Saturday, November 26, 2011

Christians Do Not Hide Their Light.

Matthew 5:15 - 16 “Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. (16.) Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

The Lord reminded us last week that if we are saved; if we are Christians; if we are believers in Jesus Christ as our Saviour, then we are the light of the world and if we are then we are like a city that sits on a hill all lite up where all can see. One thing that is easy to decipher is a Christian from a lost person if the Christian is letting their light shine. The problem we face today is so many Christians are dimming their light so much that it is almost, if not altogether impossible to see their light. If you were to look on the hilltop you would never see the city because the light was too low. This is a great mistake on these Christians part because the blessings missed will be theirs. The Lord reminds us in verse 15 not to hide our light by “putting it under a bushel” but instead lift it on a “candlestick” so that the light can be clearly seen by all and yes even your friends. The Lord even goes a little further here and tells us “…and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” That your light by itself is giving light to the entire house by itself. Now imagine this; why if every church member allowed their light to so shine that it would light the entire house then how bright would 15 lights or 20 lights or etc. be? How is your light? Is it bright? Well now is the time to test it because once you die or once Jesus Christ returns then it is too late to brighten the light. God never meant for a lit candle to be hid; Luke 8:16 “No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.” No man and especially God, He saves every sinner for a reason or purpose, what is His purpose in saving you? Do you know?

God said in verse 16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works” your good works is your light shining. That is, that seeing your good works, they may be moved to love and serve God likewise. Why would they want to repent and move to an entire different direction in life if you works are no different than theirs? You light should be an example to them that life on the other side of salvation is different. Christ saves people to do His earthly work. Titus 2:14 “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” How is your “zeal” for the works of Christ?

“…and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Ah this is the entire purpose of all our lights shinning, of all our good works, not for our glory but for the glory of God. Only a selfish person would want the glory for something God does and all our good works are by the power of God and for His glory. Any preacher that is any good at all would never want the glory for their sermons and neither would even the greatest of all preachers. God is always to get the glory because it is God work in us. Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Saturday, November 19, 2011

You Beloved Are the Light Of The World.

Matthew 5:14 “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.”

This is a most wonderful thought, we as Christians are the light of the world or we are the brightness of it. Last Wednesday night we started a new two or three week study taken from Daniel Chapter 6 with verse 16 being out text scripture. “Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.” As the King was by his own decree forced to have Daniel cast into the lions den because Daniel had broken the decree. However the King told Daniel “…Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.” The King actually believed that Daniels God would deliver him and He did. In Daniel 6:22 we read “My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.” Now the question must be asked how did the King know, well the answer is found in verse 16 of Daniel 6 “…Thy God whom thou servest continually…” Daniel was faithful to his God and the King knew this because Daniel faithfully serving his God and the King saw his light shine. Beloved it is our responsibility to make sure our light of salvation shines and shines bright. It is the light in the lighthouse on the sea side that the ships see to guide them home. There is no other light; no more than there is a second gospel. There is only one of each and your light could be the guide that guides a lost ship home. We do not always see the results of the lost ship docking at home in the foggy waters but be assured that they do, just as we may not always see our light as the one that guided a lost sinner to Jesus Christ. Beloved God can use any or all tools at His disposal to deliver a lost sinner and what a glorious thing indeed if one sinner came to Christ as a result of your light shinning. I know that God does not need our light but He also does not need the gospel being preached to save a lost sinner, but that is the system God has chosen to use to saving sinners. 1 Corinthians 1:21 “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”

God reminds us in James 2:18 “… I will shew thee my faith by my works.” This is your light so shinning and if it is not then men may never see it. It is every Christian’s responsibility to make sure their light so shines. Daniel served God continually and the King noticed it; do people notice yours? God also reminds us in Proverbs 4:18 “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” The light of a Christian shines more and more until we are with the Lord. If the light grows too little light then we need to work to brighten it back up.

Verse 14 continues with this thought “…A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” Do not worry about men seeing the light shining because beloved it cannot be hid. It will be as bright as a whole city lit up setting on a hilltop. A light that never grows dark. 1 Thessalonians 5:5 “Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.” Beloved let your light so shine that all the world can see it. Let your light so shine that other will be convinced that your God will deliver you when you are cast into the lions den.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

The Salt Of The Earth.

Matthew 5:13 “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”

The word “savour” means - to become insipid (in•sip•id) – the word “insipid” means – to become dull or flavorless – the word “savour” comes from the Greek word (Moros) which means – dull or stupid – now with all of this defined to its fullest it gives us a more point blank definition which means if the salt has lost it savour it becomes flavorless or dull or stupid. For the salt to loose its savour is like a Christian losing their standing in the Lord as a good Christian or a useable Christian. This Christian becomes dull or flavorless which means they have become stupid. Only a stupid Christian would loose their value to the Lord in putting themselves in an unusable position. God saved people to use them, He calls preachers, missionaries, and other workers to use them, but if a Christian allows Satan and the world to draw them away and back into sin then they become useless to the Lord, the ministry, or the church, they are likened to salt without flavor. It is a Ministers job to be an example and to lead others by word and deed but if a minister cannot lead then he will loose all of his gifts that God has given to him and become useless to God and the ministry. This can also be done by not having doctrine that is very sound and good; if our doctrine is not sound and good then it will be rendered as unsavoury and vain. A Christian can do this by living worthless and sinful lives. How useful is a Christian that lives the same as the ones you witness too?

God said in 2 Peter 2:20 - 21 "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. (21.) For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them." This is the reason the definition “dull or stupid” makes so much sense to me; because a minister or a Christians that has lost their savour is “stupid”. Now I have been told for years from a young minister into my Pastor years not to use the word “stupid” because it is bad grammar but here it is in one of our definitions so here I am allowed to use this bad grammar word in a good way. God said in 2 Peter 2:21 “For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness…” because God is going to deal with them in a very harsh way. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 26:24 "The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born." Isn’t it a betraying God to leave His doctrinal truth and His church? Wouldn’t it be a betrayal for the salt to loose their savour? Indeed it would be. Beloved a Christian must watch their walk in every step and not allow the rudiments of this evil world cause them to loose their savour. Ministers and Pastors must also walk cautiously and not loose our savour. Beloved we all walk by the grace of God and therefore it is to Him we must continually pray that we be kept from falling into the evil hands of Satan. If you are a Christian or Minister that has lost its savour it is time to repent and come back home. The doors are open and we are waiting because God never shuts the door to His own Children.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Rejoice!!

Matthew 5:12 “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

As we have just looked at persecution and the hatred against the Christian, we now turn another corner. The Lord tells us to rejoice and be exceeding glad because your sufferings on earth will carry a greater reward in heaven. Please let us understand something here; not all Christians have rewards waiting on them in heaven, only those who have earned them. Some believe (out of ignorance of Gods word) that all believers will be the same in heaven therefore “churches” and “Pastors” have tried to equalize everything involving Christians but it is not theirs to equalize; it is Gods. Jesus Christ will judge every Christian, it is He who will try our works by fire, and it is He who will give the rewards. Christians that have little works and believe little truth will receive little rewards if any at all. Everything a Christian believes and does in their life will account against or for there rewards in heaven. 1 Corinthians 3:15 “If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” Those who do not worry about accomplishing works for God will find little once they are there. But on the other side of this thought are those who have worked for rewards, theirs will be great in heaven. Those that have suffered on earth will buy gain in heaven, and the greater the sacrifice the greater the reward and those that gave their life to the enemy for Gods sake will indeed gain the greatest rewards. God said “be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven” The words “be exceeding glad” actually means - properly to jump for joy – because your loss here on earth buys ten fold in heaven. You have rewards that are preserved in heaven for your eternal joy and no one can hurt them, steal them, nor will they corrode before you get to heaven, no they are reserved for you for your day of judgment. Remember what God said about Peter and John after their arrest “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” Acts 5:41 They were “exceeding glad” to be able to suffer for the Lord Jesus Christ even though their lives were threatened. Many over the years died; as many as fifty million just in the dark ages alone; but beloved think of what it must have been like when they opened their eye after death, oh how blessed they were to see Jesus Christ the very One they had just died for. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:17 - 18 “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; (18.) While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

“…for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” Beloved let us all remember no matter what sufferings we have on this earth not will ever suffer as Jesus Christ did, nor will we ever suffer as much as so many before us, therefore before we cry so much about how hard it is to be a Christian of truth let us reflect on the suffering of so many other believers before us who actually died for the Lords church and the biblical truths. 1 Thessalonians 2:14 – 16 “For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: (15.) Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: (16.) Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.”