Heavenly Cause
Jesus gave his message on the Sermon on the Mount to prepare the multitude about his purpose…. To redeem them from the sin nature they inherited from Adam’s fall. All men have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Jesus Christ defeated death, the consequence of sin through his death and resurrection.
In Luke 14, Jesus said there are three things that you cannot do. First he said, you need to love God above all because you cannot love your family until you love God first. Second, you cannot live for your worldly possessions. Third, neither can you live for the praise of the world.
Jesus said, if you are preparing to build a tower, you must first count the cost. What is it worth to you…. Do you have the resources of time, materials, manpower and wisdom to build a tower that will not fall? Without proper preparation and planning, you will be laughed to scorn when you build the tower and it falls because you failed to plan.
When the crisis comes and courage is required God expects his men to have such confidence in him that they will be the reliable and dependable ones. There is safety in the midst of the crisis when we trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not unto our own understanding. As the Apostle Paul said, Thy strength is made perfect in my weakness… thy grace is sufficient for me. When a disciple is dedicated and convinced of the majesty, glory, and value of the cause to which he’s dedicated his life… then he will “be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause.” For yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me.
If we have nothing to stand for, then we will fall for anything. If there is nothing worth dying for, then there is nothing worth living for.
AW Tozier said, “Christ’s Savior-hood is tied to his lord-ship.” Can you accept Jesus Christ as savior and not Lord? Many have been taught what it means to accept salvation. However, not many have been taught what it means to confess “Jesus is Lord.” There are many definitions of the word “saved.” These include, to be saved from danger and to be rescued or delivered from harm, death, and destruction. Another meaning of salvation is to be made whole. Salvation means to be made complete by receiving God’s gift of Holy Spirit.
The word Lord means ruler… the one who has ownership and preeminence. To confess Jesus is Lord means to change ownership. It means that I am no longer the owner of my own life…. It means that my life is hid in Christ with God. Christianity is not “who we are.” Christianity is “WHOSE we are.”
What is the cost of following your cause? The story of Abu Tabor illustrates what it means to be willing to give your life for your Lord. As the story goes, there was a powerful king who had conquered the rulers of the surrounding territories. He approached the land that was controlled by a chieftain named Abu Tabor whose reputation had proceeded him as a fierce leader. The king was impressed so he sent an emissary to offer an alliance if Abu Tabor would pledge allegiance to the conquering king. The emissary said, if you don’t agree to these terms, our vast army will decimate your troops just like we have done to the surrounding kingdoms…. Abu Tabor said to one of his warriors, “take this dagger and plunge it into your heart.” The warrior took the dagger, plunged it into his heart and fell dead at Abu Tabor’s feet. He said to another warrior, “run and jump over this cliff.” The man immediately ran, jumped from the cliff, and plunged to his death on the rocks below. Abu Tabor said to the emissary, I have three hundred more committed warriors just like these. If your king attacks, we will annihilate your army and your king will be chained to my dogs by evening. The king and his vast army attacked. The battle raged all day long. By evening the king was chained to Abu Tabor’s dogs.
The greatest response is the response to the most difficult challenge. Jesus Christ challenged the multitude that followed him around. Most of them were drawn to him to witness the signs, miracles, and wonders he did. The rich young ruler approached Jesus in Matthew 19 and said, “Good master, what must I do to be inherit eternal life?” Jesus quoted the last six of the Ten Commandments regarding “love thy neighbor as thyself.” Jesus knew what was in the heart of men. The young man said, these commandments I have kept since my youth. Then Jesus looked upon him with love and said, “then you need to sell all of your material possessions, give the proceeds to the poor, and come follow me.” The young ruler went away sorrowful because he had great wealth. The problem was that the young man served the wrong god. He had broken the first of the Ten Commandments, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” His wealth was his God. As Mother Theresa said, God works best with nothing. The first of the Beatitudes says, blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall inherit the earth. God cannot fill us unless we come to him with empty hands.
Christianity is not a part-time job. The key to living life more abundantly is to live for the heavenly cause to which he called us: that we would glorify him by living to the praise of the glory of His grace. If we worship the things of this world…. The people we love, worldly wealth and possessions, or the praise and accolades of others…. Then we have the wrong god. The first of the Ten Commandments says in the Aramaic text, thou shalt have no other gods between your face and my face. Why? Because when we love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength…. This is the first and great commandment.
There is an order of priority in love. For a father, the best way to love your children is to love their mother. The best way to love your wife is to love the Lord Jesus Christ. There are always irreconcilable differences between husbands and wives. Jesus Christ is the one who reconciles. He is the one who breaks down the middle walls of partition between our hearts and God’s heart so that we can be reconciled together in fellowship with God and with others in the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace…. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…..
That in having prepared our hearts to live for the cause of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, we will love God above all in the unity of the spirt, that we may forever live to the praise of the glory of God’s grace,
Your brother in. Christ,
Michael
