Grace For The Journey

  Tuesday we began to look at Hebrews 2:1-4, where the writer is warning his readers about the danger of drifting spiritually.  In Tuesday’s blog we looked at verses 1-2 and saw the first of three motivating truths that we should stand on that will help us not drift away spiritually:

The salvation Christ offers is indescribably great.

Yesterday we looked at the second great motivating truth in verses 3-4 that will keep us from drifting away:

 Because God’s salvation is so great,

The consequences of neglecting it are terrible.

Let’s look again at what the Bible says in Hebrews 2:1-4, “Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.  For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?”

Today we will look at the third motivating truth that will keep us from drifting spiritually:

3. In spite of the greatness of God’s salvation, we all are in danger of drifting away from it.

The author uses “we” to include himself as the ones who are vulnerable.  The immediate cause of their drifting was that they were facing trials and the threat of persecution.  Whenever we are in those situations, we need to be on guard.  We are then most in danger of drifting.  But even at other times, drifting is easy because all it requires is neglect.

The cause of drifting is neglect.

Usually drifting is inadvertent.  If you’ve ever steered a boat, you know that if you do not deliberately keep it on course, you will drift with the currents.  The stronger the current, the more you have to give constant attention to keep the boat on course.

Since we live in the strong current of this evil world,

We all are prone to drift with the culture.

It does not take active rebellion or defiance against God to go to hell.  Simple neglect of salvation while you attend to other things will do the trick nicely.  The importance of the charge to “take more earnest heed” in Hebrews 2:1 is seen in Jesus’ parable of the king’s invitation to the wedding feast in Matthew 22:5, “But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.”   Here we see that those who were given the invitation did not pay the necessary attention to it, ignored it, and continue with their normal activities.

There’s nothing inherently sinful about farms and businesses – unless they cause you to neglect the king’s invitation!  Someone put it this way: “What must I do to be lost? Nothing!”  Just drift through life, paying attention to other things.

The antidote to drifting is paying attention.

We see this in verse 1 of Hebrews chapter 2, where the Bible says, “Take more earnest heed to the things we have heard.”  What does this say to us?

If you attend a church where God’s great salvation

Is proclaimed from week to week,

Pay attention to the message!

Don’t tune it out and think about what you’re going to do with your week or wish that the pastor would be more interesting and entertaining.  If he is a Bible teaching, Gospel preaching servant of God, what he is proclaiming is significant and should be of interest to us.

Oh, how we need to pay attention to the truths of this great salvation!

So … what are these verses wanting us to do?  Start with the basics:

• Are you giving deliberate effort to seeking God and His salvation?
• How much attention have you given to understand the gospel?
• Do you pore over Scripture as you would read a will if you thought a rich relative had left you an inheritance?
• Do you listen to God’s Word being preached with a deep hunger and thirst to receiving His truth?
• Do you read and study God’s Word as His treasure entrusted to your soul?
• Is spending time alone with God in His Word and prayer a priority in your schedule?
• How much effort do you put into learning about this great salvation and seeking to live by it?
• Do you set some spiritual goals to help you grow in your faith?
• Do you look for solid books to read that will help you know God and His plan better?
• Do you listen to sermons from godly men that help you become more godly?
• Do you cut out of your life anything that would divert you from such a great salvation?
  

It’s wonderful to fall in love and get married.  I highly recommend the experience!  But marriage is a relationship and relationships take time and effort to maintain.  I don’t care how deeply you were in love when you got married, if you neglect your marriage and devote your attention to other things, your marriage will fail.

Marriage is a wonderful gift from God

And is worth the time and effort it takes

To maintain and deepen that relationship.

But salvation is a far greater gift than marriage,

Because it has to do with our eternal destiny!

Don’t let it drift!  Don’t neglect it!

Don’t get distracted with other things, even with good things!  Because our salvation is so great, we must pay closer attention to it, so that we don’t drift away from it.

You are either drifting

With regard to your salvation

Because of neglect,

Or

You are growing

Because of

Deliberate effort and attention.

Which is it for you?

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

 

Grace For The Journey

    Yesterday we began to look at Hebrews 2:1-4, where the writer is warning his readers about the danger of drifting spiritually.  In yesterday’s blog we looked at verses 1-2 and saw the first of three motivating truths that we should stand on that will help us not drift away spiritually:

 The salvation Christ offers is indescribably great.

Let’s look again at what the Bible says in Hebrews 2:1-4, “Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.  For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?”

Today we will look at the second great motivating truth in verses 3-4 that will keep us from drifting away:

2. Because God’s salvation is so great, the consequences of neglecting it are terrible.

The author does not specify here what we would face if we neglect this salvation.  But all we have to do is read ahead (10:27), where he gets more graphic:

If we don’t escape,

We face “a terrifying expectation of judgment

And the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries”

(See also 12:25-29).

Some may be thinking, “How can these frightening warnings apply to Christians? Aren’t believers eternally secure?”

One of the mistaken ideas that the author of Hebrews confronts in this and in every other warning section is what we could call “the myth of the carnal Christian.”  This idea was popularized by Lewis Sperry Chafer’s He That is Spiritual [Dunham] and by the Schofield Reference Bible (note on 1 Cor. 2:14) early in the 20th century.

It was later picked up by Campus Crusade’s booklet, “How to Be Filled With the Holy Spirit.”  The idea is that there are three classes of people: the natural man (unbeliever); the spiritual man (the Spirit-filled believer); and, the carnal man (the believer who is running his own life, not subject to the Holy Spirit).  For the sake of time, I cannot go into many of the problems with this classification (see Ernest Reisinger’s booklet, “What Should We Think of the Carnal Christian?” [Banner of Truth]).

But one problem is that it gives false assurance to the person who says, “I believe in Jesus as my Savior, so I am going to heaven. But I am not submitting to Him as my Lord.”  For the author of Hebrews . . .

Either you are holding fast to your

Confession of faith in Christ

And are striving against sin,

Or you are drifting spiritually

And are in danger of frightening judgment.

Those are the only options.

True believers may drift and may get entangled in sin.  But when they are confronted with the truth, they will turn from their sin and pursue holiness.  If they do not turn from it, they have no basis for assurance of salvation.  The longer they continue in sin, the more reason they have to question whether their profession of faith was genuine.  But no one has the option of saying, “I’m just a carnal Christian. I’m living for this world now, but when I die I’ll go to heaven.” That option does not exist.

The author sets forth the consequences of neglecting salvation by contrasting the Law with the gospel.

• The Law imposed some frightening penalties for disobedience.

“The word spoken by angels” refers to the Law given to Moses on Mount Sinai.  The Old Testament does not state directly that angels gave the Law to Moses, but it implies such (Deuteronomy 33:2; Psalm 68:17) and the New Testament confirms it (Acts 7:38, 53; Galatians 3:19).  That Law imposed frightening penalties for sin.  Any defiant disobedience was punished by stoning to death (Numbers 15:30, 32-36; Joshua 7:1-26).  Sometimes God sent punishment directly from heaven, such as when the ground opened and swallowed up Korah and his fellow rebels (Numbers 16), or when God sent plagues among the people (Numbers 16:46-50; 21:6-9; 25:8-9).  In these judgments, God was not being cruel; He was acting in justice (Hebrews 2:2).

• The neglect of the gospel will bring far worse consequences.

The argument is from the lesser to the greater.  Greater revelation imposes greater responsibility.  If the Jews under the Law were punished for their disobedience, how much more will we come under God’s judgment if we associate with God’s people, but turn our backs on the great salvation that is offered through the death of God’s own Son?  That is his argument and appeal.

We err if we think that the demands of the gospel

Are less exacting than those of the Law.

We also err if we think that grace means

That we can be sloppy about God’s standards of holiness.

That is a dangerously wrong way to think!  As the writer states in chapter 10 verse 29, “How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?”  To drift away from the gospel after you’ve been exposed to it is to turn away from God Himself, who sent His Son so that we could have His gift of salvation.  You don’t want to do that!

 This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

 Pastor Terry

 Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

 

Grace For The Journey

 The Bible says in Hebrews 2:1-4, “Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.  For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?”  The writer, as he is being guided by the Holy Spirit, is warning his readers about the danger of drifting spiritually.  Over the next three days, I want to look at what these verses teach us regarding this important topic.

I read recently that the Tour de France bicycle champion, Lance Armstrong, and his wife are divorcing.  The article stated that at this point, he does not have another woman in his life.  Rather, his many hours spent pursuing his bicycle career left no time for his marriage.  I would predict that 25 years from now, Armstrong will look back at his life and say, “I was a fool to sacrifice my family for my sport!”  But at this point, the fame and fortune are blinding him to the more satisfying value of a lasting, loving marriage and family relationship.

It’s easy in life to get caught up in matters that seem very important at the time, but in the light of eternity will shrink into oblivion.  Because we all have only so many hours in our day, our focus on these seemingly important matters also means that we neglect matters that are huge in light of eternity.  When these things nag at our consciences, as invariably they do, we justify our current priorities by saying, “Someday I will attend to these eternally important matters, but right now, I’m too busy.”  But such procrastination can be eternally fatal!

The one sure fact of life is death.  As George Bernard Shaw observed, “The statistics on death are quite impressive: one out of one people die!”  Since that is true, you would think that we all would live with a view of eternity, but we don’t.  Other pressing matters come up to divert our attention: “I’ve got to get through school.” “I’ve got to get established in my career.” “I’ve got to get the kids raised, and then I’ll have some time.” Many of these pressing matters are good and important, but they easily can crowd out the most important thing.  As a result . . .

Even we who know the truth of the gospel

Are always in danger of drifting spiritually.

The author of Hebrews spent the first chapter extolling the supremacy of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.  He does not mentioned a word of application or exhortation in the entire section.  But when he begins chapter 2, he pauses in his argument to apply what he has written.  Over the next three days we will be looking at the first of five warning sections in this letter.  These warnings are addressed to professing Christians who were in the church.  By using the first person plural pronoun, “we,” the author identifies himself with his readers.  He faced the same temptations that they faced.  He was not in an ivory tower, exempt from these pitfalls.  Like every faithful pastor, he was exhorting himself first, even as he exhorted his congregation.

The danger that he was confronting was this:

You are either drifting with regard to your salvation because of neglect,

Or you are growing because of deliberate effort and attention.

But nobody grows by accident.

The central thrust of this warning is:

Since we have encountered such a great salvation,

We must be careful not to drift away from it.

Today we will look at the first of three main points of verses 1-2.

1. The salvation Christ offers is indescribably great.

He calls it “so great a salvation” (verse 3).  The writer gives us four reasons that this salvation is indescribably great.

• Salvation is great because it is the one thing that every person needs more than anything else.

In church circles we toss around the word “salvation” so often that it loses its true meaning.  But verse 3 contains another word to alert us to the significance of the concept: “escape.”  An escape points to a situation of great peril.  You don’t need to be saved unless you are in grave danger of perishing.

Our soldiers in Iraq rescued Jessica Lynch from hostile enemies. They saved her so that she escaped further torture and perhaps death.  Outside of Jesus Christ, every sinner (that is, every person, since all have sinned) is under God’s just condemnation. Breaking God’s holy law incurs a just penalty (2:2), namely, eternal separation from God in hell.  The Bible reminds us in Romans 6:23,“The wages of sin is death.”  God’s wrath abides on the one who does not obey Jesus Christ (John 3:36).  As Jonathan Edwards pictured it in his famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” every sinner is like a spider dangling by a thread over a fire. Only God’s mercy keeps us from falling into the eternal flames.

Salvation does not mean, as one popular TV preacher put it,

“To be changed from a negative to a positive self-image.”

• Salvation does not mean that Jesus helps you fulfill your dreams.
• Salvation is not about Jesus improving your marriage or giving you peace and joy.
• God’s salvation isn’t a nice thing to round out your otherwise successful and happy life.
• Salvation is about Jesus rescuing you from the wrath to come!

And since every person is in imminent danger of facing that wrath, salvation is every person’s greatest need!

• Salvation is great because it comes to us from none other than the Lord Jesus Himself.

The “Therefore” in verse 1 points back to chapter 1, where the author has extolled the supremacy of Jesus, God’s eternal Son.

• He is God’s final word to us, the heir of all things, and the creator of the universe.
• He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature.
• He upholds all things by the word of His power.
• He made purification for sins and now sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high (1:2-3).
• He is far superior to the angels, who worship and serve Him (1:4-14).

Hebrews chapter 1 sets forth the doctrine of the exalted Person of Jesus Christ in relation to the Father and to the angels.  It is only after the author has set forth this doctrine that he gives this first exhortation.  Sound doctrine must always be the foundation for practical application.

And yet, we live in a day when many pastors are minimizing doctrine.  I’ve heard things like, “Doctrine is divisive.” Or, “People don’t need theology or biblical content. They  need to know how to get along in their marriages and how to deal with life’s problems.”

So pastors are giving sermons (if you could even call them that!) that are devoid of doctrine.  Frankly, many such sermons could easily appear in Reader’s Digest without much modification!

But the author of Hebrews wants us to see the connection between the great doctrines about Christ in chapter 1 and his exhortation in chapter two.  That is why he uses the word “therefore.”  Our salvation is indescribably great because it comes to us from none other than the eternal Son of God who left the Majesty on high to become the sacrifice for our sins.

He announced this good news during His earthly ministry (Hebrews 2:3).

His teaching shows us the way to be reconciled to God.

Having offered Himself for our sins and rising from the dead, He is now back at the right hand of God, awaiting the time when His enemies become His footstool (Hebrews 1:13).  How can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation!

• Salvation is great because eyewitnesses confirmed it as true.

Salvation is only great if it is true.  If it’s just someone’s fanciful idea, with no factual basis, it may be nice, but it certainly isn’t worth suffering the loss of your property or shedding your blood for (Hebrews 10:34; 12:4).  This great salvation was not only “first began to be spoken by the Lord,” but also it “was confirmed to us by those who heard Him” (2:3).  The point the writer is making is the gospel that Jesus proclaimed comes to us from those who directly witnessed His earthly ministry.

The gospel is not the best ideas of a bunch of religious philosophers speculating about how they think we can be reconciled to God. The gospel is a matter of revelation and historical fact.  Jesus really lived. His teaching and miracles are truthfully recorded

in the gospels. He died on the cross and was raised physically from the grave before He ascended bodily into heaven. Many eyewitnesses saw these things and recorded them for us. If they were fictional stories, those in that day who read these accounts would

have laughed the apostles out of town. But rather, these witnesses held to the truth about Jesus, even when cost them their lives.

• Salvation is great because God Himself confirmed the message by miracles through the apostles.

God testifies through these witnesses “both by signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His will” (2:4).  The writer is referring to the miracles performed mostly by the apostles as recorded in the Book of Acts.  The terms, “signs, wonders, and miracles” are basically synonymous, but have different nuances.

Signs point to the fact that miracles have spiritual significance.  When a lame man is healed or a dead man is raised, it points to something beyond the bare fact.  These are pictures of how God powerfully acts to save souls.

Wonders emphasize the human response of awe and amazement when we witness God doing the humanly impossible.

Various (“manifold” or “many colored”) miracles (dynamis) focus on God’s power displayed in numerous ways.

Gifts [literally, distributions] of the Holy Spirit are given “according to His will.”  This emphasizes God’s sovereignty in bestowing spiritual gifts as He sees fit for His purposes (1 Corinthians 12:11).  As Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 12, not everyone has the same gifts, but as in the human body, so in the body of Christ each member has a vital function for the overall health of the body.

To sum up the first point:

Because every person desperately needs salvation,

Because it comes to us from none other than God’s exalted Son,

Because it was confirmed to us as true from those who were with Jesus,

Because God confirmed their testimony through miracles,

It is indescribably great.

Tomorrow we will continue looking at powerful truths from Hebrews 2:1-4.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

 Pastor Terry

 Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

 

 

Grace For The Journey

“Providence” was a term that was frequently used by America’s Founders, such as the unforgettable expression of their “firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence” in the nation’s Declaration of Independence.  Providence is rightly defined as “the foreseeing, benevolent care and wise guidance of Almighty God in the lives of His creatures.”

The Bible says in Psalm 25:4-6, “Show me Your ways, O Lord, teach me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long. Remember, Lord, Yyour great mercy and love, for they are from of old.”

David’s psalm (and, indeed, all of Scripture) reveals that this life is a journey without a destination . . . until we get to the other side of the grave.  We are pilgrims passing through this world, not settlers in it.

Regardless of where our path leads,

When it is a path of Providence

It will always end

In the glory of God and our good.

David deeply wanted to walk the paths of Providence, and he was crying out to God to teach him the right path to take . . . and this path will always lead in the opposite direction of the way the world is encouraging us to go.  David had no interest in looking to the imagination of man as his guiding light.  He sought the revelation of God (“guide me in your truth”) because he knew that God will always lead us in the right direction.

It is important that we understand:

The path of Providence may very well not

Be free of all obstacles and challenges.

Often just the opposite is true!  But when God is guiding us in His truth and teaching us along the way, we can be assured that we will reach the other side better than we were before we got there.

God never promised us painless paths of providence;

What He did promise was to get us safely to our destination.

Knowing that truth, we are strengthened and comforted to press on, regardless of the cost or circumstance.

The key for successful Christian living is

To hold tight to the same hope David had.

He was not hoping for an easy, painless path of Providence

To travel through this life.

His hope was in God, morning, noon, and night.

If you know the Scriptures, you might well ask, “Was David’s hope always in God?”  I believe the answer is “Yes.”  In his flesh, David stumbled badly on more than one occasion; he turned away from his holy hope and trusted in things other than God.  Yet every time David did so, God would guide him back onto His path of truth and wisdom.

Deep down,

David’s hope

Was always

In God.

We see this even in one of the most awful events recorded in sacred Scripture; David committed adultery and then murder to cover it up.  Yet, the Lord’s great mercy and love still reached out and met David in his place of deepest need.  To be sure, there would be great consequences for David’s sin, and it took a visit from the prophet Nathan to make that clear to the broken king.  But through it all, God grew David up to become a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22).  He continued to set David’s feet upon the paths of Providence all the way into glory.

So . . . what paths of Providence have you been walking lately?

Is God leading you . . . or

Are you trying to lead God?

The answer to these questions

Will make all the difference

In how your life works out.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!ese questions

Will make all the difference

In how your life works out.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

  The on-going attempt by our secular culture to get rid of the Judeo-Christian roots of our nation are showing up these days in places many of us have never even noticed, but simply assumed as normal.

For instance, consider the phrase “So help me, God” as part of the oath administered to witnesses before testifying in courts or before Congress.  No one really knows where the phrase first originated.  That it was common in England before the colonies began to be settled is certain.  It is apparently adapted from a similar phrase in the Bible, “The Lord do so to me” (Ruth 1:17) … “God do so to you” (1 Samuel 3:17).

It was a commonly accepted opinion that the phrase undergirded the responsibility and accountability of the witness before God.  But, three weeks a key committee in the US House of Representatives began to consider eliminating the reference to God from the oath normally administered to witnesses.

The current version of the oath reads as follows: “Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony that you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

The proposed revision would omit the appeal to God and substitute it with a reminder of the might of the government (“under penalty of law”): “Do you solemnly swear or affirm, under penalty of law, that the testimony that you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”

We’ve come a long way from when George Washington voluntarily added “So help me, God!” to his oath of office as he began the awesome responsibilities as the first president of our country.

It reminds me of several years back when one of our political parties held a vote at their national convention to determine if God’s name should even be included in the party platform.  Such a large number of the delegates at the session yelled protests that the vote had to be taken three times.

Removing God from our national vocabulary

Does not eliminate His power to judge.

Need we be reminded what God says in His word?

The Bible says in Psalm 2:1-3, “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.”

And, the Bible sasy in Romans 21-22,28, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools … And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind …”

As Christians . . .

May these moments serve as reminders to us

That we are in the midst of a nation

That needs God!

In these days, when our country seems

To be doing all in its power to wipe

A consciousness of God

And our accountability to Him

From our national memory,

May we – like Paul who found himself in an even more godless culture

Stand firm in our gospel convictions

And be bold in our gospel witness.

May our conviction … May our commitment … May our confession be . . .

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”  Romans 1:16

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

 

Grace For The Journey

One of the great travesties of today’s contemporary church philosophy is a lack of spiritual conviction.  Notice I did not say a lack of communicating spiritual conviction, for that’s not the greatest problem.  In fact, what started as an attempt to make truth more palatable by making the church more like the world, has become the church being more like the world without truth.  It seems today . . .

That many Christians don’t even know clear Bible truths,

And as a result they are not living by,

Or communicating, those truths.

A recent example of this was when self-professing Christian singer Lauren Daigle was asked in an interview what she believes about homosexuality and she responded, “I can’t say one way or the other, I’m not God.”  Well, I’m not God either, but I can pretty easily say what He clearly says in the Bible (Romans 1).

I’m reminded of what Dr. Howard Hendricks said almost four decades ago,

“In the midst of a generation

Screaming for answers,

Christians are stuttering.”

The saddest part to me about the exchange in the interview mentioned above is that there are Christian young people who listen to Lauren Daigle’s music, hear her answer, and become more confused in their hearts regarding God and their identity.

When Bible-teaching churches

Embrace worldliness,

There is a cost to the church.

And that cost is a drift from truth.

Consider this mission statement of a well-known university: “To be plainly instructed and consider well that the main end of your life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ.”

Would you ever have guessed that was from Harvard?  Founded in 1636, Harvard once employed exclusively Christian professors, emphasized character formation in its students, and rooted all its policies and practices in a Christian worldview.

This school served as a bastion

Of academic excellence

And Christian distinction.

Today, however, the homepage of the website for Harvard Divinity School explains “HDS offers a rewarding immersion in the world’s faith traditions and theological subjects and creates a broad educational experience where all voices are welcome.” Also on the homepage are links to learning Buddhism and understanding God through Islam.  On their “About” page is a student testimony: “When I came to HDS I worried about how I would fit in as an atheist and Humanist.  I found that this is a place of incredible tolerance and interest in stepping beyond the familiar.”

Indeed . . .

Drift is possible.

And worse . . .

It’s happening all around us.

Many churches today are

Drifting in the Faith

Instead of defending the Faith.

Twenty years ago, the push that brought worldliness was the “seeker-sensitive movement.”  Today, the push is an “embracing of culture.”  It is true that not all culture is wrong.  But, it is also true that the world is no friend to the child of God or the local church.

The Bible says in 1 John 2:15-16, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

Churches today are so concerned with relevance

That the lost world can’t see

The difference Christ makes in a life!

We must guard against drift.

After all, keeping the faith is not guaranteed.

That’s why God commands us to purposefully do it.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 16:13, “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.”

And in 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15, “But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose our for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and believe in the truth, in which He called you by our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.”

Sadly today . . .

We are seeing a falling away from truth.

When we should see a standing up for truth.

God told us about this in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.”

If we are to make a true impact for Christ

Not just build a large crowd or membership,

But see lives changed with the gospel

We must be steadfast in the truth.

The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:12-14, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.”

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

 

Grace For The Journey

  Have you ever said, “Honey, have you seen my car keys?”  “Kids, do you know where I put my wallet?”  Sorry dear, I forgot to get the milk at the grocery store.”  What are some of your favorite, “Have you seen” or I’m sorry I forgot” moments?  To echo the late Jimmy Durante, “I’ve got a million of them,” and they are often followed by the statement, “I must be losing my mind!”

If you can identify with this even a little bit, I have a word of comfort for you today.  As he was nearing the end of his life, John Newton told a friend,

“My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things:

That I am a great sinner

And

That Christ is a great Savior.”

WOW!

There really is nothing as important

As these two truths to remember, is there?

Even after we are saved,

We are still great sinners in need

Of an even greater Savior,

Who continually covers

And

Cleanses us with His blood.

John Newton wrote the great hymn “Amazing Grace” with this in view.

What would keeping these truths in view do for you?

Perhaps you won’t write a great song,

But you will write a great story,

Where Jesus is the All-knowing Savior

And you are the one

He is rescuing from danger, moment by moment.

There is another thing to remember that will be a source of unimaginable comfort, especially if you are as forgetful as I am at times.

Even if you do lose your mind, you can never lose your Master!

God declares in Hebrews 13:5, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

What a wonderful truth!

There is so much we can lose

On this side of the grave . . .

Except the One whom

We cannot afford to lose: Jesus.

And if we can’t lose Jesus,

It really doesn’t matter what we might lose,

Including our minds . . .  even our lives!

To know that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is ours in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38-39) is to know enough to keep us going when facing any kind of loss.

So . . . do you wonder if you’re losing your mind?  No worries!  Just remember Newton’s two truths… “I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.”

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

For more than two thousand years, a question Jesus asked has haunted and hounded the human race . . . Our Lord said in Matthew 16:26, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”

When you take a really think about this question and consider what it is asking, it turns out to be as comforting as it is challenging.   Never in the history of mankind has this question been more relevant and more demanding of a carefully and prayerfully thought-out response than it is today in the 21^st century.

What good would it do you to gain the whole world

If you were to forfeit your very soul in the process?

This profound question is rooted in a single word: “contentment.”  In our Western society, contentment seems to be as far away from many of us as the east is from the west.  Everyone is seeking contentment, but few find it.  From Madison Avenue to Hollywood, we are bombarded daily with advertising in print, movies, television, and the Internet – messages designed to manipulate us from the inside out, causing us to crave all sorts of stuff we don’t need, buy it with money we don’t have, in order to impress people we don’t even care about.

But this is not what God wants from us!

Our Master’s words stand in stark contrast

To the messages we receive through the media.

Jesus knows exactly what we need

And

What is best for us

In every given set of circumstances.

Can you think of any moment in your life, right up to this moment, when our Lord did not give you exactly what you needed?

Notice I did not say “what you wanted” in the previous sentence, because “needs” and “wants” are not the same thing.  Every one of us gets caught up in the latest fads and trends; we want stuff we don’t need . . .

Which pulls us away

From “the godly life”

In order to chase

After what the world tells us

Is “the good life.”

Yet experience has taught us well that . . .

The only truly good life we will find

On this side of the grave

IS the godly life,

Which is rooted

In a right relationship

With our Lord Jesus Christ.

 It is not sinful to desire some of the “stuff” of life, and our God graciously gives us many of those things.  But . . .

When the desire for stuff dominates our lives,

We are in danger of being drawn away

From the only One who truly matter

In both life and death:

The Lord Jesus Christ.

So let me close with this question: What is the deepest desire of your heart today?  If it is anything other than Jesus, it is too small to pursue and will leave you on the wrong side of the life’s cost-benefit analysis.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

 Pastor Terry

 Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

 

Grace For The Journey

  Today is Valentine’s Day.  When our girls were young, they exchanged Valentines cards with their classmates and friends.  Kay and I would sit down with them at the end of the day and go through the cards and candy they were given.  Every time we helped them sort through the candy and cards, we would come across the ever-popular little candy heart bearing the words “Be Mine.”  It always got me thinking about the most unlikely Valentine in the world.  Do you know who it is?  It is you . . . and me . . . along with everyone who has been set apart by faith to be a member of the bride of Christ.

Jesus said “Be Mine” on the day He saved you,

And He is still saying that to you today.

How are you responding to the heart’s cry of Christ?

Far too many of us respond with what others call “leftover Christianity.”  That is . . .

We do not give

The One who gave us His best

Our best.

We give Jesus what is left over after we have taken good care of ourselves first.  We meet our needs and satisfy our desires first, and then we give Jesus our leftovers: what is left over from our time . . . what is left over from our talent . . . and what is left over from our treasure.

Let me hit you

With a harsher word

For “leftover” Christianity:

Idolatry.

The Bible declares in Jonah 2:8-9, “Those who regard (cling to) worthless idols forsake their own mercy (forfeit the lovingkindness and grace that could be theirs).  But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed.   Salvation is of the LORD.”

If I were to write a book on the life and ministry of Jonah, I would call it ‘Surprised By Grace.”  Jonah didn’t even want to give God his leftovers!  He wanted nothing to do with God’s plan for his life . . . until God introduced Jonah to a fish named Grace.  It was grace that swallowed up Jonah for three days, so that he could come to his senses and follow God’s plan for his life.

I want to emphasize . . .

That the grace that we forfeit

When we cling to worthless idols

Is not saving grace.

Once we are His we are always His,

No matter what we do;

That is the good news of the Gospel.

What we forfeit

When we turn our hearts away from God

Is the abundant and overwhelmingly rich

Experience of His daily grace in our lives.

When we love anything above God, our experience of His grace shrinks down to the size of whatever it is we are loving.  At this level of living . . .

We don’t sense the richness of His pleasure,

The satisfaction of His purpose,

And

The power of His passion.

Yet, in spite of all the times we turn away from God, He still calls out to us “Be Mine!”

This is a love that is hard to comprehend.

This is a love that sent Jesus to the cross to pay for our sins.

This is a love that can never fade away

. . . That will never be taken away!

This is a love that is

Unconditional, unwavering,

Unmatched, and unimaginable.

So how will you respond to the greatest Valentine gift you have ever been given?  Have you accepted Jesus as your Savior so that you can enjoy fully His love, His life, and His liberty?  Where in your life is God calling you to leave your worthless idols and return to Him?  I encourage you to let His “Be Mine” be the number one priority in your life.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

 Pastor Terry

 Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

 

Grace For The Journey

One of the questions most asked of me is something along the lines of, “Pastor, how do I know God’s will?”  Many people seem to think God’s will is elusive or they’re not really meant to find it.  That is not true.  God doesn’t hide His will from us or play games we can’t win when trying to discover it.  He want us to know what His will is!  He wants us to be in the middle of His will for us because that is where our purpose is, that is where we thrive, and that is where He gets the most glory.

There are places in the Bible that tell us point blank what God’s will is in a general sense for all of us.  Jesus tells us in John 6:40, “And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that everyone which sees the Son, and believes in Him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”  Another example is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  Whenever you find the words “this is God’s will” written in scripture, pay close attention as God is about to tell you outright what He wants.

The Bible also tells us in Romans 12:2 that to discover God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will, we must “not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  As long as we are chasing after the world and have that mindset, we will never discover God’s will for us.

Assuming you’re familiar with those pre-requisites, here are some other things to consider as you discern if something is God’s will for your life.

1. Pray – Do this with a genuine searching and attitude of acceptance.
2. Listen – Remove the clutter of activity and even your own speech.  You’ll find it nearly impossible to discern the will of God if your life is a chaos of noise, activity, and lacks quality, quiet time with the Lord.
3. Search the Scriptures – God will never contradicts His Word.  Never.  If something is forbidden in Scripture, God is not telling you to do it.  Consider that He may already be teaching you what He wants you to know.
4. Seek Godly counsel – If you are married, bring your spouse in on the decision. Whether married or single, seek counsel from someone who will be objective and isn’t afraid to tell you something you might not want to hear.
5. Consider Jesus – If what you’re thinking about is not something He would do from a moral position, do not do it!
6. Seek glory for God – Will this end up bringing Him glory?
7. Consider others – Philippians 2:3-4 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”  Remember, you are not an island.  Your actions and decisions affect those around you. Always.
8. Follow faith – Hebrews 11 is full of people commended for their faith, even when circumstances didn’t make sense and living for God was difficult.
9. Embrace sacrifice – Many times God’s will requires some form of sacrifice.  The greatest example to us in all things is Jesus and that is certainly true of the above verses in Hebrews 5.  Jesus was in the middle of God’s will when He hung on the cross.  It was a great sacrifice.  Don’t shy away from something solely because you have to sacrifice something, because you’re scared, or because it’s hard.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”