Balance the Truth of God’s Judgment with the Love of Christ

2nd John: A Letter to “The Elect Lady”

2^nd John 1-13

Introduction:

The book of 1st John was “a letter to the children.”

The book of 2^nd John is a letter to “the Elect Lady.” Who is she? God does not tell us.

There are several possibilities: She could have been someone John knew, personally, in whose home believers were meeting. We don’t know for certain whether the “Elect Lady” was an actual woman, or if John was addressing a local church, in the feminine form, as a portion of the Body of Christ: The Bride.

Whether an individual or a local assembly, His message includes an Emphasis on Truth, as a foundational concept. It includes a Reminder of the Commandment of Christ, and a Warning against joining in the works of false teachers. All three are directly applicable today. So, we can take these teachings and apply them to our own lives.

A Strong Emphasis on Truth

Notice that, in the first four verses, John emphasized “Truth” five times. We frequently hear people claim that “God’s Primary attribute is Love,” because of 1^st John 4:7, 8, where it states that “God is Love”…but the rest of the Bible makes it clear that His Primary Attribute is Holiness. And His truth goes right along with that Holiness.

In Numbers 23:19, God says, “God is not a man that He should lie, nor the son of a man, that He should repent.” Remember, too, that Jesus did not say, “I am the way, the Love and the Life.” He said, “I am the way, the TRUTH and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by Me.” Jesus also said, in John 4:24, that “God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.” Jesus said, in John 8:32, “Ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free.” So it seems we cannot over-stress the importance of the Truth of God’s Word.

¹The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;

We can easily forget that Jesus said He is the truth. If we remember that, then we see that John said He loved this person (or persons) in Christ. Further, he said that anyone else who had an ongoing relationship with that Truth (Jesus) would love her, too!

Remember: 1^st John 4:11, 12 says, “¹¹Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. ¹²No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

Truth is the Ground and Basis of Faith.

John says that the reason we love each other is for the truth’s sake. Specifically for the sake of the Truth which now dwells in us. In John 14:16-23, we see that the Holy Spirit will live in us forever, and that, in the person of the Spirit of God, Jesus (God the Son) AND God the Father have made their abode with us!

²For the truth’s sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever. ³Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. ⁴I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.

According to John 1:17, Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ. God reveals the truth. We believe Him, trusting in His Word, as opposed to believing the countless contrary voices around us in the World: And He calls that trust “Faith.”

On the basis of that faith, He declares us righteous, just as He did Abram. God calls this “Justification.” It means that God has declared you righteous. But He only does so on the basis of faith in His Word. In Romans 3:25, God makes it very specific: He says that salvation is based upon faith in the Blood of Jesus.

Jesus is the Living Truth

John confirms, here, that the Truth (Jesus) “dwells in us” (verse 2) and that “He shall be with you forever!” But, he also says that in addition to “knowing the truth” (verse 1), he asks us to “walk in the truth” (verse 4.) Walking in the truth builds greater faith.

Romans 1:17 says that as we continue in the Gospel of Christ, the Righteousness of God is revealed “from faith to faith.” Obedience to God, by faith, allows us to see the Righteousness of God, which, in turn, builds greater faith. 1^st John 1:7 says, “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.” In John 8:12, Jesus said, “I am the Light of the World: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of Life.”

A Reminder of the Commandment of Christ

⁵And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.

⁶And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

John reminds the “elect lady” (whoever she is…I lean somewhat toward it being an actual person, though unnamed…but it could be a church.) He reminds her that we still have the same commandment Jesus gave from the beginning: That we are to exercise agapé love toward our fellow believers. And our blessing lies in obedience to that command.

But there may have been an ongoing trend within that church, (or that family) to receive “anyone and everyone” as if they were Godly teachers. The warning that follows this blessing is in stark contrast to the extensive message expounding the agapé love in 1^st John. He says there are some limitations as to how we are to receive traveling teachers. We are not to assume they are all Godly teachers, sent by God.

Why The Warning? False Teachers Abound!

(Compare 1^st John 4:1-3) The Spirit of Antichrist is already at work in the World, and we are called to discern that voice of evil when it arises. And the “litmus test” of false teachers, is their doctrine:

What Do They Do With Jesus?

Is He literally God in the flesh? Did He have a real, flesh-and-blood, physical, human body that God sent Him to offer as a sacrifice (God’s chosen sacrifice) in order for us to be saved? And was He physically, bodily, resurrected as predicted? Is He reigning as God the Son today? Is He coming back, physically, literally, and visibly, as He predicted?

All the false religions and cults (that I am aware of) deny the deity of Christ. They deny that He truly is God in the Flesh. Also, they deny that He is the Eternal Judge, as well as the only Savior. They deny the reality of the Virgin Birth, as well as denying the literal resurrection.

Such people are turning away sinners from salvation: They turn people away from the living God, and away from the Cross of Christ: They supplant the Grace of God with the Works of Religion!

⁷For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. ⁸Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.

(Notice that there is a danger of losing rewards!) This seems to be a core message in the letter: He warned the recipients that they could ruin their own testimonies by consorting with false teachers. And that it was possible to lose the rewards they otherwise would gain through obedience to and respect for, the truth of the Gospel.

So, What Should We Do?

⁹Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.

¹⁰If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: ¹¹For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

He states categorically that those who do not abide in this doctrine of Christ do NOT have God! This is the way we can sort out the false teachers from the faithful brothers. There is a serious warning here, against “supporting” false teachers by any means, or fellowshipping (partnering) with them.

We are not even so much as to offer a blessing to them. Galatians 1:6-9 says how God feels about people teaching a false Gospel. He says, “Let them be accursed!” So, why would you want to help them or bless them, in activities that God has already cursed? We must not join them in their sin, nor allow our testimony to be muddled or contaminated, by mixing with them.

Think Carefully About Who You Support!

This is one of the reasons we think carefully as a church, about what sort of missionary work we support. It is also an appropriate warning against receiving false teachers into your home, as if they were the honest messengers of God. 1^st John 4:1-3 says to “test them!” Ask them what they teach concerning these fundamental truths of God’s Word. And, if they seem to be “hedging” or “acting coy” about what they teach, take notice! If they are not willing to give a straight answer, then you must recognize that as a warning. They are not dealing in truth.

We actually had such a man as a pastor, years ago. He was teaching things that caused us to wonder whether he believed the Bible was God’s Word. So, we asked him outright: “Do you believe the Bible is the Word of God?” He hedged, saying, “I believe the Bible is completely trustworthy!” But that did not answer the question!

So, we asked again, with emphasis: “Do you believe the Bible is THE Word of God?” This time we got a straight answer: “Of course I don’t!” (We were shocked!)

But, then we knew what we were dealing with: He was a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” and he was turning people away from Jesus. This is the kind of question a believer must be willing to ask, and to demand a straight answer from a professed “teacher of the Bible.”

Personal Contact is Important

¹²Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.

John recognized that, in general, personal contact, face to face, is more effective than a letter. There is nothing wrong with a written communication, and for some things it is far superior: You can always “go back and review” what was actually said, in writing. There is far less ambiguity, and little room for doubt. But between friends and as a personal teacher, his personal contact would be a greater comfort and a deeper influence on the other believers.

¹³The children of thy elect sister greet thee. Amen.

This is one of the verses that makes me lean toward believing that it may have been an individual believer to whom he wrote, but I could see it meaning a local assembly, as well. Either way, it points out the unity in the Body of Christ at large.

The Outreach is Worldwide

We have brothers and sisters in Kenya and in Pakistan, who pray for us regularly, and who are thrilled at what the Lord is doing through our little church, as we are thrilled at what He is doing in theirs. We greet them, and bless them. They greet us and bless us, sending us photographs and testimonies of the believers there, rejoicing in God’s Word. And we rejoice with them!

Last night, the two primary leaders in Pakistan called me, in a video call, thanking us for the teaching they have received and for the Audio Bibles our church has been sending. They have been faithfully delivering those Bibles to the poor people in the slave camps in Pakistan.

Those leaders said that their church prays faithfully for our church and for the leaders here. They are taking the things they learn through us, and they are re-teaching it to younger believers who will also take it seriously, and who will go on to teach others. It was a joy to visit with them, to share the blessings, and to fellowship in the Word of God.

This is the Church, worldwide, looking to bless one another in Christ! That is what we do!

Lord Jesus, allow us to immerse ourselves in Your Work, and in Your Joy. Change our focus and make us true disciples of the Living Christ.

July 20, 2024July 20, 2024

What does “Strive for Mastery” Mean? What if We Fail?

How Do We Strive for Mastery? What if We Don’t?

1^st Corinthians 9:19-27

¹⁹For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.

²⁰And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;

²¹To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

²²To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

²³And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.

²⁴Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

²⁵And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

²⁶I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

²⁷But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Introduction:

Paul introduced several concepts, here in the latter half of 1^st Corinthians chapter nine. He says that he:

Chose to be a servant to all, that he might gain more (reaching souls for Christ.)
Lived as those around him lived, so as not to cause an offense and turn people away.
He did all these things for the sake of the gospel…not to deceive them in any way.
He did so, that he might be a partaker in the Gospel with his hearers. He wanted them to serve Christ with him, and to be in Heaven with him!

Paul reminded the people that there is usually only one “first-place prize” in a race. The analogy only goes so far: the point is that we want to apply ourselves as if we were striving to win, not just participate. We can win collectively and individually. But if we are not giving diligence to the things of Christ, then He will reward us accordingly. Ultimately, we are slacking, and we are not “in it to win,” either individually nor as part of a group,

God has given each of us a task: If we are not applying ourselves diligently to that task, then we are not “Striving for Mastery.” We are treating our service to God only as a hobby, not a calling…and we ARE His “called ones!”

What Does it Mean, Then, to “Strive for Mastery?”

In his 93^rd year, the famous cellist, Pablo Casals was still practicing his cello three hours per day. Someone asked him why, at his age, he was still practicing so diligently. He replied, “I think I am seeing some improvement!”

If anyone had truly mastered the cello, he was the one. And still, he “strove for mastery!” He continued to work toward improvement. We cannot easily attain mastery. Perhaps a true expert would say “Mastery is never truly achieved…it can only be more and more closely approached.”

Some people (mistakenly) think that I am a master at violin making. (I absolutely am not!) There are men and women whom I consider to be masters at the craft. They might be kind enough to approve of my work, but none would say I have mastered any part of the craft. At best, they might say, “You have come a long way, Chet! Your work is improving!”

All I can do, one by one, is, try to make each instrument better than the one before. I can try not to keep making the same mistakes over and over.

So, What is Our Goal, as Christians?

In Hebrews 12:1, the writer (probably Paul) says, “Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, (Meaning, the collective testimony of the Old Testament saints in chapter eleven) let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience (endurance) the race that is set before us.”

All we can do is “press on!” 2^nd Corinthians 10:12 says we are not to compare ourselves with others. “¹²For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.”

The race is not a competition against one another. Philippians 3:14 shows that it is a striving forward, pressing on into Christ, reaching forward “toward the mark for the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus.” We contend “against the course itself,” in a sense: (the race that is set before us.)

When I was trying (and failing) to maintain a regimen of running, my brother advised, “Never let the course beat you!” He explained, “Set small goals, as needed, but follow through and complete the course. Don’t allow yourself to establish an accepted pattern of failure.” I never did establish such a pattern of diligence and I have suffered the consequences, physically.

However, I have occasionally been able to apply that concept in other areas. For example, at work, I analyzed my tasks and tried to determine where I was behaving inefficiently. I found ways to optimize my efforts so that I accomplished more work in a day. It was not that I was competing against other workers: I was competing against my own track record. I was striving for mastery.

God Sets Goals Before Us

In Philippians 2:5-8, He says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus….” And then he enumerates the steps of “kenosis” (the self-emptying) that Jesus followed, to be the Servant of God that He was. We can see a seven-fold self-emptying, here:

He did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped at—or clung to;
He set aside the honor and prerogatives of deity (making himself of no reputation) and literally became a “nobody”. Jesus was not honored as an important member of His society.
Jesus took on a much lower form—that of a created being, though he was the Creator; that of a servant, though He was the ultimate Lord and Master.
He was made in the form of a man—in fact, arriving as men arrive—a naked, helpless baby; completely dependent upon others for food and care.
He humbled himself. There was no hint of pride in anything Jesus did on earth. There were no “Look at me now!” moments.
He was obedient in all things, big and little, convenient and inconvenient.
He was obedient even though it cost him his life.

Then, in the following three verses (9-11,) we can see the seven-fold reward He received:

The Father has Highly Exalted Him:
Has given Him a Name which is above every name
That at the name of Jesus, Every knee shall bow
Of things in Heaven (the holy Angels, the righteous resurrected dead, and the raptured church)
And things in Earth (whoever is living on the restored Earth…in the Millennial Kingdom, apparently), and
Things under the Earth (I assume he means the inhabitants of Sheol), and
That every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father.

Each Person Has His or Her Own Assignment

Jesus had a different assignment than we do, and yet, we are told to see Him as our supreme example. He told us to emulate Him. None of us can become a savior for anyone else. But we can exhibit His nature as we “run the race that is set before us.”

In 2^nd Peter 1:3-11, he says, “³According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

⁴Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

⁵And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

⁶And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

⁷And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

⁸For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

¹⁰Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

¹¹For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

Let’s Examine What Peter Said, There:

In verses three and four, he said that God has given to us (past tense) everything we need to live godly lives, through the knowledge of Him that has called us!

How has he given us this ability? Through the Word! He says it is by the “exceeding great and precious promises” that we can become partakers of the Divine Nature.

Which promises? Effectively, all of ‘em! But the journey begins when we place our trust in His Promise of salvation through His Blood! Romans 3:25 says, “He is the propitiation (the satisfaction of God’s Righteous Judgment of our Sin) through faith in His Blood.”

Jesus reiterated that promise in John 5:24. 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 has passed from death unto Life!”

Believing that promise (applying it to our own need by faith) brings us into the family of God as newly re-born children of God. From that point forward, he exhorts us to begin learning to live like His children because we ARE His children.

Next time I am teaching we will examine these things in detail.

For now, we will close, and celebrate communion together. I will be out of commission for at least a week, as I go back for the surgery on my left eye.

Randy will be teaching next week.

Lord Jesus, help us to learn to walk with You in such a way as to not cause offense, and to know You more closely, every day.

January 6, 2024January 6, 2024

Salvation or Rewards: A Gift or Wages?

1^st Corinthians 3:9-15

⁹For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry (a cultivated field), ye are God’s building (In other places this building is called the “Temple” or “habitation” of God).

¹⁰According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

¹¹For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

¹²Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

¹³Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

¹⁴If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

¹⁵If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Introduction:

We have seen the difference between the ministry of Paul and the ministry of Apollos. Paul said, “I planted, and Apollos watered. But God gave the increase.” Paul goes on to use a slightly different metaphor. Remember that he used two ideas in verse nine. He likened us first to a cultivated field, and then to a building.

So, as appropriate to the first metaphor, he said that he (Paul) had planted, and Apollos had watered. But then he moves on to the second metaphor…the building…an edifice of some kind. And in verse ten, he says, “I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon.”

Consider the Cultivated Field

When a farmer plants a field with seed, he doesn’t step back and say, “There is a fruitful field!” He waits and watches to see the germination take place and the leafing-out of whatever the young plants are. Finally, he is grateful to see the field bearing the fruit he hoped for.

What About a Building?

Consider how a General Contractor, specializing in concrete work, begins a project. He completes the excavation for the building site. Thinking ahead, he makes allowances for the wiring and plumbing that must also happen. He will lay down the necessary loads of crushed rock, onto which the concrete foundation will be poured. The contractor erects the plywood forms, into which he will pour the concrete. Ultimately, he will pour the concrete, making certain to leave no air-voids.

Finally, after the concrete is sufficiently cured, he will strip the forms from the newly cured concrete. Then he may hand-trowel a layer of finishing mortar onto the portions that may remain exposed. He may also apply various additives or sealants to enhance the longevity or looks of that foundation.

The Foundation is Complete and Permanent!

But at some point, he can say, “I have laid the foundation!” And, as a general contractor, he would then turn the work over to the other builders who will complete the structure in the prescribed manner, according to the plan of the Architect.

This is the metaphor Paul introduces in this passage: And the whole context teaches the result of the efforts of the subsequent builders.

Our question, then, becomes, “What am I accomplishing as I build upon the foundation which has been laid in my life?”

The Foundation

He says, “As a wise master-builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon.”

In the case of the “cultivated field,” once the farmer had planted the seed, others completed the remaining cultivation. Those who watered that field did the rest, and God brought the increase. But, in the case of the building, once the foundation has been laid, the rest of the building is for someone else to accomplish.

In any physical building, if the foundation is of questionable quality, then the subsequent building is unsecure, regardless of the craftsmanship of the builders. If the ground under the “foundation” is unstable, then even the foundation is unsecure.

But, in this case, Paul identifies the Foundation: He explains in verse 13 that the foundation is Jesus Christ. (In other passages, we find that He is also the Monolithic Bedrock under the “foundation” in our lives.) Everything that has become “possible” in our lives, as new believers is only possible because of the absolute security of that foundation. Jesus said, “Upon this Rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.” (And He was not referring to Peter!) Jesus is the Rock of our Salvation, and He is the Foundation of the Work God plans to accomplish in our lives.

The Gift

Think clearly about this: You did not lay the foundation! Someone else came to you with the Gospel of Christ and eventually, one way or another, you chose to believe it. God, through the agency of that other person, laid the Foundation of Christ in your life at that moment. Paul brought Christ to Corinth, and, in doing so, he laid the foundation there in Corinth. They did not do it for themselves. It was the gift of God.

The Foundation was a gift! Salvation is a gift! What you do with that gift after having received it, is another matter. Paul warns that the character of resulting overall construction is up to you to decide, moment-by-moment and day-by-day.

The Warning: “Let Every Man Take Heed!”

Paul said, “But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.”

“Take Heed!” (Pay attention!) Listen up! There is a caveat, here! A warning: Salvation is a gift! But rewards are not! This matter can easily confused us. Some teach that salvation is the reward for good behavior. That is absolutely false! You cannot earn salvation. You can receive it as the gift of God, precious beyond price and beyond imagination, or you cannot receive it at all.

Example one

I visited in the home of a man in Mexico, many years ago. He was a coppersmith…a very good one. He had personally hand-forged a beautiful copper pan for my wife as a gift. I do not speak even semi-fluent Spanish. However, during that evening I had shared the Gospel with this man. He rejected it, saying, it is too easy: “I have to earn it!” I thought for a moment, then felt in my pocket as if for money, and said, “So, how much do you want for that copper “casserole” you made for Ann?”

He instantly was furious: “No! That was a gift!”

“That’s right, “I replied. “You are angry because I offered to pay for the gift you made for Ann, aren’t you?” He was still angry, so he blurted “YES!”

So I asked, “How much more angry do you think God may be, that you are offering to pay for the blood of His only Son?” His countenance changed, and his eyes went round, as he realized what he quite literally had been doing. I never saw him again, but I know that, at that moment, he understood the Gospel for the first time. What he ultimately chose to do about it, I don’t know. But I hope to see him in eternity.

Salvation is a Gift!

We have received a gift, each of us who has placed our trust in Christ. We have eternal life.

Example two

On another occasion, later, not knowing that the young lady to whom I was speaking was not a believer, I was only trying to teach her about her security in Christ. Eventually, I offered her a dime, saying, “Here: take this!”

She took it, and I asked, “Now, whose dime is that?”

She replied, “It’s mine, now!”

So, I asked, “But what did you do to get it?”

And she (bless her heart) said, “Nothing! I just reached out and took it!”

And then she started crying! I was thoroughly confused, since I really didn’t understand what was happening. So, I finally prayed with her, and she gave me a ferocious hug, and then she and her husband drove away. That was January 9^th, 1994.

Two weeks later, she explained to me that she was born again that day, as she simply believed God and received the GIFT of eternal life in Christ. GOD laid the foundation, that day, even though I did not at all understand what was going on!

And it was a gift!

**But, Rewards are NOT Gifts!**

The warning here is that we can receive rewards…or NOT, depending on how we respond to the Lord after receiving that gift.

I have frequently heard people say of someone who recently died that “He has gone to his reward!” And, in most cases, they were not even saying the person was a believer…only that they were dead! As an unbeliever, had I died before I was eighteen, my “reward” or “wages” would have been eternity in Hell! Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of Sin is Death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord!”

But, here in 1^st Corinthians 3:9-15, Paul tells us that a reward is possible! And he says that the reward is commensurate with the work done, as we have either “worked with Jesus” or we have rebelled and “worked on our own…” choosing our own ideas of “how to please God,” as opposed to what His Word says.

The Building Materials

Paul continues his metaphor in verse 12, now likening the product of our lives, the “building” we are producing, as being of “different grades of building materials.”

He chose two categories of materials: the first group, “Gold, Silver, Precious stones,” when considered as building materials, were completely outside the reach of anyone but the wealthiest of individuals. The second group were materials that even the poorest people could probably acquire, though there was still some expense, most likely, and a good deal of work as well.

**It is not just about the cost of the Materials**

One group implies “intrinsic value,” while the other does not! However, in verse 13, Paul tells us a far more important difference between the two groups: one is combustible, and one is not!

He says the final test of our works will not be so much upon how much work we did to accomplish it, how “important” it seemed, nor how “skilled” we are, but upon the intrinsic value of the materials and their permanence. He says that our work will be tested by fire.

So, where would a person get the “Gold, and Silver, and Precious Stones” that Paul mentions, here? Think forward a bit: In 2^nd Peter 3:10, God also says that in the day of the final judgment, “the elements will pass away with a fervent heat and a great noise!” (Yes… but, “Gold and Silver and Precious Stones” are “elements,” too, aren’t they? Won’t they just be burned up?)

Materials From God are Eternal

Therefore, we are not talking about literal, physical wealth here, which none of those believers had, anyway. (Including the Apostles: Remember, it was Peter (and John) who said, addressing the lame man, “Silver and Gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee: In the Name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”)

The building materials God wants us to use, have to come from Him! That is why Jesus said, in John 15:5, “Apart from Me ye can do nothing!” The work has to be the direct result of our “pulling in double harness” with Jesus! That is why verse 9 says, “We are laborers together with God!”

The Result: Reward or Loss

Finally, in verses 14, and 15, Paul says that the result of the testing for permanence and value will be either that our work simply burns up like a barn with a haymow fire, or that it still remains, and a reward will be given. He points out that the foundation is permanent: He says that if any believer’s work burns up, the believer himself will still be saved, but “as one escaping through the flames.”

Was there a Reward for Lot?

Abraham’s nephew, Lot comes to mind as a prime example: He had already received great riches as a result of his travels with Uncle Abraham. But he squandered that fine start by moving into the City of Sodom. Ultimately, when God destroyed Sodom, Lot and his immediate family were saved, but they lost everything: The angels dragged them out of town, and whatever they dragged with them was all they had left. If it were not for the fact that, in 2^nd Peter 2:6-8, God specifically names Lot as being a righteous man, I would never have guessed he was a saved man! And that helps secure my faith that He will save me, too! He laid the foundation!

But the reward is another matter! Lot came out of the City of Sodom with essentially nothing but his life! His salvation was a gift! But, there was no reward for his behavior!

Will there Be a Reward for Us?

Paul tells us that we have a choice: we can learn to “pull with Jesus in double harness,” being “laborers together with God,” thereby receiving from Him (and building with) the materials that have eternal intrinsic value, and eternal substance that will outlast this life…or not.

Let’s pursue the goal of learning to walk with Jesus, as His flock: learning to work with Jesus as His partners in the Work of God. The result, whether we follow or not, will have eternal results, for better or for worse.

Lord Jesus, please teach us to walk with You and to serve as your agents here in the fallen world in which we live. We know that we are Your ambassadors, but we want to be faithful at that work, serving with You looking for eternal results.

November 8, 2020November 8, 2020

Responding to the Redeemer

1st Peter 1:13-25

Introduction:

We are studying through 1^st Peter, and we have seen the security of the believers and the Joy that is their choice, and which is only possible because of their position in Christ. Given that position, that security, and the possibility of such Joy, the logical question seems to be, “What now? How should we respond to this reality?” Peter addresses that question in the last 13 verses of this chapter. He begins by listing three things the believer is to do:

How should we Respond?

1. Gird up the Loins

¹³Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

I am told that when a man of that time was called to some sort of active work, or a coming battle, he would prepare by picking up the hem of his tunic or robe or whatever sort of long garment he was wearing, and tucking it into his belt, or “girdle” as it was called, then cinching it so that it could not fall loose and trip him. I have no way to know the accuracy of that historical note, so all I can do is look at it in the context of the rest of the scriptures and see that, in every case, when people were told to “gird up their loins”, it meant to prepare themselves for coming activity, whether a fight, a trial, or a task. It was an admonition to “get ready for action.” God wants to use your life: prepare yourself so that you are usable in His hand! We see this over and over in the New Testament. We are saved to serve. We have been set free from our slavery to sin, and now we are free to go to work “with Jesus.” He asks us to join Him in His work, but working with Him requires that we are prepared to serve.

2. Be Sober

Being sober is not the opposite of being drunk: it is looking at things realistically, from God’s perspective: not frivolously, but also not overly optimistically when God has not promised a good end to circumstances. Nor are we to think pessimistically, assuming that God doesn’t care. We have been left in this world to live as lights in a dark place! If life were “all easy” for us, then we would not be seen as lights at all: we just would appear to be “privileged characters” incurring the envy and anger of all those around us. If we are complaining about life all the time, then we are not seen as a light, either: we are simply seen as whiners.

But, if we see life soberly, accepting hardship and privation as being part of life, and choosing to find our Joy in the Savior Himself, instead of only in all He provides, then the people around us can see that we have something to be desired. We have clear Hope when there seems to be no hope. We have Joy in the presence of grief. People are not blind to the work of an active faith. Serenity and peace during tumultuous times is an unusual thing, and it is seen as valuable to most people. It is a mark of stability and strength, and attracts attention to the source of that strength.

3. Hope to the End

All the believers to whom this epistle was originally written have died, obviously. Every one of every generation since then has also “hoped to the end” to see the revelation of Jesus Christ. I believe that we are very close to His return, now, but we are still told to “hope to the end.” So, we keep pressing on, doing what we were told to do, placing our faith in the faithful Creator who claims us as His children; building our lives on the foundation of our new relationship with Him.

A New Relationship

We have been born again, so we are in a new relationship with a new Father. We want to imitate our Heavenly Father, just as a toddler tries to imitate his parents.

¹⁴As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: ¹⁵But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; ¹⁶Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

God’s primary attribute is His Holiness. Even His Love is subject to His Holiness. So, we need to consider what that means, if we hope to imitate it. The word “Holy” means “set apart for a particular purpose.” It does not mean “walking around with your hands pressed together as if in prayer, and with a pious expression on your face.” The world recognizes that phony charade and rejects it, just as God does. The Pharisees specialized in that sort of behavior, and Jesus condemned it as hypocrisy and fraud. In Matthew 23:25, He said they were polishing the outside of a cup, while the inside was still filthy; “…filled with extortion and excess”.

But we are called to imitate the holiness of God, because He has created us by the new birth to be as holy as He is Himself: It means that, as His child, and His new creation, you belong to Him, and you are created for His personal service and fellowship.

Your whole life belongs to Him, which is really nothing new: He created every sub-atomic particle in every atom of every molecule in every cell in your body as well as the air you breathe, the water you drink and the food you eat. That was true of us all, even when we were still in our sins! How much more, now that He has freed us from our slavery to sin, and provided us with eternal life?

We are re-born in His image, and we are created for His pleasure and service. It is our privilege to be in his service. We are in a place of honor and reward, not “forced servitude.” So He calls us to imitate Him in His holiness. Paul begged the believers to do just that In Ephesians 5:1, saying, “…be imitators of God, as dear children.”

This is part of what is involved in “girding up the loins” of our minds, in preparation for service. It means that we are to subject our wills to His, and see our lives beginning to reflect His character. It also means that we are to learn His Word. Over in 2^nd Peter 1:4, it says that by means of the “exceeding great and precious promises” in God’s Word, we are to become “partakers of the Divine nature.” The way…the only way, God promises to change us into His likeness is through the application of His Word, as we allow the Holy Spirit to use that scripture to change our hearts. (Psalm 119:9-11)

Since we are born of “His seed” as it says in 1^st John 3:9, we are “genetically predisposed” to bear His likeness. One of the first laws discernible in God’s Word is the Law of the Harvest: “Like begets like!” God made man in His image, but that image has been marred by sin. So He offered the new birth, and we are born again in His likeness, with the express intent that we are to be like Him, in character and purpose and action. Psalm 119:9 says that the way our lives can be cleansed is by the application of God’s Word. This is a key issue, because it means that His Word can change us into His likeness. (So, what was the means by which we have been born again in the first place? We will answer that question in verse 23. But for the moment, we are to remember the price that has already been paid for us.)

**How did we Get here?**

¹⁷And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: ¹⁸Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; ¹⁹But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Since we call upon the Lord as our Father, we need to consider and remember how we became His children: the result should be a sobriety and a respect for the Holiness of God, and a dread of offending the Eternal One who loves us.

We were not bought out of our slavery to sin by a “cash payment” of any sort, nor were we freed from the Law of Sin and Death by a price that we could pay. This is especially important in the case of these Jewish believers: they had lived their whole lives attempting to please God by works of the Law, as their ancestors had taught them. They (like most humans) were convinced that they could live in such a way as to please God. But they could not pay the sin-debt that stood as a testimony against them. That One Blood Sacrifice approved by God and delivered by Jesus is the only price that could redeem them and us. The Greek word, here, for “redeemed,” is “elutrothete” which is a form of the infinitive verb “lutroō,” meaning “to purchase with the intent to set free.” There are three words translated “redeem” in the New Testament:

“agorazo,” meaning “to purchase in the marketplace”…the “agora.”
“exagorazo,” meaning “to purchase out of the marketplace”…not to be sold again. And,
“lutroō,” meaning “purchased for the purpose of setting free.”

All of these words, combined, tell the story of our redemption.

We were enslaved to sin. Jesus went to that marketplace of sin, to purchase us with His own blood. That is where he bought us, because that is where we were!
He purchased us out of that marketplace, never to be returned there. We belong to Him eternally. And, best of all,
He purchased us with the purpose of setting us free. He was not just trying to increase his household staff, nor the number of workers in his field. We were set free by that purchase. We are free to serve Him, but also free to choose not to serve, in which case we suffer loss, though we still are saved.

Remember, we were all pretty much living pointless lives, serving our own desires, in activities that had zero eternal value, regardless of how they may have seemed to us. He has given us a new purpose in life. Now we can live in such a way as to be to His eternal glory! We can work with Him in a task that has eternal value and which will earn us eternal reward!

²⁰Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

This is an important concept and it is very easy to just “pass over” and not notice it. It says here that He was “foreordained” (or “appointed before the time”)…when? Before the foundation of the world! Before Genesis 1:1 (!) Ponder on that for a while! So, when it says, “In the beginning…” He was already there and was already “Plan A” for our salvation!

Compare this verse to Revelation 13:8, and see what it means: in that passage, He was “the Lamb Slain, from the foundation of the world.” But here it says, from “before the foundation of the world!” Jesus was always “Plan A” and there is no “Plan B.” Before He created the world, God ordained that Jesus was to be the sacrifice for the fallen Human Race…the “as-yet non-existent, un-created, un-tested, and not-yet-in-danger, Human Race.” God provided for us before He created us. What wisdom and care! We can see in Ephesians 3:8-11 that God had an eternal plan. And, He laid the foundation for His plan before He laid the foundations of the earth!

Where do we Stand? And, What should we Do?

²¹Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. ²²Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

It is interesting that he is not “commending them” simply for “believing in God:” these were Jews, who already believed in the God of Israel. And James points out that “belief in God” is not necessarily even meritorious: he said, “The demons also believe, and tremble!” But something has changed in them, in Acts 2-7: they met God personally, by faith, in the person of Jesus their Messiah. Now they believe in God through Jesus. The result is an unfeigned (genuine) love of the brethren. Agape love is the fruit of their lives because they believe through Jesus. They received the Holy Spirit when they believed, and He changed their hearts and their desires, just as He has changed our hearts and desires. Each has a new nature, because they have been born again, same as we have. And along with them, we are commanded to fervently love one another with that Agape Love. Finally, he reminds us of the means by which we were born again:

²³Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

Take special note of what Peter says, here: He says that you were “Born Again:” by what means? By the Word of God! It had nothing to do with works! It had everything to do with your having heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ and having believed that message, placing your trust in the promise, and thus in God who gave it.

So, this also correlates with verse 3 where he says that we have been “begotten again.” The “seed” of natural birth is corruptible. The “seed of God,” in this case, is incorruptible, as it is the Word of God.

This is an important concept, because we sometimes are given to think that our own “persuasive speech” is the key to drawing a lost soul to Christ. But Jesus said, in John 12:32, “If I be lifted up…I will draw all men to myself!” He is the one who draws souls, like bits of iron to a magnet. We are to lift up Jesus, not try to dazzle unbelievers with our convincing arguments: The door to the truth is the will, not the intellect! We are to preach the Cross and Jesus Christ: not try to “convince” people by philosophy or moralizing, or any other sort of Human reasoning. Paul echoes this idea, in 1^st Corinthians 1:17, saying that he was sent “…not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel; not with wisdom of words, lest the preaching of the Cross be made of none effect.” We actually reduce the effectiveness of the Gospel through our “human effort.” Peter concludes this passage with a clear comparison between the flesh and all its “human wisdom” versus the Word of God and His eternal Wisdom. He says,

²⁴For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: ²⁵But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Let’s bear in mind that God’s Word has eternal value. Everything we can do on our own is destined to decay and failure. What God chooses to do through us, by His indwelling Spirit, by His perfect Word, not only has eternal value, and will bear eternal fruit, but it will also pay eternal rewards or “dividends.” God gives us the will to serve, and He does the work through us, but then He rewards us for the work as if we had done it ourselves. What Amazing Grace!

Lord Jesus, free us from our addiction to self. Teach us to subject ourselves willingly to Your will, to Your Holy Spirit, and the teachings of Your Word. Continue to remake us into your likeness, and let us shine in this dark world as reflections of your Light.

June 13, 2020June 21, 2020

Celebration of a Life

What little I know of Richard Banham:

It is a little disconcerting to realize just how little I know of a man with whom I have served for nearly a decade: I know his birthdate (September 25^th, 1931) and I know the date of his death (May 29^th, 2020.) He would have been 89 in September.

I know he became a believer in his late teens, and still later (not sure when?) he attended Biola (Bible Institute Of Los Angeles.) I think he graduated from there in 1957. I know he served as a US Marine, and later as a Hillsboro police officer, and a Chaplain while he was on the Hillsboro police force. I know that during one period of his life, he had also served as a missionary, reaching unchurched areas of Oregon and Washington, and possibly other areas, teaching in homes and leading people to Christ.

He served as a Bible Study teacher in a wide variety of care centers, around the Portland area, teaching, preaching, evangelizing, and serving in whatever capacity he could. But we knew him primarily because of his time here at True Hope Christian Fellowship.

At True Hope Christian Fellowship

Richard first appeared at True Hope Christian Fellowship, one Sunday afternoon, in July of 2010, during a downstairs deacon’s and elder’s meeting. I held no office in the church at that time, and I was already done teaching, so I was with Ann, in the car, across the street, getting ready to leave. We saw him walk up the steps and go in, and both of us said, “He needs to talk to someone!” So I got back out of the car, and followed him inside.

We introduced ourselves to one another, and Richard began asking questions about the church, the organizational structure, our doctrinal statement, etc. He first asked mostly general questions, but became more and more specific, as he worked to ascertain just exactly who he was dealing with.

My formal training had familiarized me with all the theological terminology and phrases he was using, as he “grilled” me on what the church really believed, so I was quite comfortable with answering his questions, and I genuinely enjoyed the visit. He was finally satisfied that we were in agreement about everything that was important to him, so he slowed the pace a bit. At that point, I said, “I really think you need to meet Pat James, the pastor, here.” So we walked downstairs and I introduced him to the men gathered there, and I left. Ann and I went on home, but we were both hoping that Richard would be back.

That was the beginning of Richard’s relationship with the church, and he rapidly settled in to serve. I had been teaching both a morning adult Sunday school class and a Wednesday evening Bible study/prayer meeting, but as my vocational work at Gunderson Inc. became more demanding, I asked Richard to take over the Wednesday night meeting. (Pat James was living at the coast by then, and it was getting to be too much for him, to drive back for an evening meeting every week, though he had done so for many years.)

I had also been teaching an afternoon Bible Study at Cornell Estates, every Sunday, for ten years, and I asked him to come there with me, so that, in the event I could not be there, he would already be familiar with the group and could easily step in. We ended up taking turns teaching through books of the Bible, for nearly another ten years, after that. He was absolutely faithful to be prepared, and to teach in great detail any portion of scripture he addressed. He also went there during the weeks and ministered to the believers, which I was unable to do because of my work schedule.

Richard was ordained as an elder after a few years at True Hope, and when Pat and Jan James became sick enough that Pat could not always be at church, Richard and I took turns filling the pulpit, for a year or so, always hoping that Pat’s health would improve.

When Pat finally became too sick to continue serving at all, he asked Richard to take over the shepherding of True Hope Christian Fellowship. Richard agreed to do so, provided I would serve with him, as he and I were both aware of the Biblical standard that there should always be a plurality of leaders—elders—in each church. So I was ordained by the church, as well, and he and I began taking turns preaching every week. If one of us had a message that required more than one week, the other simply backed off and allowed the series of messages to be completed. We had good harmony in our service, though we did not always agree 100% about small points of doctrine. There was never a rift: we were both free to study, learn, and build our personal understanding of God’s Word. He was a blessing to me and to the Church.

In Sickness and in Health

A few years ago, Richard was told he had advanced Prostate Cancer. He subjected himself to all the treatments, and continued to serve faithfully. He very seldom missed a service, though he became increasingly fatigued, and weaker, month by month. A few times he fell, and could not get up, but he always insisted on taking care of his own needs, which caused some distress for his family and friends, but was it was simply part of his character, as one who came to serve, not to be served.

Richard served faithfully until he was physically unable to go on…and then He was simply called home. He came as close to “dying in harness” as almost anyone I have ever known, and he stayed lucid to the very end. I had actually asked him the previous week (Memorial Day weekend) whether he would like to take the Sunday service. He declined, saying he really wasn’t prepared, but thanked me for asking. Neither of us knew that he had only a week left on Earth.

Richard died in his own home (as he had frequently said he desired to do) with many of his family around him. He died in peace, without prolonged suffering, which we count a special blessing and an answer to prayer. He was simply called home: he answered one last call.

It was an honor to have served with Richard, and I wish I could have known him earlier in life. I learned a good deal from him in the years I knew him, and I wish that I could have continued to do so. Richard was a teacher to everyone around him, and a friend to the whole church. He cared deeply about the church and the individuals within it. He became a true pillar in our community of faith, and was universally respected for his deep knowledge of God’s Word.

Already, in the short time he has been gone, there have been questions I wanted to discuss with him, to get his input. But he’s not here for me anymore, and that grieves me, as I am sure it does many of you. We are all going to miss him, but it gives us peace to know that he is with the Lord today.

So… What do we do, Now?

1^st Thessalonians 4:13-18 is a good passage to remember at times like this:

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout; with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words.”

The twin reasons these words can be a comfort to us are both contained in the passage itself:

“If We Believe that Jesus Died and Rose Again”

To an unbeliever, this passage would be no comfort at all: the whole passage is predicated on the assumption that the people to whom Paul was writing were all believers! And these are the core issues of the Gospel: 1^st Corinthians 15:3, 4 spell out that the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, specifically as payment for our sins, are the key message of the Gospel. Paul says “if we believe…” that Gospel, then these words are a comfort to us.

Romans 1:16 says that that Gospel, being believed in, is THE power of God unto salvation. Paul said, “I am not shamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the Power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

Richard believed with all his heart that Jesus’s blood at the Cross paid for all his sins, completely and permanently. If we also “believe that Jesus died and rose again,” as the 1^st Thessalonians passage points out, then we can have confidence that not only we will see Richard again, but that we cannot miss the Rapture of the Church. We will be caught up with him!

2^nd Corinthians 5:8 says, “We are confident, I say, and willing, rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” This was another source of confidence for Richard, knowing that “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” He did not go into some sort of “limbo,” as some people teach, nor into any sort of “waiting room,” such as a “purgatory,” or any other such thing. His soul did not go into suspended animation or a “soul-sleep!” He left his body, and he was instantly in the presence of his Savior. There is no middle ground. Those who have received the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, by believing that His death and burial and resurrection are full payment their sins, personally, will personally step into his presence, just as Richard did.

“Even So, Them also which sleep… in Jesus”

It is important to recognize that our confidence is in God’s Word, and His faithfulness…not our own goodness, nor that of Richard Banham. There may be some who knew Richard long ago, and who have held a grudge against him for some cause, and who may still think, “Well, he was nothing special!” Let me assure you: Richard would have been the first to agree with them! He never considered himself to have “earned merit” with God, but only to have had the unspeakable privilege of serving Him, in whatever capacity he was allowed. His standing with the Holy God he served had nothing to do with his own worthiness, but entirely to do with the Worthiness of Jesus Himself, because God only saw Richard “in Christ!” You see, that phrase, “even so them also that sleep ‘in Jesus’…” addresses position …not condition. Richard never stood before God in his own righteousness, but rather in the Righteousness of Christ, alone. That is his eternal position before God.

If you have received Jesus as your Savior, then the scripture says you also are permanently “in Christ!” Your confidence in Him, because of your position in Him, should move you to find great freedom in living for him. Richard was dedicated to doing just that.

Probably there are some of you who would like to share how Richard has affected your life… how he stirred you to grow in the Lord, or in other ways influenced you. Our sister, Kristen Flemmer, shared her thoughts last week because she knew she would unable to be here today. If you would like to speak, please don’t be shy: If he was a blessing to you, we all would like to share in that blessing. This is how it becomes a blessing to all who hear it.

Time for sharing

Close in more songs and prayer.

October 27, 2019October 27, 2019

Good News…and Bad News

There’s Good News…and Bad News!

Introduction:

The phrase, “there’s good news…and bad news…” has come to be a frequent joke in our culture. It invites the listener to reply “Ah…give me the bad news first…” (Or, in some cases they want the good news first.)

But the reality of any Good News is that it virtually always implies the possibility of some contrasting Bad news. For example, “Well, the good news is that I found a job…” What’s the bad news? Is it only the fact that the speaker was previously unemployed, or is there some hidden feature of the new job that the listener will not like? Is it a split shift, extremely low pay, long commute, or what?

We mentioned some time ago, as a real-life example, that there was an antivenin developed in Australia that covers about 85 different kinds of venomous snakes. Wow! That’s great! So, what’s the bad news? Obviously, Australia has about 85 different kinds of venomous snakes! (Actually, it turns out there are far more: about 140…so, it was really bad news!)

What’s the Bad News and Good News for Believers?

So, what is the “bad-news/good-news” issue for believers? The good news is that there is lots of it; so much good news that we haven’t even learned it all. The bad news? It is that we have to learn that good news so that we can make use of it. A friend of mine, not a believer, made the comment “You can only connect the dots you have.” That is a fairly profound statement. It really applies to nearly every aspect of life. In 2 Peter 1:4, it says thatGod has given us “exceeding Great and Precious Promises” by which we are told we can “become partakers of the Divine Nature.” Wow! That is good news! How can there be bad news in that verse?

The bad news is that largely, either we are ignorant of those promises, or, worse, we are ignoring them. You can only connect the dots you have. Jesus said (John 14:26) that when the Holy Spirit came (remember he was speaking to his disciples before his crucifixion) that He (the Holy Spirit) would teach them all things, and “bring to their remembrance” all things whatsoever He (Jesus) had taught them. Can I apply that promise to myself? Yes, in a limited sense: limited only because I do not have to wait to receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer at the moment of salvation. But the “catch” is this…if you never allow Jesus to teach you anything, because you are too busy watching TV, working on projects (guilty, Lord!) or socializing, working, whatever…then the Holy Spirit doesn’t have much to work with. He can’t “bring to your remembrance” things you have never learned. There is no promise that God will mystically reveal all things to each of us individually. Quite the opposite: He has revealed himself through the Written Word, for over 3,500 years of history, and commands us to go there to learn from Him.

Notice that when Jesus addressed the issue of spiritual thirst, he did not say, “Thirsty? Just stay right where you are, and I’ll bring you a cold drink!” No! In John 7:37 he said, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink!” If you want wisdom, you go to God and get it. If you want peace, you go to God and get it. In fact, virtually all the “exceeding great and precious promises” alluded to in 2^nd Peter 1:4 are such that they require the believer to seek the face of God in order to appropriate those gifts.

Hebrews 11:6 states that “Without Faith, it is impossible to please God, for he that cometh unto God must believe that He is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” If you want a relationship with God, it requires some diligence. He requires that you come to Him, personally, to receive his blessing. That is not the same as just attending church, by the way. Any unbeliever can attend church. But only a believer, who has not only been born again, but who has currently confessed his/her sins (1^st John 1:9), and is deliberately seeking fellowship with the living God (1st John 1:7; “if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin.”) Only that person can enter the Holy Place by way of the Person of Christ (Hebrews 10:19, 20; “having therefore brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh…”), and approach the throne of Grace (Hebrews 4:16; “let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”).

Yes, the privilege is there for each of us who has received the Lord Jesus as our Savior. But it takes work to use it effectively.

The Good news is that we have that privilege of approaching the Throne of Grace. The Bad news is that we don’t use it much. Our relationship with God is supposed to be a very personal thing… and by that I do not mean “private,” so much as underscoring the fact that it is the Person of Christ we are relating to; not just a concept. So, as we are reading His Word, we can talk with him about it, and ask for insight, confessing that we really don’t understand much about it. We can study his Word, knowing that we have an assignment to apply it, as his ambassadors.

If I am assigned a job at work that requires some study, then my reading is not casual, nor is it just “skimming” to get the gist of a story, but it is focused, and intent upon learning my new job. Part of our new relationship with Jesus is the fact that we have a new job. How are you going to respond to the new assignment? Are you taking it seriously, and striving to learn how to faithfully discharge the new responsibilities? Or are you just kicking back, watching the clock, and waiting for the lunch whistle? Do you even have a clear idea of what the job entails, and where to find the instructions as to how to perform your duties?

What is your assignment, anyway?

The New Assignment

When Jesus left this world, his last words, repeated several times in different locations, and different circumstances, were “Ye shall be witnesses unto me…”; “Go ye therefore and teach…”; “Go ye into all the World, and preach…”, “As the Father hath sent Me, even so send I you.”

When a human supervisor gives an assignment, we take heed—we take steps to get it done, knowing that we will be held accountable for how we spend our time. Usually, too, with human supervisors, we are held accountable for the results. But in the case of our assignment from God, we are only being held accountable for the obedient response, not so much the result. Jesus did say that the Father is glorified when we produce fruit. It is evident that he was speaking of the fruit of saved souls and changed lives, because he specified that the fruit would remain. But Jeremiah, who saw very little fruit in his ministry (possibly only two people), had a much better walk with God than did Jonah, who unwillingly instigated a huge revival in Nineveh.

Consider, too, that when a human loved one, or a close friend, dies and makes a dying request—a “last request”—we consider it a priority to go and complete that request if it is at all possible. Jesus gave His last request about five times. Is that request a priority, to you?

Our instructions regarding that task are fairly simple—go tell people the Good News regarding Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, and the fact that His blood completely paid for the sins of the human race. The Good News that any person who will place their faith in Him can have the free gift of eternal life now, today, not waiting, while doing religious things until they die, hoping they can be “good enough” to receive eternal life. Eternal life is a gift; not a reward.

You know how you received Jesus as your Savior, or you certainly ought to; and you can tell that much, at least. You can learn a few key scripture verses to show a person, so they can see for themselves, in the Bible, how to be saved. And, the fact is, you can tell them that “there is Good news…and Bad news.” That is a concept they can relate to: they run into it often, in daily life.

Good news and Bad news of the Gospel

The bad news is that the whole human race is guilty before God, and headed for destruction. The Good News is that Jesus has purchased a pardon for the whole human race, with his own blood, at the cross. God’s righteousness is satisfied with the sacrifice Jesus offered. The work is done!

Let’s look at two scripture passages, both spoken by Jesus:

John 3:17, 18 “For God sent not His Son into the World to condemn the World, but that the World through Him might be saved. He that believeth in Him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Can you see some good news in that passage? God did not send Jesus here to condemn us! That is good news! The bad news is that we are already condemned as a race, because of sin, and even though Jesus fully paid for the sins of the whole world, the current condemnation remains because we have not placed our trust in the name of Jesus. So, there is good news and bad news…both very simple and clear.

How about this one: John 5:24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my words and believeth on Him that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.”

There is a lot of Good news in that one: it says we can have eternal life now (notice the tenses in this verse). It says “has everlasting life,” not “will have”. It also says that the person who has received this promise will never be condemned (that’s future tense.) It also says that the person who has received this promise has passed from death into life (in English that reads as if it were a simple past participle, but it is actually even better—it is “perfect tense”, meaning that it is an event that occurred in the past, and has permanent future results.)

So where is the Bad news in that verse? The only bad news is that if you have either not heard the Gospel, or, having heard it, you have not believed it, then the three “good news clauses” of that promise are not yours. You do not have eternal life, you are still under condemnation, and you have not crossed over from death to life.

Isn’t that a pretty simple concept? Can’t we offer it to those around us? It seems to me that it is so simple we have no excuse not to do so. So: if the message is that simple, why are we given a whole New Testament from which to learn the job?

Laboring to Rest

Remember back in the book of Joshua, when the people were to enter into the land? These folk were the offspring of the ones who had not entered in, because of unbelief, and God had referred to that entering in as “rest”. He said they “could not enter into his Rest, because of unbelief.” The land was the rest, in that context. The land was given to the next generation of the people of Israel, but they had to fight every step of the way to lay hold of it! People frequently misinterpret this “crossing over the Jordan” as being analogous to dying and going to Heaven. It is not at all referring to heaven. Heaven will be the cessation of all strife: the Promised Land had to be fought for, to gain entry at all, and then they had to fight to take possession of every hill and valley, after they entered!

We have been given a whole New Testament because the majority of it is telling us how to live as God’s people. The “job” itself is fairly simple. But how to live in such a way as to consistently honor God, and to walk in constant fellowship with the living Christ, is anything but easy. There is a battle going on, and the enemy does not want us to enjoy our “rest” in Christ.

Ephesians 1:3 says you have already been blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ. But Ephesians 6:10-18 says if you want to experience those blessings in this life, you have to deliberately engage in the spiritual battle that surrounds the Christian reality. We are to feed on the written Word; feed on fellowship with Jesus the Living Word, and to live by faith, obedient to the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 4:11 says that we are to “labor to enter into His rest.” That is the character of the Christian life: laboring to enter into rest. Jesus completed all the work of Salvation at the Cross, and He offers us tremendous blessings. But it will take continuous work to see the full blessing of God in our daily lives. Why continuous work? Because it is an uphill battle. Our old sin nature is still with us, and the World around us is still at odds with the purpose of God, and Satan is still alive and well on planet Earth. The Christian life isn’t difficult; it’s impossible, unless we allow Christ to live through us. And to do that requires a constant struggle against our old sin nature.

But Galatians 5:16, referring to that old sin nature, makes it clear that if we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfil the desires of the flesh.

Just take it one step at a time. Seek the Face of God, through Bible study and Prayer. Learn the job: read your “Employee’s Manual” (meaning your Bible, of course), and take seriously the living trust that has been given to you, to tell others about Jesus.

Let’s start becoming the Men and Women of God that we are called to be, serving as the ambassadors He has ordained us to be. This is the Call of God for every believer!

Lord Jesus, draw us into a closer, more personal relationship with yourself, and allow us to see the people in the World around us through your eyes: to see all of them as precious souls for whom you died. Fill us with the Love of God, so that we overcome our reluctance to share your gift of eternal life with others. Make us fruitful in your Grace, in Jesus name.

June 30, 2018

Finding Jesus in Genesis—Lesson 7

Genesis 15—the Promises Reiterated

Introduction:

We have been studying through Genesis with the specific goal of seeing Jesus there. Today we have a fairly special view, as we will see the particular passage that is cited in the New Testament as proof of how God saves sinners. There are some other things here for us to see as well, and some that are difficult to understand. But, as I see it, there are at least three things here we really ought to try to grasp:

God Himself is the reward of the believer.
God offers a righteous standing on the basis of faith alone.
God’s Promise is entirely unilateral. There is nothing more for the believer to do, in order to make the promise sure. It is not a conditional promise, beyond faith.

Abram Met With God

After Abram’s encounter with Melchizedek, in chapter 14, God came to Abram again, and told him that He himself was Abram’s shield and “exceeding great reward”. Keep in mind that this was Jesus, the only Savior, who kept appearing to Abram. And here is an interesting thought: Are you satisfied, if God is your reward? Is Jesus alone enough for me? Or do I really say, “Well that’s fine, but, here’s what I want.”, and then list all the things I think ought to be in the mix?

Abram replied, “What will you give me?” Not, “Wow! YOU are my reward? That is really mind-boggling!” He missed the statement that GOD was to be the reward of Abram. It is hard for me to imagine the whole exchange, even though it is spelled out for us.

God: “I AM your faithful protector, and your eternal, super-abundant reward!”

Abram: “Yeah? What’s in it for me?”

Amazingly, God is not offended by Abram’s blindness and ignorance. He understood that Abram had no concept of the eternal glory of God, which was being promised to him. He could only see the temporal condition: He had no offspring.

So God listened to Abram’s complaint that he had no children, and that a servant of his was about to become his heir, but then God corrected his thinking. Evidently it was at night…God first said, “No, that person will not be your heir: your own son, begotten by you, will be your heir. And, by the way; let’s step outside and look at the stars. Try counting them…it will be just as hard to count those who will eventually be your offspring!”

And the surprising thing (when you consider all the other problems displayed by Abram) was that Abram simply believed God. Remember he was around 85 years old, and childless. But God promised him a son, and Abram believed him. (Incidentally, the name “Abram” means “high father”. I wonder how Abram had felt about the irony of his own name up ‘til now?) But this faith, expressed so simply, is the eternal example of faith by which we are instructed, still today. “Abram believed God, and God counted it to him as righteousness.” This is God’s means of imputing righteousness to sinners. (Keep that in mind when we look at Lot, later.) (See Romans 4:1-8) This is the only means by which God declares a sinner to be righteous: through faith.

And yet, Abram had his doubts…When God continued, and said that Abram would inherit the land, he said, “How can I know I will inherit it?”

A Contract with God

Elsewhere in scripture (Jeremiah 34:18-20) we find that when two individuals had to make a binding contract, they made a sacrifice, and split the sacrifice in two pieces, then, together, they walked between the pieces of the sacrifice, thus binding both of them, with the authority of God behind the oath, to the terms of what was in the contract. And God held them to that covenant.

God commanded Abram to prepare just such a sacrifice. Abram prepared the sacrifice, and then he waited. He waited all day, and kept the birds off the carcasses. After the sun went down, God caused a deep sleep to fall on Abram, and a horror of great darkness (must have seemed to be a nightmare), and then God alone walked between the pieces of the sacrifice: All Abram saw was a smoking furnace and a burning lamp. But God walked between the pieces by himself. He bound Himself to His promise with an oath, and there was nothing for Abram to do but watch. In this, also, Abram is an excellent picture of the believer: God offers grace—we receive it by faith, and there is nothing we can do to add to God’s promise. We will not make His promise more or less sure by our interaction. But we will affect the relationship for better or worse.

Give it some thought: Who was dealing with Abram? And, who do the sacrifices actually represent? When two men called one another into account on the basis of a sacrifice before God, it was binding…not to be broken…because of that sacrifice! Now Abram has prepared a sacrifice, and God bound himself alone to the promise, on the basis of that sacrifice.

We Meet With God

To what is this picture alluding? If we read Genesis 22, we see Abraham obediently moving to attempt to sacrifice his son, Isaac. This story is an echo of the promise made in the Garden of Eden, regarding the Seed of Woman, and it will be echoed even more specifically at the Passover, five hundred years later, with the blood of the Lamb saving the believers through faith. But in this specific case, in Genesis 22:16-18, God again swears by himself, on the basis of the sacrifice. All these are looking forward to the Cross! Jesus, God in the flesh, offered Himself as a sacrifice, and God the Father bound Himself to an eternal promise on the basis of that sacrifice.

When we compare Abram and Lot, in scripture, we find that Lot was declared righteous too: evidently through faith, as that is the only means by which a sinner is declared righteous; but how did his life turn out? He did not go on to interact with God on a personal basis, and his life turned out to be quite a wreck. But God later reminds us (2^nd Peter 2:7, 8) that Lot was a righteous man. We see that, while God kept His promise to both Abram and Lot, so that they were equally saved, their rewards were quite different. Because of disobedience, unbelief and neglect, Lot lost everything. Abram had some failures, as well, it is true, but he had a general pattern of faith and obedience, and he reaped a great reward.

So, in the New Testament, we can also see that a believer is saved by Grace through Faith, just as Abram and Lot were saved: but rewards are a separate issue. We can live lives that are barely different than that of an unbeliever, and our every thought and ambition may be the same as the world around us (similar to Lot), and the wreckage that he reaped can be our own, as well. Lot was a saved man who lost everything, because of unbelief, neglect, and disobedience. Abram was a saved man who earned rewards through a life of faith and obedience, though he had some serious flaws as well. Those patterns hold true today.

Abram kept building altars, wherever he went. A pattern of worship and sacrifice was established, early, and even after his failures, he kept coming back to God. When God met him in the person of Melchisedec, he responded in worship and thanksgiving. When God met him that historic night in Genesis 15 and promised a great number of offspring, he believed God, in spite of the fact that he was a very old man already (mid-eighties, at least), and God declared him righteous, on the basis of that faith.

When God promised the land, Abram initially had doubts about it; but he then acted in obedience and brought the sacrifices as commanded. Much later, when God called him to sacrifice Isaac, the Son of the Promise, he did not waver, nor even ask questions, but simply moved to obey, and God had to stop him. In Hebrews 11:17-19, God explains that Abraham (his name had changed) believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead. But God had a substitute for Isaac. A ram was there, prepared as a substitutionary sacrifice. God’s chosen sacrifice died in Isaac’s place.

God had a substitute for you and for me as well. In fact, He had a substitute for the entire human race. Jesus is the chosen sacrifice: the One who died in our place. He is the substitute for us…and there is no substitute for Jesus.

So; What About The Promised Land?

It is important to see, here in Genesis 15, that God not only labeled the boundaries of the Promised Land, but identified the time involved. Fourth generation…four hundred years in Egypt…sins of the Amorites is not yet full, etc. I don’t understand the “fourth generation” statement. C. I. Scofield points out that there have been three dispersions, and that the fourth time they come back into the land will be in the Millennial Kingdom, but I am not really sure that has anything to do with this. But it cannot be simply the fourth generation from Abraham, as that would be Joseph’s and his brother’s children, and they did NOT go into the land—in fact, the four hundred years of affliction began just as that generation came to adulthood. So, I am not sure about that verse. Incidentally, they were in Egypt for 430 years, to the day. But the affliction evidently began thirty years into their time there. Maybe there is something else here that I am missing. That could easily be the case. But Abram was clearly given to understand that the fulfillment of the promise of the land was far in the future. He embraced it by Faith.

The physical boundaries of the land were given as the Nile River on the West and the Euphrates River on the East. Evidently the northern and southern boundaries were known to them by the tribal names, but they seem to include Syria in the North, and well into Arabia in the South. Only once, during the reign of King David, Israel held nearly all that land: and even then, they only had military garrisons along all those borders. They had not actually inhabited the land.

These boundaries are called out again in Joshua 1:4, so there is no question that it was specifically to the Jews, and not to “all the sons of Abraham.” He had seven other sons by two other wives: one by Hagar, Sarai’s slave, and six by Keturah, a woman he married after Sarah died. But he had only one by Sarah. And, it bears repeating: all the natural sons regarding whom we have any further information turned out to be bitter enemies of the Sons of Promise. The nation of Israel, today, is completely surrounded by those natural sons of both Abraham and Lot. And all of them are adamant that Israel has no right to exist, nor the Jews any right to live.

But part of the promise (Genesis 12:3) was that those who bless the seed of Abraham will be blessed, and those who curse him will be cursed. So Israel has literally been under the protection of God for 4000 years. The nations who choose to be allies to Israel join in the blessing of God. Those who count Israel as an enemy fall under the curse of God. And, God further promised that, through Abram, all the families of the earth would be blessed.

If nothing else, the Lord Jesus came through the stock of Abraham: He has blessed the entire earth with the hope of eternal life. But there is also the overall testimony of the history of Israel, and the treasure of the Word of God, as well.

Pastor Pat James told me that his mother, an avowed atheist all her life, became a believer in her last few years of life, specifically because she saw the survival of Israel as a miraculous intervention by God. As she considered all the enemies that had attempted to destroy the Jews over the last four thousand years, and whom, each time, had failed to do so, she concluded that there must have been Divine protection: she believed that the only plausible explanation for their survival was Divine intervention. That small, initial step of faith led to more inquiry, and more faith, and she ended up believing in the Savior of Israel as her own Savior as well.

Thus, the promise to Abraham continues to find fruition today. People are still hearing the history, hearing the promises, and joining in the faith of Abraham, by simply believing God.

What About You?

The same three lessons are there for us to learn:

Is Jesus really reward enough for you?

This is something to seriously consider: what do you really want in your relationship with Christ? Jesus himself said, in John 4:34, “My food is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work!” Do you share that passion for the lost, and for the service of God? I don’t think I really do: I am more like Abram, saying, “Yeah? What’s in it for me?” That is a sad truth, and one would think that, after 45 years of service, I would be better focused on God’s will for my life. I think I am growing in that area, but I certainly do not claim to have arrived.

What about the next point of God’s lesson to Abram?

Do you really believe that the righteous standing God offers is entirely His own work, and is offered on the basis of faith alone?

Or are you trying to “improve upon” Jesus’s finished work at the Cross, fearing perhaps, that if your works are “not good enough,” then God eventually will reject you? This is an area in which you will have to examine your own heart. Each of us has an inborn tendency to think that we are somehow “earning God’s favor.” His favor was freely bestowed upon us in the person of Christ. That is what Grace means: “un-earned favor!” As born-again believers, we serve out of love, and in the confidence that He will reward our faithfulness. We cannot add to the work Jesus finished at Calvary, on the behalf of sinners.

Finally,

Do you really understand that the Promise of God is unconditional?

There is no part of the “contract” waiting to be fulfilled by humans. Jesus poured Himself out as an offering for sin, on behalf of a race which was, at that very moment, rejecting His Grace, spitting on His Holiness, mocking His Majesty, and condemning His Righteousness to death, as if He, and not they were the criminals. We have completely deserved the condemnation of God, and, instead, He has offered us Mercy, Grace, and Blessing, on the basis of Faith alone!

As Gentile believers, we have no inheritance in the physical land promised to the physical offspring of Abraham. But we have a greater inheritance in the Person of Christ, as we, along with all Church-age believers, whether Jew or Gentile, are the Bride of Christ! The whole Earth is ours, along with all that is His. And, yes, it is worth waiting for it. As Abraham waited for the land, we wait for our eternity with Christ. As Abraham lived in the land, knowing it would all be His, we are to live in our relationship with Christ, experiencing now the spiritual life that is ours eternally. It isn’t always easy, but it is already ours! We embrace it by Faith.

Lord Jesus, feed your Flock on your Word: draw us along beside you by your Holy Spirit, and let us serve you in Joy. Use us to reach the people around us, and draw others into your Grace.

May 26, 2018May 27, 2018

Introduction to Colossians

Colossians 1:1-8

Introduction:

The epistle to the church at Colosse is written by the Apostle Paul, as were more than half the books of the New Testament. It was written about the same time as the epistles to Philemon and to the church at Ephesus, evidently, as it was carried by the same messenger(s). We must bear in mind, though, that, while the human writer is Paul, the true Author is the Living Word, the Lord Jesus. So, this is the Written Word of God, and we will approach it with that in mind. All scripture must agree with the rest of scripture. Whenever we think we may have found a contradiction, we can rest assured that, with more careful study, we will confirm that the discrepancy was just due to our own misunderstanding.

Are there different styles of writing from one human writer to another? Certainly, there are, just as the marks left on wood by my hand-plane are different than those left by a drawknife or a scraper…or a saw, for example. But my hand was the one guiding each tool, and I can accurately claim to have “handcrafted” the resulting project, regardless of what it is. I’m the maker!

God’s Word bears the stylistic and vocabulary-related marks of his various chosen tools, the writers of the Bible. But it is truly all “One Book, by One Author.” And it has one central theme, the Person and Work of Christ. In fact, the entire Bible is structured around God’s redemptive plan for the fallen human race: and Jesus is that plan.

This epistle is not nearly so personal as the one written to the church at Philippi, as Paul did not know the people in this church as intimately as he did those at Philippi. He knew them mainly by reputation, evidently, through Epaphras, who, it seems, may have planted that church. The result then, can be seen even in the opening greeting: it is not nearly so tenderly, and passionately worded as is the letter to the believers at Philippi. The people at Philippi were his intimate friends and fellow-laborers. That church was his only regularly supporting church, even though, ironically, it was not his “home-church” He was initially sent out from Antioch, but his relationship with Philippi seems to be the closest he had with any individual church.

So, while the greeting to the church at Colosse is not “cold,” or impersonal: it is simply to a group with whom he had less close ties, so it is a little more reserved. Paul begins by introducing himself and Timothy to the believers at Colosse:

Sent From God –To You!

¹ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,
²To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul introduced himself simply as “an Apostle of Jesus Christ (a “sent one”) by the will of God (not self-appointed), and Timothy, our brother. No special accolades, no boasting about his great education, or his other credentials, nor even a list of all the churches he had personally planted (and there were many): He was “sent by God”…and that was it. The same was true for Timothy: He was just a faithful brother. Do you see the simplicity of service, here? It is a privilege to serve: just do it!

I think it is noteworthy that the letter is not addressed to the “Pastor”, nor to the “Deacons and Elders”, nor yet to the “Church Board of Trustees”, or any such thing. It is to the “saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse.” It is to the Church, proper. All the church epistles are addressed to the churches, not to the leaders, nor any sort of authority figures. By the way, the Bible knows nothing of friars, abbots, sextons, monks, cardinals and popes, etc. They are entirely invented by humans.

Position and Condition

The letter was to the “saints” (the word “saints” means “holy ones”…they were made holy by their position in Christ) and the faithful (believing) brethren “in Christ.” That is a key phrase: our position in Christ along with His indwelling Holy Spirit in us, is all that sets us apart from the World around us; just as Noah’s position inside the Ark was all that set him apart from his neighbors who were outside. Consider the end result of our position, and that of Noah. All in the Ark lived because of their position inside the Ark. All in Christ live (eternally) because of our position in Christ.

What does it mean, to say that the believers, the saints, the “holy ones”, are “holy” before God? It literally means that we are “set apart” for God’s service. It means that we are His private, personal property, and that we are for His service and His pleasure. We often forget this truth, and think that we are here to please ourselves. We forget that we are called to “be holy as He is Holy.” It does not mean we wander around with a halo over us, and our palms pressed together, or any such silliness: it means that we belong to Jesus Christ; and it makes perfect sense that we should actively seek to serve Him, as His chosen vessels for the Gospel; His ambassadors to the lost World around us.

Paul focused on that one positional attribute that all believers share: We are in Christ. And, as we can observe in Colossians 4:16, this epistle was intended to be a “circular letter:” It was to be read in other churches as well. It is to us, as believers in Christ. We are in Christ, by the new Birth, through Faith, so this letter is addressed to us, personally. As we study, try to keep in mind that this is literally God’s letter to you! Take it personally!

Also, consider this: Paul’s position in Christ was more important than his specific task, as an Apostle. And, an Apostle was not more “in Christ” than any other believer. The first concern is our position. But once that position is secured (and it is a permanent change), our condition before the Lord becomes our first concern. Am I walking with Him? And, finally, am I exercising my gifts? Am I doing what He has called me to do? Part of being “faithful” is being committed, and reliable. Yes, the word “faithful” means “the believers”, but the kind of faith God calls us to exercise is also intended to produce “faithfulness”, in the sense of reliability. Can God count on you to obey Him on a daily basis? Can others count on you to be the man or woman of God you are called to be? Can they trust you to live a Godly example for them, both in words and actions?

Grace and Peace

In verse two, as in virtually every Pauline epistle, is Paul’s opening blessing, praying for God’s sustaining Grace in the lives of the believers, resulting in His abiding Peace. These two ideas always come in that order: Grace, then Peace. In Salvation, we received saving Grace, through faith, and it resulted in Peace with God. On a daily, living basis, we receive God’s sustaining Grace, again through daily renewed faith, and it results in the Peace of God. Both flow from the Father and the Son, to us. “Grace be to you, and Peace.” Always in that order!

Thanksgiving and Prayer—Faith and Love

Paul may not actually have known these people, personally: but he said that he and Timothy had been praying for them, and giving thanks for their walk with God ever since they had heard of their faith in the person of Jesus Christ, and their love for the believers around them.

³We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
⁴Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints,

This is how we are supposed to respond to other believers, based on our faith in Christ, and our position in Him. Jesus gave us the commandment that we are to love one another as He loved us. These believers were doing exactly what Jesus said to do, and Paul and Timothy were overjoyed to hear of it. Keep in mind, too, that Salvation is a gift, not a reward. Faith in the Gospel brings Salvation, which gives us Hope. Obedience brings reward.

Our Hope and our Coming Reward

Paul and Timothy gave thanks especially because of the Hope that was secured for these believers, including the reward that was in store for them in Heaven. Paul reminds them that they (the believers) already knew about this, too.

⁵For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;

What is the “Hope that is laid up for us in Heaven?” Our hope is eternal life with Christ; being finally separated from our sins, and the trials of this life. We hope for a new body, free from the ravages of age and disease, and for the literal, physical presence of the Lord Himself, the fulfillment of all the promises of God. We look for a new heaven and a new earth, where the damage done by man is all in the forgotten past, and Joy surrounds us like the air and the sunlight.

All this and more is “laid up for us”…it is on deposit, credited to our account, since the moment we each trusted Jesus’s blood at the Cross as full payment for our sins. Eternal Life is already ours. Reward is accumulated as we allow God the freedom to use our lives.

I remember, when I had first trusted Jesus as my Savior, but still knew almost nothing about the rest of the Bible, a friend, who knew I was just recently saved, asked “Are you looking forward to going to heaven?” I replied honestly that I wasn’t even sure whether I believed in a heaven or hell; I only knew that I needed Jesus now! But as I began to read His Word, I soon came to see The Bible as “first and final authority,” in all things, so that I eventually saw that, “if God says it; that settles it,” whether I personally believe it or not. And, as it happened, it turns out that the Bible does have a fair amount to say about both heaven and hell, so that I gradually came to understand a few things about eternity. And, yes, I eventually understood that my “hope” had been “laid up for me in heaven,” immediately, when I first believed, though I knew nothing about it. Later, I learned that there was a reward involved, too, though I still don’t really feel I know much about that part.

The Gospel and the World

Paul also says that that Gospel had been going out to the whole world just as it had come to Colosse. The Gospel is for everyone, but not everyone has heard it.

⁶Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:

What is the “Gospel”? We hear the word used in a lot of ways, including the idea that “gospel” must mean “truth,” because people say, “No, really, that is the gospel truth!” when talking about things that have nothing to do with the Bible, but which they believe to be absolutely true. The Greek word translated “Gospel” is “euaggelion”, which means “Glad tidings”—good news. The Gospel of Christ, as it is presented in the Bible, has to include at least the following things:

The fact that Jesus Christ died for our sins, in fulfillment of scripture (fulfillment of God’s eternal promise.)
The fact that he was buried…really dead, pierced through by the Roman spear, after dying on the Cross. Dead and buried, wrapped up like a mummy, and interred in a rock tomb with a heavy stone for a seal. This also fulfilled prophecy.
The fact that He rose from the dead after three days and three nights in the tomb, also in direct fulfillment of scriptural prophecy, and the fact that he was seen alive by many witnesses, over a period of forty days after his resurrection.

Why do I list these three things? Because, in 1^st Corinthians 15:3, 4, Paul listed them in that order, as being the core truths of the Gospel of Christ: the “Good News” which, being believed in, has the power to save those who believe. (Romans 1:16) When I review, in my own mind, any recent conversation in which I attempted to share the Gospel with an acquaintance, I’m questioning whether I really offered that person “the Gospel:” Did I really include the death, and burial and resurrection of Christ, or did I just tell them “how wonderful the Christian life is?” (Sorry, that is not the Gospel…and not really even true, in many respects: Paul says, over in Philippians 1:29, “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on his name, but also to suffer for His sake.” That doesn’t sound very “wonderful” to most people.)

The Gospel is the Good News of Eternal life in Christ, and how it was purchased for us by the death, and burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, the Christ. The Messiah. And, being believed in, it is the Power of God to save sinners…and it is the only thing so described in the scriptures. If I leave out the necessary ingredients, is it still the “Gospel?” Can I still expect it to work to change lives, if I leave out those key points? The answer to both questions, is “NO!”

Faith and Responsibility

So, why did I mention that “not everyone has heard the gospel? Because Paul pointed that out, too, over in 1^st Corinthians 15:34, saying “Awake to righteousness and sin not, for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.” Our faith brings responsibility.

Paul is only reminding these believers, at Colosse, of things they had already been taught: He says that Epaphras taught them these doctrines, earlier. And that he (Epaphras) was also the one who told Paul and Timothy about their vibrant faith:

⁷As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ;
⁸Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.

So, evidently Epaphras is the one who led them to Christ, and who planted that church, and who had continued to serve them, teaching and encouraging and helping them mature in their faith…and the church was doing well. Notice that Paul uses Epaphras as an example: he calls him a “dear fellow servant” and reminds them that Epaphras has been a “faithful minister of Christ” to them. He was a faithful servant of Christ, bringing them the message of salvation, and training them up as men and women of God. The word “minister” means “servant.” It is not a special “religious” term. It was and still is used in many walks of life to mean a servant. Epaphras served Christ by serving them with the Word of God.

Now, he had the opportunity to report to Paul and Timothy what GOD had been doing in Colosse. He was not claiming personal credit for the changes in their lives. Only the Holy Spirit could make those changes happen. And Paul and Timothy were rejoicing with Him for God’s victory at Colosse.

Paul was very encouraged to hear of the inroad of the Gospel in that town. He wrote this letter to encourage them and to help them to become more established in their faith. He goes on to say that, ever since he heard of their new-found faith, he had been praying for them: Next time, we will see what sorts of things Paul prayed for, in the lives of these believers.

Lord Jesus, open our hearts to your word. Fill us with your Spirit, and let us grow in faith, as these believers were growing in faith. Teach us the meaning of practical holiness, and remake us all into your image. Allow us to serve as your ministers, bringing your Grace to those around us.

November 23, 2017November 25, 2017

The Chastening of Sons

Hebrews 12:5-17

Introduction:

Last time, we talked about our need to recognize Jesus, not only as our Savior, but as our Example for living. We explored the command, “Looking unto Jesus”, and how it applies to our lives; and what it means to “lay aside every weight,” and every entanglement, the baggage from our past lives and the sins that so easily ensnare us.

We briefly began to consider the concept of the chastening of God, and how it relates to us as believers. But we didn’t go very far along that line of thought, and we need to pick it up where we left off, and give it a more full examination. The writer begins with an admonition that we remember whose sons we have become, and enter into the full relationship with Him, including the “chastening of sons”.

The Chastening of Sons

The Chastening of Sons is training…it is God shaping our lives so that we can enjoy a more productive life with him. It is “pruning” in some cases, to use a botanical reference, and “training up” in others. There are some branches that need to be trimmed back, or even removed, in order to maintain health in a fruit tree, while there are others that are healthy, but need to be re-directed —trained up—staked up, perhaps, so as to point them away from the ground, or away from another branch, so that they are not competing for light. We need to keep that in mind, as we see God changing the course of our lives.

⁵And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
⁶For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
⁷If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
⁸But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

The chastening which God brings in a believer’s life is not “punishment.” The punishment for sin—all of it— was taken by Jesus at the cross. What is left (remember: this is only for believers) is the “chastening of sons (huios–heirs).” When life is getting rough, at the very least, I can rejoice that I am still “on the team”. God never repents of his gift of salvation. The chastening of sons is only for sons, so whatever “rough stuff” the world goes through is not for their training, but is just incidental to living in the world. When we go through some of the very same things, God uses that experience to build us into his likeness. It may be the same things that unbelievers experience, or sometimes even worse, from our point of view (Think of Job’s experience!) But the issue is that we are in a different family than they are, and our Father chooses to allow these things in our life to teach us to trust and obey Him, as well as to encourage those around us.

The Rewards of Chastening

We discussed training, last time, as it applies to an athlete, and the discipline required to succeed: Let’s take this a step further, though: At the end of a sports season, when they hold an awards ceremony, the “Most Valuable Player” award, “Most Points Scored”; Most Improved Player” etc. are not given to everyone…they are awarded to the ones who earned that distinction in the mind of the judge—the coach. Do you see the parallel? The Judgment Seat of Christ is an awards ceremony. Our works will be judged, and rewards given according to our works. But the key issue will still be, “did they originate in Him?” Were they carried out by the Holy Spirit through us, or were they things we just did on our own? Not everyone will receive the same rewards, since not everyone chooses to submit themselves to God for his service. It has nothing to do with the greatness of the results.

Let’s compare two of God’s known servants:

Jeremiah preached faithfully, even choosing to go into captivity with the Jews who had rejected his words, so that he could continue ministering to them, though he personally was offered freedom by the Babylonian conquerors. During his entire ministry, so far as we know, only two people really believed him: Baruch, his assistant, and Ebed-melech, the Ethiopian eunuch who rescued him from the pit. I assume there were probably others, as well, but apparently very few.
Jonah, on the other hand, preached one sermon (evidently repeating the message over and over for three days) and roughly 120,000 people were saved…probably more. And he was angry with God at those results! He didn’t want them saved! They were his enemies, and he wanted them destroyed!

Now: which of those two had the better ministry? From the world’s perspective, Jeremiah was a loser from the beginning, and should perhaps have found something else to do. His “numbers” told a dismal tale, for sure. But he was chosen by God, and he was utterly faithful, while Jonah was disobedient: he wouldn’t preach at all until God forced him into submission, and he was still in rebellion even after the amazing results of his preaching.

The results in both cases were from God: He knew who would respond, and to what message. So, which do you think, by now, has received a better reward? When I read the parable of the talents, and see how the Lord said “well done, thou good and faithful servant”, I would have to conclude that Jeremiah was probably richly rewarded, while Jonah may not have had such a good reward. Of course, I don’t know anything about the rest of Jonah’s life, except that he was from Galilee, and that he was known as a prophet, not only in the situation with Nineveh. So perhaps he had a great reward as well. It is not mine to say…but from the only information we are given, Jonah was certainly not a good example of how to respond to God’s leading.

The Motive of Chastening

⁹Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
¹⁰For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
¹¹Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Most of us were trained by parents, who, to whatever degree, tried to mold our lives, so that we would grow up to be beneficial members of society, successful in business, or whatever their goals may have been. We may not have enjoyed what we learned, but most of us can look back and see that it was valuable in at least some ways. Most of us can at least respect what our parents tried to do, even if we feel they did not do a good job as a parent. There are counter examples, I know, and I have heard some of those stories. But as a general rule, most parents, whether godly or not, at least desire that their children grow to be productive, well-adjusted adults. And, ultimately, most people do, to one degree or another.

But God says that His discipline is intended to mold us into His likeness so that we can be partakers of His Holiness. Over in 2^nd Peter 1:4, we are told that we can expect to be made partakers of His Divine Nature, through the “exceeding great and precious promises” that He has given us. So, between the Word of God, where those promises are, and the Spirit of God who motivates us and guides us, we are being trained to become more and more like our Savior. That is God’s goal. He gives us instruction as to how to respond to His training.

The Goal of Chastening

¹²Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
¹³And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

God wants us to willingly submit ourselves to His will now, so that we benefit sooner, and can knowingly engage with his plan for our lives. He says for us not to be discouraged by hard times, but to eagerly look to see what He may be doing to train us for further service. Rather than being crushed by adversity, we can be strengthened by it. We are to choose paths that honor God, so that we can see His hand of blessing, even in hard times.

¹⁴Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

On a daily basis, we will either see the hand of God in our lives or we will not. If we feel that we are not seeing God’s presence in our daily lives, we may need to examine our walk, and “sharpen our gaze”, so to speak. But…that is not the way the phrase “see the Lord” is used here.

What holiness can any man or woman produce in their lives that will match the holiness of God? Why are we told in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God?” Why does James say that “in many things we all offend”? It is because we are all sinners, saved by Grace! So, what “holiness” is God calling the prerequisite for seeing Jesus at all for eternity?

In Ephesians 4:24 we get a hint: He says “and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (emphasis mine.) The only human holiness that God can call “holiness” is his own Holiness, reflected in us. Jesus told Nicodemus that “except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” The holiness has to be born in us at the re-birth Jesus required of Nicodemus… it is a new creation. Apart from that, we will not see the Lord. But on an on-going basis, holiness must be pursued, in order to experience it as a daily, ongoing reality. It is not something we just “strap on and forget it.” It is to be cultivated and fed, as we learn to walk with God. We feed the new nature, and pursue the holiness of God.

**Consequences of Rejecting Chastening**

The following verses warn of the danger in not learning to walk with God: we can become embittered, and as a result, become a casualty in the army of God. Can we lose our place in his family? NO! But we can lose our place of service, and blessing, and become a liability to others.

¹⁵Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

We need God’s Grace by which to live, day by day. Failing to avail ourselves of His Grace will make us susceptible to bitterness. We are wounded by the enemy…a casualty in the battle. Such a casualty will always affect others. Others will be defiled as well, as they are either drawn into sin, themselves, or repulsed by the sin of the failed Christian testimony. Many new believers (and unbelievers) have been permanently driven away from churches, by what they have experienced in some particular church, long ago. And some never recover. Bitterness is only one source:

¹⁶Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

Esau is held up as an example of one who “sold out”. Was he a saved man? I have no way to know for sure, but it would seem he was not. He counted one meal to be of greater value than a relationship with God, knowing that the “birthright” included being the family priest, at that time.

¹⁷For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

This is not a warning that “one can lose his salvation, and will never be able to regain it.” It is simply a solemn warning that it is not always possible to “go back and change things.” Some bad decisions have permanent results…there will be consequences, regardless of our remorse.

Years ago, there was a Republican senatorial bid by a young Southern Baptist pastor whom I actually met, and with whom I was favorably impressed. But, before the primary campaign had really gotten going, he (quite publicly) ran away with his secretary. His friends frantically pleaded with him to give up his folly and come back, and he finally did so. But it was too late: his wife wanted no part of it, and she divorced him. That ended his campaign, his ministry and his reputation. All was ruined, with no hope of recovery. There was no place of repentance. His name was used for years thereafter, to viciously mock Christians, Republicans, Southern Baptists, and Pastors. He was a permanent blot to everyone with whom he had ever been associated.

It was pretty sad, and shameful, at the time, but it stood as a lesson for the rest of us, too. There are some mistakes that you just can’t go back and undo. Did he lose his position in the family of God? No! But he did lose his position of service, and blessing. We can be disqualified for ministry through our sin, whether it is anger, pride, lust, or any other sin. When we look at the qualifications for an elder, for instance, it specifies a “one-woman-man” (Yes, I am aware that it is usually translated: “husband of one wife” and I believe that is correct, but this is what it literally says, in Greek.) Had this pastor in the political race repented and gone back to his wife (and had she not divorced him) and had he just tried to go on with his church ministry, would he have been qualified to serve? I think not! He had already proven that he was not a “one-woman-man”. Divorce is not the issue, there in 1^st Timothy 3:2. Character is… it always is!

I have known a few (not many) who have been divorced through no fault of their own. One such man was forced into it by the state of California, because his wife needed institutional mental-health care, and they would not accept her, to give her the care she needed, unless he divorced her. He did not want to do it, but was given no choice. She died there, in that hospital, still loved by her husband, but separated from him by a government regulation. Was he a one-woman man? Yes: he eventually remarried, and has been completely faithful to that wife as well, through years of ministry and declining health. He was a qualified elder/pastor, and served faithfully for years.

But the young pastor who aspired to government, and who deserted his wife for another woman? He had proven himself unqualified as a pastor. There was nothing he could do to recover his lost position of service. There was no place for repentance. This is something to remember.

It is important to realize, too, that there is no such thing as a “secret” from God. Our thoughts are not “hidden” in our own hearts. I’m sure that the pastor in the above example had “toyed with” the sin of adultery for years, before he finally succumbed to it. He had already been in trouble with God! The sin of his heart was only made public through his actions.

I knew another young pastor who succumbed to covetousness: he lost his ministry and his reputation through theft: shoplifting, specifically. He lost his job, his life-calling, and the respect of his wife, family, and friends, all through the avarice that led him to steal what were ultimately just “toys”. He didn’t steal because of “need.” It was simple greed that cast him down. Again, this is something to remember: You don’t have to fall into the same sorts of sin in order to know that they are a bad choice. These fellows proved it for you. They have “done your homework” for you. Learn from their mistakes, and don’t make the same mistakes yourself.

Conclusion

Since we know that the chastening, discipline, and “child training” that God uses to direct our lives is all for our good, and that He is molding us into His likeness, we need to respond accordingly, and be thankful for His guidance, and His provision, even when life is not going the way we want it to go. We can be thankful for prayers that were answered “No!” We can be thankful for stressful situations that He uses to build stamina and endurance in our lives.

By learning to endure patiently, graciously (and even joyfully) the trials we face, we become a much better testimony to the unbelieving world, and a much greater encouragement to our fellow believers. Is it easy? No! Is it worth the trouble? Yes! Jesus says (John 14:21) that if we love Him, and obey Him, then He will make Himself known to us. And experientially knowing the presence and blessing of Christ in our lives on a daily basis, is the most precious thing we can have, in this world.

Lord Jesus, help us to see Your handiwork in our circumstances, and to learn to see Your Grace at work. Help us to give thanks in all circumstances, and to respond in faith, obedience, and love.

September 9, 2017September 9, 2017

The Fellowship Imperative

**Fellowship with God and with Other Believers**

Hebrews 10:19-25

Introduction:

As we completed the first half of Hebrews chapter ten, we saw that Jesus offered one sacrifice forever, obliterating our sin-debt, and imputing eternal righteousness to us, as believers. This is a super-important concept: if our sins have been forgiven, and “taken away” by the blood of Jesus, then there is no more offering for sin. The Old Testament system of blood sacrifices is completely over—obsolete—done. . And we cannot go back to it.

Now, I wonder how the Hebrew believers must have felt, with the temple service closing behind them, and no real understanding of what lay before them This is not a new thing, though: Remember that Abram was called out of the land of his upbringing, to go out to a new place, where God would bless him. But he was not given a road map. He was just told to go. He left, not knowing where he would end up.

When I first became a believer, the question arose, “What about all the other religions? How do you know this one is right?” My only answer, at that time, was, “I don’t know anything about all the other religions. I only know that this is my stop…this is where I get off the bus.” I knew I needed Jesus Christ, and I trusted in Him. Later on, I learned more, and came to realize that, indeed, there was no other way. He said so Himself.

Many years later, I was called to sing in a wedding, in Colorado. They sent me a bus ticket, and I took that Greyhound bus to a place I had never been, arriving far behind schedule, in a snowstorm at 1:00 AM, to a dark crossroad, where I had been told that I would be met. There was no one there…but I had a choice: Get off the bus, now, in faith, and wait in the dark, snowy night for my friends to arrive, or stay on the bus and get off at another stop which would look better, but not be where I was told to expect them, and I would have no way to contact them. (This was years before cell-phones became a reality.) As it turned out, after hours of waiting, they had finally gone home, briefly, and they were coming right back. I waited less than 30 minutes before they came swooping out of the dark to rescue me. The point is that sometimes we have had to take a step of faith, and trust that God knows what He is doing. At that point, frequently, we can’t go back…we have to look forward. But we can go forward, and we are called to do so.

The Call to Fellowship

We have already been transferred out of the darkness of the lost world, into the glorious kingdom of God’s light; we can now take the next step, and enter the holy of holies by his blood. We are not told to just “wait on God to come and fellowship with us.” We are commanded, and exhorted to deliberately seek out His company. We are free to enter His presence, now. There is no barrier, today, for believers. This is the state of affairs, today; He says:

¹⁹Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,

²⁰By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

²¹And having an high priest over the house of God;

We see four points, here:

We have confidence to enter the holy place of God’s presence.
We are entering confidently, solely because of the Blood of Jesus that stands between us and God’s judgment.
We enter by the avenue of the Cross, by faith…through the torn body of the Savior, represented by the veil that was torn, in the temple.
We enter, knowing that our High Priest, Jesus, had already entered in and made the way for us…and that it is He who invites us to that Fellowship.

With these truths as our basis for confidence, the writer urges us forward. It has taken him nine and one half chapters to “build his case” for the supremacy of Christ, and the efficacy of his blood sacrifice, but now, with that foundation laid, he urges us to take action.

He says for us to draw near to God. We could not do so before, because we were without access to God. Ephesians 2:11, 12 say that “in time past…” we were “…Gentiles according to the flesh…without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of Promise, having no hope, and without God, in the World.” We literally had no access to God. But now we have that access through Christ. Over in Romans 5:1, 2 Paul says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access into this Grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the Glory of God.”

We have access by faith in Jesus, and we are invited to join Him there, at the Throne of Grace.

The Invitation to Fellowship with God

²²Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

We are invited to enter in with full confidence. We are not entering as those who have “crashed the party”…we are entering as members of God’s household—His own offspring. We are not even entering as “guilty children” who have misbehaved and who are expecting punishment. The punishment was dealt out at the cross. We are entering, in good standing with the Holy God who created us, and redeemed us. We are entering as those who have been washed, and made holy like Jesus. Do I always “feel” this confidence? No, because my heart is deceitful (God says so), and I am always conscious of my failings. But God says that I have been washed, and made holy! (1^st Corinthians 6:11 “But you are washed…sanctified…justified…”). You are arriving clean! All you need to do is clean your feet at the door!

A small child enters into his father’s house with utter confidence that he belongs there…because he does! And he enters in, knowing his father is not too busy to address his concerns and questions. He goes there expecting good things. He wipes his feet because he has been taught to do so, initially, but as he matures, he does it because he does not want to bring dirt into his father’s house.

We may practice confession initially because we have been taught to do so. As we mature, we do so because we do not want Sin to hamper our relationship with our Heavenly Father. Psalm 66:18 says that when I cling to sin in my heart, God closes his ears to me. “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” We learn to cherish that relationship with Him, and develop a hunger for his presence, so we are anxious to not allow sin to keep us from experiencing that fellowship with Him. But there is another aspect to fellowship: fellowship with other believers.

The Exhortation to Fellowship with the Church

He also tells us to hold fast to our faith-relationship with God, and to encourage one another to live the life Jesus died to provide.

²³Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

²⁴And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

²⁵Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

It is easy to allow ourselves to become sidetracked by the “cares of the world”, so to speak:

money issues,
health issues,
relational issues,
political issues,
employment issues, etc.

We are exhorted to keep the relationship with God in the forefront of our minds, and to cling to that relationship as being of primary importance. He says to “hold fast without wavering”. We are not to allow anything to come between us and Him. The basis for our faith is the character of the one who made the promises: He is faithful!

Then the writer says something really odd: he says we are to “provoke” one another…we usually think of “provocation” as having only negative connotations, but, in this case, it means to “stir up” one another. We are to consider the best ways to be an encouragement to one another, to stir one another up to Love, and to good works. You may have noticed that there is a whole lot of “one another” references in the church-related scriptures. Why is that so? Can’t we just go in, sit quietly on a pew, listen attentively, sing songs, give money and go home? Isn’t that what church is all about?

Well…no! Actually, it is not! Even the worship is not, in itself, “church.”

So what is “Church?”

Sometimes I hear people say “Well, my ‘church’ is when I am out in the woods” or “when I am out fishing, alone with God!”…or something similar. The poet, Emily Dickinson, wrote a whole poem dedicated to this idea: she considered the birds singing in her yard to be preferable to the presence of other people. On the other hand, she also claimed she knew the way to heaven instinctively, and could get there on her own. This is sad, but quite common. It is the proud, ignorant statement of independence, without the wherewithal to survive the consequences.

The fact is, people who say such things do not understand what the word “church” means: the English word “church” is usually translated from the Greek word “ecclesia”, which means an “assembly.” It literally means the “called out ones”. It requires being together with other believers. It is certainly not the building, nor is it even, specifically, the teaching or worship.

I can listen to the radio, if I know that a very good teacher or preacher is to be speaking. This is not “church.” I can be awestruck by the majesty of a storm, or the breathtaking beauty of the creation as a whole, and respond in genuine worship. But that is not “church”, either. “Church” means the “assembly” of likeminded believers. This does not negate the need for private prayer and worship being experienced by every individual believer: both of these are good and necessary; but we meet together for corporate prayer and worship …which cannot be done alone. We also meet for mutual encouragement, and teaching, and comfort. None of these things can be done alone.

Church is not a place, nor is it a building, nor even a religious experience. It is, literally, the assembly of likeminded believers for the specific purposes listed above. That is why we are not to “forsake the assembling of ourselves together”. The word in this particular passage is the Greek “episunagogen”: which is where we get the word “synagogue,” that the Hebrews used to describe their own assemblies…the assembly—gathering together. The Hebrew Christians were still calling it the synagogue, which was fine—it simply means assembly. But it cannot possibly be “one person alone with God,” although that is also very desirable. In the Jewish culture, it is required that there be ten families, in order to have a “synagogue,” officially. But Jesus said “Where two are three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Is that a church, then?

Well…perhaps it could serve the purpose, to some degree, but the “assembly,” proper, also has some organization to it: it is an intentional meeting together for corporate worship, prayer, teaching, preaching, fellowship, encouragement, and comfort. It would be hard to do all of that with just two or three people. You could encourage one another, pray together for each other’s needs and concerns…possibly even share some teaching. But I doubt you could call that a “church”, because it lacks the structure assigned by God. God says the church possesses elders (always plural) who serve as pastors, shepherds and overseers. It has deacons (again, always plural), who serve as caretakers of the flock at a physical level.

The Universal Church is strictly an organism, not an organization: it is the Body of Christ, and consists of all believers from the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, all down through time, until today, with all the believers today, whether alive or dead….and it will be completed at the Rapture. Most of its members, we can safely assume, are already with the Lord …and, until the Rapture, it can never “gather together in one place”…at least not one physical place. (It could be argued that we all meet together at the Throne of Grace…and that is true, but we are not conscious of each other’s presence and cannot function collectively as described in scripture. I can’t encourage Peter, for instance, though I am encouraged by his historical example.)

But every Local Church combines certain aspects of an organism with many aspects of an organization. It does have organization. Things are to be done “decently and in order”…in an orderly fashion. The local church gathers together in one place, wherever that place may be. There are possibly millions of local assemblies, all over the world, meeting at any given time.

We gather for the express purpose of mutual care, encouragement and blessing. We learn to “stir up” one another, to love and to good works. Notice the stark contrast, then, between “fellowship,” which we are commanded to embrace, and “forsaking” which we are commanded to avoid:

**“Fellowship” and “Forsaking” are Polar opposites!**

We are not called to be solitary creatures, though some of us may feel that we would like to be. God created us to be social creatures. We do better physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, in a corporate experience. Is it healthy to have the capacity to stand alone? Absolutely! God calls us to do so, in fact! All the Old Testament prophets stood alone. We have their example. But, on a lifestyle basis, we are called to be a blessing to others around us…and we can’t do that unless there are “others around us!” Even in the Old Testament, Solomon (Ecclesiastes 4:9-11) stated that “Two are better than one…and a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

Conclusion: The Fellowship Imperative

When we choose to exclude ourselves from the flock, we also estrange ourselves from the Shepherd. (Sorry…you may not like the “sheep” idea, but it comes from God, not from me, so please try to understand and appreciate the truth of it.) The more I learn about sheep, the more I see why God refers to people as sheep—and why people rebel against it and claim they are not like sheep. Isaiah said, “All we, like sheep, have gone astray…” Like it or not, that is what we are. We need the Shepherd, and we need the Flock!

The fact is, if a believer chooses to forsake the assembling of himself together with other believers, knowing that he is commanded not to do so, then, because it is deliberate disobedience, we can safely say that it is sin, and it will definitely limit one’s walk with God. There are many who will disagree, saying “I don’t need other people, in order to walk with God.” I can sympathize with them, because there is an antisocial side to my character as well. But, ask yourself this: of ALL the things God calls us to do, as New Testament believers, what percentage have something to do with other people? The answer is, “virtually all of them”, at one level or another.

We cannot “work with God”, without working with people, because all of the work he has called us to do has to do with the flock at large…other people!

We have to choose to submit ourselves to God’s assignment: go where He sends us, stay where He plants us, and do what He commands. It may not be fun: but the reward comes later. Jeremiah had one of the roughest service assignments of any of the prophets. It looked as though there was no fruit and no reward. But he was faithful, and he is enjoying his reward today. Furthermore, there was fruit, eventually. Millions of people have read the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations, and have believed God’s Word, though virtually none of the immediate recipients responded in faith.

We must look to God for direction, but we must meet with others to carry out those directions.

Lord Jesus, encourage our hearts to walk with you and to fellowship with you at the throne of Grace, and to draw near to the brothers and sisters by your Holy Spirit.

2nd John: A Letter to “The Elect Lady”

Introduction:

A Strong Emphasis on Truth

Truth is the Ground and Basis of Faith.

Jesus is the Living Truth

A Reminder of the Commandment of Christ

Why The Warning? False Teachers Abound!

What Do They Do With Jesus?

So, What Should We Do?

Think Carefully About Who You Support!

Personal Contact is Important

The Outreach is Worldwide

How Do We Strive for Mastery? What if We Don’t?

1st Corinthians 9:19-27

Introduction:

What Does it Mean, Then, to “Strive for Mastery?”

So, What is Our Goal, as Christians?

God Sets Goals Before Us

Each Person Has His or Her Own Assignment

Let’s Examine What Peter Said, There:

Salvation or Rewards: A Gift or Wages?

1st Corinthians 3:9-15

Introduction:

Consider the Cultivated Field

What About a Building?

The Foundation is Complete and Permanent!

The Foundation

The Gift

The Warning: “Let Every Man Take Heed!”

Example one

Salvation is a Gift!

Example two

But, Rewards are NOT Gifts!

The Building Materials

It is not just about the cost of the Materials

Materials From God are Eternal

The Result: Reward or Loss

Was there a Reward for Lot?

Will there Be a Reward for Us?

Responding to the Redeemer

1st Peter 1:13-25

Introduction:

How should we Respond?

1. Gird up the Loins

2. Be Sober

3. Hope to the End

A New Relationship

How did we Get here?

Where do we Stand? And, What should we Do?

What little I know of Richard Banham:

At True Hope Christian Fellowship

In Sickness and in Health

So… What do we do, Now?

“If We Believe that Jesus Died and Rose Again”

“Even So, Them also which sleep… in Jesus”

There’s Good News…and Bad News!

Introduction:

What’s the Bad News and Good News for Believers?

The New Assignment

Good news and Bad news of the Gospel

Laboring to Rest

Finding Jesus in Genesis—Lesson 7

Genesis 15—the Promises Reiterated

Introduction:

Abram Met With God

We Meet With God

So; What About The Promised Land?

What About You?

Is Jesus really reward enough for you?

Do you really believe that the righteous standing God offers is entirely His own work, and is offered on the basis of faith alone?

Do you really understand that the Promise of God is unconditional?

Introduction to Colossians

Colossians 1:1-8

Introduction:

Sent From God –To You!

Position and Condition

Grace and Peace

Thanksgiving and Prayer—Faith and Love

Our Hope and our Coming Reward

The Gospel and the World

1^st Corinthians 9:19-27

1^st Corinthians 3:9-15

**But, Rewards are NOT Gifts!**

**It is not just about the cost of the Materials**

**How did we Get here?**

**Consequences of Rejecting Chastening**

**Fellowship with God and with Other Believers**

**“Fellowship” and “Forsaking” are Polar opposites!**