Saturday, October 15, 2016, 6:30 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “For Our Nation.” Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. I read Psalm 50:16-23
(NASB).
Who Hates Discipline? (vv. 16-21)
But to the wicked God says,
“What right have you to tell of My statutes
And to take My covenant in your mouth?
“For you hate discipline,
And you cast My words behind you.
“When you see a thief, you are pleased with him,
And you associate with adulterers.
“You let your mouth loose in evil
And your tongue frames deceit.
“You sit and speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
“These things you have done and I kept silence;
You thought that I was just like you;
I will reprove you and state the case in order before
your eyes.
Who are the wicked? Well, wicked
means “sinful,” so, in one sense, they are all who have rejected Jesus Christ
as Lord and as Savior of their lives. They were born into sin, as we all were, because
of the sin of Adam, yet they have not yet been saved from their sins via faith
in Jesus Christ, who loved them, and who gave his life up for them so that they
could be set free from slavery to sin. Yet, the wicked, in another sense, are all
those who actively live wickedly, i.e. who conduct their lives in immorality,
hate, deception, and corruption, etc. They are the ungodly, the vile, the
crooked and the criminal.
In this Biblical context,
they are also the hypocritical who make a profession of faith in God, but yet work
against him, and not for him. This is not to say that all who are true
Christians never sin. We do, but it should not define us, nor should it be our
lifestyle, for if we walk according to our flesh, we will die without Christ,
but if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, we will
live with Christ for eternity (See: Ro. 8:1-14; cf. Ro. 6:1-23). Jesus said
that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self and take up his cross
daily (daily die to sin and self) and follow (obey) him. He said if we hold on
to our old lives (of living for sin), we will lose them for eternity, but if we
lose our lives for the sake of Christ, i.e. if we are crucified with Christ in
death to sin, then our lives will be saved for eternity (Lu. 9:23-25).
The hypocritical wicked who
are spoken of in this psalm are those like the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’
day. They clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are
full of robbery and self-indulgence. They make pretenses of righteousness and
holiness, but it is just a cover-up for greed, immorality and all manner of
evil. Among these hypocritical liars are various church goers, preachers and
politicians who claim Christianity as their religion, but whose lifestyles and
words speak just the opposite.
According to Wikipedia, there
are 230 million Christians here in the USA, which represents over 70% of our
population. So, if you are a politician in America, and you want to get the
majority of the votes in an election, you just might be working a scheme to
appeal to the Christian community, and you might even claim to be a Christian
just to get elected.
As well, “church” has become
big business in our society today, because it is just like any other business
selling a product and marketing that product to its customer base, in hopes
that the populace will choose their place of business over all competitors. The
church has also become a social club and a place to go for good clean family
entertainment. People from all walks of life gather together in “churches” to
hear a good band play, to enjoy clean entertainment, to listen to feel-good
messages (pep talks), and to make friends. So, preachers may be guilty of
making a profession of Christ just to build their businesses, all the while
they are manipulating the people and are using them, in many cases, to make
names for themselves.
But, even though these
hypocritical liars profess to know God/Christ, their hearts are far from him.
They hate Jesus’ instructions. Well, they hate the messages they don’t like,
but will accept the ones that sound good to their itching ears. They pick out a
few verses out of the Bible, out of context, in order to build their doctrine
of salvation, while ignoring the bulk of teaching on salvation in scripture,
because those scriptures don’t fit with their theology. Thus, they water down
the gospel to make it more appealing to human flesh, and they teach that God
does not require anything of us – no repentance, no obedience, and no
submission to Christ and to his cross. To them, “faith” in Jesus is just words someone
utters in a prayer, which is repeated word-for-word after someone else, after
which they congratulate him or her that they now have heaven guaranteed to
them, no matter how they live from this point forward.
They also bring God down to
our level, as though he is altogether like us. In other words, they humanize
God, and they lessen his power, rule, authority, sovereignty and divine nature
in order to make him more like Santa Claus, or like a doting grandfather in the
sky there to grant our every request, but who will never be angry with us, and
who will never discipline us, but who will delight in us even when we are in
the process of rebelling against him.
This is what is being taught
in many Christian circles, that you can “believe” in Jesus, and have the hope
of heaven when you die, but that God requires nothing of you, and he is
delighted in you and is pleased with you even when you are rebelling against
him and/or are living hypocritical confessions of Christ while you despise his
instructions and reject his discipline. But, they are wrong. This is not what
scripture teaches. Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him
who gave himself up for us. His grace is not a free license to continue in sin
without guilt and without remorse. His grace teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness
and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives
while we wait for Christ’s return.
Who Honors God?
(vv. 22-23)
“Now consider this, you who forget God,
Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none
to deliver.
“He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me;
And to him who orders his way aright
I shall show the salvation of God.”
Those who think they can
claim Christianity and faith in Jesus all the while they continue to live in
sin and do as they please need to know that scripture teaches that if we claim
to have fellowship with God, but we walk (conduct our lives) in darkness (wickedness),
we are liars and the truth is not in us (1 Jn. 1:6). If we walk according to
our sinful flesh, we will die in our sins, without God, and without hope. We
will spend eternity in the fires of hell (or the lake of fire), and we will not
see heaven at all. But, if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of
the flesh, we will live with Christ for eternity (Ro. 8:1-14; cf. Ro. 6:1-23).
Jesus died in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be
fulfilled in us, who have not professed Christ only, but who conduct our lives
according to (in agreement with) the Spirit of God. We who are led by the
Spirit are the sons of God.
When we truly believe in
Jesus Christ as Lord (owner-master) and Savior of our lives, we are crucified
with Christ in death to sin, and we are resurrected with Christ in newness of
life, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24).
The old has gone. The new has come. When we were slaves to sin, we were free
from the control of righteousness, but now that we have become obedient to
death to sin, we are slaves of righteousness. This is our sacrifice of thanksgiving
to God for what he did for us in dying on a cross for our sins. We give of
ourselves to him as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him, which is our
reasonable and acceptable (to God) worship of God.
As well, we are no longer
conformed to the ways of this sinful world, but we are transformed of the
Spirit of God away from sinful lifestyles, to living and walking in Christ’s
righteousness and holiness. This is why Jesus died, and this is the true
meaning of salvation, that he saved us not just from the penalty of sin, but
that he saved us from slavery to sin and he freed us to walk daily in his
righteousness and holiness, all in the power and strength of His Spirit now
living within us, and all for his glory and praise. Amen!
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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