RSS

Faithful Until Death Series: Myths of Wealth

21 Oct

Myth #1: Money brings satisfaction (Ecclesiastes 5:10-17 (ESV) He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.

Myth #2 Wealth solves every problem

11  When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes?

Myth #3 Wealth brings peace of mind

12  Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.

Myth #4 Wealth provides security. Riches are never permanent (vs. 15). Hurst don’t pull U-Hauls (vs. 15)

13  There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, 14  and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. 15  As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. 16  This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? 17  Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on October 21, 2024 in Ecclesiastes

 

Faithful Until Death Series: Why God Is Not Fair – Matthew 20:1-16

17 Oct

Matt. 20: 1-16 - a poem by Stevy Want - All Poetry

Doesn’t it make you mad when something is unfair—especially if you are on the receiving end?

Recently I read of a man’s complaint when he applied for a new health insurance policy. The company accepted him but charged a higher rate because of his allergy problems.

The application never asked whether he smoked or how much (never smoked). They didn’t ask if he regularly down a six-pack and then get behind the wheel (don’t drink at all). They never bothered to inquire whether he eat properly and exercise regularly (he does).

So some guy who smokes two packs a day, drives when drunk, eats junk food and never exercises could get the standard rate. But because he had hay fever, he had to pay more. He cried, “UNFAIR!”

We all want to be treated fairly. Most of us figure that if we do our best, God will deal with us fairly on judgment day. But Jesus taught that God does not operate according to our notion of what is fair.

In Matthew 20, Jesus told a story that we need to ponder often. This parable may sound to us as if it described a purely imaginary situation, but that is far from being the case. Apart from the method of payment, the parable describes the kind of thing that frequently happened at certain times in Palestine.

The grape harvest ripened towards the end of September, and then close on its heels the rains came. If the harvest was not ingathered before the rains broke, then it was ruined; and so to get the harvest in was a frantic race against time. Any worker was welcome, even if he could give only an hour to the work..

The pay was perfectly normal; a denarius or a drachma was the normal day’s wage for a working man; and, even allowing for the difference in modern standards and in purchasing power, 4 pence a day was not a wage which left any margin.

The men who were standing in the market-place were not street-corner idlers, lazing away their time. The market-place was the equivalent of the labor exchange. A man came there first thing in the morning, carrying his tools, and waited until someone hired him. The men who stood in the market-place were waiting for work, and the fact that some of them stood on until even five o’clock in the evening is the proof of how desperately they wanted it.

These men were hired laborers; they were the lowest class of workers, and life for them was always desperately precarious. Slaves and servants were regarded as being at least to some extent attached to the family; they were within the group; their fortunes would vary with the fortunes of the family, but they would never be in any imminent danger of starvation in normal times. It was very different with the hired day-laborers. They were not attached to any group; they were entirely at the mercy of chance employment; they were always living on the semi-starvation line.

As we have seen, the pay was 4 pence a day; and, if they were unemployed for one day, the children would go hungry at home, for no man ever saved much out of 4 pence a day. With them, to be unemployed for a day was disaster.

The hours in the parable were the normal Jewish hours. The Jewish day began at sunrise, 6 a.m., and the hours were counted from then until 6 p.m., when officially the next day began. Counting from 6 a.m. therefore, the third hour is 9 a.m., the sixth hour is twelve midday, and the eleventh hour is 5 p.m.

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard.”

In this parable, God is the landowner, believers are the laborers, and the vineyard is the kingdom of heaven.

This parable speaks especially to those who feel superior because of heritage or favored position, to those who feel superior because they have spent so much time with Christ, and to new believers so as to reassure them of God’s grace.

The landowner went out early in the morning to find some laborers. The workday went from sunup to sundown, so this “early morning” hour was about six o’clock. These laborers agreed to work for the usual daily wage (usually a denarius).

Bosses and managers should not overlook the fact that laborers had a fair role in the negotiation of wages at the beginning of this story. Owners do not hire workers on a “take it or leave it” basis here. They talk, and as the day’s work begins, both sides are pleased with the terms.

Fair bargaining today means that Christian managers talk with labor at a table where both sides recognize mutual interests, needs, and expectations. When the talk is done, both sides should say, “Good deal, let’s get to work.”

20:3–4 “When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went.”

The landowner went out about nine o’clock and hired more workers who were standing idle in the marketplace. (Some versions say “the third hour.” The day was divided from sunrise to sunset into twelve hours, so the third hour would be about nine o’clock in the morning; the eleventh hour, mentioned in 20:6, would be five o’clock in the afternoon.) Why the landowner went out and continued hiring people is not explained and is not essential to the point of Jesus’ parable. Evidently the landowner needed workers. The marketplace was the public square of the city where most of the business was done. Unemployed laborers could stay there waiting for an opportunity to work. If there was a lot of work to do, they might work right up until sunset, but never beyond, for there would be no light in the fields. So each successive group of laborers worked for less time than the group hired previously. The landowner promised to pay this second group of laborers whatever is right—which they probably considered would be the appropriate fraction of the denarius that matched the amount of time they worked.

20:5–7 “When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ ” The landowner went out and hired three more groups of workers: some at noon, some at three o’clock, and some at five o’clock. Whether these people were idle (which is a later addition) truly because no one had hired them or because they were lazy is an unknown detail and is not important for Jesus’ meaning in this parable. If people didn’t work, they would likely go hungry. So the landowner hired these people as well. They were willing to work, even for that last hour which they thought would not earn them much money at all.

20:8–10 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ ”

At evening (referring to sunset), the workers were called to collect the day’s wages, which was required by Jewish law so that the poor would not go hungry (see Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:14–15). The landowner purposely asked that the last ones hired get paid first. This is not a normal reaction; it would have surprised the workers and it surely surprised Jesus’ listeners. So  “when those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage.”  

When those who worked less time received a full day’s wage, the laborers who had worked throughout the day expected to get paid more than that, even though the daily wage was what they had agreed upon when they were hired (20:2). Certainly those listening to the parable expected the same thing, although all would wonder at the astuteness of a businessman who would pay a full day’s wage to laborers who had worked only an hour.

20:11–12     “When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ ”

Everyone who had been hired during the day received the same—the daily wage. The laborers who had worked all day in the hot sun received what they had agreed upon. They began to grumble against the landowner, not because he hadn’t kept his bargain with them, but because he had been generous to everyone else. They thought it wasn’t fair that those who had worked only one hour received the same amount of pay as (were made equal to) those who had borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.

20:13–15 “But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you.’ ”  While the laborers did not address the landowner with any respectful title, the landowner responded to one of them as friend. He pointed out that he had not done wrong by these laborers who had worked hard all day; he had paid them the agreed amount. Besides, he added, “‘Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ ”

Obviously, the landowner could pay whatever he chose as long as he cheated no one—it was his own money. So what was the real problem? The early workers were envious that the landowner had been generous with everyone else. In this parable, Jesus pointed out that salvation is not earned, but given freely only because of God’s great generosity, which goes far beyond our human ideas of what is fair. The message of the parable is that God’s loving mercy accepts the lowest member of society on an equal footing with the elite. This parable may have been addressed in the presence of the religious leaders who “grumbled” because Jesus chose the “lowly” disciples and spent time with those considered unclean and sinful (Luke 15:1–2). Those who come to God—regardless of social strata, age, material wealth, or heritage, and no matter when in life they come—will all be accepted by him on an equal footing. All will receive their inheritance in the kingdom of heaven—no one will get less than what they expect, and some may receive more. Such generosity, such grace, ought to cause all believers great joy—no one should be in the corner grumbling.

It is in one sense a warning to the disciples. It is as if Jesus said to them, “You have received the great privilege of coming into the church and fellowship very early, right at the beginning. In later days others will come in. You must not claim a special honor and a special place because you were Christians before they were. All men, no matter when they come, are equally precious to God.”

There are people who think that, because they have been members of a Church for a long time, the Church practically belongs to them and they can dictate its policy. Such people resent what seems to them the intrusion of new blood or the rise of a new generation with different plans and different ways. In the Christian Church seniority does not necessarily mean honour.

There is an equally definite warning to the Jews. They knew that they were the chosen people, nor would they ever willingly forget that choice. As a consequence they looked down on the Gentiles. Usually they hated and despised them, and hoped for nothing but their destruction. This attitude threatened to be carried forward into the Christian Church. If the Gentiles were to be allowed into the fellowship of the Church at all, they must come in as inferiors.

“In God’s economy,” as someone has said, “there is no such thing as a most favored nation clause.” Christianity knows nothing of the conception of a herrenvolk, a master race. It may well be that we who have been Christian for so long have much to learn from those younger Churches who are late-comers to the fellowship of the faith.

Here also is the generosity of God. These men did not all do the same work; but they did receive the same pay. There are two great lessons here. The first is, as it has been said, “All service ranks the same with God.” It is not the amount of service given, but the love in which it is given which matters.

The second lesson is even greater–all God gives is of grace. We cannot earn what God gives us; we cannot deserve it; what God gives us is given out of the goodness of his heart; what God gives is not pay, but a gift; not a reward, but a grace.

     Jesus repeated a principle that is recorded in 19:30. There he used it to respond to the disciples’ amazement that wealth was not a gauge of acceptance with God. Here he said, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last” as the moral of the parable of the workers (20:1–15). Clearly, Christ rejects the widely accepted notion: “first come, first served.” Why? Here are three possible reasons:

1.    God isn’t impressed by our achievements. The workers did no more than they were asked to do. The landowner gave them work they did not merit and fulfilled his promise. Those who worked all day were not cheated. Those who worked an hour had no reason to brag. The idea that God “owes” us something is wrong. Instead of complaining, we should be grateful that God seldom gives us what we deserve.

2.    God rejects our comparisons. To understand our sinfulness, we should examine our tendency toward discontent and ungratefulness. Like children, we demand equal treatment when we think that we have received less than others. Yet we are rarely concerned for others when we’re ahead of them. Like the landowner, however, God holds us to our agreement. God keeps his promises. Comparing ourselves to others will not help our defense when we stand before God.

3.    God’s rewards are his domain. The landowner held the right to be generous to whomever he desired. If we are not astonished at God’s grace toward us, we will miss it completely.

Are there areas of ungratefulness in your life? Use this list to remind yourself of what God has done for you.

20:16  “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

The reversal noted in these words (and in 19:30) points out the differences between this life and life in the kingdom.

  • Many people we don’t expect to see in the kingdom will be there.
  • The criminal who repented as he was dying (Luke 23:40–43) will be there, along with people who have believed and served God for many years.
  • The Jews were promised the kingdom first, but the Gentile believers will share the kingdom along with them.

Just over a century ago, a man named Shamel was the leader of a guerilla group fighting against the Czarist regime in Russia. The unity of his group was threatened by a rash of stealing amongst the members, which included the soldiers’ families. So Shamel imposed a penalty of 100 lashes for anyone caught stealing.

Not long after that, Shamel’s own mother was caught stealing. He didn’t know what to do. He loved his mother and didn’t want her to suffer, but he also knew he had to uphold his law or anarchy and infighting would ruin his army. He shut himself in his tent for three days, agonizing over what to do.

Finally he made up his mind: For the sake of the law and the whole society, his mother must pay the penalty. But before three blows had fallen on her back, Shamel had his real and final solution.

He removed his mother and he himself took her place. The full price had to be paid, but he bore the penalty she deserved. His law stood, but his love prevailed.

Even if you’re a pretty good person, one who has been at work in the vineyard since early morning, you’ve violated God’s holy law. You’ve got sin that must be paid for. Maybe the guy coming in at five in the afternoon has more sin than you. But if God is just, both men’s sin must be paid for.

Either you pay (the merit system), or God pays (the grace system). God’s grace doesn’t seem fair to the self-righteous, but for those who recognize how undeserving they are, it is truly wonderful!

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on October 17, 2024 in God

 

Faithful Until Death Series: Two Views of Money

14 Oct

1 Timothy 6:6-10 (ESV)
6  But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7  for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8  But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9  But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 (ESV)
17  As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18  They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19  thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

 Our lesson today is on a topic that you know something  about.  Our  topic  is  money.  Yes, money, money, money. I cannot open my eyes without seeing money. You are wearing clothes and they cost money. The roof of this building, the brick walls, the lights came about because of money. You have eaten or you will eat food today. It will be in your stomach. In other words, money is not only something you see, it is something within you. Food costs money.

The parking lot costs money. If we had in our church treasury the money that our automobiles cost, it would be one huge chunk of money. Money got us here. Money will keep us here. Money will take us back home. Money is as close as our bread. The idea that we could live without money is absurd. The idea that money within itself is evil is absurd.

Thank God for money. It puts food on our tables, clothes on our backs; it brings us the necessities and the privileges of life. So, when I talk about money, I am talking about that which even little children can understand. God has nothing against money.

It is not only necessary, but Paul says God gives it to us richly, so that we might have things to enjoy. God is happy to bless His people. He wants us rich, not poor. He wants us fed, not hungry. He wants us happy, not miserable. He wants us to be better, not worse. He wants us to be more responsible, more blessed, and more generous. If He can use money to reach these goals, wonderful!

Now I want to make a statement. I hope by the time our sermon is concluded you will have memorized it. It is a simple statement. It is what Paul said in the two passages that we have read today. Will you please listen to it. “If you have money, that’s good; if money has you, that’s bad!” That is all Paul taught in 1 Timothy 6. “If you have money, that’s good; if money has you, that’s bad!”

Money, Paul says, is a great servant. Missionaries can be sent out with it. Orphans and widows can be fed with it. God can be glorified with it.

But money is a bad master. It ruins, destroys, alienates, and corrupts. Money is a blessing, a responsibility. The Bible plainly says in 1 Timothy 6:19, as well as in Matthew 6, that you cannot take money with you but you can send it on ahead.

Jesus said we can lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven. Paul says in verse 19 that while you can’t “bring it in” and you can’t “take it out,” you can “lay it up” in heaven. You can send it ahead. We can open an account in heaven’s bank.

  1. “IF MONEY HAS YOU, THAT’S BAD!”

In the two paragraphs I have read there is no contradiction.  Two  distinct  truths  are  being taught in these two paragraphs. Somebody has said, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” That is true. We can know just enough to make fools out of ourselves.

Many people think that money within itself is bad. We think it is bad to be rich. We think it is bad to have money. We think God does not want us  to  have  money.  But  we  have  misquoted 1 Timothy 6. We have said money is the root of all kinds of evil. The Bible doesn’t teach that notion. The Bible says, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Nowhere does the Bible teach that money within itself is evil.

A lot of people have read the two passages I have read and concluded that the Bible contra- dicts itself. They think Paul teaches us in the first passage to avoid being rich. Then he turns around and says in the second passage that if you are, here is how to live.

Listen to what Paul taught in 1 Timothy 6:6-10. Will you look at verse 9. If we would read what the Bible says rather than read our preconceived ideas, we would learn the truth about money. A lot of times when we read the Bible we are reading it out of our minds rather than with what our eyes are seeing again. Paul said in verse 9, “They that are minded to be rich. . . .” Some of you have said, “That doesn’t apply to me.” You

say, “Brother Hodge, I am not rich, and Paul said those that are rich had better watch out.” That is not  what Paul said. Paul said, “They that are greedy. . . .” We need to restore an old Greek word here: avarice. That is Greek for greed. Here is  a  man  who  grabs.  He  is  selfish.  He  has “wantitis.” His eyes are bigger than his tummy. He says, “I’ve got to have this. I’m gonna have this.” He is a covetous man, a lover of money. Paul did not say, “They that are rich. . . .” He said, “They that are minded to be rich. . . .” A man as poor as Job’s turkey is in verse 9 as well as a man that has a jillion dollars. He is not talking about what you  have;  he is talking about what you want.  A man without a dime in his blue jeans who wants a million is condemned in verse 9, and a man who has a million and wants a second million is condemned in verse 9. The million is not the issue; the greed, the lust, the avarice; the covetousness is what God is condemning.

Then verse 10 says, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” He is talking to all of us. What is our attitude about money? He says if you want it, if it leads you around by the nose, you will be tempted. Oh, there are all kinds of temptations for people who don’t know how to handle money. He says you will be in a snare— that is an animal trap. Remember how we used to try to trap mink and fox with all kinds of manipulations. He says a man who craves money will find himself in all kinds of bear traps. Paul mentioned “hurtful lusts.” A covetous man faces temptations which drown men. He says it is not worth it. There is not a friendship on earth that is worth money. Your own honesty, integrity, and self-respect are not worth the price of money. He says these men, these men that lust and covet, these greedy men, selfish men, yes, they will err from the faith. They will leave the simplicities of the New Testament life and they will “pierce themselves through with many sorrows.” Paul is showing us the pathetic conditions men find themselves in, not because of money but because of their lust and desire for it. One man said, “To whom little is not enough, nothing is enough.”

I want to throw out real quickly a word we don’t  use  anymore,  the  word  content.  I  have never heard that word in a prayer. Maybe you have. Maybe I have missed it. I have never had parents come in to me and say, “Preacher, I just hope my children turn out to be contented.” I never get in a meeting of the men of the church where we say, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to teach contentment.” How many of us today can honestly say, “I am content”? Did you know Paul commands this of everyone of us? He says if you have food and raiment, you need to be content. There is not an adult here today that doesn’t have food in his tummy, clothes on his back, and a roof over his head. I am not talking about the Rockefellers and the sheiks of Araby. I am talking about us. If we have enough to eat and have health, what more can a man want? What more can a Rockefeller have than I have?

There is not one thing more he can have. I am healthier than he is. I eat as well as he eats. My car will get here just about as fast as his. Paul says, “Hodge, you had better be content.” The more a man has to keep, the more a man has to lose. “If you have money, that’s good. If money has you, that’s bad!”

  1. “IF YOU HAVE MONEY, THAT’S GOOD!”

Let us drop down to our second reading in verse 17. He says, “Charge them that are rich.” Verses 9 and 17 are about two different people. Verse 9 refers to “they that will be rich”; verse 17 refers to “they that are rich. “ Here is a blessing that is now a responsibility.

God says Christians can be rich. Paul didn’t say, “I charge them that are rich that they have to give every penny of it away.” We read where Jesus told one young man, the rich young ruler, “Your problem is avarice.” His problem was not money. It was his love and trust in money. Jesus was trying to do that boy a big favor. He said, “If you will get ‘moneyitis’ out of your eyes and heart and come and be a Christian, you will be a good  man;  but  until  that  time  you  have  got trouble.” No, Paul didn’t say that if you have money, you have to give it away. Some people say, “Christianity is Communism.” No, no, no, folks. Communism says, “What is yours is mine; I’ll take it.” There is no volunteering in Communism. Communism says, “If you have a dollar, I’ll take it.” Paul didn’t say if a man in the church is rich, take it away from him. No, the Bible doesn’t teach Communism in any form or fashion.

Paul says, since God has blessed you and you have a talent, you have a privilege, you have an opportunity. He says, “I want to give you a special charge; I want to give you some special commands.” Notice what these three truths or commands are.

Number one, be not highminded. Somebody says, “I’ll out-dress my fellow Christians. I’ll out-diamond my fellow Christians. I’ll live in such a way that I can look down my nose upon the brethren.” This attitude gets into the church more than we want to admit. We run harder after rich men than we do after poor men.

As far as I can detect, the little widow didn’t have much to say in Mark 12. But Jesus said that little old widow had more religion than all of them put together.

Brethren,  we  are  rich.  If  you  look  at  the world’s economy, any man that makes over five hundred dollars a year is rich. Compared with almost any place, the poorest man in Rosemont is a rich man. Somebody says “He’s taking about jillionaires and all those guys downtown who own the banks.” No, Jesus is talking to me. By any kind of a worldly standard, Charles Hodge is rich. People on Social Security in the United States are rich, so some of you had better wake up. You say, “He’s talking to somebody else.” No. Jesus is talking to you and me and He says money in your hip pocket ought not go to your head. Just because you can write a big check should not do anything to your mind. It doesn’t make you better. It doesn’t give you a right to run the church. It doesn’t give you superiority. Paul says it ought to humble you that God has blessed you, that God can use you, that you have the privilege of sharing your blessings with less fortunate men. Paul says if you have money, don’t let it go to your head.

Number two, trust not in money. There is the problem. A man believed in God and said, “God, I’ll go with you all the way.” Then, when he got some money, he said, “God, I don’t need you.” I remember back in World War II that a P-47 got out of control. That was a fighter plane, which was also called the F-47. It had a four- blade prop and two thousand horsepower. It dived out of control and the man blacked out. They estimated he exceeded the speed of sound. He approached nine hundred miles an hour, which back in the early ’40’s was a rare occurrence. Someway, the plane rode it out. The boy, of course, had on his oxygen mask and in a minute or two he came to. He looked out and everything was all right. He said this: “Thank you, God. Now I’ll take back over.” I was a little boy when I read that, and I have never forgotten it. This is kind of the way we live life. We want God in a dark night, when we are between a rock and a hard place, but in level life, in everyday life, we say, “I’ll just handle it. I don’t need anybody.” But God says, “I want rich people always to put their trust in Me.” I don’t care if you have a million dollars. It does not give you one reason less for trusting God. You need God even more than you did when you were poor.

Number three, use it—be givers, be communicators, be distributors. If God gives you a mil- lion, it is not for your own selfish indulgence, for your own little sandpile castle down by the beach. But you are to look around and see boys and girls who need God. You are to see widows and orphans who need God. You are to see the less fortunate people and you are to have a compassionate heart. You are to have a generous pocketbook and write many big-sized checks. Why? God has given. And the Bible says of those to whom much is given, much is required. God gives me money, not for me but for everybody. I am a channel, a dispenser. I am a bank through which God can allocate His funds. You didn’t bring anything in; you are not going to take anything out. But Paul says to the rich, “You can send it on ahead.”

Do you have money? If so, that’s good. Does money have you? If so, that is bad. Do you want money? Are you greedy and covetous  after  money  and  power?  Have  you used the blessings that God has given you? We are all rich today. We are all filled. We are all blessed. We are the world’s richest people. We

need to thank God today and say: “God, give us money. Help us then to share it, to distribute it, and to give it. Teach us compassion and humility.”

Money as a Master – Paul says greed is a form of idolatry (Colossians 3:5; Ephesians 5:5). Luke is teaching us the same thing in his gospel. In Luke 12:15 Jesus says to listeners: “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

What is greed? In the surrounding passages of Luke 11 and 12, Jesus warned people about worrying over their possessions. For Jesus, greed is not only love of money, but excessive anxiety about it. He lays out the reason our emotions are so powerfully controlled by our bank account—”a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

To “consist” of your possessions is to be defined by what you own and consume. The term describes a personal identity based on money. It refers to people who, if they lose their wealth, do not have a “self” left, for their personal worth is based on their financial worth.

Later Jesus comes right out and calls this what it is. “No servant can serve two masters; either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.”

Luke 16:13–15 Jesus uses all the basic biblical metaphors for idolatry and applies them to greed and money. According to the Bible, idolaters do three things with their idols. They love them, trust them, and obey them.

“Lovers of money” are those who find themselves daydreaming and fantasizing about new ways to make money, new possessions to buy, and looking with jealousy on those who have more than they do.

“Trusters of money” feel they have control of their lives and are safe and secure because of their wealth. Idolatry also makes us “servants of money.” Just as we serve earthly kings and magistrates, so we “sell our souls” to our idols. Because we look to them for our significance (love) and security (trust) we have to have them, and therefore we are driven to serve and, essentially, obey them.

When Jesus says that we “serve” money, he uses a word that means the solemn, covenantal service rendered to a king. If you live for money you are a slave. If, however, God becomes the center of your life, that dethrones and demotes money. If your identity and security is in God, it can’t control you through worry and desire. It is one or the other.

You either serve God, or you become open to slavery to Mammon. Nowhere is this slavery more evident than in the blindness of greedy people to their own materialism. Notice that in Luke 12 Jesus says, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.” That is a remarkable statement.

Think of another traditional sin that the Bible warns against—adultery. Jesus doesn’t say, “Be careful you aren’t committing adultery!” He doesn’t have to. When you are in bed with someone else’s spouse—you know it. Halfway through you don’t say, “Oh, wait a minute! I think this is adultery!” You know it is. Yet, even though it is clear that the world is filled with greed and materialism, almost no one thinks it is true of them. They are in denial.

Sin in our hearts affects our basic motivational drives so they become idolatrous, “deep idols.” Some people are strongly motivated by a desire for influence and power, while others are more excited by approval and appreciation. Some want emotional and physical comfort more than anything else, while still others want security, the control of their environment.

People with the deep idol of power do not mind being unpopular in order to gain influence. People who are most motivated by approval are the opposite—they will gladly lose power and control as long as everyone thinks well of them. Each deep idol—power, approval, comfort, or control—generates a different set of fears and a different set of hopes.

“Surface idols” are things such as money, our spouse, or children, through which our deep idols seek fulfillment. We are often superficial in the analysis of our idol structures. For example, money can be a surface idol that serves to satisfy more foundational impulses.

Some people want lots of money as a way to control their world and life. Such people usually don’t spend much money and live very modestly. They keep it all safely saved and invested, so they can feel completely secure in the world.

Others want money for access to social circles and to make themselves beautiful and attractive. These people do spend their money on themselves in lavish ways.

Other people want money because it gives them so much power over others. In every case, money functions as an idol and yet, because of various deep idols, it results in very different patterns of behavior.

The person using money to serve a deep idol of control will often feel superior to people using money to attain power or social approval. In every case, however, money-idolatry enslaves and distorts lives.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on October 14, 2024 in God and money

 

Faithful Until Death Series: Jesus and Materialism – Luke 12:13-21

10 Oct

Avoid The Trap of Materialism If You Want To Succeed In Life - New Trader U

13  Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14  But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15  And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16  And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17  and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18  And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19  And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20  But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21  So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Jesus had no qualms talking about materialism. There are 196 verses in the Gospels on money. Jesus actually talked about materialism more than anything else. Our greatest temptation and sin is materialism. The word  materialism  makes us feel uncomfortable. We all have one huge problem handling materialism. It also reveals that Jesus confronted life out on the streets-not down at the seminary. Jesus confronts us in daily living.

USED. A man attempted to “use” Jesus. This aspect in preaching is seldom taught in “preacher schools.”

Aristides (1st century):“They walk in all humility and kindness, and falsehood is not found among them, and they love one another. They despise not the widow, and grieve not the orphan.  He  that  hath, distributeth liberally to him that hath not. If they see a stranger, they bring him under their roof, and rejoice over him, as it were their own brother: for they call themselves brethren, not after the flesh, but after the spirit and in God; but when one of their poor passes away from the world, and any of them see him, then he provides for his burial according to his ability; and if they hear that any of their number is imprisoned or oppressed for the name of their Messiah, all of them provide for his needs, and if it is possible that he may be delivered, they deliver him. And if there is among them a man that is poor and needy, and they have not an abundance of necessaries, they fast two or three days that they may supply the needy with their necessary food.”

In this context came Jesus’ advice on materialism: “beware of covetousness.” This is the real issue. Covetous members can put preachers in “hot water.” Covetous preachers keep themselves in “hot water.”

ABUSED. Materialism is deceitful (Matthew 12:22). In the foundation parable Jesus said the deceitfulness of riches kept people from faithfulness. It literally “chokes out” spirituality. If Satan cannot get you with adversity he will use prosperity. Prosperity is the acid test. In my experience I have cried watching good brethren lose their faith over riches. “I  liked them better when poor.”

In the Parable of the Rich Fool Jesus said therich man mistook his soul for his body. You do not feed your soul with stuff stored in barns. Barns do not give security to the soul. A bigger barn usually makes a shriveled soul. The rich man also mistook himself for God. He thought he was in charge of life. Life is a vapor, a cloud, a cut flower. He also mistook time for eternity. He never saw beyond himself.What can we learn from Materialism? — Steemit

Men always think they can control money. I, personally, am scared of money. Money, in time, controls us. The tyranny of possessions! You have more to worry about and fret over. Barns really do not make men happy.

Material possessions are destroyed by moths, rust, and thieves (Matthew 6:19-21). Riches deteriorate in the form of inflation and the declining worth of the dollar. They ultimately fail. The rich fool had “eye trouble.” “I” was used six times in three verses. Paradoxically, the rich fool was a shining example of our success syndrome! He was  hard-working,  shrewd,  successful—yet empty. The rich fool expended all his wealth upon himself. Then, the Bible says, “He died.” The congregation that does the same “dies.”

1 Timothy 6:6–10 (ESV) But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Colossians 3:5 (ESV) Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

1 Timothy 6:6-10 and Colossians 3:5 contain some frightening language. Brethren pierce themselves with many sorrows. You could go insane if you really knew the materialism in any given congregation. Beware of covetousness!

The Deceitfulness of Wealth

Friedrich Nietzsche had a theory. He wrote that, with the absence of God growing in Western culture, we would replace God with money.

What induces one man to use false weights, another to set his house on fire after having insured it for more than its value, while three-fourths of our upper classes indulge in legalized fraud . . . what gives rise to all this? It is not real want—for their existence is by no means precarious . . . but they are urged on day and night by a terrible impatience at seeing their wealth pile up so slowly, and by an equally terrible longing and love for these heaps of gold. . . .

What once was done “for the love of God” is now done for the love of money, i.e., for the love of that which at present affords us the highest feeling of power and a good conscience.

In short, Nietzsche foretold that money in Western culture would become perhaps its main counterfeit god. Innumerable writers and thinkers have been pointing out “the culture of greed” that has been eating away at no one thinks that change is around the corner. Why? It’s because greed and avarice are especially hard to see in ourselves.

Greed hides itself from the victim. The money god’s modus operandi includes blindness to your own heart. Why can’t anyone in the grip of greed see it? The counterfeit god of money uses powerful sociological and psychological dynamics.

Everyone tends to live in a particular socioeconomic bracket. Once you are able to afford to live in a particular neighborhood, send your children to its schools, and participate in its social life, you will find yourself surrounded by quite a number of people who have more money than you. You don’t compare yourself to the rest of the world, you compare yourself to those in your bracket.

The human heart always wants to justify itself and this is one of the easiest ways. You say, “I don’t live as well as him or her or them. My means are modest compared to theirs.” You can reason and think like that no matter how lavishly you are living. As a result, most Americans think of themselves as middle class, and only 2 percent call themselves “upper class.”

But the rest of the world is not fooled. When people visit here from other parts of the globe, they are staggered to see the level of materialistic comfort that the majority of Americans have come to view as a necessity. Jesus warns people far more often about greed than about sex, yet almost no one thinks they are guilty of it.

Therefore we should all begin with a working hypothesis that “this could easily be a problem for me.” If greed hides itself so deeply, no one should be confident that it is not a problem for them. How can we recognize and become free from the power of money to blind us?

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on October 10, 2024 in God and money

 

Straining Toward the Goal – Philippians 4:12-17

07 Oct

Your Purpose Green Road Sign Over Dramatic Clouds and Sky.

All of us want to be “winning Christians” and fulfill the purposes for which we have been saved. What are the essentials for winning the race and one day receiving the reward that is promised?

Paul saw the Christian life as a process. While believers are considered righteous when they accept salvation, their entire lives are marked by growth toward Christlikeness. Complete perfection will not be obtained until Christ’s second coming.

While Paul may have seemed like a nearly perfect Christian to his Philippian friends, he emphasized that he had not obtained perfect knowledge of Christ, the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his suffering, and conformity to his death (3:10).

All of these were part of the process of sanctification—of getting to know Christ better and better as he lived the Christian life. And even Paul, despite all his sufferings and victories for Christ, still had much to learn. He had not yet been made perfect.

He knew that only upon Christ’s return would all believers be made perfect in knowledge and experience, but he was willing to press on to take hold of the goal—living and working for Christ—because of what Christ had done for him.

Dissatisfaction (Phil. 3:12-13a)

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.

“Not as though I had already attained!” This is the statement of a great Christian who never permitted himself to be satisfied with his spiritual attainments.

Obviously, Paul was satisfied with Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:10), but he was not satisfied with his Christian life. A sanctified dissatisfaction is the first essential to progress in the Christian race.

Many Christians are self-satisfied because they compare their “running” with that of other Christians, usually those who are not making much progress. Had Paul compared himself with others, he would have been tempted to be proud and perhaps to let up a bit. After all, there were not too many believers in Paul’s day who had experienced all that he had!

But Paul did not compare himself with others; he compared himself with himself and with Jesus Christ! The dual use of the word “perfect” in Philippians 3:12 and 15 explains his thinking. He has not arrived yet at perfection (Phil. 3:12), but he is “perfect” [mature] (Phil. 3:15), and one mark of this maturity is the knowledge that he is not perfect!

The mature Christian honestly evaluates himself and strives to do better.

Self-evaluation can be a dangerous thing, because we can err in two directions: (1) making ourselves better than we are, or (2) making ourselves worse than we really are.

Paul had no illusions about himself. A divine dissatisfaction is essential for spiritual progress. “Pressing on” is a hunting term meaning to chase or hunt down. Christ Jesus took hold of Paul almost thirty years earlier when Paul was converted on the road to Damascus. Christ laid hold of Paul so that Paul could lay hold of the prize—knowing Christ completely.

Paul had not yet attained perfection or complete knowledge of Christ. Unlike the Judaizers, Paul did not consider that he had achieved spiritual maturity.

Devotion (Phil. 3:13b). But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind…

“One thing” is a phrase that is important to the Christian life.

  • “One thing you lack,” said Jesus to the self-righteous rich young ruler (Mark 10:21).
  • “One thing is needful,” He explained to busy Martha when she criticized her sister (Luke 10:42).
  • “One thing I know!” exclaimed the man who had received his sight by the power of Christ (John 9:25).

Like Paul, they should not dwell on the past. The past should not be used as a barrier to the future, as an excuse for dropping out, or for avoiding proper spiritual conduct in their relationship with God.

Direction (Phil. 3:13c). and straining forward to what lies ahead,

The unsaved person is controlled by the past, but the Christian running the race looks toward the future. Imagine what would happen on the race course if the runners started looking behind them!

We are accustomed to saying “past, present, future,” but we should view time as flowing from the future into the present and then into the past. At least, the believer should be future-oriented, “forgetting those things which are behind.”

It simply means that we break the power of the past by living for the future. We cannot change the past, but we can change the meaning of the past.

There were things in Paul’s past that could have been weights to hold him back (1 Tim. 1:12-17), but they became inspirations to speed him ahead. The events did not change, but his understanding of them changed.

It is possible to have dissatisfaction, devotion, and direction, and still lose the race and the reward. There is a fourth essential.

Determination (Phil. 3:14). I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Believers should be devoted to God whatever their present circumstances (Luke 9:62; 17:31–32) and should strain forward to what lies ahead.

Paul would forget his past with all its credentials and accomplishments (and sins) and, like a runner in a race with his whole body reaching for the finish line, would press on toward the goal (3:14).

As a runner straining every effort toward the finish line, Paul pressed on toward the goal. In Greek athletic games, the winner’s prize was a garland or palm branch. While Paul didn’t identify the prize, it seems from his writing above that the prize refers to gaining full knowledge of Jesus Christ (see also 1 Corinthians 9:24; 2 Timothy 4:7–8).

Paul aimed to win the prize, but all who finish the race win it as well. The full knowledge of Christ is the final prize for which believers gladly lay aside all else.

Like a dedicated athlete, Paul wanted to run the race and gain full knowledge of Christ. The first-time marathon runner has periodic thoughts about quitting, especially during the last six miles. By then, the novelty of the experience has faded to the dull regularity of the pace; early adrenaline has given way to soreness and fatigue. Others around him or her are limping along, and some have dropped out entirely. But dedicated runners must keep going. Somewhere out there is a finish line.

The same zeal that Paul employed when he persecuted the church (Phil. 3:6), he displayed in serving Christ. Come to think of it, wouldn’t it be wonderful if Christians put as much determination into their spiritual life as they do their golfing, fishing, or bowling?

There are two extremes to avoid here: (1) “I must do it all” and (2) “God must do it all!” The first describes the activist, the second the quietist, and both are heading for failure.

The Christian runner with the spiritual mind realizes that God must work in him if he is going to win the race (Phil. 2:12-13).

God works in us that He might work through us. As we apply ourselves to the things of the spiritual life, God is able to mature us and strengthen us for the race.

Toward what goal is the runner pressing with such spiritual determination? “The prize of the high [upward] calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14).

When he reaches the goal he will receive the reward! Again, Paul is not suggesting that we attain to heaven by our own efforts. He is simply saying that just as the athlete is rewarded for his performance, so the faithful believer will be crowned when Jesus Christ returns.

The important thing is that we reach the goal He has established for us. No matter how successful we may be in the eyes of men, we cannot be rewarded unless we “take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of [us]” (Phil. 3:12, niv).

Discipline (Phil. 3:15-16).  Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

It is not enough to run hard and win the race; the runner must also obey the rules. In the Greek games, the judges were very strict about this. Any infringement of the rules disqualified the athlete. He did not lose his citizenship (though he disgraced it), but he did lose his privilege to participate and win a prize.

If the athlete breaks training, he is disqualified; if he breaks the rules of the game, he is disqualified. “No contestant in the games is crowned, unless he competes according to the rules” (2 Tim. 2:5, wms). The issue is not what he thinks or what the spectators think but what the judges say.

One day each Christian will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ (Rom. 14:10-12). The Greek word for “judgment seat” is bema, the very same word used to describe the place where the Olympic judges gave out the prizes! If we have disciplined ourselves to obey the rules, we shall receive a prize.

It is an exciting experience to run the race daily, “looking unto Jesus” (Heb. 12:1-2). It will be even more exciting when we experience that “upward calling” and Jesus returns to take us to heaven! Then we will stand before the bema to receive our rewards! It was this future prospect that motivated Paul, and it can also motivate us.

Ask yourself these questions:

  • What kind of race are you running for Christ? • What prize do you seek?
  • What kind of opposition do you face in your struggle to live as a Christian?
  • How can Christ help you stay on track and reach the goal?
  • What spiritual workout or training this week will help you run your Christian marathon?
  • In what way can you renew your commitment to press on toward the goal of being like Christ?

Those who were mature were to be committed to what Paul had said. And to anyone who thought differently about minor points, God would clarify the truth. God would lead them to the truth if they would keep their minds open.

Those who are mature should press on in the Holy Spirit’s power, knowing that Christ will reveal and fill in any discrepancy between what we are and what we should be.

Christ’s provision is no excuse for lagging devotion, but it provides relief and assurance for those who feel driven.

Live up (stochein) is a military term meaning “to keep in line” or “to keep step.” Paul knew the believers were in different stages, but everyone needed to be faithful to what they understood. The Christian community needed to march forward together. Paul did not want the believers in Philippi to fail to live up to what they already had been taught.

As they pressed on toward the goal, they should not use their lack of complete knowledge as an excuse for taking lightly what they knew or for getting sidetracked.

They should continue to learn and grow, while at the same time govern their lives by the light they had already received. Believers must live up to what they already know before they can expect to learn more.

Paul used these two key words for discipleship: “imitate” and “example.” “Imitate” means not only to become like but also to obey. “Example” means a model or blueprint to use as a pattern for your life.

Paul challenged the Philippians to pursue Christlikeness by imitating Paul’s own example and the examples of others whose lives were based on his (those “mature” believers in 3:15).

 

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on October 7, 2024 in Philippians

 

Faithful Until Death Series: Know the Truth About Trials and Temptations – 1 Peter 1:6-9

03 Oct

1 Peter 1 6-9 Nlt - Wellness info for pet parents

When Jesus appeared to the apostle John, in the book of Revelation, he was shown some things that would soon take pass (in his day) but we’re also given an admonition that needs to speak to us today:

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days [indicating a ‘short’ time compared to a much longer time] you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. Revelation 2:10 (ESV)

—————————

1 Peter 1:6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

10  As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace…

Jim McGuiggan, in his book Caution: Men at Work…”but if the sign says “GOD at Work,” there is hope: for that’s what undid the chaos in beginning.

DON’T won’t do; to merely adopt a “prophetic” tone by cursing the darkness encourages among us the spirit of self-righteousness or superiority.

James 1:2-8 (NASB) Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3  knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5  But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6  But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
7  For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8  being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Jesus clearly indicated suffering would come our way as did Paul and other New Testament writers:

“Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me” (John 15:20-21).

And 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).

But you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord delivered me! And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:10-12).

The writer to the Hebrews likewise speaks of the suffering of the saints:

But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly, by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners, and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward (Hebrews 10:32-35).

Like other New Testament writers, Peter wants us to understand that suffering is a normal part of the Christian life. He tells us not to be surprised “at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12).

John 9:1-5 (NASB)
1  As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth.
2  And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?”
3  Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
4  “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.
5  “While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”

Luke 13:1-5 (NASB)
1  Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
2  And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate?
3  “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
4  “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?
5  “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

 

Job 1:10-11 (NASB)
10  “Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
11  “But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.”

21  He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”
22  Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.

 Job 2 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 3 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.”

4 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. 5 But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.”

6 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.” 7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. 9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

 

 

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on October 3, 2024 in Faithful Until Death

 

Beliefs Matter: One Faith: A Call To Arms! – Philippians 1:27; Jude 1

29 Sep

A note posted on a religious website, discussing sexuality as a spiritual experience…says “it is OK be monogamist OK to be Gay,  Bi, Straight; OK to be different; OK to follow our own path; OK to make our own choices without being judged, particularly in this community.”

The truth tells us that while people may indulge their sinful desires in that way, we don’t please God like that.

How do we know? Where do we go for direction? We believe there is One Lord, and today we see there is one place where we can go to find the written directions. The “one faith” does not refer to the act of believing, but to the body of doctrines which we believe. The one faith is the Gospel.

(Philippians 1:27 NIV)  Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel

(Jude 1:3 NIV)  Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

It is not scriptural to speak of “many faiths” or “interfaith activities” as many do. There are not two faiths nor several faiths. There is only one faith that leads into God’s presence and that is the faith founded by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Contrary to what Oprah and others are teaching, there is no other approach to God. If a person wishes to live with God—to be approved and accepted by Him—that person has to approach God through the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ.

(2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 NIV)  But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. {14} He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The point is this: every believer has come to God in the very same way—by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith in Him is the only way, the only true faith. Therefore, standing before God and having come to Him through the same faith, there is no room for any differences. We all stand on the same ground, on the same level: the ground and level of faith.

If you want to be a member of this congregation, realize that we believe there is One body, One Spirit, One Hope, One Lord, and One Faith.

Jude 1:1-4 (ESV)
1  Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
2  May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
3  Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
4  For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Why did Jude write this letter?

To warn his readers that the apostates were already on the scene! Peter had prophesied that they would come, and his prophecy had been fulfilled.

He wrote to “exhort” them (Jude 3). In the Greek language, this word was used to describe a general giving orders to the army; hence the atmosphere of this letter is “military.” Jude had started to write a quiet devotional letter about salvation, but the Spirit led him to put down his harp and sound the trumpet! The Epistle of Jude is a call to arms.

The Army (Jude 1-2)

The Captain of the army is Jesus Christ, and the soldiers He commands are people who share a “common salvation” through faith in Him. Jude called them saints and addressed them as sanctified.

Not only are God’s saints set apart, but they are also preserved. This means “carefully watched and guarded.” The believer is secure in Jesus Christ. This same word is used in Jude 6 and 13 (“reserved”) and also in Jude 21 (“keep yourselves”).

The Enemy (Jude 3-4)

I must confess that I sympathize with Jude. I would much rather encourage the saints than declare war on the apostates. But when the enemy is in the field, the watchmen dare not go to sleep. The Christian life is a battleground, not a playground. Jude wasted no time in identifying the enemy.

They were ungodly (v. 4b).

This is one of Jude’s favorite words. While these men claimed to belong to God, they were, in fact, ungodly in their thinking and their living.

They were deceitful (v. 4c).

They “crept in unawares.” The Greek word means “to slip in secretly, to steal in undercover.” How could false brethren get into true assemblies of the saints? The soldiers had gone to sleep at the post! The spiritual leaders in the churches had grown complacent and careless. This explains why Jude had to “blow the trumpet” to wake them up.

They were enemies of God’s grace (v. 4d).

Why did they enter the churches? To attempt to change the doctrine and “turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness” (Jude 4). The word lasciviousness simply means “wantonness, absence of moral restraint, indecency.” A person who is lascivious thinks only of satisfying his lusts, and whatever he touches is stained by his base appetites.

Many scriptures warn us that the apostates would argue, “You have been saved by grace, so you are free to live as you please!” The apostates, like the cultists today, use the Word of God to promote and defend their false doctrines.

They seduce young, immature Christians who have not yet been grounded in the Scriptures. Every soldier of the Cross needs to go through “basic training” in a local church so that he knows how to use the weapons of spiritual warfare.

They denied God’s truth (v. 4e).

Jude was affirming strongly the deity of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God! But the apostates would deny this. They would agree that Jesus Christ was a good man and a great teacher, but not that He was eternal God come in human flesh. The first test of any religious teacher, as we have seen, is, “What do you think of Jesus Christ? Is He God come in the flesh?”

Anyone who denies this cardinal doctrine is a false teacher no matter how correct he may be in other matters. If he denies the deity of Christ, something will always be missing in whatever he affirms.

They were ordained to judgment (v. 4a).

Jude did not write that these men were ordained to become apostates, as though God were responsible for their sin. They became apostates because they willfully turned away from the truth. But God did ordain that such people would be judged and condemned. The Old Testament prophets denounced the false prophets of their day, and both Jesus Christ and His Apostles pronounced judgment on them.

Why should these men be judged by God? To begin with, they had denied His Son! That is reason enough for their condemnation! But they had also defiled God’s people by teaching them that God’s grace permitted them to practice sin.

How, then, should the church respond to the presence of this insidious enemy? By earnestly contending for the faith.

“The faith” refers to that body of doctrine that was given by God through the Apostles to the church. The word doctrine is found at least sixteen times in the Pastoral Epistles alone.

What does it mean to “contend for the faith”? The Greek word is an athletic term that gives us our English word agonize. It is the picture of a devoted athlete, competing in the Greek games and stretching his nerves and muscles to do his very best to win.

You never fight the Lord’s battles from a rocking chair or a soft bed! Both the soldier and the athlete must concentrate on doing their best and giving their all. There must also be teamwork, believers working together to attack and defeat the enemy.

Sometimes you hear well-meaning people say, “Well, it’s fine to contend for the faith, but don’t be so contentious!” While it is true that some of God’s soldiers have been the cause of quarrels and divisions, it is also true that some of them have paid a great price to defend the faith.

As Christian soldiers, we must not fight each other or go around looking for trouble. But when the banner of Christ is in danger of being taken by the enemy, we cannot sit idly by, nor can we ever hope to win the victory by wearing kid gloves.

Paul admonished both Timothy and Titus to make sure the believers were being taught “sound doctrine,” which means “healthy doctrine,” doctrine that promotes the spiritual health of the local church.

While individual teachers and preachers may disagree on the fine points of theology, there is a basic body of truth to which all true Christians are committed.

He exhorted Timothy to entrust the Word to other faithful men (2 Tim. 2:2). You and I would not have the Word today were it not for faithful believers down through the ages who guarded this precious deposit and invested it in others.

The church is always one generation short of extinction. If our generation fails to guard the truth and entrust it to our children, then that will be the end! When you think of the saints and martyrs who suffered and died so that we might have God’s truth, it makes you want to take your place in God’s army and be faithful unto death.

False doctrine is a deadly poison that must be identified, labeled, and avoided. We must always speak the truth in love, and the weapons we use must be spiritual. At the same time, we must dare to take our stand for “the faith” even if our stand offends some and upsets others. We are not fighting personal enemies, but the enemies of the Lord.

It is the honor and glory of Jesus Christ that is at stake. “Fight the good fight of faith” (1 Tim. 6:12).

The Victory (Jude 5-7)

Jude 1:5-7 (ESV)
5  Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.
6  And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—
7  just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

Jude reached back into Old Testament history and gave examples of God’s victory over those who had resisted his authority and turned from the truth. The point Jude was making is that God judges apostates. Therefore, the false teachers who had crept into the church would also one day be judged. Their seeming success would not last; God would have the last word. 

The sin of Israel was rebellious unbelief (Heb. 3:12). The sin of the angels was rebellion against the throne of God. The sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was indulging in unnatural lust. Unbelief, rebellion against authority, and sensual indulgence were sins characteristic of the false teachers.

The conclusion is obvious: the apostates will be judged. But, meanwhile, God’s soldiers must stay on duty and see to it that these false teachers do not creep into the ranks and start to lead people astray.

Jude 1:17-25 (ESV)
17  But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
18  They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.”
19  It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.
20  But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,
21  keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
22  And have mercy on those who doubt;
23  save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.
24  Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,
25  to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

What can we do practically to oppose the enemy and maintain the purity and unity of the church?

For one thing, we must know the Word of God and have the courage to defend it. Every local church ought to be a Bible institute, and every Christian ought to be a Bible student.  The pulpit needs to declare positive truth as well as denounce error.

Second, we must “watch and pray.”

The Christian life must never stand still; if it does, it will go backward. The enemy is already here and we dare not go to sleep! Spiritual leaders in local congregations need to be alert as they interview candidates for baptism and church membership. Congregations must exercise discernment as they select spiritual leaders.

Finally, we must have the courage to maintain a position of biblical separation from those who deny Christ and the fundamental doctrines of the Word. This does not mean that we separate from fellow believers over minor doctrinal differences, or that we practice “guilt by association.” God’s true army needs to stand together in the battle for truth.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 29, 2024 in Doctrine

 

Beliefs Matter: One Baptism  Ephesians 4:4-5; Galatians 1:6-9; 3:26-28

28 Sep

Ever made a bad first impression? Have you ever felt like you’ve messed it up enough that you wish you could start all over? That’s one way of describing what baptism is all about, a new beginning, a brand new life.

Ephesians 4:4-5: There is one body and one Spirit– just as you were called to one hope when you were called– {5} one Lord, one faith, one baptism; Belief Matters—Eph 4:7 beliefs that really matter, we’ve covered …today One Baptism

When speaking of the one Baptism Paul could not have had in mind the question or debate of where it was of pouring, or sprinkling, or immersion. Only immersion was practiced in the time of the apostles. The earliest case of sprinkling for baptism on record is that of Novation in 251 A. D., who was “baptized” upon his bed while sick by pouring a large quantity of water over him.

According to the historians, immersion was nearly the universal practice until the Middle Ages when the Roman Catholic church declared at the Council of Constance that immersion and sprinkling were of equal validity.

Paul was certainly not referring to Holy Spirit baptism as the one baptism that was the common experience of the church. Baptism in the Holy Spirit was an exceptional experience. On the day of Pentecost, the apostles were baptized in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5; 2:4). About ten years later, at the house of Cornelius, Peter saw the Holy Spirit fall of Cornelius and his household.

In telling about this, Peter said that the Holy Spirit fell on them, “as at the beginning. Then remembered the word of the Lord how that he had said, John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 11:15-16).

These are the only cases of Holy Spirit baptism recorded in the Bible. The experiences of those who claim to have received the baptism in the Holy Spirit in modern times are so contradictory that no confidence can be placed in them. If there is only one baptism, surely there ought not be any disagreement as to how it is to be performed, or in what it is done.

(Acts 2:38-39 NIV)  Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. {39} The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off–for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

The difficulty comes in the simple definition —  or redefining – of the word eis. Is it saying that baptism is to receive the forgiveness of sins or baptism is because my sins have  already been forgiven? To say the same thing in another way: is baptism necessary in order to have your sins forgiven?

If the word eis in Acts 2:38 means their sins were already forgiven before baptism, it has to be interpreted the same way in Matthew 26:28: “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Does anyone here believe that forgiveness of sins was possible for the masses BEFORE the death and the “shedding of blood” by Jesus?

The One Baptism is an immersion in water of a person who understands and believes the good news about Jesus and who is willing to follow Jesus as his One Lord.

  1. Is an immersion – Word means immerse or dip (ship sinking, man drowning), parallel w/ DBR; some vv. refer to “much water” or “going down into the water” and indicate that immersion is what was going on (Matt. 3:16; John 3:23; Acts 8:38-39). Some may wonder if sprinkling is okay. Wrong Q—don’t need to be trying to figure out whether what we may have done is good enough but figuring out what God wants.
  2. Understands & believes the good news— (vv. Acts 2:24-38; Col. 2:11-12) not a ritual, must be understanding & faith, not for babies or others who don’t understand or believe.
  3. Willing to follow Jesus as their one lord—(vv. Acts 2:36, 41) not magical & not the end of the journey, rather the beginning.

The purpose and meaning of baptism is broad:

  • It is associated with being a part of the church, being clothed with Christ, repentance, death, the Holy Spirit
  • It is associated w/ forgiveness of sins and salvation. I believe a proper understanding of it fits with the clear biblical teaching that we are saved by grace through faith. The best simple way I know to say it is that baptism is one of the responses to God’s grace in order to be forgiven and saved.
  1. Salvation is by grace (Eph. 2:8-9). Grace is the basis for salvation, no way we can save ourselves. When we get baptized, we are not saving ourselves (but cf. Acts 2:40-41).
  2. Baptism is a response to grace. Grace is primary; grace is the basis; baptism is a response to it. Without the grace, baptism would be meaningless.
  3. Baptism is not a work (Titus 3:4-5). Rather, it is a response to Christ’s work.
  4. Baptism is a matter of faith (Gal. 3:26-27; Col. 2:11-12).
  5. Baptism is one of several responses to God’s grace (faith, repentance, confession).
  6. Baptism is a necessary response (vv. Acts 2:38; 22:16; I Pet. 3:21; John 3:3-5).
  7. Baptism is the beginning point for new life (Rom. 6:4), I don’t know of any other point in time that the NT says we die to our old life.

Every “religious group” teaches some response to God’s grace is necessary for salvation, to believe in Jesus or accept Jesus or pray to Jesus etc. The idea of responding to God’s grace is biblical (“those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace,” Rom. 5:17). I believe the NT teaches baptism is a part of receiving it, one of the necessary responses, in view of the clear statements that connect w/ salvation.

If you are familiar with “the sinner’s prayer” I encourage you to think carefully about that. I can’t find that in the Bible, Rev. 3:20 is talking to Christians.

People feel a need for a tangible beginning point, and baptism is that beginning point…a particular event at a particular point in time and an actual act which is deliberate and able to be witnessed. I believe the sinner’s prayer is a way of filling the void left when people remove baptism.

So baptism is an immersion in water of a person who understands and believes the good news about Jesus and who is willing to follow Jesus as his One Lord.

  • This is the One baptism shared by all God’s people. It holds us together as God’s people.
  • This is what we believe & teach at Parkway & something you need to do if you want to be a member of Parkway.
  • If you’re not quite there yet in your thinking, that’s okay. Our walk w/ God is a journey. But I encourage you to be thinking, praying, & studying about this.
  • It is a vital part. I’d love to talk with you about it if you wish. Or if you think I’m wrong about this, I’d be glad to dialog with you.

(Galatians 1:6-9 NIV)  I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel– {7} which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. {8} But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! {9} As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!

(Galatians 3:26-28 NIV)  You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, {27} for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. {28} There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Why is this so important? Because the religious world is good at giving “false confidence” in this area. We’ve got to spend some time today in Acts 19:1-5

Paul found some disciples who had been immersed in water: “in the right way” for the wrong reason. Why was it such a big deal? What was the recourse? How does it affect us today? 

Throughout this series of messages on Belief Matters we’ve been saying it’s not enough merely to understand what the Bible teachers or merely to concur with it. It needs to change our lives.

If we believe in the One Baptism, we’ll do two things: Get baptized, w/ understanding, w/ faith, w/ the intent to follow Jesus. If you haven’t done that, I urge you to do so. If it’s associated with being saved, it’s really, really important. Wouldn’t want you to do it just to do it; need to understand. Glad to discuss it with you further.  Live like you’ve been baptized (not “follow the rules”). Parallel <> baptism and death, burial, & resurrection of Jesus.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 28, 2024 in Baptism

 

Beliefs Matter: It Really Does Matter What We Believe About: One God

23 Sep

A mother asked her son to tell her what he learned in Sunday School.  The boy said, “We learned how Moses and all the people of Israel built a huge expansion bridge across the Red Sea, then crossed to the other side, set explosives on the bridge, and when the Egyptians started to cross, they blew it up! 

The mother was shocked and asked, “Is that really what your teacher said?”  “Well, no Mom,” her son replied, “But if I told you what really happened, you’d never believe it!” 

It’s true that God has done some absolutely remarkable things. And it’s also true that a lot of people in this county and state don’t believe most of it.

It’s our task today to learn a more about our amazing, awesome God!

Psalms 19:1: The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (let some nature slides proceed)

About 1400 years ago, the pope was Gregory the 1st. Later he came to be referred to as Gregory the Great, a title I’m not sure he would have accepted personally, based on something he said about God: “Almost everything said of God is unworthy for the very reason that it is capable of being said.”

That’s a little bit extreme, yet it underscores the awesome challenge of seeing what God is like. This one is the most challenging. We’re wrapping up this study Beliefs Matter…we’re come to the final of the seven ones.

 (Deuteronomy 4:35 NIV)  You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other.

(Deuteronomy 6:4 NIV)  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

 (Isaiah 46:9 NIV)  Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.

God is over all. He is supreme, high above all material and sinful things. God says, “I dwell in the high and holy place” (Isaiah 57:15).

God is through all. He is so omnipotent and powerful that He can do all things. No barriers limit His power.

God is in all. His power energizes the atom of all creation. He dwells not only in the high and holy place, but also with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit:

(Isaiah 57:15 NIV)  For this is what the high and lofty One says– he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Ways We Can Know God – Avenues we can pursue later.

  1. That challenge is underscored by God’s very name, his name is one way we can know him. Often called God or Lord (Master), but also has a name LORD. It’s not Jehovah as translated in (Exodus 3:13-15 NIV) Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” {14} God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.'” {15} God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers–the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob–has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation..

Take a minute and look at the words closely.

Hebrew Word for God: ‏אֱלֹהִים‎  Transliteration: elōhîm

Hebrew Word for LORD (His Name): ‏יהוה‎  Transliteration: yhwh

Hebrew Word for I AM: ‏הָיָה‎   Transliteration: hāyâ 

— Strong’s Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary

Footnote in your study Bible at vs. 14: I AM WHO I AM is another way of saying: “I will be what I will be.”

Footnote in your study Bible at vs. 15: The Hebrew word for Lord sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for I Am in verse 14.

God is telling us that “You can’t put me in a box.”

I will do & be in surprising things. Let your mind go back to the Exodus; I don’t think anyone could have guessed that. Think of the creativity, the awesome power, the marvel of God in leading His  people out of Egypt.

His remarkable deeds in the past show us something of what He is, but at the same time they don’t limit Him. He will be what he will be. What an appropriate name for God!

One way you tell if we believe in the one God is by whether we try to put him in a box.

OLD TESTAMENT NAMES FOR GOD

JEHOVAH-MACCADDESHEM…….Exodus 31:13 meaning “The Lord thy sanctifier”

JEHOVAH-ROHI……Psalm 23:1  meaning “The Lord my shepherd”

JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH…….Ezekiel 48:35  meaning “The Lord who is present”

JEHOVAH-RAPHA………Exodus 15:26  meaning “The Lord our healer“

JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU……Jeremiah 23:6  meaning “The Lord our righteousness”

JEHOVAH-JIREH………Genesis 22:13-14  meaning “The Lord will provide”

JEHOVAH-NISSI………Exodus 17:15 meaning “The Lord our banner”

JEHOVAH-SHALOM……..Judges 6:24  meaning “The Lord is peace”

JEHOVAH-SABBAOTH……Isaiah 6:1-3  meaning “The Lord of Hosts”

EL-ELYON…………..Genesis 14:17-20,Isaiah 14:13-14  meaning “The most high God”

EL-ROI…………….Genesis 16:13  meaning “The strong one who sees”

EL-SHADDAI…………Genesis 17:1, Psalm 91:1  meaning “The God of the mountains or God Almighty”

EL-OLAM……………Isaiah 40:28-31  meaning “The everlasting God”

2. Another way we can know him is by his avatar (computer user’s representation of himself). What does God say about Himself? How does He represent Himself?

(Exodus 34:6-7 NIV)  And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, {7} maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”

God is both merciful & just. I can’t tell you when or for how long he will be merciful or just, He will be what He will be, but I can tell you he will be both merciful and just. One way we can tell whether we believe in the one God is whether we strike a balance between justice and mercy.

Justice: we’ll take sin seriously! Mercy: we’ll take forgiveness seriously!

3.Another way we know him is by words others use to describe him.

(Isaiah 6:1-5 NIV)  In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. {2} Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. {3} And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” {4} At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. {5} “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

When we see God, we are amazed, humbled, and we are made aware of our own sin. It changes us!

I am skeptical of those who speak of “God appearing to them” for a lot of reasons, but first of all they don’t talk about being flat on their face…they tend not to be humbled, but rather ‘puffed up’ in pride…they aren’t aware of their sins.

4. Another is refuge our place of safety & comfort.

 (Psalms 62:5-8 NIV)  Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. {6} He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. {7} My salvation and my honor depend on God ; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. {8} Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Selah

I believe God will take care of us, not always when or how we think He should—He will be what he will be—but He will take care of us.

Does your first choice when in need of refuge reflect your belief in the One God? More ways we can tell whether we believe in the one God are whether we worship him in his holiness and whether we find security & comfort in him as our refuge.

5.Another way we know him is by his commandments. He insists on our total devotion.

(Exodus 20:2-3 NIV)  “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. {3} “You shall have no other gods before me.

Based on this act, He gives commandments.

(Colossians 3:5 NIV)  Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

We might not literally bow down in worship before these items, but when we put them first by our actions and thoughts, they seek to replace the “One God.”

A very telling way we determine whether we believe in the one God is by whether there are other gods in our lives. We are monotheists: we only worship one God.

6.One of the very best ways we know him is through Jesus.

(John 1:1 NIV)  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

(John 1:14 NIV)  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

(Colossians 1:15 NIV)  He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

(Hebrews 1:1-3 NIV)  In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, {2} but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. {3} The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

If you want to know what God is like, study Jesus closely. As you read the way he interacts with people, put yourself in the account & you’ll see how he feels toward you.

For the last several weeks, I’ve been saying that belief matters. Though we may not all agree on everything, there are some matters that are really important. Eph 4 tells us what some of those matters are.

I say again today what I’ve said enough in this series that you may be tired of hearing it: we don’t determine whether we really believe these things by inquiring whether we agree with them but rather by the way we live our lives.

For today’s message, we find out whether we believe in the One God by:

  • whether we try to control him & say what he will and won’t do or let him be what he will be
  • whether we take sin seriously & also take forgiveness seriously
  • whether we worship him and him alone
  • whether we make him our refuge
  • whether we have other gods in our lives

Faith is a journey, so if our lives indicate we don’t really believe all these things, that’s not surprising. But we do need to continue on the journey.

Because these seven beliefs mentioned in Eph. 4 really matter: One body, Spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism, & God. These hold us together as God’s people.

  • May we always be known as a church that believes something & is not afraid to say so.
  • May we always believe that these seven Ones matter.
  • And may we also be a church whose beliefs are apparent by the way we live our lives.
 
1 Comment

Posted by on September 23, 2024 in God

 

Beliefs Matter: “It Does Really Matter…What One Believes About One Hope” – Ephesians 4:4; John 14:1-3 H

16 Sep

Hope is something that God gives to help us keep our lives together until the very end.

Ephesians 4:4 (ESV)
4  There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—

John 14:1-3 (ESV)
1  “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
2  In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

Halford E. Luccock, in Unfinished Business, tells the story of a man who fascinated his dinner companions one night by telling of his experiences in the little town of Flagstaff, Maine, in Somerset Count. The town was to be abandoned and flooded and become a part of a large lake. A dam was being built which would submerge the little town. In the months before it was to be flooded, all improvements and repairs in the whole town stopped. What was the use of painting a house if it were to be covered with water in six months?

Why repair anything when the whole village was to be wiped out? So, week by week, the whole town became more and more bedraggled, more unprofitable, more miserable. Then he added: “Where there is no faith in the future, there is no power in the present.” And I wonder if that’s not a good parable for many people’s lives today.

Hope is something that God has offered us to help us keep our lives together until the very end.

Where are we in our study of these seven 1’s?

There is only one body of believers, the church, which is composed of every saint who has trusted or will trust in Christ as Savior and Lord. There is no denominational, geographical, ethnic, or racial body. There is no Gentile, Jewish, male, female, slave, or freeman body. There is only Christ’s body, and the unity of that body is the heart of the book of Ephesians.

Obviously there is but one Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, who is possessed by every believer and who is therefore the inner unifying force in the body. Believers are individual temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16-17) that are collectively “being fitted together [and are] growing into a holy temple in the Lord,… being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:21-22).

The Spirit “is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1:14). He is the divine engagement ring (pledge), as it were, who guarantees that every believer will be at the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9).

If all Christians were walking in obedience to and in the power of the Holy Spirit, first our doctrine and then our relationships would be purified and unified. The spiritual unity that already exists would be practically manifested in complete harmony among the people of God.

It is one of the 7 key truths listed in Ephesians 4 that hold God’s people together. Belief matters.  Not so much because we’re going to have a doctrinal test in order to go to heaven, but because healthy beliefs lead to healthy spiritual lives, and unhealthy beliefs lead to unhealthy spiritual lives.

Our hope, in short, is that Jesus is coming back to take us home.

More broadly, based on several texts, our hope is that Christ will return, raise us from the dead or meet us in the air, transform us so that our bodies are like his glorious body, take us to heaven so we can see God face to face & live with him there forever.  Salvation will be complete & we’ll enter into eternal life in heaven.

Our hope is solid. It is not wishful thinking or an outside chance.  According to Heb. 6 it is firm and secure and can serve as an anchor for our souls.

The reason it is secure is the basis it has. Our hope does have a foundation: (1 Peter 1:3 NIV)  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 

(1 Peter 1:21 NIV)  Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Our hope is based on God raising Jesus from the dead. 

So, because God raised Jesus from the dead, we have a solid hope that he will return and take us home.

The question isn’t whether we have a thorough understanding of hope but whether our hope is transforming the way we live. Are our lives noticeably different because of our hope that Jesus is coming back to take us home? 

Here are some of the ways the Bible says our hope should affect us:

Give us Joy — (Romans 5:2 NIV)  through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

(Romans 12:12 NIV)  Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Lead to Praise: (1 Peter 1:3 NIV) Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,                

Give us Endurance: (1 Thessalonians 1:3 NIV)  We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Cause us to Purify ourselves: (1 John 3:2-3 NIV)  Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. {3} Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

Speak openly even courageously to others: (2 Corinthians 3:12 NIV)  Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.

The Bible teaches that our hope should have a noticeable effect on how we actually live our lives.  The one hope of the Christian has always rested upon the return of Christ and the blessings of the- future life” (Titus 2:13 ; I Peter 1 :13).

“Set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” ( I Corinthians 15 :19).

Strengthening our Hope (Bible gives several, I’ll mention 3).

Make sure our hope really is in God (not government or my own abilities; not here & now; not health & wealth gospel)

(Hebrews 13:14 NIV)  For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

(1 Timothy 6:17 NIV)  Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

 (1 Peter 1:21 NIV)  Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

 Choose to trust God. 

(Romans 15:4 NIV)  For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

(Romans 15:13 NIV)  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

(Hebrews 10:23 NIV)  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Be willing to learn from our suffering (Rom. 5:3-4).  (Romans 5:3-4 NIV)  Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; {4} perseverance, character; and character, hope.

       Ironically, one of the things that often robs me of hope is intended to be a means of increasing our hope.  When we suffer, whether it is for our faith or not, it is a God-given opportunity for us to develop perseverance.  If we persevere, that affects our character. If our character becomes more like God’s, then we have all the more reason to hope. So, suffering gives us an opportunity to develop hope, but it isn’t automatic—we have to be willing to learn from it.

       Be diligent in doing good. (Hebrews 6:10-12 NIV)  God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. {11} We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. {12} We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

     Sum: we have a hope that Jesus is coming back to take us home, our hope has a solid basis: the resurrection of Jesus, & we can strengthen our hope by making sure it really is.

In the 1800s, when he was just a small boy, John Todd lost both of his parents.  A kind-hearted aunt raised him until he left home to study for the ministry.  Later on, this aunt became seriously ill, and in distress wrote Todd a letter.  She asked whether death would mean the end of everything, or could she hope for something beyond?  Here is the letter John Todd wrote in reply:

   “It is now 35 years since I, as a boy of six, was left quite alone in the world.  You sent me word you would give me a home and be a kind mother to me.  I have never forgotten the day I made the long journey to your house.  I can still recall my disappointment when, instead of coming for me yourself, you sent your servant, Caesar, to fetch me. 

   “I remember my tears and anxiety as, perched high on your horse and clinging tight to Caesar, I rode off to my new home.  Night fell before we finished the journey, and I became lonely and afraid.  “Do you think she’ll go to bed before we get there?” I asked Caesar.

   “Oh no!” he said reassuringly, “She’ll stay up for you.  When we get out of these woods, you’ll see her candle shining in the window.”

   “Presently we did ride out into the clearing, and there, sure enough, was your candle.  I remember you were waiting at the door, that you put your arms close about me—a tired and bewildered little boy.  You had a fire burning on the hearth, a hot supper waiting on the stove.  After supper you took me to my new room, heard me say my prayers, and then sat beside me till I fell asleep.

   “Some day soon God will send for you, to take you to your new home.  Don’t fear the summons, the strange journey, or the messenger of death.  God can be trusted to do as much for you as you were kind enough to do for me so many years ago.  At the end of the road you will find love and a welcome awaiting, and you will be safe in God’s care. “

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 16, 2024 in Church

 
← Older posts
Newer posts →