1 Corinthians 3:11-13
King James Version (KJV)
11For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
13Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
What we have here in this scripture is a comparison of things accomplished at God's direction vs. things done by man's direction, he thought it was a good idea so he did it but it came to nothing.
Psalm 127:1Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
It's really a very simple concept but few pay any attention to it at all. Unless the Lord ordered it done He will not bless it. Every work not ordered of the Lord becomes a work of the flesh and cannot bear fruit. But you say' "look at some of those mega ministries and all the people drawn to them or look at the number of people who attend that church, they must be doing something right." Numbers mean nothing more than popularity because if numbers meant anything then we would have to say that a football game is a very spiritual activity and God must be present.
That mega church may be full of carnal Christians who by true definition are not Christian at all.
A good tree bears good fruit and by contrast a bad tree produces bad fruit. As the root so goes the fruit.
Proverbs 16:9
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
9 The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.
Proverbs 19:21
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
21 Many plans are in a man’s heart, But the counsel of the LORD will stand.
No matter what a man chooses to do the Lord is in charge and if it is not the Lord's plan then his steps will be directed in a way that produces failure or absence of fruit even though in man's eyes it may seem success. In the judgement day all will be revealed. Have you ever wondered what the following scripture really means?
Revelation 21:4
King James Version (KJV)
4And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
At the end of the age we will all stand before the judgement seat of Christ and give an answer for the deeds done in the body whether good or evil. The tendency is to think of this as a judgement of sin such as acts of immorality or loose living or other forms of disobedience. However I believe it is a judgement of our works for this is a judgement pertaining to reward or lack thereof. There is a good steward and a not so good steward and they will not receive the same reward and the result will be tears from some who made it into heaven by the skin of their teeth but received no reward for their works because they were not wrought in God. Simply doing something and attaching God's name to it is not the same as doing some task that God has ordered done. It may seem a very menial thing that He asks you to do but if you do it to the best of your ability with joy the reward may prove to be greater than that of a person who has done what is judged by man as huge.
There will be many standing in His presence weeping bitterly because of the position that will be theirs for eternity with no opportunity for change. The Lord will tenderly wipe away their tears and confirm His love for them.
Salvation is the free gift to all that believe, reward is for faithful service and they are not the same. I present the following scripture as proof.
1 Corinthians 3:13-15
New King James Version (NKJV)
13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
Years ago when I was pastoring I had little knowledge of soul power and when I first became aware of it my experience with it had a very narrow window and it had to do with high profile ministries. We often went to Christian Conferences or had traveling ministry come to our Church. We could draw in a pretty good crowd from the community with these high profile names. Often these ministers were known to have some special gifting of the Holy Spirit and that would be the drawing card. People will line up to hear a prophetic word or to be prayed over for healing. It took years for me to learn that in nearly every case these so called giftings were false or proceeded out of some other spirit than the Holy Spirit. Don't get me wrong, I believe in the Gifts of the Spirit, they are for today just as much as they were after Pentecost it is just that it is much more rare to come across a true Prophet or minister of healing.
It seems that any person with a knowledge of scripture and a strong charismatic personality is readily accepted as gifted by God and can fool a lot of people and I must admit that I was fooled a lot by these charlatans that proclaimed the gifts of the Holy Spirit but over time it became very apparent that the words and works were false and maybe even they were fooled. It is very easy to think that every good sounding thing that comes into your mind is of God but let me tell you that a good garden is produced by a lot of work and most of it is done on your knees.
Enough about the ministries and churches. How does any of this have to do with the layman and our personal walk with the Lord?
It has everything to do with the layman because we are all the sheep of His pasture and it is sheep that beget sheep not the shepherd. The shepherd is given to guard the sheep from harm but it is the sheep that procreate. More people will come into the kingdom as a result of the right actions of the layman than ever from the actions of the church leadership. People may remain because there is a good shepherd in charge but many will leave because of the actions of the members. Our every move and decision should be made only by knowing the mind and leading of the Lord Himself for only He knows everything. You ask "well how do I know what the Lord wants or how do I know His mind"? If you have to ask that then you should know that you are lacking in the knowledge of God. God can be known, when Jesus ascended to heaven He told His disciples "it is good for you that I go because when I get there I will send my Holy Spirit, the Comforter who will never leave you and He will guide you into all truth". Spending time daily in prayer and study of His word will allow Him to make Himself known to you and your spirit will become sensitive to His leading.
Hebrews 4:12
New King James Version (NKJV)
12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart
The Bible is just a book of words unless the Spirit of God is in you and you prayerfully begin to read it and then it becomes food from heaven that miraculously does things inside you that nothing else can do.
The order of life in the world and God's kingdom are almost exact opposites. The world teaches that you should learn to be independent and have a "can do attitude" and that is highly admired.
In the kingdom of God however we are told to be humble and admit that without Him we cannot do anything good, we are no longer the masters of our life nor the captain of our boat. The scripture declares:
1 Corinthians 6:18-20
New King James Version (NKJV)
18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body[a] and in your spirit, which are God’s.
This text is not just about immorality but a declaration that you now belong to God for a very high price was paid to claim you and He has a claim on every aspect of your life. Lest you think this is a negative or bad thing that restricts your every move, it is just the very opposite because now the creator of the universe is in charge and everything He does is perfect and a lot of what He does is through His children (servants). He will always do His part but it cannot succeed unless you do your part and that is to make passionate pursuit of Him your life's goal. Let that be the thing that motivates you and in a short time you will begin to experience things that will thrill you to the core of your being and you will no longer have to work at abiding for it will be the thing that captivates your inner person above everything earth has to offer. This isn't about being religious, you can be very quiet about it. If God wants you to say something He knows how to get it done. If your are yielded to Him there's nothing He cannot accomplish through you and He will get all the glory because you wouldn't dream of taking credit when you know that it was completely outside your nature to do what you did as well as outside your power. But the most amazing part of all is that though He wants the glory He is storing up for you an awesome reward just for your obedience.
Let me present an example; A Christian couple are fervent in their belief in God and in their enthusiasm decide they want to be missionaries. They apply with some missionary society and get accepted and then have to spend a year or two going around to churches seeking sponsors who will support their mission in whatever country they are sent to. They go and begin their work and it is most arduous work. The people are not receptive to them and their health deteriorates and they labor year after year with little or no fruit. Finally after many years they are about to give up but decide they should spend time fasting and praying before making a final decision. After an extended time of this activity something seems to have changed. The attitude of the people seems to be softening and then suddenly some miracle healing occurs or someones life is saved in a way that is clearly the hand of the Lord and this begins something new and people are drawn to their ministry and their hearts are open and the thing they were hoping for years and years before now seems to be beginning. The question here is; did God really want them to go there when they did and labor all those years until this point in time or did they go out on their own volition and after all these years finally humble themselves enough in God's eyes that He could begin a work through them? Or was the timing completely off? At one point in the Apostle Paul's ministry he wanted to go into Asia but was told by the Holy Spirit that He could not at that time yet at a later date he was told to go and much fruit resulted. God has a perfect timing and I do not believe that He purposely sends His servants off to remote places just to burn up other peoples resources and waste their lives, it is we who run out ahead of Him trying to do our own thing or to put notches in our gun belt so to speak. There's a very big difference between a willing heart and an ambitious heart, the scripture defines it as selfish ambition. The desire to do something that will make me either look good or feel good. It is not about us it is all about Him and we need to get the mind of Christ in all we do or we may discover that our eternal reward may be more than a bit disappointing. If God is going to be wiping away our tears then let them be tears of Joy.
Your comments are welcome on this site or at;
John
justjohn@eoni.com
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