Faithful Servant.

 C.S. Lewis  Weight of Glory (Excerpt)

Mat_25:21  His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servantA

"Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” With that, a good deal of what I had been thinking all my life fell down like a house of cards. I suddenly remembered that no one can enter heaven except as a child; and nothing is so obvious in a child—not in a conceited child, but in a good child—as its great and undisguised pleasure in being praised. Not only in a child, either, but even in a dog or a horse. Apparently what I had mistaken for humility had, all these years. prevented me from understanding what is in fact the humblest, the most childlike, the most creaturely of pleasures—nay, the specific pleasure of the inferior: the pleasure a beast before men, a child before its father, a pupil before his teacher, a creature before its Creator. I am not forgetting how horribly this most innocent desire is parodied in our human ambitions, or how very quickly, in my own experience, the lawful pleasure of praise from those whom it was my duty to please turns into the deadly poison of self-admiration. But I thought I could detect a moment—a very, very short moment—before this happened, during which the satisfaction of having pleased those whom I rightly loved and rightly feared was pure. And that is enough to raise our thoughts to what may happen when the redeemed soul, beyond all hope and nearly beyond belief, learns at last that she has pleased Him whom she was created to please. There will be no room for vanity then. She will be free from the miserable illusion that it is her doing. With no taint of what we should now call self-approval she will most innocently rejoice in the thing that God has made her to be, and the moment which heals her old inferiority complex for ever will also drown her pride deeper than Prospero’s book. Perfect humility dispenses with modesty. If God is satisfied with the work, the work may be satisfied with itself; “it is not for her to bandy compliments with her Sovereign.” I can imagine someone saying that he dislikes my idea of heaven as a place where we are patted on the back. But proud misunderstanding is behind that dislike. In the end that Face which is the delight or the terror of the universe must be turned upon each of us either with one expression or with the other, either conferring glory inexpressible or inflicting shame that can never be cured or disguised. I read in a periodical the other day that the fundamental thing is how we think of God. By God Himself, it is not! How God thinks of us is not only more important, but infinitely more important. Indeed, how we think of Him is of no importance except in so far as it is related to how He thinks of us. It is written that we shall “stand before” Him, shall appear, shall be inspected. The promise of glory is the promise, almost incredible and only possible by the work of Christ, that some of us, that any of us who really chooses, shall actually survive that examination, shall find approval, shall please God. To please God…to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness…to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son—it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is. "

Know Him.

 We have only the truth. God gives us only truth. Not a single lie ever came from God. God is truth. God is Love. God is our all in all. 

We can study God's word endlessly ever delving into the truths He gives us. In our fallen state of humanity we need to constantly dwell upon God's truths, ever learning, ever relearning, ever continuing to know Him more and more as our all in all. We can't live with God as a thought but not reality. We can't live knowing of God but not knowing Him. If I tell you a lot about a friend of mine you might feel as if you know them, I talk about them constantly, but that doesn't mean you have a relationship with my friend, that you know my friend for yourself, that you have experiences with my friend. We can know of God and read of others experiences with God, the Bible is filled with those who knew God. We have to KNOW God too, not just know of others experiences with God. He is OUR God. He is MY God. He is YOUR God. He wants to know us, and for us to know Him.

"We love him because he first loved us." 1 Jn 4:19

"Herein is love not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 Jn 4:10

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. That whosever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

"For the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge that if one died for all then were all dead and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto Him which died for them, and rose again. 1 Cor. 5:14-15

"Thou are worthy o Lord, to receive glory and honor and power for thou hast created all things, and for they pleasure they are and were created." Rev 4:11

(Excerpt)

"Standing on the Threshold. Our study of the book of Romans, while there have been many articles, has not been exhaustive. Indeed, it is impossible to have an exhaustive study of the Bible; for no matter how thoroughly we study any portion of it, we shall still find ourselves but upon the threshold. The more we study the Bible, the more will our best study seem to be only preliminary to further study that will be seen to be necessary. But although we can not expect ever to exhaust the truth, so that we can say that we have it all, we may be sure that as far as we have gone we have only the truth. And this assurance arises not from any wisdom that we have, but solely from adhering closely to the word of God, and not allowing the alloy of human ideas to mingle with its pure gold.

"All Joy and Peace in Believing" Romans 15:8-14

8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers: 9 and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name. 10 And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. 11 And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people. 12 And again, Esaias saith,  There shall be a root out of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.  13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, through the power of the Holy Ghost. 14 And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

"A Minister of the Circumcision." Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision. Bear this in mind. Shall we learn from it that he saves only the Jews? By no means, but we must learn from it that "salvation is of the Jews."  John 4:22. "Jesus Christ our Lord" was "made of the seed of David according to the flesh." Rom. 1:3. He is the "root of Jesse," which stands "for an ensign of the people," to which the Gentiles seek. Isa. 11:10; Rom. 15:12.  The Gentiles who find salvation must find it in Israel. None can find it anywhere else."

Articles on Romans by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 15 Excerpt

Allow Us To Love As He Loves.

All others without respect of persons…

Rom_2:11  For there is no respect of persons with God.

Eph_6:9  And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.

1Pe 1:17  And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: 

1Pe 1:18  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 

1Pe 1:19  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 

1Pe 1:20  Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 

1Pe 1:21  Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. 

1Pe 1:22  Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 

1Pe 1:23  Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 

1Pe 1:24  For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 

1Pe 1:25  But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. 

We are told to … PURIFY our souls IN obeying the TRUTH through the SPIRIT unto unfeigned love of the brethren.

UNFEIGNED LOVE of others!

We have to LOVE ONE ANOTHER with a PURE HEART FERVENTLY. 

We can ONLY do this THROUGH the SPIRIT.

Stop thinking you have to manufacture some kind of love for others on your own. Any love you can muster up on your own towards others is contaminated by self-serving in some way because we are self-serving creatures caught up in Satan's snare of self-serving. Our love for others MUST come from THE SPIRIT! The HOLY SPIRIT. GOD- THE HOLY SPIRIT.  Through the HOLY SPIRIT'S love we can love others! God is love, and God alone can love perfectly. God in us can love others with unfeigned love, without any respect of persons. The Holy Spirit sees past all the outer sin layers bogging us down, and right into the heart of us, the human being created by GOD for GOD, the human being that can love only because that human being was FIRST loved by God!

1Jn_4:19  We love him, because he first loved us

We choose GOD, and in choosing GOD we are choosing to allow HIM through God the Holy Spirit to live and work in us as He wills! ALL GLORY TO GOD! ALL, yes, ALL glory to GOD alone! 

We fail, but God does not! God is working in us as we choose to let Him work in us daily!  We fail, HE FORGIVES through HIS LOVE! All glory to God always!

Let us receive each other, as HE receives us, through the Holy Spirit in us allowing us to love, as He loves!

*******

"How to Receive One Another. Finally, "Receive ye one another, as Christ also received us, to the glory of God."  Whom does Christ receive? "This man receiveth sinners." How many will he receive? "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

How will he receive them? "All day long have I stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people." And if they come, what assurance have they? "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Let us learn of him; and remember that, wherever you may open the Scriptures, they are they which testify of him."

Articles on Romans by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 15 Excerpt

If You Believe Not the Old Testament...

 Don't try to separate Christ from the Old Testament. Christ Himself referenced what we call the Old Testament, all the time. Christ even tells us if we do not believe the Old Testament, we can't believe His words. Is there a lot of history and such in the Old Testament that tends to be hard to read because we can't comprehend the need for it? Yes. We have to be led of the Spirit as we read, Old or New Testament. The Spirit will guide us even through the stuff that might be considered hard to read, and lead us to the truths we need so desperately. 

"The Gospel According to Moses. 

It is this lesson that is taught us throughout all the Scriptures: "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." In the book of Job this is made manifest. "Ye have heard of the patience of Job,  and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." James 5:11.

In the writings of Moses it is as clearly set forth. Christ says: "Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not the writings, how shall ye believe my words?" John 5:46, 47. 

If the gospel according to Moses is neglected, it will be of no use to read the gospel according to John, because the gospel can not be divided. The gospel of Christ, like himself, is one."

Articles on Romans by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 15 Excerpt

He Suffered For Our Reproaches

 "The God of All Comfort."

Ro. 15

3 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written,  The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. 

4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. 

5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus; 

6 that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.

2Co_1:3  Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort

2Co 1:4  Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 

God is "the God of patience and consolation." He is "the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." 2 Cor. 1:3, 4. He takes upon himself all the reproaches that fall upon men. "The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me." Of the children of Israel it is said, "In all their affliction he was afflicted." Isa. 63:9. The words of Christ are, "Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor." "Reproach hath broken my heart." Ps. 69:19, 20. Yet in all this there was no impatience, no murmuring. Therefore, as he has already borne the burdens of the world in the flesh, he is fully able to bear ours in our flesh, without complaining; so that we may be "strengthened with all might,  according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness." Col. 1:11.

Articles on Romans by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 15 Excerpt

Death to Self As We Live.

 This life is truly just about dying because we are to die daily to self. 

As we mostly know, dying is not something that comes easy. So why would we ever expect our dying to self would be something easy to comprehend, easy to learn. To surrender self is to become selfless, and serving others is the only thing we can do. On our own, we cannot be selfless. Our Savior's life is something we have to examine closely. He led a life of dying to self. He lived to serve others in all things. 

Putting God and others before ourselves is a constant setting aside self. We rail against that thought. We do things to keep ourselves as comfortable as we possibly can- emotionally, mentally, physically. We don't like to be torn from our self-bubble of normalcy. We choose ourselves over others all the time in many little and big ways. Our fear of stepping outside of our safety zone keeping our life on an even keel is a very real thing. We go through dramatic changes as we are thrust out of our comfortable ways and into things unexpected. We feel the stress of it all eating away at our comfort bubble and we want to get back to that sweet comfort. We are forced into situations of constant choosing and we need to recognize if we are choosing self over others, over God. To hide from knowing this choice will not make it okay, it will keep us self-serving. We can delude ourselves, but not God, never God. 

Another danger is when we do things to receive self-soothing accolades, loving to hear our praises sung because it reaffirms we are doing good things, we are being self-less, and yet… anytime we take any praise upon ourselves for any good deed we may do, we are taking that praise falsely, selfishly. All glory belongs to God. Jesus gave ALL the glory to God for all that He did. He did NOTHING without the Father. Not a single miracle did He perform on His own, not one.  Not a single iota of glory did Jesus take to Himself so why, why do we insist on seeking the praise of others? Why do we feel crushed when our efforts are not deemed good enough to please those we are seeking to please. We feel that way because we are not supposed to be seeking to please ourselves through pleasing others. We are to seek to please God in all things. Jesus sought to please God in all things… ALL things. We are to do no less, through Him, through the Holy Spirit, through the Heavenly Father. 

Faith Over Fear.

 We believe. However, I think we sometimes forget that we believe. How do the men and women Christ followers suffer all the way through torture, and still believe when my life gets tossed about with car troubles, health issues, future insecurities and I forget to believe? I have to word it that way because I do believe, I know I believe and I know Christ is helping my unbelief, so why do I forget? Why do I let myself get caught up in uncertainties? Why do I borrow the trouble of tomorrows possibilities? Why do I question the reasons for situations I know are in God's hands? I could use the excuse I do all that because I'm human and that is true. I'm extremely infallible in many ways, but I have a God who is greater than my sinful humanity. I have His promises. A person suffering severe painful torture near to death, in throes of agony beyond my grasp of truly comprehending and still their mouth rasps out whispers of praise to God not only for their own situation but that of their torturers is something I marvel at! That person is human with all humanities infallible ways as well, yet they choose faith over fear. Can I choose faith over fear? Is it a choice? It goes against so much in me, so much of my character, so much of my genetic make-up, so much of my tendencies, so much of who I am and have been since childhood. I was the little girl who still remembers being so frightened of Kindergarten that I could barely breathe. I remember scuffing the toes of my brand new school shoes in the dirt over and over being so nervous and being scolded for doing so. I was that little five year old that somehow found it too fearful to carry my nap blanket to school so my sister did it for me. That little girl grew into a fearful big girl, and that fear shifted and altered to meet new circumstances. That fear ebbed and flowed in different ways for different reasons. That fear was believed conquered through Christ but reared its ugly head to beat me down even as I cried out to be saved from its mental, emotional pain. Faith over fear.  Maybe it's a daily thing, or at times an hourly thing. Maybe it's a choice that isn't made all at once and declared but rather a choice made in situation after situation for the rest of my life. Faith over fear. Maybe the fear needs to be felt for the faith to rise up through outright choosing beyond all comprehension to believe. Faith over fear, maybe it is feeling the awful symptoms of fear and still believing even though the symptoms persist, my God is greater than those and they won't diminish my choice to believe my God will see me through all things, because HE strengthens me, I can't strengthen myself. Faith over fear, like so many things in our lives we are taught should be automatic, but aren't for us like we imagine they should be, we must choose deliberately and hold fast to in spite of all things contrary to having that faith. Faith over fear, Lord I believe, You, Lord, You help my unbelief. Lord help me to remember to believe. Faith over fear. You, Lord, conqueror of all, even death. By Your mercy and grace, through Your will now and forever. Amen.

*******

Articles on Romans by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 15 Excerpt

Romans 15:1-7

1 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 

2 Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification. 

3 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written,  The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. 

4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. 

5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus; 

6 that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.

"How to Please Others. This is still further shown by the exhortation, "Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification." We are never exhorted to aid a brother to sin, in order to please him. Neither are we exhorted to close our eyes to a brother's sin, and allow him to go on in it without warning him, lest we displease him. There is no kindness in that. The exhortation is, "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart; thou shalt in anywise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him." Lev. 19:17. The mother who would be so fearful of displeasing her child that she would not stop it from putting its hand into the blaze, would be exhibiting cruelty instead of kindness. We are to please our neighbors, but only for their good, not to lead them astray.

Bearing Others' Weaknesses. Going back to the first verse, we find this lesson still more strongly emphasized:  "We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves." "For even Christ pleased not himself." Compare this with Galatians 6:1, 2: "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such on one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." In bearing the infirmities of the weak, we are fulfilling the law of Christ. But to bear another's burdens does not mean to teach him that he can safely ignore any of the commandments. To keep the commandments of God is not a burden; for "his commandments are not grievous."  1 John 5:3.

How Christ Bears Our Burdens. Christ bears our burdens, not by taking away the law of God, but by taking away our sins, and enabling us to keep the law. "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us." Rom. 8:3, 4.

He Says "Come." One blessed thing in the service of the Lord is that he does not say, "Go," but, "Come." He does not send us away to labor by ourselves, but calls us to follow him. He does not ask anything of us that he does not himself do. When he says that we ought to bear the infirmities of them that are weak, we should take it as an encouragement, instead of a task laid upon us, since it reminds us of what he does for us. He is the mighty One, for we read, "I have laid help upon One that is mighty; I have exalted One chosen out of the people." Ps.  89:19. "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows." "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Is. 53:4, 6.

Why the Task Is Easy. This is what makes it easy to bear one another's burdens. If we know that Christ bears our burdens, it will become a pleasure for us to bear the burdens of others. The trouble is that too often we forget that Christ is the Burden-bearer, and, being over powered with the weight of our own infirmities, we have still less patience with those of others. But when we know that Christ is indeed the Burden-bearer, we cast our own care upon him; and then when we make the burden of another our own, he bears that too."