One Truth, One God

“…He began to say unto his disciples first of all, “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. (Luke‬ ‭12:1-3)

Had you noticed that this warning from Jesus is mainly for believers?

It serves no purpose to pretend a devotion for God that we don’t have. It is pointless because there’ll come a time when the true intentions of our hearts will be revealed to everybody. Whatever we have whispered, whatever we have done in the dark, will be proclaimed to all.

“Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you.”

Years ago we were visiting a Landmark church and I asked the Sunday School teacher how the Lord expected me to spend Sundays. He replied that I could spend my Sundays in whichever way it pleased me, “Since we are no longer under the Law,” he said. Not understanding enough about it, his answer made sense to me, but I wondered, “If what he says is true, then why does the Bible emphasize the importance of the Sabbath so much?”

Then I came across a message by Pastor Alistair Begg, whose knowledge of Scripture far surpasses that of the teacher’s, and he convinced me that Sabbath Law is still in place today, and it is to be obeyed. Why? He gives several reasons, but these are the main ones:

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that God’s Law, that is the Ten Commandments, have been abolished. In fact, Jesus said the total opposite, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

Second, if God still expects us “not to kill,” “not to steal,” “not to use His name in vain,” “honor our father and mother,” and so on… is it reasonable to suppose He doesn’t expect us to keep the Sabbath Holy? Nowhere do we find that that one commandment has been overruled.

Third,  Jesus said, “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” This means God’s law is eternal and it does not change. Jewish ordinances are no longer necessary, since Jesus has been sacrificed, but obeying God’s Law still is. Besides, if our Lord actively sought to obey God’s commandments, should we dare not to? The answer is pretty obvious.

Of course, we don’t need to keep the Sabbath the way Pharisees intended, but we do have to obey God’s law in the way He intended it. According to the passage above, the Sabbath is a sign of God sanctifying us unto Himself. So we distinguish this day from the others to remember we’ve been separated by God to obey Him, love Him and serve Him forever. Keeping the Sabbath holy doesn’t seem unnecessary anymore if we consider how important and special it is that God has chosen us to be His people.

So, how should we spend God’s Holy day?

Wouldn't it be great to stop pretending we are good when we perfectly know we are not? Wouldn't it be nice to cease pretending our conscience does not accuse us, and instead know we have been forgiven from our sins, rescued from our bad habits, and finally live in freedom? To live like children, knowing that we are not perfect, but even so, someone in this world loves us deeply and unconditionally, that is life at its best!

One of the sins that most affect the human race is pride. We do not like to admit that we are wrong or that we have acted impiously. We all want to be considered "good people." Even the most terrible killer will consider himself a good person if asked.

It is a great evil of man to always pretend he is different from what he is. That's probably a reflection of what happened in the garden of Eden: "And they heard the voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden ... and the man and his wife hid from the presence of the Lord." When Adam realized he was naked, he hid. He did not want God to see him; because he intimately knew his sinfulness was open to the eyes of God, he could not hide it.

In the same way, we hide from God in many ways: We deny His existence ("If He doesn't exist, He cannot judge me"). We erase Him from our thoughts ("If I do not think about Him, He won't condemn my sin"). We keep ourselves busy in many things ("I do not have time to think about Him so my conscience won't bother me"). We do not realize that this kind of thinking aggravates our situation even more! God still sees us!! Our wickedness will take us to hell, no matter how tight we close our eyes, so as not to see God's judgment upon us!

The most sensible thing we can do is to "become like children" and with a simple heart approach God and say: "Lord, cleanse me from my sin, save me from it once and for all. I want to be yours forever, and from now on I submit my whole life to you in the name of your Son Jesus. "

How do we know it's going to work? How do we know it won't be another of our failed attempts to change? We know because God poured out His wrath on His own Son to save us, killing Him on the cross. Jesus suffered so that you and I would not suffer, He gave His life for you and for me. "If God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?"

God promises in His Word that if anyone comes to Him, He will not reject them, and that if we place our trust in Jesus and appropriate His sacrifice, He will take our sin and will declare us righteous before Him. Righteous!! ... we that have failed Him so much! But that is His promise to you and me, and God cannot lie.

Are you willing to be sincere with yourself and with God from now on? Talk to Him... He's looking for you...

All of us have heard people who blame God for everything that goes wrong in the world. They use human misery as an evidence that God doesn't exist. "If God existed, this wouldn't happen," they say. They don't realize that by blaming God, they suddenly become the very proof of God's existence. How so?

There seems to be in us an innate understanding that our world is not what it should be; that something has gone wrong, and that it is only God who can straighten what's crooked. We seem to be persuaded that God is the one responsible for our happiness. Otherwise, why would we blame Him? Why would we put in God all the weight of our unhappiness and discontent, unless we intuitively acknowledge He alone is capable of making us happy?

We get angry at God because we get the picture: something went wrong: man separated himself from God from the beginning, and we are not what we were meant to be, neither is our world, but it has been our fault, not God's. And yes, there is only one hope for humanity, God, who sent His Son to this world to put right what is wrong: our hearts, and to show us the way to that world in which we all long to live. Jesus is the only one who can quench the thirst of our souls.

A true Christian knows that he was saved only by grace. He knows he was chosen by God. He’s certain it was not his own inclination towards God or his own will which led him to salvation. He knows it was God who produced in him the new birth, faith, and repentance (Ephesians 1: 3-7; 2: 8-9 and Acts 11:18). This kind of Christian pursues holiness because he knows that without it, no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12: 14). He wants to live differently because the Holy Spirit leads him to hate the sin he loved and to love the God he hated.

A false Christian doesn’t feel this way at all. He loves sin and enjoys it. Seeking holiness seems to him an unnecessary burden. He argues that he doesn’t live by works, but by grace. He doesn’t understand that “faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”  (James 2:14-17). It seems boring to him to read the Bible, pray, and have fellowship with God and His holy people. He seldom shares the Gospel because he doesn’t love God or his neighbor. A false believer goes through the motions of Christianity instead of delighting in them, but he does them once in a while because he thinks that’s what he’s supposed to do to look like a child of God.

False believers affirm they have been saved by grace and live by faith, but deny the importance of sanctification. As a result, they end living by works, forcing themselves to do what they hate in order to gain heaven.

Holiness brings joy to real Christians, but it’s a heavy burden for those who are not…

We ought to make every effort to perceive the presence of Christ in our daily life. When people think of Jesus, they usually picture Him dying on the cross, and although it is true that He died, we serve a living God, not a death one. Christ is as alive today as you and me, and His blessed presence fills the earth.

It is this living Jesus who upholds all things by the word of His power. He is the reason why your heart keeps on beating this morning and without Him, you couldn't take even one more breath. Christ is by your side when you go to work, celebrate with your friends, or share meals with your children. He is there when you lose your job; when you're sick and at every moment of happiness or despair.

Being conscious of His presence will lead us to adore Him, love Him more and live with confidence no matter our circumstances. We'll be able to say with David, “I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken." Think about it: if it were not for Jesus, none of us could approach God even through prayer, much less at the end of our lives. So, every prayer is a celebration of His grace and love. How wonderful it is what Jesus has done for us!

It is because of Christ that we were redeemed, forgiven and restored, and praising His name ought to be the usual state of our lives. He is our strength, our shield, our rock, our counselor, our refuge, our consolation. He is our advocate before the Father, the force that motivates us to seek purity, sanctity, and justice…  for His name's sake.

Commenting on the message of Ecclesiastes, my daughter exclaimed, "Solomon really wanted to get his point across! He repeats again and again, 'All is vanity.' I don't have to guess what he is going to say next!"

I smiled, and told her the story of Christopher Hitchens, the famous atheist who opposed God all of his life. A heavy drinker, Hitchens wasted his life in immorality and worldly pursuits. Then he got esophageal cancer and died at 62. Now, he might be in hell for eternity. That is what Solomon meant when he said, "All is vanity."

If God created us for Himself and we never got to know Him —not here and not there, is there any worth in such a life? A life without God is a waste of time.

Don't get me wrong, Christopher Hitchens' life was to the eyes of God a precious life. I bet you God looked at him during one of those debates he had with Christians, and sighed, "If he only knew..."

At the end of his life, Jesus was still there, while Christopher Hitchens read the Gospel of John with a true friend —Christian writer Larry Taunton. God not only gave Hitchens every opportunity to repent while listening to the many arguments for Christianity, but He even sent him a Christian friend! Jesus' love is amazing!

God cared about Hitchens all of his life, and was by him to the very end. Did Hitchens finally get it? Did he repent, and put his faith in the God who never gave up on him? We won't know this side of eternity but... what about you?