The Invisible War

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Happy Monday!  I thought I’d start off the week on a lighter note by talking about angels and demons.  Nothing like starting your week off with a sip of good coffee and demon talk.  Obviously I kid, but this is what God’s brought to my attention lately, so all I can do is share what I’m seeing.  I mostly want to open our eyes, to the reality of spiritual warfare as Christians.  When Satan decided to make war on God, Michael and other angels made war against him.  Satan was defeated, but he took 1/3 of the angels with him (these are now known as demons).  Revelation 12:3-4, 7-12 – “And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.  His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth.”  “Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.  And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.  And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.  And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

We should rejoice in the conquering of Satan through the blood of Christ, but also heed the warning that is given.  The devil has come in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short.  1 Peter 5:8-9 tells us “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.”  What is interesting to note here, is that it is expected that Christians will experience suffering and temptation from the devil, and need to resist him.  Peter is not directing his message to non-Christians, but the “brotherhood throughout the world”.  Satan does not concern himself greatly with those who are non-Christians.  Why would he?  They are no threat to him, but we are.  Satan focuses his efforts against us.  It’s important for us to understand the gravity of our enemy.  What are satan’s resources?  He has more demons than can be counted.  Where does this come from?  First the language used above in Revelation 12, referring to 1/3 of the stars as the amount of angels that fell with Satan.  Referring to the number of stars which cannot be counted, should give you an idea that the number of demons with satan are likewise many.  Second, in Revelation 5 we are told that they are “myriads and myriads of angels”.  Revelation 5:11 – “ Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands”  A myriad is 10,000.  Myriads of myriads is equivalent to saying ten thousand ten thousands, or 100 million.  Forgive my math use here, but let’s assume the low end and say that there are only 100M angels in Heaven, and that is 2/3 of the number that was original there before 1/3 fell with satan.  That would mean satan has 50 million demons at his disposal.  My purpose here isn’t to try to give you an exact number, except to say that it is a great many more than most people imagine.

If this seems bad, it’s about to get worse.  Let’s consider what we know about satan and his demons.  They have seen the living God.  They know more about God than we will ever know on this side of eternity, so they are able to craftily attempt to veer us off-course in our worship of Him.  Second, they are vastly more powerful than we are.    Third, they know they have been defeated and their time is short, so they are ruthless in their attempts to destroy us.

What does all of this mean?  In the Lord’s prayer, we are told to pray that we would not be led into temptation, but delivered from evil – we should be praying for this often.  We should constantly remember and proclaim the victory of Jesus in the gospel over the power of sin and death.  We should belong to a group of Christians that can encourage and stengthen us, and we should seek to encourage and strengthen them.  Christian loners make easy targets.  Last, that we have an enemy we cannot see that is vastly more powerful and intelligent than we are should remind us to never become compacent or prideful, but push us to embrace the grace and mercy of God alone for our salvation.  We are helpless, weak, and poor, but we belong to the King and no one will remove us from His hand or separate us from the love of Christ. 

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Consecrated Unto God

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Happy New Year!  I hope this finds each of you well.  I love New Year.  I use it as an opportunity to reflect on the past year, and an opportunity to consider how to press forward for a better new year.  My resolution for 2014 is to press into my heart Leviticus 20:7-8 and it’s New Testament counterparts 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 and 1 Peter 1:13-16.  These verses call us to be consecrate ourselves; to set ourselves apart as sacred and holy unto God.

It is the gospel truth, that we have been saved from sin by Jesus, and that just as He is Holy, we are Holy in Him.  What I mean by this is two-fold; we are inherantly righteous by faith (justified) because Jesus bore our sin on the cross, and we are being made more righteous and holy by God the Holy Spirit dwelling in us (sanctified).  Faith begets action.  If we believe Jesus, we should consider ourselves as God does, holy, and resolve ourselves to seek after the righteousness of God in our own lives and the world around us.

Leviticus 20:7-8 – “Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God.  Keep my statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – “your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God.  You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
1 Peter 1:13-16 – “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
Your past does not define you, Jesus does.  Therefore, as God has called us holy and appointed each of us ambassadors of Christ (2 Cor 5:20), we should emulate Paul in Phlippians 3:13-14  – “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”  Be encouraged, the blood of Christ has made us clean.  As we embrace a new year, let us remember that we are new creations in Jesus Christ, the old is gone, the new has come. 
Grace and Peace,
Adam

Christianity 101

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I hope everyone is well, and enjoyed their time with family and friends over Christmas.  There are so many voices that have already spoken into the situation regarding A&E & Duck Dynasty in far better ways than I could muster, I do not feel the need to address the main issues that have been brought up.  I wanted to step back from the surface level discussion of whether what was said was Biblical (it was) and whether or not it was said in the best way (it wasn’t) to address what I feel is a more pressing question to you as my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  The question that is sitting underneath the Duck Dynasty conversation, is what does it mean to be a Christian freed from sin?  I’m fairly focused on the gospel in my writings because whatever else I do or say, I realize the most helpful action I can take is to point people to Jesus, the cross, and put them to a decision about whether or not they believe Him, and identify themselves by faith with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection.  This isn’t a one-time thing for a new believer, this is a daily thing in the life of a Christian.

There seems to be a large push among mainstream Christianity to make Christianity less offensive and easier for more people to accept.  No matter how “loving” this may seem within our culture, this is deadly.  It is not being driven by God, but by sinful men who have rejected Galatians 1:10 and care more about the opinions of men than of God.  In Matthew 7:13-14 – Jesus tells us “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” 

I want to put a question out there for us all to consider, because we are all succeptible to sin.  If sin is serious enough that Jesus, God Himself, came down in flesh to bear the infinite wrath of God the Father in our place, why are some Christians trying so hard to make sin acceptable?  In 1 Corinthians 6:9 we are told – “do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”  I actually have heard multiple Christians say that you can’t say homosexuality is sinful from that verse because everyone would be guilty of one of those sins….  I am in awe and dismayed at these “arguments”.  Yes, we’re all guilty of those sins; that is the entire point of the gospel!  We are all sinners in need of the grace bought by the blood of Jesus.  We as Christians should not be in the business of trying to make light of sin, but we should view it as Jesus views it – wretched and deadly.  The call of Jesus is given to us in Mark 1:15 –  “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”  Christians understand the weight of sin.  Christians understand that their sin is infinitely offensive to a righteous and Holy God.  The greek word for repentance, metanoia, means to change or alter one’s mind about.  Christians have changed their mind about sin and turn to Jesus in faith.  Christians do not make light of sin, that is to make light of the work of Jesus.  Christians do not embrace sin, the seek to kill it by abiding in Christ and pursuing joy in Him and working for His glory.  

Jesus loves you where you are, and His blood is sufficient to cover all your sin; past, present, and future.  Stay on guard, however, because we have an enemy in Satan that wants to rob us of our joy in fellowship with Jesus.  One of his favorite means of accomplishing this is to get you to “accept” a little sin in your life, which then grows and grows.  Would you accept a little cancer in your body?  It is the same thing, with far greater consequences.  Today is the day of salvation for us all.  Each day we choose which god we will serve.  Each day we choose to follow Christ, wherever he leads us, and it is seldom into places of comfort or ease.  Know that the surpassing glory of God that is to be revealed to us is a far greater treasure than whatever this world can offer. 
Grace and Peace,
Adam

The King and the Kingdom

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This message has been pressing on me for a while.  I’m not sure how it will be received, but I feel compelled to say it, because I want greater joy for us as Christians through the exaltation of the name of Jesus in the world.  I’m concerned that much of what is discussed today as “the gospel”, is not the gospel.  I’m concerned that knowledge about Jesus and the ability to recite “the right words” has been set as the bar for Christian salvation, instead of evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in power to manifest Christ to the world.  If this comes across harshly know that my goal is not for conviction that leads to despair, but the goal is joy in seeing Christ manifested through His people, the Church to a greater degree.  We should rejoice in seeing Christ through us push back darkness in the world, bringing people from death to life, and see God’s Kingdom come.

In John 8:32-33 Jesus says “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.  Jesus also said, in John 14:6 – “I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the father except through me.”  People today speak about their salvation and the gospel primarily as “what they believe”, but the Apostle Paul in 2nd Timothy 1:12 says “I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed”  You are not saved by a set of facts; you are saved by the Lord Jesus Christ.  The gospel message is not the gospel without Jesus, and if you do not know Him, you cannot be saved by Him.  The scariest passage in the Bible to me is not in the wrath of God shown in the Old Testament, but in Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:21-23 – “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

So the question for all of us as Christians is not merely “can we recite the gospel”, but do we know Jesus.  John the Baptist was given the Holy Spirit from birth.  His entire life and ministry was to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 40:3 – “A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”  Yet, what does John do when Jesus appears?  He sends his disciples to Jesus to ask if He is the promised One.  Jesus responds in Matthew 11:4-6 – “Go and tell John what you hear and see:  the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.  And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Jesus tells of Who He is, He gives evidence of Himself as the Messiah, by telling of His works.  Again, when Jesus is accused by some Pharisees of casting out demons by the power of Satan, Jesus answers them, “if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” 

Jesus is known by His fruit, just as we are known as His disciples by our fruit, the work of the Holy Spirit in and through us.  Jesus was pushing back darkness and brought the Kingdom of God with Him wherever He went.  Our hope is not in facts, but in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  The work of Jesus Christ is not something separate from Him, but the full expression and overflow of who He is.  As a side apologetical note, this is also the answer to the “problem of evil” (ie. why does evil exist if God is only good).  The glory of God, His full character and nature necessitated that He be known as just, redeeming, loving, merciful – shown in the fullest measure through His conquering sin and death through His death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

In 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 the difference between knowing of Jesus and having true knowledge of Jesus is explained – “if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Notice it does not say that unbelievers do not acknowledge Christ.  Above, the persons described by Jesus in Matthew 7 acknowledged Jesus and even called him “Lord”.  True saving knowledge of Jesus is more than just knowing of Him and what He has done.  In 2 Corinthians, it says unbelievers do not have the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  The difference between the gospel “knowledge” of Jesus by unbelievers is similar to the difference between a person’s knowing of someone, and a husband or wife’s knowing their spouse after 50 years of marriage.  The former might know the person’s name, some things about him, and maybe even acknowledge his work, but the latter could tell you how her husband would respond to a given situation because she knows who he is as a person.  She could finish her husband’s sentences because she knows his heart and mind.  That is the knowledge of the glory of God Christians have – we know Christ because Christ is in us, with us every moment of every day.  Further, we, as the bride of Christ, know Him now and are growing into a greater knowledge of Him as we see Him in the Word, by the work of the Holy Spirit in us.  (2 Cor 3).  One day this knowledge will be complete when our faith becomes sight, in the presence of the Lord.

Up until now we’ve addressed what it means to have saving knowledge of the glory of God in Jesus Christ.  Now I want to turn and ask the question, what does this look like and what does it have to do with the Kingdom of God?  The knowledge of God is more than an intellectual agreement with the glory of God in Jesus; it is a knowledge of the heart and mind of Jesus to desire what he desires, by the Spirit of Christ in us.  There is no complicated list of to-dos given by our Lord.  He gives us the answer to His heart’s desire in Matthew 6:33 – to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness”  What does it look like for a believer to have a knowledge of the glory of God in Jesus with a heart of flesh, transformed by the Holy Spirit (Ez 36:26) to desire God more than whatever this fallen world could offer?  This looks like a soldier, with marching orders towards the goal of having the Kingdom of God made manifest.  The Kingdom of God is all things as they are meant to be, in perfect harmony with the glory of God.

Consider the Lord’s model to us for our prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 – “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”  1 John 3:18-19 – “let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.  By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him”   God does not need our words, he does not need our money, he does not need our sacrifice.  God is not served by human hands as though he needed anything (Acts 17:25) God desires that our love for Him would result in our seeking His glory through the manifestation of His Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven.  Listen to the rebuke of the Pharisees in Matthew 9:13 – “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.”  Again in Matthew 23:23 – “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: Justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.”  Again in Micah 6:8 – “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”  As believers we are called to violently pursue the Kingdom of God.  We are meant to be at war.  This Kingdom is not a matter of geography, but of a redemption of the world around us to the glory of Jesus.  This is not meant to be fought by physical weapons, but with the sword of the Spirit, the Word of our Lord.  We fight not with our own power, but in prayer seek the power of God to bring about His Kingdom.  This is not a war against sinners, but against the “god of this world” and sin.  Ephesians 6:12 – “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” 

I feel a burden that we as Christian believers need to redeem our pursuit of the Kingdom of God.  Our works are not separate from our faith, but give witness to God within us.  The world should see us as the Church, the bride of Christ, pursuing the Kingdom of God in this way, that it is understood that this work is not ours, but the literal manifestation of Christ in us.  This is how things should be.  This is the only way we will ever be able to be in agreement with the command of Jesus in Matthew 5:16 – “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

When was the last time someone saw your life and their response was to glory in the name of Jesus?  As a matter of conviction, I cannot remember a specific time in my own life, which gives me pause.  Something is missing.  The name of the Lord is not being lifted up by the Church as it ought to be.

To know God is more than to know the name Jesus and know about Him, it is a knowledge of the glory of God in Jesus Christ.  To have a knowledge of the Glory of God in Jesus Christ, is to have a heart transformed by the Holy Spirit to desire what God desires.  God’s desire is that we would seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.  The Kingdom of God is a redemption from darkness and evil, to be as things are in Heaven.  This is more than just preaching the gospel, but just as the glory of God in Jesus overflowed into acts of mercy, justice, and love so too should Christ in us overflow into a desire to pursue personal righteousness in a dark, evil world and to seek justice, love mercy, and work to manifest the glory of God into the world.  More than being saved by the gospel “from” sin, we were saved “to” Jesus.  We must know Him, and make Him known through the gospel message and lives lived to see the Kingdom of God manifested.  Only through this can we truly rest assured that the Holy Spirit is in us, and we are secure in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace and Peace,

Adam

Walking in the Spirit

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Growing up in a Baptist church, I was reminded often of the things that I was supposed to do and the things I wasn’t supposed to do as a Christian.  Given all the sermons on obedience and a denial of the flesh, I do not remember hearing a single sermon on what “walking in the Spirit” means.  I think the Holy Spirit talk kind of freaked out the Baptist.  They wanted to acknowledge the Holy Spirit exists, but not much more because then they might have people start dancing up and down the aisles or something.  I don’t know.   I do know that in Galatians 5:16 God tells us “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”  Notice it does not say “Do not gratify the desires of the flesh, and then you will be walking by the Spirit”.  No.  Walking by the Spirit is the means, the foundation by which we will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  How important then is it to rightly understand what this means, for those of us who love God and want more of Him/less of sin in our lives?

I’m going to look at two different sections of scripture to try to give an answer to the question “What does it mean to walk in the Spirit”.  The first begins with the scripture above in Galatians 5:16-25 – “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.  Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

This is a big chunk of scripture where God is telling us a lot.  God begins by telling us what we already know about our fleshly desires – that they are at war with God.  That is our sinful nature; what Christ died to free us from.  It’s also important to note that God is speaking to Christians, because only Christians would want to pursue God and His righteousness instead of their sin and it’s desires.  We’re then told what the outward manifestations are of our flesh and the Spirit are, so that we can rightly divide which is which.  This is important, because people are emotional creatures, and we are prone to deceive ourselves.  The grounding, the foundation of our battle to war against our flesh is the gospel of Jesus Christ, that our sin was placed on Jesus on the cross, and that it was crucified with Him.  So the power of sin to enslave us has died, with Christ.  That is our faith and hope, that our identity is found in Christ, in His death, burial, and resurrection.  That faith and hope in the grace extended to us in Christ, and submission to Him to lead us into righteousness is what is meant by walking in the Spirit.  The term “walking” is used because it was understood that this would not be a sprint, but that it was to be a day to day, moment to moment, decision to set our minds on the finished work of Jesus, who we are in Him, and to pursue His Kingdom and Righteousness.

Let’s take a look at another section of scripture that talks about walking by the Spirit.  The message is going to be very similar to the one above, but hopefully through repetition and context we can press this truth into our hearts to a greater degree.

Romans 8:1-11 – “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.  For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.  For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.  Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.  You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.  But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

The message in Romans likewise describes a battle that is at war between our flesh and that Spirit.  Again Christians, the foundation of our “walking in the Spirit” is the gospel.  The passage opens up with the gospel, that God has declared us righteous through the death of Jesus, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and therefore we are without condemnation.  We have peace with God.  We are no longer at war with Him, but we war with Him for His Kingdom.  Romans here is helpful because it says that part of walking by the Spirit is “to set the mind on the Spirit”.  This is similar where in Colossians 3:1-3 – “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”  So walking by the Spirit has its grounding in the gospel and our identity with Christ, in order that our pursuits are in line with that reality.

Having explained what walking in the Spirit is, how do we do this?  First we must acknowledge that walking by the Spirit is not a one time event, but a way of life for a Christian.  The fact that “walking by the Spirit” is an exhortation implies that it requires effort on the part of a Christian.  So then, for Christians our exhortation is to press on to know Jesus and the Gospel more.  There is no end to this, because God is infinite, our sin against God is infinite, and our salvation through Jesus is infinite in worth.  We are to press into our heart and mind the truths of the gospel, that we have been reconciled to God, and our identity is not longer in this world or our sin, but with God.  Having armed yourself with both the knowledge of God and your identity in Him, you are then to seek His will in pressing back darkness, pursuing righteousness, and pursuing the Kingdom of God.  More than mere steps to be followed we’re seeking a manifestation of Christ in us; a changed condition and inclination of our hearts and mind.

All of this is not meant to be a burden, but you are pursuing freedom from sin to pursue joy in your relationship with God.  My hope for us all is that the grace and mercy of God would be tangibly felt, that we would embrace our salvation in Jesus with the fervor that is due its infinite worth, and the passion that is due joy in the perfections of Jesus.  We, like Jesus, do not pursue obedience for its own sake, but we pursue it for the joy set before us.  Hebrews 12:1-2 – “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”  We are the adopted sons and daughters of the living God.  Walk in that truth, and pursue the peace and joy that is ours through the finished work of Jesus.  Let us live our lives for Him who set us free, for His name, under His grace, in His power, and for the joy found in Him.

Grace and Peace,

Adam

Gospel Community Sanctification

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Over the years I’ve spent enough time in small group settings to see a pattern that is worth addressing.  Most people understand why they are counted righteous before God, their justification.  Most understand rightly that they are justified by grace through faith in Jesus.  His perfect righteousness
Any time I use a Christian-ese word, I want to break that down for everyone.  Sanctification, is God’s work of progressively conforming a Christian into the image of Himself, into the image of Christ.  This entails primarily a change of heart, a disdain for sin and a love for God and His Kingdom.  You’ll notice what is omitted here – any mention of life change, behavior change, etc.  This is because while those things should flow from a changed heart, the opposite is not necessarily true.  Meaning if you are being made into the image of God, your life will show evidence of that, but just because your life shows evidence of change, does not mean that is of God or that you are truly being sanctified.  This may sound harsh, but our goal is not to have everyone like us, but to encourage people in the knowledge of God and His Word towards salvific Truth.
Over the years I’ve sat in a group of Christian guys many times where they talk about how they need greater accountability in their lives.  Some simply make the statement that they need more “accountability”, while others actually open up and discuss a list of sinful actions they should stop to a list of “good” actions they should be more obedient in.  This of course has the appearance of great Christian stuff.  The desire to kill sin or to have a greater level of obedience in their life are both good things, very good things actually.  My concern is for how these Christians are seeking to pursue this greater level of righteousness.  Usually they talk about what they personally need to do, but very seldom do they say anything about pursuing this sanctification in community.  They will talk about modifying behavior, but will seldom speak of the knowledge of God and the pursuit of joy in Him as the means of accomplishing their sanctification.  So my burden today is to press God’s desire for sanctification to occur within a community of believers instead of individually and also how God accomplishes this sanctification.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 – “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God”
 
What is interesting about this passage from Thessalonians is not so much what is says, as how it says it.  We all know that God desires our sexual purity, but the root expectation that Christians are to abstain from sexual immorality is because they know God.  God cares as much about how you pursue righteousness as the level of “obedience” or “righteousness” you seemingly achieve.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 – “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
So there is a “love” that is infinitely important when pursuing obedience to the Lord.  What love might God have in mind?  Jesus tells us when he answers the question “what is the great commandment of the law?” in Matthew 22:35-37 – “And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.”
 
We are called to pursue this love and the good works that flow from it in community that is rooted in a shared faith in the gospel.  Hebrews 10:19-25 – “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
The exhortation to continually meet together to stir one another up to love and good works is precipitated by a shared “confession of hope” which is the good news of our reconciliation to God through the atoning death of Jesus for our sin, and His victorious resurrection.
2 Corinthians 3:12-18 – “Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 51 – Deconstructing “truth” for Everlasting Joy

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Some of you have noted my lack of writing of late.  These messages press on me, as I hope they do you.  I’ve taught long enough to know what is coming – Romans 9 will be a cause for some to unveil the glory of God and result in exceeding joy in praise to His sovereignty in all things.  Romans 9 will be a cause for some to reject truth and perhaps walk away from their faith altogether.  So as I’m working through the upcoming message, I want to plead for God’s grace to us all that the messages to come in Romans 9, 10, and 11 would result not in some shrinking back from God, but finding peace and joy in His sovereignty over all things.

There are many ways to find joy in life, not all of them are good or lasting.  There are many ways to manufacture emotion towards God, not all of them are good or lasting.  Lasting joy is only found in Truth.  My hope is that the wellspring for our joy in God would be infinite, unleashed and grounded in the never-changing Truth from the Word of God.  I say this because everything in our culture tells us that we are the center of the universe.  It is the “truth” that has been pressed into us from as long as we can remember.  It is the root of sin to believe that we are greater than God and should be regarded as such, yet many Christians harbor one last piece of pride against God, that God is contingent upon them, instead of their being contingent upon God.  No one has to be “taught” to believe that their will, their “free will”, is ultimately self-determining.  They believe that because it appeals to their nature.  Mind you, this kind of “free will” that is autonomous and ultimately self-determining is found nowhere in the Bible, not a single verse.  We have a will, that is without dispute, but why we will, what we will is governed by an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving God who will not submit His good purpose for His glory for anything, let alone the whims of sinful man.
That message was once extremely offending to me personally.  I was confronted with this doctrine by a teacher about 10 years ago.  At the time, I was discouraged because this was a man I had looked up to, I trusted, and now he was telling me things about God that disturbed me a great deal.  I thought he was crazy.  I spent the next months reading my Bible searching for ways to prove that what he was saying about God was wrong, and in the end I was undone by Romans 9.  It was the nail in the coffin to my desire for “free will” as most define it, but it was also the beginning of a love of God for who He is, and His supremacy in all things.  Why do I share all this?  2 reasons.  First is that for those of you who have an initial negative reaction to what I’m going to share, I want you to know that’s ok – but don’t allow your personal views to be the arbiter of Truth – trust the Word of God as Truth and search the scriptures as I did to settle the matter for yourself.  Second, because I want you to know that doctrine by itself is pointless.  We do not press new truths of God into our heart and mind just so we can be “right” in an intellectual debate amongst Christians – the very thought of that disgusts me and churns my stomach to think of it.  We know and hold fast to our doctrine because it is the root of true, everlasting joy in God.  We endeavor to know God for the joy that comes with Him.  We hold doctrine because it dictates how we live our lives – your peace in life, how you engage a fallen world day to day will be governed by your view of God, and specifically the joy that you find in Him.
So before I go into Romans 9, which will last a number of weeks, followed by Romans 10, and 11, which will last a number of more weeks, I want to share three passages that helped guide my understanding of what is written in Romans 9.  The first is Proverbs 16 (the entire chapter, but spefically 16:9) – “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps” This is about as clear as you can be, that a man wills, but the Lord is sovereign over what happens in a way that what comes about is the will of God.  The second was the exchange between Joseph who had been sold into slavery by his brothers, and those same brothers who feared Joseph and God’s wrath for their wrongdoing.  Genesis 50:19-20 – “But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?  As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”  This one was difficult for me at first – it is saying that God desired sin on the part of Joseph’s brothers, brought it about, but yet God was good, because His purpose in everything was for good.  In the story, for the provision of food (life) for Israel, but metaphorical as a picture of God’s purpose for salvation for His people.  So the brothers willed something, selling Joseph into slavery because of their jealousy, but they willed that something because God desired it to be for His purpose.  Finally, as a  good baptist kid growing up, I was familiar with Philippians 2:12 – which says “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”  No problem there, it’s telling me I should seek obedience to God.. the problem is the next verse which says “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work according to His good pleasure.”  I didn’t remember hearing many sermons on that part… My willing was God at work in me to will and work, according to His good pleasure.
So all of these and other verses weighed in my mind as I came into Romans 9.  These verses have now been commended to you as well.  The rest of my time in Romans 9, 10, and 11, I will not make any concessions on the Truth of God to make it more “palatable”.  Each of us must wrestle with the Truth that comes, knowing that God is greater, that in all things He is good, and the joy to be found is infinite, eternal joy.  I will cover a great many questions that accompany God’s sovereignty and faithfulness over the coming weeks, but we would never reach Romans 12 if I sought to answer them all.  My prayer is that God gives us all soft hearts, ready for the Molder to grow us in the knowledge of the Truth, and that He would continue to do so for years to come.  My exhortation and expectation is the same as the author of Hebrews 10:37-39 which says, “For in just a little while, he who is coming (Jesus) will come and will not delay; but my righteous one will live by faith.  And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.”  But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.”  We will not shrink back, but will press forward together in the coming weeks and months, entrusting ourselves to our God and the Holy Spirit that will guide us into all Truth.
Grace and Peace,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 50 – Secure in Jesus

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The greatest lie Satan will try to convince Christians of is that their salvation rests in themselves.  This lie must be confronted with the truth of the gospel of Jesus daily if we are to continue in our faith with joy.  Every other religion will speak about what you must do to become right with God, how you must earn His favor, but as Christians we trust not in ourselves, but that our God secured salvation for us.  We do nothing to save ourselves, Jesus is our Savior.  He bore the wrath of God for our sins, He died, He conquered death and rose to sit at the right hand of God.  We are secure in Him and His love for us will never change.  That is the great message from Romans 8:31-39 today:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?  Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.  Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?  As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” (Psalm 44:22) No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Our Heavenly Father, in a fullness of love sent forth Jesus to ransom a people.  They were held in bondage to sin, and Jesus came to pay a price to bring them to God.  Here is what I want you to know – no matter how you feel that you have sinned, you have sinned infinitely worse than you can imagine.  None of us fully understands the weight and gravity of our sin against our Creator, a perfectly holy God who loves us.  Things get worse… Satan, the ruler of this world, who knows God better than you do, is constantly accusing you in front of God day and night.  (Rev 12:10)  Worse still, every accusation about your sinfulness is true.  The great news of the gospel though is that you have already been judged.  All of your sin past, present, and future was placed on Christ on the cross.  He absorbed the infinite wrath of God, the penalty your sin deserved, in your place.  So now, the accusations against you are true, but every time an accusation against you is made, literally Jesus stops the accuser and says – I paid for that.  He/She is not-guilty, the penalty has been paid, I paid it in full.  The accuser has been stopped – there is nothing left to accuse anyone of who trusts in Jesus. 

The resurrection of Jesus was evidence of the victory of Christ over sin and death.  The justice of God was vindicated by the blood of Jesus.  A price had to be paid for God to be holy and just, and Jesus paid it all.  Dueteronomy 21:22-23 – “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.”  Galatians 3:13 – “ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”  Our Lord and Savior Jesus, became a curse for us, that we might inherit Him, to have fellowship with Him now and forever. 

What else is there to say?  Time would fail us if we sought to understand and recount the depths of the love of God towards us in Jesus.  The work of redemption is finished.  Our accuser’s mouth is shut by the lamb of God.  Friends, you are free in Christ.  If God loves you as He does, what else matters?  The weight of such a salvation should move us to great acts of love and service to others as we share the gospel with a world in need of Jesus.  I hope that is the result of the gospel message in your heart.  I hope that it does not become stale or tired, but that you continue to fan into flame your faith by reminding yourself of the height and depth of God’s love towards us in Jesus and putting your belief into action.  The love of God has no end.  All of the power of God in creation of all of the universe pales compared to God’s love towards us in Jesus.  Find your hope and peace in Him and you will never want for anything in this life or the next.  Jesus has secured our salvation, and He has secured our inheritance for eternity.  We have Jesus, now, today, and forever, and He is more than enough. 

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Sheep and Shepherds

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As Christians, there will be times when we are running hard after Jesus, and there will be times when we feel like Jesus is nowhere to be found.  There will be times when we are valiantly killing off sin by the Spirit, pressing back the darkness in our lives and the world around us, and there will be times when it feels like the world around us is crashing in and we can’t escape our sin.  Some scoffers on the outside looking in at is during harder times and say, “hypocrisy, you’re not a Christian!”  A Christian shouts back, “it is only hypocrisy if we claimed perfection, rather than entrusting ourselves to the grace and mercy of the Perfect One, Jesus Christ.”

In the Bible, the King of Israel, David, was described as a man after God’s own heart:  Acts 13-21-22 – “Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.  And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’”  Considering this description by God of David and understand that God says this knowing everything David would ever do as you hear of David’s actions in 2 Samuel 11.

In 2 Samuel 11, we are told a story of the same man David who sees another man’s wife, Bathsheba, has his men bring her to him, and he sleeps with her.  Bathsheba becomes pregnant and sends a note to David telling him that she is going to have a child.  In order to cover up his sin of lust and adultery, David tries to get her husband, Uriah, drunk to go sleep with her so he would think the baby was his.  When Uriah refuses to sleep with his wife while his men are at war and he chooses to be with them instead, David gives orders to have Uriah killed in battle.  After David gets notice that Uriah has been killed, he brings Bathsheba into his house to live with him.  For at least the next 9 months until after the baby is born David lives with his sin, unrepentantly.  We know this because it isn’t until after the child of Bathsheba is born that Nathan, the prophet, confronts David about his sin in 2 Samuel 12.  After this confrontation David pens what is written in Psalm 51, his plea of repentance for the grace of God to blot out his sin and renew in him a clean heart. 

If you read the Old Testament, you will see a picture of David, a man valiant for the Lord, pursuing joy in the Lord and extending grace and wisdom into his kingdom.  God put David in a position as a shepherd over the people of Israel.  In this period however, God used another man, Nathan to shepherd David, to bring him back to the Lord as a lost sheep.  Why is this important to us?  This is a picture of the Church, the people of God reaching out to one another in love to keep them pursuing joy in their relationship with God.  Look at the instructions of Jesus to Peter in John 21:15-17 – “When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”  Each of us as followers of Christ have been called to look shepherd each other, to love one another enough to draw each other continually to the Lord.  Everyone, from the layperson to the pastor, will at times be a shepherd and at other times, a sheep needing to be brought back into the fold.  To think otherwise is arrogance, and to deny your calling to shepherd others is to deny your love for Christ and His love for His bride, the Church.  

I don’t often give specific applications, wanting instead to allow God to move in each person individually, but today I want to challenge myself and everyone else to consider 1 person that you have seen drift from the Church and reach out to that person.  It was 9 months before Nathan confronted David to draw Him back to God in repentance.  If you are David in this story, know that God is ever ready to receive you, jealous for your return – don’t wait 9 months for someone to come to you, but instead seek out someone to help you.  If you are a Nathan in this story (every Christian is), God has plans to use you to reach out to those who have drifted – answer His call. Take tangible steps to draw that person back in, by meeting up for a dinner or asking them to go to church with you or to your small group.  Do not simply resolve to pray for that person, but pray and take action.  Be encouraged and spurred to action from James 5:19-20 – “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”  Preach the gospel into their lives, watch out for your brothers and sisters in Christ and constantly encourage them, and again, preach the gospel.  In so doing, you will watch out for your own life and the life of others in a way that will build up the Church and bring glory to God. 

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 49 – Gods Great Promise

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Romans 8:28-30 – “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

Romans 8:28 is one of the most quoted verses in the Bible.  Rightfully so, it is God’s greatest promise to us.  I want to focus in on two things from these verses today that I hope will be helpful.  First, I want to rightly understand what Romans 8:28 means and what it does not mean, in light of the explanation given in Romans 8:29-30.  Secondly, I want to set a theological foundation for what Romans 9 is going to say, by rightly understanding the word “foreknew” in 8:29.  Most people who know me would say that I lean towards theological understanding vs. emotional, but I would say that in order to have any real true emotions for God, they must be based on a right, true understanding of Him.  So when I discuss theological items, I’m always going to explain why it matters objectively from God’s word, and to what extent it matters subjectively based on my own opinion, understanding, and hopefully wisdom. 

First, what does Romans 8:28 mean?  The most important part of what I want known about Romans 8:28 is that it is by no means a declaration of promised earthly prosperity.  Consider the author, Paul, who has been imprisoned and beaten for the very message that he is writing to the Church at Rome.  God is not promising us any kind of health, wealth, and prosperity as Christians.  A good explanation of Romans 8:28 is found in James 1:2-4 – “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”  Even as Christians, we struggle with believing that our joy can be found in this world and in this life.  God has something infinitely better for us, and it is at the center of what it means to truly “believe” the gospel; the good news of the gospel is our reconciliation to God, our ability through Christ to have perfect fellowship with Him.