What is Heaven Like?

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What Is Heaven Like?

Revelation 21:1-5

Dr. Jim Denison

When Ronald Reagan was running for Governor of California, a woman confronted him by his car one day and berated him severely. Finally she said, “I wouldn’t vote for you if you were St. Peter.” He smiled and replied, “No problem. If I were St. Peter, you wouldn’t be living in my district.”

What do we know about “St. Peter’s district”? We’re all fascinated with the subject. Every one of us has loved ones there; I assume we all would like to spend eternity there ourselves. So let’s ask the word of God to tell us about heaven.

But when we’re done, we need to ask a second question as well. I’ve realized through my study this week that I must also show you why it matters. Why heaven matters on earth.

I have prayed that the answer will be as powerful for you as it has been for me.

What is heaven?

So, what is heaven? What does God tell us about our eternal home?

First, he tells us that heaven is real. It is certain—no figment of religious imagination, no superstition, no “opiate of the people” (to quote Karl Marx). He revealed it in today’s Scripture to John: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth” (v. 1). According to God himself, heaven is real.

Second, heaven is a place (1-2). John “saw” it. He didn’t feel it, or dream of it, or hear about it. He saw it, and we only see things which are. Heaven is a place. Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2; emphasis mine).

Where? “Up there?” Heaven is a place beyond our locating or understanding. Just as you couldn’t dig down into the earth and find hell, so you can’t rocket into the skies and find heaven. God is bigger, more awesome than that, and so is his heaven.

One of the Russian cosmonauts came back and said, “Some people say that God lives out there. I looked around, and I didn’t see any God out there.” Ruth Graham, Billy’s wife, says he looked in the wrong place. If he’d stepped outside the space ship without his space suit, he would have seen God very quickly.

Third, heaven is where God is (3). John reveals, “Now the dwelling of God is with men.” When we get to heaven, we get to God. Psalm 11:4 is clear: “The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne.” Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven” (Matthew 6:9).

Heaven is a real place, where God is. It’s being with God.

Fourth, heaven is a blessed place (4). Because God is there, all that is perfect is there as well. There will be no death in heaven, thus no mourning or crying or pain. Our greatest enemy will trouble us no more. Think of that—no death, ever! Eternity with God in his blessed home.

It’s a place of incredible joy: “You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Psalm 16:11). It’s a place of reward: “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20). And this reward is eternal: “An inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4).

Thus, heaven is a celebration, a party: “Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God” (Luke 14:15). We reign in heaven: “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne” (Revelation 3:21). In heaven, we’re royalty!

We’ll have perfect understanding there: “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Our text summarizes the blessedness of heaven: “I am making all things new” (v. 5). No more Fall, nor sin, or death, or disease, or disaster; no more earthquakes or Y2K fears or tests or grades; no more. Everything new.

No wonder Jesus called heaven “paradise” (Luke 23:43). It is that, a place of blessing beyond all description: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what the Lord has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9; cf. Isaiah 64:4).

What will we be like?

First, let’s set aside a popular misconception: in heaven, people are not angels. God created angels before he created us, and we are completely different. When Jesus said that people in heaven are “like the angels” (Luke 20:36), he meant that we never die, like them. Not that we have wings and a halo. We are not angels.

But we do receive heavenly bodies: “The perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53).

Will we recognize each other? Will we know each other? Yes, for these reasons. Jesus said that in heaven we will take our places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Matthew 8:11); on the Mount of Transfiguration, the disciples easily recognized Moses and Elijah (Matthew 17:3-4); we will “know as we are known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). I like what one preacher said: “We won’t really know each other until we get to heaven!”

So, what is heaven? Most of all, it’s home. A home of eternal blessing, reward, and bliss, better than the best earth can offer us.

John Owen, the great Puritan, lay on his deathbed. His secretary wrote to a friend in his name, “I am still in the land of the living.” Owen saw it and said, “Change that and say, ‘I am yet in the land of the dying, but I hope soon to be in the land of the living.'” So can we all be.

Why does heaven matter?

Now I must ask my other question: why does heaven matter?

I’ve preached on heaven in every church I have pastored, and taught them what I’ve taught you today from God’s word. But only this week did I wrestle with the more pressing question: why does it all matter? Why is heaven relevant for us, today? Or is it?

Time magazine recently published an extensive article by David van Biema entitled “Does heaven exist?” The writer documents three facts: preachers preach on heaven much less than in the past; while a large majority of people believe that it exists, most have no real idea what it is; and almost nobody thinks its existence changes the way we live here. Theologian David Wells is quoted as saying, “I don’t think heaven is even a blip on the Christian screen, from one end of the denominational spectrum to the other.”

How often did you think about heaven this week? Did its existence change anything you did? Why should it?

For this simple reason: when we lose heaven we lose the transcendent. We lose our sense that there is something more than this world, and we who live in it. And that is always a bad decision.

For instance, if we don’t live for heaven we will live for this world, for it is all there is. And that, the Bible says, we must not do.

Listen to 1 John 2:15-17: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”

Paul says, “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 5:18). He warns us: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1-3). The apostle summarizes for us: “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20).

Why are we not to love this world? Because it is not enough. It is never enough. When an assistant asked a tycoon how much money is enough, he said: “Just a little more.” Our new house seems wonderful, then they build others by us which are larger and better. Our new car is great, until the next model year arrives. Straight A’s are super, but there’s always the next semester. CEO is outstanding, but the more we succeed the more we must succeed to stay there.

If you don’t live for heaven, you must live for earth. You trade eternity for something which could be gone today. And that’s a mistake. If we don’t live for heaven we must rely on ourselves, for God will not help us love this world. We are on our own.

Sociologist James Davison Hunter recently surveyed the titles released by the six largest evangelical publishers in America. He discovered that 87.5% of all books concerned self-help issues—pop psychology, how-to’s, self therapy. Only 12.5% dealt with God, theology, Scripture, or eternity.

When we don’t live for heaven, God cannot help us live on earth. If we don’t live for heaven we lose any sense of direction, purpose or values. If this world is all there is, who is to say what’s right and what’s wrong? Everything becomes relative. And so it has.

93% of all Americans say they are their only moral determiner. We must tolerate all beliefs as if they were our own. No absolutes exist—we’re absolutely sure of it.

In 1907 P. T. Forsyth made a prophetic statement: “If within us we find nothing over us we succumb to what is around us.”

Remember the time in Alice in Wonderland where Alice meets the Cheshire-Cat and anxiously asks, “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” says the Cat. “I don’t much care where,” says Alice. “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” says the Cat. And the serpent with him.

Last, when we don’t live for heaven we have no real hope when hard times come. When there is no heaven, we have an intense need for everything to be right on earth. We can have no suffering, no pain, no distress here—we have an “inalienable right to happiness,” we’re told. But not by the Bible. Jesus said, “In this world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). So long as this life is only a trip to a destination, that’s o.k. But when it’s the destination, then all is lost.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago describes the terrors of a Soviet concentration camp. He begins with the day of the arrest and the inquisition which comes before the sentence. He describes the tortures experienced by the unlucky ones. Endless, brutal tortures that break down all kinds of men and women—except for the few who cannot be broken. Those few are ready to die. The torturers have no power over them. As much as they enjoy living, they believe there is something more important than life. They’re right.

Conclusion

Are you living for heaven? How do you?

We live for heaven when we care more for people’s eternal souls than for their temporal approval. When we use our money to build God’s kingdom more than our own. When we ask God to use our suffering more than to solve it. When we remember that this life is the car, not the house, the road, not the destination. When we make sure every day that we’re ready to die.

So, are you living for heaven? If you are, one day you’ll be so glad you did.

Think of stepping on shore

and finding it heaven;

Of taking hold of a hand

and finding it God’s;

Of breathing new air

and finding it celestial;

Of feeling invigorated

and finding it immortality;

Of passing through a tempest

to a new and unknown ground;

Of waking up well and happy

and finding it home.

Think of it. Would you?

What is Hell Like?

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What Is Hell Like?

Luke 16.19-31

Dr. Jim Denison

This week I found out about a Y2K problem which has nothing to do with computers. How many times have you been to a cemetery and seen headstones already in place for the spouse of the deceased, with the birth year followed by 19–? Assuming the person lives another four months, what’s to be done? Some monument companies are trying to create epoxies to fill in the numbers, but without much luck so far. Others have no idea what they’ll do. One person said, Just fill in 1999 + 1, or 2 or 3, or whatever. It’s a Y2K problem etched in stone.

I don’t know when you and I will die, but I do know that we will, unless Jesus comes back first. When that happens, where do we go? So far in our Yearning 2 Know series we’ve studied death and heaven. Now we’ll look at the other place. This is probably one of the few sermons you’ve heard in a long time on hell.

I have prayed that it is the closest you’ll get to being there.

A hellish parable

First, let’s walk through Jesus’ parable together. We have two characters: a rich man and a very poor beggar. At opposite ends of the spectrum, here and in eternity. Here’s how the story goes.

We meet the rich man first. A very rich man. And religious as well.He is “dressed in purple and fine linen.” This means that his outer robe was dyed purple, while his inner robe was made of Egyptian woven linen. Jesus is literally describing the costliest clothing of his day; a $2,000 suit, we’d say.

He “lives in luxury every day.” The Greek says that he lives “lampros,” brilliantly, magnificently. Clearly he is one of the leading social figures of his time, well known and popular.

And he is obviously an observant Jew, calling out to “Father Abraham” (v. 24) as did the pious Jews of his day. No lawbreaking is mentioned here. Obviously he is a typically religious man. Rich and religious.

Our other character is “a beggar named Lazarus.”His name, ironically, means “God helps.” He is the only named character in all of Jesus’ parables. Society knew the rich man’s name, but we don’t. No one knew the beggar’s name, but we do. So does God.

He is “laid” at the gate (v. 20)—the Greek says he’s “thrown there.” He’s “covered with sores.” Luke uses a medical term here, perhaps for bedsores, because of his crippled condition. As a result, Lazarus is starving. “Longing to eat” means “longing without satisfaction.” People in Jesus’ day didn’t have paper or cloth napkins; they would wipe their hands on bread, then throw it out. He longs to eat these scraps, but is refused. Instead, the dogs eat them. Then they lick his sores. What a horrible life! But a realistic portrayal of many in Jesus’ day.

Now comes the first surprise in our story: Lazarus goes to heaven. No burial is mentioned. Likely his body is thrown outside the city on the trash heap known as Gehenna, where refuse was constantly burning. But not his soul: he is at “Abraham’s side,” a Jewish idiom for heaven. Carried there by the angels, in one of the greatest funeral processions of all time.

Then comes the second, even greater surprise: the rich man goes to hell. In Jesus’ day riches were a sure sign of God’s blessing. But Jesus had just said, “You cannot serve both God and Money” (16:13). And the Pharisees, who loved money, sneered at him (v. 14).

Now the rich man is buried, undoubtedly with much ceremony and speech-making. A vivid contrast to Lazarus’ body lying on the trash heap. Then comes the great irony: Lazarus’ body is on literal Gehenna, but the rich man’s soul is in eternal Gehenna, hell, a place of great “torment” (v. 23). Forever.

From Jesus’ sobering story we discover several crucial facts: our souls do not die with our bodies; our souls are conscious after death; the righteous are taken to a place of happiness immediately at death, while the wicked are consigned at once to punishment; wealth does not keep us from death or hell; there is a place of suffering beyond the grave—a hell; there is never any escape or end to hell; God gives us sufficient warning to prepare for death; and God will give us nothing further to warn us.

Now, from Jesus’ story, let’s ask some questions.

What is hell like?

First, what is hell?

It is a real place, mentioned 23 times in the New Testament, 15 times by Jesus himself. Jesus calls it a place of “torment” (v. 23). Hell is real, despite its unpopularity today. 62% of all Americans, including 52% of “born-again Christians, say that Satan does not exist. Only 4% of all Americans are worried about going to hell. But our ignorance and deceit do not change the fact that hell is real.

God’s word often describes hell as “fire” (v. 24). Jesus said, “The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:49-50). Jude 7 calls hell “the punishment of eternal fire.” Revelation 14:10 says, “He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever.” And Revelation 20:15 calls hell “the lake of fire.”

Hell is called “darkness”: “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 22:13; cf. Jude 6).

Using language from the literally trash heap Gehenna, Jesus said, “Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:49; cf. Isaiah 66:24).

Most of all, hell is separation from God (v. 26). Remember Jesus’ warning: “I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers'” (Matthew 7:23).

And hell is permanent (v. 26); it is the “second death” (Revelation 20:14).

Second, is hell a literal place?

Yes. Now, most interpreters see the descriptions as intentionally symbolic, but descriptions of a literal place and reality. Calvin, Luther, J. I. Packer, C. S. Lewis, and Billy Graham all see these pictures as symbolic of a literal reality.

We know that those in hell cannot literally see those in heaven. Hell is described as “darkness” in Jude 6, yet a “fiery furnace” in Jude 7. Physical fire only works on physical bodies, yet Matthew 25:41 teaches that the eternal fire was first created for spirit beings like the devil and his angels.

But please don’t miss the point—hell is terrible. Jesus used the worst pictures he could find. The point is, you do not want to go there, or let anyone you know go there! To be absent from God, and from all that is good, for all eternity. That is hell.

Third, who goes there?

From our parable we see that those who refuse to repent (v. 30), who refuse God’s word and revelation (v. 31) go to hell. Jesus was clear: he is the way, truth, and life; no one goes to the Father except through him. Those who refuse Jesus’ offer of eternal life, choose hell instead.

The word of God is clear: those whose names are not found written in the “Lamb’s book of life” are cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15).

Fourth, when do they go to hell?

Our parable makes clear that they are punished immediately. Then they are condemned to eternal hell at the final judgment: “This is how it will be at the end of the age,” Jesus says (Matthew 13:49), then he describes “the fiery furnace.” Paul taught the same (2 Thessalonians 1:9-10): “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.”

When they stand before God in the final judgment, “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15).

This is an actual reality. Dr. Charles Garfield has done extensive research with those who died physically and were brought back to life medically. His results: “Almost as many of the dying patients interviewed reported negative visions (demons and so forth), as reported blissful experiences.”

Dr. Maurice Rawlings tells about one of his patients, a man who died three times. At his first death he saw things so horrible that he experienced a religious conversion. His second clinical death, some days later, produced a wonderful, heavenly experience. At his third and final death, he was the one reassuring his doctor.

Last question: is hell fair?

The rich man in our story never protests. He knows he deserves to go there. Dr. Rawlings found the same with patients who went to hell then were resuscitated: not one of them thought this was unfair. Every one knew he or she deserved to go to hell.

Instead, the rich and religious man wants to spare his brothers, for they deserve to go there as well. Those in hell would make the greatest evangelists on earth.

The fact is, heaven is a perfect place. One sin would ruin it. So Jesus died to pay for our sins, to cleanse us from them. But if we refuse his salvation, we must pay for them ourselves. This means that we are unable to come into the presence of God, forever.

I especially appreciate the way Calvin Miller puts it. “God, can you be merciful and send me off to hell and lock me in forever?” “No, Pilgrim, I will not send you there, but if you chose to go there, I could never lock you out.”

Conclusion

We have learned important facts today.

One: hell matters, for it is eternal. The early theologians had the best illustration of eternity. Imagine a hummingbird, flying from earth to the moon, picking up a grain of moon dust, and returning to deposit it on the earth, once every thousand years. How long would it take the hummingbird to move the entire moon to the earth? When it is finished, eternity has just begun.

Two: you must be saved today. This is the only chance to trust in Jesus you can be sure that you’ll have. I cannot promise you another; neither will God.

And three: you must bring someone else with you. If I have the cure for cancer and will not give it to people dying of the disease, only two reasons could explain my behavior. Either I don’t believe people will die, or I don’t care. Scripture excludes the first reason, leaving only the second.

William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, once took a group of volunteers through an extensive training course lasting many weeks. When it was done he said to them, “I’m sorry our training took so long. If I could take you to hell for five minutes, none of what I’ve taught you would be necessary.” He was right.

“Five minutes in hell.” We’ve been to hell through God’s word today. Now, do whatever you must not to go there, or let someone else go there.

What is the Unpardonable Sin?

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What is the Unpardonable Sin?

Matthew 12:30-32

Dr. Jim Denison

For three weeks during the presidential campaign of 1988, two California whales gained more global attention than candidates Bush and Dukakis. “Bonnett” and “Crossbeak,” as they were named by marine biologists, had become trapped in Alaska as an early winter iced them in. Eskimos were the first to notice their plight, and to try to help with chain saws and poles. The media publicized the problem. An Archimedean Screw Tractor was next on the scene, breaking up the ice between the whales and open water. But it was too slow, so the National Guard flew in two CH-54 Skycrane helicopters with five-ton concrete ice bashers. Next came a twenty-ton Soviet icebreaking ship, eleven stories tall. $1.5 million was spent to help two whales move sixty miles to open water and freedom.

What the world did for those whales, God has done for every one of us. And at even greater cost, giving his only Son to die on a tortured cross. To break through the sin which trapped us and lead us to abundant, overflowing, joy-filled eternal life.

Tragically, not everyone knows that story. Probably the most common single question I’ve been asked in 25 years of ministry is, “What is the unpardonable sin?” So many people are afraid that they or those they love have committed this sin.

So what is the “unpardonable sin?” What isn’t it? And why are the answers so important to us today?

What is this sin?

Let’s begin by understanding Jesus’ words on our subject.

Our Lord has healed a demon-possessed man, the crowds think he might be the Messiah, but the Pharisees say that he drives out demons by the devil himself.

So Jesus responds, “the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven” (v. 31). He repeats his warning: “Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come” (v. 32).

Peter could deny Jesus, Thomas could doubt him, and Paul could persecute his followers, yet they could be forgiven. But “blasphemy against the Spirit” cannot be forgiven, now or at any point in the future. This is the “unpardonable sin.”

So, what is this sin? Let’s set out what we know. We know that Christians cannot commit this sin. 1 John 1:9 is clear: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” “All” means all. No sin is unpardonable for a Christian.

We know that this sin relates to the work of the Holy Spirit in regard to unbelievers. Jesus is warning the Pharisees, those who rejected him, that they are in danger of this sin. So what does the Spirit do with non-Christians?

He convicts them of their sin and need for salvation (John 16:8-9).

He tells them about Christ their Savior (John 15:26).

He explains salvation (1 Corinthians 2:14).

When they confess their sins and turn to Christ, the Spirit makes them God’s children (Romans 8:9, 11).

In short, the Holy Spirit leads lost people to salvation.

So we know that it is the “unpardonable sin” to refuse this salvation. To be convicted of your sin and need for a savior, but refuse to admit it. To be presented the gospel but reject it.

Why is this sin unpardonable? Because accepting salvation through Christ is the only means by which our sins can be pardoned. It is “unpardonable” to reject the only surgery which can save your life, or the only chemotherapy which can cure your cancer. Not because the doctor doesn’t want to heal you, but because he cannot. You won’t let him. You have rejected the only means of health and salvation.

The unpardonable sin is rejecting the Holy Spirit’s offer of salvation, and dying in such a state of rejection. Then you have refused the only pardon God is able to give you. Don’t do that. Be sure you have made Christ your Lord, today.

What about suicide?

Now, this question inevitably raises a second and very difficult issue: what about suicide? So many people mistakenly believe that suicide is the unpardonable sin. What does the Bible teach about this tragic subject?

God’s word consistently warns us that suicide is always wrong. Deuteronomy 30:19 is God’s command, “Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” Job knew that the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, that life and death are with God and not us (Job 1:21). Paul teaches us, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). And the sixth commandment is clear: “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13).

God gives us life and he alone has the right to take it. It is always too soon to give up on life. God can always intervene, and often does. You’re not done until God says you’re done.

That said, why is suicide so often thought to be the “unpardonable sin?” Not because the Bible ever teaches this, for nowhere does God’s word make this connection. Here’s the story in brief.

Eventually the Church came to separate “mortal” from “venial” sins. “Mortal” sins would condemn a person to hell, “venial” to Purgatory. Only by confessing a mortal sin could a person avoid hell.

Murder, including self-murder, was one of these mortal sins. And of course a person could not confess this sin after committing it.

So, by logic, suicide was defined as the unpardonable sin. But nowhere does the Bible teach that this is so.

Suicide is always wrong, always a sin, and always a tragedy. It places far more grief and pain on family and friends than life would have. It takes into human hands a decision which is God’s alone. It leads to judgment and loss of reward by God in eternity. But it is not the unpardonable sin. Those you care about who committed this sin are not in hell for having done so. Rejecting Christ is the unpardonable sin, and the only one.

Why do we doubt our salvation?

So don’t doubt your salvation, if you’ve trusted in Christ. You cannot commit the “unpardonable sin,” no matter what else you’ve done. And yet so many of us worry and wonder about the security of our salvation.

Why do we?

We don’t always “feel” saved. But nowhere does the Bible say how it feels to be a Christian. My sons are my sons even when they don’t feel like it, because they were born that way. A Christian has been “born again” as God’s child. Whether you feel like it today or not.

We still sin, and think that we may not be saved. But 1 John 1:8 teaches, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” The bumper sticker is right: “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.”

We have doubts and questions about our faith. But Jesus on the cross could cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). It takes as much faith to believe you’re saved as it did to accept your salvation. You still haven’t seen God or proven him beyond question. Doubts are normal. As we saw in a recent message, we can take them to God’s word and God’s Son, and find the help we need.

And some of us don’t know all the Bible promises about our salvation through God’s grace.

In verse 31 Jesus speaks of being “forgiven” by God. The Greek word means to remove the sin from the sinner, to free him or her from it. It literally means “to liberate,” as in freeing a prisoner to leave the prison and live a new life. What the icebreaking ships did for the whales, God has done for us. And the ice prison is left behind, by the grace of God.

Grace is why Psalm 103:3 tells us that God forgives “all” our sins. It’s why verse 12 promises that he separates our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. It’s why Micah 7:19 assures us that he buries our sins in the depths of the sea. It’s why Isaiah 43:25 tells us that God remembers these sins no more. All by grace.

Grace is why Jesus tells us that “whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). It’s why he says of his followers, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish” (John 10:28). It’s why he says at the grave of Lazarus, “He who believes in me shall never die” (John 11:26). It’s why Paul rejoices to say, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). All by God’s grace.

Paul knew that grace personally. The greatest persecutor of the church became its greatest apostle, by God’s grace. And so in every letter Paul wrote, “grace” appears no later than the second sentence. As Frederick Buechner says, “Grace is the best Paul can wish them because grace is the best he himself ever received.”

Conclusion

Have you received that grace? Do you know that you have asked Jesus to forgive your sins and become your Savior and Lord? If you’re not sure and you reject this invitation to trust in him, you reject your only means of grace and salvation. And if this is your last chance, as it may be, your sin is unpardonable. If a thought in your mind says you can wait, know that it’s a lie from your enemy. Every soul in hell for rejecting Christ thought he or she would have another chance.

If you know you have made Christ your Savior, be as burdened as God is for those you know who have not. Their rejection of Jesus must change or it will be unpardonable. You have been forgiven by God’s grace. Will you pray by name for those who have not? Will you do all you can to see that they experience the same grace?

And will you thank God for that grace today?

In his book, A Forgiving God in an Unforgiving World, Ron Lee Davis tells the true story of a priest in the Philippines, a much-loved man of God who carried the burden of a secret sin he had committed many years before. Though he had confessed and repented of that sin, he still had no peace, no assurance of God’s forgiveness.

In his parish was a woman who deeply loved God and who claimed to have visions in which she spoke with Christ and he with her. The priest was skeptical. To test her he said, “The next time you speak with Jesus, ask him what sin your priest committed while he was in seminary.” She agreed to do so.

A few days later he asked her, “Did Christ visit you in your dreams?” “Yes, he did,” she replied. “And did you ask him what sin I committed in seminary?” “Yes.” “Well, what did he say?” “He said, ‘I don’t remember.'”

Thanks be to God.

What Jesus Doesn’t Know

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What Jesus Doesn’t Know

Matthew 24.36-44

Dr. Jim Denison

This morning we begin with life-changing facts: the shortest war in history was fought between Zanzibar and England in 1896; Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes. Dueling is legal in Paraguay so long as both parties are registered blood donors. Donald Duck cartoons were banned in Finland because he doesn’t wear pants. If the population of China walked past us today in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction. A snail can sleep for three years. You share your birthday with at least nine million other people. Women blink nearly twice as much as men. And the electric chair was invented by a dentist.

Sometimes we know more than we want to know. And sometimes we know far less. No topic has generated more debate among Christians of this generation than ours today. Typically the result has been more heat than light.

Today we close our series on the Christ you never knew: eight pictures of the real Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew. We do so with this text, because it makes the other seven pictures of Jesus urgent and vitally significant for your soul and mine. Right now.

Let me show you why.

Get ready to meet God

“No one knows about that day or hour,” our text begins (v. 36). “That day” refers to the return of Jesus Christ, commonly known as the Second Coming. The visible, glorious return of Jesus Christ to this planet. This is the subject of our text and our study today.

About its timing, “No one knows.” Not the angels in heaven. Not even the Son of God. Only the Father himself. It is blasphemy for us to claim knowledge Jesus Christ does not have. Anyone who tells you when Jesus will return is wrong. No one knows.

And so everyone must be ready. Jesus gives us three reasons why this is so.

First, his return will be unexpected. Here our Lord cites the days of Noah (vs. 37-39). The world refused to believe that the Flood would come, until it did. And all who were not ready, perished.

Second, we must each be prepared to meet God. Here Jesus points to two men in the field and two women at work with a hand mill.

Today he’d point to two men in their offices and two women at work, or waiting in the carpool line, or somehow at least as busy as men.

They likely know each other, and are perhaps even father and son, mother and daughter.

But their close relationship is not enough—they must each be ready. One is, and one is not. One is saved and one is lost.

Last, Jesus could come now. Here he warns them of the thief in the night (vs. 43-44).

If the owner of the house knew when the thief was coming, he’d be ready. This is the whole point of our alarm systems today—to tell us and the police when the thief is coming. But he doesn’t know. In precisely the same way, we don’t know when Jesus will return. A thief could be at your home right now. Jesus could be returning right now.

Again and again Scripture makes this plain. For instance: “Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-4).

Remember Jesus’ warning to the church at Sardis in Revelation 3: “Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you” (v. 3).

Here’s the summary of our text today: “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come” (v. 42).

“Watch” is imperative, addressed in the second person plural and so to us all. We do not know—this is a categorical statement, with no exceptions. So we must be ready—every one of us. Today.

“The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare” (2 Peter 3:10).

Jesus’ last words recorded in Scripture are these: “Yes, I am coming soon” (Revelation 22:20).

Why get ready?

What if it were today? Would you be ready? Why get ready? Why live in preparation, ready each day? Consider these facts.

First, you don’t know when you will meet God. He may come for you, or you may go to him. No knows when that day will come for them. No one.

Pompeii was destroyed by the volcano Vesuvius in A.D. 70 (check date). The entire city was sealed by lava, and preserved. Fascinating finds have been made as a result. A hand clutching a bag of gold. A soldier standing at attention. A man cutting a piece of bread, his dog at his side. They didn’t know. Neither will we.

Abraham Lincoln didn’t know he would meet God on date; or John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963—presidents don’t know. Yitzhak Rabin didn’t know he would meet God on date—prime ministers don’t know. John Lennon didn’t know he would meet God on date—celebrities don’t know. Neither will we.

We must be ready to meet God today, for today is all we have.

A second fact: spiritual procrastination is a temptation of the enemy. Remember the old story about the meeting in hell: how will the demons best tempt mankind? One said, “I’ll tell them there is no heaven,” but the devil knew that wouldn’t work. Another said, “I’ll tell them there is no hell,” but the devil knew we’d not believe it. Then a third said, “I’ll tell them there is no hurry.” And Satan said, “Go.” And he did.

If you’re certain that this message doesn’t apply to you, that you’ve got all the time in the world to prepare to meet God, guess why.

One last fact: the best way to live life is to be right with God, right now.

Even if you don’t die for 40 years, or Jesus doesn’t come for 40 generations, the best way to live this day is to be right with God.

G. Campbell Morgan was a great expositor and a powerful man of God. His secret? He said, “Every morning when I awaken I remind myself that I must be ready to meet God today.” Jonathan Edwards was the greatest theologian America has ever produced, and the preacher of the First Great Awakening. Why? His resolution: I will live every day for Jesus. Billy Graham is considered by many to be the greatest living Christian today. His secret? He lives every day as if it were his last, ready always to meet God.

This is the best way to live every day. Including this day.

Conclusion

So, how do we get ready to meet God today?

First, make certain of your own salvation. Ask Jesus Christ to forgive your sins and take charge of your life. Be sure that you have given your soul to him.

Next, take a spiritual inventory today. Ask the Spirit of God to show you anything wrong between you and your Father. Write it down, specifically. Ask God’s forgiveness, and claim his mercy. Do this often. Our ministry staff did this during our staff retreat this week, with great joy. Do it today.

And take all the time your soul needs. Someone asked the evangelist Gypsy Smith how to bring revival to his church. He said: get a piece of chalk, draw a circle around yourself, and pray until everything inside that circle is right with God. Then revival will come. Get everything inside your circle right with God. Today.

Across our series we’ve learned important facts about Jesus Christ. As he loved Matthew the tax collector, so he loves us all. He defeated the devil, and will defeat him in our lives as well. He heals our hurts, brings God to us, works miracles today, and wants to be our Lord and Master. He defeated death. And he will come again for us all.

Are you ready right now? If this were the end of your life, would your life end well?

The Olympics have the attention of the world, and especially those who win. What of those who finish last? One such athlete deserves our notice.

At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, John Stephen Akhwari of Tanzania finished last. By the time he reached the stadium it was dark, the race long over. Akhwari was bleeding, his right leg bandaged, obviously in great pain. But he dragged his leg around the track and finished the race.

A reporter asked him why. He said, “My country didn’t send me here to start the race. My country sent me here to finish it.”

If this were the last day, will you finish your race well?

What Thomas Jefferson Got Wrong: The Best Way to Serve the Nation We Love

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Topical Scripture: 2 Chronicles 7:13-14

Americans typically celebrate our Independence on July Fourth by spending more than a billion dollars on fireworks.  Forty-seven million of us travel at least fifty miles from our home during the holiday weekend. July Fourth is one of the biggest days of the year for our nation, and deservedly so.

What a contrast from the way it all began.

My wife, Janet and I toured Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a few years ago. One day, we made our way to what is called Declaration House. Here we stood behind a plexiglass wall looking into a nondescript room with chairs, a fireplace, and a wooden brown armoire.

Thomas Jefferson stayed at this site for about a hundred days in 1776. It was here that he wrote three drafts of the Virginia Constitution, produced committee reports, authored a position paper, and maintained personal correspondence.

And it was here that he completed the Declaration of Independence.

The house where he stayed for those fateful days was torn down in 1883 but reconstructed by the National Park Service for America’s bicentennial in 1976. As a result, we were looking at a replica of Jefferson’s actual work space. It was deeply moving to stand at the site where a document that changed history was authored.

“When Thomas Jefferson dined alone”

Thomas Jefferson was one of the most brilliant men America has ever known. I have read four biographies about him and remain deeply impressed with his genius.

When I visited Monticello, the home in Virginia he designed, I was struck by the technological sophistication of his architectural brilliance. Jefferson served our country as the author of our Declaration of Independence and Virginia’s Statute for Religious Freedom. He was secretary of state under President Washington, vice president under John Adams, and president of the United States. He was also the father of the University of Virginia.

He could speak English, French, Italian, and Latin, and could read Greek and Spanish. John F. Kennedy famously told a dinner gathering of Nobel Prize winners that the event represented “the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”

However, he also enslaved more than six hundred people over the course of his life. Years after his wife’s death, he fathered at least six children by his slave, Sally Hemings. In fact, as he worked to finish his Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, he was accompanied by his enslaved servant, Bob Hemings.

I believe the contradictions embodied by Thomas Jefferson and reflected in our nation across more than two centuries are rooted in a single word enshrined in his Declaration.

“The pursuit of Happiness”

The most famous sentence in the Declaration of Independence states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

These were truly revolutionary words.

In a time when many nations, including Great Britain, believed that a person’s life, liberty, and happiness were subordinated to the will of the monarch and authority of the state, Jefferson claimed that these were “unalienable Rights.” And he stated that these “truths” were “self-evident,” not derived from the government.

But imagine the difference in our nation if he had chosen “holiness” instead of “happiness.”

“Religion and morality are indispensable supports”

In our third century past the adoption of Jefferson’s declaration, our culture has moved dramatically away from the Judeo-Christian worldview upon which our democracy was founded.

In his Farewell Address (September 19, 1796), President Washington told the nation: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports.” John Adams claimed that “the general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity.”

Even Thomas Jefferson, whose faith commitments have been the subject of much controversy, insisted: “Injustice in government undermines the foundations of a society. A nation, therefore, must take measures to encourage its members along the paths of justice and morality.”

Today, however, “the pursuit of happiness” defines for many the right to “life” and “liberty.”

If we must choose between happiness and life with regard to the unborn, many choose happiness and endorse abortion. If we must choose between happiness and liberty with regard to the conflict between sexual freedom and religious freedom, many choose the first and deny the second.

If we must choose between belief in our Creator and our personal happiness, many choose the latter and deny the former. Banners posted recently in Ft. Worth by an atheist group announced, “IN NO GOD WE TRUST.” Unfortunately, they speak for many today.

“The majority who participate”

I love America and thank God for the privilege of living in my country. When posting our flag outside our Dallas home this week in honor of July 4, I was filled with gratitude for the sacrifices made by so many on behalf of our nation. As I watched the Fourth of July parades and festivities, I joined millions of others in celebrating our country.

However, I also believe that the greatest way I can serve our nation is by helping to meet her greatest need. And I am convinced that America’s greatest need is for a spiritual and moral awakening that would lead us to choose holiness over happiness.

I also know that holiness starts with me. And with you. We can claim today our Father’s promise: “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

To “humble ourselves” is to admit how desperately we need God’s power, direction, forgiveness, and blessing in our lives and nation. Psalm 33:12 declares: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.”

To “pray” is to intercede for our nation consistently and passionately.

To “seek my face” is to move from praying for others to praying for ourselves. It is to meet God in worship, prayer, confession, and submission to his Spirit.

To “turn from their wicked ways” is to see ourselves in the light of God’s holiness and respond accordingly. It is to refuse all that displeases and dishonors our Lord.

When we do these things, our Father will “hear from heaven,” guaranteed. He will then “forgive their sin,” separating our sin from us as far as the east is from the west, burying it in the depths of the sea, and remembering it no more. And then, finally, he will “heal their land.” What starts with us will touch out nation.

Conclusion

Thomas Jefferson noted: “We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.”

For the good of our souls and our nation, let’s participate in a true awakening of holiness in America, to the glory of God. This is the greatest and most urgent service we can render this nation we love.

In 1921, a soldier who had died in France during World War I was interred at Arlington National Cemetery. A massive marble tomb was placed on the site of the original grave in 1932. An inscription on the walls of the tomb reads, “Here rest in honored glory an American soldier known but to God.”

On Memorial Day 1958 two other unknown soldiers, one from World War II and one from the Korean War, were also buried in the tomb. On Memorial Day 1984 a soldier from the Vietnam War was interred, though he was later identified through DNA testing and buried by his family.

The poet W. H. Auden, thinking of these unknown soldiers, asked pointedly, “To save your world, you asked this man to die; Would this man, could he see you now, ask why?” Freedom is never free. It cost more than one million American men and women their lives. It cost Jesus his cross.

What price will you pay?

What Was Jesus Thinking?

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What Was Jesus Thinking?

Matthew 9.9-13

Dr. Jim Denison

Several years ago President Bush visited a nursing home, where he began visiting with the residents. One elderly woman in a wheelchair seemed rather disinterested in his presence. He approached her, smiled, patted her shoulder, and gently squeezed her frail hand. She smiled back but said nothing. “Do you know who I am?” the president asked. “No,” she replied, “but if you’ll ask the lady at the nurses’ station over there, she’ll tell you.”

Do we know who we are? See if you can identify this recent movie by its plot: a man and his wife have a midlife crisis. She has an affair with a competitor; he quits his job to work at a hamburger stand, and is infatuated with his daughter’s best friend. His daughter falls in love with the boy next door, who is a drug dealer. The movie, American Beauty, won Best Picture at the most recent Oscars, along with four other Academy Awards. One critic called it “a reflection of boomer suburbia,” and another said, “The hauntingly sublime American Beauty is the way we live now.”

Do we know who we are?

Jesus does. And he loves us anyway. What do you most dislike about yourself? What habit, sin, mistake, guilt, shame do you most regret? Jesus knows all about it. This morning, I simply want to prove that fact, beyond any doubt. The rest is up to you.

The need to follow Jesus

“Matthew” means “gift of God.” This man’s other name was Levi, the priestly tribe of his nation. What a joke, people must have thought.

You see, Matthew “sat at the tax collector’s booth” (9a). And his fellow citizens hated him for it. The Jewish people would not allow tax collectors to testify in court as a witness, for they were assumed to be liars. They could not attend worship in the Temple or synagogue, for they were considered unclean.

Why were they so despised by their society?

For the simple reason that these men were cheating traitors. Rome employed them to tax their own neighbors for the hated Empire, making them turncoats and traitors. Even worse, the government allowed them to exact as much taxation as they wished with the full support of the military, making them thieves.

Here are some examples of the taxes Matthew would have collected from his neighbors and fellow citizens in Capernaum, a fishing village on the north side of the Sea of Galilee. There was the “ground tax,” one tenth of a man’s crop of grain and one fifth of his produce of wine, fruit, and oil. The income tax was one percent of his entire income, and the poll tax was a day’s wages required of every living person.

Then he collected customs of all which was imported and exported through the city. He charged a bridge tax when a bridge was crossed, road taxes when roads were used, harbor dues when a harbor was entered, market taxes when markets were used, town dues upon entering a walled town. A man traveling a road might have to pay Matthew taxes on the road, his cart, its wheels, its axle, and the beast which pulled it.

Matthew could stop any man, anywhere, examine his goods, and assess whatever taxes he wished. If the man could not pay what he required, he could loan him the money at an impossible rate of interest. It is no wonder that the New Testament ranks tax collectors with Gentiles (Matthew 18:17), harlots (Matthew 21:31-33), and sinners (Matthew 9:10-11).

And it is no wonder that he was so despised by his fellow citizens. Imagine a scenario during the Cold War era by which the Russians conquered us, and employed your neighbor to steal your money to pay Russian taxes. Everything you work so hard to earn, he could simply take from you. If you complained, the soldiers, at his beck and call, could take your home or worse. That was Matthew, the “gift of God.” Not according to his neighbors.

The invitation to follow Jesus

But Jesus saw the truth in the name, and the promise in the man. Jesus knew this man, for he, too, lived in Capernaum, at the home of Simon Peter. This was his headquarters for the three years of his ministry. He saw him often, and the tax collector heard him preach and knew of his ministry.

And so one day Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” The words in Greek mean, “Attach yourself to me, commit yourself to my life and cause.” You or I would never choose someone like this for our church staff. But Jesus did. And Matthew came.

There were many reasons Matthew had not followed Jesus of his own initiative before this day. He probably did not think himself worthy to be Jesus’ follower, given his status in the community. He probably did not think Jesus would want him, or care for him. He knew what the other disciples would think about him. But the moment Jesus pushed all that hatred and animosity aside and invited him, he came.

People want a personal relationship with God. But so many don’t know to have one, or don’t think they can. They think their failures and mistakes make then ineligible. They think the church won’t accept them, or that God cannot love them.

Four out of ten who do not attend church say they’d come if someone would just invite them. Jesus invited Matthew, and he came. I wonder if your Matthew would come if you invited her, or him?

The joy of following Jesus

In fact, Matthew was so overjoyed to be able to follow Jesus that he “left everything” to do so (Luke 5:28). His career, once abandoned, could never be regained. His wealth (he was perhaps the richest man in Capernaum) was given to the common treasury of the disciples (John 13:29). Even his safety and life were at risk, for the Roman soldiers would not protect him from those who hated him once he left the employ of the Empire.

By following Jesus, Matthew left his career, his possessions, and risked even his life. Each of the apostles would in time sacrifice these, but Matthew was the first.

This was not the only “first” we find with Matthew. He became the first evangelist for our Lord, inviting all his tax collector and “sinner” friends to what Luke’s gospel calls a “great banquet” at his home, in Jesus’ honor (Luke 5:29). None of the other disciples had begun personal evangelism yet, but Matthew did.

He became the first to record the teachings of Jesus. When he left his tax collector’s booth, he kept his pen. With it he recorded the Sermon on the Mount and other teachings of our Lord. Very early tradition says that he wrote these “logia,” or “sayings” of Jesus, and that they were used by Mark and Luke in their gospels, and in Matthew’s gospel later as well. None of the other disciples could have done this.

Every time we open the New Testament at its beginning, Matthew’s ministry continues.

Matthew was among the first Christian missionaries as well. Immediately after the Resurrection, Matthew began to preach the gospel among his fellow Jews. Evidence indicates that he later preached in Ethiopia, Persia, Parthia, and Macedonia. The Jewish Talmud records the tradition that he was condemned to death by the Jewish Sanhedrin and martyred, perhaps in Ethiopia.

And Matthew extended the love and grace of Jesus to his own family. This is a wonderful, often overlooked part of his amazing story.

Matthew’s father was named Alphaeus (Mark 2:14). “James, son of Alphaeus,” was also numbered later among Jesus’ disciples (Matthew 10:3). Most scholars believe they were brothers, noting that Matthew puts James immediately after himself in his list of Jesus’ disciples.

It is also likely that James, the brother of Matthew, had been his mortal political enemy. Here’s what we know. James is always listed in the gospels with Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot. The best evidence indicates that all three were Zealots, Jewish nationalists who were passionately committed to the violent overthrow of the Roman government. We would call them terrorists today. And by linking James with them, Matthew and the other gospel writers indicated that he shared such hatred for the Roman Empire.

No one in all of Palestine would be more despised by the Zealots than the tax collectors, those traitors who stole from their own countrymen for the sake of the hated Empire. And so it seems likely that James and his brother Matthew had been estranged from each other, probably for their entire adult lives. One worked for the government, while the other plotted its overthrow.

But by Matthew 10, both are followers of Jesus and partners in his gospel. I think it happened this way. Matthew abandons everything to follow this One who has given him the peace and joy which no prosperity could ever produce. He soon realizes that Jesus in the only One who can bring peace to his people and nation as their Messiah. And so he goes to his brother James, braving the rejection and insults he surely expects, and tells him that he has found the peace and hope which his brothers and his fellow Zealots have sought. He somehow convinces James to come with him to meet Jesus. James finds that his brother is right. And these two brothers in flesh become brothers in the Spirit, for all time.

Conclusion

Now, what does Matthew’s story say to ours? It says that Jesus knows who you are, and where you are, right now. Remember that secret sin or shame you don’t want anyone else to know? He knows it. He knows your mistakes and failures even better than you know them yourself. And He loves you, and has a wonderful plan for your life. What’s more, he can restore any broken relationship, heart, and home, given the chance. He is still the Great Physician, who came to “call sinners” to accept his love and grace.

Why love him? Because he loves you so much. Because his Father gave his Son for you. Because “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.” For you.

One of the best stories I’ve received in a long time tells the story of an elderly man who was invited to speak during a Sunday church service. He began, “A father, his son, and a friend of his son were sailing off the Pacific coast, when a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to shore. The waves were so high that even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright; the three were swept into the ocean.”

The elderly man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers who were, for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat interested in his story. He continued, “Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most terrible decision of his life—to which boy would he throw the other end of the line? He had only seconds to make the decision. He knew that his son was a Christian, and he also knew that his son’s friend was not. The agony of his decision could not be matched by the torrent of the waves.

“As the father yelled out, ‘I love you, son!’ he threw the line to his son’s friend. By the time he pulled that friend to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beyond the swells of the sea into the black night. His body was never recovered.

“The father knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus, and he could not bear the thought of his son’s friend stepping into an eternity without Jesus. Therefore, he sacrificed his son. How great is the love of God that he should do the same for us.”

Then the elderly man turned and sat back down in his chair, as silence filled the room. Within minutes after the service ended, those two teenagers were at his side. “That was a nice story,” one of them said, “but I don’t think it was very realistic for a father to give up his son’s life in hopes that the other boy would become a Christian.”

“Well, you’ve got a point there,” the elderly man replied. A big smile creased his face as he said, “It sure isn’t very realistic, is it? But I’m standing here today to tell you that story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give up his Son for me. You see, I was the son’s friend.”

So are you.

What You See Is What You Get

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What You See Is What We Get

Matthew 4.20-22 / Luke 5.1-11

Dr. Jim Denison

William Barclay said, “Many people saw steam raise the lid of a kettle; only James Watt went on to think of a steam engine. Many people saw an apple fall; only Isaac Newton went on to think out the law of gravity. The earth is full of miracles for the eye that sees” (Barclay, Luke 57).

Others saw fishermen; Jesus saw apostles. A preacher for Pentecost; a writer for his Gospel, his letters, his Revelation. Others saw a Galilean itinerant rabbi, a small-town carpenter; these fishermen saw God.

The Bible says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18, KJV). Some years ago I learned this fact: I am not what I think I am. I am not what you think I am. I am what I think you think I am. Almost always that’s true for me, and for you.

But there’s a better way. The Bible shows us today what God thinks you are. When you become what God thinks you are … well, let me show you.

Fishing with God (Luke 5:1-11)

Have you ever been fishing with God? Peter did, and so did his brother Andrew. So did their business partners and friends, James and John. So should we today.

In Luke 5 we find Jesus with Peter. Remember, they’ve spent a year together. Now they go fishing together.

Peter and his partners have caught nothing all night, the best time to fish. But when Jesus tells him to let down the nets, he agrees. “Master,” he calls Jesus (v. 5), their word for teacher; this fact will be important in a moment.

Almost instantly, they catch so many fish that Peter and Andrew must call James and John for help. Still the massive catch threatens to capsize their boats.

Now Peter knows he’s not just in the presence of a great teacher and healer, but God himself.

“Go away from me, Lord,” he cries (v. 8). Now he calls Jesus not Master but Lord—kurios, their word for Emperor, God.

Why? “I am a sinful man!” (v. 8b). Remember Isaiah’s cry in the presence of the holy God: “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5). When we see God as he is, in that light we see ourselves as we are. Sins, stains, dirt, and all.

Now comes the good news.

Jesus replies, “Don’t be afraid” (v. 10). Be assured of God’s grace and forgiveness. The Bible says, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

In fact, Jesus loves Peter so much that he invites him to join Jesus in his divine work on earth: “From now on you will catch men” (v. 10b). As you caught fish—more than you could imagine, now you’ll catch men. Billions, in fact.

They’ve been fishing with God. Now they are called to fish for God.

Their response? “They pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him” (v. 11).

Matthew’s gospel gives us more details. Peter and Andrew left their nets; James and John left their father Zebedee, and their boat. “Immediately,” v. 22 says.

To go fish for men. To help people follow Jesus. They moved from the Sea of Galilee to the sea of souls, from lake to lives. To use their gifts and abilities, their resources and relationships, to help everyone they could to know God as King and live forever in his Kingdom. To change eternity. And they did.

Fishing for God (Matthew 4:20-22)

See the boldness of their vision: “immediately” they made Jesus’ call their lives. No ambivalence, waffling, questioning. Instant obedience.

See the sacrifice of their vision: examine what they gave up to make Jesus’ vision theirs. They sacrificed their profession and their prosperity. They left behind their family and friends. In fact, Peter would later say to Jesus, “We have left everything to follow you!” (Matthew 19.27).

See the courage of their vision. They followed Jesus’ vision with no idea where it would lead them, no five-year plan for their future. They “went out not knowing” (Hebrews 11:8), with nothing but their courageous faith.

See the results of their vision.

Peter would preach the first sermon in church history. Later the Galilean fisherman would pastor the church in Rome herself.

John would write the Gospel and letters which bear his name, and the Revelation of Jesus Christ. 20 centuries of pilgrims would journey to his exiled cave on Patmos, and would worship his best friend and Lord.

Today we name churches for these fishermen, and place their pictures in places of worship. We read the books of the Bible they wrote, and meet God in their words and lives. Imagine God using you to do this, and you sense the surprise they must feel this morning in heaven.

Jim Elliott, the missionary martyred by the Auca Indians he tried to reach, wrote in his journal this now-famous life motto: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain that which he cannot lose.” These men wrote that motto across their lives. And they were not the last.

Fishermen before us

We began this year with Jesus’ Kingdom vision, and learned last week that he calls us to the same Kingdom work. Now, how can we be as bold, as sacrificial, as courageous in our vision for our lives and church as these disciples were?

There’s a way, and our leadership has asked me to announce it to you.

First, let’s gain some historical perspective. Jesus commissioned his church to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). He told us to begin with our Jerusalem, and work until we have reached the “ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

He showed us how: meet needs in his name, earning the right to meet spiritual needs with his love. As he fed the crowds so he could feed them spiritually, opened blind eyes so he could open blind hearts, so he calls us to meet the needs of our community, so we can meet their soul’s need for god.

So it was in 1939 that 70 brave souls gathered in the University Park Elementary School to begin the Park Cities Baptist Church. No church sponsored them. They simply believed that “there ought to be a church” in the Park Cities, and pledged their lives to reaching this community with the gospel.

Their first pastor matched their bold, sacrificial, and courageous vision. Dr. Alton Reed left a thriving congregation of more than 1,500 for a congregation of 142 meeting in an elementary school. But God led him and his family to join his vision for this church and this city.

They purchased the home at 4201 Lovers Lane, now the administration building of the Highland Park Independent School District. They planned a massive capital campaign and building project for that land, to commence in June of 1944. Remember what was happening in America in 1944? But part of the land was unavailable to the church.

So they bought 7½ acres of land for $15,000 on Northwest Highway—as far north as you could go on a paved highway in Dallas. And they built this campus. A sanctuary large enough for all who would come; the first church gymnasium in Dallas; outstanding facilities for preschoolers and children.

Over time, Park Cities would give more money to missions than any other Baptist church in Texas, some say in the country. And God would extend her global reach literally around the world.

All of this began with some spiritual fishermen and women who left their boats and nets and church families to come here. To start a church where there was no church, in an elementary school, without a pastor. Would we be that visionary today? My friends, we must be.

Fishing today

You see, the world has changed. Southern Baptist Sunday schools grew by 27% in the 1930s, 31% in the 1940s, and 57% in the 1950s. But they grew by 2% in the 1960s, minus 1% in the 1970s, and minus 8% in the 1980s. A recent demographics study indicates that our church is now located in that part of Dallas with the highest percentage of people who say they have “no faith involvement,” as much as 46% of the population. 130,000 people live within three miles of our church; total average worship attendance for the churches in this radius is 14,576; so at least 100,000 living right around us are not in church today.

And so we must find new ways to fish for this generation. New ways to meet the needs of our community effectively, thus meeting their spiritual needs.

Our immediate community has no recreational facility.

There is no senior adult center in our community, yet the senior adult population is exploding around us.

There is no community center or public library in this immediate community.

Our church has a very significant parking and traffic impact on our neighbors, and this issue must be addressed.

Meanwhile, we are experiencing enormous growth and space needs with our congregation. Our preschool and nurseries are completely out of space. Our children’s space is at capacity in the second hour on Sunday morning. Our youth are up as much at 50% from last year; 375 are enrolled in next week’s DiscipleNow, the largest number in our history; and they meet in six locations on Sunday morning. Areas of our adult and senior adult ministries have significant space needs.

And so I am privileged to announce to you a strategic initiative our leaders have titled, “Continuing the Vision.” A capital project which will meet each of these needs and build bridges to our community for the gospel. An initiative which will enable us to reach lost people more effectively than ever before.

The project would create a three-story facility on our existing east parking lot. The first floor will be dedicated to preschool and youth. The second and third floors will be a double gym with a jogging track, and aerobics and recreational facilities. Our library would move to the first floor of this building and be available to the community. The Howard Center would move to this facility, with new and larger classrooms for its curriculum.

Beneath the new building would be a three-floor underground parking lot which will give us a net increase of 575 parking spaces, greatly minimizing our traffic impact in the community.

Our existing gymnasium would be extended 40 feet to the north and become a Great Hall, seating 600 for dinner and 1,200 for conferences. The area below would be fully excavated and become a new Senior Adult center.

Colonnades would be added to the exterior of the Sanctuary for inclement weather traffic flow, and offices would be congregated in the north tower to return current offices to Sunday school space.

Now, let’s measure this initiative by the vision of those who founded our church.

Is it bold? Yes, but they began a church with no history, no facility, no pastor, no support. They were ready to initiate at least as great a capital project in 1944.

Is it sacrificial? Yes, it will cost approximately $35 million, though $2.5 million has already been given without any solicitation whatsoever. But those who founded our church sacrificed their church homes, their faith families, and sacrificed greatly their finances to build the campus we appreciate so much today.

Is it courageous? We’re stepping out by faith, but so did they.

And so did the first spiritual fishermen Jesus called. We must be as bold, sacrificial, and courageous as they were. If we are, God will use us to reach our world, as he used them to reach theirs.

Conclusion

Today’s announcement is about building the Kingdom of God. This is not about our will, but his. This is not our church, but his. We will seek his face, his will, together. And we will be the spiritual fishermen he has called us to be.

Over the next two weeks every Sunday school department will be given detailed presentations and explanations of this project. Open forums will enable every member of our church to know the project and ask any questions you like. Community groups have already been organized in fourteen homes to present the project to our neighbors; a large such gathering will take place this Tuesday on our campus as well.

We hope to be in position to vote as a congregation on this initiative during the weekend of February 16-17, to apply for needed zoning and permits immediately thereafter, and to begin the fund-raising dimension of the work after Easter.

Meanwhile, let us pray. Let us seek God’s face, his will. For our church and for each of our lives personally. Let us seek God’s vision, for it is far greater than any we can achieve ourselves.

These fishermen could not see how their faith would change their world. 70 people meeting in an elementary school could not see how their faith would change our lives. We cannot see how our faith in 2002 will change the generations to come. But it will.

My friend and mentor Dr. John Haggai once spoke words, which challenge me to this day: “Let us attempt something so great that it is doomed to fail unless God be in it.”

Amen?

What’s So Amazing About Grace?

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What’s So Amazing About Grace?

John 20:24-29

Dr. Jim Denison

More people than ever before are asking to be buried or cremated with their mobile phones. The trend began in South Africa, and has spread from there. In Cape Town, people who believe in witchcraft fear they could fall under a spell, be put to sleep, and be buried alive. So they want cell phones in their coffins in case they woke up. One funeral service in South Africa will even include several cell phone batteries in your coffin, in case yours runs out.

The rest of us smile at such absurdity. We don’t fear death like that. In fact, no society in history has feared death less than we do.

There was a time when people were afraid of what might happen when they died–afraid of going to hell, or at least Purgatory. Afraid of meeting God.

But today our culture is convinced that so long as we’re good people who believe in God, all is well. If we’re not Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim or Jewish, we must be Christians. Coming to church at Christmas and Easter, trying to live good lives, and believing in God meets the requirements. Only two percent of us are afraid of going to hell. Eighty-seven percent are sure we’ll be in heaven. No cell phones needed.

Are you afraid of going to hell? You know that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave. You know that he paid for your sins and that God forgives all that you confess. What more is there to believe?

Here’s the sermon in a sentence: unless our lives are changed every day by the living Lord Jesus, we are missing the life he died to give. We are missing genuine Christianity. To show you why that’s so, I get to tell you my favorite Easter story today. Then we’ll see if it’s yours.

Meet my friend Thomas

“Thomas” is Hebrew for “twin.” Scholars wonder who his twin brother was. I have news for them–it’s me.

Like “Doubting Thomas,” I have always wanted things to make sense. When I first became a Christian at the age of 15, I had all kinds of questions which people didn’t seem to want to hear. How do we know that the Bible is the word of God? How do we know that Jesus is the only way to God? What about science and faith? Evil and suffering? People didn’t seem to want to talk about my questions. In fact, I doubted for a long time whether or not I was even a Christian, since I had so many doubts.

So “Doubting Thomas” became my patron saint.

Jesus has just assured his disciples, “You know the way to the place where I am going.” And Thomas speaks his first recorded words in Scripture: “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” (John 14:4, 5). His faith starts with a question.

Then comes his most famous appearance, the statement which has forever labeled him “Doubting Thomas.” The disciples have seen the risen Christ on Easter Sunday, but Thomas missed church. We don’t know why. Some say he was afraid of the authorities. Others that he was grieving Jesus’ death and didn’t want to come. Maybe he had the flu. For whatever reason, he missed Easter.

So the disciples brought him the incredible news, “We have seen the Lord!” But their experience is not good enough for Thomas. No second-hand faith for him: “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it” (v. 25). Four personal pronouns–if Thomas doesn’t have first-hand, empirical, hard and fast evidence for himself, he won’t believe it.

Good for him. Jesus doesn’t want second-hand faith from us. He doesn’t want us to believe simply because our parents believe, or our Sunday school teacher told us to, or we live in the buckle of the Bible belt and it’s rude not to. In Isaiah 1:18 the Lord says, “Come, let us argue it out.” Jesus cried from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). You don’t want a second-hand marriage, or second-hand friendships. Don’t settle for a second-hand faith.

It may be that you’re here for Easter Sunday, but you have questions about the whole enterprise. How do we know Jesus really existed? How do we know he rose from the grave? What difference does it make if he did?

I had all those questions, through high school and college. Finally, as I got close to graduation and a future in vocational ministry, I decided I needed some answers. I needed to know for myself if it was all true. So I began my first study of “apologetics,” that area of theology which examines questions about the faith.

Let me give you a semester’s worth in five minutes.

How do we know the Bible is true? The DaVinci Code says that we have never had a definitive version of it. The Gospel of Judas presents a very different picture of Jesus and his betrayer than you’ve heard. How do we know this book is God’s word?

Because the manuscripts evidence is conclusive proof that we have what the authors wrote; because archaeological evidence is convincing; because internal consistency within the Bible is outstanding; and because it keeps its promises, such as the more than 50 Old Testament predictions regarding the Messiah which were fulfilled by Jesus. The odds of one man fulfilling them all is one in ten to the 157th power; that number is greater than all the atoms in the universe.

How do we know Jesus existed? Because Tacitus, the greatest Roman historian, told us he did. Because Thallus the Samaritan described his crucifixion, Suetonius, Mara bar Serapion, and Josephus described him in detail.

How do we know the early Christians worshiped him as Lord? The DaVinci Code says that they knew he was a mortal, and that the Church deified him three centuries later. But Clement of Rome wrote a long letter in AD 95 describing his Lordship, as did numerous other early Christians. And in AD 112, the Roman administrator Pliny the Younger reported that Christians worshiped Christ “as a god.”

How do we know they were right? Because of the resurrection we celebrate today. We know from Tacitus that Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate; we know from Josephus that the early Christians said he was raised from the dead. What happened to the body? They didn’t go to the wrong tomb–the Romans were guarding the right one.

They didn’t steal the body, then die for a lie. The Romans didn’t steal the body, or they would have produced it. Jesus couldn’t have faked his death, for the spear to the pericardial sac of his heart would have killed him and the burial shroud would have suffocated him.

That’s a semester’s apologetics class in five minutes. Maybe you have questions like Thomas and me. The evidence is outstanding.

Become like Thomas

But hearing all that evidence, are you any different now than you were five minutes ago? The other disciples could tell Thomas all week, “We have seen the Lord,” but it didn’t really matter. Their experience, their reasons, their evidence were not enough. If what happens next had not happened, Thomas’s story would have ended. So would yours and mine.

A week later, next Sunday morning, Jesus showed up for church again. And this time Thomas was there. He knew his doubting disciple’s precise questions–in fact, he quotes them to him. He doesn’t criticize him for them, but confronts them head on. And then he challenges him: “Stop doubting and believe.” And this time Thomas does, with the finest one-sentence profession of faith in all of Scripture: “My Lord and my God!” (v. 28). And Jesus took the occasion to invite us to join him: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (v. 29). Are you “blessed”?

Meeting Jesus personally changed everything. Head knowledge, orthodox theology, reasoned apologetics were not enough. Coming to church wasn’t enough. Meeting Jesus was.

The women had come to the tomb to bury a dead man before they met Jesus and became the first evangelists.

Peter had gone back to fishing when he met Jesus and became his first preacher.

Saul of Tarsus was busy killing Christians when he met Jesus and became his first global missionary.

20,000 are meeting Jesus every day in sub-Sahara Africa; 28,000 a day in Communist China. Last Sunday we heard Matt Elkins tell about spending two years in Sudan, where Muslims are meeting Jesus in their dreams, then asking Christians about him and coming to faith in Christ. When Matt arrived, he did not know a single Sudanese Christian. Two years later, 50 took the Lord’s Supper with him before he left. Only God knows how many will meet Jesus before he returns.

When last did you meet Jesus in a transforming way?

Until you do, “grace” is a theological construct. It’s what you know Jesus did at Easter. It’s why you believe in God and try to be good. It’s why you think you’re going to heaven. It’s an event to remember every Spring.

But when you meet Jesus for yourself, all that changes. Easter is no longer a holiday but a holy day, no longer a church service but a celebration. “The risen Christ” is not a theological concept to prove but a relationship to experience. When last were you amazed by his grace?

Conclusion

Chris Moretz of Waveland, Mississippi decided to ride out hurricane Katrina, but the fury of the storm left him trapped in his home. Water went from ankle deep to hip deep in five minutes. He jumped out and swam for his life. But not before painting on the roof this message, “C. Moretz is alive. Pass it on.” And so his family knew he had survived.

Today the message is simple, painted on steeples and churches all over the world: “Jesus is alive. Pass it on.”

Have you ever asked the living Christ to forgive your sin and become your Savior? When last did you repent of your sin and ask him to forgive you and wipe the slate clean? When last did you hear his voice speak through his word? When last did you feel his Spirit through his worship? When last did you pray for no reason except to be with him? When last did you spend an hour listening to him? A day walking with him? When last did his grace amaze you?

Why not today?

What’s Your Price?

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What’s Your Price?

Exodus 20:15

Dr. Jim Denison

For 28 years Bob Barker has hosted The Price Is Right, the longest-running game show on television. In fact, Mr. Barker has logged more hours on network television than any person in history.

You know how his game works—contestants guess the prices of items displayed on the stage to win. And how those prices have changed.

In America, apparently no price is too high for the things we want.

Who would have dreamed we’d spend $5 for a cup of coffee, or $3 billion on bottled water? But we’re drinking it.

The price of gasoline hasn’t been this high in nine years, and is predicted to rise another 20 to 30 cents soon. But we’re still buying gas.

The most recent Motor Trend displays upcoming car models. Included is a “priced down” Hummer at only $58,000, and a new experimental car for $1.2 million. Someone will buy it.

Against all this materialism, we find the eighth commandment. Two words in Hebrew, four in English: “You shall not steal.” Let’s look at what the commandment means, and how to keep it today.

To help us, we’ll lay alongside this commandment Jesus’ commentary on it—the best-known story in literature, the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

What is stealing?

In Jesus’ story we find the three basic attitudes toward the eighth commandment. The first: “what is yours is mine and I will take it.”

The man in our story is traveling the road from Jerusalem to Jericho when he is attacked by a band of robbers; we’d say he was “mugged.” Jesus says, “They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead” (Luke 10:30). What’s his is theirs, and they will take it.

Most of us know how he felt. 60% of all Americans have been the victim of crime; of those, 58% have been victimized twice or more. Most of us have been down this road. Unfortunately, this happens on many levels today.

First, we steal, of course, when we take the possessions of others.

Our house in Houston was vandalized; a thief broke the window of our van in Atlanta and stole what was inside; our church has lost technical equipment to thieves in recent years. A few months ago, my car wouldn’t start, so I had it towed to a local repair shop. They wanted $2,000 to replace the head gaskets; I took it to the dealership, who fixed the problem for a fraction of that cost and never had to touch the head gaskets. Stealing is taking the possessions of others.

Second, we steal when we take advantage of others.

48% of American workers admit to taking unethical or illegal advantage of their employers in the past year. This includes cheating on an expense account, paying or accepting kickbacks, secretly forging signatures, and breaking legal statutes and codes.

American industry loses $3 billion per year because of employee’s time spent in personal Internet use while at work.

I once knew a staff member in another church who would take friends to lunch; they would pay him, he would put the bill on his credit card, then he would turn in the receipt and get reimbursed by the church.

We steal when we take advantage of the government by cheating on our taxes, money which honest citizens must make up. In short, we steal whenever we take financial advantage of others.

Third, we steal when we take the ideas of others.

When I taught at Southwestern Seminary I heard the motto from students: if you steal from one source, it’s plagiarism; from two sources, it’s research. No, it’s not.

My brother-in-law once worked as a custodian at a church while going through seminary. He cleaned the pastor’s office, and always knew what sermon they’d hear that Sunday from the open book of sermons on his desk on Friday.

Fourth, we steal when we take the reputation of others.

Remember a few years ago when someone accused Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger of sexual abuse? This godly man was completely vindicated, all charged were dropped, and the person making the allegation apologized, but the damage was done to his reputation. That man stole his good name.

Shakespeare said it well: “Who steals my purse steals trash; ’tis something, nothing; ‘Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands. But he that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him and makes me poor indeed.”

Before you say anything negative about any person, ask yourself first, Is it true? Is it fair? Is it necessary? To take the reputation of others is to steal.

We have the robbers’ philosophy of possessions, “What is yours is mine, and I will take it,” when we steal the possession of others, take advantage of others, or take the ideas or the reputation of others. We’re just like the robbers in the story.

But, the priest and the Levite who came by next stole from the man as well. Their attitude was, “What is mine is mine, and I will keep it.” They stole from this man the care they should have given to him, the compassion they should have shown him. They stole from him as well. Passive theft is still theft.

Let’s return to meddling. God calls us to give him a minimum of ten percent of all our goods and possessions for his purposes. Not just a tenth of our money, but of our time, talents, and abilities as well. When did you last dedicate to God at least 10% of your week?

How does God feel about those who do not obey him in this area? Listen to him: “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house” (Malachi 3:8-10).

If I say to God, or to you, “What’s mine is mine, and I will keep it,” I rob from you that which I owe you. My love, compassion, ministry, care. What if God gave to us only that which we deserved? What if God were the priest or the Levite?

How to keep the eighth commandment

So, how do we keep the eighth commandment? To borrow from the Good Samaritan, we adopt this attitude toward life: “What’s mine is yours, and I will share it.” How do we develop such an approach to things and people?

First, we see things as God does.

Material success is not the highest value in life—a relationship with God is. Jesus warned his disciples: “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).

As God sees things, material success is a means to an end, given for the purpose of serving God with that which he has entrusted to us. If I value God more than possessions, I’ll not offend him by stealing from you.

Second, we acquire things as God directs. Scripture gives us three ways we are to acquire possessions, a kind of philosophy of economics.

We are to work hard: “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need” (Ephesians 4:28).

We are to invest wisely. In Jesus’ parable of the talents (measures of money), he commends the men who doubled their investments, while criticizing the man who did not (Matthew 25:14-30).

And we are to pray dependently. When our need is greater than our supply, we are to pray and ask God’s help. The early Christians gave to the common good of the believing community, and their resources were “distributed to anyone as he had need” (Acts 4:35). As we work hard, invest wisely, and trust God, we acquire things as he directs. Then we will have no need to break the eighth commandment.

Third, we use things as God leads.

God has blessed us with material possessions, so that we might use them to help others in his name. He gave the Samaritan a donkey and some money, to give to the man in need. We are to do the same with the donkey and the money he has given to us.

The old song says, “Loving things and using people only leads to misery; using things and loving people, that’s the way it ought to be.”

If I value you more than your possessions, I’ll not steal what is yours. In fact, I’ll give to you from what is mine.

It is imperative that we see things, acquire things, and use things as God directs, that we keep the eighth commandment. For our own sakes.

Have you heard the story of the White Knight? It seems that a certain knight, out looking for adventure, came to a village where legend told of a terrible ogre in a pit. Bravely the White Knight took up the challenge. He would do battle with this terrible ogre. In the memory of the people, several courageous men had climbed down into the pit, but none had ever returned.

The White Knight stood looking at the deep, dark hole. The opening was so narrow that he had to take off his armor and unneeded clothing. He took only a long dagger, which he tied around his neck with a leather strap. Slowly he lowered himself down into the hole by a rope, until he felt the cool, smooth floor of the chamber under his feet. When his eyes adjusted to the darkness he saw a mound nearby, the bones of his predecessors, with their assorted weapons. A little way off he spotted another mound, but wasn’t sure what it was.

Suddenly he was surprised by the inhabitant of the pit—surprised because he didn’t anticipate that the terrible ogre would be only the size of a rabbit. It waved its arms and screeched with a squeaky voice, trying to appear fierce. The White Knight took his knife and prepared to do battle, but quick as a rat, the ogre ran into a hole near the second mound.

The White Knight followed him to that second mound. There before his eyes stood glittering balls of gold as big as grapefruits and diamonds as big as plums. With only a small part of that treasure, he would be rich for life. The little ogre lost its importance in view of this great wealth.

But the White Knight had a problem. How would he carry this treasure out of the hole? He had no pockets. Who would believe him if he didn’t bring back at least one piece?

Then he had an idea. He would take one of the diamonds in his mouth and carry it that way until he had climbed out of the hole. He could always come back later for the rest. Hurriedly he chose one of the larger diamonds. It fit comfortably into his mouth, and he began the arduous climb out of the pit, hand over hand, gripping the rope with his feet. His tongue held the diamond tightly against the roof of his mouth.

Higher and higher he climbed, until the heavy exertion began to make him breathless. He would have to breathe through his mouth to get enough air. As he took in a large gulp of air the diamond slipped and stuck in his throat. The White Knight choked on his treasure, lost consciousness, and fell to his death on the mound of bones below.

The terrible ogre in the pit was not the little troll, was it?

Conclusion

Has someone broken the eighth commandment with you? Forgive them their debts, as God has forgiven your debts. Have you broken the eighth commandment personally? Ask Jesus to forgive you, and to help you make things right. Understand that in God’s eyes we are all thieves. And so Jesus died for us all.

Three men shared death upon a hill,But only one man truly died.A thief and God Himself made rendezvous.Three crosses stillAre borne up Calvary’s hillWhere sin still lifts them highUpon the one hang broken thieves who cursing die;The other holds the praying thiefAnd those who, penitent as he,Still find the Christ beside them on the tree.

Which thief are you?

What’s Your Problem?

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Topical Scripture: John 2:1-11

Earth’s crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God

—Elizabeth Barrett Browning

In the summer of 1994, the Associated Press reported a robbery which ended in a very unusual way. In Conway, Arkansas, Cindy Hartman was awakened by the telephone. As she started to answer it, she was stopped by a burglar. The burglar tore the phone cord from the wall and told her to get in the closet.

Cindy dropped to her knees to pray. She then turned to the robber and asked if she could pray for him. She told him that God loved him and so did she. She told the man that she forgave him for what he was doing.

How did this hardened criminal react? He fell to his knees beside her in prayer and asked her for forgiveness. He told the other burglar with him that they could not steal from a Christian family, so they unloaded everything they had taken. He borrowed a shirt from Cindy and removed his fingerprints. He then removed the bullets from his gun and gave it to Cindy. Not that she wanted it—she had all the protection she needed.

Webster defines a miracle as “an event or action that apparently contradicts known scientific laws and is hence thought to be due to supernatural causes, especially to an act of God.” Cindy Hartman would agree. How can we receive such help in our lives?

This week we are continuing our series on the miracles of Jesus. We all need the help Cindy Hartman found. Perhaps the burglar is in your house right now.

Where do you need the miraculous power of God in your life today? Keep that problem or burden in mind as we study together. It may be that at the end of our story, it will include you.

Invite Jesus to your home

Our text begins in a most inauspicious way: “On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee” (John 2:1).

Cana was a village so insignificant that its location has not been determined with absolute certainty. Most archaeologists identify it as Kefr Kenna, 3.5 miles from Nazareth, though other locations are also possible. If Jesus would perform a miracle there, he will do so anywhere, even where you live today.

Our story unfolds on a Wednesday afternoon, the fourth day of the Jewish week, at a wedding. This was the day for the marriage of virgins, as prescribed in the Jewish law.

The marriage ceremony was celebrated late Wednesday evening, following an all-day feast. Then the couple was led to their new home under the light of flaming torches, with a canopy held over their heads. For a week they wore crowns, dressed in bridal robes, and were treated and even addressed as a king and queen. In lives filled with poverty and hard work, this was a joyous celebration for the entire village.

Why did Jesus come? “Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding” (John 2:1b-2). Our Lord came because he was invited.

Jesus cared about the simple problems of simple people. He thrilled to fill their lives with his joy. He still does.

Call to mind that place where you need the touch of God for your life, your work, your family, your marriage today. Then make this simple decision: invite Jesus into your home. Ask him to join you at that place of need. He is waiting to come. In fact, he’s already standing at the door (Revelation 3:20).

Ask Jesus for help

Hospitality in the Middle and Far East was and is a sacred duty. Nowhere was such hospitality more mandatory than at one’s wedding.

The entire village was there. Families saved for years to provide for the occasion. To run out of wine would be a nightmare beyond contemplation. It simply wasn’t done. Such a failure could not be tolerated. If you invited friends and family to Christmas dinner but ran out of food to feed them, you would be embarrassed. If you were a bride or groom in Jesus’ day and ran out of wine, you would be humiliated for the rest of your life.

But this is precisely the catastrophe that occurred: during the feast preceding the marriage ceremony, “the wine was gone” (John 2:3a). And so Mary turned to her Son with the simplest prayer in all the Bible: “They have no more wine” (v. 3b). She quietly and simply put this problem into Jesus’ hands. Mary’s recorded words in Scripture are few; these guide us as we use our own to speak to her Son. We can give him our every need, with the assurance that he wants to hear and help.

But Jesus’ response didn’t seem to agree: “‘Dear woman, why do you involve me?’ Jesus replied. ‘My time has not yet come'” (v. 4). His words seem harsh until we step behind the English into the Greek used by John, and then the light comes on.

“Woman” is the literal translation of Jesus’ Greek word. Most translations carry it just this way; the NIV tries to soften it by adding “Dear,” a word not found in the original text. But such an attempt is well founded. For Jesus’ word was a great title of respect and courtesy. Augustus used it to address Cleopatra, and Odysseus used it for Penelope, his much-loved wife. Jesus made it his typical way of addressing women (Matthew 15:28; Luke 13:12; John 4:21; 8:10; 20:13). His title for her conveyed his respect.

As did his reply. “Why do you involve me?” was a Jewish figure of speech and meant here something like, “We are looking at this problem in different ways” or “we stand on different grounds.” It can be rendered so positively as to say, “The problem is taken care of.”

This phrase makes even more sense when combined with what follows: “My time has not yet come.” Jesus’ “time” refers here to the hour for public manifestation of his Messiahship. Later it will relate to his death and resurrection (John 7:30; 8:20; 12:23; 13:1; 17:1). In this setting Jesus means something like, “The time has not yet come for me to show the world my power, but I will solve this problem another way.”

When did you last ask Jesus to change your “water” into “wine” for his glory? When did you last trust him as fully as Mary did in our story? She didn’t tell her Son what to do or how to do it—she simply stated her problem and trusted him to solve it. And he did.

Jesus always gives us what we ask, or something better. He meets our need, in his own time and way. His answers may not come when we want them, or in the way we expect them. But our Father promises to meet all our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

Here’s the simple condition: we must ask. Define that place where you need the help of God most. Are you waiting on God, or is he waiting on you?

Then do as he says

Mary is the overlooked hero of this story.

We have already seen her vital role in her Son’s first miracle. Mary was apparently the first to recognize the problem at hand, or at least the first to do something about it. She came to the right Person, in the right way. Now she responded to her prayer with the right action: “His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5). Mary had authority to order the servants, but none to order her Son. And she knew it.

So should we. Hers is exactly the right kind of faith: do whatever Jesus says. For he will always give us something to do. Our Lord has created a kind of divine-human partnership with his creation. As we work, he works. Our partnership began at the beginning: God created the Garden of Eden but expected man to till and work it. If our Creator made the fields, he could certainly have made them produce. But he did what only he could do and called mankind to do what we could do.

When we act in faith, our Father responds in power. Our faith does not earn his power—it positions us to receive what God already wants to give. But no one can put a gift into a clenched fist, not even the Almighty Lord of the universe. We must trust him enough to be willing to receive the grace he wants to give. Such faith does not earn but receive the miracle of God.

So it is here: Jesus will turn their water to wine, but they must fill the jars first. “Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons” (John 2:6). “Ceremonial washing” was vitally important to the Jews of Jesus’ day (see 2 Kings 3:11; Mark 7:3; John 13:4-10; John 3:25). It was the physical means by which they ensured that they were spiritually clean while living in this fallen world.

Before eating or entering into religious activity, they would wash their hands as carefully as any surgeon today: the hand was held upright, the water poured over it so that it ran down to the wrist. Then the hand was pointed down and water poured so that it ran from the wrist to the fingertips. Each hand was washed in this way, then each palm cleansed by rubbing it with the fist of the other hand. No Jew would think of eating without this ritual; thus the water-pots at the wedding feast.

The water-pots each held two or three “measures,” an amount approximating nine gallons (Josephus, Antiq. 8.2.9). Each pot thus contained about twenty gallons. By transforming this much water, Jesus created two thousand four-ounce glasses of wine. Using the customary dilution of two parts wine with three parts water, Jesus provided enough wine to last the entire wedding week.

How did he do it? “Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet’. They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine” (John 2:7–9a). When they worked, he worked. They did what they could do, and he did what only he could do.

To experience the touch and power of God, first we invite him to join us at the place of our need. Next, we give that need to him in simple faith. Now we listen for his instructions. He will guide us into the next step we are to take. He will lead us as we study his word, worship him, pray to him, and experience daily life. He will show us what we are to do, so that he can then do what only he can do.

His instructions may make no sense to us at the time. Providing wine for a wedding feast by filling ceremonial pots with water would not have been logical for anyone watching these servants or their Master. Faith is required to experience the power of God. Will you trust your greatest need to Jesus, and allow him to ask anything of you in obedience? Until we come to that place, we may not see his power. When we do, we will.

Expect the best

The servants took their water made into wine to the “master of the banquet,” the superintendent whose duty it was to arrange the tables and food. This wine taster “did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, ‘Everyone brings out the choice wine first and the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now'” (John 2:9b-10). And both men were astonished.

Now we are in position to assemble the facts which prove our story a miracle:

Jesus used ordinary pots of water which were in clear view of all. He or his disciples could not have exchanged the water for wine before this miracle, as would have been possible if the pots were in a closed and hidden room.

The pots were large and six in number, so that they could not have been brought to the wedding by the disciples without the notice of the crowd.

The pots were filled to the brim with water, so that no wine could have been added later.

Jesus never touched the water turned into wine, but only the servants.

The servants took this water directly to the master of the feast, not to an intermediary who could have switched it for wine.

The master of the feast, the resident expert on wine, pronounced it excellent.

Neither he nor the groom were drunk, and thus would know the quality of the wine.

Jesus did what his mother asked, and even more. She would have been happy with enough wine of normal quality to continue the wedding feast. He gave the wedding party enough wine for the entire week, and of excellent quality as well. When we give our need to Jesus, we must expect him to give us his very best, always.

What is that place of need in your life today? Know that God knows your hurt and is working to help. Do as he asks, then expect him to do what only he can. According to his purpose, in his time, and for his glory, he will.

A side note

I cannot conclude these sermon notes without stating that Jesus’ miracle should not be construed as condoning alcohol abuse or alcoholism. In his day water, wine, and a kind of beer were the only beverages available. Wine, with its fermentation, was typically the healthiest drink. It was commonly diluted, as we have seen, so that alcoholism occurred very seldom. And drunkenness was strongly condemned by the culture of the day: “Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise” (Proverbs 20:1). The Bible warned: “Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper” (Proverbs 23:31–32).

Alcohol abuse in the first century could not lead to drug abuse, or to the death of innocents. Drunk driving was of course impossible. Alcoholism was far less common, and much less disastrous for society at large. Teenage drinking was not allowed. And so Jesus’ creation of wine is in no way parallel to the alcohol industry or alcohol use in our day.

Today, drunk driving is the leading cause of death among American teenagers. Alcohol use so often leads to abuse, and often to drug abuse as well. For these reasons, and to protect my witness, I practice total abstinence from alcohol, and would urge other believers to do the same. By law, no underage person must ever be permitted to drink alcohol. And parents should set an example of godly purity for their children.

Believe in the power of God

Here is how John summarized Jesus’ miracle: “This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him” (John 2:11).

One day God will turn all water into spiritual joy: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband” (Revelation 21:1–2, emphasis added). On that day we will drink from that cup which is “the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:20; cf. v. 17). On that day we will receive the Lord’s Supper from the Lord himself, as the bride of our Groom. And that day will be joy indeed.

Meanwhile, we can trust God to turn our water into the “wine” we need, whenever we need it. Jesus Christ “is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). What he did for the peasant wedding at Cana of Galilee, he waits to do for you and for me.

When next you have trouble believing that it is so, remember the words of St. Augustine: “I never have any difficulty believing in miracles, since I experienced the miracle of a change in my own heart.” If he could turn your sinful heart into his Spirit’s temple (1 Corinthians 3:16) and save your soul from hell for heaven, what can’t he do today?