The Acts of the Apostles 78

Subtitle: Farewell to the Ephesian Elders II

Acts 20:25-38.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on September 1, 2024.

We are picking up in the middle of Paul’s farewell to the elders of the Ephesian church while he is in Miletus.  These are clearly Paul’s last words to them.  He does not expect to come back.

In the previous verses, Paul has reminded them of the example of his life while he was among them.  He then spoke about his present example of steadfastly and boldly going towards persecution in Jerusalem.

At verse 25, Paul begins to speak to the future ahead of them in which he will no longer be with them or able to visit.  He isn’t dying, but the message that he is giving does have that feel to it.  In short, the Apostle Paul does not want to leave any important thing unsaid.  He does not expect to have another chance.

Let’s look at our passage.

Paul exhorts them about the future (v. 25-31)

Paul explains that he knows they will not see him again.  He then speaks about the nature of his leaving.  He has been faithful to preach the Kingdom of God to them.  This Kingdom has both present and future aspects to it.

Yes, Christians are a family, and salvation is being brought into God’s family through Jesus.  However, the Kingdom references have deep roots into the Old Testament with the promised Anointed Son of David who would rule over God’s Kingdom.  Of course, Jesus is no normal king.  He is seated at the right hand of God the Father, having all authority and power over the heavens and the earth.  Paul had preached to them the open door for all to become citizens of this Kingdom of Messiah Jesus.  Those who enter the Kingdom of God receive the life of Christ flowing into and through them by the Holy Spirit.  Christians are to be a kind of preview of the future Kingdom Age when Jesus will return physically and rule from this earth.

Paul also speaks of being innocent of the blood of all men.  Essentially, he is saying that it will not be his fault if any of them fail to survive the judgment of Jesus at the end of their lives.  He had declared to them the whole counsel of God.  They were not missing any critical information for which they had to wait.  They had everything needed for living their lives in godliness, in short, how to please God.

They had heard the truth, and to hear the truth is to be responsible for it before God.  He was leaving and their eternity would be between them and God.

Of course, it had always been between them and God.  No one can repent for you and have faith in Jesus for you.  However, the Lord Jesus had sent Paul into the lives of these Ephesians (just as He sends you to others) to share the good news of salvation in him.  Thus, God can use Paul today to assist them, and then use others tomorrow.  Ultimately, our spiritual walk is dependent upon our relationship with Jesus. They will not be able to point to Paul and say that he had failed to warn them.

In verse 28, Paul exhorts them to pay attention to themselves and the flock of God that they were in.  Since Paul will no longer see them, the whole burden that Paul had helped them with was now coming upon them.  They would first need to pay close attention to their own lives so that they could then pay close attention to the flock of God in which they had been placed.  They would work together to care for the Ephesian believers.  Notice that this follows the pattern that Jesus gave in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7.  Before we make judgments in the lives of others, we must first exercise judgment in our own life.  Of course, we do not judge with our own thoughts, but by the truth of the Word and by the Spirit of God.  Those who live a life of watching over their own souls will be able to be a help to others in the same endeavor.

We should also see that Paul emphasizes how they had come to this authority of elder and watching over the flock.  It was the Holy Spirit that had made them “overseers,” which comes from the Greek word “episkopos.”  This is where we get the word Episcopal.  It is also the root for the English word “bishop.”  Episkopos was borrowed into Latin as episcopus.   Latin was spoken by Christians for over a thousand years before English became a thing.  It was common for the sound of /p/ to devolve into a /b/.  Thus, the sound would be more like ebiscopus.  English doesn’t use endings and the initial “e” was dropped creating the English word biscop, and then bishop. 

Episcopalians is a term used for a church that highlights the rule of bishops over the Church with one bishop over each church- as opposed to congregational, which believe that the people of the church are to rule themselves.  Another word used in this issue is the term presbyterian.  A presbyter is an elder.  This emphasizes the rule of elders over a church.

Regardless of all these different views on Church polity, the terms overseer (bishop) and shepherd (pastor) are not about a title.  Jesus didn’t die so that men could have titles of authority over one another.  These are functions that are intended to assist, to help, the body of Christ.  Their essential purpose is not about elevating one person over another, but about letting the Holy Spirit use us to come alongside of others in their relationship with the Lord Jesus.  We must not lose sight of this purpose.

An overseer is just another way of speaking about a shepherd, or pastor.  The Greek word has at its root the concept of one who feeds.  The pastor term essentially emphasizes assisting in the care of all that a sheep (believer) needs.  Of course, pastors must also recognize that they too are a sheep doing a work for the Good Shepherd, who is the true head of the Church.  The feeding here is spiritual nutrition, which we obtain from the Word of God.  Shepherds are to give the church words of care rather than control.  Wise sheep will learn to hear the voice of Christ through the care of godly overseers and shepherd.

I like to used Psalm 23 to see all the things that a sheep needs, and consequently, all the things that pastors are to focus their ministry upon.  Sheep need “green pastures,” which is the spiritual food of God’s Word.  Sheep also need “peaceful waters,” which is both the Word of God and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  They also need protection in “the valley of the shadow of death.”  Pastors are only one of the ways that the rod and staff of Christ is used to comfort His people.  Lastly, we can see that the psalmist’s head is anointed with oil.  This can be about the blessing of the Holy Spirit, but with sheep, anointing had more to do with medical care, whether preventative or for healing after an injury.  Believers need help in healing from the wounds of life, and preventatively avoiding some wounds of life.

In verse 29, Paul points to two particular threats that these overseers and pastors should deal with.  The first has to do with “savage wolves” that will com from outside the church.  They are not Christians, though they may pretend such.  Even the metaphorical use of wolf harkens back to the beast kingdoms of Daniel, of which Rome represented one.  These wolves are merely little beastly chips off of the beast block.  These wolves only come for one thing.  They see the sheep as a meal.  Of course, this is not literal, but metaphorical.  They consume people spiritually for financial gain and for their own pride.  Their actions are as destructive as a wolf among sheep.  They destroy the believers by destroying their faith in Christ and robbing them of their eternal inheritance.

The second threat comes from perverse men that will rise up from within the church.  These are believers who have become twisted in their doctrine and thereby also in their actions.  They are on a journey of becoming less and less like the Lord Jesus, whom they claim to serve.  Now, all of us fall short of Jesus.  So, we should be careful in nitpicking each other’s lives in order to label them as perverse men.  Yet, people can become dangerously off course, whether through pride, or through wounds.

What do these perverse men see in the sheep?  We are told that they desire to draw the disciples away to themselves.  They are fixated on “their” ministry, their kingdom, and their glory.  They are too infatuated with being a leader of men rather than being a follower of Jesus.

We are to guard against and recognize the wolves who come in, and we are to guard against the twisting of doctrine and the twisting of living out godliness.  This is actually the duty of all Christians who claim to love the Lord who bought them with His blood.  However, those in leadership bear a greater responsibility, a more severe judgment if they fail to pay attention.  Paul mentions that this was so important to him that he had warned them night and day with tears when he was with them. 

You may not be an official overseer in your church, but when you spend time in the Word of God, and spend time talking with God in prayer, then the Holy Spirit will cause you to see any dangers that come into your life, and into your local church.

Notice that these break down into external and internal threats.  This isn’t just true of the church as a group.  It is also true of us as an individual.  What am I watching out for as I pay close attention to my own life?  I am looking for those ways that the devil brings from the outside into my heart, i.e., temptations from situations and people, but I am also looking for those internal threats that come from my own heart and mind.  Arrogance, pride, lusts, and desires, if not pruned, will grow a thicket of weeds within even the best of overseers, thus destroying their souls.  Be watchful over your life and take possession of your soul by faith in Christ.

Paul entrusts them to God (v. 32-38)

Verse 32 begins with the conclusion to this farewell.  He was a spiritual father to this church and these men.  He had founded it, and he was a vital part of its spiritual success.  However, all spiritual parents, just as natural parents, will hit points along the road when we must entrust our kids to their Heavenly Father.  Of course, they are always in His care, but this is about ways in which we are bowing out of their life.

This happens when they reach maturity and move out into life on their own.  You may still have influence through letters, emails, phone calls, etc.  But, they are no longer in your house as little kids.  The relationship changes.  This is also true as one approaches death.  A parent knows that they will no longer be able to do anything after death.  This one that I have cared for throughout all of their (spiritual) life is now cast upon the Lord.   At particular stages of their life, God used you for their good and in different ways.  Now you are bowing out of that role.   Of course, God can use others, but there is also the fact that children grow up to become parents themselves.  Spiritual maturity comes through the tough decisions where we step up in Christ in ways that others stepped up for us.

In verse 32, Paul also points out that God and His Word can build them up.  God through His Holy Spirit, with His Holy Word, and in the community of holy believers builds us up.  This is the same language of Ephesians 4:13, where we are being built up in order to be more like Christ.  This is both individually and corporately.  A spiritual building must have a good spiritual foundation, and that foundation is Jesus.  God has started this building when we put our faith in Jesus, and He will finish this building when we are resurrected and stand in His presence.

Part of our discipleship is learning to cooperate with this work of God among those who have been sanctified, i.e., set apart for God’s holy purpose, of being conformed into the image of Jesus.

Paul refers to an inheritance that is ours in Christ.  This inheritance is definitely an eternal inheritance as an adult son of God.  In this sense, we inherit all things with Christ! 

Yet, this inheritance does have some downpayments within this life.  We inherit a place among God’s people, shining the light of Jesus to the world around us.  We inherit the glory of being a witness of Jesus to a lost and dying world.  We inherit the joy of being used of God to bring some to salvation, and to be persecuted as he was by others.  We are entering into our eternal inheritance even now in our mortal flesh.

Through a series of statements, Paul emphasizes that they follow his example of using strength to care for the weak.  The weak in this context is the Ephesians themselves.  When Paul was among them, he did not have them financially care for him.  Instead, he worked in his tent-making trade in order to supply his needs and the needs of the men with him.  He also did this with the Corinthian church.  In fact, he pointed out to them that other churches sent him money while he was in Corinth so that he could continue to minister to them.

Instead of despising those who are financially weak, or spiritually weak, etc., Paul used his strengths to cover for their weakness, and to help them to become stronger.  He even taught them to care for the Judean church when they were hurting from famine.  Here is the thing.  If we do not use our strengths to help the weak, then we will begin to become weak ourselves.  We will begin to become twisted and not like our Lord.  Jesus laid his life down for us while we were yet sinners (very weak).

Paul wasn’t trying to make money (silver or gold) from them, nor was he looking to have nice clothes.  He was not ministering for material gain.  Instead, he modeled the words of the Lord Jesus.  “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

In many places, Jesus challenged his followers to be givers.  The sermon on the mount speaks to this and the blessing that comes from it.  However, these words are not recorded in the Gospels in this form.  Is this a mistaken quote by Paul?

I believe that this falls into the category that the Apostle John identified in John 21:25.  Jesus said many things and they were not all recorded in the Gospels.  Also, Paul had several visions where the Lord Jesus spoke directly to him.  These are the words of Christ, even if you cannot find them in the Gospels.

There are a lot of people ministering today under the banner of Jesus Christ who pride themselves in their clothing, in the expensive vehicles they drive, as if these are proof that they are a great apostle.  Jesus’ proof of His Apostleship was dying on the cross for us.  The Apostle Paul followed in the footsteps of his Lord.  He wasn’t looking to get anything in the flesh.  He was among them to give.  This is the true mark of an apostle.

Finished with his message, Paul prays with the elders.  He is doing more than setting an example here.  He knows that they will need God’s help to succeed in all that he has put in front of them.  He wants them to overcome, and thus, he prays for them God’s help.  God is ultimately our source and the only way that we will overcome this world by faith.

We then have a great show of emotion in tears and kissing.  This is not a lack of faith, but a recognition of the will of God.  Sometimes God’s will takes away from us.  We are never happy about the leaving of a loved one, nor their death.  Even if they are in a better place, such as heaven, we miss having their fellowship and strength in our lives.  It is only right to grieve the passing of a godly person.

However, this is a godly sorrow and godly tears.  It is full of thanksgiving and gratitude to God for His many gifts into our lives.  In fact, Jesus himself was full acquainted with tears and sorrow.  He wept over Jerusalem and its coming betrayal of him.  Serving Jesus will have times of laughter and times of tears.  In all of it, we have the assurance that God the Father is working all things to the good. 

The scene ends with them seeing Paul and company off at the ship, which is a metaphor for many things in life.  Yet, the God of all comfort stays with them, even as He goes with Paul.  Let us hold fast to this wonderful truth!

Farewell II audio

The Sermon on the Mount XV

Subtitle:  Revealing Areas that are Pitfalls for Hypocrisy II

Matthew 6:25-34.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 24, 2024.

We continue looking at our relationship with things and asking how they can cause us to be hypocritical.  In the previous sections, Jesus has focused on wealth and its tendency to become our master.   However, most of the people in the crowd are not wealthy and do not entertain any ideas of becoming wealthy.  Today’s passage speaks to that large percentage of people who live at a level of survival.  They live from day to day, week to week, and their whole life is focused on the things that are necessary to keep living.

It is also important to understand that Jesus is using language that will remind them of the wilderness wanderings of Israel when they came out of Egypt.  There, God helped them to survive with food, water, and clothes that didn’t wear out.

Let’s look at our passage.

Do not worry about the necessities of life (v. 25-29)

The backdrop of Israel in the wilderness reminds us that God took care of them even though they were in a place of scarcity.  In His love, God wants us to understand that it is not His intention to live in worry about food, water, shelter and clothing.

Of course, in our luxury, we can be confused on what is necessary and what is simply a desire or a want.  Even in a necessary category such as food, we can long for a particular kind of food, or a level of cuisine that is higher.  It is important for us to understand that our Creator is also our heavenly Father.  He knows that we are mortal beings that need food.  However, He also knows that we do not “need” expensive food every day.  I don’t believe that this means He is opposed to the desires we have that go beyond necessities.  Yet, He never made us to be slaves to our desires, nor fearful of our necessities.  He has designed the world to care for such needs, and His supervision ensures that we will find what we need.

In the midst of our worrying, God wants us to know that we don’t have to do it.  We can choose to stop worrying.  In fact, Jesus commands his followers, “Do not worry…”

Jesus is talking about a stressful anxiety about these things and not simply planning for them.  He is not commanding us never to think about these things.  This word has the idea of being internally divided, or fractured, over various concerns.  Worrying about things is a type of bad stress that actually affects our health and life span negatively, but more on that later.

The average person in the crowd that day most likely stressed about food, clothing, and not being killed by the Romans.  Jesus focuses on food and drink (water) as necessary for life, and clothing as necessary for our bodies.  He could have added oxygen or other things, but these  work best because they will remind the people of the wilderness wanderings of Israel.

God provided food (bread and meat) and water in the desert.  They may have gone some days here and there without, but in the end, God always made sure they had these things. 

The Bible also tells us that their clothing and sandals did not wear out during the 40 years they were in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 8:4; 29:5).  It was His supernatural provision just as much as the manna, flocks of quail, and water coming out of a rock upon the strike of the staff of Moses.  However, the clothing would also have the connotation of the Garden of Eden.  The environment of the earth was not hostile in the beginning.  Also, the earth was not a morally hostile environment either (sin and sinners).  Clothing becomes a protectant against exposure to the elements and exposure to those who may be stirred up by nakedness and thereby led into sin.

You will also notice that this section is filled with questions.  You could say that at the heart of worry is our unanswered questions, or questions that we have for which we do not like God’s answers.  We are questioned by Jesus (by God) five times versus the three questions that we often wrestle with and laid out in verse 31.

Here is the tie to hypocrisy.  Fearful questioning of God and the world around us can lead us to playing the hypocrite..  We may go through religious rituals that declare God’s provision and greatness, and  yet, we do not actually trust Him.

Jesus asks the question, “Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”  Of course, it is!  God’s purpose for humanity is higher than simply eating food and wearing clothes.  In fact, food, drink and clothing are symbols for the higher spiritual things that God wants to accomplish in our life.  The manna in the wilderness hints at a supernatural bread from heaven that we need.  We are told in the New Testament that this bread from heaven is Jesus himself.  The work that Jesus did in a human body was as necessary for us as natural bread is for our body’s survival. 

We are also told that Jesus is the source of the water of life.  It is the Words that Jesus spoke to us, and the Holy Spirit that He has poured out upon us.  Jesus is the source of water, the rock in the wilderness that has been struck so that the waters of life would pour out to us.

Finally, the righteousness of Christ is presented as a white robe that we can wear.   Our righteousness is not pure white.  Our robes are speckled with sin.  However, our faith in Jesus gives us a new robe of his righteousness that we can put on.  By faith, the Holy Spirit helps us to obey Jesus and go to war against sin our life.  Thus, we are enabled to walk out the righteousness of Christ even as we wear his robe.  This clothing will never wear out.

All of this is important to understand.  Yet, Jesus is telling us to stop worrying about the natural necessities of our life.  I can say that I believe, but then go on not to trust Him fully through worrying, complaining, and not having the relationship with God that I should, or even could.

To illustrate the illogical nature of worrying about these things, Jesus gives three illustrations of God supplying for His lesser creatures.  The first is about birds.

Birds do not sow seeds, water them, reap them and then store the seed in barns.  These are the kinds of things that God has given humans the wisdom and ability to do.  Thus, birds are in an even more precarious place than humans.  They are at the mercy of God’s provision even more than we are.  There are some animals that will cache food (squirrels), or store it as fat for winter (bears etc.), but don’t miss the point.  The emphasis is on the situation of the birds.  A bird has to forage and find food each day.  They have to wake up each day and go about looking for what God will provide.  Jesus actually says, “Your heavenly Father feeds them.”  Think about what that looks like.  The birds do not see a man with a grey beard floating down from the sky with a bag of bird seed.  God’s provision operates at a far grander and foundational level than that.  Because birds are not human, they will not spend time fretting over whether they will find enough seed each day.  Neither should we think that they exercise great faith in God.  They are simply an illustration to us that we don’t have to fret.

Thus, Jesus gives his second question.  “Are you not of more value than they?”  The answer is “Yes, yes you are!”  This does not mean birds have no value, but that the value placed upon them within God’s purposes is much lower than that placed upon us as humans.  We are His imagers upon this earth.  This means that He will even more make sure we are taken care of.  Surely your Creator has thought about your need and made provisions.  Yes, you will have to get up each day and work at bringing it in.  You will need to use your mind, and prayerfully ask God’s help.  But, you can trust Him.  Thus, our deepest question is simply this.  Can I trust God?  God is your God.  He cares for you.  Don’t think of Him as the pastor’s God, or the prophet’s God, like Saul did with Samuel in 1 Samuel 15:15, 21.  He is your God, and He cares about you more than the birds.

The second illustration is about length (verse 27).  It is simply laid out in the third question that Jesus asks us.  “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?”  This translation (NKJV) relates the issue of length (1 cubit is about 18”) to stature.  However, the word primarily has a meaning of life.  It is more likely that the length here is a picture of lengthening one’s life in the sense of adding a step to your journey.  This fits the passage better than the concept of height, which is a secondary meaning of this word anyway.  No one can add a step (minute, hour, day, etc.) to their life by worrying.  The truth is that worrying will only lower our life.  Studies have shown that heavy anxiety can affect our immune system, our emotional well-being, and thereby our physical well-being.

One particular study tracked a large number of people from teens to ninety-year-olds.  They were able to follow them over the course of twelve years while tracking their anxiety levels.  At the end of the 12 years, they determined that a person with high anxiety was 2 times more likely not to be alive than those who did not have high anxiety.  It simply does you no good to worry and fret about something you cannot control, and it generally does bad things.

Why not make your default position trust in God’s purpose and loving care for you?  We will live exactly as long as God has enabled us to live, and I can be good with that.  Even if I were to die in my childhood, the resurrection and the age to come cause this time of our lives to pale in comparison.  Then, we will have bodies that are not dying, weak, and impacted by disease.  We will be immortal.  This life is actually just the proving grounds for our place in the life to come.

The third illustration (verse 28) is about flowers.  His fourth question is this.  “Why do you worry about clothing?”  He tells us that lilies do not toil nor spin.  These verbs have to do with making clothes.  They don’t work hard amassing the raw materials of clothing, neither do they spin that raw material into threads that can be worked in a loom into the material for making clothes.  This may seem like a silly statement, but notice that Jesus has increased the dependency by moving from an animal to a form of vegetation.  Birds can forage around, but flowers simply are what they are.  They draw nutrients from the soil and their DNA code expresses that in a particular form.  They are in an even more precarious situation than birds.  However, Jesus tells them that not even King Solomon was dressed, arrayed, in as much glory as they.  Remember that Solomon was extremely rich and would have the finest clothes that money could buy.

These simple flowers that grow up, bloom and then die, have a beauty that outshines our clothing.  If you think that Jesus is stretching the concept of clothing here, then think of it this way.  I spoke of clothing earlier in the sense of protection from the elements.  However, we generally fret and are anxious over how nice those clothes look.  Thus, clothes become a big part of a person’s identity, whether a rich nobleman or a peasant.  Jesus tells us that God has given flowers a visual glory to which our humanness doesn’t compare.

Yet, there is a beauty in our nature as humans.  I am not just talking about a beautiful person in the prime of their life.  There is a different kind of beauty that is displayed in the whole range of our look from newborn to senior.  There is also a beauty that is displayed in our male and female similarities and differences.

We can spend too much time trying to mimic the glory of a flower and forget that God’s different glory for us can be enough.  It should not be lost on us that Jesus emphasizes that the flowers which have a greater glory also have a much shorter life-span.  What glory are you going for?  The Bible says that the righteous will shine like the stars in the resurrection (Daniel 12:3).

The fifth and final question is this.  “Will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”  Of course, this is our true problem.  Faith and worry are inversely proportional.  That means, when faith goes up, worry goes down.  It is impossible to quit worrying without putting faith in something.  Some may not worry because they have faith in their own ability.  The believer knows that they have ability, but even greater than that, they also know that they have a heavenly Father who is caring for them.  We really do not have an excuse for worrying.

This is exactly the problem that is expressed by Israel back in the wilderness.  They perished because of their unbelief, lack of faith in God.  What is even sadder is the fact that they had a tremendous amount of amazing evidence that God could and would take care of them.  Don’t be the kind of person who blames their lack of faith on God’s lack of giving us evidence.  Unbelief actually blinds you to all the evidence.  So, listen to Jesus and start trusting God and stop worrying.  It just isn’t the logical and righteous thing to do.

Three conclusions (v. 30-34)

It is clear from the creation account that man is not only the apex of God’s creation, but that His purpose for us is for us to image Him to the earth and to the heavens.  Birds have their part in the purpose of God (i.e., one of those is to be an illustration to us humans).  But, our purpose is much more important to God.

In verse 30, Jesus tells us to stop questioning ourselves out of trusting God.  “What shall we eat?  What shall we drink?  What shall we wear?”  These are real questions that we may not have the answers to.  However, our lack of an answer is not a reason for unbelief, and not trusting God.  The Red Sea was not a reason for Israel to stop trusting God.  That is precisely when trust becomes the most critical thing.  It really doesn’t matter if a kid doesn’t know what they are going to eat for dinner.  What matters is that they have a loving parent who is taking care of those things for them.  Your worrying won’t fix any of your problems, but God can and will when we trust Him.

This leads to his first conclusion in verse 31.  He reminds them that this is how the Gentiles act (i.e., the nations).  They clamor and desperately seek for these kinds of things.  However, Israel was the people of God.  They had a heavenly Father Who had pledged Himself to caring for them.  Of course, there was a time when all the sons of Noah (all of humanity) were God’s people and cared for by Him.  However, the rebellion at the Tower of Babel brought judgment upon them.  On top of the confusion of languages and scattering across the earth, these nations doubled down on rebellion by throwing off the truth of their error.  They connected to fallen spirits who taught them all manner of false religion for the ulterior motives of those fallen spirits.

Jesus would go on to pay the price for the sins of the nations so that they too could come near to God.  However, don’t miss the power of the point.  Don’t act like a rebellious orphan who has no loving Father.  We shouldn’t fault a lost person who worries.  That is simply their situation.  However, it is a strange thing for a child of God to walk in worry and complaining. Stop it!

The second conclusion is put in a positive form and is clearly the most important of the three.  Seek first the Kingdom of God, and He will take care of these natural needs.  The life of the nations was all focused on these lower, lesser, things of life.  We could categorize them as concerns of the flesh.  God’s people on the other hand are to seek His kingdom and his righteousness.  These two themes have been presented throughout the sermon on the mount.  Our higher purpose is to work with God in order to bring His will and rule to the earth.  If we will do that, then He will take care of the lower needs.  This doesn’t mean we don’t work, buy food, prepare meals, make clothing, etc.  It does mean that we don’t worry about those things.  Instead, we will trust in His care.

We should even note that we can do these lesser things for God’s higher purposes.  We pray for food so that we can be strengthen to accomplish His greater purpose of the Kingdom.  In this way, even things like food, water and clothing can become holy.  I am not consumed with wanting designer clothes so that others will think I am great.  Instead, we will use clothing as a means of bringing in God’s Kingdom, whether in how we dress or in blessing others with their necessary clothing.  Lesser things can be done for higher purposes, which elevates them in the end.

This highlights the need for faith in our lives, not just faith for salvation, but also for living itself.  For a kid, becoming an adult is a scary thing.  A teenage boy can be intimidated by becoming a man, getting a job, paying for his own place, his own insurance, etc.  On top of this, he can really be intimidated by marrying a woman and raising a family.  No one ever approaches that with every single question answered about the future.  However, God has fitted us for becoming adults in many ways, and a critical part of that is having faith.  We don’t have to have all the answers.  We just have to have a reasonable hope that we can do it and it will be good.  In God, we always have a reason for hope and faith in our future.  I mentioned a young man, but we could also picture a teenage girl.  How intimidating is it to become a woman, marry a man, become pregnant, birth and raise a baby?  In and of themselves, these can be scary things.  God has not only fitted you to be able to do these things, but He also pledges to be with us and help us in them.  We can walk forward with faith and trust in Him.

The final conclusion is given in verse 34.  We are told to stop worrying about tomorrow and just face the difficulties of today.  Of course, as I said before, he is not talking about the thinking we do in order to plan for tomorrow.  This is our tendency to worry about the things that we think will happen or could happen tomorrow.

Today has enough evil of its own, whether we know what it will be or not.  Of course, you will want to trust God and ask His help as you face them.  You will also want to trust that He is working to help you with it as well.  It may take time for God’s answer to materialize, but it will.

We also have to be careful that our planning is not a means of ensuring that we never have to trust God. Our best plans are still the plans of frail humans.  We can’t control everything through sheer planning.  Even our plans have to be put in God’s hands.  We don’t have to trust Him, but we can.  We are privileged to have a heavenly Father who cares for us.  If your plan has no room for God in it, then you are not aiming high enough.

This life is a journey in which the Lord walks with you.  Don’t walk it as if He is not with you.  Instead, make your trusting in Him a critical part of your plan.  Anything short of this will lead religious people to be hypocrites.  We will give lip service to trusting and loving God, but we will doubt His love and care, becoming mere posers, actors.  May God save us from such an empty life!

SOTM XVI audio

The Acts of the Apostles 57

Subtitle: Following up with Jesus

Acts 14:21-28.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on October 1, 2023.

Today we will see Paul and Barnabas finish their first missionary trip, which went to the island of Cyprus and then central Asia Minor (current Turkey).

Luke doesn't give us a sense of how long they took on this whole journey, but the overall timeline of Acts would put it around the magnitude of around a year.

The whole emphasis of sharing the Gospel with Gentiles as well as Jews is something that blossomed in Syrian Antioch.  Yet, another persuasion was also blossoming in Judea.  This persuasion would eventually become the source of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15.  Paul and Barnabas did not teach Gentiles that they had to obey the Law of Moses in order to follow Jesus.  However, some groups from Judea believed that Gentiles had to be circumcised and taught to keep the Law of Moses in order to be saved.

That will be our topic next week.  For now, let's look at our passage.

The Gospel is preached in Derbe (v. 21)

Verse 20 ends with Paul and Barnabas leaving Lystra (where Paul had been stoned and left for dead) and going to a town called Derbe, which was approximately 65 miles east of Lystra.

In verse 21, we are told that they preached the Gospel to the city.  We are told very little about this, and can assume that they would have preached at a synagogue first, if there was one in the town.  Regardless, the reference to "the city" implies more than preaching in a synagogue.

It would be interesting to know when the Gospel first made it to each city or region in the world.  Many places that are extremely godless now have had great moves of revival in the past.  Derbe itself is now a region controlled by an Islamist State and dominated by Muslims.  You would not know that the apostles Paul and Barnabas had seen a great move of God there.

We are told that they made many disciples.  There is no mention of resistance, but it seems unlikely that everyone in town believed.  In light of the prior stoning in Lystra, we can say they only had normal resistance.  We should also note that there is no sense of Jews and people of the cities that they had visited following them.  More than likely, they believe Paul to be dead and will not find out until much later that he survived.

We should pause on the word disciple for a minute.  It is not enough to give intellectual assent to who Jesus is.  True belief will be seen in a person becoming a disciple, a student, of Jesus.  It is good to believe the report about Jesus, but this information is meant to transform your life.  You are now a student of Jesus.  You may be out of your studying years, and tell yourself that you don't read books.  However, when a person (even a non-reader) comes to believe on Jesus, they will want to know everything they can about him.  This means reading the Bible.  In the case of Derbe, there may have been only one copy of the Scriptures in town.  Thus, it would be important to gather together and read the Scriptures so that all could benefit from God's Word and learn about Jesus.  It is time to stop being a man-child who pursues his flesh and begin stepping into the maturity of seeking the truth about Jesus.

However, discipleship is more than knowledge.  It is essentially about relationship.  By the Spirit of God dwelling within us, we can develop a relationship with Jesus through prayer and the Word.  We also are in relationship with the Church of Jesus, and we benefit from those who have come in before us who are further along in their maturity and discipleship.

Discipleship is a life-long journey of growing in our knowledge and experience of becoming like Jesus, and learning to do his will.  There are ups and downs, bumps and smooth days, but all along, the character of Christ is being formed in us.  In fact, we should recognize that even the term "student" is somewhat misleading for a 21st-Century American Christian.  In the times of Christ, a disciple was someone who moved in with a master.  Each day the master would show you things, but it was always in response to what the day held.  The wisdom of the master would be both taught and caught.  It was never seen as a pure information download.

The Christian life is this process.  We will not become a "master" ourselves until we are resurrected; only then will we be perfectly like Jesus.  We are unable to physically sit at the feet of Jesus, but by the Holy Spirit, we are able to come to him through the word and through prayer.  I spiritually come before his feet in order to learn.  Each day we wrestle with the Lord Jesus about our life, what the word says, and what the Lord would have us do.  Other believers are intended to be a help to us in this process.  We can cut ourselves off from other Christians by telling ourselves that they are all hypocrites.  However, even properly dealing with a hypocrite will help you become more like Jesus than becoming a hypocrite yourself by abandoning the gathering of the saints.  When Christ says to a man to come and follow him, that man always finds others who responded around Jesus.  You cannot separate the two.

Verse 21 also tells us that they decide to return to the places where they had preached.  We are not told what the reasons are for returning back to Antioch.  They may have been running low on supplies, or winter may have been approaching.  For whatever reasons, they determine to go back to Antioch of Syria, and they determine to retrace their steps.

We should note that several of the towns had pushed them out rather abruptly.  It may be that they felt like the heat would have died down by now, and they had some more things they needed to do and say to the believers that were left in those towns.

Paul and Barnabas follow-up with the new believers (v. 22-28)

Surprisingly they go back to Lystra where Paul was stoned, then to Iconium, Pisidian Antioch and then down to the coast at Perga and Attalia.  They don't appear to focus on new evangelism, but rather on strengthening the believers who were there.  They help them to establish a strong foundation so that the church will continue.

When we share the Gospel with people, it is important to follow-up with those who have responded positively.  The Gospel is not only about relationship with Jesus.  It is also about relationship with God's people.  It is how we show that our love for Jesus is real.

By the way, we have the right and authority to share the Gospel with anyone on this planet because Jesus himself has given it to us.  However, that also begs the duty we have to determine exactly how God has gifted us to participate in spreading the Gospel.  So, telling others about Jesus is our duty to those who don't know.  Whereas, follow-up falls in this category of the duty that develops when a person has become a brother or sister in the Lord, a familial duty.

Verse 22 tells us that they strengthened the souls of the disciples.  Internal strength of heart and mind are continually assailed by our own flesh, by the world around us, and through the spiritual interference of the devil and his forces.

Jesus tells us to take possession of our souls by patience (Luke 21:19).  Of course, possession may immediately make us think of evil spirits, but the emphasis is more on a plundered inner life.  Through lusts of the flesh and the pride of life (in short, through sin), we can become a slave to many things without being actually possessed.  These strongholds in our thought-life and in our heart become a seething cauldron of all kinds of sin.  We become controlled by our flesh, and even by the culture that we have grown up in.  This puts the devil indirectly in control of us.  Jesus was purposely using the Promised Land image for our soul.  When we are being delivered by God, He will bring us to a place where we can take full possession of our soul and serve God without being in bondage to sin.  This takes trusting God to help us fight against, and tear down, strongholds of sin in our life.

Just like every one of those cities in Canaan had fortified walls and need to be torn down for Israel to take possession, so they would need to then fortify cities again against the attack of future enemies.  Christians need to learn how to guard their mind and heart against the deeds of the flesh, the corruption of culture, and the slick sales of the devil.  Through prayer, reading the word, fellowshipping with believers, and listening to the Holy Spirit, we are enabled not only to take possession of our soul, but to also fortify it against the attacks of the enemy.  Furthermore, we can help new Christians to take possession of their souls and fortify their life against the devil and his schemes.

This is why the Scripture speaks of the gifts of the Holy Spirit being distributed among God's people as He sees fit.  We need each other because this is how God has designed for us to be strengthened.  He is making us a new people of God without specific ethnic and geographical lines.  We are related by the blood of Jesus.  No matter how different the culture of their birth, a Christian can have fellowship with any believer in the world because the same Lord, Spirit, Word, etc. reigns in us both.

This is what Paul and Barnabas were doing.  They were sharing their gift of knowledge about God's plan through Jesus, the doctrine they should hold fast to, and the purpose of God in their life.

We are also told that they were "exhorting them to continue in the faith" (vs. 22).  In John 15, Jesus used the analogy of a vine to represent the relationship that a disciple needed to have with him.  We need to remain in him (a living connection) in order to stay alive spiritually and to bear fruit.  This is a living relationship and a new way of life.  This is not about a one time declaration, i.e., saying the "magic words," and moving on..  It is not about simply being on "Team Jesus."  I can say I am on the team, but only those who are drawing spiritual life from Him truly belong to Him.  We need to hold on to that.  We are going to be tested even more in the years ahead.

Essentially, Paul and Barnabas are saying to us to stay in the faith no matter what!  Don't let the enemy twist your thinking around and lose faith.  There will come days when your flesh says that it is very inconvenient for you to be so religious.  It may desire to compromise, or it may be offended and want to quit completely.  Regardless, don't walk away from Jesus.  Keep wrestling with him by faith and seeking his help to continue on.

Lastly, verse 22 tells us that they told them that they must enter the kingdom of God through many tribulations.  Like I have said up unto now, there is resistance in this life to staying in the faith.  In fact, even sinners have resistance in life.  You might as well fight for the right things and receive a blessing out of it, instead of kicking against the goads of the Holy Spirit and being destroyed by our own choices.

Some of the resistance you face will be the same kind of things that all other believers encounter.  Thus, others who have faced things you are facing can encourage you on how to continue in faith.  Yet, sometimes there are things that are very unique in our life.  These times of tribulation put the squeeze on us in ways that not everyone will understand.  I think of the image of a tube of toothpaste.  What oozes out of me when tribulation puts the squeeze on my inner faith?  Let us recognize that there will be a mixture of some sorts.  God is using tribulations to refine us.  It is our job to recognize the bad stuff that comes out of us, and by faith go to war against that sin with the Spirit's help.

Notice that they use the word "must."  It is a necessity that we have tribulations.  The world is full of difficult things, but there are even more when you refuse to run with the world in the same flood of delusion that they are.  Many will despise you for it.  Yet, part of staying in the faith is accepting that you will have to face tribulation.  In fact, if you haven't had anything difficult attack your faith yet, then you may want to start preparing your inner defenses because it will come multiples times over the course of your life.

It is also interesting that Paul places entering the Kingdom of God in the future.  We go through many tribulations in order to enter it.  Yes, we are already a part of the Kingdom of God spiritually, but Paul is specifically looking ahead to the time when Jesus Christ comes back to earth and sets up a Thousand Year reign.  The righteous will be resurrected an enabled to participate in this blessed time for the earth.  In those days, Jesus will have put down one of our big problems (our spiritual enemies) by putting Satan and his cohorts in the Bottomless Pit.  He will also deal with another one of our problems by raising up an administration of glorified saints.  No government on earth today is run by glorified saints.  Rather, they generally become halls of corruption fleecing the people under their power.

God does not remove every tribulation from the life of those whom He loves.  Think on Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David, and especially Jesus.  Rather, He uses the tribulation to refine us and make us shine like the stars.  So, don't blame God when tribulations come.  Rather, see tribulations and trials for what they are.  Firstly, they are the things the devil is trying to use to keep you from entering God's Kingdom, and second, they are the very fires in which God fashions you into the image of the Son of His Love, Jesus.  Yes, this life has difficulties, but God has an age planned in which all the righteous of every age will be glorified and blessed together!  Hallelujah!

We are also told that they helped the churches to appoint elders.  The churches would need some structure in their group so that they will be able to navigate the days and trials ahead.

The word "elders" comes from a Greek word at the root of the terms Presbyterian, or Presbyter.  It does speak of age, but the implication is more on the wisdom and experience that one has.  We might better think of it as the spiritually mature.

The Church is like a family.  Most of these people had been Christians for the same number of days.  However, there was a range of their prior experience.  Some had been devoted Jews who had studied the word of God and were waiting for Messiah.  Others may have been worshipping Zeus last week, and had no clue about what the Scriptures said.  They both may be saved on the same day, but one will be further ahead than the other.  Of course, this is a simplistic example that should not be pressed to strongly.  Sometimes people have been a Christian for decades, but have very little spiritual maturity to show for it.

In fact, we have an example of an "elder" so-called showing a dearth of spiritual maturity in Third John.  There a man named Diotrephes who "loves to have the preeminence among them."  Elders are not called to be kings and rulers over believers.  Rather, we should see them as older brothers who can help us younger siblings along.  Our day will come.  Anyone who is an elder today was not an elder 30 or 50 years ago.  The key is familial relationship that is fueled by the a love for Christ.  This becomes a strength to a church when it is properly done.

God in His wisdom will always provide mature believers to a church.  When I became a Christian, there were people there to help me grow.  Yet, we can come under the judgment of God when we walk in our flesh and choose elders who are not truly spiritually mature.

It may sound like Paul and Barnabas "appointed" these men unilaterally.  However, the word translated as appointed has the sense of raising the hand as if in a vote.  More than likely, they talked to the people about what was required of elders and what type of person would best qualify.  Then, the group as a whole would determine who best fit that category.  We should not read into it a democratic system, but neither is it autocratic on behalf of the apostles.  They are there to help the church not make a foolish decision.

Finally, they make it back to the coast of Asia Minor, and instead of going back through Cyprus, they go directly to Syrian Antioch, where they started.  These are the people who had prayed for them before going and no doubt while they were gone.  It was good for them to hear the testimonies of what God did through Paul and Barnabas in the cities where they went.

Of course, we never know the full effect of our efforts in the Lord, but we do not want to diminish the importance of people hearing the Gospel.  Whether they believe or not, a door of faith has been put in front of them.  They will know about it from then on, and hope will be possible.  We shouldn't diminish people responding in faith.  This is always an amazing miracle of God in the heart of an individual.

I think about the many people who poured into my life as a young kid.  They had much reason to feel like their teaching and prayers were falling short.  But eventually, God would get ahold of my life, praise the Lord!  That would be good news to my grandma and my mom.  How many people come to death's door while they still have an adult child running from Jesus.  They have to cross that threshold asking God to help their child.  "Okay, God, they are in your hands!  I'm leaving here, but please put my child on someone's heart!"  Some of those prayers are still being answered today, even though those people are in heaven.  Yet, it thrills the heart of any mom to hear the story of a son getting right with Jesus.  It gives them hope while they live in this life. 

The problem with open doors is that they eventually shut.  Right now we have an open door for faith in our world, but that day can shut for us as individuals, nations, and as a world.  May God help us to be faithful to share the Gospel while there is still time to work!

Following up audio

Refusing to Repent

Mark 1:14-15; Matthew 11:20-24.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on October 10, 2021.

Repentance in the Bible is not just a word that means to change your mind.  The etymology of the word breaks down into that concept, but the biblical texts make it clear that a change in mind needed to include a change in action, i.e., a real change of mind that involved remorse over error and desire for the righteousness of God.

When we think about the Garden of Eden, we see that Adam and Eve are place in a paradise and have perfect fellowship with God.  However, they are cast out of this paradise because they rebelled against God.  On top of this separation, a curse is placed upon the world, Adam and Eve, as well as the devil.  The Bible calls mankind to repentance, and proper repentance will involve turning away from our ways, and back to God and His ways.  When we do that, God helps us to get back “home.”  Yes, a person may have never been a believer when they turn to faith in Christ, but in a very real sense, salvation is coming back home where we were meant to be and what is good and right.  Only God can help us know how to get back home as an individual or humanity as a whole.

Easier said than done, eh?  Let’s look at our first passage today.

Jesus calls us to repentance

When Jesus started preaching, he called people to repentance (vs. 15).  In fact, repentance was the core of the message that he proclaimed.  He is essentially saying, “Change your mind and believe God’s Word!”  We will come back to this in a moment.

First, let’s ask ourselves, “How many things am I doing because I don’t really believe what God’s Word says?”  This is important because many people who say they believe in God’s Word fail to actually do what it says.  When you ask them why, it always boils down to some kind of excuse.  “God can’t expect me to …”  Anything that follows those words is just me rejecting God’s Word.  Let’s put that on the back burner for a bit and let it simmer.

In the first century AD, the times were changing.  They were changing specifically because God was beginning to do something different.  Israel’s service under the law was coming to an end.  They needed to step into a “mature son” status.  You see, God’s goal is not for mankind to be laboring under 613 laws on into eternity.  Like parents giving their children a bed time, it is not their intention that their kids will always go to bed at 9 PM, or whatever, when they become adults.  Instead, they hope to train them in good habits so that they can make good decisions for themselves later.  This is the picture of a mature son, one who is able to step into the family business and even run it, without running it into the ground.

The times were changing for the Gentiles too.  For over a millennium, they had been stumbling in the dark of false religion, worshipping false gods, and chasing false hopes.

How did they get in that situation?  When 8 humans stepped off Noah’s ark, all mankind knew the truth of God.  Over the years, different families began to wander away from the truth of God, until they were seduced to reject God’s command and build a tower to the heavens.  In an attempt to connect with “gods” other than the true God, they rebelled against the King of Heaven.  This brought judgment and scattering.  Like the casting out of the original parents, the Gentiles are cast out of favor with God.  He gives them over to their faulty thinking, and the doctrine of demons.  They end up in a place of letting go of the truth and embracing lies, walking in darkness, and their minds debased.  God was gearing up to change this through Jesus.

Israel and the Gentiles were actually in the same boat spiritually.  We would expect the Gentiles to be lost and far from God, but Israel had the truth of God and gave lip service to it.  Yet, Israel had become lost like the blind nations around them.  They did so by layering their own reasoning over the top of God’s Word.  Little by little they had created a false system that only paid precious little tribute to the blazing truth delivered by Moses.  Yet, despite this, God was ready to bring the grace of truth to them.  Always remember this, in your life, or the life of a nation, the world, there always comes a day when God steps in.  He does so to change the situation.  The question is, “What will you do in that critical time?”  Listen, friend, none of us can change ourselves, but we can believe God when He purposes to change us.  This is what Jesus, and John the Baptist, were doing.  They were telling people to come and receive from God the grace of the changing of their situation.  They could go from being lost without hope, eating pig slop, in destitution, to coming home to the Father where they belonged.

Jesus tells us to repent, and believe in the Gospel.  The Gospel, the good news, is that both Jews and Gentiles can now enter into the Kingdom that God had promised through the prophets.  It was happening in their day!  Imagine how incredible this must have sounded.  For 400 years before John the Baptist, Israel had not had a true prophet give them a new word from God.  For 600 years, they had been under the thumb of the Gentile powers.  Even before that, their kings had been mostly evil and the nation languished under the lack of righteousness and favor from God.  It was during this time that God promised Israel through His prophets that an Anointed King would come forth to save Israel and even the Gentiles.  He would fix all that is wrong with the world under the administration of a global messianic kingdom.  However, precious few qualified to enter this kingdom because most people had quit truly believing.

Israel and the Gentiles represent two classes of people.  Those who have the truth, some believing, but most not.  And, those who are trapped in the lies and ignorance that they have inherited from their father, who inherited it from their father, on and on.  Both classes can be boiled down to the essential problem: they are not believing God.  So, the bad news is that our sins separate us from God and His coming Kingdom, but the good news is that we can participate in it if we will repent.

The key to the Kingdom promised by God is to repent and believe Him.  Change your mind about all the ways in which you have not believed Him, and start believing Him in your life.

Repentance is a little different for each one.  A gentile would have to leave his religion and embrace a new religion, the truth.  Whereas, an Israelite would have to let go of some tradition, but others they would keep.  In essence, they would get back to the simple truth of God’s Word instead of following the human reasoning of rabbis.

In the first century AD, God was giving a new prophecy, a new decree.  The Law of Moses was ending with its sacrificial system, dietary laws, and laws of cleansing.  It was time to enter the Kingdom of God.  No one would get in (gets in) because of their race, religion, or pedigree.  Jew and Gentile alike can only get in through repentance and believing God’s call to enter the Kingdom.  Particularly, He requires all men everywhere to believe that Jesus was sent by Him to be the Anointed King over that Kingdom.  To believe this is to become something radically different than you were the day before.

Now, let’s go to Matthew 11:20-24.

Jesus rebukes the squandering of grace

When you don’t take advantage of grace, you don’t realize how important it was when you had it.  Like the prodigal son, most in Israel had wasted the immense grace that God had given them as a people.  They were headed the wrong way and would miss out on the Kingdom if they didn’t change.

Jesus points out that the cities of the Galilee had received a large measure of grace in the fact that Jesus did most of his ministry and miracles in them.  If you were to plot the ministry of Jesus geographically and by amount of time, you would see that the cities of the Galilee received the lion share of it.  Why?  Most likely because Jerusalem rejected him and tried to kill him when he went to it and its surrounds.  The grace of God was there for them, but they kept pushing it away, and therefore others received more grace than they would have.

It is not enough to be the recipient of a lot of grace.  We can make our prayers focus on asking for more grace, but we should be careful.  What are you doing with the grace that He is giving you?  Are you pushing it away like Jerusalem, or are you sucking it up like the cities of Galilee and yet not truly believing in Jesus?  The cities of Galilee were fortunate because of the hardness of other cities, but that just puts them in a place of being even more accountable.

Jesus warns Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum that they are headed for a harsh judgment.  There are two aspects to the judgment of God.  There are temporal judgments that happen throughout life and attempt to draw us back to God.  Like a shot across the bow, they are to get our attention, and warn us of a greater judgment looming over us.  The second aspect is eternal judgment.  This is a final judgment and it is too late to repent when you receive it.

These temporal judgments are times when God holds us accountable for our choices, good or bad.  I believe that America is in such a time.  We are under the temporal judgment of God.  What we do today, repent or continue in obstinacy, will determine what we experience next.  Yes, this is a dangerous time because choices have consequences.  However, even now God is offering us grace by showing us how great our sin has become.

Clearly, Jesus is looking ahead to the eternal judgment because he speaks of Sodom.  Sodom was no longer in existence.  There could be no more temporal judgments for Sodom.  She was in Hades awaiting the Judgment Day in which they would receive their eternal judgment.

So, what is meant by this statement?  “It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”  I believe it is left cryptic on purpose.  It is intended first to shock the hearer, and second to warn them of harsher judgment.  How could it be harder for a person from Capernaum to survive The Judgment Day than a person from Sodom?  And, what would that look like; what does that mean?  Again, it is not spelled out.  However, the power is in neutralizing that inane ability of people to look at others and think they are better than them for all the wrong reasons.  Sodom is surely in big trouble when it comes to The Judgment Day, but Capernaum was in even bigger trouble.  Are the cities of America in any less trouble?

We didn’t have the physical ministry of Jesus like they did, but we have received far more grace than Sodom, and many other cities of this world.  In fact, we should not take credit for the great amount of grace we have received.  Like Capernaum, we have received such great grace because it was actively being rejected and pushed away by other places.  To have received great grace is to be held to a much higher standard at Judgment Day because God is just and hands down judgments that are righteous.

Repentance is better late than never.  We have received a great light.  The Gospel has been powerfully preached all across this great land.  However, we have been rejecting the truth of Christ and his rule.  We have been refusing to enter the Kingdom of God as decreed by the Father, and we have attempted to blaze our own path to an alternate Kingdom of our own making.

The Kingdom of God is both present and not yet.  Those who truly believe can participate spiritually in the Kingdom of God, while we await the physical return of Jesus.  Meanwhile, we live out our faith in Jesus through daily repentance.  To enter the people of God is to join a group of repenters, penitents.  The problem is that we are blind to all the ways we are rebelling against God’s truth.  In His grace, He works by His Holy Spirit to open our eyes.  Thus, we are to be walking in repentance daily.  Always humbly keeping our eyes on Him.

I hope that you are part of the repentant remnant in this land that is believing God.  The beauty is that during temporal judgments you can still repent and believe God.  If you tarry too long, temporal judgments become eternal judgments for some.  Even now, many are dying and entering into eternity.  What will their judgment be?  Those who believe God will do the works of faith, the works of God.  May the Lord help us!

Repent audio