Holy Manners

Posted by David on April 19, 2007 under Bulletin Articles

In the elders’ and ministers’ retreat this past weekend and in the lesson Sunday morning, Charles Siburt called attention to “Holy Manners.” He emphasized that in our congregations nation-wide, many Christians do not know how to behave as Christians.

When Paul wrote 1 Timothy, he left Timothy in Ephesus to address situations needing immediate attention (1:3). Though Ephesus was one of the earliest Christian communities with an established eldership (Acts 20:17), some situations needed attention. This was principally a gentile congregation in a large, important city.

Ephesus’ reputation reached world-wide. It was one of Asia Minor’s oldest cities, likely numbering in the hundreds of thousands in the first century. The gathering place for Ephesians (the amphitheater) seated 25,000 people.

Ephesus was the home of the goddess known as Artemis [the Roman Diana]. Her temple was the largest building in the Greek world. Her existence in Ephesus produced a fierce loyalty among most Ephesians (see Acts 19:27-29).

Thus Christians existed in an idol-worshipping city where most people knew much more about idolatrous conduct than Christian conduct. Many Christians simply did not know how to act like Christians. They confronted two continuing problems: (1) It was quite acceptable to worship many gods. (2) Christians must not live like, act like, or behave like the majority who did not know or feel loyalty to Jesus Christ.

Christians simply needed to learn how to act like Christians. Idol worshippers acted in ways characterizing people believing in pagan gods. Christians should act in ways characterizing Christians. There were idol-worshipping behaviors and Christ-worshipping behaviors. There were moral standards attached to the gods and moral standards attached to Jesus. Christians must daily know and model the differences. People should be able to determine a Christian’s commitment by the way he or she lives every day.

In the above text, “household” meant family. “Church” referred to who they were 24 hours a day, every day, not a building at an address. It was men and women who believed in the resurrected Jesus Christ all the time. It was the “pillar and support of the truth” because it literally changed who they were. They learned the “new manners” of a person belonging to God through Jesus Christ.

American Christians live in a society that worships many things-materialism, pleasure, status symbols, material security, etc. Who we are and what we live for distinguishes us from those who do not know or feel loyalty to Jesus Christ. Questions: “Do you know ‘Holy Manners’? How does your behavior declare your faith in Jesus?”

If God Could Change Me Any Way He Wished ?

Posted by David on April 12, 2007 under Bulletin Articles

If God could change me any way He wished, what would He change? How would the way I think be different? How would what I value be different? How would my priorities change? What would happen to the way I use my time? In what would I get involved? What would I discontinue? How would my “to do” list be altered?

Of this I feel certain-we all would change! The congregation, dating, marriages, parenting, job performance, and relationships would change! In fact, most of us-if not all of us-would be shocked at some of the changes God made in us. Not only would we be astounded at some areas of alteration God made, but when we knew and understood the reason, we would be even more astounded.

Some changes we prize. Many prize becoming a teenager. Many prize becoming 16 so we can acquire a driver’s license. Many prize high school graduation, college graduation, qualifying for most anything, a first paycheck, a wanted job, a wanted engagement, a wanted marriage, a wanted birth, a first home, a first car, etc.

Some changes we do not like. Many do not like turning 30 or 40 or 50 – need we go any further? Most do not like divorce, ruptured relationships, boring jobs, debt, traffic violations, unreasonable stress, being dominated by unbearable people, over commitment, impossible expectations, sickness, death, etc.

Transformation is about changing us. Generally speaking, adults least like change when it involves “changing me.” “Do not mess with my body-I like it the way it is!” “Do not mess with my mind-I like it the way it is!” “Do not mess with my priorities-I like them the way they are!” “I am okay. I have no complaints with me! Why can you not just accept me as okay? If I am pleased with me, why can’t you be pleased with me?”

Being a Christian is choosing to be transformed. Choosing to be transformed is choosing to change. It is choosing to allow God into my heart by changing the way I feel. It is choosing to allow God into my mind by changing the way I think. It is choosing to allow God into my body by changing how I use it. It is choosing to allow God to make me a person who never stops growing in His values and priorities. It is choosing to live for eternity instead of living for now.

Transformation is not about joining an organization and conforming to expectations of others. It is about becoming the person God can make me. Transformation never stops!

Thy Will Be Done On Earth

Posted by David on April 10, 2007 under Sermons

The statement, "Thy will be done," is a familiar, acceptable, good statement. That statement to most of us is comfortable and non-threatening. It has a ring of loyalty and devotion about it that should be a part of every Christian’s prayer and hope. Most of us would agree that things are better when God’s will is done. God’s will is good, not bad.

Most of us understand that statement. We agree that we are speaking of God’s will. We agree what God wishes should be done. We Christians agree that we should be devoted to achieving God’s will. We would say there is no mystery in that statement, that all Christians understand it.

We not only understand that phrase, but we also use it. We most often use it when making a request of God for a specific blessing. It would be inappropriate and impossible to dictate what God must do. We do not wish to sound like arrogant, haughty people who feel superior to God. So, we submissively pray, "Thy will be done."

There is a particular prayer we used to say often in which we used that phrase. We called it the Lord’s Prayer; it is found in Matthew 6. In the past it closed a school room devotional, closed a devotional at public functions, and often was used when churches gathered. Likely, most people did not think much about what they said–they just said the expected words.

In that prayer, we said more than, "Thy will be done." We said, "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." "Thy will be done," does not sound strange, but, "on earth as it is in heaven," may sound a bit strange. Have you ever given serious thought to God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven?

1. The most obvious fact in that statement is that God has a will.
   1. What does it mean for God to have a will?
      
      1. It means God has purposes that are important to Him, that will be accomplished.
         
      2. It means God has reasons for (1) what He does and (2) what He wants, and nothing is insignificant about any of His reasons.
         
      3. It means God is motivated or moved by His purposes and reasons–He has a specific objective in all He says and wants.
         
      4. The purposes, reasons, and motives are not given to God by humans.
         
         1. We do not assign God His purposes, reasons, or motives.
            
         2. God does not act or function because we decide what He should do or why He should do it.
      5. God is not some senile grandfather who exists in some remote sphere afflicted with a feeble mentality.
         
         1. He does not need to be told what He thinks or wants.
            
         2. He is not dependent on us to decide what He thinks or how He feels.
      6. The living God knows what He wants and why He wants it.
         
      7. His will is founded on good reason and wise purposes.
         
      8. In every consideration, God’s purposes, reasons, and understanding is superior to ours.
   2. What does it mean for God’s will to be done?
      
      1. God’s intent rules!
         
      2. His purposes determine the course and direction for people who belong to Him.
         
      3. His will definitely impacts all who respect and reverence Him.
         
         1. It has a negative impact: those people will not rebel against His wishes.
            
         2. It has a positive impact: those people will serve Him as they seek to accomplish His wishes.
   3. How is God’s will done in heaven?
      
      1. Scripture does not give us much information about the order of the heavenly sphere, but the little information given forms a specific impression.
         
      2. God is held in absolute honor and reverence.
         
      3. Heavenly beings are honored to fulfill God’s wishes.
         
      4. God’s purposes are fulfilled without questioning or resistance.
         
      5. His purposes are the only purposes.
         
      6. No angel would say,
         
         1. "We will think about it and let you know later."
            
         2. "We prefer not to do that."
            
         3. "We are not interested in your concerns because those concerns are not important to us."
      7. God’s will in heaven is done in total submission to His purposes and desires.
2. It is God’s desire through Christ that the divine will be done in human life in the same manner it is done in the heavenly sphere.
   1. What would that mean?
      
      1. Human life would hold God in absolute honor and reverence.
         
      2. Human life would be honored and pleased to fulfill God’s wishes and desires.
         
      3. Human life would fulfill God’s wishes and desires without rebellion or resistance.
         
      4. Human life would consider God’s purposes as the only true purposes.
         
         1. God’s purposes would always take precedence.
            
         2. God’s purposes would always be the deciding factor.
      5. Human life would do God’s will completely through total submission.
   2. Your reaction: "Impossible! That cannot happen and will not happen under any circumstances!"
      
      1. If I asked, "Why?" what would be your answer?
         
         1. "Too many people will never submit to God’s will under any circumstance!"
            
         2. "Rulers, power merchants, world politicians, the wealthy, and the wicked will never seek any will but their own."
      2. Does that mean God’s will can never be done on earth as it is in heaven?
         
         1. Is the only way God’s will can be done on earth as it is in heaven for all people to surrender themselves to God?
            
         2. If the whole world does not agree to do God’s will on earth, does that mean no one can do God’s will on earth?
      3. At least once God’s will has been done on earth precisely as it is done in heaven.
   3. When was God’s will done on earth precisely as it is done in heaven? In Jesus’ life and death!
      
      1. Consider God’s will in Jesus’ life.
         
         1. In John 4 Jesus traveled through Samaria with his disciples.
            
            1. Jesus stopped at the well Jacob dug (near Sychar) to rest while the disciples went to get food.
               
            2. Jesus was tired, hungry, and thirsty when the disciples left.
               
            3. While the disciples were gone, Jesus had his famous conversation with the Samaritan woman.
               
            4. When the disciples returned with food, Jesus would not eat.
               
            5. He declared he had food to eat they knew nothing about.
               
            6. Jesus said in John 4:34:
               “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.
         2. In John 5:30, as part of a tense discussion about proper actions on the Sabbath day, Jesus said in verse 30:
            I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
            
         3. In John 6, Jesus taught he was the bread of life just as was the manna. In verse 38 he said:
            "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me."
            
         4. The absolute importance of God’s will to Jesus is seen beyond doubt in the Garden of Gethsemane.
            
            1. He knew his betrayal and death would happen soon.
               
            2. He did not wish to die and assume an enormous burden in death.
               
            3. He prayed fervently not to die.
               Matthew 26:39, And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”
               Matthew 26:42, He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.”
         5. God’s will was the determining factor in everything Jesus did in life and death.
      2. Consider the emphasis Jesus placed on others doing God’s will.
         
         1. In Mark 3, his mother and brothers came to talk to him as he taught.
            
            1. He was informed his family wished to see him.
               
            2. This was his answer in verse 35:
               "For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
               
            3. True kinship with Jesus is maintained by doing God’s will.
         2. In Matthew 7:21 Jesus said,
            Not everyone who says to Me, ?Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
            
         3. In John 7:17 Jesus declared to people who doubted him:
            If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.
            
         4. Jesus is the perfect example of God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven.
            
            1. He also is proof the choice to do God’s will is made by the individual.
               
            2. His world was even more wicked and discouraging than our society is.
               
            3. It is not what our world says; it is what we say!
3. Christians need a clear understanding of God’s will in their lives.
   1. As with Jesus, the determining fact in our concerns and actions must be God’s will.
      
      1. It is God’s will that gave us our spiritual existence.
         
         1. James 1:18, In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.
            
         2. John 1:12,13, But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
      2. The moment we perceive God’s will in a matter, that perception determines what we should do.
         
      3. We conscientiously consider God’s will in every matter.
         
         1. "How does this choice affect God’s purposes?"
            
         2. "Will this allow me to function for God as I should?"
            
         3. "How will this affect God’s concerns and interests?"
            
         4. "How will this affect his kingdom?"
            
         5. "How will this affect me as His representative?"
            
         6. "Will this place me in rebellion to God?"
      4. God’s will is the Christian’s ultimate rationale and formative influence.
         
      5. All knowledgeable Christians acknowledge it is their responsibility to be living sacrifices.
         Romans 12:1,2 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
         1. We exist to seek and submit to God’s will.
            
         2. That is a lifetime, never-ending Christian objective.
      6. In practical terms, what does that mean?
         
         1. I want to grow where He wants me to grow.
            
         2. I want to change where He wants me to change.
            
         3. I want to learn from Him.
            
         4. I want to cease being what He does not want me to be.
            
         5. I want to become what He wants me to be.

The question is not will there ever be a time when the whole world does God’s will as it is done in heaven. The question is will each of us do God’s will now as it is done in heaven? It happened in Jesus’ life when he lived in a wicked age. Will it happen in your life?

It begins by your submission of your life and will to Jesus Christ.

What Would It Mean If We Succeeded?

Posted by David on April 5, 2007 under Bulletin Articles

The Jewish Christian Paul made that statement. Did he ever understand it! The murdering blasphemer and persecutor (1 Timothy 1:13) became a Christian because God wished to verify Jesus Christ’s patience (1 Timothy 1:16). So the man who helped kill to keep Judaism pure became the apostle to idolatrous gentiles. Gentiles were ignorant– warping the view of deity, worshipping ridiculous things, and living by abusive morality.

Paul knew his old ways could not be defended. As a result, the Christian Paul approached the “untouchables” with the same kindness and mercy God showed him in Jesus Christ.

Did the majority of Jewish Christians appreciate Paul’s efforts? NO! (See Acts 15:1, 2, 5, 6-11. Please note Jewish Christians who did not like what they saw produced this emotional meeting.)

For a moment, let me role play as if I were one of those Jewish Christians. “What is going on? Does not everyone understand Christianity began in Jerusalem with Jewish converts? We are the ?mother’ church! It is unthinkable that Christians would not pray at the temple or study scripture in a synagogue! Why, many of these uncircumcised people becoming Christians do not even know Jewish traditions! Surely, they can accept Jesus Christ if first they let us teach them how to do things!”

Baptizing gentile believers meant enormous change! Many first century Jewish Christians did not like it! Yet, Jesus Christ gave his life to save sinners, and that included gentiles. God was as delighted with the repentance and baptism of a gentile as a Jew. That was difficult to understand when Jews thought they held the patent on God! Nobody did God like they did God! God was theirs for 2000 years!

Would we all agree that Jesus died to save sinners? That God does not care about the nationality or ethnicity of a person? That if a person is willing to repent of sins, God does not care if you are homeless or live in a $500,000 structure? That God forgives any background, past lifestyle, or godless behavior of the believer who repents and is baptized for the forgiveness of sin? I suspect all of us would heartily AMEN all that.

We as Christians have little trouble with the “before.” Our big challenges are with “after.” If we succeeded in our God-given-mission to convert to Jesus Christ, what would success look like? I confess freely I have no idea! I know that people who “do things like me” quickly would find themselves in the minority. Faith and repentance would be considerably more important than 100-year-old traditions!

The thoughts of success in God’s objectives in Jesus Christ make me sweat a cold sweat. How about you? Do you think God is THAT serious about saving sinners?

“… The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28)

God’s Solution to the Problem of Sin

Posted by David on April 4, 2007 under Sermons

Once sin was an impossible problem for people. Why? There were only inadequate, temporary solutions for the problem. No one of himself or herself had the power to destroy sin. God’s permanent solution had not yet come into existence, and humans were powerless to produce a permanent solution.

In early human history, people offered animal sacrifices to honor God. Though God was pleased with such sacrifices when they were offered for the right motive in the correct way, they were not permanent solutions. Regarding such sacrifices, Hebrews 10:4 says, For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Still later God made a covenant or agreement with Israel called the Law of Moses. In it the Jewish people were commanded to offer animal sacrifices at a specific place at a specific time. Those sacrifices included the sacrifice of atonement. Yet, not even it could permanently destroy sin for all people. Animal blood was still not a permanent solution. The writer of Hebrews said in Hebrews 10:1-3, For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year.

Mosaical animal sacrifices were just a shadow of the real solution that would permanently solve the problem of sin. Those animal sacrifices did not have the ability to make Israelite lives spiritually complete. Instead, those animal sacrifices served as a constant reminder that the problem of sin was not permanently resolved.

When the situation was correct, God introduced the permanent solution to sin. God’s permanent solution to the problem of sin was not haphazard nor "spur of the moment." God worked on this permanent solution from the moment sin became a part of human existence in this world. God planned and worked throughout human history to make this permanent solution a reality.

To all who would accept God’s solution, it was a permanent solution to the problem of sin, a permanent end to the problem. God provided that solution at enormous cost to Himself.

1. Before we can appreciate the solution, we must understand the problem.
   1. The basic problem: justice had to be satisfied.
      Romans 3:21-26, But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
      1. Sin in its rebellion against God was an injustice.
      2. To restore relationship with God, that injustice had to be addressed.
      3. Someone had to satisfy the penalty for the injustice of rebellion.
   2. The necessity of satisfying the injustice of sin created a real problem for God and humanity.
      1. The problem for humanity was not in paying the price for injustice, but of escaping the destructive consequences of injustice.
         1. Every person could pay for his or her own injustices.
         2. Yet, no person could pay for someone else’s injustices.
         3. Humanity was not capable of producing a solution–all humanity could do was face the consequences of individual injustices.
      2. The problem for God was that He could not rightfully extend mercy until the injustice of rebellion was satisfied.
         1. Someone had to pay the consequences of unjust rebellion.
         2. Until the consequences of injustice were addressed, God was not free to permanently extend mercy.
         3. God could not ignore sin, pretend it did not exist, and remain true to Himself.
         4. For God to be God, the consequences of injustice must be paid.
   3. The problem of injustice could be solved if someone without sin paid the consequences of those who sinned.
      1. That is how God solved the problem.
      2. He created a permanent solution to sin in this way:
         1. God allowed His own son to come to this world and live as a human.
         2. Jesus, as a person, faced all our temptations and did not sin.
         3. Then Jesus died without sin to satisfy the consequences of our injustices.
         4. That death freed God to be permanently merciful to those who accepted Jesus’ blood.
      3. Listen to scripture:
         Hebrews 4:14,15 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
         1 Peter 2:21-24 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
         2 Corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
      4. Jesus encountered the tests of temptation without sinning.
         1. He sinlessly gave his life for our failures.
         2. He actually had our sins placed on his body as he died.
         3. If we accept his sacrifice, we are freed from our sins because Jesus paid for them.

2. In God’s permanent solution to sin, Jesus is the Savior.
   1. Jesus is more than a good man, a help if we want him, a suggested improvement, or one good way to God–he is the Savior.
      1. Scripture never presents Jesus as the Christ with an attitude of indefiniteness.
      2. He is never presented as an optional way to God.
      3. He is the essential key to God’s permanent solution to the problem of sin.
         1. He did live without sinning.
         2. He did die for human sin.
         3. He did carry our sins in his body as he died.
         4. Only he can destroy the sins of a person.
   2. If you feel that exaggerates Jesus’ importance as Savior, listen to scripture:
      1. The evening before his death, Jesus made this statement:
         John 14:6, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
      2. Shortly after Jesus was presented to the Jews as the resurrected Christ, Peter made this statement:
         Acts 4:12, And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.
      3. Much later, Paul wrote:
         1 Timothy 2:5, For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, …

3. We also must understand that the only existing power that can permanently destroy human sin is Jesus’ blood.
   1. Jesus’ blood atones for human sin by satisfying the demands of justice.
      1. Paul made several statements about the power of Jesus’ blood.
         Ephesians 1:7, In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.
         Ephesians 2:13, But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
         Colossians 1:14, … in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
         Romans 5:9, Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
      2. The writer of Hebrews said in Hebrews 13:12:
         Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.
      3. The same writer says in Hebrews 13:20 that Jesus’ blood was the blood of an eternal covenant–God’s commitment in Jesus blood will not be withdrawn!
      4. John wrote in Revelation 1:5,
         … from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood-
   2. Without Jesus’ blood there is no power to make human salvation possible.
      1. Jesus’ blood:
         1. Redeems us or buys us back for the injustices against God that we commit.
         2. Gives all people the right to come near God.
         3. Justifies us.
         4. Makes us sanctified or holy.
         5. Frees us from our sins.
         6. Permits us to live under God’s eternal commitment.
      2. There is no way to bypass the essential blood of Jesus!
         1. Those who appropriate Jesus’ blood to their lives are saved.
         2. Those who reject Jesus’ blood are not.
         3. The power of salvation lies in the atonement of Jesus’ blood.