Scripture: John 6:47-51;
Titus 2:11-14; 1 John 1:8-10; 1 John 3:1-3
In John Wesley’s paper “The Character of a
Methodist”, he wrote these words - “seeing
he loves not the world, nor any of the things of the world; [being] now
crucified to the world, and the world crucified to him; being dead to all that
is in the world, both to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the
pride of life. For all his desire is
unto God, and to the remembrance of His name.” This allegiance and love for God is what Wesley
calls “pure of heart”, and he believes that this must exist in anyone who
professes Methodism.
The prophet Joel also had something to say about this issue to the people
of Israel 2,800 years ago – in 2:12-13, we
read “12 ‘Even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting and
weeping and mourning. 13 Rend
your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow
to anger and abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity’.”
The point that each is making is that when
we are apart from God, there can be no purity of heart, and they both
are challenging us to tear the ways and influence of the world out of
our lives so that we might return to Godly ways. For it is only then that we will know the
closeness of our Almighty LORD and Savior.
Today we will be considering what Jesus and the epistle writers had to say about this need to shun the
world’s call, and to look to Him for true life now and forever.
Read John 6:47-51
Jesus is telling us that the world can give nothing even close to what
faith in Him can bring. Even though the heavenly
Manna had nourished wandering Israel during their wilderness years, it only
sustained their human lives, until each and every one of the wanderers
eventually died and passed from the earth.
But the “Bread of Life” that Jesus brings, is the food of faith that
sustains for eternity! The problem was
that in the wilderness, and even though the LORD God Jehovah was feeding, and leading,
and strengthening, and enabling the nation, they never stopped complaining, and
doubting, and wanting things to be done in their own way! They trusted in the ways that were familiar
and comfortable to their lives, but not in the far better ways of their Jehovah
God.
Jesus tells us that we need to set the ways of earth aside, and to begin
following in a whole new way – a way that is by faith, and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:6-8).
Unfortunately, there are still many who are looking for the obvious, but
human side of faith, instead of just trusting and obeying all that Jesus taught
and commanded!
But the hang-up for many folks are the words that His body, His flesh, is
the Bread that will sustain them. But to
eat the flesh of others was unthinkable for Israel – after all, God had given
them a command to never eat the flesh, and never to drink the blood of their
defeated enemies! This was a tradition that
others followed, for they believed that to feast on the body of a powerful
enemy meant that you would also gain their strength and ability!
But Jesus wasn’t talking about eating human flesh or
about gaining human strength – He was talking about faith! Verse 47 is the key, “the one who believes
has eternal life.” Jesus was about
to give His life for the salvation of all who believe, and His human
flesh would no longer be with them. Believing
in the human and fleshly death that He was about to accept on our behalf will
be our heart’s “feasting” on Him – a feast that brings eternal life.
Read Titus 2:11-14
Once again, it becomes
obvious that we have no hope whatsoever of gaining salvation on our own – it is
only through the “grace” of God that saves us, and teaches us, and enables us
to say “No” to the things of this world, and to live in a way that glorifies
our LORD. But we are also
called to wait for the hope of Christ, while we live in the way that Jesus
showed us - a Godly and selfless existence that rejects the wickedness of
worldly thought and pursuits. And this change
can only come to be through the purification that faith and trust in Jesus can
bring.
But how can we ever actually do
that? We are told that the flesh is weak,
but when we give ourselves over to God, James 4:7-10 tells us that Satan
will flee from us! When we come near to
God, He comes near to us, and Satan knows that this will be an unbeatable
combination. The LORD, in
His purification of us through faith, will be ours when we humble ourselves and
allow Him to raise us up with Him!
Read 1 John 1:8-10
John’s first epistle reminds
us that even when Christ has brought purity to the life of all believers, we
still can’t claim the status of sinlessness.
Only Jesus can claim that! We can
only continue to confess our sin, and seek the LORD’s forgiveness and
purification once again. Purification is
not the same as “permanent perfection”! Perfection
is one thing that Jesus never promised – He only promised that we would be
worthy to stand in the presence of God if we believed and trusted in His word!
In 1 Thessalonians 2:11-13,
Paul tells the church that they have been encouraged to live lives worthy of
God, who has poured out His grace and life on all who believe. Not a single word about being sinless, only
worthy to be called the children of God!
And our declaration of perfection
gets even worse – in doing so, we are, in essence, denying God’s divinity and
the truth of His own perfection! And the
word of God will not be in us.
Read 1 John 3:1-3
When the day of Judgment
comes, the children of God will be the reflection of God Himself, and the
people of the world will not. For the
promise that comes by faith in Christ can only rest on those who know Christ, and
all who are known by Him. It is the
purity that God grants to those who believe that will clear our way to
eternity, but those who have not put their lives in the hope of Christ will
continue to know nothing, except that they have lost out on the greatest
opportunity of all time.
For those who believe, and
have been purified by the love of God, Wesley wrote
these words - “none can take from him what he desires; seeing he loves not
the world, nor any of the things of the world …
For all his desire is unto God, and to the remembrance of His name.”
The
mark of a Methodist is the same mark that defines a Christian –that they are one
of God’s own.
