Baptist City Blog

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

Hast Thou Seen This?

Ezekiel 8:17

"Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose."

Identifying whether someone is living a lie is very hard thing to do. Judging someone's motives is never a right thing to do, but when it comes to someone you lead or your child, knowing what is going on in their heart is very important so that you can help them.

In the verse above, God asked Ezekiel a very pointed question, "Hast thou seen this, O son of man?" God was talking to His prophet and was showing him several actions that His people were doing in private. He used phrases like, "I had digged in the wall, behold a door..." and "every man in the chambers of his imagery..." to get Ezekiel to see that what they were saying and what they were actually doing were two different things. Studying Israel's actions reveals identifying signs that someone's private life is filled with sin.

First, jealousy is a key identifier that something is wrong with someone's heart. It says in verse 5, "...and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry." When people are jealous of what others have, then they are revealing that they are living a selfish life. Jealousy is a identifier to show that a person only thinks of themselves. When a person makes themselves the issue, then they will live to please themselves, even if that pleasure means that they must do wrong to get pleasure.

Second, an idolatrous heart is a key identifier that something is wrong in a person's heart. In verse 10, you will find that Israel had an idolatrous heart. Idolatry is not just setting up images to worship, but idolatry is setting anything before God. When anything becomes more important than God, then it becomes an idol. When worldly things are more important to a person than godly things, then they have an idolatrous heart. For instance, when serving God is not as important as worldly functions, then a person has an idolatrous heart. When church, soul winning, Bible study and prayer are set aside for the sake of doing worldly pleasures, then a person has an idolatrous heart.

Third, a bad thought process reveals something is wrong with someone's heart. Israel's imagination was filled with wrong thoughts. Though you cannot see what a person thinks, Matthew 12:34 tells us that what a person says reveals what they think. Someone may try to hide what they are thinking, but it eventually comes out in what they talk about. It is important for leaders to listen to what their followers say, for the conversations and jokes that they are prone to tell reveals what is going on in their heart.

Fourth, a wrong direction reveals the heart. In verse 16, Israel's back was toward the temple. They were standing in the right place, but they were facing the wrong direction. A person's actions always speak louder than their words. Watching who someone spends time with helps reveals someone's direction. When someone is willing to do something that they previously were not willing to do, that shows their direction. A person's direction will always reveal what is going on in their heart and what it is that they really want to do.

The whole purpose of trying to identify what is going on in someone's heart is not to judge them, but to help them turn back to the right way. Watch for these identifying marks in those whom you lead, and when you see them, reach out in a special way, not to preach at them or to judge them, but to bring them back to where they should be.

The topic sermon and three more delightful sermons for the week of 8/07/11 are now up at www.baptist-city.com.

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

Superpowers Fall

Jeremiah 51:7-8

"Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed."

Many nations have been superpowers throughout history. Israel, Rome, England and the United States have all been superpowers. In the verse above, Babylon is described as a superpower when it says, "Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD'S hand,..." God allowed Babylon to be the superpower that He used to bring Israel back to Him. However, because Babylon did not acknowledge God, He took the superpower status away by destroying them. It doesn't matter how strong a nation is, God is still capable of causing that nation to fall.

Now you may wonder how this affects your personal life. The superpower status does not always just affect nations. In every walk of life there are superpowers. Where you work there is one employee who exceeds all employees; this person would be the "superpower" employee. There are businesses and churches that would be considered a superpower in their field. What I mean by this is that they are looked upon by everyone as the measuring stick of how to do things. Though they may not have the power to rule other organizations, but they are the superpower in their area. If a superpower is going to keep its power and status, then there are several things it must do and remember.

First, stay hungry. One of the greatest things that drives anyone is hunger. When you were a nobody, you had a hunger that drove you. Be careful about allowing your status to take your hunger away. Always remember that there is someone who is better than you. Being hungry about what you do will drive you to excellence. When you lose your hunger, you will lose your drive for excellence, and excellence is what caused you to be the measuring stick for all.

Second, keep helping others. One of the things that has made America a great superpower is that she has always been there to help those in need and who desire freedom. When people or nations are in trouble, America was there to help them out of their situations. No matter what you do, don't ever lose your desire to help others. Though helping others may not benefit you, God sees it and will reward you.

Third, repeat success. One of the greatest mistakes that successful nations, businesses, churches and people make is they try to improve upon success. Remember that you can't improve upon success. Don't change the lineup that made you successful. If you keep doing what made you successful, then you will find that it will continue to make you a success.

Fourth, remember you are not invincible. Everyone and everything is capable of destruction. This must always be remembered to keep yourself from doing things that will destroy you. If you don't run scared from sin, then sin will eventually get you and destroy you. Just because you have power does not mean that you can get away with wrong. Sin destroys anyone at any level; don't let it destroy you.

Last, remember Who ultimately blessed you with your success. God is the One Who sets up and takes down. Don't allow pride to set into your heart and destroy you. Pride is the one thing that can destroy anything. Keep your eyes on God and keep serving Him and following His commands, for He is the only One Who can ultimately keep you successful.

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

Correct in Measure

Jeremiah 46:28

"Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished."

In the verse above, the words, "correct" and "measure" are important in understanding what God was going to do to Israel. God pronounced His judgment against Egypt, and Israel heard how God was going to make an end of Egypt's superpower status. However, God wanted Israel to understand that though He would punish them, that He would only correct them "in measure."

The word "correct" means, "to set straight, to make right, or to conform to truth." God was teaching His purpose in correcting Israel was to bring them back to truth. Moreover, by using the word "measure" He was telling them the process of His correction would be with restraint, and in a deliberate and proportionate manner. You can find in this illustration the proper way that we should administer correction.

First, because there is no perfect person, that means everyone needs correction. Everyone is a sinner, therefore, when someone does wrong correction must be administered. If you don't correct your child, follower or subordinate, you are hurting them for the future. Correction is needed so that they won't do what will hurt them in a greater manner in the long run.

Second, be sure that when you administer correction that you administer it under control. You should never correct anyone when you are angry. When emotions get involved in correction, then abuse will happen. Most child abuse happens when a parent is out of control. When your punishment is out of reaction and emotion, then it is no longer correction, but it becomes abuse. There must be self-control to properly administer correction.

Third, always correct according to the rules. Be careful about correcting your child because you are inconvenienced or embarrassed. The only thing you teach your children when you correct this way is that they were wrong because you were inconvenienced or embarrassed, and not because they broke the rules. Broken rules must be the only reason why correction is administered. The one being corrected must completely understand that the correction is being administered because they broke the rules. This teaches them that every time they break a rule that correction will follow.

Fourth, correct in a timely fashion. What I mean by this is that when you correct, be deliberate with how you correct. Let me explain. When I correct my daughter, I go through a deliberate process of correction. I send her to her room to think about what she has done. After a few minutes, I go to the room and explain to her why she must be corrected. Then she is told what her punishment will be, and after the punishment, I pray with her and we move on. Notice my deliberate process. My emotions are not administering the punishment, but the rules are. Whenever you administer any type of correction, you should be deliberate so that the one being corrected understands the gravity of what is being done.

The whole purpose of administering correction is to restore the one who has done wrong and prevent them from doing the wrong again. Correcting in a measured way will help to accomplish the purpose of restoration and prevention. Follow God's method of correcting in measure, and you will find the correction will bring the one who did wrong back to the right way.

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

The Two Sides of Truth

Jeremiah 38:4

"Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt."

Being optimistic is certainly a good quality to have, but optimism without reality will hurt. In the verse above, the princes were upset with Jeremiah because his sermons were not optimistic about the outlook of the city of Jerusalem. He prophesied that the king of Babylon would take the city, and that every inhabitant of the city would be killed or taken as captives to Babylon. The princes thought that his sermons should be uplifting so as to strengthen the hands of the people and not hurt them. The problem was that if Jeremiah had preached an optimistic sermon, then truth would not have been proclaimed for there is a negative side of truth as well. When optimism forsakes truth, then optimism is more hurtful than reality.

In these current days, you can see similarities between the people of Jeremiah's day and the people of our day. It seems as if people are looking for feel good sermons more than they seek sermons of truth. In fact, when you have a preacher who proclaims both sides of truth, then you will find that many people think he is being negative. Certainly I am for helping people, and certainly I am for being optimistic, but truth also has a negative side that must be proclaimed. Truth must be proclaimed, and if the reality of truth seems to be negative, then we should change our lifestyle to match the message of truth.

Be careful about always looking for a preacher who only preaches the optimistic side of truth. When looking for a preacher, you should want a preacher who preaches both sides of truth, even if the side of truth is not optimistic. When you hear a true man of God preach, there will be times when his message is going to seem very negative, but preachers have to be negative in order to preach both sides of truth. For instance, preaching on the judgment of God is not very optimistic, but the judgment of God is truth. If a person commits sin, they will face God's judgment. If a nation continues in sin, it will face God's judgment. Though this may not be optimistic, this is truth and this is reality. If a preacher avoids preaching the negative side of truth, then his optimism will become hurtful because it does not warn people of the wages of sin.

When a preacher's negative sermon seems to be directed at your life, then don't get upset like the princes did at Jeremiah. Instead of getting upset at the preacher, you need to change that area of your life so you can enjoy the optimistic side of truth. You can get upset and go look for another preacher who makes you feel good, but that won't change the truth about your condition. If a person has cancer and doesn't like what a doctor tells them, then they can look for another doctor who tells them their fine, but that doesn't take the cancer away. Likewise, you can avoid the negative side of truth to listen to optimism, but that still won't change your condition and the impending judgment which is to come.

Remember, there are two sides to truth. There is an optimistic side of truth which talks of God's blessings when we do right, but there is also a negative side to truth that tells of sin's wage when we do wrong. Don't avoid the negative side of truth, but remember that both sides of truth are important for a healthy Christian life.

Music from the services of First Baptist Church of Hammond on 8/14/11 is now up at www.baptist-city.com.  That is not the most exciting news that we have for you today. Beginning with this music upload, all future audio files will be in beautiful streaming MP3 format, this includes sermons! When you click on a file, it will begin playing on your computer immediately in whatever default program you use to play MP3 files. These include but are not limited to iTunes and Windows media player.

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

Ruling Your Captor

Jeremiah 29:28

"For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them."

Reality can often be very sobering. The false prophets of Jeremiah's day did not like the reality of his preaching. Jeremiah prophesied that the captivity of Israel was going to last for a long time. In the verse above, you see that Jeremiah advised the people to build houses and plant gardens because of the length of their captivity. Jeremiah knew that most of the Israelites who lived in Babylon would never leave their captivity, so he helped them to rule their captivity instead of being a captive of their captivity.

There are many who read this devotional who have become a captive of some circumstance in their life. There are some who are captive to bad health. Maybe your health has turned for the worse, and as far as you know you will be a captive to your health for the remainder of your life. Some are a captive to divorce or a bad relationship. Others are captive to poor finances. Some have a unique captivity that only they will have to bear the rest of their lives. The key to your captivity is to not be a captive to it, but to rule it. If you will follow Jeremiah's advice to Israel then you can rule your captor.

First, accept your captivity. Notice that Jeremiah said, "...build ye houses,..." This was Jeremiah's way of telling them to accept that they were going to be captives for a long time. When you become a captive to a situation in your life you must not live in denial, for living in denial will keep you from becoming productive during your captivity. You will never rule your captor until you accept your captivity.

Second, don't complain. Jeremiah told the people to dwell in the houses that they built. In other words, he was telling them that they could either enjoy the homes that the built, or they could complain about their situation. Christian, you can complain about your captivity, but that will not help your situation. You still have life, and you should decide to live your life even though you are in captivity.

Third, stay busy serving God. Jeremiah told the people to plant gardens. In other words, make your time of captivity a fruitful time. I have found that God has used many of the things that have made me a captive to be the most fruitful elements of my life. If you are a captive to your captivity, then you are missing out on the greatest opportunity to become fruitful. Use your situation to help others who are captive to the same captivity. Joseph was fruitful when he was a slave and in prison, and you can be as well. Don't allow your captivity to take away the time of fruitfulness that you can enjoy.

Last, count your blessings. Jeremiah told the people to eat the fruit of their gardens. In other words, though you are a captive, you will still have blessings that you can enjoy. If you allow your captivity to be your captor, then you will miss out on these blessings. However, if you decide to rule your captor, then you will find that God will bless you in your captivity and that you will have many opportunities to count the blessings of these fruits.

You may not be able to change your captivity, but you can still be productive and joyful in it. You can either be a captive of your captivity, or you can be a ruler over your captor. With God's help you can become a ruler over your captor and make your captivity the most productive and fruitful portion of your life.

The title sermon and three more terrific sermons for the week of 7/31/10 are now up at www.baptist-city.com.