ARE YOU GUIDED BY THE RIGHT PRINCIPLE?

ARE YOU GUIDED

 BY THE RIGHT PRINCIPLE?

LIFE IN THIS WORLD is not only fleeting but also rife with difficulties.  For this reason, many people have adopted the hedonistic way of life—“eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you will die.”  People who live by this principle focus their minds only on the present life.  They value material things above all else and disregard hope for the life to come or the resurrection of the dead.  Apostle Paul says:

     “… But if the dead are not raised to life, then, as the saying goes, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die’.”  (I Cor. 15:32, Today’s English Version)

     If the dead are not to raised back to life, says Apostle Paul, then let us live by this philosophy.  But then again, he knew too well that the cessation of breath isn’t yet the end of everything.  The dead will still resurrected and will be accountable for all the things they have done whether good or evil:

     “God is going to judge everything we do, whether good or bad, even things done in secret.”  (Eccl. 12:14, Ibid.)

     On that great day of reckoning, all that we have done in our lifetime would bring us either to salvation or to damnation as Christ pronounced:

     “And has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice  and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”  (Jn. 5:27-29, New King James Version)

     We, therefore, can ill-afford to do just as we please with our life.  We cannot be complacent knowing that when death comes, nothing else can be done.  We cannot enjoy life to the fullest and focus our time and energy only on accumulating material things that may provide us enjoyment or self-gratification.

EVEN IN RELIGION

     Religion seems to have also been permeated with materialism.  Nowadays, there are those who think that serving God is worthwhile only as long as something is to be gained from it.  The Bible records this:

     “You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God.  What do we profit by keeping his command or by going about as mourners before the LORD of hosts?’”  (Mal. 3:14, New revised Standard Version)

     Motivated by this principle, many people have joined religions that promise material benefits.  Unscrupulous preachers who are aware of what many people crave for, appeal to such desires by preaching material prosperity.  It is not unusual to hear preachers nowadays who bandy about the prosperity gospel and use this as their battlecry in winning people over.  They deceive people into believing that by serving God, all their problems, including financial worries, will be resolved.  They lead people in aiming at material gain rather than at the noble purpose of pleasing and glorifying God, as Prophet Isaiah records:

     “The Lord says: These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,  but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.”  (Is. 29:13, New International Version)

     This pronouncement holds true with many religionists today.  We constantly and invariably hear from them, “Praise the Lord,” “Halleluja,” “Believe in the Lord,” “Have faith in the Lord,” “Glory be to God,” and the like.  But, many use them in merely paying lip-service to God.  God considers such services as vain because they are according to man-made rules of principles (Mt. 15:9).  Their aim in serving the Lord is not to please Him but to gratify themselves instead.  Apostle Paul was on the mark when he forewarned the appearance of such people who seek for preachers who will feed their greed for material gratification and fulfillment:

     “The time will come when people will listen to sound doctrine, but will follow their own desires and will collect for themselves more and more teachers who will tell them what they are itching to hear.”  (II Tim. 4:3, TEV)

     No wonder many people nowadays take religion, primarily, for their personal convenience.  They would only serve God in exchange for gain.  Their hearts are inclined to unjust gain.  To such kind of people, the Bible has this to say:

     “My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain.”  (Ezek. 33:31, NIV)

     People who do not want to follow God’s words yet claim to be religious are only feigning devotion to Him.  They are after unjust gain.

THE EVIL OF FALSE DEVOTION

     We all hope that our piety would result in peace and prosperity.  However, if we have followed the wrong principle in serving God, the opposite may come our way.  The Bible records:

     “We hoped for peace and a time of healing, but it was no use; terror came instead.”  (Jer. 8:15, TEV)

     This is the most telling proof that a wrong principle in serving God leads us to disaster.  As such, greater disaster will befall man as written in Ezekiel 7:5-9:

     “This is what the Sovereign LORD is saying:  ‘One disaster after another is coming on you.  It’s all over.  This is the end.  You are finished.  The end is coming for you people who live in the land.  The time is near when there will be no more celebrations at the mountain shrines, only confusion.  Very soon now you will feel all the force of my anger.  I am judging you for what you have done, and I will pay you back for all your disgusting conduct.  I will not spare you or show you any mercy.  I am going to punish you for the disgusting things you have done, so that you will know that I am the LORD and that I am the one who punishes you’.” (Ibid.) 

     We should be guided by the right principle both in religion and in life to avoid God’s anger and its accompanying punishment.  We should serve the Lord with the intention of fulfilling the purpose of His creation and leave to Him the giving of just reward.  The Bible says:

     “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,  knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for[a] you serve the Lord Christ.  But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.”  (Col. 3:23-25, NKJV)

THE RIGHT PRINCIPLE

     The true servants of God are willing to endure and to sacrifice because their hope rests in the life to come and not in this world.  Apostle Paul wrote:

     “This is a true saying:  ‘If we have died with him, we shall also live with him.  If we continue to endure, we shall also rule with him.  If we deny him, he also will deny us’.”  (II Tim. 2:11-12, TEV)

     Whereas the hedonists are only after the enjoyment in this life and, therefore, do what only pleases them as long as they live, we ought to look beyond the present life.  We should trust that if we die with Christ, we will also live with Him:

      “For just as all people die because of their union with Adam, in the same way all will be raised to life because of their union with Christ.  But each one will be raised in proper order:  Christ, first of all, then, at the time of his coming, those who belong to him.”  (I Cor. 15:22-23, Ibid.)

     Those in union with Christ will be raised to life.  They belong to Him.  Outside this union, one cannot hope to obtain that life that is in Christ.  Whom is united or has relationship with Christ?  Apostle Paul enlightens us further:

     “The husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church.  It is his body, and he is its Savior.  We are parts of his body.  That’s why a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will be one.  This is a great mystery. (I’m talking about Christ’s relationship to the church.)” (Eph. 5:23, 30-32, God’s Word:  Today’s Bible Translation that says what it means)

     It is the Church which is in union or has relationship with Christ.  Just as husband and wife are one and united, so are Christ and His Church.  And just as husband is the head of the wife, so is Christ the head of His Church.  Hence, for us to belong to Christ and be certain of salvation, we cannot avoid joining His Church.  By virtue of this relationship with Him, we can be certain that if we die in Christ we will live with Him.  The Lord Jesus Christ Himself gave us this guarantee:

     “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.”  (Mt. 16:18, Revised Standard Version)

     Having this assurance, we should take on a principle very much different from that of the hedonists.  We should not trust in material things but in God and in the promises of the Lord Jesus.  We should be prepared to labor and to suffer:

     “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance.  For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.”  (I Tim. 4:9-10, NKJV)

      And to avoid being influenced by materialism, we should take to heart as a guiding principle the words of God written in the Bible:

     “Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.
7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.”  (Ps. 37:1-7, Ibid.)

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