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The Vision Of True Success

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The Vision of True Success

Acts 16:6-10

Dr. Jim Denison

Someone has observed, “Change is good unless it happens.” Well, it has happened. Sociologists say that 90% of all the change in human history has occurred in the last hundred years.

Much has been good. Life expectancy has increased from 46 to 74 years for men, and 48 to 79 for women. Deaths from tuberculosis and pneumonia, once common, are now rare. And in the future, our clothes will electronically monitor our health; appliances will notify repairmen of problems before they occur; we will touch the television screen to order the clothes the actor is wearing.

The future fascinates us. But it frightens us as well.

Will we have to fight terrorism for the next generation? Will conflict in the Middle East ever end? Will your job be phased out? Will your health be good? Will your children turn out well? Your grandchildren?

Our graduates wonder what their future holds. Will you attend the right school? Choose the right major? Develop the right relationships? Will your dreams be fulfilled? What should your dreams be?

My greatest personal fear is that I will not fulfill God’s purpose for my life. You share that fear. The most common question I’m ever asked is this: how can I know the will of God? This was the subject of my first sermon, 26 years ago. I could preach on this nearly every week and never exhaust either the issue or God’s answers.

Where in your life do you most need to know God’s will this morning? Let’s find God’s answer to that question, together.

Does God have a will for your life? (6-8)

First let’s ask, does God have a specific will for your life? Does he really care what we do with our days, our decisions, our problems?

We know that God has a general will for our lives. He wants us to make Christ our Savior, to receive eternal life. He wants us to obey his word, to live by his truth. Not to earn his love, for we have it already, but because his word is the best way to live. Most of us know this already.

But does God’s will extend to the specific issues and decisions we face every day? Does he have a plan for this sermon? For your response to it? For the way you’ll spend the rest of this day? For your day tomorrow? Let’s see.

In verse 6 we find Paul traveling through Asia Minor, returning to the same region where he had established the churches of Galatia during his first missionary journey. But this time the Holy Spirit will not let him evangelize further in the area, or plant new churches; he is “kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.”

So in verse 7 Paul and his ministry team try to turn to the north and the east, to enter Bithynia on the northern coast of Turkey against the Black Sea, but “the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.” They have traveled more than 300 miles, most of it on foot, without having opportunity to do what God called them to do. Imagine their confusion.

So in verse 8 they go “down to Troas,” to the sea coast, to this port city ten miles from ancient Troy, where the Trojan War was fought. And here God speaks to them. Here God calls them west to Macedonia and Europe. Here God reveals his will, a plan which would change forever the course of human history, as we’ll see. He had a will for them back in Asia, in Mysia, Bithynia, and now in Troas.

God had a specific will for their lives. He has one for ours.

Jesus summarized his life this way: “I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38).

God has a will for us, and it is “good, acceptable, and perfect” (Romans 12:2). He knows the plans he has for us—plans to prosper us and not to harm us, to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).

He wants us to know his will for our lives: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you” (Psalm 32:8); “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it'” (Isaiah 30:21); “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go” (Isaiah 48:17).

And God’s will is the best, most satisfying, most joyful way we can live: “Since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light” (Colossians 1:9-12).

When we live in God’s will, we live as we were meant to live. The most important thing a believer can do is to discover and live in God’s daily will. The only things you and I do which will stand for eternity are those things we do in the will of God. The only things we do which give our lives joy and meaning are those things we do in the will of God.

So, how do we know God’s will?

How do we know God’s will? (9-10)

You and I are created by God in such a way that we experience life in three ways: the intuitive, the pragmatic, and the rational. We know some things to be true because they just feel right, they are true intuitively. Other things we know from pragmatic experience, whether we feel them or truly understand them. I don’t have feelings for a light switch, or understand its electrical wiring, but I know pragmatically that it works. And some things we know rationally and logically, as with math and finance.

God reveals his will to us in all three ways. Watch him do it with Paul.

First, the intuitive. Paul sees a vision, a man of Macedonia calling him to come west with the gospel. God spoke often through visions in the Scriptures: to Abraham, Jacob, Ezekiel, Saul of Tarsus, Peter, John on Patmos. He often speaks to our hearts directly. We simply feel his presence, we sense his direction, we are led intuitively by his Spirit.

Next, the intuitive is accompanied by the pragmatic. Closed doors across Asia, all the way to Troas. It is likely that synagogue rulers wouldn’t let Paul’s team use their synagogues, or city officials their assembly halls. People were closed to the gospel. Perhaps finances were an issue, or health. God often reveals his will through circumstances: results when we serve in certain ways, affirmation from people, finances available to us, open or closed doors.

And the intuitive and pragmatic must have the rational. In this case, before the New Testament, God spoke his word directly to Paul. Now he speaks rationally to us through the Scriptures.

God’s word guides us: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105).

His word equips us to do God’s will: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

His word will never change: “the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever” (1 Peter 1:24-25). God will never contradict his word. So, seek his will through his word, and judge everything you sense intuitively or experience pragmatically by his revealed truth.

Now, what is the question you most need answered from God? Where do you most need to know his will?

Go directly to him. Make time to speak to him and to listen to him. He promises, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

First seek his will rationally in his word. Never contradict his revealed truth. If his word addresses your situation specifically, you don’t need to know more.

Ask him to speak to your spirit intuitively. To do this, confess anything wrong between you and your Father. Ask the Spirit to show you anything you must make right. Worship him; draw close so you can hear his “still small voice.” And listen.

Ask him to guide you pragmatically, through open and closed doors, circumstances and people and opportunities.

And be sure you are in his will today, before you seek his will for tomorrow. Paul had to stay in God’s will in Asia before he could get to Mysia, then in Mysia before Bithynia, then in Troas before he could go to Macedonia. He had to be in God’s will in Philippi before he could go to Thessalonica, or Athens, or Corinth, or Rome. God’s will is first and foremost about here and now, this day. No one in Scripture receives a five-year plan from God. The will of God is a flashlight in the dark, lighting the way from the stone in front of you to the next. And all the way home.

Conclusion

Now let’s apply God’s word to our church. Paul’s Troas experience was crucial to Christian history. From here the gospel would come to Macedonia and on to Europe and Rome, to the Western world. If Paul had turned east, Western history would have been written very differently.

God’s will for our lives is just as crucial for his church today.

We stand in these days before the threshold of the future. What we choose to do personally in response to God’s will for our church will determine our obedience to that will. Our congregation has determined overwhelmingly to enter into the largest capital project in our history. But we will only accomplish God’s vision by the sacrifice of God’s people.

It has forever been this way. God’s will always requires his people. God sent the flood, but he first called Noah to build the ark. God parted the Red Sea, but he first called Moses to raise his staff. God stopped the flooded Jordan River so the Israelites could enter the Promised Land, but he first called them to step into that water.

An elderly saint said it well: “Without God, I can do nothing. Without me, God will do nothing.”

Now God is calling us to step into the river of financial sacrifice.

We cannot accomplish a $35 million project without sacrifice. We must each pray about God’s will for us personally in this matter. We must expect him to ask us to make a sacrifice for his Kingdom and this vision he has entrusted to us. We must sacrifice for the next generation, as the previous generation sacrificed for us.

Will you pray individually and with your family about God’s will in this matter? Will you seek his direction regarding the sacrifice he wants you to make? Search the Scriptures; examine your life circumstances; seek the intuitive leading of his Spirit. And you will know what he would have you to do.

He wants us to know his will even more than we know it. And he stands ready to bless our obedience, for his will is always “good, acceptable, and perfect.” The will of the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving Father of the universe is the safest and best place for each of us to be. Go there.

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church, made his commitment to God in these words: “What you will, when you will, how you will.” A friend of mine said it this way: “God’s will—nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.”

Do you agree?

The War Room of the Soul

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The War Room of the Soul

Ephesians 5:15-20

Dr. Jim Denison

In 1940, with German bombs raining down on London, Winston Churchill and his Cabinet and staff practically lived in their Cabinet War Rooms. This fortified basement provided the prime minister a bedroom, and his cabinet a room for meeting and a map room for strategy planning. The White House Situation Room provides the same security to our president and his staff today. In such “war rooms,” battles and wars are won or lost.

My friends, America is facing a spiritual war, a battle for which we need spiritual power. We have learned that the Spirit is the power of God in our lives, and that he lives in every one of us who has made Jesus our Lord. Now we come to the crucial and practical question: where do we find this power every day? Where is our War Room? For the sake of our souls, our families, and our country, how do we use it well?

Why meet daily with God?

Someone once said of their church: “They have all of Jesus they want. Not all they need, but all they want.” We live in a ruggedly self-sufficient, independent culture. Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. Look out for number one. Pull your own strings. Don’t depend on people, because they’ll let you down. And they will.

“God helps those who help themselves” is our credo. More than 70% of all Americans are sure it’s in the Bible. Actually, this statement first appeared in print in the book of an Englishman named Algernon Sidney in 1698; Benjamin Franklin made it famous.

But it doesn’t work.

In all of recorded human history there have been only four years without war somewhere on our planet.

And now war has come to America. This week, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that there is a “clear and present danger to America” in the threat of further terrorism on our soil. Reports were made this week of a plot to target the Sears Tower in Chicago; the Pentagon says its “primary mission” is now homeland defense.

We need God’s strength and power.

And we can have it—the first church is proof. In Acts 1:6 they are a small, unprepared, ignorant band of frightened men and women, 120 up against a hostile world of 25 million. But by Acts 17:6 they have “turned the world upside down” and launched the greatest, most powerful movement in human history. More people follow Jesus Christ than any other religion on our planet, and history itself is divided by his coming.

All through Acts it’s the same story—the work of the Holy Spirit gives God’s people his power.

In Acts 2:4 the disciples are filled with the Spirit and begin to share the gospel in languages they have never learned. In 4:8, Peter, the former coward, is “filled with the Holy Spirit” and boldly proclaims the gospel to the Supreme Court of Israel. In 4:31, “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” In Acts 9 Ananias prayed for Paul to be “filled with the Holy Spirit” (v. 17); he was healed and immediately began preaching Jesus (v. 20). In Acts 13:9 Paul was “filled with the Spirit” and defeated the Satanic sorcerer on Cyprus. And on the story goes.

What the Spirit did through them, he is waiting and yearning to do through us. If we will go where they went, and do what they did, the Spirit will continue his miraculous, powerful work through our lives. The choice is ours.

I have in my study a rock, normal and ordinary to anyone else but very special to me. I took it from the valley of Elah, where David slayed Goliath. It reminds me daily of the power of God, of what God can do with a single soul fully yielded to his Spirit. There is no Goliath you and I cannot conquer in his power. So, where do we get our rocks for today?

How to meet daily with God

These first Christians “all joined together constantly in prayer” (Acts 1:14), the Upper Room of a home in Jerusalem. They spent their days together with God. They made that Upper Room their War Room. And soon they were filled with the power of Almighty God.

Get an Upper Room with God. Go there before the war of the day begins. Start every morning there with God. But how? Our text tells us.

First, examine your life in the light of his Spirit. “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise” (v. 15).”Be very careful” is an imperative, a command. There is nothing negotiable or optional here with God. This is a present-tense command: “inspect carefully the way that you are living this day.” This makes you “wise” with God, as you apply what God shows you.

So we are to go to our Upper Room, get on our knees before God, and ask his Spirit to show us anything which might keep us from our Father. We confess it to God, and claim his forgiveness. We stay clean daily with God, before the malignancy of sin can spread. Examine your life in the light of his Spirit.

Next, seek God’s will for the coming day (vs. 16-17): “making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is” (vs. 16-17).

“Making the most of every opportunity” translates a phrase which means to “buy back the time,” to get the most we can possibly get out of the day which is before us, to redeem it for significance and eternity.

Do this by knowing and doing the will of God. Study the Scriptures daily. Ask God to guide you through his revealed word. Examine your priorities and work for the day before you in the light of Scripture. Seek God’s will for that day, and you will find it.

Now, yield your life to the Spirit’s power. “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit” (v. 18).

Ancients got drunk in their worship of Dionysius, the pagan god of wine and pleasure. By putting themselves “under the influence,” they thought they were yielding themselves to this god. In exactly the opposite way, you and I are to put ourselves “under the influence” of God’s Holy Spirit.

To be “filled” means to be controlled by the Spirit, to be under his influence, his leadership, his will.This is a command, an imperative from Almighty God, as surely as the Ten Commandments are his imperatives for our lives. This is God’s basic expectation for every believer, not some extra-credit status for a select few. Every one of us is expected to be filled by God’s Spirit. He holds us accountable every day by this standard.

So, how are we “filled with the Spirit”? Five steps are involved; we have taken three already.

First, the text assumes that we have already received Christ as Lord, and thus his Spirit in our lives. As we learned last week, when we make Jesus our Savior, his Spirit takes up permanent residence in our lives.

Second, as we have already seen, we ask God to forgive anything which is wrong in our lives. This is the Holy Spirit, and he can only control that which is clean and holy.

Third, as we saw a moment ago, we seek God’s will. We turn our minds, words, attitudes and actions over to him.

Now we consciously ask the Spirit to take control of us. Unconditionally, without reservation, holding nothing back. We give him a blank check for this day.

And last, we believe by faith that he has. Nowhere does the Bible tell us how it feels to be filled with the Spirit. No particular gift is promised, no special proof is offered. It takes as much faith to believe you are controlled by the Spirit as it did to trust in Christ as your Savior and Lord. We step out in faith, believing that God has done what we have asked him to do.

And he will.

Conclusion

Never before have American Christians needed this War Room with the Holy Spirit more than today. I’ve spoken with many of you who survived Pearl Harbor and World War II. To a person you tell me that this is different. In those days you knew who the enemy was and where he was. You were not afraid that he might strike your home, your office, your airplane. But things are different today. The good news is this: there is an Upper Room, a War Room, available to every one of us who will go there. Today.

And the results for our lives can be astounding.

Avery Willis is a career missionary, and an acquaintance of mine. In his classic book, The Biblical Basis of Missions, he describes his own experience with the filling of the Holy Spirit:

“While I was a freshman in college, the Holy Spirit created in my heart an overwhelming desire to bear witness to Christ. In the months that followed, his presence overcame my natural shyness and thrust me out several times each week onto the streets and into bars to witness. However, I was not successful in leading people to Christ. I memorized Scriptures, studied soul-winning books, and prayed. But something was missing.

“One day I received in the mail a booklet that told of the experiences of D. L. Moody, R.A. Torrey, Billy Sunday, Billy Graham, and others whose ministries had been transformed when they experienced the filling of the Holy Spirit.

“I had a burning desire to be used of God, but I could not find anyone who could tell me how to be filled. Finally, a friend loaned me the book The Holy Spirit: Who He Is and What He Does by R.A. Torrey.

“For the first time, I realized that the Holy Spirit is a person who possesses us, instead of a power or an influence that we possess. Torrey showed that the Holy Spirit, who lives within us, wants to fill us for service.

“By the next evening I had finished the book and was ready to follow its instructions on being filled with the Spirit. I confessed all my sins, presented myself fully to God, and asked in faith for the Holy Spirit to fill me. As I confessed my sins, I realized how much the Holy Spirit had loved me and had been grieved by my ignoring him. Then I presented my body, will, emotions, intellect, and spirit to be used by God in any way.

“The most difficult part was accepting by faith the filling of the Holy Spirit without any outward sign or manifestation. I told God, ‘I will accept the fact that I am filled with the Spirit on the basis of faith in the Word, no matter what happens when I witness.’ There was no great emotional experience, but I had a deep awareness of the love of the Spirit.

“The next morning when I went to class, the grass looked greener and the birds sang more sweetly. I was so aware of the Spirit’s presence that I wanted to move over on the sidewalk to let him walk beside me. That evening I witnessed to a boy on the street, and he accepted Christ as his Savior. Two nights later two black teenagers accepted Christ; the night after that another man.

“I remarked to a friend: ‘I don’t see how this can continue. Every night I go out to witness, someone accepts Christ.’ That night no one did. I had to come back and ask forgiveness and be filled afresh because I had dared to think that I had won those people to Christ myself. God willingly refilled me with his Spirit when I was willing to confess my sins, present myself, and ask in faith. Once again people began to come to Christ.

“In the twenty-five years since that experience, the Holy Spirit has taught me the secret of being filled for each task of service. Thousands of times I have had to ask him to refill me when I have sinned, and he has done so. The filling of the Spirit energizes and empowers different gifts in different persons, but in every case the result brings glory to Christ and attracts others to him” (pp.63-64).

What could God do with your life if you were filled with his Spirit? Let’s begin to answer that question, right now.

The Wheel of Religion

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The Wheel of Religion

Exodus 20:7

Dr. Jim Denison

“Wheel of Fortune” is one of America’s favorite game shows, and the simplest. You merely guess the words or phrases behind blank squares. If it’s your turn and you guess the words, you win.

Of all our game shows, this is the one the ancient Jews would most likely have understood. “The Dating Game?” “Jeopardy?” Not likely. But a show about words? Absolutely.

They were fascinated with words, even to the point of veneration. They knew the power of words—once spoken, they can never be taken back; they have the ability to injure, to bless, to condemn, or to save.

And they knew that no word is as powerful as the name of God. I want to show you why that’s so, how we’ve lost that power in our culture, and why getting it back is so important to our souls.

Know the name of God

You shall not, the commandment begins.As with last week, “you” is plural, so that this commandment applies to every one of us, with no exceptions.

“Shall not” shows that this is a commandment, not just a suggestion or principle for life. It is as important to God as the commandments not to murder or commit adultery. This is crucial to God.

Misuse means to take his name “in vain.” The word means “groundlessly, emptily, without basis,” and includes frivolous, insincere, or unjustified use of the name of God.

The original context was legal in nature. When a person testified before the elders or council, he was to speak “in the name of God.” This was something like our oath “to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.” The commandment was not to promise truth “in God’s name,” then lie or deceive.

The name of the Lord your God is the central phrase of the third commandment.

Jewish people associated the “name” of a person with his or her basic identity. For this reason, biblical characters were often assigned names to describe them (“Esau” means red, because he was red-headed; “Isaac” means laughter, because Sarah laughed when God said she would have a son).

And so the “name of God” deals of his basic character and identity. To speak of the “name of God” was to deal with his very nature, being, and person. For this reason, the names of God in the original biblical languages were sacred to the Jewish people. Each of them said something important about God.

YHWH means “the One who was, is, and ever shall be.” This name showed that God is eternally the Lord. As C. S. Lewis said, if time is a line on a page, God is the page.

“God” here is Elohim, literally “the God of gods.” This says that he alone is God, above all other deities worshipped around the world. In a day of polytheism and henotheism (each country had their own god), he alone is the God of the universe.

El-Elyon (Genesis 14:22, Deuteronomy 32:8-9) means “God most high,” showing that God rules the world today.

El Shaddai (Exodus 6:3) means “God Almighty,” and shows that he has all the power of the universe, and we have none.

Pahad means “the One to be feared” (Genesis 31:42; 1 Samuel 11:7). We are to approach him with awe and reverence.

Adonai (Isaiah 6:1) means “Lord of all,” the one who reigns.

Jehovah-Jireh (Genesis 21:22; 22:14) means “the Lord who provides” for our every need.

Jehovah-Tsidkenu (Jeremiah 23:6) means “the Lord is our righteousness,” so that we can be holy and righteous only as he makes us so.

Jehovah-Shalom means “the Lord is peace” (Judges 6:24), pointing to the fact that only God can give us peace.

These are just some of God’s names in the Scriptures. As you can see, the “name of God” describes his character, identity, person. In other words, the name of God means God himself. Listen to some examples:

Psalm 8:1: “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

Psalm 20:1: “May the LORD answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.”

Psalm 68:4: “Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds—his name is the LORD—and rejoice before him.”

Psalm 111:9: “He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever—holy and awesome is his name.”

Proverb 18:10: “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.”

Malachi 3:16: “A scroll of remembrance was written in [God’s] presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name.”

Matthew 6:9: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”

Matthew 18:5: “Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.”

Matthew 18:20: “Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

Matthew 28:19: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

John 12:28: “‘Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.'”

John 20:31: “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Acts 4:12: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Acts 5.41: “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.”

Acts 9:15-16: “The Lord said to Ananias, ‘Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.'”

Philippians 2:9-11: “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Colossians 3:17: “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.”

Revelation 14:1: “Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.”

Revelation 19:16: “On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: ‘King of Kings and Lord of Lords.'”

Here’s the point: to misuse God’s name is to misuse God, to abuse him, to slander his character and reputation. This issue was so important that the third commandment is the only one of the ten with an immediate threat of punishment.

It stands to reason, then, that we would want to know how to keep this commandment—what it means to dishonor God’s name, and to honor it.

How to honor the name of God

The first way we break this commandment is to use God for ourselves. In biblical days, people would swear falsehood in court, in the name of God. They made business deals or personal promises in his name, then broke those contracts. They used God’s name in a profane way, to curse someone or to express anger.

We obviously break this commandment today if we use God’s name in profanity. Such language has no place in Christian character or conduct. And when we use God’s name in swearing or cursing, we dishonor his character. We abuse his reputation. We use him for ourselves.

We also misuse God’s name when we manipulate others with it. The preacher who says, “God told me you need to give money to this ministry.” The husband who says, “God told me to divorce you.” The parent who says, “God will punish you if you don’t do as I say.” We take his name “in vain,” for our own purposes. We use God for ourselves.

And this, the Lord of the universe will not allow.

A second way people break this commandment is to make faith into religion.

For instance, the Jewish people took this commandment to mean that they should never pronounce God’s personal name. Only the High Priest, once a year on the Day of Atonement, was allowed to speak YHWH, and only in the Holy of Holies.

The scribes even wrote YHWH so that the people wouldn’t pronounce it. The original Hebrew language had only consonants. So the scribes took the vowels from another name for God, Adonai, and put them under the consonants YHWH. This was to tell the reader to say “Adonai,” not “YHWH.” Over the centuries we’ve combined the added vowels with these consonants and created “Yahweh” or “Jehovah,” but this was almost certainly not how the name was originally pronounced.

When the scribes would come to YHWH, they would put down their pen, stand in the corner for a time of meditation and prayer, then take off their clothing, wash, put on new clothing, take a new quill pen, and write YHWH. They would then burn this pen and clothing, put on their old clothing, take up their old pen, and continue their work.

We can still make faith into legalistic religion today. If your faith consists of the time you spend at church, the Bible study and prayer you do at home, the money you give, so that you think God likes you better when you are religious and is ashamed when you’re not, you’ve made faith into religion. Faith is relationship, expressed in religious ways. It is not a set of legalistic rules. Or else we misuse the name and worship of God.

The third way people break this commandment is to trivialize God. We compartmentalize him, so that he is only one part of our lives. We know we’re going to heaven, that we have our “fire insurance,” so we come to church to pay our religious dues. But we don’t let our religion affect our lives.

This approach explains the fact that ethical behavior is the same inside and outside the church today. The divorce rate among Baptists is even higher than it is in the outside culture. We make sure we don’t misuse the name of God, we make him a part of our lives, and think that’s all he wants. But it’s not.

Ultimately, to keep the third commandment means to honor God with our lives. To live so that we bring glory to God’s name, character, and reputation, in all we do.

Billy Graham said, “We take the name of God in vain when we accept it and allow ourselves to be called Christians, but do not live godly lives.”

To be a “Christian” is to be a “little Christ.” Our lives now reflect on Christ in all we do. We are the only Bible most people will read, the only church they’ll attend. We are to live so that God will be honored by what we do. As I’ve said before, I became a Christian because of the joy I saw in Christians. So will others, because of us.

Jesus was very clear: “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Conclusion

Now let’s get personal. Are you keeping the third commandment? Does your language dishonor God? Do you use God to manipulate people? Have you made faith into religious activity without passion for Jesus? Have you put God in a box in your life? Or does your daily life bring honor to the Christ whose name you wear?

With God’s help, we really can glorify Jesus with our lives. Even in the hardest places, it’s possible.

Let me prove it, and I’m done today.

Early in the football season I read a Sports Illustrated article about Kurt Warner, the new starting quarterback of the St. Louis Rams. Warner has an incredible story. Five years ago he was stocking groceries, trying to support his family while hoping for a chance to play professional football. He played in Europe, then the Arena football league in America, and started this season as the third-string quarterback for the Rams. He went on to become the league’s best player.

The Sports Illustrated writer spoke at great length about Warner’s passionate faith in Jesus Christ. And so I’ve prayed for Warner all season, that his life would back up his words under the media scrutiny and glare of the public spotlight. And it has.

In every interview he gave during Super Bowl week he spoke of his gratitude for what Jesus had done with his life. When a Tennessee Titans football player was injured, Warner ran to his side, knelt, and prayed for him. And when his team won the Super Bowl last Sunday evening, on national television he gave all the credit to Jesus.

He kept the third commandment. So can we. And Jesus will be pleased.

The Wisest Investment You’ll Ever Make

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The Wisest Investment You’ll Ever Make

Genesis 39:6-10

Dr. Jim Denison

Thomas Edison said of one of his inventions, “The phonograph is not of any commercial value.” Astronomer Simon Newcomb proclaimed in 1902, “Flight by machines heavier than air is impractical and insignificant, if not utterly impossible.” Thomas J. Watson, IMB chairman in 1943, announced, “I think there is a world market for about five computers.” At my house, anyway. Not such good investment advice, was it?

$1,000 invested in Coca Cola stock when it went public in 1919 would be worth more than $150 million today. The same investment in Home Depot stock when it went public in 1981 would be worth $1.2 million today. But $1,000 invested in American Motors Corporation or Eastern Airlines, good deals at the time, would be gone today.

This morning I’ll show you the wisest investment you’ll ever make. You already have the capital to do the deal. The broker’s on the line. The choice is yours.

Joseph’s temptation

“Joseph was well-built and handsome,” we’re told (v. 6b). The same Hebrew words used of Rachel are translated, “lovely in form and beautiful” (Genesis 29:17). Joseph has been in Egypt for 10 years, and is now 27 years of age. He is a healthy, handsome, successful young man, managing the household affairs of one of the most important officials in the country. If you were 27 and chief of staff for the Secretary of Defense, you’d be in a similar position.

It’s just then that temptation strikes: “after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, ‘Come to bed with me!'” (v. 7). Ancient historians depict wealthy Egyptian wives as alcoholic and immoral. There’s a story about one Egyptian ruler searched for years seeking a woman he believed would be faithful to him; when he found one, he married her instantly.

This apparently had happened before: “My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife” (v. 9). Why would he need such explicit instructions? I would not need to specify such if I were hiring someone to manage our family’s affairs. This kind of thing was as common in their society as it is in ours.

This is a great opportunity for Joseph. If Potiphar’s wife likes him, there’s no telling how far he can go. On the other hand, if he rejects her he may lose everything. None of the household servants are around; no one will know. It will just be their secret. Everyone does it, after all. What’s the harm? So long as Joseph performs his public duties well, his private life is his own business. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

Our temptation

You’ve met Potiphar’s wife, and so have I. If you don’t commit the public sins which will disgrace you, and you don’t hurt anyone, you’ve done all that morality requires today. What you do on your time is your business. No one has the right to legislate morality anyway.

Private thoughts about coworkers; slander or gossip repeated to friends you trust; Internet sites or late night television; what you do on a date; how you report your personal taxes; whether or not I did my own work on this message; how you handle your billable hours; how you bill the patient’s insurance; how you are with your staff behind closed doors–it’s all your business. You’re in church this morning, and most of you will be in Sunday school shortly. You haven’t murdered anyone or broken any “important” laws this week.

There are two schools of ethical thought, and neither seems to speak to Mrs. Potiphar.

Duty for duty’s sake is one. Do not commit adultery, the seventh commandment orders. “Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart,” Jesus adds (Matthew 5:28). But why? What harm will it do? No one will get hurt.

Consequentialism is the other: the end justifies the means. Do whatever leads to the results you want. Again, there seem to be no consequences here, no down side. Joseph can sleep with Potiphar’s wife and no one will know. You can slander someone to a trusted friend and believe that the person you discussed will never know. Private sins are just that–private.

Yet God’s word clearly requires more of us than external morality:

“There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known” (Luke 12:2).

Indeed, “What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs” (v. 3).

Private morality is the cost of public blessing. If you want to fulfill God’s dream for your life, you must pay the price. Joseph had to flee this woman, leaving his “cloak” in her hand (Genesis 39:12). This was his undershirt–he probably ran out naked. And paid the price–unjustly accused of attempted rape, thrown from Potiphar’s palace to his prison. Why was this a wise decision?

Choose to refuse

The “Holy” Spirit cannot use that which is impure. A surgeon must have a sterile operating room and sterile tools, or he cannot operate. God cannot use impure instruments to accomplish his pure and perfect goals.

So, why not sin and confess, sin and confess? Why not do those things which are without public consequence, then confess them to God so that he can begin to use us again? Because there is no sin without consequences.

Jesus said, You cannot serve God and money. You cannot walk in two different directions at the same time.

Every hour spent in private sin is an hour lost to God’s purpose for your life. Every wrong thought prevents the Spirit from leading you with right thoughts. Every day spent outside God’s word and will is lost forever. It is one day subtracted from his dream for us. It makes his dream one day less fulfilled. Private sin limits public blessing, now and forever.

Watch what God does with a man he can fully trust.

Joseph was sent to “the place where the king’s prisoners were confined” (v. 20). Not executed, as was the Egyptian law. Clearly his character was already known to his master, as was that of the man’s wife. The time to build a reputation for honesty is before you’re accused of wrongdoing, not after. Will Rogers told us to live so that you could sell your family parrot to the town gossip. His character saved his life.

And it led to God’s future. In that prison he met Pharaoh’s cupbearer. He would never have known the man if he had remained in Potiphar’s house. He interpreted the man’s dream, and was eventually called to interpret Pharaoh’s dream. And save the Egyptian nation, and his own family, and God’s dream for his life.

So let me ask you, who is Mrs. Potiphar in your life today? Where are you being tempted by personal, private sin, with the lie that no one will know or be hurt, that nothing will happen? Satan is a great economist. He is not tempting you without purpose. He knows what we’re learning today–that private sin limits public blessing. That every day spent outside God’s will is a day lost forever, purpose unfulfilled forever, God’s dream for our lives diminished. Every day. Choose to refuse.

How to refuse

How? What do we do when Mrs. Potiphar grabs us by the cloak? What do we do when we’re tempted to invest our lives in ways which will lead to bankruptcy and ruin?

First, change your broker. Change your situation. Don’t stay and fight. Do what Joseph did–run.

“Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22).

“Escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:4).

Martin Luther advises us: if your head is made of butter, don’t sit near the fire. Put a picture of your wife on your desk; travel with one you set on the television in the hotel room. Load software on your computer which blocks pornography and alerts someone if you attempt to access it. I so respect a man in our church who quit his job rather than deal with a woman who tempted him.

Invest in integrity now. It will never be easier to choose to refuse than it is today.

Attraction will only grow into addiction; this dating relationship will only lead further into trouble; slander is always made worse by repetition.

Time spent in God’s word and worship; time spent serving his Kingdom with your gifts and money; time spent honoring him with your character and witness is the path to joy and significance. The longer you wait to invest, the smaller your return when you do.

Invest for the long run. Joseph wound up in prison, but then went to the palace. You may lose your boyfriend or girlfriend; it may be hard to give up that secret habit; you may face ridicule at school or work; you may make less money when you change your business practices.

But the long term will always repay the short term loss. Before Joseph could become prime minister of Egypt, he had to pay the price. With God, the result is always worth its cost.

Conclusion

Who is your Mrs. Potiphar this morning? What private sin is trying to limit God’s dream for your life? How will you respond to its deception today? Will you pay the price of personal integrity? Will you make the wisest investment in all of life?

Several hundred years ago on the island of Cape Hatteras, off the shore of North Carolina, there were men called “wreckers.”

They fastened a lighted lantern to the head of an old horse, and walked up and down and back and forth on the beach. Out in the Atlantic, ships searching for a passage through the islands would mistake that bobbing light for the stern light of a ship they assumed had found safe passage. So the ship would turn inland and run aground on the shoals.

In the morning, these “wreckers” would gather timber from the wrecked ship for their houses, utensils for their kitchens, and money for their wallets. It was a lucrative business. Across the years, some 2,300 ships perished off this coast, either by accident or the treachery of the “wreckers.” Today visitors to the area are shown old houses built and furnished with material take from those ships.

Who is the “wrecker” enticing you today onto the shoals of your soul?

The World’s Only Hope

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The World’s Only Hope

Matthew 16:13-20

James C. Denison

Since I was born and raised in Texas, I’ve always been proud to be a Texan. But I didn’t know how good we have it until last week, when a friend sent me this geography lesson, a list of actual places in Texas.

Anyone need cheering up today? You can go to Happy, Pep, Smiley, Paradise, Rainbow, Sweet Home, or Comfort–all in Texas. Hungry? Try Bacon, Noodle, Oatmeal, Turkey, Trout, Sugar Land, Salty, Rice, or Sweetwater, Texas.

Why travel out of the state? We have Detroit, Colorado City, Denver City, Nevada, Memphis, Miami, Boston, and Santa Fe, Texas. Why leave the country? We have Athens, Moscow, China, Egypt, Italy, Turkey, London, New London, and Paris, Texas. We even have Earth, Texas.

If you’re cold, you should go to Blanket, Texas. If you need office supplies, try Staples, Texas. Kids should visit Kermit, Elmo, Nemo, Tarzan, Winnie, and Sylvester, Texas. The rest of us should try Frognot, Bigfoot, Hogeye, Notrees (I’ve actually been there!), Best, Veribest, Telephone, Telegraph, Twitty, and Ding Dong. When we’re done, we should go to Farewell, Texas.

There’s only one place on earth better to be than Texas. Jesus identified it: “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18). How can you and I get on that rock? Why is standing on that rock the best decision you can make this morning, the only hope of the world and your soul today?

Who owns the church?

The scene is one of the most dramatic locations on earth. Standing 1150 feet above sea level, the massive rock outcropping at Caesarea Philippi is the largest I’ve ever seen, gray with streaks of metallic brown, flat and imposing. And towering above it is a gigantic cliff, dwarfing the valley below in every direction.

High up on that cliff our tour group could see a cave, the famous “Gates of Hades.” This cave leads to a shaft which bores down through the mountain and this rocky plateau on which it stands, deep into the earth. That shaft is so deep that its bottom has never been found. Even the most sophisticated measuring devices have not been able to determine its complete depth.

I will never forget standing on that rock, looking up at that cave, as long as I live. As I looked in awe, my mind traveled back to a time when another man stood where I was this day. As he himself looked around, he could feel the religious significance of the place.

Just a short distance away stood the brilliant white marble temple built by Herod the Great as an altar to the worship of the Roman Caesar, hence the name of the place, “Caesarea.” He knew the emperor was worshiped here.

Beneath his feet was that cavern where the Greeks said Pan, their god of nature, was born. He knew the Greek and Roman gods were worshiped here. Scattered around the place were fourteen temples to Baal, the Canaanite fertility god, where the pagan Syrians worshiped.

Somewhere below was the origin of the Jordan River, the holiest river in all the Jewish faith, the water Joshua and the people walked through to inherit the Promised Land, and he thought of his own Jewish traditions and worship.

On this gigantic rock, standing in the midst of temples to every kind of god known to their culture, a Galilean carpenter asked his followers, “Who do you say that I am?” And one of them, standing where I stood, said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” And he hears the Galilean say, “Upon this rock I will build my church, and”–pointing to the cave towering above them, dwarfing this small group of peasants gathered below–“even the gates of hell will not withstand your assault.”

Who owns the Church?

A survey was recently conducted, asking members and pastors whether the church exists to reach the world or to meet members’ needs. 90 percent of the members said it exists to meet members’ needs; 10 percent said it exists to reach the world. 90 percent of the pastors said it exists to reach the world; 10 percent said it exists to meet members’ needs.

Isn’t it easy to think that the members own the church? After all, it’s your tithes and offerings which keep the doors open and the lights on. You pay my salary and that of the rest of our staff, don’t you? And you come to be fed and inspired in worship, for your children to grow up in faith and moral teaching, to be with your friends and get help for your family. Don’t we all measure church by what we “get out of it”?

Isn’t the church something like a country club, where the head pro knows more about golf than anyone else? He has a staff to help him do what the members want done. But the head pro doesn’t run the club–that’s the job of the board of directors. They do this on behalf of the members. The members in turn pay dues for services received. If you don’t play golf, don’t pay for golf. Go to your club as it meets your needs.

Isn’t that the consumer church of our day, where I’m supposed to teach you how to find success without stress and the church exists to help you improve your life? Where therapy is the nature of preaching, and programs exist to meet all your needs?

Except that Jesus said, “I will build my church.” The Greek is emphatic–the Church belongs to him. The Bible says that Jesus is the “head” of the church (Ephesus 5:23). We are the “body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:27). Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given unto me” (Matthew 28:18).

The Church is his. This church is his. He is the Lord of this Church, or we are not a church. We may be a charitable organization, a civic society, a benevolent institution, but we are not a church. If we’re in charge, we’re not a church. If we’re doing what we want, coming to meet our needs, leading the church to do what we want it to do, we’re not the church of Jesus Christ.

If our church was as submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ as you are, would that be a good thing?

What is our purpose?

How can we know if he is in charge of our church? By asking if his purpose is our purpose. He said, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Literally, they will not “withstand its assault.” We belong to Jesus to the degree that we obey Jesus. 1 John 5:3 says, “This is love for God: to obey his commands.”

His command to his church is clear: “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). His last words before returning to heaven reinforced the point: “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” (Acts 1:8).

We are called to bear “spiritual fruit,” to reproduce spiritually, to be Christians who make Christians and a church which makes churches.

John the Baptist warned us: “every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:10).

Jesus repeated the point with his disciples shortly before his crucifixion: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.  Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned” (John 15:1-6).

Bearing spiritual fruit through multiplication is crucial to reaching the world. I recently turned 49 years old. If I could win one a day until the age of 70, I would see 5,840 people come to Christ. That’s growth by addition. Growth by multiplication is something quite different: I win one today; the two of us win one tomorrow; the four of us win one the next day, and so on. In 34 days, the number is 8,589,934,592. By June 30, the entire planet would know Christ.

We are a church to the degree that we obey Jesus. We obey Jesus to the degree that we are disciples and make disciples, to the degree that we are reproducing followers of Jesus. The tree is healthy to the degree that it bears fruit. We are healthy to the degree that we bear spiritual fruit.

Nothing else matters–not the size of the tree or the beauty of its leaves. Only its fruit.

Conclusion

On this Memorial Day weekend, we pause as Americans to remember those who have given their lives in our nation’s service. We honor their sacrifice with our gratitude and commitment to our nation.

It is fitting on this weekend that we also pause to remember the sacrifice of the One who gave his life for us, that we might be the Church, the body of Christ. That we might have life everlasting. And that we honor his sacrifice with our gratitude and the commitment of our lives and service.

So, are we the church of Jesus Christ today? Do we belong to him? Are we passionate about his purpose for us?

As members of the body of Christ, do we seek his will and purpose in all things, first? Do we pray before we act? Do we submit our lives to him every morning at the start of each day? Do we seek his word and will before we make our decisions? Do we confess our sins as soon as we commit them and seek his cleansing grace? Do we seek to share our faith with those we can influence for our Savior? Do we give sacrificially of our time and money in the cause of his Kingdom? If the Church belonged to Jesus as much as we do, would that be a good thing?

Those of you who are leaders of this church: is your leadership surrendered to Jesus Christ? Do you pray first in all your decisions and actions? Are you seeking to share your faith and build the Kingdom? Are you seeking to lead the church to assault the gates of hell in all we do? Are you bearing fruit? Are you leading us to bear fruit?

Human words cannot change human hearts. Only the Spirit working through us can save souls and change lives. Only when we are submitted to Christ as Lord, his purpose ours, can he use us with significance and joy. We are the only body of Christ on earth, the only light of the world and the only salt of the earth. We are the only spiritual, eternal hope of the world. We must be his, so the world can be his.

Will we have the courage to be fully his? To surrender every day to his Lordship and will? To assault the gates of hell as reproducing followers of Jesus, whatever it takes, wherever he leads? This week I found an essay defining “courage,” and was impressed to learn it and share it with you.

“Why is it that most people’s lives are controlled by small and petty circumstances? I am saddened as I watch people lose the good and great things that are within their reach and could be theirs with ‘but a little act of courage!’

“Courage can be defined as ‘acting in the face of fear.’ We need courage only when we are afraid, which means that we need courage almost all the time, because we are afraid of something all of the time.

“I have discovered that fear becomes a coward when faced with but a small act of courage. And further, that the muscle of courage will grow strong with continued use.

“I have studied the deeds of people both great and small, and I have studied those people who are both great and small. There appear to be many differences. But all the differences which count have, at their base, one single thing–courage.

“Courage is the one ingredient which separates the weak from the strong, the successful from the failed, the great from the average. All the things you desire in life have one common handle, which is made for the hand of the person with courage. To be afraid is to be alive. To act in the face of fear is to follow Christ.”

Will you choose courage today?

The Worst Words In All The Bible

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The Worst Words in All the Bible

Matthew 7:21-23

Dr. Jim Denison

Janet has been out of town this week at a writer’s conference, so I’ve been cooking. So far we’ve had Italian, Chinese, and Mexican—whatever we can order in or eat out. Janet used to cook and stock the refrigerator if she was going to be gone, with sticky notes telling me how long to heat up everything. But when she returned, everything was precisely where she left it. She’s learned better.

She’s lucky if I’ve brought in the mail once or twice, and maybe even run the dishwasher. I am domestically challenged. She married me out of pity, and not much has changed.

If you don’t know how to do something, it’s important that you know someone who does. Someone who can fix your roof or your car, someone who can perform your surgery or calculate your taxes.

These days we’re working with the subject, “Knowing That You Know.” We’re learning how to be sure that we know God and that he knows us. Because none of us knows how to get to heaven. None of us knows how to get our sins forgiven, our hearts transformed, our lives filled with joy and peace and purpose. If we think we can do all that ourselves, today’s text is for us.

So far we’ve learned what salvation is. Today we’ll learn what it is not. And why the subject is crucial beyond all description.

Don’t trust in right words

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (v. 21).

“Lord” translates kurios, the Greek word for “master.” The Romans required their subjects to bow the knee before a bust of Caesar and say, “Caesar is Lord,” “Caesar kuriou.” Jesus’ followers refused, saying instead, “Jesus is Lord,” “Jesu kuriou.”

To say it twice is to give the word intensity. The Jews didn’t use superlatives like we do—they repeated words for emphasis. The idea here is “really Lord” or “Lord of Lords.”

“Not everyone” shows that some who say this will enter the kingdom of heaven.

To say that Jesus is your Lord is to say that he is your Master, your Savior and King. This is precisely the profession of faith we make at baptism: “Jesus is my Lord.”

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13, quoting Joel 2:32). But “call on” means more than words—it reflects trust, commitment, reliance.

And not everyone who uses these words means them like that. Not everyone who knows the right words knows the right Lord. If you say you’re a Rotarian, you probably are. If you say that you support President Bush or Senator Kerry, you probably do. If you say you’re a Christian, you may or may not be.

In our culture, a “Christian” is a good person who believes in God. Most Americans don’t even know that there’s more to the term than that. Most don’t even know that they need to ask Jesus to forgive their sins and become their Savior and Lord. Most use “Christian” without any concept of its biblical meaning.

C. S. Lewis likens the word to “gentleman.” At one time, “gentleman” referred specifically to a man who was part of the landed gentry, a landowner who occupied a specific place in society. But over time the word evolved to mean a person who acts as a “gentleman” once did, who conducts himself with decorum and dignity. And now the word applies to everyone, whether we own land or not. It’s gone from nobility to bathroom doors.

In the same way, “Christian” originally meant “little Christ,” one who follows and imitates Jesus. It was a pejorative term, and was applied only to those who had experienced a personal relationship with Jesus.

Today “Christian” is an ethical term which refers to good people who believe in God. So nearly everyone says that the word applies to them. In that sense, nearly everyone in America calls Jesus “Lord, Lord.”

Raise your hand if you say you’re a Christian. Now be warned—this text may be about you.

Don’t trust in right works

Next Jesus lists the two most persuasive religious actions a person could perform in his day: prophecy and miracles. First, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?”

Again the right words, “Lord, Lord.”

For the right purpose: “in your name.”

“Prophesy” in the Bible doesn’t mean to foretell the future so much as it means to forth tell the word of God.

Jesus means here what we would call “preaching.” He’s referring to people like me—a pastor, a Sunday school teacher, a seminary or college professor, a spiritual writer, someone who communicated his word through their words. He’s warning us that we can speak his words in his name, and not know him. Just because I’m your pastor, speaking these words to you today, don’t mean I know him.

A new pastor saw a meeting at his church one evening. He asked a man walking toward the sanctuary what it was about. The man said, “I’m just a visitor, but I came at the invitation of a friend. They’re meeting to pray for the spiritual conversion of their new pastor.” He came into the meeting, and gave his heart to Christ.

Not everyone who preaches or teaches God’s word knows God.

Jesus continues: “…and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?”

Again, “in your name,” for his glory and credit. “Drive out demons” refers to exorcism of evil spirits. “Perform many miracles” means just what it says—healings and unexplainable physical phenomena.

Apparently it’s possible to drive out demons without knowing Jesus. Apparently it’s possible to be involved in miraculous healings and works without knowing Jesus. I could be an exorcist or a faith healer without knowing Jesus. I could lead the lost to Christ, build great churches, do great mission work, lead great benevolent and Christian institutions, but not know Jesus.

When John Wesley first came to America as a missionary, he failed miserably. On his return to England he complained to himself, “I came to convert the Indians, but oh, Lord, who will convert me?” It’s possible to speak all the right words and do all the right works, and not know Jesus.

So apparently it’s not enough to do religious works. It’s not enough that our parents were religious, or our other family members, or our friends. It’s not enough that we grew up in the church, or have “always been a Christian.”

“Many” will say this to him on “that day.” Many will make this mistake, and have it revealed on the Judgment Day.

The Bible teaches, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Revelation 20 says that on that day, God will open the “book of works” to show us that none of us has earned heaven. Then he’ll open the “book of life” which records those who know Jesus and are known by him. With this result: “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (v. 15).

Trust in the One who knows you

So don’t trust in right words or right works. It’s not enough to know the hymns and the vernacular, to come to church and do religious works. Jesus warned us that he would have to say to those who trusted in words and works: “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (v. 23).

“Knew” means a personal, intimate relationship. It’s not enough to say that we know him—he must say that he knows us. You would know George Bush or John Kerry if they walked into the sanctuary—would they know you?

What does it take for him to “know” us? We must “do the will of my Father who is in heaven” (v. 21). Is this works righteousness? Right words and right works?

“My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40).

“The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:29).

“This is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us” (1 John 3:23).

Then we will hear the best words in all the Bible: “Well done, good and faithful servant…Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21).

Then we will know that we know him, not because of our words or works but because of his word and his works. Our assurance is not based on what we can do but on what he has done.

Jesus promised, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28). We don’t have to hold onto him—he’s holding onto us.

He knows us, and will never forget us: “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me” (John 1:14).

“The man who loves God is known by God” (1 Corinthians 8:3).

“God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are his'” (2 Timothy 2:19).

Once he “knows” us, he never forgets us in all of eternity. He’ll remember us on the day of judgment. He’ll call us by name. And he’ll welcome us home.

Conclusion

Why is it so crucial that we know that we know him and that he knows us? Because this is the only way to eternal life. Jesus was adamant and blunt: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). “No one,” no exceptions. If Jesus doesn’t know you, you won’t get in. You can claim that you know him, but he had better know you.

One of the great perks of pastoring in Atlanta was getting tickets to the Masters each year. The former governor of Georgia, Carl Sanders, was kind enough to arrange this remarkable experience. It’s like watching golf played in church—everything is hushed and almost “holy.”

Jeff Byrd, our missions minister, was the Executive Pastor of our church in Atlanta, and he and I would go to the tournament together. One year Carl let us use the clubhouse passes belonging to his daughter and her husband. I got to be David Botts; Jeff had to be Betty Botts. The guards at the door let me in—I guess I looked like a David Botts. But they wouldn’t let Jeff in—he resembled no Betty Botts they’d ever met. It didn’t matter that we said we knew the governor. The guards had to know that he knew us. And we couldn’t arrange that, so we got stopped at the gate.

Don’t get stopped at the gate. Does Jesus know you? Are you trusting in your words, the fact that you say you’re a Christian? Are you trusting in your works—your church attendance, your good deeds, your religious actions? Millions of Americans are. Don’t be one. The worst words in all the Bible are, “I never knew you.” Don’t take the chance that he’ll say them to you.

Theology for Tsunamis

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Theology for Tsunamis

Dr. Jim Denison

Matthew 2:13-18

On December 26, scientists at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu forecast a massive tsunami within 15 minutes of the Indonesian earthquake, but did not have phone numbers to call to warn those in Southeast Asia. None of the countries most severely affected had a tsunami warning system or tidal gauges to alert people to the wall of water that followed the massive earthquake.

So in Sri Lanka, crowds came to the beaches to watch the sea after word spread that it was producing larger-than-normal waves. Thousands of children watched. People collected fish brought in by the waves. Then the worst natural disaster in recent history struck. Most of those who died in the floods could have been saved, if they had been warned.

Does God know the future? No one blames me for the tsunami–I could neither predict nor prevent it. Could God? If he could, why didn’t he? If he could predict and prevent your problems and pain and suffering, why doesn’t he? This morning, what causes you to ask God, “why?” Here’s how our text answers your question.

Did God know this would happen?

Joseph’s experience with God’s providence proves three facts beyond question. Let’s set them out, then see how they relate to our questions today.

First, God knows what we should do.

The Lord is clear: “Get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt” (v. 13b). God has a will for our lives, and it is “good, pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

He knew what Adam and Eve should do in the Garden of Eden; what Noah should do with the approaching Flood; what Abraham should do to find the Promised Land; what Moses should do to lead his people there; what Joshua should do to cross the flooded Jordan and capture fortified Jericho; what David should do to defeat Goliath; what the fishermen should do to “fish for men”; what Paul should do to take the gospel to the Gentile world.

Second, he knows when we should do it.

“When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream” (v. 13). The same night the Magi left, the angel came. God brought his word to Joseph when he needed it. If he had given this word to Joseph earlier, he might have left before the Magi arrived. Then the Gentiles would not have worshiped the Christ, and Joseph would not have received the gifts he would need to support his family in their exodus to Egypt. God never reveals his will before we need to know it.

“So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt” (v. 14). Joseph wasted no time in obeying the command. It is well that he did so. It is only five miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. The Magi left that night, and did not return to Herod the next day. Herod sent messengers to inquire, which reported that the Magi were gone and the child missing. Herod then gave his murderous order the same day.

“Where he stayed until the death of Herod” (v. 15). God knew what he should do, and when he should do it.

Third, he knows why we should do it.

“Herod is going to search for the child to kill him” (v. 13). The threat was very real. When Herod came to the throne, he slaughtered 300 court officers, his wife Mariamne, her mother Alexandra, his eldest son Antipater, and two other sons, Alexander and Aristobulus.

God was right: “He gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under” (v. 16). With this result: “Rachel [was] weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more” (v. 18). Most historians think 20 or 30 children were massacred that day, the first martyrs of the Christian era.

So it is clear that God knows the future:

“I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come” (Isaiah 46:10).

“Your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8).

He is the Creator and Lord of the universe: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18).

He knows the future, and has the power to do whatever he wills to do. So we must ask: why does tragedy occur? If he is all-knowing, he knows a tsunami is coming before it appears. If he is all-loving, he would want to prevent such disaster. If he is all-powerful, he could. So, why did he allow this tragedy? Why has he allowed your pain?

Why does God allow tragedy?

We live in a fallen world. Our planet is not the way God intended it to be, or the way it was in Eden.

“God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways” (Genesis 6:12).

“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:17-19).

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

Now we live in a world where four hurricanes can strike Florida in a single season, and Mt. St. Helens can explode, and an earthquake can strike Southern California, and a tsunami can devastate Southeast Asia. Not because God caused it–because this is a fallen planet. Is this the case for your pain?

We are fallen people. Some of our suffering is the result of our misused freedom. Other suffering is the result of the misused freedom of others, as with Herod and the murdered children. Evidence is growing that tsunami warning systems were not in place because governments and wealthy individuals chose not to spend the necessary funds. Of course they did not know what we know now. But some of the pain we experience in life is the fault of fallen people. Is this the case for you?

Our enemy is real. Satan was behind Herod’s attempt to murder the Son of God, and didn’t give up until he led Judas to betray our Lord to his death. Jesus warned us that Satan “was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). He afflicted Job, hates God and his people, and is still a “roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Is Satan involved in your suffering?

God uses suffering to refine our faith.

“I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another” (Isaiah 48:10-11).

To learn the flavor of tea, we drop it into hot water. To discover the contents of a bottle, we put it under pressure.

God uses suffering to bring us to himself, to teach us: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). How would God use your pain to grow your faith?

God uses suffering to reveal our witness.

“For a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may prove genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:6-7).

We prove our faith is real in the hard places. A couple I know and love who lost their little baby and trusted God anyway; a woman who died of cancer but thanked God for the years he gave her to live; a seminary student whose wife left him and his handicapped little girl, but who serves the Church today. How could you use your pain to honor Jesus?

Conclusion

On the basis of these theological facts we ask: What do we do when the tsunami comes?

Determine the source of your suffering. If there is sin to confess, do so immediately, claiming the forgiving grace of God (1 John 1:9). If the sin belongs to someone else, choose to pardon and forgive, for their sake and yours.

Turn to God in faith: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). God can give us peace which understanding cannot produce. But we must trust in him.

Claim his presence in the pain: “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16).

Know that he will give you the strength to endure: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Ask him to redeem this suffering: “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Claim a better future: “our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

One day there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and no more death or mourning or crying or pain (Revelation 21:1-5). One day there will be no more sin or terror or war or tsunamis. There will be a day with no night, joy with no pain, victory with no defeat, light with no darkness.

The Lord’s Supper is God’s presence and promise in bread and cup. The sin which crucified Christ is here; the peace God gave Jesus in the Garden and on the cross is here; the presence of God in the pain is here; the strength to endure is here; the redemption of suffering is here; the future at his table in paradise is here.

There will always be a Herod, a tsunami, a cross. But Friday leads to Sunday, death to life, Calvary to Easter. This is the promise of God.

Thermostat of the Soul

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The Thermostat of the Soul

Revelation 2:12-17

Dr. Jim Denison

When Janet and I were married in 1980 I became a bigamist. I was already married to a 1966 Ford Mustang coupe. From the beginning we were a marriage of three, much to my new wife’s chagrin.

I had to sell my Mustang a few years later after a neighbor wrecked it while it was parked on the street. I’ve always suspected my wife of complicity in the crime. She was delighted to see her competition drive away. I still miss that car.

My Mustang was perfect in every way except one: the thermostat. This was the device which regulated the temperature of the car’s engine. Unfortunately, the “289″ Ford engine had a thermostat which was too weak, and the car would eventually overheat. So I had to replace it two or three times a year–a small price to pay for love.

I soon became an expert on thermostats, at least for old Mustangs. I learned the basic difference between a thermostat and a thermometer: a thermostat controls temperature, while a thermometer reflects it. One changes its environment, the other becomes like it.

What we are in public is the thermometer. Everyone knows that it was hotter than Hades around here in August. We’re all hoping for a better September. What we are in private is the thermostat. How healthy is the one in your car? Do you even know where it is? But if it breaks, pretty soon the entire engine overheats and the car shuts down.

We’re going to work on our spiritual thermostats today, because they are the key to spiritual success, joy, and power; or to spiritual defeat, frustration, and failure.

Checking your thermometer

Jesus’ letters to his seven churches are addressed in a circular route. From Smyrna the road north followed the coastline some 40 miles before turning in a northeastern direction up the valley of the Caicus River. About 10 miles inland from the Aegean Sea stood the city of Pergamum.

Because of her inland location the city could never attain the commercial and trade importance of Ephesus and Smyrna, but in political prestige she surpassed them both. If Ephesus with her trade and wealth was the New York City of Asia, and Smyrna with her beauty and culture was their San Francisco, then Pergamum with her political significance was their Washington, D.C.

Built on a cone-shaped hill a thousand feet in height, Pergamum dominated the valley below. From this height her inhabitants could see the Mediterranean Sea fifteen miles away. Her name in Greek means “citadel,” and she was. A citadel of evil, that is.

Jesus calls her the place “where Satan has his throne.” The reason was simple: this was the seat of emperor worship on the continent of Asia Minor.

The city had been given to the Romans back in 133 B.C. In 29 B.C. they became the first city on earth to build a temple to the worship of a living emperor. When they became the capital of the Empire on the continent, such emperor worship became the mandatory requirement of every inhabitant.

Once a year, every resident was required to bow before a bust of Caesar, burn a pinch of incense as a sacrifice, and say “Caesar is Lord.” The person then received a certificate proving that the sacrifice had been made, and was required to carry it at all times to show to any who demanded it.

According to tradition, by the end of the first century such sacrifice was made at the Temple of Trajan, a magnificent marble structure which still stands today.

It was here that Antipas, the only person named in the entire Book of Revelation, refused to worship Caesar and died for his faith. His name means “against all,” a commitment he honored with his death.

Every other Christian in Pergamum could expect the same fate. If parents would not deny Christ, their children were brought to the Temple, where their throats were cut unless their mother or father worshiped Caesar. What would you do? What would I do?

The Bible requires that you “offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:1-2). To give our “bodies” is to give our lives, completely and totally to God. Why is this so hard for us?

I have been taught that religion is a private, personal thing, a kind of spiritual hobby. Who wants to sacrifice for their membership in a garden club? I enjoy playing tennis, but I’m not willing to die for the game or to defend a tennis court. I have long admired Charles Spurgeon, but I’m not going to lose my job to defend his theology.

In a world which separates the spiritual and the secular, Sunday and Monday, church and the “real world,” why pay a price to follow Jesus in public? Because such an integrated commitment to him is the only way the Christian faith works. He can bless only what he can touch and control. He can bring the car safely home only when he is driving it. He can heal a body only when he can operate on it. When I separate God from Monday, I lose all he can do for my work, my family, my money, my life.

Are you paying a price to follow Jesus in public? When last did it cost you something to stand for him? A client, because you would not compromise your integrity? A friend, because you would not do what he or she wanted to do? When last did you share your faith? When last did you take an unpopular stand for him?

It may cost us something to serve Jesus on Monday, in public, in the “real world.” But we gain far more than we lose.

Checking your thermostat

So that’s the public part of faith, the thermometer everyone can see. Christians in Pergamum were doing well in this regard. But there’s more to their story, and ours.

The letter continues: “Nevertheless, I have a few things against you. You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality” (v. 14).

Balak, the king of Moab, tried to entice Balaam the Hebrew prophet to curse Israel, but he refused. However, Balaam did even worse. He arranged a plan whereby the daughters of the Moabites seduced the men of Israel. Then these women led them to sacrifice to the pagan god of Moab and worship him (Numbers 22-25). From then to now, Balaam stands for the deception of idolatry.

It is idolatrous to adopt unethical business practices, for they put money before Jesus. It is idolatrous to gossip or slander, for they dishonor God and his people. It is idolatrous to commit personal immorality, for it dishonors the Spirit of God who dwells in us (1 Corinthians 6:18-20). Private sin is idolatry, for it puts itself before God.

Then Jesus warns them:  “Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans” (v. 15). They were an early heresy which taught that physical actions do not affect our spiritual lives. And so we can be involved in sexual immorality or any other private, physical sin, without spiritual consequence. We can abuse alcohol and drugs; we can engage in pornography or other sexual sin; and still keep our souls intact. But we cannot. The world may not see that our thermostat is leaking, but it is. And soon the engine will be ruined.

Eighty percent of the warships sunk during World War II were attacked by submarines. Just because we cannot see the danger does not mean we’re safe. And the danger is very real.

What was your last private sin? Why is it such a problem? Because God’s word says it is. Consider Proverbs 26:27: “If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it; if a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him.” That’s why Romans 6:23 warns us that “the wages of sin is death.”

Why is this true? Because private sin always becomes public. David’s adultery is known to 30 centuries of history. Moral failures by recent television ministers are easy to recall. Even if we don’t see the sin itself, we see its effects. Alzheimer’s affects the patient long before it is diagnosed. Lung cancer shortens your breath before it is discovered. Private sin affects our effectiveness and service in ways we may not even realize at the time. And it creates a sense of guilt and hypocrisy which grieves and plagues us all through our days.

Why is this true? Because, as Jesus said, the branch must be connected to the vine to bear fruit (John 15:4). If the body is not connected to the head, it will die. I found some poison ivy in our backyard the other day. Being very allergic to the stuff, I knew not to touch it. Instead, I reached out with long-handled clippers and cut it off at the root. The leaves were just as green and poisonous as before. But three days later, they were withered and brown.

Churchill said that an army travels on its stomach, that supply lines win the war. Christians travel on their knees–our connection with Jesus wins the spiritual war. Secret sin stifles that relationship, cutting the power at its source. And the results, over time, are disastrous.

So Jesus says, “Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth” (v. 16). If we do not deal with our private sin, Jesus will. He will treat us as gently as he can or as harshly as he must, but he will do whatever it takes to remove the malignancy on our souls. If he must expose our sin to the light of day in order to defeat it, he will. If he must use disease or disaster to bring us to our knees, he will. Any loving father will do whatever it takes to rid his child of cancer. You would; I would; God will.

But when we pay the price of personal integrity, we receive his “hidden manna,” spiritual food like unto the food from heaven which fed the children of Israel in the wilderness. We will receive a “white stone with a new name written on it”; this was the tessera, an invitation to a great banquet. God will always repay our faithfulness–always.

This week I was reading in Bunyan’s Grace Abounding, where this faithful, imprisoned Christian reminded his readers of the time Samson killed a lion and left its carcass on the side of the road. When he passed it later, bees had used it for their nest and made honey in it (Judges 14:5-9). Bunyan commented: “Temptations, when we meet them at first, are as the lion that roared upon Samson; but if we overcome them, the next time we see them, we shall find a nest of honey within them.” Guaranteed.

Conclusion

Our society is more prosperous than ever before. I read this week that we will spend $22 billion this year on luxury bathrooms alone. Yet the number of people who say they are “very unhappy” has risen 20 percent since the 1950s, and depression rates are 10 times higher than they were 50 years ago.

Why? This week I also read J. P. Moreland’s new book, The Lost Virtue of Happiness. He says that our culture has a distorted definition of happiness. We see it as a feeling of pleasure which we achieve through the gratification of our physical desires. The ancients knew better. For them, happiness was “a life well lived, a life of virtue and character, a life that manifests wisdom, kindness, and goodness,” not a life consumed with self and self-gratification. And they were happier than we.

D. L. Moody was right: what you are in the dark, that you are, and no more. If your thermostat is broken, eventually your thermometer is going to show it. Where have Balak and the Nicolaitans found you? What private sin is keeping you from the presence and power of Jesus? From public commitment and courage and joy?

As I learned from my 1966 Mustang, the time to fix a broken thermostat is today. Tomorrow the engine may be ruined. This is the warning, and the invitation, of God.

Thirty Minutes In Hell

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Thirty Minutes in Hell

Revelation 20:11-15

Dr. Jim Denison

I love church bulletin bloopers. Here are some recent additions to the file: “The sermon this morning: Jesus Walks on Water. The sermon tonight: Searching for Jesus”; “Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don’t forget your husbands;” “Barbara remains in the hospital and is having trouble sleeping—she requests tapes of Pastor Joe’s sermons;” and, “The Rector will preach his farewell message, after which the choir will sing Break Forth into Joy.” But to get back at them, “Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones; “and, “At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be What is Hell? Come early and listen to our choir practice.”

This fall we’re seeking to know that we know him. Now we close our series by asking what happens to those who do not know him, and those who do. This week we get the bad news. Then next week, on Thanksgiving weekend, we get the good news. For today, let’s talk about the eternal destiny of those who do not know Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord—and why the issue matters to every one of us, whether we know him or not.

Avoid the “lake of fire”

John sees a “great white throne and him who was seated on it” (v. 11). “Great” (mega in the Greek) shows his power—the higher the throne, the greater the one who sat on it.

“White” points to his purity and holiness, his right to be judge. He is so holy that “earth and sky fled from his presence.” He is the Holy One of the universe.

One day, we will all stand before him: “I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne” (v. 12a). One day we will all stand before God like this: “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

What happens here? “Books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books” (vs. 12-13). First, God will open the book of works, recording all we have done and every sin we’ve not confessed to God.

Nothing escapes his notice: “My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes” (Jeremiah 16:17); “God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14; cf. Luke 12:2-3; 1 Corinthians 4:5).

“You, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to his conduct, according to what his deeds have done” (Psalm 62:12).

“I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve” (Jeremiah 17:10).

“For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory, withy his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done” (Matthew 16:27).

“We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

“No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames” (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).

Upon this basis none of us can be admitted to God’s perfect paradise, for “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Then God opens the “Lamb’s book of life.”

Jesus told his disciples, “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20).

Paul wrote, “Help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life” (Philippians 4:3).

The book of Hebrews describes “the church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven” (Hebrews 12:23).

God promises, “He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels” (Revelation 3:5).

This is the only way to get into heaven: “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:27).

How can we be sure our names will be in this book? “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'” (John 14:6). The Bible is clear: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

What happens if our name is not found in this book of life? We will hear Jesus say, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).

“The cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).

But for those who make Christ their Lord, “The second death has no power over them” (Revelation 20:6), for “He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death” (Revelation 2:11).

Learn more about hell

Is hell real? Hell is a real place, mentioned 23 times in the NT, 15 times by Jesus himself. He calls it a place of “torment” (Luke 16:23). Sixty two percent of all Americans, including 52 percent of self-described “born again Christians,” say that Satan does not exist. Only two percent of Americans are worried about going to hell. But our ignorance and deceit do not change the fact that it is real.

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

What is hell like?

God’s word often describes hell as “fire” (Luke 16:24). Revelation 14:10 says, “He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever” (cf. Matthew 13:49-50; Jude 7; Revelation 20:15).

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

Most of all, hell is separation from God (Luke 16:26). Remember Jesus’ warning: “I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers'” (Matthew 7:23).

And hell is permanent (Luke 16:26); it is the “second death” (Revelation 20:14).

When do people go to hell?

They go immediately to a place of punishment in “fire,” as the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus makes clear (Luke 16:19-31).

“The Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority” (2 Peter 2:9-10).

Then they are condemned to eternal hell at the final judgment: “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed” (2 Thessalonians 1:9-10). When they stand before God in the final judgment, “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15).

Is hell fair?

The rich man in Jesus’ parable never protests. He knows he deserves to go there. Dr. Rawlings found the same with patients who went to hell then were resuscitated: not one of them thought this was unfair. Every one knew he or she deserved to go to hell. Instead, the rich and religious man wants to spare his brothers, for they deserve to go there as well. Those in hell would make the greatest evangelists on earth.

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

I especially appreciate the way Calvin Miller puts it. “God, can you be merciful and send me off to hell and lock me in forever?” “No, Pilgrim, I will not send you there, but if you chose to go there, I could never lock you out” (The Singer, p. 129).

What about the “ignorant?“

I spent the summer of 1979 working in East Malaysia as a Baptist student missionary. For the first time in my life, I met people who had never heard of Jesus Christ. Our Lord’s name was as unfamiliar to them as the ancient Persian kings are to us. Missiologists estimate that as much as one-third of the world’s population has no realistic opportunity to know or understand God’s offer of salvation through Christ. What happens to them when they die?

One common suggestion is that God judges the “ignorant” according to the light they have, by his self-revelation in nature. Here’s my question: why is it necessary that Christians give them any more light? Yet we are commissioned and commanded to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20), to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

A second “answer” to our question suggests that God knows what the “ignorant” would do if they were given the chance to hear the gospel. But then why do we need to give them that chance?

A third approach claims that God would never send people to hell for rejecting a gospel they have not heard, with the implication that the “ignorant” will be in heaven. If this is true, we’d best not share the gospel with such people lest they reject it and go to perdition. The first two “answers” make missions unnecessary; this approach makes evangelism positively dangerous.

So far we’ve sought speculative answers to a speculative question. But the Bible was written in a pragmatic worldview, and is more interested in relevance than rationalism. If we could ask the Apostle Paul what happens to the “ignorant,” here’s his likely answer: go tell them. If you know that someone has not heard the gospel, share it with them. Don’t speculate—evangelize. We are clearly commissioned by Jesus to share our faith with the entire world, starting wherever “Jerusalem” is located on our personal maps.

One last fact: God is love (1 John 4:8). He grieves the lost even more than we do. We can trust the “ignorant” to his grace, all the while doing all we can do to share Christ with them. We have no biblical support whatever for believing that anyone can be in heaven apart from faith in Jesus. So we are called to solve the problem of the “ignorant” not with our theology but with our witness.

Conclusion

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

“Five minutes in hell.” We’ve spent about thirty minutes going to hell through God’s Word today. Now, do whatever you must not to go there, or let someone else go there, tomorrow.

This Is a Spiritual War

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This Is a Spiritual War

Zechariah 4:1-7

Dr. Jim Denison

America faces a war unlike any we have ever fought. This war is not for land, money, or power, though all will be involved. This war is not with a nation, though nations will be sorely affected. This conflict pits us against a spiritual opponent who fights for spiritual reasons. His aims and methods are spiritual in nature, and his irrational zeal is inspired by his spiritual fervor.

This is a spiritual war. We need spiritual help, the power of the Spirit himself. We have begun already to sense this, with more people crowding into more churches for prayer and worship than we have seen in a generation. We are right. We need the Spirit’s power for our lives, our future, our leaders, and our nation. Today I must show you why this is so, and how the Holy Spirit can empower each of us for the days ahead.

The spiritual enemy we face

First I must talk about the spiritual enemy we face. To no one’s surprise, on September 13 Secretary of State Colin Powell named Osama bin Laden as a prime suspect in Tuesday’s attacks. Who is he, and what does he want?

The US indicted him for masterminding the 1998 bombings of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania; he has been connected to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the 1993 killing of American soldiers in Somalia, the mid-90’s bombings of US facilities in Saudi Arabia, and the 2000 attack on the US Cole.

Authorities have prevented his associates from launching attacks during the millennium celebrations, from bombing a dozen trans-Pacific flights in 1995, and from assassinating the pope and President Clinton in the Philippines.

So we know what he has done. Why does he do it?

Osama bin Laden is the most notorious leader of a strain of militant Islam that has been growing in the Muslim world for 30 years. Its fundamental belief is that the Muslim world is being poisoned and desecrated by “infidels.”

These “infidels” include both the US and Israel and governments of Muslim states such as Egypt and Jordan which have relationships with them.

These “infidels” must be driven out of the Muslim world by a jihad, the Arabic word for “struggle” often identified with holy war. Then strict Islamic rule must be established everywhere Muslims live. These extremists want to reestablish the golden age of Muslim domination which followed the death of Muhammad. The Taliban’s Afghanistan rule is their model for such a state.

Why has he attacked America?

Bin Laden is especially angry with the United States because of our military presence in Saudi Arabia. When the Saudis invited our troops to their defense after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, bin Laden and others were repulsed at this desecration of their holy land. And so he has bombed American military facilities in Saudi Arabia, and attacked our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania eight years to the day after our first troops were dispatched to Saudi Arabia.

He is furious about our support for Israel, and cannot tolerate our alliances with moderate Arab governments in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait (see David Plotz, “What Does Osama Bin Laden Want?” Slate, 9-13-01).

In brief, he wants to drive America out of Muslim nations, annihilate Israel, and establish the strictest Muslim rule over the Muslim world.

It is highly significant that most of that world has denounced both his aims and his tactics.

“Islam” means “peace” or “surrender” to Allah. It focuses upon the Koran as Allah’s revelation of himself to mankind through the prophet Mohammed.

Strict morality and obedience to the Koran, five daily prayers, almsgiving for the poor, fasting during the month of Ramadan, and pilgrimage to Mecca characterize its basic tenets. Nowhere does the Koran link “holy” and “war.”

It is wrong to speak of bin Laden and his movement as Muslim, just as it is wrong to speak of David Koresh or Jim Jones or the KKK as Christian.

The enemy we now face is unlike any we have seen in military terms. Bin Laden’s organization, called al-Qaida (Arabic for “The Base”), has mobilized perhaps hundreds of cells across the nations affected by its strategies. These underground movements are very difficult to define and attack. While they have been supported by Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Algeria, Libya and Syria, among other nations, attacking these nations would not destroy the movement. Killing bin Laden would not by itself destroy the movement. This is why our president warns us that the war ahead will be long and hard.

And so we must have God’s power and God’s strength. We are facing a spiritual enemy, one which seeks not more money, power, or land, but spiritual goals through spiritual fervor. We are facing a military struggle which will require spiritual strength. The wonderful news is that this power is available to every one of us and to our nation, today.

The spiritual power God will give us

This is by no means the first time God’s people have been tested by their enemies. Let me take you to a place and time amazingly like our own, and offer you the help which gave that people the hope and victory they desperately needed.

The year is 538 B.C. Cyrus, king of Persia, has just conquered Babylon and freed the Jewish people to return from their Babylonian captivity to their homeland in Israel (Ezra 1:2-4; 6.3-5).

Led by Zerubbabel, about 50,000 Jews journeyed home and began work on their temple. Two years later they finished its foundations amid great celebration (Ezra 3:8-10).

But their success aroused the wrath of neighboring nations. These people didn’t want Israel back in the land at all, and feared their renewed spiritual and military power. They opposed this project vigorously, threatening the Jewish people with war and lying about them to the Persian government. For 14 years the temple’s foundations lay untouched, the nation fearful, their walls and city little more than rubble and ruins.

Then Zechariah stepped to the fore. Born in Babylon during the Jewish captivity there, he was among the first to return to Judah. Both prophet and priest, his name meant “the Lord remembers.” Through his ministry, the Lord showed that he did, indeed.

On the fateful evening of February 15, 519, God gave this prophet eight “night visions.” Each of them called the nation to faith in their God and promised them his presence, blessing, and power. Each of them rallied the people to courage and resolve, to strength amidst suffering and fear, to hope for the future and victory in the present.

The fifth of these visions was perhaps the most powerful of all. On Monday morning God led me clearly to make it his revelation to us for these days.

In this vision the angel of the Lord shows Zechariah a golden lampstand with a bowl on top and seven lights on it (v. 2).The bowl is filled with olive oil, the fuel for the lights or candles which are fed by its supply.

To each of the seven candles circling the bowl there are “channels.” The Hebrew seems to indicate that seven channels extend to each light, or 49 for the seven lights. Seven is the Hebrew number for completion and perfection. Perfect light, from perfect supply.

To complete the picture, two olive trees stand beside the bowl, one on each side (v. 3). These trees will produce olives continually, so that oil can constantly be supplied to the bowl, and from the bowl through its channels to its lights.

Who are these trees? The angel tells us: “These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth” (v. 14). These are Joshua the high priest (chapter 3) and Zerubbabel, the national leader (4:7, 9, 10).

What is this oil? Oil is a consistent biblical symbol for the Holy Spirit of God. Through this symbol God promises the power of that Spirit for this hour: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty” (Zechariah 4:6).

What was the result of the Spirit’s power at work through the leaders and people of the nation? They began work on their temple and nation in earnest, despite the threats of their opponents. They dedicated their temple in 516 B.C. (Ezra 6:15-18). They rebuilt their walls and their city. And most important of all, their nation returned to God in a great spiritual awakening unlike any they had ever known (Nehemiah 8-9).

The Holy Spirit gave God’s people God’s power for God’s will and God’s glory. He moved an entire nation to faith in himself and victory over their opponents. Now he stands ready to do the same again for us, and through us.

Conclusion

How can you and I have this power today? How can America? The key is verse 6: “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

“Might” in the Hebrew means military force. “Power” means human strength. The Jews used both in their victory, but they were not the keys to that victory.

The key is the power of God. And he gives this power to humans through his Spirit. As the Sunday school lesson for today makes clear, God continually sends his Spirit “on” individuals in the Old Testament to empower them. Thus, Samson destroyed the Philippines; thus, Saul led Israel; thus, David slew Goliath. All by the Holy Spirit.

Now we who follow Christ have the Spirit “in” us permanently. The Holy Spirit is “Christ in you, the hope of glory “(Colossians 1:27). Jesus promised us, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8). Paul knew his help: “To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me” (Colossians 1:29). The apostle said, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13)—the Holy Spirit.

How do we experience this power?

Receive the Spirit personally. Make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior, and his Holy Spirit comes to live in your heart and life (Romans 8.9). As we’ll see next week, when we receive Christ we receive his Spirit.

Yield to the Spirit’s power. Ephesians 5:18 commands that we be “filled with the Spirit.” As we’ll see in two weeks, “filled” means to be yielded, controlled, submitted. God can only give his power to those who will yield to it. God cannot do for us what we try to do for ourselves. Only when we admit that we cannot face the uncertainty of these days, that we cannot handle the bitterness and anger and pain we all feel, that we need God’s Spirit to help us—only then can he. Yield to the Spirit’s control and you will have his power.

Obey the Spirit’s purpose. Jesus said that we would receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, and “you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). God’s power fulfills God’s purpose. Ask God to use your life to lead others to Christ, to give others strength and support, compassion and care. Ask God to use this horrific tragedy to bring our nation to himself. Ask him to use your life to bring others to him, and he will. Obey the Spirit’s purpose, and you will experience the Spirit’s power.

For many of you, September 11, 2001 feels much like December 7, 1941. After Pearl Harbor, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto said, “I fear that all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” He was right then, and now.

But this resolve must drive us to God. Billy Graham said it best: “In times like this, we realize how weak and inadequate we are, and our greatest need is to turn in repentance and faith to the God of all mercy and the Father of all comfort. If ever there was a time for us to turn to God and pray as a nation, it is now.”

The good news is that we can. We are fighting a spiritual war. But we can have the Spirit’s power and the Spirit’s victory. The choice is ours.