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Jesus And Dow Jesus

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Jesus and Dow Jones

Matthew 6:1-4

Dr. Jim Denison

Charles Dow was the co-founder and first editor of The Wall Street Journal. In 1884 he originated a stock average which was the first attempt to express the general level of the stock market. In 1889 he began The Wall Street Journal with the help of Eddie Jones, who took care of the desk at the firm. The Dow Jones Index was the result. Lately, Mr. Dow’s creation has not been in good health.

These are anxious days for us all. Terrorist threats, daily talk of war with Iraq, worries about North Korean nuclear capabilities, the ongoing economic tensions of the day. Time magazine’s cover story is titled “America the Anxious.” Newsweek’s cover: “Anxiety and Your Brain: How Living With Fear Affects the Mind and Body.” When you hear about Dow Jones these days, you brace for bad news.

In this context, it’s interesting timing that the next section of the Sermon on the Mount deals with our finances. It’s no surprise that he would address the subject; 16 of his 38 parables dealt with money and possessions, and one in 10 verses in the Gospels relate to money. The Bible contains 500 verses on prayer, less than that on faith, but more than 2,000 on money and possessions.

This is a large subject for God, and a crucial subject for us today. Let’s see what Jesus has to say about Dow Jones and the financial issues of our day.

Give what God expects

Jesus has been dealing with our “acts of righteousness” (v. 1). Now he gives us the first example: “when you give to the needy” (vs. 2, 3). Not “if” but “when.” What kind of “giving” does he have in mind? His audience gave in three ways.

First, they gave their benevolence to the needy. Every day, collectors received contributions for those with pressing needs; this collection was called the Tamhui. And each Friday, the people gave to the Kuppah, an offering from which widows, orphans, and disabled people received food for the next week.

Second, they gave their tithes to God in worship. This was the command of God: “A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord” (Leviticus 27:30). The “tithe” was ten percent, given to God in worship.

This was not legalism; in fact, the first tithe was given by Abraham six generations before there was a Law (Genesis 14:20).

This was not optional for those who could afford the tithe or wanted to give it. God’s word is clear: “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house” (Malachi 3:8-10).

It is not outdated and no longer operative for New Testament believers. Hebrews 7:8 makes clear that the tithe “is” collected, present tense. Jesus assumed the people would continue to tithe (Matthew 23:23).

The typical Christian gives two percent of his or her income back to God, when the word of God expects 10 percent. God’s church could do five times more if all her people were to tithe.

Third, they gave their offerings to God in sacrifice. The people were instructed to go to the Temple and “there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks” (Deuteronomy 12:6).

The people brought these offerings during each of the Jewish holy days: Passover, Pentecost, First Fruits, the New Year, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Booths.

The people made sacrifices twice every day, twice that amount on the Sabbath, and on each New Moon.

They brought special personal sacrifices in celebration of their first-born and for health reasons.

They sacrificed a lamb or a goat when they sinned, and a ram or a lamb when they incurred guilt.

These offerings were given to God in sacrifice, over and above their tithes. Taken together, some scholars estimate that the Jewish people gave 21 percent of their income and goods back to the Lord each year. Theirs was a sacrificial commitment and lifestyle.

By contrast: a recent Gallup poll indicated that 95 percent of Americans say they believe in God, but only 12 percent say they would consider sacrificing for their faith.

When Lou Holtz was coach of the Arkansas football team, he told his players about the Japanese Kamikaze pilot in World War II who flew 54 missions. The pilot was involved but not committed, the coach said.

Here’s a rather blunt way one pastor approached the subject of tithing with his congregation: what if God made you a tither by making your income ten times your contributions to the Lord through his church? Would that be a good thing or not?

C. S. Lewis was asked: how much offering to the Lord is enough. His reply: more than we can afford. Otherwise our gifts are not a sacrifice worthy of the One who sacrificed his best for us.

Give as God directs

We’ve see what God expects. Now, how does he direct us to give to him?

A retired man became interested in the construction of an addition to a shopping mall. He stopped by daily to watch, and was especially impressed by the work of a particular equipment operator. He watched him for many days, and finally told him how much he’d enjoyed watching his outstanding work. With a shocked look on his face, the operator replied, “You’re not the supervisor?”

Our supervisor is watching our work and words, our gifts and our lives. How does he direct us to give to him?

Humbly:

Jesus tells us, “do not announce it with trumpets.” The Jews didn’t blow trumpets before they put in the offering. They announced their public fasts with trumpets; then the people would give when the crowds would most notice their generosity.

Such were “hypocrites”—the word means an actor on a stage, wearing a mask and playing a part.

Such already “have received their reward in full.” The words mean that they have their receipt, with no more payment to come. God cannot reward them in heaven, or on earth.

God tells us to give our money, our sacrificial tithes and offerings, for his glory and not our own.

Privately:

“Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (v. 3). In other words, don’t let anyone know what you have given.

Then “your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (v. 4). Give to the Lord, not to us. Give not to the church but through the church to God. Not so we will know, but so God will be pleased.

Proportionally:

“Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you” (Deuteronomy 16:17). “According to their ability they gave to the treasury for this work” (Ezra 2:69). “The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea” (Acts 11:29). “If the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have” (2 Corinthians 8:12).

So long as our gift is a sacrifice, it is pleasing to God. Not the amount but the commitment is the issue with our Father.

Gratefully:

“Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

Join God at work

One of the items in Ripley’s “Believe It or Not” columns pictured a plain bar of iron worth $5. Made into horseshoes, that iron is worth $50. Made into needles, it is worth $5,000. Made into balance springs for Swiss watches, it is worth $500,000. It’s not the material but its use that matters.

There is a divine-human partnership in God’s Kingdom. We do what we can, and he does the rest. Noah built the Ark, and God sent the flood. Moses raised his rod, and God parted the Red Sea. The priests stepped into the flooded Jordan River, and God stopped its flow. Solomon built the Temple, and God filled it with his presence. Peter stepped onto the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus redeemed his faith. John worshipped on Patmos, and Jesus gave him the book of Revelation.

So it is that God finances his Kingdom work through the sacrificial faithfulness of his people. He has chosen to do it this way. He owns all that exists, but he will only use that which we give to his use. He will only work with the materials we give to his purpose. Our obedience to his call to sacrifice affects directly his work on earth.

Saul lost his kingdom because he wouldn’t make sacrifices to God. The Jews lost their nation because they wouldn’t repent before Babylon. The people of Jesus day lost their opportunity for salvation because they wouldn’t trust in the Christ. Festus and Felix lost heaven because they wouldn’t believe Paul.

General MacArthur asked for thousands of missionaries for the Far East in the days after World War II, but the churches didn’t send them. Now those lands are almost entirely Muslim, and closed to the gospel.

On the other hand, God will use every sacrifice placed into his hands. A boy’s lunch feeds 5,000 families. Humble fishermen begin the greatest spiritual movement in human history. An angry Pharisee becomes the greatest theologian the church has ever known. An immoral adulterer named Augustine becomes the greatest theologian since Paul. A troubled monk named Luther begins the Reformation. A martyred German named Bonhoeffer still challenges the church.

Conclusion

I’ll be in heaven because two men gave up their Saturday mornings to knock on my door and invite me to ride their bus to church. What sacrifice did God use to bring you to himself? What sacrifice will you give him today?

God finances his Kingdom through the sacrificial faithfulness of his people. And he blesses those who trust him enough to receive what he will give them in return.

A man was lost in the desert southwest, and dying for water. He stumbled upon an old rundown shack, and inside it, a weather-beaten water pump. Frantically, he grabbed the handle and began to pump, but nothing came out. It was bone dry.

Then he noticed an old jug. The label read: “You have to prime the pump with all the water in this jug. Be sure you fill the jug again before you leave.” He unscrewed the cap to find a jug full of water, and a decision. He could drink the water and live for a day or so. Or he could pour the water into the old pump by faith that he would have all the water he would need.

Finally he poured the jug’s contents into the pump. He began to pump the handle as fast as he could. The old leather valves began to squeak like they were tearing apart. Then a little bit of water began to dribble out, then a little more, and finally it gushed forth. Clean, clear, cold water, all he would ever need.

He filled the jug for the next traveler. And he added this note: “Believe me, it really works. You have to give it all away to get back all you need.”

Let us pray.

Jesus is Still the Great Physician

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Topical Scripture: John 5:1–9

The coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, continues to dominate the news. The death toll stands at fifty-six this morning, with confirmed cases now in Washington State, California, and Chicago. Sixty-three Americans are being monitored for the illness. Chinese officials have enacted travel restrictions affecting nearly sixty million people, roughly the population of California and Texas, combined.

You may not be worried about the Wuhan virus, but there is something in your life that you wish God would change, or heal, or remove. I have prayed for years for God to heal my back, for instance, but so far, he has not done so.

How do we trust God when his timing is not ours?

As we continue watching Jesus change lives through his unique power and love, today we’ll meet someone who was sick for thirty-eight years before he was healed by our Lord. We’ll learn from him to trust the timing of God even when his timing makes no sense to us.

It’s been well said: God is seldom on time, but he is never late.

Seek his help

Our story begins: “After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem” (John 5:1). What follows is a miracle story found nowhere else in Scripture.

Jesus had to go “up,” because Jerusalem sits atop a plateau whose sides must be scaled by pilgrims coming to the Holy City. He came for a “feast of the Jews,” but which one? The options are Purim in March, Passover in April, Pentecost in May, Tabernacles in October, and Dedication in December. This episode likely occurred during the springtime, as the lame were lying outside in the weather and Jesus referred to the time of harvest earlier (John 4:35). Thus Purim and Passover are the best guesses.

Verse 2 continues the narrative: “Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades.” John used the present tense, “there is in Jerusalem . . .,” even though he wrote these words long after the Roman destruction of the city in AD 70. He wanted us to experience the reality of this miracle as if it occurred in our time, for it still can.

The Sheep Gate was one of the entrances through the walls of the city of Jerusalem. It had been rebuilt by Eliashib the High Priest and his fellow priests during the time of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 3:1), more than four hundred years earlier. It was likely the entrance through which sheep and lambs were brought from the neighboring fields to the Temple for sacrifice. Through this gate the Lamb of God came to heal a crippled man, as one day he would die for the spiritual healing of our crippled world.

Here lay a “pool” (this word is found only here in the New Testament). It was surrounded by “five roofed colonnades.” These colonnades were covered porches called stoa where people gathered (the “Stoics” are named for the fact that they began by meeting on porches like these). The pool in question was trapezoidal in form, 165–220 feet wide by 315 feet long, divided by a central partition. There were colonnades on four sides of this partition, and one on it. Stairways in the corners permitted descent into the pools.

The Crusaders built a church near this pool, with a crypt framed like the five porches and an opening in the floor which descended to the water. This structure is known as the Church of St. Anne; it stands today on the northwest corner of Jerusalem near the gate by the sheep market. I’ve visited it many times over the years. The pool was called Bethesda in Aramaic, a term meaning “House of Mercy.” Jesus fulfilled its name this day.

Beside this pool “lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed” (v. 3). Why were they there?

Verse 7 supplies the answer: “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up.” There is a subterranean spring beneath the pool which bubbles up occasionally, stirring its waters. The popular belief was that the first person who entered the water after it was stirred would be healed.

We meet the suffering man Jesus came to heal in verse 5: “One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.” The length of his incapacity proves the fact that it was medically incurable. Jesus did not provide him a medical solution but a miraculous healing.

So, “When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be healed?’” (v. 6). The crippled man could not come to Jesus physically and did not know to ask Jesus to come to him. So Jesus met him at the point of his great need.

But first he asked what seems to us a strange question: “Do you want to be healed?” What crippled person wouldn’t want to be healed?

However, this man had been in this condition for “a long time.” He has spent his adult life and perhaps longer in this condition. He may have become accustomed to living on the donations of others. He may not want to return to the responsibility of an earned income and work to perform.

Jesus will only work in our lives with our permission. He always limits himself to our free will.

Where do you need his healing, helping touch today? Jesus knows your pain. In fact, “your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8). Jesus is calling to us in our suffering, for he shares it with us. Even in the valley of the shadow of death, he is with us (Psalm 23:4). He promised that he would never leave or forsake us (Matthew 28:20). He hurts as we hurt and calls to us in the pain of our lives.

But some of us feel that we are beyond his help, that our sins have exempted us from his grace. The world would have said the same of this invalid.

In Jesus’ day, popular theology taught that physical illness was proof of spiritual judgment. A person with a physical birth defect, as may have been the case with this man, was under the justice and judgment of God (cf. the disciples’ question of Jesus, “who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” John 9:2). And those who experienced suffering for other reasons were judged to be sinners as well.

No self-respecting rabbi would have stopped for this man, but Jesus did. Perhaps you think no one cares about you or your pain today. If we knew your secrets, we would reject you; if the world knew your problems, it would turn on you. But not Jesus. He initiated this miracle, as he will yours. He went to this man, as he will come to you. He stands ready to meet us where we need him most.

Scripture says, “You do not have, because you do not ask” (James 4:2). To feel the touch of Jesus, seek his help.

Trust his heart

The invalid replied to Jesus’ question, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me” (v. 7). He wanted to be well but could not accomplish this on his own.

Notice how little he asked of Jesus. He believed that he would be healed if he could be the first one into the pool after the spring stirred its waters. And so, he wanted the Son of God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, simply to carry him a few feet into the water. Jesus stood ready to heal his body, and the man instead asked him to help him get wet.

Are we so different? Do you come to worship to hear a “good sermon” and music, or to meet the Lord of the universe? Am I speaking these words to give you my wisdom or God’s? To explain the text or lead you to the One who inspired it and wants to repeat its miraculous power in our lives today?

We might object that the crippled man didn’t know who Jesus really was. True, and this ignorance is his defense. But we have no such argument. When we give our need to Jesus, we must trust his heart and expect his best. For that is what he waits to give to us.

Our Lord said to the invalid, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk” (v. 8). He called the man to do something he had not done for thirty-eight years. He did not carry the man to the water—he healed him so he could walk there himself. He did not offer him a temporary cure or help for the symptoms of his disease—he worked a miracle which would banish this disease from his life forever. He told him to pick up his “mat,” the light pallet on which he had begged for so long.

And he told the invalid to “walk.” He has not moved the muscles of his legs for thirty-eight years. Even if a physician were to cure the cause of his paralysis, perhaps a rupture in the spine or nerves, his muscles would be so atrophied that years of physical rehabilitation would be required by him. But not by Jesus. He did for the man far more than the man asked of him.

Now the divine-human partnership emerges. Jesus healed the man, but the invalid had to get up with the power given him by God. Jesus restored his body but told him to carry his own mat. Jesus cured his limbs but required the man to use them himself. And when he did, “At once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked” (v. 9).

When we trust our problem into Jesus’ hands, we must always expect the best from him. He will always do as we ask, or something better. We often misunderstand his ways and feel that he will not hear or help us. But he is giving us what is best for us, whether we know it at the moment or not.

Many years ago, I was using a razor blade to scrape paint from a window one Saturday morning when one of our small boys happened by. Attracted by the shiny “toy” in my hand, he wanted to play with it and was not happy that I wouldn’t give him what he asked. But of course, no amount of begging or anger would have persuaded me to give him what he wanted.

When we stand with our Father in glory, we’ll see how many times he met our needs and answered our prayers with what we asked. And how often he gave us even more.

Where do you need his touch? Seek his help, then trust his heart.

Wait for his best

Let’s consider one last fact. This man had been an invalid for thirty-eight years, likely lying beside this pool for all this time. Jesus had been coming to Jerusalem since he was twelve and was now in his early thirties. Thus, there had been two decades when the Son of God probably passed by this man in his infirmity.

Why did Jesus wait so long to heal this man? Why now?

Here we learn that God’s timing is seldom our own. He tells us, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:8). We see the parade through a hole in the fence; he sees it from the grandstand. He has a plan we cannot fathom which is relevant to the entire universe for all of eternity. And he works this plan in ways that are best, though we seldom understand that fact at the time.

When Joseph was languishing in Potiphar’s prison, he could not know that God was orchestrating events that would bring him into Pharaoh’s palace. When Paul was imprisoned in Philippi, he could not know that God would send an earthquake that would lead to the jailer’s conversion. When John was exiled on Patmos, he could not know that the risen Christ would meet him there and give him the Revelation.

Where does it seem to you that Jesus is passing you by? That he knows your need but has not met it? That his timing is not yours?

The simple fact of Scripture and providence is that God does what we ask or whatever is best. And when his timing is not ours, there are reasons we cannot understand but can trust.

Conclusion

What infirmity has found you? Would you seek Jesus’ help, trust his heart, and wait on his timing?

Charles Spurgeon was the greatest preacher of his generation, but he was no stranger to pain. He battled a burning kidney inflammation called Bright’s Disease as well as rheumatism and neuritis. And he suffered from depression for many years.

Here was his response: “All our infirmities, whatever they are, are just opportunities for God to display his gracious work in us.”

It’s been stated, “The sun never quits shining. Sometimes, clouds just get in the way.”

What clouds would you trust to the Son today?

Job and Joel Osteen

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Job and Joel Osteen

Job 1:1-5

James C. Denison

Joel Osteen’s new book, Become A Better You, was released this past Monday. Joel has become the pastor of America’s largest church, and is a bestselling author and international figure. He has been interviewed this week on 60 Minutes, Good Morning America, and talk shows across the country.

In the first chapter of his new book he writes, “Don’t be weighed down by the distractions and disappointments in life; instead, keep stretching to the n ext level, reaching for your highest potential. If you do that, I can tell you with confidence your best days are in front of you. God is going to show you more of His blessings and favor, and you will become a better you, better than you ever dreamed possible” (p. 18).

I have no doubt that this message of positive thinking is helping many people. But what do we do when prosperity doesn’t come to us? When innocent suffering is the reality of our lives? Peter’s future led to a crucifixion, upside down; Paul’s to a beheading; John’s to an exile on Patmos. God’s faithful servants are not always rewarded on earth for their obedience. Of all the people who deserve to be battling leukemia in the hospital today, Dr. Gary Cook is last on the list. But that’s where he is, and I am hurting with him and grieving for his family.

Here’s the fact for today: no matter how our world changes, God doesn’t. Today we’ll see why that fact is so crucial to the help and hope of God, wherever we need it most.

When life caves in

The Book of Job centers on a character who likely predated the Hebrew race and faith.

Job never refers to Abraham, the patriarchs, or the law of Moses. He makes no mention of the Promised Land or the covenant of God with the nation of Israel. The book refers to peoples who thrived before Abraham was born.

But Job was a very real person, not a literary figure; he is described in Ezekiel 14:14 as a righteous man and is commended in James 5:11 for his perseverance.

He lived in Uz, an area east of Israel, encompassing Edom to the south and Aram in the north. Depending on its size, the area could include parts of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Iraq today.

Our text describes him as “blameless and upright.” The two terms go together in the Hebrew syntax, for they are two sides of the same character.

“Blameless” means “complete, mature, lacking nothing,” a man of complete integrity and righteousness in his personal character. “Upright” means “standing straight,” a person who is unwilling to compromise morally, someone who is always honest in his relations with others.

At the same time, “blameless” does not mean sinless. All of us have sinned and come short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8). Job was “blameless and upright” in that he sought to live by God’s law in every dimension of his life.

In addition, Job “feared God and shunned evil,” words which also go together in the original grammar. To “fear God” is to reverence him, to respect him deeply. To “shun evil” is to avoid it every time, at all costs. Job was a man of enormous integrity and spirituality, as our text will soon demonstrate.

It was just this character which Satan would attack.

Soon his oxen, donkeys, sheep and camels were stolen and his servants killed (vs. 13-17). Most devastating of all, a “mighty wind” (probably a tornado) from the Arabian Desert then killed all of Job’s children (vs. 18-19). In a single day, “the greatest man among all the people of the East” (v. 3) was reduced to horrific despair and poverty.

Then his health was taken from him. The Bible does not name Job’s disease (if it even had a medical name or description). We know that it caused him to endure “painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head” (Job 2:7). These sores or boils would break and fester over his entire body (Job 7:5); he would endure nightmares (7:14), scabs which became black (30:28, 30), a disfigured and revolting appearance (2:12; 19:19), bad breath (19:17), weight loss (17:7; 19:20), fever (30:30), and pain all day and night (30:17).

A disease known as “hypogammaglobulinemia” matches most of Job’s symptoms. This is an autoimmune deficiency which leads to respiratory infections, chronic diarrhea, weight loss, rheumatoid arthritis, and pneumonia. The patient often experiences bacterial infections which produce skin reactions and boils. Whatever afflicted Job, it was horrific.

It is impossible for us to imagine Job’s torment. His physical response was consistent with Oriental mourning: “Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head” (Job 1:20a). But his spiritual response was unique and astounding: “Then he fell to the ground in worship” (v. 20b).

Admitting that he had nothing at birth and would have nothing at death (v. 21a), he concluded: “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised (v. 21b). And so, “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing” (v. 22). How can we do the same?

How to trust the God you cannot see

This fall we’ve been exploring the nature of God Almighty. We’ve learned that he is awesome, to be feared and reverenced.

At the same time, we’ve discovered that he is intimately interested in every one of us. He knows everything about us and cares about every part of our lives.

God Almighty is love almighty. He didn’t have to make a single one of us–the planet had enough people before we were born. He wanted to make us. He loves us and likes us and cherishes us as a Father cherishes his children.

But he is Judge Almighty as well. His holiness requires him to condemn sin and judge sinners.

We have seen that he responds to us: when we show faith, he can show favor. When we refuse his word and will, he must refuse his blessing.

Now we learn that he is constant and consistent. He is awesome and intimate, love and judge, always and at the same time. His character never changes. Hebrews 13:8 states that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” James 1:17 says that with God “there is no variation or shadow of change.” In Malachi 3:6 God says, “I the Lord do not change.”

We see each facet of God Almighty in the book of Job.

Here we find that God is awesome, to be feared, reverenced, honored (Job 38:1-7). Job 38-41 is the antidote to spiritual self-sufficiency and pride. God was Almighty eons before Job was even born, much less suffered.

Yet the God of Job is intimately interested in every one of us. He knows Job well: “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8). He knows Job better than Job knows himself.

God in Job is love, even when life is hard (Job 42:12-16). Notice that he gave Job twice what he had lost, except that he gave him the same number of children as before (seven sons and three daughters; v. 13, 1:2). One commentator explained that Job still had his first set of children in heaven, and now a second set on earth, so that God doubled even his family as well.

And God in Job is judge against the friends of Job and their presumption (42:7-9). In all that he did, God was always all of God that he is.

He doesn’t change, even when we wish he would. Even when he doesn’t answer our prayer the way we asked it, or do what we wanted him to do. What do we do then? How do we trust God when he disappoints us? When your dear friend is in the hospital, or your marriage is in pain, or your kids are in trouble? Why trust God then?

Because he will do what we ask or whatever is best. The most likely reason why God does not always answer our prayers the way we want is that he knows what is best for us. He is a Father always. All parents can tell you about times when they could not give their children what they wanted because they loved them too much.

Billy Graham was devastated that the girl he loved rejected his proposal of marriage (she didn’t think he’d make anything of his life). He couldn’t understand why God hadn’t answered his prayers. Then he met Ruth Bell and the rest is history.

We are seldom good judges of what is for our eternal best. I could not understand why God would call me from the faculty of Southwestern Seminary into the pastorate, but for two decades I’ve been glad that he did. Our family could not have been happier in Midland when he called us to Atlanta, or happier in Atlanta when he called us to Dallas. But looking back I can see that he knew better than me each time.

I do not understand why God did not answer my prayers for Gary Cook and take this leukemia from him. I still cannot imagine why he did not answer my prayers for my father’s health in the way I wanted. But I know that his holiness requires him to redeem all that he permits or causes.

He must have permitted my father’s death for a greater purpose I cannot yet comprehend. He must have permitted Dr. Cook’s leukemia for a greater reason than we can yet know. One day I’ll understand why, and that fact sustains me in the meantime.

So now I rest in the knowledge that God will always give me what I ask or something better. He answers my prayers every time, whether I know it at the moment or not. He is always awesome and intimate, loving and judge. He responds to our faith with his favor, but he does not change. And he always does the right thing–always.

Conclusion

Where is Job your story today? What suffering has found your family or finances or health? How are you tempted to give up on God this morning? Know that he is the same God he was before your crisis came. He hasn’t changed. He’s still the God who sent his Son to the cross for you. He’s still the same God who loves you and likes you and walks with you whether you can see him or not. He’s still all of God there is. Now he wants to be all of God he is, for you.

Last Tuesday I was privileged to bring the invocation at the annual Baylor University Medical Center’s Celebrating Women Luncheon. Our own Sharon McCullough was one of the co-chairs for the event, which raised $3.5 million to fight breast cancer. Our Jim and Julie Turner were honored for their very significant gifts to the cause.

The speaker was Lynn Redgrave, the Oscar, Emmy, and Tony-award winning actress and breast cancer survivor. She told a remarkable story of courage, pain, suffering, and hope. Toward the end of her talk she told us about the time one of her very best friends came from England to help her.

Sunday morning came, and her friend asked where a Catholic church might be so she could attend Mass. Lynn said that she had not been religious before, but that she went with her friend to the service. The Catholic liturgy was unfamiliar to her, so she began attending a Disciples of Christ church in her community. The church’s pastor was a woman, and Lynn thought she might be able to help.

Through this experience, Lynn Redgrave has come to God. She has found his help and hope for her suffering and pain. She closed her talk by reciting the 23rd Psalm, so powerfully that many of us had tears in our eyes.

Her presentation reminded me of the time a famous orator and an elderly, retired pastor were both asked to recite the 23rd Psalm in the same service. When the orator finished, the audience applauded. When the elderly pastor finished, the same audience wept. Then the actor returned to the microphone and said, “I wish to explain what just happened. I know the Psalm–he knows the Shepherd.”

After her message, I asked Ms. Redgrave for permission to share her story with you. I told her about that orator and elderly minister, then said to her, “I can tell that you know the Shepherd.” She looked into my eyes, smiled, and said, “I do.”

Do you?

Joining the Unashamed

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Joining the Unashamed

1 Peter 1:3-9

Dr. Jim Denison

There is a Fifth Great Awakening sweeping the nations in these days. More people are coming to faith in Christ every day than ever before. David Barrett’s World Christian Encyclopedia documents 82,000 new Christians every day. More Muslims are becoming Christians than ever before, many of them after seeing visions and dreams of Jesus. This movement is touching the globe.

It started in South Korea after the devastation of the Korean conflict. Today that nation is one-third to one-half born-again Christian; five of the ten largest churches on earth are in South Korea. Last year the Koreans sent more missionaries into the world than America did.

There is a worship movement in Australia, a Pentecostal movement in Central and South America, a tribal movement in sub-Saharan Africa. As many as 100,000 people come to Christ each day in the underground church movement of China. China is now the largest Christian nation on earth.

In Cuba, a million people have come to Christ in the last ten years. I have preached there seven times, and am amazed each time at what God is doing on the island. My last time there, last fall, we saw 330 people make public professions of faith on the Sunday morning I preached. Not because of me—the day before, 294 Cubans knocked on 1050 doors and shared the gospel with 5,000 people. As a result, 330 made a public commitment to Christ in a church which is four feet from the Communist headquarters.

God is at work in these days. But of the 82,000 Barrett documents as coming to Christ every day, only 6,000 are in Europe and North America, combined. How can we join the Fifth Great Awakening? How can we experience the power, peace, and purpose of Jesus as they are experiencing his grace and joy? How can we join the Fifth Great Awakening? By experiencing the First Great Awakening.

This Easter I wanted to bring a message I’d never preached before. For 25 years as a pastor I preached each year on Easter, of course. I didn’t want to rerun one of those messages. As Janet and I were talking about this service, I was drawn to a passage I’ve never preached before in all my ministry, much less on Easter. But I believe it is God’s word for you and me this morning.

Meet Peter

Our author is “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:1). When you think of Peter, what images come to mind? A Galilean fisherman, eking out a living with his fishing line, a peasant fisherman struggling to get by? That’s how many people see him.

One of the activities of our ministry is to lead study tours of biblical lands. A month ago I was back in Israel. One day we visited the ruins of Capernaum, the village where Peter lived when he met Jesus. We went to the house which 20 centuries of tradition has marked as that of Peter. It is the largest house yet discovered in the entire area, and is located closer to the Sea of Galilee than any other.

We know that Peter and Andrew, James and John operated a fishing consortium. They had many boats and hired servants. They exported fish across all of Israel, even to the palace of the High Priest himself. And Peter was the CEO of their company, living in the largest house in Galilee, on the lake. If he were alive today, he would fit right in with us.

He turned from his business to follow Jesus, when his Lord called him to “fish for men.” Peter is named first in every list of apostles in the New Testament. He was the first to call Jesus “the Christ, the Son of the Living God”; in reply, Jesus told him, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not withstand its assault” (Matthew 16). Peter was the one disciple willing to get out of the boat to walk on the water to his Lord. He was with him on the Mt. of Transfiguration and in the Garden of Gethsemane.

But when Jesus needed him most, Peter failed his Lord. He denied knowing him three times. He fled his cross, and went back to his fishing business. But Jesus didn’t give up on Peter. He came back to Capernaum, to the shore of the Sea of Galilee, where Peter recognized him, jumped from his boat and swam to him. Jesus forgave him and restored him and called him to “feed my sheep.”

This Peter would do for the rest of his life.

He was with Jesus at his ascension, and with the disciples in the Upper Room when the Holy Spirit filled them on the day of Pentecost. He preached the Pentecost sermon which led 3,000 to Christ and birthed the church. He testified for his Lord before the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court which had sentenced Jesus to die and could do the same to him.

He was used by God to raise Dorcas from the dead, to welcome Cornelius and the Gentiles into the church, and to pastor the great church at Rome. When Nero called him to renounce Jesus or be crucified, Peter asked that he might be nailed to the cross upside down, since he did not consider himself worthy to die in the same manner as did his Lord.

Meet Jesus

What made the difference? What turned Peter from a coward who denied knowing Christ to one of the boldest preachers and missionaries in history? Easter. Easter changed Peter. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead changed this man, and sparked in and through him the first Great Awakening, a movement which has swept the nations and is now embraced by two billion people on earth. Easter happened.

Peter wrote his letter to Jewish Christians scattered across the Roman Empire. Here’s what he says to them about the One whose resurrection we celebrate today.

First, Easter is a “living hope” (v. 3). It is a constant, continuous, transforming fact. Easter doesn’t come once a year—it comes every day. Jesus is alive, every day. He is Lord, every day. Our culture likes to separate the spiritual from the secular, Sunday from Monday, religion from the real world. Jesus doesn’t. He is King and Lord of every day. In him we have a “living hope,” a daily relationship with the God of the universe.

Second, when Jesus is your “living hope,” his resurrection is yours. Easter is “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you” (v. 4). You are immortal. If Jesus is your Lord, you will never die. When you take your last breath here, you take your first breath there. You step from time into eternity, death to life, earth to paradise. Jesus said, “He who lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:26).

When Jesus is your daily Lord and King, he not only promises you eternal life to come, he promises you strength today.

Easter is help for hard times: “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (vs. 6-7).

“All kinds of trials” are common to life. Jesus warned us that “in this world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33).

But the risen Christ is ready and able to strengthen you, to encourage you, to guide you and help you and forgive you and empower you. When we make him our King every day, we “are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy” (v. 8), for we are “receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (v. 9).

Conclusion

Easter changed Peter, and God used Peter to change the world. That was the first Great Awakening. It proved mightier than the mighty Roman Empire, and has led two billion people to make the risen Christ their God and King. Now the Fifth Great Awakening is sweeping the nations again. Will we join it?

Will we make the risen Christ our “living hope” by crowning him our King every day? Will we begin the day by putting it in his hands, submitting ourselves to him and asking him to guide us and bless us and use us? Will we trust him for eternal life to come and ask his strength for life today? Will we pray through the day, giving him our problems and mistakes and fears and trusting his power and guidance when we need them most?

Let’s close with my favorite confession of faith, which was written by an African Christian, a man later martyred for his faith. I invite you to make its commitment your own:

I am part of the ‘Fellowship of the Unashamed.’ I have Holy Spirit power. The dye has been cast. I’ve stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of His. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions, mundane talking, chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by his presence, lean by faith, love by patience, live by prayer, and labor by power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal in heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, diluted, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of compromise, pander at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won’t give up, shut up, let up, or slow up until I’ve preached up, prayed up, paid up, stored up, and stayed up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go until he comes, give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until he stops. And when he comes to get his own, he’ll have no problems recognizing me—my colors will be clear.

Jordan Crossing

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Jordan Crossing

Joshua 3:1-4:24

Dr. Jim Denison

Thesis: We must step by faith into the purpose of God to receive the power he gives.

Goal: Step into the next stage of faithfulness as revealed to you by God.

There’s an old story about a council meeting in the halls of Hell. Satan was seeking an infallible strategy for defeating God’s Kingdom on earth. One demon stood and said, “I shall go to men and tell them there is no heaven.” But Satan said, “That will never work, for in the heart of all mankind there beats a hope of life eternal. They will not believe that there is no heaven. You shall not go.”

Another demon stood and said, “I will go and tell them there is no Hell.” And Satan said, “That will not work either. Men know that there is right and wrong, and that wrong must be punished. They will not believe there is no Hell. You shall not go.”

Finally a small demon at the back of the meeting room stood and said, “I will tell men that there is a Heaven and there is a Hell. But then I will tell them that there is no hurry.” And Satan said, “Go!”

He’s still in our world and our minds today. Joshua is calling our people and church to follow the Lord into his future by faith. If our enemy cannot persuade us to refuse the Promised Land intended for us by our Father, he will do all he can to distract us, to lead us to complacency and delay. For he knows that “later” with God means “no” today.

For each of us, there is a call of God to go forward now. We each have a flooded river to cross if we would enter the purpose of God. Where is yours? What step will you take today?

Prepare to see the power of God (3:1-13)

We must build the fireplace before God can send the fire. A couple must prepare for a baby before an adoption agency will give one to them. Joshua and his people were called by God to prepare for his power before they would see it. So are we.

Trust in his presence (vs. 1-4)

Joshua’s officers began with this word to the nation: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it” (v. 3). This “ark” was the most sacred possession of the people. It was first built for the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:10-22), the portable sanctuary used by Israel until they came into their permanent homeland. Overlaid with gold, it was constructed with a golden angel at either end. Only four feet long by 2.5 feet wide and 2.5 feet deep, it was so sacred that it was carried on poles attached permanently to its sides, because no human was allowed to touch it. It contained the ten commandments, as well as a jar of manna from the wilderness (Exodus 16:33-34) and a copy of the book of Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 31:24-26).

The ark was kept at Gilgal, Shechem, Bethel, Shiloh, and Keriath-Jearim before being placed permanently in Solomon’s temple at Jerusalem. It was the most significant symbol of the Jewish nation, much more than a flag to us, for it represented the throne and presence of Almighty God himself.

When the ark preceded the people, they would know that the Lord was present with them, marching at their front, leading them into the river and the land beyond. The ark gave them courage and faith to know that their Lord would indeed never leave or forsake them. But they must follow it at a distance of a thousand yards (v. 4), for it was too sacred for their close presence. So long as the ark went before, they could follow behind in confidence.

Today the ark is no more. Lost or destroyed in the Babylonian captivity, its fate has never been determined with certainty. Some Jewish archaeologists believe that it was stored by the rabbis in tunnels beneath the Temple Mount when the Babylonians were approaching, and awaits discovery at a time when the Muslim authorities permit such excavation. Others think it was taken with Jeremiah to Egypt in exile, or to Babylon. And some think the Jews destroyed it lest it fall into pagan hands. But no one is certain.

Nor is it needed now. Jeremiah told his people not to mourn the loss of the ark, but to trust in the God it represented. When the Messiah comes, the prophet promised, “men will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the Lord. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts” (Jeremiah 3:16-17). Now that the Messiah has arrived, his followers are God’s temple, with God’s Spirit living in us (1 Corinthians 3:16). His word is no longer kept in a box, but is alive in our hearts (Hebrews 4:12).

He is just as present in our lives as he was with their ark. As we step into the water of obedience, we can trust his presence and protection. He will lead us wherever we are to go. When we follow in reverent faith, the other side is sure.

Consecrate yourself (v. 5)

In preparing to see the power of God, the people must first believe that his presence would lead and protect them. Next, they must be ready spiritually to walk in that holy presence: “Joshua told the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you'” (v. 5).

To them such “consecration” meant to wash their clothes and bodies, to abstain from sexual relations, and to prepare spiritually (Exodus 19:10, 14-15). To us it means preparation which is more spiritual than physical. At issue is not what we can see with our eyes, but what the Lord can see by his Spirit. In calling the Pharisees to such spiritual consecration, Jesus had to say to them, “on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness” (Matthew 23:28). We must be clean in our hearts to be close to God with our lives.

How do we “consecrate ourselves” today? We ask the Holy Spirit to show us anything which is wrong between us and God, and write down what comes to mind. We then confess these sins specifically, humbly, and honestly to God, claiming the forgiveness he offers by grace (1 John 1:8-10). We throw away the paper in gratitude, and submit our wills and ambitions to his perfect purpose. We crown him our Lord anew, placing him on the throne of our hearts. We draw close to him, knowing that he will draw close to us.

You would prepare for any task which is significant to your life. Think back to a job interview, and the attention you gave to every detail of the day. If you are married, remember all the months of work invested in 30 minutes of wedding ceremony. Does our Father deserve less? If we are not experiencing the power of God in our lives and ministries, perhaps this is an issue worth examining. When we humble ourselves and pray, seek his face and turn from our sins, then our God can hear from heaven, forgive our sin, and heal our land (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Follow his leadership (vs. 6-8)

Leaders must lead. Paradoxically, no fact is more self-evident or as easily forgotten. We cannot ask others to go where we will not. And so our leaders must follow God before their people can follow them by faith.

Every person present that day on the banks of the flooded Jordan River was required to make a courageous step of faith. First Joshua himself (v. 7). He had one last chance to turn back, to step away from the bank and the failure it might represent. But God promised he would redeem his faith and exalt his leadership, and he did (4:14).

Next the priests, who would step into the river while it was still flooded, carrying the symbolic presence of the Lord into the torrent (v. 8). Theirs would be the first lives risked in faith. And then the people, who would follow on dry land.

God here promised a repeat of the Red Sea miracle, a physical manifestation of his universal power. People in these ancient times imagined local deities who lived and ruled in particular localities. Baal was the local god of the Canaanites, worshipped because they believed he defeated the sea-god on their behalf. They often tested the truthfulness of a person’s statement by throwing him into a river; if he drowned, Baal had punished him for his guilt. And so the flooded River was part of his domain, under his direct power.

The defeat of this river and its water-god would have enormous significance for the Canaanites on the other side. It was as though their water deity had lost to the Jewish God, who won the victory so his people could cross Baal’s boundary into his territory. If our president were to fight at the front lines of a battle on our national borders, and lose, the invading army would win a battle of enormous symbolic significance.

Here God would prove his claim to the Promised Land, by going before his people into the flooded river which marked its boundaries and staying there until the entire nation had crossed over. This would be an event of historic and enduring significance for Israel.

Expect all he promises (vs. 9-13)

Joshua made clear the theological and symbolic significance of what lay before the nation (vs. 9-11). Then he led the people to choose representatives to take part in what would soon occur, so that the entire population would be included in national leadership (v. 12).

And he offered the people his promise: when the priests stepped into the flooded river, its waters would be cut off (v. 13). He did not merely state that God had promised this would occur, so that if it did not the fault would lie with the Lord. He put his own character, integrity, and leadership on the line. He made this promise as his own, on the basis of the Lord’s word and power. He staked everything on the faithfulness of his God.

Such trust is essential to experiencing all that God wants to give. Not because we must earn his favor by our faith. Rather, because such trust positions us to receive all that God wants to bestow but cannot without our acceptance. A surgeon cannot perform a life-saving procedure unless the patient will trust in his skill. Such faith does not earn the surgery, but receives it.

In preparing to see the power of God, we trust in his abiding presence; we consecrate ourselves through confession and repentance; and we step out by faith, following his leadership so that we might receive the power he wishes to give. These steps are as essential to our experience with God as they were for Joshua and his people.

Step into the miracle (vs. 14-17)

The people broke camp and marched toward their future (v. 14). What did they find? The Jordan “at flood stage all during harvest” (v. 15a). The river flows north to south, over 200 miles from Mt. Hermon to the Dead Sea. It plunges nearly 2000 feet down across its journey, but typically flows in a peaceful, meandering stream.

However, every year the spring rains and melted snow from Mt. Hermon combined to turn the stream into a raging torrent. The harvest period was roughly between Easter and Pentecost; this event most likely occurred in early April.

And at a river now a mile wide, 12-15 feet deep, rushing by so swiftly that it promised to drown any who stepped into it. The cattle and possessions of the nation would be lost. The children would have no chance to survive. Few adults could expect to live through this flood. To the Canaanites, Baal would destroy the intruders before they ever stepped foot on his territory.

Now came the moment of history, with the future of the nation suspended in the balance. Picture the scene in your mind. The priests take up the Ark, grasping the poles which support its weight. They lift these poles to their shoulders. They march toward the river. They stop. No one speaks. You can hear only the pounding of the water as it rushes by, crashing against the shore. You can feel its spray against your face and smell the mist as it rises. It’s a torrent.

They don’t have to do this. They can stay where they are, secure and at ease. But they’ll never inherit the promises and power of God. They can try to find their own way across the river, but they’ll likely fail and drown. Or they can step out in faith. And they do.

Instantly, the pounding waters stop. The foam ceases, the spray dies. The river’s roar falls silent. All is quiet and still. And where only moments before there had been a deep, torrential river, now there lies before them a dry bed anyone can cross.

How did it happen? The river “piled up in a heap a great distance away at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan” (v. 16). Adam was some 20 miles upstream. The Jordan would take several hours to flow from there to here. And so God began this miracle hours before his people knew it or could participate in it.

Some have suggested a natural explanation, such as an earthquake. As the NavPress commentary states, such an earthquake occurred in the region in 1927, blocking the Jordan River for 20 hours (p. 52). But note that the moment the priests stepped into the river it stopped flowing (3:15), and that the moment they stepped out of the river bed, the flood began again (4:18). Such timing strains the explanation of a natural phenomenon beyond credulity. If God chose to use an earthquake, he clearly retained control over its force and exact timing, which is itself no less a miracle.

Now the people were required to demonstrate their own faith (v. 17). Would the flood stay blocked? Was it safe to step into the river bed? It would take the nation half a day to cross. Imagine parents with children in hand, all their worldly possessions at their side. What would your response have been?

Theirs was unanimous—the entire nation followed God by faith. They stepped into the miracle. And only when they did, could they see its power and experience its provision. It is still the same with us today.

Remember the future (4:1-24)

We exist to glorify God and enjoy him forever, as the Westminster Catechism correctly states. And so a miracle from God must be shared with as many as possible, to bring the Father the greatest glory. Not just those in our day, but those who will come after us. They will need the same encouragement we experience when we meet the power and presence of the God of the universe.

The steps are the same for our generation as they were for Joshua’s day. First, we find a way to share our faith with those who will follow us. God called for a man from each tribe to take twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, and use them to build a permanent memorial to the history-making event of this day. Stone monuments were common in the Old Testament era (24:26; 1 Samuel 7:12; 7:26; 24:26-27; Genesis 28:18-22; 31:45-47). And so each representative brought a stone which signified his tribe’s faith and faithfulness. And Joshua used them to build a monument to a miracle.

Note the courage required by this act. The flooded river was still stopped. The men were to walk in the river bed, holding a rock. No activity would be more disastrous if the flood returned. But they believed that God had not brought them this far to abandon them. So should we.

After the priests and their people crossed the river into their future, God anointed again their leader for the days and battles which would come (v. 14). For the rest of his life, Joshua and his nation would remember this day. Whenever fear about the future attacked, they would hearken back to that pile of stones made possible by the miraculous power of their God. And they would be encouraged.

After the stones of remembrance were secured, and the last person of the nation had left the river bed, the priests brought the ark of the covenant to the shore of the Promised Land. And immediately the Jordan returned to its flooded place, further proof that God was the director and orchestrator of the events of this epochal day. It all occurred “on the tenth day of the first month” (v. 19), evidence of the historical nature of this narrative. When biblical writers wish to speak in analogy or symbol, they avoid historical references such as dates and geographical locations. Here the writer makes clear the fact that these events are facts.

Joshua then presided over the service of remembrance, securing the miraculous nature of this day for all who would come after them. And he taught them the ultimate significance of the event: “He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God” (v. 24). God’s purposes are always global in significance. He cares not just for Jewish tribes on a riverbank 35 centuries ago, but for “all the peoples of the earth” this day.

He wants us to trust his power. And he wants us to “fear” him. To “fear the Lord” means to revere, to yield to or respect supremely. Such “fear” is the beginning of all true wisdom (Proverbs 1:7). And it is essential to the spiritual life. God can only give us what we will receive. Our hands must be empty of pride and self to be filled with the glory and presence of the Lord.

In 1961, J. B. Phillips published a small book which became a classic, Your God Is Too Small. According to him, some of us see God as a kind of policeman or parent, regulating our lives. Others see him as a grandparent, kind and benevolent but not very active in life. Others view him as the “grand old man” of heaven, waiting for us there but not much good down here. Still others identify him with a church building—a one-day-a-week sermon or religious event. And still others see him as the giant Clockmaker who made the universe and now watches apathetically as it all runs down.

How do you see God? As the creator of the universe, the One who still rules it today? The God who can stop any flooded river on any continent, at any point in history? The God who will guide, protect, and empower every child of his who is willing to walk in his purpose and will? What floods stand between you and your life purpose? Remember your future: the One who stilled the Jordan will calm your heart and change your circumstances this very day. Unless your God is too small.

Conclusion

You and I have only today to follow the Lord. Yesterday is gone and “tomorrow” does not yet exist. We cannot lead our classes or congregation further than we are willing to follow. Is there a step of faith before you just now? A commitment to which the Lord is calling you? A sacrifice of finances, time, or prestige? A greater work to be done for his greater glory?

The instant the priests stepped into the torrential flood, the waters stopped. Not a moment before. We must step by faith into the purpose of God before that purpose will come to pass. It has ever been so.

Noah builds an ark as God requires, when it’s likely never rained before. He spends a century at the task. He steps into the river by faith and saves a race. Abraham leaves his family, his home, and goes out “not knowing.” He doesn’t know where he’ll be until he arrives. He steps into the river by faith, and begins a nation. Moses stands before Pharaoh king of Egypt, and shouts, “Let my people go!” He doesn’t know what will happen until it does. He steps into the Red Sea by faith and leads a nation. Jesus heals a blind man after he washes in the river by faith; he heals a paralytic in the instant he takes up his mat to go home; he sends his Spirit at Pentecost only after his people have prayed in faith. We must step into the river before it will part.

Now you and I are led by another Joshua—Yeshua, Jesus—to the edge of a land and purpose promised to us. A land of abundant life, joy, and power, and the thrill and privilege of fulfilling the reason for our existence. But we must step out in faith, first. What is this step for you today?

On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand, and cast a wishful eye

To Canaan’s fair and happy land where my possessions lie.

All o’er those wide extended plains shines one eternal day;

There God the Son forever reigns and scatters night away.

I am bound for the promised land, I am bound for the promised land;

O who will come and go with me? I am bound for the promised land.

If you’ll step into the waters, they will part. This is the promise of God.

Joy In A Jail Cell

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Joy in a Jail Cell

2 Timothy 3:10—4:22

Dr. Jim Denison, Senior Pastor

The following came from an anonymous mother in Austin, Texas. She titles the list, “Things I’ve learned from my children (honest and no kidding):”

A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house four inches deep.

You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way. The glass in windows (even double-pane) does not stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.

When you hear the toilet flush and the words “uh oh,” it’s already too late.

Super glue is forever.

The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy. It will, however, make cats dizzy. Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

Always look in the oven before you turn it on. Plastic toys do not like ovens. The fire department in Austin, Texas has a five-minute response time.

We’re talking today about being happy in hard places. The subject is relevant.

Psychologist Martin Seligman says that depression in the year 2000 was about ten times as likely as in 1900. More than 14 million adults in our country have suffered a major depressive episode in the past year; more than 35 million have had one at some point in their lives.

In 2002, Americans spent $7.7 billion on 6.9 million cosmetic procedures, including 1.7 million Botox injections.

We are time-crunched. “Zipcar” is an hourly rental-car service now making money. “P. J. Squares” are on the market; peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches pre-made for those who don’t have the thirty seconds it takes to make their own.

Paul learned to be joyous in jail, happy on death row. He knew somehow that “the Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom” (4:18). Perhaps he can help us say the same. Where do you need to be happy in a hard place? Where is your jail cell today?

Remember where you’ve been (3:10-11)

Paul writes his son in the faith, “You, however, know all about” me; the phrase means to follow someone closely, to know them intimately. Timothy knew all about Paul’s life, his godly character, his “persecutions” and “sufferings” when he was run out of town and stoned and left for dead. He knew that Paul’s problems were real.

Despite all the apostle has faced, “the Lord rescued me from all of them” (v. 11b). “Rescued” means to pluck from danger, to pull from the fire. He didn’t keep Paul from suffering, but he rescued him in the midst of the pain. Now Paul believes that what God did once, he will do again.

When you’re in jail, remember where you’ve been. Look back at all that God has done for you, and you can look forward to what he will do next.

Look at your existence. To spell “collagen,” the name of a common type of protein, you need to arrange all eight letters in the right order. To make the protein itself, you need to arrange 1,055 amino acids in precisely the right sequence. This happens spontaneously in nature. Yet the odds are one in 10×260, a number larger than all the atoms in the universe (Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, 288). And that’s just one protein in your genetic makeup.

Look at your country and its freedoms and prosperity. Take note of the health you enjoy today. Think about the salvation you have received through Christ. Realize that you already have eternal life, and will, eternally.

Think of the last thing God did for you. Realize that he didn’t bring you this far to leave you. Remember what he has done for you, and you’ll be empowered to trust him for what he will do for you. And you’ll find joy in a jail cell.

Don’t blame God (3:12-13)

If the greatest apostle in Christian history sits on death row, we will suffer as well. “Everyone” (with no exceptions) who “wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus” (to please God and be loyal to him) “will be persecuted.” The word means to bear a heavy load, to be under pressure or attack. It is inevitable. You’ve joined the battle, and now the enemy knows about you and will find you.

So don’t blame God when the enemy attacks. Our Lord warned us that he would:

“Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues” (Matthew 10:17).

“You will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me” (Matthew 24:9).

“If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15:20).

Why do we face persecutions and problems? How could a good God create such a world as this? Why not blame him when you’re in prison?

Because this is a fallen world. Before the fall in Eden, there was no cancer, heart disease, AIDS, SARS, hurricanes or tornadoes. All of creation was affected by the Fall (Romans 8:19-22).

And because we are fallen people. We face “evil men and imposters” who deceive and are deceived (v. 13). Thus Daniel is in the lion’s den and Paul in the Mamertine dungeon.

So expect to be persecuted for your faith, expect to face temptations, tests, and problems. Don’t blame God—seek him. Ask for his help. When we have the flu we don’t blame our doctor—we call him.

If we’ll expect problems, we’ll stay reliant on our Father. We’ll know that the next battle is just over the next hill, that we need to stay connected with his power. We’ll not fall so easily into discouragement when problems attack.

When you’re in jail, don’t blame God. Instead, seek his help and his grace.

Read your mail (3.14-17)

Now, “as for you, continue in what you have learned and become convinced of” (v. 14). “Continue” means to make this a constant and continual habit.

What have we “learned and become convinced of?” “The Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (v. 15).

Why should we trust the Bible in hard places? Because “All Scripture is God-breathed” (v. 16a). God breathed these words into the hearts and minds of those who wrote them. Peter adds, “Prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21).

These words are “useful,” profitable, that which bears results. For what? Teaching—guiding our next step, showing us what to do. Rebuking—showing us our mistakes and sins. Correcting—setting us on the right path. Training in righteousness—instructing us in right living.

With this result: “the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (v. 17). “Thoroughly equipped” means to be completely prepared; the word was used for fitting a rescue boat. For “every” good work—Monday as well as Sunday, business as well as church.

So when you’re in jail, read your mail. J. I. Packer calls the Bible “God preaching.” Augustine described it as “love letters from home.” Prisoners in jail covet mail above everything else. They keep letters when they throw everything else away.

Stay in the word, even in the hard places. Especially in the hard places. Meet God there tomorrow. Ask him to teach, rebuke, correct, and train you. He will. And you’ll find joy in a jail cell.

Expect your parole (4.1-9)

To continue the metaphor, you’re imprisoned in a jail cell, but the judge is coming to hear your case. He is the one “who will judge the living and the dead” (v. 1). Be sure that he finds you faithful to your calling, that you “discharge all the duties of your ministry” (v. 5).

And know that one day you will be paroled from this prison and rewarded on the other side. Your “departure” will come—the word pictures a prisoner set free from his chains, an animal unyoked from its plow, or a tent which is packed for the next march. Paul has traveled across the known world; now he will make his last and greatest journey, the road which leads to God. So will we.

When we’re out of this prison, there is in store for us “the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (v. 8). Your faithfulness in this fallen world, this prison house, is noted and will be rewarded for all eternity.

If you were in a federal penitentiary but knew that you would be released at the end of the month, could you face the coming days with renewed hope?

Redeem your sentence (4.9-22)

You and I don’t know when we’ll be paroled from prison to freedom, so we must use well what time remains. How do we redeem our sentence, making jail into joy?

Love your fellow prisoners.

Paul instructs Timothy, “Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry” (v. 11). Nobody reading the book of Acts would expect to find this. John Mark deserted Paul during his first missionary journey. His uncle Barnabas wanted to give him a second chance, but Paul did not. Mark split the first missionary team in history, and we never find him in Acts again. But now Paul wants him to come to Rome. Paul has forgiven him, and offers him grace.

When the apostle appeared before Nero after being re-imprisoned, “At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me” (v. 16a). His so-called team members left the team. Is Paul bitter and angry? “May it not be held against them,” he prays (v. 16b).

Walt Disney was right: hard times make some men bitter, and others better. Choose to be gracious to those who have hurt you. Take the high road. Stop the cycle of vengeance. Offer grace while there’s still time.

And love your Father in heaven: “When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments” (v. 13). These are Paul’s copies of the word of God. He is still studying, still growing, still seeking God. So should we. And we’ll redeem what time remains.

Conclusion

Where is your jail cell today? Where do you feel discouraged and defeated? Perhaps you’ve heard of Satan’s garage sale. He had all his tools on display and priced: anger, murder, hate, lust, gossip, and the rest. At the end of the table lay an unnamed tool more worn than all the others, but priced highest of all. Someone asked him, “What tool is that?” He said, “Discouragement.” “Why is it priced so high?” “Because no one knows it’s mine.

We’re in all in jail together. Know that your Father didn’t bring you this far to leave you, so don’t blame him. Instead, read his mail to your soul. Expect your parole, any day now. Redeem your time by loving others and loving him.

You’ll say with Paul: “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever” (v. 18). And you’ll find joy in a jail cell.

Joy Is Born This Day

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Joy Is Born This Day

Luke 2:15-20

Dr. Jim Denison

This is the Advent week of joy. “Joy” is most simply defined as “contentment which transcends circumstances.” “Happiness” is based on “happenings;” joy transcends them.

Would you like real joy today? Where will you go to find it?

Many of us will try possessions, especially at Christmas.

I’ve been keeping a file on unusual products for sale this Christmas season. Do you know someone who needs a new cell phone? Vertu has one for only $19,450. New entertainment? There’s a plethora of new video games, which will help Americans spend a total of $10 billion on video games this year. Help around the house? Consider a mobile robot driven by a palm pilot. New technology? Give some eyeglasses which display e-mail and surf the Web.

Perhaps your wife would like some special clothing. Buy her a jewel-encrusted set of underwear from Victoria’s Secret for only $10 million. Maybe your husband is a James Bond fan. Buy him the same car 007 drives in his new movie, for only $255,000. Unfortunately, unlike the car in the movie, his won’t disappear. But maybe he’ll have joy, at least until next year’s model appears.

Can people give you joy which transcends circumstances? They need joy as much as you do. Position? It won’t be enough for long. Performance? Until your next performance.

Today you can experience joy—true, meaningful contentment transcending your every circumstance, no matter what it is. But only if you’ll make this story your own.

Have you ever noticed that Luke gives twice as much coverage to the shepherds as to their Savior (1-7 vs. 8-20)? Let’s see why.

Seek joy in Bethlehem

“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about” (v. 15).

The shepherds “said”—the word indicates a repeated and continuous action. They began talking to each other, all at once, as excited as the women who attended Janet’s first baby shower.

“Let us go to Bethlehem”—the Greek indicates that they had a distance to travel, but they didn’t care. It also contains a small Greek word untranslatable in English, a word which conveys a tremendous sense of urgency. “Let us right now get up and hurriedly go” would render the idea.

“And see this thing that has happened”—the birth was a fact of history. Something shepherds could see. No one in the first century, not even the worst critics of the Christian faith, thought to deny that Jesus was a real person born in a real place.

“Which the Lord has told us about.” They know this is from God, and of God.

King David, the man for whom Bethlehem was called the “city of David,” once said to the Lord: “You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Psalm 16:11). “Joy in your presence,” in the presence of God. These shepherds don’t know it yet, but that’s exactly what they are about to find in the cave, at the feed trough, in the most unlikely place. Joy in the presence of God.

There is nowhere else to find it.

Job 20:4-5: “Surely you know how it has been from of old, ever since man was placed on the earth, that the mirth of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.” Joy is found only with God. It is a gift only God can give.

Zig Ziglar writes about seeing a well-known interviewer and commentator on television. The discussion was about the death of comedian Freddie Prinz. Mr. Prinz had taken his own life, and the commentator was asked, “Do you know of any other superstar in athletics, music, entertainment, the television industry, or movies who might also be in danger of either deliberately or accidentally taking his own life?” After a moment’s reflection, she answered, “I don’t know of anyone who is famous in these fields who is not in danger of either deliberately or accidentally taking his own life, because I don’t know a single one who is happy” (Zig Ziglar, Raising Positive Kids in a Negative World, rev. ed. [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2002] 207).

Would you like to find true joy this morning? Then go to Bethlehem. Do as the shepherds did. Travel any distance. Get up and go there now. You say you can’t go there? It’s too far? It’s not safe these days? Here’s the good news: you don’t need to go to the city of David; the Son of David has come to Dallas. To you. He’s waiting for you, with joy for your heart. Seek it from him. And from him alone. And “the joy of the Lord will be your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

Find the Son of God

“So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger” (v. 16).

They “found” him—the original word describes a search in order to find. The went from stable to stable until they found this child lying in a manger, a feed trough. And then they knew they had found the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord. They found the Son of God.

Note that they just walked uninvited into the cave which was his birthing room. I never visit a newborn baby without checking first with the nurse, then washing my hands, then knocking at the door. These rough, dirty, smelly field hands just rushed right in. Jesus was born in a place which had no doors, no locks, no nurses, no way to keep people out. He was born there on purpose, for anyone can come into a cave. Anyone can come to the Christ.

And find in him true joy.

The joy of salvation is found only in Jesus: “We rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Romans 5:11).

Jesus told his followers: “rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20).

Rejoice that he has forgiven your sins and saved your soul, making you the child of God and giving you eternal life: “When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing” (Acts 8:39).

How long has it been since you considered your salvation in Christ? Realized that you will live forever in God’s perfect and glorious heaven? Been grateful that you are the child of God, loved unconditionally by the Creator of the universe? Heaven rejoices in your salvation: “There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15.7).

When you ask Christ into your heart, his Holy Spirit comes to dwell in your life. And what are the results, the “fruit” of the Spirit? “Love, joy….” (Galatians 5:22).

Actress Katherine Hepburn once said, “I don’t know what one means by ‘happy.’ I’m happy spasmodically. If I eat a chocolate Turtle, I’m happy. When the box is empty, I’m unhappy. When I get another box, I’m happy again.”

Jesus said, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete” (John 15:11). And he promised, “…no one will take away your joy” (John 16:22). Do you want true joy? Seek it from God alone, through Christ. Ask him to forgive your sins and be your Savior, and you’ll have his joy. Remember your salvation with gratitude and wonder, and you’ll have his joy. And “the joy of the Lord will be your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

Share the word of God

“When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them”

(vs. 17-18). They “spread the word” about Jesus, becoming the first ever to preach the gospel. The first evangelists of the Christian era.

Shepherds who could not worship in the synagogue or Temple, who were unclean spiritually and morally, who inhabited the lowest caste in Jewish society—they were the first to hear of Christmas, and the first to tell it to others. If they could, who can’t?

Joy comes from the word of God. From receiving it: “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight” (Jeremiah 15:16). From sharing it: after Philip preached the good news in Samaria, “there was great joy in that city” (Acts 8:8).

Joy comes from bringing others to faith in the Son of God: “What is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy” (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20). This is the so-called “soul winner’s crown.” And it was worn first in Christian history by peasant field hands, who knew its joy.

Dwight Moody was the greatest evangelist of his generation. Here is his testimony: “I am so thankful that I have a joy that the world cannot rob me of; I have a treasure that the world cannot take from me; I have something that is not in the power of man or devil to deprive me of, and that is the joy of the Lord.”

Conclusion

Do you have true, life-transcending joy this morning? If not, let me ask you: are you seeking it in the possessions, people, position, or performance of your circumstances, or in God alone? Have you given your faith and life to Jesus Christ? Are you sharing that faith through your words, your work, and your witness, through your example and your life?

The shepherds did. And they “returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen” (v. 20). If they found joy, so can we. So can you. No matter how hard your circumstances may be today. And “the joy of the Lord will be your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

“…Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).

“Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy” (Psalm126:5).

“You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy” (Psalm 30:11).

“…I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds” (2 Corinthians 7:4).

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Habakkuk 3:17-18).

“The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name” (Acts 5:41).

“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).

Joy was born when Christ was born. Dirty, rejected field hands found it. Will it be born again in your life today? That’s up to you.

Britain’s King George III wrote in his diary, “July 4, 1776. Nothing happened today.” What will your soul write in its diary this morning?

Judaism and Christianity Today

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Judaism and Christianity Today

Dr. Jim Denison

Introduction

According to 2008 statistics, the world Jewish population numbers about 13.3 million. About 5.5 million live in Israel and 7.7 million live in the Diaspora, with 5.5 million in the United States. That means that about 41.3 percent of the world Jews now live in the Jewish state.

Most Jews in the U.S. are “Ashkenazim,” descendants of Jewish communities in central and Eastern Europe. Others are “Sephardim,” descendants of Jews from Spain, Portugal, other Mediterranean countries, and the Middle East. Nearly all of them reject the Christian claim that Jesus is their Messiah and our Lord.

History

The Jews trace their beginnings to Abraham (ca. 2000 B.C.). The Lord promised him, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:2-3).

The Hebrew nation is traced from Abraham through Isaac to his son Jacob and his twelve sons (the “twelve tribes of Israel”). The Jewish people spent 400 years enslaved in Egypt, before God liberated them through the parting of the Red Sea and the Exodus. They eventually conquered the land of Canaan, the Holy Land today.

After the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon, the nation split in two. The ten northern tribes were captured by Assyria in 922 B.C. and disappeared. The two southern tribes were enslaved by Babylon in 586 B.C., but returned to their land 70 years later. The nation existed until it was destroyed by Rome in A.D. 70. In 1948 the Jewish people regained their homeland, the modern state of Israel.

Contemporary Judaism

Orthodox: By the beginning of the 19th century, this term described those who maintained that the entire written and oral Torah was divinely revealed and immutable.

The Shulhan Arukh–the 16th century code of law compiled by Joseph Caro, together with commentaries and later decisions–constitutes a fixed and binding standard for proper Jewish life.

Reform: Rejects the idea of a permanently-binding religious law. Thus the most “progressive” of the three movements.

Conservative: Believes that Reform Judaism is in error in rejecting Jewish law. Also believes that Orthodox Judaism is mistaken in wedding adherence to Jewish law to a fundamentalism which rejects changes or developments in Judaism.

Apologetics and Judaism

The Jewish worldview is intensely practical and pragmatic; thus we must show our lives to be different and our faith real. With no world religion is the practical test more important.

We must show who Jesus claimed to be:

Messiah (Matthew 1:1)

Lord (John 13:13)

Savior (John. 3:16)

Ruler and King (Revelation 5).

Show that Jesus claimed to fulfill Messianic prophecy:

Matthew 5:17: “I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.”

Luke 24:27: “And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself in the Scriptures.”

Acts 17:2-3: “And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.'”

Show that Jesus did fulfill such prophecy.

Offer the opportunity to be “completed” by faith in Jesus as his or her personal Messiah.

Keys to Being a Great Father

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Topical Scripture: Job 1:1-5

Today is Father’s Day—in days past, the Christmas of tie makers, with 12,600 miles of ties being sold. That’s enough ties tied end-to-end to cross the country six times, with enough left over for 800,000 men to wear to church today.

This morning, as a father I’m more interested in what God wants me to give to my children than in what they will give to me. I have plenty of ties in my closet (and I’m so glad I don’t have to wear one to Chapel). What do they need from me in theirs?

Father’s Day should be every day. This day to encourage and resource our fathers is a biblical, urgent day for us all.

Of all things we should try to be great at, being great fathers should be at the top of the list. God has entrusted eternal souls to our care. We have no greater privilege or responsibility.

To that end, I’d like us to meet a role model for the ages. One of the finest fathers in all of literature. From his example, we’ll find keys to being a great father. And we’ll learn how to use them in our lives and families this week.

The first key: integrity

Our text begins: “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job” (v. 1a). Job was a real person, referred to in Ezekiel 14:14 as a person of “righteousness.” Uz was a Gentile area, probably east of Israel in modern-day Jordan and Syria. It’s interesting that one of the most godly people in all the Bible was not even an Israelite.

Our text says of him, “that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil” (Job 1:1b). “Blameless” and “upright” go together in the Hebrew text as two sides of the same coin. The first means to be “complete, entire, lacking nothing”; the second means “standing straight,” unwilling to compromise morally.

Taken together, they lead to our first key: integrity.

The word comes from the Latin for “one” and means “to be one person.” There’s nothing worse than when the inside and the outside don’t agree. Our children see this immediately. We can lead them no further than we are. If we want them to be people of integrity, we must be men of integrity.

The second key: spirituality

Our text also says of Job that he “feared God and turned away from evil.” To “fear God” is to reverence him, to respect him with awe and submission. To “turn away from evil” is to refuse it every time, in every situation.

Together, these words hold our second key: spirituality. Genuine spirituality requires both commitments. If I fear and reverence God, I will refuse sin. To have his power to refuse sin, I must revere and fear him.

Integrity and spirituality are both essential to great fatherhood. Many fathers live with personal integrity but without deep spirituality. Others are very spiritual on Sunday but demonstrate less integrity on Monday. We must have both to be the best fathers we can be.

It’s been said, “Until a boy is fifteen, he does what his father says; after that, he does what his father does.”

A famous child psychiatrist once studied the faith of children and compared it to their relationships with their fathers. His conclusion: “No child will think more of God than he thinks of his own father.”

The third key: time together

We’ve discussed Job’ personal life; now, let’s look at his family.

He had seven sons and three daughters, seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and a large number of servants. He was indeed the richest man in the East (vv. 2–3).

For many fathers, this would be enough. So long as we provide for our families financially, we think we’ve done all we need to do. When baseball player Pete Rose was caught up in an illegal gambling furor a few years ago, his daughter told reporters he was a “crummy father.” Rose responded: “What’s she mean I’m a ‘crummy father’? I’m a great father. Why, just last week, I bought her a brand-new Mercedes.”

By contrast, Job’s sons “used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them” (v. 4). Here we discover our third key: time together. Every night of the week, one of Job’s sons would host dinner for their entire family. Even though they were scattered around the area, they spent time together as a family, every day.

Children spell “love,” “t-i-m-e.” They cannot distinguish between “quality” time and “quantity” time. For them, there’s just time. It takes time to be a great father.

The fourth key: worship together

Our text continues: “And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, ‘It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts'” (v. 5).

Here we discover our fourth key: worship together.

Each week Job would “send” for his family, calling them to meet him at his house. He would “rise early in the morning,” a Hebrew idiom meaning “as his highest priority.” He would “consecrate” them, sacrificing an animal for each of his children.

He did this proactively, in case they had sinned. He did not assume that they were where they should be spiritually but took active steps to lead them to the Lord. He was their first pastor and priest, taking personal responsibility for their spiritual lives.

His example is in Scripture so we will follow it today. Do you have regular time to pray with your family? To read Scripture together? To worship?

We cannot lead our children further than we are willing to go. And, we must lead them if they will go there.

The fifth key: consistency

Our text concludes: “Thus Job did continually” (v. 5b). Not just on feast days, or special observances, or when problems arose. He was committed to personal integrity, spirituality, time together, and worship together, every week.

No matter the stress of his work or the circumstances of his life, these priorities came first.

No wonder he was known as “the greatest of all the people of the east” (v. 3). His family would have agreed.

Conclusion

How well would your family say you’re demonstrating these keys in your life and family? Personal integrity, spirituality, time together, worship together, and consistency—which is God’s invitation for focus and progress today?

Being your family’s spiritual leader is your greatest responsibility and privilege. You are shaping eternal souls. Nothing else matters as much. So be encouraged that your work is vital. And decide what you will do to take your next step today.

A group of botanists hiking in the mountains found a very rare flower. It was growing on a ledge of rock which could be reached only at great peril and with a lifeline. None were experienced climbers, so they found a local shepherd boy and offered him several gold coins to climb down the rope and retrieve the flower.

The boy wanted the money but feared that the job was too dangerous. He would have to trust strangers to hold his lifeline. Suddenly he had an idea. He left the group, and returned a moment later holding the hand of a much older man. He ran with excitement to the edge of the cliff and said to the botanists, “You can tie the rope under my arms now. I’ll go into the canyon, as long as you let my father hold the rope.”

Whose rope is in your hand today?

Know and Use Your Spiritual Gifts

Written by

Know and Use Your Spiritual Gifts

Jim Denison

William Borden was heir to the Borden dairy fortune, but he abandoned immeasurable wealth to serve God as a foreign missionary. Tragically, he contracted meningitis before reaching his destination and died. Among his possessions was found this scribbled note, summarizing his life’s passion: No reserve, no retreat, no regrets. His story and motto captured the heart of a generation, and galvanized thousands for mission service.

How can our faith be as bold and joyous as his? How can we serve Jesus with such passion today? “Spiritual gifts” are a crucial, often neglected part of the answer.

God’s supreme gift to his people is himself. He gave his Son for us, sending him to die in our place so our sins could be forgiven (John 3:16). He has made us his children by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), giving us new life in his Spirit (Romans 8:9).

Now his Spirit lives in us (1 Corinthians 3:16), and wants to use us to lead others to follow Jesus. He has given us “spiritual gifts” as a means to this end. Spiritual gifts are to the church what organs and limbs are to the human body. When we learn about spiritual gifts, we discover the anatomy of the church, the body of Christ.

Our gifts are God’s equipment, provided to help us grow in our faith. When we identify our God-given gifts and abilities, we know better how to serve our Father. We are empowered by God’s Spirit for accomplish God’s will for our lives. We live and share the Christian faith with joy. And at the end of our work on earth we can say, No reserve, no retreat, no regrets.

Every believer has at least one spiritual gift (1 Corinthians 12:7, 11; Ephesians 4:7), given at his or her salvation. No believer has every spiritual gift (1 Corinthians 12:12, 27, 29-30). Our gifts differ from each other (Romans 12:3-6a). We receive our gifts according to God’s will, not our own desire or experience (1 Corinthians 12:11; Ephesians 4:7-8).

What are the “spiritual gifts”?

The New Testament includes three lists of spiritual gifts. In Romans 12:3-8 we encounter seven gifts: “prophecy,” serving; teaching, encouraging, “contributing to the needs of others,” leadership, and mercy

In 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 we find nine gifts: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, “speaking in different kinds of tongues”, and “the interpretation of tongues”.

And in Ephesians 4:11 we discover five gifts: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (some interpreters see pastors and teachers as two separate gifts, though the Greek syntax seems to indicate that they are one function).

This gifts discovery tool does not include the so-called “sign” gifts (healing, miracles, tongues, interpretation of tongues) even though we believe they are valid today, because most churches do not offer ministries which use them. We include the additional gifts of “music” and “hospitality” since many interpreters see them as spiritual gifts (see 1 Corinthians 14:26 and 1 Peter 4:9-11), and because they are very important to most churches’ ministries.

Combining the various lists, this discovery tool catalogues 18 different gifts:

•administration: organizing people and ministries effectively

•apostleship: adapting to a different culture to share the gospel or do ministry

•discernment: distinguishing spiritual truth from error or heresy

•evangelism: sharing the gospel effectively and passionately

•exhortation: encouraging others as they follow Jesus

•faith: seeing God’s plan and following it with passion

•giving: investing with unusual sacrifice and joy in God’s Kingdom

•hospitality: using your home and/or resources to help others follow Jesus

•intercession: praying with unusual passion and effectiveness

•knowledge: discerning and sharing the deep truths of God’s word and will

•leadership: motivating and inspiring others to serve Jesus fully

•mercy: showing God’s grace to hurting people with unusual passion

•music: sharing God’s truth and love with unusual effectiveness

•prophecy: preaching the word of God with personal passion and effectiveness

•serving: meeting practical needs with unusual sacrifice and joy

•shepherding: helping others grow spiritually

•teaching: explaining God’s word and truth with unusual effectiveness

•wisdom: relating biblical truth to practical life with great effectiveness

Some of these ministry areas are the responsibility only of those gifted to fulfill them, while others are the responsibility of all believers. For instance, those with the gift of prophecy should preach; those with the gift of teaching should teach the Bible to others; those with the gift of apostleship should be our leaders in missions ministry.

On the other hand, God expects all of his people to discern truth from error, share their faith, encourage others, have faith in him, give sacrificially, show hospitality to others, intercede regularly, seek to know and share his word, offer mercy to hurting people, meet practical needs with joy, help others grow spiritually, and relate his truth to life.

Whether we are “gifted” in these areas or not, we are responsible to meet these needs as God directs us. Those with spiritual gifts in these areas will typically be called to lead the rest of us in these ministries, and will model them with great effectiveness. Those I have known who possess the gift of evangelism, for example, encourage me to share my faith when they demonstrate their gift in action. Those with the gift of serving will take the initiative to help in this area, and will show the rest of us how to serve with joy.

The spiritual gifts, then, do not confine our service only to the areas where we are gifted. Rather, they point the way to ministries where we will lead and serve with our greatest passion and joy.

What are my spiritual gifts?

The following assessment is based on the belief that our passions and opportunities indicate the spiritual gifts God has imparted to us. Our passions indicate those areas of service which correspond with our desires, abilities, and interests; we may or may not have used these passions in ministry to this point in our lives. Our opportunities show us areas where God may have opened doors of service to us, and may indicate areas of spiritual giftedness.

This assessment will help guide you in the process of identifying these gifts.

INSTRUCTIONS: Read each statement and then rate yourself based on your perception as to how true each statement is about yourself.

5 – Almost always true

4 – Often true

3 – Sometimes true

2 – Seldom true

1 – Almost never true

______ 1. People often tell me that I am a good organizer of groups and committees.

______ 2. Traveling and experiencing different cultures excites me.

______ 3. When I hear a sermon or Bible study, I seem to be able to tell when the speaker is teaching God’s word and when he or she may be off track.

______ 4. I get excited at the prospect of talking to someone about the gospel.

______ 5. I look for ways to speak a positive word to people, especially when they are lonely or hurting.

______ 6. I seem to be able to trust God in hard times, even when others struggle with their faith.

______ 7. I enjoy contributing financially to the needs of others.

______ 8. I love opening my home to others.

______ 9. When I hear about a need or problem, my first response is usually to pray.

______ 10. I seem to have a gift for understanding what the Bible means by what it says.

______ 11. I find great joy in helping a group of people define and achieve their goals.

______ 12. I especially enjoy helping underprivileged people.

______ 13. I especially enjoy using my musical abilities to help people follow Jesus.

______ 14. I find great joy in proclaiming the word of God in public.

______ 15. I am happiest when I work behind the scenes.

______ 16. I have a deep desire to help other people become fully devoted followers of Jesus.

______ 17. I find great joy in teaching the word of God to others.

______ 18. When I read the Bible, I can usually tell how it relates to our problems today.

______ 19. When I am part of a disorganized group, I become frustrated and want to help.

______ 20. I seem to adapt to different languages and environments more easily than other people.

______ 21. I am very concerned about helping people distinguish spiritual truth from error.

______ 22. I look for opportunities to share the gospel with people.

______ 23. I enjoy sending notes and cards to encourage people.

______ 24. Others seem to be inspired by my strong faith.

______ 25. I look for ways to invest my resources in the Kingdom of God.

______ 26. I enjoy preparing meals and decorations to make a ministry event successful.

______ 27. Spending significant time in prayer is a very important part of my ministry.

______ 28. I especially enjoy studying the Bible and discovering its applications to life today.

______ 29. I become frustrated when a group does not have a clear purpose and strategy.

______ 30. My heart goes out to people who are suffering, and I want to do all I can to help them.

______ 31. I am drawn to ministries which enable me to use my musical gifts for God.

______ 32. I sense that the Holy Spirit uses me when I communicate his word in public.

______ 33. I don’t seem to get as weary in doing tedious work as others.

______ 34. I would be willing to invest a significant amount of time in helping a small group of people grow closer to God.

______ 35. I sense that the Holy Spirit uses me when I teach his word to others.

______ 36. I seem to have a gift for finding biblical truth which meets the practical needs of others.

______ 37. I can often see the end from the beginning, and know what steps to take to accomplish a goal.

______ 38. I get excited at the thought of living in a different culture for the purpose of helping people follow Jesus.

______ 39. People often ask me to help them when they need to know the right thing to do.

______ 40. I am willing to take personal risks for the sake of sharing the gospel with others.

______ 41. I have a strong desire to counsel hurting people.

______ 42. I can consistently see the purpose of God in the circumstances of my life.

______ 43. I find great joy in knowing that my financial gifts will help other people follow Jesus.

______ 44. I often invite people to my home and enjoy serving them there.

______ 45. I find great joy in spending a significant amount of time in prayer.

______ 46. Other people often ask me to help them understand the Bible.

______ 47. When I become involved in a group, its members often ask me to lead.

______ 48. I enjoy serving in hospitals, shelters, nursing homes, and benevolent ministries.

______ 49. People tell me that my musical gifts help them worship God.

______ 50. When I speak in public, I seem to have a gift for connecting God’s word to the needs of those who listen to me.

______ 51. I find joy in helping people meet their practical needs.

______ 52. When I join a group, I feel responsible for helping the other members grow spiritually.

______ 53. When I teach God’s word, I seem to have a gift for connecting biblical truth to the lives of those who listen to me.

______ 54. In a group setting, others seem to look to me for counsel.

______ 55. People often ask me to help organize groups and accomplish goals.

______ 56. I would be willing to make personal sacrifices for the sake of reaching people in different countries.

______ 57. My impressions of people’s character and intentions are usually proven right.

______ 58. When I share my faith with people, they often seem to respond positively.

______ 59. People who have come to me for encouragement and comfort often tell me that I have helped them.

______ 60. When I find myself in difficult circumstances, I welcome them as an opportunity to watch God work.

______ 61. When I hear about a ministry opportunity, I get excited about the chance to contribute.

______ 62. I see my home as a significant way I can help others follow Jesus.

______ 63. People know of my personal commitment to prayer ministry, and often call on me to pray for them.

______ 64. I enjoy writing and sharing the insights I have gained from my personal Bible study.

______ 65. I seem to have a gift for motivating and guiding groups of people to accomplish their goals.

______ 66. I am deeply concerned for those who are going through hard times.

______ 67. When I perform musically, I can sense that the Holy Spirit is using me.

______ 68. When I proclaim God’s word in public, people tell me that they hear God speak to them through me.

______ 69. I feel that God wants me to help the church by meeting the practical and physical needs of others.

______ 70. I am very concerned about the spiritual maturity of those I know.

______ 71. People tell me that they hear God speak through me when I teach his word.

______ 72. When I have a problem, I can usually find the biblical wisdom I need.

______ 73. I am to enjoy opportunities to use my organizational skills for God.

______ 74. I am drawn to opportunities to serve God in a different culture.

______ 75. I have learned to trust my intuition in knowing truth from falsehood.

______ 76. I am able to share my faith very naturally and easily.

______ 77. I am naturally able to find a way to comfort hurting people.

______ 78. I am consistently confident that God’s purpose will be fulfilled in my life and circumstances.

______ 79. I am drawn to opportunities where my financial resources can make a difference.

______ 80. I enjoy ministries which need help with hospitality.

______ 81. I am excited about spending time in prayer with other people.

______ 82. I am drawn to ministries which enable me to share biblical truths I have discovered.

______ 83. When I lead a group, people affirm the effectiveness of my work.

______ 84. When I am involved in benevolent ministry, people affirm the effectiveness of my work.

______ 85. I find great joy in glorifying God through my musical abilities.

______ 86. I am drawn to opportunities to speak God’s word in public.

______ 87. I enjoy serving God by meeting the routine needs of the church and her people.

______ 88. I am drawn to groups of people whom I can help to grow spiritually.

______ 89. I enjoy opportunities to teach God’s word to others.

______ 90. I am drawn to opportunities to help people solve their problems by discovering the biblical truth they need.

You can score your profile by putting your answer in the corresponding box and then totaling each category.

Click here to download the scoring sheet.

Locate the names of the gifts with three highest numerical values. These are considered your primary gifts.

My Primary Gifts:

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