2007-02-23
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Our temptation toward materialism is one of a number of blockages to having true faith. Others might be spiritual immaturity, holding grudges, worshipping false idols, false teachers, and so on. The challenge for us is to recognize the temptations are there in our society and to respond by being good stewards of our wealth. And yes, even some of the most materially poor of us in North America are rich in comparison to the poor in other places in the world. We must remember Christ's words in MT 6: 24 [LK 16:13], "No one can be a slave of two masters; he will hate one and love the other; he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon [money]." Let's look for the lessons for us in the blockages to faith that were in Ephesus during Paul's tenure there.
The story of the sons of Sceva in AC 19: 11-20. Sceva was a Jewish priest. He and his seven sons saw that God had been performing miracles of healing. This was done by Christ authorizing Paul and others to heal people of diseases and evil spirits. Sometimes their handkerchiefs and aprons had been taken to the sick and simply being touched by them would bring healing. Sceva's sons wanted to do this too. A man who had an evil spirit violently attacked Sceva's sons and overpowered them. Then the evil spirit said, in (15), "I know Jesus, and I know about Paul; but you-who are you?" The sons ran away from this house wounded and with their clothes torn off. This led to the spread of fear amongst the Ephesians, who were practicing the occult, who heard about what had happened. The blockage here for the sons was lack of authority from the Lord to proceed. In this case, the word of this event led to some good. The fear of the Lord led a number of Ephesians to burn their magic direction books in public. These people converted to Christ. Materialism was the blockage to faith that brought about the near riot led by the silversmiths in Ephesus about which I wrote last week [AC 19: 21-41]. This would have never happened if the silversmiths who made the idols of their god, Artemis, weren't be hurt in the pocketbook by conversions to Christianity.
We find another blockage to faith in the case of the church at Laodacia in REV 3: 15-17. A message is written to this church from "the Amen, the faithful and true Witness Who is the Origin of all that God has created" [REV 3: 14]. Jesus Christ is clearly identifying Himself as One Who carried out God's decision to create. The name, Laodacia, means either "the people ruling or the judgment of the people." This is quite significant, in my humble opinion, because it is inferring that the people, rather than God, have been ruling this group. Now Christ speaks to them saying, "I know what you have done; I know that you are neither old nor hot. How I wish you were either one or the other! But because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of My mouth! You say, 'I am rich and well off; I have all I need.' But you do not know how miserable and pitiful you are! You are poor, naked and blind. Christ goes on to tell this group to turn from their sins. He rebukes and punishes those He loves, to bring their attention to this need. REV 3: 20 resounds through the centuries reaching our ears. "Listen! I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into his house and eat with him, and he will eat with Me." We can't pick and choose what teachings God has for us. We must take them all, unaltered, unfettered with human spins put on them to rationalize sin. Scofield calls the closing verses of this letter to the Laodacians "the place and attitude of Christ at the end of the church age." Christ is inviting individuals to leave the apostate church in order to have fellowship with Him.
Why is it so hard for us to listen to the invitation to righteousness of the One Who gave His life on the cross for us? I don't profess to have all the answers, but two of them are our blockages to faith and the work of the cunning adversary in tempting us to put mammon first before anything else. My emergence from the operation I had last August, put an underline on something I already knew. Nothing in the world is more important than our relationships with God and with other people. Throughout our lives, God gives us opportunities to witness to our faith. This is often done by the example we set in our lives, rather than the words we say. However, there are those who are called to missions and evangelism in general whose words courageously spoken have been authorized by God to change lives. Can we win a victory over materialism? I have to believe we can, but not before we evaluate our own response to temptation to make materialism an idol and take action to make the changes to which God calls us. I pray each of us can put Christ first in this area.
PRAYER: O Lord, Dearest Father, we acknowledge Your compassion, wisdom, and the great sacrifice of Your Son that You made. In making Him the "first among many brothers" [RO 8: 29], You give us hope that we too can win the victory in His name and one day be resurrected to a blissful eternal life of sweet fellowship with You. This task won't be easy for us, particularly because our country is filled with so much temptation to make our wealth our idol. Our way of knowing what is acceptable to You and what is not is through study of the Scriptures and listening to You speak to us in prayer. 2 TIM 3: 16-17, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed." PS 145: 14, 17-19 gives us God's response to our prayers. "The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all those who bow down…The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made; the Lord is near to all who call on Him. He fulfills the desires of all who have reverence for Him; He hears their cry and saves them." These verses cited give us insight into how Christ is knocking at our doors. We must respond with willingness to use the power You gave us through the Holy Spirit to remove all the blockages to true faith, a faith that is faithfully obedient to You. PS 72: 12 gives us a picture of Your heart. "For He delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper." PS 25: 8 also illuminates. "Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He teaches sinners in the way." We are indeed sinners. This is especially true when we put shiny new cars or human-crafted mansions before the welfare of others and/or having a close relationship with You. No sparkling diamond, shiny gold, or untarnished silver can match the beauty of Your heart. And so we confess our sins before You with Your own words given to us. PS 19: 12-13, "Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me." No one alive on earth has seen You face to face, but You are near. You have persevered in being there for us with amazing patience and faithfulness. PS 68: 19-29, "We praise You, O God! You treat us with kindness day after day, and Your rescue us. You always protect us and save us from [spiritual] death." We offer You eternal adoration, thanks, praise, glory, and honor, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Next week, the Holy Spirit leads me to continue writing about what it means to" win the victory" in the context of materialism. The difficult subject of giving will undoubtedly arise. Our lives without God's intervention in them are a series of shadowy refusals to commit to righteous living, control by the evil one, suffering that won't stop, and hopelessness. Rationalization of sin dominates an earthly life like this. And, the worst of all happens-entrance into hell. If one ever thinks that problems on earth are terrible, nothing could be worse than conscious eternal torment and suffering from which there is no escape. Whether the context of our lives is business, which demands and is often refusing to be ethical, or grudges held in families, or putting the acquisition of material wealth before our relationships with God and other people, the problem is the same. It's rejection of the Lord Who loves us so much that He gave His life for us-for our salvation. If our thoughts, decisions, and actions are in line with God's teaching, then we live righteously and are blessed richly. PS 146: 8, "The Lord loves the righteous." PS 89: 14-16, "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; love and faithfulness go before you. Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim You, who walk in the light of Your presence, O Lord. They will rejoice in Your name all day long; they exult in Your righteousness." If there is one notion that is most important, it is that the Holy Spirit instructs me to say, "Open your door wide to the Lord, invite Him in, and share a meal with Him regularly." That can be done at the communion table and in every aspect of our lives. And yes, blessed forgiveness comes the way of those who do this. That is a small glimpse of the great love He has for each of us. Praise be to the Lord!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn