The Sermon on the Mount XIX

Subtitle:  Conclusion-False Prophets and Pretenders

Matthew 7:15-23.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on April 28, 2024.

We continue looking at the conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus gave.  He warned them to take the narrow gate with a difficult way because it leads to life.

Now, he warns us against false prophets and pretenders who could mislead us in some ways.  Like the serpent with Eve, people who are pretenders can mislead the gullible.  They are a threat to the true disciple.  Thus, Jesus gives us apt warning.

False prophets do not call themselves “False Prophet So-And-So.”  They always call themselves a true prophet.  This was a problem in the Old Testament, and Jesus is telling us that it will continue to be a problem during the Church Age.

Of course, we are well aware of many examples of false prophets through the years.  The most obvious are men like Jim Jones who talked hundreds of people to follow him to Guyana and a erect a self-sufficient compound.  When it was all done, almost over 900 people died from drinking cyanide-laced Kool-Aid, from which comes the phrase, “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.  How many family members pleaded with those who followed Jim Jones, recognizing him for the false teacher and false prophet that he was? 

You would like to believe that there would cease to be false prophets when Messiah Jesus had come.  This will be true at his second coming, but during this period following his first coming, he is commanding believers to recognize false prophets and bring them to account.  Yet, Jesus recognizes that they will be successful with a certain amount of people, and thus, he warns those who would be his disciples.

Let’s look at our passage.

Beware false prophets and pretenders by discerning them (v. 15-20)

In this passage Jesus only uses the term false prophet.  However, elsewhere he talks about false christs and false witnesses.  The apostles also warned against false teachers, false apostles, and false brethren (i.e., false christians).  Basically, any real work of God can be falsely mimicked by pretenders.

This is not just a message to the Jews who were rejecting Jesus.  A well known case of a false christ, or false messiah, happened around 135 A.D. (one hundred years after the death and resurrection of Jesus).  This is the case of Simon bar Kochba (also Koziba).  He was backed by Rabbi Akiva as being the Messiah.  They expected him to lead Israel in casting out the Romans, but instead, his forces were crushed and he was killed.

Such a man was not working for the God of Israel, but for something else.  These pretenders lead to many others being killed because of putting their trust in them.  Yet, Jesus is speaking to his followers.  They are not “Christians” so to speak, just yet, but they are those who would choose to be his disciples.  False teachers and false prophets will come, and the disciples of Jesus will need to discern what they are so that they are not deceived.  Since Christ will come back (the second coming), false christs (messiahs) have often come claiming to be him.  Of course, false prophets are usually predicting the second coming, or the rapture, or claiming some special knowledge.

In verses 15-20 Jesus makes the point that we need to discern false prophets, which means that we can do so.  In verses 21-23, he makes the point that those false prophets and pretenders will not fair well when they stand in judgment before him “in that day.”

The word translated in the NKJV as “beware” emphasizes keeping this area of deception in front of you, thus keeping it in mind and giving it your focus.  Yet, this does not mean it is the only thing, or even the primary thing. 

Still, it is easy for us to think that this doesn’t happen to us.  When John the Baptist was baptizing people in the Jordan, Matthew 3:7-10 tells of a interaction between him and the religious leaders.  They had come out to see what he was doing, perhaps to see if they could find something with which to pin the label of false prophet on him.  They would have felt strongly that they were vigilant against false prophets and false teachers.  Yet, they were the false teachers of their day.

John actually calls them a brood of vipers.  This would be loaded with spiritual connotation that goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden and the offspring (spiritual imagers) of the serpent.  They needed to do works “worthy of repentance,” if they wanted to enter the Kingdom of Messiah.

This helps us to see some of the problems of false prophets.  We are easily swayed by institutions and men of power who are always ready to train us in their ways of power.  When this is done in the name of God, it can disarm people who say they are being vigilant. 

Satan himself is the first false prophet, false teacher.  He teaches Eve to disobey God and follow his advice, even imaging him as they assert their will over God’s.  So, we should all ask the question, “Am I gullible?”  The answer is that you are to certain types of false prophets.  We can all be deceived if we are not walking in real relationship with God.  We can follow that which has the proper form, and yet lacks the true substance underneath, i.e., lacks power (2 Timothy 3:5).  In fact, because the religious leaders of the first century lacked true substance underneath the accretion of proper forms, they were hostile to the presence of true substance within Jesus.  Some of the greatest “heresy hunters” can be guilty of the same.

Jesus gives a metaphor that helps us to see how false prophets operate.  They come in sheep’s clothing, but in their inner man, they are ravenous wolves.  The reference to sheep denotates the flock of God, which was supposed to be a description of Israel.  These false prophets pretend to be a good Israelite who is worshiping Yahweh, but inwardly, they are not. 

The sheep’s clothing upon their wolfish being may not be a very good costume, easily seen through.  However, it may also be on the same level as Hollywood costume designers, which makes it much harder to know for sure if that is really a wolf under there.  Of course, this is a spiritual metaphor, so we have to make the connection to what that looks like.  They may be very skilled at playing the role of a follower of God (1^st century Jew or 21^st century Christian).  It may take some time for even mature believers to discern that a person has no substance.

Think about your favorite actor or actress.  Why are they your favorite?  It most likely has nothing to do with what they actually are like in their day to day relationships.  It is probably because they act out roles that you like extremely well.  Yet, remember this.  An actor is good when they can make you think that they are something that they are definitely not.  They are good pretenders, good posers.  They are very skilled at the external matters of being a Christian.

However, being a disciple of Jesus, and a sheep in the flock of God, is not simply a matter of certain externals.  Christians say certain things, and use certain lingo.  Christians go to church and meet with other believers.  Christians do certain rituals like communion or water baptism.  Now, it is good that we do these things, but no one is saved by doing these things.  These things are supposed to be a witness of a real relationship of faith in Jesus.  They are supposed to be the fruit of a heart that loves the LORD their God with everything and their neighbor as themselves.

God is looking for a deeper transformation than these things.  He wants our heart. 

The false prophets are actually ravenous wolves underneath all that costume.  This is what they are really.  The look religious, sound like they love God, but they are hungry predators focused on their own base desires.  How long can a hungry wolf pretend to be a sheep when he is surrounded by a bunch of yummy sheep?  They are putting on a show because they expect to get something, some things, out of it.  Like a wolf will eat a sheep, so they will use the sheep to satisfy their desires.  It may be the pride of life that is satisfied by a large following of devotees.  It may be a lust for power that is satisfied by people who unwisely obey their every word.  It may be some disordered sexuality that is satisfied when people do not hold them accountable.  Cult leaders often talk people into letting them take their wives, even their daughters, for sexual pleasure.  Of course, there is no end of the debasement in these categories.  It may simply be the lust of wealth, greed, and any manner of other things.  Generally, the false prophet has hangups in multiple of these categories.  They do not live on the proper grass that God provides for the sheep.  They are sensual beasts that only say no to their flesh for a moment in order to keep up their costume.  They will satisfy their lusts in the end, and many unwitting people will have helped them to do it too!  To be clear, wolves are never good around the sheep, even when they dress like them.

Now, some might say that religion itself is the problem.  If you never involved yourself with religion, then you would never be suckered by a false prophet.  This is a lovely fiction that is imagined because we tend to think of religion as something to do with a belief in a “god.”  However, atheism has all the hallmarks of a religion.

Atheists put their trust, their faith, in the idea that all things have a material cause and explanation.  They refuse to believe that there can be a God who operates in this world.  Yet, this is not something they can prove.  Generally, they only require “proof” from God, but what is the proof that all things only have material causes and explanations?  They would probably retreat to the idea of probabilities, but this is no safe haven for the atheist either.  Which is more probable, nothing created everything, or an all-powerful, all-wise Mind created everything? They believe this proposition so much that they exercise faith and order their life around it.  This is a religion which exchanges God for the material creation itself.

We might recognize that Karl Marx, Chuckie Darwin, Mao Zedong (Tse Tung), and all the others were false prophets speaking to those who were tired of Christianity.

Jesus tells us that you will know them (discern them) by their fruit.  This is an analogy from the area of fruit trees versus trees that do not bear good fruit.  If a tree grows a particular fruit, then you are assured of its true nature at the cellular level. 

Since we are talking about hypocrites, let’s picture the difference between a Christmas Tree and an Apple Tree.  We might decorate a Christmas tree with real apples, but we would have to tie them to the branches, or tape them.  No matter how much we decorated the tree, if you pay close attention to the fruit you will see if it naturally grows out of the tree, or is unnaturally, even synthetically, connected.

This powerful metaphor lies in the fact that an untrained eye may not be able to tell the difference between a good fruit tree and a tree that is not such before it begins to fruit. However, once it begins to fruit (or not) even a child would recognize that it is not what it purports to be.  If you saw a tree with apples tied to its branches, you would know that something was wrong in this “orchard.” 

A false prophet and false teacher is incapable of producing good fruit because of the truth, the reality, of who they are.  Of course, they could repent (do works worthy of repentance) and be changed by God, but this is the exception rather than the rule.

In verse 19, Jesus warns those who might be tempted to follow such trees, because parts of their flesh enjoy the wicked fruit of these false teachers.  These trees, false prophets et. al., are destined to be cut down and cast into the fire.  This refers to their judgment after death.  God may not judge a false prophet quickly (of course, He can), and they may make a long living at it.  However, in the end, they will die and be punished.

If you agree with such people, you will join in their reward, which is no reward at all.  Adam and Eve participated in the wickedness of the devil that day in the Garden.  As such, they would join in his lot, unless they found room for repentance in their hearts.  We musts turn away from easy deceptions that play on the lusts of our heart and mind. 

Sometimes we are drawn by the way that personal prophecies buoy are ego.  We may like having the “inside knowledge” that such men may purportedly proffer.  Our flesh loves having secret knowledge that others do not have.  Sometimes our flesh loves having a religious leader tell us that our sin is acceptable in God’s eyes, and we don’t have to change.  Whatever it is, we must beware of letting the lusts of our heart lead us into the sin of following a false prophet and false teacher.

They will not be able to fool Jesus at their judgment (v. 21-23)

Jesus moves forward in time when these false prophets and false teachers will be judged.  It pictures them standing before Jesus “in that day.”  This pictures a judgment of these individuals.  Not only will they never truly enter the Kingdom of Heaven in the daily operation of the true Church, they also will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven that will be brought in at the Second Coming of Jesus.  They are shut out by the Spirit presently, and will be shut out by Jesus in the future.

Verse 21 gives a general statement up front.  Entering the Kingdom of Heaven is not a matter of declaring Jesus is your lord, even twice.  It is a matter of truly putting your faith in Jesus and following him.  This verse doesn’t just apply to false prophets.  It also applies to false brethren, i.e., false christians, who are not truly believing in Christ, they have a false conversion.  They are not trusting Jesus to fill them with His Spirit and empower them to walk out His righteousness.  They profess Christ, but they do not possess Christ.  If he actually were their Lord, then they would do the things that he commands.  They would be serving Him rather than themselves.

Verse 22 pictures them protesting their coming judgment.  Didn’t we do these things in your name?  This question is a lie, just like their sheep clothing was a lie.  They used Jesus as a cover, but in the end, they did everything for the lusts of their flesh.  Now that they stand before him, they seek to pull the wool over his eyes as they were so successful in doing to people during their life.  They are making a case, but we might think of it as a protest.  They see that they were wrong and are going to pay, and yet they make a protest against the righteous judgment.

Some people are bothered by the list of works that they refer to in verse 22.  First, I would point out that the list is clearly meant to tie back to the false prophets in the earlier section.  Yes, there are false christians, but this pictures the false prophets and false apostles.  They prophesied in the name of Jesus.  They cast out demons in the name of Jesus.  And, they did many wonders in the name of Jesus.  How could a false prophet do these things?

We need to understand a several things about this.  These false prophets represent a broad range of people and intentions.  There are some people who have been misled by a false prophet and are merely continuing a false way that they were taught.  They don’t know any better.  They think they are right.  Others are charlatans who are merely seeking to fleece the sheep.  However, some are in league with the devil and are knowingly undermining the teachings of Jesus. 

When the charlatan does something amazing, it is generally a trick.  Peter Popoff pretended to hear personal details of people’s life and needs from God, but in truth, he had an earpiece and was hearing from his wife reading from prayer requests they had filled out earlier.  I think that God may sometimes grant someone a healing because of their faith, despite the lack of character of the minister.

However, some people are in league with spirits and are using occult arts to wow people.  The devil does have a certain level of power.  We are warned that the man of lawlessness, the Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:9), comes forth according to the working of Satan with all power, signs, and lying wonders.  The False Prophet of Revelation 13 is said to be able to call fire down from heaven.  We are warned in Scripture not to follow people solely because of powerful signs.  We are to discern the fruit of the life that they live.

For those who are somewhat fearful at the idea that Satan may have some kind of real power, we must always remember that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4).  Don’t be a person running around trying to find the person who appears to be ministering powerfully.  Instead, look at the fruit of their life, if they will even let you close enough to know what that is.

Jesus will not be deceived by these people, no matter how good they are with humans.  Jesus knows what they really did.  You may be a good lawyer that is able to get the best of people to question what their lying eyes are seeing, but your lawyer tricks won’t work with Jesus.  He sees right through your costume to the sinful heart that lies beneath.  Jesus says, “I never knew you!”

They may have done a lot of things in the name of Jesus, but they never had a real living relationship with him.  If they had, then he would know them.  The word “know” speaks of an intimate experience of life together.  What kind of people do things in the name of others, with whom they have no relationship?  They are called thieves and robbers.

We need to rely upon Jesus more than just the lust of our flesh in order to determine who is a prophet, or teacher, of God.  We need the written Word of God, but we also need true relationship with the Lord Jesus who is the Living Word of God.  Nothing helps against deception as good as having a living and growing relationship with Jesus.

In such a relationship, you will have the Spirit of God calling you away from the sins of pride, lust for power, lust for things, etc.  You will come to recognize that these people are wearing a mask and not responding to the Holy Spirit.  You will develop a good sniffer for false people.  Of course, we should be careful of developing a pride in our ability to “spot a fake.”  Like the person who is proud of their great humility, we can always fall into sin and error when we think too highly of ourselves.  This is a classic error of false prophets and false teachers.  They lack the very basic lessons that the Holy Spirit is faithful to correct everyone of God’s disciples with.

We are called to know Christ and be known by him.  This is a life of prayer, reading the word, wrestling with Christ over wisdom and needs, hearing from His Spirit the things we need to do, and correction when we neglect to follow through.  Learning to say no to sin in our life and being empowered by the Holy Spirit to walk out the righteousness of Jesus is the hallmark of life in the Spirit of Jesus.

In the end, they were doing the works of lawlessness.  “Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness!”  They flaunted the Word of God and the Son of God for their own lusts.  They did not see the Church as a holy bride of Christ, but instead, raped her at every turn.  The lawless always cover themselves with the appearance of lawfulness, but they resist and rebel against the truth of God.

God loves you.  Your relationship with Him may be broken, but He is still calling out to you.  It is not His intention for you to be abused by false religious people.  Instead, He wants to fill your heart and mind with the truth of His love, enabling you to see through those who would make merchandise of your soul.  May God help us all!

False Prophets audio

A Fruitful Tree

Mark 11:12-21.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on July 5, 2020.

Today, we will look at the Gospel of Mark and follow the actions of Jesus during the days following his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  Jesus was ready to force the point, or rather, the question, “Who do you say that I am?”  Is Jesus truly savior and king, or is he a despised thing to be cast aside?

In reading the scriptures, it is easy to see the faults of Israel and its religious leaders.  However, the lesson is intended for us to search our own hearts and ferret out those inevitable aspects of our flesh that would undermine true worship of God.  This is important because there is a lot of lip-service that is given to justice and righteousness in our society, and yet, they really are important.  Am I just a loud noise that internally has no substance?  Do I cry for justice, but then turn around and abort?  Do I cry for justice, but then dishonor my neighbor?  Do I cry for solutions, but won’t lift a finger to embrace the solution that God has already placed in front of me?  I could go on, but let’s look into our passage and allow the Holy Spirit to search our hearts because God is looking for people who will be a fruitful tree, rather than a thorny bush in these last days.

Jesus comes back to Jerusalem

It is clear that the Triumphal entry happens on a Sunday, or the first day of the week.  We are told that Jesus had retired that evening to a small town called Bethany that was less than a mile east of Jerusalem.  We must remind ourselves that this is the week before the Passover Feast, which means that more and more pilgrims were arriving in the city every day.  Our passage opens on Monday morning, and Jesus is leading his disciples back into busy Jerusalem.

On the way, there is an episode involving a fig tree.  Why did Jesus leave Bethany without eating something?  Why can’t he wait until he arrives in Jerusalem to get some food?  We have no answer to these kinds of questions.  However, the logistics of this episode are not the issue because there is clear symbolism in what happens.  I am not saying that Jesus was faking his hunger just to make a point.  Rather, the situation becomes parabolic of Israel as a nation.  The disciples are recording this for that reason, and not just because it was a spectacular miracle.

This was an area that had many fig trees.  In fact, a nearby village called Bethphage literally means house of unripe figs.  However, it was not yet time for the trees to be ripe.  We are told that Jesus sees a fig tree that has leaves, and that draws his attention.  This is because those trees grow the fruit first and then grow leaves.  In other words, the fact that there were leaves was an indication that there would be some fruit.  Yet, when Jesus gets to it, it has none.

At this point, Jesus curses the tree with the phrase, “Let no one eat fruit from you again.”  This may make Jesus look petulant, but the issue is not really about his hunger.  Israel was created by God so that they could be fruitful for the purposes of God.  It had all manner of outward signs that signaled that it should have fruit, but when God came to inspect, He found none.  Notice that this is not a rejection of the fruit, but the lack of any fruit altogether. 

Other scriptures using the image of an olive tree give a more nuanced picture that recognizes that there was a fruitful remnant within Israel.  This was despite the work of the nation’s religious leaders.

Jesus moves on and enters Jerusalem with his disciples.  They then go into the temple compound.  When we talk about Jesus entering the temple, a word is used here that does not refer only to the inner-most building that housed the Holy of Holies with the Ark of the Covenant.  It actually refers to the whole temple compound, which had a series of courtyards and porches built around it.  For our purposes, it would be good to get a rough sense of where this situation is happening.

The inner-most building could only be entered by the priests with only the High Priest on one day of the year able to go into the Holies of Holies.  Outside this structure was the courtyard of priests where all the sacrifices took place.  Just outside of this was an area that was called the courtyard of men.  This was the closest that Israelite men could approach.  Outside of this walled off area, there was another courtyard called the courtyard of women.  This was the closest that an Israelite female could approach.  Beyond this walled off area, there was a large courtyard that was north, east, and south of the closer courtyards.  This was called the courtyard of Gentiles.  This was the closest that a non-Israelite person could approach.  It is most likely here that the event takes place.

We are told that Jesus begins to drive out those who were buying and selling in the courtyard.  They were selling guaranteed pre-approved animals and birds for the sacrifices.  This would be convenient for people who were traveling longer distances, even some by boat.  Yet, they paid an exorbitant price for the convenience.  It had become a money making scheme most likely given in nepotism, or through bribery.  Thus, a whole industry had been built up that made money off of the activity of religion, just as there were others built around the activity of government.  The trade is not illicit, but the ways in which it was generally being done was.  It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to recognize similar things that exist today. 

Jesus also overturns the tables of the money-changers.  Pilgrims would arrive from all over the Roman world with Gentile money.  All adult males were required to pay an annual temple tax.  This was to be paid with an Israeli Shekel.  This too was exchanged at exorbitant rates that were not fair.  Even if there had been no overcharging, Jesus objects to the location of the activity as well.

Jesus takes time to teach the onlookers why he was doing these things.  He first reminds them of the stated purpose for the temple compound.  It was not just for Israel, even though Gentiles were prohibited from entering into the inner courtyards.  It was intended to be a house of prayer for all nations.  This means that the courtyard of the Gentiles would be would be the closest place where a believing Gentile could come to God’s temple and pray to Him.  This is important.  The religious leaders did not care for the praying of the Gentiles.  They only cared about the money they could make from the convenience to the Israelites that God had required to offer sacrifice.  Making things convenient is not necessarily bad, but when it runs counter to God’s stated purpose, it is.  The Gentiles would have to pray in the middle of a marketplace filled with smelly animals and loud commerce, which is anything but conducive.

Secondly, Jesus uses a phrase from Jeremiah 7 to highlight that they are not only affecting God’s purpose for this area, but they are also robbing people.  He calls it a “den of thieves.”  It is bad enough to squelch a good purpose, but it is inexcusable to also encourage a bad purpose.  God does give us commands, but he does not intend those commands to be over-burdensome.  It is important for us to always keep in mind what God’s purpose is for things, or places, even our own lives.  We must first refrain from that which is counter to God’s purposes.  We must then embrace and perform the good purpose that He does intend.  This is not just about what happens in a church building.  Don’t you know that you are the temple of God?  It all begins with a proper understanding and worship of God within our own hearts and lives.  Everything else flows out of that.

Mark states that this so enrages the chief priests that they seek to destroy him.  It was mentioned prior that the religious leaders had already determined to get rid of Jesus.  However, they did not want to do it during the feast.  There would be way too many people around to witness the distasteful necessity (in their eyes).  Yet, Jesus is clearly forcing their hand by all that he is doing and teaching in the temple.  They are not so much afraid of what Jesus can do to them (though they should have been), but that the people might listen to Jesus and follow him.  They are afraid that they will lose their power over the people, and even that the Romans would step in.

Whether as religious leaders, or as parents with the duty to train our kids to worship God, we must always remember that we are not to dominate the spiritual life of another person.  We are to be a help and a benefit for them to connect with God, but we must be careful not to become a hindrance.  When the heart of an authority figure is not in the right place, they will always be threatened when those under them come into relationship with the Truth.  This is a dynamic that is always at work in the hearts of us all.  It takes humility and repentance to avoid this pitfall.

Again, they retire to Bethany that evening.  They return again the next morning, which would be Tuesday.  At this point, Peter recognizes that the fig tree is completely dead, down to the roots.  Jesus takes advantage of the opportunity to deal with Peter’s amazement at the miraculous effect that the command of Jesus had on the fig tree.  However, we will leave that for our next sermon.

Let us end by recognizing that the picture is for us to see that hypocrisy will not only lack good fruit, but it is destined to be cursed by God.  Jesus reminded Israel that Isaiah had prophesied well about them when he stated that they were a people who drew near Him with their mouths and lips, and yet their hearts were far from Him.  It is not enough to have the outward appearance of a fruitful and worshipful life.  Israel had all the trappings of worship that God had commanded them to have, but most of them did not have a heart that worshipped God.  Let us remember that, in this sense, Israel is no different than the Church, or you, or me.  We are all tempted to hypocrisy because we all have a sinful nature.  It is only through introspection and humility that we can keep our own hearts as a clean house, a place where true worship and prayer can occur.

Am I a fruitful tree or a tree that only promises fruit?  One will be blessed and the other will be cursed.  Humility and repentance is the only way that we can be a fruitful tree.

Fruitful Tree audio

What Are We Doing at Abundant Life? Connect Part 1

Matthew 11:28-30; John 4:23-24; 15:2-4; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 8:14-17.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, April 19, 2020.

In this modern world, there are many who see the Church as an antiquated relic of the past that holds no help for modern man.  Of course, if the Church was only an organization created by humans then that would be true.  However, if what the evidence from history tells us is true then the Creator of the Church was not just a human.  And, that makes all the difference.  Yes, humans were involved, but that doesn’t discount the overall work of God, and we should not be quick to toss it aside.

I want us to stop looking at what people have done in and through the Church, whether when we were kids or even recently as adults.  Instead, I want us to stop and just listen to what the Creator of the Church said that he intended for the Church to accomplish.  When you simply look at what Jesus told his Church to do, you find a revolutionary concept that is timeless, and one that saves us from our own penchant for self-destruction, whether as individuals or as a world.

In some ways, this sermon is about convincing people to connect to Jesus.  If you are a believer, it may come across a bit like a married person watching a wedding.  However, that can be a good thing because it reminds us why we married in the first place; it reminds us of when our love was fresh.  Let this sermon inspire you to a deeper connection and a more intimate relationship with Jesus.

Whole-Life Worship

Years ago, our leadership sat down and worked to develop a model or image that would picture exactly what Jesus said he wanted to accomplish through us and the Church world-wide.  Here is what we developed (figure 1).

figure 1

At the heart of this picture, is the concept of whole-life worship.  Everything that we do should be in worship of God.  Yet, even those things that we do should be instructed and informed by the Spirit of God working in us.  As we focus our whole life upon Jesus, he teaches us and leads us in fulfilling God’s purposes rather than the destructive purposes that our heart and mind draw us towards.

So, what does God want us to be doing as an individual Christian and as a local expression of his Church?  It all begins with connecting to Jesus and moves around this cross through three other facets and back to connect again.  They are all happening at the same time, and yet, they are connected to one another.  They are all different facets of our worship of God through our life.  The more you try to analyze them and break them apart, the more they all sort of dissolve and fall back into worship of God.

I should say that, by worship, I mean living in such a way as to demonstrate that God is worth more to us than anything else.  It is literally all that we do to show that God is worthy of our life.

We connect to Jesus as a declaration that God is worth it.

We grow to become like Jesus as a declaration that God is worth it.

We serve Jesus in the way that he tells us to do as a declaration that God is worth it.

And finally, we share Jesus with others as a declaration that God is worth it.

In short, this image pictures the full, abundant life that God wants you to have on this side of eternity.  However, abundant life doesn’t end at death; it has only just begun.  In fact, Jesus is Abundant Life and the only source of it for all humanity.

We have simplified this whole image into the mission statement: “Connecting people to the Abundant Life found in Jesus Christ.”  Everything begins with connection to Jesus and it ends with connection with Jesus.  Let’s look at some Scriptures about connecting (figure 2).

The Call

Figure 2

In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus is calling us to come to him.  There is much in the Scriptures that emphasizes the rebellion of humanity against the Creator, and the judgment that has come upon the whole world because of it.  However, the other side of the coin is that God does not want to leave us under that judgment.  He wants to save us.  Like Adam and Eve, we run from God when we realize that we have broken His ways.  However, God came after them, not to destroy them, but to redeem them.

Have you ever stopped to think that Jesus is inviting you to come to him?  Before we get into the details, just let it sink into your heart and mind that God is calling out to you and inviting you to come to Him.  Why would He do that if He only wanted to judge and destroy you?  He wouldn’t, and He doesn’t.

The Bible tells us that God is patient towards us, not willing that anyone should perish, but that all would come to repentance through faith in Jesus.  He simply says, “Come to me.”  There are many who have written Jesus off as a mythical story like Santa Claus.  Others are simply afraid to get involved with any religious leader.  Don’t just pass him by.  Take a hard look in this passage, and others, and see just who this guy is who is telling you to come to him.

Jesus is describing those whom he is calling, those who are laboring under a heavy burden in their life.  Human governments at any level very rarely actually care about the difficulties of your life.  Jesus is not talking about how bad it is to have to work for a living.  Work is not what makes life heavy.  It is the pressure that we put on ourselves, and the pressure that society puts upon us to live for purposes and goals that God never intended.  It is the lack of true care for your soul that makes life heavy.  Yet, like a loving parent whose child has gone far, far astray, God still cares for you and longs for you to come to Him.  He knows how tough it has been.  He actually has compassion for your predicament.

Thus, He offers you rest.  This is the same kind of rest that God gave to Israel on the seventh day, when all the other nations were out breaking their backs seven days a week.  It was always intended to be much more than a physical rest from work.  It was a rest from the pressure that everything depends upon us.  It is learning to rest, to lean, upon the grace and help of your heavenly Father.

Today, humanity has co-opted God’s plan for rest and added another day for pleasure.  But, what has it become?  For many, the weekend is no rest, but a flurry of activity which leaves us empty.

It is interesting that, after Jesus says that he will give us rest, he offers us a yoke.  The imagery is that of a beast of burden like an ox.  A yoke would be used to harness the ox to a cart, a plough, or a carriage.  Thus, a yoke represents the work and the purpose to which we are connected.  No matter how free you try to be, you cannot grow up in this world without having a multitude of yokes around your neck.  We can get to the point of near suffocation under them.  Some are from yourself, and many others are from the world around you, but Jesus offers a different yoke, a lighter yoke.  Yes, it is a burden; that is, it is a purpose and a task.  However, it is singular and good.  You are exchanging a large number of heavy yokes for a single light yoke.  This yoke does not leave you worn-out, over-burdened, and empty.  It leaves you rested and satisfied.  It is not tyranny.

So, God is calling you to come and connect to Him through Jesus.  Jesus is our point of contact with the Creator.  However, we need to take a closer look at the connection itself.

The Connection

In John 4:23-24, Jesus tells us that God is looking for people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth.  In short, He is looking for people who will connect to Him in a relationship of faithful worship.  This connection is spiritual, but also real (truth).  It is a spiritual connection that cannot be shut-off, taxed, or infringed upon by this world.  These are not just nice archetypal stories meant to inspire us into performing certain roles.  This is a real offer from our heavenly Father saying that we can connect to Him by connecting to Jesus.

Jesus came into this world to do many things, but one of the greatest of them was to create a real point of connection between us and God.  Later in John 15:1-4, Jesus gives us the image of a vine that has branches connected to it.  He tells us that he is the vine and that we are the branches.  God intends us to be branches that have a living connection to Jesus, a connection through which we can draw life.

This spiritual and real connection to Jesus is able to make our lives fruitful.  We are not talking about being able to build an international business that makes you billions of dollars.  Of course, God could bless you with that, but it alone is not the fruit that He is looking for.  He is looking for a life that is itself life-giving, no matter what station or level of ability you find yourself.

Jesus tells us that he will pour into us when we connect to him.  That life will work inside of us until it produces external evidence of its internal existence, that is fruit.  Everyone in the world bears some kind of fruit, but most of it is deadly.  Only the fruit that Christ produces in us can truly give life.  He mentions that when we are fruitful, there will be times of pruning (John 15:2-3).  Pruning is part of becoming more fruitful.  Sometimes, perfectly good things in my life need to be cut off in order to focus more energy on doing what has eternal value, as opposed to temporary and transient value.

The fruit of my life comes from what is at the center of my heart.  So, what is at the center of our hearts?  Is my heart connected to Jesus, or is it connected to the desires of my flesh and the hopes of this world?

The third thing about this connection is that it needs to continue or persevere (vs. 4).  You can’t connect for a while in order to get a little bit of religion; you know, just enough to do a person good.  This is about much more than an ethical framework for life.  Jesus tells us to “Abide,” or “Remain” in him.  The word has the idea of taking up residence in him, making him your home for life, i.e. like a marriage.

If we don’t have a real and living connection that is healthy and fruitful then the perseverance of our connection can be threatened more easily.  There is a spiritual enemy called the devil who is looking for people to devour.  He devours us spiritually to the point that we see no hope in God, and especially in Jesus.  We have to guard our hearts from the temptations and philosophies of this world that would draw us away from continuing to trust in Jesus.

Now, the imagery of a vine and branches is very informative, but it does come across as kind of cold, when you think about human relationships.  This is because the analogy points to something much bigger than itself.  We are not connecting to a religion, but to a relationship with the Lord of Life!  The more noble image is that of a family relationship.

A New Creation

In 2 Corinthians 5:17, it says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”  When we connect to Jesus, we become a new creation, a new person.  There is a difference in us that is new, and yet needs to grow, like a newborn baby.  This creates a tension between the “old me” and the “new me.”  This verse says that the “old things have passed away.”  Another way to say this is that we have moved past our old way of living.  It doesn’t mean it no longer tries to tempt us back.  Rather, I have reached a place where I am moving past the old selfish life and choosing to live for God and His purposes.  I am now spiritually alive and responding to the Holy Spirit within this fallen world.  Of course, we are not mind-swiped.  The old me is there struggling to regain control.  However, its way of living produced very little, if anything, that was truly living and full of life.  Even that which seemed to have life at first, very quickly loses its flavor and becomes a mouth full of gravel in the end.  The new creation has come to see that Jesus is the source of life itself, not just a source of a life.

Let's finish this with looking at Romans 8:14-17.  Here the Apostle Paul uses the same family terms that Jesus and others used of our relationship with God.  The Holy Spirit is working all the time to draw people to Jesus, and we must never forget this.  Those who put their faith in Jesus are responding to His drawing.  When that happens, they are adopted into the family of God.  They are “sons of God” (vs 14) and “children of God” (vs 16).

Have you ever thought about the fact that life on this world is just the nursery of eternity?  As we trust Jesus and maintain a living connection to him, we will grow up to become adult sons of God in eternity.

Jesus is much more than a static vine that can do nothing about our connection to Him.  He is a being with a heart that loves you so much that he has come down after you into the muck and filth of this world.  He wants to have a relationship with you.  Sure, at first it may seem strange to have a relationship with a spiritual being.  It may seem strange to pray “into the air” and fear that someone might see you and think that you have lost your mind.  However, it is what you were created for, relationship with your Father in heaven.  When we go through this life without having a living relationship with our creator, we are empty, and the things of this world are vain and unsatisfactory.  The entropy of this world seems to squeeze the life out of even that which is good.

Yet, God loved you.  He was not content to be separated from you.  He paid the price so that you could join His family.

This brings us to the last part of the Romans 8 portion we are viewing.  We will inherit all things with Jesus, if we keep connected to Him.  God’s plan is that He will resurrect all those who belonged to Him at the end of this age in immortal bodies without a bent towards sin.  He will then fix this world and hand it over to Jesus.

The doors are still open.  God is still calling to people to come to Him through Jesus.  So, what must I do to connect to Jesus?  It is simple.  First, we are embracing Jesus through repentance from our old life and faith in his new life for us.  This relationship with God is described as a whole-life worship.  This makes us the children of God with a destiny that is more amazing than fiction.

Don’t delay.  Make today the day that you surrender to the calling of the Holy Spirit.  Join the Lord Jesus today by Admitting that you are a sinner who is under God’s judgment, and then Believing in your heart and mind that God raised Jesus from the dead as a covering for your sins.  Lastly, Confess Jesus as your Savior and Lord with your words and your deeds.  In so doing, you become a new creation, and a child of God!

Connect part 1 audio

Our Needs as Followers of Christ

Colossians 1:1-14.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on April 29, 2018.

The book of the Bible that we call Colossians was a letter written by the Apostle Paul to believers in the city of Colosse (sometimes spelled Colossae).  Like all new believers, the Colossians were in danger of listening to false teachers who would take advantage of their new faith in order to manipulate it towards a mixture of Christian beliefs with those of the Greeks or Jews.  The word that we use for such a mixture is “syncretism.”

In many ways this word describes much of the world today, who treat religion like a buffet table.  When we “cherry-pick” from different religions all the things that make sense to us, several things happen.  First, we have set ourselves up as the judge of what is truth, and yet by searching we confess that we do not know what is true.  So how could we be the best judge?  What guarantee is there that I will somehow choose wisely?  There is none.  Second, we end up with a number of ideas and lifestyle choices that are not coherent, or do not logically tie together (in fact they are often downright contradictions).  We end up with a philosophy of life that is inconsistent and even hypocritical.

Take for instance the reality that modern philosophy promotes a humanistic materialism.  The evolutionary theory that comes from such a view has no true basis for ethic or morality.  There is no such thing as absolute truth.  Who am I to tell a serial killer that what they do is wrong?  We are all just accidents that do not have true thoughts, but only a neuro-electrical version of the old Plinko game.  Yet, we cannot escape the fact that people find it impossible to live out such philosophies with consistency.  The first time someone steals something of yours, a deep inner compulsion pushes you to declare it as wrong.  To remain true to our philosophy we would have to recognize it is just a trick of our bodies and that it has no true validity.  Thus modern man finds himself clinging to a humanistic, evolutionary view of the world, while inconsistently absconding with views from Christianity or any other religion, hoping that know one notices (usually not even noticing ourselves).  Some sense of morality is helpful to a society regardless of whether or not we can make a logical case for the necessity of it without God.

As we look into this letter, we will find that God has spoken into the world and Jesus is that Word that He has spoken to us.  Man's attempts to find meaning outside God are barren.

Paul writes to the believers in Colosse.

Before we get into chapter 1 verse 1, it would be helpful to know exactly where Colosse was.  This city was in what we call Turkey today.  Here is a link to a map that will give you an idea (Thank you BibleAtlas.org).  It was very close to another city mentioned in the book of Revelation, Laodicea.

From what little information that we have in the Bible, it appears that this was not a city that Paul had evangelized.  A convert named Epaphras, who was from Colosse, seems to have brought the gospel to them and a church developed.

We also know that Paul wrote the letter from one of his imprisonments.  He later tells them to remember his chains (4:18).  It is believed the letter was written around AD 63 +/- several years.  While in prison, word had come to Paul about this community in Colosse and some of the doctrinal issues that had cropped up among them.  Thus Paul writes a letter concerning those issues, so that the believers of Colosse could have confidence in what they should believe and how they should live.

We also see that Paul instructs the Colossians to share this letter with the believers of Laodicea, and to read the letter that was written to the believers of Laodicea (4:16).  This helps us to see how the word of God was spread throughout these early churches.  It wasn’t until later that large groups of the Gospels and letters were put together and circulated more widely.

Paul gives thanks for these new believers.

In verses 3-8 Paul mentions several things for which he is thankful.  First, he is thankful for their faith in Jesus.  The reports of how they had embraced the truth about Christ, and the larger body of believers that they were joining, had come to Paul.  Their faith had expressed itself in a love for the saints.  Now remember that “saints” here does not mean an elite group of believers.  It is a term used of all believers that emphasized that each one had been set apart by God for His own purposes, a holy purpose. 

He also reminds them that this faith in Jesus gives them a hope that was laid up in heaven.  Peter uses the phrase, “reserved in heaven for you (1 Peter 1:4).”  Our inheritance is for us to be transformed into glorified bodies and to inherit the world with Jesus at His Second Coming.  We can see a familiar theme of Paul’s here with the three great virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love.

He is also thankful that the word of truth was bringing forth fruit.  It is not enough to hear the word of the Lord, it must bear fruit to be of any value to us and to the world.  Part of that transforming fruit is their “Love in the Spirit” mentioned at the end of verse 8.

Love is an important principle among any people who are going to accomplish something together.  However, without the Holy Spirit, human love continually falls short.  It is here today and gone tomorrow.  For the believer, it is the presence of the Spirit of God that stirs us up to love one another.  When we refuse to listen to the Spirit, then dissension and divisions break out.  Such Spirit-led love has a strength that overcomes all adversity and human frailty that we may find within each other.  our love for one another is not based upon each other, but upon the Spirit of God that is teaching us how to love one another.  Thus the fruit of the Spirit are listed in Galatians 5:22-23.  This affects our relationship with other believers and with the world.  Paul is welcoming these new believers and rejoicing for their presence within the greater body of Christ.

As we look over this list, we may notice that Paul placed an emphasis on things that are not possessions and wealth.  It is good for believers to be thankful for the material blessings that they have in Christ.  But may we also learn to be even more thankful for the things that Paul listed.  Are you thankful for the people that God used to bring the gospel into your life?  Are you thankful for other believers?  Are you thankful for the grace to believe in Christ and become part of his family?  Are you thankful for the growth of the fruit of the Spirit in your life?  These are the things that we need most and for which we ought to give thanks to God most.

Paul prays for these new believers.

In verses 9-14, Paul lets them know the things he was praying for them.  It is good for us to hear this list because our prayers can become only a list of the material things that we are seeking from God.  Here Paul lists things that are far more important than new cars, houses, business deals, money, etc.

Paul prays that they would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will.  Of course the will of God is to embrace Jesus as our Lord, but it is clear that Paul is thinking more than just our initial acceptance of Jesus.  The phrases, “all wisdom” and “spiritual understanding” speak to living out our lives as believers in Jesus.  We run into all kinds of situations and temptations, in which we need the wisdom and understanding of the Spirit of God in order to do what God wants us to do.  In a nutshell the letters that Paul and the other apostles wrote were doing just that.  Paul was helping them to understand what God’s will was in every situation. Yes, God wants us to embrace Jesus and to be a person in which His Spirit can dwell.  But, then, through a dynamic relationship, He wants to transform our minds and our lives into the image of Jesus Christ.

Paul also prays that they would walk worthy of the Lord.  Paul is using the phrase to emphasize that we are capable of not listening to the Spirit from time to time.  The believer should never be comfortable with this.  The works of the flesh are obvious and believers need to recognize that the Lord Jesus is so glorious that we do not want to tarnish Him before the world.  Many might fear that this will tend towards legalism.  But, Paul’s point is not to create a legalism, but rather, to inspire us to proper actions.  Like a coach reminding students that they represent their school, Paul reminds us that we represent Jesus and our actions reflect upon Him.  

So is it possible to be fully pleasing to the Lord?  We are fully pleasing to the Lord when we listen to the Holy Spirit in regards to how we should live.  Of course this also involves those times when we fail.  Too often people forget that the Holy Spirit also leads us to repentance and forgiveness for those times when we fail.  It is not a phrase that seeks to disqualify and kick us out.  Rather, it is intended to motivate us.

Paul also prays that they would be fruitful in every good work.  This is another way of looking at the concept of walking worthy of the Lord.  A person who follows the Spirit of God will be fruitful in their life.  They will also be beneficial to others much like a fruit tree is beneficial to those who come upon it.  We will be a tree of life and a fresh water spring to the people around us because the Life of the Spirit will flow into us and through us.

Paul also prays that they will be strengthened with all might.  All of this talk about being like Christ and following the Holy Spirit requires much inner strength.  Intestinal fortitude, or “guts” for short, cannot come from our flesh.  It must have a spiritual source.  The closer we get to following Jesus the more our flesh gets queasy and weak.  We need the strength of Christ's glorious power working in us in order to put the desires of the flesh to death.  This daily dying to self and living in Christ is empowered by the Holy Spirit, if we yield to Him.  In 2 Corinthians 12:9 Paul was reminded by the Lord that “My strength is made perfect in weakness.”  In that passage the weakness is that which we have in our flesh.  When our flesh is weak, the powerful strength of the Lord will shine through and do its perfect work.  People will recognize that the power is of God and not of me.

Lastly, Paul prays that they will be thankful to God with Him.  We should be thankful that God has qualified us to be partakers in the inheritance of the saints.  This is what Daniel saw in chapter 7 verses 21-22.  “I was watching and the same horn was making war against the saints and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.”

We are also to be thankful that God has delivered us from the power of darkness (spiritual darkness and spiritual powers) and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.  Wow! Talk about a new immigration status.  Without Christ we are stuck under the powers of darkness that rule over this world.  Their kingdom will never bring peace and joy to the earth.  Yet, mankind continues to operate in league with them.  Through Christ we are able to break out of that spiritual matrix that enslaves the whole world.  We are then enabled to participate in the kingdom of Jesus.  That kingdom exists in part already.  But the fullness of it will be known when He returns to earth to set up an earthly kingdom.

We should also give thanks to the Father that we have been redeemed and have had our sins forgiven.  Jesus paid the price with his blood that purchased us back from the auction block and slavery of sin.  His death made it possible that our sins might be removed from us as far as the east is from the west.

Now as I close, be honest.  Are these the things in which you are most thankful and most likely to be praying for?  May the word of God instruct us in the things that truly make for our joy and that we truly need.  Of course we are instructed to pray for our daily bread.  But let’s pray for the things that Paul is praying, both for yourself and for fellow believers.  We all need these things even more than we need the material.

Our Needs audio