WHERE IS BOASTING?

Friday, May 28, 2021

 

WHERE IS BOASTING?

 

Rom 3:27-28

27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

 

John 15:5

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

 

           My wife and I once attended a three-day conference where we previewed new choral music. Our church music teaches much of our theology. It is subtle and subliminal. We receive it readily and remember it compulsively. We should, therefore, filter it carefully. One piece began with a sentence that went something like this: “No success can be claimed by any of God’s creatures.” It was as if I had been slapped! Tears flooded my eyes, and I immediately knew that much of the progress in ministry I had claimed as my own.

           There is no success without God! Without Him we can do nothing! Yet we praise our natural abilities, and we boast our superior education as reasons for God’s blessings. When we see Stephen stoned or Paul in jail, we click our tongues thinking that these saints must have made some mistake. We think there must have been a horrible miscalculation in methodology. Any preaching, we reason, that produces a violent reaction like stoning or imprisonment must not be wise. We conclude that Stephen and Paul were unsuccessful and, had we been there, we might have had done better.

 

           Where is boasting then? Boasting will be specifically excluded from heaven. Human effort in salvation is specifically excluded. He chooses the fool to shame the wise. Heaven will ring with praise, but it will all be for our God.

 

Dear Lord, forgive me for claiming any of your glory. Forgive me for claiming any of your power. I am dirt with life breathed in. You are the breath of life. Let all my boasting be turned to praise. AMEN

 

THESE ARE THEY!

Thursday, May 27, 2021

 

THESE ARE THEY!

 

Rev 7:13-14

13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

 

           When one of the 24 elders asked John to describe and define the inhabitants of heaven, he said “I don’t know, but you can surely inform me.” This the elder was happy to do. He said, “These are they who have endured persecutions and troubles of every kind but that did not buy their pardon. No, these are they who have obtained their pardon and purity by the blood of the lamb.”

 

           Because they are washed, they have free access to the throne. They will never again hunger or thirst. They will never again feel the discomfort of excessive heat or cold.

 

           The Lamb will most tenderly wipe away every tear from their eyes. In a fatherly manner, God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and all causes of distress and grief. They shall have pure, unmixed happiness. This is the happiness of those who are washed from their sins. Are you washed?

 

Isa 1:18

18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

 

 

Gentle Shepherd, thank you for washing me in your precious blood. AMEN

 

BE TRUE TO YOU!

 

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

 

BE TRUE TO YOU!

 

Ex 23:2-6

2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

3 Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.

4 If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.

5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.

6 Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.

 

The mark of adulthood is not a chronological age passed; it is the development of personhood. It means that you have become who you have been becoming and that you are consistent and comfortable with that persona. It means you have cast off the funny fads of adolescence and found a style that is functional and appropriate to the occasion. It means that you do not agree with a faceless crowd simply because it is a crowd.

 

It is almost painful to watch an adolescent grow up and even more painful to see those who have reached the age where they should have grown up but failed to do so.

 

Take a look at the important points in our Scripture portion today.

 

1. Don’t always follow the crowd – especially if it is a mob! Why do people feel they have to say what others say, do what others do, and even wear what others wear in order to feel significant? Especially refrain from swearing to a lie even if everyone else says it is true. Verse 2 particularly speaks of being cautious not to agree with the majority opinion if it is false and would convict the innocent man or release a guilty one.

 

2. Don’t allow sympathy to cause you to tolerate wrong! This is the force of verse 3 which basically means that you should never be partial to a poor man just because he is poor. Again, do not allow yourself to tolerate sin in someone if he is capable of doing right. Parents often hinder their children from reaching adulthood because they will not hold them accountable.

 

3. Be a blessing even to someone who is not your friend! Verses 4 and 5 give us the scenario of an “enemy” whose donkey runs away. If you find the donkey simply return it to the owner. If you find the donkey collapsed under a heavy load and the owner, who is your enemy, is struggling with it you should stop and offer to help. It’s really that simple!

 

William Shakespeare said: “And this above all unto thine own self be true and it shall follow as the day the night – thou can’st not then be false to any man.”

 

Dear Lord, help me to be fully grown, mature and faithful today. Help me to stand for truth and principles even if I must stand alone. AMEN