“Now the sons of Issachar were, Tola, and Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, four. 2And the sons of Tola; Uzzi, and Rephaiah, and Jeriel, and Jahmai, and Jibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their father’s house, to wit, of Tola: they were valiant men of might in their generations; whose number was in the days of David two and twenty thousand and six hundred.” I Chronicles 7:1-2
Tola was a judge in Israel, back in the days before Israel had a king. The generations of his family went on to be valiant men. You too can be a powerful influence on the generation to follow. How will you influence the generation to follow you? Will you show them how to be valiant for the kingdom of God?
“If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.” John 11:48
We have far too many ministers and Christians who are afraid to speak up for morality in this nation. We must be grateful for those who the Lord has raised up to be a prophetic voice to this nation. We need prophets like John the Baptist, who will speak to those in authority and tell them what they are doing isn’t right before God. Let me go in the other direction by asking you, are you more of a patriot than you are a Christian? Does your Christianity hinge on the continual existence of America maintaining her constitutional rights? If it would come to it that some other power would come and “take away both our place and our nation,” would you still maintain your walk with the Lord? I want to remind you all, we believers belong to a different kingdom. There is no other like it. It is the kingdom of God. That is the kingdom we must promote.
“But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 3But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:” II Corinthians 4:2-3
There has been many clever approaches to try to bring people into the kingdom of God. It is often done with the best intentions. Tactics are used because there is a sense that men need an aid to help them understand the word so they can believe. In our text we learn that we are not to handle the word deceitfully. We are not to beat around the bush; we are not to pull the old bait and switch. We must be convinced that the truth is sufficient and effective for bringing people to the Lord, even if it seems difficult to comprehend. Paul concludes this by saying (I will paraphrase), “If the people don’t understand, it isn’t because they can’t understand the truth, it is because they want to remain lost.” Saints, don’t handle the truth deceitfully.
“And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.” Acts 16:5
The church who is established in the Lord will be the church who is winning souls. Healthy sheep beget healthy sheep. The creative entertaining church will add people to a building, the established church will add souls to the kingdom of God.
“Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” Matthew 21:43
Nothing can be taken from you unless you possess it. Don’t go thinking that the kingdom can’t be taken from you.
“Then Amaziah separated them, to wit, the army that was come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: wherefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in great anger.” II Chronicles 25:10
There will be a time when the church will be engaged in a great work for the kingdom of God. That work will be hindered by believers who have not been serious with God who all of a sudden want to participate. They must be kept from participating, at least until they are in the right spirit, for our work is a spiritual work.
“Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days. 10He shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.” II Chronicles 22:9-10
No one can ever build for the kingdom of God out of panic. It is only when you enter God’s rest that you can be a help to His kingdom.
The most deceived people on the face of the earth
are those who think they are saved, but are not.
There is a huge difference between people who believe they are born
again because someone told them they were and those who know
they are born again because they experienced the new birth.
A person who is lost in their sin and knows it, has a much higher percentage of getting saved than the person who thinks they are saved, but has never been born again. A person who gets comfortable in their religion or their status in the church would have no reason to call on the Lord to save them. They think that everything is just fine. It is the person who is drowning who calls for the lifeguard. Even more difficult is for a minister who is not born again to get saved. The ministers that have committed their life to serve the Lord in the ministry would be the least likely to ever ask themselves if they have ever really been born again. Besides that, who would ever confront a minister about his need for salvation? Do not be mistaken there are many unsaved ministers. I trust that yours is born again.
It seems to me that so many in the church, especially when it comes to soul winning, have forgotten what Jesus said.
“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. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again†(John 3:3-7).
Nothing has changed since the days Jesus spoke these words to Nicodemus. Though man has tried to ignore, rephrase or redefine the whole concept (more than a concept) of being born again, it still stands true today; you must be born again to enter the kingdom of God. By the way, it is not a future kingdom, it is a kingdom you enter the instant you are born again. Jesus said, “..the kingdom of God is within you†(Luke 17:21).
I have encountered many people who claim to be a Christian. Some of them are and some aren’t. Mind you, I am not the final judge of that as you know, neither are you. Some believers fear the thought of even trying to discern if someone is truly saved. Let me put you at ease, God will not be checking with me or you about another person’s salvation. However, the Bible teaches us that we can know a tree by its fruit. So when I encounter a person who claims to be a Christian, but there is much in their life that would testify contrary to that, (if I get a chance to,) I will ask them when they were born again. Some of their answers are, “I was a Christian my whole life,†or, “I became a Christian when I was baptized.†Millions of people have been told they are a Christian because they repeated the sinner’s prayer. Some churches teach that you are born again when you get confirmed. I was raised in the Roman Catholic church and I never even heard about being born again until I was in my twenties and it wasn’t the Catholic church that told me about it either. Nonetheless, at twenty seven years of age, married with three children, I was born again. I was made a brand new creature in an instant. It was something that happened on the inside of me. I can’t explain it, in fact no one can explain it, for it is something you just know when it happens to you. Jesus described it this way:
“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit†(John 3:8).
What Jesus is teaching is that you can’t see the wind, but you can hear and feel the effects of it. When someone is born again, the Holy Wind who you cannot see, enters that person and causes them to be born of the Spirit.
Think how radical it is for a baby when it is born. It leaves the warm sheltered confines of a mother’s womb and is brought out into a whole different environment than what it was used to for the last nine months. The baby does not have the capacity to understand what happened to it, but it does know that something happened. So too, with a person who is born again, they know something has happened to them even though they do not have the words or understanding to explain it. It doesn’t take long for the real believer to realize what happened to them, they became a born again believer.
I fear for many that their salvation rests in having correct theological understanding of salvation. They believe all the doctrines that they are supposed to believe such as, the word of God is infallible, all men have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and Jesus is the only way to the Father. In fact, they can have those famous salvation scriptures memorized such as:
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation†(Romans 10:9-10).
and still not be born again. I fear many find the confidence of their salvation in their church. They believe they are saved because they attend church regularly, listen to the sermon, pay their tithes and try to live a moral life. Hell is filled with Bible reading church attenders. Going to church makes you no more a Christian than walking into the courthouse makes you a judge.
Then there are those who believe they are saved because mom and dad are, or grandma and grandpa are. Some children grow up convinced they are saved because their dad is the pastor. But no one, I repeat, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they personally are born again.
Salvation is a miracle. Every real Christian starts out as a miracle. Salvation is radical, it offends every part of your carnal nature, but is sweet to your soul. Salvation isn’t just a changing of your mind, it is powerful transformation. It takes those who have used their body to fulfill all kinds of sinful lusts and turns them into a temple for God to live in. Hallelujah!
Are you a living miracle? Are you truly born again? If not, humble yourself before Almighty God, repent of your sins, surrender your life to the Lord Jesus Christ and trust Him with your life.
“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Jn. 3:1-3
Nicodemus thought he understood something about Jesus. He thought he saw something about Jesus when he realized that He could not do those miracles unless He was sent from God. But Jesus said you cannot see anything pertaining to the kingdom until you are born again. You can understand something with the intellect and see something with natural understanding, but is not the same as seeing when you are born again. When you are born again you can see the kingdom now.