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Getting a Grip on Guilt

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Getting a Grip on Guilt

Psalm 51

James C. Denison

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, an armistice ending hostilities with Germany went into effect. Its result was the eventual end of World War I. As a consequence, “Armistice Day” was observed each November 11. In 1954, following the end of World War II and the Korean conflict, legislation was signed changing this annual observance to Veterans Day.

Whereas Memorial Day honors those who died in the service of our country. Veterans Day honors the veterans of all American wars.

Nearly 2.7 million men and women are currently serving in the military or in the reserves. There are 23.7 million veterans living in America today. Each and every one deserves our gratitude on this day and every day. You were willing to serve and even to die so that we could live free.

On this Veterans Day, it seems especially appropriate that we consider our topic. Our Savior died at Calvary so that each of us could live free from spiritual slavery and guilt. We can celebrate total victory over temptation and sin this morning. We can be completely free from guilt and shame.

Why, then, is guilt such a pervasive problem for Christians? Why is it is hard for us to make peace with our past? Why do we all have secret sins and failures which plague our souls? How can we get a grip on guilt today?

Why guilt? (5)

Let’s begin by understanding our spiritual disease. “What’s wrong with me?” our series has asked. The answer is your sin nature, your desire to be your own God. It has affected every part of you. Guilt is the inevitable result.

Here’s the background of Psalm 51. King David had an affair with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. She became pregnant. To cover his sin, eventually he had Uriah killed and took the widow as his wife. But God knew what he had done, and sent the prophet Nathan to expose his sin.

In this one event David broke nine of God’s Ten Commandments. He broke in order the tenth, coveting his neighbor’s wife; the seventh, by committing adultery; the eighth by stealing her for himself; the sixth by murdering her husband; the ninth, by lying about his sin; the fifth, by dishonoring his parents; the second, by making an idol of Bathsheba; and the first and third, by shaming God and his name. At least he didn’t break the Sabbath, that we know of.

Why did he do this, knowing how wrong these sins would be? Why do we sin, even when we know that guilt and shame will be the result? “The church is full of hypocrites,” our critics allege. If we are the children of God, why do we still struggle with temptation and sin? Let’s apply some of the facts we’ve learned so far in our series.

First, sin is still real. Verse 5 is clear: “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” This verse does not mean that babies or fetuses sin; it means that we have all inherited a sin nature, a propensity to sin.

Romans 5:12 says, “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all have sinned.” We have each inherited a tendency toward sin and the guilt it produces.

Even when we become the children of God, sin is still real. Paul admitted that what he wanted to do he did not do, and what he did not want to do, that he did (Romans 7:14-20). An illustration from Roman law may help: when a victim was crucified, he was considered dead in the eyes of the law from the moment he was nailed to the cross. His execution was recorded on the day he was crucified, not on the day his body actually died. It might take hours or even days for him to die physically, but he was already dead legally.

So it is with your salvation–you became the legal “saint” of God at the moment you invited the Spirit into your life, but the sin nature is still real. It won’t leave you forever until you step from this fallen world into God’s perfect paradise.

Second, Satan is still real. He is a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8), looking for you. You are his enemy. Jesus said in John 8:44 that the devil is a “murderer from the beginning,” and “a liar and the father of lies.” He only left Jesus after his wilderness defeat “until an opportune time” (Luke 4:18). He tempts and deceives every one of us. He is better at tempting than you are at resisting.

He is sly and subtle, never tempting us to do what he knows we will not do. As when lights are dimmed slowly and our eyes adjust to the darkness, so he seeks to lead us by steps from sin to its devastating results. David had no idea that adultery would lead to murder, but Satan did.

As a result, we each think that we are the one person in all of human history who can sin without consequences. No one will know about us; we can do this and be OK.; no one will be hurt. Every person in sin thinks it’s so. But that’s a lie.

Third, free will is still real. God does not remove our freedom when we become Christians. My sons will always be my sons, but they don’t have to act like it. “The devil made me do it” is a cop-out. Our family backgrounds and circumstances are often contributing factors, but the choice is ours. We choose to sin, even know the shame it will produce.

Listen to James 1:14-15: “Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

Why do we sin, even when we know that guilt and shame will result? Because we have a sin nature, and we choose to sin; we are deceived into thinking we can do so without consequence. The results and guilt which come from our sin are disastrous and devastating.

I read once about a terrible work of modern art: a loaded shotgun affixed to a chair. It was to be viewed by sitting in the chair and looking directly into the gun barrel. The gun was set on a timer to fire at an undetermined moment within the next hundred years. And people waited in line to sit and stare into the gun!

Get out of that line, now.

What do we do when we sin?

Our second question: what do we do when we sin? Our psalm is very clear.

First, we turn to God (vs. 1-2). We ask for his “mercy,” which is not getting the punishment we deserve. We ask for his “unfailing love,” the Old Testament word for “grace,” which is getting the love and forgiveness we don’t deserve. We ask him to “blot out” our transgressions, a Hebrew phrase which means to wash the garment until it is clean and the stain is gone.

Our tendency when we sin is to run from God and his church, to hide from him as Adam and Eve did in the Garden, when we need to do the opposite. The sick need a doctor; the sinner needs God.

Second, we admit our sin to him (vs. 3-4). Our human reaction is to excuse our sin, to transfer blame to others, or to rationalize what we have done. A lawyer once said he never met a guilty defendant. Every one had justified his or her behavior somehow. We judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions.

But David didn’t do that–he admitted his “transgressions,” which means to cross the boundaries of what is right. He acknowledged his “sin,” his moral failure.

And he stated correct theology: “Against you only have I sinned” (v. 4). We hurt other people, sometimes in horrible ways; but by theological definition we “sin” against God.

Third, we claim God’s cleansing (vs. 7-12). When we confess our sin God does truly forgive and cleanse us. Hyssop was used by a priest to sprinkle the blood of a sacrifice over the sinner. So God cleanses us by the blood of his Son, Jesus Christ, who paid for all our sins.

God can wash us and make us whiter than snow; he can blot out all our iniquities; he can recreate a pure heart and spirit in our lives. He can restore to us the joy of our salvation (v. 12). He can make us new people. This is the miracle of his grace.

1 John 1:9 is clear: if we confess our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Every time.

Last, we make restitution to those we have hurt (vs. 13-19). David vowed to “teach transgressors your ways,” from his personal experience, so that “sinners will turn back to you” (v. 13).

He would “sing of your righteousness” and “declare your praise” in worship (vs. 14-15). He would lead the entire nation to “righteous sacrifices” as their godly king (v. 19).

In other words, he would make restitution to the nation he has so injured. In fact, David wrote this psalm for public use by the people, not just private use in his worship. So that all would know of his sin, his repentance, and God’s grace.

We make restitution–not so that we can earn God’s forgiveness, but in gratitude for it; not so that others will forgive us, but so that we can help those we have hurt. By grace, as God has been gracious to us.

How do we deal with guilt?

Now, what guilt is plaguing your soul this morning? Where do you need to make peace with your past? Let’s assume that you’ve done what David did. You have turned to God, admitted your sin to him, claimed his forgiveness, and made restitution. But still you are bothered by the shame which sin brings to your soul. How do you deal with it?

Know that guilt is never of God. Jesus condemns sin, never sinners. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our transgressions, but never condemns us for them. When Jesus had to call the Pharisees and Sadducees “hypocrites” (cf. Matthew 25), he was describing their actions as a means of bringing them to repentance. He was willing to forgive all who would be forgiven and restore all who wanted to be restored.

Whatever guilt you are feeling today, know that it is not from the Lord. It is not how he punishes. It is not how the God who is love relates to his children.

Know that guilt is often of Satan. He uses it to anesthetize you spiritually so that your spirit grows dull and sin is easier for you to commit. And he uses guilt to defeat you and steal your victory in Christ. So refuse it, this moment. Stop listening to the voice which tells you that you’ll never win over this sin so you might as well stop resisting. Refuse to hear that whisper which condemns you for your failures and tries to take away your joy in Christ.

And know that guilt is how we pay for sins God has forgiven. If he will not punish us, we’ll punish ourselves. We’ll feel guilty enough for long enough to believe that we have somehow paid our debt. All the while the One who died to pay that debt is grieved that we will not accept his grace and celebrate his victory.

Instead, take your guilt to the grace of God. If you have followed David’s example, claim your Father’s forgiveness for your sin. Then the next time guilt attacks, return to this moment when you confessed that failure and were forgiven. Tell your guilt that you have been set free by grace. The next time the guilt returns, do the same thing.

You may have to respond to guilt a hundred times today and 90 times tomorrow, but eventually guilt will die in the presence of grace and you’ll be set free. Start today.

Conclusion

I read this week about Shannon Ethridge, a 16-year-old who was driving to school when she ran over Marjorie Jarstfar, a woman riding her bicycle along a country road. Mrs. Jarstfar died from her injuries, and Ethridge was found completely at fault.

She was consumed by guilt and considered suicide several times. She never took her life because of one person: Marjorie Jarstfar’s husband, Gary. He forgave the teenager and asked his attorney to drop all charges against her. Instead, he asked her to continue in the pattern his wife had lived. “God wants to strengthen you through this,” he told her. “In fact, I am passing Marjorie’s legacy on to you.”

Shannon Ethridge has since written bestselling books for girls and women. She writes to help people overcome guilt-ridden lives, sharing the grace which was shared with her.

You have probably not killed anyone or committed sin as public as hers. But your past is just as personal, your guilt just as real. Jesus has already forgiven every sin you’ve confessed to him. Now it’s your turn. Start today.

Getting Ready for the Final Exam

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Getting Ready for the Final Exam

Studies in the Book of Revelation

Dr. Jim Denison

Revelation 15-20

Overview of Revelation 1-14

I. The revelation of Jesus Christ (ch. 1)

II. The letters to the churches (chs. 2-3)

III. The revelation of heaven (ch. 4)

IV. The scroll and the Lamb (ch. 5)

V. Seven seals (6.1-8.1)

VI. Seven trumpets (8.2-11.19)

VII. Seven signs (12.1-14.20)

Seven angels with seven plagues (ch. 15)

Seven angels are revealed with “the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed” (15.1). Those who were victorious over the beast, image, and number worshipped God with harps and song (vs. 2-4).

The seven angels came out of the “tabernacle of the Testimony” (vs. 5-6). The “tabernacle” was the dwelling place of God during the desert wandering of the Israelites. It contained the two tablets of the Testimony brought down from Sinai.

One of the four living creatures gave them “seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God” (v. 7). The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, so much so that no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues were completed (v. 8).

The seven bowls of God’s wrath (ch. 16)

First bowl: ugly and painful sores were on those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image (v. 2). (CF, the sixth Egyptian plague in Exodus 9).

Second bowl: the sea turned to blood, and all life in it died (v. 3).

Third bowl: rivers and springs of water became blood, while the angel praised God (vs. 4-7).

Fourth bowl: the sun scorched people, but “they refused to repent” (vs. 8-9).

Fifth bowl: poured on the throne of the beast, and the world was plunged into darkness but refused to repent (vs. 10-11). “Throne” is mentioned in Revelation 42 times; once it refers to Satan’s throne (2.13), and here it is the throne of the beast. The other 40 times it refers to the throne of God.

Sixth bowl: Euphrates was dried up “to prepare the way for the kings from the East”; demons gathered the kings of the world “for the battle on the great day of God Almighty” (v. 14), “the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon” (v. 16). The Hebrew was Har Mageddon, “the mountain of Megiddo.” Many see no specific geographic location here, but a reference to the final overthrow of evil by God.

Seventh bowl: the greatest earthquake in human history; Babylon (Rome) was destroyed as God “gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath” (v. 19). 100-pound hailstones fell upon men, and “they cursed God” (v. 21).

The woman on the beast (ch. 17)

One of the seven angels showed John the punishment “of the great prostitute” (vs. 1-2).

Her description:

Sitting on a scarlet beast.

The beat was covered with blasphemous names and had 7 heads and 10 horns.

She was dressed in fine clothing and jewels, and held a golden cup filled with her abominations.

The title on her forehead: “Mystery / Babylon the Great / the mother of prostitutes / and of the abominations of the earth” (v. 5).

She was “drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus” (v. 6).

The beast “once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction” (v. 8). The seven heads are seven hills “on which the woman sits” (v. 9). They are “also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while” (v. 10).

Rome began as a network of seven hill settlements on the left bank of the Tiber river. Her designation as the city on seven hills was common among Roman writers, including Virgil, Martial, and Cicero. The beast “is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction” (v. 11).

The ten horns “are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast” (v. 12). They will “make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them” (v. 14).

The waters where the prostitute sits are “peoples, multitudes, nations and languages” (v. 15). The beast and the ten horns will “hate the prostitute” and “bring her to ruin” (v. 16). This woman is “the great city that rules over the kings of the earth” (v. 18).

The fall of Babylon and joy in heaven (18.1-19.10)

Another angel shouts, “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!” (v. 1). Another voice calls God’s people to “Come out of her” (v. 4). The “merchants of the earth” will “weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more” (v. 11).

Then a mighty angel picks up a boulder the size of a large millstone and throws it into the sea, saying, “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again” (v. 21). A “great multitude in heaven” shouts their hallelujahs and praise to God (19.1-8).

An angel says to John, “Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” (v. 9). John tries to worship him, but he refuses and directs his worship to God alone (v. 10).

The rider on the white horse (19.11-21)

The rider is called “Faithful and True” (v. 11). He wears many crowns and a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God (v. 13). The armies of heaven follow him; out of his mouth comes a sharp sword “with which to strike down the nations” (v. 15). His title: King of Kings and Lord of Lords (v. 16).

The beast and the kings of the earth gather their armies to make war against him, but the beast is captured and with him the false prophet (v. 20). The two are thrown into the lake of fire, and the rest are killed with the sword which came out of the mouth of the rider (v. 21).

The millennium, Satan’s doom, and great white throne (ch. 20)

An angel with the key to the Abyss comes down out of heaven (v. 1). He binds Satan with a chain for a thousand years, throws him into the Abyss, and locks and seals it over him (v. 3). After a thousand years “he must be set free for a short time.”

The souls of those beheaded for their testimony for Jesus “came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years” (v. 4). Then Satan is released from his prison; he goes out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth, gathers them as a mighty army, and attacks God’s people (v. 7-9).

But fire devoured them; the devil is thrown into the lake of fire, where he will be “tormented day and night for ever and ever” (v. 10).

Then, at the “great white throne,” the dead are judged (v. 11). There is a book of “works” and a book of life (v. 12). They are judged “according to what they had done as recorded in the books” (v. 12).

Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire (the “second death”). “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (v. 15).

God’s enemies will be defeated and judged. God will vindicate his own. We will be rewarded eternally for our sacrificial faithfulness to our Father.

Getting Real with God

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Getting real with God:

How to keep the faith

Dr. Jim Denison

Psalm 22

Our spiritual lives are never so tested as when the hard times come. That’s when we need to walk with our Father the most, and are tempted to do so the least. How do we keep the faith when the faith is hard?

Claiming Psalm 22

The problem of evil

Definition of theodicy: “The question of the compatibility of metaphysical, physical, and moral evil in the present world order with the justice and absolute power of God” (Leibniz, Theodicee, 1710).

Statements of the problem:

•Habakkuk 1:3: “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?”

•Boethius: “If God exists, from whence comes evil?” (the classic expression of the problem).

•Schopenhauer: “The shortness of life, so often lamented, may perhaps be the very best thing about it.”

Conditions of the problem:

•God is loving

•God is powerful

•Evil exists.

Epicurus’ solutions:

•God wants to remove evil but is unable

•God is able but unwilling

•God is neither able nor willing

•God is both able and willing; why doesn’t he?

Popular but wrong approaches

The nature of evil:

•Evil is an illusion (“maya”)

•Evil is the product of the material world (Greek worldview)

•Evil always results from our desires (Buddhist)

•Evil is always the result of sin (from Hindu karma)

The denial of God’s love:

•Stoic: all is fated by God

•Greeks: the gods are wicked

•Muslim: Allah wills all that is

•Secular: God doesn’t care

The denial of God’s power:

•Dualism: evil is coequal with good

•J. S. Mill, Rabbi Kushner: God is limited

•Deism: God has limited himself

The denial of God’s existence:

•Logical argument (David Hume):

(a)If God exists, he must be loving and powerful and thus eradicate evil

(b)Evil exists

(c)Therefore God does not exist.

Classical atheism

•Classical agnosticism

•Modern existentialism, chaotic world view

Conclusion: Avoid all simplistic answers to the problem of evil and suffering

Biblical approaches to theodicy

•Suffering and Satan:

a.General: John 8:44

b.Accuser: Job 1:9-11

c.Resists the godly: Zechariah 3:1; Matthew 13:38-39

d.Tempts: 1 Chrononicles 21:1; Matthew 4:1

e.Has power over unbelievers: Acts 26:18; 2 Corinthians 4:3-4

f.Preys on people: 1 Peter 5:8

•Suffering and freedom:

a.Freedom given by God: Genesis 2:15-17

b.We are created to worship God freely: Matthew 4:10

c.Free choice led to evil: Genesis 3:6,23-24; James 1:13-15; James 4:1

d.All are now sinners by nature apart from Christ: Romans 3:23

e.The creation is fallen: Genesis 3:17; Romans 8:22

•Suffering as divine punishment:

a.The law of retaliation: Exodus 21:24-25; Deuteronomy 19:21

b.Retaliation by God: Deuteronomy 28:1-3,15-16; Isaiah 3:11; Jeremiah 17:10; Luke 16:19-24; Revelation 20:11-15

c.For repentance: Jeremiah 7:3,5,7

d.For discipline: Proverbs 3:11-12

•Suffering for our good:

a.Some suffering comes from God: Deuteronomy 8:5

b.Can lead to good: Job 23:10; Romans 8:28

c.Refines us: Psalm 66:10; 1 Peter 4:12-13; James 1:2-4

•Suffering as our witness: 2 Peter 2:12,15; 3:15-16

•Suffering and faith: 2 Corinthians 4:1,16; Ephesians 3:13; 1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 Peter 5:7

•Suffering and future hope:

a.Future reward: Isaiah 24:13-15

b.Reward for faithful service: Matthew 25:45-46

c.Makes present suffering bearable: Romans 8:18-19

•Suffering and the presence of God: Deuteronomy 20:1; Psalm 23:4; Psalm 34:18; Isaiah 43:2; Daniel 3:24-25; Daniel 12:6-7; Acts 16:25-26

•Suffering and present preparations: Proverbs 24:10; Jeremiah 12:5

Theological approaches

The “free-will” theodicy

•Biblical support:

a.God gave us freedom: Genesis 2:15-17; Exodus 32:26; Deuteronomy 30:19; Joshua 24:15; 1 Kings 18:21

b.We were created with freedom to choose for good: Matt

c.hew. 4:10; Proverbs 1:10; Proverbs 4:14; Romans 6:13; Ephesians 6:13; 2 Peter 3:17

d.Our free choice for wrong led to evil: James 1:13-15; James 4:1

e.All people are now sinners: Romans 3:23

f.Our sin has resulted in a fallen world: Genesis 3:17; Romans 8:22

g.The fall: Genesis 3

•Historical development–Augustine

a.God created all that is

b.All that is, is good

c.Evil is therefore “non-being”

d.God created humanity with freedom of will

e.Humanity has used this freedom for evil

f.We are therefore responsible for the existence of evil, and God is absolved of all blame

•Advantages:

a.Follows Genesis 3

b.Often appropriate

•Disadvantages:

a.Depends on outdated philosophy (evil as “non-being”)

b.Doesn’t account adequately for natural evil

c.Doesn’t account for innocent suffering and often increases such suffering.

d.Question: if man was created good by nature, why did he sin?

e.Assertion: if God gave man freedom of will, he is responsible for it to some degree.

The “soul-building” theodicy

•Biblical support:

a.Suffering sometimes comes from God: Deuteronomy 8:5; Job 16:12; Psalm 66:11; Psalm 90:7

b.Leads to good: Job 23:10; Psalm 119:67; 2 Corinthians 4:17; Hebrews 12:11; Revelation 7:14

c.Refines us: Psalm 66:10; Isaiah 48:10; Malachi 3:3; 1 Peter 1:7; 4:17

d.Promised by God: Romans 8:28-29

•Historical development–Irenaeus

a.God created us to develop into perfect relationship with himself

b.God created the world as a place for that development

c.Evil is thus necessary as a means of our “soul-building”

•Advantages:

a.Proposes a model for explaining the existence of evil before man chose it in Eden (vs. Augustine)

b.Realistic re: God’s allowing or even creating some evil

c.Provides hope for purpose in present suffering

d.Often is our practical experience.

•Disadvantages:

a.The “Fall” is not strong enough re: Genesis 3, other biblical materials

b.The amount of evil in the world is disproportionate to present good

c.Hell is not redemptive

d.Latent universalism.

The “future hope” theodicy

•Biblical support: John 14:1-6; Revelation 21:1-5

•Contemporary expression:

a.Evil will be resolved in the future, making present suffering worthwhile

b.This future hope makes present courage possible.

•Advantages:

a.Only completely rational theodicy

b.Offers strong biblical assurance

c.Often experienced today.

•Disadvantages:

a.Not a present theodicy?

b.How does the future give present hope?

The “present help” theodicy

•Biblical support: 2 Corinthians 4:1,16; Ephesians 3:13; Hebrews 12:5; Revelation 2:3; Psalm 23

•Contemporary expression: one must transform the individual problem into victory and a symbol of courage for others

•Advantages:

a.Sometimes all we have at the moment

b.Is realistic with present needs

•Disadvantages:

a.Not a true “theodicy”

b.No future hope in this model

Practical steps

•Understand the existence of natural evil:

a.Moral evil accounts for much of natural evil

b.Much suffering from natural evil is or can be redemptive

c.The biblical materials only promise complete vindication of natural evil and the justice of God in the life to come

d.Personal free-will cannot be utilized except in a stable environment, and such an environment will necessitate some natural “evil”

e.Much suffering in nature is in reality part of the balance of nature

f.Natural evils may be used by God as judgment on sin (examples: Noahic flood, plagues in Egypt)

•Understand moral evil:

a.God limited himself in giving humanity freedom of choice

b.Humanity uses this freedom in such a way as to bring about evil

c.Satan is back of humanity’s revolt

d.Even though humanity’s revolt has caused evil, God continues to be active in our redemptive

e.God deals with evil through judgment, incarnation, and the cross and resurrection

f.God promises final triumph over evil and suffering in the “new heavens and new earth”

•Free-will approach: when the problem is caused by sin in my life

a.I must admit this sin (1 John 1:8; Romans 3:23; Psalm 32:3)

b.I must make restitution as much as possible (Luke 19:8)

c.I must help and tell others (Mark 5:19)

•Soul-building approach: when good can come from the situation

a.Trust God to make this happen (Romans 8:28)

b.Strive to be open to every source from which this good can come

•Future hope approach: when future, even eternal good can result from present suffering

a.Believe God’s promise for that hope (Rev. 21)

b.Allow its future reality to create present strength

•Present help approach: when there is no apparent cause or solution

a.Continue to believe that God is still faithful (1 Cor. 10:13)

b.Expect him to give the ability to withstand the trial

c.Be open to every source by which he can provide that ability.

•Applications:

a.Continue to trust God in suffering because of his identification with that suffering

1)He suffered for us on the cross

2)He suffers with us in our pain (Ps. 23:4)

3)He suffers in us by the Holy Spirit

b.Continue to allow God to give us victory and a developed character, and to use our sufferings to help others.

Conclusion

Where do you need to trust God despite your circumstances?

Make this your prayer:

Disturb us, Lord, when

We are too well pleased with ourselves,

When our dreams have come true

Because we have dreamed too little,

When we arrived safely

Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when

With the abundance of things we possess

We have lost our thirst

For the waters of life;

Having fallen in love with life,

We have ceased to dream of eternity

And in our efforts to build a new earth,

We have allowed our vision

Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,

To venture on wider seas

Where storms will show your mastery;

Where losing sight of land,

We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back

The horizons of our hopes;

And to push into the future

In strength, courage, hope, and love.

Circa 1577

Attributed to Sir Francis Drake

Getting Rid of Guilt

Written by

Getting Rid of Guilt

1 John 1

James C. Denison

A teacher gave her fourth-grade class a list of famous sayings and asked them to complete each one. Here are some of the results:

Better be safe than . . . punch a 5th grader.

Don’t bite the hand that . . . looks dirty.

You can’t teach an old dog new . . . math.

A penny saved is . . . not worth much.

When the blind leadeth the blind . . . get out of the way.

Where there’s smoke, there’s . . . pollution.

Children should be seen and not . . . spanked or grounded.

A bird in the hand is . . . a real mess.

Early to bed and early to rise . . . is first in the bathroom.

None are so blind as . . . Helen Keller.

Laugh and the whole world laughs with you. Cry and . . . you have to blow your nose.

We’re going to try to do better with some of the famous sayings of Scripture. Together we’ll examine four of the most commonly quoted passages in all the word of God. None of them means what most people think it means. There’s more to the story for each and every one. And yet every one of these passages, these promises, is crucial to living in the joy, the victory, the celebration of life which Jesus wants us to experience every day. For the next few weeks we’re going to open four invitations to the party of God, and learn how to make them our own.

We start with one of the most frustrating problems plaguing Christians today–guilt. Guilt over mistakes we’ve made, failures we’ve experienced, sins we’ve committed. Skeletons in the closets of our souls.

We all have things in our past we don’t want anyone to know about. I do, and so do you. Where does guilt live in your mind or heart? What past failures haunt you? What secrets from your past still shame you? Where does your past afflict your present?

Are you living with failure and wondering if you’re forgiven? Are you facing tough times and wondering if you’re being punished? Does your past poison your present?

A psychologist recently said he could dismiss 90 percent of his clients if they could heal their guilt over failing in the past or fear about failing in the future.

Someone has said that living with guilt is like being stung to death by a single bee. How do we remove that stinger today?

Why do we struggle with guilt?

Our text is clear and plain: “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

To “confess” is to admit and repent. God is “faithful and just”–he always keeps his promises, here to forgive. So he will “forgive” our sins. And he will “purify us from all unrighteousness.” He wipes the slate clean, no matter what was written on it.

This is the plain and clear promise of God: he forgives every sin we have confessed to him in genuine repentance. So why do we all struggle with guilt over these sins?

Some of us grew up with a God of anger and wrath, more like Zeus throwing thunderbolts than a Father sending his Son to die for us. We picture God with gigantic scales, judging all we do. We hear that he forgives sins in general, but we’re not sure he has forgiven ours.

Some of us grew up with a deep sense of personal inadequacy, a low self image, and we don’t think we truly deserve to be forgiven.

I struggled with this issue for many years. My parents were very loving and supportive, but had very high expectations for me. When I failed them I felt that I was a failure. And so I grew up with a very low self image, a sense that I was inadequate, that nothing I could do would be good enough.

I learned to compensate, as people with this problem do. I created what psychologists call an “idealized self,” the person I wanted you to think I was, and I worked hard to become that person. I had many masks in the closet–one for church, one for school, one for work. Always trying to be the person I thought you wanted me to be.

But deep inside me I knew it wasn’t really true. I didn’t want you to know who I really was, because I was afraid you wouldn’t like me very much. And when I became a Christian, I struggled for years to believe that God had really forgiven my sins. Because I didn’t think I deserved to be forgiven.

Some of you know exactly what I mean.

And some of us practice “Baptist penance.” We’re self-made people, and cannot accept grace from people or from God. We must pay it back, for we don’t want to owe anyone, even the Lord. If God won’t punish us, we’ll punish ourselves. We’ll hold onto our guilt, our pain, our failure, until we think we’ve paid our debt.

How do we break this cycle of grief and guilt?

What do we do with our guilt?

Understand the consequences of sin. Like holes left by nails in wood, the results of sin remain even when the sin is confessed and forgiven.

When we lie to others, they may forgive us but they’ll always wonder if they can trust our words. If we are unfaithful, our spouse may never be able to trust our commitment. If we steal or embezzle, our colleagues may never be able to trust our character. Virginity lost cannot be regained. Pornographic images take years to leave the mind. Substance abuse can affect our health until we die.

And sin will always take us further than we wanted to go, cost us more than we wanted to pay, and keep us longer than we wanted to stay.

Paul Harvey once told how an Eskimo kills a wolf. He coats his knife blade with blood and lets it freeze. He then buries the knife, blade up, in the frozen tundra. The wolf catches the scent of fresh blood and begins to lick the knife. He keeps on licking, harder and harder. Because of the cold, he never notices the pain of the blade on his tongue. His craving for blood is so great that he does not realize he is now lapping up his own blood. He licks the blade until he bleeds to death, swallowing his own life. So it is with the consequences of sin if we do not give it immediately to God. This is the reason we are not to sin and confess, sin and confess. God will forgive every sin we admit with repentant hearts, but the consequences may remain long after the sin is done.

Know that guilt is not from God. The consequences of sin are clear, and motivate us to refuse temptation. But know that guilt is not among them. Not once in Scripture does the Holy Spirit use guilt to accomplish his purposes. He condemns sin, not sinners. He convicts of failures, he does not call us failures. Not once does he use guilt in our lives.

Guilt comes from ourselves, our culture, or Satan himself. Realize that guilt is not from God.

Confess your sins, specifically and immediately to God. No generic confessions will do. Be specific and honest with God. And do this immediately, before the cancer can spread in your soul.

I recommend a moral inventory at least once a week. Get a piece of paper and a pen, get alone with God, and ask the Holy Spirit to show you anything which is wrong between you and the Father. Write down what he says, specifically. You’ll be amazed at what comes into your mind. Confess what you discover, honestly and genuinely. Then burn the paper, tear it up, throw it away. Know that you’ve dealt with these issues with God, and you’re done.

Start when the sin is small, before the cancer grows and the malignancy spreads. Otherwise, it will. For example, do you happen to know how a worm gets inside an apple? Most of us think the worm burrows in from the outside. In fact, an insect lays an egg in the apple blossom. The worm later hatches in the heart of the apple, then eats his way out, destroying the apple as he does so. It is the same with sin.

Accept the forgiveness of God. Remember and claim these scriptures–write these references down if that will help you remember them.

Psalm 103.3 promises that God “forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.” All of them.

Psalm 103.12: God will separate your sins from you as far as the east is from the west.

Micah 7.19: God will bury your sins in the depths of the sea.

Isaiah 43.25: God will remember them no more. The next time you confess a sin you’ve already confessed, God won’t know what you’re talking about.

Continue to claim God’s grace, every time guilt attacks. You may need to do this a hundred times today, or tomorrow, or all week long. But eventually the enemy will get the idea, and you’ll get the scriptural fact of God’s forgiveness deep into your soul, and you’ll find one day that the guilt is gone. All by the grace of God.

Conclusion

Are you being tempted to believe that nothing will come of your sin? Know that the consequences remain far after the sin is confessed. Give your temptation to God today, immediately. Claim the power he alone can provide.

On the other hand, are you a Christian who has been beaten up by guilt? Give that pain to the grace of God, right now. Trust it into his loving hands every time it attacks you. And eventually the abundant joy of Jesus will be yours.

A small boy was visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with in the woods. Heading back to dinner, he saw Grandma’s pet duck. Out of impulse, he shot a rock at it, hit the duck in the head, and killed it. He was shocked and grieved. In panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile, only to see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.

After lunch that day Grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.” But Sally said, “Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today, didn’t you Johnny?” Then she whispered to him, “Remember the duck?” So Johnny did the dishes.

Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing, and Grandma said, “I’m sorry but I need Sally to help make supper.” But Sally smiled and said, “But Johnny told me he wanted to help you.” And she whispered again, “Remember the duck?” So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed.

After days of doing his and Sally’s chores, Johnny couldn’t stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed her duck. She knelt down, gave him a hug, and said, “I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. But I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.”

Your Father is wondering the same thing today.

Getting Up When You Fall Down

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Getting Up When You Fall Down

Galatians 5:23

Dr. Jim Denison

They say there’s no pain like that of an undelivered address. Or story. Last week I had a Father’s Day story I just couldn’t fit into the introduction. It seems a certain father came home from work to see his kindergarten-age daughter using his toothbrush to brush the teeth of the family dog. When he asked her what she was doing, she replied, “It’s okay, Dad, I’ll put it back like I always do.”

“Gentleness” and “self-control” are essential to fatherhood, and to all of life. These are the foundation stones of the “fruit of the Spirit,” without which the others cannot exist for long. If you want to experience enduring love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness in your life, family, and relationships, then you must develop gentleness and self-control. They are indispensable to a successful and happy life and soul.

So let’s learn what these fruit look like, and discover how to nurture them in our souls and relationships this week.

What does God expect?

Once again we begin with definitions. We’ll start with “gentleness.” This word translates praus, one of the truly great words in the Greek language. No one English word adequately describes this one. Plato used it to describe the power to soothe and calm, as an ointment on a wound. Socrates used it for a man who could discuss emotional things without losing his temper. Aristotle gave the word its classic definition: the man who is always angry at the right time and never at the wrong time (Nicomachaean Ethics 2.1108A). Someone who controls his or her emotions, no matter the circumstances.

“Self-control” translates ekrates, someone who controls his desires. The word originally meant to grip something, to control it. Plato and Aristotle used the word for a man who had powerful passions and desires, yet controlled them. He was always their master, never their servant (cf. Nicomachaean Ethics 7.4.1145B). The word was typically used with regard to sexual desires, but was also applied to food, love, and ego. Someone who controls his desires, no matter how tempted he or she is.

Now, does God place a high priority on emotional self-control in our lives? Five times the psalms say the “meek shall inherit the earth” (cf. Psalms 37:11), and Jesus repeated the promise in the third beatitude (Matthew 5:5). 1 Peter 3:4 commends those whose beauty is “that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”

We are to practice such control over our emotions in all relationships: “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently (Galatians 6:1); “Those who oppose [the Lord’s servant] he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 2:25); give your witness “with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).

In short, we are to “be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2; cf. Titus 3:2).

What about controlling our lusts and desires? As regards sexual lust, “if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion” (1 Corinthians 7:9).

We are to discipline ourselves as athletes: “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever” (1 Corinthians 9:25).

Titus 1:8 says that Christian leaders must be self-controlled. What kind of success does God expect for our self-control? Jesus is clear: our righteousness must exceed even that of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:20). In fact, he commands us, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Why? Because he knows what ungodly emotions and desires do to us. I like Buechner’s definition of lust: “the craving for salt of a man dying of thirst” (Wishful Thinking 54).

And he knows that our enemy typically attacks Christians at these very points. Satan is a great economist, and he wants to wreak the greatest havoc with the least effort. So, if I sin regarding love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, or trustworthiness, my ministry will likely recover. If I sin regarding emotions and lusts, my ministry and my family will forever be damaged, perhaps irrevocably.

Thomas a Kempis was right to pray, “Cause me to live now as I shall wish I had done when I come to die” (Famous Prayers 38). Zero tolerance is God’s goal for my life; it must be mine as well.

How do we do?

We fail. Romans 3:23 is clear and accurate: “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Every one of us. Unfortunately, more and more of us won’t admit it. We live in a postmodern age where truth and ethics are personal subjective. The biblical description of the era of the judges is just as appropriate for us: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit” (Judges 21:25).

If you doubt the association, perhaps this book will clear up the matter. A few years ago The Day America Told the Truth pulled back the veil on typical American ethics. These pollsters gathered their data by guaranteeing the responders total anonymity and privacy. As a result, they got a better sense of Americans than other surveys have ever achieved. Here are some of the results.

There is no moral consensus in this country. Only 13% of Americans believe in all of the Ten Commandments. 93% of us say that we alone determine what is right and moral. 81% say they have violated a law since they thought it was wrong. 74% say they would steal from those who won’t really miss it. 91% say they lie regularly. And 53% say they would cheat on their spouse if they wouldn’t get caught.

How are we at controlling our emotions and passions? You decide.

So then, we lower the standard. We measure ourselves not by what is right but by what is popular, or at least by what others do.

The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were masters at this: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector” (Luke 18:11). I’m better than others, so I must be all right with God. So long as we’re not as bad as the criminals we see on television or the moral failures we know personally, we’re fine. Men by the scores over the years have told me, “I’m just as good as anyone else.” But that’s not good enough.

Remember the old story about the two hunters on safari who ran out of ammunition, then came upon a lion? One took off; the other stopped to put on tennis shoes. The first yelled to the second, “What are you doing? You can’t outrun him.” The second said, “I don’t have to outrun the lion. I only have to outrun you.”

Not with sin, you don’t.

We keep up appearances. We’re like David, covering his sin with Bathsheba in the eyes of the community, but not before God. So long as our society thinks our marriage is fine, our kids are succeeding, and our finances are strong, we must be.

Consumer debt has risen 50% since 1973; consumer credit has risen from $199 billion in 1975 to $1.3 trillion in February of this year. We do all we can to keep up appearances financially, and spiritually.

And we try harder. We hear a sermon on sin and determine we will do better.

Jonathan Edwards, the great preacher of the First Great Awakening, wrote this in his diary: “Resolved first, to live for God while I do live. Resolved second, whether others do this or not, I will.” We’ve all made those resolutions. And we’ve all failed to keep them.

What can we do?

Remember that you have a choice with temptation. The Bible says that if we resist the devil he will flee from us (James 4:7). There is no sin you must commit. However you are being tempted in your emotions and passions, the choice is always yours.

Viktor Frankl was the acclaimed author of Man’s Search for Meaning. He was imprisoned by the Nazis, his family were all killed, and he was subjected to horrible tortures. As the Nazi soldiers stripped away his clothes and cut off his wedding band he made this fateful statement to himself, “You can take away my wife, you can take away my children, you can strip me of my clothes and my freedom, but there is one thing that no person can ever take away from me—and that is my freedom to choose how I will react to what happens to me!”

Avoid known temptations. Jesus taught us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation” (Matthew 6:13). Pray this daily. Martin Luther, in his usual picturesque way, said, “You cannot keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from nesting in your hair.” On another occasion he said it like this: “If your head is made of butter, don’t sit by the fire.”

Stay close to your spiritual source. Ephesians 5:18 is a clear command from God: “Be filled with the Spirit.” It means, “every moment stay under the control of the Spirit.” Seek your spiritual power in a close communion with the Spirit of God, every day.

This spring we bought an outdoor electric grill. No more matches or gas bottles. All we need to do is plug it in, and keep it plugged in. If we get the grill hot, then pull the plug, it grows cold. So do I. So do you.

Last, get up when you fall down. We all fall down. John put it this way: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). But the next verse is our hope: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” So when you fall down, get back up.

John Claypool tells a marvelous story about a medieval village, situated at the foot of a mountain with a monastery high above it in the clouds. The villagers wondered every day what the monks did up there so close to God. One day a monk came down into the village for supplies, and someone asked him, “What do you do up there in the clouds?” He said, “We fall down, and we get up. We fall down, and we get up. We fall down, and we get up.” So can we.

Conclusion

Now, control of emotions and passions is the “fruit” of the Spirit. As we work, God works. As we make these our goals in self-control, God does what we cannot. And together, we show this fruit to the world, to the glory of God.

So with all the “fruit” of the Spirit. The Spirit grows them in the life which lets him, which wants his help. Do you?

An item in Ripley’s Believe It Or Not pictures a plain bar of iron worth $5. The same iron made into horseshoes is worth $50. Made into needles, it is worth $5,000, and made into balance springs for fine Swiss watches, it is worth $500,000.

The value of our lives is not in our abilities or possessions, but in the one who controls us. If you are a Christian, you have the Spirit. Does the Spirit have you?

Gideon’s Deception

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Gideon’s Deception

Joshua 9:1-27

Dr. Jim Denison

Thesis: We must refuse all worldly covenants if we would belong fully to God.

Goal: Choose Christ as your only Lord, and identify specific changes this decision will require.

Jennifer Johnson banged her hands on the steering wheel. “I can’t believe it!” she screamed out loud. She’d run out of gas. It was dark, and she was scared. She was in a part of town where there had been riots only the week before. She could barely see outlines of large warehouses, railroad tracks, and chain link fences. She looked for a telephone, service station, anything. She saw nothing, and was scared.

Then she saw him, and the hair stood up on the back of her neck. Her heart raced. In the middle of the street, coming straight at her, she could see a man approaching. “Maybe he won’t see me,” she prayed. But then he was at her window. He tapped the glass and yelled something, but she was instantly hysterical: “Get away. Leave me alone. Don’t bother me.”

He yelled louder, and knocked harder. He raced around the car and tried all the doors. She blew the horn and screamed, and he was gone. But in a moment he returned, carrying a long, thick board. He tried to say something to her, but she screamed, drowning out his voice. He battered the driver’s side window with the board until it shattered. In an instant he reached in, unlocked the door, opened it, and grabbed Jennifer. She hit him and kicked furiously until his nose and face were bleeding, but he pulled her from the car and dragged her away.

About 40 feet from the car, he suddenly dropped her. “Don’t be afraid,” he said, but she was terrified. She backed away from him until she ran into a fence. He had not moved. He tried to speak but she screamed, “Leave me alone. Go away.” He stood there for a second, and then walked slowly away.

She sat trembling. Then a strange noise caught her attention. Lights began to flash in the night. The ground began to shake. The noise grew louder, and came closer. In an instant she saw it. A train roared past a few feet from where she sat, crashed into her car, and dragged it scraping and banging into the darkness.

Then she realized: the man knew about the coming train. He was not trying to hurt her—he was trying to save her.

So it is with the will of God. What looks unfair, or punitive, or unreasonable, is not if it comes from the hand of an all-loving, all-powerful Father. A parent who forbids illegal drug use is not punishing his child, but protecting her. When we allow our children to compromise with that which will destroy them, we share the blame for their pain.

And so the God of Israel forbade his people to make treaties with the sinful, idolatrous people living in their Promised Land. He warned them again and again that such pagan alliances would poison them spiritually. His warning is as relevant to us as it was to them. We are to be in the world, but not of it. When the ship is in the water, all is well; when the water is in the ship, disaster is on the way.

C. S. Lewis remarked that any time we live for “Christianity and…”, whatever is on the other side of “and” inevitably supersedes that which precedes it. Are there places in your life where compromise with sin exists? How can you help your class yield themselves fully and only to God?

Expect opposition (vs. 1-2)

As we noted last week, the people of God are in a constant spiritual battle. Augustine was right: there is a city of God and a city of the enemy. They are locked in perennial struggle. But Satan cannot hurt the Lord of the universe, so he attacks his children. He knows that this is always the best way to hurt any loving parent. An African proverb says it well: when elephants fight, the grass always loses.

So expect the enemy to attack. As my youth minister used to say, if you and the devil are not in opposition, you’re probably in partnership. When the kings west of the Jordan heard about Israel’s victory over Jericho and Ai, they “came together to make war against Joshua and Israel” (v. 2). They came from the central mountain area, the rocky plateaus to the west, and the seacoast further west, comprising the largest portion of land in the region. And they formed a new strategy, becoming a new kind of enemy.

No longer would Israel have the privilege of fighting against a single army, one city at a time. Now they would face the combined forces of their opponents. But as great as this threat appeared to be, it would not pose the long-term threat the nation faced through the deception recorded in this week’s study.

You and I can assume that the enemy will attack us. We read only three chapters of God’s word before we find Satan deceiving our parents. Abel would face death at the hands of his brother Cain. Moses would withstand the assaults of Pharaoh and the mightiest army the world had ever seen. Daniel would face his lions, and his companions their fiery furnace.

Peter and the apostles would stand before their Sanhedrin. Paul would deal with his Judaizers and eventually his emperor. John would suffer on his Patmos. Jesus warned us that tribulation is inevitable (John 16:33). So expect opposition. The enemy is coming after you. A lion roars when he is about to pounce (1 Pt 5:8). You don’t have to find him—he’ll find you.

Beware deception (vs. 3-15)

Those enemies who attack us spiritually are a constant and predictable threat (cf. Ephesians 6:12). But our even more dangerous opponents are those who appear to be our friends. Because Satan masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), “it is not surprising if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness” (v. 15).

So with the Gibeonites in this week’s study. The city of “Gibeon” meant “pertaining to a hill,” indicating its strategic height and location. Located eight miles north by northwest from Jerusalem, the area is known as “El-Jib” today. The city controlled the access routes into southern Canaan, toward Joppa and the seacoast.

Upon hearing the fate of Jericho and Ai, these residents “resorted to a ruse” (v. 4). They sent messengers to Joshua, made to appear as though they had traveled a long distance (v. 6). The Jews knew all about such wanderings, and could sympathize. Whether they knew it or not, their pretended distance of travel made them eligible for leniency on the part of Israel. According to Deuteronomy 20:10-18, the Jews were required to destroy completely the neighboring peoples, but were allowed to enslave those living further away, sparing their lives.

Strengthening their appeal, they claimed to know of “the fame of the Lord your God.” “Fame” is a broad term meaning God’s name, character, power, actions and feats. Just as Rahab had believed the reports about Israel’s God, so with these from Gibeon. They knew the fate of Sihon (cf. Numbers 21:21-35) and Og (cf. Deuteronomy 2:26-3:17). They wanted to serve such a powerful God and his chosen people.

Joshua and the leaders listened carefully and skeptically to their story (v. 7, 8). They “sampled their provisions” (v. 14a) to check the evidence. Then Joshua made a “treaty of peace with them to let them live” (v. 15a). Given that the nation had conferred no autocratic power or throne on their military general, “the leaders of the assembly” were required to ratify his commitment by oath. And they did (v. 15b).

This “treaty” was a legally binding agreement, a covenant. Such commitments usually involved the exchange of gifts (cf. Abraham and Abimelech, Genesis 21:22-34). And they typically required an animal sacrifice. An animal was cut in half; those making the covenant would pass between the halves. Symbolically, they were promising that they would accept such a fate for themselves if they did not keep their part of the covenant.

This treaty was a direct violation of the word of God requiring destruction of every people living in the Promised Land (cf. Deuteronomy 7:1-6; 20:16-18). It cost the nation a city of significant size, possessions, and military significance (Joshua 10:2: “Gibeon was an important city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai”). So why did Joshua and the leaders commit such a strategic sin?

Because they “did not inquire of the Lord” (Joshua 9:14). Here we find the key phrase in this week’s study, one of the most significant spiritual truths in the entire book of Joshua. The general had been trained in the use of the Urim and Thummim for determining the will of God (cf. Numbers 27:18-21). He could have taken the time to consult God in this way, or simply to pray for direction. But neither he nor the nation’s leaders did. And so they were all deceived.

What happened to them can happen to us. There is no sin you and I cannot commit. If they could get ahead of God, so can we. Human nature does not change, which explains why the Bible is still relevant, 35 centuries after this event occurred. And one reason why this story is in the text: to warn us, so that we don’t make the same mistake. Don’t get ahead of God—he may not follow.

If Satan cannot enter the house through the front door of temptation, he will try the side door of deceit. He is just as happy to appeal to our highest motives as to our basest. The children of Israel did not wish to annihilate every nation they met, but only to be obedient to God’s word. And so their enemy used their instincts for peace against them.

Our strengths are so often our weaknesses. I have known ministers whose compassion for hurting people led them into inappropriate counseling relationships. One pastor I know is so gifted administratively that he runs his church dictatorially. A worship leader of my acquaintance is so gifted musically that his ministry is more about performance than service. What are your greatest gifts and abilities for spiritual service? How can they be used to distract you from God’s will for your life?

When we enter a dark room, we know it; when someone dims the lights slowly, our eyes adjust to the darkness. A frog placed in boiling water will jump out of the pot; dropped into lukewarm water, he’ll swim around while we turn up the water until he boils. Expect opposition you’ll recognize as the enemy, and that which you won’t.

Ask God to redeem your mistakes (vs. 16-27)

God’s will for our lives is good and perfect (Romans 12:2). It is therefore crucial that we find and follow his intended plan for us. However, God can still redeem our mistakes and failures, so that we are never beyond his grace.

I used to envision the will of God as a high-wire; falling off would condemn me to second-class status in his sovereign purpose. Now I know that his will is typically more like a map than a tightrope. While there is usually a best way for me to proceed, he will not abandon me when I turn into a side street. Rather, he will still be my shepherd until he leads me home.

This fact is something of a logical paradox. If the Lord has a perfect will for us, anything less is tragically imperfect. And yet he turns even our failures into victories, when we place our mistakes into his hands. The “solution” to the dilemma is the fact that even confessed sin bears consequences. We can pull a nail out of the wall, but the hole remains. And every hour spent in sin is an hour lost to eternal reward for faithful obedience.

The Jewish leaders came to understand this law of unintended consequences first-hand. Not long after making their treaty with the deceptive Gibeonites, they heard reports that their new covenant partners were in fact their neighbors (v. 16). Their response was commendable. Rather than ignore this news, or accept it at face value, they explored the matter for themselves (v. 17). And they found that it was true. The Gibeonites were indeed from the nearby city bearing their name; from Kephirah, eight or nine miles west of Gibeon; from Beeroth, eight miles north of Jerusalem; and from Kiriath-Jearim, six miles east of Jerusalem. They were part of the Hivite population, precisely the people the Lord had promised to drive out before them (Joshua 3:10).

The Jewish leaders could easily have taken such exploratory steps before entering their treaty. But at least they admitted their failure, and took steps to remedy it as far as possible.

They kept their oath, preserving the honor of their Lord’s name (Exodus 20:7) and their own integrity (Leviticus 19:12). Centuries later, the Psalmist would ask, “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?” And he would answer, “who keeps his oath even when it hurts” (Psalm 15:1, 4). When Saul later violated this oath, the Lord punished the people with famine (2 Samuel 21:1-9).

Such honor came at a price: “the whole assembly grumbled against the leaders” (Joshua 9:18). The people were understandably upset that their leaders had missed the will of God. And they were especially frustrated that they would not be able to inherit the Gibeonite lands, a significant agricultural and military procession.

But the leaders stood firm. And they sought a way to redeem the situation by turning the Gibeonites into their servants: “let them be woodcutters and water carriers for the entire community” (v. 21). When Joshua confronted them, the Gibeonites admitted their ruse and its reasons (vs. 22-24), and surrendered themselves to enslavement (v. 25). And so Joshua spared their lives and made them into perpetual servants (v. 27). These Hivites were descendants of Ham; their slavery fulfilled Noah’s curse on their progenitor (Genesis 9:25). But it also brought them into the covenant community of God.

The Lord would redeem Joshua’s mistake in remarkable ways over the coming generations. As woodcutters and water carriers, the Gibeonites’ primary responsibility was to the sacrifices which occurred inside the tabernacle. And so they and their region were assigned to the priestly family of Aaron (21:17), and became a training center for the priests of God. Eventually Kiriath-jearim, the fourth town of their confederacy (9:17), would be home to the Ark of the Covenant for some 20 years. One of King David’s closest friends would be “Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man” (1 Chronicles 12:4). By the time of Nehemiah, a thousand years later, the Gibeonites could prove their racial heritage as part of Israel (Nehemiah 7:25).

And perhaps most noteworthy of all, the young King Solomon would travel to Gibeon to offer “a thousand burnt offerings on that altar” (1 Kings 3:4). Here he would receive his vision from God granting him the greatest wisdom and wealth in history.

God redeemed Joshua’s mistake for the good of the nation. It is never too late to return home to such a Father and friend.

Conclusion

We must refuse to be conformed to the pattern and values of the world (Romans 12:1). Israel was the only nation in the world to have a “treaty” with the Lord, and was obligated to honor it before any covenant with any other people. We now live in the “new covenant” made possible by Jesus’ atoning death for our sins. We are granted the grace of God (Romans 5:21), so that we have died to sin (Romans 6:2). To compromise with the enemies of God is to betray God. What if a nation had a military treaty with us and with our enemies? With NATO and with al-Qaeda?

Recent bestsellers tell the story of our self-sufficient, self-centered culture: Looking Out for Number 1; Pulling Your Own Strings; Winning Through Intimidation; and Unlimited Power are just some titles we could cite. But God’s Kingdom stands opposed to this fallen world. If we would be in his will, we must live in absolute obedience to his word.

Where does this lesson find you spiritually today? Are there Gibeonites living in your home? Treaties with the enemies of God being signed by your values and priorities? What parts of the culture most tempt you to compromise? What areas are most difficult for those you will teach this weekend? Where is our church most likely to be deceived?

A very dear friend in our congregation recently sent me a perceptive and challenging note: “Pondering our church and its mission in life, I was drawn to what we aren’t. Contrary to popular belief:

We are not a benevolence institution.

We are not a banking institution.

We are not a political institution.

We are not a tax shelter.

We are not a performance hall.

We are not a corporation.

We are not a health club.

We are not a social club.

We are not an exclusive club.

We are not a club at all.

We are not a group of businessmen and women operating a business.

We are not ‘the keepers of tradition.’

We are the ‘church,’ the body of Christ himself. Period. Nothing else matters.

We have one purpose and one alone: helping people find and follow Jesus. Anything which hinders that purpose is not of God. Any questions?” I have none.

At youth camp this past summer, I told again one of my favorite stories, an account I first heard from my pastor many years ago. It concerns a very famous English pastor, a preacher much in demand and honored for his pulpit skills. After accepting yet another speaking engagement in a distant church, he began searching for someone to fill his pulpit on the particular Sunday he would be gone. Oddly enough, no one he knew was available. Every friend or contact he called was otherwise occupied.

He shared his dilemma with the church’s deacons, and one of them mentioned a young man who had just graduated from the local seminary. The deacon had never heard him preach, but thought he might be available. And he was. So the famous pastor preached in the distant church, while the neophyte filled his magnificent pulpit.

Returning home late that afternoon, the pastor asked his wife how the services had gone in his home congregation. To his shock, she replied honestly that the young preacher’s sermon had been the most powerful she had ever heard. Ego damaged, the famous pastor theorized that the new seminary graduate must have been working on that one sermon for years, and would likely have no others. So he called him that afternoon, inviting him to preach again in his church that night. The young man accepted, and the older pastor was there to hear him. When the message was completed, the famous preacher had to admit to himself that he had just heard the most powerful, life-transforming message of his life.

Now even more troubled, he followed the young preacher to his hotel room, entered without knocking, and found the man on his knees in prayer. He went to the point: “I want to know the secret to the preaching I heard tonight.” The seminary graduate stood to his feet, smiled, and said, “There’s no secret. It’s just that every key I have, I’ve given to God.”

The older pastor went home to bed. Before falling asleep he prayed, “Lord, I, too, want to give you every key of my life.” He fell asleep, and dreamed. According to his later autobiography, in his dream an angel came to his bedside with a keyring in his hand. He said to the famous pastor, “You told the Lord just now that you wish to give him every key you have. I’ve come to take those keys.”

In his dream, the pastor considered the situation. Then he reached into his heart and pulled out a key to an area of his life he had never totally dedicated to the Lord. He gave it to the angel, who clipped it on his key ring. He then pulled out a second key, and a third. Several more followed, each given over to God. Finally he stopped.

The angel asked if that was all the keys; he said it was. The angel asked if he was sure. He replied, “Well, there’s one more, but it’s small and insignificant. I didn’t want to bother you with it.” In his dream, the angel handed back the key ring and said, “All or none.”

The famous preacher thought for a while. Then he pulled out that last key. He thought it would be tiny, but discovered it to be larger than any of the other keys. He gave it to the angel, who clipped it onto the key ring and left.

The next Sunday, a spiritual movement began in that famous pastor’s church. A movement which touched hundreds and churches and thousands of souls. All because one man decided he to live above compromise, giving every key to God.

What is in your heart now?

Gifts Every Father Needs

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Gifts Every Father Needs

Revelation 19:11-16

Dr. Jim Denison

Today, more collect calls will be placed than on any other day of the year. It wasn’t always that way. The year was 1909. Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington heard a Mother’s Day sermon in church and wondered why fathers didn’t have a day as well. Her father was a Civil War veteran who raised six children after his wife died. She thought he deserved better.

So she organized a church service the next June, her father’s birth month, and the idea caught on. Father’s Day was recognized by President Wilson in 1916, Calvin Coolidge in 1924, Congress in 1956, and President Johnson in 1966, but it still wasn’t an official holiday until Richard Nixon signed the day into law in 1972. 58 years after Mother’s Day, fathers finally had their day as well. And the collect calls which go with it.

To state the obvious, none of us would be here today without a father. That’s true physically, of course, but it’s also more true spiritually than you may know. When Mom goes to church but Dad does not, just five percent of kids become regular worshipers. When both worship regularly, 33 percent of kids do the same. Here’s the surprise: when Dad is faithful but Mom is not, 44 percent of the kids end up as regular worshipers. I’m not dismissing the mothers from today’s service, just commending fathers for being here.

This is a day for encouraging fathers and all of us who are their children. Fathers face unprecedented time and financial pressures these days. With modern technology, no place exempts us from work. The global economy is more unpredictable than ever before, as recent weeks have proven. Our children are busier than ever in human history. We’re raising them in a culture which disavows absolute truth and objective morality. We could use some encouragement. So could our families. Today our Father has some gifts to offer–gifts every father needs. And the rest of us as well.

Fight your battles in his strength

John’s vision begins, “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse” (v. 11a). In the ancient world, a white horse was always ridden by the conqueror in a triumphal march after the war was won. The Parthians, Rome’s most dreaded enemy, were especially known for riding white horses. For Jesus to ride such an animal into conquest was a clear signal to John’s readers that the Empire would be destroyed and Jesus would win the victory.

And so would they: “The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean ” (v. 14). In verse 8 we are told, “fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.” We are righteous, pure, holy, and victorious.

The One we worship and trust comes to triumph with total, global authority: “Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter'” (v. 15). The latter phrase is a direct quote from Psalm 2:9, a promise the Jewish rabbis all took to predict the coming Messiah. As he spoke the universe into existence with his words, so he will destroy this fallen world with his words. He needs no bow, arrow, shield or spear. His word is enough to win the day.

So it will be when Jesus returns. But remember that he is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Our Lord possesses this day all the power he will possess on that day. Here are a few examples of that promise:

“O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you” (2 Chronicles 20:6).

“I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please” (Isaiah 46:10).

“Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you” (Jeremiah 32:17).

“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27).

“Nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).

“Jesus replied, ‘What is impossible with men is possible with God'” (Luke 18:27).

Where do you need his power and victory in your life this morning? Patrick Morley’s bestselling books on men document some of the issues we’re facing today. We struggle with identity: Are we what we do? How much we make? How well we succeed? How do we relate effectively to our wives and children? How do we handle money and time pressures? How do we deal with temperament problems: pride, fear, anger, guilt? How do we maintain integrity in our secret thoughts and private lives?

Name the battles you’re fighting today–the temptations, struggles, issues in your soul and life.

Now mount the white horse of Jesus’ power in your life. Put on the white linen of his presence and peace. Get out the sword of his mouth and word, and live by its truth. Give your trial or test to him, and ask him for the courage and character you need.

Refuse to be discouraged. Today is not the day you’ll quit the battle. As you work, God works. As you are obedient to his last word to you, his word wins the fight. Refuse the self-sufficiency of our culture, and fight your battles in his strength. This is his invitation and hope for you today.

A few years ago I invited Dr. Ron Scates, the senior pastor of Highland Park Presbyterian Church, to be the speaker for our Men’s Bible Study kick-off breakfast. I asked him to discuss “lessons learned the hard way.” I’ll never forget the first one he gave us. He told us about the day when his little girl drowned in a scuba diving tank at a sporting goods store. He looked at the gym filled with men and said, “Men, I’ve been to the bottom, and the bottom holds.” It still does.

Leave vengeance to the Lord

The second invitation from God’s word to us today is just as simple and significant as the first. Fight your battles in God’s strength, and leave vengeance to the Lord (v. 11). Jesus is “Faithful,” absolutely trustworthy. And he is “True,” meaning that he speaks the truth but also that he is the Truth, the real thing, the only true God. Satan is the “father of lies” (John 8:44). Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). He always keeps his word and his promises.

“With justice he judges and makes war” against the enemies of God’s people (v. 12). “His eyes are like blazing fire,” symbolic of complete omniscience. “On his head are many crowns,” showing us his completely global authority. He always brings justice and judgment for us.

“It is mine to avenge; I will repay” (Deuteronomy 32:35).

“I will take vengeance on my adversaries” (Deuteronomy 32:41).

“Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Romans 12:19).

Who has failed you lately? Where has life treated you unfairly? Who has lied about you? Slandered you? Spoken against you behind your back? Where have you been cheated? Manipulated? Passed over? Hurt? Tell Jesus on them. Leave them to his justice, and get on with your life. He will always do the right thing–always.

I was in a meeting years ago with the president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. We were discussing ways to handle criticism, and this individual told us that Dr. Graham never responds to his critics. He or his organization will set the record straight if misinformation is being disseminated. But if he is being attacked personally, he never responds. He leaves that to the Lord. He tries to live in such a way that people will not believe his critics. And he remembers that there is only one Judge of the universe. He trusts vengeance to him. Would you say God has taken care of Dr. Graham’s reputation? Let’s make the same decision today.

Claim the forgiveness he died to give

When you’re in a battle, fight in his power. When you’re hurt and opposed, trust his justice. But what do you do when the fault is yours? When the sin is on your side? What then?

Jesus is “dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God” (v. 13). He is the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). He died to pay for your sins and failures. Stop trying to pay the bill yourself. Guilt is never of God. He forgives your sins and remembers them no more. Every time guilt attacks you, give it to Jesus. Claim his forgiveness and his grace. You may have to do it a hundred times today, but it will be worth it.

Where do you need to be forgiven this morning? What words would you take back? What hurts have you caused those you love and others? What secret sins you hope no one knows? The best fathers are not perfect, just forgiven.

Decide today that you’ll fight your battles in God’s strength, trust vengeance to his justice, and give your failures to his grace. Whether you’re a father or not, you have a Father. We are all his children. These are the Father’s Day gifts he wants us to open.

Conclusion

Can our God do all this? “On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” (v. 16). That’s his name. That’s who he is. He can win our battles and judge our enemies and forgive our sins, because he is the Lord of all that is. He’s your Father, and he’s your Maker, and he’s your King. Isn’t he?

S. M. Lockridge was pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in San Diego from 1953 to 1993. The 20th century had no greater orator in the service of Jesus Christ. Recently I found an essay from his mind and pen which so blessed me that I decided to make it my own. I invite you to join me:

“He’s the one who made you, it is He who made us and not we ourselves. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork. No means or measure can define His limitless love and no farseeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supply. I’M TELLING YOU TODAY YOU CAN TRUST HIM.

“No barrier can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing. He’s enduringly strong and He’s entirely sincere. He’s eternally steadfast and He’s immortally graceful. He’s imperially powerful and He’s impartially merciful. He’s the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this world. He’s God’s Son, He’s the sinner’s Savior, He’s the centerpiece of civilization. I’M TRYING TO TELL YOU CHURCH, YOU CAN TRUST HIM!

“He does not have to call for help and you can’t confuse Him. He doesn’t need you and He doesn’t need me. He stands alone in the solitude of Himself. He’s august and He’s unique. He’s unparalleled, He’s unprecedented, He’s supreme, He’s preeminent, He’s the loftiest idea in literature, He’s the highest personality in philosophy, He’s the supreme problem of higher criticism, He’s the fundamental doctrine of true theology, He’s the cardinal necessity of spiritual religion, He’s the miracle of the age, He’s the superlative of everything good you can call Him. I’M TRYING TO TELL YOU CHURCH, YOU CAN TRUST HIM!

“He can satisfy all your needs, and He can do it simultaneously. He supplies strength for the weak and He’s available for the tempted and the tried. He sympathizes and He sees. He guards and He guides, He heals the sick, He cleansed the Leper, He forgives sinners, He discharges debtors, He delivers the captives, He defends the feeble, He blesses the young, He regards the aged, He rewards the diligent, He beautifies the meek, I’M TRYING TO TELL YOU CHURCH, YOU CAN TRUST HIM!

“He’s the key to knowledge, He’s the well spring of wisdom, He’s the doorway of deliverance, He’s the pathway of peace, He’s the roadway of righteousness, He’s the highway of holiness, He’s the gateway to glory, YOU CAN TRUST IN HIM!

“He’s the master of the mighty, He’s the captain of the conquers, He’s the head of heroes, He’s the leader of legislators, He’s the overseer of the overcomers, He’s the governor of the governors, He’s the prince of princes, He’s the king of kings, He’s the Lord of lords, YOU… CAN… TRUST… HIM!!!

“His office is manifold, His promise is sure, His life is matchless, His goodness is limitless, His mercy is everlasting, His love never changes, His word is enough, His grace is sufficient, His reign is righteous, His yoke is easy, His burden is light, I wish I could describe Him to you, He’s indescribable because He’s incomprehensible, He’s irresistible because He’s invincible. You can’t get Him off your hands, you can’t get Him off your mind, you can’t outlive Him and you can’t live without Him. Pilate couldn’t stand it when he found he couldn’t stop Him, and Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him. And the witnesses couldn’t get their testimonies to agree and Herod couldn’t kill Him, and death couldn’t handle Him and thank God the grave couldn’t hold Him.

“There was nobody before Him and there will be nobody after Him. He has no predecessor, He’ll have no successor, you can’t impeach Him and He’s not going to resign. YOU CAN TRUST HIM!!!”

Amen?

Giving Up, Giving In, or Going On

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Topical Scripture: Matthew 13:24-30

You know things are tough when Starbucks is losing money. The iconic coffee chain reported this week a net loss of $678.4 million during the quarter that ended last month. Revenue declined 38 percent from the same period the prior year.

I could depress you quickly with statistics about the pandemic, the resulting economic fallout, riots in our streets, and political turmoil in this election year. As we are living through a year unlike any other, one option for Christians is to give up, to retreat from the culture. Why should you try to change anything? What difference can you make?

A second option is to give in, to compromise, to go along to get along. As our country continues its moral trajectory with regard to sexual ethics, abortion, euthanasia, and a host of other issues, it’s harder than ever to stand up for biblical truth. So stay quiet, go along to get along. Again, what difference can you make?

A third approach is to go on, to continue to be faithful, to persevere. It is to use your influence however you can, wherever you can. It is to believe that God is using your faithful obedience to his word and your consistent witness in ways you will not be able to measure on this side of heaven. It is to believe that you can make an eternal difference if you will choose the power of perseverance.

The great need of our day is for courageous Christianity. It is for believers who will stand up and speak up, who will use their resources, gifts, and influence as boldly and strongly as they can in the strength of the Spirit. It is to refuse the enemy’s temptation to give up or give in.

So let me ask you, where is the enemy tempting you today? Where are you discouraged today? How are you tempted to give up or to give in?

Let’s listen to Jesus on the power of perseverance. Then I hope you’ll choose to go on, to persevere in the power of the Lord, for the glory of God and the good of us all.

Expect weeds

Our text begins: “He put another parable before them, saying . . .” (Matthew 13:24a). The Greek means to “set before them, to put alongside them.” It is used in other places for setting food before people.

“Parable” translates the Greek for “thrown alongside,” an object lesson set next to its spiritual truth. Jesus taught this parable as he stood alongside the Sea of Galilee, one of the most vibrant agricultural areas in the world. I’ve been there more than thirty times and am astounded each time at its beauty. It is no surprise that our Lord told an agricultural story in this area.

He sets the theme: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to . . . ” (v. 24b). The “kingdom of heaven” is that realm where God is king, where we acknowledge him as our Master and ourselves as his subjects. It is that dimension where God’s kingdom comes as his will is done (Matthew 6:10). The idea is, to make God your king, do this.

Here’s what the kingdom of heaven is like: “a man who sowed good seed in his field” (v. 24c). The Greek says he is “sowing” such seed. “Good” means genuine, without mixture of other seeds, pure, able to do what it is intended to do. It is wheat seed, as we will learn shortly, with no mixture of weeds. This will be important in a moment.

However, “while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away” (v. 25). When Jesus explained the parable later, he stated that this “enemy” is the devil (v. 39). It is not surprising that he works while the men are sleeping, for he loves to operate under cover of darkness, in disguise (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:14–15).

He “sowed” these weeds—the Greek means that the weeds were given a thorough distribution across the field. There is no place where they are not to be found. These weeds are known as “bearded darnel,” a plant that is common in the region and looks like wheat except that its grain is black. It must be separated from the good wheat, since it poisons the food it touches, causing dizziness and worse if eaten.

This part of the story depicts a very real problem in Jesus’ day. Sowing darnel among wheat was a common act of revenge, so much so that Roman law prescribed specific punishments for it.

Now “the plants came up and bore grain” (v. 26a), which would show the character of the plants as wheat. However, the weeds appeared also” (v. 26b). At the end of the day, the plants showed what they really were.

Jesus’ parable teaches us to expect spiritual weeds wherever we plant spiritual seed.

One of Satan’s subtle strategies is to tempt us to sin and then, when we refuse, tempt us to feel guilty that we are tempted. It is to bring opposition or difficulties against us and then tempt us to blame ourselves for what he has done.

The more you walk with God, the more you will walk against his enemy. No corner of the field is immune from his infestation. No pesticide can prevent it. There will never be a time on this fallen planet when the enemy will not sow his weeds.

They are growing at your side, right now.

Leave the harvest to the Lord

What do we do about them?

“The servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master did you not sow good seed in your field?” (v. 27a). The Greek syntax expects a positive answer, for they know the fault does not lie with the owner of the field. Opposition is not our fault. In fact, as we have seen, we should expect it.

The servants continue, “How then does it have weeds?” (v. 27b). There are far too many weeds for their existence to be explained naturally. In the same way, there is far more evil in the world than can be accounted for by natural circumstances or human nature.

The master has an answer: “An enemy has done this” (v. 28a). The servants’ response is natural: “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” (v. 28b). The owner’s reply is emphatic in the Greek: “No” (v. 29a). Why not? “Lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them” (v. 29b). This is why the Lord delays his return and judgment: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

So, what are we to do? “Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, ‘Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn'” (v. 30).

There will come a time when Jesus will “clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12). In his explanation later, Jesus predicted: “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear” (vv. 41–43).

In the meantime, leave the future with God and be faithful in the present.

Claim two facts

We have learned today to expect opposition and to trust future judgment to God while remaining faithful in the present. Now, name that place where you are tempted to give up or to give in rather than to go on. How does Jesus’ parable help? Let’s claim two facts.

First, you’re not going through your challenges alone.

In his explanation, Jesus called the good seed “the sons of the kingdom” (Matthew 13:38). They were sown across the entire field, not just in one place.

No matter how alone you feel, you are never alone.

Scripture says Satan is a “roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). How should you respond? “Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” (v. 9).

Chinese churches are being closed, their pastors thrown into prison. North Korean Christians are being sent into horrific labor camps where many are executed. Christians face jihadist terrorism in Africa and widespread ridicule and rejection in parts of Europe. Whatever you are going through, know that you’re not going through it alone.

Second, Jesus’ parable reminds you that the end of the story is already written.

The weeds will be judged; the wheat will be rewarded. As my college professor used to say in summarizing the book of Revelation, “We win!”

You may feel that the culture is so far gone as to be irredeemable, but God will have the last word. You may think that the planet is too broken to be helped, but God is still on his throne. You may think that giving up or giving in is your only option, but God is still King.

So ask him for the power to persevere. Look for believers who can encourage you with their faith, and find someone you can encourage with your own. Every day, ask God for the strength to go on one more day, to be courageous in standing for your Lord and his word, to pay a price to follow Jesus.

Do this knowing that you are one day closer to eternity than ever before. And one day, you will be forever grateful that you did.

Conclusion

When Allied armies advanced on the North African port of Eritrea during World War II, the fleeing Axis forces did an ingenious thing: they loaded barges with concrete and sank them across the mouth of the harbor, making it impossible for the approaching troops to enter.

But the Allies hit on an even more inventive solution. They emptied several gigantic oil tanks, the kind which hold one hundred thousand barrels of oil and more and sealed them watertight. They attached chains to each of them. Then at low tide their divers attached the other ends of the chains to the barges sitting on the bottom of the harbor.

And when the tides rose, their power was so great that they lifted the sealed oil tanks and the cement-filled barges with them. It was then an easy task to dispose of the barges and reopen the harbor.

This power of the tides inspired Shakespeare to pen these immortal words:

There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyages of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures (Julius Caesar, Act IV, scene II).

Where will the current of God’s call to perseverance take you today?

Global Warming and the Power of God

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Global Warming and the Power of God

Revelation 1:12-20

Dr. Jim Denison

In a month, the world will see The Da Vinci Code on screen, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Ron Howard. Forty million books have been sold worldwide. This is a global phenomenon, and a global opportunity for us to tell the world the truth about Jesus Christ. Across the coming weeks, we’ll do just that. His Revelation to John will be our guide.

Why do we need the real Jesus today, more than ever? Why do you?

Why we need the real Jesus

The week’s news was not inspiring:

On Tuesday, thousands in San Francisco turned out for the centennial of the greatest disaster their city has ever known. It was April 18, 1906 at 5:12 a.m. when the San Francisco earthquake struck. A three-day fire engulfed much of the city. Newsweek estimates that the same earthquake today would kill 4,000 and leave 690,000 homeless. When will the “big one” hit again?

Wednesday’s local news reported that a truck driver was asleep in his rig at I-20 and Lancaster when a knock came on his sleeper compartment door. Two armed men were there. They forced him to drive his truck a few blocks, where they stole 100 gallons of diesel fuel. With oil over $70 a barrel, it may be a “sign of the times,” as the reporter said.

On the moral front, The New York Times reports: “a federal judge ruled Tuesday that Kansas law did not require health care workers to report to the authorities sexual activity by people under age 16” (NYT April 19, A16). And we learn that “two Duke lacrosse players were arrested after being indicted on charges of raping a woman who performed as a dancer at a team party last month” (NYT April 19, A1).

Meanwhile, Addwaitya, the giant tortoise thought to be the world’s oldest living creature, died recently at a Calcutta zoo at around 250 years of age. Robert Grimm, the man who helped popularize baby carrots as a health snack, died the same week of a heart attack. He was 54.

And we learned the grim news that 30 million bags were lost by airlines globally in 2005, of which 240,000 were never returned to their owners.

But that’s not what everyone was talking about in Dallas. Record heat hit us this week, with highs over 100 on Monday and Tuesday. So what? Global warming, that’s what. It certainly seems to be so. 2005 was the hottest year in a century. Nineteen of the 20 hottest years on record have occurred since 1980.

Time magazine recently profiled the issue in stark terms. The article begins: “No one can say exactly what it looks like when a planet takes ill, but it probably looks a lot like Earth. Never mind what you’ve heard about global warming as a slow-motion emergency that would take decades to play out. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the crisis is upon us.”

One scientist says, “Things are happening a lot faster than anyone predicted. The last 12 months have been alarming.” The journal Science recently predicted a rise in sea levels by as much as 20 feet by the end of the century.

What causes the problem? As we burn fuel for energy we dump carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, where it traps the heat that flows in from the sun, raising global temperatures. Ice sheets at the poles, which normally reflect 90 percent of the sun’s heat back into the atmosphere, melt. Then they become sea water, which traps 90 percent of the heat it receives and heats the earth. Meanwhile, mountain snows which usually melt in spring and provide water during the summer are melting sooner, so that the water is gone when it is needed most. The droughts which result devastate forests which remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Frozen lands thaw, releasing trapped carbon into the air. And so the cycle continues.

As a result, the amount of the earth’s surface afflicted by drought has more than doubled since the 1970s. Polar bears are drowning as warmer waters melt their ice floes. And what is happening to us?

Cyclone Larry exploding through Australia at the beginning of the month; wildfires from Texas to Indonesia; Hurricane Katrina and now her descendants due to arrive in less than two months. The number of severe hurricanes worldwide has doubled in the last 35 years, while the wind speed and duration of all hurricanes has jumped 50 percent. Global warming is leading to increased risk of heatstroke, asthma, allergies and infectious disease.

These are frightening days. What difference does faith make in the face of such fear? Last week we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This week we learn why.

How to find the real Jesus

John “was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (v. 9). The year is AD 95, and John is an elderly man. He’s been preaching and pastoring for 60 years, and is the last living apostle of Jesus.

The Romans must silence his voice, but they’ve learned that martyring Christians only spreads their faith. So they’ve banished this man to the one place where there’s no congregation and no city and nothing he can do for Jesus.

He’s on Patmos, a crescent-shaped island 37 miles off the western coast of Asia Minor (Turkey today). Its 25 square miles consist mainly of volcanic hills and rocky terrain. John is there in “suffering”–the word means “oppressive affliction” and pictures the grinding of wheat and crushing of grapes. This elderly man is working the mines of this barren island, digging out its soil and carting it to the quarry. It’s backbreaking work, living in chains, sleeping on the bare ground of a cliffside cave. If ever there was a place to fear the future, it was on this Alcatraz of the ancient world.

But the Christ of Easter is also the Christ of Patmos.

He’s there “in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest” (v. 13). This was the robe of the High Priest of ancient Judaism. No longer a criminal condemned by Caiaphas–now he has replaced him on the throne of the nation.

“His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire” (v. 14). This is an Old Testament image of eternal age and wisdom. No longer a carpenter from Galilee, but the omniscient Lord of the universe.

“His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters” (v. 15). Bronze was the strongest metal known to the ancient world. The rushing roar of a waterfall was the loudest noise possible in his day.

“In his right hand he held seven stars” (v. 16a), signifying the angels or pastors of the churches (cf. v. 20). The churches were facing persecution, suffering, and destruction at the hands of Rome, but they were actually in stronger hands than any the Emperor could imagine.

“Out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword” (v. 16b). The Roman soldier wielded a short, sharp sword with double edges, with which the Empire conquered the world. Jesus’ word is more powerful than their strongest weapons.

“His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance” (v. 16c). The sun was the brightest single light in the ancient world, but this divine face shown brighter still.

The Christ of Easter could appear through locked doors and show his crucified wounds to Honest Thomas. The Christ of Heaven can appear anywhere on earth and show his glorified majesty to any believer on any Patmos. Even yours. Even today.

Do you need a High Priest to forgive your sins and wipe away your guilt? An omniscient Lord to guide your future and direct your steps? An omnipotent God of bronze feet and roaring voice to give strength to your frail soul? A sheltering hand to hold you in the teeth of discouragement and defeat? A word to strike down the temptations of the world? A light to guide your darkest night?

Then come to Jesus today.

It took me nearly 20 years of Christian faith to realize that Jesus Christ is as alive and real today as when he walked on this earth in his physical body. I can have a personal relationship with him which is just as real as any other relationship in my life. He can speak to me, listen to me, be with me, help me, just as any one of you can. You can have a personal, transforming relationship with him right now.

In fact, you must. Christianity cannot be lived successfully without his forgiveness, wisdom, power, shelter, word and light. You and I are incapable of knowing God’s will, growing spiritually, sharing our faith, building the church, or honoring God unless he empowers us. Human words cannot change human hearts. Your life and mine will matter not at all to the course of human history unless it belongs to him.

Conclusion

What is your Patmos today? What about the future causes you the greatest fear in the present? Do we have any hope but Jesus?

We can turn him into a Da Vinci Code spiritual mortal, keeping him and his word at church, separating “religion” from the real world and treating our faith as a hobby. But none of that changes who he really is. Not a wonderful teacher, but the risen and glorious Lord. As C. S. Lewis reminds us, the man who denies the sunrise doesn’t harm the sun–he just shows himself a fool. I can call you gods and him a man, but that doesn’t change the fact that we are men and he is God.

We can trust ourselves, but we will inevitably fail each other. If global warming doesn’t kill us, disease or disaster or accidents will. The death rate is still 100 percent. Science cures polio, but then must battle AIDS. If the bird flu doesn’t become an epidemic, something else will. Our lives are finite, frail, and fallen. And then we die.

Self-reliance is the religion of our culture. It is Satan’s great strategy for our day. Try harder to do better. Make religion a part of your life, to be sure. But don’t get carried away–all things in moderation. Be sincere in your beliefs and tolerant of others, and we’ll all get along. While the world dies.

Meanwhile, Jesus is standing here, at your side, right now. Hear his Spirit say, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades” (vs. 17-18). The Christ of Easter is the Christ of Patmos. Your Patmos. Right now.

My first visit to Patmos was on a Sunday morning. Our group was asked to wait outside for a few minutes. Then we were escorted into John’s cave with its low ceiling, volcanic rock, dark and dingy walls. The very place where Jesus revealed himself to his best friend.

Why did we have to wait? Because 20 centuries ago, John won his fellow prisoners and jailers to Christ in that cave. And now, 20 centuries later, their descendants are still worshipping there. Every Sunday for 2,000 years. That’s what God did with John’s Patmos.

What will he do with yours?

God + One

Written by

God + One

Judges 7

James C. Denison

“Extinguish Lights” is a bugle melody played by the military for nearly two centuries to signal the end of day and call soldiers to bed. It was apparently first played at a military funeral during the Civil War, and has since come to be identified especially with that purpose.

A government resolution adopted eight years ago asks each of us to pause on Memorial Day at three o’clock tomorrow afternoon to remember all those who died in the service of our country. The resolution asks us to spend that moment in silence or in listening to “Taps.” We will do both today.

This morning we will listen to another trumpet call as well, one which predates “Taps” by 32 centuries. For 40 days after Easter we celebrated the gospel, the good news that God loves us. Now we’re learning how to experience that good news personally, wherever we need God’s help and hope today.

On Mothers’ Day, Hannah taught us to surrender our Samuel, giving our best to God, believing that he can do more with us than we can do with ourselves. Last week, David taught us to ignore our critics and trust God’s power over God’s enemies, believing that a slingshot in God’s hand is mightier than the tallest giant.

Now you and I are called to the kind of courage which will follow this God unconditionally. All through Scripture, it takes courage to find the power and victory of God. It took courage for Moses to face down Pharaoh and march across the parted Red Sea. It took courage for Joshua and his people to step into the flooded Jordan River and march around the fortified city of Jericho.

It took courage for David to face Saul, for Daniel to face his lions, for Peter, James and John to leave their boats to fish for men. It took courage for Paul and Barnabas to leave Israel with the gospel for the Gentile world. It took courage for John to worship Jesus on the prison island of Patmos.

Where do you need courage today? Are you fighting an enemy more powerful than you? Facing a future you cannot see? Struggling with temptation you cannot seem to defeat? Carrying grief or guilt which is too heavy for your heart? Called by God to serve him at personal sacrifice?

What is his next step for your walk with him? If it didn’t require courage, you’d already have taken it. How do we find courage to follow God? One of the most fascinating stories in Scripture will give us the answers we need.

Seek God’s help

As our text begins, we find the Midianites at war with the children of Israel.

Midian was a son of Abraham (Genesis. 25:2). His descendants had good relations with the Hebrews in the time of Moses but soon became Israel’s fierce enemies. They were a nomadic people, camping to the southeast of Israel in the region of the Sinai Peninsula today and roaming far and wide.

These desert nomads had large herds of camels (Isaiah 60:6), the battle tanks of the day. With their help, the Midianite soldiers were far faster than the farmers who made up the footsoldiers of the Hebrew army.

Judges 6 describes their devastation: “They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it” (vs. 4-5).

When they exhausted the resources of one area they moved on to another. They conquered, enslaved and killed the people they met along the way. They were human locusts, taking what they wanted wherever they went. Now they threaten the very existence of the Hebrew people.

For seven years they have oppressed the Jewish nation (Judges 6:1). God has raised up Gideon as his “judge” and deliverer; his name means “one who cuts down the enemy.” But only 32,000 farmers and other civilians will help him fulfill his name, going to battle against 135,000 battle-hardened warriors in the Midianite army (Judges 8:10).

Who or what are the Midianites in your life today? In what way are you being oppressed or discouraged? Identify the enemy for which you need God’s help and guidance this morning. Repent of the self-reliance which is so endemic to our culture. Admit that you need your Father’s strength and direction. And know that nothing is too great or too small for his help.

Pursue his glory

Now we come to the crucial battle. It begins in the strangest way imaginable: “The Lord said to Gideon, ‘You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands'” (Judges 7:2). When was the last time a general faced this problem? Imagine a pastor saying to his deacons, “We have too much money for our ministries this year.” Or a mission leader saying to missionaries, “We have too many people for that mission field.” Yet that is precisely what God said to what must have been an astounded Gideon.

Remember the size of their foe: “The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore” (v. 12).

No wonder the place where the Hebrew army camped came to be known as the spring of “Harod” (v. 1), a word which means “trembling” in Hebrew. Picture a vast army filling an entire valley, its tanks as numerous as sand on a seashore, and you’ll get a sense of Gideon’s problem. Any wise general would want all the men he could muster in attacking such a foe.

But the outcome of the battle was not in question, for God had already promised, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together” (Judges 6:16). In question was whether his people would learn something significant from the victory they were about to gain. Whether they would depend on themselves or learn to trust in the one true Lord. Whether they would follow Gideon or follow God.

The Lord’s motive was clear: he would work “in order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her” (Judges 7:2b). God will not share his glory. To allow us to trust in anyone but him would be to encourage idolatry. His glory is always to our good.

So he instructed Gideon to reduce the size of his army in two ways.

First, he was to release any of the men who “trembles with fear” (v. 3), reducing the 32,000 member force to 10,000.

But still the army was sufficient to believe that it won the victory in its own strength, so the Lord required a second test. He led them to the spring of Harod; those who “lapped with their hands to their mouths” were to stay, while those who knelt at the water and drank with their mouths were dismissed (v. 6). The former were more ready for battle, with one hand at their sword. The latter were on their hands and knees, easy victims for attack. This second reduction left Gideon with 300 soldiers, who picked up the provisions and trumpets of the others (v. 8).

Our tour groups stood at this very spot last month. The area is unprotected and susceptible to assault. The very act of leading an army, already reduced by 66 percent, to this unsafe place where they could be reduced by another 97 percent, was implausible in the extreme. But this is what it would take for God to be glorified by Gideon’s army.

Now God wants you to do what Gideon did at your own spring of Harod. Name your Midianites, your problem or challenge or burden or decision. Ask this question: what would most glorify God in this? How could you most honor him? What would bring the most people to faith in him? What would most show his power and grace to the world? Ask him, and he will show you. Then decide to do that, by his help and for his glory. Do it today.

Trust his deliverance

Now Gideon and his tiny army were ready for battle. They were outnumbered beyond belief. But they had the high ground at the hill of Moreh, so that “the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley” (v. 8). And they were prepared to attack “at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard” (v. 19).

The Jews divided in the night into three “watches”: sunset to 10 p.m., 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., and 2 a.m. to sunrise. So the Midianite army would have just gone to sleep when the battle began. The strategic advantage was Gideon’s.

These decisions did not cause the rout of the Midianite armies, however. A crucial strategy was giving each of the 300 men a trumpet to blow and an empty jar with torches inside to hold (v. 16).

The “trumpet” they used was a ram’s horn, an instrument sounded to signal soldiers into battle or retreat. Not many were used for an army, as the person playing the shofar could not defend himself at the same time and was obviously easy for the enemy to identify. An opposing army hearing such a loud blast, right on their camp, would obviously assume a much larger force than Gideon’s army possessed.

Like the trumpets, the torches were carried only by a small number of troops in a conventional army. They made it difficult for the soldier to wield a sword or shield, and exposed his position to enemy attack. Nighttime hand-to-hand battles were more effectively waged in the darkness as well. A large number of torches would be counterproductive to the army’s success.

What torches the army required were kept in clay jars so they would remain lit but their flames low; in this way the army could creep up in the night undetected. When they broke the jars, the sudden flames surrounding the Midianite camp would be a second indication of a massive army on their perimeter.

Note that the Hebrew army held their torches in their left hands and their trumpets in their right hands (v. 20a). They had no sword or shield in hand when they began their battle, only the sword of their mouths: “they shouted, ‘A sword for the Lord and for Gideon'” (v. 20b). Gideon’s army was reduced by 99 percent, and those who remained for the battle were completely unarmed. Has any army ever waged a more unconventional battle?

What was the result? The entire Midianite army was routed. They had no time to light their own torches, and were too far from Gideon’s to see those around them. And so they attacked each other in the night, probably assuming that the Hebrews had run into their camp and were at their side (v. 22). Not to mention a likely stampede on the part of the frightened, massive camel herd.

What was the final military tally? The Midianites lost more than 135,000 men (Judges 8:10), defeated by an army which began their assault with 300 in number. The Midianite threat against Israel was destroyed, finally and forever. All because one man was willing to give his problem to God, seek his glory, and trust his power. And God was glorified by one of the most stunning, unlikely victories in military history.

Conclusion

On this Memorial Day weekend we stop to give thanks for the courage of more than a million men and women who died while serving our nation in a time of war. Every one of them could have refused the call to defend our freedom and serve our country. Every one of them answered it with courage which calls us to join their commitment today.What army has you outnumbered this morning? A torch and trumpet in the hand of a soldier of God will defeat a mighty army every time. God plus one is a majority. Just be sure you’re the one.