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Graduates and Giants

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Graduates and Giants

1 Samuel 16:1-14

James C. Denison

I am holding a stone which changed the world. I know this because I picked it up last month in the Valley of Elah. It was the very stone used by David to slay Goliath. It’s been waiting there 30 centuries for me to find it. That’s my story, and I’m sticking with it.

I did actually find the stone in the valley, at the very place where the famous battle was fought, but ours was one of about ten tour groups who came through picking up stones that day. I’m guessing that someone working for the Israeli tourism industry must truck in stones periodically to replenish the supply. But I’m sure that mine is the correct one.

It was a stone like this one, in the hands of a young shepherd boy, which changed the course of human history. What God did with that boy, he waits and longs to do with your life and mine. But it’s hard for us to believe that we can be a David today.

On this Senior Recognition Sunday, Pike and I are speaking to graduates and their families. You’re stepping into a hard and harsh world, with earthquakes in China, cyclones in Myanmar, explosions in India, and economic uncertainty around the globe. You’re looking at a future you cannot see, with giants of fear and uncertainty lurking on every hand.

But I am also speaking to Christ-followers of all ages and places in life. You have your own questions and struggles, doubts and decisions, worries and guilt and fear. You know a Saul who refuses to believe in you and a Goliath who is taunting you this morning. But you also have a God like David’s God ready to use your life to change the world. How do we slay the giants we are facing this morning? The answer may surprise you.

Expect the call of God

Saul has been chosen as Israel’s first king, but his pride and arrogance soon replaced God on the throne of his heart and work. He kept goods which should have been sacrificed to God, and usurped the place of God over the nation. So God “rejected him as king over Israel” and chose another in his place (v. 1). Samuel, the last judge and first prophet of Israel, was sent by the Lord to find and anoint that new king.

God sent Samuel to Bethlehem, then an obscure village on the outskirts of Jerusalem, to meet with a man named Jesse and his sons (v. 5).

The custom then and now in the Middle East is for the firstborn to inherit the majority of the estate and take his father’s place one day as head of the family. So when Samuel met Eliab he was sure that “the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD” (v. 6).

God’s response still echoes as one of the most significant statements in Scripture: “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (v. 7).

The second in line came before Samuel, but God did not choose him. So with all seven sons (vs. 8-10). If Samuel had given up at this point, how would history have been different?

But the prophet instead asked, “Are these all the sons you have?” Jesse explained that the youngest “is tending the sheep.” We think of this as a routine kind of chore, something like walking the dog or mowing the lawn. But in this agrarian culture, “tending the sheep” was akin to managing the bank or running the office. The youngest son was doing something more significant than any of the others.

Jesse sent for this youngest, still unnamed son, and Samuel noted that “he was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features” (v. 12a). “Ruddy” means “red,” describing his hair or complexion, or perhaps his sunburned features. Then God said, “Rise and anoint him; he is the one” (v. 12b). Samuel did as God asked, “and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power” (v. 13). At the same time, “the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul” (v. 14). God has transferred his anointing from the former king to the new leader of the nation.

And that’s the story of the most significant royal ascension in biblical history. No next steps or plans or preparations. As best we can tell, David went back to tending sheep. Samuel returned to his home in Ramah. Saul continued as king of the nation. Nothing of our text would have made the day’s news.

And yet the entire future of God’s dealings with humanity shifted with this moment.

Saul’s attendants hear that this young shepherd is a fine musician, and call him to serve and comfort the king he would one day replace (vs. 21-23).

The Philistines are at war with the Israelites, and Jesse sends his young son to check on his older brothers serving with Saul in the army.

Here he meets the giant whose death would catapult him to national fame and start him on the trajectory which would lead to the throne and the glory that was the Kingdom of David.

This is a day like that day for you. The prophet who came to Bethlehem has come to Dallas. The world may not see the historic significance of the day when God calls you, as they did not see the importance of that day when God called David. But that fact makes this day no less important.

God had a call for David, a purpose and a plan. His plan for David was different from his plan for Samuel or Jesse, Eliab or his other brothers. He has a specific and unique call for you, a purpose and a plan. He has a will for every one of our graduates and every one of us.

In the midst of tending sheep, he may be calling you to lead a nation. Be ready for the word of God to come today. Meet with him every morning to get your marching orders for the day. Stay obedient to the last word you heard from your Lord, and open to the next. Tell God that you’ll go anywhere and do anything he wants, and you’ll know your next step. His will is not an option but an order. The God of the universe doesn’t give advice but commandments. Expect the call of God and submit to the call of God, and you will hear the call of God.

Trust the call of God

How did this young shepherd boy and future king slay Goliath? The giant was over nine feet tall (1 Samuel 17:4), wearing armor weighing 125 pounds and carrying a spear with a 30-pound point. You may think that such a person cannot actually have lived, but Robert Pershing Wadlow was 8’11” when he died on July 15, 1940 at the age of 22. Imagine a boy trying to fight such a giant–that’s how many of us feel this morning, facing the giants who stand before us. How do we slay them?

First, fight the battle at hand.

David had to lead sheep before he could lead the nation. He had to serve Saul before he would replace him. He had to serve his brothers before he would rule them. He had to fight lions and bears before he would fight Goliath: “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:37).

He couldn’t fight Goliath until he met Goliath. In the meantime, he was obedient in the now, faithful in the moment, committed to God for each day as each day came.

This year’s high school graduates are not yet in college; God has a will for you this day and this summer. You’re in business, worried about problems and challenges this week; but God has a word and will for you this morning. You’re struggling with decisions about the future; but your Father has a plan and purpose for you this moment. Seize what is before you now, and God’s will unfolds as each step comes.

What lion or bear or sheep or brother or king has God set before you today?

Second, listen to God, not skeptics.

When David offered to fight the giant, his oldest brother scoffed: “I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle” (v. 28).

King Saul was just as skeptical: “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth” (v. 33). The Hebrew is emphatic: “You are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.”

Who are your Eliab and Saul? Expect skeptics and critics. Your brothers or superiors will tell you that you cannot do what is in your heart. It’s easy to be Eliab or Saul, and even easier to find one. Refuse to listen to those who say you cannot do what God says you can do. Whatever God has put on your heart for this next chapter of his plan, listen to his voice and it will lead you home.

Third, trust the stone in your hand.

David believes that all God has done with his servant, he can still do: “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (v. 37).

And he trusts the gifts and skills God has given him. Saul, the tallest man in the nation, tries to give his armor to this boy shepherd, but it obviously is too large. So David “took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine” (v. 40).

I’ve seen shepherds in Israel today use slingshots to hit Coke cans at 40 feet. They are experts at slinging stones to scare away wolves or herd sheep. For a short distance, a stone from such a sling can travel as fast as a bullet.

God prepared David for his purpose. He anointed him with his Spirit to accomplish his call. God has prepared you for his purpose. He has given you abilities, experience, education, spiritual gifts appropriate for all he intends you to do. What stones has he put in your hand?

Last, fight for the glory of God.

David went to battle “in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (v. 45). He knew that when the battle was done “the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel” (v. 46). He was sure of victory, “for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands” (v. 47).

God will not share his glory. If you’ll fight the battle at hand, listening for his voice and will, trusting his preparations, seeking his glory, he will use you to slay giants and build his Kingdom and live a life of eternal significance. But only then.

Why do you seek success today?

Conclusion

Our graduates are stepping into a world filled with giants. The rest of us already know that they’re real and dangerous. There’s a reason why you’re here to listen to this message today, a battle you’re fighting, a giant you’re intended to slay. Who is your Goliath? What stone is in your hand? What purpose is in your heart?

Know that you are as unique and important to God as the shepherd king David. His plan and purpose for your life is as significant to eternity as his plan and purpose for him. God went to universal lengths to create a world just for you.

A scientist I was reading this week calculates that the odds of another planet existing in the universe capable of supporting life is one in a quintillion (one followed by 18 zeroes). To picture that number, cover the earth in pennies–twice.

Your life was worth Jesus’ death, as our Lord’s Supper reminds us. Whether you’re graduating from school or simply from another day, your Father has a plan to prosper and not harm you, to give you hope and a future. He has a giant waiting on you and a victory waiting for you. This is the promise of God.

Great Risk, Great Reward

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Great Risk, Great Reward

Matthew 5:10-16

Dr. Jim Denison

Today’s Bible study has but one point: Jesus rewards most fully those who pay a price to follow him. The greater the cost, the risk, the sacrifice, the greater the life, the joy, the peace, the reward. We progress in proportion to the fare we are prepared to pay (William Barclay). The more it costs us to follow Jesus, the more he rewards us, now and in eternity.

Let’s explore that thesis, and see if it applies to our lives today.

Take a risk for Jesus (vs. 10-12)

Verse 10 is literally translated, “Blessed are the ones who have been and are now being persecuted for the sake of righteousness.” He knew his disciples would pay a price to follow him. And they did.

They were “insulted” (v. 11), subjected to slander, gossip, and ridicule. Their enemies would “falsely say all kinds of evil” against them.

Jesus warned them, “When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another” (Matthew 10:23).

They were thrown to the lions, burned at the stake, wrapped in pitch and set alight, sewn in the skins of wild animals and thrown to hunting dogs, tortured on the rack, burned with molten lead and hot tongs. Part of their bodies were cut off and burned before their eyes, hands and feet scorched, children and families executed while they watched. That’s what it cost many of them to follow Jesus.

Those who are serious about their faith still pay a price to follow Jesus.

70 million believers have been executed across Christian history for no reason except that they would not renounce their faith in Christ.

More believers were martyred in the 20th century than in the previous 19 combined.

It is predicted that 500,000 Christians will die for Christ this year around the world.

But here’s the upside: There is great joy in suffering for Jesus. We are “blessed”–the word promises joy transcending all circumstances. We are to “rejoice and be glad” in Christ.

There is great reward in suffering for Jesus: “great is your reward in heaven.” Paul agreed: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). He promised Timothy, “If we endure, we will also reign with him” (2 Timothy 2:12).

There is a great community for those who suffer for Jesus: “in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” You stand with 20 centuries of God’s greatest servants when you suffer for your Lord.

You can ask Carlos Alamino if it is worth it to serve Jesus in Cuba. You can ask Oscar Dellet, our other Cuban pastor and partner, the same question. You can ask the thousands who pack their churches, knowing the government is watching. You can ask those whose children are given the poorest schools, the hardest military assignments, the worst medical care because their parents follow Jesus. But they won’t even understand the question.

Baptism is an especially courageous thing to do in Cuba. It is the time when a believer goes public with his or her faith. Family may reject them; the community may shun them. It is a hard thing for many.

When I participated in a mass baptism during one of my trips to Cuba, I was standing in the middle of the lake when the first person was brought to me. Her husband carried her across the water. I assumed that she was afraid of water, or unable to swim. He handed his wife to me, I baptized her, and handed her back to him. When he picked her up, then I saw that she had only one leg.

Was this public statement of her faith, at all costs, at any price, worth it to her? The joy on her face told me all I needed to know.

How to take a risk for Jesus (vs. 13-16)

How do we take the risk which leads to rewards from God? How do we get this “blessing,” this joy, this great reward from our Father? Jesus will tell us, with two metaphors.

First, “You are the salt of the earth.” Not “you will be” or “you could be” but “you are,” right now. “You” is inclusive, all of them. He says the same to us today. But what does he mean? What does salt do? It changes things. Nothing contacts salt and remains the same. How does it change things?

It purifies, as anyone who has gotten salt in a wound and felt its sting knows. Do you purify your world? Are you the holy presence of God? Are people more holy because of you?

It preserves food. In the ancient world, without refrigeration and preservatives, it was the only means of keeping food for the winter. Are you preserving the souls you meet? Is anyone more ready for eternity because of you?

It seasons food. It was the only seasoning most people could afford. Do you bring the joy of Jesus to your world? Are people happier because of you?

It makes people thirsty. Do you? Do people want the Jesus they see in you? Who was the last person who sought the Lord because of you?

It disappears. When it does its work, it is gone. No food or substance is too good for its transforming power. Are you selfless, willing to do anything to serve God and people, not caring who gets the credit?

If salt doesn’t do these things, it is “no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” They got their salt from the shores and marshes of the Dead Sea. It was impure, and decomposed. All that was left was white powder, good for nothing. What can you do with salt that doesn’t taste like salt? What good is it?

Jesus’ second metaphor: “You are the light of the world.” Again, Jesus doesn’t say that we might be or could be, but that we are. All of us, right now. “The” light, the only light in this dark world. What does light do?

It guides. It’s been said that a shin is an object for finding furniture in the dark. A flashlight in a dark room is a precious thing. Are you guiding people in the dark to the Lord?

It comforts. Just a little light in a dark room makes all the difference. I read recently about a bank manager who accidentally locked himself in his vault for the weekend. He found the emergency air hole, and knew he would not suffocate. Then he found a tiny door which opened to the light. He said that light got him through those long days and nights. We all need light in the dark. Who is comforted in their dark vault by you?

It attracts. Insects go to light, but so do people. We are drawn instinctively to it. Who is drawn to God because of you?

People don’t “light a lamp and put it under a bowl” but “on its stand, and it gives light to everyone on the house” (v. 15). Oil lamps were hard to light in Jesus’ day. Once you got yours lit, you might put it under a wicker basket at night to shield it so you could sleep. But no one lit a lamp for that purpose. They put it on the “stand,” a shelf built into the wall, so it could give light to the house.

What good is a light you can’t see?

Conclusion

Now you have a choice to make. You can keep your salt in the saltshaker, your light under the basket. No one will criticize or reject your salt for its flavor if you do. No one will criticize or reject your light for its appearance if you do. That is definitely the safest thing to do today. Make sure Jesus is your Savior, that you’ll be in heaven. Worship and serve him in the church, among fellow Christians. Do your religious duty, but nothing more. If you’re looking for safety and security, do just that.

But know this: no risk, no reward. Not in heaven, or on earth. Not in your faith, or your life. Your life won’t matter, now or when it’s done. You’ll miss the joy of Christianity, the abundant life Jesus came to give us. We love God by loving our neighbor. We serve Jesus by serving others. When we breathe out, we can breathe in. When we give, we can receive. When we share our faith, we grow in our faith. Serving others serves Jesus. And it serves us as well.

The next time you have a chance to serve effectively, to evangelize joyfully, to pay a price for your faith, to suffer for your Savior, remember this: no risk, no reward.

If you want your life to matter, you have to take a chance. The only people who can change the outcome of a basketball game are the players on the court. Not those on the sideline. Not the spectators in the stands. Only those willing to take the risk, to face the possibility of failing, to withstand the criticism of those who only watch–they are the only ones who make a difference. No one else.

That’s why Dirk Nowitzki is my favorite Dallas Mavericks player. I realize that I’m not the only fan who feels that way. But my admiration for Dirk may be a bit different from some.

You may not know his story. Dirk was playing in Germany when Don and Donnie Nelson found him. He signed a contract to play in the NBA, in Dallas. He was 19 years old, spoke almost no English, and had never seen Dallas. Many of us have sons or daughters the same age. Can you imagine sending yours to Germany to do what Dirk did here?

He was too skinny for the NBA, the critics said. He’d never make it. But from the beginning, he wanted the ball. He wanted to take the shot when the game was on the line. He still does. The other night he took the ball with four seconds left, his team down by a point. He drove to the basket and was fouled (at least in the opinion of all of us who watched impartially). The foul wasn’t called, and his team lost. But he’ll want the ball the next game, and the next. Because he knows a simple fact: if you don’t shoot, you can’t score.

Because he’ll take a risk, he’s our best player. And the NBA’s player of the month, for the second time this year. And a candidate for Most Valuable Player in the league. And Time.com’s person of the week. Not because he makes every shot, but because he’ll take every shot. No risk, no reward. Great risk, great reward. It’s just that simple.

Hear again Teddy Roosevelt’s famous quote:

It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who does actually try to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.

No risk, no reward. Great risk, great reward. The next time you have a chance to pay a price for following Jesus, remember that fact. And choose well.

Handle Hard Times

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Handle Hard Times

Matthew 5:10-12

Dr. Jim Denison

In a recent interview, General Norman Schwartzkopf was asked if he thought we should forgive those who helped perpetrate the atrocities of September 11. His answer: “I believe that forgiving them is God’s function. Our job is simply to arrange the meeting.”

Many Americans resonate with his sentiments. Terrorism has come home to our country. New York City is planning now its memorial to those who were murdered nearly a year ago. The most recent defense budget request includes a $48 billion increase with an additional $14 billion supplement to the 2002 budget, both to fight terrorism. Americans know how persecution feels.

Christians always have. Our Lord assumes that his followers will take risks for their faith. This morning he will teach us what to do when Christianity costs us, and when it does not.

Expect persecution

Jesus’ words are literally translated, “Blessed are the ones who have been and now are being persecuted for the sake of righteousness.” He knew his followers would suffer for their commitment to him. And they did.

They were “insulted” (v. 11), the objects of gossip, slander, and ridicule. Enemies of Christ said “all kinds of evil” against them.

Because they shared a meal which symbolized the body and blood of Christ, they were accused of cannibalism.

Because they called this meal the “love feast” and welcomed prostitutes into their churches, they were accused of sexual perversion.

Because they would not bow before a bust of the emperor and say “Caesar is Lord,” they were accused of atheism and sedition.

Persecution was a daily fact of life for them.

Before he was crucified upside down, the apostle Peter wrote: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:12-13).

Jesus warned his disciples, “When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another” (Matthew 10:23).

William Barclay: “All the world knows of the Christians who were flung to the lions or burned at the stake; but these were kindly deaths. Nero wrapped the Christians in pitch and set them alight, and used them as living torches to light his gardens. He sewed them in the skins of wild animals and set his hunting dogs upon them to tear them to death. They were tortured on the rack; they were scraped with pincers; molten lead was poured hissing upon them; red hot brass plates were affixed to the most tender parts of their bodies; eyes were torn out; parts of their bodies were cut off and roasted before their eyes; their hands and feet were burned while cold water was poured over them to lengthen the agony. These things are not pleasant to think about, but these are the things a man had to be prepared for, if he took his stand with Christ” (Matthew 1.112).

Persecution has remained a fact accompanying the Christian faith across all the centuries from their day to ours.

70 million believers have been murdered across Christian history for no reason except that they would not renounce their faith in Jesus. More believers were martyred in the 20th century than the previous 19 combined.

Totalitarian regimes cannot tolerate our commitment to Christ as Lord. Secular culture does not understand our convictions.

And Satan hates us. Jesus called him “a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44). Peter warned us: “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

600 years ago Thomas a Kempis observed, “The devil sleepeth not, neither is the flesh as yet dead, therefore cease not to prepare thyself for the battle, for on thy right hand and on thy left are enemies who never rest.” He is still right.

Evaluate your courage

If you’re like most of us, you may be a bit uncomfortable right now. It is a biblical fact that Christians should experience persecution for their faith, but many of us in this room do not.

We read about Heather Mercer and Dana Curry and rejoice in their safe return from Afghanistan imprisonment.

We mourn the martyrdom of Cassie Bernall at Columbine, the believers who died at Wedgwood Baptist Church in Ft. Worth, Martin Burnham’s death this summer while serving as a missionary in the Philippines.

But few of us have ever faced such suffering for our commitment to Jesus. People at school may make fun of us if they learn that we are believers. Co-workers or clients may shun us if we won’t join ungodly activities. We may lose money or status when we refuse dishonesty or immorality. But by and large, we live in a community which expects us to be nominally Christian. Nothing extreme or intolerant, of course. But religion in moderation is accepted and even welcomed.

So I’ve asked myself a hard question this week: why don’t I face more suffering for my faith? If indeed my fallen world is opposed to my commitment to Christ, and if Satan is my mortal enemy, why doesn’t my faith cost me more? In the spiritual battle being waged for the souls of humanity, why don’t we suffer more? Here are the reasons which seem clear to me.

Some of us have withdrawn from the battle. We don’t know many non-Christians. We spend so much of our time in the huddle that we have little contact with the other team. At a previous pastorate, our church was preparing “Friend Day,” each member bringing a guest. But the chairman of our deacons objected: “I don’t know anyone who doesn’t go to church.” And the other deacons nodded. We’re no threat to Satan unless we get on his turf.

Some of us look like the enemy. Jesus called us the “salt of the earth” and “light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-16). But if we lose our “saltiness” or hide our candle, the world doesn’t feel our salt sting or see our light. We can be one person at church but another at school, at work, at home, with friends. A foot in both worlds. Church language and world language. Church ethics and world ethics. Church masks and world masks. When we look like the enemy we cost Satan nothing. He’d rather leave us where we are.

And some of us are not willing to take a risk. We are engaged regularly with non-believers, and we are willing for them to know of our faith. But only to a point. Only if they won’t be offended if we share Christ with them or invite them to church. Only if they won’t think us strange for our spirituality. Only if we can still be included in the social group we value or still make the money we want or still achieve the social status to which we aspire. We don’t suffer in the battle because we won’t go to the front lines.

Choose to risk

Here’s the relevant question today: why change? What are those of us who don’t risk for our faith missing? Jesus’ last beatitude tells us.

First, suffering believers experience great joy.

We will be “blessed”—joy transcending our circumstances. Jesus told risk-taking Christians to “rejoice.” There is joy in facing persecution for Jesus.

He also told us to “be glad,” words which translate a Greek word which means to leap much with irrepressible joy.

He was right. There is great joy in suffering for Christ. The apostles felt it: “They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name” (Acts 5:40-41).

Early martyrs felt it. There is an ancient tradition which states that Nero would walk at night on the Coliseum floor, examining the bodies of slain Christians left there. And wherever a body had a face, the face was smiling.

Justin, one of the earliest martyrs, wrote to his accusers: “You can kill us but you cannot hurt us.” Martin Burnham told his wife Gracia the night he died: “The Bible says to serve the Lord with gladness. Let’s go out all the way. Let’s serve him all the way with gladness.” And he did.

Second, suffering believers receive great reward.

Paul was sure of it: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

Martyr Jim Elliott wrote in his journal: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Revelation promises those who suffer for Christ: “Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:16-17).

Third, suffering believers join a great fraternity: “in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Hebrews described those who suffered for serving the one true God: they were “tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them” (Hebrews 11:35-38).

Every disciple but John was martyred, and he was exiled and imprisoned. And 70 million have died since for following Jesus. When we suffer for Christ, we join a great fraternity in the faith.

Last, suffering believers inherit a great kingdom: “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

The first beatitude made this promise; the last repeats it. When we suffer for Christ we prove that he is our king. And then we join him in his kingdom.

2 Timothy 2:12 promises: “If we endure, we will also reign with him.”

Revelation 20 describes those who stood faithful to Christ in the face of extreme persecution: “They came to life and reigned with Christ” (v. 4).

We will suffer for a short while, and then reign with Jesus in his kingdom forever.

Conclusion

Are you facing risk and suffering for following Jesus? Choose to be faithful, and you’ll forever be grateful. Are you refusing risk and suffering for your faith? It’s not too late to be faithful to the One who is faithful to you.

I learned this week the story of Sundar Singh, one of India’s most famous Christians. He lived from 1889 to 1929, enduring extreme persecution for his courageous faith. His own family tried to poison him when he became a Christian. He was stoned and arrested numerous times; roped to a tree as bait for wild animals; sewed into a wet animal skin and left to be crushed to death as it shrank in the hot sun. He disappeared while on a missionary journey. Indian Christians consider him their Francis of Assisi.

Here’s the statement by Sundar Singh which drew me to him this week: “From my many years experience I can unhesitatingly say that the cross bears those who bear the cross.”

Will you bear yours?

Happiness Where You Least Expect It

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Happiness Where You Least Expect It

Matthew 3:1-17

Dr. Jim Denison

I’d like us to begin with a survey. Time magazine recently explored the subject of happiness, and included in its report a tool devised in 1980 by a psychologist named Edward Diener. It rates your happiness compared with the rest of us. Answer these questions on a scale of one (not at all true) to seven (absolutely true):

In most ways my life is close to my ideal.

The conditions of my life are excellent.

I am satisfied with my life.

So far I have gotten the important things I want in life.

If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.

What did you score? 31 to 35: you are extremely satisfied with your life; 26 to 30: very satisfied; 21 to 25: slightly satisfied; 20: neutral; 15 to 19: slightly dissatisfied; 10 to 14: dissatisfied; 5 to 9: extremely dissatisfied.

Now, how can you raise your “happiness” score? Here’s an answer which will surprise our culture. According to Time, “Studies show that the more a believer incorporates religion into daily living–attending services, reading Scripture, praying–the better off he or she appears to be on two measures of happiness: frequency of positive emotions and over all sense of satisfaction with life. Attending services has a particularly strong correlation to feeling happy, and religious certainty–the sense of unshakable faith in God and the truth of one’s beliefs–is most closely linked with life satisfaction” (p. A46).

As we will learn this morning, Christianity was meant to be a public relationship, not a private religion. The more we divorce faith from life, the further we step from joy. The more we make Jesus Lord of Monday as well as Sunday, the more he is able to bless both. So let’s consider the third Covenant of Grace value–worship publicly–and what’s in it for God and for us today.

How did John go public with his faith?

We’ll walk through our story, then learn its lessons. As it begins, “In those days John the Baptist came” (v. 1a).

Luke tells us that this was the fifteenth year of Tiberius’s reign (Luke 3:1), AD 26. John is around 30 years of age, as is our Lord (Luke 3:23).

John’s parents were elderly when he was conceived. It is likely that he has lived most of his life in this “Desert of Judea,” a region east of Jerusalem. He spent these years in seclusion, far from the crowds and culture of his day. But then he “came,” a word which means that he chose to appear in public. He could have stayed in seclusion, but chose a public ministry instead.

His message was public, and counter-cultural: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

“Repent” in the Bible means a change of heart which results in a change of life. It is not the Greek word for “feel sorry,” but the word for “turn” or “change.” The rabbis said, “The true penitent is he who has the opportunity to do the same sin again, in the same circumstances, and who does not do it.”

The “kingdom of heaven” is the place where God is King. To be in his Kingdom, turn from serving yourself to serving him.

He dressed exactly like Elijah the Old Testament prophet (2 Kings 1:8): “John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist” (v. 4). These were the poorest clothes he could wear, like tattered blue jeans and a t-shirt to us.

His food was “locusts and wild honey,” still common food for poor people in Palestine today. He did not seek to impress the people with his message and appearance, but only the Lord. His priorities were on display for all to see.

His sermon and lifestyle led to public response: “People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan” (vs. 5-6). Jerusalem, the city sophisticates; Judea, the country folk; the whole region turned out. They were “baptized,” something no Jew had ever done in all of Hebrew history. This act was reserved for Gentiles who became Jews. Now these people started their lives over, washing away their past, in a public act of confession and repentance. Nothing private, all before the world to see.

And his ministry led to public confrontation: “he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing” (v. 7).

These were the wealthiest and most powerful people in their society, the CEOs, big-church pastors and political authorities. But they too must “produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (v. 8).

Racial ties to Abraham are not enough (v. 9)–their trees must bear spiritual fruit for all to see. Otherwise they will be “cut down and thrown into the fire” (v. 10).

This judgment will be public, when Jesus will “clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (v. 12).

Now comes the climax of the story: Jesus “came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John” (v. 13). Like John, he has been living in seclusion far from the beaten path of his culture. But no more. It is more than 60 miles from Nazareth to the place where the baptism probably occurred; can you imagine walking from Weatherford to Dallas to be baptized today?

John’s reaction demonstrated his understanding of Jesus’ divinity: “I need to be baptized by you” (v. 14).

But Jesus wanted to make public his own commitment to his Father, so John consented. And the Father blessed his public proclamation with his own: “this is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (v. 17).

Why should we?

Here’s the point: Christianity is a public faith. It is not a private commitment reserved for Sundays at church. It is not a personal, individual, subjective belief best kept to ourselves. Our faith has always been public in nature. Jesus’ baptism was public, not the private ceremony he could have arranged with John. His ministry was done in public, and his disciples followed him in public, not in private closed-door meetings. He died in public, even though a private execution would have paid for our sins. He appeared in public for 40 days after his resurrection, and ascended to heaven in public.

He still calls his disciples to follow him publicly. We are to “take up our cross,” a public display of personal commitment. The early disciples served in public, at great personal risk. Their writings were made public to as many as possible. They gave their lives to win as much of the public to Christ as possible.

By contrast, religion is now supposed to be a private experience in America. Keep it to yourself. Don’t offend or judge others. Don’t discuss religion in public. On a television show I saw last week, one character said to another: “I know your secret: you go to church.”

Four factors have privatized faith for our culture, each of them a mistake.

One: centuries before Christ, Western thinkers separated the spiritual from the physical. Plato believed this world to be a “shadow” of the real world of ideas. Sunday and Monday are separate realities. However, God created this world, and pronounced it “good.” Jesus wore flesh, proving that the “secular” is not unspiritual. God created Monday before he created Sunday, and is equally interested in both.

Two: in the medieval world, “spirituality’ was defined in monastic terms, as withdrawal from the “real” world. The more you live in the church and not in the world, the more spiritual you are. However, our Lord told us to go and make disciples, not retreat into Baptist monasteries. Salt is no good in the saltshaker, or light under a basket. We must touch the world to transform it.

Three: our founding fathers separated church and state. Religion is not supposed to affect our public lives, we’re told today. However, the founders intended that church and state not control each other, but they never meant that faith and life are separate. Many of them were outstanding, public Christians. They would want us to be the same.

Four: “truth” is personal and subjective today, and religious truth most personal of all. “Intolerance” is the great sin of our day. Don’t force your beliefs on others. Keep your religion to yourself. However, “truth” is still true, whether we believe it or not. To deny absolute truth is to make an absolute truth claim. As Martin Luther King, Jr. Day reminded us this week, racism is wrong no matter what anyone thinks personally.

It was counter-cultural for John to go public with his faith, for the crowds to join him, for Jesus to leave Galilee to stand publicly for his Father. But the results were lives filled with significance on earth, and reward in heaven.

Conclusion

Would you like to join them? Would you like your faith to be more meaningful than it is, your life to be more joyful, exciting, and purposeful? Would you like your “happiness score” to be higher? Your Father to be glorified by your life?

First, make public your faith. Join the crowds who did what Jesus did. Tell the world about your commitment to Jesus. While most of you have, some have not. Some of you have trusted Christ as Savior, but never told anyone; never followed him in believer’s baptism as a Christian; never told family or friends about your commitment. Like the character in the television show, your faith is your secret. But you can change all that today.

Then make public your story.

We live in a post-Christian culture in desperate need of the story we know. I learned this week that seven out of ten American adults have no clue what “John 3:16” means. Nine out of ten cannot identify correctly the “Great Commission.” Barely one-third know the meaning of the expression “the gospel.” This despite 320,000 churches, 800,000 ordained ministers, $200 million spent on religious television broadcasting, $100 million religious radio, and 5,000 evangelistic parachurch organizations.

What will reach them? A survey recently asked 14,000 Christians how they came to the faith. Five to six percent credited a pastor; four to five percent the Sunday school; five-tenths percent an evangelistic crusade or television show; and 75-90 percent a friend or relative. Who do you know who needs the story of God’s love to be made public?

Is this “intolerance,” forcing your faith on others? No more so than a doctor who operates a free health clinic, offering medicines to those who are sick. Is this being “holier than thou?” No more than a beggar who tells another beggar where he found bread.

Last, make public your worship. Baptism is done in worship, as an act of worship. Be that public with your worship of God today. Prepare before you come, asking God to bless the service, my message, your experience. Join in our praise, share our prayers, study with us, commit your life to Christ each week.

George Gallup: “While representing only 13 percent of the populace, highly spiritually committed persons are a ‘breed apart’ from the rest of society. We find that these people, who have what might be described as a ‘transforming faith,’ are more tolerant of others, more inclined to perform charitable acts, more concerned about the betterment of society, and far happier. (These findings, in my view, are among the most exciting and significant that we have recorded in more than a half-century of polling).”

Missionary martyr Jim Elliot said it this way, in my favorite one-sentence faith statement: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

Do you agree?

Hard Places Make Holy People

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Hard Places Make Holy People

Romans 8:28-30

James C. Denison

Would you go on the Internet to watch cheese ripen? I did last Tuesday, and became the 1,205,022th visitor to do so. A large English cheddar cheese was placed in front of an Internet camera last December, its ripening process broadcasted to the world. It will take a year for the cheese to fully ripen. Meanwhile, viewers from 119 countries are watching. Now that’s entertainment.

A ripening cheese beats much of what’s in the news these days.

An al-Qaeda bombing in Bangladesh proves the terrorist organization isn’t going away. Controversy in Washington over war funding; global warming and the melting Zugspitze glacier in Germany; a week of thunderstorms and floods locally; continued coverage of the Virginia Tech tragedy and fears about security at upcoming college graduations.

Where is the world not what you wish it were? What about the past or the future worries you in the present? God’s word today calls us to be grateful for all of that. To learn an attitude of gratitude even in the hardest places of life. Why? Because hard places make holy people. How can that promise be true in your hard place today?

Don’t be surprised by suffering

Let’s begin with what Scripture does and does not say. Our text does not say that all things are good, but that “in all things God works for the good….” The distinction is important.

When God made the world he called it good. In fact, when he was finished with creation, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).

But then humanity fell into sin and the suffering which results. Man would live by the sweat of his brow and woman would bear children in pain until death comes.

This fallen world is a reality for us all. Every one of us has sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23); the wages or result of that sin is death (Romans 6:23).

And creation is affected by such sin: “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.  For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.  We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Romans 8:19-22).

We suffer cancer and heart disease and disaster and death because this world is not the way God intended it.

Some say that Romans 8:28 means all things are good all the time, that we are to be happy always and “praise the Lord anyway.”

Such theology would find no home in Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed under such stress that the capillaries of his skin broke and he sweated drops of blood (Luke 22:44). Not on Calvary, where our Savior cried in anguish, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). Not with Paul’s “thorn in the flesh,” a problem so great he prayed three times for God to remove it (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). Not for John, who was exiled on the prison island of Patmos where he was a “companion in tribulation” with suffering Christians around the world (Revelation 1:9).

Jesus warned us that “in this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33). Paul likewise warned us that “we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). Don’t be surprised by suffering.

Our text does not promise that all things are good, but that God “works through all things for good.”

The Greek is that he “works together all things for good.” “Works together” is the picture of God taking existing materials and using them, working with them, molding them into something new.

He is in fact making something “good.” This is the Greek word for “good in nature,” not necessarily in appearance. At the time it may not seem at all that God is working bad for good, but he is.

The reason is simple. As I’ve said often in the last year, God’s holiness requires him to redeem all that he permits or causes. God is by definition the greatest, most perfect being that can be conceived.

And a perfect being must redeem everything he permits or causes. He can allow or do nothing which he cannot use for a greater good. If 9/11 or Virginia Tech defeated the ultimate purpose of God, he is not God.

We likely will not know all the ways our Father is using bad for good, but we can know that he is. We don’t have to understand computers to use them. I don’t have to know how this wireless microphone works to trust it. So with the redeeming power of the God who works through all things for good.

If you’re not sure God can use bad for good, ask Joseph in his Egyptian prison; or Moses at the Red Sea; or Joshua at the flooded Jordan River; or David facing Goliath; or Jeremiah in the mud cistern; or Daniel in the lion’s den; or Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo in the fiery furnace; or Peter in Herod’s prison awaiting execution; or Paul and Silas singing hymns at midnight in a Philippian jail; or John exiled on Patmos.

Ask the millions of Christians who have come to faith in Communist China after their churches were made illegal; or the millions of South Koreans who came to Jesus after the devastation of the Korean War; or the thousands who were moved to faith upon hearing the stories of the martyred Christians at Columbine. God is working through all things for good. Either his word is true or it is not. Either he is God or he is not. We must make our choice.

Submit to the purpose of God

But there’s more to the text. Many of us stop at verse 28. But verses 29-30 explain why God fulfills verse 28, and how he does so in our lives today. He works “according to his purpose” (v.28b). What is this purpose? (v. 29)

“Those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (v. 29). God wants us to be like Jesus. He wants us to be “conformed” (to be formed with or molded) into his “likeness,” his appearance and character.

We cannot actually “be” Christ in this fallen world. We are not sinless and perfect, divine in every way. But we can act like Jesus. We can think like him. We can represent him. We can be “Christians,” “little Christs.”

This is God’s purpose for us all: “we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Our heavenly Father wants us to look like Jesus in the way we live, the words we speak, the decisions we make, the witness we give to the unbelieving world which surrounds us. This is our Father’s highest purpose and hope for the human race. This is his purpose for every one of us today (v. 30).

He “predestined” this for us, planning this purpose for us before time began. Thus he “called” us to himself as his Spirit convicted us of our sins and led us to faith in Christ. He “justified” us by cleansing us from our sins. One day he will “glorify” us in heaven. So that we will be like Jesus forever.

Why should we want this purpose for ourselves? Being like Jesus is not an ambition the world rewards or even recognizes. This is no path to career advancement or social status.

Why cooperate with God in this way?

Because this is the best purpose your life could know. If someone sacrificed his son for you, you’d believe that he loved you and had your best interest at heart, wouldn’t you? Your Father did just that. Now, “how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (v. 32).

Nothing can separate you from God’s love for you (vs. 35-39). If he says this is your life’s best purpose, it’s because it’s true.

Imagine being like Jesus in every dimension of your life:

Imagine living above bitterness and anger when you are hurt: “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

Imagine living in victory over sin and temptation: “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

Imagine walking in your Father’s perfect will for every day: “Not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

Imagine being used by God to heal the sick, comfort the hurting, and bless the world: “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people” (Matthew 4:23).

Imagine being Christ to your world–that’s your Father’s purpose for your life.

And know that he is working through all things in your life right now to accomplish precisely this purpose.

He is redeeming suffering to help you learn to trust him more. He is redeeming slander and gossip to help you learn to forgive and bless. He is redeeming loneliness to help you depend on his presence. He is redeeming despair and hopelessness to help you find your hope in him. He is redeeming guilt to help you find his forgiveness. He is redeeming fear to help you find his peace. He is redeeming grief to help you find his comfort.

He is using hard places to make holy people.

Conclusion

What do you need to do to cooperate with God’s purpose for your soul and your relationships?

Surrender your soul to him. Give him your heart and soul. Let him own you. Ask Jesus to move into your life.

Surrender your life to him. Every day, first thing every morning, surrender your day to his Spirit’s control and will for your life. Meet him in Scripture and prayer and worship. Put yourself in his molding hands, and ask him to use this day to make you more like Jesus.

Surrender your relationships to him, asking him to redeem them to make you more like Jesus. Surrender your resources to him–your time, talent, treasure, and touch–asking him to use them to make you more like Jesus.

Now, see all that comes as his gift. Whether good or bad, easy or hard, see it as coming from your Father who redeems all he permits or causes. See everything as a means to his end of making you like Jesus. Live in expectant joy as you look forward to all the ways he will work through all things for his glory and your good. Life is his gift, until eternal life is yours forever.

Last year I was privileged to stand before Michelangelo’s massive statue of David. Where others saw flawed marble, the great artist saw Israel’s shepherd king waiting to be revealed.

How did he carve such a masterpiece? His answer was simple: “In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.”

“Hewing away the rough walls that imprison the Christ within you”–that’s what your Creator is doing with your life this morning. This is the word of the Lord.

Have You Been Baptized Today?

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Have You Been Baptized Today?

Acts 2:40-41

James C. Denison

We’re walking through Acts 1-4 and the earliest Christian faith, seeking keys to the power of God for our lives today. We began by observing the early church as they prayed for the power of the Spirit at the risk of their lives. They knew that they needed the Spirit’s empowering if they were to fulfill their purpose and find significance. They taught us that when we want God the least is when we need him the most.

Now we come to the results of that Pentecost empowering by the Spirit: “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day” (Acts 2:41). They believed and were baptized. So it was then; so it is in our church today. But not without some challenges along the way.

You may not know that the pastor wears fishermen’s wading boots under his robe during baptisms. The first time I saw a pastor baptize and return to the service in five minutes I thought it was a miracle. But these boots can be problematic. One Sunday morning in Midland, I was kidding around in the service and told the people that if they ever got angry with the preacher they should go back and poke holes in his waders. That night, baptizing during the Sunday evening service, my waders leaked. I maintain it was a coincidence.

In Atlanta we had a retired pastor on our pastoral care staff. He told us about the time years earlier when a Methodist pastor friend asked to borrow his baptistery, as he had a family who insisted on baptism by immersion. Our staff member was happy to consent. The Methodist baptism was to be that Sunday afternoon; when our pastor got to church that night for the Sunday evening service he found water everywhere. It was all over the baptistery steps and down the hallway. The waders were soaked; everything was a mess.

The next morning his Methodist pastor friend called to complain: “I had no idea baptizing was so hard. We got the first candidate in the wading boots and robe, got them in the baptistery and under the water, and the boots filled up with water. We had to dump them out to get the second person in, but they filled up again.”

So it was with the entire family—the pastor didn’t wear the boots, putting them on the candidates instead. Our pastor concluded, “Methodists aren’t as smart as they think they are.”

I’ve had my boots fill up in the baptistery. I baptized one man who got under the water, then pulled me down with him. I once baptized a woman who was so frightened of the water she wouldn’t get her face wet, then worried that she wouldn’t have a nose in heaven. Baptizing is dangerous—more so, in fact, than you may know.

Today we will focus on this strange and significant act, for three reasons. One: some of you have not been baptized and wonder if you should be and why. Two: some of you have been baptized but don’t really know why and what it all meant. Three: all of us need to be baptized again today. Not physically, but spiritually.

Being baptized every day is the single most important key to the power of God in your life this morning. It is my privilege to explain why that is so.

Why baptize?

The word “baptize” comes from a Greek word which means to “dip” or “immerse.” The word was often used in the ancient world to describe the act of dipping a cup in a stream or washing clothing at a laundry. To “baptize” something is, therefore, literally to immerse it in water. It was first done by the Church in the text before us today. This single verse seems straightforward, but there is much to know in its words.

“Accepted” translates a word which means to welcome or receive gladly.

“His message” was the gospel, the good news of God’s love in Christ.

They “were baptized”—the syntax indicates that this happened immediately after they “accepted his message.”

“About three thousand were added to their number” shows that their baptism was the step by which they entered into the fellowship of the church.

“That day” shows that this entire event, from acceptance to baptism to church membership, happened on the one day of Pentecost.

Skeptics wonder how the conversion of 3,000 was possible, much less their baptism on a single day. But the facts make the entire event completely understandable.

Jerusalem had a resident population of 55,000, swelling to 180,000 during festivals such as Pentecost. The Temple precincts could easily accommodate 200,000, and the acoustics were such that nearly all could easily hear Peter’s voice. All could understand enough Greek to make sense of his sermon, as the Spirit convicted them of their need for Christ.

The baptism of 3,000 in one day was very plausible as well. The Temple mount had numerous immersion pools used by worshipers for ritual purifications. There were numerous church leaders present to do the baptizing; if just the Twelve did this, each would need to baptize 250 new believers. If they said over each what I say in our baptistery, they could easily baptize five a minute, or the entire group in less than an hour.

But why did they do this? Publicly dipping someone in water seems a strange thing to do, but the fact is that the Jews had been doing this for centuries. When a Gentile became a Jew, he or she was baptized in public as an act of submission and repentance. The old person was symbolically washed away, the new raised up to life in Judaism.

John the Baptizer took this decision a step further, calling Jews to be baptized as an act of repentance. No one had ever challenged Jews to make this commitment. Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan for this baptism. Matthew reports: “John tried to deter him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased'” (Matthew 3:13-17).

By this act Jesus began his public ministry. When it was concluded he commanded his followers to continue this practice: “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age'” (Matthew 28:18-20).

Baptizing new believers became the practice of early Christianity across the book of Acts:

In Samaria: “When they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women” (Acts 8:12).

The Ethiopian eunuch: “As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?’ And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him” (Acts 8:36-38).

Saul of Tarsus: “Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength” (Acts 9:17-19).

Cornelius and his fellow Gentiles: “Then Peter said, ‘Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.’ So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days” (Acts 10:46-48).

Lydia in Philippi: “One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. ‘If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.’ And she persuaded us” (Acts 16:14-15).

The Philippian jailer: “The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.’ Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized” (Acts 16:29-33).

The symbolism of baptism is simple: we bury the person we were before trusting Christ as our Savior and Lord, and are raised up as new people, born again as the children of God. We do this publicly to stand for Jesus and to invite others to stand for him. As he died publicly for us, we die symbolically and publicly for him. This is the most powerful single witness we will ever give to our faith. The most significant way Billy Graham ever preached the gospel was the day he was baptized. So it is with us.

What about other traditions?

As you know, baptizing believers by immersion is not the only way churches understand this ritual and event. Here’s a very quick summary of the reasons why.

Three centuries after Christ, Christian theologians had concluded that sin is transmitted sexually, so that babies are born with inherited original sin. They had also concluded that baptism washes away sin. Neither position is biblical, but that’s what they thought. You wouldn’t want to immerse babies, so they began sprinkling them to wash away their sins. Thus began the practice of infant baptism, still continued in Catholic churches today.

When the Reformation began in the 16th century, many chose to keep whatever the Catholic Church did so long as it was not unbiblical. The Bible nowhere forbids the sprinkling of an infant, so they continued this practice. They changed its meaning, however, to that of dedicating a child to God. So it is that Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Lutherans, and similar traditions baptize infants.

Other reformers chose to keep from the Catholic Church only what is biblical—that which the Bible commands. Nowhere does the Bible tell us to baptize infants, so they returned to the original practice of immersing converts. Baptists come from this tradition, as do many other Christian denominations.

If you were baptized as an infant, your parents wanted to dedicate you to Christ. Their desire was both beautiful and commendable. Your baptism as a follower of Jesus in no way repudiates their faith—it fulfills it. It is as though they arranged your marriage, then you chose to accept the one they chose for you. Your wedding day fulfills their arrangement. Your baptism fulfills their faith in committing you to God.

Note that we are baptized as believers, not so we can be saved but because we already are. We do this not as an act of salvation but as an act of obedience.

The thief on the cross at Jesus’ side, the moment he made Christ his Lord, was promised: “today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Though he could not be baptized, he could trust in Jesus. All who have followed his example, whatever their baptism tradition, are children of the same Father and members of the same family.

I often explain baptism as a wedding ring. Wearing such a ring does not make us married. Nor does the absence of a wedding ring prove that we are not married. Rather, a ring shows the world our marital status. It is a public symbol of a personal commitment.

So it is with our baptism as Christians—we tell the world that Jesus is our Lord, inviting others to join our faith. If those who witness our baptism trust Christ because we have, our baptism fulfills its most significant purpose, to the glory of God.

Conclusion

Years ago, a machinist at Ford Motor Company in Detroit became a Christian and was baptized. He took his baptism seriously. He had been stealing parts and tools from Ford for years. The morning after his baptism he took all the stolen parts and tools back to his boss. He explained his situation and his recent conversion and baptism, and asked for forgiveness.

This response by an employee was without precedent. Mr. Ford was visiting a European plant at the time, but he was cabled concerning the details of this matter. His response was requested. Mr. Ford immediately returned a cable with his decision: “Dam up the Detroit River, and baptize the entire city.”

Jesus went even further. In his Great Commission he ordered his church to baptize all nations (Matthew 28:19). Today we have learned why.

You may not yet have been baptized as a believer; if not, I encourage you to follow Christ in this act of obedience. You may have been baptized as his follower; if so, I encourage you to be baptized again today. Not physically, but spiritually. Do today what you did then: choose to follow him as your Savior. Say to him the words, “Jesus is my Lord.” Submit your life to him, privately and publicly. Choose to declare your faith to the world.

Such obedience does not earn his power, but it receives it. God gives us his power as we are willing to fulfill his purpose. When we make him our Lord, we have his strength. When we don’t, we don’t.

This week has been one of the most difficult I have experienced. Mom’s death last Sunday evening; making final arrangements on Monday; speaking at her graveside on Tuesday and her memorial service on Wednesday; giving away her furniture and clothes on Thursday; preparing this weekend to preach to you today.

Each step of the way I have been faced with a decision—will I submit this to Jesus or not? Will I surrender to him as my Lord, or do this in my strength and ability? Will I yield to him as my Master or will I refuse? Each moment I baptized, each day I surrendered, was a good moment and a good day. Each day I did not, was not. What needs to be baptized in your life today?

Have You Been Changed By Christmas?

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Have You Been Changed By Christmas?

Matthew 1:1

Dr. Jim Denison

Time magazine recently named SpaceShipOne the “Coolest Invention of 2004.” This is the privately built and operated aircraft that made world headlines when it traveled into space last October. Now its inventors are planning to be in the space-tourism business by 2007. All with a craft which fits in your two-car garage. Perhaps you cannot afford to give the $190,000 flight as a Christmas gift. But don’t despair. Here are other presents you might consider:

The “Bambino” is a newly-created watermelon about the size of a cantaloupe. It took ten years to breed, and is sweeter than its larger cousin. Think of it—a watermelon stocking stuffer.

The “Jawbone” is an electronic device which attaches to your cell phone. Its sensor picks up vibrations emitting from your head when you speak, making for clearer calls. At least that’s the theory.

You can now buy a television which becomes a mirror when it is turned off; a ski watch which contains a GPS tracker, barometer, altimeter, compass, and (also) a clock; and a motorized crib which rocks for a minute if the baby in it cries for 30 seconds.

How many would change your life? Well, the last one probably would. But how many of the Christmas gifts you receive this year will actually change your life in demonstrable ways?

Will Christmas? If it doesn’t, it wasn’t really Christmas. That’s my thesis today. Let’s see if I can prove it to you.

This year we’re sharing Christmas with Matthew. We’ll begin with a message on “The Gospel According to Matthew.” I’ve never preached a sermon on the title of a book before. But then you’ve probably not heard one, either. Here’s the story which makes the title a sermon. And here’s the important question I’ll ask when we’re done: is this your story?

Matthew before Jesus

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell us how our subject came to follow Jesus. Let’s set out what they say:

“As Jesus went on from there [after healing the paralytic], he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him” (Matthew 9:9).

Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him” (Mark 2:13-14).

“After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him” (Luke 5:27-28).

From these accounts we learn that Matthew had two names, both of them ironic. “Levi” was the priestly tribe of his nation. And “Matthew” meant “gift of God.” The people of his community would not have found the joke to be funny.

Matthew was a tax collector. In the ancient world, this profession was considered the most profane and immoral work a man could do.

Cicero listed as the two worst trades in the Roman Empire, a tax-collector and a lender (or banker) (De Officiis 1, 42). Lucian listed among those destined for hell the adulterers and tax-collectors (Menippus II).

And the Jews despised tax-collectors even more than did the Romans. These men were cheating traitors. Rome employed them to tax their own neighbors for the hated Empire, making them turncoats and traitors against their own people. Even worse, the government allowed them to demand as much taxation as they wished with the full support of the military, making them thieves.

Matthew could stop people anywhere, examined their possessions, and assessed whatever taxes he wished. If his victim could not pay what Matthew required, he could loan the money at an impossible rate of interest. It is no wonder that the New Testament ranks tax-collectors with gentiles (Matthew 18:17), harlots (Matthew 21.31-33), and sinners (Matthew 9:10-11; 11.19; Mark 2:15-16; Luke 5:30; 7:34; 15:1).

Matthew did his extortion in Capernaum, a fishing village on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee. Capernaum was Jesus’ headquarters when in Galilee, so Matthew must have heard him preach and teach often. The Holy Spirit was obviously at work in his heart and soul. And so when the great call came, he was ready.

Here’s the good news: if Christmas could change him, it can change us.

Matthew following Jesus

Of all the disciples, I think Matthew gave up the most initially to follow Jesus. Luke’s account says that he “got up, left everything and followed him” (Luke 5:28). What did he leave and lose?

He left his career. Positions such as Matthew held were so lucrative that they were difficult to acquire, and guarded zealously by those who held them. Once Matthew abandoned his post, he could have no hope of ever regaining it. Unlike Peter, James, and John, who easily returned to their fishing trade (John 21:3), Matthew had to leave his profession forever.

With his career he left his wealth. He may well have been the richest person in his city, as Zacchaeus the tax-collector probably was in his (Luke 19:8). But what money he took with him was put into the disciples’ common treasury (John 13:29), with no hope of making more. Matthew abandoned both his position and the wealth it brought him.

And he risked his security and even his life as well. Tax-collectors were despised by their fellow citizens, as we have seen. They were protected by the Roman militia so long as they served the Empire at their post, but were fair game for taunts and ridicule when they ventured into society. For instance, remember Zacchaeus’s treatment at the hands of the people of Jericho (Luke 19:3, 7). And if they abandoned their position entirely, they forsook any protection Rome might give to them.

By following Jesus, Matthew left his career, his possessions, and risked even his life. But he considered the Christ of Christmas to be worth all of that. When he met him, he found the forgiveness, love, purpose, and joy he had searched for all his life. And he left his old life behind forever.

If Christmas could change him like that, it can change us like that.

Matthew serving Jesus

Christmas changed Matthew not just at the time, but for all time. As soon as he became Jesus’ disciple, he began sharing his faith. In fact, he was the first apostle in the gospel records to do this. Luke tells us that the first thing Matthew did as a disciple of Jesus was hold a party at his house for the only friends he had—fellow tax-collectors and outcasts—and invite Jesus to come. All so they could experience the forgiving grace and joy he had found.

Later he recorded the teachings of his Savior for the world to read. He gave us the Sermon on the Mount and other teaching sections which are at the heart of the Christian faith. For as long as people open the New Testament at its beginning, Matthew’s ministry continues.

Still later he engaged in global missions. According to early tradition, Matthew first preached the gospel in Judea among his fellow Jews. He later preached in Ethiopia, Persia, Parthia, and Macedonia. The Jewish Talmud records the tradition that he was condemned to death by the Sanhedrin and martyred for his faith, perhaps in Ethiopia. We know that Matthew was faithful to Jesus in his life, and by his death.

Along the way, he extended the love and grace of Jesus to his own family. This is an amazing part of the story.

“James son of Alphaeus” was another of Jesus’ disciples (Matthew 10:3). Most scholars believe that he was also Matthew’s brother. And that he had been a Zealot, an insurgent or terrorist against Rome.

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

But the Christ of Christmas changed all of that. He turned a despised tax collector into an evangelist, a gospel writer, a global missionary, and a family healer. The joy of meeting Jesus so transformed his life that it changed his world.

If Christmas could change him like that, it can change us like that.

Conclusion

At Christmas the Son of God became a baby, born to a peasant teenage girl and her carpenter husband. He was laid in a feed trough in a cave, and worshipped by wondering field hands and shepherds. And the world has never been the same. We divide history into B.C. (before Christ) and A.D. (anno Domini, the “year of our Lord”). His birth changed everything.

But has it changed you? Has Jesus visited your tax-collecting booth? Have you heard him say, “Follow me”? Everyone in Galilee believed he existed; not everyone left their old life beyond to follow him personally. Have you? Do you know that you know him?

Has Christmas changed you recently? Have you met Jesus in a real and personal way in recent days? Have you made time just for him in this, the season of his birth? Have you given him the gift he wants most: your personal worship, prayer, listening spirit, and obedient heart?

Have his joy and purpose made you an evangelist, a gospel carrier, a global Christian, a missionary to your own family? How is your life really different from those of your non-Christian friends? When was the last time an experience with the Christ of Christmas so transformed you that anyone else noticed?

You know the story: Michaelangelo found an abandoned piece of marble at the city dump. It had been rejected by every sculptor who examined it. But Michelangelo saw obscured in the marble’s flaws the image and statue of King David. And soon, so did the rest of the world.

What the artist did for the marble, Christmas did for Matthew. Will it for you this year?

He Who Has Gold, Makes the Rules

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He Who Has the Gold, Makes the Rules

Matthew 7:12

Dr. Jim Denison

I mentioned last week that I teach Men’s Bible Study because I have stories I can’t tell on Sunday. Some of you wondered what I meant. Here are some stories which get close to the line.

“Cash, check or charge?” the clerk asked. As the woman fumbled for her wallet, the clerk noticed a television remote control in her purse. “Do you always carry your TV remote?” “No, my husband refused to come to the store with me, so I figured this was the most evil legal thing I could do to him.” Speaking for all men everywhere, I can tell her that she’s right.

A man said to his wife, “I don’t know how you can be so dumb and so beautiful at the same time.” “It’s easy to explain,” she said. “God made me beautiful so you would be attracted to me; and he made me dumb so I would be attracted to you.”

It’s always appropriate to work on our relationships. President Bush has been in Europe this week, strengthening ties with our allies. Israel has released 500 Palestinian prisoners, and has determined to leave Gaza and four settlements in the northern West Bank. Syria will withdraw from Lebanon, in hopes of expediting peace there.

Relationships come first. As C. S. Lewis reminds us, you have never met a mortal. The next person you see will exist long after this church is gone, this city is no more, this planet is history. Relating to others biblically is a subject of eternal significance.

So, what does the greatest sermon in Christian history have to say on the subject? As we survey the Sermon on the Mount relative to the sixth Covenant value, let’s make this personal. Who is your problem person today? What relationship do you most need to improve? Where do you need to hear from the Father this morning?

Seek reconciliation (Matthew 5:21-26)

The rabbis said, “Do not murder, for anyone who murders will be subject to judgment” (v. 21).

Jesus goes much further: “anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment” (v. 22a). “Anger” here is not thumos, the inevitable human reaction to hurt or harm. Rather, his word is orge–the deliberate choice to continue holding onto your anger, the absolute unwillingness to pardon and move on.

“Raca” was an Aramaic term of contempt, a public insult.

“Fool” was the worst insult of the day, meaning a person of no value or character whatsoever.

Now, you are at the altar in the Temple, sacrifice in hand. In our context, you’re just about to put money in the offering plate. In my setting, I’m walking up to the pulpit to begin the sermon. And then I remember that someone has something like this against me. Right or wrong, he thinks I have held onto anger, or insulted or harmed him. If anybody has anything against you today, you qualify.

What do we do? Seek reconciliation. Take the initiative. Do it now, before matters get to the judge and the officer and the jail. It will never be any easier than it is today. Take the high road. Take the first step. Make the phone call. Ask for lunch. Write the note. Do it now.

A wise old saint says, “I will never allow another person to ruin my life by making me hate him.” With whom do you need to take the initiative this week? Where do you need to seek reconciliation?

Stop the cycle of vengeance (5:38-42)

Jesus continues: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth'” (v. 38). This is the oldest law in the world, known as the Lex Talionis. It appears in the Code of Hammurabi, dated to 2285 B.C. It is in the Old Testament as well: “If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe” (Exodus 21:23-25).

Before this law, if I wrecked your car you could destroy my house. If I injured your child, you could kill all my children. The original purpose of the law was thus to limit vengeance. Only the one who caused the injury could be punished, not his entire family or tribe. And only to the degree that he has injured another, protecting him from a more powerful enemy. This law did not promote retribution–it limited it.

Now Jesus takes the principle further: “Do not resist an evil person” (v. 39b). Even though you have the right, don’t insist upon them. He gives us four examples of his principle at work.

Your honor: “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (v. 39c). “Strikes” in the original means to “slap.” The right hand was the only one used in public. To slap your right cheek with my right hand was an insult, not a threat to life and limb. Jesus says, Don’t slap back. Someone insults you–don’t insult them.

Your possessions: “If someone wants to use you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well” (v. 40). Your “tunic” was your undershirt with sleeves; it could be taken in a lawsuit. Your “cloak” could not, for it protected you from the elements. But give it anyway. Don’t insist on your rights.

Your time: “If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles” (v. 41). Jesus refers to the power of a Roman soldier to make a Jew carry his military pack for one mile. Carry it two miles. Sacrifice the time, though you don’t have to. Do it anyway.

Your money: “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you” (v. 42). As Augustine reminds us, we are not told to give everything we are asked for, but to give to every person who asks. Even though it is your right not to.

Refuse retribution. Stop the cycle of vengeance. Don’t repeat the gossip or slander. Refuse to return insult for insult, pain for pain. It has been noted that an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is a rapid way to a sightless, toothless world. Two brothers were fighting; when their mother stopped them, the oldest complained, “But he hit me back!” Don’t hit back. Stop the cycle of vengeance.

Pray for your enemies (5:43-48)

Instead, pray for the person who has hurt you: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (v. 44). This statement has no parallel in the Jewish tradition or literature. No religious teacher in world history ever suggested such an ethic.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was martyred while practicing these words, said about them, “The Christian must treat his enemy as a brother, and requite his hostility with love. His behavior must be determined not by the way others treat him, but by the treatment he himself receives from Jesus” (The Cost of Discipleship 164).

How has Jesus treated us? On the cross he prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). How are we to treat others? As Stephen was being stoned to death, he spoke his last words: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60).

We love our enemies because Jesus loves us and he loves our enemies. Sam James was a career Southern Baptist missionary to Vietnam. I will never forget a story I heard him tell in that regard. After a particularly long, hot, difficult day, he returned to his apartment to find that thieves had stolen everything but his couch. That was the last straw. He collapsed on the couch in frustration, and began to tell the Lord that he had lost his love for the Vietnamese. “You’ve got to send me somewhere else, Lord–I just don’t love the Vietnamese any more.” And the Lord replied to his soul, “You’re not here because you love the Vietnamese–you’re here because I love the Vietnamese.”

Love your enemies by praying for them. Do it because God loves them. And you’ll learn to love them as well.

Refuse to criticize (7:1-5)

One last, very practical subject: refuse criticism. Do not judge others, or you will be judged by God. Do not worry about the speck in your brother’s eye, when there is a “plank” in your own. Jesus’ word is dokos, the log upon which planks rested in a pier-and-beam kind of construction. This was the largest and strongest “plank” they knew.

Jesus tells us not to worry about the speck of dust in your brother’s eye, when there is a telephone pole in our own. Take care of your own problem, and then you can see to help me with mine. Judge yourself before you judge anyone else, and you’ll refuse criticism.

God’s word is serious about this problem:

“Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, him will I not endure” (Psalm 101:5).

“There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs” (Luke 12:2-3).

“If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight reign on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless” (James 1:26).

Have you noticed that we judge others by their actions, but ourselves by our intentions? To stop slandering and judging others, begin by examining yourself. A wise Bible teacher once taught me: there is no sin I cannot commit. Your sins may not be mine, but mine may not be yours. And I cannot see or judge your heart. There is always something I don’t know about you, or you about me. Always.

Satan loves to attack from within, at unity. He is always looking for a Judas, for an Ananias and Sapphira. He knows that if we are busy attacking each other, we’re no threat to him. We cannot assault the gates of hell if we are assaulting one another. That’s why he loves slander and gossip so much. They cost Jesus his life. They cost us dearly today.

So refuse to criticize, and you’ll relate biblically. This is the word and will of God.

Conclusion

Jesus summarizes all we’ve heard today: “in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12). This is the so-called Golden Rule. Some wit observed, “he who has the gold makes the rules.” That’s true: all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18). He has the gold, and he makes the rule.

Now, where does it apply to your life and relationships? Who is your problem person this week? If you want that relationship to get better, here’s what you do: seek reconciliation, taking the initiative. Stop the cycle of revenge and vengeance. Instead, pray for God to bless them. Refuse to criticize them. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love those who hate you, and you will have no enemy. Relate biblically.

Now I must tell you how God has used this study in my life this week. I have had to write two letters, neither of which I would have written if I had not spent the week with these passages. You would not know them or their situation, so I’ll not describe them. But I want you to know that God’s word works. There is a wonderful sense of release, burden lifted, joy given when we forgive, and when we seek forgiveness. When we relate biblically, loving our neighbor as ourselves.

Heaven is Better than Earth

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Topical Scripture: Psalm 16

Wynter Pitts died recently in her sleep at the age of thirty-eight. She left a husband and four daughters.

Her uncle is Dr. Tony Evans, the brilliant pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship and an international speaker and author. At a service last weekend, he and his family discussed Wynter’s sudden death. One of his sons asked him why he keeps going in the face of such tragedy.

Dr. Evans responded: “Because I believe what I preach. I do believe she’s in a better place. I do believe in the sovereignty of God. I do believe in the goodness of God. I do believe. And because I believe, I do keep going.”

Where do you need to “keep going”? Let’s find hope for hard times in a surprising place.

“My flesh also dwells secure”

As Psalm 16 begins, David has “taken refuge” in his Lord (v. 1). The Hebrew could be translated, “fled for shelter.” The verse depicts a person facing an approaching storm or army and running into a refuge he knows will protect him.

He trusted in the Lord as his shelter because he knew, “I have no good apart from you” (v. 2). This despite the fact that he was king of the nation and one of the most powerful people on earth.

As a result, he treasures the “saints in the land,” the people of God, more than any of his other possessions (v. 3). He knows that they, not his wealth or fame, are eternal. And he knows that the “sorrows” of those who trust in other gods “shall multiply,” so he refuses to worship or trust in them (v. 4).

Instead, he has made the Lord his “chosen portion” and his “cup,” the one who holds his “lot” (v. 5). These terms refer to his personal possessions in life. He knows that he has a “beautiful inheritance” from the Lord (v. 6).

And he knows that all of this comes from the One who gives him counsel and instructs his heart in the night (v. 7). He has set the Lord at his “right hand”—a warrior typically carried a shield in his left hand and his spear or sword in his right. David trusts in God as his sword for victory and life.

Now we come to the climax of his praise: “Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure” (v. 9). Why? “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption” (v. 10). “Sheol” is an Old Testament term referring to “death” or the “grave.”

As a result, David can say: “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (v. 10). He knows the “path of life” and the “fullness of joy” today. And best of all, he knows that he will experience “pleasures forevermore” when he is at the “right hand” of God in heaven.

When I was in high school, my youth minister gave me the best single piece of advice I’ve ever received: Always remember the source of your personal worth.

Because Jesus rose, we will rise

Psalm 16 is one of the most frequently quoted psalms in the New Testament.

Preaching to the massive crowds at Pentecost, the apostle Peter quoted David’s testimony, then explained:

Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses (Acts 2:29–32).

Paul also cited Psalm 16:10 to declare the resurrection of Jesus. Speaking at Pisidian Antioch during his first missionary journey, he quoted David’s statement from a thousand years earlier. Then he made this statement:

For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised up did not see corruption (Acts 13:36–37).

So, we see that David’s statement was fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus. The New Testament adds that Jesus’ resurrection is God’s promise of our resurrection as well:

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die'” (John 11:25–26).

“Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:14).

“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).

“God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power” (1 Corinthians 6:14).

Because Jesus would not “see corruption” (Psalm 16:10), neither will we.

Streets of “pure gold”

So far, we’ve explored the interesting fact that David made a statement about his future resurrection that was fulfilled by Jesus a thousand years later and guarantees us that we will be raised from the dead as well. But you already knew that Christians live forever with God in heaven. You already knew that because of Easter, you will be raised from the grave into his perfect paradise.

Here’s why this fact is so relevant and urgent for us today: It turns the cultural values of our day upside-down.

You and I live in the most prosperous era in human history. Consider some examples:

  • Life expectancy at birth in 1800 was 39 years; it is 79 years today.
  • In 1949, Popular Mechanics made the bold prediction that someday a computer could weigh less than a ton. An iPad weighs 0.73 pounds.
  • Median income has nearly doubled since the 1950s. The size of median houses has risen 34 percent.
  • In 1960, 10 percent of American homes had air conditioning. Today it’s 89 percent; the 11 percent that don’t are mostly in cold climates.
  • Almost no one had a refrigerator in 1900. Today they sell cars with refrigerators in them.
  • The average new home now has more bathrooms than occupants.

Our world has become so prosperous that it’s hard to want to leave. By contrast, we’ve grown up picturing heaven as a boring place where we play harps on clouds or sit in church for eternity. Nothing could be further from the truth.

There’s an entire sermon series here, but let’s be brief:

  • David stated, “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).
  • In heaven, “death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
  • Jesus said, “Blessed is everyone who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God” (Luke 14:15 NIV).
  • We have perfect understanding in heaven: “Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12).
  • You and I have “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4).
  • In short, “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT).

The Bible says that the streets of heaven are made of “pure gold” (Revelation 21:21). The precious commodity that is the basis for our entire monetary system is like concrete in paradise.

“These are the things that make it hard to die”

What does the fact that we will not “see corruption” mean for us today? In short, death is not an enemy but an invitation.

When earth seems more attractive than heaven, it can be hard to live for heaven on earth. It can be hard to make earthly sacrifices for the sake of heavenly results and rewards. It can be hard to see death as victory and the grave as the path to glory.

A pastor was asked by a wealthy church member to say a prayer of blessing over his new mansion. He said to the man, “These are the things that make it hard to die.”

Soledad Alamino passed away last Monday. You did not have the privilege of meeting Soledad unless you’ve been to Cespedes, Cuba, or happened to meet her on one of her trips to the US. Because our ministry partners with her husband and family and I’ve been to Cuba so many times, it was my privilege to know her well.

And to know that she was one of the most powerful intercessors, courageous believers, and empowering leaders I’ve ever met, anywhere in the world.

She died Monday after a three-year battle with cancer, a malignancy that would probably have been cured if she had not been in Cuba. When I got the news Monday night and told Janet, her immediate response was profound: “We are grieving only because we don’t see what she sees.”

When Soledad took her last breath here, she took her first breath there. She stepped from pain and suffering into reward and glory. She exchanged this broken planet for God’s perfect paradise. She has been completely healed. And for her, it will only be a moment before she sees us again.

Soledad Alamino could live so courageously on earth because she wasn’t living for earth.

Conclusion

I have been privileged to travel several times to Oxford University to teach a doctoral seminar for Dallas Baptist University. Each time, our group stands at a painted gold cross in the middle of a road. In my opinion, it is one of the holiest sites in all of England.

It was the mid-sixteenth century. Queen Mary was attempting to take England back to the Catholic Church. Protestants by the hundreds were martyred, among them two men named Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer.

On October 16, 1555, Ridley and Latimer were lashed to the stake in the center of Oxford University and set afire. The gold cross in the road marks the spot where they were executed.

As the flames rose, Latimer shouted to Ridley, “Be of good comfort, Mr. Ridley, and play the man! We shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace, in England, as I trust never shall be put out.”

On my last trip, we also visited the church Nicholas Ridley pastored before he was martyred. There we were shown a candle that stays lit every hour of every day of every year. It never goes out. They call it “Ridley’s candle.”

What candle will you light today?

Help for a Family Feud

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Help for a Family Feud

Exodus 20:12

Dr. Jim Denison

Do you remember the game show Family Feud? 100 people were surveyed on a subject. Then two families, five members each, tried to guess the most popular answers on these surveys. Richard Dawson’s “Survey says . . .” was the “Is that your final answer?” of the day.

The game show aired from 1976 to 1985, was revived again in 1988 for one season, and aired again briefly five years ago. But the title describes our culture even more fully today than it did 25 years ago.

Children report that they spend less than thirty minutes per week in meaningful conversation with their mother, and less than fifteen minutes per week in meaningful conversation with their father.

A recent Harris poll asked Americans what they most want to do with their time. 30% chose reading; 21% chose watching television. Only 13% chose spending time with their family.

Listen to these frightening facts about youth today. Every day in America:

2,989 young people see their parents get a divorce.1,849 are abused or neglected.7,742 become sexually active.2,795 get pregnant.1,295 give birth.10 are killed in alcohol-related auto accidents.16 commit suicide.

Our families need help. Fortunately, God cares. That’s why he gave us the fifth commandment.

What does God say about families?

Let’s study our text together.

“Honor,” the commandment begins. The word means to respect or venerate.

“Your father and mother,” God continues. In a world which relegated women to inferior status, this inclusion is significant. And note that Leviticus 19:3 restates it this way: “Each of you must respect his mother and father.” Here the mother is even listed first.

“So that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you,” the commandment concludes. The first meaning of this promise is that the nation of Israel would be secure in her society and land if she kept this commandment. But there are other meanings as well, as we will see in a moment.

And note that God’s word makes this a binding commandment for all time.

Leviticus 19:3 says, “Each of you must respect his mother and father.” None of us are excluded, no matter the circumstances of our situation. We’ll say more about this in a moment.

The book of Proverbs adds, “If a man curses his father or mother, his lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness” (20:20); and also this gruesome hyperbole, “The eye that mocks a father, that scorns obedience to a mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the vultures” (31:17). This commandment is important!

The New Testament is clear as well.

Jesus renewed this commandment when he told the Rich Young Ruler, “honor your father and mother” (Matthew 19:19), and he severely criticized the religious leaders of his day for not honoring and supporting their parents (Mark 7:9-13).

The epistles are clear: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord. Honor your father and mother” (Ephesians 6:1-2); “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord” (Colossians 3:20).

We need to keep this commandment for the sake of our souls, our families, and our future. This is indeed how to “live long” on the earth.

Perhaps this brief tale from the Brothers Grimm will make the point. Once upon a time there was a little old man. His eyes blinked and his hands trembled; when he ate he clattered the silverware, missed his mouth with the spoon as often as not, and dribbled a bit of his food on the tablecloth. He lived with his married son, and this son and his wife soon decided that they could not have such a distraction at their table.

So they led the little old man gently but firmly by the arm to the corner of the kitchen. There they set him on a stool and gave him his food in a bowl. But one day his hands trembled even more than usual, and the bowl fell and broke. His son and daughter-in-law, in anger and distress, then made a little wooden trough and fed him out of that. It was terrible to see him eating as would an animal, but that’s the way things were.

One day the couple’s four-year-old son was playing intently with some bits of wood, so they asked him what he was doing. “I’m making a trough,” he said, smiling at them for approval, “to feed you and Mama out of when I get big.”

The man and his wife looked at each other for a while, then they cried a little, then they took the little old man by the arm and led him back to the table. They sat him in a comfortable chair and gave him his food on a plate, and from then on nobody ever scolded when he clattered or spilled or broke things.

We need the fifth commandment, for our lives, our families, and our future.

What about dishonorable parents?

But before we find practical ways to honor our parents, we need briefly to ask a hard question: what if our parents are not honorable? What if they try to keep us from following Christ or otherwise doing what is right? What then?

Sometimes we must choose which commandment to break. When Corrie ten Boom’s family was harboring Jews, one day the Nazis banged on their door and asked if they had Jews in their house. Which commandment will they break—the sixth commandment, not to murder, or the ninth commandment, not to lie?

Jesus made it clear that following him would sometimes cause conflict with our family. His own family misunderstood him early in his ministry. And he specifically told his followers, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37).

This happened often to the early Christians, who had to refuse their father’s order to reject Christ, even to the point of death.

In Jewish society as well, when a son turned from his father’s faith he became dead unto him. I had a student at Southwestern Seminary whose Orthodox Jewish family held a burial service for him when he came to Christ. There is a tombstone in New York with his name on it today.

Ephesians 6:1 is clear: “Obey your parents in the Lord.” Martin Luther had to refuse his father’s wishes that he become a lawyer, to become a minister. Thomas Aquinas’s family locked him in the family castle for a year in their attempt to prevent his entering the ministry. Francis Schaeffer’s father forbade his starting L’Abri.

Unfortunately, we must sometimes choose between our earthly father and our heavenly Father.

In these situations, the first commandment is clear: we can have no god but God. Not even our parents. But, these situations occur far less often today than they did in Jesus’ day. I’ve seen only a handful of circumstances in my years in ministry where a child really had no choice except to disobey his parents in order to obey God.

If this is your situation, pray. Ask God to show you what to do. And be patient. Perhaps your parents will change over time. Don’t give up on them. Honor them in every way you can. I liked what one Christian said. His father was a drunkard, and so he said, “I always want to honor the man I want my father to be.”

Insofar as we can honor our parents without dishonoring God, we must do so. This is the clear teaching of his word.

How can we keep this commandment today?

Honor our parents. Prize them, respect them, find ways to value them today.

Note that the commandment does not say, “Love your parents.” God’s word tells us to love God, the stranger, and our neighbor, but nowhere are we told specifically to love our parents. Why not?

Because the best way to show love for our parents is to honor and obey them. This matters far more than any words or material gifts we might give to them.

We act into feeling, we don’t feel into acting. Don’t wait until you feel love for your mother or father—find a loving thing to do. Find a way to honor him or her. When we honor our parents, we find that we feel a new level of appreciation for them. So, find a way to honor them today.

How? Thank them. Thank your parents for the life they have given to you, and for the ways they provide for you still.

Current estimates are that it costs the average parent nearly $300,000 to raise one child from infancy to age 18; that doesn’t count the costs of college, which often exceed $300,000.

Take the initiative. When parents have to ask their children to say thanks, it doesn’t mean nearly as much. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are good, but not enough.

Bill Hybels tells about cleaning out his father’s desk after he died. He and his brother found note pads, files, stacks of legal documents attesting to the scope of his business responsibilities. But in the top drawer on the right-hand side, he found a collection of letters which seemed to occupy a position of honor. There, neatly grouped in rubber bands, were all the letters he, his brother and sisters had ever written to him.

What would you find in your parents’ home today?

Obey them in the Lord. As we have seen, the Scriptures are clear here.

Support them when you can. As the population lives longer than ever before, more and more children are parenting their parents. This is often hard, but always right.

1 Timothy 5:3-4: “Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.”

1 Timothy 5:8: “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Last, remember them when they’re gone. We continue to wear their name, and to reflect on them with our lives. We will bring honor or dishonor to our parents, as long as we live.

I really like something Janet tells our boys: we belong to everyone who loves us. This fact should affect our decision, as long as we live. For our parents’ sake, and for our own as well.

Conclusion

All of Dallas mourned this week the passing of Tom Landry. The television retrospectives were unanimous: while he was a coaching genius and a great football legend, his character was his most abiding legacy.

By now everyone knows his life priorities: faith, family, and football.

These can be our legacy today: God first, then family. Whatever is “football” to you, last. If he could do it, we can do it.

And we must.

I read recently a philosopher’s story about a spider who dropped a single strand from the top rafter of an old barn and began to weave his web. As the days, weeks, and months went by, his web grew. It did its work well, providing the spider with food as flies, mosquitoes, and other small insects were caught in its elaborate maze. The spider built his web larger and larger until it became the envy of all the other spiders.

One day this successful spider was traveling across his beautiful web when he noticed a single strand going up into the darkness of the barn rafters. “I wonder why this is here,” he thought. “It doesn’t catch me any dinner.” And so the spider climbed up to this single strand and severed it. When he did, the entire web slowly began to tumble to the floor of the barn, and the spider with it.

Don’t cut that cord.