Month: November 2009

“I have showed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35)

Today’s message from the Sermon on the Mount is about an area of worship that many Christians would rather forget. If you are accustomed to listening to Christian radio or watching Christian programming on television, you are constantly hit with a recurring theme—sow your seeds! Plant your money! Send in your offerings! With each of these pleas, there is a promise of reward, and usually the reward is your guaranteed prosperity.

We have heard these messages so often that many people are convinced that Christianity is all about religious hucksters that are trying to make a fast buck. There is certainly prosperity in their preaching, only it is their prosperity not yours! The prosperity gospel is a terrible bane; it is blight on the true gospel of Christ that causes people to focus entirely on the wrong reasons for giving. Giving is not for the purpose of getting—it is for the purpose of worship. Giving is one of the centers of worship described in Matthew 6:1-18. Giving is how we worship God in relation to others. There is certainly a return promised for giving, but the value of the return is entirely dependent upon the spirit in which the gift is given.

If your purpose for giving is because someone told you that you could add to your rich storehouse of personal possessions and pleasures, then you have been duped with a false reward. God never intended that we should use anything that He gives for mere personal consumption. The richness of our treasures in Christ is primarily for the purpose of doing God’s work and blessing others with our resources. When God abundantly blesses us, He intends that we should abundantly bless others. As we do so, He keeps cycling more blessings our way which in turn are to be recycled their way.

The scriptures do not teach that you must live in poverty in order to worship God. Some are guilty of going the opposite way and they take vows of poverty because they believe this is a more virtuous life than living with much material goods. It sounds good, but for God’s work it is self defeating. If all Christians took vows of poverty, very little would be accomplished around the world for Christ. The poor must be fed; the sick must be treated; the gospel must be preached everywhere. Missionaries, pastors, churches—none of them can operate without money. God intends that we should be industrious and we should do our best to work hard and make money. What is the purpose? It is that we may worship God by doing His work. Withholding the increase and refusing to give is refusal to worship God in one of His vital centers of religious activity. Consider your gifts and give to the glory of God.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

In my years of Bible study, I have had the opportunity to read through the Bible many times. The practice, I think, is very helpful because it acquaints us with the cohesiveness of the Bible’s content. From Genesis to Revelation, there is a singular outstanding theme that weaves its way through scripture. This is the love that God has for His people. Love is a consistent theme that is brought out through the many promises that God has given. To contemplate God’s love is to send our hearts soaring into the heavens as we wonder why the Almighty God of the universe should take notice of us, much less love us.

The key to our amazement lies in another consistent theme that runs throughout the Bible—man’s sinfulness. Just a few pages into the Holy Writ, we are introduced to Adam, the first man, who disobeyed God and fell from his state of innocence. Theologians refer to Adam as the federal head of the human race. This means that Adam stands as our representative. Scripture declares that in Adam all die, meaning primarily that spiritual death has passed to all men through Adam. Adam sinned and the whole human race that proceeds from Adam is now born in sin. Our sinfulness has caused a serious rift with God. We are naturally opposed to Him; we are at enmity with Him. Scripture says that we are haters of God (Rom. 1:30). This is what makes God’s love for man so amazing. God loved us not when we were pure and innocent, not when we were saintly and sanctified—God loved us when we hated Him. Because we are born in sin, none of us are pure and innocent, saintly and sanctified.

If you wonder how the cross got into the picture, here is the reason. In our sinful condition, we are unholy and unjust. God is pure holiness and perfection; He cannot allow sin in His presence because it is defiling. Therefore, God must remove sin from us and make us holy. But God does not do this as a matter of caprice. His justice must be satisfied. His righteous law has been broken and a holy God cannot allow sin to go unpunished. Thus there is a cross, an instrument of punishment. The most outstanding facet of God’s love for the sinner is that Jesus Christ was willing to take our punishment for us. The cross is the satisfaction of God’s divine justice. The cross is the most glorious display of God’s love.

The next time you read through the Bible see how many times it speaks of sin and then count the times that God’s love is connected to sacrifice and the cross of Christ. Thank God for the cross for we could never know God’s love without it!

Pastor V. Mark Smith

This week we look into our third lesson entitled “The Gospel According to You.” Since every Christian is a living, breathing gospel, it is very important that we guard our lives in every area that could be a potential reproach upon the name of Christ. In the last part of Matthew chapter 5, Jesus is dealing with the second division of the law that is undergirded by the command, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” In the New Testament epistles, we find this command repeated three times. In Romans 13:9, Paul says this command is a compendium of all commandments that govern our interrelationships. In Galatians 5:14, he repeats this while enjoining us to serve one another. James calls this the “royal law” (Jas. 2:8) because this is the law of the King of kings and those who would reign with Christ must obey this law without hesitation.

Our relationship with others can be summed up into three areas: (1) How we speak to one another; (2) How we act towards one another; and (3) How we entreat for one another. Interestingly, Jesus addresses all three areas in Matthew 5:44: “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” The later teachings of the epistles also emphasize the same components of testimony and give warnings as to the damage our testimony undergoes when we fail in any one of these vital areas.

Paul and James are both particularly concerned with divisions that occur in the church when we fail to obey the royal law. Paul says, “If ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another” (Gal. 5:15). James speaks of envy and strife (Jas 3:14) and the poison that can be inflicted by an unruly tongue, stating that our tongues can be “a world of iniquity” (Jas. 3:6).

If our lives truly are an open book, then we must be very careful with every word we say. The same mouth that we use to praise God and speak His word should not be used for cursing and bitterness (Jas. 3:10-12). The gospel according to you may reflect the highest principles of the Kingdom or may reflect the basest elements of an unregenerate heart. There is great cause for personal concern if your life is characterized by the latter instead of the former. Essentially, Jesus is ruling out false professors who claim to be citizens yet have no proof of their citizenship.

What is the gospel according to you? Look at your attitude over the past week. Does it reflect the royal law? Constant self-examination will reveal if you are progressing in Christ-likeness. No progress equals no citizenship. If Christ truly lives in your heart, the gospel according to you will be the same as the gospel according to Him.

Pastor V. Mark Smith