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Whatsoever
Things Are True
by Dan Coburn Pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church pastordan@mtida.net The Server, the Thief, and the Worshiper. Although most adults in America claim an allegiance with either a Protestant or Catholic church (76%), a growing number of Americans believe that while Jesus was on earth, He committed sins. 42% believe this while 50% hold to the Biblical truth that He did not - “For we have not a high priest which cannot by touched with the feelings of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” - Heb. 4:15. His sin would have rendered Him ineligible to be our perfect sacrifice. So why would this be so popular, especially with folks under 38? Some folks, perhaps, have sincerely given their lives to Christ, and after trying with all their heart to follow what their well intentioned church leaders told them to do, they hit the wall that we call “the crisis of belief” where one realizes it is impossible to live up to the standards we have set for everyone else. When this happens, folks do one of two things. They draw nearer to our Lord and Savior for His restoration, or — they give up. Peter addressed this when the Jewish believers were attempting to pressure the Gentile believers into their mold by having them observe their ancient rituals, ordinances, and sacrifices. Peter asked a profound question when he said: “Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” Acts 15:10. In John 12, vs 1-11, is the account of Jesus going to have a nice dinner with some of His favorite people - Lazarus (who He had just raised from the dead), and his two sisters, Mary and Martha. The sisters got into a little tiff over the fact that Martha was running around like the proverbial chicken trying to attend to all the trappings that went with an event like that, while Mary wouldn’t lift a finger to help. Martha was The Server. Mary, meanwhile, was consumed with worshiping her Lord Jesus. She was The Worshiper. When Martha complained, Judas stirred the other disciples up under the guise of benevolence, citing the dollar value of the oil and how many orphans it would feed. Nugget: Judas just wanted the money - vs 6. Judas was The Thief. Question one: Which one of the sisters was wrong? Answer — neither. In your church, some are worshipers, and some are servers. The danger is thinking one is of less value than the other. Service is valuable - “But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” Heb. 13:16. Question Two: Do you really believe Jesus sinned? Or do you just want to so that it will make your sins a little less painful? Are you the Server, the Worshiper, or the Thief? God bless. |
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