What must I do to be saved?

“People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (I Samuel 16:7)

On Coast Guard ships, junior crew members sometimes have to help in the kitchen. One young sailor, known for being clumsy, was always dropping dishes and making a mess.  One day, it was his turn again to help in the kitchen, and he was determined to make up for his past mistakes.

The crewman spotted a plain yellow sheet cake cooling on the counter. Wanting to impress the cook and show he could do things right, he whipped up some chocolate frosting and carefully decorated the cake. Proud of his work, he stood back, ready to impress.

Then the head cook walked in, looked around, and yelled, “Where’s my cornbread?!”

Just because it looked like a cake on the outside didn’t change what it was on the inside!  In the same way, we can be easily fooled by appearances.  We tend to judge people and situations based on what we can see on the outside, but God sees deeper — he looks at the heart.

In 1 Samuel 16, when Samuel was sent to choose Israel’s next king, he assumed Jesse’s strongest, most impressive-looking son was the right choice.  But God corrected him by saying, “People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

God doesn’t care how impressive someone looks or how they appear to others. What matters to him is the condition of their heart.  And as we learn from the story, it wasn’t the oldest son, but the youngest — David — whom God had chosen to be king.

We can spend a lot of time trying to look a certain way — trying to say the right things, act in ways that impress others, or keep up a good reputation.  But what really matters is what’s happening inside.  Are we truly seeking God, or are we just pretending?  Are we living with a heart of humility, kindness, and love, or are we only focused on how we come across to others?

We need to remember that God isn’t looking at our actions alone; he’s looking at the intentions behind those actions.  So, the next time you find yourself focusing on what others can see, remember that God looks deeper.  He sees your heart.  And that’s what truly matters.

Prayer:
Lord, forgive me for those times I’ve been more concerned with how I look or what others think of me.  Help me to focus on what really matters.  Shape me to be more like you, and may my life reflect your love in a genuine way.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Alan Smith

Why do you worship God?

“After being an employee at a 24/7 restaurant, Chick-fil-A’s founder, Truett Cathy, was all too familiar with working long and frequent hours. So when he debuted the first Chick-Fil-A location in Hapeville, Georgia in 1946, he made a mandate that his brand would be closed on Sundays to allow employees time to rest, recharge, and worship if they desire, according to the brand’s website.” Walsh goes on to point out that Chick-fil-A makes this choice despite it causing an estimated loss of $1.2 billion per year” (Karla Walsh, “The Real Reason Why Chick-fil-A Is Closed on Sundays,” Southern Living, April 13, 2024).

Today we will look at the second psalm out of the 6 that we will study this year… Psalm 33, which is a call to worship. Why should we worship God? Let’s feed our spirit on this psalm.

One thing I want to point out is that the verbs in this psalm are all in the plural. That shows us that the writer is addressing his thoughts to many people – the whole nation of Israel.

WHO SHOULD WORSHIP – 33:1:

Notice in this verse that the writer addresses the “righteous ones.” These are people who have done what God tells them to do to be holy and right in His eyes. These are the ones who are “upright.” They have been forgiven, which was the theme of chapter 32.

HOW SHOULD WE WORSHIP – 33:2-4:

Notice these voices were joyful voices. The writer mentions the “shout of joy” twice, once in verse 1 and once in verse 3. We will worship joyfully if and when we worship from the heart.

In verse 4, the writer says we should worship God in joy because (“for”) the word of the Lord is upright (the same word used to describe worshippers in verse 1), and His work is done in “faithfulness.”

When we pray, we pray because God is faithful.

When we give, we give because God is faithful.

When we observe the Lord’s Supper, we do it because we know God is faithful.

When we sing, we do so because God is faithful.

WHY SHOULD WE WORSHIP – 33:5-19:

Because of God’s creation (33:5-7).

Because of God’s plans (33:8-11).

Because of God’s Nature (33:12-15; note also His nature expressed in verses 5-7).

Because of God’s Faithfulness (33:16-19).

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE WORSHIP – 33:20-22:

When our soul waits for the Lord, He becomes our help and our shield – ver. 20.

Our heart rejoices in Him (cf. verses 1, 3). We trust in His holy name as representative of Who He is.

So when we worship, we call for God’s lovingkindness to be upon us, consistent with our hope in Him. In verses 21-22, we have reference to “faith, hope, and love.” Our hope in Christ will never disappoint us (Rom. 5:5).

When we come to worship, we are not interested just in leaving, feeling good about ourselves. Feelings are temporary and they are sometimes deceptive. What we need to do is leave worship loving God more, fearing Him (being more in awe of Him) more deeply, and loving each other more, while having a stronger faith in God’s promises and a deeper appreciation for Jesus and hope in Him. Then we can go into our battle with Satan with more confidence and joy. If that is the case, then our worship has accomplished much good.

Let us lift our voices in praise and bow our hearts in awe before the Lord.

Paul Holland

The famed golfer Tiger Woods, while attaining greatness on the golf course, has led a life off the course that has been a series of self-inflicted tragedies. He was asked this year if he had any close friends.  He replied, “I have several acquaintances.”

A true blessing in life is having great friendships. Solomon wrote, “A friend loves at all times,” and “There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Pro, 17:17,18:24). When we need someone to talk to during life’s ups and downs, someone to be by our side, a great friend is always there. In the Old Testament, Jonathan, the son of King Saul, stood between his father and David and protected David. “For he loved him as he loved his own life” (1 Sam. 20:17. That is what friends do.

Friendships do not just happen; they are developed over time. Friends stay in touch with each other. They do things together and include each other in their life activities. They share life’s troubles and rejoice in life’s pleasures. They become a part of each other’s family. You can’t make old friends.  They develop over time, they are a blessing in days of youth, and a comfort in old age. Don’t live life alone. Start today being a friend with someone and watch that friendship grow.  Don’t try to go through life having only acquaintances.

-Dennis Doughty

We will limit our discussion here to just Genesis 3:7…

Satan promised their eyes would be open and Moses says, “the eyes of them both were opened.” But what was all the other good that Satan promised? That they would be like God? But now they knew they were naked and they felt ashamed in that state and did not feel like they could be in God’s presence anymore. They took fig leaves and sewed them together and made some form of an apron to cover their waist. These were two married people – the only human beings on this entire planet, and they felt ashamed to be in God’s presence naked.

And then they were afraid and hid from God and, of course, God expelled them from His presence and excluded them from the tree of life from which they would be able to eat from it and live forever (3:22).

The devil wears subtlety. Even today…

You recall that the apostle Paul wrote that people who speak for the devil speak with smooth and flattering speech (Rom. 16:17).

You recall that the apostle Paul wrote that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14).

We have created a caricature of Satan that looks more like a cartoon character than how the Bible describes Satan. And yet Satan works through human beings, too. He works on our hearts, our vanity, our feelings and emotions through people who look just like us, whom we know, love, and respect. But they are speaking the words of Satan when they challenge us to ignore the word of God.

SO HOW DO WE FIGHT AGAINST SATAN?

The apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that Satan does not have to take advantage of us because we are not ignorant of his “schemes.” That word is also translated as: minds” or “thought.” We are not ignorant of Satan’s mind. We are not ignorant of his thoughts! That’s why God gave us 2,000 years worth of divine, inspired history! So we would know how Satan operates.

What did Eve do and what should she have done? What should Adam have done? They should have gone back to Scripture, quoted Scripture, and lived by Scripture. God tells Israel in Leviticus 18:5: “You shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.” If they had said, “No, Satan, God said in Genesis 2:16-17 that if we eat of this fruit, we will certainly die,” and then walked away, they would not have sinned against God, offended His holiness, and been driven out of His presence.

We will spend more time studying Jesus’ contrasting behavior in May in His own temptations. In Luke’s account, Luke 3 ends with Jesus’ genealogy which ends in 3:36 with the statement that Jesus was the “son of Adam, the son of God.” Immediately after that statement, we have the temptations of Jesus. That is as if the Holy Spirit through Luke wants us to contrast Jesus’ temptations by Satan with Adam and Eve’s temptation. But how did Jesus meet those temptations?

You know the answer to that question, right? Jesus quoted Scripture, just like Eve did. But with Jesus, quoting Scripture was enough. In Luke’s account, in 4:4, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3. Why do you and I need to study Deuteronomy? Because Jesus found strength in His fight against Satan from Deuteronomy! In 4:8, Jesus quoted from Deut. 6:13. And in 4:12, Jesus quoted Deut. 6:16.

BCV – book, chapter, verse. How do you win your battles against Satan? Book, chapter, verse. “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).

The heart of man is more deceitful than all else and desperately sick. How can we make sure our hearts are not deceiving us (Jer. 17:9)?

Psalm 119 has 176 verses; it is the longest chapter in the Bible. But I find it interesting that this long chapter is not written about the love of God. It is written about the law of God. It is a poem that is written as an acrostic. What that means is that it is divided into 22 sections with each section beginning with each letter of the Hebrew alphabet in order.

And out of those 176 verses, I have counted 177 references to the law of God through various synonyms like “commandments” and “ordinances” and “judgments.”

How can we avoid the temptations that Satan throws at us? How can we avoid Satan taken advantage of our deceitful heart that is desperately sick? By keeping God’s word in our hearts and meditating on that word and understanding that word and obeying that word. It worked for Jesus. It will work for us too.

We can win our battles against Satan if we will examine our heart and submit it to the word of God.

Paul Holland

Both in the Greek and English there are two words that are very similar in meaning – “jealousy” and “envy.” Here is a good explanation of the differences in the two words. “While often used interchangeably, envy’ refers to wanting something someone else has, while ‘jealousy’ is the fear of losing something one has.

God gave the nation of Israel a king because they wanted one rather having God as their king (I Samuel 8:6). He gave them Saul because he was the kind of king the people wanted. It wasn’t long into his reign until he disobeyed God twice (I Samuel 13; 15) and God took the kingdom away from him, even though God allowed him to continue to reign for a number of years.

Even while Saul reigned, God selected David to be the next King. At first Saul had a good relationship with David, but as David’s popularity grew, Saul became very jealous of David. After David defeated the Philistines the woman sang a song which said, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (I Samuel 18:7). This, of course, made Saul even more jealous of David.

The traits of jealousy he demonstrated can be found in any of us who becomes jealous of what others have. Note the traits of jealousy manifested in Saul that the Holy Spirit recorded in I Samuel 18. (They will be listed in the order in which they are found in the text).

    Anger – “Then Saul became very angry, for this saying displeased him” (v. 8). He was jealous of the praise that the women were giving David. He wanted that kind of praise. A jealous person today becomes very angry when he or she sees another’s popularity growing. The jealous person wants others to see him or her as “the best.”

    Suspicion – Saul said, “Now what more can he have but the kingdom?” (v. 8). This text shows that in Saul’s mind he became very suspicious of David. His mind imagined all kinds of activities which would take attention away from himself. At this point David may not have even known that Saul was jealous of him.

When one becomes jealous of another, he sees every action of the other person as an attack on his or her popularity. Whereas the one who is creating this jealousy doesn’t even know his or her actions are even noticed by the one who is jealous.

    Fear – Because Saul had disobeyed God, God had rejected him but let him continue to reign. Because Saul was angry with David and suspicious of his every action, he now began to fear him. Actually, he was afraid that David might take from him his praise and  popularity. Saul saw himself declining in the eyes of others and David increasing in popularity. “Now Saul was afraid of David” (v. 12). He is not afraid David would physically kill him; He was afraid of losing his high status with the people. Jealousy makes anyone afraid of losing popularity with people. The one who is jealous wants to be “Number One” in other people’s eyes. Losing that popularity makes one fearful because he or she feels insecure.

    Dread – “When Saul saw that he (David) was prospering greatly he dreaded him” (v. 15). People who are filled with jealousy dread being around the one for whom they are jealous. They dread the feelings of losing people’s popularity. They dread what else they may lose to their opponent.

    Plot – Saul wanted to get rid of David so he told David that he would give his oldest daughter to him if he would fight against the Philistines, thinking the Philistines would kill David. That way, he would get rid of his source of jealousy, but not be guilty of killing him, himself.

Being jealous can cause one to do all in his or her power to get rid of the one to whom he or she feels inferior. That may be done through character assassination – spreading lies about that person. Pointing out his or her faults so that the person he or she is jealous of  will not look so good and at the same time make the one who is jealous look better.

    An Enemy Continuously – When nothing Saul did exalted himself and lowered David in the eyes of the people the text says, “Then Saul was even more afraid of David. Thus Saul was David’s enemy continually” (v. 29). After a long period of time of being jealous, one then cannot get that person out of his mind and so it is a continuous dread that fills the mind. By being jealous of another, he or she actually, mentally, makes himself a slave to the one he or she is jealous of.

The Answer to Jealousy

What can you do if you are the person someone dreads because he or she is jealous of you? There is probably nothing you can do to change the mind of the one who is jealous of you. But, what you can do is revealed in the text about David. “David behaved himself more wisely than all the servant of Saul. So his name was highly esteemed” (v. 30).

Wayne Burger

During 2020 (Covid year), one of the men here at Swartz Creek and I had some mock debates which we posted on the church’s Facebook page. We started with each point of Calvin’s Tulip. Calvin and his followers believe that God’s sovereignty is ultimate to such an extent that there is no free choice. Some Calvinist scholars say there is free choice, but humans can only choose evil. Then there are some Calvinists who believe that free choice is only an illusion. Man is so evil and corrupt that he cannot, on his own, make good choices.

The implication of this position is that God is responsible for all the evil in the world. Calvinists will deny that; they will agree that man is responsible for evil. But if God has chosen by His sovereign will all the events and actions and choices that man makes, then God is responsible for the evil choices which are made. You cannot get around the implications of the doctrine.

But, of course, the Bible teaches that man is free, to make good choices and to make bad choices. As Dr. Norman Geisler stated, “Forced love is rape.” Love allows choices, even if they are unpleasant choices. And sometimes our choices can conflict with God’s choices for us. The text that shows this point so very clearly is Matthew 23:37:

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.”

The NASV’s translation obscures the fact that Jesus’ “wanted” and the Jews’ “unwilling” is the same verb. Jesus wanted one thing; the Jews wanted something different. So human choice, human freedom, can work against God’s will.

So God gives man choices. Was it God’s will for me and the team of which I was a part to preach the gospel in Romania? Well, it is God’s will that men and women hear the gospel and obey it (1 Tim. 2:3-4). Things worked out for us pretty well while we were there. But we also came back to America two years before we had originally intended. Did we work against God’s will by doing that? The Bible does not give any indication that God has made plans for each one of us like that.

Was it God’s will for me to preach in Paris, KY? I chose to move there (nobody else offered me a job!). God blessed me and my family while we were there. Was it God’s will for me to preach in Swartz Creek, MI? I have been blessed since I moved here; but it was my choice. There is no biblical evidence that God speaks to men outside of the Bible and there is no Bible verse that says, “Paul must preach in such and such a place.”

If I were to move to Idaho, back to Romania, or Zambia, God would either open the door for such a move or close it. But either way, He would allow me to make my own choice. And He would bless me if I were seeking to honor Him in whatever I did (1 Cor. 10:31).

Paul Holland