Pleasing Man Or God?

Pleasing Man Or God?

You know, there are some people out there who seem to be in a hurry to pronounce someone as pleasing man instead of God, and I don't mean the servitude God intended us to give to our fellow Christians and neighbors, but choosing to please men and/or women over God. Some of these people should be more tedious in their obsevation before being quick to judge, and remember that God is He who judges righteously, because He tries the hearts of men; "And He said unto them,

'Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.'" (Luke 16:15) So when this is said of someone, the choice that person is being told to think about, is whether or not they are putting God first, or someone else!

"Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins." (Psa. 7:9) This is to say that because of God's omniscience, He knows where the heart of evey soul He created is seating itself. If a person means to please Him, He will know it, and accordingly, if they are pleasing someone other than Him, that He will know also!

The Lord even reproved one of His prophets when they made a mistake judging on first sight by the tabernacle than the character. Your tabernacle, or what is seen of you, is not how to judge who and what kind of person you are. Someone wise will give you a long period of observation before making a decision whether or not you choose to please God or men. Read here how Samuel misjudged Eliab; "But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart." (1 Sam. 16:7)

"And Saul said unto Samuel, 'I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.'" (1 Sam. 15:24) What was righteous in this situation of Saul is only that he confessed that he sinned. Correct also is the statement that he transgressed the commandment of the Lord. Samuel gave complete instructions to Saul, and he obeyed them only in part, not wholly, so in this he sinned a great sin in the eyes of the Lord, because not only did he rebel against the Lord in the sight of the people, but there is another commandment he disobeyed, thus his sin was twofold; "I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." (Exod. 20:2 - 3) When someone puts any thing or anyone before God in what they do, say, or think, have they not disobeyed this commandment? Can't we restate this commandment, and be correct, by saying that anything or anyone regarded above that which God commands is disobedience of this commandment? Here is a clear example of the first king of Israel choosing to please man instead of God. Let's get a little insight from a couple passages of Scripture; "And Saul said, 'They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.'" (1 Sam. 15:15) "And Saul said unto Samuel, 'Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.'" (1 Sam. 15:20-21) Why do you suppose Saul told

Samuel "thy God" instead of "my God" in both of these passages of Scripture? A slip of the tongue, or did he unconsciously show his rejection of God hiding in his heart?

Jesus used His omniscience to embarrass the Pharisees and scribes for choosing men over Him. Imagine one intelligence, in His perfection, embarrassing a collective group of thinkers like the Pharisees! "And they come again to Jerusalem: and as He was walking in the temple, there come to Him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders, And say unto Him, 'By what authority doest Thou these things? And who gave Thee this authority to do these things?' And Jesus answered and said unto them,

'I will also ask of you one question, and answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer Me.' And they reasoned with themselves, saying, 'If we shall say, "From heaven"; He will say, "Why then did ye not believe Him?" But if we shall say, "Of men"; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed. And they answered and said unto Jesus, "We cannot tell." And Jesus answering saith unto them, 'Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things." (Mark 11:27 - 33)

"And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve Him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek Him, He will be found of thee; but if thou forsake Him, He will cast thee off for ever." (1 Chron. 28:9) Pretty straightforward from David to his son, wouldn't you say? Now if one should want to serve Him with a perfect heart, that person will not even put themself first, would they? After all, if they did all with a perfect heart, they wouldn't even put themselves first! Sadly, we know that Solomon forgot this sage advice in the end, and followed his wives to their gods!

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He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me." (Matt. 10:37 - 38) Wouldn't you say this could be quite a challenge for someone to decide if they are going to please man or God? What a test to have to choose between pleasing Jesus or pleasing your parents or children? Your spouse? To choose between being put to death and pleasing God? And remember the passage from 1 Chron., God knows the heart, which way it will choose!

I thought this next piece of Scripture was good for an example of a person pleasing himself for glory due to God, that he denied Him; to his own death! "And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, 'It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.' And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost." (Acts 12:21 - 23)

So here we have quite a study. It keeps us thinking, if we want to please men or God, up to and including self! We must discern the manner in which we serve others, because while there is a servitude of men that please God, yet there is also a servitude that doesn't and even brings Him to wrath, in the case of Herod's! If we serve mankind's needs in the manner of being our brother's (or sister's) keeper, then we please God; but if we serve in the manner that is a choice between pleasing God or mankind, then by what is written here, let us always choose to serve God, and not the vanity of any man, including our own selves!

Shades Of Faith

SHADES OF FAITH

While some may say there are fixed degrees of faith, such as no faith, little faith, and great faith, I would say it comes in varying degrees. I might take a pencil and, depending on the sharpness of the point and the hardness of the lead, I could make varying degrees of marks on paper. Well, I feel each person has a shade of faith at different times in their lives. One day we wake up, and we might feel strong in the faith; another day one may wake up, and it isn't the way it was before. A good example would be when you had your eyes opened to a saving knowledge of grace. Before that, you had a small, if anything at all, degree of faith in God, because you rejected Him. Then you came to believe, and look at the degree of faith you have now! Shall we find some degrees of faith in the Bible?

Let's start with Gideon. Here was a man who, when told he would save Israel from the Midianites, expressed not faith, but doubt, in that he did not see how a poor Manassite, and least in his family to boot, could possibly save Israel. This was an expression of no faith. As a matter of fact, his faith was so puny, He tested God in this manner: "And Gideon said unto God, 'If Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said, Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said.' And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. And Gideon said unto God, 'Let not Thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray Thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.' And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground." (Judges 6:36 - 40) No faith and all guts, to ask God to prove Himself more than once, don't you think? But you know, there is a song about how I've proved Him o'er and o'er, and many build their faith by observation, while others build it by simply hearing/reading the Bible and accepting it.

"And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And He called unto Him His disciples, and saith unto them, 'Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.'" (Mark 12:41 - 44) Consider that Jesus also meant for His disciples to discern that this woman not only cast in all she had, but in doing so, she exhibited great faith that God would supply her need thereafter. It would seem that the more money people have, the less faith in God, because as He pointed out, the rich cast in out of their abundance, that is, there extra money, while upon her cast, she had absolute poverty. No money, but much faith!

Let's look now at a man with faith so great, he is the only person in all the gospels, that it is written of him that Jesus marvelled. "And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto Him a centurion, beseeching Him, and saying, 'Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.' And Jesus saith unto him, 'I will come and heal him.' The centurion answered and said, 'Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, 'Go', and he goeth; and to another, 'Come', and he cometh; and to my servant, 'Do this', and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, He marvelled, and said to them that followed, 'Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.'" (Matt. 8:5 - 10) I marvelled myself when I first read this, because this man was not a Jew, but a Roman!

Now if Jesus were here to tell you that you have no faith, well, since God cannot lie, you would have to be ashamed of having no faith, because God is omniscient! Here is a case wherein Jesus says it of His own followers! "And when they had sent away the multitude, they took Him even as He was in the ship. And there were also with Him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And He was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake Him, and say unto him, 'Master, carest Thou not that we perish? And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, 'Peace, be still.' And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And He said unto them, 'Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?' And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?" (Mark 4:36 - 41) They really needed it to sink into their minds that they had God with them, Emmanuel, and how could they fathom that God would let it be said that His own perished in His presence? So for this reason Jesus told them, "How is it that ye have no faith?"

Let us look at Jesus' exhortation not to worry about the worldly possessions that you need, His speech persuades us to trust in the Father! "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or, 'What shall we drink?' or, 'Wherewithal shall we be clothed?' (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matt. 6:25 - 33)

Too long for printing here, if you go to Exod. 4:1 - 17, you will find a number of objections from Moses about being sent to straighten out Pharaoh. When first God made Himself known to Moses, Moses doubted! He made these objections; "Oh, they won't believe me!" "Oh, I'm a poor speaker!" These things I write are only in essence of what he actually said, but Moses, too, did not initially have faith, but look through the rest of his life, and he became God's friend and servant, a man of faith so great, he put a tenfold whopping on Pharaoh, 10 plagues strong, and Pharaoh not only cried "uncle!", but at the Red Sea God used Moses to totally defeated the Egyptian army because of the power of God, and all through his lifetime, Moses' faith was very great, save the bringing forth of water of Meribah in the desert of Zin.  In Exodus God spoke to Moses; "And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee My power; and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth." (Exod. 9:16)

So here we have varying shades of faith, some people demonstrating great faith, all the way down to those whom Jesus declared had no faith. So how's your faith these days? I pray God abundantly bless you with great faith, for without faith, it is impossible to please God! (Heb. 11:6)

What About This "Trinity"?

I have been friends with a fellow in Canada for some time now, and I was disappointed to find out he did not believe in the Trinity the way I do. I have been reading my Bible so much, even if I have only three minutes, I read it. I can't imagine someone not holding the Trinity concept the same as I do without them not being saved, so I will pray for him, but perchance someone else out there has the same theology, and I can present a Bible study about the Trinity to convince them from Scripture that there are three persons in one God; three personnas, if you will...

I would like to start with the Holy Spirit, because this part of our God seems the most mysterious for most Christians. To present His omniscience, counsel, wisdom, omnipotence, and wisdom, let me take you to this one spot in the Old Testament: "And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;" (Isa. 11:2) Are these not all qualities of God as we know Him from the Bible?
As my friend astutely put it, the Father is the dominant personna of God. What makes me conclude this? Take what Jesus said in the garden; "He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, 'O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done.'" (Matt. 26:42) Let's look at this; Jesus was not in an anxious hurry to be nailed to the cross, as you can read His words, but He knew the plan of the Father, He knew the will of the Father, and although He was and still is God, yet He subjected Himself to the will of He who sent Him. Now this leads to an attack on Jesus' deity, because His submission to the Father in the text may seem to the undiscerning that Jesus is less than deity. Here is one place where Jesus stood firm under fire concerning who He was; "But Jesus held His peace. And the high priest answered and said unto Him, 'I adjure thee by the living God, that Thou tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God.' Jesus saith unto him, 'Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.'" (Matt. 26:63 - 64) Plainly He was painting Himself as our deity, our Savior, and our God; and there are more verses to this effect. "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." (Matt. 28:20) Here Christ is affirming that He is onmipresent, something only God can be. Scrutinize John 1:1 - 14, 18;John's first verse declares Jesus to be with God and God at the same time, doesn't it? It also declares Him to be the pre-existent Christ, does it not?
There are times when Christ's deity is attacked, and it is said by those who don't believe in Him, but we believe Christ to be the bodily representation of God; for it is written, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.  For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." (Col. 2:8 - 9)

"There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." (Eph. 4:4 - 6) This is a piece of Scripture that identifies the unity of God; Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! Here the Spirit is identified, Jesus is identified in the Lord and one faith (because believing in Jesus is paramount to salvation (John 3:16)), and one Father is of course, the Father in the Trinity. Note the three relationships between the Father and all mankind, the Lord Jesus Christ, and all believers. I also have some Old Testament text to prove God is not just one He, but an Us and Our! "And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." (Gen. 1:26) Here is proof of the Trinity from the very beginning of Scripture, the first book of the Bible! A blind man could read it in braille and believe in the Trinity from this and all the rest I've presented!

While this selection of Scripture shows God's triune unity, there is another piece of text that also shows their distinct separateness! "And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'" (Matt. 3:16 - 17) This is the only place in all the Bible wherein the three are represented apart from each other. Jesus in a human form, the Holy Ghost as a dove, and the Father as a voice!
Jesus also said some things that go along with the God = egg analogy; you know, ther is one egg, but it has three parts; the shell, the albumin (white), and the yolk. Or how about God is like a book; the book is contained within one binding, but it has three chapters in one book. Finally, there are three persons in one God; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Let's look at some more unifying statements. "I and My Father are one." (John 10:30) "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." (John 1:18) "Jesus saith unto him, 'Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, "Shew us the Father?" Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works' sake.'" (John 14:9 - 11) Clearly Jesus is saying much to make Him intimately united with the Father. Is it any wonder why I think there should be no doubt that Jesus is one of the three speaking in Genesis saying, "Let Us make man in Our image..."?

Finally, I want to offer one more proof of Jesus' deity. "And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." (Rev. 20:11 - 15) Jesus is He who sits on the great white throne. If He has the power to throw you in the lake of fire (and He does!), then that makes Him God enough for me!
Our God is a complex God, three personnas in one; It is simple to say God is love, and He is, but it is more complex to say He is our all in all, and even moreso to say He is the Triune God, because not everyone can grasp or find the credulity in the concept!

Pearls Before Swine

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." (Matt. 7:6) In this passage of Scripture, Jesus was instructing the disciples to discern moral distinctions and not allow those who reject the invitation of Christ to treat precious things as junk. He used the animals dogs and swine (which are pigs), because both animals were despised by the Jews. He used these animals as representations of unholy people. We give the good news to people who are not believers in hope that God will give them open eyes and accept Christ's invitation, but the acceptance rate is never 100%, by any means!
Some "Christians" are just hogsfat on the hoof, and the real Christians can't tell immediately. The false Christians may even be convinced they are real Christians, and they don't know, either! We talk about all the things that are precious in the bible, and they may go along with us, but they haven't accepted His invitation. So we may share the promises of God with them, and not realize they are not one of us who have accepted His invitation!
Who else are "swine" and "dogs"? "He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot. Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee." (Prov. 9:7 - 8) Unbelief knows no denomination, nor is restricted to certain religions. Many muslims will scorn, but not all. Buddhists may scorn, but not all. It's an attitude; a state of mind. A wickedness and hatefulness that is closeminded, and will not receive correction, but rather will turn on the wise and their wisdom with insult and their own rebuke toward they who show the "pearls"!
You may wonder how scorners and the wicked got the way they are, and the answer is that they started out that way! "A wise son heareth his father's instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke." (Prov. 13:1) Children who have not been raised right will grow up rebellious, wise in their own eyes, because they have been neglected in discipline by the parent(s). Bad parenting rears bad children. We are to spank the sheol out of them! "Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell." (Prov. 23:13 - 14) Foolishness needs to be driven out of a child when they are young! "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him." (Prov. 22:15) Good parenting rears godly children - "Therefore shall ye lay up these My words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." (Deut. 11:18 - 19) Here is the failure of many a parent; that they did not raise their child or children in the word of the Lord, in the holy Bible, and thereby did they raise their children to be dogs and swine as adults, because they ignored this command to teach their children the righteousness contained in God's word!
"Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words." (Prov. 23:9) You can even speak secular wisdom in the ears of a fool, and they will not heed it. I remember a woman younger than me fitting this. She would always ask me advice, presenting two paths for her to travel to reach her goal. i would give her that there is a path, sometimes one she would present, sometimes one she hadn't considered, that would cause her to reach the desired end, and don't you know she would thank me and never take my advice? And she always wondered later why she was in the messes she was in! For a time I was patient with her, and finally I one day asked her, "Why do you so often come to me for advice, when you always later fail to take it? My breath has been so much wasted on unheeded advice, you are like smoking a cigarette; the inhale is a waste of energy." This is the same case for fools, because they may hear whatever biblical wisdom you may speak, but they just let it go in one ear and out the other, and they prove to be seeds eaten up by birds as soon as you let go of them for planting. "And He spake many things unto them in parables, saying, 'Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them.'" (Matt. 13:3 - 4)
Fools and scorners are the opposite of sheep (clean, godly people). Now sheep are characterized by the words of David when he wrote, "Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities." (Psa. 141:5) What David is saying here is that advice from the righteous is welcome, because it profitable reproof. The pearls of the righeous keep us from paths that lead to evil. Wickedness can be subtle, a slow slippery slide away from God. The wicked are already enjoying being away from God. They like it there, and there from comes the scorn and disdain of Godly wisdom!
"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." (Gal. 6:1) This brings up a point; we need cast our pearls generously before our family in Christ. True family will always accept reproof when it is due, especially when edified with Scripture. All Scripture is for correction, as it is written, but how we present it is another matter. For the wicked, the backslidden, the stiffnecked, and the wandering family membe, each requires a different attitude of application of Scripture. We must discern whether to deal rightly using outright rebuke or using lovingkindness, or tempered rebuke, case by case. Family requires employing private lovingkindness when casting the pearls of correction in a fault, while the openly wicked may require straightforward rebuke. Those known to be wicked may be in a God given situation wherein they are overcome with contriteness, and they are beaten, broken, and these are ripe for pearls that lead to salvation!
So we need to discern dogs and swine, and treat our children as the gifts from God that they are, give them a godly upbringing, and not spoil them in their enjoyment of rebellion and foolishness, but rather drive it out of them with the rod of instruction properly applied as needed. There is a time when dogs and swine are ready to transform, and at that moment, they are ready for the holy pearls to be cast before them, that they might accept salvation because their eyes have been opened!