Often in these last days of apostasy we are going to see people doing many good deeds to "soothe their conscience and bolster their reputation."
Matthew 6:2-4 "…2 So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be praised by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
Just recently I saw this phrase mentioned in a show I was watching on television. I was struck with the impact of this in observing so many "Christians" doing useless good deeds, seemingly to make themselves feel good about their life. Their spirituality is based in how good they look to others.
These Pharisee types are "others" focused rather than Christ focused. These Pharisee types are not concerned about developing the character of Christ in their lives, they are fixated on rules to appear righteous.This is the reason they so easily, without much thought judge the actions of their brothers and sisters on things that are not sin. They make up their own rules about obedience to Christ that were never in the Word of God.
These Pharisee types are determined to appear better than others based on their works more than developing inner character and holiness. Works oriented Christians will always look down on others who do not do the things they do or say the things they say. They are wrong about the Word of God more often than they are right. No one can be right about the Word of God when they are focused on searching the scriptures to see how superior they are to others.
Liberals do this all the time, they open a food bank to feed the poor in this country when the line to the food bank is around the block and nearly everyone in the line is obese. In other words there is no need for the food bank, its a feel good project that gets them the praise of others. No one has to sign up to get the food and no one is evaluated as to whether or not they really need it. When there is no accountability we can be sure there is a good deed done more for self glory than for the people they serve.
We see liberals providing abortion services for unwed mothers who made the choice to indulge in immoral activity outside of marriage, but don't want to face the consequences of their own actions. Abortion is the easy way out for the "helping liberal." Instead of teaching about chastity and helping an unwed mother to be able to provide for and raise her child they do the easy thing. It takes far more effort to help a woman care for a child than it does to sit in their fancy chair providing the map to the abortion clinic. AND THEY CALL THIS HELP!!!!
Instead of bringing the wonderful message of salvation to the masses involved in sin, they bail them out of consequences to be able to continue in their sin without any lessons learned.
When this happens there does not occur the necessary brokenness to heal a heart of its sin to become whole and blessed. The devil loves these feel good activities, it removes guilt over sin to help the sinner to remain in it without the ability to see the devastating effects of sin.
The same is true of the woman who remains silent when her husband is making terrible and ungodly choices. The woman is the helpmate to the man in every area of his life. The allow someone we love to continually sin is not love.
We see this often in the activities of Christians, learning all they can about the Bible to be able to impress others with their knowledge while violating most of the things in the Bible that they don't like to think about.
It is sad to me that most Christians do not see pride as a sin. They embellish things to appear special, they tell lies to impress others through half truths and they are angry at anyone who is not impressed by their attempts to appear spiritual.
A born again believer who loves the Lord should never be excusing the sins of pride, jealousy and contempt while at the same time calling it Biblical.
Have you ever met someone who was confronted about their sin of pride who shouted at you that they were not full of pride. When this happens there is no need for further discovery, our answer is given in the raging.
A humble, loving person will not rage at a confrontation they will ponder, pray and confess if the accusation is true. At the very least a humble person will ask the accuser why they think that to determine whether or not it was accurate.
Raging, ignoring, dismissiveness, disapproving grunting sounds and others signs of pride are evident in the one who can never confess their sin openly. These people are not sorry for their sin of pride, they excuse it as being for a good reason.
Proverbs 16:17-19 "…17 The highway of the upright leads away from evil; he who guards his way protects his life. 18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. 19 It is better to be lowly in spirit among the humble than to divide the spoil with the proud.…"
Our knowledge about the Bible is not an indicator that we are godly spiritual Christians. The devil knows the Bible better than we ever could, yet he is on his way to hell.
Good deeds are not an indicator that we are godly spiritual Christians. The devil loves to present useless good deeds to distract us from the gospel.
The good deeds that Christians ought to be involved in are those that Christ, the Holy Spirit leads us to do, not what the world thinks but what God commands. Each person will be given a task, often it does not look the way the world thinks it should look. The Holy Spirit is far more creative than the world or our own fleshly desires. When we get to the point where we are hearing from the Holy Spirit and obeying His voice, we are likely to be hated by most because they will not understand God's ways.
Never measure your walk by what man thinks, but only by the power of the Holy Spirit.
John 16:12-14 "13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you.…":
Good deeds done in the power of the Holy Spirit will always bring glory to God!!!!
