October 15, 2012

"When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." I Corinthians 15:54-57

 

I Corinthians 15 is truly one of the great chapters of the Bible! It is great because it captures the spirit of a great man (Paul) and the essence of a great Truth (the Gospel).

 

Please allow me to summarize several of the great Truths it expresses:

 

1) God is stronger than the enemy!

 

Satan's two biggest weapons were sin and death. Through the grace of God in Jesus sin was defeated on the cross and death defeated when He walked out of the grave on the third day.

 

2) Salvation is stronger that sin!

 

Because Jesus became a man and proved that temptation can be resisted and that holiness is possible. As a result of His holy life He was able to assume all of the sins of humanity and become the atoning sacrifice for sin! He became like us that we might become like Him.

 

3) Life is stronger than death!

 

Jesus had to die in order to conquer death. We have to die in order to become eternal. The wages of sin is death - spiritual separation from God that can lead to eternal death. But because Jesus surrendered to death and then defeated it through the resurrection, we gain victory over death by living in His life!

 

4) Eternity is stronger than time!

 

During life, time is pretty much our enemy. We try to learn to use it to our advantage but as seconds become minutes and minutes turn into hours and hour add up into days and days mount into months which multiply into years - well, you know - time wears us down and we die. BUT, when we die in Christ we get the last laugh on time as we are born into eternity! There are no clocks or calendars in Heaven!

 

If you notice a victorious tone in I Corinthians 15 - you are right! We ARE victorious because Jesus won the victory for us!

 

Do you have that victory?

October 13, 2012

^"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness" II Peter 1:5-6

 

Recently I was honored when I read what one of my people had written about me. She referred to me as a "godly man".

 

That caused me to pause and asked myself, "Am I really a godly man? What does that mean? What does she see in me that brought her to that conclusion?"

 

Peter may have the answer in II Peter 1:6 - "For this very reason add to your faith.......godliness".

 

The word used for "godliness" conveys the idea of devoted worship of God. A godly person worships well.

 

But, it is more than that. As important as it is to worship well there is more to godliness. Godliness involves a disciplined witness or worshipping God so well that others notice.

 

Worship has a vertical relationship to it - from man to God. But it also has a horizontal relationship - from man to man. If you do not worship God well it will have a negative effect on how you relate to others. When your vertical relationship is strong it improves how you care about others. Likewise, if you are not treating other people well it will hinder your devotion to God.

 

Godliness then, is being devoted in both directions - upward toward God and outward toward others. If that is what she meant by  being godly, then I am deeply humbled and greatly encouraged.

 

I want to worship God well and I want to be a good witness for Him. That is the godliness I seek.

 

"Add to your faith........GODLINESS"!

 

 

 

October 12, 2012

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness" II Peter 1:5-6

 

My little dog can jump up on my bed even though it is about three times his height! And cats are able to jump from the floor to the top of the fridge though it towers above the cat's height.

 

Either one of those would be equivalent to you or I leaping up into a three or four story window. I really can't see that happening!

 

Perhaps that explains why ladders and stairs were invented for us humans. We can scale heights 10 or twelve inches at a time.

 

In the same way, I have never known anyone who could jump from becoming a new believer in Christ to becoming a fully mature spiritual giant in one big faith leap. Spiritual growth and maturity happens one faith step at a time.

 

Peter traces those steps for us in II Peter 1:5-7. We have been studying those steps recently but we have not yet tied each of those individual steps into a staircase to maturity. There is a significance to the order of these virtues.

 

Of course, it all begins with faith for faith initiates the personal relationship with God through Christ.

 

On the foundation of that faith relationship is to be added "Goodness". Goodness is the moral courage to apply your faith to daily challenges of living. As James declares in his epistle, "Faith without works is dead".

 

To moral courage is to be added Knowledge. Knowledge is the wisdom and insight that grows out of your relationship with Christ. Knowledge is knowing what pleases God and combined with Goodness, helps you to do what honors Him.

 

The third step on the way to spiritual maturity is Self-Control. Self-Control means "getting a grip" on your life. You must discipline the fleshly passions and desires so that the faith virtues can be unleashed through you.

 

Next is Perseverance, the ability to be steadfast in the face of sore trials. In fact, the original word "hupomone" means to endure difficulties in such a way as to turn it for good. Perseverance believes I Corinthians 10:13 and lives according to it - "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."

 

A fifth step to be added is "Godliness" or sincere worship of God that is evidenced by a godly witness.Godliness is the culmination of "faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control and perseverance" being active in your life. "Godliness" must be shown in your attitudes as well as in your actions.

 

Puppies can leap and cats can REALLY leap but Christians can't. But that doesn't mean we cannot make it the top in our spiritual maturity. It does mean that we must make steady progress step-by-step in our walk of faith.

 

How are you doing? Are you making steady progress? Which step do you think you are on?

 

 

 

 

October 11, 2012

^"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, GODLINESS" II Peter 1:5-6

 

One of the embarrassing moments of my mediocre athletic experience happened when I was playing High School baseball for the Warsaw Tigers. I came to bat with runners on  base and a chance to knock them in with a base hit. The pitch came and it was a late-breaking curve that I started to swing at but then tried to stop my swing and take the pitch for a ball. However, my bat went too far and made contact with the pitch resulting in a weak little ground ball that the first basemen easily scooped up and tagged the base. I was out. Upset at myself, I  took off my batting helmet as I crossed first base and slammed it to the ground so hard that it bounced back higher than my head.

 

My head coach was coaching first base and as I turned to head back toward the dugout he was standing there in the coaching box waiting for me. He was clearly angry and he lit into me about how I not only made myself look bad but I made the whole team and Warsaw High School look bad.

 

I had never seen him so upset and I knew he was right and was justified in his scolding of me. I immediately apologized as I realized I had only thought about myself and my own frustration and forgot that I represented Warsaw Community High School and the WCHS athletic program.

 

In my disappointment with myself for making an out I lost sight of my "Tigerness".

 

That is a picture of what Peter means when he call on us to "add to our faith.....godliness..."

 

What is Godliness?

 

Godliness comes from the Greek word "eusebia" and is used in the New Testament to express the idea of inner piety or spirituality. Vine defines this word as, "piety, which, characterized by a God-ward attitude, does that which is well pleasing to Him." Thayer says, "Reverence, respect, in the Bible everywhere piety towards God, godliness." And, Arndt and Gingrich says it refers to, "the duty which man owes to God piety, godliness, religion."

 

Thus, there are two parts to godliness. First, there is the "God-ward attitude" of "reverence and respect." Second, there also is the "doing of what is pleasing" to God, as the "duty" that we owe to Him.

 

Just as Coach Bock sternly admonished me for embarrassing the team with both my attitude AND my actions, Peter urges these believers to "think like God and act like God".

 

Godliness loves God and lives like it loves God. Godliness thinks and acts like God so that others think well of God and want to know Him as well.

 

Do you love God? Do your actions show it?

 

 

October 10, 2012

"When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted." Matthew 28:17

Now, why did they put that last phrase in there? Isn't that curious? I understand that Matthew would want us to know that the eleven remaining disciples worshiped the Risen Jesus - but did we need to know about the doubters?

 

How could you doubt Jesus when He is right there; risen, alive, and triumphant?

 

This serves as one more proof of the authenticity of the Bible. Had it been written by men who were trying to deceive they would not have included those three words "but some doubted".

 

So, what should we make of that statement?

 

Personally, I take encouragement from it! Here's why:

 

First, it tells me that these "some who doubted" (and we don't know how many of them there were) worshiped through their doubts. Even though they were unresolved in their faith, they didn't let it keep them from falling at the feet of the Resurrected Jesus.

 

Haven't you come to church some time when you were struggling with a doubt? What better place to be when you are unresolved in your faith?

 

Second, it tells me that God can use spiritually unresolved people to change the world! This same group of eleven became the foundation for the Church of Jesus Christ. So, not only did they worship through their doubts but the served through their doubts.

 

How many times have you stepped out into some new endeavor for the Lord and you weren't sure what the result would be. It was scary and uncomfortable for you but you leaned on His strength and worked through your doubts! I'm sure you have done that. I know I have!

 

Third, it doesn't say whether the doubts they had were toward Jesus or about themselves. For every doubt I have had about Him, I have had a thousand toward myself. In fact, when God began to lay the calling for ministry upon my heart, I resisted for four years primarily because I had serious doubts about my ability to measure up to that calling. I believed God could do it I just didn't think I could. Fortunately, a good friend assured me that when He calls He enables.

 

Why are those three words included in this significant portion of Scripture? I think it is because God want us to know that it is okay to have doubts as long as we worship through them and work through them. God is greater than our doubts!

 

If you are struggling with some doubts today - bring them to the feet of Jesus!

October 9, 2012

".....teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you....." Matthew 28:20

Like many young boys, I once harbored a vision of becoming a major league baseball player. There was one problem with that vision, I wasn't talented enough to play at that level. I probably didn't have the physical talent to play college ball either - but I did - for four years. And I played a lot. So, I got closer to my dream than my physical ablilities warranted.

 

How was I able to reach a higher level of competition than I probably deserved? Why was I able to compete with more physically gifted athletes and hold my own? Was I lucky?

 

Not at all! I earned every inning that I got to play. I worked very hard, trained and practiced by the hours.

 

When I started playing baseball at the Little League level I was fortunate to have had a coach who was a major league scout and had played some minor league professional ball. Because he knew the game and had played it well, he was able to teach me the fundamentals of baseball. Because he had been what I was hoping to be, I trusted him and I did everything he taught me to do in the fundamentally correct way he showed me to do it.

 

I enjoyed a college baseball career for one reason - I played the game exactly the way Dean Ford taught me to play it. Everything that I did was fundamentally correct. And because of that, I performed at a college level with limited physical talent. My college success was fundamentally sound because I did everything exactly as he had told me to do it.

 

How do we teach someone to obey?

 

Jesus taught us to obey by being personally obedient to The Father. He modeled it. He demonstrated it to the very point of His death on a cross.

 

These disciples were very average men who became pivotal players in the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ by being obedient to Jesus. They did "everything He commanded them". Therefore, they became much more effective than they should have been because they did life and ministry just like Jesus told them.

 

They learned obedience by obeying what God told them to do. And they achieved more with their lives than they would have without obeying Jesus. Living and serving as Jesus had showed them to do it allowed them to change the world.

 

It wasn't so much that they changed the world but it was the power of Jesus working through their obedience.

 

So, how do we get others to become obedient followers of Jesus? What do we have to "do" to teach them to obey? Simple! Obey!

 

God's vision for evangelizing the world included our obedience allowing His power and grace to flow through us!

 

Embrace the fundamentals of obedient service and play at a much higher level than you ever envisioned!

October 8, 2012

"And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'" Luke 16:26

 

The context of Luke 16, like all Scripture teaching is key to understanding. In this chapter Jesus is talking to His disciples about the importance of relationships over riches. Riches mean little if they don't result in rich relationships with God and those you love and live with.

 

There are those who argue that a "loving God would never send anyone to hell".

 

At least those people believe in hell. Not everyone does.

 

The truth is that God never has sent a human being to hell nor will He ever do so. Hell was created for the Devil and his legion of fallen angels. However, those who refuse to receive God's provision for salvation by accepting His Son, Jesus, will have no way of avoiding hell.

 

Peter tells us clearly that "God is not willing that any should perish but all come to repentence".

 

John wrote that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

 

Any person who winds up in hell will do so against the will of a loving God. But as C. S. Lewis once said, "Every person must decide if they will have faith in God and say, "Thy will be done." Any person who refuses to surrender to God's will and trust Him for salvation will come to the end of his days and at his last breath hear Jesus to him, "You did not want my will to be done so your will be done".

 

So, if God honors that man's will to refuse salvation through Christ and that refusal causes him to miss heaven, whose fault is it for ending up in hell? Surely it is not Christ's fault."

 

When you distill it all away, life is about relationships. Jesus commanded you to "love God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all you mind." and then He added, "Love your neighbor as yourself. Should you refuse to obey God in our relationships and live selfishly, when you come to end of your days, your eternity will be spent separated from God and completely alone. Hell is a horrible place of fire, and torment and darkness and pure evil. But the worst part of Hell is the fact that you will be cut off from all relationships. You will find yourself completely alone - eternally separated from God and isolated from other people forever! If you don't cherish the sacred and special realtionships in life you will lose them for eternity! Love the God who created you, the Jesus Who died for you and the people God gave you to share life with.