Reactions

Posted by David on March 3, 2002 under Sermons

Sometimes you experience a period when everything depresses you. In this period it seems one reason for depression is followed by another reason for depression. While we see good things in our experiences, we also see bad things in our experiences. The good things seem few and the bad things seem to be many. The good experiences seem small and the bad experiences seem enormous. Our worst feeling: we begin to fear bad experiences actually will destroy good experiences.

This feeling did not begin with us. People in every age felt this way. In every age God’s people are powerfully tempted to feel this way.

1. Often, I am thankful Peter figured prominently in the gospels and Acts.
   1. The beginning day before Jesus’ crucifixion and continuing through the first 40 days after Jesus’ resurrection was a horrible period for Peter.
      1. The night of his betrayal, Jesus told his disciples that they would all desert him (Mark 14:27-31).
         1. Peter said if all the others fell away, he would not.
         2. Jesus told Peter he would deny Jesus three times before the rooster crowed twice the next morning.
         3. Peter continued to insist, “Even if I must die, I will not desert you!”
         4. In spite of all his feeling and all his words, when things did not go as Peter expected, he ran (Matthew 25:56).
      2. Even worse, he denied he knew Jesus (Mark 14:66-72).
         1. The third time he denied Jesus, he cursed and swore that he did not know Jesus.
         2. Then the rooster crowed the second time.
         3. When the rooster crowed, Peter realized what he had done, and he cried.
      3. Evidence suggests to me that even after Jesus’ resurrection, Peter was shaken and confused. At some point in the 40 day period after his resurrection, Jesus spent time with some of his disciples on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
         John 21:15-17 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.
      4. I personally conclude that Peter felt a growing sense of awkwardness in Jesus’ presence on the shores of the lake where it all started.
         1. There they were eating fish and bread as the day dawned.
         2. Jesus prepared the meal and served them the meal–that had to be awkward and painful.
         3. Peter and the others had been out fishing from their boats with their nets that night just as they did when Jesus asked them to follow him.
         4. They even caught fish by Jesus’ instructions just as when they first followed him (Luke 5:1-11).
         5. Nobody asked, “Who are you?” All of them knew it was Jesus.
      5. After everyone ate, Jesus began a conversation with Peter.
         1. He asked Peter a question that intensified Peter’s awkward feelings: “Do you love me more than these?”
         2. There is a lot happening in this situation that is not obvious in an English translation.
            1. First, we are not sure what the “more than these” refers to, and no explanation was given.
               1. More than the other disciples there?
               2. More than the occupation of fishing?
            2. Second, Jesus began a word play using the word love.
      6. We have and use just one word for love.
         1. They had four different words for love they could use.
         2. The word Jesus used was, “Peter, are you committed to my highest good, my best interests?”
            1. Peter answered by using another word for love, “Lord, I have a brother’s fondness for you.”
            2. The first time Jesus said, “Tend my lambs.”
         3. Jesus asked the same question using the same word for love the second time.
            1. Peter answered (the same answer) using his same word for love.
            2. This time Jesus said, “Shepherd my sheep.”
         4. Jesus asked Peter the same question a third time, but this time Jesus used Peter’s word for love–“do you have a brother’s fondness for me?”
         5. Now Peter really felt the awkwardness of the moment–he was grieved that Jesus asked about his love three times.
            1. In his grief, Peter replied, “Lord, You know everything; You know I have a brother’s fondness for you.”
            2. After his running and denials, he knew the Lord knew everything!
            3. Jesus said, “Tend My sheep.”
         6. I find this conversation of enormous encouragement: in spite of running, in spite of the denials, Jesus had a purpose for Peter.

   2. Shortly after that Jesus asked Peter to take a walk with him.
      John 21:19b-21 And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!” Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?”
      1. For Peter, the awkwardness of the situation grew and grew.
      2. Jesus just asked him three times if he loved Jesus.
      3. As if that were not embarrassing enough, Jesus asked Peter to take a walk with him–Peter was going to spend some one-on-one time with Jesus.
      4. As Jesus and Peter began to walk, Peter looked back and saw the disciple who leaned an Jesus’ chest at the last supper and asked about the identity of the betrayer.
         1. Evidently that disciple was trailing along behind them.
         2. Peter really wanted out of Jesus’ spot light, really wanted to shift the focus to someone else.
         3. So Peter tried to shift the focus away from himself by asking, “What about him?”
      5. None of us want to be in the spot light of Jesus’ MRI vision (he knows hearts), and we often think we can get Jesus’ attention on someone else so he has no time to think about “me.”
         1. Jesus answered Peter’s question with a question: “What is it to you?” or “What do the plans I have for him have to do with my plans for you?”
         2. I am confident Jesus would give each of us the same response.

2. Jesus’ relationship with each of us is personal and basically concerns each of us as an individual.
   1. Together we are the church, but the church is composed of individuals.
      1. In the past the manner that we emphasized the importance of the church created a misconception.
      2. It seems that there are some who have formed this expectation for the judgment.
         1. The Lord says, “Everyone here who attended the West-Ark Church of Christ hold up your hand.”
            1. “Good!”
            2. “You people go on in heaven.”
         2. So, as a group, members of the West-Ark Church of Christ walk into heaven.
      3. In my understanding, the New Testament does not suggest that will happen.
         1. One of us says, “Lord, I was a member of the West-Ark Church of Christ.”
         2. The Lord says, “I want to talk to you about you, not about the West-Ark Church of Christ.”
         3. The same person says, “But, Lord, you just extended a welcome to a member of the West-Ark Church of Christ!”
            1. “I saw you!”
            2. “I went to church with that person every Sunday!”
         4. The Lord says, “My relationship with that person was with him (her).”
            1. “My relationship with you is with you.”

3. I surely need your help.
   1. Every time we assemble, every time I share with you, there are several groups of people present. Let me mention four groups.
      1. Group one is composed of Christians who are crushed by their burden of guilt feelings.
         1. They are plagued with “I am not good enough for God to tolerate” feelings.
         2. The primary issue at work in their lives is this: they place little faith in God’s promises.
      2. Group two is composed of Christians who just do not care.
         1. They are convinced if God is merciful to others, He must be merciful to them.
         2. The primary issue at work in their lives is this: they abuse God’s grace.
      3. Group three is composed of Christians who struggle.
         1. They know how they should devote themselves to God, but they are weak.
         2. The primary issue at work in their lives is this: temptation.
      4. Group four is composed of Christians who just do not know.
         1. They are confused because they literally do not understand.
         2. The primary issue at work in their lives is this: they know almost nothing about God, or Jesus, or scripture.
      5. These are not all the groups present; just four of them.

   2. The problem: one lesson cannot possibly meet the spiritual needs of all four of those groups.
      1. In fact, when I address the spiritual understandings needed by those burdened with guilt, those who abuse grace may feel justified.
      2. Or, when I address the spiritual understandings needed by those who abuse grace, those who know little are totally confused.
      3. Or, when I address the spiritual understandings of those who know little, the first three groups are bored.

   3. One of the continuing struggles in my work as a teacher arises from a truth I must always remember.
      1. I must always remember that we are a family.
         1. We have spiritual babies of all stages of infancy.
         2. We have spiritual teenagers.
         3. We have spiritual young adults and spiritual middle ages adults.
         4. We have the spiritually mature and wise.
      2. We all need a different spiritual diet.
         1. If all we eat is spiritual fast food, we all will be spiritually sick. Spiritual french fries are not the key to eternal survival!
         2. If we feed babies adult diets or adults baby food, both will get sick.
         3. We must not restrict spiritual education to Sunday sermons.
         4. We must not restrict spiritual education to close minded conclusions.
            1. We must be open to all scripture teaches.
            2. That is a very difficult openness to seek with honesty and sincerity.

We live in such a complicated time with such complex challenges. We desperately need to increase our faith and dependence on God. God can nourish us all. We must be a people who exist by faith in God, not a people who exist by religious reactions.

Faith in God Produces Understanding of Others

Posted by David on February 24, 2002 under Sermons

This morning I want you to help me preach. I hereby give each of you an opportunity to express yourself. I am counting on your helping me make some powerful points without opening your mouth or making a sound. I sincerely need your help.

“How can we make points without speaking?” I will ask questions you can answer by raising your hand. By raising your hand, you can talk to me and say something to everyone here. My questions are simple. They are neither designed nor intended to make anyone feel awkward. They are not trick questions. And there is an obvious purpose for them. I promise you there is a Bible point, a New Testament teaching in this that I will emphasize.

I am not attempting to coerce anyone to do anything. If you do not wish to raise your hand you surely do not have to. If you are willing to raise your hand, I appreciate your help. Please look at the audience. I really appreciate the teens and the college students sitting up front. This morning it is not rude for you to look at the audience. In fact, I encourage you to.

Let me explain why I am doing this. I could just tell you these things. If I did, they would just “fly right by you,” or you would say, “He doesn’t know what he is talking about!” or you would say, “Why doesn’t he talk about something important?” This morning you can emphasize facts with a force I cannot.

I ask that when you hold your hand up; you hold it up long enough for others to see.

Questions in set # one:
1. How many of you spent your childhood in this region?
2. How many of you spent your childhood somewhere in Arkansas?
3. How many of you spent your childhood in another state?
4. Is there anyone here who spent your childhood in another country?

Questions set # 2:

1. How many of you adults never attended a year of college in the period of your life from 18 to 25 years of age?
2. How many of you adults did attend a least one year of college in the period of your life from 18 to 25 years of age?
3. How many of you are in college right now?
4. How many of you who have not finished high school plan to go to college?

Questions set # 3:

1. How many of your have spent time in the military?
2. How many of you have never been in the military?
3. How many of you were drafted into the military?

Questions set # 4:

1. How many of you lived on a functioning farm for at least one year of your life?
2. How many of you never spent a year of your life on a functioning farm?
3. How many of you have never lived for any period of time on a functioning farm?
4. How many of you know what these words mean: double shovel, gee-whiz, sod buster?
5. How many of you plowed a mule?
6. How many of you gathered eggs from hens’ nests?
7. How many of you milked a cow?

Questions set # 5:

1. How many of you have a computer at home?
2. How many of you use e-mail?
3. How many of you play video games at home?
4. How many of you have played video games in a video arcade?
5. How many of you know someone under 10 years of age that has computer skills you do not have?

Questions set # 6:

1. How many of you had a car before you finished high school?
2. How many of you have prepared a school report using nothing but the Internet?
3. How many of you had a cell phone before you were 18?
4. How many of you came home or come home to an empty house every day because both your parents work?

Are we ever different from each other! All those different background experiences create different ways of feeling, different values, and different ways to look at the world. And all those differences affect us spiritually.

1. I want to share something about the church of Christ in America that is not exciting but is very important.
   1. In the 1940’s after World War II and during most of the 1950’s, often the strongest and most active congregations of the church of Christ were found in farm areas.
      1. Congregations found in a city setting were mostly found in small towns.
      2. Commonly, those congregations were not the strongest congregations.

   2. In the 1960s and 1970s a major transition began in the churches of Christ.
      1. A lot of things were happening in our country:
         1. The Vietnam war caused all kinds of internal conflict in this nation.
         2. The first major social separation between young people and adults of this nation occurred.
         3. Going to college became a real option for many high school graduates.
      2. Increasingly families could not make a living on small farms, so people began moving to city settings to find work.
      3. In this shift, more and more members of the church of Christ began moving to cities and being a part of or beginning congregations in the city.
      4. Increasingly you had city congregations with a majority of members who came from the farm.

   3. In the 1980s and 1990s the churches of Christ in this country experienced another major transition.
      1. We became primarily a city church.
         1. Many farm community churches that were strong churches began to decline and even die.
         2. When the kids finished high school, they went to college or trade school.
         3. When they finished their studies, they moved where the jobs were.
      2. Many farm community congregations became smaller and smaller and many city congregations became larger and more active.
         1. But the leadership of the church often was composed of men who grew up on the farm.
         2. Increasingly we had leaders of congregations who came from the farm trying to provide guidance for people who never lived on a farm.
         3. Increasingly members who attended a college grew in number.
         4. Increasingly the spiritual challenges members faced in every day life were not even a part of the life experiences of those leading congregations.

   4. By the year 2000 many churches of Christ were in major crisis.
      1. So much change happened in our lives so fast we did not even understand each other–and too many times we did not try to understand each other.
      2. Our personal preferences were elevated to the status of doctrine, and we got very emotional about our doctrines based on preferences.

2. 2000 years ago a man you know as Paul was very inflexible and dogmatic in his convictions.
   1. He knew what God wanted and he know how God wanted things done.
      1. Anyone radically disagreeing with him was arrested.
      2. He tried to physically force people to agree with him.
      3. It was his view or no view–he KNEW the will of God–he had his understanding of the scripture to prove it.

   2. Then he met Jesus and understood Jesus was the Christ.
      1. What a transformation!
      2. Listen to what he said to quarreling, fighting Christians in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23.
         For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

   3. All over the world, today Christians will pray to God through Jesus Christ.
      1. Somewhere in West Africa a Christian man has already prayed in a congregation, “Papa God, we do thank you plenty.”
      2. Somewhere in China, prayers rise in Chinese; in Russia, prayers rise in Russian; in Poland prayers rise in Polish, and the same has or will happen in Israel, Palestine, India, Thailand, and Laos.
      3. The only real thing we have in common with any of those Christians is Jesus Christ.

The churches of Christ in America face several enormous crises. One of those enormous crises is our ability to respect and understand each other.

Paul gave this warning to Galatian congregations who were giving each other a lot of grief:
Galatians 5:15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

I may have extreme difficulty relating to and loving you if you do not think like I think and feel like I feel. I may have extreme difficulty, but God has no difficulty at all!

God has invested far too much in your salvation for me to ignore you. How dare I place stumbling blocks in front of someone for whom Christ died?

If all you and I have in common is Jesus Christ, we have everything from creation to eternity in common.

Relationship with God: Assurance and Responsibility

Posted by David on February 17, 2002 under Sermons

One of the demanding, continuing responsibilities we each struggle with every day is balance. Daily there are situations that demand each of us answer two questions over and over. The two questions: “When should I respond to a relationship situation?” “How should I respond to a relationship situation?”

None of us answer either question well. With question one, “When should we respond to a relationship situation?” we often struggle as three answers betray us. Either we do not respond when we should, or we inappropriately respond at the wrong time, or we exaggerate our response.

Question two, “How should I respond to a relationship situation?” includes in its foundation the issue of balance. Appropriate responses always are balanced responses that consider all relevant matters in the situation. God responds with balance because God knows hearts and motives. Commonly, ignorance keeps us from responding with balance.

Knowing when to respond to situations and how to respond with balance is extremely important in all relationships. Every relationship situation continually calls for a response. The essence of kindness, fairness, and love is balance. If I respond with anger when I should respond with encouragement, the relationship is in trouble. If I respond by being inattentive when I should respond with concern, the relationship is in trouble. If I respond by judging when I should respond with compassion, the relationship is in trouble. Anytime one of my relationships is in trouble, I am in trouble.

In all relationships, God pursues a course of action we humans too rarely follow. In fact, when we humans learn to imitate God’s course of action, we do so only because of devotion to God. God constantly holds all people accountable for their individual choices and decisions, but God always stands ready to forgive and encourage. Not even Christians do that. We all struggle to imitate God’s balance.

The last Sunday evening I studied with you, we focused on 1 Peter. We noted Peter assured struggling, imperfect Christians that God gave them a living hope and an indestructible inheritance. With all their imperfections, Peter assured them this hope and this inheritance was theirs.

This evening I want us to focus on Peter’s second letter to the same people. I want to focus our study by beginning with a reading of 2 Peter 1:2-11.

2 Peter 1:2-11 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.

1. In this reading, I call your attention to a number of Peter’s emphases.
   1. Consider:
      1. When a person knows God and knows the Lord Jesus, that person’s awareness and understanding of grace and peace is constantly expanding.
      2. God’s power in Jesus Christ has granted us everything we need to be spiritually alive and to exist as godly people.
      3. The avenue through which God’s power is granted to us is through knowing God, the God who called us to Himself through His glory and excellence.
      4. That God grants us incredible promises.
         1. As God keeps those promises, those promises make possible two things:
         2. By His promise we can take part in His divine nature.
         3. We can escape the death of our perverted physical natures that are ruled by physical desire.
      5. We want to take part in God’s nature; we want to escape perverted physical natures ruled by physical desires.
         1. We are very serious about our commitment to this desire; we apply all diligence.
         2. We are committed to grow.
         3. It is not enough to have trust in what God did and does in Christ:
         4. We grow from faith to moral excellence, from moral excellence to knowledge, from knowledge to self control, from self control to perseverance, from perseverance to godliness, from godliness to brotherly kindness, and from brotherly kindness to love.
         5. I cannot love others properly unless I love myself properly, and I cannot love God properly unless I love others properly.
         6. Changing my relationship with others requires of me the responsibility to embrace God’s nature. God gives me the opportunity to pursue the divine nature; I must accept the responsibility to pursue it.

   2. As a Christian, I must understand the pros and cons of a committed pursuit of the divine nature.
      1. The pros:
         1. If I am growing in these qualities, I am by choice useful to God’s purposes.
         2. I permit my knowledge of Jesus to make me fruitful in my devotion to God’s purposes.
      2. The cons:
         1. If I refuse to grow in these qualities, I am either blind (I do not see my commitment and responsibility) or I am short sighted (my vision of commitment and responsibility is distorted).
         2. I do not understand forgiveness and the purification from sin.

   3. If I accept responsibility and commitment to pursuing the divine nature, three things will be true of me in my relationship with God.
      1. I will be increasingly committed to God’s calling and choice: I grow in my understanding of and trust in what God did and does for me in Jesus Christ.
      2. I will not stumble: I will be pursuing the divine nature until I die; I will persevere.
      3. My entrance into Jesus’ eternal kingdom constantly gets bigger and bigger, or, in Peter’s words, is “abundantly supplied” to me.

2. In this letter Peter makes it quite clear that each Christian faces a choice, a decision.
   1. My choice or decision:
      1. Is to pursue with diligence and commitment God’s nature by developing these qualities that will result in living in Jesus’ eternal kingdom.
      2. Is to pursue with diligence and commitment the physical nature that is ruled by my physical desires that will result in death.

   2. I can forfeit what God promised me and gave me in Jesus Christ, but if I do, it is my choice, not God’s.
      1. The bulk of the rest of the letter gives examples of those who chose not to devote themselves to the divine nature.
      2. I can choose to be:
         1. Daring, self-willed, without respect, animalistic, deserving of destruction (2:10-12).
         2. A person with eyes full of adultery that constantly sin; a person who lures other people away from God; a person whose heart is trained in greed (2:14).
         3. A waterless spring that promises refreshing life but gives nothing but emptiness and dust (2:17).
         4. A storm full of mist but no rain that gives life and refreshing (2:17).

   3. I can choose to pursue the physical nature that produces death instead of God’s nature that promises eternal existence in Jesus’ eternal kingdom.
      1. It is my choice.
      2. But I want you to listen to what happens to me if, as a Christian, I turn away from God’s certain promise of grace and peace that results in living in Jesus’ eternal kingdom.

      2 Peter 2:20-22 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”

In Christ there is no way that you can fail to receive the full promises of God. God’s grace and peace will preserve you and God’s promise will not fail you. Everything that is necessary for you to succeed spiritually already is in place by God’s power. All each of us has to do is trust what God did and does in Jesus and grow toward the divine nature. At our own pace and ability, all we have to do is grow.

But I must want it. My baptism is only the first step to my commitment to grow in God’s nature. God forgives. God sustains. God promises. I trust and I grow. I cannot do what God does. God cannot do what I must do. God gives. In confident trust, I grow.

First They Gave Themselves to the Lord

Posted by David on under Sermons

[An elder presents information and thanks to the congregation for responding to our financial challenges for 2002.]

[David Cogswell presents significant financial needs and opportunities for 2002.]

[David Chadwell begins his segment with prayer.]

2 Corinthians 8:1-12 Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints, and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God. So we urged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well. But just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also. I am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. I give my opinion in this matter, for this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago not only to do this, but also to desire to do it. But now finish doing it also, so that just as there was the readiness to desire it, so there may be also the completion of it by your ability. For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.

1. Jewish Christians in the city of Jerusalem faced some very harsh, life threatening realities.
   1. Acts 11:27-30 speaks of a world wide famine, and it speaks of Barnabas and Paul bringing a contribution from Antioch to the Jerusalem elders to provide relief to Jerusalem Christians.
      1. Acts 11 occured too early to be the gift of 1 Corinthians 16 and 2 Corinthians 8.
      2. Acts 20:4 spoke of a time when Paul was accompanied on a trip to Jerusalem by men from the areas that gave the gift of 2 Corinthians 8 to be taken to Jerusalem.
      3. We cannot know for certain when Paul brought the gift of 2 Corinthians 8 to Jerusalem.

   2. This is what happened.
      1. Paul in an earlier letter to the Corinthian Christians (1 Corinthians 16:1-4) urged those Christians to prepare a contribution and have it ready to take to Jerusalem.
      2. He wanted this gift to be ready when he retutned.

   3. When Paul wrote the letter we call 2 Corinthians, those Christians still did not have their gift ready.
      1. Paul devoted a significant part of this letter urging them to keep their promise.
      2. Paul was concerned, and his concern went deeper than the need.
         1. As Paul visited other congregations in the area, he used Corinth’s generosity as an example to encourage their generosity.
         2. He did not want to bring representatives from other congregations to Corinth and discover Corinth had not prepared to keep their promise.
      3. So Paul used two examples to urge Christians at Corinth to keep their promise.
         1. First, he used the poverty among Christians in Macedonia.
            1. These Christians were so poor that Paul hesitated to take any gift from them.
            2. Though they were deeply poor, in that poverty they were extremely generous.
            3. When Paul hesitated to take their gift because of their poverty, they insisted.
         2. Second, he used the Lord Jesus Christ.
            1. Though Jesus was rich, for our sakes he became poor.
            2. His poverty made us rich–we owe our salvation to him.

   4. So Paul urged them to complete their promise.
      1. He asked them to do what they were able to do.
      2. He said God only looks at what you can do, how you use what you have.

2. Jack Exum was with us last weekend, and many of us here were blessed by his visit.
   1. He challenged us to think, and we thought.
   2. He challenged all who chose to do so to make a promise to God, and many of us did.
   3. May we keep our promise.

3. But I have a challenge for each of us that goes beyond merely giving more money.
   1. Paul said there was a reason the poor Christians in Macedonia were so generous toward Christians they never met.
      1. They did something that surpassed Paul’s expectations.
      2. What they did was the literal foundation of their generosity.
      3. First, they gave themselves to the Lord.

   2. That is my challenge to each of us.
      1. Give yourselves to the Lord who gave Himself for you.
      2. Every Monday morning, first thing: give yourself to the Lord for the entire day.
      3. Every Tuesday morning, first thing: give yourself to the Lord for the entire day.
      4. Every Wednesday morning, first thing: give yourself to the Lord for the entire day.
      5. Every Thursday morning, first thing: give yourself to the Lord for the entire day.
      6. Every Friday morning, first thing: give yourself to the Lord for the entire day.
      7. Every Saturday morning, first thing: give yourself to the Lord for the entire day.
      8. If we do that for six days, I have no concern about what we give or what we do on Sunday.
         1. If it is our choice and behavior to give ourselves to the Lord for the entire day Monday through Saturday,
         2. We will give ourselves to the Lord the entire day on Sunday.

[Contribution will be collected.]

[Invitation will follow.]

Have you ever given yourself to the Lord? When? If you did, does the Lord still have you? How does He know it?

Victory

Posted by David on February 3, 2002 under Sermons

The biggest events in our society are planned around victory. In just a little while the Super Bowl begins. By today’s end, we will recognize one victorious team as the professional football champion of the world. Just a month ago we recognized the University of Miami football team as the number one college football team in this nation.

It is not just football teams. In a few days we begin the winter Olympics. And we will be very interested in how many gold metals American athletes win. In March we have the national basketball tournament to recognize one victorious team as the number one collegiate basketball team in America. Late spring and early summer we have a professional basketball play off series that ends by recognizing the number one professional basketball team in the world. We also have a professional hockey team playoff series that ends in a victorious team being recognized as the number one hockey team in the world. Then in the fall we have the World Series to determine the number one professional baseball team in the world.

And that is not all of our preoccupation with victory. Every state has its championship high school teams. Most cities have their champions in all types of leagues that even include competitions among children.

In this society we stress the importance of winning. Victory! You can easily get the impression that winning is everything. Nobody wants to lose.

Listen (or read with me) as we focus on 1 Peter 1:3-5.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1. We might conclude Peter wrote this statement to some Christians who “had it all together,” who were “outstanding as godly people,” and who were “beating evil black and blue” as they were victorious over the forces of evil.
   1. The letter of 1 Peter does not confirm that conclusion.
      1. Listen to Peter’s statements in the verses that immediately followed:
         1 Peter 1:6-9 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.
         1. Distressed by various trials (in the sense of temptations)?
         2. Proving the genuineness of their faith?
         3. Tested by fire?
      2. Later in chapter one there is the sober challenge to be holy.
      3. Chapter two begins by instructing them to “put aside” all malice, guile, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.
      4. Chapter two also urges them to understand they do not belong to a physical existence in a physical world.
      5. Chapter two also requests that they allow Jesus to teach them how to suffer.
      6. After urging them to understand how to restructure their human relationships, chapter three begins a long emphasis on the reality of suffering in spiritual existence.

   2. The assurance given to these Christians about a living hope based on God’s mercy was not given to Christians who had no struggles.
      1. The assurance of an inheritance that could not be destroyed, that could not be made undesirable, that could not fade into meaninglessness, that was reserved for them, was not given to Christians who struggled with temptation.
      2. The assurance that they were protected by God’s power was given to Christians who suffered and went through fiery trials.
      3. Turn the emphasis around: in spite of the fact that they struggled with temptation; in spite of the fact that they had evil they needed destroy; in spite of the fact they struggled with suffering, they were assured:
         1. They had a living hope that could not be taken from them.
         2. They had a wonderful inheritance that could not be destroyed.
         3. Their inheritance was reserved for them in heaven.
         4. Their struggles and suffering did not have the power to destroy their living hope or inheritance.

2. For just a moment I want to focus on the assurances that Peter gave these Christians in 1:3-5.
   1. The first thing I want you to notice is Peter began his letter with these assurances.
      1. Peter did not end the letter with the assurances.
      2. Peter did not say:
         1. If you past the test of your trials in an acceptable manner;
         2. If you “clean your act up” and imitate God’s holiness;
         3. If you get rid of the hate filled acts (malice), the deceit (guile), acting like godly people some times, and acting like evil people other time (hypocrisy), the jealousy between you (envy), and ruining the reputations of each other (slander);
         4. If you live like people who do not belong to the physical;
         5. If you develop the right kind of relationships in your families;
         6. If you suffer with the right focus and attitude;
         7. Then you have these assurances.
      3. I want you to see a very important contrast.
         1. There is an enormous difference between declaring, “If you behave in X manner you have Y assurances,”
         2. And saying, “These are the assurances given to you; these assurances should cause you to behave in this manner.”
      4. Christians do not behave in certain ways in order to get something; they behave in certain ways because they have received something.

   2. That is a key understanding in 1 Peter.
      1. “The living hope is yours–it is based on what God did in Jesus’ resurrection.”
      2. “The wonderful inheritance is yours–it is based on what God did when He made you part of his family.”
      3. “The reservation is yours–God made it in your name.”
      4. “The protection is yours–it is based on God’s power.”
      5. “It is not only yours, but God is fully prepared to give it to you.”

   3. We can respond to God’s assurances in two ways.
      1. We can say, “All right! I can abuse God’s kindness and generosity and live any way I please.”
         1. “I can keep right on deliberately being evil and deliberately doing evil.”
         2. “God has given me these things! I will do what I want!”
         3. That is a horrible conclusion that results in our destroying the mercy, kindness, grace, and gifts of God.”
      2. Or, we can say, “Thank you God! If I take Your gifts, I must show You my gratitude!”
         1. “There are only two ways available to me to show my gratitude:”
            1. “One is the kind of person I become.”
            2. “Two is the way I behave (live my life).”
         2. This response understands how desperately I need God’s gifts.
      3. This response understands there is nothing I can do to deserve God’s gifts.
      4. The only thing I can do is demonstrate my appreciation for God’s gifts by who I am as a person and how I live my life.”
   4. When a Christian appreciates what God gives him or her, he or she wants to serve God, not irritate God.

3. In Peter’s assurances, we as Christians must have some basic understandings.
   1. The living hope is a confidence, not an unrealistic wish–Christian hope is not wishful thinking but firm conviction based on God’s actions.
   2. In the same manner, the inheritance is not wishful thinking, but a firm confidence in God’s promise.
   3. God’s salvation in the individual Christian’s life is not easily destroyed.
      1. Our forgiveness is not an “iffy” proposition–it is not uncertain, based on God’s unstable thinking that changes every hour.
      2. Our relationship with God is not based on a grasshopper concept that hops in and out of salvation.

Is it not interesting that the typical focus of the church has been on how easy it is to lose salvation and the emphasis of God in scripture is on the dependability of salvation?

One thing Peter said that you must see and never doubt: the assurances to a Christian on the certainty of salvation are based on what God did and does, not on what we do. God gives the person in Christ salvation. No person earns salvation. Obedience is our expression of gratitude. Never put your faith in what you do. Always put your faith in what God does.

The Key To Living Is Dying

Posted by David on under Sermons

[David holds an ebony staff given to him in West Africa as he begins to speak to those assembled.]

What you see me holding in my hand represents one of the most significant honors given to me in my life AND a reminder of one of the most embarrassing periods in my life. Very few people have seen this ebony staff. I have never told an audience the story it represents.

The years of 1970-72 were difficult years. Joyce and I and our three young children were in a country in West Africa. That country and this country have almost nothing in common. For example, a church cannot exist or function in that country (and many others) unless that church has government registration.

Through an unfortunate misunderstanding, the government had not given the Church of Christ registration. For two years many of the missionaries tried unsuccessfully to resolve the misunderstanding. In the early months of 1972, after a long period and a lot of effort by many people, the government registered the Church of Christ. We were officially permitted to exist and function. When registration was given, there were only three missionary families in that country–one evangelist and two doctors.

The congregations were overjoyed, there were at least fifty at that time. The local congregation arranged a special evening meal with the missionaries. After the meal, they held a celebration ceremony. In that ceremony they dressed me in this lappa and numerous other things and presented me with this ebony walking stick.

It was a surprise. I did as they told me as everyone laughed a lot and celebrated. I thought it was merely the joy of receiving registration for the church. I had not the least idea, absolutely no concept of what was actually occurring when they presented me to the group as Chief Esomba.

1. Much over a year after that evening several of us were visiting the remote village of Mbonge, the last settlement before the mangrove swamps began.
   1. By coincidence, I was introduced to the paramount chief, a high official in the tribe.
      1. The person introducing me to the chief was present the night I was declared to be Chief Esomba.
      2. He said quite simply, “This is the man you gave us permission to honor as a chief.”

   2. Suddenly I realized things I never understood before.
      1. The Christians who honored me as Chief Esomba went to a great deal of difficulty to get permission to do what they did.
         1. The lappa cloth can be possessed and worn only by a chief.
         2. The style of ebony walking stick can be used only by a chief.
      2. In their culture, both are respected symbols of authority.

   3. And I felt very ashamed because I had no idea, no understanding of what they did.

2. Someone will now read for us Matthew 9:1-7.

3. Paul wrote Romans 6 to Christians in Rome.
   1. These Christians had a poor understanding of what God did when they trusted Jesus’ crucifixion and were baptized into Christ.
      1. Some of these Christians actually suggested that God’s grace in Jesus Christ gave them permission to do evil without resisting the evil.
      2. The probability is fairly certain that if you are a member of the Church of Christ you associate Romans 6 with baptism.
         1. Romans 6 uses baptism as a powerful illustration.
         2. That illustration speaks eloquently about Paul’s understanding of the nature and purpose of baptism.
         3. Because Paul’s understanding was revealed to him by Christ and guided by insights that came from the Holy Spirit, his illustration comes from an understanding of God’s will in Jesus Christ.

   2. As powerful and beautiful as that illustration is, Romans 6 is not about baptism.
      1. Romans 6 is about this: the need for Christians to identify sin as their enemy.
         1. The Christians who received Paul’s letter had been baptized.
         2. But they had a lot in common with me when I received the ebony staff–they had a very poor understanding.
      2. Romans 6 is about how a Christian should view and react to sin.
         1. In the New American Standard translation, the word “sin” occurs sixteen times just as it does in the King James translation.
         2. In the twenty-three verses of the chapter, “sin” is mentioned sixteen times!
      3. When you seriously consider Paul’s emphasis, you are astounded. Paul talked about:
         1. Dying to sin (verse 2)
         2. The death of the body of sin [speaking literally of the control of our physical bodies] (verse 6)
         3. Slavery to sin (verse 6)
         4. Freedom from sin (verse 7)
         5. Christ dying to sin for everyone [once for all] (verse 10)
         6. Looking upon yourself as being dead to sin (verse 11)
         7. Refusing to let sin rule your physical body (verse 12)
         8. Refusing to yield parts of your physical body to sin’s purposes (verse 13)
         9. Refusing to let sin be your master (verse 14)
         10. Understanding that God’s grace does not license sinful behavior (verse 15)
         11. Understanding that slavery to sin produces death (verse 16).
         12. Understanding slavery to sin is ended by giving heart obedience to God (verse 17).
         13. God frees us from sin’s slavery so we can chose to be slaves to righteousness (verse 18).
         14. People who continue to be sin’s slaves do no serve righteousness’ purposes (verse 19 and 20)
         15. The conscious purpose of being freed from sin is to become enslaved to God (verse 22)
         16. Sin pays wages; God gives a gift. (verse 23)
             1. The wages sin pays is death.
             2. The free gift God gives is eternal life in Jesus Christ.
      4. One of the primary points Paul made in Romans chapter 6 is in the form of a challenge: serve God without restriction and with a dedicated heart just like you served sin without restriction and a dedicated heart.

   3. But today there is a problem; and the problem is enormous; and the problem is very real.
      1. For some of us, the word “sin” communicates a powerful, fearful concept and understanding.
      2. For some of us, the word “sin” is a religious word, but it means almost nothing.
      3. For some of us, the word “sin” means nothing and communicates nothing.
      4. All three of these groups are sitting right here right now.

4. So what are we to do? If the word does not mean anything to you, Paul teaches you nothing.
   1. Every one of us who considers himself or herself a Christian must reach a common understanding.
      1. God gives life a focus and set of purposes.
         1. God’s focus and purposes run much, much deeper than a set of rules and regulations or a list of do’s and don’ts.
         2. We understand God’s focus and purposes by belonging to Jesus Christ and letting Jesus Christ teach us.
         3. The better we understand God’s focus and purposes the more we are pulled toward God.
         4. Understanding God means allowing God to guide our lives toward its purpose: being upright by God’s definition.
      2. Evil also gives life a focus and set of purposes.
         1. Evil’s focus and God’s focus are exact opposites.
         2. Evil’s purposes and God’s purposes are exact opposites.
         3. The objective of evil is to distance you as far as possible from your God, your Creator.
         4. That basically is what sin is and what sin does.
         5. Concepts that separate you from God; understandings that build walls between you and God; behaviors that move you further and further from God are expressions of evil, are sin.
         6. They cause any person to miss God’s purpose for life.

   2. Paul made several facts very obvious in Romans 6.
      1. God’s objective in Jesus Christ was to sanctify (set apart from evil for God’s own purposes) the person who comes to God through Jesus Christ.
         1. God does not sanctify us through our own worthiness and behavior–we have evil in us, and we always will have evil in us.
         2. God sanctifies us when we trust what God did in Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection and make that trust the foundation of our obedience.
      2. None of us are capable of destroying all the evil that exists in us.
         1. But we are capable of refusing to give evil control of our lives.
         2. We cannot eliminate every form of sin in our lives, but we can be forgiven.
         3. By God’s forgiveness, we have a new life.
         4. By God’s forgiveness, He destroys our slavery to sin and frees us from the rule of sin.

   3. Allow me to focus each of us on a growing problem among Christians.
      1. Too many Christians do not want to be dead to evil.
         1. Too many have been baptized, but they do not want to die to evil.
         2. Too many have been baptized, but in certain circumstances they want sin to rule them and be their masters.
      2. We too often convince people to be baptized who have no desire to die to sin.
         1. The act of baptism within itself has no power.
         2. Baptism becomes a powerful act when two things are true.
            1. The act of baptism is powerful when God in His power forgives by using the blood of Jesus.
            2. The act of baptism is powerful when a person who places his or her trust in Jesus Christ wants to die to sin.
      3. Christians are people who want to be alive to God and dead to sin.

When those four men climbed up on a roof, strained to tear that roof up, strained to make a hole big enough to lower a litter with a paralyzed man on it through it, strained to get the paralyzed man on the roof, and labored to lower that man down to Jesus, I can feel the disappointment when Jesus said to the man, “Take courage, son, your sins are forgiven.”

“My sins are forgiven? Give me something I need! Give me the use of my body again! Forgiveness of sins–what is that?” I seriously doubt that the man or the four men who brought him comprehended the gift Jesus gave the man.

Do you realize, do you understand what God did for you when you were buried in baptism into Jesus’ death and resurrected to newness of life? When you were baptized, were you placing your trust in Jesus in your desire to die to sin?

Never forget this: evil pays wages; God gives gifts. The only wages evil can pay are death. The free gift of God is eternal life.

Focusing On Communion

Posted by David on January 27, 2002 under Sermons

[The order of worship was different from the typical Sunday. After an elder made introductory remarks and led a prayer, David focused the assembly and began discussing the simplicity of early Christianity praise.]

In the early years of Christianity, praising God was simple. I doubt that any of us grasp just how simple it was.

1. For hundreds of years, when Israel worshipped Jehovah God or idolatrous people worshipped one of their gods, praising Jehovah God or praising one of the gods was a complex task.
   1. All praise in what we consider the ancient world had some things in common.
      1. All praise of a deity commonly involved these things:
         1. A designated place
         2. A priesthood
         3. An altar
         4. A sacrifice
      2. The worshippers went to a designated place with their sacrifice to offer praise.
         1. If it was in Israel, Jewish priests took the sacrifices and offered them to Jehovah God.
         2. Or, if it was in other nations, priests serving idols took the sacrifices and offered them to an idol.

   2. But when Christians assembled to praise God, it was simple.
      1. All that was necessary to praise God were human bodies, human minds and hearts, and human voices.
      2. God supplied the sacrifice, and God’s sacrifice was effective anywhere on earth.
      3. There was no designated place and no priesthood.
      4. We Christians have a high priest: the book of Hebrews declares he is Jesus Christ (Hebrews 8:1,2).
      5. We have a sacrifice: Jesus, the lamb of God (Hebrews 9:23-28).
      6. We have an altar, God’s eternal altar on which Jesus’ atoning blood is ever present.
         Hebrews 10:10-14 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
      7. Because of Jesus Christ, Christians can assemble anywhere on earth and praise God.

   [Opening prayer]

   [Songs of praise]

2. Jewish Christians praised God through communion from an awareness and a perspective that we, today, have difficulty “connecting” with.
   1. At the time of Jesus’ death and resurrection, Israel had observed the Passover feast for hundreds of years.
      1. Exodus 12 records the institution of the first Jewish Passover feast while those Israelites were actually slaves to the ancient Egyptians.
         1. Not long before that first Passover feast, God made this statement to Moses.
            Exodus 10:1,2 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may perform these signs of Mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your grandson, how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I performed My signs among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.”
      2. After God gave Moses instructions for the first Passover, He made this statement:
         Exodus 12:14 Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.
      3. The Passover feast was a reminder to the Jewish people.
         1. It reminded them that at one time they were slaves.
         2. It reminded them that God did the impossible for them: God ended their slavery when they were powerless to deliver themselves.
            Deuteronomy 6:12 then watch yourself, that you do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

   2. Jesus was observing the Passover feast, Israel’s most important memorial, when he took the first communion with his disciples, our most important memorial.
      1. Near the conclusion of a Passover meal Jesus gave these instructions to his disciples:
         Matthew 26:26-29 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

   [Songs focused on Jesus’ death]

3. You may have noticed that eating and drinking was commonly a part of being in God’s presence.
   1. The Passover was called a feast.
      1. That sacred feast focused on three things:
         1. The bitterness of slavery.
         2. Their quick departure.
         3. The joy of God’s deliverance.
      2. Eating and drinking was very much a part of this memorial.

   2. It was common for Israel to eat and drink when they were in God’s presence.
      1. Their assemblies at the ark of the covenant and the alter were commonly called feasts.
      2. In the acts of eating and drinking, they declared, “We are God’s creatures.”
         1. “He made us; His acts brought us into existence.”
         2. “He provides for us; we are totally dependent on Him.”
         3. “We are his chosen people; His promises guide and sustain us.”
      3. Through eating and drinking, they declared their joyful awareness that God sustained them with His great gifts.

   3. In the early formation of Israel as a nation, Exodus 24:9-11 makes this statement:
      Exodus 24:9-11 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank.
   4. When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, he and his disciples were eating and drinking.
   5. This morning as we remember God’s great act of destroying the power of sin through Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, we will eat and drink.

   [Songs focused on Jesus’ resurrection]

4. In the New Testament, people who were not Jews but who were converted to Jesus Christ did not have the memories and history of the Jewish people.
   1. Before Jesus’ death and resurrection, they could not be God’s chosen people.
      1. Their ancestors did not spent 430 years in slavery in Egypt.
      2. They had not kept the Jewish Passover for hundreds of years.
      3. The feasts they kept in praising idols were not like the feasts that Israel kept as they praised Jehovah God.

   2. Egyptian slavery did not give these people a common experience with Israel, but God’s act in Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection did.
      1. They were to remember the sacrificial gift of Jesus’ body and blood.
      2. And they were to remember what that death meant to all of them as God’s community, God’s chosen people
      3. Through Christ:
         1. They were created anew by God.
         2. They were delivered from the slavery of evil.
         3. They were made a part of God’s chosen people.
      4. As God’s new creation in Jesus Christ, they, and we, take communion remembering what God does for us in the death and resurrection of His son.
         Ephesians 4:17-24 So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles (godless people) also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

   [Song of thanksgiving]

[Communion]

[Invitation]

[Song of dedication]

[Dismissal prayer]

Listening to God or Assuming His Answer?

Posted by David on January 20, 2002 under Sermons

The probability is very high that at least once in your life (and likely many times more than that!) you were obviously upset by another person. Those who were close to you, who truly knew you, saw that you were upset.

You were not upset for a few hours or a couple of days. You were visibly upset every day. Your struggle was obvious to those who knew you. It was obvious to those who knew you someone was deeply distressing you. To those that knew you it was obvious that the distress was a continuing reality in your life.

Finally someone who truly cared about you and knew you approached you. This was their suggestion: “Just go talk to the person. Share with him (or her) how you feel.”

In those circumstances, often this is our response: “It would not accomplish anything. He (or she) hears only what he (or she) thinks I say. That is all he (or she) hears. He (or she) will not listen to hear what I actually say.”

You have been in that situation, have you not?

I wonder how God thinks when we put Him in that situation. We know what God would say before we listen to God. We only hear what we expect because we have already decided what God would say. So instead of listening to God, we substitute our own conclusions. Then we are convinced we have heard God say exactly what He meant to say. We claim to listen to God when we actually listen to ourselves.

Listening to God involves just that–listening. This evening I want to illustrate how important it is to listen to God to understand what He says.

1. In Genesis 22, God made His most unusual request of Abraham.
   1. God said, “I want you to take your only son, the son that you love, and offer him in sacrifice as a burnt offering in the land of Moriah on a mountain I will show you.”
      1. This request was extremely unusual, totally unlike anything God ever said to Abraham.
      2. This request opposed everything else God said to Abraham.
         1. It requested a human sacrifice–the killing of a family member to worship God.
         2. God had never before requested Abraham to offer a human sacrifice.
      3. God gave no explanation for His request.
         1. He gave no promises or assurances.
         2. He gave no explanation–how would God keep His promises if Isaac died?
      4. Abraham could have easily reacted to God’s clearly understood instruction by focusing on the illogical nature of the request.
         1. How would God keep His promises if Isaac the child of promise was dead?
         2. How could Isaac fulfill the role that God declared for him if Isaac was dead?
         3. God clearly declared before Isaac’s conception (Genesis 17:19) that God would keep His everlasting covenant through Isaac.

   2. Abraham not only listened to God; he also responded immediately.
      1. Genesis 22 records Abraham’s prompt action.
         1. He got up early the next morning (verse 3).
         2. He saddled a donkey to ride (verse 3).
         3. He split the firewood for the burnt offering (verse 3).
         4. He took young men servants to assist on the trip (verse 3).
         5. On the third day he left the young men behind guaranteeing that they did not hinder him (verse 5).
         6. He took the fire with him (verse 6).
      2. Abraham did what he could do to promptly comply with God’s instructions; in no way did he delay his son’s death.
      3. Abraham fully expected to kill Isaac as a burnt offering to God.

   3. Genesis 22 explains that God intervened as Abraham was in the act of killing Isaac and prevented the boy’s death.
      1. Abraham’s actions proved that he reverenced God above anything else.
      2. Genesis 22:12 records this statement from God:
         “… for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
      3. God then renewed His promises to Abraham.

2. In Isaiah 20, we read about a very unusual three year period in the life of the prophet Isaiah.
   1. God instructed Isaiah to do something that you simply would not expect God to request.
      1. God instructed Isaiah to go about his public life naked and barefoot for three years.
         1. There are differences in conclusions about what nakedness means in this instruction.
         2. Whatever its meaning, it was God’s instruction for Isaiah to display his body inappropriately in public for a period of three years.
      2. He was to appear in public as a person taken captive in a city fallen as the result of siege.
         1. Whatever the manner was that he presented his body, it was considered inappropriate and shameful.
         2. By daily standards in Israel, he displayed his body in a totally inappropriate manner.

   2. Isaiah was to do this as a sign and token that Judah should not place their confidence in weak Egypt and Cush.
      1. Not all of God’s signs were miraculous acts.
      2. Some were symbolic human acts.
      3. Isaiah’s nakedness was to be a symbolic act.

   3. Listening to God produced an unusual behavior that was not viewed by Israel’s public as godly behavior.

3. Matthew 26:36-44 states the ordeal Jesus endured in the garden of Gethsemane.
   1. Jesus clearly understood what God wanted, but Jesus preferred to avoid both the experiences and the responsibilities.
      1. Though he clearly understood what was to happen was God’s plan, he prayed earnestly that he not endure it.
         1. Not once, but three times he earnestly prayed that he not have to endure the ordeal ahead of him.
         2. Each time he requested that God’s will, not his will, be done.
      2. Jesus could have approached God on this occasion in many different ways.
         1. “God, have I not lived on earth just exactly as You wanted doing exactly what You wanted?”
         2. “God, have I not made enough sacrifices?”
         3. “God, am I not Your son?”
         4. “God, if you love me so much how could you expect this of me?”

   2. Listening to God mean trials, rejection, and crucifixion.
      1. The immediate result of listening to God was awful.
      2. The long term result of listening to God was unbelievably good.

4. Some of the Jewish Christians refused to listen to God because it meant a complete change of thinking and understanding.
   1. Technically, these Christians are referred to as the Judaizing teachers.
      1. You see these Christians clearly in Acts 15:5 and in the letter of Galatians.
      2. They were Jewish Christians who may have been few in number, but very dedicated in their convictions.
      3. They were Christians who were absolutely convinced that non-Jewish people had to learn and accept Jewish religious practices before they could be baptized into Christ.
      4. There was one way to approach God: the Jewish way.
         1. As Acts 15:5 states, these Christians believed that men who were not Jews had to be circumcised and observe the law of Moses to be spiritually acceptable to God.
         2. Being baptized into Christ was not enough.

   2. These Jewish Christians were so convinced that God functioned through Israel exclusively that they were absolutely convinced that a person had to accept Jewish practices before he could be a Christian.
      1. If anyone suggested that God planned to save the non-Jewish nations in any other way, that suggestion was unthinkable.
      2. To accept a different conclusion meant changing the way they thought, and that was impossible and unacceptable.
         1. Their families had belonged to the God of Israel for centuries.
         2. They served God all their lives.
         3. Their understanding of scripture and conclusions simply could not be wrong.

   3. Yet, if they were going to understand what God did in Jesus Christ, they had to listen to God instead of themselves or their past.
      1. Listening to God would redirect their faith and alter their conclusions.
      2. Listening to God would change their thinking about God’s will and work and the way they looked at God’s will and work.

Listening to God is a demanding, difficult thing to do. Two things make it difficult. First, you have to study. Studying the Bible must include an openness and willingness to learn things that change your understanding. It is very hard to be that open to God. Second, you have to be honest in identifying your baggage. When every single person becomes a Christian, he or she brings his or her baggage along. It takes a special kind of honesty with self to identify the baggage we brought with us into our belief system.

When I was about 40 years old, I learned some things from my study of scripture that created a huge struggle and crisis in my faith system. I realized I faced a very definite choice. I could close my ears to God and continue to think only those thoughts I was taught to think in the past. Or, I could listen to God and let His word teach me anything God wanted me to understand. That was a very difficult choice, a very pain filled struggle.

What do you decide? Will you only listen to what you were taught in the past? Or, will you listen to God and let Him teach you old truths that are new to you?

Pursuing God’s Praise

Posted by David on under Sermons

As a child I grew up in the Cumberland mountains at the edge of east Tennessee. The congregation of my youth was a small, rural, and had less than 100 members. Much of the time it was too small with too little money to have a preacher. The few occasions we had preachers, preaching was a “second job.”

I genuinely appreciate the faith filled men and women who contributed to my spiritual development. Most of them are dead, but they surrounded me with love and encouragement. I do not intend the things I share to deny their faith.

My world as a child and my world as an older adult are totally different. In my childhood, I remember an elder who refused to allow his oldest son to engage in what he classified as “foolish talking.” His son was one of my close friends. He had the ability to talk like Donald Duck, an ability I thought was cool and wanted to imitate, but never could. His father decided that talking in Donald’s voice violated scripture. It was foolish jesting which was clearly forbidden in Ephesians 4:29. He instructed his son never to use that voice again.

I remember the first time a man wanted to pass out candy Easter eggs to the children in the congregation. He bought the candy himself. His request generated a serious discussion among the men. Several women had an opinion, but were not allowed to express it. The men finally decided he could give the candy to the children if he did it outside in the parking lot, not in the building.

In the fall of 1995 Joyce and I received a three month sabbatical. I spent that time at Harding University in a carrel at their library completing a book manuscript and writing another manuscript. For the first time in thirty-five years of marriage, Joyce and I could make decisions other Christians commonly make. We could visit our children on weekends and worship with them, and we could choose where we worshipped when we stayed in Searcy. In that three months we visited with several congregations. We did two things often on Sunday evenings and Wednesday evenings. On Sunday evenings we often were part of peak of the week, and on Wednesday evenings we at times attended a small group meeting.

I, by experience, have been a part of both sides of the same coin.

1. When Jesus was crucified and three days later raised from the tomb, God restored what Satan destroyed in the garden of Eden.
   1. The two major results of Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God in the garden of Eden were these:
      1. The first major result: evil became a part of human life on earth.
         1. The ultimate expression of pride is for any person to think that he or she is sinless.
         2. We are all evil, and the more spiritually mature we become, the more aware of our evil we become.
      2. The second major result: all people in every age became slaves of death.
         1. Unless God directly intervened, which happened rarely (Enoch–Genesis 5:24; and Elijah–2 Kings 2:11), people died.
         2. Just like us, there was nothing people could do to prevent death permanently.
      3. We have Satan, the master of deceit to thank for evil and for death.

   2. What God did in Jesus’ death and resurrection defies our comprehension.
      1. In Jesus’ death and resurrection, God created a perfect forgiveness, so complete that God made it possible for sinful people to live as though their sins never occur.
         1. A lot of Christians in the New Testament were just like us: they simply did not “get it”–they simply did not comprehend what God did in Jesus Christ.
            1. The Galatian congregations are an excellent example.
            2. Some Jewish Christians from Jerusalem came to these non-Jewish congregations and said their conversion to Christ was invalid.
            3. They told these non-Jewish, baptized Christians that their baptism was meaningless; first they must accept the Jewish way of approaching God.
            4. The result was that a lot of the Galatian Christians were totally confused and began to believe things God never emphasized to non-Jewish people.
            5. Paul wrote them a letter and bluntly told them in certain terms that they simply did not understand what God did for them in Jesus Christ.
            6. Paul said,
               Galatians 3:26-29 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.
         2. I have a deep appreciation for the way that John emphasized God’s perfect forgiveness.
            1 John 1:5-10 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
      2. The second thing God did in Jesus’ crucifixion and death was to destroy the slavery of death.
         1. The writer of the Hebrews discussed what God did in Jesus Christ.
         2. He stated God’s accomplishment very plainly.
            Hebrews 2:14,15 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself [Jesus] likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

   3. Those who understand what God does for them in Jesus Christ want to tell God, “Thanks!”
      1. And that is what praise is about: saying, “Thank you!” to God for destroying my evil and allowing me to live in perfect forgiveness.
      2. The basic intention of Christian worship is to say “Thank you!” to God.
      3. A Christian who understands what God has done for him or her worships God in two basic ways.
         1. He or she voluntarily, by personal choice, chooses to be part of an assembly that remembers who they are because of Jesus Christ.
         2. He or she chooses to live life every day honoring God as a man or woman who has their evil destroyed and is free from the slavery of death.

2. I look with amazement at what is happening too commonly among Christians.
   1. We began as an American religious movement 200 years ago calling all people to let the meanings and purposes of the Bible be our guide.
      1. We began having no religious system and defending no religious system.
      2. We began with the simply desire just to be Christians.

   2. Now we often assume a scripture’s meaning and too often feel threatened by an accurate search for the genuine meaning of a scripture.
      1. There are numerous examples.
         1. Most of us are students of the Bible; we clearly understand things were quite different 2000 years ago in the church.
            1. We understand clearly that 2000 years ago the Holy Spirit in miraculous ways was very active in the church among people converted to Jesus Christ.
            2. We understand clearly those Christians spoke in tongues, experienced miracles, and received revelations.
            3. We understand they had no church buildings and commonly met in homes.
            4. They had elders, but these elders’ oversight was not restricted by a street address of a church building.
            5. Since they did not have church buildings, their concept of congregation was quite different to our concept of congregation.
         2. We present ourselves to people who know little or nothing about the Bible as Christians dedicated to being simply Christians as were those Christians 2000 years ago.
            1. If someone who knows little or much about the Bible asks about obvious differences, we explain a person must understand the meaning of scripture and God’s purposes.
            2. If we are not careful, we defend our assumptions and our systems.

   3. As a Christian, I am amazed at how much energy we often spend defending systems by shifting the New Testament’s emphasis.
      1. The emphasis in the New Testament is on how those people converted to Jesus Christ were to live their lives.
         1. That emphasis is clearly emphasized repeatedly in the New Testament.
         2. It is seen in:
            1. Acts 2:43-47 with the very first people converted to Christ.
            2. Romans 12-14 with Christians in Rome.
            3. 1 Corinthians 5-10 with Christians in Corinth.
            4. Galatians 5 and 6 with Christians in the Roman province of Galatia.
            5. Ephesians 4-6 with Christians in the city of Ephesus.
            6. Philippians 3 and 4 with Christians in the city of Philippi.
            7. Colossians 3 with Christians in the city of Colossae.
            8. 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5 with Christians in Thessalonica.
            9. The letters to Timothy frequently.
            10. Titus 2 and 3.
            11. The letter of James.
            12. The letter of 1 Peter.
            13. The letter of 1 John.
            14. The letter of Jude.
            15. And Revelation 2 and 3.
         3. There is a powerful, continuing emphasis from the conversion of the first Christians in Acts 2 throughout the New Testament on the fact that belonging to Jesus Christ changed the way people lived.
      2. We have very little information in the entire New Testament on how Christians worshipped.
         1. “Do you conclude that as Christians we should be devoted to the authority of scripture as God’s own word?” Absolutely!
         2. But devotion to scripture’s authority does not excuse us from two things.
            1. We must never appeal to authority to ignore the meaning of scripture.
            2. We must never appeal to authority to ignore God’s purposes in Jesus Christ.
      3. We struggle with the problem the first Christians struggled with: the problem of substituting our long held assumptions for scripture’s meaning.

3. May I share some things that fill me with fear about our fellowship?
   1. It fills me with fear when I hear Christians deciding if another baptized, penitent believer devoted to godly living is faithful or unfaithful on the basis of a worship style.
   2. It fills me with fear when I hear Christians declare conclusions as scripture.
   3. It fills me with fear when I hear Christians declare that what a Christian does in worship more powerfully affects eternal salvation than how he or she devotes life to Jesus Christ.
   4. It fills me with fear when I hear Christians express attitudes of spiritual superiority over other Christians because of the way they praise God.
      1. “Our worship practices are more biblical than your worship practices.”
      2. “Our worship practices proved we are more spiritual than you are.”
      3. “Our worship practices prove we are more godly than you are.”
      4. “Our worship practices prove that we appreciate God more than you do.”
      5. When I hear those attitudes and read Romans 14, I feel sheer terror.
      6. Thank God that a Christian’s hope for salvation is based on the grace of a merciful God!

The purpose of Christian worship is to transport us as God’s community into God’s presence through Jesus Christ so we can praise our God. How often do you leave our assembly with this awareness: “I have been in the presence of God.”

The older I become and the more I understand from the Bible, the more aware I am that I must explain to God Himself how I communicated His will to Christians. My admonition is simple: reverence God by understanding the meaning of His will and giving Him your life.

Openness To God

Posted by David on January 13, 2002 under Sermons

[Note to those who read this lesson in text form: I selected a man to be my reader from his seat. I asked everyone to follow the readings from a Bible. After each reading I walked among the audience with a microphone asking volunteers to share a lesson that “caught their attention” from the reading. I shared my comments from the pulpit area after volunteers in the audience shared their thoughts.]

I am genuinely happy for your presence. Thank you for choosing to be part of this assembly. I am delighted to have the opportunity and the privilege of sharing some thoughts with you tonight. Before this lesson, I want you to know beyond doubt that I am delighted that we are together.

1. I want to ask you a serious question: why are we here this evening?
   1. Many different answers can be given to that question.
      1. Answer one: “we are supposed to be here.”
         1. That perspective likely has three different roots.
            1. One root may be tradition.
               1. Whatever our spiritual origins, those origins strongly tied spiritual faithfulness to church attendance.
               2. If this is one of our reasons for church attendance, we are extremely distressed in our consciences if we do not attend.
            2. One root may be guilt.
               1. In our childhood and young adult life, we heard preachers demand church attendance by quoting Hebrews 10:25,
                  not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
               2. We were told by sincere, well meaning people that Hebrews 10:25 was a command that mandated physical presence at all assemblies. Rarely was Hebrews 10:25 understood in its context.
               3. This passage often was used as a means of demanding and controlling attendance.
            3. One root may arise from common concepts of the role of elders in the church.
               1. The church is seen primarily as a religious institution.
               2. The elders are seen primarily as the executives of the institution who hold power and authority over those in the institution.
               3. A common emphasis: “if that is what the elders say we must do as a congregation, we must do whatever they say!”
      2. Answer two: “It provides the preacher the opportunity to do what he is supposed to do–preach.”
         1. Do we assemble on Sunday evening just so I can say something?
         2. If the “proper order” is followed, is it mandatory that I present two sermons on Sundays?
         3. What is the purpose of my preaching?
            1. Does my preaching even need to serve a purpose?
            2. As long as you are present and I have something to say from the Bible, is that enough to fulfill this obligation we have?
      3. Answer three: “To worship.”
         1. I am in total agreement.
         2. In our assembly God must be honored and praised for what He has done and does for us in Jesus Christ.
         3. How does that honor and praise occur? If there are three songs, a prayer, a song, a lesson, an invitation song, and a dismissal prayer, does that automatically mean God is honored and praised?

   2. From my perspective as the one often preaching, may I share a few thoughts?
      1. For years, in fact for longer than I have preached, the primary purpose of Sunday evenings is to take advantage of an opportunity to educate, to expand Bible knowledge.
         1. A few generations ago there were no Sunday evening assemblies.
         2. If your parents or grandparents lived as Christians in the late 1800s, it is likely they lived at a time when congregations did not assemble on a regular basis on Sunday evening (on special occasions, but not regularly).
         3. I have read (but do not have document) that many years ago church buildings were the first buildings to install gas lighting.
            1. Such lights were new and unusual; they attracted curious people.
            2. Congregations decided to use this lighting to attract crowds and teach.
      2. I suggest to you that a significant reason for our being here this evening is to learn and grow spiritually.
         1. We are not here for me to perform as a speaker or for me to fulfill some type of unspoken obligation.
         2. We are here to stimulate us to think, to understand, and to grow in faith.
         3. If that occurs, God is honored and praised.

2. Since my understood objective of our assembly this evening is to increase our understanding and faith, I want to do something a little different to focus your thinking and understanding on scripture.
   1. I have asked Bill Walker to be my reader.
      1. He will stay where he is seated and read a scripture using a mike.
      2. I want you to read with him silently.
      3. After he reads a scripture, I will walk among you and let you state what stands out to you in that reading.
         1. First, I am not looking for specific answers; you can share anything from the passage you wish.
         2. Second, keep your answers brief.
         3. Third, I will share some thoughts at the end of the readings.

   2. The first reading is Genesis 11:27 through Genesis 12:7. Bill would you please read?
      Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran became the father of Lot. Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. Sarai was barren; she had no child. Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there. The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran. Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.
      1. There are many, many excellent lessons in this reading.
      2. If you choose to, state just one thought that “jumps out at you” in these verses.

   3. The second reading is Joshua 24:1,2 and then verses 14,15.
      Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and their judges and their officers; and they presented themselves before God. Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. … Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
      1. Again, there are a number of lessons in this reading.
      2. What lesson “jumps out at you”?

   4. The third reading is Acts 7:2-4.
      And he said, “Hear me, brethren and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’ Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living.”
      1. Obviously, all these scriptures have to do with what happened in Genesis 12.
      2. What lesson “jumps out at you”?

3. Allow me to call your attention to a fact and a lesson that jumps out at me in these three passages collectively.
   1. The fact: before God appeared to Abraham and gave him a command and promises, Abraham’s father (and perhaps Abraham himself) worshipped idols.
      1. The “land beyond the river” is a reference to Ur of Chaldeans.
      2. “The River” was often a reference to the Euphrates River.
      3. Abraham grew up in a home that worshipped idols, a home whose concept of deity was idolatrous.
      4. Joshua’s challenge to Israel offered them three options. Israel needed to make a conscious, deliberate choice.
         1. Option one: follow the God who delivered you from Egypt and has given you this land.
         2. Option two: follow the gods of your ancestors, the gods beyond the river which are the gods of the past.
         3. Option three: follow the gods of your present neighbors, the gods of the Amorites.
         4. Because God was the God of deliverance, Israel had reasons for choosing to follow God.

   2. The question: why did Abraham choose to follow God?
      1. His family followed idolatrous gods.
      2. He did not have children; he did not have a son to be his heir.
      3. Israel did not exist.
      4. He did not own any of Canaan.
      5. The slavery, the exodus, the conquest of Canaan had not occurred.
      6. So why did this man who knew nothing about the living God, this man whose whole life was surrounded by idolatrous worship, this man who lived in perhaps the most advanced civilization he knew, why did he choose to do what this “new,” previously unknown God instructed him to do?
      7. Abraham listened! He was open to God’s voice and direction!
         1. He trusted what no one else trusted.
         2. He saw what no one else saw.
         3. He understood realities that others likely refused to even consider.
         4. God could speak to Abraham because Abraham would hear Him.
         5. Because Abraham listened, he is also our spiritual forefather, our great example of what it means to trust God.

   3. Question: in spite of all the world around you, can you hear God? Do you listen to God when so many people around you do not even hear him?