Idle Words

A Logical Conclusion

“Pulpit of the Last Days” just finished a module on the ‘End Times Church’. At the end of the module is an article “Musings on the End Time Church Module” which is a sort of conclusion to the module. In that article, Loren brought up Matthew 12:36. We discussed that in more detail in the comments.

In Matthew 12:36 Jesus says, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.”

We know Jesus was sinless. [1] From the content and context of the verse, ‘idle words’ are sin.
The conclusion, logically, is that Jesus spoke no idle words. What does that mean to us? It means that whatever Jesus said is important.

John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” There are no idle words here.

John 11:25, “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”” There are no idle words here.

We can go on, quoting every passage where Jesus states unequivocally, that He IS Salvation. That is not idle words.

Let us focus on a point in time later. Jesus spoke no idle words. He was tried, crucified, died - then buried and Resurrected, sitting at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1).
What did the Risen Christ have to say?

After the Resurrection, this is what He had to say:

Mark 16:15-16, “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.””

John 20:21, “So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.””

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” Matt. 28:18-20

Luke 24:46-47, “Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

Acts 1:8 Jesus says, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

THERE ARE NO IDLE WORDS IN THESE VERSES.

The most important thing the Risen Lord Jesus Christ had to say, “Preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the power of God for Salvation.”

It is THE “Mission Statement” for Christians: Spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Each of us should be eager, prepared and equipped to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yes, eager, we have the greatest gift in the world to share. What a treasure we have. A treasure that does not diminish with each added ‘share’. That, is, by adding to the family we in no way diminish ‘our’ share. Why would we want to keep that a secret?

Look in the mirror and ask the tough questions. “Why am I not EAGER to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ?” “Why would I rather engage in idle words than spread the Gospel?”

There are three logical conclusions why many Christians will not share the gospel.
1. We are ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:16, Acts 18:9)
2. Our own behavior is nothing resembling ‘Christ-like’ so we are ashamed of ourselves. [2]
3. We do not know ‘how’ to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. [3]

Convincing one’s self one is a ‘good Christian’ without a willingness to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ is nothing more than Idle Words.

[1] Hebrews 4:14-15, “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

[2] 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

[3] The ‘comments’ section of “Claiming Rights” lists a number of effective tools for sharing the gospel.

Claiming Rights

There is a lot of talk these days about “Rights”. Human Rights, The Bill of Rights, Civil Rights, Voting Rights, and even Illegal Immigrants’ Rights are all in the news. There is also talk about privileges that ‘should’ be Rights, like a driver’s license. One Right is not in the news and really should be.

With all these “Rights”, there are ‘conditions’.

Human Rights: one has to extend the same to others, and in many cases (Internationally) must fight to gain them.

The Bill of Rights: The ten original Amendments to the Constitution, one must be a citizen of the United States of America to claim these rights.

Civil Rights: Again, one has to claim them legally and extend the same to others without regard.

Voting Rights: One must be qualified to vote.

Illegal Immigrants’ Rights: (I was going to leave this one alone, but hey,) Illegal Immigrants are hypocrites. They are claiming rights under laws that they themselves are breaking. IT is like burglars demanding the ‘right’ to keep what they are stealing because they broke into your house.

Step on a person’s rights and watch them rebel, especially in the United States. Step on peoples rights, and watch them, riot, protest, form political action committees, organizations, and groups to demand their rights (Amnesty International, ACLU, NRA, La Raza Unida, and on and on…).

The one right one hears little about and very few people claiming or demanding:
“...He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name...”
John 1:12

What, we have the right to become children of God? It says, “…those who believe in His name” have “the right to become children of God”.

“Wait a minute, what is the catch?”

“You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!” James 2:19

It says even demons believe, does that mean they are the children of God?

No, read what it says, “…the right tobecome”.
It does not say just because you believe you get an ‘automatic’ pass. It says, “TO become”. It does not say one automatically is. As the other rights mentioned, it is conditional.

It says one has the right to become, not “one is” already there…
Just believing Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God, part of the Triune entity that is God, is not enough. Even demons believe that.

Why do demons believe that and tremble? Because they know what He is, He is “the Power of God for Salvation” (Romans 1:16). (Not to mention the fact that He has a special place for them. (Matthew 25:41))

We stated that with rights come conditions. What are the conditions to claim this right? “…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:8-10

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:23

To claim that ‘Right’ to be a child of God is in fact simple.
Acknowledge you are a sinner. (Romans 3:23)

*Note this - demons tremble at the name of God. Knowing who God is, and who Jesus is, would a demon call God a liar? Before one resists acknowledging they have sinned, read this: “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” 1 John 1:10. Is one REALLY so bold or depraved that one will call God a liar? [1]

Acknowledge that there is no other way to stand before God, blameless except cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. (John 14:6, 1 John 1:7, 1 John 1:9). [Notice back in John 1:12, “He GAVE…” The 'right' is a gift, and salvation is a gift (Ephesians 2:8-9).]

Believe, confess and accept…


[Mark 1:17 (David) over at “Get Out of the Boat” has two pieces that really address this. The first title is, “He Is Risen, He Has Risen Indeed!” -Relating the story of Mary Magdalene’s encounter with the Risen Christ - and her response, - this should be our response… Additionally, for all those that ‘think’ Heaven is a boring, stuffy, place where people have nothing better to do than play harps and sit on clouds - the series “5 Surprises In Heaven” is a good overview of an exciting place I want to be (and will be one day).]

[If one is already ‘committed’ to the Risen Lord, Pulpit of the Last Days has aa very good multi-part course “Foundational Modules and Basic Modules” dedicated to ‘building up a ‘disciple’. Proverbs 22:6 tells us that if we train right, we will stick with it…]

[‘Risen-Soul’ at “To Die is Gain” not only is an excellent site for expository teaching, by following Jacob’s example, one can learn to study the Bible the same way. Read a passage, understand the passage, and then have real-world applications for the lessons in the passage.]





[1] From John 1:10-12, Romans 1:18-32, John 6:44, we know; Yes, man is depraved enough to deny God and call Him a liar, unless drawn to Him.

Deny LoveNo Compromise - No Excuse

This is Easter Week… A Time to Contemplate Love…

Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37
Jesus then said, “Love your neighbor as yourself” Matthew 22:39

1 John 4:7-8 says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”


Denying Love…
…Christian do you love yourself enough to embrace God’s gift of salvation? If so, you need to love your neighbor enough to share it with them (there is plenty of salvation to go around). If you do not, you are denying love.

We have an order to love God and our neighbor. We have a duty, showing our love of God (by obedience) and our love of our neighbor to share the gospel. (Mark 16:15-16 , Matt. 28:18-20, Luke 24:46-47) Otherwise, we deny love.

IF we truly want to be ‘Christ-like’, if we are truly ‘Christian’ then we have to share the gospel boldly Romans 1:16. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7

Here it is.
No Compromise… No Excuses…

I love this verse John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

That verse ends with a period. There is no conjunction. There is no ‘and’. There is no ‘or’. There is no ‘but’. Every time we (our churches, our denominations, our ‘leaders’) compromise that period, we deny love. That verse IS the “Gospel of Jesus Christ, the power of God for Salvation”.

If we do not tell people that, “for the wages of sin is death,” (Romans 6:23) we are denying love. However, notice in Romans 6:23 after the word death there is a comma.
The rest of the verse says, “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

…Do you (Christian) really believe that you love someone by NOT telling him or her there is no other way? Do you (Christian) really believe you are committing a loving act to let someone believe he or she can earn his or her salvation? Do you (Christian) really believe it is love to let someone believe that there is another way into heaven?
What is it when ‘our’ “Christian Leaders” get on national television, and get the direct question, “Are devout followers of Islam (Buddhism & the Dali Lama, Hinduism, New Age Mysticism, or whatever-ism) going to hell?” Is it a loving act for them to say, “I do not know, it is not my place to judge.” [†]

Wake up, one is not judging. How hard is it for an obedient person filled with Christ’s love to say, ““Jesus said, I am the way, …” so if these people do not turn to Jesus Christ, no matter how devout they are to their ‘convictions’ or their ‘religion’, the Bible says, YES they are condemned to hell!” That is not judging that is obedience. That is Love.

How much Love does God have for you? Do you KNOW what Christ went through for you? In “Passion…” God’s love was a brief topic. Earlier, in the article, "The Back Door to Heaven" we talked about just the pain and agony of the Garden of Gethsemane. Loren at the L4C-T site POLD has an article, “The Sufferings and the Glory”. If you REALLY want to get an understanding of what Christ went through because He loved you - I dare you to read it. (I have read it numerous times, and I cannot get through it without balling my eyes out… This is not a Mel Gibson movie - this is the real deal - THE account of Christ’s Last Week before His resurrection and ascension to Glory - written in a way you have never read it before.)

How much love did God show us? How much love do WE show (our neighbors) the lost?



If we compromise the “Gospel of Christ the power of God for Salvation”, we deny love. If we remain silent - we deny love.


AT the "To Die Is Gain" blog is an article on Luke 1:39-45. ‘Risen Soul’ says in the ‘application’ section, “It’s one thing to believe God’s promises. It’s another thing to act on those promises and rejoice in them with others. When Jesus promises that "..whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." It’s one thing to believe that for ourselves and be saved, it’s another to believe that and share that truth with others so that they might be saved also and rejoice with those who have believed in the truth already.”


How much love are we willing to show God by obedience? How much love are we willing to show our neighbors by sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
Think about that as you get dressed up to go to ‘Good Friday’ services, special music extravaganzas, and Easter Services.


-----
We are welcoming “To Die Is Gain” to the L4C-T Blog Ring. Risen Soul is an excellent expository teacher (he reads the Word. He explains the verses he reads. He gives a practical application from the verses - ‘old fashioned - out of vogue - expository teaching’)
Welcome to the L4C-T blog ring.

[†] ‘Christian Leaders’ on national television are not the only ‘guilty’ leaders. See the Comments section… For a LONG comment about our love, and committing MURDER.