His Temple

Devotion to Building His Temple

David made an amazing vow to God when he said, “Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house, or go up to the comfort of my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob” (Psalm 132:3-5). If you wonder why David was described as a “a man after God’s own heart,” read His words again.

David longed for God, the Mighty One of Jacob, to have a dwelling place. Take time to read 2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17. David was in his luxurious palace, built from the cedars from Lebanon, and thought of the ark of the covenant which for centuries had been in tents made of animal skins. For at least twenty years prior to David’s words it had not even been in a tabernacle but the house of Abinadab.

David longed to be personally involved in finding God a place. Some in David’s position could so easily have said that the responsibility for these matters had been given to the Levites. David was from the tribe of Judah, yet he felt that it was his personal responsibility to get involved in a situation he thought needed attention.

David longed for God to have a place and would not rest until it was found. Herein lies a key as to why David’s heart was like the heart of God. He decided he would not go into his house, recline in his bed, give sleep to his eyes or slumber to his eyelids until he found a way to correct a mistake being made by God’s people. Look at his opening word “surely.” He was so determined to do this that it was a certainty of the intentions of his heart.

David did not fully understand about that place. David told Nathan his intentions. At first, Nathan agreed that the king should proceed. However, that same night God revealed that it was not David who was to build the temple but his son, Solomon. God saw that Israel needed a temple, but since David had killed so many, a man of peace, Solomon, would build the house (1 Kings 5:2-5). David accepted this and spent the rest of his life gathering materials for the temple.

What does this have to do with us? The Lord still has a temple, but it is not in Jerusalem. Our bodies are His temple and the church is His abode. Sometimes, we shut Him out and He stands at the door of our hearts. Sometimes, He stands at the “door of a church” asking to come in (Rev. 3:20-21).

Now here is the point. How much do you long as David did for the Lord to find a resting place? How much are you personally concerned about it? Read Psalm 132 again and think of you wanting God to be in your heart.

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Not Saved by the Government

Why Christians are Destined to Lose Playing Politics

The fate of the church has not, does not, and will not hinge upon the fate of our nation, the United States of America.  Indeed, the places where the Lord’s church is growing best are outside of our country.  The church has been around a lot longer than the United States, and is promised by God to be around eternally (Daniel 2:44, 2 Peter 1:11).  I am a member of a greater nation, the government of which is upon the Lord’s shoulders who is called: “Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”  There is no end to the increase of His government and of His peace, and this nation will never change into something that I do not love.  Where is my pride for that nation?  This gets me back to my point: the fate of the church is not tied up with the fate of the nation, and ultimately, all earthly nations will cease to exist; there is no such thing as the United States of Heaven, the United States of God’s Kingdom, or the United States of the Church of Christ.

Because such entities do not exist, focusing my efforts upon the success of a physical nation is at worst a losing proposition, and at best produces temporal results that are bound to be undone.  If I seek to focus my attention on those areas where my influence practically does not exist, what influence I do have is guaranteed to decrease, and my influence is little within the federal government.  Where must I focus my attentions?  I must seek to influence those within my direct sphere, for only so doing will increase my overall influence, and the good that may appertain.  Therefore, my influence is much better spent on that eternal kingdom wherein I know there is a future, and affecting those few individuals that I personally know to either become part of that eternal kingdom, or remain faithful within it.

Moreover, it is not possible for the church, God’s spiritual kingdom, to compete with a physical nation for advances in the arena of carnal accomplishments for several reasons.  First, the focus of the church is not upon the physical, but upon the spiritual.  Can churches compete and outstrip the efforts of the federal government to alleviate physical necessity?  The church simply does not have the resources to do this.  In such a physical battle, the government wins every time because it alone can compel its citizens to forfeit the necessary property to accomplish such ends.  The government will out tax, and out spend the church every single time.  However, the government cannot compete in presenting the spiritual truths that are needed to be believed and acknowledged to maintain a right relationship with both God and man.  Only the church has such resources, and the church must pursue such efforts.

Second, those who promote carnal government as the solution for mankind will always make government their place of worship because it is the only kingdom they have.  When the Christian seeks to effect political change, his efforts are at best divided, because he is concerned both about the government and the church, and balancing his time and efforts between the two.  Those who put their trust in government alone have no such double vision.  Speaking carnally, they are not burdened with the obligation of attending church on Sunday; they have no such restraints as family to distract them from their political work; they do not have any religiously motivated moral constraints that would prevent them from lambasting their political opponent.  To put it bluntly, Christians have a God who is worshiped in our churches on Sunday with our friends and families.  Christians promote the furtherance and growth of God’s kingdom, the church; this is where their primary efforts are oriented, what they believe is eternally necessary, and where the bulk of their time is to be spent.  Those who promote carnal government, however, worship the god of government.  They moderate elections, attend political rallies, participate in town hall meetings, and go to political conventions.  Politics is their religion, and the political party is their church!  The Christian who places his greatest aims and aspirations in the church cannot compete with such political fanaticism, and ought not to try, if he values God’s kingdom, God’s people, and Christ’s church.  Seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness has always been, and always will be, the Christians greatest priority whereby he is promised whatever necessities he should require (Matthew 6:33).

Third, while carnal laws can certainly prevent some immorality, they are not the system whereby God brings individuals to salvation, and ultimately the political process is about promoting carnal laws.  Again, this does not mean that I want abortion and homosexual marriage to be legal; neither does this mean that I want to institutionalize entitlements.  But supposing that all of the moral laws that I desired to be passed were passed, and such immoral behavior also became illegal, it would still not be the case that such carnal laws can save man from his sins.  The best that such law could continue to do would be to condemn sinners.  How does such accomplish what Jesus Christ is seeking to accomplish in His church?  Is it going to be easier for men to be saved?  Salvation is not supposed to be easy; this is why Jesus characterized it as taking up His cross.  Moreover, Jesus promised that the world would hate those who seek and promote salvation, and that those who entered His kingdom would only do so under tribulation.  The bottom line is that gaining control of government legislation and passing carnal laws brings us no closer to accomplishing such goals.  Passing all of the carnal laws in the world would not effect the salvation of one single soul!  Such laws are just dead letters.

For these reasons, the political game is an uphill battle for the Christian, and ultimately, a losing one.  For us to put all of our eggs in the political basket is to be disappointed.  This is not to say that we should not stand up for righteousness in the political process, nor is it to say that we ought to oppose those who do.  It is however, to say that we need to remember our priorities, and focus upon what is truly lasting, important, and eternal—God’s spiritual kingdom, the church.  May God help us to recognize the temporal nature of man’s carnal designs and the eternal value of His purposes.

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Forget?

Did You Forget?

Some are notorious for being forgetul. “Now let me see: Where did I put my wallet?” “Where are those keys. I just had them?” “What did I do with my computer?” Ever ask questions like this to yourself? I have and I am thankful that I have others, like my wife, who usually remembers where all these items are. She amazes me. But, while these little things can make us worry ourselves to death and bring frustrations, these are not the most of my worries when it comes to forgetting.

Sometimes, I believe, we forget that God is able. Maybe when you are struggling with something or are overwhelmed with stress, you have forgotten that God is able. As Christians, we sometimes fail to believe. Perhaps you are one who does not want to admit it. But, unless we are sinless, we have all failed to really believe at one point. There are times in our Christian walk when we are forced to look at the task at hand, to look at what we need to do and then we begin to doubt, or just flat out suffer from unbelief. Well, the Bible mentions a conversation like this that took place between Jesus and the father of a child who was in that same situation. In Mk. 9:21-24, Jesus “… asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. And oftimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” Mk. 9:21-24.

Lord, I believe; help my unbelief. I think this statement sums up the faith of so many. Many times we believe in a general sense, but don’t believe for our own circumstances. Or perhaps, we may believe in God, but never go far enough in our belief to obey him. Well, sere is a man who has a small degree of faith in the power of Christ, but it was mixed with much unbelief because of the suffering of his family. The father knew that he had barely any strength in his faith, it was deficient and he was asking the Lord to increase it, to strengthen it so that he might be strong in faith and give God the glory. If we continue to read past these verses, we find that Jesus meets the faith of this father where he is and ends up delivering the child. Well, Jesus in a sense, is like that today. In coming to the earth, dying for us on the cross and asking us to come to Him, He is attempting to meet man where we are and desires us to come to Him. Having unbelief can stop us from seeing what we need to see in God. Having unbelief can bring discouragement to God’s people (Num. 13:31). Having unbelief weakens us (Eph. 6:16), takes peace from us. So, we need to allow God to transform us in the way we think (Rom. 12:2). We need to study the word of God and act upon it, which bring faith (Rom. 10:17). We need to believe in God. We need to take some time sharing with God areas where we are struggling to believe. Ask him to give you faith to trust him like never before. Remember what Jesus said, “all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mk. 9:23).

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Three Kinds of Works

In the religious world today there is much confusion regarding works. Some teach that works have nothing to do with salvation, that salvation is by the grace of God and received by faith only. Others hold a doctrine that essentially teaches a kind of works-based salvation; they hold that one who has committed sin can do some kind of penance to compensate for that sin. The religion of Islam teaches salvation by works only. They believe that if a person’s good works outweigh their sins then they will go to heaven and conversely if their sins are more than their good works they believe they will go to Hell. (This belief, in reality, is shared by most Americans. Most people in our country, when you get right down to it, believe that those who do good will go to Heaven, regardless of their religion,  and those who do evil will not.)

As we have noted, religious denominations vary in their teachings on works. Some hold to the extreme position that works and salvation are completely unrelated. While, others hold to the opposite extreme that we are saved by works alone. A great deal of time could be spent studying all of the various positions held in the religious world on the relationship between works and salvation. However, it would be more productive to study the relationship between works and salvation as it is found in the Bible.

As Christians, we must demonstrate our faith by our works. Read James 2:14-18. There are three kinds of works mentioned in the New Testament. Two of which are USELESS – One of these works is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL!

 

Works of the Law of Moses

 

To the Christian today, trying to be saved according to the works of the Law of Moses is useless. Read  Romans 3:24-28. The context of that chapter makes it clear that works of the Law of Moses is under discussion. The Holy Spirit working through the apostle Paul here deals with some Jewish Christians who were appealing to the Law of Moses to command circumcision on the Gentile Christians. The Law of Moses has been replaced by the Law of Christ. See also Hebrews 8:13.

 

Works of Self-Righteousness.

 

In the Roman Epistle, Paul speaks of the Jews as establishing their own righteousness. They were appealing to their works of righteousness of their own devising according to their traditions. See context of Romans 10 “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God…” (Romans 10:3). See also Matthew 15:9.

 

Works of God’s Righteousness.

 

Works commanded by God that one must continue in to be Christ’s disciple in deed and thus be made free. See John 8:31-32.

One is justified by the works of God’s righteousness. See James 2:22-24. These works include:

Faith. “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father…” (1 Thessalonians 1:3). “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” (John 6:29).

Confession. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10)

Repentance. “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death…” (2 Corinthians 7:10)  See also Matthew 3:7-8; Acts 17:30-31

Baptism. “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ…” (1 Peter 3:20-21) See also Acts 2:38; 8:36-38; 16:33; 22:16.

Continued Faithfulness. “…Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life…” (Revelation 2:10)

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Denominationalism Sin

The Sin of Denominationalism

Have we ever “woken up on the wrong side of  the bed?” Does this not just adversely affect  our whole day? Better yet, have we ever tried to  button a shirt, only to get to the last button and realize that  our buttons and their corresponding holes are off track?  Therefore, we have to unbutton every one and start all  over. In like fashion, it is sad that many religions and  churches have started out on the wrong foot.

In First Timothy 4:1-2, Paul said,  “…in the latter  times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to  seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in  hypocrisy…. ” Notice the correlation of “ the faith ” from  First Timothy 4:1 and “ lies ” in First Timothy 4:2. The fact  of the matter is that all denominations base themselves  on lies. Denominationalism is a tool of the devil that is  masquerading as the truth. There is no authority in the  Bible for any denominational church—they are not from  the Bible, as I will plainly show.

In Matthew 16:18, Jesus promised to build His  church. Of which church do we read in the Bible? We  read of the church of Christ. Paul says, “ Salute one  another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute  you ” (Rom. 16:16).

In Acts 2:47, we see that God added the saved to  the church of our Lord. This completely complies with  what Paul pens in Ephesians 5:23: “ …Christ is the head  of the church: and he is the saviour of the body .” Mark  the fact that “ he is the saviour of the body .” Nevertheless,  what is His body? Earlier in this book, Paul plainly  proclaims, “ And hath put all things under his feet, and  gave him to be the head over all things to the church,  which is his body ” (1:22-23). Therefore, the church of  Christ is the body of Christ, and the church of our Lord  is the church that He established, to which God adds the  saved. I am afraid many are substituting this church by  their different denominations.

One reason that denominationalism is sinful is  because they cannot agree on anything. Jesus said,  “ Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to  desolation; and every city or house divided against  itself shall not stand ” (Matt. 12:25). Denominationalism  equals division, which Paul clearly condemns (1 Cor.  1:10).

Therefore, how do we establish the one true church  today? We are to do as Paul was able to do—teach the  same thing in every church (1 Cor. 4:17). We are to  resolve to be a part of the “ one faith ” (Eph. 4:5) by being  sure that we “ teach no other doctrine ” (1 Tim. 1:3). Yet,  we have thousands of different doctrines today.

Jesus said that His word is truth by which we  are sanctified (John 17:17). Because God hates false  doctrine (Ps. 119:104), one such false doctrine is that  one can be saved in a denomination. I invite all readers  to join me in examining our religion in the light of the  word of God—are we participating in a false church  masquerading for the truth?

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