Therefore be perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.

— Matthew 5:48

Now it is clear that horizontally we can look around ourselves and we can see there are some people who, morally and ethically, stand head and shoulders above others. Therefore, we can see that they are superior. Some people are more righteous than others; they shine in comparison. However, vertically, it is different. There is one prayer you never want issued from your lips, one prayer you never want to utter, and that is: “Lord, give me what I deserve.”

God does not grade on the curve. He doesn’t say we are good compared to our neighbors. He judges by perfection. If you’re not perfect, then you can’t go to heaven. But then who could possibly get there, since no one’s perfect? No one. No, not one.

Martin Luther said the most damnable and pernicious idea that has ever plagued the minds of men is the idea that we sinful, fallen, depraved creatures could ever make ourselves good enough to stand in the presence of an all-holy, sin-hating God. But God has provided a way to get rid of our sin by punishing it on His own Son. The Old Testament tells that God has devised means by which His banished ones, who were expelled from the Garden because of their sin, should not ultimately and totally and finally be separated from Him. These means are called “the Gospel,” “the Good Tidings,” “the Good News” of the love of Christ and His death and resurrection.

Question to ponder:
How do we live with the goal of perfection in an imperfect and sinful world?

The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was continually only evil.

— Genesis 6:5

There was sin around when I was growing up, but you had to go looking for it. Now, we have home delivery, just like pizza. Sin is brought right into your house through a conduit you pay for called cable television and the internet. They dump it right in your lap in your easy chair. They spray it all over you.

There are very few decent movies. Sin is everywhere—on billboards, in magazines and books, and in conversations. We live in an unclean and unholy and ungodly and immoral world like we’ve never known in America before. There are evil people who kill in the name of their god and think they are serving him by doing such.

Most of the readers of this devotion worship Sunday morning, as is good. But what have we been doing during this week? Any dishonesty? Any deceit? Any lies? Any lusts? Any immorality? Any malice? Any envy? Yet we come to worship the all-holy God?

Before we come into His presence, we must repent and be cleansed. In such a culture where sin is so often predominant, we are not always able to see our sin. We must ask the Holy Spirit to show us our sin, so we can be cleansed.

Question to ponder:
What is the result when we ask God to reveal our sin to us?

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 For God knows that on the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

— Genesis 3:4-5

Those who walk in the land of the half-dead—the half alive—are living zombies who live according to the course of the world animated by the spirit of this world, which is Satan. They are engaged in fulfilling the desires of the flesh and the lusts of the mind. What is their motto? “If it feels good, do it.”

God has given to us the amazing and marvelous gift of imagination, and by that gift, we may entertain unholy fancies and lay the reins upon the neck of the steeds of passion, always stopping short of the act.

Underlying this is a subtle tool of the devil. He places fear in human hearts along this line: If you get too close to God, you are going to be unhappy; if you live life His way, you are going to be miserable. Satan’s first lie is: God will make you miserable; the other side of this lie is: sin is good.

The truth of the matter is, it is only sin that is harmful; it is only sin that will hurt us, ultimately, because God loves us with an infinite love. His banner over is us is love and He desires nothing but good for us.

Question to ponder:
How do we come to believe that good is bad and bad is good?

I came that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

— John 10:10

Note from Dr. Jerry Newcombe: What a difference Christ makes in this life and in the next. These words spoken by Dr. D. James Kennedy several years before his home-going to heaven speak volumes about the confidence Christ gives as we face the prospect of death.

“Now, I know that someday I am going to come to what some people will say is the end of this life. They will probably put me in a box and roll me right down here in front of the church, and some people will gather around, and a few people will cry. But I have told them not to do that because I don’t want them to cry. I want them to begin the service with the Doxology and end with the Hallelujah chorus, because I am not going to be there, and I am not going to be dead. I will be more alive than I have ever been in my life, and I will be looking down upon you poor people who are still in the land of dying and have not yet joined me in the land of the living. And I will be alive forevermore, in greater health and vitality and joy than ever, ever, I or anyone has known before. That is what Christ offers us.”

Question to ponder:
In heaven sadness and sorrow will flee away, but what about this life? Is there less sadness in godly living?

For the wages of sin is death…

— Romans 6:23

“Then, when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin; and when sin is finished, it brings forth death” (James 1:15). So it was in the world of the spirits before man was created, and so it was also at the beginning of the human race. This is the source of all manner of sadness. Grief has but one primary root, and tears have but one primary source; and that root, that source, is sin.

No sob ever mingled with Eden’s breezes. No tear ever dripped from the eyelids of Mother Eve ’til sin first reared its ugly head. No heartache was ever known until the serpent made a conquest of the human will. Then sobs and sighs and tears and weeping and wailing and mourning and all of the woeful progeny of sin were born into the world. After sin, sadness reigned on the face of the earth.

Where there is no sin, there is no sadness or sorrow or grief, but this world teems with sin, and so sadness rolls down like a river. Sin has robbed man of honor and dignity. Sin has cleft such a chasm between mankind and God and has cloaked mankind with such impurity and sadness that it is no wonder this world is called—and is actually found to be—a vale of tears, sorrow, and sadness … .

Question to ponder:
In heaven sadness and sorrow will flee away, but what about this life? Is there less sadness in godly living?

His master answered, “You wicked and slothful servant!”

— Matthew 25:26

Paul minces no words about loafers: “For when we were with you, we commanded you that if any will not work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). You would have to listen a long time before you heard those words today. The Apostle knew that man inclines toward evil and so he inclines toward idleness and laziness. A man will avoid all opportunities to work if he can, but the Apostle makes it clear that if a man will not work, he is not to eat.

This does not refer to a person who is not able to work. The Scripture has a great deal to say about caring for the lame, the blind, the sick, the infirm, the aged, and the young. But if anyone will not work, then neither let him eat.

Because of the prevailing politics of guilt, most people will feel a twinge of guilt when they hear those words, as if they were words without compassion. May I say to you that this is the most compassionate statement on the subject of economics that has ever been made. Were it not to a large degree followed, there would be wholesale famine and starvation plaguing the world. So let it be underscored and proclaimed in bold and capital letters: If any will not work, neither let him eat.

Question to ponder:
Do you find laziness a temptation to you in any way?

Whatever your hands find to do, do with your strength; …

— Ecclesiastes 9:10

The earth is under a curse, and we experience that curse in one way or another each day. God declared to Adam in judgment: “Cursed is the ground on account of you; in hart labor you will eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it will bring forth for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat bread until you return to the ground” (Gen 3:17-19).

Ecclesiastes describes a bleak picture of man’s daily existence as he toils every day under the sun in order to enjoy for a moment fleeting pleasures.

A bumper sticker declares the daily grind of many people; “I owe, I owe, so off to work I go!”

Many people suppose that work is a curse to be avoided, if at all possible, and an activity to be involved in only when necessary. This is not the case. God ordained work before the fall. It is not part of the curse. Adam was commanded to tend the garden before he fell into sin. Even after sin, though it is greatly aggravated by the results of the fall and the curse, it is still true that work occupies a very important position in man’s life. Without work, it is impossible for any human being to fulfill the probation that God has given him in this life.

Question to ponder:
Is work a curse to you? Is work a joy to you?

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.

— Colossians 3:23

Your work matters before God. We should do it for His glory.

Look at the difference the Savior has made in reference to labor. Jesus Christ picked up the saw and the hammer and the plane; and in so doing He wrought a miracle in civilization. Most people are totally unaware of what that did. But it changed the whole concept of work. Do you realize that in ancient Greece or Rome honest work was despised as servile and was consigned to slaves?

But Christ came and He gave a new dignity to labor. Before the word of God had come and taken over countries there were only slaves. Half the Roman Empire at the time of Christ was slaves and serfs. But those slaves and serfs in the lands where the Gospel of Christ has come have been translated into the working classes. And in America where the Word of God has come more fully, they were translated into the middle class—out of poverty and into economic well-being.

All honest labor is holy unto the Lord.

Question to ponder:
How do you feel about your work? Do you see it as a service to God?

Examine yourselves, seeing whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.

— 2 Corinthians 13:5

When I told a lady in the church that my sermon was going to be on self-examination, she said, “Oh, that’s going to hurt!” Well, lassies and laddies, I assure you that I come not to hurt you, but to help you, and if you cannot stand the interrogation of a mere mortal like me, how will you do in that great day when you are compelled to stand before the Great Assize of God? If you cannot stand the probing finger of your own conscience, how will you stand the shafts of the divine inquisition?

We need to examine ourselves and prove ourselves. We need to examine our hearts and minds. Do we live lives worthy of our calling? Have we allowed sin into our lives? Have we been unkind to anyone? Are we serving the Lord? Is there fruit in our lives?

May we pray along with David in Psalm 139: Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my anxious thoughts. And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way [a paraphrase].

Question to ponder:
Is there a difference between God’s Spirit examining our lives and self-examination?

I give them eternal life. They shall never perish, nor shall anyone snatch them from My hand.

— John 10:28

We believe that God will enable us to persevere to the end. He began a good work in our lives and will continue that work until the end. Jesus Christ is perfectly able to care for His own. Under His wings, the saints can rest secure.

We have all heard stories of people who have been kept safe in the midst of horrible danger. We might never see the car that almost hit us or the angel that kept us from violence, or the temptation God steered us away from. We do know that God is protecting us and that His hand will lead us home.

He protects us from spiritual as well as physical danger. We should never presume upon God’s grace, but we can count on His faithfulness. In Philippians 1, Paul tells us that He who began a good work in us will complete that work until the day of Christ Jesus. What a great promise!

Question to ponder:
Does it comfort to know that no one can snatch you out of the hand of Christ?