2 Corinthians 12:1-10 [12:1]I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. [2]I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. [3]And I know that this man was caught up into paradise--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows-- [4]and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. [5]On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. [6]Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. [7]So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. [8]Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. [9]But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. [10]For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (ESV)

So much of so-called Christianity in modern America has taken essential Biblical Christianity and stood it on its head and we don’t even know it—even for the most part in the church. Most of what we call Christianity is so mixed up with the pursuit of the American dream that we cannot distinguish one from the other and in fact believe that it is our Christian commitment that enhances if not enables our realization of the American dream. Seldom do we think that the American dream of success as defined by the accumulation of money, the acquisition of material possessions and the active involvement of the pursuit of what brings us pleasure is diametrically posed to everything the Bible says about life in the Kingdom of God lived out under the sovereignty of God in submission to His authority. We have succeeded in mixing the two so thoroughly that we have created a new concoction that is clearly not Christian as that term is defined in Scripture but it works so well in our culture that we find ourselves defining what is Christian in ways that do not conform at all to the Bible and we do not know it. We live with an understanding that there is always and answer for our questions, there is always a solution to our problems, there is always healing for our diseases and there is always help for our hurts—otherwise of what use is God to us in getting us to the good life in the good land that He promised. Such a view requires us to trash texts like, “all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” or “count it all joy when you fall into various trials” or the words of Jesus, “In the world you will have tribulation and the world will hate you because of the Gospel and will drag you into the courtroom because of your commitment to Christ.” We have created the kind of Christianity that does not know how to cope or what to do when we find ourselves in the pit of despair or the slough of despond and there seems to be no way out.

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Mark 12:18-34 [18]And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, [19]"Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. [20]There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. [21]And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. [22]And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. [23]In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife." [24]Jesus said to them, "Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? [25]For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. [26]And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? [27]He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong." [28]And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the most important of all?" [29]Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. [30]And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' [31]The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." [32]And the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. [33]And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." [34]And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions. (ESV)

a message by youth Pastor Mike Godfrey

A good friend in our church has sent me a facebook message about a project that he is working on.  We both were waiting for word from one of our IMB Missionaries about how this project was going to work in actuality and we had not heard frankly fast enough for me.  My friend on this end is eager to go and get to work on the task; I am anxious that it is all going to work so I sent back in reply to his facebook message that the missionary is prone to procrastinate and has to be kept in check by his wife in order to stay on task.  Words wound.  They do.  “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is a lie.  Words do sear the soul.  Words fitly spoken are like apples of gold, it is true.  Well, my little indiscretion with words went straight to my friend the missionary.  How is that for putting your foot firmly in your mouth?  There it was and he is reading it.  He wasn’t laughing, I don’t think!  He called me and confronted me.

My first words:  “you got what . . . .”  here is where you see my heels protruding from my mouth and this preacher who has been given the gift of the words had done.  My friend had been used of God to teach me a huge lesson about speaking the truth in love.  I was overwhelmed by both guilt and shame.  I had sinned against my brother and this man who mimics Jesus to me fare more than I ever do the same to him had done it in my life again.  He is so gracious and loving, so caring and kind; so full of great joy and genuine laughter.  We worked through the initial phases of healing agreeing that God would use this to strengthen our relationship as brothers and friends and colleagues in ministry.

My mother would have washed my mouth out with soap; lava to be exact or worse.  Ivory always made too many bubbles and tasted far too good for her taste.  God just let my shame wash over me for awhile while the guilt was taking its toll, and then came the cleansing of grace.  If we confess our sins . . . .  Thank you God for a wonderful lesson and I pray that as I hit the “publish” button for this post that it will find its way today to somebody who needs like me to be more responsible with their words and to value more deeply the meaning of friendship.  Thank you God for catching me in my sin; and thank you God for the majestic glory of  Your great grace.

I hear people say to me:  we just want what God wants.  We just want to do what God wants us to do.  Well, I am a believer and a pastor and I want that too.  But how do we know?  This is where it gets sticky to me.  I actually believe from some that say the above words to me that they believe that if we pray hard enough and listen long enough that God will speak on every issue in a way that is crystal clear.  We will know.  And this includes all kinds of issues.  For example, our church selects deacons by having the church nominate men for the office and then we have a selection team that prays over the list of names and works until we can come to a consensus of the number of men that we need.  We do not meet to discuss these names nor do we examine their credentials.  We pray.  Now according to the approach outlined above, it would seem to me that if God speak directly in this way that the seven members of the selection team praying over the deacons should come to the same names for the number of men needed.  And it is marvelous how this system works but I have never seen it where all seven on the selection team came to the exact same number of names.  And that is in part because the list of names includes many men who meet the biblical qualifications for deacon.  So, how do we know for sure?  Recently we were dealing in our church with whether to stay with two services on Sunday morning or to go back to one.  Lots of factors were involved and our elders had to make a decision.  Does God speak directly about this kind of issue and if so, how do we explain that a group of godly men were at some level of absolutely harmonious disagreement about what to do.

I believe that God has spoken and what He says is what we know as the Bible.  This is God’s Word to us.  Now it is clear in the Word of God that the church should have elders and deacons.  That one is hard to miss, but it is not clear about how they are to be selected.  They could be appointed by the pastor or they could be selected by the congregation or some mix of these two.  Each church has to decide what is best for the church and most coherent with what Scripture teaches.  The Bible is clear further that the Lord’s Day is set aside for the worship of God and for rest from ordinary labor.  I do not think that the Bible addresses directly when that is to be done or for how long.  I do think that the Bible is clear about how worship is to be done and what is to be the center of worship.  Worship if for God and is directed to the glory of His Name; and the center of worship is to be the preaching/teaching of the Word of God.  But whether we worship once a Sunday for three to four hours or in the morning and evening is a decision that the leaders have to make with wisdom in the light of whom worship is for and what worship is to be.  I do not think no matter how long you pray or wait that God is going to say:  I want you to worship twice on Sunday morning at whatever time or I want you to have “x” number of deacons and elders and their names are.

So many matters we face even in the church are what is known as “adiaphera.”  They are matters about which the Bible does not make a distinction and about which the Bible does not speak in detail.  So how do we hear from God in these matters.  I believe we take seriously and study sincerely what the Bible says and then make decisions that are rooted in prayer and governed by wisdom.  Does this guarantee that we will not make mistakes?  NO.  But I am certain that we are making a serious mistake when we think that if we pray long enough and wait long enough, God will speak to us directly about who is to do what in the church and what time services or to be held or whatever matters or not directly addressed in Scripture.  Such an approach was the approach of Montanus who really did see himself as the Holy Spirit.  He wasn’t.  Neither are we.

Jeremiah 17:5-18 [5]Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. [6]He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. [7]"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. [8]He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit." [9]The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? [10]"I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds." [11]Like the partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch, so is he who gets riches but not by justice; in the midst of his days they will leave him, and at his end he will be a fool. [12]A glorious throne set on high from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. [13]O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water. [14]Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise. [15]Behold, they say to me, "Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come!" [16]I have not run away from being your shepherd, nor have I desired the day of sickness. You know what came out of my lips; it was before your face. [17]Be not a terror to me; you are my refuge in the day of disaster. [18]Let those be put to shame who persecute me, but let me not be put to shame; let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed; bring upon them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction!

We are launching a ministry on September 9 that has the potential to be used of God to reach a lot of hurting people in our community and the surrounding area.  The ministry is called “Celebrate Recovery.”  It was raised up by God out of Saddleback Church in California and has literally been used of God now all over the world.  Its focus is on people with hurts, habits and hang-ups who want to find a way to live fully and faithfully in the face of struggles that haunt us almost every day of our lives.  I want to spend the next three weeks with you as we are now at a convenient break away point in our study of Ephesians and address three issues with which some of you in our family struggle.  It will help you I hope understand some of what we are seeking God for as we launch this ministry.  These series of three sermons may in fact help you decide to tear away your masks and give up your game of pretend and join a group of people whose very presence in the room screams:  “we are sinners in need of grace of God because we struggle with these hurts, habits and hang-ups.”   I could address sexual abuse issues or eating disorder issues or one of my own which is the fear of man or anger issues or pride issues but I have chosen for the next three weeks to address the issues of addiction, depression, and codependency.

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Baptist polity in the Southern Baptist Convention is congregational which is understood by most Baptist congregations as democratic or majority rule.  Now it is true historically that the polity of SBC churches is congregational but it became democratic only at the end of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century.  I struggled with this method of doing church business from my first involvements with the church when I was seventeen.  My first struggles were not biblical and theological but practical.  I watched my home church invest more energy and time and create more conflict in a “church conference” than in anything I had ever seen.  I watched young people and young adults observe the behavior of these so-called “christian” people and walk away from the church.  I am absolutely convinced that more people have walked away from SBC churches never to return because of something that happened in a church conference.  And can I be so bold as to say that I fully understand that.  I was next bothered by our polity because it is so impractical.  It just doesn’t work.  There is no way to do the business of the church when everything is up for discussion and vote.  And then I turned bitter over our polity when I realized that it was hypocritical.  I began after about five years as a pastor to recognize that the majority vote was a manipulated vote by the powers that be that “ran” the church and that I as a pastor was not the leader–I was not given that choice–and had no real voice.  As one well-intentioned deacon told me, “you boys comes and go every few years and we are here to stay so we decide how she goes.”  Honest.  Hypocritical.  Heretical.  But my struggle with our polity took wings of glorious flight when I had enough Bible and history under my belt to see clearly that our polity is not biblical at all and is not even historical.

Congregational government of a church by democratic process emerged after the turn of the twentieth century.  Are you ready for this:  it did not even exist until then.  It is so foreign to what is so faithfully taught in Scripture that only an apostate church would entertain such a notion or in the case of the emerging SBC powerful men in powerful places who could only usurp elder rule in our Baptist churches by overthrowing the entire system thus creating a congregational democracy that they could manipulate toward their own ends.  And they did.  And their children and grandchildren still do in many churches in the south that are dying.  Actually I don’t believe they are dying; I believe many churches like this are dead and have been put to death by God and that in part because they are run (read thia as ruined) by men and not ruled in accordance with God’s Word.

The church is no business that is to be operated like the rest of the world. We are  not a secular institution.  We are the body of Christ and our business is to be witnesses for Jesus in the world so as to see people saved so that we can disciple them as devoted followers of Jesus.  We exist to worship God and to grow under the authority of His Word.  We then go into the world to see people come to know Him through what we share with them.  This is our business and the members of the church are to pursue this path as their business trusting the elders to set the proper biblical and spiritual context in which this can happen and the deacons to give such good oversight to the administrative matters including decision making about buildings and budgets that the membership is free to pursue our calling through the church and in the world not having to be bothered by those temporal matters of the church.  My conviction is on the one hand that God is raising up His kind of church in our day and that those who most want what used to be when the church gathered to discuss every detail of every decision want that because if they look closely at their lives, they are not really doing the business of the church in the world of every day.  Put simply those who focus on church business are not really doing the business of the church and those who are doing the business of the church are too busy with it to bother with church business.

I have spent the summer for the most part completely removed from television.  I have only seldom had the television on in my home this summer some due to being gone a lot but mostly due to a desire not to be dominated in any way by audio or visual media that is not Gospel Centered.  I walk on a treadmill every morning and listen mostly to good teaching from Alistair Begg, Sinclair Ferguson, Al Mohler. R.C. Sproul etc. but came to walk this morning realizing that I had heard everything that I currently have downloaded to my ipod.  So, I turned on FOX News.  Now you need to know that I don’t think FOX News is any more “fair or balanced” than any other news network. FOX leans heavily toward midstream to right wing Republican politics while CNN and the major networks lean toward midstream to left wing Democratic politics.  Both are biased to one or the other political party.  FOX just pretends that it isn’t but in the process only fools those who are so dominated by the Republican party that they are blinded to any alternative realities.  So, I was watching FOX and walking on the treadmill and saw the little teases about the girls from Victoria’s Secret but did not pay them or it much attention. I am not lying.  That is the truth.  I perked up when the interview began as I heard Steve or Brian ask them about the new brassiere line called “Incredible.”  And one of the girls said that it is brand new and called by that term because that is what the women were saying who were wearing these bras for the first time:  a bra line for every woman that is guaranteed to make women finally feel good about who they are.  It is right here that I turned off the television because I was mad.  How absolutely openly exploitative of women can we get!  How stupid do we think women are that  they would think that what they need is a new bra line from a soft porn company to make them feel better about themselves.

But then I got even madder.  Because I thought about men who maybe watching these girls and thinking thoughts about them that are exploitative; looking and lusting.  I thought of men who gawk at the soft porn catalogs from Victoria Secrets and walk in front of the store and drool over the skimpiness of the clothing line.  I thought of men who are watching women that way even in the church and men who are addicted to internet pornography and nobody seems to think much of that because it is mostly done privately and in secret.  These same men would not ever have a woman who is a friend because they would not know how to handle that kind of relationship because of where their eyes go and how their mind thinks whenever they look at a woman.  Yet, these kind of men are never chided for their lustful looks and their sexual stares unless they are caught on a pornographic site by their wives.  But a man who would have a friend who is a woman would be looked upon with suspicion and castigated as at best crude because of the way we think in terms of male/female relationships.  The end result is a man can look and lust after women and it is ok but if he connects with a woman and shares with her a simple and meaningful friendship, that is not ok.  And we see it that way because we see the latter as an affair.

An affair is a sexual fling between a man and woman fueled by intense emotional passion that usually lasts from three to six months.  It is not about love or care; it is about sex.  It carries with it an air of mystery, meetings between the man and woman are arranged in secrecy and the driving and determining force in the relationship is sex.  Now it is true in most affairs that the man and woman will convince each other WHILE HAVING SEX TOGETHER that it is not about sex.  Strange irony, isn’t it?  But that is the world of affairs.  Friendships are different.  They are conducted in the open and lived out in the light.  They are enjoyed in the context of full disclosure to spouses and strong relationships of accountability with boundaries clearly drawn and dangers fully recognized.  I have a woman who is like a sister to me. Anne knows it.  She and I talk from time to time less now than in the past.  She is like someone I have known all my life who is so different from me that we don’t really live in the same world, but we talk as if we have known each other all our lives.  She is my sister.  She knows it and I know it.  And I have a friend, a dear friend who is a woman.  Our pasts and our pain from the past are very similar.  It is like our hearts have been wounded at the same places and in the same ways.  We understand each others struggles in ways that others may not who have not been where we have been and encountered what we have encountered.  Anne knows and loves my friend and knows that what we share is not at all sexual but is in fact a real and genuine friendship.

Now this is what I know.  Some who read this kind of post would find that having a woman who is like a sister to me and a woman who is a real and genuine friend to me is odd and strange and why would you feel that?  Is it because it is wrong?  Or is it because of how you think men and women must always relate?  Some of the same people who would struggle with a man and woman being friends would also stand outside the Victoria Secrets store and drool or examine the soft porn publication from the same company and lust.  You could not imagine a relationship with a woman that was not looking lustfully.  And part of your problem if you are a man who is a believer is to see women who are believers in their place of first and fundamental importance to you:  your sister in Christ whose life is to be lived out to bring glory to God.  That is the foundation and the only foundation upon which these kinds of friendships can be formed and be fruitful.  We must recognize that the foundation for any and every relationship between believers is that we belong to Jesus.  He is Lord.  And our lives are to be lived out in honor to Him so as to advance His Kingdom and to bring glory to His Name.

And that is why I got mad this morning.  Here on what is supposed to be a conservative television channel, women were being exploited openly as exclusively sexual beings who need something to make them feel better about themselves, and this soft porn company has produced it in a bra.  Incredible.  It really is incredible.

Ephesians 3:14-21 [14]For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, [15]from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, [16]that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, [17]so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, [18]may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, [19]and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. [20]Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, [21]to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (ESV)

What do you do when you sense deeply in your soul that God is at work in the power of His Holy Spirit to move you increasingly toward holiness as you are being carried along by a growing passion to know, to love, and to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and you look around and see so few who are at that place?  What do you do?  The thought is scarry because it has the smell of pride and then to announce it seems very near arrogance, but the sense in your soul cannot be denied and the reality of the seen and sensed absence of that desire in the lives of so many leaves you feeling sad, but what do you do?  What do you do when you have a deep sense of what God is showing you in His Word about who is church is to be and what His church is to do, but you look around and you see so many in the church and too many churches who are trapped in their traditions, dominated by their denominations, and being ruined by a spirit of religion that causes people to say and do all the right things on Sunday and then live during the week in ways that produce real evidence that they have ever been with Jesus, what do you do?

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I believe that one of the greatest hindrances to the cause of the Gospel among conservative evangelicals in America is our very unbiblical notion about family.  We have made our biological families into the institution of first and foremost importance.  We will lay anything and everything down to make our marriages better and to enhance the lives of our children in every way from athletics to helping them along to the good way of life that is chasing the American dream.  We sacrifice everything and anything for our families; we call it love.  The Bible would call it idolatry.  Now hear me properly:  Anne and I do invest in our marriage and we want it to be for the glory of God all that it can be.  We want our marriage to be a good model for other marriages.  She is my best friend, my lover, my companion in ministry and above all my sister in Christ.  I love my children and grandchildren and want them to know that I love them but I must not love either Anne or other family even at the level that I am in love with God and His people.  He and they must be first so as to enable me to be focused and faithful in loving my family and everyone else with proper perspective.

I believe that being from a dysfunctional family helps me understand more fully the dynamics of the demands for love of the Lord Jesus Christ and His people as a matter of first importance than those who come from a moderately functional family.  Such families emphasize the togetherness of the biological family almost to the exclusion of other concerns.  A man and a woman from the same town meet and marry and give birth to children who are raised in an environment of daily contact with grandparents and other relatives.  Such a situation though not wrong in and of itself creates the kind of bond to one another that cannot be severed even by the Spirit of God.  People who are raised in this kind of setting would rather lose anything than a child moving away from the family.  It is simply understood that we grew up here (wherever that may be) and we are going to stay here together because that is what family does.   Well, that is not what my family did.  Family gatherings with everybody around the table is a strange event to me.  I don’t even today comprehend it fully even though I have seen it go on for years in Anne’s family.  I like it, don’t get me wrong; but I surely don’t live for it or derive life from it.  I don’t despise it or think it wrong but I surely would not make any real decisions based on its importance.  And part of that is because of it being absent from my background as a child.

The end result is that when I say that I want to go wherever God wants me to go and do whatever God wants me to do I mean that.  I have visited that again this week in Cleveland.  I love my family.  My wife and children and grandchildren and son-in-law are precious to me.  I just spent the whole day at Firestone Country Club with my son-in-law and it was so much fun.  We laughed.  We walked and walked.  We joked around with one another.  It was fun.  But I am not living for that.  I love my church family at FBC Waynesboro and every member of this precious family, but I am not living for that either.  I want to love them and serve them to the best of my ability but at the end of the day I want to be able to stand before God and say that when I heard You calling me to go and to do, I went and I did because I am owned by You and not my lesser loves and loyalties.  And I believe that one of those lesser loves and loyalties in America is the biological family.  Ask many missionaries on the field about the greatest hindrance to their going and serving and you will hear them say, “well, it was my parents or my spouse’s parents who could not believe that we were going to take their grandbabies to and you can fill in the name of whatever country.”  That is sad to me.  It is beyond sad.  It is tragic.  Jesus will not ask you at the end how faithful you were to your family but how faithful you were to Him and some will have to say, “I loved them more than you.”  I don’t want to be one of those.  Do you?

Romans 7 [7:1]Or do you not know, brothers--for I am speaking to those who know the law--that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? [2]For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. [3]Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. [4]Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. [5]For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. [6]But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. [7]What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." [8]But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. [9]I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. [10]The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. [11]For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. [12]So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. [13]Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. [14]For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. [15]For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. [16]Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. [17]So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. [18]For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. [19]For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. [20]Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. [21]So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. [22]For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, [23]but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. [24]Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? [25]Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. (ESV)

The Bible makes plain that God has born witness to Himself and to His identity as God in the creation of the world and in the conscience of humans.  We know enough God from the world that He has made to know that He is a God to be feared and a God to be thanked  The beauty of a sunrise evokes thanks while the blackness of of a storm shows us that this God is not one to toy with.  He is an immense creator.  God has also made us as His creation with a conscience that carries us along in life with a sense of what is right and what is wrong.  So, when a unredeemed sinner does what is wrong they know that they are doing what is wrong whether it is the abuse and exploitation of another human being or sexual immorality.  We know.  What keeps the unredeemed sinner going down the road of sin, however, has noting to do with the One against whom they have sinned.  They stay the course because of the absence of the Holy Spirit in their lives so that the only real caution light in their life is the fear of being caught and the consequences that will come.  Typically, the power of the flesh and the allurements of the world are so enticing that the unredeemed sinner goes down the road of sin.  What keeps him or her on that road without repentance is the enjoyment of fleshly indulgence and the way of life that comes with worldly enjoyments.

The believer is different.  The Holy Spirit lives in the believer and guides us to the Truth of God which is the Word of God to which the believer is committed and submitted or quite frankly he or she is not a believer.  Just bogus.  True believers love God’s Word and are committed to a life of consecration by its standard and directed by the Holy Spirit.  Now this does not mean that we do not do battle.  We are still fleshly beings who if we live in America, live in a very pagan environment.  The pull of both is powerful.  No one is immune from the flesh and the world.  The devil knows this truth better than we so he seeks to take us down this path while getting us to so focus on the satisfaction of the flesh or the gratification that comes from the world that we quench the Spirit  and fall headlong into sin.  In our struggle then with sin the key to the battle is our faithful focus on the Word of God and the worship of God in accordance with His Word which will always lead the believer to hate sin. Here is the difference.  The believer so desires to live in devotion to God that he hates sin.  Sin is high treason against our holy God.  It brings us shame.  It severs for a season out connection with our head, the Lord Jesus Christ.  We do not flee it.  We forsake it and all that is around it that has the smell or sense of sin.  We focus our hearts on our God and we live so in love with Him that we want our lives to be an offering of praise to Him.

Don’t ever think that you will not battle with sin and that every day of your life.  But know that the battle is not yours to win or lose.  It has been won for us through our Lord Jesus Christ.  If you have fallen, seek His grace.  If you have been faithful to Him and are being in a battle in your life, give Him praise and keep walking with your nose and heart in His Word and your face turned toward Him.  My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought; my sin not in part but the whole; is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more; praise the Lord, praise the Lord; O my soul.

Ephesians 3:14-21 [14]For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, [15]from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, [16]that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, [17]so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, [18]may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, [19]and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. [20]Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, [21]to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (ESV)

We live out our lives as the people of God in the Body of Christ between the exploitation of grace and the elimination of grace. We either say that we are not what we should be and never will be and take being as we are for granted with no real effort exerted in our striving for holiness or we labor every day burdened by the guilt that we just can’t get there. The truth is that we as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ engaged in worship and witness in and through this meeting house at 853 Liberty Street are not all that we should be and never will be, but that does not mean that we become passive in our approach to our becoming increasingly more and more of all that God desires for us to be. And the key to it all is a focus on God that comes to us through listening to His Word and lifting up our hearts to Him in prayer. John Stott writes, “Bible reading and prayer must go together. For it is in Scripture that God has disclosed His will and it is in prayer that we ask Him to do it.” And those two meet here in this prayer that closes the third chapter of Ephesians, a prayer that the late E.Y. Mullins calls “a prayer of marvelous sweep and elevation.”

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Ephesians 3:1-13 [3:1]For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles-- [2]assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, [3]how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. [4]When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, [5]which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. [6]This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. [7]Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. [8]To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, [9]and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, [10]so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. [11]This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, [12]in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. [13]So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. (ESV)

What is the real goal of this church?  What are we really after here at FBC Waynesboro?  Some might suggest that what we should be after is converts.  Bring them in from the field of sin; just get them to make a confession of faith in Jesus so we can baptize them and count them among the converted.  Some might suggest that we are after getting more and more people.  Some of you are old enough to remember the Andy Anderson Sunday School Growth Spiral for growing the church.  He developed a mathematical formula that based church growth on the number of people enrolled in Sunday School and taught that no church is going to consistently have in active involvement more than forty-five percent of those enrolled so that the more we enroll in Sunday School the more we will have in attendance just based on the math.  Is that our goal?  Is that why we are here?  Converts and counting noses.

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The other death and funeral will be far more difficult.   A young man of 23 years lost his life this past Sunday afternoon in a tragic motorcycle accident.  Sunday afternoon for his family turned from a family lunch to a family fatality.  A day of worship and relaxation turned quickly into an evening of trauma and tragedy.  Talk of tomorrow turned to wanting it not to come for with it come the dawning of the reality that the death was really real.  Many will come today to the funeral with the American question, “why?” and with the American anger as deep inside us we have redefined who we are and redefined by our own sinful standards who God is.  These redefinitions make days like today really difficult because so few can really hear the Truth of the Word of God.

We ask “why” and demand an answer because we have come to think in our culture that we have both a right to life and a right to live it as we please and we pile on top of that a perspective of God who is to do right as we define what right is and to be fair as we define what fair is so that when a young life is snuffed out we are are prone to pound God with our complaints that He is neither good nor fair.  He does not do right or good.  We assume that we are both and we deserve better.  The truth is that by nature we are neither good nor right and what we deserve as sinners is that we would not be given breath for a day let alone a number of months and years.  No one is good by nature and no one is innocent of sin before a holy God.  We are all sinners who rightly deserve the judgment of His wrath, so that any day or number of days that we are given is purely an offering of the power of His grace.  The question that must be asked and answered in the presence of what we call “tragedy” is not why this happened but what does it mean for us when we come face to face with our own mortality?  Will we keep on living as if life is about us and God owes us something or will we have out eyes opened to see that life is about Him and we owe Him everything; even our lives?  God, give us eyes to see that life is not at all about me; set us free from live being about what we want to do and give us grace that we would love and live for you; come to us we pray today, and give us what we need so that we can walk in your way and then we will know what questions to ask:  not why did this happen and in this way but what can we learn so as to live more fully for you each and every day?

Ephesians 2:14-22 [14]For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility [15]by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, [16]and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. [17]And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. [18]For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. [19]So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, [20]built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, [21]in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. [22]In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (ESV)

Jesus said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against her.”  It is not my intention this morning to dig into all the wonderful ground around this special text found in the Gospel of Matthew.  I only want us to listen to it as we return again this morning to Ephesians two to hear the assumption that is in the text and the announcement that Jesus makes.  The assumption is that when the church is that which Jesus is building that the gates of hell will seek to overcome her.  The word that Jesus uses depicts powers that are exceedingly strong that come against the church and seek to bring her down.  The image is of our enemy the devil releasing all the demons of darkness to destroy the church.  And we know from elsewhere in Scripture that the means for doing that are to bring to the church the allurements of the world and the enticements of the flesh.  Bring into the church the ways of the world so as to gratify the desires of the flesh and populate the church with enough people that see this as the way of God and the focus of the church is disrupted and the faithfulness of the church to who she is called to be is destroyed.  And without the announcement that Jesus makes, this assumption may cause us to stagger in fear and to walk about in doubt; but Jesus says, “I will build my church.”  This statement is about belonging.  Two first person pronouns leave us in complete clarity that the church is not my church or your church or our church:  the church belongs to Jesus.  This statement is about building.  It is oriented to the future.  It contains grace and glory.  Will build reminds us that we are not yet what we ought to be but God is at work in us and through us to make us all that He wants us to be.  Grace for our failures and our flaws and glory for our future.  And this statement is also all about our being the church.  Jesus is building His church.  The sentence begs the question, “what is His Church?”

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Matthew 5:17-20 [17]"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. [18]For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. [19]Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. [20]For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (ESV)

Youth Pastor Mike Godfrey shared the Word while Pastor Al was preaching at Open Hearts Church in Kiev , Ukraine

We are getting ready tomorrow morning to send out two mission teams.  There are nine people on one team and ten people on the other.  One is flying to the Ukraine to conduct an ESL camp the other is flying to England to work alongside a local church in outreach in the community.  The two teams together represent monetarily at least a forty thousand dollar investment in missions.  This is the context in which the Truth of God’s Word came to me.  We will gather tonight to pray over these teams and to send them out under the authority of the Word of God.  I never come to this kind of time without a genuine sense of excitement tainted only by the few (praise God that they are only a few and their number is decreasing) who still wonder why we go and do elsewhere when there is so much to do where we are.  Such an attitude always has the potential to evoke guilt and sympathy for such people who must love their community so much.  But this sentiment always comes from people whose lifestyles do not really reveal real love for the community; they are typically going wherever else they want to go and doing whatever else they want to do.  And the biblical truth that gets lost in all of this is that we are basically done with an area when that area has been saturated with the Gospel.  When we live and work in an area where churches, preachers, and Bibles are plentiful; we would be blind and deaf not to turn our attention elsewhere.  So, it is not that I hear this kind of concern as genuine gospel concern or that I pay attention to it as if it has any biblical legitimacy but is still causes me to pause and think about what I am hearing. Until now.

As I was preparing for our send off tonight, I began to be struck by the reality that the rule in the Bible is that God calls people who live in one place to go to another place and another people and that the logic of why he sends some one place and others another place can only be computed by Him.  Think about it.  Abram was what we would call a Gentile living in an area roughly equivalent to modern day Iraq and God called him to be the father of the faithful with primary focus on one people group, the habiru or Hebrews.  Why not call a habiru to lead the habiru?  Paul was as Jewish as one could be and he was called to go to the Gentiles.  Luke was a physician who was focused primarily on the poor while Matthew who would have been hated by the Jews wrote a Gospel with a distinctive Jewish focus.  Now it is true that when the Gadarene demoniac wanted to go with Jesus on His “mission” tour that Jesus sent him home to his own, but this is not the typical way.  Could it be that we have missed this reality in the Bible and that our focus on where we are is not because of the compassion born of the Holy Spiirt but the provincialism born of pride.  Here is what I know experientially:  God stretches me and grows me in relationship to Him much more when I am involved in the work of the Kingdom in unfamiliar territory than He ever does when I am on my home turf.  Could that be the reason He called Abram from his home?  Could that be the reason He calls us from ours?  Abram turned Abraham could not have lived out Genesis 22 [+/-]Genesis 22 [22:1]After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." [2]He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." [3]So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. [4]On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. [5]Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you." [6]And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. [7]And Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father!" And he said, "Here am I, my son." He said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" [8]Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together. [9]When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. [10]Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. [11]But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." [12]He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." [13]And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. [14]So Abraham called the name of that place, "The LORD will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided." [15]And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven [16]and said, "By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, [17]I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, [18]and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice." [19]So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba. [20]Now after these things it was told to Abraham, "Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: [21]Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, [22]Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel." [23](Bethuel fathered Rebekah.) These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother. [24]Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah. (ESV)
had He not obeyed the call of God in Genesis 12 [+/-]Genesis 12 [12:1]Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. [2]And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. [3]I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." [4]So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. [5]And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, [6]Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. [7]Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. [8]From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD. [9]And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb. [10]Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. [11]When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, "I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, [12]and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. [13]Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake." [14]When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. [15]And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. [16]And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. [17]But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. [18]So Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? [19]Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go." [20]And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had. (ESV)
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God is building His church and it consists of people from all kinds of backgrounds brought together on the basis of the blood of Jesus who by the power of the Holy Spirit gather to give praise to God and scatter to serve His purpose as we live to bring glory to His Name.  So when we find a true church, a real body of believers; we find people from all kinds of backgrounds who have been drawn together by the Holy Spirit on the basis of our common love for and loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ.  We genuinely love one another and care for one another and do not see one another in the way that the world has taught us to see one another.  We are black and white together.  We are rich and poor together.  We are north and south together.  We are those who have been here a long time and those just recently arrived together.  We are Americans and Europoeans and Africans and Australians and Canadiana and Asians together under our primary identity as the people of the livng God.  Really?  Really!  This is the kind of community that the Gospel creates and the Gospel sustains.  It is the kind of community that is in the world and is hated the world because the world does not organize this way.  The world organizes according to kind.  Try being a black man in our town and apply for membership in the local country club and you will quickly learn the difference between the church and the world, or will you learn the difference?

I wondered as I left church yesterday and made my way to Atlanta if what I said was true.  Is this right?  Satan was on the move against my heart.  So I popped into the CD player a sermon by Tony Evans who gave one of the best treatments of what the church is in the world that I have ever heard.  He said a lot that I had been trying to say but said it in a much more powerful way.  His words were painful to my heart and penetrated my soul.  I was convicted.  Deeply convicted.  I had not said too much.  I had not said nearly enough.  Evans argued that the church exists in the world to establish for the world the absolute standard of the Kingdom of God.  We are the outpost of heaven upon the earth and we are not to look like the world; we are to look like heaven.  And when we do, the world will despise us and seek to destroy us.  And he would argue that the world of our day does neither of these to any great extent not because the church has had such great influence on the world but because the world has had such great influence on the church.  We do not reflect Jesus to our culture; we too often reflect the culture and a Jesus that we have created to conform to our culture.  You know this Jesus, don’t you; He is the one who has come to save your soul, to make your body always whole, He is the Jesus who loves your prosperity, whose greatest joy is in delighting over all your toys, who in good time will take you to your heavenly home, but not before you have finished here with all your fun.  You know this Jesus, don’t you; He exists for you and all that you want to do.  He brings you treasure and is delighted in your pleasure, and when you have pain, it did not come from Him; So you pray in faith believing, and soon are delivered from suffering so that when the preacher would say that God uses suffering to make you holy, you reject that word totally because you know the Jesus that is for you; He lets you be all that you want to be and do all that you want to do.  Oh, you better get ready for your Fall, it is coming you know, because the Jesus in whom you are believing is no Jesus at all.  “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.”

Ephesians 2:14-22 [14]For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility [15]by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, [16]and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. [17]And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. [18]For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. [19]So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, [20]built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, [21]in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. [22]In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (ESV)

Mark Dever who is the pastor of the Capitol Hill Baptist Church located in the shadows of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. says, “the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is God’s evangelism plan.”  He means by that that if the church is what the Bible says it is and what Jesus came to redeem for Himself, then it stands in the midst of the world as a witness to the greatness of God and to the grace of God.  The church becomes the place in which and through which God displays His glory so as to both astound and attract the world.  And this is so because the church over all the earth is made up of very different and very diverse kinds of people whose priority purpose is to give praise to God in worship and to proclaim the truth of His saving grace throughout the earth.  This reality, Dever argues, should be reflected in every local body of believers.  To the extent that it is, the church is the church for which Jesus died and to which the world will be drawn.  The extent to which it isn’t means that the church will have to do something else to attract the world which usually means becoming like the world in order to attract the world.  And whenever and wherever this happens, the church ceases to be the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.  God has only one nation.  He is not the peculiar God of any one nation.  He is God over all the earth who through the sacrifice of His Son and by the power of His Spirit is raising up and redeeming His people over all the earth an bringing them out of every tribe, tongue, people and nation into the beautiful body of Christ, the church of the living God.

Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here!

John 9 [9:1]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 was born blind?" [3]Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. [4]We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. [5]As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." [6]Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud [7]and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. [8]The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?" [9]Some said, "It is he." Others said, "No, but he is like him." He kept saying, "I am the man." [10]So they said to him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" [11]He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed and received my sight." [12]They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know." [13]They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. [14]Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. [15]So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, "He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see." [16]Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" And there was a division among them. [17]So they said again to the blind man, "What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet." [18]The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight [19]and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" [20]His parents answered, "We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. [21]But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself." [22](His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) [23]Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him." [24]So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, "Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner." [25]He answered, "Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." [26]They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" [27]He answered them, "I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?" [28]And they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. [29]We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." [30]The man answered, "Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. [31]We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. [32]Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. [33]If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." [34]They answered him, "You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?" And they cast him out. [35]Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" [36]He answered, "And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?" [37]Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you." [38]He said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him. [39]Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind." [40]Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, "Are we also blind?" [41]Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains. (ESV)

John 9:18-23 [18]The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight [19]and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" [20]His parents answered, "We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. [21]But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself." [22](His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) [23]Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him." (ESV)

The first believers who were primarily Jewish began a pattern of worship and witness that kept them tied to their synagogues and to the Temple.  They observed the festivals including the Sabbath.  They practiced kosher regulations.  They lived as Jews who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah.  This way of living was by all indications the way they intended to keep on living.  Acts 15 [+/-]Acts 15 [15:1]But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." [2]And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. [3]So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. [4]When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. [5]But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, "It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses." [6]The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. [7]And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. [8]And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, [9]and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. [10]Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? [11]But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will." [12]And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. [13]After they finished speaking, James replied, "Brothers, listen to me. [14]Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. [15]And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, [16]"'After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, [17]that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things [18]known from of old.' [19]Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, [20]but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. [21]For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues." [22]Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, [23]with the following letter: "The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. [24]Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, [25]it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, [26]men who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. [27]We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. [28]For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: [29]that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell." [30]So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. [31]And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. [32]And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. [33]And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. [35]But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also. [36]And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are." [37]Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. [38]But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. [39]And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, [40]but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. [41]And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. (ESV)
represents a stage in this development so as to enable the Jewish Christians to accommodate themselves to the Gentile invasion.  But by the time we get to the incident recorded in Acts 9 [+/-]Acts 9 [9:1]But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest [2]and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. [3]Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. [4]And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" [5]And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. [6]But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." [7]The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. [8]Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. [9]And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. [10]Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." [11]And the Lord said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, [12]and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight." [13]But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. [14]And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name." [15]But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. [16]For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." [17]So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." [18]And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; [19]and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. [20]And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God." [21]And all who heard him were amazed and said, "Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?" [22]But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. [23]When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, [24]but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, [25]but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket. [26]And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. [27]But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. [28]So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. [29]And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him. [30]And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. [31]So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. [32]Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. [33]There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. [34]And Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed." And immediately he rose. [35]And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. [36]Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity. [37]In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. [38]Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, "Please come to us without delay." [39]So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. [40]But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, "Tabitha, arise." And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. [41]And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. [42]And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. [43]And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner. (ESV)
, the issue has become much more complex.  The Jewish leaders have now forced the hand of Jewish Christians:  you will not be able to continue in the Synagogue if you continue to confess that Jesus is the Messiah.  Now be assured that this was far more than a crisis over a confession.  This reached to the heart of every day life because the center of life for the Jewish family was the Synagogue.  Remove them from the Synagogue and the Jewish man is robbed of work and the Jewish family is robbed of their way of life.  This is big.  And it all boiled down to this choice:  You will be either a Jew or a Christian or to put it more plainly you will either be a Jewish believer or a believer who is Jewish; and they had to choose.

Do you see the connection?  If I say that I am an American believer then I am saying that my relationship to Jesus is defined first and foremost by my being an American.  I have placed something as wonderful as it is in front of my devotion to the Lordship of Jesus.  It happens.  It happens more than we know.  There are far too many professing beleievers who do not understand that the cross stands over and dominates the flag so taht the flag and the cross do not occupy the same system.  The flag as wonderful as it is, is the ensign of one nation on the earth; the cross stands over all the world as the only way to salvation.  The flag represents a society of cititizens; the cross represents the people of God in every land who are seeking to serve the One who died for them that we might live for Him.  The right way to understand who I am is that I am a beleiver in the Lord Jesus Christ who has been given through providence the good grace of living in America.  I am grateful to live in this land but as a believer I am not locked into this land.  I will wave the red, white and blue and do so with emotion but at the end of the day I wll stand at the foot of the cross and lift up His Glory because it is His grace that gives me my identity.  I am a believer who lives in America; I am not an American Believer.

You see, I live in a place where nobody who dies is lost.  Now I know that that is not true.  There are far more lost people than saved people.  Take the average population of a small town like Waynesboro and only a small percentage of people are ever in church on the Lord’s Day, an even smaller percentage on the Lord’s Day evening and not even all of them belong to Jesus.  So, the larger percentage of the population in any town in America is lost.  That ought to break our hearts and drive us to our knees.  It ought to incite a revolution of the release of the Gospel through our lives and lips, but it doesn’t.  It doesn’t because particularly in the south most everybody who dies is considered to be in heaven when they die.  Now don’t get me wrong.  Hear me:  this dear saint who died yesterday is not in heaven because she was faithful to Jesus.  That would be salvation by works.  The ground of her salvation was for her and is for me and you the grace of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  But the evidence of that life changing grace is a life lived in and through the church for the glory of God in a growing sanctification as seen in a deepening desire to obey God and His Word.  That is who she was.  That is who anybody is who is truly born again.  We have been changed by the grace of God through the gospel, drawn into an active investment of our lives with other believers in the church in which and through which we are constantly growing in obedience to Him. “More like Jesus” is our song and the fleshing out of that is our reality.  But who believes that this is true?  Not many if you ask me when we gather for funerals.  We believe everything and anything but this which leaves people like me in a real dilemma.

Not too many years back I was asked to do the funeral for a man that was as pagan as any I had ever met.  He was a good man.  Most men in the south are that.  He did for others and gave to others.  But he was no child of God.  There was no evidence visible or otherwise of the work of the Gospel in his life.  Why I was asked to do his funeral was beyond me; but I agreed.  I had long since ceased to do eulogies.  Got really convicted about them because that is to stand in the presence of our greatest enemy and to exalt human beings.  Truth is that nothing matters anyway except that which extends the Kingdom of God which means if I can be so bold and blunt that for an unbeliever, death comes and leaves in its wake the reality that nothing mattered!  So, I knew what I would do that day:  I would proclaim the glorious Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that saves sinners.  It is what we need in the face of death.  It is what I need in the face of death. I was preceded to the platform that day by a man who proceeded to praise this man for his goodness.  I was at first deeply distressed but then realized that even he was grabbing for something that day.  But it was nothing because the Bible says that our own goodness that we produce is filthy rags.  So I stood that day to preach the Gospel.  Never before or since have I received such backlash.  One even suggested that I must have believed that a man that did as good as this man did did not go to heaven??   Why such anger?  I can tell you.  Because we live in a culture dominated by the devil who has deceived thousands upon thousands into believing the lie of universalism:  all good people go to heaven.

I still remain convinced that the Bible is true and that the way to life is narrow and few there be who find it and that many are indeed called but only a few are chosen.  The only way that we can continue to believe what we believe in the face of death in our own culture is to have come to the contorted conclusion that there are far more Americans in heaven than there are others from other nations and peoples.  Otherwise we must be wrong or we have to admit that the Bible is.  What would it take for us to be honest about people in the face of death?  I promise you this:  if we got honest we would then get serious about seeing people saved.  And we won’t really get serioius until God shows us what true salvation looks like and makes it clear that a true change of heart leads always to a real change of life without which and apart from which there has been no change at all.  Do we really believe that?

Ephesians 2:11-22 [11]Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands-- [12]remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. [13]But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. [14]For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility [15]by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, [16]and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. [17]And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. [18]For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. [19]So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, [20]built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, [21]in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. [22]In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (ESV)

What is it that constitutes the core values of your life? Where would you say is the essence of your identity? Is it ethnic/racial, national, cultural, denominational, theological – OR is the essence of your identity found “in Christ.”

Ephesians 2:1-10 [2:1]And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2]in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- [3]among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. [4]But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5]even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- [6]and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7]so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8]For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9]not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10]For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)

Three statements are made in Ephesians 2:1-10 [+/-]Ephesians 2:1-10 [2:1]And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2]in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- [3]among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. [4]But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5]even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- [6]and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7]so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8]For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9]not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10]For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)
that constitute the core of what it means to be a believer.  We have examined the first two statements and today I want us to tie together the first two with the third so as to see the portrait of a Christian.  I am using the word “portrait” intentionally since as we will see in just a few moments the final verses of Ephesians 2:1-10 [+/-]Ephesians 2:1-10 [2:1]And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2]in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- [3]among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. [4]But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5]even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- [6]and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7]so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8]For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9]not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10]For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)
are powerfully poetic.  The intention of these verses is not to give a definition of a Christian:  a Christian is a person who . . . .; the intention of these words is to paint a picture of what a person who is a believer looks like.  Everything in verses 1-10 is building toward this powerfully poetic presentation in verses 8-10.  So, let’s begin our examination of these verses by remembering the three statements.  The first is found in verses 1-3 and declares that we are born as sinners captured and controlled by sin living our lives in separation from God.  This does not mean that we are horrid people who do horrible things; it simply means that we are born dominated by a desire to be who we want to be and to do what we want to do wanting a “god” who will confirm us in our ways rather than radically changing our ways.  The second is found in verses 4-7 where we are told that God on the foundation of His great love invades our lives with His mercy and changes us by His grace.  We are dead and He makes us alive.  We are living for ourselves and He changes our hearts so that our intention is to live in obedience to Him.  We want what we want and His Holy Spirit births within us a desire to put to death so as to die to our own desires so that we can increasingly live in devotion to Him.  This leads us to the third statement which is that God conforms to the image of Jesus everyone whom He has changed.  The desires of the flesh are being put to death and the ways of the world are being rejected as God raises up a people who will  live for the praise of His name because they have a passion to fulfill His purpose.  These people form the church of the living God, the household of faith, the community of the redeemed, the family of God, the body of Christ.  And Paul paints for us here a portrait of this people.

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Ephesians 2:1-10 [2:1]And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2]in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- [3]among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. [4]But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5]even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- [6]and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7]so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8]For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9]not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10]For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)

Three views of the basic nature of humans have prevailed throughout history.  Only one of them is biblical while the other two are held by many who consider themselves to be people of the book.  It is no accident of history that the two that are not biblical have been in every period of history the most popular and the most prevalent while the one that is biblical has been put down as primitive and perverse.  One of the realities of every human being who is a sinner is that we want to see ourselves in our basic nature as being better and higher than we really are.  I want to begin the sermon this morning by setting the three views before us and asking that we think about them from the perspective of practical or applied theology.  What I mean that is that I want you to think about which one best describes your view in terms of how you actually live out your life in relationship to others for however we are living practically is really what we believe biblically and theologically.

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Ephesians 2:1-10 [2:1]And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2]in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- [3]among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. [4]But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5]even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- [6]and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7]so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8]For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9]not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10]For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)

Romans 3:9-26 [9]What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, [10]as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; [11]no one understands; no one seeks for God. [12]All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." [13]"Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips." [14]"Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness." [15]"Their feet are swift to shed blood; [16]in their paths are ruin and misery, [17]and the way of peace they have not known." [18]"There is no fear of God before their eyes." [19]Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. [20]For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. [21]But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it-- [22]the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: [23]for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [24]and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, [25]whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. [26]It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (ESV)

Titus 3:1-8 [3:1]Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, [2]to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. [3]For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. [4]But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, [5]he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, [6]whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, [7]so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. [8]The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. (ESV)

John 3 [3:1]Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. [2]This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." [3]Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." [4]Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" [5]Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. [6]That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. [7]Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' [8]The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." [9]Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" [10]Jesus answered him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? [11]Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. [12]If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? [13]No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. [14]And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, [15]that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. [16]"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17]For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. [18]Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. [19]And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. [20]For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. [21]But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God." [22]After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. [23]John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized [24](for John had not yet been put in prison). [25]Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification. [26]And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness--look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him." [27]John answered, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. [28]You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.' [29]The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. [30]He must increase, but I must decrease." [31]He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. [32]He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. [33]Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. [34]For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. [35]The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. [36]Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (ESV)

Now we must be careful here and I mean careful in being biblically sensitive.  One of the dangers that I face in my own ministry is to overemphasize the outcomes of sanctification to the exclusion of the operative work of the grace of God.  In other words, the last few sentences of the above paragraph become the “law of the Gospel.”  The upshot of that is that without intending it I begin to teach a works salvation when what I intend is to emphasize and underscore what I believe to be basic biblical truth:  there is no justification that does not lead to sanctification.  There is no real experience of the love of God that does not lead to love for God and His people.  But these things that are the inevitable expressions of the work of grace do not save us.  What saves us is the grace of God manifest in the Gospel of Jesus.  And I for one am so glad about that because of my inherent sinfulness and my penchant for acting out who I am as a sinner.  I can grieve the Holy Spirit and quench the Holy Spirit with the best of sinners.  So that if my salvation depends on a constantly ascending trajectory toward holiness, then I am in trouble.  It is up and own with me; what about you?  But here is the issue with me:  as a believer, I know when I have grieved the Holy Spirit.  I knew it this past week while on vacation in some small and some would say insignificant ways where I chose to live more like the world and was grieved afterward because I knew that I had grieved the Holy Spirit.

How many true beleivers do you know?  Get over Matthew 7 [+/-]Matthew 7 [7:1]"Judge not, that you be not judged. [2]For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. [3]Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? [4]Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? [5]You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. [6]"Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. [7]"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [8]For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. [9]Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? [10]Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? [11]If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! [12]"So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. [13]"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. [14]For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. [15]"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. [16]You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? [17]So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. [18]A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. [19]Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. [20]Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. [21]"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. [22]On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' [23]And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' [24]"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. [25]And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. [26]And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. [27]And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." [28]And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, [29]for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. (ESV)
which is a word about how true believers are to relate to one another:  Do not judge so that you will not be judged.  That text has nothing to do with us assessing ourselves and others whom we love in the light of what the Bible says about what it means to be true believers.  Let me tell you what I discover every time I start thinking about true believers in our culture:  there are fewer of them than we think.  Look at your family.  Look among your friends.  How many?  So, what are you going to do about it?  I can tell yout this that at least in our part of the world many who say they are, aren’t; and it would take a mighty act of God to change them.  But that is what God does best.

Ephesians 2:1-4 [2:1]And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2]in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- [3]among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. [4]But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, (ESV)

John Calvin opens his magnum opus, Institutes of the Christian Religion with these words, “nearly all wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts:  the knowledge of God and ourselves.”  Knowing ourselves so that to our own selves we can be true is not enough not only because it causes us to worship ourselves when we might think we are worshipping God but because we cannot ourselves apart from a knowledge of God.  Yet, knowing God both in the majesty of His holiness and the generosity of His grace is not full enough or faithful enough to Scripture apart from the knowledge of ourselves.  That is why this text along with Romans 3:10-26 [+/-]Romans 3:10-26 [10]as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; [11]no one understands; no one seeks for God. [12]All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." [13]"Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips." [14]"Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness." [15]"Their feet are swift to shed blood; [16]in their paths are ruin and misery, [17]and the way of peace they have not known." [18]"There is no fear of God before their eyes." [19]Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. [20]For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. [21]But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it-- [22]the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: [23]for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [24]and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, [25]whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. [26]It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (ESV)
may be for both the knowledge of ourselves and the knowledge of God the most important texts in the Bible.  This text teaches us three precious truths that we are going to examine one at a time:  We are born dead in our sins but God comes with His grace to save us through faith and then to form and fashion us so as to make us trophies of His grace who live our lives for Him and for the praise of His Name.  We are dead.  We are made alive.  And the life we are given is from God and for God and is not from us nor for us.  If God would open our eyes to see these precious truths then He would have shown us I believe what is the heart of who He is, how He works in saving sinners, and why He does it at all.

John Calvin opens his magnum opus, Institutes of the Christian Religion with these words, “nearly all wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts:  the knowledge of God and ourselves.”  Knowing ourselves so that to our own selves we can be true is not enough not only because it causes us to worship ourselves when we might think we are worshipping God but because we cannot ourselves apart from a knowledge of God.  Yet, knowing God both in the majesty of His holiness and the generosity of His grace is not full enough or faithful enough to Scripture apart from the knowledge of ourselves.  That is why this text along with Romans 3:10-26 [+/-]Romans 3:10-26 [10]as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; [11]no one understands; no one seeks for God. [12]All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." [13]"Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips." [14]"Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness." [15]"Their feet are swift to shed blood; [16]in their paths are ruin and misery, [17]and the way of peace they have not known." [18]"There is no fear of God before their eyes." [19]Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. [20]For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. [21]But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it-- [22]the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: [23]for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [24]and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, [25]whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. [26]It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (ESV)
may be for both the knowledge of ourselves and the knowledge of God the most important texts in the Bible.  This text teaches us three precious truths that we are going to examine one at a time:  We are born dead in our sins but God comes with His grace to save us through faith and then to form and fashion us so as to make us trophies of His grace who live our lives for Him and for the praise of His Name.  We are dead.  We are made alive.  And the life we are given is from God and for God and is not from us nor for us.  If God would open our eyes to see these precious truths then He would have shown us I believe what is the heart of who He is, how He works in saving sinners, and why He does it at all.

Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here!

Luke 7 [7:1]After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. [2]Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. [3]When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. [4]And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy to have you do this for him, [5]for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue." [6]And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. [7]Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. [8]For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." [9]When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." [10]And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well. [11]Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. [12]As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. [13]And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." [14]Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." [15]And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. [16]Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and "God has visited his people!" [17]And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country. [18]The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, [19]calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?" [20]And when the men had come to him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, 'Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?'" [21]In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. [22]And he answered them, "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. [23]And blessed is the one who is not offended by me." [24]When John's messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? [25]What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings' courts. [26]What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. [27]This is he of whom it is written, "'Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.' [28]I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." [29](When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, [30]but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.) [31]"To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? [32]They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, "'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.' [33]For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' [34]The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' [35]Yet wisdom is justified by all her children." [36]One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. [37]And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, [38]and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. [39]Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner." [40]And Jesus answering said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he answered, "Say it, Teacher." [41]"A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. [42]When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?" [43]Simon answered, "The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt." And he said to him, "You have judged rightly." [44]Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. [45]You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. [46]You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. [47]Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven--for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." [48]And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." [49]Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this, who even forgives sins?" [50]And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." (ESV)

Associate Pastor Don Veldboom shares his testimony of being called into the mission field to England, with 4 children, and reflects on God’s Word  to illustrate that all believers have received the Call to Go!

Well, this bundle of baby weighing it that night at 6 pounds and 4 ounces just turned thirty today.  She is still second to her Mom the most beautiful woman I know and she is still and will always be my little princess.  Someone bought for her shortly after her birth a little crocheted door hanger that says, “sh-h-h, Princess asleep.  I hung it on the door of her room.  it still hangs there.  I can’t move it and probably won’t.  I have watched God grow that little girl into a wonderful woman whose love for God and His glory is passionate and pervasive.  She lives and walks in the Spirit of God with a zeal for His glory.  She loves the Word of God and wants so much to know it because she knows that in knowing the Word of God we know Him.  She loves the people of God and shows it by her being actively involved in her church.  I some time talk with parents about their children going off to college and the children getting involved in church.  Call me strange, I just say it is biblical to believe that this is one of the ways that we can know where our children really are in relationship to God.  Those who are truly His find that finding a church when leaving home is a matter of both supreme and urgent importance; those who don’t belong to Him find it of  little value and thus show who they are in relationghip to God.  Haley without prompting from the time she left home until now has found finding and being actively involved in a church a matter of major importance so that from Ingleside in Macon to Warren in Augusta to Hudson in Ohio, she has not ceased to be a part of the church.  I love her because she is my daughter but what I love most about her are the evidences of the great grace of God that I see in her.

And it is His grace.  I would not dare say to you that she is who she is because of me or her mother.  We worked to give her what she needed spiritually.  Captured by our crazy culture we would both confess that we tried to give her to much of what was so unnecessary.  I see it as more unnecessary now than ever.  Like most parents who are captured by our culture I saw what we were doing as right and good when we were doing it.  I see now that our own daughter had more spiritual insight even at a young age than we did.  Let me give you one example.  When Haley was a preteen, Social was a big thing hhere in our town.  People spent lots of time, money, and energy on Social Inc.  We felt it was good and right.  We made Haley go.  She went in obedience to us and never with enthusiasm.  She would tell me how unnecessary it was and how it didn’t really mean anything.  I would see later than sooner how right she was and how wrong I was to make her go to something that had no eternal value.  She was showing even then the seeds of grace at work in her life.  Seeds that are producing so much fruit now,  I praise God for her and most of all for the work of God’s grace in and through her.  She is thirty today.  It does not seem possible but it is true.  Thank you God for your grace that has blessed me with such a beautiful display of your glory that I see so clearly in my daughter, my little princesss.

Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here!

I have made it a habit for several years now to pray through the Psalms several times a year.  It is part of what I do during my quiet time. I do believe firmly that we in America (and I say America only because it is the culture that I know best) have hijacked prayer for our own uses.  And just as one who hijacks an airliner is up to no good, so such hijacking of prayer does not produce good for either the glory of God or our own lives.  I see this both in small prayer groups and in large gatherings for prayer.  Our primary priority is not the praise of God and His glory or the concerns for the Gospel to reach every people group in the world.  Seldom do I hear us praying for specific people groups by name or parts of the world far removed from us, and we would almost be embarrassed to focus our prayers on lost people that we know. Most of our praying is intercessory prayer that pertains almost exclusively to those who are closest to us.  This kind of praying is not wrong. It is good and right, but it should never be the primary purpose nor the primary priority of prayer.  God through my wife has helped me to learn how to pray more effectively and one day out of the week I focus exclusively on petitionary or intercessory prayer but on other days God has me locked in to what I consider the larger concerns of the Kingdom of God.

This is the pattern of the Psalms.  The Psalms are dominated by the praise of God and even when pain is the basis for the prayer, the praise of God always pushes through to dominate the declarations of the one who is praying. Take Psalm 77 [+/-]Psalm 77 [77:1]I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. [2]In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. [3]When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah [4]You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. [5]I consider the days of old, the years long ago. [6]I said, "Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart." Then my spirit made a diligent search: [7]"Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable? [8]Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? [9]Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?" Selah [10]Then I said, "I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High." [11]I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. [12]I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. [13]Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? [14]You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples. [15]You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah [16]When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled. [17]The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; your arrows flashed on every side. [18]The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook. [19]Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen. [20]You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
for example. The Psalmist is dominated in the first eight verses with his problems and his pain. These issues in his life that are troubling him have taken him to the place where he is questioning God and then God presses in upon Him and brings him to the place of praise.  We see it in verse 10 of Psalm 77 [+/-]Psalm 77 [77:1]I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. [2]In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. [3]When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah [4]You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. [5]I consider the days of old, the years long ago. [6]I said, "Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart." Then my spirit made a diligent search: [7]"Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable? [8]Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? [9]Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?" Selah [10]Then I said, "I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High." [11]I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. [12]I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. [13]Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? [14]You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples. [15]You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah [16]When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled. [17]The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; your arrows flashed on every side. [18]The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook. [19]Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen. [20]You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
:  ”Then I said, ‘I will appeal to this,to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”  He has found his resting place.  His life has at this point found its lodging. His circumstances have located the compass.  He appeals to the length of the days of the Almighty, the strength of the way of the Almighty, and the identity of the Lord God Almighty as El Elyon, the supreme and sovereign God over all that is or will ever be whether in his life or His world.  And he turns from that place to spend the rest of the prayer praising God.

Are you in a hard place?  Start right now with Psalm One and listen, listen, listen.  You will figure before you get too far that the hard places are gifts from God that are only made harder because we focus our eyes on the wrong person and the wrong purpose. It is too easy for us in the tough times to turn our eyes toward ourselves and to wonder why we are in the place of misery.  And our tendency to do this so often and so quickly is why we need the Psalms so desperately.

I stood that hot Saturday in the midst of the fascinating sights and sounds of a Kenyan wedding to preach, “for this reason a man shall leave behind his father and his mother and give himself to his wife and the two together shall become one flesh.”  There are seven essential elements about marriage in this one little sentence.  It really says all that we need to know about marriage.  God gives it to us in Genesis and Jesus underscores in the Gospels and Paul punctuates it in his last letter to the church.  I preached this text that day somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Kenya.  And afterwards people came to me from Kenya and from Tanzania and from other places as well wanting a copy of the sermon.  ”We have needed to hear this,” they said; “our families need to hear this word from God.”  I was astounded.  I should not have been.  But it was true that what was true for me in doing marriage counseling in America was a most profound need in Kenya.

So this week I came to the Ukraine to teach about marriage.  I began the course after going through what the Old and New Testaments say about marriage by focusing on the marriage text and again I heard the same thing. Students wanted my notes. We need to hear this in our churches and we need to teach this in our churches.  We need to hear this Word from God.

All of this has caused me to think yet again about our addiction to contextualization in ways large and small.  We seem to think that there are some places that are so secularized or so marginalized that we have to sneak up on them with the Gospel.  We have to burrow in to the culture in order to bear witness to Jesus.  And in smaller ways we tend to think that there are some people who have been so blinded by the philosophies of the world that we have to get to know their system of seeing before we show them the Truth.  I say:  show them the truth of God by speaking the truth of God and the God who specializes in opening blind eyes will open their blind eyes and cause them to see.  Let’s stop apologizing for the Truth of God as if we have to make it compatible with culture.  Let’s speak its truth into every culture and watch God sovereignly superintend His Word to save sinners and to strengthen the church.  I know at least that His Word about marriage works in an out of the way place in Africa and a metroplex in Ukraine. It is transcultural because it is eternal and it will even work for you wherever you are.

Lamentations 3:19-40 [19]Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! [20]My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. [21]But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: [22]The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; [23]they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. [24]"The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." [25]The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. [26]It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. [27]It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. [28]Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; [29]let him put his mouth in the dust-- there may yet be hope; [30]let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults. [31]For the Lord will not cast off forever, [32]but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; [33]for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men. [34]To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth, [35]to deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High, [36]to subvert a man in his lawsuit, the Lord does not approve. [37]Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? [38]Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? [39]Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? [40]Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD!

Pastor Mike Godfrey shares a powerful message about the confidence and hope one has with Christ, even in the dark hours of the night.

I just finished a wonderful book on regeneration and justification.  A popular treatment of the subject, it will go down for me as the most simple and yet uncompromising treatment of these two subjects that I have ever read.  Any person who has any doubt about the work of God in our salvation quite apart from our efforts should read this book. It was a reminder to me that our natural rebellion against God includes our rejection of His Word about what it means to be saved. We simply want to have some “say so” in the process.  We really do love our control.

I am being blessed by two books by Paul Tripp.  The first is Broken Down House with the subtitle, “living productively in a world gone bad.”  Written in the rich folksy style for which Tripp is known, there are nuggets of gold on every page. His books wear out my highlighters and give me a headache, not from their depth though they are deep, but from my smacking my forehead with my hand and saying,”wow, why didn’t I see that?”  Let me give you one of those nuggets.  Tripp says that some of us if not most of us will live our whole lives in “houses” that are not what we want them to be but we can rest in God’s sovereignty as His children knowing that we are right where God wants us to be:  God is ruling through Christ and the rule of Christ is “comprehensive, personal, and redemptive.”  After establishing this reality biblically Tripp shows how the Bible bears witness to the truth that the fool is the one who wants to partner with God in His rule or wants to live as if he can affect the rule of God in the world.  And then since I am teaching a course on marriage and the family I brought along the just published book by Tripp, What Did You Expect? The book has just been released and I want to make a prediction:  pastors everywhere will be recommending this book as the book to read for every couple that comes either for premarital counseling or marriage counseling.  I will now have two:  Sacred Marriage and this book by Tripp.  Let me give you another nugget:  A marriage must be rightly focused vertically before it can function horizontally.  Isn’t that good?  And right?  This is the one that got me because I know it is so true and I see it all the time:  romantic love is not real love; it has to die before real love can come to life. Tripp puts it this way, “it is when attraction wanes, flaws show, and the dream dies that real love has its best opportunity to germinate and grow . . this is God’s plan but we struggle with God’s plan because at street level we don’t really want what God wants. We want what we want and we want God to deliver it.  But that is not the plan.  You see, God didn’t give us His grace to make our kingdoms work; He gave us His grace to invite us to a much, much better Kingdom.”  Ouch and thank you, Dr. Tripp.

One other for this first week here is a new book that is the first in a series of five on Jonathan Edwards the greatest theologian and most important philosopher and preacher in American history.  No one can begin to understand the shape of the church in America without having Edwards as a point of reference.  But he is so hard to read that the average person just quits after a few pages. This book and this series will provide immense help.  Written by Owen Strachan and Doug Sweeney the first in this series looks at Edwards as a lover of God.  And I think I will stop now so that I can read a little more about Edwards.  Fun, fun, fun.

My trip to Kiev began as a bummer.  I was scheduled to fly out of Columbia, SC on Sunday afternoon but was prevented by the volcano.  I drove to Columbia only to be turned around and sent home.  I spent Sunday night scheduling a new departure from Augusta, GA on Tuesday afternoon arriving in Kiev in time to teach two hours of my four hour class on Wednesday afternoon.  Here is where the adventure begins.  The plane flying from Atlanta to Paris (the only part of the trip that was totally uneventful was the trek from Augusta to Atlanta) was diverted from its flight pattern due to volcanic ash and arrived in Paris an hour behind. I had heard the horror stories about Charles DeGaule airport but did not know that I was about to add to the lore.  I found the terminal and gate from which my plane to Kiev was departing but had to get on a bus to get to the terminal and the bus was running late.  Imagine that?  I arrived at the gate only to see the plane with the doors closed.  I was too late.  I showed my boarding pass to the ticket agent but to no avail.  Here is where the Kingdom Adventure begins.  Three guys stood with me there watching that plane and I would quickly discover that one was from the Ukraine, one from Turkmenistan and one from Melbourne, FL.  The man from Melbourne whose name was Webber was pitching a fit.  He began to cry and to beg to be on the plane. He was making demands.  I finally reminded him that his behavior was not helping us get on the plane and it was time now for the four of us to stick together to get four seats on the next plane.

Now what happens next is marvelous.  I had been asking God for some time to slow me down and give me patience.  I knew that this gift was about to come or that I would be too stressed to be used of God to bless this man and the others. So I asked them all to go with me back to the terminal where Air France ran its operations and to stick together so that we could get seats on the next flight out to Kiev.  They followed as I led as if I knew what I was doing and we got in the line to get the tickets.  The first guy went alone to the ticket agent and was told that the flight was full. I was next and called the other two to go with me.  I told the guy that there were four of us and he immediately got us four flights on a plane that was supposed to be full. Imagine that.  We walked together to the gate and “hung out” as if we were a traveling team.  I sat beside Webber on the flight.

I pulled out a book to begin to read and laid my bookmarker on the empty seat between Weber and me.  I was given it by one of the students at Guido Training Institute.  On the one side it reads, “have you prayed about it?”  and on the other, “whatever you ask in my name, that will I do.”  He stopped my reading to help him fill out his customs form and then asked, “do you believe what is on that card?”  And without going into detail what emerged was a wonderful time of witnessing during which he began to weep and pour out his heart because he was on his way to Kiev to attend the funeral of a long time friend who had died suddenly, and my new friend was not only grieving but groping to find God in the midst of it all.  I shared the Gospel with Him and how I saw the hand of God at work in our pain.  He listened intently, thanked me; and then drifted off to sleep for the remaining ride to Kiev.  We all then walked through everything at Kiev together including the loss or our bags.

Imagine that.  God was at work and for me it was all about being able to share with this man in his pain on plane ride in the wrong plane at the right time. That opportunity was worth all the bother that happened to bring it about.  Off to teach for the first time during this stint in a place I love dearly.

So what has God been teaching me while grounded that is keeping me grounded.  Several key lessons have already emerged out of this experience the first two of which are just stunning to me.  Here is my normal response to an event like this one:  I would stand at the counter of whatever airline and assure them that if they just tried hard enough and worked at it more that they could find a way.  I would be persistent, impertinent, and fully frustrated with all of it showing in a full array of ugly pretending to be pious colors.  But even while yesterday standing at that counter after driving all the way to Columbia, SC, I was so patient and so full of contentment that I was shocked.  When I found out after an hour long telephone conversation with Jenny at Travelocity that everything was cancelled and that they would refund all of my money, I thanked her and had a nice conversation with her and then for another thirty minutes had a good talk with the guys at the United Counter.  It was definitely not busy yesterday at the Columbia airport.  Nice airport, though; I enjoyed my time there.  Parked in the long-term parking area and paid five dollars for my just under two hour stay.  That’s a bargain for long term parking.  I also learned that God really is sovereign and I can rest in that.  I even learned today that Joel and Mary Ellen (the wonderful IMB Missionaries that take such good care of me when I am there) had found someone who could teach the course until I arrived.  I am expendable.  Imagine that:  coming to the realization that you are not nearly as important as you thought you were.  That will ground you in a big, fast hurry.  And I have learned of God’s detailed care.  I never travel without nasal spray.  Stay with me here.  I learned this from one of our members.  It is a buger of an idea but it works.  I get serious sinus headaches when I travel by air that stay with me for at least five to seven days.  My head hurts horribly for that long after air travel.  But then one of our dear saints told me about nascort or nasonex and ear plugs.  Put the ear plugs in your ears just before take off and landing and snort a little nasonex just before take off and just after landing and voila:  no headache.  I have done it twice now and it works.  Well, I did not have any and did not have time to get any until I was grounded and woke up this morning with yeah, you know it, a serious sinus headache.  So, I called my doctor and now have my nasonex.  Laugh at it.  But I rejoice in it because I would now without it be asleep in Kiev with a serious headache but now have what I need to avoid that buger.

So being grounded can provide what is needed to be grounded.  God is always at work around us we have learned, I hope.  We simply have to have the eyes to see Him and the ears to  hear what He is doing.  And sometimes that does not happen until we are grounded.

Ephesians 1:15-23 [15]For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, [16]I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, [17]that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, [18]having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, [19]and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might [20]that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, [21]far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. [22]And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, [23]which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (ESV)

“Most young adults today don’t pray, don’t worship, and don’t read the Bible, a major survey by a Christian research firm shows.  If the trends continue, ‘the Millennial generation will see churches closing as quickly as GM dealerships,’ says Thom Rainer president of LifeWay Christian Resources.  It surveyed 1,200 members of the 18-29 year old Millennial generation and found 72% say they’re ‘really more spiritual than religious.’  Among the 65% who call themselves Christian, ‘many are either mushy Christians or Christians in name only,’ Rainer says.  ‘Most are just indifferent.  The more precisely you try to measure their Christianity, the fewer you find committed to the faith.’

Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here!

Ephesians 1:3-14 [3]Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, [4]even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love [5]he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, [6]to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. [7]In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, [8]which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight [9]making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ [10]as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. [11]In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, [12]so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. [13]In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, [14]who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (ESV)

Ephesians 1:15-23 [15]For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, [16]I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, [17]that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, [18]having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, [19]and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might [20]that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, [21]far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. [22]And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, [23]which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (ESV)

Ephesians 1:3-14 [3]Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, [4]even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love [5]he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, [6]to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. [7]In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, [8]which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight [9]making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ [10]as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. [11]In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, [12]so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. [13]In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, [14]who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (ESV)

I find that both interesting and intriguing particularly in the light of the struggle that some seem to have between God’s absolute sovereignty in all things and our praying to this God.  Paul does not have this struggle at all.  In fact, it seems that it is precisely God’s sovereignty that moves Paul to pray with great gratitude to this God who will do what He declares.  His prayer is a prayer that is focused on the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and it is a prayer of faith as He trusts God to provide what God promises to provide.  Working through this section of Ephesians prompted me to take pen in hand with pad before me and to write down my first responses to this question:  “if God is absolutely sovereign, then why do we pray?”  Add your own responses to this list.  Make your own list.  These are things that first came to me when I raised this question:

1.  I pray to give thanks and praise to a God who is so great; 2.  I pray to bring Him pleasure because it pleases Him for His people to call upon His name; 3. I pray because I so much want to be a part of His plan to be productive for His praise and to live out His purposes; 4.  I pray bringing my petitions to Him because I do not know what He knows so that I can plead with Him for my brothers and sisters who are in pain that as it pleases God He wold heal their hurts and make them whole so that they can be a testimony of praise to His Name; 5.  I pray for God to grant sufficient grace and perfect peace where it is not His will to deliver form the pain that penetrates the body and the soul so that those who are in such dire straits will praise Him in the “dark night  of the soul” as much as they would if they were walking in sunlilght; 6.  I pray for His help in the midst of temptation and His grace to deliver from the evil one; 7.  I pray for His protection and His provision of “daily bread.”  8.  I pray for power from on high without which there is no effectiveness in the preaching and teaching of His Word.  I pray because He is the sovereign God of all who knows and sees so that I can pray in confidence and faith.

It was while I was making this list that it occurred to me that the people who have come into my life who struggle with prayer in the light of God’s sovereignty are those who want to be in control of their own lives.  They want to will their way to heaven and reason their way to their understanding of God.   Their God is a God with a little “g.”  They pray to their “god” and when it goes their way they talk much about themselves and their prayers, but when it does not go their way they either beat themselves up as sinners or they just pray more and pray harder.  But when we rest in His sovereignty we don’t have to pray this way.  We can pray in faith believing that our God sees and our God knows and our God acts for the glory of His Name which is always, always for the good of His people.  I do not pray in spite of His sovereignty; I pray with great joy because He is sovereign:  Our Fahter who is in the heavens . . .

Ephesians 1:15-23 [15]For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, [16]I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, [17]that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, [18]having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, [19]and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might [20]that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, [21]far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. [22]And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, [23]which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (ESV)

Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here!

Ephesians 1:3-14 [3]Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, [4]even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love [5]he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, [6]to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. [7]In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, [8]which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight [9]making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ [10]as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. [11]In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, [12]so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. [13]In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, [14]who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (ESV)

God blesses us with redemption.  He saves us from bondage to sin and purchases by the blood of His dear Son our freedom.  So far, so good.  But Satan slips in to suggest that freedom means freedom for us.  We are free, don’t you see; freed by the blood of Jesus, free to be me.  What a horrible half-truth.  We are redeemed by the blood of Jesus through the good grace of God the Father so that being freed from sin we are owned by the Savior.  Being bought with the price of His death for us, we now die to ourselves so as to live for Him.  Quite a different picture, isn’t it than Jesus died for me, now I’m free to be me.  But I promise you that there are far people who believe the half-truth of Satan sitting in our churches than believe the whole truth of the Gospel.

Next, God blesses us with an eternal inheritance.  Now what is striking is that this iheritance is both here and hereafter.  Here and now it is the glorious privilege in the midst of the pains and pressures of this world to be the ambassadors of Christ.  Now mark this one:  because of the inheritance that is ours forever in heaven, we are not after much that this world has to offer here and now.  We don’t need much and we don’t want much.  Is that true for you or the believers you know?  Do our conversations revovle around how simple our lives are and how we rejoice in that because the simplicity of our lives frees us from worldly care so as to live for godly gain?  Do you see the seduction of Satan?  He gets us to live for what this world has to offer and in so doing we are diminishing the value of our eternal inheritance.  Go back soon and read the kinds of things that Paul faced in his ministry and ask yourself why it is that you and I are not facing those things.  I can tell you that it is either because we live in Paradise or because we have  found a way to be both in the world and of the world while mouthing pious phrases about how much we really want to please God.

And then God blesses us with the never ending presence of Himself in the person of His Spirit living in us to make us more holy.  Now does it make sense to you that if the everlasting creator of all that is lives in you that He will not fail to fulfill His promise to you.  He will do what He says He is going to do.  But the lie of the enemy is to get us to focus on our eternal security because of some step we have taken rather than focusing on what it means to truly follow Jesus.  The end result is people who profess to be Christians who are living like the devil but are sure they are Christians because they are sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption.  Yet, the truth is that the only ones who are sealed are those who are being sanctified are made holy which is very evident both to those who are being made holy and to those who are living among them.

Spiritual blessings are real and rich.  Receive them for what they are.  Don’t let the enemy seduce you into making them something other or less than what they truly are.

Ephesians 1:7-14 [7]In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, [8]which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight [9]making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ [10]as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. [11]In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, [12]so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. [13]In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, [14]who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (ESV)

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,” (Eph. 1:3 [+/-]Ephesians 1:3 [3]Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, (ESV)
).  God who alone is good and who alone does what is good has come in Jesus Christ to bestow upon us from heaven all that we need for living for His glory and His purpose upon the earth.  God has come in Christ to give us every spiritual blessing.  The measure then that we use for meaning in life must not be other blessings whether of family or friends or money or material matters, but the blessings of God from heaven given to us in Christ.  We are here upon this earth to engage in an intimate relationship with God through Jesus so as to live our lives as servants of Jesus for the glory of God which cannot be done without the spiritual blessings.  And we saw last week that the context for these blessings are our election by God into His Kingdom over which He is King, our adoption into His family over which He rules as Father and our celebration of His goodness that He has come to us to choose us as His own and to use us for His glory.  But there is still a question that begs to be answered:  what are these spiritual blessings?  He tells us in these verses.

Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here!

Ephesians 1:1-6 [1:1]Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: [2]Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. [3]Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, [4]even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love [5]he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, [6]to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (ESV)

These blessings that God bestows upon us come in the context of His electing grace and adoptive love.  We are elected into His Kingdome and we are adopted into His family.  The imitative for our relationship with God is never with us; it is always with God.  This is clear from Genesis four and given to us directly in John six when Jesus says that no person can come to Him unless He is drawn to Him (Jn. 6:44 [+/-]John 6:44 [44]No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. (ESV)
)  Or listen to these words from 2 Thess. 2:13 [+/-]2 Thessalonians 2:13 [13]But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. (ESV)
, “but we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren; beloved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the Truth.  To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (2 Thess. 2:13-14 [+/-]2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 [13]But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. [14]To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV)
).  The plain truth is that the precious doctrine of election permeates the Bible.  God wants us to know that we belong to Him because He chose us as His own.  He called us out of our sin and into Himself which is precisely what the word for election means.  And adoption makes the picture even more vivid:  God took children who had been rejected and were on their way to the orphanage and called us to Himself on the basis of His love for us.  We are His children not by birth or worth but by grace and that grace is definitive and declarative.  It is pointed and plain.  He set His love on us and called us to Himself.  And the resulut is the kind of transormation of life that leads us increasingly toward holiness.  We want to be even as He is.

But why is this doctrine so despised when it ought to be so loved?  Why do we want to argue for our choice of Him rather than His choice of us?  Because we are sinners.  And the essence of sin both among believers and unbeleivers is pride.  And the essense of pride is control.  We want to be in control of our lives so as to choose both our destination and our direction for getting there.  We want to choose who God is and how we relate to Him.  That way we can define for ourselves a relationship with God that is in keeping with the terms we establish.  We are in control.  And some think this way and think that they are right in thinking this way.  But such thinking too often reveals much thinking with too little simple reading of the plain text of Scripture.  God loves the whole world.  God gave His Son to the whole world but not in order to save everybody in the world but to save out of the world and our sin those whom He calls to Himself whom when we hear Him calling say “yes” to Him:  Just as I am without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me, O lamb of God, I come.  And I do because He has come to me and called me to Himself.  Oh how precious is this truth to my soul.  And I trust to yours.

The real blessings are spiritual and they come from the heavenlies in and through Christ Jesus.  What this means is simple:  God gives us from heaven by way of His Spirit all that we need to live in faithfulness to Him so as with the church and through the church fulfill His purpose for our lives.  Spiritual blessings are those things that come to us from God that empower us to do His work.  And it is in the experience and exercise of His work on the basis of His blessing that we find fullness of joy and depths of peace.  When we exchange the Truth about spiritual blessings for the lie of temporal blessings we then exchange deep joy for passing happiness and permaent peace for ever fading moments of being peaceful or being serene.  Life becomes full but frustrating; we are always on the go but going nowhere.  We are having some fun but we are not fulfilled.  So, what are some of these temporal blessings in which we invest so much time and energy as if they were the real blessings:  family activities, hobbies, career, personal pleasure, education, money and material belongings.  Are these not blessings?  Absolutely.  They are.  But they are secondary to the real blessings.  Heaven forbid, but let’s say that my wife died, and my children and grandchildren abandoned me, the church fired me, and I lost my home so that by the standards of this world I had no blessings left.  Would I still have the real blessing?  Do you see it?  Everything in this world that we count as blessing is going to pass away.  The only thing that will last is that which we have done in the fulfillment of the purposes of God for our lives.  And God has designed His people so that so long as we are basing life on other blessings then we will be frustrated and unfulfilled.  But when we are spending our lives doing what He has called us to do.  We will be blessed, truly blessed.  Too blessed to be stressed.  “Let goods and kindred go, This mortal life also, The body they may kill, His Truth abideth still; His Kingdom is forever.”  Martin Luther knew real spritual blessing.

Ephesians 1:1-6 [1:1]Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: [2]Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. [3]Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, [4]even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love [5]he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, [6]to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (ESV)

Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here!

Acts 20:26-38 [26]Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, [27]for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. [28]Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. [29]I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; [30]and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. [31]Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. [32]And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. [33]I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. [34]You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. [35]In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" [36]And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. [37]And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, [38]being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship. (ESV)

What would you say to a group of fellow believers if you knew that you were speaking to them for the very last time?  That is the scene here in Acts 20 [+/-]Acts 20 [20:1]After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. [2]When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. [3]There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. [4]Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. [5]These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, [6]but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days. [7]On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. [8]There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. [9]And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. [10]But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, "Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him." [11]And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. [12]And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted. [13]But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. [14]And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. [15]And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and the day after that we went to Miletus. [16]For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. [17]Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. [18]And when they came to him, he said to them: "You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, [19]serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; [20]how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, [21]testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. [22]And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, [23]except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. [24]But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. [25]And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. [26]Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, [27]for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. [28]Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. [29]I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; [30]and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. [31]Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. [32]And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. [33]I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. [34]You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. [35]In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" [36]And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. [37]And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, [38]being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship. (ESV)
.  Paul is on the island of Miletus from which he sends for the elders in the church in Ephesus.  He sends for them in part because of the strategic location and thus the spiritual significance of this church.  Something in him causes him to know beyond doubt that he will never see them again upon the earth but he needs to speak to them before his departure.  And what he says to them is simple:  I have given to you the whole counsel of God.  I have taught you clearly and accurately the truth of the Word of God.  Take what I have given you and keep teaching it to the people of God that are under your care.  Satan will slip in through men who are even among you now and seek to destroy the church by getting her to compromise the Gospel.  But you stay steadfast in your commitment to the word of Truth and you communicate that truth to the people of God because God has chosen for the glory of His name to do His work in the world through His people in the church.  His final words were about faithfulness to the truth of the Word of God so that the people of God might be grounded in this Truth as they live out this Truth among themselves and in witness to the world.  Paul’s final words were that the church be the church and that those called to lead do so in a way that keeps the church focused on the glory of God and faithful to the Gospel of God.

First in series on Ephesians
What would you say to a group of fellow believers if you knew that you were speaking to them for the very last time?  That is the scene here in Acts 20 [+/-]Acts 20 [20:1]After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. [2]When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. [3]There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. [4]Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. [5]These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, [6]but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days. [7]On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. [8]There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. [9]And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. [10]But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, "Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him." [11]And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. [12]And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted. [13]But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. [14]And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. [15]And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and the day after that we went to Miletus. [16]For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. [17]Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. [18]And when they came to him, he said to them: "You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, [19]serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; [20]how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, [21]testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. [22]And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, [23]except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. [24]But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. [25]And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. [26]Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, [27]for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. [28]Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. [29]I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; [30]and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. [31]Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. [32]And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. [33]I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. [34]You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. [35]In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" [36]And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. [37]And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, [38]being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship. (ESV)
.  Paul is on the island of Miletus from which he sends for the elders in the church in Ephesus.  He sends for them in part because of the strategic location and thus the spiritual significance of this church.  Something in him causes him to know beyond doubt that he will never see them again upon the earth but he needs to speak to them before his departure.  And what he says to them is simple:  I have given to you the whole counsel of God.  I have taught you clearly and accurately the truth of the Word of God.  Take what I have given you and keep teaching it to the people of God that are under your care.  Satan will slip in through men who are even among you now and seek to destroy the church by getting her to compromise the Gospel.  But you stay steadfast in your commitment to the word of Truth and you communicate that truth to the people of God because God has chosen for the glory of His name to do His work in the world through His people in the church.  His final words were about faithfulness to the truth of the Word of God so that the people of God might be grounded in this Truth as they live out this Truth among themselves and in witness to the world.  Paul’s final words were that the church be the church and that those called to lead do so in a way that keeps the church focused on the glory of God and faithful to the Gospel of God.

Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here!

Now there, my friend, is the common denominator.  Life on this earth is hard.  It is.  And we will choose to find our plesaures then either in ourselves  the pursuit of our fleshly desires.  I expect sinners to do this without remorse or restraint.  I do not expect believers to go down this road except for rare occassions of necessary retreat and even then the issue ifs more about spiritual renewal than physical relaxation.  We get away to renew ourselves spiritually so as to be more alert to the Spirit of God and more energized to do what He has called us to do.  What other reason would motivate a believer to pursue time away from the path of routine life?  Have we forgotten that part of God’s plan for eternity for His children is the eternal reward that we do not deserve but will receive because of our service here below?  Do you know what scares me?  I mean this reallly does scare me:  we have managed to deveolop a kind of understanding of Jesus that allows us to pursue passionately our personal pleasures while thinking that we are living for the praise of His Name.  We go hard after what we want for ourselves while participating in worship and Bible Study.  But does this approach to life represent a real and radical change of orientation?

I want you to know that I don’t have answers for the issues that I have raised just briefly and only very lightly.  I have struggles and that is why I have written about them.  What I do know is that I have seen our whole society shift from a focus on the delight of day to day to the desire to get away.  I have watched us move from delighting in our work with such joy that we did not count the hours expended to a time when we do our jobs to get paychecks that will enable us to pursue our pleasures.  But enough of that.  Gotta go on this beautiful day to plan my own getaway where I will contemplate even more why it is that we seem so consumed with getting away.

1 Corinthians 15:1-28 [15:1]Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, [2]and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. [3]For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, [4]that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, [5]and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. [6]Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. [7]Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. [8]Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. [9]For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. [10]But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. [11]Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. [12]Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? [13]But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. [14]And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. [15]We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. [16]For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. [17]And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. [18]Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. [19]If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. [20]But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. [21]For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. [22]For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. [23]But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. [24]Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. [25]For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. [26]The last enemy to be destroyed is death. [27]For "God has put all things in subjection under his feet." But when it says, "all things are put in subjection," it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. [28]When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. (ESV)

Several passions I pray that are connected with the glory of God and the advancement of His Kingdom permeate and stimulate my life every day. I have a passion for the church to be who she is called to be as the body of Christ in the world. I have a passion to see lost people come to know Jesus and to know Him in the fullness of what it means to know Him. I have a passion for the accurate understanding of the Word of God that depends upon an equally accurate communication of the Word of God. But there is nothing in my life about which I am more passionate than the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want us to get it right because I believe that in our day and in our culture we have bought into a gospel that is not The Gospel thus leaving literally multiple thousands of people deceived by the devil and under the wrath of God while believing that they are born again. So on this Easter Sunday in April in the year 2010 I have a very clear and a very simple purpose: I want you be able to walk out of here at the end of this service knowing what the Gospel is and what the Gospel does so as to be clear about whether you have believed it, received it, so that it has become the basis upon which you live your life. And I want to be clear at the beginning: if the Gospel is not the basis upon which you live your life then you have neither heard or heeded the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here!

I believe that we have passed through a time since the late fifties when much of so-called Christianity was for the most part extremely lukewarm.  Now this terribly tasting and smelling water that was coursing through the life of our churches and the lives of so many professing Christians was so normal and so widespread that few saw it for what it was.  And only a very few saw it as fake at best and false at worst because it was accompanied by a high standard of morality, an involved ecclesiology, a relational culture defined external kindness and an extremely vigorous work ethic.  Put all of this into common parlance and it translates into good morally decent hard working citizens who attended church on Sunday.  It sounded good and it looked good.  It sounds far better to me and is far more appealing than the laziness of the welfare state and the violence of street gangs, but the former was no more radically and really Christ-centered than the latter.  Those whom I described above were not for the most part sold out and surrendered to Jesus; they were good people with good morals who practiced good ethics in public and worked hard all week culminating with church attendance on Sunday.  And all of this constituted the warp and woof of what was considered Christian.

But God in our day is raising up a new breed.  It is found mostly among young adults many of whom are rightly fed up with the traditional church.  See the paragraph above and see why.  Only those who lived as described above and still live that way don’t see anything wrong with it and surely do not see it is Laodicean.  But many among the younger evangelicals see it that way and they are saying it. Praise God they are saying it.  They will be the ones who will be the source of a real revival in this country if one is coming anytime soon.  The young man who wrote that he was stoked about the Good Friday service is among these young evangelicals.  I pray for him and people like him that they would increase in passsion and in boldness and be used of God to plant churches all over this land that will be filled with people who are consumed with a passion for Jesus, peopole who are consumed with a passion because they understand His Passion.  They have contemplated the cross and understand that He gave His life not so that we can live as we please. He is not concerned about our toys; He is sick of the accumulation of stuff in our lives.  He weeps over our way of life.  He is calling us to His cross to die so that we might live with less but live large for Him.  O God, bring us to the cross and put us to death so that we might live for the glory of your name.  Take away everything but the One thing without which there is no life.  And I pray that you and I know who that is.

Jonah as you know was the reluctant prophet.  He rebelled against the call of God to proclaim the Truth of God to a pagan people even trying to escape God.  God knew where he was, found him, and showed this preacher His great power which resulted in the preacher’s repentance and desire to please God.  He still did not want to go where God was calling him or do what God desired but neither did he want to return to the depths of the sea.  So he went to Nineveh and when the people responded with repentance, the preacher was angry.  He wanted God to punish them, to treat them as their sins deserved.  He did not want them forgiven because in his eyes they did not deserve it.  Nor did he.  But that he did not see.  And right there in chapter four is where we meet the American Jesus.  Jonah was mad with God for forgiving the Ninehvites who lived then in what is now modern day Mosul, Iraq.  The truth is that there are those in our world whom we believe deserve forgiveness and we pray that for them; they are in our family, among our friends or ethnic group, and they live in our town and move in our social circles.  But there are those who are clearly military and political enemies of our land and not only do we want them defeated, we want them destroyed; we surely don’t think they deserve forgiveness so that they would go to heaven where we are so sure that we are going to be.  It is hard to understand Jonah’s hard-hearted attitude toward the grace of God when we keep it at the level of our family and friends but it is not hard to see what he saw and feel what he felt when the name is Osama or Hitler or the child molester living down the street in your neighborhood.  But the biblical truth is that none deserves grace and it is the desire of our gracious God to give grace to all who come in faith and repentance confessing their sin and committming themselves to Jesus as Lord.  There is no other God than this nor is there another Jesus.  But start talking about this kind of God and this kind of grace out loud in the churches or our land and you will discover that there is another “god” and for sure another “Jesus.”

This Jesus is a capitalist.  He is on the side of those who are doing right.  Now doing right is defined by the value system of middle class anglos who are multi-generational Americans.  It means to work hard and to play fair. It means that we don’t do those things that we are supposed not to do, at least in public; and we do those things publicly that present to others the proper personna.  Now we may gossip so as to destroy people in private conversation.  We may use profoundly profane speech among our friends and we may be so deeply prejudiced against other ethnic groups that we use the “n” word for blacks and who knows what for others who are not like us.  But we are morally clean.  We are by public legal definitions good citizens and we live in decent homes, wear nice clothes and drive good cars and trucks.  We see this as  a sign both of belonging to God and being blessed by God.  When suffering comes we see it as evil and pray to our version of “god” and even in the name of our “Jesus” that we would get better soon.  Physical healing is seen as our right while sickness is both an interruption and an invasion.  The captialist Jesus takes care of us because we are good and we do what is right.

This Jesus is a consumer.  He wants us to have stuff, as much of it as we need and want.  He wants us to work hard, earn a lot, give legalistically to the church and then spend the rest on ourselves and those closest to us.  Our good works in the world are defined by the bracelet around our wrist, “what would Jesus do,” although we never even consider that a real relationship with the real Jesus rests on what He has done because we are so sinful that we cannot do what He did.  Even our very best works are tainted by sin.  At least, mine are.  Do you ever do good for others and then wonder why nobody really ever says, “thank you.”  Or do you ever do that which is good because of how it makes you feel about yourself.  Those whose Jesus is American see nothing wrong at all in the two sentences above.  But the real Jesus calls us to do what we do in gratitude for grace not wanting anything in return and doing what we are called to do even if it kills us for in killing us we will be brought the everlasting life that we are anticipating.

I could go on and on with this but let me just give one more.  This Jesus is caring at the level of taking care of us.  That is how we see Him.  Those who serve the American Jesus love to talk about praying “in Jesus’ Name” in the context of Psalm 37 [+/-]Psalm 37 [37:1]Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! [2]For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. [3]Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. [4]Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. [5]Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. [6]He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. [7]Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! [8]Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. [9]For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land. [10]In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. [11]But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace. [12]The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him, [13]but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming. [14]The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose way is upright; [15]their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. [16]Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked. [17]For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous. [18]The LORD knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever; [19]they are not put to shame in evil times; in the days of famine they have abundance. [20]But the wicked will perish; the enemies of the LORD are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish--like smoke they vanish away. [21]The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives; [22]for those blessed by the LORD shall inherit the land, but those cursed by him shall be cut off. [23]The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way; [24]though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand. [25]I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. [26]He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing. [27]Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever. [28]For the LORD loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. [29]The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever. [30]The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice. [31]The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip. [32]The wicked watches for the righteous and seeks to put him to death. [33]The LORD will not abandon him to his power or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial. [34]Wait for the LORD and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off. [35]I have seen a wicked, ruthless man, spreading himself like a green laurel tree. [36]But he passed away, and behold, he was no more; though I sought him, he could not be found. [37]Mark the blameless and behold the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace. [38]But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed; the future of the wicked shall be cut off. [39]The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble. [40]The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.
where we love to read that he will give us the desires of our heart.  And we know what those are and we can pray for them; most of them have to do with us and those closest to us.  We seldom even think about Chile or Haiti or Mauritania or Seoul or Paris (except to pray to go there).  We organize our lives around what we want to make us happy and pray in the name of our Jesus to get what we want to make us happy.  And sometimes we get it and are glad to come to church to praise this Jesus and sometimes we don’t so we pray more and make it point then perhaps to show up on a Sunday night or two (extra credit) so as to show God not how much we love Him but how much we want what it is that we are praying for.

I met the American Jesus again last night.  It scared me.  Not because I saw Him in others but because I saw him in myself.  Do you see this foreign god anywhere around you?

Isaiah 52:13-15 [13]Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. [14]As many were astonished at you-- his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind-- [15]so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.

One of the most unforgettable Springs of my life happened in 1980.  The highlight of that Spring and of that year was the birth of our first child, but prior to that May 25 date I had been involved in a most fascinating experience.  I met once a week with a Jewish Rabbi to read and to reflect upon Hebrew texts:  Genesis 1 [+/-]Genesis 1 [1:1]In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. [2]The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. [3]And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. [4]And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. [5]God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. [6]And God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." [7]And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. [8]And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. [9]And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. [10]God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. [11]And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth." And it was so. [12]The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. [13]And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. [14]And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, [15]and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so. [16]And God made the two great lights--the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night--and the stars. [17]And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, [18]to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. [19]And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. [20]And God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens." [21]So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. [22]And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." [23]And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. [24]And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds--livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so. [25]And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. [26]Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." [27]So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. [28]And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." [29]And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. [30]And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. [31]And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (ESV)
, Deuteronomy 6 [+/-]Deuteronomy 6 [6:1]"Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the rules that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, [2]that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. [3]Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. [4]"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. [5]You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. [6]And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. [7]You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. [8]You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. [9]You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. [10]"And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you--with great and good cities that you did not build, [11]and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant--and when you eat and are full, [12]then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. [13]It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. [14]You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you-- [15]for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God--lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. [16]"You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. [17]You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. [18]And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers [19]by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has promised. [20]"When your son asks you in time to come, 'What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?' [21]then you shall say to your son, 'We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. [22]And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. [23]And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. [24]And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. [25]And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.' (ESV)
, Psalms 1, 23 [+/-]Psalm 1 [1:1]Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; [2]but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. [3]He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. [4]The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. [5]Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; [6]for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
and 103 and Isaiah 53 [+/-]Isaiah 53 [53:1]Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? [2]For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. [3]He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. [4]Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. [5]But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. [6]All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. [7]He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. [8]By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? [9]And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. [10]Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. [11]Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. [12]Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
.  I could hardly wait to get to Isaiah 53 [+/-]Isaiah 53 [53:1]Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? [2]For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. [3]He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. [4]Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. [5]But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. [6]All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. [7]He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. [8]By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? [9]And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. [10]Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. [11]Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. [12]Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
that Spring even though we had agreed at the beginning that the conversion of one of our ways of thinking to the others way of thinking was not our goal.  But during that week that we read Isaiah 53 [+/-]Isaiah 53 [53:1]Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? [2]For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. [3]He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. [4]Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. [5]But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. [6]All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. [7]He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. [8]By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? [9]And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. [10]Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. [11]Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. [12]Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
I just had to ask Rabbi Eprhaim Rosenzweig, “How is it that you can read this text and not see Jesus?  If this is not Jesus, then who is it?”  To which he responded in typical rabbinic style, “how can you read this text and see Jesus; if in fact it is Jesus then He could not have been the Messiah so you don’t want this to be Jesus, because the Messiah will not suffer but will bring to be the Kingdom of God upon the earth in which His people will live in perfection of body, prosperity of goods, and peace from all the pressures and problems of life.  This text speaks clearly of one who suffers immensely so that this text speaks of Israel who will delivered from all this pain when Messiah comes.  Blessed be He!”

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Let me make a recommendation.  I have a book on my shelf that was edited by Joel Beeke and Randall Pederson, Meet the Puritans. I simply select one of them like Bunyan or Sibbes or Baxter or Clarkson etc. and go to banneroftruth.org and order a couple of books by one of these men and read them.  You may want to start with Bunyan.  Read something from him with which you are not familiar or you may want to order John Flavel’s book on grief.  Read slowly because some of the reading is a little cumbersome for us.  But stay with it.  You will be blessed and you will be changed.  After doing this kind of reading for a year without reading anything modern except perhaps the men mentioned above and others like them, go read a book by a popular modern author.  I started to give a name or two, but thought better of it!! I think that you would be overwhelmed by the depth of what you were reading and the superficiality of so much that is being published in our day.  Happy adventures with old books.

The following from John Calvin is from the Institutes from chapter eight of the third book where he is dealing with the practical issues of what a life in Christ looks like.  He has addressed the issue of self-denial and now turns to what it means to “take up his cross.”  He writes, “The pious mind must ascend still higher, namely, whither Christ calls His disciples when He says that every one of them must ‘take up his cross’ (Matt. 16:24 [+/-]Matthew 16:24 [24]Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (ESV)
).  Those whom the Lord has chosen and honored with his intercourse must prepare for a hard, laborious, troubled life, a live full of many and various kinds of evils; it being the will of our heavenly father to exercise His people in this way while putting them to the proof.  Having begun this course with Christ the first-born, he continues it toward all his children.  For though the Son was dear to Him above all others, the Son in whom he was ‘well-pleased,’ yet we see,  that far from being treated gently and indulgently, we may say, that not only was he subjected to a perpetual cross while he dwelled upon the earth, but his whole life was nothing else than a kind of perpetual cross.  The apostle assigns the reason, “though he was a Son, yet learned he obedience through the things which He suffered’ (Heb. 5:8 [+/-]Hebrews 5:8 [8]Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. (ESV)
).  Why then should we exempt ourselves from the condition to which Christ our Head behooved to submit, especially since He submitted on our account, that he might in His own person exhibit a model of patience?”

And from Clarkson, “Some have questioned how Christ can love us when he denies many temporal blessings.  Outward blessings however are never a sign of love or hatred.  You cannot conclude that Christ hates you because He afflicts; or that He loves you because you are blessed with temporal blessings.  The smallest drop of grace is a greater sign of of Christ’s love than all the glory and pleasures of the earth.  Otherwise we could conclude that the rich man belonged to God and Lazarus didn’t.”  And he adds that if we would really experience and express the love of Jesus it would be seen entirely in a life of holiness wholly committed to Jesus paying the price for such obedience with jubilant joy and divine delight.  Do you see why it is that I read old books?  Try it, you may not like it; but it will be really, really good for you.

Mark 3:20-35 [20]Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. [21]And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, "He is out of his mind." [22]And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "by the prince of demons he casts out the demons." [23]And he called them to him and said to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan? [24]If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. [25]And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. [26]And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. [27]But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house. [28]"Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, [29]but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"-- [30]for they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit." [31]And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. [32]And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you." [33]And he answered them, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" [34]And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! [35]For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother." (ESV)

Nee Mee Okoka?  It is Swahili.  You could hear it if you were a new person attending for the first time a conservative evangelical church in Kenya or if you were encountered by a Kenyan believer in the marketplace:  Nee Mee Okoka.  It means, “Are you saved?”  And in response to this question you may hear, “bona saviewee, bona saviewee, I am saved and what would follow would not be a day and a time or a testimony about joining the church or praying the prayer or being baptized; what would follow would be a testimony to the work of the Spirit of God through the Word of God right now in your life.  And if you answered, no; it would because there would be no evidence in your life that you really were saved.  The first time I ever heard these two things was in a church in Kenya; I was struck by both and asked the pastor about both.  His response was simple:  what else would you talk about than what God is doing in your life if you are truly saved and why in the world would anybody say they are saved and not really be saved; only those who have no fear of God would dare do such a thing to which I would say to him that day, “or those by the thousands in our churches in our country who have a clear misunderstanding of what it really means to be saved.”  Where there is no fruit there is no faith.  Where there is no real hunger for the word of God, no real thirst for the worship of God and no real craving for the things of God among the people of God it is simply because there has been no real conversion.  Nee Mee Okoka?

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Luke 14:25-33 [25]Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, [26]"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. [27]Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. [28]For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? [29]Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, [30]saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' [31]Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? [32]And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. [33]So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (ESV)

Jesus had invited to Sunday dinner with the lead elder or chief deacon.  Well, that is how we would portray it.  It was actually the home of a leading Pharisee who must have been very popular and very powerful.  The Pharisees emerged from among the common people and became both the interpreters and practitioners of genuine biblical piety.  Few of them would have been by noblemen by birth or rulers by right; they were like most of us just hard working men who loved the law of God and wanted to see others live it out.  So when a ruler was a Pharisee this was big.  He would have been very popular among the people and very powerful.  And Jesus had been invited to his house on the Sabbath.  And the Bible says in Luke 14:1 [+/-]Luke 14:1 [14:1]One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. (ESV)
that they, that is; the religious people were watching him carefully.  The word means to pay very close attention with no good purpose in mind.  They are watching him like a hawk; noticing every move He makes and listening to ever word He speaks.  So, what does Jesus do?  He begins His day of dining by embarrassing His host and insulting the guests!  He had not read the manual on how to behave at a luncheon given in your honor.

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1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 [16]Rejoice always, [17]pray without ceasing, [18]give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. [19]Do not quench the Spirit. [20]Do not despise prophecies, [21]but test everything; hold fast what is good. [22]Abstain from every form of evil. [23]Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. [24]He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (ESV)

Ephesians 4:25-31 [25]Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. [26]Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, [27]and give no opportunity to the devil. [28]Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. [29]Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. [30]And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. [31]Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. (ESV)

The Christian life from start to finish is all about grace.  And it is all about grace, it is all about God.  Paul puts it this way in Romans 11:36 [+/-]Romans 11:36 [36]For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (ESV)
, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.  To Him be glory forever.  Amen.”  “Him” is God as He makes Himself known to us through His Spirit on the basis of the work of His Son for our justification, sanctification and ultimately for our glorification.  All of it is grace.  All of it is God.  The Christian life begins through the awakening that comes to us as a gift of the grace of God.  The Holy Spirit comes to us through the proclamation of the Word of God and awakens us to how holy and righteous God is and how sinful and ugly we are as He calls us to trust the only one who can save us from God’s wrath and our sin.  The Holy Spirit convicts us and gives us all that is needed to trust Jesus.  And we do.  That is grace.  That is God.  And as we trust in Jesus alone for salvation God declares us to be fully and absolutely right with Him not on the basis of anything in us or about us but on the basis of the sacrifice of His Son through the shedding of His blood on Calvary.  We are declared forever right with God.  This is Grace.  All grace.  This is God.  All God.  “It was grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.”  And the Holy Spirit who changes us also seals us up as a person and a people who belong to God and He begins to work in us to shape us toward the image of Jesus to make us as we live our lives among the people of God all that He wants us to be.  He is making us holy.  He is sanctifying us.  He is changing us as He grows us.  This is grace.  This is God.  And at last either by way of the coming of Jesus or the coming of death we are transported home on the wings of grace.  The Christian life begins and ends in grace.  AND THE SUPREME GOAL OF THE ENEMY IS TO WORK TO FRUSTRATE THE WORK OF THE GRACE OF GOD IN US AND AMONG US.  The Bible has two apparently different images for what this looks like and we are going to look at them today.

The Christian life from start to finish is all about grace.  And it is all about grace, it is all about God.  Paul puts it this way in Romans 11:36 [+/-]Romans 11:36 [36]For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (ESV)
, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.  To Him be glory forever.  Amen.”  “Him” is God as He makes Himself known to us through His Spirit on the basis of the work of His Son for our justification, sanctification and ultimately for our glorification.  All of it is grace.  All of it is God.  The Christian life begins through the awakening that comes to us as a gift of the grace of God.  The Holy Spirit comes to us through the proclamation of the Word of God and awakens us to how holy and righteous God is and how sinful and ugly we are as He calls us to trust the only one who can save us from God’s wrath and our sin.  The Holy Spirit convicts us and gives us all that is needed to trust Jesus.  And we do.  That is grace.  That is God.  And as we trust in Jesus alone for salvation God declares us to be fully and absolutely right with Him not on the basis of anything in us or about us but on the basis of the sacrifice of His Son through the shedding of His blood on Calvary.  We are declared forever right with God.  This is Grace.  All grace.  This is God.  All God.  “It was grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.”  And the Holy Spirit who changes us also seals us up as a person and a people who belong to God and He begins to work in us to shape us toward the image of Jesus to make us as we live our lives among the people of God all that He wants us to be.  He is making us holy.  He is sanctifying us.  He is changing us as He grows us.  This is grace.  This is God.  And at last either by way of the coming of Jesus or the coming of death we are transported home on the wings of grace.  The Christian life begins and ends in grace.  AND THE SUPREME GOAL OF THE ENEMY IS TO WORK TO FRUSTRATE THE WORK OF THE GRACE OF GOD IN US AND AMONG US.  The Bible has two apparently different images for what this looks like and we are going to look at them today.

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Jesus was accused of being possessed of demons and dominated by the prince of demons (Mark 3 [+/-]Mark 3 [3:1]Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. [2]And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. [3]And he said to the man with the withered hand, "Come here." [4]And he said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?" But they were silent. [5]And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. [6]The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. [7]Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea [8]and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. [9]And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, [10]for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. [11]And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, "You are the Son of God." [12]And he strictly ordered them not to make him known. [13]And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. [14]And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach [15]and have authority to cast out demons. [16]He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); [17]James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); [18]Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, [19]and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. [20]Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. [21]And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, "He is out of his mind." [22]And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "by the prince of demons he casts out the demons." [23]And he called them to him and said to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan? [24]If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. [25]And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. [26]And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. [27]But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house. [28]"Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, [29]but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"-- [30]for they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit." [31]And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. [32]And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you." [33]And he answered them, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" [34]And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! [35]For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother." (ESV)
).  Why?  Because he challenged a religious system that was the resource for life for so many while at that time robbing them of what life really is.  The major issue for those who accused Jesus of being demonic was that His casting out demons was for the glory of God that led to people who lived for the praise of God and the pursuit of His purpose even when doing so was hard.  Remember the man in the cemetery from whom Jesus expelled demons and when this man wanted to go with Jesus which was the easy road to travel, Jesus sent him to his home where they had once mocked him to make known among his family and friends what Jesus had done.  This is what life in the Spirit is.  It is not our having what we want and desire to help us and to make us happy.  It is our being so saturated by God in His power that we proclaim in every place the Good News of Salvation.  We don’t quench the Spirit by channeling the fire of God in the way that is best for us but we let the fire of God burn and if it consumes us and others are converted then so be it.  We do not grieve the Spirit by using the Spirit for our own goodies but we bring delight to God by desiring that the Spirit so consume us that we be used of God to deliver the goodies to others.  This is real life in the Spirit.   And it is really hard and I guess that is why the only way to live this life is by the power of the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12 [12:1]Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. [2]You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. [3]Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus is accursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit. [4]Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; [5]and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; [6]and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. [7]To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. [8]For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, [9]to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, [10]to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. [11]All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. [12]For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. [13]For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and all were made to drink of one Spirit. [14]For the body does not consist of one member but of many. [15]If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. [16]And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. [17]If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? [18]But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. [19]If all were a single member, where would the body be? [20]As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. [21]The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." [22]On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, [23]and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, [24]which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, [25]that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. [26]If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. [27]Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. [28]And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. [29]Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? [30]Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? [31]But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. (ESV)

Dr. Sinclair Ferguson pastor of the marvelous First Presbyterian Church of Columbia, South Carolina said in a sermon two weeks ago, “the greatest privilege and highest honor given to any human being in any part of the world is the privilege and honor of being a part of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Do we believe that? Paul portrays the church as the body of Christ with Christ as the head of the church and it makes it plain in all of his proclamations that to belong to Christ who is the head of the church is to belong to His body. The first belonging to Christ is the result of a radical act of the grace of God on the basis of the shed blood of Jesus and the latter belonging to the church is the Spirit led response of all who have truly received and responded to the grace of God. How do I know that someone is a believer, that they belong to Jesus? Well at least one way I know is that they belong to the body of Christ and are involved both purposefully and passionately. But how does this body of Christ work? What does it look like in its effective operation? That is the question for this morning as we turn our attention to 1 Corinthians 12 [+/-]1 Corinthians 12 [12:1]Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. [2]You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. [3]Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus is accursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit. [4]Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; [5]and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; [6]and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. [7]To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. [8]For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, [9]to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, [10]to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. [11]All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. [12]For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. [13]For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and all were made to drink of one Spirit. [14]For the body does not consist of one member but of many. [15]If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. [16]And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. [17]If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? [18]But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. [19]If all were a single member, where would the body be? [20]As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. [21]The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." [22]On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, [23]and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, [24]which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, [25]that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. [26]If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. [27]Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. [28]And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. [29]Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? [30]Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? [31]But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. (ESV)
. What we want to see this morning is how the Spirit of God works in the church of God to bring glory to God, to bear witness to Jesus and to build up the body of Christ.

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Galatians 6:1-10 [+/-]Galatians 6:1-10 [6:1]Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. [2]Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. [3]For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. [4]But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. [5]For each will have to bear his own load. [6]One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches. [7]Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. [8]For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. [9]And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. [10]So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (ESV)

The Fruit of the Spirit is . . . and we examined last week the fruit that is the inevitable outcome of life lived under the control of the Holy Spirit.  The fruit grows internally as a well-spring of joy that is fed by the experience of the love of God that gives us contentment in all circumstances.  The fruit shows externally in compassionate care for others that is the result of our trust of the purpose of the Sovereign God in our own lives to do that which is good.  And the fruit is eternal as we live our lives in trust of God and obedience to His Word because we are controlled by the Holy Spirit.  The fruit of the Spirit is real and it is revealed.  And it continues to grow and to show as we live out our lives putting to death the desires of the flesh and submitting our lives to the obedience of the Word of God which is what it means to walk in the Spirit so as to live in the Spirit.  But Paul wants us to know that there are two contexts in which we live out our Spirit-filled lives and that there is a core connection between the two.  I believe that he wants us to know also that the first context is the foundation for the second context so that it is impossible to live under the control of the Holy Spirit in the second context if we are not doing that actively in the first context.  Let me be very specific as I ask you to look at these verses to see first how they are laid out and then we will look into them to listen to what the Spirit of God is saying.

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One more thing before I set before you the final five descriptors of what I have seen that have caused me to conclude that the boomers and buildres are very religious but not righteous:  I just finished listening during my workout this morning to a sermon by John Piper where he cited the thousands of traditional churches all over America that are closing and the large number of church plants that are taking place.  If we understand what God is up to, then we should not grieve over these church closings.  It is my conviction that many more thousands need to close and give their resources which in some cases are enormous to the causes of the Gospel in reaching the world.  And we must rejoice at the changing shape of the church where biblical fidelity is being married to doctrinal integrity and it is producing churches with a truly missional mindset.  But that is not happening in most of our traditional churches.  And the reason is the power base that is held in many of them by intensely religious builders and boomers.  In fact, I am convinced that the only traditional churches that are making a real Gospel impact any more are those where the power bases by whatever means have been broken and splintered so that those who once ruled according to their desires have all but lost their voice.  Now with all of that, let me turn to the final five:

Number five:  the privatization of the relationship with God.  Builders more than boomers but certainly among boomers as well see their relationship with God as a purely private matter.  That is not only detrimental; it is demonic.  A relationship with God is the result of the miracle of the grace of God being so manifest to us that our world is turned upside down and inside out.  The outcome is a passion to know God and to make Him known.  We could no more hold in the news of the new birth than we could the news of the birth of our first grandchild.  Nothing has hampered evangelism in so many communities and churches where I have served quite like this very perverted and entirely unbiblical notion about what a real relationship with God looks like.  It has led to people among both boomers and builders who have lived their entire adult lives thinking that they really are believers while never ever having told a single soul about what it means to be saved.  That reality speaks volumes about why the traditional church in America is and has been in trouble for a long, long time.

Number six:  the above view is often welded to a thorough misunderstanding of the precious doctrine of the priesthood of every and all believers.  This truth is a precious teaching of Scripture which simply means that we are responsible before God to communicate His truth to the world and to care for one another in the church.  We do not need a preacher to proclaim the Gospel to the world for us nor do we need a pastor to care for us.  We communicate the Gospel to the world and we care for one another in the church.  The pastor is called of God to oversee the flock of God with the help of other elders so that his priority purpose can be prayer and study so as to teach the depths of the declared Truth of God in the Bible.  But the priesthood of the believer as often understood and practiced by many builders and boomers has come to mean that we can interpret the Bible for ourselves so that it means whatever we want it to mean.  The outcome is that we go to church on Sunday to hear another take on a text that may or may not be different from our own.  I see and have seen this one for some time as one of the most atrocious developments in our SBC life.  It has produced so much perversion.  For example, and I can only site one; it has led us to believe and individual can be saved by saying a prayer and walking down an aisle regardless of whether there is evidence of the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in that person becoming an active part of the life of a local church.  That is why we have SBC churches that will boast of 1,000 members while having under 200 in attendance on any given Sunday.  That is the tragedy of the triumph of heresy over truth.

Number seven:  This perversion of the priesthood of the believer led to the democritization of the church.  We in SBC life turned the church into a democratically governed body.  We would have monthly or quarterly business meetings or conferences in which members would come to discuss all matters of business and to vote.  Now this produced two major issues:  first, there is no biblical model for this way of being and doing church, but when you have privatized religion and a perversion of the doctrine of the priesthood, it is easy to make any model of managing a church fit.  Secondly, in many churches that I served we would have people come to and speak out in business meetings that never came to Sunday night worship and in some cases only came to church to participate in business meetings.  And in some cases they were powerful enough to sway the people toward their way of seeing in doing church which in now almost forty years of experience was never, ever what would have been the biblically right path.  And what is most horrific to me is that we still have churches that hold the Bible high as the inerrant word of God and still do Kingdom business this way!

Number eight:  Add to this democratic way of doing church a leadership body called deacons that saw themselves as a board of directors.  Seriously.  Men got to be deacons by being men of influence and power in the community.  Spiritual intergrity and bibilcal fidelity did not mean much if anything.  One of these men who served as a deacon in the fifties in sixties in one of the churches that I served told me after God had turned his life around that when he served as a deacon he never went to Sunday School or Sunday night church and only attended worship occasionally.  He drank at parties with the other deacons and the pastor of the church and saw his role on the “board” of the church in the same way that he saw it when he served on the “board” of the bank.  In his words, “the church was a business to me with its product being the production of good, decent, morally responsible people.”  How horrible is that?  And yet there are still builders and boomers that see the church this way.

Number nine:  Do not underestimate the radically wicked influence of racism among the builders and boomers.  Many who were baptized members into the church among both generations were also those fighting hard against integration.  Members of churches in the south were the leaders in the establishment of institutions both educationally and otherwise whose express purpose was to create environments where their kids would not be in the same classroom or on the same athletic fields as black people.  Now how odd is this mentality?  God is redeeming a people for himself from every tribe and tongue and people and nation and we come to the church house to sing to this great God and to say that we want to be involved with Him in His work and then Monday comes and we say, “not really; we want to be involved with God in His work of reaching anglos.”  The church I am in now is the only church I have ever served where I was not given in the early weeks a private audience with a few power boys who tole me what I was to do if a “black person” came forward on Sunday morning.  I have responded to them all the same way and I can assure you that it stuck in the craw of these men who from that moment forward looked for some other reason to come against me, terrified that I was going to seek to bring black people into “their church.”

Number ten:  Boomers and builders are very vocal in every church I have served.  They want what they want and they believe that they are entitled to it.  This entitlement mentality is tied to the reality that most of the grumbling and complaining I hear always comes from these age groups, far more now from builders than from boomers and some of  it in my current situation I understand fully. I do not agree with it and listen politely (most often) but I understand it.  They see the church they knew changing and in some ways radically.  And that is deliberate because the church they knew was rigorously religious which is exactly what I used to be.  And those churches for reasons ordained of God are dying and ought to.  So, I understand why those who are tied too much to what used to be and too little to Him alone who is would grumble and complain.  But underneath is this sense of the church belonging to them.

God revive Your church in our land.  And teach me I pray that is not my church or our church.  It is Your church.  Build Your church, Lord Jesus; that is your promise.  And I stand upon that promise.  Amen.

Before I list and comment on the ten reasons I need first to say that both these generations have made stellar contributions to society.  They taught us about the value of hard work and  the discipline of staying with a task during tough times.  They fought wars on foreign shores and defended the cause of liberty.  They built the infrastructure of so much of small town America from the east to the west coast and from north to south.  The builders made money and saved it to give their children (the boomers) a better life than they had known thus teaching us the value of one generation providing a foundation for the next generation.  And yet in far too many cases the operative pronoun in all of the above is “I” or “we.”  The focus is far too frequently on what we did and what we gave and what we produced that has yielded over time an entitlement mentality in every area of life, even in the church.  So that many builders and boomers look at the local church as their church so that what is to be done there is to be done their way and if they do not get their way they grumble and complain and if that doesn’t work they keep themselves and their money at home.  That may be an entrepreneurial way of expresing power but he shows the virtual absence of true piety.

Let me do one other thing here.  Let me frame my argument because my focus is frankly quite narrow.  Others will have to see is this applies to their contexts and thus enlarge the focus, but I am writing this assessment from the perspective of a Southern Baptist Pastor having served in county seat town First Baptist Churches for almost thirty years and the other nine years of pastoral ministry have been in rural churches in the South.  So, my purview for proclamation is very small.  This is simply what I have seen in these kinds of SBC churches for now almost forty years of ministry.  With that said, I will now give you five of the ten reasons for saying that the builder and boomer generations have not helped us in understanding what true religion really is.

Number One:  Most builders and boomers grew up in a time when a relationship with God was defined as a public profession of faith usually made some time before adolescence that was signified in walking down a church aisle to join the church and then having that decision sealed later by baptism.  Joining the church on the basis of a profession of faith quickly became in the early fifties the equivalent of being saved or of giving your life to Jesus.  It was during the late fifties and through the decade of the sixties that many in fact made this “decision.”  They were immediately counted as both children of God and church members.  And when they dropped out of church after tenth grade or dropped out altogether during the college years, nobody thought to conclude that by biblical standards these people who were by any standard the vast majority most likely had never been saved.  What this produced during this period by the adults who practiced this perversion and the young people who participated in it was a fully false view of both conversion and the Christian life.  It resulted in communities all over the south filled with pagan people who really, sincerely consider themselves to be saved because they joined the church and were baptized.

Number Two:  This false understanding of faith was tied to a false understanding of faithfulness.  Godliness as defined by the Bible was replaced by goodness as defined by the mores of the culture.  There was a certain list of “don’ts” and a certain list of “do’s.”  As one man put it to me recently, “we just wanted out kids to grow up to be good, moral people who would enter the world and make good, right decisions.”  It was for me one of the most clearly communicated cultural definitions of Christianity I had ever heard.  It came from a boomer brother.  He was serious.  But so are so many who see being good and doing good as the essence of what it means to be a Christian.  So, if you joined the church as a child and lived right as an adolescent and are not a good contributing member of the community with good moral values, it must mean that you are a Christian.  It does not mean that at all and some who read this may be shocked at this conclusion.  You are one who really needs to keep reading.

Number Three:  It was during this period that there emerged a programmatic way of measuring piety.  Now it is here that you would have to be a Nashville notched Southern Baptist in order to understand what I am about to say.  Nashville is headquarters for Southern Baptists.  It is to us what Rome is to the RCC.  That may push it over the line but not too far in the fifties and sixties!  All of our literature for both Sunday School and Baptist Training Union came out of Nashville and a Southern Baptist Church that did not use this literature was suspect of being charismatic! Southern Baptists were shaped by the programs produced out of Nashville so that a real Christian was one who went to Sunday School and Church on Sunday morning and if you wanted to be a really good Christian or you had been really bad and needed some extra points, you went to BTU (if you think that stands for British Thermal Units, you are probably a Methodist and need to repent any way!).  But the point is that participation mattered.  It was the way we stayed saved and the annual or bi-annual revival meeting is the way we got saved.  It was all carefully constructed and particularly programmed.

Number Four:  The liberalism that was ruining our seminaries was alive and well in the 1950′s so that most SBC churches that were of the FBC variety were getting these men as pastors who were liberals.  They told stories on Sunday morning.  They turned the inerrant truth of God into instructive material for a morally meaningful life.  They did not preach the depravity of man and the sovereignty of God; they preached rather that humans are basically good and God is all loving so that we just need our kids to join the church and do the right things, and they will be ok.  The parents liked it because it got their kids into heaven.  The kids liked it because they could be assured of going to heaven even though they were partying on Saturday night. It was the preaching of human goodness as the meaning of salvation and it gutted the Gospel and truncated the Truth of God.

Number Five:  Worship was reduced to a traditional routine of rather formal liturgy.  First Baptist Churches began to mimic the Methodists except for saying the creed and emulate the Episcopalians except for kissing the Bible.  The service began with a very formal prelude and ended with an equally formal postlude.  The choir no longer sang special music, but anthems.  And the prayer to begin the service was called the Invocation.  The sermon because it was preached for the most part by men who were not inerrantists was reduced to twenty minutes and no longer than thirty and the Bible was barely present.  This was the time when many people came to church on Sunday without a Bible.  It is no accident that when I make observations about this I find that the builders and the boomers are still the least likely to have Bibles with them on Sunday morning but the twenty and thirty somethings have them and they are open with highlighter lines and markings all over the place.  I can still tell today when I am dealing with the religious types when they get all exercised about the elements of worship and what we call them and particularly when their main focus is either how long I preach and when we “get out.”  I do not ever this kind of thing from the twenty and thirty somethings; either they are sinister gossips behind my back or they have a different perspective on what worship really is.

Well, that is one-half of the reasons that I see.  I could see it all wrongly.  I hope I do.  I’ll give you the other five next time.

We are all born with some very basic desires.  God has made us in His image which means in part that those desires cannot be satisfied except by Him.  As Augustine put it, “God has made us for Himself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Him.”  Our problem is that those desires are directed through our flesh so that Paul calls them the desires of the flesh and our flesh is by nature sinful or self-centered from the very moment of birth.  We want these desires gratified in a way that satisfies us and we seek that from birth.  That is why Paul calls these desires not only desires of the flesh but also works of the flesh.  The word for “works” suggests the investment of time and energy for the purpose of satisfying those desires in a way that brings pleasure to us.  Now we looked last week at the four basic desires that are found as the foundation for the works of the flesh:  we desire relational intimacy, we desire religious stability, we desire to feel good about ourselves and we desire freedom.  And we work for these on the basis of what we see we need so that we invest time and energy in seeking satisfaction for these desires.  And it always leads us deeper and deeper into domination by the sinful expression of these desires.

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Now let me say several things here that are important to hear.  First, the second group generationally that has most distressed me is my age group.  We are called boomers.  We were born according to the demographers between 1946 and 1964.  We were raised by the builders born prior to 1946.  We were raised with the mentality that our lives were going to be better than theirs and that we deserved it.  We were raised to think that the measure of measures for meaning in life was monetary and material prosperity fueled by a high quality education.  And we were raised to see these things both as what we deserved and as the declaration of blessing from on high so that we look at our “stuff” and say, “God has blessed us,” which is true and conclude, “we must belong to God,”  which is a horrible conclusion to make.  Boomers are so much into building our kingdoms that we have little time for His Kingdom except at the level of giving.  We give.  But it is hard to get boomers to do much beyond that because we have rested our salvation in our profession of faith and baptism and have failed to see that though we are saved by faith alone we are not saved by faith which is alone.  We do not really like James:  faith without works is dead, being alone.  Now I know that everything above is a generalization but it is a close characterization of many in my generation.  We passed this legacy of living on to our chidren born between 1965 and 1980 and you will have found many of them actively engaged in churches during their childhood and through about the tenth grade, pulling away when they got drivers license and not involved at all during and after college except when they “come home.”  Many boomers are not bothered too much by this reality since they have the same understaning of salvation for their children that we have for outselves.   I see this a lot.  I hear parents who are boomers speaking of their children who are living like pagans and saying, “well, I know that he or she is a Christian . . .”  I am never shocked because what the parent is saying about the child is what the parent believes about himself or herself.  Both have reduced a relationship to God to a religious ritual.

My hope in these days really does rest in the generations emerging after 1980.  I see and sense a lot of hope in these young men and young women.  They do not want anything as it used to be.  They see the good looking shell of outward appearance but the emptiness inside of that shell that they see in so many lives is disgusting and distressing.  For example, they see traditional church and its forms and routines and then watch the lives of those who grew up in the time in which church was done by ritual and routine, and they do not see real and radical life change.  They see people who are concerned about things that do not matter:  what a person wears to church, what kind of music is sung in church, where something comes or does not come in the order of worship. whether there is mistake in the bulletin or the newsletter, whether the room is too cold or too hot, and I could on and on ad infinitum ad nauseum.  They see this kind of thing and they are not only repulsed by it, as they should be and as I am as well, they want so much more.  I see a hunger and thirst for Jesus among them that I have not seen in my entire ministry.  It is what stirs me and thrills me in our day.  For example, for every builder that wants to tell me how far past twelve I preached are two or more from this younger generation who have no concern about those kinds of meaningless matters.  They want more meat from the Word of God.  They want to drink from the fountain that quenches and never runs dry.

But here is my question:  what happened among the builders and the boomers to produce the kinds of people that populate so many of our churches?  What was going on to create this condition?  Now I want it understood that some of the most godly men and women I know are from both these generations.  I am blessed by them.  But I am also deeply concerned that we pay attention to the blowing wind of the Holy Spirit across the landscape of the life of the church in our day and it is not coming from either my generation or the one beyond me.  That means that neither of these generations can define who the church is or what the church is to be.  Fresh wind and fresh fire from the Spirit of God is falling on the twenty somethings and thirty somethings all over the world and we had better listen.  Can that wind and fire fall on my generation and the builders?  Absolutely.  But we must know what created the conditions in which we have found ourselves for far too long and we must be willing to repent of our pride that for far too long has held the church captive to our cultural concerns.   And I will speak to that in the next blog.

We listed four of these basic desires this past Sunday:  relational intimacy, religious stability, feeling good about ourselves or self-esteem and freedom.  These are four desires with which we are born.  We want these desires satisfied.  But since we are sinners, we seek the satisfaction of these desires in the ways of the flesh and are always left either unsatisfied or dissatisfied.  For example, we seek relational intimacy in members of the opposite sex and we seek that intimacy in ways that are sexual.  Paul calls it “porneia” or sexual relationships outside of marriage.  The word that he uses covers all sexual activity outside of marriage because all sexual outside of marriage is sinful.  It is an affront to God.  So the boy who sleeps with his girl is not lavishing her with love; he is lusting after her and motivated by the need for relational intimacy.  He goes on the date to go to bed with her thinking that it is what he needs.  He succeeds to get her into bed and is left fully unsatisfied.  This is how the flesh works and this is what is meant by the works of the flesh.  The works of the flesh are simply our pursuing natural desires in ways that are directed by our feelings.

Now it is right here that we come face to face with a fundamental issue in our culture:  we are taught that pursuing our desires as determined by what we feel that we need to be happy is a good thing.  I mean, we have developed a whole branch of “science” and an entire educational system based on this belief.  The social science of psychology both in its base form (psychology) and in its higher expressions (psychotherapy and psychiatry) are built on the baseline of our knowing what we want and need.  When these needs and wants are frustrated, we are left unfulfilled.  And our frustrated and unfulfilled states take us toward all kinds of bipolar disorders that when rightly diagnosed can provide for us the necessary medication to help us to feel better about ourselves so that we can get back at the pursuit of what we sense that we need and want.  In biblical terms it translates something like this:  we are born sinners whose basic desire to feel good about ourselves which we do in the pursuit of our sinful desires.  When we cannot have what we want or when we get what we want and still do not feel good about oursleves, that is God’s way of showing us that something is wrong with us or that we are sinners and the help we need is not found within us or around us but beyond us as it comes from God by His grace and through His Son.  Does anyone else see the dilemma here?  Follow the flow of our system and you will be assured that your problem is not sin and the solution is not God; follow the flow of Scripture and you will be assured that your problem is sin and the only solution is God.  Does anyone else see that what we have in our churches is people who are trying to swim in both rivers at the same time?  The end result is that we look to the therapeutic and medical community to give us what we really need and we look to God as the clean-up hitter whom we need only when the other does not work and whom we surely need when death is coming and we want to go to heaven.  My fear is that this kind of view creates for us the kind of God that is no help for us at the door of death because this kind of God is not God who through His Son has defeated the power of sin and death and gives to us daily in His Spirit what we need to live godly lives in Christ Jesus, lives which are not at all about us having what we need and want to feel good about ourselves but lives that are consumed by Him so that we crucify ourselves so as to live for others which really makes us feel good about ourselves.  Most of us don’t need shrinks; we need contact from a sovereign savior.

We only have one morning service on Sunday morning and then on Sunday night we observe family night.  Family night is simply a time when we cease from all other activities that normally go on on Sunday night and gather as one large family.  We sing, we pray, we give praise to God and we eat; usually in that order.  It is a time to testify to the goodness and grace of God in our lives.  I am writing these words on a fifth Sunday anticipating our Family Night tonight.  We have just had a wonderful time in the morning with full house and full service followed by a wonderful meal.  But my point in all of these words until right now will be made right here:  we did not begin this morning until 9:45 with Sunday School and we were done with the morning service around 12:20.  Earlier this morning as I had already completed at least a half days’ worth of work before 9:45 rolled around I began to ponder what people must be thinking when they think that because they came to Sunday School and then endured a worship service that went past twelve that they must have delighted God on His Day.  Some would think that they have demonstrated their devotion to God through such an investment of their lives.  Some are sure that it is a sign of their love for God and their desire to deliver Him praise.  Come now!  How could we wade around in such shallow water and think we are swimming?  How could we mount such a mole hill and consider it a mountain?  Seriously?

God gave us one whole twenty four hour day in seven for the purpose of rest from ordinary labor and for the worship of His great Name.  It is to be set aside in its entirety for “religious exercises” and I mean that phrase in the Puritan sense of the practice of what is proper to give good and right praise to God.  The time in which we are to engage in religious exercises is the entirety of the day.  It would look something like this:  the early morning would be spent in private and family prayer in preparation for the public worship of God.  The bulk of the morning would be spent in public worship followed by a fellowship with food in which the conversation would be salted by reflections on how to live out the preached word which would then be followed by a time of rest and then the Lord’s Day would end with the public worship of God followed by retirement to our homes where we would gather the family to reflect on the day and give thanks and praise to God for the good and right gift of this day.  How does that sound to you?  Be honest now.  You see, I believe how we see the Lord’s Day and what we do with it is very good barometer of the true marrow in the bones of who we really are. I hope our Sundays here say that we love God, His glory and His Word more than we love anything else.  And I hope that we say that we are glad to gather to give glory to His Name, even saying that we do not do it for long enough time in the morning and the evening.  What a day Sunday is!  What does your Sunday say?

Galatians 5:13-26 [13]For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. [14]For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." [15]But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. [16]But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. [17]For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. [18]But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. [19]Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, [20]idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, [21]envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. [22]But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23]gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. [24]And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. [25]If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [26]Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (ESV)

Paul had he lived in our day and in our country would have loved this time of year.  The bowl season has just ended and the Super Bowl is just ahead.  The NBA is in full swing and March Madness is coming fast.  Spring training is just around the corner and the PGA Tour has arrived on the west coast.  And the World Cup is just in front of us.  Paul loved sports.  Read his letter and he uses the sports of his day as tools for teaching truth.  He says for example that he does not run without a goal and does not just punch the air but he disciplines himself to bring himself under control so that what he preaches to others he lives out in his life so as to be a bridge and not become a barrier (1 Corinthians 9:25-26 [+/-]1 Corinthians 9:25-26 [25]Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. [26]So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. (ESV)
).  Or when he gets near the end of his life and wants to describe his journey he uses image from the world of running and fighting:  I have finished the race and fought the good fight.  And here at the pivot point in this passage that is pointing us to how we are to live lives controlled by the Spirit he makes a statement and raises the question:  you were running well; who hindered you?  The word for hindered comes right out of the world of racing in which it was not abnormal for someone to cut in front of another to slow them down just enough to get them off stride and to impede their progress.  Paul is asking these believers:  who did that to you?  That is why your life is not filled with the fullness of the Holy Spirit; that is why you are struggling so much; that is why you are so downcast and depressed and not jubilant with joy.  And I want to ask you again this morning at the beginning of this sermon:  who is hindering you?  Here is a promise:  the more committed you are to Jesus as Lord of your life in every way the more certain it is that Satan will place people in your life whose role is to throw you off stride; they don’t mind you being a person of faith, they just don’t want that dimension of your life to dominate all that you are and all that you do.  And the extent to which we listen to their voice is the extent to which we cannot hear His and thus lose the sense of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here!

“Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:30-31 [+/-]Isaiah 40:30-31 [30]Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; [31]but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Women’s Ministry invites you to come away and wait for the Lord with us as He renews our strength. Come gain endurance with us as we learn to run without stumbling by drawing our strength from the only source that will last the entire race. We will begin the evening by eating dinner together. Throughout the evening and the following morning, we will have opportunities to delve together into God’s word and to share what we hear.

Cost: $20 includes lodging, 2 meals and materials. Scholarships are available.

Contact Carol to apply. Small Group Participation – Limit 12 women per retreat Everyone is invited even if you’ve been before. Each retreat will be identical so choose your date as soon as possible. The following date is available for now:

March 19 — 20, 2010

Each evening will begin at 5:30 and you wi