Tag Archives: Righteousness

Vivacious Abandonment

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We are in the days of vivacious abandonment.

(vivacious
[vi-vey-shuh s, vahy-]
adjective
1.
lively; animated; gay:)

What is man abandoning so happily?

God
Purity
Mercy
Righteousness
Peace
Prayer
Holiness
The Bible
Humility
Holy suffering
Christ Jesus
Eternal life
Pure judgment
Justice
Restraint
Holy speech
Propriety
Godly love
Patience
Endurance

Here’s the sad part:
It is impossible for Man to be empty.  If he is not filled with God, he will be filled with everything that is not God.  If we give the Living God’s Christ no place among us, the ambassadors of death move in.

Look around.  Do yourself a favor.  Ask what day it is.

By His Grace

The Guard Dog

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The dog waits on his chain, through the night, through the day.  Warnings come, bringing comfort to those who own the chain.

He is not a house dog.  He is more useful living outside the camp; outside the place of man.

His strength, to his owners, is not in his bite.  It is found in the strength of his nose and ears.  The eyes that see into the darkness find expression in his noise.  His bark is a warning.  His bark is help.  The wise owners learn to discern between the sounds of their dog’s barks.

One bark is for those things that threaten, because those things are not of “normal”.  But the other bark is intense, because of the things that are a direct threat; the approach of a stranger.

Left outside the camp, I am chained to watch.  Wrong approaches.  Wrong exists.  Wrong lives in the camp as well as outside.  But he is set to defend his charge.  He is not set to judge those he protects, but to warn of things “unnatural”.

“There is Sin!  There is Danger approaching!  The Living God has determined to crush all His unholy enemies!  He has spoken the Eternal Royalty of His Holy and Righteous Son!  All who stand without Jesus, stand alone before the Holy Judgment and Righteousness of the Living God.  Without Him is NO LIFE.  Only in His Holy Son’s Sacrifice is safety found.”

Thus the warning of the stranger is sounded.  Thus the restrained dog barks.  Let the wise understand and respond.  Let the dead hear and live.  Let the blind see.  Let the wise in the camp rise up and prepare themselves to receive the Glory of God.  For surely as death, The Holy Lord Jesus approaches.

“Getting There”

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One afternoon, I turned a corner on the sidewalk.  I saw a great commotion.  The flavor of the people was excited and happy.  Curious, I ventured to the crowd.  I could see parts of a beautifully shiny convertible car sitting in the middle of the crowd.  Bold, as was my demeanor at the moment, I went through the crowd and asked the driver what all the hub bub was all about.  “I’m going to heaven!”  He answered.

It was a fast car, yes.  But tires need road.  In my perception, arrival in heaven needs more than a road and tires.  So I was curious about his means.  I didn’t say anything more.  I just stepped back to watch.

The driver waved at the crowd and started the engine.  The car purred with obvious power.  At the signal of his hand, eight strong men came toward the car.  Each one put his hands under the sides of the body and lifted the car.  They all turned their head toward the front of the car and began to carry the car!  All the while, the driver revved the engine up and down.  Everyone in the crowd was shouting with joy.  Applause went up from them like cracks from a large fire.

After a few steps, the men put the car back down.   The driver shut off the engine.  And stepped out of the car.  He was greeted with great enthusiasm.  The entire mass of men was full of great joy.

I was at a loss here.  My mind thought it must be some kind of circus act.  But they all looked to sincere.  I had to ask the driver what the deal was.

He looked at me with puzzling eyes.  “How is it that you don’t understand?  No one gets to heaven without friends to help him.   Accountability, boy!  It takes accountability to keep a man on the straight road.  These men carried me into dedication.  This is a sign of my vow to do what is good.  And by their testimony, I will be accounted as one who has faith.”

I just stood there speechless.  He was as serious as a spider bite.

Isn’t this what the social gospel promotes?  “If we just all get along, God will recognize our righteous intent.   If we do good for one another, God will surely praise our hearts.”  Yep.  That’s what it says.

“Wazzam Shazzam!”  We don’t need Jesus!”

It’s just too bad that Jesus was so amazingly mistaken.  He didn’t need to die on a cross to save our souls.  He didn’t need to suffer at the hands of men.  All he needed to do was praise our intentions.

Making God Proud

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There is a saying among men that is worthy of inspection.  Anything that’s worthy is simply worthy.  Come on, let’s get after it.

“Be the kind of man of which God can be proud.”

On the surface it sounds pretty good.  It’s inspirational.  It provokes a never-ending stream of good behavior.  As far as I know, it’s grammatically correct.   But it is also seriously wrong.

A mother may be proud of her ugly and inept son.  But her pride is not due to the fact that he is a supreme representation of humanity.  She is proud of her responsibility.  She is proud of her gift from God.  Frankly, she is proud of God.

God is no respecter of any man.  To say that he is proud of any man, can be considered pure folly.  This is the same God who said all our righteous deeds are as filthy rags (let the reader understand the meaning of the words “filthy rags”).

What can a man possibly do that would make God proud of him?  Every righteous deed we do is as if under duress.  For every man will readily tell you that if he does not behave he will be punished.

There is One of whom God is proud.  His name is Jesus.  As we obey and praise God’s Holy Son, the Pride God has for him is enhanced.  Let us then, revamp the saying. 

“Let us be the kind of men who honor the One who has roused God’s pride.”

By His Grace

What is Sin?

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Sin is “doing wrong”, whether in the mind or by the hands.  Sin is a living being, expressed by the individual.

I have spoken often about how sin disrupts the Righteousness of Eternity.  I have written of how the will of God is staved off by our disobedience called sin.  But Charles Spurgeon takes this concept one step farther than I had perceived.  You can find the entire audio of his sermon, “Thoughts on the Last Battle” at this link http://www.spurgeongems.org/messages/028chs.mp3.

Brother Spurgeon speaks of sin, as it is, past the sealing of the soul.  He asks, (in my own words) if sin destroyed the will of God while the man lived in this place of testing, what will it become when the soul is sealed in sin for eternity?  What will the “man” become when all the restraints of God’s beautiful Grace of the Holy Spirit’s influence is removed?  When the Holy Blood of Christ is no longer effective, when repentance is no longer an option; for the man is now sealed in the manner of soul he allowed God to create.

What then is sin?  Is it simply a game we play between ourselves?  Is it simply a futile expression of disruption in the Truth of God for Eternity?  Is it simply being a rebellious child who stands outside the door of God’s Holy Family?  Is it simply pleasure?  Or is sin a growing monster?

Will hell restrain the wickedness of wicked souls?  Do you think that you will live one slight moment in hell with a smile on your face?  You will be frustrated beyond description.  You will find desire consuming you.  Yet there will be no more avenue to disturb the Holy Will of the Living God or His Holy and Righteous Christ.  You will no longer have a body to command.  You will be only an essence of SIN.  You will be a distilled form of desire, with no possibility of expression or gain.

If God had not designed hell to be obliterated, there would be eternity to suffer within an indescribable torment of desire.  But ask yourself this:  How long will the Living God allow the display of tormented, wicked, desire ridden, useless souls to remain?  Even if He allows the display to remain for the sake of reminder to His Holy People, there is a place where even the display will be done away with.

Not only will those multitude of souls be in agony of frustrated desire.  They will face the prospect of eternal extinction.  And they will know it for certain.  For in their consignment to hell, they will have, no doubt, been told that death must join them.  When death arrives, “Nothing” becomes.

Is that what you want to be?  When your moment of transfer from “life” to the grave comes upon you, is that what you want for your hope?  Pleasure calls now.  But do you think you’ll love pleasure as dearly when there is no longer any means to employ it?

The offer of transformation remains, only as long as a man is in this place of testing.  Only while we are in the flesh of this body, is the Holy Blood of Jesus of any effect.  He calls all men to take from His Holy hand the things of Grace.  But when our hands are no longer able to hold anything, what is Grace to us then?

Jesus stands ready and willing to embrace any man in the Righteous Way of Christianity.  But who will consider these things and live?

Addition:

I have wondered why, in the story of the Rich man and Lazarus, Abraham sat on a hill overlooking Hell.  Can it be that Abraham and Lazarus were learning about the prospects of God’s Holy Promise to eternally punish the wicked?  (Luke 16: 19-31)

And I am reminded of the words of Christ Jesus, 9 “A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: ‘If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. (Revelation 14)

Let us wake up to the reality of the Gospel’s power.  The promise of eternal life is TRUE!  The promise of eternal torment is TRUE!  Which will each man choose?  We all, every man, know.

Defining “The Difference”

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Yesterday morning, I drove to the garden supply to gather some things.  As I drove, I found myself filled with a different perspective.  The beauty of Spring overcame my mind.  I saw the houses, lawns, people, even the shining aspects of my truck, as though they were worthy of “righteous” praise.

I have not had that perspective for years.  The difference between what has become my perspective in Christ Jesus and what is the perspective of man, was astounding.  It scared me to witness my thoughts turning from what is holy to what is obscene before the Most High God.  (It is possible that the reader might raise an eyebrow at that last sentence.  But bear with what is written here, that understanding might surface.)

In writing this post, I am reminded of the words of Jesus.  In regard to my experience yesterday.  “He said to them, ‘You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.'” (Luke 16: 15)

How can I relay the difference between what is holy and what is common, to those who do not believe?  By His Grace, I have become a man who sees the things of this world as an enemy to the soul that belongs to the Christ of God.  How can I help others perceive the things of this world in the same light?  If the war of Christ has not become the primary resident in the soul, the things of this world will appear as a friendly.  We either gravitate (learn to live) to the battlefield of Spiritual Difference, or we continue to live in the encampment of the enemies of God.

The draw of man’s things is powerful.  Powerful enough to cause men to demand the death of Jesus.  Powerful enough to entice men to spit on the crucifixion of the Holy Son of God.  Powerful enough to draw a soul away from Christianity.  And powerful enough to retain eternal hold on any soul who does not seek the face of the Living God continually.  Even the slightest withdraw from the Holy things of Christ, is enough to unveil the desires of the flesh.

Let me try to convince the reader (If indeed, there is the slightest desire to disbelieve these words.)

There was a man who starved himself to death, some time ago.  I don’t remember his name.  I don’t remember his cause.  He is simply gone.  All I remember is that there was a man who did this in the last 20 or 30 years.  He was an American.  That’s all I remember.

But see how useless his life was.  I do have the sense that his plight was not provoked by Christianity.  It was some political miscarriage of injustice.

He is gone now.  What was written about his “statement” would be difficult to find.  Even the memory of him is obliterated by the demands of this Place of Testing.  His family may know to remember him.  But the fabric of America doesn’t even think about him.

But what should a man of Christ expect, as he works out his salvation with fear and trembling; knowing that it is God who works in him, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (From Philippians 2: 13)

The things of this world are obliterated from the memory of man, as time moves from one year to the next.  Even if it is written down, either on a headstone or in a book, our provocation to live and do comes to nothing.  But the things which are done in a man, by Christ Jesus, are retained forever.  They take their place as living testimony to the Righteousness, humility, godly doings, and hope that remains in this place of testing.  Not only that, but they take their place in Eternity.

Either we endure the “warfare within”, that is caused by conflict between the things of God and the things of man, or we suffer the futility of life that comes from living the things of man.  I will add, I would not have known the difference in perception if I had not become accustom to the things of the Living God’s Christ.  I have to admit, the difference in perspective is enough to frighten my soul.

I guess it’s up to the reader.  Do you even know that there is a difference between the perceptions of the flesh and the things of God?  Do you even know there is a war to be fought?  Or have you never tasted the perspective of Heaven?  This place of testing is a passing ruse.  Heaven is the eternal perspective.  Those who have never tasted the things of God, are helpless to remove themselves from the things of man.

I testify that there is, indeed, a radical difference.  Those who will live eternally, will be incapable of memory toward those who do not join them.  The Glory of Christ will overwhelm His people.  The doings of those who remained in this place of testing, enjoying the things of man as if they were worthy and eternal, will be obliterated.  All their days will come to NOTHING.