Tuesday, October 22, 2024

What Is Written On Your Record?

What Is Written On Your Record?

The Record Of The Sinner

Isaiah 30:8 Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:

Isaiah 30:9-13 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon: Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.

The record of Judah's failures, their sin and rebellion, and their coming judgment - written forever in God's sight, and in His Word.

Jeremiah 17:1  The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;

Jeremiah 17:2 Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.

Their sin was not only written in the Word of God, but was written in their hearts!

Deuteronomy 31:19 Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.

Deuteronomy 31:20-21 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant. And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.

The Record In Heaven

But God is not only keeping the records of the nation of Israel, He is also keeping the records of all that have ever lived upon this earth.

Revelation 20:11-15 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

While man may seem to get away with much, and his sins are hidden from the eyes of others - they are known to God, and will one day be known to the whole world at the Great White Throne Judgment - the judgment of all those who have rejected the Saviour.

The Record Of The Saviour

Thank the Lord God that He is keeping records of something so much better than that of our sins: there is also the record of the Saviour!

Job 19:23-24 Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!

Job 19:25-27 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

Not only will the Bible reveal to us that we are sinners that have sinned against a Holy, righteous God - it tells us of the Saviour who came to die for those same sins! If we will repent of those sins and turn to the Saviour, trusting in His finished work on the cross of Calvary, believing that He took the punishment for our sins and shed His sinless blood to wash those sins away, He will forgive us of them, and blot them out forever.

The Record Blotted Out

Isaiah 43:25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

Isaiah 44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.

The word for "blotted" in the above verses means to "erase; rub out, utterly wipe away."

Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

This word for "blot" in the New Testament means to "smear out; obliterate."

If God obliterates the record of our sins, we will never have to face them again or face the judgment that those sins deserve.

The Record Written In Our Hearts

Jeremiah 31:33-34 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Quoted in reference to the New Testament Christian in Hebrews 8:10-12 and 10:16-17)

2 Corinthians 3:2-3 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

Not only does God write His law in the believer's heart, the Holy Spirit also writes about Christ and His salvation there for others to see - true believers are the epistles of Christ to a lost a dying world! How is the world reading you?

Romans 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

(Words and Music: Frederick M. Lehman)

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.

Chorus:
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.

When years of time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men, who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

What Is Written On Your Record?

What is written on your record? Are your sins written forever in God's books - ready to be revealed at the Great White Throne Judgment, or is the record of them blotted out forever by the blood of Christ? Are God's law and His love written in your heart? If you have repented of your sins and have received the Saviour (the Lord Jesus Christ), trusting in Him alone for salvation, He has blotted out all your sins and written His law and love on your heart.

November 18th/05
Jerry Bouey

Render Unto God

Render Unto God

Matthew 22:15-22 Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle Him in His talk. And they sent out unto Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that Thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest Thou for any man: for Thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest Thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye Me, ye hypocrites? Shew Me the tribute money. And they brought unto Him a penny. And He saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto Him, Caesar's. Then saith He unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.

The word image is Strong's #1504 and has this definition: from 1503; a likeness, i.e. (literally) statue, profile, or (figuratively) representation, resemblance.

#1503 - (through the idea of faintness as a copy); to resemble:--be like.

The Lord Jesus Christ said that something belonged to the person whose image and superscription it was made in.

Whose image were you made in?

Genesis 1:26-27 And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.

Here we can see that all of mankind belongs to God, the Creator. He owns us by the simple fact that He created us. We are to render unto God the things that are God's. Have you turned to the Lord in repentance and faith, and received His free gift of salvation.

Whose image are you being conformed to?

If you are saved, through personal faith in Jesus Christ, then He has bought you with His precious blood, and His Holy Spirit is conforming you to the image of Christ.

Romans 8:29 For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Superscription is Strong's #1923 and has this definition: from 1924, an inscription.

#1924 - to inscribe (physically or mentally):--inscription, write in (over, thereon).

Who has written upon you?

Hebrews 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put My laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people:

2 Corinthians 3:3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

If you are a child of God, the law of God has been written upon your heart, and you are an epistle of Christ's, written upon by the Spirit of God. All three members of the Trinity have placed their claim upon you.

Matthew 22:20 And He saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?

You were made in God's image and are being conformed to the image of Christ. You have God's superscription upon your heart and spirit.

Matthew 22:21 They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith He unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.

Are you rendering unto the Lord God what is His? Have you given yourself to Him wholeheartedly in service? If not, in the inspired words of the Apostle Paul, I beseech you to do so:

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Render unto God the things that are God's.

March 22nd/05
Jerry Bouey

What Is Man?

What Is Man?

This is one of the oldest questions that mankind has asked. If you were to ask the average non-Christian this question today, they would probably give you an answer based on the philosophy of evolution: Man is just another animal - but we are getting better, progressing, rising upwards, evolving. Another closely related philosophy is humanism: Man doesn't need God. Given enough time and resources man can do anything, meet any crisis, solve any problem - all without God. Unfortunately, man cannot solve the most important dilemmas he faces: death, disease, and destruction (wars, murders, and so on) - nor the sin problem (only God can!). The heart of the problem is the problem of the heart!

Looking at the world around us, we can easily see the effects of man's rebellion against God. Instead of God leaving man to his own destruction, He stepped into our universe as one of us and died for our sins; therefore providing redemption for all who will repent of their sins and turn to Jesus Christ alone for salvation.

In the oldest book of the Bible, the book of Job, we see a believer going through a time of great trial in his life, a time where the Lord let Satan prove him. Job did not know what was going on behind the scenes, in the spiritual realm, he only knew what he could see in his life - the tragedies he faced with the loss (death) of all ten children at once, the devastation and destruction of his wealth and possessions (servants, camels, oxen, sheep, etc.), and the disease that ravaged his body for months on end.

During this time of trial, Job asked some of mankind's toughest questions - one of which was: What is man? Why would God deign to pay attention to fallen man; why would He stoop down in compassion and lift up man from the dust; why would He come and pay the penalty that the sins of man deserved? What is man that God would reach out to him?

Job 7:17-18  What is man, that Thou shouldest magnify him? and that Thou shouldest set Thine heart upon him? And that Thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment?

About 1,000 years later, we have someone else - this time King David - asking similar questions, but in an entirely different context:

Psalms 8:3-6 When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him? For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet:

Who has not looked out at the stars and thought how small and infinitesimal he was? Who has not looked at the wonder of creation - of all that God has done - and thought what was he, where did he fit into all of this? Who has not looked at the beauty of the Northern Lights or sensed the awe during a violent lightning storm - and thought that God did all this, by His power and wisdom He has created all the glory and majesty of this world, yea this whole universe, and wondered, "what is man" in comparison?

Maybe it would be better to answer the question of What by that of Why. Why was man created?

The Bible teaches that man is the highest of God's creation, made in His image. All things were created for God s pleasure - especially man.

Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.

Proverbs 8:30-31 Then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him: and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him; Rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth; and My delights were with the sons of men.

Here wisdom (whom I believe is a picture of Christ, in this passage) is portrayed as taking delight in man. Mankind was created to bring God pleasure - that can only happen as we receive His free gift of salvation and worship Him in spirit and in truth - when we love Him freely from our hearts, in gratitude of all He has done for us, in gratitude of the way of salvation Jesus Christ has prepared through His shed blood, His death on the cross, His burial and resurrection.

God created the first man, Adam, and placed him in the Garden of Eden where He fellowshipped with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. Eden means delight. I always believed that it referred to the delight of that first couple God created, in seeing the perfection around them, the delight of having all their needs met, and their delight in walking with the Lord day by day. Then the other day I thought maybe it also referred to God s delight in man - it was God that named the Garden Eden, after all. Praise the Lord for having His plan of salvation ready to be revealed and brought into play as soon as the first man had sinned - yea, planned even from before the foundation of the world!

Truly, we can say with King David:

Psalms 144:3 LORD, what is man, that Thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that Thou makest account of him!

Notice, this time it is a statement, and not a question. A statement of awe and wonder at what the Lord has done for him, wonder at the Lord's pity and love for man! In light of all God's mercies and promises to him, this same king - a man after God s own heart - asked the question of Who:

1 Chronicles 17:16 And David the king came and sat before the LORD, and said, Who am I, O LORD God, and what is mine house, that Thou hast brought me hitherto?

1 Chronicles 29:14 But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we given Thee.

It is not important who we are, but who God is! He is the omnipotent Creator, and He created us for His pleasure, for His glory. Are you bringing Him pleasure? Have you received His only-begotten Son as your personal Saviour? We can only please Him through faith in Him (see Hebrews 11:6) - and that starts with faith in Jesus Christ's finished work of redemption on the cross of Calvary.

What is man? Why was he created? Who are you living for - for yourself or for the Lord God?

So Amazed

Basking in Your presence at the start of the day,
I meditate in wonder and begin to pray.
“So amazed,” is all my raptured soul can say.
Who am I, Lord, that You would love me this way?

Once burdened by sins that my mind couldn’t erase,
Now, forgiven – in Your sight there’s not even a trace.
So amazed and awed by Your amazing grace.
Who am I, Lord, that You would die in my place?

At the mountaintop, at last, I rest from my climb,
Rejoicing in the soothing peace that I find.
So amazed, in Christ I have victory this time.
By staying focused on Him, steadfast in mind.

So amazed, Lord, by Your amazing grace,
So amazed, Jesus, that You died in my place,
So amazed by all the wondrous things that You do,
So amazed, my God, I’m so amazed in You!

Poem written April 5th, 2002
Study written March 12th, 2005
Jerry Bouey