Inheritance Inherent!

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.’” (Matthew 25:31-34)

In Sunday’s sermon, Pastor Sam reminded us of the last section of Matthew 25. Though we commonly refer to this passage as the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46), we should keep in mind that Jesus is teaching us about the status of humanity. At the end of our lives, we will be in one of two categories: either we are among the blessed, or we are among the wicked. (Our pastor noted that this same division, blessed versus wicked, occurs in Psalm 1. There is no other category available.)

Jesus, referring to Himself, says that He will separate the people from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And the litmus test is an interesting one: it’s a list of activities.

Our Lord notes six things:

“I was hungry…”

“I was thirsty…”

“I was a stranger…”

“I was naked…”

“I was sick…”

“I was in prison…”

Those who serve the disenfranchised are designated as sheep, and those who ignore the disenfranchised are designated as goats. On the first read, this might seem to be a works-based judgement of souls. But Psalm 1 can help us here. As we noted in yesterday’s post, there is a phrase in Psalm 1:2: But his delight is in the law of the Lord. The Hebrew word we translate as delight, chephets, suggests the act of being inclined towards or bending towards something that has great value. So, it’s not just that we are diligent to read God’s law. Our delight is indicated by our inclination to obey God’s law. Our love is expressed not just in our words, but through our works. And Jesus gives us a wonderful creed that’s easy to memorize: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.” (Matthew 25:40)

[Interestingly, this passage also brings up the question of philanthropy without faith, as there are many people who give to the poor but have no love for God. I will address that in a separate post.]

God, thank You! Pour Your love into us, and give us grace to pour Your love into the world. Help us to love Your word, and help us to live Your word. Lead us by Your Holy Spirit, today and every day. Amen.

Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Are You Truly Blessed?

Blessed is the one

    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night. (Psalm 1:1-2)

Pastor Sam asked us three questions on Sunday that I’d like us to consider today.

1: How can you claim to be blessed if you don’t meditate on the word of God?

Let’s face it: many people don’t make the association between engaging the process of meditation on God’s word and experiencing the blessing of the Lord. Though our world and even some faith-based ventures have suggested that we are capable of achieving the blessing of God through other means, Psalm 1 indicates that there must be two things present and active in us: a) a delight in the law of the Lord, and b) a constant meditation on His law.

2: How can we claim to delight in the word of God if the last thing we do before going to sleep every night is to watch programs that fill our minds with lewd jokes?

Our pastor, sharing from Psalm 1, noted that we cannot claim to be delighted with God’s law if our track record indicates that we are filling our minds with the counsel and resources of the wicked.

3: How can we go to bed meditating on the word of God if we have to get up again, turn on the light, and read, because His word is not planted in our memory?

We sometimes assume that we are blessed because we live in an environment where we are not persecuted for our faith, or because we have our temporal needs met without much strife. But, our blessing is not sourced by our environment. Our blessing is secured by our embrace of, and obedience to, the word of God. May His word live in us and move us to do His will.

What would life in this world be like if every Christian were truly blessed?

Oh, how I love Your law! I meditate on it all day long. (Psalm 119:97)

Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Grace Place.

“Open yourself to grace.” –Rev. Dr. Samuel Vassel

Blessed is the man whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. (Psalm 32:1)

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. (Psalm 1:1-2)

In Sunday’s sermon Pastor Sam noted that our blessing comes from our relationship with Jesus Christ. As we have read in Psalm 1 and Psalm 32, one of the keys to receiving the blessing of the Lord is to make sure we reject a lifestyle of sin. Our pastor urged us to present ourselves to Christ, seek His forgiveness, and pray for the infilling of the Holy Spirit, so that we will be able to resist the urge to sin.

Pastor Sam made reference to Titus 2:11-14, reminding us that we cannot count on our own “determination” or personal power to combat darkness and sin. A life of peace is achieved not in our own strength, but through the work of grace achieved by our Lord and Christ. Let us take time to reflect on these verses today.

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2:11-14)

Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reading Session

In this past Sunday’s sermon, You Know You Are Blessed When…, Pastor Sam shared a few Scripture passages that help us to see when and how God imparts His blessing on people. Today, let’s read each of the chapters that were referred to during the sermon.

Psalm 1

Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.

Not so the wicked!
    They are like chaff
    that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Psalm 32

Blessed is the one
    whose transgressions are forgiven,
    whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the one
    whose sin the Lord does not count against them
    and in whose spirit is no deceit.

When I kept silent,
    my bones wasted away
    through my groaning all day long.
For day and night
    your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
    as in the heat of summer.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you
    and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
    my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
    the guilt of my sin.

Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
    while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
    will not reach them.
You are my hiding place;
    you will protect me from trouble
    and surround me with songs of deliverance.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
    I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

Do not be like the horse or the mule,
    which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
    or they will not come to you.
Many are the woes of the wicked,
    but the Lord’s unfailing love
    surrounds the one who trusts in him.

Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;
    sing, all you who are upright in heart!

Matthew 25

“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

“‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

“Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

“‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

A Manner of Living II

How do the righteous behave? Let's take a quick look at Psalm 1:2-3.

They delight in the law of the LORD. They love God's law! They love to hear it, to be taught it, to be rebuked and informed and encouraged by it.

They meditate in the law of the LORD. They think about His law, discuss His law, recite His law.

They are strong in the LORD. The righteous are compared to a tree planted by water, able to enjoy a constancy of resources that move them into a stage of bearing fruit.

They are prosperous in the LORD. Let's not limit God to being a sovreign slot machine. While financial security is certainly within His parameters, the righteous are also the beneficiaries of "good success" because they walk in obedience to His mandate and call on their life (see Joshua 1:1-9).

Are you craving a positive commendation from God? Is your desire to please your Father in heaven? A great place to start is with this call to live a lifestyle that is pleasing to Him.

"If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love..." John 15:10

A Manner of Living

Psalm 1 presents a look at the manner in which the righteous and unrighteous conduct themselves in their day-to-day living. Let's take a quick "walk-through" of some of the images of the lost, derived from Psalm 1:1.

If you want to forfeit your blessed state, then walk in the counsel of the ungodly. "Walking in" suggests that we are carrying out the suggestion and mandate of another individual. This reminds me of the classic question, "If so-and-so tells you to go jump off a bridge, would you do it?" There is that undercurrent of danger in being a blind follower, ignorant to the consequences of heeding the word of someone whose agenda is contrary to the heart and plan of God.

If you want to forfeit your blessed state, then keep company with sinners and adapt their lifestyle. Who are we hanging out with? Who do we spend our precious time with? Where are we sowing our money and energy and talent? How do we live as salt and light without compromise? It's the challenge of being in the world, but not of it; loving and seeking and saving the lost while maintaining your faith, your integrity, your character.

If you want to forfeit your blessed state, then join in with those who mock the plan and purpose of God. This is a tricky thing to discuss, but let me be straight up with you. There are people who call themselves Christians, who are regular church attenders, some even church members holding positions of leadership, that are quick to mock the plan and purpose of God. To use a metaphor, these are they who, when the pastor has called for a church-wide fast, eat incessantly. Their words and actions indicate that they are not interested in God's program, and in fact will publicly oppose it. What a dangerous way to live.

We will continue tomorrow with a look at the way of the righteous.

Processing Plants

The Separation of Wheat from Chaff, "Old-School" style:

Threshing. Threshing loosens the edible grain (wheat) from the inedible outer hull (chaff). The grain is spread out on the ground on a hard surface (for example, a road, or a specially made location such as a threshing floor). A donkey, or an ox, or a person, walks on the grain to loosen the chaff. Or, the grain can be flailed by hand (a flail is basically two sticks attached with a small chain, and the wheat is beaten to loosen up the chaff).

Winnowing. After threshing, the wheat and chaff are thrown into the air. The wheat, which is heavy, falls back down to the ground. The chaff, which is lightweight, is blown away by the wind. A farmer could use a winnowing fork for this process (a large pitchfork), or could similarly use a winnowing fan (a basket to shake the wheat and chaff: the heavier wheat would sink to the bottom of the basket while the lightweight chaff would comprise the top layer, which again would be blown away by the wind).

Of course in our modern times we have machines that have altered some aspects of this process, but let's keep in mind that we are looking at this from the perspective of "old school".

My friends, I have to point out that the threshing and winnowing processes affect both the wheat and the chaff. Both the wheat and the chaff are flailed, or crushed underfoot, in order to separate the two. Both the wheat and the chaff are tossed into the air, or shaken in a basket, to separate the two. What remains? The substance with substance- that is, the wheat.

You know where I'm going with this. Are you remembering the analogy? The one who hears and obeys Jesus is like a wise man who built his house upon the rock... and his house was subjected to rains, floods, and buffeting. The wise man was not exempt from the shaking. But, at the end of the day his house stood. The foolish man built his house on the sand: his house fell, unable to withstand the pressure of the winds and rains (Matthew 7:24-27).

Some of you are going through this shaking right now. If you are in Christ, you'll get through it, you will be all right. But if you have ignored the wooing of the Spirit of God, if you are choosing not to hear and do the sayings of Jesus (7:26), you won't survive. Jesus is calling... how will you respond?

"Chaff Stands No Chance"

(Today's title is adapted from a quote from the sermon: "When fire passes through, chaff stands no chance.")

Some of you will have noticed that there was an atmosphere of conviction that settled in during Sunday's sermon. This phenomenon also occured three Sundays ago: please see the blog entry "What's Yours Is His." for more detail. Apparently some people really don't like being faced with the reality of their state of sinfulness and their need for Christ, particularly those who are fixtures in the community of faith and believe that their mere presence is sufficient to save themselves.

So, the wicked are like chaff. Anyone who has memorized Psalm 1 knows of the metaphor "like the chaff which the wind drives away" (1:4). But what is chaff? Pastor Benji gave a great analogy which we all can understand: chaff is trash. Chaff is a waste product. Chaff cannot be eaten, chaff cannot be planted, chaff cannot be thrown to the birds- they don't want it. Chaff's destiny is to be discarded.

There are no positive attributes.

I don't enjoy being harsh, but that seems to be the zone we're in. It's a call for no more compromising, no more duplicity in the kingdom of God. No more pretending that we are fine when our lives indicate no love and no obedience to our Lord and Master.

What does God want? Sunday's sermon gave some guidance:

Value, not worthlessness;
Usefulness, not uselessness;
Adoration, not antagonism;
Insiders, not outsiders (see Revelation 22:14-15).

Tomorrow we will have a crash course in how to separate wheat from chaff.