Good Morning, my friends. I am sorry it has been a few days since my last post. We have looked at a lot of information over the last few weeks. For me, it has been really good. I am so thankful for the Holy Spirit and His revelations. Today, I want to take a look at a set of scripturesthat we touched on briefly, but there is one statement I wanted to explore:
2 Corinthians 6:16-18 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM. I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE." (17) Therefore "COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM AND BE SEPARATE, SAYS THE LORD. DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN, AND I WILL RECEIVE YOU." (18) "I WILL BE A FATHER TO YOU, AND YOU SHALL BE MY SONS AND DAUGHTERS, SAYS THE LORD ALMIGHTY."
The italics above are mine just to highlight what I want to explore. This is another part of the Building the City on a Hill series. God said for us to come out and be separate. Paul said to not be conformed to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. (Romans 12:2). We are the temple of the living God and His Holy Spirit, so He said, THEREFORE come out and be separate; do not touch what is unclean AND He will receive us. What exactly does it mean for God to receive us? Jesus said,
John 14:6-7 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (7) "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."
2 Corinthians 6:16-18 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM. I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE." (17) Therefore "COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM AND BE SEPARATE, SAYS THE LORD. DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN, AND I WILL RECEIVE YOU." (18) "I WILL BE A FATHER TO YOU, AND YOU SHALL BE MY SONS AND DAUGHTERS, SAYS THE LORD ALMIGHTY."
The italics above are mine just to highlight what I want to explore. This is another part of the Building the City on a Hill series. God said for us to come out and be separate. Paul said to not be conformed to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. (Romans 12:2). We are the temple of the living God and His Holy Spirit, so He said, THEREFORE come out and be separate; do not touch what is unclean AND He will receive us. What exactly does it mean for God to receive us? Jesus said,
John 14:6-7 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (7) "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."
Jesus is the doorway to the Father. No one comes to the Father that has not first been through Jesus (accepted Him, received Him, and believed on His name - we will come back to that). This is where it got a little more interesting for me. Look at Matthew:
Matthew 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. (22) Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' (23) And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
Jesus says here that not everyone will enter the kindgom of Heaven, but the one who does the will of His Father. Even those that have done great works, such as prophesying, casting out demons and other wonders and miracles in Jesus' name could not see the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus says He will say to them at that time to depart for He did not know them. SO, even if we are doing things in His name, but not the will of the Father, we risk not seeing the Kingdom of Heaven. If I can be real here for a minute...This is a scary - and confusing thought - is it not? It is for me. So, I kept searching the scriptures for something that would let me know what this means. There are those that do all these great works in the name of Jesus that will not be recognized by Him and won't see the Kingdom of Heaven. They are considered lawless. They were not recognized by Jesus because they were not doing the will of the Father even though they were doing all these great works. Look at the following scriptures:
Romans 2:13 (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified;
James 1:22-23 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. (23) For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
It would appear to me the key is doing the word, not only listening to the word. Listeners may deceive themselves. v. 24 in James 1 goes on to say that a man that is a listener only turns away from the mirror and immediately forgets what kind of man he is. So, what does that mean? I think it is simple. Much like most things in our lives, doing the word - acts of kindness, compassion, love, empathy - are not natural acts to us. It takes practice. Remember, we are to put off and put on behaviors. We have to be careful, though.
Psalms 5:5 The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity.
We do not, we cannot, do anything of our own strength. We have to have the strength of Christ within us that allows us to accomplish all things. The danger point comes when we begin to believe that we have accomplished what we have of our own accord. We then become prideful and boastful with a "look what I have done" attitude and outlook. We forget that apart from Jesus, we can do nothing. Boastful and prideful people will not stand before Him.
all of this so far, what is the Will of the Father? What do we do so that when we stand before Him we hear "well done My good and faithful servant"?
Read Matthew 25:34-39. Let's pick up here in v. 40.
Matthew 25:40-45 And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' (41) "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: (42) for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; (43) I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' (44) "Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' (45) Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'
We are to feed the hungry and thirsty. We should visit those in their prisons. We should ensure those that have no clothes have clothes. We are to take in those that have need. Doing so means that we have also done the same to Jesus. But if we don't, then we have not done it to Jesus..we have not ministered to Him. It all comes down to the word "ministry" I posted about last week. Are you ministering to the poor and needy? In other words are you serving and meeting the needs of those around you? Are you serving Christ through your "pure and undefiled religion?"
James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
James 4:17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
Not doing is equal to sinning. I'm not saying that. The word of God says that in James. We cannot sit on the sidelines and wait for someone else to do the will of the Father. There is more at stake by being a hearer of the word only and not a doer of the word. We are not saved by our works. We are saved by grace through faith, but to whom much is given, much is expected (Luke 12:47, 48). And Jesus has given us everything we have, will have; everything we are and will be. We are expected to give much because we have been given much. In fact, Luke says that much will be "required." How much of "you" are you willing to give?
Father, today I ask you show each of us how we can minister to those around us. Please direct us to those that need our help and let us not be hesitant, skeptical, or ignorant of their plight. Let us shine Your light before all men so that You may receive all glory and honor and praise. Forgive us for ignoring the needy around us and open our eyes to all who need You. In the name of Jesus, amen.
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