According to the pattern...

Part 2 - Relationship

Some people are surprised at the words that Matthew wrote in the seventh chapter of his gospel, verses 21 to 27 which read: "Not every one who says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? In your name cast out devils and in your name done many wonderful works?

Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you who work iniquity. Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house upon a rock: the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house but it did not fall, for it was founded on rock.

Every one who hears these sayings of mine, and does not practice them shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand: the rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it."

It seems clear from this passage that what Matthew is emphasising here is the importance of a real relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It is this relationship that is more important than any amount of good works that we might do. The reason for this is because we are saved by grace not by works, most of which might be in the flesh.

When someone is born-again of The Spirit (not a catchphrase but a biblical quote from John chapter 3) they cannot help but fall in love with Jesus and thereafter change their life-style to one that eliminates all those things we know will cause offence to God, learn to hear His voice and to obey immediately the commands that He gives us.

We cannot be said to have been truly born-again if we feel we can go on living in the same way as we did before we came to know Jesus our saviour. If we truly are born-again and walking in fellowship with our maker then there will be fruit come out of it, a change of life-style and a different attitude towards others.

Much of this fruit will be produced by the work of God in our lives (if we allow Him to do what He wants to do in and through us) but there are things that we have to do in order to co-operate with the changes that God wants to bring about in our lives. One of these things is to become familiar with and fall in love with the written word of God which is The Bible.

This will sustain, build us up and encourage us. King David knew the benefit of studying and meditating on the scriptures for he wrote in psalm No.1 the following line: "But his delight is in the law of The Lord; and in His law he meditates day and night."

We only have to look at the opening words of the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples to see the paramount importance of our relationship with our creator. The first two words read "Our Father" The Greek word for father is "Abba" and in its context in the Greek language it is the most intimate term possible between a child and its father.

Once we get our relationship right with God then all the over fruit that we will produce will come out of that. It is an intimate and deeply personal relationship with His people that is central to the heart and will of God; we can see this from the beginning in Genesis chapter 3 v 8 through to Revelation chapter 21 v 3.

Other reasons we need to meditate on and become familiar with scripture include thereby being able to recognise false teaching when we are confronted with it. Through our relationship with God and through regular studying of the scriptures we will become so familiar with the genuine article we will know immediately if something counterfeit is presented to us.

The second reason is because we are told in 1 Peter chapter 3 v 15 to "Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear. So many new believers and more mature ones cannot do this.

The reason is that they have never been taught how to explain their faith to someone who is not yet a believer, or to someone who wants to be discipled in the faith, and it is for this reason that we began our series of studies on this subject with the explanation of the plan of salvation and the need for mankind's redemption.

Jesus took upon Himself the consequences of our sin so that we would never have to. Isaiah chapter 53 v 5 reads: "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed."

If in this lifetime we do not allow Jesus to take the consequences of our transgressions then we will have to bear the consequences of them for all eternity, forever banished from the presence of God. If we do allow Jesus to bear the consequences for our sin then our transgressions past, present and future are eternally taken care of when we truly walk in fellowship with Him.

Many people are never taught how to build a relationship with God through Jesus Christ so we will now look at a few scriptures that will help us to do this. The first is found in Ephesians chapter 5 verses 19 and 20 which read: "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ"

This is what is known as silent prayer, not praying aloud but praying "in your spirit" which is where God will speak to you. This is nothing new we find it as far back as the book of Genesis chapter 24 verse 45 when Abraham's servant is searching out a wife for his master's son, Isaac.

The verse reads as follows: "And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the well, and drew water: and I said unto her, let me drink, I pray you." Pray in the heart being what Paul was writing about, another way of saying it is "silent prayer".

If we look at the preceding verses we will find that Abraham's servant is here recounting the story of how he met Rebekah to her parents, and asking them for permission to take her with them as a wife for his master's son, Isaac. She agrees and is greatly rewarded for her obedience.

Psalm 100 verse 4 also gives us helpful information. "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless His name. We enter into His presence primarily through praise and thanksgiving, acknowledging His greatness and worthiness to receive our sacrifice of praise.

If you became the parent of a child you would after some years be able to recognise the voice of your child in a crowd because you had spent time getting to know the sound of the child's voice and knowing the child personally. Our relationship with God takes time to build but is built in the same way, through spending quality time in His presence every day with praise, thanksgiving and the study of His word.

Once we have learnt to identify that still small voice speaking into our spirit we will open ourselves up by being taught many things by Him and through Him, asking always for cleansing and forgiveness of sin so that we can stand in His presence with that robe of righteousness that only Jesus can give us.

Doing these things will fill you with a sense of joy greater than you could ever find through anything else in the world, it will also give you a sense of purpose and a sense of direction for your life, and a vision of the great plans that God has for your life which He will guide you to over time.

Praise Him for being your saviour, your Lord and your God, for always being there when you need Him, for the great and wonderful love and gifts that He showers upon you day by day and for wanting to have intimate fellowship with you, not just in this life but forever in eternity.

Let us finish we another look at one of the most wonderful verses in scripture, taken from Revelation chapter 21 verses 3 and 4: "I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.

He shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. Blessed be God forever.

read part 3...