Living Stones – Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Earthly things
John 3:12
If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
Jesus and Nicodemus are still at it in their John 3:1-21 conversation. Jesus is suggesting to him that so far, they have only discussed earthly things and there are yet heavenly things to be discussed, however, He is concerned that this might all be too much for Nicodemus. Nicodemus is a supposedly learned man who is struggling to understand.
People are like that. We have a great struggle with earthly things. Jesus gave some basic guidelines about how we should live here on earth if we say we are His disciples. However, we struggle with those earthly things every day.
Talking to Nicodemus he said, essentially, that the way to heaven is here on earth, “You must be born again.” If you cannot get this basic thing right, then it matters not what else we talk about. You, Nicodemus, have come to me set for some high-sounding arguments about the signs that the Jews have been expecting for centuries, but I want you to get this, the real issue starts with a persona rebirth.
Recently, while sharing the gospel with a businessman in my community, he said to me that there are a lot of questions that he wants answered and many pastors seem unable to answer them. I encouraged him to ask and he started out with the most bizarre questions that have absolutely no bearing on his life. I answered one question to make him comfortable then I pressed him to allow us to discuss the matters that affect his own life now, ask me about you I said, and then we can tackle the world.
There are also those of us who tend to get very spiritual, some are even called super-spiritual. Years ago we used to refer to them as being so ‘heavenly minded that they were no earthly good.’ They could sing and dance and shout and pray and fall but struggle with the basic issues of life.
Let’s cherry pick a few earthly things that Jesus identified, and we’ll quickly see how we fail at these basic earthly things.
In Matthew 5:23-24 Jesus give us some guidelines to govern our giving and our relationships. “… if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Often when I am in church events we are encouraged to give and to give our best offering and to plant a seed and anything else that someone with a microphone thinks that they need to tell us to help us part with our money. I don’t remember being asked at any one of these events to consider my relationship status with others before giving. We stand up there with major relationship issues with each other, but we are each giving our best offering. This is an earthly thing.
And again, in Matthew 25:31-46, it tells of the judgement day in heaven. Our King separates us like a shepherd does the sheep from the goats. And he commends some for feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, taking in the stranger, clothing the naked and visiting the sick and imprisoned. In this prophetic story, the ones who do not receive the commendation challenge the King who personified the destitute in the prophecy. He quickly tells them that their failure was in earthly things.
Here is a portion of that dialogue from verses 37-40. ““Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’”
Our real challenge is earthly things. Starting with being willing to surrender to Jesus and experience the new birth, all the way to how we live after. If we don’t get these earthly things, we won’t get the heavenly things.
Jesus once told his disciples this, in a different context, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. John 16:12.
Think on these things:
- Do you routinely or deliberately set aside any time or resources to serve those in need?
- Does your church provide opportunities for practical ministry to the poor, the hungry, the sick, or those in prison and their families?
- What practical steps could you take to make adjustments in your life to serve those in need?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that “just as [we] excel in everything–in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in [our] love for [the saints] we would also excel in this grace of giving.” 2 Corinthians 8:7
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
