Consummate Conductor

The greatest conductor in the world is usually described with language that is not applied to other professionals. Followers may say that his skills are perfect. Others might say that the conductor is matchless or that his work is absolutely complete. Maybe he seems perfect because the details of his occupation are unseen and indescribable to the public. If we listen to his music from a recording we have absolutely no idea how he does his work but we love the results. In the Christian life we have the consummate conductor and his name is Jesus. In order to make great spiritual music the Spirit of Jesus is directing all his followers individually as well as the entire body of believers. In our case the conductor is also the owner of the orchestra and the building. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. Col 1:17-18 (NLT) Everyone is given the general plan for life (the music) in the Bible and if we accept God’s work the direction will be done from inside of us and it is indescribable. Only a Christian can be led (conducted) by the Spirit of Jesus.

The Scriptures are very clear about our need for a conductor. This is because we all have an independent nature that would rather have us do things our own way. Here is what Paul said about this problem. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led (conducted) by the Spirit of God are children of God. Romans 8:12-14 (NLT) The music that the Spirit of Jesus directs is a victory march that leads over top of our sins and into that Eternal City. This passage plainly says that we must decide to put our sinful deeds to death. So many church people are doing things that they know are not right. They must repent and accept the directions of the Holy Spirit. Many holiness people like to say that our sin nature can die. Not so, only the “deeds” of our sin nature can die. Our sin nature will stay alive until we receive our new heavenly bodies. Just think how perfect our music will be in our new life.

Even Jesus, who was born with the only perfect clean nature since Adam, used the Spirit as his conductor. Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Luke 4:1-2 (NLT) In this unusual case the Holy Spirit led Jesus to a place of temptation. Because of our fallen nature the Spirit of Jesus usually leads us away from temptation. It is very important to understand that we must have the Spirit direct our life. So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” Luke 11:13 (NLT) Our heavenly Father has many gifts for us but we are expected to ask for them. We cannot develop a proper relationship by sitting back and expecting God Almighty to bring everything before us in order for us to pick and chose the things we like. Because it was important for Jesus to wait on the directions of the Holy Spirit; we certainly must have a conductor for our life. Our music will be so much better with His direction.

Church people will sometimes say that they don’t know how to follow the leading of the Spirit. The Bible tells us; The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. John 6:63 (NLT) The words of Jesus are contained in the Bible. Every individual must learn the meaning of these words. Only then will we understand how the Spirit is leading us into a new life of godliness. It is as if we placed a person from off the street into the orchestra with any instrument and expected them to play beautiful music. Without learning the music or receiving training, teaching, practice and leadership no one will ever blend in with the company. The Spirit of Jesus stands ready to provide all these things to anyone that will commit themselves to Him. We will never be a part of God’s family when we insist on serving Jesus in our way. There are also people who are not ready for a spiritual battle. Unlike the orchestra, after any person joins the body of Christ there will always be someone against them. This is where Christian brothers have opportunity for discipleship and use the abilities God has provided for His musicians.

The Devil has enlisted many people who attempt to interrupt our spiritual life. Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil people and impostors will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be deceived. But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. 2 Tim 3:12-14 (NLT) Here we see that clinging to the Words of God will be our salvation. Another of our battles is the fun things of this world. The huge power that money lays on our heart continually calls us away from the things of God. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called. 1 Tim 6:10-12 (KJV) We must develop, as any musician must, good Christian habits if we want to be helpful to the body of believers. The conductor of the orchestra would be unhappy if he called on someone to play and they were thinking about other worldly problems.  

Living as a servant of Jesus is hard work but it gives our life a wonderful purpose. Before Paul died he stressed that we should not give-up.  This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers. Teach these things and insist that everyone learn them. 1 Tim 4:10-11 (NLT) Usually the participants that practice the most do the best job for the orchestra. We want to be the best followers we can in order to please the master (maestro). Christians are well aware that Jesus died for everyone in the world. (In fact, some people think this means that they will automatically live with God in eternity.) Unfortunately, they have not read the rest of the verse: it says, “and particularly of all believers.” Meaning the atonement applies only to the true followers of Jesus. Salvation is not simply believing that Jesus did what He did. It is about believing until we reach the place in our life that we make Him the conductor of our life. A real Christian loves their life and they work at it until it becomes something of which to be proud.

Sitting on a Church Pew

Jesus talked about those of us that have heard the Gospel message. The seed that fell among the thorns represents people who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.  And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” Mark 4:18-20 (NLT) Our master wants his followers to multiply during their life. Jesus used parables to explain that He wanted us to really “hear” what he was teaching. I use parables to teach people so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled: ‘When they look, they won’t really see. When they hear, they won’t understand.’ This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is God’s word. The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts. Luke 8:10-12 (NLT) No one can really understand what Jesus is about until they get up from the church pew and join the fight.

Many people have been sitting in a pew for years. During that time they have never led one soul to the Lord. During the week these people are accepted as equal colleagues by the worldly people at their job. Jesus must have told the truth when He said, The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. John 15:19 (NLT). Christians cannot belong to the world. Some of these people on the pew say that they just don’t have the courage to be different from the people they work around. This is the reason every Christian “must” have the Spirit living inside of them. When a genuine Christian is fully recognized by the worldly people it makes possible effective conversations about giving their lives to God. The Bible says; You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) Romans 8:9 The Spirit of Jesus is the one who enables us to be sincere Christians. The church in America has become big business but it has no spiritual power. See 2 Tim 3:1-5

These are the last days of our life if we actually belong to Jesus. The Lord will soon come to remove His faithful followers from the earth. But there may still be time to change a life that has been sitting on the church pew, so to speak. Lukewarm church members still have a short time to change into an obedient follower. If the Lord did give us one more year of life would we fight for Him? Paul spent his last year fighting; The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight, 2 Tim 4:6-7 (NLT). It takes dedication to become an active part of God’s family. The biggest change we must make is our attitude. We must desire to be like Jesus and live a godly life. The Spirit is ready to help anyone succeed as a Christian if they decide to serve God with all their heart. Jesus is asking us to keep oil in our lamps in order to be ready when the door to heaven opens. First thing we must do is declare to everyone that we intend to live as a servant of Jesus. There are no secret servants for God.

There is a mistaken idea that people will be saved by watching us live a clean life. Not so, they must hear the salvation message. Scripture says; And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? Romans 10:14 (NLT) When the Bible says people must “hear,” it does not mean listening from the pew of a church. Actually in the Greek it means to receive and to follow. Strong’s #191 is to receive a doctrine with faith by believing the spirit of the message. Strong’s #190 is to follow a teacher with the intention of practicing what they teach. In other words people must consider whether or not they are willing to give their life for the Gospel. Jesus said; To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. Matt 13:11-12 (NLT) We can see in these verses that the words to hear or listen can be better understood by using the word “follow”. The Bible uses words such as, hear, listen or follow as metaphors of our salvation.

It is possible that church people do not understand reconciliation. This is the way it works. All of us are on the road to hell because we are naturally sinful. The Bible says; For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Romans 3:23 (NLT) The Gospel is the information a person needs to find their way back to God. The problem is that most of the people in this world do not want to accept God’s ways as their ways. In spite of the world’s collective resistance to Jesus, every human needs to reconcile with God. It takes two parties and God the Father did his part when He gave Jesus to die for our sins. Paul said; God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. Col 1:20-21 (NLT). Now it is time for us to do our part in this reconciliation. We must ask God to help us make good again the broken relationship that is caused by our sinful ways. The pew warmer has not worked at restoring their relationship with God although they usually have deceived themselves into believing they have. Actually we cannot reconcile with God at all unless we have a reconciler named Jesus. In our case it actually takes three parties to reconcile.

The pew warmer must understand that their part in reconciliation is submission. There are church people who say that they have yielded to God. This is not good enough because typically a person only yields parts of themselves. In addition, they decide what things they will give-up. God expects us to give-up everything in our life. This can only be done by submission or surrender. To submit is to cease all opposition. God is the ultimate authority in all of creation and it makes sense that we submit to Him. Our submission involves many acts of obedience which allows God to bring His righteous creation into our life. We must tell others about the Gospel because the product God expects is always formed through interaction with another. After deciding to serve God we must form a mindset of submission or we will simply do whatever comes into our mind. Our will to serve God must forever be dominated by the Spiritual decision we have made in our mind. A pew warmer is always thinking about his own interest, unless he has fallen asleep during the sermon. His mind and his will are not set on God. This is why Paul told us to “renew our mind”.

Most church people have not submitted to Jesus our Savior. Jesus said that only a few people will enter the narrow doorway; You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. Matt 7:13-14 (NLT) The church pews are full of people who say that they have chosen the narrow gate. Unfortunately, it is not up to us to arbitrarily choose what we want for our eternity. Jesus told us that he knew his sheep who were submissive to Him and that only his sheep would enter. This is why the gate is narrow and difficult. The Scriptures tell us; So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. … So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? Heb 2:1-3 Folks it is time to get off the pew and study the Word of God. Ignoring God’s instructions always has eternal consequences. Real “hearing” is always proven by our life in front of other people.  

God Needs an American He Can Trust

You just won 100 million dollars in a lottery. Every relative in the world is calling for help with their problems. Every salesman is banging on the door with a great opportunity for your life. All the down on their luck people are making you aware of their right to receive your help before anyone else. Every banker is assuring you that they will make you even richer while following their advice. Who are you going to trust with your millions?   God owns everything for all of eternity. He is looking for some people that He can trust with His wealth. These people will become part of His family for ever and will rule in their assigned places. All their decisions will be the same that God would make himself. This makes it crucial that God find someone He can trust with His gospel. Some trustworthy individual must explain the Good News to the continual stream of new people that have not been exposed to the Scriptures. Everyone needs to hear at least once or how will they have a chance to become a member of God’s family?

No individual in this world can grasp what God wants them to do until some saved person takes the time to tell them. Over three thousand years ago God chose to trust a man named Moses to tell people in this world how they should live their life. Moses was given the law directly from heaven and he struggled to teach the people to trust and obey God’s words. When Moses was at the end of his life he told the people in essence that God had trusted him to give Israel the words of eternal life. This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand, and it is not beyond your reach. It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’ It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’ No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it. “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, Deut 30:11-15 (NLT) God asked Moses to write everything down so it would not stay only in Heaven where we could never find it. Every person on earth is choosing to do God’s will or do their own will.

Today we are living under grace and not the Law. However, Paul indicates that we still need someone God can trust to speak His words here on earth. But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven’ (to bring Christ down to earth). And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: Romans 10:6-8 (NLT) It is still impossible to climb into Heaven and find out how God wants us to live. We know that both Moses and Paul wrote down the words of God so that all people would have a chance to be saved. The problem is that many people around the world cannot read and many others cannot understand the words that they do read. God needs people today that He can trust to properly explain His message. It is logical that any person receiving the grace of God into their life realize that they have been entrusted with the Gospel message. God believes in his believers.

The work and the power for the work all belong to God. In other words, everything we have and everything we do belongs to God. In this passage Paul says; Preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News! If I were doing this on my own initiative, I would deserve payment. But I have no choice, for God has given me this sacred trust. What then is my pay? It is the opportunity to preach the Good News without charging anyone. 1 Cor 9:16-18 (NLT) We cannot even take credit for the inspiration or motivation because we are compelled by God. Paul claims that he has received a trust that is sacred. The truth is that anything God has us do is going to be sacred. There are going to be rewards given in heaven but Paul says in this passage that his pay is the privilege of telling other people about their opportunity to join God’s family for eternity. We must love God completely to comprehend the privilege of serving. It is natural that the more we trust God the more He will entrust us with His wealth.

Scriptures tell us about our responsibility in several different ways. It is interesting that even the small word “believe” suggest that God is trusting us. The Strong’s number is 4100 and it requires two American words to explain it. One word is believe and the other is to entrust. It’s the same word in the original Greek Scriptures. Paul used the word several times when explaining that God had “entrusted” him with the Gospel. This one word is showing us in a small way that every single Christian is entrusted with a responsibility to serve God. The fact that so many church people are letting God down does not alter our accountability one bit. The Lord is relying on us to do His work here on earth. Paul always accepted the responsibility that had been placed on him; They saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews. Gal 2:7 (NLT) In the Greek it says that God had entrusted him with the Gospel. The fact that God does not expect us to write the Bible does not mean that He has no job for each of us.

There is a huge organization (God’s kingdom) that has always had the goal of wholesome, clean lives for people. Many people hate this life of heaven on earth because they enjoy some selfish habit in their life. We all know that this organization belongs to God but many don’t know that He wants to enlist people to various positions that will last forever. Anyone making their decision to be born-again is at the same time applying for a position in God’s eternal kingdom. Paul mentions his own appointment; The law is for people…who do anything else that contradicts the wholesome teaching that comes from the glorious Good News entrusted to me by our blessed God. I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him. 1 Tim 1:10-12 (NLT.) Paul says only that he was appointed in this verse but in other places he tells us that his position is one of authority in God’s organization. The main qualification for God’s kingdom is trustworthiness. In one parable Jesus said that some good servants brought back five times what they had been entrusted and that others had brought back ten times the amount. But servants who have no gain will be called wicked on judgment day. Jesus tells us that if we are found trustworthy in small things, God will entrust us with bigger things.

Many people say they believe in God. But the real question is whether God can entrust us with His eternal work. The bottom line of this paper is that we must please God. He cannot trust us if we are not pleasing to Him. For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts. 1 Thess 2:4 (NLT) The truth we are entrusted with contains eternal life for the people chosen to be part of God’s family. I have been sent to proclaim faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives. This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God—who does not lie—promised them before the world began. And now at just the right time he has revealed this message, which we announce to everyone. It is by the command of God our Savior that I have been entrusted with this work for him. Titus 1:1-3 (NLT) If we do not feel strongly about the privilege of God’s work then who will God entrust his work to?