Daily Devotion

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Bringing Your Life Into Focus

Isaiah 6:1-7

"Your view of God is the most important view you have, and to the extent your view of God is distorted…to that extent your life will be out of focus." Is your view of God in focus or is it blurry or even smudged? As we examine the calling of the prophet Isaiah, we can pick up on a transition that begins to occur to a life that is out of focus. As the presence and power of God becomes real to us as individuals, our life begins to come into focus.

The initial change begins to take place as we:
1. Enter Into God’s Presence
- vv 1-4 - "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and His robe filled the temple. Seraphim were standing above Him; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; His glory fills the whole earth. The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke."
A. Understand the importance of that first phrase: "In the year that King Uzziah died"
1. Early in his kingship, Uzziah had experienced a revival within his spirit
a. Before he came to the throne, the nation of Israel had turned their hearts away from God and were following after worldly things
b. His view of God changed and he brought a godly change to the nation
c. But as his life wore on, he allowed the things of the world to once again come in and cloud his vision of God and the nation once again fell back into sin.
2. So in the year King Uzziah died, Israel was neck-deep in sin.
B. It’s important that we note that even in the midst of their sin, God hadn’t given up on them.
1. God raised up a great prophet by the name of Isaiah.
2. God gave this great prophet a view of Himself.
3. God hasn’t given up on you either.
C. God took Isaiah right into His presence.
1. He revealed His tremendous glory to him.
2. He revealed His awesome wonder to him.
3. He revealed His majesty and splendor to him.
4. He does the same for you and I if we will just say: "Here I am!"
Application: When the glory of God falls, His power and His presence become evident all around and your problems, your past, your vision completely changes. We need the glory of God to fall in order to take our distorted view of things and bring our lives back into focus.

As we enter into God’s presence:
2. Our Lives Begin to Change
- v 5 - "Isaiah said: Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts."
Upon viewing God’s presence, Isaiah’s whole outlook changes:
A. He recognizes his own sinful condition - Woes is me, I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips.
1. He cries out: "Oh my, I am nothing, I am a ruin."
2. God’s presence took Isaiah from being an absolute nobody to being one of the greatest men of God this world has ever known.
Application: A true vision of God and His holiness will always make us realize our own sinfulness and failure. It is easy for us to say: "Oh yes, I know I am a sinner," but when we truly come into the presence of God we recognize that we just can’t get away with such a broad and indefinite statement. Entering God’s presence brings what we really are into focus. We no longer have some kind of vague sense of sin in our lives. Rather, we recognize we are full of sin and we need a complete overhaul.
B. Upon viewing God’s presence, Isaiah’s whole outlook changes - He recognizes he is immersed in a sinful society - I live among a people of unclean lips.
1. Once we come to see our own sinful condition and then we allow God to cleanse us with the blood of Jesus, we then become able to see all the sinful things of this world.
2. Our world is corrupt - outside of God’s presence it seems just fine but inside of His presence, our view begins to clear up.
Application: Our concept of sin is formed by our idea or our view of God. If we take God lightly, we will take sin lightly. If our image of God is weak, we will sin without restraint. However, if we take God seriously, if we have a deep sense of His holiness and His power, and His majesty, we will take sin seriously; we will be quick to bow in humility, confessing our own inadequacy, our inability to measure up, our need to have the rags of sinfulness replaced by robes of righteousness. If we have no relationship, or only a superficial relationship, with Almighty God, then we will care not at all about how our sin hurts God and harms our relationship with Him. Whatever your view of God is, that is the extent of your concept of sin. "Your view of God is the most important view you have, and to the extent your view of God is distorted… to that extent your live is out of focus."

As our lives begin to change, we become willing to let God:
3. Remove the World’s Scum from our Eyes
- vv 6-7 - "Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said: Now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, and your sin is atoned for."
A. The glowing coal is still hot from a recent sacrifice.
1. It burns away the impurities of his mouth of his life and from his heart.
2. It makes him a clean vessel prepared for God’s service.
B. The scum of this world has distorted our view of God.
1. We can’t see His beauty clearly.
2. We can’t see His purity clearly.
3. We can’t see His holiness clearly.

Do you need a cleansing from God today? Is your view of Him distorted and unclear? Is your life out of focus? Remember King Uzziah? He led the nation of Israel to revival then he allowed his view of God to change. He began to loose focus and eventually died with his life in total disarray as well as the lives of the people God put him over.
Remember what I said: "Your view of God is the most important view you have, and to the extent your view of God is distorted…to that extent your life will be out of focus." You may be a new Christian; you may have been one for years. Neither is exempt from losing sight of just how holy and magnificent God really is. We must return to seeing God as holy and just. Your view of God is primary, for from it you gain your view of self, others, things, success, and all the issues of life. Your attitude towards growing as a Christian is shaped by what you believe of God. How you view death is directly connected to whether you believe God is dead, far away, or alive and near. The enemy of our souls is in the distortion business. Each day he finds new and creative ways to block and distort our view of God.

If your view of God is distorted now is the time to clear the smudge away!

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Friday, October 13, 2006

The Requirements of Following Jesus!

John 1:35-42

When it comes to sharing our faith, two things are true of us. First, we all desire to see our friends and loved ones come to know Jesus. The second is that we all feel somewhat at a loss about going about doing anything to see that happen. Bill Bright the late founder of Campus Crusade for Christ has said, “Millions of surveys which we have helped to take around the world indicate that approximately 98 percent of the Christians do not regularly introduce others to the Savior.” – [Bill Bright, president of Campus Crusade for Christ, quoted in Why Christians Sin, J. K. Johnston, Discovery House, 1992, p. 140. 9 www. bible.org/illus./witnessing- evangelism)]
When it comes to personal evangelism our biggest hurdle is fear. Fear that I might do more harm than good. Fear that I will not know what to say. Fear that I may invade someone’s privacy.” But perhaps the greatest fear, is the fear that I may fail.
Yet when we are faithful to share Jesus with others, He is responsible for the results. “You may or may not be aware of the story Edward Kimball, a Sunday school teacher. He had a young man in his class who was concern about and he determined in his heart to talk to him about Jesus. But just the thought of talking to this rather crude young man left him trembling in his boots. But he set out one afternoon to the shoe store where he worked. He was a timid and soft-spoken man the opposite of what you think of when you think of a bold evangelist. He went into the shop frightened and unsure whether he even had the courage to confront his young man with the gospel. When Kimball recalled this incident years later said, “I never could remember just what I said: something about Christ and his love and that was all.” He said that it was decidedly a “weak appeal.” But this young man gave his life to Jesus. This young man’s name was D. L. Moody, and he became a best known evangelist of his generation.”
There is another type of evangelism that I want to mention, some call it invitational evangelism. Any one can do this! Statistics tells us that, “70% to 90% of persons who join any church in America come through the influence of a friend, relative or acquaintance. No amount of theological expression from the pulpit can overcome a lack of invitational expression from the pew.” [Herb Miller. How To Build A Magnetic Church. (Nashville: Abington Press, 1987) p. 32 ]

I want to share three things about following Jesus from our text.

First, Following Jesus Required Honest Reflection (vv. 35-38)
Previously in our study of John’s gospel we learned that Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the World. Andrew’s personal encounter with Jesus took place the day after John had announced that Jesus was the “Lamb of God.” (John 1:29).
In verse thirty-five we read, “Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. (36) And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" (37) The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. (38) Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), "where are You staying?"
It is almost as if John the Baptist is presenting his disciples to Jesus and saying to them, “You are prepared. Now go. He is the One we have been waiting for.” What they heard must have struck a responsive chord, for immediately they followed Jesus. Andrew and his companion (who was probably John) were not satisfied hearing about Jesus they wanted a direct personal relationship with Him. They evidently were to shy to approach Jesus directly but followed Him at a distance. They may have been drawn initial to some extent by curiosity, but whatever it was, they must have been drawn on immediately by the question Jesus asked of them. When he saw them following him he turned and said to them, "What do you seek?" Those are the first words of Jesus in the Gospel of John and they are very remarkable. They are also the very first words Jesus uttered in his public ministry; and they come in the form of a question. These four words go right to the heart of life. In them Jesus asks the most profound question in anyone’s life: "What are you looking for?"
Jesus asks the question not because he desired to know, He already knew, he asks them that they might know their own hearts. Today He would ask, “Why did you come to this worship service today? What did you come seeking?” The question he asked, He also asks of all those who would follow Him. He makes us specify what we seek, if we don’t clearly understand what it is that we seek then how can we know when it has been given.
Their question in verse thirty-eight about where he was staying revealed that Andrew and John did not just want something from Him they wanted Him. They wanted to spend time with Him, to talk with Him about their lives, to learn from Him all that God had for their lives. They wanted more just a little religion in their lives, they wanted a relationship with Jesus.
Not Only Did Following Jesus Mean Honest Reflection but …..

Secondly, Following Jesus Requires Decisive Action. (v. 39)
“He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where He was staying, and with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).”
Jesus’ invitation in verse thirty-nine was “Come and See.” That is an invitation to investigate. "Come and find out.” Take your time; ask what you want; make up your own mind." What a tremendous response to the kind of men that John and Andrew are! They are men who need time, men who do not move quickly; they need to investigate. Our Lord is instantly responsive to that need. Men are still like that today, you cannot push them, or drive them; they need time to make up their minds. All they need is an invitation to investigate. The Lord’s gracious invitation still stands.
John evidently never forgot the day nor even the hour that he first spent time with Jesus. It was the dividing line between before John knew Jesus and after John knew Jesus. Is it not so in your life? If you are a Christian, your life is forever divided in your mind between the time before you knew Jesus and the time after you came to know Jesus. But as important an event as this obviously is in his life he does not tell us any details or even mention his own name but instead tells us only about Andrew.
One night of abiding with Jesus changed their lives. Soon afterwards He issued another invitation to them. "Come after me, and I will make you become fishers of men" (Mark 1:17), and they never went home again. First He invites us to come to see and know Him, then to come with Him to win others. There is also the wonderful invitation to come to Him for relief from our burdens and cares. "Come to Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). And note His promise to those who do accept His invitation: "the one that comes to Me I will by no means case out" (John 6:37).
Not only Does Following Jesus Require Decisive Action but…

Third, Following Jesus Results in Deliberate
Sharing. (vv. 40-42)
The result of spending time with Jesus was that Andrew realized that he had possession of information that was too good to keep to himself. So Andrew went immediately and found the person he loved most in the world, his brother, Simon and brought him to Jesus.
Verse forty, continues the story by telling us, “One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. (41) He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ)” It is significant that the first disciple to follow Jesus was the first to bring his own brother to Christ. In verse forty-one we are told, “He first found his own brother Simon.”
There are several possibilities in under-standing this verse, John could be saying that Andrew found his brother first “before doing anything else.” Or John could mean that Andrew found “his own brother first,” before he found anyone else. Or he could mean that Andrew was the “first to find his brother” - implying that others also reached their brothers, notable that John also brought his brother James to Jesus. But the point is that Andrew had something had he just had to share with his brother.
You don’t have to memorize some special plan. You don’t have to memorize the New Testament. You don’t have to be licensed or ordained or have the church’s permission. All you have to do is spend time with Jesus and then go and tell someone about it!
There can be no question that the most effective means of bringing people to Christ is one at a time, on an individual basis. Every time we come across Andrew in John’s gospel he is bringing someone to Jesus.
The second time Scripture mentions Andrew it is in connection with the feeding of the 5,000 recorded in John 6:5-13. It was Andrew who brought the boy with the five loaves and three fish to Jesus.
The third time Andrew is mentioned is in John 12:20-23. Here we are told that some Greeks sought out Philip and asked to see Jesus. Philip who didn’t know what to do, took them to Andrew, and Andrew in his usual style took them to Jesus.
Simon Peter’s experience is repeated by each individual who comes to Jesus. In verse forty-two we read, “And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone).”
Jesus first sees us as we are, “you are Simon” – the New Testament reveals that Simon was often impetuous, and highly unstable. But Jesus regards Simon not as he is, as he shall become, “but shall be called Cephas or Peter.” Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter which means “rock” which is the exact opposite of unstable Simon. Simon had a new relationship with Jesus through which would change his own personality. This experience is repeated over and over in our day. We come to the Lord “as we are.” He knows all about us, both our good and our bad qualities. He sees us not as we are, but as we can become if we allow Him to control our lives. God sees not only our past but our potential.

Something to think about!
In John chapter one it was Andrew brought Peter to Christ, making him the first home missionary, and in chapter six he brings some Greeks to Christ making him the first foreign missionary.
“Was Andrew an ordinary man? Yes, but he was man whose influence is abiding because of his love and loyalty to Christ. He was an ordinary man of average capacity; he was without outstanding gifts; but he was of sterling character. Though he had no earth-shaking achievements to his credit, through his faithful witness and self-effacing service he left his mark on succeeding ages. The world needs more such ordinary people (men).” [J. Oswald Sanders. Just Like Us: 21 Character Studies from the Bible. Chap 13- Andrew. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1978) p. 138]

I heard of this Game Warden who had a friend who would come back from fishing with hundreds of fish on ice. He was bewildered at how this man could catch so many fish every time he went out. One day when he was talking with his friend, he asked him, "How do you catch so many fish?" His friend said that he should accompany him the next time he went fishing and he would show him how. They set a date, and early one morning they made their way to the lake. The Game Warden noticed that his friend only had a small bag with him. He had no rod and reel, no tackle box. He wondered what he had in the bag. As they arrived in their boat at the right location on the lake, his friend reached into his bag and pulled out a stick of dynamite. He lit the dynamite and threw it into the water. The dynamite detonated in the water scores of stunned fish floated to the surface where the man scooped up and into the boat. His Game Warden friend exclaimed, "You can’t do that! I’m a Game Warden. It’s illegal to use dynamite to catch fish." The Game Warden was beside himself, and went on and on and on about how the man was breaking the law. The man calmly reached back into his sack, pulled out another stick of dynamite, lit the fuse, and handed it to the Game Warden, and said to him, "Are you going to sit there and talk, or are you going to fish?"
The real issue a simple one. We have been called to be “fishers of men” and while Christians do a lot of talking about fishing, what we really need to do is fish.

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Thursday, October 12, 2006

Pretty Leaves

Matthew 21:18-22

"Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."

A teacher was grading a science test at home that she had given to her elementary school class and was reading some of the answers to her husband as they sat in the study. The subject of the test was "The Human Body," and the first question the students had to answer was, "Name one of the major functions of the skin." One child wrote: "To keep people who look at you from throwing up."

I want us to look at this story of the fig tree tonight and wonder if God feels like throwing us up, or like Jesus says in Revelation 3:16, "…I will spue thee out of my mouth."

On the next morning, after the day of the Triumphal Entry, Jesus was on his way back into Jerusalem from Bethany. He had already cast out the moneychangers from the temple, healed the blind and the lame that came to Him, and had shut the mouths of the Scribes and the Chief Priest.

It had been a busy day because Jesus was all about business. He wasn’t here, in this earth, in the form of a man, to play games with the devil. He was here to defeat the devil and redeem the souls of men who were lost without God.

Don’t let us ever forget that Jesus’ number one passion is that lost souls will be saved. Too many churches today have lost sight of that all-important mission and have gone off on tangents to build huge social clubs and grand buildings as monuments to the men that build them, but they forget God’s first love – lost souls.

My friends, we can give people all the social interaction we want to but that won’t save them.
We can have “Wednesday night Live” dinners like one church I know of, who comes together in their midweek services, not to hear a Word from the Lord, or to see souls saved, but for a church social dinner and dancing in the gym. We can build a “sanctuary” that will seat 20,000 people and we can fill those seats if we just bring in some dazzling entertainment and big name starts that will come just to get the offering that is collected - but most of the people in that setting will still be sitting there after the Rapture of the church because they are leaning on a false belief that just being a part of the church will save them in the end.

That’s what Jesus saw when he looked at the people and nation that He had chosen to be a people separated unto Him. Israel wasn’t even close to living by the law and standards that God had placed upon them. They were pretty to look at with all their religiosity and priestly robes. They had every outward appearance of being a nation that was blessed; a nation after God’s own heart - but that was only on the outside.

Once you got past their priestly robes, their religious festivals and their religious traditions, you would find that they were a nation that was spiritually bankrupt and morally destitute.

I believe that’s what Jesus is pointing to when we read about His encounter with a single little fig tree by the side of the road.

On the way back into Jerusalem the very next morning, Jesus was hungry. His body longed for something to fill that void that he felt in his being. He needed something that would bring new strength, new vitality to his body, so that He could continue the work that was set before Him. The man, Jesus Christ, was hungry. His flesh needed nourishment.

But I believe it went much deeper than that. It wasn’t just the man, Jesus Christ, who was hungry – it was also the God, Jesus Christ, who was searching for something that would add to His glory and His majesty. God was looking for some fruit that He could call His own.

Luke 19:10, "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Jesus wasn’t just looking for figs – that was an object lesson in what He was really looking for – a people who were bearing fruit for the Kingdom of God.

I wonder how many of us, right here in the Louisiana District of the PCG, are what we appear to be? Are we bearing fruit or are we just covered by a bunch of pretty leaves that hides our nakedness and barrenness from the eyes of the world? Are we trying to hide from God and hope that He can’t see us for what we really are? Are we what we should be? Are we bearing the fruit that Jesus is looking for?

Matthew 21:19 says that, "…when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away."

Now I’m no Greek scholar, and I certainly can’t translate from the original Greek on the spot like Dr. Hunt, but in my studies for this message I ran across a tasty little tidbit from some of the materials that I studied.

It seems that there is a difference of opinion on what this verse says in that first line. Some translators tell us that it says, “when he say “one fig tree” in the way – one very special looking little fig tree that stood out among all the others.

I think that this is significant, simply because of the context of what Jesus saw as he walked the road between Bethany and Jerusalem. The very name of Bethany meant “house of early figs”.

I’ve heard it preached on a number of occasions that Jesus was unfair to this fig tree because they say that it was not the time of ripened figs. Well you can believe that Jesus was unfair if you want to but I prefer to believe that Jesus was without sin and without partiality, even when it comes to fig trees. Whatever Jesus was expecting should have been there and when it wasn’t, then that tree deserved the curse that was put upon it by our Lord.

Along the road from Bethany to Jerusalem there were a lot of fig trees. This road leads over the Mount of Olives where there were orchards of Olive Trees and Fig Trees. It was the time of the year when all of the fig trees are budding and putting forth leaves. But this little fig tree had better leaves than all the rest of the trees did. It seemed to stand out, stand alone, among all the trees in the orchard.

The Bible says that this tree was “in the way”. It was growing wild, by the side of the road, just doing its thing. It didn’t receive any real attention from those who tended the orchards because it was on the side of the road, not in the vineyard. It somehow managed to get its green leaves all on its own. It was putting forth a real showing of its outward appearance, but under the leaves, when Jesus pulled them back and exposed what it really was – it was nothing more than a fruitless tree, good for nothing but to look at.

I know a lot of people who are “in the way”. I know of churches that are “in the way”. I know people who won’t get out of the way, so Jesus can have His way, because they want their way. I know churches that attempt to build by doing things their way and not letting God have His way, because they are steeped in traditional ways. The fact is that all of them look pretty on the outside, but like that fig tree on the road, they only appear to be fruitful from “afar off”. When you get down close and examine them, peeling away the façade, you find that they are dead, dry and fruitless – lukewarm and waiting for Jesus to spit them out.

That’s the same crowd who will stand before the Judgment one day and say, Matthew 7:22-23, "… Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

Did they commit some great, heinous crime to deserve rejection from God? Did those who were cast away murder, steal, commit adultery, or some other terrible deed? The answer is “NO” - all they did was fail to bear fruit. Their outward appearance was green and beautiful. Their works were wonderful, but they did not bear the fruit of the Spirit unto salvation. They needed no only the profession of faith, but the possession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

What does Jesus see when He looks at us? When He casts an eye upon Victory Temple, Live Oak, Faith Fellowship, Trinity Fellowship, or Faith Tabernacle, what does He see? Does Jesus see some fig trees with so much beauty from afar off? Are we putting forth some pretty leaves for Jesus and for the world to see?

I think that all of us need to have some pretty leaves! We should look good from afar off, but we should also have some fruit behind those leaves too.

It’s always good to have some pretty green leaves showing the world that we are here. A special singing is a green leaf. Dinners and fellowship are green leaves. Nicely painted, well-kept churches are a green leaf. Nice pews, good music, good singing, preaching the Word and attractive sanctuaries are green leaves. There’s nothing wrong with the leaves.

Jesus didn’t curse the tree because of the pretty leaves. In fact, that’s what drew his attention. What he cursed was the lack of fruit. Because it bore no fruit, then it was forever denied the gift of life. It withered and died very quickly and what was left was nothing more than dead branches where life once flowed.

That’s what happened to Israel, God’s chosen people, and that’s what will happen to any church, or any Christian, who does not bear fruit for the Kingdom of God.

The problem is that too many people use the pretty leaves to cover up the ugly that lies beneath.

In Genesis 3:7, after Adam and Eve had sinned, "… the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." Is that what we are still trying to do – hide our shame of being fruitless behind the pretty leaves?

We can appear holy to those who look upon us, but if our hearts are filled with anger and bitterness, the pretty leaves won’t make a difference when we stand before the Lord.

We can wear all the right clothes, say all the right words, but if there is hatred, if there is envy, if there is strife in the heart, the pretty leaves will not stop God’s rejection.

Our churches can look nice on the outside, be clean on the inside, but if we have a judgmental spirit and a self-righteous attitude, the pretty leaves will soon fall away to expose what we really are.

We can come together, shake hands, hug necks and put on pretty leaves like we really love one another, but if it isn’t real, it won’t be long until the truth shines forth.

After the fig tree was “found out and cursed”, the disciples were amazed at how fast it died.

Let me tell you that I have seen this happen in the church and so have you. Once the pretty leaves are pushed back and we see the emptiness on the inside, it doesn’t take long for us to “cast aside” those who are not what they appear to be. No one likes a liar. No one wants to hang around someone who pretends to be something he is not.

It’s no wonder that so many of our churches aren’t filled and growing. When was the last time a soul was saved because we went out and evangelized the world? Most of our Pentecostal churches are growing, not from adding new fruit, but from trading figs from one tree to the next. That gives us a false belief that we are bearing the fruit that Jesus is looking for. I’m not talking about pruning the branches that are there already, or dressing them to make them grow better, or fertilizing the figs that are growing. I’m talking about getting a new fig on the branch that has never been a fig before -a New Convert, saved and born again.

Our problem is that we have become comfortable with just having the pretty leaves. In fact, I sometimes wonder if we really believe that there are lost souls out there who we can win to the Lord. Would we be in this nice setting called a “Fellowship Meeting"? If we really believed that Jesus was coming tomorrow, where would we be and what would we be doing right now? Meeting” among other Christians, looking like a bunch of pretty leaves, or would we be knocking down the door of our unsaved loved ones and friends, begging them to accept Jesus? What do we really believe? Do we really have the faith we claim to have, or is that too, just another pretty leaf? Are we filled with Holy Ghost and fire, or are those just pretty leaves too?

I don’t think its wrong to have Fellowship Meetings or any other kind of meetings. We need to come together and exhort one another. My point is – Where is the fruit? Where are the new figs that we should be bearing? Forget the pretty leaves – let’s bear some fruit!

Look at what Jesus says next in Matthew 21:21-22, "Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."

I believe that one of the greatest mountains that all of us must overcome is that mountain of fear and doubt when it comes to winning the lost for Jesus.

We doubt that we can do a good job at witnessing.
We doubt that anyone will hear.
We doubt that they will come to OUR CHURCH, even if we do win them to Christ – as if that part mattered at all!
We become comfortable with the faithful few, and then we try to make it all sound so righteous by saying, “Well, if God wants people in this church – He will send them.”

What happened to the command in Luke 14:23 to, "… Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled."

What’s even worse is when we say to ourselves, in our super-spiritual smug attitudes, “Well, we don’t want any lost people coming here. I’d rather have a church filled with Spirit-filled Christians than to have to tell them to put on some clothes, or put out the cigarette, or go get cleaned up before they come in.” If we think like that, then we have become more like the cursed, dead tree than pretty fig leaves!

We look at the mountain in front of us, that mountain that has stood there for a long time, that mountain of no growth, of slow growth, of negative growth, of stagnation in growth, and we wonder how we can overcome it!

Jesus said that if you will just have faith, and believe God at His Word, that you could curse that mountain, overcome the doubt and fear, and see you wildest dreams come true.

It’s all about bearing fruit, not the pretty leaves. The pretty leaves will come automatically as we bear the fruit. Let’s get busy making the church ready for the coming of the Lord. The best way to do that is to win souls that we may fill the yearning of the Lord’s heart to see His house full.

There is a story of one woman who was given a beautiful plant for a birthday gift from the local florist. She loved plants and the house was filled with them, but the one that she received this day was just beautiful. It was so green, and vibrant. It was a “Bird of Paradise” plant with gorgeous flowers already in bloom. She took that plant, and placed in just the right spot so that it would get the right amount of light. She watered it with care, and kept it fertilized with just the right amount, keeping watch over it like a mother hen. But there was a little problem. It never seemed to get any bigger, no matter how much she tried. It was only after fretting over that plant for several weeks that she realized it was made of silk. It was mighty pretty, but it wasn’t real. She became so frustrated and angry over being taken in, that she cast the plant into the wastebasket and never looked back.

That’s they way Jesus will be on the day that we must stand before Him if all we have is pretty leaves. It’s not about the pretty leaves – it’s all about bearing fruit for the Lord!

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Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Christian Boldness

Christian Boldness
Acts 1-22; 29-31

Do you ever find yourself wishing you had the courage to say what you really mean? Instead of toning down what you mean, saying what you think deep in your gut without censoring or sanitizing it to make it more palatable for people. Like when your wife is trying on something new to wear and says to you, “Honey, does this make me look fat?” Well…okay, maybe you shouldn’t be totally honest about that one! But what about when people say things like, “Anyone stupid enough to believe in that Jesus stuff is just ignorant and mindless.” Are we, by our silence, choosing to agree with people when they deride our faith? Or are we prepared with a truthful response that is neither vindictive nor weak-kneed, because of the boldness of Christ in us by way of his Holy Spirit?
Truth be known, I hear people say things that are silly or things that I disagree with and instead of just saying, “You know, I really disagree with that,” I say things like, “Well, I’m sure you’ve come to that conclusion for good reasons, but what if we look at it this way.” The reality is, sometimes people do say some really ridiculous things and maybe we should just be a little bolder in speaking the truth. But we don’t, because somewhere in the course of life we’ve learned the lesson that people don’t really want to be told what’s true, they want others either to agree with them or tell them what they want to hear.
Imagine for a moment, if Peter and John would have adopted our usual approach in their conflict with the Sanhedrin. What if they would have said, “You know, you’re right! We will NEVER speak the name of Jesus again!” The entire course of Christian history might have changed forever. In fact, we probably wouldn’t be together this morning or listening to this message because there wouldn’t be a church.
Our world of tolerance, which is simply a code word for blanket acceptance of people and their behavior, has left us with a church that no longer has the courage to speak the truth to the world. We are often better observed by the world being gutless, not gutsy and dangerous. Now, I’m not advocating that we all try to develop a mean streak, because that isn’t Christian boldness at all. But I am advocating that we embrace and make every attempt to embody the boldness that belongs to us in Christ.
Thankfully, Peter and John were empowered with the boldness of Christ as they stood up to the bullying tactics and threats of the religious council that day in court. They modeled for us the kind of courage and boldness that should characterize followers of Jesus Christ. They weren’t scared by the threats because they weren’t confronting their accusers in their flesh. Their boldness was a gift of the Holy Spirit and they refused to back down from speaking what they had seen and heard of Jesus.
Essentially, Peter and John were in trouble because the religious leaders of the day thought they got rid of Jesus, once and for all, when Pilate had him crucified. Now, all of a sudden, these two show up claiming to have healed a man by the power and authority of Jesus Christ. The Sanhedrin quickly caught wind of this healing and of Peter and John’s bold use of the name of Jesus because this miracle became the talk of the town.
Here’s your history lesson for the morning. The Sanhedrin was the ruling authority over matters of faith in the Jewish community. The buck stopped with them when it came to dealing with religious disputes. The threat of this Jesus talk spreading through the community again had them nervous and so they were convinced they had to do something to stop it. So they brought Peter and John into the council chambers, issued a stern public warning that they, or anyone else for that matter, must never speak the name of Jesus again.
Despite the warning, Peter and John could not stop speaking the name of Jesus, because that was their only option. He was the source of their authority and it was he who empowered them to boldly carry out the ministry to which they were charged. Their boldness in Christ was a gift they specifically prayed to receive and they responded by giving God their obedience and devotion first. They would not be threatened out of obedience to God no matter how stern the demand.
If we are going to embrace boldness in our Christian journey there are several important lessons we can learn from Peter and John’s example. First, the courage they embodied in carrying out the ministry to which they were called shows us the sign of boldness. The Bible tells us the religious leaders perceived that these were uneducated, ordinary men. They were astonished at their boldness and courage and concluded that they had been with Jesus.
When people look at us, do they come to the same conclusion? Do they see Jesus in what we say, how we act, in the courage we display when faced with persecution and difficulty? One of the signs of Christ is our lives is gutsy boldness. It means being people who say what we mean and mean what we say. It means our yes means yes and our no means no. It means people will know their honest questions will get honest answers. It means speaking the truth boldly because we have nothing to gain and everything to lose by toning it down and making it easier to swallow.
We speak the truth with boldness because we love them and they, like us, deserve to know the truth. This doesn’t give us an excuse to abuse people with our words or to make them feel guilty and ashamed. If the words we speak boldly are true and if our motive is genuinely love the result will be authentic transformation.
Do you know, loving Jesus and loving people with this kind of boldness is going to make you dangerous. You won’t get a reputation for being a soothsayer. People probably won’t come to you as often looking for an easy word because they know you’ll give them the truth. Being a disciple of Christ isn’t a safe thing. Every real disciple; every saint whose story is still being told had a razor sharp edge to them, not because they were harsh and unloving, but because they spoke the truth of what they had seen and heard of Jesus empowered by his boldness.
Peter and John stood out, not because of their education or pedigree, but because of their guts. People were attracted to the truthfulness of their message and it was opening their eyes and hearts to the power of Christ. Because of Peter and John’s boldness lives were being healed and hearts were being set free forever. When the power of Christ is unleashed in our lives the evidence, the sign of that power will be the boldness by which we live.
Which leads to the next lesson we learn from Peter and John. The source of their boldness was not connected to the strength of their personalities or intellect; it was the result of the presence and power of Jesus Christ alive in their hearts. Lest we not forget, the Peter who boldly confronted the Sanhedrin that day in court was the same Peter found looking for a place to hide just a few moments after Christ’s crucifixion, denying that he’d ever known him.
The only answer for the boldness evident in Peter and John is that Jesus Christ was its source. When the chips were down, Peter proved that he lacked the courage to stand up for the truth of what he believed. Only when he found confidence in who he was in Christ was his faith able to stand up to the fierce heat of persecution he was facing.
Their boldness reminds me of a quote from the founder of the Methodist movement, John Wesley. Wesley said, “Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the Kingdom of Heaven upon the Earth.” It would have been so easy for Peter and John to look for a way out or to go into hiding to avoid the threats of the Sanhedrin. But they didn’t. They stood toe to toe with their accusers because their boldness emerged from a source that could not fail them: Jesus Christ.
Their own human courage would have failed them and they would have caved under the pressure. But by operating in the boldness of Christ the early church was established and the Kingdom continues to advance today. When Jesus told Simon, who he renamed Peter, that he would be the rock upon which he would build his church he also promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against it.
Once upon a time, there lived a man named Clarence who had a pet frog named Felix. Clarence lived a modestly comfortable existence on what he earned working at the Wal-Mart, but he always dreamed of being rich.
"Felix!" he exclaimed one day, "We’re going to be rich! I’m going to teach you how to fly!"
Felix, of course, was terrified at the prospect: "I can’t fly, you idiot...
I’m a frog, not a canary!"
Clarence, disappointed at the initial reaction, told Felix: "That negative attitude of yours could be a real problem. I’m sending you to class."
So Felix went to a three day class and learned about problem solving, time management, and effective communication.... but nothing about flying.
On the first day of "flying lessons", Clarence could barely control his excitement (and Felix could barely control his bladder). Clarence explained that their apartment had 15 floors, and each day Felix would jump out of a window starting with the first floor eventually getting to the top floor.
After each jump, Felix would analyze how well he flew, isolate on the most effective flying techniques, and implement the improved process for the next flight. By the time they reached the top floor, Felix would surely be able to fly.
Felix pleaded for his life, but it fell on deaf ears. "He just doesn’t understand how important this is..." thought Clarence, "but I won’t let nay-sayers get in my way."
So, with that, Clarence opened the window and threw Felix out (who landed with a thud).
Next day (poised for his second flying lesson) Felix again begged not to be thrown out of the window. With that, Clarence opened his pocket guide to Managing More Effectively and showed Felix the part about how one must always expect resistance when implementing new programs.
And with that, he threw Felix out the window.(THUD)
On the third day (at the third floor) Felix tried a different ploy: stalling, he asked for a delay in the "project" until better weather would make flying conditions more favorable.
But Clarence was ready for him: he produced a timeline and pointed to the third milestone and asked, "You don’t want to slip the schedule do you?"
From his training, Felix knew that not jumping today would mean that he would have to jump TWICE tomorrow.... so he just said: "OK. Let’s go." And out the window he went.
Now this is not to say that Felix wasn’t trying his best. On the fifth day he flapped his feet madly in a vain attempt to fly. On the sixth day he tied a small red cape around his neck and tried to think "Superman" thoughts.
But try as he might, he couldn’t fly.
By the seventh day, Felix (accepting his fate) no longer begged for mercy.... he simply looked at Clarence and said: "You know you’re killing me, don’t you?"
Clarence pointed out that Felix’s performance so far had been less than exemplary, failing to meet any of the milestone goals he had set for him.
With that, Felix said quietly: "Shut up and open the window," and he leaped out, taking careful aim on the large jagged rock by the corner of the building.
And Felix went to that great lily pad in the sky.
Clarence was extremely upset, as his project had failed to meet a single goal that he set out to accomplish. Felix had not only failed to fly, he didn’t even learn how to steer his flight as he fell like a sack of cement.... nor did he improve his productivity when Clarence had told him to "Fall smarter, not harder."
The only thing left for Clarence to do was to analyze the process and try to determine where it had gone wrong.
After much thought, Clarence smiled and said:
"Next time...... I’m getting a smarter frog!"
p.s. Don’t you think Clarence should have noticed the frog could TALK???
Like Clarence, deciding he would teach Felix how to fly, we can’t just DECIDE to be bold. Our will to be bold will result in a boldness that will disintegrate with every attempt. We must learn to trust Jesus to empower us with the boldness necessary to stand our ground no matter what difficulty we’re facing. True boldness is born in our hearts when we realize just how much he loves us and when we learn to accept that we’re his and nothing can change that.
What is the answer to the boldness we need to live as Christ’s disciples? There’s a story about a Sunday-School teacher with a class full of little boys that should help us discover the answer to the boldness we seek. She posed a question to the boys saying, “What’s furry, gathers nuts, and lives in trees? The little boys thought for a moment and then she asked Tommy if he had an answer. “Well,” he said, “it sounds a lot like a squirrel, but its gotta’ be Jesus, ‘cause he’s the answer to everything around here!” Tommy was right. Jesus is the answer to the lack of boldness in our lives as disciples and he is the source out of which true boldness must flow into our hearts.
Let’s return to our text for a moment. As Peter and John were being questioned in front of the Sanhedrin they were asked to leave the council chambers so the leaders could discuss the case. Embarrassed that Peter and John weren’t running scared by their accusations and tactics, they wrestled with the question of what to do with them.
They knew popular opinion was against them doing anything harsh, but they knew they had to do something to keep news of the miracle healing from spreading too widely. The Sanhedrin’s reputation as authorities in the community was at stake here. Calling them in again, they issued this warning, commanding them, “not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:18, NIV).
The final lesson we learn from this text comes from Peter and John’s response to the Sanhedrin’s warning. “19But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. 20For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:19-20, NIV). The substance of their boldness was evident in their courageous defense of the truth of Christ. Like Peter and John, once we have been liberated to see the truth of Christ we can’t un-see it. When our boldness is in Christ it is founded in an unshakable truth giving substance to our faith.
For Peter and John, Jesus was the substance of their teaching and authority. It was Christ they preached and did so under the authority of the Holy Spirit. Since the substance of their message was Christ, so was Christ the stuff of their boldness. If they were preaching a man-made message, if they were pulling together the most popular philosophies of the day and teaching it in the public square, their message would have been without substance and they would have been unwilling to place their lives at risk to see that message spread.
The recent movie Big Fish is a fanciful story about a man from a rural town in Alabama who loves to tell stories as a way of entertaining his young son at bedtime.
One of Edward’s stories tells of a time when a giant invades Ashton, creating a panic among the townspeople. The residents fear for their lives as the monster eats their livestock and wreaks havoc in the town. Because Edward had an experience as a boy that allowed him to see he wouldn’t die until he was advanced in years, he volunteers to confront the giant on behalf of the town.
The scene opens with the town gathered around the mayor in the city square. The mayor motions for quiet as he speaks to the angry crowd.
"Calm down! Just calm down!"
One person protests, "Mr. Mayor, he ate an entire cornfield."
A little girl adds, "He ate my dog."
A third person pipes up, "If you’re not going to stop him, Mayor, we will."
The mayor responds, "I won’t have mob violence in this town. Has someone tried talking to him?"
"You can’t reason with him," another resident insists.
"He’s a monster!" still another chimes in.
A voice can be heard way back on the edge of the crowd. "I’ll do it!" Edward Bloom states confidently as he walks through the parting crowd toward the mayor. "I’ll talk to him and see if I can get him to move on."
The mayor replies, "Son, that creature could crush you without trying."
Edward counters, "Trust me. He’ll have to try."
We then see Edward walking toward a riverbank cave outside of town. He calls out to the giant, introducing himself. The giant repeatedly tells Edward to go away. But Edward persists in wanting to talk. At last, a shaggy-haired, ten-foot-tall giant appears. Edward bravely throws rocks at the intimidating creature.
We hear him explain in a voice over why he is willing to face danger: Armed with the foreknowledge of my own death, I knew the giant couldn’t kill me. All the same I preferred to keep my bones unbroken.
After boldly challenging the giant, Edward is able to befriend him, bringing peace to the town.
As believers, there are many giants we must face and unless Jesus is the substance, the stuff of our boldness, it will be elbows and heels all the way to the nearest hiding spot. But when Jesus is the substance of our boldness there isn’t a giant out there who can scare us off. And who knows, maybe we’ll befriend some giants in the process.
The key to unlocking the boldness of Christ in our lives is the same for us as it was for Peter and John and the other early believers: pray for it. The believers continued to pray for courage to face persecution. The Bible says, “31After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly” (Acts 4:31, NIV). The Sanhedrin’s hope that their warning would derail the spread of the gospel only seemed to backfire on them. Instead of discouraging the church, their efforts bolstered the community’s dependence on Christ and empowered them to pray for boldness in sharing the message of Christ.
Courage, it would seem, came no more easily to these earlier followers of Christ than it does for us. Peter and John had indeed shown great boldness before the Sanhedrin, but to maintain their courage they were absolutely dependant upon the Holy Spirit whose gift their boldness was. And they would need it, and we still need it today!

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Tuesday, October 10, 2006

"Doing What is Right"

2 Thessalonians 3:13-18

And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right. 14 If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. 15 Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. 16 Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. 17 I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

"Doing What is Right." Those are the last four words of verse 13. It’s a command, an encouragement, and an admonition rolled into one line.
These are the final six verses of Paul’s 2nd letter to the Thessalonians. The goal is encouragement to the end. In the closing verses, the great apostle is exhorting this beloved fledgling church in the how-to’s of the Christian life.
Christianity is lived out one Christian at a time. But it is also lived out simultaneously within a community of other believers. Those who seek to live a life pleasing to God are encouraged by the hope of His peace. Serve God individually; keep a watchful eye on one another; and enjoy the presence and peace of Jesus.

It’s Personal
And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.
Doing right is a personal matter. doing what is right lies squarely on the shoulder of the individual. No matter what others do, you know what you have to do. If you know the difference between right and wrong, then you know what you need to do to please the Lord. God makes this personal; the Bible says, And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right. He puts it in our lap.
This is similar to what we hear in Joshua, ...as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD. (Josh. 24:15) We may not be able to speak for others, but we can speak for ourselves. We may not answer for others, but we will answer for ourselves. Therefore our chief concern is that we are doing right. As I read this, I thought of some old gospel choruses that reflect this individual determination;
I’m going through, I’m going through,
I’ll pay the price no matter what others do...
...
Though none go with me, still I will follow...
Every Christian is judged on his individual service. We will all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, right by ourselves. No one will be there to run interference; none will offer defense. It will just be us and the record of all our deeds.
When we were little we tried to blame other kids for what we did wrong. My parents used to ask, "If they jumped off the bridge, would you jump off too?" or "If they stuck their head in the fire would you stick yours in too?" The lesson they were trying to get across was that we should act based on our own knowledge of right and wrong. That’s what God is saying here.
Doing right is not an option in the Christian life. James says, Anyone ... who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins. (Jam. 4:17)
It’s not like doing right is a luxury enjoyed only by the super-righteous. It is all our responsibility.
When Paul says we are to never tire of doing right, he hints of the effort required to please God. It isn’t always easy to do the right thing. Sometimes it means disagreeing with a friend. They might get angry with you if you refuse to cover for their sin. It may require you stand on principle. You could lose your employer’s approval. You may have to choose between money and integrity. Doing right could mean you have to stand up against a bully for someone else. Whatever the price of doing right will be repaid in the judgement. In the end, the cost of doing right will never be as high as the cost of doing wrong. Paul told the Galatians, Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Gal. 6:9) He says here, never tire of doing what is right.

Take Note
14 If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. 15 Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
Look around you. Observe the people you are associated with. Are they obedient to the Word of God? We are known by the company we keep. People in the community ask, "Doesn’t he go to ‘your’ church?" Sometimes that’s a good thing; sometimes you hang your head and admit he does. "Yeah, he’s one of ours."
Doing what is right is everyone’s business.
How do we treat disobedient children of God? Well, for starters, Paul says, don’t treat them like enemies. They’re Christians. They don’t hate the Gospel. They don’t despise the church. They don’t persecute believers. Their problem is there are too many things they don’t do, and not enough things they do. They don’t heed the Word. They don’t give the Bible proper place in their daily living. They are too slack in their walk. They believe. They just don’t put much of their faith into practice.
That brings us to the next step in our relationship with these lax Christians. We are not associate with him. Limit your interaction with him. Let them know why you don’t feel like you can hang around them a lot. We are to warn them as brothers. "Brother, I hate to mention it, but, I think I can help you with something..." Don’t just stop calling their house or inviting them over for weenie roasts. Bring the sin to their attention. Pray with them. Talk to them about what the Bible says concerning their sin. Give them a chance to change.
Be careful with this. Don’t become a Pharisee. Don’t let this go to your head and start acting like a Nazi spy. Don’t be overly critical of every little thing someone does. Paul is talking about people who don’t live by the Bible. They’re sinning Christians. Before you scold anyone, be sure they are transgressing against the commands of Scripture, not just your own personal standards.
(There is a whole teaching on this practice. The basic passages are Mt. 18, 1 Cor. 5, 2 Cor. 2.)
We do this so as not to endorse sinful behavior, and so as not to be drawn into sin. The goal is to restore others to full fellowship.

Peace in Troubled Times
16 Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.
The Thessalonians lived in troubled times. They faced the threat of persecution. They feared the danger of corrupt teaching. They knew the challenges of the Christian life. They struggled with one another, and they struggled with personal issues. It wasn’t any easier for them to be Christians than it is for us.
Isn’t that encouraging? If it wasn’t any easier for those who fleshed out Christianity in the first century, it isn’t any harder for us in the 21st century. You and I can enjoy the same peace they enjoyed. We, too, can have peace at all times.
That’s not pie-in-the-sky-theology; it’s a spiritual reality. Is it always easy? Never was. Is it possible? Always has been. How can we have peace in troubled times? We just need Jesus.
We need the peace Jesus gives. may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way.
We need to know His presence. We need to know He is near. The Lord be with all of you. We need to experience ancient truth in modern trials. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; ... (Ps. 23:4) Jesus is with me. Jesus is the Lord of peace. He is never separated from His peace. If Jesus is with me, then His peace is with me. If I do not feel His presence, or His peace, all I have to do is ask. He will not refuse me. He has promised to give you peace at all times and in every way.
I truly believe, in this context, our hope of peace is dependant on our doing what is right. A person with a Spirit-governed conscience cannot have peace while doing wrong. Bad deeds gnaw at them like mice on a cracker box. Paul’s prayer is that the Lord’s peace, like His presence, will attend those who keep His Word.

When it comes to these brothers who are disobedient to Scripture, who are lazy, busybodies (gossips), we are to identify them, reprove them, and love them.
Regarding putting faith to practice, Paul says, it’s a personal thing. Each of us is responsible for doing what is right. We are also obligated to observe how other members of the Christian community live, whether they keep the Scriptures or not. If not, we are to limit our association with them while trying to bring them into a godly life-style. The epistle closes with a prayer for the peace of Christ in every circumstance, and a benediction of grace upon us all. It is by His grace that we enjoy His peace.

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Monday, October 09, 2006

Jesus – The Lamb of God!

John 1:29-34

We are introduced to John the Baptist as he was preaching in the wilderness. This gospel account does not tell us as the Synoptic gospels do, that he was preaching a message of repentance and baptism. Nor are we told that the people are flocking out of the cities and villages to hear him. The religious leaders are deeply concerned over two things. First, they are concerned that John is undermining their authority, And secondly, they are worried that John the Baptism may stir the crowds into some action that cause the Romans to call in the soldiers to intervene.
This text deals with two crucial questions, “Who John is and Who Jesus is!”

First, Who is this one called “John the Baptist?” (vv. 19-28)
At some point the religious leadership became so concerned that they sent a delegation to question John. Beginning in verse nineteen they attempt to determine who John by asking him a series of five questions. “Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

•Question One: Who are you? (vv. 19-20)
“…“Who are you?”(20) He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” Implied is the question, “Are you the Messiah?” They are asking and John is denying that he is “the anointed one” – the long awaited Messiah of Israel.

•Question Two: Are you Elijah? (v. 21a)
“And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” This is not quite as easy a question to answer as it appears. They are asking if he is the bodily return of Elijah. Yet, Jesus says of John that he does fulfill the spirit of Elijah return in (Matt 11:14) “great and dreadful day of the Lord” prophesied in Micah (4:5). John says, “I am not Elijah returned in bodily form.”

•Question Three: Are you “that” prophet?(v. 21b) “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
They asked John if he was the prophet spoken of in Deut. 18:15-19, a prophet like Moses who they thought would accompany the Messiah. John simply said, No!The delegation pressed him with possible options but he persistently answered them in the negative, He is not the Messiah, not Elijah, not the prophet.

•Question Four: Then who are you?
(vv. 22-23) “Then they said to him, “Who are
you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” (23) He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’as the prophet Isaiah said.”
The religious delegation was not content to know who John was not. They wanted to know then who he was. But John’s purpose was never to talk about himself his job was to prepare the way for Jesus.

•Question Five: Why then are you baptizing? (vv. 25-26)
“And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” (26) John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. (27) It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”
John’s baptism is distressing to the Jewish leadership. Baptism is a well known practice in Judaism. It was a part of the process by which Gentile converts became a part of the Jewish religious system. What made John’s baptism distressing to the Jewish religious leaders was that it was not Gentiles who were being baptized but Jews. It was not Gentiles but Jewish who were being warned about their sins and their need for repentance. John was treating Jews as though they were lost sinners in need of salvation. The Jewish religious leaders were teaching that simply being Jewish and keeping the law was sufficient to save them. Yet John’s ministry and message, was that this was not so! It’s funny that people still are under the illusion that they do not need to repent, that somehow they are going to make it to heaven on their own goodness!
The delegation still wants to talk to John about himself and his ministry, but John’s ministry is all about magnifying Jesus.
Having dealt with Who John Is ….

Secondly, “Who Then Is Jesus?” (1:29-34)
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (30) This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’(31) I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.” (32) And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. (33) I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ (34) And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
When Jesus came toward John on “the next day” it is obviously not their first contact. In fact, John has already baptized Jesus. These are crucial events but John does not retell them because they have been given in some detail in the synoptic gospels and John assumes they are common knowledge among the people to whom he is writing. Instead John goes on to deal with amazing story of Jesus’ true identity being revealed by the Baptist.
John the Baptist declares, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’ (v. 29). The expression, “Lamb of God” is widely used in our hymns and in our worship, “But do we really understand what it means?” In this one sentence is the essence of the Christian message. It is difficult for western minds to fully appreciate the import of John’s words, but to the Jewish people of that day, these words were powerful in their significance.
Notice with me these four powerful truths about the Lamb of God!

•He Was The Lamb That Was Promised. (Gen 22:7-8)
For centuries Israel had known about the sacrificial lamb. They had learned about it first from the story of Abraham (Gen 22). God had commanded Abraham to take Isaac his only son up on the mountain to sacrifice him. Isaac had said, “… Look, the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering …” (Gen. 22:7–8). In presenting Jesus as the Lamb of God, John is telling us that Jesus is the fulfillment of the answer that Abraham had given to Isaac those many years ago. In one sense of the word, the question of the Old Testament was, “Where is the lamb?” John tells us that Jesus is the Promised Lamb.
Israel also knew the sacrificial lamb through the institution of the Passover. The Passover was given as a means of delivering his people from last plague, given to make Pharaoh release the Children of Israel from slavery in Egypt, The death of the first born would visit every house that did not have the blood applied to the doorpost. The blood of the lamb was the sign for the death angel to pass by.
Moreover, historically two lambs were sacrificed each day... one in the morning and one at twilight. Symbolically, the sins of the people were removed from the people and placed on the two animals. In every instance the sacrifices meant the death of an innocent substitute in the place of the one who had sinned. John tells us that all the lambs that were slain on Jewish altars down through the ages now find their fulfillment in Jesus. John marks him out when he said,. “Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.”

•He was the Lamb That Was Pictured.
Because the Passover feast was near it may well have afford John the perfect illustration to identify Jesus as the sin-bearing lamb of God. As he stood to present Jesus it may well be that there were flocks of lamb being driven up to Jerusalem to serve as sacrificial lambs in Jerusalem. The picture of Jesus as the Passover Lamb vividly illustrated that Jesus was able to deliver from death all those who believed in him.
Just as the blood of the Passover lamb saved those Jews who by faith applied the blood to the doorpost of their homes, those who believed in Jesus likewise are saved through his blood.

•He was the Lamb that was Provided.
John was telling the people that Jesus was to
be the sacrifice for their sins, God’s provision for man’s greatest need. Central to the good news is the fact that Jesus is the sin-bearer and that as “the Lamb of God” he has taken the sins of the whole world upon himself. Peter explained this way in (1 Peter 1:18-19) “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, (19) but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

•He is the Lamb that is to be Praised.
(Rev 5:12)
I read an illustration that I really struggled with whether or not to use. It is so graphic that it really gripped my heart. The story is told of a young man who worked “… in a slaughter house, putting to death cattle, hogs, chickens, turkeys; you name it he did it. One day there was an exceptional animal that was penned in the slaughter barn. A lamb. "Usually," my friend voiced, "I would just slit the throat of the beast and it would fall to the ground. I’ve never killed a lamb." The young man went on in detail. "I would usually have to chase down the animal to be killed. They were all very skittish; probably because of the smell of death and blood. But you know, this little lamb just walked right up to me and nudged my hand with his head. I stuck to my routine and grabbed under the chin of the lamb, put the knife to his throat, and pulled hard and swift.
The cut was deep, severing it’s throat, and blood sprayed everywhere. I let go of the animal and it staggered as if it were drunk. Wit it’s blood all over my hands, I dropped the knife in disbelief, as the next scene that I saw changed my life completely, as a Christian.
The lamb did not fall to it’s knees whisping for breath. The little lamb staggered back to me and nudged my bloody hand for the second time with his nose, and started to lick the blood from my hands! I could not believe what I was experiencing! I started to think of how Christ endured his suffering and painful death for me on Calvary. Something wet started splashing on the ground, and it was coming from my face. I was weeping. I quit that job, that day."
This young man realized what every Christian should be sobered by. The horrific events that took place during the crucifixion of Christ were far worse than we could ever imagine. We should always be humbled by the death of Christ.” [James Drake. “The Lamb of God” John 1:29 – www. sermoncentral]
And as the John writes in the book of Revelation 5:12 “the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world truly is worthy of our all our praise. He wrote, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

Conclusion
According to verse thirty-seven, when two of the disciples of John the Baptist heard him say, “look the Lamb of God” they immediately followed Jesus. May our study of this passage lead us to do the same.
So let me ask, “Have you ever accepted the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made with his blood on the cross of Calvary for you?” This is too important to miss.
The one thing that is emphasized about John the Baptist over and over is that he was above all a witness for Jesus Christ. You must understand this morning that if you are uncertain about your relationship to Christ you will never be worth anything as a witness! If you don’t know for sure why don’t you settle it today?
If you’re saved today, you know for sure that you have accepted Jesus as your personal savior, “How long has it been since you really considered what it cost Him to save you?”

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Sunday, October 08, 2006

The Big Picture Of God's Plan For You

Ephesians 1:3-12

When the apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Christians in Ephesus, that city had one major claim to fame. It was the site of the enormous temple of Artemis. This was a building known throughout the ancient world, and it was a great draw-card for tourists and pilgrims – it was a real money spinner.

In their temple worship, the Ephesians looked back in history and spoke of a meteorite that fell from the sky and was eventually shaped to form the idol which stood in the temple of Artemis.

Paul, on the other hand, looked back beyond history, into the origins of the universe. And right there at the beginning of time he saw God skilfully and purposefully planning for the coming of the church!

And like any great architect would, God has set our the specific materials he wants to go into his construction.

You see, you and your church matter so much to God that at the beginning of time, he commanded that certain things be done for you. And he did this because you – the church - are his construction, and you’re very special to him.

So what are the building materials God planned for you, his church?

Well first, you are so special to God that he planned one God for you to worship.

1. ONE GOD FOR YOU TO WORSHIP (v3)
Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
(Ephesians 1:3a CEV)

God is jealous for you – he’s not jealous of you – but he is jealous for you. God is not willing to share you with anyone! Take a moment for that truth to sink in.

What an amazing thing to be loved by God like that!

And it’s been this way right from the beginning. When God gave us the ten commandments he said ...

You shall not bow down to [idols] or worship them; for I the Lord your God, am a jealous God (Exodus 20:5a NIV).

Jealousy is often depicted in our day as an ugly emotion. But God’s jealousy for you is far from ugly.

You are his. He made you. You are precious to him. And he will pursue you with absolute zeal.

And the colour of God’s jealousy is not green, it’s red. God does not get possessively “green” with envy when you give him second place in your life. God turns “red” with protective anger. He is fiercely defensive of his relationship with you. Like a husband would be for his wife, or a wife for her husband. God is unwilling to share you with anyone.

And God’s jealousy is for your benefit. It is a blessing to be loved by a God who will guard you, and who will not tolerate any waywardness in case you get hurt.

You are so special to God that he has planned one God for you to worship. And he’s done this because it’s the only way you will gain true security and genuine confidence in life.

2. ONE WORLD FOR YOU TO LIVE IN (vv3-4a)
Next Paul says, You are so special to God that he has planned one world for you to live in.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-4a NIV)

The question is, how are you choosing to live in the world God has given you? And there are two ways.

a) The Way of our Society
Society says there is the “Welcome to the real world” way of living in God’s world. This is the dog eat dog world. This is the world where there is no God and you are just an animal and so am I – we’re just one link in the food chain.

Which reminds me, I once saw a sign in the window of a burger joint that said, “You didn’t claw your way to the top of the food chain just to eat Tofu!”

I guess that’s no surprise because this burger joint was in the middle of the most worldly place you could think of – in Beverly Hills where people are just dripping with the trappings of the world.

But this is the first, most basic way we can choose to live in the world God has given us – at an animalistic, material level.

b) The Way of the Spirit.
That’s the way of society. But then there’s the way of the Spirit. You see, Paul says here in Ephesians that ...

God ... has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (1:3)

What he means is simply this ... there is a realm of experience that is quite separate from this world.

It’s like this, our physical world is full of sound waves. You can’t see them, and in fact you could be totally unaware of them until you tuned into them with a radio. In the same way, the natural world is filled with the unseen, unknown world of the heavenlies – the Spiritual world.

And Paul says, that if you belong to Christ, this is the world you live in. The world where you have direct access to all the blessings of heaven – but right here and right now - - today. If you belong to Christ you exist physically here on earth – but spiritually you already have direct access to all the power and resources of heaven that you will ever need for living.

Millions of people – including some Christians – are not enjoying this world of spiritual blessing and empowerment for living, because they are not tuned into God’s wavelength.

But you are so special to God that he has planned one world for you to live in – and no matter where your physical presence may be in this world, if you believe and follow Christ, you have access to all the power of heaven for living.

3. ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN YOU (v6-8a)
The next thing God has commanded to be done for you is outlined in vv6-8. Let’s read them from your outline ...

God was very kind to us because of the Son he dearly loves,and so we should praise God. Christ sacrificed his life’s blood to set us free, which means that our sins are now forgiven. Christ did this because God was so kind to us (Ephesians 1:6-8a CEV).

What’s being said here is this ... you are so special to God that he has planned one mediator between you and himself.

And this is exactly what we will be celebrating in just a few weeks time at Easter. Paul says, “Christ sacrificed his life’s blood to set us free, which means that our sins are now forgiven.”

In 1927, in West Africa, a blood specimen was taken from a native man named Asibi, who was sick with yellow fever. A vaccine was made from the original strain of the virus obtained from this man. In fact, all the vaccine manufactured since 1927 derives from the original strain of virus obtained from this one man.

This vaccine has been carried down to the present day from one laboratory to another around the world, through repeated cultures and by enormous multiplication, it has offered immunity to yellow fever to millions of people in many countries.

The blood of this one man in the West Africa has been made available to serve the whole human race (www.sermoncentral.com).

Likewise, Christ sacrificed his life’s blood to set us free, which means that our sins can now be forgiven (v7).

You matter to God so much that he planned a mediator between you, your sin and a holy, sinless God. His name is Jesus. And because of Jesus you can live differently and you can overcome those sins that you keep repeating.

4. ONE PEOPLE TO BELONG TO (v5)
God also thinks you’re so special that he has planned one people for you to belong to.

Perhaps you saw Australian Story on TV this week. It was about Lizzie Spender – Barry Humphries’ wife. The story goes that one time when she was flying over a friend’s property in the Kimberly they spotted a herd of wild Brumbies. Her friend said, “Pick one and it’s yours” and Spender did just that. She picked one and photographed it from the air. Then she came up with a plan to catch it.

And this was no mean task on a property the size of Tasmania. So over 18 months they pulled together a team from around the world. A chopper pilot, musterers, a horse whisperer (to break it in), and a float driver to transport it.

They even built a brand new road 30 kms long to get the transport vehicles close to where they needed to be. And they built 1.5 kms of hesian covered fencing for the muster yard. All the stops were pulled out to catch this one horse to satisfy Spenders desire to own it.

In the end the horse was never caught and Lizzie Spender had to settle for two other horses from the herd.

Towards the end of the story she explained that she had no children of her own and that the depth of emotion she had for these horses was like that of a mother and her children.

That is quite a mammoth effort to catch one horse and give it a home. It reminded me of the lengths God was prepared to go for me – in order to bring me into his family. And he did the same for you. Verse 5 explains that ...

God was kind and decided that Christ would choose us to be God’s own adopted children (Ephesians 1:5)

You see, you’re so special to God that he has planned one people for you to belong to – his people. If you believe and follow Jesus then you are in God’s family – but it’s not because of any choice you made, it’s because he has first chosen you.

So revel in the fact that you are special to God; but as you do I want to encourage you to remember that every other Christian sitting here today is uniquely chosen by God too. There are no misfits in the body of Christ – each one in God’s family are uniquely chosen.

5. ONE MISSION TO COMPLETE (v9-12)
There’s just one more piece to fit in the big picture of God’s plan for you and we see it in vv10-12. Let’s go to the outline and read it ...

He set it all out before us in Christ, a long range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, and everything on planet earth. It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone (Ephesians 1:10-12 MSG)

The point here is this ... You are so special to God that he has planned one mission for you to complete.

God tells us here that his long range goal is to bring everything together under Christ – and God has a part for you to play in that great eternal plan.

First, if you are a Believer, then you are part of God’s “inner circle.” In other words, God has revealed to you the fact that this world that is falling apart – but that it will eventually be brought back together and unified under Christ.

He set it all out before us in Christ, a long range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him (Ephesians 1:10 MSG)

Second, carrying that message to the world is your mission in life. This is why are you alive. And the Lord confirms this in 2 Corinthians 5 ...

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).

So now we have a responsibility to see that we as a church and as individuals - that we are living up to God’s purpose for our lives and for our church.

In Ephesus, the tourists came and marvelled at the great temple of Artemis. Today it lays in ruins.

But God’s eternal plan is that people will marvel at his construction – the church. It’s God’s plan for people to see his building materials and gaze in awe. To stare in wonder at the one God he has planned for you to worship, the one world he has planned for you to live in the one mediator he has planned between you and himself, the one people he has planned for you to belong to and the one mission he has planned for you to complete.

God’s message to you today is that you have been chosen to be a part of his eternal plan. And that he has done this so that the earth may hear his voice through you, in your personal life and in your church.

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