The Character of God- Part 7

Subtitle:  God is Faithful Truth

Exodus 34:6-7.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on January 19, 2025.

Today, we will look at the fifth description of God’s character.  God is faithful truth!

With this sermon, we will bring this series that looks at the character of God to a close.

God is faithful truth in the Old Testament

The Hebrew word used here is emeth (em’ eth).  Modern Hebrew says emet.  It means truth, but by extension, it means the dependability and trustworthy nature of that which is truth.  Thus, it is sometimes translated as faithfulness.  At its root, the concept is one of stability or firmness.  You might picture the old hymn, My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less.  It speaks of Christ as the “Solid Rock” and states that all other ground is “sinking sand.”  That is a very biblical picture and is at the heart of this word today.  Are you building your life on Christ the solid rock, or are you building on anything else, which is sinking sand?

Truth is a foundational concept.  To believe that something is true when it isn’t true is to discover many unexpected ways in which your underlying beliefs do not uphold your actions and steps.  I might believe that I am a 7 foot 2 inch all-star basketball player.  However, that will not change the reality of what would happen if I tried to play against NBA players.  The reality of what I actually am will be crushed by the reality of what those NBA players can do.

Our thinking is powerful, but it doesn’t change the truth; it doesn’t change reality.  It can, however, change how I respond to reality.  My thinking can powerfully change me, if I properly respond to truth.

On the other hand, to believe that something is false when it is actually true isn’t much better.  I pretty much doom myself to trying a bunch of ways that don’t work.  Of course, many a scientific discovery happened because someone tested false assumptions about what is the truth.

Foundational truths do not conform to our desires.  It is what it is, and a wise human will quickly see through the lies that they are basing their life upon.

Of course, we are not always able to properly discern truth through a scientific discovery, whether in science or God’s work in our life.  We can praise God that He hasn’t left us alone to only discover truth by our senses.  God has revealed many truths to humanity through the years, things that we would have never discovered without His revelation.

The word Amen also comes from this same root and essentially means, “that is true” or “that is trustworthy; you can stand on it.”  A double amen intensifies the meaning.  The Gospel of John has 25 occurrences of the double amen.  The King James Version translated this as “verily, verily.”  For a Hebrew person to use this double Amen, a perfectly trustworthy thing will follow.

In the Bible, people who have emeth have stable character and can be trusted by others.  They keep their word.  This doesn’t mean they are never late for an appointment.  It is not a statement about perfect performance of what they say, i.e., they are never stuck in traffic.  Rather, it is a statement about their character.  They mean what they say and do everything they can to back it up.  If you have ever crossed a creek by stepping from rock to rock, you have probably found that some rocks look stable, but they are not.  You can confidently step on them and then they wobble, often sending you into the water.  A person of emeth doesn’t wobble when you trust them or lean on them. 

This brings us to some of the occurrences of this word in the Old Testament.

Moses would sit and judge the disputes of the people when they were in the wilderness.  In Exodus 18:21-22, Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, recognizes that it is too much for him.  The multitude of problems will where him out.  He then counsels Moses to select “men of emeth (truth/faithfulness)” who will be able to decide the smaller problems and only send the hard issues to Moses.

A man of emeth is not just someone who tells the truth.  Rather, they are men who live life by truth.  It is part of their character.  They do not see their position of authority as a way for gain.  Instead, they know the truth that lies behind their position.  The position is not for enriching them, but for the help of the people.  God talks a lot about authority, but notice this one thing throughout Scriptures.  Leaders are always supposed to be for the purpose of serving the people, not serving themselves.  Positions of authority do not exist because some people are just better than other and deserve to rule over the people.  They don’t deserve a better life with the people buying off their favor.  God cares about the people.  He only cares about those in authority in as much as they help or hurt the people.

The truth is that two people committed to honoring God may not always agree, but they should be able to come to an agreement without someone else judging their case.  The problem isn’t about wisdom, but about our sinful unwillingness to honor God in our disputes.

Abram demonstrated the verb form of this word in Genesis 15.  When emeth is in a verb form it takes on the idea of believing or putting your trust in something or someone.  This is what lies behind the famous verse in Genesis 15:6.  “[Abram] believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.” (NASB).  This believing is not talking about a mere intellectual belief in God’s existence.  It is talking about all the actions that Abram did because he believed that God was trustworthy.  Thus, Abram left Ur of the Chaldeans and traveled to Canaan.  There, he lived in tents, awaiting God’s promise. He was more than a trustworthy man, but also a man who saw God as trustworthy.  In the Bible, God is the greatest One at being faithful truth, trustworthy.

Believe it or not, we even have a verse in which it says that Israel believed God.  In Exodus 14:31, Pharaoh’s army had just been drowned in the Red Sea.  This caused Israel to believe in God.  Yet, as they travelled with God through the wilderness and to the Promise Land, their faith in God was tested.  Each test begs the question, “Do you trust God now?”  It is not that God is purposefully causing all of these things, though He can surely test how trusting we are.  But, as things happen in life, He is watching to see what we will do.  Will we believe in Him, or put our trust in something else?

We know that Israel failed very often.  Yet, God helped them (even helps us) because He is faithful truth.  It is His character.  This means that God is not simply a truth-teller, or One who wants truth from others.  He is the foundation of all truth itself.  He is the only being in the universe that is absolutely dependable.

Jacob coming back to Canaan, with his 2 wives, 12 kids and many herds of animals, stopped at the border and confessed to God that he was unworthy of all the faithful truth that God had shown to him (Genesis 32:10).  When Jacob had left for northeastern Syria, God had spoken promises to him.  Over the last 20 years, God had proven to be trustworthy and had shown Jacob faithful truth, not because Jacob deserved it, but because God keeps His word.

This brings us to Moses and his rock metaphor for God.  Deuteronomy 32:31-32 points out that the fallen spiritual beings that the nations worshiped as gods were not trustworthy.  Their rock is not like the Rock of Israel.  Their gods wobbled whenever they put their trust in them, but Yahweh was an absolute stable rock.  This is another way of speaking about God’s emeth, faithful truth.

We should recognize that there is a parallel between Israel running from the giants and David fighting Goliath.  In Numbers 14, Israel balked at fighting the giants.  They decided to kill Moses, pick a new leader and go back to Egypt.  However, God steps in and that doesn’t happen.  Still, they are told that they will stay in the wilderness for 40 years as a punishment for their unbelief towards God. 

Thus, later when David comes to check on the battle his brothers and Israel were fighting against the Philistines, he finds a giant challenging Israel and everyone trembling in their tents.  They were not believing God again.  They were essentially on a spiritual trajectory back to Egypt, back to the wilderness.  Yet, God steps in.  This time He raises up a “man of emeth” who will face the giant and give Israel victory over the Philistines.  Solomon recognizes this in 1 Kings 3:6.  “You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father, according as he walked before You in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You…”

You may see the pattern now that a trustworthy person is someone who is trusting the truth of God in their life, their decisions and actions.  David lived out the truth of God even when it looked like it could get him killed.  Of course, David would later fall woefully short of this during the event in which he commits adultery with Uriah’s wife and then has him killed in an attempt to cover it up.  David fell short, but the pattern of salvation coming through a man of perfect emeth is made clear in the Old Testament.

People are not born with trustworthy genes.  Trustworthiness comes from a life of putting your trust in God.  It comes from the experience of life in which we discover that God is the only One who can uphold our trust perfectly.

Thus, God promised David that one from his offspring would be that perfect Psalm 1 picture of a man who fully trusts God and thus becomes a tree of life to all who will eat of his fruit.  This offspring would be the Anointed One of Psalm 2 who would inherit dominion over all of the earth, bringing salvation to those who bow to him in allegiance.  This Messiah would not fall short.  This was revealed to David and he spoke of it (sang of it) in his psalms.  This would be a forever kingdom because the king is a man of perfect emeth.  He is stable, unfailing and trustworthy, and so, his kingdom is a kingdom of emeth.  He would stand up to the giant, spiritual forces that were dominating humanity and fully trust God.

This is why the Bible speaks of the kingdoms of this world falling before the Messiah.  They definitely will not be able to stand against his return as Revelation 19 declares.  However, over the last 2,000 years, nations have risen and fallen at his command.  The united States of America is falling apart even now before Jesus has come back.  We could even cease to exist as we currently do, whether split apart or taken over by a foreign power.  Regardless, the problem is always our lack of trusting God.  America is not trusting God, and it is destroying our country.  Yet, He gives times of opportunity for repentance.  Perhaps, the US still has time to repent and be restored before Him.

In 2 Samuel 7:16, we are told of a prophecy from God through the prophet Nathan to David.  David’s throne would be “established” forever.  This is the verb form of emeth, but it is in a passive form.  It is the idea that something will be made trustworthy, faithful truth.  His kingdom will be like a rock because The Rock of Israel, the Stone of Israel (Genesis 49:24), will arise.  A kingdom can be no stronger than the one upon whom it is built.  The Messianic Kingdom will last forever because it is built upon The Rock.  All other kingdoms are built on sinking sand.  Only Messiah’s kingdom can go through the fire of God’s wrath (a day when He judges all the nations on earth) and survive.  All other kingdoms will not survive.  At least, not in their current forms.

This brings us to the catastrophe of the exile.  There was a civil war in Israel in the days of Solomon’s son.  The nation was divided into ten tribes in the north called Israel and 2 tribes around Jerusalem called Judah, or Judea later.  The northern tribes were wicked and eventually God used the Assyrians to conquer them and cast them out of the land.  This happened circa 722 BC.  This left Judah feeling vindicated, but they were not any more righteous.  They were exiled by the Babylonians around 136 years later (586 BC).  The northern tribes never really returned from exile.  Whereas, as many as desired of Judah, came back from Babylon 70 years later.  In this environment, there was a question on the minds of Israel.  Is it over?  Is it possible that God will not keep His word because we have failed so badly?  Did we misunderstand the promises and they were always conditional on our obedience?

Psalm 89 is a treatise of this crisis.  It starts out praising the promises of God to David.  Verse one sings of God’s emeth (faithful truth) and praises Him.  Yet, at verse 38, we have this.  “But You have cast off and rejected, You have been full of wrath against Your anointed.” Seven more verses detail the reality of being cast off by God. 

Verse 46 begins a series of questions.  “How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire?”  Verse 49, “Where are Your former lovingkindnesses, O Lord, which You swore to David in Your faithfulness?  God had sworn an oath to David in His emeth, faithful truth.  Yes, Israel has sinned greatly, and the house of David has sinned just as greatly.  Yet, God is faithful even when we are faithless.

Jesus is the faithful truth of God

The questions above were answered throughout the Old Testament prophetic books.  God would cast Israel out of the land, but He would still be faithful to send the Messiah and save humanity.  Still, from 400 BC to the time of Jesus, there were 400 years of silence from God.  They had heard enough.  They had enough truth to weather the years and wait for Messiah, if they could but trust God.

This is why Matthew 1:1 is so powerful.  Whenever we find the Gospels together in antiquity, it is always Matthew first.  Matthew opens his Gospel, and the New Testament, with a bold declaration that Messiah had come in the person of Jesus.  God had finally kept His promise and sent the One who would save Israel and the nations.  The name Jesus in Hebrew basically means “Yahweh is salvation” or “the salvation of Yahweh.”  Notice that Matthew emphasizes that he is from the line of David and Abraham.  The names of the fathers in between are important and Matthew goes on to give the full genealogy.  However, don’t miss the main point.  In Jesus, God was fulfilling His promises to David, and His promises to Abraham.  He could have even added Adam.  Messiah had come and God’s faithful truth, His emeth, was on full display in the face of the failures of Israel and the failures of the Gentile world.

The presence and work of Jesus was a confirmation of the promises and faithfulness of God.  We see this in Romans 15:8-9.  “For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, 9 and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written, ‘Therefore I will give praise to You among the Gentiles, and I will sing to Your name.’”

The Incarnation of The Word of God into the man Jesus is God keeping His word, but Jesus is also the very truth of God itself.  Nothing that has been made was made without him.  He is the effective cause of creation.  He is the absolute bedrock truth of all reality.  In Jesus, the Truth of the world stepped down into it, but men loved darkness rather than the light.  To put your faith in Jesus is of a greater nature than putting your faith in man’s scientific understanding.  Yes, you can follow the science (our current understanding), or you can follow the One who is the mind behind how all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose.  Science rightly understood can only point back to its Creator.

A believer in Jesus doesn’t just become more trustworthy.  They even become like the Rock that they are building upon.  They are more stable, enduring, than all the “wise” people of this world who refuse to stand upon Jesus, who refuse to believe and trust God.  They are both on quicksand themselves and a quicksand to those who trust in them.

We are not Israel going against giants in the Promised Land literally.  However, we metaphorically face the same thing.  The big obstacles in front of us challenge us and are akin to the giants of old.  Will we trust Jesus and take hold of our personal inheritance and the inheritance of our people?  Or, will we tremble at the powers flexing in front of us?  Will we shrink back from trusting God’s word, standing with Jesus and his ways?

Jesus went through death and then God raised him up.  He is forever a testimony to those who would dare to follow him that God will uphold them as well.  He is also a testimony to those who shrink back that there is no other way to salvation.  As a Christian, if I really believe God, then I have no excuse to quit in the face of scary, big people, fallen spirits, or circumstances.  Most of us will not face the threat of death like Jesus and his apostles.  But, we can face even that with complete trust in God.  We can choose to honor Jesus by walking into it.  We can look into the face of tormentors and tell them to go ahead and do what they want, but I am going to stand with Jesus because that is your only hope of salvation.

Those who think they are so powerful, who are pounding on those nails or wielding those weapons of annihilation, who are so following the science of their own wisdom, they are going to be flat on their face before Jesus in the future.

It doesn’t matter if I live long enough to see that or not.  That is not my hope.  My hope is Jesus!

The giant ideologies and giant people, of fame, power and fortune that we face, try to intimidate us.  “How dare you stand against the great and powerful Oz!”  But, I’d rather stand with Jesus, the slain lamb, than with all the smoke and mirrors of this world.  I’d rather stand with Jesus than any empire that this world tries to establish without Jesus!

Faithful Truth audio

The Acts of the Apostles 49

Subtitle: Will You Die for Jesus?

Acts 12:1-11. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on July 30, 2023.

Our title asks a question that can either be extremely uncomfortable for an American Christian, or it can be something that is so unreal that we don't give it the full gravity it deserves.  In other words, we can be quick to discount it because we think that we will never face such a thing.

My goal today is two-fold.  First, I believe that the point is not whether you would ever face martyrdom for Christ, but that you would have such a spiritual relationship with Christ that you could walk into the valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil.  Even if God were to reveal to you that you were going to die for Him, it still takes faith and trust in God to walk forward and say, "Whether I live or die, it is all for the Lord!"  Yes, this is easier said than done.

Second, I believe that this question is itself at the heart of being a disciple of Jesus.  The word martyr actually means a witness.  In English, we connect it to those who are killed for their faith because that person is giving the ultimate witness of the worthiness of Jesus.  Yet, you cannot serve Jesus without dying to your own fleshly desires.  In this way, all Christians are called to die for Christ while they are alive.  Discipleship is continually facing this question.  Is Jesus worthy of my devotion to His leading?

On top of this, all saints will eventually die, and the biggest question will not be what took their life, but whether they lived their life as a witness of the love of Christ.  Our life needs to be a witness of the salvation of Jesus regardless of whether we are martyred or die in our sleep at home.  This is why Jesus tells us that we need to pick up our cross and follow him.  People who die for things really believe in them.  God helps us to be a people dying to our fleshly desires for the sake of Jesus.

Let's look at our passage.

The Apostle James is martyred (v. 1-4)

Luke explains another attempt to remove the apostles of the Church of Jesus.  This time it is by "Herod the king."  Initially, persecution came from the religious leaders and was imprisonment with threats.  It was the death of Stephen that took that persecution to a lethal level.  Saul of Tarsus hunted Christians down and brought them before the Council.  This seemed to fizzle out after his conversion in Damascus.  This introduces another serious persecution that seems focused upon the apostles themselves.

We know that this happens roughly 11-14 years after the death of Jesus because of the mention of Herod the King.

It is hard to keep track of the mixed up Herodian family, and what parts of Israel they are ruling over.  Herod the Great was alive at Jesus' birth and died several years later.  His kingdom was split up into four parts among his sons, but intrigues led to a soap opera like movement of who ruling what.  After Herod the Great's death, there was only one person during 3 years that could be called "Herod the King," and that is Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great.  He ruled shortly over all the parts of Israel from AD 41 to AD 44.  By the way, his son, Herod Agrippa II, is the Herod we will meet later in Acts 25.

Herod Agrippa started by ruling over a small city north of Damascus, but through his connection to several Caesars, he was given control of parts of Israel incrementally from AD 38 to AD 41.  Thus, he had rapidly rose from obscurity to Jerusalem to king over Israel.  In fact, some saw this as a possible restoration of the Kingdom of God to Israel.  It would be short-lived.  In three short years, it would fall apart again.

We are not told why this new king of Israel would seize James the apostle and execute him with the sword.  He is summarily dispatched in the span of two sentences.  James was one of the top three disciples with Peter and his brother John.  He should not be confused with James, the brother of Jesus, who didn't follow Jesus until after the resurrection, and is the writer of the book of James.

It is interesting that the three disciples closest to Jesus had such a variety of experience.  James is the first of The Twelve Apostles to be martyred.  He served as such for about 11 to 14 years.  Whereas, his brother, John, lived over 60 years after the death of Jesus.  He was the last of all the apostles to die.  Peter was in the middle, being martyred around 30 some odd years after the death of Jesus.

With the mind of flesh, we might ask which of them God loved the most.  Of course, they had argued so much about which of them was the greatest.  Is James the most loved because God took him home first?  Or, is John the most loved because he lived the longest?  Of course, you could make a case for both, but I think the question misses the point.  God loved them all, and their relative lengths of life have little to do with how much He loved (loves) them.

We will also see that there is no move to replace James as one of The Twelve like they did with Judas.  Judas did not serve the purpose for which God was calling him.  Whereas, James did fulfill his post.  He had given witness to his nation and to the Church about the identity and worth of Jesus, the Christ.  Why God only had him work about 14 years, Peter over 30, and John over 60, is an unknown to us.  Yet, they were taught directly by Jesus, and empowered directly by the Holy Spirit as gifts from Christ to the new believers.  They would help to ensure that the Church was founded upon a solid and true foundation by teaching and writing down the words of Christ.  No one needed to "take their place, or position," after they were gone.  They all finished the work that God sent them to do.

It reminds me of the parable of the workers.  Some men are hired to work for the day, but more workers are needed.  The owner hires new workers several times throughout the day, even hiring some to work the final hour of the day.  When they were being paid, the owner starts with those who worked one hour and gave them a whole day's wage.  This cause those who worked all day long to think they might get more, but instead they were paid a day's wage.

We need to understand that the labor of the Lord for each of us is not about mere numbers.  God does not need to maximize all He can get out of us.  Why is He not more protective of highly effective workers?  Why do some lazy Christians live long lives?  Historically, it is common for men and women who are spiritually powerful in the work of the Lord to die early.  We have stories of missionaries who traveled to Africa to spread the Gospel and were killed in the first year.  Yet, their witness broke open the Gospel in those areas.

When we became a believer, we didn't know all that the Lord would have us do, and what He was calling us to.  We can look at a person who dies at a young age and think that it is tragic because of what they could have done for the Lord had they lived longer.  We should be careful of this kind of thinking.

God has a purpose for each one of us that is important no matter how long it is.  However many days I may have to work for Him, it is my job to be faithful to the end.  The range between all of the Apostles dying was about 50 years.  Yet, each one of them would step into the presence of Jesus and hear the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"  The worrying about who is the greatest and will sit closest to Jesus is all gone in that moment, as you look into the glory of Jesus and are no longer in the flesh.

So, James is quickly killed, and little is made of it.  It simply was.  There is a story that surface in the early A.D. 300's by Christian bishop and historian Eusebius.  He relates that James actually led his guard to faith in Christ.  The guard was then executed along with James.  Whether this is true or simply a legend, James had done his part faithfully, whether we have all the details or not.  How many people have served the Lord and there is no book to recount their exploits.  Yet, the Lord knows those who labor for Him, and He will reward them fully!

We are told that Herod noticed that his execution of James "pleased the people."  Because of this, he proceeds to arrest Peter, intending to execute him as well.  However, it happens to be Passover week.  Therefore, he plans to hold Peter until the feast is done. 

Herod is a political creature of Rome.  He knows that he has to please the people enough to keep them peaceful, but in the end, he really has to please his Roman overlord, Caesar.  The leaders of this world have to become good at playing this tension between the people and their overlords, both in the natural and in the spiritual.  To them, people like James and Peter are merely fodder for their political intrigues.  We do not need such politicians.  What we need are people who are willing to be servants of the rights of the people, rather than serving their own flesh.  Yet, for all of their politicking, it really does come down to what God decides.

We can become so focused on the actions of politicians that we lose sight of the reality of what really matters.  "O, no!  Herod has executed James.  Now he has Peter.  O, woe is us!"  In fact, up until these verses, God has protected the apostles.  It is possible that the Christians had begun to think God would never let them be killed.

Herod Agrippa is actually falling into a classic trap of his abuse of power.  His arrogance in the face of God will only lead to his dishonor and demise.  Yet, his execution of James only gives him greater honor before Jesus.  We must resist the fleshly temptation to be fixated on what the powers of government do, rather than focused on pleasing the Lord Jesus.  He has the final word in all things!

Peter is freed from prison (v. 5-11)

In verse eleven, we see that an expectation had been built up.  Everyone knew that Peter was in prison, and that Herod planned to do to him what he did to James.  I'm sure there was much anticipation during the Passover feast and then the week of Unleavened Bread.  I'm sure they couldn't wait for Passover to finish so that they could see the spectacle. 

I pray that  you can hear me when I say this.  How many people are saying in their minds, "I can't wait for church to finish because there is something more exciting that I want to do."  Who cares about the old ritualistic traditions of our forefathers?  We just want to see something spectacular.  Yet, we forget that God has an expectation too.  We can be guilty of looking down on the things of God, whether in Israel or in the Church, and lusting after things that are actually in rebellion to His will.  O, how we need to seek God for a change of heart, a heart that is not lusting after the things of the world, but strongly desire the things of God.

Whereas James was summarily executed, Peter is going to be freed from prison, protected by God.  Yet, it is interesting that God let Peter stay in the prison until the night before he was to be brought before Agrippa and the people.  We don't want to read too much into the timing, but we should at least talk about the dynamics here.

What is God doing in this delay?  He could have set him free on day 1, but He waits until the last day.  He may be letting Peter sweat.  Maybe, this is more a time of intimacy.  The Lord could have revealed to Peter what He was going to do, but it doesn't say.  After the martyrdom of James, Peter could have wondered if it was his time.  As each day went by, he may have become convinced that he would be executed and surrendered himself unto God's will.  We just don't know.

This is where we need to learn to discipline of calming our hearts before the Lord in prayer.  It is typically the questions, the things we don't know, that agitate us and fill us will anxiety.  Why wasn't James released?  Why did God have Peter stay in prison to the last night?  Why is Peter released?  We can keep asking such questions that are all about why God does what He does.  However, it will not bring us peace.  The wisdom of God is so far above us that we can only receive glimpses of its glimmering glory.

Thus, the best thing that prayer can do for us has nothing to do with getting answers to all of our questions.  Rather, it is through prayer that we humble ourselves down before the Lord so that we can receive the strength to do for Him what He would have us do, what our flesh doesn't want to do.  Therefore, when you are in times of trial, and you do not know what God is doing, quiet your questions and fears before Him in prayer so that you can receive the strength to do His will.  The nice thing about being in prison is that you have tons of time to pray, to work things out with the Lord.  For James, it was to die in honor to Jesus.  For Peter (at least this time), it was to be set free by God in honor of Jesus.  May God help us to patiently serve Him as He leads us.

During Peter's incarceration, God's people are constantly praying.  We should not make too much of this, nor should we make too little of it.  Did they not pray for James?  Perhaps, James death happened before anyone knew about it, i.e., there wasn't time to pray.  We can latch onto the concept of constant prayer as the answer for everything.  We can then turn it into a mechanical lever to get what we desire from God.  Prayer is never about logging in hours, or impressing God with our unceasing devotion to saying things to Him.  It is about relationship.

Therefore, we must not look down on this privilege of the children of God to seek His favor in certain things that we are facing.  We should not quit praying because God did not answer in the way we hoped, in the way we asked Him to do.  Prayer has an element of wrestling with the Lord and discovering His purpose in the things that confront you.  Jesus tells us to pray, to ask.  The Word also says, "You do not have because you do not ask."  We need to be an asking, seeking, people, but not just seeking the answer that we want.  We are ultimately seeking the heart of God as we ask for specific help.

The best prayer always ends with a surrendered recognition that God knows best how our lives can bring glory to the cause of Christ.  And yet, this should not cause us to refrain from asking for specific things out of a false piety.  Wrestle with the Lord!  You may come out limping, but there is a blessing in it.

Notice that Peter is sleeping on the night of his trial, and sure death.  Lord, help me to be a man who can lay his head down to rest on the night of his execution.  I believe that Peter has prayed as well.  He has found a place of rest and peace in his soul in the midst of a turbulent time.  Do you remember the time when Jesus was sleeping in the boat during a storm?  Jesus wasn't afraid.  He was at peace with the Father's will.  Yet, Peter and the other disciples were desperately afraid of the storm.  Here, we see Peter demonstrating that he has not only seen things about Jesus, but he has also learned some things from him.

In the middle of the night, Peter is brusquely  awakened by an angel.  He is chained between two soldiers with two more at the cell door.  These men are supposed to be awake.  What are the chances of four guards all sleeping, as well as those who should have been guarding the outer part of the prison?  This is a supernatural sleep that has come over them.  A bright light is shining upon Peter as he gets up and dresses to leave, the chains simply fall from his wrists as he stands.  Multiple barred doors would be passed, but Luke especially mentions the iron gate that opened into the city from the prison.  These open of their own accord before Peter and the angel.  As they turn down a street, the angel is gone and Peter realizes that it wasn't a vision, or a dream.  It was real, and he was free!

One thing happens with James and a very different thing happens with Peter.  Even with Peter, God could have delivered him by any number of things.  Yet, it happens through, what we would call, a supernatural intervention.

I have entitled this sermon, "Will you die for Jesus?"  This can be a question of your faithfulness.  Would you choose Christ in the face of the threat of death?  Would you lay it down as an offering for His glory, and as a witness of Him to others?  Yes, we celebrate as we read that Jesus is worthy to open the scroll.  However, it is quite another thing to think that he is worthy for me to let go of the rest of my life and suffer death for his cause.  There are Christians all across this world today who are making such choices.  Sometimes you are not even given a choice.  It just happens, as we see in some of these attacks on churches.  Yet, Jesus is worthy of it all!

A cynic may ask what kind of God would ask such a thing from His followers.  However, that question can be turned around.  What kind of humans would put God in the position that the only way He could save us was to become one of us, and then sacrifice His perfect life for our sakes?  Jesus is the One who has loved us to the greatest degree.

It is not that God wants us to be martyred.  Rather, this is where sin leads us.  Back in the Garden of Eden when He told them not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they wanted to know anyways.  Knowledge here has the sense of an experiential knowledge.  We had to know for ourselves.  As much as our flesh likes sin, our flesh doesn't like the consequences of sin, where it takes us.  The moment of pleasure perhaps is fun, but then there is the payment of the results of the decision.  Those who live for the pleasures of their flesh pay a high price because we were not designed to live solely for pleasing the flesh.  Thus, we destroy ourselves and the people around us through our sin.  Sin leads to these kinds of places where people seek to put other people to death, or at least subjugate them.  They were putting to death people who are only trying to do good things.  How horrible is that?  The same is happening today all around this world, these united States included.

The title of this sermon can also be read as a question about God's will.  Has God decided that I will be a martyr for Him, or will I live a long life and die in my bed at home?  Of course, as a general rule, we don't know what our end will be.  Did God favor Peter over James?  Did God favor John over Peter?   These are questions of a weak faith.  No, God loved them all.  Yet, His purpose had differences within their lives.  Thus, by a manifold and glorious witness, the Church will show forth the great glory of Jesus Christ to the nations.

May God help us not to fear His decisions over our life.  I'm reminded of the song, "Lord, Don't Send Me to Africa."  It is a humorous song, but there is truth in it.  A man who doesn't want to serve in the nursery, will do so simply to avoid something that he thinks is worse, i.e., going to Africa.  In many ways, we can be a church that is telling God that we will serve him in all these ways that we want.  Be careful when you find yourself telling God the ways and places where you are willing to serve Him.  Yes, He could send you to the place you don't want to go, but He could also just pass you by looking for someone who is serious about serving Him.  Without saying it out loud, we have all kinds of limitations on what we are willing to suffer to follow Jesus, and it will not serve us well in the end.

Perhaps, the American Church is getting exactly what it has been asking for without realizing it.  We can tell God that we want revival, but our hearts are really saying that we want exciting services that conform to our comfort level.  God could care less how great our music sounds, building looks like, and soft our chairs are.  O God, we will serve in any way possible to keep having fun services, but just don't send us to (fill the blank for yourself).

Think about those who sign up for the military.  They all go to boot camp, and then, they receive training to be fighters.  However, when they get in the foxhole during a battle, some have the mettle to face it and some do not.  No boot camp and no human training can put that mettle in you.

What is the difference between courage and cowardice?  I believe that at the root of it is faith.  Not faith that we can't be harmed.  Cowards are not able to do the right thing by trusting God.  Whereas, a courageous person knows they might die.  Yet, they go forward in faith that it is better to die in honor than to die in dishonor.  They are not looking to die.  In fact, they work hard to avoid dying.  Yet, the situation becomes harder and harder, narrower and narrower, until you find yourself between that rock and a hard place.  There you are.  O Lord, help me not to be a coward, but instead, to bring you glory through courage.

Let me close by reminding us of Philippians 4:6-7.  "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

The real attack in life is not about Herod executing James, and then seizing Peter.  The real attack is what such things do to our hearts and minds.  Satan wants to bully you into the coward position.  He wants to get between you and Jesus in any way possible. 

This is why taking up your cross is so important.  In the end, all Christians are martyrs (witnesses) for the Lord.  We all are called to daily lay down our life and follow Jesus, whether life or death.  No saints of the past are alive today.  They all lived their lives and then laid them down for Jesus, whether in their beds or by a tyrant's sword.  Only a person, who has lived a life of crucifying their flesh to live for Jesus, will  be willing to die for Jesus because that is what they have been doing all along.  May we learn to die daily so that regardless how the Lord chooses we should die, it will all be for His glory!  Amen!

Die for Jesus? audio

How Much Must a Mother Know?

Psalm 139:13-18.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Mother’s Day May 14, 2018.

Today as we honor mothers, I want to look at a passage that is normally reserved for proving that God sees the fetus in the womb as a human life.  The reason I want to do this is because a fetus does not lose its value when it is born, neither does it lose its value when it is completely grown and dealing with the rigors of life.  Thus moms, and frankly all of us, need to be reminded, over and over again, that God has created us, that He knows us better than we know ourselves, and that He has given a great amount of thought to our particular life.

We can lose sight of this in life.  The Psalmist who pens this psalm is not a baby in the womb anymore.  Rather, it is David and he had encountered many obstacles and difficulties in his life.  He was a man who had a heart for God, but had also failed God at times.  In this Psalm he is remembering God’s constant care, all the way back when he had yet to enter the world.  This thought fills him with the knowledge that it is still so, and he mixes it with faith at the end of the psalm where he cries out in prayer to God, “Lead me in the way everlasting!”

Moms, God has created you.  He knows you, and He is always thinking of you.  Lean upon Him today and cry out with David, “Lord Jesus, lead me in the way everlasting!”  You may not feel like you know enough to do the tasks before you.  But you only need to know this one thing: how to lean upon the Lord.

God has created us

We are jumping into this psalm mid-way through it.  If you do look at the verses leading up to this section, you will recognize that David ponders the reality that God’s Spirit is everywhere we go and knows everything that we experience, both externally and internally.  It is somewhat scary to think that there is a being who knows everything about us and from whom we can hide nothing.  David lists different places as if searching for a place to get away from God.  Heaven, nope God is there.  The grave, nope God is there.  The uttermost parts of the sea- nope, but His hand will lead me and his right hand shall hold me.  Darkness falls on me, but with God the night shall be as the light.  In the end David points out that God’s constant and inescapable presence in our life is not something to be ran from.  Regardless of where we go in life and what we end up facing, God will be there to hold us, lead us, and dispel the darkness.  How can we trust this?  David does so by remembering the most vulnerable time of his life, when he was in the womb.

David realized and sings about the amazing truth that God has created us.  Sometimes we think about childbirth as simply a natural thing that does not involve God.  But here we are told that God is just as active in the birth of every child as He was at the creation of Adam and Eve.  Sure, it is different, but God is involved nonetheless.  In fact, Psalm 100:3 says, “Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves.  We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”  Thus the womb is seen by David as a secret and hidden place of this earth, where God forms each individual.  It is tragic that modern society has turned this truth into a travesty.  Childbirth is a partnership between God and humans, and as such, we should respect His involvement in the process.

As David thinks upon the amazing creation of a human being that goes on in the womb due to the work of God, he describes it with two adverbs: fearfully and wonderfully.  Humans are fearfully and wonderfully made and that includes you.  The more we contemplate and inspect the design of God in our bodies the more we are amazed with a reverent awe.  It is scary in a good way how wise and powerful God’s design is.  However, it also fills us with wonder.  Unless you work in fields that focus on the human body it is easy to lose sight of such a wonderful and fearful truth.  You are not an accident of the universe.  You are not somehow more deficient than any other human being.  You were meant to be, and God was involved in your making as much as any other human.

This becomes even more important as we enter a new era of technology, where we are discovering the processes of conception and how to manipulate them.  Our technology is leading to a point where a human being can be brought into the world, not through parents that will love and care for them, but through lab technicians.  Such a process has a dehumanizing effect, as we become a commodity that is created on demand by people rather than something that was as God fully designed.  Of course technology cannot completely throw off the design of God (it must still deal with DNA, Germline Cells, and such).  Yet, conceptually even those concepts could one day be dethroned in humanity’s unslakable appetite to remake things.  Even in the midst of such chaos, I believe that God is still there.  He sees our formation and is involved in ways we may not completely understand.  Our value as humans is not based upon the people who brought us into the world, or their particular DNA makeup.  Rather, our value is based upon the God who is the most important being involved in our existence.  Our value is not based upon what we may think or do in this life, but rather upon the sure intention of God.  He has formed you and covered you in a wonderful and amazing fashion.  You exist because of Him, period.

God knows us

In verses 15-16, David recognizes that, even more than God’s involvement in our creation, He also intimately knew us during that time.  The processes and events of the womb have become less and less hidden through technology.  But the main point is well taken.  What is a mystery to humanity, including a mother, God knows full well.  What man could not see, God could see and was working out His will, even when we were still being formed.  Yet, it doesn’t end there.

David says that before even one day had passed in our development, God has already fashioned particular days for us and had them written in a book.  Now we can attempt to make this only about fetal development, but David is clearly implying more than this.  There is a parallel between the unformed fetus, which goes through a certain amount of days that God has fashioned for it until it is fully formed, and a child who is born into the world.  Such a child has a particular number of days fashioned for it by God.  When we have fulfilled those days then we will leave this world behind and enter the next.  The knowledge that God intimately knows our formation and life is intended to be an encouragement.

God knows what the future holds, whether we are an adult facing a crossroads or a newborn whose life has yet to unfold.  Yes, a child is fully human and is as valuable as a person in their prime.  Yet, their life is not fully revealed yet.  We do not know yet what sort of substance this child has within it.  Every trial, joy, difficulty, and pleasure is part of our formation until we have fully become what we are.  Of course there are differences.  A fetus cannot make choices of what will be formed in them.  But as humans we can.  You may not know what tomorrow holds, but God does.  Instead of anxiety and worry, embrace the peace that comes from this knowledge.

I want to come back to the idea that God has written down the days determined for us before they occur.  That might be a scary thought to some, but on the other hand, when you think about God’s heart, it is an amazing encouragement.  No matter what you face and no matter what people tell you is the right path, God knows your every day and is intimately aware of all that you face.  He has made a way through it for you.  The things you fear today, may build in you the courage you will be thankful for tomorrow.  Trust God’s loving hands.  He knows your name and your very being.

God thinks about you

In verses 17-18 we see the thoughts of God.  Knowledge is directly connected to thoughts and both point to God’s care for you.  He has not forgotten you, nor is He too busy to give thought to your life.  David recognizes this as a “precious” thing.  Of all of the treasures of David’s life, the knowledge that God had given thought to his whole life is of incalculable value.  Just as childbirth is a partnership between parents and God to bring a new human being into the world, so life is a partnership between us and God to unfold to the world just who that human being is.  Just as I think about my life (and often worry), so too God thinks about it.  How precious is that?

In speaking of God we know that the quality of His thoughts is great.  One thought from God is greater than a million thoughts of the wisest man on earth.  Yet, David points out that God’s thoughts towards us are of great quantity.  If it was possible to count the thoughts that God has thought about you, it would be a great sum, more than the sand on the seashore.  That is a lot of thought.  In fact, if God gave that much thought to our life, then perhaps we spend too much time trying to imperfectly recreate all His thoughts towards us.  I am not advocating that a person give no thought about their life.  But that we can temper those thoughts with the knowledge that God has already given thought to those things that we don’t understand.  This is intended to give us peace and the freedom to trust Him and His design.  Believers must cling to this great truth rather than to worry and despair.

The last line of verse 18 says that “When I awake, I am still with You.”  Though it is a short statement, it speaks to the faithfulness of God.  He is constantly faithful to us.  When we go to sleep, we are taking a break from life and all of its worries.  But when we wake up we find ourselves still with God.  He does not sleep or slumber.  He is constantly watching over us and with us.  He is always there.  Yes, we often feel all alone, even when we are not humanly alone.  But God is always right there with you, regardless of how you feel.  Take time to develop a relationship with the One who created you, who knows you, and has given great thought to your every day.  Thus moms, dads, kids, and friends, you only need to know one thing to do what you need to do, and that is this.  You can cast your cares upon Him because He is the One who cares for you.

How much audio

The True Jesus: Jesus Teaches About John

Today we will look at Luke 7:24-28.  Jesus had sent a message back to John (who was in prison) telling him to not lose faith.  John clearly was struggling with what he believed should be and what was happening.  After John’s disciples leave to give him the message, Jesus teaches about the greatness of John because it was important for people to understand who he was and how integral he was to God’s plan.  Yet, at the end Jesus gives us a strange twist.  Let’s check it out.

Why Were People Drawn To John

In verse 24 Jesus asks the people why they went out into the barren places to listen to John.  He does so by asking a rhetorical question, of which the answer is obvious.  Did they go out to see a “reed shaken by the wind?”  This word picture is of a person who is easily moved by circumstances and the opinions of man (i.e. the winds of the time).  Though the reed may look substantial, it grows in marshy areas or along rivers, lakes and streams.  Thus it can be easily uprooted.  Clearly, this was not a picture of John the Baptist.  People were drawn to John because he was a sincere, steadfast, passionate, God-pleaser.  John stood strong even against Herod Antipas and his sins because he wanted to please God.

Another way in which this picture of the shaken reed can be understood is to read 1 Kings 14.  In that passage the prophet uses a shaken, bruised reed as a picture of how God would come upon Israel.  He would knock Israel down, and scatter it to the winds.  Thus the bruised reed is a picture of Judgment.  John was clearly a righteous man and not under judgment.  In fact you could say John is himself a dried reed in the hand of God to chastise Israel in order to draw some to repentance.  This was very different from the religious leaders of the day and drew people to him.  John seemed to be authentic and he was.  John’s passionate stand against the sins of Israel from the least to the greatest in the land culminated in his imprisonment and eventual beheading.  This gave people hope that the Messiah truly was about to come.

Next Jesus asks if they went out to John in order to see a man dressed in soft clothing.  This question is pretty much a joke.  Anyone who had seen John would laugh at the idea of him in soft clothing.  John was the ultimate picture of self-denial.  This was in stark contrast with the political and religious leaders of the day.  He is pictured as living in the wilderness on locusts and wild honey (i.e. living off the land), wearing camel hair cloak, and a leather belt.  He didn’t just abstain from luxuries.  He abstained from even the normal pleasures of life.  This again increased his authenticity in the eyes of the people.  John was not seeking to “fleece the sheep” for his own benefit.

The next question in verse 26 begins to hone in on the truth.  Did you go to see a prophet?  Definitely the answer is yes.  John was a true prophet of God.  The people went out to John recognized this about him.  But John was more than a prophet of God.  What the people couldn’t see is that John was the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy in Malachi 3.  God had promised to send a Forerunner to the Messiah whose job would be to herald the Messiah’s coming and help people be prepared for Him. 

Even more, Jesus points to John as the greatest of the prophets up to that point.  Does that mean John was greater than Moses and Elijah?  Yes it does.  However, “greater” likely does not point to greater in faithfulness or love of God.  Rather John is greater in function or position.  John ministers in the presence of the Messiah.  He also successfully turns hearts from sin towards the Messiah.  Lastly he gets to witness the beginning of the promised Kingdom of God.  These are things that Moses and Elijah would have loved to have seen.  In this regard, John’s experience parallels that of Moses.  Just like Moses teaches the people to follow God and leads them to the Promised Land, but doesn’t get to go in, so John the Baptist teaches and leads the people to Jesus and His promised Kingdom.  However, John is to be executed and not allowed to enter the coming Church.  He could have been an excellent Apostle.  However, it was not the calling God had given him.  This of course leads us to the issue of the Kingdom of God.  Wasn’t Israel already a part of the Kingdom of God?  How could it be coming or at hand?

The Kingdom of God

If you study the Scriptures, you will see that Israel is part of God’s Kingdom.  Many places He is called their King.  However, both in experience and through the prophets, the people were promised a greater stage of that Kingdom.  Not a Kingdom ruled by men who variously fell short of God’s righteousness, but by God’s Anointed (Christ) who would perfectly rule the people and expand the Kingdom over the whole earth.  When Jesus came He initiated this Kingdom of God.  Since then Christians have been the citizens of the Kingdom of Jesus and Jesus is the King.  This rule in the hearts of men has gone to the ends of the earth.  However, this is not the completion of all promised.  It is now a natural people ruled by a spiritual kingdom that does not have an earthly headquarters, nor an earthly ruler.  But that is coming.  Thus the Kingdom of God was both present and future.

John was preparing people’s hearts to enter into this new stage of the kingdom of God.  He called them to repentance and spiritual cleansing, and to faith in Jesus.  They would be able to hear and respond to the Messiah’s call, “Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  The Good News of the Work of Jesus is that everyone is invited to join the Kingdom that had come about by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  Thus John has a tremendously glorious position within the Kingdom of God.

Yet, Jesus strangely says that those who are the least in the coming kingdom of God will be greater than John.  This amazing point begs the question of how the least in the Church can be greater than John.  Our experience would beg to differ with Christ.  But again this is not about devotion or faithfulness.  It is about position.  Let’s look at the ways those who entered the Kingdom of Christ received something greater.

First, we have a greater knowledge of Christ than John.  John understood better than all up to him who the Messiah was.  But he didn’t know everything.  That is why we see him doubting in prison.  Jesus encouraged John, but He shared His teachings and prophecies with His disciples.  John did not have this.  The Holy Spirit even led the Apostles into further truth than Christ taught them because they weren’t ready for it yet.  See John 16:12.

Second, we have a greater position before God.  John participates in the transition, but never gets to participate in the life and joy of the Church.  Like I said earlier, he is like Moses in this way.  Longing to enter in and yet having to be content with the position and calling God has given you.  John the Baptist still lived under the Tutor of the Law of Moses.  However, we have become the adult sons and daughters of God, no longer under the teacher.  We are able to work alongside the Father in the freedom of love rather than under the restriction of Law.

Lastly, our privileges are greater than John’s.  John did have the Spirit in His life, but he never got to see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all God’s people.  He didn’t get to see that in operation within the Church community.  We have been given spiritual gifts that John did not get to see.  Even the fellowship of believers within a community was foreign to all that John experienced (an outcast living in the desert).  I could go on but I think you can see the point I am making.

Let me close this by saying that God isn’t done yet.  You have been given something in Christ that the prophets of the Old Testament would have longed to have seen and experienced.  You are blessed beyond belief.  What a privilege we have been given by God.  Am I thankful?  Do I treat my Christianity lightly?  Or, do I despise it and think it is worthless?  I am amazed when I see videos of people witnessing on the streets of our cities and they run into people who say they are Christians, but they don’t live any different from the world.  They are enamored with the world over the top of Jesus and His kingdom.  The apostle John warned us not to love the world or the things of the world because they are all passing away.  Do you know that the kingdom of God is on the verge of an even greater stage?  In fact it could be said that in the millennial kingdom the least will be greater than the greatest of the Church today.  God is not done yet.  He will complete all that He said he would.  Why throw all that away for some trinkets that are going to be destroyed tomorrow?  Are you living far below your position and privileges in Christ?  Maybe we need to hear John’s words one more time.  Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!

Jesus Teaches about John Audio