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-- in humility receive the
word implanted, which is able to save your souls.
When God Is Real Preface I would like to start out by quoting the words of our Lord Jesus in (Mt. 5:8); --- “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” And right away I’m sure most will recognize this reference as part of what is commonly called “The Beatitudes” And as someone so amply said; --- “The beatitudes are the attitudes that ought to be!” And this lesson I bring for your encouragement and enlightenment will be based upon this subject: When God Is Real. Now,
God is always real, because God always is! --- But I’m talking about, when
God is real to you!
But here we have the Lord Jesus talking about “seeing God". “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” --- Beloved, there’s no contradiction here with (Jn. 1:18 and other passages) where the Bible says; --- “No man has seen God at any time;” --- When the Scriptures say this, there’s no contradiction at all! --- It simply means that no man has seen God in His physical form, for God is Spirit, and you can not see a spirit which is invisible!! --- But here, when Jesus says the pure in heart shall see God, He uses a term which means “to perceive”, or “to know” God so that He will be real to them. Have
you ever, while explaining something to a child or someone else, and said;
--- “Now, do you see?” --- What you mean is not that you see with your
eyes, but, do you understand? --- Do you perceive? --- Do you see with
your mind? --- And it’s in this very same sense in which Jesus said to
Nicodemus; --- “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless
one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
You
see, a Christian is someone who knows the unknowable! --- Now, God is really
unknowable; ---
And a Christian is someone who can do the impossible. ---Who can live the Christian life? ---Friends, the Christian life isn’t hard, it’s impossible! --- That is, if he tries to live it without God, or by his own strength. --- This is exactly what Jesus meant in explaining the seemingly impossibility of one wishing to enter the kingdom of God, and we read about this in (Mt. 19:24-26); --- “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ --- When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, ‘Then who can be saved?‘--- And looking at them Jesus said to them, ‘With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” --- The word of God tells us in (Heb. 11:6); --- “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” --- And so, a faithful Christian is someone who lives it. --- And not only is the Christian someone who knows the unknowable, who does what seems to be impossible, But also, the Christian is one who sees the invisible!! --- “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” And so, let’s set our hearts and minds on what it’s like to KNOW GOD!! --- And to think about what life is like When God Is Real. ***************************************** Lesson And there
are two points, but a lot of sub points as we will see; ---And number one
we’ll talk about:
Some people get all confused; --- They say; --- “What do you mean, heart?” --- Are you talking about that big muscle in your chest that pumps blood through your veins?” --- No! the Bible doesn’t mean that at all when it mentions your heart. --- It means the seat or center of the emotions. --- We use the word today; --- “I love you with all my heart!” --- And we know that love is not centered, nor does it flow forth from that organ which pumps blood. --- We call our girlfriends (or wives) our “Sweet Heart”! --- Why, we wouldn’t call them our “sweet head”, would we? --- But we can understand then, that the heart is the seat of the emotions; --- the center of all that’s within us as human beings! So, the New Testament uses the Greek word “kardia” to express the well springs of our very being. “kardia” also refers to our heart pump. --- And just as our heart muscle is the center, or source of our life sustaining blood; --- So also is our heart (our emotions and intellect), the center and source of all our love, affection and worship to our God in heaven!! --- I might add also, the center and source of sin and strife. --- The Bible says in (Rom. 10:10); --- “for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness,---” --- And Jesus said; “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Now,
this word “pure”, literally means; --- A heart without mixture, or without
alloy. For example, it is used to describe metals; i.e., pure gold
does not have any dross or alloy. --Likewise it is used sometimes to describe
grain. --- Pure wheat doesn’t have any other seeds or barley mixed in with
it.
Jesus
goes on to amplify this in (Mt. 6:22); --- and really, this is all linked
together as part of the “Sermon on the mount“; ---
“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole
body will be full of light.” (KJV says, “If thine eye be single,”)
--- That doesn’t mean unmarried!!
You see friends, if you want your whole body to be full of light; --- that is, you can’t see unless there is light, and you’ll never perceive God unless you are in the light; --- And you’ll never be in the light unless your eye is single; --- and your eye will never be single unless your heart is pure; --- And that’s the reason Jesus says; --- “Blessed are the pure in heart, for shall see God.” --- A man who has a pure heart , has a single eye! --- A man who has a single eye, has light and the man who has light can see; and the man who can see, can see God!! --- And it all is built on this idea of purity and singleness and unmixed state of the depths of our emotions and thinking!! You know, I sometimes get to the place where, if I’m not careful, and if I’m not diligent; --- God seems like He’s way off; --- He just doesn’t seem real to me. --- I still have faith in God, but somehow that faith grows weak! --- My prayers began to grow less and less fervent and less frequent. --- And I find myself just going through the form; --- just going through the motions; --- and I began to feel a certain bit of coolness in spirit!! --- Have you ever felt that way? It’s really a danger signal, but by the grace and mercy of God there’s a way out of this tailspin. --- And the only way out is first of all, --- throw out every ounce of selfish pride! --- Swallow your pride and humble yourself under the mighty hand of God!! --- Or as James so aptly put it; --- “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.’--- Submit therefore to God Resist the devil and he will flee from you. --- Draw near to God and He will draw near to you Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. --- Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. --- Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” (Js. 4:6-10) And
you know, it’s so easy to say, “Not my will, Lord, but Thine be done.”
--- But when you come to the point where, there’s no unconfused sin; ---
And when there’s nothing held back; --- But there’s a total and absolute
surrender of your will, your life, your all and all into humble submission
to God’s will; --- Well, what do you know?; --- Your body is full of light!!
--- It’s amazing how God becomes so real !! --- Because you take all of
your desires and ambitions, and you bring them into one focus!! --- And
you lay your heart at the foot of the cross of Christ; --- A heart without
mixture!!
Now remember, Jesus said in (Mt. 6:23); --- “But if your eye is bad (evil), your whole body will be full of darkness.” ---And then He said a strange thing which almost sounds contradictory, in that same verse; --- “If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” --- What does that mean; --- “If the light be darkness”? --- What our Lord is telling us here, is that there are so many people who think they’re in the light; --- But they’re walking in the light of their own intellect!! --- They are walking in the light of what seems good to them!! --- And they have substituted their minds and their will, in place of the leadership of the Holy Spirit of God. So here’s a man who’s doing what he thinks is right, and it never enters into his thinking; --- What does God have to say on the matter?? --- But he’s so sure he’s got it all figured out; --- What a fool this man is!! --- His light is darkness. --- What he calls light, God calls darkness. --- Just like, what he calls righteousness, God calls filthy rags!! --- And that, my friends, is what Jesus is meaning; --- “If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” --- It’s bad enough for a man to be in darkness and know it, but for a man to be in darkness and to be so foolish as to think he’s walking in the light; --- How great is that darkness!! --- And so, what our Lord is saying here is; --- That the requirements for having God to be real, is to have a pure heart, or a “single eye”, to be unmixed; --- To say, “This one thing I do!!” --- A very simple requirement and a very necessary requirement!! An Indian “holy man” (so called) had one of his disciples come to him one day and said; --- “God is not real to me; --- I want God to be real to me, would you please teach me how?” --- So this “holy man took this man into a sacred river where they often bathed, and took his disciple and plunged him beneath the water; --- And held him under, and held him under, and held him under; --- The man flailed, fought and struggled, but he couldn’t come up!! --- Finally, after about a minute and forty five seconds he allowed the poor man to come up again. --- He took a gasping breath of air and said, --- “You almost drown me! --- I asked you to teach me about God!!” --- And the “holy man” said, I want to ask you a question; --- What were you thinking about ? --- What was greatest desire while you were under that water?” --- And the man, still sputtering, said; --- “That’s easy! Air!! --- I wanted air, that’s all I could think about!!” --- And the “holy man” said; --- “When you want God as much as you wanted air, you’ll find Him!” Now, that might be a good illustration, except, dear friends, you’ll never find God in some mystical religion of the east!! --- There’s a weakness to that illustration, because he would not find God apart from the revelation of the word of God!! --- But really, there’s a strength to that illustration too; --- Even though it’s set in a pagan context; --- and that is, you’ll never find God until you’ve searched for Him, and you seek Him with all, A-L-L your heart and soul!! --- God never has, nor will He ever accept half-hearted religion!! --- It’s an insult to Him!! Someone once said; --- “Luke warmness is the worst form of blasphemy!” --- Did you know that luke-warmness is worse than saying, there is no God?? --- And sad to say, we’ve got more than our share of lukewarm church members in the Lord’s church, and if you are one of them, my friend, you are in dire need of repentance!! --- Luke warm-ness is a person who says, “I believe in Christ, but I just can’t seem to get too excited about it!” --- And I’m persuaded that the Lord would rather have you out and out against Him, then to be lukewarm!! --- Jesus told the church in Laodicea; --- “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. --- So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.” (Rev. 3:15-16) OH,
to have a pure heart; --- A heart that says; --- “This one thing I do!!”
--- And that, dear souls, are The Requirements, the plain and simple
requirements for having God to be real in your life!!! ---
***************************************** 2. The Results:
And again, (Vs. 5); --- “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.” --- And skip on down to (Vs. 16); --- “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.” Now, what is the mark of a man in whose life God is not real?? --- A man who is just going through the motions; --- A man or woman who is play acting, or a hypocrite?? --- That individual is more concerned about being seen by men, than he is about being seen by God!! --- For you see, a person (when God is real), is conscious always of the presence of God!! --- And when you have seen God, you’re not the least bit concerned about being seen by men. --- So, a hypocrite is one in whom God is not real, and is man conscious!! --- Thus, a man in whose life God has become real, is God conscious! He doesn’t worry one iota about whether men see him give his money. --- He doesn’t worry as to whether or not, men see hin pray. --- And he’s not at all concerned about men knowing if or when he’s fasting!! --- He’s quite content just knowing that his God sees him, --- for to him, God is real!! You
see, it’s awfully hard to do something great, and not tell anyone about
it, isn’t it? --- Someone once said; --- “You can do a lot of good in this
world, if you don’t care who gets the credit!”
Oh, listen, it’s very terrible to do something good and not be seen!! ---Let me ask you something; --- Do you think you could pray all night, and not tell anyone about it the next day? --- Do you think you could go on a three day fast, and not let anyone know about it? --- It would be kind of hard, wouldn’t it? --- I mean, you’d just let it sort of drop; --- You wouldn’t just come right out and say; --- “Hey, guess what, I’m fasting!!” --- But you would say something like; --- “No thank you, well uh, I’m fasting, you see!” --- You know, you would say it in a very nice, humble way; --- But you’d just let it drop, like people drop names; --- to be seen of men!! Now, you see, what Jesus is saying here; --- When God is real; --- When you have seen (understood) God, and when your heart is pure; --- you are so conscious of the presence of God, that you never have to worry about being seen by men; --- Because you know that God sees you!! --- Now, it’s all right to want to be seen, but you need to be seen by the right person!! --- Jesus said; --- “when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” (Mt. 6:6) --- Now, that’s one of the results of God being real. --- Are you conscious of the wonderous presence of God?? What is the results when God has become a reality in you life?? --- Number two; --- Not only are you conscious of the presence of God; --- But also, content with the praise of God!! --- You don’t have to have men praise you, it’s enough to know that God praises you. --- And that’s what our Lord is sayng here in (Mt. 6:2); --- “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.” --- This word “reward” means, “receipt in full”; --- You’re paid in full and you can’t expect any more!! --- You are “seen by men”; --- That’s it, that’s all she wrote!! The Lord says, “You’re paid in full; --- nothing else said!!” But as you look closely at (Vs. 3-4); --- “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, --- so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” ---This word for “reward” implies that you have made an investment, and you get back more than you invested! --- The Greek means “to deliver again” or to “give again”. In other words, you put $100 into the bank, and when you take it out, you’ve discovered you now have $1, 000!! --- And that’s the basic difference in the meaning of the word, “reward” in this context. --- It’s a world of difference, isn’t it? In other words, what Jesus wants you and I to know, is that a person to whom God is real; --- Is never going to sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate!! --- But, friend, if God is not real to you, it will be very hard for you to make eternal investments; --- Because you are going to want immediate pay!! Now, please don’t misunderstand me, and don’t misunderstand the Scriptures! --- Don’t think it’s wrong (sinful) to praise others, nor to be praised. --- I once knew a preacher who would almost make you think you had sinned, if you ever tried to give him any credit. --- It’s absolutely false to believe it to be wrong to give credit or honor, and to receive the same!! --- For example, Paul, by inspiration taught in (Rom. 13:7); --- “Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.” --- And note also, (1 Tim. 5:17); --- “The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.” --- To the Christians in Corinth he wrote; --- “Now I praise you because you remember me in everything -- “ --- So we can readily see there’s nothing wrong with honoring people, or receiving honor; --- However, when someone says something nice about me (and sometimes they do); I may not say so outwardly, but in my heart, I try to pass that praise right on up to God!! One reason being, that if I wholeheartedly pass on whatever praise I might receive to the Father; -- I’ve found that I can also pass on whatever criticisms I might get, also to God!! ---Because, obviously, not everybody is going to speak well of you when you serve God!! --- But if you are willing to take the praise, you must be willing to take the criticism likewise!! --- The apostle Paul says in (Col.3:17); “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” --- So we need to learn to be content with the praise of God; --- And we will be when we are conscious of the presence of of God in our daily living!! What is the results when God has become a reality in you life?? --- Number three; --- When God is real; --- You’ll be controlled by the priorities of God! --- One of the most powerful Scriptures you should burn into your heart and never forget it, as for getting your priorities right; --- (Mt. 6:33), Jesus emphasizes ; --- “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” --- Now, when God is real to you, then it’s very easy to put His kingdom first! --- But when He’s not real to you, that’s when you put “things” first; --- Because if you haven’t “seen” God; You’re going to be very interested in material things! --- But when you have “seen” God, things are not quite so important, are they? How can you tell, when you are seeking first the kingdom of God? --- That is, how can you tell when your priorities are straight?? --- Let’s let Jesus set our priorities straight by examining three things in the context of (Mt. 6:); --- And first of all, you and I know by activities: --- In (Vs. 19-20), we read; --- “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. --- But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal,” --- Now, if your activities are given primarily over to laying up treasures on earth; --- That means your priorities are wrong!! --- Again, there’s nothing wrong in having treasures; --- but if that’s what consumes you, and if that’s where your heart is; --- The Lord knows you have to make a living and put bread on the table! --- As a matter of fact, the Bible tells us in (1 Tim. 5:8); --- “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” --- And I know that God doesn’t mind you having nice things; --- But dear soul, if you’re laying up treasures here in this life disproportionately to laying up treasures there; --- that means your priorities are wrong; --- And God is not real to you!! --- And so, you can see it by your activities!! But also, by your anxieties: --- Things that you worry and fret about. --- You tell me what you worry and fret about, and I’ll tell you where your priorities rest!! --- Now, if we listen closely, Jesus is telling us about some things, we as Christians are not to worry too much about. --- Let’s look at some of them. --- In (6:24), He’s talking about finance. --- “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other You cannot serve God and wealth.” (or riches) Here, Jesus does not condem riches, but He does condem the love of riches. -- Are you worried over money?? --- Sometimes we worry about food. --- (Vs. 25); --- “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink;” --- You might say; --- “Now, there’s nothing wrong with eating!” --- Certainly not, so long as eating doesn’t become your master! --- Some of us need to examine ourselves (me included), in this area. --- But then again, if we have to be concerned about where our next meal is coming from, perhaps our priorities are out of kilter!! What about fitness? --- Look in (Vs. 27); --- “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?” --- Naturally we are to take care of our health; --- Go to the Doctor, take the medicine we need, work out, jog, (in some cases, walk), whatever one has to do to keep in shape, get slim and trim! But, if that’s your prime concern, your priorities are wrong, and your eye is not single!! --- Or, what about fashion? --- Notice our Lord’s admonition over in (Vs. 28-29); --- “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, --- yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.” --- Christians are not to be overly concerned as to; --- “When am I going to get a new suit, or she a new dress?” --- Or brother or sister so-in-so has more and better clothes than I do! Ect, ect.! Now look, some of you may be anxious not only about finances, food, fitness and fashions; --- But also about the future; --- Look at it in (Vs. 34), where Jesus said; --- “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care (worry) for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” --- If you are uptight and concerned about the future; --- Rather than resting in the arms of the Almighty, today; --- That’s because your precedences are out of focus!! --- You get the picture? --- What is your most important thoughts when God is real? --- When God really takes first place in your life?? --- We’re to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; --- And a loving, merciful God will see to our every need!! --- He will most certainly see to it!! We must know and understand that God is not going to take second place to things. --- When you seek first, things, and then try to add God; --- God says; “No deal!” --- “No deal!!” --- You see, when our eye is single, our body is full of light; --- And when our body is full of light; --- We see God, and God becomes real! --- And our hearts are pure, and then we’re aware of the presence of God! --- Thus, we’re not too concerned whether or not people see us do these things! --- We are very content with the praise of God, and controlled by the priorities of God; --- Then God is manifest in our souls!! All because we diligently seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness!! And finally, not only do we recognize our priorities by our activities and anxieties; --- But also by our ambitions: --- Look with me in (Mt. 6:32-33); --“For the Gentiles eagerly seek (strong desire or ambition) all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. --- But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” ****************************************
Search your heart dear friend; --- Ask yourself this question; --- What is my ambition?? --- Just what is it that I truly want more than anything else?? --- I hope your answer is God!! --- I hope your answer is Jesus Christ!! --- “More about Jesus would I know, more of His grace to others show; --- More of His saving fullness see, --- More of His love who died for me.” You see, God is not real to the man who is merely living for things and earthly pleasures! --- Is God real to you? --- IS HE?? --- Are you tired of being a play actor? --- Tired of role playing? --- Just playing the game; --- the big phoney?? Why
don’t you come humbly to God; --- purge out all that alloy, and bring all
your desires into one burning focus; --- To seek God with a pure heart;
--- To see God by the single eye of faith?? --- “Blessed
are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” --- Not with the
eye, but with the essence of the spirit, by knowing and obeying God!!
Questions and comments
more than welcomed: ewilburn@austin.rr.com
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