2010-07-02
Good Morning Cherished Ones,
For those who have persisted with me throughout this study of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, you can be sure that the Holy Spirit has worked hard to forward us in our spiritual maturity. While there is still a little more to say, today we are at the end of this study and the beginning of another. If you feel like you’re starting to forget what Christ taught, give yourselves a brief review of MT 5-7, and it will come back to you quickly. Then all of us will get the maximum benefit together.
The essential character of a true believer is obedience to God. True faith and obedience to God are irrevocably linked to each other. I don’t know about you, but I feel a real relief when I’m being obedient, because I know that God is in charge of my life and that He is protecting me from the adversary’s goal of my destruction. MT 7: 26-27, “But anyone who hears these words of Mine and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rained poured down, the rivers flooded over, the wind blew hard against that house, and it fell. And what a terrible fall that was!” By far this is not the first notion of being swallowed up by rivers of water mentioned in the Scriptures. God isn’t giving us this message for the first time here. One other that pops into my mind is IS 43: 1b-3, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” And of course, there is the flood that lasted forty days and swallowed up all on earth except for Noah, his family, and the pairs of animals they had on board with them in the ark. But for those who are true believers who obey God, there is the “rainbow” covenant [GN 9: 11b-13], that we can be assured God will keep in which He promises never to destroy the world by flood again. With obedient faith, we can know that God will keep us safe, because He keeps His promises [PS 138: 8].
JUDE 4, “For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ, our only Sovereign Lord.” This speaks directly to the need for the separation of sheep and goats of which Christ spoke in MT 25: 32. It also is a reminder that living a life of rejecting Christ and His teaching would eventually lead to spiritual destruction. Lawlessness is an unacceptable way of life to God, and it must not be a part of our lives.
It occurs to me that there are some questions we must ask ourselves now that we have heard and analyzed Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. They are questions we must ask ourselves individually. 1) Is there evidence Christ is in you or me? 2) Does sinfulness or righteousness dominate our lives? 3) Do I pursue holiness, without which no man will see the Lord? 4) Is my character bringing me into conflict or unity with others who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? 5) Are the beatitudes [MT 5: 3-11] an expression of my character? 5) Am I becoming more Christ-like? It is my hope that each of you will join me in examining these questions for ourselves, so that we might expose any remaining sin within us and correct the problem. Our very spiritual lives depend on that.
RO: 10: 9-10, “If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from death, you will be saved. For it is by our faith that we are put right with God; it is by our confession that we are saved.” When I think of the impact that single statement has on our lives and its ramifications, I am awestruck! This gets right down to where our heart- attitudes are, in our mind [intellect-thoughts and decisions], soul [emotions], body[physical selves/behavior], and spirit [that part of us which can be wholly transformed by the Holy Spirit or by Satan’s evil]. Kay Arthur, a devoutly Christian author whose books I have read over the years and whom I respect as a teacher of the Scriptures, relates a story of how God’s will shall be done despite the evil plans of His human enemies, from a book written by Richard Wurmband called Reaching Toward The Heights. Russians during the Iron Curtain era packed at theater to see Alexander Rostovtsev, a convinced Marxist in the highest circles of Soviet life, play Jesus Christ. The set was a mockery of an altar in the center stage constructed of wine and beer bottles; full glasses surrounded it. Fat “clergymen” said a drunken “literurgy” consisting of blasphemous formulas. “Nuns” played cards, drank, and made ugly jokes while the “service” went on. Rostovetsev appeared then in a robe. He was supposed to read two verses from the Sermon on the Mount, then discard the NT in disgust, shouting, “Give me my fur and my hat! I prefer the proletarian life!” Instead, he read through the entire Sermon on the Mount, while the prompter tried in vain to stop him. When he came to the final words [MT 7: 27-28], Rostovtsev made the sign of the cross in the Orthodox manner and said in a loud, but humble way, “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom!” He left the stage never to be seen again on earth. The communists disposed of him. He walked Through “the narrow gate leading to the hard path” [MT 7: 13-14] –I believe to eternal life. We must remember the words of REV 6: 6-11 to understand God’s final word on those martyred for faith in Jesus Christ. THE END OF TRUE FAITH, my series on Christ’s Sermon on the Mount.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have taken us on a journey over the last 1 ½ years, that has been a guide to Your love and desire to bring us back to you. No group of believers has ever had such a clear path before them as those who believe in Your Son, Jesus Christ. This is such an expression of Your outstretched arms and love for them, as we have ever had. You, Dearest Abba, have given us all that matters. PS 115: 1, “To You alone, O Lord, to You alone, and not to us, must the glory be given because of Your constant love and faithfulness.” Even my computer skills are a gift from You, so I can take no credit for anything. As we end this series and begin the next one next week, we come to our devotion for You, matured and ready for more steps on the journey that you direct us to take toward purification, perfection, and sanctification. Every time we study the Scriptures [2 TIM 3: 16-17] and pray to You [PS 10: 17; PS 86: 5-7; PS 145: 18], You listen and cover us with Your constant love. We are a blessed people, as long as we are wise enough to have reverence for You [PR 9: 10]. NH 1: 7, “The Lord is good; He protects His people in times of trouble; He takes care of those who turn to Him.” We now understand this, which is why we know that You are wholly righteous, compassionate, and wise. We urge You to continue directing our lives and pledge to turn to You first for that direction, then take it. We thank and praise You and will forever and ever. In Christ’s holy and mighty name, we pray. Amen.
Next Week: I can attest to how generous to all of us the Holy Spirit really is. He has already given me a new assignment, which is to write a new weekly series called OUR COVENANT about a subject which should be dear to all our hearts. It about our very relationship with the Lord, one which should be real and personal. God’s desire for our close, personal relationship can be seen right from the beginning of the OT and extends right through the consummation of that relationship for true believers in the book of REV. One more time, let me rehearse EPH 1: 4-5 and JN 6: 39-40, which are the Father’s and the Son’s mission statements. “Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be His through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before Him. Because of His love God had already decided that through Jesus Christ He would make us His sons-this was His pleasure and purpose…And it is the will of Him Who sent Me that I should not lose any of all those He has given Me, but that I should raise them all to life on the last Day. For what My Father wants is that all who see the Son and believe in Him should have eternal life. And I will raise them to life on the last Day.” Does this give pleasant shivers running through you, as it does for me? It should indeed, because both statements are full of the most magnificent love we can ever have or even imagine, love that comes straight from the God Who made us and Who wants to lead us right back to Him for a blissful eternity. Once again, we thank and praise the Lord for His loving generosity and wisdom shared with us!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15