Death By A Thousand Chihuahuas

Written by

Death by a Thousand Chihuahuas

Matthew 4:18-19

Dr. Jim Denison

Do you live by a calendar and a clock, or a compass?

Some of us are governed by our calendars. We keep them at our desks, hang them on our walls, or carry them in our pockets. We record them with pencils or computers. And every day we do what they tell us to do.

They run our lives, with the help of our clocks. On the wall or our wrists, the clock tells us when to do what the calendar tells us to do.

I am as much a slave to my calendar and clock as anyone I know. But today I announce to you that I repent of their lordship over my life, and choose to live instead by a compass. And so should you.

There is only one “true north” in the Christian life. Only one purpose which will direct your life with unerring accuracy, which will guide you home every single time. We’re going to find it today.

On the first weekend of this new year we discovered God’s Kingdom purpose for his people. Now we’ll discover his Kingdom purpose for you. You’ll need to remember and live by this purpose, this “true north” every day this year. Or you’ll die the death of a thousand Chihuahuas.

Finding “true north”

Our text begins: “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew” (v. 18). Reading the text, we assume that this is their first meeting. But Matthew’s original readers knew this was far from true.

In January of AD 26, Jesus of Nazareth was baptized by John the Baptizer in the river Jordan. After his temptations in the wilderness, he returned to Bethany, the place of his baptism. There he first met these fishermen (John 1:28, 35-51).

John and Andrew were disciples of John the Baptist. The Baptizer pointed them to Jesus, and they began to follow him. Andrew brought his brother Simon to Jesus as well (1:42).

Jesus then called Philip to follow him. Philip was from Bethsaida, the same hometown as Andrew and Peter. Philip introduced Nathaniel to Jesus. And John introduced his brother James to him as well.

Now, the small entourage traveled from Judea back to their homeland of Galilee. Here Jesus turned the water to wine in the village of Cana (John 2:1-11). He stayed in Capernaum with this band of followers and his family (John 2:12). He and they traveled to Jerusalem for their first Passover together, March 21 of AD 27. Jesus met Nicodemus while in Jerusalem (John 3).

After John the Baptist was imprisoned, they traveled north to Galilee again. Jesus met the Samaritan woman on the way (John 4) and was welcomed back to Galilee (John 4:43-45). After this year together, the men returned to their homes and their work.

And so Simon Peter and Andrew, James and John knew Jesus. They have believed in him and followed him for a year. But not full-time, not with their lives and their futures, their all. Not until today.

Now Jesus begins his public preaching ministry in Galilee with the central theme of his life and work: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 4:17).

And now he calls these men to join him in this work, permanently.

“Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19), he says. “Come” is a command: “come here.”

“Follow” means “be full-time followers, pupils, disciples.” The construction is plural, showing that this is Jesus’ will for each and all of them.

“Me” shows that they will follow Jesus personally. Their loyalty will not be to a religion, an institution, a program, but a person. The Son of God himself.

For what purpose? “And I will make you fishers of men.” “Make” means to equip for a job, to give you all you need. “I will make you” shows that only Jesus can do this. And that he will—this is his promise.

“Fishers”—people who will catch something. What?

“Fishers of men”—all men. Not just Jews, but Gentiles. Not just men, but women. Everyone. The entire world. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16). “Make disciples of all nations,” he commands us (Matthew 28:19). “You will be my witnesses to the uttermost parts of the earth,” he tells us (Acts 1:8).

Understand: these men knew Jesus. They had believed in him and followed him for a year. But they had not worked for him. They had not brought others to him. They had not given their lives to his service.

So he called them to be “fishers of men,” people who would bring other people into the Kingdom of God. People whose lives would influence other lives spiritually. People who would help other people follow Jesus.

And this would become the “true north” on the compass of their lives, the central purpose for which they would live, and die, and be rewarded in eternity.

Is this God’s call for your life and mine?

.

Why fish for men?

Yes. Jesus’ call to them became his charge to his entire church across all time. “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19) was his Great Commission. “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts1:8) were his last words on earth. Spiritual fishing, helping people follow Jesus, was and is his purpose for every believer.

You are not really a businessman or woman, a homemaker or lawyer or teacher or doctor or student. You are a spiritual fisherman. Your school or home or business is simply the lake where God has put you, so you can catch the spiritual fish who swim there. So you can pray for them, be a spiritual example to them, encourage them, help them with their problems, invite them to worship, lead them to faith. That’s why you live in your boat, on your lake.

You see, there is no clergy/laity distinction in the Bible. In fact, the word “clergy” is unbiblical, as is the concept. Every member is a minister; every Christian is called to Kingdom work; you are saved to serve. Spiritual fishing is God’s plan and purpose for every Christian life, yours included.

Separating this call from the congregation is one of Satan’s greatest strategies. Imagine a football team where only the coaches touched the ball, a business where only the CEO saw customers, or a hospital where only the administration treated patients. Satan knows that when he can convince you that spiritual fishing is my job and not yours, he hurts us both. I cannot do this work alone, and you cannot be fulfilled until you do.

Helping people follow Jesus is the highest purpose of life, and God’s will for your life. And God’s will is “good, acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1). When we are in God’s will, he meets all our needs according to his riches in glory through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19); his peace which passes all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7), and we can do all things through Christ who sustains and strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). There is no better or safer place in all the world to be than in the will of God.

God made us, and he alone knows what most fulfills us. He can do far more with our lives than we can. When we commit ourselves to this purpose, he rewards and uses us for all eternity.

God’s purpose will give your life its greatest purpose.

Martin Luther was an anonymous medieval priest before he started spiritual fishing. By his death he had sparked a Reformation which changed the world, translated the entire Bible, published more than 400 pamphlets and books, written 37 hymns, and printed 2,300 sermons. God’s purpose gave his life purpose.

Billy Graham was an unknown farmer’s son before he started spiritual fishing. And he has shared Christ with more than any person in Christian history. God will use him to touch Dallas this October, and your life and mine.

W. A. Criswell was a little-known preacher in Oklahoma before First Baptist Church asked him to follow George Truett. He felt he had not the stature for the call, and declined it. His wife called the church to accept for him. And thousands were touched by God through him in our city and across the world.

God can do more with your life than you can. Make his purpose yours, and I can testify personally that you’ll always be grateful you did.

How do we fish for men?

So, what does this call require of us? First, our lifestyle commitment.

In ancient Galilee, some people were fishing investors. They bought and sold licenses and gave financial support to fishing. Others were fishing employers. They owned the boats and hired the fishermen. And some were fishing practitioners. They actually caught the fish.

Jesus has enough spiritual investors and employers. He’s looking for practitioners. Spiritual fishing is 24/7, a lifestyle commitment. Not just at church but at work, at school, at home. Spiritual fishing takes commitment.

Second, spiritual fishing may require courage. Sudden squalls threatened fishermen, then and now. Jesus said we would have tribulation in this world (John 16:33). Sharing your faith, touching others spiritual, standing for God requires courage.

Third, spiritual fishing requires training. They had to know how to catch fish. In our text they used the “amphiblaistron,” a net nine feet across weighted on the perimeter which they threw from the boat. Sometimes they used the “sagainai,” the drag net behind their boats. And sometimes they used a fishing line as we do (cf. Matthew 17:27). They were trained to fish.

So we must be trained to fish for men. The same Holy Spirit who saved us will equip us. He gives us spiritual gifts to do all God asks of us, as you’ll learn in Bible study today. You must know and use your spiritual gifts, to be a spiritual fisherman.

Last, spiritual fishing requires humility.

The fisherman must be invisible to the fish, or they’ll not go near his boat. What counts is not the size of his boat, or the beauty of his equipment, but the fish he catches. This is the only measure of success.

So with spiritual fishing. The Master does not measure our success as we do. Not by how many fishermen we can get to join us for discussions of fishing, or how beautiful our boat is, or how advanced our equipment. Not by your status on your lake, or how many boats you own, or how many fishermen you employ. By how many fish you catch. Humility is crucial to spiritual fishing.

How do you measure success?

Conclusion

Make God’s purpose yours and you’ll avoid the Chihuahuas which will eat away your heart and soul, fulfillment and significance. And you’ll share the greatest miracle in all of life.

We celebrated with Bryan and Kerri Stone in the dedication of their son Turner to the Lord. Last week they shared with me their son’s story. Kerri has a rare physical condition which has made her completely unable to conceive a child—there were absolutely no medical options. But God gave them Turner anyway. Their doctor has written them a letter testifying to the miracle that is their child.

If Jesus is your Lord, you are the child of God. And God has written a letter testifying to the miracle that you are his child. The miracle that he could forgive all your sins, save your soul from hell, and give you eternity in his glorious heaven.

Imagine standing by someone in heaven who is there because of you. Because you were a spiritual fisherman. Because you made God’s purpose yours.

Will it happen? That’s up to you.

Defeating Your Dragon

Written by

Defeating Your Dragon

Revelation 12:1-9

Dr. Jim Denison

A woman rubbed a magic lamp, and out popped a genie. The amazed woman asked if she got three wishes. The genie was indignant: “Three-wish genies are a storybook myth. I’m a one-wish genie. So, what will it be?”

The woman did not hesitate: “I want peace in the Middle East. See this map? I want these countries to stop fighting with each other and I want the Arabs and Jews and Sunnis and Shiites to get along. I want world peace and harmony.”

The genie looked at the map and complained, “Lady, please be reasonable. These countries have been at war for thousands of years. I’m out of shape after being in a bottle for 500 years. I’m good, but not that good. I don’t think it can be done. Please make another wish, and make it reasonable.”

The woman thought for a moment and said, “Well, I’ve never been able to find the right man. You know–one that’s considerate and fun, likes to cook and help with the house cleaning, gets along with my family, doesn’t watch sports all the time. That is what I wish for–a good man.”

The genie let out a sigh and said, “Let me see the map again.”

The genie is right: there have been wars since history began.

This Memorial Day weekend we pause to remember with tremendous gratitude those who have died serving our country in those wars.

And in worship, we remember that we are in a war as well. Not in Iraq or Afghanistan or Palestine, but in our souls. There is a spiritual war which has been going on since time began. You’re right in the middle of it this morning.

Knowing that fact will help you understand why you face the battles, temptations, and struggles you do. Learning how to win this battle is crucial to finding the abundant life of Jesus, the joy of the Lord, the power of the Spirit, the victory you are intended to experience every day. So let’s watch the battle of the ages unfold, and learn how to make its victory ours.

Know that you win

So far in Revelation we’ve focused on Jesus as he truly is. In contrast to The Da Vinci Code’s human prophet, we have watched him rule the universe from his throne, open the word of God with his power, and receive the worship of heaven and all eternity. Now we watch his enemy and ours stride on the stage of heaven and history.

“A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven” (Revelation 12:1a). “Sign” is used in the Bible to warn us that something of cataclysmic importance is about to happen.

Here it is: “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head” (v. 1b). “Clothed with the sun” is a reference to divine favor and blessing; “the moon under her feet” shows that she has been raised and exalted by God. The “twelve stars” most likely refer to the twelve tribes of Israel and/or the twelve signs of the Zodiac, indicating that she is crowned by the One who rules the nations and the universe.

Some think this image refers to the believing community which anticipated the Messiah, or the early Christian movement. The more obvious reference is to Mary and Herod’s attempt to murder her family. Whichever we choose, here we learn that God’s people are protected by his purpose and power.

“Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads” (v. 3). The “dragon” is a typical symbol of Satan in the Old Testament and ancient literature (cf. Isaiah 51:9). “Seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns” symbolize great knowledge, power, and authority. This dragon did his best to devour the Child of God, but he was defeated (v. 5).

Defeated on earth, and in heaven. Michael cast him from heaven’s glory to his eventual doom. As he was defeated in Revelation 12, so he will finally be destroyed in Revelation 20:10: “the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

I saw a t-shirt which conveyed some excellent theology: “The next time Satan reminds you of your past, remind him of his future.” He loses and we win–this is the promise of God. Now, how does this battle relate to your battles today?

Defeat your enemy today

C. S. Lewis once suggested that we make two mistakes regarding the devil. One is to give him more authority than he deserves–then he can do what he wants. The other is to deny that he exists–then he can do what he wants. People today typically think of Satan as a symbol of evil, wearing red tights and a tail, the stuff of Saturday cartoons. He’s just as happy to be ignored as to be feared.

But it’s impossible to ignore his work–broken hearts and homes, abuse, disease and immorality. In some places in America, the worship of Satan is growing ten times faster than any Christian church. In recent years, the Satanic Bible has outsold the Holy Bible in many university bookstores.

How are we to do battle with Satan today?

First, know your enemy. Jesus described his nature and agenda in frightening detail (John 8:42-47).

Satan wants to control us. He claims ownership over every unsaved soul. Jesus referred to his enemies as children of their Satanic “father” (v. 44). He is the “god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4), the “prince of this world” (John 12:31). Christians live in a world dominated by the devil. We are soldiers stationed on enemy soil, living in an occupied country.

The devil wants to manipulate us. He blinds our minds to the truth, for he is “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). This is why the person who has not received the Holy Spirit cannot understand the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:14). From the Garden of Eden to Jesus’ wilderness temptations to the present, he manipulates truth to lead us astray.

Satan wants to destroy us. He is a “murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44). He is a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). He wants nothing less than the wholesale destruction of the human race and especially the people of God. To wage his war, Satan rules demons–fallen angels which serve as his minions and foot soldiers in his ongoing war against the Lord and his children.

Know your enemy: he wants to own us, deceive us, and destroy us.

Second, expect to be attacked. Lions roar only when they are about to attack their prey. Expect to be tempted and tested. If Jesus is your Lord, Satan has lost your soul. But he will stop at nothing to steal your ministry, lest he lose others to your faith. You have a target painted on your back. If you and Satan are not in conflict, that can only mean that he’s pleased with your spiritual life and health today. Expect him to attack you this week.

Third, resist him in God’s strength.

Satan is real, but he is also defeated. Jesus came to earth to destroy the devil’s work (1 John 3:8). When our Lord died on the cross, sin died. When he rose from the grave, the grave lost. One day Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire, to be tormented day and night for all time (Revelation 20:10). Satan will not reign in hell–he will be punished there, forever.

So “submit yourselves to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). The moment you are tempted, submit the issue to God and choose to resist: “Do not give the devil a foothold” (Ephesians 4:27). It will never be easier to refuse sin than when it first appears in your mind or heart.

And claim your victory in God’s power. Your Father promises that he will allow no temptation without giving you the strength to defeat it (1 Corinthians 10:13). The moment the enemy appears in your life, stand on that promise. Assume the victory which it promises.

Last, if you fall, get back up. Go to your Father for forgiveness, grace, and victory.

Remember that Peter failed Jesus three times during his trials and death, but then won the great victory of Pentecost a few weeks later and helped lead the charge against the gates of hell. Saul of Tarsus helped to murder Christians before he led the Christian army to global victory.

If you have allowed yourself to be trapped by habitual sin, turn to Jesus now. If you have hurt your Heavenly Father or his children by lies, slander, or gossip, confess them now. If you have been away from your Lord’s presence, return to it now. It will never be easier to come back to God than it is today. Every step into the enemy’s territory makes a longer journey home. Start back now.

Conclusion

Where has the dragon found you? What temptation has he whispered in your ear lately? What gossip or slander or malice does he want you to speak against one of God’s children? What bitterness or unforgiven wrong does he want you to cherish in your heart? What desire for power and prestige has he birthed in your mind? What lust has he enflamed in your spirit?

The fact that you’re tempted and tested just makes you human. Join the crowd. We’re all in this battle. You’ve done nothing wrong. In fact, if you belong to Jesus you’ve done something very right, and Satan hates you for it. I used to think that temptation meant I was a bad Christian. In fact, it means that I’m strong enough in my faith to threaten the enemy. He would leave me alone if my faith and service didn’t bother him. Be glad that he considers you a threat.

But know that this battle is deadly serious. The dragon wants to control you, manipulate you, and destroy you. Our postmodern, relativistic society claims there is no absolute truth or objective right and wrong–so long as you don’t hurt anyone else, you’re free to do as you want. That’s a lie. You’re being attacked by the enemy of all that is good. The same evil which crucified Jesus is after you. Gossip destroys reputations; bitterness poisons hearts; power and pride corrupts our minds; lust kills homes and marriages and ministries.

So take your enemy’s temptations immediately to Jesus. Refuse the self-reliance of our culture, for you cannot outsmart or outduel this dragon. You don’t have his experience and power, but Jesus does. Michael has defeated him, and the risen and returning Jesus will one day destroy him. You cannot win this battle, but he already has.

Refuse to give up, for the victory belongs to your Father and his children. As I was finishing this message, the Holy Spirit reminded me of a story I first heard and told years ago. It’s about a garage sale in hell.

All of Satan’s tools were on display. Murder, anger, lust, lies, slander–they were all there, labeled and priced. At the end of the long table was an unnamed tool, more worn with use than any other. Its price was much higher than anything else on display.

Someone asked the devil what it was. “Discouragement” was his answer. “Why is it priced so high?” “Because no one knows it’s mine.”

Now you do.

Defined By A Cause

Written by

Defined By a Cause

Isaiah 54.1-3

Dr. Jim Denison

The young preacher was shouted down. He had dared to suggest that the ministers in Nottingham, England discuss “The Duty of Christians to Attempt the Spread of the Gospel Among Heathen Nations.” The moderator of the meeting was greatly agitated: “Young man, sit down. When God pleases to convert the heathen, he will do it without your aid or mine.”

But William Carey would not be quieted. On May 31, 1792, at a Baptist ministers’ meeting in England, he preached the most famous missions sermon of all time. Taking today’s text as his, his message was titled “Expect Great Things From God; Attempt Great Things For God”.

Within five months, on October 2, 1792, twelve of those who heard him that day had formed the Baptist Missionary Society of England. They began work to send Carey to India. And thus began the Modern Missions Movement which has circled the globe with the good news that our Creator loves us all.

We want our lives to matter. And so we engrave our initials on tree trunks and our children’s initials in wet cement. We affix our names to plaques on walls and buildings. We name streets and cities and stadiums for each other. We want to outlive ourselves. We want to leave a legacy, to be significant. Each of us wants to believe that this tiny planet and our brief lives on it are not all there is, that there is something more, something permanent, something eternal. We want our lives to be defined by a cause which matters.

All this month we are learning how to live for that cause. Today we’ll learn from a short, squat English cobbler whose faith and faithfulness changed the world.

Join the battle (v. 1)

I bring you shocking news today: “One month after their gay wedding shocked the world: Saddam and Osama adopt shaved ape baby.” The Weekly World News for November 4 says it’s true. And it adds this story: “Found: Hair from God’s beard! DNA tests prove it’s for real.” I didn’t bother reading the article, so that’s all I can tell you.

You are no less incredulous than the readers of our text today. Such news is no less outlandish, farfetched, and ridiculous. Here is Judah enslaved in the deserts of Babylon, Iraq to us. Their temple is rubble, their traditions shredded, their homeland ruined, they, themselves, captives to cursed pagans.

They are “barren,” unable to conceive a child. Worse, it is as though they “never bore a child.” Still worse, they are “desolate,” with no husband and no hope for one.

And so they have no child and no ability to conceive one. They can give birth to no future. Their hopes will die with them. They can have no tomorrow, no dawn on the horizon, no morning to the nightmare from which they cannot awake.

Theirs is a land without spiritual hope, a place of desolation lost to the love of God. And yet they are to “burst into song” and “shout for joy” because theirs will be more “children” than those who have husbands. In a place with no future, theirs is the brightest future of all.

Many still call Texas the “buckle of the Bible belt.” Why must we be concerned with missions in such a place? Because if such a belt ever existed, and if we ever served to anchor it in place, it is no longer so. We now live and serve in a spiritual Babylon.

8.5 million of our 17 million residents are spiritually lost. This is a number greater than the total population of 42 states in America and 52 foreign countries. Only 15 percent of our Texas Baptist churches are growing, and 85 percent of that growth is from our own children or other churches. Less than 1 percent of our churches are growing primarily through evangelism.

How many spiritual children have you borne this year? To what degree is your soul “barren” and “desolate”?

Look from our state to our globe. See a line stretching around it thirty times, spanning some 750,000 miles, growing 20 miles every day. It is the lost of our world, standing side by side.

We are called to them. We are called to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations,” of each person in that line. We are called to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth, to be his ambassadors to our neighbors and the nations.

Tuesday is Veterans’ Day. This week we remember with undying gratitude those men and women who have served each of us as they served all of us. As they fought for us, sacrificed family and future, plans and dreams for the greater cause of freedom. They know what it is for their decisions and lives to be defined by a cause.

In the spiritual warfare raging in our homes, our communities, our nation, our world, how many of us are veterans? How many of us are defined by this cause?

Attempt great things for God (vs. 1b-2)

We have heard the bad news: the world is lost in the darkness of sin, and each of us is responsible for bearing the light to that darkness. Here’s the good news: when we attempt great things for God, we can expect great things from God. Our lives can matter. Our work can achieve significance. Our days can affect eternity. Our gifts and abilities can change souls forever. The “desolate woman” can have more children than she “who has a husband” (v. 1b). There is hope—great hope. What are we to do?

Give generously: “Enlarge the place of your tent.” Make it bigger, and broader, and higher, and longer, so more can come in. Such enlarging takes material, substance, money. It costs to do this. And so we give what is required, sacrificially and generously.

On January 9, 1793, the Baptist Missionary Society took its first offering, in William Carey’s snuff box, to send Carey to India. It was not much, but it was enough to get him across the ocean and to the need. Without that offering, no missions movement could have been possible, then or now.

Today we give for exactly the same reason. Our unified missions offering supports 10,688 full-time missionaries, and multiplied thousands more in other roles. It helps to get the gospel to more than 120 countries. Last year alone, it supported ministries which led 451,030 people to Jesus.

But missions takes money, more than ever before. So we give generously. What will you give this year?

Love greatly: “Stretch your tent curtains wide.” Open your tent to let others inside. Bring others with you to your Lord. Love them to your God.

The ministers of Nottingham in 1791 considered the heathen to be God’s problem. Their concern was not the souls of others, but the status of their own churches. They wanted not to give to others, but to themselves. They had nothing of God’s love for the world. So the world knew nothing about his love.

Not so with William Carey. He braved swamps swarming with alligators, tigers which threatened to eat him alive, poisonous cobras, malaria, dysentery, and cholera. He went to the world, because he had the love of God on his heart.

We will give and pray and go to the degree that we love. Who will know God’s love because of you this week?

Go sacrificially: “Do not hold back.”

Following God to India cost William Carey the death of his five-year-old son, Peter, from dysentery in their first year. His wife Dorothy never recovered from the blow, and suffered depression and mental illness to the day of her death. His missionary partner, John Thomas, deserted him. His supporters in England began to question his integrity. His son, Felix, died in the years to come, as did his second wife. But through it all, he committed himself sacrificially to God’s call to his field, his mission.

What has it cost you to share God’s love with yours?

Serve expectantly: “Lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.”

Carey said to his fledgling mission society: “Yonder in India is a gold mine. I will descend and dig, but you at home must hold the ropes.” And they did, expecting that God would use them together to change the world.

Lengthen the cords, because more are coming. Strengthen the stakes, because more are at hand. Believe God will use your life beyond your ability to predict or measure. What are you hoping God will do with you this week?

Expect great things from God (v. 3)

In other words, expect great things from God: “You will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities” (v. 3). We will take the world. We’ll take the hope of Christ to all those who are spiritually “desolate,” until they know our God. When you attempt great things for God, then and only then can you expect great things from him.

When Carey arrived in India, he found women sacrificing their children to the Ganges River which they worshipped. Widows were burned along with the bodies of their dead husbands. Lepers were murdered. The nation knew nothing of the love of Jesus and the light of heaven.

The English cobbler translated the entire Bible into six languages and parts of Scripture into 29 others. He founded a mission in India which continues today, and a college which enrolls more than 2,500 students. He brought about reforms of great significance in their society. And God used him to begin a missions movement which continues today and has done more to reach the world than any such movement in all of Christian history.

Within 12 years of the founding of William Carey’s Baptist Missionary Society, five other such societies began. In 1814 the Baptists of America began what is today the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Today 40,000 career Protestant missionaries go to every part of the globe. And more than 48,000 missionaries come from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Historians trace the Modern Missions Movement to one English shoe cobbler and his sermon from our text.

Today 3,500 new churches are born every week around the globe. Some 28,000 persons convert to Christianity every day in Communist China. As many Africans come to Christ each day. South Korea is 30% Christian; Indonesia, officially a Muslim country, is 25% Christian. Missionaries are going where missionaries have never gone in history. God is continuing the “great things” he began in a new way with William Carey. You can “expect great things” from God.

But only if you will “attempt great things” for him. Jeff Lewis challenged us last week to understand that God has called each of us to minister to the nations, starting where we are with those we know. Where will you begin? Where is your India?

Conclusion

It was my privilege to preach recently at the centennial meeting of the Dallas Baptist Association alongside my friend, Dr. Mac Brunson, the pastor of First Baptist Church in our city. In his message, Dr. Brunson made this penetrating statement: “The greatest problem in our churches is not the sin of omission, or the sin of commission, but the sin of no mission.” Don’t commit that sin today.

Where is your mission? What is your field? Who is your India? What great things will you attempt to take Christ there?

I was privileged to preach the Word again in Cuba a week ago. When our team left the farm outside Camaguey where our pastors’ conference was concluding, I witnessed a scene I will never forget. As we drove away in our air-conditioned Mercedes van, open-bed diesel trucks began to arrive. They had boards on the sides, and no seats. I watched as pastors helped their wives and luggage onto those trucks, so they could ride standing up in the diesel fumes, the dust of their dirt roads, the 90-degree heat and humidity, for four or five or six hours to go to their fields of service.

What will you do to go to yours?

Defrosting the Refrigerator

Written by

Defrosting the Refrigerator

Romans 8:3-4

James C. Denison

It’s January, so everyone must be on a diet. Time magazine reports on the latest fads.

One aims at men who eat at fast-food restaurants, and tells us to eat a Big Mac (540 calories), not a Whopper (760 calories). I could stay on that diet. One says to eat small meals all day; another says to eat only three meals and no snacks. I want one which says to eat big meals all day long. One says to eat fruits, grains, and veggies; another says to eat meat, poultry, fish and cheese. One says to avoid all coffee, diet drinks and artificial sweeteners; another says to drink tea all day long.

I’m announcing today my answer to the diet confusion. It’s called the Cancellation Diet: Diet Dr. Pepper cancels Butterfingers; carrots cancel chocolate cake; you can eat chicken fried steak so long as you have broccoli somewhere on the table. I expect to make a fortune, most of which will go to my cardiologist.

Exercise more, eat less, lose weight, get organized, take time to smell the roses, slow down, keep it simple. But not much changes day to day, year to year, does it? There are wars and rumors of war; the stock market goes up and it goes down; babies are born and people die. And the problems which follow us around day by day don’t seem to go away.

Are you facing the same temptations this year as last, the same struggles and doubts and feelings of inadequacy? We come to worship and go to Sunday school and give and read and pray, but what really changes? Leonard Bernstein spoke for most of us:

What I say I don’t feel

What I feel I don’t show

What I show isn’t real

What is real, Lord–I don’t know. . . .

Why I drift off to sleep

With pledges of deep resolve again,

Then along comes the day

And suddenly they dissolve again–

I don’t know. . . .

What I need I don’t have

What I have I don’t own

What I own I don’t want

What I want, Lord, I don’t know.

Here’s the good news: there’s a way off the treadmill to nowhere, the constant struggle and strain against brokenness and discouragement and temptation you and I face every morning of every day.

There’s a way to joy and peace and victory over our fallen lives. God has made us to be “more than conquerors through him who loved us” (v. 37). More than conquerors, every day. More than conquerors over every temptation and struggle we face. No exceptions, nothing outside the power of God’s Spirit in our lives. That is his promise and purpose for us.

Last week we learned that grace is greater than guilt. This week we learn that the Spirit is greater than sin. All sin, any sin, your worst sins, your greatest temptations to sin. There’s a simple step waiting for you, a step into spiritual hope and victory. But you must take it today.

Give up

My college apartment made the yearbook as the messiest on campus. This was an award for which there was much competition; my roommates and I were deeply honored. What won the prize for us was our refrigerator. Not just the part crammed with leftover Chinese food and outdated milk and empty ketchup bottles. The freezer was the piece de resistance. It had been made years before self-defrosting devices were invented, and required regular defrosting by its users. Of course, we would never have thought to do such a thing. So the usable space shrank smaller and smaller while the frost and ice grew thicker and thicker, until our icebox was literally that.

My soul behaves in the same way, and so does yours. It fills with frustrations and disappointments and failures and sins until the usable space gets so small that I must do something about it. So I do.

I get up and read the Bible each morning, in a schedule I’ve been following for years. I read from some devotional literature I appreciate, then spend time in prayer. I confess my sins and ask God’s forgiveness. I plan to do better today. I head out into the day to serve God. To love him with all my heart and soul and mind and strength, and to love you as myself.

Except that all my defrosting doesn’t keep the ice at bay for long. The reason is that it can’t. Our text begins: “For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature . . .”

The “law” here is the Torah, the Jewish law containing the Ten Commandments and all the regulations applying them to our lives. There was nothing wrong with the law. If we could keep the Ten Commandments perfectly, all would be well. We would never be broken in our relationship with God or others. But we can’t, because of our “sinful nature.” The fact that we are prone to sin, that we want to sin, that sin is an ever-present pull and power living inside us.

But we don’t like to hear that. We think that we’re good people who sometimes do bad things, not bad people who sometimes do good things. So we try harder to do better. That’s how our culture solves problems–get up earlier, stay up later, work longer. Do more to please God and defeat sin and be good.

Work hard to be the people we want to be. Struggle and strive and strain. Do all you can and then do some more. How’s that working for you?

Henri Nouwen has been reading our mail and our minds:

“One of the most obvious characteristics of our daily lives is that we are busy. We experience our lives as filled with things to do, people to meet, projects to finish, letters to write, calls to make, and appointments to keep. Our lives often seem like over-packed suitcases bursting at the seams. In fact, we are almost always aware of being behind schedule. There is a nagging sense that there are unfinished tasks, unfulfilled promises, unrealized proposals. There is always something else that we should have remembered, done, or said. There are always people we did not speak to, write to, or visit. Thus, although we are very busy, we have a lingering feeling of never really fulfilling our obligations. The strange thing, however, is that it is very hard not to be busy. Being busy has become a status symbol. . . .

“Beneath our worrying lives, however, something else is going on. While our minds and hearts are filled with many things, and we wonder how we can live up to the expectations imposed upon us by ourselves and others, we have a deep sense of unfulfillment. While busy with and worried about many things, we seldom feel truly satisfied, at peace, at home. A gnawing sense of being unfulfilled underlies our filled lives…The great paradox of our time is that many of us are busy and bored at the same time. While running from one event to the next, we wonder in our innermost selves if anything is really happening. While we can hardly keep up with our many tasks and obligations, we are not so sure that it would make any difference if we did nothing at all. While people keep pushing us in all directions, we doubt if anyone really cares. In short, while our lives are full, we are unfulfilled” (Making All Things New: An Invitation to the Spiritual Life).

The time has come to abandon the effort and get a new freezer. To trade in the one which cannot be fixed for one which never breaks. To stop our religious efforts and busyness and performance. To give up, and then to look up.

Look up

Here’s God’s answer to our dilemma: “God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man” (v. 3).

Jesus’ death was the Father’s idea, his plan. I used to picture God as angry and wrathful, and Jesus as loving and kind. When Janet and I started dating, her father had every right to be suspicious about me. If he hated me but Janet liked me and made him accept me for her sake, that would be the way I thought God felt about me.

Except that the Bible says, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (John 3:16). The Scriptures tell us that “the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion” (Isaiah 30:18). God sent his Son. He thinks you’re worth the excruciating death of his Son on your cross.

So he sent him “to be a sin offering.” The “sin offering” is mentioned 25 times in the book of Leviticus. It was a sacrifice made for our sins, both conscious and unconscious. All the sins you know you’ve committed, and all you don’t, are covered.

Those things which keep you from God are now removed forever. They are “condemned,” marked for destruction. This is past tense in the Greek: “he condemned sin in sinful man.” This is a completed action. When Jesus died, our sin died with him.

Now “the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit” (v. 4). Now we can fulfill the purpose God intended for his law all along.

It’s still best for us to keep the word and will of God. Imagine a society where everyone lived by the Ten Commandments. The Spirit of God enables us to fulfill the word of God. The fruit of the Spirit–love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gaatians 5:22-23)–fulfill the Ten Commandments and law of God.

This is what the Spirit produces in every life he controls. This is what he did fully in Jesus, and to a lesser extent in John and James and Peter and Priscilla and Aquilla and Phoebe and the rest of the apostolic leaders. This is what he wants to do in us. He wants to liberate us from our sinful nature, to empower us in defeating temptation whenever it attacks, to replace our old freezer with his new model.

But the choice is ours. We can live according to our sinful nature, or we can live “according to the Spirit.” How do we do this? The way Jesus did it. We’ll say much more about this next week, but for now let’s remember Jesus’ habit every time Satan and temptation attacked him. He went to God, praying to start the day and end the day and all through the day. He went to the word of God, as when he quoted Scripture in defeating Satan’s wilderness temptations. He went to the people of God, as when he asked his disciples to pray with him during his Gethsemane trials. He stayed connected with his Father by his Spirit, all day long. And so he had the power of God to win the victory of God, all day long.

Conclusion

To win the battle over temptation and sin, you and I must give up and then look up. Stop trying to defeat Satan in your resolve. Stop fighting with your weapons. Lay them down. Give up and look up. Surrender everything to him–your problems and struggles, your plans and dreams, your hopes and fears.

The Great Physician cannot restore you to health unless he can treat every part of your life–the pain you feel and the diseases you don’t. Stop. Yield. Let him do whatever he wants with you, whenever and wherever he wishes. Start the day by giving it to him. Walk through the day by giving it to him. Stop trying to become what you think you should be, and rest in him. Let him do what he wants with you. And know that it will be better than you could have imagined.

St. John of the Cross was a Spanish mystic who died in 1591. His wisdom on living in the Spirit and peace of Jesus has been used by God for more than four centuries. Consider this advice:

To reach satisfaction in all, desire its possession in nothing.

To come to possess all, desire the possession of nothing.

To arrive at being all, desire to be nothing.

To come to the knowledge of all, desire the knowledge of nothing.

To come to the pleasure you have not, you must go by a way in which you enjoy not.

To come to the knowledge you have not, you must go by a way in which you know not.

To come to the possession you have not, you must go by a way in which you possess not.

To come to be what you are not, you must go by a way in which you are not.

When you turn toward something, you cease to cast yourself upon the all.

When you come to the possession of the all, you must possess it without wanting anything.

Because if you desire to have something in all, your treasure in God is not purely your all.

Is God “purely your all” today?

Demons and the Power of God

Written by

Demons and the Power of God

Mark 9:14-29

Dr. Jim Denison

When I graduated from high school I made plans to attend Baylor University, as all good Baptist boys do. But then my girlfriend and I broke up; she was going to Baylor, so I couldn’t go there after that. Houston Baptist University offered me an academic scholarship, so I went to HBU. My junior year I met Janet, and the rest is history.

At HBU each student was issued an identification number he or she would use through the year. It was given at chapel to register attendance, and put on forms and papers. Registering for my junior year at HBU, as I was standing in line for my ID number, the thought occurred to me that someone at Houston Baptist University would get the number 666—the “mark of the Beast.” The movie Omen had just come out that summer, and everyone was talking about 666. I had taught the Book of Revelation at the church where I was a student minister, and was thinking about all of this.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn’t notice when the student in front of me in line was given the ID number 665. But I’ll never forget the shock when the lady at the desk smiled and said, “Denison—666.” I wanted to run out to see if I’d grown horns and a tail. Going to chapel I’d say, “Mark of the Beast,” and the lady would write down “666” while everyone stared.

Last week we began exploring one of Jesus’ most amazing miracles, an episode where he responded to the faith of a father by healing his demon-possessed son. Last Sunday we discussed faith and the power of God; today we’ll look at demons and the power of God. Next week Janet will speak while I’m out of town; the week after we’ll finish this story by exploring prayer and the power of God.

What is spiritual warfare?

First, let me introduce you to the subject of spiritual warfare. An African proverb says, “When elephants fight, the grass always loses.” Who are the “elephants” in the spiritual battle we’re waging? And who is the “grass”?

On one side is our Heavenly Father, the Creator and Ruler of the universe, the Lord of all that is. Our God, who so loved us that he sent his Son to give us eternal life with him in heaven.

On the other side is Satan. His name means “adversary” or accuser. All across the Scriptures he acts in defiance of God’s word and will. He tempted Jesus, and tempts us as well. We are the “grass” in his battle against the Lord. And so the Bible warns us, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5.8).

According to the Bible, a “demon” is a created spirit being, a kind of angel. These beings sinned with Satan in heaven, and so are commonly called “fallen angels” or “unclean spirits.” Satan is now their ruler (Matthew 12:24), and he has organized them into his army of evil (Ephesians 6:11-12). God created hell for them, and they will be there with Satan forever: “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41).

Their doom is sure. Revelation sees the day when “the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Rev. 20:10).

But in the meanwhile Satan is fighting for every soul he can bring to hell and damnation with him. And his foot soldiers are his demons. We need to know about them, because they’re after us.

What are demons?

As we saw last week, our story comes just after Jesus’ transfiguration before Peter, James and John. He came from the Mount of Transfiguration to the valley of suffering below, where he was met by a distraught father whose son was possessed by a demon. What does our text tell us about demons?

First, they are very real. Most Americans don’t believe they exist. Most Americans are deceived.

Demons were real to Jesus. Six times in the gospels we find him casting them out of suffering, demon-possessed people. Mark 1:34 says that Jesus “drove out many demons.”

They were real to the early Christians. Acts 5:16 records this scene from their ministry: “Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.” Peter and Paul both exorcised demons personally.

And they were certainly real to the boy in our story today, weren’t they?

Second, demons seek to destroy. The demon in our text robbed the boy of speech; it threw him to the ground where he foamed at the mouth, gnashed his teeth and became rigid. The boy’s father told Jesus that “it has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him”

Third, demons are stronger than we are. The man told Jesus, “I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not” (v. 18). In the story of the demon-possessed man of Gadara, no one could bind him with a chain.

Last, demons want to hurt us. They hate all people, so that they came to possess and tried to kill this innocent boy. They especially hate the people of God. They cannot harm our Father, so they try to harm his children.

Know that if you are a Christian, you cannot be “possessed” by a demon. You are owned by Jesus, and cannot be owned by the devil. But you can be “oppressed” or tempted by them.

How do we defeat demons?

First, receive Jesus. Make him your Savior and Lord. As he defeated this demon, so he has power over Satan and his temptations always. Make him your Lord, and he will help you win the battle over temptation and sin every day.

Next, recognize temptation. When sin knocks at your door, demons are hiding behind it. And that sin will always take you further than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and cost you more than you wanted to pay. Know that every sin is part of a demonic strategy to ruin your witness and life.

Third, run to the Spirit. Every time you are tempted, go immediately to the Spirit for his help. Don’t try to win this battle on your own, because you cannot.

There is no sin you have to commit. 1 Corinthians 10:13 promises that God will not allow a temptation in your life which you cannot overcome in his strength. There is no sin which you must commit.

But there is no sin you can defeat without his help. James 4:7-8 is God’s antidote to temptation: “Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.” Submit to God’s Spirit—be filled and empowered every day by him—then resist the devil with his strength and help.

When you’re being attacked by temptation, take it immediately to the Spirit. Ask for his help, wisdom, and strength. And it will be yours.

More than 20 years ago, I taught an apologetics course at Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas to a group of college students home for the summer. One of them was especially unusual. She wore occult clothes and jewelry, and looked angrily at me each week as I spoke. After our next-to-last session, she asked if she could talk with me the next week before the last session began. I was happy to meet with her, and asked the college minister to join us.

That week, my car broke down on the way to the church. It was the only time all the time I owned it that it had mechanical failure. I barely got to the church.

She wasn’t there. But just as the last session ended, she came into the back of the room. She came up afterwards to apologize—family friends arrived at their house uninvited and unexpected, and she had to stay. Finally she made excuses and slipped out to come to the church.

So she, the college minister and I met in his office together. She told me her story: she had grown up around church but had never become a Christian. When she went off to college, she became involved with a group of people who “channeled spirits.” They taught her to pray to the various “spirits,” asking them to take control of her life. Her personal spirit was “Isis,” one of the Egyptian pagan deities.

Now she wanted Isis to leave her, and wanted to give her life to Jesus. So we took hands together and prayed. As I prayed for her, her hands trembled and she cried out, “He’s tearing at me—he’s hurting me.” The college minister and I continued to pray, and in a moment her hands calmed.

She asked Jesus to forgive her sins and become her Savior, to replace Isis in her soul and become her Lord. And he did. When we opened our eyes, we found a new person with us. Her face was completely different. She took off her occult jewelry and handed it to me to throw away. She had the joy of Jesus.

I didn’t hear from her again, but one of the staff members of the church did. A few years ago he told me that she had married a minister and was now a pastor’s wife. Scripture is right: “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

Conclusion

Let me close by warning us again: sin will always take you further than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and cost you more than you wanted to pay. Always. So take temptation immediately to the only One who can defeat it. And his victory will be yours.

A few years ago, National Geographic told the story of a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park. After the fire was out, forest rangers began to assess the damage. One found a bird literally petrified by ashes, perched on the ground at the base of a tree. The ranger pushed over the bird gently with a stick. When he did, three tiny chicks ran out from under their dead mother’s wings.

This mother, aware of impending disaster, sheltered them under her body and wings, knowing somehow that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety, but she refused to abandon her babies. When the fire arrived and its heat scorched her small body, she remained unmoved. Because she was willing to die, those under her wings would live.

Get under Jesus’ wings. Every time the temptations and sin of Satan’s demons attack. And the victory is yours. This is the promise of God.

Demons and the War for Our Souls

Written by

Demons and the War for Our Souls

Revelation 12:10-17

Dr. Jim Denison

This Tuesday we will observe an ominous day, not to be repeated for a hundred years. It will be June 6 in the year 2006; by numeric identification, the date will be 6-6-6. The number brings back bad memories.

My junior year at Houston Baptist University, I was standing in line to receive my student ID card. I had been teaching the Book of Revelation where I was youth minister, and was aware that 666 is the “mark of the beast” in Revelation 13. I was struck by the amusing thought that someone at Houston Baptist University would that year receive the ID number 666. He or she would have to give that number at chapel for attendance, write it on multiple forms, and use it all year long. I paid no attention as the person in front of me was given the ID number 665. But I’ll not forget the shock on hearing “Denison: 666.” I wanted to run out to see if I’d grown horns and a tail. Going to chapel, I’d call out “mark of the beast,” the person would write down 666, and everyone would stare. This fact may confirm questions you’ve had about me all along.

It didn’t help that the movie “The Omen” came out that year. It was all about Damien, the Antichrist, and the 666 tattooed on his scalp. Now the movie has been remade and will be released this Tuesday, on 6-6-06. I don’t think I’ll go.

The movie is fiction, but the battle is real. We have rejoiced in worship that we will spend eternity in paradise. But we’re not there yet. We’re in that era between D-Day and V-Day. At Christmas, the One who brings victory landed on the shores of Normandy. This was the beginning of the end. But 15,000 soldiers died on the Western Front between D-Day and V-Day. Ironically, D-Day was June 6, 1944, observed this Tuesday. V-Day in Europe was May 8, 1945. If the Allies had not continued to fight for the eleven months between the two, the victory would not have been won.

Until we get to heaven, we must do battle on earth. You’re in the conflict this morning. There are Nazi spies all around you. At least one is assigned to you today. How are you being attacked? Are you battling discouragement, gossip, lust, anger, hatred, bitterness, guilt, despair? We all are. We’re all in the same conflict. How will you win the victory?

Understand your battle

An African proverb says, “When elephants fight, the grass always loses.” In the realm of spiritual warfare, Christians are the “grass”: “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).

In our text we find this battle enacted through remarkable and powerful language. On one side of the battle stands our Heavenly Father, the Creator and Ruler of the universe, the Lord of all that is. Our God who so loved us that he sent his Son to give us eternal life with him in heaven.

On the other stands “the accuser of our brothers,” Satan himself (Revelation 12:10). His very name means “accuser.” He is “filled with fury” that he has been defeated in heaven, so he has brought his battle to “the earth and the sea” (v. 12), to you and me.

He “pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child” (v. 13), a reference to the believing community, or Mary and her persecution under Herod, or both. But she was protected from the serpent. So he “went off to make war against the rest of her offspring–those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus” (v. 17). That’s you and me. We are the “grass” in his battle against the Lord.

And so God warns us, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). His foot soldiers are his demons. We need to know about them, because they’re after us. They are the means by which the dragon has come to “make war” against you and me today.

According to the Bible, a “demon” is a created spirit being, a kind of angel. These beings sinned with Satan in heaven, and so are commonly called “fallen angels” or “unclean spirits.”

Satan is now their ruler (Matthew 12:24), and he has organized them into his army of evil (Ephesians 6:11-12). God created hell for them, where they will be with Satan forever: “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).

You are engaged in a battle with demons today. They are the soldiers of the enemy in the battle for our souls and world. They are attacking you and me right now.

Know your enemy

The Bible teaches five important facts about demons. First, demons are real. Most Americans don’t believe they exist. Most Americans are deceived.

Demons were real to Jesus. Six times in the gospels we find him casting them out of suffering, demon-possessed people. Mark 1:34 says that Jesus “drove out many demons.”

They were real to the early Christians. Acts 5:16 records this scene from their ministry: “Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.” Peter and Paul both exorcised demons personally.

Second, demons are evil and unclean. The Bible often calls them “evil” or “unclean” spirits. Demons are filthy, both physically and morally. Wherever you see demonism you find filth, rubbish, and sin. It’s no accident that with the rise of Satanism and the occult in America we also have the rise of drug abuse, pornography, child abuse, perversion, and obscenity.

Third, demons are stronger than we are. In Mark 5 we meet a demon-possessed man, so strong that men could not bind him even with chains (vs. 3-4). Fragments of their attempts lay all around the tombs where he lived, stark reminders of the impotence of human ability against the forces of darkness. We cannot defeat their temptations in our ability. But we don’t have to.

Fourth, demons always seek to destroy. We read of the demoniac in Mark 5, “Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones” (v. 5). Imagine the scars running over his body, the blood caked on his filthy clothes and in his matted hair, the wild eyes and foaming mouth and shaking hands. This is what the demons did to him. Later they killed the herd of pigs they occupy as well. They ruin and corrupt whatever they touch. They are cancer of the soul.

Last, demons are after us. If you have not made Jesus your Savior, you belong not to God but to Satan. He doesn’t want you to know that, but it’s true. If you do belong to Jesus, Satan is doing all he can to keep you from winning the battle for the souls of others. He will try his best to minimize your ministry, to cripple your witness, to poison your spiritual life.

As the parable goes, a Christian and nonbeliever were walking down the road when Satan appeared before them. The non-Christian hid behind the believer and said, “Protect me! He’s after me!” But the Christian smiled and said, “No, it’s me he’s after. He’s already got you.” Demons want to tempt us to sin, ruin our witness, corrupt our lives.

Trust your General

Here’s the good news: we can defeat Satan and his foot soldiers in the power of the Holy Spirit. We can refuse their temptations and defeat their strategies each and every day. As we learn how, make this personal. Where is a demon attacking you?

Do impure thoughts sometimes appear out of nowhere in your mind? Do you find yourself accusing others of sin without proof, in your mind or even in your words? Do you harbor bitter thoughts toward someone else today? Are you tempted to use your position in the church or community for yourself, for power and pride?

Is there a temptation which just doesn’t seem to go away? A sin you cannot seem to conquer, at least for long? Do you carry feelings of guilt over your past or discouragement over your future? Do you find yourself thinking that you cannot succeed, that others won’t accept you or want you?

Not every wrong thought or motive comes from a demon attacking you, but more do than we know. You’re being attacked today in some way. So am I. What do we do?

First, receive Jesus. Make him your Savior and Lord. As he defeated the demons in Mark 5, so he has power over Satan and his temptations always. Make him your Lord, and he will help you win the battle over temptation and sin every day.

Next, recognize temptation. When sin knocks at your door, demons are hiding behind it. And that sin will always take you further than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and cost you more than you wanted to pay. Know that every sin is part of a demonic strategy to ruin your witness and life. Identify that sin which is tempting you. Put a name to it. Put it on the table, exposing it to the light of day. See it for what it is.

Now, run to the Spirit. Every time you are tempted, go immediately to the Spirit for his help. Don’t try to win this battle on your own, because you cannot. Our text tells us that those in heaven “overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11a).

James 4:7-8 is God’s antidote to temptation: “Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.” Submit to God’s Spirit–be filled and empowered every day by him–then resist the devil with God’s strength and help.

As you do, pay the price of success. The victorious in heaven “did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death” (v. 11b). Neither can we. We must put obedience ahead of security, and fight this battle in the strength of the Lord.

If you care more about your friends’ opinion than your Father’s glory, you’ll probably lose this battle. If you want the temporal pleasures of sin more than the eternal rewards of heaven, you’ll probably lose this battle. If you put financial success ahead of spiritual success, you’ll probably lose this battle.

Decide that nothing matters as much as serving and glorifying Jesus. Pay the price of victory, and it is yours.

Last, rescue others–all who belong to the enemy. When Jesus healed the demoniac of Mark 5, he then sent him to be used to heal others. To his family, and to the ten Gentile cities along the eastern edge of the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River. He became their first missionary, preaching the gospel of God’s love and power for their lives and souls. In a war, every soldier matters. Where are you stationed?

Conclusion

We will spend eternity in heaven, celebrating the victory of the Lamb over the enemy and his demons. But before we go there, we must fight here. Before we celebrate in paradise, we must defeat the enemy on earth. Not to fight is to lose, automatically.

What battle is yours? What demon is your enemy this morning?

In a poem entitled, “Autobiography in Five Short Chapters,” Portia Nelson writes:

Chapter I: I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost … I am helpless. It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter II: I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again. I can’t believe I am in the same place,but it isn’t my fault.

Chapter III: I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.I see it is there. I still fall in … it’s a habit. My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately.

Chapter IV: I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.

Chapter V: I walk down another street.

Where in the poem are you?

Did Jesus Go to Hell?

Written by

Did Jesus Go to Hell?

1 Peter 3.13-22

Dr. Jim Denison

Today’s message can be the shortest you’ve ever heard, or the longest. Here’s the short version: “Did Jesus go to hell? No.” We’re done, and we can all beat the Methodists to lunch.

If you’d like to know a little more about this incredible text, understand first that living out the truths of what you’ll hear today will require the rest of your life, making this the longest sermon you’ve ever heard. And one of the most important.

Let me explain.

Are you involved or committed?

Perhaps you heard about the Kamikaze pilot who flew 50 missions. It’s been said that he was involved, but not committed. Can this happen to Christians? To us?

The great preacher Arthur John Gossip described Christianity of 1924 this way: “We have all been inoculated with Christianity, and are never likely to take it seriously now! You put some of the virus of some dreadful illness into a man’s arm, and there is a little itchiness, some scratchiness, a slight discomfort—disagreeable, no doubt, but not the fever of the real disease, the turning and the tossing, and the ebbing strength. And we have all been inoculated with Christianity, more or less. We are on Christ’s side, and we wish him well, we hope that he will win, and we are even prepared to do something for him, provided, of course, that he is reasonable, and does not make too much of an upset among our cozy comforts and our customary ways. But there is not the passion of zeal, and the burning enthusiasm, and the eagerness of self-sacrifice, of the real faith that changes character and wins the world.”

What would Dr. Gossip say of north Dallas Christianity in 2001?

For much of my Christian life, I tried to live in two worlds. Perhaps you know what I mean. Church on Sunday, school or work on Monday. Sunday friends and Monday friends. Sunday priorities and Monday priorities. Sunday success and Monday success. Sunday spirituality and Monday secularity. Involved but not committed.

It’s a common lifestyle. Recent research indicates that self-described “born again” Christians are just as likely as non-Christians to buy a lottery ticket, to believe in horoscopes, to go to R-rated movies, or to experience a divorce. The same number of Christians as non-Christians believe that money is the main symbol of success in life, and that you can tell how successful a person is by examining what they own.

Apparently many of us know how to be involved while avoiding commitment. We know how to live in two worlds, and look like each of those worlds when we’re there.

But God wants Monday Christians. People who will live as fully for him tomorrow as we do today. God is calling for people who will make Jesus their Master, Boss, and Lord, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. How do we do this? And why should we? These are the two questions our text answers for us today.

Are you standing for God? (13-17)

First let’s learn how to move from involvement to commitment, then we’ll learn why we should. Measure yourself by four questions our text asks of us today.

First, are you passionate about your faith? (v. 13). Peter speaks of being “eager to do good.” His Greek is stronger than our English: “become zealots of the good.”

Are you that passionate about your faith? When was the last time you were truly excited about prayer and Bible study? The last time you were overjoyed to worship God? When did you last sacrifice your time or money for God with emotional enthusiasm for such privilege? How passionate is your faith today?

Second, are you willing to suffer for your Lord?

Verse 14 says, “Even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed.” Verse 17 adds, “It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil” (v. 17).

Are you willing to do this? To stand for Jesus if your commitment costs you friends, or respect, or money? To give to Jesus of your time or abilities or finances at personal cost? When did you last suffer for your Lord? Will you?

Third, can you defend your faith?

The command of v. 15 is clear: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” “Always,” all the time, on Monday as well as Sunday. “Be prepared” is a present tense imperative, a command to be obeyed now. To “everyone,” regardless of the cost. A “reason” for your faith, meaning a reasonable explanation for what you believe and why.

Can you explain your faith to someone else? Can you tell them how you became a Christian, and why? Are you telling people? Who was the last person to hear about Jesus because of you?

Fourth, does your lifestyle glorify Jesus?

Words without lifestyle hurt more than they help. So Peter hastens to add, “But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander” (vs. 15-16).

“Gentleness” means to be controlled by the Holy Spirit; “respect” means to be gracious to the person who questions or challenges your faith. In all things, keep a “clear conscience,” living for God in every part of your life. Character is what you are when no one is looking.

And the result is that those who gossip or slander you for your faith will be ashamed of themselves, and Jesus will be glorified. So, does your lifestyle glorify Jesus? In the words of the old question, If you were put on trial for following Jesus, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

Will you be rewarded by God? (18-22)

Why should you be? Why not live in two worlds, getting along with your God on Sunday and your society on Monday? Why do whatever it takes to be passionate about your commitment, sacrificial for your Father, prepared to explain your faith, and godly with your life?

Peter has one simple answer: because God rewards sacrificial obedience beyond anything it can cost us. Our Father gives joy, purpose, and eternal reward the world cannot offer. Peter gives us two examples of that fact.

He cites first the example of the Lord Jesus, who was “put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit” (v. 18). As a result, he “has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him” (v. 22). The Father rewarded his Son’s crucified obedience beyond all it cost him.

Now Peter cites the example of Noah. There is simply not time to discuss the five major interpretations scholars suggest for these verses, so I’ll summarize the approach many have taken since Augustine, the interpretation which seems the most biblical to me.

Jesus was raised from the dead by the Holy Spirit (v. 18; cf. Romans 8:11). By that same Spirit he preached to those “who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built” (v. 20).

How? Noah was a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5) by the work of “the Spirit of Christ” (1 Peter 1:11). And so Jesus by the Spirit preached through Noah.

When? Peter’s Greek grammar is clear: he did this while Noah was building his Ark, calling the people to repentance and salvation. Those people are now, in Peter’s time, “spirits in prison,” awaiting their final judgment for their rejection of God’s grace.

Jesus didn’t go to them, or to hell, between his death and resurrection. In fact, he assured the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

Here’s the point Peter is making: as God rewarded Noah’s sacrificial faithfulness, so he will reward ours. They passed through flood waters to salvation; we have passed through baptism waters, symbolizing our salvation in Christ (v. 21). He was passionate about his commitment, sacrificial for his God, prepared to explain his faith, godly with his life. He is now in his eternal, permanent reward. So can we be. The choice is ours.

Conclusion

Full-time Christianity is God’s basic expectation of every believer. No other religion in the world separates its faith from life as some of us do. Muslims are Muslim about their families, work, and week; so are Buddhists, and Hindus, and followers of other world religions. So were early Christians, living together, serving God together, dying for their faith together.

But along the way we split the spiritual from the secular, and Sunday from Monday. Now God wants us to put them back together. He wants Monday Christians. He’s ready to reward and bless and use Monday Christians.

Will you be a Monday Christian with your time, your money, your friendships, your ambitions? Would you ask God to show you your next step to Monday faith?

Eric Liddell was the Michael Jordan of his nation, the most famous runner and athlete in Scotland. I’ve known his story, but learned more of it this week. It seems that he shocked his countrymen on April 6, 1923 when he first made public his commitment to Jesus Christ. He shocked the world on July 6, 1924 when he lived by that commitment.

His best event was the 100 meters. But when he got to the Paris Olympics and discovered that this race would be run on Sunday, the Lord’s Day, he refused. He preached in a Paris church as his race was run. “Complete surrender” was his life’s theme. A few days later he ran the 400 meters, his worst distance. He won the gold medal and set a new world record.

Worldwide fame was his. But the next year he returned to China, where he had been born to missionary parents. There he was ordained to ministry and married. There he shared Christ in isolated communities, leaving his family behind for extended and grueling times. But “complete surrender” was his commitment.

In March of 1943 he was placed in a Japanese interment camp. He led the camp in daily Bible study until a brain tumor ended his life at age 43. His last words, spoken to a camp nurse, were, “It’s complete surrender.”

All of Scotland mourned. All of heaven rejoiced.

Eric Liddell was a Monday Christian. God needs more like him. Will you be one?

Dining with God

Written by

Dining With God

Acts 2:42-47

James C. Denison

Alan Greenspan has called the current economic situation “the type of wrenching financial crisis that come along only once in a century.” The National Debt Clock in New York City, created in 1989 to call attention to what was then a $1.2 trillion debt, now marks the current debt of $10.2 trillion. It was announced this week that retirement accounts in America have lost $2 trillion in the last year.

Meanwhile, the Russian presence in South Ossetia continues; the former Soviet Union has more oil supplies than any other nation on earth, 16,000 nuclear warheads, and a million-man army. Indonesia has recently announced that it expects 2,000 of its islands to be submerged by the year 2030 as global warming causes polar ice caps to melt and seas to rise. This week we learned of a National Intelligence Estimate report which states that the war in Afghanistan is in a “downward spiral” due to corruption in the government and a rise in militant violence.

What about the world has you most afraid this morning? Is it the economy and your retirement? The wars or the election? Your job, or health, or family? Are you worried and angry? It’s easy to feel powerless these days. This morning I want to show you that it’s not so, that the most powerful Being in all the universe is on your side, holding you in his hand, walking with you wherever you go. He is for you, no matter what you fear this day. I can prove it today.

Believe it or not, the simple ceremony we will observe today is the answer to our fears and worries this morning. Here’s the setting in our text:

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (v. 42). “Breaking of bread” in this context means more than eating together—it refers to what we call the “Lord’s Supper.” They did this in public and in private: “They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts” (v. 47).

Why? Why was this simple act so important for them? Why did it produce “glad and sincere heart” in the midst of their fears and problems? How can it do the same for us today?

What we remember

Paul gives us the earliest record of the Lord’s Supper in the New Testament, a record he “received from the Lord” and documented even before the Gospels told the story: “The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

The bread represents Jesus’ broken, torn body. Jesus’ loaf was hard-baked—you would have to break it, tear it into pieces, and then crush it in your teeth. So with his body, for us.

Our Lord was beaten with a whip of leather thongs imbedded with pieces of bone and metal; this scourging often killed the victim. Huge, crude spikes nailed his wrists to the cross-beam, then his feet to the upright. There Jesus was left to die.

In 1968, archaeologists discovered the remains of a Jewish man named Yonanen; he had been crucified in AD 70 as part of the First Jewish Revolt against Rome. They found the spikes still stuck in his ankle bones. I’ve seen pictures; even they are gruesome, without imagining the flesh which they once bore.

Victims of crucifixion were helpless against the blistering sun and the insects crawling on their bodies and wounds. The strain on their arms often pulled them from their sockets and stretched the chest muscles to the point of suffocation. Crucifixion was so horrible that the Emperor Constantine finally outlawed it after he became a Christian.

Jesus did this for us. He was sinless and perfect; we were sinful and perishing. We deserved to die; Ezekiel 18:4 says, “the soul that sins, it shall die.” But he took our place on the cross, his flesh for ours.

As we have torn the bread into pieces, as we crush it in our teeth, we remember the flesh of Jesus Christ, literally torn and crushed on the cross for us.

The wine represents his spilled, shed blood. “The new covenant in my blood” can be literally translated from the Greek, “the new covenant which cost me my blood.”

In the Old Testament, sin always required a sacrifice. An innocent animal such as a sheep or bull would take the place of his sinful owner; the animal’s blood would pay the penalty for its owner’s sin.

So it was with the cross. Jesus’ blood was spilled by the whips which tore open his back, the thorns which lacerated his scalp and face, the nails which pierced the arteries of his body, and the spear which gashed to his heart.

This he did for us as well. We deserved to die in sacrifice for our own sins. He is the innocent lamb who spilled his blood in our place. He died in our electric chair, on our gallows, in our gas chamber. He did this for us.

Now the cup represents his blood to us. Wine is made by crushing grapes. The red juice—its “blood”—flows out, and we drink it. As we take it, we remember the blood of Jesus Christ, literally spilled on the cross.

Of course, other traditions see the Supper in different ways.

The Catholic tradition has long believed that the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ when they are elevated by the priest during Mass, and that they convey the grace of God to those who receive them. Thus “Communion” is part of worship each week.

Most mainline Protestant traditions such as Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Christian Churches, believe that the Holy Spirit is present in the elements in an unusual and empowering way. As a result, many of them observe the Supper each week as well.

Baptists are part of that segment of Christianity which views the Supper and Baptism as “ordinances,” worship activities which we are commanded to observe but which possess symbolic significance. As a result, we share the Supper at Park Cities once a month rather than once a week.

But every time we do, we are called back to the cross, to the sacrificial commitment and love of Jesus for us. To tangible evidence of his presence and power in our lives, no matter what we face or feel. To grace we can feel, as we dine with God.

Why it matters

A few years ago, Janet and I made a trip to Hawaii. Of all the incredible sights and scenes, nothing moved me like Pearl Harbor.

Standing over the hulk of the U.S.S. Arizona where she lays buried in the water, her crew entombed in her wreckage, literally brought tears to my eyes. From part of the ship which still stands above water, the American flag is raised. I can see and feel the experience even now as I remember it.

There’s a plaque over the ship which inscribes words first written by President Abraham Lincoln to a mother who had lost sons in the Civil War. It so impressed me that I recorded its words: “The solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.”

Why was I so moved? Fifty years after the event, when the threat of that war is gone and so much of what happened seemed to belong to another world? Why did this memorial touch me so much? Because of the sacrifice made there, in that place, on that ship, for me. Could I ever doubt the commitment of those fallen men to their country and the cause of freedom?

Franciszek Gajowniczek was a Polish army sergeant during World War II. While at Auschwitz 53 years ago, he was selected by the Nazis to die in their starvation bunker. Father Maksymilian Kolbe, a Catholic priest, volunteered to die in Gajowniczek’s place. Ten days later, on August 14, 1941, he did.

Mr. Gajowniczek would spend the rest of his life bearing witness to Father Kolbe’s sacrifice for him. He helped dedicate churches in his name, gave talks about the priest, and told his story wherever he could. His widow said that he had a “deep sense of Kolbe’s presence” all the days of his life. Could he ever doubt the commitment of Father Kolbe to him?

Athanasia was an elderly monk who lived in the early part of the Christian era. He had a very rare and precious copy of the Gospels, at a time when very few had access to any part of Scripture. It had beautiful artwork and a jewel studded cover, and was priceless beyond compare.

One day a young man came to Athanasia’s home, and the monk took him in for the night. At supper he read from his beautiful copy of the Gospels. That night the young man got up, stole the book, and ran to the next town to sell it. He found a trader willing to consider it, but only if he could keep it for an appraisal.

The trader took the book out to Athanasia, who would of course be the best expert on such matters. All that Athanasia said was, “Oh, yes, it’s worth much more than that—it’s a very rare and precious book.” Later that afternoon the young man returned to the trader for his money. He happened to ask, “By the way, how did you appraise it?”

“Oh, I took it out to the old monk Athanasia and he said it was well worth the price.” The young man, visibly upset and startled, took back the book and returned to Athanasia. He tried to give it back the monk and asked for the monk’s forgiveness.

Athanasia said, “Oh, no, it’s yours. There’s nothing to forgive. You see, I believe that it would be a grave sin to steal a Bible, so I gave it to you. It’s yours now.” The young man stayed there, took care of Athanasia in his last years, and remained for the rest of his life. He would never have reason to doubt the monk’s love for him.

If you’re wondering about Jesus’ presence for your pain, his strength for your fears, his compassion for your guilt or grief or struggles, look to this Supper. Remember his death for you, and his resurrection for you, and his intercession for you today. Know that he is on your side—the Supper proves that it is so.

Conclusion

One of the family traditions I found myself remembering during Mom’s illness was our family dinners. Every night at 6 p.m., no matter what else was happening in our lives, we were to be home for supper. If we were late, we missed dinner. If we were early, we waited. She cooked every night, and we ate together every night. Our father sat at the head of the table, Mom at the other end, Mark and me on either side. We might not see each other again that night or the next day, but when we sat together at dinner we were a family.

Think of the day when you sit at the table with your family in heaven. I like to think that the Father sits at the head of the table, and his Son at the other end, his nail-scarred hands serving us the Supper. In the meanwhile, we come to his table together today. We dine with our Father. We remember his love for us, no matter how unloved or alone we feel. We turn our pain and questions over to him, and trust his grace. His Supper proves that we can.

A few months ago, I found a painting in an attic box which has since become very precious to me. My father served during World War II on the island of Bougainville in the South Pacific. Three hundred men were stationed there; only 17 survived, my father among them. One of the 17 was an artist. Upon his return to the States, he created 17 paintings of the island they had survived, and gave one to each of the survivors.

I have my father’s Bougainville painting in my study at home, just above my computer where I can see it. It reminds me every day of his love for his country and stands as testimony to his character and commitment. It calls me to be a man of character and commitment like him. What does the painting of love before us ask of you today?

Disciples Are Not Religious

Written by

Disciples Are Not Religious

Colossians 2:1-8

Dr. Jim Denison

Today’s Super Bowl will divide the nation into two camps. Not between those who cheer for the Steelers and those who are fans of the Seahawks, but between the few of us who care and the most of you who don’t. This is Super Bowl XL, and I don’t remember this much boredom related to the world’s most-watched sporting event. Do you care who wins? Do you know anyone who does?

Apathy or frenzy is not the only way our nation appears to be divided these days. Ever since the Bush-Gore election, commentators have said that we have two Americas: blue states and red states.

Tuesday night’s State of the Union address was either compelling or irrelevant, depending on which color you are.

Last week’s confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court was largely on a party-line vote, after the Senate Judiciary Committee recommended him on a straight party-line vote. Red won, blue lost.

“Brokeback Mountain” leads the Academy Awards with eight nominations, including best picture and best actor. You either think the movie is courageous and timely, or you think it sends exactly the wrong message. Again, your “color” probably determines your opinion.

“Dualism” believes that the world is made of two substances, usually mind and matter or the spiritual and the material.

We have lived with Ft. Worth vs. Dallas dualism for generations now. When I left Texas for Atlanta 12 years ago I discovered Texas vs. the rest of the world dualism. We have “conservative” vs. “liberal” dualism today in our political system, more than I can ever remember. We have Europe vs. America dualism on the war in Iraq.

And on “Disciple Now” weekend, you and I are at war with God vs. life dualism today. At least we need to be. The problem is, most of us don’t know the battle is going on. And that we’re its casualties. “Religion now” is fine; “Disciple now” is not. Let me explain.

Reject religion

Paul is “struggling” for something, and wants the Colossians to know it. “Struggle” translates agona, from which we get “agony.” “How great a battle I am fighting” is the sense. Where is the war? On one side: Jesus Christ and the “full riches of complete understanding” which are found only in him.

Paul wants them to be “encouraged in heart”–“strengthened in resolve” is a better translation. He wants them to be “united in love”–“instructed so that they love each other” is a better rendering. For this purpose: “that they may have the full riches of complete understanding.” Not the partial knowledge of the Gnostics, but the full and complete knowledge found in Christ and in him alone.

Why in Christ? Because in him “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Not just some, all. “Treasures” translates the word for “storehouse”–all wisdom (how to live practically) and knowledge (what to know about the world) are stored in him and in him alone.

So Paul wants them to “continue to live in him,” rooted, built up, strengthened in him, and overflowing with gratitude for his grace and love (vs. 6-7).

On one side of the battle stands Jesus, in whom alone are found all wisdom and knowledge for every part of life, every problem we face, every question we ask, every day that we live. On the other side stands the enemy. What do we know about him?

“I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments” (v. 4). “No one” in the Greek seems to indicate a specific person, someone he and they know is leading the charge, preaching the sermons, commanding the troops.

His weapons are “fine-sounding arguments.” The word described a person who used persuasive words in a courtroom to keep something he stole from someone else.

What does he want to steal from the Colossians? Their faith: “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ” (v. 8).

“No one” is this person again. “Takes you captive” means to “seduce” or “kidnap.” The enemy is using “hollow and deceptive philosophy” which comes from human traditions and the elementary teachings the Colossians left to follow Christ.

What is this “deceptive philosophy”? In a word, dualism. Their spiritual enemies taught that the spirit is good, the secular bad. So do what you want with your body, because it is irrelevant to your soul and your soul is irrelevant to your body.

Religion is irrelevant to the real world, and the real world to religion. Be a Christian if you want, but don’t be a “disciple now.” Don’t get carried away with your religion. Keep things in their proper perspective. So long as your faith is personal and private, all is well.

Seek relationship

Paul reminded the Colossians that they “received Christ Jesus as Lord” (v. 6), the only time he uses that exact phrase anywhere in his letters. Christ the Messiah is also Jesus the man, refuting the Gnostic heresy that the “spirit” Christ and “material” Jesus were separate. He is “Lord,” refuting the Gnostic heresy that Christ Jesus is irrelevant to life. If he were standing in Dallas this morning, he would make the same argument and call us to the same battle. This war has never ended.

We are raising our children in a culture which believes that the secular and the spiritual are two completely different spheres of existence, the one quantifiable and real, the other personal and subjective. And the latter is increasingly irrelevant to all that really matters in society.

Alarmism? Homiletic hyperbole? The following examples come from Nancy Pearcey’s excellent treatise on the subject, Total Truth (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 1994):

In a debate over embryonic stem cell research, actor Christopher Reeve told a student group at Yale University, “When matters of public policy are debated, no religions should have a seat at the table.”

Scientist Steven Weinberg was addressing the Freedom From Religion Foundation: “I personally feel that the teaching of modern science is corrosive to religious belief, and I’m all for that!” The hope that science would liberate people from religion is “one of the things that in fact has driven me in my life.” If science helps end religion, “it would be the most important contribution science could make.”

Marvin Minsky of MIT says the human mind is nothing but a “three-pound computer made of meat.” Carl Sagan was famous for saying, “The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be.” Even the Bernstein Bears have picked up the theme. In one of these popular children’s books we find a dazzling sunrise and the words, “Nature is all that is, or was, or ever will be!”

This dualistic separation between the spiritual and the material has affected Christians as much as the rest of our culture. Historian Sidney Mead: “This internalization or privatization of religion is one of the most momentous changes that has ever taken place in Christendom.”

One example: at a Christian high school, a theology teacher walked to the front of the classroom, where he drew a heart on one side of the blackboard and a brain on the other. The two are as divided as the two sides of the blackboard, he claimed. We use the heart for religion, and the brain for science, he further explained.

Paul defeated the Gnostics in Colossae, but they are winning in Dallas. If Satan cannot get us to repudiate Jesus entirely, he’ll be nearly as happy for us to believe in him on Sunday, but to ignore him on Monday. He’ll quarantine the disease lest it spread.

Conclusion

So, what does God want us to do about the dualism which separates him from our lives? First, reject the lie of religion. Reject the dualistic lie which separates soul and body, faith and life, our Creator and his creation, our Father and his children.

Dealing with a nation which had reduced faith to rituals and religious routine, God says, “I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies” (Amos 5:21).

Religion tells us that so long as we keep our religious observances, we’ve done all God requires. So long as you have a salvation experience, come to church when you can, and satisfy the demands of basic morality, you’ve done all you need to do.

Meanwhile, the Lord of the universe is left out of our daily lives. We are isolated from his omniscience for our decisions, his omnipotence for our problems, his forgiveness for our sins, his strength for our souls. We fight Satan ourselves, and we lose.

Reject religion. Instead, pay the price of relationship.

God wants disciples, fully devoted followers, those who receive him as Lord, continue to live in him, strengthened in the faith as we were taught, overflowing with thankfulness (vs. 6-7). He is looking for those who will walk in his presence, obey his word, live for his glory and in his fear, radically committed to his Lordship.

Relationships come at a cost. Marriages, families, friendships, business partnerships–they all require priority, time, sacrifice, commitment. You reap what you sow. You profit as you invest. Pay the price of relationship with your Father.

Last Wednesday, as I was finishing this manuscript, I was challenged by the Spirit to consider again the example of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Perhaps the most brilliant theologian of his generation, he was a professor at Union Seminary in New York City when Hitler came to power in his native land. He could have stayed there in safety, but sensed the call of God to risk everything for his homeland and her people. He paid the ultimate price for his commitment to his Father, hanged by the Nazis shortly before his camp was liberated by the Allies.

His most famous book is titled The Cost of Discipleship. It begins, “Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for costly grace.”

What does he mean? “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

“Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which a disciple leaves his nets and follows him….

“Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life” (The Cost of Discipleship [New York: Macmillan 1963] 47, italics his).

Is your faith cheap or costly grace? Are you religious, or are you a disciple now?

Do Versus Done

Written by

Do Versus Done

John 3.1-2, 16

Dr. Jim Denison

I spent the summer before my senior year of college serving as a missionary in East Malaysia, on the southeast Asian island of Borneo. This was my first personal contact with other religions, and I was astonished by the sacrifices I saw.

I watched Muslims walk out of their mosques with their foreheads bleeding, after they had rubbed them fervently on their prayer rugs during prayer. I watched Buddhist families convert a great sum of money to paper, which they constructed into a tiny temple on the grave of an ancestor, and then burned, believing the ancestor would receive the gift in the afterlife. I watched Buddhists pray fervently at their home altars, hoping to speed their dead ancestors toward Nirvana.

The other world religions are similar: Hindus spend their entire lives in a low caste, believing that they must pay for sins committed in a previous lifetime; Mormons give two years to personal missionary work; Jehovah’s Witnesses spend a minimum of twenty hours each week in door to door witnessing.

When we see the sincerity and sacrifice of these religions, we are forced to ask, “Is Christianity right and these other faiths wrong?” Is there any difference between our faith and their religions? Anything which makes the Christian faith unique?

Yes, there is. It is the difference between “do” and “done.”

The difference between do and done

The religions are all about what we must do to get to god or heaven, as they understand it. The four noble truths and the eight-fold noble path; lifelong obedience to the Koran, or the Torah; meditation and ascetic living; manifold reincarnations. Every religion centers on what we must do.

Christianity uniquely stands on what God has done for us, in his Son, Jesus Christ.

How can we explain this difference to people who don’t understand it, who think Christianity is just another religion? Rules and regulations, do’s and don’ts, an institution to join, dues to pay, rights and wrongs?

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a clear, simple way to present what God has done in the gospel? Actually, there was, and there is. A way which is so simple that anyone can understand it, if only we want to. So simple that anyone can use it to explain the gospel to someone we care about, if only we will.

Can I show you the gospel, the entire Bible, in one conversation? Even better, in one verse? On one card?

Do…

In John 3 we meet Nicodemus, “a man of the Pharisees” and “a member of the Jewish ruling council” (v. 1). This is one of the most impressive resumes in the Bible, a succinct summary of all that a man could do to find God. Nicodemus is a Pharisee, as passionate a religion as man has ever invented.

There were never more than 6,000 Pharisees in ancient Israel. Their name means “separated ones,” and that’s what they were—separated from all ordinary life in order to keep every detail of the Jewish law–the dietary codes, Sabbath regulations, everything.

And Nicodemus wasn’t just any Pharisee. He was the “teacher of Israel” (v. 10), a special kind of religious scholar, a man who taught even the Pharisees their theology. The point is, no more religious a man can be found in all the Bible. If religion can do enough to find God, he should have found God.

He was powerful as well, a “member of the Jewish ruling council” (v. 1). This group was called the Sanhedrin—seventy men who constituted the Supreme Court of the Jews. They had power over every Jew in all the world. And he was also wealthy. In John 19:38 he helped Joseph of Arimathea bury the body of Jesus, supplying seventy-five pounds of myrrh and aloe. This was the kind and amount of burial material normally used only for a king, and a very expensive gift. Nicodemus was part of the Jewish aristocracy, a very wealthy man.

He’s done everything a man could do. He had religion, power and wealth. But he cannot find God. His problem then is still our problem, today.

We matter to God. He made us, and he wants to have a relationship with us and with the world he created. However, our world is not the way God wanted it to be, is it? Don’t we all fail and make mistakes? The Bible calls these wrong things “sin.” And these mistakes separate us from a holy God in his holy heaven.

I cannot visit a patient in an isolation room at a hospital without washing my hands and face and putting on sterile garments, or I will contaminate the room and the patient may die. In the same way, I cannot get into God’s perfect heaven unless I’m perfect. And I’m not. Are you?

Most of us are aware of this distance from God, so we start doing all kinds of things to get back to him. We try going to church, helping our neighbor, giving money to charities, being good people. Many people try the various religions. We do these things because we want to be right with God, to have eternal life with him.

However, none of these things can earn us God’s forgiveness or reestablish our relationship with him. The Bible says that the “wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) This is the penalty I owe for the wrong things I’ve done: physical and eternal death, separated from God for eternity in a place called “hell.” Instead of finding life, I perish.

That’s my problem: I’m separated from God, and nothing I can do is enough to bridge the gap, to save me from perishing and give me eternal life. And it’s your problem as well.

… and done

So, here’s God’s solution to our problem. Jesus gives Nicodemus the answer to his dilemma, and ours, in what has become the most famous single verse in all of Scripture–the one verse we know if we know no other. Say it with me: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life” (v. 16, KJV).

This one verse explained to Nicodemus the difference between do and done, the way to find God. It is still the clearest, simplest explanation today. This verse states that God “so loved the world,” and every one of us in it. In spite of our sins and failures, God still loves us unconditionally. No matter where we’ve been, what we’ve done, how we’ve failed.

Religion tries to get us to God. In Christianity, God comes to us, in love.

How do we know? Because he proved his love for us: he “gave his only begotten Son.”

What incredible love! Imagine a parent letting his child die so someone else could live—taking his heart to transplant into a dying patient, or her lungs to give to a person dying of lung disease.

We couldn’t get to God, so God came to us. He built a bridge to us by coming to earth as one of us, dying on the cross to pay the death penalty we owed.

Now we have a choice to make: “whosoever believes in him.” “Whosoever” means anyone. God loves the world so much than anyone in the world can respond to his love, today. To “believe” is to trust, personally. Not just to believe this is true, but to trust it with your life. When I needed knee surgery a few years ago, I believed Dr. Thurston Dean was a good surgeon, but I had to trust him personally, to let him operate on me, before he could help me. We are to “believe in him.” To put our faith personally in what he has done. Not in what I can do—not in my success, money, appearance, religion, or denomination. In him.

This is how we respond to his love for us. And here’s the result: we “will not perish, but have everlasting life.” I admit to God that I have rebelled against him, and that I need his forgiveness and leadership. I ask him to forgive me and guide my life. And when I do, God promises that I will not “perish,” the result of all the “do’s,” of all religion. Instead, I will be given everlasting life. My sins are pardoned and my debt paid. My relationship with God is firmly established because I am immediately adopted into his family as his child.

This is God’s simple plan, and his gift to you and me this morning.

Conclusion

Where are you in this plan? Is there any reason you wouldn’t want to cross over to the other side, to God and to life? You can do it, right now, here, in this sanctuary, or wherever you’re watching by television. In just a moment our staff and I will stand here at the front of the sanctuary, waiting to talk with you. We will help you cross over, and receive the eternal life God wants you to have. You can receive this gift, here and now.

If you’re watching by television, call the number on your screen. A trained deacon or pastoral staff member is ready right now to talk with you. He or she can help you trust in Jesus, answer your questions, pray with you for someone you know. You can order these gospel cards and receive them free of charge. We want to help in any way we can.

And if you’ve made this decision, you have received God’s incredible gift of eternal life. Don’t you want other people to have it, too? If you’d been cured of cancer, wouldn’t you want to share the cure with others who have the disease? You have been cured of eternal death and given eternal life. Don’t you want to share this gift?

Would you decide to share it with someone you know, this week? Would you make that commitment to God, right now? But you may be thinking to yourself, “This is too hard. I’ll have to give up too much to receive this gift, or sacrifice too much to share it.” The fact is, anyone can receive the gift of eternal life, and anyone can share it. To prove that point to you, I’d like you to meet Abraham Sarker. Abraham will tell the miraculous story of his conversion and ministry tonight, but I’d like you to hear briefly his answers to a few questions this morning.

Abraham, why did you come to the United States?

“To be a missionary for the Muslim people, seeking to convert people to Islam.”

How committed to Islam were you? What did you do as a Muslim?

“I prayed five times daily, fasted during Ramadan, gave my life to my religion.”

What about Christianity most attracted you to Jesus?

“His offer of grace by faith. I didn’t have to earn my way to God—it was done for me in him.”

How has your decision to share Christ with others affected your relationship with your family?

“I can no longer see my parents in Bangladesh, and may never see them again.”

Are you glad you accepted God’s love in Christ, and decided to share that love with other people?

“Yes, it has been worth every sacrifice to know this joy and give it to others.”

Compared to Abraham’s sacrifice, what will it cost us to receive God’s love today? Will you receive his gift, right now? Will you share it, this week?