The Acts of the Apostles 38

Subtitle: Ananias is Tested

Acts 9:10-19.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 5, 2023.

Today we will look at a man named Ananias.  He is obviously not the same as Ananias and Sapphira mentioned earlier in Acts.

There were two brave men in the story of Saul of Tarsus.  We will meet the first one here today.  A man who will be the first to hear the Lord say that Saul is changed and needs help from him, which takes a lot of trust.  The second will be Barnabas.  These men will help the early Church embrace a man who had been causing their loved ones to be executed.

People come to Christ from very different backgrounds.  The movie Jesus Revolution is now in theaters, which portrays the Jesus movement of the 1970's.  There were many hippies that were saved during that revival, and it was a challenge to the American Church.  We can become used to a certain type of person being saved.  When God saves someone out of left field, we can become fearful and "crusty."  We can resist what God is trying to do in their life, instead of helping them.

Where does bravery come from?  It comes from Christ.  The test here is not so much about obedience, as it is about how much you trust Jesus.  How much Jesus do I really have?  I might discover that I don't have as much of Jesus as I thought I did.

So, what is the answer to that?  Turn to Christ in repentance and seek him.  Cry out to Jesus that you want more of him, and to become more like him!

Saul was a test to the Church when he was persecuting them.  It tested them to see if they believed in Jesus enough to suffer for him.  However, he became a different test to them when he surrendered to Jesus.  It challenged the believers on just how much they would trust Jesus.  Do you love Jesus enough to forgive him?

This is something that many Christians around the world have to wrestle with today.  How do you love your enemy when they have caused loved ones to be killed?  You can't, but Jesus in you can help you do it.  I like how Paul confesses in Romans 7:18 that no good thing dwelled in him, that is in his flesh.  However, the Spirit of God was dwelling in him, and that made all the difference.

I pray that we will believe in Jesus enough that we will be able to do anything that he asks us because we love him, and because he loves us.

Let's look at our passage.

The Lord speaks to Ananias in a vision (vs 10-16)

Saul has had a powerful confrontation by the Lord Jesus just outside of Damascus.  He had the intention of dragging Christians back to Jerusalem for trial.  However, now he was humbled and blinded by the power of Jesus.  The men helped him into the city, where he proceeded to fast and to pray for what he should do. 

I think the Lord let him sweat a few days because Saul needed to cry out to God in weakness before he could be restored. 

Jesus is going to send Ananias.  Let's note that Jesus could have healed Saul on the spot.  He doesn't have to use somebody, but in his wisdom, he has determined to use a Christian.  There is something good, something perfect, in the grace of Jesus coming through the very group that Saul had persecuted.  It is good for Saul, but also for the Christians.  Talk about shame, and talk about anger.  "Ananias, come be a blessing to this man who has caused so much pain among believers!"  "Saul, I have a blessing for you, but you have to bear the shame of facing the people you persecuted!"

Can I be a blessing to a person like this, someone who has been the source of so much pain?  Can I swallow my pride and let God minister to me through whomever He chooses?  I know that I am working both sides of this at once, but I want us to see that much of life is God working both sides.  We just become wrapped up in our side of the issue, and don't see the other.

Whomever God uses in your life, quit looking at the person.  It was never about Saul, and it was never about Ananias.  It was about Jesus who is being faithful to us, even through imperfect people.

Ananias is introduced as a certain disciple in Damascus.  This was a common name among Hebrews and means the grace, mercy, or favor, of Yahweh.  It was also connected to the idea of a gift because a grace of God is essentially a gift of God, i.e., you don't deserve it.  Ananias would be a precious grace to Saul of Tarsus.

It is important to know that though our name may not be full of such meaning, Jesus does have purpose and meaning for our life.  All Christians are called to be the grace, and the mercy, and the favor of Jesus into the lives of others.

We are told that it is a vision.  Of all the passages that involve heavenly interactions with men, there are some that emphasize an actual physical presence (whether God or an angel).  However, a vision emphasizes that you see something, but others around you do not see it (if there are others around).  A vision can be so real that you are not sure whether it was a vision or not.  Paul mentions in 2 Corinthians 12 that he wasn't sure if he was actually caught up into the heavens or simply had a vision.  The difference being that someone in the room with him would see him disappear in the first (physically caught up into heaven), but would think that he was in a trance in the second (it is happening in his mind).  By the way, the difference between a vision and a dream is clearly the issue of being awake or being asleep.  Dreams happen during sleep, and visions happen while you are awake.

Of course, skeptics can scoff at visions, but the proof is always in the life of the person who claims to have had one.  Christians should not be chasing after visions, as if desperate to have one.  In fact, there are people who are taking drugs in order to have a vision.  There are people who make a living "guiding" such people.  That's not how God works.  It is how the occult works, and how false religions work.

The truth is that people have been fitted to interact with God.  We generally do that through prayer, and a still small voice in our hearts and minds.  However, we have been fitted by God for His communications in the forms of dreams, visions, and even physical manifestations.  We could say that the still small voice is the most common, with the others scaling down to physical manifestations of angels, etc., being the rarest.  Let no Christian scoff at God's ability to do these things.

I love the simple answer of Ananias, "Here I am, Lord."  This is the classic good response when God speaks to you.  We are to be a people ready to hear the Lord, and when He is done, ready to obey the Lord.

Jesus tells Ananias to go to the house of Judas who lived on Straight Street.  Judas is the Greek form of Judah.  Judah is most likely not a Christian.  The most natural place for Saul's men to take him would be a leader of a synagogue that was loyal to the religious leaders of Jerusalem.  Ananias is told that he would find Saul of Tarsus there, and that he was praying.

Of course, Saul is a religious man and has probably prayed many times before this.  However, none of his prayers were like they were now.  There is something different about his prayers now.  He is a stripped man who knows that he is nothing before the God of heaven.  It doesn't matter how good your prayers sound, how flowery they are and how smoothly they flow.  Desperate moments help us to be real with God.  We too often have a religious shell around our true self when we deal with one another.  It even infects our approach to God.  This life trains us to keep it up because that is our protection.  However, for the Christian, Jesus is our protection.  God help us to drop the shell, the mask, and be real with God in prayer.  Saul is a humble man seeking God for his eyesight, and for wisdom for what to do now.

Ananias is told that Saul has had a vision too.  He has seen a vision of a man named Ananias laying hands on him and praying for him to receive his sight.  After the vision is over, Saul still has no sight.  This is where our interactions with God are tested.  I may believe that God is telling me something, but then I have to trust him.  Like Moses, God can tell us a great plan of leading the people of Israel out of Egypt, and almost being destroyed by Pharaoh at the Red Sea, and yet miraculous deliverance from God. That's an awesome plan.  I would like to see that movie, but will I tell everyone to pack their bags and follow me into the wilderness?  Of course, Saul doesn't have to do much, but stay there seeking God.  You are probably not surprised that this is where most of us fail, staying in prayer seeking God.

Of course, it is not Ananias who will do the healing, but Jesus.  Both of them need to exercise faith for God's will to be done here.  Whether we are praying for one another because God has told us in general to pray for healing, or we have a specific word from the Lord, we need to be faithful on both accounts, to pray for others, and to ask for prayer.

Notice the mercy of Jesus to this man who had been persecuting his people.  Jesus doesn't want Saul to be lost, even after all he has done.  This is God's love for those who are in the depths of sin and hatred.  People who perish do so over the top of God's love and mercy towards them.

I'm not sure if Ananias is actually objecting, but he does ask God about this man Saul.  He had heard about this Saul of Tarsus, and was making sure that he heard the Lord correctly.  How could he pray for such a man.  Is this the same man who has come here with letters giving him authority to take Christians back to Jerusalem in order to stand trial?

Yet, the Lord overcomes his "objections" firstly by reiterating the command to go.  Ananias may be surprised, but he needs to obey the Lord.  Secondly, the Lord emphasizes to Ananias that He has a purpose in Saul through four statements loaded with God saying: "mine," "My Name," "I will," and "My Name's sake."  

Jesus had chosen Saul to be a vessel of his just as much as he had chosen Ananias.  You can choose to follow Jesus, but you cannot choose who else does so.  Imagine two people who are saved in the same church, one a business man who dresses in a suit, and the other a homeless man.  We could add drug addict to one of these, but it doesn't matter.  On the day they become followers of Jesus, they become brothers.  They come from very different worlds and may have reason to despise the other.  However, we must always remember that the other person belongs to Christ.  They will stand or fall before him, not me. 

I can be found resisting and rebelling against God's purpose in another believer if I am not careful.  I must always seek to please the Lord.  The best way to do that is to remind yourself that you are quite capable of displeasing him.  We must be humble and seek God's leading in all of our relationships.

Ananias goes to Saul (vs. 17-19)

Of course, Ananias obeys and goes to the house where he finds Saul of Tarsus.  He then lays his hands upon him, which symbolizes the touch of the Lord, praying for him to be healed and to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

It is made obvious in the passage that Saul receives his sight.  However, it doesn't mention about the Holy Spirit.  However, we will see within short order that the Holy Spirit clearly came upon Saul as he began to minister powerfully in Damascus, and the rest of his letters bear testimony too.  When the Holy Spirit dwells in and fills a believer, they will be empowered to follow the righteousness of Jesus, and they will be enabled to be a witness for Christ.  Saul did this very powerfully.

Let's look at the healing.  We are told that something like scales fell from his eyes.  There are skeptics who would say something to the effect that there is a natural explanation and thus it cannot be attributed to God.  Even if they could go back in time with modern equipment and show that the outer layer of Saul's eyes were damaged, and over the three days, his crying had softened the tissue causing it to fall off, it would still beg this question.  How do you explain the visions by separate men who do not know one another, and the coincidence of the tissue falling off as Ananias prays for him?  You are left with calling them liars.  The evidence screams against this.  By the way, I don't think it is rational to argue that the God who created the universe and put its "laws" into place is not involved if we can discover a natural explanation that only has a "miracle" of coincidence.  God is always involved even in the very natural things of our life.

Sometimes God answers prayer immediately, as He did here.  Sometimes it is answered over a period of time.  God even tells us, "No," sometimes.  But, it is always for our good.  Saul is definitely healed in that he can see.  Yet, there seems to be something residual with his eyes.  He says in one of his letters that he prayed for God to remove a "thorn in his flesh."  This was something wrong with his body that caused difficulty.  Three times he asked and in the end God tells him that His grace was enough for Saul.  Saul also says in Galatians 6:11 that he had written the letter by himself.  They would know because of the large letters he had.  The speculation is that his eyes may have excessively watered as a result of the bright light.  This may have made him look like he had been crying all of the time, and made it hard to see.  It is not that God couldn't heal him, but that Paul goes on to say in 2 Corinthians 12 that the Lord didn't completely heal him in order to keep him humble.  It was for his good.

Seeing a little is better than not seeing at all, and I am sure that there was a lot of rejoicing when Saul realized that he could see.  He had given nothing but pain to the believers of Jesus, and yet, now he was receiving joy from them in return.

Let us remember that God still heals today and believers need to pray for one another in general, but we also need to seek God and hear from Him on specific needs.  That takes times of prayer and fasting.

Saul is then water baptized.  No doubt, Ananias explained that this is what the Lord commanded.  This demonstrates that Saul was dying to his old life focused on him and his career, and coming alive to a new life focused on Jesus and his purposes.  Saul is now a Christian because he has believed upon Jesus with true faith.  This religious Pharisee had received the precious gift of salvation.  He was now truly clean inside and out.

Too many people settle for an outward form of godliness, but miss out on the power of the Holy Spirit to transform their life.  Don't settle for only looking like a Christian, being a poser.  Instead, truly put your faith in Him and be transformed by Him as you are led by the Holy Spirit.

We are told then that Saul stays in Damascus fellowshipping with the believers there.  Of course, where else would he go?  Going back to Jerusalem would not only be awkward, but it would probably end up with him on trial.  Saul knows the Bible inside and out, but doesn't know it like he should.  I am sure that he picked up rather quickly as the believers explained to him about Jesus and passages throughout the Old Testament, like Isaiah 53. 

I want to end by emphasizing the test of obedience that Ananias had.  The Lord gives us general commands in His word that test whether or not we truly love him.  However, from time to time, the Spirit of God will make specific commands known to us.  They may be about things in our life that need to change, that we need to pray for, or people we need to talk with.  Let us pray for courage to be used of God in whatever way He sees fit.  Carve out some room in your prayers and in your time for God to speak to you.

Even Saul could be saved.  Don't let anyone say they can't be saved.  If Saul could be saved, then anyone can be saved.  Seek to let the grace of God give you the privilege of doing something that you don't deserve: introducing others to their Loving Father in heaven.

Tested audio

Responding to the Holy Spirit-Part 4

James 4:2-4; Exodus 34:12-16; Hosea 1:2; 3:1-2; Revelation 17:3-6; 18:4-5.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on November 21, 2021.

We continue today talking about those who respond to the Holy Spirit by joining Christ’s Church, and yet who then fall away from the truth.  Some of them walk away from the Church.  However, others stay in the Church and pervert its teachings into another Gospel, and its purpose towards another Christ.

The biblical image for this is an unfaithful prostitute.  Let’s get into our passages.

The biblical picture of the unfaithful bride who has become a prostitute

James 4:2-4 helps us to see that this metaphor really is being used of Christians.  James refers to these believers as “adulterers,” and “adulteresses.”  This is the spiritual problem of not staying faithful to Jesus and going after something, or someone, other than him.  These believers wanted things in life and were fighting each other in order to get them.  This adulterer metaphor is essentially the same as the prostitute, which just pictures the problem as far worse, or progressed.

This is the contrasting picture to the virginal chaste bride.  That bride was faithful to her groom, but this bride has not only gone after another, but has sold herself to them.  We see this picture throughout the Old Testament.

In Exodus 34:12-16, Israel is still at Mt. Sinai and Moses is going back up the mountain to have God put His commands on two new tablets of stone.  The first two had been broken by Moses when he came down the mountain and found the people worshiping a golden calf.  Moses had been up on the mountain for 40 days, and they didn’t think he was coming back.  God tells Moses that the people have “corrupted themselves.”  Here, God is warning Israel against further corruption.

Notice in verse 15 that what the other nations were doing in their religious rituals was considered spiritual prostitution as well.  “They play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifices to their gods…” The nations all around Israel were not made by God to worship false gods, or pretender gods.  They were made to worship the One True God alone.  However, God had cast them off after the Tower of Babel incident.  Israel was called and created by God in order to be different from the other nations.

This activity of worshiping other gods was a continual temptation for Israel.  It did not help that sexual immorality was used in all of the ancient religious rituals.  Through sex with a temple prostitute (male or female), a person could worship and connect to the power of that “god.”  This is how the story of Balaam ended.  He could not curse Israel, so he taught Balak how to get God to be angry with Israel.  The Moabite and Midianite women came to the edge of the camp of Israel, shook their booty, and invited the Israelite men to come join them in their worship ceremonies.  It was a worship ceremony that was both literally and spiritually prostitution.  The sexual immorality broke the law of God, but the worshiping of these pretending gods broke His laws and His heart.

The whole book of Hosea (another way of saying Joshua or Yeshua) focuses on Israel being a wayward wife of God.  It mixes the images of an adulteress and a prostitute.  Israel’s sin is so bad that her spiritual adulteries had descended first into being paid for her spiritual adultery (prostitution), and then, one prophet even decries Israel for paying others, making her the John instead of the prostitute.  It is best to see all of these as simply speaking to the same spiritual problem of being unfaithful to God.

In Hosea 1:2, God commands Hosea to marry a prostitute, so he marries Gomer and has three kids with her.  Some scholars believe that Gomer only became a prostitute later, but the text does not tell us this. Chapter two describes the harlotry of Israel and how God would bring judgment upon them followed by mercy.  Let’s look at the opening of chapter 3.

Hosea is instructed to “go again” (take back to himself) a woman who is being loved by another in adultery.  We then see Hosea paying money for his wife.  It is unclear what this money is for.  Some believe Gomer has actually ended up on a slave block to cover her debts incurred in paying for lovers.  Yet, this is not stated in the text.  It is more natural to understand that Hosea is somehow buying her out of her prostitution, such as paying her an amount to quit.  This would represent an unthinkable act of love from a jilted lover that would be equivalent to paying other prostitutes to leave her alone.  By the way, the imagery here is not intended to project that women are the ones who commit adultery and men don’t.  Remember, Hosea represents a picture of God Himself and Gomer is representative of Israel.

Do we not see the irony behind Hosea’s name being a variant of our Lord’s name, Yeshua, “Yahweh Saves?”  We can pride ourselves that this is about Israel, but doesn’t it beg the question about His Church?  Should it then surprise us that this metaphor would be used in regards to the Church of Jesus?  Are we insulated from the problem of spiritual prostitution, to which Israel often succumbed?  We clearly are not.

Back in James 4, verses 5-10 tell these adulterous Christians to repent of their wickedness and turn back to God.  “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.  Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Lament and mourn and weep!  Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into gloom.  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

Repentance is the solution to spiritual adultery, turning from the false loves and towards the only true love in this universe, Jesus!  Let us continually be a people clearing our lives of any sin and drawing near to God.  This is a heart issue that requires vigilant maintenance.

Yet, the truth is that some adulterous hearts can’t be cured.  The last words from the Apostles of Jesus come from John in Revelation.  There God shows him a horrible image of a great prostitute that would be prevalent in the last days.  She would even be the mother of many other prostitutes and abominations of the earth.  Before we read some of it, let’s think about history for a bit.

Noah and his family step off of the boat as the saved people of God who have the true worship of God.  3 to 4 generations later, Nimrod has most of them building a tower to connect to the gods in rebellion against God.  This is the Tower of Babel.  The project is judged and the people are scattered.  Basically, God gives them over to the spiritual entities that they were cavorting with at Babel (the Hebrew means confusion, but the original language speaks of a god gate).  They were adulterous against God’s command and against Him personally as in going after other gods.  It is then that God calls Abram out of this outcast community to become the new saved community that has the true worship of God. 

4 centuries later, the people of Israel have corrupted themselves in Egypt.  Yes, they are physical slaves, but the Bible tells us that many of them were worshiping the gods of Egypt, spiritual slavery and spiritual adultery.  Yet, Moses shows up and calls them to repent and come out of Egypt.  Most of them followed him.  In the first century, Israel had built their own false religion in rebellion to God.  In Jesus, God shows up to call out His faithful remnant.  This is the historical context to the end-times harlot.  Let’s look at Revelation 17:3-6 and 18:4-5.

It is important to recognize in chapter 17 that there is a historical aspect to her (Babylon), and yet she is still active.  Also, she delights in drinking the blood of the saints.  In other words, she loses restrain (gets drunk) on killing true believers.

It seems impossible that Christians or churches, whose Lord was put to death by people who claimed to love God, could become so corrupt.  However, it is exactly what we are seeing happen in our own day, much less what has happened throughout history.  Those who claim to represent God/Jesus, and love His truth, will sick the world upon believers who truly do love Jesus and want him more than the world.

This woman is pictured as riding the beast because she thinks that she is in control of it, but she is in for a rude awakening.  The same chapter tells us that God has put it in the heart of the beast, and the 10 kings who back him, to burn her with fire.  This leads to the warning in chapter 18:4-5.

God’s people have been continually coming out from the false religion of this world, which is just a corruption of those who earlier were brought out from an earlier corruption.  Noah is brought out of the corrupt ancient world.  Abram is brought out of the corrupt post-flood world.  Israel was brought out of Egypt, and the Church was a remnant called out of corrupt Israel.  All Gentiles are called out of the nations from which they were born.

All institutions and individuals deal with a kind of mission creep.  If they will not purify themselves through repentance, then they will become corrupt.  At this point, the Holy Spirit will lead true believers out of the institution, leaving it to the destruction that God will bring upon it.  It is easy to look at past institutions and say that it doesn’t apply to you.  Roman Catholics can look to Israel and tell themselves they are the saved group.  Orthodox and Protestants can look at the Roman Catholics and tell themselves they are the saved group.  Pentecostals can look at the Protestant denominations that threw them out of their churches and pat themselves on the back.  However, that paves the road to destruction.  This is a problem for us all.

Friend, let’s keep our hearts and our group focused on Jesus, His Word, His coming, and his truth.  Let’s avoid becoming and participating in the destruction of the great prostitute that is on the horizon.

Holy Spirit pt 4 audio

Your Personal End Times: The Millennium Part II

Zechariah 14:8-11, 16-20; Romans 8:18-25.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on October 14, 2018.

We are taking time to see what the Bible has to say about the period of time that we call the Millennium.  This is the promise throughout the Old Testament that God would deliver Israel and rule over the nations of the world through His righteous, anointed King, who will sit upon the throne of David.  We are given a taste of this righteous King and his righteous kingdom in the Church.  Jesus is our King and we obey his commands.  However, the fulfillment of these Old Testament passages is about more than a metaphor for our current experience in Christ.  It truly is about an earthly kingdom that will occur when Christ returns to earth.  Thus, our current experience simply prepares us for that reality.

Now the Church has preached that Jesus is the coming King of kings for the last 2,000 years.  It is clear that, though many people within the nations of the world have embraced Him, the governments of the world have no interest in Jesus being King over them.  Not even the “Christian” nations in the West show any true desire for Christ to return and rule over them.  Instead we keep doubling down on our own human wisdom and looking for anyone, someone, who will come along with better answers.  In short the governments do not like the Savior that God has given and seek another savior, or an antichrist.  Eventually God will allow them to have their wish.  However, such a hope will be short lived.  Jesus is destined to reign over the earth and His divine wisdom will usher in a new time of peace that the world has never known.  Let’s continue our look at this 1,000 year kingdom and what it will be like.

The nations of the earth will worship the Lord Jesus

Our first passage today will be in Zechariah 14.  You will notice that the millennial passages in the Old Testament have a distinctive, Jewish flavor to them because the Israeli people will be re-gathered, and Christ will reign from Jerusalem over them and the world.  You may remember Jesus speaking to His disciples in Matthew 19:28.  He promised the Twelve, “In the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (NKJV)   

However, the Millennium is not just about Israel.  It is also about the nations of the world.  Thus Zechariah speaks about the whole earth worshipping the Lord Jesus.  Now, we should not expect that we will have church services exactly as we do now.  However, neither should we expect that all cultures will have to adopt a Jewish-style service.  This passage is not saying that we will have to follow the Old Testament laws on worship.  Rather, it makes clear that there will be universal aspects of worship that all nations will do.  In this case, all nations will gather once a year to celebrate the Feast of Booths (The last feast of the 7 feasts of the Lord, which is in the Fall).  This is a super-corporate event.  It leaves the question of what worship will be the other days of the year.  I believe this passage leaves room for cultural differences, but also makes clear that Jesus will give some specific directions, much like Moses directed Israel in how God wanted them to worship Him.

We are told that there will be some big topographical changes to the area surrounding Jerusalem.  Most of the area will be flattened like a plain.  However, Jerusalem will be raised up above the plain.  This topography actually will occur, but it also symbolizes God’s decree.  All who approach the City of Jesus do so from a humble position and should have an attitude of worship.  In verse 4 we are told that the Mount of Olives will be split in half as the Lord stands upon it.  We are also told that water will flow out of the city of Jerusalem, some towards the Mediterranean Sea and some towards the Dead Sea.  This actual water flow is also intended to symbolize what God is doing spiritually.  His truth will flow towards the East and towards the West and fill the world.  He will lift up Jerusalem and dispense the Life of God to the nations.  Ezekiel 47 actually states that the waters that flow from Jerusalem will heal the Dead Sea so that fish swim in it and vegetation grows around it.  It also states that the water will flow all year long.  In the Pacific Northwest this may not sound like an important statement.  In the Middle East this is a powerful statement.  It will not just be a powerful spring river that is completely dry by the end of summer.  Rather, it will flow continuously, making the land a land of milk and honey once again.  Water shortage has been a big problem in the Near East for centuries.  The fact that this land lacks water and would be barren without modern technology, despite clearly being bountiful during the times of Moses, points to the judgments of God.  During the Millennium the land will be blessed and have plentiful water.

In verse 16 we see the worship of the Millennial Kingdom.  The passage uses the term “survivors” for those who remain after the devastations of the Tribulation, and the Second Coming.  Under the Beast and the False Prophet, the kings of the earth had gathered their armies against Jerusalem in order to destroy it, but now the nations will come up to worship rather than to attack.  The Feast of Booths is also called the Feast of Tabernacles.  In Ezekiel 45 we also see that the Feast of Passover will be observed.  However, it does not say that the people of the earth will gather for it. 

Some believers are bothered by the idea that at least some of the Jewish feasts will be reinstated and that sacrifices are described.  Let’s remember that they are not Israel’s feasts.  They were originally described as the Feasts of the Lord.  Clearly, we will not be under the Old Covenant of the Law of Moses.  However, there will be some symbolic rituals and memorial offerings that will function much like Christian Communion does today.  We do not look to the juice and the bread as our salvation, but rather a celebration of what Christ did.  Thus these feasts and their sacrifices will function the same way during the Millennial Kingdom.  They will point to the work of Christ.  We also should remember that there will be mortals as well as immortals on the earth in those days.  Thus the sacrifices will also testify and remind the mortals of where their salvation lies.  It lies in Jesus and His ability to atone for sins and to forgive them.   This snapshot of global worship doesn’t imply that we will worship only once a year, but that there will be an annual global, worshipful, celebration.

The last part of our section brings up a hypothetical situation where the nation of Egypt might choose not to come to the feast.  It describes the “blow” or punishment that Christ will give to any nation that refuses to come.  They will lack rain in their country until they comply.  This strikes me in two ways.  On one hand it is clear that Christ means business and Egypt will have to comply, if they want their country to survive.  However, on the other hand, there is no executing of rebels and military occupations either.  There will be no tactics of the Antichrist, or the empires of this world, in play here.  His response is both extremely powerful and yet extremely gracious.  It reminds us of the punishment of a Father who does not wish to destroy a child, but rather to help them learn righteousness.  This gives a picture of what the Bible means by the phrase ruling with a rod of iron.  His commands will be unyielding and yet they will still be gracious, as is his character.

It is the hope of all creation

This concludes the passages that we are going to look at, which describe the Millennial period.  However, I want to end today’s lesson by making this one last point from Romans 8:18-25.  In this New Testament passage it refers to the time when Jesus returns to earth as the “hope” of all creation.  Paul seems to personalize all of creation, as he describes its eager awaiting of this time.  It is referred to as the revealing of the Sons of God.  This is what the Apostle John spoke of in 1 John 3:2-3.  “Beloved, now we are the children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.  And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”  You and I presently do not look like “Sons of God,” which was a phrase used in the Old Testament for the angels.  However, when we are resurrected and come with Christ from the clouds at His Second Coming, it will be made clear, or revealed, just who we really are.  We need this personal revelation from time to time.  Don’t forget what your destiny is and trade it for a bowl of beans in this life.  The whole creation is groaning for deliverance and crying for you and I to be revealed for who we really are, the Sons of God.

We can look at this groaning and travailing of creation in a couple of ways.  First the sentient parts of creation, angels and humans, literally groan and travail.  The righteous angels and righteous men long for the Lord to come back and deliver the earth from the bondage of The Rebellion.  However, there is also a symbolic groaning and travailing that we see in the earth itself, which is racked with quakes, tsunamis, and volcanic activity.  As we approach this blessed event, all of creation will groan more and more, louder and louder.

In verse 20 and following, it refers to the fact that the creation was subjected to futility.  This word has the sense of something that has been perverted and lacks truth, or is devoid of the ability for good.  This is the same word in Ecclesiastes used to translate the Hebrew, “Vanity, vanity, all is vanity.”  Some versions also translate it “meaningless.”  I believe that Paul has the curse from the Garden of Eden in mind.  There Adam’s sin causes changes to the ability of the earth to produce.  However, this curse was not intended to be forever.  God’s punishment was given in the “hope” that it would one day be removed.  Thus, we should not let the difficulties that we face today cause us to lose hope in the God who will one day lift this curse and celebrate the creation as it was meant to be with us.  This is His promise to those who trust Him.

The freedom of the Sons of God will bring freedom to creation, just as the bondage of Adam, the son of God, brought bondage to creation.  The Millennium is about Jesus, but it is also about His ability to bring forth the Sons of God.  The righteous of every generation are those who put their faith in God.  These will enjoy the glorious freedom of Christ as they are set free from death and this freedom will release freedom upon all of creation.  Thus the Second Adam brings life where the First Adam brought death.  May the Lord fill our hearts with faith even though we may not see these things now.  It is the same Lord, who rose up from the dead and ascended into heaven to the right hand of the Father, who will set creation free from the bondage that it is currently under.  Amen!  Don’t squander another minute without turning towards Jesus in faith and trust.  Give your life to Him and become a disciple of the greatest Master who ever lived, God Himself.

The Millennium Part II

When the Truth is Made Known

Matthew 10:24-26.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on April 22, 2018.

Is it possible to have joy when difficult things are happening to you?  According to Jesus in his “beatitudes” of the Sermon on the Mount, we are blessed when people revile us, persecute us, and say all manner of evil things against us falsely for Christ’s sake.  Then he goes further and tells us to rejoice and be glad for great is our reward in heaven (Matthew 5:10-11).  These are not the words of a man who was protected by privilege and position in this world.  He had grown up labeled as an illegitimate child, and then rejected and mistreated by entrenched religious leaders.  Ultimately he was headed to a cross and yet he tells us we are blessed in such cases and should rejoice and be glad.  How is such an incredible response possible?

It may be easy to dismiss this by saying that it was easy for Jesus because He was God.  But such arguments are themselves a cop-out.  How are we to know that it wasn’t actually harder for Him because He was God?  We can’t because we can only know for sure what it is like to be human.  Jesus was fully human and yet fully God.  So we should dispense with such intellectual dishonesty and recognize that Jesus expects this to be our experience in times of persecution or suffering.  How could he expect this of us?

As we look at the words of Jesus in our passage today, we will find that it is the knowledge that there will be a day when all that is hidden will be brought to light.  This is a scary thing for those who have ulterior motives.  But, for the believer, the day of revelation will be a joyous moment in which all that has been slandered against us will be cast down by Christ Himself.  Let’s look at the passage.

In this world Christians will be persecuted.

Jesus never promised us a rose garden in this life and this passage is one of many that prove it.  The apostle tells us in 2 Timothy 3:12, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” They had been warned by Jesus.  A pernicious mentality has developed among some Christians today.  It is the idea that if we were more like Jesus in faith and power, that we could fix the ills of the world and save everybody.  As wonderful as that idea is, it is not a biblical one, nor is it particularly Christian.  It is not a Christian idea because it purports to put us and the power of our faith above the Lord who bought us with His blood.  Here Jesus makes it clear that those who follow Him are going to encounter persecution in this world.

This will happen precisely because we are not greater than Him.   Jesus uses three different relationships to help us see why we will be persecuted as well.  There is the relationship of the teacher to the student, the lord to a servant, and the master of a house to the members of that household.  The student learns from the teacher in order to be like his master.  If a servant’s master is hated by the world, then so too will the servant.  Ultimately, Jesus is pointing out that if we are in relationship with him then we will experience whatever it is that he receives.  Whatever lot comes to Jesus also comes to us.  The only way to avoid it is to reject Him, or at least to minimize his lordship in your life.

In the end it was the lot of Jesus to be persecuted in this world.  Thus those who follow Him will also encounter persecution.  Sure, it will vary depending on the place and time that you live.  Jesus points out that just as they accused Him of being in league with the prince of demons, so they will accuse His disciples of being evil.    They also called him a heretic that was causing dissension.  He was labeled an insurrectionist and revolutionary.  All of these were false accusations.  

Herein lies the problem.  The above mentioned relationships between us and Jesus, and the Scriptures themselves, teach that the Spirit of God is laboring to make us more like Jesus.  Romans 8:29 says, “For those He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”  So how can it be that Christianity can convert the whole world and create a Utopia by having the power and faith that Jesus had?  Such power and faith led to Jesus being persecuted and killed.  How can it lead us to anything new?  Yes, if Jesus so determines, it could be so.  But here he promises the opposite.  Perhaps the only way it can be is if I am not operating in the same faith and power that He did.

Regardless, notice how verse 25 is worded, “It is enough...”. Jesus puts it in a statement form.  But we should ask it as a question.  Is it enough for me to simply be like Jesus?  Clearly it is enough from God’s perspective because Jesus states it so.  But is it enough for me?  Charles Spurgeon, an English Baptist preacher, said, “God was slandered in paradise, and Christ on Calvary.  How can we expect to escape?”

It is each thing that Jesus was not that draw our hearts away from Him and towards the world; away from the relationships of Teacher-student, Lord-servant, Master of the house-household member.  We are drawn either completely away from Christ, or we are deluded with the fanciful notion that we can have Christ and the world as our teachers.  Friend, recognize today that Jesus really is enough for you.  However, your flesh will not think so, and the world around you will not tell you so.  When the Christian Corrie Ten Boom came out of the German concentration camp of WWII, she had a message for the world.  “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.”  He is enough.

In some ways modern society has become “more righteous” than God Himself.  It makes accusations of conspiracy, and rejects biblical ethics and morality.  Don’t listen to those voices that seduce you with becoming greater than Jesus, whether from within Christian circles or from the world.  When Jesus is enough for us, then we will know the peace and rest that God has for our souls and the joy of His Holy Spirit in times of difficulty.

There is a day in which all will be revealed.

In verse 26 Jesus reminds us of a principle that is as sure as any law of physics.  The hidden things will come to light.  This is both a warning and an encouragement.  It is a warning for those who would conceal evil, and an encouragement to those who are falsely accused of such.  All things that are done leave evidence behind.  Even when a person is framed by planted evidence, there will always be some evidence that it was planted, whether we are able to recapture it or not (God can recapture it).  Truth has a way of coming out in the end, precisely because it is real.  So it will be in eternity as all that has truly happened comes to the surface and God gives His judgments based upon reality, truth.

Jesus was not like the secret societies of our days.  He did not teach one thing in public and another to his top 3 disciples.  Sure they received more than the crowds, but Jesus was not publicly worshipping Yahweh, while privately promoting Beelzebub.  The false slander of the religious authorities came from an attempt to hold to two irreconcilable positions: Jesus was doing incontrovertible miracles, and yet He cannot be the Messiah.  Jesus was silent at His trial precisely because He had said and done everything out in the open.  If they were still going to pretend He was evil, what could he say to overturn their minds?  Christians reject those who use secret society techniques, who promote one thing to the masses and another to the inner elite.  This is the way of Satan, not Jesus.  The longer you are with Christ the more you recognize that His teachings do not become different as you draw closer to Him.  Rather, it is you who becomes different, and the teachings of Christ become deeper than we ever imagined.  This is what Corrie Ten Boom found in the depths of an earthly hell:  Jesus was still with her and His love had not abandoned her, even though she was in a place destitute of love and faithfulness.  So as the disciples of Jesus, we have nothing to hide, even though the world accuses us of hypocrisy, conspiracy, and idiocy (granted such do exist under the tent of Christianity).

Jesus tells his disciples not to fear those who make such unfounded accusations because the truth will come to light in some way.  It might not come soon enough to keep me from being nailed to a tree, but it will come nonetheless.  

There is a strength that can be derived from trusting the vindication of God Himself in your life.  Think of it.  God is your defense attorney and therefore you can’t lose.  But when I am my own defense attorney and I am constantly fearful at what others think about me, then I will become trapped by my own double-mindedness.  Draw strength from God’s promised rectification and wait for His timing.  

In fact, worry and fear of what others think or say sidetracks us from the mission of Christ.  Instead we pick up a futile mission of our own.  We will never please all of the people all of the time, in fact not even a majority.  Think of it.  If I am working at “reforming my public image,” it puts me at odds with the Holy Spirit’s work of making me to look like Jesus.  How proud we must be to remake our image so as to avoid what Jesus marched purposefully towards.  The only choices that God gives to us is to embrace the image of Jesus and the persecution that goes along with it, or choose an image that the world will accept and avoid it.  It is not our job to reform our image, but rather, in every way to yield to the Spirit’s call to become more and more like Jesus.

Sometimes God does bring the truth to light in the present.  We will taste some vindication in this life in various ways.  However, our hope goes beyond this.  Few are ever completely vindicated in this life.  Even Jesus has billions who reject His words.  But a day of vindication is coming.  God’s defense of Jesus and those who are following Him never rests.  He will have the final word.

This final vindication will be brought to light when the Lord Jesus comes to reign upon the earth.  As it was in the days of Jesus, so it is today.  Often those who paint the devil on others are most manipulated by the devil themselves.  Jesus and His apostles warned us against judging too quickly, and at the wrong time.  Thus some things, like the hidden motivations of a person’s heart, have to be left up to God.

Humility is a part of following Jesus, and it teaches us to trust in the judgments of God that will be revealed at Christ’s Second Coming.  Romans 8:18-21 says, “For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.  For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the Sons of God.  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willfully, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”  So just who are the children of God and what is their revealing?  He is speaking of Christians and the day of resurrection when we will stand beside Christ in glorified bodies.  It will be clear on that day just who chose wickedness and who chose truth.  It won’t matter what any person thinks, or even if billions of followers shout your praises.  What matters is the judgment of God Himself.  Thus in 1 Corinthians 4:5 we are told, “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.  Then each one’s praise will come from God.”  Instead of fearing what people think, we can rejoice in knowing already what God thinks.  In fact the life of a believer, is constantly having fellowship with God by His Spirit.  Instead of worrying about what others think, we only worry about what God thinks.  Thus the adage is true, “You don’t want the wrong people to like you.”

Let’s put our trust in the Lord and grow in living out His righteousness.  This is enough for us, regardless of what the world around us might falsely say about us.  We are in good company, for such they did to the prophets of old and especially our Lord Jesus.  If we suffer with Him then we shall be glorified with Him!

Truth Made Known Audio