Following the resurrection of Jesus Christ he appeared to His disciples on several different occasions. During one of these appearances Jesus carried on a very pointed conversation with the ever talkative Peter. As we ease drop on the final texts of their conversation there is a great lesson that the church must learn today if Christianity is to survive.
John 21:17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
John 21:18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.
John 21:19 This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.
John 21:20 Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?
John 21:21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?
John 21:22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.
Did you see the lessons? First Christ asks Peter, “Do you love me?” Peter is upset because this is the third time has been asked this very question. Peter replies with the emotional response, “You know I do because you know everything.” Then just as quickly Jesus responds, “Prove it by your actions.”
Jesus declares to Peter that his, like ours, love for Christ will be proven by our response to humanity. We must lose ourselves so greatly in the desire to see people come to mature relationships with Jesus that we ourselves our willing to die to make this possible. We must become so powered by the Holy Spirit that we fear no one or anything in this pursuit. Unfortunately this is not the case of Christianity today. Today I am afraid that we fear men more than God. How else can we hear messages on the radio that carry a message of God’s forgiveness without first expounding upon the severity of sin? God’s word is clear in the book of Romans and Galatians that the purpose of the law was to make sure no one could stand before God without excuse for their action and that this law would act as a guide to bring us to the knowledge of sin and seek a savior. Yet today the vast majority of Christianity is a “lawless” society. Do not get me wrong, I am not promoting legalism. I detest the faintest scent of legalism to the point that I like Martin Luther could formulate papers denouncing the traditions of men in favor of the truth of God’s word. So what am I saying? I am saying that there are black and white issues that must be addressed in this society and we need not fear declaring these.
When we fear loss of membership over truth, when we fear loss of tithe over truth, when we fear loss of income over truth, when we fear loss of possessions over truth, when we fear loss of positions over truth, then we can rest assured that God’s love is not perfected in us. 1John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” This is to say that we do not have a love that would drive us to the cross for someone else. We cannot stand with Paul and wish ourselves accursed nor can we even say that we are dead to self so that Christ might live in us. Oh, that I might die soon for Jackie has lived far too long. You see when I die I will have no problem feeding you. If I am dead, broken, and poor like a slave then there is nothing anyone can do to me to make me less than I already am “the chief among sinners.” The ability to minister to others and demonstrate Christ’s love comes through the victories Christ pours out through the glaring holes of my faulty character. I then, unlike Peter in our passage, will stop looking to see what God is doing with others but will consider myself blessed for what He is doing to glorify Himself through me.
In the end the world does not need anyone of us to redefine the gospel, dress it in slick programs, or write more books. It wants to see Christians who truly love God, who are consecrated to Him and not traditions, who do not concern themselves with another’s servants, but declare bodily how Christ has changed them and now lives in them. This power will come through close conversation with Christ, prayer and Bible study, and will cause us to once again be a moving force of Christianity that makes hell tremble. If you read this and care to join me let us set a time for a solemn fast and prayer that the Holy Ghost and the preaching of God’s word in Fayetteville might have full course and we might be used to bring glory to the name of the Father, the Son, and The Holy Ghost. May God be glorified as we move forward starting yesterday!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
The Cost of Sacrifice
Exo 12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
Exo 12:6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
Exo 12:7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
Exo 12:46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.
Deu 16:2 Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there.
Deu 16:5 Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee:
Deu 16:6 But at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt.
Deu 16:7 And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents.
2Ch 35:1 Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.
The Passover was designed to point to Christ. This time of year brought a remembrance of delivery and the promise of the coming Messiah. I have recently been thinking about this religious rite of Jewish history and what it teaches, not about Christ, but about the Father and the sacrifice He made in sending Christ to die upon the cross.
Imagine the life of the typical Israeli man during the Old Testament and how his life was tied to his religion and its sacrificial rites. He would understand the need of providing a perfect lamb for the Passover so that the sacrifice would be accepted and thus prove that he, and his family, was accepted by God. He undoubtedly prayed for such an animal to born within his flocks. He was trusting God to provide what he could not render, a perfect lamb. He would examine his lambs and see if one was proper and right for the task of dying for him and his families' sins. When he found this lamb he might need to care for it for nearly a year making sure that on the 14th of Nissan the lamb would be accepted. Over this time he would keep it close and guarded, caring for it as his most prized possession. As an animal lover I can see him falling in love with this animal. The lamb coming to him and staying very near him would cause the man’s love to deepen. He would have joy in seeing the lamb in its perfect state but still some sorrow as the day appointed approached. There would come a time when he would travel to Jerusalem and there turn the lamb over to the priests. They would subject the lamb to four days of testing to ensure that the lamb was without spot or blemish, that it had been protected so that not one bone was broken, and then if accepted its blood would be shed and its body burned so that the man and his family might live. They would then make the lamb’s sacrifice a very personal part of their life and a part of them through eating the lamb. I can hardly imagine turning over one of my cats or my dog in such a way. The pain would be excruciating. I would not be able to watch their death but would have to leave the scene.
Now, remember how the lamb represented Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father. Imagine your child as the lamb. Do we really understand the cost to God and the cost of sacrifice when we have no great visual reminder of how greatly sin affects our lives? Have you seen The Passion of the Christ recently? We weep over the pain our sin caused Christ to go through but do we ever stop to think of the pain God felt? He turned over his perfect Son to be examined and killed by the people so that they might live. Hear again the words of Christ: “this is my blood shed for you” and “this is my body given for you”, and understand the cost of sacrifice that God made. Now turn to Him and thank Him with insurmountable gratitude and thanksgiving. Let not this sacrifice be in vain but make Jesus your life as the lamb become in a very real sense the life of the family.
Exo 12:6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
Exo 12:7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
Exo 12:46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.
Deu 16:2 Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there.
Deu 16:5 Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee:
Deu 16:6 But at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt.
Deu 16:7 And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents.
2Ch 35:1 Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.
The Passover was designed to point to Christ. This time of year brought a remembrance of delivery and the promise of the coming Messiah. I have recently been thinking about this religious rite of Jewish history and what it teaches, not about Christ, but about the Father and the sacrifice He made in sending Christ to die upon the cross.
Imagine the life of the typical Israeli man during the Old Testament and how his life was tied to his religion and its sacrificial rites. He would understand the need of providing a perfect lamb for the Passover so that the sacrifice would be accepted and thus prove that he, and his family, was accepted by God. He undoubtedly prayed for such an animal to born within his flocks. He was trusting God to provide what he could not render, a perfect lamb. He would examine his lambs and see if one was proper and right for the task of dying for him and his families' sins. When he found this lamb he might need to care for it for nearly a year making sure that on the 14th of Nissan the lamb would be accepted. Over this time he would keep it close and guarded, caring for it as his most prized possession. As an animal lover I can see him falling in love with this animal. The lamb coming to him and staying very near him would cause the man’s love to deepen. He would have joy in seeing the lamb in its perfect state but still some sorrow as the day appointed approached. There would come a time when he would travel to Jerusalem and there turn the lamb over to the priests. They would subject the lamb to four days of testing to ensure that the lamb was without spot or blemish, that it had been protected so that not one bone was broken, and then if accepted its blood would be shed and its body burned so that the man and his family might live. They would then make the lamb’s sacrifice a very personal part of their life and a part of them through eating the lamb. I can hardly imagine turning over one of my cats or my dog in such a way. The pain would be excruciating. I would not be able to watch their death but would have to leave the scene.
Now, remember how the lamb represented Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father. Imagine your child as the lamb. Do we really understand the cost to God and the cost of sacrifice when we have no great visual reminder of how greatly sin affects our lives? Have you seen The Passion of the Christ recently? We weep over the pain our sin caused Christ to go through but do we ever stop to think of the pain God felt? He turned over his perfect Son to be examined and killed by the people so that they might live. Hear again the words of Christ: “this is my blood shed for you” and “this is my body given for you”, and understand the cost of sacrifice that God made. Now turn to Him and thank Him with insurmountable gratitude and thanksgiving. Let not this sacrifice be in vain but make Jesus your life as the lamb become in a very real sense the life of the family.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Helping the Pastor
Heb 13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
The word obey in this verse carries the idea of trust being persuaded by an authority, and to make friends with that authority. Hence when we are told obey them we are in essence being asked to trust them explicitly and to rely on their judgment in matters of the soul.
The phrase rule over is the idea of leadership. The idea is not of a boss and employee relationships especially when coupled with the idea of obey. It is in reality an expression of two very close friends traveling together to a place one of them has already been or across a terrain that one of them is more skilled to transverse. Hence, one of them will take the lead.
You in this instance is not a singular you. The you of this verse is a you of plurality meaning not just one person but all who might fall under that person. Here is the indication that it is a family matter.
Submit yourself is the idea of yielding. I watched a movie once where the police were tracking a fugitive with dogs. One officer was ahead of the dogs and began slipping on the muddy terrain. The dog handler asked him to move back so that he did not spoil the scent. The dog handler wanted the dogs to be able to smell clearly the path they should take. Likewise, when we yield to the leadership of those best equipped and gifted we do not “spoil the scent” that leads to God’s glory.
Why are we to do this? We are to do all that has been mentioned because they watch for our souls. In the original language of scripture this means they spent countless nights in a state of sleeplessness in earnest concern and prayer for your entire life and its eternal state of reward. As a pastor I know this to be true and many nights when sleep does come it comes in intermittent spurts and never really sinks to the deep level of rest.
The reason for this sleeplessness is because they understand that they must give an account for how they tried to persuade you, influence you, guide you, to the truth of how they could best glorify God. Sometimes this means begging God for the special revelation of dormant gifts or the wisdom of how to tweak of gift without discouraging you.
The more yielded you are to this way of leadership the easier it will be for your leaders. Remember our dog handler? I wonder how frustrated he would be if that officer never yielded to those best equipped to track the fugitive. How frustrated would you be if you were the dog handler? That frustration is exactly what is meant with the phrase grievous. It is to sigh in exasperation over a situation. I wonder how many people realize that when only a handful of people heed the sermon of the pastor and the majority do not that they are frustrating and spoiling the scent of their entire church to get to God’s glory.
So, the next time you see a pastor tired, run down, care worn, and doing their best to be upbeat and their for everyone do not criticize them. Instead pray and ask God if you are the one who is in a state of spoiling the scent. If you are not, then would you pray for those who are to realize this important point? If you are…then God says could you move aside and let my guys do their job?
The word obey in this verse carries the idea of trust being persuaded by an authority, and to make friends with that authority. Hence when we are told obey them we are in essence being asked to trust them explicitly and to rely on their judgment in matters of the soul.
The phrase rule over is the idea of leadership. The idea is not of a boss and employee relationships especially when coupled with the idea of obey. It is in reality an expression of two very close friends traveling together to a place one of them has already been or across a terrain that one of them is more skilled to transverse. Hence, one of them will take the lead.
You in this instance is not a singular you. The you of this verse is a you of plurality meaning not just one person but all who might fall under that person. Here is the indication that it is a family matter.
Submit yourself is the idea of yielding. I watched a movie once where the police were tracking a fugitive with dogs. One officer was ahead of the dogs and began slipping on the muddy terrain. The dog handler asked him to move back so that he did not spoil the scent. The dog handler wanted the dogs to be able to smell clearly the path they should take. Likewise, when we yield to the leadership of those best equipped and gifted we do not “spoil the scent” that leads to God’s glory.
Why are we to do this? We are to do all that has been mentioned because they watch for our souls. In the original language of scripture this means they spent countless nights in a state of sleeplessness in earnest concern and prayer for your entire life and its eternal state of reward. As a pastor I know this to be true and many nights when sleep does come it comes in intermittent spurts and never really sinks to the deep level of rest.
The reason for this sleeplessness is because they understand that they must give an account for how they tried to persuade you, influence you, guide you, to the truth of how they could best glorify God. Sometimes this means begging God for the special revelation of dormant gifts or the wisdom of how to tweak of gift without discouraging you.
The more yielded you are to this way of leadership the easier it will be for your leaders. Remember our dog handler? I wonder how frustrated he would be if that officer never yielded to those best equipped to track the fugitive. How frustrated would you be if you were the dog handler? That frustration is exactly what is meant with the phrase grievous. It is to sigh in exasperation over a situation. I wonder how many people realize that when only a handful of people heed the sermon of the pastor and the majority do not that they are frustrating and spoiling the scent of their entire church to get to God’s glory.
So, the next time you see a pastor tired, run down, care worn, and doing their best to be upbeat and their for everyone do not criticize them. Instead pray and ask God if you are the one who is in a state of spoiling the scent. If you are not, then would you pray for those who are to realize this important point? If you are…then God says could you move aside and let my guys do their job?
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