2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We thank Him, because He did it all!
"Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
What happens when Christians become "radicalized"!
When a Muslim does something violent against those who believe differently, they are referred to as "radicalized". Of course Muslims who commit violent acts do so because they feel it is taught or even required by the religious writings on which they base their faith.
What if Christians became radicalized and lived as directed by their sacred writings found in the Bible, how might the headlines read?
"Radicalized Christian sells all they have and gives to the poor!" (Mark 10:21)
"Radicalized Christian goes to a country hostile to Christianity and dies sharing faith and forgiving their persecutors." (Acts 7:57-60)
"Radicalized Christian continues to try to convince friends and family of their need for Jesus, even as they are accused of being crazy and unloving." (Matt. 5:9-11)
"Radicalized Christian looses job rather than deny faith." (1 Peter 3:13-17)
If by "radicalized", we mean taking ones religious beliefs serious and living like they are true, then I hope more Christians will become radicalized, including myself. As for those of other beliefs, I pray they come to know Jesus and become His followers, as shown in His word, not so they won't blow others up (although that would be good), but so they will know the truth that saves all who believe.
John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”
"Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
What if Christians became radicalized and lived as directed by their sacred writings found in the Bible, how might the headlines read?
"Radicalized Christian sells all they have and gives to the poor!" (Mark 10:21)
"Radicalized Christian goes to a country hostile to Christianity and dies sharing faith and forgiving their persecutors." (Acts 7:57-60)
"Radicalized Christian continues to try to convince friends and family of their need for Jesus, even as they are accused of being crazy and unloving." (Matt. 5:9-11)
"Radicalized Christian looses job rather than deny faith." (1 Peter 3:13-17)
If by "radicalized", we mean taking ones religious beliefs serious and living like they are true, then I hope more Christians will become radicalized, including myself. As for those of other beliefs, I pray they come to know Jesus and become His followers, as shown in His word, not so they won't blow others up (although that would be good), but so they will know the truth that saves all who believe.
John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”
"Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Election, salvation, and the faith that transcends circumsatances.
1 Thess. 1:2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, 3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, 4 knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God. 5 For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.
6 And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. 8 For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. 9 For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
The opening words of Paul's letter to the Thessalonians gives us a clear picture of true salvation, that which comes to us by God's power, through His word and Spirit, and is according to His election by grace. In Thessalonica, this faith came with affliction, caused them to turn from idols to God and made them eager to see Jesus Christ, their deliverer from God's coming wrath.
Consider this in contrast to the false teachings which seek to win converts to a non-biblical "Christianity", which emphasizes the pursuit of worldly success, comfort and health, "idols" and uses Jesus as a Jennie to help achieve these worldly goals.
True conversion is by God's electing grace through the power of His word and Holy Spirit, and results in us treasuring Him and eternal life in His presence, over anything this world offers.
False conversion is really just idolatry under the name "Christianity", it has nothing to do with Jesus and it is unable to save.
Now may the Lord grant me the daily grace to treasure Him above the things of this earth, as those faithful believers in Thessalonica did!
"Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
Monday, April 22, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Powerful illustration, viewer discretion advised!
This is a somewhat graphic illustration of taking a God-rejecting view of man's nature to its logical conclusions. I found it on Wretchedradio, it may be a little scary for younger viewers, but the truth about things is often scary.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Silence!
I have been teaching through several of the Minor Prophets since the beginning of the year and am currently covering the book of Habakkuk. Consider the emphasis on speaking vs. listening toward the end of Chapter 2:
Hab. 2:18 “What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it,
The molded image, a teacher of lies,
That the maker of its mold should trust in it,
To make mute idols?
19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’
To silent stone, ‘Arise! It shall teach!’
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
Yet in it there is no breath at all.
5 So I said:
Hab. 2:18 “What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it,
The molded image, a teacher of lies,
That the maker of its mold should trust in it,
To make mute idols?
19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’
To silent stone, ‘Arise! It shall teach!’
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
Yet in it there is no breath at all.
20 “But the Lord is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”
Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”
The gods we make "idols" are created according to our will, in our image and at our disposal to say and do what we want, at least that is the goal of idolatry. So we speak and demand our gods act on our behalf, yet for all our efforts they remain silent!
Before the true God, the one who made us and all things, we will be silenced.
Isaiah experienced a silencing before God:
Isa. 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”
The whole earth is full of His glory!”
4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The Lord of hosts.”
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The Lord of hosts.”
Isaiah realised he had nothing to say in God's presence, he was undone before the Lord! Only God could make Isaiah able to be useful to Him, as He cleansed him of sin, so he could be sent to do God's will.
6 Then one of the seraphim which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin purged.”
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin purged.”
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
“Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?”
And who will go for Us?”
Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
Will we demand the idols we make in our image serve and glorify us?
OR
Will we be undone before the God of the universe, be silenced by catching even a glimpse of His holiness, and then purged from our sin by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, go and tell others of His great glory!
"Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Monday, April 8, 2013
Foolish Christian or just foolish?
Those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, but don't take His word serious, are they immature Christians, foolish Christians, or not Christians at all?
Consider carefully Jesus' words.
Matt. 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness! 24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
Luke's gospel expresses it this way:
Luke 6:46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? 47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
Some observations:
1. Not all of those who call Jesus Lord will enter heaven.
2. There is a contradiction in calling Jesus Lord, but not doing what He says.
3. There are those who come to Jesus, hear His words and do them, Jesus calls them "wise".
4. There are those who hear Jesus' words but do nothing, Jesus calls them "foolish".
5. Those who built wisely, "on the rock", will have a house which survives the storms.
6. Those who built foolishly, "on the sand", will have their house destroyed by the storms.
7. Surely the context of these passages demands we see what is destroyed by the storm as the eternal hope of the one who professed faith, but ignored Jesus' words.
What can we conclude from the two passages? Those who don't seek to obey Jesus' teachings are not saved, not going to heaven and call Him Lord in vain.
Why is this so startling?
A tremendous quantity of those who occupy seats in church each week, as well as many others who self identify as Christians, but don't attend church, have very little idea what Jesus taught and have no desire to obey Him.
Sometimes I don't take obeying Jesus' words nearly as serious as I should and I would be quick to admit my foolishness in that case. But, how do we address the professing "Christian", who calls Jesus Lord and hopes in heaven, but has a lifestyle of indifference to His teachings?
Maybe we should be more bold to point out the foolishness of their choices and tell them how Jesus would evaluate their profession that He is Lord!
We need to be careful that we don't go around calling people "fools" (Matt. 5:22). However, love dictates we make some effort to communicate the foolishness of professing faith in Christ without obeying Christ.
Let me suggest a possible dialogue to help someone see if they are a wise or foolish builder.
To coworker, friend, stranger, etc.
Who do you think Jesus is?
Assuming an answer that suggests they think He is God/Savior etc.
How are you learning what Jesus taught and applying it to your life today?
Assuming an answer that goes something like, "I am not really into church and the Bible that much".
Can I tell you what Jesus says about how believers should respond to His word?
I could then have them read, read to them, or paraphrase the passages above if a Bible is not handy.
I might be wise at this point to acknowledge that I and all Christians are a work in progress when it comes to learning and doing Jeus' word and we are only saved by grace through faith in Jesus' works, not by how well we know or do His word. However, the passages above also offer a unique opportunity to ask if they are building on a wise or foolish foundation, based on the words of the one they claim to believe is Lord.
If they say they have been foolish in their response to Jesus' words, then I am in a great place to offer them help in learning God's word through my church, personal discipleship or both.
I know this conversation may go many ways and we can't be sure how far we will get in helping someone evaluate their foundation based on Jesus' words. However, considering the fact that many professing Christians are likely not Christians at all, I can't in good conscience be satisfied with accepting their first utterance of "Jesus is Lord" as a reason to move on to the next evangelistic opportunity.
Culturally, many would call these Christ professors who don't know or do Jesus' words "immature Christians" or maybe "foolish Christians", but we must not take this situation lightly as Jesus' evaluation is that they are actually foolish non-Christians!
"Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
Consider carefully Jesus' words.
Matt. 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness! 24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
Luke's gospel expresses it this way:
Luke 6:46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? 47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
Some observations:
1. Not all of those who call Jesus Lord will enter heaven.
2. There is a contradiction in calling Jesus Lord, but not doing what He says.
3. There are those who come to Jesus, hear His words and do them, Jesus calls them "wise".
4. There are those who hear Jesus' words but do nothing, Jesus calls them "foolish".
5. Those who built wisely, "on the rock", will have a house which survives the storms.
6. Those who built foolishly, "on the sand", will have their house destroyed by the storms.
7. Surely the context of these passages demands we see what is destroyed by the storm as the eternal hope of the one who professed faith, but ignored Jesus' words.
What can we conclude from the two passages? Those who don't seek to obey Jesus' teachings are not saved, not going to heaven and call Him Lord in vain.
Why is this so startling?
A tremendous quantity of those who occupy seats in church each week, as well as many others who self identify as Christians, but don't attend church, have very little idea what Jesus taught and have no desire to obey Him.
Sometimes I don't take obeying Jesus' words nearly as serious as I should and I would be quick to admit my foolishness in that case. But, how do we address the professing "Christian", who calls Jesus Lord and hopes in heaven, but has a lifestyle of indifference to His teachings?
Maybe we should be more bold to point out the foolishness of their choices and tell them how Jesus would evaluate their profession that He is Lord!
We need to be careful that we don't go around calling people "fools" (Matt. 5:22). However, love dictates we make some effort to communicate the foolishness of professing faith in Christ without obeying Christ.
Let me suggest a possible dialogue to help someone see if they are a wise or foolish builder.
To coworker, friend, stranger, etc.
Who do you think Jesus is?
Assuming an answer that suggests they think He is God/Savior etc.
How are you learning what Jesus taught and applying it to your life today?
Assuming an answer that goes something like, "I am not really into church and the Bible that much".
Can I tell you what Jesus says about how believers should respond to His word?
I could then have them read, read to them, or paraphrase the passages above if a Bible is not handy.
I might be wise at this point to acknowledge that I and all Christians are a work in progress when it comes to learning and doing Jeus' word and we are only saved by grace through faith in Jesus' works, not by how well we know or do His word. However, the passages above also offer a unique opportunity to ask if they are building on a wise or foolish foundation, based on the words of the one they claim to believe is Lord.
If they say they have been foolish in their response to Jesus' words, then I am in a great place to offer them help in learning God's word through my church, personal discipleship or both.
I know this conversation may go many ways and we can't be sure how far we will get in helping someone evaluate their foundation based on Jesus' words. However, considering the fact that many professing Christians are likely not Christians at all, I can't in good conscience be satisfied with accepting their first utterance of "Jesus is Lord" as a reason to move on to the next evangelistic opportunity.
Culturally, many would call these Christ professors who don't know or do Jesus' words "immature Christians" or maybe "foolish Christians", but we must not take this situation lightly as Jesus' evaluation is that they are actually foolish non-Christians!
"Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
Friday, April 5, 2013
God's astounding response to evil!
Habakkuk 1:1 The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw.
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry,
And You will not hear?
Even cry out to You, “Violence!”
And You will not save.
3 Why do You show me iniquity,
And cause me to see trouble?
For plundering and violence are before me;
There is strife, and contention arises.
4 Therefore the law is powerless,
And justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.
And You will not hear?
Even cry out to You, “Violence!”
And You will not save.
3 Why do You show me iniquity,
And cause me to see trouble?
For plundering and violence are before me;
There is strife, and contention arises.
4 Therefore the law is powerless,
And justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.
5 “Look among the nations and watch—
Be utterly astounded!
For I will work a work in your days
Which you would not believe, though it were told you.
Be utterly astounded!
For I will work a work in your days
Which you would not believe, though it were told you.
Habakkuk wondered when and if God would respond to evil that reigned in his day. God promised to "utterly astound" with his response, in the form of the coming Babylonian invasion.
How will God respond to the evil that reigns in our day?
2 Pet. 3:10 But the day of
the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will
pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent
heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking
for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the
heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt
with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
"Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by
Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
Monday, April 1, 2013
Fearing the right things!
Russell Moore wrote a great article on fearing the right things. He bases his conclusions on Jesus' sleeping in a boat that may sink in a storm, while His disciples panicked (Mark 4:37-38), but suffering anguish in the garden before His crucifixion, as His disciples slept (Mark 14:32-42).
Follow this link to view - Moore to the Point
Enjoy!
Follow this link to view - Moore to the Point
Enjoy!
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