December 3 (II Timothy 3:16, 17)
When God called me into His kingdom, one of the first things that struck me was that we have a book, more accurately stated 66 books, compiled into one that claims to be filled with His actual communications to humans. Think about it. Christianity is the only movement in the world that makes that claim. I refrain from calling it a religion because that is a misnomer in the case of true Christianity. I seldom use the word Christian in any of its forms because it has been so abused in America. Great multitudes think if you aren’t part of some other religious movement, you must be a Christian. Mohammed claimed God spoke to him in the deserts of Arabia, but all one has to do is read the Koran to quickly discover it was written by a man, and that man really wasn’t very intelligent. Actually, the historical record of Islam indicates only about 15 pages of badly written notes began the assembly by later generations of what Muslims now call the Koran.
So we don’t stray from the point, today I’ll provide the evidence that scripture, in the original manuscripts was literally God breathed. There are a lot of fancy terms systematic theologians use, but I will try to avoid the temptation to sound smart and write in language even I can understand. The first thing one would expect to learn if a writing is God breathed, a claim protestants make about the entire 66 books of the bible, is that it would be without error in its original manuscripts. The problem with which we have to deal is that the earliest manuscripts early church fathers had to translate into English were about 200 years removed from the originals. Since scribes hand wrote every single compilation before the printing press, it seems logical there might have been errors somewhere along the way. Actually we do learn there are several insignificant errors like misspelling words, occasionally verb tenses are different, as well as other minor and insignificant differences in the ancient manuscripts. The reason I say they are insignificant is that those errors do not result in an interpretation any different from any other interpretation. If one is careful to make sure the bible verifies its own inerrancy by using several cross references properly, there is zero chance he will draw a wrong conclusion about God's original intent.
The next problem with which we have to deal is that of cultural differences between the original group of middle eastern residents, and, in some cases we even see significant cultural differences between those middle eastern tribal groups to whom the words were originally written. That’s why a few of the things Isaiah said for example make little or no sense to us today. His original listeners knew to what he was referring but nearly three thousand years later and 5000 miles from that culture to whom he spoke makes some things a little hard to understand. Then we have to deal with God’s propensity to hide prophecy that will be fulfilled latter within a message to the people who originally heard it. Over two hundred prophecies of Christ’s first coming fit into that category. No one realized they were spoken about His first coming until He fulfilled them. Three things help us avoid misunderstanding God’s original intent when He first breathed His word through His prophets: 1. the interpreter must study the original culture(s) to whom the words were spoken; 2. the interpreter must study the language in its ancient setting; 3. the interpreter must read the translation from which he is working dozens of times to make sure it testifies to its own inerrancy. I have discovered in 38 years of studying scripture, reading dozens of books about how to interpret it, learning the original ancient languages of Hebrew and Greek, teaching dozens of classes on most of it, and writing treatises about more than 25 bible topics, the most important of these three skills is for the interpreter have read scripture from cover to cover multiple times in multiple modern translations. I attended bible college taking Greek and Hebrew among other things. I studied biblical history in that setting; then I attended several secular colleges and universities and studied ancient middle eastern history in that setting.
As a brand new believer, I knew God was calling me to teach His word, so I made sure to put myself on a rigorous schedule of reading through it multiple times each year. I didn’t want to take the chance I wasn’t sure I knew what God meant when He spoke to us in His word (James 3:1). My first year as a Christian, I read it through once a month from four or five different modern translations. Since then, I have been on a rigorous schedule of reading it through from cover to cover at least 8 times a year. I do that by reading 24 chapters a day. Sometimes I read more; on rare occasions I read less. Of course, there have been times I was so ill, I was unable to sit up long enough to read anything. I’m not bragging when I provide this information, and I’m most certainly not suggesting anyone else has to go and do likewise. I just want those reading this blog to understand I practice what I preach. I am not speaking from ignorance, though I make no claim to have figured out the entire word of God yet. Actually, I think it would take a lot more than one lifetime to do that.
For me it would have been incomprehensible not to have been on this schedule. I have never been able to get enough knowledge about the God of Creation to suit me. I want to know Him as well as it is possible to get to know Him in this life. The incredible thing is that every time I reread a verse or one of the stories of the saints, I learn something else about the nature of God. Of course, one would logically expect that to be true if He really is God. I write these things because I would like my readers to understand I wouldn’t have bothered to spend the necessary time to read the bible from cover to cover once if I did not believe within its cover lies the very words of the Creator of the universe. The bible contains, ancient history, though it is not a book of history; it contains scientifically verifiable information, though it is not a book of science; it is filled with poetry, wisdom literature, parables, types, images, similes, paradoxes, and specific instruction for living a godly life. There are a myriad of reasons it is the best selling collection of books in the world and has been since it was first compiled.
No other book will prepare you for the coming kingdom of God. No other book reveals how one can be sure he will not spend eternity in hell. No other book was written over a period of approximatelhy 4,000 years by at least 40 different men that is in complete harmony with itself. It says of itself it is God breathed and thus without error. The prophets declared hundreds, maybe thousands of times, “Thus saith the Lord.” Peter implied Paul’s writings were scripture in II Peter 3:16. Paul claimed his writings were God’s words to His church in I Thessalonians 2:13. The bible testifies of itself thousands of times that it is the word of God.
In closing today’s devotional, I believe it behooves us to spend a lot more time than most of us do actually reading and then studying His infallible word. It is the sword of the spirit with which we do battle with the enemy. It’s little wonder so few who claim to have been called of God actually seek daily to do battle with the enemy. The strongholds of Satan, any stage show (including mud wrestling) that demeans women, most alcoholic establishments, pornography in its many forms, the public system of education in America, most government entities across this land, most clubs (i.e., Elks, Moose), most fraternities and sororities on college campuses, great multitudes of law offices, a huge contingency of doctors’ offices, and even the local family theatres are all breeding grounds for satanic activity. And the Christian church settles for holding its meetings one to three times a week, doing an occasional community service project, and buying time on television and/or radio so those who need to hear the gospel who will never likely listen to one of those programs may hear it and be convicted of sin, righteousness, and the coming judgment.
Jesus went into the streets, into the homes of prostitutes, alcoholics, tax gathers, soldiers, and fishermen to preach the gospel. The reason God the Father gave him the power to heal the sick and raise the dead was because when one storms the strongholds of the devil he must have God the Father’s full cooperation to be successful. I’d like to humbly suggest that’s the same reason we don’t see the kinds of miraculous things happening today we saw happening in His life. I know there are men and women who claim to be doing miraculous things in their ministries, but I’ve watched too many of those side shows to believe they’re anything more than side shows as part of a really bad circus act. Now if I saw a plainly dressed man on skid row quietly preaching the gospel to small groups I’d be expecting to see him heal some of those men and women on the spot. If I saw someone walk into the middle of a meeting of the Hells Angels biker group, I’d expect to see him heal someone who had just gotten shot by a rival gang.
I trust and pray if you’re reading this, you’re beginning to get the picture. I’ve preached on sidewalks outside pornographic theatres. I’ve preached in lock up facilities; I’ve preached door to door; I’ve preached in mall parking lots. I’ve preached in open air parks; and I’ve preached in bars and lounges. I’ve had owners of pornographic theatres threaten to have me arrested. I’ve had bosses threaten to fire me if I didn’t leave my religion home. I’ve been fired at least once for refusing to do so. I was harassed for years by one boss because I used recent court rulings to point out why he couldn’t fire me for talking about Jesus at work. I’ve been asked to leave at least one church, told to leave another, and told I would be happier someplace else by several pastors of local churches. In 38 years of ministry, I've only had one pastor welcome me with open arms to teach in the local church where he preached for more than a few months because I always insist on teaching the entire word without compromise.
My point for today is that we will never see revival in America if those who claim to be the called of God don’t get off their proverbial butts and storm the strongholds of Satan, snatching those held in his power from the flaming jaws of hell. Our nation is sinking into the depths of depravity from which it will never recover if we who claim to be followers of Christ don’t begin doing what He came to do and what He has commanded us to do (Matt. 28:18-20). We’ll never fulfill His prophecy that we'll do greater works than He did if we don’t stop reading about it and actually begin doing it. That’s literally where the rubber meets the road. And that’s God’s word for us today.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Which Party are You Attending?
December 2 (I Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:11-15)
Probably two subjects in scripture are better documented than any other, yet the church seems to know so little about them: heaven and hell. I’ve written a book on the four phases of the kingdom of God (aka sometimes called heaven). If you’d like a copy, just give me contact information in the comments sections below and I’ll get it to you on CD with notes. Right now the kingdom of God and heaven refer to two different locations. The kingdom of God today is the church as her members wander about on earth doing His will. Today, the third heaven is where the throne of God is located. God’s word tells us it’s above the second heaven (outer space), but that is all we know about its location for now. We know a lot about what is going on there right now, but that’s a topic for another devotional.
After the millennial reign of Christ, the one thousand year period when He will return and judge earth’s residence (those who survived the bowl judgments) from His throne which will be established in Jerusalem, there will be two final judgments: 1. one will be for those who will be spending eternity in some part of hell; 2. the other will be for the saints who will all be ushered into the final phase of the kingdom of God for eternity. The judgment of all who rejected God’s authority during their earthly lives and His provision for their sin in His Son at Calvary will attend the party reserved for goats. I’m not absolutely sure why the choice of sheep and goats, but I imagine it has something to do with the personality of each. Sheep are famous for following the sound of their master’s voice. Goats are infamous for butting their heads against anything that tries to rule them. Maybe that’s the significance. All I know for sure is they symbolize two kinds of people to God (Matt. 25:33).
I trust my reference to these two judgments as parties does not sound flippant, but there will definitely be a party atmosphere at the Bema Seat Judgment (this one’s for the saints). Once one is ushered before the throne of God at the Bema Seat, he knows finally and forever he will have the glorious privilege of living in the presence and under the complete care of the Master and Creator of the universe for all eternity. That judgment is not to determine whether or not he will enter the glorious kingdom of God. It is only to determine what crowns (there are six such crowns James 1:12; I Pet. 5:4; Rev. 3:11; 4:4, Heb. 2:9; II Tim. 4:8; I Thes. 2:9) he has earned or lost and what his tasks will be for all of eternity. Some will be kings of large kingdoms. Some will be kings of small kingdoms. Some will be masters over cities or lands of lesser size and importance. If I understand the biblical teaching on the topic, some will even be sanitary engineers (aka maintenance guys and gals). I know most teach we know little about heaven and some even teach we will be floating around on clouds playing harps. Please believe me, there is no support for such foolishness in God's word. I find it both sad and troubling that so many have no clue we will not all be rewarded equally in the eternal kingdom of God. To think I am going to be rewarded equally with the missionary man and/or woman who gave up everything to follow Jesus for twenty or thirty years in some foreign country, living on the bare necessities of life, is the worst example of stupidity I can fathom. And it’s just as foolish to suggest the man or woman who makes a true confession on their death bed after spending their entire lives rebelling against His known will is going to be rewarded equally with the man or woman who spent their final ten or twenty years of life as warriors for Christ, fighting the good fight, engaging spiritual warfare with the devil and his band of miscreants daily, snatching some of God’s elect from the very jaws of Satan.
Of course, any task in the kingdom of God will be far superior to one second in any part of hell. Those who will be at the great white throne judgment will only be there to be shown why they will be spending eternity in hell. No one attending that event will be there by accident. Nothing a person ever did will be withheld from that appearance. Everything will be revealed. Personally, I think God has a technological device that He has used to record every deed and thought man commits and thinks. At the great white throne the world will watch as you come before Him and He runs the reel of your entire life. Every thought, every deed, every thought to do a deed, everything you ever considered will be exposed to all of those with whom you will be spending eternity. We’re told it will be a time of wailing and gnashing of teeth. Maybe realizing everyone in all of hell will know your most private thoughts and the shameful deeds you did in secret will be the catalyst that brings on this wailing and gnashing of teeth. I don’t know, but I do know I am gloriously thankful Jesus paid the price for the disgusting things I have done in my life. I’m elated He continues to forgive me for unintentional sin I still commit all too often. I’m thankful when I acknowledge my failures and seek His strength He never turns away from me (I Cor. 10:13; Heb. 13:5). And most of all I think I’m thankful that He is perfectly just. He knows my heart better than I do. He has provided a covering for my sin. I did nothing to earn it and I can do nothing to keep it.
Upon completion of the personal interview, each of those at the great white throne judgment will be ushered into the particular part of hell he has earned by his deeds. Murderers will all be together, liars will all be together, kidnappers will all be together, cheats, homosexuals, thieves, burglars, each person will spend eternity with those who lived the kind of life he lived on earth. I’ve heard some of the lamest statements I think one could ever make lately. One girl said she’d prefer hell over heaven because all the cool guys will be in hell. Wow! Her statement was such incredible blasphemy, it amazes me God didn’t fry her instantly. Have you ever been really thirsty? Imagine the worst thirst you have ever experienced, multiply that by a couple of katrillion. Then imagine that would be heavenly compared to the thirst those in hell are going to experience for eternity. Imagine the darkest, hottest place you have ever been. Multiply that by a couple of katrillion. I trust you’re starting to get the point. Hell was originally designed for the devil and his band of fallen angels. Fallen man only got to inherit it by spending his entire life, however long or short it may be, rejecting the knowledge of God he has been given.
My final thoughts for today are that true believers need to be about the business of the kingdom of God. We need to be investing everything God has loaned us and expects us to manage properly back into His kingdom. It is our number one priority. Too many think they are part of the kingdom of God whose priorities are not anywhere near what God’s word declares they must be. It’s not a matter of earning God’s love; it is a matter of demonstrating His love by being honorable, loving, cross bearing, unwavering, card carrying, obedient, uncompromising, warriors for the cross. I suggest if honoring God in all you say and do each day is not your number one priority you’ll likely be seeing Him at the great white throne judgment, even if you faithfully attend church two or three times a week, even if you teach a bible study, even if you graduated from one of the finest bible colleges or seminaries in the country, even if you have helped many little old ladies across many streets, even if you serve in a soup kitchen every Christmas. There’s nothing wrong with doing any of those things, but unless honoring the God of creation and His only begotten Son is your number one priority each and every moment of each and every day, you are not likely a sheep. And that doesn’t mean if you are a sheep you’ll never fall short of God’s best for you. Paul makes that clear with this declaration in Philippians 3:12-14,
"Not that I have already attained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself to have laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
Though, while in these earthly bodies, we will be in a constant running battle with the devil and his band of fallen angels, if we're sheep we will still be continually pressing forward for the prize of the upward call. I urge you, if you are reading this and aren’t absolutely sure you are a sheep, you need not put off reconciling that issue another moment. You can begin your walk in the footsteps of Jesus today. If you’ve been sitting in church services for years and have never heard the kinds of things I have written here, feel free to contact me and demand I prove from God’s word they are all true. For brevity, and because I know most people won’t read anything more than half of a page long in one sitting, I have left out more than I’ve included on the topic. Salvation is not attained by praying a prayer. It is not attained by raising your hand when all heads are bowed. Salvation comes into the life of the man, woman, boy, or girl who comes to the point in his life that he says, "Not my will, but Thy will be done." Salvation comes when one declares, "He must increase, but I must decrease." Salvation comes when one repents, gets baptized, believes God raised Jesus from the dead, confesses that Jesus as Lord, takes up his cross daily, is effectually called, regenerated, justified, definitively sanctified, begins being progressively sanctified, and gets adopted into the kingdom of God. And that’s God’s word for us today. Now, go and serve the Master.
Probably two subjects in scripture are better documented than any other, yet the church seems to know so little about them: heaven and hell. I’ve written a book on the four phases of the kingdom of God (aka sometimes called heaven). If you’d like a copy, just give me contact information in the comments sections below and I’ll get it to you on CD with notes. Right now the kingdom of God and heaven refer to two different locations. The kingdom of God today is the church as her members wander about on earth doing His will. Today, the third heaven is where the throne of God is located. God’s word tells us it’s above the second heaven (outer space), but that is all we know about its location for now. We know a lot about what is going on there right now, but that’s a topic for another devotional.
After the millennial reign of Christ, the one thousand year period when He will return and judge earth’s residence (those who survived the bowl judgments) from His throne which will be established in Jerusalem, there will be two final judgments: 1. one will be for those who will be spending eternity in some part of hell; 2. the other will be for the saints who will all be ushered into the final phase of the kingdom of God for eternity. The judgment of all who rejected God’s authority during their earthly lives and His provision for their sin in His Son at Calvary will attend the party reserved for goats. I’m not absolutely sure why the choice of sheep and goats, but I imagine it has something to do with the personality of each. Sheep are famous for following the sound of their master’s voice. Goats are infamous for butting their heads against anything that tries to rule them. Maybe that’s the significance. All I know for sure is they symbolize two kinds of people to God (Matt. 25:33).
I trust my reference to these two judgments as parties does not sound flippant, but there will definitely be a party atmosphere at the Bema Seat Judgment (this one’s for the saints). Once one is ushered before the throne of God at the Bema Seat, he knows finally and forever he will have the glorious privilege of living in the presence and under the complete care of the Master and Creator of the universe for all eternity. That judgment is not to determine whether or not he will enter the glorious kingdom of God. It is only to determine what crowns (there are six such crowns James 1:12; I Pet. 5:4; Rev. 3:11; 4:4, Heb. 2:9; II Tim. 4:8; I Thes. 2:9) he has earned or lost and what his tasks will be for all of eternity. Some will be kings of large kingdoms. Some will be kings of small kingdoms. Some will be masters over cities or lands of lesser size and importance. If I understand the biblical teaching on the topic, some will even be sanitary engineers (aka maintenance guys and gals). I know most teach we know little about heaven and some even teach we will be floating around on clouds playing harps. Please believe me, there is no support for such foolishness in God's word. I find it both sad and troubling that so many have no clue we will not all be rewarded equally in the eternal kingdom of God. To think I am going to be rewarded equally with the missionary man and/or woman who gave up everything to follow Jesus for twenty or thirty years in some foreign country, living on the bare necessities of life, is the worst example of stupidity I can fathom. And it’s just as foolish to suggest the man or woman who makes a true confession on their death bed after spending their entire lives rebelling against His known will is going to be rewarded equally with the man or woman who spent their final ten or twenty years of life as warriors for Christ, fighting the good fight, engaging spiritual warfare with the devil and his band of miscreants daily, snatching some of God’s elect from the very jaws of Satan.
Of course, any task in the kingdom of God will be far superior to one second in any part of hell. Those who will be at the great white throne judgment will only be there to be shown why they will be spending eternity in hell. No one attending that event will be there by accident. Nothing a person ever did will be withheld from that appearance. Everything will be revealed. Personally, I think God has a technological device that He has used to record every deed and thought man commits and thinks. At the great white throne the world will watch as you come before Him and He runs the reel of your entire life. Every thought, every deed, every thought to do a deed, everything you ever considered will be exposed to all of those with whom you will be spending eternity. We’re told it will be a time of wailing and gnashing of teeth. Maybe realizing everyone in all of hell will know your most private thoughts and the shameful deeds you did in secret will be the catalyst that brings on this wailing and gnashing of teeth. I don’t know, but I do know I am gloriously thankful Jesus paid the price for the disgusting things I have done in my life. I’m elated He continues to forgive me for unintentional sin I still commit all too often. I’m thankful when I acknowledge my failures and seek His strength He never turns away from me (I Cor. 10:13; Heb. 13:5). And most of all I think I’m thankful that He is perfectly just. He knows my heart better than I do. He has provided a covering for my sin. I did nothing to earn it and I can do nothing to keep it.
Upon completion of the personal interview, each of those at the great white throne judgment will be ushered into the particular part of hell he has earned by his deeds. Murderers will all be together, liars will all be together, kidnappers will all be together, cheats, homosexuals, thieves, burglars, each person will spend eternity with those who lived the kind of life he lived on earth. I’ve heard some of the lamest statements I think one could ever make lately. One girl said she’d prefer hell over heaven because all the cool guys will be in hell. Wow! Her statement was such incredible blasphemy, it amazes me God didn’t fry her instantly. Have you ever been really thirsty? Imagine the worst thirst you have ever experienced, multiply that by a couple of katrillion. Then imagine that would be heavenly compared to the thirst those in hell are going to experience for eternity. Imagine the darkest, hottest place you have ever been. Multiply that by a couple of katrillion. I trust you’re starting to get the point. Hell was originally designed for the devil and his band of fallen angels. Fallen man only got to inherit it by spending his entire life, however long or short it may be, rejecting the knowledge of God he has been given.
My final thoughts for today are that true believers need to be about the business of the kingdom of God. We need to be investing everything God has loaned us and expects us to manage properly back into His kingdom. It is our number one priority. Too many think they are part of the kingdom of God whose priorities are not anywhere near what God’s word declares they must be. It’s not a matter of earning God’s love; it is a matter of demonstrating His love by being honorable, loving, cross bearing, unwavering, card carrying, obedient, uncompromising, warriors for the cross. I suggest if honoring God in all you say and do each day is not your number one priority you’ll likely be seeing Him at the great white throne judgment, even if you faithfully attend church two or three times a week, even if you teach a bible study, even if you graduated from one of the finest bible colleges or seminaries in the country, even if you have helped many little old ladies across many streets, even if you serve in a soup kitchen every Christmas. There’s nothing wrong with doing any of those things, but unless honoring the God of creation and His only begotten Son is your number one priority each and every moment of each and every day, you are not likely a sheep. And that doesn’t mean if you are a sheep you’ll never fall short of God’s best for you. Paul makes that clear with this declaration in Philippians 3:12-14,
"Not that I have already attained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself to have laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
Though, while in these earthly bodies, we will be in a constant running battle with the devil and his band of fallen angels, if we're sheep we will still be continually pressing forward for the prize of the upward call. I urge you, if you are reading this and aren’t absolutely sure you are a sheep, you need not put off reconciling that issue another moment. You can begin your walk in the footsteps of Jesus today. If you’ve been sitting in church services for years and have never heard the kinds of things I have written here, feel free to contact me and demand I prove from God’s word they are all true. For brevity, and because I know most people won’t read anything more than half of a page long in one sitting, I have left out more than I’ve included on the topic. Salvation is not attained by praying a prayer. It is not attained by raising your hand when all heads are bowed. Salvation comes into the life of the man, woman, boy, or girl who comes to the point in his life that he says, "Not my will, but Thy will be done." Salvation comes when one declares, "He must increase, but I must decrease." Salvation comes when one repents, gets baptized, believes God raised Jesus from the dead, confesses that Jesus as Lord, takes up his cross daily, is effectually called, regenerated, justified, definitively sanctified, begins being progressively sanctified, and gets adopted into the kingdom of God. And that’s God’s word for us today. Now, go and serve the Master.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Following Jesus Is Expensive!
December 1 (Luke 9:23; Matt. 13:45, 46)
I heard what I believe is probably one of the most horrendous expositions of scripture the other day I think I have ever heard. A pastor of a local church, used Joseph’s tremendous success in Egypt to conclude if one is godly everyone will love him and he will be successful in all of life’s ventures. He told us if we just acted like Jesus people would swarm to us like they did Him. Actually, I doubt seriously if Jesus would have gotten much of a following at all if He had not healed everyone who came to Him and fed them. He actually said that himself once or twice. That pastor conveniently forgot to point out that Joseph’s own brothers sold him into bondage, his first master in Egypt had him put in a dungeon because he refused to sleep with his master’s wife behind his back, and the man he helped get out of jail conveniently forgot him for two years. That pastor apparently hasn’t read his bible as much as he claims to have read it, because he also conveniently forgot that Jesus told us if we followed him we would be persecuted, spat upon, crucified, and just generally disliked by everyone who loves this world.
I wonder why it is that great multitudes of first century saints were crucified for their faith. Oh yeah, they actually preached the gospel. They told those listening they were going to spend eternity in hell if they didn’t repent of their sins, get baptized, confess sin, confess Jesus as Lord, believe God raised Him from the dead, take up their cross daily, continue in the doctrinal teachings of the apostles, take communion, continue in fellowship, and pray together. It’s no wonder so many churches are so full. Those attending have been led to believe church attendance is the easiest way to assure themselves a front row seat in heaven.
I’ve been told often my brand of religion turns too many people off to the truth. I’ve been admonished more times than I can count that I need to be more loving if I want anyone to listen to the gospel. My response has fallen on deaf ears more often than not. But it goes something like this. I fail to understand how one can define his actions as love if he fails to tell those bound for eternity in hell they must repent of their sin and follow Jesus if they want to avoid eternity in hell. Jesus told us the world hated Him because He is not of the world. He then asked a rhetorical question, "If the world hates Me, how much more will it hate you? The title of today’s devotional is “Following Jesus is Expensive.” I truly think if more people knew the cost of following Jesus, they wouldn’t be making any pretense they were following Him.
The story of the pearl of great price says it succinctly and without stuttering. One must give up all he has to follow Jesus. Friends, loved ones, family, home, car, job, personal possessions, love of sports, family pets, everything must be given up to Jesus if one is to become His disciple. There’s no such thing as a part time, secret service disciple of Christ. Once we give them all up, God can loan them back to us to manage during this life, but until we give them all up, we cannot, we cannot, we caaaaaannoooooot become a disciple. Let’s play twenty questions. What things can you keep from God and still become a disciple? I’ll bet you got the answer to that one on the very first try.
Now go and serve your Lord and help anyone bound for hell who will listen to you understand how he can do likewise. Just please don't tell people God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives. Of course He loves them, but He'll still send them straight to hell when they die if they don't give up everything to follow Him. He'll still send them directly to hell when they die if they don't repent of their sin. Preach the gospel as Jesus did, not as some mealy mouthed twenty-first century heretic. Believe it or not, those whom He has divinely elected, predestined, effectually called, and regenerated actually love to hear the truth. And what's even more amazing is that they become God loving, card carrying, powerful witnessing, followers of Jesus themselves instead of pew sitting cowards who won't suffer a little discomfort or take the chance someone won't like them if they tell them about hell or how to avoid going there upon physical death. And that's God's word for us today.
I heard what I believe is probably one of the most horrendous expositions of scripture the other day I think I have ever heard. A pastor of a local church, used Joseph’s tremendous success in Egypt to conclude if one is godly everyone will love him and he will be successful in all of life’s ventures. He told us if we just acted like Jesus people would swarm to us like they did Him. Actually, I doubt seriously if Jesus would have gotten much of a following at all if He had not healed everyone who came to Him and fed them. He actually said that himself once or twice. That pastor conveniently forgot to point out that Joseph’s own brothers sold him into bondage, his first master in Egypt had him put in a dungeon because he refused to sleep with his master’s wife behind his back, and the man he helped get out of jail conveniently forgot him for two years. That pastor apparently hasn’t read his bible as much as he claims to have read it, because he also conveniently forgot that Jesus told us if we followed him we would be persecuted, spat upon, crucified, and just generally disliked by everyone who loves this world.
I wonder why it is that great multitudes of first century saints were crucified for their faith. Oh yeah, they actually preached the gospel. They told those listening they were going to spend eternity in hell if they didn’t repent of their sins, get baptized, confess sin, confess Jesus as Lord, believe God raised Him from the dead, take up their cross daily, continue in the doctrinal teachings of the apostles, take communion, continue in fellowship, and pray together. It’s no wonder so many churches are so full. Those attending have been led to believe church attendance is the easiest way to assure themselves a front row seat in heaven.
I’ve been told often my brand of religion turns too many people off to the truth. I’ve been admonished more times than I can count that I need to be more loving if I want anyone to listen to the gospel. My response has fallen on deaf ears more often than not. But it goes something like this. I fail to understand how one can define his actions as love if he fails to tell those bound for eternity in hell they must repent of their sin and follow Jesus if they want to avoid eternity in hell. Jesus told us the world hated Him because He is not of the world. He then asked a rhetorical question, "If the world hates Me, how much more will it hate you? The title of today’s devotional is “Following Jesus is Expensive.” I truly think if more people knew the cost of following Jesus, they wouldn’t be making any pretense they were following Him.
The story of the pearl of great price says it succinctly and without stuttering. One must give up all he has to follow Jesus. Friends, loved ones, family, home, car, job, personal possessions, love of sports, family pets, everything must be given up to Jesus if one is to become His disciple. There’s no such thing as a part time, secret service disciple of Christ. Once we give them all up, God can loan them back to us to manage during this life, but until we give them all up, we cannot, we cannot, we caaaaaannoooooot become a disciple. Let’s play twenty questions. What things can you keep from God and still become a disciple? I’ll bet you got the answer to that one on the very first try.
Now go and serve your Lord and help anyone bound for hell who will listen to you understand how he can do likewise. Just please don't tell people God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives. Of course He loves them, but He'll still send them straight to hell when they die if they don't give up everything to follow Him. He'll still send them directly to hell when they die if they don't repent of their sin. Preach the gospel as Jesus did, not as some mealy mouthed twenty-first century heretic. Believe it or not, those whom He has divinely elected, predestined, effectually called, and regenerated actually love to hear the truth. And what's even more amazing is that they become God loving, card carrying, powerful witnessing, followers of Jesus themselves instead of pew sitting cowards who won't suffer a little discomfort or take the chance someone won't like them if they tell them about hell or how to avoid going there upon physical death. And that's God's word for us today.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
What is God's Will?
November 30 (I Thes. 5:14-18)
It always amazes me the number of people who want to know things like God’s will for them about a job when they don’t do God’s will about things that are clearly spoken in His word. Equally amazing and somewhat scary is the number who tell me God speaks to them on a regular basis when they admittedly spend little or no time studying His word. Of course, I know "a" god speaks to them. The frightening and sad thing is they don’t know the difference in the voice of the god of this world and the God of Creation. It makes me truly sad when a married man with three young children tells me God got him a job 800 miles away making three times his current salary who has no intention of taking his family with him to that job. His excuse for not being at home each evening is that he gets a week or two off at a time, so he convinces himself he'll actually get to spend more time with his family. God has literally spoken His will in thousands of places in His word that few have ever read. Mega-church preachers make sure their church members know verses like, “I can d o all things through Christ who strengthens me,” and “With God all things are possible,” but they fail to teach those verses in context, and they don’t bother sharing verses like, “Wives be subject to your husbands,” or “Let the women keep silent in the church,” because such thoughts are politically incorrect and very unpopular in America.
Please be sure of this biblical truth if you don’t get much else yet. Your failure to obey the clearly revealed will of God only guarantees you will never know His will about what job you are supposed to have or what church you should attend. You are a walking blind man if you are not absolutely, unwaveringly determined through diligent reading, study, and prayer to understand God’s will in all those things He has revealed. Imagine, if you will, your son asking if he can go out with the friends this week with whom he got picked up last week by the local police and charged as minors in possession of alcohol. Would you let him go? Not if you’re sane. It’s utter foolishness, even pure fantasy, to think God will tell us His will about things like whether or not we should take a certain job offer when we demonstrate more interest in our own will by our failure to make godly activities a priority in our lives.
So, our point for today is that you are expected by God to study His word diligently so you can know what His will is in all matters about which He has spoken. He is patient and kind, so have no fear if you are a new believer and haven’t yet had sufficient time to read His book of admonitions and wisdom from cover to cover several times. Don’t start worrying He won’t take good care of you if you disobey a command you aren’t aware exists yet. That would be legalism. However, if you claim to have been a believer for several years and haven’t read his book from cover to cover several times, you really do have reason to be concerned. Actually, I think you should be terrified. If you’re not the least concerned about your abject failure to demonstrate your love for Him, you’re probably one of those false converts about whom He speaks in Matthew 7.
I can already hear the jeering from the crowd. Many are already shouting, “Away with him; away with him. He deserves to be crucified! For he has told us we need to obey God’s commands to be saved!” Not so! What I have told you is that if you are a child of the King, you “will” act like it. Children of the King desire more than anything else to know His will in all things pertaining to life, death, the resurrection, and the coming judgment You likely don't know that because you haven't read John 10 or the entire I letter of John. The only place we can get to know that will is in His word. If you are depending on your pastor to teach you such things, you are of all men, most to be pitied. First of all, if you don’t study diligently yourself, you have no idea if your pastor is teaching you the truth. You might as well be a Mormon or Catholic. Second of all, if you are not studying diligently you don’t know God’s will is that you study diligently (II Tim. 2:15). There are myriads of things you don’t know about God if you are not making it a daily priority to spend significant time studying God’s word. If you’re not feeding your soul on the matchless truths contained in scripture more than you’re feeding your body steak and potatoes or your spirit the ungodly foolishness from Hollywood, you’re likewise, of all men, most to be pitied.
I’ve discovered an interesting phenomenon: the more I study God’s word, the longer I walk with Jesus, the shorter my list of acceptable television programs, movies, and recreational activities becomes. For years I watched the charming “Samantha the witch” tweak her nose and do her magic. Then one day it hit me like a brick over the head, “There’s no such thing as a good witch!” I watched comedians use foul language for a while and then just got sick of their complete lack of intelligence. Their humor was crass, crude, and often directed at things like godliness and self-control. I watched police shows for a while, actually not realizing the reason I did so was because the violence was mesmerizing. Then I read in God’s word that ungodly men love to see violence. Now, I even turn off commercials that flaunt nakedness the moment I see they are doing that. I turn off news that shows or talks about anything I wouldn’t want a five year old to see or hear. I refuse to watch or read anything that glorifies magic, sorcery, and/or astrology. That’s not exactly true, however. I occasionally watch a show that’s getting a lot of attention publicly for the specific purpose of addressing to my brother’s and sister’s things in it that are a direct affront to God.
In closing, I will address a point I heard one of my favorite Christian talk show hosts provide and answer to yesterday. He is kind of like me about today’s topic. A caller accused him of being a puppet of God because of his stand on these kinds of issues. He denied it, but then admitted, and I’ll try to quote him accurately, “If that is true, I can assure you, I’m okay with being a puppet as long as God is holding the strings at the other end.” One thing I have discovered in the 38 plus years I have walked with Jesus. People who spend massive amounts of time reading and studying God’s word are usually in agreement on all of the critical issues found in it. I only know about twenty men of God who preach his word whom I also know, do in fact, spend massive amounts of time daily studying it. They seldom preach anything with which I disagree. Beloved, no preacher can tell you the half of what God wants to tell you. But you’ll never hear his voice if you fail to obey the one instruction that makes that possible, “Be diligent to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who needs not to be ashamed.” And that’s His word for us today.
It always amazes me the number of people who want to know things like God’s will for them about a job when they don’t do God’s will about things that are clearly spoken in His word. Equally amazing and somewhat scary is the number who tell me God speaks to them on a regular basis when they admittedly spend little or no time studying His word. Of course, I know "a" god speaks to them. The frightening and sad thing is they don’t know the difference in the voice of the god of this world and the God of Creation. It makes me truly sad when a married man with three young children tells me God got him a job 800 miles away making three times his current salary who has no intention of taking his family with him to that job. His excuse for not being at home each evening is that he gets a week or two off at a time, so he convinces himself he'll actually get to spend more time with his family. God has literally spoken His will in thousands of places in His word that few have ever read. Mega-church preachers make sure their church members know verses like, “I can d o all things through Christ who strengthens me,” and “With God all things are possible,” but they fail to teach those verses in context, and they don’t bother sharing verses like, “Wives be subject to your husbands,” or “Let the women keep silent in the church,” because such thoughts are politically incorrect and very unpopular in America.
Please be sure of this biblical truth if you don’t get much else yet. Your failure to obey the clearly revealed will of God only guarantees you will never know His will about what job you are supposed to have or what church you should attend. You are a walking blind man if you are not absolutely, unwaveringly determined through diligent reading, study, and prayer to understand God’s will in all those things He has revealed. Imagine, if you will, your son asking if he can go out with the friends this week with whom he got picked up last week by the local police and charged as minors in possession of alcohol. Would you let him go? Not if you’re sane. It’s utter foolishness, even pure fantasy, to think God will tell us His will about things like whether or not we should take a certain job offer when we demonstrate more interest in our own will by our failure to make godly activities a priority in our lives.
So, our point for today is that you are expected by God to study His word diligently so you can know what His will is in all matters about which He has spoken. He is patient and kind, so have no fear if you are a new believer and haven’t yet had sufficient time to read His book of admonitions and wisdom from cover to cover several times. Don’t start worrying He won’t take good care of you if you disobey a command you aren’t aware exists yet. That would be legalism. However, if you claim to have been a believer for several years and haven’t read his book from cover to cover several times, you really do have reason to be concerned. Actually, I think you should be terrified. If you’re not the least concerned about your abject failure to demonstrate your love for Him, you’re probably one of those false converts about whom He speaks in Matthew 7.
I can already hear the jeering from the crowd. Many are already shouting, “Away with him; away with him. He deserves to be crucified! For he has told us we need to obey God’s commands to be saved!” Not so! What I have told you is that if you are a child of the King, you “will” act like it. Children of the King desire more than anything else to know His will in all things pertaining to life, death, the resurrection, and the coming judgment You likely don't know that because you haven't read John 10 or the entire I letter of John. The only place we can get to know that will is in His word. If you are depending on your pastor to teach you such things, you are of all men, most to be pitied. First of all, if you don’t study diligently yourself, you have no idea if your pastor is teaching you the truth. You might as well be a Mormon or Catholic. Second of all, if you are not studying diligently you don’t know God’s will is that you study diligently (II Tim. 2:15). There are myriads of things you don’t know about God if you are not making it a daily priority to spend significant time studying God’s word. If you’re not feeding your soul on the matchless truths contained in scripture more than you’re feeding your body steak and potatoes or your spirit the ungodly foolishness from Hollywood, you’re likewise, of all men, most to be pitied.
I’ve discovered an interesting phenomenon: the more I study God’s word, the longer I walk with Jesus, the shorter my list of acceptable television programs, movies, and recreational activities becomes. For years I watched the charming “Samantha the witch” tweak her nose and do her magic. Then one day it hit me like a brick over the head, “There’s no such thing as a good witch!” I watched comedians use foul language for a while and then just got sick of their complete lack of intelligence. Their humor was crass, crude, and often directed at things like godliness and self-control. I watched police shows for a while, actually not realizing the reason I did so was because the violence was mesmerizing. Then I read in God’s word that ungodly men love to see violence. Now, I even turn off commercials that flaunt nakedness the moment I see they are doing that. I turn off news that shows or talks about anything I wouldn’t want a five year old to see or hear. I refuse to watch or read anything that glorifies magic, sorcery, and/or astrology. That’s not exactly true, however. I occasionally watch a show that’s getting a lot of attention publicly for the specific purpose of addressing to my brother’s and sister’s things in it that are a direct affront to God.
In closing, I will address a point I heard one of my favorite Christian talk show hosts provide and answer to yesterday. He is kind of like me about today’s topic. A caller accused him of being a puppet of God because of his stand on these kinds of issues. He denied it, but then admitted, and I’ll try to quote him accurately, “If that is true, I can assure you, I’m okay with being a puppet as long as God is holding the strings at the other end.” One thing I have discovered in the 38 plus years I have walked with Jesus. People who spend massive amounts of time reading and studying God’s word are usually in agreement on all of the critical issues found in it. I only know about twenty men of God who preach his word whom I also know, do in fact, spend massive amounts of time daily studying it. They seldom preach anything with which I disagree. Beloved, no preacher can tell you the half of what God wants to tell you. But you’ll never hear his voice if you fail to obey the one instruction that makes that possible, “Be diligent to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who needs not to be ashamed.” And that’s His word for us today.
Monday, November 29, 2010
What' the Gospel According to Peter?
November 29 (Acts 2:14-36)
Of course I’m really not going to share with you an outline of the gospel according to Peter in the sense that it is any gospel other than the one God breathed through him at Pentecost. I’m sure word position in a sentence and word structure can be misleading in all languages, but in English it can have so many meanings I imagine it’s a nightmare for foreigners to learn all of its nuances. I have been puzzled for decades about why we here in America present so many different versions of the gospel when there are three magnificent examples of it in the book of Acts. Peter preached it two times and Stephen once. For today’s devotional, I’m just going to outline Peter’s first one. Without examining all three closely, I can still conclude they all have the same basic elements that must be included in all gospel presentations if those who respond to it are to have any chance of becoming full-fledged, properly indoctrinated disciples of Christ.
A young lady once told me she didn’t like the church I attended because the sermon was too full of doctrine. I imagine she was used to having her ears tickled and she didn’t want to hear anything that took an IQ above 9 to understand. No offense intended for slow learners, but doctrine is what preaching and teaching is all about. Doctrine is what grows children in the faith into warriors. Most of the so-called inspirational preachers in mega-churches today make their mega-congregations feel warm and fuzzy all over every time they speak, but most of them loose that warm and fuzzy feeling as soon as they leave the church building. Unprepared to do battle with the enemy, they go through their daily lives making sure they never say anything about their faith that has the slightest chance of upsetting anyone? I humbly suggest that’s another one of the myriad of reasons so many churches in America are so listless and impotent.
In Peter’s sermon, he first took his stand with the eleven (v. 14). The first thing any biblical presentation of the gospel must do is to take a stand. The gospel is a message that confronts and contradicts the wisdom of the world on all truth that is of any eternal significance. By its very nature it will make some angry. When one is convicted of sin, he reacts one of two ways: repentance in humility or complete rejection in arrogance. The next thing Peter did was to declare to them (v. 14). We need not justify the truth; all we need to do is declare it. Next, Peter began from where the crowd had addressed the disciples and explained that their observations were incorrect (vv. 15-21). He quickly made the transition between what they perceived and what was really happening by quoting OT scriptures. He wanted to make sure they understood the entire basis of the truth he was preaching had as its foundation Old Testament prophecies. Next Peter quickly moved to the whole point of any gospel message, the person of Jesus (representing His humanity) the Christ (representing His divinity vv. 22, 23). He explained how they had failed to recognize the Messiah, continued by pointing out to them that what they had done to Him (nailed Him to the cross), was part of God’s eternal, divinely predetermined plan (v. 23).
Next, Peter made the connection between OT prophecies to Jesus’ resurrection, making sure they understood the resurrection is not a negotiable part of the faith (vv. 23-28). Then, Peter made sure they understood Christ’s resurrection was both unique and final (vv. 29-31). Then Peter assured those listening what he was telling them was attested to by more than two people, an Old Testament requirement for truth to be accepted in a trial about any issue of any significance (v. 32). Then Peter explained the purpose of the Holy Spirit in the divine plan of salvation. He told them He (the Holy Spirit) is the source of the miraculous speaking in tongues they observed. Next, he reiterated the evidence of Jesus divinity by assuring his listeners it was Jesus who ascended into heaven, not David (vv. 34, 35). Finally, Peter does something that would end all suggestions that Jesus was not “the” divine, eternal, second person of the trinity (God the Son). If more people just read God’s word they wouldn’t be so easily duped into believing otherwise. Bad doctrine is easily perpetrated on ignorant people.
Peter said, “Therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.” The false teachers who start entire denominations of heretics bound for hell fail to understand that to the Jew, Peter’s statement left no room for doubting His (Jesus') divine nature. Peter made it clear if one is to be saved and covered by His blood he must know in whom he is placing his faith. “He is both Lord and Christ” (a Grenville Sharp structure in Greek) was a non-negotiable declaration that He (Jesus) was co-equal and co-existent with the first person and third persons of the trinity. Verse 37 tells us how the divinely elect, predetermined, effectually called, and regenerated, respond to the gospel. They were “pierced to the heart, . . .” Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “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.” Pentecost is the proof text for the statement in Hebrews 4. The true gospel instantly turned a ravaging crowd, who very likely would have stoned the apostles to death at Pentecost, into a repentant crowd of humble souls ready to be covered and redeemed into the eternal kingdom of God by the blood of Jesus.
I spent a few years in ministry in lock-up facilities (jails) and I can personally testify the gospel does the same thing there. I once had one man about 6’6” weighing in at least at 300 lbs. almost beg me to show him how to be saved. He had been attending our studies for several sessions. One day he told me he wanted to be part of Jesus’ kingdom. He basically said, “What must I do to be saved?” Sound familiar? I spent several minutes trying to convince him he probably wouldn’t really like the persecution, trials, and tribulations Christians always experience. He assured me he was ready to take his stand for the cross of Jesus. That’s what the gospel does to mighty men. It softens their hearts, humbles them, makes them moldable by the King of kings, and grows them into warriors for His Kingdom.
When asked what they had to do, Peter didn’t suggest they pray the sinner’s prayer. He didn’t tell them to go to church. He didn’t ask them to bow their heads and raise their hand in secret if they wanted to be saved. He told them they had to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins so they could receive the promise of gift of the Holy Spirit. But Peter wasn’t through speaking with them yet. We learn from verse 40 “with many other words,” not specified here, he continued exhorting them to be saved from this perverse generation. And finally, we learn “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer”
I’ve written a book on those four elements of real church business. It’s an excellent outline for the church to follow to make sure it functions as the church is intended to function. Scripture is replete with instruction we must understand if Jesus’ body is to function as a complete and powerful body of warriors able to go into its members’ world and fight the good fight. If we are to storm the gates of hell, we have to know how to use the weapons of our warfare. I am amazed at the number of people in churches across this land who haven’t a clue how to help someone else become part of God’s flock. I’m dumbfounded at the number of preachers who are feeding this ignorance by suggesting the members of their congregations need to bring their friends to church so they can get saved. Rather than train their sheep and demonstrate for them how to help others move from darkness into the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, these would be evangelists suggest by their actions and words they don’t think the members of their congregations are smart enough to do what God has demanded they do (Matt. 28:18-20).
If you never fully grasp anything else I've written; ifyou seldom or never agree with the content of these daily devotionals, don’t miss this point; I tell you by the word of the Lord, “If you are not bearing fruit, it is because you are not part of His kingdom.”(Matthew and Luke 3). If we are not bearing fruit (leading people into the light), Jesus prunes us back until we do bear fruit. If we still do not bear fruit, He cuts us down and throws us into the fire (Matt. 3:10). And that doesn’t mean you lost your salvation. It means you never had it to begin with. You see, everything else about the gospel can be faked. One can be kind and gentle when it suits his purposes to be kind and gentle. One can be loving when it suits his purposes to be loving. And attending church is a must for anyone who wants to make good business contacts. However, leading others into the into the kingdom of God, snatching others from the jaws of Satan, and storming the gates of hell, all demand massive amounts of time and commitment to learn and then put into practice. One can’t meander through life, listless and impotent if he is determined to be a warrior for Christ. One thing the New Testament church knew above all else was that following Jesus wasn’t a detour from B.C. life; they understood they needed major heart surgery, a completely different outlook on life and a completely new set of priorities.
That is the simple yet undeniable reason the church grew so rapidly and spread like a wild fire throughout the Roman Empire. And today’s churchs' failure to understand those truths is another of the myriad of reasons it is so listless and impotent. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. He came to preach the gospel to the poor, downtrodden, blind, lame, orphans, and widows in the streets. And that’s what He expects us to be doing. And that’s God’s word for us today.
Of course I’m really not going to share with you an outline of the gospel according to Peter in the sense that it is any gospel other than the one God breathed through him at Pentecost. I’m sure word position in a sentence and word structure can be misleading in all languages, but in English it can have so many meanings I imagine it’s a nightmare for foreigners to learn all of its nuances. I have been puzzled for decades about why we here in America present so many different versions of the gospel when there are three magnificent examples of it in the book of Acts. Peter preached it two times and Stephen once. For today’s devotional, I’m just going to outline Peter’s first one. Without examining all three closely, I can still conclude they all have the same basic elements that must be included in all gospel presentations if those who respond to it are to have any chance of becoming full-fledged, properly indoctrinated disciples of Christ.
A young lady once told me she didn’t like the church I attended because the sermon was too full of doctrine. I imagine she was used to having her ears tickled and she didn’t want to hear anything that took an IQ above 9 to understand. No offense intended for slow learners, but doctrine is what preaching and teaching is all about. Doctrine is what grows children in the faith into warriors. Most of the so-called inspirational preachers in mega-churches today make their mega-congregations feel warm and fuzzy all over every time they speak, but most of them loose that warm and fuzzy feeling as soon as they leave the church building. Unprepared to do battle with the enemy, they go through their daily lives making sure they never say anything about their faith that has the slightest chance of upsetting anyone? I humbly suggest that’s another one of the myriad of reasons so many churches in America are so listless and impotent.
In Peter’s sermon, he first took his stand with the eleven (v. 14). The first thing any biblical presentation of the gospel must do is to take a stand. The gospel is a message that confronts and contradicts the wisdom of the world on all truth that is of any eternal significance. By its very nature it will make some angry. When one is convicted of sin, he reacts one of two ways: repentance in humility or complete rejection in arrogance. The next thing Peter did was to declare to them (v. 14). We need not justify the truth; all we need to do is declare it. Next, Peter began from where the crowd had addressed the disciples and explained that their observations were incorrect (vv. 15-21). He quickly made the transition between what they perceived and what was really happening by quoting OT scriptures. He wanted to make sure they understood the entire basis of the truth he was preaching had as its foundation Old Testament prophecies. Next Peter quickly moved to the whole point of any gospel message, the person of Jesus (representing His humanity) the Christ (representing His divinity vv. 22, 23). He explained how they had failed to recognize the Messiah, continued by pointing out to them that what they had done to Him (nailed Him to the cross), was part of God’s eternal, divinely predetermined plan (v. 23).
Next, Peter made the connection between OT prophecies to Jesus’ resurrection, making sure they understood the resurrection is not a negotiable part of the faith (vv. 23-28). Then, Peter made sure they understood Christ’s resurrection was both unique and final (vv. 29-31). Then Peter assured those listening what he was telling them was attested to by more than two people, an Old Testament requirement for truth to be accepted in a trial about any issue of any significance (v. 32). Then Peter explained the purpose of the Holy Spirit in the divine plan of salvation. He told them He (the Holy Spirit) is the source of the miraculous speaking in tongues they observed. Next, he reiterated the evidence of Jesus divinity by assuring his listeners it was Jesus who ascended into heaven, not David (vv. 34, 35). Finally, Peter does something that would end all suggestions that Jesus was not “the” divine, eternal, second person of the trinity (God the Son). If more people just read God’s word they wouldn’t be so easily duped into believing otherwise. Bad doctrine is easily perpetrated on ignorant people.
Peter said, “Therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.” The false teachers who start entire denominations of heretics bound for hell fail to understand that to the Jew, Peter’s statement left no room for doubting His (Jesus') divine nature. Peter made it clear if one is to be saved and covered by His blood he must know in whom he is placing his faith. “He is both Lord and Christ” (a Grenville Sharp structure in Greek) was a non-negotiable declaration that He (Jesus) was co-equal and co-existent with the first person and third persons of the trinity. Verse 37 tells us how the divinely elect, predetermined, effectually called, and regenerated, respond to the gospel. They were “pierced to the heart, . . .” Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “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.” Pentecost is the proof text for the statement in Hebrews 4. The true gospel instantly turned a ravaging crowd, who very likely would have stoned the apostles to death at Pentecost, into a repentant crowd of humble souls ready to be covered and redeemed into the eternal kingdom of God by the blood of Jesus.
I spent a few years in ministry in lock-up facilities (jails) and I can personally testify the gospel does the same thing there. I once had one man about 6’6” weighing in at least at 300 lbs. almost beg me to show him how to be saved. He had been attending our studies for several sessions. One day he told me he wanted to be part of Jesus’ kingdom. He basically said, “What must I do to be saved?” Sound familiar? I spent several minutes trying to convince him he probably wouldn’t really like the persecution, trials, and tribulations Christians always experience. He assured me he was ready to take his stand for the cross of Jesus. That’s what the gospel does to mighty men. It softens their hearts, humbles them, makes them moldable by the King of kings, and grows them into warriors for His Kingdom.
When asked what they had to do, Peter didn’t suggest they pray the sinner’s prayer. He didn’t tell them to go to church. He didn’t ask them to bow their heads and raise their hand in secret if they wanted to be saved. He told them they had to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins so they could receive the promise of gift of the Holy Spirit. But Peter wasn’t through speaking with them yet. We learn from verse 40 “with many other words,” not specified here, he continued exhorting them to be saved from this perverse generation. And finally, we learn “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer”
I’ve written a book on those four elements of real church business. It’s an excellent outline for the church to follow to make sure it functions as the church is intended to function. Scripture is replete with instruction we must understand if Jesus’ body is to function as a complete and powerful body of warriors able to go into its members’ world and fight the good fight. If we are to storm the gates of hell, we have to know how to use the weapons of our warfare. I am amazed at the number of people in churches across this land who haven’t a clue how to help someone else become part of God’s flock. I’m dumbfounded at the number of preachers who are feeding this ignorance by suggesting the members of their congregations need to bring their friends to church so they can get saved. Rather than train their sheep and demonstrate for them how to help others move from darkness into the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, these would be evangelists suggest by their actions and words they don’t think the members of their congregations are smart enough to do what God has demanded they do (Matt. 28:18-20).
If you never fully grasp anything else I've written; ifyou seldom or never agree with the content of these daily devotionals, don’t miss this point; I tell you by the word of the Lord, “If you are not bearing fruit, it is because you are not part of His kingdom.”(Matthew and Luke 3). If we are not bearing fruit (leading people into the light), Jesus prunes us back until we do bear fruit. If we still do not bear fruit, He cuts us down and throws us into the fire (Matt. 3:10). And that doesn’t mean you lost your salvation. It means you never had it to begin with. You see, everything else about the gospel can be faked. One can be kind and gentle when it suits his purposes to be kind and gentle. One can be loving when it suits his purposes to be loving. And attending church is a must for anyone who wants to make good business contacts. However, leading others into the into the kingdom of God, snatching others from the jaws of Satan, and storming the gates of hell, all demand massive amounts of time and commitment to learn and then put into practice. One can’t meander through life, listless and impotent if he is determined to be a warrior for Christ. One thing the New Testament church knew above all else was that following Jesus wasn’t a detour from B.C. life; they understood they needed major heart surgery, a completely different outlook on life and a completely new set of priorities.
That is the simple yet undeniable reason the church grew so rapidly and spread like a wild fire throughout the Roman Empire. And today’s churchs' failure to understand those truths is another of the myriad of reasons it is so listless and impotent. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. He came to preach the gospel to the poor, downtrodden, blind, lame, orphans, and widows in the streets. And that’s what He expects us to be doing. And that’s God’s word for us today.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
A Doctor, a Lawyer, or an Indian Chief
November 28 (Luke 14:16-20)
When I was a young lad, my mother used to ask me if I wanted to be a doctor, a lawyer, or an Indian chief when I grew up. Every time I read the parable Jesus tells in Luke 14, I think of that question. Jesus was the Master story teller, literally. He used common everyday subjects with which His followers would have been familiar. Luke 14 records the story about three different kinds of people who had been invited to a big dinner put on by a man. One was a real estate investor, one a farmer, and one had just gotten married. He invited each of them to his dinner, but they all had excuses for why they were unable to attend. In this story the man represents Jesus, the dinner represents the marriage supper of the Lamb of God that believers will attend in the kingdom of God.
One can go wild speculating many things about this parable, but in keeping with my propensity to only conclude the obvious, I’ll stick to the following analysis of this story. All three people, the real estate tycoon, the farmer, and the newlywed, represent those who were first invited into the kingdom. Today that would be anyone who has heard any presentation of the gospel and has, for one reason or another, decided the life they currently live is too good to give up to follow Jesus. Israel, as a nation, rejected Him at His first coming, though most don’t realize how many Pharisees and religious leaders did in fact get converted. Today people come up with all kinds of excuses why they want to wait a few years to give up the good life. Thinking “the offer will hold” until they die of old age, they unwisely decide they’ll sow their wild oats until they get too old to enjoy such things and then they’ll get saved. What they fail to understand is that Jesus is the one who decides when to close the door.
People love to hear stories of converts who lived lives of wanton pleasure for forty or fifty years and then got delivered from drugs or alcohol abuse and were ushered into the kingdom of God (they got saved). We love to hear about nationally acclaimed athletes who found Jesus and put verses on their faces before a game. Of course, nothing is inherently wrong with anyone’s personal testimony to the greatness of our God. He does, in fact save famous and infamous, rich, and important people too. I would like to humbly suggest, however, it is just as much, if not more of a testimony to the power of God to take a child from birth and keep him from ever becoming a drug addict, abuser of alcohol, wife beater, or murderer. Anyway, back to the story at hand. As it continues, the man’s servants come back and tell him those he invited were too busy. Angry, the man tells his servants to go into the streets and invite the poor, crippled, blind, and lame to his dinner. They do so and there is still room at the dinner table. He then sends them into the highways and along the hedges and tells them to compel everyone to come. He concludes with this stern and frightening warning, “For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.”
I thank God daily that He took me from a life of wanton pleasure and called me into His kingdom. I know there is nothing within my wicked soul that deserved such love and kindness. I beat my chest (figuratively speaking) regularly asking why He chose me, a wicked sinner to demonstrate such loving kindness. The year I got saved I must have had thirty or forty people share the gospel with me. I praise His magnificent Name that finally, the night I quit running away from Him, He illumined my mind. It was like 100,000 camera flashes going off at once. It was like all the stadium lights at the Los Angeles Coliseum coming on with me standing in the middle of the field. In a moment of time He regenerated my dead soul and made me alive to Him. I was finally able to grasp the significance of Christ’s death on the cross for my despicable soul. I was so eager to learn all I could as fast as I could that I read the bible in three translations twelve times that first year. I couldn’t get enough. I wanted to make up for all the lost years I had wasted chasing the American dream. In a moment of time I realized nothing in life was more important than being pleasing to our Master and honoring His Name.
That was over thirty-eight years ago. My desire to absorb all I can about God has only increased as the years have passed. My Achilles heel (recurring sin) is that I often demonstrate little tolerance for anyone who claims to be a follower of Christ who doesn’t plan his life making sure it gives him multiple opportunities each week to share the gospel message with someone. And I have even less tolerance for anyone who thinks God has called him to be a teacher in His church who doesn’t spend massive amounts each and every day reading and studying directly from the word of God taking special care to limit the amount of time he reads any books about the word of God. I am weary of men who get the major content of their sermons from some other man’s insight. I am weary of men who download entire sermons and memorize them. I am weary of men who practice when and where they tear up during their sermonizing. More importantly, I believe God is weary of these things. I believe God has even less tolerance for such foolishness than I do; but, of course, being God He has the right to be intolerant. Because He is God, He never misjudges a person’s motives or misreads a person’s heart.
God is loving, kind, and patient. The Psalmist tells us over and again “for His lovingkindness is everlasting.” It is misleading to conclude thusly that His patience is also everlasting. The parable in Luke 14 clearly demonstrates that is not true. The parable of the ten virgins tells us likewise that a time comes when Jesus’ patience reaches its climax. When God’s patience reaches its end point and He shuts the door, anyone who has not entered is left outside for eternity. If you are reading this devotional and have been contemplating whether or not you want to give up all your worldly possessions and follow the Master of the universe, you need to understand His offer will not always be offered. There will come a point in your life when there will no longer be room for repentance. I have no idea when that will be for anyone, nor do you. You have been duped into believing the treasures of this world are fulfilling. That is a lie perpetrated on you and the rest of the world by the father of lies. Jesus has gone before us into heaven to prepare a place for us (John 14:1-3). Of course, in this life you’ll be tested by fire. That’s just another way to say this life of following Jesus will be filled with heartache, loss of ungodly friends, persecutions, trials, tribulation, and a glorious relationship with the Creator of the Universe. And I can tell you after 38 years of walking with Him, I wouldn’t trade it for all the gold on the planet. He’s the hidden treasure who's worth giving up all we own to acquire. He’s the pearl of great price. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords, the great “I AM.” He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. He is the Messiah, the Anointed One whose first coming was in humility to take away the sins of the world. When he comes again, He will be the Lion from the Tribe of Judah. He will come to slay the nations of the earth with the sword that proceeds from His mouth. He will come to rule them with a rod of iron. Even so, Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus! Come!
When I was a young lad, my mother used to ask me if I wanted to be a doctor, a lawyer, or an Indian chief when I grew up. Every time I read the parable Jesus tells in Luke 14, I think of that question. Jesus was the Master story teller, literally. He used common everyday subjects with which His followers would have been familiar. Luke 14 records the story about three different kinds of people who had been invited to a big dinner put on by a man. One was a real estate investor, one a farmer, and one had just gotten married. He invited each of them to his dinner, but they all had excuses for why they were unable to attend. In this story the man represents Jesus, the dinner represents the marriage supper of the Lamb of God that believers will attend in the kingdom of God.
One can go wild speculating many things about this parable, but in keeping with my propensity to only conclude the obvious, I’ll stick to the following analysis of this story. All three people, the real estate tycoon, the farmer, and the newlywed, represent those who were first invited into the kingdom. Today that would be anyone who has heard any presentation of the gospel and has, for one reason or another, decided the life they currently live is too good to give up to follow Jesus. Israel, as a nation, rejected Him at His first coming, though most don’t realize how many Pharisees and religious leaders did in fact get converted. Today people come up with all kinds of excuses why they want to wait a few years to give up the good life. Thinking “the offer will hold” until they die of old age, they unwisely decide they’ll sow their wild oats until they get too old to enjoy such things and then they’ll get saved. What they fail to understand is that Jesus is the one who decides when to close the door.
People love to hear stories of converts who lived lives of wanton pleasure for forty or fifty years and then got delivered from drugs or alcohol abuse and were ushered into the kingdom of God (they got saved). We love to hear about nationally acclaimed athletes who found Jesus and put verses on their faces before a game. Of course, nothing is inherently wrong with anyone’s personal testimony to the greatness of our God. He does, in fact save famous and infamous, rich, and important people too. I would like to humbly suggest, however, it is just as much, if not more of a testimony to the power of God to take a child from birth and keep him from ever becoming a drug addict, abuser of alcohol, wife beater, or murderer. Anyway, back to the story at hand. As it continues, the man’s servants come back and tell him those he invited were too busy. Angry, the man tells his servants to go into the streets and invite the poor, crippled, blind, and lame to his dinner. They do so and there is still room at the dinner table. He then sends them into the highways and along the hedges and tells them to compel everyone to come. He concludes with this stern and frightening warning, “For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.”
I thank God daily that He took me from a life of wanton pleasure and called me into His kingdom. I know there is nothing within my wicked soul that deserved such love and kindness. I beat my chest (figuratively speaking) regularly asking why He chose me, a wicked sinner to demonstrate such loving kindness. The year I got saved I must have had thirty or forty people share the gospel with me. I praise His magnificent Name that finally, the night I quit running away from Him, He illumined my mind. It was like 100,000 camera flashes going off at once. It was like all the stadium lights at the Los Angeles Coliseum coming on with me standing in the middle of the field. In a moment of time He regenerated my dead soul and made me alive to Him. I was finally able to grasp the significance of Christ’s death on the cross for my despicable soul. I was so eager to learn all I could as fast as I could that I read the bible in three translations twelve times that first year. I couldn’t get enough. I wanted to make up for all the lost years I had wasted chasing the American dream. In a moment of time I realized nothing in life was more important than being pleasing to our Master and honoring His Name.
That was over thirty-eight years ago. My desire to absorb all I can about God has only increased as the years have passed. My Achilles heel (recurring sin) is that I often demonstrate little tolerance for anyone who claims to be a follower of Christ who doesn’t plan his life making sure it gives him multiple opportunities each week to share the gospel message with someone. And I have even less tolerance for anyone who thinks God has called him to be a teacher in His church who doesn’t spend massive amounts each and every day reading and studying directly from the word of God taking special care to limit the amount of time he reads any books about the word of God. I am weary of men who get the major content of their sermons from some other man’s insight. I am weary of men who download entire sermons and memorize them. I am weary of men who practice when and where they tear up during their sermonizing. More importantly, I believe God is weary of these things. I believe God has even less tolerance for such foolishness than I do; but, of course, being God He has the right to be intolerant. Because He is God, He never misjudges a person’s motives or misreads a person’s heart.
God is loving, kind, and patient. The Psalmist tells us over and again “for His lovingkindness is everlasting.” It is misleading to conclude thusly that His patience is also everlasting. The parable in Luke 14 clearly demonstrates that is not true. The parable of the ten virgins tells us likewise that a time comes when Jesus’ patience reaches its climax. When God’s patience reaches its end point and He shuts the door, anyone who has not entered is left outside for eternity. If you are reading this devotional and have been contemplating whether or not you want to give up all your worldly possessions and follow the Master of the universe, you need to understand His offer will not always be offered. There will come a point in your life when there will no longer be room for repentance. I have no idea when that will be for anyone, nor do you. You have been duped into believing the treasures of this world are fulfilling. That is a lie perpetrated on you and the rest of the world by the father of lies. Jesus has gone before us into heaven to prepare a place for us (John 14:1-3). Of course, in this life you’ll be tested by fire. That’s just another way to say this life of following Jesus will be filled with heartache, loss of ungodly friends, persecutions, trials, tribulation, and a glorious relationship with the Creator of the Universe. And I can tell you after 38 years of walking with Him, I wouldn’t trade it for all the gold on the planet. He’s the hidden treasure who's worth giving up all we own to acquire. He’s the pearl of great price. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords, the great “I AM.” He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. He is the Messiah, the Anointed One whose first coming was in humility to take away the sins of the world. When he comes again, He will be the Lion from the Tribe of Judah. He will come to slay the nations of the earth with the sword that proceeds from His mouth. He will come to rule them with a rod of iron. Even so, Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus! Come!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
The Father of Lies
November 27 (John 8:44)
I grow weary of people who always present a picture of Jesus as the kind, benevolent, loving, never judgmental, mealy mouthed girlie man they apparently think He was at His first coming. Certainly He was benevolent. Certainly He was kind. Certainly He was loving. Those are all qualities one would expect to see in a man who told us to love our enemies. What wearies me is those people who don’t also realize he used biting wit and unrelenting insults when addressing liars and wicked men who claimed to be the religious leaders during the time He was physically on earth. John 8:44 is a perfect example of what I mean. How anyone could suggest it is inappropriate to do what He did is beyond me. His response, as recorded in John 8, was to a group of people who were claiming to be descendants of Abraham, which they were, as the proof they were the chosen of God, which they were. They had just suggested He (Jesus) was a bastard child because everyone knew His mother was pregnant with Him before she married Joseph.
They still didn’t get it. They didn't have a clue that His immaculate birth was one of the many proofs of His divinity. Anyway, His response went like this, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Wait a minute! Did Jesus just call people to whom He was speaking murderers, liars, and children of the devil? On another occasion He called the Pharisees serpents, a brook of vipers, and hypocrites. I think His example tells us something that is often missing from our interactions with one another as Christians. First of all it is crucial to understand God does not love murderers, liars, and hypocrites. I did not say nor did I mean He does not forgive any such people who repent of their sin in humility and seek Him. He does not turn away anyone who repents in humility and seeks to bring glory and honor to Him. And He does indeed command us to love our enemies. In Romans 12:20 Paul adds some interesting insight to the reason we should love our enemies when he quotes Proverbs 25:22, “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD." Of course, our motivation for feeding our enemy is not to heap burning coals on his head, but the point is that an enemy is dumfounded when fed by one he considers his enemy. He doesn’t know how to deal with such kindness. And Jesus’ point was that when we do that we are demonstrating we are different from the rest of the world’s citizens. We demonstrate we are above the petty foolishness that makes most people love or hate those with whom they have dealings each day.
Our point for today is that it is not ungodly to use appropriate language to rebuke people who are leading great multitudes astray with their lies and demonic doctrine. People like Joel Osteen, Robert Schuler, Rick Warren, the entire gambit of preachers from the emerging church movement, and any who preach things like God wants everyone to be fat, happy, rich, and free from illness must be confronted about their false doctrine. Joel Osteen is leading thousands of people into the pits of hell with his “God wants everyone to be a positive thinker message;” and that’s the gospel message he preaches every time he gets center stage. He and the hundreds of other positive thinking preachers are liars, children of their father the devil, serpents, and vipers. Certainly there’s nothing wrong with being a positive thinker; that isn’t the problem. The problem is with the one who preaches that’s the gospel. When one welcomes homosexuals into his church without telling them such behavior is sin, all he's doing is helping them on their way to hell. I once advised a mother, who publicly proclaimed she loved her homosexual son, she might want to demonstrate her love for him by informing him his behavior was sin that would assure him a front seat in hell if he didn't repent. I thought for a while she was going to put a contract out on me for being so unloving (as she put it). It's staggering to me the number of people who think it is loving to help people feel good about their sinful behavior.
In closing, I think it is important for Christians to be informed enough about what God’s word says that we are able to confront false teaching and do it effectively. I am not suggesting that if I got a chance to speak face to face with Rick Warren I would immediately go for his jugular. I would begin any initial conversation asking him something like why he never attempts to deal with drunks by explaining to them drunkenness is sin. I would ask him things like why he writes a book on dealing with alcoholics and refuses to call ungodly behavior sin. I would ask Robert Schuler something like how much time he spent daily studying or even reading God’s word. I would ask him when he actually repented of his own sinful life, got baptized by immersion, and began walking the narrow path in the footsteps of Jesus he claims to be walking. Those kinds of questions quickly bring to the forefront the unbiblical things those false teachers teach. Then, if in a public forum one of them were to call me a bastard child or a wolf in sheep’s clothing, I’d change my rhetoric and demeanor immediately and act in a manner appropriate to the changing circumstances.
I’m often rebuked rather severely by positive thinking, God loves everyone, gurus or people who claim they are born-again, followers of Christ. It’s almost comical the incredibly nasty language some of them use to describe me while suggesting I’m being unloving for pointing out the heretical teachings of others. Jesus made it abundantly clear, and Paul speaks to the issue countless times in his letters to the churches, that there would be such teachers forever and always and that we must shut them up yesterday. I have personally observed and confronted dozens of men and women teaching heresy in churches in America. I will continue to do so. It makes me a very unpopular person in the small town where I live. Many accuse me of being arrogant and nasty tempered for doing it. It goes with the territory. False teachers and their followers did the same to Jesus, Peter, Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They did it to every single prophet in ancient Israel; and they’ve been doing it for centuries to anyone who exposes them. No one likes having the light shined on them when they want to work in the dark. Please take this admonition to heart. If everyone loves you, you're doing somehting terribly wrong. I only have about ten people in this world who I believe are friends in any really significant sense. They're probably the only people in the world who would drive more than five miles to attend my funeral. The only overwhelming obsession I have in life is to be pleasing to my God and Savior Jesus Christ. That even makes great multitudes of people who say they are born-again believers uncomfortable being around me. I wouldn't have it any other way.
I grow weary of people who always present a picture of Jesus as the kind, benevolent, loving, never judgmental, mealy mouthed girlie man they apparently think He was at His first coming. Certainly He was benevolent. Certainly He was kind. Certainly He was loving. Those are all qualities one would expect to see in a man who told us to love our enemies. What wearies me is those people who don’t also realize he used biting wit and unrelenting insults when addressing liars and wicked men who claimed to be the religious leaders during the time He was physically on earth. John 8:44 is a perfect example of what I mean. How anyone could suggest it is inappropriate to do what He did is beyond me. His response, as recorded in John 8, was to a group of people who were claiming to be descendants of Abraham, which they were, as the proof they were the chosen of God, which they were. They had just suggested He (Jesus) was a bastard child because everyone knew His mother was pregnant with Him before she married Joseph.
They still didn’t get it. They didn't have a clue that His immaculate birth was one of the many proofs of His divinity. Anyway, His response went like this, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Wait a minute! Did Jesus just call people to whom He was speaking murderers, liars, and children of the devil? On another occasion He called the Pharisees serpents, a brook of vipers, and hypocrites. I think His example tells us something that is often missing from our interactions with one another as Christians. First of all it is crucial to understand God does not love murderers, liars, and hypocrites. I did not say nor did I mean He does not forgive any such people who repent of their sin in humility and seek Him. He does not turn away anyone who repents in humility and seeks to bring glory and honor to Him. And He does indeed command us to love our enemies. In Romans 12:20 Paul adds some interesting insight to the reason we should love our enemies when he quotes Proverbs 25:22, “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD." Of course, our motivation for feeding our enemy is not to heap burning coals on his head, but the point is that an enemy is dumfounded when fed by one he considers his enemy. He doesn’t know how to deal with such kindness. And Jesus’ point was that when we do that we are demonstrating we are different from the rest of the world’s citizens. We demonstrate we are above the petty foolishness that makes most people love or hate those with whom they have dealings each day.
Our point for today is that it is not ungodly to use appropriate language to rebuke people who are leading great multitudes astray with their lies and demonic doctrine. People like Joel Osteen, Robert Schuler, Rick Warren, the entire gambit of preachers from the emerging church movement, and any who preach things like God wants everyone to be fat, happy, rich, and free from illness must be confronted about their false doctrine. Joel Osteen is leading thousands of people into the pits of hell with his “God wants everyone to be a positive thinker message;” and that’s the gospel message he preaches every time he gets center stage. He and the hundreds of other positive thinking preachers are liars, children of their father the devil, serpents, and vipers. Certainly there’s nothing wrong with being a positive thinker; that isn’t the problem. The problem is with the one who preaches that’s the gospel. When one welcomes homosexuals into his church without telling them such behavior is sin, all he's doing is helping them on their way to hell. I once advised a mother, who publicly proclaimed she loved her homosexual son, she might want to demonstrate her love for him by informing him his behavior was sin that would assure him a front seat in hell if he didn't repent. I thought for a while she was going to put a contract out on me for being so unloving (as she put it). It's staggering to me the number of people who think it is loving to help people feel good about their sinful behavior.
In closing, I think it is important for Christians to be informed enough about what God’s word says that we are able to confront false teaching and do it effectively. I am not suggesting that if I got a chance to speak face to face with Rick Warren I would immediately go for his jugular. I would begin any initial conversation asking him something like why he never attempts to deal with drunks by explaining to them drunkenness is sin. I would ask him things like why he writes a book on dealing with alcoholics and refuses to call ungodly behavior sin. I would ask Robert Schuler something like how much time he spent daily studying or even reading God’s word. I would ask him when he actually repented of his own sinful life, got baptized by immersion, and began walking the narrow path in the footsteps of Jesus he claims to be walking. Those kinds of questions quickly bring to the forefront the unbiblical things those false teachers teach. Then, if in a public forum one of them were to call me a bastard child or a wolf in sheep’s clothing, I’d change my rhetoric and demeanor immediately and act in a manner appropriate to the changing circumstances.
I’m often rebuked rather severely by positive thinking, God loves everyone, gurus or people who claim they are born-again, followers of Christ. It’s almost comical the incredibly nasty language some of them use to describe me while suggesting I’m being unloving for pointing out the heretical teachings of others. Jesus made it abundantly clear, and Paul speaks to the issue countless times in his letters to the churches, that there would be such teachers forever and always and that we must shut them up yesterday. I have personally observed and confronted dozens of men and women teaching heresy in churches in America. I will continue to do so. It makes me a very unpopular person in the small town where I live. Many accuse me of being arrogant and nasty tempered for doing it. It goes with the territory. False teachers and their followers did the same to Jesus, Peter, Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They did it to every single prophet in ancient Israel; and they’ve been doing it for centuries to anyone who exposes them. No one likes having the light shined on them when they want to work in the dark. Please take this admonition to heart. If everyone loves you, you're doing somehting terribly wrong. I only have about ten people in this world who I believe are friends in any really significant sense. They're probably the only people in the world who would drive more than five miles to attend my funeral. The only overwhelming obsession I have in life is to be pleasing to my God and Savior Jesus Christ. That even makes great multitudes of people who say they are born-again believers uncomfortable being around me. I wouldn't have it any other way.
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