Whose Gold are you buying?

I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
[Revelation 3:18]

Imagine the following scenario:

You’re going to buy a ring for a close friend, rather it be a boy/girlfriend, your mother on Mother’s day; regardless of who it is, they’re very important to you. Very close to your heart. At the market there are two salesmen. The first one offers you a BEAUTIFUL looking ring, but after closer inspection, you suspect it’s the kind of ring that could have the gold rub off, and turn your finger green. But the price is GREAT! The second man offers you a completely GORGEOUS ring, 100% gold, but the price is seemingly outrageous. Which one do you buy?

Well, let me clue you in. The First salesman is Satan. His offer is a cheap one, it seems great at first, but it eventually leaves you wanting more. The Second salesman is Jesus Christ. His price may seem steep, but His is the greatest offer of all. What he gives is pure, inside and out, from start to finish; and it fulfills you always. Who’s Gold are you buying?

We are born into the flesh, we as Humans have a sinful nature. Satan’s offer will always look better. It will be easier, cheaper. You can do whatever you want, when you want. God’s offer seems steep. It requires a life of pure, Christ-like living. It requires us to meet a set of standards. And sometimes, we won’t like it. But we want to become more like Christ, we want his Gold.

Jesus Christ Himself counsels us to buy His Gold, tried by the fire. There is a key phrase here: “Tried by the fire.” When a ring is made, it has to be purified in the fire. Let me tell you, sometimes the fire gets hot. And sometimes it might sting, or burn a little. But these burns rid us of our impurities.  II Timothy 3:12 says, ” Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” The Word of God never promised us an easy ride.  I Peter 1:7 tells us that our faith will be tried by fire.  ” That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: ” We will be tried by the fire, and the fire will get Hot.  But it’s the fire that burns out our impurities, and makes us more like Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Who’s Gold are you buying?

Weapons of Warfare.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
[II Corinthians 10:3-4]

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
[Ephesians 6:10-20]

We are the children of God. We are commanded by the bible to live for him. He gave us his life as a sacrifice for our sins. Along with that sacrifice came the authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. We are to boldly go forth and proclaim the Almighty Saving power of God. But do most Christians act this way? No. We cower in fear of Satan, trying to blame everything on him. Mighty Warriors? Try Cowering Wimps. We need to get it into our heads that Jesus is an almighty God; and that he lives within us. Jesus tells us in John 14:12, that we will do even greater things than he did! “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”

We have authority in Jesus Christ. We are to claim souls for him. But there is opposition. Satan has no intentions of making this easy for us. The Word says “..we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” II Corinthians 10:3-4 explains although we live in the flesh, we do not war in the flesh. We war in the spirit. But how do we war in the spirit? Ephesians 6:11 tells us, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” So what do we use as the Weapons of Warfare? The Armor of God.

Ignorance and Stupidity.

Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. [James 4:17]

Ignorance: the state or fact of being ignorant; lack of knowledge, learning, information, etc.  Doing something in ignorance is doing something without knowing what you are doing.  Commonly I hear people try to switch out ignorant, and innocent.  They’re not same, they have nothing to do with each other.  You can commit a sin in ignorance, but you are not innocent.  You are still guilty of the sin.

Stupid: lacking ordinary quickness and keenness of mind; dull.  If you are stupid; you’re foolish.  Sin is never a smart thing.  Sin is stupid.  In Numbers 12:11, Aaron asks God not to hold the sin against them that they “foolishly” committed.  “And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.”

Now, you may be wondering what I’m getting at.  What I want to present to you is the difference between being ignorant, and stupid.  These two words are often used interchangeably; but they do not mean the same thing.  Sinning in ignorance is doing something you don’t know is wrong.  Sinning in stupidity is knowing what you’re doing is wrong, and doing it any ways.  A picture of this is found in the story of Adam and Eve.  Adam and Eve both sinned.  But Eve was deceived by the serpent; she became ignorant.  Adam knew full well what he was doing when he ate the fruit; he was stupid.  I Timothy 4:12 says, “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” Adam was not deceived. He sinned in stupidity.

Now the question is, who do we want to be like?  Adam, or Eve?  No, that’s a trick question.  Ignorance and Stupidity are both wide open gates to sin.  So how do we avoid both of these problems?  The answer is found in II Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

If we make the effort to sit down and spend some time with God, put aside our other task; if we truly make him our priority, and just study the word of God; we won’t be Ignorant or Stupid.