Blessed Of The Lord

Text: 1 Chronicles 17; John 6:66-69 (See these scriptures in full at the end of the entry).

Introduction

What is the best way to live? What should we hope to achieve from our short time in this world? As with all things we will get many opinions if we were to ask people. 

You may have noticed that the Bible claims to show us the way to live that the Lord personally guarantees to be the best way to live. Another opinion!

The Example of King David

In Chron. 17 the Lord tells David that he is not to build a temple that is a permenent structure. His son after him would do that  The Lord also tells David that He would bless his family. And that there would always be a son of David on the throne of Israel.

So David has the Lord's will for him - as in the 'Laws of Moses'. Now he also has personal leading for his personal life from the Lord. And like all other children of God, David must respond to the Lord. Either yielding to the will of God, or as most - rebel against it.

If God Be For Us!

Jos 10:4-21
4  Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon: for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.
5  Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they and all their hosts, and encamped before Gibeon, and made war against it.
6  And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us: for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us.
7  So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valour.
8  And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.
9  Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up from Gilgal all night.
10  And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah.
11  And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.
12  Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
13  And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
14  And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel.
15  And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal.
16  But these five kings fled, and hid themselves in a cave at Makkedah.
17  And it was told Joshua, saying, The five kings are found hid in a cave at Makkedah.
18  And Joshua said, Roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave, and set men by it for to keep them:
19  And stay ye not, but pursue after your enemies, and smite the hindmost of them; suffer them not to enter into their cities: for the LORD your God hath delivered them into your hand.
20  And it came to pass, when Joshua and the children of Israel had made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they were consumed, that the rest which remained of them entered into fenced cities.
21  And all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace: none moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel.

Reading the above passage this morning, and being thrilled by the fact that when the Lord takes sides, the other side cannot win. Their position is utterly hopeless. The Lord took Israel’s side because they responded to His wooing. Rahab the halot also took the opportunity to change sides. From the gods of Canaan to the side of the one true God. Every Canaanite also could have repented and turned to the Lord. It just shows, like the world in Noah’s day, how long the Lord graciously gave time for those who had turned from Him to repent, and turn back to Him. And now the Lord knew that nothing would turn them back to Him, and gave their land to Israel.

The Lord Does Not Take Sin Lightly

In Joshua 7 we read of the account of Achan, where he took gold, silver and clothing from Jericho after Israel destroyed Jericho at the command of the Lord. In the command of the Lord, was the clear command not to take anything from Jericho. The peoples of Jericho were so offensive to the Lord, that He commanded Israel to completely destroy them from the face of the earth. Thus showing all, that the wickedness of the people of Jericho was so offensive to Him that they needed to be made examples of, and completely removed from the world.

Dramatic, yes but so instructive of the Lord and His ways.

That was lesson one. Lesson two at this time was the sin on Achan the Israelite who did not take the Lord seriously. The commands of the Lord were very clear. This would not be a time when the spoils of war would be permitted. The Lord was teaching Israel to have the same view of sin as He did. Jericho was so wicked that destroying them was not enough. There were to be not benefit to Israel in being able to take their valuables, nor their livestock. They were not even allowed to live in the city after destroying the wicked people. As was going to be the case with many of the cities of the peoples of Canaan, that the Lord was still going to use Israel to judge their historical wickedness.

Doing All To The Glory Of God

1Co 10:31  Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

Pro 3:5-6
5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

From the above scriptures it is abundantly clear that it has always been the privilege of the child of God to do all things in a manner that glorifies God. It is also true that the Lord knows that His children would always need a way of repenting from sin. They would never, in this life, escape from ever sinning. This said they are to always strive to glorify the Lord in all they do. Our flesh’s appetite for sin is no excuse for any sin to become habitual and permanent in our lives.

Deuteronomy 13

In this chapter the Lord deals with apostasy. The turning away from the one God given faith. What is significant here is 1) The thoroughness of the dealing with the apostate person /s; 2) The fact that the apostate may even be able to perform a supernatural sign to support his / her apostasy. Here Satan is using the age old desire of the Israeli for a miraculous sign to prove that a certain thing is of the Lord. And the test is not whether there is a miraculous sign or wonder (miracle) or not, but whether the thing can be tested by the clear teaching of God's Word or not.

What Happens After We Are Born Again?

When we receive Christ, and are thereby "born again", we are adopted into the family of God. He is our Father, and we are His sons and daughters. The Holy Spirit has taken residence inside of us, and strives to lead us, and thereby change us to be like Christ. We are an important ‘project’ to the Lord. In Ephesians 2:10 we are referred to as “His workmanship”.

We Are His Workmanship

Text: Eph 2:8-10
8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Introduction

The born again believer is the “workmanship” of Almighty God. The Lord created the world and made us. He allowed man the freedom of choice to either obey Him perfectly or to turn from Him in sin. When the very first two humans turned from Him to sin. The Lord provided the highest quality solution to reconcile sinful man to Himself - His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  There was no compromise in the Lord’s efforts to reconcile lost humanity to Himself.

Equally so when it comes to wooing lost man to Himself. The Lord sent the Holy Spirit to woo us to Himself. Yes He does use those who have been born again, but He uses us in partnership with the Holy Spirit. In 1 Cor. 3:9 Paul writes, “For we are labourers with God: …”.  Without the Holy Spirit no preacher or soul winner would ever be able to lead any sinner to Christ. Not in truth. They may be convinced to reform their lives, to do their best to conform to what the bible describes as the Christian life, but they will never be born again. They will never know the second birth that the Lord Jesus described in John 3 - being born again of the Spirit of God. We must recognise the partnership between ourselves and the Holy Spirit in spiritual ministry, or nothing will be achieved for eternity.

This study is about what follows in this pattern of God’s dealings with man that I have been describing. We are to recognise that we are the Lord’s workmanship. All who are born again are born into the family of God because the Holy Spirit used someone to lead them to receive Christ. The Holy Spirit did the wooing with the preacher and God’s Word and won them to. I want to point out that we must recognise that the work of the Holy Spirit does not end there. Bringing us to Christ is just the beginning. The Holy Spirit will attempt to lead us to be completely changed - to be like Christ.

We are living in times when even true believers are not allowing the Holy Spirit to lead them. We are picking and choosing what leading, of the Holy Spirit, we will follow and what leading we won’t. The Lord is not pleased with most of us today. The true church is in a very sad state.

Very quickly let’s consider a few scriptures to see this:

The Lord wants believers to demonstrate the life that Christ gives to those who are born again, and allow the Holy Spirit to lead them into a higher life – the abundant life.

Rom 12:1-2
1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

In today’s true church we have:

Many who are lost …

Mat 7:21-23 21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity

Many who make the Lord sick to His stomach because they will not make an out-and-out stand for Him …

Rev 3:14-22
14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15  I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20  Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
22   He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Proving What Is That Good, And Acceptable, And Perfect, Will Of God

Rom 12:1-2
1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

It is everyone that is born again's privilege to be transformed to be like Christ, and live proving (and demonstrating) what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. i.e. Show by example the new life in Christ.

For Example:  Daniel and his friends were used by the Lord to declare Himself firstly to the Babylonians and then the Medes and Persians.

See Dan. 1 where Daniel's good testimony brings him in favour with the master of the Eunuchs. Which favour enabled Daniel to reason with him about eating correctly as a Jew.

Dan. 2 Daniel's righteous walk before the Lord made him a pure vessel that the Lord was able to use to demonstrate to king Nebuchadnezzar Who the one true God is. The Lord gave Daniel the dream and the interpretation of the dream of king Nebuchadnezzar.

Dan. 3 Daniel's friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to bow down and worship the golden image that king Nebuchadnezzar build and commanded all worship when certain music was played. The Lord uses them to demonstrate that He is the one true God. The Lord does not use those who do not live in righteousness before Him.

What Follows Baptism?

In Acts 2 have the following example of the early Church:

Act 2:41-42
41  Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
42  And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

• The “apostles’ doctrine” – which is our God given faith that was “once delivered” – Jude 3. The Lord, through the Holy Spirit, has revealed what the spiritual life is, what the church is, what our purpose in this world is. It is not for us to simply do as we please, as was said about the terrible spiritual state of Israel in the days of the judges.
  Jdg 17:6  “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” A verse that well describes Christianity today!
• Fellowship – The believers met together to edify one another.
• Breaking of Bread – They followed the Lord’s command in this ordinance ‘in remembrance of Him’.
• Prayers – when one relies on the Lord in daily life, we will talk to Him.

Another very important scripture that instructs us in the spiritual life that follows baptism:

Earnestly Contending For The Faith - Epistle of Jude

Jude gives warnings of the ungodly men who have "crept in unawares". Jude not only warns about these that use the Christian Faith for personal gain, but gives counsel that true believers need to earnestly contend for the Faith "which was ONCE delivered unto the saints." i.e. We are not to be passive about such people. Warnings must be given about them. They are leading people into their erroneous ways - away from the true faith. This potentially means that they will lead people into false hope. i.e. Not true salvation, and not a true life with the Lord in this world. This is very serious.

To drive home the point, Jude points to examples of such men in the past: