Posted by David on June 20, 2004 under Bulletin Articles
Luke 24:25-27 And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.
The above words came from the newly resurrected Jesus. He spoke to two disciples traveling to Emmaus. Likely they were going home after an event-filled Pentecost in Jerusalem. They went with great expectations because of Jesus’ successful recent activities (Lazarus’ resurrection; his triumphal entry; his public teaching in the temple area). They returned home confused, bewildered, and directionless.
They knew Jesus was dead. They heard he was resurrected. Yet, they were grieved. Things occurred so suddenly! They knew Jesus was God’s mighty prophet. They hoped he was God’s means to redeem Israel. When Jesus joined these sad men on that road, they were amazed he was unaware of all that happened in Jerusalem the past few days.
How ironic! These men who knew Jesus by sight, who knew Jesus received his power from God, who hoped Jesus was Israel’s redemption, did not understand God’s redemption. They heard Jesus’ resurrection occurred. Yet, it meant nothing. How could God possibly use a man raised from the dead to deliver Israel from her enemies? His resurrection was fine, but it could not solve their problems or meet their needs.
Jesus, unrecognized by them, called them foolish. Beginning with Moses he explained the Scriptures concerning him to these men. They, who had God’s redemption “figured out,” learned how little they knew. Their concern was Israel’s redemption. God’s concern is the world’s redemption.
The essential key to understanding redemption is understanding God’s intent in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. No faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection always means no understanding of redemption. There was no substitute for faith in the resurrected Jesus.
All my life, with other Christians, I have played the human game, “If only…” In the 60’s I worked in a congregation with pitiful children’s educational facilities. “If only…” In the 70’s I was in foreign missions. There was nothing–no secretaries, no offices, no machines, no literature, and in many instances no Bibles. “If only…” In the 80’s I was part of a congregation whose facilities were too small for worship or education. “If only…” In the 90’s change was rampant throughout our society. Transition took a toll on a church living in the past. “If only…” After 2000 I am part of a church who dares to seriously examine itself. Self-examination through scripture takes a toll. “If only…”
Always, in every decade, there are relevant “if onlys.” Always in every lifetime there should be faith in Jesus Christ. We always will need the material. Yet, the material never will substitute for faith in the resurrected Jesus as the Christ. People with much less and much more can live by faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus once asked, “When the son of man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8)
Posted by David on June 13, 2004 under Sermons
Last Sunday evening I called your attention to the fact that there are two basic definitions of what it means to be human.
First, there is God’s definition, His intent for us when He brought us into being. When God created us, there was a specific existence, character, and nature that He envisioned for us. For a period of time [we are not told how long] humanity fulfilled God’s vision.
Second, there is humanity’s definition of what it means to be human. We form our definition of what a human existence, character, and nature should be from many different sources. Human cultures, human societies, and human politics have powerful, basic influences on our definition of humanity. Also need, stress, and possessions can powerfully influence that definition. Sometimes greed, destructive attitudes [hate, jealousy], and selfishness powerfully influence the definition of humanity. Depending on the situation, there are lots of sources we humans use in allowing humans to teach us how to be humans.
This is my central point: God’s definition of what it means to be human and humanity’s definition of what it means to be human are fundamentally different. It is in that difference that Christians struggle with a basic, never ending tension: “Will I allow God’s definition of humanity to determine who I am, or will I allow humanity’s definition of what it means to be human to determine who I am?”
The basic objective of being a successful Christian is not found in “measuring up to God”–none of us ever “measure up to God.” It is impossible to place God in our debt. It is impossible to make God “owe us.” It is impossible to make God dependent on us. That is not even the goal.
The basic objective of being a successful Christian is found in journeying toward God’s nature and character. Our conscious objective is to adopt God’s character, values, and priorities as our human character, values, and priorities. Why? We realize that adopting God’s character, values, and priorities is the greatest form of good and the highest level of humanity that exists.
- Allow me to begin by noting that God’s definition of being human and humanity’s definition of being human are fundamentally different.
- I wish to illustrate this truth with an example that came from highly motivated religious people.
- Jesus was the spokesman.
- He spoke to people who regarded these religious people as being God’s ultimate representatives on earth–yet Jesus said they were not!
- The illustration I call your attention to is found in Matthew 5:43-48.
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
- Humanity does not define being human as showing kindness or compassion to an enemy.
- If a soldier shows an enemy kindness and compassion, it is interpreted as aiding the enemy.
- Prisons are not noted for prison keepers showing kindness and compassion to the imprisoned.
- Just stop and think: when do people in general think it is appropriate to give kindness and compassion to someone who truly is an enemy?
- The way God defines what is human and the way even the religious defined what was human was distinctly different.
- Even the religious said, “Love your friends and hate your enemies.”
- Jesus said God’s focus included loving your enemy.
- What were the circumstances when Jesus made this statement?
- Israel was an occupied people living in their own country while it was controlled by Roman troops.
- A system of conscription was in force–a Roman soldier could compel a Jew to carry his pack for a mile just by ordering him to do it (how exasperating and inconvenient!).
- The people to whom Jesus spoke had real enemies–not hypothetical enemies!
- What did loving your enemy involve?
- It involved praying for those who persecuted them.
- And I do not mean praying that God would swallow them up in hell or that the enemy would “get what was coming to him.”
- They were to request their blessing and benefit!
- Why would they do that (even we have real difficulty with that!)?
- They did that to imitate God their father; they did that to be sons of God, in God’s family.
- God gives the blessing of the sunshine to everyone–even those who do not deserve it (in an agricultural society the gift of sunshine is essential!).
- God gives the blessing of the rain to everyone–even those who do not deserve it (in an agricultural society the gift of rain is critical!).
- God’s people are as unique as is God!
- Everyone, even the ungodliest person and the atheist, knows how to love people who love them.
- Where is the reward in being kind to people who are kind to you? You are just reacting to their kindness!
- God defined humanity does more than merely react to kindness received!
- God defined humanity uses God Himself as the standard!
- Allow me to use some visual illustrations on our screen to challenge and increase our understanding.
- First, consider a basic Christian understanding.
- The “C” stands for creation when God brought us into being.
- For a while [scripture does not say how long] the people God made were what God intended humans to be.
- Then Adam and Eve rebelled against God and humans were no longer what God intended us to be–that commonly is referred to as the “FALL.”
- Once we ceased being what God intended us to be as humans, we never again placed God in the role of being Who He should be as our Creator.
- The “J” stands for judgment when all who have ever lived will appear before God, and God will be restored to the position He rightfully should occupy.
- At that time God will again be the “all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).
- Second, let’s look at the same basic understanding from the perspective of what should have been true.
- God always should have been honored as the Holy God Who brought life into existence.
- There should have been no “FALL.”
- There should not be a need for “JUDGMENT.”
- God always should have been in His rightful role as Creator.
- There should have been no need for God to be restored to His position as the “all in all.”
- Third, I want us to consider our second opportunity as human beings.
- Jesus came to do more than provide us redemption and salvation.
- While he came to redeem us and save us, he also came to teach us how to be human by God’s definition.
- When we respond to Jesus’ cross, we respond for three basic reasons.
- We respond to declare our faith [our trust, our confidence] in what God did in Jesus’ death–we really believe in the redemptive power of Jesus’ blood (Ephesians 1:7); we really believe he died carrying our sins in his body (I Peter 2:24); we really believe that God raised Jesus from the dead (Acts 2:24).
- We respond because we want redemption and salvation.
- We respond because we want God to teach us how to be human.
- When we come to Jesus’ cross, we come to two things.
- We come to salvation.
- We come to learn how to be the humans God always intended for us to be–that is the basic focus of transformation.
- By responding to Jesus and his cross, we begin a journey toward “JUDGMENT,” toward being the human God originally intended for us to be, to placing God in His rightful position in our lives.
- To emphasize that our objective as Christians is to journey toward the humanity God intended to characterize us [before sin was a human reality], I want you to read with me Romans 12. Listen carefully or read with me as I read without comment. Take careful note of the new humanity of Christian existence.
Romans 12:1-21 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. For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
- If we are in Christ, note what we embrace.
- We embrace personal transformation.
- We embrace a sense of togetherness with all who are in Christ.
- We embrace a different way of looking at each other and treating each other.
- We embrace kindness expressed toward people who are not Christians.
- We embrace a complete unselfishness.
- We embrace God’s way to defeat evil. [The expression of power is not in controlling others, but in letting God control who we are.]
- The question: is that what you are doing in your life as a Christian?
As the Christian matures spiritually in Christ, being a Christian involves much more than accepting the benefits of salvation. It also involves allowing God to transform us into the person God intended people to be as creation.
Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles
“Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.” (Luke 16:25 – from Jesus’ parable/story of the rich man and Lazarus.)
In a recent article Ronald J. Sider drew pictures of the poverty existing in much of the world. There was the 9-year-old boy who could not go to school because his father could not buy his books–which cost less than one evening of entertainment here. He spoke of an infant daughter dying as parents helplessly watched, unable to afford what we regard as common, inexpensive medications.
He spoke of the poverty circumstances of 1.3 billion people: no furniture (except used blankets, a table, a wooden chair); one change of clothes and pair of shoes (except no shoes for children or women); no appliances; a kitchen furnished with a box of matches, a small bag of flour, some sugar, some salt; no bathroom; no running water; no electricity; no house–just what we would call a shed.
There is no reading materials (magazines, newspapers, books)–just a simple radio; no government services; a two-classroom school 3 miles away; a clinic with a midwife 10 miles away; no postman; no firemen. Most of these 1.3 billion people exist on less than $1 a day. Over half the world’s population exists on less than $2 a day.
Unimaginable! I remember my father’s first impression of our pictures of rural West Africa. He said, “I would not live that way! I would take my hammer and nails and build something different!” I asked, “What if you had no hammer and no nails were available?” Dad simply could not grasp such poverty–he had never seen it! His shock and our shock are quite similar.
The significant question: how do we “handle” wealth? Do we let it make us feel arrogant, or superior, or guilty, or selfish, or just not feel? Do we think our blessings prove God loves us more, or we are more deserving, or we are more focused on God’s ways? Are we our god, are our possessions our god, or is the Father of Jesus Christ our God? Are we blessed to be indulgent, or blessed to be a blessing? Where is the balance between having and helping?
American missionaries living in third world countries confront an unfamiliar inner tension. Commonly they left an amazing living standard to teach people in a stark existence. After learning a shocking truth [“money is not the answer”], they must deal with their prosperity as they live in the midst of dire poverty. The comparison is never with what they left, but always with what they see. I have never known a conscientious missionary who did not struggle with the tension of possessing. It is not as simple as giving wealth away. The eternal question: “What is helpful?”
For us, the issues are always these: “What is life’s purpose? Who am I? What do I do?”
Posted by David on June 6, 2004 under Sermons
Have you considered the extremely important role teaching plays in our lives? There is little that occurs in anyone’s life that is not dependent on being taught. In fact, we all regard the lack of teaching as being a legitimate reason [not an excuse!] for the inability to do something. When it is proven that a person was never taught to function in a particular way, we commonly accept the lack of teaching as a legitimate explanation of the person’s failure to function.
Have you ever thought about the importance of teaching in your life? Let me call to your attention a few high points to illustrate the importance and power of teaching.
Someone taught you to walk.
Someone taught you how to speak.
Someone taught you how to eat your diet–and cultivate a taste for it.
Someone potty trained you.
Someone taught you the alphabet.
Someone taught you to read.
Someone taught you to count.
Someone taught you how to play the sport or sports important to you.
Someone taught you to drive.
Someone taught you how to spend money.
Someone taught you how to save money.
Someone taught you how to use credit.
Someone taught you your job skills.
Someone taught you your concepts of personal Christianity.
Someone taught you “how to do church.”
Someone taught you how to give.
How many things can you name in your life that absolutely no one taught you anything important about it? There are many ways to be taught: environment, a mentor, experience, inquiries, an instructor, a test, a book, a visual, motion pictures, an illustration, etc.
This evening I want you to think about your life as you answer a question.
- Who taught you how to be human?
- Your response many be, “That is a ridiculous, stupid question that does not deserve an answer!”
- “Nobody has to be taught how to be human!”
- “Everybody just knows how to be human!”
- “All of us where born knowing how to be human! All we had to do is just survive! If we survived we were human!”
- Really? You really think the question is that ridiculous? You really think everyone just knows how to be human?
- Do individuals in gangs know how to be human?
- Do drug dealers know how to be human?
- Do people who lie, or steal, or murder, or abuse, or rape know how to be human?
- Do addicts know how to be human?
- Do materialists know how to be human?
- Do power crazed people know how to be human?
- Do suicide bombers know how to be human?
- Do terrorists know how to be human?
- Many in this congregation have visited other countries.
- Some times we stay only long enough to be tourists.
- If we stay long enough to do more than “uhhh and ahhh” over the interesting sights, we quickly become aware that we are surrounded with people who have distinct differences in definition about what it means to be human.
- At the foundation of cultural differences are the differences in what it means to be human–that is one of the reasons that cross-cultural marriages find it so difficult to succeed [there are basic differences in understandings about what it means to be human].
- Let’s get very practical and pragmatic in each of our lives.
- Who did you allow to teach you what it means to be human in your marriage?
- Who taught you what a good wife does?
- Who taught you what a good husband does?
- Who taught you the values that make a marriage strong?
- Who taught you the standards that show respect and appreciation in marriage?
- For a long time the divorce rate in first marriages has been around the 50/50 mark in the American society.
- That means for every couple who knows how to keep a marriage together, there is a couple who does not.
- However, that is deceiving.
- Even among the 50% who stay together, far less than half of them are happily married [their reason for staying together has nothing to do with being happy with each other].
- Who did you allow to teach you what it means to be human in child rearing?
- Are your children truly blessed to have you as a Mother because of the human being you are?
- Are your children truly blessed to have you as a Father because of the human being you are?
- Will your children see what good human beings are because they have you as a Mother and Father?
- Do you realize that one of the greatest disadvantages some children have in life are their parents?
- Their parents are so self-centered that they almost always think of themselves before they think of their children.
- Their parents are so preoccupied with things other than their children that their children are rarely of first importance to them.
- In this society, child abuse is a growing, escalating problem.
- We could focus on the meaning of being human in a lot of areas of life: concepts of being an employee, concepts of being a boss, concepts of being a friend, concepts of being a neighbor, concepts of compassion and mercy, concepts of kindness, concepts of forgiveness, etc.
- But the bottom line in all these considerations basically begins with the same question: who do you allow to teach you how to be human?
- When it comes to being human, someone has to teach you–who is it?
- There are lots of teachers:
- A bad past or an enjoyable past.
- Bad experiences or enjoyable experiences.
- An empty life or a purposeful life.
- Culture.
- Movies and television.
- What the people we see and know are doing.
- Our focusing interests and passions.
- Why did God send Jesus to this world?
- Most of our answers center on the truth that God sent Jesus to lead us to God.
- Jesus came to give us mercy and grace so we could belong to God.
- Jesus came to show us the way to walk with God.
- Jesus came so we could have salvation.
- As Jesus said the night before he was crucified,
John 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
- He absolutely came to lead us to God the Father.
- May I suggest to you that God sent us Jesus for more than just one reason. May I suggest that God also sent us Jesus to teach us how to be human.
- What would a person be and act like if he or she had no sin and were not influenced by evil in any area of life?
- He or she would look like, think like, feel life, and behave like Jesus did.
- Why? Because he was a human in whom there was no evil, who belonged exclusively to God.
- We as Christians have a tremendous need to understand that there is humanity as God created and defined it, and there is humanity as humans envision and define it.
- Jesus’ sermon on the mount in Matthew 5, 6, and 7 is filled with powerful contrasts between the emphasis of religious humans and God’s emphasis.
- Religious humanity said control murder with justice, but God said control murder through good relationships.
- Religious humanity said control the act of adultery, but God said control the heart and there will be no acts of adultery.
- Religious humanity said divorce correctly, but God said do marriage correctly.
- Religious humanity said do vows correctly, but God said be so honest that a vow is not necessary.
- Religious humanity said exact justice carefully, but God said replace justice with mercy.
- Religious humanity said hate your enemies, but God said love your enemies.
- Religious humanity said practice righteousness to get people’s attention, but God said practice righteousness for Me and Me only.
- Religious humanity said invest in the here and now, but God said invest in eternity.
- Religious humanity said focus on everyone else’s mistakes, but God said focus on your own mistakes.
- Religious humanity said all that matters is appearances, but God said who you are is as important as what you do.
- Listen to this statement from Paul to the Christians at Colossae in Colossians 3:5-11.
Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him– a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.
When it comes to humanity, who teaches you how to be human? God through Jesus, or something else?
Posted by David on May 16, 2004 under Sermons
In 1971 the country Joyce and I lived in closed down all religious activities of the Church of Christ and ordered all congregations not to meet. About 1960 the United Nations ended colonialism in Africa by dividing former African colonies into nations.
In most nations in Africa and in many nations in Europe, a church has to have permission to exist and work in that nation. If a religious movement is not registered with the government, it is illegal. It commonly is treated as an illegal organization.
When the missionaries were ordered by the government to cease all activities and the congregations were told they could not meet, several crises were immediately created. I want to share just one of them with you.
At that time, communication with this country was slow. Our fastest and most reliable method was to use aerograms (an air mail letter). It took those letters three weeks to travel one way. Thus a prompt response would take at least six weeks.
This crisis I share with you is a crisis among the missionary families. Each family notified its sponsoring congregation of the situation. The responses were varied and interesting. My sharing this is not a condemnation–Joyce and I had a wonderful overseeing congregation. Their response to us was, “Stay as long as possible and work with the government. The future of the church for generations yet to come hangs in the balance.”
But not all congregations responded to their families in such an encouraging manner. One said to its family, “We are not supporting you there to work with the government. If you cannot preach, either come home or go to a nation that will allow you to preach.” Another said to its family, “If you cannot be out baptizing people, you do not need to be there.”
The clear message communicated to some families was this: “No baptism reports, no support.”
The question I want you to consider this evening is this: “Is there more to biblical conversion to Christ than baptism?”
- Hopefully, before anyone begins to make assumptions about me, may I affirm as clearly as I know how that I believe everything scripture says and affirms about burial by water into Christ.
- Why? For two reasons.
- The first is that it is the clear teaching of scripture.
- The second is that it is by entering a covenant relationship with God on the basis of what God did and does in Jesus Christ.
- Do I conclude that baptism is the only thing important in conversion to Christ? No.
- The clear teaching of scripture is that baptism is not the only important thing.
- Much more is involved in conversion to Christ than the physical act of baptism.
- I want to share with you numerous readings from New Testament scripture in three categories: faith, repentance, and baptism. I particularly want scripture to connect each of these categories with salvation.
- First, I call your attention to some scriptures that talk about “faith” in regard to the concept of “salvation.”
- [At the conclusion of Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus] John 3:16-18 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
- [A statement from John the Baptist about the significance of Jesus] John 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
- [A statement from Jesus to his opponents] John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
- [A statement from Jesus] John 6:40 For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.
- [A statement Jesus made prior to Lazarus’ resurrection] John 11:25,26 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
- [A statement from Paul to the Philippian jailer] Acts 16:28-31 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
- [A statement from Paul to Christians in Rome] Romans 3:21-23 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 …
- [A statement from Paul to Christians in Rome] Romans 10:9-11 … if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
- Does scripture establish a clear link between faith in God’s work in Jesus [or confidence in God’s work in Jesus] and salvation? Yes.
- Second, I call your attention to scriptures that talk about “repentance” in regard to the concept of “salvation.”
- [A statement from Mark about the work of John the Baptist] Mark 1:4 John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
- [A statement from Luke concerning the preaching of John the Baptist] Luke 3:3 And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
- [A statement from Jesus on the power and importance of repentance] Matthew 11:20-24 Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”
- [A statement from Jesus on the importance of repentance] Luke 13:1-5 Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
- [A statement from the resurrected Jesus to his apostles] Luke 24:46,47 He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”
- [A statement from Peter to Jews assembled at the temple on the necessity of repentance] Acts 3:18-20 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.
- [A comment by Jewish Christians concerning the first conversion of gentiles] Acts 11:18 When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.”
- [A statement from Paul to an assembly of Gentiles [who are not Christians] in Athens on the necessity of repentance] Acts 17:30,31 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
- [A statement from Paul to the elders from Ephesus] Acts 20:18-21 And when they had come to him, he said to them, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
- [A statement from Paul to King Agrippa] Acts 26:19,20 So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.
- [A statement from Paul to Timothy] 2 Timothy 2:24-26 The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
- [A statement from Peter] 2 Peter 3:8,9 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
- Does scripture declare a clear link between the human decision to repent and God granting salvation in Christ? Yes.
- Third I call your attention to scriptures that connect baptism and salvation.
- [A statement from Peter to a Jewish audience] Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
- [A statement from Christian Ananias to the yet to be Christian Paul] Acts 22:14-16 And he [Ananias] said, “The God of our fathers has appointed you [Paul] to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth. For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard. Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.”
- [A statement from Paul to Christians in Rome] Romans 6:1-11 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
- [A statement from Paul to the Christians at Corinth] 1 Corinthians 12:12,13 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
- [A statement from Paul to the Christians in Galatia] Galatians 3:26,27 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
- [A statement from Paul to Christians at Colossae] Colossians 2:9-12 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
- [A statement from Peter] 1 Peter 3:21,22 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you–not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience–through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.
- Allow me to call something to your attention.
- Often our approach to conversion has been (is) definitely American.
- The restoration movement which resulted in the Church of Christ, the Christian Church, and The Disciples of Christ is an American movement. [That is not a criticism, just an observation.]
- We Americans have our own thought pattern, our own thought process, our own view.
- If you need a reminder of that, it is obvious that most of us do not think as the Iraqi people think, and the Iraqi people do not think as Americans think.
- It does not take many attempts to interact with other nationalities to realize that this is true with others, also including Europeans and Chinese.
- Commonly our American approach is to analyze everything and try to break it down into components.
- Then we consider which components are essential and which are incidental.
- Then we stress what we conclude is essential and assume that others already accept and know what we classify as incidental.
- Christianity did not begin in America and did not follow the American thought process.
- Jesus was born, lived, and died as an Israelite in Palestine.
- Jesus preached almost exclusively to Jewish audiences.
- The New Testament writers wrote to first century people living in first century societies.
- Salvation is presented to the people of the first century as a whole, as a unit, not as parts.
- It was not a matter of “steps”–which is an American emphasis.
- It is a matter of faith in the atonement of Jesus’ death and God’s power in Jesus’ resurrection.
- That faith is so real and so deep that it produces a redirection of life.
- That faith is so deep and real it enters a covenant with God by reenacting Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection as the person, by knowing choice, dies to sin and is resurrected by God into Christ.
- If I am to receive forgiveness of sins from God:
- Must I have faith in what God did in Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection? Yes!
- Must I redirect my life away from evil behavior and attitudes toward God? Yes!
- Must I be baptized in order to enter a covenant relationship with God? Yes!
- As steps? No! As a whole person response to a new relationship with God in which I permit God to rule me!
- Faith says, “I genuinely trust what God did in Jesus’ death and resurrection!”
- Repentance is an expression of that faith: “I trust what God did so much that I redirect my entire existence!”
- Baptism is an expression of that faith: “I trust what God did in Jesus so much that I personally make a covenant with God to be ruled by Him and Him alone!”
- Conversion is a whole person response that declares a person’s faith in God.
Do we really need to understand conversion? Absolutely! One of the reasons we have so many baptized people willingly living evil lives is this: we do not understand conversion. The result of conversion is the genuine desire to have “my” life ruled by God. That is “my” choice–not my necessity!
The question of conversion to Christ is not resolved merely by asking the question, “Has he been baptized?” That is far too little! The question of conversion can be nothing less than, “Is he/she ruled by God?”
Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles
2 Corinthians 4:7-11 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
One of the few things Joyce wanted when we returned to the USA was a stainless steel kitchen sink. I remember when mixing bowls were tempered glass or plastic. For years they have been stainless steel. This year I note another change. In the past, portable cooking grills were made of painted steel. This year I see lots of stainless steel portable grills. If stainless steel can do it, that seems to be the way to go!
While we humans are “into” stainless steel, God is not. When He sent His son to this world, Jesus did not come as “the stainless steel man,” but as a servant. When Jesus chose 12 disciples, he did not select “stainless steel men.” A common complaint against the 12: they were ordinary people. Paul did not consider himself a “stainless steel” Christian. Nor did he look at those whom God ruled and used as “stainless steel” Christians. Paul saw Christians, from leadership down, as clay pots.
While clay pots have many good uses, there are many uses clay pots, of themselves, cannot serve. [In Paul’s analogy, numerous metals were available–bonze, silver, gold.] Clay pots are fragile. They break too easily when encountering destructive forces. They don’t bend! They break!
Clay vessels were much too common. Poor people drank from clay cups! Poor people ate from clay bowls! To impress people, you did not “set the table with the good clay”–you brought out the metal vessels. What a mess and embarrassment if a clay vessel broke while being used by a guest! Clay was for the kitchen, not for the table!
We have produced a false image in the thinking of American Christians. Too often we see ourselves as the “stainless steel” Christians in a “clay world.” We have impeccable congregations with impeccable preachers, impeccable elders, impeccable deacons, impeccable teachers, and impeccable members. We groan and moan when we look at all the clay in society all around us. Yet, we are stainless steel! We are strong–we may bend but we will not break! We stand shiny and bright as we reflect ourselves–beware that our glare does not blind you! We are superior–just look at our accomplishments and origin!
Clay looks at us and says, “We can never be stainless steel.” We look at clay and say, “If you are not stainless steel, we cannot relate to you.”
Are Christians strong? Yes. Do they shine? Yes. Are they superior? No. They know they are clay. All good or strong in them is from God; the God who can live through Jesus in any clay pot.
Posted by David on May 9, 2004 under Sermons
Do you frequently read the “newspaper”? Do you regularly read a “news” magazine? Do you frequently listen to the “news” on the radio? Do you frequently watch the world “news” on television?
I must confess I am pretty much a “news” nut. I examine a newspaper almost daily. Even when I am on a trip I usually find a newspaper. I do not take a news magazine, but if I happen to be in a waiting room with news magazines available, that is usually what I read. I listen to the news on my truck radio most days. If I have the choice, I watch both the local and national news on television. That happens almost daily.
Some would say, “I never watch or listen to or read the news. That is by my specific intention. I do not take a newspaper; I do not listen to news on the radio; I do not watch the news on television.”
If I asked “why,” what explanation would you give? Would you say the news is too depressing, so you choose not to listen to or read it? Would you say the news does not tell us the news, that it just tells us what “they” want us to hear, that what “they” say is biased and cannot be trusted? Would you say that most of the items reported are bad news and you do not like to focus on bad news? Would you say the news does not report what you want to hear, what you are interested in?
Let me ask you what is an interesting question to me. What do you consider to be news? For example, gossip is news. It is usually depressing news. It is usually slanted to someone else’s views or opinions. It usually is not to be trusted because it is biased and distorted. Most commonly it does not focus on anything good. Yet, it is news.
So … what is news? “News” in its simplest consideration is merely a report of recent or current events. Quite often, today’s news is next year’s history. All kinds of news exist. There is good news, there is bad news, and there is news neither good nor bad–it just happened. There is local news, there is national news, there is international news, and there is world news (Europeans often hold our news in contempt because we rarely devote more than five minutes to reporting anything happening in the rest of the world that does not involve American concerns.) There is political news, entertainment news, sports news, business news. There is news of what is happening in families, news about what is happening in your workplace, and news about things of personal special interest.
News is at the foundation of Christianity. This evening I want us to consider the importance of news to the existence of faith in Jesus as the Christ.
- Most, if not all of us, here this evening have known for many, many years that Christianity exists, even today, through the sharing of the gospel.
- The word “gospel” is a prominent word in the New Testament.
- When the imprisoned John sent word to Jesus to inquire if Jesus was the Expected One, Jesus told John’s disciples to take this message back to John: “the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.” (Matthew 11:5,6)
- Mark begins his writing with these words: (Mark 1:1) The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
- Luke says of the limited commission of Jesus’ twelve disciples: (Luke 9:6) Departing, they began going throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
- Acts 8:25 says of the work of the apostles Peter and John: So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.
- Acts 8:40 says of the work of Philip: But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.
- Paul said in Romans 1:16,17: For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”
- What are we taking about when we talk about the gospel?
- We are talking about the news of God’s rule–the good news.
- The Greek word translated “gospel” is “euanggelion.”
- So the Greek word “euanggelion” equals the English word “gospel.”
- Most of you have long understood that “gospel” means “good news.”
- So “euanggelion” equal “gospel,” and “gospel” equals “good news.”
- May I ask this simple question: what is the news?
- Let me state the obvious: this news is not local news, or national news, or international news, or world news, or entertainment news, or sports news, or business news, or family news, or work news as we commonly understand those terms.
- “Gospel” has to do with the rule of God, and it is about “good news,” not “bad news” or “factual news neither good or bad.”
- Are you certain within your own understanding that you know what the news is and what the news is about?
- I think most of us would quickly say within ourselves, “Yes, I basically understand what this “news” is and what it is about.
- Then basically what is it and what is it about?
- If you say, “Forgiveness is the news; it is about forgiveness,” I would observe that forgiveness was not news to Israel, that God had dispensed forgiveness for centuries.
- If you say, “Sanctification is the news; it is about sanctification,” I would observe that sanctification was not news to Israel, that God dispensed sanctification for centuries.
- If you say purification, or redemption, or righteousness is the news, I would make the same observation–none of these concepts were new, none of the concepts are news.
- Yes, I understand that what God did in Jesus’ death and resurrection was permanent and superior in every way to the God-given system for Israel in the Old Testament.
- Forgiveness in Christ is different and superior to forgiveness in the Old Testament, but the concept of forgiveness was not new.
- Sanctification in Christ is different and superior to sanctification in the Old Testament, but the concept of sanctification was not new.
- The same can be said for purification, redemption, or righteousness.
- Considerations like permanent and continuing forgiveness, permanent and continuing sanctification, permanent and continuing purification, permanent and continuing redemption, permanent and continuing righteousness, etc. in Jesus Christ are benefits of the “good news,” but not the “good news.”
- Then what was the “news” that was so “good” it was to be understood in the fact that God’s rule came?
- Allow me to ask a question: what thing not from God’s original “very good” creation was injected into God’s “very good” creation that perverted everything God made?
- To answer that question, allow me to share some readings.
- Genesis 3:1-4 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’ ” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!”
- Romans 5:10-12 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.
- Romans 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
- Romans 6:20-23 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
- 1 Corinthians 15:42-45 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
- 1 Corinthians 15:54-58 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
- 2 Timothy 1:8-10 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
- Hebrews 2:14,15 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.
- 1 Corinthians 15:23-28 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.
- So what is the news?
- This is the news: sin produced death and death destroyed God’s rule in His creation, but now through Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection God conquered death.
- Because of what God did through Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection, we have the choice to be God’s new creatures once under God’s rule.
- What are the benefits of being under God’s rule in the awareness that God conquered death?
- We do not have to continue as slaves to the fear of death.
- We have the opportunity to be God’s new creatures under His rule.
- We can receive continuing forgiveness.
- We can receive continuing redemption.
- We can receive continuing purification and sanctification.
- We can live governed by God’s righteousness instead of evil’s rebellion.
- We can boldly come to God’s throne of grace expecting, anticipating help when we need it most.
- We can have the resurrected Jesus Christ as our continual mediator and intercessor before God.
- What we need to realize is this: these things are the benefits of the news, not the news.
- One of the massive failures we have imposed on Christianity is this: we make Christianity about us, not about God.
- We focus on the benefits to us, consequently we think much more about what we expect rather than about God’s place in our lives.
- We focus on our benefits, not on the news.
- Consider this chart.
- In the “good news” we focus on what we regard “good.”
- Forgiveness and the destruction of guilt and accountability for past evil.
- Sanctification by Christ so we can stand as pure before God.
- Redemption so we can be free.
- Being made righteous before God through Jesus Christ
- The right to come to God.
- The right for Jesus to represent us.
- Please remember my emphasis: these are benefits made possible because of the news; these are not the news.
- Now consider this chart.
- The benefits affirm the fact that the news is good news.
- God through Jesus defeated death.
- Because God defeated death, we can receive the benefits of God’s rule.
- The benefits affirm the news of God’s defeat of death resulting in God’s rule over His new creation.
“Can I be forgiven of my sins?” Yes! “Can I be redeemed?” Yes! “Can I stand before God as one who is sanctified, pure?” Yes! “Can I live in the righteousness of God?” Yes! “Can I confidently look to God for strength, guidance, and hope?” Yes! “Can I trust Jesus to represent me well to God?” Yes!
Why?
Because God has defeated death and given me opportunity to let Him rule my life! That is the good news!
Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles
Acts 11:19-24 So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord. The news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch. Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord.
So much is contained in these few verses that literally a relevant book could be written about them. These verses document a major shift in sharing the resurrected Jesus Christ.
For a while Jesus’ resurrection was declared exclusively to Jews. God promised Israel a Messiah. God’s intent: the Messiah would be God’s fulfillment of His ultimate accomplishment through Israel. Israel had many expectations about the Messiah’s impact on Israel. What could be more natural than an intense discussion about Jesus’ identity among Jews? After all, they were certain the Messiah was promised to them to meet their expectations. They did not understand God’s original promise to Abraham, their ancestor: “… in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3).
For a while, Jesus’ resurrection was discussed only among Jews. Then some Jewish converts from Cyprus and Cyrene taught people in Syrian Antioch who were not Israelites. “The hand of the Lord” was with them. The result: “many who believed turned to the Lord.”
This startling news reached converted Jews in Jerusalem where the teaching about Jesus’ resurrection began. Naturally, the question was, “What is going on?” They selected a Jewish convert, Barnabas, to travel to Antioch to examine the situation. This is the same man whose name was changed from Joseph to Barnabas (son of encouragement) by the apostles, who sold some land and gave the money to the apostles to help the needy (Acts 4:36, 37), and who saw spiritual potential in Saul (Paul) the man previously violent against Jewish Christians (Acts 9:26-28).
Few Jewish Christians could visit a Gentile city and be elated about God’s work among people who were not Jews! In Antioch Barnabas continued doing what he did among Jerusalem converts: “he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord.” He was not jealous because God’s grace worked among these people! He did not feel threatened on behalf of Jewish converts! He saw God’s grace and rejoiced! Why? “He was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.”
If your congregation wondered, “What is going on?” would they send you to investigate because you are an encourager with godly attitudes, filled with faith and God’s presence?
Posted by David on May 2, 2004 under Sermons
The things I want you to consider this evening must begin with a clear and certain understanding.
You must understand several things about me. I love my country. One of the great gifts God gave me in life is the gift of being an American citizen. Because of situations I have experienced, I have an enormous appreciation for this nation.
With my own eyes I have seen citizens in another country endure unjust, uncalled for abuse without recourse. Their own government had no regard for its citizens. I have talked with people face to face who literally cannot imagine our freedoms or our wealth.
Around 1990 Joyce and I visited Poland to assist with some follow-up teaching in their “Lets’ Start Talking” outreach. At that time Poland had reached independence for a few months. The major population area we were in was a very bleak place–no color, no advertising, very few things available–not even tooth brushes and toothpaste!.
We returned to Poland about two years later for the same reason. The transformation was incredible! Color was everywhere! Advertisement was everywhere! New building activity was quite obvious! Most things available here were available there!
While there the second time, we heard of a man who was visiting Poland from St. Petersburg, Russia. He said all of his life he dreamed of visiting America just to see the incredible things he heard about this country. As he returned to Russia, he said, “I no longer dream of going to America. I have been to Poland! It would be impossible for America to have as much as Poland has!”
I love our freedoms, I love our prosperity, I love our opportunities, I love and enjoy our way of life. I lived for years in a place that had very few of the things we take for granted everyday of our lives. I so deeply appreciate living in this nation that on our first trip back to the USA in 1972, when I saw the huge American flag at customs, I cried. My most emotional experience in 1972 upon our return for a leave was going to a supermarket. I had not seen that much food or variety in almost two years!
What I ask you to consider tonight has nothing to do with my not liking this nation. It has to do with understanding and loving God’s kingdom.
- The Bible has a lot to say about God’s rule.
- The New Testament often speaks of God’s rule by speaking of the kingdom of God (Matthew often uses “the kingdom of heaven” because Israelites did not use the word “God” in order to protect against using God’s holy name in vain).
- The kingdom of God was at the foundation of the preaching of John the Baptist.
Matthew 3:1,2 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
- The kingdom of God was at the foundation of Jesus’ preaching.
Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
- May I call to your attention to something fascinating to me about John’s and Jesus’ emphasis on God’s kingdom: both of them preached to people who thought they knew everything there was to know about God’s rule, yet these people did not understand the rule of God.
- I want you to consider Paul’s statement in 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.
- Notice these things:
- Paul divided the whole world into two realms: “the domain of darkness” (which is ruled by Satan) and “the kingdom of His beloved Son.”
- Everyone was in the domain of darkness and needed deliverance.
- What everyone needed was to be moved from the domain of darkness and placed in the kingdom of Jesus where God rules.
- It is under God’s rule through Jesus that we can have redemption (be freed from the control of the domain of darkness).
- It is under God’s rule through Jesus that we can have the forgiveness of sins.
- The two cannot be separated.
- If we have one we have both.
- We cannot have redemption or the forgiveness of sins in the domain of darkness.
- However, we of ourselves could not change kingdoms.
- We could try to build a bridge across the separation of kingdoms through human goodness, but it could never bridge the gap.
- We could try to build a bridge across the separation of kingdoms through human achievement, but it could never bridge the gap.
- Thus then we of ourselves could produce no escape from the domain of darkness.
- If we were to escape from the domain of darkness and be placed in God’s kingdom, Someone would have to build a bridge for us–we cannot and could not build it.
- I want you to notice on the chart that the further away from God we are, the greater the darkness increases.
- Those who have no influence of God in their lives are in the black area.
- The more influence God has in their lives, the more into the gray they move.
- Yet, if people go as close to God as they can get in the domain of darkness, they are still ruled by Satan and still in Satan’s domain.
- Even if they want through their efforts to come closer to God, they of themselves cannot escape Satan’s rule and enter God’s rule.
- Why? We cannot produce our own redemption, our own forgiveness.
- Therefore Someone had to do something for us to benefit us that we could not do for ourselves.
- It was not and is not a matter of a number of things:
- It was not and is not a matter of desire–while desire is important, that is not enough to produce a change of kingdoms and rules.
- It was not and is not a matter of preference–while preference is important, that is not enough to produce a change of kingdoms and rules.
- It was not and is not a matter of fearing the consequences–while fearing consequences is important, that is not enough to produce a change of kingdoms and rules.
- We of ourselves could not cause a change of kingdoms and rules–regardless of how we act or what we do.
- God through Jesus’ death and resurrection did for us what we could not do for ourselves.
- God built the bridge that permitted us to escape the domain of darkness, to change kingdoms, and to change who rules us.
- God built the bridge with His grace, with His expression of love and kindness that no human deserves.
- He built that bridge of grace with the blood of Jesus who died for our sins.
- That innocent blood provided us redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
- Then God raised Jesus from death to prove God could resurrect us from death–that God defeated our greatest enemy, the enemy of death.
- We are provided opportunity to change rulers, to change kingdoms because of what God did for us in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
- Our objective is not to get across the bridge and sit down.
- The object is to cross the bridge and continue our journey toward God.
- We do not wish merely to be in God’s kingdom, under God’s control.
- Our entire lives we want to continue to move closer and closer to God.
- We change kingdoms because we want God to rule us–we will be ruled; we merely are choosing who our ruler will be.
- We do not change kingdoms to continue Satan’s rule in our lives.
- This is not the objective: to change kingdoms but remain under the same ruler. (That is not even an option for us! Romans 6:16)
- The reason we enter God’s kingdom is because we want God to rule us.
- God’s kingdom exists to allow anyone who wants to be ruled by God to be in and a part of God’s kingdom.
- That kingdom will ultimately experience a heavenly reality in which all who have been ruled by God on earth live in His presence after the judgment, and all who reject God’s rule on earth are destroyed after the judgment.
- The purpose of God’s kingdom is to rule those who choose God through Christ until they are permitted to exist in God’s presence.
- We want and encourage people to leave the domain of darkness and enter the kingdom of God.
- We want and encourage people to have the kind of faith in Christ that results in God ruling their lives.
- We understand our journey in God’s kingdom will reach its destination when we live in the presence of God.
- We will be faithful to God, submit willingly to His rule in our lives now, so we can live in His presence after the judgment.
- This is not the purpose of God’s kingdom: to impose God’s control and rule in the domain of darkness over people who have no faith in God, no faith in what God did for us in Jesus’ blood and resurrection.
- The objective of God’s kingdom never has been to control godless people through force; to make those in the domain of darkness surrender to a God they reject by giving Him some form of faithless obedience.
- We seek to call to God and influence for God through the examples of our lives as we surrender ourselves to God’s rule.
- We do not seek to conquer the godless domain of darkness through law, but through faith in Jesus Christ and God.
- I am very afraid that we are concluding three things as Christians.
- I am afraid we are concluding that God’s objectives are primarily accomplished through laws that favor Christianity instead of faith in God.
- I am afraid we are concluding that God’ kingdom can exist only if laws that favor Christianity exist.
- I am afraid we redefine the objective of God’s kingdom as controlling society instead of calling individuals to God’s rule through faith in Jesus Christ.
- The more we accept any of those three things, the weaker Christians become spirituality.
- Let me use the social, moral problem of domestic violence as an example.
- Domestic violence is an enormous moral problem in our society, and it is growing rapidly.
- At this moment, 28% of everyone living in this society is a victim of domestic violence–that is more than one of every four people living in America!
- There are so many instances of domestic violence in this nation that on average an act of domestic violence occurs every 9 seconds.
- Domestic violence occurs in every economic level and in every social level in our society–in economically well to do families who live in $250,000 homes and in extremely poor families who own almost nothing.
- Children who grow up in homes witnessing domestic violence are 1000 times (that is correct!) more likely to be abused as adults.
- Women who flee domestic violence are 75% more likely to be murdered.
- Over 50% of the men who abuse their wives also abuse their children.
- Domestic violence is the leading cause of physical injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44 in this country.
- It is the # 1 cause of physical suffering for women–more women suffer injury through domestic violence than through car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined!
- 30% of all female murders are the result of a violent act of a husband or boyfriend–that has been at around 3,000 murders annually since 1990.
- To me the chilling realization is this: the greater majority of perpetrators of abuse were the victims of abuse as children!
- We have a huge moral problem in this society right now–what are we going to do to solve it?
- Someone says, “We simply must pass some laws that make this a crime.”
- Excuse me!
- Do we have laws against murdering someone? Is not murder a crime?
- Do we have laws against beating and physically injuring an adult? Is such activity not a crime?
- Do we have laws against abusing children? Is not such abuse a crime?
- Have these laws solved these problems?
- The problem is not centered in a lack of laws–the problem is centered in ungodly, immoral behavior.
So you ask me, “What are you saying, David? Can we not be concerned about laws, about the direction of society, about confronting evil in society?” Surely everyone of us can be! In our nation we have every right to express our concerns and views.
I am saying two things: (1) the objective of God’s rule is expressed through faith in Jesus Christ which changes us morally. The objective of God’s rule is not controlling those who have no faith in God. (2) Passing laws will never be a substitute for godly living. Our basic concern is demonstrating God’s rule to society through the way we live our lives. There are no short cuts to the influence of godly existence produced by letting God rule our lives.
Let me give you something to consider. It is my understanding that the fastest growth ever experienced by the kingdom of God occurred in the first century. That occurred at a time when (1) Christianity was an illegal religion in a world of idolatry and (2) societies more brutal and immoral than most this society is today.
The single greatest problem Christians have in influencing society today is found in the fact we do not let God rule our lives!
Let people see the difference belonging to God makes in your life!
Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles
Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. (Colossians 1:25-28)
Last Sunday was exceptional! Numerous people opened homes Saturday night to the Harding University Singers and returned the chorus to study and worship Sunday morning. Curtis McDonald and his crew (Bob Fisher, Jack and Glenda Lewis, Joe Parker, Maxine Yates) arrived early Sunday to prepare our fellowship meal. Though the Family Life Center was the site of a wedding reception Saturday afternoon, the “set up” crew (David Berger, Bruce Davenport, Kerry Jenkins, and helpers) had tables and chairs ready for several hundred people to eat lunch on Sunday. Numerous people brought desserts to go with our meal.
After dismissal Betty Porter fell against a pew and sustained a large cut. Many immediately came to her rescue. Dr. Larry Armstrong took her to the hospital and attended to her physical needs. In less than an hour she was home and doing well.
By 12:30 p.m. all were fed (781 were in attendance for worship). A “clean up” crew (including lots of teen help) stored the tables and chairs, then prepared the area for an afternoon birthday party.
The Harding University Singers sang at 1 p.m. to a good audience.
Sunday morning in worship Chris spoke passionately about being a community of God’s people living under the cross. [Link to sermon.] We refuse to be an unattached group who merely knows what God achieved in Jesus’ cross and resurrection. We choose to be a community who individually and collectively are formed by God’s achievements in Jesus’ cross and resurrection.
A biblical shift is occurring among us that we need to understand well. The shift: society and the world will be touched by Christ when Christians have the courage to be missional individuals. Past concepts of church growth commonly saw the congregations as super markets. Our goal was to offer better programs than everyone else. People would choose us because we offered “the best programs” to be found.
The missional emphasis: be a person whose whole life belongs to God. Help form a community who reflects God. Call people to a changed existence because of God’s accomplishments in Christ. We exist, not to challenge people to choose us, but to challenge people to choose God. We exist to encourage people continually to come closer to God. We challenge people to serve the Christ, our hope of glory.
