Hope for the Church

For centuries since the Age of Enlightenment/Reason men have predicted the demise of Christianity , the Bible, and its institutions.  Others have tried to promote change in the church so that it can survive the modern era.  Both of these come from the overall impression that the Church will not survive as it is.

Let’s first recognize that there is a difference between “The Church” and “a church.”  The Church is the group of people from all generations, and all ethnic groups who have put their faith in God and believed on Jesus’ death to cover their sins.  It is a reference not to an earthly institution, but an invisible tie of faith between people of very different societies.  “A church” is a local gathering of a small subset of The Church.  Either way, it is good to distinguish that though we call the building they meet in a church, it is only because a church meets in that building.  A church does not need a building to be the church, though it is quite convenient.

When we question whether there is hope for the church, we generally have in mind denominations, buildings, real estate holdings, and such things.  But even if a local church disbands and closes its door, it does not mean there is no hope for those individuals.  They can still meet together or join other groups of believers.  They can still be a church without buildings, projectors, and instruments.  These things do not provide hope.  They only make it more pleasant to do what churches do: worship God, encourage each other, and share Jesus with those who do not know him.

We Already Have All We Need

In Acts 20:25-32 Paul knows that he is going to be imprisoned and eventually killed.  He knows that he will not see the elders of Ephesus again.  So, he meets with them and gives his last word.  It is interesting to see that he makes a huge point that they have all they need.  It won’t be easy without Paul, but Paul has given them everything they need, which he himself received from Jesus.

He had preached to them the kingdom of God, how they could be a part of it, and what it really was.  Jesus had said in Luke 17:21 that the kingdom of God did not come with observation, but was within our hearts.  One became a citizen in this new kingdom of God not by living in a particular geographical area or having a particular genetic link, but by simply having faith in the Lord, Jesus as God’s Anointed One (Christ) who has saved us from our sins.  Not only were they citizens, but Paul had given them the “whole counsel of God.”  (vs. 27)

The counsel of God is an amazing concept.  Can you imagine if there was a, for real, God.com that you could go to and put in your problem.  Then the instructions from God would come back to you.  God wants us to live wisely and so has given us counsel.  But they also had the "Whole" counsel.  The point being that they were not lacking anything.  There was no hidden instruction to be found in the 21^st century.  Neither was God only giving the first century counsel, but saying to us today that we have to figure it out on our own.  God knew the church would need wisdom and through Christ and his apostles that wisdom was delivered once and for all to His Church.  We have all that we need.

We Need to Guard Our Hearts

Those who have everything have to guard it or thieves will break in and steal it.  So it is in the spiritual.  Precisely because the Church has been given such great wisdom, salvation, and Hope, the enemy seeks to steal it, kill it, and destroy it.  Paul compares The Church to a flock of sheep and the elders to shepherds.  As shepherds over God’s flock, they need to “take heed” and “watch.”

The term “take heed” means to bring something near for inspection.  Notice in verse 28 Paul tells them to inspect themselves and the flock.  If we don’t inspect ourselves first then we cannot do a good job inspecting others.  The reason this is so important is because of two threats.  The first is pictured as “savage wolves” from outside.  The second is believers who rise up from within and twist the truth in order to gain disciples after themselves.  The shepherds are to be introspective and inspective in order to ward off these threats. 

The term “watch” means to rise up as opposed to sleeping and lounging about.  To do a good job guarding the sheep, the shepherds would need to rise up and be vigilantly on the lookout.  This parallels with the “false teachers.”  Both parties “rise up,” but for very different reasons.  One leads in order to protect.  The other leads out of self motivation and with twisted teaching.  They draw disciples after themselves instead of after Christ.  These people think they are a church following Jesus.  But, sadly, they have become a lost group following the wisdom of a man.

Paul knew that this danger was so great that he warned them night and day with tears.  It concerned him greatly.  That is why in verse 20 he says, “I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you.”  Jesus has given us good shepherds to watch over the flock but they need to watch over their own hearts lest they pervert the truth of God and mislead the sheep.

Lastly Paul commends or entrusts them to God and His Word of Grace.  Grace is a gift.  Thus God’s word is a gift to us that has the power to build us up (strengthen us).  It also has the power to give us an place among his people both now and in the age to come.  So is the church going down?  Jesus said, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.   He wasn’t talking about buildings, cathedrals, and denominations.  He was talking about his true believers regardless of where they were.  Let’s quit looking at the natural and begin trusting in the one who has given us all that we need for life and godliness.

Hope for the Church audio

Hope for Your Job

Most people will spend about a third of their life getting ready for, going to, and doing work.  It clearly is a huge part of our life.  Yet many people do not think about what the message of the cross might have to say to them about their profession.  How can the cross relate to building houses or cleaning them?  How can the cross relate to serving hamburgers or making computer programs?  It seems too vast to stretch across such a distance.

Today we will look at a passage in Ephesians 6:5-9.  In it Paul is giving instruction to both slaves and their masters.  You may think, "well, I'm not a slave so this doesn't impact me."  However, in this passage Paul gives us principles that go beyond being a slave.  In fact, it would be best if we take a bit of time to discuss what it means to be a slave and why slavery ever came into existence.  First of all, the essence of slavery is not being the property of another.  This is definitely a part of the history of slavery.  So I don't mean to diminish its reality.  However, the real concept behind being the slave of another had to do with the "master's" claim upon the work of another.  How that claim comes about can be varied.  But no matter what, every economic system and every people group has had to deal with the reality that some people do not do well and end up owing others.  When you owe somebody they have a claim upon your production.  How we go about satisfying that claim has as many possible ways as there are people to dream them up.  If we were to creat a continuum that has on the one side a picture of deeply, depraved slavery, such as that pictured in Alex Haley's mini series "Roots," and on the other side a system like we have today where people are physically free but are still in debt to others, then we can recognize that there exists between them a multitude of "systems" that could be devised.  One side values the freedom of the owing individual over the claims of the other.  Whereas the other expression values the claim of the owed individual over the freedom of the individual.  Not everyone ended up as a slave due to owing someone something.  Some were attacked by other nations or tribes and forced into slavery.  This is a clear wrong.  However, how many of us do not recognize we are somewhat "slaves" to our debts?  Some have stated that the Bible is clearly flawed because it does not emphatically denounce slavery.  The Bible denounces dehumanizing slavery, but let it never be forgotten that it was the teaches of Christ that fueled the energy of the anti-slavery movement.  We can fight our whole life against a system of slavery and finally win only to find out that another system of slavery comes in to take its places.  Those who think we can even yet again tear down the current system and build a better one are deluding themselves concerning the heart of men.  Man will create nothing but systems that enslave.  It is only men who fear the Lord who will restrain themselves from this bent in our nature.  So God speaks not to the hopeless fight of destroying slavery, but to the hopeless heart of the slave.  God has something better for them that goes beyond this life and God has something better for you that goes beyond this life.

No matter what, if you need a paycheck from an employer than you are in an indebted situation.  You are providing a service for someone or some company who has become your "master."    Let us look at this passage today in that light.

Jesus Is Our Boss

 Paul in verse 5, 6, and 7 hammers home that we should work as if Jesus were our boss.  It is not in those terms, but that is the intent.  Many of you are scratching your head thinking, "my boss is nothing like Jesus."  But this is nevery mentioned.  The simple principle is work as if you were doing it for Jesus.  Think about that principle alone for a moment.  If you worked like that, I don't think there is a single employer who wouldn't want you on the job unless you were just not talented for it.  This is a revolutionary concept.  In verse 5 it calls them "masters according to the flesh."  The word master is the same word used of Christ which is always translated "Lord."  Now Paul goes on to give some practical instructions for followers of Jesus.  If you were working, as if Jesus were your boss, you would work like this.

Show Respect for Authority.  To obey with fear and trembling is a picture of a healthy respect for the authority and position of the one who is over me.  Would I talk back to my boss if he were Jesus?  Would I ridicule him behind his back if he were Jesus?   Would I work to try and get him fired?  To respect the position and authority of the person over us is impossible if we do not first respect the position and authority of God over our lives.  How might this kind of attitude improve your relationship with your boss?

Be Sincere.  This is to have a single heart and devotion towards the job.  That means you give your whole heart to the job instead of working half-heartedly.  Need I ask? 

Don't work only when supervised.  In verse 6 it it is called eyeservice.  It is pretty obvious that when we know we are being watched we work much harder.  Paul challenges them that this is the path of those who are man-pleasers.  This isn't intended to be a good thing.  We ought to work in order to please God not men.  Those who work to please men only worry about when they are watching.  It is insincere and false.  Am I trying to manipulate my boss instead of working hard for him?  God can always see us.  So If I am a God-pleaser, I know there is no time when I can "do whatever I want."

Be willing and "good-minded."  To have a good mind and heart about the job is easier said than done.  But it starts with remembering that Jesus is our real boss.  How we serve our earthly bosses says volumes about where our heart is before God himself.

God Always Has the Final Say

In verse 8 Paul begins to pivot by reminding the slave that both the slave and the free man will stand before God one day.  If I serve well in this life than God will reward me with good.  In fact, Scripture even teaches that to the degree we do good in life is the degree that God will reward us back.  That might change your motivation.  Salvation may be by grace but reward and punishment will be based upon our deeds.

Paul then gives a caution or warning to the masters / lords / bosses.  Bosses have bosses.  But ultimately all bosses have to answer to the big Boss in heaven.  He tells them in verse 9 that they should follow the same advice he had just given to their slaves.  This a verse that many a slave owner in the south neglected to ponder.  God does not play favorites.  Literally God is not enamored with your face and all it represents.  You might be the greatest "master" in all the world.  But God will judge you in the same way as the lowliest slave.

In our society we generally picture justice as blindfolded.  It is intended to demonstrate that it is blind to the individuals involved and only gives the truth.  However, justice is never blind to the facts of the situation.  For justice to be truly done then it must see not just the surface but even the intents of the hearts of those involved.  God himself is the ultimate justice.

When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I have a dream speech," he talked about judgment and justice.

"I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."  What most miss is that Dr. King most certainly wanted his children judged.  However he longed for a judgement that was based upon truth and not the lies of men.  Lies that say worth can be seen by the color of someone's skin, or even the ability of their mind and body.

Do I approach my job as if it were a calling from God?  Even if you work for yourself, do you recognize that you still work for God?  When your job becomes a ministry to Jesus it will bless your employer, the customers and yourself.

Perhaps you are reading this today and you are thinking, "I wish I had a job."  Let this time be a time of reflection.  Perhaps you took previous jobs for granted.  Perhaps the Lord is teaching you to trust in him.  In the end if you will choose to be an employee like is mentioned in Ephesians 6 then you will find a job and God will bless you in it.

Sermon Audio

Hope For Your Home

Since the sexual revolution of the 1960’s, we have seen an all out attack on the biblical concepts of marriage and family.  This attack has happened on many fronts.  “Free Love” challenged the biblical concept of sex within a marital covenant.  The explosion and rapid acceptance of pornography undermined the biblical concept of beauty and increased marital dissatisfaction.  “No-fault Divorce” made it easier to walk away from marriages.  Abortion, contraceptives and the feminist movement made “having a family” an old fashioned idea that only non-progressives would embrace.  Today between the collapse of the old social norms and the rise of the internet, families are often a battlefield of pain and sorrow.

Today we are going to see that the same God who created marriage and family can help us fix it, or keep it from breaking in the first place.  In Malachi 2:13-16 God confronts the men of Israel for divorcing their first wives.  Apparently they did so in a desire to get a better, new and improved wife.

The Message of the Cross Confronts Our Sin

In verse 13 God describes the effects of these men’s actions.  They had covered his altar with weeping and tears.  Have you ever asked yourself, “How much pain have I caused in my marriage and family?”  It is easy for us to see the things that others do, but what about me?  God is very aware of our tears and the things that led to them. 

“You keep track of all my sorrows.  You have collected all my tears in your bottle.  You have recorded each one in your book.” Psalm56:8 (NLT)

No matter what the other person has done, God challenges us not to pay back wrong for wrong.  In our society today women have far more options and power then in Malachi’s days.  Many a man has wept over a woman who cast him aside as well as women like our passage describes.  It often starts with not forgiving one another and instead paying them back.  This is a recipe for disaster.  If we will stop and recognize that I have caused pain and God is not pleased with me then we might have a chance of ending the pain in our homes. 

In verse 14 God calls their actions treachery.  Some antonyms for treachery are: forthright, honest, loyal, and true (thesaurus.com).  Marriage and family are built upon Loyalty and honesty.  It is a covenant or contract between a man and a woman, and before society and God.  Even if society will not call you on your disloyalty and dishonesty, God will.  When we are loyal to each other we do not find excuses to get out of an unpleasant situation.  Instead we keep trying to find a way to fix things.  Honesty requires us to open up and be transparent about what we think and feel.  These are difficult things to do.  Have you ever been honest and two seconds later wished you had just kept your mouth shut?  Being honest can make the other person made or hurt.  There is room for not saying everything that goes through your mind.  But if we don’t let each other know the things that hurt us then we are not being loyal to the marriage God has given us.

We must always remember that our own sin brought about the need for the cross.  Jesus died for those things that my marriage and family will cause to rise to the surface, like a refining process.  If we haven’t figured it out yet the truth is this:  Sin ruins everything.  No matter what perfect system you devise, if people are going to be running it, then sin will ruin it.  Until we face the fact we have a sin problem, our marriages and homes cannot heal.  The cross shouts from the highest hill that every man, woman, boy and girl has the same problem, sin.

The Message of the Cross Teaches us to Die to Self

Since God designed marriage and the family, we need to look to him to understand how it should work and where we make our mistakes.  Instead of saying, “I can’t make it work,” we need to go back to the master and seek help in “mastering” marriage ourselves.  In verse 15 God gives 3 purposes he has for marriage.  If you have never even thought about what God wants out of your marriage then you need to today.  When we only approach marriage for what we desire then it ruins the whole thing.

First, God desires union.  God made man and woman to be “one.”  This is not just physically, but also includes emotionally and spiritually.  Oneness is a lifelong project.  Oneness requires us to compromise with the other person and drop selfish desires.  Through marriage God is inviting us to join him in the greatest oneness of all, himself.  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have enjoyed the miracle of oneness from the beginning.  It is our fear of what oneness requires us to drop that causes us to run from marriage.

The second thing God desires is godly offspring.  Now, there are those who are unable to have children and this is not intended as a point of guilt.  This is a general principle that will apply to most.  Today having children is swiftly becoming the procreative equivalent of a nuclear bomb.  There are many who would love to have kids sterilized at birth and see that as a moral good.  But God desires for a godly offspring to carry on when we depart this earth.  This requires godly parents rather than selfish ones.  Obedience must be first exampled and then it can be taught.

The third purpose for marriage is seen in the word “violence” (vs. 16).  God considered their actions a violent thing.  When we compare this to Ephesians 5 we see that God expects to find love between a man and a woman.  But when we cause each other to suffer we cover ourselves in violence.  Have you ever seen a truck that has been 4-wheeling and mud is all over it?  This is the picture God has of us.  We might come into church or society looking all clean and wonderful, but we have dealt violently with one another.  Spiritually we are covered with violence like that truck.  God sees it and it repels him.  He will deal with us if we do not deal with it ourselves.

Unless Jesus is the leader of our home we will be forever locked in a Tug O’ War of who gets what they want.  Eventually one or both will quit the “game.”  But like a pyramid, if we focus on Jesus, we can start far apart but be brought close together as we move towards his heart.

Divorce always happens when one or both have chosen self over the life that could be.  They rejected the cross that they would have to bear in order to love the other person and instead chose self.  There is no deeper wound than to die to yourself and still be rejected by your spouse.  It is an incredible violence that we never really talk about.  It is a violence of the soul and leaves people broken and forever bleeding in its wake.

What kind of spirit do I have in my marriage and home? The selfish spirit leads to pain, sorrow, and destruction.  The selfless spirit of Christ leads to life.

What desires of my flesh do I need to crucify in order for my home to have life?  It is never too late if just one will surrender to Jesus.  Do it today.

Sermon Audio

Hope For Life

The idea that the Resurrection of Jesus, in short the cross, can give us life might be strange to some people.  But it truly is the fountainhead of all Life for us.  Last week we talked about how the Resurrection gives us hope that we have the truth.  We can have a confidence that this heavily witnessed event is proof that what Jesus taught was true.

Just as this world can make us cynical to the ability to know we have absolute truth, so we can be cynical about this life and hope that we can have a good life.  It doesn't help that we often get the wrong ideas about what is a good life.  The much touted "American Dream" today is not what it originally was.  Today it often means trying to make a bunch of money so that I can have a nice house, sweet cars, take long vacations to exotic places and a companion that makes me feel good.  We have come to target all the wrong things with our hope and we have based those hopes upon all the wrong thing.

If you have learned anything make sure that you understand that our False Hopes Must Die So That True Hope Can Rise.  If you have lost hope about this life and whether it is worth living, then let me just say this: the death and resurrection of Jesus gives you hope for your life that cannot be changed by the economy or the death of a loved one.  It is a hope that is based upon God himself and changes what we are living for.  It also changes how we experience life.

The Message of the Cross Gives Hope for True Power

As I said earlier, the cross becomes the central point of the gospel.  It is the gospel in a nutshell.  In some mysterious way, Life comes out of death.  In first Corinthians 1:17-18, Paul is reminding these believers of the gospel that he had given them.  Jesus had chosen a path that seemed foolish to the world.  In fact it seemed foolish even to the religious people both the sincere and the hypocritical.  However, the path Jesus chose made life available to all those who would believe on or put their faith in him.  He could have taken up his power and paid them all back, but instead he goes down a different path.

In the Bible there is a concept of "The Way of The Lord."  This is contrasted with the way that seems right to a man.  On one hand there are as many ways to live life as there are humans, but they all are expressions of the way of self.  There really are 2 paths.  We see this exampled with Eve in the Garden.  The serpent tempts her to find a better path for herself.  She ends up rejecting God's way and trying the way of her self.  We see this in the old testament with Moses.

^"19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;"  Deuteronomy 30:19(NKJV)

With the giving of the Law of the Lord, Israel now had possession of the Way of the Lord.  The way the Lord asked them to do life.  Much of it was ethical, but some of it was metaphorical.  That means God commanded it not because it was right in and of itself but because it pointed to a greater spiritual truth.  A case in point of this would be the Sabbath and the dietary laws.  They could follow their way or God's way.

In Matthew 7:13,14 Jesus says, "¹³ “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. ¹⁴ Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." (NKJV)  Here the way actually has a gate on it.  Notice that the Lord's way is narrow, straight, and difficult as opposed to wide, crooked, and easy, which is the way of pleasing our self.

In verse 18 of 1 Corinthians Paul says that the message of the cross is the Power of God for those who are being saved.  The message of the cross gives us power that goes beyond that miracle of resurrection that God promises to those who believe in Jesus.  It is a spiritual power that enables us in this life.  It is a power that is available to whosoever will receive it.  Those who are being saved are compared to those who are perishing.  The word perishing refers to a present and continuous process by which they are being destroyed.  However those who are being saved are in a present and continuous process of being healed and protected.  We are saved from the guilt of our sin.  And, we are enabled to live righteously through the Holy Spirit's help and God's Word.

I can know that when I die to the desires of my flesh it is not the end.  God will cause life to rise up within me.  I will come alive to him in greater ways.  The new life that has been birthed in me is not based up on the desires of the flesh.  That life is fleeting and never satisfied, while is destroys us.  In short it is no life at all.  Don't look at God's Word and the things it gives us to do as a drudgery.  Rather see them as the key to life.  When I die to the desire of my flesh that fights this truth of God, then True Life will be poured into my life and of those around me.

The Message of the Cross Gives us Hope for True Wisdom

In verse 19 God is quoted as saying that he will destroy the wisdom of the wise.  To me this doesn't just sound like a declaration of his intentions.  It is more a viceral rejection and declaration of war against man's wisdom.  Why would God make such a declaration?  The great wisdom of man has failed over and over again to truely help mankind.  Even worse, the wisdom of man has always led it away from God and never towards him (vs. 20).   God despises this wisdom that grows into a thing that rejects him, then denies him, and puts man in bondage to his own fleshly desires and to other men.  He will bring it all crashing down.

The message of the cross is foolishness to this world.  So the world continues to pursue the wisdom of man.  It continues to believe it can weave clothing out of moth-eaten material.  We make our wisdom more and more convoluted and twisted so that today we see man's wisdom declaring almost the exact opposite of God's Word.

God chose the plan of the cross not just because a price had to be paid, but precisely because to do it in this way would put to shame the wisdom of this world.  Think of it, that same wisdom that has ridiculed those who were "stupid" and the "ignorant" believers, has itself been put to shame by the wisdom of God.  David did not defeat Goliath because he stood up to the giant.  He defeated him because he trusted in God and God gave him the power to take down the giant.  If you are not wise according to the world's standards, do not fear.  God offers you a wisdom that, if you will trust him, will cause you to excell far above all those "wise" people who look down on you.

Are you trying to become one of those "wise" men of this world?  Are you struggling, studying, and jockeying for a position among the "Brights" of this world?  O friend, recognize that you are pursuing the greatest folly.  In trying to be wise you are becoming foolish and in trying to "save yourself" you are losing your own soul.  Paul says in verse 26 that not many who are wise according to this world are called and not many of the mighty are called.  Why?  Because they refuse to let go of this world's power and wisdom.  The refuse to let go of all they have accomplished.  Pride.  Make a choice today.  You will either continue to sacrifice all to obtain the power and wisdom of this world, or you surrender to God and embrace his power and wisdom.  This will revolutionize your life.  Sure you will incur the ridicule and shaming of this world.  But, you will have a place among those who are truly wise, and you will be given the right to participate in his glory when Jesus returns to establish the kingdom of God here on earth.

This rejection is pointed out by Paul in verses 22-25.  The Jews represented those who had the true religion, but had become merely religious.  They looked for great signs and wonders to convince them of power and wisdom.  They wanted Jesus to miraculously lead them to victory over the Roman Legions.  That was the only power and wisdom they were willing to accept from God.  The Greeks was a term that represented the nations of the world as a whole.  They are a picture of not just false religion, but really the wisdom of man, whether that is projected in a religious way or a secular way.  They put  their confidence in wisdom.  Though Jesus was truly wise, his wisdom did not fit their mold.  They wanted a wisdom that gave them military ascendancy and economic superiority.  This was the only wisdom they would accept from God.  Thus the cross and its message become a stumbling block to both religious and secular people.  Unless we let go our expectations of what God's power and wisdom must look like, then we are doomed to be destroyed by the coming day of God's judgment.

When verse 25 uses the phrases, "foolishness of God" and "weakness of God," it is meant to be tongue in cheek.  People will look at the design of an eyeball and say that God must be wise.  But when they look at the cross they have great cognitive dissonance.  When people look at the amazing power of all the suns in the universe and the galaxies scattered among the universe and they say that God must be powerful.  But when they look at Jesus, God taking on the weakness of human nature, it causes the same confusion.  It is a stumblingblock, or rather a scandal that they are unwilling to have associated with them.  What about you?  Will you be associated with the "foolishness" of God and the "weakness" of God?  The world's mindset does everything to avoid the cross.  It would never choose to go to it.  Jesus appears foolish and weak when judged by the wisdom of this world.  This world will stomp any real righteousness out of you as you compromise in order to survive.  But, Jesus says to you today, "Pick up your cross and follow me."

I don't know all the ways in which you are going to have to die to the things of this world.  But I promise you this.  If you will follow Jesus and quit trying to save yourself, then you will actually be saved by God's wisdom and God's power.  Then this life will have great meaning for you.  You will have the same power that enabled simple men and women to stand before kings without caving in.  You will have the same wisdom that enabled Jesus to not only be resurrected, but to provide life for WHOSOEVER would believe on him. 

Sermon Audio