Can You Help in Cameroon?

Posted by David on October 3, 2004 under Bulletin Articles

In 1972-73 Eugene Elangwe was a teenager in preacher training school in Cameroon, West Africa, where I lived and taught. Now Eugene is almost 50 years old with a family of 7 children. After graduating from the preacher training school, he shared the good news of Christ with his people. Of the five students graduating in his class, only two continue to preach.

He lives in a remote area and owns no motorized transportation. Some congregations are too remote to be visited by car. In a typical month he walks 85 kilometers (51 miles) to visit congregations. The number of places with no congregation who request him to come preach is increasing. This is in addition to 13 existing congregations. He has very few books, supplies, or Bibles to use in his work. Viewed from our circumstances, he has almost nothing to use. There is a dire need for medicines and medical supplies. Eugene has witnessed friends die in situations he knows are unnecessary.

To address growing needs, he began a preacher training school which graduated its first class of 5 in September, 2003. He also directs leadership training for men in established congregations (on a regular basis). He is 203 miles from the nearest American missionary. They are able to visit about once a year. This missionary does not have the supplies to address Eugene’s needs. One American preacher goes once every year or two to teach in the preacher training school for three weeks.

For the better part of 5 years, Eugene and I have worked to find a means to supply some of the many needs around him. With the significant help of C.U.R.E., we plan to send a large shipment of medical supplies and Bible study materials (including Bibles) to Wum, Cameroon, in the near future. Dr. Fisher located the lowest possible prices for medicines and medical equipment that C.U.R.E. does not possess. Supplies C.U.R.E. has will be donated. We received the necessary government documents to assure acceptance of this shipment. Now it is a matter of gathering, packing, funding, and shipping the supplies.

How can you help??

Focus On Communion

Posted by David on September 26, 2004 under Sermons

Matthew 26:36-46
Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.” 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.” And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 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.” Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. Then He came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”

1. Yielding to God’s will often involves human struggle.
   1. God’s purposes often are accomplished at the price of human suffering.
      1. While God always seeks our highest good, in the moment of struggle we humans are often consumed by dreading our struggle instead of the good that will be produced through our struggle.
      2. Jesus the man certainly knew the price of human struggle through personal experience.
         1. He did not want to die.
         2. He did not want the responsibility of the pain in crucifixion or the responsibility of causing God’s purpose to become reality.
      3. Yet, we can easily see why Jesus succeeded where many of us often fail.
         1. While he did not wish to die, he did not let the reality of immediate pain and suffering cause him to lose his focus.
         2. He was very open and direct with God–“Let this cup pass from me.”
         3. Yet, in his openness he was totally submissive–“Your will be done.”
         4. The essential thing: God’s purposes be achieved, not his feelings be supreme.
   2. It is likely that a Christian’s moment of greatest weakness is the moment when we are tempted to place our feelings above God’s purposes.
      1. Communion celebrates the fact that Jesus did not do that.
      2. He truly understands the temptation to do that, but he did not do that.
      3. So as we eat the bread, we gratefully remember the fact that Jesus yielded to God’s purposes and glorify God for pursuing those purposes at the cost of the death of His son.

   Prayer of thanksgiving for Jesus’ body. Serve the unleavened bread.

   1 Corinthians 11:17-34.
   But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for judgment. The remaining matters I will arrange when I come.

2. Parts of this scripture are used frequently to focus attention on the basic purposes of communion given by Jesus himself.
   1. We commonly want Christians to focus on the original nature of communion.
      1. Thus we read verses 23-26 to emphasize the early focus of communion.
      2. That certainly is not incorrect, but it often misses the problem in the church of Corinth.
         1. Some Christians were coming earlier [likely by invitation] to share in a full meal [similar to what we would call a “pot luck” meal].
         2. Some Christians were coming later [which was typical in Roman meals] to share in a partial meal.
         3. Some well-to-do Christians left drunk from eating and drinking too much.
         4. Some poor Christians left hungry having very little to eat.
      3. Remember that this letter began with Paul condemning the congregation’s division.
         1. When they gathered for communion, their gathering emphasized their division, not their oneness in Christ.
         2. Paul said, “I cannot even call what you are doing communion.”
         3. Why? The focus is not on a form problem, but a purpose problem.
         4. Their communion did not accomplish the purpose of communion. It was Satan’s purposes, not God’s purposes that were emphasized.
      4. The problem was not in the fact that communion was a meal.
         1. Jesus instituted communion at a meal.
         2. Acts 2 places emphasis on Christians eating together to affirm their oneness.
         3. The problem was not that it was a meal, but the problem was in the purpose of the meal.
            1. The purpose of this meal was not to satisfy hunger, though it did for some who were poor.
            2. The purpose of the meal was to affirm oneness in Christ.
            3. Yet, what they did was precisely opposite to one of the purposes of communion–it declared there were privileged Christians and second class Christians.
   2. In communion, there are two purposes to be met.
      1. The first is a personal remembrance of what Jesus Christ accomplished for us as individuals on Jesus’ cross.
      2. The second is a collective affirmation that we are one with all in the congregation who place their faith in Christ. [That was quite important to Christians most of whom had been rejected or abandoned by the society they left.]
      3. Communion is remembering Jesus, but it is also a declaration of unity with those who give their lives and allegiance to Jesus as the Christ.
      4. The Corinthian Christians turned a meal of remembrance and affirmation into a meal that focused on division and hunger.
         1. Paul said, “You miss one of the fundamental reasons for taking communion.”
         2. Christians should feel strengthened by communion, not discouraged by communion.
      5. When we take communion, we need to remember Jesus’ sacrifice, and we need to remember that we belong to each other because Jesus died for all of us.
      6. When you drink this fruit of the vine, remember Jesus, and remember your commitment to every person here who is with you in Christ.

   Prayer of thanksgiving for Jesus’ blood. Serve the fruit of the vine.

   Challenge and invitation.

The Search for Meaning

Posted by David on September 19, 2004 under Bulletin Articles

Hebrews 11:13-16, All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.

The older we are, the more we search for meaning and significance in life. The more spiritually mature we are, the more we realize our insignificance. Usually, age urges us to evaluate personal significance, and often advances spiritual maturity.

Obviously, those two perspectives go in opposite directions. In one, we seek for assurance of personal significance. In the other, we realize our insignificance.

The effect of both results in a great irony in human physical existence. We, as followers of God and Jesus Christ, grow in awareness that we do not belong. Evil’s expressions increasingly distress us. Hate and contempt’s expressions frustrate us inwardly and outwardly. Injustice deeply troubles us. On deeper levels, we realize that there are no simple answers–existence’s problems are quite complex! We yearn for simpler times, fully aware that such times do not exist. The more we are exposed to, the less we understand.

We look at the struggles around us, shake our heads, and quietly say to ourselves, “Did they not know this would be the result? Did they not understand the consequences?” When the obvious answer is “No!” we are astounded that anyone “could not know that.”

The author of the writing we know as Hebrews understood the enormous tension created by being a person of faith in an environment that says only “reality” exists. The more you are a person of faith, the less you fit into “physical reality.” The people to whom this author wrote knew that struggle–they lived in an extremely idolatrous environment!

He reminded them that the great people of faith they admired–including Abraham–“did not fit.” Though these people were only “stops” on God’s journey to His objectives in Christ, though they glimpsed but never possessed God’s great promises in Christ, though they had a choice to belong to “physical reality” or to “faith,” they understood some things very clearly. They clearly understood they did not fit in this unjust world. They clearly understood they belonged in a place where only righteousness (the purest form of justice) exists. They clearly understood that while they did not belong here, there was a place they would belong. Though the physical world thought they were stupid, God was not ashamed of them. God cherished them so much that he prepared a place of righteousness for them–a place where they always would know they belonged.

Find your significance in God. Find your insignificance in God. Know you “belong” in God’s presence. Measure yourself by your faith, not your possessions, position, or power. Never “belong” in an unjust world. Always “belong” to a righteous God.

Disciples Make Disciples

Posted by David on September 12, 2004 under Sermons

You have had a hard day on the job. It seems as if every time you turn around, something “goes wrong.” You spent a lot of your day trouble shooting. You did not accomplish nearly what you intended to accomplish. In fact, as you look back over your difficult day, you wonder to yourself if you did not waste your time and effort. You have nothing “to show for” all your work and effort that day.

You are bringing your work day to a close. You are preparing things to resume your efforts tomorrow. You do the necessary straightening up so you can start fresh tomorrow–you want there to be nothing to remind you of this miserable work day. You think about what has to happen quickly tomorrow. You are intent on completing your preparations for tomorrow. You just want to call it a day and forget about what you now consider a wasted day and wasted effort.

Just as you are almost through with your preparations, a religious teacher walks in and makes a ridiculous request of you. You know his request is just plain stupid. But you have been listening to the man teach, and you want to be polite. So you act out of politeness more than conviction. But you favorably respond to the man’s stupid request though it means the day will end on a meaningless, nonproductive note.

Read with me as we look at Luke 5:1-11. See if you can identify with the situation.
Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets. When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

1. If we talked to these men much later in their lives, I have little doubt that they would tell you, “That moment began the biggest and most important adventure of our lives.”
   1. If we asked, “Why?” I think we would hear these answers.
      1. “That was the day we began in earnest to be Jesus’ disciples.”
         1. “Our expectations were all wrong.”
         2. “We thought he was a special person sent by God, but we really did not understand just how special this person was.”
         3. “What we thought was going to happen and what did happen were not even similar.”
      2. “Before it was through, we finally understood we were the disciples of God’s own son. To this moment, that sounds incredible!”
   2. If we were to ask, “Why was being Jesus’ disciples so special?” I think they would respond in this way.
      1. “It being special had nothing to do with us.”
      2. “It being special had everything to do with who he was: God’s own son!”
      3. “It was special because God’s own son taught us God’s objectives and purposes in our lives and in the world.”
      4. “It was special because we were interacting with the greatest act of God ever manifested in Israel!”

2. I am going to share several scriptures with you as I seek to make a single point: people have to learn how to be disciples of Jesus, and that truth is very obvious in the twelve followers of Jesus.
   1. First, I call your attention to a continuing argument among these 12 disciples, an argument addressed in two ways by Jesus (they should be like children, and they should not be like Gentile rulers), but never resolved by the Lord.
      1. The argument: which one of us is the greatest (in the group) — a decidedly “not disciple like” argument.
      2. Consider these scriptures:
         Mark 9:33,34 They came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest.
         1. They understood that this discussion/argument would not meet Jesus’ approval.
         2. They understood it was not the focus Jesus wanted them to have.
         3. Yet, it continued to be a matter of significant concern among them.

            Luke 9:46 An argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest.

         4. Which one of them was the greatest might not have been of concern to Jesus.
         5. But, it is obviously of great concern to them.

            Luke 22:24 And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest.

         6. Luke associates this dispute with the last supper.
         7. Jesus will be dead in less than 24 hours, and the twelve are arguing among themselves about their “pecking order” in their rank!
         8. This is not a disciple’s attitude or a disciple’s issue to be pursued–yet this is the argument of the twelve at the end of Jesus’ life!
   2. Second, I call to your attention Peter’s attitude after his great confession that Jesus is the Christ.
      Matthew 16:21-23 From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
      1. First, note Jesus began to discuss his death and resurrection with the twelve disciples after Peter’s confession.
      2. Second, note Peter became so bold after his confession that he privately rebuked the Lord: “That will never happen! You must stop talking like that! That is not the things the Christ should be saying!”
      3. Third, note Jesus is now very upset with Peter.
         1. Just as Jesus commended Peter for receiving his revelation from God, he now calls him Satan.
         2. The problem: “You have set your mind on human interest instead of setting your mind on God’s interest.”
         3. Peter created for Jesus a temptation that was totally unnecessary! What Peter said could get Jesus to thinking about himself instead of about God.
         4. This decidedly is not a disciple’s role, focus, or action!
   3. Third, I call your attention to a suggestion made by James and John.
      Luke 9:51-56 When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” And they went on to another village.
      1. Please remember that Samaritans and Jews hated each other.
         1. This hatred was quite old.
         2. Jews regarded Samaritans as the descendants of unfaithful Jews, and Samaritans regarded Jews as being theologically wrong.
      2. Remember that Jesus earlier had meaningful and fruitful interaction with the Samaritans (John 4).
      3. I think it is likely that James and John’s superiority Jewish attitude was oozing out.
         1. “Jesus has been very kind to these people.”
         2. “How dare they reject his request?”
         3. Notice the Samaritans are offended with Jesus preoccupation with Jerusalem–he was focused on the Jews!
      4. The rather obvious point I call to your attention is this: James and John’s desire to send fire on the offending Samaritans was very undisciple like–it is a basic failure to understand what Jesus is all about.
   4. Fourth, I call your attention to a statement Thomas made.
      John 20:24,25 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
      1. The time was shortly after Jesus’ resurrection.
      2. When Jesus first appeared to his disciples as a group the disciple Thomas was not there.
      3. When Thomas returned, excitedly the other disciples told him they had seen the resurrected Jesus.
         1. Thomas replied, “I do not believe it.”
         2. “Furthermore I will not believe he is raised from the dead unless I personally can feel the places where the nails were in his hands and the spear opened his side.”
      4. Again, I call your attention to the obvious–that is quite an undisciple like statement.
   5. Fifth, I call your attention to a statement made by the eleven disciples (Judas was dead) not long before Jesus’ ascension back to God.
      Acts 1:6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
      1. What these men expected to happen was not at all what was going to happen.
         1. In some way they expected the kingdom Jesus spoke about in his ministry to be connected with a restoration of the physical nation of Israel.
         2. Basically their question was, “Will it happen now?”
      2. Their question is a clear confession of the fact that they did not understand what was happening.
         1. They did not understand the foundation of Jesus’ ministry.
         2. They did not understand the meaning of Jesus’ death.
         3. They did not understand the significance of his resurrection (they were glad it happened, but they did not know its significance).
      3. These men followed Jesus throughout his ministry, they were witnesses of the truth of his resurrection, and they received instructions from him after his resurrection.
         1. But they were totally confused about what it all meant!
         2. It would have been impossible for them at that point to explain correctly the meaning of everything they had seen and heard!
      4. Note the obvious: we regard that as very undisciple like understandings and attitudes!

3. Allow me to call something to your attention in Matthew 28:19,20.
   1. This is the statement the resurrected Jesus made to his eleven disciples (Judas was dead).
      1. As Christians, we attach great significance to these two verses.
      2. We attach so much significance to these two verse that we often define the Christian mission and the work of the church by these two verses.
   2. First allow me to read these two verses from several translations.
      • Matthew 28:19,20 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (NASV)
      • Matthew 28:19,20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (NIV)
      • Matthew 28:19,20 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age. (RSV)
      • Matthew 28:19,20 Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations: baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes to the end of time. (Jerusalem Bible)
      • Matthew 28:19,20 Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember! I will be with you always, to the end of the age. (Today’s English Version)
      • Matthew 28:19,20 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. (The New King James Version)
      • Matthew 28:19,20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (The King James Version)
   3. I call some things to your attention.
      1. Every major English translation translates those verses with the primary emphasis on making disciples, except the King James translation (even the New King James version makes discipleship the focus).
      2. One of the truths I personally find distressful is the fact that we are baptizing people who have neither desire nor intention of being disciples.
      3. Every person who wishes to be a disciple needs to be baptized and taught the teachings of Jesus, but the objective must be to make disciples, followers of Jesus.

Every man or woman who is serious about making disciples must be committed to being a disciple. Those who followed Jesus as the 12 in his earthly minister declare discipleship is an ongoing pursuit. It is focused on understanding God’s purposes in Jesus Christ. Christians find our purpose in life when we understand God’s purpose.

Why Concern Ourselves With Spiritual Insights?

Posted by David on September 5, 2004 under Sermons

To a high percentage of those assembled here tonight, the Bible is extremely important. One of the significant reasons for your being here this evening is directly related to the scripture’s importance to you as a person. If I were not concerned about the specifics of what the Bible says, many of you would not be here.

I want to ask what may seem to you to be a ridiculous question. However, I am quite serious in asking the question. I definitely want you to answer it in your own minds. I definitely want each of us to think about the answer we give ourselves.

The ridiculous question: Why is knowing what the Bible or scripture says so important to you? Or, why do you give such a high priority to the knowledge that comes from knowing what the Bible [scripture] says?

Consider some answers. (1) “It is the word of God, and you should know what God says.”
(2) “It’s a good habit for anyone to have.”
(3) “Every person should be able to give a ‘Thus says the Lord’ to everything that happens.”
(4) “What makes a sermon a sermon is its use of scripture. Any preacher worth anything uses lots of scripture.”

When I was a boy, there was lots of emphasis given by audiences on preachers using lots of scripture in a sermon. The emphasis was not on, “Did we learn something from this lesson?” The emphasis was not on, “Did this lesson challenge me to think and in that thinking better understand God?” Much of the time, the emphasis was not on God’s concept of godly existence. “Good sermons” used lots of scripture. If it had lots of scripture, it was good. It made no difference if the scriptures were used out of context. It made no difference if the scriptures were not directly related to the subject. It was the fact that the preacher used scripture that made a sermon good.

When I was a boy, my family attended a gospel meeting in which a nationally known preacher spoke. He typically spoke a couple of hours when he preached, and he used a lot of quotations. [This was not at my home congregation.] One Christian lady in the congregation was known for two things. (1) She never missed an assembly. (2) She took down and looked up every quotation. After a few nights, she respectfully told the preacher, “I cannot find the scriptures you use by the references you give.” He replied, “Sister, that is okay. It will do people good to search for them.”

I have for years challenged people to think when I spoke. Decades ago there were two basic rules for “good preaching.” Rule one: use lots of scripture. Rule two: say those things that the congregation expects to hear.

I was speaking in a gospel meeting years ago that had an “amen” bench and on that bench was an elderly man who said “Amen!” frequently. I started speaking, and I received two or three quick amens. But soon the man who said the “amens” did not know where I was going, and everything got very quiet for most of the sermon. When I concluded and reached a conclusion he agreed with, he said a very loud, very relieved, “Amen!”

Why do we listen to sermons? What is the objective of understanding scripture? As you think about your answer to “why,” allow me to challenge your thinking.

1. Why do we seek knowledge of the scriptures?
   1. May I first suggest that a person should seek knowledge from scripture to better understand God.
      1. Let me challenge our thinking by reading from John 5.
         [The audience] John 5:18 For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
         [The response] John 5:39-47 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
         

         Moses, author of early scripture “Scripture contains eternal life.” “It talks about Me.” “But you don’t see Me in it.”

         1. Consider a fascinating but frightening situation.
            1. These people were experts in knowledge of scripture.
            2. These people totally were convinced that scripture was the key to eternal life.
            3. Yet, they did not understand what scripture was about.
            4. They regarded the person scripture was about as being false and anti-scripture.
            5. They were experts in scriptural knowledge, but they missed the basic point in scripture–they knew a lot, but what they knew did not direct them to God.
         2. God does not do things the way we sinful people do them. (Isaiah 55:8,9)
            1. I seek to understand scripture so I can be aware of the way God does things.
            2. I seek to understand scripture so I can increase accurate knowledge of God’s nature.
            3. I seek to understand scripture so I can properly identify God’s character.
         3. I cannot and will not intuitively know God’s ways and thoughts.
   2. May I suggest secondly that I seek knowledge of scripture so I can make application to my life.
      1. The more I understand God’s ways, the more I change the way I live.
      2. I will not devote my life to things or attitudes that oppose the nature, the character, the ways, and the thoughts of God!
      3. Just because I acquired some knowledge does not mean I understand what I know.
         1. It is not a simple question of authority–it runs much, much deeper than that.
         2. Let me use an old, old illustration I heard years and years ago.
            1. An older gentleman who spent his life reading scripture decided one day he was going to allow God to decide how he would use the day.
            2. He decided he would just take his Bible, close his eyes, let it fall open, with eyes closed he would place his finger on a statement, and that would be God speaking to him, telling him what to do that day.
            3. He did that, and his Bible fell open to Matthew 27 and he placed his finger on verse 5: “Judas went out and hanged himself.”
            4. He said, “That cannot be God’s instruction to me!”
            5. So he did the same thing again, and this time the Bible fell open to Luke 10 and his finger on verse 37: “Go and do the same.”
            6. Now he begins to break out in a sweat as he decides that cannot possibly be what God is telling him.
            7. So he decides to follow the same procedure one last time.
            8. This time his Bible falls open to John 13 and his finger lands on verse 27: “What you do, do quickly.”
         3. Does the Bible say all those things? Yes!
            1. Are they related? No!
            2. The first talks about Judas’ reaction to his guilt in betraying Jesus; the second is a statement made after Jesus’ parable of the good Samaritan as Jesus explained who is our neighbor; and the third is Jesus’ dismissal of Judas at the last supper.
            3. That approach to scripture does not focus on God’s nature nor determine God’s will.

2. We just completed several weeks of focusing on Christian transformation.
   1. In that emphasis:
      1. We noted humanity suffered an enormous loss when we allowed evil to become a part of the human condition–we are nothing like what God intended us to be.
      2. We noted transformation is the process in which a person chooses to move his/her life in the direction of God.
      3. We looked at several examples of transformation in the New Testament.
   2. My question now is this: why did we do that?
      

      Unacceptable answer: “That is what good Christians do!” Acceptable answer: Conversion results in personal transformation.

      1. Unacceptable answer: (1) good Christians go to church on Sunday nights; (2) they are supposed to listen to sermons given on Sunday nights; (3) that just happened to be what the preacher chose to speak about.
      2. Acceptable answer:
         1. God acted in our conversion giving us forgiveness and redemption when we allowed faith in Jesus to produce repentance and baptism.
         2. As those who are in Jesus Christ through God’s act, we commit to our conversion in Christ by committing ourselves to transformation.
   3. Is that a legitimate response to our conversion?
      1. It is not only a legitimate response to our conversion, it is a necessary response to our conversion.
      2. I call your attention to two situations.
         1. The first is found in Matthew 3:7-9
            But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.”
            1. John the baptizer was baptizing in the Jordan valley, and people were coming to him from Jerusalem.
            2. John and his work were such a phenomena that some of the Jewish leaders [Pharisees and Sadducees] came.
            3. John immediately reacted to their coming–he questioned their motives.
            4. “You poisonous snakes, why are you trying to escape God’s wrath?”
            5. “If you have come for the right reason, let your lives show the fruit of repentance.”
            6. “Do not try to evade your need to redirect your lives by trusting your heritage–God can make descendants of Abraham from these rocks.”
         2. Dare we make an application?
            1. “You are here for the wrong reason, and it has nothing to do with God’s way or will.”
            2. “If you are here for the right reason, demonstrate that fact in the way you turn your life around.”
            3. “Do not try to evade your responsibility to turn your life around by saying you are good church members–God could make church members out of rocks.”
            4. Or, God wants conversion to result in redirected lives, not just membership.
         3. The second statement was made by Peter in Acts 3 after he performed a miracle in healing a crippled man.
            1. He, speaking to Jewish people in the temple who devoutly believe in God but not Jesus, said this in Acts 3:18-21:
               But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.
            2. I think an appropriate paraphrase of what Peter said can be stated like this: “If you do not express your faith in God by redirecting your lives in Jesus Christ, God cannot give you the seasons of refreshing He wants to give you.”

Let me close by noting a statement made about Peter and John in Acts 4:13. Peter and John were arrested because of what they did and said in Acts 3. The Jewish court [Jerusalem Sanhedrin] was tremendously upset with these two men. The court was accustomed to men humbling themselves before them as the men sought mercy. But these two men were not in the least bit intimidated by them. They were bold as they defended what they said and did. As the court observed the reaction of these two men, Acts 4:13 records:
Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.

May we be bold enough to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-24) in our lives.

The City, State, Nation, and World For Christ

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

Colossians 1:13,14 “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Those who understand God’s intent from early scripture (Genesis 12:3) was to redeem the world through Christ share much in common. God’s means for achieving redemption in this rebellious world are simple. Give the promise of world redemption to Abraham. Through Abraham produce a nation. Through that nation bring the Messiah [Hebrew word] or Christ [Greek word]. Through the Christ offer all people redemption.

The areas of agreement are striking. As evangelistic Christians, we all agree God produced redemption though Christ. We all agree (1) on the need; (2) on the severity of the need; (3) on the responsibility created by God and the need; (4) on the need being met through Christian sacrifice; and (5) on the potential of that need being met by sharing the gospel (the good news of what God did for the world through Christ).

One significant question should be answered (1) by listening to God explain His intent and (2) by better understanding the use of Christ to meet world needs after Jesus died.

The question: What would a world redeemed by God through Christ look like? Is it important to answer that question? Yes! Why? If we are not careful, we substitute our expectations for God’s purposes. Does the question seek to evade our responsibility to share the message of God’s redemption with all people? No! It means we allow God to determine His objectives. If the end result fits our expectations instead of God’s objectives, then God’s redemption has not occurred in people’s lives.

Is the objective to challenge all Christians to look like American Christians? No. Is the objective to fill the world with church buildings as the most prominent buildings on any landscape? No. Is the objective to have more people assembling in church buildings on Sunday morning than assemble in any other religious context? No. (That may happen in successful evangelism, but that is not God’s objective.)

Then what is God’s objective? The objective of divine redemption is human transformation. The fact that a person (in any culture) has become a part of the people possessed by God means he/she devotes his/her life to glorifying God. Surely it is evident in worship’s praise. It is equally evident in the way he treats his wife or she treats her husband. It is evident in the way they treat their children. It is evident in the kind of neighbor he/she is; the kind of employee he/she is; the kind of citizen he/she is; his/her attitudes, motives, values; the reasons for his/her existence; and the way he/she lives a redeemed life. He/she seeks to be a God-defined person, not a culture-defined person.

Jesus stressed that a God-produced human transformation powerfully provides credibility to God’s redemption. Christ’s disciples are salt and light in this distasteful, dark world because their good works glorify God (Matthew 5:13-16). God’s powerful Christ-centered redemption is verified through transformed lives. Conversions to Christ produce changed lives. This good, visible change verifies God’s redemption is real.

Where Is the Joy?

Posted by David on August 29, 2004 under Bulletin Articles

Acts 2:46,47 “Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.”

What happened? Something did! We cannot pretend a “before” and “after” did not happen! If we try to hide it, it haunts us. Things are different, and we know it–and it is more than disliked change! It is like being frustrated and (a) not knowing what to blame OR (b) blaming the wrong things.

Whose fault is it for changing life? We want things to be the same–but they are not. We prefer “life like it was”–but it is not. We prefer the old problems, not the new ones confronting us–but we cannot choose which set intrudes in our lives and forces decisions.

9/11 has been over-worked, over-analyzed, over-blamed, and over-discussed. It is not the “ghost in the closet” to blame all bad things on. It was a transition point, not a creator. It did not create the cracks. It merely exposed them by giving everyone x-ray vision. It put the stress and strain on existing fractures to transform hair-line factures into obvious breaks. Now we are forced to examine obvious ugliness honestly.

Before 9/11, when we were told the world was shrinking, most said, “It is the same size it always has been.” When we were told that evil was a real force in this world, most said, “No it’s not!” When we were told there were those who hated us so much they would gladly kill us, most said, “That cannot be right–we are the world’s good guys.” When we were told that some people regarded influence from American culture as disastrous, most said, “What are they talking about?” When we were told that societies devoted to religious rule considered us a society of atheists, most said, “Ridiculous! We have church buildings all over the place!”

Oh, how 9/11 changed the answers, not the questions! Had “in church” surveys been conducted prior to 9/11, members would say, “Our hope is in God and our dependence is on God!” After 9/11, we find ourselves trying to define hope and dependence. We do not like being forced to do that. Perhaps we are forced to acknowledge the unthinkable–we were more materialistic in our hope and dependence than we cared to admit. As long as our lifestyle, security, future, opportunities, and materialistic ambitions were intact, our hope was in God on Whom we depended. Placing hope in and dependence on God was one thing. Changing our lives is quite another issue! Before 9/11 the two subjects were minimally related. After 9/11 we wonder.

In a world filled with uncertainty, injustice, and poverty, the first people who understood God’s action in Jesus were filled with an incredible joy. Because the world was no longer uncertain? No! No longer unjust? No! Poverty was eradicated? No! Then why? They understood a purposeful God was active in the affairs of humans producing salvation. Their joy was not humanity-based, pleasure-based, possession-based, or money-based. Their joy was God-based. So, where is our joy? Is there a connection between being God’s light, salt, and leaven in an uncertain world and finding joy in God?

Transformation Illustrated: Christians in Ephesus

Posted by David on August 22, 2004 under Sermons

I often grieve because I observe the tragedies created in people’s lives through misperceptions. These people do not know that the core behaviors of their lives are based on misperceptions. They sincerely think they are functioning on basic truths they hold dearly. Thus they function on a misperception as though it were a truth, and they are totally confused by the consequences of their behaviors.

Allow me to share a specific example. Suppose we randomly go into every neighborhood of Fort Smith. We ask a thousand people the same question, and ask for a simple, understandable answer. The question: “What does it mean for a person to be a devout Christian?”

Would you care to predict how many different answers would be given by a thousand people? Likely the most prevalent answer would be, “A devout Christian is a person who goes to church regularly.” “Regularly” might mean to some several times a week, and to some every Sunday morning, and to some one Sunday morning a month.

Some would answer that question by associating devoutness with belief in a theological perspective. “People are devout Christians if they believe … [the theological position would vary with the people answering.]

Let me give my prediction with what we would not hear. I would predict we would rarely hear an answer that would connect being “a devout Christian” with daily human behavior. I readily confess I might be wrong. However, I would be surprised if many of that thousand people would give answers that connected deep religious conviction with the way a person lived every day.

In the past few weeks we have discussed how much we lost when evil became a part of the human reality. We discussed what transformation is. We looked at some examples of transformation in scripture.

This evening I want to examine the Christians in Ephesus from the perspective of transformation. I want to begin by reading Ephesians 4:25-32.
Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

1. Before we talk about the text we just read, I want to call three things to your attention.
   1. First, I want you clearly to understand my objective. I want you to see “the forest” before you focus on “the trees.”
      1. I am going to do my best to challenge you to see the general picture before you get lost in details.
      2. I am convinced that is what commonly happens to Bible students.
         1. They become so absorbed in details that they get lost.
         2. They put things together that are not even discussing the same situation because they can call everything they put together “scripture.”
         3. Details are essential, but we need to see “the big picture” before we examine the details–or we will misinterpret the details.
   2. Second, I want you to notice two verses.
      1. Chapter four begins with this statement:
         Ephesians 4:1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called
         1. I, Paul–the apostle to the Gentiles, beg you to pay attention to the way you live.
         2. If you belong to Jesus Christ, it will change the way you behave every day of your life.
         3. If you have heard and accepted your calling to God, do not live in ways that shame and embarrass the call.
      2. Chapter 5 begins with this statement:
         Ephesians 5:1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children
         1. If you belong to God, you are attracted to God’s character and nature.
         2. You want to look like your Father.
         3. You regard yourselves to be His children.
         4. Just like a small child commonly seeks to imitate the Father who loves him, you imitate God.
         5. Live and act like you belong to God.
      3. Third, I call your attention to the structure of 4:17-32.
         1. Verse 17-19 talked about how people who do not belong to Christ lived–that is the way they used to live.
         2. Verse 20 declared that when they heard the message about Christ, they understood following Christ was not about continuing to live as they had lived.
         3. Verses 22-24 emphasized why following Christ produces a change in lifestyle.
         4. Verses 25-32 explained what they need to understand about their lifestyle as Christians.
         5. I ask you to recognize two things:
            1. There was a distinct way of living before they were Christians, a re-creation, and a distinct way of living after they become Christians.
            2. Note Paul intentionally, specifically coupled together these two things: being a Christian, and the way you live–that is fundamental!

2. Now focus with me on the ways Ephesian Christians lives changed because they were Christians.
   1. Verses 25-32 contain a huge contrast.
      1. “This is how you used to live before you belonged to Jesus Christ.”
      2. “This is how you are to live because you belong to Jesus Christ.”
      3. These are fairly common problems among first century gentiles who lived in idolatry in societies that were controlled by idolatrous thinking.
      4. Note the contrast:
         1. “This is how people commonly act.”
         2. “This is how you act, and you act this way because you belong to Christ.”
   2. First, people who are transformed in Christ refuse to be deceitful liars.
      1. Why?
      2. Christ teaches you to see other people as created from God.
      3. People were made in God’s image; they do not exist for you to exploit them.
      4. You acknowledge and feel a bond with others, therefore you treat them with respect, not with deceit.
   3. You do not allow your anger to lead you into sin.
      1. How do you do that?
      2. While you will get angry, you will not give your anger a long life by nursing it along.
      3. Your anger will have a very short life.
   4. In Christ, you understand that keeping your anger alive just opens the door of opportunity to Satan.
      1. Our anger creates all types of evil opportunity for the devil.
      2. Hate begins with anger.
      3. Wrath begins with anger.
      4. Ill-will begins with anger.
      5. Vengeance begins with anger.
      6. Jealousy and anger are so intertwined it is impossible to separate them.
   5. Christians do not support themselves by stealing.
      1. Please note that some of the Christians in Ephesus existed as professional thieves prior to conversion, and some of them continued to steal as Christians.
      2. Paul said it is not possible to be transformed by Jesus Christ and to steal.
      3. Accept responsibility to support yourself honorably!
         1. Get a job! Work!
         2. In your work do what is good–do not just make money any way you can make it because “a person has to live.”
         3. In Christ the objective of your work is more than supporting yourself, more than prosperity.
         4. A primary reason for a Christian working is to help those who cannot work.
   6. Christians are careful about their words, are careful about what they say.
      1. They do not say things that insult God.
      2. They do not say things that hurt other people.
      3. People are built up by what these Christians say–their words help people.
      4. Christians say what is appropriate for the situation.
      5. The hearers receive grace from the words of a Christian.
      6. People are drawn to God through the speaking of a Christian rather than being led to resent God.
   7. Christians refuse to behave in ways that work against God’s influence in their lives.
      1. One of the purposes of the Spirit in our lives is to encourage us to surrender to God’s purposes and ways.
      2. If we act in ways that encourage evil in our lives, we grieve the Spirit which God gave us at baptism to encourage us.
      3. Christians refuse to make God’s work in their lives harder!
      4. Paul said to these first century Christians that possessing God’s Spirit was proof they belonged to God, and that God was serious in His commitment to redeem them.

3. If the Ephesians Christians were transformed in Christ, what would their Christian life look like?
   1. First, they would not behave like people who did not know and had not come to Jesus Christ.
      1. They would not be a bitter people (resentment would not control their behavior).
      2. Wrath, and anger, and confusion, and slander would not be a part of their motives or their conduct.
      3. They simply would not be a hateful people who held anyone in contempt.
   2. Instead:
      1. They would be kind to other Christians (people who were not Christians might refuse them opportunity to be kind).
      2. They would be tenderhearted–their compassion and sympathy easily could be touched.
      3. They were always ready to forgive those who hurt them. They would not “hold something against” another Christian.
      4. Their example was nothing less than God Himself.
         1. Jesus Christ showed them God.
         2. Because of that, they did something very uncharacteristic for their age–they were as devoted to forgiving others as God was devoted to using Christ to forgive them.

Letting God call me to Him through Christ changes everything. It changes me as a person. It changes the way I live in an evil world. That is the essence of transformation. The purpose of being baptized into Christ is far more than developing a correct belief system. The primary purpose of being baptized into Christ is changing me and the way I live.

Transformation Illustrated: Christians in Galatia

Posted by David on August 15, 2004 under Sermons

What is the purpose of transformation? That may seem like an insignificant question, but it is a significant question that deserves an answer. It is much too easy to evade the question by focusing on the results of transformation instead of the purpose of transformation.

So, what is the purpose of transformation? Let me emphasize the purpose of transformation by first stating what it is not and then by stressing what it is. The purpose of transformation is not to make everybody else like “me.” I do not prove that I have been transformed by God through Jesus Christ because I like what you like, I do what you do, my life and your life are replicas of each other, and we approach things in the same way. Too often in the past we have decided if transformation was occurring by using ourselves as the measuring stick.

The purpose of transformation is to move everyone in Christ toward God and His nature. The physical influences and desires of this existence do not determine who I am or how I live my life. God determines who I am and how I live my life. That is very easy to say, but very demanding to understand. It is not a matter of talking, but of being.

This evening I want to try to deepen our insights into this process of transformation by considering the Christians in the Roman province of Galatia (the gentile Christians to whom Paul wrote the book of Galatians). I ask you to turn to Galatians 5. I want to read verses 13 through 26.

When we examine this text, we will look at the problem, the reaction, the way these people lived prior to conversion to Christ, the way these people were to live after conversion to Christ, and the continuing process of transformation.

1. Let’s begin by calling our attention to Galatians 5:13-26.
   For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

2. What was the problem?
   1. One cannot read chapter 1 and be ignorant of the fact that a serious problem existed.
      1. Paul obviously was upset–he did not even begin this letter with an word of encouragement often found in his other letters.
      2. Almost immediately he went to his deep concern: “I am amazed…” (Galatians 1:6)
      3. Then Paul made an emphatic statement he repeated: “No one, not an angel, not even me has the right to change the message I first gave you gentile Christians!” (Galatians 1:8,9)
   2. What was the problem that so upset Paul?
      1. Paul told gentile Christians (you and I are gentile Christians) that they did not have to adopt Jewish ways to become Christians, and Jewish Christians deeply resented Paul’s message.
      2. Many Jewish Christians said, “There is no way these heathen idol worshippers can be God’s people unless they learn Israel’s ways!”
         1. They worship stupid things–carved rocks, carved sticks, animals, insects, etc.
         2. They have not even known who the living God is.
         3. They get drunk, commit adultery, lie, steal, cheat and never even know such things oppose God.
         4. To prepare to become Christians, first they need the indoctrination involved in becoming Jewish proselytes.
         5. The only way to bring their heathen lifestyle to an end is for them to be converted to Judaism before they are converted to Christ.
         6. They cannot be Christians unless they first learn how to be like us.
      3. Paul said, “No! This never was God’s plan! God’s grace is the power to transform; gentiles do not have to yield to Jewish ways. They just have to learn God’s ways.”
      4. To Jewish Christians, what Paul said was downright unscriptural, was an unthinkable spiritual perversion.
   3. So this is what a group of Jewish Christians from the Jerusalem area did: they banded together to refute Paul’s gospel (good news).
      1. When Paul left an area, they sent a group of Jewish Christians to that area to teach Paul’s converts to Christ “things Paul failed to tell you.”
      2. These Jewish Christians from Judea would teach the new gentile converts that their baptism was meaningless unless they first were circumcised.
         1. “We have known God for almost 1500 years!”
         2. “God gave the law to us!”
         3. “God sent the prophets to us!”
         4. “We know how to do God-things in God-ways and you do not–so allow us to be your teachers if you are serious about being saved!”
      3. This is what had Paul so upset.
         1. These Jewish Christians were teaching gentile Christians that the grace in Christ that Paul taught them was insufficient.
         2. They told gentile Christians they could not be Christians unless they became Jewish proselytes first.
         3. Though both these Jews and Paul were Christians, there was a major theological disagreement between them about how a person who was not a Jew entered into Christ and how a person who was not a Jew stayed in Christ.

3. What was the reaction?
   1. There was more than one reaction.
      1. If the gentile Christians believed the Jewish Christians, many of them turned to Jewish customs and Jewish ways.
      2. If the gentile Christians believed Paul, many of them looked with contempt on the Jewish Christians as they rejected them and their teachings.
      3. Some gentile Christians concluded that God did not care how a person lived and acted as long as that person believed in Jesus Christ.
   2. Paul rejected all three of those reactions.
      1. He did not want gentile Christians believing they had to be Jewish proselytes to be Christians.
      2. He did not want gentile Christians having bad attitudes toward Jewish people (see Romans 11, and note verse 18).
      3. He certainly did not want gentile Christians concluding God did not care how they lived.
   3. Paul wanted gentile Christians to understand that God in Christ provided them freedom from becoming Jewish proselytes, freedom from Jewish culture-tradition-law, freedom from Jewish ways, but the purpose of that freedom was not ungodly living.
      1. The purpose of their freedom was not to live as they pleased doing anything they pleased.
      2. The thrust of the ten commandments given to early Israel in Exodus 20 was to honor God and to honor people.
      3. You honored God by:
         1. Recognizing He is the only God, not one of many gods.
         2. Not worshipping or making idols.
         3. Not using God’s name lightly.
         4. Depending totally on God.
      4. You honored people by:
         1. Taking care of your older parents.
         2. Not murdering people.
         3. Not committing adultery with people.
         4. Not stealing.
         5. Not lying about people.
         6. Not allowing greed to make you want what belonged to another person.
      5. Paul said if you had the love that lay behind all these acts, you would behave in this manner (honoring God and honoring people).
         1. If you love, you will do the things the law instructed.
         2. If you do not love, you will destroy each other.
         3. Freedom was given to allow you to love others, not to indulge yourself.

4. Before they believed that Jesus Christ was the resurrected son of God, how had they lived?
   1. This was the starting point, the essential understanding: they must understand the animosity between the flesh and the Spirit, between physical concerns and God’s concerns.
      1. It is as impossible to mix a fleshly focus and a Spirit focus as it is to mix absolute light and absolute darkness.
      2. They are natural enemies.
      3. Each is dedicated to the other’s destruction–they cannot coexist.
      4. A basic Christian understanding regardless of cultural background: forces which opposed God and God’s values and forces which champion God and His values are at war.
         1. They are not compatible and never will be compatible.
         2. Do not be deceived into believing that a Christian can use his or her freedom in Christ to endorse and support both sides in this war.
   2. When they were idolaters, they lived for the flesh (or, physical concerns and desires determined how they behaved).
      1. How did they live then? How did they behave then?
      2. Verses 19-21 enumerate some of the common expressions of the “works of the flesh”.
         1. I would classify what I call the first group (immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery) as insults against God and His holy nature.
         2. I would classify what I call the second group (strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying) as insults against other people.
         3. I would classify what I call the third group (drunkenness, carousing) as insults or abuses against one’s self.
         4. May I quickly add all three of these areas are inner-connected and inner- related.
         5. Paul would say that before you believed in Christ, your life insulted God, your life abused other people, and your life abused your own nature.
         6. In fact there is a powerful parallel with the emphasis in the Ten Commandments — before Christ your life did not honor God and did not honor people.

5. After they believed in and accepted Jesus Christ, the focus of their life changed.
   1. No longer do they live selfishly, doing as they please.
      1. Believing in Christ resulted in a whole new understanding of God, and they will not use life to insult God.
      2. Believing in Christ resulted in a whole new understanding of other people, and they will not use life to abuse, intimidate, or exploit other people.
      3. Believing in Christ resulted in a whole new understanding of self, and they will not use life to indulge self.
   2. The entire focus of life has changed–they now exist to produce the fruit of the Spirit.
      1. Their life will give evidence in every area that God’s presence is in them, and who they are is consciously determined by a willing surrender to God.
      2. They are now committed to love, joy (not indulgence), peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control.
      3. These things properly represent God’s nature.
      4. These things change the way they treat people.
      5. These things change the way they treat themselves.

6. Please note these changes occur because Christians want them to occur.
   1. This is a willful, willing change.
      1. It does not happen involuntarily because “something came over me, controlled me, and I could not resist.”
      2. It happens because I want it to happen, I encourage it to happen, I behave in the manner that allows it to happen.
   2. Those who belong to Christ crucify the flesh.
      1. Physical things will not define who I am or determine how I live.
      2. I choose “for” an existence that is dedicated to killing the control of desires and hungers in me that oppose God.
      3. When I belong to Christ, I choose to let the Spirit instead of the flesh direct my life.
   3. If the Spirit makes it possible for me to have life in God, I must also allow the Spirit to determine how I behave.
      1. The immediate evidence that I have surrendered to transformation is seen in the way I treat people–including you!
      2. I will not be arrogant!
      3. I will not exploit or abuse other people!

Transformation is more than a “one time” change. It is a journey in the direction of God. Are you on that journey?

This Imperfect World

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

After they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:21, 22).

Certain statements quickly catch my attention as warnings. For example, I am in a first session of premarital counseling. Seeking to befriend the couple, I ask, “Why are you getting married?” As they look at each other with “goo-goo” eyes, this is their response: “We are in love!” Instantly, alarm bells sound in my head. Is love critical to an enduring marriage? Absolutely! Yet, hormones must not be mistaken for love!

In a similar way, I am very concerned when a person’s primary reason for being a Christian is “to eliminate problems in my life.” What problems? (a) If the answer is to eliminate guilt, accountability for past failures through forgiveness in Christ, hopelessness, and living for something more important than the here and now — excellent! (b) If the answer is to guarantee a good job, a desirable lifestyle, a trouble free existence, lots of pleasure, and the money one thinks “I need” — deplorable!

Christianity has never been about living what the physical world commonly considers “the good life.” We follow a King whose coronation was achieved through crucifixion and resurrection after a life of service, rejection, and surrender. He lived as a servant in poverty. He died as a servant in poverty.

Consider life’s key question. Is life about me or God? The answers to that question are extremely different. Being a Christian because of “me” provides one answer. Being a Christian because of God provides quite a different answer.

This society’s popular answer is this: being a Christian places the focus on “me.” Thus worship is commonly centered on what “I” find pleasurable. Ministry is focused on what “I” find plausible. Service is focused on “my” approval. The key evaluation of everything happening is “my take” on the spirituality of the situation.

In a spiritual climate that focuses on “me,” the message of a health and wealth gospel seems powerfully plausible and most appealing. Why shouldn’t those who belong to the Lord enjoy the best this world has to offer? Surely the “good life” should belong to men and women who belong to God!

Why should the “good life” belong to us? Christians exist as redeemed people in an unredeemed world. They dare to live between the tension and pulls of good and evil. They struggle with temptation as they live among forces that reject God. They get tired as they witness so much unrighteousness and injustice — they weary of being different, not belonging, not fitting. How can those who dearly love the Lord be comfortable in a world that either ignores or hates the Lord?

Those daring to follow God soon realize this world is no friend to the righteous. “The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17). We live to the praise of His glory. Life is about God.