Jeremiah 17:5-6 ESV
“Thus says the Lord:
‘Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the Lord.
He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.’”
This is a huge problem in today’s modern market-driven
churches. They are putting their trust in humans over trust in God. They are
following marketing books, and books written by mere mortals, over and above
the Scriptures, and in place of the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
And many people are being deceived because they are listening
to human beings in place of listening to God, while often believing they are
listening to God because the teachers, preachers, or authors of books use
Scripture to teach their doctrines or philosophies.
Social media helps promote the thinking of humans over the
Scriptures and over the guidance of the Holy Spirit with the use of memes. And a
meme is “a unit of cultural information, as a concept, belief, or practice,
that spreads from person to person in a way analogous to the transmission of
genes” (Source: Collinsdictionary.com).
Many people are reading these memes and they are adopting
them as truth and as their own thinking and beliefs because they sound good,
and they sound right, but often they are not right, though not all are wrong.
But if one looks to memes to tell him what to think instead of to the Scriptures,
and if one does not examine these memes against Scripture, that can be bad.
If we don’t test what we hear against the Scriptures, in
context, and also by comparing Scripture with Scripture, then we may easily be
deceived by charming enchanters who are smooth talkers who weave Scripture into
their teachings to make their teachings appear biblical.
So, be wise and be discerning. Don’t accept everything or
everyone at face value. Test what you hear against the Scriptures in context to
make sure what you are hearing is truth and not lies disguised as truth.
Jeremiah 17:7-8 ESV
“’Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.’”
There are many people who think they are trusting in the
Lord but who are trusting in humans, instead. For, they are trusting in a false
concept of God. They are believing in “another Jesus” and a “different gospel”
from the Jesus of the Scriptures and the gospel as taught by Jesus.
So, if the Lord is truly our trust, and not humans, then
what we believe and what we live should align with the word of God, in context,
under the New Covenant, and with the “whole counsel of God” as Jesus taught and
as Paul claimed that he taught.
So, if you are being taught that you can pray a prayer to
receive Christ or that you can make a public confession of him as Lord and that
you are now saved and bound for heaven no matter what you do from this point
forward, then you are believing a lie, not the truth.
Jesus said that if anyone would come after him he must deny
self, take up his cross daily (daily die to sin and self) and follow (obey)
him. For, he said, if we hold on to our lives (of living in sin and for self)
we will lose them for eternity. But if we lose our lives (die with him to sin
daily) we will then have eternal life with God (Lu 9:23-26; cf. Rom 6:1-23; Rom
8:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9).
And Paul said that the righteous requirement of the law is
fulfilled in us who walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit and
not according to the flesh. He said that if we walk in (practice) sin, we will
die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God (Rom 8:1-17; cf. Gal
5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6).
As well, Paul said that we are slaves to the one we obey,
whether it be to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to
righteousness, which leads to sanctification, which then ends in eternal life
with God. For, he said that Jesus set us free from slavery to sin so that we
might become slaves of God and of his righteousness (Rom 6:1-23; cf. Eph
4:17-24).
So, for our trust to be in our Lord, and not in ourselves,
and not in other human beings, we must surrender our lives to Jesus Christ and
to truly make him Lord (owner-master) of our lives. We must submit to his
sovereign will for our lives, and we must walk in his ways and in his truth
(Rom 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15; Gal 2:20).
Jeremiah 17:9-10 ESV
“The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
‘I the Lord search the heart
and test the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.’”
We read this in the New Testament regarding the heart,
regarding our Lord searching our hearts, and regarding our Lord judging us according
to our works:
“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” Matt 15:18-19 ESV
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matt 5:27-28 ESV
“And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Rom 8:27 ESV
“And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.” Rev 2:23 ESV
“He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.” Rom 2:6-8 ESV
God knows our hearts. He sees what we do. And he will judge
us accordingly. Faith in Jesus Christ is not lip service. Faith is proved
genuine by what we do, by how we live, not merely by what we speak.
Servant of the Lord
An Original Work / July 26, 2012
Based off Romans 1:1-17
Servant of the Lord;
For the gospel you’re set apart.
Promised through the prophets of old:
Jesus, Son of God.
Through Him, and for His name alone,
We receive His grace
To call people, Him to obey;
Coming from their faith.
Servant of the Lord,
For the gospel you’re set apart.
Promised through the prophets of old:
Jesus, Son of God.
You belong to Christ;
Loved by God, and called to be saints;
Serving God with whole heart and mind;
Preaching Jesus Christ;
Always praying for others’ needs;
Helping hand to lend;
Giving courage to others’ faith,
For the praise of God.
You belong to Christ;
Loved by God, and called to be saints;
Serving God with whole heart and mind;
Preaching Jesus Christ.
Servant of the Lord;
Of the gospel, I’m not ashamed;
For salvation, power of God
To those who have faith.
In the gospel find righteousness:
Being right with God.
Turn from sin, and trust Jesus Christ.
By faith, live in Him.
Servant of the Lord;
Of the gospel, I’m not ashamed;
For salvation, power of God
To those who have faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment