I have been going back and forth in my mind about whether or not to start a new blog. Whoever is reading my thoughts on this blog, I hope you can give me your wisdom.
When I have discussed it with friends and colleagues, they think I'm just talking about the immediate conflicts within our denomination about our school. I am not. I am deeply concerned about my denomination, but frankly Erskine is only a small part of it.
What concerns me within our fellowship more is an erosion of tolerance and civility. Let's face it, the ARP's are not significantly different in our doctrines than many conservative Presbyterian denominations like the PCA, OPC, and others. We all use basically the same catechism and confession. What set us apart was the way in which we held to them. I used to characterize us as "loving conservatives." It was not what we held but the graciousness by which we held them. For years, I have suggested to people that the ARP church was a good example of Christian love and charity, that they knew the difference between disagreement and contention.
Today, I have come to question whether this is true.
Oh, we make occasional gestures in that direction. We don't tend to yell at our meetings, and we address one another with a Southern civility. This is not what I mean. It was not how we said it, but what we did that made us civil. You can put sugar on a bullet, but that doesn't make it friendly.
One of the problems I think is in my own perception. In my naivete, I did not realize that what I saw as good was not seen that way by others. Where I saw grace, they saw weakness. Where I saw tolerance, they saw compromise. Besides, I was told, graciousness and tolerance are not written anywhere in our bylaws as being one of our distinctivies.
Well, I for one would like to see that change. I'm tired of seeing extremists and hotheads drive our collective conversation. I would like to see the ARP church go on record as saying that we will respect those who disagree with us, and treat them not as enemies, but as children of God.
So what I have been praying about is starting a blog, and encouraging others to contribute. I would call the blog "the Radical Moderate." I would want to publish articles not only by myself, but by others which touched on the subject of upholding a community of mutual respect.
Here's what stops me from doing it. First, the realization that in our current conflict that people might misinterpret what I am saying. I've read some of the blogs and Facebook threads and realize that emotions on both sides are hot, and the temperature is rising. Any attempt to start a new conversation at this point might degenerate into the same tired arguments being shouted back and forth. I also am concerned that such an effort might be misconstrued as being simply people holding hands and singing "Kum Bay Yah." Standing for mutual respect and public concern does not have to be wimpy, if we take it seriously. In fact if I could put one picture on the blog, it would be of Samson bringing down the temple. It seems to me that when we push against both sides, we are the first one to get hit when the roof falls in.
The guidelines of such a blog would be as follows:
1. No cause is more valuable than the people involved.
2. We will discuss anything, as long as we discuss with mutual love, respect and civility.
3. We will not question the morals or motivations of others,
4. We will not engage in name-calling, marginalizing, or labeling.
5. We will not engage in personal attacks, or denigrate those who disagree.
6. We will seek to encourage the peace and prosperity as well as the purity of the church
7. We will not put down other denominations, but will build up the whole Body of Christ.
So I want your imput. Should I start the conversation? Is it needed? would it be of assistance to others?
I hopw you will share your thoughts with me.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
The Belt of Truth
Having dealt with the nature of our enemy in Eph 6:10-13, Paul describes our resource in dealing with the enemy—the “armor of God”—a common image of a well-prepared Christian.
The first part of his armor is the “belt of truth.”
“Stand therefore, having our loins girded with truth.”
The imagery of armor is found in pieces throughout the Old Testament. Most of it is fairly easy to understand. But this first piece—the belt—is a little confusing, because it is not found in the Old Testament. What kind of belt is he talking? There are at least four possibilities.
1, It could refer to Old Testament warriors. These warriors fought mostly without body armor. They just put on their sword and went to war. Putting on the sword belt was the first thing they did. The expression for going to battle became “gird on your sword “ or, in other words “pick up your weapons>”
The Old Testament expands this metaphor. It eventually was used to designate the putting on of any weapon, either figurative or literal. For examples, we read in the Old testament
2 Sam 22:40 “ For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me.” This means that God gave him strength in battle—a powerful weapon.
Ps 30:10-11Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;” Gladness is another powerful weapon against the Devil.
Ps 65:6 Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains; being girded with power” Here is another weapon—the power of God.
So Paul may have simple meant put on the weapon of your warfare--mot strength, not power, not even gladness, but the truth. Hold on to what’s true. Wrap it around your waist and be ready to fight.
The many kingdoms Satan had created, his “powers and principalities” all have one thing in common--they are all based on a pack of lies. These lies must be addressed and answered.
Satan tells you that you are doomed. God tells you that you are saved.
Satan tells you that you are irredeemable. \God tells you that you are redeemed.
Satan tells you that must sin. God tells you that you must not sin.
Satan tells you to hate your neighbor, that your neighbor is a threat to you.
God tells you to love your neighbor, that you neighbor is a child of God, just like you.\
We could go on and on. For every truth there is a lie, For every lie there is a truth.
2. Paul may be talking specifically about Roman armor. In Roman armor, the first piece would be the leather belt. Attached to the belt would be an armor plated apron. This protected the middle section. Perhaps Paul is talking about wearing truth like a Roman soldier’s belt.
Where are we weakest? That varies, depending on the person. Our weakness may be fear, temptation, insecurity, anger, or any of the above. These are the places where again and again Satan defeats us.
When we are attacked, we instinctively cover up those places. We do not wish to expose the places we are most vulnerable.
But as we discussed last week, our weakness is a lie. Satan tells us that we have to cover up and defend, because we are weak. But he is the one who says we are weak and we believe it.
The root of all disobedience is pride. We simply do not wish to look like afool, not even in or own eyes. It is why we cover up for our inadequacies. The Devil tells that if we admit we are weak, we will look like fools. Bu we are weak. We are sinners. Everyone knows it, whether we think they do or not. Hiding the truth does not defend us.
According to the Bible, there is only one way to deal with out weaknesses—expose them. This is called confession. Confess that we are sinners and that we cannot save ourselves. Our stubbornness and pride does not allow us to do this. We think we always have to be right ad perfect for people to respect us. But the opposite is true. People cannot loe a perfect person. They are just to intimidated by them to be comfortable.
Sin is like a sore. It heals fastest when exposed to the air. The more we willing to confess, the easier it will be to move beyond our sins and grow a spine when it comes to sin.
2. Paul may have had in mind a sash, not a belt. This would be the last thing, not the first thing that a person puts on. A belt is often used as a symbol of status and honor. A slave would have a simple rope belt. A patrician might wear a gold chain. In the Roman army, where the Roman soldier had to buy his own armor, the style of the armor and its appearance was a statement of his rank and wealth.
Prize fighters wear a championship belt. Cowboys wear fancy belt buckles tell us what hey love--a six gun, a marijuana leaf, or a confederate flag. They are bumper stickers for the belly. When men wer tuxedoes, they wear cummerbunds or sashes around the waist as symbol of rank and dignity.
Paul may have had such a sash in mind. This would mean that our truthful reputation is a counter to the lies of the devil. Before we can even think about addressing anything else in our lives, we must first make a commitment that when people see us, the impression we leave is the truth. We want our true nature to be he first thing they see.
In Rock Hill there was an old physician named Dr. Gaston. He was a man in his eighties, but he still made house calls on his patience. He was a well-loved figure in the community.
A few years ago I sat on a jury in a malpractice case. An elderly woman was in an accident and went to the emergency room. After she was released, she felt ill and they called for Dr. Gaston. He examined her and found nothing wrong. That night, she had a heart attack and died. The family was suing the hospital. No one thought to sue Dr. Gaston, however, since his reputation in the community was too great to question. Because of his reputation for truth and integrity, he was virtually immune from lawsuits. No one would believe it.
The truth is more than a defensive weapon, however, it is also a powerful offensive weapon. When we openly declare the truth of God, Satan is put off-balance, and cannot attack.
Evangelist Bill Glass once told of a young boy who came to him after a meeting to ask his advice. He said that that very night, his friends were going out drinking and he was going with them. He did not want to, but he was going anyway. “Why Bill Glass asked, “So much pressure!: The boy answered.
Bill Glass challenged him on this. “Whn are you going to start putting on the pressure with them>” If we hide the fact that we are followers of Christ, if we do not speak up and tell the truth, then we will find ourselves at the mercy of those who mean us harm. We will be forced to hide the truth, just to fit in.
Let people know right up front that you are a believer, and that you do not behave like others. It will save you grief later, and hopefully make a few converts, too.
4. The belt holds us together. Finally, Paul could be referring to what a rope does for anyone, whether a soldier or a slave,
Have you ever wondered, when you see pictures of ancient Hebrews how the managed to run in those maxi-dresses they wore? If you have a robe that reaches to the ground it would be easy to trip on it. They managed by tucking the ends of their tunics into their belt. This was called ”girding your loins.” It’s what you did when you went into action. Without a belt, that would be impossible.
We need a belt to keep our pants up and our shirttails in. We need a belt for hanging our cell phone and our pagers. Carpenters wear a tool belt to keep their tool together. Even Batman has a utility belt to keep his gadgets in order. We all need belts to keep us together. It is our first and most important tool.
Christians are held together by their integrity. It is their willingness to be scrupulously honest that keeps us together.
Christianity is a religion of grace. We believe the God, though the saving action of Jesus, can and does forgive anything. But before God will cleans us of all unrighteousness, he requires something from us. We must be honest. God will not forgive what we will not admit. It is only when we become scrupulously honest about ourselves tha the general amnesty rhat God grants in Jesus takes effect.
When we sin, we avoid the truth. We do not want to look in the mirror. We do not want to step on the scale. We do not want to balance our checkbook or look at our grades. Whenever we pretend to be strong, we become weak. But when we confess our sins, and are cleansed from them, we become strong through the grace of God.
The devil works in darkness. He loves those little secrets we keep from God. He loves it when we, like Adam and Eve, try first to cover up our sins, and then try to put the blame for them on someone else, instead of owning up and ‘fessing up. Don’t let the devil win by hiding our secrets Get them out before God.
Are there limits to this? Of course. Some things we would confess would hurt others. Some things would discourage others. Most people want to see your scars not your blood. But that does not mean we have to keep everything a secret from everyone, even ourselves. A wise believer will confess his sins to God regularly often, for the sake of obtaining His grace.
The belt held everything else together. It keeps our pants up. It keeps our cell phone attached to our sides It keeps our shirts in. belt may be the last thing we put on but it is first among our clothing needs. Where would a carpenter be without his tool belt? Where would Batman be without his utility belt? Where would a soldier be without his bandoliers and gun belts? Belts are essential for carrying everything.
Truth is our belt. It holds us together when nothing else does. God’s truth is our weapon, our shield our strength.
How can we affect the world? Tell the truth. Tell the world that we are sinners, just like everyone else, but we are saved by grace. Tell the truth to the world that they are going in the wrong direction. Tell the truth that the only reason we can claim any victory over the devil is by the grace of God.
Do you know the truth? Do you tell it God had a plan for us, but it begins with telling the truth
The first part of his armor is the “belt of truth.”
“Stand therefore, having our loins girded with truth.”
The imagery of armor is found in pieces throughout the Old Testament. Most of it is fairly easy to understand. But this first piece—the belt—is a little confusing, because it is not found in the Old Testament. What kind of belt is he talking? There are at least four possibilities.
1, It could refer to Old Testament warriors. These warriors fought mostly without body armor. They just put on their sword and went to war. Putting on the sword belt was the first thing they did. The expression for going to battle became “gird on your sword “ or, in other words “pick up your weapons>”
The Old Testament expands this metaphor. It eventually was used to designate the putting on of any weapon, either figurative or literal. For examples, we read in the Old testament
2 Sam 22:40 “ For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me.” This means that God gave him strength in battle—a powerful weapon.
Ps 30:10-11Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;” Gladness is another powerful weapon against the Devil.
Ps 65:6 Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains; being girded with power” Here is another weapon—the power of God.
So Paul may have simple meant put on the weapon of your warfare--mot strength, not power, not even gladness, but the truth. Hold on to what’s true. Wrap it around your waist and be ready to fight.
The many kingdoms Satan had created, his “powers and principalities” all have one thing in common--they are all based on a pack of lies. These lies must be addressed and answered.
Satan tells you that you are doomed. God tells you that you are saved.
Satan tells you that you are irredeemable. \God tells you that you are redeemed.
Satan tells you that must sin. God tells you that you must not sin.
Satan tells you to hate your neighbor, that your neighbor is a threat to you.
God tells you to love your neighbor, that you neighbor is a child of God, just like you.\
We could go on and on. For every truth there is a lie, For every lie there is a truth.
2. Paul may be talking specifically about Roman armor. In Roman armor, the first piece would be the leather belt. Attached to the belt would be an armor plated apron. This protected the middle section. Perhaps Paul is talking about wearing truth like a Roman soldier’s belt.
Where are we weakest? That varies, depending on the person. Our weakness may be fear, temptation, insecurity, anger, or any of the above. These are the places where again and again Satan defeats us.
When we are attacked, we instinctively cover up those places. We do not wish to expose the places we are most vulnerable.
But as we discussed last week, our weakness is a lie. Satan tells us that we have to cover up and defend, because we are weak. But he is the one who says we are weak and we believe it.
The root of all disobedience is pride. We simply do not wish to look like afool, not even in or own eyes. It is why we cover up for our inadequacies. The Devil tells that if we admit we are weak, we will look like fools. Bu we are weak. We are sinners. Everyone knows it, whether we think they do or not. Hiding the truth does not defend us.
According to the Bible, there is only one way to deal with out weaknesses—expose them. This is called confession. Confess that we are sinners and that we cannot save ourselves. Our stubbornness and pride does not allow us to do this. We think we always have to be right ad perfect for people to respect us. But the opposite is true. People cannot loe a perfect person. They are just to intimidated by them to be comfortable.
Sin is like a sore. It heals fastest when exposed to the air. The more we willing to confess, the easier it will be to move beyond our sins and grow a spine when it comes to sin.
2. Paul may have had in mind a sash, not a belt. This would be the last thing, not the first thing that a person puts on. A belt is often used as a symbol of status and honor. A slave would have a simple rope belt. A patrician might wear a gold chain. In the Roman army, where the Roman soldier had to buy his own armor, the style of the armor and its appearance was a statement of his rank and wealth.
Prize fighters wear a championship belt. Cowboys wear fancy belt buckles tell us what hey love--a six gun, a marijuana leaf, or a confederate flag. They are bumper stickers for the belly. When men wer tuxedoes, they wear cummerbunds or sashes around the waist as symbol of rank and dignity.
Paul may have had such a sash in mind. This would mean that our truthful reputation is a counter to the lies of the devil. Before we can even think about addressing anything else in our lives, we must first make a commitment that when people see us, the impression we leave is the truth. We want our true nature to be he first thing they see.
In Rock Hill there was an old physician named Dr. Gaston. He was a man in his eighties, but he still made house calls on his patience. He was a well-loved figure in the community.
A few years ago I sat on a jury in a malpractice case. An elderly woman was in an accident and went to the emergency room. After she was released, she felt ill and they called for Dr. Gaston. He examined her and found nothing wrong. That night, she had a heart attack and died. The family was suing the hospital. No one thought to sue Dr. Gaston, however, since his reputation in the community was too great to question. Because of his reputation for truth and integrity, he was virtually immune from lawsuits. No one would believe it.
The truth is more than a defensive weapon, however, it is also a powerful offensive weapon. When we openly declare the truth of God, Satan is put off-balance, and cannot attack.
Evangelist Bill Glass once told of a young boy who came to him after a meeting to ask his advice. He said that that very night, his friends were going out drinking and he was going with them. He did not want to, but he was going anyway. “Why Bill Glass asked, “So much pressure!: The boy answered.
Bill Glass challenged him on this. “Whn are you going to start putting on the pressure with them>” If we hide the fact that we are followers of Christ, if we do not speak up and tell the truth, then we will find ourselves at the mercy of those who mean us harm. We will be forced to hide the truth, just to fit in.
Let people know right up front that you are a believer, and that you do not behave like others. It will save you grief later, and hopefully make a few converts, too.
4. The belt holds us together. Finally, Paul could be referring to what a rope does for anyone, whether a soldier or a slave,
Have you ever wondered, when you see pictures of ancient Hebrews how the managed to run in those maxi-dresses they wore? If you have a robe that reaches to the ground it would be easy to trip on it. They managed by tucking the ends of their tunics into their belt. This was called ”girding your loins.” It’s what you did when you went into action. Without a belt, that would be impossible.
We need a belt to keep our pants up and our shirttails in. We need a belt for hanging our cell phone and our pagers. Carpenters wear a tool belt to keep their tool together. Even Batman has a utility belt to keep his gadgets in order. We all need belts to keep us together. It is our first and most important tool.
Christians are held together by their integrity. It is their willingness to be scrupulously honest that keeps us together.
Christianity is a religion of grace. We believe the God, though the saving action of Jesus, can and does forgive anything. But before God will cleans us of all unrighteousness, he requires something from us. We must be honest. God will not forgive what we will not admit. It is only when we become scrupulously honest about ourselves tha the general amnesty rhat God grants in Jesus takes effect.
When we sin, we avoid the truth. We do not want to look in the mirror. We do not want to step on the scale. We do not want to balance our checkbook or look at our grades. Whenever we pretend to be strong, we become weak. But when we confess our sins, and are cleansed from them, we become strong through the grace of God.
The devil works in darkness. He loves those little secrets we keep from God. He loves it when we, like Adam and Eve, try first to cover up our sins, and then try to put the blame for them on someone else, instead of owning up and ‘fessing up. Don’t let the devil win by hiding our secrets Get them out before God.
Are there limits to this? Of course. Some things we would confess would hurt others. Some things would discourage others. Most people want to see your scars not your blood. But that does not mean we have to keep everything a secret from everyone, even ourselves. A wise believer will confess his sins to God regularly often, for the sake of obtaining His grace.
The belt held everything else together. It keeps our pants up. It keeps our cell phone attached to our sides It keeps our shirts in. belt may be the last thing we put on but it is first among our clothing needs. Where would a carpenter be without his tool belt? Where would Batman be without his utility belt? Where would a soldier be without his bandoliers and gun belts? Belts are essential for carrying everything.
Truth is our belt. It holds us together when nothing else does. God’s truth is our weapon, our shield our strength.
How can we affect the world? Tell the truth. Tell the world that we are sinners, just like everyone else, but we are saved by grace. Tell the truth to the world that they are going in the wrong direction. Tell the truth that the only reason we can claim any victory over the devil is by the grace of God.
Do you know the truth? Do you tell it God had a plan for us, but it begins with telling the truth
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
What is a "Radical Moderate?"
The term “radical moderate” may sound like a contradiction of terms, but it is very intentional. For too long, our denominational discourse has been driven by arrogance, extremism, and ugly, judgmental attitudes on both sides. Some people will not be happy unless they have a crusade to fight.
Loving and respecting one another is not just a good idea—it is a divine command. Without love, the visible church is an unmitigated failure.
Before we begin, let’s define some terms. By “moderate” I do not mean what might be called moderate in the broader community, but as it is within the doctrines and principles of conervative Reformed Protestant Christianity. I take for granted that most of my readers agree with those principles. These principles include:
• Orthodox Christian doctrines as set down in the Apostles and Nicene Creeds. Including the deity of Christ, the Trinity, salvation by grace alone, and the necessity of belief for salvation, and so forth.
• The inerrancy of the Bible in its original autographs. It is our only guide to faith and practice, and constitutes the basis for anything we say or do.
• Calvinist, Presbyterian, Reformed beliefs as set down in the Westminster Confession and the Catechisms. These are not by any means infallible, but they do constitute the best (but not perfect) expression of Biblical theology and understanding.
• Personal conversion and evangelism as the primary means of promoting God’s kingdom in the world. Salvation comes through having faith in Jesus as one’s personal Lord and Savior, not by good works, ecclesiastical ritual, or anything else.
Even for those who affirm these statements, there is still plenty of room for disagreement. We are a diverse group of believers who worship in different ways, speak different languages, and differ on a great many issues. The purity of the church demands that we hold to the essentials, but love requires that we not draw the circle of fellowship any smaller than it actually is.
We are not all the same. We are traditional and contemporary; Republican and Democrat; white and black; male and female; old and young; Scottish, Hispanic, Korean, African, Pakistani and Chinese. We are not defined by ethnic or sociological similarities, nor do we all share the same history. But we all have a right to be heard with respect.
For that reason I would suggest we add one more to the list of eternal truths above—tolerance.
Tolerance is not agreement, nor is it endorsement. It is just good manners—a commitment to treat each other as we would want to be treated. That means not exaggerating the differences between us, not engaging in combative hyperbole, and allowing others the freedom of their own conscience. Too often tolerance has been confused with wimpiness. It is anything but. Peacemakers have been historically the first to get shot. The image that best describes the moderate to me is that of Samson—as we push against both sides, we often have the roof fall on our heads. I wish that were not so, but sometimes that is the only way to bring down temples of prejudice and pride.
This blog is my way of helping to promote this peace. I am hoping that others will contribute to this blog as well. At the bottom of this post I have put a list of subjects I would be particularly interested in having others write. However, no post will be accepted that does not coincide with these values:
1. No cause is more valuable than the people involved.
2. We will discuss anything, as long as we discuss it with mutual love, respect and civility.
3. We will not question the morals or motivations of others,
4. We will not engage in name-calling, marginalizing, or labeling.
5. We will not engage in personal attacks, or denigrate those who disagree.
6. We will seek to encourage the peace and prosperity as well as the purity of the church
7. We will not put down other denominations, but will build up the whole Body of Christ.
So with that in mind, I seek your help. I am looking for people who will help by contributing to this blog. I also solicit your readership, your comments, your contributions, and your prayers.
Loving and respecting one another is not just a good idea—it is a divine command. Without love, the visible church is an unmitigated failure.
Before we begin, let’s define some terms. By “moderate” I do not mean what might be called moderate in the broader community, but as it is within the doctrines and principles of conervative Reformed Protestant Christianity. I take for granted that most of my readers agree with those principles. These principles include:
• Orthodox Christian doctrines as set down in the Apostles and Nicene Creeds. Including the deity of Christ, the Trinity, salvation by grace alone, and the necessity of belief for salvation, and so forth.
• The inerrancy of the Bible in its original autographs. It is our only guide to faith and practice, and constitutes the basis for anything we say or do.
• Calvinist, Presbyterian, Reformed beliefs as set down in the Westminster Confession and the Catechisms. These are not by any means infallible, but they do constitute the best (but not perfect) expression of Biblical theology and understanding.
• Personal conversion and evangelism as the primary means of promoting God’s kingdom in the world. Salvation comes through having faith in Jesus as one’s personal Lord and Savior, not by good works, ecclesiastical ritual, or anything else.
Even for those who affirm these statements, there is still plenty of room for disagreement. We are a diverse group of believers who worship in different ways, speak different languages, and differ on a great many issues. The purity of the church demands that we hold to the essentials, but love requires that we not draw the circle of fellowship any smaller than it actually is.
We are not all the same. We are traditional and contemporary; Republican and Democrat; white and black; male and female; old and young; Scottish, Hispanic, Korean, African, Pakistani and Chinese. We are not defined by ethnic or sociological similarities, nor do we all share the same history. But we all have a right to be heard with respect.
For that reason I would suggest we add one more to the list of eternal truths above—tolerance.
Tolerance is not agreement, nor is it endorsement. It is just good manners—a commitment to treat each other as we would want to be treated. That means not exaggerating the differences between us, not engaging in combative hyperbole, and allowing others the freedom of their own conscience. Too often tolerance has been confused with wimpiness. It is anything but. Peacemakers have been historically the first to get shot. The image that best describes the moderate to me is that of Samson—as we push against both sides, we often have the roof fall on our heads. I wish that were not so, but sometimes that is the only way to bring down temples of prejudice and pride.
This blog is my way of helping to promote this peace. I am hoping that others will contribute to this blog as well. At the bottom of this post I have put a list of subjects I would be particularly interested in having others write. However, no post will be accepted that does not coincide with these values:
1. No cause is more valuable than the people involved.
2. We will discuss anything, as long as we discuss it with mutual love, respect and civility.
3. We will not question the morals or motivations of others,
4. We will not engage in name-calling, marginalizing, or labeling.
5. We will not engage in personal attacks, or denigrate those who disagree.
6. We will seek to encourage the peace and prosperity as well as the purity of the church
7. We will not put down other denominations, but will build up the whole Body of Christ.
So with that in mind, I seek your help. I am looking for people who will help by contributing to this blog. I also solicit your readership, your comments, your contributions, and your prayers.
So It Goes
Kurt Vonnegut's books Slaughterhouse Five asks an intriging question--what it we could look at time sideways? Suppose, instead of looking at time from within its stream, we could look at time from somewhere outside of it.
In Vonnegut's novel, there is a race of aliens who can do just that--see life in its totality from one end to another. Their view of life then becomes interesting. Instead of seeing a moment's tragedy, they see it from the perspective of a lifetime of happiness. A person who may suffer in death may have lived a blessed life for decades. A person who seems to have a peaceful tiime now may have experienced a lifetime of misery. We judge the moments as we see them. But we do not see them as they relate to other moments in time
In Vonnegut's book, these aliens developed an expression that encapsulated all ther philosophical knowledge "so it goes." Something is not good or bad, but it is part of a stream that is both good and bad. Bad things happen to good people. Good things happen to bad people. It is God who sorts it all out in the end.
I think of Vonnegut's book often when I stand with people who are experiencing tragedy. Life is not permanent. It has a beginning and an ending. If we believe there is a God in heaven, adn that one day we will be with Him, we must also accept the idea that death is going to happen in this world. Along with death will come sickness and pain. If we accept the fact that love exists, in a world tha tincludes death, we must also accept the fact that grief will exist as well. We cannot keep the tears from coming, nor can we deny that grief is the flip side of love. So it goes.
That's why I feel frustrated with people who must judge every moment as being good or bad. We say "I am having a bad day," or "I am having a good day" or (as my grandchildren like to say ) "I am having the worst day ever. In truth, all we can know at any given moment is that we are having a day. We do not know whether the ultimate consequences of what happens in it will be to our benefit or loss, or whether the consequences of that benefit or loss that may bring will be our ultimate salvation or destruction. We jsut do not know. We only know that days come and go. God knows the rest.
"To everything there is a season" The cycles of the days turn and the last season returns. Today is not worse than yesterday, only diferent from tomorrow.
Contemplating this moment in my life, and in my church's life, I cannot help but wonder how it all must look to God, who looks at time from His throne outside and time and space. How foolish we are that we can ever think we can understand it in the way He does.
So it goes. The best we can do, it seems to me, is to trust God and to enjoy the time we have.
In Vonnegut's novel, there is a race of aliens who can do just that--see life in its totality from one end to another. Their view of life then becomes interesting. Instead of seeing a moment's tragedy, they see it from the perspective of a lifetime of happiness. A person who may suffer in death may have lived a blessed life for decades. A person who seems to have a peaceful tiime now may have experienced a lifetime of misery. We judge the moments as we see them. But we do not see them as they relate to other moments in time
In Vonnegut's book, these aliens developed an expression that encapsulated all ther philosophical knowledge "so it goes." Something is not good or bad, but it is part of a stream that is both good and bad. Bad things happen to good people. Good things happen to bad people. It is God who sorts it all out in the end.
I think of Vonnegut's book often when I stand with people who are experiencing tragedy. Life is not permanent. It has a beginning and an ending. If we believe there is a God in heaven, adn that one day we will be with Him, we must also accept the idea that death is going to happen in this world. Along with death will come sickness and pain. If we accept the fact that love exists, in a world tha tincludes death, we must also accept the fact that grief will exist as well. We cannot keep the tears from coming, nor can we deny that grief is the flip side of love. So it goes.
That's why I feel frustrated with people who must judge every moment as being good or bad. We say "I am having a bad day," or "I am having a good day" or (as my grandchildren like to say ) "I am having the worst day ever. In truth, all we can know at any given moment is that we are having a day. We do not know whether the ultimate consequences of what happens in it will be to our benefit or loss, or whether the consequences of that benefit or loss that may bring will be our ultimate salvation or destruction. We jsut do not know. We only know that days come and go. God knows the rest.
"To everything there is a season" The cycles of the days turn and the last season returns. Today is not worse than yesterday, only diferent from tomorrow.
Contemplating this moment in my life, and in my church's life, I cannot help but wonder how it all must look to God, who looks at time from His throne outside and time and space. How foolish we are that we can ever think we can understand it in the way He does.
So it goes. The best we can do, it seems to me, is to trust God and to enjoy the time we have.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Powers and Principalities
Paul begins this section with these words. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
What a curious thing for Paul to say! He certainly was in a struggle against flesh and blood. The whole world seemed to be aligned against him and the early church. At least ten of the original twelve disciples died as martyrs. Paul was killed to Nero’s chopping block in 67 A.D. When he wrote these words, he probably under house arrest. Roman guards watched him all the time. If they weren’t flesh and blood, what were they?
Not only was the world against him, but so was his own flesh. Paul mentioned in one of his letters about a “thorn in the flesh”—some kind of recurring illness--that plagued him constantly. Some say it was poor eyesight. Other say he was lame. Whatever it was, it seriously impeded his work.
On top of that, he was in a world where the temptations of he flesh were if anything worse than ours. In his world, the main source of public entertainment was seeing men fight gory battles to the death, or watching prisoners torn apart by wild animals. Sexual temptations were even more out in the open than they are today. Most of the world did not consider prostitution a sin. Slaves did not count, either. We get only hints in the Paul’s letters how prevalent sexual sins were in the church at that time.
The ancient people drank wine all the time. They also had narcotics such as opium. And do not think that all hallucinogenic substances were of modern origin. The stuff they used caused insanity, yet people took it anyway.
Nor can we dismiss the other sins of the flesh—wrath, gluttony, and greed. The grossest sins we have now were all around in the ancient world.
If all this does not mean he was in a struggle against flesh and blood, then what would?
Yet Paul stands by his statement. We do not struggle against flesh and blood.
Think of the struggles of our day—recession, Al Qaeda, politics, cancer, illness, addictions, sexual temptations. These are flesh and blood things. Don’t we struggle against them? Don’t we think that, if these things did not exist, we would live in peace, and the world would be a paradise?
Yet Paul does not worry about any of these things. In fact, he does not even consider them the enemy. He realizes that they can harm us, but Paul realizes that nothing in this world is an enemy of itself.
Suppose you have a gun in your garage. Is that gun your enemy? A gun is an inanimate tool. What matters is in whose hand that gun belongs. The world spirit and the flesh are like that, too. They are not our enemy. Our enemy is the power that lies behind them. They exist, but they do not tempt us. It is not flesh and blood that tempts us, but someone else—Satan and his demons.
Paul does not like to refer to the devil by name. Nevertheless, Paul recognizes the reality of it. Without the devil and his temptation, sin is not a problem.
but against the rulers, against the authorities, Paul tells us two things about our real enemy Satan. First, we learn that he puts on the illusion of authority. He has developed an elaborate system of levels of power, each one having the illusion of legitimacy.
A person does not have to really have authority to have a problem. He simply has to have the illusion of authority. Satan does not have real authority over us. But the illusion of his authority is so widely believe that his pretend authority becomes real authority.
When I was in high school we had a teacher who was the constant brunt of our pranks. One day, a friend of mine got into her classroom before she did. He wrote on the board “Do not turn on light. Signed, the janitor.” She believed it for the three school periods, she never turned on the lights. By the fourth period, they were still off. It was then the person who did it fessed up and told her he had written it on the board. She still didn’t believe it. She kept the lights off all day.
Satan’s favorite trick is to sound authoritative. If we are foolish enough to believe it, then he really does have authority.
Let’s use addictions as an example. Addictions begin as strong cravings. Most of us have learned to resist cravings. The longer we resist a craving the more its power over us subsides.
But addictions are more than a craving, they are a lie. They are the voice which whisper in your ear “you have to have this,” when good sense tells you that you don’t. Addictions authority over us, and we believe it. Sometimes they whisper in our ear so soft that we don’t know they are there. Nevertheless we act on their suggestions. Other times they shout. We know we are addicted, but because we think we cannot stop. The addiction has convinced us that we are under its authority. We believe the lie that says “you can’t stop.” That is when Satan becomes a ruler and an authority in our lives. Just because something sounds authoritative does not mean it has any authority.
The second thing we learn from this is that the Devil’s kingdom its plurality. Paul doesn’t just say “the Devil” or even “the dark kingdom” but he always says “powers, principalities, thrones, and dominions.”
When the world was young, Satan convinced the world to build the tower of Babel--a great one-world government. One day he will try this again. But in the meantime, he is following another, more deadly strategy of divide and conquer. Rather than establishing one principality, he has established a thousand. Every kingdom that now exists or ever existed is in essence his, because it was started and maintained by fallen, sinful people. Even if that organization is created in the name of Jesus, it can still be hijacked and turned into wicked principality of Satan.
This strategy has some definite advantages. For one thing, it doesn’t depend upon a single dictatorial power, but every demon can run one portion of it. For another, it enables the prince of darkness to maintain control by playing one group off another. Whenever few begin to resist one of false principalities, we can be persuaded that the authority we create on the other side is righteous, and soon we believe the lie that or organization, country, church, or political party is not one of the principalities that Satan controls.
Take our current political situation—left wingers against right wingers, big government advocates versus little government advocates. Who is right? The Devil doesn’t care. To him there is no right or wrong politics, only conditions of the heart that lead us farther from God or closer to Him. All that matters to him is how he can use our loyalty to an ideology to justify sin. If we are a left-winger, he creates in us an entirely erroneous portrait of right-wingers as being evil, violent racists. We then believe we have permission to lie about them, snub them, or even ban them from meeting. We can lie about them, hate them, even kill them if necessary to accomplish what we think is “God’s work,”--meaning our own political philosophy.
Right wingers have their own stereotypes against left-wingers as being politically correct nutcases. It doesn’t matter whether they are or not, just so long as All he cares about is getting us to hurt others. If he can get us to believe that our side is righteous, and the other side is an evil conspiracy, we will be willing to lie, cheat, or go to war against to. He has us. We are taking orders from one of those Satanic principalities.
Paul talked about this in Ephesians 2. He declares joyfully and boldly that the great religious and political division of his day is over.
In Paul’s day, the greatest division in his community were among Jews and Gentiles. Paul said that Jesus had made them one in Christ. Does that mean there are no differences between Jew and Gentile? Not at all. It simply means that in Christ, we no longer take orders from the powers and principalities that pretend to rule us. The philosophical divisions still exist--we just learn to love each other in Christ. Whenever our politics, race, or denominational allegiances overshadow our commitment to Christ, then Satan is commanding our allegiance.
The difference between Christians--whether racial, ethnic, economic, temperamental, or political--do not diminish us. When we learn to like new kind of food, does that take away our taste for the old? It’s boring to have only one flavor. So it is boring to have only one kind of Christian in our churches.
“Against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Paul tells us something else about our enemy. He is a spiritual.
When you say the “spiritual” most people are instantly lost. We don’t understand it. How many of us would take our salary in “spiritual blessings.”
Our spiritual side is the way we answer the ultimate questions of life. Why are we here? Why do we keep going? The believer we are here “to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” Everything we say or do is based on that. We would die for Jesus, or we would live for Him.
Let’s imagine someone invented a new kind of bomb--a spiritual bomb. This bomb left the flesh untouched but destroyed the spirit of the enemy. How long could the enemy keep going if they had no spirit to fight? What would we do if we had nothing to live for? The enemy would either kill themselves or surrender immediately.
The Devil is the destroyer of the Spirit. If he can destroy our body, he will, but if he takes away Spirit, Satan has won the day. Satan uses all kinds of methods to do this—temptations, addictions, deceptions, persecutions, and so on. He sends false prophets into our midst to take away the joy of the Lord and replace it with legalism and extremism.
But cheer up! There is an answer. As Martin Luther said.“Although this world with devils filled may threaten to undo us,/We will not fear for God has willed his truth to triumph through us.” The power of Christ takes away all despair, all discouragement, all addictions. All of you who have called upon the name of the Lord are saved. But many of you are still in bondage to the powers and principalities Satan has loosed upon the world. While running from one kind of sin, you have fallen into another. But there is hope. God has given us his armor, the protection of Christ and the powcr of His blood, to overcome the fiercest Devil.
Christian, be free. Don’t believe the lies. Christ has set you free.
What a curious thing for Paul to say! He certainly was in a struggle against flesh and blood. The whole world seemed to be aligned against him and the early church. At least ten of the original twelve disciples died as martyrs. Paul was killed to Nero’s chopping block in 67 A.D. When he wrote these words, he probably under house arrest. Roman guards watched him all the time. If they weren’t flesh and blood, what were they?
Not only was the world against him, but so was his own flesh. Paul mentioned in one of his letters about a “thorn in the flesh”—some kind of recurring illness--that plagued him constantly. Some say it was poor eyesight. Other say he was lame. Whatever it was, it seriously impeded his work.
On top of that, he was in a world where the temptations of he flesh were if anything worse than ours. In his world, the main source of public entertainment was seeing men fight gory battles to the death, or watching prisoners torn apart by wild animals. Sexual temptations were even more out in the open than they are today. Most of the world did not consider prostitution a sin. Slaves did not count, either. We get only hints in the Paul’s letters how prevalent sexual sins were in the church at that time.
The ancient people drank wine all the time. They also had narcotics such as opium. And do not think that all hallucinogenic substances were of modern origin. The stuff they used caused insanity, yet people took it anyway.
Nor can we dismiss the other sins of the flesh—wrath, gluttony, and greed. The grossest sins we have now were all around in the ancient world.
If all this does not mean he was in a struggle against flesh and blood, then what would?
Yet Paul stands by his statement. We do not struggle against flesh and blood.
Think of the struggles of our day—recession, Al Qaeda, politics, cancer, illness, addictions, sexual temptations. These are flesh and blood things. Don’t we struggle against them? Don’t we think that, if these things did not exist, we would live in peace, and the world would be a paradise?
Yet Paul does not worry about any of these things. In fact, he does not even consider them the enemy. He realizes that they can harm us, but Paul realizes that nothing in this world is an enemy of itself.
Suppose you have a gun in your garage. Is that gun your enemy? A gun is an inanimate tool. What matters is in whose hand that gun belongs. The world spirit and the flesh are like that, too. They are not our enemy. Our enemy is the power that lies behind them. They exist, but they do not tempt us. It is not flesh and blood that tempts us, but someone else—Satan and his demons.
Paul does not like to refer to the devil by name. Nevertheless, Paul recognizes the reality of it. Without the devil and his temptation, sin is not a problem.
but against the rulers, against the authorities, Paul tells us two things about our real enemy Satan. First, we learn that he puts on the illusion of authority. He has developed an elaborate system of levels of power, each one having the illusion of legitimacy.
A person does not have to really have authority to have a problem. He simply has to have the illusion of authority. Satan does not have real authority over us. But the illusion of his authority is so widely believe that his pretend authority becomes real authority.
When I was in high school we had a teacher who was the constant brunt of our pranks. One day, a friend of mine got into her classroom before she did. He wrote on the board “Do not turn on light. Signed, the janitor.” She believed it for the three school periods, she never turned on the lights. By the fourth period, they were still off. It was then the person who did it fessed up and told her he had written it on the board. She still didn’t believe it. She kept the lights off all day.
Satan’s favorite trick is to sound authoritative. If we are foolish enough to believe it, then he really does have authority.
Let’s use addictions as an example. Addictions begin as strong cravings. Most of us have learned to resist cravings. The longer we resist a craving the more its power over us subsides.
But addictions are more than a craving, they are a lie. They are the voice which whisper in your ear “you have to have this,” when good sense tells you that you don’t. Addictions authority over us, and we believe it. Sometimes they whisper in our ear so soft that we don’t know they are there. Nevertheless we act on their suggestions. Other times they shout. We know we are addicted, but because we think we cannot stop. The addiction has convinced us that we are under its authority. We believe the lie that says “you can’t stop.” That is when Satan becomes a ruler and an authority in our lives. Just because something sounds authoritative does not mean it has any authority.
The second thing we learn from this is that the Devil’s kingdom its plurality. Paul doesn’t just say “the Devil” or even “the dark kingdom” but he always says “powers, principalities, thrones, and dominions.”
When the world was young, Satan convinced the world to build the tower of Babel--a great one-world government. One day he will try this again. But in the meantime, he is following another, more deadly strategy of divide and conquer. Rather than establishing one principality, he has established a thousand. Every kingdom that now exists or ever existed is in essence his, because it was started and maintained by fallen, sinful people. Even if that organization is created in the name of Jesus, it can still be hijacked and turned into wicked principality of Satan.
This strategy has some definite advantages. For one thing, it doesn’t depend upon a single dictatorial power, but every demon can run one portion of it. For another, it enables the prince of darkness to maintain control by playing one group off another. Whenever few begin to resist one of false principalities, we can be persuaded that the authority we create on the other side is righteous, and soon we believe the lie that or organization, country, church, or political party is not one of the principalities that Satan controls.
Take our current political situation—left wingers against right wingers, big government advocates versus little government advocates. Who is right? The Devil doesn’t care. To him there is no right or wrong politics, only conditions of the heart that lead us farther from God or closer to Him. All that matters to him is how he can use our loyalty to an ideology to justify sin. If we are a left-winger, he creates in us an entirely erroneous portrait of right-wingers as being evil, violent racists. We then believe we have permission to lie about them, snub them, or even ban them from meeting. We can lie about them, hate them, even kill them if necessary to accomplish what we think is “God’s work,”--meaning our own political philosophy.
Right wingers have their own stereotypes against left-wingers as being politically correct nutcases. It doesn’t matter whether they are or not, just so long as All he cares about is getting us to hurt others. If he can get us to believe that our side is righteous, and the other side is an evil conspiracy, we will be willing to lie, cheat, or go to war against to. He has us. We are taking orders from one of those Satanic principalities.
Paul talked about this in Ephesians 2. He declares joyfully and boldly that the great religious and political division of his day is over.
In Paul’s day, the greatest division in his community were among Jews and Gentiles. Paul said that Jesus had made them one in Christ. Does that mean there are no differences between Jew and Gentile? Not at all. It simply means that in Christ, we no longer take orders from the powers and principalities that pretend to rule us. The philosophical divisions still exist--we just learn to love each other in Christ. Whenever our politics, race, or denominational allegiances overshadow our commitment to Christ, then Satan is commanding our allegiance.
The difference between Christians--whether racial, ethnic, economic, temperamental, or political--do not diminish us. When we learn to like new kind of food, does that take away our taste for the old? It’s boring to have only one flavor. So it is boring to have only one kind of Christian in our churches.
“Against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Paul tells us something else about our enemy. He is a spiritual.
When you say the “spiritual” most people are instantly lost. We don’t understand it. How many of us would take our salary in “spiritual blessings.”
Our spiritual side is the way we answer the ultimate questions of life. Why are we here? Why do we keep going? The believer we are here “to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” Everything we say or do is based on that. We would die for Jesus, or we would live for Him.
Let’s imagine someone invented a new kind of bomb--a spiritual bomb. This bomb left the flesh untouched but destroyed the spirit of the enemy. How long could the enemy keep going if they had no spirit to fight? What would we do if we had nothing to live for? The enemy would either kill themselves or surrender immediately.
The Devil is the destroyer of the Spirit. If he can destroy our body, he will, but if he takes away Spirit, Satan has won the day. Satan uses all kinds of methods to do this—temptations, addictions, deceptions, persecutions, and so on. He sends false prophets into our midst to take away the joy of the Lord and replace it with legalism and extremism.
But cheer up! There is an answer. As Martin Luther said.“Although this world with devils filled may threaten to undo us,/We will not fear for God has willed his truth to triumph through us.” The power of Christ takes away all despair, all discouragement, all addictions. All of you who have called upon the name of the Lord are saved. But many of you are still in bondage to the powers and principalities Satan has loosed upon the world. While running from one kind of sin, you have fallen into another. But there is hope. God has given us his armor, the protection of Christ and the powcr of His blood, to overcome the fiercest Devil.
Christian, be free. Don’t believe the lies. Christ has set you free.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Be Strong: Lessons in Spiritual Warfare
We never know what trouble awaits us in the future.
Who would have thought on September 10, 2001 that the next day we would be attacked by an enemy that we never heard of? Who would dream that nine years later would still be trying to come to grips with it?
In our spiritual lives too, we face a silent and unknown enemy. In some periods, that enemy has been mostly hidden, but in our time the Devil is increasingly coming out in the open.
What does it mean? Is it a sign of the End Times? Is it because of the failure of the church? Or is it something else, simply a predictable counter-attack in a country where God has done amazing things in the past? What we need to remember is not what caused this attack, but who is behind it, and what can we do about it.
The first thing we should do is to equip ourselves by studying Ephesians 6.
The book of Ephesians was written by Paul to converts made by a church he once pastored. It is Paul’s blueprint for the Christian life.
The book is written in three parts. Chapters 1-3 can be summarized in one word—Sit. It describes the position that we have been given by our loving Father. Chapters 4-6:9 can also be summarized in one word—walk. The blessings God have given us lead us to act in certain ways.
In Ephesians 6:10 though, we come to a “9-11” moment. We encounter a resistance that we did not know existed. If all we had were Ephesians, we would never dream that there were spiritual powers who hated us until this moment.
What Paul says in response to this can also be summarized in one word—stand. It is not enough simply to sit upon the promises, or even to walk in the love. We must sit and walk while we are simultaneously standing against an enemy. We didn’t start it, but we will finish it.
We behave differently in war and in peace. In peace, we relax. In war, we must be on guard. We must train and sacrifice for victory.
If there were no Devil there would be no war. But because we are at war, we have to be strong, or we will lose our spiritual blessings.
The Devil is a real person. In heaven he was once called Lucifer—the Light Bringer. He rebelled against God, because he wanted to be equal with Him. He was cast out of heaven and onto the earth, where he seeks to cause havoc in God’s creation.
Lucifer does not work alone. Unlike God, the Devil cannot be everywhere at once. Instead, he has a legion of fallen angels who do his bidding. They tempt us daily. Paul calls this organization of Satan and his demons “powers and principalities, world rulers of darkness.”
The Devil has two principal means of operation. The first is social. He creates a “world spirit: that is in opposition to God. He does this through the media—our means of communication. He is also working through communication, government, commerce, and education to create a world spirit hostile to goodness
The story of the Tower of Babel gives us a preview of what Satan is trying to accomplish. This was an attempt by Satan to create his version of heaven on earth. By bringing people together in one place, he could deceive them all at the same time. God confounded their languages and broke up the power of a single world government under Satan.
In our time, the Tower of Babel has been reborn. It began with the first worldwide civilization—the Roman Empire. It was carried forward by the printing press. It gave us the ability to spread ideas over a large area. This led to the Bible, the Protestant Reformation, and great scientific knowledge. But it also led to pornography, skeptical literature, and anti-religious propaganda. Bibles could be printed, but so could books on the occult. The Devil took advantage to create a world spirit.
Next came rapid travel--the railroad, the automobile, the superhighway, and the airplane. Now people could travel farther and faster than ever before, to preach the gospel or attack it. Next came the breakthroughs of communication—the telegraph, the telephone, radio, television, and finally the internet. Now the world is at our fingertips. Once again, we have built a civilization that can reach up into heaven.
Through the internet, the vast sum of human knowledge is at our fingertips. But so is every human depravity. The new tower of Babel is all but complete. All that it needs is a new Nimrod to led it.
This world spirit is just one method of his attack.
The second is what the Bible calls the Flesh. Ever since Adam and Eve fell, we have always had a wild side. We see this in the smallest baby. We are inherently selfish creatures. But the Holy Spirit gives us faith and discipline. We overcome the flesh with the spirit, By admitting our sins and turning them over to God.
This is where Satan had achieved his greatest triumph. He has constructed a world of shadows, where our sins can hide in the darkness. In his world of the flesh, love becomes lust, anger becomes wrath, courage can be fear, righteousness hypocrisy, and thrift becomes greed. The motivations behind our actions go unnoticed.
Our flesh betrays us. We never know how weak we actually are. Temptation comes upon us like a bull, and our resistance is like a Chihuahua. No wonder we fail! Our flesh, encouraged by the world spirit, betrays us.
That is why Paul wrote Ephesians 6--to give us the tools to resist the Devil, so we can experience the promised blessings and live the lifestyle he wrote about in Ephesians 1-5.
He begins with two exhortations.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
Paul is telling us something positive and something negative. On the negative side, he is telling us that we cannot resist the Devil, the world spirit, and our own flesh. We could as soon keep back a tsunami with a shield as resist the waves of temptation and persecution that comes against us.
But on the positive side, he is telling us that God can resist, and overcome the Devil. There is a power available to us that can break the power of temptation--the power of the Lord, Who is greater than the whole world.
Christians complain about the behavior of non-Christians. We tell them they ought to clean up their act, to straighten up and fly right. We tell it to each other, too, as if our telling will make any difference. But without God’s strength in us, what can we expect? When a man squashes a bug, does he mock the bug for not being strong enough to resist the pressure of his shoe? A non-believer has no power to resist.
But we can do better. We can resist, not by our power but by His.
John Calvin put it this way :
“Paul therefore adds, . . . ‘You have no right to reply that you have not the ability; for all that I require of you is, be strong in the Lord.’ To explain his meaning more fully, he adds, in the power of his might, which tends greatly to increase our confidence, particularly as it shows the remarkable assistance which God usually bestows upon believers.”
God does not expect the believer to be strong, only to be strong in the Lord. God does not expect us to resist, only resist in the Lord. We cannot do what Go has not given us to do. He is our strength. We are not His.
The second command Paul gives is this:
11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's scheme.
I did some internet research over the concept of armor. There are all kinds of exciting new inventions in the field of personal armor. For example, the Japanese have a “power suit,” essentially a metal exoskeleton, which can multiply the power of the human strength many times. Within five years, they will be selling a version for farmers to assist them with the lifting large objects. The US military also has one that will be used for carrying supplies. Another kind of armor is built into clothing—shirts, vests, and overcoats that are impervious to guns or knives. One kind of armor, designed for women will give an unwanted attacker an electric shock, making her a kind of human electric eel. Another kind of armor covers the entire body and includes built-in weapons and even and air-conditioned helmet. All of this sounds like science fiction, but it is has actually real.
If the armor of human invention can do all that, imagine what the armor of God can do? God covers us with protection like an exoskeleton. We can walk through the world spirit, though the internal temptations of the flesh and through the wiles of the Devil and we will not be harmed. He covers us and protects us fully.
The wonderful thing about such armor is that it does not depend upon the strength of the person inside it. You are never too old or too young. You are never too weak or too undisciplined. You think personal faults do not matter when it comes to accomplishing God’s purposes.
Over the next several weeks, we are going to put on the armor of God. It will surprise you what God can do through His mighty power.
Who would have thought on September 10, 2001 that the next day we would be attacked by an enemy that we never heard of? Who would dream that nine years later would still be trying to come to grips with it?
In our spiritual lives too, we face a silent and unknown enemy. In some periods, that enemy has been mostly hidden, but in our time the Devil is increasingly coming out in the open.
What does it mean? Is it a sign of the End Times? Is it because of the failure of the church? Or is it something else, simply a predictable counter-attack in a country where God has done amazing things in the past? What we need to remember is not what caused this attack, but who is behind it, and what can we do about it.
The first thing we should do is to equip ourselves by studying Ephesians 6.
The book of Ephesians was written by Paul to converts made by a church he once pastored. It is Paul’s blueprint for the Christian life.
The book is written in three parts. Chapters 1-3 can be summarized in one word—Sit. It describes the position that we have been given by our loving Father. Chapters 4-6:9 can also be summarized in one word—walk. The blessings God have given us lead us to act in certain ways.
In Ephesians 6:10 though, we come to a “9-11” moment. We encounter a resistance that we did not know existed. If all we had were Ephesians, we would never dream that there were spiritual powers who hated us until this moment.
What Paul says in response to this can also be summarized in one word—stand. It is not enough simply to sit upon the promises, or even to walk in the love. We must sit and walk while we are simultaneously standing against an enemy. We didn’t start it, but we will finish it.
We behave differently in war and in peace. In peace, we relax. In war, we must be on guard. We must train and sacrifice for victory.
If there were no Devil there would be no war. But because we are at war, we have to be strong, or we will lose our spiritual blessings.
The Devil is a real person. In heaven he was once called Lucifer—the Light Bringer. He rebelled against God, because he wanted to be equal with Him. He was cast out of heaven and onto the earth, where he seeks to cause havoc in God’s creation.
Lucifer does not work alone. Unlike God, the Devil cannot be everywhere at once. Instead, he has a legion of fallen angels who do his bidding. They tempt us daily. Paul calls this organization of Satan and his demons “powers and principalities, world rulers of darkness.”
The Devil has two principal means of operation. The first is social. He creates a “world spirit: that is in opposition to God. He does this through the media—our means of communication. He is also working through communication, government, commerce, and education to create a world spirit hostile to goodness
The story of the Tower of Babel gives us a preview of what Satan is trying to accomplish. This was an attempt by Satan to create his version of heaven on earth. By bringing people together in one place, he could deceive them all at the same time. God confounded their languages and broke up the power of a single world government under Satan.
In our time, the Tower of Babel has been reborn. It began with the first worldwide civilization—the Roman Empire. It was carried forward by the printing press. It gave us the ability to spread ideas over a large area. This led to the Bible, the Protestant Reformation, and great scientific knowledge. But it also led to pornography, skeptical literature, and anti-religious propaganda. Bibles could be printed, but so could books on the occult. The Devil took advantage to create a world spirit.
Next came rapid travel--the railroad, the automobile, the superhighway, and the airplane. Now people could travel farther and faster than ever before, to preach the gospel or attack it. Next came the breakthroughs of communication—the telegraph, the telephone, radio, television, and finally the internet. Now the world is at our fingertips. Once again, we have built a civilization that can reach up into heaven.
Through the internet, the vast sum of human knowledge is at our fingertips. But so is every human depravity. The new tower of Babel is all but complete. All that it needs is a new Nimrod to led it.
This world spirit is just one method of his attack.
The second is what the Bible calls the Flesh. Ever since Adam and Eve fell, we have always had a wild side. We see this in the smallest baby. We are inherently selfish creatures. But the Holy Spirit gives us faith and discipline. We overcome the flesh with the spirit, By admitting our sins and turning them over to God.
This is where Satan had achieved his greatest triumph. He has constructed a world of shadows, where our sins can hide in the darkness. In his world of the flesh, love becomes lust, anger becomes wrath, courage can be fear, righteousness hypocrisy, and thrift becomes greed. The motivations behind our actions go unnoticed.
Our flesh betrays us. We never know how weak we actually are. Temptation comes upon us like a bull, and our resistance is like a Chihuahua. No wonder we fail! Our flesh, encouraged by the world spirit, betrays us.
That is why Paul wrote Ephesians 6--to give us the tools to resist the Devil, so we can experience the promised blessings and live the lifestyle he wrote about in Ephesians 1-5.
He begins with two exhortations.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
Paul is telling us something positive and something negative. On the negative side, he is telling us that we cannot resist the Devil, the world spirit, and our own flesh. We could as soon keep back a tsunami with a shield as resist the waves of temptation and persecution that comes against us.
But on the positive side, he is telling us that God can resist, and overcome the Devil. There is a power available to us that can break the power of temptation--the power of the Lord, Who is greater than the whole world.
Christians complain about the behavior of non-Christians. We tell them they ought to clean up their act, to straighten up and fly right. We tell it to each other, too, as if our telling will make any difference. But without God’s strength in us, what can we expect? When a man squashes a bug, does he mock the bug for not being strong enough to resist the pressure of his shoe? A non-believer has no power to resist.
But we can do better. We can resist, not by our power but by His.
John Calvin put it this way :
“Paul therefore adds, . . . ‘You have no right to reply that you have not the ability; for all that I require of you is, be strong in the Lord.’ To explain his meaning more fully, he adds, in the power of his might, which tends greatly to increase our confidence, particularly as it shows the remarkable assistance which God usually bestows upon believers.”
God does not expect the believer to be strong, only to be strong in the Lord. God does not expect us to resist, only resist in the Lord. We cannot do what Go has not given us to do. He is our strength. We are not His.
The second command Paul gives is this:
11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's scheme.
I did some internet research over the concept of armor. There are all kinds of exciting new inventions in the field of personal armor. For example, the Japanese have a “power suit,” essentially a metal exoskeleton, which can multiply the power of the human strength many times. Within five years, they will be selling a version for farmers to assist them with the lifting large objects. The US military also has one that will be used for carrying supplies. Another kind of armor is built into clothing—shirts, vests, and overcoats that are impervious to guns or knives. One kind of armor, designed for women will give an unwanted attacker an electric shock, making her a kind of human electric eel. Another kind of armor covers the entire body and includes built-in weapons and even and air-conditioned helmet. All of this sounds like science fiction, but it is has actually real.
If the armor of human invention can do all that, imagine what the armor of God can do? God covers us with protection like an exoskeleton. We can walk through the world spirit, though the internal temptations of the flesh and through the wiles of the Devil and we will not be harmed. He covers us and protects us fully.
The wonderful thing about such armor is that it does not depend upon the strength of the person inside it. You are never too old or too young. You are never too weak or too undisciplined. You think personal faults do not matter when it comes to accomplishing God’s purposes.
Over the next several weeks, we are going to put on the armor of God. It will surprise you what God can do through His mighty power.
True Story
Luke 24:1-8
On the first day of the week, vey early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" Then they remembered his words.
There is a little phrase which has crept almost unnoticed into language in recent years. The phrase is “true story.” After an anecdote is told, people say “true story” For example. “I saw a grizzly bear in the road on the way to church. True story.” Or “My uncle won the lottery and gave the money away. True story.” We add “true story” to indicate that is is not a tall tale or a joke.
It’s odd that we have to say that. When people say “I’m telling the truth. I am not lying.” It seems to indicate that whatever else they say might actually be a lie. Why else would they hve to tell us that this statement is the truth?
The addition of this little phrase “true story” is also necessary because of an even more peculiar trend in our society. The world doesn’t seem to care whether a story is true or not. We live in the age of “postmodernism”--a world view that says nothing really makes is true, but reality comes from the stories we tell. A newsman does not say “Here is the news.” He says “here are the stories we are following.” Sportswriters don’t just bring the facts. They create stories. Politicians speak of a “narrative”—a construction of what is happening into a story. The president is either a hero or a villain in the story. The story we believe is everything.
But stories are not arbitrary. The story we believe must be the truth. \
Every religion has its story. Islam tells stories about Mohammed, Buddhism tells stories about the Buddha, Jews have stories about Moses, and Christians have stories about Jesus. The postmodern philosophy says you can believe any of them, so long as the story works for you. You could even base your life on a fantasy story, like some science fiction fans do, and that is all right with postmoderns, just as long as the story give meaning to your lives. That’s the spirit of our age, which says you can believe whatever story you like.
This is a super-tolerant view of reality. But it is not reality. We still crave to know the truth. Why else would people say “true story.” If nothing is real, we would not need to say “true story.”
Suppose I tell you that the dam is breaking and if you don’t get out of your house, you are going to drown. Do you think it makes any difference if that story is true or not? Suppose I tell you that my cancer was cured by eating lima beans. Does it matter whether I’m selling the truth? It certainly does.
Modern Christians have more of postmodernism in them than they like to acknowledge. There is a part of us which isn’t sure whether the stories we tell are true, and so we are reluctant to really put them to the test. We say we believe that we are going to heaven, yet we fear death. We say we believe that everything happens for a purpose, yet we complain. We say we believe that Jesus is the only way of salvation, but we also believe it is impolite to discuss religion with unbelievers. We say we love, but we hate. We say we turn the other cheek, but we seek revenge. We could go on and on.
The Bible goes to great pains to prove the resurrection. All four Gospels end with it. They contain the names of people who saw him and the places where He appeared. They tell about Him eating and doing work to show he had a material body. It tells of people touching the holes in his hands and side, to remind us that it really was Him. The differences between the accounts are very minor and easily accounted for. These differences make the stories far more believable than if they told the same story in the same way.
Many books have been written sifting through the evidence of the four Gospels, either to prove or disprove it. Many have started out to disprove it, only to become convinced that it was true. Lew Wallis, a union general in the Civil War, started out to disprove the resurrection, only to become convinced, and out of that certainty wrote the novel Ben Hur. Frank Moris, trial lawyer, started out to do the same thing, and produced the book Who Moved the Stone? C. S. Lewis, a committed agnostic, believed that Christianity was just a myth. In the end, he became convinced that it was true. G. K. Chesterton, another English writer, became convinced of the truth of the Gospels by reading skeptics. These men embraced the truth of the story, and it changed their lives.
Yet we who have grown up in the church, who have always been believers, secretly doubt the resurrection. We are not the only ones. Even Jesus’ closest friends doubted it. In Luke’s account, the women who followed Jesus showed up at the tomb on the day after the Sabbath to finish the job of embalming him. These women had held the lifeless body of Jesus in their hands. They washed away the blood which poured from his side. They put the coins on those lifeless, half-opened eyes. They wrapped that body up in a winding sheet and put the cloth over his face. They knew how tight the winding sheet was. They put the spices on the body, spices which were not intended to preserve the body, like our embalming fluid, but to speed up decay. They had copious evidence that Jesus was not alive, but was dead.
Jesus had told them He would be resurrected it, but they had forgotten. Who could blame them for doubting His words? Their minds could not cope with Jesus being wrong, so they shut those words out of their minds. They no longer remembered them. Our minds cannot cope with evidence that does not support our beliefs, especially during times of great stress. .
But when they came to the tomb, the stone was rolled away. The Roman seal was broken—an act punishable by death. An earthquake had shaken the tomb door open. The Roman guard deserted their posts--another act punishable by death. It would be like the Secret Service deserting the President. Instead of the Roman guard, two men dressed in white occupied the tomb. The angels words differ somewhat between the four accounts. This is not surprising, since modern reporters at a press conference will take away different quotes.
"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'
He is not dead. The resurrection had occurred.
When the angel finished, the women suddenly remembered Jesus’ words to them.
Matt 12:40 “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Mark 9:31-32 "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise."
John 2:19 "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."
The women remembered these words.
These women knew Jesus well. His own mother was there. So was Mary Magdalene, the ex-prostitute who became the leader of the disciples’ “women’s auxiliary.” So were prominent women in the community, and maybe Peter’s aunt, too. They all saw the angels and the empty tomb.
They weren’t the only ones. Mary Magdalene later had a conversation with Jesus. Peter and John raced each other to the tomb to see it. Two men walking in the hills outside of Jerusalem reported having Jesus join them in conversation for hours. Then Jesus himself appeared in the upper room to them all. Thomas felt the holes in his hands and side. He ate fish with them. He appeared in Galilee to more than five hundred people at the same time. Who could have missed the truth of the miracle. With definite and abundant proofs, Jesus showed Himself alive. True story.
Why is that important? Because if it isn’t true, then we are deceivers and liars. But if it is true, then we hold in our hands the key to heaven. We have the shocking proof that nothing is impossible to God, not even the conquest of death itself. God did not let His Son see corruption, but delivered him from the grave and us along with it.
You must be the judge. If this story is true, then we must follow. If this story is true, then we are part of it. We are living out the resurrection of Jesus in our very lives.
This is more than just a holiday. This is a holy day, the beginning of all things and the end of all things. It is the crux of history, and the salvation of the world.
On the first day of the week, vey early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" Then they remembered his words.
There is a little phrase which has crept almost unnoticed into language in recent years. The phrase is “true story.” After an anecdote is told, people say “true story” For example. “I saw a grizzly bear in the road on the way to church. True story.” Or “My uncle won the lottery and gave the money away. True story.” We add “true story” to indicate that is is not a tall tale or a joke.
It’s odd that we have to say that. When people say “I’m telling the truth. I am not lying.” It seems to indicate that whatever else they say might actually be a lie. Why else would they hve to tell us that this statement is the truth?
The addition of this little phrase “true story” is also necessary because of an even more peculiar trend in our society. The world doesn’t seem to care whether a story is true or not. We live in the age of “postmodernism”--a world view that says nothing really makes is true, but reality comes from the stories we tell. A newsman does not say “Here is the news.” He says “here are the stories we are following.” Sportswriters don’t just bring the facts. They create stories. Politicians speak of a “narrative”—a construction of what is happening into a story. The president is either a hero or a villain in the story. The story we believe is everything.
But stories are not arbitrary. The story we believe must be the truth. \
Every religion has its story. Islam tells stories about Mohammed, Buddhism tells stories about the Buddha, Jews have stories about Moses, and Christians have stories about Jesus. The postmodern philosophy says you can believe any of them, so long as the story works for you. You could even base your life on a fantasy story, like some science fiction fans do, and that is all right with postmoderns, just as long as the story give meaning to your lives. That’s the spirit of our age, which says you can believe whatever story you like.
This is a super-tolerant view of reality. But it is not reality. We still crave to know the truth. Why else would people say “true story.” If nothing is real, we would not need to say “true story.”
Suppose I tell you that the dam is breaking and if you don’t get out of your house, you are going to drown. Do you think it makes any difference if that story is true or not? Suppose I tell you that my cancer was cured by eating lima beans. Does it matter whether I’m selling the truth? It certainly does.
Modern Christians have more of postmodernism in them than they like to acknowledge. There is a part of us which isn’t sure whether the stories we tell are true, and so we are reluctant to really put them to the test. We say we believe that we are going to heaven, yet we fear death. We say we believe that everything happens for a purpose, yet we complain. We say we believe that Jesus is the only way of salvation, but we also believe it is impolite to discuss religion with unbelievers. We say we love, but we hate. We say we turn the other cheek, but we seek revenge. We could go on and on.
The Bible goes to great pains to prove the resurrection. All four Gospels end with it. They contain the names of people who saw him and the places where He appeared. They tell about Him eating and doing work to show he had a material body. It tells of people touching the holes in his hands and side, to remind us that it really was Him. The differences between the accounts are very minor and easily accounted for. These differences make the stories far more believable than if they told the same story in the same way.
Many books have been written sifting through the evidence of the four Gospels, either to prove or disprove it. Many have started out to disprove it, only to become convinced that it was true. Lew Wallis, a union general in the Civil War, started out to disprove the resurrection, only to become convinced, and out of that certainty wrote the novel Ben Hur. Frank Moris, trial lawyer, started out to do the same thing, and produced the book Who Moved the Stone? C. S. Lewis, a committed agnostic, believed that Christianity was just a myth. In the end, he became convinced that it was true. G. K. Chesterton, another English writer, became convinced of the truth of the Gospels by reading skeptics. These men embraced the truth of the story, and it changed their lives.
Yet we who have grown up in the church, who have always been believers, secretly doubt the resurrection. We are not the only ones. Even Jesus’ closest friends doubted it. In Luke’s account, the women who followed Jesus showed up at the tomb on the day after the Sabbath to finish the job of embalming him. These women had held the lifeless body of Jesus in their hands. They washed away the blood which poured from his side. They put the coins on those lifeless, half-opened eyes. They wrapped that body up in a winding sheet and put the cloth over his face. They knew how tight the winding sheet was. They put the spices on the body, spices which were not intended to preserve the body, like our embalming fluid, but to speed up decay. They had copious evidence that Jesus was not alive, but was dead.
Jesus had told them He would be resurrected it, but they had forgotten. Who could blame them for doubting His words? Their minds could not cope with Jesus being wrong, so they shut those words out of their minds. They no longer remembered them. Our minds cannot cope with evidence that does not support our beliefs, especially during times of great stress. .
But when they came to the tomb, the stone was rolled away. The Roman seal was broken—an act punishable by death. An earthquake had shaken the tomb door open. The Roman guard deserted their posts--another act punishable by death. It would be like the Secret Service deserting the President. Instead of the Roman guard, two men dressed in white occupied the tomb. The angels words differ somewhat between the four accounts. This is not surprising, since modern reporters at a press conference will take away different quotes.
"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'
He is not dead. The resurrection had occurred.
When the angel finished, the women suddenly remembered Jesus’ words to them.
Matt 12:40 “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Mark 9:31-32 "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise."
John 2:19 "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."
The women remembered these words.
These women knew Jesus well. His own mother was there. So was Mary Magdalene, the ex-prostitute who became the leader of the disciples’ “women’s auxiliary.” So were prominent women in the community, and maybe Peter’s aunt, too. They all saw the angels and the empty tomb.
They weren’t the only ones. Mary Magdalene later had a conversation with Jesus. Peter and John raced each other to the tomb to see it. Two men walking in the hills outside of Jerusalem reported having Jesus join them in conversation for hours. Then Jesus himself appeared in the upper room to them all. Thomas felt the holes in his hands and side. He ate fish with them. He appeared in Galilee to more than five hundred people at the same time. Who could have missed the truth of the miracle. With definite and abundant proofs, Jesus showed Himself alive. True story.
Why is that important? Because if it isn’t true, then we are deceivers and liars. But if it is true, then we hold in our hands the key to heaven. We have the shocking proof that nothing is impossible to God, not even the conquest of death itself. God did not let His Son see corruption, but delivered him from the grave and us along with it.
You must be the judge. If this story is true, then we must follow. If this story is true, then we are part of it. We are living out the resurrection of Jesus in our very lives.
This is more than just a holiday. This is a holy day, the beginning of all things and the end of all things. It is the crux of history, and the salvation of the world.
True Home
John 15:1-8
In our Wednesday night study of Genesis we just finished the life of Jacob and are now studying Joseph. What a contrast between the two! Jacob was constantly in trouble. All his life he was pushed around by other people. He was hated and hunted by his uncle and his brother, in thrall to his wives, and stayed in trouble with God. Only after losing a wrestling match with God did he become the man he was destined to be.
Joseph also had enemies. His brothers tried to kill him, he was sold into slavery and unjustly imprisonse. But throughout his trials, he kept an unshakable optimism and destiny. Joseph stayed true to God, and eventually came out on top of every situation.
Jacob and Joseph both must have been highly intelligent. Both were physically handsome and strong. Yet God had to wrestle with Jacob to force his submission, but God was with Joseph from the beginning. Joseph always knew his destiny was in God’s hands, and so he never seemed to worry.
Josephs are rare in the world, but there are a whole lot of Jacobs. Most of us struggle with God—at different times being obedient or disobedient, faithful or doubtful, confident or afraid. But the Josephs of this world have a resilience and optimism that clings to them like the smell of smoke to clothes. When everyone else loses faith, they find it. When everyone else gets tired, they get busy. They possess an inner sense of joy and hope that shines brightly on the dark evenings. There a hidden spring of vitality inside of them which has nothing to do with where they are and everything to do with who they are. They are the ones that the Psalmist wrote about in Psalm 1.
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly
Or stands in the way of sinner
Or sits in the seat of scorners
But his delight is in the law of the Lord
And in that law does he meditate day and night
He shall be like a tree, planted by the wadis of water
Which bears fruit in its season
And whatever he does will prosper.
The King James says “rivers” of water, but the actual word is “wadi.” A wadi is a stream that goes underground part of each year. Trees planted beside a water continue to bloom, when other vegetation dies. It draws nourishment from a hidden spring beneath the surface. The have a hidden connection to water.
Joseph had hidden connections too. He was connected to the living God, drawing spiritual strength like electricity through a wire. The deeper we are connected to Jesus, the more we will find strength beyond our own.
In John15: 1-8. Jesus reveals this connection.
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. . . .If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
The secret connection is living in Christ. The King James uses the word “abide” instead of “remain.” Christ is our home. Branches make their home in the vine. We make our home in Jesus.
The reason for Jesus’ spiritual strength was His connection to the Father father. “I have come from heaven, and have come to this world,. Now I am leaving this world and go to my Father.” Jesus knew that His Father’s house was his true home, not this mess of a world we call our home. Jesus offers us the opportunity to make our home in Him in the same way he makes his home in the Father.
When things are going well in this world, we may not sense the reason why this is important. But as we draw closer to death, we realize its importance. When we suffer, we need to experience our connection to this hidden source of strength. Whatever circumstances the world may throw at us, we can stand, because we are connected by His Spirit and His Word..
Abide in Jesus—that is making our home in Jesus. It is not prayer, nor churchgoing, nor Bible study that makes this happen. It is a feeling a sense, and a reckoning that we belong in a different place than this. Churchgoing, Bible study, and prayer are some things we can do throughout a day, but we can have that sense of living in Christ every moment of every day--seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day.
What does it mean to count Jesus ad our home.? It means many things.
Home is where we derive our identity.
I’ve been out of the country a handful of times. But every time I have been out of my country, I get homesick. I can leave America, but I remain an American. I can leave the South, but I am a Southerner. I can leave my family but I remain a Fleming. It is in my DNA. I can’t help it. When I am apart from my roots, I ache for them.
Even more than a Fleming or an American or a Southerner, I am a Christian.. My private prayer, m personal study, my experience of public worship are not required rituals. They are the things I do to keep from being homesick. This is not my true home. Christ is my true home.
Home is where we experience comfort.
I love my house in Waxhaw. There is something about hitting that Waxhaw city limit sign that gladdens my heart. It is where my bed is. It is where my stuff is. I know that when I get there, I can finally relax, because this is my place.
Home is the place where you fit, and that fts you. As Christians we fit in Christ. The word “Christian” means one who makes their home in Christ. We do not have to act more righteous than we are in God’s house, or put on airs. We can simply be ourselves, with all our warts and faults and failings, and know that Christ accepts us just as we are. We fit like an old pair of jeans.
Home is where we live and move.
“In him we live, and move and have our being.” I spend a lot of time making my home my home. I do not do it because I have to be asked to spruce up the place or clean it. I do it because I want to. It is a labor of love.
Why pray? Why read the Bible? Why go to church? Not out of necessity or command, but out of love.
Why kiss your wife? Why call your mother? Why plan vacations with your kids? Because the more time we spend with our loved ones, the closer we become. Family rituals bind us together.
The same thing is true with spiritual observances, such as prayer, church, and tithing. We do these things for one reason only—so we can draw closer to God. We do them to show that we’re not just visiting Him, we are abiding in Him. He is our live, our light, our love, our everything.
Home is the place where we are fed.
We eat out a lot, but we eat in more. Home is usually where we take our meals. When we abide in Christ, we feed on Him regularly.
Food is often used as a metaphor for spiritual nourishment. That is because spiritual nourishment and food have a lot in common. When we are young, our bodies need food to build adult, mature bodies. Food provides the raw materials for bones, organs, and sinews. Our souls are built from ideas and assurances. God’s word gives us the framework of our moral and spiritual lives. Our image of ourselves and our image of the world are built upon what we learn in Sunday School.
In the same way, the Word of God provides the necessary building blocks for our spiritual live. From God’s word, we build a framework of moral life from the earliest age.
As we get older, food is still necessary. We burn food for fuel. We must replace the broken parts of us. Our spiritual lives are the same way. Our old ideals need to be replenished, refreshed and refined. The We need inspiration and encouragement to fuel our enthusiasm in life and love.
The closer we walk with Him, the more we stay in Him, the more we will have resilience.
Home is journey’s end.
There is no better feeling than returning form a long trip and arriving at our own doorstep. At last we know that our journey has ended.
Christ is our journey’s end. As we get closer to home, our hearts quicken at the thought of it.
What should we think about when we think of heaven? Shouldn’t our first thought be of Christ, of union with Him for all eternity? He is all we live for, all we hope for, all we work for.
Let me be clear. It is not just Heaven that is our home. Heaven is where our home lies. Christ is our home. If you take your family away from your childhood home, it just becomes a house. If you take Christ out of Heaven, it no longer describes our destination. We wouldn’t want to go there anyway.
Old hymns, talk a lot about death and going to heaven. In older days, people were a lot closer to death than they are now. But some old hymns don’t seem to describe the Christian heaven. They seem to describe some form of ancestor worship. They talk about meeting dead mother or grandmother in heaven, more than they talk about meeting Jesus.
Suppose you get to heaven, and it isn’t like you think. Suppose that you do not see anyone you know in heaven, not because they aren’t there, but because it is too big to ever find them. Suppose all you meet if Jesus. Would it still be heaven to you?
Home is a personal, individual thing. No two homes are exactly alike. But Jesus is our home for all. We abide in Him. If we do we will bear much fruit, but if we leave our home in Christ, we will accomplish nothing.
Don’t let anything come between you and Him. Don’t neglect spending time with Him. He is the source of all our comfort, all our cares, and all our strength. He is the spring of hidden life that comes up within us. Live in Him, not must now but forever.
In our Wednesday night study of Genesis we just finished the life of Jacob and are now studying Joseph. What a contrast between the two! Jacob was constantly in trouble. All his life he was pushed around by other people. He was hated and hunted by his uncle and his brother, in thrall to his wives, and stayed in trouble with God. Only after losing a wrestling match with God did he become the man he was destined to be.
Joseph also had enemies. His brothers tried to kill him, he was sold into slavery and unjustly imprisonse. But throughout his trials, he kept an unshakable optimism and destiny. Joseph stayed true to God, and eventually came out on top of every situation.
Jacob and Joseph both must have been highly intelligent. Both were physically handsome and strong. Yet God had to wrestle with Jacob to force his submission, but God was with Joseph from the beginning. Joseph always knew his destiny was in God’s hands, and so he never seemed to worry.
Josephs are rare in the world, but there are a whole lot of Jacobs. Most of us struggle with God—at different times being obedient or disobedient, faithful or doubtful, confident or afraid. But the Josephs of this world have a resilience and optimism that clings to them like the smell of smoke to clothes. When everyone else loses faith, they find it. When everyone else gets tired, they get busy. They possess an inner sense of joy and hope that shines brightly on the dark evenings. There a hidden spring of vitality inside of them which has nothing to do with where they are and everything to do with who they are. They are the ones that the Psalmist wrote about in Psalm 1.
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly
Or stands in the way of sinner
Or sits in the seat of scorners
But his delight is in the law of the Lord
And in that law does he meditate day and night
He shall be like a tree, planted by the wadis of water
Which bears fruit in its season
And whatever he does will prosper.
The King James says “rivers” of water, but the actual word is “wadi.” A wadi is a stream that goes underground part of each year. Trees planted beside a water continue to bloom, when other vegetation dies. It draws nourishment from a hidden spring beneath the surface. The have a hidden connection to water.
Joseph had hidden connections too. He was connected to the living God, drawing spiritual strength like electricity through a wire. The deeper we are connected to Jesus, the more we will find strength beyond our own.
In John15: 1-8. Jesus reveals this connection.
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. . . .If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
The secret connection is living in Christ. The King James uses the word “abide” instead of “remain.” Christ is our home. Branches make their home in the vine. We make our home in Jesus.
The reason for Jesus’ spiritual strength was His connection to the Father father. “I have come from heaven, and have come to this world,. Now I am leaving this world and go to my Father.” Jesus knew that His Father’s house was his true home, not this mess of a world we call our home. Jesus offers us the opportunity to make our home in Him in the same way he makes his home in the Father.
When things are going well in this world, we may not sense the reason why this is important. But as we draw closer to death, we realize its importance. When we suffer, we need to experience our connection to this hidden source of strength. Whatever circumstances the world may throw at us, we can stand, because we are connected by His Spirit and His Word..
Abide in Jesus—that is making our home in Jesus. It is not prayer, nor churchgoing, nor Bible study that makes this happen. It is a feeling a sense, and a reckoning that we belong in a different place than this. Churchgoing, Bible study, and prayer are some things we can do throughout a day, but we can have that sense of living in Christ every moment of every day--seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day.
What does it mean to count Jesus ad our home.? It means many things.
Home is where we derive our identity.
I’ve been out of the country a handful of times. But every time I have been out of my country, I get homesick. I can leave America, but I remain an American. I can leave the South, but I am a Southerner. I can leave my family but I remain a Fleming. It is in my DNA. I can’t help it. When I am apart from my roots, I ache for them.
Even more than a Fleming or an American or a Southerner, I am a Christian.. My private prayer, m personal study, my experience of public worship are not required rituals. They are the things I do to keep from being homesick. This is not my true home. Christ is my true home.
Home is where we experience comfort.
I love my house in Waxhaw. There is something about hitting that Waxhaw city limit sign that gladdens my heart. It is where my bed is. It is where my stuff is. I know that when I get there, I can finally relax, because this is my place.
Home is the place where you fit, and that fts you. As Christians we fit in Christ. The word “Christian” means one who makes their home in Christ. We do not have to act more righteous than we are in God’s house, or put on airs. We can simply be ourselves, with all our warts and faults and failings, and know that Christ accepts us just as we are. We fit like an old pair of jeans.
Home is where we live and move.
“In him we live, and move and have our being.” I spend a lot of time making my home my home. I do not do it because I have to be asked to spruce up the place or clean it. I do it because I want to. It is a labor of love.
Why pray? Why read the Bible? Why go to church? Not out of necessity or command, but out of love.
Why kiss your wife? Why call your mother? Why plan vacations with your kids? Because the more time we spend with our loved ones, the closer we become. Family rituals bind us together.
The same thing is true with spiritual observances, such as prayer, church, and tithing. We do these things for one reason only—so we can draw closer to God. We do them to show that we’re not just visiting Him, we are abiding in Him. He is our live, our light, our love, our everything.
Home is the place where we are fed.
We eat out a lot, but we eat in more. Home is usually where we take our meals. When we abide in Christ, we feed on Him regularly.
Food is often used as a metaphor for spiritual nourishment. That is because spiritual nourishment and food have a lot in common. When we are young, our bodies need food to build adult, mature bodies. Food provides the raw materials for bones, organs, and sinews. Our souls are built from ideas and assurances. God’s word gives us the framework of our moral and spiritual lives. Our image of ourselves and our image of the world are built upon what we learn in Sunday School.
In the same way, the Word of God provides the necessary building blocks for our spiritual live. From God’s word, we build a framework of moral life from the earliest age.
As we get older, food is still necessary. We burn food for fuel. We must replace the broken parts of us. Our spiritual lives are the same way. Our old ideals need to be replenished, refreshed and refined. The We need inspiration and encouragement to fuel our enthusiasm in life and love.
The closer we walk with Him, the more we stay in Him, the more we will have resilience.
Home is journey’s end.
There is no better feeling than returning form a long trip and arriving at our own doorstep. At last we know that our journey has ended.
Christ is our journey’s end. As we get closer to home, our hearts quicken at the thought of it.
What should we think about when we think of heaven? Shouldn’t our first thought be of Christ, of union with Him for all eternity? He is all we live for, all we hope for, all we work for.
Let me be clear. It is not just Heaven that is our home. Heaven is where our home lies. Christ is our home. If you take your family away from your childhood home, it just becomes a house. If you take Christ out of Heaven, it no longer describes our destination. We wouldn’t want to go there anyway.
Old hymns, talk a lot about death and going to heaven. In older days, people were a lot closer to death than they are now. But some old hymns don’t seem to describe the Christian heaven. They seem to describe some form of ancestor worship. They talk about meeting dead mother or grandmother in heaven, more than they talk about meeting Jesus.
Suppose you get to heaven, and it isn’t like you think. Suppose that you do not see anyone you know in heaven, not because they aren’t there, but because it is too big to ever find them. Suppose all you meet if Jesus. Would it still be heaven to you?
Home is a personal, individual thing. No two homes are exactly alike. But Jesus is our home for all. We abide in Him. If we do we will bear much fruit, but if we leave our home in Christ, we will accomplish nothing.
Don’t let anything come between you and Him. Don’t neglect spending time with Him. He is the source of all our comfort, all our cares, and all our strength. He is the spring of hidden life that comes up within us. Live in Him, not must now but forever.
True Love
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.
The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him.
This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.
But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
It is not hard to understand why Jesus chose twelve disciples. But why these particular men? Six were from the same fishing crew. Three more may have also been from there—James the lesser, Jude, and Thomas. But the last three—Matthew, Simon Zelotes, and Judas—seem like a mistake. Matthew was a tax collector and Roman collaborator. Simon was a terrorist. Judas was an outsider. What was Jesus thinking?
Jesus chose these men as a lesson to others. In the Kingdom of God there must be no racial or ethnic divisions. They would be one family together, growing in love, respect, and encouragement.
John tells us in these verses that the God’s kingdom is based on love. He says that we should obey his commandment. Love is the specific commandment he references here. God’s love is to be realized in us. He wants us to love each other.
The beginning of Christ’s kingdom (John says) is a dawn. Before we walked in darkness, but now we walk in light. Not everyone has seen the light, but is is coming for all. The way you can tell those who walk in light and those who walk in darkness is by this quality of love. Those who walk in light love each others. You can’t be in the kingdom unless you walk in light, and you can’t walk in light unless you love each other.
How do we know if we really are walking in love?
True love of others has four characteristics
1. Love means forgiving past wrongs,
In the new kingdom, there is no room for the resentments of the past. When Jesus gathered together his disciples, there was no room for Peter to think how Matthew had cheated him at the tax tables, or how Simon had tried to kill Matthew. All of that had to be forgotten once the new kingdom began.
I know how hard that is for us humans. Anyone who has been hurt knows the sting of resentment, and our animal desire for revenge. When we love a person that is or was our enemy, that sting does not immediately go away. Forgiveness is not reconciliation. It is simply a commitment for forgo vengeance upon those who have wronged us.
There are some people who have deeply wronged me in the past. There are even som who I would feel uncomfortable sharing a room or a car with them. But that does not mean I want revenge. I am happy to leave retribution up to the Lord, and leave it at that.
That goes not only for people who have wronged me, but groups as well. Let me tell you about the most prejudiced man I ever met. He worked in a company where he had missed several promotions. Blacks and women were promoted over him. He was sure this was because of their gender or skin color. So he hated blacks and women. The real truth was (as anyone who knew him could tell) he was passed over because of his terrible attitude. He was deeply angry and deeply depressed. He was also self-destructive.
Was he angry and resentful because he had been mistreated, or was he mistreated because he was angry and resentful? No one could say for sure.
It’s easy to get mad and the world today. It’s easy to get mad at every Arab you see because of 9-11, or to get mad at every Mexican you see because of illegal immigration. But what good does it do? How can we begin the dawn of a new day, when we are still growling in the darkness of the old one? Whatever way you want to look at it, the man needed a new start. That new start was impossible because of his anger and resentment. Forgiveness is what we do when we don’t want to be ruled by the past.
2. Love offers help in trouble.
No matter how prejudice or angry we might be, common decency will usually compel us to rescue people in need. A doctor on the battlefield does not just treat soldiers on his side, but will treat anyone of any side who needs the help. It is part of their Hippocratic Oath. Policmen take a vow to protect the citizenry, whether they like them or not. Firefighters don’t ask you about your politics before they put out the fire at your house. If emergency workers make no such distinctions when faced with an immediate danger, shouldn’t the people of God be also so inclined?
I love snow days, not because of the snow alone, but because he attitudes of people we meet. On snow days, when travel is harder, people are more helpful, more considerate, and more prone to notice those with needs. In Florida, our church helped man a homeless shelter in bad weather. Believe it or not, it was a great competition between members and churches to help when the temperature dropped below forty degrees. People help stranded travelers because hey want to. That spirit of helpfulness should be part of the church also.
When we hear of needs in our church, are we there to help? Do we drive people to the doctor when they need it? Do we visit the sick and the old? Are we helping people find jobs and take care of their families when they get laid off? The first sign of Christian love in the church is how we help people in the church with their needs.
3. Love appreciates the beauty of others.
We sometimes say that love is a decision, not an emotion. But there are also undeniable emotional aspect to Christian love. One such aspect is to learn to appreciate people’s differences of outlook without condemning or condoning.
Take, for example the relationship between old and young. Our church is facing a crisis of age. We have too many old members. Sure we want young members—but why? What do we have that would make younger members want to come here?
In our society there are undeniable cultural distinctions between old and young. That is because social customs no longer last a lifetime. Music has changed, humor has changed, technology has changed. Old people, do you understand and appreciate what younger people have? If you see a rock musician playing his guitar, and you don’t like rock, can you at least admire the skill with which he plays, and acknowledge that skill as a gift of God/
Young people, do you appreciate what the old have to offer you? Mark Twain once said that when he was sixteen the thought his father was an idiot, but that it was amazing what that man had learned by the time he was twenty-one! The old have much to teach you. If you think it is all passé, can you at least acknowledge their skill and courage, that put you where you are?
Today, we are being invaded by in this culture by all kinds of foreign culures. Hispanics are pouring over our borders. It is easy to sneer at their food and make fun of their language, but can we at least appreciate that God has given them beauty and skill like ours.
The most important aspect of really loving each others it to give others respect and the freedom to be themselves. We should not disrespect the parts of others and other cultures that others find beautiful.
4. Love wishes others a future success
I am convinced that our love can build this church. Todo this, we must love those who are different from us. More than that, we must work for their success.
Any good salesman will tell you that the only way to be successful in sales is to actually like your clients. You want them to prosper, and you think you have a product that will help them prosper. If we love the people around us, we will put forth programs and ideas that will help them succeed, and show them Jesus, who can help us succeed.
Our society is becoming increasingly profane in its language. Some things that used to be profane are said regularly, so much in fact that they are no longer seen as profane. One expression that we hear more and freely used, for example is for someone to tell another to go to hell.
Have you ever told another to go to hell? Did you mean it? There is nothing more horrible to wish on a person to that. Who could have the least bit of love in their heart and with them to go to hell?
Yet when we ignore the eternal destination of others, we may as well tell them to go to hell. When we say that we don’t want a particular kind of person in our church, we are telling them to do to hell. When we have the opportunity to tell another about Christ, or lead them to come the church where they can hear the Gospel, we have told them to go to hell. When we do not care what happens to a person eternally, and would rather not have certain kinds of people with us in heaven, then we are consigning them to hell as surely as we do when we tell someone to go to hell. God does not want this. Loving others is wanting the best for them, both now and for all eternity.
We do this, because Christ has already done it for us. Everything I have just listed as aspects of love are things that Jesus has already done for us.
--He forgave our sins. Jesus could have shown resentment and vengeance against those who killed Him, but instead he asked God to forgive them.
--He rescues us. Jesus went out of His way to help us escape our selfish, destructive lives.
--He appreciates our God-given uniqueness. Jesus takes all kinds of people in his kingdom—whites, blacks, Mexicans, Arabs, Africans, Asians—everyone. He takes liberals and right-wingers, bikers and bankers, cowboys and hippies—every kind you can imagine. Jesus is so open and so loving that he has even loved you. (doesn’t squeeze us into a mold)
--He wants you to have a good tomorrow. Jesus is looking forward to the day when His whole family will be gathered together in the same place in heaven—all races, classes and cultures. He looks forward to having you at His table.
Don’t miss your opportunity to spend eternity with Jesus. him in his kingdom, and walk in love, which is the same as walking in the light.
The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him.
This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.
But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
It is not hard to understand why Jesus chose twelve disciples. But why these particular men? Six were from the same fishing crew. Three more may have also been from there—James the lesser, Jude, and Thomas. But the last three—Matthew, Simon Zelotes, and Judas—seem like a mistake. Matthew was a tax collector and Roman collaborator. Simon was a terrorist. Judas was an outsider. What was Jesus thinking?
Jesus chose these men as a lesson to others. In the Kingdom of God there must be no racial or ethnic divisions. They would be one family together, growing in love, respect, and encouragement.
John tells us in these verses that the God’s kingdom is based on love. He says that we should obey his commandment. Love is the specific commandment he references here. God’s love is to be realized in us. He wants us to love each other.
The beginning of Christ’s kingdom (John says) is a dawn. Before we walked in darkness, but now we walk in light. Not everyone has seen the light, but is is coming for all. The way you can tell those who walk in light and those who walk in darkness is by this quality of love. Those who walk in light love each others. You can’t be in the kingdom unless you walk in light, and you can’t walk in light unless you love each other.
How do we know if we really are walking in love?
True love of others has four characteristics
1. Love means forgiving past wrongs,
In the new kingdom, there is no room for the resentments of the past. When Jesus gathered together his disciples, there was no room for Peter to think how Matthew had cheated him at the tax tables, or how Simon had tried to kill Matthew. All of that had to be forgotten once the new kingdom began.
I know how hard that is for us humans. Anyone who has been hurt knows the sting of resentment, and our animal desire for revenge. When we love a person that is or was our enemy, that sting does not immediately go away. Forgiveness is not reconciliation. It is simply a commitment for forgo vengeance upon those who have wronged us.
There are some people who have deeply wronged me in the past. There are even som who I would feel uncomfortable sharing a room or a car with them. But that does not mean I want revenge. I am happy to leave retribution up to the Lord, and leave it at that.
That goes not only for people who have wronged me, but groups as well. Let me tell you about the most prejudiced man I ever met. He worked in a company where he had missed several promotions. Blacks and women were promoted over him. He was sure this was because of their gender or skin color. So he hated blacks and women. The real truth was (as anyone who knew him could tell) he was passed over because of his terrible attitude. He was deeply angry and deeply depressed. He was also self-destructive.
Was he angry and resentful because he had been mistreated, or was he mistreated because he was angry and resentful? No one could say for sure.
It’s easy to get mad and the world today. It’s easy to get mad at every Arab you see because of 9-11, or to get mad at every Mexican you see because of illegal immigration. But what good does it do? How can we begin the dawn of a new day, when we are still growling in the darkness of the old one? Whatever way you want to look at it, the man needed a new start. That new start was impossible because of his anger and resentment. Forgiveness is what we do when we don’t want to be ruled by the past.
2. Love offers help in trouble.
No matter how prejudice or angry we might be, common decency will usually compel us to rescue people in need. A doctor on the battlefield does not just treat soldiers on his side, but will treat anyone of any side who needs the help. It is part of their Hippocratic Oath. Policmen take a vow to protect the citizenry, whether they like them or not. Firefighters don’t ask you about your politics before they put out the fire at your house. If emergency workers make no such distinctions when faced with an immediate danger, shouldn’t the people of God be also so inclined?
I love snow days, not because of the snow alone, but because he attitudes of people we meet. On snow days, when travel is harder, people are more helpful, more considerate, and more prone to notice those with needs. In Florida, our church helped man a homeless shelter in bad weather. Believe it or not, it was a great competition between members and churches to help when the temperature dropped below forty degrees. People help stranded travelers because hey want to. That spirit of helpfulness should be part of the church also.
When we hear of needs in our church, are we there to help? Do we drive people to the doctor when they need it? Do we visit the sick and the old? Are we helping people find jobs and take care of their families when they get laid off? The first sign of Christian love in the church is how we help people in the church with their needs.
3. Love appreciates the beauty of others.
We sometimes say that love is a decision, not an emotion. But there are also undeniable emotional aspect to Christian love. One such aspect is to learn to appreciate people’s differences of outlook without condemning or condoning.
Take, for example the relationship between old and young. Our church is facing a crisis of age. We have too many old members. Sure we want young members—but why? What do we have that would make younger members want to come here?
In our society there are undeniable cultural distinctions between old and young. That is because social customs no longer last a lifetime. Music has changed, humor has changed, technology has changed. Old people, do you understand and appreciate what younger people have? If you see a rock musician playing his guitar, and you don’t like rock, can you at least admire the skill with which he plays, and acknowledge that skill as a gift of God/
Young people, do you appreciate what the old have to offer you? Mark Twain once said that when he was sixteen the thought his father was an idiot, but that it was amazing what that man had learned by the time he was twenty-one! The old have much to teach you. If you think it is all passé, can you at least acknowledge their skill and courage, that put you where you are?
Today, we are being invaded by in this culture by all kinds of foreign culures. Hispanics are pouring over our borders. It is easy to sneer at their food and make fun of their language, but can we at least appreciate that God has given them beauty and skill like ours.
The most important aspect of really loving each others it to give others respect and the freedom to be themselves. We should not disrespect the parts of others and other cultures that others find beautiful.
4. Love wishes others a future success
I am convinced that our love can build this church. Todo this, we must love those who are different from us. More than that, we must work for their success.
Any good salesman will tell you that the only way to be successful in sales is to actually like your clients. You want them to prosper, and you think you have a product that will help them prosper. If we love the people around us, we will put forth programs and ideas that will help them succeed, and show them Jesus, who can help us succeed.
Our society is becoming increasingly profane in its language. Some things that used to be profane are said regularly, so much in fact that they are no longer seen as profane. One expression that we hear more and freely used, for example is for someone to tell another to go to hell.
Have you ever told another to go to hell? Did you mean it? There is nothing more horrible to wish on a person to that. Who could have the least bit of love in their heart and with them to go to hell?
Yet when we ignore the eternal destination of others, we may as well tell them to go to hell. When we say that we don’t want a particular kind of person in our church, we are telling them to do to hell. When we have the opportunity to tell another about Christ, or lead them to come the church where they can hear the Gospel, we have told them to go to hell. When we do not care what happens to a person eternally, and would rather not have certain kinds of people with us in heaven, then we are consigning them to hell as surely as we do when we tell someone to go to hell. God does not want this. Loving others is wanting the best for them, both now and for all eternity.
We do this, because Christ has already done it for us. Everything I have just listed as aspects of love are things that Jesus has already done for us.
--He forgave our sins. Jesus could have shown resentment and vengeance against those who killed Him, but instead he asked God to forgive them.
--He rescues us. Jesus went out of His way to help us escape our selfish, destructive lives.
--He appreciates our God-given uniqueness. Jesus takes all kinds of people in his kingdom—whites, blacks, Mexicans, Arabs, Africans, Asians—everyone. He takes liberals and right-wingers, bikers and bankers, cowboys and hippies—every kind you can imagine. Jesus is so open and so loving that he has even loved you. (doesn’t squeeze us into a mold)
--He wants you to have a good tomorrow. Jesus is looking forward to the day when His whole family will be gathered together in the same place in heaven—all races, classes and cultures. He looks forward to having you at His table.
Don’t miss your opportunity to spend eternity with Jesus. him in his kingdom, and walk in love, which is the same as walking in the light.
True Mercy
Luke 18:10-14
"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
In The Godfather, Michael Corleone asks whether it is better to be loved or feared. He comes to the conclusion that if you have to be one or the other, it is better to be feared by your enemies. Lovers and friends can betray you out of love, but if they fear you they dare not.
The Romans agreed. Love is untrustworthy. The Romans, like the Mafia, did not believe in mercy. Mercy to them was a sign of moral weakness.
To Jesus though, love was greater than fear. God does not first all demand our fear, but our respect. We are not Christians because we fear God, but because we love Him. As the apostle Paul put it “Perfect love casts out fear.”
We Christians at least give lip service to mercy. But we seldom practice it. When we do practice mercy, we often get it wrong, giving mercy in the wrong way and to the wrong people. Much of what we call mercy is no mercy at all.
Mercy is false when it leads to our unnecessary destruction.
A man was traveling through the woods came across a bear cub separated from its mother. “I’ll take it home with me,” he said. “I’ll raise it in my home as a pet.” So he took and fed it on a bottle. The bear got bigger. Then one day the man realized he had a full grown grizzly bear on his hands. He opened the door and said, “Go! You are too big for the house.” But the bear did not go. Instead, it turned on him and ate him.
Some people are that way. We give them love, yet they can return nothing. They are incapable of returning the love we offer. Instead, they turn upon us.
Martyrdom is a noble thing, but it must be done for the right cause. Just because we suffer for mercy does not mean we should suffer for mercy. Many people make martyrs out of themselves serving ungrateful children or friends who finally are no more appreciative than a grizzly bear. Solomon said in Proverbs 20:15 “The leech has two daughters—‘give’ and ‘give.’” Heaven help us if we show mercy to a leech.
Mercy is false when it causes the innocent to come to harm.
In February of last year, the nation was horrified by the shocking news story of a Connecticut woman who kept a chimpanzee as a pet. For years, this chimp lived in her home and gave them no problems. Then it began to make threatening moves to others. But the woman could not bring herself to have it killed. One day the chimp became unmanageable. She asked her neighbor to come over and help. The chimp attacked her neighbor and almost killed her.
When we show mercy to criminals and terrorists, we are doing the same thing this woman did. We are eventually allowing the innocent to be harmed. When a person stands by an watches animals or children beaten, we are doing the same thing. Sometimes we must forcibly stop evil without mercy to those who harm others.
Mercy is also false when it cripples the person to whom mercy is given.
In both the previous stories, the bear and the chimp were not evil. They were just animals doing what they do. But the animals were in the wrong environment. We do no favor to a wild animal to bring it into a human environment. Making them dependent on our mercy.
Suppose you have a pet Chihuahua. How long to you think the Taco Bell dog would last if you let it loose. Yet it has descended from wild wolves. All the ferocious, predatory nature of the animal has been bred out of it. By loving on these little animals, we have made it impossible for them to live without us.
You can never give to others without taking something else away. If we give food and shelter, we take away independence and self-reliance. Giving to the poor is good, but not if it creates an underclass of people who are unable to take care of themselves.
There is a false mercy. But there is a true mercy as well. False mercy can hurt, but true can redeem, and save..
The Bible gives us an example of true mercy in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. The mercy of God is best portrayed in the free gift of God through Jesus for sinners who don’t deserve it Christ.
God’s mercy is predicated upon three propositions.
First, we realize that none of us deserve it. Mercy is not mercy if we deserve it. Only those who do not deserve it can receive the mercy of God.
In Luke 18, Jesus told the story of two men who went to the temple to pray. The first one was a Pharisee. Today the word Pharisee is synonymous with the word “hypocrite.” But that was not the case then. The Pharisees were clergymen of the largest denomination of Jews.
The Pharisee represents a particular kind of person—the religious person. He was not all that different from religious people like you or me. They were God-fearing people who tried to keep God’s Law. Most of us are the same. We don’t wish to offend the living God. There are consequences when we break God’s law. We are appalled at homosexuality, drunkenness, moral laxity, and so forth. In this we are in agreement with the Pharisees, conservative Jews, Mormons, Muslims, and Jehovah’s Witness.
In spite of his moral virtue, the Pharisee in Jesus’ story had one fatal moral flaw. He had a blind side when it came to his own sin. He was proud He looked around at the rest of humanity and concluded that he was better than most. He was sure God must be pleased with him.
But God does not grade people on a curve. Just because we are better than most does not mean we are good enough for God.
Suppose you go to an “all you can eat” restaurant. You go back to the buffet seven times. If you go back seven times, but the man next do you go back eight times. Will you therefore avoid getting fat? Do your extra calories not count?
If you smoke two packs a day, and your neighbor smokes three, will you become any less sick?
Suppose a policeman catches you going eighty miles an hour in a thirty-five mile an hour zone. Will he be more lenient on you, because some other motorist was going ninety?
God does not grade on a curve. Each of us receives the punishment due us, because of our own individual actions. He has an absolute standard of goodness. That goodness is so far above us that we will never attain it. All of us are equally guilty before the Lord.
The tax collector in the story was the opposite of Pharisee. He knew he needed mercy. Romans tax collectors had no fixed tax rates to collect. They were free to collect anything above that amount they could. In effect, tax collection was a license to steal. No wonder the other Jews hated them! If they were to have any friends at all, they were Romans and other unclean people. They were the only friends their money could buy.
Jesus makes it clear in this story. If we have sin in our heart, even though there may be people much worse than we are, we are equally condemned before God. We are all sinners. There are no exceptions.
Second, we see that anyone can receive God’s mercy, if they want it.
This tax collector was no better than the rest of his profession. He had cheated others. He had entertained Romans. He had prostitutes, and had been drunk. But he realized one thing that the Pharisee did not--the distance that separated him from God.
The tax collector hungered and thirsted for God. More than anything, he wanted to close the gap between him and God. He bowed his head. He beat his chest. He behaved like a man who has just lost his best friend or closest relative. He had lost his way and he wanted it back, A man is better off if he knows he is lost, than being lost and not knowing it.
Here is the wonder of God’s mercy--anyone can receive it. It is free and readily given. God’s mercy does not take away the consequences of our sins, but it closes the gap between us and God so that we do not have to go through life alone, without His help. If we gain all things and do not have God, we are lost. But if we lose all things and have God, all is gained.
This isn’t the weak mercy of the lazy man, or the sloppy mercy of the weak and sentimental. This is the tough, sinewy mercy of a God who knows full well our capability of betrayal, yet doesn’t care. He knows even as these two men pray that the tax collector will still be a tax collector, and that that Pharisee will still be a Pharisee. Outwardly, the Pharisee will likely still look like the better man. But God knows better. Only one has received mercy, and only one will experience a change of life. God knows their inner hearts and judges accordingly.
Finally, we see that God’s mercy is at Jesus’ price. God is not a fool. He knows the price of betrayal is death. But God, in infinite understanding and full knowledge paid that full price himself, allowing Himself to be sacrificed for our forgiveness.
t could be no other way. There is no true mercy without sacrifice. The wages of sin must be paid. But if God punished sinners without mercy, no one would survive. So God became a man, living among us, and dying on the Cross so justice and love could both be fulfilled.
You need mercy. Don’t think for a moment that God won’t give it. But consider the price God paid for your mercy. Think of the awful sacrifice of Jesus. Then we might begin to understand what is true mercy.
"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
In The Godfather, Michael Corleone asks whether it is better to be loved or feared. He comes to the conclusion that if you have to be one or the other, it is better to be feared by your enemies. Lovers and friends can betray you out of love, but if they fear you they dare not.
The Romans agreed. Love is untrustworthy. The Romans, like the Mafia, did not believe in mercy. Mercy to them was a sign of moral weakness.
To Jesus though, love was greater than fear. God does not first all demand our fear, but our respect. We are not Christians because we fear God, but because we love Him. As the apostle Paul put it “Perfect love casts out fear.”
We Christians at least give lip service to mercy. But we seldom practice it. When we do practice mercy, we often get it wrong, giving mercy in the wrong way and to the wrong people. Much of what we call mercy is no mercy at all.
Mercy is false when it leads to our unnecessary destruction.
A man was traveling through the woods came across a bear cub separated from its mother. “I’ll take it home with me,” he said. “I’ll raise it in my home as a pet.” So he took and fed it on a bottle. The bear got bigger. Then one day the man realized he had a full grown grizzly bear on his hands. He opened the door and said, “Go! You are too big for the house.” But the bear did not go. Instead, it turned on him and ate him.
Some people are that way. We give them love, yet they can return nothing. They are incapable of returning the love we offer. Instead, they turn upon us.
Martyrdom is a noble thing, but it must be done for the right cause. Just because we suffer for mercy does not mean we should suffer for mercy. Many people make martyrs out of themselves serving ungrateful children or friends who finally are no more appreciative than a grizzly bear. Solomon said in Proverbs 20:15 “The leech has two daughters—‘give’ and ‘give.’” Heaven help us if we show mercy to a leech.
Mercy is false when it causes the innocent to come to harm.
In February of last year, the nation was horrified by the shocking news story of a Connecticut woman who kept a chimpanzee as a pet. For years, this chimp lived in her home and gave them no problems. Then it began to make threatening moves to others. But the woman could not bring herself to have it killed. One day the chimp became unmanageable. She asked her neighbor to come over and help. The chimp attacked her neighbor and almost killed her.
When we show mercy to criminals and terrorists, we are doing the same thing this woman did. We are eventually allowing the innocent to be harmed. When a person stands by an watches animals or children beaten, we are doing the same thing. Sometimes we must forcibly stop evil without mercy to those who harm others.
Mercy is also false when it cripples the person to whom mercy is given.
In both the previous stories, the bear and the chimp were not evil. They were just animals doing what they do. But the animals were in the wrong environment. We do no favor to a wild animal to bring it into a human environment. Making them dependent on our mercy.
Suppose you have a pet Chihuahua. How long to you think the Taco Bell dog would last if you let it loose. Yet it has descended from wild wolves. All the ferocious, predatory nature of the animal has been bred out of it. By loving on these little animals, we have made it impossible for them to live without us.
You can never give to others without taking something else away. If we give food and shelter, we take away independence and self-reliance. Giving to the poor is good, but not if it creates an underclass of people who are unable to take care of themselves.
There is a false mercy. But there is a true mercy as well. False mercy can hurt, but true can redeem, and save..
The Bible gives us an example of true mercy in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. The mercy of God is best portrayed in the free gift of God through Jesus for sinners who don’t deserve it Christ.
God’s mercy is predicated upon three propositions.
First, we realize that none of us deserve it. Mercy is not mercy if we deserve it. Only those who do not deserve it can receive the mercy of God.
In Luke 18, Jesus told the story of two men who went to the temple to pray. The first one was a Pharisee. Today the word Pharisee is synonymous with the word “hypocrite.” But that was not the case then. The Pharisees were clergymen of the largest denomination of Jews.
The Pharisee represents a particular kind of person—the religious person. He was not all that different from religious people like you or me. They were God-fearing people who tried to keep God’s Law. Most of us are the same. We don’t wish to offend the living God. There are consequences when we break God’s law. We are appalled at homosexuality, drunkenness, moral laxity, and so forth. In this we are in agreement with the Pharisees, conservative Jews, Mormons, Muslims, and Jehovah’s Witness.
In spite of his moral virtue, the Pharisee in Jesus’ story had one fatal moral flaw. He had a blind side when it came to his own sin. He was proud He looked around at the rest of humanity and concluded that he was better than most. He was sure God must be pleased with him.
But God does not grade people on a curve. Just because we are better than most does not mean we are good enough for God.
Suppose you go to an “all you can eat” restaurant. You go back to the buffet seven times. If you go back seven times, but the man next do you go back eight times. Will you therefore avoid getting fat? Do your extra calories not count?
If you smoke two packs a day, and your neighbor smokes three, will you become any less sick?
Suppose a policeman catches you going eighty miles an hour in a thirty-five mile an hour zone. Will he be more lenient on you, because some other motorist was going ninety?
God does not grade on a curve. Each of us receives the punishment due us, because of our own individual actions. He has an absolute standard of goodness. That goodness is so far above us that we will never attain it. All of us are equally guilty before the Lord.
The tax collector in the story was the opposite of Pharisee. He knew he needed mercy. Romans tax collectors had no fixed tax rates to collect. They were free to collect anything above that amount they could. In effect, tax collection was a license to steal. No wonder the other Jews hated them! If they were to have any friends at all, they were Romans and other unclean people. They were the only friends their money could buy.
Jesus makes it clear in this story. If we have sin in our heart, even though there may be people much worse than we are, we are equally condemned before God. We are all sinners. There are no exceptions.
Second, we see that anyone can receive God’s mercy, if they want it.
This tax collector was no better than the rest of his profession. He had cheated others. He had entertained Romans. He had prostitutes, and had been drunk. But he realized one thing that the Pharisee did not--the distance that separated him from God.
The tax collector hungered and thirsted for God. More than anything, he wanted to close the gap between him and God. He bowed his head. He beat his chest. He behaved like a man who has just lost his best friend or closest relative. He had lost his way and he wanted it back, A man is better off if he knows he is lost, than being lost and not knowing it.
Here is the wonder of God’s mercy--anyone can receive it. It is free and readily given. God’s mercy does not take away the consequences of our sins, but it closes the gap between us and God so that we do not have to go through life alone, without His help. If we gain all things and do not have God, we are lost. But if we lose all things and have God, all is gained.
This isn’t the weak mercy of the lazy man, or the sloppy mercy of the weak and sentimental. This is the tough, sinewy mercy of a God who knows full well our capability of betrayal, yet doesn’t care. He knows even as these two men pray that the tax collector will still be a tax collector, and that that Pharisee will still be a Pharisee. Outwardly, the Pharisee will likely still look like the better man. But God knows better. Only one has received mercy, and only one will experience a change of life. God knows their inner hearts and judges accordingly.
Finally, we see that God’s mercy is at Jesus’ price. God is not a fool. He knows the price of betrayal is death. But God, in infinite understanding and full knowledge paid that full price himself, allowing Himself to be sacrificed for our forgiveness.
t could be no other way. There is no true mercy without sacrifice. The wages of sin must be paid. But if God punished sinners without mercy, no one would survive. So God became a man, living among us, and dying on the Cross so justice and love could both be fulfilled.
You need mercy. Don’t think for a moment that God won’t give it. But consider the price God paid for your mercy. Think of the awful sacrifice of Jesus. Then we might begin to understand what is true mercy.
True Faith
Eph 2:8-10
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
What is true faith?
True faith is not a religion—People often ask “What is your faith?” when they mean “What is your religion?” But faith and religion are not the same. You can have faith without a religion, and you can have religion without faith.
Paul was a religious man. He believed in his own religion and practiced it methodically. He was willing to kill for it. Yet all this did him no good. It was not faith for him—it was bondage. Practicing religion is not the same as having faith.
True faith is not intellectual. What we believe should be grounded in a careful and thoughtful examination. But we should never think that intellectual pursuit in itself will do a thing for our faith.
Think about a person who has an irrational fear of flying. He may know the principles of airplane flight. She may know that it is safest way to travel. He may believe that our pilots are well trained and that airports are well run. But when she get on an airplane, something irrational takes over. He won’t get on that plane, no matter how much he knows.
We may know the teachings of the Bible and still not trust them. When we try to live by them, our fleshly shortcomings take over and we do wrong, even while affirming the right.
Faith is not positive thinking. For many people, faith seems to be a denial of reality. There is a school of thought that believes if we act successful, we become successful. This is pretense, not faith. \
Several years ago, I attended a hospice conference Q and A session. One of the volunteers told proudly about a patient who refused to accept that he was dying, but told everyone he was going to get better.
The speaker answered with this illustration. Suppose you are standing in the road, and a truck is bearing down on you. You can choose not to believe in trucks. You can assure everyone that the truck will not hit. But when it hits, you will still be dead. Eventually, we all have to come to terms with our own mortality.
I do not mean to suggest there is no merit in positive thinking. There is much profit in looking on the bright side. Hope is an essential ingredient of everything we accomplish. But hope alone is not faith. If our hope leads to acknowledge only one outcome of any situation, that that is not hope. That is presumption.
So what is true faith? Let me suggest a definition.
Faith is a crazy response to the Living God and His promises.
Faith has three ingredients. Let me list them.
It is crazy—or so it appears ot others who see it. It flies in the face of conventional wisdom and rationality based in a horizontal knowledge of the world.
It is a response. A response means a way of moving, not a way of thinking. We may think what we like in our hearts, but it does us no good unless we are willing to respond to what we belief.
It is based on a Living God. Our faith is grounded in God’s faithfulness.
It is based in the promises of God. We believe what God has said and done. This is what distinguishes a believer’s faith from that of others.
Let’s examine each of those four concepts.
Faith is crazy.
\Faith, if properly practices, will make other people think you are crazy. There is an element of wildness to it, the unpredictable behavior o a man or woman who is truly looking to God for guidance and protection. \If other people don’t think you’re a little crazy, chances are you don’t have enough faith.
That’s the way it is with anyone who trusts in God. It seems crazy to everyone else. They cannot see the invisible power that upholds us in everything. We can take ristks, and be a little crazy, because we know that no matter how badly we fall, our redeemer lives.
Ephesians 2 1-5 states “You were dead in your trespasses and sins—God has raised us together with Christ.” What could be crazier than that? Dead people don’t live. It is not rational by human standards to expect to live when you are dead. There is no basis for acceptance of this idea by natural means. Yet that is excactly what the Bible tells us.
I once saw a magician walk across a swimming pool. The pool was full of people splashing and swimming, when he suddenly stepped out on the water and walked calmly across.
It was a trick, of course. Before the trick began, he put a sheet of thick plexiglass just under the water. They people in the pool were in on the trick. He was taking no chances at all. If other people saw him step out into that pool, they would think him crazy, but if they knew what he knew, they would not think it crazy at all.
The most foolish thing we can do it to believe our eyes and ears. Satan is a skilled magician. He knows how to distract us and deceive the bulk of humanity. If we trust in our normal senses, we will be deceived.c Bu
t if we are willing to fly in the face of our own conceptions of he rational we may perceive the truth, even while everyone else calls us crazy.
The Romans thought the Christians were crazy when they went singing to their executions. The Jews thought the Christians crazy when they said God became a man and raised from the dead. The Catholics thought Martin Luther crazy when he said the just will live by faith. Every believer is thought crazy today, when he listens to the voice of God instead of the voices around her. Don’t let the world define you by pressuring you to follow their rationale. Be independent enough to question the prevailincg authority and believe the authority of God.
Faith is a response.
“For it is by grace we are saved through faith,” Paul said. Faith is responding to our belief in the grace of God. Every living creature responds to stimuli—hot, cold, hunger, fear, and so forth. If we can create a perception of a particular condition, we can provoke a response. If we sneak up behind a person and say “Boo” they may jump, even though there is no real danger.
But human beings are more than animals. We have a choice responses. We do not have to run from a scary situation. We do not have to eat when we are hungry, of engage in sexual activity when stimulated. We choose to what we will respond.
Faith is to choosing to respond to God and to ignore oher perceptions. The world may say that greed is good, but we know better. The world may say that he who dies with the most toys wins, but we know that is not the case. He who dies and can face the Living God with a good conscience wins. We always have a choice.
Faith is a response to a Living God.
“It is a gift of God.” Faith is never about what we do. It is always about who we do it for. Our faith comes from knowing a living God.
There’s a story in Acts 19 about a group of men in Corinth practice exorcism. One day, they tried to cast out demons in the name of “Jesus of Nazareth, whom Paul preaches.” They had seen Paul cast out demons, so they assumed they could have the same power. But the demon turned on them and ran them out of the house. As he did he said, “Jesus I know and Paul I am familiar with, but who are you?” The devil is not impressed by second-hand faith. Faith must be really our faith.
The problem with faith is that we do not always know who we are really believing. It is easy to miss what really holds us together. What do we really have faith in--our ancestors, our own self-reliance? The only way we can really know we have faith is respond boldly and definitely to the promises God his made. “Attempt great things from God,” William Carey said. “Expect great things from God.”
Faith is a response to God and His promise.
Our faith is not vague. It is based on the concrete statements we find in the Bible. Believing the promises of the Bible gives content to our faith.
What promises? Here are a few.
That God loves me, no matter what.—“By grace are we saved.”
It takes real faith to believe that God loves us, given the reality of our sin and weakness. Paul says that were aren’t just sinners, we are the devil’s tools. We aren’t just weak, we are dead. In all things we have failed, but in all things, God has shown us mercy.
God loves us because He loves us. He saves us because he chooses to save us. Nothing e can do can make God “de-gift” us. His cross has given us all things, through his love and grace.
That we don’t have to work to be accepted by God.--“Not of works, so that no one can boast.”
There are many people work. Some do it out of necessity. If we don’t work, we don’t eat. Others work out of joy. Necessity is good but joy is better. Sages through the ages, from Solomon to Marx have taught that the greatest joy on earth comes from willing labor. But when we work out of necessity or fear, we are slaves.
God doesn’t want us to obey him as slaves, but as free men and women who do it willingly. He wants partners, not servants. We may fear retribution when we don’t get things right, but that is not what God wants. God wants us to work for Him without fear or regret. He is much more concerned about out attitude in doing His will than our accuracy.
That God has a purpose for our lives. --“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for the purpose of doing good.
What I fear the most is not death. What I fear is never having lived. I do not want to leave this world without leaving something of substance behind. I do not want to die meaninglessly. I want t do good.
“I have been crucified with Christ,” Paul said in Galatians 3;20. “ I live no longer, and the life that I continue to live in the flesh, I live by the Son of God, who loved m, and gave Himself for me.” God promises us just that. When we live by faith in Him through Grace, God promises to make our life fruitful. We are not meaningless. We have a purpose--to become part of God’s plan of redeeming the world. We are not just animals wandering in the wilderness, satisfying our cravings and impulses, but beloved Sons of God, participating in the redemption of all creation.
This is the substance of our faith. This is why we believe in His promises.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
What is true faith?
True faith is not a religion—People often ask “What is your faith?” when they mean “What is your religion?” But faith and religion are not the same. You can have faith without a religion, and you can have religion without faith.
Paul was a religious man. He believed in his own religion and practiced it methodically. He was willing to kill for it. Yet all this did him no good. It was not faith for him—it was bondage. Practicing religion is not the same as having faith.
True faith is not intellectual. What we believe should be grounded in a careful and thoughtful examination. But we should never think that intellectual pursuit in itself will do a thing for our faith.
Think about a person who has an irrational fear of flying. He may know the principles of airplane flight. She may know that it is safest way to travel. He may believe that our pilots are well trained and that airports are well run. But when she get on an airplane, something irrational takes over. He won’t get on that plane, no matter how much he knows.
We may know the teachings of the Bible and still not trust them. When we try to live by them, our fleshly shortcomings take over and we do wrong, even while affirming the right.
Faith is not positive thinking. For many people, faith seems to be a denial of reality. There is a school of thought that believes if we act successful, we become successful. This is pretense, not faith. \
Several years ago, I attended a hospice conference Q and A session. One of the volunteers told proudly about a patient who refused to accept that he was dying, but told everyone he was going to get better.
The speaker answered with this illustration. Suppose you are standing in the road, and a truck is bearing down on you. You can choose not to believe in trucks. You can assure everyone that the truck will not hit. But when it hits, you will still be dead. Eventually, we all have to come to terms with our own mortality.
I do not mean to suggest there is no merit in positive thinking. There is much profit in looking on the bright side. Hope is an essential ingredient of everything we accomplish. But hope alone is not faith. If our hope leads to acknowledge only one outcome of any situation, that that is not hope. That is presumption.
So what is true faith? Let me suggest a definition.
Faith is a crazy response to the Living God and His promises.
Faith has three ingredients. Let me list them.
It is crazy—or so it appears ot others who see it. It flies in the face of conventional wisdom and rationality based in a horizontal knowledge of the world.
It is a response. A response means a way of moving, not a way of thinking. We may think what we like in our hearts, but it does us no good unless we are willing to respond to what we belief.
It is based on a Living God. Our faith is grounded in God’s faithfulness.
It is based in the promises of God. We believe what God has said and done. This is what distinguishes a believer’s faith from that of others.
Let’s examine each of those four concepts.
Faith is crazy.
\Faith, if properly practices, will make other people think you are crazy. There is an element of wildness to it, the unpredictable behavior o a man or woman who is truly looking to God for guidance and protection. \If other people don’t think you’re a little crazy, chances are you don’t have enough faith.
That’s the way it is with anyone who trusts in God. It seems crazy to everyone else. They cannot see the invisible power that upholds us in everything. We can take ristks, and be a little crazy, because we know that no matter how badly we fall, our redeemer lives.
Ephesians 2 1-5 states “You were dead in your trespasses and sins—God has raised us together with Christ.” What could be crazier than that? Dead people don’t live. It is not rational by human standards to expect to live when you are dead. There is no basis for acceptance of this idea by natural means. Yet that is excactly what the Bible tells us.
I once saw a magician walk across a swimming pool. The pool was full of people splashing and swimming, when he suddenly stepped out on the water and walked calmly across.
It was a trick, of course. Before the trick began, he put a sheet of thick plexiglass just under the water. They people in the pool were in on the trick. He was taking no chances at all. If other people saw him step out into that pool, they would think him crazy, but if they knew what he knew, they would not think it crazy at all.
The most foolish thing we can do it to believe our eyes and ears. Satan is a skilled magician. He knows how to distract us and deceive the bulk of humanity. If we trust in our normal senses, we will be deceived.c Bu
t if we are willing to fly in the face of our own conceptions of he rational we may perceive the truth, even while everyone else calls us crazy.
The Romans thought the Christians were crazy when they went singing to their executions. The Jews thought the Christians crazy when they said God became a man and raised from the dead. The Catholics thought Martin Luther crazy when he said the just will live by faith. Every believer is thought crazy today, when he listens to the voice of God instead of the voices around her. Don’t let the world define you by pressuring you to follow their rationale. Be independent enough to question the prevailincg authority and believe the authority of God.
Faith is a response.
“For it is by grace we are saved through faith,” Paul said. Faith is responding to our belief in the grace of God. Every living creature responds to stimuli—hot, cold, hunger, fear, and so forth. If we can create a perception of a particular condition, we can provoke a response. If we sneak up behind a person and say “Boo” they may jump, even though there is no real danger.
But human beings are more than animals. We have a choice responses. We do not have to run from a scary situation. We do not have to eat when we are hungry, of engage in sexual activity when stimulated. We choose to what we will respond.
Faith is to choosing to respond to God and to ignore oher perceptions. The world may say that greed is good, but we know better. The world may say that he who dies with the most toys wins, but we know that is not the case. He who dies and can face the Living God with a good conscience wins. We always have a choice.
Faith is a response to a Living God.
“It is a gift of God.” Faith is never about what we do. It is always about who we do it for. Our faith comes from knowing a living God.
There’s a story in Acts 19 about a group of men in Corinth practice exorcism. One day, they tried to cast out demons in the name of “Jesus of Nazareth, whom Paul preaches.” They had seen Paul cast out demons, so they assumed they could have the same power. But the demon turned on them and ran them out of the house. As he did he said, “Jesus I know and Paul I am familiar with, but who are you?” The devil is not impressed by second-hand faith. Faith must be really our faith.
The problem with faith is that we do not always know who we are really believing. It is easy to miss what really holds us together. What do we really have faith in--our ancestors, our own self-reliance? The only way we can really know we have faith is respond boldly and definitely to the promises God his made. “Attempt great things from God,” William Carey said. “Expect great things from God.”
Faith is a response to God and His promise.
Our faith is not vague. It is based on the concrete statements we find in the Bible. Believing the promises of the Bible gives content to our faith.
What promises? Here are a few.
That God loves me, no matter what.—“By grace are we saved.”
It takes real faith to believe that God loves us, given the reality of our sin and weakness. Paul says that were aren’t just sinners, we are the devil’s tools. We aren’t just weak, we are dead. In all things we have failed, but in all things, God has shown us mercy.
God loves us because He loves us. He saves us because he chooses to save us. Nothing e can do can make God “de-gift” us. His cross has given us all things, through his love and grace.
That we don’t have to work to be accepted by God.--“Not of works, so that no one can boast.”
There are many people work. Some do it out of necessity. If we don’t work, we don’t eat. Others work out of joy. Necessity is good but joy is better. Sages through the ages, from Solomon to Marx have taught that the greatest joy on earth comes from willing labor. But when we work out of necessity or fear, we are slaves.
God doesn’t want us to obey him as slaves, but as free men and women who do it willingly. He wants partners, not servants. We may fear retribution when we don’t get things right, but that is not what God wants. God wants us to work for Him without fear or regret. He is much more concerned about out attitude in doing His will than our accuracy.
That God has a purpose for our lives. --“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for the purpose of doing good.
What I fear the most is not death. What I fear is never having lived. I do not want to leave this world without leaving something of substance behind. I do not want to die meaninglessly. I want t do good.
“I have been crucified with Christ,” Paul said in Galatians 3;20. “ I live no longer, and the life that I continue to live in the flesh, I live by the Son of God, who loved m, and gave Himself for me.” God promises us just that. When we live by faith in Him through Grace, God promises to make our life fruitful. We are not meaningless. We have a purpose--to become part of God’s plan of redeeming the world. We are not just animals wandering in the wilderness, satisfying our cravings and impulses, but beloved Sons of God, participating in the redemption of all creation.
This is the substance of our faith. This is why we believe in His promises.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Good Friday
Today is Good Friday--or so we call it. It is sometimes called Black Friday, because it was the anniversary of the death of Jesus. But more often, we call it Good Friday, because of the ultimate victory of Christ, which could not happen without it.
Every year at this time I struggle to explain the miracle of Good Friday. Every year I fail. The main reason, I guess is that when it comes down to it, I don't understand it myself. Oh, I can give you the theological meaning of the Cross. I know that Christ suffered and died for my sins. But that doesn't answer all the questions. Couldn't a God who is the creator not only of this world but of all possible worlds construct the moral universe in such a way that the death of Jesus would not be necessary? After all, He's the one who makes the rules. Surely he could have found a less bloody way to show us leniency?
But he didn't. He chose to make salvation available to us by becoming human and then dying at the hands of Roman torturers. Taking communion from silver trays in an air-conditioned church, presided over by serious looking men in robes does not adequately express the horror and wonder of what He did.
The cross is a shocking, shocking story--an offense to good people everywhere who think the world is good, just, and noble. Here was an innocent man nailed to boards and hanging by his wounds in the burning Middle Eastern sun. His government condemned him as a traitor. His religious leaders denounced him as a heretic. Even his friends ran from him as too dangerous to support. He received this treatment for telling the truth about Himself, gently and politely. For the crime loving truthfulness, he was beaten, mocked, stabbed, whipped, and left to die of exposure, blood loss, and pain.
Yet we call that day Good Friday.
Looking back through the Resurrection even, we see the meaning of it. But on that Black Friday, it made no sense at all. Why should a good man die for nothing? Didn't he deserve better? The peacemakers are always the ones who usually get assassinated. If it was God's will to take him early, then why couldn't he be assassinated like Lincoln or Caesar, quickly and suddenly, rather than having to endure the physical an psychological torture of one of the most humiliating deaths imaginable?
The senselessness of death was brought home to us this last week. My wife Joy works with preschool, visually impaired students. Last Friday on of her children--a three year old child-- suddenly died for unknown reasons. This was the first time one of her student had died. She went to the service, where the preacher spoke of him as an angel who showed Christ in his little face. He wasn't Christ, though. He was just an innocent kid who died too early and left behind a grieving family. There was nothing "good" about that death at all.
Life has many meaningless moments. Children die, the innocent suffer, evil people win battles, good people lose them. The same world that gives us sunsets and gentle breezes also gives us hurricanes and tsunamis. Whether we get flood or drought makes no sense, but depends on water temperature on the other side of he world. It has nothing to do with us. Try as we might, we cannot make sense out of why one person suffers and an other escapes. Mortality is the price we pay for being alive.
It would be nice if before death took us, Jesus would just come again and take us all to heaven. But for most of us, the path to paradise leads through the grave, like a thousand generations of ancestors before us. And we all live in this world of pain and suffering, looking up to God and crying out "Why?" To which God does not really give an answer--not that we could understand the answer if we knew it, anyway.
Since we are unable to comprehend the reasons for suffering, God gives us the next best thing. He gives us companionship. He did not exempt Himself, but went through the worst of it without flinching or complaint. He demonstrated that suffering does not have to lead to despair or hopelessness. It is possible to be faithful in the middle of torture and death and remain obedient to a greater and higher purpose. Suffering can be endured, even the loss of someone we love. We do not have to know the meaning of it. We only have to know that God knows the meaning of it all.
What makes Good Friday good is not what happened on that day, but what happened three days later, when Jesus rose from the dead. Even death is not permanent in the end, and God's goodness is vindicated. Where He went, we can go, too.
We can never look at God and say "You don't know how I feel." He knows exactly how we feel. He's been through it, too. He demonstrated that Black Friday can also be Good Friday in the end, when we keep believing in Him.
Every year at this time I struggle to explain the miracle of Good Friday. Every year I fail. The main reason, I guess is that when it comes down to it, I don't understand it myself. Oh, I can give you the theological meaning of the Cross. I know that Christ suffered and died for my sins. But that doesn't answer all the questions. Couldn't a God who is the creator not only of this world but of all possible worlds construct the moral universe in such a way that the death of Jesus would not be necessary? After all, He's the one who makes the rules. Surely he could have found a less bloody way to show us leniency?
But he didn't. He chose to make salvation available to us by becoming human and then dying at the hands of Roman torturers. Taking communion from silver trays in an air-conditioned church, presided over by serious looking men in robes does not adequately express the horror and wonder of what He did.
The cross is a shocking, shocking story--an offense to good people everywhere who think the world is good, just, and noble. Here was an innocent man nailed to boards and hanging by his wounds in the burning Middle Eastern sun. His government condemned him as a traitor. His religious leaders denounced him as a heretic. Even his friends ran from him as too dangerous to support. He received this treatment for telling the truth about Himself, gently and politely. For the crime loving truthfulness, he was beaten, mocked, stabbed, whipped, and left to die of exposure, blood loss, and pain.
Yet we call that day Good Friday.
Looking back through the Resurrection even, we see the meaning of it. But on that Black Friday, it made no sense at all. Why should a good man die for nothing? Didn't he deserve better? The peacemakers are always the ones who usually get assassinated. If it was God's will to take him early, then why couldn't he be assassinated like Lincoln or Caesar, quickly and suddenly, rather than having to endure the physical an psychological torture of one of the most humiliating deaths imaginable?
The senselessness of death was brought home to us this last week. My wife Joy works with preschool, visually impaired students. Last Friday on of her children--a three year old child-- suddenly died for unknown reasons. This was the first time one of her student had died. She went to the service, where the preacher spoke of him as an angel who showed Christ in his little face. He wasn't Christ, though. He was just an innocent kid who died too early and left behind a grieving family. There was nothing "good" about that death at all.
Life has many meaningless moments. Children die, the innocent suffer, evil people win battles, good people lose them. The same world that gives us sunsets and gentle breezes also gives us hurricanes and tsunamis. Whether we get flood or drought makes no sense, but depends on water temperature on the other side of he world. It has nothing to do with us. Try as we might, we cannot make sense out of why one person suffers and an other escapes. Mortality is the price we pay for being alive.
It would be nice if before death took us, Jesus would just come again and take us all to heaven. But for most of us, the path to paradise leads through the grave, like a thousand generations of ancestors before us. And we all live in this world of pain and suffering, looking up to God and crying out "Why?" To which God does not really give an answer--not that we could understand the answer if we knew it, anyway.
Since we are unable to comprehend the reasons for suffering, God gives us the next best thing. He gives us companionship. He did not exempt Himself, but went through the worst of it without flinching or complaint. He demonstrated that suffering does not have to lead to despair or hopelessness. It is possible to be faithful in the middle of torture and death and remain obedient to a greater and higher purpose. Suffering can be endured, even the loss of someone we love. We do not have to know the meaning of it. We only have to know that God knows the meaning of it all.
What makes Good Friday good is not what happened on that day, but what happened three days later, when Jesus rose from the dead. Even death is not permanent in the end, and God's goodness is vindicated. Where He went, we can go, too.
We can never look at God and say "You don't know how I feel." He knows exactly how we feel. He's been through it, too. He demonstrated that Black Friday can also be Good Friday in the end, when we keep believing in Him.
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