Our Present Life III

Today we will pick up at 1 Peter 1:22-25.  As review, Peter has encouraged them: to keep their Hope in Christ to the end, to pursue holiness, to live with a fear of the Lord, and now today, Peter encourages them to go deeper in their love for one another. 

Love One Another Fervently With A Pure Heart

Verse 22 has a lot to say, but the core of the verse is at the end.  Love one another fervently with a pure heart.  Let’s look first at the word fervently.  The root of this word has the idea of being stretched out, as in stretching out one’s hand to do something.  It can be translated as earnest.  In a sense Peter is asking them to go the extra mile in their love for one another and stretch themselves out.  By analogy, perhaps we can think of a football player who is trying the catch the ball.  Sometimes the quarterback throws it just a bit too far in front of us.  At that moment the receiver has a decision to make.  Do I stretch myself out and risk getting hit to catch that ball?  Or, do I play it safe and not try so hard?  Players who stretch out to make the catch don’t do it because they like getting creamed.  They do it because they are earnest in making that catch.  They are willing to expose themselves for the sake of making the catch.  How about you?  Do you stretch yourself out in love or do you play it safe and only meet out love in small, safe increments?

He also reminds them to love with a pure heart.  This is talking about our motives.  Do I have impure motives?  Sometimes our great successes at love were actually motivated by what we thought we would get in return.  “I’ll love you as long as it makes me feel good.  But as soon as it no longer brings me pleasure, I’m out of here.”  Or, perhaps we do loving things because of the social prestige that it gains us.  Maybe I am just conforming to expectations that I am afraid to try and break out of.  Whatever our motivation behind love, if it isn’t for the right motives then it is for naught.  In any group it is easy to give in to social pressure.  We are not to “act” like Christ.  We are to pick up our cross and follow him.  That takes some sincere and pure motivations.

Peter points out how they had been obeying the truth by sincerely loving each other.  So his main purpose is to call them to a higher level of love—a stretched out love.  If you are going to obey the truth and love then do so with all your heart and all your might.  Notice that he points out that they had been made pure by their obedience.  When we think of obedience and God’s word, a good picture to keep in mind is pruning.  God’s Word points out those dead areas of our life and pursuits of our heart that need to be cut off.  It also points out those areas that need to be cut off so that we can be more fruitful.  This “cleaning” of our hearts is what enables us to stretch ourselves out in love.

However, this cannot just be a surface obedience.  Peter mentions that they obeyed “through the Spirit.”  Their obedience was led, encouraged and corrected by the Holy Spirit.  They were responding to his inner promptings to the Word of God.

He then reminds them of their new birth.  This was mentioned back in verse 3.  This new birth was not a biological birth from the corruptible seed of man.  Biology is impotent to help us.  Even if we could perfect all DNA errors, we are passing away along with this world.  They were spiritually birthed by the incorruptible seed of God’s Word, or Truth.  The verse in Luke 18:11 points out this analogy.  “The seed is the Word of God.”  It cannot perish.  It will never pass away.  The information you start with affects the durability and outcome of what it creates.  No biology can create eternal life.  Only God’s Word can give us eternal life.

Lastly Peter ties this in with the Gospel.  The good news of who Jesus was, what he did, and what he is doing now, was the main Truth of God that they had received.  That Gospel is living in that it is active and powerful.  It is also living in that it is life-giving.  However the Gospel is also eternal.  It has been said that the gospel will never cease, although the need to spread it will.

Peter quotes from Isaiah 40:6-8.  In this verse they are reminded how the things of this world are passing away, but the Word of the Lord will remain forever.  Now Isaiah 40 is an amazing passage within an amazing book.  Scholars through the ages have pointed out that Isaiah is a mini-Bible.  It has 66 chapters like the 66 books of the Bible.  The first 39 chapters deal with Israel’s failures under the law and the judgment of God upon the nations.  However, chapter 40 begins a turning in the book where Isaiah points to the good news of God’s merciful salvation.  Just as they had received the gospel, so Peter quotes from this chapter in Isaiah that is pointing towards that very same gospel. 

It is worth it to look at Isaiah 40 for a brief moment.  It starts out with the cry to “comfort, yes, comfort My people!” says your God.”  Then in verse 10 he points out that the Lord will come with a strong hand and rule for him.  This hand will shepherd the flock of God and gather the lambs into his arms and carry them in his bosom.  This is clearly a picture of Jesus the messiah.  Then the chapter ends with the famous lines, “they that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”  The things of this world are passing away, but God’s Word is going to remain.  No matter what you are hoping in, if it is something other than God’s Word, then it is going to fail you.  Don’t let the failure of the things of this world, religious people included, take your hope off of what is true: God’s word.  We have to learn to wait upon the Lord in faith.

Here is some food for thought.  We need to ask ourselves, “What is hindering my love from being His love?”  Don’t just ask yourself if you love, but do I love like He did?  Lord, help us to remove those things that would keep us from loving like you.

Another thought is a quote that someone came up with.  A coach is someone who makes you do what you don’t want to do so that you can become what you want to become.  Perhaps those difficult things that are causing you to want to quit loving are just God’s way of stretching you.  Is God stretching you?  Have you only saw the reason why you shouldn’t have to love and not the reasons why it is imperative that you do?  May God fill us with a fervent love that comes from a pure motivation: to be like Jesus.

Our Present Life III audio

Peace Between Us

We have been looking at the topic of peace over the last two Sundays.  The first week we looked at the peace that Jesus gives to those who believe on him.  Last week we looked at the lack of peace that the world has.  Today we are going to deal with relationships between believers.  Why do believers sometimes not get along? 

This is the question that James dealt with in Chapter 4.  Although he is writing to Jewish believers who had been scattered abroad, it is a good word for all believers who find themselves in the midst of conflict or worse fights.  A conflict is not a fight necessarily, but it can become one quick if our hearts are not in the right place.  This seems to be the case in James 4.  These believers are not just having basic conflicts; they are having all out wars.  What that looked like is not spelled out.  But the words that are used to describe it imply it was pretty bad.  Let’s look at what James has to say.

The Source Of Strife Between Believers Is Within Me

James starts out by asking what the source of the quarrels is.  However, it is a rhetorical question.  James knows full well and expects that the believers should know as well.  Notice the words he uses to describe their conflicts: wars, fights, murder, and covet.  It seems hard to believe that they actually had wars and murders.  So I suspect that these are being used to describe the ugliness of what was going on and the spiritual damage it was doing.  The carnage of a war and murder in the natural was the best description that James could use to picture what was happening spiritually with them.

Surprise, surprise, surprise!  The source is conflicting desires in my heart.  The same is true for the other person, but you will notice in this passage that James focuses on the problem not “the other person.”  When there is fighting, I need to fix me not the other person.

So what are these conflicting desires or lusts that are at war inside of me?  These are the desires of your flesh.  Your mind wants to be noticed, right all the time, and preeminent.   Your mouth wants to talk, and eat good food.  We also have sexual desires, relational desires, etc…  All of these strong desires cannot be satisfied all the time and at once.  Thus they are continually at war to be on top.  That is, if we let it become like that.  We can bring those desires under control and have peace inside.  But when we fail to do so the inner war eventually erupts into war with others.

James points out that, instead of looking to God for their desires, they try to obtain them from others through force.  This spirit is not of Jesus.  He did not act this way.  He trusted God.  Yet, in verse 3 we see that even when one of them per chance prayed, their prayers were self-centered and pleasure focused.   In fact, literally James says that their prayers were sick, ill, and wrong.  The New King James Version translates it as “asking amiss.”  But the point is stronger than this.  Can I be honest with myself and recognize that my inner life can be a seething cauldron of conflicting lusts if I let it? 

This Strife Is Serious

Verses 4-6 lay out the seriousness of this situation.  It is not just a little problem.  James uses two word pictures to show this.  The first word picture is that of marriage.  Believers are wed to Christ and are called his bride.  However, when we fight with each other over the desires of our flesh then we are being unfaithful to Jesus.  James calls it adultery.  If you were guarding a faithful love towards Jesus then you wouldn’t be having such ugly conflicts.  Sure you will still have conflicts, but you would work them out without spiritually murdering each other.

The second picture is that of war.  In any war, you are on one side or the other.  Thus the unfaithfulness is demonstrated in a measure similar to Judas.  You may be with Jesus and be called one of his disciples.  But, have you become a betrayer and an enemy of God?  To be in love with the world more than in love with God puts us on the wrong side.  God is coming to judge the world that gives itself to self-pleasure and gives no thought for him.  No matter how religious our life looks like a love for the world will destroy us spiritually and make us enemies of God.

In verse 5, James reminds them that just as they have strong desires for fleshly things, God has strong desires too.  God strongly desires to have intimacy with both parties in the battle.  When we “shoot to kill” in conflict we step on God’s toes and put our finger in his eye.  Will he not deal with us?  Thus we need to drop pride and embrace humility.  If we don’t humble ourselves God will.  Isn’t it easier to humble yourself and receive God’s grace, rather than to persist in pride and get whacked?

The Submission Needed To End The Strife

In today’s world submission is worse than a 4-letter word.  James tells them they need to submit to God.  The word “submit” is the picture of a soldier who is not in formation or even AWOL.  Instead of doing what they are supposed to be doing, they are doing their own thing.  Submission is when we put our self back under the direction of another.  When we fight with each other we are rebelling against God and doing our own thing.  Instead of “resisting” (fighting) the devil, we fight against each other.  God has not called us to fight flesh and blood, but rather to take our stand against the devil and his schemes.

James gives several practical instructions.  First draw near to God.  Our unfaithfulness to God can only be fixed by turning back towards him.  Quit loving the world and start loving God again.  Don’t just say you love Jesus.  Jesus didn’t put himself first.  He submitted to his father in heaven.  Do you really love him?  Then draw near to him.

Next is Cleanse your hands.  It is parallel with the third phrase, “purify your hearts.”  However the hands are a picture of our outer life.  It represents what we do.  To cleanse our hands is to change what we are doing with them.  Quit the outer displays of fighting with your brothers and sisters.  Then start on those things in the heart that are leading to these outbursts of wars.

Next he tells them to quit laughing and start mourning and weeping.  Not laughing is evil.  But rather it has to do with the situation.  When a war is going on, you don’t sit around laughing it up.  God is weeping when we fight.  Am I weeping about that?  Or do I only weep because I didn’t get what I wanted?

The final thing is that we need to humble ourselves.  Leave your exaltation and the satisfaction of your desires to God.  Trust him and he will exalt you at the right time.  Perhaps I can’t handle exaltation in this life.  If so then God may wait till the life to come to give it to me.  Am I fine with that?  Jesus was.  It is time for us to surrender our hearts desires to the Lord and fall in love with the heart and mind of Jesus once again.

Peace Between audio

The Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, Part 2

Last week we recognized that the primary key to the Kingdom of Heaven is the Truth of the Identity of Jesus and what he came to do on our behalf.  However this does beg the question, “Why is the Kingdom of Heaven “locked” in the first place?

When taken as a whole, the biblical message is this: the nature, choices, and actions of a person lock themselves out of God’s Kingdom.  John 3:16 says it well that God gave his one and only son that WHOSOEVER believed on him would have life rather than perishing.  Also Peter says that God is not willing that any should perish.  God has done absolutely everything but make people into robots.  Judas had an intimate view of the nature and wisdom of Jesus.  Yet, he made a different decision than the other disciples.  He refused to humble himself and follow Jesus.  He chose wickedness over righteousness.  This clear choice is made everyday by countless people.  Thus the Book of Revelation gives us a glimpse of the end of the age.  Not only will mankind gather for global war, but when Jesus appears, the armies of the earth will turn their firepower against him.  Though Christ puts this rebellion down and institutes a 1,000 year peace on the earth,  still a large number of people will be able to be tempted by Satan to surround the “camp of the saints” and try to destroy them.  God in his wisdom knew that sin would never be content to choose a different path.  If given the chance it would always seek to destroy God and those who follow his way; thus the need to lock out the kind of person who will not repent and turn away from wickedness.

Now today, we are going to go to Matthew 18:15-18 and look at a second key that can lock or unlock the Kingdom of Heaven to people.

How We Deal With Sin Is A Key To The Kingdom Of Heaven

This whole section begins with the disciples’ question, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  Jesus responds by saying in verse 3, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (NIV)  Without the humility of a child, and a simple openness to being taught by God, none of us will even enter the Kingdom of Heaven; much less be the greatest.  So facing the gospel requires an initial humility and surrender to God and his plan.  When it comes to dealing with sin we tend to lose our humility and surrender.  Thus Jesus deals with this area in verse 15 and following.  If we do not get a handle on how to correctly deal with the sins of others and our own sin then the Kingdom of Heaven will remain locked and inaccessible.  So what should we do when others sin against us, especially fellow Christians?

First we start with a private confronting.  The world is too quick to publish the sins of others and it relishes too much in the fall of others.  Believers in Jesus are not to be this way.  We are to be motivated by love (hard to do when you have been sinned against).  Love covers a multitude of sins.  However, it doesn’t cover them up.  The difference between a cover-up of sin and covering sin is that a cover-up seeks to avoid dealing with the sin and its consequences.  Whereas, covering sin keeps the circle of intimates small so that the issue can be dealt with in respect and honor.  However, if the sin is a public sin then the Scriptures state it is to be dealt with publically.  So here is the principle.  Do rush to expand the circle of those involved in dealing with a sin.  Only involve those who were present.  The balance between going to war against those who sin against us and not dealing with it and hoping it will go away, is to lovingly confront in private.

The next issue is how the rebuke is received.  The phrase, “if your brother hears you,” means if he listens to you and recognizes his sin.  The second key in dealing with sin is that we need to humbly receive rebukes.  We don’t talk about this much, but, the sinner has just as much responsibility to receive it humbly as the aggrieved does to give it lovingly.  God in his wisdom uses each of us to perfect the other.  But this only works when we are humble.  If we refuse to be humble, we refuse to be perfected and ultimately we refuse the way of Jesus.

If the rebuke is not humbly received then the Issue needs to be made accountable to one or two others.  We need to be careful who we choose to bring into such a situation.  Choose individuals who can be objective and give godly wisdom if needed.  In other words you are not bringing your own personal posse to beat up on the person.  They are there to give witness to the actions and demeanor of both sides.

At this point I should bring up the problem of gossiping.  Even under the guise of getting advice we can be guilty of publishing the sins of others before we have rightly confronted them.  If you need advise get it in a general manner; not giving the name of the offender.  However, if the rebuke is not received you get two witnesses to verify.

Lastly, if you are still refused then it is to be exposed to the Church.  There is no process given and it is highly doubtful that Jesus intends us to stand up in church and tell the sins of the other.  Still, it needs to go before the elders of the church.  It has to be dealt with publically.  When a person goes through such a process and they still refuse to humble themselves and reconcile then something is deeply wrong in their heart.  They are not following the Lord.  They are following themselves.  For the sake of the church it is best, as in 1 Corinthians 5, to disfellowship the individual until they repent.  This doesn’t have to be a blow up.  It can be something as simple as this, “We love you, but because you refuse to deal with this sin and make things right, we have to ask you to leave until such a time as you can admit your fault and make things right.”  Otherwise, it will become a festering wound in the church and ultimately cause many more to be caught up in the issue.

Practical Thoughts For Christians

We must always remember that God uses our fellow Christians to help us grow to be more like Jesus.  It is the litmus test of our inner spiritual life.  We may not like it.  We may even run from it and try to avoid it.  However, we need to learn to properly challenge each other and we also need to learn to properly receive a challenge.  It is too easy not to say anything until we blow up.  This is a sin, also.  However, just because someone does a poor job of confronting us of our sin does not get us off the hook of repenting ourselves.  We can spend our time playing the legal game or we can become more like Jesus.  “He got mad and yelled at me in an unchristian way, so I don’t have to listen to him.”  “He sinned against me so I get a freebie to scream at him and vent.”  Both of these attitudes are sinful.

Sin that is not dealt with will get worse and hurt more people.  The choice to do nothing is sinful because it puts personal comfort in front of the pain of others.  Sin does not stay the same.  Rather, it grows and becomes worse.

Lastly, we need humility and love on both sides in order for there to be reconciliation.  God help us to love one another and thus prove that we do love Jesus.

Keys to the Kingdom P2 Audio

Unalienable Rights

Today we are going to continue to look at the part in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America that contains the words:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 

Specifically we will be talking about unalienable rights.  This phrase basically means that the rights cannot be legislated away by governments, or disregarded by individuals without offending God, who is the giver of those rights.  So the rights may be practically severed from a person, but those who do so will give account to God himself.  In that sense, they are unalienable (inseparable) from each person.

Now as our text we are going to look at 1 Corinthians 9.  Here Paul is dealing with their need to drop their rights for the sake of their brothers and sisters.  He does so by giving an example of his own rights and how he had not exercised them when he was with the Corinthians.

Rights And Freedoms Are Very Real

Paul first of all affirms that there are certain rights that God gives to men.  In verses 4 and 14 he establishes that those who preach the gospel have the right to make a living from those to whom they are preaching.  Of course, this right can be abused.  But those who do so will give account to God.  The second right is in verse 5.  Those who make their living by preaching also have the right to marry a believing spouse.

Now the rights listed in the Declaration of Independence are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.  Are these legitimate rights that have been given by God?  The founding fathers’ belief that these rights were from God was derived by reasoning from the Scriptures.  They used the history of the Bible and the Laws that God gave to Israel to discern what rights God intended men to have.  Let’s look at each of the three briefly.

Life is clearly given by God in Genesis 2:7.  If God gives life then it is wrong for another man to take it away.  Also, in the Law murder is banned: “Thou shalt not kill.”  We see God judging Cain for killing his brother Abel and many other places judgment is shown and described.

Liberty can be found in the Law through the laws limiting slavery and promoting Jubilee.  However, the most powerful expression is found in the purpose of the Law and the giving of Grace.  The gospel was not plan B.  It was the plan all along.  The Law was only given to show mankind their need for freedom from our sin nature.  The Laws are not wrong, but they become chains that keep us in bondage.  The Gospel shows another way; the way of freedom.

The Pursuit of Happiness is another way of saying “enjoying life.”  It doesn’t mean a mere attempt, but rather the journey of experiencing the many joys of life.  Again this is throughout the Scriptures, but a specific verse can be quoted in Ecclesiastes 3:13, “Every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.”

It is important to remember that though something is a right, it can be refused by those in power.  Thus the British empire that refused to recognize the rights of the colonists subsequently lost the revolutionary war and continued into decline and deterioration.  Whether it was a sign of the judgment of God or not, God will hold all nations and individuals accountable for how they treat others.

Choosing The More Excellent Way Of Love

There are times, however, when we need to choose a different path.  Fighting for our rights may help us, but it may harm others.  This is what Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians 9.  He is not arguing against rights altogether.  Several times we see Paul insisting on his rights as a Roman citizen.  However, he does so for reasons other than saving his skin.  Thus love needs to be our ultimate motivation.  In 1 Corinthians 12:31 and chapter 13, Paul describes love and how it acts.  You can see from the list of what love is and isn’t that love would not always insist on its rights.  Here is a general rule of thumb: It is best to fight for the rights of others and to trust your own to God. 

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:19 that though by right he is free, he “freely” chooses to be a slave to all men so that he might save more.  He could insist on his rights, but that path would lead to less people saved.  So he chose a tougher route that would lead to more people being saved.  His rights weren’t taken from him, rather he sacrificed them for people’s souls.  Thus Love is willing to sacrifice for the sake of a greater good and to save souls.  In verses 20-23 Paul makes this clear.  Though he was no longer obligated to keep the Mosaic Law, he would freely do so around Jews in order to get a platform on which to share the gospel.  When he was among Gentiles, he didn’t continue to do “strange” things from the Law of Moses.  This would just ostracize him and take away any opportunity to talk to them about Jesus.  In both cases love constrains him to exercise or not exercise his rights.

Notice that Paul is not motivated by his own pleasures.  He does not “sin” when he is among the Gentiles.  But neither does he worry about ritual washings, unclean foods, and proper dress.  In verses 24-27, Paul makes it clear that his desire is to please God.  Thus Love chooses wisely when to assert or sacrifice personal rights in order to please God.  Here the image of a runner is used.  The runner who wants to win the race must restrain themselves from drink and food that will be a hindrance.  It is not that it is wrong for them to drink or eat certain foods, but those things will hinder them winning.  So a choice must be made.  Do I want my rights or do I want something better?  Paul said that he “disciplined” his body.  Though Paul had a right to make a living from the ones to whom he preached, he generally didn’t.  Most of the time he worked as a tent-maker to cover his own expenses.  This was a difficulty and required him to burn the candle at both ends.  But he did it so that the gospel would not be hindered. 

Now here are some practical thoughts for us as believers in Jesus.  First, Christians should be a strong voice for the rights of people of this society.  We should be the first to warn our country that if we trample the rights of the citizenry then we will follow the path of all great nations before us.  However, as Christians we need to be identified more by what we sacrifice than by what we demand for ourselves.  Jesus is identified with the cross and laying his life down.  The apostles were identified with difficult lives and ultimately being martyred.  Similarly the founding fathers laid their fortunes and lives on the line for the sake of the colonies.  May God give us wisdom to see what we should sacrifice in order that others might be saved.

Unalienable Rights Audio