Cost

[bwme...@toast.net]

"GOD DOESN'T WANT ANYTHING FROM YOU THAT DOESN'T COST YOU SOMETHING!"
--- Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse.

That is a fascinating statement that bears proving (1 Thess. 5:21).

It is closely akin to the question, "Is everything which gives
pleasure wrong?" As the famous quotation says, "Everything I like is
illegal, immoral, or fattening!" That is, must I give up everything I
enjoy (the cost) if I am to please God? Did God really give all men
the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness [or
property, as otherwise interpreted]" as the anti-Christian Thomas
Jefferson wrote? (One of the only two founding fathers not a devout
Christian, as claimed by one excellent scholar). I hate to leave this
question for now, but must get back to the main one.

At the outset, we are not talking about how we get saved; that is not
the subject at all: this is the subject of "sanctification." Salvation
costs us NOTHING, outwardly. That is TOTALLY His work, not ours
(Ephesians 2:8-9 --- the fundamental doctrine of Salvation ---
pointing to John 3:16 and 5:24).

But we DO have a part in the rewards we will get, eg, "Forasmuch as ye
know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain" --- 1 Cor. 15:58.
That labor is COST to us.

So is the sacrifice of our lips, in Heb. 13; that sacrifice, as I have
already been threatened for it, can well lead to your murder. And it
has COST me lesser amounts, already.

Try it yourself: drive down the interstate, periodically announcing
John 3:16 on channel 19, as God tells us to be doing, instead of just
enjoying the ride, and see what you will get. You will find it COSTS
you something. One person responded, "do you REALLY believe that?!"
"What do you think? Do you think I would be doing this if I DIDN'T
believe it?"

To turn it around, the fact that I've never heard another person do it
seems to say something about how many people DO believe it ---
certainly far fewer people than we would think. Lots of people give
money: but there's the powerful incentive there that they usually get
glory for that, as the Pharisees did for their "services." Let me
tell you you will get something other than glory, for the most part,
for the "sacrifice of your lips." ie. "Shut up, you moron!!" It is a
COST. And, "DEATH to ALL Christians!" And, "If I find you, I'll kill
you!" This is soon going to be policy of the Fed Govt, as it is all
over the world now, in other places, as it was in the holocaust, just
a generation ago. Or are you blind, as well as an unbeliever?

Once after I had done it, another trucker asked his friend, "Was that
you?" Apparently that friend was a Christian. The friend responded,
"Heck no! I'm not that brave!" I didn't think fast enough to reply,
"I'm not brave enough NOT to!"

"He that seeketh to save his life shall lose it. But he that (giveth)
his life for My sake and the Gospel's, the same shall save it unto
Life Eternal." (Does this statement imply "salvation by works?" I
don't think so; for one thing, it was addressed to Peter and the
Apostles, among others, whom the Lord later stated already were saved;
and ALL of them abandoned Him later, but clearly still were saved.
More importantly, that would contradict the clear statements of John
3:16, Eph. 2:8-9, etc. This is another subject for proof, but
for now --- ). Giving your life for His sake is COST.

Paul said, "present your bodies a living SACRIFICE --- that, again, is
COST." And He went on to say it is logical to do so. How logical is
your life?

Dr Barnhouse's statement is strongly verified by a number of
Scriptures that come to mind, some of which I'm sure he was alluding
to in that message:

2 Sam. 24:24 But the king [David] replied to Araunah, "No, I insist
on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt
offerings that cost me nothing."

Mal. 1:13 You said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and you have
snuffed at it, said the LORD of hosts; and you brought that which was
torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus you brought an offering: should
I accept this of your hand? said the LORD.

There are many other such OT passages, esp in Jeremiah and Isaiah.

There are also many such passages from Paul, such as the above Hebrews
13, for just one. (Although Heb. 13 may have been appended by Luke.
There are some good arguments for this.)

And 1 Corinthians 15:58 above.

And a logical argument by Paul in 2 Timothy 3:12 ---

"Yes, and ALL (every last person) who will (means even has a desire to
--- doesn't have to actually do so) live godly in Christ Jesus WILL
SUFFER PERSECUTION." --- 2 Timothy 3:12.

The logical contrapositive of this statement: "No person who REALLY
desires to live for the Lord Jesus Christ will escape being
persecuted.

Even just the desire alone, to LIVE for Him, will COST something.

This is a valid gauge of your godliness, of your Christianity.

In fact, it is interesting: When we apply for a job, or run for an
office, we supply a list of liars called "references." [endnote 1]
Paul did just the opposite: he pointed to who his enemies were! Maybe
that is a lot more valid!

A person's value is measured by the COST he has paid.

"But I know whom I have believed; and am persuaded that He is able to
keep that which I've committed unto Him against that Day."
---1 Tim. 1:12.

The commitment above is COST (see the context!). That Day is the one
in Php. 1:6, the Judgment Seat of Christ.

I've given very few verses on this sujbect; you can find a lot more
than I gave if you are one of the noble Bereans --- Acts 17:11-12.

Bob
Christ Died to Save You

[Endnote 1] -- I was fascinated by John McCain's comment in one of the
debates, that he was very close with Henry Kissinger --- that alone
was all I would have needed to size up the whole phony "debates" crap
--- two men like those to choose between, and we were supposed to be
voting for a choice?? The choice is always between the destruction of
our Constitution and America, or the destruction of America and our
Constitution.

Another note: At the ages of 5 and 6, Dr. Barnhouse was reading things
like "Tale of Two Cities," etc. Sort of like Henry Alford who was
even more spectacular at those ages, and others whom God has given us.
And Dr. Barnhouse mentions that those things were COSTing him in his
early school years.

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