Man’s Sinful Nature

Until recently, I was unaware of the Jewish opposition to the notion that we are all born with a sinful nature.  I had always heard it taught, and I assumed it was a universally acknowledged truth.  Besides, that people are by nature sinful and in need of a Savior seemed self-evident.  I did not know that so many people deny that truth, which is undeniably biblical.

Thinking on this, I realized again how much the apostle Paul learned from God.  Mankind’s natural state of sinfulness was a revelation to him from God.  It was not personal opinion that inspired Paul to write, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” and “In me, that is, in my flesh(ly nature), dwells no good thing.”  Without being greatly humbled by God, and without a revelation from God, Paul would have never even thought to confess such truth as that.

Ask for the Source

“When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he’ll guide you into all truth.

For he won’t speak on his own, but whatever he hears, he’ll speak,

and he’ll reveal to you things that are coming.”

John 16:13

“I’d have you to know, brothers, regarding the gospel delivered by me,

that it is not of man.  I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it,

but it came by a revelation from Jesus Christ.”

Galatians 1:11–12

Believers should ask those who teach them where they got the doctrine they are teaching.  If a man received his doctrine from another man, or from the headquarters of a denomination, or even from the Bible, the saints would be wise to leave him.  The true doctrine of Christ comes through revelation, and those who truly are servants of God declare what Jesus has revealed to them, not what men have taught them or what they have figured out from the Bible.

Being Shaped

“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.

They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not.

They have ears, but they hear not; noses have they, but they smell not.

They have hands, but they handle not; feet have they, but they walk not;

neither speak they through their throat.

They that make them are like them; so is every one that trusts in them.”

Psalm 115:4–8

What you worship shapes your spirit so that you become like what you worship.  If God is the author of what you believe, then you are worshipping Him and are being made like Him.  If a human devised the faith you believe in, then your worship belongs to him, and you are being made more fleshly every time you participate in it.  And if – God forbid! – the faith you believe in originated with Satan, then you are worshipping him and are becoming more and more like him as you continue in that faith.

Paul was wise to exhort us to examine ourselves to see whether we are truly in THE faith (2Cor. 13:5).  He wanted God’s children to become more and more like their heavenly Father, and not like the over-religious men who puff themselves up to devise their own doctrines, and certainly not like the very religious Satan.

Have you taken the time to examine yourself, to see whether or not the faith that you are in is the faith of Christ

Let the Son Praise God through You!

“Praise ye the Lord!  I will praise the LORD

with my whole heart in the assembly of the upright.”

Psalm 111:1

“I will declare your name to my brothers.

In the midst of the congregation will I praise you.”

Psalm 22:22

In these verses, the hidden Son of God is speaking through the Psalmist, prophesying of the day when he would send the holy Spirit to us.  Every time the Spirit falls and we praise God, that prophecy is fulfilled.  That Spirit which falls on us is the Son (2Cor. 3:17) praising God through us “in the midst of the congregation”.

When you yield to the Spirit and let the Son praise God through you, you play a part in the fulfillment of the Son’s ancient prophecy of how he would praise God in the congregation of New Testament saints.

Reverend vs. Reverent

“Holy and reverend is His name.”

Psalm 111:9b

“Let me not, I pray you, give flattering titles to a man.”

Job 32:21

One of the flattering titles ministers bestow upon themselves and upon one another is “reverend”.  But that lofty title belongs to God alone.  As the psalmist said it, “Holy and reverend is His name” – not ours.

My father, a minister of Christ for over 60 years, told me of the danger of being called “reverend”.   If you are reverent, he said, that is a good thing.  But only God is reverend; that is, only God is worthy to be revered.  We should all be reverent toward God, for “holy and reverend is His name.”

Who Has Understanding?

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.

A good understanding have all they that do His commandments.”

Psalm 111:10

“Keep therefore and do them, for this is your wisdom

and your understanding in the sight of the nations,

which shall hear all these statutes,

and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’”

Deuteronomy 4:6

If you are obeying God, you are as wise as you can possibly be.  There is no wisdom or understanding beyond Him – or beyond you if you are in His will.

The Real Answer

“You are the salt of the earth,

but if the salt loses its flavor, with what will it be salted?

It’s good for nothing but to be cast out and trampled on by men.”

Jesus, in Matthew 5:13 

In the absence of the influence of the gospel, human ability to reason is diminished and the precious sense of right and wrong is lost.  Where the influence of the gospel is absent, truth is redefined in order to accommodate the lusts of corrupt human nature, and those who are good become a prey.  Without the gospel's influence, children cannot develop a noble character because they do not learn the fear of God.  Nor can they develop a true sense of justice, for evil is made to appear good, and good, evil.  This is happening now in our culture, and it is frightening to watch.  We are watching the rise of a generation without a conscience.

The spiritual blindness of modern political leaders is astonishing, but the fault is not altogether theirs.  Their contempt for the gospel of Jesus is the result of the problem, not the problem itself.  The fault belongs to us who believe in Jesus, for our lack of power and conviction for righteousness.  The power of the Spirit, when God's people walk in it, influences the society those saints live in; it even affects the conscience of those who hate the gospel.  Without the Spirit's power, in men’s eyes, the body of Christ is just another sect of talkers.

Rather than grumble, then, about the foolishness and wickedness of the rulers of this world, let us who believe humble ourselves and pray for a revival of true holiness among us.  Let us pray for a restoration of the gospel's influence on the body of Christ!  For if God’s power is restored to the body of Christ, then the body of Christ will again be “the salt of the earth”, and the precious gospel of Jesus will again influence society, keeping even sinners’ souls from complete decay.

In sum, the next time you see the leaders of this government do evil, ask God to restore His power and righteousness to us who believe, that we might influence them to do good instead.

“Oh, That Men Would!”

“Oh, that men would praise the LORD for His goodness,

and for His wonderful works to the children of men!

Oh, that men would praise the LORD for His goodness,

and for His wonderful works to the children of men!

Oh, that men would praise the LORD for His goodness,

and for His wonderful works to the children of men!

Oh, that men would praise the LORD for His goodness,

and for His wonderful works to the children of men!”

Psalm 107:8, 15, 21, 31

It cannot be said too much.  Oh, that men would cease from strife, and instead, contemplate the mercies of God that surround them!  Oh, that they would feel gratitude for His incredible goodness!  That they would acknowledge His love, and give Him their love in return!  What a sweet place to live could this world be, if men would only acknowledge and be thankful for the many blessings God has freely and abundantly given to us all!

You Will Speak

“Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,

whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy.”

Psalm 107:2

“I believed; therefore, I have spoken.”

Psalm 116:10

If you truly believe, you will speak, for you’ll receive the Spirit that speaks through you when it comes in.

You Can’t Tell Them

“Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen,

to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise.”

Psalm 106:47

This is the unwitting prayer of every soul in Christianity who truly loves God.  In crying out for truth and unity, they are crying out to be delivered from Christian ministers, Christian traditions, and Christian doctrines, for those are the things that are confusing and dividing them.  But if you tell them that, they will turn against you.

God has to show them that the thing they love, Christianity, is the very thing that is confusing and dividing them.  It is the thing God most hates.  Sincere believers everywhere are praying for God’s cure for the deadly disease of division, while clinging with all their might to the thing that divides them: Christianity.  They are like a man pleading to be rescued from drowning while holding on to a boulder.  You can’t have it both ways.  The prayer of sincere children of God to be united with others who believe will never be answered until they let go of the stone that is pulling them down.

But you can’t tell that to God’s children.  To come out of Christianity is such a frightening thought to them that only God knows how to enter that tender part of their hearts with His Son’s piercing, liberating light.

Israel’s Example

“The wrath of the LORD was kindled against His people,

insomuch that He abhorred His own inheritance.

And He gave them into the hand of the heathen;

they that hated them ruled over them.

Their enemies also oppressed them,

and they were brought into subjection under their hand.”

Psalm 106:40–42

God determined before the world began that the experiences of ancient Israel would be a warning to the body of Christ.  Israel’s history provided believers with a solemn warning, (1Cor. 10:6, 11–12), but God’s warning went unheeded.

Even before all the apostles died, God turned the recalcitrant body of Christ over to men who were strangers to the grace of God, and the experience of Israel was repeated:  “They that hated them ruled over them . . . and oppressed them and brought them into subjection.”  So it is, to this day.

May we live to see a restoration of God’s gentle favor toward His people.  May we live to see them trust their souls to men who have heard from God and have been sent by Him to guide them.  May we live to see God deliver His people from Christian overlords and put them once more in the nurturing hands of those who love them as He does!

Praise and Obedience

“Then they believed His words; they sang His praise.

They soon forgot His works; they waited not for His counsel. . . .

He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.”

Psalm 106:12–13, 15

Praising God does not exempt us from the requirement to wait for His voice and yield to His guidance.  Worship without obedience is nothing but self-willed flattery, and God has never been brought under its spell.  On the contrary, His greatest displeasure against those who make shows of devotion without possessing the substance of it is displayed by His granting to those worshippers the perverse, self-destructive desires of their hearts.

Go ahead and praise God; He is worthy of it.  But He is also worthy of obedience, and His righteousness is accomplished and His wrath appeased only by the wise souls who do both.

God Used the Egyptians, Too

“He turned [the Egyptians’] heart to hate His people,

to deal subtly with His servants.”

Psalm 105:25

“And He saved them from the hand of him that hated them,

and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

He saved them for His name’s sake,

that He might make His mighty power to be known.”

Psalm 106:10, 8

God turned the hearts of the Egyptians against Israel for the same reason He rescued Israel from the Egyptians: to make His name known on earth.  He loved people everywhere and wanted them to know Him.  And in that love for a world drowning in superstitious fear of many gods, God worked mighty miracles and made His name known so that people would know there is a true and living God.

How very blessed is this world that God loved us enough to make His name known, and that He chose to reveal His Son to us!  Where would we be if He had not done so?

Holy Sap

“The trees of the LORD are full of sap.”

Psalm 104:16a

The “sap” of the kingdom of God is the Spirit, and every tree that God plants in His kingdom is full of it.  This is why Paul said, “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him” (Rom. 8:9).  And it is also why I warn everyone that no one is born again until he receives the holy Ghost (with the evidence of speaking in other tongues).  Do not believe the man who tells you otherwise!  Jesus said, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted.  Leave them!  They are blind guides of blind people.  And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit” (Mt. 15:13–14).  Do you want to fall into the pit with a blind man?  Just repent and let God plant you in His kingdom!

If God has not given you His sap, you do not have any and you do not belong to Him.  But those He plants in His kingdom are filled with His sap, and no one can ever take it from them.

A Safe Place To Obey God

“He gave them the lands of the heathen,

and they inherited the labor of the people,

so that they might observe His statutes, and keep His laws.

Praise ye the LORD!”

Psalm 105:44–45

God gave Israel their own land, the land of Canaan, so that they would have a place where they could safely keep His commandments.  Moses told Pharaoh that Israel had to leave Egypt to serve God.  If the Israelites stayed in Egypt and served God the way He wanted them to, Moses said, the Egyptians would become so angry, they would stone the Israelites (Ex. 8:25–26).

It is no wonder the psalmist said, “Praise ye the LORD!”  He and his fellow Israelites had been given a place where they could live and worship the way God wanted them to, without having to worry about provoking the heathen!  What a wonderful, safe place the Promised Land was for God’s people!  There was no other place like it on earth, where the standard was God’s law, and those who kept the law were not laughed at or attacked for doing so!

God has such a place waiting for those who love His Son.  It is an entirely new earth, where we may walk in the Spirit without being criticized or ridiculed for doing so.  This present world is filled with wickedness, and we all feel the daily pressure of it.  But on that new earth, our Promised Land, God’s righteousness will be the only standard, and the peace will never be disturbed.

Praise ye the LORD!

Living Perfect before God

“I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way.  O when will you come to me?

I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.”

Psalm 101:2

This is doable.  If David and others, such as Abraham (Gen. 17:1), walked perfect before God in the Old Testament, then certainly, we can walk perfect before God in the New.

More importantly, however, humbling ourselves to walk before the LORD with a perfect heart opens the way for Jesus to come to us.  And to have the Lord Jesus personally come to us is the greatest blessing possible on this side of the grave.  Let us firmly set our course and conduct ourselves in a perfect way in this life.  Then, if God will, we may experience the sweetness and glory of Jesus’ presence while we live in this world.

A Proud Look

“He who has a high look and a proud heart, I will not tolerate.”

Psalm 101:5

It is a good thing to care about our physical appearance.  We should love others enough to make the effort to be clean and presentable.  But it is not good when concern for one’s appearance consumes one’s attention.  The Bible says “a proud look” is one of the very worst of sins.  In fact, it is listed first among the seven sins God hates most:  “These six things does the LORD hate; yes, seven are an abomination to Him: a proud look . . .” (Prov. 6:16–17).

So, go ahead and dress nice and comb your hair.  But remember that while people are judging you by your appearance, God is judging your heart.

No Choice

“Choose this day whom you will serve.”

Joshua 24:15

It is a blessing, a precious gift from God, to have choices, and Solomon encouraged young people to enjoy it: “Rejoice, O young man . . . and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes” (Eccl. 11:9a).  In other words, go ahead and make the choices you want to make.  And then, Solomon added this caution: “But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment” (Eccl. 11:9).

The judgment for the choices we make in this life is certain, and it belongs to God, not to us.  After we have made our choices here in this life, no choice remains for us at all.  The result of our choices, God’s eternal Judgment, is not ours at all.  May God help us make good choices now, so that God will choose to save us later.

God’s Salvation and Righteousness

“The LORD has made known His salvation.

His righteousness has He openly showed in the sight of the heathen.”

Psalm 98:2

The Spirit sent the old prophet named Simeon to the temple to see the baby Jesus, and as soon as he saw the child, he exclaimed, “Lord, my eyes have seen your salvation!” (Lk. 2:29–30).

Jesus is God’s salvation and God’s righteousness, in person.  The verse above, written when the Son was still hidden and unknown, promised that one day, God would make His beloved Son known to all the earth.  How blessed we are to have been born after He did it!

Think about it.  We can now know God’s salvation and righteousness because God has revealed him!  What a precious gift!  Only a fool would refuse the precious invitation to come and know God’s Son, the righteousness and salvation of God, for he, the man Jesus, is the best friend anyone could ever have.

Even the Smallest Things of Zion

“You shall arise, and have mercy upon Zion. . . .

Your servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor her dust.”

Psalm 102:13–14

Our Jerusalem is in heaven, and it is unlikely that dust and rocks are in her as they are in this earth’s Jerusalem.  But God’s point was not that we should love dust and rocks.  His point was that His true servants prefer even the smallest things about Zion over the best things that other cities have to offer.

The Zion of God is the body of Christ, and His true servants take pleasure in everything about it.  Even the smallest things of the Zion of Christ mean much to them because they have God’s kind of heart.  A servant of God may at times grow tired, and it is appointed to every man once to die, but as long as a true servant of God is here and has his strength, he is eager to do good to Zion, the family of God on earth.

The next verse in Psalm 102 tells us that when God’s servants value the body of Christ above all else, sinners are compelled to fear God.  “For your servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor her dust.  So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth, your glory” (Ps. 102:14–15).

And the next verse in Psalm 102 tells us that when God’s servants love Zion enough for God to use them to build Zion up, the LORD reveals Himself in His glory!  “When the LORD shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory” (Ps. 102:16).

May God fill us with love for the body of Christ!  If He does, sinners will fear God, and God’s children will see His glory.