April 6
Deut 29:1-30:20 | PS 78:1-31 | Prov 12:19-20 | Luke 11:37-12:7
Many stand upon two very important verses: John 3:16, "For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.", and Romans 10:9, "If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Both represent beautiful promises of God. God did it all, we simply need to step out in faith and believe. But like many other words, such as "love", which can be used for our love of Oreo cookies as well as our love for our spouse and our love of God, the word "believe" has often been misrepresented. For many, they like to mention that time when they had that first emotional encounter with God, perhaps at an outreach, or over the radio, and emotionally recited a prayer. This is a great first step, in that perhaps for the first time you acknowledged in your mind that God exists, that Jesus was so much more than a mascot for the church, but the question must be asked, "Did you place your trust in Him". Please ponder this verse in James 2:19, " You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror." In fact, every encounter in the gospel accounts when Jesus confronted a demon possessed individual, there was no doubt that demons believed that Jesus was who He was. Their problem is they failed to trust God. To believe has two components, there must be intellectual assent, but there must also be trust. I have used this illustration before, one can intellectually believe that a chair is a chair, but trust does not come until one is willing to place their full weight in that chair. Have you? Have you placed your trust, both your day-to-day life along with your salvation upon the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. If so, there should be something showing. Works do not save an individual, we have been saved by grace, through faith. It has been said, "It is not faith and works that saves, it is faith that works."
With that in mind, read Deuteronomy 29:19-20, "Those who hear the warnings of this curse should not congratulate themselves, thinking, ‘I am safe, even though I am following the desires of my own stubborn heart.’ This would lead to utter ruin! The Lord will never pardon such people. Instead his anger and jealousy will burn against them. All the curses written in this book will come down on them, and the Lord will erase their names from under heaven." These individuals personally witnessed God's sovereign hand in the miracles, in the provisions, in the clothes that never wore out, etc. So, there was no question that they intellectually believed that God indeed existed. The problem was that many chose not to trust in Him, and notice what it said, "the Lord will erase their names from under heaven." Asaph warned in Psalm 78:7-8, "So each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying His commands. Then they will not be like their ancestors - stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful, refusing to give their hearts to God." Realize, "refusing to give their hearts to God" means they failed to trust Him. This has nothing to do with one losing salvation, it has everything to do with whether or not they placed their trust in Him in the first place.
Anne Graham Lotz said, "God designed and created you because He loves you...But you drifted in the currents of sin and were swept from Him into the world. He worked for years, making the necessary arrangements to buy you back. Finally everything was ready. The purchase price He counted out was not nickels and dimes and quarters, it was the blood of His own dear Son. As He strode victoriously out of the tomb on Easter morning, you could almost feel Him hugging you to Himself, whispering triumphantly, "You're twice mine! I made you at Creation; now I've bought you at Calvary!" With this in mind, don't you think Jesus' sacrifice deserves more than a mental assent to the facts. He became Man in order to save humanity. This is something we should have no difficulty placing our full trust behind. If you struggle, please ask yourself, when you one day stand before God in judgment what is it exactly that you will be placing your trust in?
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: