Devotions

Aspiring for Christ’s acceptance 3

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 10:09:34 +0100

2 Corinthians 5v9
Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

Part Three - Accepted
There is a question just now that I want to flag up for you. How can our labours make us acceptable to God? That sounds like it contradicts what we know. We are saved by faith, not of works, lest any man should boast. By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Without faith it is impossible to please God.

If we look at this word ‘accepted’ a little more, it will help us understand, and it will shed light on the kind of labours Paul has in mind (see previous Devotional).

Again this is a strong word. It is much more than merely tolerating something.
We tolerate or accept that planes fly from our airport today and every Sunday. We would prefer that all traffic on the Lord’s Day was for god and needed purposes. We accept it. We put up with it.

But this word is much stronger that that bare acceptance. This accepting is approving, well-pleasing. In fact half of the times this word comes up in the New Testament it is translated well-pleasing.
Paul is here then aspiring to be well pleasing to God, and he is urging us to live in the same way.

For Paul the sweetest thing is not Christ’s gift of a new body in heaven, but Christ’s approval. To win the approval of Christ, to please him, that is the highest ambition Paul has.
Let that be your highest aim too, dear Christian. Doesn’t the very thought of it thrill your soul? The approval of Christ. To hear him say, well done good and faithful servant. Yes - that IS what we want. We could even say, what would heaven itself be, without the approval of Christ? It would be empty to us and hollow.

So now then, HOW shall we satisfy our ambition, how will we meet our aspiration? How will you have God’s acceptance over what you will do today, or this week?
You know this answer to this - it is by the activity of faith. The labour of this verse is the labour of faith. It is the work that loves to please Christ, that counts it a high honour to serve him. There is no place for works righteousness here.

Let us try to make this concrete. In the morning some mundane task awaits you. You do it every morning. How will you perform it?
Take a hold of this verse. Believe what is said here. Operate in faith. See Christ ahead of you in the task. Render it as service to himself, and he will accept it. He will ever remember that cup of cold water.

Now it is sure that he accepts in grace. It is gracious of God to accept any of our service. Here his promise comes in. He kindly promises to accept our service. Our faith rests on that promise.

Now what if something lies across your path that cannot please Christ, that cannot really be done as service to him? Leave it alone. Don’t even start it. If it cannot be service to Christ, it should not be done at all. If faith cannot be in it, you have thrown away your shield. Lose the task, not your shield.

The moment you have to leave faith out of your activity, that moment you cannot please God. Without faith it is impossible to please him.
Dear Christian - set your life to this axis: a sea glittering with moments to serve and please your Saviour. Launch out into it!

Aspiring for Christ’s acceptance 2

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:01:47 +0100

2 Corinthians 5v9
Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

Part Two - Labour

Paul talks about labouring here. It is a rich and full word, so we need to stop at it and open it out a little. It is made up of two words: to honour, and to love. Paul’s life is spent labouring for the approval of his Lord. He counts it an honour. In love to Jesus he bends himself to every new task.
For Paul it is an honour to live his life for Christ, literally a ‘labour of love.’ He loves to serve Christ and to please Christ in every duty, small or great.

Think for a moment of how many things we all do in any one day. For Paul there is a great joy that each and every one of them can be laid down as service to his Saviour.

What a life Christ has given to us Christian! He has given us a life where every repeated task can be offered up in faith and joy as an act of service to himself. You have no duty or task that cannot be joined to Paul’s labour in this verse.

What an honour that Christ has an interest in the details of your life! He has promoted and exalted your job, your cooking, your washing, from being ordinary to the point of contempt, into acts of service to himself!

He has made them holy. He has sanctified them. He has turned them into tens and hundreds of moments each day to please him.
Think of it this way:
What a day lies ahead of us every morning when we wake? A day glittering with moments to serve God and to please him. You have no doubt stood as the shore of the ocean or a mighty loch and seen a thousand sparkles as the sun reflects from each wave crest. That is what lies before you every day when you wake up - a day sparkling with moments to serve Jesus.

Oh lost friend what is your day in comparison? Who do you please? Why do you bother?
See how much better is the service of Christ. Each moment and each task is turned into an opportunity of having God’s favour. Flee to Christ!
And that takes us to the second word here: ‘accepted,’ which we will consider next week.

Aspiring for Christ’s acceptance

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:17:08 +0100

2 Corinthians 5v9
Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

Part One - Introduction

Paul has earlier detailed graphically the struggles and afflictions of the Christian in chapter 4. He begins this chapter with a much brighter note. He turns to thinking about the definite and frankly glorious future for the believer.

Whatever happens to our bodies, God has a place prepared for our souls. His hands have made it. It is not fragile and weak and decaying, but it is eternal. Yes, we are looking forward to that!
We are groaning for that! We are longing for the day when this outer part of our beings is transferred for a far greater body - our heavenly body!

And we have such a confidence to profess this because already God has stamped his Spirit into our hearts as a sign that we belong to him, that he will never leave us.

For Paul the Christian, Paul the believer involved in struggles and trials and dangers and threats, this boosts his confidence. It raises his morale. To think of what God has ready for him at the instant of his death - what an encouragement for the Christian struggling through this life.
Dear readers, brothers & sisters in Christ, heaven is ready and waiting to receive you. You who are lost still soul - there is indeed a heaven to be won and a hell to shun!

But in v9 Paul reveals his motivation. And it comes as a surprise given the context. Yes a heavenly body, prepared by God awaits. Yes the Spirit even now is God’s pledge of great blessings to come. Yes these truths help him to bear with the burdens he has in this life.
But his aim, his labour, his ambition is not set on comforts for himself, but to please God, to please Jesus Christ his Saviour. Heaven itself is nothing to Paul without the smile, the approval and the acceptance of his Master.

This is the greatest motivation a man can have in life: to please God. Our famous catechism answer reveals the very same thing as our chief end (purpose) in life.

Is that the basis of your actions? Is that the bedrock of your life? Is it the axis around which you organise yourself? To please Christ Jesus.

If it seems to hard for you, go back to Paul. He was a man probably more confident than any Christian reading this, that he was heaven bound, that glorious rewards were awaiting him, that blessings untold would be his forevermore. He knew that.

He tells us that he was ‘always confident’ of it. But what interested him more, what moved and motivated him more, was the smile and approval of his Saviour.
Friend think of the riches of the eternal heaven, and then realise that Paul is telling us that he has found something even better, even more important and even more inspiring - pleasing God.

Moses: triumphant in prayer (#4 in series) Rev R Ross

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:58:27 +0100

Exodus 17:13

4. Moses Triumphant in Prayer

A/ Israel’s enemies defeated (vs13)

Joshua and his troops prevailed over Amalek by the edge of the sword. Their victory had been achieved by much effort on Joshua’s part, but by a greater effort on behalf of Moses. Their success was only the start of the war with Amalek, a war that was to continue for generations to come (vs16)

Christ our great victorious King ensures that we triumph over our enemy of sin. There will be many battles but the victory is assured by Christ our triumphant king (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)

B/ The Lord was glorified (vs 15)

Moses ensured that the credit did not come to him or Joshua. He built an altar to be a memorial to the Lords great triumph over Amalek. He called it “ Jehovah-nissi” (the Lord is my banner), so that none could be in doubt about where the victory had been achieved.

Christ our great victorious King is given all the glory of the victory. We are unable to achieve anything without Him, but with Christ ‘we are more than conquerors”(Romans 8:37)

What instruction we have in this passage of Scripture of a great deliverance wrought through the supplication of Moses for Israel.
Yet there is a greater than Moses come, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who enables his people to triumph by grace. He is the one who enables his people to persevere in midst of their trials. He is the one who will receive his people into glory at the end of their life’s journey.
Is this true of you dear reader? Are you a follower of Jesus Christ? If you are then take great encouragement, Scripture reveals to us Jesus Christ the great Prophet, Intercessor and triumphant King.
Let us look to Christ in the midst of life’s battles and be found always not trusting in the arms of flesh.

Moses, a great Intercessor (#3 in series) Rev R Ross

Thu, 29 May 2008 11:55:31 +0100

Exodus 17:12

3. Moses a great Intercessor

A/ Moses prayed from a high position (vs10)
Moses ascended up to the top of the hill. It gave him a good vantage point to view the battle down below. It meant that those in the battle would clearly see Moses at the top of the hill praying for their victory, and would be encouraged to fight on to prevail. Joshua and his troops had a physical battle, but Moses had a spiritual one.

Christ our great intercessor is ascended up on high to the right hand of God where he continually intercedes for his people. Let us lift our eyes from the battle beneath in this world, and be encouraged to trust in our great intercessor on high (Hebrews 7:25).

B/ Moses prayed with the Rod in his hand (vs9)
Moses lifted his hands in prayer holding the rod of the Lord. The rod was symbolic of the great deliverance that they had experienced from Egypt. It was also later put into the Ark of the Covenant. This was a visible reminder to Moses and the people to trust in the Lord, and not their own might.

Christ our great intercessor prays for us at the right hand of God not with a sign of the covenant, but as our great Covenant Redeemer. The Covenant of Grace is secure in the hands of the Redeemer, and so are his people.

C/ Moses needed support (vs12)
Moses was an aged man, who felt the burden of the work of prayer. He had to be supported by Aaron the Priest and Hur the Prince to enable him to keep his hands out-stretched to the Lord. Moses was only a man.

Christ our great intercessor needs none to support him. He is completely sufficient in himself in his threefold office of Prophet, Priest and King. His intercession is never wavering but always constant.

D/ Moses prayed to the end of the day (vs12)
Moses was enabled to pray until the sun went down. The battle would cease then for there was no more daylight. By then, Joshua had gotten the victory.

Christ our great intercessor will continue to intercede for his people until their sun has set in this world. We will continue to enjoy his protection and intercession on our behalf until we see Him in glory (Psalm 17:15).