We will get back to “O wretched man that I am” in the next day or so…
Another early start; 2:30 am and as I look outside into the stillness of the night, silence and then I hear the neighbour’s dog barking, with the distant roar of high speed motor vehicles filtering through the clear night sky. I wonder were the rats have gone or what has become of their fate as I no longer hear their fight for dominance in the ceiling above my bed, not so long ago they would often wake me with their high pitched squeaks. This Morning I was woken not by the rats, but by anticipation, I like times like these as I know some revelation awaits me. I look forward to hearing the voice of God in and through His Word, the Bible! Obviously, God the Holy Spirit leads the way, but He will always lead to the written Word of God.
We are to be anxious for nothing, but sometimes the worries of this life do play on our minds. Yesterday was one of those days. What then is my concern? It has to do with work, we are given different instruction concerning work, I would like to consider two directives; the first instruction goes back to the Garden of Eden and the sin of Adam. The second is the work of Christ on the cross of Calvary, and our dependency upon His finished work and not our ability to be justified by “man-will-be-will”. They must both be adhered too, as the Holy Scriptures, the voice of God so instructs.
Last night at our bible study, it dawned on me why the Jews missed the Lord Jesus as their true Saviour. Why they missed it, one may ask. They do not believe the Holy Scriptures. No wonder the Lord Jesus addresses their leaders as, “brood of vipers”, “Pharisees”, “hypocrites” and the like. Even John the Baptist asked then who “has warned you of the wrath to come”? Moreover, it is no different for all humanity. With a certainty, I realized that it would only be those who hold the Holy Scripture in high regard that will be save from the wrath, which is yet to come, God’s judgment!
Even for the apparent Christian if they do not seek out its truth and they begin to heap up teachers unto themselves having itchy ears, their fate will be tragic. May God equip us to be even the more diligent in obeying His voice in and through the Holy Scriptures, the Bible, as nothing outside of this will endure His test! The Bible is the inspired Word of God. He has spoken by it, but will we have ear to hear!
Why have the Jews missed such clear instruction about their Saviour? I suppose they would have liked it to play out differently, it did not correspond with what they were looking for, it was and it is about their own lusts and not the will of God. Why have so many gentile also missed God’s provision, the retort would be the same! The Catholics have the Apocrypha, hidden truths to God’s instruction, or so they say, they are wrong! The Muslims have Mohammed, who contradicts the rest of scripture, they too are wrong! It all goes back to a man-centered theology. Every other faith movement that does not hold the Holy Scripture as the final authority is also wrong and as I said, the result will be dismal!
From as early as Genesis chapter 3, God through various men began to reveal His plan for humankind in and through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. If you feel that the Bible is just a book written by good men with a message that teaches us good morals and that is all you take from the Holy Scripture, you also will be wrong. The Bible is the be all and end all for all; read it as such a book. Flee to it, search it out and you will find life in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, the light switched will be flipped and the scales will fall from your eyes. Ignore it at your own peril!
Now with that in mind what then is the instruction on work? The Apostle Paul has this to say; “For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.” (2Thessolonians 3:10) – So then we must have an attitude to work for our daily bread. Work for me seems to have dried up, I am a little concerned. Not anxious to the point of hopelessness as I know that the child of God will not left to beg bread, God will look out for His own. But why then would Paul give such an instruction? It has to do with our mind-set, are we willing to work and not do we have work? Once again it is the Word of God that has shed light on the subject and I am once again at peace. The word of God is sharper than any other two-edged sword, how beautiful is its instruction. So long as I am willing to work I will be looked after.
The second point is this; we are not to work as the Galatian church worked by trying to add something to the finished work of Calvary. They thought that if they were circumcised that they would be more righteous and therefore be more accepted by God, they were wrong! It is easy for us to make similar mistakes. Paul then teaches us this truth; “And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” (Romans 4:5)
“The Holy Scripture demands belief, yet its authority does not depend on the testimony of any person or church, but entirely on God its author, who is truth itself. Therefore it is to be received as it is the Word of God.” (The Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689)
Signing off
Tyrone
1 comment:
amen
Post a Comment