May 6, 2008

• "He Will Come Again to Judge the Living and the Dead"–How Then Do We Work?

  I had written about how God finishes the work He has begun, but that doesn't mean the Church idly sits back and does nothing and watches and waits for God to build the Church. The Church is God's ordained instrument to fulfill the prayer, "Thy Kingdom come." We are called and appointed to be co-laborers with Christ in His continuing work here on earth until He comes again...

  GOD IS BUILDING HIS CHURCH, JESUS WILL COME AGAIN TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD...HOW THEN SHOULD THE CHURCH WORK?

  At Circus World Museum (Baraboo, Wisconsin), there is an original lithograph which advertised Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.[1] The following explanation was included along with the lithograph:

  "Buffalo Bill was so popular in his day that he did not have to use his real name in big bold type across the litho. His real name, Wm. F. Cody and the words 'I am coming,' were all that were necessary to announce his coming."
  

  

  As you may have guessed, when I saw this, I thought of Another who is coming. One whose coming will be announced not with a lithograph but with a shout, the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God: the Lord Jesus Christ.

  And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

  -Acts 1:10-11

  

  No one but the Father knows the day or hour of Jesus' return, but we do know that one Day Jesus will return like a thief in the night.

  But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

  45 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. 47 Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, 51 and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth..

  -Matt 24:43-51

  When Jesus returns we will be judged based on our works:

  For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written,
  As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
  
  and every tongue shall confess to God.
  
  12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
  

  -Romans 14:10b-12
  

  
  Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done.

  -Revelation 22:12

  
  When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world...41 Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
  

  -Matthew 25:31-34, 41
  

  
  

  And our works will follow us...

  
  

  Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. 13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Blessed indeed, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!
  

  -Revelation 14:12-13
  

  Does it make any practical difference to us in our day to day lives that Jesus is coming again soon?

  Or do we continue to stand and stare at the clouds like the disciples?

  Do we live our lives any differently knowing that Jesus is coming again?

  How do we react to Jesus' words: Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done?

  Are we ready for Him to come?

  We are not saved by our works but our works will be judged. Salvation is the free gift of God through Jesus Christ. Salvation cannot be earned through our works, yet God's people are called to persevere and endure so we might be found faithful and working when Jesus returns.

  How can we be ready for Christ's return?

  What kind of works will be following us?

  How should we be working that we might be found faithful and wise servants?

  How can we abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming?

  How then should we be building?
  How then should we be working?

  Here are three ways we might work...

  1. WE TAKE A LAISSEZ-FAIRE APPROACH. "Jesus is coming back, so I can just sit back and relax."

  We might figure since God is sovereign over His Church, we are in good hands, and we have no real responsibility. We could argue that since God will build His Church no matter what, there is no real need for us to do anything. "Once saved, always saved. It doesn't really matter what I do since God has His elect and nothing will stop His sovereign plan to build His Church." Such attitudes result in complacency about our the state of our soul and God's grand purposes. We sit back and become disengaged and apathetic about our relationship with God and God's Kingdom work in the world. We might think something like, "Since Christ worked, I don't have to."

  There is nothing further from the truth. It is true that Christ worked to earn salvation for us and we can do nothing to earn our salvation (Eph. 2:8-9). We are not saved by our own works but through His work. However, Christ also worked so we could be empowered to work for Him (e.g.-Eph. 2:10; Titus 2:13-14). He took the form of a servant, so we could be free to be servants to God. He sacrificed Himself so we might present ourselves living sacrifices to Him. We don't work to earn our salvation but good works are the proof of our salvation. (More below.) We are not to receive His grace in vain.

  James challenges us with these words:

  What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, You have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works... 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
  

  
  Throughout Scripture we find numerous warnings to the waiting Church to be on guard and praying and diligently working for we do not know when our Lord will return. We are to be redeeming the time and making the most of every opportunity. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. I Thes. 5:6-8. The author of the book of Hebrews tell us to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that [we] may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
  

  Jesus reminds us that we must be faithful, watching and diligently working (e.g.-see Matthew 24 and 25: the parables of the unfaithful steward, the ten virgins and the talents, and Jesus' teaching about the coming judgment).

  We are not to be sitting on our hands biding our time. We cannot be derelict and expect others to do the work God has ordained for us to do. In the Church there are to be no bench warmers. The Church is God's workmanship and each one of us is called to walk worthy of the calling to which we have been called and to walk in the works God has ordained for us.

  We are the light of the world and are to shine before men so they might see our works and glorify our Father who is in heaven.

  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

  How can the world glorify the Father when the Church is not shining–when the Church is not working as she ought?

  Are we loving one another as Christ has loved us?

  Are we doers of the Word or hearers only?

  Do we hold the attitude of the evil servant and neglect the work our Master has for us?

  Are we like the foolish virgins who do not tend to their lamps?

  Do we bury our talents in the ground?

  Do we pass by those who are hungry and thirsty? Do we ignore the strangers in our midst? Do we look away from the naked? Do we forget about those sick and in prison?

  In the book of James we read that faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26). In John 15, we read that the abiding branch will bear fruit. And in Romans 6-7, we read how the Church has been delivered from bondage to sin so we might bear fruits to righteousness.

  There will always be a portion in the visible church who sit back and do not work, but those who have born again through the Spirit of God, the members of the invisible Church, will be found faithful and working when Jesus returns. The regenerated soul will produce an abundant harvest of righteous fruit.

  Will our Lord find us ready and working when He comes back? Will we hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master"? Or will we be shut out of the marriage feast and cast into outer darkness?

  Faith apart from works is dead.
  

  How then should we be building?
  How then should we be working?

  
  2. WE WORK IN THE FLESH. "Yes, it's true Jesus worked, but certainly *I* have to work some more."

  On the other hand, instead of sitting back and not doing anything, in anticipation of Jesus' return, we may decide to kick it up a notch. We work hard so we might receive extra rewards in heaven. We labor feverishly and furiously to get more notches on our gunbelt, so to speak. We become so anxious to win souls and to win God's approval and to do good works, that we pull out all the stops. We begin to see works as a requirement to maintain our salvation. We begin to value outward expressions of faith as an end in themselves. "I read through the entire Bible in a year." "I led five people to Christ." "I tithe regularly." "I work at the food pantry." Such behaviors soon become the basis for judging ourselves as better than others. We have slipped into Pharisaical behavior (See Matthew 23:1-36.) The outside of the cup may look good but the inside is still quite filthy.

  We work out of the flesh rather than by the Spirit.

  Our Christianity has deteriorated into a religion. What was intended to be a love relationship with the living God turns into a stifling religion of legalism. Vibrant sonship gives way to oppressive slavery. Christianity has been perverted from a life of freedom to a performance trap.

  We lose sight of our birthright and our inheritance: that in Christ we are adopted sons and daughters of the living God and have been accepted in the Beloved and have been set free from the shackles of sin to live lives given wholly to God.

  We keep checking our lists to see what we must do to inherit eternal life rather than receiving that the life of Christ as a free gift and allowing that life to flow us and yield good works. We begin to focus on what we should be doing rather than on standing in what Christ has done and wants to do in and through us. In our drive to be perfect, we become distressed and distraught that we can never do enough to appease God. Rather than abiding in God's sufficient grace, we place ourselves under the law and feel continual condemnation. We become drained of life, peace and joy. We go back to Egypt, back to the bondage of the law. We forget that we cannot please God in the flesh and the only righteousness we can ever have is Christ's imputed and imparted righteousness.

  Paul reminds us of the dangers we face when we return to living under the law:

  For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. 7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
  

  -Galatians 5:1-7
  

  
  For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
  

  -Galatians 6:15-16
  

  We only have peace and mercy when we walk in the life Christ has given us.

  What God has begun in us in the Spirit, we cannot expect to complete in our own fleshly efforts. We can place no confidence in the flesh. We must remember that the just live by faith and not by works:

  Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 37 For,
  
  Yet a little while,
  and the coming one will come and will not delay;
  
  38
  but my righteous one shall live by faith,
  and if he shrinks back,
  my soul has no pleasure in him.
  
  39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
  

  -Hebrews 10:35-39

  When we work in the flesh we become obsessed with our work rather than resting in the God who has saved us. We begin to take pride in our works and become enamored with them. And as we continue working we forget to rest in God. We work for God but we no longer worship God. We become so busy working for God that we neglect time to come to the waters, to be still and know that He is God. We are frantic Marthas who can never do enough rather than resting Marys who have entered into Christ's sabbath rest. The work we do for God soon becomes divorced from our relationship to God. Our work becomes a end in itself rather than an expression of our spiritual worship to our Savior. The flesh has taken over: we begin to take our eyes off Jesus, detach from the true Vine and cast aside the easy yoke. We forget the primary thing: Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
  
  Too often we think we are responsible for building the Church. We forget God is the One who builds the Church. We try to build the Church in our own strength and according to our own agenda; we work in our own flesh, we scheme and we manipulate, we use worldly means–and we end up failing in the eyes of God–although at times we may experience success in the world's eyes. We rely on ourselves rather than on God. As a result, God gets no glory.

  Jesus told Peter, "I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Jesus didn't say Peter would build His Church. Jesus didn't say that men and women would build His Church. He didn't say that pastors, elders and deacons would build his Church. Jesus didn't say that committees and boards would build His Church. Jesus didn't say that clever campaigns or slick advertising would build His Church.

  In II Corinthians 3, Paul reminds us that one plants and one waters, but God gives the increase. In the book of Acts we read that the Lord added to the Church daily those who were being saved and how He alone open hearts to receive the Gospel.

  We must not run ahead of God and think we can build His Church according to our plan and apart from Him. We become impatient with God's timetable. We run after success, visible results and numerical growth.

  Abraham and Sarah became impatient and ran ahead of God as they heard Sarah's biological clock ticking and still saw no fruit coming from her womb. In a quite logical and culturally correct move, they enlisted Hagar to bear them a child. But God's Kingdom is not generally built on logic or cultural correctness. Their efforts brought forth Ishmael, a child borne of their fleshly efforts. The fruit of the flesh never pleases God. Only the fruit of faith pleases God. Without faith it is impossible to please God... The experience of Abraham and Sarah serves as a warning to the Church that works wrought in the flesh do not please God.

  Instead of trusting God's Word and obediently speaking to the rock, we often think we need to help God along, so we end up hitting the rock...thus robbing God of the glory due His Holy Name.

  Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.

  We can be engaged in noble activities such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger and visiting the sick and imprisoned but we need to beware of doing such good works out of our own flesh or for the wrong reasons. Such fleshly works neither please God nor do they glorify God. No matter how good our own righteousness may appear to us or to other people, to God it is as filthy rags.

  Only works flowing from the grace of God at work in us will honor the Lord.

  How much of what we do is the result of our own human energy and efforts, worldly plans and schemes rather than the power of God at work in and through us?

  And he said to them, You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
  

  -Luke 16:15
  

  God knows our hearts and motives and he will judge the secrets of men...
  
  

  For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
  

  -Hebrews 4:12-13
  

  When we do a good work must ask, "Am I doing this work . . .

  ...to secure my salvation or to show forth Christ as my Surety?

  ...out of fear of judgment or out of love for my Advocate?

  ...to serve self or to serve the Lord Christ?

  ...to be fulfilled or to fulfill the great commission?

  ...out of self-ambition or out of a holy, God-given ambition?

  ...for vainglory or for God's glory?

  ...to be seen by men or to be seen by God?

  ...to please men or to please God?

  ...to grow my congregation or to grow God's Kingdom?

  ...to compete with other congregations or to compete that I might attain the prize of the upward call of Christ?

  ...to spite others or out of unfeigned love?

  ...to make a name for myself or to make His Name glorious?

  ...to seek great things for myself or to seek to make His Name great?

  ...so I might boast in what I have done or to boast in what Christ has done through me?

  ...for the praise of men or for the praise of God?

  ...to seek my own fame and renown or to to publish His fame?

  ...to seek my own honor or to seek the reproach of the cross?

  ...in my own power or in the power of the Spirit of God?

  ...to further my career or for the furtherance of the Gospel?

  ...to enhance my position or advance the cause of Christ?

  ...with a half-heart or with a whole-heart?

  ...out of obligation ("I have to") or out of love for Him who first loved me and died for me ("I want to")?

  ...to gain power or to demonstrate Christ's resurrection power?

  ...to seek the limelight or to seek to go outside the camp?

  ...to make much of self or much of Christ?

  ...to make a mark for myself or to bear the marks of Christ in my flesh?

  ...to hallow my name or to hallow my Father's Name?

  Any works done in the power of the flesh will be burned up:

  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. 14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

  -I Cor. 3:12-15

  Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.

  How are we building?

  Will our works withstand the fire?

  How then should we be building?
  How then should we be working?
  

  
  3. WE WORK IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. "Jesus worked so I can't help but work hard–not I, but the grace of God at work in me."

  Jesus warns us to be ready for His return:

  Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. 45 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? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
  

  -Matthew 24:44-46

  Paul reminds us that since we are sons of light and of the day we ought not to sleep but to watch and be sober (see I Thes. 5:1-11). In anticipation of Jesus' return, we are to walk circumspectly and redeem the time. We are to watch and pray and work diligently until Christ returns:

  And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
  

  -Hebrews 6:11-12

  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.
  

  -Philippians 3:14-15

  What will Jesus find when He returns? Will we be napping or slumbering, or will we be found ready and working diligently? Will we be faithful and wise servants? Will we be sober and awake? Will we be ashamed or will we be confident at His coming?

  Do we demonstrate the same earnestness now as we did when we were first saved? Have we continued to press on toward the goal of the high calling in Christ, or have we become lazy and lax and press on toward earthly acclaim or the day we might retire?

  Too often our hearts and minds are focused on the things of this world rather than on things above.

  How have we lost sight of our heavenly calling?

  How can we be working in a way that is pleasing and honoring to God, so we might be found working when our Master returns?

  How can we be working so we might hear Jesus say to us: "Well done, good and faithful servant...Enter into the joy of your master...Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (See Matthew 25).

  Peter reminds us that

  The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
  

  -I Peter 4:7-11

  Only as we serve by the strength that God supplies–not by our own strength–will our God will be glorified through Jesus Christ. Again, our works do not save us. The blood of Christ saves and saves completely. Yet our works are living proof of genuine saving faith. I will show you my faith by my works...Faith apart from works is dead.

  As wait for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, we must remember that He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works (Titus 2:13-14). We are not saved merely to get a free ticket to heaven, but through the blood of Christ and the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we can begin to live as holy and blameless children of God here and now, zealous for good works.

  He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. Jesus Christ became an offering for sin so we could offer ourselves to God as living sacrifices. Christ has died so we might die to sin and self and by faith live to righteousness.
  
  

  I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if justification were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
  

  -Galatians 2:20-21

  In light of God's great mercies to us in Jesus Christ, we are commanded to present ourselves as living sacrifices to Him for His purposes. And in light of God's great mercies to us in Jesus Christ, we are more than able to present ourselves at living sacrifices to Him for His purposes. We will find ourselves working out of love and gratitude for our Savior's great gift of redemption. We will no longer work out of compulsion or obligation.

  In Christ we are new creations born of the incorruptible seed of God. God circumcises our disobedient and rebellious hearts so we might be doers of the Word and not hearers only, so we might be able to follow the Shepherd's voice and delight to do our Father's will like Jesus. Christ continues to be formed in us, so we might begin to more and more resemble our Savior: to prove His good, acceptable and perfect will and to walk in the good works He has ordained for us:

  But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.
  

  -Titus 3:4-8
  

  We who were once alive to sin and dead to righteousness are now made dead to sin and alive to righteousness.
  
  God not only gives us the capacity to do His will but He also gives us the desire...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Phil. 2:12-13).

  Christ is the Vine and He is ready and able to supply all our need for His work. He provides all we the branches need to bear much fruit. Jesus chose and ordained us to be fruit-bearers, yet we can only bear an abundance of God-honoring and lasting fruit when we cease from our own works and abide in Him. We must be diligent to enter into His rest; only when we leave all we are trusting in and wholly rest in His power will find the strength to live a righteous and holy life. Christ dwelling in us will produce a harvest of eternal righteousness for His Kingdom, works that will please God and endure the fire.

  ...God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
  

  -II Cor. 9:8

  Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
  

  -Hebrews 13:20-21

  I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

  -I Cor. 15:10b

  As we await the coming of our Lord, we are running a marathon. When we rely on our own strength, we will grow weary and faint, but when we rely on power of God and look unto Jesus, we can work hard and run and finish the race set before us. We can run without growing faint or weary. We can run so we will not be disqualified.

  As the Father sent the Son into the world, so He sends His Church into the world to reflect the image of Christ and to be His ambassadors of reconciliation. We have been commissioned to be God's instruments to continue the work which Jesus began, the work of bringing the Kingdom of God to the world:

  And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
  
  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
  because he has anointed me
  to proclaim good news to the poor.
  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
  and recovering of sight to the blind,
  to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
  
  to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
  

  -Luke 4:17-19

  
  We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.
  

  -John 9:4
  

  Until Christ returns we are to keep our lamps lit and persevere in the work God has given us to do. Are we faithful stewards of the gospel message? How are we using the talents, gifts and resources entrusted to us? Are we loving the brethren? Are we feeding the hungry? Providing drink for the thirsty? Clothing the naked? Welcoming the stranger? Visiting the sick and imprisoned?

  As the love of Christ constrains us, we will find His yoke easy and His burden light. His goodness, kindness, mercy, love and compassion will bubble up and flow out of us like living water for a dry, thirsty, lost world. Genuine faith will flood parched desert places with thirst-quenching, God-exalting streams of righteousness, justice and mercy.

  Through the work of the regenerating Holy Spirit, we will bear fruits of righteousness. We will love our brothers and sisters in Christ. We will be faithful workers and good stewards. Our lamps will be lit and unhidden and and our salt will be salty. We will use our talents. We will clothe the hungry and feed the poor. We will visit the sick and imprisoned.

  What kind of fruits are we bearing?

  Will our works endure the fire?

  The apostle Paul wrote, "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!" Does the Spirit of God and the love of Christ so constrain, control and reign in us that we cannot help but say along with Paul, "Woe to me if I do not  _______"?

  We are no longer our own. We no longer live to ourselves but to the Lord. We are His chosen salt shakers and lamps to bring salt and light to the world. Are we sanctifying ourselves for His holy purposes? Are we living for the Lamb who bought us with His own blood–or are we living for self?

  As God works in and through us, He is building His Church and completing the work He has begun in us.

  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.
  

  -John 15:4-5, 16

   A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
  

  -Matthew 5:14b
  

  * * *

  What will Jesus find when He returns?

  Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?
  

  -Luke 18:8b

  
  

  Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done.

  -Revelation 22:12

  
  

  Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Blessed indeed, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!
  

  -Revelation 14:12-13

  Our works will follow us...

  Are we being careful ... to devote ourselves to good works?

  How are we building on the foundation of Jesus Christ?

  Will our works endure the fire?

  For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

  -I Corinthians 3:11-15

  
  For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
  

  -Titus 2:12-14

  ---

  Scripture quotations marked "ESV" are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  [1] Buffalo Bill was born as William F. Cody, nicknamed Buffalo Bill for his skill in providing buffalo meat for Kansas Pacific Railroad workers.[a] In the 1880's "Buffalo Bill realized his dream of staging a large, outdoor exhibition which contained horses, buffalo, and wagon trains. It was part rodeo, part theater, and part circus, and totally successful."[b] This was the beginning of what was Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

  [a] http://www.americanwest.com/pages/buffbill.htm

  [b] http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/acs/1890s/buffalobill/buffalobill.html

  • 1:19 PM
  • Comments Off