God Is NOT Guilty

(Message by Bro. Vijay Awale. Give God His due. Happy reading!)

 

 If you are one that go through tough times in life thinking that everything will work good on its own, or that God is responsible for those temptations in your life to make you strong, you may be missing some vital picture of who God is! There are people who have a tendency to put the blame on God for any and every situation that they face; they go through life always with a question why God would do such a thing to them. Even for unbelievers, it is easy to identify with luck, fate and a force above human endeavor. But I believe, the Scriptures teach something quite in contrast to “popular” thinking…(I will come around to this in a short while).

James 1: 13-17 says: Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

Look at the above verses carefully, and we can learn:

1.       God is ONLY the source of EVERY GOOD gift and EVERY PERFECT gift

2.       EACH one’s humanly desire DRAWS one AWAY to temptation

3.       There is an ENTICER and a DECEIVER waiting to bring forth DEATH

Jesus says in John 10:10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

Again, we are confronted with two sources: one source of destruction-the thief! And One who came to give abundant LIFE-Jesus Christ. It is important you identify correctly the individual authors of destruction, temptation, and abundant life; else you will never be able to obey a simple command in James 4:7 that says: Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

If you are still confused as to the SOURCE of bad things and those terrible things that has happened or is happening in your life, today put away that doubt once and for all and start resisting (actively opposing) the evil source-the devil, and submit (humbly accept) the good things from God; for we must know who to submit to and who to resist against.!

I want to emphasize on two Scriptures that have been misinterpreted or been misquoted a number of times, yes, even by Christian preachers; the believer too is guilty of accepting such error. When one is faced with a job-loss, a business failure, or rebellious child, or divorce-one must understand that such things are NOT from God, and therefore one must not quote from Rom. 8:28 under such situations in life. Yes, I understand God is in control, but there are boundaries where you must exercise YOUR CONTROL – that is why it is written, “Resist the devil”!

Otherwise, there is real danger of you being passive, inactive; being resigned to ‘fate’ and failure erroneously thinking that it, after all, must somehow fit into God’s plan for your life! NO, my beloved… you are in REAL DANGER of submitting to the devil and conceiving sin-this must not be! It is NOT God who is the author, and therefore cannot be guilty, of such BAD things.

Thinking over, and looking at my own life, it is now simple for me to understand SOME things (good) are from God, and some other things (BAD) were from the devil. Looking again at Rom. 8:28 it is clear that is applicable only for a subset of people: those who love God and those who are the called according to His purpose. Yes, it is applicable only if you are actively living out His purpose in your life. And what purpose? 1 John 3:8 says: For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Rom. 8: 28 is, therefore, applicable to those who are actively resisting the devil. We need discernment to know the source of everything that happens in our life and learn to accept what God offers, but exercise our spiritual muscle to resist the devil and his schemes. The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy; resist him. Jesus came to give abundant life-therefore choose life!

Another Scripture that does the rounds of misinterpretation is from the book of Job: The Lord gave, and the LORD has taken away (Job 1: 21). We hear this sometimes in funerals too! Job suffered a great loss in his life and uttered these words right at the beginning of his grievances, confusing God to be the 'author' of his calamity. How can this be? Because God cannot be the Author of calamity, and Job could not see the hand of Satan behind all those terrible things he was experiencing! Job displayed this attitude: He did not charge God with wrong (Job 1:22), but inwardly thought so!

At first instant, Job’s statement may be mistaken to glorify God (Blessed be the name of the LORD); but in fact, his view is an erroneous judgment of God-the LORD has taken away! If a person gives and then takes it away, he must surely be working at the loan-recovery department of some bank! And how trustworthy can he be? Would you really care to take something from such a person, whom you  knew would collect it again, you know not when?

But dearly beloved, our God owns the BANK; He is a Giver, He does not take away. He gives all things richly and for us to enjoy.

In some ways, Job can be forgiven for such an erroneous idea about God, because he lived in the Old Testament era; and Jesus was not yet manifested, nor was the Holy Spirit poured out. That is why I am inclined to think Job’s opinion in Job 1:21 was his own, and nothing more. The remarkable attribute of Job was that he did not harbor any bitterness against God, even in his calamity. But together with that, that he could not exhibit a full faith is made clear by the statement in Job 3:25 “For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me.” This is negative faith, and actually fear; it really sounds as if he had always thought God, after giving, would take it away someday!

But today, for you and me in the New Covenant age, we have become children of God; and it is our Father’s good pleasure to GIVE us the kingdom (John 12: 32). We know our God gave and gave…and He has not taken, and nor will He take, anything away. He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16). He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also FREELY GIVE us ALL things? (Rom. 8: 32) Jesus came to GIVE us abundant life (John 10:10).

Beloved, God is not waiting to catch you in the wrong and take away what He gave (Strangely, this is the idea some Christians have). Either you lose it yourself, or the thief has stolen it from you. But remember, it is not God who has taken it away from you, after He gave it to you first. Romans 11:29 clearly states: For the GIFTS and the calling of God are irrevocable. Those of you in the banking sector may well understand this legal term: irrevocable, for example one may use it while transacting via a letter of credit from a bank; It means that the terms and conditions cannot be altered!

Here is our God- a Giver. The Father has given Heaven's best gift-Jesus; yes, the darling of heaven to be crucified for your sake and mine. Have you received Him yet? Receive Him, receive life. In Jesus name, Amen.

Progress of the Righteous

 (Message by Pastor Philip Joseph. Please proceed!)

Prov. 4:18 says: But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.

The Christian walk is a glorious walk that shows an increasing measure of brightness day after day. If you find that your spiritual awakening is stagnant, it is time now to rise up. Just as in the secular job, one has the ambition to be better- to rise up higher; even so in our spiritual life we must never be satisfied with mediocrity, else, we remain in the past memories of great ‘experiences’ and fail to progress into God designed destiny.

Today I want to share from the Old Testament example-the typology of that tabernacle of Moses, which consisted of three distinct parts.

• The Outer Court – meant for Israelites only; the gentiles had no place here.
• The Holy Place – meant for ministering priests, serving daily, only from the tribe of Levi (and prohibited for other tribes of Israel);
• The Holy of Holies – meant for only the high priest, and that too once a year for atonement of the sins of the entire nation

Exodus 40: 3-7 describes the things that were kept in these 3 distinct parts of the tabernacle: In the Holy of Holies was kept the Ark of the Testimony (containing a golden pot of manna, the laws on tablets of stone and Aaron’s rod that budded), and above it the mercy seat of God’s very presence with cherubim on either side. A veil (thick and strong) separated this Holy of Holies from the other parts of the tabernacle. In the holy place was kept a table with the (daily fresh) show-bread on one side, and a lamp-stand with seven lights on the other side, and an altar of gold for incense in front of the veil right before the Ark of the Testimony. A screen (serving as the door) separated the Holy place from the outer court-where as they enter a laver of water was kept, and the brazen altar for sacrifices of animals, whose blood was used for atonement of sins.

 

 

The Outer Court

If you want to progress in the spiritual walk God has called you to, one must proceed to be drawn into the outer courts, then enter the Holy place and go on towards the Most Holy Place. As you enter the outer court (the general assembly of meeting), you have the laver and the brazen altar before you. Heb. 13: 11-13 says: We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

 

If you are looking for salvation, or have never experienced your sins being forgiven, I ask you, to go to Jesus who suffered and shed His blood for your sins. With what little faith is given to you, lay hold of Jesus, confess and repent of your sins; you can have a new-life in Jesus. If you trust Him and accept the forgiveness He offers, you are be born-again. This is the simple gospel of salvation-salvation is free. Yes, the best gift available on earth is free; Believe in the name of Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.

 

As priests who accept sacrifice of animals, go and wash themselves in the laver of water, when your sins are forgiven, go and be baptized. If you do not know what ‘baptism’ means ask your local church Pastor or Christian worker, he/she is sure to help you. In the Book of Acts of the Apostles, we find Paul searching for someone to show him the way. There Ananias met him, and said to Paul, ‘Brother Paul, receive your sight… And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’ (Acts 22: 13, 16) Remember, this is Paul who Jesus Himself met while on his way to Damascus, and there Paul received the truth; yet, he had to go and be baptized! Baptism-the passing through of waters, is a simple act of obedience to what you believe happened in your spirit when you were born-again, that your sins were forgiven. Baptism is a fundamental, but important, step of open confession to your belief in Jesus Christ-Call on His name!

 

Holy Place

 

But today, I want to encourage all believers to progress further into the Holy Place. A table is prepared before you, with fresh loaves of bread-symbolizing the word of God. There is a new word from God for you today; Jesus quoting from the Old Testament said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4: 4). If you are looking for the word of God every Sunday, I say, it is a sorry state; just as the man who eats bread once a week! Also, as you see Jesus-the bread of heaven, you can have something new of Him.(I, for one, have a dislike for eating stale food-even if it is the best dish cooked yesterday!) There is some word new today from Jesus; else we will be living on what God told me yesterday, or last month… or last year… or several years ago.

In the Holy Place is also the lamp-stand with the seven lights… ’which are the seven Spirits of God’ (Rev. 4: 5). The light signified the Holy Spirit, helping us shine everyday with the gifts and talents endowed to us. Let keep the oil full and the lamps trimmed, that the continual anointing of the Holy Spirit may rest upon our lives. Remember, this is apart from the baptism of the Holy Spirit, when we first believed in Jesus (John 1:33); this is the daily walking in light experience and being continually filled with the Spirit mentioned in Eph. 5: 18, and speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.

 

And in the Holy Place, is also the golden altar of incense which, are the prayers of the saints (Rev. 8: 3). Prayer is a precious way to commune with God; it signifies our relationship and our dependency on God our Father. We are guided day by day through our communion of prayer. In fact, if you see, all the activities in the Holy Place were done on a daily basis-the fresh loaves of show bread on the table, the filling of oil and the continual burning of lamps, and then the incense on the gold altar. In the Old Covenant, the Levitical priests performed these duties; in the New Covenant, we-believers, have entered into the Holy Place because of the sacrifice of Jesus and have been made priests unto God (Rev. 1: 6). Therefore, let us have a daily fellowship with our God.

 

Most Holy Place

Even from the Holy Place, the priests were kept away from the presence of God (Ark of the Testimony) by a thick veil separating the Most Holy Place. But would you go further now, dearly beloved, for the veil was torn from top to bottom, when Jesus died on the cross and paid the ransom for many. The Most Holy Place is now accessible for you and me! ‘All shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.’ (Heb. 8: 11) says the Lord. This is the New Covenant privilege! Not just the Jews, but also Gentiles; not just priests in the Holy Place, but together with Christ- our High Priest.

In the Ark of the Testimony were kept the laws engraved on the tablets of stone; this signifies the commandments of God and our obedience to them. This is a way of loving our God-keep His commands (John 15:1); this is a way of knowing our God-keep His commands (1 John 2: 3); this is a way of growing in God-follow His commands (John 14:21).

It is really left to us to leave- elementary knowledge (Heb. 6:1), put away childish things (1 Cor. 13:11), and press towards the goal of being conformed to the image of Jesus (Phil. 3: 14, 15); that we may know Him and the hope of His calling.

Let us proceed into the Most Holy Place; In Jesus name, Amen.