Success

Berean Baptist on July 24, 2017

A few weeks ago I read an interesting article by Nathan Busenitz who is on the pastoral staff of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley. The article was titled “How God Defines Success.” I thought about this article when I was mulling over the many decisions of people in our area when the financial crisis occurred a few years ago. The financial outlook for many young families was bleak which caused many of them to scurry away and head to other parts of the country looking for greener pastures.

We very well understand the economic pressures people face especially living here with its sky high prices. It is very difficult to have the finer things in life when you can barely make ends meet and put food on the table. Many families equate owning a house, driving nice cars, visiting their favorite vacation spots, and putting savings in the bank, with success and they do not want to fall behind others that seem to do much better.

The article by Busenitz emphasized how hardly we would call the lives of many Bible heroes successful. For example, we would not think being beaten and mocked to be marks of success. Spending time in prison is not high on the bucket list of “must do” activities. Being cut in two or having your head severed is not likely to happen in your gated community, and neither is wandering in deserts and living in holes an indication of Fortune 500 achievement. However, all of these are mentioned in Hebrews 11 which is God’s hall of the famously successful. These are people that considered their accomplishments for eternity to be the markers of success.

This is the real key to understanding. How you view eternity governs your goals. If you trust God’s promises, then you know all the financial freedom you seek, the nicest home you can live in, the best neighborhood for your social life, and the greatest happiness you can experience are not on this earth and are just a few years away.

Think of it. When you were a teenager, you might have thought about success as everyone gauges it, but you knew it was not likely to come instantly. The wealthiest people you know were probably well into middle age or slightly beyond, and yet you never thought their success was impossible for you. It would take time, but you would get there. Now that you are in your thirties or forties, have you really got that much longer to wait for God’s success?

Success is coming—even success by the world’s measurement. No one who is fighting for a few dollars more at Google will own as much as you in a few years. The best we can do right now is trust the faith we claim. Is God right about His promises? Will a few more years of waiting be unworthy of the reward? Jesus saw no conflict. He said no one has left homes or lands or family or bank accounts that will not receive a hundred fold more AND everlasting life. Take a moment to think about this when you are afraid success has passed you by. Serving God for a few dollars less at Berean Baptist in sunny, depressed California, will be worth more than its weight in gold not too far from now. I can wait. Can you?

Pastor V. Mark Smith

The Promise of the Resurrection

Berean Baptist on April 12, 2016

I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. (Psalms 40:1-2)

In last Sunday morning’s message, we had the opportunity to study Psalm 110 in which David declared Jesus to be the sovereign Lord. In the Gospel of John, chapter 5 Jesus gave a wonderful exposition of the resurrection, and then He said there are witnesses that testify to the truthfulness of His words. John the Baptist was one of those witnesses. He was a truly remarkable prophet that had the unique privilege of announcing Jesus as the Lamb of God. Jesus also said the Father bears witness of Him, but that witness is only received by those whom the Father will reveal the Son. A third witness in that passage is the scriptures. Jesus said, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (5:39).

With the command to search, we would expect to be able to go to the Old Testament and find Christ. This is why Jesus took the Jews to Psalm 110 where David bore testimony to His Lordship. Our congregational reading today takes us to another place where Jesus is found in the Old Testament psalms. The entire 40th Psalm is about Christ, but verses 1 and 2 are the particular focus of my article today. These verses speak of the resurrection with verse 2 being a personal favorite: “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.” These are words of praise as Jesus acknowledged the Father’s promise. In the eternal covenant of redemption between the Father and the Son, the Father promised to bring safely home all those for whom Christ would die. The first fruit of this promise is that Christ would be resurrected—a critical event without which the promise fails. The resurrection of Christ was the Father’s stamp of approval on the redemptive work of the Son. When this promise was fulfilled, heaven must have thundered with praise because at this point redemption was forever sealed.

However, there was never any doubt this would happen. Heaven was already populated with the souls of the patriarchs and the prophets and all the people of God that died prior to the resurrection. Because God is timeless, a promise made in eternity past is as certain as if it had already happened. When you read scriptures like Psalm 40, you can see yourself. If you are a believer, you know you are as safe for heaven as if you were already there.

Many people wonder how Christians face bad days with a smile. They wonder why peace fills our heart when they struggle with so many things that burden them to despair. The interesting irony is that we face the same life struggles they face. We have job issues, financial concerns, family disappointments—and yet these things do not rule us. Our happiness is not determined by how well a stock portfolio is doing or whether Junior got accepted to Harvard. We have already risen with Christ and we know that when He shall appear we shall also appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:1, 4).

Contemplating the certainty of the resurrection will keep our thinking straight when the cares of life start to become too heavy. Christ was in the horrible pit, but the promise kept Him waiting patiently. There was a time limit on the grave—three days. There is also a time limit for you. Wait patiently for it. Redemption is nigh.

Pastor V. Mark Smith