August 2020
AUGUST MONTH MESSAGE
“DO YOU DO WHAT GOD SAYS?”
[Jesus said,] “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?” – Luke 6:46 NLT. Jesus has one simple point: “If I am your Lord, then you will obey what I tell you. If you don’t, then I’m not your Lord.” It’s that simple. It’s that clear. So why have we grown so passionless about obeying what He says? After all, if we have trouble with obedience, our fundamental problem is really a lack of love for Jesus. He said “All who love Me will do what I say” (John 14:23). So, as our passion for the Lord grows, so also should our obedience. If we love the Lord, then we’ll do what he says!
The Lord spoke these words to TEST THE PROFESSION of all who called Him Lord. There were many in that day who professed Jesus as Lord with their lips, but their failure to obey what Jesus commanded them proved their profession was not genuine. In Matthew 7:21 Jesus said, “Not everyone 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.” Salvation is a gift of God through simple faith in Jesus Christ, but one proves they have been saved by making Jesus the Lord of their life and obeying His Word.
In Jesus’ parable the FOUNDATION is HIMSELF! In Matthew 16:16 Peter confessed Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and the Lord Jesus went on to say in verse 18, “Upon this rock (the confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God) I will build my church.” The apostle Paul said in 1st Corinthians 3:11, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” In the Lord’s parable the man who “laid the foundation on the rock” is the one has trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation and gives evidence of faith in Christ through obedience to the Word. This does not mean the believer will never fail, but the character of his life will be such that he is marked by doing God’s will. The “man who built his house on the earth without a foundation” represents all who have never trusted in Christ as their Saviour and thus they may call Him Lord with their mouth, but their lack of obedience betrays the fact that their “faith” is a “dead faith.” James spoke of this in James 1:22 and 2:17, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves… Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” How solemn to consider Jesus’ last words to those who have not built their life and hope of salvation on Him: “against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.” God has said in Acts 17:31, “He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained.” When that “storm of judgment” comes, the one who has rejected Christ as the ROCK OF SALVATION will be swept away into eternal judgment. We would plead with all who read these lines to flee to Christ for salvation while there is time. If you do trust in Christ alone to save you, the storm of judgment won’t touch you. John 5:24 declares, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and DOES NOT COME INTO JUDGMENT, but has passed from death into life”
Jesus said to the disciples, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.” Luke 6:46-49
Notice that our Lord likened the wise man (Matthew 7:24) who built his house upon the rock (the Lord Jesus Christ Himself) to one who “digged deep.” But also note that the reason the house withstood the storm was not because of the digging, but rather because of the foundation that was unearthed – “for it was founded upon a rock.” It’s not the digging deep that makes the difference, yet all whom God justified by the blood of Christ and who shall so stand at the Judgment, will ultimately be drawn by God’s irresistible grace in their respective lifetimes to persist in seeking (or digging) until they find.
In the day of His power, God reveals to them that one foundation, “a tried stone” who produced the very righteousness necessary and satisfactory to the judgment of God, a “sure foundation” (Isaiah 28:16), the Lord Jesus Christ. Sinners are commanded to “strive to enter in the strait gate” (Luke 13:24), to dig deep, so to speak, in seeking “the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). And all for whom Christ lived and died shall do just that. All that the Father giveth Him shall come to Him (John 6:37) – to Christ, the solid rock!
In Luke 8:15, parable of sower, “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance”. Later, in verse 22, His mother and brothers show up and want to take Him away but He responds, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”
Prayer puts nourishment into the roots of our Christian life. What we say and do for God and in the name of Christ comes from what is inside us. We nourish the gifts of God and the faith we have in prayer, and in doing good. Prayer is one of the foundations of a life of faith; it is a rock which helps us remain constant in times of struggle and temptation.
There are some very realistic and homely sayings from Jesus in His sermon on the mount. He stresses that what is on the inside of a person is the source of actions for good or bad. Prayer – even sitting silently before God – is one way of bringing light and sincerity to the motivations of our lives. Nobody can sit sincerely in God’s presence – silently or with words – and not change for the better!
Be rooted in prayer, obey and love God earnestly to ensure our foundation is never shaken.
The Lord spoke these words to TEST THE PROFESSION of all who called Him Lord. There were many in that day who professed Jesus as Lord with their lips, but their failure to obey what Jesus commanded them proved their profession was not genuine. In Matthew 7:21 Jesus said, “Not everyone 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.” Salvation is a gift of God through simple faith in Jesus Christ, but one proves they have been saved by making Jesus the Lord of their life and obeying His Word.
In Jesus’ parable the FOUNDATION is HIMSELF! In Matthew 16:16 Peter confessed Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and the Lord Jesus went on to say in verse 18, “Upon this rock (the confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God) I will build my church.” The apostle Paul said in 1st Corinthians 3:11, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” In the Lord’s parable the man who “laid the foundation on the rock” is the one has trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation and gives evidence of faith in Christ through obedience to the Word. This does not mean the believer will never fail, but the character of his life will be such that he is marked by doing God’s will. The “man who built his house on the earth without a foundation” represents all who have never trusted in Christ as their Saviour and thus they may call Him Lord with their mouth, but their lack of obedience betrays the fact that their “faith” is a “dead faith.” James spoke of this in James 1:22 and 2:17, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves… Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” How solemn to consider Jesus’ last words to those who have not built their life and hope of salvation on Him: “against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.” God has said in Acts 17:31, “He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained.” When that “storm of judgment” comes, the one who has rejected Christ as the ROCK OF SALVATION will be swept away into eternal judgment. We would plead with all who read these lines to flee to Christ for salvation while there is time. If you do trust in Christ alone to save you, the storm of judgment won’t touch you. John 5:24 declares, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and DOES NOT COME INTO JUDGMENT, but has passed from death into life”
Jesus said to the disciples, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.” Luke 6:46-49
Notice that our Lord likened the wise man (Matthew 7:24) who built his house upon the rock (the Lord Jesus Christ Himself) to one who “digged deep.” But also note that the reason the house withstood the storm was not because of the digging, but rather because of the foundation that was unearthed – “for it was founded upon a rock.” It’s not the digging deep that makes the difference, yet all whom God justified by the blood of Christ and who shall so stand at the Judgment, will ultimately be drawn by God’s irresistible grace in their respective lifetimes to persist in seeking (or digging) until they find.
In the day of His power, God reveals to them that one foundation, “a tried stone” who produced the very righteousness necessary and satisfactory to the judgment of God, a “sure foundation” (Isaiah 28:16), the Lord Jesus Christ. Sinners are commanded to “strive to enter in the strait gate” (Luke 13:24), to dig deep, so to speak, in seeking “the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). And all for whom Christ lived and died shall do just that. All that the Father giveth Him shall come to Him (John 6:37) – to Christ, the solid rock!
In Luke 8:15, parable of sower, “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance”. Later, in verse 22, His mother and brothers show up and want to take Him away but He responds, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”
Prayer puts nourishment into the roots of our Christian life. What we say and do for God and in the name of Christ comes from what is inside us. We nourish the gifts of God and the faith we have in prayer, and in doing good. Prayer is one of the foundations of a life of faith; it is a rock which helps us remain constant in times of struggle and temptation.
There are some very realistic and homely sayings from Jesus in His sermon on the mount. He stresses that what is on the inside of a person is the source of actions for good or bad. Prayer – even sitting silently before God – is one way of bringing light and sincerity to the motivations of our lives. Nobody can sit sincerely in God’s presence – silently or with words – and not change for the better!
Be rooted in prayer, obey and love God earnestly to ensure our foundation is never shaken.
