More Important

(#852, Imperial, 1960)

Read John 4:31-38.

ƒ      My meat is to do His will, vs.31-34.

Did you ever get to the place that you were so deeply satisfied with what you were doing that it made little difference whether you ate or not?  Or have you become so taken up with a talk that meal time slipped by without you noticing it?  Talking to the woman at the well was more satisfying to Christ than eating.  That's because Christ's "meat" was to do God's will.  The will of God is to finish His work.  The will of God is most important, and the doing of it is deeply satisfying.

ƒ      The need of vision, v35.

There is a great need for vision in the matter of soul-winning. 

w    We must see lost souls around us.  Our vision is so often filled with "things" that we are blind to the needs of those around us.  This blindness is a characteristic of the Church in the last days (Rev. 3:17).

w    We must see the fields.  Acts 1:8 defines the fields as Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost part of the world.  In other words we must look immediately around us as well as to the whole world and everywhere in between.

w    We must see that the fields are already white.  There is no time for procrastination, laziness, slothfulness.  The harvest is ripe.

ƒ      The reward of the harvest, v36.

The Sower and the reaper both have a part in the rejoicing.  We are responsible for these 2 things: sowing and reaping.  The result is with God.  And the reward for the work done will be eternal, both for the worker and for the one saved.

 At which end of the harvest are you?  Are you a soul to be harvested?  Or are you God's harvester?

The Abundance of Life

(Again we are sharing devotionals from my father, Bertram J. Youde.  This will carry us through the month of October.)

(#851; Imperial, 1960)

Read John 10:10

Christ had little to say about the length of a man's life.  But he had much to say about the depth and breadth of life.  Scripture speaks of the Christian's experience in the most glowing and superlative terms.

ƒ      The New Testament norm of Christian experience.

Christ came to give abundant life.  This life should be one of...

w    Extraordinary joy, 1 Peter 1:7-8, not unhappy frustration.

w    Extraordinary peace, Phil. 4:6-7, not fretfulness, anxiety.

w    Extraordinary contentment, Phil. 4:11, not griping, dissatisfaction or complaint.

w    Extraordinary faith, Matt. 17:20, not doubt ,uncertainty or skepticism.

w    Extraordinary love, Eph. 3:19, not selfishness, unforgiveness.

w    Extraordinary power, Phil. 4:13, not a life of limping along or inadequacy.

w    Extraordinary victory, Rom. 8:35-37.

ƒ      Why are we failing in our Christian experience?

The trouble lies in our superficial relation to God.  The norm of Christian experience lies in Christ...

w    Joy: John 15:11.

w    Peace: Eph. 2:14.

w    Contentment: 2 Peter 1:3.

w    Faith: Gal. 2:20.

w    Love: Rom. 5:5.

w    Power: Phil. 4:13.

w    Victory: 2 Cor. 2:14.

Christ came to give that life abundant.  Our lack lies in a superficial relation to the ONE through whom we have all things.

ƒ      The secret of the abundant life lies in a strong relation to God.

Isaiah 40:31: "They that wait upon the Lord."  Developing any relationship takes time.  So for starters we are encouraged to spend more time with God.

Wait on the Lord!

Col. 4:7-18

Colossians ends with a somewhat lengthy personal passage where Paul extends greetings to the church.  But tucked into these personal words are some valuable examples of faithfulness.  These individuals are worth our attention.

¨     Tychicus (v7-8) lived in constant change.  He was from Asia (Ac. 20:4), travelled with Paul to Jerusalem (Ac. 20:4), then to Rome (Col. 4:7), then to Colosse with letters, back to Rome during the 2nd imprisonment (2 Tim. 4:12), then to Ephesus for Timothy.  Yet he was faithful (Eph. 6:21), even when all others left Paul (2 Tim. 1:15; 4:12).  Are you a faithful bondservant in the midst of change?

¨     Onesimus (v9) faced an uncertain future.  He was the runaway slave spoken of in Philemon who became a believer in Rome and was now returning to his master.  He didn’t know how Philemon might punish him but he was faithful.

¨     Aristarchus (v10a) was Paul’s companion in danger.  He faced an angry mob at Ephesus (Acts 19:29), accompanied Paul on his voyage to Rome (Acts 27:2), and was now his fellow-prisoner.  Are you faithful to Christ in the face of possible difficulty?

¨     Mark (v10b) overcame a disappointing start in ministry.  He left Paul and Barnabas on their 1st missionary journey.  Paul would not take him the next time, yet would later say, He is helpful to me in the ministry (2 Tim. 4:11).  Have you given up serving Christ because of past failures?  Or have those failures become a springboard to faithful ministry?

¨     Justus (v11) demonstrates humility in changing his name from Jesus.  He wanted to be sure the ministry was about Christ.  Further he is identified among those who stayed with Paul when most others departed.  Does your loyalty to Christ depend on the crowd?

¨     Epaphras (v12-13) lost his freedom.  He went to see Paul in Rome and while there was imprisoned (Phlm. 23).  Yet, he was faithful (Col. 1:7).  

¨     Luke (v14a) was a doctor who apparently left the honored, if not lucrative, medical field to travel with Paul and was with him at the end (2 Tim. 4:11).  Do you need a good salary or good benefits to follow Christ faithfully?

¨     Demas (v14b) was with Paul at this time but later left Paul having loved the world (2 Tim. 4:9).  He was not faithful.  Though he served for awhile his ultimate departure demonstrated his true heart.

¨     Archippus (v17) had a heavy spiritual responsibility.  He may have been Philemon’s son (Phlm 2) and a pastor in Colossae.  His faithfulness was still up in the air so Paul encouraged him to take heed to his ministry.

          The passage contains several keys to faithfulness: prayer (v12), fellowship (v15), the word of God (v16), spiritual vigilance (v17), and the grace of God (v18).  Are these part of your normal Christian life?  Or are you setting yourself up for unfaithfulness?

Psalm 58

The Song is somewhat symmetrical.  Consider this outline.

1)    The wickedness of the wicked, v1-5.

a)     In the second person, v1-2.  Perhaps they are silent as an indication of their supposed wisdom and righteousness; but David knows the heart is wicked.

b)    In the third person, v3-5.  All men are born in sin and thus “estranged (from God) from the womb.”  Like a deaf cobra they have no self-restraint.

2)    The judgment of the wicked, v5-11

a)     Desired, sought from God, v6-8.  David asks God to judge the widked.

b)    Anticipated, expected from God, v9-11.  David has assurance because he knows God.  The time will come when the righteous, who are recipients of the violence of the wicked (v2), will rejoice in God’s righteous judgment.

Consider now the closing verse.  When God finally judges the wicked then the wicked will understand and affirm what they rejected or ignored previously.  They will realize that the righteous, whom they oppressed, are in fact rewarded.  They will recognize their accountability to God!  In other words mankind does not understand what’s really going on.  Man’s wisdom is in fact foolishness (1 Cor. 1:18-21,25; 3:18-21).  Paul referred to human wisdom as the elements of the world or the basic principles of the world (1 Cor. 2:1-5; Gal. 4:3; Col. 2:8,10).

One area where mankind completely misses the mark is in the matter of the judgment of God and the ultimate victory of the righteous.  In the latter times the nation of Israel will be God’s means of teaching men their error.  Consider …

·        Micah 4:11-12: When the nations gather against Israel they will attack with great confidence.  “But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, nor do they understand His counsel.”  In fact, the gathering of the nations against Israel will be God’s gathering of the nations to judge them.

·        Ezekiel 39:21-29: When Christ returns and the nations are judged then the nations will know what God had been doing with Israel all along (v23).  It was God who gave them into the hands of their enemies, to chasten them.  And furthermore, Israel will understand that God was doing this (v28). 

·        Isa 55:8f: Men don’t understand because God’s ways and thoughts are higher. 

Men laugh at the thought of current events being the outworking of God’s plan to exalt His Son from the throne of David.  People consider nations and dictators and armies to be the movers and shakers of history.  But David rightly understands that the time will come when men will see the truth and say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely He is God who judges in the earth.” 

May I encourage and warn you with words of Ezekiel given to Israel but appropriate for all to head: “As I live,” says the Lord God, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.  Turn, turn from your evil ways!  For why should you die, O house of Israel?”