VIDEO The Load of Guilt

We are truly guilty.  Genesis 42:21

Imagine the years of heavy guilt borne by Joseph’s brothers. They not only sold their brother into slavery; but they also told their father his beloved son was attacked and eaten by a ravenous beast. Few acts of betrayal were so devious and deliberate. Perhaps their deception brought them a moment of satisfaction—they were angry over Jacob’s favoritism of Joseph—but as the weeks, months, and years passed, the guilt became heavier and harder to bear. Finally in Genesis 42, they confessed their wrongdoing, not knowing Joseph was listening. When they said, “We are truly guilty,” Joseph had to leave the room in tears.

None of us are without guilt, for we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. We’ve all disobeyed God and hurt other people. What, then, can we do with guilt? We can either bear it ourselves, blame someone else, or nail it to the cross of Christ.

We also learn that lying sows destruction, but the truth is liberating. The Bible says, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). Live under the blood of Christ and above the reproach of the world. Your guilt is no match for His grace.

No child of God sins to that degree as to make himself incapable of forgiveness. John Bunyan

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Guilt, Genesis 42:21-22 – Pastor Chuck Smith – Topical Bible Study

Love God then Love Others.

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbour, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”—when you already have it with you.   Proverbs 3:27-2

What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when the word “PMD” (personal mobility device) is mentioned? Chances are, it won’t be a good thing. PMD users have been getting a lot of bad press lately, and it’s not difficult to see why: many have been less than considerate in their use of the shared pathways, and some have even knocked down pedestrians.

So it was refreshing indeed to read a recent news report on a PMD user who was hailed as a hero after saving a lorry driver from his overturned vehicle. Mr Muhammad Riau Alfian, a food delivery rider, didn’t hesitate to throw his PMD aside when he saw the 72-year-old driver trapped in his lorry. Afraid that the vehicle could catch fire, he rushed to break the window and pull the driver out, injuring his own hand in the process.

You could see this story as an inspiring one, reminding us that we should be always ready to help others in need, just as Mr Alfian was—even if it meant risking his own safety as well as his work. The delivery rider could have just ridden past the scene of the accident, as stopping to help would have affected his own delivery schedule. But he didn’t.

It’s an inspiration for us to do as Proverbs 3:27-28 tells us: “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbour, ‘Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you’—when you already have it with you.”

But you could also see the story as a convicting one—reminding us not to pre-judge people. Commenting on Mr Alfian’s heroic act, one observer pointed out: “Not all PMD riders are bad. There are many good ones too.”

In the parable of the good Samaritan told by Jesus (Luke 10:25-37), it is the most unlikely person who does the most to help the victim of a robbery. A priest and a temple assistant choose to walk by, but a Samaritan—who was typically looked down on by the listeners of this parable when it was first told—goes out of his way to help the injured person. As Jesus concluded, this Samaritan was the true neighbour.

Who do you think would be the least likely person to be a “Good Samaritan”? Perhaps you might be surprised. And, will you be a good Samaritan to someone in need of help today? —C. H. Tan

 

Lord, forgive me for the times I’ve pre-judged others.
And help me to be a good Samaritan myself,
never hesitating to help those in need.

 

The true neighbour is the one who puts others before himself.

The Consequences of Sin

Genesis 3:14-19

Christians tend to categorize sins, rating some as small and inconsequential, and others as huge and far-reaching in the damage they cause. In reality, no one sins in isolation. Each act of disobedience affects not only the sinner but also others in both the present and the future.

If we were to separate Adam and Eve’s sin from its context, few of us would convict them of great transgression. All they did was swallow some fruit from a tree with a “do not eat” sign. Today people think nothing of ignoring commands—even biblical ones.

But God has a totally different view of our sins. Each one is followed by negative consequences. Adam and Eve’s disobedience led to pain and frustration in two basic areas of fulfillment—relationships and meaningful work. The whole earth fell under sin’s curse, and all people born since then have entered the world with a sin nature that alienates them from the Lord.

That first rebellion plunged humanity into a terrible condition. Civilization is now plagued by ramifications of the sins committed by millions of human beings throughout the ages. Is it any wonder the world is in such sad shape? Sin not only causes suffering; it also robs us of God’s best. The Garden of Eden is closed and locked to sinful mankind.

The good news of Christ’s grace and forgiveness is our only real hope in this fallen world. Though unpleasant, focusing on sin’s consequences is necessary at times to remind us of the greatness of our salvation and to move us to obey God, even in the small things.

Order of Melchizedek

“The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.” (Psalm 110:4)

The importance of this intriguing verse is indicated both by the fact that it is the central verse of a great Messianic psalm (quoted at least 12 times in the New Testament) and also because this one verse constitutes one of the main themes of chapters 5–7 of Hebrews, where it is quoted no fewer than five times (Hebrews 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:17, 21), and where Melchizedek himself is mentioned nine times. It refers to the fascinating personage glimpsed briefly in Genesis 14:18-20. Melchizedek (meaning “King of Righteousness”) is said to have been “King of Salem” (or “Peace”), but there is no record, either in secular history or elsewhere in the Bible, that there ever was such a city or earthly king. He was also called the “priest of the most high God” (Hebrews 7:1), and he suddenly appeared, then disappeared as suddenly as he had come.

Commentators mostly have assumed that Melchizedek was the chieftain of a small settlement of which we have no record, but this hardly does justice to the exalted descriptions of him in Scripture. He was obviously greater than Abraham (Hebrews 7:4), as well as Aaron, the founder of the Levitical priesthood. Furthermore, he was “without father, without mother, . . . having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually” (Hebrews 7:3). Such language is hardly appropriate merely because no genealogy is recorded.

If one takes the Bible literally, such statements could be true only of God Himself, appearing briefly in the pre-incarnate state of the Second Person, as King of all peace and righteousness. Now this same divine Person, “because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him” (Hebrews 7:24-25). HMM

The Gospel Has Implications

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.

—Titus 2:11-12

The fact is that the New Testament message embraces a great deal more than an offer of free pardon. It is a message of pardon, and for that may God be praised; but it is also a message of repentance. It is a message of atonement, but it is also a message of temperance and righteousness and godliness in this present world. It tells us that we must accept a Savior, but it tells us also that we must deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. The gospel message includes the idea of amendment, of separation from the world, of cross-carrying and loyalty to the kingdom of God even unto death.

To be strictly technical, these latter truths are corollaries of the gospel, and not the gospel itself; but they are part and parcel of the total message which we are commissioned to declare….

To offer a sinner the gift of salvation based upon the work of Christ, while at the same time allowing him to retain the idea that the gift carries with it no moral implications, is to do him untold injury where it hurts him worst.   SOS019-020

Lord, help me to proclaim the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth as I present the gospel today. Amen.

 

Go forward, Christian soldier

The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.—Psalm 78:9.

Be thou strong and very courageous.—Joshua 1:7.

 

Go forward, Christian soldier,

Beneath His banner true!

The Lord Himself, thy Leader,

Shall all thy foes subdue.

His love foretells thy trials,

He knows thine hourly need,

He can with bread of heaven

Thy fainting spirit feed.

Lawrence Tuttiett.

 

While there is left in you a trace of ill-temper, or of vanity, of pride, or of selfishness, while there is left, in you a single sin, or germ of sin, you must not rest from the battle. God does not require from you to be sinless when you come before Him, but He does require you to be unceasing in your perseverance. He does not require that you shall never have fallen; but He does require unwearied efforts. He does not require you to win, but He does require you to fight.

Frederick Temple.

 

Still fight resolutely on, knowing that, in this spiritual combat, none is overcome but he who ceases to struggle and to trust in God.

Lorenzo Scupoli.

 

Name Guarantee

“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” John 14:13

It is not every believer who has yet learned to pray in Christ’s name. To ask not only for His sake, but in His name, as authorized by Him, is a high order of prayer. We would not dare to ask for some things in that blessed name, for it would be a wretched profanation of it; but when the petition is so clearly right that we dare set the name of Jesus to it, then it must be granted.

Prayer is all the more sure to succeed because it is for the Father’s glory through the Son. It glorifies His truth, His faithfulness, His power, His grace. The granting of prayer, when offered in the name of Jesus, reveals the Father’s love to Him, and the honor which He has put upon Him. The glory of Jesus and of the Father are so wrapped up together, that the grace which magnifies the one magnifies the other. The channel is made famous through the fullness of the fountain, and the fountain is honored through the channel by which it flows. If the answering of our prayers would dishonor our Lord, we would not pray; but since in this thing He is glorified, we will pray without ceasing in that dear name in which God and His people have a fellowship of delight.