What is My Purpose? :: By Sean Gooding

Published on: by RR10 Category:General Articles, Sean Gooding

Matt. 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.”

Ezekiel 34: 29-31 “And I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,’ declares the Lord GOD. ‘You are My flock, the sheep of My pasture, My people, and I am your God,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

As many of you will know, Dr. John MacArthur went home to be with the Lord this week. He was a great Bible scholar. I did not agree with all that he taught, in particular the idea of Calvinism, but in just about every other aspect, his theology was solid. In an interview a while ago, he was asked about his goal in life, and he simply replied that his goal was to ‘glorify God.’ There was no fanfare, no accolades, and no pretense, just the plain and simple truth of his life’s goal, to ‘glorify God.’

We are told in many places to keep the main thing the main thing, and Dr. MacArthur knew how to do that. In every interview, in all of the interactions that we often see online, he was able to live out his goal of glorifying God. He never wavered in his doctrinal stands and did not compromise for money or fame. May we all be like this.

But as I was thinking about this, it hit me, and it kept hitting me that too many of us have missed the point of why we exist and why we are saved; it is to glorify God. But what does that mean?

The word glorify is not as mysterious as we think it is; it simply means to ‘form the right opinion.’ Our goal, our purpose, and what should drive us is to live in such a way, carry ourselves in such a way, operate our local churches in such a way as to help people form the right opinion of God. Let that sink in; we are to live in such a way as to help the people around us form the right opinion of God.

Are you and I doing that? And, if we are, are we doing so faithfully? Are we doing so consistently? These are legitimate questions about how we are living our lives.

Let us take a look at Psalm 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God”; the heavens help people to form the right opinion of God. Now, there are a lot of people who do not come to the right conclusion, and that is because they have preconceived opinions that hinder them from coming to the right conclusion about God. Over and over again, I see that when these supposed ‘evolutionists’ are confronted with questions about origins, they get stumped and fumble their words because intrinsically they know that the world in which we live, the planet on which we live, was intelligently designed. There are no ways around it once they begin to dissect the science.

One has to ignore several very concrete laws of life, physics, and science to be an evolutionist. One has to suspend rational thought to be an evolutionist, and one has to take a huge leap of faith to be an evolutionist. Thus, the heavens do their job, but sinful people refuse to come to the right conclusion. We learn from this that we are not responsible for how people react to our glorifying, but that we do glorifying right.

Many people disagreed with Dr. MacArthur on same sex marriage, on the simplicity of the Gospel, on the fact that Jesus was and is the only way, and that there is a Hell to shun and a Heaven to gain, but nonetheless, Dr. MacArthur stood firm and stood on the sanctity and security of the Holy Bible. We should endeavor to be just as secure, just as sure, just as dogmatic, and just as well-versed as he was. We should all be diligent students of the Holy Bible and be secure in its doctrines.

Do our marriages show the glory of God? Do our relationships show the glory of God? Do our churches show the glory of God? On and on we can go with these questions.

What if we based all of our actions on this simple foundation? Will what I am about to say, do, act, re-act, and endorse help those around me to form the right opinion of God? How would this simple action change the way we live out our lives? How would it make our marriages better? Our churches better? Our spending better? Our whole approach to life better?

If we make glorifying God the sole goal, the sole focus, I am not sure that we know how that would change the world around us. We have to be ready for the pushback, even from Christians. Dr. MacArthur and other leaders like him were hated by just as many or more people than those who loved him. But his sole goal was to please God; all else was second, and at that, a distant second.

All too often, when the world thinks of glorifying God, they only think of Him as loving, as kind, as a big jolly spiritual Santa Claus of sorts. But if we are to let the world know who God is and to form the right opinion of Him, then we have to also show the other side of God. He is a God to be feared, not only in the respectful sense, but in the drop on your face, trembling kind of fear.

Isaiah 6:5, “So I said: ‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.’”

He created Hell; He sent the flood; He sent snakes to kill thousands of Israelites in the wilderness; He allowed some 600,000 men to die in the wilderness because they refused to enter the Promised Land; He poured out His wrath on His own Son when He became sin for us; and one day, billions will go to the Lake of Fire as a consequence of rejecting the free offer of salvation that our gracious, loving God provided. This is the part of God that we do not often show, that we try to avoid, and that we ourselves fear. God is good, and as such, He hates evil; we must be careful not to condone it.

How do we love our brothers and sisters in Jesus? Can they see and form the right opinion of God from our love? Are our churches dens of Godly love, forgiveness, grace, kindness, peace, safety, holiness, security and joy for our Christian family? Can a saved stranger walk in and feel as if they have been here for a lifetime? They should be able to because of Jesus and His Spirit in us that binds us together.

What is my purpose, our purpose, the purpose of my family, our local church? It is simply this: we are to glorify God, and in so doing, help others to form the right opinion of Him.

Jesus is coming soon; let us be about the Master’s business.

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church
70 Victoria Street, Elora, Ontario

For Those Who Are Looking :: By Brother Bill Oldham

Published on: by RR10 Category:General Articles

“…The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you” (Titus 2:11-15).

Whether you see it or not, if you are looking for the glorious return of Jesus, there is in this Scripture a call to make a clear decision as to who you will follow: will you follow the world? Or will you deny yourself and follow Christ?—You can’t do both.

There is a perfect example given to us in the Old Testament of the people of God trying to follow God and the world at the same time.

It took place during the days of King Ahab and Elijah. Israel professed to be following the Lord, but in their hearts, they were following the false prophets of Baal and Asherah. As a result of their double-mindedness, Israel had been suffering from a severe drought.

There came a day when Elijah decided to confront the people of Israel about their divided devotion. He called for the 850 false prophets and the people to meet him on Mount Carmel. When they were all assembled, Elijah said to Israel: “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him, but if Baal is God, follow him.”

There, Elijah was going to prove to Israel who was the true God, and who was false and no god. He challenged the 850 prophets to call down fire from heaven by their gods. They called on their gods all day long, but, of course, the fire never came. Then Elijah prayed to the LORD God, and the fire fell. When the people saw that, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—He is God! The Lord—He is God!” (1 Kings 18).

It is abundantly clear that today’s progressive church professes to follow Jesus, but in their hearts, they worship the gods of this world. They have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof. The time has come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, they will look for teachers who will tell them what their itching ears want to hear. How does it happen?

A group of people begin to meet in a “Bible” study with a “teacher.” He/she begins to teach them about “spiritual” things. Everyone likes the fellowship and camaraderie, and the group begins to grow, and the next thing you know, they’re building. As they continue to grow, the word spreads about this amazing, friendly church, where everyone is welcome. But to continue to grow, the leadership quickly realizes that the tone and tenor of the “preaching” must not interfere with or hinder the growth of this great “church.” And so the “preacher” and the “church” quickly let it be known that it accepts and affirms any and all lifestyles. Old, established denominations follow suit in an attempt to “stay alive” in a godless culture.

The power of God is not demonstrated by signs and wonders; it’s not seen in the advancing influence of mega churches. Nor is it seen in theatrical preaching and loud praise music. The power of God is evidenced in lives that were once “enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. Lives lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another,” but have now been delivered from that domain of darkness, and are seeking to serve the living God.

The modern, progressive “church” of today will not and cannot teach its members to say “NO!” to their ungodly lifestyles, because if they did, their ecclesiastical empire would crumble. In order to avoid any reference to fearing a holy God, to denying their fleshly impulses, or being led by the Holy Spirit, the Word of God must be largely set aside and replaced by heart-warming stories and fables.

The modern, progressive “church” of today, in order to display a form of godliness, hone in on two things: love and unity. They openly declare and boast of their love for everybody, which is biblical, for sure. But their love and God’s love are two different loves: one is carnal and devilish; God’s love is pure and redemptive. In the press for unity, their love embraces everyone as a brother or sister, whether they be a Christian, an atheist, or a follower of an antichrist religion; and that is where the Holy Spirit departs. A child of God cannot have fellowship with an unbeliever—that’s Bible!

We’re all born with a sin nature; that’s why we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. When a person is born again, that sin nature is crucified with Christ, and a new man is born. However, the old man is still present. This brings about a never-ending conflict between the Spirit and the flesh. But if our minds and hearts are fixed and set on Christ Jesus, we shall walk in victory in Jesus.

As we eagerly look for the glorious appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, then the choice to follow Jesus is made certain. Following Jesus is consistently saying “NO” to ungodliness and worldly passions; to say “NO” when the old man wants to say “YES.” Following Jesus is consistently saying “YES” to self-controlled, upright, and godly living when the old man wants to say, “NO.”

We eagerly look for the appearing of Jesus Christ; we eagerly look for Him because He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own; we become eager to do what is good. And here is what we are eagerly waiting and looking for:

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

“Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).

“…We know that when Christ is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

If you’re looking for Jesus, follow Him with an undivided heart, and know He could appear any moment—Be ready!

Brother Bill Oldham

bboldham@sbcglobal.net