These are my notes from this weekend.
I Corinthians 6:19-20 God does not dwell in a building, He does not live at church. His presence used to dwell in Moses' tabernacle and later Solomon's temple. All that has changed now. Since Christ died and rose again, God's Spirit lives on the inside of us. If you are saved, you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, your life is not your own, you were bought with a price.
This is a slavery term. Back in Paul's day slavery was very, very common. The Romans would conquer a land, such as Germany or England, for instance, and make some of the people slaves.
But God is a good master, that is where this differs from the slavery of the day.
I Corinthians 12:18 He is a good master and gives us a specific job to do in the Body of Christ.
I Corinthians 12:28-30 God gives the gifts and He leads.
James 4:13-15 It is not up to us to plan our lives.
Some think that as long as we're doing something good that God is pleased. But that is not so. We are to submit to His direction and be obedient.
People have this idea that everything God hands out is castor oil. It's not going to be easy, it's going to be something that we won't like doing, etc. But that is not so. There are times that are uncomfortable, when we are corrected, but our purpose and job will draw on our skills and strengths that He has given us. When we are fulfilling the purpose that He has set out for us that is when we will truly feel peace, joy, contentment, and fulfillment. We can never attain this planning our own life, career, and path.
Being submissive, willing, and obedient is called having fear of the Lord. This is not a terror kind of fear. This is an awe and reverence. When we are not obeying Him, we are essentially saying, "God, I don't trust you to take care of me, I don't fully believe you have my best interest at heart."
Acts 2:41-43 The church is born on Pentecost. 3,000 people are saved. This passage notes that they have a fear of the Lord. Does that mean they were afraid of Him? No. They want to only do whatever He asks of them, they fully respect Him. Everyone wanted to live right and please God.
Acts 5:1-11 Story of Ananias and Sapphira. Collectively, the church at Jerusalem felt that they should sell possessions and bring the proceeds to the church. This was not something that was required of them. Ananias and Sapphira wanted to keep part of their proceeds. That was certainly okay, but they chose to lie about it. They indicated that they were giving all the profits. Ananias then dropped dead. They carried him out and buried him. His wife comes in a few hours later and corroborates the lie. She, too, drops dead and is buried. This brought fear on the church. Again, this is not torment, but a healthy fear and respect for the Lord. He means what He says and says what He means. Just because we don't see a consequence immediately for our actions doesn't mean it doesn't come. There is a day when we will all give an account.
I John 4:18 Perfect love casts out fear. Why would Proverbs say that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, when John here says that God's perfect love casts out fear? These are two different fears. As I said earlier, fear of the Lord is awe, reverence, respect, submission to His will, willingness to obey. The fear that perfect love casts out is torment. It is when you fully realize God's unconditional love for you that all your fears are cast out. You will have no more reason to fear, because you know that God will take care of you, no matter what.
I John 3:18-21 It is when you are obeying God's direction and His Word that you will have full assurance and confidence in God. You will have no more of the "terror" or "worry" fear, but instead have the proper fear and respect.
Verse 20 - It is when we are not obeying His will and His Word that our heart condemns us. We feel guilt. We have the wrong fear, fear that God doesn't love us. [Side note: Romans 8:1 says that there is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. This means that you have been justified by the blood of Christ, your debt has been paid, your sentence erased. It is finished (John 19:30), it's a done deal. Your sin has been judged. You are no longer condemned (think of as a criminal). We should not go around condemning ourselves. You cannot live your life in regret and guilt and condemnation, beating yourself over the head. Know that God loved you while you were a sinner, He still loves you as a Christian that misses the mark sometimes. If you don't have a full revelation of God's unconditional love, please study that out. Andrew Wommack Ministries has some wonderful material in this area.]
Know this, God does not look at us by our intentions. It is the action that counts. We cannot stand before Christ and say we intended to do such and such. Real love can be seen, not just heard. So if we say we love God, we had better be doing things for Him. James 1:22
These deeds mentioned in I John 3 are not necessarily going out witnessing door-to-door, going out on the mission field, getting up in front of crowds. I imagine as some of you are reading this, you feel some "fear" that God will call you to something you don't want to do.
I know, because I used to feel that same feeling, every time a message like this was preached in church. Why? Because I wasn't doing anything. I was feeling that guilt mentioned in I John 3. My heart was condemning me. I was not condemned as a sinner, my sins have been paid for, but I was beating myself over the head for not serving in any area, not in my church, not outside of church, not anywhere.
I would rationalize and justify myself in my own mind by saying that I know that we are not saved by works. There are many clear scriptures on that point. And I would leave it at that.
I was right, we are NOT saved by works, that is a gift of God, in His grace. (See Eph. 2:8) But back then, I had done so little study of the Bible on my own (okay, really none), I didn't know much about the judgment seat of Christ. We will all stand before Christ one day and give an account of our works. See I Corinthians 3:9-15 and also II Corinthians 5:10. This judgment is only for Christians. There is another judgment for sinners, that is the Great White Throne, mentioned in Revelation 20. We will not be there, our sin has already been judged (as I mentioned above), Christ paid for it with His blood. But what we have done with our lives, since being saved, that will go through fire. Our works that amount to wood, hay and stubble, will be burned up. The works that amount to gold, silver, and precious stones, those last through fire. Those will be rewarded.
There will be regrets that day, when we stand in front of Christ and give an account. That is why I believe there are tears mentioned in Revelation in reference to heaven. But there will also be joy, when the work that we did here on earth for Him, is rewarded. That is exciting to me. Like I mentioned, in the past, that idea scared me, thinking about standing to give an account. That was because I wasn't doing anything! I know there will be things I have done that will be burned up. I cannot change the past. But I can move forward and stop wasting time.
This really hit me one day, in church, listening to a visiting minister. He asked for a show of hands of who was saved. Of course, most hands went up. Then he asked who was in full time ministry. Not too many hands this time. He says, "wait a minute, how many of you are saved?" His point, you're saved---what are you doing with it. This was a wake-up call for me. You mean, I'm supposed to be doing something?!? This seed has grown and grown in me and I want to tell others.
You might be called to be a wife, a husband, a parent, a friend. It doesn't mean we are all called to be pastors, evangelists, or missionaries. Start with the basics. Read your Bible and see what sticks out to you. It could be that you just need to be friendly to that cashier that is rude. Perhaps she has had an awful day and needs to know that God cares. We all have a circle of influence, not just those that get up on a stage. It should sober us to realize that our lives affect lives around us. It could be that we need to live holier lives than we do. It could be that we need to clean some thins up. When our coworkers know we are Christians, but then they see us getting angry, cussing, and such, as they do, it destroys our witness.
Examine yourself, ask God what He wants you to do. (I Corinthians 11:28--self examination is not the same as self condemnation. We do not need to condemn ourselves.)
If you would like to watch the service that prompted these notes, click here. The service should be available by Monday or Tuesday.
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