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Convenience or conviction?
Today I am going to start with a question. It is a
question that will make us do some soul searching. I
ask you today, what motivates your behavior? But to
understand the complexity of the question that I have
just asked, we will first have to know the definition of
this small word “behavior.” The word behavior is
defined as 1. A: the manner of conducting oneself, B:
anything that an organism does involving action and
response to stimulation, C: the response of an
individual, group, or species to its environment, 2. the
way in which someone behaves; also: an instance of such
behavior, the way in which something functions or
operates. With this definition in mind, I want us to
ask ourselves again, what motivates my behavior? This
is a question that we should be asking ourselves as
Christians because oftentimes, human behavior is
motivated by that which offends God. The problem is
that many believers fail to recognize or simply ignore
the danger that exists in allowing oneself to be
motivated by that which is condemned by God. The danger
may or may not be something that will manifest itself in
the immediate future, but of one thing that we can be
sure is that it will manifest itself. Of one thing that
we can be sure is that sooner or later our behavior and
our actions will catch up to us. With this in mind
let’s now turn to the word of God to see the message
that He has in store for us.
Mathew 7:21-27
- Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the
will of my Father which is in heaven. 22Many
will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out
devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew
you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 24Therefore
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them,
I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house
upon a rock: 25And the rain descended, and
the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that
house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26And every one that heareth these sayings of
mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a
foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27And the rain descended, and the floods came, and
the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell:
and great was the fall of it.
As I
stated just a minute ago, there are a large number of
believers in the body of Christ that ignore or simply
disregard the consequences of their behavior. There are
a large number of believers in the body of Christ that
continue to act and behave in a fashion that is not
accepted by God, and the consequences of this is very
evident in the first three verses that we are studying
today. But let’s break this down into smaller sections
to fully comprehend the meaning of His words. First we
see that He tells us “Not every one that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;
but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in
heaven.” What we see reflected here simply put,
is the spiritual condition of the body of Christ in our
days. I say this because there are numerous
congregations that are full of people, there are
numerous congregations that are full of professing
believers, but in fact they are not. There are numerous
congregations that are full of people that have accepted
the Lord, but that fail to live the way that God intends
them to live. There are numerous congregations that are
full of people, who are there because it has become
convenient, and not because they have received
conviction of their actions. There are numerous
congregations that are full of people that although they
profess His name, they are unwilling to change. But the
truth of the matter is that unless a change occurs, then
you have nothing. This is something that is very well
reflected in John 3:3
when we read "Jesus answered and said unto him,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Here the
Lord tells us that we must be born again, in other words
we need to start from scratch. Think about this for a
second or two. When an infant is born, what knowledge
or behavior does he have? Of course the answer to that
question is none. At the time of birth the infant is
totally innocent, the infant does not know the
difference between right and wrong, and does not have
the capability to do wrong. The knowledge and the
capability to do wrong is something that is learned
later in life. The knowledge and capability to do wrong
is something that develops according to the behavior of
those around him or her. Now, I want to stop here for a
second to clarify something.
I am
sure that what I have just told you has set off some
alarms in the minds of many. Alarms have begun to ring
because many have immediately begun thinking about their
children. I am sure that many are thinking “I have
provided the best example I could to my child.” Of this
fact there is no doubt, this is why parents and family
can’t always be blamed for a person going astray. I say
this because throughout human history there have been
countless cases where a person has grown up in a
perfectly good atmosphere, but that later on in life
have departed from what they have learned. So I am not
saying that anyone is to blame, because when it all
boils down, the only person to blame for our bad
behavior is ourselves. We have the power to resist the
temptations, but most of all we have the power to do
good, but unfortunately many of us do not exercise these
powers. But his is a preaching for another day. So,
the knowledge and capability to do wrong is something
that is developed later in life, and it is this
knowledge that influences and in many instances dictates
our behavior.
As I
said before, there are many within the body of Christ
that are there only because it is convenient. What do I
mean by this? Although in some circles of society a
Christian is often looked at as a religious nut, for the
most part, when someone speaks of a Christian, the first
thing that comes to mind is that of a good person. Here
lies the convenience. The convenience being that we all
want to be seen as good people. So by going to church
once or twice per week, by attending church events and
social gatherings, many give the appearance of being
good and wholesome. By attending prayer nights and in
some cases by serving in the church in some official
capacity, many have the convenience of appearing as
something they are not. Many have the convenience of
appearing to be God fearing people. But to all of those
I say, look carefully at the word of our Lord when He
said “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have
cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful
works? 23And then will I profess unto them, I
never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
As I have stated before, the consequences of our
behavior may not have an immediate effect in our life,
but as we have seen here, sooner or later it will catch
up to us. Let us remember what Jesus told us in
Mark 4:22 when He said "For
there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested;
neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should
come abroad." Let us also never forget Paul’s
warning in Galatians 6:7
when we read "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
Tell the brother next to you, God can not be fooled.
You see, men look at the exterior things. Men look at
the outward appearances, but God does things very
differently. Look carefully at how God sees things when
we read 1 Samuel 16:7 "But
the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance,
or on the height of his stature; because I have refused
him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man
looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh
on the heart." Tell the brother next to you, God
can not be fooled. God will not be fooled by your
church attendance. God will not be fooled by your
faithful tithing. God will not be fooled! God will not
be fooled because God is not looking at the appearances;
God is looking in your heart.
What
shall we do then? Jesus gives us the answer very
clearly when He states “Therefore whosoever heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him
unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25And the rain descended, and the floods came, and
the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell
not: for it was founded upon a rock.” They key
words are “doeth them.” We can’t just hear the word of
God; we have to do the word of God. Brethren if we are
not following the word of God, then we are only fooling
ourselves. Look carefully at what we find in
James 1:22 when we read
"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving your own selves." The foundation of our
life has to be the word of God, or else, we will always
fail. Something that is very true about our life is
that we will all have to struggle with temptations.
Let’s face it, no one here is exempt, I repeat no one
here is exempt. We will all be tempted as we find in
James 1:14 when we read
"But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of
his own lust, and enticed." Everyone here without
exception will be tempted, in other words, the rain and
the floods will come, and the wind will blow. Severe
storms will arise in our life, all because of or
behavior. This is something that is clearly reflected
here, when we read “when he is drawn away of his own
lust, and enticed.” This is why the foundation of
marriage has to be founded in the word of God. This is
why the foundation of our friendships has to be based on
the word of God. This is why the foundation of our
entire life, our behavior, has to be based on the word
of God. Look carefully at what we find in
Ephesians 5:33 when we
read "Nevertheless let every one of you in particular
so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that
she reverence her husband." When we follow this,
when we follow and live the word of God, then there will
never be heartbreaks. When we follow and live the word
of God our home will become what it is meant to be, it
will become a blessing. Let us play close attention to
what we find in Mark 8:38
when we read “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of
me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful
generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed,
when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy
angels.” Why must we pay close attention to this?
We must pay close attention to this because in the
majority of the situations, in order to look good in
front of our friends, we become ashamed of our beliefs
and compromise our faith. The foundation of our entire
behavior has to be based in the word of God. Look
carefully at what we find in 1
Corinthians 16:13 "Watch ye, stand fast in the
faith, quit you like men, be strong." When we
follow and live the word of God, when we stand firm in
our faith at all times, then there is no storm strong
enough that can influence us. How can I say this with
such conviction? I can say it because as we find in the
word of God in Philippians 4:13
"I can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me." But all of this can only be
accomplished when we have conviction of His word.
What
happens when we do not have conviction of His word?
Jesus provides us with the answer here also when we read
“And every one that heareth these sayings of mine,
and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man,
which built his house upon the sand: 27And
the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds
blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great
was the fall of it.” The key words here are “doeth
them not.” Simply stated, when we do not have
conviction of His word, when we do not base our life in
the word of God, then when temptation comes around, we
will succumb to it. I know that many of you right now
are receiving conviction of the word of God. It would
be impossible for me to list or even think of all of the
things that we can, and oftentimes, do wrong. But I
know that God is handing our conviction this morning.
God tells you today as we find
Romans 8:7 when we read "Because the carnal
mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be." God tells you
today as we find in James 4:4
when we read "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye
not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?
Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the
enemy of God." God tells you today as we find in
Mark 7:21-23 when we
read "For from within, out of the heart of men,
proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications,
murders, 22Thefts, covetousness, wickedness,
deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride,
foolishness: 23All these evil things come
from within, and defile the man.” God tells you
today as we find in Romans
13:13 when we read "Let us walk honestly, as
in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in
chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying."
Tell the brother next to you, God is handing our
conviction.
In conclusion, I know that I have spoken some harsh
words today; I know that the message today has been
strong, but it has been this way because God wants us
all to analyze our life, and our relationship with Him.
God is convicting you today of your actions and behavior
because He does not want to see you go astray. Look
carefully at what we find in
John 6:39 when we read "And this is the
Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he
hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it
up again at the last day." The problem that
persists is that many believers fail to recognize or
simply ignore the danger that exists in allowing oneself
to be motivated by that which is condemned by God. But
remember what His word tells us in
Matthew 5:29 when we
read "And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out,
and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee
that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy
whole body should be cast into hell." But what does
this mean? Do we really have to pluck out our eye? Of
course not, if we took this literally, then we would all
be going around one eyed. But when you search yourself
this morning, and when analyze your life, if you find
that your behavior and actions are separating you from
God, then you must cut it out. You that call upon the
name of the Lord, you that come to His place of worship
but do not live His word, I tell you today, it’s time to
build upon the rock. Remember that the consequences of
your behavior may not be immediately felt, but rest
assured that they will be felt. Remember that the
behavior you exhibit will not only affect your life, but
also the life of all of those around. Remember that you
may fool people, but God can’t be fooled. God is
handing out conviction this morning not to condemn you,
or accuse you; God is handing out conviction this
morning because He wants you to develop a genuine
relationship with Him. Now the only question that
remains is will you accept it? Remember what the word
of God tells us in Hebrews
3:7-8 when we read “Wherefore, as the Holy
Ghost saith, today if ye will hear his voice, 8Harden
not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of
temptation in the wilderness.”
© Jose R. Hernandez |
Christian
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