Tuesday, March 2, 2021

The gospel is not for personal gain



The Gospel is Not for Personal Gain

It’s a blessing to be alive and it’s a blessing be working for Jesus, to be called out of the world, to be called to the HOLY LIFE.  I was thinking about how EVERYTHING in this life fails.  Everything except the words of Jesus.  When we are old and time has passed, are we going to care about what we were doing today?  A lot of the things that we chase after are things that are not going to matter even in a year, yet we think that they are SO IMPORTANT.  There ARE things that we have to get done in our lives, there are mundane things that we do have to accomplish, our daily chores, going to work…. Whatever it is we need to do those things with a right heart, but as the children of the LORD we don’t chase after worldly things.  The LORD continues to humble me as a man of God, who will not be someone who is going to chase after things of the world.  In my FLESH I want to chase after things of the world like anyone else, like you or anybody.  But I KNOW I HAVE TO BEAR GOOD FRUIT; I KNOW I NEED TO BE HUMBLE BEFORE THE LORD and He needs to become MORE and I need to become less.  I bring this message to you today in humility, to encourage you as a brother or sister in the LORD, to bear good fruit for the Kingdom of God.  None of us know how much longer we have.  The government is being shaken, personal lives are being shaken.  We don’t know what is happening in the world with the pandemic, if it is getting better or worse, or as soon as things clear up if there will be another wave of disaster.  GOD KNOWS.  But we have to constantly go to Jesus Christ for our provision, seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness.  And what will matter in 100 years from now, or 50 years or however many years into the future, it will ONLY BE WHAT WE DID WITH THE WORDS OF JESUS.  It will not matter if we pursued a certain job position to make more money at the workplace, we won’t care about that.  We won’t be caring about what kind of car we were going to drive, or the raise we got at work, but we will care about what we did with the WORDS OF JESUS!  Did we stand up for Jesus Christ?  Did we live according to our conscience?  Did we harken to the words of the Holy Spirit, those are the things that are going to matter.  And if we harken to THOSE words, we will bear good fruit.  The Holy Spirit will prune us.  The things that are in our life that are not important, that are not bearing good fruit, He will cut OUT of our life.  It will become meaningless to us because it is meaningless in the Kingdom of God.  And then we will bear good fruit for the Kingdom of Heaven, calling people to really repent, calling people to live righteously.

  THE GOSPEL IS NOT FOR PERSONAL GAIN.  (Freely you have received freely give) This is something that the Holy Spirit put on my conscience in the morning, actually in the night as I was waking up.  And to me it meant something personally.  The things that the Lord has blessed me with I need to make sure that I am using those things for the glory of GOD, not for myself.  But generally speaking, the truth that Jesus has given to us, whatever spiritual gifts He has given, is NOT for our own personal gain.  And a lot of us are trying to run with the talents, the gifts, the blessings that GOD has given us, and we are trying to use them for our OWN pleasures.  But I’m here to warn you and to sound that warning, that whatever gifts we have been given, whether it is in this physical realm… we have been given physical and spiritual legs, spiritual arms, we have been given health… all those things ultimately are spiritual (meaning both sorts of giftings, physical and spiritual are both gifts from GOD) And they have been given to us by GOD to glorify His Kingdom, to give HIM glory.  Whether it be a spiritual gift, you know having faith to pray, having the spiritual gift of healing, or faith to cast out demons… Whatever the spiritual gifting you have been given we need to use those things FOR THE GLORY OF GOD, and truly bear good fruit for HIM.  

There are some people, pastors and Christians that, they may not say this out-loud, but they are using the giftings that they have been given to glorify themselves.  They want to look good before their friends, they want to become popular, they want their family to respect them, and ultimately they are caring about the FEELINGS, the FLESH, what PEOPLE THINK.  And as the Children of God, as brothers and sisters, WE NEED TO CARE ABOUT WHAT GOD THINKS OF US.  And we need to make sure that the things that we have been freely given, THAT WE ARE FREELY GIVING, that we are freely preaching the gospel, not asking for things in return, that we are giving to the Kingdom of GOD out of the goodness of our heart, not out of selfish ambitions, not expecting things in return. 

 It goes back to our heart attitude, how we are serving Jesus Christ.  Are we really His Church, serving Him in humility, really wanting to encourage other brothers and siters in the Lord to reconcile?  Do we want that ministry of reconciliation, that people will be SAVED and come into the faith?  Or are we looking for personal gain?  Let us check our hearts today and make sure that we are really seeking FIRST the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and humility and that we are not preaching the gospel or doing anything for our own personal gain.  May the grace of Jesus be with you.