God forbid that I should boast
except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ… —Galatians 6:14
{CHAMBERS} “The gospel of Jesus Christ always forces a decision of
our will. Have I accepted God’s verdict on sin as judged on the Cross of
Christ? Do I have even the slightest interest in the death of Jesus? Do I want
to be identified with His death— to be completely dead to all interest in sin,
worldliness, and self? Do I long to be so closely identified with Jesus that I
am of no value for anything except Him and His purposes? The great privilege of
discipleship is that I can commit myself under the banner of His Cross, and
that means death to sin. You must get
alone with Jesus and either decide to tell Him that you do not want sin to die
out in you, or that at any cost you want to be identified with His death. […]
The proof that your old life is dead, having been “crucified with Christ”
(Galatians 2:20), is the amazing ease with which the life of God in you now
enables you to obey the voice of Jesus Christ.”
{ELGIN} How much do you want to be identified with Jesus? I mean, what are you willing to give up? Material things are not what I am talking
about. Your attachment to them is a
reflection of something deeper. They
reflect your attachment … dependence upon … something other than God for your
hope, peace and joy. If your whole heart
belongs to God (Matthew 22:37-39),
then giving up any possession becomes trivial. Christmas is upon us. The celebration of the advent of the
Messiah. At least that is what it
started out to be. But the world has
taken possession of it. Now it is a
season to satisfy the lust of our eyes, our flesh and to fill the coffers of
the businesses. Now it’s “joy to the
world, the sales have come, let’s charge our credit to the max!” We cannot serve two masters, God and the world (Matthew 6:24). God says you
cannot .. the world says “Oh yes you can!”
Which one do you believe? My purpose
is not to send you on a guilt trip two days before Christmas. But I do want you
to think about where your heart is? What
is your biggest concern today? That you
have not bought enough presents? That
someone will be unhappy? Or that Jesus
will not be forgotten in your home. In
the following verses notice that both groups asked Jesus the same
question. “When did we see you?” If you are dead to sin and the flesh and
alive toward Christ then your life will reflect that devotion. The same is true if you are alive toward sin
and the flesh and dead toward Christ. Be
careful my friend … it is so easy, especially in this culture, to choose
poorly. You won’t lose your salvation ..
but you will miss God’s purpose. That
may not mean much to you now, but it will mean everything to you in eternity.
(Matthew 25:31- 46) “When the
Son of Man [Jesus] comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit
on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he
will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep
from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to
those on his right [the sheep], ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take
your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave
me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes
and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you
came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see
you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did
we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When
did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply,
‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and
sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“Then he will say to those on
his left [the goats], ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal
fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me
nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a
stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe
me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will
answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing
clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I
tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do
for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to
eternal life.”
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