by HARVEYOPP | Apr 1, 2014 | Scott Henry
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).
Conformity to the world is the sin of many professing Christians. Many think they’ve found a way to serve both God and mammon. But Scripture calls the redeemed of Christ to resist conformity to the spirit of this age. As the Apostle John wrote, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; is not of the Father but is of the world” (1 John 2:15-16). And James tells us, “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4).
As believers, we are strangers and pilgrims on the earth (Heb. 11:13). Heaven is our country (Phil. 3:20) and the Lord Jesus is our King (Rev. 15:3). What does a believer have to do with people, places, and things that promote a spirit of unrighteousness and irreverence towards our holy God? (2 Cor. 6:14-18) What conformity does a believer have to a place where things are purposely designed to indulge sinful passions and eliminate all thoughts of God? The redeemed are those who have been translated from the realm of darkness and death into the realm of light and life in Jesus Christ. And so the Apostle Paul declares to every believer, “…for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light…” (Ephesians 5:8).
Therefore, we are commanded not to adopt the sinful customs, desires, ideologies, attitudes, actions, or thoughts of the rebellious people in the land where we sojourn. It’s the duty of every believer to redeem the time, to walk with God, and to do all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and for His glory! (1 Cor. 10:31) In this way we are truly living as salt and light in the midst of a dark world.
by HARVEYOPP | Mar 29, 2014 | Scott Henry
“An ungodly man digs up evil, and it is on his lips like a burning fire. A perverse man sows strife, and a whisperer separates the best of friends” (Proverbs 16:27-28).
The words that flow out of our mouth are not neutral … they either edify or tear down others. Many of us grew up as children hearing or saying these words, “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” But if you have been on the receiving end of a sharp tongue you know that words do indeed hurt.
Words often bring heartache that’s harder to heal than a broken bone or a pulled muscle. If you were given ten cents for every kind word you spoke, and paid five cents for every unkind word spoken, would you be rich or poor? Our words are not neutral … they either encourage or discourage others. “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad” (Proverbs 12:25).
A story is told of a church member who slandered another member of the same congregation. Upon discovering what he said was untrue he went to his pastor for help. The pastor told him to take a bag of feathers and place one feather on each doorstep of the community, and this he did. He then returned to the pastor announcing that he had completed the task. But the pastor sternly ordered him to take his bag and go pick up every one of those feathers he had dropped. But the man replied, “By this time the wind has blown those feathers away and they are irrecoverable.” And then the pastor reminded him that words are like feathers; once they’re dropped, and that easily, it is impossible to get them back.
Words are like a two-edged sword; they can be used for good or evil. You decide how your words are used. Remember this thought … there is no such thing as a meaningless word. Every word you speak has the power to help or hinder another person who has been created as the image of God. Don’t allow your words to become a stumbling block to others. Use your words to edify and uplift because it brings glory to God and encouragement to others! “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver” (Proverbs 25:11). “The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness” (Proverbs 15:2). “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one” (Col. 4:6).
by HARVEYOPP | Mar 28, 2014 | Matt Powell
The devil wants you in hell. He wants to destroy you. That is his whole mission in life. He stalks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
The devil doesn’t care about abortion, or gay marriage, or evolution. Believing in the Biblical teaching on any of those doctrines will not save you. He only cares about one thing- the cross of Christ. Only faith in the cross can save you. So the devil uses all those other things to open up chinks in the Christian’s trust in the Bible so that he can attack the one thing he really cares about.
That’s why everything the Bible says, including what it says about abortion, gay marriage or evolution matters- all of those things exist inside the wall of the infallibility of Scripture. If you let the enemy inside your wall because he promises he won’t steal your greatest treasure, but only some smaller things that you think are unimportant, don’t complain when he doesn’t stop with those things. If you let the thief in your house when he promises only to steal a little money, you have only yourself to blame when he steals it all.
Don’t let the devil inside your house. Don’t believe that he will stop with abortion, or gay marriage, or evolution, any more than Hitler stopped with the Sudetenland. He’s after the whole kit and caboodle and he won’t stop until he gets it. Defend the wall at every point, even and especially where it’s most seriously attacked. Defend the authority of Scripture on every point regardless of how unpopular it is. Because regardless of what you think is at stake, the same thing is always at stake when it comes to the authority of Scripture- the cross of Christ, and your soul.
by HARVEYOPP | Mar 28, 2014 | CH Spurgeon
It is quite certain that those whom Christ has washed in His precious blood need not make a confession of sin as culprits or criminals before God the Judge, because Christ has forever taken away all their sins in a legal sense, so that they no longer stand where they can be condemned, but are once and for all accepted in the Beloved.
But having become children, and offending as children, should they not every day go before their heavenly Father and confess their sin and acknowledge their iniquity in that character? Nature teaches that it is the duty of erring children to make a confession to their earthly father, and the grace of God in the heart teaches us that we, as Christians, owe the same duty to our heavenly Father. We daily offend and ought not to rest without daily pardon. Suppose that my trespasses against my Father are not at once taken to Him to be washed away by the cleansing power of the Lord Jesus–what will be the consequence? If I have not sought forgiveness and been washed from these offenses against my Father, I shall feel at a distance from Him; I shall doubt His love for me; I shall tremble before Him; I shall be afraid to pray to Him: I shall grow like the prodigal who, although still a child, was yet far away from his father. But if with a child’s sorrow at offending so gracious and loving a Parent, I go to Him and tell Him everything, and do not rest until I realize that I am forgiven, then I shall feel a holy love to my Father and shall go through my Christian career not only as saved, but as one enjoying present peace in God through Jesus Christ my Lord.
There is a wide distinction between confessing sin as a culprit and confessing sin as a child. The Father’s bosom is the place for penitent confessions. We have been cleansed once for all, but our feet still need to be washed from the defilement of our daily walk as children of God.
by HARVEYOPP | Mar 28, 2014 | Scott Henry
“Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer…” (Romans 12:12).
Why is life filled with so many problems? The first reason is simple … sin! Sin is the reason for the tribulation and trials in our lives. Before Adam fell into sin there was no sickness, disease, death, or trouble. Tribulation immediately began after the fall of man. We read in Genesis 3 that the woman’s child-bearing will be filled with pain and sorrow as a result of sin. We also read that the ground is cursed because of man’s sin, and it now bears thorns and thistles. As a result of sin, man now sweats in order to provide food for his family.
Believers also have tribulation because of the hatred of the world. John 15:19-20: “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” In other words, if you’re faithful to Christ’s Word by standing for the truth you will be persecuted by the unbelieving world. “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12).
But there’s another reason for our tribulation … God is ultimately the source of all our troubles and difficulties. “Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, when the Lord has not commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that woe and well-being proceed?” (Lam. 3:37-38). God rules and governs everything in this world, therefore when we get sick or when a loved one dies we have to say, “This is the Lord’s will … this is what God has brought to pass.” That’s Job’s confession: “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10). Notice also what David says in 2 Samuel 16:10-11 when he’s being cursed by Shimei: “So let him curse, because the LORD has said to him, ‘Curse David.’ Who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’” And David said to Abishai and all his servants, “See how my son who came from my own body seeks my life. How much more now may this Benjamite? Let him alone, and let him curse; for so the LORD has ordered him.”
Ultimately God sends all the tribulation that comes into our lives and He does so for His glory and the good of every believer … to conform us into Christ’s image (Isaiah 43:7; Romans 8:28-29). And we must understand and believe this truth if we are going to respond Biblically to the trials that inevitably come into all of our lives (James 1:2). According to our text, we are called to be “patient in tribulation.” The word “patient” literally means “to remain, persevere or endure.” In other words, our calling as believers when we suffer tribulation is to persevere with a calm courage that trusts God. To be patient in tribulation doesn’t mean inactivity … notice that our text also exhorts believers to “rejoice in hope, and continue steadfastly in prayer.” Are you going through tribulation? Then rejoice in hope because hope in God never disappoints (Rom. 5:5), and continue steadfast in prayer to God expressing your love, your need, and your thanksgiving to Him knowing that “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1), and that He “will never leave us nor forsake us” (Heb. 13:5). Therefore, we can face any and every trial with confidence knowing that our God, Savior, Redeemer, Good Shepherd, and Friend, Jesus Christ, walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death which causes us to fear no evil but to rest safe and secure in the arms of JESUS!
Recent Comments