Hypocrite or Ambassador?

“For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.” ~ Romans 2:24

 “The name of the true God was blasphemed among the Gentiles because the people that should have been growing in the image of the holiness of God were walking in sin behind a mask of hypocrisy.  Even if man is unaware of it, God knows that it is a monstrous thing that those who derive their glory from God should disgrace His holy name.”

“And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land. But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.” ~ Ezekiel 36:23

 “Finally, a word to you who have named the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and who seek to follow Him, do not be downcast because of the failures of some believers.  You are not to be critical of those who, like Peter, have moments when they follow afar off.  It is true that men are going to judge your God by you.  They will blaspheme Him if you betray His holiness and righteousness.  But they will glorify Him if they see your honest effort to follow after Him, believing in Him, and giving Him the glory for all of the triumphs of your life, accepting in yourself the responsibility for all of the failures and defeats.”

“It is a wonderful thing to be an ambassador, but it carries with it high responsibilities as well as great privileges.  To every Christian, therefore, comes the bold challenge of the Word of God. The Lord tells us that He has placed His interests in our hands.  Paul writes to the Corinthians: “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20).

“The function of ambassador carries with it all of the honor and dignity of the homeland.  If we have the smile of God, we do not need to be concerned if we have the frown of the world.  But the smile of the world will be of no value whatsoever if we have the frown of God.”

“ God has told us that we are to live so that men will not blaspheme Him but that they will glorify Him. The Lord Jesus told His own that they were the salt of the earth.  Not only does salt give flavor to food and preserve it from rotting but it still has another function that is important. As the Chinese girl in a Bible study discussion group pointed out, salt makes one thirsty.  This should be the quality of the Christian as the salt of the earth. Men should see the way that he lives, the evident joy of his being, the manifest power at work in his life, and should say, “There is a person who has something that I do not have. I want it.”  Take heed lest you as a Christian so live that you become savorless salt, thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the foot of men (Matthew 5:13).”

“Again the Lord Jesus told His followers that they were the light of the world. He desires His own to be in the world as a city set on a hill.  He pointed out that men do not light a candle and put it under a bushel basket, but on a candlestick where its light can banish the surrounding darkness. So, said Christ, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).”

“There is the great alternative that is set before us as Christians today.  We can live in such a way that men will blaspheme the name of the Lord because of us. We can live in such a way that men will see our good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven.  In this world where man stands in size about middle distance between an atom and a planet, he may count for much or little in the measurements of men. But when we see that the believer has been placed in this world as an ambassador with the possibility of bringing glory to the Lord of Hosts, then the function of being a Christian becomes more important than life itself.  Living as a Christian is seen to be the chief purpose of man’s existence; and, if we enter into the divine purpose, He will give us Himself that we may enjoy Him forever.”

Barnhouse, Donald Gray. Expositions of Bible Doctrines Taking the Epistle to the Romans as a Point of Departure. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, n.d. 119-122,129-131. 4 vols. Print.

Moses May Be More Important To Your Faith Than You Know

^“And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.”

“Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?” ~ John 5:37-40; 45-47

“The Lord Jesus appealed to the Old Testament.  He said (v39), “ Ye search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” In other words, Jesus was saying, “The Old Testament was written about Me.” He continues, “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” A few verses further on He completes the argument with a devastating comparison: “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses [that is, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy] ye would have believed me; for he [Moses] wrote of me.” Thus again He makes the claim to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies.  But now He goes much further and says, “But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?”

“Let us understand clearly what this means. We will paraphrase it: If you do not believe the writings of Moses, Genesis to Deuteronomy, Christ says that you never will be able to believe Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the four gospels.”

“It is an astounding claim and one that explains many things.  The Lord says that faith cannot pick and choose within the Word of God.  You have to take the whole of the revelation of God or you cannot have any of it.  The Lord says that failure to believe the earlier books of the Bible would make it impossible to believe the gospel story.  It is a tremendous revelation of the nature of the evil heart of unbelief.  It is also a most revealing comment on why Satan levels so many attacks upon the book of Genesis.  The Devil knows that if he can create unbelief in the beginning of the Word of God, he has made it impossible for any man to trust in the heart and center of the Word of God, for Jesus Christ, the living Word, and the Bible, all of it, the written Word are one.  It is impossible to separate them.”

Barnhouse, Donald Gray. Expositions of Bible Doctrines Taking the Epistle to the Romans as a Point of Departure. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, n.d. 34-35. 4 vols. Print.