Abounding Love
Part II
Abound: To overflow, to exceed certain measure. To be abundantly furnished.
Philippians 1:9 And this I pray that your love may abound still more and more, in knowledge and all discernment.
As we first look at this we must wonder what abounding love has to do with knowledge and discernment. To understand we must first understand where true love begins. If love is of the world and a mere sentiment then we must acknowledge that with offense comes a separation of love. In other words, I love you as long as you treat me as I want to be treated; and yet this is not the love that Paul speaks of here and why he claimed it would abound more, in knowledge and discernment. The point that he is attempting to make is that the more we begin to understand God’s love towards us the greater our love will be towards Him and the more our love towards others will abound. In this we will be able to see God’s love displayed to us in even greater ways, ultimately seeing it displayed in the trials that we endure. The way we achieve this knowledge begins with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This love is not based upon us but in the fact that He first loved us and while His love toward us is displayed in a great many ways none is more prominent than His crucifixion. As His abounding love toward us is displayed throughout scripture it continually points to that one period in time when He would become the sacrifice for sin. In the beginning His love was revealed in that He created us in His image, while at the flood it is revealed not only in the preservation of Noah but in the fact that He was patient in exacting His punishment on mans disobedience. It is revealed in that while He set aside Israel as His Own special people the door was still open to those who would repent and acknowledge Him as God; as in the case of Rahab, Ruth, and others. As we continue throughout scripture we begin to obtain even greater knowledge of His love toward us and I for one say that if He so loved us should we not love Him even more and how can we deny that love towards others? Jesus said, “If you love me, then keep My commandments, and My commandment is that you love one another,” yet He did not end there, He went on to say, “as I have loved you.” Therefore I must, based upon my love for Him be obedient to His word because in doing so my love for Him is revealed and begins to abound. Yet if my love for others is anything but selfless then my love for Christ becomes a lie and that lie becomes evident to those around me. However if my love for Him abounds then that love overflows to those around me and becomes evident in His characteristics that are now being produced in me in the Fruits of Righteousness and the true test of these fruits is that they are not characterized by our circumstances. The whole excuse of I am only human flies out the window and while there is truth to the statement it, it only serves to prove that our relationship with Him is weak. The question becomes, why is it weak? Is it weak because we value the things of the world more than we value Him and if that is the case have we truly looked at our condition through His eyes? Do we see ourselves as exceedingly sinful, thus recognizing our need of a Savior or are we simply following Him because we have seen the miracles and tasted the bread? While the two may seem to be the same they are not because one is grounded in self-righteousness and the other in selfishness. You see self-righteousness says that we really aren’t that bad and therefore minimizes our need of a Savior while selfishness states that while we do see the need we are not willing to fully partake in His gift because we are not willing to give up what we have in order to have a relationship with Him. Both of these not only limit our love for Him but also limit our love for others. They limit our love for Him because they require Him to perform in the manner that we deem acceptable and truth be told they have the same effect on our love for others. The evidence is clear because although we might claim that we love Him and others we have no fruit. You see without that abounding love there is no joy. Our worship suffers as does our fellowship with others. Without joy we stand there with a fake smile on our face and when we shake hands with others we are secretly anticipating the end of the service so that we might hurry up and get home to our own lives. With out love we have no peace and while outside we might seem as if we have it all together the truth is that we are worried. We are worried that our health might fail or that our investments might fail. We see the condition of the economy and we are worried about how it will affect our style of living. We work in different ministries within the church so that we might seem as if we have love but our lack of love is revealed because we are looking for that return of investment. Without love there is no longsuffering or patience. Just as we have no peace because we seek a return on investment our lack of love generates anxiety at the lack of return. We expect things to move at our pace and when God doesn’t move in our time frame we quickly change directions. We refuse to love others because we have seen no change in them regardless of the aid that we have provided them. We hold ourselves accountable for the results instead of allowing God to work out the details as He sees fit. Our goodness is associated with our love. In other words we only love those who do what we expect them to do. Everything we do is based upon the treatment we receive from others and only provided to those who fit into our specifications. Without love our faith is tied to our ability to control the situation. We place conditions on all that we do. This once again reverts back to our expectations of return on investment. Without abounding love we have no meekness, (humility) nor temperance because everything is based upon us and not Him. We are not humble because we worked hard to get where we are and we do not have temperance because it is our plan and while it may be a good thing, it is not a God thing and if love abounded more and more and that love generated a closer relationship with Christ and that relationship in turn generated more knowledge and with that knowledge came discernment then we would see that these very things are what He has done for us because even though He knew that many would deny Him, He still shed His blood. Even though He knew that many would refuse to acknowledge Him as God, He waits for that last one to come to Him. Regardless of our choices he still exhibits His characteristics and that is the abounding love that we should also strive to possess but the only way to possess it is to completely surrender to Him. Complete surrender does not restrain us rather it releases us from all the preconceived notions that we so eagerly hold on to. It places our faith firmly on Him to do what He promises to do without setting deadlines. He told Noah to build an ark that it would rain for forty days and nights and He was true to His word some 100 years later. If we wait until the conditions are right the time will never come until it is too late for us to do anything about it. The time for abounding love is NOW! For what better choice do we have for revival than to love as He loved us? What better apologetic is there than to be obedient to His command. What better glue to keep the body together than to love as He loved the church and honestly what other choice do we have? These are things that we should have been doing all along but we have denied Him for generations. In all honesty we have denied His attributes since man sinned in the garden but are we not held to a greater responsibility having seen the promise? Are we not held to greater punishment because after having the truth among us we still deny Him? We are without excuse because we had the example and yet we still chose to deny His love not only towards us but also towards others.
Abounding love is revealed not just in what we say but in how we live towards others.
Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
Eph 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
Eph 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
Eph 4:19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
Eph 4:20 But ye have not so learned Christ;
Eph 4:21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
Eph 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Abounding Love
Abounding Love
I know that I have often written concerning love and yet here I am again writing once more regarding the subject. It is a subject that I feel that needs to be so indoctrinated into our lives so that when others see us they can see Christ through us. So many of us are so wrapped up in what God can do for us that we neglect what He needs to be doing for others and we miss the picture where we are a part of what He is doing for others. The apostle Paul wrote often in regards to love because he saw the effects of what the lack of love could do; how it could destroy the entire church and how the lack of it would turn people away from Jesus Christ.
Php 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
Php 1:10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;
Php 1:11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
That your love may abound; Jesus said, “by this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you love one another;” but He didn’t end there. He went on to say; “as I have loved you.” So what does it mean to have abounding love? Is it love to do things that make you look good? Is it love when things are done in the name of the church? Is love concerned with numbers or quality? I am convinced that many of our programs are not being done out of love but as a way to pat ourselves on the back and the reason I say this is because so often we begin the sentence with we or our instead of Jesus Christ or God. This is the whole purpose of love; it reflects the glory away from us and places it where it belongs; unto the glory and praise of God. Many of us attempt to have a ministry and the problem is we begin to think of it as our ministry leaving Jesus Christ and God out of it; oh we might claim that it is for them and we even preach them but the truth is that we readily take all the credit for what is going on inside the ministry instead of giving the glory to Them, and truth be told those that might be benefiting from the ministry know that there is a lack of love. They know that they are merely numbers or statistics to you; another feather in your cap. That is the difference between a good thing and a God thing because a God thing doesn’t worry about numbers. A God thing doesn’t look for recognition and a God thing is invested in the lives of others out of a pure love. It does not expect anything in return nor does it judge the outcome but leaves the results in the hand of the One who deserves all honor and praise. He didn’t add to the early church daily simply because they witnessed, He added as He saw fit and it was based upon their love for others, for how else does one find favor with all men except by love.
Friends we have gotten so wrapped up in who’s name is on every single program that we have succeeded in turning countless thousands away from the gospel of Christ because to be quite honest who would want to be a part of something that is no different then they can find on the streets. The excellent things are the things of Christ. It is the selfless, self-sacrificing love that invests itself in the individuals. The excellent things are the God things that manifest themselves in our genuine love of others. It is not just handing them a box of food and sending them on their way nor is it simply sharing the gospel with them it is making an investment in them that regardless of how many times they refuse to go to church with you, you continually invite them and then you continually go out of your way to meet their needs, and then you continually take their calls in the middle of the night and you go with them to the police station. You wrap your arms around them and comfort them, you continue in love and leave the results up to God because He is the one who adds to the church as He sees fit. We have put boundaries on our love and call it casting our pearls before the swine when people do not respond in the manner we deem acceptable and have placed ourselves as their judges when judgment has been given to the Son. We do this because we look at Christianity as a business and the bottom line is we need to see some return in investment and have placed all the glory on ourselves. We look at these mega churches and assume that they have things right and the truth is that in some cases they don’t but that is not up to us to decide it is God’s place to know their hearts. What I see in scripture is that as the churches grew He scattered them so that the gospel could be scattered. Paul was sitting in prison not because God couldn’t get him out but because God had a purpose for him there. He had a captive audience much in the same way that we have captive audiences when we go through different trials and tribulations. His guards couldn’t leave him unguarded if they did they could expect potential death for leaving their post. When we go through illnesses and are bedridden in the hospital what better opportunity to share Christ? Where is your roommate going to go? However the thing is, it is not just about speaking it but how we respond to the trials and how we respond shows His love for us to others. James tells us that we are to count it all joy when we fall into various trials and tribulations knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience, but let patience have her perfect work that you might be perfect and entire wanting nothing. These are the very attributes of God and His patience towards us and they reveal His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us; not that we would be glorified but that the Father would be glorified. His whole purpose was to glorify the Father. He loved, even though He was hated, He comforted even though He received no comfort; He healed, even though He received no thanks. When I stop to think about it I wonder if we are any different than those who quit following Him because we too are looking for a sign for what He can do for us. We are looking for that sign that shows it will all be worth it and until we see it, well we just aren’t going to give love as He asks us too; after all we have a family to consider. Yet that Roman guard stood beneath the cross, witnessing His death and even though he knew that he could possibly be executed he spoke those words that have rung throughout the years, “Truly this was the Son of God!” He saw no miracles that were performed, all he saw was the punishment for our sin laid upon Him and that was enough for him to be convinced of the truth and yet it didn’t end there because three days later He arose, defeating death that we might know that we too would have everlasting life. What more do we really need to see to encourage us to love? How can we love Him who we cannot see if we do not love those who we can see?
I asked my Pastor a question today and I pose it to you as well. Do you think that we would need apologetics if we truly loved in the manner that we should love? Think about it logically. What better proof does one need than to display the love of God towards others? How much more evidence would one need if the fruits of the Spirit were evident in the lives of those who are called by His name? I am not saying that they would all believe because even though these things were present in the early church not everyone believed but the results were left up to God because once again He added to the church as He saw fit. Many times I believe that we use apologetics as a tool to show our own intelligence, that others might look at us and brag about how well we handled certain situations or debates and yet our answers are so empty and void of love that even when we have provided a good argument we have lost the battle because God is no where in the response. I see many of us attacking the President of the United States in a manner that is so far away from God that it is little wonder that many unbelievers attack us in the way that they do. How quickly we have forgotten that David repented that he had laid hands upon God’s anointed. How quickly we have forgotten the words of Christ to Pilot that he had no power except it had been given to him by the Father. This is not saying that they are doing things in a righteous way only that they have been put into the position so that His purpose can be achieved. It is because we fail to be obedient that we are allowed to these positions and it is our reaction to these trials that speak volumes to unbelievers. Yet we insist on bashing those in authority over us and then have the nerve to claim that we are Christians when the world does the same thing. This does not mean that we blindly go along with what they want to accomplish but we rebut it in a manner that is pleasing to God. Daniel exemplified this as did Christ. Yet when we deny the very fruits that we are to possess we prove their presuppositions regarding God.
Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
The world sees enough of this and when we insist on having the same characteristics of the world then they see no reason for God. In fact in their mind it only goes to prove that He does not exist, however;
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Notice the first fruit. Without it the rest will not come. Without love there is no joy. Without it you cannot have peace nor can you have longsuffering or patience. Without it gentleness and goodness is non-existent. Without love faith becomes irrelevant and meekness and temperance are thrown out the window. Jesus said that love covers a multitude of sins and that is the difference between the love that we claim to have and the true love of the Father. It is evident when it produces the remainder of the fruit. I am convinced that when we get our love right we will see great revival however I also believe that we may have to endure even greater trials before we will get it right because;
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Gal 5:26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
We refuse these very things.
Abounding love! The first step is to have it towards Him who gave us life and loved us enough to take on the form of man and become the perfect sacrifice for us and until we get that right we can little hope to get our love right with others.
Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
I know that I have often written concerning love and yet here I am again writing once more regarding the subject. It is a subject that I feel that needs to be so indoctrinated into our lives so that when others see us they can see Christ through us. So many of us are so wrapped up in what God can do for us that we neglect what He needs to be doing for others and we miss the picture where we are a part of what He is doing for others. The apostle Paul wrote often in regards to love because he saw the effects of what the lack of love could do; how it could destroy the entire church and how the lack of it would turn people away from Jesus Christ.
Php 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
Php 1:10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;
Php 1:11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
That your love may abound; Jesus said, “by this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you love one another;” but He didn’t end there. He went on to say; “as I have loved you.” So what does it mean to have abounding love? Is it love to do things that make you look good? Is it love when things are done in the name of the church? Is love concerned with numbers or quality? I am convinced that many of our programs are not being done out of love but as a way to pat ourselves on the back and the reason I say this is because so often we begin the sentence with we or our instead of Jesus Christ or God. This is the whole purpose of love; it reflects the glory away from us and places it where it belongs; unto the glory and praise of God. Many of us attempt to have a ministry and the problem is we begin to think of it as our ministry leaving Jesus Christ and God out of it; oh we might claim that it is for them and we even preach them but the truth is that we readily take all the credit for what is going on inside the ministry instead of giving the glory to Them, and truth be told those that might be benefiting from the ministry know that there is a lack of love. They know that they are merely numbers or statistics to you; another feather in your cap. That is the difference between a good thing and a God thing because a God thing doesn’t worry about numbers. A God thing doesn’t look for recognition and a God thing is invested in the lives of others out of a pure love. It does not expect anything in return nor does it judge the outcome but leaves the results in the hand of the One who deserves all honor and praise. He didn’t add to the early church daily simply because they witnessed, He added as He saw fit and it was based upon their love for others, for how else does one find favor with all men except by love.
Friends we have gotten so wrapped up in who’s name is on every single program that we have succeeded in turning countless thousands away from the gospel of Christ because to be quite honest who would want to be a part of something that is no different then they can find on the streets. The excellent things are the things of Christ. It is the selfless, self-sacrificing love that invests itself in the individuals. The excellent things are the God things that manifest themselves in our genuine love of others. It is not just handing them a box of food and sending them on their way nor is it simply sharing the gospel with them it is making an investment in them that regardless of how many times they refuse to go to church with you, you continually invite them and then you continually go out of your way to meet their needs, and then you continually take their calls in the middle of the night and you go with them to the police station. You wrap your arms around them and comfort them, you continue in love and leave the results up to God because He is the one who adds to the church as He sees fit. We have put boundaries on our love and call it casting our pearls before the swine when people do not respond in the manner we deem acceptable and have placed ourselves as their judges when judgment has been given to the Son. We do this because we look at Christianity as a business and the bottom line is we need to see some return in investment and have placed all the glory on ourselves. We look at these mega churches and assume that they have things right and the truth is that in some cases they don’t but that is not up to us to decide it is God’s place to know their hearts. What I see in scripture is that as the churches grew He scattered them so that the gospel could be scattered. Paul was sitting in prison not because God couldn’t get him out but because God had a purpose for him there. He had a captive audience much in the same way that we have captive audiences when we go through different trials and tribulations. His guards couldn’t leave him unguarded if they did they could expect potential death for leaving their post. When we go through illnesses and are bedridden in the hospital what better opportunity to share Christ? Where is your roommate going to go? However the thing is, it is not just about speaking it but how we respond to the trials and how we respond shows His love for us to others. James tells us that we are to count it all joy when we fall into various trials and tribulations knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience, but let patience have her perfect work that you might be perfect and entire wanting nothing. These are the very attributes of God and His patience towards us and they reveal His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us; not that we would be glorified but that the Father would be glorified. His whole purpose was to glorify the Father. He loved, even though He was hated, He comforted even though He received no comfort; He healed, even though He received no thanks. When I stop to think about it I wonder if we are any different than those who quit following Him because we too are looking for a sign for what He can do for us. We are looking for that sign that shows it will all be worth it and until we see it, well we just aren’t going to give love as He asks us too; after all we have a family to consider. Yet that Roman guard stood beneath the cross, witnessing His death and even though he knew that he could possibly be executed he spoke those words that have rung throughout the years, “Truly this was the Son of God!” He saw no miracles that were performed, all he saw was the punishment for our sin laid upon Him and that was enough for him to be convinced of the truth and yet it didn’t end there because three days later He arose, defeating death that we might know that we too would have everlasting life. What more do we really need to see to encourage us to love? How can we love Him who we cannot see if we do not love those who we can see?
I asked my Pastor a question today and I pose it to you as well. Do you think that we would need apologetics if we truly loved in the manner that we should love? Think about it logically. What better proof does one need than to display the love of God towards others? How much more evidence would one need if the fruits of the Spirit were evident in the lives of those who are called by His name? I am not saying that they would all believe because even though these things were present in the early church not everyone believed but the results were left up to God because once again He added to the church as He saw fit. Many times I believe that we use apologetics as a tool to show our own intelligence, that others might look at us and brag about how well we handled certain situations or debates and yet our answers are so empty and void of love that even when we have provided a good argument we have lost the battle because God is no where in the response. I see many of us attacking the President of the United States in a manner that is so far away from God that it is little wonder that many unbelievers attack us in the way that they do. How quickly we have forgotten that David repented that he had laid hands upon God’s anointed. How quickly we have forgotten the words of Christ to Pilot that he had no power except it had been given to him by the Father. This is not saying that they are doing things in a righteous way only that they have been put into the position so that His purpose can be achieved. It is because we fail to be obedient that we are allowed to these positions and it is our reaction to these trials that speak volumes to unbelievers. Yet we insist on bashing those in authority over us and then have the nerve to claim that we are Christians when the world does the same thing. This does not mean that we blindly go along with what they want to accomplish but we rebut it in a manner that is pleasing to God. Daniel exemplified this as did Christ. Yet when we deny the very fruits that we are to possess we prove their presuppositions regarding God.
Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
The world sees enough of this and when we insist on having the same characteristics of the world then they see no reason for God. In fact in their mind it only goes to prove that He does not exist, however;
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Notice the first fruit. Without it the rest will not come. Without love there is no joy. Without it you cannot have peace nor can you have longsuffering or patience. Without it gentleness and goodness is non-existent. Without love faith becomes irrelevant and meekness and temperance are thrown out the window. Jesus said that love covers a multitude of sins and that is the difference between the love that we claim to have and the true love of the Father. It is evident when it produces the remainder of the fruit. I am convinced that when we get our love right we will see great revival however I also believe that we may have to endure even greater trials before we will get it right because;
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Gal 5:26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
We refuse these very things.
Abounding love! The first step is to have it towards Him who gave us life and loved us enough to take on the form of man and become the perfect sacrifice for us and until we get that right we can little hope to get our love right with others.
Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Monday, July 27, 2009
You can't argue with a fence post.
Recently at church I was speaking to one of our deacons wife's when she made the comment that you can't argue with a fence post. I must say that the comment sort of offended me because I felt as if it was an excuse to not share the gospel with certain individuals. I let it go at the time but it has never been far from my thoughts and while in my devotions this morning the thought came back and I realized that while you can't argue with them, you can prepare them. Growing up I was raised on a horse ranch so I had plenty of experience with putting up fence so it was pretty cool when this example came to me. You see if you were to take a plain wooden fence post and put it into the ground it would not be long before it would begin to rot with the rotting beginning on the outside. This is the same as a person who has not had the gospel preached to them. They have evidence of God because He tells us that His law is written on the hearts of man. Now if you used a pressure treated post it would still rot but would take a little longer to do so. This would be as a person who has heard the gospel but still denies Christ. Now as a young man growing up on a farm we would often times coat our post with creosote to keep them from rotting. The result is that many of our post are still standing some 30 years later. This can be reflective of a person who has heard the gospel, denies it and argues against it while the creosote is reflective of the answers that are provided. These answers provide logical explanations for the arguments presented and while we might not see the results of the covering we have the promise in God's word that His word will not return unto Him void yet there is still rotting taking place. You see many of our post seemed to be in good condition from the outside but upon closer inspection they had been rotting from the inside. There was a crucial step that was missed when we coated the post. We neglected to coat the base and the top of the post so therefore the weather conditions were able to take its toll on the post. The results of debating others regarding our faith is not up to us. All we can do is be ready to provide an answer and not just any answer but one that is both logical and rational because our faith is not blindly placed but is based upon rational logic. Peter tells us that we do not follow foolish tales. 2Pe 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Regardless of the evidence that we may provide if our lives do not support that evidence it is as if we forgot to seal the base and the top of the posts. The complete sealing is God and not us. It is the work of the Holy Spirit who resides in us and will continue in us until that day. And while it is true you can't argue with a fence post you can continually prepare it. Who knows, if Christ came back today perhaps that preparation is what will be used to allow the Holy Spirit to seal it. Until then keep preparing. If you have any questions regarding evidential support for questions regarding God or the Bible please feel free to contact me at any time.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Are Christians using Relativism?
Are Christians using Relativism?
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
John 14:24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
John 14:25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
How many times have we heard people say that, well I don’t believe that Jesus was talking about our day and time after all it is not the same as it was then, things are different or I worship Him in my own way? First let me say that I am simply a layman. I don’t have a college degree from some seminary nor do I hold some position in the church. I am simply a man that loves the word of God and serving my Savior. Over the past several years I have witnessed an even greater trend of worship than I ever thought possible. I have heard many people within the church body use the exact same excuse for not living their lives for Christ as non believers give for not believing in God. It is as if the entire concept for Relativism has been applied to the Christian faith in the denial of absolutes and yet Jesus clearly said here; that He that loveth Him not, keepeth not His words. Therefore is appears to me that we have an absolute truth, that if one loves Him they will keep His word and if they don’t love Him, they won’t, however many believe that it is relative to the believer and their view point of the scriptures. For example I have often heard people say; well Jesus said I have to love you, but that doesn’t mean I have to like you. How can you have one without the other? The truth is you can’t. If you truly love them then you also have to like them because they are intertwined and when we attempt to distinguish between the two we fail to truly meet the need of the person. You see if I liked you then I would be concerned about your well being. I am not simply speaking about your spiritual well being but you’re physical as well. That means I am going to get involved with you as a person. I am going to make an investment in you that requires me to spend time to get to know you because if I get to know you I am going to recognize areas that require a special touch and this can only be accomplished when our relationship with Christ goes beyond lip service only. It requires us to love Him so that we keep His words and they abide in us and if they abide in us then we know that He abides in us and the evidence is revealed in the fruit that we produce.
We are responsible for the denial of absolutes in the world because we have lived as if there are no absolutes. We have encouraged relativism not only in the world but in our children which has made it easier for them to deny Him because we have not wanted to truly pick up our cross and follow Him. In many of us there is not even the slightest evidence that He resides in us and yet we claim Him as if He were just some fad. Paul says in Rom 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Yet we fail to see how it applies to us in our lives and how it affects the lives of others around us. We wear our robes proudly as the Pharisees did walking around as whitewashed tombs ready to drag our neighbors out into the street to stone them for their faults when we are as stinking grave clothes on the inside. Have we chosen to follow vain philosophies of men rather than the gospel of Christ? I firmly believe that we have so precisely intertwined the two that many of us can’t see the truth nor do we want too because if we did we would have to acknowledge that we are not in the body of Christ. Many of us are going to allow our pride to carry us straight to hell. We are going to stand before Him only to hear depart from Me, I never knew you. My heart breaks because I have been guilty of these very things that I speak of and I will have to account for them. Yet the question is if these things are applying to you what are you going to do about it? Are you going to continue to deny that the scriptures do not apply to our day and time or that they are relative to the hearer? If the Holy Spirit is not reminding you of His sayings, you might want to check your condition because there are only two possibilities here; one is that you are already abiding in His words and the other is that you are not His child because if you are His child these things are going to step on your toes if you are not abiding in His word.
I say these things because of the number of people with whom I have spoken to who have confirmed these very things. Many of them have seen no difference in themselves and others who have claimed to be Christians and while it is not an excuse it confirms that we have been blaspheming His name among the nations, when He had set us apart from the world that others might see us and recognize Him as God. I say this because I have seen people hurting and being turned away from the church because the body of Christ has refused to love as Christ loved us. I say this because I have seen God’s people give with conditions and when those conditions weren’t accomplished they refused to give again, when God commanded us to give freely without being grieved. (Deut. 15: 1-11) I say this because I have seen the denial of His promises. I say this because I see children in the church who do not even know the basics. They do not know the books of the Bible nor do they know the creation story. I say this because they refuse to acknowledge Him as God. I must wonder how many of us have chosen to not follow Him any more because what He say’s is just too hard. (John 6:66)
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
John 14:24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
John 14:25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
How many times have we heard people say that, well I don’t believe that Jesus was talking about our day and time after all it is not the same as it was then, things are different or I worship Him in my own way? First let me say that I am simply a layman. I don’t have a college degree from some seminary nor do I hold some position in the church. I am simply a man that loves the word of God and serving my Savior. Over the past several years I have witnessed an even greater trend of worship than I ever thought possible. I have heard many people within the church body use the exact same excuse for not living their lives for Christ as non believers give for not believing in God. It is as if the entire concept for Relativism has been applied to the Christian faith in the denial of absolutes and yet Jesus clearly said here; that He that loveth Him not, keepeth not His words. Therefore is appears to me that we have an absolute truth, that if one loves Him they will keep His word and if they don’t love Him, they won’t, however many believe that it is relative to the believer and their view point of the scriptures. For example I have often heard people say; well Jesus said I have to love you, but that doesn’t mean I have to like you. How can you have one without the other? The truth is you can’t. If you truly love them then you also have to like them because they are intertwined and when we attempt to distinguish between the two we fail to truly meet the need of the person. You see if I liked you then I would be concerned about your well being. I am not simply speaking about your spiritual well being but you’re physical as well. That means I am going to get involved with you as a person. I am going to make an investment in you that requires me to spend time to get to know you because if I get to know you I am going to recognize areas that require a special touch and this can only be accomplished when our relationship with Christ goes beyond lip service only. It requires us to love Him so that we keep His words and they abide in us and if they abide in us then we know that He abides in us and the evidence is revealed in the fruit that we produce.
We are responsible for the denial of absolutes in the world because we have lived as if there are no absolutes. We have encouraged relativism not only in the world but in our children which has made it easier for them to deny Him because we have not wanted to truly pick up our cross and follow Him. In many of us there is not even the slightest evidence that He resides in us and yet we claim Him as if He were just some fad. Paul says in Rom 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Yet we fail to see how it applies to us in our lives and how it affects the lives of others around us. We wear our robes proudly as the Pharisees did walking around as whitewashed tombs ready to drag our neighbors out into the street to stone them for their faults when we are as stinking grave clothes on the inside. Have we chosen to follow vain philosophies of men rather than the gospel of Christ? I firmly believe that we have so precisely intertwined the two that many of us can’t see the truth nor do we want too because if we did we would have to acknowledge that we are not in the body of Christ. Many of us are going to allow our pride to carry us straight to hell. We are going to stand before Him only to hear depart from Me, I never knew you. My heart breaks because I have been guilty of these very things that I speak of and I will have to account for them. Yet the question is if these things are applying to you what are you going to do about it? Are you going to continue to deny that the scriptures do not apply to our day and time or that they are relative to the hearer? If the Holy Spirit is not reminding you of His sayings, you might want to check your condition because there are only two possibilities here; one is that you are already abiding in His words and the other is that you are not His child because if you are His child these things are going to step on your toes if you are not abiding in His word.
I say these things because of the number of people with whom I have spoken to who have confirmed these very things. Many of them have seen no difference in themselves and others who have claimed to be Christians and while it is not an excuse it confirms that we have been blaspheming His name among the nations, when He had set us apart from the world that others might see us and recognize Him as God. I say this because I have seen people hurting and being turned away from the church because the body of Christ has refused to love as Christ loved us. I say this because I have seen God’s people give with conditions and when those conditions weren’t accomplished they refused to give again, when God commanded us to give freely without being grieved. (Deut. 15: 1-11) I say this because I have seen the denial of His promises. I say this because I see children in the church who do not even know the basics. They do not know the books of the Bible nor do they know the creation story. I say this because they refuse to acknowledge Him as God. I must wonder how many of us have chosen to not follow Him any more because what He say’s is just too hard. (John 6:66)
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