Being Counted Worthy of the Kingdom of God

Being Counted Worthy

2^nd Thessalonians 1:1-5

¹Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: ²Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;

⁴So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:⁵Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:

Introduction (Long):

We are sometimes fearful that somehow we will not “measure up” and that we will be left behind, or booted out of the family of God. We harbor doubts about whether we are “good enough” or consistent enough, or sincere enough, and, despite Jesus’s promises that we are secure in Him, we tend to doubt, just as Peter and the other disciples did.

Peter believed Jesus, sufficient to walk on the water, one stormy night! And, just a few seconds later, he doubted, and he sank! But Jesus caught him and walked with him back to the boat.

Jesus said in John 6:29 that the “work” God asks of sinners, in order to please Him, is to “believe on Him whom He hath sent.”

A few verses later, in John 6:37, He promised, “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me, and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”

Then, in verse 39, He said, “And, this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which He hath given Me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.”

Now: that leaves us with a choice: do we believe Jesus’s clear promises, or do we build doubt, founded upon our misgivings over verses that are less clear?

Peter’s Example:

Going back to Peter’s example, we can see that he asked Jesus for a clear command. And Jesus gave it to him! There was no possibility of a misunderstanding. So, Peter got out of the boat, and stepped onto the surface of that violent, heaving, stormy lake!

Now, consider: Peter knew he could not walk on water. He knew it was physically impossible! So, believing Jesus, enough to get out of the boat during a storm was really incredible faith! And it resulted in his actually walking on the water, for a few steps.

So, why did he begin to add “amendments” to the “constitution” of his faith? He knew walking on water was not possible at ALL! Then he found that under Jesus’s authority, it was possible to walk on water. Then, why did he suddenly think, “…except when the wind and waves are strong!”? Why do we add provisions and exceptions to the promises of God?

No Surprises to God

God is never “surprised” by my failings. I find them very discouraging, but He knew from eternity past, exactly how I would respond (or fail to respond) to His Grace and His authority.

So, Jesus was not surprised by Peter’s failure. Peter was surprised and thrilled to find himself walking on water, and was disappointed when he doubted, and sank. Here’s the question: did either experience (walking or sinking) make him worthy or unworthy of God’s kingdom?

That answer, of course, is “NO!”

Human Opinion

We are not qualified for Heaven by our actions. Abraham believed God and it was accounted to Him as Righteousness. But in James 2:18, we find that humans cannot see faith without works. So, from a human perspective, we may be seen as “unworthy to call ourselves believers” or “unqualified to serve God.”

But it has been God’s specialty to take those “unqualified, unworthy and unlovely” people and use them to His Glory. He says so! (1^st Corinthians 1:27 “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.”)

Faith and Love (v. 3)

Paul expressed his gratitude that the church at Thessalonica was growing in Faith and Love. Their Faith in God was growing and constantly being proved by their actions, so that Paul boasted of their walk with God when he spoke to other churches. He knew the persecutions and tribulations they were enduring, and he was pleased and satisfied to have been a part of their beginnings.

You will notice that the King James Version says their “charity” was abounding. “Charity” is the word that the Kong James Version translators used for the “agapé love, as opposed to the other three or four words which also could be translated “love.”

Their Love (specifically the Agapé Love) was abounding toward one another. They were taking care of one another and accepting one another, and cherishing one another, as brothers and sisters in Christ.

These are the two key things Jesus requires of believers: Faith and Love.

Endurance by Faith (v. 4)

Endurance is what we are to grow into: the King James Bible uses the word “patience” here, but the issue is not one of “patiently waiting,” but rather, enduring the hardships the believers were experiencing. Immature believers might say, “I just can’t understand why a loving God would allow…” whatever it is that they don’t like. (By the way, that is exactly what the unbelieving world says, too.) But a mature believer recognizes that the world is chock-full of evil and danger and tragedy, and that all of it is the long-term result of sin. And he/she endures in faith!

Past, Present and Future Salvation

Jesus saved us (past tense) from the eternal penalty of Sin, at the Cross: that is a “positional truth.” Because I am in Him, I am no longer condemned. That is my position: “in Him!”

He saves us (present tense) from the current power of sin on our own lives, as we walk with Him: that is a “conditional truth.” As I walk with Him, He can guide me and protect me from the traps laid by the Enemy.

He will eventually (future tense) deliver us from the presence of Sin, eternally. That is also a Positional truth: The Thief on the Cross, who was being executed as a consequence of his own sin, is just as free today from the presence of sin as any of us can hope to be.

But the general consequences of sin, which fill this broken, sin-ruined world around us, we usually simply have to endure. Diseases exist for which there is no cure. Believers contract those diseases, too, and there is no guarantee against them. We accept that burden, and we endure it in faith.

In the nations where persecution awaits all those who believe in Jesus, the believers endure that persecution by faith.

A Token of Judgment (v.5)

In John 16:33, Jesus said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have Peace. In the World ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the World.”

Those who are doing the persecuting face the Judgment of God, whether they know it or not. Jesus said, “they are already condemned because they have not believed on the Name of the Only Begotten Son of God.”

Different Judgments

But the coming judgment, including the tribulation, about which Paul had told them in the previous letter, will be a worldwide judgment on sin, upon all nations, and upon Israel, fulfilling the prophecy in Daniel chapter nine. The seven-year tribulation will pour out the judgment of a righteous God on the unbelieving world.

The judgment of our sins was poured out at the Cross, and that included the sins of the whole World. But the Judgment on the unbelieving World has a specific purpose in Daniel nine. He says it is to complete several things, and that the judgment is upon Israel and the World.

At the end of that time, Jesus will return, as we have read in the previous book. And in the process of His return, (Revelation 19:15) He will speak, and it says that His enemies will be destroyed by the sword that proceeds from His mouth. (His Word!)

But at the end of the Kingdom age, the entire earth will pass away in a flash of supernatural fire.

Not a single believer will be harmed by that final judgment:

How do I know? Because Jesus said so! He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” He said my future is secure: I will not be condemned.

And, in Romans 8, he says “there is now therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” He goes on to say that “the Law of the Spirit of Life, in Christ Jesus has made me free from the Law of Sin and Death.”

So, Are We “Worthy?”

If the question has to do with our own personal “worthiness,” then obviously the answer has to be a resounding “NO!” But if I can reply concerning the “Righteousness without the Law” as Paul mentions in Romans 3:21, then I can freely say that we have been judged worthy, solely on the basis of Jesus’s shed blood: His completed work at the Cross.

As Paul put it in Philippians 3:9, he wanted to ”… be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”

That, again, is a positional truth…”in Him!” We are to be found “in Him.” In Him, we have been “accepted in the Beloved.” In Him, “we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Can Grace be Earned?

Please turn to Romans 11:6. “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”

Grace specifically means “unearned favor.” If you think that you can “earn” God’s favor, either as an unbeliever or as a believer, you are falling prey to the trap of the Evil One. The entire book of Galatians was written to warn against this trap of “legalism,” supposing that “something I do” can earn God’s Favor.

If at any point, my salvation or my security depends upon my feeble works, instead of Christ alone, then ultimately, it is entirely dependent upon my works, as I guarantee, my works will always be the “weak link.” Jesus finished His perfect Work at the Cross. He is my only hope.

Does Our Testimony Demonstrate “Worthiness?”

In Ephesians 4:1, we are exhorted to “walk worthy” of the vocation wherewith we have been called. The calling is secure…but are we walking in such a way as to demonstrate that calling?

We do not become a child of God, nor do we maintain that status, by the way we live. We live in such a way as to demonstrate our new life in Christ, because we ARE His children! And we live for Him out of gratitude and Love, not fearing that if we don’t “live up to our calling,” He will cast us out. (Remember the promise of John 6:37? “He that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out!”)

But our testimony to others will either reflect that reality or fail to do so. That is our choice, day by day, and moment by moment.

What do others see?

The world and other believers can only see our faith by our works, according to James 2:18. How I endure hard times is a statement to others, either that Jesus is in control, or that He is not.

Lot’s life was a demonstration that he was not walking with God. If that were the only information we were given, then we might assume he was not a believer at all. But God says he was a believer—that God had declared him righteous! (2^nd Peter 2:7, 8) Yes, he was saved, but his life was a sad wreck, due to his own sin.

We want a better experience than that of Lot! We want to walk with God in such a way that our lives shine as a testimony of His Grace…not our own character or works.

Jesus alone is worthy!

Lord Jesus, change our motivation, so that we live to please You, not to impress other people, nor to “prove ourselves.” Draw us along as Your children and as laborers together with You. Teach us to see through Your eyes and care as you care.

July 9, 2023July 9, 2023

What is the Connection between Salvation and Discipleship?

Salvation and Discipleship

1^st Thessalonians 5:5-8

⁵Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

⁶Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

⁷For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

⁸But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

Introduction:

Last week we talked about the End Times, and particularly, how the “Day of The Lord” plays out in scripture. We pointed out, from 1^st Thessalonians 5:1-4 that the Church will not be part of the Tribulation, simply because we are not part of the coming judgment on the World and Israel, as seen in Daniel chapter 9.

However, that does not leave us without responsibility. The fact that we are “Children of the Light, and Children of the Day” means that we are not of the night and not judged with the world. But it also means we have certain responsibilities.

The fact that we have already been transferred into the Kingdom of Light is the security of our Salvation. But the fact that we are called to Live as Children of Light, is our call to Discipleship.

Salvation and Discipleship

So… what is the difference between “Salvation” and “Discipleship?” Is every saved person thereby also a disciple? Well…positionally, yes, perhaps they are. And, Yes, everyone who is saved is called to full discipleship.

But, relationally, and conditionally, no! Sadly, we do not always “follow Jesus,” though that is what He calls us to do! We need to see the difference, and how the difference applies to our lives.

**Salvation Should Result in Discipleship**

(Ephesians 2:8-10 “⁸For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹Not of works, lest any man should boast. ¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” We are saved by Grace (unearned favor) through Faith (Believing God: ”He said it, we believe it!”) The result should be that we do the good works that He has ordained us to do.

Yes, my sins were fully paid for at the Cross: I am fully forgiven now. I have redemption now. Also, I am unconditionally accepted by God, now. I have Eternal Life now. But to actually experience that Eternal life, in any meaningful way,I need to step into the other half of that transaction. He says that “We are His workmanship, created in Christ unto good works…”

Discipleship

The life of a disciple is completely committed to the service of his Master. There are good masters and bad ones in the world. The disciples of an evil master commit evil works because they are committed to following their evil master, and carrying out his will. If that is how the broken, evil world handles discipleship, how much more should we be committed to carrying out the will of our Master? He is not only Good, Himself, but He is also the ultimate source of all Good in the world?

We can easily “say” we are committed to His service, but, when it comes to choices, on a daily basis, we need to begin asking ourselves, “Will this specific choice be to His credit and honor?” This is where we “put shoe-leather on our faith.” That has to become the central question: “What would He have me to do?”

The Example of Saul of Tarsus

Saul of Tarsus, in Acts chapters eight and nine, was persecuting the church, because he was committed to destroying it. He thought that by doing so, he was serving God, so he went after it fervently. (Interestingly, in John 16:2, Jesus had predicted that the time would come when anyone who killed Christians would think they were serving God by doing so.)

But Saul was unwittingly serving the Evil One. In Romans 5:10 we see that we all start out as enemies of God. (Saul thought he was a great friend of God!) In Ephesians 2:3, we find that we all are born Children of Wrath, and we are natural servants of the Evil One. (Saul thought, as a Jew, that he was already a child of God!)

But in Acts 9:1-6 we see a transformation:

¹ And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, ²And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

³And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: ⁴And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? ⁵And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

⁶And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

Notice the Order of Events:

Jesus shone the Light on Saul. (Think of it as the “Gospel Light.”)
Paul responded in faith, asking “Who Art Thou, Lord?” (Consider this to be the point of Salvation for Saul, as he responded in trembling astonishment and he believed Jesus!)
Paul asked for orders! “What wilt thou have me to do?” (This is the beginning of Discipleship, immediately after salvation!)

So, by application of Ephesians 2:8-10, we can read the experience of Saul of Tarsus as an object lesson. (By the way, this Saul later changed his name to Paul: “Saul” means “asked for,” and it was the name of the first king of Israel. “Paul” means “little” or “insignificant.”)

**How does Paul’s life form an object lesson to teach Ephesians 2:8-10?**

We can see that Grace came in the form of a blinding light from the sky and a voice calling to him, by name. (Not everyone gets this experience: in fact, it was unique to Paul!) But He was saved by Grace, just like everyone else!
We can see that His Faith was instantaneous, but untaught. He simply Believed Jesus, more than whatever he had believed before. Jesus became his new standard! And that response of Faith to God’s Grace is how he was born again!
The “Good Works that God had before ordained” for him to “walk in” were pretty spectacular. The remaining nineteen chapters of the book of Acts are largely about his travel and trials and ministry and the persecution that resulted.

(We see the rest of the story of Saul’s conversion, in Acts 9:8-19. In verses 15 and 16, we see Jesus saying what those good works might entail: Speaking to Ananias, who was sent to restore Saul’s sight, Jesus said, “Go thy way, for He is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: ¹⁶For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.)

Paul was one of the few disciples who got to see in advance what his ministry was to be. Most of us do not. We grow in faith, from the moment of salvation, and we learn that we truly are “called to discipleship.” There are no exceptions.

Making the Call of God Personal

We grow into a deeper understanding of that rather vague, uncomfortable idea, until it becomes our life’s guiding principle. At some point, we finally fully agree, that “If He bought me and I belong to Him, then it makes sense that I should be working for Him!”

And, ultimately, we find ourselves involved in full-time service of one sort or another. I have taught Bible for 45 years, always self-supporting. Until this last three years I worked secular jobs, as did Paul, to support myself and my family, but I still devoted myself to training young believers, and raising them up to discipleship. Some went on to become missionaries, some became pastors or teachers. Some served in other ways….but discipleship was the common thread in all their lives.

In my own case, I had never “asked” to become a Pastor: but now I feel honored to be permitted to feed the flock of God. There are others among you who are also gifted to feed the flock: this is not a “one-man show.”

Jesus said, “Feed My Flock!”

Every person who is gifted to feed the flock needs to be ready (at a moment’s notice,) to “put on his Discipleship Boots,” so to speak, and go to God’s “Sheep-food bin,” (we call it “the Bible”) and dig out enough “sheep food” to feed the flock, at least on an occasional basis. (If nothing else, choose to do so, just to allow the regular teachers a break. You need the opportunity to serve, and they need the opportunity to sit down and be fed, once in a while!)

Last Sunday night, I got sick. I was hurting everywhere, and I was running a fever, so I called on one of the brothers to take Wednesday night’s Bible Study in my place, and he did! Was it easy? Nope! It wasn’t! Would it have been easier if he had already prepared a lesson in advance and was just “chomping at the bit,” hoping to get a chance to share it? Well, yes, I expect it would have been: But the point is, he rose to the challenge, and he served. He fed the flock!

The “Thessalonian Challenge”

Notice the statements that are made in this short passage:

All of you (believers) ARE the children of the Light, and the children of the Day.
You are NOT of the night, nor of darkness. (How did you get that way? You were born again as the genuine children of God!)
THEREFORE, (Because we have been born again, and we are children of the Light, and children of the Day,) then…what?
let us not sleep, as do others; (Our lives are not to be “just like everyone else:” we have a new Master, and new priorities! Jesus said we are no longer of the World, and the result will be that we can no longer hope to “fit in.”)
but let us watch and be sober. (The contrast is to be a constant difference in how we see the world around us, and how we respond to our surroundings. Our sobriety, and considering the eternal value (or lack of such) makes us automatic “misfits.”)
- (⁷For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.)⁸But let us, who are of the day, be sober, (The world sleeps, but we are to be awake to the Spirit of God and the coming Judgment: The “Day of the Lord,” and the final judgment coming on sin. That ought not to put us to sleep!)
putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

**What kind of person is told to “put on armor…” a breastplate, and a helmet?**

Only a soldier is told to put on a breastplate, and a helmet. (Only a serious disciple is called to fight for his master.) But the call to put on the Armor of God is extended to all believers. Why? Because every single one of us is called to discipleship! Not only that, but we are called to always be on full alert! God never says, “Stand down! Be at ease, there is no threat, here!”

In fact, in 1^st Peter 5:8, He says, “Be sober, be vigilant; for your enemy the Devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”

So, stop and think: do you truly think Satan and his servants are going to “take a day off?” The truth is, they do not! And, because they do not take breaks, we cannot! Our release will come soon enough, in God’s timing. And their final judgment will come shortly thereafter. But it is usually when we decide to “take a break” that we get into trouble!

**We are Called to Rest, but we are not to “take time off from discipleship.”**

(Can we rest? Absolutely, we can!) We are called to continual rest: but we are to rest in Him, not rest from Him. You married folks, ask yourselves: If your spouse said, “I’m leaving for a day or two: I need a break from being around you!” How would you feel? I would feel terrible! But when we decide to take off on a tangent and pursue worldly things, that is precisely what we are telling Jesus: “I am tired of attempting to walk with you: I think will go back to my old ways for a while!” That is not discipleship. Discipleship means following Jesus.

Do we fail sometimes? Yes, we do! And I am grateful that God forgives our failures. But don’t try to tell yourself it is not important to Him! It is! And it should be important to us, as well.

Lord Jesus, draw us along as Your Disciples! Teach us to walk as You walked, and Serve as You Served. Tear down our self-centeredness and teach us the sobriety to see the Holiness of God and desire to Imitate His Love and Grace.

June 18, 2023June 18, 2023

How are We to Love the Brethren?

1st Thessalonians 4:9-12

⁹But as touching brotherly love [philadelphias: (root is “philéo”)] ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love [agapan: (root is “agapao”] one another. ¹⁰And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren [believers] which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;

¹¹And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; ¹²That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.

Introduction:

Here in verses 9-12, we see two forms of “love” commanded (in verse nine), and several general commands as to how that is to be carried out.

The first form of love mentioned here in verse nine is the “Love of the Brethren.” The Greek word is “philadeplhias.” The word comes from the root, “philéo,” and is usually translated “brotherly love.” It has to do with a “familial care for other believers:” seeing them as our family, and caring for one another in that way.

But the second word, in the latter portion of the same verse, is from the Greek root “agapao.” It is completely different than “philéo.” And this is the one Jesus commanded the disciples to have toward one another.

What is the Difference?

The “philéo” love has to do with how we feel, and how we function, toward family: It is how we are to feel and act toward a brother or sister. (Always assuming that the family has a bond of familial love and affection and concern for one another: some families fail in that regard.) Paul points out in verses nine and ten that they are already applying this love toward the brethren. He feels no need to exhort them regarding this love.

But the subject has shifted by the end of verse nine: he has switched to the subject of “agapé” love. He says they had already been taught that they were to “Love one another:” (He quotes Jesus on this note. See John 13:34, 35.) He says that they had already been demonstrating this agapé love to all the believers in their geographic area. But he exhorts them to increase and grow in that function.

So, How is that done? What does that “Look like?”

Keep in mind that agapé love has nothing to do with feelings. When we read the description of the agapé love, in 1^st Corinthians 13:4-8, we notice that there is no reference to feelings, at all. Every single descriptor is demonstrated by actions. They all describe how agapé love behaves or does not behave.

So, let’s explore each of the descriptors and see how they might find application in our lives.

1^st Corinthians 13:4-8

⁴Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, ⁵Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; ⁶Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; ⁷Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. ⁸Charity never faileth:

Please notice that because the Greek language has about five different words for love, four of which are used in scripture. The King James Translators attempted to set apart the agapé love by using the word “charity” to translate it. The “problem” for us is that the word “charity” has changed over the years, and now it virtually only means “giving to the poor.”

In a way, that makes sense, as the meaning of “agapao” means the pouring out of yourself for the benefit of someone else, without regard for how it affects you. Jesus demonstrated that Love at the Cross: He poured Himself out for us, not allowing His own feelings or comfort to interfere with His sacrifice for us.

**So, What do we see as the Descriptors for Agapé love in 1^st Corinthians 13:4-8**?

Agapé Love is patient (longsuffering.)
Agapé Love is kind.
Agapé Love is not envious.
Agapé Love is not given to arrogance, boasting or pride.
Agapé Love is not “puffed up”…not filled with self-importance.
Agapé Love is not given to inappropriate behavior of any kind.
Agapé Love is not focused on self, or the needs of self.
Agapé Love is not easily stirred to anger.
Agapé Love is not given to assuming bad motives in others, nor keeping a “score.”
Agapé Love is not pleased with evil things, no matter to whom they happen.
Agapé Love is happy when truth is honored, even if it is not to its own benefit.
Agapé Love is able to bear up under every load, and withstand every trial.
Agapé Love is able, despite circumstances, to hope for God’s blessing in all things.
Agapé Love is able to outlast any trial, enduring it as part of love.
Agapé Love is eternal, and it has eternal value.

Interestingly, verse eight goes on to point out that some of the things we may think are eternal are not! The gifts of the Holy Spirit are not eternal. They are for this life only. There will come a time when those gifts are no longer needed. But the Agapé Love has eternal value and will not cease to function. Choosing to love in this way is always an act of the will…not a response to feelings. It is not based on emotions, but rather, it is a voluntary choice.

What are some Other things we know about Agapé Love?

Romans 13:10 says “Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore Love is the fulfilling of the Law.” Jesus confirmed this, in Mark 12:30-33, saying that the twin commands “thou shalt Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy mind and all thy strength,” and “thou shalt Love thy neighbor as thyself” were the “core value” of all of God’s commands. That, if you fulfill those two commands, you have fulfilled all the rest!

Galatians 5:13 says we are not to use our “Christian Liberty” as an opportunity for self-serving, (serving our flesh; our old sin nature,) but rather, by agapé love, we are called to serve one another. (Love Serves!) Jesus said (Mark 10:45) that “the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many,” (Love Gives! Love serves, and Love gives!)

1^st Peter 4:8 exhorts us, “And above all things have fervent charity [agapé love] among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.”

Cover sins? “Cover…” how? Agapé Love motivates us to “throw a veil over” the faults of others. God says that in the same manner that He has forgiven us, He expects us to forgive others.

**So, How has God forgiven us?**

In Psalm 103:12, He says that he has removed our sins from us as far as the East is from the West. That is a pretty powerful statement! I have always appreciated that particular comparison because it is unlimited. If I fly North, I can only fly so far before I will suddenly be flying South! And the reverse is also true. But! I can fly East for the rest of my life, and I will never suddenly find myself flying West! And the same is true in the other direction. It is an unlimited separation.

Furthermore, (in Psalm 103:14) God says that “He knows our frame, that we are dust….” He understands our frailties and He accepts us as we are. (Will you be that considerate toward those around you? Will you accept them as they are, and choose to tolerate their idiosyncrasies? Will you tolerate their irritating mannerisms, and their flawed logic?) The word “forbearance” means to lovingly “put up with” one another.

How do you see other believers?

Romans 4:7, 8, quoting King David, says “Blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”

God the Father sees you in Christ…and only in Christ. He sees you as perfect, clean, and holy, in Christ! The Lord chooses to no longer see you as a guilty sinner. Can you choose to see other believers in that same light? That is what agapé love requires.

If you are loving others with the Agapé love, then you are not so likely to hold their faults against them. In your own mind, you will set aside those faults and you will overlook their shortcomings, and not take into account the wrongs you have suffered. Why? Because their soul is more precious to you than your own comfort. Their well-being is more important to you than “standing on your own rights.”

What are the Results?

The result of agapé love ruling your life will be a more consistent tranquility, as well as a deep concern for the welfare of other believers. You will find that you are no longer likely to be offended by others. You will genuinely care about what they care about, and look for opportunities to be a blessing to others without calling attention to yourself in the process.

Relationships will deepen, as others sense that you genuinely care for them, not just superficially, or “just when it looks good.”

Priorities will begin to change as you begin to see others through God’s eyes. Your focus will shift away from self, and you will increasingly find yourself asking God to show you His way to respond to life, and His path for you to follow. Your church-family will become increasingly precious to you, as you learn to see the brothers and sisters through God’s eyes.

The “Litmus Test”

The reality of whether we love God is revealed by whether we treat the brethren with His Love. 1^st John 4:20 poses the question, “…he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not seen?”

So, if someone claims to love God, but their actions show that they do not love other believers, then God says they are lying about loving God. That sounds harsh to us. But it is in the same verse we just read: It is the first half of that same verse. “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar…” The reality is, we are fooling ourselves…deceiving ourselves.

And, in 1^st Thessalonians 4:11, 12, he says another result is that we will be more likely to tend to our own business, and to live quiet lives. We will also be productive, looking for ways to maintain a clear conscience and good relationships with others, particularly unbelievers.

Practical Holiness

We will strive to earn an income through honest work, and use that income in a way to honor God, and not be dependent upon others, for testimony’s sake. These are good principles for today as well: today, there are various programs which may tempt us to milk “free money from the government,” not admitting that it ultimately comes from our fellow taxpayers. We don’t want to have a reputation for being “freeloaders,” of any kind.

Galatians 6:4, 5 agrees, saying “But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden.”

But if another brother or sister is under a crushing load that they cannot bear, we exercise the love of Christ and ease their burden.

Agapé love is practical. And it looks for the opportunity to bless others in practical ways.

Jesus showed the ultimate example of Agapé Love when He bore our sins at the Cross. He met our need, without respect to what it cost Him. We can either follow His example or fail to do so.

Lord Jesus, fill our hearts with a consciousness of Your presence and Your Love. Teach us to love as You love.

June 3, 2023June 3, 2023

To Increase and Abound in Love

1^st Thessalonians 3:11-13

¹¹Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you.

¹²And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: ¹³To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

Introduction:

Last week we saw that the passion of the Shepherds, including that of the Great Shepherd Jesus, is for the people of God to thrive, spiritually, and to become strong and healthy, as believers, and to consistently reflect the priorities and compassion of Jesus.

Our “prime directive” from Jesus is quite different than that of the television series, Star Trek, where the characters insist that their “Prime Directive” is that they must not disturb any other culture’s pattern of thinking, or way of life. Jesus stated our Prime directive: “Love one another as I have loved You.” That is an utterly different direction, and it has entirely different results.

It is OK to talk about the Bad News!

Notice that Jesus did not hesitate to “disturb our way of thinking,” nor to warn us of impending doom. In fact, He spent more time warning of the coming Judgment than He did elaborating on the joys of Heaven.

Jesus came specifically to turn us away from our old way of life. He did not say that “whatever we are doing is fine,” or that “all ways were equally good.” Quite the opposite: He cut across the grain of every culture in the world, by stating that Sin is what stands between us and God, and that the result will be eternal condemnation, apart from God’s intervention. But God has intervened!

How did God intervene?

God intervened through an act of selfless Love…Agapé Love. Jesus summed it up in His famous statement, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” It literally says, “in this manner, God loved the World…” This is HOW God intervened. And, most importantly, His intervention included the whole world.

But Jesus cut across the smug self-righteousness of the Pharisees and Priests, and He also cut across the pompous worldly-wise self-confidence of the Gentile philosophers. He offered the absolute truth of God to Man, enclosed in Human flesh.

The One and Only:

He clearly stated His unique position as the only begotten Son. The Greek word is “monogene.” It means the “Crown Prince; the “Heir to the Throne.” He is not “one of many ways,” but the Way. Jesus the Messiah is not “one of many truths,” but the Truth. He is not “one of many sources of Life,” but the Life! His own “prime directive” was to satisfy the righteous demands of God’s Holiness on behalf of the entire human race. He fulfilled that directive by a perfect life and a perfect sacrifice at the Cross. He bought the whole World by the shedding of His Blood.

And Jesus gave us our prime directive, in John 13:34, 35. He said that we are to exhibit that same Agapé Love toward one another. We are to “intervene” by Love. We are not to allow other believers to just “slide off” into unfruitfulness and to become the wreckage Satan desires for each of us, but rather to intervene and encourage one another to press on, and walk in obedience to Christ. Remember that the command “Love one another” comes in the context of the foot-washing lesson, in John 13.

Galatians 6:1 clearly states that we are to help one another in the spiritual battle, and to restore one another to fellowship, as needed. This is all part of our “prime directive.”

What About the World?

Paul reiterates that “prime directive” of Agapé Love in 1^st Thessalonians 3:12. He expands upon it to point out that the command includes extending that Agapé love toward all people: not just other believers. We are not directed to “allow people to just go their own way,” but rather, we are to warn them that judgment is coming, and offer them the gift of God.

Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death” (There is the judgment!) “…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.” (There is the gift we are sent to offer!) This is how we are to love the world as Jesus did! It is by taking the necessary risks of rejection and possible persecution, and going ahead with the job of evangelism.

Paul’s Example

In verse 12, Paul also concludes that they could take his and the other evangelists as a working model of how to apply this concept. Paul, Silas, and Timothy had taken the necessary risks to bring the Good News of Jesus to Thessalonica. They endured the danger there, just as they had done in Philippi, though in Thessalonica, they escaped further injury.

Remember, we read in Acts 17, that they had gone to the synagogue, in Thessalonica, probably still bleeding from the wounds received in Philippi. They accepted the calculated risk that the Jewish leaders might resent the message that Jesus was their true Messiah. The evangelists (missionaries,) showed all of the people in the synagogue (from the Jew’s own scriptures,) that the Messiah was expected to suffer death at their hands. They showed that Jesus had, in fact, fulfilled their scripture by subjecting Himself to the abuse, torture and crucifixion He had endured at Jerusalem.

Some of the Jews believed the message. Many Gentile proselytes believed. And the result was quite literally, a riot. It has often been observed that, wherever Paul went there resulted a revival, or a riot, or both. In this case, it was both. And yet, he said that the Thessalonian believers could take him and his fellow laborers as examples of how to live.

**What Effect Did Paul Expect in Their Lives?**

In verse 13, Paul said that if they committed themselves to that “Prime Directive,” the expected result should be that they would find their hearts increasingly established and strengthened in a practical Holiness, so that at the Lord’s return they would stand blameless before Him.

Positionally, believers have already been declared “holy” by God. Positionally, we already stand blameless before Him. (See Ephesians 1:4) Our position in Him, our salvation, is a gift. Nothing can alter that position. But, in terms of reward, all the results are very much conditioned upon responding to Him consistently in obedience.

Compare Two Ministries

Several times I have compared the ministries of Jeremiah and Jonah: Jonah got great “results,” but he had begun in complete rebellion, and even in the face of a major revival, he was bitter toward God for saving the enemies of Israel. God had to remind him that those people were precious to Him, too.

In contrast, Jeremiah poured himself out for the souls of the people to whom he was sent, though they abused him. He prayed and wept for them, seeking their repentance. But, as far as we know for sure, only two of his audience responded in faith.

We do have a choice How we serve!

Given a choice, I would rather be like Jeremiah than to be like Jonah! Consider how Jeremiah exhibited Agapé Love. Then compare Jonah. Jonah hated the people to whom he was sent, and was hoping to see them destroyed! He was bitterly resentful toward God for saving them, and said, in effect, “I knew you were going to do this! That is why I ran away to begin with!”

Yes, God rewards obedience, but He also rewards obedience from the heart: not just “outward compliance.” God knows our hearts. He honors His Word, simply because it is His Word! But he honors us for willingly joining with Him in the double harness of service that He offers.

Service is a Privilege.

First, it is a privilege reserved for those who have been born again, into His family. Secondly, it is reserved for those believers who willingly respond to the call of God.

In Isaiah 6:1-8, the prophet Isaiah heard that call: “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?” (We might call that a “rhetorical question,” as the call was being directed to Isaiah!) But Isaiah responded as though he were a volunteer, saying, “Here am I, Lord! Send me!” He was eager to join Jesus in the Work of the Gospel.

What about Counterfeits?

Do some people imitate the service of God? And are they possibly even earnestly coveting His favor and reward? Absolutely they do, and that may be their earnest hope. But if you circumvent the Cross, refusing to deal with your sins, then you are impersonating a child of God. As a lost person attempts to serve God without His approval, they are similar to the people we sometimes hear about who impersonate police officers. Some of them even buy uniforms, and paint their cars to look official, and then go out and attempt to arrest “bad guys.”

The problem, of course, is that it is a crime to impersonate a police officer. Thus, even if what they are doing while wearing that counterfeit uniform is technically a “good thing,” they will not be rewarded for their supposed “good deeds.” They will be punished for the crime of impersonating an officer of the law.

Jesus knows the Difference!

Jesus said that there will be people under judgment, who protest that they are the “good guys!” They will say, “But we did all these great things in your name!” And He said that His response will be “…but I never knew you! Depart from me, you workers of iniquity!”

He will not say that to any of His “born ones.” (By the way, the Greek word translated as “children,” in reference to those reborn into the family of God, is “teknoi,” meaning “Born Ones.”) He will not reject you for wrongdoing, though your rebellion or neglect may cost you much of the reward you had hoped to earn.

Practice, Exercise, and Growth

As with everything else in life, this new life in Christ takes practice to gain any stability. It is not something “natural” we are attempting, any more than it was “natural” for Peter to walk on the water with Jesus. It was impossible unless Jesus enabled him, and even then, the moment he shifted his focus to the surroundings, he began to sink. The same holds true for us!

It requires practice and exercise to gain experience and stability in a walk with Jesus. And it requires spiritual food to grow strong and healthy. In 1^st Peter 2:2, we are told, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby.” If we are not feeding on God’s Word, and practicing the application of His Word in our lives, then we cannot hope to grow strong and stable as believers. And we certainly cannot hope to become proficient at walking with Him if we do not consistently practice doing so.

Learning to Walk

When you were physically learning to walk, as a baby, success meant always getting up one more time than you fell down. As we are learning to walk with God, we often find that we have stumbled and fallen into sin. We confess it to God: (That is how we get up!) He forgives us, and we again set out to walk with Him.

Paul says that as we continue to practice exercising the Agapé Love in our relationships with others, including our outreach to unbelievers, we will become stronger, more effective, and more fruitful in our walk with Him. That growth and experience gives us great confidence as we go to meet Him, or, even just on a day-by-day basis, as we anticipate His return.

Perhaps this phrase seems small and unimportant, in the context of the things in the coming chapters, but since the Lord’s primary command is in view, we need to take it seriously, and consider how to apply it in our lives.

Lord Jesus, please open our eyes to the state of the World around us, and help us to see the people of the world as You see them: rather than seeing them as servants of the enemy, let us see them as victims of the enemy. Give us a heart of compassion to reach out to the lost around us, and to encourage one another as we see Your return approaching.

December 2, 2022December 2, 2022

The Poor Ye Have Always

John 12:7, 8

⁷Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. ⁸For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.

Compare Deuteronomy 15:7, 10, 11

⁷If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:

¹⁰Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. ¹¹For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

Introduction:

In the immediate context of John 12:8, if we only see the criticism of Judas and the response of Jesus, we could arrive at a wrong conclusion. It would be easy to assume that Jesus’s reply relegates the care of the poor to a lesser order of importance. And, compared to our immediate need to follow and worship Jesus (which Mary was doing, in this passage) all other things are secondary.

But Jesus was not diminishing the importance of attending to the needs of people around us. He was simply putting priorities in order. When we look back to Deuteronomy 15:10, 11, we see that Jesus was quoting His own Word, regarding the Poor. He had commanded the people of Israel to take care of their poor. It was not an option. It was also not just a “government function” such as welfare or food stamps. It was a personal responsibility, for every believer.

Why did Judas condemn Mary’s gift?

Mary, the sister of Lazarus, brought the very expensive perfume and anointed the feet of Jesus. Judas claimed to be offended that the money had not been used for something utilitarian, specifically, feeding the poor. (John gives us the inside story on that. He points out that, in reality, Judas was not at all concerned about the poor. He was a thief, and ironically, he was the “treasurer” for the group. He was jealous that the money was not being put in his own hands.)

But Jesus responded to what Judas claimed as his concern…the care of the poor. He said, in effect, “That is a constant need—no one denies it. But this is a “one-time-only” special gift. She has been saving up money for this act of worship, looking forward to my burial.”

Did Mary know that her action was looking forward to His burial? I rather doubt it. None of the disciples truly understood the plan and purpose of Jesus, in coming into the world. They simply loved Him for who He was, and what He was in their lives. That is a pretty good way to relate to Jesus, today, by the way. He does not demand that we understand all that He is doing. He wants our Faith and Love, each of which will result in obedience, which, in turn, will result in His being able to bless us even more.

What about the Poor?

As we read through the Old Testament, there is no question that God not only cares for the poor, but He expects His people to care for them as well. We should also notice that Israel was to care for their own poor. They were not told to try to meet the needs of every person in the World. They were taking care of those within their own sphere of responsibility.

Proverbs 29:7 says,“ The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.”

Psalm 112:5-9 says, “⁵A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion. ⁶Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. ⁷He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. ⁸His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies. ⁹He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour. “

Church Responsibilities

The Church is not to turn a blind eye to the needs of people in our communities. We are to “consider” the cause of the poor: their needs and their problems. And we are to see whether there is some way for us to be a genuine help. We, as a church, continually look for ways to do just that.

As we study the New Testament, we see that this task has not changed. We are to care especially for other believers in our sphere of responsibility, and, as far as we are able, to care for unbelievers around us as well. In the same manner, God sends His rain, His sunshine, and His general supply to everyone, not discriminating between “just and unjust.” Remember, however, that we are not God, and while we can contribute, we are also limited in ability and wherewithal. We have to let Him lead us.

James 2:15, 16 underscores the responsibility of believers to other believers. In arguing the requirement that faith must carry through and produce action, James says, “¹⁵If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, ¹⁶And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

“Shoe Leather Faith”

We are encouraged to “be practical” in our care for one another. The entire book of James is directed toward “practical holiness.” It means “putting shoe leather on your faith.” Our faith is not only supposed to “talk the talk,” but also to “walk the walk.” James tells us to function in practical ways, and not just be “posers,” with a show of piety, but no substance.

We are to seek to reach out to those around us with the Gospel of Christ, as we are commanded to do. Paul says, regarding the Gospel of Christ, “I am a debtor….” He considered that to be the one thing that he owed to all people. But we also want to make an effort to meet practical needs. The only question we need to ask is regarding “balance” and “priorities.” Paul pointed out that his primary calling was to reach the world with the Gospel.

Priority of Jesus

Jesus demonstrated the same thing in His ministry. At Sychar, in Samaria (John 4:34) Jesus told His disciples, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His Work!” (And what was that work? Was it feeding the poor? He did feed them on more than one occasion. Was it to heal the sick? He certainly did a lot of that!) But, as the Living Word of God, the primary ministry of Jesus, daily, was to lead human souls to God. And His final goal was the Cross, to offer Himself as the satisfaction of the Righteousness and Holiness of God so that the human race could approach God and be saved.

The “harvest” he pointed out to the disciples, and the work He wanted to complete as “the task at hand,” was the harvest of souls. In that same passage, He said, “Lift up your eyes! Look on the fields! They are white already unto harvest!”

We can easily see that “feeding the poor” is also within the scope of His will for us, but Jesus was not telling them to go “feed the poor.” He was telling them, “These are people who need the Savior: Let’s get busy, and lead them to the Lord! The Harvest is right there in front of you!”

**What is our Priority?**

Can we go too far into “social work?” Yes, I believe we can lose sight of our objective, and begin to feel that “we exist to feed the world.” Feeding the poor is only a part of what we are to do: the actual assignment was to take the Gospel to the whole world.

Consider a fireman, working in a fire department: he may be given the daily task of organizing the map box. Or he man be assigned to change the oil in the fire trucks or to cook a meal for the fire crew. But that task does not change his prime directive; his job, which is to fight fires!

Prime Directive

Our “prime directive” is to preach the Gospel. Jesus gave His “last request” several times. It always involved taking the Gospel of Christ to the lost world. All the other “tasks” are incidental to the prime directive. If we are failing to draw people to Jesus Christ, then, no matter how many “hungry mouths we feed,” we are not doing what we were told to do!

If the fire alarm rings, and the firefighter in our example above says, “Sorry, I’m busy organizing the maps!” then he will no longer be a firefighter! We are called to reach the dying World with the hope of Eternal Life. As we go, we are to meet people’s other needs as well. The other needs are not the primary goal.

Living Examples

Jim and Judy Burdett, the missionaries we support, spent 40 years doing just that. The result has been three fully functioning churches, several pastors and Bible teachers and evangelists, as well as the entire New Testament translated into the Dom language.

But! Every morning, Judy got up, and, on her porch, she cared for the minor medical needs of the people. Jim helped with their physical building projects, and he provided transportation to the nearby town on occasions when people had needs. Judy taught literacy so that the people could read the portions of the New Testament as they were completed. Jim and Judy met people’s physical needs as God provided, and, in their hospitality and generosity they proved themselves to be good neighbors.

But they never forgot their prime directive. Their priorities were correct: They were there for one reason: to reach those people with the Gospel and, in doing so, to translate the New Testament into their language. And that is what they accomplished!

Similarly, we are called to set our priorities. We are not to lose sight of our stated purpose, but, as a part of that given assignment, we are to “be good neighbors,” to “love the unlovely,” to “feed the poor,” to “care for widows and orphans,” etc. Those are the “side tasks” that demonstrate the Love of Christ. They accompany the Gospel we are commanded to share. The “side tasks” are not to be ignored, but they are not to replace the preaching of the Cross.

Hidden Agendas

In Judas Iscariot’s case, there was no question: The scripture tells us that he had a “hidden agenda.” He was a thief and he wanted access to the money. But we can have hidden agendas, too. We may hope to do enough of the supplemental things that we escape responsibility for the central assignment. (Sorry: that is not possible!)

Entire church denominations have become servants of a “social gospel,” as opposed to the preaching of the Cross, the message of Salvation. In fact,“Sunday Schools” were begun in England, not as a tool of the Gospel, but as a means to get children out of the factories, and educate them. They were to teach them to read and write and use arithmetic. They were schools, and the government required the shop owners to release the children from work every Sunday, to attend those schools.

Were the schools valuable? Absolutely, they were! Were they fulfilling the Great Commission in any way? Possibly, but marginally so, at best, unless the people providing the education had the personal goal of leading people to Christ. In that case, perhaps it really was a means by which to reach souls for Christ. (And. yes, in learning to read, they were also reading scripture, so probably some became believers that way.) But the goal was social reform, not evangelism. By the way, the British commonwealth schools still teach Bible classes in some places. But they are not often taught as the Bible being the Word of God.

Changed Course

The “public schools” that emerged as a result of that initial move toward “educating the masses” were initially run by God-fearing men and women, so they probably still had a good effect. But the public school systems have deteriorated until the government schools finally have become enemies of the Gospel.

It is easy for a missionary organization to forget their prime directive as well. Many missions have failed in that way. (Some missionaries in history have even been drawn away to become government spies!) The key to avoiding such “derailments,” is for each individual to personally remember that the Great Commission is still in force today. We are to remember that it applies to all believers individually. It is unlikely that a large group of believers who each hold that core belief could easily be diverted. Without that conviction, we can be distracted by politics or social reform and collectively forget our assignment.

There is a saying, that, “When you are up to your armpits in alligators, it is hard to remember that you originally went in to drain the swamp.” That saying is intended to be humorous. But it is still a pretty accurate assessment of why we become distracted by the various alarms sounding all around us. It tells how we tend to lose sight of our objectives.

Lord Jesus, refocus our attention on our prime directive, the Great Commission, and fix our hearts on honoring Your written Word and living in Obedience to You as the Living Word.

November 18, 2022November 20, 2022

Why did Jesus Weep? What Application is There for Us?

Why did Jesus Weep?

John 11:32-37 (Compare Romans 12:15; Hebrews 4:15, 16)

³²Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. ³³When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled. ³⁴And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.

³⁵Jesus wept.

³⁶Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! ³⁷And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?

Introduction

We often hear about John 11:35 in terms of it being the “shortest verse in the Bible.” That is true, of course. But it doesn’t have much bearing on what it means for us as believers. Who cares that it is the shortest? That fact is interesting, perhaps, but in itself is meaningless. The content of every verse is what we need. What does it say, and what does it mean? And, ultimately, how can I apply it to my own life?

The context was Lazarus’ death and the grief it had caused his family and friends. In thAt context, the fact that Jesus also wept takes on much more meaning. Was He just “overwhelmed with grief” at having lost His friend? That seems unlikely, since He knew He was about to raise him back to normal life. It seems far more likely that Jesus wept for the grief that the others were experiencing.

Get the Whole Context

In verses 1-14, we saw that Jesus knew all about what was going on in Bethany. Though he was a long distance away, He knew that Lazarus was sick. He knew that it would ultimately not result in death, (v.4) but in His own glorification. He waited two days after hearing the news that Lazarus was sick, before leaving. This was so that Lazarus would not have “just died” when Jesus arrived. He waited that long so that Lazarus would have been dead long enough that no one had any doubt about his death. In fact, they would know that his body would have begun to decay!

Then Jesus told His disciples that He was going back to Judaea. They were worried that He would be killed. He finally explained to them that Lazarus was dead, and that He, Jesus, was going to “awaken” him. They were still pretty anxious about going back to a town so close to Jerusalem, but ultimately, they all went along.

When Jesus arrived, the majority of the people who initially met Him were believers. Some said to Him, “Lord, if you had been here, Lazarus would not have died.’ Others, to one another, said “This man healed the blind. Couldn’t he have prevented the death of His friend?” So, we can see that many of them at least had a rudimentary faith in His ability to heal.

What about Death itself?

The issue they were all struggling with, was “Why didn’t you save his life?” But it had not yet occurred to most of them, that Jesus could actually raise the dead. Martha seemed to have a glimmer of the idea. She believed that Jesus could ask God to bring Lazarus back from the dead. (See verse 22: She said, “Even now, whatsoever you will ask of God, God will give it to you.”)

Can God raise the dead?

So, the question now is, “How far does the authority of Jesus, the Messiah, really extend? Can He raise the dead?” We need to remember that this is not the first time God raised the dead. In 1^st Kings 17:17-24, we see that the son of the Widow at Zarephtha had died. Elijah asked God to restore him, and God honored that request and raised the boy back to life.

2^nd Kings 4:1-37 tells of Elisha, the protégé of Elijah, and another child God raised from the dead. And, at the end of Elisha’s life, long after his death, in 2^nd Kings 13:20, 21, we see some men sent out to bury the corpse of a dead man. But, because the men saw a band of enemy raiders coming, they hurriedly let the man’s body down into the grave of Elisha.

It must have been a shocking experience to those men: When the dead body touched the bones of Elisha, it sprang back to life! (I especially enjoy this story, as I imagine these men assigned to do the burying, running back within the city walls to escape the raiders, and looking back to see the dead man running with them.)

Finally, in Ezekiel 37, though it was “just a vision,” it still spoke of the authority of God to raise those who had long been dead. In that particular case, it referred to the resurrection of the Jews as a nation, both physically and spiritually.

But; Can Jesus Raise the Dead?

So, the concept of being raised from the dead was not new: it is just that none of them had ever seen it, and now they would see whether Jesus actually possessed the authority He claimed. That is the real question: “Does Jesus truly have the Authority He claims to have?” We still ask that question today: “Can Jesus really take care of me and my family? Is His blood really sufficient to take away all my sins? How sure am I, really, that everything He says is really true? And, Does He really caree about me?”

Jesus wants us to be sure. He wants us to know that we have eternal life, now, not waiting until we die to find out whether we were “Good Enough.” 1^st John 5:11-13 says that He wants us to know that we have eternal life… not hope, or just be persuaded, or think so. He wants us to know it.

The Widow of Zarephtha had already believed that Elijah was a man of God. She agreed to make the small cake of bread for him, because he promised that her little barrel of meal and her little jar of oil would not run out until the famine was past. And it didn’t!

But then her son died. She immediately reproached Elijah, in grief and anger. But he took the dead child from her, carried him up to the loft where he was living, and prayed for God to “return his soul to his body.” And God did so. Her response was “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the Word of the LORD in thy mouth is Truth!”

God wants us to be that sure!

How can we Experience Eternal Life?

We know from the Old Testament stories that God is completely capable of getting us safely home to Himself. We believe that His authority carries beyond the grave. But He wants us not only to be sure that we already have eternal life through faith in the shed blood of Jesus. He also wants us to be secure in the knowledge that He is with us now. He wants us to trust Him to carry us through all of life, and through death itself. This is not a “pie in the sky when you die” idea. We are called to experience that Eternal Life in the here and now!

In John 17:3, Jesus said “ And this is Eternal Life: that they may know thee, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” The word translated as “know,” here, is the Greek word, “ginosko,” meaning “experiential knowledge.” Not just “knowing a lot about a person,” but having an ongoing, living, growing relationship with that person. If we are to experience eternal life today, then we need to be in that ongoing, experiential relationship with Jesus.

We can “have” eternal life, because we have placed our faith in His completed work at the Cross…faith in His shed blood for our sins. But to experience it in a real, everyday way, we need to be walking with Him.

Seeing the Dead Raised

We might be tempted to think, “Well, why doesn’t God raise the dead today, and make everyone believe?” There were people right there who saw Lazarus raised, who definitely were not persuaded to place their faith in Jesus. Quite the opposite: they plotted to kill him! Not only that, but, in the next chapter, it occurred to them that they had better include Lazarus in the bargain. (“Gotta kill him too, or people will believe in Jesus anyway!”)

In Luke 16:19-31, we see the story of the “other Lazarus.” In it, the dead rich man argued that “…if they see someone raised from the dead, they will believe!” Abraham answered, “If they will not believe Moses and the Prophets, neither will they believe, though one be raised from the dead.” This passage in John 11, 12 is clear proof of that truth! Those who rebelled against Jesus were determined to oppose him despite having seen undeniable proof of His deity!

So, How does it Help Us, to Know that Jesus Wept?

**Compassion should have been strong in every priest.**

In the Old Testament, we see that some of the human High Priests were not very compassionate. And the High Priest at that moment (when Jesus was raising the dead) was a character named Caiaphas. He was the leader of the group that wanted Jesus murdered! (How “compassionate” is that?)

In Exodus 28:29-30, the High Priest was called to carry the names of the tribes of Israel on his shoulders and on his heart. Leviticus 16:1-6 says that the High Priest had to offer a sacrifice for his own sins, before he could minister as the mediator for the people. Hebrews 5:1-3 confirms this. The High Priest is supposed to “have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are ‘out of the way.’’” This is specifically because “he himself is surrounded by his own infirmity.” And that was just referring to the human high priests. They were flawed individuals themselves! And they were to have compassion upon others for that very reason.

Jesus is the Perfect High Priest

And, in Hebrews 4:15, 16, we see that “We do not have a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.” I often point out that “our feelings are not always an accurate reflection of reality.” That is true, but the fact remains that the feelings themselves are a reality that we have to deal with! And Jesus is aware of our feelings and is compassionate toward us in our frailties.

Jesus had no sin, but He suffered as though He were just like any other human. He felt the grief of the people, and “wept with those who wept.” He genuinely felt their grief, and shared in it for their sake. He did not just say, “Chin up! This too shall pass!” or any other such inane platitudes: He wept with them because of their grief, even though He knew He was about to bring them indescribable Joy.

We are called to Join Jesus in His Priesthood

Jesus is the True High Priest… but every believer is called to serve as a priest in the Body of Christ. We are to be His hands and feet and heart in our lifetime here on Earth, reaching out to those around us in genuine compassion.

This is part of the unity of the church: we are all part of one body, the Body of Christ. And when one part of the body is injured, it affects the whole body to one degree or another. Every living body exhibits this care for itself. If there is an itch on the back, for example, the whole body contorts itself to relieve that discomfort by reaching to scratch it. If a toe is injured, the whole body responds to protect that toe by limping or hobbling along, avoiding further injury. We are to care for one another at that level, spiritually and emotionally, as well as physically.

Weep With Those Who Weep

Romans 12:15 clearly commands us to “Weep with those who weep, and rejoice with those who rejoice.” This is not a command to “pretend” grief or “pretend’ joy. It is a command to extend our hearts to the needs of those around us. We should feel their sorrow as our own and feel their joy as our own. Ultimately, of course, that makes us pretty vulnerable to being hurt. But it also opens us up to experiencing the blessing of God flowing through us to those who are hurting, in the world around us.

If we genuinely care about the needs of those around us, then, as Jesus did, we will often find ourselves weeping in sympathy with those who weep, and experiencing the joy of those who rejoice.

Lord Jesus, open our hearts to be like You, caring deeply for those around us, and deeply, genuinely empathizing with them as You demonstrated in Your life. Help us to demonstrate the Agape Love so that the World will see Your face in us.

December 18, 2021December 18, 2021

Finding Comfort and Joy in Christmas

Finding Comfort in Christmas Throughout the Year

All in reference to Luke 2, comparing with other scripture.

**How do we really feel about Christmas?**

To those of us who have recently lost loved ones, and to those of us who suffer from depression, or have experienced the loss of a job, etc., Christmas is not “the most wonderful time of the year.” It’s the very worst. Our society has taught us to expect sunny feelings of joy and happiness, and to expect to give and receive wonderful gifts, and that everyone will love one another, and politicians will all tell the truth… and that “Santa Claus is coming…” and it is all these unfulfilled expectations that cause the feelings of disappointment, grief and depression that frequent the holiday season for many people; especially those grieving the loss of loved ones. There is a reason why police and emergency medical personnel refer to this season as the “suicide season.” There are more self-inflicted deaths in the country during this season than at any other time of year. And it is increasing as our nation has turned it’s collective eyes away from the Christ who is the person of Christmas, and the source of real joy.

To those of us who hurt, or who have suffered loss, all of the above seems a cruel hoax. And in some ways it is, even if those who are responsible really meant no harm. We have been given false expectations, and we have been taught to turn our eyes away from the real truth. Let’s see if we can turn that around, just for a moment, today….

The Birth of Christ:

Let’s go back and consider the first Christmas…the real one…the one no one really noticed except some farmer types…shepherds, in fact. It happened in a barn; a stable, if you want to be specific. There was no tree, no tinsel, no eggnog. “No crib, for a bed…” the only “gift” in sight was a baby. “For God so loved the World, that He gave his only begotten son…” (We don’t think of it very often, but the wise men showed up quite some time later—not that day…probably not that year. But when they did arrive, remember; they brought gifts to HIM, and not to one another.) But those who were there—those shepherds— were overwhelmed with joy. Why?

How is it that without any of the things we think ought to be there, the partakers of that first Christmas were filled with joy? Mary was having her first baby…do you think maybe she would have liked to have her Mom, or an Aunt, or someone like that to help her? How do you suppose Joseph felt about the accommodations? Do you think a stable would have been his first choice as a place for his young wife to give birth? And the shepherds? They still had to go back to those sheep, and the smelly, hard job that was their whole life. They got no day off for Christmas…no bonus; no free turkey, or whatever. Just… great joy. Why??

Do you suppose they understood a little about what had happened? They were all orthodox Jews, and they, with their forefathers, had been waiting for the Messiah for thousands of years. The promises were there, for anyone to read. And the angels that showed up clearly told them that this was it: The real fulfillment of God’s real promise. Did they understand all of it? Nope. They almost certainly did not. In fact, they may have had some real disappointments a few years down the road. They thought he was come to be a king (He was!), and a deliverer (He was!). But they also thought he would throw the Romans out of Israel, and reign there in Jerusalem in their lifetimes. (He did not, and He never said he would.)

Their later disappointments were based on false expectations, just like ours. But those who remembered could look back with wonder and recall the voices of the angels, praising God, and announcing the Holy birth. They did not cease to believe in the goodness of God, and his faithfulness.

**So, What was the Promise?**

We have forgotten what was really promised, and how we are to take part in it. There is no promise to us, that we will “live lives free of pain.” Quite the opposite: God says that it is given unto us “…on the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on His name but also to suffer for His sake.” (Philippians 1:29) Not what we really hoped to hear, is it?

So what really was promised, and how do we take part in God’s real Christmas? How can we find Comfort in Christmas?

To begin with, immediately after Adam and Eve fell into sin, as recorded in Genesis, God prescribed a plan of redemption. He said that a person would come, called the “Seed of the Woman”, and this person would undo Satan’s work, done through the serpent. We discover later, in the New Testament, that the plan was actually laid before the Creation: God knew what was going to happen, and He prepared in advance.

The promise was repeated, with more and more details, until just before the time of Christ (actually, the last detail was given right about 400 years before his birth), so that if they were actually reading and studying God’s Word, they pretty much knew all that was supposed to happen regarding the Messiah. They did not understand it all, any more than we can claim to understand it all today, though (as we do) they had all the information.

But the believers, mostly Jews, had come to believe in the character of God, and they believed His Word was true. They believed his promises. When he told them to place their trust in His redemptive plan, and it involved a blood sacrifice, they brought that blood sacrifice, as directed. Did they understand it? Did they really know that all those little lambs were “pointing forward” to the One True Lamb of God? Somehow I doubt it.

When John the Baptist introduced Jesus, saying, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” some understood the intent; though most did not. But many believed that He was the fulfillment of God’s Promise. We can look back and see that they were right. He fulfilled God’s Word to the letter…even that thing about being the “Seed of Woman”. (Who else in history has only one human parent?)

Jesus was born in obscurity, with shepherds rejoicing, and few others even taking notice. He preached in a tiny nation, for three years or a bit more. He had twelve devoted followers, about ten times that number who were part-timers, and thousands who claimed allegiance to him. But he was betrayed by one of those “inner-circle twelve” (Judas Iscariot) and he died a criminal’s death, condemned by Jew and Gentile alike. He was attended at His death by only one of his twelve disciples, and a few women, including his mother. (We don’t know the names of the few who stayed and watched, but He does.)

He was lent a tomb by a rich man (Joseph of Arimathea) who secretly believed. It turned out Jesus only needed it for three days and three nights, just as predicted. He was physically resurrected that third day, in spite of efforts aimed at preventing such an occurrence, and he showed himself to all his close disciples, and on one occasion to 500 people at once. He ascended back to God, physically; bodily. And He promised to return in the same manner: Physically…Bodily.

We, who do find comfort in Christmas, whether Jew or Gentile, do so because that day was the beginning of all that was to follow. We find hope in the Christ, in the Cross, and in the empty tomb. We find hope in his resurrection, and in his promised soon return.

We find hope in His written Word, where He promised, personally, that “Whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16)

We look back to that first Christmas and the unspeakable gift of God’s Son, and we find comfort in the Goodness of the God who gave the Gift. When we suffer losses, we look back to what our redemption really cost our Lord, and our Heavenly Father. We trust in Him to do all things well. We trust in Him to give what is best, even when we think things ought to proceed in a different way.

**How do we Receive that Promise?**

How can we take part in God’s real Christmas? Jesus said “He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but has passed over from death into life.” (John 5:24)

Notice the tenses there—he covers my present, saying that because I have heard his Word, and believed the promise of God, I have eternal life now…I don’t have to wait ‘til I die to see if I got “good enough grades”. He covers my future, promising that I will never be condemned by God: He is never going to give up on me, even if I fail miserably in my attempts to serve Him. He covers my past (perfect tense), saying that I have permanently crossed over from being spiritually dead, to being spiritually alive.

This is the hope of all believers. And those of us who believe, and who have lost one or more believing loved ones, have the sure hope of seeing them again. There are some we are not sure of, because we can’t see their hearts, but God knows, and His justice is perfect. He loves them more than we ever could; and we rest in hope, assured that he has done right by them.

Christmas, the way the World presents it, can be very depressing, quite honestly. But the way God presents His gift it is a never-ending source of joy—it is not “seasonal” at all. We simply have to choose to rest in that gift, rest in His character, and to experience the peace, hope and joy He brings.

So, to each of you, in the name of the Christ of Christmas, I wish you a truly joyous Christmas season that will last throughout the year.

Blessings upon you all.

December 13, 2020December 13, 2020

How should we Live (Part 2)

1^st Peter 3:1-12; Ephesians 5: 21-33; Colossians 3:18-23; 1^st Corinthians 13:4-8

Introduction:

In studying through 1^st Peter, we happened to read a cross-reference in 2^nd Peter 3:11, asking the question, “…what manner of persons ought ye to be, in all holy conversation and Godliness?”

That is the implied question all the way through 1^st Peter as well: “How should we then live?” If my position has been established in Christ, by Grace, through faith, so that I now have a perfect and secure standing before God, how should I live in response to that fact?

Part of that answer has already been addressed in previous studies, including the general command that we “Love one another” with the Agape Love, and the command to maintain the God-ordained Unity of the Spirit, and to conduct ourselves in such a way as to be seen “shining as lights in a dark world,” and “holding forth the Word of Truth.”

But in 1^st Peter 3:1-12, the Lord becomes quite specific, addressing husband-wife relationships. This has become an uncomfortable topic in our culture, as militant feminism as well as secular humanism have deliberately sought to undermine the gift of marriage, and to destroy the relationships between men and women at large, and husbands and wives in particular. Our marriages are supposed to be a testimony of God’s Grace, too: not a battlefield or a contest of wills. There are other places where God speaks to this issue as well, so, rather than just speak from 1^st Peter, we are going to also look at Ephesians 5:21-33, Colossians 3:18-23, and a few others. As we read through all of these passages, I ask that you read the scripture as “looking in a mirror:” As James says, we are to see ourselves (not our spouse) and see what needs changing in our own lives, not that of our spouse. I mean this very seriously: look to God to see a change in your own life, not someone else!

What Does the Scripture say?

1^st Peter 3:1-12

¹Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; ²While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. ³Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; ⁴But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. ⁵For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: ⁶Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement. ⁷Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. ⁸Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

⁹Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. ¹⁰For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: ¹¹Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.

¹²For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

Ephesians 5:21-33

²¹Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. ²²Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. ²³For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. ²⁴Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. ²⁵Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; ²⁶That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. ²⁸So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. ²⁹For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: ³⁰For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. ³¹For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. ³²This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. ³³Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

Colossians 3:13-17, 18-23

¹³Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. ¹⁴And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. ¹⁵And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. ¹⁷And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

¹⁸Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. ¹⁹Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. ²⁰Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.: for ye serve the Lord Christ. ²⁵But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

The Real Root of the “Problem”

You see, the verses we have been reading are all addressing the solution to a problem which never should have existed: Humans were created as a team, male and female, with no “built-in conflict:” there was no “War between the sexes,” as it is commonly called today. We read in the Bible Study on Genesis that the woman was not present when the command was given to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: She had not yet been created. So, two things were clear: Adam was the one given the command, and responsibility for the entire race, as he was the head of the race, since ALL subsequent humans, including Eve, came from him. Adam’s failure was the only one which could affect the entire human race.

The woman was selected by the Enemy as the “weak link” because she had not been there to hear the command, and (possibly) because she had received a garbled version of it from her husband. (We don’t know whether she misquoted what she had been told correctly, or correctly quoted what she had been wrongly told.) She was deceived, having been attacked on three fronts: the same three which were used by the same enemy to test the Lord, in the desert, and, the same which he uses against us today:

The lust of the eye,
The lust of the flesh, and
The pride of life.

We see these three areas of temptation clearly spelled out in 1^st John 2:15-17. We have all been deceived in each of those areas, ourselves, also, so beware that you do not level any accusations against Eve, or against women in general. Satan finds all of us an easy target, too! It is instructive, however, to take note of how Jesus averted such an attack: He used the Written Word, correctly quoted, and in the appropriate context.

Next, we saw that until the Man ate the fruit, nothing happened: the woman, being deceived, ate the fruit: her husband was right there with her and evidently said nothing! But when he ate, judgment fell upon the entire human race! At that moment, of course, there were only two individuals, but, as we read further, we find that all their progeny would also be under the same curse.

And, part of that curse involved the relationship between men and women, specifically husbands and wives, but it seems to affect the entire race, with or without marriage. Take note, too, that Marriage was one of the few gifts God managed to give to the human race before sin entered the world. Marriage is absolutely ordained by God, and it has His eternal blessing. We will see a specific reason for that as we study Ephesians 5:32.

One effect of the curse was that the woman would no longer be in a peaceful team-relationship with her husband, but would desire to control him. The passage that says “Your desire shall be toward your husband and he shall rule over you” sums it up: the word “desire” in that passage is translated from the Hebrew word “teshuqah,” which is only used three times in scripture, two of them in Genesis. The other one in Genesis is where God warned Cain that if he did not choose to do right, then sin would crouch at the door, and its desire would be for him, but that he, Cain, must master it. The type of “desire” indicated is the desire to possess and control, not a loving desire, but a desire to dominate.

And, unfortunately, the other half of that “couplet” is that while the woman desires to control the man, he ends up in a position of rulership anyway. Both of these ideas are part of the curse! Neither the “desire to control” nor the “ruling” aspect of the relationship were there before they fell into sin. Sin has distorted and corrupted the marriage relationship, as well as the relationship between men and women as a whole, and, in fact, all human relationships. We cannot hope to teach all that is available on this topic in one sermon, so I will break it into two or more. There are scores of books written on the subject and I do not intend to repeat all that they have to say.

The Result of God’s Solution

So, here we are, 2000 years after The Cross: beginning the 21^st Century! And the curse is still in effect…more than six thousand years of misery on Earth because of sin! Peace has never lasted long, because the hearts of humans are still corrupt. God said, in Genesis 8:21, “The imagination of Man’s heart is evil from his youth.” And, Jeremiah 17:9 says “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked!” So, what has God’s solution for sin been the whole time? Remember? Jesus is “Plan A” and there is no “Plan B!” So the Blood of Jesus at the Cross was the cure for the spiritual death we had as our inheritance from Adam. But even with that salvation from death, we have the root of our sin still present, so we bear grudges against one another, and envy one another, and squabble and fight, just as if we had never known the Lord! That is not the result of God’s solution to sin! That is simply the result of our continuing in sin!

The result of God’s solution is that I actually have a new nature now: I do not have to sin! Romans 6 makes it very clear that when I sin, I choose to sin! So, in spite of my sin nature, I am actually free to serve God…provided that I choose to submit myself to His authority and His Love, and that heed His call to walk in His steps. He is perfect, and never makes mistakes. He loves me unconditionally, even though I constantly fail.

So, I ask myself…”Am I free to Love my wife unconditionally, in the same manner as Jesus loves me?” Yes! I happen to be blessed to have a wife who makes it very easy to offer her that unconditional love, but; even if that is not the case, each believer is free to obey God. A woman married to a marvelous man of God, who loves her constantly and provides for her needs in every way finds it very easy to follow his lead in their relationship, because he also listens to her and values her opinion and judgment. But if that were not the case, does God give her the freedom to obey the Lord in subjecting herself to a husband who is not very kind, or loving, and not caring for her needs? The answer is still “Yes!”

The scriptures we are reading use employees and employers as examples, as well: So, I ask, “Can I do good work for a bad boss?” I have certainly done so, for most of my working life: I have only had a handful of really good supervisors, and they were a joy to work for. But a bad manager or supervisor, while they made me long to be free from their tyranny and backstabbing, and politics, etc, did not change the fact that I was free to honor God by doing good work!

The same goes for the marriage relationship: we are free to be blessed by God by faithfully carrying out His will toward our spouse, regardless of the circumstances. Does he promise it will be easy? Absolutely not!

So, as we begin to look at the specifics of God’s plan for marriage, keep at least these two things in mind:

Point the “mirror” of God’s Word at yourself, and,
God offers you the power and ability to do His will, as well as the will to do it. (Philippians 2:13) “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”

The Realities of the Relationship

The reality is that we are all saved sinners, still capable of being “difficult to deal with.” So the Lord has given rules that are to govern relationships between believers and our marriage relationships as well:

The Agape love is the overarching “law of Christ.” “Love one another as I have loved you!” We see what that looks like in 1^st Corinthians 13:4-8. As we read that passage,we see that not a single one of the fifteen words or phrases used to define that love have anything to do with feelings: they are all action words. Every one of them describes actions or behavior patterns, designed to reach to someone else with God’s best for them, without regard to how it affects the person doing the loving.

Patient
Kind,
Not envious,
Not proud,
Not arrogant,
Not behaving in an “unseemly manner”
Not self-centered,
Not easily stirred to anger,
Thinketh no evil (not taking into account a wrong suffered.)
Does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth,
Bears all things,
Believes all things,
Hopes all things,
Endures all things
Love never fails.

“Mutual submission to needs and demands in the relationship” are part of that Agape Love. (Ephesians 5:21 “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.”)
- Then a “hierarchy of submission” begins to unfold. This is not a “chain of command,” as in a military organization: every single believer has full access to the Head, who is Jesus himself. Those under your “authority,” such as it is, can always “go over your head” to God. Never lose sight of the fact that, regardless of how much or how little authority is vested in you among humans, God is still the ultimate authority, and you will be answering to His justice, in the end.
“Forbearing One Another in Love” is another part of that “Agape love.” (Ephesians 4:2)
- Forbearing one another in Love means “putting up with” one another’s failings and foibles, and appreciating them for who they are, being grateful for God’s Grace in one another’s lives. It means not constantly demanding more, and demanding changes in the other person, but accepting them as they are, and loving them unconditionally, as they are, allowing God to work in their life.
Marriage is supposed to be a picture of the relationship between Christ and the Church, (Ephesians 5:32) which makes it a profoundly important relationship.

Next week, we will begin looking at the specifics of the marriage relationship and how it is supposed to work.

Lord Jesus, we ask that you change our hearts and teach us to love one another unconditionally, not judging one another, or criticizing one another, but blessing each other through your Love. Make us the men and women of God you have chosen us to be, to bring glory to yourself.

November 22, 2020November 22, 2020

Change is On the Way!

1^st Peter 2:1-10

Introduction:

We have begun a study through the book of first Peter: For all practical purposes, the first half of chapter one was given to a lengthy “salutation,” making it clear who were the intended recipients of the epistle (and it included us!); but then outlining their (and our) collective and individual position in Christ, our security there, and all that this position implies.

Then, in the last half of chapter one we began to examine Peter’s exhortations as to how to respond to the reality of our new position in Christ. Because we are “In Christ,” there are certain changes that are to occur. Because He is holy, His followers are to be holy. We are literally His children: members of His family, and members of His Body, the Church. Therefore we should expect to see the “family resemblance” in ourselves. And the world around us should expect to see those changes also. Remember that Jesus gave three criteria by which the World is expected to judge the Church, in this Age:

Love (John 13: 34, 35): this is the supernatural Agape love between the brethren.
Unity (John 17:21): this is the supernatural unity of the Spirit taught in Ephesians 4.
Good Works (Matthew 5:14-16): this is the result of the Holy Spirit working through us, which is supernatural by definition, but may look completely normal, in a way, but as a whole, it is to exist as a light in a dark world, bringing glory to God the Father.

Those things are not the result of our personal piety or goodness. Unsaved people can certainly do good works in their own strength, for the purpose of advancing their religion or philosophies, or to earn merit from their gods for their good works, or simply because “that is the way they were raised,” and they think it is what “ought to be done.” But I cannot earn God’s Grace.

Grace is defined as “unmerited favor:” unearned favor from God. If we are saved individuals, we recognize that we were saved “by Grace, through Faith”, according to Ephesians 2:8, 9. And in gratitude for that Grace, we serve, out of love. That is what the world needs to see, in terms of good works.

Our unity, also, is to be a genuine outworking of Agape love and faith, not a “truce” created by “glossing over” important teachings in God’s Word. (By the way, that is “Ecumenicalism:” It is the effort to create and maintain a false “unity” by simply ignoring or ceasing to consider any teaching that may be controversial or which could offend someone. Think back: did Jesus “skirt issues,” in fear of offending the Pharisees? No! He went ahead and taught the hard doctrines! And the common folk loved Him for it!)

Now; here in chapter 2, Peter begins to be specific about what those changes should look like:

What should we “drop and leave behind?”

¹ Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,

Notice that he first lists five things that should be left behind in the darkness of our old lives:

All Malice: Mean-spiritedness…the desire to torment or “get back at” people that we don’t like. Taking pleasure in someone else’s misfortune or discomfort.
All Guile: deception at every level. Presenting a false front to others, as well as saying things we know are untrue. If we are acting or speaking in such a way as to hide who we really are, that should warn us that something is amiss.
Hypocrisies: This goes right along with Guile. The old word “hypocrite” simply meant a “false-face actor:” those old-time performers who literally held up a smiling face-mask when playing a happy part, or an angry face-mask when playing an angry part, etc. They were just reading lines, and holding up a mask on a stick, so that the audience would “feel” the correct emotional response to the play. But when we pretend to be something we are not, we are doing just that; and Jesus repeatedly condemned that behavior in the Pharisees.
Envy: desiring to have the honors offered to others, not by earning them but by supplanting that person: wishing to take their place, and desiring to drag them down, because we can’t stand the fact that they are receiving honor. This is frequently the source of strife between the brethren.
All Evil Speakings: This is a“catch-all”phrase that at least forbids “bad-mouthing” others. It would also seem to rule out general “snarkiness,” as they call it today: taking verbal cheap-shots at others; put-downs, etc. Possibly it could even include just a complaining spirit, in general. This is something to think about and ask oneself how it might apply in one’s own life.

**What should we use to replace the old ways?**

Having commanded us to “lay aside ALL our old wicked ways,” he then says what shouldbe used to replace that old, evil behavior: and the first thing listed is the Word of God! I’m reading from the KJV: if your translation is different, bear with me, and we will address that difference.

²As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: ³If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

This makes it clear that if I am a believer, (If I have tasted of His Grace) the normal response is to hunger for God’s Word. Even a newborn lamb, or a baby mammal of any sort, has an instinctive desire to feed, and be nourished on its mother’s milk. Our food is the Word of God. God says that we are to desire the sincere milk of the Word, that we may grow thereby. If you ever have a question about what God considers to be proper “sheep-food,” this verse should answer that question. In Matthew chapter four, Jesus also said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of God.” This is what we are to feed on: The Word of God!

I am aware that other translations handle this differently: the Greek word here, translated “Word” in the KJV is “logikon” which could be translated “logical,” but which comes from the root word “logos.” While it can be translated in several different ways, “logos” is the word used when John 1:1 says “In the Beginning was the Word.” Possibly even more instructive is the passage in 2^nd Peter 1:4, which says that by the “exceeding great and precious promises” in God’s Word, we are to become “partakers of the Divine Nature.” As we might tell a small child, “If you want to grow up to be big and strong, like Mommy and Daddy, you need to eat your healthy food!” And He just told us that the “food” we are to consume is the “exceeding great and precious promises” of the Word of God!

So the core change in our lives should begin with a hunger for God’s Word, as opposed to philosophy, politics, human logic, or human rationalization. The World offers all of these. We try to avoid any of those things and only offer God’s Word as our source of nourishment. We don’t preach politics, opinions, or current events. We preach the Person of Christ; The Word.

God says we are to center our thinking on His Word, and allow Him to reshape our outlook. And what does He say about the nature of the relationship? He says something very strange: He refers to us as “living stones,” and to Jesus as a special, precious stone, as well as a Rock of offence.

Living Stones

⁴To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ⁵Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. ⁶Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. ⁷Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, ⁸And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

This whole passage seemed very strange to me. When the scripture refers to Jesus as a stone, it is strange enough, because I don’t think of a person as a stone, at all. (In this passage the Greek word for “stone” is “lithos”, meaning a building stone, or, in some cases, simply the material, “stone.”) I see stones as specifically non-living objects: mineral in substance, completely inorganic and, in most cases never having possessed life of any kind. So how can I see Jesus as a stone? And when it calls Him a Rock of offence, the Greek word is different: it is “petra”, which usually is a monolith: the kind of rock of which mountains are made, or upon which buildings are founded. How is He a Rock of offence?

And when he begins to address us as “living stones” I used to find it completely repugnant, as I imagined sitting forever as a “stone” in God’s temple, unmoving, and fixed in place in a wall or something, throughout eternity. That really does not sound attractive to me! But as I was reading in Ephesians, it finally dawned upon me that the “temple” he is referring to in Ephesians is the living Church, scattered all over the World, but united in Christ. That we are the (singular) “habitation of God,” now; not just sometime in the future. I am not “sitting, imprisoned in a wall, as a non-living piece of rock,” but rather, I am a living part of a single organism called the “Body of Christ” which also happens to be the Temple of God on earth, as well as including all those believers who have gone before us into Heaven. I am only “cemented in place” in terms of my security in Christ: I can never be removed from Him. He can move me or have me stay put, according to His will, but wherever I am within the Body of Christ, I am to be an active, functioning part of the body of Christ! We are living stones, or, as the KJV says, “lively” stones.

By the way, that is the essence of “positional truth!” I am literally, permanently cemented in Christ!” But I am an integral, organic part of the Body of Christ: not a parasite or a transplanted foreign organism. How did we get into this position in Christ? We became His children through the new Birth, being born again. We entered in by faith and are permanently joined to Him. Whether we knew it or not, we were each planted in the church-at-large, as a “living stone,” a part of His Living Temple! In 1^st Corinthians 12:13, it says that the Holy Spirit “baptized” us into the body of Christ. We are eternally joined to Him in one Body.

We are part of what God presents to the World as His army of ambassadors: we each have a part in the task He has assigned the church: “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel!”

Further, Peter points out that the World sees Jesus as a “stone of stumbling” and one rejected by the builders (quoting Psalm 118:22, Isaiah 8:13-17, Romans 9:32, 33) but we also see that to those who are believers, He is precious beyond description. That puts us in a different category than those who reject Him. It clearly spells out a different response expected from those of us who see Him as Holy, and Precious, than from those who stumble over His claim to be the Incarnate God, the Savior and the Judge of all the Earth.

By the way, while we are talking about Christ as a stone or a rock, I want to point out that when we read about the children of Israel wandering in the desert, and Moses bringing water from a Rock in that desert, we need to look just a little further: in 1^st Corinthians 10:4, Paul clearly states two incredible truths:

The “Rock” from which they drank followed them in the desert, so that they found water wherever they went, and,
That “Rock” was Christ! (Exact same Greek construction as when John 1:1 says “The Word was God”)

How’s that for a mind-boggling truth? The physical Rock that the people approached, and from which Moses demanded water, was literally Christ! (In fact, it says, “the Christ” in Greek.) This is not stated as a metaphor: it is stated as a truth: they were followed by a spiritual Rock, in physical form, and they drank fresh literal water from it. Remember, too, that there were around 2-1/2 million people in that group, plus all their livestock: and all of them had to get their water from that Rock. We aren’t talking about a little “stream:” it had to be millions of gallons of water coming out! And this is the Rock to which we have come as well, seeing Him as our true source of sustenance, both physical and spiritual!

God says that He is also the Stone (lithos, again) rejected by the builders. Jesus was rejected by the religious authorities of His day, but He turns out to be the foundation and the cornerstone for all of both Judaism and Christianity!

But You!

So, what else is true about us?

⁹But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; ¹⁰Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

These all were quotes from the Old Testament, and initially were specifically stated about Israel. But a change has happened: Yes, Israel was to be a priesthood and a “kingdom (singular) of priests” standing before the Lord according to God’s promise in Exodus 19:6, and they still shall be, according to Isaiah 4:3, Isaiah 61:6, and others.

But there is a similar and yet different promise to the Church Age believers: we are called “kings (plural) and priests,” in Revelation 5:10, which is not the same thing as a “kingdom” (singular) of priests. The Body of Christ is never called a kingdom: it is a Body, with a Head, not simply a Kingdom, with a King. We, as the Body of Christ are part of the greater Kingdom of God, but we are there as part of the King, not simply subjects in the kingdom. We are the Bride, whereas believers from other ages are the guests at the wedding feast of the Lamb.

Peter, speaking to Jewish believers, quoted passages that were familiar and precious to them. They knew of the old promise from Exodus, but they also knew that it has never yet been fulfilled. During the Church age, it is partially fulfilled, in the sense that every believer, Jew or Gentile, is declared to be a priest in the Body of Christ: we can stand before God and pray for others, and offer “sacrifices of Praise and Thanksgiving.” But, in the Millennial Kingdom, it will be completely fulfilled, in that every Gentile nation will come to Jerusalem to worship the King, and Israel will literally be a “kingdom” of priests. But we will still be the Bride of Christ, seated in the throne with Him.

Even the passage about not having been a people, etc. were from Hosea chapters one and two; messages originally directed to Israel; not the Gentiles, but they now apply to us according to Ephesians 2, where we are described as having been outcasts, and foreigners, lost, without Christ in the World. That is a fact! We have to be very careful when we attempt to apply promises or commands to ourselves which were actually directed to someone else. But if God says they now apply to us, then we can apply them with confidence. In this case there is a direct application to the Church Age believers. This is reiterated in Revelation 5:9, 10, where the Church (which is called out from every nation, every language, every ethnic group and every tribe on Earth) confirms that they have been made “kings and priests” and that they shall reign on the earth.

Yes, we have obtained mercy, and yes, we have been called out of darkness, and, yes, we are now filled with His marvelous light, because Jesus, the Light of the World, indwells us! And the result should be that we will demonstrate His Glory and honor in our lives: “…showing forth the Praises of Him who called us!”

So, perhaps we can each individually consider this small verse as a “standard” or a “measuring stick” against which we measure our behavior. We can ask ourselves these questions:

Am I living in such a way as to “show forth the Praises of Him who called me?” Or am I pretty much living the way I have always lived?
Does the Agape love shine as a central motivating factor in my life, or do my motives seem to be pretty much the same as everyone else’s motives; self-centered, rather than pouring out the Love of Christ to others?
Do I see the people around me as precious souls for whom Jesus has already shed His blood, and then value them as He does? Or are they primarily irritating, contrary “blockheads” who only exist to annoy me? There is an old ditty that says, “To dwell in Love with the saints above, O, that would be Glory! But to live below with the saints I know; well, that’s a different story!” Can you treat the believers around you as the holy, precious saints that Jesus says they are?

I can’t answer any of those questions for you: each of us has to stand before God, and, along with David, say “Search me O God, and know my heart: try me and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting!”

This is a direct quote from Psalm 139:23, 24. You can go and read it in your Bible and spend some time dwelling on it, allowing God time to speak to you. This is what we call “meditating on God’s Word”…it is not “blanking your mind and leaving yourself open to any vagrant thought:” it is specifically shining the light of God’s Word on your heart and allowing Him to speak to you through His Word and by His Spirit. We all need God’s Word to speak to our hearts and change us into His likeness.

Lord Jesus, take charge of your people, the Body of Christ! Train us up in the way that we should go, as your children. Send us as capable ambassadors, to do your work on Earth! Allow us to serve with you.

September 12, 2020September 12, 2020

A Warning to the Wealthy

James 5:1-6; Psalm 73:1-12; Psalm 37:1, 2, 16

Introduction:

We have been working through the book of James for quite some time, taking excursions to address other matters from time to time, but in general, pressing on with James. James has proven to be a very practical book, and in chapter five it becomes quite “pointed” for the first six verses. In keeping with the topic of the last month, the next few verses give us some insight into our response to the world around us.

It is easy for us to become disgruntled or envious as we see others prosper, especially if we know that the persons in question are living in such a way as to dishonor God, so that they are prospering in spite of their ungodliness, or possibly because of it. What we are going to read today is God’s response, both to them and to us.

Interpreting James Chapter 5

¹Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.

There are several questions we should be asking, as we consider this passage:

Who is speaking?
To whom is this passage speaking?
- Is this a general condemnation of wealthy people?
  - How much do I have to have, to be “wealthy?”
- Is this passage speaking to believers or to unbelievers?
What does it say?
- Is this a statement that wealth itself is evil?
- If not, then what is the issue?

Obviously, this is a good time to be very careful to “compare scripture with scripture,” in order to ascertain what God is saying, and to whom, as well as what effect it should have upon believers as a whole; and, finally, “how does this affect me?”

Let’s take the above questions one at a time:

Who is speaking? To us, as believers, and specifically as those who believe the Bible is literally the Word of God, the answer is simple: God is speaking. There are believers who begin to sort out the scriptures “by writer,” as if one writer had more authority than another, or more credibility. If that is the case, then the Bible is a bewildering mixture of authoritative and non-authoritative writings, and we are effectively declaring ourselves to be the “authority” who determines which is which. I hope you can see the problems inherent in that approach to the Bible. I choose to place my confidence in the Bible as the Word of God. Yes, there are human writers, but the result is God speaking through them.

To whom is the writer speaking? It is important to ask this question, too, because, while all of the Bible is for us as believers, not all of it is “to” us. There are portions which are pronouncements of judgment on enemies of God, and are not to us at all.

As we read through the book of James, we can see that up to this point (and beginning again in verse seven), James has clearly addressed the “brethren;” specifically speaking to the needs of believers. Here, he seems to change audiences for a moment, and speaks briefly to a different group. How can we tell? Back in chapter one, verses nine and ten, he addressed the poor and rich “brothers”, and rather than condemning the rich, he asks that they rejoice in being “brought low.” Also, comparing the many references to kings and wealthy men in the Old Testament, there is not a condemnation of wealth, nor the wealthy, but a recognition that, as a rule, God has blessed them (the Godly, wealthy men, such as Abraham.)

So, the question we finally have to answer is whether the passage speaks to believers or to unbelievers: unregenerate men whose wealth was not from God.

I read, not long ago, that, because open land is scarce in Japan, and golfing is extremely popular, golf-courses were becoming crowded to the point of being unusable, until the owners raised the fees high enough to “thin the ranks” and make the courses less crowded. Their shameless intent was to make golf completely inaccessible to people of modest income, thus making it a “privilege of the rich”, while making themselves very wealthy as well, through the green fees. But there was an embarrassing, unintended result: Only very wealthy people could play, certainly, but that meant that, very publicly, now, the politicians, industry potentates, and the organized crime leaders together, shared the clubhouses: Everyone could see the “connections.” They all seemed to be “together,” as…they were “together.”

I don’t know what eventually became of that; I am not a golfer, but if I had been, and if I had found myself in such a situation, I would have abandoned the game. Actually, there was a similar situation at work years ago, wherein it became common knowledge that “the way to get promoted was to join the golf league, and schmooze with the bigwigs.” I would not have believed such a story, except that I saw it in action numerous times, and some of the “beneficiaries” of this “insider” gamesmanship bragged about having “golfed their way” into their current jobs. I found such goings-on deeply repugnant, and, when invited to join, I was glad I could honestly say, “I don’t play golf.”

Since God does not condemn people for how much they have, nor how little, and He warns believers not to give special attention to believers who are wealthy, I think it is correct to conclude that the “rich,” here in James 5:1-6 are unbelievers, who are literally guilty of the crimes he lists. What is coming for these “rich,” then? And why? Why is it worthy of “weeping and howling?” Let’s compare Psalm 73:1-12 (read it.)

The Unbelieving Rich

The Psalmist says (Psalm 73:3-12) that, in their lifetimes, these wicked rich prospered; and they did not even seem to suffer in death, but were strong all their lives. He says that this bolstered their personal pride, and gave them confidence that they could do whatever they wanted, including violence and greed, and exalting themselves against God. We have “celebrities” today who speak boldly against the God of Heaven as the psalmist describes in verse nine, and wealthy politicians who oppress the very people they claim to represent. I recall various celebrities even claiming to be God, while others claimed themselves to be more popular than Christ, and still others insist that God does not exist, and they “re-invent Jesus” in various vile forms, far removed from His holy, omnipotent reality, as both the “Judge of all the Earth,” and the Savior.

Does this behavior of the wicked, who rant against God, go unnoticed? It surely seems to do so, from our perspective, doesn’t it? And it did from the psalmist’s point of view, too! He said that his own attention to the ways of God had been for nothing (Psalm 73:13-16): “I have cleansed my heart in vain…I have been plagued…and chastened every morning.” He was becoming bitter, and frustrated, but when he entered the temple, (Psalm 73:17-23) God gave him something to change his mind. He allowed the psalmist to see the “end” of the wicked. He saw that they had been lulled into complacency by their own sin, and were trapped in their wickedness, and despised by God: and that their final destination was an eternity in Hell. The psalmist then repented of his own bitterness and resentment, as he realized that, while things had not been “comfortable” from his own perspective, he, in fact, had continually been with God.

That is a good thing for us to keep in mind, as well, when we see the wicked flourishing. They always have done so: this is nothing new. They open their mouths against God, and league themselves with the enemies of God. So, the enemies of God reward them, and they flourish. But the final result is the total disaster of eternal damnation. So there is a warning, here, in James, to exactly that sort of person: “Repent, because judgment is coming!”

²Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
³Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

We make jokes about this sort of thing, saying, “You can’t take it with you!” But the fact is, you not only will not prosper by it, eternally, but, if you fall into this category of ungodly “prosperity”, the very riches themselves will stand in the judgment, as testimony against you.

When the “books are opened”, as in Revelation 20, these things will testify against you, not for you. We tend to see the rich as having been “blessed by God,” but it entirely depends upon two things: How did they get the wealth, and what did they do with it? There have been wealthy individuals who inherited wealth, and regardless of how it was originally amassed, they used it faithfully, once it was under their control

We can read the account of Hezekiah, in 2^nd Chronicles 29. It says that, when Hezekiah became king, he immediately used his inherited authority to open the doors to the Temple, which had been closed up by his ungodly father, and to exhort the Priests and Levites to use their divinely-appointed authority to go in and clean out the interior of the Temple (where he had no authority.) He then saw to it that the idols were dragged out, broken up and thrown into the muddy creek east of Jerusalem—the Kidron. The ultimate result of his inherited wealth and authority was a full-scale revival in Judah. (Read chapters 29-32.)

There have also been wealthy industrialists, (R.G. Letourneau, for example) who started out with nothing, who earned the money through inventions and entrepreneurship, and who not only did not mistreat their employees on their way to such wealth, they gave heavily to support missions or other humanitarian works. I do not believe that such persons fall under this condemnation. But to those who cruelly exploited their workers, and ignored the plight of the poor, and ignored the call of God, all these things will testify against them. Judgment is coming!

Notice, too, that it specifically warns that the treasure is being heaped up for the “last days”…the tribulation, or the judgment day. This is not addressed to a believer. We will not be involved in those things.

⁴Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
⁵Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
⁶Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.

What a terrible indictment against these individuals, whoever they are/were. Obviously it is not an indictment against every rich person in history, but it seems that it could easily apply to many, whose lives actually have matched these accusations. There are counter-examples within the scriptures, and there are counter-examples alive today. But the fact is, the very wealthy of this world have frequently gotten there by “stepping on” the poor. Not always, of course, but it is certainly an observable phenomenon. And this warning is to those persons.

Consider the Book of Ruth, though: God does not condemn the wealthy Boaz, for instance, because he was definitely treating his workers well, and reached beyond the legal requirements, with Grace, in order to meet the needs of Ruth. It is also clear that he had no designs upon her, at the start: her mother-in-law, Naomi was the one who initiated the move to have Ruth approach Boaz as the “Kinsman-Redeemer”; Boaz had only given instructions to his workers to add Grace to her gleanings. (I love that book, by the way, as it is such a clear, tender picture of Christ.) But the workers blessed Boaz voluntarily, and He blessed them in return, as well as eating with them in the field: he did not see himself as “above them,” socially. He chose to eat with them in fellowship, as Jesus chooses fellowship with us.

Finally, the accusation is that they have condemned and killed the “just” (singular), and he (singular) has not resisted them. Who is that one Just man? I think the condemnation here is specifically against the ungodly of this world, who, collectively, down through the ages, have approved the crucifixion, through their own choices and actions. Our sins put Jesus on the Cross! All of us bear that burden. But whether you will meet Him as your Savior or as your Judge is up to you! If you meet Him as your Judge, remember what you have done to Him by your life! If you would rather meet Him as your Savior, then throw yourself upon His mercy, offered through the Cross!

If you know that you will meet Him as your Savior, then consider how you are responding to Him today as your Lord. He is the Judge of all the Earth, and that includes the Judgment seat of Christ, where our works will be judged. Nothing escapes His attention. Yes, my sins were judged at the Cross, but my works are still awaiting judgment and will either be eternally worthy of reward, or eternally worthless.

As I look back at my life, I can easily see that much of my effort has been directed at things which were ultimately a waste of time. That is pretty sad, but it is true. God sets the standard. We can either believe it or not believe it, but the standard remains the same.

So, how should we respond?

I can truthfully say that this verse is not speaking “to” me, as:

I am not an unbeliever, and
I have no employees, regardless of whether I could be accused of being “rich” in anyone else’s opinion. (We know that, to people in very poor nations, the poorest people in the United States would be considered very wealthy, by their standards. But that is not the issue, here.)

I also know that this passage is written “for” me: The whole Bible is! So how can I profit from this specific passage, and how should I respond to it?

If nothing else, it should alert me to the fact that while the possessions and actions of this life are passing and temporary in nature, our actions and attitudes are by no means unimportant, in light of eternity. God doesn’t miss anything at all! According to Jeremiah 17:10, He will render “…to every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doing.”

Further, Psalm 37:1-4 tells me how I am to respond to those around me: I am not to “fret” about them, nor to envy them, nor try to “right their wrongs” myself: I am to “trust in the Lord and do Good,” and to commit my way to Him and allow Him to take care of my needs.

I don’t know what the eternal rewards are, because we simply are not told. But I do know they are eternally worthwhile! So, since the rewards for proper response to God are eternally worth having, a proper response to God is also worth the effort. I can ask myself:

How do I use my time?
How do I use my belongings?
How do I use my money?
How do I handle relationships?
How do I treat people who have not treated me well?

Each of these is a part of how we can determine whether our lives are fitting the pattern set by The Lord as being “Lights in a dark world” and “ambassadors of Christ.”

Lord Jesus, allow us to see ourselves clearly in the light of your Word, and to see the World clearly, through the eyes of your Love. Help us to repent of the things that fall short of your honor, and to live as ambassadors of Christ.

Being Counted Worthy

2nd Thessalonians 1:1-5

Introduction (Long):

Peter’s Example:

No Surprises to God

Human Opinion

Faith and Love (v. 3)

Endurance by Faith (v. 4)

Past, Present and Future Salvation

A Token of Judgment (v.5)

Different Judgments

Not a single believer will be harmed by that final judgment:

So, Are We “Worthy?”

Can Grace be Earned?

Does Our Testimony Demonstrate “Worthiness?”

What do others see?

Salvation and Discipleship

1st Thessalonians 5:5-8

Introduction:

Salvation and Discipleship

Salvation Should Result in Discipleship

Discipleship

The Example of Saul of Tarsus

Notice the Order of Events:

How does Paul’s life form an object lesson to teach Ephesians 2:8-10?

Making the Call of God Personal

Jesus said, “Feed My Flock!”

The “Thessalonian Challenge”

What kind of person is told to “put on armor…” a breastplate, and a helmet?

We are Called to Rest, but we are not to “take time off from discipleship.”

How are We to Love the Brethren?

1st Thessalonians 4:9-12

Introduction:

What is the Difference?

So, How is that done? What does that “Look like?”

1st Corinthians 13:4-8

So, What do we see as the Descriptors for Agapé love in 1st Corinthians 13:4-8?

What are some Other things we know about Agapé Love?

So, How has God forgiven us?

How do you see other believers?

What are the Results?

The “Litmus Test”

Practical Holiness

To Increase and Abound in Love

Introduction:

It is OK to talk about the Bad News!

How did God intervene?

The One and Only:

What About the World?

Paul’s Example

What Effect Did Paul Expect in Their Lives?

Compare Two Ministries

We do have a choice How we serve!

Service is a Privilege.

What about Counterfeits?

Jesus knows the Difference!

Practice, Exercise, and Growth

Learning to Walk

The Poor Ye Have Always

John 12:7, 8

Compare Deuteronomy 15:7, 10, 11

Introduction:

Why did Judas condemn Mary’s gift?

What about the Poor?

Church Responsibilities

“Shoe Leather Faith”

Priority of Jesus

What is our Priority?

Prime Directive

Living Examples

Hidden Agendas

Changed Course

Why did Jesus Weep?

Introduction

Get the Whole Context

What about Death itself?

Can God raise the dead?

But; Can Jesus Raise the Dead?

How can we Experience Eternal Life?

Seeing the Dead Raised

2^nd Thessalonians 1:1-5

1^st Thessalonians 5:5-8

**Salvation Should Result in Discipleship**

**How does Paul’s life form an object lesson to teach Ephesians 2:8-10?**

**What kind of person is told to “put on armor…” a breastplate, and a helmet?**

**We are Called to Rest, but we are not to “take time off from discipleship.”**

1^st Corinthians 13:4-8

**So, What do we see as the Descriptors for Agapé love in 1^st Corinthians 13:4-8**?

**So, How has God forgiven us?**

**What Effect Did Paul Expect in Their Lives?**

**What is our Priority?**

**Compassion should have been strong in every priest.**

**How do we really feel about Christmas?**

**So, What was the Promise?**

**How do we Receive that Promise?**

1^st Peter 3:1-12; Ephesians 5: 21-33; Colossians 3:18-23; 1^st Corinthians 13:4-8

**What should we use to replace the old ways?**