Grace For The Journey

Studies have shown that the happiest people in the world are those who invest their time in helping others. How happy are you?  The Bible says in Matthew 7:12, “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”  These words from our Lord Jesus Christ’s powerful Sermon on the Mount are frequently referred to as “The Golden Rule.”  This teaching of our Lord is rooted in the Old Testament, which makes perfect sense seeing that the Bible is . . .

ONE WORD

from

ONE GOD

to

ONE PEOPLE

More than 1,500 years earlier, the Sovereign Lord had instructed the people of Israel in Leviticus 19:18, 34, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. . . . The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

So, what exactly is this Golden Rule all about?

As an authoritative standard,

The Golden Rule is above

All other rules

In both prominence and purity.

It is designed to govern

Our conduct and to grow

Our capacity to bring ultimate glory to God

And incredible good to others.

I have heard it said that Jesus was not really teaching anything new here; that all religions teach basically the same principle, since at the core (it is said) all religions are fundamentally the same.

Is that notion true? Let’s take a look:

Hindu Religion – “This is the sum of duty: do nothing to others which if it were done to you, would cause you pain.”

Buddhist Religion – “Hurt not others with that which pains yourself.”

Muslim Religion – “No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.”

Jewish Traditions (Talmud) – “What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. That is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary.”

Confucianism – “What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.”

To be sure, these are all good rules to follow, but . . .

Can you see a major difference:

All these other religious rules

Are primarily negative – Do not do

While Christ’s Golden Rule

Is positive and proactive – Do!

Jesus is calling us to live a life of joyful, intentional, acts of voluntary service.

Living out the Golden Rule tells the world Whose we are.

By nature, as children of Adam, we all live self-centered lives.  But when we are raised from death to life by the power and grace of the Spirit of God, we are to lay our lives down for others with hearts that beat for nothing other than Jesus . . . who, while we were still sinners, laid down His life for us.

So . . .

Does the Golden Rule rule in your life?

I must add one final point before we close today’s blog.  I said earlier . . .

That “It is said” that all religions

Are fundamentally the same.

No statement could be more fundamentally false!

All the other major religions and all the cults

Require man to strive to ascend to God

By living a life of good works

That will make him acceptable to God.

Only Christianity teaches that God

Descended to man in gracious love,

Because we are completely incapable

Of ascending to a perfectly holy God.

Only Christianity teaches that

God alone has done all the work

Required for our salvation,

All the work that makes us acceptable to Him.

We rest in Jesus’ words on the cross, “It is finished!” – and therefore we do our good works because God so loves us, not to try to make God love us.

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 Apostle Paul is led by the Holy Spirit to write in 1 Corinthians 9:22, “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”

If we do not understand the biblical truth of what Paul said in the words “all things to all people,” we may find ourselves becoming absolutely nothing to anyone.  At that level of living, we have not only watered down our witness for Christ, we have likely lost it altogether.

So what is the great apostle Paul telling us in this verse?

Paul is speaking about those areas in life that come under the heading of “indifferent” – they are neither commanded nor forbidden by Scripture.  In these areas we have been given liberty to choose.  Paul was in no way considering actions that were contrary to the moral law of God in order to become “all things to all people.”

He would not water down his witness.

He would not compromise his faith.

He would not preach a false gospel . . .

All with the hopes of winning some to Christ.

Why?

Because Paul knew the biblical truth that

What you win people through,

You also win people to.

If you win them through the truth,

You win them to the truth.

Because Paul’s identity was in Christ, in those areas that mattered not, he did not care what others might think of him in order to reach the lost for Christ.

His identity was firmly fixed in Christ

And it could not be shaken by the opinions of others.

He ministered not for the applause of man,

But rather for the approval of God.

Paul knew he had been given great freedom in the Gospel, but he refused to use his freedom for any reason whatsoever that might negatively impact the faith of a brother or sister whose faith was not as strong as Paul’s.

As the former “Pharisee of Pharisees,” Paul knew the ceremonial law of God inside and out.

He knew that this yoke of the law

Had been removed by the blood of the Lamb of God.

Paul knew that his faithfulness to Christ

Meant freedom from the ceremonial law.

Yet . . .

If by submitting to it in any way,

A weaker brother might be

Brought to faith in Christ,

Paul would give up his freedom

And bear the yoke of the law.

He could do this because He knew what God had done for him during his Damascus Road experience: Saul, the one who had been the violent persecutor of the church had been transformed into Paul, the church’s primary preacher and pastor and the man would pen much of the New Testament.

Sadly, many in the church today misunderstand what Paul was saying in his epistle to the Corinthians, and they have become a veritable “spiritual smorgasbord” . . . for them, everything is up for grabs.  They are blown to and fro by every imaginable wind of doctrine in their misguided attempts to be all things to all people.  The truth is shrouded, the Gospel is watered down, and the whole counsel of God is obscured – if not distorted.

We must remember that we are merely instruments of salvation in the hands of the Almighty.  God saves; we simply share the truth of the good news of the Gospel and leave the results up to Him.

We don’t need to change the message

To meet the felt needs of lost people

In the hope that some might be saved.

Our God needs no spiritual smorgasbord to assist in the process of salvation; He needs and wants sold-out sinners who have been saved and changed by grace who will tell others the truth about the 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

  The Bible says in Psalm 57:7. “My heart is steadfast, Io God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise.”   David is talking about how God is the source of strength and encouragement in every situation in life.  In Psalm 101:3, he was led to write again about this and says that his joy, service, and outlook on life are a result of his personal faith in the Lord and his growing knowledge and relationship with Him.   Spiritually speaking, he is talking about a heart that is fixed, established, solid, sure in his relationship with the one true God, unmoved by whatever comes its way in the world; a heart that is rooted and grounded in the life and love of God, firmly built on the foundation of His Word, has its affections set on Christ alone, and is not swayed from the hope of the Gospel, and the doctrines of it.

David has determined within his heart to worship God. Though the world seems to be falling down around him, and things are out of his control, he will praise his God.  He knew the battles he faced were the Lord’s and that God would see Him through whatever he faced.  We are soldiers in the battle, but it is God’s who fights against Satan, the flesh, and the world.  Our only hope is in God.  We have reason to celebrate and take courage The Bible promises that no weapon formed against the child of God shall prosper.

If I were to ask you, “What are your values in life” what would your answer be?  I realize that is a question that would require some amount of thought!

Your values are your core beliefs

That shape everything you do in life.

There are a lot of people who would say, “It really doesn’t matter what you believe” but that is just not true.  It does matter what you believe.

Your beliefs determine your behavior

And

Your behavior determines what you become.

The kind of person you are, if you look at the foundation, is based on the things you have chosen to value.

In other words . . .

Your convictions in life determine your conduct.

And

Your conduct determines your character.

So whatever you want to be in life, it is important that your values are right because they determine and direct everything in your life.

If you want to build a lasting life

Of success and significance

You must build it on lasting values.

One thing that basically everybody in our society agrees with today — whether you are a liberal or whether you are conservative, democrat, republican, independent, religious or irreligious, a Christian or an nonchristian or an atheist or whatever — the vast majority of people say that our society today is in a stage of moral decline.  There is a decaying of values in our society.

Many surveys say that over 80% of Americans believe that the number one problem in America now is not the economy, but it is the decline and decay of moral values.  George Gallup did a pole and discovered that Americans today are more interested in values than at any other time in the past sixty years.  It is a very hot item.  Someone has pointed out that in the past year or so there have been over 350 articles in secular magazines that deal with the concern about the moral decline and decaying of values in America.  Some of the articles were: “Is the U.S. Morally in Trouble?”, “Can we save our culture?”, “The Character Deficiency Syndrome”, “Fighting to Fill the Values Gap”, “The Decline of a Nation”, “A Nation of Liars”, “The Moral Obtuseness in America”, “Living in the New Dark Ages”, “A Nation of Finger Pointers”, “How Moral Deprivation Breeds Kids With Attitudes”, “Morals and Mixed Signals”, “The People Magazine Sin Pole”, “The New Dangers of Relativism”, “Shifting Realities”, “Our Moral Makeover: The Spiritual Void in Drug Use”, “When Winning is the Only Thing”, “Signs of Hope Amid Moral Decay”, “Why is Common Curtsey Less Common?”, “Beyond Materialism”, “The Sexual Revolution Reconsidered”, “Faultiness: The Lack of Responsibility in Our Society”, “How Disregard for the Truth has Become Epidemic in America”.

From this sampling, what one discovers is that every single national magazine has devoted at least one cover to this issue of values and moral decline in the last two years.  This crisis can be seen in many areas.  I have listed five: politics, business, entertainment, education, and religion.  If I said write down the current scandal in each of these areas, you would easily be able to do it.

What is the cause of all this?  Why is there so much concern for all of this in our society?

Two words:

Truth Decay.

The fact is, we no longer value the truth in America.  Instead, we value two other things . . .

We value convenience: Is it easy?

And we value pragmatism: Does it work?

In fact, the word “post-truth” was coined in 2010, but was declared by Oxford Dictionaries as “the word of the year” in 2016.  “Post-truth” is defined as “an adjective relating to circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than emotional appeals.”

This represents a major shift in values in the last 40 years in our society.  Fifty years ago, there was almost universal agreement about what was true, what was right and what was wrong.  That did not mean everybody did it, because they didn’t.  But at least, fifty years ago in the generation that fought World War II, when those people did wrong, they knew they were doing wrong.  They chose.  They said, “I know this is wrong, but I’m going to do it anyway.”  And they would do it.  There was no disagreement about what was right or wrong or what was true.

Today it is very different.  We have an entire generation of young people and children who don’t even know the difference between right and wrong.  There are parts of our society that say, “There’s no such thing as right and wrong.  What may be right for you, may be wrong for me.  What may be right for me, may be wrong for you.”  So there are no standards by which you can evaluate your life and behavior.

What happened?  Why is it that in just one generation’s time we went from general agreement on “This is true!” to today, if I stood up and said, “This and this is true, this is right, this is wrong,” there would be all kinds of controversy about it.  And it happened in just one generation.  What happened?

We were sold a bill of goods.  We fell for three very destructive philosophies that have replaced truth in our society . . .

1.  Individuality or individualism.

That is, live for myself, for only I can be the standard of my life, only I can judge what is really true, only I can judge what is right and only I can judge what is wrong and you do not have any place telling me what is right or wrong or true.  I basically am my own god and I live for myself and I have got to do what is best for me.  That is called individualism.  A recent survey by the Wall Street Journal of executives across America discovered that when executives in America have an ethical crisis about 44% of them say, “I consult with myself.” And only 3% say, “I consult with God.”

They are saying, “I set myself up as the standard.”  This is nothing new.  Individualism has gone on in nations for centuries, even millenniums.  Thousands of years ago the nation of Israel feel prey to this. If you want to read the dark ages of the nation of Israel, read the book of Judges.  It was a time of total chaos.  Why?  The answer is found in Judges 21:25 where the Bible says, “In those days there was no king in Israel (Israel had no authority; everyone did what ws right in his own eyes.”

Does that sound vaguely contemporary?  They just did whatever they thought was right.  There were no judges, no standard, no rule, no law, no absolutes, they did whatever they wanted.  That is an easy philosophy to hold onto because it means I never have to feel guilty.

I do not have to measure up to my standards, or your standards, or anybody else’s, and if you say, “This is right” then that may be right for you but for me, I am an individual and I run my own life.  That is the first philosophy.  The result of it in the nation of Israel was anarchy disregard for God’s way and that is going to be the result if America keeps going that way here. Anything goes. If I want to blow you away with a shot gun, fine! Because the only thing that matters is me.

2. Secularism.

Secularism can be summarized in three words:

God is unnecessary.

That does not mean that

I don’t believe there is a God.

I might believe there is a God,

I just don’t need Him in my life.

For the last fifty years we have been systematically removing God from every area of public life – schools, government, media, newspapers, all the different areas of public opinion in life and we basically relegated God to Sunday mornings.  Many people believe in God but He makes up just a small slice of their life.  Most people believe that in matters of life and eternity they will decide for themselves how they are going to live their life.  They live and make decision like God is not necessary.  They think they have got it all together on their own.

This has all happened in just the last fifty years.

• Fifty years ago, most school rooms had the Ten Commandments hanging on the wall, and they were a looked to as a standard of moral authority.
• Fifty years ago, in many if not most school rooms, classes began with prayer, acknowledging our need of God in the pursuit of wisdom and life.
• Fifty years ago, the majority of people in America went to church to express their gratitude and to worship God.

Today, that is exactly the opposite.  It has flip-flopped.  Obviously there are no Ten Commandments or prayer in schools.  And the majority of people do not go to church today.  So where are they getting their morals?  All the talk shows, and so-called “Reality” shows, take the most bizarre life-styles and behavior found on the planet, put them on stage and say, “This is normal!”  They are getting more and more bizarre in what they want us to accept and sadly many will applaud and agree!

The number one purveyor

Of values today

Is not God, the Bible, the church, or even parents.

It is television, radio, and the media.

So, in secularism, God has been removed from the main stream.  This is talked about in the book of Romans, chapter 1, verse 25, where the Bible says, “Who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”  That is called materialism – When you worship things instead of the God who created everything.  That is why there will be more people at the beach and the mountains worshipping creation and their tan, than there are at church worshipping God.

We hear about all of these uneducated tribes in some dark forest and say, “Isn’t it sad that these tribes get a little piece of wood and carve it into an idol and then they bow down in front of it and worship it? How uneducated!”  But Americans have idols too that we worship.  The only difference is our idols are made of chrome, jewels, or diamonds or can be folded and placed in our pockets.  A lot of people worship their boat, their house, their career, anything that is created, rather than worshipping God.  So God is unnecessary and we live for ourselves.

3. Relativism.

That does not mean you have bad relatives.

You can summarize relativism

In two words:

No absolutes.

The idea behind relativism goes like this: What is true for me may not be true for you and what is truth for you may not be truth for me.  Therefore, what is right for me, may not be right for you and what is right for you, may not be right for me.  And nobody can say what is right or wrong because all truth is relative.  There is no real standard and truth is some vague idea.  That is a great way to live if you do not want to have any guilt.

Then you say, “That is your standard. My standard is this…”  If I do not measure up to God’s standard, I just lower the bar a whole bunch, or change the standard, and then I say, “Look how great I am!”  This is a problem and it comes up in a lot of familiar phrases: “It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you are sincere and it does not matter what you believe as long as you sincerely believe it.”  Really?  Have you thought through the logical extension of that?  If I think a cup is filled with water for me to drink but it is really filled with sulfuric acid and I drink it thinking it is water but it is sulfuric acid, then I would be sincerely dead.  It really does matter what you believe.  This type of thinking is also illogical because the statement itself is an absolute.  When you say “There are no absolutes” you have just stated one, which means obviously that statement is wrong.  You cannot make an absolute statement that there are no absolutes, that is illogical.

Truth is narrow.

That is why

It’s called truth.

God says He wants us

To know the truth.

We have been conned by individualism (live for myself), secularism (God is unnecessary), and relativism (there are no absolutes).  Decide today to stay with, or return to, the Word of God and choose His truth as your standard and determine to build godly values as the foundation of 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

  In Thursday’s blog, we began to look at Psalm 57.  Psalm 57 shows us that David understood a deep and valuable truth:

Although, he may not have realized

Why God was allowing him to suffer,

He did understand what God wanted

From him in his suffering.

David understood that to ask the question “Why?” in the midst of suffering is to ask the wrong question.  The proper question to ask is, “God, what do You want from my life in the midst of this trial and as a result of this trial?”

The answer is . . .

“God wants to be glorified.”

That is the theme of Psalm 57 (note the refrain, verses 5 & 11):

God’s glory should be our aim

At all times,

But especially in a time of trial.

Then we looked at what it means to glorify God? We saw that it means that God is worthy of all honor because of who He is, a God who is perfect in all of His attributes and ways.

To glorify God is to ascribe honor and praise to God

For who He is and for what He has done.

It means to show forth His excellencies, to exalt Him.

In simple language, to glorify God means

“To make Him look good as He really is through my life.”

On Friday, we began to deal with the question, “How do we do that?”  We looked at two ways David presents us in today’s blog.

Yesterday we looked at Psalm 57:1-6 and saw that . . .

1. God is glorified as we trust Him in our trials.

Those verses teach us that if you see God as bigger than your problems, then you can trust Him, and He will get the glory.  God is glorified as we trust Him in our trials.  Trust involves relying on God alone; going to Him in prayer; and, seeing Him as bigger than our problems.

In today’s blog we will look at Psalm 57:7-11, where David shows us a second way God can be glorified in our trials which we will look at tomorrow.

2. God is glorified as we praise Him in our trials (57:7-11).

So far as we can tell, David is still in the cave.  Saul is still the king, and he is still after David.  David’s circumstances haven’t changed much, if at all.  And yet, instead of self-pity and complaining, David breaks forth in praise to God. He teaches us two things about praise:

• Praise is a matter of deliberate focus (57:7-9).

Praise is not our natural response in a time of trial.  Our natural response is to complain and get angry at God, or to get depressed.  But even though David’s enemy had fixed a net to catch him (57:6), David had fixed his heart (57:7, same Hebrew root) to praise God.  The repeated affirmations show that it was a matter of deliberate choice: “I will sing, yes, I will sing praises!”

Sometimes you need to praise God when you don’t feel like it.  You may think, “Isn’t that hypocrisy?”  No, it’s obedience (Psalm 45L17l 71:6).  Hypocrisy doesn’t mean doing things you don’t feel like doing.  If that’s what hypocrisy is, I’m a hypocrite every morning, because I get out of bed even though I don’t feel like it!  Hypocrisy is trying to present a false impression to others so that you look better than you are.  But praising God is a matter of obedience, and the test of obedience isn’t when you feel like obeying, but when you don’t.

The next time you’re going through a difficult trial and you’re depressed or overwhelmed, follow David’s lead and set your heart to praise God.  Get out a hymn book or put on a praise tape and focus on the Lord by singing to Him.

• Praise is a matter of testifying to others of God’s goodness (57:9-10).

David wants the nations (those who don’t know God) to hear his praise.  Even though he’s going through extreme difficulty, he wants to sing about how good God is, so that others will hear and glorify God.

David specifies two aspects of God’s goodness

(Which often occur together in other psalms):

His lovingkindness and His truth, or faithfulness (57:3, 10).

“Lovingkindness” comes from the Hebrew word related to the stork.  The Hebrews saw the loyal love of the stork for its young and said, “God’s love is like that, only greater.”  He cares for and nurtures us with never-ending love.

“Truth” points to God’s faithfulness.  He is consistent and trustworthy.   He never fails His children.  He may bring us into severe situations and sometimes even from the human perspective to premature death.  But . . .

There is not a person in history

Who has trusted in the living God

And been disappointed.

Even those who have suffered greatly have testified to God’s abundant love and faithfulness which has sustained them.  Paul’s desire as he was in prison, facing possible execution, should be ours, that “Christ shall even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death” (Philippians 1:20).

It is important that you focus your praise

On God’s loyal love and faithfulness in a time of trial,

Because it is precisely those qualities

Which Satan tempts you to doubt at such a time.

You will be tempted to think, “If God loves me, why is this happening to me?”  But, David’s voice comes singing from the cave, “God, Your lovingkindness is great to the heavens and Your truth to the clouds! Be exalted above the heavens, O God; let Your glory be above all the earth.”

It’s important not just that our individual worship, but also that our corporate worship be a vigorous testimony of God’s glory.  If someone who doesn’t know God comes into our midst, he should be able to tell from our praise that we worship a great God who is loving and faithful.

Pastor John MacArthur, in his book entitled, The Ultimate Priority, tells about a Jewish woman who went to a synagogue near the church he pastors for counsel because her marriage was breaking up.  She was given biblical counseling that ran contrary to what she thought was need and had been told by others.   She was upset by this and went to her car to leave.  It was on late afternoon on a Sunday, and as she walked to her car, she got caught in the crowd going to evening worship and ended up in the service.  She was so overwhelmed with the atmosphere of worship that she trusted Christ as her Savior and was baptized a few weeks later.  She later told Dr. MacArthur that she didn’t remember much about his sermon, but she was absolutely in awe of the joy, peace, and love that exuded from the people as they worshiped.  She had never seen anything like it.  Their praise led her to salvation.

What is your focus or aim in life, especially in a time of trial?

If your aim is your own happiness, to escape

As quickly as you can from your pain,

You are living for the wrong thing.

That’s what those in the world live for.

If your aim is to glorify and exalt God

By trusting and praising Him even in the midst of trials,

You’ve found God’s purpose for your life.

The Puritans had it right:

Our chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

If you’ll focus on that purpose, He will give you a song even from the cave!

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

 In yesterday’s blog, we began to look at Psalm 57.  Psalm 57 shows us that David understood a deep and valuable truth:

Although, he may not have realized

Why God was allowing him to suffer,

He did understand what God wanted

From him in his suffering.

David understood that to ask the question “Why?” in the midst of suffering is to ask the wrong question.  The proper question to ask is, “God, what do You want from my life in the midst of this trial and as a result of this trial?”

The answer is . . .

“God wants to be glorified.”

That is the theme of Psalm 57 (note the refrain, verses 5 & 11):

God’s glory should be our aim

At all times,

But especially in a time of trial.

Then we looked at what it means to glorify God? We saw that it means that God is worthy of all honor because of who He is, a God who is perfect in all of His attributes and ways.  To glorify God is to ascribe honor and praise to God for who He is and for what He has done.  It means to show forth His excellencies, to exalt Him.  In simple language, to glorify God means “to make Him look good as He really is through my life.”

Now, the question arises, “How do we do that?”  We will look at two ways David presents us in today’s blog.

1. God is glorified as we trust Him in our trials: 57:1‑6.

Although the word “trust” doesn’t occur in verses 1‑6, it is the main idea.  Trusting in the Lord has come to be viewed as a bit of nice, but totally useless, advice for someone who is in a trial.  But . . .

It is not useless;

It is some of the most practical

And sound counsel

We can follow

When we’re in a difficult situation.

So, we need to understand what it means to trust the Lord.

• Trust involves relying upon God alone – Psalm 57:1.

David describes his trust as taking refuge in God.  He uses the picture of baby chicks which take refuge under their mother’s wings when a predator threatens them.  They are entrusting their lives to their mother’s protection.  During the 1950’s, when the cold war with Russia was at its peak and the threat of nuclear war seemed imminent, a number of Americans built bomb shelters in their backyards.  Taking refuge in such a shelter implies complete trust on the part of the person going into it.  He is entrusting his very life to those walls to protect him from death.  In the same way, we are to take refuge in God. We are to entrust ourselves to Him, depending upon Him to protect us.

Relying upon God alone means that we consciously do not rely upon two things:

• We do not rely on human merit.

David says, “Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me.”  God’s grace or mercy refers to His undeserved favor.  It’s one of the most difficult concepts for our proud hearts to grasp.  I find that many who profess to know Christ do not understand the concept of God’s grace – This is reflected in the fact that they try to come to God on the basis of their own goodness.  They might pray, “God, I’ve been extra good lately. I’ve read my Bible and gone to church and I even tithed this month. Now, here’s what I want You to do ….” Or they ask, “Why this trial, God, when I’ve been so good?”

They think God owes them something.

That’s not trusting in God alone.

That’s trusting in human merit.

The only way to approach God is through grace.

• We do not rely on human means.

Here David is, hiding in a cave. . . .

But he didn’t see the cave as his refuge,

He saw God God as His shelter and strength.

He saw beyond the cave to the Lord.

The point is, David hid in the cave,

But he didn’t trust in the cave,

He trusted in the Lord.

You may think I’m quibbling over small matters; but I contend that as American Christians, we are too heavily oriented toward methods.  Hardly a week goes by without my receiving a flyer in the mail urging me to attend some seminar that is guaranteed to build my church.  Some of the methods taught at these seminars are okay, while others are just slick business techniques applied to the church.

As long as our methods are in harmony with Scripture,

We are generally free to use them.

But – and here is the crucial issue –

We must be very careful not to trust in any method,

But to rely on the Lord so that He gets the glory.

Let me also point out that there are times when it is wrong to use any method, where we just need to wait on God to act on our behalf.  On one occasion when David was being pursued by Saul, David and his men were in the inner part of a cave when Saul, not knowing they were in there, went in the cave to “cover his feet” (i.e., sit on the toilet). David’s men said, “David, the Lord has delivered your enemy into your hand. Go kill him!”  David crept up and quietly cut a small piece off Saul’s robe.  Even at that his conscience bothered him.  His men thought he was crazy. “Why didn’t you kill him? God delivered him into your hands and you just cut off a piece of his robe!”  But David said, “Far be it from me because of the Lord that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed …” (1 Samuel 24:6).  David trusted that the Lord would remove Saul without His help (Psalm 57:2-3‑3).  It would have been wrong in that situation for David to help God out by killing Saul, even though David knew that it was God’s will to depose Saul and give the throne to David.

When is it okay to use human means and when is it wrong?  Search the Scriptures for examples.  It is always wrong to rely on human means, and sometimes it is wrong even to use human means.

Perhaps the real issue is . . .

Who will get the glory

If I use these human means?

I would rather err on the side of going light on methods and heavy on trusting God. Then God gets the glory.

• Trust involves going to God in prayer – Psalm 57:1‑2.

Prayer is the language of trust.

This psalm is primarily a prayer.

Prayer is an acknowledgment

That our need is not partial, but total.

Prayer says to God and to anyone else around, “I am a dependent person. I am not self‑sufficient. I cannot handle this situation in my own strength, but only in Your strength, Lord!”

I heard a pastor, tell of an incident that happened while he was ministering in the Baltimore area.  He had the opportunity to speak to the Orioles baseball team while they were in the playoffs against the Twins.  He wanted to give the players a copy of a book he had written, but he didn’t have enough copies with him.  One of the players who was a Christian told this pastor to drop the books off at the team office and he would see that the players received them.

By the time he took the books to the office, the Orioles were in the World Series.  The pastor prayed, “Lord, it would sure be great to get some World Series tickets for my boys.”  So, he said to the secretary, “There wouldn’t happen to be any series tickets available, would there?” She did some checking and managed to come up with three box seats, one for him and each of his two boys.

At the dinner table that night, this pastor easily could have gotten the glory for himself: “Guess what your Dad managed to do today, kids?”  Or, he could have given the glory to luck: “Wow, was I lucky today!”  But instead, he wanted to teach his boys something about prayer, and so God got the glory.  He said, “I was praying that God would provide some World Series tickets, and He did!”

Trust involves going to God in prayer

And that way God gets the glory.

• Trust involves seeing God as greater than my problems – Psalm 57:4-6.

David describes his situation in dramatic language.  It’s as though he is surrounded by lions, or fire-breathing dragons, or those creatures whose teeth are like spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.  They’re out to get David; he’s outnumbered; and it just seems like a matter of time until he is caught in their net.

But, right in the midst of describing his problems, we read verse 5.  It seems out of place.  It would have fit at the end of verse 6 to close the stanza, after David’s realization that his enemy’s schemes would come back on them.  But the verse jars you where it is.  Why is it there?

I think that in the midst of his problems,

David suddenly realizes that God

Is bigger than his problems!

Someone has said, “Trust is only as good as its object, and a trustworthy object inspires trust.”  But . . .

Sometimes it takes intense trials

To get us to look to the Lord

And discover how trustworthy He is.

We see this illustrated in the history of Israel.  When God brought them out of Egypt, Israel saw their problems as bigger than their God.  God had just delivered them from Egypt by performing a series of spectacular miracles, culminating in the parting of the Red Sea.  The next thing you read is that they went three days into the wilderness and found no water (Exodus 15:22).  As you read that, you’re inclined to say, “So what? The God who has done all these miracles can provide water!”  But what did Israel do?  They grumbled and complained, because they saw their problems as bigger than their God.

Later, when Moses sent the spies into the land, the majority report was, “It’s a nice land, but there are giants there. We can’t conquer it.”  And the people again complained and started looking for a leader to take them back to Egypt.

They still saw their problems

As bigger than their God.

But Joshua and Caleb saw their God

As bigger than their problems.

They said, “Sure, there are giants; but the Lord is bigger than the giants. He will give us the land as He promised” (Numbers 14:9).

The bigger your problem,

The more opportunity there is

For God to be glorified

As you trust Him with the problem.

Can you think of anything too difficult for the Lord?  If you see God as bigger than your problems, then you can trust Him, and He will get the glory.  God is glorified as we trust Him in our trials.  Trust involves relying on God alone; going to Him in prayer; and, seeing Him as bigger than our problems.  But, in Psalm 57:7-11, David shows us a second way God can be glorified in our trials which we will look at tomorrow.

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

  Elizabeth Elliot lost her first husband, Jim Elliot, when he and four other men were martyred as they tried to take the gospel to the hostile Auca tribe. She lost her second husband, Addison Leitch, to cancer.  On one occasion, she told of being in Wales and watching a shepherd and his dog. The dog would herd the sheep up a ramp and into a tank of antiseptic in which they had to be bathed to protect them from parasites. As soon as they would come up out of the tank, the shepherd would grab the rams by the horns and fling them back into the tank and hold them under the antiseptic for a few more seconds.  Mrs. Elliot asked the shepherd’s wife if the sheep understood what was happening.  “They haven’t got a clue,” she said.  Mrs. Elliot we on to say, “I’ve had some experiences in my life that have made me feel very sympathetic to those poor rams – I couldn’t figure out any reason for the treatment I was getting from the Shepherd I trusted. And He didn’t give a hint of explanation.”

If you’ve been a Christian

For very long,

You’ve been there.

The Shepherd you trusted threw you into some situation or circumstances that were quite unpleasant, and you didn’t have a clue as to why He was doing it.

David had been there.  In fact, he wrote Psalm 57 out of the depths of just such an experience.  When he was a teenager, David was anointed as king to replace the disobedient King Saul.  Then he slew the giant Goliath and was thrust into instant national fame.  But King Saul’s jealous rage sent David running for his life.  He spent the better part of his twenties dodging Saul’s repeated attempts on his life.

The title tells us that he wrote this psalm “when he fled from Saul, in the cave.”  Caves are interesting places to visit once in a while.  The lights show all the beautiful formations.  But David didn’t have electric lights.  He was hiding, so he probably didn’t even keep his torches burning.

Even with lights, I wouldn’t want to live in a cave, especially if there was a hostile army outside seeking to kill me!  If I were holed up in a cave, hiding from a madman and his army, and if God had promised me something that didn’t seem to be coming true, about the last thing I would be doing would be writing praise songs.  Yet . . .

Here is David,

Singing in the cave!

And he’s not singing the blues!

He’s exalting the Lord!

He has something to teach us

About how we are to think and act

In those times when we’re holed up in a cave,

When God’s promises don’t seem true.

David must have wondered, “God, why are You allowing this to happen to me?  You anointed me as king; I didn’t choose the job.  Why don’t You remove Saul and put me in office?”

Psalm 57 shows us that David

Understood something deeper.

Although, he may not have realized

Why God was allowing him to suffer,

He did understand what

God wanted from him in his suffering.

David understood that to ask the question “Why?”

In the midst of suffering

Is to ask the wrong question.

The proper question to ask is,

“God, what do You want from my life

In the midst of this trial

And as a result of this trial?”

The answer is, “God wants to be glorified.”

That’s the theme of Psalm 57 (note the refrain, verses 5 & 11):

God’s glory should be our aim

At all times,

But especially in a time of trial.

What does it mean to glorify God?  The Hebrew word (kabod) has the idea of “weight, heaviness, worthiness, reputation, honor.”  It was used of men to describe a man of substance or weight.  We use it in a similar way when we say, “He’s a heavyweight in his field.”  We mean, “This guy has substance; he must be reckoned with.”  When kabod was applied to God, it referred to His intrinsic worth.  It means . . .

That God is worthy of all honor

Because of who He is,

A God who is perfect

In all of His attributes and ways.

To glorify God is to ascribe honor and praise to God for who He is and for what He has done.  It means to show forth His excellencies, to exalt Him.  In simple language, to glorify God means “to make Him look good as He really is through my life.”

The apostle Paul said, “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).  He meant,

“Let the promotion of God’s glory or honor

Be your aim in all that you do.

Strive in everything to act in such a way

That others may praise and honor the God

Whom you profess to serve

Because they have seen His attributes

Shining through your life.”

That should be our aim at all times . . . but especially in a time of trial.  How do we do that?  We will look at two ways David presents us in tomorrow’s blog.

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

  We have spent the last three blogs reflecting upon the nature and function of the church.  As we have looked at the Bible’s teaching on this subject we have been reminded of how important this truth is to our spiritual life.

When was the last time you looked closely at where you spend your time?  Did you know that many different clubs and organizations are competing for your time and attention?  Below is a list of some of those clubs and other secular organizations:

1. American Red Cross
2. Salvation Army
3. Kidney Foundation
4. AARP
5. NRA
6. YMCA
7. Boy Scouts
8. Girl Scouts
9. Ronald McDonald Foundation
10. US Military
11. Homes for our Troops
12. National Military Family Association
13. Special Olympics
14. Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
15. Masons
16. Moose Lodge
17. Rainbow Girls
18. Boy’s and Girl’s Clubs of America
19. Chess Club
20. Bowling Club
21. Dancing Club
22. Running Club
23. Bird Watching Club
24. Horse Riding Club
25. Dog Training Club

Not all secular clubs and organizations are bad, but God has a desire for His children to spend their lives for Christ through the local church.

Under the umbrella of the evangelical faith, we have many different institutions and organizations known as parachurch ministries.  These ministries were once created to come alongside the church to accomplish a vision.  Today, the roles have been reversed.  The parachurch ministries are often viewed as more exciting, more front-line, and a better way to do ministry than the local church.  Did you know that there are more than 91,000 parachurch ministries in America?  Their revenue exceeds $1.8 billion dollars per year and they have assets over $4 billion dollars!  While parachurch ministries are indeed helpful, they should never replace the local church.

As we examine the Bible and redemptive history, it’s apparent – the church is God’s will for our lives as the children of God.

God has not saved us in order for our lives

To waste away on self-service.

God has saved us and joined us into His family

 into the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That membership has purpose and specific functionality.

We must not neglect the church.  We must not waste the church.

The word “church” is taken from the Greek word, ekklesia.  R.C. Sproul, in his commentary on Ephesians writes, “The Greek word for church, ecclesia, is made up of a prefix and a root. The prefix is ek—out of. The root is the verb coleo, to call.”  As we survey redemptive history, we can identify the church under two general headings:

The universal church is the entire group of redeemed

From every kindred, tongue, tribe and nation on planet earth.

However, most of the time when the word “church”

Is used in the New Testament,

It’s a reference to the local church.

The church exists across the entire world, but we know that it was never intended to be an invisible group.  God intends for His church to have visibility and functionality as the body of Christ meets together, worships together, and serves Christ together.

Many Christians are searching for God’s will for their lives.  They are reading books, attending seminars and conferences, and researching online.  In the midst of all this activity, we must come to the sober reality that the church is not an option to consider. The church is God’s will for the Christian’s life.

The Church Is God’s Will For Spiritual Growth.

Paul instructed Timothy in 2 Timothy 4 to “preach the Word.”  The Holy Spirit led him to go on and say in verses 2-4, “reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.  For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”  The point is not just that some in the church at Ephesus would walk away from sound teaching, but the positive side of that statement is clearly visible – Timothy was to be preaching and teaching sound doctrine.  God’s will for pastors is to preach and teach the Word of God.  God’s will for the Christian is to be submitted under that teaching just as we see in Acts2 with the early church.

The Church Is God’s Will For Spirit-Led Worship.

Just as we see in John 4, God desires for His children to be assembled for worship! God has not saved us in order to spare our souls from the wrath we deserved in hell.  He has rescued us in order to make us worshippers.  John Piper, in his excellent book, Let The Nations Be Glad, has rightly stated, “Missions exists because worship doesn’t.”  God is the seeker and He is seeking worshippers.  God’s will for the Christian is to be assembled with people in the church to worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4;24).  God desires for His people to worship from the heart and from His Word – His revelation of Himself and His redemptive plan.  This is God’s will for our Christian life.

The Church Is God’s Will For Spiritual Service.

God tells us in Ephesians 4 that Christ has given gifts to the church for teaching and instruction.  This teaching edifies and equips the child of God for the work of ministry. Ephesians 4:11-12 – “And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”  God has given pastors and evangelists in our church today for the equipping of the body to actually do ministry.  Romans 12:1-2 records an often neglected passage.  We are called as God’s children to be “living sacrifices” who give spiritual service of worship to our God.  Luke 9:23 records the fact that we are to deny self and take up our cross daily and follow Christ.  In Luke 14:26 Jesus says that we must love Him supremely and in comparison to the love for Him – our commitment and love to our family will seem like hatred.  We must put Christ first.

Almost every local church has people who assemble to “watch” church rather than become part of “worship” in the church body.  Each week a certain percentage of almost all congregations gather to:

• Watch the preaching
• Watch the singing
• Watch the attending
• Watch the giving
• Watch the going
• Watch the serving
• Watch the learning

We are not to be

Watchers of the Word –

But learners

And

Doers of the Word!

Jesus did not call us to ecclesiastical spectatorship.  He called us to church membership.

Tragically – R. Kent Hughes is exactly right with his assessment of the church today.  In his book, Disciplines of a Godly Man, he writes, “Church attendance is infected with a malaise of conditional loyalty which has produced an army of ecclesiastical hitchhikers. The hitchhiker’s thumb says, ‘You buy the car, pay for repairs and upkeep and insurance, fill the car with gas — and I’ll ride with you. But if you have an accident, you are on your own! And I’ll probably sue.’ So it is with the credo of so many of today’s church attenders: ‘You go to the meetings and serve on the boards and committees, you grapple with the issues and do the work of the church and pay the bills – and I’ll come along for the ride. But if things do not suit me, I’ll criticize and complain and probably bail out – my thumb is always out for a better ride.’”

If a person decides to place their secular club, recreational team, or even their personal family before the church of Jesus Christ, they will see long lasting negative consequences as a result.  I have personally known of families to place sports above God and it has cost them far more than they were willing to pay in the beginning.  I have witnessed mothers place their family above the church to the point that they were unwilling to serve in any other ministry outside of their home.  The consequences for such errors could be a generation of practical atheists who see mother talk much about God, but they never see her serve Him.  They perhaps see her as more interested in her home, her family, and her material possessions than serving God and loving her neighbor.  This disconnect from the church and ministry will take root in the children. The results will be devastating.

We should teach our children in doctrine,

But we must not refrain from

Teaching them in deed as well.

We are called to be “doers of the Word.”  God’s will is for the church to be serving through the different gifts He has provided each one of His children (1 Corinthians 12).  What better way to teach and disciple children than by giving them a glowing example of what it means to serve Christ?

The Church Is God’s Will For Spirit-Bound Relationships.

God has ordained the church to be a community rather than a campus.

The church is not brick and mortar,

It’s made up of living people

Who assemble in community together.

This community has one primary bond of unity in the blood of Jesus Christ and held together by the Spirit of God.  The church is a diverse group of people who come together in relationships.  As we see in Book of Acts, they loved one another, prayed for one another, and cared for one another.  That sounds much like a family.  The “Lone Ranger” Christian is an oxymoron.  God’s will is for the church to meet together and have genuine relationships that have lasting roots.

In conclusion, we know that God’s will is not for everyone to serve in the exact same way.  God has given different gifts to us all and that’s why the analogy of the body is used in 1 Corinthians 12.  We all go through different seasons in life, but those seasons should never isolate us from the gathered church for worship and service.  Anytime a particular member of the body decides to “focus on their own family” or “devote time to their jobs” or to “pursue a sporting goal” – it leaves the entire body of Christ in that local congregation weak.

However, even if it’s a small function,

If each person works and serves together –

The body is able to function with efficiency.

I’m not anti-parachurch ministry.  I’m pro-church.  I’m not against the family, but I believe we should exalt Christ above family and other relationships.  Although many people are looking for God’s will, what they may not realize is that God’s will is the church.  Could it really be that simple?

Donald Whitney said, “As wonderful and sophisticated as the heart is, it was never made to be just a heart, but a part of a body.  It has no value to the body outside the body. And the heart itself can’t thrive outside the body.”  As incredible and wonderful as you are, Christian, you were never made just to be an individual Christian, but a part of body.  As every organ and every cell is God-created to be an active member of the human body, so every true Christian is God born-again to be an active member of a local body of Christ.”

All For the glory of King Jesus!

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

  Thursday, we began a short three-part series of blogs looking at the Bible’s teaching about the church.  In that blog we saw that God has always had a people who He called, changed, and commissioned to be His messengers.  As we grow in our walk with God, we will be distinct in our thinking, talking, and living.

In Friday’s blog, we saw that the Bible teaches us every believer needs to be a part of the local expression of God’s church.  We looked at Hebrews 10:25 and learned that some of the early Christians had given up on gathering together to worship, be strengthened by their common faith and fellowship, and be instructed in the Word.  These activities we are means that God had provided when His people gather together.

I ended yesterday’s blog with this question . . .

In light of these truths,

How are we

To live out this command?”

In today’s blog we will look at five practical points that leads out of a correct understanding of why we need the church.

• We Need the Church Because We Need Biblical Community.

Donald Miller is right about the fact that it’s possible to have community outside of the local church.  In fact, one can have a thriving community outside the assembly of the local church.  It happens each week at the local ball field, bar, and nursing home.  However, as we start to think of our need for biblical community as believers, we start to see that Donald Miller is not playing with a full deck of cards.  Christians need other Christians.  This doesn’t mean that Christians should only have Christian friends. That would build a stagnant group of people who never invite others into their lives and reach-out to the culture in general with the gospel.

In the end – there is no denying the fact that Christians need other Christians for support in doctrine, life, and worship.

• We Need the Church Because We Need the Word.

The church of Jesus Christ is a community of people who have been called out of darkness and brought together in the light of Jesus Christ.  We can learn about the building blocks of a biblical community by examining the practices of the early church.

The early church didn’t come together

For drama presentations or comedy sessions.

The early church wasn’t assembled for psychology talks

In order to meet the felt needs of their culture.

They assembled for the

Teaching and preaching of God’s Word (Acts 2).

If we truly desire to grow in faith (Romans 10:17) and have a renewed mind (Romans 12:1-2), we must have a steady intake of God’s Word from the pastor-teachers (see Paul’s word to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:1-5).

If you remove the Word you don’t have a church.

• We Need the Church Because We Need to Sing.

I’m not much of a concert goer, but I did venture out to a few concerts in my teenage years.  I recall the scene in mind with crowds of people gathered together for music.  I recall the singing.  Most of it was really bad due to the amount of alcohol and drug consumption in the crowd.  I think back to times when I have been gathered in a crowd and singing erupted.  It happens during the seventh inning stretch when I go to watch the Royals play baseball here in Kansas City.  It happened a couple of time when I found myself in the midst of a flash mob.

There is nothing like the church gathered together in song.

It doesn’t matter if the quality of song is not show production,

It’s about what the gathered church is singing.

Our doxology is informed and shaped by our theology.

There is nothing that compares to a church joined together in the words:

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

• We Need the Church Because We Need Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

It was John Calvin who insisted on the right preaching and administration of the sacraments in order to have a true church.  Calvin was not alone in his position.  The Reformers, the Puritans, and many others throughout church history pointed to this same basic necessity.  While it’s possible to have community without preaching and the ordinances of the church, we must be clear – you can’t have true biblical church without the preached Word and the observance of the Lord’s Supper and baptism.

Some of the most deeply moving and self-examination moments have occurred during a gathered service for worship and the observance of the ordinances of the church. Likewise, some of the most encouraging times have been during those occasions of worship.  To look around to a gathered room of people who have been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ as you eat and drink the elements of the Lord’s Supper is a truly moving experience that can’t be duplicated at a wrestling meet, football/basketball game, or camp-out with a group of friends.  Christians need this type of community.

• We Need the Church Because We Need Encouragement and Discipleship

As Paul instructed Timothy to preach the Word in order to “reprove, rebuke, and exhort” the church at Ephesus (1 Timothy 4:2).  Every believer must sit under biblical preaching too.  Not only to hear the Word, but also to go out to share and live in those truths in our world.  As we live in a constant state of biblical community, Jesus instructed us to practice church discipline (Matthew 18).  Granted, there may be confrontation at the ball field, but it’s not the same kind of confrontation that Jesus was teaching in Matthew’s gospel record.  This should be part of the fabric of our biblical community.  We are called to be a confessing people, and we should be doing this often.  As we observe the Lord’s Supper we are reminded of the need for repentance of sin and confession.  Confrontation of sin and genuine church discipline doesn’t happen at a Brave’s game.  Biblical community shapes us in God’s Truth.

As we engage in our church community we do so in order to encourage one another and build one another up in their faith and walk with the Lord. The writer to the Hebrews stated it this way, “not forsaking (neglecting) the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner (habit) of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”(Hebrews 10:25).  Notice the phrase, “exhorting one another” in this verse.  It should be our desire as believers to assemble for worship under the preaching of God’s Word, sing in worship together, pray together, fellowship together, and observe the Lord’s Supper and baptism together for the purpose of encouraging one another.  Let’s be honest . . .

The Christian needs more than

A hiking trip through the woods

Or a time of coffee and pastry

With a group of friends.

Biblical community is more than a family or two

Gathered around a fire in the living room

On a cold winter’s night.

Genuine biblical community,

Although not perfect and at times exhausting,

Is God’s will for our lives as children of God.

You can’t have Jesus without His church.

The theme song for Cheers was on to something back in the 80s.  It said:

You wanna go where people know, 
people are all the same, 
You wanna go where everybody knows
your name.

• Only in the church can we be truly honest about the fact that we have all fallen short of God’s glory and become engulfed in a tidal wave of sin.
• Only in the church can we admit that we are indeed all the same.
• Only in the church can we worship together out of a response that we are the same – merely sinners saved by the grace of God.
• Only in the church can we gather together in a bond that is greater than any tribe, club, or community on planet earth.

We gather, assemble, worship, and serve together through the work of Jesus Christ as He died in our place and was resurrected in victory on the third day.  All Christians need the church.  Thank God for His church!

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, I began a short four-part series of blogs looking at the Bible’s teaching about the church.  In that blog we saw that God has always had a people who He called, changed, and commissioned to be His messengers.  As we grow in our walk with God we will be distinct in our thinking, talking, and living.  In today’s blog, we will see that every believer needs to be a part of the local expression of God’s church.

Everyone is seeking community.  The nature of man is to seek and thrive in a social community with other people.  Years ago, a popular sitcom entitled Cheers illustrated that well by their community.  The show began with a theme song that told a story.  The words to the theme song are . . .

Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got. 
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot. 
Wouldn’t you like to get away? 
Sometimes you want to go 
Where everybody knows your name, 
and they’re always glad you came. 
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows 
Your name. 
You wanna go where people know, 
people are all the same, 
You wanna go where everybody knows
your name.

Although this is a 1980s sitcom theme song, it tells a story about the human heart.  We need community.  Life is hard and often discouraging.  Everyone needs a safe haven from the world.  For the characters of Cheers it was a bar.  For the Christian, it’s the church of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We need more than community,

We need the church.

Recently, Donald Miller the author of Blue Like Jazz has come under heavy  scrutiny because of an article he wrote on his blog where he basically admitted that he rarely attends church because he doesn’t like to sing “church” songs with a group of people.  What Donald Miller was admitting was that he doesn’t need the church.  He went on to talk about how he doesn’t like to listen to preaching either.  Although Donald Miller received much critique for his opinions, it’s a tell-tale sign of our present culture.

Everyone is seeking to reinvent church.

Following the wave of negative response that Donald Miller received for his original article, he responded to the criticism with another article (“Why I Don’t Go To Church Often – A Follow Up Blog”) that reinforced his positions.  Much of his positions sound like postmodern thinking that views boundaries through a negative lens.  However, Mr. Miller recognizes the need for community.  In response to the idea that one must be part of the church to have community, he writes:

These comments also surprised me.  It was as though people thought because I hadn’t been to church in years, I had no community, that I lived in isolation.  This is untrue.  My community is rich, deep, spiritually sound, gracious, sacrificial and at times (because I’m an introvert) exhausting.

What I hadn’t realized before I read those comments, though, was that I had worked to create my community.  Community is everywhere, and every church you’ve attended was a community that somebody sat down and created. I happen to think a lot of them look exactly the same and have no problem making mine look different, but it’s still a community.  Millions of people who do not attend church have rich, meaningful communities that they created or have joined.  You could create your own community out of your home in a matter of months.

The issues that Donald Miller raise in his article are not new ideas, positions, or philosophies.  In fact, many people started to forsake the “assembly” or gathering of the church in the early church times).  As a direct result of that new way of doing church (or not doing it at all) in the days of the early church, Hebrews 10:25 was given to us by the Holy Spirit.  There the Bible says, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”  As we consider the necessity of community within the boundaries of the local church, I want to break down the beginning phrase of Hebrews 10:25, then I will give several key points of application that are brought to the surface that we must evaluate and take seriously.

God led the writer of Hebrews to use the phrase, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” for a special reason.  Some expositors have understood the word rendered here as “assembling” – ἐπισυναγωγὴν (episunagōgēn) as meaning “the society of Christians,” or “the church;” and they have supposed that the object of the apostle here is, to exhort them. not to apostatize from the church.  But the more obvious interpretation is what is commonly adopted, that it refers to public worship.  The Greek word (the noun) is used nowhere else in the New Testament, except in 2 Thessalonians 2:1, where it is rendered “gathering together.”  The verb is used in Matthew 23:37; Matthew 24:31; Mark 1:33; Mark 13:27; Luke 12:1; Luke 13:34, where it is rendered “gathered together.”  It properly means “an act of assembling, or a gathering together” and is nowhere used in the New Testament in the sense of the church.  The command here is, to meet together for the worship of God, and it is enjoined on Christians as an important duty to do it.  It is implied, also, that there is blame or fault where this is “neglected.”

Why those referred to here are “forsaking” or neglecting public worship, is not specified. It may have been from such causes as the following:

(1) Some may have been deterred by the fear of persecution, as those who were thus    assembled would be more exposed to danger than others.

(2) Some may have neglected the duty because they felt no interest in it – as even some professing Christians now sometimes do.

(3) It is possible that some may have had doubts about the necessity and propriety of     this duty, and on that account may have neglected it.

(4) Or it may perhaps have been, though we can hardly suppose that this reason existed, that some may have neglected it from a cause which now sometimes operates – from dissatisfaction with a preacher, or with some member or members of the church, or with some measure in the church.

Whatever were the reasons,

The apostle says that they do not as valid,

But that Christians should regard

It as a sacred duty to meet together

For the worship of God and exhortation.

None of the reasons above, or any others, should deter believers from this duty.  With all who bear the Christian name, with all who expect to make advances in growing in our love and living for Christ and Biblical knowledge, it should be regarded as a sacred duty to assemble together for public worship.  The Christian faith contains social elements; and our lives are to be strengthened by learning more about God’s grace and invigorated by worshiping together.  Some has aptly said,

“There is an obvious propriety that people

Should assemble together for

The worship of the Most High,

And no Christian can hope that his graces will grow,

Or that he can perform his duty to his Maker,

Without uniting thus with those who

Express love and surrender to God.”

Hebrews 10:25 is written because some of the early Christians had given up these strengthening and instructive means that God has provided when His people gather together.

In light of these truths, how are we to live out this command?  We will look at five practical points in tomorrow’s blog.

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

   From the early pages of the Old Testament, we find God in the process of creating a people for His divine purposes.  In the Old Testament, it was Israel that was to be the people of God (Exodus 19:4-6; Deuteronomy 7:6; 14:2); in the New Testament, the focus is on the Kingdom of God, especially expressed through the church (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 2:5, 9, 10; Titus 2:14).  When God called Israel to be His people, He instructed them to be holy as He is holy (Leviticus 19:2), and it is interesting and significant that the “Holiness Code” of Leviticus 19 to 27, reflects the unique guidelines for civic and social relationships, worship practices, proper boundaries, treatment of foreigners, and sound economic practices.  Living in this way was an public expression of how God made His people to be distinct (holy) from their surrounding pagan neighbors and a model for them of holy character and conduct.  Israel was to become a mutually supportive and cooperative community of godly character, a valid contrast to the surrounding nations and peoples, as well as a model for those other nations. The Bible says in Isaiah 42:6-7 that God’s intention was for Israel to be a “… light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison.”  Sadly, Israel failed to become that people.

In the New Testament, God’s development of a holy people to carry out His purpose is tied to Christ and His redemptive work upon the cross and the establishment of the church.  Much of the New Testament was written to give instruction for building the spiritual and moral lives of those disciples who made up and directed those godly local groups of believers that Peter says are part of a “chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar (His own special) people” … “which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, bun now hve obtained mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10).

The qualities of those leaders and followers are to be marked by their living in such a way that that they “should show forth the praise of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:5, 9, 10).  As interesting as it is to focus on those functions, the larger context of 1 Peter chapters 1 and 2 helps us better understand how their lives would be used of God because of being a “holy” people.

• They were distinguished as having their faith tried by severe challenges, proving them genuine believers (1 Peter 1:7).
• They were committed to obeying God and fulfilling their responsibilities in the leadership roles they played (1:14).
• They being conformed to the world with its lusts but were conducting themselves in every way as a “holy” or distinct people (1:15).
• They were conscious of God’s supervision in their lives and work (His judgment – 1:17).
• Christ is preeminent in their thinking, planning, and acting (1:18-21).
• They demonstrated a sincere love of fellow believers (1:22).
• They were morally sound and sane (2:1).
• They were morally circumspect in civic and social life (2:11, 12).

All of these qualities describe these spiritual leaders and their influence in their churches and in their own communities.  Then Peter adds that they are to be conscious of being “foreigners,” or sojourners, and “pilgrims,” or strangers, in this world (2:11), meaning that their sphere of influence was limited in time and circumstances; thus, they were to make every effort count for impacting favorably their Gentile, unbelieving communities.

The churches that carry out the role of being the people of God well

Are those who recognize and live by their pilgrim, faith-led identity

As those strange folk (somewhat foreigners on the earth) who are led by God,

Who love and labor for a God, who insists that His people serve all mankind,

Reaching them with His transforming power of the Gospel,

Even if they are mistreated, maligned, and misunderstood.

The people of God are the fervent in their love for God and others, firm in their salvation and Scriptures, and faithful in their service for God.  We will continue this topic in the next few blogs.

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.”