FIVE LOOKS FOR THE BELIEVER
Isa. 45:22
Morning Meditation 8/31/2014
"Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else."
I understand that this verse is the one that the Holy Spirit used to arrest Charles Spurgeon. Spurgeon answered the invitation by going to the Lord in prayer and trusting Him alone for salvation. I will not go into detail concerning Spurgeon's search for the Lord. But he was driven into a little Methodist chapel by a snow storm. He took a seat and a deacon got up to bring the message.. The pastor didn't even make it to church that night. The deacon used this text to preach from. He pointed at Spurgeon and quoted this scripture as he pointed to Spurgeon. Spurgeon was mortally wounded, and looked to the Lord, and was saved just as the verse promises. So our first point is,
THE OUTWARD LOOK OF SALVATION
This text is not just for those to whom Isaiah writes. It is for us as well. It is a look to see the invisible. To do this we must realize that the invisible God is where we are. We just can't see Him. It is a God honoring look of faith. This is necessary in the process of becoming God's child. Hebrews 11:6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
God continues to call people to salvation. Some early Christians began to sow seeds of doubt about the Lord's return. Peter answered these doubters in 2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." It is amazing how long God has waited for the prodigal to come home. God does truly love the world (John 3:16). The only reason for the seeming delay is that God is not willing that any should perish. Next,
THE OUTWARD LOOK OF SERVICE
Jesus won a sinful woman as He waited by Jacob's well. John 4:28-29, "The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" The men of the city had to come and see for themselves. As the men came out to see Jesus for themselves, Jesus spoke to His disciples in John 4:35, "Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest."
The major task of the Church is to see the unsaved of this world as a harvest field. Then to take it a step further, we are to see that the harvest is ripe now.
The world is desperately in need of Jesus. The hunger is there but man goes about trying to find satisfaction in the things of this world.
Our hearts are empty apart from Christ. There is a God sized place in every man, and Jesus is the only One who can fill that place.
Our service is to take the gospel to every man. We labor on a field totally corrupted by Satan. The people of this world do not have a clue. We are the only ones who have the solution to man's need. If we don't go, God does not have another plan. We need to lift up our eyes and see that the fields are white unto harvest. Next we see,
THE UPWARD LOOK OF FAITH
God is up. David said in Psalms 5:3, "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up." David knew God was up and that he needed to look up to Him for help. David needed a lot of help. He learned that it is futile to look to man for help. So in this verse he tells us to look up.
God is glorified when one of His children looks to Him for help. John 14:13, "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."
When we need the Lord, we must look upward. That is where the Bible teaches us to look. The fact is that God is all around us. David said in Psalms 139:7-11, "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me."
Why, if God is all around us, would He teach us to look upward. God has a residence. He has a throne in heaven. Psalms 11:4 says, "The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men."
Isaiah saw this throne. Isaiah 6:1-3 says, "In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory."
Paul was caught up to Paradise. 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 says, "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter."
Paul tells us when he was caught up he could not tell whether he was in the body or out of it. The fact is that we are very body conscious especially when we begin to grow older and we become aware of the pain of old age. It is good to know that in heaven we will not be body conscious but God conscious. Another thing we learn from Paul is that God's throne is in the third heaven. Then finally, we learn that the name of the place is Paradise.
Paradise is, "A Persian word (pardes), properly meaning a "pleasure-ground" or "park" or "king's garden." It came in course of time to be used as a name for the world of happiness and rest hereafter.
The Lord spoke to the Church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:7. He said, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God."
There is no way to describe the beauty of the Paradise of God. The thing of importance is that God tells us that it is a place. Christians go to a place and it is not the cold, dark, damp earth. The day the Christian's body dies he takes his flight, accompanied by the angels to a place called Paradise. Someone hold my mules!!!
THE INWARD LOOK OF ENQUIRY
This is an inward look into the Scriptures. Here is where God meets with His children. James 1:25, "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."
When we need answers to life's problems, it is to the BOOK we fly. We begin to turn its pages until we have found the answer. God has a way of making the ancient Book apply to our present problems, and gives us the impressions in spirit that we have just heard from Him.
Jesus said of His Word in John 6:63-64, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him." Jesus teaches in these two verses that His Words are "spirit .. . . and life." Then He says, "But there are some of you that believe not." Jesus connects the Words He speaks to the faith of the one spoken to. The believer finds nourishment, strength, direction and great joy with his personal contact with Christ, when he reads the Word believingly.
In this day of apostasy, scholars are questioning God's Word. They do not believe that they have an adequate translation. So the market is flooded with all kinds of translations that they want us to buy. They say, "This translation makes God's Word clearer." But when you compare the translations with each other, they use different words meaning different things. If God's Word is verbally inspired (the very words were the one's God spoke through the human author), woe be to the man who takes it on himself to change what God has said. I have no doubt that we have in our King James Bible the best translation available. I use no other and recommend that all of us do the same.
When we look into our Bible, it is a look of inquiry. James 1:25 says, "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."
Next as we look it should be,
A LOOK OF SELF EXAMINATION
2 John 1:8, "Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward."
This verse deals with rewards. It teaches that we can lose our rewards. First of all, salvation is not a reward. So John is not even hinting at the loss of salvation. But he is teaching that one can be a faithful child of God, and go back into the world and lose every reward he could have gotten had he remained faithful.
1 Corinthians 3:13-15, "Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."
We need to examine ourselves. Has something happened in our lives that has caused us to withdraw from faithful service. I know many, very many, who used to faithfully serve the Lord. These people do not even go to church any more. It is amusing how absolutely dumb we can be. If we allow someone in the church, or even some pastor, to cause us to fall by the wayside, who is hurt? First of all, the One who saved us is hurt. It hurts the Lord to see us withdraw. Second we are hurting ourselves. There is much to be gained as we go to the house of God and hear His word preached and taught. Third, we withdraw from a cooperative effort to get the gospel out to the world. The Lord has commanded us to take the gospel to the world. Therefore it is disobedience for us to withdraw from being actively engaged in the work of the Lord. Fourth, we manifest real stupidity by letting the person who hurt us control our lives. We are under the enemies control if we allow him to keep us away from God's house, fellowship with God's people, and doing God's work.
May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
