Do You Savor The Things Of God, Or Of Men? 1/1/2023
Matthew 16:21-23
21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
When Jesus told His disciples that he was going to suffer at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and then raised again on the third day, Peter protested and told Jesus it would never happen. Jesus then rebuked Peter and said (paraphrasing) "Get behind me, Satan, because you savor the things of men, not of God."
Are you guilty of committing the same offense now? Are you in denial that countries, even the world, could be under judgment, decline, fall, and be destroyed? Are you in denial that God would ever judge this world? And are you in denial that all signs appear to indicate that this will happen in the very near future?
And are you so in love with your life, and the things of this world, that you're neglecting to take the time to have a relationship with Jesus by spending time in prayer and in reading and studying the bible?
Are you letting yourself be distracted by politics, lust, addiction, hobbies, church functions, music, movies, television, internet and social media, video games, cars, family, friends, careers, partying, education, doing good deeds, spouses/significant others, conspiracy theories, news, exercising, beauty regimens, etc that you're pushing quality time with Jesus to the back burner? That is idolization, and the bible tells us that's a big error.
Exodus 20:3-5
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Exodus 34:14
14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
If you don't have a relationship with Jesus I tell you truly that you really don't know what you're missing. You are lacking and missing out on the greatest love that you will ever know, and it is deep, healing, satisfying, comforting, and unconditional. If you will surrender to Him and give Him control of everything you will be blessed. It is not easy; you are called to be holy, and to give up the lusts, cares, and pleasures of this world. And Jesus Himself told us to count the cost of following Him (Luke 14:26-33). But the riches and depth of His love, kindness, gentleness, goodness, compassion, grace, forgiveness, and mercy is unmatched. He is an endless source of strength, comfort, and help. He cares for you, deeply. He died a completely barbaric, torturous, and horrible, slow, painful death to pay the price for your sins so that you may have the chance to be reconciled to God and spend eternity with Him in heaven. But you have to choose Him. The ball is in your court.
To those of you who call yourselves believers and followers of Christ, how often do you actually think about Jesus? Do you truly walk with Jesus, your God, Creator, Savior, Lord, and King, trusting in Him and relying on Him throughout your days, or do you only regard Him for a couple of hours on Sundays at church, and maybe during mid-week service/gathering/activities too? Have you examined yourself recently to see if you are truly in the faith? (2 Corinthians 13:5.) You'd better do it now, or else you could find yourself subject to a very unpleasant wake up call.
Matthew 7:21-23
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.
James 4:4
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Matthew 7:13-14
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Do you even love Him?
Matthew 22:35-40
35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
John 14:15
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
This world is going to end. A new heaven and new earth are going to be created.
Matthew 24:35
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Isaiah 65:17
17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
2 Peter 3:13
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Revelation 21:1
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
The bible tells us several times that Jesus will come like a thief in the night. It's time to change our priorities. It's time to put Jesus first, to repent and turn away from our sins, to give up doing the things that we know are wrong.
In order to truly walk with Jesus, we need to stay close to Him, or else we are going to go astray. We also need to be baptized by the Holy Spirit so that He lives in us, teaches us, disciplines us, and leads and guides us. If we don't receive this baptism and stay close to Jesus, then we make ourselves susceptible to being deceived and falling into temptation. The cost of being cast into outer darkness, hell, is too high. Nothing in this cursed and fallen world is worth the death of our souls. Absolutely nothing.
So I implore you to savor the things that be of God, and not of men. Your eternal future depends on it.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
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