IS THERE PROFESSED FAITH OR PRACTICAL FRUIT?

“Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Execute true justice, Show mercy and compassion everyone to his brother. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart against his brother.”’”
(Zechariah‬ ‭7:8-10‬‬)

Outwardly, we come to worship, and profess our faith, but far too often, inwardly, our hearts are far from God.  Our hearts have not been prepared for encountering God.

These verses in Zechariah connect the two. Justice, mercy and compassion are essential heart preparations for worship.  If we are not in a right relationship with people we aren’t in a right relationship with God. Jesus told us when we bring our gift to the altar and remember our brother has ought against us, we must first go to them, and attempt reconciliation, before our worship will be acceptable.  John said that if we can’t love our brother whom we can see, how can we claim to love a God we cannot see?

The fact is that where bitterness, anger, and an unforgiving spirit are manifest, God will not manifest His presence.  Yet, it is not enough to seek to remove these relational cancers. We must actively pursue justice, mercy, and compassion.

THE SOURCE OF MERCY AND LONG-SUFFERING

“But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.”
(Ps.86:15)

Out of the infinite fullness of a long-suffering God—from the bottomless well of His compassion and grace—flows the abundant mercy we must have.

Why would God be merciful?  Why would He be long-suffering?

You know what “long-suffering” is, don’t you?  Turn the word around—it is to suffer long with a problem or a person—and in this case God finds the problem is with the person—our sinful heart!  We are stiff-necked, stubborn, self-willed and self-absorbed.  Thankfully, Almighty God is patient with us.  He endures that we ignore Him, or worse deny Him, or even worse hate Him.

Why?  Because that is His nature.  God is love, and His love reaches out to those who merit His wrath.

Christ’s nail-scarred hand reaches out to lift us from our sin and deliver us from judgment, and what do we do?  We slap it away.  Then He reaches out again, and we jerk back.  Still, His long-suffering mercy is extended—for how long?

Not forever.  If we insist on our own way, there will come a time that even the patience of God reaches its limit and in holiness, compassion gives way to condemnation.

How does grace compare to mercy?  Think of it this way—grace is God giving us what we don’t deserve—heaven—while mercy is God not giving us what we do deserve—hell.

Thank God for His mercy and long-suffering!

THE RESULTS OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS, Part 2

God’s faithfulness is for His glory, but also for our good. Yesterday, we learned that His faithfulness results in God saving and sanctifying us (1 Cor.1:9; 10:13; 1 Thess.5:23-24)

Today, we will note three additional results.  Because He is faithful:

• GOD SHAPES US.

“I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are right, And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.” (Ps.119:75)

The troubles that come our way are not meant to harm us, but to help us. These problems are the pressures of life that the Potter uses to shape our human clay into the image of Christ.

• GOD SECURES US.

“Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.” (Lam.3:22-23)

We can be secure in knowing that God is faithful to extend to us mercies every morning. We are not consumed with the condemnation we deserve, because God is consumed with the compassion He desires. We may fail, but He will be faithful.

• GOD STABILIZES US.

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” (Heb.10:23). This does not mean that our faithfulness is insignificant, but that it grows out of God’s faithfulness to us. We can hold fast to our confession because God holds fast to His children. We may be unwavering in our stand for God is unmoving in His stability—and our feet rest on that Rock!  God’s faithfulness is the root of which our faithfulness is the fruit.

How wonderful is our Mighty God!  Great is His faithfulness. Again this morning I find mercies for the multitude of my sins. Compassions are abundant for my need is great. As the sun rises, God’s faithfulness dawns anew for me!

GOD FORSAKEN

God forsaken—what a frightening term for a fearful truth—and it was what the inhabitants of Jerusalem were about to experience.  The vultures were circling and the jackals were skulking—waiting to pick the bones of the dead.  The Jews should have raised their voices to God in repentance, but instead roared at Him as a lion in their arrogance.  That was folly to be met with God’s fury.

The Lord had brought them into a land flowing with milk and honey, but soon there would only be desolation.  The rulers of Babylon—the commanders of their army—would invade—rape, pillage, destroy, kill, and enslave until all would be destroyed.  

Notice, that it is “the sword of the LORD” that falls upon them.  God is sovereign and even as He will use the Babylonians as His sword, it is His hand that wields it.  God is not beyond using a foreign nation to bring down wrath on a land like America today—such a God-blessed land that can soon become a desolation because we have forgotten the source of our blessing.  Nuclear weapons would do that.

The farmers sowed what they hoped would be a harvest of grain, but they would instead reap thorns.  You reap what you sow, and thorns are the crop that comes from the curse of sin.

When Jerusalem fell, the nations that encircled them—Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Syria, and others would be exult in the downfall of Judah and like the aforementioned vultures and jackals were eager to devour the scraps.  Yet, Babylon would conquer those nations, as well.

Out of the dark storm clouds descending on Jerusalem, a beam of hope breaks through in the distance.  After 70 years of captivity, the Jews will be permitted to return.  God will have compassion—and not just to them.  The pagans who dwelt in the land, and influenced the Jews to call on Baal, can be influenced by the Jews to call on the LORD—and “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved” (Rom.10:13). There is hope for Jews and Gentiles alike.  We can sink roots of repentance into the soil of salvation or we will be uprooted and destroyed.  There is no middle ground. 

PERVERSE PITY

But the LORD said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night.  And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?  (Jonah 4:10-11)

Pity is a wonderful trait—if directed toward others in need.  Self-pity, however, is a perversion that turns a virtue into a vice.  The book of Jonah begins with the prophet being unwilling to go preach to the Assyrians out of a sense of self-protection, to be sure, but also prejudice toward these pagans.  He wanted them to be judged for he deemed them worthy of it.  Sadly, the book ends with Jonah pouting that God did the very thing he feared—spared the repentant people.  

Jonah had just experienced the greatest revival in history.  We might turn to the fourth chapter expecting to see him rejoicing, but the opposite was true!  The heart of his problem was the problem of his heart.  Is it not true of us?  That is the human condition.  God had been working on him, for God is in the business of sanctifying His children.  The activity of God is woven throughout the book—God prepared a storm, a fish, a plant, a worm, and a wind—all because God was breaking down a stubborn soul.

Jonah wanted his way rather than God’s will.  Like a petulant child, he sulks.  He became a spectator, hoping the Assyrians would backslide and judgment might yet descend on them.  He was bitter—no wonder the whale spit him out earlier—who wants to be around a bitter believer?  How many times I have seen church members who were active become bitter over some disappointment in life—really, disappointment with God or the church—and they wind up pouting on a pew.

God let Jonah stew in his own juices for a while—marinating in self-pity.  Then, in God’s perfect timing, He sends grace, causing a plant to grow up—the leaves providing a shade over the little shanty Jonah constructed.  Jonah was glad, but not grateful.  He rejoiced in the provision and not the Provider.  He enjoyed the blessing, but not the Blessed One.  The plant became the object of the prophet’s affection—and that is idolatry!

Church people can become idolaters the same way—taking that which is meant to be a sacred how to lead them to God and making it a sacred cow to substitute for God.  Preachers can become that.  God sends a man to lead the church to the Lord and we wind up idolizing the man.  Programs can become that—methods meant to bring people closer to Christ that become the object of our devotion.  Places can become idols—a church building where we gather to worship the Lord, and yet the building becomes the focus of our adoration.

God sent a worm to destroy Jonah’s idol.  He may send a pulpit committee to take away our preacher idol, or a financial difficulty to end the church program, or a fire to consume a building.  Then God sent a sirocco—a searing east wind to add an exclamation point.

God is more concerned about people than programs.  If the church is more devoted to preserving what they have within the four walls, than sacrificing to reach people beyond them, then we have missed the point of this story.

LIGHT YOUR WORLD

 

that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world….  (Philippians 2:15)

A demonic darkness has descended upon America.  Daily, it seems, we hear of the most horrific crimes that are committed.  Dope, debauchery, drunkenness, devil worship—all this and more has enslaved millions.  The evil of sin is decimating our nation, destroying our families, and defiling our churches.  What are we to do?  Enough hand-wringing!  Our response is clear according to Scripture!  Paul admits to the reality of the darkness—it is “a crooked and perverse generation.”  So, let your light shine!

Paul speaks of THE LIGHT OF CONTENTMENT (Phil.2:14).  You must keep the wick of an oil lamp trimmed or it becomes hard and gives off more smoke than light.  A spirit of discontent hardens our heart and disputes smoke up the church with a foul odor and dim the light.  Contentment, on the other hand, is an attitude that brightens the room!  Don’t argue with Paul about, “If you knew what I was going through…if you knew how people have treated me…” because he was writing these words from a dark prison cell, suffering what he did not deserve!  Yet, the whole letter is brimful of joy and the Apostle exults, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.”  (4:11b)  Have you?

There is also THE LIGHT OF CONSECRATION (Phil.2:15a).  For an oil lamp to shine, you must keep the globe clean.  Consecration is about the cleansing of sin that comes from confession.  It is a regular need, for we all at some point or another succumb to temptation.  We can be wiped clean again through repentance.  God calls us to be blameless—where no one can point to a scandalous sin that contradicts our claims as the children of God.  We are to be harmless—and the word means, “for real,” so sinners cannot call us hypocrites.  If we are to bring others to the light, then we must be clean.

Next, we note THE LIGHT OF COMPASSION (Phil.2:15b-16).  An oil lamp requires fuel!  Compassion is the oil in the lamp of our testimony.  Paul had a burning heart to reach the lost.  Even in prison, his compassion brought a compulsion to win souls to Christ (read Phil.1:12-14).  People are sailing on the storm-tossed seas of sin—in the darkness of deception drawing ever closer to shipwreck on the rocks of God’s wrath.  Their only hope to make safe harbor is for the church to be a lighthouse and where there are those already sinking in sin—throw them the life-preserver of “the word of life.”

In conclusion, we need THE LIGHT OF COMMITMENT (Phil.2:16b-18).  You may have your wick trimmed, the globe clean, and oil in the lamp, but there is one more requirement—a flame to ignite it!  Commitment is the spark for our witness.  Paul had such a commitment to Christ and His commission for him that he saw himself as a sacrifice—a drink offering poured out on the altar.  He was running the race to win and laboring to receive an eternal reward.  God wants us to be productive—and reach our world.  Let us seek Paul’s passion and emulate his pattern lest our race and our labor be, “in vain” (v.16).  The darker the world, the more our light is needed—and effective!