Check to see if you
are a truly a Christian.
Psalms 73:25
Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is
none upon earth that I desire besides thee.
The true Christian
prefers God above all things in heaven or on earth.
The Psalmist looks at
the wealth and the prosperity of the wicked, he sees how they enjoy in this
world, they have no problems, and no trials and they continue to prosper. He
gets jealous at their wonderful life style in this world. Psalmist himself get
tempted, until he went to the house of God then he understood. He understood
how foolish and how ignorant he was as God has set the ungodly in slippery
places any moment they can die and go to hell to everlasting fire.
First we will see the godly man the true Christian
then we will see the unbeliever, the hypocrite.
Every godly man, true
Christian has his heart in heaven; his affections are set in Heaven his chosen
country and inheritance. He is a traveler on this world. The traveler can
content himself to be in a strange land for a while. Heb. 11:13, etc. These all
died in faith, not having received the promises, but were persuaded of them,
and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the
earth. For they that say such things, declare plainly that they seek a country.
And truly if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out,
they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better
country, that is, a heavenly. It is like a child living abroad away from his
fathers house. Heaven is the true saints Fathers house: John 14:2, In my
Fathers house are many mansions. John 20:17, I ascend to my Father and your
Father.
Now, the main reason
why the godly man hath his heart thus to heaven is because God is there; that
is the palace of the Most High. It is the place where God is gloriously
present, where his love is gloriously manifested, where godly are going to be
with him, see him as he is, and love, serve, praise, and enjoy him perfectly.
If God is not in
heaven, we would not be so earnest in seeking it, nor would he take so much
pains in a laborious travel through this wilderness, nor would the
consideration that he is going to heaven when he dies, be such a comfort to him
under toils and afflictions. The martyrs would not undergo cruel sufferings,
from their persecutors, with a cheerful prospect of going to heaven, did they
not expect to be with Christ, and to enjoy God there.
The believers heart is
in heaven, because his treasure is there. The true Christian cheerfully forsake
all their earthly possessions and all their earthly friends in exchange for
God. God becomes number one and all the others are below God. True Christians
are afflicted, tormented for their uncompromised belief as they exchange their
earthly values for a heavenly inheritance where they want to be with their
glorious redeemer.
Other religions
including Mormonism heaven is a place of sensual delights and pleasures, you
can become a god and marry many women populate the universe. If heaven was a
place of sensual carnal enjoyments filled with sensual pleasures and God was
not there, the true Christian cannot enjoy God. The true Christian will be
restless without God as God is the center of his desires.
II. It is the temper of a godly man to prefer God
before all other things on the earth.
2Co 4:18 While we look not at the things which are
seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are
temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
True Christian does not enjoy God fully in this world,
he has a little of his divine glory and love but God has promised in his word
to give him full enjoyment and these promises are more precious than becoming a
millionaire. It is better to live in rags and to believe in these precious
promises than to live in luxury.
The true saint is always hungry for more and more
of God in this world; it is a continuous growth in his spiritual life. It is
their desire to know more of God and desire to imitate their Master Christ and
not the world.
Psa. 27:4, One thing have I desired of the Lord,
that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days
of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.
Psa. 42:1, 2, As the hart panted after the water-brooks, so panted my soul
after thee, O God. My soul thirsted for God, for the living God: when shall I
come and appear before God? Psa. 63:1, 2, O God, thou art my God, early will I
seek thee: my soul thirsted for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and
thirsty land, where no water is; to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have
seen thee in the sanctuary. See also Psa. 84:1, 2, 3 and Psa. 130:6, My soul
waited for the Lord, more than they that watch for the morning; I say, more
than they that watch for the morning.
Isa 26:8 Yea, in the
way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul
is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
9 With my soul have I
desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee
early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world
will learn righteousness.
The genuine Christian
wants to be rich in grace than to be rich in wealth, desire the honor of God
and not the honor of men.
Joh 5:44 How can ye
believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh
from God only?
They desire to have
communion with God more than worldly friends fellowship and earthly pleasures.
Psa. 84:10, A day in
thy courts is better than a thousand: I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house
of God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Php 3:8 Yea doubtless,
and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count
them but dung, that I may win Christ.
The true Christian
prefers God to all his temporal enjoyments he has in this world.
Ps 16:5 The LORD is the
portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintains my lot.
6 The lines are fallen
unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.
He prefers God than his earthly friends.
Lu 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his
father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and
his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
He prefers God to any earthly enjoyments and
prefers Christ to any earthly kingdoms.
Godly man lives in this
troublesome world, he loses his temporary enjoyments for God, loses luxury and can
be deprived of many things but his foundation of happiness is above this world
and no one can take that happiness away, as long as God remains his happiness
with God remains. Worldly people set their hearts on earthly enjoyments but the
true Christian his chief portion is God and thats were his heart is and no one
can take that eternal enjoyment of God from him.
The true Christians
portion is God, he worship God, he has great honor and respect to God as a
person and to his word, he has communion, fellowship with God, relationship to
God through his word, prayer, fellowship and his Christian conversation and
behavior.
Unbelievers may have an
external honor and respect to God but not truly internal.
Psa. 66:3, Through the greatness of thy power shall
thine enemies submit themselves unto thee. In the original it is, shall thine enemies lie unto thee, i.e. yield a
feigned obedience.
On the other hand the
ungodly have no desire to go to heaven, their mind is set on earth, this is
their heaven, they do not worship God as God, no respect to Gods word and
behavior is carnal and worldly.
They very often hear how excellent and glorious a
person Christ is. They are told of his holiness, and grace, and the judgment to
come yet it is not important to them.
They hear the glorious message of the gospel and
told that Christ can save the worst sinner, yet they will not make any effort
to repent and turn to Christ. They hear the suffering of Christ and his dying
love but these things are taken very lightly.
Unbelievers Christ is not exceedingly beautiful. If
you see something greatly beautiful you will desire, will labor to get it and
have it and enjoy. Unbelievers labor the things of the world, as their delight
and ultimate enjoyment are the things of this world, they are passionately in
love with them.
On the other hand Christ is most glorious above
everything, there is great internal beauty in him, for who he is and what he
has done, they have no desire for Christ, they have no passion for him, they
are not passionately in love with him and have no enjoyment in Christ, Christ
is boring to them compared to the world, Bible is a boring book, there is not
desire at all.
To the unbeliever they have no value for Christ, he
is worth nothing, and it is the world that is greatly valuable to them and the
world is everything for them. The worthless things of this world have great
value for them. They trample Christ daily in their disobedience; they have fear
of death but no fear of Christ.
Rather they gratify earthly things and think and
meditate daily on earthly thinks. They have no desire to conform to Christ yet
they have a great desire to conform to this world.
Consider that you are just dust a worm before the
king of kings, consider the great crime you have committed in your disobedience
to the author of life. Christ can deliver you from hell, from the lake of fire
even that blood that was shed for such poor sinners as you are, and that is
offered to you for your salvation. But you trample Christ for the sake of your
desires of the world.
Mt 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my
Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and
in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew
you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of
mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house
upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and
the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded
upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of
mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his
house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and
the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall
of it.