The Most Excellent Way

Romans 12:9-10.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on February 7, 2021.

In Mark 12:29-31, Jesus gave us the two greatest commandments, which are really two sides of the same coin.  We are to love God with all of our being (heart, soul, mind, and strength), and we are to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Later, Jesus modified this second command among his disciples.  “Love one another, as I have loved you.”  That is quite the qualifier.  It is one thing to love one another as we think we should, but to love in the way Jesus did would be to love sacrificially and selflessly.

I say that these two commands are two sides of the same coin because the Apostle John challenges us in his first letter with this.  How can you say you love God, whom you haven’t seen, when you can’t even love your brother, whom you have?  Yes, it is easy to give lip service to loving God because he is not physically on this earth.  It is more difficult to test.  In fact, shouldn’t we see the second command as the litmus test of whether or not we truly love God?  I think so.

Let’s remind ourselves today to strengthen this duty that we have to love one another, the duty to love.

We are to love without hypocrisy

The command to love one anther is simple enough, but throughout Scripture, we are given qualifiers from time to time.  In Romans 12:9, it is qualified with a negative phrase, “without hypocrisy.”  Some translations have chosen to emphasize the positive implication of this phrase.  NIV says, “Love must be sincere.”  ESV says, “Let love be genuine.”  The NLT attempts to put both the negative phrase and its positive implication together.  “Don’t just pretend to love others.  Really love them.”

The reason that we need these qualifiers is because the actions of people do not always match up with their words.  There is an irony in our country today that, while we talk more and more of loving each other and being united, we are seeing more and more anger and hatred.  This is not a new thing.  There have always been those who said they were loving, but in the end they were not.  They weren’t sincere, or genuine.  In short, they were hypocrites.

The word hypocrisy, that we are not supposed to mix in with our loving of one another, was a word that came from acting in plays.  The New Testament writers took the word and used it to refer the moral evil of a person merely acting as if they are doing good.  Such people were wearing the acting mask of love, but behind that external mask, there were unloving motivations.

Acting is a powerful medium for getting a message across when people know that it is an act.  It helps us to think about the same situation as a group.  Of course, it can be manipulated to try and pressure the group to think certain things, which is itself a form of hypocrisy.  It pretends to open up discussion on a situation, but in truth is trying to force all to think the same. 

Let’s just say the obvious.  Christians are not called to make an amazing movie about love, whether on a screen or in our lives.  We are to be doing it, for real.  In other words, we are to live a life of love that is worthy of a movie, not to give a performance that people are willing to watch.  It is the difference between being an actor and being the real thing.  If Hollywood stars are any measure of actors, we know that actors are often empty of the good things that they portray, or at least fall very short of it.

Wearing masks with one another and having a superficial love is not God’s plan, and we need the help of the Holy Spirit to be brave enough to take them off.  Warning- when you try to take of masks, those who are still wearing them will be uncomfortable with it (even you will be uncomfortable with it).

Paul then describes what hypocrisy-free love looks like with two verbal phrases.  The first is “abhor that which is bad.”  While we love one another, we should be abhorring, or detesting, that which is evil.  Paul chooses a strong word here.  Christians are not to treat moral evil lightly.  In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul also writes, “love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth.”

Moral evil is defined throughout Scriptures, and it is all those negative vices and activities that God warns against, of which hypocrisy is just one.  This is not just an instruction for me about the other person and their sin.  Rather, it starts with me.  I must detest and shrink back from the tendency to be insincere, or any other moral evil, in my “love.”  I must fight the internal battle of keeping my heart pure towards God and my fellow man.

Of course, when loving others, we will have to face their imperfections and sinful tendencies (and they ours).  Love never means coddling that which is evil.  Our society likes to pick and choose who it loves and what evil is protected.  This must never be among Christians, those who say that they are following Christ, rather than our culture. 

An example of this has to do with public advice that is often given to people in difficult situations.  A case in point is a letter that was written to Dear Abbey.  A mother’s adult daughter, who had been raised to be a Christian, had embraced homosexuality.  The mom was struggling with what it means to continue to love her daughter when she was embracing something that was morally evil (by Christ’s definition).  Dear Abbey’s advice was a surrender to cultural influence in which she was counselled to embrace her daughter and the homosexual lifestyle she was living.  Ultimately, our hearts can be pulled into evil even out of a misguided love.  Loving someone in this situation is something Christians should do, but not in a way that embraces the harmful choices of the individual.  I know that this is 180 degrees the opposite of today’s “wisdom,” but we are followers of Jesus, not today’s culture (or are we?).

The second verbal phrase is the positive implication of the previous.  We must love while holding fast, or clinging, to that which is good.  Most people tend to one side or the other.  We can focus only on detesting evil, and it becomes an excuse to disregard and ignore people who God loves.  On the other hand, we can focus only on clinging to what is good, and ignore the moral evil that is piling up around us.  Christians are called to the hard road of truly loving others, as Jesus loved us.  It is hypocrisy to say that we love someone, but then not really face sin in our life or theirs.  It is hypocrisy to call this love, or to pretend that love calls us to overlook sin, or at least redefine it.  It is also hypocrisy to write someone off because of their sins and failures, and not try to lift that which is good.

This tension is mentioned by Paul in Galatians 6:1, “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently.  But watch yourselves, or you may also be tempted.”  Jude mentions this tension in verses 22 and 23 of his letter.  “Be merciful to those who are doubting; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by flesh.”  Even a person who is so destroyed by sin that they are essentially being thrown into the fire of destruction, we are to attempt to save, yet being careful not to be caught up in their sin.  This is a love that is tough on the person doing it and tough on the person receiving it.  However, it is only truth that can set you free.  Fake love helps no one, period.

We are to love as family

Another qualifier is given for our love in verse 10 of Romans 12.  We must love each other with the love that we would have for family members.  Christians are called the “household of faith,” “the children of God,” and we are destined to be the adult Sons and Daughters of God in eternity.  It is not that we pretend that the other is family.  In Christ, we actually are.  Paul uses two words that refer to this family love.  “Brotherly love” is the obvious one.  However, the “kindly affectioned” phrase is actually a word that speaks of the love between parents and children.

Our biological families are a microcosm of the larger family of God that we join when we become followers of Christ.  Even our local church is simply a microcosm of the larger family of God worldwide, and history-wide.  Like Israel coming out of Egypt, we are a part of a large nation of very different people who all will inherit form the same Father, who loves us all.  It is easy to forget that we are family in Christ, and that our Father wants us to learn to get along and love each other.  This is not a suggestion, or something that we can work on when everything else is done.  It is the litmus test of our love for God.  “Do you love me?  Then, feed my sheep,” aka, love my children.

Lastly, Paul speaks of humbly honoring others.  Sibling rivalry, or just family squabbles, are destined to happen because none of us are perfect yet.  Even those who are spiritual elders are not perfected yet.  It is easy to chafe at other believers, like siblings, and it is easy to have tensions between spiritual elders and young believers.  These things are a natural part of being family.  However, we are to work on them with the kind of attitude that takes the lead in honoring the other.  The NKJV translates, “preferring one another.”  This misses the mark in my opinion.  The word being translated has the concept of going ahead of others in this area of honoring.  The clash is that our tendency is to honor ourselves and “go ahead” by pushing ourselves above others.  If we are to “go ahead of others,” it is not to be in honoring ourselves, but in honoring them.

Honor has to do with value and worth.  We love what has value and worth to us, and yet, in our imperfection, we often value things that we shouldn’t and disvalue, dishonor, what we shouldn’t.  Believers have a value to one another that isn’t always understood by us because we get wrapped up in the thinking of our age.  Instead of seeing one another through God’s yes, and through His purposes, we can only see through the world’s eyes and its purposes, or our own selfish purposes.  The challenge to love in today’s atmosphere is only becoming more difficult.  This cannot be used as an excuse.  There are attempts from the culture to polarize and divide God’s people.  May God help us to resist these blatant attacks on God’s Church, and to remain in fellowship with the Spirit of God and His people.

Excellent Way Audio

What Are We Doing Here At Abundant Life? Share Part 2

Mark 1:16-18; Acts 1:6-8; Matthew 28:16-20.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, June 28.

Today, we will finish our series on the purposes that Jesus has given to His Church.  We are presently focused on sharing Jesus passionately with those who do not know him.  When we are faithful to do so, it makes a choice possible for people.  They can either believe on Jesus and connect to the life that he gives, or they can refuse to believe and reject the truth of God’s love for them.  Even then, we must never lose our passion to share the lost with those who have previously rejected him.

The first part of this issue is to remember the horrible predicament people are in without Jesus, but the second part is to remember that we have an obligation before God to help them.  On one hand, it is an obligation of His command to us.  However, on the other hand is the obligation of the love of God that should be growing in each and every Christian.

Let’s look at our passages.

We are to be witnesses of Jesus to others

These first two passages (Mark 1 and Acts 1) show us that from the beginning to the end of his ministry, Jesus had the intention of having us help him to reach the world.  It was not just a job for the original apostles, or for the first century Church.  It was for all who would respond to Jesus and thereby become witnesses of him and the live that he gives.

In Mark 1, the analogy is that of fishing.  Peter and Andrew were fishermen and it was quite natural for Jesus to use their profession as a metaphor for what he had in mind.  Now, we could accuse Jesus of using a crass analogy that abuses fish (people) for the master’s ends, but this is an obscene approach to language and communication.  Peter caught fish for fleshly reasons that had no care for the fish.  However, now he would catch people for spiritual reasons that is all about God’s love for those being caught.  The metaphor has both comparing and contrasting elements.

In Acts 1:7, the believers were wondering if the kingdom would be restored to Israel at that time.  Jesus then points them back to his previously stated purpose.  It is not focused on reigning over the earth, but in sharing the good news of his sacrifice for sinners.  In light of the approaching Pentecost, the image that is connected to this passage is a harvest season.  God has allotted a finite amount of time for people to join his Son Jesus and accept his saving work for them.  However, He has also determined that we would not know how long that is.  We are able to recognize that it is dwindling down and getting close, but we would not actually know the date of its ending. 

Thus, we should have the attitude that Jesus demonstrated for us in John 9:4.

“I must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.”

This analogy of a work day has a dark tone to it, and it begs the question, “Exactly what does this spiritual night correspond to?”  It may mean the days after the rapture, and the following rampage of Antichrist, or it may reference the 2^nd Coming and the inability to change one’s fate, or even to the Lake of Fire.  Regardless, it is a serious answer that challenges Christians to focus and do the work that we have been given because we do not know when the harvest season will end.

Though the task is important, Jesus then emphasizes that they should wait until the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them.  We are not to rush ahead of Jesus in this task, but let him lead and empower us by the Holy Spirit.  Part of the reason they waited was that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit had to be associated with the Feast of Pentecost.   It celebrated the natural harvest, but prophetically pointed to the spiritual harvest that Jesus was beginning with his Church.  The harvest is also too great for us in our natural strengths.  Jesus tells them that they would receive power from the Holy Spirit.  Any time the Church forgets this, it descends into a worldly system that merely seeks to perpetuate itself.  We must resist this tendency among all groups, and continually seek the help of the Holy Spirit in this work.  This is a spiritual work that must be done by spiritual people in communion with and empowered by the Spirit of God.  In short, we must wait upon him, and be led by him.

Lastly, Jesus emphasizes that this is to be a global endeavor that reaches the ends of the earth.  The salvation of Jesus is extending to the whole earth, and yet, it will be effective only for those who believe upon him.  This is further defined in Revelation 5:9. There we have the four living beings and the twenty-four elders surrounding the throne of God saying this.

“You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,”

The individuals are emphasized, but so are the scoping divisions of humanity.  Our task is not just to reach a bulk of people, like miners setting up over the richest spot.  Rather, it also has an aspect of reaching every people group on this planet.  There are many Christians who work in Bible Translation and Missions.  They have sought to create metrics in regards to where we are at in this endeavor.  The website www.Joshuaproject.net even has a status sheet that is quite interesting to think about.  In some ways, the Gospel has gone to the ends of the earth, but in other ways we still have our work cut out for us.  The problem with metrics is that we do not know what God’s metrics are.  All we can do is analyze the problem and do our best to be faithful to the original task that we have been given.

We are to make disciples of all nations

It is not enough to simply put the message of Jesus in the hands of people.  Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 28 that we are to also disciple those who believe.  Today’s new believers become the mentors for tomorrow’s new believers.  However, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

At the end of Matthew 28, the followers of Jesus have gathered at a mountain in the Galilee area.  The movements of Jesus during the 40 days between his resurrection and his ascension are roughly this.  He first appears throughout the Jerusalem area and tells his disciples to meet him at a pre-arranged mountain in Galilee.  Matthew 28 is the account of that later meeting with his disciples there.  Many believe that this is the most likely place for the meeting that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 15:6. There he states that over 500 people saw Jesus at the same time.  A mountain in the Galilee region would allow for a large group to meet without drawing the attention of the Romans.  Jesus is giving his plan to them.  Later, his last meeting (Acts 1) happens on the Mt. of Olives outside of Jerusalem.

In this passage, Jesus emphasizes that the task he is giving us is under his command and by his authority.  There is a long history of Christians coming to new cultures and sharing the gospel.  Many today make arguments against Christian conversion as a destruction of culture.  What gives Christians the right to try and convert Hindus and Pagans?  Ultimately, the Jesus has been made the Lord of all lords and the King of all kings, both in the heavens and on the earth.  He has the authority to require changes in our life.  Of course, a person does not have to completely change all aspects of their culture to be a Christian.  The style of clothing, music, food, etc. has nothing to do with the call to follow Jesus.  That said, all cultures have sinful and rebellious aspects to them that are not good, including the American culture.  So, if you are concerned about the morality of teaching a Native American about the True Great Spirit then Jesus is our authorizing Lord.  However, this does not authorize everything that has been done in his name over the years.  We should recognize that we will be held accountable for doing this task, but also for how we did it.  God’s command is for all men everywhere to repent and believe on Jesus Christ for salvation.  This will not only transform culture, but also transform the individual.

Notice that Jesus does not say for us to go into all the world and make converts.  The grammar of the passage makes it clear that the main work is to make disciples, or better, to disciple those who believe.  Going, baptizing, and teaching are all the things that we do as a part of discipling them.  In order to make disciples, we will need to go to people (the whole earth), we will need to baptize them as a show of their acceptance in the community, and we will need to teach them the commands of Christ. 

Often, the Church has emphasized getting a confession of faith out of people, but not helping them to grow afterwards.  Just as children need parents at birth and beyond, so the spiritually newborn need help from other mature believers.  This should not be done in the way that we come between them and God, taking the place of Jesus, but in a healthy way that is more like an elder sibling helping out a younger sibling.  If an elder sibling forgets that they are not the parent then they will eventually get in trouble with Jesus. 

Many people have made a decision to follow Christ, but then, in the weeks or months following, they gave up on it.  Discipling is not easy, and it takes love and time.  Technically, we are never done learning as a student in this life, but the critical need for another person to help us should diminish because of the spiritual roots that we develop.  Even then, we must never think that we have arrived at a point where we no longer need other believers.  God uses other believers in our lives to keep us humble, no matter how spiritually mature we are.

Jesus ends this command to disciple all nations with the promise that he will always be with us, even to the end of the age.  He is with us through the Holy Spirit.  We may be weary and ready for it all to be done, but Jesus is not done as long as we have breath and are still on this planet.  Don’t be weary in this day of hard labor.  Instead, draw near to Jesus and ask for the Holy Spirit to strengthen you for the task at hand.  Let’s be a people who are passionately sharing Jesus with the lost and helping them to connect to his Abundant Life!

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What Are We Doing Here At Abundant Life? Serve Part II

Romans 12:3-11.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, June 7, 2020.

Today, we continue talking about the purposes of Christians and the Church, specifically serving Jesus by serving one another.  Two weeks ago, we saw how that service can take on very practical forms and be very humbling: the washing of one another’s feet.  Let’s continue in the Romans 12 passage in order to talk further about the giftings that God gives each of us in order to serve one another.

It is true that all giftings in our life are from God and thus could be called spiritual.  However, some gifts are recognized as especially spiritual.  These include prophecy, speaking in tongues, healing, words of knowledge, among others.

A division within the body of Christ has occurred in which some believe that these spiritual gifts were only for the first century believers in order to start the Church, and others believe that they are active still today.  This division has led to two extremes that are both dangerous.  It is commendable to be careful so that you are not deceived by false teachers, but it can lead to a critical and skeptical spirit that refuses to accept any spiritual gifts as legitimate.  On the other hand, it is commendable to step out in faith and trust God, but it can lead to an extreme gullibility and even lust for things such as: wealth, health, and power.

God’s Word is given to us so that we will have a balance that is informed by His Word and the Holy Spirit.  We should neither fail to use the gifts, nor should we abuse them.  Let’s look at our passage.

Do not be proud and arrogant

In the first two verses of Romans 12, Paul emphasized that the servants of God must not be a people who have conformed to the world, but rather, they must be a people who are transformed by the Spirit of God renewing their minds.  Thus, we need to have our worldview and motivations transformed by God if we are going to serve Him.  We should also recognize that conforming to the world can take on many different flavors, among them are false religion, whether Christian or not.

It is no shock that this area of giftings in the Church is a source of much spiritual good, and yet also much fleshly destruction.  Paul puts his finger on the outward red flag that tells us that conformity rather than transformation is present, and that is pride.  The servant of the Lord must not be proud or arrogant towards other believers, or the world.

Paul uses the phrase “thinking too highly of yourself than you ought.”  He sees the problem of pride as one of crossing a boundary.  There is an obligation or “oughtness” that should restrain us from becoming proud and arrogant as the servants of the Lord.  We are sinners, but he has rescued and saved us.  We had nothing to offer, but he put gifts of grace within our life.  Our fellow brothers and sisters are also servants of the Lord with different gifts of grace in their lives.  Those who have high positions in the Church may look like they have a high position (by the world’s estimation).  However, they aren’t higher, but lower.  Just as Christ lowered himself to the lowest place and became the scapegoat for us all, so leaders are actually servants of God’s people so that they can be equipped and helped to serve the Lord.

Don’t be deceived.  Pride and arrogance are never warranted, and are easy to see in others, but the Spirit of God through the Word of God is able to lay His finger upon any pride that we have and lead us out of its bondage.

Paul then adds the metaphor of sobriety versus drunkenness.  We are to think soberly as God enables us.  This is important because of the parable of Christ that warns his servants not to “beat their fellow servants and drink with the drunkards.”  Matthew 24:45-51.  Pride and arrogance are equivalent to being drunk with the drunkards, that is the people of this world who are unaware of God’s salvation and plunging into sin.  The warning is that they think the Lord is never coming back and then take advantage of their position among His things.

Paul also connects this to the “measure of faith” that God has given to each of us.  It is highly unlikely that he is talking about saving faith here, although God does enable us to have faith for salvation.  Rather, he is talking about the particular capacity to recognize the gifts of grace that He gives us for the general good of his Church, and then the capacity to execute that gift properly.  The areas of recognition and execution are both twisted and perverted by the drunkenness of pride and arrogance.  Just because God has put gifts in your life does not authorize you to misuse them for your own purposes.

In verses 4 and 5, Paul reminds them of two important principles.  The first is that we are each a part of the singular body of Christ.  There is only one body of Christ and we are all apart of that unified whole that is directed by him.  He even takes this further in verse 5 by saying that we are members of each other.  This reminder goes back to the oughtness referenced before.  Harming others for your own benefit is illogical in the context of the body of Christ.  To hurt others is to hurt yourself because you are connected to them and need the gifts of grace that God has put in them, just as they are towards you.

Even though we are all part of one body, we are not gifted and placed in the body of Christ to serve the same function.  God’s gifts are varied by function, and they are varied by the scope of that function.  These differences should never threaten the unity of the body and its ability to function as a whole.  Clearly individuals and large groups of believers have failed in this area.  However, never underestimate the power of the Lord to bless and use those who will humble themselves in this area and step out in faith.  If we quit because others have done poorly then our excuse will not stand before Christ.  Jesus told the apostle Peter after his resurrection, “If you love me then feed my sheep.”  This was not only in the context of Peter’s own failures, but also in the context of the failures of the religious leaders of that day.  We must quit looking at what has happened in the Church.  Instead, we must repent of our own pride and embrace the body of Christ and the functions of grace that God leads you to perform.

Use the gifts that God gives for His purposes

In verses 6-8, we have a difficult part of this passage to bring into English, not because it is hard to understand, but because of the structure of the Greek language.  To bring it into English properly, words have to be added due to the context of what he has said and the subject matter, which is God’s gifts of grace.  Ultimately, Paul is emphasizing that if we have a particular gift of grace then it has been given to us by God to use.  We must use these gifts of grace for God’s purposes and for the good of the body of Christ.  In 1 Corinthians 12:7, Paul tells us that, “the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.  This is God’s intention and this is exactly how we should use them.

The first gift described is that of prophecy.  Prophecy is a word from God given to an individual for God’s people.  It can be regarding past, present, or future things, and is to be carefully examined by the elders to determine if it is contrary to Scriptures, or whether it is to be retained as truly from the Lord.  Even then, I we must exercise caution in this area.  We should not treat modern prophecy as if it is an addition to the Bible.  God gave the grace of establishing once and for all the faith that we are to believe to those first century apostles.

Prophecy is a heady gift and can easily lead to pride and arrogance in one who is not strongly connected to the Lord and His people.  God can and does speak to every believer in Christ, both through the written word and by His Spirit.  However, He has gifted some individuals to serve as another source of His influence.  Like the prophets of old, they encourage and exhort people in light of the dangers and needs of the present.

Paul basically tells us t hat if God has given us the gift of prophecy then we should do it with the measure of faith that He has given us.  So, God not only supplies the gift, but also supplies the faith to exercise it.  This opens a whole area that we should recognize.  Among people who have the same gifting, there will still be a difference in their sphere of influence or scope of operation.  These things vary in their measure.  No matter the measure of our sphere of influence, it will require bold faith to be exercised.  Stepping out in faith does not come naturally.  It comes by the help of the Spirit of the Lord, and yet we still have to cooperate and step out.  Thus, our measure of faith may be higher than our level of exercise.  Like an athlete discovering the physical limits of their ability, so in spiritual gifts, we must learn to exercise faith to increase our service for the Lord.

Paul then gives us a list of giftings.  It is implied that they also are given with a varied measure of faith.  However, Paul adds the emphasis that we should exercise the gift for the purpose God gave it.  To the degree that He has gifted you with service, then you should give yourself to serving (also, translated as ministry).  To the degree that He has gifted you with teaching, you should give yourself to teaching.  You won’t find the full degree of what He has given you unless you get out there and start being faithful to the little that you do understand today.  We must never see gifts as ours, but as God’s grace put within our life.  I am a steward and must operate in keeping with the One who gave it to me. 

The list continues with exhortation.  This is the same word that is used of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.  It involves a whole host of things that are a help to us by coming alongside of us: comfort, correction, encouragement, instruction, etc. (basically everything that could conceivably help us).

In verse 8, another structural change happens in which Paul emphasizes not just doing the gift, but also how we do it.  Those who are gifted with giving should give with a single focus, that is, generously.  Those who are gifted with leading should give themselves to leading with an eager diligence.  Those who are gifted with giving mercy should give mercy with cheerfulness.

In all of this, Paul is describing some of the diversity and variety of God’s gifts within His people.  Other lists and teaching are given in 1 Corinthians 12-14.  Ultimately, the Apostle Peter sums it up in 1 Peter 4:10 when he says, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” 

There is much more that can be said on this issue, but I want to end with a final emphasis.  In verse 9, Paul begins a section of biblical instruction that has a rapid-fire, staccato feel, to it.  However, at the root of these instructions is our need to serve one another in love.  The love of God must be the root of our serving.  Anything else is unacceptable to God.  With that said, I find it fitting to end with Paul’s words to the Corinthians.  After explaining the use of spiritual gifts for 30 verses, he then says this.

“But earnestly desire the best gifts.  And yet, I show you a more excellent way.  Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”

This reminds me of the Ken Gulliksen song, Charity.  “If I have not charity, if love does not flow through me, I am nothing.  Jesus reduce me to love.”  Ah, yes, the reduction process.  The difficulties of your life and the struggles that you have with others are all a part of God’s process of trying to reduce you down to His love alone. 

Over the last three months, things have been drastically different, and there appears to be more craziness on the horizon.  Let us remember that the only answer to the chaos of this world is a child of God trusting Him in faith.  We must be a people who are trusting in God and not the voices of this world.  When our hope is only in what God supplies, we will be like a tree planted by the waters, that does not fear when the heat comes, and is not anxious in the year of drought, nor will we cease being fruitful!  (See Jeremiah 17).  God help us to be fruitful trees in these days.

Serve II audio

What Are We Doing at Abundant Life? Connect Part 2

John 1:1-3, 10-13; Hebrews 10:23-25; Acts 2:40-42; Revelation 21:3-8.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, April 26, 2020. 

We are in the middle of a series on the purpose of the Church of Jesus, more specifically of our local expression of the Church.  What are we trying to accomplish here?  As we take time to delineate those purposes that we should be trying to accomplish, we must not lose sight that we are not alone.  The Lord is also working to accomplish these things through us.  It is a cooperation that happens between humans and the Spirit of God.  Thus, we should take heart even though facts on the ground may cause us to doubt.

Last week, we focused on the fact that everything begins with Jesus.  Here is the simplified model that our church uses to picture these things.  We are currently looking at the upper left purpose, which is to connect to Jesus.  When we connect to Jesus through whole-life worship, he becomes our teacher, savior, and lord. 

However, when you connect to Him, you find that that there are other disciples who have done so before you.  Jesus has a band of disciples who are already following him, and he wants you to connect to them as well.  In fact, it is interesting that the Church is called, “the body of Christ.”  We connect to Jesus spiritually through repentance, faith, prayer, worship, and obedience.  However, we connect physically to Jesus by connecting to a group of believers, a local expression of his Church.  Let’s explore this further.

You have a new family (John 1:1-3, 10-13) 

Of the four Gospels, John’s gospel uniquely focuses on the heavenly origin of Jesus as opposed to his earthly lineage.  John establishes the relationship that Jesus had with God in eternity past before anything was created.  This is not a sermon on the trinity.  So, we won’t go into detail on verses 1-3.  Suffice it to say that God clearly existed as a community within Himself before anything was created.  When we connect to Jesus, we are connecting to this one who is connected to an eternal family that God is, and that He is still creating.  This family is far more important to God than all the material world that we see around us.  We will continue into the new heavens and the new earth, whereas this creation will be melted down and flee away.

The Bible makes it clear that God has a heavenly family made up of spiritual beings, of which some are named (cherubim, seraphim, watchers, arch-angels, and angels).  Yet, God wants humans to be part of this family.  Even more amazing, He wants you to be a part of this eternal family.  This is what John is talking about in verses 10-13.  Jesus came to what should have been his earthly family, both the micro in Nazareth, and the macro in Israel.  In general, he was rejected by his own.  However, those who did receive him were enabled to become part of his heavenly family.  Thus, we are given “the right to become children of God.”  Much of this life is about preparing us to take our place some day in that eternal family, but the family begins in the here and now.

This family of people who have received Jesus is rather large throughout the world.  Yet, God has a place for you in it.  No local church actually belongs to the pastor, or the elders, or even its members.  It really belongs to Jesus.  He is the one who said, “I will build my Church.”  God wants us to find our place within a local group of believers, and he wants that group of believers to make room for us.

The use of family terms is extremely important because God is the One who spiritually births new children by bringing them to faith in Jesus.  Children don’t get to choose who is in the family.  When a newborn baby is brought home from the hospital, the kids don’t get a vote on whether or not to keep it.  There are all kinds of growing pains as that little infant, who can barely do anything, grows up and begins to find its legs and its voice. 

This becomes our identity.  Regardless of what station of life you are in, regardless of what country you are from, how smart you are or how much ability you have, you are a child in the family of God.  The world didn’t give it to you and the world can’t take it away!  Only you can affect your status by giving in to the temptation to walk away from who you really are.

We must love one another (Hebrews 10:23-25)

In his last hours with his disciples, Jesus hammered home that he wanted them to love each other in the way that he loved them.  John 15 is a masterful weaving of these concepts.  Jesus wants us to experience the same love that he and the Father enjoy together, and it starts with learning to love other children of God.  In fact, he wants it so much that he makes it a command.  This means that we cannot tell ourselves that we love Jesus and are connecting to him if we refuse to learn to love other believers.  That is the rub, and place of tension that we find ourselves.

In Hebrews 10, you can see how the writer moves from encouraging us to hold on strongly to the hope that Christ has given to us, to loving other believers.  We are to consider how to stir up love and good works among this family.  To consider is to fix our minds upon the purpose and exercise our understanding and wisdom to develop a plan.  How can I encourage my spiritual siblings in this endeavor to love?  How can we stir up each other?

There are many things going on in the world today that can get us distracted from what God wants us to do.  Many of those things stir up fear and anxiety within us.  In such a state, we are not as well focused on love and good works as we should be.  In fact, we are tempted to go the other direction out of self-preservation and hurt feelings.  Don’t let the enemy trick you out of your inheritance.  When we overcome the obstacles of loving each other and doing good works, we become more like Jesus.  May God help us to keep focused on this in these days and the days ahead.

It is interesting that even the first century had a problem with some people not being interested in connecting to a group of believers.  The writer speaks of the “manner of some” to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.  Why do they and do we sometimes forsake gathering together?  Most likely there are multiple reasons.  In times of persecution, it is easy to go into self-preservation mode, every man for himself.  In times of doubt, it is easy to retreat into a shell and retract from other believers out of shame and guilt.  In times of being hurt, it is easy to harden our hearts towards each other and towards the command of Christ.

Now, I want to be careful here because I know that there have been some real injuries that have occurred in churches across this world.  However, I also know that there is just as much the tendency to be offended over things that I shouldn’t be.  Anyone who is intellectually honest with themselves will recognize that we can get off-base on either side of this debacle.  It is not right to beat people over the head, in the name of Jesus, and then tell them they are commanded by Christ to love it.  Yet, neither is it right to sit at home and point the finger at all churches saying, “They’re all hypocrites!”  Family is not easy, and few siblings would stay together if they didn’t have loving parents who taught them how to love each other.

We are told that this is going to be even more important as we see the Day [of the Lord] approaching.  The Day here is talking about the Second Coming of Jesus to judge the nations and set up His earthly kingdom.  Yes, this world is not going to continue as it does forever.  In fact, the world never stays the same.  There is a continual pressure building and working towards a modern tower of Babel.  It is building towards a modern rebellion against the Gospel of Jesus and the plan of God.  This world is not content to wait upon the Lord, but instead rushes ahead with its own purposes that will bring about destruction.

We are either going to be sucked up into this alternative family that refuses to become like God, or we are going to do the hard work of encouraging our siblings and helping them to continue.  Your flesh says that it isn’t worth it to love those people, but the Spirit of God is saying that you should dig deep and give them your all, like Jesus did.

We will have troubles with our siblings

I have briefly touched on this already, but let’s take a few moments to sink our teeth into the fact that we will have troubles with our new spiritual siblings.

The New Testament is clear that there will be false believers, teachers, prophets, and Christs.  We don’t have to try and figure out who they are through some kind of fascist or communist snitching culture.  We are simply to love one another, which takes dying to yourself and the help of the Holy Spirit.  It is hard to fake dying on a cross (I’m not talking about Hollywood).  At some point, it just gets too real and too painful.  People will either truly get saved at that point, or their flesh will cause them to bolt.

This earthly family of God is messy business.  Yet, not all problems in Church are because the other person is not really saved.  It can become a crutch, or a knee-jerk reaction, to label everyone who I don’t like, or who I don’t agree with, or who steps on my toes, as a false Christian.

Your brother isn’t always the devil.  Sometimes, he is just like you, wrestling with what it means to love others.  Take, for instance, the issue of older siblings.  Older siblings are supposed to help the younger siblings by teaching them the ropes, and watching out for them.  Sometimes, older siblings can forget that they are not the parent, and their younger siblings don’t belong to them.  They can be harsh, demeaning, and throw their weight around.  However, younger siblings can sometimes get a little too hot for their britches, and think that they can take on the world without their older siblings.  They can be annoyed with the strengths and abilities of their older siblings and act out of envy.

In all of this, God is calling us to authentic relationships with one another.  Yes, love, but not a false, superficial love that is like a photoshopped picture that has no connection to reality.  When a relationship is authentic, it is messy and filled with growing pains.  However, if we listen to the Spirit of God, it will be good. 

I was born into a Christian family and was raised in the Church.  And, yes, I have been hurt by other Christians, but I will tell you that if you keep your eyes upon Jesus then those difficulties will become the times where you grew the most in becoming like Jesus.  We need each other because we will never look like the Father without the adversity that we pose to one another, and without the Spirit-filled help that we can give to one another.

So, what does a person do when faced with all this messy business of Church, and the family of God?  Let me encourage you to keep your faith in Jesus.  I could have quit “doing church” along time ago, but I couldn’t do that without walking away from Jesus.  I guess it depends on what a person pours into the meaning of “doing church.”  My point is that this is God’s plan not mine, and He doesn’t change His plans because my feelings were hurt.  Instead, He comes alongside of me and helps me through it.

God has a purpose in believers doing life together as a family.  He will work it all to the good in the end.  We just have to trust Him.  The book of Revelation is meant to be a message of hope.  It tells us that regardless of all hell breaking out on this earth, God will finish what He has started.  It may hurt today, and it may be tough today, but there is coming a day when all the hard work will pay off.

3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”  -Revelation 21:3-8 (NKJV).

My focus is really on the end of verse 7.  “I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”  Those are amazing words for you and for me.  The picture of having the tears wiped from our eyes by God himself is precious, and it is your destiny.  There will be no more death, sorrow, crying, or pain because the way things are now will become but a memory.  Friend, I encourage you not to lose faith in Jesus because connecting to his followers is difficult.  Instead, continue to hear Jesus calling you by his Spirit, “Pick up your cross, and follow me.”  “I know the way that is filled with an abundance of life!”

Connect II audio