| By Rev. Mark E. Vatcher |
“Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own
hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living
God. You must warn each other every day, as long as it is called
“today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened
against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly
as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.”
(Hebrews 3:12-14)
We Christians are to hold on to our faith until the end of our life.
Unbelief is a stubborn refusal to trust in the Lords true word. Look at
Pharaoh in the time of Moses. Pharaoh refused to obey the Lord and
hardened his heart. God used Pharaoh’s sin to demonstrate His power
and magnify His name to all the world. God only gave Pharaoh over to
what Pharaoh had already chosen to do. (Romans 9:18) “Therefore God
has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and hardens whom He
wants to harden”.
Look at the Pharisees in the time of Jesus. They loved praise from men
rather than praise from God. Jesus spoke of the Pharisees whom
believed in Him but refused to admit it. Can you imagine seeing with
your own eyes the miraculous works of Jesus but then denying it over
fear of the reprisals from the other Pharisees. These verses in John are
a great example of how our own Pride can cause our heart to reject
even miracles; (John 12:37-43) “Even after Jesus had done all these
miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.
This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:
"Lord, who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"
For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says
elsewhere: He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so
they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts,
nor turn—and I would heal them. "Isaiah said this because he saw
Jesus' glory and spoke about him. Yet at the same time many even
among the leaders believed in him. The Pharisees would not confess
their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they
loved praise from men more than praise from God.”
It should not surprise us when we see the same thing happening each
day around us. Yes we as Christians have similar problems to those of
the Pharisees. We believe in our Lord, but the difficulties and fear of
persecution, of our faith, stops us from having the boldness to share
with others. There are not many Christian’s that stand up to the
unbelievers, blasphemers, idolaters, etc., of this world. Most remain
quite and ignore the constant attacks on our Lord, and the ones that
find the courage to defend their faith, do it with pride, arrogance and a
hard heart, they do not share the love of Christ with humility and
gentleness. We are to be examples of His love and patience, not of this
world but set apart, showing others all the characteristics of His nature
through our attitudes, actions, and words.
We are a minority in the world today. The Gospel can reach every
corner of the earth but has been excepted by only a few chosen people.
Most of the worlds people reject Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and
savior. Why is that do you wonder? Well God has chosen those whom
he knew wouldn’t reject Him and His word. Remember the words in
(Matthew 7:13) “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate
and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter
through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life,
and only a few find it.” The hardness of their heart and the pride of life
stops them from surrendering and submitting to the Lord.
Those whom deny Jesus are just like the Pharaoh and the Pharisees
whom harden their hearts and deny the word of God. (John 12:40) “He
has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither
see with eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn - and I
(Jesus) would heal them.” They don’t want to be healed or they would
turn to Jesus whom would give them the Grace He gave to you and I.
This gift is for all. He wishes that none should parish but all come to
the saving knowledge of Him. We are to be the ones that share this
amazing gift to the world around us, by allowing others to see what
Christ has done in us and through us.
I can only pray that their hearts and minds are healed from the sin of
this world and blessed by the saving grace of our Lord Jesus. I pray
they heed the calling from the Lord and become partakers in His
redemptive blood.
Please pray with me now a beautiful prayer by Thomas Aquinas (1225–
1274) for both us believers and those whom are lost.
hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living
God. You must warn each other every day, as long as it is called
“today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened
against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly
as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.”
(Hebrews 3:12-14)
We Christians are to hold on to our faith until the end of our life.
Unbelief is a stubborn refusal to trust in the Lords true word. Look at
Pharaoh in the time of Moses. Pharaoh refused to obey the Lord and
hardened his heart. God used Pharaoh’s sin to demonstrate His power
and magnify His name to all the world. God only gave Pharaoh over to
what Pharaoh had already chosen to do. (Romans 9:18) “Therefore God
has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and hardens whom He
wants to harden”.
Look at the Pharisees in the time of Jesus. They loved praise from men
rather than praise from God. Jesus spoke of the Pharisees whom
believed in Him but refused to admit it. Can you imagine seeing with
your own eyes the miraculous works of Jesus but then denying it over
fear of the reprisals from the other Pharisees. These verses in John are
a great example of how our own Pride can cause our heart to reject
even miracles; (John 12:37-43) “Even after Jesus had done all these
miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.
This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:
"Lord, who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"
For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says
elsewhere: He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so
they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts,
nor turn—and I would heal them. "Isaiah said this because he saw
Jesus' glory and spoke about him. Yet at the same time many even
among the leaders believed in him. The Pharisees would not confess
their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they
loved praise from men more than praise from God.”
It should not surprise us when we see the same thing happening each
day around us. Yes we as Christians have similar problems to those of
the Pharisees. We believe in our Lord, but the difficulties and fear of
persecution, of our faith, stops us from having the boldness to share
with others. There are not many Christian’s that stand up to the
unbelievers, blasphemers, idolaters, etc., of this world. Most remain
quite and ignore the constant attacks on our Lord, and the ones that
find the courage to defend their faith, do it with pride, arrogance and a
hard heart, they do not share the love of Christ with humility and
gentleness. We are to be examples of His love and patience, not of this
world but set apart, showing others all the characteristics of His nature
through our attitudes, actions, and words.
We are a minority in the world today. The Gospel can reach every
corner of the earth but has been excepted by only a few chosen people.
Most of the worlds people reject Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and
savior. Why is that do you wonder? Well God has chosen those whom
he knew wouldn’t reject Him and His word. Remember the words in
(Matthew 7:13) “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate
and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter
through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life,
and only a few find it.” The hardness of their heart and the pride of life
stops them from surrendering and submitting to the Lord.
Those whom deny Jesus are just like the Pharaoh and the Pharisees
whom harden their hearts and deny the word of God. (John 12:40) “He
has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither
see with eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn - and I
(Jesus) would heal them.” They don’t want to be healed or they would
turn to Jesus whom would give them the Grace He gave to you and I.
This gift is for all. He wishes that none should parish but all come to
the saving knowledge of Him. We are to be the ones that share this
amazing gift to the world around us, by allowing others to see what
Christ has done in us and through us.
I can only pray that their hearts and minds are healed from the sin of
this world and blessed by the saving grace of our Lord Jesus. I pray
they heed the calling from the Lord and become partakers in His
redemptive blood.
Please pray with me now a beautiful prayer by Thomas Aquinas (1225–
1274) for both us believers and those whom are lost.
| The Lords Church.org Ministries Website All Rights Reserved 2005-2008 |
|