has no meaning if at first you do not have God living in you. First accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour…” This is misleading because whoever answers that call is attempting to make things right with God so that their tithing has meaning. That is not the gospel. Some Pastors may preach on a range of topics which may focus on one spiritual principle or the other and at the end of their sermons the make similar statements. That is not the purpose of the gospel and those “conversions” may most likely be false. Romans 1 v 16-17 says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” What do we learn about the gospel from these verses?
It is the power of God for salvation to every one that believes
It reveals to us the righteousness of God; that the just live by faith
This means that God’s power to save those who believe is in the gospel. There is no other way people are going to be saved apart from the gospel. There is no other message you can preach that will make the power of salvation available to mankind apart from the gospel. Having learnt that, this means that we need to handle it with care because if we pervert it, that power is no longer available. We need to guard the gospel jealously and seek to preserve it by the power of God and faithfully preach it the way God wants us to preach it so that the power of God for salvation becomes available to them that believe. The consequence of perverting the gospel is apparent from the Bible; Galatians 1 v 8-9, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any [man] preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” Perverting the gospel is such a serious offence in the eyes of God that Paul had to repeat that warning in order to emphasize its severity. 1 Corinthians 1 v 18 states “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” From this verse we see that the gospel can also be called “the preaching of the cross”. The cross is central to any gospel message. I will be bold to go on and say if you do not preach the cross in your message, you have not preached the gospel. If you deliver a message, you cannot call it a gospel unless you have preached the cross. You are bordering on perversion, if not you are perverting the gospel if you call any message you preach the gospel if you have not preached the cross. The cross is the essence, the crux, the centre, the very gospel itself for if you do not preach the cross what good news have you preached to them that are lost. The cross is the source of that power of God unto salvation to every one that believes.
Not only is the gospel the power of God unto salvation to them that believe, but in its message, God’s righteousness is revealed. Before the cross makes sense to the sinner, before the preaching of the cross becomes good news to anyone and before the cross becomes the power of God to them that are saved, the sinner needs to understand that they are a sinner and cannot even save themselves. The message of the cross can only be effective if the recipients of the message are convicted of their unrighteousness. Enter the law. Many of the Israelites misunderstood what the law was about and thought righteousness was attained by obedience to the law. However we know that to live by the law, you need to perfectly obey the entire law and not miss one point otherwise you are guilty of sin and therefore unrighteous as James 2 v 10 says, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one [point,] he is guilty of all.” The Bible declares that no one is righteous and therefore none of us can be declared righteous by obedience to the law since it has been demonstrated that is impossible for a person to perfectly obey the law. Romans 3 v 10 says, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one” and Romans 3 v 20 says, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law [is] the knowledge of sin.” As we can see, the purpose of the law is to teach us what sin is and since we know what sin is, Romans 3 v 21-22 says, “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God [which is] by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference” therefore only through the gospel do we then understand that God’s righteousness is apart from the law and that the law and the prophets testified of that righteousness as it is written in Habakkuk 2 v 4, “…but the just shall live by his faith.” That righteousness is based on faith in God as Romans 3 v 28 explains, “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” The power of converting the soul rests in the law as Psalm 19 v 7 says, “The law of the LORD [is] perfect, converting the soul…” The law convinces you that you are unrighteous and leads you to Jesus Christ as Galatians 3 v 24 explains, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”
To recap what we have learnt, a full gospel message first convicts people of sin so that they can repent from it and second, it presents the cross of Jesus Christ as the good news so that the sinner readily believes and is justified freely by God’s grace. You cannot preach the cross before bringing a sinner to conviction. Conviction leads to Godly sorrow because as 2 Corinthians 7 v 10 says, “…godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of…” and that conviction can only be brought by the Holy Spirit. How then can He bring about conviction if we pervert the gospel? We have many messages that are being preached as the gospel yet they do not bring knowledge of sin to its hearers and sometimes they do not even present the cross of Jesus Christ. You cannot bring knowledge of sin without the law and a person can never be convinced of their unrighteousness unless they are shown by the law that they are unrighteous. Romans 3 v 19 says, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” Why should every mouth be stopped? So that it can no longer profess its own righteousness and can be held guilty before God. That is the purpose of the law; to reveal our guilt before God. Therefore any gospel message that does not preach that man is a sinner and show its hearers their precarious condition, is not the gospel. If that message does not then present the cross of Jesus Christ and preach that by grace alone and through faith alone is a man justified by God, that message is not the gospel. We have messages that promote self-esteem, motivate people for success, tell people to be positive thinkers, say if you accept Jesus, without knowledge of sin and the cross, your life will be better, motivate people to pursue their “divine” right to financial prosperity and many other such messages. Though some of these messages may be of some value, they are not the gospel. For if any message preached, notwithstanding a person choosing to resist the Holy Spirit, does not bring a person to their knees with Godly remorse, after having understood that they are standing guilty before God and therefore are condemned if they do not repent and place their faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross for the atonement of their sin, that message is not the gospel.
So then what is the Gospel? The gospel is the message that brings a sinner to his knees at the foot of the cross after realizing his guilt before God cannot be wiped away apart from the blood of the Lamb of God. I will be bold to say it’s impossible for a person to be converted apart from the gospel. Feel good messages do not bring conviction, motivational messages do not bring conviction, self-help messages do not bring conviction, the prospect of life become more meaningful after “accepting” Jesus Christ does not bring conviction, messages that teach you that you can healthy, wealthy and prosperous if you follow certain Biblical “principles” do not bring conviction but only the gospel can bring conviction and lead a sinner to repentance and salvation. The gospel is a message that reveals man’s wickedness, hopelessness and guilt before God, a message that reveals God’s impartial judgement in that every one stands guilty before God and should be condemned into the lake of fire and a message that reveals God’s grace and mercy in that He brings a sinner, who believes, to repentance and forgives his sin. Without conviction there is no conversion of a soul, without repentance there is no regeneration of the soul and without surrender, a soul cannot be saved; for one must throw himself at the foot of the cross in faith for the salvation of his soul. If the gospel is not preached the way God wants it to be preached, how then can the lost be brought to repentance?
Conclusion
The elements of the gospel that should always be present whenever you preach it should be:
The law to show man his unrighteousness i.e. sin
The consequences of our sin i.e. eternal condemnation in the lake of fire
God’s impartial judgement i.e. God does not merit salvation based on our own “goodness”
The revelation of God’s righteousness that “the just shall live by faith”
The cross
Baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of The Holy Spirit
The gift of the Holy Spirit
God bless you.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
With all thy getting...
A time has come when man must no longer seek wealth, power and honour but must seek wisdom and understanding as Proverbs 4 v 7 says, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” This is not a “new” thing per se but I speak as if it is new because I mean it with a sense of urgency for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is so close at hand. The dreadful hour of judgement will come swiftly and suddenly upon us that those who are not prepared will be caught off guard and risk spending eternity in hell.
Throughout all the ages man has been preoccupied with getting one thing – rich. Be it in pre-historic times or now in the modern age, every person wants to get rich. Why do we have such a desire to get rich? Primarily we want a secure life i.e. we want to know that we will always be provided for at any time. That is the first level – to have our material needs met. The second level is to get what we want when we want i.e. we want our wants and desires to be fulfilled by the riches we amass. The third level is power. This is the ability to do what we want when we want. How many of you dream of not having a boss tell you what to do? You want to be your own boss and to be someone else’s boss too. Power – that is what you want. The fourth level is honour. You want to be recognized as someone great. You go to a function and you want the people there to respect you. You want your name to be synonymous with greatness. Some of you might deny it but let’s face it, we all want that.
But there are consequences to getting rich. One has his/her material needs, wants and desires met. With that wealth comes power. How many people do you know that are not wealthy yet are powerful!? Get my point. With power comes honour. Most people that have been honoured throughout history were powerful and wealthy. These three go together. Wealth gets you power and power gets you honour. In other circles it is not known as wealth, power and honour but as money, power and respect. With the money you can get what you want, with the power you can do what you want and with the respect you are glorified. No wonder every one wants to get rich. Bear in mind that no one thinks this logically when they set about to get rich. Many rich people think they are protected as a result of their riches. Proverbs 18 v 11 says, “The rich man’s wealth [is] his strong city, and as an high wall in his own conceit.” How many stories have you heard of certain rich people worming their way out of sure criminal convictions into freedom. Money, power and respect. Money can get you into many places, find favour with many people and get you many things. However, there are warnings in the Bible against desiring to get rich. 1 Timothy 6 v 9 says, “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and [into] many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.” The most famous warning being v10, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” It is a known spiritual fact that if you love money you will not be far from being evil. There is nothing wrong with the money but there is everything wrong with loving it; everything because it is the root of all evil not some evil. It is the base upon which all evil thrives which is why Jesus said in Matthew 6 v 24, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” From the verse you learn that if you love money there is no way you can love God as well. It’s impossible. And if you love money you therefore hate God. If you hate God, you are evil. That is how the love of money becomes the root of all evil. Get it. If you love money you hate God and all God-haters are evil. Also, all God-haters love money and those who truly love God do not love money but rather use it as a resource. These are spiritual facts that cannot be disputed. We learn from 1 Timothy 6 v 10 that if you love money you get off the straight and narrow path and onto the path that leads to destruction and Jesus, through the parable of the sower, told us that the seed that fell among thorns represented people that heard the word but the care of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth (riches, money) choked the word and they bore no fruit as Matthew 13 v 22 says, “He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.” He was telling us that wealth is deceitful in that it gives us a false sense of security and as a result we depend on it rather than God and so we remain sinners on the path to destruction. “What false sense of security?” You may ask. “If the money buys me a house, pays my bills, fills my stomach and a whole lot more is that a false sense of security?” Hardly from a worldly point of view, but the real danger is not being homeless, poor, hungry, sick and naked. The real danger is being condemned to the pits of hell forever and money will not give you that security as Proverbs 11 v 4 says, “Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.” The day of wrath is when Jesus comes back and judgement is set. No amount of money will satisfy the wrath of God on those that reject His free gift of salvation. Death is the wages of sin i.e. God-hating/ money loving. So the real security you need is salvation from eternal damnation in hell and that can only be found through faith in Jesus Christ.
So am I telling you not to get rich? Is being rich a bad thing? No, I am not telling you that being rich is bad and neither am I telling you not to get rich rather if you are rich thank God and do what the Bible tells you to do. 1 Timothy 6 v 17-19 says, “Charge them that are rich in thisworld, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” Jesus told us not lay up treasures for ourselves on earth but rather in heaven. He taught us that through generosity we lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven. So what am I telling you to do? Rather than pursuing wealth which the scriptures have warned against and have showed that the pursuit of wealth will lead to a disastrous end, seek wisdom and understanding. This is done by having faith in God whom you believe will provide all you need. After all Jesus did say in Matthew 6 v 33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” If you do this, you will have begun to seek wisdom and understanding. Remember Proverbs 4 v 7 says wisdom is the principal thing. To be principal means to be chief, most important, key, foremost, head and first. Jesus says to seek His kingdom and His righteousness first. Do you see now that to seek wisdom and understanding is to seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness this being the first, chief, principal, most important and foremost thing that we do. Why is it important that this be the first thing that we do? Listen to Psalm 127 v 1, “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh [but] in vain.” Your life is lived in vain if God is not in control of it. Anything that you do when you are not submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ is worth nothing. So even if you are rich and you are generous, it means nothing to God if He is not in control of your life. Remember you cannot buy your way into salvation, it is a free gift received by faith in Jesus Christ. By seeking wisdom and understanding, you submit to God, you repent of your sins and you are saved from the pending judgement. At this point, your life takes a new meaning. You begin to live for Christ and start to do the things He wants you to do. Everything you do will be for His kingdom which you will be a part of and when He comes back He will take you with Him to heaven. The riches you pursue are in His hands because Psalm 24 v1 says, “The earth [is] the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” and 1 Samuel 2 v 7 says, “The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.” So where better to go than to God for all we need? And with “all” I mean both material and spiritual needs, the most important being salvation from our sins. From Proverbs 2 and 3 the following are the benefits from seeking wisdom and understanding or God’s kingdom and His righteousness: knowing God and His love, receiving righteousness through faith, protection from sins destructiveness, preservation of our eternal inheritance in Jesus Christ, success in whatever we do, health, riches from God, eternal life, wealth and honour (remember these two), peace and contentment, happiness and joy and they will be no fear of disaster and harm. You do notice that there are some benefits listed that cannot be bought by money. The choice is yours. This is what God says in Deuteronomy 30 v 19, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live” God bless you.
Throughout all the ages man has been preoccupied with getting one thing – rich. Be it in pre-historic times or now in the modern age, every person wants to get rich. Why do we have such a desire to get rich? Primarily we want a secure life i.e. we want to know that we will always be provided for at any time. That is the first level – to have our material needs met. The second level is to get what we want when we want i.e. we want our wants and desires to be fulfilled by the riches we amass. The third level is power. This is the ability to do what we want when we want. How many of you dream of not having a boss tell you what to do? You want to be your own boss and to be someone else’s boss too. Power – that is what you want. The fourth level is honour. You want to be recognized as someone great. You go to a function and you want the people there to respect you. You want your name to be synonymous with greatness. Some of you might deny it but let’s face it, we all want that.
But there are consequences to getting rich. One has his/her material needs, wants and desires met. With that wealth comes power. How many people do you know that are not wealthy yet are powerful!? Get my point. With power comes honour. Most people that have been honoured throughout history were powerful and wealthy. These three go together. Wealth gets you power and power gets you honour. In other circles it is not known as wealth, power and honour but as money, power and respect. With the money you can get what you want, with the power you can do what you want and with the respect you are glorified. No wonder every one wants to get rich. Bear in mind that no one thinks this logically when they set about to get rich. Many rich people think they are protected as a result of their riches. Proverbs 18 v 11 says, “The rich man’s wealth [is] his strong city, and as an high wall in his own conceit.” How many stories have you heard of certain rich people worming their way out of sure criminal convictions into freedom. Money, power and respect. Money can get you into many places, find favour with many people and get you many things. However, there are warnings in the Bible against desiring to get rich. 1 Timothy 6 v 9 says, “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and [into] many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.” The most famous warning being v10, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” It is a known spiritual fact that if you love money you will not be far from being evil. There is nothing wrong with the money but there is everything wrong with loving it; everything because it is the root of all evil not some evil. It is the base upon which all evil thrives which is why Jesus said in Matthew 6 v 24, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” From the verse you learn that if you love money there is no way you can love God as well. It’s impossible. And if you love money you therefore hate God. If you hate God, you are evil. That is how the love of money becomes the root of all evil. Get it. If you love money you hate God and all God-haters are evil. Also, all God-haters love money and those who truly love God do not love money but rather use it as a resource. These are spiritual facts that cannot be disputed. We learn from 1 Timothy 6 v 10 that if you love money you get off the straight and narrow path and onto the path that leads to destruction and Jesus, through the parable of the sower, told us that the seed that fell among thorns represented people that heard the word but the care of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth (riches, money) choked the word and they bore no fruit as Matthew 13 v 22 says, “He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.” He was telling us that wealth is deceitful in that it gives us a false sense of security and as a result we depend on it rather than God and so we remain sinners on the path to destruction. “What false sense of security?” You may ask. “If the money buys me a house, pays my bills, fills my stomach and a whole lot more is that a false sense of security?” Hardly from a worldly point of view, but the real danger is not being homeless, poor, hungry, sick and naked. The real danger is being condemned to the pits of hell forever and money will not give you that security as Proverbs 11 v 4 says, “Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.” The day of wrath is when Jesus comes back and judgement is set. No amount of money will satisfy the wrath of God on those that reject His free gift of salvation. Death is the wages of sin i.e. God-hating/ money loving. So the real security you need is salvation from eternal damnation in hell and that can only be found through faith in Jesus Christ.
So am I telling you not to get rich? Is being rich a bad thing? No, I am not telling you that being rich is bad and neither am I telling you not to get rich rather if you are rich thank God and do what the Bible tells you to do. 1 Timothy 6 v 17-19 says, “Charge them that are rich in thisworld, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” Jesus told us not lay up treasures for ourselves on earth but rather in heaven. He taught us that through generosity we lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven. So what am I telling you to do? Rather than pursuing wealth which the scriptures have warned against and have showed that the pursuit of wealth will lead to a disastrous end, seek wisdom and understanding. This is done by having faith in God whom you believe will provide all you need. After all Jesus did say in Matthew 6 v 33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” If you do this, you will have begun to seek wisdom and understanding. Remember Proverbs 4 v 7 says wisdom is the principal thing. To be principal means to be chief, most important, key, foremost, head and first. Jesus says to seek His kingdom and His righteousness first. Do you see now that to seek wisdom and understanding is to seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness this being the first, chief, principal, most important and foremost thing that we do. Why is it important that this be the first thing that we do? Listen to Psalm 127 v 1, “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh [but] in vain.” Your life is lived in vain if God is not in control of it. Anything that you do when you are not submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ is worth nothing. So even if you are rich and you are generous, it means nothing to God if He is not in control of your life. Remember you cannot buy your way into salvation, it is a free gift received by faith in Jesus Christ. By seeking wisdom and understanding, you submit to God, you repent of your sins and you are saved from the pending judgement. At this point, your life takes a new meaning. You begin to live for Christ and start to do the things He wants you to do. Everything you do will be for His kingdom which you will be a part of and when He comes back He will take you with Him to heaven. The riches you pursue are in His hands because Psalm 24 v1 says, “The earth [is] the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” and 1 Samuel 2 v 7 says, “The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.” So where better to go than to God for all we need? And with “all” I mean both material and spiritual needs, the most important being salvation from our sins. From Proverbs 2 and 3 the following are the benefits from seeking wisdom and understanding or God’s kingdom and His righteousness: knowing God and His love, receiving righteousness through faith, protection from sins destructiveness, preservation of our eternal inheritance in Jesus Christ, success in whatever we do, health, riches from God, eternal life, wealth and honour (remember these two), peace and contentment, happiness and joy and they will be no fear of disaster and harm. You do notice that there are some benefits listed that cannot be bought by money. The choice is yours. This is what God says in Deuteronomy 30 v 19, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live” God bless you.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
To whom much is forgiven
In Luke chapter 7 v 47 the Lord makes this statement “Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, [the same] loveth little.”
This statement makes for very interesting reading as one looks at the sin in their own heart. You might begin to think if you have been forgiven much or little. But what determines that you have been forgiven much or little? From the statement it is how much you love. If you love Him much you have been forgiven much and if you love Him little you have been forgiven little. But another question arises. What is to be forgiven much or little? In the statement the Lord says “her many sins” and this could mean being forgiven much. But does “a few sins” mean being forgiven little? If we think like this, it poses a completeness problem as people might think they have not been fully forgiven if they think lowly of how much they love the Lord. But how are we forgiven much or little and how does that have a bearing on how much we love the Lord? To answer this question let us look at the whole passage in which this statement was made.
Turn your bible to Luke chapter 7 v 36 and read right through to v 50. The Lord had been invited to Simon the Pharisee’s house and “a sinful woman” weeps over His feet, dries them with her hair, kisses them and pours perfume on them. The Pharisee, in v 39, thinks to himself saying “This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman [this is] that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.” Jesus, knowing his thoughts, answers him by telling him a story in v 41 and 42. In this story are two debtors. One owes 500 pence, which is a lot of money, and another owes 50, which is a lot less. Now both these debtors were unable to pay back their debts and in his mercy the moneylender cancels both their debts. Jesus then poses a question, “Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?” The Pharisee rightfully answers, “I suppose that [he,] to whom he forgave most.” Jesus goes on to relate how the Pharisee had not given Him water for his feet but the woman wept over His feet and dried them with her hair. How the Pharisee did not kiss Him but the woman had not stopped kissing His feet since His arrival and how the Pharisee did not anoint Him with oil but the woman had poured perfume on His feet. He then makes the statement in v 47 and forgives the woman her sins in v 48.
What is this passage trying to teach us? Let us take the story and say the two debtors are the Pharisee and the sinful woman and the moneylender is God. The money owed representing sin with the woman owing more and the Pharisee a lot less. Both being unable to rid themselves of this sin and hence becoming objects of wrath, God in His mercy forgives their debts by sending His Son to pay the debts on their behalf and thus they become objects of His mercy. At this point the question is asked. Who between the woman and the Pharisee will love God more? Well the passage answers that for us if you read v 45 and 46. This is where Jesus relates how the woman did all those nice things the Pharisee did not do. Note, because the woman had realised how much of a sinner she was and that she could not save herself and had recognised Jesus for who He is i.e. her Saviour, she then shows her love for Him through all she does this representing her faith in the One who can save her. The Pharisee on the other hand, was not convicted of his sin and did not think he needed salvation, had no such faith and hence loves Jesus little this represented through his inaction.
Back to the moneylender story. Owing more means you are fully convicted of the sin in your life, fully understand how grievous it is before God and the consequences thereof and realise you cannot save yourself hence when you hear the gospel, you readily repent, rejoice and fully commit your life to your Saviour loving Him with all your heart, soul and mind thus fulfilling the greatest commandment. Owing a lot less means you don’t recognise how grievous the sin in your life is, the consequences thereof and at times you might even think your own righteousness is good enough to save you hence the gospel won’t be such good news and you do not even repent and commit your life to the Lord Jesus Christ. Also, fully appreciating what Christ did for us on the cross liberates us to freely forgive those that offend us.
We are all equal sinners because Romans 3 v 23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Hence we need the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and enable us to repent and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. This is what it means to love much as a result of being forgiven much. If we belittle the cross, which is to love little, we empty it of its power to save us and hence we will always remain unrepentant and objects of God’s wrath. So let us repent and believe the gospel. God bless you.
This statement makes for very interesting reading as one looks at the sin in their own heart. You might begin to think if you have been forgiven much or little. But what determines that you have been forgiven much or little? From the statement it is how much you love. If you love Him much you have been forgiven much and if you love Him little you have been forgiven little. But another question arises. What is to be forgiven much or little? In the statement the Lord says “her many sins” and this could mean being forgiven much. But does “a few sins” mean being forgiven little? If we think like this, it poses a completeness problem as people might think they have not been fully forgiven if they think lowly of how much they love the Lord. But how are we forgiven much or little and how does that have a bearing on how much we love the Lord? To answer this question let us look at the whole passage in which this statement was made.
Turn your bible to Luke chapter 7 v 36 and read right through to v 50. The Lord had been invited to Simon the Pharisee’s house and “a sinful woman” weeps over His feet, dries them with her hair, kisses them and pours perfume on them. The Pharisee, in v 39, thinks to himself saying “This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman [this is] that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.” Jesus, knowing his thoughts, answers him by telling him a story in v 41 and 42. In this story are two debtors. One owes 500 pence, which is a lot of money, and another owes 50, which is a lot less. Now both these debtors were unable to pay back their debts and in his mercy the moneylender cancels both their debts. Jesus then poses a question, “Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?” The Pharisee rightfully answers, “I suppose that [he,] to whom he forgave most.” Jesus goes on to relate how the Pharisee had not given Him water for his feet but the woman wept over His feet and dried them with her hair. How the Pharisee did not kiss Him but the woman had not stopped kissing His feet since His arrival and how the Pharisee did not anoint Him with oil but the woman had poured perfume on His feet. He then makes the statement in v 47 and forgives the woman her sins in v 48.
What is this passage trying to teach us? Let us take the story and say the two debtors are the Pharisee and the sinful woman and the moneylender is God. The money owed representing sin with the woman owing more and the Pharisee a lot less. Both being unable to rid themselves of this sin and hence becoming objects of wrath, God in His mercy forgives their debts by sending His Son to pay the debts on their behalf and thus they become objects of His mercy. At this point the question is asked. Who between the woman and the Pharisee will love God more? Well the passage answers that for us if you read v 45 and 46. This is where Jesus relates how the woman did all those nice things the Pharisee did not do. Note, because the woman had realised how much of a sinner she was and that she could not save herself and had recognised Jesus for who He is i.e. her Saviour, she then shows her love for Him through all she does this representing her faith in the One who can save her. The Pharisee on the other hand, was not convicted of his sin and did not think he needed salvation, had no such faith and hence loves Jesus little this represented through his inaction.
Back to the moneylender story. Owing more means you are fully convicted of the sin in your life, fully understand how grievous it is before God and the consequences thereof and realise you cannot save yourself hence when you hear the gospel, you readily repent, rejoice and fully commit your life to your Saviour loving Him with all your heart, soul and mind thus fulfilling the greatest commandment. Owing a lot less means you don’t recognise how grievous the sin in your life is, the consequences thereof and at times you might even think your own righteousness is good enough to save you hence the gospel won’t be such good news and you do not even repent and commit your life to the Lord Jesus Christ. Also, fully appreciating what Christ did for us on the cross liberates us to freely forgive those that offend us.
We are all equal sinners because Romans 3 v 23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Hence we need the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and enable us to repent and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. This is what it means to love much as a result of being forgiven much. If we belittle the cross, which is to love little, we empty it of its power to save us and hence we will always remain unrepentant and objects of God’s wrath. So let us repent and believe the gospel. God bless you.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Why did God command Adam?
Genesis 2 v 16-17, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
We need to study these two verses in order to draw lessons from them that will help us understand who God is and why He is the person that He is. The essence of the question that is the title of this nugget seeks to understand what lessons we can draw from this conversation God had with Adam. Set forth below are the reasons God commanded Adam.
God commanded Adam in order to:-
To teach Adam that God is His Master and has authority over him.
To teach Adam that man is obligated to obey God and thus is accountable to God
To teach Adam the severity of disobedience in that its consequence is death
To teach Adam that man is responsible for his actions
To teach Adam that he has the ability to choose
To teach Adam the difference between right and wrong
To teach Adam to trust God i.e. to have faith in God
We are going to further elaborate how we have deducted these lessons from the two verses and what we learn from them.
To teach Adam that God is His Master and has authority over him
In God commanding Adam, we learn that God has authority over man for he who commands another, is exercising authority over that person. God commanded Adam in order to teach him that he was under His authority. This verse teaches us that God has authority over us and not only over us but over everything. Since God gave dominion to us over the whole earth but yet He is still able to command us to obey, it shows that He is the ultimate authority. Commands, orders, laws, decrees etc always flow from the Master to the servant, from the King to his subjects, from those in authority to their subordinates and so forth. Never ever do commandments flow from the subordinates to those in authority. This verse teaches us that God, by virtue of being God, has the divine right and power to command man as we read that the verse says, “And the LORD God commanded the man…” If God did not have the right or the power, He would not command, but since He does He therefore commands. Therefore we learn that we are under God’s authority and are therefore His subjects.
To teach Adam that man is obligated to obey God and thus is accountable to God
Commands require obedience. In the army, when a commanding officer issues an order he expects it to be carried out in full. That way of doings things is a pattern that was set forth by God when He commanded Adam. God commanded Adam expecting nothing but total obedience to His command and therefore in God commanding Adam we learn that man has an obligation to obey God. Obedience is not a choice but an obligation. God’s commandment was not a suggestion or a piece of advice. God’s commandment was an order that He expected to be fully obeyed. Therefore we learn that man is obligated to obey God which shows us that man is accountable to God. In God commanding us to obey we automatically are expected to answer for our actions therefore man is not only obligated to obey but is also accountable to God.
To teach Adam the severity of disobedience in that its consequence is death
In verse 17 God says, “…for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” God teaches Adam how severe disobedience is by telling him that the consequence of disobedience is death. God also shows us that there is no partiality in His judgement. What do I mean? Even if Adam had spent 200 years without eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in the day that he would eat of that tree, he would die. This means that his track record for obedience would count for nothing because God required him to fully obey Him. Whether he ate from it one day after God had given this command or 100 years later he was going to die, all the same, if he ate from that tree thereby showing us that God is impartial in judgement and that disobedience is absolutely severe, so severe that it severs our connection to God who is our source of life and therefore we die. This also teaches us that God requires perfect obedience i.e. not a single deviation from His command is tolerated and any such deviation is considered total disobedience.
To teach Adam that man is responsible for his actions
God in commanding Adam teaches him that he is responsible for his actions. We have just learnt that God has authority over Adam and requires Adam to obey him and thus Adam is accountable to God, in that accountability lies man’s responsibility for his actions. In commanding Adam, God has decreed the way of life that man should follow. Because man had been taught how God expects him to live, man can now be held responsible for his actions. What I mean by man being responsible for his actions is that no one other than man can benefit from obedience or suffer the consequences of disobedience. When we obey God, He will reward us for obedience and when we disobey He will punish us for disobedience. Rewards for obedience and judgement for disobedience can only be given to the responsible person. This principle is contained in verse 17, “…for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Why would God reward someone else for your obedience or punish someone else for your disobedience? You are responsible for your actions and that is why you are rewarded according to what you have done. Once again God’s impartiality in judgement is shown.
To teach Adam that he has the ability to choose
In God commanding Adam, He teaches Adam that he has the ability to obey or disobey thus presenting him with a choice. Though man is free to disobey, he is still obligated to obey. In fact man is free to obey but commanded not to disobey. If Adam had been programmed to obey God then it would have been illogical to command him not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because he would not have done so whether he knew the command or not and therefore he would not have been accountable and responsible for his actions. Therefore in God giving that command and telling Adam the consequence of disobedience, He taught Adam that he had the ability to choose obedience or disobedience. Each day Adam would see that tree, he knew not to eat from it and he knew what would happen if he did and therefore each time he did not pick its fruit, he had made a personal choice not to do so. This shows us that Adam had the ability to choose obedience over disobedience. Remember the command was given before Eve had been given to Adam for a wife.
To teach Adam the difference between right and wrong
God did not present Adam with an alternative lifestyle, but He taught Adam that to obey Him was His required perfect standard for man to live by in order to be in good standing with Him. God was calling Adam to excellence. In God commanding Adam, He was teaching him what was right and what was wrong. He taught Adam that obedience is the way of righteousness and disobedience was unrighteousness. If the consequence for disobedience was death then surely disobedience must be wrong and on the flipside the consequence for obedience is life and therefore obedience is right. So Adam was taught the difference between right and wrong and God told him the consequence of doing the wrong thing should he do it. Therefore Adam knew what was right and what wrong, he knew that he had the ability to choose either, he knew that he was responsible for his choice, he knew that death was the consequence for doing the wrong thing and he knew that God commanded him to do the right thing and required him to obey his command because He has authority over him.
To teach Adam to trust God i.e. to have faith in God
God revealed to Adam His plan. His plan was that He required man to live in total obedience to Him with Him as their God and with those who obey Him as His people. In God commanding Adam we learn that God taught Adam what was right and what was wrong and the consequence of doing the wrong thing. For Adam to obey God, he had to believe that what God had told him was true and therefore in commanding Adam, God was teaching Adam to have faith in Him. God taught Adam that in order to obey Him, he had to have faith in him; to trust Him. Adam would have never fully obeyed God unless he fully trusted that what God had commanded him, was just and true. If any doubt entered his mind as to the validity of God’s command, Adam would be able to disobey. This was shown by his eventual disobedience in chapter 3. The serpent was able to deceive both Adam and Eve by putting them in a place of doubt and that opened the door for disobedience. If Adam and Eve’s faith had been genuine, deception would not have prevailed over them because they would have held onto their faith in God and refused to disobey. Therefore God taught Adam to trust and have faith in Him by giving Him that command in order to enable him to fully obey God and therefore we see that the ability to fully obey God was available to Adam and all he had to do was believe God. Remember God said, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat…” In obedience there is freedom. God also showed Adam that he was free in obedience to Him but would be bound and enslaved by his disobedience. Therefore God was calling Adam to faith by which he would live in freedom under the authority of God. This is not to say that Adam was a sinner but that Adam was a subject of God and was required to live in total obedience to God and therefore to enable him to do so God commanded him not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If God had not commanded him, Adam would have sinned unwittingly and died without having been warned that what he had done was wrong and therefore God warned him in order to remove any excuses that man might have had for their disobedience but not only that, but also to enable man to believe and obey.
Relevance to us
Now that we have learnt why God commanded Adam and that Adam was fully responsible for his actions, what does this mean for us? Since we are all sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God and since none of us are good and we are not seeking God, the consequence for our disobedience is still the same for us as it was for Adam. Romans 6 v 23 says, “For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” As a result of this and because we cannot even live in obedience to God, God has provided for salvation from sin and death by sending His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place so that the consequence of our disobedience is atoned for in Jesus Christ. After having provided that salvation, God just like he did Adam commands all mankind to repent and believe the gospel. Acts 17 v 30 says, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent” Note the verse says commands. God is not suggesting that we repent and He is surely not recommending repentance to us but He is commanding us to repent. The same lessons that applied to Adam apply to us. In God commanding us to repent, we learn that God has authority over us and we are accountable to Him, we are obligated to obey, He has shown us the consequences of disobedience, He has also shown us that we are responsible for our actions, He has taught us that we have the ability to choose right otherwise why would He command us to repent, He has taught us the difference between right and wrong and He has given us the ability to believe and calls us to have faith in Him. Therefore in the gospel being preached to us we are commanded to repent and believe the gospel and now we fully know what the consequences of obedience and disobedience are, therefore let us have faith in God and repent and believe the gospel. God bless you.
We need to study these two verses in order to draw lessons from them that will help us understand who God is and why He is the person that He is. The essence of the question that is the title of this nugget seeks to understand what lessons we can draw from this conversation God had with Adam. Set forth below are the reasons God commanded Adam.
God commanded Adam in order to:-
To teach Adam that God is His Master and has authority over him.
To teach Adam that man is obligated to obey God and thus is accountable to God
To teach Adam the severity of disobedience in that its consequence is death
To teach Adam that man is responsible for his actions
To teach Adam that he has the ability to choose
To teach Adam the difference between right and wrong
To teach Adam to trust God i.e. to have faith in God
We are going to further elaborate how we have deducted these lessons from the two verses and what we learn from them.
To teach Adam that God is His Master and has authority over him
In God commanding Adam, we learn that God has authority over man for he who commands another, is exercising authority over that person. God commanded Adam in order to teach him that he was under His authority. This verse teaches us that God has authority over us and not only over us but over everything. Since God gave dominion to us over the whole earth but yet He is still able to command us to obey, it shows that He is the ultimate authority. Commands, orders, laws, decrees etc always flow from the Master to the servant, from the King to his subjects, from those in authority to their subordinates and so forth. Never ever do commandments flow from the subordinates to those in authority. This verse teaches us that God, by virtue of being God, has the divine right and power to command man as we read that the verse says, “And the LORD God commanded the man…” If God did not have the right or the power, He would not command, but since He does He therefore commands. Therefore we learn that we are under God’s authority and are therefore His subjects.
To teach Adam that man is obligated to obey God and thus is accountable to God
Commands require obedience. In the army, when a commanding officer issues an order he expects it to be carried out in full. That way of doings things is a pattern that was set forth by God when He commanded Adam. God commanded Adam expecting nothing but total obedience to His command and therefore in God commanding Adam we learn that man has an obligation to obey God. Obedience is not a choice but an obligation. God’s commandment was not a suggestion or a piece of advice. God’s commandment was an order that He expected to be fully obeyed. Therefore we learn that man is obligated to obey God which shows us that man is accountable to God. In God commanding us to obey we automatically are expected to answer for our actions therefore man is not only obligated to obey but is also accountable to God.
To teach Adam the severity of disobedience in that its consequence is death
In verse 17 God says, “…for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” God teaches Adam how severe disobedience is by telling him that the consequence of disobedience is death. God also shows us that there is no partiality in His judgement. What do I mean? Even if Adam had spent 200 years without eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in the day that he would eat of that tree, he would die. This means that his track record for obedience would count for nothing because God required him to fully obey Him. Whether he ate from it one day after God had given this command or 100 years later he was going to die, all the same, if he ate from that tree thereby showing us that God is impartial in judgement and that disobedience is absolutely severe, so severe that it severs our connection to God who is our source of life and therefore we die. This also teaches us that God requires perfect obedience i.e. not a single deviation from His command is tolerated and any such deviation is considered total disobedience.
To teach Adam that man is responsible for his actions
God in commanding Adam teaches him that he is responsible for his actions. We have just learnt that God has authority over Adam and requires Adam to obey him and thus Adam is accountable to God, in that accountability lies man’s responsibility for his actions. In commanding Adam, God has decreed the way of life that man should follow. Because man had been taught how God expects him to live, man can now be held responsible for his actions. What I mean by man being responsible for his actions is that no one other than man can benefit from obedience or suffer the consequences of disobedience. When we obey God, He will reward us for obedience and when we disobey He will punish us for disobedience. Rewards for obedience and judgement for disobedience can only be given to the responsible person. This principle is contained in verse 17, “…for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Why would God reward someone else for your obedience or punish someone else for your disobedience? You are responsible for your actions and that is why you are rewarded according to what you have done. Once again God’s impartiality in judgement is shown.
To teach Adam that he has the ability to choose
In God commanding Adam, He teaches Adam that he has the ability to obey or disobey thus presenting him with a choice. Though man is free to disobey, he is still obligated to obey. In fact man is free to obey but commanded not to disobey. If Adam had been programmed to obey God then it would have been illogical to command him not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because he would not have done so whether he knew the command or not and therefore he would not have been accountable and responsible for his actions. Therefore in God giving that command and telling Adam the consequence of disobedience, He taught Adam that he had the ability to choose obedience or disobedience. Each day Adam would see that tree, he knew not to eat from it and he knew what would happen if he did and therefore each time he did not pick its fruit, he had made a personal choice not to do so. This shows us that Adam had the ability to choose obedience over disobedience. Remember the command was given before Eve had been given to Adam for a wife.
To teach Adam the difference between right and wrong
God did not present Adam with an alternative lifestyle, but He taught Adam that to obey Him was His required perfect standard for man to live by in order to be in good standing with Him. God was calling Adam to excellence. In God commanding Adam, He was teaching him what was right and what was wrong. He taught Adam that obedience is the way of righteousness and disobedience was unrighteousness. If the consequence for disobedience was death then surely disobedience must be wrong and on the flipside the consequence for obedience is life and therefore obedience is right. So Adam was taught the difference between right and wrong and God told him the consequence of doing the wrong thing should he do it. Therefore Adam knew what was right and what wrong, he knew that he had the ability to choose either, he knew that he was responsible for his choice, he knew that death was the consequence for doing the wrong thing and he knew that God commanded him to do the right thing and required him to obey his command because He has authority over him.
To teach Adam to trust God i.e. to have faith in God
God revealed to Adam His plan. His plan was that He required man to live in total obedience to Him with Him as their God and with those who obey Him as His people. In God commanding Adam we learn that God taught Adam what was right and what was wrong and the consequence of doing the wrong thing. For Adam to obey God, he had to believe that what God had told him was true and therefore in commanding Adam, God was teaching Adam to have faith in Him. God taught Adam that in order to obey Him, he had to have faith in him; to trust Him. Adam would have never fully obeyed God unless he fully trusted that what God had commanded him, was just and true. If any doubt entered his mind as to the validity of God’s command, Adam would be able to disobey. This was shown by his eventual disobedience in chapter 3. The serpent was able to deceive both Adam and Eve by putting them in a place of doubt and that opened the door for disobedience. If Adam and Eve’s faith had been genuine, deception would not have prevailed over them because they would have held onto their faith in God and refused to disobey. Therefore God taught Adam to trust and have faith in Him by giving Him that command in order to enable him to fully obey God and therefore we see that the ability to fully obey God was available to Adam and all he had to do was believe God. Remember God said, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat…” In obedience there is freedom. God also showed Adam that he was free in obedience to Him but would be bound and enslaved by his disobedience. Therefore God was calling Adam to faith by which he would live in freedom under the authority of God. This is not to say that Adam was a sinner but that Adam was a subject of God and was required to live in total obedience to God and therefore to enable him to do so God commanded him not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If God had not commanded him, Adam would have sinned unwittingly and died without having been warned that what he had done was wrong and therefore God warned him in order to remove any excuses that man might have had for their disobedience but not only that, but also to enable man to believe and obey.
Relevance to us
Now that we have learnt why God commanded Adam and that Adam was fully responsible for his actions, what does this mean for us? Since we are all sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God and since none of us are good and we are not seeking God, the consequence for our disobedience is still the same for us as it was for Adam. Romans 6 v 23 says, “For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” As a result of this and because we cannot even live in obedience to God, God has provided for salvation from sin and death by sending His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place so that the consequence of our disobedience is atoned for in Jesus Christ. After having provided that salvation, God just like he did Adam commands all mankind to repent and believe the gospel. Acts 17 v 30 says, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent” Note the verse says commands. God is not suggesting that we repent and He is surely not recommending repentance to us but He is commanding us to repent. The same lessons that applied to Adam apply to us. In God commanding us to repent, we learn that God has authority over us and we are accountable to Him, we are obligated to obey, He has shown us the consequences of disobedience, He has also shown us that we are responsible for our actions, He has taught us that we have the ability to choose right otherwise why would He command us to repent, He has taught us the difference between right and wrong and He has given us the ability to believe and calls us to have faith in Him. Therefore in the gospel being preached to us we are commanded to repent and believe the gospel and now we fully know what the consequences of obedience and disobedience are, therefore let us have faith in God and repent and believe the gospel. God bless you.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
A condition of the heart
"Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." - Matthew 7:17-18.
The Lord in this passage was warning people against false prophets and false teachers. However, He gave them a way in which they could test their truthfulness. This was to examine their fruit. If it was bad they were false and if it was good they were genuine. However, this is not the thrust of my discussion but the principle contained in these verses is what I want to teach concerning the way people respond to situations in their lives and why.
For fruit to be good, the tree has to be good. For the fruit to be bad, the tree has to be bad. Now the Lord said, “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things." - Matthew 12: 34-35. Before that he had said “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by [ his] fruit.” - Matthew 12: 33. From this we see that the condition of one’s heart determines what comes out of it. As you can see, good things come out of good stored within not from the outside and also, whatever fills the heart is what comes out. Example, if kindness and compassion are stored up in your heart, you will be kind and compassionate to people. Likewise if hatred and bitterness is within your heart, you will be spiteful and quick to despise people. Unless your heart is full of goodness you cannot bear good fruit. The Word declares this as you have seen in the scripture. Matthew 15:18-19 says, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies”
What I want to teach is that, the condition of your heart is what determines the way you respond to situations in your life. Many people have repaid evil for evil and have justified themselves by saying if the other person had not done such and such a thing to them they would not have done what they did. Or they say what they did was justified on the basis of what the other person had done. For example, you could retaliate when someone insults you or ill-treats you and say it was justified but listen to the Word, "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but[ rather] give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance[ is] mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” - Romans 12:19. Clearly it is not our responsibility to punish any wrongdoing done to us or anyone else but God’s. We need to graft this into our hearts and minds, because when we revenge or avenge, we have taken that responsibility upon ourselves in direct disobedience to the Word of God. So what do I mean when I say the condition of your heart determines your response to situations in your life? The nature of your heart and what’s in it is what determines your response. If your heart is Godly, you will respond to situations in a Godly manner. If your heart is evil you will respond to situations in an ungodly manner. Here is an illustration, if you put salt in water it dissolves, but if you put sand, it does not dissolve. Because they differ in nature, salt dissolves whereas sand doesn’t. What do I mean? The common thing in both situations is water, so water is not the issue. The issue is the substances being put into the water. If we take water to be the situation and salt and sand to be two different people, we see that they react differently to the same situation. What am I saying? It is who you are and the condition of your heart that determine the way you respond to a situation and not the situation itself. I have used an example that I made up. Let me use one the Lord Himself used. Read Matthew 7:24-27. In this passage, the Lord says putting His Word into practice is like a wise man that builds his house on a rock. When the storm comes, the house remains standing. He also says to not put His Word into practice is like a foolish man that builds his house on sand. When the storm comes, the house is destroyed. The principle is the same. The common thing in both situations is the storm. What is different is where the houses were built. If we take the storm to be the situation and the foundations of the houses to be the condition of the heart, we see that as a result of the differing conditions of these hearts the responses were different to the same situation. Here is another declaration: it is not the situation that matters but the condition of your heart or your character that matters. Do not dwell on what has happened but learn from your response what the condition of your heart is. The more you are refined into the likeness of Jesus Christ, the more appropriately you will respond to situations in your life.
Many of us have been hurt, insulted, persecuted, abused, used, despised, scorned, rejected, ignored, battered, hated, tempted, tried and have gone from hardship to hardship. And sometimes we wonder if we will ever be happy. Understand this, true happiness is only found in the Lord so you have to seek the Lord. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
If you read the Hebrews 11 especially verses 32 to the end, you will learn that the prophets and men of God were ill-treated, maimed and killed for God’s sake. Not belittling what you might have gone through, you never read in the Word that these guys avenged or revenged what was done to them or someone else. It was always the Lord who fought the battles. 2 Chronicles 20:15 says, “…Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle [is] not yours, but God’s.” These prophets are witnesses and their stories serve as encouragement for us to be able to endure hardship. The essence of my message is found in 1 Peter 2:23 that says, “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed[ himself] to him that judgeth righteously.” This is referring to the Lord when He walked the earth.
1. He was hated but did not retaliate with hate.
2. He suffered but did not threaten those that opposed Him.
3. He had faith in the Father whom He knew was just and hence entrusted Himself into His hands for He knew God repays everyone according to what they have done. This liberated Him to be able to forgive them as it is written in Luke 23:34, “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
This is a call to faith and renewal of our minds. Jesus assures us that we will face hardship in our lives and there is good reason too. Hebrews 12:7 says, “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” The writer also quotes from Proverbs 3:11-12 which says, “My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son [in whom] he delighteth.” There are two instructions in these verses. The first is not to despise the Lord’s discipline. To despise God’s discipline is show contempt for it. For example, you might blame God for your suffering out of a bitter heart. Remember bitterness is not a fruit of the Spirit and hence such a response is ungodly coming from an ungodly heart. If you do not see hardship and suffering as way of God’s discipline, thus despising it, you will not develop as a Christian to maturity and hence you could develop a bitter and spiteful heart thus stunting your spiritual growth as a result of this immaturity. After all God disciplines us that we may share in His holiness and without holiness no one will see God. Hebrews 12:9-10, “Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected [us,] and we gave [them] reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened [us] after their own pleasure; but he for [our] profit, that [we] might be partakers of his holiness” and v14, “Follow peace with all [men,] and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” The second instruction is not to become weary. To become weary means giving up. You would have given your life to Jesus but then you begin to face hardship and so are tempted to let go of your confession of faith and if you grow weary, you give up. God is encouraging us not to grow weary but to see hardship as His discipline for us so that we can mature as Christians. Remember the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-23). In that parable, Jesus talks of seed that falls on rocky places. He explains the rocky places to be trouble and persecution and says when they come “He is offended.” To be offended is to be hurt and upset to the point you give up i.e. fall away from the faith and no good fruit is produced as a result of this. So in a nutshell we are being instructed to take hardship as discipline from God and not to give up as we endure it for if we give up our faith, it may be an indication that we never made that commitment to God in the first place.
Don’t get me wrong here. It is a fact that hardship and suffering are painful. Hebrews 12:11 says, “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” Look at what the Word says; later it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. Can you see that at this point you are now producing good fruit? All the time you were suffering hardship, God was making you a good tree so that you produce good fruit. Remember Matthew 12:33. God is taking the evil the world had stored in you, out of you and is storing good in you so that you produce good fruit. Oh how wonderful the mercy of God is. Now look at the beauty of this, 1 Peter 1:6-7 says, “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” 2 Corinthians 4:17 says “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding [and] eternal weight of glory.” What does this mean? First, the hardship is not forever. Do not ever be deceived that it is forever. It is the glory that is forever. The hardship is testing our faith and proving it to be genuine should we remain committed to God and instead of destroying us, the hardship is actually working in our favour. In 1 Peter 1:6-7 it is testing and proving our faith to be genuine, in 2 Corinthians 4:17 it is achieving for us the glory of God, in Hebrews 12:11 it is transforming us into the likeness of God, in Romans 5:3-4 it is giving us hope and in 1 Peter 2:19 it is getting us commendation from God. At this point you can say “Come on!! Bring it on!!” Yes, bring on the hardship because it can only work in your favour. This is in keeping with Romans 8:28 which says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.” In all situations get the focus of yourself and focus on Jesus Christ (Hebrews 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 4:18). When Jesus suffered on earth He kept His focus on the glory to come though at that point it was unseen and the suffering was tangible to Him. That focus enabled Him to endure the suffering and overcome. We should do likewise and keep our focus on Jesus Christ, whom we have not seen and that will empower us to endure suffering, though unjust, because we know that He is just. This is an aspect of faith because as 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
In conclusion we have learnt that it is the condition of our hearts that determines our response to any given situation. We have also learnt that the situation itself is not the issue but the heart. After all that is what God is after, your heart. We have learnt that these situations are there for our benefit rather than our destruction if we see them in that light. Remember when Joseph was showing mercy to his brothers, he said this “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; [but] God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as [it is] this day, to save much people alive.” -Genesis 50:20. This is in keeping with Hebrews 12:11.
So what are we to do? First, we should repent from the sinful ways in which we respond to hardship in our lives. This was as a result of the evil stored in our hearts. Think of the times we repaid evil for evil. The days we did not forgive those that ill-treated us. The days we cursed those that brought us suffering, abuse, insult, scorn, rejection and hatred. The days we despised the Lord’s discipline by calling Him unfair when He brought what was good for us. The days we think of giving up as a result of the hardship we suffer because we never let His Word take root in our lives. The days we lose our faith in Him who could save us and days we hardened our hearts. God is merciful and will forgive you. He loves you just as you are and you do not have to prove yourself to receive His acceptance but just put your trust in Him and you won’t be put to shame. Second, ask God for the healing of our hearts from the pain we suffered. He is faithful in this and will do it. Many of us are walking around with baggage as a result of the bitterness and hurt we never dealt with. Offload it on to Jesus for He makes this call in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light.” After all He also came to bind up the broken-hearted (Isaiah 61:1). Third, let us endure hardship with an attitude of faith in God who is just. Always considering the suffering Jesus endured as an example to us plus the many witnesses of Hebrews 11. After all, it is through faith we receive grace for salvation and be able to reign as kings (Ephesians 2:8 and Romans 5:17). Fourth, allow God to transform us into His likeness by being obedient to the Word of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. The more we practice the Word, the more we become like the Word. Fifth, seek God and His righteousness. We were commanded to seek this first for He promises us that everything else shall be added to us. Sixth, fix our gaze on Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith. Like Paul said in Philippians 3:13-14, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do,] forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” That mark is Jesus Christ so let us also forget the past, fix our eyes on Jesus Christ and run the race. This calls for commitment. Seventh, make a commitment to pursue holiness without which no one will see God. God bless you.
The Lord in this passage was warning people against false prophets and false teachers. However, He gave them a way in which they could test their truthfulness. This was to examine their fruit. If it was bad they were false and if it was good they were genuine. However, this is not the thrust of my discussion but the principle contained in these verses is what I want to teach concerning the way people respond to situations in their lives and why.
For fruit to be good, the tree has to be good. For the fruit to be bad, the tree has to be bad. Now the Lord said, “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things." - Matthew 12: 34-35. Before that he had said “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by [ his] fruit.” - Matthew 12: 33. From this we see that the condition of one’s heart determines what comes out of it. As you can see, good things come out of good stored within not from the outside and also, whatever fills the heart is what comes out. Example, if kindness and compassion are stored up in your heart, you will be kind and compassionate to people. Likewise if hatred and bitterness is within your heart, you will be spiteful and quick to despise people. Unless your heart is full of goodness you cannot bear good fruit. The Word declares this as you have seen in the scripture. Matthew 15:18-19 says, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies”
What I want to teach is that, the condition of your heart is what determines the way you respond to situations in your life. Many people have repaid evil for evil and have justified themselves by saying if the other person had not done such and such a thing to them they would not have done what they did. Or they say what they did was justified on the basis of what the other person had done. For example, you could retaliate when someone insults you or ill-treats you and say it was justified but listen to the Word, "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but[ rather] give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance[ is] mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” - Romans 12:19. Clearly it is not our responsibility to punish any wrongdoing done to us or anyone else but God’s. We need to graft this into our hearts and minds, because when we revenge or avenge, we have taken that responsibility upon ourselves in direct disobedience to the Word of God. So what do I mean when I say the condition of your heart determines your response to situations in your life? The nature of your heart and what’s in it is what determines your response. If your heart is Godly, you will respond to situations in a Godly manner. If your heart is evil you will respond to situations in an ungodly manner. Here is an illustration, if you put salt in water it dissolves, but if you put sand, it does not dissolve. Because they differ in nature, salt dissolves whereas sand doesn’t. What do I mean? The common thing in both situations is water, so water is not the issue. The issue is the substances being put into the water. If we take water to be the situation and salt and sand to be two different people, we see that they react differently to the same situation. What am I saying? It is who you are and the condition of your heart that determine the way you respond to a situation and not the situation itself. I have used an example that I made up. Let me use one the Lord Himself used. Read Matthew 7:24-27. In this passage, the Lord says putting His Word into practice is like a wise man that builds his house on a rock. When the storm comes, the house remains standing. He also says to not put His Word into practice is like a foolish man that builds his house on sand. When the storm comes, the house is destroyed. The principle is the same. The common thing in both situations is the storm. What is different is where the houses were built. If we take the storm to be the situation and the foundations of the houses to be the condition of the heart, we see that as a result of the differing conditions of these hearts the responses were different to the same situation. Here is another declaration: it is not the situation that matters but the condition of your heart or your character that matters. Do not dwell on what has happened but learn from your response what the condition of your heart is. The more you are refined into the likeness of Jesus Christ, the more appropriately you will respond to situations in your life.
Many of us have been hurt, insulted, persecuted, abused, used, despised, scorned, rejected, ignored, battered, hated, tempted, tried and have gone from hardship to hardship. And sometimes we wonder if we will ever be happy. Understand this, true happiness is only found in the Lord so you have to seek the Lord. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
If you read the Hebrews 11 especially verses 32 to the end, you will learn that the prophets and men of God were ill-treated, maimed and killed for God’s sake. Not belittling what you might have gone through, you never read in the Word that these guys avenged or revenged what was done to them or someone else. It was always the Lord who fought the battles. 2 Chronicles 20:15 says, “…Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle [is] not yours, but God’s.” These prophets are witnesses and their stories serve as encouragement for us to be able to endure hardship. The essence of my message is found in 1 Peter 2:23 that says, “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed[ himself] to him that judgeth righteously.” This is referring to the Lord when He walked the earth.
1. He was hated but did not retaliate with hate.
2. He suffered but did not threaten those that opposed Him.
3. He had faith in the Father whom He knew was just and hence entrusted Himself into His hands for He knew God repays everyone according to what they have done. This liberated Him to be able to forgive them as it is written in Luke 23:34, “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
This is a call to faith and renewal of our minds. Jesus assures us that we will face hardship in our lives and there is good reason too. Hebrews 12:7 says, “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” The writer also quotes from Proverbs 3:11-12 which says, “My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son [in whom] he delighteth.” There are two instructions in these verses. The first is not to despise the Lord’s discipline. To despise God’s discipline is show contempt for it. For example, you might blame God for your suffering out of a bitter heart. Remember bitterness is not a fruit of the Spirit and hence such a response is ungodly coming from an ungodly heart. If you do not see hardship and suffering as way of God’s discipline, thus despising it, you will not develop as a Christian to maturity and hence you could develop a bitter and spiteful heart thus stunting your spiritual growth as a result of this immaturity. After all God disciplines us that we may share in His holiness and without holiness no one will see God. Hebrews 12:9-10, “Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected [us,] and we gave [them] reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened [us] after their own pleasure; but he for [our] profit, that [we] might be partakers of his holiness” and v14, “Follow peace with all [men,] and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” The second instruction is not to become weary. To become weary means giving up. You would have given your life to Jesus but then you begin to face hardship and so are tempted to let go of your confession of faith and if you grow weary, you give up. God is encouraging us not to grow weary but to see hardship as His discipline for us so that we can mature as Christians. Remember the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-23). In that parable, Jesus talks of seed that falls on rocky places. He explains the rocky places to be trouble and persecution and says when they come “He is offended.” To be offended is to be hurt and upset to the point you give up i.e. fall away from the faith and no good fruit is produced as a result of this. So in a nutshell we are being instructed to take hardship as discipline from God and not to give up as we endure it for if we give up our faith, it may be an indication that we never made that commitment to God in the first place.
Don’t get me wrong here. It is a fact that hardship and suffering are painful. Hebrews 12:11 says, “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” Look at what the Word says; later it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. Can you see that at this point you are now producing good fruit? All the time you were suffering hardship, God was making you a good tree so that you produce good fruit. Remember Matthew 12:33. God is taking the evil the world had stored in you, out of you and is storing good in you so that you produce good fruit. Oh how wonderful the mercy of God is. Now look at the beauty of this, 1 Peter 1:6-7 says, “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” 2 Corinthians 4:17 says “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding [and] eternal weight of glory.” What does this mean? First, the hardship is not forever. Do not ever be deceived that it is forever. It is the glory that is forever. The hardship is testing our faith and proving it to be genuine should we remain committed to God and instead of destroying us, the hardship is actually working in our favour. In 1 Peter 1:6-7 it is testing and proving our faith to be genuine, in 2 Corinthians 4:17 it is achieving for us the glory of God, in Hebrews 12:11 it is transforming us into the likeness of God, in Romans 5:3-4 it is giving us hope and in 1 Peter 2:19 it is getting us commendation from God. At this point you can say “Come on!! Bring it on!!” Yes, bring on the hardship because it can only work in your favour. This is in keeping with Romans 8:28 which says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.” In all situations get the focus of yourself and focus on Jesus Christ (Hebrews 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 4:18). When Jesus suffered on earth He kept His focus on the glory to come though at that point it was unseen and the suffering was tangible to Him. That focus enabled Him to endure the suffering and overcome. We should do likewise and keep our focus on Jesus Christ, whom we have not seen and that will empower us to endure suffering, though unjust, because we know that He is just. This is an aspect of faith because as 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
In conclusion we have learnt that it is the condition of our hearts that determines our response to any given situation. We have also learnt that the situation itself is not the issue but the heart. After all that is what God is after, your heart. We have learnt that these situations are there for our benefit rather than our destruction if we see them in that light. Remember when Joseph was showing mercy to his brothers, he said this “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; [but] God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as [it is] this day, to save much people alive.” -Genesis 50:20. This is in keeping with Hebrews 12:11.
So what are we to do? First, we should repent from the sinful ways in which we respond to hardship in our lives. This was as a result of the evil stored in our hearts. Think of the times we repaid evil for evil. The days we did not forgive those that ill-treated us. The days we cursed those that brought us suffering, abuse, insult, scorn, rejection and hatred. The days we despised the Lord’s discipline by calling Him unfair when He brought what was good for us. The days we think of giving up as a result of the hardship we suffer because we never let His Word take root in our lives. The days we lose our faith in Him who could save us and days we hardened our hearts. God is merciful and will forgive you. He loves you just as you are and you do not have to prove yourself to receive His acceptance but just put your trust in Him and you won’t be put to shame. Second, ask God for the healing of our hearts from the pain we suffered. He is faithful in this and will do it. Many of us are walking around with baggage as a result of the bitterness and hurt we never dealt with. Offload it on to Jesus for He makes this call in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light.” After all He also came to bind up the broken-hearted (Isaiah 61:1). Third, let us endure hardship with an attitude of faith in God who is just. Always considering the suffering Jesus endured as an example to us plus the many witnesses of Hebrews 11. After all, it is through faith we receive grace for salvation and be able to reign as kings (Ephesians 2:8 and Romans 5:17). Fourth, allow God to transform us into His likeness by being obedient to the Word of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. The more we practice the Word, the more we become like the Word. Fifth, seek God and His righteousness. We were commanded to seek this first for He promises us that everything else shall be added to us. Sixth, fix our gaze on Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith. Like Paul said in Philippians 3:13-14, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do,] forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” That mark is Jesus Christ so let us also forget the past, fix our eyes on Jesus Christ and run the race. This calls for commitment. Seventh, make a commitment to pursue holiness without which no one will see God. God bless you.
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