CLEAVING TO THE LORD

Acts 9:23

Morning Meditation 3/20/2014

"Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord."

I used to hear people say, "you must hang on the Lord if you are going to be saved." That always bothered me. I know myself too well. If I'm going to be saved, I must have someone who will hang on to me. And that is the way it is. That would be like God telling Noah to build and ark, load all the animals inside, and fix some handle bars on the outside of the ark where he and his family could hang on to through the flood. Noah and his family would have washed of with the first wave! But that didn't happen because God shut them in!!!

I am not hanging on to the handle bars. The Lord has me in His hand and won't let go!!! John 10:27-29, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand."

At the time of our text, a real revival was going on at Antioch. Acts 11:22-23 says, "Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord."

First, they heard of what was going on at Antioch. Then they sent forth Barnabas to check these things out. Then it says when Barnabas came, "and had seen the grace of God, was glad . . ." Grace can be seen. It was working in such a way in these who had embraced the grace of God, it caused great joy in Barnabas. The words "was glad" means "to rejoice exceedingly." Then Barnabas "exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord." The words, "with purpose of heart," means, "a firm determination that is rooted in the heart or the innermost being." Barnabas was saying that they should not allow any thing, or any one, change them. He said, "You have the real thing. Don't let anyone change you from what you have right now."

Let's notice the following ways that one can cleave unto the Lord.

BY PRAYERFUL DEPENDENCE UPON HIM

Philippians 4:6 says, "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."

Paul says, "Be careful for nothing." The words, "Be careful," translates, "merimnao" and means, "to be anxious about or to be troubled with cares," for nothing.

If we are to practice this principle in our lives, then what can we do when trouble arises? Paul says, "but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." When Jesus took the five loaves and two small fishes, He gave thanks, and then fed the multitude. Jesus prayed with the kind of faith that could thank God for answering His request before it happened. This is what thanksgiving means. It is not thanking God for what He has done for us, but for what we believe He is going to do in answer to our prayer. Next, we cleave to the Lord,

BY BEING TAUGHT BY HIM

Jesus said in Matthew 11:29, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."

Jesus is inviting His disciples to come and sit at His feet and learn of Him like Mary did. Luke 10:39 says, "And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word." Martha was upset at Mary because she needed her help in the kitchen. So she complained to Jesus. Luke 10:40-42, "But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." There is nothing more important than sitting at Jesus feet and being taught by Him.

We need to be taught by the Lord. Ephesians 4:20-21 says, "But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:" The obvious truth taught in these two verses is that Jesus still teaches His disciples. This is the appeal Paul is making to these Christians.

How does Jesus teach today? He teaches through His Word. The Bible is not a dead book. Jesus taught in John 6:63, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." The life you have within you, i.e., the inner man is fed by the words that Jesus spoke.

This is the reason that Christians need to stay away from the faulty translations in our day. One of the things that nauseates me in these days is for a believer to say, "Well, I use this other translation because I can understand it better. It speaks on my level.." My dear friend may I suggest that if you can understand it as you suggest, you do not have the right translation. The Bible is not just understood by the words that are spoken, but also by the Holy Spirit's illumination. And if you have the illumination of the Holy Spirit, you will not have problems understanding what the King James Bibles says.

There are two things we need to be aware of. First, the Word of God is VERBALLY inspired. That means that every WORD is inspired and given to the writers of Scripture. Any translation of Scripture that changes the words so that the meaning can be better understood, is Satanic. We cannot change a word in the Scripture to another word so that we can better understand it without perverting the word that God gave. The second thing we need to understand is that all the modern translations do not stay true to the Textus Receptus from which the King James Bible is translated. They make changes in the text based on two so-called most ancient manuscripts that were not originals at all, but faulty copies that were made by men who thought they had the right to change an original word if they didn't understand it. So those men who did not believe in the Verbally inspired Word of God, took liberties to make those changes. And if we accept a translation based on those faulty copies, then we put ourselves in the same boat as those who took those liberties. And what we call a better understanding, is not a correct understanding at all. It is an understanding of a perverted text. I know what I have stated here is offensive because it puts the lie on those of us who have accepted the lie of a perverted translation.

Incidentally if you do not agree with me on this subject don't write to try to straighten me out. You can't help me. My mind is in concrete on this subject.. If it offends you, just hit the del button on your computer. I am not the authority for any one. But the Bible is. One final statement: our translation can be no more accurate that the text from which it is translated, i.e., garbage in, garbage out. Next, one cleaves to the Lord,

BY A READY RESPONSE TO HIS WORD

John 14:21, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."

Jesus taught here that it is not enough to have His commandments, one must keep them. Jesus said, "he it is that loveth me." One does not have the right to say, "I love the Lord, if at the same time he is not keeping His Word or doing what He says. John 12:48, "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."

Rejecting Jesus is connected to the clause, "and receiveth not my words." Jesus said those guilty of this, "hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."

When one stands in the judgment, he will be judged by the words that Jesus spoke. Jesus can and will recall every thing man has done or thought that is contrary to the Word of God. Men will deny they thought things, and when they do, Jesus will just replay the thoughts of the heart and they will be revealed so that all the world can see. Men will deny their sinful acts, and Jesus will just replay before the assembled universe, so that the very acts and thoughts are replayed before their eyes so that the sins are there to be the witness. There will be no circumstantial evidence but the sins committed will testify against them. They will have no choice but to admit the wrong. If man can make a TV that will capture signals in the air and put them on a screen where they can be seen, is it absurd to believe that Jesus cannot replay every thing one has done or thought on the screen so that what Jesus has accused man of will be able to be replayed. The accused will see himself doing it. There will be no condemnation based on circumstantial evidence. Jesus does not need a witness against man, He just replays the very sin, so that the witness is the very act the man has committed.

We cleave to Christ by a ready response to His Word. Next, we cleave to Christ,

BY A WHOLE HEARTED SURRENDER TO HIM

Romans 12:1 says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

This is one of those outstanding verses that makes very clear what is expected of the saved. This verse was not written to the unsaved. The unsaved are never asked to serve the Lord. There is no service that will save. Only Jesus can save. But once we are saved, we are asked to serve as the proof of our salvation. So Paul says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren . . ." The word "beseech" is the word of one who is pleading his cause. Then he states the cause: "present your bodies a living sacrifice." Paul says in substance, "do this with the thought in mind of the mercies of God you have experienced." The living sacrifice must be "holy." God's people are to be holy. A holy life is "acceptable unto God." And it is one's "reasonable service." It is not unreasonable for a man who has been redeemed from the slave market of sin, by the death of Jesus on the cross, to be expected to live a holy life. It is only reasonable.

Next, cleave to the Lord,

BY LIVING A LIFE OF FAITH IN HIM

Paul says in Galatians 2:16, "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."

We are constantly believing IN Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. Only Christ had the kind of faith that glorifies God. What kind of faith justifies? A perfect faith justifies. Do you have a perfect faith? I must confess I do not have a perfect faith. If I did, I could move mountains. Jesus said I could. Have you ever tried to move a mountain by faith? You say, "no one can do that." Well, you are wrong about that. Jesus could move mountains. You say, "He never did." Well, you are right about that. But I say He could. If one can take five loaves and two small fishes and feed five thousand, he could move a mountain. If one can walk on the waters of a storm tossed sea, like I walk on land, He could move a mountain. If one could stand outside the tomb of a dead man and say, "Lazarus! Come forth!!" and that dead man come forth from the dead, He could move a mountain. If one could say of His death on the cross, "I have power to lay it down (His life on the cross), and I have power to take it again," He could move a mountain. John 10:17-18, "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father." (The parentheses mine).

Jesus did not only die for us, He believed God His Father as a man for us.. There was never a moment where Jesus hesitated to believe God completely. God was no risk for Him. But what about us. Do we have that kind of faith? I am afraid not. But we can believe in Jesus and He will believe in His Father for us, just like He died on the cross for us. Our little faith in Him is justified by His perfect faith in His Father for us.

Paul said again in Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Paul said, "I live by the faith of the Son of God . . ." I challenge you to run to your modern translations and see if they have not changed "of" to "in." "Of" is the correct translation of the verbally inspired Word of God.

If in this meditation you feel like a hammer has been dropped on your foot, please understand, I do not say what I say about the modern translations to offend but to inform. I say it as one who is absolutely nothing apart from my Lord and Saviour. I say it to help and not to anger any person. I love you. I just think I would appreciate one telling me the truth. There can be no change, if the truth is not stated.

In case you are interested in the study of the manuscript evidence, please read MANUSCRIPT EVIDENCE, COUNTERFEIT OR GENUINE MARK 16? JOHN 8?, TRUE OR FALSE? By David Otis Fuller. These are three different books.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White