Tuesday, December 16,
2014, 9:51 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “For Our Nation.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Psalm 15 (NIV84).
A psalm of David.
Lord,
who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Who may live on your holy hill?
He whose walk is blameless
and who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from his
heart
and has no slander on his
tongue,
who does his neighbor no wrong
and casts no slur on his
fellowman,
who despises a vile man
but honors those who fear the Lord,
who keeps his oath
even when it hurts,
who lends his money without
usury
and does not accept a bribe
against the innocent.
He who does these things
will never be shaken.
Blameless Walks
If we want to
live (abide) in God’s holy presence, among his family members, and with him as
our covering of protection, and as our refuge from the storms of this life - in
sweet fellowship and communion with him - then we must walk blamelessly, not in
the sense of in absolute sinless perfection, but in accord with the truth of
God’s word; with integrity and purity of mind and heart, and in unadulterated commitment
and surrender to him, no longer conformed to the ways of this sinful world, but
transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God (See: 1 Jn. 1-5).
So, how can we do this?
We can’t! In our flesh dwells no good thing. Our righteousness is as filthy
rags. We can do nothing to earn or to deserve to be included in God’s
household. That is why God the Father sent his Son Jesus Christ to die for our
sins so that we could be made righteous by the blood of the Lamb. Only through
faith in Jesus Christ can we be declared blameless in God’s sight, yet such
faith is not merely some nod in God’s direction, either. True Biblical faith
requires that we die with Christ to living according to sin and self, and that
we are raised with him by the Spirit of God to walk in newness of life, no
longer according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit who is now within us
(See: Luke 9:23-25; Ac. 26:16-18; Ro. 6-8; 2 Co. 5:15; Gal. 2:20; Eph.
4:17-24; Tit. 2:11-14; 1 Pet. 2:24-25).
In other words, this is not just Old Covenant teaching. This
is New Covenant teaching, too. True faith shows itself to be genuine by what we
do, not in works of the flesh, but in humble surrender to our Lord God in
cooperating fully with his work of grace in our lives. If we are claiming to
have faith in Jesus Christ but we are still walking according to the flesh,
then we are liars. Again, this is not suggesting that we will live in sinless
perfection, or that we will never fail, but rather that we are surrendered to
our Lord, committed to obedience to his word, submissive to his will for our
lives, and that how we live our lives day in and day out should match what we
say we believe, i.e. that Jesus Christ did save us from not only the punishment
of sin but from the control sin had had over our lives before we met Jesus.
Speaks Truth
God knows who is
speaking the truth and who is telling lies. There is nothing hidden from God’s
sight. We live in an age of deception. TV and the internet have greatly
expanded the possibilities for so many different ways in which people can lie
to one another and deceive and trick one another. We have to be so discerning,
and pray, pray, pray so that we do not fall prey to deception. Not one of us is
exempt, either. Deceivers are very stealthy. In other words, not all deception
is easily discerned because so much of it is mixed or masked with just enough
truth to make it look real or to sound legitimate. We have to be bathed in the
word of God and not filling our minds with the filth of this world, though, if
we are going to be discerning of what is in error. And, we have to continually
test what we hear to see if it is consistent with God’s word and with his
divine character and will.
The sad reality
here, though, is that we are not talking about a problem that exists merely
among the unsaved of this world. Deception is rampant in the church, too, and
coming from the shepherds of the people, and from the people themselves. So
many Christians are living no different from people in this world. They watch
all the same TV shows, tell the same jokes, and try to make everyone happy,
comfortable and entertained so they don’t feel bad about their sin. They have
bought into a fake gospel message which then they disseminate so that others
can have the same false hope as them. This fake gospel requires nothing of the “sinner
turned saint” at all – no death to sin, no submission, no surrender and no
obedience to God’s words. He does not have to walk uprightly at all. There is
no need for the fear of the Lord, because he has his ticket into heaven, so he
is good to go.
Because of this,
many people pray a prayer thinking they have their ticket into heaven and thus
have carte blanche to continue living how they want without guilt and without
need for remorse. Or, maybe they have been Christians for many years, and they
used to believe in the gospel taught by the apostles, but they have since
gotten so caught up in sin that they are looking for a loophole (a way out),
and so this fake gospel fits the bill. Freedom in Christ for them means sin doesn’t
matter to God anymore so they can toss away those boundaries God set in place
for us and discard them as though they are nothing because they have bought
into the lie which says obedience and surrender to God and to his word is “legalism”
and true grace releases them from such “legalism.” Yet, this makes no sense,
because they are contradicting the very words of God in Tit. 2:11-14:
For the grace of God has
appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and
worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,
looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God
and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every
lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession,
zealous for good deeds.
No Wrong
As those who love
God and who have been called according to his purpose for our lives we must
walk in the Spirit and in obedience to the Word of God. If we are truly walking
in the Spirit, by faith, and we are daily submitting our flesh to the control
of the Spirit within us, then we should also love our fellow humans with a
godlike love. This means we will not willfully or purposefully do what is
harmful to others, by God’s standards of what is harmful, not by human
standards. What is harmful is hating, murdering, lying, cheating, stealing,
slandering, gossiping, persecuting, punishing, committing adultery, and saying harsh
and mean-spirited words meant to hurt them, et al. In 1 John we read that if we
say we love God but we hate our brothers, we are liars.
Who Honors
Lastly, we must
be a people of God who hate what God hates and who honor what or who God
honors. We have this so backwards in today’s church. What is vile is honored
among men, even in the church - among Christians - and what God decides is
honorable is despised. The church shies away from talking about sin, judgment,
damnation, obedience and surrender to Christ and to his word because it makes
people uncomfortable and it might offend some people they want to have come
back to their meetings. Much of today’s church likes to keep it light and
happy, non-judgmental, and non-threatening. So, they alter the gospel to make
it fit with today’s culture so that they can attract large crowds of people
into their meetings, and so the world will feel comfortable and will want to
come back. They are so concerned about not offending people, but they are not
concerned that they are offending God.
And yet they will
allow and will promote movies in their worship services via the use of movie
clips as sermon illustrations, thinking they are connecting with the people.
They are, but many of these movie clips come from R-rated movies or from movies
with sexual promiscuity, nudity, filthy language, sexual perversion, and/or
which glorify treating others different from us with disdain and with disregard
and/or with mockery.
Even pastors will
use religious humor in their sermons which mock God and his word, and they
think nothing of it. And, yet these same pastors will preach against those who
take God seriously and who hold to the gospel as taught by the apostles, and
they will bring them to public mockery or will teach their people to not
encourage participation by such people. I have heard pastors stand on the
platform and tell people in the church that if they are not on-board or “on the
same page” with the leadership in their man-made goals and marketing schemes
that they should go someplace else. I have had at least two pastors tell me
they would be glad to help me find someplace that would be a “better fit” for
me. One of them told me he was warned in
his training to avoid people like me with strong convictions. Is this what God’s
word teaches us? That we should avoid other believers because they hold to the
truths of God’s holy word as taught by the apostles?
We need to put
away all of these schemes and idols of human origin and we need to humble
ourselves before God in submission and surrender to his will, and we need to
take God and his word seriously. He will judge his adulterous church, yet not
to destroy her, but to rescue her from her adultery so that he can revive and
renew her. God is calling to his church to repent and to return to him. Honor him
as holy and stop giving honor to what is vile.
For Our Nation /
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting.
Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently
calling
You to follow Him in
all ways.
Trust Him with your
life today.
Make Him your Lord and
your Savior.
Turn from your sin.
Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of
your sin;
Cleanse your heart,
made new within.
Men betraying: Our
trust fraying.
On our knees to God
we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us
answers
That are only found in
Him.
God is sovereign over
all things.
Nothing from His mind
escaping.
He has all things
under His command,
And will work all for
good.
Jesus Christ is gently
calling
You to follow Him in
all ways.
Men deceiving: we’re
believing
In our Lord, and
interceding
For our nation and its
people
To obey their God
today.
He is our hope for our
future.
For our wounds He
offers suture.
He is all we need for
this life.
Trust Him with your
life today.
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