New People Leadership: “Acts 1 Is Different”

Posted by David on October 12, 1997 under Sermons

What a week! What a roller coaster ride! Something unbelievably successful happened and created one of the most exciting moments in your life! There was an adrenaline rush that created a fantastic, natural high. It felt so good, so right that you floated above the every day world. It was one of those, “Yes! I did it!” days.

Then, one week to the day, you had one of the “downest” downers you ever experienced. Everything crashed, and it devastated you. You plummeted into the darkest depths of the pit of pessimism. You were so depressed–and so confused! You thought nothing good could ever happen to you again.

Have you ever experienced a week like that? The people who followed Jesus did. It happened the week that he was executed. It started when Jesus entered Jerusalem while thousands and thousands of people cheered. Passover was a few days away, Jerusalem was splitting at the seams with people, and everybody was talking about Lazarus’ resurrection. Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem in the same way Israel traditionally welcomed a new king. The public was hysterical–people even took their clothes off and laid them in the road for Jesus’ donkey to walk on! It was bigger than a super bowl victory party!

That week Jesus was untouchable. His enemies could do nothing to him. Passover, the most important day in the Jewish year, was coming Saturday. What a time to put Jesus in charge of the nation!

Had anyone suggested that Jesus would be dead before sundown on Friday, people would have laughed at their stupidity. Kill the man who raises the dead! Don’t be ridiculous!

But it happened. Thursday night one of his own disciples betrayed him, and Friday afternoon he was dead. Roman soldiers executed him at the insistence of the Jewish public. Jesus was not only executed; he was also publicly disgraced.

The multitudes that followed Jesus for the past three years evaporated. The cheers died; an eerie silence lived. The miracle worker was dead. Sure, he had been raised from the dead, but that caused no major stir. Lazarus was alive and there for everyone to see doing everyday things everyday. But Jesus’ resurrection was different. It was real. His flesh lived again. He still had the wounds in his body. He was not a ghost. But he would appear, and then be gone. And that lasted for only 40 days (Acts 1:3) When he ascended into heaven, they realized that his frequent, unexpected appearances were over.

1. After Jesus’ ascension, one hundred twenty disciples remained together as a group in Jerusalem (Acts 1:15).
   1. This group included eleven of Jesus’ special disciples, a number of the women who cooked and cared for Jesus and the twelve as they traveled from place to place, Jesus’ mother Mary, and his physical brothers.
      1. It was such a confusing time.
      2. After the ascension, the eleven disciples stayed in an upper room in Jerusalem.
         1. Before he ascended, Jesus told them to stay in Jerusalem.
         2. He told them that the Holy Spirit would come on them.
         3. When the Holy Spirit came, they would receive power.
      3. The group remained together the ten days between Jesus’ ascension and the day the Holy Spirit came.
         1. It says that they spent the time in prayer.
   2. These ten days were such an awkward, strange, confusing time.
      1. Throughout Israel’s history, the only saviors the Jewish nation had known were military leaders.
         1. Moses, their first leader, wasn’t, but he was so unique that there had been only one Moses.
         2. But Joshua was, and the judges were, and King David was, and in recent history the Maccabeans were.
      2. The nation never had a nonmilitary, resurrected Savior.
         1. They never had a Savior who would not fight.
         2. They never had a Savior who surrendered to the enemy peacefully.
         3. They never had a Savior who refused to destroy the enemy.
      3. They had had military leaders, and prophets, and high priests, and Rabbis.
         1. These were natural, flesh-and-blood, living leaders.
         2. They never had a leader who had been killed and was alive again.
      4. They had absolutely no idea about:
         1. What God had in mind.
         2. What Jesus had in mind.
         3. What was going to happen.
         4. Or how it would work when it happened.
      5. Jesus just said, “Stay in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes”–whatever that meant.
         1. “Know that you will have power when the Holy Spirit comes”–whatever that meant. (They used the power to do miracles, so what was different about this power?)
         2. “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Samaria, and the whole world.”
            1. Witnesses of what?
            2. Witnesses about what?
            3. Surely, he was resurrected, but what did that mean? How could God use that?
            4. And what was this business of being witnesses to the world? Jesus rarely left Israel’s borders when he was alive. What world?
      6. In 40 days of resurrection appearances, Jesus talked a lot about the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3).
         1. They didn’t understand–in fact, it really didn’t make sense.
         2. How can you have a kingdom if you don’t have a king?
         3. How can Jesus be king even if he is resurrected, but just makes occasional appearances?
         4. Very confusing!
2. One day Peter told the whole group that they needed to replace Judas.
   1. He had been a part of the twelve’s ministry, and his vacancy needed to be filled.
      1. Peter cited Psalms 69:25 and Psalms 109:8 as proof that Judas had disgraced himself by betraying Jesus, and that he needed to be replaced.
      2. But there was a certain kind of man who was qualified to replace Judas.
         1. This man followed Jesus full time just as had the other eleven–and there is evidence that a number of people followed Jesus full time.
         2. He witnessed the work, deeds, and teachings of Jesus daily–he saw everything with his own eyes and heard it with his own ears.
         3. He started following Jesus when John baptized Jesus–the beginning point of Jesus’ ministry.
         4. He personally saw the resurrected Jesus.
   2. What happened then was very different, so different that it is astounding.
      1. Someone says, “I know what was so different.”
         1. “I read that Acts 1 would be in your sermon, so I read Acts 1.”
         2. “The astounding thing is that they cast lots to select the man.”
         3. I am so glad that you read Acts 1. That is wonderful. Casting lots does seem strange to us, that was not at all strange to them.
      2. What was casting or drawing lots? It was the kind of act we do when we draw straws, or draw a name out of a bowl, or something similar.
      3. Our immediate response is, “That certainly was a strange way to make an important religious decision.”
      4. Actually, that is the only thing about this decision that was not strange; in the Old Testament God often used lots to make known His decision.
         1. In Leviticus 16:8, on the second most important holy day in Israel, two goats were selected to be used on the day of atonement.
            1. One goat was given to the Lord by sacrifice.
            2. One goat was to be a scapegoat used to carry Israel’s sins away.
            3. Lots were cast to allow God to select which goat was to be used for what.
         2. Joshua 14:2 and 18:10 states that God was allowed to determine which section of land was given to what Israelite tribe by casting lots.
         3. Nehemiah 10:34 states God was allowed to determine which group of priest served in the temple by casting lots.
         4. Proverbs 16:33 states, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.”
      5. I find it noteworthy to realize that this is the last time casting lots was used by the followers of Christ to involve God in the decision.
         1. From the next chapter (Acts 2) forward, such decisions were made in cooperation with the Holy Spirit.
         2. A clear example is Acts 13:2 when the Holy Spirit told the prophets and teachers in the Antioch congregation to separate Paul and Barnabas for the work that the Spirit wanted them to do.
   3. “Then what is it about this decision that you consider to be astounding?”
      1. Peter did not pick the man.
         1. He obviously was in charge of that meeting.
         2. From Acts 2 through Acts 9 he would be the most popular and influential leader in the congregation at Jerusalem.
         3. In Jesus’ earthly ministry, he was one of Jesus’ closest disciples.
         4. But Peter did not pick the man.
      2. The eleven did not pick the man.
         1. They did not say, “We need to be sure to select someone who is compatible and meets our personal approval.”
         2. They did not declare, “We know better than anyone else who is needed to take Judas’ place.”
         3. They did not say, “Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit is coming on us and giving us power, so we should be the ones to make the choice.”
      3. Had Peter said that he would pick the man, or, had the eleven said that they should make the choice, I sincerely doubt that anyone would have objected.
         1. That was consistent with the way things were done then.
         2. It would have been appropriate.
         3. But it is not what happened.
      4. The 120, the whole group, including both men and women, selected two men who fit the profile Peter presented them.
         1. From their human perspective, both men were equally qualified to take Judas’ place.
         2. From their knowledge, either Joseph or Matthias would be fine.
      5. But the apostles did not even make the final choice between the two men.
         1. They, the group, prayed.
         2. “You, Lord, know the hearts of all people.”
         3. “Show us which one you have chosen.”
      6. Please carefully note and remember this: The final, most important qualification was the qualification of the heart–and only God knew hearts.
         1. Does that mean Joseph, who was not selected, had a bad heart, and Matthias, who was selected, had a good heart?
         2. Absolutely not! It in no way means that Joseph had less faith or was less spiritual.
         3. It meant that Matthias had the heart best suited for the work of an apostle.
   4. “David, what is it that is strikingly different about this decision?”
      1. The number one thing is that the whole group participated in making the decision.
      2. Peter practiced what we now call participatory leadership.
         1. Peter, as the leader, set the boundaries of the decision.
         2. The whole group, working within those boundaries, made a decision.
         3. Both men and women in the group had a part in doing this.
      3. The leader led, but the whole group participated.
      4. And this is not the last time this happened.

A brand new kingdom would come into existence in days. No kingdom had ever been like this new one. It would function in a new and different way. It would be led in a new and different way. But why should that be surprising? A new people in a new kingdom who existed for a new purpose needed a new kind of leadership.

Don’t forget the declaration that Jesus is alive and He is coming back!

If you are a Christian, you are alive because God put life in you, just as He put life into the dead body of Christ. You are alive because He is alive. You are alive when you are in Him. The power is from God to give you a new life, to make you a new person. When He gives you life, you share in Jesus’ resurrection.

If you are not a Christian, are you willing to be baptized so you can get life? We would love to help you find the life that only God can provide.

Leadership Profile: Ephesus (I Timothy 3)

Posted by David on October 5, 1997 under Sermons

In churches of Christ we have great concern for doing Bible things in Bible ways. I totally agree that is a good and legitimate concern. But this is the question we immediately confront: how do you decide what is a Bible thing, and how do you decide the Bible way to do it?

As an example, consider congregational leadership.

1. We want our congregations to have the same kind of leadership that congregations had in the first century.
   1. But deciding how to make congregational leadership a Bible thing done in a Bible way is complex, not simple.
   2. Congregations in the New Testament enjoyed four forms of leadership.
      1. They had leadership from the apostles.
         1. Without question, that was the best form of congregational leadership–it often was not well received, but it was the best.
         2. We all agree that the apostles were God inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit as no other Christians ever were.
         3. They also had the advantage of living and working with Jesus.
         4. They were the primary source of the Scripture that we trust and follow.
         5. For a while, the Jerusalem congregation had all of the apostles in their leadership.
      2. They had leadership from the Holy Spirit.
         1. The Holy Spirit was powerful and active in first century congregations.
         2. He also was essential in congregational leadership–the letters that became the New Testament were being written.
         3. With all the problems the congregation at Corinth had, 1 Corinthians documents that the Holy Spirit was very active in that congregation.
         4. Revelations and prophecies were essential to those congregations.
      3. They had leadership from evangelists.
         1. Evangelists were instructors, organizers, troubleshooters, and appointers.
         2. Timothy and Titus are primary examples of evangelists.
         3. Paul’s letters to these two men were instructions of how they were to work and what they were to do in specific churches.
         4. One responsibility was to help appoint local church leaders.
         5. Caucasian congregations in the United States have rejected this form of leadership within our congregations.
            1. We use it extensively in our mission work–we expect our missionaries to be proactive in the leadership of congregations on the mission field.
            2. But we do not accept or sanction leadership roles for evangelists in American congregations.
         6. Many African-American congregations use the evangelist in the leadership role of the local congregation.
      4. They had local men called elders, bishops, or presbyters–all referring to the same men–who functioned as congregational leaders.
         1. This is our primary form of leadership in Caucasian congregations.
         2. It was unquestionably a primary form of congregational leadership in first century churches.
2. As we use elders for leadership, we make some basic assumptions.
   1. We assume that elders in the different first century congregations were the same kind of men.
      1. Today in our congregations we make that same assumption.
      2. I can testify that elders from congregation to congregation are not the same kind of men.
         1. I have worked under elderships for 35 years–since 1962.
         2. Few elders have attended as many elder meetings as have I.
         3. I have listened to elders make decisions since I was 22 years old.
         4. I can assure you that not all elders are the same kind of men, and that elders from congregation to congregation are not interchangeable.
      3. Generally, elders in all congregations do share some things in common.
         1. They are married.
         2. They have children.
         3. They are not divorced.
         4. They are not active alcoholics.
         5. They are not recently converted.
      4. One of my special blessings has been to work with some truly exceptional elders in different contexts.
         1. I have worked with some in mission focused congregations.
         2. I have worked with some in university congregations.
         3. I have worked with some in a typical urban settings.
         4. But these remarkable men were not interchangeable.
3. Within our basic assumptions about elders as leaders, we have oversimplified congregational leadership.
   1. Our reasoning often has been:
      1. The Bible is the Bible.
      2. The New Testament is the New Testament.
      3. What Paul said to Timothy was identical to what he said to Titus.
      4. The circumstances at Ephesus and Crete were identical.
      5. The needs at Ephesus and Crete were identical.
      6. The composition of those congregations were irrelevant.
   2. So we take a concordance, look up all the references to elders, bishops, presbyters, put them all together, and reinforce our assumptions.
      1. Before we study what Paul said to Timothy and Titus about elders, we assume he said the same thing, so we approach it as if it were identical.
      2. We look at both as Paul’s check list of elder qualifications.
   3. This suggestion is worthy of serious consideration and thought.
      1. If you think about it, it is obvious that Paul never intended 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 to be “the” check list for “the” qualifications for elders.
      2. There are some basic, critical qualifications not included in either scripture.
         1. Neither scripture says anything about the man’s faith in Christ.
            1. A congregation is in serious trouble if it entrusts its leadership to men who do not have great faith in Christ.
            2. A congregation can look forward to great blessings if it entrusts its leadership to men who do have great faith in Christ.
            3. A man can have little faith and meet the qualifications if we make a check list out of those two scriptures.
         2. Neither scripture says anything about the love the man has for Christ.
            1. A congregation faces serious problems if it trusts its leadership to men who have little love for Christ or who cannot express love for Christ.
            2. A congregation can look forward to great blessings when it entrusts its leadership to men who have and express great love for Christ.
            3. A man can have little love and meet the qualifications if we make a check list out of those two scriptures.
         3. Neither scripture says anything about the love the man feels for the people in the congregation–how important is it that the shepherd love the sheep, especially the wounded, sick, or erring sheep?
            1. We emphasize his “love of the truth” rather than his love of the sheep.
            2. Some leaders love the truth but do not love the sheep.
            3. Elders love both, but love of the sheep makes them great shepherds.
         4. Neither scripture says anything about the men having the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22, 23) or the Christian graces (2 Peter 1:5-8) which must live in any man who has the spiritual maturity to provide leadership.
      3. I suggest that 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 are not a check list of elder qualifications.
         1. I suggest that each provides a profile of the kind of spiritually mature men that can be trusted to be shepherds in two different situations.
         2. To both Timothy and Titus, Paul says, “This is the kind of spiritually mature Christian men you are looking for in your situation.”
         3. A man could be spiritually mature and not fit the profile.
         4. Paul did not intend either scripture to be a checklist.
4. Please take a careful look at the situation at Ephesus.
   1. Ephesus was the fourth largest city in the Mediterranean world with perhaps a population of a quarter of a million people.
      1. The city was the gateway to Asia.
         1. Caravans met the ships at Ephesus.
         2. Militarily, it had been a strategic city for around a thousand years.
      2. One of the most important and impressive temples in the world, the temple of Artemis or Diana, was there; Ephesus was the religious center of all Asia.
      3. It was one of the important urban centers of the Roman empire.
         1. It was a center for the business and religious world.
         2. It was wealthy, sophisticated, with significant cultural development.
      4. The congregation existed in a city “where it was happening.”
   2. This congregation enjoyed all four forms of first century leadership.
      1. Paul, the apostle, taught every day in the school of Tyrannus for two years, so this congregation had direct leadership from an apostle (Acts 19:8-12).
      2. As in all the congregations, the Holy Spirit was active (Ephesians 4:30; 5:18).
      3. Timothy worked with the congregation as an evangelist (1 Timothy 1:3-11).
      4. And they had elders.
   3. Evidently they had elders before Paul completed his long and effective stay in Ephesus (Acts 19:1-20).
      1. Later, as he passed near Ephesus, he called the elders at Ephesus to meet him at Miletus (Acts 20:17,18).
         1. In that meeting, Paul said some striking things to these men (Acts 20:28-32).
         2. They needed to be on guard for themselves as well as the congregation.
         3. Their appointment to be shepherds was from the Holy Spirit.
         4. Men who were described as savage wolves were going to enter the eldership and the congregation and cause destruction among the sheep.
         5. Some of these very elders would exalt themselves.
         6. Some of them would tell the congregation things that would direct the congregation away from what was right and good.
         7. Some of them would deliberately create their own followings.
         8. Some of them would develop their own personal disciples.
      2. Before Paul wrote this letter to Timothy that we call 1 Timothy, Ephesus had elders–elders were in place there for some years before this letter.
5. Now turn to 1 Timothy and follow me as you remember two things: Timothy is in Ephesus; and years before, Paul told the elders that some of them would become wolves.
   1. Look at what is happening:
      1. Certain men in the congregation are teaching strange doctrines (1:3).
         1. They are emphasizing myths, genealogies, and speculation (1:4).
         2. They are pursuing fruitless discussions (1:6).
         3. They make confident assertions they don’t understand (1:7).
      2. Some of these men have rejected faith and a good conscience (1:19).
         1. Their faith is shipwrecked.
         2. Paul names two men he has “delivered to Satan” to teach them not to blaspheme (1:20).
      3. Isn’t that what Paul warned would happen in Acts 20?
   2. The situation:
      1. The congregation had elders.
      2. Some of those elders were exceptional, worthy of double honor (5:17).
      3. Some of those elders were sinful and needed to be rebuked before the whole congregation (5:20).
      4. Those worthy of honor were not to be subjected to irresponsible charges–accusations must be supported by two or three witnesses (5:19).
      5. All elders were accountable to the congregation.
      6. In the matter of honor or charges, there was to be no bias, no partiality, and no action taken hastily (5:22, 23).
      7. If you want to see one contrast between the profile of a man you need as an elder and of a man you don’t need as an elder, contrast 3:1-7 with 6:3-5.
   3. The need:
      1. Timothy, the congregation needs more elders.
      2. It has some very good ones, and it has some sinful ones.
      3. It is not a matter of just adding some men.
      4. A certain kind of man needs to be added; this kind of Christian man; here is a profile of the kind of men Ephesus needs as elders.
         1. He is respected for his mature spiritual character within the church.
         2. His values stress the spiritual, not the material.
         3. He is a family man, so he knows how to love and work with people.
         4. He had the spiritual maturity not to be deceived by the unspiritual thinking going on in the congregation.
         5. The community respects him.

Can you see from the scripture that we are not talking about a checklist, but the profile of the kind of man that was needed to be a shepherd and overseer in the church at Ephesus?

A New People

Posted by David on under Sermons

Do you know what basic problem is in the world? Do you know what the basic problem is in our society? Do you know what the basic problem is in the families of our society? It is the same basic problem in all of them! The basic problem is people.

Do you realize that every significant problem in our world is caused by people? Look at the problems in our society, and notice that the causes for every social problem is people. People cause the problems in our country. They cause the problems in our state. They cause the problems in our city. They cause the problems in our families. They even cause the problems in our congregation. It is always people!

We could solve all our existing problems if we just got a brand new people to inhabit this earth.

“David, that is ridiculous! That is worse than ridiculous –that is just plain stupid.” I know it. It is a gross, ridiculous oversimplification. I know that having a huge, world wide people exchange is ridiculous. I also know that if such an exchange were possible, it very likely would not solve anything.

But have you seriously thought about what God said about changing the world, or changing society, or changing families? God said that the key to causing this incredible, desirable change is new people. God never suggests that we import a whole planet of new people from some distant universe. God says that the people who are living in our world right now need to let Jesus Christ recreate them, to literally make them new people.

1. May I ask you some very personal questions?
   1. I would like for you to be absolutely honest in your answers.
      1. But don’t answer out loud.
      2. Do not share your answers to anyone else.
      3. Just be brutally honest with yourself.
   2. Are you a Christian? “Yes.”
      1. When you were baptized, did you genuinely believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? “Yes.”
      2. When you became a Christian, did you sincerely repent, did you consciously decide to redirect your live? “Yes.”
   3. That being true, when you were baptized into Jesus Christ, what were your intentions?
      1. There are different, legitimate intentions at baptism, and we can have more than one intention.
         1. “Well, I intended to do what I understood I was supposed to do.”
         2. “My intention was real simple–I did not want to go to hell.”
         3. “My intention was to become a member of the church that was dedicated to being Christ’s church.”
         4. “My intention was to serve Jesus Christ as I made him my Lord.”
         5. “My intention was to do the will of God.”
      2. Now may I ask a much more personal question: when you in faith and repentance were baptized into Jesus Christ, when you accepted Jesus as the Lord of your life, did you have any intention of becoming a new person?
         1. “Do you mean did I intend to modify my behavior?” No, that is not what I mean.
         2. “Do you mean did I intend to change my habits?” No, that is not what I mean.
         3. “Are you asking me did I intend to take control of my life and accept responsibility?” No, that is not what I am asking.
         4. “Are you asking do I intend to put a stop to some visible forms of evil in my life?” No.
      3. “Then what are you asking me?” I am asking did you intend to become a new person–to think in new ways, to develop new emotions, new values, new motives, new purposes for living, new ambitions, new uses for life, etc.?
         1. I literally mean when you made the decision to place your life in Jesus Christ, did that decision include your conscious choice to allow Jesus Christ to totally change you as a person?
         2. Did you intend to become a different person, or did you intend to remain the same person that you always have been, but do some necessary things differently?
2. Today the church confronts a very serious problem.
   1. The truth is this: the church always has confronted this serious problem, and it always will confront this problem.
      1. When you read the letters written to the churches of the New Testament, this serious problem is very obvious–you see it again and again in the congregations written in the New Testament.
      2. While this problem is as old as the church, it was extremely serious then and it is extremely serious now–and it will always be a serious problem.
   2. What is this serious problem?
      1. When non-religious people who are outside the church look at religious people who are inside the church, they are struck by the fact that the people in the church are not that different.
      2. Maybe they have a different lifestyle–but maybe not.
      3. Religious people like creature comforts just as much as non-religious people; they just focus on a different set of creature comforts.
      4. Religious people’s priorities outside the church often are not different at all.
      5. Religious people’s vocabularies may be different, their habits may be different, but basically they are the same kind of people.
      6. They really do not see or believe that Christ makes the people different.
         1. It may make a difference in how they behave in a specific circumstance.
         2. It may make a difference in what they say in some circumstances.
         3. It may make a difference in some of their habits.
         4. But the changes are external; the person does not really change.
   3. If we, as Christians, struggle to understand that belonging to Christ is supposed to change us as a person, we are not weird–many of the first Christians struggled with that same understanding.
      1. The Colossian Christians had a distorted understanding of what it meant to live the Christian existence.
      2. In chapter three Paul dealt with a key element of their distorted concept.
         1. Verses 1-4:
            1. This is what happened when you were baptized: you were resurrected in Christ–by an act of God, you were actually resurrected.
            2. If you were resurrected with Christ from a dead existence to a new existence, you need to focus your new existence on Christ.
               1. You need to let Christ teach you how to think.
               2. You need to realize that your entire existence is completely enveloped by Christ’s existence.
         2. (Verses 5-9) Your physical body no longer exists to be used for:
            1. Sexual immorality.
            2. Greed.
            3. Worshipping things or gods other than Jesus Christ.
            4. Anger and all its rage companions.
            5. Any of the evil behaviors and activities that characterized the old existence, the old self.
         3. (Verse 10) Because you are a Christian, you have a new self, you are a new person.
            1. That new self comes into full existence by focusing on the image of Christ to learn true knowledge that will produce the new existence.
            2. Christ created this new self when you were raised with him in baptism.
            3. Allow this new self to come into its full and complete existence–become the new person Jesus created you to be.
         4. (Verse 11) Please understand this fact: Jesus recreates every single person who participates in his death and resurrection.
            1. He does that to the most and the least civilized person.
            2. He does that to the Jew and to the non-Jew.
            3. He does that to the slave and to the person who is free.
            4. Every person who is in Christ has Christ in them; every person in Christ is recreated by Christ himself.
      3. Why did Paul tell them this? Simply because they did not understand it.
3. David, are you really asking us to believe that people changed as persons because they believed in and entered Jesus Christ? Absolutely! I want you to believe it because it happened.
   1. Take your Bible, turn to Acts 2, and remember what happened.
      1. For the first time the resurrected Jesus was presented as Lord and Christ.
      2. This happened in the same city where Jesus was executed less than two months previously.
      3. Many of the people who heard this first declaration that Jesus was resurrected to be Lord and Christ were the same people who screamed for his crucifixion.
      4. When they realized they made a horrible mistake, when they realized that they demanded the execution of God’s own son, they were terrified (murdering God’s son is serious business!) and asked, “What can we do?”
      5. Because they believed that Jesus was resurrected Lord and Christ, they were told that repentance and baptism would result in forgiveness and receiving the Holy Spirit.
      6. Three thousand of those people were baptized, and a conversion explosion began in Jerusalem.
   2. As I paraphrase, look closely at Acts 2:43-47.
      1. Verse 43—The sense of awe that began on the first day of conversions continued–people were astounded at what God had done and was doing.
      2. Verse 44–The people who accepted Christ formed an incredible bond of togetherness.
      3. Verse 45–They were so devoted to each other because they were in Christ that they were determined to care for each other’s physical needs–even when it required selling property and possessions.
      4. This was not a “share the pennies” arrangement.
         1. Last weekend we took our three-and-a-half year old twin grandchildren to a recreation of a first century market place.
         2. As each child came through the gate into the marketplace, he or she was given a cloth money bag with 25 pennies in it.
         3. In the market place, for a penny, they could buy or do all kinds of things.
         4. My grandchildren were so thrilled with their bag of pennies that they spent them sparingly.
         5. When they got home they got into a fuss about how many pennies they each should have, so Dad equally divided the pennies and dictated an end to the fuss.
      5. These people did not divide the pennies–they took care of needs.
      6. Verse 46–They went to the temple everyday, likely to pray; they ate together in their homes; they were happy and genuine.
      7. Verse 47–They praised God (would that make you uncomfortable? would you know how to do that?) And people liked them!
      8. They were a new people! And it was not just initial enthusiasm after baptism–they were still doing this in Acts 4:32,33. It says there was not a needy person in that congregation of thousands!
   3. In an age of poverty, that was unheard of! In an age of prosperity, it still is!
      1. How would you like to be part of a congregation like that?
      2. Think you would love it? On which end of the prosperity spectrum?
      3. Would you agree with this statement? That could happen only because those people become new people.

I am not talking about manufactured differences. I am not talking about artificial differences. I am talking about actually becoming a different person. If I cooperate, if I allow Jesus to mold me into the image of the new creation, Jesus will mold me to be like him. There won’t be anything artificial about it. Naturally, week by week, year by year, I act, think, feel, care, and serve like Jesus. I adopt his purposes and his ways and his concerns. And that literally results in me being a new person.

Maybe you did not intend to become a new person when you were baptized. But the moment you entered Christ, Jesus created something from you that never existed before. When you realize that that same faith that placed you in Christ will begin shaping and molding you into a different person. If you refuse to believe that, Christ will never be able to do in your life what he intended to do the day he recreated you.

It has been so easy for us in the last two generations to be obsessed with what is right. We can be so focused on what is right that that becomes the only concern. This leads to cold, unsympathetic, formal congregations. They do what’s right, but it doesn’t change how they feel.

It is even more important to change into being what Christ wants us to be. When I become what Jesus wants me to be, I can do what’s right. (I can do what’s right with the same old heart, but that is not what God intends.)

Don’t forget about what’s right. But put first things first. Let Christ complete His creation. Do what’s right with a life of compassion. Get the focus right. Be a new person in Christ.

When Worlds Are Superimposed

Posted by David on September 21, 1997 under Sermons

Two of the common concerns in every decade, every century, every age are function and method. Consider some simple examples that obviously always have been and always will be primary concerns in every decade, every century, and every age.

What is the function of government?

What method(s) should government use to govern?

What is the function of business?

What method(s) should business use to achieve its purposes?

What is the function of the family?

What method(s) should the family use to serve its purposes?

What is the function of religion?

What method(s) should religion use to touch people?

Those questions of function and method can never be answered once and for all. In fact, they must be reasked and reanswered in every decade, every century, every age. As societies change, as interaction between countries and people increase, as the rate of development increases, new needs are born and new situations arise. Each time we are forced to address new needs and cope with new situations, we must again ask, “What is the function of . . . ? What method(s) will be used to . . . ?”

The powerful temptation is to superimpose old functions on new needs and to superimpose old methods on new situations. That is not only the powerful temptation; that is the common reaction.

Nowhere is that done more zealously and more predictably than in religion. In Christianity, when a new need arises, we typically react by declaring old functions will adequately address the new need. When new situations arise, we typically react by declaring that old methods will adequately address the new situations.

Let me use a specific example. The leadership needs of a rural congregation in the 1950’s and the leadership needs of an urban congregation in the 1990’s bear little similarity. The lives and daily world of families living on farms and the lives and daily world of families living in a city and working in industry or business are different in more ways than they are alike. What is necessary to nurture and minister to the families in those two situations is quite different.

A man could be a superb leader in the rural congregation but be quite ineffective in the urban congregation. Or, a man could be a superb leader in the urban congregation and even more ineffective in the rural congregation.

The general qualities of successful leadership are basically the same for each congregation, but the function of successful leadership and the necessary methods for successful leadership in each congregation are quite different.

1. Congregational leadership is not a simple question; it is a very complex issue.
   1. Without question, the basic biblical qualifications for leadership are fairly simple.
   2. But the critical issue facing congregations today is not the qualifications of a leader.
      1. However, the question of qualifications is about the only leadership question that we seriously address.
      2. We can have intense discussions about what are necessary qualifications.
      3. We can have intense discussions about who is and is not qualified.
      4. But we have almost no discussion about the purpose of leadership or what we expect of leadership.
   3. When it comes to the function of leadership and the methods leadership is to use, we want to superimpose the functions and methods of the past on the needs and the situations of the present.
      1. As congregations, we rarely ask the necessary questions.
      2. As congregations, even when we ask the necessary questions, we often do not make a serious attempt to understand the questions or to answer them.
      3. In considering the function and methods of congregational leadership, what are the necessary questions?
         1. # 1: What are the actual needs in the congregation? We must clearly define and accurately understand the needs.
         2. # 2: Is each specific need being effectively addressed? Is the congregation as a whole and are the members individually going to grow and develop the way we are currently addressing the needs?
         3. # 3: Can we better define function and better identify available methods to more effectively and successfully address our specific needs?
         4. # 4: Will the way we presently address our specific needs allow us:
            1. To touch and influence more lives of people in the community who are not Christians?
            2. To nurture, build up, and bring to maturity the lives of Christians within the congregation?
2. The questions involving leadership function and methods in congregational leadership have been and are complex and complicated.
   1. When Christianity began, it was totally different from any widely known or widely practiced religion.
      1. Nothing like it had existed before.
      2. Everything about it was different, including leadership.
         1. It was distinctly different from Judaism.
         2. It was distinctly different from widely known forms of idol worship.
      3. Christianity was distinctly different in the way it dealt with needs.
         1. Questions involving function were new questions.
         2. Questions involving method were new questions.
      4. When Jews became Christians or when idol worshipers became Christians, they faced a confusing transition.
         1. Their transition from the functions and methods of Judaism or idolatry was a difficult transition.
         2. That transition was still in progress when the New Testament closed.
         3. If you look and listen as you read the epistles, the difficulty of the transition is apparent.
   2. Judaism’s system of leadership had been in place for well over 1000 years.
      1. Power and control were vested in the high priest who, in the Old Testament, served in that role from appointment until death.
         1. He had to be a direct descendant of Aaron, Moses’ brother.
         2. By divine law, only he was permitted to preside over certain rites of worship and atonement.
         3. Only he could enter the Most Holy Place.
         4. He was in charge of the other priests.
      2. The other priests performed the common rites of worship.
         1. They prepared and offered most of the sacrifices.
         2. They were in charge of most of the temple rituals.
      3. As far as religious leadership, the priesthood was in charge.
         1. In the Old Testament they even read the law to the people.
         2. In the New Testament they controlled the temple area and functions, and that was the actual heart of the nation of Israel.
      4. Basically the people had a passive role in both worship and leadership.
         1. Basically they thought what they were told to think, they did what they were told to do, and they complied to the laws in the manner those laws were explained to them.
         2. The high priest represented them before God.
         3. The priests were in charge of their acts of worship.
         4. They brought their sacrifices, they complied with their instructions, but they were not active participants in many things.
   3. Consider leadership in idolatry with its temples.
      1. Again, leadership was vested in the priests.
         1. The priests at the temples often also served as the city administrators.
         2. Often there was little distinction between a religious function and a civic function.
            1. The gods were often brought out of the temple to greet important government officials that came to the city.
            2. Important government officials visiting the city often went to the temple to pay a courtesy call on the god.
            3. Civic buildings were often used for religious purposes, and temples were often used for civic business.
      2. The priests were in charge and control of the temple, the religious activities, and the affairs of the god.
         1. They answered the questions of pilgrims who visited the temple.
         2. They kept order.
      3. It was not unusual for lawyers to come to the temple, stand before the god, present their briefs, and explain their cases.
      4. In a number of places the temple served as the city’s banking institution.
      5. The priests occupied a very prominent role of leadership, and, again, the worshipers basically had a passive role in what occurred.
         1. They ate sacrificial meals.
         2. They performed certain rites under the guidance and direction of the priests.
   4. I know this presentation of leadership in Judaism and idolatry is generalization, that there were exceptions, but the generalization is typical.
3. Now think about the incredible contrast with leadership in Christianity.
   1. The focus of leadership function and methods in Judaism was on God; the focus of leadership function and methods in idolatry was on the god or goddess; but the focus of leadership in function and methods in Christianity is on ministering to and serving Christians.
      1. Jesus made it very clear:
         1. The way you take care of people is the way you treat me.
         2. To worship God and call me Lord when you are unconcerned with people is meaningless.
      2. Leaders in the congregations are shepherds, not priests.
         1. They exist to take care of the flock, not represent people to God.
         2. Their concern is to serve the sick, the weak, the troubled, and the discouraged.
         3. They are to protect the flock from evil people who would destroy them.
         4. That is a radically different concept of the function of leadership!
      3. Leaders are not figures with control and unquestionable power.
         1. Christians are not coerced to follow.
         2. Leaders lead by example.
         3. Christians follow leaders because they respect them.
         4. Power and control are not the primary issues; the leader who uses power to control leads from weakness, not strength.
   2. Another radical difference: Christians participated in the leadership process from the very beginning.
      1. In Acts 1:15-26, one hundred twenty men and women who were believers chose the two men to be considered to become an apostle.
         1. What a difference in function and method!
      2. In Acts 6, the apostles told the entire congregation to choose seven men to administer the program for taking care of the physical needs of the widows.
         1. The apostles and elders were hands off that decision (other than giving the congregation the basic qualifications).
         2. They simply confirmed the seven whom the congregation chose.
      3. In Acts 15:22 the whole church confirmed the method to be used to inform Gentile congregations of a critical doctrinal decision.
         1. The context suggests that they witnessed the discussion and the decision.
         2. They obviously had an active part in implementing the decision.
   3. There were many struggles in the first century church that arose out of this leadership function and methodology because it was so different.
4. Some final observations.
   1. You and I do not know much about shepherds.
      1. Most of us never saw one.
      2. Few of us ever watched a shepherd actually lead sheep.
      3. The words “open range” mean nothing to most of us.
      4. At best, the concept of shepherding is vague to us; it is reduced to a few intellectual facts uninfluenced by any form of experience.
   2. You and I know a lot about the function and methods of a board of directors (which did not exist in the first century).
      1. We know and understand how a board of directors functions.
         1. It is typically vested with a high degree of control and authority.
         2. They hold a “high ground” position when a matter is discussed.
         3. While it is wise for them to be sensitive to those they represent, the power of decision is in their hands.
   3. Because the function and methods of a board of directors is familiar, in the past we superimposed the board of director concept on the leadership of the church.
      1. That was not all bad–it in the past has produced many good things.
      2. But neither is it all good, and it is an enormous mistake to decide that it is the divinely approved way to lead.
      3. With today’s wide spread skepticism and with today’s different needs, congregational leadership that functions like a board of directors is less effective than it has ever been.

Think about two things. First, we always tend to superimpose that which is familiar to us. Second, when we consider function and method, we must always ask the key questions: What is the purpose? What are the needs? What is in the true best interest of all parts of the congregation?

A New Me In a New World

Posted by David on under Sermons

“He is a changed man. From the time he was a freshman in college, all he did was chase women. For him, life existed to have a good time, and to have it any way you could find it. You could not depend on him for anything. He did what he wanted to do when he wanted to do it, and that is all he did. Today you would never guess that he had been that kind of person.”

“She is a changed woman. From the time she left home, all she did was party. Could she drink! And she smoked like a chimney! She had a different boyfriend every week. She was never serious with anyone, never serious about anyone. When she finally got a good job, she worked five days a week so she could party hard every weekend. Today you would never guess that she ever lived that kind of life!”

Each of us knows someone who totally turned his or her life around. This man or woman made a life-altering decision. That decision completely redirected his or her life. He was uptight; now he is easy going. She was stressed out; now she is calm. He was driven and compulsive; now he follows a sound value system. She was overbearing; now she is understanding. He was money hungry; now he is family centered. She was addicted to prestige; now she is truly down-to-earth.

Usually such people fall into one of two general categories. Some are convinced, “I have no choice. I have to be who I am; I have to live this life.” Others are convinced, “I have to achieve my ambition. This is the only path to my ambition. If I am going where I want to go, I have no choice–I simply must do this.”

Then one day she finally realizes, “I do have a choice; I can choose a totally different life.” One day he realizes, “The life I am living is not worth the price I am paying. It is stupid to live my life this way.”

The day that we are converted to Jesus Christ, that is what happens in our lives. Something brings us to a point of decision that says, “My life cannot continue to be what it has been. I cannot keep on living life as I have lived it. I do have a choice, and I can make it. It is just not worth the price to keep on living the way that I have lived.”

The conversion decision is the decision to be a new me living in a new world.

1. For some of us, the moment of conversion came simultaneously with our baptism into Christ; for others of us the moment of conversion came when we matured in our understanding of our baptism into Christ.
   1. For an adult who lived a life devastated by evil, who then discovered Jesus Christ, and who then learned about hope and forgiveness, the moment of conversion likely was the moment of baptism.
      1. The moment was not created by the act of baptism–conversion was not just the fact that he or she was immersed in some water.
      2. The moment of conversion is represented by the decision leading to baptism.
         1. By decision, he or she is dying to sin.
         2. By decision, he or she is entering Christ.
         3. By faith, he or she is being buried with and resurrected with Christ.
   2. For a young person, for one of our children who has always lived in a Christian environment, in simple love for God and simple desire to obey God, he or she is baptized.
      1. In most instances this young person has never known great sin or devastating evil.
      2. He or she obeys God by being baptized, but he or she has not yet experienced the true devastation of evil.
      3. Conversion with its life directing commitment comes later.
         1. It comes when he or she confronts the realities of evil.
         2. It comes when he or she consciously, gratefully, decides to walk with Jesus.
   3. Most of us who are Christians know many facts about baptism.
      1. When combined with faith and repentance, baptism results in the remission of sin (Acts 2:38).
      2. It places us in Christ and allows us to be clothed in Christ (Galatians 3:27)
      3. It makes us a part of the body of people who belong to Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13).
2. But as much as we know about baptism, it is amazing to realize that there are many things that we do not understand about our baptism.
   1. The book of Acts is the only New Testament book that talks about people who were not Christians who decided to become Christians.
      1. Yet, except for Acts 2:38 and 22:16, the book of Acts teaches us very little about the significance of baptism.
      2. It tells us that people who were not Christians were baptized when they learned about Jesus, his death, and his resurrection.
         1. The first time Jesus was presented as Lord and Christ, three thousand who placed confidence in Jesus’ resurrection were (Acts 2:41).
         2. Men and women in Samaria were (Acts 8:12).
         3. Simon who practiced magic as sorcery was (Acts 8:13).
         4. The Ethiopian eunuch was (Acts 8:36).
         5. Paul was (Acts 9:18).
         6. Cornelius and his friends were (Acts 10:47,48).
         7. Lydia was and her household was (Acts 16:15).
         8. The Philippian jailor and his household was (Acts 16:33).
         9. Crispus and many Corinthians were (Acts 18:8).
         10. And some disciples in Ephesus were (Acts 19:5).
   2. But I find these facts amazing.
      1. Amazing fact one: Acts records a number of sermons preached to people who were not Christians, and the primary subject of each of those sermons is Jesus Christ.
         1. None of those sermons use baptism as a subject.
         2. In the entire New Testament there is no sermon to the unconverted on baptism.
      2. Amazing fact two: Most of the New Testament teaching on the meaning, the significance, and the importance of baptism was written to Christians, to people who had already been baptized.
         1. It is obvious that these people had been baptized.
         2. It is also obvious that most of them had not grasped the meaning and significance of their baptism.
      3. Amazing fact three: Often when a New Testament writer discussed baptism with Christians, he said that the reason they had spiritual problems was this: they did not understand baptism; they did not trust what God did when they were baptized.
   3. Let me give you some specific examples.
      1. In Rome some Jewish Christians rejected the idea of grace in Jesus Christ.
         1. They argued that grace did not produce salvation.
         2. They said if salvation came by grace, Christians should sin as much as possible to demonstrate the truth of grace.
         3. Paul said that the fact that they would make that argument showed that they did not understand their baptism (Romans 6:1-11).
      2. The congregation at Corinth had an enormous problem with internal division.
         1. They divided up into groups that fought and rejected each other.
         2. Paul said one of their primary problems was in this fact: they did not understand baptism (1 Corinthians 1:10-17).
      3. The congregations in the province of Galatia had turned away from Jesus Christ to follow the legalistic teachings of Judaism.
         1. That decision dumbfounded Paul–he could not believe they did this.
         2. He plainly declared that these non-Jewish Christians did not understand what God had done when they were baptized (Galatians 3:26, 27).
      4. There was a horrible rift between Jewish Christians and non-Jewish Christians in the congregation at Ephesus.
         1. Jewish Christians shunned and rejected non-Jewish Christians–at best non-Jewish Christians were considered to be spiritually inferior.
         2. Paul said God made all of them one–they were one because there was one body, Spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism, and God (Ephesians 4:1-6).
      5. This same inferiority issue was raised in the congregation at Colossae.
         1. Paul said no one who is baptized into Christ is inferior.
         2. In baptism God cuts the evil away from every person’s life, and God resurrects that person to a new life in Christ (Colossians 2:11-14).
3. Please take your Bibles; I want you to see something in the book of 1 Peter.
   1. In chapter one, Peter writes:
      1. You have an eternal inheritance that no one can take from you, and you are protected by God’s power (1:3-5).
      2. Even so, your faith in Jesus is going to be tried by fire just like gold is refined–persecution is coming, so get ready (1:6-12).
      3. Knowing that, commit yourself without reservation to a holy life (1:13-21).
   2. I want you to clearly understand how you are to act in your relationships.
      1. This is how you treat people who do not believe in God (2:11-12).
      2. This is how you treat government officials (2:13-17).
      3. Slaves, this is how you treat owners who make you suffer (2:18-25).
      4. Wives, this is how you treat your husbands (3:1-6).
      5. Husbands, this is how you treat your wives (3:7).
      6. This is how you conduct yourself in general (3:8-12).
   3. Please look carefully at 3:13-22.
      1. Persecution is coming, but you are less likely to be abused if you do good.
      2. But, if you do good and still are abused, God will bless you.
      3. In these difficult times, this is what you must do:
         1. Let Christ be the only Lord who sits on the throne of your heart.
         2. Preserve your good conscience by the way you live and act.
         3. It is better to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
         4. Trust your salvation; trust what God did when you were baptized.
      4. Look closely at verses 17-22:
         1. Affirmation: It is better to suffer for doing right than doing wrong.
         2. Reasoning:
            1. Christ died for everybody’s sins to bring us to God.
            2. People killed Christ physically, but God gave his spirit life.
            3. God achieved His purposes in Jesus–and Jesus declared to the world of the dead that his death accomplished God’s purposes.
            4. Just like God used the flood in evil days to save Noah, God will use your baptism in evil days to save you.
            5. God’s power did it then; God’s power will do it now.
            6. It wasn’t the boat, and it is not washing dirty bodies.
            7. It is your good conscience looking to God and trusting Jesus’ resurrection.
         3. When times get tough, trust your salvation because you trust your baptism, and trust your baptism because you trust Jesus’ resurrection.

Baptism is not a matter of changing religions or adding a religion to your life. It is not a matter of changing churches or adding a church to your life. Baptism is a matter of finding a Savior, of accepting his forgiveness, and of trusting his resurrection. Baptism is the decision to become a new me and live in a new world.

And Jesus Said, “You Don’t Get It!”

Posted by David on September 14, 1997 under Sermons

School is in session. College is in session. Without doubt this morning we have a number of teachers and a number of parents who already share the same frustration. The frustration: trying to teach a student who “just doesn’t get it.”

I can guarantee you that it is no fun being that student who “doesn’t get it.” When I was in the fourth grade I had a horrible time understanding the concept of fractions. I simply “did not get” the concept. My teacher could not communicate that concept to me, so Mom took up the challenge. One night she was trying hard to explain fractions. She was having no success. So, creatively, she said, “David, if six birds are sitting on the fence, and two fly away, what is left?” Well, I am not stupid! I knew the answer to that question: “Four!” Mom asked, “Four what?” In my brilliance I answered, “Four birds.”

Sometimes we “do not get it” because we do not understand the concept. Sometimes we “do not get it” because the concept is so radically different that we do not believe it, will not accept it, and refuse to trust it.

No one has ever been as frustrated as Jesus by people who “did not get” the concept.

1. The world, the country, and the age that Jesus lived in was an age of dictators.
   1. The western world was controlled by the Roman Empire’s reigning Caesar.
   2. When Jesus was born, Herod the Great controlled Palestine with a iron hand.
      1. Herod was a powerful, regional king who ruled by Caesar Augustus’ permission.
      2. When Herod the Great died, Caesar Augustus allowed his sons to be figure head rulers over areas of their father’s kingdom, but Rome controlled the political affairs of Palestine.
      3. Even as figure heads, they had power and used it–John the Baptist condemned Herod Antipas for taking his half-brother’s wife, and Herod Antipas had the power to imprison, then behead John.
   3. Jesus’ world knew nothing about the democratic process–there were no human rights.
      1. The social and political reality was quite simple.
         1. In the world of politics, he who possessed the power held position, and he who held position exercised control.
         2. In the religious world including Judaism, the same was true: he who possessed power held position and exercised control.
      2. Jesus’ twelve disciples had never experienced the democratic process.
         1. They knew nothing about human rights.
         2. Reality was simple: get power; take position; exercise control; live the good life.
         3. That was reality in politics, religion, and business.
2. These twelve men watched Jesus every day.
   1. Jesus had power–power like no one else ever had.
      1. He could heal any disease that existed.
      2. He could raise people from the dead.
      3. He could stop storms and still foaming waves.
   2. Jesus had position.
      1. They knew he was Lord.
      2. Peter confessed that he was the Christ.
   3. But they never saw Jesus use his power or position to control people.
      1. Each day Jesus served.
      2. And with his power and position:
         1. He never lived “the good life.”
         2. He never destroyed his enemies or exalted himself.
         3. He just served, and mostly he served the defeated and disadvantaged.

      Though they watched Jesus every day, the reality of their world controlled their thinking and desires.

3. In Mark 9:33-37 Jesus returned to Capernaum.
   1. When he reached the house, Jesus asked the twelve, “What were you talking about as we were walking to Capernaum?”
      1. They didn’t answer his question; they did not want to tell him.
      2. They discussed which of them was the most important, and they knew he would not like that.
   2. Jesus sat down and told the twelve to come to him.
      1. In essence Jesus said, “You still don’t get it, do you?”
      2. “If you want to be of importance in my kingdom, then you must be the last, the last of all, the servant of all.”
         1. Quite honestly, that paradoxical statement doesn’t make a lot of sense.
         2. How can you be last and first at the same time?
         3. You can’t get to be first by working to be last.
         4. You can’t get to the top by serving everyone else; you get to the top by gaining position so everyone else has to serve you.
         5. This is true in all societies because all societies are governed by “this world” perspectives.
         6. But it is not true in Jesus’ nation, his kingdom–Jesus’ nation or kingdom is as unique and different as is Jesus.
         7. What is necessary to be first in the ungodly human society will not make you first in Jesus’ godly kingdom.
         8. What is necessary to be first in Jesus’ godly kingdom will make you a servant in both ungodly human society and in Jesus’ kingdom.
      3. Jesus took a child in his arms and said, “Whoever receives one child like this in my name receives me…”
4. The twelve still did not “get it”–right up to the very night Jesus was betrayed, they still did not get it.
   1. In Matthew 20:20-28, during the last week of his life, Jesus tried again to penetrate their thinking.
      1. James and John had their mother to make a request of Jesus.
         1. She approached Jesus as a woman of that day would approach any man or a person would approach a king, bowing before him.
         2. He asked, “What to you want of me?”
         3. “I want you to give my two sons the two prestige positions in your kingdom.”
         4. He replied, “You don’t know what you are asking for.”
         5. Then, turning to James and John, he asked, “Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink.” He was referring to his death.
         6. They had no idea that he was about to be crucified, so they replied, “We are able.”
         7. Jesus replied, “You will drink the cup; but God, my Father, will decide who gets what positions in my kingdom.”
      2. The other ten heard the request and knew precisely what was happening.
         1. James and John were trying to get what they wanted, and they were trying to gain unfair advantage over them.
         2. So they were indignant with James and John.
      3. Jesus had a heart-to-heart talk with all twelve.
         1. “I know that we Jews are being governed by non-Jewish rulers.”
         2. “I know that these rulers are under powerful men who love to use their authority.”
         3. “But my kingdom just does not work that way.”
         4. “If you want greatness in my kingdom, if you want importance, then you will serve everyone else.”
         5. “The person who occupies the highest position in my kingdom will be the person who serves as slave.”
         6. “I am the example, and in my kingdom you will be what I am.”
            1. “I will sacrifice my life as a ransom for many.”
            2. “I did not come to be served; I came to serve.”
   2. They still did not “get it.”
      1. They wanted to rise in the pecking order; they wanted authority; they wanted the right to control, to call “the shots.”
      2. They did not understand before the crucifixion.
      3. They did not understand after the crucifixion.
      4. They did not understand when Jesus’ ascended back into heaven.
      5. They did not understand until the Holy Spirit came almost two months after Jesus died, and they preached the good news for the first time.
   3. If you are a citizen in Jesus’ kingdom, if Jesus saved you from your sins, if Jesus rules your life, the road to significance is the road of humble, unselfish service, the service given by a devoted slave.
5. That is the astounding paradox.
   1. Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords who will someday judge the world.
      1. All who accept his forgiveness accept his rule as willing citizens in his kingdom.
      2. All authority and power are his.
   2. But his kingdom does not exist to use power and authority to defeat human enemies or to exercise control over society.
      1. His kingdom exists to serve people while it serves God.
      2. His kingdom is as interested in serving the troubled and defeated as the victorious and liberated.
6. When you are standing before Jesus on the day of judgment, what do you want Jesus to say to you?
   1. I cannot count the times I have heard Christians pray in worship for God to help us live in a way that will allow us to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
      1. That statement comes from Matthew 25:14-30 in the parable of the servants who were given the talents.
         1. The two who served well were commended and blessed.
         2. They were told, “Well done, good an faithful servant.”
      2. Look at that statement carefully.
         1. It is not, “Well done, good and faithful scholar, or theologian, or debater, or judge, or worshiper, or member.”
         2. It is “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
      3. Am I condemning or demeaning study, or knowledge, or standing for spiritual truth and values, or worship?
         1. Absolutely not!
         2. I focusing your attention on what Jesus obviously emphasized: no matter what you do, no matter how you develop, no matter what success you achieve, the end result of your spirituality must be service.
         3. Whatever you are as a Christian, whatever you do as a Christian, by Jesus own declaration, goodness and faithfulness involve service.

It would be incredible to witness what would happen in a congregation, any congregation, if three things happened: no one believed that Christ appointed him or her to tell everyone else what to do; everyone understood that he or she existed as a Christian to serve; as Christians served, no one cared who got the credit. You cannot imagine what any congregation could accomplish if the greatest commitment of its members was to accomplish God’s purposes by doing as much good as they could.

During Jesus’ life time, the twelve did not “get it.” They believed power gave a person position, and position gave a person control. But in Jesus’ kingdom, all power creates is greater opportunity to serve. The twelve did not “get it.” Do you?

It has taken me a long time to understand that I am a slave. I am influenced as much as anyone else by the society in which we live. But I have realized that of myself, I am nothing. I only have significance when I serve the One who saved me, the One who rescued me.

You only find life when you give it away.
You only find purpose when you give up your own.

When we are baptized we acknowledge who we are–condemned nobodies–then somebodies because of whose we become.

Christ died for you. Will you give your life to Him?

Seeing God’s Fingerprints

Posted by David on September 7, 1997 under Sermons

There are truths that I know and accept intellectually, but even with unquestioning acceptance, that truth staggers my imagination. All of us know what a fingerprint is. All of us know that each of us has a set of fingerprints. All of us know that each set of fingerprints is distintinctive–no two people’s fingerprints are identical. Fingerprints are so distinctive, so unique, that you can be found and identified by your fingerprints no matter where you are in the world.

That staggers my imagination. Of all the people who have ever lived, of all the people who ever will live, no two people will ever have the same fingerprints. Of all the people living in the world right now, you and I have fingerprints that are so unique, so distinctive that we can be identified by our fingerprints.

If our fingerprints are all over it, it is our work.

God has fingerprints, and His fingerprints are also distinctive. Anyone can learn to recognize God’s fingerprints. The certain way to learn to recognize God’s finger- prints is to learn to correctly identify God’s work in your life. Commonly we learn to identify God’s fingerprints by looking at past experiences and seeing how God was at work within us. It is by seeing God’s fingerprints in His past work in our lives that gives us the courage to confidently place the present in God’s hands.

1. One night God directed Abraham to take Isaac, the son God promised Abraham, and kill him by offering Isaac as a sacrifice on an altar (Genesis 22).
   1. Abraham got up early the next morning and made preparation to sacrifice his son quickly, his son that God promised him, his son that he deeply loved.
      1. He split the wood to be used in the sacrifice before he left.
      2. He took the fire with him so that he could make the sacrifice quickly.
      3. He took two young servants with him to assist him in making the journey as fast as possible.
      4. He was an elderly man, so he rode a donkey to make certain that he completed the journey.
      5. As he neared the site of sacrifice, he told the young servants to stay behind so that they would not interfere with the sacrifice.
      6. It took three days to get to the place God specified; that is a long time to knowingly take your only son that you love to his death.
      7. At the place God designated, Abraham built an altar, placed Isaac on it, and would have killed him if an angel had not stopped him.
      8. The angel said, “I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
      9. Why was Abraham ready and willing to quickly sacrifice a son that he waited twenty-five years to be born?
         1. He could look back from the time that he was 75 years old and see God’s fingerprints all over his life.
         2. He could see God’s fingerprints during the twenty-five years that he waited for God to give him Isaac.
         3. He looked back and saw how God repeatedly did the impossible in his life.
         4. Because he saw God’s fingerprints on his past, he did not hesitate to entrust his present to the hands of God.
   2. If ever a teenager experienced the best and worst of life, it was Joseph (Genesis 37).
      1. Of Jacob’s twelve sons, Joseph was the favorite.
      2. His rich father gave Joseph the best his world had to offer.
      3. But because Joseph was such an arrogant brat, his brothers hated him.
      4. They hated him so much that:
         1. They captured him in the wilderness.
         2. They sold him as a slave to the Midianites.
      5. As a slave he grew up fast and became honorable, trustworthy, and a diligent laborer (Genesis 37:39-41).
         1. He refused the sexual advances of his owner’s wife.
         2. She was angered by his rejection and accused him of attempted rape.
         3. As a result his deceived, very angry owner had him imprisoned in the royal prison.
      6. In prison he was a model prisoner and was appointed a trustee.
         1. He was so responsible and trusted that he was placed in charge of all the prisoners, and the warden did not even supervise his work.
         2. He helped the king’s cup bearer whom the king put in prison, and all he asked was for this servant to remember Joseph when he was released and restored to his position.
         3. The servant was released and restored to his position, and promptly forgot about Joseph.
      7. Opportunity came for Joseph to interpret the king’s dreams, and as a result the king made him the second most powerful ruler in the nation of Egypt.
      8. In that position as a powerful ruler, he saved his father, his brothers, and their families from starvation.
      9. After his father died, the brothers were terrified that Joseph would take vengeance on them for selling him into slavery.
      10. Joseph assured them that he would never take vengeance, and said, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive” (Genesis 50:20).
      11. As he looked back over his life, Joseph clearly saw God’s fingerprints.
2. It is relatively easy for Christians to look into the distant past and see God’s fingerprints.
   1. For example, you and I can look back at Jesus’ betrayal, trials, and execution on the cross and clearly see God’s fingerprints.
      1. God’s fingerprints at the crucifixion are so obvious to us.
         1. God was not only at work, God was doing His greatest work.
         2. We look and the cross and see God’s fingerprints in:
            1. Forgiveness.
            2. Redemption.
            3. Justification.
            4. Atonement and propitiation.
      2. You and I owe every spiritual blessing we have to God’s work in the cross of Jesus.
      3. Every Sunday morning we declare our faith in God’s work through the cross by taking the Lord’s Supper.
         1. We consciously reflect on what Jesus did for us by dying on that cross.
         2. We remind ourselves of what God did for us by letting him die.
      4. But the believers who watched him die did not see God’s fingerprints.
         1. All they saw was the victory of evil–evil won; it killed God’s son.
         2. They saw no divine plan, no divine purpose, no divine accomplishment.
         3. It is all to common to be unaware that God is at work when God is working.
   2. Isn’t that the way it always works?
      1. We look back at the arrogant, self-confident, take-control Peter and see how God remolded his heart and attitude, but Peter could not see that as it was happening.
      2. We look back at the murdering, blaspheming Paul who hurt and destroyed men and women who placed their faith in Christ and see how God remolded his heart and attitude, but Paul could not see it as it was happening.
3. When I look back through my life, I see God’s fingerprints on my life so clearly in so many situations.
   1. During Joyce and my mission work in West Africa, due to some bureaucratic misunderstandings, the government closed our work down for six months.
      1. For six months I could not visit any of the congregations, could not preach, could not have contact with national Christians, could not explain to them what had happened.
      2. If I had attempted to do those things, we would have been deported, the church would have been banned, and Christians who defied the ban would have been put in prison.
      3. The missionaries took ever possible course of action to resolve the misunderstanding.
         1. We were finally reduced to sitting, praying, and hoping.
         2. That is when God really taught me what faith is–I thought I knew what faith was, but I didn’t.
         3. And in that adversity, the church made progress I never dreamed possible.
         4. In time, the misunderstanding was corrected, and the problem was resolved.
   2. In the past two weeks, God’s finger prints have been evident in our lives in a prominent manner.
      1. We had a difficult time finding a buyer for our house in Oxford.
      2. We had a difficult time closing the sell.
      3. There were lots of ups and downs, lots of uncertainties, lots of problems, and lots of delays.
      4. But when Joyce was hospitalized, I saw God’s fingerprints, and felt greatly blessed and deeply grateful.
4. Can the people closest to you see God’s fingerprints on your life? Your heart? Your attitudes and emotions?
   1. Husband, can your wife and children see them?
   2. Wife, can your husband and children see them?
   3. Children, can your parents see them?
   4. Christians, can your friends, your coworkers, your boss, your fellow students, your neighbors see God’s fingerprints in your life?

There are places that we despise seeing fingerprints. No one who wears glasses likes to see fingerprints on his or her glasses. We don’t like fingerprints on any kind of window, any kind of mirror, around light switches, on shiny counters or glass table tops. There are many, many places that we never want to see fingerprints.

But there is one place I want to see fingerprints, and see them clearly. The fingerprints I want to see are fingerprints on my heart. And I want them to be God’s fingerprints. I never want God to stop molding and shaping my heart. When I let God mold my heart, the rest of my life follows.

I want my heart to be just like this play dough. I want it to be soft and pliable in God’s hands. I want God to constantly shape my thoughts, my feelings, my emotions, my attitudes, my motives, and my outlooks. I want God to constantly touch my heart. And each time He touches my heart, I want Him to leave His fingerprints.

Who’s shaping your heart? God or Satan is. If it is hard and unfeeling, if it is cold and judgmental, if it is lifeless and stiff, Satan is shaping it, and his cruel fingerprints are on it.

If it is soft and yielding, if it is kind and compassionate, if it is repentant and gracious, God is shaping it.

Who do you want to mold it? Whose fingerprints do you want to be on your heart?

Have you ever been baptized into Christ? Do you know what baptism is? A person sees the handprints of God on the Cross. A person decides, “I am no longer going to live as I did.” Baptism is the point where one takes his or her heart and gives it to God and says, “Here it is. It is yours.”

Do you realize what a mess you make with your life if you are molding your own heart? It would be our joy to assist you with turning your heart over to God.

Through Whose Eyes Do You See Life?

Posted by David on August 31, 1997 under Sermons

Recently I saw Bill Yick, one of our members, perform the role of the king in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical, “The King and I.” The king of Siam hired an English lady to teach his children. He wanted them to be trained in Western thinking.

Early in the play the king talked to himself. Always he has been the total authoritarian. Learning enlightened thinking created confusion for him. He wanted the son who replaced him as king to understand Western thinking. But Western thinking created enormous conflicts for the king.

Listen as he begins this insightful talk with himself.

Do I ever understand the king’s confusion! Do you? I would guess that either you really understand, or you really don’t understand. But if you don’t, and you have children, the day will come when you do understand.

This morning I primarily want to share with our young people, our teens, and our college students. I want to start by talking to the teens.

1. Today is a very frustrating time to be an adolescent (I say that quite aware that adolescence is a frustrating time in any generation).
   1. In every generation teenagers feel isolated and misunderstood.
      1. That is the nature of adolescence.
      2. The years of teenage life are unlike any other years of life.
         1. It is that age when the transition is made from child to adult.
         2. For a few years you are neither child nor adult.
         3. In those years neither you nor your parents know what you really are because you are in the process of developing your sense of self.
   2. While the experience of traveling through adolescence is basically the same in each generation, I think the frustration level for teens today is generally higher than it has ever been.
      1. This is one of the reasons the frustration level is so high: commonly, parents, grandparents, and the church have not realized what is happening in the teenager’s world.
      2. We don’t understand, and teens accept as fact that we will not understand.
      3. As a result, communication between teens and adults is unusually bad.
         1. Teens, you are told that you are not very spiritual.
            1. But the way you measure being spiritual and the way many adults measure being spiritual are two entirely different measurements.
            2. Often adults do not recognize your spiritual concerns as being spiritual, and often they do not see your spiritual concerns as being spiritual.
         2. Teens, you are told that you are irresponsible, but you don’t measure responsibility in the same way that most adults measure responsibility.
            1. Most adults you know measure responsibility by the way they manage and care for jobs and material things–the highest level of responsibility is doing what you are supposed to do in your work.
            2. You measure responsibility by the way you take care of relationships –the highest level or responsibility is in being loyal to your friends.
         3. Teens, you are told how easy you have it today.
            1. Your parents and grandparents tell you about the sacrifices they made to go to school.
            2. But you live with the fear of gangs, weapons, and violence at school.
            3. Your parents and grandparents tell you about the physically demanding work they had to do when they were teens.
            4. But you have friends who are so depressed that they talk seriously about committing suicide–and you don’t know how to help them.
            5. Your parents and grandparents tell you about how little money and how few things they had when they were your age.
            6. But you know more teens who are sexually active than teens who are not, and you always feel the pressure to become sexually active.
         4. Your parents and your grandparents tell you how great kids have it today.
            1. And you wonder.
            2. If teens have it so great, why is the highest suicide rate of any age group found among teens.
            3. Why is suicide the # 2 cause of death among teens?
            4. Why is the # 1 killer of teens alcohol-related deaths?
            5. If kids have it made, what are they running from?
      4. Many reasons cause you to feel frustrated, but this is one of the biggest reasons: instead of trying to understand and help you, too often adults and the church say that either your problems are not that bad, or they say it is ridiculous for you to pay any attention to such problems.
2. No one sees more honestly what is happening in today’s homes as do our children.
   1. As you get older, you see and you reject.
      1. Mom and Dad seem to think that the key to happiness and meaningful life is possessions–homes, furnishings, cars, possessions of all kinds.
         1. But you see how often Mom is obviously lonely.
         2. You see how often both Mom and Dad are obviously unhappy.
         3. You see how isolated Dad is.
         4. You see, hear, and feel the tension at home.
         5. You know how often everyone acts like everything is wonderful when you know everything is bad.
         6. The whole family is always too busy to share, to talk–and you are afraid to share and talk because they won’t understand.
         7. When opportunities for sharing and talking come, you are always afraid that real sharing will create an argument or increase tensions.
      2. And you know by talking to and listening to all your friends that it is no better in most other homes–in fact, it is often worse.
         1. In the house we just sold is an enormous attic with an inside stairway leading into it.
         2. That attic was absolutely stuffed with all kinds of things.
         3. One day one of our sons had a neighborhood friend visiting, and they went upon into the attic.
         4. He could not believe all the stuff up there.
         5. My son asked, “What do you do with all your stuff?”
         6. He replied, “We don’t have any–there are just two suitcases in our attic.”
         7. Mom and Dad had divorced, then later decided to live together.
         8. Everything was temporary and could end on a moments notice. Their attic was empty.
   2. Teens, you look at the church and you listen.
      1. Sometimes what you hear is this:
         1. “These are the commandments, and they are very important.”
         2. “These are the rules, and you absolutely must keep them.”
      2. As you grow, you begin to ask:
         1. Isn’t it more important to build love and loyalty in the home?
         2. Isn’t it more important for families to succeed in being families?
         3. Isn’t it more important to treat people with dignity and respect?
         4. Isn’t it more important to address fear and give hope?
         5. Isn’t it more important to accept people and help them than to reject people and alienate them?
      3. And, it grieves me to say, that we do not couple teaching with application as we should; that is one reason that 50% of our young people leave the church when they leave home and begin their adult lives.
3. The gospel of Luke is the only New Testament writing that tells us anything about Jesus’ childhood (Luke 2:39-52).
   1. I am sure all of our young people have learned about the time Jesus went with his parents to the temple when he was twelve years old.
      1. You know how he stayed in Jerusalem to study and ask questions in the temple when his parents left to return home.
      2. You know that his parents came back to look for him.
      3. You know that he explained that he had to be in his Father’s house.
   2. But I want to call your attention to the verse just before that story and the verse just after that story.
      1. Just before telling us about the temple trip, Luke writes (2:40):
         And the child (Jesus) continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him.
      2. Just after telling us about the temple trip, Luke writes (2:52):
         And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
      3. Twice Luke said that as Jesus grew up, he grew in wisdom.
         1. Maybe for you the word “wisdom” doesn’t have much of a definition.
         2. It isn’t a strange word; it just may not mean much to you.
         3. But for all of you young people, it is one of the most important words you need to know.
      4. Even though you are young, you still live in this complicated world.
         1. Through the television, that world comes into your house every day.
         2. Because you go to school, you go out in that world at least five days a week.
         3. You face a thousand situations your Mom and Dad will never know about.
         4. You make thousands of decisions that Mom and Dad will never hear about.
      5. Even though you are young, you choose what you will do.
         1. Mom and Dad give you rules, but rules are not enough.
         2. The church gives you facts, but facts are not enough.
         3. Your teachers teach you how to question, but questions are not enough.
      6. You desperately need to grow in wisdom.
      7. When you grow in wisdom, you do two things:
         1. First, you grow in your understanding.
         2. Second, you use your understanding to make good choices, choices that are really best for you.
         3. When you must make a choice, you don’t chose what you want; you don’t choose fun; you choose what is really best for you.
   3. I want you to remember four things about God.
      1. No matter what is happening in your life, God loves you–He never considers your problems to be foolish or ridiculous; He knows they are real.
      2. No matter what is happening in your life, God will help you if you will let Him.
      3. God never creates your problems.
      4. Because problems will always exist, God wants to show you how to live so that you don’t hurt yourself.

Now I want to talk to both parents and teachers. Two things really impressed me in our Vacation Bible School. First, the classes were really creative–they were very interesting and created powerful impressions. Second, the practical applications were excellent. I have a question: don’t all our Bible classes need to be creative, produce powerful impressions, and make memorable applications? Shouldn’t all of our Bible classes help our children grow in wisdom?

Obviously it is not just our children who need wisdom. The world is a complicated thing. People of every age need to remember that God wants us to live in ways that don’t hurt ourselves.

We have a God who knows every choice we make and every mistake we make and every failure we have. God is willing to wipe our souls clean of sin. He tells us, “Don’t live in the past. Use greater understanding.”

Christianity is starting new every day.

Let God’s forgiveness bless you. Be baptized and let the blood of Jesus wash your sins away.

Spiritual Arithmetic

Posted by David on August 17, 1997 under Sermons

In the process of maturing spiritually, Christians face four primary growth challenges. Those four primary growth challenges are growing in our understanding of God, growing in our understanding of Jesus Christ, growing in the understanding of the Holy Spirit, growing in our understanding of the meaning of scripture.

Each one of those challenges is difficult. At each level of understanding, our tendency is to stop growing and be content. It is convenient to feel that “we know enough” or “we know all that it is important to know.” When we think that, we feel certain that we know all that we need to know about God, about Christ, about the Holy Spirit, and about scripture.

It is comforting to believe that we understand everything that we need to understand. It is easier to believe that we need to defend what we know than to recognize that we need to increase what we understand.

The temptation to defend what we believe instead of growing in our understanding is the most powerful when we decide that we have God figured out. When we are certain that we know what God would say and do, when we are certain that we know what God would not do, we stop growing in understanding.

We do not stop studying, but the purpose of our study is to defend what we believe. When the purpose of our study is to defend what we believe, we do not advance our faith through advancing our understanding of God’s teachings.

When we study, the primary decision we must make is this: do I adjust scripture to fit my beliefs, or do I adjust my beliefs as I increase my understanding of scripture. What is the difference? If I adjust scripture, I say, “This is what I believe; therefore all scripture must agree with what I believe. I must explained every scripture in a way that fits what I already believe.” When I adjust my beliefs, each time that I learn something from scripture that I did not know, each time my understanding of scripture grows, I adjust my beliefs to fit scripture. I do not make scripture fit my beliefs; I allow scripture to determine and shape my beliefs.

Regardless of what I do, I am performing what might be called spiritual math. Each way I use my knowledge of scripture to reach a conclusion.

1. Let me illustrate how that we use spiritual math.
   1. It is easy for a Christian to conclude that God is predictable.
      1. We conclude that God is predictable when we are confident that we have God figured out.
      2. We are confident that we can predict how God reacts to any given situation or set of circumstances.
      3. Commonly the spiritual math is very simple.
         1. Examine a situation and decide if evil exists in it.
         2. Define the evil that exists in the situation.
         3. Acknowledge that there is no evil in God, that God hates evil.
         4. Since God hates evil, God would not be involved with anything that is evil.
         5. Add all that up and this is our conclusion: God would condemn that situation: wants us to condemn the situation; would not be associated with it.
   2. The first scriptural challenge to that approach is a challenge to the beginning assumption: God is predictable.
      1. Many statements and many situations in scripture plainly state or reveal that God is not predicable.
      2. In Isaiah 55:8 & 9, Isaiah writes to the people of Judah and Jerusalem,
         “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
         1. No human can think God’s thoughts or calculate God’s actions.
         2. Only to the extent that we comprehend God’s revelation of Himself can we think his thoughts.
         3. If God’s thoughts and ways are so far beyond us, it is impossible for us to predict God’s actions.
      3. In the gospels, one basic reason for the Jewish leaders rejecting Jesus was their conviction that God was predictable.
         1. They knew God’s laws.
         2. They knew scripture.
         3. They knew God.
         4. So they knew what God said, what God wanted, how God would act, and what God would do.
         5. The predictable God would not do what Jesus did.
         6. Since God was predictable, and since Jesus did not conform to the predictable God, it was obvious that Jesus did not come from God.
         7. But Jesus did come from God; he was God in the flesh.
      4. The Jewish people Paul addressed in the book of Romans struggled because the concept of salvation in Jesus did not agree with their understanding of the predictable God.
         1. Paul’s explanation of salvation in Christ through faith and grace was confusing and unacceptable–that is not the way God would save.
         2. In Romans 9:6-13 Paul responded to the criticism that it was unjust for God to extend salvation to the Gentiles through faith and grace.
         3. Paul declared in 9:14 that there is no injustice in God.
         4. In 9:15 Paul wrote that even in the time of Moses God said, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
         5. God is not predictable; neither are his mercy and his compassion predictable.
         6. Romans 9:19-33 states that we can no more tell God how He must save or to whom He can extend forgiveness than a piece of clay can tell the potter what he must do.
         7. God is sovereign; because He is sovereign, He makes His own decisions.
2. The truth that God is not predictable is not a new thought about God; it is a very old truth easily illustrated in the Old Testament.
   1. Let me illustrate that Bible truth in a way that is easily seen.
      1. Let me give you an accurate, factual profile of a man, and you decide if God would use this man.
      2. This man:
         1. Was a man of violence; he likely was responsible for several thousand deaths of people who were enemies.
         2. He once killed a chief enemy in hand-to-hand combat, cut his head off, and carried the head with him as a trophy.
         3. He paid his dowry to his father-in-law by killing two hundred men who were enemies.
         4. He knowingly and intentionally deceived a priest in order to obtain some food that the law specially stated only the priests were to eat.
         5. Because this priest gave food to the man, he and 84 more priests were murdered, and the men, women, children, babies, and livestock in the priest’s city were slaughtered.
         6. Once he publicly praised and honored God by dancing with all his might in a religious ceremony wearing almost no clothing.
         7. Once he saw a beautiful married woman that he lusted to have and seduced her.
            1. As a result, she was pregnant.
            2. In an attempt to cover the pregnancy, he had her husband killed and married her quickly.
            3. When he was confronted with his evil almost a year later, he confessed and repented, but he kept the woman as his wife.
      3. Would God use this man?
         1. If we view God as predictable, we would say, “No.”
         2. If we understand that God is not predictable, perhaps we would say, “It’s possible.”
   2. Many of you quickly picked up on the fact that the man is King David of Israel, the man both the Old and New Testaments state was the man after God’s own heart–or the man who was devoted to God’s heart (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22).
      1. I doubt that we could calculate how many thousand people died as a result of David’s military success against the Philistines.
         1. Twenty thousand Israelite men died when Absalom lost his rebellion against his father’s rule (2 Samuel 18:7).
         2. He personally instructed the commander of his forces to arrange for Uriah’s death (2 Samuel 11:14-21).
         3. Seventy thousand Israelites died as a result of a sin of arrogance that David committed (2 Samuel 24:15).
      2. When David cut Goliath’s head off, he took the head with him when he was taken to King Saul, and he took the head with him when he returned to Jerusalem (1 Samuel 17:51,54,57).
      3. He found 200 Philistine men, killed them, cut off body parts, and gave the body parts to King Saul as a dowry to marry his daughter (1 Samuel 18:27).
      4. When he was fleeing from Saul, he told the priest Ahimelech that he was on King Saul’s urgent secret business and had to leave so quickly that he did not have time to get food or a weapon (1 Samuel 21:1-9).
         1. The priest gave him the ceremonial bread of presence to eat.
         2. The law states that only the priests were to eat that bread (Leviticus 24:5-9).
         3. King Saul ordered Doeg, an Edomite, to kill Ahimelech, and he killed 85 priests plus most of the residents of the village of the priests (1 Samuel 22:18,19).
      5. When David brought the sacred ark of the covenant into the city of Jerusalem, every six steps an animal was sacrificed to God, and David danced with all his might with very little clothing on (2 Samuel 6:13-15).
         1. When his first wife ridiculed him for disgracing himself by dancing in public naked, David replied that he had done it before the Lord who made him King; he celebrated before the Lord (2 Samuel 6:21).
      6. He saw Bathsheba and wanted to commit adultery with her (2 Samuel 11).
         1. He had her brought to the palace where he seduced her.
         2. When pregnancy resulted, he had her husband, Uriah, killed and quickly married her in an attempt to cover the adultery.
         3. When he was confronted with the sin, he repented, deeply, earnestly (2 Samuel 12; Psalms 51).
         4. He suffered great consequences as a result of his evil act.
         5. Bathsheba remained his wife, and a later son, Solomon, became king with God’s blessings.
   3. Did God use David?
      1. David belonged to God in the way that God wanted all people to belong to Him.
      2. Israel considered David their greatest and most godly king.
      3. The place of God in Israel under the rule of David was second only to the time of Joshua when Israel began to conquer the land of Canaan.
      4. God inspired him–I do regard the Psalms as scripture that was inspired by God, and David authored the majority of the psalms.
      5. The Christ came from the lineage of David; an accepted Messianic title was “the Son of David.”
      6. Even Jesus used David to illustrate the importance of understanding the full message and complete meaning of scripture (Matthew 12:3).
   4. Now, let me ask again:
      1. Do we adjust the scriptures to fit the belief that God is predictable?
      2. Or do we adjust our belief by understanding the message, the lessons of these scriptures?
3. The challenge of understanding the complete message of scripture creates a dilemma for us.
   1. Our dilemma can be stated in these three concerns.
      1. We absolutely do not want to create the impression the sin does not matter, that a person can knowingly choose to do evil, and God does not care.
         1. There is zero desire to create the impression that God’s grace and forgiveness gives us a license to do evil.
         2. There is zero desire to create the impression that it is acceptable for a Christian to be spiritually indifferent and irresponsible.
      2. We absolutely do not want to create the impression that any penitent person is beyond God’s forgiveness.
         1. We want every sinner to know that he or she can repent, and that he or she is promised forgiveness when he or she repents and enters Christ.
         2. We want every Christian to know that he or she can be forgiven of any evil, any mistake, any failure if he or she will repent.
         3. We want no person to see himself or herself as being hopeless.
      3. We absolutely do not want to encourage self-righteousness in those who are obedient, who have no visible failures or visible struggles.
         1. No one must be encouraged to believe that he or she is righteous because of his or her deeds or accomplishments.
         2. No one is to be encouraged to believe that he or she has saved himself or herself because of what he or she has done.
   2. So how do we:
      1. Help people who want to exploit God’s grace and mercy understand that is not possible?
      2. AND, help people who are struggling in guilt understand that no one is beyond God’s forgiveness.
      3. AND, help people understand that they insult God if they believe that they are good and righteous because of their own deeds and accomplishments?
      4. We do that by teaching all that scripture reveals, by constantly growing in our understanding, by teaching all of us how to adjust our beliefs when we learn more and understand better.

God is not predictable, but God is certain. We cannot tell God to whom He will and will not show mercy, to whom He will and will not show compassion. Oh, I can try to decide for God, but it would be as foolish and meaningless as it would be for a lump of clay to tell the potter what to do.

But God’s promises are certain. God never fails to keep a promise. He may not use the means to keep the promise that we expect; but He will keep it.

Liberated From the Need to Hide

Posted by David on under Sermons

All people possess a set of masks. And, all people use those mask. We wear several masks every day. Masks exist to conceal. We hide behind masks. By using our masks, we attempt to control how well other people know us. Typically, we allow a person to know us as well as we want him or her to know us.

How well I allow you to know me depends on how secure I feel with you. So, a person has one mask for strangers, another for acquaintances, another for friends, another for best friends, and a special set of masks for family members.

We wear some masks so frequently that we are not even aware that we have them on. Other masks are put on deliberately, consciously. We wear these masks because we fear the dangers of someone knowing us too well. Sometimes we wear a mask to protect self, and sometimes we wear a mask in the attempt to hide something. Sometimes we wear a mask to hide from ourselves; sometimes we wear a mask to hide from others; and sometimes we wear a mask to hide from God.

The number one reason for wearing masks is to hide.

1. If we place our lives in Jesus by accepting his forgiveness, he extends many unique, wonderful blessings.
   1. One of the wonderful blessings that he gives us is this: he liberates us from the need to hide.
      1. In the introduction of the gospel of John, the writer explains the significance of Jesus.
      2. In stating Jesus’ significance, John writes in 1:9:
         “There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.”
         1. When we hide, we hide in a dark place–not in the light.
         2. As true light, Jesus did not come to enlighten people to destroy them; he came to enlighten people to save them.
         3. By coming as the true light, Jesus had a primary objective: that objective was to enlighten persons.
         4. Enlightening situations, or enlightening circumstances, or enlightening issues, or enlightening causes was not his primary objective.
         5. Jesus enlightens persons; as a result of enlightening persons, situations, circumstances, issues, and causes improve.
         6. Jesus enlightens each person who places his or her life in Jesus.
            1. God doesn’t need enlightening — God already sees and understands.
            2. It is the person who needs enlightening; I am the one who is in the dark.
      3. In John 3:19-21, Jesus said to Nicodemus,
         “And this is judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
         1. Simply because the light has come does not mean that I am enlightened.
         2. My deeds are my basic expressions of me; if my deeds are evil, I do not want to be enlightened; I prefer the darkness; I love the darkness.
         3. I hate the light because I don’t want to be exposed.
         4. But if I practice the truth–we are still talking about deeds–I come to the light.
         5. By conscious choice I seek to be enlightened.
         6. I want my life and my deeds to be exposed–not for praise, but I want it to be clearly evident that God is reconstructing my life and my deeds.
   2. In Jesus’ statement to Nicodemus, I want you to carefully note some specifics.
      1. Jesus said that I do more than bring my teachings to the light, more than bring my beliefs to the light–that is good, but that is not enough.
      2. Jesus said I bring myself to the light.
      3. Why is it important to bring myself to the light? For two obvious reasons.
         1. To the degree that I do not want to see and know myself, to that degree I love the darkness.
         2. The basic objective of faith in Christ is a life of repentance.
         3. Repentance is both the act and the process of redirecting my life.
         4. It is impossible for me to redirect my life if I refuse to be enlightened.
         5. If I hate the evil within me, I come to the light–I don’t want to hide; I want to see me; I want to see and know the truth about me.
         6. It is only when I see and understand that I can repent and be liberated from the fear that causes me to hide.
   3. One of the great spiritual deficiencies among Christians is caused by a choice we make: our choice of where to place our spiritual focus.
      1. Many Christians keep our spiritual focus on what we believe.
         1. Certainly, what we believe is extremely important.
         2. Certainly, what we believe must be biblical, must respect the authority of scripture.
         3. But, when we place our spiritual focus on what we believe, we place our spiritual focus on matters outside of self–as persons, we are not enlightened just by focusing on beliefs.
      2. While we must be concerned about our beliefs, we must be even more concerned about ourselves.
         1. When my primary focus is on what I am, I must examine myself.
         2. I am constantly seeking to let Jesus enlighten me.
         3. If I do not allow Jesus to enlighten me as a person, all that I believe can quickly become irrelevant to God.
      3. When the focus of my faith in Jesus is on me, I don’t want to hide; I want to be enlightened; I want to see and understand myself.
2. For many years of my adult life I knew I had an unreasonable drive within me to prove something that I never could prove.
   1. I knew that drive consumed me, but I had no idea why the drive was there, what I was trying to prove, or to whom I was trying to prove it.
      1. I did know that I could never fulfill the drive, that I could never prove whatever it was that I was trying to prove.
         1. No matter how hard I worked, I never worked hard enough.
         2. No matter how much I sacrificed, I never sacrificed enough.
         3. No matter how much I did for other people, I never did enough.
      2. Though for years I did not know it, I now understand that those are the classic expressions of conditional love.
         1. Our society is saturated with the concept of conditional love–the majority think love is conditional.
         2. The concept of conditional love declares that “I can be loved only if I deserve to be loved.”
         3. Any love a person receives depends on the person’s performance or on the person pleasing the one who loves him or her.
         4. “Only if I am super wife will my husband love me.”
            1. “I must do everything better than his mom.”
            2. “I must be superior to all other women that he meets.”
            3. “Only then can he love me.”
         5. “Only if I am super husband will my wife love me.”
            1. “I must make enough to afford everything she wants.”
            2. “I must provide for her better than other men could.”
            3. “Only then can she love me.”
         6. “Only if I am super parent can my children love me.”
            1. “I must give them all the things other kids have.”
            2. “I must create opportunities for them that other kids don’t have.”
            3. “Only then can they love me.”
         7. “Only if I am super child will my parents love me.”
            1. “I must achieve more in school than other kids.”
            2. “I must participate in at least one thing in which I can be the best.”
            3. “Only then can my parents love me.”
   2. I did not know it, but my life was filled with the insecurities of conditional love.
      1. Understanding why took years of being enlightened.
      2. My father loved me and blessed my life in many, many ways.
         1. But I grew up feeling like I never met his expectations.
         2. I grew up wanting his approval and never feeling like I had it.
         3. I knew he loved me, but I always felt a distance between us.
      3. When I was about ten years old, I learned for the first time that I had an older brother who died before I was born.
         1. Ray’s death devastated my Dad–so much so that I never heard my Dad say his name until my Dad was critically ill.
         2. From birth, Ray was the picture of health; then suddenly, in a week, he died near the age of two.
         3. From birth, I was the picture of illness, and never really became healthy until I was around sixteen years of age.
         4. Dad was so deeply grieved by the death of Ray that emotionally he was unable to form an attachment to me.
         5. Emotionally, he could not survive the death of another son.
      4. Understanding that has been the second most liberating understanding in my life.
         1. It released me from the unreasonable driving force within.
         2. I have stopped tying to prove that which cannot be proven.
         3. I can love my Dad with an appreciation I never had before.
         4. It all happened because I was enlightened; Jesus taught me that the light liberates.
3. “Well, is the liberation of being enlightened really that important?” Oh, yes! It is extremely important to all of us.
   1. On the judgment day, we each will stand before the true light; the “real me” will be clearly evident; and nothing will be hidden.
      1. Revelation 6:14-17 says the sky will be rolled up like a roll of paper towels, that mountains and islands will move, and people from the most important to the least important will cry out for the rocks and the mountains to hide them:
         “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand?”
      2. But Peter said to Christians in 1 Peter 4:13:
         “To the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.”
   2. So what is the difference? When Christ returns, some are screaming to be hidden and some are rejoicing. Why?
      1. Those who loved the darkness want to hide when the true light returns because they spent their lives hiding from the light.
      2. Those who have been enlightened have nothing to hide because they have spent their lives coming to the light.