September 06 2010
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Deceived and Disadvantaged: 08/22/10 18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” 21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” 22 So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 23 But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich. 24 And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And those who heard it said, “Who then can be saved?” 27 But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” (Luke 18:18-27) Who are the disadvantaged regarding spiritual things in the world today? Our verses today teach us a lot about modern American Christianity. Here a rich young man, who ostensibly is seeking eternal life, comes to the sad realization that he cares more about riches than eternal life. At first, one may think “what a putz” but sincere reflection would lead him to understand that many so called Western Christians today fall into this category. So a natural question arises - what constitutes being rich? What amount of accumulated money, property, things, or stuff would qualify someone as rich (by worldly standards)? It may surprise some to hear this, but while in India several years ago, I learned first hand how rich we are in America. In fact, I learned that if you make more than two or three dollars a day you are richer than half the world. Approximately fifty five percent of the world’s population survives on two to three dollars or less a day. The average house-hold in America makes between seventy five and one hundred times more than most of the rest of the world. Now a lot of us would not say that we are rich. Maybe even some would go as far as to say they are doing poorly because of the current state of our economy, but rest assured, most Americans make one hundred times as much as the average person does in half the world even during this economic turn-down. So with all that said, it begs the question to ask; are you rich? If we are honest before God, we would all have to answer yes. So all of us who live in modern America fall into the category of the rich young ruler, and Jesus says that is not a good place to be (spiritually speaking). Jesus says, if you are rich you are in trouble because “it is so hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.” You see many think being rich is a great advantage in life, but Jesus says it is actually a disadvantage. Many American’s probably think that their fine homes, automobiles and retirement plans and such are an advantage over the poor, but even though we live in the richest, safest, and most comfortable place in the world, Jesus says most of us do not realize we are needy, and blind, and naked, and wretched, (Revelation 3:17). Jesus says the toughest people to reach for the kingdom of God are the rich, safe, and comfortable. And it is tough to reach most people in modern America because of our self-importance, self-reliance, self-indulgence, and self-actualizing attitude of trying to accumulate more stuff than our neighbor does. I had always wondered why the very poor people of India (and other third world countries) were so eager to hear and obey God’s word and now I know. It is because they realize that they have no hope of things getting better for them in this world, and the deceit of riches is not at play with them, so the cares of the world do not choke out the word of God in their lives the way it may in ours. But, I believe the hope for many Americans can be found in verse 27. It says, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” Scripture provides an example of this over in the next chapter. “The Impossible” happened with wealthy Zacchaeus. Zacchaesus didn’t care about money for himself anymore after he met Jesus, but he did care about righting the financial wrongs he had done to others and because of that, the Lord said Salvation had come to Zacchaesus’ house. You see, the Kingdom of Heaven is not like the rich young ruler who weighed the challenge from the Lord to give up his wealth to the poor and follow Him so he could actually obtain what he ostensibly came looking for, but he went away sad because he figured eternal life was too expensive. Please allow a humorous illustration of the rich young ruler in today’s passage. The incomparable Jack Benny, a comedian of the previous generation whose reputation as a wealthy skin flint was legendary, performed a skit where a masked robber stopped him on the street and sticking a gun in his ribs demanded, “Your money or your life.” Benny looks very thoughtful and shifts his weight from one foot to another while gazing upward with arms folded and a finger to his lips until the robber impatiently pokes him again with the gun and demands, “What’s the matter with you? I said your money or your life!” Benny responded with a puzzled look and gestures with the upturned palm of his hand and says dolefully, “I’m thinking about it.” No, the Kingdom of heaven is like Zacchaesus, who gladly gave up all his stuff to follow Christ, as in Luke 14: 26, 27. Zacchaesus counted the Kingdom of Heaven a treasure so great that he was willing to give up all that he had to gain it. He did not even pause to consider if it was worth it, he did whatever was required, and he did so with great joy. Fred Wright | |||
Rescuing Pharaoh’s Army. 08/15/10 “ 1 Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying: “I will sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea! In 1446 BC, or thereabouts, after years of suffering under cruel despots with continual cries to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for deliverance from their taskmasters, the fledgling nation of Israel was led out of Egypt by God’s high hand. In their escape, He led them in an escape route to the shores of the Red Sea. Pharaoh and his hordes were pursuing them and with the way of escape blocked by the Red Sea and Pharaoh pressing in from the rear, they seemed doomed. But God intervened, as was His plan all along, for he was setting the stage for the utter destruction of Pharaoh’s military, and with a mighty east wind He opened a path through the sea and the Hebrews went across dry shod. Pharaoh seeing this highway led his army and cavalry into the sea bed in hot pursuit, whereupon when Israel was safely across, God withdrew the wind and the sea returned to its place and drowned all of Pharaoh’s army that sought Israel’s destruction. Immediately, on the other side when Israel saw their great deliverance wrought by God, they performed this song, written on the spot for this occasion, a portion of which we see in today’s verses. This was a normal and rational response by those assisted by divine providence and intervention. They rejoiced for their great deliverance and praised God for His mercy and salvation of themselves and punishment for their tormentors. On September 11, 2001, America was attacked in the most diabolical way one could imagine. Using commercial airliners as missiles fully fueled and loaded with innocent passengers, maniacal Islamists hijacked the planes and flew them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City killing all the passengers, crews and many in the buildings which were just arriving for a day’s work. Within an hour, the buildings began to fall down, killing even more people who had survived the hellish inferno produced by the exploding jet fuel. Churches were filled the following Sunday and for a few Sunday’s after that. Everyone it seemed, was praying not only for the families of those missing or known dead, the firemen and other hero’s of the day, but we prayed also for God to smash with His righteous right hand those who plotted, planned and executed this foul deed. President Bush, spoke for us all when he said we would hunt them down and bring them to justice and there was no place on earth they could hide to escape our just wrath. Did we rejoice? No. Did we at least give God credit and thank Him for answering our prayers? Not on your life. Instead, we rushed our soldiers, sailors, and airmen to the scene on a mission of mercy and rescued others who surely would have died in the aftermath. But still, we continued to pray for God to help us, and continue to do so unto this day. America has hunted bin Laden with no result, though we knew where he was – in Pakistan. Then a year or two later, God sent an earthquake with the epicenter located under bin Laden’s cave and more thousands were killed, but instead of rejoicing we prayed for the survivors, some of whom would one day train to destroy us, and spent our nations God-given resources on rescuing them. We still did not even acknowledge that God had struck our enemies again and that He did what we could not do. But God leaving enough alive for us to prove ourselves worthy by conquest, did we capitalize on the edge we had been given and finish the job? No, we sought peace. Still we prayed, “Oh God, don’t let them attack us again - defeat our enemies and spare our land.” In 2010 God answered with His flood to a desert land – imagine that- a flood in the deserts of Pakistan, bin Laden’s back yard. It is the worst flood in hundreds maybe thousands of years. Are we rejoicing that God is wielding His mighty sword? No! We send our nations resources to help them out and save their pathetic lives. Do we dance, do we make songs, do we rejoice in thanksgiving prayers in our churches which ought to be able to see the hand of God at work? No! If it were possible, we would send church teams to rebuild the place. We should help Christians in these places, but not our enemies. We should distinguish between help for God’s people and for those who seek our ruin, for we are a Christian nation. But what do we do, especially of late? We give aid and comfort to our enemies while permitting the wanton destruction of God’s people in these God-forsaken heathen nations. The floods also came to India, the place where Good Word Ministry works to bring the gospel message to those who are the lowest of the low in Indian society. The Indian government purports to be America’s “friends,” yet the Hindu and the Muslim thrives on the backs of the poor whose lot in life is less than the animal’s they tend and persecutes any who dare to openly confess Christ. In our ministry to those flood victims, we have instructed our India team to assist only those who are God’s people. Allow the others to fend for themselves. To do any different would be tantamount to Israel sending in rescuers for Pharaoh’s drowning army, in an attempt to save their enemies whom God was destroying. America is good and generous – but sometimes she is impossibly stupid.
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A Good Word for Today 10/04/09 Success is not the measure of a servant of God; faithfulness is. 1 Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man¡¯s conscience in the sight of God. 3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. (2 Corinthians 4:1-4) "¡ handling the word of God deceitfully." Now there is a crime if ever there was one. We wonder why our country, indeed the world, can enjoy such progress in the area of technology yet, at the same time be rapidly descending lower and lower morally. The answer is found in today¡¯s verses. Men in authority by and large, deal deceitfully to further their own ends. This is blatantly true with politicians. They handle the Constitution, legislation, ordinances and statutes deceitfully. Courts handle the law, such as it is, deceitfully, taking advantage of the common man who is untutored in the law. In order to get a favorable decision from a court, one must hire attorneys who are as cagey and dishonest as those representing the plaintiff, without which the common man hasn¡¯t a chance in this world of getting a favorable, honest opinion from most courts of law.Tragically, it has become as difficult to hear the truth in many Christian institutions, including the church. We see evidence of it all over television these days and experience it in some churches. Pastors who know the truth and want to be honest with the word of God don¡¯t feel they can because the church members may terminate them if they dare to speak the truth as written. So; many play the game and compromise the truth of the word so they can continue in the ministry as pastor. Telling the truth about scripture, God, man and salvation is a sure way to lose your congregation these days. As in scripture, people will consider truth "hard sayings" which they cannot bear and may leave the congregation, or as with the religious leaders in scripture, will seek to eliminate the messenger. What, then, should a pastor, preacher or teacher do? Well, he/she should resist the temptation to modify the truth to suit people¡¯s fancy, as did Paul. They should renounce such tactics and determine as a minister of God to deal honestly with the word of God regardless of the response. To renounce, means to give up the practice of deceit, or to announce formally that you will never engage in it in the first place. He should also forbear to craftily impose subtle changes of interpretation upon the scriptures, through illustrations or otherwise, that serve only to reflect well upon himself, or further his own personal agenda. He should not be guided by a desire to win applause with the Gospel, subtlety altering inappropriately the content for the hearer to avoid offense: Rather, the teacher/preacher should, being fiercely loyal to the word of God, communicate it fearlessly in all its power leaving its truth to either offend or save. Success is not the measure of a servant of God; faithfulness is. For as our text for today points out, if the Gospel message fails to eventually produce salvation in the hearers, it identifies him as one who is already marked out for destruction. ____________________________________________________________________________________ | |||
A Good Word for Today 10/11/09 God's grace in hard times. ¡¡1 Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: 2 that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. 3 For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, 4 imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. (2 Corinthians 8:1-4) "Why is the Lord allowing this to happen to me?" Some ask this question during hard times as though they should be exempt from financial ruin, disease, job loss, or whatever even though these trials are common to man. Using this question as a teaching moment, we will offer an explanation that may not be pleasant but is truth and therefore therapeutic nonetheless. Today¡¯s scripture reveals where the emphasis ought to be in our lives at all times. In these verses we find the Apostle Paul commenting about the special grace that was bestowed upon the Macedonian churches even though they were in deep poverty. This is the proper prospective. Please notice three things about the Macedonian Christians. First, they were in a great trial of affliction. Now a trial is unpleasant; a great trial is very unpleasant, but a great trial of affliction is not only very unpleasant but is also life threatening and miserable. "Trial" indicates a testing; something that will reveal whether or not your faith is genuine. The word affliction, however, means a pressing down or a squeezing together and can mean that it is severe pressure, usually referring to persecution that is producing death or at least has the potential to do so. Americans do not suffer that kind of persecution ¨C yet. Second, they were in very deep poverty. As a result of the persecution, they suffered great loss, yet they insisted on focusing on what they had left to give to others in trouble instead of what they had lost. What a lesson! Need we be reminded that poverty stricken Americans are filthy rich compared to the poverty in the third world? Some modern American Christians consider themselves to be in poverty if they don¡¯t have enough money left each month after their bills are paid to make a deposit to their savings account. But thirdly, notice that they were especially blessed with God¡¯s grace! They were in "deep" poverty but rich in God¡¯s grace! Instead of complaining, they were imploring Paul to accept their offering for the Jerusalem church in spite of their poverty. I do not wish to be unkind or unfeeling, but many today think that if they experience a set back in their lifestyle, health or even their plans for the future, that they are being singled out by God for punishment. In thinking this way they make God the source or the cause of their suffering rather than the true cause(s). They also insinuate that it is unjust for them to suffer when others may not be! The Macedonian¡¯s perspective is correct. The world system is a failure. We are in the world. Hence, we are going to suffer the same or more than other people in the world, (2Timothy 3:12). Since God makes His rain to fall on the righteous and unrighteous alike, do we not expect that when it is in drought we will feel its affects too? But Christians are not targets for God¡¯s judgment, but for His grace. Therefore, hard times are for sharing, a time for giving, not hoarding for ourselves. If the times are tough on you, they probably are on other Christians too, and the grace of God should cause us to want to help others in need, if there is opportunity ¨C not to withdraw and grasp, thinking only of ourselves. Let us remember that God¡¯s grace is bestowed on us. Let¡¯s not measure His blessings by material possessions, physical health, comfort or anything else like that, but by the reality of His presence and His gift of eternal life, especially when we are experiencing the "fellowship of his sufferings." (Philippians 3:10) ___________________________________________________________________________________ | |||
