TheLastAaron’s blog

Read Jeremiah 15:1 through 17:27

Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go! (Jeremiah 15:1).

God’s anger is evident in this proclamation, and if the story ended here, it would be sad indeed. But there is more to the story. Many people choose to end their story with the Lord before He has a chance to offer them a way of redemption. This passage ends with an invitation to keep the Lord’s Sabbath holy and renew the promise of a relationship with Him. After Israel’s wrongs, God was still faithful to give them another chance.

Never give up during the time of punishment. Always press toward the rest of the story. The “rest”—relaxation and renewal—of the Sabbath represents the “rest”—the completion and finishing—of the story. God wants to renew and restore His children. He does not want us to stay bound and captive. He wants us redeemed, strong, free, and returned to our rightful place of peace and prosperity, with Him as our King!

Challenge for Today: Look beyond the problems and trials of your life and see, with faith, the day of victory that will be the “rest” of your story!

Luke 14:16-24

 ¹⁶Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. ¹⁷At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'

 ¹⁸"But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.'

 ¹⁹"Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'

 ²⁰"Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'

 ²¹"The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'

 ²²" 'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'

 ²³"Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. ²⁴I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.' "

“Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay'" (Romans 12:19).  He is saying, “Suffer through the wrongs done to you.  Lay it down and move on.”

However, if we refuse to forgive the hurts done to us then we face the following consequences:

1.      We will become guiltier than the person who inflicted our wound.

2.      God’s mercy and grace toward us will be shut off.  Then, as things begin to go wrong in our lives, we will be blind as to why, because we are in full disobedience to God.  That is why.

3.      We allow the enemy to rob our peace.  He’ll become the victor by succeeding in giving us a permanent wound that we just can’t get past.

4.      If Satan succeeds in driving us to thoughts of revenge, he’ll be able to lead us into deadlier sins.  We may be committing transgressions far worse than those done against us.

The writer of Proverbs advises, “The discretion of a man defers his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression” (Proverbs 19:11).  In other words, we’re to do nothing until our anger has subsided.  We’re never to make a decision or follow through with any action while we are still angry.

We bring glory to God whenever we overlook hurts and forgive the sins done to us.  To do so builds character in us.  When we forgive as God forgives, he brings us into his favor and blessings.

Jesus commands us to love those who have made themselves our enemies by doing three things:

1. We are to bless them.

2. We are to do good to them.

3. We are to pray for them.

Jesus said, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

I think a good many people will be bothered by the previous post.

However, the Lords words were: `Be ye perfect.' (Matthew 5:48).

Some people seem to think this means 'Unless you are perfect, I will not help you'.  If that is the case, then our position is hopeless.  But I do not think that is what he meant.  I think He meant 'The only help I will give is help to become perfect.  You may want something less: but I will give you nothing less.'

Let me explain. When I was a child I often had toothaches, and I knew that if I went to my mother she would give me something which would deaden the pain and help me get to sleep.  But I did not go to my mother - at least, not till the pain became very bad.  It wasn’t because I doubted that she would give me the aspirin; but I knew she would also do something else.  I knew she would take me to the dentist the next morning!

I could not get what I wanted out of her without getting something more, which I did not want.  I wanted immediate relief from pain: but I could not get it without having my teeth fixed permanently.  And I knew those dentists!  I knew they started fiddling about with all sorts of other teeth which had not yet begun to ache!  They would not let sleeping dogs lie…

Now, if I may put it this way - the Lord is like those dentists!  Dozens of people go to Him to be cured of some particular sin which is embarrassing or is spoiling daily life (like a bad temper or being a drunk).  And – He will cure it - but He will not stop there.  That may be all you asked for…  but once you call Him in, He will give you the full treatment.  Of course, there is always free will.  You can always push God away.  But if you don’t - you should know that He will expect to see the job through.

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower.  Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?  For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish’” (Luke 14:28-30).

He is simply saying, “Whatever suffering it may cost you in your earthly life, whatever inconceivable purification it may cost you after death, whatever it costs Me, I will never rest, nor let you rest, until you are literally perfect - until my Father can say without reservation that He is well pleased with you, as He said He was well pleased with me.  This I can do and will do.  But I will NOT do anything less.”

However - this Helper - who in the long run will be satisfied with nothing less than absolute perfection - will also be delighted with the first feeble, stumbling effort you make tomorrow to do the simplest duty.  Every father is pleased at the baby's first attempt to walk; but no father would be satisfied with anything less than a firm and steady walk in a grown-up son.

God's demand for perfection need not discourage you in the least.  He knows perfectly well that your own efforts are never going to bring you anywhere near perfection.  On the other hand, you must realize from the start that the goal towards which He is guiding you is absolute perfection.  No power in the universe (except you yourself) can prevent Him from taking you to that goal.

 Once Christ has enabled us to overcome one or two sins that were an obvious nuisance, we are inclined to feel that we finally good enough.  He has done what we wanted Him to do!  We are obliged and would now like it if He would leave us alone.  We say, “I never expected to be a saint…  I only wanted to be a decent ordinary person.”

But this is the fatal mistake.  Of course we never asked to be made into the sort of creatures He is going to make us into.  But the question is not what we intended but what He intends.  He is the inventor, we are only the machine. He is the painter, we are only the canvas.  How should we know what He means us to be like?

Long ago, before we were born, when we were inside our mothers' bodies, we passed through various stages.  We were once like vegetables, and later more like fish: it was only at a later stage that we became human babies.  If we had been conscious at those earlier stages, we might have been quite content to stay as a vegetable or fish.

We may be content to remain what we call `ordinary people': but He is determined to carry out a quite different plan.  To shrink back from that plan is not humility; it is laziness and cowardice.  To submit to it is not conceit or pride; it is obedience.  The job will certainly not be completed in this life: but He means to get us as far as possible before death.

The command “Be ye perfect” is not idealistic gas – and it is not a command to do the impossible. He is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command!  If we let Him - (and we can prevent Him, if we choose) - He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, a dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly (though, of course, on a smaller scale) His own boundless power and delight and goodness.

The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for.

Nothing less.

He meant exactly what He said.

Scripture refers to a “spirit of antichrist” – it is among us and is growing by leaps and bounds right within our very own churches.  The doctrine of antichrist, in the simplest of terms, is that Jesus does not live His life within His people today.  It is the belief that Christians can live a different kind of life than Jesus lived, and still be his followers.  In most cases, you will be told that Jesus was righteous FOR us, and therefore we are somehow exempt from having to be righteous ourselves.  It is the idea that after we accept Christ that His righteousness is somehow imputed to us.  It is the notion that God will “kid Himself” and simply pretend we are righteous.  He will purposefully render Himself blind to our sins and consider us righteous in spite of our actions.

In an obvious contrast to this deception, scripture tells us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).  This would presume that He would expect to live the same life through you and I that He lived 2,000 years ago.  At that time, He clearly taught obedience to all of God’s commandments.

“Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19).  When his disciples stumbled, or sinned, or even denied His very name – He asked them to repent, then He put them back on their feet and had them push forward and continue their ministry.  Everyone will fail, and everyone will sin - but sin will never be licensed and will never be acceptable.

If you are being taught that grace alone will protect your eternal soul, you are falling for the very lies that Jude warned us about.  “For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you.  They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our own Sovereign and Lord.”

We have seen Jesus answer the young man asking Him how to inherit eternal life.  “Why do you ask me about what is good?  There is only One who is good.  If you want to enter life, obey the commandments” (Matthew 19:17).

In Revelation, the Apostle John describes the true saints of God: “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Revelation 22:14).

            There are many, many false ministers today who are teaching the doctrine of antichrist - a doctrine that sanctions disobedience to God’s commandments - a doctrine of "no works."  The Apostle Paul said of these ministers: “For such are false apostles, deceitful works, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.  And no marvel: for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:13–15).

You will notice here that Satan has ministers who appear to be righteous. Ironically, their end—their final reward - will be according to their "works" - the very thing they seek to deny!

God intends for us to obey His commandments, and do good works, and live by His Word!  Once you get this straight - you can clearly recognize the "spirit of antichrist".  Are the things your minister is saying his own personal ideas or the true teachings of Christ?

The devil is much more effective when you stop believing that that he wants nothing more than to steal your salvation without you even knowing it.

The greatest lie the devil ever told … was convincing the world that he didn’t exist.