Are you still basing your works for the Lord on the perceptions of men, are you more concerned with how you look to others than how you look to the Lord. We tend sometimes to wear a cloak around ourselves, as it were, wanting others to see only certain parts of us, the distinguished self as opposed to the one that is real. Not even those who love us the most, the ones that we trust the most know us as well as the Lord does, yet it is amazing how many individuals will try wearing that same cloak around Him, as if He can be fooled.
There are no pretenses with the Lord, there is no place to hide, no covering shroud of the blackest night can keep you hidden from His eyes, so why do we try. Embarrassment, shame, when we will not admit who we are to ourselves, when we keep buried deep inside the things that are most disturbing about us even from ourselves, then we have no opportunity to present them to Christ, we cannot be healed unless we go to the great physician, He makes house calls, but you need to invite Him in. Have you ever considered that He is waiting for you, that all you have to do is ask and He will remove these extra coverings for you, that He will bless you with the ability to be you all the time. “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matt. 7:20)
The question here, in this letter to you then is who are you doing these works for, are you trying to impress those in your church, how about Christ, do you think He is impressed, or perhaps they are done for yourself, trying to work yourself into the grace of God. There are only these three reasons, you, others or for the glory of God. “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the LORD, and not unto men;” (Col. 3:23) What others think of us should be completely immaterial to us, although a good name is to be sought after (Prov. 22:1) it is not for us that we are to seek it, if Christ truly lives within you, then it is His name that you are seeking to lift up, and if that is indeed your goal, then all the trying in the world will not assist you, for it is the Holy Spirit within us that produces the works. (Gal. 5:22-23)
This is the dilemma that far too many who profess Christ find themselves in, they seek to do before they seek the Lord’s face, before they submit to His will, they have determined to look good, to look like a Christian before they seek the direction of God. Those who make sure to be at the church every time the doors are open fall into this category, they see the building as the main focal point of their faith, they begin to see themselves as part of the necessary functioning of the church, and thereby of the congregation. It does not take long for them to find themselves in a position of the hierarchy, whether it is by an inferred title or not, they have become in their own eyes’ workers for the Lord, when in reality they serve no one but themselves. One must pity these individuals, for if whatever reason it would become necessary for them to leave their church, they would know no power, would no longer hold any esteem in the eyes of others.
Then there are those who believe they are serving others, those who in reality though are seeking for the recognition of others but in the opposite end of the spectrum, they have made themselves sub-servient to others. These are at the beck and call of all, no matter the time, no matter the circumstances, they are, with absolutely no offence intended, the continuous Martha, (Luke 10:40-42) not only willing to do the lesser part, but seeing no better than this in themselves, “no” is not a word they are familiar with. They have a good heart, but the reason for that heart is misplaced, they are not serving Christ, but the call of others. What needs to be done, they will do, thinking that they will always be on the bottom rung of the ladder, a place that they feel they have no right to leave. Spiritual discernment is almost non-existent within them, they will not accept that they are heirs to the kingdom of God, and have determined a false sort of abject humility upon themselves, “All our righteousness’s are as filthy rags,” (Isaiah 64:6) and they can find no good thing in themselves, and so have as much as the first type of individuals we have mentioned, quenched the Spirit within them.
As much as one was spiritually proud and the other holding onto a sub-servient mentality, and while both are concerned with only the perceptions of those about them, there is yet another, one who is not concerned at all with what men think of him, one who knows himself to be worthy of entrance into the kingdom. This individual is far beyond spiritually proud, he has deceived himself completely into believing he is good enough, all of his works count, none are left to chance, he can do no wrong in the eyes of men or God. I would call this individual the flaunter, secure in the knowledge that he can do no wrong, scripture verses memorized, church attendance record perfect, upstanding member of both the church and community, far above others in his own eyes. This individual is well beyond pride, he has actually deceived himself into believing that all the favors of God rest upon him, and it is his good pleasure to dispense them as he sees fit. Many times you will find this man behind the pulpit, self-assured, in no need of assistance from others, he has, in his own mind, the mind of God. I will leave your thoughts on this individual where they are, for he is dangerous, and has pulled many souls to hell.
You have to be able to look at yourself here my friends, works can be either self-centered or Christ-serving, there are no other alternatives, and each of us must remain constantly in prayer, seeking the face of the Lord, desiring that it is His will that is done in us and through us, any other path is one that will lead us away from Him. There is a time to work, but there is also a time that is just as important, a time to “Be still, and know that I [am] God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10) It can be very difficult to hear the voice of the Lord when we are busy working, especially when we are just working to keep busy. Those who serve Christ with their entire heart want nothing more than to serve Him well, but sometimes patience is the best response, and a hearing heart.
