On Privilege

 “But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.”-Luke 12:48

When I think of privilege, I think of a special benefit or advantage that has been given to me, and not to others.  Oftentimes, privilege is used to further advantage or improve oneself.  However, the privileges that come to the Christian are not to be coveted, or leveraged to advance yourself, but accepted as a responsibility. 

I was privileged to be born into a home with a sanctified father and mother who loved each other, respected each other, and taught us through word and deed. Who demonstrated the love of God and kept us close to Spirit filled people.  It’s a privilege to be raised in the church I was raised in. A church that teaches the Word of God with integrity and faithfulness. That worships authentically in Spirit and in truth.  That endeavors to teach and hold forth the true doctrine. Most of all, it’s a privilege to know Christ and be known by Him.  It’s a privilege to be an American, and to be given access to freedoms, higher education, and a standard of living that keeps me far away from poverty.  These are just some of the many privileges that have stemmed from choices that I never made, but that others made ahead of me.  Due to their faithfulness and choices to serve Christ many privileges, blessings, and benefits passed down through the generations.  Which all comes from God.  I know I am not the only one, and there are more who share in these blessings.  I also know that multitudes are born without such privileges.  Truly, we have been given much, of him shall be much required. Scripture tells us of an austere man who gave talents of money to three of his servants.  To one he gave five talents (maybe a couple million dollars in today’s money). To another he gave two talents and to another he gave one talent.  Their lord left on a long journey and upon returning he wanted to see what had become of his investment.  The first two servants doubled their lord’s money, and the last hid it in the earth.  The lord blessed the first two and was angry at the last.  Why was he angry? Because he was not interested in saving, but in multiplying. This privilege, benefit, or blessing was given to his three servants along with the responsibility to multiply it. Jesus gave his life to redeem mankind, and he is calling upon us to be part in seeking out souls who would be saved.  What we are given is to be used to multiply for the Master.  We should take great care how we spend our Lord’s resources; because everything that has been given to us is a privilege, and every privilege a responsibility.

  Privilege carries with it responsibility, and the Christian who understands this should cry against exclusivity.  God gave freely, ought we not to do the same?  If you have more knowledge of scripture, you’re accountable to live and teach it. If you have more substance at your disposal you’re accountable to steward and give.  Whatever God has given is to be shared because it is not ours to covet.  This is especially true with the gospel of Christ.  A gospel that offers redemption from all sin, and sanctification through the power of the Holy Spirit.  A gospel that delivers and keeps.  A gospel that brings us into fellowship with God and Christ.  This is worth more than all the world’s riches.  Have you been put in trust to share it?  May God help.  1st Thessalonians 2:4 says: “But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.”

The Righteous Perish

 “The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.  He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.”-Isaiah 57:1-2

Tragedy and death surround us every day.  It is a direct consequence of living in this world.  In our own lives and our own social circles there are those that leave us and the impact is great.  It is also true that there are those that die and it leaves no impact, not because we are callous to the loss but because we didn't know them.  Therefore, it is not the measure of a man how great his funeral procession is or how long the eulogy.  The scale of our life is not weighed by the number of people who attend our funeral, or how often our name after we are gone.  There are many righteous that perish and many merciful leave us every day and none take it to heart. 

 

Last week a dear soldier and fellow laborer here in Albany was suddenly killed in an automobile accident.  He woke up, no doubt, with plans to go about his day.  While heading south to attend a ministers conference, a truck collided with his van and took him out.  His name, like mine, and yours, will pass into obscurity as time marches on, but he shall enter into peace.The world won’t put on a parade.  There will be no televised funeral.  They won’t commission a statue in his honor, or broadcast a documentary to cement his legacy.  Like so many, these pillars of the earth all but vanish before our eyes, and none “layeth it to heart.”  It is not the way of the wicked to stop to consider that they are taken away from the evil to come.  That they now have “rest from their labours and their works do follow them.”  When a righteous man dies he dies entering into peace.  He is taken up into the arms of the Lord and granted entrance into heaven itself: “walking in his uprightness.”  His reward is unseen by the wicked.  It is unlauded, incalculable, and completely misunderstood by the world.  It can almost seem unfair at times, when a person who has lived for God, and walked in his uprightness is taken suddenly.  We inform the family, make the arrangements, have the funeral, and in a month or less, most of us move on.  Then a public figure dies, living in wickedness, and we spend days, sometimes weeks talking about it. Random strangers weep over the loss as though they just lost their best friend.  Considering deeply the “impact” they made on the world as though the music album they produced or product they created will echo in the halls of eternity forever.  When in fact, it matters very little (if not at all).  What matters is what we did for God.  How we lived for Him. 

When the righteous perish, it would do us well to lay it to heart.  To consider that we “are but flesh” and will be soon taken away.  To consider that the “world passeth away and the lust thereof”  To consider how fleeting our moments here on earth are, and how everlasting eternity is, and give ourselves to righteousness.  To quote Phillip Henry: “He is no fool who gives away what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”

The Land Of Promise

 “For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.” – Proverbs 2:21

   In Genesis chapter twelve Abraham was called by God out of his dwelling, and asked to “go out” not knowing where he was going.  He did so, trusting in God to lead him to a land of promise, Canaan land.

Canaan land was/is the land that Abraham and his seed was promised after he left his home.  As you read over in the New Testament you begin to find and understand that God gave for us the example of Canaan so that we might understand and experience the spiritual Canaan land.  A land that we can possess because of His Son Jesus.  When you are forgiven of your sins you are brought out of bondage, and when you receive the Holy Spirit you are sanctified and brought into Canaan land.  You can be living in Canaan land, no matter where you are on this earth.  Canaan was prepared for Abraham, and in a way, Abraham was prepared for Canaan.  The man of faith, the man of righteousness, the upright and perfect man; that was the man who could dwell in Canaan.  It was his people who would one day enter in and possess the land.  It is no small thing for people to “go out” on faith. 

 We live in a carnal world and we are called by God to leave it (spiritually) and dwell in the spiritual.  The natural man looks, touches, reasons, and uses logic to govern his life.  He lives for himself, and the things that he cares about.  When God called Abraham, he was living in a city of commerce, he had a family and extended family.  His situation was one of comfort and stability.  It was everything that the natural man aspires after.  It was the equivalent of the modern day: house in the suburbs, with two kids, two car garage, and white picket fence.  God called Abraham, and told him to “go out;” to leave all that he had and trust that God would bring him into a better land.  Those who live in Canaan land will always be a people of faith.  A people who shun the natural and seek the spiritual.  A people who “go out;” following the will of God over and above everything else.  It takes faith to get into Canaan land, and faith to stay in Canaan land; faith to follow the will of God, and remain in the will of God.  The people of Abraham, the people of Canaan, the people of Jesus Christ; are and always will be, a people of faith.  If you are to be sanctified and remain sanctified, then you have to “go out.”  You have to leave your old life, old ways, and old wishes; basically you have to die to your idea of everything and trust in God completely.  God will bless this sacrifice and give you his Spirit; not by measure, no, rather by promise.  The Holy Ghost will come and dwell within your heart bringing you into the land of Canaan.  This is why the upright shall dwell in the land and the perfect shall remain in it.  It takes faith to get into Canaan and faith to stay in Canaan.  Faith becomes your new operating principle, forsaking your own way and following His way.  This is living in Canaan.    

It is a good land, the land of Canaan.  When you are sanctified, you find the same marvelous truths that Abraham found.  You find that serving God is far more wonderful than serving anything else.  The way of faith is far better than the way of sight.  The spiritual, better than the natural, and the land of Canaan is and always will be the land of promise.  God’s promises never fail; if you trust him, he will comfort and keep you.  For the upright dwell in the land, and it is a good land.

They Glorified God In Me

 “But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.  And they glorified God in me.”-Galatians 1: 23 & 24

It has been said reputation is what you’re perceived to be, and character is what you really are.  One would hope that his/her reputation and character coincide  However, this is not always the case, and certainly was not for the Apostle Paul.  It took some time from his reputation to catch up with his character.  However, this did not matter, because the end result is what is most important; which was “they glorified God in me.”   

You may have a fantastic reputation, admirable character, and reflect all the desirable qualities that the world would have, but if your life doesn’t glorify God, in the end it will profit nothing.  The whole of humanity is meant for one purpose, to glorify God.  In Genesis, chapter one, the scripture tells us that God created: land and sea, space and sky, plants and animals; then he created man to inhabit his creation and he desired that God himself would inhabit mankind.  All his creation (with the exception of mankind) must glorify God.  They have no choice.  Man does, and for this reason, we bring Him the most glory, because we have a choice to live for ourselves or to live for Him.  You can choose to glorify yourself, or you can glorify God.  The sun will rise each morning to bring light to the earth and people will be in awe of its beauty.  The blue sky and misty mountains will testify to the magnificence and might of the Almighty.  The vastness of space will promote the awesome power of the Alpha and Omega, but in all this; there is no choice or free will.  There is only creation.  We are the inhabitants of his creation and creation itself but we are different in that we can choose to deny God.  We can choose to deny his grace, his mercy, his power; we can even choose to deny his existence.  We have this choice while here on Earth, often it seems without punishment or retribution (however once we die we face judgment).  It was gifted to us just the same as the gift of life.  The sun cannot choose to shine, nor the tide to change, even the angels are subject to his authority, but God in his grace and mercy gave us choice, and loved us enough to subject himself to ridicule and mocking from the very creation which he made out of dust.  He wanted us to experience holiness, he wanted us to know Him, and he wanted this for us so much that he willingly gave his only Son so that we might find redemption and true life.  Think back, what brought you to Christ?  What convinced you that you could be saved?  Was it pictures of the Rocky Mountains or a visit to the Grand Canyon?  Perhaps, but far more likely it was the love of a Christian brother, it was the righteous life lived by a Parent or Grandparent.  It was the preaching (and living) of the cross by a pastor or layman.  They glorified God within themselves and that glory drew you, it drew me; they shined the light of Jesus in their life and it attracted us; it made you want to serve God and glorify Him over yourself.  It drew you to do His will over your own.  God was glorified within them.  Saul the Jew had the reputation and character of a man who persecuted the Christian church.  He believed in what he was doing, and it did a lot for him; but it did not glorify God.  We may believe in what we are doing, and we may have a reputation and character that is acceptable, maybe even exalted; but do you glorify God?  Does your life exalt Christ? 

The power of God through Jesus can dramatically change your life.  You may have bad character and a bad reputation, but that matters little to Him.  If God can command the oceans, he can change your life.  If God can move the mountains, he can change your life.  If God can set the sun in the sky, he can change your life.  These things have to obey him, but you must choose to obey him, and in choosing you can be a vessel unto honor, and your reputation and character can be changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that one day you can say: “they glorified God in me.”  Is there better testimony to leave?

Live In Liberty

 

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”-Galatians 5:1

Riding down the road the thought came to me that governments, people, business, and the like, want us to surrender our liberty.  More than that, the devil wants us to surrender our liberty.  Governments can come in and take our civil liberties from us.  However, when we have the spirit of God dwelling on the inside nothing and no one can take the true liberty from us.  It can only be willingly given. It is his business to convince us to despise our liberty and surrender it over willingly.  To trick us into seeing it as bondage, and not the glorious liberty that it is.  This is the devil’s business, but God shows us different. 

The yoke of bondage that Paul is referring to here in Galatians is directly connected to the false doctrines of that day which were creeping into the Galatian church.  Some were still clinging to the Mosaic law and pressuring others in the Christian church to do the same.  Paul would enumerate in other letters that the strength of the law is sin.  That the law made sin exceeding sinful, and never brought perfect deliverance or freedom.  That nothing outside of the grace of God and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ can bring deliverance from sin, and true freedom from sin.vvThis freedom is available to every believer, by faith, is what the Apostle Paul was contending for, and that once obtained we are kept by the power of God through faith.  He says in Romans: Who can separate us from the love of Christ?  The devil and all of his demons cannot come in and destroy this “keeping power” that resides in us (through the Holy Ghost).  Therefore, if our liberty is surrendered, we must do the surrendering.  We must be the ones to give it over to Satan.  I remember as a young man (before smart phones) we would go outside and play in the neighborhood.  At times we would be miles from the house with no way to contact our mom.  This was a liberty that was given to me, I assume because I had an older brother to look after me.  There was a bond of faith and trust that tethered this liberty to myself and my parents.  In today's world, many children don't play outside anymore.  If they do, parents use apps like Life360 or Findmyfriends to track in real time where their kids are at all times.  That trust and liberty has been willingly surrendered in the name of surveillance.  I can remember a day when you would show up at a friend's house and just knock on the door.  No call, certainly no text, just unannounced, knock on the door and they let you in.  This is a liberty that has been willingly surrendered at the altar of seclusion.  This is how the devil works, he doesn’t come in by force and take your liberty from you.  He  offers you something that you want, that seems to make your life better, easier, safer.  He wins through compromise.  He woos with complacency.  “A little sleep, a little slumber.”  His subtlety and deceitfulness is always working to undermine your convictions and get you to surrender your liberty.  

Paul exhorts the Galatians to “stand fast” in liberty.  Take a firm stand against Satan devices, by recognizing he is at work.  By attending to the voice of God: through reading, study, prayer and worship.  As an oak that sinks roots deep into the ground to draw strength from the earth, so the sanctified believer must dig down deep in order to grow tall and strong; never tossed about with every “wind of doctrine” but wholly given to the liberty in Christ; completely and consistently resolved to live in liberty.

Abraham Drew Near

“And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?-Genesis 18:23

      There was never a man who prayed as Christ prayed.  Christ’s prayers and time of prayer were a force of nature.  The supernatural and natural met together as the horizon, and the veil of the physical merged with the spiritual.  The effects were so evident and the reality of his prayers so clearly manifest that it caused his disciples to covet an understanding of his prayer saying to him: “Lord, teach us to pray.”  The relationship between Christ and His Father was so intimate and close that His prayers flowed through unobstructed, and accomplished in minutes what men aspired to do in lifetimes.  He was near the heart of God, and wholly given to the will of God.    

In the twelfth chapter of Genesis, God called Abraham with a special calling.  That day, Abraham entered into a covenant with God, as well as a relationship with God.  Abraham devoted his life to God.  His faith, his trust, and the way he chose to walk with God each day set this man apart from everyone else.  This brought Abraham into confidence and fellowship with God so that by the time you reach Genesis chapter eighteen we find Abraham meeting with the Lord when the men (or angels, or both) of God appear.  Abraham immediately recognizes their character and moves with haste to make them feel welcome.  He entreats them to come in and in so doing they decide to share with him their plans to judge Sodom and Gomorah. This causes Abraham to plead with them and intercede on behalf of Sodom and Gomorah for just ten righteous men.  No doubt thinking of his nephew Lot who is living just outside the gate.  Abraham's intercession did not save Sodom but it did save Lot.  This is the confidence that God has in Abraham and Abraham in God.  This is the relationship that he has, and closeness it affords him.  Giving him the resolve to ask of God things that other men would not.  Other men cannot.  They cannot because they are not abiding in the Lord.  They are not in a living and active relationship with the Father.  They are given to this world, and its treasures, and without the promise of God in their lives.  When you think of the relationship between a man and wife, there is no relationship that comes to its equal.  It will produce such an intimate knowledge of the other person, and such a close confidence.  A profound and enduring establishment of trust.  You will share things with your spouse that you wouldn't with anyone else.  You will know things about one another that only you will know.  It brings an assurance in each other that you do not have with anyone else.  Therefore you can ask of them things that you cannot or would not of anyone else.  This relationship is built on a sacred covenant.  Which allows you to intercede and help in areas of life where others are not equipped to.  Not the least of which is birthing and raising children.  So individually, abiding in Christ, making up a church abiding in Christ, is fit to birth and raise converts.  Not through carnal means, or comfortable methods, but in prayers, supplications, and intercessions.  By living in the covenant, drawing near, and asking.    

        John fifteen tells us that when we abide in Christ and he in us we can ask what we will, and it will be done.  We can approach God in intercession, in need, in supplication.  When our ministry is in need, ask.  When our loved ones are lost, ask.  When our church is dying, ask.  When our homes are broken, ask.  Ask, because God cares.  The outcome of our prayer has much to do with the reality of our life before the Lord.  Our devotion to the covenant, our walking in righteousness, our faith in the promises of God.  Live in the covenant and plead for the lost.  Draw near as Abraham did.