Blog Archives - WELCOME TO THE JOY OF TROY

June 20, 2018

6/20/2018

Obedience by Faith                        GENUINE OBEDIENCE

        Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness. Rom. 6:16.

    "Every soul that refuses to give himself to God is under the control of another power. He is not his own. He may talk of freedom, but he is in the most abject slavery....While he flatters himself that he is following the dictates of his own judgment, he obeys the will of the prince of darkness."--The Desire of Ages, p. 466. "Unless we do yield ourselves to the control of Christ, we shall be dominated by the wicked one. We must inevitably be under the control of one or the other of the two great powers that are contending for the supremacy of the world."--Ibid., p. 324.

    Everyone in this world, everyone in the church, is under the control either of God or of Satan. As we choose to enter into the faith relationship with God, this enables Him to be in control of our direction, and our direction will be upward, in spite of the occasional misdeed. If we do not choose to have a relationship with God (and there are too many church members who have not), then our direction is controlled by Satan, and it will be downward, in spite of the occasional good deed.

    God's ultimate goal for us is that not only will He be in control of our direction but that we will continue this relationship until He is able to lead us to be under His absolute control all of the time. He will hold over us absolute sway--by our own choice. And we will be possessed by the Holy spirit. Don't tell me that that kind of person would be unable to obey!

    The devil's purpose is that we will stay apart from a relationship with Jesus so that he will have control of our direction, until he reaches his goal for us. His ultimate goal is to have us under his absolute sway, and have us possessed by him. And, please, devil possession can be manifested in more ways than just frothing at the mouth and rolling in the dirt. The Pharisees in the days of Christ were possessed by the same evil spirit as the demoniac in the Temple.

    When realize our condition as sinners, and surrender ourselves to the control of God, He brings us to the point of obedience--obedience by faith in Him alone. To be controlled by God is the only route to genuine obedience.

June 19, 2018

6/19/2018

Obedience by Faith                        CONTROLLED BUT FREE

        Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. Rom. 6:13.

    An instrument is something that is used and controlled by the artisan or the soldier. An ax in the hands of a 4-year-old will not bring down a giant tree in the forest. But an ax in the hands of an experienced woodsman will bring down the tree. The law, being weak through the flesh, is never going to be kept by people apart from Christ. But when a person becomes an instrument in the hands of Christ, then obedience is possible.

    An instrument is a passive thing, but many of us are afraid of the word passive. Someone asks, "Do you mean that I am to yield up my will to God, and be controlled by Him, so that I won't even choose what color of wallpaper to put on the wall? I won't even choose what color of socks to wear, or what dress to put on?" Well, I'd like to ask you a question: What's so frightening about that? You know, I have chosen the wrong wallpaper a few times. I would just as soon have a little help with the wallpaper! Especially with hanging it! But if you don't want to go that far, then go at least this far: We are absolutely dependent upon God's control for obedience to His law.

    We don't have to be afraid of becoming puppets, of losing our power of choice, or our individuality. If it is the Creator who invites us to come under His control, why does the matter seem so scary? Our Creator is the One who wanted us in His image, with individuality and power of choice, to begin with. The idea of making us "free moral agents" was His in the first place. Can't we safely leave the rest of the road in His hands, and respond to His invitation to yield ourselves to His control?

    My son used to like to jump off the piano bench into my arms. It wasn't his idea at first. I thought it up! I put him up there and said, "Jump. I'll catch you." Without a moment's hesitation, he jumped. And I caught him. Why? Because he trusted me. If I trust my heavenly Father, and He invites me to come under His control, to surrender myself to Him, will I not be safe in His hands? Trusting Him is the only kind of real freedom there is.

June 18, 2018

6/18/2018

Obedience by Faith                        ONLY TWO MASTERS

        No man can serve two masters. Matt. 6:24.

    Obedience can come only by faith, first of all, because of the nature of mankind. We are sinners. We will be sinners until Jesus comes, and sinners cannot produce obedience. Second, obedience can come only by faith; because since we are sinners and cannot produce obedience apart from God, all we can do is give up ever hoping to produce any real obedience. The only thing we can do is surrender, give up on ourselves, submitting totally to the control of Jesus Christ.

    What does it mean to be controlled by God? I used to think that there were three choices as to who could be in control of my life. I thought that we could either be under the control of God, or we could be under the control of Satan, or we could be in charge of ourselves and run our own lives. There are many young people, teen-agers especially, who would like the option of being able to be in control of themselves. They have experienced the thrill of breaking from the nest, and are eager to do their own thing.

    It comes as a surprise to discover that there's no such thing as being in control of ourselves. We are either under the control of one or the other of two powers--that's all. The only control we have is to choose which power is going to control us. Had it not been for the cross, we would have been hopelessly under the devil's control, with no other option. But Jesus at the cross made it possible for God to give us another choice--the choice to come under His control.

    Being under the control of Satan brings the most abject slavery. Choosing to come under God's control brings the greatest freedom. But it's still control. "Know ye not, that to whomye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness. But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered unto you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness" (Rom. 6:16-18). The question here is whether I'm a servant of sin and Satan or a servant of Jesus. There is no other choice. Jesus Himself talked about only two masters, and you can't serve both. It's always one or the other. The choice is open to each of us today to choose who will control our lives.

June 17, 2018

6/17/2018

Obedience by Faith                        GOD PLANTS SEEDS, NOT TREES

        So is the kingdom of God....First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. Mark 4:26-28.

    It would be wonderful if it were true that from the first time we were brought to the place of giving up on ourselves and surrendering our will to Christ we had uninterrupted victory. But we must face reality. A growing Christian does not experience constant dependence upon God's power. When God plants a tree, He plants a seed. When He plants corn, first comes a blade, then the ear, and after that the full corn in the ear. So there's no need for discouragement when we realize that our obedience is not perfect all the time.

    In the first place, God doesn't accept us because of our obedience. He accepts us when we come to Him, presenting the merits of Jesus in dying in our place. Our acceptance before Him, and the certainty of our salvation, is already settled, as we continue to accept what Jesus did for us at the cross. And second, God Himself allows for growth.

    The only way to victory and obedience is to look to Jesus, and what He has done and wants to do in our lives. As we grow as Christians, our trust and our total dependence upon His power is going to be inconstant. At times we will remember that we cannot overcome Satan in our own strength. We won't even try. We will look to Jesus for victory, and He will give it to us. At other times we will think that we can manage things ourselves, and we will fall and fail and end up in defeat. But this is not reason for discouragement. God has provided power for us to obey, and also forgiveness and pardon for sin.

    There is a statement that I think should be written in the flyleaf of every Bible: "There are those who have known the pardoning love of Christ and who really desire to be children of God, yet they realize that their character is imperfect, their life faulty, and they are ready to doubt whether their hearts have been renewed by the Holy Spirit. To such I would say, Do not draw back in despair. We shall often have to bow down and weep at the feet of Jesus because of our shortcomings and mistakes, but we are not to be discouraged. Even if we are overcome by the enemy, we are not cast off....As we come to distrust our own power, let us trust the power of our Redeemer."--Steps to Christ, p. 64.

June 16, 2018

6/16/2018

Obedience by Faith                        NO ADVANTAGE FOR THE STRONG

        He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Isa. 40:29.

    The good news of salvation by faith in Jesus is not merely good news for the strong person. It is good news for the weakest person as well. This is true for obedience as well as for eternal life. Because genuine obedience always comes from within, and because the strongest person, apart from Christ, can produce only outward obedience, none have an advantage in overcoming.

    But what about the relationship with Christ? The effort involved in the fight of faith, in coming to Christ initially and in continuing to come, does not always happen spontaneously. And if that faith relationship with Jesus is the entire basis of the Christian life, then doesn't the strong person have an advantage after all?

    Have you ever read that "when it is in the heart to obey God, when efforts are put forth to this end, Jesus accepts this disposition and effort as man's best service, and He makes up for the deficiency with His own divine merit"?--Signs of the Times, June 16, 1890. Sometimes we have read this sort of statement and concluded that it is talking about putting forth effort in trying hard to obey the commandments. But if you check the context, if you read the whole article from which it was taken, you will find that it is referring primarily to the effort put forth in seeking the relationship with God, from which all genuine obedience springs. It is talking about having the desire in the heart to obey God by opening the door and inviting Him into your life. It is talking about the effort involved in reserving that quiet corner of the day for fellowship and communion with Him, so that He will be able to go with you all through the day. When you do that, then Christ with His own divine merit will make up for deficiencies in the constancy that the growing Christian feels.

    The weakest person, who can't stop his drinking or smoking or anything else, who also fears that he cannot enter into a meaningful private life with God, has hope too, because God will meet him more than halfway. When it comes to overcoming sins, God doesn't meet me more than halfway--He has to do it all.

June 15, 2018

6/15/2018

Obedience by Faith                        HOPE FOR THE WEAKEST

        Who through faith...out of weakness were made strong. Heb. 11:33, 34.

    One time I was talking to the husband of one of my church members. He was an alcoholic. Looking at me through bleary eyes, he said, "I admire the Seventh-day Adventists. It takes a strong person to be a Seventh-day Adventist." Do you agree with that? Or is it possible for a weak person to be a Seventh-day Adventist, as well?

    For too long, religion has catered to the strong-willed people. We have tended to attract that kind of members to the church. At any time that Jesus as our only hope of salvation, and our only power for obedience, is not emphasized as the dominant theme, it is inevitable that we are going to end up with some sort of do-it-yourself system.

    When we realize that God wants us to surrender ourselves to Him, to give up on ourselves and on the idea that we can ever produce genuine obedience, we begin to understand what Paul meant when he said, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" (Gal. 2:20, R.S.V.). Through the power of an indwelling Christ, the weakest person in the world, as well as the strongest, is assured of victory.

    It was the strong-willed people who crucified Jesus when He was here. They were threatened by His acceptance of weak people. They didn't want to hear about surrendering themselves, giving up their will, their power of choice, to God. A group of them attended Matthew's feast one day, and The Desire of Ages, page 280, describes their response to Jesus' teachings. When they discovered that there was no way of weaving themselves into the plan of salvation, they rejected it. There are thousands of people who want a religion that allows them in some way to weave themselves into the picture. They want to earn a part of their way themselves. And when they discover that there's nothing they can do but fall at Jesus' feet in humility and admit that they cannot produce anything of value apart from Him, this becomes too heavy a cross to bear.

    It is crucifying to admit that we cannot overcome sin, that we cannot obey, that we cannot produce righteousness, but that Jesus must do all of this for us. But it is only in taking up the cross daily that we follow Him.

June 14, 2018

6/14/2018

Obedience by Faith                    CHOOSING TO LET GOD CHOOSE

        And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out. Matt. 5:29.

    Jesus referred to the problem of surrender in very interesting words. He said, "If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee....And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee." Have you ever pondered this passage? I'm thankful for the insight given in Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, page 61: "It is through the will that sin retains its hold upon us. The surrender of the will is represented as plucking out the eye or cutting off the hand."

    Someone says, "If I'm supposed to give up my will, that sounds to me as though I'm going to go through life maimed and crippled." For the high achiever, the capable person, this seems disconcerting. Sometimes they even become angry at it. "God made us in his image," they even say, "He's not going to take away our wills. He's not going to make automatons out of us."

    I'd like to invite you to read Steps to Christ, page 47, very carefully before this day is over. Within the context of that page, will is defined as our power of choice. Every time you read the word will, substitute power of choice, and see what you come up with. You can conclude nothing else than that surrender is giving up our power of choice.

    "Oh, but I'll be crippled!" Well, if God invites me to give up my power of choice, can't I leave the question of whether or not I'm going to be crippled to Him? God invites us to surrender our will toward everything except the continuing relationship with Him. We are always free to choose whether to continue seeking Him. We never lose our power of choice there.

    Let's get more practical about it. Say I have a problem: smoking. And God says, "If you will give up your power of choice toward everything except your relationship with Me, an entire change can be wrought in your life." Is the victory gained by choosing not to smoke? No, it doesn't work that way. Instead, I give up my power of choice to Him, and exercise my power of choice toward the faith relationship. Jesus then comes in and lives His life in me, and He chooses not to smoke! Obedience comes only by faith, because we are invited to give up on ourselves and allow Christ to control us and choose for us, as we surrender more and more constantly to Him.

June 13, 2018

6/13/2018

Obedience by Faith                        THE FRUIT OF THE FRUIT OF THE FRUIT

        But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Rom. 6:22.

    If obedience or disobedience is the last issue to be decided in this world (see The Desire of Ages, p. 763), but if, because I am a sinner by nature and cannot obey, then there is only one possible thing for me to do. That is to give up on myself, admit that I cannot do it, and realize that the only way obedience can happen is through faith and trust in the One who does have the power to change me from the inside. "We cannot keep ourselves from sin for one moment. Every moment we are dependent upon God....Christ lived a life of perfect obedience to God's law, and in this He set an example for every human being. The life that He lived in this world we are to live through His power....The Saviour took upon Himself the infirmities of humanity and lived a sinless life, that men might have no fear that because of the weakness of human nature they could not overcome. Christ came to make us 'partakers of the divine nature,' and His life declares that humanity, combined with divinity, does not commit sin."--The Ministry of Healing, p. 180.

    Right here many people become nervous. When we look to ourselves, we realize how far short we come. But we are not to look to ourselves, but to the power of God. This is how it works: the relationship with God, based on communication with Him day by day, results in the fruit of faith. Faith results in the fruits of the Spirit. And the fruits of the Spirit results in obedience. All of them spring from the relationship of personal fellowship with the Lord Jesus. Jesus lived His life in this world through the power of His Father, the power that came from above--not from the power that came from within. In so doing He became our greatest example of how to live the life of faith.

    We will never be just like Jesus. Jesus was sinless from the start--we weren't. Jesus was the Son of God--we aren't. Jesus never needed a Saviour--we do. But just because we will never be exactly as Jesus was does not mean that we cannot obey as Jesus obeyed. There is a difference. By depending on Jesus as He depended on His Father, we can have victory.

June 12, 2018

6/12/2018

Obedience by Faith                        ESCAPE FROM SURRENDER

        For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. Rom. 10:3.

    A strong-willed person can use giving up his wrong deeds as an escape from true surrender, giving up on himself. Even the strong-willed person must come to the realization that although he might be able to give up the external wrong actions, within he is still the same. Only God can deal with the problem of sin on the inside.

    Perhaps some speaker tells our young people that the devil has something to do with rock music, and they get rid of their rock records. But those who have given up their rock music for any reason other than a love for Jesus, and letting Jesus come into their lives, have not really given up their rock music. When the unclean spirit is pushed out by the person, and the place is left swept and garnished, seven other spirits will come and take its place. Sin is never really pushed out by the person. Sin is always crowded out by the Lord Jesus coming in. And whenever a person tries to push out sin by his own backbone and willpower, he is going to end up in a worse condition than before. He may or may not go back to rock music. But he may go into deep pride because of his accomplishments. And pride is the worst of all sins.

    So, you see, the question of surrender can be very tricky if we think that it has to do primarily with giving up things. Surrender is giving up ourselves, and accepting Jesus' own words in John 15:5, "Without me ye can do nothing." This is not talking about the things that God has given everyone the ability to do as long as He keeps their hearts beating.    Without Jesus, you can still take out your garbage. Without a relationship with God, you can still make a million, it has been proved. Without God, you can be a sharp businessman or a mathematician or a doctor. Without God, you can even curse God. Because of His love for people, and His respect for their power of choice, He will even keep the heart beating in the chest of the man who curses Him. But without God, even the strongest person in the world cannot produce the fruits of righteousness. That's what John 15:5 is talking about. Without Him, there is no such thing as genuine obedience.

June 11, 2018

6/11/2018

Obedience by Faith                        SURRENDER OF SELF, NOT THINGS

        Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Rom. 9:33.

    If we are sinners, and cannot produce genuine obedience apart from God, then all we can do regarding ourselves is to surrender ourselves--give up on the idea that we can ever produce genuine obedience.

    The word surrender doesn't show up in the Bible. The closest thing is the word submit, found in Romans 9:30 to 10:4. "What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? (Or why?) "Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone." The stumblingstone is Jesus.

    "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge." They're ignorant about something. What is it that they're ignorant about? "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness for every one that believeth."

    Well, someone says, what kind of righteousness is this talking about? Imputed? Or imparted? It makes no difference! There is no such thing as righteousness apart from Jesus. Whether it's imputed or imparted is beside the point. The person who stumbles and does not know righteousness in either sense is the one who is trying to do it himself. Notice that they have not submitted themselves--it isn't talking about surrendering things, but surrendering self.

    The strong-willed person who quits his smoking, drinking, and dancing, apart from Christ, may become a "good" church member. But who really did it? He did. And thus even his good behavior is still sin, because he is living apart from Christ. The only kind of obedience we can ever produce on our own is merely outward. And it isn't real. True obedience comes only from Christ, through the relationship with Him.