Has anyone other than me
tried to strike up a bargain with God? Surely, I pray I’m not
the only one.
One thing I do not like is
nausea followed by regurgitation. (I started to use the word “vomit” or “puke,”
but thought they might be too crass.)
I was a teenager playing
sandlot softball with my buddies on the church lot, when I was attempting to
catch a ball batted to me in the outfield. I also had a big wad of chewing
tobacco in my mouth. You guessed it. While backing up and looking up for the
ball, I swallowed a mouthful of amber juice. I had not used chewing tobacco
before, and was hoping the stories were not true.
Just a few minutes later, we
were called inside for our weekly RA (Royal Ambassadors) meeting at the church.
Before I got to the meeting room, I had to make a detour to the restroom.
I broke out into a cold sweat
that made my knees buckle. I can’t even describe the horrors going on in my
stomach. I noticed a mirror in the restroom and for some reason I looked and
saw a young teenager as white as number 96 typing paper. I never threw up, but
I must have turned every color one can imagine (‘green’ really stands out).
One of my buddies called for
me to come to the meeting. I was late. I groaned, “Go away!” Then I talked to
God. No, I begged. I prayed the most humble of pleading prayers for Jesus to make
me well NOW! I was rolling out the promises to God if He would just take it all
away. I eventually recovered but missed the meeting. I can’t remember to this
day if I caught the ball. I remember all the rest though.
Another time I was an adult,
married with one child. We had bought some fried chicken and brought it home.
That night … well here we go again. Let’s make a deal sweat Jesus! I was so
sick from regurgitating; I had what we call around here, ‘dry heaves.’ Again,
the promises flowed from my mind to God, “Make me well and I’ll serve you
forever.” That is one night I thought for sure I would never make it through
the night. Did I keep my promises either time? No.
I can think of many other
times that I have tried to bargain with God, and if you will be honest, I would
say you can think of a few yourselves.
Have you ever tried to
bargain with God over a sickness, or a marriage problem, or a test, or a lousy
job, or “pick your poison.”
How many have tried to
bargain with God over salvation? Most people I have met have been here. We even
try to bargain with God over sin. “Yeah, yeah God I know what the Bible says,
but does that really apply to today?”
The one thing that mankind
cannot seem to get through our thick skulls is, God says what He means and
means what He says.
He tells us there is only one
way we can be saved from judgment. That one way is through His Son, Jesus
Christ. (John 14:6)
He tells us that if we ask
anything in His name, He will do it. (John 14:13-14) I pray we understand that
we must ask with what is in agreement with His Word. This is where knowing a
few verses or a few Biblical facts don’t help. We must be able to see the whole
picture of what God is saying in His Word.
Abraham’s grandson Jacob was
a real rascal. He dishonestly obtained his brother Esau’s birthright, then he
and his mother Rebecca tricked his father Isaac to give Esau’s blessing to him
(Jacob). It took Jacob a long time to grow up, even after attending Uncle
Laban’s school of deceit. Before I go off on a tangent, allow me to stick with
one subject concerning Jacob at this time. Jacob tried to bargain with God,
just as we have many times. So we pick up with Jacob’s story when he is running
from Esau, who vowed to kill him.
JACOB RUNNING FROM ESAU,
MEETS CHRIST
Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward
Haran. He came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun
had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head,
and lay down in that place. He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the
earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were
ascending and descending on it. (Genesis
28:10-12)
Jacob is a grown man who has
just swindled his brother for the second time and is now running for his life.
He will never see his mother Rebecca again. He is running from Esau his
brother, and then meets God in a dream. He sees Him as a ladder and the ladder
is representative of Jesus Christ. Why is the ladder specifically Jesus, the
second person of the Godhead? Again, Jesus made it clear that no one can come
to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6)
God speaks to him in the dream.
GOD’S PROMISE TO ABRAHAM AND
ISAAC REPEATED TO JACOB
And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am
the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on
which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. “Your descendants
will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west
and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your
descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. “Behold, I am with
you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land;
for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”(Genesis 28:13-15)
God repeated to Jacob the
same promise He made to Abraham and Isaac. It is very detailed.
·
The land on which
you lie on is yours and your descendants
·
Your descendants
will be as plentiful as the dust of the earth
·
You and your
descendants will spread outward in all directions
·
You and your
descendants will bless all the families of the earth
·
God is with him
·
God will keep him
wherever he goes
·
God will bring
him back to his land
·
God will not
leave him until everything promised him is delivered
Don’t you think God is being
very specific when speaking to Jacob? Sounds pretty clear to me.
God has made specific
promises to all mankind, which of course includes us today.
·
We can only be
saved through Him
·
When He saves us
He will keep us
·
All die apart
from the Rapture
·
He is coming back
again
·
After death is
judgment if we are not His sheep
These are just a few examples
among many other promises of God. Are we going to continue doing as Jacob?
First of all, let’s see what Jacob did after he heard these promises that were
given first to his grandfather Abraham, then to his father Isaac and then
repeated again to him.
Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me
and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and
garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD
will be my God. “This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house,
and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.” (Genesis 28:20-22)
Notice carefully what he is
really saying.
·
“IF” God will be
with me
·
“IF” God will
keep me
·
“IF” God will
give me food and clothing
·
“IF” God will
return me to my father’s house safely
·
“THEN” the Lord
will by my God
·
All God gives me
I will give a tenth
Wasn’t he listening! Better
yet, are we listening! This sounds just like me (and you). “IF you will do this
God, “THEN” I’ll do this.” God has given us specific promises. We can play
“let’s make a deal” if we like, and try to bargain with Him, but God has
already said exactly what He wanted to say and it will not be changed.
Allow me to provide a few
other examples.
·
God says marriage
is sacred. There is no bargaining.
·
God says
homosexuality is a sin. There is no bargaining.
·
God says all sin
will result in judgment, unless we come to Him through His Son Jesus Christ in
repentance. There is no bargaining.
There are many sins, but only
one will send us to the lake of fire for all of eternity, and that sin is
rejection of Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
The point of this entire
article is, we cannot bargain with God. Most everyone in our society,
Christians and non-Christians alike, are consistently trying to make a deal
with God, whether they realize it or not.
We have become so corrupt;
many in our society would feel right at home in Sodom and Gomorrah. Others
would turn and look back as did Lot’s wife when God destroyed those cities. Our
society is like an apple, rotten from the skin to the core. We are controlled
by politicians, the media and Hollywood, and upheld by corrupt religion.
The few who remain in this
country who actually believe God’s Word and accept It, will be more and more
hated by those allowing the sins of this world to corrupt their souls.
Are true Christians without
sin? Of course not, but our sins are covered by the precious blood of Jesus
Christ. He paid the price for our salvation, and we serve Him. We fail Him
often, but it grieves our hearts when we do.
However, those who are not
His sheep enjoy their rebellion (sins) against a Him. They have thrown off the
notion of a Holy and Righteous God and revel in their “independence” of Him,
just as King Belshazzar and his court. Judgment by death claimed Belshazzar’s
soul that very night and judgment is just as assuredly coming our way.
God does not make deals. We need desperately to get our act together. Just
because “everybody’s doing it” doesn’t void what God has said.
God loves mankind and wants to
save all who will come to Him in true repentance. He will not turn any away who
truly decide to follow Him in faith.
“All that the Father gives Me
will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”
(John 6:37)
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
Rapture Ready: http://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html
