Category: devotional

The Saved Work (Matthew 25:24-30)

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Matthew 25:24-30

24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
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There are likely very few Christians who have spent any time in the Bible who are not aware of the parable of the talents. As Jesus describes three men who are each given three different amounts of money, we see for ourselves something of the judgment to come. Some men will be found faithful, and that faithfulness will be judged by God relative to what God has given them. But some men will be found unfaithful.

It is the unfaithful servant who has my attention this morning. This man, like his other two companions, was given a particular amount of money, a particular responsibility, by his master. Unlike his brethren, this man refused to work to increase his master’s investment. It is not that this poor man tried to do something for his master and failed, he simply refused to try. And, when it came time for an accounting, the man found himself judged severely by his master.

There are certain doctrines that I love and yet I know to be dangerous. One such doctrine is that of the believer’s security in his or her salvation. I believe without a doubt that the Bible teaches us that no person can lose his or her salvation. Unfortunately, many of those in our church buildings take this to mean that no person who has walked an aisle or prayed a specific kind of prayer can ever be lost. So, we have in our church buildings a mass of people who have gone through religious motions without ever truly believing; yet, since we believe in the security of the believer, we are discouraged from questioning whether or not such a person is saved based on their fruit or lack thereof.

Now, revisit the parable. Jesus makes it plain in this parable that there is a way to guess as to a person’s spiritual state. He is not saying that a saved person loses that state of salvation, but he is telling us that we should look at more than some supposed spiritual experience at a youth camp in order to decide whether or not we believe a person to be saved. Jesus shows us that a person who has been truly saved, who is truly a part of God’s kingdom, will be a person who works with the gifts God has given him. The amount of success that each person has with his or her gifts will not necessarily be the same, as different people are given different gifts by God. But we who are truly saved are all gifted by God in one way or another, and we are, if we are saved, going to work to accomplish things that benefit God’s kingdom with those gifts.

Will You Be Faithful (Matthew 24:45-46)

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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.”
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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.

No One, Really? (Romans 3:10-12)

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Romans 3:10-12

10 as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
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It is the second line of verse 11 that has my attention as I ponder this passage this day. The holy, infallible, inspired, inerrant word of God says that no one, not one single person, seeks for God. Can this possibly be true? If so, what must it say for how we do what we do?

First question, is this true? Of course it is true. God has given us his word in order that we might know him and know truth. He reveals to us in a perfect way that no person seeks after God—no one. If we believe the Bible to be the perfect revelation of God, then we understand that it is true that no one seeks after him. But what should we do about those who appear to be seeking after God? It is simple to understand, I think. If people are seeking after God, they are not doing so from themselves. If a person appears to be seeking God, either he is pretending or he has been influenced by God in such a way that God has brought this person to seek him.

How should this change what we do? This is a foundational question. If no person seeks after God, we certainly ought not design our worship services as though they will draw “seekers.” This is not to say that we make things difficult on a lost person who enters our sanctuaries. However, it should logically follow that, if no person seeks after God, we will not draw people to God by somehow compromising our worship services to make them more worldly. We should worship God in spirit and truth. We should preach the word with boldness and power. We should explain our services and practices to outsiders, to be sure. We should even invite lost people to come and observe. But let us not kid ourselves into thinking that our attempts to be hip somehow will draw someone into the family. God draws people in. If they are seeking him, he has already done something to cause that. Thus we give him the credit and glory for winning someone, and we never offer credit and glory to our clever programs or well-packaged routines.

If no one seeks after God, do we still practice evangelism? Without question! In fact, we practice evangelism with greater confidence. If the only people who seek God are those God supernaturally changes, we must understand that any time we share the true gospel of Jesus Christ, there is genuine potential for the hearer to be saved. This is not something that should slow down our evangelism. On the contrary, this fact, the fact that God is the one who truly changes hearts, makes us share with more honesty, more boldness, more prayer, and more hope.

And what about you and me? If you are a believer, this verse ought to cause you to respond to God with more gratitude than ever before. You did not seek God; God sought you. If you are saved, God broke through your heart to bring you to himself. Give him thanks. Give him praise. Thank him for his love and mercy that he had on one who would never have sought him. What a wonderfully merciful God we serve.

Watch Jesus Handle the Bible (Matthew 22:31-32)

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Matthew 22:31-32 – “And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”
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When Jesus used the scriptures here to deflect a tricky argument from the Sadducees, he did something that many of our modern church members cannot do and that some movements want to stop altogether. Jesus used a simple grammatical analysis of the text in order to determine the facts about God. He exercised no postmodern interpretive method. He had no conversation with the text. He simply looked at the words of scripture, saw the words and their meaning, and drew a very logical and biblically faithful conclusion.

Why do I say that many people want to put a stop to such a thing as Jesus did? Watch those who are attempting to call the church to interact with the Bible in a postmodern way. The acceptance of post-modernity involves a basic rejection of the notion that the text has a clear and particular meaning to which we must submit ourselves. But if you watch Jesus, he very clearly is calling the Sadducees to submit themselves to the clearly intended meaning of the text in its perfect inspiration. One cannot use postmodern logic and faithfully do what Jesus did.

Why do I say that many in our churches today cannot do what Jesus did? Quiz your church members. How many of them are so committed to the study of the text that they would notice the tense of the verb in an Old Testament statement by God, much less apply that concept to draw a faithful conclusion about the fact that the dead live in God’s presence? Many of our own people would not be able to do what Jesus did, not because of a postmodern interpretation, but simply because of a lack of the kind of blood and sweat inducing study that will so help us to know God’s word as to be able to faithfully handle it.

What shall we do? Let us commit ourselves to handle the scripture in a faithful way. We know that the Bible is inspired by God and has an intended meaning. Let us commit ourselves to so study the word of God as to learn what the divine Author intended us to learn from it.

Avoiding Presumption (Romans 2:45)

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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.
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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.

Do You Think That God Is One Like Yourself? (Psalm 50:21)

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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.
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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.

Fruitful or Fearful (Matthew 21:43)

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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.
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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?

The Significance of the Resurrection (Romans 1:3-4)

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Romans 1:3-4 – concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
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As we approach our celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, our thoughts may turn to the question of the importance of the resurrection. Is it really crucial for a Christian to believe that Jesus truly, literally, physically rose from the grave? Is it really that important for us to see the resurrection as something more than a figurative and spiritual occurrence? Often these questions are rightly answered by a look at 1 Corinthians 15. But, my current reading is in Romans. Yet, even here, the Lord makes it clear that it is absolutely vital that we understand that the resurrection of Jesus is a very real, very literal event.

Here in the opening of Paul’s letter to the Romans, we find a reference to the resurrection. What is the significance that Paul gives Jesus’ rising from the grave? Paul says that it is through the resurrection that Jesus was “declared to be the Son of God in power.” Simply put, the resurrection of Jesus is powerful and real proof that Jesus is exactly who he claims to be. Without it, we dare not believe that a man is truly God in flesh. With the resurrection, we see that Jesus’ seemingly impossible claim to be both God and man is indeed true.

You may have often heard Christians using the resurrection of Jesus as the proof that separates Jesus from other religious figures. This verse lets us know that such a claim and comparison is accurate. Jesus is far superior to every other religious figure in history including Mohammad, Joseph Smith, any Buddha, or any other great guru, because Jesus supported his own claim to deity by physically coming back to life after being dead. The fact that Jesus did not remain in the grave is a solid proof that his claims of sacrificing himself for our sins as our substitute, of satisfying God’s wrath for our sin, of being God himself are all true.

So, as Resurrection Sunday (my term for Easter) approaches, take time to ponder the significance of the resurrection of Jesus. We dare not let such a crucial part of our faith be relegated to insignificance. Jesus is alive. The fact that he lives gives credence to all the rest of our faith. Without the resurrection, we have nothing. With a living Jesus, we have hope for eternity. Let us love and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord.

Owning Nothing (Leviticus 25:23)

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Leviticus 25:23 – “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me.”
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One of the most beautiful provisions in the Levitical law was God’s commanding the year of Jubilee. The Israelites could buy and sell properties as they needed for a period of 49 years. In the fiftieth year, the land would revert back to its original owner. This kept people from ever becoming too rich or too poor. But more than being a plan for social order, this command reminded the people of Israel that they owned nothing. They were renting the land. Everything, all land, property, and people, belonged to God.

As you may well know, we have no record (at least of which I am aware) of the Israelites ever obeying this command of God. We know nothing of the Israelites returning lands to their original possessors. For some reason, the allure of thinking that they owned something that was totally theirs outweighed their desire to obey the clear instruction of the Lord.

But, you know, we are in the same boat. Though we have no standing commands for a year of Jubilee, we do have a true understanding that we own nothing too. The earth is the Lords and all that is on, under, or above it. God owns everything. Anything you or I possess is simply on loan to us from the Lord who created it. We dare not allow ourselves to think that we are the masters of anything. To do so is to risk idolizing our possessions, giving into greed, and failing to be truly thankful to God for the things over which he has given us stewardship.

Today, take a look around you. What do you have? Whom do you love? Take time to remember that all of it belongs to God. Take time to remember that you are a short-term steward of the King’s property. Take time to give God thanks for what he has given to you. Take time to confess to God that you know that he has the right to give or take things from you as he sees fit for his glory. Learn to live as one who truly owns nothing.

Be Still and Know (Psalm 46:10)

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Psalm 46:10

“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
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Psalm 46 is a beautiful piece of poetry. In it, we see attacks leveled against the people of God which the Lord, in his timing and in his power, repels. Though there appears to be turmoil all around the fortresses of the people of God, the Lord is still clearly sovereign, clearly in control.

Verse 10 of this psalm is an often-cited verse of scripture. Sadly, often the teachers who draw our attention to this verse do so in a call for some sort of mystical and quietistic meditation. That certainly would not appear to be the point when the psalm is taken in context. The world is going crazy. People are gunning for God’s people on every side. There is apparent cause for alarm and fear. Yet the Lord calls to his people and tells them to be still. He calls us to stop striving, stop fearing, stop worrying. He calls us to remember that he is God, that he is sovereign, and that he will insure that he is glorified.

Recently, have you taken part in one of those Christian conversations in which you and another believer bemoan the fact that the world, the nation, or your local church are sliding down a slippery slope? Have you railed against the sad state of politics in the nation? Have you decried the ugliness of the entertainment world? If so, take time out, be still, and know that God is God. He is aware of the ugliness that surrounds us. He is aware of the moral filth that is flying through our airwaves. He is aware of the attacks of scholars who look down their noses at our faith. He is aware of the waters breaking against us on all sides. The Lord wants us to remember that he is still God, he is still in charge, and he will still be glorified.

Be careful, by the way, not to hear this as a call to stop working to bring about the glory of God in this world. Some take this verse as an excuse to “cease striving” in such a way that they no longer work to honor God. That is in no way what the Lord is commanding. We are to work for God’s glory and the advancement of his kingdom. What we are not to do is to fret, to worry, to moan and gripe about how bad things are. We serve a God who is in control. Thus, as we work for his glory, we can also be still in our hearts, knowing that he is our God and he will be glorified.