Sprucing Up the TRUTH

The Bible is some 2,000 + years old.  Its truth predates the creation of man and extends into eternity.  After all of these year the WORD remains the same.  The timeless truths of God are not just a history lesson or an attempt to catalog the works of God.  These are the breathed words of God.  They are not bound by historically context and relevance.  They are as fresh today as when they were first penned.  This is what makes the Bible unique.  It is the truth of all we need for life now and eternity.

Sometimes people feel the need to dress it up or embellish it some.  To some how make it more relevant to todays modern, sophisticated man.  Truth does not need to be spruced up to make it more  attractive or relevant.  The TRUTH is that God’s word and His ways have never been popular or attractive.  The WORD made flesh was crucified.  God tell us that the gospel is a stumbling block and foolishness to an unbelieving world.

Jesus taught much through parables.   He taught in parables not to make the truth easier to understand but actual to hide it from the religious people of that day.  It was God’s judgment on a religion that had rejected the righteousness of God for one of their own making (Matthew  13:10-16).  One parable is key to understanding all of the other parables, The Sower and the Seeds ( Mark 4:13 And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables?).  The concept that there are some who out right reject God’s word, others who profess salvation but their conversion isn’t real.  When things get tough they fall away.  The ones who get saved – truly saved always produce godly fruit from a radically changed heart.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

The TRUTH stands on its own regardless of places, times, governments or war.  It only a lie that has to be dressed up or embellished.  The church cannot change the message without misrepresenting Christ.

sherman

What Do You Trust In?

Some people trust in themselves, others in government, some in political parties.  There are a variety of things people trust in.  What in life is really trust worthy?  Think about that word.  It simply means what is worth trusting in.  What can you count on?

In this current political environment many people are placing their trust in a political party, philosophy or person.  They are hoping that somehow our way of life and economy will go back to the way it was.  I have a similar desire to see this country turn around, but the government is only part of the equation.  The really problem is a lost and dying society that has traded the God of the bible for the god of this world.  Sinfulness is the same problem man has been dealing with since the beginning of time.  We are the problem.  The only way, the only hope of turning this thing around is by turning the people’s hearts back to God – repentance.

Listen this country may ebb and flow from bad to better but the trend line is heading towards bad.  People, politics are always going to fail you at some point.  I am not saying you shouldn’t vote or be politically active.  No we should do our duty as citizens of this country, a country I dearly love.  All that being said, this country and this old world aren’t going to last.  Just take a look and try and find any reference of the United States in the end-times scriptures.  I can find one reference to an eagle that really doesn’t fit the US in context.  As far as I can tell the US as a power and a country is irrelevant in the end-times.

So what are you going to put your trust in?  What are you going to put your hope in?  May I suggest that you put your hope and trust in the One Who can never fail, in the One Who will never change, the One Who is truly trustworthy.  No matter what happens in this world; war, famine, economic collapse, political tyranny – the followers of Jesus Christ have never been abandon, have never been without hope.

You will find joy, hope and peace that transcends this world in the person of Jesus Christ – held by the power of God – empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit.  Something that is truly worth trusting.

 

Ephesians2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that

 

sherman – make this life count for eternity

Same Old Intentional Sin

In 1 Kings 12:25-33 we read about a house divided.  Solomon’s son seeks to rule the kingdom, yet his own self serving pride divides the country in two.  Jeroboam takes the northern kingdom of Israel for his own.  He becomes concerned that the people of Israel will turn back to God and again join the kingdom of Rehoboam, son of Solomon.  In  response to this fear of losing his power and kingdom Jeroboam builds a place of worship, idol worship.  He has two golden calves made and declares “behold your gods , O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.

Does this sound even slightly familiar, well it should.  Back in Exodus 32:4-8 the people of Israel did exactly the same idol worship.  Jeroboam simply pulled out some familiar sin from their past to again ensnare the people of God.  Yet it didn’t seem to take too much to get them to go along with it.  It is almost as if he was saying – listen so long as you pay homage to a god any god will do.  Mix a little religion into your life and that is all that is required to please God.  Isn’t this the same thing we do today.

We come to church, go to Sunday school, talk about the things of God in a spiritual way, all the while thinking we can live the rest of our lives as we see fit in disregard to God - this is doing our part of what God requires of us.  Is your life different outside of church?  Are you consistent in the way you live your life throughout the week? 

Matthew 15:7 "You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 8 'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. 9 'BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'"

Jeroboam  decided to intentional lead the people into worshiping a god of their own making.  Many of us do the same thing in our lives.  We ignore or don’t even bother to read what God has declared about Himself and what it means to follow Him.  Instead we fashion of god that winks at our sin, really understands that we aren’t that bad and will accept the paltry service we toss his way.  This my friends is idol worship.  We are serving the god of self, not the God of the bible.

An encounter with the living God changes us from the inside out forever, never to be the same again.  It is a living relationship that causes a love for God that supersedes the love for ourselves and this world.  It is a growing relationship not stagnant.   Do you have the intention to sin or unintentional sin?  A character of sin or a character of loving and following God?

Romans 13:10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.11 Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to 12 The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the 13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and  14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

sherman

A Love for God

The love life of David is a somewhat complicated pathway to follow, but I would like to focus on one particular part.  David’s first wife was by the name of Michal, daughter of King Saul.  She was a prize for him resulting from the killing of Goliath as well as another 200 Philistines.   This daughter of the king love and protected David even from her own father, but lied that David had threatened her if she didn’t help him (this may have played into what happen next).  Saul sought to kill David and so hated and feared him that he gave Michal away as a wife to another man.  It would be many years before they would be united again.

Fast forward several years later, Saul is now dead and David is king.  David has two other wives by this point as well as some children.  He demands Michal back as his wife.  She  finds herself pulled from her second marriage.  We aren’t given much information of this marriage, only that her husbands follows after her mourning until he is ordered home.  We don’t know where Michal’s affections really lie at this point, but she is back in her rightful place as David’s wife.

David from the start is called “a man after God’s own heart”, he is a man who loves God more than anything else.  A man of flesh that still struggles with sin, but a godly man still.  It is now that we pick up the story.  The Ark is being brought into Jerusalem, and David dancing before the Lord – notice not before men and women even though they were present, but before God.  The scripture tells us that Michal despised David when she saw his actions.  That is a very strong hateful word.  This isn’t just ticked off but hateful.  So why this attitude towards David? 

John 15:18 "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 19 "If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.

I believe the answer is found here in this passage from the gospel of John.  Michal has never had the same love of God that David or her brother Jonathan had.  Notice in 2 Samuel 6:16 Michal is referred to as the daughter of Saul not as David’s wife.  Her actions and attitude were reflective of her father Saul not of her husband David.  She seems to have no understanding of the significance of the event at hand, only that David’s actions seemed very un-kingly to her thus embarrassing to her.  She had missed the essential character of David, the very thing that made him a godly man.  It seems she could see beyond position and prestige. 

David rebukes her attack on him.  Even reminding her that it was because of Saul’s own pride and profane attitude toward God that cost him the kingdom and that he was only king by the grace of God.  Michal's superficial attraction to David was not enough for a happy marriage.  She seemed to care only for the external trappings of his office and not the man himself, and because she did not share his love for God. Any marriage based solely on externals will always be disappointed.   In the end her hatred of David was really as reflection of her hatred toward God.  She would be barren – as if cursed and cutoff from any future generations.

How is your love for God?

^{Matthew 10:34} “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; ³⁶ and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household. ³⁷ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁸ And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁹ He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

sherman

The Pew and the Pulpit a 2nd Look

You ever wonder what it means to wander?  The church is full of people just wandering around in there spiritual life, or lack of it.  The children of Israel were sentenced to wander for 4o years – this wasn’t just a case of being between where you are and where you need to be.  They refused to believe God’s promise to give them the land of Canaan – they rebelled against God.  God’s judgment upon their unbelief is that they would not enter the promised land but would die in the desert.  They would not be allowed to enter His rest.  This was a severe warning to all of us of the danger of unbelief.
Hebrews 3:18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.
Its was because of unbelief that God left these rebellious children to wonder and die in the desert.  they would not enter the rest God had for them.  They heard the promised but refused to believe.  Week after week people come into churches across this country.  They may or may not hear the truth of God’s word preached.  Many preachers seek to please the people not God (2 Timothy 4:3-4).  There will be some that preach some truth, yet hold back the hard sayings.  Still others will preach the whole counsel of the word of God (Acts 20:25-27).  Some preachers and teachers will have blood on their hands yet some will have a clear conscience before God.
Bothe the pew and the pulpit have a responsibility in this thing we call belief.  The pulpit must declare the unadulterated truth of God, the pew must receive and act upon the truth with faith that causes action.  There is a rest still left for men.  It is this thing we call Heaven.  The is a judgment for those who exercise unbelief (disobedience) – wandering in this life apart from the favor of God until you die and then judgment.  The bible calls it the second death ( Revelation 21:8 ).  Heaven and Hell are real places that will last for an eternity.  Where are you headed?  What does your life and actions say you believe?  The consequences are great.
Hebrews 4:6 Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 He again fixes a certain day, "Today," saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. 9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. 11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.
sherman

The Pew and the Pulpit

Most of us think of church in this context.  The place were people gather that call themselves Christians for the purpose of singing songs to and about God and listen to a preacher give a sermon.  Its in this context of church that I want to consider a few key elements.

People gather weekly on Sundays around the country in various church buildings, some grand cathedrals, some simple school buildings.  People sitting or standing for the express purpose to practice their religious beliefs.  I say it this way for a reason, not everyone comes to these place for what we know as biblical Christianity.  For some it is a social gathering, for others a social responsibility, others out of curiosity, still for others it is out of some idea that they have of God (possibly a god that looks nothing like what He has declared Himself to be in His Word – but rather a god of their own making).  There are some (very few I suspect) who come for the the express reason to worship the God of the bible, as He has declared Himself, to fellowship with other true believers and to be fed on the Word of God.  It is the other cases that I want to ponder here for a few minutes.

What do they get when they come?  What are there expectations?  Maybe it is for business purposes, to gain more contacts.  It could be to ease their conscience for a little while.  It may be that they were simply raised that it is the right thing to do.  Perhaps they hope to be entertained for a while and receive a practical word of encouragement – minus any conviction.  Really what they receive when they come is more a function of what is presented than what they are willing to accept.  Now what they do with what they receive is a whole other discussion.(Luke 8:4-15).

So what the pew receives is effected by what is presented from the pulpit.  What does the preacher or teacher bring to the meeting?  Why are they preaching or teaching?  Is it a passion and gifting of God?  Is it a respectable and safe way to make a living?  Motivation of the pulpit is everything.  Whether someone has been called by God or have they simply called themselves makes all the difference.  Is there power from the Holy Spirit from a life consumed to glorify God or a natural orator seeking his own way and glory.

In Acts 20:27 Paul declares that he has declared “the whole purpose (counsel) of God”.  He did not shrink back.  he was not afraid or ashamed of the whole gospel of Christ.  He taught salvation that comes from a broken and repentant heart, that results in a changed life that seeks to know and obey God  more and more, no matter the cost, no matter what others do and to be a witness to other of what Jesus has done in their lives – not a walking contradiction , but walking sanctification.  That is the message that God delivered to the church, the message hasn’t changed.  It speaks all through scripture about God, Jesus, the Spirit and what obedience looks like, the purpose and plan of God for all eternity.  So what does the preacher/teacher share?

If the message is preached – what do those in the pew do with what they have heard.  Does it come in one ear and go out the other?  Does it cause conviction over sins hidden and stored away?  Does it comfort one who is obedient?  Does it encourage the faithful to continue on and the unfaithful to be broken and cut to the core?

Or does it simply make you feel good about yourself.  One preacher I know once put it this way.  The modern day church and preacher are like a mall merry-go-round.  For a little bit of money and time you get on the ride.  You feel like you’re going somewhere.  Maybe a little challenged if you dare ride one of the horse that goes up and down.  But after a short time the ride is over and the people get off right where they started unchanged.

In Hebrews 4: 3 it is put this way “but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard”.  The lesson here is simple.  People must first hear the whole counsel of the word of God.  Secondly and most importantly those that hear the message must believe – a Faith that is tied with Action. 

What you truly believe is not a function of what you say, but rather is exposed by what you do.

What does your life reveal about what you believe?

Are you a walking contradiction or a soul of consistent sanctification?

You are responsible for the light of God you have been given.  you will answer to Him one day.

  And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a a rewarder of those who seek Him. Hebrews 11:6

sherman

Need a Little Rest?

Have you been feeling rundown lately, tired?  What is it that you need rest from?  Is it your work, family, finances – just what is it?  Take a look into your heart – what is your burden – what care are you loaded down with?  Is it something that is self imposed, imposed by religious expectations, others expectations – what is the source of your burdens?

Jesus said these words,”28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Matthew 11."  Jesus is referring to life, its rules and responsibilities, the cares that fall upon us.  He was speaking of the burdens that come from rules, regulations and expectations that we can’t keep.  Things that result in frustration, quitting and depression.

Acts 15:7-11 speaks of these things, specifically the law of the Jews.  In our lives it might be what society says a good parent/husband/Christian should do for their family, children, work or others.  What do your in-laws think you should be and do?  What about friends and family say success looks like?

Jesus offers rest from all of these different burdens that tug on our life and pull us in different directions to different standards.  Rest from trying to do what you and I are unable to do.  Are you trying to earn God’s favor?  Are you trying to be good enough?  You can quit trying to please men, God and others on terms that are so unrealistic.

Jesus offers salvation in verse 28 and He offers the saved to learn from Him what is really important – what real success looks like.  We need to stop worrying what this world is telling us to do or what they say is important.  Instead learn what Jesus said is important.  To Love God with all that we have and to Love Others the way we have been loved by God and the rest will take care of itself.  He offers us rest from trying earn righteousness and rest from worldly worries.  Not rest from work but rest from futility.

What are you doing because of guilt?  What are you doing because of unrealistic expectations?  what do you need to be trusting God for?

What you need to do is learn who Christ is, what he said was important.  See how he lived for others and died to Himself.  God’s way is living by the power of the Spirit  - in grace – God giving you the desire and power to follow Him!

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

sherman

Exposing Yourself to the Light

I have been looking a 1 John chapter 1 some this past week.  I believe that God has shown something that I have missed in the past that joins this passage to John chapter 3.  In 1st John chapter 1 the apostle is is speaking on what it means to have fellowship with Christ in God and how that is linked to the gospel message.  In a nutshell the Christian life is an intimate relationship between man and God through the work of Christ.  The relationship extends to others that have the same faith in Christ.  It is the common thread that binds God’s people together and is the basis for joy and peace that exists outside worldly circumstances and influences. 

John differentiates between those who  are true believers and those who say that they are Christians but live contrary to the ways of God.  The difference between Light and Dark.  The difference between one who denies their sin and one who is broken over their sin.  There will be those that claim to be in Christ yet deny their own sin, their sin nature, their need for repentance.  They will be a walking contradiction to what the gospel declares.  So what does this mean to you and me.  Looking back at John 3:16-21 the word tell us that those men who are evil run from the Light for fear that there evil will be exposed, while those who practice righteous (the character and intent of your hear – this is not perfection) walk toward and in the Light.  Here’s the essence of what I found in this section of scripture; those who are in Christ desire and strive to walk in His Light.  Willingly exposing their lives to God for Him to expose sin that remains in  our hearts and lives.  This is the difference, those that walk in darkness are characterized by sin and those that walk in light are characterized by godliness.  The followers of Christ are willing to have sin in their lives exposed and are repentant when it is exposed – this is where 1 John 1:8 comes in.  When we have our sin exposed, we willing repent, Christ freely forgives us and restores us to complete fellowship with Him.  So here is the test:  How do you react when your sin is exposed?  Do you run for cover or do you seek forgiveness?  Examine your heart, let God have His way.

1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

-sherman

Watering it Down

My wife and I were recently speaking about Noah when the question came up: When did he become righteous?  Now most people are familiar enough with him, the ark and the flood.  It’s funny in a way that most people know the story, at least parts of it, and make toy sets and books for the kids as if it is all cute and fun – all without a basic misunderstanding or lack of consideration for this story.  God destroyed all living things because of man’s sin.  This flood was the most severe judgment man had seen upon sin – it wasn’t a game but a matter of life and death.  Odd how we can make play out of something so heavy.

Now back to my wife’s question.  Her question takes on a different slant into the life of Noah - examining the life and heart of this great man.  A quick glance at Genesis 6 might leave one with the impression that Noah was “all good” so to speak, therefore God chose to start over with Noah and his family.  I don’t think that quick glance does justice in answering Laura’s question.  So let’s backup to Genesis 6:8-9 and take a closer look at this passage.

Genesis 6:8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. 9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.

Notice the word favor in verse 8,  Noah found favor in the eyes of God.  The word is also translated GRACE elsewhere in scripture.  The fact that Noah found “unmerited favor” in the eyes of the Lord is why Noah was a righteous man.  God intervened in the heart and life of Noah and set him apart for His purpose.  The thing that set Noah apart from the unrighteous mean of his day is the same thing the separates true believers in Christ from the unrighteous men in our day. Even the flow of the section demands that you take note of God’s favor,  Verse nine moves into telling us about this man that had found grace in God’s eyes. So back to the original question, when did he become righteous?

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

The book of Hebrews plainly states that there was an act of faith on the part of Noah.  He believed God.  That is the point at which Noah became righteous.  It is the same in the life of every believer to this day.  God comes to us.  He finds us.  He seeks us out.  He gives us GRACE.  When we receive that grace we act in  faith.  Exercising a faith that believes all that God has said about our in ability to save ourselves, repenting of our sins, trusting in the work of Jesus alone for our righteousness.

So see nothing has really changed since the beginning.  Noah was counted righteous because of a believing faith that resulted in obedience in following God.  He was not a perfect man, just keep reading in Genesis 9, but he was a righteous man because he placed his trust in the GRACE of the Almighty God.  We are saved by faith, faith in God, faith in Christ – none in ourselves.

We find ourselves at the end of the day unable to save ourselves, just as Noah was unable to save himself.   If you find yourself trying to make your own way to salvation my prayer is that you will turn to Christ for eternal life.

2 Corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

sherman

Anger

Why do some people seem to always be angry, looking for a fight?  Why do people get angry, even unreasonably angry?  It even seems contagious.  Have you ever had someone get angry with you and the next thing you know you join right in with them.  There is one main reason for this behavior.  It can all be summed up in SELF.  We have this world view that life is about us, problem is all of us think this way – a conflict waiting to happen. 

So what do we do about it?  We could get in a position of power and authority that will silence any opposition to having things our.  Sometimes we hold it in and take it home where we can take out our anger on someone who is weaker or less likely to win in a fight with us.  Or we could take a look at what God tells us to do, unfortunately this is sometimes the last place we go to.  Next time some gets angry with you or someone else were you might be able to intervene and calm things down try a gentle, kind response.

Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.

Man is self-centered and self serving by our very sin nature. We only see things from our little world, seldom will one really try to understand the others point of view. We have a propensity to jump to conclusions, fill in the blanks for actions and words unsaid, attribute motives, and stew over injustices (real or perceived).

James 1:19 This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.

We have got to come to the understanding that our lives and this world is not about us.  The Bible states it this way “In the beginning God”, this life, this world is all about God – not you or me.  Instead of getting angry about what someone has done or has failed to do for you or your value system – seek instead to serve and do them good.  In fact take it a step further and seek out the most underserving person around – someone that doesn’t really care for you, that maybe is foul mouth and smelling, maybe even someone who has gone out of their way to harm you in the past.  That is your person to love and do good.  Precisely because they don’t deserve it and are in no position to compensate you for your efforts.

My friend that is the picture of what God through His Son Jesus Christ has done for you.  You deserved Hell, He gave you Heaven.  You deserved death, He gave you life.  You deserved hatred, He gave you love.

Matthew 5:39 "But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 "If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.  41 "Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 "Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. 43 "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy. 44 "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 "If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

sherman

Losing Heart

What Happens When You Lose Heart

We saw a bumper sticker the other day which read “Not feeling close to God Lately; then Who Moved”.

Living life can wear on you, especially when you don’t see any hope of things getting better before they get much worse. It can be easy to find one self disheartened, worn out, wondering if it is worth it. When so few others seem to care about what God has deemed as important. Reading Jeremiah 15:15-21 I find the words I needed to hear.

The prophet expresses his loss of heart, kind of a hopeless, helplessness. His frustration that it seems even God has left his side. He sees all of the problems in his life are directly connected to his devoted following of the LORD, … for I have been called by Your name …

His abhorrent feelings toward the people and their ways are because of his love for God’s word and way. He has been expelled from society, rejected by men and now he feels abandon by the LORD. He hurts and the hurt doesn’t diminish over time, …why is my pain perpetual…

God answers the prophet in what seemed an unusual word. “If you return, then I will restore you … if you extract the precious from the worthless … For I am with you to save you and deliver you.”

Take another look at the Lord’s answer. It wasn’t that God had abandon Jeremiah, but the other way around. Jeremiah had become consumed with thinking about his situation and sorrow and had lost sight of God.

So what was/is the solution?

Get rid of the worthless things in your life. Psalm 115 speaks of the creation of man’s hands, specifically idols, how when we serve and focus on something we become like that something. Focus on your problems and yourself you become self-absorbed, sort of an inverted pride.

Focus instead on the LORD. When everything in this world says as Job’s wife did “Curse God and die” remember the faith, hope and love that saved you. Hebrews 11 says without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith is active not passive. It trusts in God when everything else around you seems to say He has abandoned you.

He is always faithful even when we can’t see Him. He is working all this out for your good and His glory. May He find us faithful.

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, Philippians 3: 7

A Proper View of Life and Death

Have you ever stopped and considered what defines your life?  By that I mean what are you known by, what is your character?  What defines our lives is what we live for.  Whether it is material possessions, money, fame, work, your family, church, pleasure, your self – the one thing that is central to your existence.  It is not what you say you live for but what your life shows that you live for.

Life is very short yet some bad decisions can make life very long.  Either way eternity is longer and what we do in this life follows us to some extent into eternity.

HOW WE  LIVE MATTERS!

When there is someone that we know who seems to die before their time, have you ever asked why God would allow that to happen to them.  Maybe the right question is “why did God let me live?”  For what purpose are you alive. 

How should we live and How should we die?

Jesus left us with a pattern to follow:

He lived a perfect life so that God could treat Him as if He had lived my sin – so that God could treat me as if I had lived His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

This is the pattern we are to follow – so what is that going to look like in our lives?

We often sing about magnifying Christ.  I always thought of that in the same terms as exalt.  It finally dawned on we one day that it means magnify as in a magnifying glass.   You see most people don’t see the relevance of God – in other words what does He have to do with my life?  People have obstacles that skew their view of reality- things like earning more money, playing and enjoying life, living for themselves.  Both believers and non-believers can fall into this mode.  It is our job to magnify Christ to them.  So how do we do it?  Number one we have to remove the obstacles out of our own lives so that we aren’t one to others.  We call this being a HYPOCRITE.  So that by what we say and do people can see Christ in our lives.

Paul explained this in Acts 17:24-27 that the reason God has placed each one of us where we are is so that we might find Him that we sometimes seem as very far away when the reality is He is very near.  Kind of like that right side mirror in your car.  It says things in the mirror are closer than they appear.  Our vision is distorted by SIN.  We want to be a clear magnifier of Jesus. 

Paul while writing the book of Philippians is jailed and likely to die soon, but his was his observation – that the gospel had reached the palace guard and even into the household of Caesar.  All because of the way he lived while facing death.  He puts in this way to Live is Christ to Die is Gain.  Either way he won. 

People must be able to see a difference in those of us who call ourselves by the name of Christ.  They can’t be left wandering or confused.  God put you right where he wanted – the mission field is right where you live every day.  What does this world see in your day to day life. 

This is the BOTTOM LINE of my thoughts of to how we are to live:

Love does what it does not have to do to those who don’t deserve it.  This is the pattern Christ gave us!

Your life is not to be defined by circumstances surrounding you, but rather your life is defined by how you live in the midst of your circumstance and adversity.

Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain….27 Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel

 

sherman

Why Do Bad Things Happen

It wasn’t always this way.  You know, the pain and suffering in this old world.  Each one us can recount story after story of things gone wrong in our lives through “no fault” of our own.  Why is it that bad things happen?

Well before Adam and Eve decided to disobey God all of creation was in perfect harmony.  After that things just went from bad to worse.  Man got kicked out of the garden, but didn’t learn his lesson.  Next thing we know man has gotten more and more sinful until there is only one godly family left in the world.  Perhaps you have heard of Noah.  More catastrophe came upon the earth because of the sinfulness of man.  The entire world was destroyed except those in the ark.  Look at where we have ended up since then.  Man got together and started to build a tower to heaven in Babel when he was commanded by God to go out to all the earth, what did he do but all settle down in one place.  God confused the languages and caused the people to scatter over the face of the earth.  Sometimes when people don’t obey God simply intervenes to change their minds.

So down to this day animals are fearful of men, this happened after the flood.  Men and women try to rule over one another, this happened at the fall.  Man seeks to set up a god like himself, this started in the heart of Satan.  So here we are today in a world that has been subjected to the sinful consequences of man’s rebellion against God.  Just like these horrible tornados that passed through the Tennessee Valley last week.  This world is in constant turmoil.  Pain and suffering, misery and disease plague man all because of sin.  Its not that any of you have done anything in particular that was bad that the tornados came, but rather a long-term consequence to the rebellious nature of man.

So what do we do about?  Is there anything we can do about it?  None of this took God by surprise.  So Why?  SO What?

God has given us all things in our lives to get our attention.  To help us look towards Him.  Man never has had much use for God when things are going his way.  God uses the things in life to draw us to Himself, to grow us up to be like Jesus, to help us long to be with Him in eternity.  This old world is not our final home.  We are just passing through.  You can either live for yourself and die in your sins or you can die to yourself and live to the glory of God.  There is no middle ground, and God is only going to wait so long for you to come to your right mind.

God offers you eternal life beginning today.  A life whose joy is independent of the pain and chaos in this world.  That joy is rooted in belonging to Him for eternity not in the fleeting circumstances of this short life.  God spared you this last week for a reason.  And it wasn’t so you could live for yourself.  If you don’t know Him you may not get another wakeup call.  If you do know Him where are you at in your walk?  These are matters of eternal significance don’t blow it off – you may not get another chance.

 

Romans 8:19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope
21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.
24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

 

sherman

Supersizing or Downsizing

 

The word of God can be a times difficult to properly interpret.  We must be careful to pay close attention to the complete context and surrounding text.  Many times people will either over emphasize a particular teaching or minimize the intent of a passage.  As an example I would like to take a look at one particular passage of scripture in the New Testament, Mark 4:3-20.  This scripture has been taught from many different view points.  The first view point I would like to examine is the minimizing view.

Some preachers teach that there are three types of “saved soil” represented.  They consider that only the first type of soil “by the road” where the seed is taken away by the birds represents the unsaved.  This position sees the next two soils as backslidden Christians.  True believers that have let things get in their way of following Christ.  and they might would say the last type is the believer that is actively following God.  This is an example of minimizing the impact of the words of Christ.  If we just look at Christ’s own explanation it becomes clear that the first three soil types are all unbelievers because the only soil that produces good fruit is the final one.  Not only that but not everyone in the last category produces the same amount.  The key point is that they all produce something.  Verse 16 makes clear the connection between the first and second types of soil.  The third type is a bit more difficult in that there appears to be something going on, but nothing is being produced.  These are likely representative of the unsaved within the congregation – tares among the wheat.  They look the part, say the right things, but their heart is completely entangled in the affairs of this world they are the religious that have an appearance of godliness but there is no power in them. Next we will consider the supersizing of this teaching.

Still others will look at this with such overemphasis that they cannot leave any room for Christians that do struggle with remaining sin in their life yet have proof of God’s redemption in their heart.  There is a reason that the master commands his servants not to rip up the tares from the wheat.  They would likely pull up and destroy some who are truly God’s children in the process.  We really cannot tell which is which until they reach maturity.  The point really is that we must be aware that there are unsaved masquerading as the real deal and that we are called to examine our own faith and see if it is real.  You don’t need to be trusting in a persons affirmation that your faith is real, but knowing it because of the living relationship you have with Christ.  Another position that has been taken is that since there are only four types of soil and that only one type is truly regenerated then only 25% of all humanity will be saved.  This again is not the point of the passage to name a number, in fact it may well be much lower percentage than that – just consider the narrow and wide gate scripture.  So what is the point of this passage.

In verses 13-20 Christ Himself tells us just what this text means without any ambiguity.  The first He tells us in verse 13 is that there is something in this parable that will be critical to understanding all of the other parables.  So what is it that we must understand from this parable?  Not everyone who hears the gospel will be saved.  Not everyone who says a prayer and walks an isle posses eternal life.  We cannot always tell the difference between real and fake Christians.  Every true believer will produce good works as a result of their salvation not as a condition for receiving salvation. 

Ephesians 2: 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Every true believer will produce good works as a result of their salvation not as a condition for receiving salvation.  Hearing then receiving the word will always produce a life that desires to OBEY God.

I believe that most people have good intentions when they supersize or downsize a section of scripture.  Seeing it as either too harsh that there is no way that is what is meant or they key in on a singular doctrine and concentrate so much on that one doctrine that they almost ignore the rest.  It is never love to soften the force of scripture nor is it love to hammer home some pet doctrine.  We need to let the word of God clearly speak for itself consistently interpreting scripture with scripture.

Basic hermeneutics (that means how we interpret the Bible) is simply this read the scripture in complete context that means the entire book of the Bible where it is located and in light of what the rest of scripture declares on that subject.  If you read something and the meaning seems right and makes sense then you likely have the right sense of the passage.

The bottom line is there are some very wonderful promises  and very real consequences in scripture.  Just because we have trouble accepting or understanding something doesn’t make it wrong.  The point of growing in Christ is to become more and more like Him, not to somehow conform God into some image of Him that we have to make Christianity compatible with our own beliefs.

Read the word faithfully, pray for clarity and understanding, obey what you already understand and you will grow more and more into the image of Christ.

sherman

The Whole Counsel of GOD

 

Ezekiel 2:7 "But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious. 8 "Now you, son of man, listen to what I am speaking to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.

Have you ever been around a preacher or teacher that seems to hit the same topic over and over again.  I am not speaking of the gospel, but of something such as tithing, modest clothing, love, or sovereignty.  Really it could be most anything.  But they seem to go out of their way to bring up the subject not matter the section of scripture or the topic. 

Maybe it was a teacher or preacher that will tend to skip over sections of scripture that might be controversial or difficult.  Or it might be that they never go to some subjects at all due to fear of upsetting somebody. In either case we have an out of balance view of scripture.

Yet there is another group that seems to teach every doctrine down to the smallest detail, yet they lack any application of what they know.  They seem to get lost in having all the right doctrines and somehow they think that is enough (Revelation 2:4 – they have lost their love).  This application anemia is killing many reformed churches today.

We cannot pick and choose what we like and exclude what we don’t.  The church today suffers from a lack of knowledge and a lack of application.  You don’t have to go out of your way to hammer home some pet doctrine.  You shouldn’t be afraid to speak the truth in a loving manner, no matter the audience.  We should expect that people who trust in Christ for salvation should grow in Christ-likeness as well.  The same power that saves us, makes us able and yearning to obey.

It all starts at the Word of God.  In your own personal studies do you skip over something that might be convicting or key in only to those things that apply to someone else.  God wants us to grow up into a mature believer in all ways, not just in a few.  That means sometimes we are going to have to hear some difficult teachings, repent, be more diligent at following, pay attention to our own lives (others do).

So why this topic?  I was reading in Ezekiel 1-2 this morning.  I noticed particularly that God gave a message to Ezekiel.  He even told him that they wouldn’t listen to Him.  He even warned him not to be stubborn and stiff necked like them.  It made me examine myself.  How to do I approach scripture?  Do I teach the whole counsel of God – starting with myself?  You and I are accountable to God with what we teach to ourselves, family, friends, classes, churches, etc.…

Obey what you know.  Learn what scripture says and put it into practical application in your life.  Teach what you have learned to someone else and help bring them along as you follow Christ. You are teaching others something just by what you live out.  None of us were meant to do this alone.

Acts 20:26 "Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 "For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. 28 "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

Saying All The Right Things

Ever walk into a church with all of the right doctrines, ministries, associations and trappings.  From the outside everything looks like it is right where it is supposed to be – sounds like the way a lot of people are when they go to church.  An outward conformity to a list of rules or a set of principles – but missing the heart.  It is symptomatic of our society.  We all want to be accept and to excel in the eyes of others.

This all came to mind today when I visited a church out here in California.  It was a reformed theology church.  Their focus above the entrance – the five SOLAS – Faith Alone, Grace Alone, Scripture Alone, Christ Alone, the Glory of God Alone.  Very true thing, very good things, this is the way they wanted to be known.  But it appeared to me in my short visit that somewhere in the process they had lost their heart.

God speaks of this in Revelation 2:1-7.  The church of Ephesus had a lot of things going for them:  good deeds, hatred of false teachers, perseverance for the things of Christ, but they lost something in the process.  It is something all of us can lose sight of, it slips away so quietly and easily while in our minds we are doing the work of Christ.

“They Lost Their First Love”

So what are we to do?  Jesus says to them remember where you came from, who you were when Christ saved you, repent and go back to the basics of loving Christ, spending time in the word getting to know Him, slowing down enough to listen to Him.  Peter sums it up this way in 2 Peter 1:1-15:  Our lives start with the foundation of faith and in all things that we do it is to look like love.  When we forget to love God with everything we have and to love others better than ourselves we have misrepresented God and the Gospel. 

So where are you at in your walk?  Does your life look like love?  Do you need to repent and go back to the basics?

Think about it.  I know I am.  Examine yourself before God does it for you. 

Does your life look like love – the love of God?

sherman

Music and the Christian

 

These are a few thoughts on Christian Music. First I think it is worth mentioning that not all Christian music is designed for cooperate worship. Some is intended for the individual consumption (maybe in the car) and some for the concert stage. The intentional design of some music may very well be for a specific target audience in a specific environment. Whether the music is for use in cooperate worship or not, these are all legitimate venues for Christian music.

(1)What about the tune? Is the tune easy to remember? Does it reflect the words of the song?

- Have you ever tried singing Oh Happy Day to the original tune from the 1700’s? It sounds extremely somber and sad. There are many excellent hymns from years past. There is nothing wrong with updating the music tune. Some people will prefer the old tunes and the old hymns – there’s nothing wrong with that.

(2) Can I understand the words?

- I cannot understand the Farsi language. Many people who have not been raised in the church and utilized the KJV bible may have some difficulties to comprehend the archaic English language. The message and the music need to be relevant to the audience, this means comprehendable.

(3) Are the lyrics doctrinally sound?

- No Hersey Allowed. That being noted, that doesn’t mean every song has to dig to the deepest depths of theological knowledge. They might even be a little light on doctrine yet heavy on basic praise. Go check out the Psalms.

(4) What about music designed to evoke emotional response and appeal to the sense?

- Ever heard Handel's Messiah, been moved by an Easter musical. What most people really object to in this category is music with a beat or plugged in. This isn’t about evoking an emotional response – its about people that don’t like that rock music. It is simply people trying to make a preference law. Any good tune is design to convey and evoke the emotion of the lyrics..

(8) What about empty repetition?

- I have no idea how "Praise God" or lyrics such as those from Revelation 5:11-14 would ever get old or be considered empty. Yet these are the types of complaints I have heard from people on modern worship music. So unless you're expecting something to happen because you keep saying it – its not a bad thing.

(9) What about musical instruments?

- I touched on this one once before. Some people think it should be acapella, others only piano and organ. This is about preference not biblical mandate. Just because you don’t find a particular instrument or style to minister to you doesn’t invalidate it. Many of these Christians in Rock and Metal music are reaching people you or I never could. Try getting to know them before you toss them aside because of their looks and music.

Finally, there is great liberty in music for the Christian. Most of us spend our time trying to invoke our own convictions as law on others. That needs to come to a halt. If you can’t defend it clearly from scripture then it is just an opinion and not binding. We need to apply the same measure to this medium as any other (i.e. TV). Is it edifying? Do you have a clear conscience before God?

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. Philippians 4:8

The Purpose of Prayer 


Some people think that prayer is a personal wish maker that you turn on and off. Others see it as something reserved only for those big emergencies. Still others think that the more people praying on an issue the more likely they are to get their way with God. Even though the prayer of a single righteous man is very powerful and effective (James 5:16).On the far end are those who believe in the sovereignty of God so much that they see no need to pray, “God will do what God will do” – so they ignore the command to pray (Ephesians 6:18).

So then what is the purpose of prayer?

God wants us to pour out our hearts before his throne. He cares for our needs, struggles, pain and desires. He wants us to do the same for others and bring those to him as well. He even brings things into our lives that will drive us to our knees, drive us closer to His heart. As He answers our prayers in His timing and His way - He wants to hear our joy and praises as well.

So again why pray?

1. We need it. Quite frankly we cannot live in this world of pain and sorrow apart from a vibrant relationship to God. How can we know Him if we don’t commune with Him. It is or pathway of communication, blessing and understanding.

2. We were never meant to be self sufficient and self serving. We are to be involved in the lives of others. Helping to bear their burdens. Praying for them in their situation, for another’s salvation, for understanding, and peace.

3. We are commanded to do so for our own good. God wants us involved with what He is doing in our midst. To see faith turned into reality (John 11:40). It connects us with the lives of other believers nearby and far away. More involvement in prayer means more people are involved in praise. We get to share more in God’s work.

4. As we commune with God our thoughts become more like His. We pray in concert with His will not for our own selfish motives.

So what is the purpose of prayer? It is to conform our thoughts, concerns, and desires into becoming more and more align with those of Christ. It is so that we and others may give more praise, honor and glory to God as we see Him move in our midst. May God conform and transform us so that we may be vessels of mercy that may minister to the saints and the lost.

2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

Do You Trust God?

Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

God has this way of working in my life that leaves me uneasy many times.  He calls me to do things that I am unequipped to do, at least in my fleshlyness.  The root of the problem is a lack of faithfulness in my life in the small things.  The things that I know to do but don't.  God calls us to love others and to treat them better than ourselves, to sacrifice for His glory and the good of others when it is inconvenient.  He wants me to forgive others just as I have been forgiven.  That means restoring a relationship as if the offence had never occurred, opening myself up to be hurt again.  Jesus tells us to look at His life and go and do likewise.

This something that we cannot do without strong abiding faith in Christ.  Trusting in Him for both the power to do what He has called us to do and that He will do in us exactly what He promised to do.  He wants us to trust Him.  Faith isn't really faith until you have to stepout into it.  When you have nothing else to hold onto - to depend on.  It will either strengthen and grow or crumble because it was never real.

We have got to learn to be faithful in obeying what we already know to do.  To depend on Christ to give us the grace to do what we already know to do.  The power to obey is not resident within ourselves, but must come from the indwelling power of God's Spirit.

Simple actions of faithful obedience will cause us to find faith the kind of faith that can take us through anything that God calls us to do.  Start with the basics, major on the minors.  Spend time in pray and in His word to find out what he is calling you to be obedient in today.

Pearls and Pigs

Matthew 7:6 "Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.


This is one of those scriptures that bothered me.  It didn't seem to fit the context.  Everyone seemed to avoid it when they preached through this section.  Well after many years one day it just seemed to fit really nice and make sense.  If we don't break up the natural flow of the scripture, just prior to this Jesus was teaching about judging righteously.  How to be spirtitually concerned for God's glory in your life and in the life of others.  The idea of understanding our low standing before a High and Holy God.  That we ourselves are as suspectible to falling into sin as any other.

So the meaning here is really very simple.  Don't try to apply godly standards to those that are not rue disciples of Christ.  Only those that have been redeemed will receive and rightly respond to humble rebuke and restoration.  Those that are comfortable in sin - it is just who we all were at one time or another - will not only reject the rebuke but will proceed to tell you where to go, how to get there and help you along the way.

So remember.  We are to gentle rebuke, admonish and restore a brother or sister taken by sin.  We have no buisness trying to apply godly truths to the ungodly.  The only turth they can hear and respond to is their need for a Savior - Jesus Christ.  Give them the gospel not judgement.  Show them they are damned inspite of their sinful life - but because they have rejected the Son of God.

Romans 8:6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,