Monday, February 20, 2017

Shifting Sand

I’m reading about the Southern Baptist Convention and their International Mission Board’s involvement in supporting the construction of a mosque in New Jersey.  Do we, as Christians, allow other people to choose their religious preferences?  Yes, because we are no greater than God, Who allows all men free will to choose their devotions.  Do we, as Christians, encourage or promote other religions that deny that Jesus is the Son of God, Lord of all creation, and the only Name given by which men may be saved?  No, because to do so is to go against the very faith we claim to hold in Christ and His Gospel of Salvation.  To encourage anyone’s denial of Christ is to be complicit in such a denial (Matt 10:32-34; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26).  A saving belief in Christ is faith in Him as Lord, and a genuine faith in Him as Lord compels us to share that truth with anyone who will listen.

Jesus Christ is the Son of YHWH God and He is also YHWH God in the flesh.  Jesus is fully God and fully man, He was crucified as the propitiation for the sins of mankind, He died and rose again, conquering sin and death once and for all, and He is the only way to salvation.  Any religion that denies these eternal facts cannot be supported or encouraged by Christians who are commanded to “Go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature, He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not, shall be condemned.” (Mark 16:15,16) and “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19,20).

I will never forget when, in my mid-twenties, I came face-to-face with the reality of the exclusivity of the path to eternal salvation in Christ.  Although, throughout my college years I would readily acknowledge my Christian faith, I fell into the same seductive humanistic mindset that so many lukewarm Christians fall into during their most formative years.  My relationship with Christ was shaped by the ideas, customs, and social behavior of society, rather than scripture.  My Christian faith was based on humanism and subjective personal experience, rather than Who God has revealed Himself to be in scripture.  Because my faith was based on subjective experience and cultural influence, I had built my house on shifting sand:  “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock…But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.” (Matt 7:24,26).
The trendy cultural “inclusivity” that was hammered into me during my late teens and early twenties, crashed head-on into the exclusivity of Jesus’ claim that, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6).  It was one of the many forks-in-the-road I have encountered in my walk of faith, times when I reached certain milestones in which I could choose my own reasoning, over the truth of God’s word and the leading of the Holy Spirit.  At that time, my personal experience and reasoning posited that God transcended all religion, including Christianity, and could not be defined by any one religious structure, but rather, it was our myriad of religious structures and experiences that altogether led to the one, true God.  The humanism and cultural inclusivity that was so seductively appealing to my intellect, dictated that God is all-loving and all-merciful, therefore surely, He will not turn away anyone who seeks Him, no matter what path they're on. Besides, I reasoned, we have His assurance: "Knock, and the door shall be opened unto you." (Matt 7:7).  A brilliant intellectualization of my subjective spiritual experience, if I do say so myself.  But it’s total garbage.  It may be a convincing argument for those who know just enough scripture to recognize it as scripture, but not enough to be transformed by it.
Lest we forget, Satan manipulated God’s words to deceive Eve.  A few verses down from "Knock, and the door shall be opened..." at Matthew 7:7, Jesus also says, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (v. 13,14).  At John 10:9, Jesus plainly tells us that He is the gate.  And yes, scripture says that if we knock, the door shall be opened, but Jesus plainly tells us that He is the One standing on the other side of it (Rev 3:20).

It grieves me to see so many who are well-intended toward the Christian faith, fall into the trap of vanity by consuming the bait of over-intellectualizing their spirituality, as Paul warns:  “I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it way too easily.” (2 Cor 11:3,4).

Which is not to say that we are to neglect our intellectual reasoning, but rather, we are to have it fully submitted to Christ, “We tear down arguments, and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Cor 10:5).  We subject our intellect to obedience in Christ because Satan appeals to our intellect and reasoning, and without the authority of Christ over our mind, we do not stand a chance against our eternal enemy.  Satan seeks to entice and deceive us through our intellect and reasoning, while God seeks to set us free through our childlike faith and surrender.  So many have condemned Eve for her disastrous choice in the Garden to pursue her own reasoning, over her faithful trust in God, all the while not realizing that we make the same choice over and over in our own lives.

True brilliance is the humility to admit that we are but dust and true wisdom is the meek surrender to God’s revelation to us through scripture.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matt 5:5)

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Prov 9:10)

“And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.'" (Job 28:28)

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.” (Psalm 111:10)

“But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body. The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.” (Eccl 12:12-14)

"Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them, I will show you what he is like:  he is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built." (Luke 6:47,48)

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Hungry

The other day I took my five-year-old daughter to have a cavity filled at an early morning dentist appointment.  As we walked out of the dentist office after the procedure, she looked up at me, still a little loopy from the oral sedation she had to take for the procedure, and said, "I'm hongwy Mama, feed me."  She said this because she was "hongwy".  She also said it because she's five and she can't feed herself.  She also said it because I am her mother and it is my job to feed her when she is "hongwy".  That's the way it works.

That is also the way our relationship with God works.  We should come to God in prayer, looking for Him so we can tell Him, "Abba, I am hungry.  Feed me."  We cannot feed ourselves the spiritual food that we need from God, because He is the only One Who has it.  We ask God to feed us because He is our Father, and it is His job to feed us when we come to Him and tell Him we are hungry.  And just like my compassionate reaction to my own daughter's pleas to be fed, He reacts to our pleas with infinite compassion.  I long to fill my daughter's hunger, it is something that gives me great fulfillment and peace, knowing that she is fed and taken care of.  God longs to fill our hunger, that is why Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst." (John 6:35).

Something I increasingly observe is that we are not hungry for God because we are too easily filled by the things of the world.  C.S. Lewis puts it this way:  "It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”  We are far too easily satisfied with the vacuous and temporal fulfillment of our flesh.  Our bellies are so full of worldliness, that we are content to nibble upon spiritual scraps, even though God has provided access to a limitless buffet of holiness, wisdom and peace. 

When the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, God gave them an abundance of manna each day, far more than they could ever consume.  But God told them to only collect what they needed for each day, "Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted." (Exodus 16:21).  Jesus reiterates this daily dependence on God when He teaches the Apostles to pray, "Give us each day, our daily bread." (Luke 11:3). 

God tells us that we need "daily bread", but some of us are just getting weekly bread when we make our obligatory church appearance on Sunday.  We show up at church, empty and hungry, trying to get filled on an hour of corporate worship and then stretch that hour of bread to try and make it last through the week.  When the Israelites tried to do that, their manna rotted and was inedible, "Moses told them, 'Do not keep any of it until morning.'  But some of them didn't listen and kept some of it until morning. But by then it was full of maggots and had a terrible smell." (Exodus 16:19,20).  We cannot grow spiritually on maggoty, rotten bread, but many of us are trying to.

Instead of being hungry for God, many find themselves frustrated and cranky.  I have heard people refer to this hungry/angry condition as "hangry".  How many of us are "hangry" about our spiritual growth?  There are three types of Christians:  hungry, hangry, and those who are so used to going without any food at all, that any hunger pangs they may have once suffered are long-since gone and they exist in spiritual numbness.

Are you spiritually numb?  Are you ambivalent about God's presence and His call upon us to be well-equipped in His word (Heb 13:20,21; 2 Tim 3:16,17) and to pursue holiness (Lev 20:26; Lev 19:2; 1 Peter 1:14-16)?  Then ask God to give you a heart of flesh (Ezek 36:25-27; Ezek 11:19,20) and to quicken your spirit (Rom 8:10-13).

Are you hangry?  Are you frustrated in your walk with God?  Are you trying to fill a belly that is full of the world with maggoty, rotten bread?  Then ask God to examine your heart and show you the changes that need to be made in your habits and life (Psalm 139:23,24; Psalm 19:12; Job 31:6), and then surrender, in daily faith, to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.  Ask Him to teach you and to give you ears to hear and a heart of obedience (Psalm 143:10; Psalm 16:11; Psalm 25:4,5; Psalm 86:10-12).

Are you hungry? Do you find yourself wondering if there is more to be had than the religion you are being offered, when your true heart's desire is for more relationship?  Then meditate on Jesus' promise to be your daily bread as you seek His presence and fellowship through daily prayer and regular Bible study (Luke 17:19; Matt 9:22; Luke 7:20).  Pray for Him to put you into fellowship with other hungry brothers and sisters.  Believe that when you come to Him and look up and say, "Abba, I am hungry.  Feed me"  that He will be faithful and compassionate to provide far more than you could ever hope to consume (Philippians 4:19; 2 Cor 9:8; Eph 3:8).


"Jesus answered them and said, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.'...So they said to Him, 'Then what sign do You do, that we may see and believe You? What work do You perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, "He gave them bread from heaven to eat."' Jesus then said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He Who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.' Then they said to Him, 'Lord, always give us this bread.' Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst.'" (John 6:26-35)

"What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36)

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Yoke And Burden

"Come to Me, all those toiling and being burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)

I want to point out something about this passage that God brought to my attention the other day.  Quite often, I find myself whining to God about various things.  The other day, during one of my marathon whining sessions, I told God, "You said Your yoke would be easy and the burden would be light."  I knew better than to say such a thing, which is why I was quickly reminded of the original context of His statement, which was intended as a reproach upon the system of works that the Pharisees laid upon the backs of those who sought God.  That is what Jesus is speaking about when He says later on in Matthew, "They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger." (Matthew 23:4).

Jesus' life and ministry was at the crossroads of the Old and New Covenant.  Two thousand years of Old Covenant Israel was about to collide head-on with two thousand years of New Covenant Christendom.  Therefore, when He said that His yoke would be easy and burden light, there were dual implications to what He was saying.  He spoke not only to those under the Old Covenant of Mosaic Law, but also to those who would be under the New Covenant of His Lordship and grace.
The thing that God brought to my attention, was that although Jesus promised "I will give you rest", He never said that He would remove our yoke and take away our burdens.  Jesus was bringing about a new paradigm for men to relate to God, He was abolishing the Old Covenant and replacing it with a New.  Therefore He could have easily said "Come to Me, all those toiling and being burdened, and I will give you rest.  I will remove your yoke and your burdens and you will find rest for your souls."  But He didn't say that, He said that we were to stay under a yoke and continue to carry a burden.  However, He replaced the old yoke with a new one.
When Jesus said, "I will give you rest", He was speaking one thing to Israel and another thing to the Gentile nations who would be part of the New Covenant.  For Israel, He was giving them rest from Mosaic Law.  But the Gentile nations were not under Mosaic Law, so what would He be giving them rest from?  He would be giving them rest from their sin (Jeremiah 31:34; Rom 6:2,6,7,14).  For those under the Old Covenant, their yoke was the Law.  For those under the New Covenant, their yoke would be faith (Gal 5:6; John 6:28,29; Rom 4:5; 1 John 3:23).  For those under both Covenants, the burden was, is, and has always been, obedience.
We are "yoked" to Christ in faith and the "burden" (or responsibility) of that faith, is obedience (Matt 10:38; John 10:27; John 12:26; John 14:15,21,23; John 15:10; Heb 5:8,9; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 5:2,3; Rev 12:17; Rev 14:12, 13).  Jesus said, "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me." (Matt 16:24)
"...come after me" = yoke of faith
"...deny himself and take up his cross" = burden of obedience 

What many in the church today fail to realize, is that our faith means nothing if it is not paired with obedience.  By Jesus' own instructions, our faith in Him must be validated by our obedience.  James tells us, "So you see, faith by itself isn't enough.  Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless...O foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is worthless? Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith was working with his actions, and his faith was perfected by what he did." (James 2:17-22).  A faith that is not evidenced by obedience, is not faith.  It is simply a belief based on affirmation, rather than a belief of trustful surrender.  Obedience to Christ in a person's life, is evidence of their faithful surrender to Him as Lord.  Our faith in Christ must be a faith in Who He is, and Christ can only and ever be Lord.  To believe in Jesus and be saved (John 3:36; John 5:24; John 6:47), we must believe that He is Lord (Rom 10:8,9), and in so doing, the only proper reaction to such a belief is surrender.

We are not saved by good deeds, we are saved by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ (Eph 2:8).   However, genuine faith and genuine salvation are evidenced by our actions of obedience.  Jesus tells us, "If anyone would come after Me..."  How do we come after, or pursue Christ?  By faith.  But then what does Christ tell us to do with that faith?  "...deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me."  That's an action of obedience. 

The reason Jesus didn't remove our yoke and take away our burdens, is because it is the yoke of faith that saves us.  And as long as we are on this side of heaven, our faith will at many times seem like a burden. Jesus said that in this world we would have trouble, "I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!" (John 16:33).  Paul and Barnabas told those in the early church, "We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God." (Acts 14:22), as they strengthened the souls of those early believers by encouraging them to continue in the faith (Acts 14:21).  Our salvation in Christ truly gives us "rest for your souls", but that doesn't mean that we will be completely without burden.  Today, should you feel the weight and burden of your yoke of faith, spend some time sitting at the feet of Christ, Who gently reminds us, "Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid." (John 14:27).
 

"My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and the Father are one." (John 10:27-30)

"And the LORD will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail."  (Isaiah 58:11)

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, who through faith are protected by God's power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1:3-7)