Author: pastortravislv

Romans 16:19 – For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.
.

What do you study? With what do you familiarize yourself? A look at Romans 16:19, Paul’s farewell to the church in Rome, challenges us to a way of thinking that is properly balanced. God wants us to be wise about what is good while being innocent of evil.

Let’s look at those two commands in reverse order. God calls us to be innocent of evil. This means that, so far as the evil practices and wrong-headed thinking of the world goes, we are not to be involved. We most certainly are not to find ourselves fascinated more with the study of the false doctrines of cults, the evil practices of the occult, or the details of the decadent lives of people in the world. We are to be innocent, clean, pure, unblemished. This, of course, puts a challenge before the person who believes that he has to experience all sorts of sinful entertainment in order to be “relevant” in the culture.

One quick balancing point: We are to be innocent of evil, but not ignorant. The call here is not for us to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that evil does not exist. However, the knowledge that we should have of the culture around us should be enough to understand its existence, not to be familiar with its details so much so that our imaginations can run away with us and drag us into sin. So, for example, a Christian ought to be aware of the presence of a local strip joint, but ought not get so into the conversation with his lost buddies as to learn the details of a particular stripper’s anatomy or routine. A Christian most certainly can be aware of certain cultural phenomena such as musical trends, teen habits, movies, comedy routines, or other potentially sinful activities without becoming so intimately involved with them as to be tempted by them (not that any in that list is necessarily sinful) .

Look at the alternative with me, and I think you will see an appropriate difference. Instead of becoming experts on the evil of the world, it is far better for us to become wise about what is good. God wants us to spend the bulk of our brain power dwelling on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). He wants us to be experts on him, his grace, his word, his love, his power, his glory, etc. God wants us to think about how to help others to know him and how we can show his love to a lost and dying world. God wants us to know his word better than we know the content of any form of entertainment, sinful or not. God wants us to love his word far more than we love finding a hole in the argumentation of some critic of the faith. It is far better to fill your mind with what is truly good than it is to ponder the strategy of the evil.

Today, why not make it a goal of yours to take time to become wise at what is good? Why not make it a point to spend more of your time focused on what is right than what is wrong? How about making sure that you balance your leisure time in favor of that which honors God? And why not, while you’re at it, see about closing the doors of your life to that which is too much information on the evil? Let us learn to glorify God by loving him with our minds, becoming wise at what is good and innocent of evil.

Deuteronomy 17:14-20

14 “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.
18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.
.

Our God is truly an awesome God. In Deuteronomy 17, God, through Moses, tells the nation of Israel his statutes. Here at the end of chapter 17, God tells the nation something that they will do hundreds of years in the future. They will rebel against God and ask for a king. Since God knows what they will do, he gives them commands for what the king should not do.

How prescient is God? Look at this description of King Solomon from a few hundred years after Moses gave this command:

1 Kings 10:25-11:6

God commanded the king not to do a few things in Deuteronomy 17. He told the king not to return to Egypt for horses, to amass too much wealth, or to marry many women. Solomon did all three of these things, and his heart was turned away from the Lord.

What astounds me is not that Solomon disobeyed the command of God. What astounds me is that God, through Moses, told us exactly what Solomon would do. He gave the very specific commands that Solomon would disobey. It is as if God simply laid out the law, knowing all the time exactly what would befall this rebellious nation full of rebellious men.

Now, I’m not pretending that it is at all encouraging to watch Solomon fail. I am, however, greatly in awe of the fact that God has all of human history in his view. He knew what Solomon’s heart would be. He knew what men would do. He even knows everything I ever will do. Our God is amazing and worthy of all worship. No one could see the future to make such a command except for our God who truly knows all things. Praise to him!

Matthew 24:45-46 – “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.”
.

Matthew 24 is one of the most fascinating discourses that we can read from the lips of Jesus. In this passage, we have Jesus answering questions for his disciples that concern the destruction of the temple, Jesus’ coming, and the end of the age. Many people spend years of their lives in study of this section along with other prophetic passages to develop their eschatology, their belief about the ultimate end of the world.

Rather than spending any time trying to put together an argument as to an order of both past and future events, I would rather spend some time this morning pondering the counsel given to us by our Lord. Would you like to be considered a faithful servant of the Lord? If so, you need remember a few things. First, remember that the world in which we live is temporary. There is an age to come in which our lives will not be what they presently are. We are created for an eternity in the presence of God. Let us learn to live, think, and act as people whose eternal life has already begun and whose eternal life will carry us on long after the toys and petty entertainments of this life have passed away.

Second, let us remember that, regardless of what order you expect future events to take, the Bible is clear that Jesus will physically return to this earth and a new age will be inaugurated. You may live out your days on this earth before that physical return of Christ, and you may not. Either way, the Lord Jesus advises you to be faithfully obeying his commands until that day arrives. We must never allow the thought of the return of Christ to keep us from going out, preaching the Gospel, and working with every fiber of our being for the glory of God. Christ does not allow us to have an escapist mentality. He commands our continued work, our continued faithfulness. We want to be doing what he has called us to do when he returns or when he calls us home.

Romans 2:4-5 – Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
.

Presumption is one of the easiest sins to fall into. Why? Simply put, this is such an easy sin because it requires nothing of us. To presume on God’s grace is simply to assume that everything is as it ought to be. It is to say, “Of course God has been good to me,” and to think in your heart that you deserve it. Presumption is championed by a world that calls us to live for ourselves and to feed our self-esteem.

With this thought in mind, Romans 2:4 ought to cause us to pause and think very hard about how we think. Paul, inspired by God’s Holy Spirit, makes us aware that the kindness of God is intended to lead us to repentance. God’s kindness is not simply there for us to enjoy. God does not give us his kindness so that we can merely sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride he gives us through an easy life—not at all! God wants us to see in his kindness our great need to respond to him with love, faith, and obedience. He wants his kindness toward us to make us see that we are sinners who do not deserve that kindness. He wants that kindness to stand out like a blazing beacon against the dark backdrop of our hearts’ own selfishness and malice. God is kind toward us in order to help us see how great he is in comparison to our own selfishness and sinfulness.

Do not hear me calling us to think that God is not genuinely kind to us. In fact, a kindness intended to lead us to repentance is the greatest kindness of all. God’s kindness is intended to lead us to our hearts’ greatest possible joy, the joy of glorifying our God. He is overwhelmingly kind. But let us learn not to presume on his kindness. Let us not receive his kindness without understanding that it is truly grace, unmerited favor from God. Let us not let kindness happen without it spurring in our hearts a desire to be more like God, to turn from our sin, and to experience his glory. Let us learn to let God’s kindness lead us to repentance.

Psalm 50:21

These things you have done, and I have been silent;
you thought that I was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.
.

One of the most common and most frustrating things that I run into as a pastor is an error that God points out in the above verse. There are times when I, as a pastor, will share with someone simple truths from the word of God. While I know and heartily acknowledge that I am imperfect and quite fallible, I also know that God has blessed me with training and resources to help to interpret the Bible faithfully in accord with sound hermeneutical principles. Thus it is frustrating and difficult when I run into a person who, upon hearing something from the word of God, responds with a statement akin to the following: “Well, I just don’t think God would do it that way,” or “I just know that God. . .”

The dangerous error that any of us can fall into if we fail to make our theology from the scripture is the error of making our God into our own image. God rebukes Israel for this harshly. That second line of the verse above, “you thought that I was one like yourself” is the key. When we do not allow the Bible and the Bible alone to help us to know who God is, what he is like, and how he will act, we instead assume that God thinks along our line of reasoning. When we say, for example, that God would never do something, we should immediately ask ourselves if that is something that is revealed in his word. God will never lie, as his word clearly states in Titus 1:2. But for someone to say that God would never allow their country’s government to fall or that God would never allow his church to suffer at the hands of an evil government is for someone to claim something which God most certainly did not reveal in the scriptures.

You might wonder if this happens often in the life of the church. I submit to you that it happens all the time. When Christians debate issues such as eschatology (end time events), how often are their arguments based on what they think God would do rather than what God has said? How about when we study the issue of the order of the events in our salvation? Do we make our arguments based on what the Bible says or what we think we have experienced? It is likely that, if you look deeply into any controversial doctrinal issue, somewhere near the bottom of the issue will be an argument that forms, not from scripture, but from someone’s opinion of how God ought to do things.

What about you? When you think of God and how God accomplishes his will, do you think in purely biblical terms? Do you allow the scripture to inform you as to God’s ways? Or do you assume that God would never allow something to happen based on the simple fact that, if you were in God’s place, you do not think that you would allow it to happen? God is infinitely greater than us in his holiness and in his wisdom. His ways are beyond our comprehension at many a time. How dare we assume that God would or would not do something simply based on our own likes and dislikes? Let us not remake a god in our own image. Let us not assume that God is one like ourselves. Let us learn who God is as he has revealed to us in his word.

Matthew 21:43 – Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.
.

Jesus, in speaking with the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, makes a chilling claim. Comparing the nation of Israel to a group of unfaithful vineyard tenants, Jesus showed how Israel as a nation had refused to obey God’s commands and had put his prophets and eventually his Son to death. As a result, God would take the Kingdom of God away from these wicked men, and would give the work of the Kingdom to another people who would bear fruit.

Right away, the American Christian is tempted to smile to himself when thinking of this passage. We think to ourselves that we are part of that people to whom the Kingdom is given. But before we get too smug, let us remember something crucial that Jesus said, “a people producing its fruits”. For a moment, examine yourself. For a moment examine your local congregation. Are you a people who are producing the fruits of the Kingdom of God?

As I read this verse this morning, I was not even tempted to deal with any sort of dispensationalism issues. Nor am I in any way attempting to deal with any issues regarding believers and the security of their salvation. I simply want us to think about this question: If God gives his kingdom to those who produce its fruits, ought we feel comfortable that we in our own lives and in our corporate church lives would qualify as solid Kingdom citizens? Is your life bearing the fruit of a Kingdom citizen? Is your church bearing fruit as a part of God’s Kingdom? If not, why not? If not, why are you not trembling in fear that God might place you on the shelf and choose to use someone else to accomplish his work?

Here is what I know for sure. If you truly have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, you cannot lose that relationship. However, if you have such a relationship, it must be marked by fruit. If you are bearing fruit, God will entrust more and more to you in the work of his Kingdom. If you are not bearing fruit, it is likely that you will fail to experience even the smallest of joys available to you as God’s child in this life. It should frighten those who are not bearing fruit that their lives could be lived without truly having the joy for which God created them and saved them. And, it is possible that, if your life is not marked by any fruit, your life is not truly marked by genuine salvation.

And for a local church, the fear ought also be great. In the Ephesian church of Revelation 2:1-7, we see God threaten to take that church out of existence if they do not return in love to him. Do you believe that God would no longer do that? If your church is not bearing fruit, you ought plead with God that he will make your church fruitful. You ought work with all your might to help your church to be fruitful. Bear the fruit of the Kingdom so that your church might continue to be used by God in his great global mission. Fail to faithfully follow God, and you could see your own congregation become less and less relevant in Kingdom conversation.

By the way, fruit does not necessarily equal numeric growth. Bearing Kingdom fruit is faithful obedience to the commands of God. If your church bears Kingdom fruit, there will be love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). A fruitful church will learn to love God more and more and love each other selflessly (Matthew 22:27-40). A fruitful church will share the gospel with the community around it, carry that gospel to the nations, and teach obedience to Jesus to all who are a part of it (Matthew 28:28-20). A fruitful church will be a place where God is exalted, the Bible is faithfully taught and believed, the lost hear the gospel, the believers love one another, and the needy are helped. A fruitful church will be a place where gossip dies, where grudges are put to rest, where pride is destroyed, where evil doctrines are slain.

Is your church and your life bearing the fruit of the Kingdom of God?