Wednesday, August
22, 2012, 5:27 a.m. – The Lord woke me with the song “Seven Woes” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is
listening. I read 1 Corinthians 15 (NIV
1984). As I was reading, then the Lord put the song “No Less” in my mind.
Now, brothers, I
want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on
which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold
firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
For what I received
I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the
third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared… (to many
people)…
If the dead are not
raised,
“Let us eat and
drink,
for tomorrow we die.”
Do not be misled:
“Bad company corrupts good character.” Come back to your senses as you ought,
and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God —I say this to
your shame…
Therefore, my dear
brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the
work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
The Gospel
The gospel was preached to us, we have received it, and it
is upon that gospel that we, as followers of Christ, have taken our stand. So,
what is this gospel, how do we receive it, and what all is entailed in taking
our stand on the gospel?
The gospel, in a nutshell, is Jesus Christ crucified for our
sins, risen from the dead in conquering death, hell, Satan and sin, ascended
into heaven where he lives to intercede for his saints, and coming again one
day to receive his bride (his true church) to himself where we will be with him
forever. Jesus Christ died for our sins so we could be free from the penalty of
sin (death; eternal damnation), and so we could be free from bondage to (the
control of) sin on a day-to-day basis. Jesus Christ said that if anyone would
come after him, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily (die daily to
sin) and follow (obey) Christ. In dying for our sins, he also brought us life
with God for eternity, and restored fellowship with God, so that not only are
we free from sin, but we are free to worship and obey God.
We receive this gospel, i.e. we receive Christ Jesus as Lord
and Savior by God’s grace through faith, not of works lest any man should boast
(see Eph. 2:8-9). By faith in Christ, through the power and working of the Holy
Spirit within us, as we cooperate with that work, we put away our former way of
life of sin, and we are made new in the attitude of our minds. We “put on the
new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (see Eph.
4:17-24). Rejecting our former way of life of sin involves repentance – a total
transformation of mind, heart, will and actions away from sin – a working of
the Holy Spirit in our hearts. God convicts our hearts of sin, we respond with
godly sorrow which leads to repentance that leads to salvation (see 2 Co.
7:10).
To Stand
To take a stand on something means to hold fast to what you
believe; to not waver; to be resolute, determined, committed, firm, unyielding,
steadfast, purposeful and persevering. So, if we are standing on the gospel we
say we believe, that means that we will be steadfast, committed, purposeful and
persevering in what we believe. If we truly believe the gospel, and we truly
understand what that means for the life of the sinner saved by grace, then we
will be resolute not only in making sure we turn from our lives of sin, and we
turn to walk in faithful obedience to Jesus Christ, but we will also be
resolute in letting our lights shine before men, sharing the gospel of Jesus
Christ with others so that they, too, can come to know Christ as Lord and
Savior. This will be top priority in our lives, too!
We are saved by this gospel IF we hold firmly (persevere;
remain steadfast) to the word preached to us, that is the same word the
apostles preached. Otherwise we have believed in vain. Yes, it is possible to
believe in vain (unsuccessfully). The parable of the seed (Matthew 13) teaches
about four types of soil. The first type of soil doesn’t even have the chance
for the seed to even begin to take root. The evil one immediately snatches away
the truth that was sown in the person’s heart. The second type of soil is rocky
(unsteady). The person receives the word with joy, but it has no root, so when
trouble or persecution come, the person falls away. The third type of soil is
thorny (hard; difficult), so the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of
wealth choke out the truth, making it unfruitful in the person’s life.
Only one kind of soil is the kind that holds firmly, and
that is the kind that hears, understands, applies what it hears, obeys, and
yields a crop many times what was sown. In other words, it is possible to think
you are saved, but not to truly be saved, because the truth of what you heard
never really took root in your heart to the point to where you turned from your
life of sin, turned to walk in faithful obedience to Christ, and produced
(yielded) a spiritual harvest in your own life and in the lives of others.
What We Believe
Paul went into a lengthy discussion on the subject of the
resurrection of the dead, because this was a hotly debated topic in his day and
there were many who did not believe that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead
or that we will be raised, as well. He stated that if Christ had not been
raised, our preaching (sharing the gospel) and our faith is useless, and more
than that, we would be false witnesses about God. Not only that, but if Christ
had not been raised, we would still be in our sins. He said, “If only for this
life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” If the
dead are not raised, then we might as well eat and drink, i.e. just have a good
time while we can, for tomorrow we die. Oh, how utterly hopeless, and yet many
people, even some professing Christians live just like that.
We are not to be misled about the resurrection. Jesus Christ
did die for our sins, and he died so we would be free so we could spend
eternity in heaven with God, but not just for that reason alone, because then
what would our lives mean while we are still on the earth? He died to give us
new life now, not just when we get to heaven one day. He died so we could be
transformed in heart and mind away from sin and toward obedience to Christ and
to his commands, and toward fellowship and communion with Almighty God. So, don’t
listen to those who tell you there is no resurrection of the dead, or that
Jesus Christ did not really die for your sins, or there really is no hope so
you might as well do what you want to do while you still can. Also, don’t
listen to those who tell you that you don’t have to turn from your sins and
that obedience to Christ is not required for salvation, for they are selling
you a bill of goods, i.e. they are deceiving you into believing something that
is not true.
Instead, stand firm in the faith that was taught by the
apostles, and as recorded in Scripture, and don’t buy into every teaching of
men being passed off as truth or as the real gospel. Check out what you hear
against the word of God. Know what the word teaches. And, then stand on the
word and let nothing move you from the truth. Satan is a liar and the father of
lies and he will pull out all the stops to get you to back down in your faith
and especially to get you to stop sharing your faith with others. He has swept
across evangelical Christianity in America with so many false teachings of men
it would make your head spin. We need to be wise and discerning about what is
evil and we need to cling to what is good. And, we need to always keep on
keeping on in doing what God has called each and every one of us to do,
including the individual callings he has for us. And, the encouragement here is
that, if what we are doing is of God, our labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Amen! Hallelujah!
No Less / An Original
Work / March 19, 2012
I can do no
less than praise You,
Lord, for all
You’ve done for me.
You died for my
sins to save me,
So I would be
set free.
I adore You!
Lord, I praise You!
Jesus, Savior,
King of kings!
You provided my
redemption.
Your grace has
pardoned me.
I can do no
less than serve You.
Lord, Your
witness I would be,
Telling others
of Your love,
And why You
died on that tree.
Tell of how You
gave of Your life,
So from sin
we’d be set free,
So we could
worship You forever,
And live
eternally.
I can do no
less than love You,
Lord, for You
have first loved me.
You gave of
Your life so willing,
Because You
cared for me.
Turn from my
sin! Obey freely!
Live for You
each passing day.
Read Your word,
and follow Your lead,
Lord, as I
humbly pray.
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