ACCEPTABLE
“…whereby we may serve God
acceptably with reverence and godly fear…”
Hebrews 12:28
Acceptably.
It means to be well pleasing or so as to please. This is to be the attitude with which we
serve our Lord. All our service is to be
done with the goal of pleasing Him.
Contrariwise, we can serve unacceptably and
Scripture reveals this to us when it admonishes us not to serve with
eye-service as men pleasers, but remembering that all our works will be tried
with fire. God can see straight through
a false or shallow motivation.
I also think the word is a bit deeper than
simply pleasing the Lord. I think of it
as meaning worthy of God’s stamp of approval, or, of a certain quality that
would bring glory to His name. I imagine
God looking at the service I have performed and giving me a smile of approval.
It’s that “Well done my good and faithful servant” that I am longing to hear
and the standard I want to maintain.
Acceptance comes with a couple of qualifiers –
reverence and godly fear. Reverence
means with caution, to beware, or respect.
Godly fear is like apprehension, a mingling of fear and love that
produces piety of man toward God and keeps him humble.
This tells me that there is no place for pride
in my service. It is a privilege to be a servant of the King and I should
remember my place and serve humbly and acceptably with due respect.
ACCEPTABLE
“…having received…the things which
were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing
to God.” Philippians 4:18
Nothing is so precious as a gift at just the
right time. We were really struggling one Christmas on the mission field. We were trying to put on a brave face for the
children and had managed to get a few gifts under the tree, but it was slim by
any estimation. We hadn’t told anyone,
but were just going on by faith.
It was Christmas week and the evening of our
mid-week service when we got a call from a fellow missionary. We invited him to come, but he declined saying
that he would like to drop in for a visit after services. It was a strange request, but of course we
welcomed him. That evening we hurried
home to prepare for our visitor. We got the kids to bed and shortly thereafter
he and his wife knocked at the door.
After a short chat they said they had something for us in the car and
would be right back.
After six or seven trips to the car our
kitchen was filled with food and there were gifts for all the children. Our hearts were simply overwhelmed. Our benefactors then handed us a simple white
envelope and said their goodbyes without even accepting a cup of tea.
As we opened the envelope, the card contained
a large sum of cash. This proved to be
one of the biggest Christmases we have ever had, and one of the sweetest and
the least forgotten.
The blessing of God was upon us truly, but the
odour of a sweet smelling sacrifice was accounted to the giver whose generosity
and joyful giving was without doubt well pleasing and acceptable before God.
ACCEPTABLE
“Proving
what is acceptable unto the Lord.”
Ephesians 5:10
The instruction to “prove” here means that we
should take time to examine, consider or test our actions with the expectation
of being approved. Matthew Henry said that we should “search diligently what
God has revealed to be his will…to enquire and consider what will be acceptable
to him.”
This tells us that we need to consider our
actions - to weigh them against God’s Word.
The verse is sandwiched between many verses of
admonition about the need for a Christian to be a shining example and warning
about the evils of this world. We need to be wary of seeking our own
approval. Our judgment might not be
exact when it comes to what is acceptable to the Lord, so we need to check
ourselves, to prove what is truly acceptable.
The Psalmist David many times asked the Lord
to examine his heart and motivations.
Psalm 139: 23, 24 is a great example.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thought: and
see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” David is known as a man after God’s own
heart. Surely we would think that what
he did was acceptable to the Lord, but we also read of David’s stumbles and
unwise decisions when he failed to test his choices before acting upon
them. If David needed this proof, then
we most assuredly do as well.
There are always choices before us. We would do well to stop and consider which
are the best choices; which ones stand the test of God’s Word and which ones
are truly acceptable to the Lord.
ACCEPTABLE
“For what glory is it, if, when ye
be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if, when ye do well, and suffer for it,
ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.” I Peter 2:20
Is this verse saying that our suffering is
acceptable to God? Not really. The subject of the verse is the basic cause
of the suffering and our attitude toward it. To paraphrase it might read – So,
if you are in the wrong and receiving what is due to you, then what praise can
you expect? Even if you manage to endure
it, it is still only what you justly deserve.
There is nothing special in that. However, if you are not in the wrong
and are still being attacked or punished and you manage to endure without
retaliation or a bad attitude, then that is the attitude that is pleasing to
the Lord.
Christ is our example here. When he was reviled (criticized in an abusing
manner), he did not revile again. When
he suffered physical abuse, he did not threaten others with the same but
committed himself to God for judgment of his right attitude. This is truly a
high standard!
To keep our mouth shut and our attitude
adjusted when we believe we are being falsely accused or taken advantage of is
not easy for most of us. We want to be
right and to be recognized as good people, but sometimes it doesn’t come out
that way. To be acceptable with God
means that we allow Him to do the judging and to delve out the justice. We are to accept it patiently.
ACCEPTABLE
“Ye also, as lively stones, are
built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”
I Peter 2:5
We are living stones of a spiritual
house. We are holy and are to be acting
as priests of old offering up spiritual sacrifices. Maybe we should stop and define what these
might be? These might be divided into
four basic sacrifices.
First, offer ourselves as Romans 12:1 gives
direction “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service.”
Second, offer our praise, “By him therefore
let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of
our lips giving thanks to his name.”
Hebrews 13:15.
Third, offer our service as Hebrews 13:16
tells us, “But to do good and to communicate (share or give) forget not: for
with such sacrifices God is well pleased”.
And, fourth, our possessions as Philippians
4:18 records, “having received…the things which were sent from you, an odour of
a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.”
It is interesting to note that God is not
talking about works of our own self will, but sacrifices given to Jesus Christ
and because of his work in our lives.
They spawn from a grateful heart that has been redeemed and this is the
reason they are acceptable. They are
fruit of the Spirit in action.
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