Whose Servant Are You

 WHOSE SERVANT ARE YOU?

Romans 6:20-22 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. (v.21) What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. (v.22) But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

“When ye were servants of sin” is a description of everyone who is unsaved. This state or condition is one not readily accepted by the unregenerate. They would say they are only doing what they enjoy, what they choose to do. But according to this passage, and several others, every one of us, if we are not born again, are the slaves of sin.

Look again at what Jesus told the Pharisees in John chapter 8 (Read the entire text. I selected 3 verses for brevity and continuity of thought.) John 8:34 “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin….(v.41) Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, we be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. (v.44) Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do….” He says they “will do” these things. It is not a choice it is evidence of their family relationship. He is telling them that even though they outwardly claim to be religious and followers of Abraham their deeds, the daily activities of their lives, reveal a different story. They cannot give up the sins they practice every day because they are the children of Satan and they will, they in fact must, obey their father…they will sin. Some will be like Hitler or Mussolini and some will be like your kindergarten teacher but all will sin.

Look at verse 21 again. We view sin wrong. We are not seeing the wickedness of our actions. Paul said those days of sin are days we should be ashamed of. Most today, claiming to be saved, have no real shame or remorse over the ungodliness of their past. They easily fall back into sin because they never really felt godly sorrow over it in the first place, I Cor. 7:10 “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” When we see sin as God sees sin we turn from it by choice not by command. Our own hearts see the wickedness of sin and we are repulsed by it. We do not need to see a Bible verse saying ‘thou shalt not…” because we are fully aware of the vile nature of sin in the presence of a holy God.

When we truly get saved we are freed from that bondage. We no longer serve sin. But we will always be servants. If we do not serve sin then we serve God. Look again at verse 22. Paul makes an interesting statement here. Read it carefully and you will see he is not asking for any change in behavior. Rather he is stating a fact he believes his readers already comprehend, “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God….” In other words, since it is a fact that you are free from sin and have become servants of God you will be producing good works.

So then, why are so many who claim to be Christian still living in sin? Why are so many church members still looking like they did before they joined their local church? Why do we not see a greater difference between the world and those claiming to be children of God? Because we will, and in fact we do, serve our master. And our service will proclaim our true allegiance.

Whose servant are you?

It is A Fractured World

                                                                A FRACTURED WORLD

Troubles come and troubles go. Really? It seems to me more like, troubles come and keep coming. I love it when people tell me I am not alone. It sure feels like it. And how comforting do they think it is just to know that everyone else is suffering too? To me, we sometimes have a skewed view of the world we live in. We look at New York City, Los Angeles, Detroit, et. al. and think how much hatred resides in those towns. We see the murder rate in various areas of the world and are often taken back by the overwhelming numbers. Divorce is at or above 50% even in Christian homes. People are born with diseases and physical abnormalities that leave them all but helpless if not for the care of others. And poverty? People walking the streets without homes, many void of contact with their own families as a result. It is a fractured world.

But you say, “I live in Pennsboro, WV and we do not have those issues here.” Here they are not on the nightly news. Here they are not paraded before us every evening in the hope of making profit from the headlines. But they are here. They hide behind closed doors.  Most often they are not out in the open. Walk down any street in any town and you will find despair shrouded by a false smile. Houses with wheelchair ramps are common. You will see children in the care of single parents. You will see, even in the houses of worship, poverty so overwhelming it crushes the impoverished worshipper as he stands beside those who have plenty. Hatred lives here too, but it is more carefully covered up by silence, fence lines and exclusive social activities. Even in our town, we must admit it is a fractured world.

When we look at the difficulties, we face every day, we simply must put them in perspective or completely fall apart. “I am not alone,” actually can be a comfort, even if ever so slight. Take the difficulty most recent in your own life for an example. Regardless of what it was (or is) something very much like it was experienced by someone else today, and yesterday, ad infinitum. As Solomon said, Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. (v.10) Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new...?” 

I am not saying that it is comforting to know that trouble and sorrow come to all of us. But sometimes a better perspective can relieve at least some of the distress we feel. Suffering is, and always has been, universal; Job 14:1-2 “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. (v.2) He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.” In the very first family on earth, there was trouble. Two parents (the only two) had the crushing reality that one of their own sons was a murderer. How can a parent deal with that level of trauma? How do we get up in the morning and face the next day knowing that one of our own sons murdered his brother? Trauma, literally, comes to all of us because…it is a fractured world.

When we consider the issues we face today, perspective can help. Prayer, the reading of God’s Word, the indwelling Holy Spirit, yes; but also, perspective. Where am in I in the Lord today? Am I walking close to God this morning? Being a child of God does not eliminate trials and troubles (look at king David). But it can help us to keep trouble from destroying us. Knowing that the troubles I see are evidence that God loves me, even in my trials, can bring comfort. And they are proof that Jesus had to die in my place, because I can certainly never earn salvation, as evidenced by my own broken life. My troubles and trials prove I could never be worthy of His great love, yet He loves me.

God came to redeem a fallen world, a world destroyed by sin. It is that world we see every day, and that we experience in our own homes as well. He would not have died to redeem us if we could have done something to redeem ourselves. Every pain, every heartache, every injustice we see is evidence of the great and overwhelming love of God (John 3:16), because he came to save even those who caused the pain, the heartache and the injustices we see every day. God loves, and died to redeem, those who are fallen…US, you and me. When we see the fractured lives of others, remember they see our fractured lives as well. Look at the trouble in our lives and remember, “God commendeth (or proved) his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8. While we were sinning, while we were actively rebelling against Him, He died to redeem us. The troubles we see in life should be a constant reminder of this amazing love.

This is a fractured world. It will always be full of trouble. But when Jesus saved us, He also made a great promise to those who would receive the salvation he offers: John 14:1-3 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. (V.2) In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (v.3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

When you see troubles in your life and all the fractured lives around you, try to also see the redeeming love of God reaching out to each one of them. It is a fractured world that Jesus came to save.

Death Tears the Heart

 Death Tears the Heart

My arms were just able to reach over the edge of the sink. Eight, nine, maybe ten years old; I really can’t recall just when I first started washing the dinner dishes. But, in our home all of the children did the dishes. This night was just like any other in that regard. However, I recall standing there at such a young age on that particular night because it was far different than the myriad other nights which had gone before or that would ever follow. This one stands out in my memory. In the midst of warm greasy water and rapidly fading suds I saw the door open; the swinging door between the kitchen and the laundry room. But this time it seemed to open ominously slow. Mom was just returning from an event I really did not understand yet. She and several other relatives came through that door in somber relief. As I turned to my right, from the dishes piled in my sink, I saw Mom.

I had never seen my Mother so broken. To this point in my life my mother had seldom shown anything but laughter, discipline and possibly a bit of frustration from time to time. Such sadness I had never seen in her. It gripped my heart unexpectedly. Desperately, I wanted to help, I wanted to hide and I wanted to comfort her in some way. I remained at the sink and watched, knowing it was all that I could do. Mom had just buried her father and death tore her heart.

A number of years later Betty stood by the side of her husband. He lay in a hospital bed, unconscious. I stood by, as their Pastor, silently watching, praying that somehow God might give comfort in the darkness. Betty stood holding to her husband’s hand squeezing each moment of hope. They lived as husband and wife for more than 40 years. Together they had raised several children and were able to retire in the home of their dreams. Somehow, in all the preparation they had not prepared for this moment. She stood bravely aside as a doctor entered the room for one more evaluation; one more look into a condition he already believed held no hope. I stood by praying silently that God would give me some words of solace, a guiding principle, an encouraging word, anything as I watched Betty’s heart breaking. The monitors stopped. The tone became steady. The lines were all straight. Her husband had left and gone into the presence of the Lord. Betty remained. She collapsed face first onto the breast of her husband’s body. Completely broken, death tore her heart.

Recently, a cousin I had been especially close to in our youth became ill. He had already suffered much in life. A back injury with failed surgeries and lame attempts by the medical community to repair the damage left him in constant pain. He was prescribed inept drugs to relieve the pain, leaving him all but completely confined to a wheel chair. Parkinson’s disease had also begun to take its toll. Other ailments added to the daily suffering and pain he went through. Being confined to a state penitentiary for 18 years with no real hope of ever being released added to the mental and emotional stress which undoubtedly amplified the discomfort of the many physical ailments he suffered from. Now, lying in a hospital bed under watch of doctors and law enforcement, his brain was bleeding. His family could not stand by his side. They could not be there; making their sorrow even greater. Each could only watch from a distance. It was certain to anyone who had known him well that he was a child of God, he had been born-again. Still, the pain was there. Still, the difficultly of letting go weighed heavy upon the hearts of family members. Still when he was allowed to leave his body behind, and enter the glories of heaven, death tore at their hearts.

There is no good scenario in death. When a child buries a parent, when a wife loses her husband or when families say goodbye to a loved one who has suffered greatly still death tears at the heart. Death (Romans chapter 5) has been the enemy of man since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. Death, because of sin, tears us apart. And, it will always hurt. That is normal. Not good, but normal.  

However, for believer’s death loses its great sting, its deadly barb (I Cor. 15:53-58) because, we do not die spiritually. Our bodies cease to function. But, the Apostle Paul said in II Cor. 5:8 “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” For the believer, laying this flesh aside simply allows us to enter into the presence of Christ. I John 3:2 says, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” We must be like him before we can enter his presence, I Cor. 15:53 “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” For Paul the reality of God’s presence was so great it left him longing to leave here, Phil. 1:23a “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ…” He knew we would have sorrow. Sorrow at the departure of a loved one is natural. Knowing we will have no way to contact them again as long as we live on this earth causes sorrow. However, as a prelude to that great classic passage on the rapture Paul says in, 1Thes. 4:13-14 “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep (those who have died), that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. (v.14) For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep (have died) in Jesus will God bring with him.” The unsaved are separated for all of eternity. But, for the child of God, our loved ones have not gone forever. They are coming back here with Jesus when he comes to take the Church home.

In the rapture they will come to us with Christ. And if we depart before the rapture, we will go to them in Heaven. That is our great hope, the promise of God. Still, the separation will always be difficult. Because we live in fleshly bodies in a physical world, it will always be hard to let go of those we love. It is perfectly acceptable for Christians to sorrow in death. But when we have the hope of eternal life and can be assured that heaven is just a breath away, it can be a little easier. We will miss their presence with us for this moment. And, we will see their memory played over again in our hearts many times. But we share the same promises. Ours is a heavenly country as well. Ours is an entrance to the city of God, too.  For those who are born again, Heaven is a grand reunion. Our loved ones have simply left a little earlier than we did. There is no death for us, only a passing from this life into God’s presence and a reunion with those we love. And there, never again will death tear at the heart.