By David J. Stewart | November 2014
Colossians 3:23-25, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.”
I speak to Christians. The day that you got saved (became born-again),
everything that you own became the Lord's property. Certainly, all men
belong to God by creation, but only the Christian can rejoice in knowing
that he or she is a child of God. Our text passage of Scripture says that
we ought to heartily do everything we do, as if for Jesus Himself, because
we are the Lord's.
At the Judgment Seat of Christ, each believer will be required to give account for their life on earth. When I was a child, I remember something from Sesame Street called, “This was your life.” In this segment, the character reunites with everyone throughout their earthly life. On judgment day, we will all face our life's decisions, and the people they affected for good or bad.
Every Christian will be held accountable for every thought (Proverbs 24:12), every word (Matthew 12:36) and every deed (Ecclesiastes 12:14). God will avenge anyone who has been defrauded (1st Thessalonians 4:6). No one will escape God's all-knowing scrutiny (Hebrews 4:13). God will recompense all men evil-for-evil, and we are taught not to avenge ourselves against those who hurt us (Romans 12:19). We are commanded to love and pray for our enemies. Matthew 5:44, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” What a beautiful God!
When someone hurts us, they are hurting the Lord. Matthew 25:44, “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” The Lord told us to rejoice when people speak false accusations against us, knowing that our reward is great in Heaven. Matthew 5:11-12, “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
It warms my heart with encouragement to know that Jesus monitors every aspect of my life, and takes it personal when people are unkind, dishonest or malicious toward me. And of course, the Lord watches everything that I think, say and do toward others. The Lord also appreciates when people pray for me and are kind and helpful. I say that humbly with a grateful heart. As I've often said, those Christian web visitors who pray for my labours in the Lord are co-labourers with me. You are truly my friends, and friends to the work of Christ.
There is no greater gift that you could ever give to me than to pray regularly for my labours for Christ. By God's Holy Spirit through me as a Christian, and His wondrous grace, this website ministry is a powerful influence on the internet. Last month (in October) 8,747 web visitors spent over one hour browsing through Jesus-is-Savior.com (amen). If you pray for this ministry of truth and love, then you are truly a part of my work and God will reward you for time spent (1st Corinthians 3:7-8).
Mark 9:41, “For whosoever shall give
you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ,
verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.” I love that
Bible verse. The Lord promises to reward those who do even the smallest
things to help a disciple who is following Christ. This means that you can
lay up treasures in Heaven by helping preachers, missionaries,
evangelists, pastors, et cetera. No good (or bad) deed ever goes unnoticed
by God's eyes. I am responsible for everything that I do; God is
responsible for everything that happens to me.
The Holy Bible Contains 7,487 Promises from Our Precious God
My friend, the PROMISES of the Holy Bible are only as meaningful, comforting and precious to you if you believe them to be reliable. This is why I fuss so much against the modern corrupted Bible versions that weaken, water-down and change the Word of God into a lie. Many people are confused and have lost confidence in the Holy Bible, not knowing which one to believe (there are hundreds of English versions). The 54 translators of the King James Bible were all in agreement, having one consuming task of purifying the English Bible. In the preface to the King James Bible, the translators stated that it was never their goal to produce a new translation; but rather, to make an existing one better.
In sharp contrast, the alleged 100 scholars involved in the translation of the New International Version (NIV) represented dozens of religious denominations and had the primary goal of producing a one-size-fits-all butchered Bible that would be marketable to all the different religious groups, lacking sectarian bias. Charlatans, Brooke Westcott and Fenton Hort were well-known Luciferian-worshipping occultists.
The popular claim today of an easy-to-read Bible is a massive fraud of the Devil, intended to deceive the churches and ultimately lead them to unwittingly worship the Antichrist. This is why the ungodly hands on the Bible changed Christ from the Chief Corner Stone to the “Capstone” in the 1984 NIV. This is why 37% of men in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) are Freemasons. This is why Pastor Rick Warren is a member of The Council On Foreign Relations (CFR). I could keep going. Pastor Max Lucado supports illegal immigrants. The name and doctrine of Lucifer have been removed from Isaiah 14:12 in all the new corrupted Bible versions used in the churches. Our of sight, out of mind!
According to Dr. William Grady in his
classic book, “Final Authority” (which I just looked at yesterday), the
1611 King James Bible was the seventh translation of the English Bible, as
the translators sought to have a pure copy of the Holy Scriptures.
Psalms 12:6-7, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a
furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O
LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”
There's Great Comfort in Trusting the Promises of God
If we recognize the King James Bible as the pure, inspired and trustworthy Words of God, then we can cling wholeheartedly to every word, standing firmly upon every promise, and be 100% confident in our faith. I am the Lord's. Everything that I do is as unto Jesus Christ Himself, Who is my boss as a Christian. When I give to the Lord, I am simply letting go of what is already His. When my enemies attack me, they are attacking Christ.
Indeed, my enemies are God's enemies, and God's enemies are my enemies. I am in Him, and He is in me. John 14:20, “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.” So rejoice oh Christian, because you truly have no enemies. John 7:7, “The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.” If you are a Christian, your enemies are Christ's enemies. Our heavenly Father watches over us continually, monitoring everything (Psalms 139:1-5). Understanding this Biblical truth ought to compel us to love our enemies and pray for them, knowing that they are in trouble with the Lord.
Truly, when we pray we can sit back and trust upon the Lord. I often am reminded of the lyrics to the old classic hymn, “What A Friend We Have In Jesus”...
What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!;
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer.
If ever there was a hymn penned that spoke the truth, it is this one! Oh what peace we often forfeit! Oh what needless pain we bear! All because we don't pray!!! I've been there, done that! And so have you! We've all failed to pray at times, choosing instead to worry, fret and allow life to drive us into the ground. Pray, pray pray! The Bible says not to worry about anything; but instead, to pray to God (Philippians 4:6-7). Then claim the peace of God which passeth all understanding, resting in the character and promises of our great God.
Hopefully, as we grow older in the Lord's faith, we'll become spiritually wiser, learning from our mistakes as did the apostle Peter. It was dear Peter was took his eyes off Jesus and sank into the raging waters of the sea in doubt. Peter looked to Jesus, crying out for the Lord to save him, and He did. I think of this passage of Scripture often. Our first step in any spiritual downfall is taking our eyes off the Lord. This is why every man, woman and child needs Bible-proclaiming, hard-preaching on a regular basis, to help us think straight and live right!!!
The average professed Christian these
days has beer in their icebox, cigarettes in their pocket, Hollywood on
their television screen and self in their heart. I recently listened to a
sermon by Pastor J. Frank Norris (1877-1952) titled, “Wearing The Name, But Staying The Same,”
in which he makes the great quote: “I'd rather be in trouble with the
Devil than to be in trouble with God.” Yes Sir, that's right! I don't want
to be in trouble with God. The Bible never tells us to fear Satan; but we
are warned in Hebrews 10:31, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God.” Hollywood movies and satanists portray the
Devil as horrifying, scary and intimidating; but in reality, Lucifer is a
wimp, a small character whose only power is that which Jesus permits him
to have. You had better fear God, Who has the power to cast you into Hell
forever (Matthew 10:28).
We Are the Lord's Property
Romans 14:8, “For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.” I hope that you'll grasp this important truth that everything you own is the Lord's. If someone has robbed you, whether by burglary, corporate theft, legalized fraud, crooked lawyers, extortion or in some other way, they have cheated the Lord. Every penny to your name is the Lord's. If you spend money unwisely, then you are squandering God's money. If you give to the poor, then you are lending to the Lord. Proverb 19:17, “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.”
If someone is dishonest and swindles your money, steals from you, or reneges on an agreement, they have cheated the Lord. If we, being dirty sinners, can see the little dishonest and unethical things that people do to take advantage of others, do you think that the omnipotent and omniscient God of the universe overlooks or misses those sins? Anything that is not of faith is sin!!! We are all a lot more sinful than we could ever possibly imagine in the eyes of our holy God. Thank God for His love, grace and mercy!
We belong to Christ. That truth ought to burn our heart, knowing that everything that happens to us, as far as He is concerned, was done unto Him as well. What a true friend! Likewise, everything that I do is as done unto the Lord, and I must one day give account to Him. Oh Christian, live for Jesus Christ, for you belong to Him!!!
