John 3:21
"But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."
I remember when my parents would tell me to clean my room. They would (usually through the voice of my father) announce: "You have X number of minutes to get that room clean. At that time, I (we) will be coming in, and whatever is not cleaned up and put away properly is going out the window (or in the trash)." Now, understand that I had not only that time frame to clean my room; I had also had the chance to do it for days or even weeks previous. The one thing I did NOT have, however, was the luxury of waiting UNTIL they came into the room and turned on the light for their inspection. Imagine if I waited until the deadline, then rushed in and began frantically throwing things around in an attempt to tidy the room! No such luck would prevail but that my father would begin to fume and steam at the ears as he began disposing of the junk scattered around the room. Later, he would devise a method by which to dispose of ME.
God's Word tells us plainly that the time for beginning to clean the room of our soul is NOT when God sounds the trumpet and the world is called to the carpet to give account for their lives. No, the Gospel call to repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the call to get that room straightened out NOW! When the Light that makes manifest comes in, what has been done in the room already will be evident. Dust will appear as dust; dirty laundry will be seen to be nothing more or less than dirty laundry. No excuses will be tolerated and no further probationary periods of time granted. Either the room will be clean upon inspection, or it will not be clean.
What do we say then? Is it in a man to hear the warning of the coming Fatherly inspection and run to do today what should be done? No; the Bible tells us that it is in man's wicked nature to run and hide himself from God. As the "Where art thou?" in Eden caused the sinful man to ferret himself away in the bushes so as to try and conceal (in vain) his nakedness before God, so, at the end of time, shall the "shout, and the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God" cause those who have heard it to foolishly try and sequester themselves away from the Presence of the Almighty One. Crying to the rocks, "HIDE US!" and to the mountains, "FALL UPON US!", mankind will again refuse the blinding revelation that Light brings; he will instead run for the cover of the shadows.
God makes a distinction between that "which (He) hath cleansed" and that which is called "common" or unclean. The preaching of Peter to the Gentiles was necessarily preceded by the declaration of God that He had cleansed them; the Holy Spirit fell when they heard the Gospel preached, not when they were pressed to "decide" or "choose". If God had not already stated that these Gentiles were NOT to be referred to as "common", there would have been no purpose in Peter's going to their house and preaching unto them. That truly would have been a case of casting "pearls before swine".
Back to the analogy of the messy bedroom: The clarion call has gone out, and the time is coming for every room to be inspected for cleanness. Those whose rooms will be pronounced "clean" will be those whose hearts have been changed by God from unwilling to willing; the Light of Christ will make plain that work of God to change them. The Light does NOT change the room from clean to unclean; the arrival of the clear and perfect Light makes manifest what is already there. The Word says that "as many was were ordained unto eternal life believed". They believed because the hearing of the truth was finally made available to them, and they simply did what they were Divinely made capable of doing. No farmer throws seed onto an unplowed and unprepared field; he cannot expect the seeds to grow in an hostile environment and he certainly cannot expect the seeds to do the plowing and preparing for him. The Farmer, the Owner of the land of our hearts, knows what is needed for the seed to take root and flourish, and so He prepares the heart to recieve and makes the heart capable of being the environment for fruitfulness.
God, grant that we who have been prepared by Thy grace to receive Thy Seed, the Word, might bear fruit in abundance as Thy Spirit nourishes and waters our hearts in anticipation of Thy Divine increase. Let us further, O Lord God, be given Thy wisdom to go out bearing the precious Seed of Thy Word in order that we might sow it and see it take root in fields which Thou hast prepared to be fruitful for Thy glory. May we never desire to reflect anything but Thy mighty and perfect handiwork. Let us never boast that we planted ourselves or that we might somehow sustain ourselves, but only that we have grown in grace and in sanctification according to Thy instruction and Thy pruning of the deadness within us. All these things we ask for the sake of Thy glory in and through and all because of Christ Jesus, the All-Sufficient Savior Who hath purchased these fields with His own Blood. Amen.
"But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."
I remember when my parents would tell me to clean my room. They would (usually through the voice of my father) announce: "You have X number of minutes to get that room clean. At that time, I (we) will be coming in, and whatever is not cleaned up and put away properly is going out the window (or in the trash)." Now, understand that I had not only that time frame to clean my room; I had also had the chance to do it for days or even weeks previous. The one thing I did NOT have, however, was the luxury of waiting UNTIL they came into the room and turned on the light for their inspection. Imagine if I waited until the deadline, then rushed in and began frantically throwing things around in an attempt to tidy the room! No such luck would prevail but that my father would begin to fume and steam at the ears as he began disposing of the junk scattered around the room. Later, he would devise a method by which to dispose of ME.
God's Word tells us plainly that the time for beginning to clean the room of our soul is NOT when God sounds the trumpet and the world is called to the carpet to give account for their lives. No, the Gospel call to repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the call to get that room straightened out NOW! When the Light that makes manifest comes in, what has been done in the room already will be evident. Dust will appear as dust; dirty laundry will be seen to be nothing more or less than dirty laundry. No excuses will be tolerated and no further probationary periods of time granted. Either the room will be clean upon inspection, or it will not be clean.
What do we say then? Is it in a man to hear the warning of the coming Fatherly inspection and run to do today what should be done? No; the Bible tells us that it is in man's wicked nature to run and hide himself from God. As the "Where art thou?" in Eden caused the sinful man to ferret himself away in the bushes so as to try and conceal (in vain) his nakedness before God, so, at the end of time, shall the "shout, and the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God" cause those who have heard it to foolishly try and sequester themselves away from the Presence of the Almighty One. Crying to the rocks, "HIDE US!" and to the mountains, "FALL UPON US!", mankind will again refuse the blinding revelation that Light brings; he will instead run for the cover of the shadows.
God makes a distinction between that "which (He) hath cleansed" and that which is called "common" or unclean. The preaching of Peter to the Gentiles was necessarily preceded by the declaration of God that He had cleansed them; the Holy Spirit fell when they heard the Gospel preached, not when they were pressed to "decide" or "choose". If God had not already stated that these Gentiles were NOT to be referred to as "common", there would have been no purpose in Peter's going to their house and preaching unto them. That truly would have been a case of casting "pearls before swine".
Back to the analogy of the messy bedroom: The clarion call has gone out, and the time is coming for every room to be inspected for cleanness. Those whose rooms will be pronounced "clean" will be those whose hearts have been changed by God from unwilling to willing; the Light of Christ will make plain that work of God to change them. The Light does NOT change the room from clean to unclean; the arrival of the clear and perfect Light makes manifest what is already there. The Word says that "as many was were ordained unto eternal life believed". They believed because the hearing of the truth was finally made available to them, and they simply did what they were Divinely made capable of doing. No farmer throws seed onto an unplowed and unprepared field; he cannot expect the seeds to grow in an hostile environment and he certainly cannot expect the seeds to do the plowing and preparing for him. The Farmer, the Owner of the land of our hearts, knows what is needed for the seed to take root and flourish, and so He prepares the heart to recieve and makes the heart capable of being the environment for fruitfulness.
God, grant that we who have been prepared by Thy grace to receive Thy Seed, the Word, might bear fruit in abundance as Thy Spirit nourishes and waters our hearts in anticipation of Thy Divine increase. Let us further, O Lord God, be given Thy wisdom to go out bearing the precious Seed of Thy Word in order that we might sow it and see it take root in fields which Thou hast prepared to be fruitful for Thy glory. May we never desire to reflect anything but Thy mighty and perfect handiwork. Let us never boast that we planted ourselves or that we might somehow sustain ourselves, but only that we have grown in grace and in sanctification according to Thy instruction and Thy pruning of the deadness within us. All these things we ask for the sake of Thy glory in and through and all because of Christ Jesus, the All-Sufficient Savior Who hath purchased these fields with His own Blood. Amen.
posted by SFB at 9:17 AM
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