Is The Word Becoming Flesh? (3)

 

“Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law strive with them.” Proverbs 28:4.

 

Resistance to evil must begin within our own souls by obeying the Word of God. We must say “no” to the temptation to pick and choose what we will obey in Christ, and what sin and rebellion we will endorse and adopt. We ought not to be so foolish as to think that we can live autonomous lives, we will either serve God or the idols of this age.

“He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but he who is a companion of gluttons humiliates his father.” Proverbs 28:7. If we are the sons and daughters of our heavenly Father, then we will keep His Word – His Word will live within us, He will be incarnate in us – both individually and collectively. We will be faithful stewards and guardians of His Word and our Father will rejoice in our obedience – faithful sons and daughters will not humiliate their Father, we will not bring disgrace on Him and our Lord Jesus.

 

“The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God  has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked” (1 John 2:4 – 5). Let’s remember that an element of the Great Commission is “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Mt. 28:20a). Let us also remember that “His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3b).

 

We live in a gluttonous society. We are gluttons for food and drink, gluttons for possessions, gluttons for money, gluttons for sex, gluttons for power, gluttons for fame, gluttons for pride and ego – we consume all around us, including people, including creation, including our own souls. Where have our souls gone? We have consumed them.

 

Jesus asked, “What shall it profit a man [or a woman or a young person] if he gains the entire world but loses his soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

 

What is my answer to that? What is our answer? What is your answer? How do our lives reflect our answer? How do they validate our answer…or give the lie to our words?

 

“He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination” (Proverbs 28:9). Do we gloss over passages like this one? Do we believe that if we live in disobedience that God will hear us? Can we even conceive that God would consider a prayer an “abomination”? When we judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their actions, when we think ourselves righteous according to our own measurement, while we attempt to force the Word of God into our own image and likeness – when our mindset is that God is a super – therapist, can we take such a passage seriously?

 

Dear, dear friends; the headwater of lawlessness is Satan. The trajectory of lawlessness is the personification of Satan in the antichrist, the “man of lawlessness” (2 Thess. 2:3), and in the peoples of this age – including in the United Sates. Do we seriously think that we can justify lawlessness? Do we honestly think that the ends justify the means? Have we made idols of pragmatism, self – preservation, and social and political power? Is religious success more important that fidelity to Jesus Christ? Do we measure our congregations by obedience to Jesus Christ or by numbers in the pews and offering amounts?

 

If you choose obedience to Jesus Christ, you will probably not have much company. You will not have it in liberal circles, nor will you have it in moderate circles, nor will you have it in conservative circles – whether these circles be political, social, academic, or religious. When Jesus said “the gate is small and the way is narrow” He meant what He said. For the disciple of Jesus Christ, there is no home in this age, there is no identity other than Jesus Christ that we can trust, rest in, or advocate. Jesus was clear, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Why can we not understand that?

 

Are we keeping the Word of God (Proverbs 28:4) and thereby striving with the wicked?

 

Are we keeping the Law of God (Proverbs 28:7), living as discerning sons and daughters; or are our lives disgracing Jesus Christ and the Gospel? (Matthew 5:43 – 48).

 

Are we listening to the Law of God, are we obeying the Word of God, or are our prayers abominations; do we expect God to endorse our rejection of His Word, of His Law, and bless us? (Proverbs 28:9).

 

How do our lives answer these questions? What is the reality? If we were on trial, what would the evidence be? For me? For you? For our congregations? For the professing church in our country?