COME TO THE CORNERSTONE
by Chris Benjamin
1 Peter 2:2-10
Rockwall Recollections –
As a child on the farmland in Brentwood, weekends and summers were spent building the houses and other structures on the land. I recall the genesis of the old barn from its time as nothing more than a wooden framework rich with the smell of sawdust and construction materials. We used the resources available to us on the land. For a time we even had our own sawmill and made planks from the trees on our land. Using the resources from our 400 acres meant using rocks and stones. Stonework is a common feature of the structures my family built. It is a part of every building – the well house, the garage, the chimneys of houses and the patio walls.
I remember our old rusted metal trailer wagon. We hitched it to the back of the Massey Ferguson and chugged out to a clearing in the woods or to a place near the little canyons that cut through our land. The men would fan out and begin gathering rocks of all sizes and shapes. My father told me that as he would walk along scanning for rocks he would look at all sorts of rocks – some of them moss-covered, some of them rough, some of them slick and smooth, some of them light-colored and others black as coal, some buried deep in the earth and others just standing free as if they had just tumbled off the slide of a cliff. He said that as they gathered the rocks he could begin to see the entire wall formed in his mind. After filling the trailer, they would bring the haul of stones and spread them out at the building site. Like the pieces of the puzzle the rocks are combed through to find the rock that is destined to fit. Nothing is forced to fit. There’s a rock for every part of the wall. And every rock will find its place in the wall – some rocks are . My father has a rock shaped like the state of Arkansas in his rock pile at home. One day it will be a part of a wall. Not right now. But one day he will place it into a wall, or chimney, or walkway – in his own time, in his way.
My father tells me that during the gathering of the stones and in the sorting of the stones there is a subconscious search for the stone. The builder knows it when he sees it. It has the right shape and size; just the right height and width. This stone becomes the cornerstone of the wall or chimney. Dad says that when he finds this stone he can see the whole structure projecting from it. Just by looking at that one stone he can see how every other stone fits and stacks to build the whole structure. You can search for rocks all weekend, but only when you find this one rock can the construction begin. It is the key to the whole project.
Because of God’s mercy and kindness, we have been gathered. He has a vision for us. He has a project in mind and we are the materials for that project. It’s a work of restoration – a new house built on ancient foundations.
God had the entire project in mind when he placed the cornerstone.
What is this project God visualizes? For what purpose and for what project is he gathering us and building us?
One way to express this project/purpose might be – "Making Disciples for Jesus who are Eager to Serve Others."
- Yesterday the elders of the West-Ark congregation spent time in prayer, study and conversation. Their aim was to discern how we might communicate the mission of this congregation. They affirmed the statement above.
- They also spent time discerning how we can go about making disciples for Jesus eager to serve others. What sort of values and goals ought to be at the forefront of who we are and what we do?
- The statement of goals and strategies to put the mission statement into action is ongoing – you will be hearing more about this through the next six months, but today I think we can take a look at some of the encouragement Peter gives us …
- Come to Christ … (v. 4)
Christ is the cornerstone of our fellowship and community. We are oriented and supported by him.
We are being built into a spiritual house by the master builder – God.
Every member and every ministry of West Ark must be oriented and supported by Jesus Christ. If Christ isn’t cornerstone to all that we do here, then why are we doing it?
- Crave pure spiritual milk so that you can grow into the fullness of your salvation (v. 2)
Christ is the source of our growth and nurture as a church. We don’t just rely on ourselves or one another. We’ve tasted the Lord’s kindness and we recognize that God in Christ is the source we need for spiritual nutrition. "Making disciples" means more than just initiating people into salvation – it also means growing into and living out our salvation. We need the gospel not only at our spiritual birth, but throughout our life.
- Offer the spiritual sacrifices that please him because of Jesus Christ. (v. 5)
We show our appreciation and thanks by offering all that we are to the kind, merciful God whose loves endures forever. Every stone fits into the project. Every piece is important to the building of the spiritual house.
Everyone here has a gift as part of the body. That gift is for the encouragement of the body and is for serving others. We need to recognize one another’s gifts and encourage one another to use them.
- Proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (v. 9)
We have a message – not about ourselves, but about God who has done so much for us. We have a message about Christ, our Lord, God has chosen him and has done and is doing something wonderful through Christ.
We have an identity – We know who we are because we know whose we are. We are a chosen people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood. We are chosen and called out – but not for our sake but for the sake of the world.
Why do we do all this? Why does God do it? Because his mercy endures forever! He’s kind and good.
1 Peter 1:3 – Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
- Out of gratitude to God for what he has made us in Christ, make disciples for Jesus and be eager to serve others.
- If the first disciple you need to make is yourself, then come to Christ, the living stone. Don’t reject him.
Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles
I often wonder, “Why do I always have to learn so many things the hard way?” What does that mean? For most of us, it means “I have to make a huge mistake before ‘it gets my attention’ and causes me to realize ‘uh-oh! That was dumb!'” I find neither comfort nor delight in realizing that “the hard way” is the precise formula many, many others follow in “learning life’s difficult lessons.”
So, why do so many of us learn “the hard way”? Allow me to suggest some responses to that “why.”
Reason # 1: we are humans, not God. As humans, we prefer falling prey to imagined deceit rather than learning from truth. As humans, we like to pretend we are god. As humans, we like to believe we are “the masters of our own fate” [when we are, commonly it is bad, not good!]. For those who prefer deception, for those who consider themselves god, for those who think they “know best” about most things, the only way to learn (and remember!) is by learning the “hard way”! Others’ mistakes mean nothing! Our hard experiences mean everything!
Reason # 2: we remember what we live through and survive. It is almost like we have internal juvenile arguments with ourselves: “Is too! Is not! Is too! Is not!” The fact that someone we know already learned the “hard way” means nothing to most of us. “We” are different! That experience would not produce the same outcome and results in us! We are [take your pick] wiser, more alert, more gifted, more intelligent, more discriminating, have better judgment, etc., than “they”! Only when we repeat their failure do we “own” the consequence! What a crash when we finally realize we really are not different!
Reason # 3: some of our richest, most appreciated blessings rise from the ashes of our failures. It is true that “we do not know how to appreciate what we lost until we lose it.” Learning the “hard way” teaches us to appreciate what we take for granted. In fact, blessings we consider curses suddenly become invaluable treasures. We know how to appreciate what we lost–if we get it back!
Reason # 4: learning “hard lessons” from horrible experiences equips us to (1) use those experiences to teach the few who will listen [if we are willing to share our failures] and (2) be an invaluable source of encouragement to those who need to rise above their mistakes.
The downsides of learning the “hard way”: (1) the mistake may destroy us before we learn the lesson; (2) the education hurts others as well as ourselves; (3) it is a wasteful way to learn; and (4) it leaves God’s wisdom and guidance out of our learning process.
Fortunately, the Christian belongs to the God who produces blessings from mistakes–even big ones! His biggest blessings are discovered in allowing Him to guide us away from the “hard way”! Unmade mistakes are invaluable!
Posted by David on February 8, 2004 under Sermons
In last week’s lesson, we read over thirty scriptures in understanding that God first acts, then calls for our response. A primary form of our response is worship. Christians worship and serve God in response to what God had done in acting in human history.
Tonight I want to make application of last week’s reading by noting three distinctions between God and idols that are evident in the contrast of worship of Jehovah God and worship of idols.
There is a distinction! Christians must realize there is a distinction! A failure to understand that distinction can [and often does!] misdirect our worship and our the way we live our lives.
First, you must understand the contrast throughout the entire Bible is the contrast between Jehovah God and idolatrous gods. The worlds of the Old Testament were worlds of idolatry. Israel often was attracted to and caught up in the focus of those worlds. Every time Israel was caught up in idolatry, they forgot the contrast and they lost memory of Who God is. We as Christians must never forget the basic contrast in the Old Testament is the contrast between the living God and the gods idols represented.
The world of the New Testament was a world of idolatry. The call of the New Testament is to see the living God in His distinctiveness, to see Him in contrast to the gods represented by idols. If we fail to see that contrast, if we lose memory of Who God is, just like Israel we will lose contact with God. The contrast did not change when God gave the gift of Jesus in his incarnation, his death, and his resurrection.
Second, you must understand that it is very easy for us to lose sight of the contrast because the common idols of 21st century America are quite different to the idols of the Bible worlds. Our idols exist in secular institutions and pursuits, not in religious temples dedicated to nonexistent deities. While their idols represented those nonexistent gods they worshipped, our idols usually exist in secular forms that encourage us to worship ourselves. Our idols are greed, jealousy, self-indulgence, selfishness, pleasure, addictions, pride, arrogance, injustice, hate, anger, and such like. Our symbols of nonexistent gods take forms like money, controlling power, drugs used for pleasure, alcohol, abusive speech or acts, exploiting the weak, and such like. Because we see our idols only in a secular context, we too often do not recognize them as spiritual forces.
In the worlds of the Bible, people commonly associated the same attitudes with idolatrous forces. Commonly the characteristics of our secular gods were the characteristics of their religious gods. Where we make artificial distinctions between what we declare secular and spiritual, they did not make such distinctions. For them, the secular was merely an extension of the spiritual.
This evening I want you to consider three basic contrasts between the living God and idols. It is in seeing these contrast that we can understand another basic truth about the concept of biblical worship of the living God.
- Contrast # 1: the living God acts in human history before He calls for a response from people.
- Let me challenge you to consider two illustrations:
- The first is found in Exodus 19, 20 with Israel.
Exodus 19:3-6 Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”
- This statement occurs just before God spoke from Mount Sinai and gave Israel the ten commandments.
- Why? Why did God make this Exodus 19 statement first and then give the ten commandments to Israel in Exodus 20?
- Remember the exodus from Egypt was history–God delivered Israel.
- Remember the crossing of the Red Sea was history–God delivered Israel.
- Remember all the nurturing/preservation deeds in the wilderness were history–God delivered Israel.
- God declared Exodus 19:3-6 to remind them that Israel had reason to respond to Him.
- Please note it is their choice to see and respond to what God did.
- Please note they had reason to respond positively to God.
- He already had acted in delivering them from Egypt.
- He asked them to respond to Him on the basis of what He did for them.
- The same emphasis is seen in the New Testament.
- In explaining the concepts of righteousness and justification through faith in Jesus Christ, Paul wrote these words in Romans 5:6-8.
For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
- Before we were righteous, God acted on our behalf.
- While we were helpless, God acted on our behalf.
- While we were sinners, God acted on our behalf.
- God intervened in human history for our benefit.
- How? He sent Jesus. He permitted Jesus’ death for our sins. He raised Jesus from the dead.
- Our worship and our service is in response to what God already has done.
- God acted for our benefit; we respond to His action.
- The first contrast between the living God and idols is that God acted in history for our benefit before He asked us to respond to Him.
- Contrast # 2: the living God cares and expresses His caring; idolatry commonly was based on fate.
- The concept of fate in regard to the action of idolatry’s gods is a concept of inattentiveness and unconcern–a general disinterest.
- It is the basic view of “what is going to happen will happen”–good or bad.
- Thus if something good happened to you, the gods smiled on you for whatever reason.
- If something bad happened to you, it was going to happen and you could not prevent it.
- Your behavior or decisions had nothing to do with the outcome.
- Fate determined the outcome.
- To me, one of the best revealing of the attitudes common to the Baal gods in the region of Canaan is declared in Elijah’s contest with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18:25-29.
So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.” Then they took the ox which was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, “O Baal, answer us.” But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they made. It came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.” So they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them. When midday was past, they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.
- Context:
- The ten tribes of northern Israel rarely worshipped God but frequently worshipped Baal.
- Elijah wanted them to return to God and abandon completely Baal.
- He proposed a contest of sacrificial worship.
- Listen to the words of Elijah when the prophets of Baal received no response from their god.
- “He is a god” (gods are disinterested).
- “Use a louder voice” (you do not have his attention).
- “He is occupied” (you are not his priority).
- “He is gone somewhere” (he is too removed from you to hear you).
- “He is asleep and you need to wake him up” (he has no consciousness of you).
- Gods are inattentive to human concerns even if humans seek to worship them.
- Compare those statements to what is declared about God.
- David, Psalm 139:7-12: Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.
- Jeremiah, Jeremiah 23:23,24 “Am I a God who is near,” declares the Lord, “And not a God far off? “Can a man hide himself in hiding places So I do not see him?” declares the Lord. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord.
- Jesus, Matthew 6:25-32 For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
- Paul, 2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;
- The gods functioned on impersonal fate, but Jehovah God functions on constant awareness.
- Contrast # 3: Jehovah God is compassionate; the gods of idolatry are indifferent.
- My term for worship objectives in idolatry would be manipulation.
- “The gods do not care what happens to you.”
- “First, you must get their attention.”
- “Second, you must get them concerned about your problem.”
- “Third, you must convince them to act in your behalf.”
- Thus commonly the idol worshipper tried to do those three things:
- Get the gods attention.
- Get the gods concerned.
- Get the gods to act in their behalf.
- In contrast with the idolatrous gods indifference, Jehovah God is compassionate.
- Consider two examples:
- Example one:
- The story of Jonah, ending in this statement: Jonah 4:9-11 Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.” Then the Lord said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?” [God is compassionate even when His people are not.]
- 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. [God does not wish to destroy people.]
- Example two: Jesus Christ.
- The coming of Jesus shows how compassionate God is.
- The death of Jesus shows how compassionate God is.
- The resurrection of Jesus shows how compassionate God is.
- The role of mediator and intercessor that Jesus Christ serves shows how compassionate God is.
Romans 8:31-34 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.
We as Christians worship God as a response to His acts which rescued us. He acted in Jesus Christ, and we in worship respond to His actions. We worship Him because He is the God of involvement, not a god of fate. We worship Him because He is the God of compassion, not a god of indifference.
Thus Christian worship is inherently a declaration of gratitude.
Posted by Chris on under Sermons
Songs
#121 – “Come Let Us All Unite to Sing”
#122 – “The Love of God”
#123 – “The Steadfast Love of the Lord”
GOD’S GIFT TO US IN JESUS’ DEATH
A Permanent Solution
by David Chadwell
We all have pet peeves. I want to share one of mine this morning. I reallydislike having to do the same thing twice. It really bothers me to think that a situation issolved only to discover that what I thought was a solved problem was never solved.
One of the biggest disasters we could experience is this: to be convinced thatJesus solved our problems before God, and find out on the day of judgment that Jesusdid not solve those problems. Scripture repeatedly declares that because of what Goddid in Jesus, through Jesus you and I can have relationship with God. What a disasterit would be to find out in judgment that is not true.
- Some of us who are Christians do not believe we are inrelationship with Godright now.
- There are a lot of reasons for having those feelings.
- Some of us carry around this huge burden of guilt.
- Because we will not forgive self, we are certain God cannot forgive us.
- No matter what God did for us in the resurrected Jesus Christ, we live ourlives with an enormous burden of guilt that we carry around every day.
- Some of us carry around a huge sense of meaninglessness or unworthiness.
- We feel “good for nothing.”
- We are certain we are “good for nothing.”
- We have such contempt and disrespect for self that we are absolutelyconvinced God could not love us.
- Some of us carry around this huge sense of failure.
- We know the truth about ourselves.
- We know the horrible mistakes we made in our past.
- We are convinced that God saves only good people, and we are sure weare not one of those–we are just a sorry excuse of a person.
- Read with me Roman 8:31-35.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who isagainst us? He who didnot spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Himfreely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the onewho justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, ratherwho was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who willseparate us from the love of Christ?
- Let me share with you my understanding of this statement that was written toChristians who were really suffering through hard times.
- Paul said there are three reasons that Jesus Christ is our permanentsolution.
- First, we represent the greatest investment God ever made.
- Second, God’s use of Jesus Christ to justify us means Satan cannotaccuse us.
- Third, the resurrected Jesus is right next to God interceding for us.
- The result: nothing external of ourselves can separate us from Christ’s love.
- What does that mean?
- It means nothing is bigger than God, and God will protect his investment.
- It means Satan cannot do to us what he did to Job–God will not listen toSatan’s accusations against us because in Christ God Himself justifies us.
- It means that no matter what we endure or go through, Jesus Christconstantly represents us to God–there is absolutely no way that we canbe misunderstood.
- It means that the only person who can remove me from Christ’s love is me.
- There are all kinds of things in life that can make our lives miserable.
- But if my heart belongs to the resurrected Jesus, not one of those thingscan remove me from his love.
- Think about these words in Hebrews 10:11-14.
Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after timethe same sacrifices,which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for alltime, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemiesbe made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time thosewho are sanctified.
- The priests’ work was never over because the solution of animal sacrifices wasatemporary solution.
- The resurrected Jesus sat down at God’s right hand because his solution waspermanent.
- By God’s sacrifice of Jesus on the cross there are two things given to everyonein Christ:
- Sanctification
- A permanent solution.
- What God did in Jesus’ death and resurrection is a permanent solution.
Communion
Thanksgiving for Bread
[Bread served.]
Thanksgiving for Cup
[Fruit of the vine served.]
David Chadwell
West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Morning Sermon, 8 February 2004
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Our Response
Song
#68 – “Give Thanks”
Offering
Songs
#691 – “Make Me New”
#429 – “Oh, To Be Like Thee”
YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN!
by Chris Benjamin
Sanctification –
Read Mark 2:1-12
Jesus has a curious response to the man’s condition: He doesn’t spend much time diagnosing the illness.
- Perhaps the need of this man is obvious as he lowered on his mattress with his withered limbs tucked in closely. It should be obvious, but that makes Jesus’ response all the more curious. He forgives the man’s sins.
Forgiveness of sins? Did the man even want to be healed? Or did he want to be saved? Why does Jesus offer forgiveness of sins right off the start? Usually we offer benevolence or healing then proceed to deal with other’s sin problems.
- What’s being said here about sin? It’s crippling. Condemnation paralyzes and numbs. Unable to walk righteously. Unable to speak to others truthfully and lovingly. Unable to move, to worship, to serve.
But, the Scribes have a point don’t though? Isn’t it God’s prerogative to forgive sins? We do not want to be too presumptuous. If we start handing out forgiveness like candy, no one will want to be holy. Let’s not talk forgiveness to the point that we forget responsibility. Maybe it’s best we leave forgiveness to God – and so that means we will just have to hope for the best in the judgment, right?
"Wait!" says Jesus to the scribes, "Why all this discussion? Why are you thinking these things? Why do you doubt my authority to forgive?"
There are two different views of forgiveness in conflict: We see it in the way the scribes question Jesus’ bold proclamation of forgiveness. We know it in the way Jesus bold proclamation of forgiveness is too often doubted by our own condemning hearts.
I John 3:19-20.
- The way our condemning hearts view forgiveness: God’s work of forgiveness is much more active and transforming than simply passing a sentence. We cannot equate God’s forgiveness with the pardon given by presidents and governors. Presidents issue pardons upon leaving office and they are usually the stuff of scandals. Why? Perhaps it is because we sense that nothing has changed. The label has changed, but the contents are the same – and they are spoiled. Yet, God’s forgiveness works much deeper than that. It has to! "Our forgiveness is not some judicial fiction, but a reality being worked out in our lives by the Holy Spirit."
- Jesus and the Apostles’ view: a transforming reality within and without, sanctification! Assurance of God’s grace and the power to change our hearts. [John – "So that you may know!"] – God’s forgiveness is good news for us when we feel the burden of condemnation and guilt because it allows us to be defined by God’s righteousness and not our guilt. We may even accept the fact that God forgives us, but we remain so guilt-ridden that we are spiritually paralyzed.
- Even if we do not assume that death is the only outcome, our guilt may condemn us to a spiritual paralysis. Rather than risk the possibility of doing anything wrong we do nothing. As long as Jesus forgives us, we should just sit down, shut up and be still. We quietly accept the forgiveness and keep our head bowed low. However, Jesus did not become sin so that we might become mediocre. We are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works (Ephesians 2:10). We were not created to stay out of the way and be unobtrusive.
- Jesus: "Which is easier to say?" Either way the result is the same – a soul with the ability to walk! And Jesus wants us to walk – spiritually. This man who may have never walked in his life – Jesus instructs him not only to walk home, but to carry his bed with him too. Jesus did not forgive us so we would stay out of the way. [2 Corinthians 5:21 – "God made him who had no sin to become sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."] Christ became sin – why? So that we might become righteousness! God’s forgiveness is not just a change in verdict – it contains the power to actually enable us to live differently! And that can be just as astounding as a paralyzed man walking!
We may think that without God’s forgiveness we will die, but the fact is that without God’s transforming forgiveness we will never truly live!
- We may choose to respond to God’s forgiveness like the scribes – with doubt and hesitation. We are our own worse scribes. Our hearts condemn us. And then we may, if it gets really bad, condemn others. So we need to hear and see an amazing authority. We need to confront a reality that is much greater than even our own hearts
- This greater reality is God. In the face of this greater reality, there can be no flippant forgiveness. We confront this reality through the cross of Jesus. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper participate in the crucifixion and resurrection – When we are baptized, when we share the common meal with Jesus we see how Christ becomes sin so that we might become righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). God’s forgiveness creates a new reality. The word sometimes used to describe it is sanctification. God forgives in such a way that sinners might become holy and righteous.
- We may choose to respond to God’s forgiveness like the paralyzed man and his friends who brought him to Jesus – with faith and trust. Trusting in God’s transforming forgiveness is not oppressive, but liberating. In fact, we can only experience true freedom as we rely on the spirit of God.
- In 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, Paul describes the ongoing work of salvation as moment to moment God is transforming us into his likeness. We are never set free just to do anything we want! Removing sin is meant to heal, to empower, to free – to convert! Crippled with sin, we are empowered to walk in righteousness …
So who has the authority? Our condemning hearts? Our guilt? Our scribal tendency to doubt and deliberate while we lie paralyzed on our mattress? Or does the Lord have the final authority? Jesus is greater than our condemning hearts. His view of what’s real and right and greater than the wisest scribe or the most cynical, self-hating critic. How ridiculous then that some of us would still allow our own heart to rule over the word of God …
- Some of us cannot worship because we doubt the authority and grace of God.
- Some of us have wounds that will not heal because we continue to pick at the scab.
- Some of us listen to "the inner-scribe" that keeps condemning us and has fooled us into thinking that it is God!
Once the scribes stopped dissecting the authority of Christ, the people praised God. We can too if we will let go and trust in his power to save. We are paralyzed so long as the focus is on us. But that changes when we focus on Jesus’ authority to heal and forgive. He’s greater than our condemning heart.
- And we ought also to glorify God when we see his amazing grace. When the sick are made well, they want to return to life. Likewise the forgiven need to return to life.
- Can you imagine if the paralytic had allowed his friends to carry him home after he was forgiven and healed? "No thanks Lord, I don’t doubt your power and authority to forgive, but I’m just not sure about myself. You see, I’m no good at the walking thing and to walk and carry my mattress, well, that’s a lot too soon. I probably need a few months in transitionary care to make sure this is for real. Thanks for the forgiveness and healing, but I had better go at this slow."
- But Jesus’ gives a command – without any doubt he said – "Your sins are forgiven!" And without any qualification he said, "Get up! Take up your bed and walk home!"
- Christ forgives us so that we may walk in righteousness. If Christ has forgiven you then why would you let yourself be carried home on your mattress?
Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles
“Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” (Galatians 6:9)
The problems in congregations in the Roman province of Galatia were extremely difficult. Two features in Paul’s letter to those congregations reveal how discouraging the problems were. A group of Jewish Christians followed behind Paul when he established congregations in non-Jewish areas. Basically, these Christians (Judaizing teachers) made two points. # 1: Paul was not a genuine apostle; neither this man nor his message were to be trusted. # 2: Since you were converted through a “faulty” message about Christ, your conversion is invalid. Thus, you still need to be saved.
What a discouragement to Paul and to the people he called to Christ! With great personal sacrifices, Paul made his mission trips [2 Corinthians 11:21-33]. With enormous personal patience and kindness, he taught people of idolatrous backgrounds [1 Thessalonians 2:5-12]. Paul cared about the people he taught! Those responding to Christ by redirecting their lives were of great encouragement! For Christians to cause these people to doubt their salvation was an enormous personal discouragement.
When Paul heard what happened in the Galatian congregations, it defied belief! He was so upset that he began his letter in a unique manner. In virtually all his letters to congregations, Paul began by giving thanks for them. He did that even with the deeply troubled Corinthian congregation [1 Corinthians 1:4-9]. Yet, he did not begin Galatians with a statement of thanksgiving! He started with a declaration of disbelief. “I cannot believe you left Christ for a message falsely presenting itself as good news!” [Galatians 1:6-9.] He then (1) defended his spiritual credentials and (2) verified his message.
As discouraging as the situation was to Paul, have you considered how discouraging it was to the few who were not deceived by the Judaizing teachers’ false message? Would that not be reason to give up? Would that not make you feel pointless in your conversion and commitment? Would your mind not constantly declare: “Just quit! Just give up!”
Near the end of the letter he wrote the above statement. “Do not stop doing good! Do not faint! Do not let weariness win! The harvest is certain! Doing good glorifies God!”
Why in the face of discouragement continue to do good? (1) This is the only way those in Christ can say “thank you” to God. (2) Those who know God through Christ need encouragement. (3) Those who do not know God need to see Him in your life.
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