Are You Who the Lord wants You to Be?

Today will be a time for Introspection.

Are You Saved?

“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.” (Is. 45:22-25.)

“Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (1Tim. 2:4.)

Have You Forsaken Sin?

“Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself: And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him; That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD.” (Ezek. 14:1-11.) These Elders of Israel ought to have been the Saved and the Sanctified and the Spiritual Leaders out of all Israel. And yet, the Lord speaks to them, through the prophet Ezekiel, and He makes it plain that they have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face. Therefore, because of their sins and their abominations, the Lord was going to allow them to be deceived by the prophets and allow them to reap the rewards of the wicked.

If the Lord could say these things about the Children of Israel, I wonder what He could say about the Christians of Today? I even wonder what He could say about the True Churches of Jesus Christ? I wonder if we are the Churches and the People of God, that the Lord would have us to Be? Instead, I am afraid that we have allowed the Idols of the World to take up lodging in our Hearts; and I am afraid that we have Stumbled upon the Iniquity that is all around us; and I am afraid that the Abominations of the World have attracted our attention too much. If this is the case, then how can we expect that the Lord will Hear us when we come to Him – just as the Lord would not hear these Israelites when they sought His Will through the prophets? And, if these things are true, then how can we expect the Blessings and the Favors of God, when we have not separated ourselves from the sins of the World?

“When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died. And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney. Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.” (Hos. 13:1-4.)

Are You a Good Witness to the Lost?

“For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.” (1Cor. 9:19-23.)

Let me give you an example of a man that was a good witness to the Lost. We read in the Gospels about a man that was possessed of devils, to whom Jesus came, and cast those devils into the swine. Well, after he was healed, we read about that man in Mk. 5:18-20. “And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.” This man was sent by Jesus Christ to tell others about the Good News of the Coming of the Son of Man. And how that now the Hope of Israel was fulfilled! And if we compare Scripture with Scripture, we find that this man met with great success in his ministry, for, when the Lord returned to the area, there were many folks saved. (See Lk. 8:40.) Well, if this Gadarene Maniac was faithful to tell the Children of Israel about the Coming of their Saviour; how much more Faithful ought we to be, to tell the Multitudes of the Lost today, about the Salvation that Jesus Christ has brought into the World?

These folks, and the world at large, is without Hope – except for Jesus Christ. I believe that the Lord God would have you and me to be their Salvation and the Ambassadors of Christ. In fact, we read in 2Cor. 5:17-21, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Are You a Good Helper to the Saved?

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (Jn. 13:34-35.)

“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden. Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” (Gal. 6:1-10.)

“Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well: Because that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth.” (3Jn. 1:5-8.)

Are You Mature in the Word of God?

“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Heb. 5:12-14.)

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2Tim. 2:15.)

“Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” (2Pet. 3:17-18.)

Are You Looking for the Return of the Lord?

“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” (2Pet. 3:8-14.)

Conclusion

I suppose that all of us ought to pause, and examine our own lives from time to time. And, I believe that we all ought to ask ourselves this question: “Am I who the Lord wants me to be?” In other words, Is there something more that you and I could be doing? Are there some things that you and I ought not to be doing?

Brethren, the Lord did not save us, just to have us rest on our laurels! Do not ever misapply the Sovereignty of God in such a way, that you think that the Lord does not expect something from you! The angels told the disciples, just after the Lord ascended into Heaven, “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11.) This verse proves to us that God does not want us to stand idly by. But, this verse proves to us, that, since the Lord Jesus is returning again, we need to be Ready and we need to be Looking and we need to be Laboring in the cause of that Returning King of Kings.