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Know Bulls From Bears

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Know Bulls from Bears

Matthew 5:4, Isaiah 61.1-2

Dr. Jim Denison

The Pledge of Allegiance has been much in the news, as you know.

To clarify things, the Ninth Circuit judges in San Francisco did not remove one nation “under God” from the Pledge. They don’t have the power to do that. They did rule that using the Pledge in a public school is an unconstitutional violation of separation of church and state.

But the lawyers I’ve consulted believe that the rest of the Ninth Circuit judges will likely overturn this preliminary ruling, and if they don’t, the Supreme Court undoubtedly will.

In a nation which places “In God We Trust” on our money as our national motto, where Congress begins each day with prayer and the Supreme Court with the words, “God save the United States and this honorable court,” “one nation under God” is not likely to be changed.

During this Fourth of July week, after the events of the past year, we need to pledge our allegiance to God more than ever before.

This morning let’s consider the reverse: how God pledges his allegiance to us. Each of Jesus’ Beatitudes shows us a different way God is ready to bless those who will let him. Today let’s learn how God comforts us when we mourn. When you’re in a bear market with your investments or your marriage or your health or your soul, what do you do? Jesus will show us.

Comfort for every pain

In Isaiah 61, God makes four promises about the Christ who would come to comfort us: he would preach good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners. In this way he would “comfort all who mourn” (Isaiah 61:1-2). Let’s explore the causes of mourning, and find the personal comfort of Jesus for each one.

First, many of us mourn because of our sins, our immoralities. We feel deep sorrow for our immoral thoughts, words, and actions, realizing that they nailed Jesus to his cross and grieve the very heart of God. Do you mourn for sin today?

Then claim the prophet’s first promise: Jesus has come “to preach good news to the poor.” Here is the “good news,” the “gospel:” Your Comforter died to pay for every sin you have ever committed, to purchase your forgiveness, to offer you God’s pardon. He died in your place, taking your punishment. Now he promises: if you will confess your sin, he is faithful and just to forgive you for your sin and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). “All” unrighteousness.

Augustine was one of the most unrighteous men of his generation. He drifted from mistress to mistress, satisfying every lust and desire he felt. Here’s how he later described his condition:

“I was held fast, not in fetters clamped upon me by another, but by my own will, which had the strength of iron chains. The enemy held my will in his power and from it he had made a chain and shackled me. For my will was perverse and lust had grown from it, and when I gave in to lust habit was born, and when I did not resist the habit it became a necessity. These were the links which together formed what I have called my chain, and it held me fast in the duress of servitude” (Confessions 8:5).

Until the day he took up the Scriptures, and read of God’s salvation in Christ, and confessed his sins and gave his heart to Jesus. And Jesus made him the greatest theologian after Paul in all of Christian history.

Now the comfort to be forgiven, the comfort in mourning which our Lord gave to him, he offers to you.

Second, some of us mourn for personal failures in our lives. Failures in business, school, or relationships. Failures in marriage or family. Do you mourn for failure today?

Then, give your failure to God in faith. Admit it specifically and honestly to him. Mourn for your part in it, in genuine repentance. And claim the prophet’s second promise: Jesus has come to “bind up the brokenhearted.” He has come to restore your heart and your life to service and ministry.

Gordon MacDonald was a successful pastor when he engaged in an extramarital sexual act. Immediately he confessed this sin to his wife and congregation, and resigned from his pulpit and the ministry. He entered into a long process of counseling and accountability, with no plans ever to reenter the pulpit ministry. Then a church called him to consider its pastorate. He said that he was too broken to come. They said, “We’re broken people, too.” And through them, God restored the repentant, broken, mourning preacher to his ministry.

Now the comfort to be restored, the comfort in mourning which Jesus gave to him, he offers to you.

Third, some of us mourn over deep disappointments with others. Family, friends, those close to us who have hurt us. Personal betrayals and injury. Do you mourn for such pain?

Then, give your pain to God in faith. Ask him to help you pardon those who have hurt you, choosing not to punish even when you could. Ask for his grace to forgive as you have been forgiven. And claim the prophet’s third promise: Jesus has come “to proclaim freedom for the captives.” To free you from your chains of bitterness and injustice and hurt.

Corrie ten Boom’s story is familiar to you, I hope. She and her family harbored Jews in their home in Holland. For this the Nazis arrested their family. All but Corrie died during the Holocaust. Years later, she returned to Germany. In her best-seller, The Hiding Place, Corrie describes what came next:

“It was at a church service in Munich that I saw him, the former S. S. man who had stood guard at the shower door in the processing center at Ravensbruck. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there—the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, [my sister] Betsie’s pain-blanched face.

“He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing. ‘How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein,’ he said. ‘To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!’

“His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often … the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side.

“Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him.

“I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness.

“As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.

“And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself” (p. 233).

Now the comfort to forgive your pain, the comfort in mourning which Jesus gave to Corrie, he offers to you.

Last, many of us mourn over tragedies in our lives and world. The illness or death of people we love. Atrocities such as September 11. Do you mourn over grief?

Then give your grief to God in faith. Know that he walks with you through the valley of the shadow of death, that he feels all that you feel and hurts as you hurt. Know that those you love who died with their faith in Jesus are with him now in paradise, and that it will be only a moment as they reckon time before they see you again. Know that one day there will be a new heaven and a new earth, with no more death or mourning or crying or pain (Revelation 21:4). Claim the last promise: Jesus has come to proclaim “release from darkness for the prisoners.” Welcome his comfort for your grief and separation and hurt, no matter how deep or dark your prison.

Arthur John Gossip was one of the greatest preachers of the 20th century. I first encountered his most famous sermon, “But When Life Tumbles In, What Then?” more than 20 years ago. It is still the most moving statement of God’s hope in the face of death I’ve ever heard. Here is what he said in his first message after his wife’s dramatically sudden death:

“In the New Testament … you hear a great deal about the saints in glory, and the sunshine, and the singing, and the splendour [sic] yonder. And, surely, that is where our thoughts should dwell. I for one want no melancholious tunes, no grey and sobbing words, but brave hymns telling of their victory. … Think out your brooding. What exactly does it mean? Would you pluck the diadem from their brows again? Would you snatch the palms of victory out of their hands? Dare you compare the clumsy nothings our poor blundering love can give them here with what they must have yonder where Christ Himself has met them, and was heaped on them who can think out what happiness and glory?

“I love to picture it. How, shyly, amazed, half protesting, she who never thought of self was led into the splendour [sic] of her glory. … To us it will be long and lonesome: but they won’t even have looked round them before we burst in. In any case, are we to let our dearest be wrenched out of our hands by force? Or, seeing that it has to be, will we not give them willingly and proudly, looking God in the eyes, and telling Him that we prefer our loneliness rather than that they should miss one tittle of their rights. … When we are young, heaven is a vague and nebulous and shadowy place. But as our friends gather there, more and more it gains body and vividness and homeliness. And when our dearest have passed yonder, how real and evident it grows, how near it is, how often we steal yonder. For as the Master put it: Where our treasure is, there will our heart be also” (quoted in Yandall Woodfin, With All Your Mind, 231).

Dr. Gossip was right. Now comfort in grief, the comfort in mourning which Jesus gave to him, he offers to you.

Conclusion

The prophet promised that Jesus would “comfort all who mourn.” And he will. He will “bless” you with happiness beyond all your circumstances: sin, failure, pain, grief. He will comfort every mourner here today.

But you must receive this gift. You must confess your sin, or admit your failure, or release your pain, or share your grief with him. You must open your hand to receive the joy he longs to give. If you will pledge your allegiance to him in such faith, you will receive his allegiance, his comfort. This is his promise to you today.

When we take together our Lord’s Supper, we receive concrete proof of God’s forgiving, comforting love. The bread and cup which are his gifts to our bodies symbolize the body and blood of Jesus, gifts to our souls. His death for our life. His suffering for our salvation.

I invite you to his table of grace. Bring whatever causes you to mourn. Lay it here. And receive his grace in its place.

Will you be “blessed” today? The next step is yours.

Knowing Who Holds the Future

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Knowing Who Holds the Future

Esther 1

Dr. Jim Denison

Thesis: God is right now orchestrating events to protect our future

Persuade: to trust him with your problems today

Perhaps the most perplexing theological issue Christians face today deals with sovereignty and free will. Put in short form, the question I am so often asked is: if God know the future, do we have freedom to choose? If we have such freedom, is God still in charge? The one option makes us robots, puppets on divine strings; the other makes God subject to our will. Neither feels right to us.

This question has become much more practical since September 11. Why did God permit such atrocities in our country? Did he cause the attacks? If not, did he allow them? Or is he subject to our choices and free will?

Is God in control in your life? Or are you? With the problems you face right now—health issues, financial questions, family concerns—is God sovereign? Or is he not?

There’s another way to face the issue, a third option. To explore it, I’d like us to walk together through a favorite OT book, the book of Esther. Let’s learn who holds the future, from a person who experienced God’s sovereignty in a way which will relate directly to every one of us.

Welcome to Esther

First, a few introductory facts. One: God is present, whether we see him or not. Esther is one of two OT books which never mention the name of God, the other being the Song of Solomon. Not a single time is his name cited in the book. This fact so perplexed Jewish readers that many did not feel the book should be included in their OT canon.

Two: God is sovereign, whether we understand him or not.. Esther is all about the providence of God. For reasons we’ll discover as we study the book together, God’s name is never mentioned but his power is made evident at every turn. When God seems silent, he is not. He is sovereign in ways we do not see or understand.

Three: God can use every one of us. The fact that the book was named for a woman, and features her as its primary hero, bothered many in the Jewish community as well. That fact should tell every one of us that God values us all, and has a plan for every life here tonight.

Four: God cares for his own. Esther describes the last great crisis facing the Jewish nation in the OT. After Assyria and Babylon came the genocide plotted by Haman. God’s answer to this crisis shows his answer to ours.

Consider these biblical promises we can claim right now: “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4.19); “But now, this is what the Lord says—he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze'” (Isaiah 43.1-3).

Historical data

The book deals with the Jewish community still living in Persia after the Babylonian Captivity was ended. In 586 BC Babylon enslaved Judah and transported most of the nation to their country. In 538 Cyrus, king of Persia, destroyed Babylon and freed the Jews. The first group of exiles returned to Israel under Zerubbabel at that time. In 458, a second group returned under Ezra; in 432 the last group returned under Nehemiah.

The events of Esther occurred between 538 and 458. In fact, the date of the first Purim is stated in Esther 8.12: “the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar.” This was March 7, 473 B.C.

So, before 458 B.C. the Jews remaining in Persia were threatened with genocidal extinction. God responded to this terrorist threat in exactly the way he responds to our problems today. Esther will show us how.

The first “coincidence”

Coincidence has been defined as those times when God prefers to remain anonymous. Here’s the first such “coincidence” in the book.

The king is introduced first (1.1). Xerxes was the son of Darius, who was himself the son of Cyrus, the liberator of the Jewish nation. Xerxes ruled Persia from 486 to 465 B.C. In the third year of his reign (483 B.C.), he gave a great party for the military leaders and political nobles of the entire nation. For 180 days he showed them his wealth; then he gave a great banquet.

This was a way of showing his leaders his own might and significance. Today, the Sultan of Brunei’s opens his palace and its grounds for his annual birthday celebration for the same reason.

All this occurred in Susa, the winter residence of the Persian kings. Banquets will become very important in the book. Ten are described. The king gave his own, allowing people to choose any wine they might drink, and even the goblet they might wish to use. Queen Vashti gave her own banquet as well (v. 9).

These banquets lead to the first crisis and coincidence in the book. The inebriated king commands his seven eunuchs to bring his queen before his guests, so that he might display her for them. Some think verse 11 indicates that Xerxes meant Queen Vashti to wear only her crown, to appear nude before them. For whatever reason, she refused (v. 12).

Xerxes consulted his legal counsel. They replied:

“Then Memucan replied in the presence of the king and the nobles, ‘Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the kind but also against all the nobles and the peoples of the provinces of King Xerxes. For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, and they will despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.’ This very day the Persian and Median women of the nobility who have heard about the queen’s conduct will respond to all the king’s nobles in the same way. There will be no end of the disrespect and discord” (vv. 16-18).

With this conclusion:

“Therefore, if it pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media, which cannot be repealed, that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes. Also let the king give her royal position to someone else who is better than she. Then when the king’s edict is proclaimed throughout all his vast realm, all the women will respect their husbands, from the least to the greatest” (vv.19-20).

And this result:

“The king and his nobles were pleased with this advice, so the king did as Memucan proposed. He sent dispatches to all parts of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, proclaiming in each people’s tongue that every man should be ruler over his own household” (vv. 21-22).

Here is the chain now set in motion:

Esther will be chosen queen.

Haman, the king’s chief adviser, will plot the destruction of the entire Jewish population in Persia.

Esther will appeal for her people; Haman will be executed, and they will be spared.

But none of this could have happened if the king had not become drunk at his own banquet, and his queen had not refused his request to be displayed before his guests.

God’s lessons for us

God hits straight licks with crooked sticks. He can use any event for his glory and his will. Other biblical examples include Joseph in the dungeon; Moses’ murder of the Egyptian soldier; Daniel in the lion’s den; and John exiled on Patmos. Most of all, the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross demonstrates this. Satan thought he won, when he lost most of all.

So ask God to use your events, your problems for his glory and your good. Claim Romans 8.28.

God is in charge of tomorrow, today. Here he is already planning his response to Haman’s attack on the people. If these events had not begun here, Esther could not have been in place by the time the attack came. She spent twelve months simply being prepared to meet the king for the first time (2.12). Then he had to choose her, and fall in love with her. The entire process from Vashti’s fall to her coronation took some four years (cf. 2.16). Then she had to muster the courage to stand before him on behalf of her fellow Jews.

God knew all that would happen in the future, for there is no such thing as the future with him. He began planning for this crisis four years before it occurred.

So know that he is already planning for tomorrow, today. He’s in charge. He’ll tell you what you need to do. And when he does, know that he knows more than you do. Know that he sees the end, the result, right now. Be obedient to his will and his word today, and one day you’ll understand why.

Who is your Haman? What is your crisis? Stay faithful to the last word you heard from God. Put the future in his hands. They are strong hands, indeed. Esther is proof.

Leap Before You look

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Leap Before You Look

Matthew 5:25-26

Dr. Jim Denison

A friend recently sent me this list of questions to think about:

Why doesn’t glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

Why isn’t “phonetic” spelled the way it sounds?

Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii?

If 7-11 stores are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, why are there locks on their doors?

Why is it that something transported by car is called a shipment, but something transported by a ship is called cargo?

How does the guy who drives the snowplow get to work?

Some questions are worth contemplation, and some aren’t. I read this week that the African impala can jump higher than ten feet and longer than thirty, yet one can be kept in any zoo enclosure with a three-foot wall. The reason? These animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will fall. The paralysis of analysis. Afraid to leap before they look.

In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, he is dealing with anger and forgiveness. We must not hate or hurt; we must initiate reconciliation. Now he tells us when to do this: today. Make right what is wrong. No matter what prudence dictates, or your circumstances suggest. No matter how hard it is, or what people will think. Now. Leap before you look. Here’s why.

Make right what is wrong, now

Jesus paints the picture: “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way” (v. 26a).

According to Roman law, the plaintiff could carry the accused with him to stand before the judge. No arresting officer was needed.

The Greeks called this “apegagon”—the legal act by which a man could catch another by the robe at the throat and drag him before the courts. Crimes which were subject to this action were stealing clothes at the public baths, picking pockets, house-breaking, and kidnapping.

The Jews allowed this action in the case of financial debt. A man owes you for services rendered, but won’t pay. You see him walking down the road, and are legally allowed to grab him and haul him before the judge.

The defendant may be innocent of the charges, or guilty. But he can be arrested in this way, nonetheless.

So you have such a situation, legally or relationally. You are at odds with someone. They accuse you, or slander you, or condemn you. Perhaps they’re right or wrong on the merits—Jesus doesn’t say. But you’re wrong with each other. What do you do?

“Settle matters.” The Greek word means to “make friends,” to seek good will with someone. It is a word describing the attitude which comes before the action, your heart before your hand.

Don’t react to your adversary by becoming his. Don’t seek to repay his accusations with your own. Don’t hit back. Don’t plot revenge. Seek reconciliation.

When? “Quickly … while you are still with him on the way.”

The adversaries could settle “out of court” before they reached the judge. But once before him, the law must prevail.

Do it now. Don’t wait. No conditions. No exceptions.

Why? “He may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny” (vs. 25b-26).

If you delay, things will only get worse. Your private conflict becomes public.

And your debt becomes harder and harder to pay. You must pay “the last penny,” the Roman quadrans, a coin worth 1½ cent today. But you’re in prison, so earning the money to pay this debt is harder than ever before. Your family and friends will likely be required to help. The ripples of this conflict spread ever further and further. Things go from bad to worse. Inevitably.

When I taught at Southwestern Seminary I had a student who missed three weeks of school and nearly died from a blood infection which started with a splinter in his thumb he ignored. When I pastored New Hope Baptist Church we had a member who nearly died from a spider bite he ignored. In Atlanta one of my best friends in our church nearly died from a black mole on his shoulder he ignored until it became melanoma. Cancer always spreads. Make right what is wrong, now.

Objections to reconciliation

But seeking reconciliation is hard, isn’t it? And we have many objections. We don’t want to admit we’re wrong, or wronged. We’d rather keep things the way they are, whether the problem is with Iraq or with our spouse. We learn to live with the pain, the self-pity or anger, the bitterness or betrayal. We have many reasons not to act today.

Someone will say to me this morning, the debt is too great. The pain is too deep. You don’t know how badly I’ve been hurt. I cannot let it go. I cannot initiate pardon and reconciliation.

But Jesus prayed for those who drove nails into his wrists and feet, who stripped his clothes and spat in his face: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

And so Stephen prayed for those who held stones with which they would crush his skull and end his life: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60).

I read this week about Walter Everett, pastor of the United Methodist Church of Hartford, Connecticut, who performed the wedding ceremony for his son’s killer. Michael Carlucci shot Scott Everett to death in 1987. He pled guilty to manslaughter and was imprisoned. Pastor Everett corresponded with him and eventually visited him in prison. Carlucci told him that after receiving Everett’s first letter, he knelt in his prison cell and asked God for forgiveness. In the prison, after an hour-long meeting, the two men stood, shook hands, embraced, and cried. Pastor Everett said, “Christians won’t be able to understand why Jesus came and what Jesus is all about unless we forgive.” Carlucci now runs a trucking business and spends his spare time speaking to prison inmates about what God has done in his life.

No matter how great the debt you owe or are owed, seek reconciliation. Leap before you look.

Someone else will say, I am not able to forgive. I don’t have it within me. I don’t have the ability to seek or give reconciliation.

In Gethsemane, Jesus confessed that he did not want to go to the cross with its sin and separation from his Father. He did not want to pay this price for our forgiveness. But his Father enabled him to say, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done” (Matthew 26:42). And it was.

And so Paul testified, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). And so can we.

On February 9, 1960, Adolph Coors III was kidnapped and held for ransom. Seven months later his body was found on a remote hillside. He had been shot to death. Adolph Coors IV, then 15 years old, lost not only his father, but his best friend. For years young Coors hated Joseph Corbett, the man who was sentenced to life for the murder. Then in 1975, Ad Coors became a Christian. In time he divested himself of his interest in the family brewery business, but he could not divest himself of the hatred which consumed him. Resentment stunted his soul’s growth and his faith’s joy. Finally he prayed to God for help, realizing that his hatred for Corbett was poisoning his life.

Then, claiming the Spirit’s help, Ad Coors visited the maximum security unit of Colorado’s Canon City penitentiary to talk with Corbett. Corbett refused to see him. So Coors left a Bible inscribed with this message: “I’m here to see you today and I’m sorry that we could not meet. As a Christian, I am summoned by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to forgive you. I do forgive you … and I ask you to forgive me for the hatred I’ve held in my heart for you.” Later Coors confessed, “I have a love for that man which only Jesus Christ could have put in my heart.”

Jesus will help you to initiate or receive reconciliation. Leap before you look.

And someone else will say to me, it’s too late for reconciliation. The person is dead. Or gone from my life. I cannot reach them, or reach out to them.

But in the Upper Room on the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus could say to his Father: “My prayer is not for [my disciples] alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you” (John 17:20-21). When we cannot reach someone, God still can.

On an inner wall of a Nazi concentration camp, Allied soldiers found this prayer:

“O Lord, when I shall come with glory in your kingdom, do not remember only the men of good will; remember also the men of evil.

“May they be remembered not only for their acts of cruelty in this camp, the evil they have done to us prisoners, but balance against their cruelty the fruits we reaped under the stress and in the pain; the comradeship, the courage, the greatness of heart, the humility and patience which have been born in us and become part of our lives, because we have suffered at their hands.

“May the memory of us not be a nightmare to them when they stand in judgment. May all that we have suffered be acceptable to you as a ransom for them.”

Then these final words: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and die….”

Conclusion

Leap before you look. Trust that Jesus has your best interest at heart when he teaches you to seek reconciliation today. How different will your life be when this burden is lifted from your soul? When the grief or guilt, the bitterness or malice are gone? When you have made things right, so far as you can make them right?

But to give reconciliation, you must first receive it. You cannot give what you do not have. Have you been reconciled to God? His Son has come to initiate a relationship with you. You could not get from earth to heaven, so heaven came to earth. Jesus to you. He has already died to pay for every sin you will ever commit. His death is your life.

Will you receive this grace? Will you give it away? Will you leap before you look?

Consider these facts: the earth rotates around its axis at 1,043 mph while revolving around the sun at 66,660 mph. Our solar system is moving toward the star Vega at 43,200 mph; the solar system and Vega move in the Milky Way Galaxy at 489,600 mph; the Milky Way Galaxy moves toward the Andromeda Galaxy at 180,000; this group together moves toward the Local Supercluster of galaxies at 540,000 mph. Thus, while you think you’re sitting still, listening to this message, our planet is rotating at 556,260 mph while moving in a line at 1,319,460 mph.

But, the most important movement is the one you make next.

Learning to Live in the Spirit

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God’s Power for God’s Purpose

Learning to Live in the Spirit:

An introduction to the book of Acts

Dr. Jim Denison

Book of Acts overview

West Texans know the difference between a “flush-pump” well and an “artesian” well. A flush-pump well is drilled down to a water source; the tubing and pump handle are installed; and the handle is pumped until water is forced to the surface. An artesian well is quite different: when it is drilled to the water source, the underground pressure forces the water through the hole to the surface.

Many of us live a flush-pump faith. We pump ourselves up by studying Scripture, praying, attending worship services and religious events, and striving to grow in our faith. But an artesian well faith is possible. We can live in Christ so that his Spirit flows through us in victorious and power-filled daily experience. Who would choose the former when the latter is available to us?

The book of Acts describes Christianity as God intends it to be lived. Here we meet those who laid the foundations upon which the Church has worked to build the Kingdom across more than twenty centuries. These men and women were closest historically to Jesus; many of them walked personally with him in his incarnate ministry. His Spirit used them to initiate the most powerful spiritual movement in human history.

Let’s remember the purposes and priorities which motivated the apostolic Christians. Then we will live in the Spirit and continue the Acts which he empowers.

What is the book of “Acts”?

Who wrote the book?

Nowhere does the book we title “Acts of the Apostles” name its author. But reading the book, we encounter an interesting phenomenon beginning with Paul’s trip west to Macedonia (Acts 16:10-17): the writer describes Paul’s group as “we.” He includes himself in the missionary team again when they moved from Philippi to Troas and Ephesus (20:5-16), on their journey to Jerusalem (21:1-18), and to Rome (27:1—28:16). So in identifying our author, we are looking for a missionary associate of Paul.

We know that Luke the physician was a close companion of the apostle. Paul calls him a dear friend and doctor (Colossians 4:10-14), his “fellow worker” (Philemon 24), and lists him among his companions at the end of his life (2 Timothy 4:11). In addition, early tradition names this doctor as the writer of both Acts and the Gospel of Luke. Irenaeus (ca. A.D. 180) and the Muratorian Canon (end of 2nd century) are among the important historical sources. By the 3rd century, the Church held the unanimous opinion that Luke is the author of our text.

So who was he?

He was not an eyewitness of Jesus’ earthly ministry (cf. Luke 1:1-4, where he states that he interviewed eyewitnesses in preparing his book). He was a man of excellent education; his Greek is the most advanced in the New Testament, and his use of medical terms is unique in the Bible (cf. Acts 3:7, where he describes in medical language the healing of the cripple).

Luke was a Gentile, probably the only Gentile writer in the New Testament (excepting perhaps the author of Hebrews). He makes clear that the gospel is for Gentiles as well as Jews (cf. 2:21; 10:43; 13:46-48; 15:16-18; 28:28). He shows God’s care for all persons in need (cf. the beggar of ch. 3, Cornelius in ch. 10, the sailors of ch. 27). Women are important to him and to the Kingdom (cf. Dorcas, 9:36-42; Lydia, 16:11-15).

He wrote to a world filled with skeptics against his faith. For instance, Tacitus, the greatest Roman historian wrote (A.D. 118), “The Christians got their name from one Christus, who was executed by the sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilatus when Tiberius was emperor; and the pernicious superstition was checked for a short time, only to break out afresh—not only in Judea, the home of the plague, but in Rome itself, where all the horrible and shameful things of the world collect and find a home” (Annals 15.44).

In a very real sense, Luke is more like us than any other biblical writer. We are not eyewitnesses to the incarnate Christ; we are Gentiles; we live in a world of modern education; we work in a global economy and share universal concerns; and we face a skeptical culture. The God who used Luke’s work to change his world will use ours in the same way, if we learn to live in the Spirit as he did.

How was Acts written?

The traditional title of our book, “Acts of Apostolic Men” or “Acts of the Apostles,” was given to the work in the mid-second century. The original text, as with all the book of the Bible, was untitled. This title is not entirely accurate—only four apostles are mentioned in the narrative (James, 12:2; John, though he never speaks; Peter; and Paul, the primary figure from ch. 13 forward). A much better title is “Accts of the Holy Spirit.”

The book, like the Gospel of Luke, is dedicated to “Theophilus” (Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1). His name means “lover of God,” but his identity is otherwise unknown. He may have been a Christian whose given name Luke wishes to keep secret for protection. He might have been a high government official whom Luke wrote in attempting to defend Christians against persecution. It is possible that he was Luke’s former master (doctors were often slaves). Perhaps Theophilus released Luke, and the physician wrote and dedicated this book and his Gospel to him in appreciation. Or he may have been Luke’s financial sponsor for his project.

The unidentified recipient of the book makes the narrative even more universally relevant. You and I are not Romans or Philippians; no book of the Bible was written specifically to us. But if we are a “lover of God,” this book is for us.

The book seems dependent upon the Gospel of Mark, and thus would have been written after A.D. 45. It does not record Paul’s death, which occurred before Nero’s demise in A.D. 68. Tradition places the origin of the book at Antioch, Paul’s headquarters. But Rome is possible, as the book ends there, as is Ephesus, a major focus of the narrative.

What is Acts about?

The spread of the gospel: The theme of the book comes early. Jesus’ now-familiar final words before his ascension command his followers: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (1:8). Luke’s narrative therefore describes the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome, the “ends of the earth.”

Six key phrases trace the progress of the gospel and serve as turning points in the story:

The Jerusalem section ends, “The word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem; and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith” (6:7).

The Palestine and Samaria section ends, “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was built up; and, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it was multiplied” (9:31).

The Gentile extension to Antioch and Cornelius ends, “The word of God grew and multiplied” (12:24).

The extension through Asia Minor and Galatia ends, “So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily” (16:5).

The extension to Europe ends, “So the word of the Lord grew and prevailed mightily” (19:20).

The extension to Rome ends with Paul “preaching the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ quite openly and unhindered” (28:31).

The defense of the gospel: Luke wrote his narrative not only to show how the Kingdom spread from Palestine to Rome, but also to defend the truths that Kingdom proclaims. At least six attacks against the Christian faith can be identified and refuted in the narrative:

The delay in Jesus’ return is explained by the coming of his Spirit (ch. 2).

The ethics of the Christian community are vindicated from accusation (2:42-47; 4:32-35).

The innocence of Christian leaders is vindicated before their accusers (cf. 4:1-22).

The integrity of Saul/Paul is made clear before the Jews (cf. his conversion in ch. 9).

The divine call to the Gentiles is substantiated (chs. 10-11, 15).

The inherent logic of the gospel is demonstrated before Greek philosophers (17:16-34).

The explanation of the gospel: Luke wrote his narrative to defend Christians against their enemies, but also to develop Christians in their own faith commitments. Six theological themes dominate his description of Spirit-filled faith.

First, God’s historical purposes will be fulfilled.

The events of Acts occur by his will (cf. 2:23; 4:27-29).

The life of the church fulfills Scripture: the coming of the Spirit (2:17-21); the mission to the Gentiles (13:47); the incorporation of the Gentiles into the Church (15:16-18).

The life of the church is directed by God: the Spirit speaks to us (13:2; 15:28; 16:6); angels speak to Christian leaders (5:19); the Lord himself appears to his servants (18:9; 23:11).

The power of God is seen in signs and wonders performed in Jesus’ name (3:16; 14:3).

Second, God’s message will be proclaimed:

Christ fulfilled the Scriptures (2:16-21).

Christ is accredited by miracles (2:22).

He was crucified and resurrected (2:23-24).

He is Lord and Christ (2:25-36).

He saves all who call on him (2:37-41).

Third, God’s ministry will be discharged:

Jerusalem (1:1—8:3).

Judea and Samaria (8:4—12:25).

The “uttermost parts of the earth” (13:1—28:31).

Fourth, the Church will succeed despite opposition (“Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God,” 14:22):

Mockery at Pentecost (ch. 2).

Corruption of Ananias and Sapphira (ch. 5).

Martyrdom of Stephen (ch. 7).

The church persecuted and scattered (8:1-4).

Peter imprisoned and released by the angel (ch. 12).

Sorcerer Bar-Jesus (13:6-12).

Common rejection by Jewish leaders (cf. 13:44-47).

Numerous attempts on Paul’s life (cf. 14:5-6, 19-20; 17:1-9; 19:23-41).

Paul imprisoned (cf. 16:16-40).

The gospel rejected by the Greeks (17:16-34).

Paul arrested in Jerusalem (21:27ff).

Paul rejected by the people and leaders (chs. 22-28).

Paul shipwrecked (27:13-44).

The book ends with Paul under arrest (28:30-31).

Fifth, Gentiles are included among the people of God:

All are included in salvation (2:21).

Gentiles are accepted by the Father (chs. 10-11, 15).

All races and societies are reached through missionary journeys (chs. 13-20).

The gospel is preached in Rome itself (ch. 28 fulfills 9:15).

Sixth, the Church is living and active:

The Holy Spirit is active (throughout the book).

The people are united in ministry (cf. 2:42-47; 4:32-37).

The Lord blesses his people with continued growth and progress (cf. 2:47).

How can we live in the Spirit today?

Elton Trueblood, the great Christian philosopher, believed that every successful organization has a passion, a philosophy, and a program. I’m convinced he is right. So were the first Christians. Let’s close today’s study by remembering their passion, philosophy, and program, and making them ours.

Our passion: growing the Kingdom of God

Jesus began his public ministry with this proclamation: “The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15). He ended his earthly ministry with the same theme and passion: “He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). The kingdom of God was his focus and passion. It must be ours as well.

The kingdom comes wherever God’s will is done, on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:10). When we make God our King and ourselves his subjects, we enter his Kingdom. Such a commitment is the theme of our church all across this year. It must the passion of our hearts in every year.

We exist to bring as many people into God’s kingdom as we can. This is the passion which the Holy Spirit honors and empowers. It must be the purpose of our hearts in this new year, if we would know the Spirit’s power and help.

Our philosophy: making members into ministers

Jesus’ last words to his church promised his power to fulfill this passion: “You will receive power after the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). God’s people must seek his purpose to have his power.

There is no clergy/laity distinction in the word of God. “You” in Jesus’ command is plural, including every one of his followers. Every believer has gifts of the Spirit to be used in ministry. To the degree that we find and follow our calling, we will fulfill God’s purpose and have his power.

Our program: meeting needs in Jesus’ name

Our Lord closed his command with a clear program: “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8b). In Jerusalem, where they were; then spreading into the neighboring regions, then into the entire world. They would take the good news of God’s love wherever they could. They would meet the needs they found, whether for physical healing or spiritual truth. And they would use those needs to proclaim Jesus’ name and grace.

Every Christian knows someone with a need, a hurt, a problem. See that need as an opportunity for ministry. Go to that hurting heart with a cup of cold water in Jesus’ name. Start where you are, and go where God directs. And you’ll continue the spread of the Kingdom which began in the book of Acts, until our Lord returns.

Conclusion

Much about the future is uncertain today. The war against terrorism continues; the global economy, while making progress, will always be cause for concern; some of our family members and friends are seeking work, and many are hurting physically, vocationally, financially, and relationally.

We can live a flush-pump Christian faith, getting by from day to day and problem to problem. Or we can live an artesian Christian victory, filled and empowered by the Spirit each day. If we make God’s passion, philosophy, and program their own, we will help those we influence experience the power of God’s Spirit. We can give no greater gift.

Leave It to Beavis

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Leave It to Beavis

2 Chronicles 34:1-8

Dr. Jim Denison

In May of 1993, a television show premiered on MTV whose name I cannot repeat in a sermon. You know the title: Beavis and . . .

Beavis and his “associate” aired through 1997, though reruns are still being shown. The show dealt explicitly with teenage issues such as drug abuse, sexual identity, and violence at school.

Contrast Beavis with Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver, the star of the Leave It To Beaver show. This now-classic sitcom aired from October 4, 1957 to September 12, 1963, and has been in reruns for 40 years. The parents were Ward and June; the brother was Wally. Friends were named Eddie, Larry, Whitey, and Lumpy. The Cleaver family dealt with problems such as bullies at school and getting a date for the prom.

Which is more true to life today, Beavis or Beaver Cleaver? What does God’s word say to our “leave it to Beavis” world?

This weekend we honor our high school graduates, as do churches and communities across our nation. Youth number more than one billion in our world. And theirs is one of the most significant seasons of life.

The psychologist Erik Eriksen described eight stages of human development from birth to death. In each stage, a person is confronted with a challenge unique to that stage. Eriksen called stage five “puberty and adolescence.” The primary task in that stage, according to Eriksen, is to develop identity, to define who we are.

This process does not end when we leave high school. We spend the rest of our lives determining our identity, our basic purpose in living. So here’s my question for our graduates in particular and the rest of us with them: who will you be when you’ve become who you are?

I want to offer you a role model this morning, with the passionate prayer that you will follow his example today.

What God can do with just one person

In the year 640 B.C., Josiah became king of the nation of Judah when he was eight years old. His father, King Amon, was so corrupt that his own court officials assassinated him in his palace, and put his young son on the throne in his place. Not an encouraging start to one’s administration.

But young Josiah made the right self-definitional decisions, setting a direction for his life which would change the destiny of a nation.

As a child, “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in the ways of his father David” (v. 2). He chose to follow the example of his godly ancestor.

Then, when he was sixteen years old, “he began to seek the God of his father David” (v. 3). This phrase means that he made his faith personal. He chose for himself a passionate commitment to Jehovah God.

And when he was twenty, he put his faith into courageous practice. Despite overwhelming popular sentiment, he purged the nation of the idols and pagan images which had polluted its soul (vs. 3-4). He banished the idolatrous priests which had corrupted its spirit (vs. 4-7). These moves infuriated the mighty Assyrian nation which threatened Judah’s future, but the resolve of this young king could not be shaken.

And even more significant greatness lay ahead.

At age 26, in the year 622 B.C., Josiah commissioned a massive renovation of the Temple in Jerusalem (vs. 8-13). The Temple chambers, so long neglected and in ruins, were cleaned out and repaired.

In the midst of the work, Hilkiah the priest found the “Book of the Law of the Lord that had been given through Moses” (v. 14). We call this the book of Deuteronomy. Written in 1406 B.C., it had been lost and forgotten for most of 800 years. Imagine finding a part of the Bible which had been for the most part ignored since the time of King Arthur.

When King Josiah read this rediscovered book, “he tore his robes” in personal repentance (v. 19). Then he acted boldly on this repentance.

The king sent his priest to consult with the prophetess Huldah, who warned them of imminent divine wrath because of the nation’s unspeakable sinfulness (vs. 22-28).

In response, this young king called together the leaders of the entire nation. He climbed up to the rebuilt temple and read Deuteronomy to them personally (vs. 29-30).

He pledged his personal obedience to this revelation from God: he would “follow the Lord and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul” (v. 31).

He led the entire nation to pledge themselves to this covenant with him (v. 32).

The result? “As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the Lord, the God of their fathers” (v. 33). And the nation was saved.

But this young king wasn’t finished. In gratitude for God’s forgiveness, he led the entire country in observing the Passover, a religious ceremony which had been neglected for generations. Here’s how successful he was: “The Passover had not been observed like this in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel; and none of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated such a Passover as did Josiah, with the priests, the Levites and all Judah and Israel who were there with the people of Jerusalem” (v. 18).

Unfortunately, Josiah’s life did not end well. In self-sufficient pride he led his army into battle against the Egyptian Pharaoh, and was killed by an archer’s arrow.

But here’s how the nation felt about their young king: “…all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him. Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah, and to this day all the men and women singers commemorate Josiah in the laments” (vs. 24b-25).

When Israel remembers her history and her greatest kings, among her most revered leaders is the young man who saved his nation. This is the story of Josiah.

Now, what does his story say to ours?

Who will be Josiah today?

If this young king could preach today’s message, he would challenge high school graduates and the rest of us to take three actions. First: ask God to make your life significant, no matter your age.

David was a boy when he killed Goliath and saved Israel from the Philistines (1 Samuel 17). Joash was only seven years old when he became king of Judah and “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 24:2). Joseph was 30 when he saved Egypt from famine, and Israel with her (Genesis 41:41). Mary was 13 when God chose her to bear his Son. When Timothy became pastor in Ephesus, the largest church in Christendom, he was of such an age that Paul had to warn him, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young” (1 Timothy 4:12).

Bill Gates wrote his first computer program when he was 13, started Microsoft when he was 20, and became a billionaire when he was 31. Steve Jobs invented the Apple computer when he was 21. Bob Mathias won the Olympic decathlon in 1948 at the age of 17. Yehudi Menuhin was hailed as the most gifted natural violinist ever to have appeared on the concert stage, at the age of 11.

On the other hand, Moses was 80 when he led Israel out of Egypt, and Joshua was 80 when he led the people into the Promised Land. It is never too soon, or too late, to ask God to use your life for something significant.

Second, ask God to make your life significant, no matter your circumstances.

Josiah’s father has been assassinated, and he finds himself in charge of a nation on the edge of extinction, at the age of eight. He is surrounded by pagan priests and idolatrous people, with wicked Assyria breathing down his neck. But this young man saved his nation, by the power and grace of God.

The circumstances our youth face today are no less discouraging. Most of us have no idea how tough their lives can be. During the Leave It To Beaver generation, teachers were asked to describe their top disciplinary problems. Their answers: talking, chewing gum, making noise, running in the halls, wearing improper clothing, and not putting waste paper in the trash can. In the Beavis generation, the same question was asked, with these answers: rape, robbery, assault, burglary, arson, bombing, and murder.

Nearly half of our nation’s 20.7 million middle and high school students drink alcohol every week. Alcohol-related car crashes kill nine teenagers every day. At least 15 Highland Park High School students have died in alcohol-related accidents in the last ten years.

45% of high school seniors say they’ve tried illegal drugs. Between 1992 and 1995, the number of eighth graders using illegal drugs doubled; among tenth graders, it jumped by two-thirds; among seniors, by half.

On every side, our youth are assaulted with violence, immorality, and despair.

Every school day at least 100,000 students take guns to school. Gunfire is the second-leading cause of teenage deaths.

40% of America’s teenagers are sexually active. One teenage girl out of ten becomes pregnant every year in this country. 40% of all girls will be pregnant before they reach the age of 20. Three million teenagers are diagnosed with a sexually-transmitted disease each year. 20.1% of America’s teenage girls have had an abortion.

2,000 teenagers commit suicide every year. And for every suicide, there are 350 failed attempts.

But you don’t have to become what your culture is. Like Josiah, you have a choice. You can ask God to make your life significant, no matter how much pressure our society puts on you, no matter how unpopular righteousness is.

I found this week a powerful statement: to lead the orchestra, you must turn your back on the crowd. Make that choice, today.

Last, ask God to make your life significant, until it is done.

Josiah’s end was tragic. His astounding spiritual and political successes birthed in his soul the self-sufficiency and pride which always lead to ruin. The king whom all the pagan priests and Assyrian warriors couldn’t touch was killed by a single Egyptian arrow.

If he could stand here today, he would plead with every one of us: ask God to make your life significant, until it is done. You are not finished serving God until he calls you home.

In 1946, the National Association of Evangelicals published an article on men who were “best used of God” during that organization’s first five years of existence. The article highlighted the ministry of Chuck Templeton. Billy Graham was never mentioned. But five years later, Templeton was out of the ministry and no longer even believed in the divinity of Jesus Christ. And God has used Billy Graham to touch more lives than any person in Christian history.

His secret? I asked that question this week of Dr. Sterling Huston, a member of Dr. Graham’s leadership team for 35 years. Dr. Huston says that Dr. Graham has never lost his sense of inadequacy, his knowledge that he must depend on God for his life and work to be significant. Dr. Graham’s greatest fear is that, at the end of his life, he will do something to bring disrepute on the cause of Christ. And that is why he never will.

Conclusion

I have prayed this week that God would do no less than raise up another Josiah among us today. That the Holy Spirit of Almighty God would so stir our minds and inflame our hearts that the next Josiahs would be raised up from this congregation. Josiah has been gone for 2,610 years. Billy Graham is 83. Who will be next?

Would you have the courage to ask God to make your life significant, to use you to shape this culture and even this world for Christ? Would you ask God to use your life no matter your age, or your circumstances, until you are done?

I close with the famous words of Henry Varley, preaching to a packed church building in England: “The world has yet to see what God will do with, and for, and through, and in, and by, the man totally dedicated to him.” From the balcony of that auditorium, an uneducated shoe salesman named Dwight Moody stood to his feet and said, “I will be that man.” And 100 million heard the gospel through him.

For this generation, who will be that man? That woman? Will you?

Legions of the Unjazzed

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Legions of the Unjazzed

Jeremiah 1:4-10

James C. Denison

The number of text messages sent and received today will exceed the population of the planet. If MySpace were a country, it would be the eighth-largest in the world. 2.7 billion searches are performed on Google every month. More than 3,000 new books are published every day. China will soon become the number one English speaking country in the world. One hundred percent of the college graduates in India can speak English.

One out of every eight couples married in the US last year met online. By 2013 a supercomputer will be built which exceeds the computing power of the human brain. By 2023, it will cost less than $1,000. By 2049, that $1,000 computer will exceed the computational capacities of the entire human race.

No one knows where the future is going. I read Alan Greenspan’s new book this week, and was fascinated. As you know, he was the chairman of the Federal Reserve for nearly 20 years, working with four presidents. I had no idea that economists had so many tools at their disposal to use in predicting future financial trends.

But despite the greatest sophistication in human history, we still don’t know what the future will bring. Will there be a recession? Will the subprime mortgage crisis affect us all? Will the dollar hold its value against foreign currencies? No one knows.

There’s only one Chairman who can see tomorrow today. He is God Almighty, the awesome and holy Lord of the universe. But he is also intimately interested in you. Today we’ll learn how to return the favor–why you and I should pay the price to know this God more intimately than ever before. And we’ll see what happens when we do.

What God has done for us

God “knew” Jeremiah. The Hebrew word is a completed action: he knew all about him. Everything. Everything he would ever do, and say, and think, and feel. Before he made him at conception and brought him into the world. He knew the good–the achievements, the success, the faithfulness to God. He knew the bad–Jeremiah’s times of depression, of despair, of feeling rejected by God and his people. Jesus says that even the hairs on our heads are numbered by God. He knew him.

He formed him: “Before I formed you.” The same word is used in Jeremiah 18:4 for a potter making clay. It is used in Genesis 2:7 for God making of man from the earth. It means that he made him as he wished him to be. As a potter can make anything from clay, so God made Jeremiah. He formed him as he was and is.

He sanctified him: “before you were born I set you apart.” The word means to separate something for a job, a task, a purpose. The New Testament speaks of God’s people as “saints”–the “separated ones.” God made us for himself. We are a means to his end. We exist for his glory. He made us for his purposes.

And he called him: “I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” “Appointed” means to set apart for a task. For Jeremiah, it was to be a prophet to the nations. To speak and record the word of God for the people and for posterity. God clearly brought his plan to pass, as we are reading the words of that prophet today.

Why is this episode in Holy Scripture? Jeremiah obviously knew all of this. The Holy Spirit led him to record this for your sake and mine. So we could know that what God did for Jeremiah, he has done for every one of us as well. He “knew” you–everything you would ever do, before he “formed” you. He made you, then set you apart for himself. And he has called you to a purpose in his Kingdom. He has a plan for your life–a plan to prosper you and not harm you, a plan to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). His plan is good, pleasing, and perfect (Romans 12:2).

All of this is what God has done for us. And he’s not done yet.

What God will do for us

Here’s what God will do for us. First, he plans our lives (v. 7). Jeremiah thinks that he cannot speak, that he is too inexperienced. God says: I have a plan, and you’re in it. I will send you, and I will tell you what to do. If you know where to go and what to do, you know all you need to know.

He protects us (v. 8): “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you.” When you don’t want to follow his plan, to go where he sends and say what he says, remember that he will protect you when you are in his will. But only then–he cannot protect those who will not follow him, any more than a shepherd can protect a sheep which wanders from his care. The safest place in all the world to be is the center of the will of God.

He provides for us (v. 9): “Now, I have put my words in your mouth.” Why words? Because this is what a prophet would need. Jeremiah would need to say, “Thus says the Lord.” Whatever you need, God will give you as well. He equips the called–he does not call the equipped.

And he uses us (v. 10). God has a global purpose for our lives. Jeremiah could not imagine a use this great, but God could. He couldn’t imagine affecting nations and kingdoms–to uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow, build and plant.

But this is what God did with Jeremiah. He used him to call his people to repentance. When they refused, he used him to call them to judgment and exile. Eventually they would return from their slavery in Babylon and never be the same again. No more idolatry–they would worship the one true God. And through their nation would come the Messiah for all the world.

What was true for Jeremiah is true for every one of us. He plans for us, protects us, provides for us, and uses us. There are no exceptions to this rule.

Abraham lied about his wife and slept with her maid. Jacob was named “deceiver” for a reason, as his cheated brother could attest. Judah fathered two sons by his daughter-in-law, but became the forefather of the Messiah. Moses murdered an Egyptian before becoming a fugitive for 40 years. On we could go: David and Bathsheba, Solomon with his 700 wives and 300 concubines, Peter’s three denials of Jesus, Saul of Tarsus and the persecution of Christians.

It’s been the same through Christian history. Augustine fathered a son with his girlfriend and prayed, “God, make me chaste but not yet.” Thomas Aquinas was nicknamed “the dumb ox” at school. Martin Luther suffered serious bouts with depression, as did Charles Spurgeon. Dwight Moody was nearly illiterate when he began preaching. Billy Graham grew up on a farm and never went to seminary. And these are just the names you know.

What we must do for God

What you don’t know is that every person used greatly by God has the same story. We all have sins we don’t want you to know about, mistakes and failures and guilt in our past. Anyone who has met God has been awed by him and felt like a child in his presence.

You see, such humility is a prerequisite to usefulness. God cannot do for us what we try to do for ourselves. Jesus’ first beatitude was clear: “Blessed are the poor in spirit”–those who know how desperately they need God.

Mother Teresa called herself a “little pencil in the hand of God,” and closed every one of her recently published letters with the request: “Pray for me.”

Billy Graham admitted in his autobiography: “I have often said that the first thing I am going to do when I get to Heaven is to ask, ‘Why me, Lord? Why did You choose a farmboy from North Carolina to preach to so many people, to have such a wonderful team of associates, and to have a part in what You were doing in the latter half of the twentieth century?’ I have thought about that question a great deal, but I know also that only God knows the answer.”

Self-sufficiency is the enemy of spiritual power. Working for God–doing what we can do to serve him–deciding what we want to do and asking him to bless our decisions–marshalling our experience and wisdom and using it to lead or serve the church–these are the ways to human success but not spiritual victory. These may be ways to build a bigger church, but not a bigger Kingdom.

Bill Hybels is the founder of Willow Creek Community Church, the largest church in America. He is also the founder and leader of the Willow Creek Association, a global network of Kingdom-building churches. When he encounters business leaders who think they can run their church just like their run their business, he always says, “It’s not the same, and it’s not that simple.” He’s right.

Andrew Murray says that the key to the spiritual life is admitting that it is impossible, that we cannot know God, please him, or serve him in our ability. Jesus was explicit: “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5, emphasis mine).

If we don’t seek the face of God, admitting that we don’t know what to do and cannot do anything spiritual or eternal, we will never have his word and will. We will never see souls saved and lives changed, families healed and homes blessed. We will never see the Kingdom grow so long as we are running the Kingdom.

Only when we humble ourselves as Jeremiah humbled himself can we be used as Jeremiah was used. But when we do, we are.

Conclusion

Today is the day to know that God knows you, and formed you, and sanctified you, and called you. He wants to plan your life, and protect you, and provide for you, and use you. But you must admit that you need what he can do. You must admit that you need his plan, and protection, and provision, and purpose. When last did you do that?

When we’re in charge, life grows stale and frustrating. When God is in charge, life is significant and exciting. We’re being used for something global. God is doing more with us than we could ever do with ourselves. If Jeremiah had refused to yield his life to the purpose of God, we would never have heard of him. Because he did, the world is not the same.

The late Bruce Thielemann, a Presbyterian minister, was one of my favorite preachers. He said that we live in a dull day, that we are “legions of the unjazzed.” I think he’s right. I think we settle for the easy, the routine, the complacent. I don’t think the church of Jesus Christ in America has a vision of what God wants to do with us, of what he can do with us. We’re legions of the unjazzed. Are you in that number?

Thielemann says there are a lot of folks who have their lives planned out very carefully. Nice little job. Nice little marriage. Two nice little kids. Nice little retirement plan. Nice little house with a nice little two-car garage with two nice little cars. You know what the end of that story is? It’s a nice little hill with a nice little mound upon it and a nice little stone at the top of the mound with your nice little name on it and a few nice little dates underneath. Mediocrity. The legions of the unjazzed.

Seek the dream of God for your life. Know that the God of the universe can use you in ways you cannot possibly comprehend. Surrender the day when it begins. Pray first, all through the day. Ask God to use your life to do more than you can imagine. And believe that he will.

Catholic cardinal John Henry Newman was right: “Fear not that you may try and fail, but rather that you may fail to try. Fear not that thy life shall come to an end, but rather fear that it shall never have a beginning.”

It begins where it began for Jeremiah. If you are “only a child” before God Almighty, you are the child of the God of the universe. What has your Father planned for you today?

Let’s Make a Deal

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Let’s Make a Deal

Exodus 20:4-6

Dr. Jim Denison

Remember the old game show, Let’s Make a Deal? The winner was defined by who made the most money and the best deals. And at the end the winner had to select Door Number 1, Door Number 2, or Door Number 3 for his prize. It might be something spectacular, or it might be a donkey.

Today we come to God’s Second Commandment. We’ll learn what God said to them, and what he says to us. And we’ll make a deal—hopefully, the right one for our souls.

Idols they chose

“Worship” is putting something or someone first in your life. The verb “worship” can take any noun as its object. We can worship something made of wood, stone, flesh, paper, or spirit.

If that which is first in our lives is anything or anyone but the Lord God, by definition it is an idol. What does God say about this?

You shall not

“You” is plural, applying to every one of them and every one of us. “Shall not” is a command. If you and I find that we have an idol in our lives this morning, we must get rid of it, right now.

Make for yourself

Here’s a basic principle for life: if you can make it, don’t worship it. If you can buy it, or sell it, or destroy it, don’t worship it.

I would rephrase this for our culture as well: “You shall not make of yourself” an idol. Anything we make for ourselves or of ourselves must not have first place in our lives, or it becomes an idol.

An idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.

The ancient Canaanites made their idols of wood, sometimes of stone, often covered with some kind of precious metal. They made them in all sorts of forms, which is why the Second Commandment prohibits forms from the sky, the earth, or the seas—thus, everything.

You shall not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.

This was a huge problem in the ancient world. The Egyptians worshiped idols, as did the Canaanites and the Jews’ own forefathers. The ancient Greeks, the most brilliant civilization of all time, also worshiped gods such as Athena and Zeus—so many, in fact, that Paul commented on the number of idols he found in Athens (Acts 17:22-23).

Idolatry was such a problem, there are fourteen different synonyms and words for “idol” in the Old Testament, and the Hebrew Scriptures say more about this commandment than any of the other nine.

Why was idolatry so common? Every human being is created with a need to worship God. As St. Augustine said, we all have a “God-shaped emptiness” inside us, and our hearts are restless until they rest in him.

But it’s hard to worship something you cannot see. So the ancients would make physical images for spiritual gods, seeking to portray divine characteristics such as power, fertility, or glory. But in time the means became the ends, and they began worshiping the idols themselves.

This God cannot allow, for he is a “jealous” God. The word is better translated “zealous,” and points to God’s desire for an exclusive relationship with us. Just as no husband who truly loves his wife could endure to share her with another man, so God will not share us with another god.

The term also shows that God truly cares for us, for we cannot be “jealous” or “zealous” about someone unless they matter to us.

Is this law or grace?

God says that he “punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.” This is simply a Hebrew idiom, not a mathematical statement. The Bible teaches repeatedly that we must pay for our own sins, not those of others (Deuteronomy 24:16; Jeremiah 31:29,30; Ezekiel 18:1-4).

God is saying that our present-day idolatry has consequences for those who come after us, for they will likely follow in our footsteps. If I worship money, my children probably will, too. If I love Jesus, my family probably will as well.

This is why God says that he “shows love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” “Love” is the Hebrew word hesed, like agape love in the Greek—unconditional, unbreakable.

God is not saying that we earn his love when we worship him alone. He is saying that we put ourselves in position to receive this love by his grace. Then we respond by keeping his commandments. Jesus said, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love” (John 15:10); his disciple John said, “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands” (1 John 2:3).

Idols we choose

Let’s sum up:

To “worship” is to put something or someone first in our lives. We all have an innate need to worship something or someone. The oldest art in the world is of figures used in worship. Bob Dylan’s old song is right: “You gotta serve somebody.”

But we don’t like worshiping what we cannot see. So we make physical images for a spiritual God, and wind up worshiping them. And whenever we worship anything or anyone that is not God, this by definition is idolatry.

Now, how is this relevant for us? Return to Let’s Make a Deal for a moment.

Religion is popular. We’ll call it “Door Number One.”

The Hindus have idolatrous images of their thousands of gods. The Buddhists venerate their images of the Buddha. The Hare Krishnas have their idols as well.

Do Baptists have idols? We do whenever we make the means of our faith into the ends of our faith. I have known churches which refused to sing, except from the hymnal; Christians who so venerated the church’s buildings that they refused to change them; people who so treasured their traditions and customs that they would not consider other ways to reach people. I know a church in Atlanta, for instance, whose pastor died twenty years ago, but he’s still their pastor, and nothing has changed. The average age of their membership is now 80.

Here’s a test for religious idols: can you worship God in any way except your way? If the answer is no, you’re on the way to making the means the ends. You’ve chosen this door. Don’t open it—there’s an idol inside.

Materialism is popular. We’ll call it, “Door Number Two.”

There is nothing inherently wrong with material possessions—a nice car, house, or suit. God’s word does not say that “money is the root of all evil,” but “The love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10).

Money becomes my idol whenever it is the end, not the means. When I work to make more money, not to accomplish something of significance for which I am paid money. When I want money for the sake of money, rather than for what I can do with money for God and others.

If I take money from God or his work to buy possessions, if I consider myself better than others because I have them, or if I measure my life significance by them, I’m in trouble. They have first place, and are my idols.

Here’s a test for materialism: can you give up your possessions and still be happy? If not, you’ve chosen this door. Don’t open it—there’s an idol inside.

Immorality is everywhere. We’ll call it, “Door Number Three.”

Listen to Colossians 3:5: “Put to death…whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.”

Ephesians 5:5 warns us: “No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”

Any time we intentionally break the will and word of God, we put our own desires ahead of God. The next time you are tempted by immorality, ask yourself: do I want to commit this sin more than I want to honor God? If the answer is yes, you’ve chosen this door. Don’t open it—there’s an idol inside.

Last, we come to self. We’ll call it, “Door Number Four.”

Here we find the “unholy trinity:” “me, myself, and I.” Bestsellers tell us to “pull your own strings,” and “look out for number one.” Frank Sinatra sang the theme song of our culture: “I did it my way.”

Our “postmodern” culture says there’s no such thing as “absolute truth,” only “your truth” and “my truth.” They make this an absolute truth claim, by the way. There are no idols—only what you worship, and what I worship. If it works for you, fine.

We don’t apply this subjective view of truth to our car keys (any one will do), to our food (any quality or sanitation will do), or to our history (any Hitler will do). But we apply it to our selfish ambitions and choices.

Here’s the door I tend to choose: ambition, pride, a drive for perfectionistic performance. Working for myself, not God. Is this your choice? Don’t open it—there’s an idol waiting inside.

Conclusion

What do we do with our idols?

Admit we have them, that we’ve chosen the wrong doors. I’m an idolater by nature. So are you. The question is not, do we have them? but, which of them do we have?

Find them, then destroy them. Hear the word of the Lord: “Throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel” (Joshua 24:23).

Make a moral inventory of your life today. Ask the Spirit to show you any idols in your life. Take a sheet of paper and write them down. Destroy it. Confess them to God. And claim his promise: If we confess our idols, he is faithful and just to forgive us for them and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (cf. 1 John 1:9).

My friends, idols cannot help us. They’re like plugging a power drill into a disconnected socket, or putting a dead battery in a flashlight. They keep God from helping us. They are spiritual cancer. Eventually they consume us, and destroy our souls.

And so we must keep God’s Second Commandment, for our sake.

I’ll close with a silly story my youth minister told me in the tenth grade. It seems an eagle was flying in the sky one day when he looked down and saw a little man pushing a strange cart. On the cart was a sign with the words, “Worms for sale.” He landed and asked the man how much he wanted for his worms. The man said, “A feather for a worm.” That sounded good to the eagle, so he plucked a feather from his wing, gave it to the man, and the man gave him a worm. He ate it and flew off.

The next day the man was back, so the eagle traded another feather for a worm. The next day the same thing happened, and the next, and the next. Over time the eagle found that he could not fly as high as he once could, or as far, but by now he was dependent upon these worms. Every day he traded another feather for another worm.

Finally the day came when the eagle plucked a feather, gave it to the man, ate his worm, and tried to fly away—but he couldn’t. He’d lost too many feathers. Then he thought of a solution. He dug up a huge mound of worms, brought them to the man, and asked for his feather back. But the man said, “I trade worms for feathers, not feathers for worms.”

Don’t make the deal.

Life Remixed

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Life Remixed

Colossians 3:5-17

James C. Denison

Tonight on the Discovery Channel a documentary will air claiming that the burial boxes of Jesus and his family have been discovered. James Cameron, director of Titanic and The Terminator, is one of the makers of the film. He’s dealing with ossuaries, burial boxes found in Jerusalem 27 years ago. He claims that the inscriptions on the sides show that Jesus was buried here along with his wife, Mary Magdalene, and their son Judah. His mother Mary and brother Joseph are supposed to have been buried here as well.

Archaeologists have been quick to attack this ridiculous claim, one of them the expert who first found the ossuaries. He points out that Cameron has absolutely no proof for his allegations and that other scholars dismissed this thesis years ago. But it all makes for good marketing during the Lenten season.

If Cameron is right, Jesus didn’t rise from the dead. Then he isn’t the Son of God, and Christianity is false. If he is right, the first Christians, eyewitnesses to the risen Christ 20 centuries ago, are wrong. There is no explanation for the non-biblical records which document that the first Christians believed that Jesus rose from the grave. More than a million people died for a claim they knew to be a lie. There is no explanation for the miraculous birth and growth of the church.

There’s an even easier way to know that Cameron is wrong and that Jesus is alive today. When the “God is dead” controversy started in the 1960’s, someone asked Billy Graham what he thought. “God isn’t dead,” he replied with a smile–“I just talked with him this morning.”

God still speaks, in prayer and in Scripture. If we will put his revelation into practice in our lives, we’ll learn that the Bible really is true. Its claims really do work. Our lives really are blessed when we lead them as God directs. Let’s learn how to be holy in every relationship of our lives, and what happens when we are.

Refuse sexual sin

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature.” This is a present tense imperative, intended for us all. The tense is active–something we must do. God cannot do this for us and yet honor our free will.

We must put these sins “to death,” not just out of the way to be considered later. Something must die–these sins, or us. Either we kill the cancer, or it kills us.

Now we come to the vice list, five words which all relate to sexual sin.

The first is “sexual immorality,” porneia in the Greek. Any kind of sexual activity outside marriage and outside God’s will. Premarital sex, extramarital sex, prostitution, pornography–all such acts are included here.

Next is “impurity”–the word relates to immoral thoughts and the decision to act on them.

Next is “lust,” “passions” in the Greek. The word relates to emotions, feelings.

Next comes “evil desires,” immoral desires and longings.

Last is “greed, which is idolatry.” In this context, wanting something sexual which we should not have. Wanting a person or a picture, an act or a relationship.

Immoral acts come from immoral thoughts, which comes from immoral emotions, which come from immoral desires, which comes from immoral temptations. We are tempted–we want this–we feel it–we think about it–we choose it. Such sins lead to the “wrath” and judgment of God (v. 6). Before we decided to follow Jesus, we “used to walk in these ways” (v. 7). But now we must follow them no more. We must “put them to death” today.

You can do this, or God would not tell you to.

People sometimes ask more of us than they should. The voice instructor who insisted that I take his class in college wasted his time and mine. The tragic episode reminds me of the farmer who paid for singing lessons for his pig–it just cost him money and made the pig mad. People often ask more than we can do.

But God does not. The inventor knows his invention. Nowhere does Scripture command us to save our souls, because we cannot. It does not tell us to earn our salvation, because that’s impossible. Whatever it does tell us to do, we can do. So, you and I can do this. We can “put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature.”

God will empower us, if we will choose to do this. He will tax the last grain of sand and star in the sky to help us. But the first step is ours. Where are you being tempted by sexual sin today?

Refuse spoken sin

The other category about which Paul warns us is just as deadly, though far less public: “now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other” (vs. 8-9a). From sexual sins to spoken sins.

The list grows in ascending order:

Stage one is “anger,” bitterness we will not release.

Stage two is “rage”–a “burning anger which flares up and burns with intensity,” to define the Greek term. From bitterness to anger–the simmering pot boils over.

Stage three is “malice,” the decision and intention to hurt the other person.

Stage four involves “slander” and “filthy language,” when we speak words which put our malice into effect. We belittle and attack with our words.

Finally comes stage five, where we “lie to each other” (v. 9a). From unkind words we progress to out-and-out falsehoods in our desire to hurt the other. “To each other” shows that the problem existed in the Christian community, not just the larger society.

All of this is so unnecessary, since we have already put off this “old self” when we asked Christ into our lives (v. 9b). We have put on the “new self,” which he is renewing in his image every day (v. 10). He does this for us all, no matter our background or story: Greek or Jew, Hebrew or Gentile; barbarian (uneducated), Scythian (savage), slave or free–“Christ is all, and is in all” (v. 11). We are all the family of God. I am your brother–you are my brothers and sisters.

But the text is in God’s word because we are as tempted by spoken sins as were the Colossians. Where has this temptation found you? Name the person for whom you harbor “anger” today. Give that person to Jesus right now, asking for his grace to see him or her as he does. Every time the anger returns, give it to Jesus again.

If you’ve already acted on your anger, rage, malice, and slander, ask forgiveness and seek reconciliation. Give this pain to Jesus, and receive his grace. It will never be easier than it is right now.

Choose forgiving grace

From the negative, God’s word moves quickly to the positive. Here’s how to replace disease with health, pain with joy: “clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (v. 12).

“Compassion” means to “feel with,” to empathize with others, to put ourselves in their position.

“Kindness” refers to kind deeds and actions.

“Humility” requires that we serve others, not because they are superior to us or we are superior to them, but because we are their brother or sister.

“Gentleness” is strength under control, submitted constantly to the Spirit.

“Patience” means “long-suffering,” refusing revenge or retaliation.

Now comes the test: “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (v. 13).

“Bear with each other” means to endure their sins against us.

“Forgive whatever grievances” means to pardon whatever has been done to us. We cannot forget it, but we can choose not to punish it.

Do this to the same degree that Jesus has forgiven you, without condition.

How? “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them together in perfect unity.” Love is to be the outer garment which “binds together” all the others, which protects them and keeps them in place. “Agape,” selfless, sacrificial love which puts the other first, is the foundation virtue of all the rest.

There is a progression here in our relationships. Think of the person who last hurt you, or who has hurt you the most. Have that person in mind, and think about what he or she did to you.

Begin your response with “compassion.” Ask God to help you feel what they feel, to see things as they do. Why did he do this to you? What insecurity, false information, or past experiences motivated him to act in this way?

To respond unkindly, returning hurt for hurt, only makes things worse, reinforcing his insecurity. Kindness means that I look for actions which respond to his need in grace.

Humility means that I do so while understanding that I am a fallen person as well, that my needs are no greater than his. There but for the grace of God go I.

Gentleness means that I submit to God, asking him to help me give this person whatever he needs. I seek God’s leading and strength continually.

Patience means that I do this for a long time, whatever the person’s response. I am not responsible for what he does to me, only for what I do to him.

Forbearance means that I do this even when he does not respond in kind, and when the hurt continues.

Forgiveness means that I pardon all that he has done to me, and all that he continues to do to me.

Love means that I do this as a lifestyle and commitment, offering him what Jesus has given to me. This is the way to health and peace in this hurting relationship; the only way to resolution. God’s method works!

Experience forgiving grace

Now Paul closes with the internal spiritual health and power which enables everything else we’ve studied today. If we do this, we can refuse sexual and spoken sin, choosing forgiving grace for all we know. But only if we do this.

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,” he commands (v. 15a). “Rule” means to umpire, to call the shots. “Heart” is the center of emotions and will. Seek the peace which comes from trusting completely in Jesus. Give your sexual and spoken and relational temptations to him, so fully that you receive his peace in their place.

How?

“Be thankful” for all God has already done for you.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” as you begin the day in Scripture and spend the day meditating on its truth. Then you’ll be able to “teach and admonish” others, showing them God’s word and its application to their lives.

“Sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your heart to God,” worshiping him every day.

And “whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Seek to glorify God in every moment, with every decision.

When I am right with our Father, I can be right with his children. Then I have the strength to resist sexual and spoken temptations. Then I have received the grace I can give to those who need it most. When I am connected to the source of the Spirit in my life, I can give what he gives to me. But only then.

Conclusion

We have studied some of the richest, most challenging truths in all of God’s word. But they summarize simply: refuse sexual and spoken temptations. Forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another, as the Lord forgave you. How? By starting the day with thanksgiving, in the word and worship of God, seeking to glorify him with all you do.

The result will be days filled with victory, joy, peace, and significance. The result will be the “abundant life” Jesus wants to give every one of us.

A simple essay crossed my path recently. It pictures this text well, I think.

“When I meditated on the word ‘guidance,’ I kept seeing “dance” at the end of the word. I remember reading that doing God’s will is a lot like dancing. When two people try to lead, nothing feels right. The movement doesn’t flow with the music, and everything is uncomfortable and jerky.

“When one person realizes that, and lets the other person lead, both bodies begin to flow with the music. One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing lightly in one direction or another. It’s as if two become one body, moving beautifully. The dance takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person and gentle guidance and skill from the other.

“My eyes drew back to the word ‘guidance.’ When I saw the ‘G’ I thought of God, followed by ‘u’ and ‘i.’ ‘God, ‘u’ and ‘i’ dance. God, you and I dance.”

Dance together with God, trusting God to lead and to guide you through each season of your life.

Who’s leading your dance today?

Life’s “One Thing”

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Life’s “One Thing”

Matthew 4:12-17

Dr. Jim Denison

Have you made any New Year’s resolutions? It seems the Babylonians started the tradition 4,000 years ago, resolving to return borrowed farm equipment. I didn’t borrow any farm equipment this year, but nonetheless made a resolution I want to tell you about today. Most of you made one as well.

Why? Something in us knows that we’re not all we should be. Does anyone here believe that you’ve completely arrived? That you are doing all God intends you to do with the life he has given you? That your life has completely fulfilled its God-given purpose?

Can you define your purpose, your reason for being?

It’s imperative that we find our “one thing.” This William Barclay quote is crucial to my life: “A man will never become outstandingly good at anything unless that thing is his ruling passion. There must be something of which he can say, ‘For me to live is this.'” Do you know your “reason to live”?

What should your life purpose be this year? God’s word answers our question today.

Is God your King?

I remember my first sermon well. A Sunday night service at Calvary Baptist Church in Alvin, Texas, outside of Houston. Signs at the city limits tell you that it’s Nolan Ryan’s hometown. To my knowledge, no one has added to the signs, “And place of Jim Denison’s first sermon.” Remembering the sermon, I don’t blame them.

Jesus’ first sermon in Matthew was memorable beyond description. When we open the New Testament, these are the first public words we hear from his lips: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (v. 17).

This is the first request he taught us to pray: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

This was the substance and essence of his preaching and teaching. 108 times in the gospels our Lord spoke of the kingdom of God.

And he promised that one day he would return to consummate this Kingdom: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory” (Matthew 25:31). Revelation promises his glorious rule: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).

So what is this “Kingdom of God?”

Jesus gave us its simplest definition in the Model Prayer: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). In other words, God’s kingdom comes wherever his will is done. Wherever he is King, wherever we serve him as our Sovereign and Master, his kingdom comes. When we do his will on earth as it is done in heaven.

The Kingdom of God defines everything that matters in our world.

The Kingdom defines God. He owns all that is, for “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). As creator, he is owner and sovereign of the universe. He can do whatever he pleases, for he is King.

The Kingdom defines us. We are subjects of this King before we are anything else. Every aspect of our lives is governed by this fact. Unlike a democracy, where the government affects us only in limited ways, a monarchy affects its subjects in every way. We are subjects of this King.

The Kingdom defines our world. This planet has fallen into rebellion against its King. Now there is the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world, and they are at war. You and I live in the kingdom of the world, but we live for the Kingdom of God. Our loyalty is to our King alone.

The Kingdom defines our success. Our purpose is to extend the full rule of Christ into as many lives as we can. We must be loyal subjects of our King, and lead as many people as possible to make him their King. This is how he judges and rewards us.

Building the Kingdom of God on earth was Jesus’ “one thing.” It should be ours as well.

How do you make him your King?

So, how do we make God our King? Our church teaches four priorities above all others: love God, live by his word, give to his work, and impact his world. Let’s think about each one in turn.

First, love God and he will be your King. The first and greatest commandment is that we “love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind” (Matthew 22:37). Enthrone him as your King every day, as the day begins. There is room on the throne of your heart for only one person. Put him there every morning.

Say with the Psalmist, “The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed in majesty and is armed with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity” (Psalm 93:1-2).

Say with Exodus 15:18: “The Lord will reign for ever and ever.”

Say with Psalm 29:10: “The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever.”

Say with 2 Kings 19:15: “O Lord, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth.”

Say with Zechariah 14:9, “The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name” (Zechariah 14:9).

Have you made him your King today?

Second, live by his word and God will be your King.

In our text, Jesus went to Galilee (v. 13), an area known for its enormous Gentile population and backwards culture. If you and I had been Jesus, we would have settled in Jerusalem, not Galilee. But our Lord went to Galilee in obedience to God’s word. The prophet Isaiah had promised seven centuries earlier that the Messiah would come to “Galilee of the Gentiles” (Isaiah 9:1-2). And so he did.

You make God your King when you live by his word and will as Jesus did. Ask of every decision, what does Scripture say? What does God want? Invite the Spirit to lead you and he will. Live by the word and will of God.

Why? Because your King has a wonderful plan for his subjects: “I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). But he can only fulfill this plan when we allow him his way, when we make him our King.

Most of the pain you and I have suffered in life has come from rebellion against the Kingdom of God. Our sins or those of others. His plans are perfect for his subjects. So, be his subject. Live by his word.

Third, give to his work and God will be your King.

Earlier, our text says, “When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison …” (v. 12). A year after Jesus’ baptism, John the Baptist was made a prisoner in the Castle of Machaerus, east of the Dead Sea. He lived there for a year, until he was executed by Herod.

Why was John jailed? Because he spoke the truth about Herod’s adulterous marriage. Because he spoke God’s word in God’s will, whatever the cost. Because he gave everything to his King. And his eternal reward far outweighs its temporal cost.

Our King expects us to give to his Kingdom. Our time, talents, and treasure, our abilities and resources are all at his disposal. He is our Sovereign. We give our lives to his Kingdom’s work.

And last, impact his world and God will be your King. Jesus gave a “great light” to those “living in darkness,” in “the land of the shadow of death” (v. 16). His obedience changed his world. So can ours.

Help us extend the Kingdom of God into Dallas and around the globe. Make this your life purpose this year. And you will serve your King well.

Conclusion

My resolution this new year is to make God my King. King of my life, every part of my life, in every way. I invite you to make this resolution yours.

Here’s the most powerful way I know to make this commitment. On this first Sunday of the new year, I want us to hear again a faith statement we’ve heard before. It’s printed on Bible markers at the doors for you to take and use all year long. This is the way an African pastor, later martyred for his faith, made God his King. Let’s renew our commitment to our King by making his words our 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 the enemy, 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 for his own, he’ll have no problems recognizing me—my colors will be clear.

Is God your King? Did you enthrone him today? Are you living by his word and will? Are you giving fully to his Kingdom’s work? Is your life extending his Kingdom into your world? Have you made God’s “one thing” yours?

If not, there’s time today to obey Jesus’ sermon: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Repent of putting your ambitions or possessions or pride on the throne of your life. Of putting yourself or another person where only God belongs.

Repent. Get off the throne of your life. And put Jesus on it. Crown him your King today. Bow before his Lordship. Make him your Sovereign Lord. Do it in humble gratitude. For your King wore a crown of thorns for you. He chose for his throne your cross. The Supper we receive today shows the price he paid to make you his subject and his child.

He chose to become your Savior. Only you can choose him to be your King. The God of the universe is waiting for your decision, right now.

Listening To Your Father’s Voice

Written by

Listening to your Father’s voice:

How to meditate on the word and world of God

Dr. Jim Denison

Psalm 19

A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that talking on the phone while driving is nearly as dangerous as driving drunk. The study found that using a cell phone increases the risk of an accident fourfold, the same as driving while intoxicated. It doesn’t seem to matter if the phone is hands-free or hand-held. I guess this gives the AT&T slogan, “Reach out and touch someone,” new meaning.

The study did report one safety benefit. Nearly 40% of those surveyed used their phones to call 911 after they crashed.

Wouldn’t it be great to call an even higher power? To call God, whenever you crash, with whatever you need? To ask him anything, and hear his response? To be able to listen to God?

The fact is, there’s nothing our souls need more. The best way to feed our spiritual lives is to listen to God. But that’s something Baptists are just not very good at. The fact is, in most of our churches, it’s not in the catalog. We don’t know much about caring for our souls.

So let’s see if we can learn to feed our souls by listening to God. If you and I will make four simple decisions today, we will hear from God this week.

Believe that God still speaks

First we must decide that God will speak to us. That we can hear his voice. That it’s really true–the God of the universe actually wants to talk to us.

He spoke clearly to Simon Peter (Acts 10).

Peter’s issue was whether Gentiles could become Christians. And so Peter sees “unclean” animals, meat forbidden to his Jewish diet, and hears God say, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” Just then, “unclean” Gentiles arrive, and “the Spirit said to him, ‘Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them” (vs. 19-20).

And so Peter obeys the Spirit’s voice. He preaches to Cornelius and the Gentiles, and they are saved. Gentiles are welcomed into God’s family. We still are.

In a very real sense, we Gentiles are in the church today because God spoke.

Over and over in the Bible, God asks his people to listen to him.

•Isaiah 55:2-3: “Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live.”

•Jeremiah 7:2: “Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord.”

•All through Revelation God calls his people to listen to him. Jesus says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (2.7). He says it to every church he addresses (2:11; 2:17; 2:29; 3:6; 3:13; 3:22).

Well over 300 times in the Bible, God calls his people to hear his word. The Lord is a God who speaks.

Does he still speak to us today?

Have you ever prayed about a problem and had a clear sense of what you should do? Have you read the Bible and found exactly the answer you needed, as though it were written for you? Have you heard a sermon and said to yourself, “He preached that to me”? Have you taken a walk and felt especially close to God? Has a friend called at just the time you needed to hear from someone? Have you heard a song and it truly lifted your spirit?

Then God has spoken to your soul. Please believe that he still speaks. That he wants to speak to us, today.

Be silent before him

Then why don’t we hear him more often? For the simple reason that we don’t usually make the other three decisions. After I decide that God still speaks, next I must be silent before him.

Peter had to go up on the roof, away from the noise of the house. In that silence, he could hear the Spirit speak (v. 9). To hear God I, too, must be silent before him. And that’s not easy.

We don’t live quiet lives. Our work weeks are longer than ever before. I read this week that the supposedly workaholic Germans only work 37 hours a week and take five-week vacations. Not us.

And it takes precious time to be silent before God. Pour water into a bowl, and it splashes and swirls. Only when you set the bowl down and let it sit, does the water become still. So with our souls.

Our souls need a time and a place to be quiet with our Father. To do nothing except sit in his presence, as a child who crawls up into his father’s lap and just sits. Not to work, or read, or study. Just to sit with God.

Recently I read the simple story of an elderly peasant who had formed the habit of slipping into a certain church at a certain time every day. There, day by day, he would sit and, apparently, do nothing. The parish priest observed this regular, silent visitor. One day, unable to contain his curiosity any longer, he asked the old man why he came to the church alone, day in, day out. Why waste his time in this way?

The old man looked at the priest and with a loving twinkle in his eye said, “I look at him. He looks at me. And we tell each other that we love each other.”

Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” I’d say it this way: “Be still and you will know that I am God.”

How long has it been since you were still before God?

Choose to surrender

So I believe that God wants to speak to me, and I make time to listen to him. Now the third simple decision: I must move from silence to surrender.

Peter didn’t want to obey what he heard God say (vs. 14-15). Finally he did (vs. 20-21). Then came the result: “God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean” (v. 28). He had to surrender to what he heard.

If I am to listen to God, I must first decide to do what he says. His word and will are not negotiable for me. The God of the universe is not willing for his voice to be an option.

Joyce Huggett, whose book The Joy of Listening to God has helped me greatly, says, “The secret of true prayer is to place oneself utterly and completely at the disposal of God’s Spirit.”

And she quotes Thomas Merton, one of the best-known monks of this century: “The deepest prayer at its nub is a perpetual surrender to God.”

To hear God speak, I must surrender not only my will but also my sin. The more time I spend with God, the more I see my sins for what they are, and the more I must confess them to him.

A man walking to church at night was splashed with mud by a passing bus. In the dark he said, “It’s not too bad.” He came closer to a streetlight and said, “I need to brush this off.” He stood under the streetlight and said, “I must go home and change clothes.”

So do we all.

Chuck Swindoll has a helpful book entitled Intimacy with the Almighty. In it he quotes a Puritan prayer which captures our struggle.

When you would guide me I control myself.

When you would be sovereign I rule myself.

When you would take care of me I suffice myself.

When I should depend on your providings I supply myself.

When I should submit to your providence I follow my will.

When I should study, honour, trust you, I serve myself;

I fault and correct your laws to suit myself.

Lord, it is my chief design to bring my heart back to You.

And so it must be, if I would hear the Spirit of God.

Listen to his Spirit

So I believe that God will speak to me; I am silent before him; and I surrender myself to him. Now, last, I must choose to listen to his Spirit. Whatever he wants to say, however he wishes to say it. I choose to listen.

How does God’s Spirit speak to those who choose to listen?

He speaks to us, of course, in his word. But listening to God’s word is not the same thing as studying it or preaching from it. When I listen to God’s word, I seek only God’s meaning for me. Not for you, or for anyone else–only for me. When God speaks through his word to a listening heart, he speaks specifically to that heart and none other.

Perhaps the best way to listen to God’s word is to take a short passage, five to ten verses, and spend time with them in God’s presence. Seek to live in this text. If it’s an event, join it. Identify with the people in the story. In our case, seek to become Cornelius, or Peter, or perhaps one of these servants. See the story through their eyes, feel it with their emotions.

Pay special attention to words or phrases which speak to you personally. In our text, for instance, this phrase caught my eye: the Spirit said to Peter, “Do not hesitate.” When God speaks I am not to hesitate but respond, immediately. That speaks to me regarding some decisions I must make this week.

When something in God’s word especially strikes you, stop there. Write it down. Listen to his word, feel his presence, for you are with Jesus. He is speaking from his word to your heart, feeding your soul.

This is one way God speaks to those who will listen.

He speaks to us through his world as well. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (Ps. 19:1). When you’re alone with God, look around. See his nature, his creation. See the artist in his painting, the poet in his words. Meet with God in his creation and ask him to speak through his world to your soul. And he will.

And God speaks to us through our worship. If you and I would enter God’s presence expecting to hear from him today, in silence and surrender, we would hear his Spirit. He wants to speak through the words of our hymns and choruses, through the prayers we hear and pray, through the music sung and played, through my words as they carry his word.

Worship is not only our time to speak to God. Here God would speak, powerfully, to us.

So imagine Jesus present to you, wherever you are. Imagine him in the pew or chair beside you. It may help you to sit at a table and imagine Jesus in the chair across from you. Imagine him beside you, because he is.

I often tell at funerals the story of the invalid who struggled with prayer, so his pastor told him to put an empty chair beside his bed and pray to Jesus as though he were in the chair. The night he died, his daughter found him, with his hand in the chair.

Conclusion

When will be the next time you pull up a chair for God? When will you get silent before him, surrender to him, and listen to him? Listen for his help with a problem? For his will? For his comfort, or forgiveness, or hope?

Before you leave this morning, make that appointment. For the sake of your soul.

Imagine holding a leaf in your hand, its web of life-giving veins clearly visible. In like manner, the poet invites God to course through his life:

I sense your drive

To flow through me

Into the smallest blood vessels

Because you want to be my heartblood

In all the passages of my life

And you want to become visible in the leaves

And the fruit that I bear.

Spread out in me

Press forward, penetrate, pierce and flow

Even if, at times,

I want to repeal this invitation

Being afraid of your ways in me.

Circulate in me

Change and renew

Because I know

That only your Spirit

Brings real life and fruit.

I echo that prayer. Spread out in me, Lord Jesus, until I see you face to face. Amen.