We have all heard such trite sayings as, “The Devil made me do it.” Adam even blamed God when he said, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” Genesis 3:12. There was no denying that he had sinned, so he blamed the only other person there Eve, and then indirectly God, for God had given him the woman. Where did the temptation come from in the beginning?
To be human, means that there will be temptations. Even our Lord was tempted as soon as he was baptized and began to fulfill his ministry, but being tempted does not automatically mean that sin follows. Our Lord lived a sinless life, even though he had taken on a physical body with all its needs and desires. His greatest temptations were those brought to him directly by Satan; not through an agency such as the serpent, or even one of his followers later, as when he said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan.” It was Satan, Peter was being used. Having said that, let us look at the words of James, the physical brother of Jesus.
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” James 1:12-15.
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation.” It is a fact that temptations are going to come to every Christian, and Satan is not going to delay. In nature, there is great loss when the very young are decimated. They become the prey of others in the food chain. Thousands of tiny turtles are hatched on the beaches of the world, but many never survive the short trip even to the sea. Tiny fish are eaten before they can mature. Likewise many new born Christians never make it to spiritual maturity. They need spiritual nourishment from the Word, and the care of their concerned brothers and sisters in the Lord. That is why churches have Elders. They are the caretakers, not only of the very young in the faith, but even the very mature until the Lord calls all his children home to be with him.
It is not that Christians just survive, but they look forward to that “crown of life” that the Lord has promised to all those who love him. This is the eternal life that will be the result of being able to eat of the “tree of life” that will be available in heaven. Revelation 22:2, “on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded the fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
Now Adam had said, “whom thou gavest.” This was an attempt to transfer his own guilt to someone else, even God who gave Eve, but James tells us, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:” No, we cannot cast the blame at the feet of anyone else, not even the one used as the means of the temptation by Satan. Jesus spoke to Satan, not to Peter even though the actual words came from Peter who said that Jesus would not die for the sins of mankind.
The guilt for submitting to temptation is laid directly upon the individual as he has permitted his “lust” to lead him astray. It may be physical lust, lust for wealth, lust for power, or fame, or whatever, but it all traces back to a weakness. “Every man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.”
So, that is where the blame lies. The wages of sin is death. Let us rejoice in our Lord who willingly gave himself to pay that price for us. It was he, our Savior who said through Peter on Pentecost to the sinners, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Acts 2:38. In another place he also said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me.”
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Saturday, February 9, 2008
WHERE ARE YOU BUILDING YOUR HOUSE?
“…whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand: and the rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” Matthew 7:24-27.
We have all seen, and some have lived in houses such as these described of Jesus in his parable. When we first married, my wife and I bought a small mobile-home. It was supported by crank-down jacks on whatever ground it happened to be sitting on at the time. We moved it several times so that varied with each place. Then, when we moved to Africa, my brother-in-law lived in it and it came to an unhappy end. While they were shopping in town, a tornado came along and because it had no foundation, and was in no way tied down, it was rolled over and smashed. Nearly fifty years later, when we retired back to live in Texas, we bought a double-wide manufactured home. It is supported on many cement pillars and anchored with a number of steel anchors, however the soil is still a problem. The soil is of clay and swells or shrinks depending on its moisture content. In the heat of summer it can resemble baked bricks, but after prolonged rain it becomes like mush. This adds to the problem of stability.
Jesus was likening our lives to such houses. There will be good times and there will be difficult times in every life. The life based on the firm foundation of faith in God, gained through a knowledge of his word, and making it our foundation in life, will stand, while the life that just takes whatever comes along and having no real foundation, may not survive the difficult times. The same conditions will exist for both, but the one with a firm footing of faith in God is the one which will stand.
In Matthew 16:18-19, Jesus used the same analogy, this time he is speaking of the church. “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” In contrast to the two houses, each built by men, one built on a shifting foundation of sand and the other on firm solid rock, the church is built by the Lord Jesus Christ, its head. Peter was to be the instrument of its beginning and thus it was he who preached the opening sermon. This we can read in Acts 2. He opened the doors to heaven with the words, “God hath made this same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” Acts 2:37-39.
The result of this sermon was that about 3000 “gladly received his word and were baptized.” “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved,” v-47. The church of Jesus Christ is founded on a solid rock outcrop, and even the gates of Hades, (death) shall not prevail against it. Persecutions, beginning in Jerusalem and continuing right up until the very present time, have not destroyed the church. It shall still be here when Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead, and Hades shall give up the dead to be judged. Christ’s kingdom began with the church in Jerusalem and will continue even in heaven forever.
Let us build our lives on the firm foundation of His Word. A man can lose his faith and abandon the church, but the church will never abandon a faithful believer. It ll comes back to him. Is he a faithful believer?
We have all seen, and some have lived in houses such as these described of Jesus in his parable. When we first married, my wife and I bought a small mobile-home. It was supported by crank-down jacks on whatever ground it happened to be sitting on at the time. We moved it several times so that varied with each place. Then, when we moved to Africa, my brother-in-law lived in it and it came to an unhappy end. While they were shopping in town, a tornado came along and because it had no foundation, and was in no way tied down, it was rolled over and smashed. Nearly fifty years later, when we retired back to live in Texas, we bought a double-wide manufactured home. It is supported on many cement pillars and anchored with a number of steel anchors, however the soil is still a problem. The soil is of clay and swells or shrinks depending on its moisture content. In the heat of summer it can resemble baked bricks, but after prolonged rain it becomes like mush. This adds to the problem of stability.
Jesus was likening our lives to such houses. There will be good times and there will be difficult times in every life. The life based on the firm foundation of faith in God, gained through a knowledge of his word, and making it our foundation in life, will stand, while the life that just takes whatever comes along and having no real foundation, may not survive the difficult times. The same conditions will exist for both, but the one with a firm footing of faith in God is the one which will stand.
In Matthew 16:18-19, Jesus used the same analogy, this time he is speaking of the church. “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” In contrast to the two houses, each built by men, one built on a shifting foundation of sand and the other on firm solid rock, the church is built by the Lord Jesus Christ, its head. Peter was to be the instrument of its beginning and thus it was he who preached the opening sermon. This we can read in Acts 2. He opened the doors to heaven with the words, “God hath made this same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” Acts 2:37-39.
The result of this sermon was that about 3000 “gladly received his word and were baptized.” “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved,” v-47. The church of Jesus Christ is founded on a solid rock outcrop, and even the gates of Hades, (death) shall not prevail against it. Persecutions, beginning in Jerusalem and continuing right up until the very present time, have not destroyed the church. It shall still be here when Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead, and Hades shall give up the dead to be judged. Christ’s kingdom began with the church in Jerusalem and will continue even in heaven forever.
Let us build our lives on the firm foundation of His Word. A man can lose his faith and abandon the church, but the church will never abandon a faithful believer. It ll comes back to him. Is he a faithful believer?
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